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Old 08-20-2016, 12:44 AM
 
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Say some red coat got super lucky and managed to have killed George Washington early in the ARW, what would that have meant for the ARW as a whole? Would it have collapsed? Still been won but not gone as well as it did, or a loss but ultimately likely the same outcome?
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Old 08-20-2016, 08:50 AM
 
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Interesting topic..
I think the Revolution would've still carried on and succeeded without Washington. But the Revolution moving forward would've looked different. Washington's restraint as the country's executive set a powerful & effective example responsibly pulling us away from a monarchy.
I kinda feel like there wasn't another man who could've set a better, sustainable precedent..I think Washington's legacy as a revolutionary executive is underestimated.
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Old 08-20-2016, 08:55 AM
 
Location: St. Louis
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How many battles did he actually win?
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Old 08-20-2016, 10:05 AM
 
Location: Type 0.73 Kardashev
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General Washington's qualities did not lay in engaging the British directly and defeating them. Indeed, he did not try to do so except when necessary, for it would have been foolish.

Rather, they lay in carefully shepherding the hopelessly outmanned and outgunned Continental Army through the war, getting the maximum from it while holding it together. It lay in his cajoling of the Continental Congress for the means to keep the Army operating even at the comparatively minimal level that it did. It lay in keeping it intact during the difficult winter of 1777-78 at Valley Forge. In the end, the war was won in the way that vastly inferior forces usually win against vastly superior forces - by outlasting them, until the more powerful entity decides that the costs of continuing the campaign exceed the costs of simply washing their hands of the whole affair.

Washington was by no means a brilliant tactician. But he was a very talented politician. And that is an attribute routinely ignored by those who mistakenly think that wars are conflicts between militaries and fail to understand that the nature of war is as a political conflict in which direct force is but one of the tools used.
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Old 08-20-2016, 11:21 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marleinie View Post
Say some red coat got super lucky and managed to have killed George Washington early in the ARW, what would that have meant for the ARW as a whole? Would it have collapsed? Still been won but not gone as well as it did, or a loss but ultimately likely the same outcome?
The colonies would have eventually gained their independence from Britain anyway.

Washington probably did as well as anyone could in his role of commander of the Continental Army. However, this does not make him a great military commander. It should be remembered that at the outset of the war that Washington's last military experience had been about fifteen years before when he fought with General Braddock in the French and Indian War. The British had a number of experienced generals in the war. Plainly and simply, Washington or any American, for that matter, was out of their league when it came to comparing military experience with the English.

Washington faced enormous challenges and if we think about him purely in a military sense made many mistakes. The first one that comes to my mind was attempting to resist the British in New York at the outset of the war in 1776. New York because of the Hudson River and other waterways was well suited for the British Army and Navy to defend. Washington unwisely attempted to defend New York and was driven out of that state in a humiliating fashion. The British took many continental soldiers prisoner. One could cite other battles that were major failures. When Washington attempted to defend Philadelphia in the Battle of Brandywine, he was badly defeated and the site where the Declaration of Independence was signed fell to the British.

The Revolutionary War revealed the weaknesses of our first form of government: The Articles of Confederation. The Articles really were nothing more than an agreement that provided for limited cooperation between thirteen independent countries or states. The Continental Congress had no power to make any state obey resolutions or laws that it passed. Washington was in a terrible quandary because a number of the states refused to provide provisions and equipment for the Continental Army. As such, his army was always badly equipped with soldiers going without pay and even food at times. One historical document that I have never forgotten is a letter addressed by George Washington to the Governor of New York. Washington literally begs the Governor for food and supplies to feed his army, so that he can continue to fight. It is little wonder that Washington was a federalist and a supporter of the Constitution when the war ended.

I think it is fair to say that Washington and his leadership was a huge factor in holding the Continental Army together through the Revolutionary War. Without Washington, independence might have become a much slower proposition.

Others have commented on how Washington helped build America after the war ended. Perhaps, that was his greatest accomplishment of all.
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Old 08-20-2016, 12:17 PM
 
Location: NW Indiana
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The biggest contribution that Washington may have contributed to our country may have been after the war ended. His personal charisma and connection with the men in the army were key in preventing some members of the army from marching on Congress to demand their back pay. This could have gone very, very badly for the United States without Washington.
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Old 08-20-2016, 12:48 PM
 
Location: DFW
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I recently watched an older PBS production called Liberty! On YouTube. It was really good, and had lots on Washington's role. Also some future-famous actors like Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
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Old 08-20-2016, 03:33 PM
 
Location: Houston
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Originally Posted by OpanaPointer View Post
How many battles did he actually win?
The point is to win the war, not battles.

I suggest the book 1776, it reveals Washington's strengths and weaknesses at the beginning of the Revolutionary War.
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Old 08-20-2016, 06:31 PM
 
Location: Parts Unknown, Northern California
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I would imagine that the outcome would depend upon when "early in the war" takes place.

Had Washington been killed during the battles for New York, the next in line in the chain of command was Artemis Ward, but he was in ill health at this time, so more likely it would have gone to General Charles Lee. That would have been a prime magnitude disaster. Lee was a brilliant general only in his own mind, and it was always questionable whether he was entirely loyal to the cause. There is a reasonable chance that Lee might have surrendered the Continental army that winter in exchange for a personal pardon.

Had Washington survived 1776, but then been killed during the Philadelphia campaign, command of the army would have gone to the "hero" of Saratoga, General Horatio Gates. This too would have been a calamity for the American cause. He received undeserved credit for the Saratoga victory which had actually been achieved by his subordinates Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan. When left to his own devices in the South he badly bungled, getting routed at Camden and personally retreating much faster and further than his troops.

Given those alternatives, I'd say that America was immensely fortunate in having Washington remain healthy.
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Old 08-20-2016, 06:50 PM
 
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I love this! One thing not mentioned so far was the fact that Washington was a surveyor and knew a lot about survival. I was just looking and found: In more practical military terms, Washington's French & Indian War experience taught the young officer much about how to organize supply, how to dispense military justice, how to command, how to build forts, and how to manage subordinates.
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