Strategic Skill of George Washington
Answer Topic question: Was American success in achieving independence due more to the strategic skill of George Washington or to the operational and strategic mistakes of the British?
***Start with a declarative statement identifying your position. In one or two sentences add three key points you will use to support your position.
- Assume that everyone did the reading and knows the history, do not do a long historical introduction.
- At most your intro, position and keys points should be about HALF a page.
- Next expand upon and explain each of your key points relevence to your position and possibly each other. Each of these points should be about a page and a half to two pages. This constitues the body of your essay.
- Next recognize that there are other points of view by presenting a counter argument.
- The counter argument should take an opposing position and be defended by one fully developed supporting point about a page to a page and a half.
- Refute the counter by identifying the weakness in the argument or the greater strength of your argument.
- Finish by restating your thesis very concisely. Leave the reader believing your position.
- REMEMBER that this is about the analysis that supports your position!, not about retelling history. Taking either position and defending it, making the reader believe your position is most valid is what the essay is about.
- Please incorporate & use the 8 references below & write a "A+" paper. Thank you.
***Use these references:****
1. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789. Revised and Expanded Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pages 280-439, 579-95.
2. The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977. Chapters 1-2.
3. Fischer, David Hackett. Washington’s Crossing. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. Pages 7-50, 66-205, 346-379.
4. Handel, Michael I. Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought. Third, Revised and Expanded Edition. London: Cass, 2001. Pages 255-276.
5. Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783. New York: Hill and Wang, 1957 or New York: Dover, 1987. Introductory, Chapters 1, 9-11, and 14.
6. Carpenter, Stanley D.M. “British Strategic Failure in the Southern Campaign, 1778-1781.” Naval War College Unpublished Paper, 2008.
7. Conway, Stephen. “To Subdue America: British Army Officers and the Conduct of the Revolutionary War,” William and Mary Quarterly, Third Series, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July 1986), 381-407.
8. Kurland, Fundamental Documents of the American Revolution.
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American success in achieving independence was due to the strategic skill of George Washington
The US is the world’s superpower. During its golden history, superior leaders paved ways to accomplish the current world dominance. Devoted service provided by George Washington as a warfare wining General to the vast nation of America is noteworthy. He is well thought-out as the founder of America. George Washington played a vital role during Indian and French War which lasted for 7 years. Between 1775 and 1783 he led the American conquest over Britain in the American radical war (Fischer, 2004). It is under his rule that America attained independence. George Washington led his army towards success; his great accomplishments and military actions were fashionable. His military career offers a structure of leadership tactical and strategic skills. One can therefore conclude that American success in gaining independence was due to the strategic skills of George Washington ( Middlekauff, 2005). This is because his services and achievements to the country were remarkable. He possessed a wealth of sound leadership elements and a superior strength of character. His military skills also a remarkable factor which contributed to the attainment of independence not forgetting his strong-minded sense of patriotic devotion to the country and a leader who cared for his citizen solidarity.
Military skills
George Washington played a very important role in the flare-up of the Indian and French war, and then led the resistance of Virginia between the year 1755 and 1758 as colonel of the Virginia brigade. Even though George Washington never got a commission in the British military, he gained precious political, military and leadership abilities, and received considerable public coverage in the colonies and overseas. He narrowly observed British army tactics, gaining ardent insight into their weaknesses and strengths that proved very useful during the rebellion. He demonstrated his courage and toughness in the most intricate situations including retreats and disasters. George Washington developed a domination presence, given his strength, size, bravery, and stamina in battle; he seemed to his soldiers to be a natural leader and they obeyed him without questioning him. He had the ability to train, organize, drill and discipline his regiments and companies. From his readings, observations, and conversations with proficient officers, George Washington learned the basics of battleground tactics, and a good comprehension of issues of logistics and organization (Weigley, 1977).
In 1755 George Washington took part as a volunteer supporter in the unfortunate mission of General Edward Braddock, where he renowned himself in the recoil after the climactic combat of Monongahela. He served between 1755 and 1758 as commander and colonel of the Virginia brigade, monitoring the provincial resistances against Indian and French raids and building the brigade into one of the best trained provincial mercenaries of the time. He led the brigade as part of the 1758 mission of General John Frobes that fruitfully drove the French out of Fort Duquesne. It is from this experience that General Washington attained valuable military expertise acquiring strategic, tactical, and logistical military knowledge. His martial exploits made his military status in the colonies such that he became an innate selection as the commander in chief of Continental military after the outburst of the American radical war in 1775 ( Middlekauff, 2005).
General Washington’s input to the conquest in the American Revolution was not that of a superior battlefield moderator. He at times premeditated operations that were too complex for his proletarian soldiers to implement. Even so, his general strategy proved to be victorious in maintaining control of the populace at all times, keep the military intact and avoid important battles except to make most of the enemy mistakes (Handel, 2001).
Leadership skills
George Washington emerges as the most significant leader in America. He lived and worked with brilliant thinkers, philosophers, organizers, and writers like Sam Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, and Dickinson. Nearly all were far more educated to him and he attained sound familiarizing with them. George Washington’s unselfish nature, profound morality, and good intellect enabled him to outshine all the other contemporizes. As a visionary leader, he carried on being a charismatic leader who kept the affection and loyalty to his people. Even so, when law required that he acted in a way that would stimulate serious resistance, he stuck to his morals and in time the people realizing that he had acted wisely, renewed their affection and regard. Two main events bringing about such circumstances were his avowal of impartiality during the French Revolution and his signing of the Jay accord with Great Britain (Kurland).
Furthermore, George Washington was a person of a superior moral character. His reflective moral understanding and moral susceptive principles were brilliant. When contrasted with British strength, power of his radical forces was nowhere close to them although his moral confidence a...