Valiant Ambition, Nathaniel Philbrick, 2016

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution, Nathaniel Philbrick, c. 2016.

First Note

Page 60:

Lexington and Concord, April, 1775

The three theaters:

• The Southern Army, June, 1776: successfully repulsed General Clinton's attempt to take Charleston
• The North Army, under General Philip Schuyler; thanks to Benedict Arnold's heroics repulsed the British attempt to take Fort Ticonderoga (and delayed those British troops from heading south)
• The Grand Army, under George Washington; soldiers from as far north as New Hampshire, as far south as Virginia; by November, 1776, retreating across New Jersey, into Pennsylvania, having lost New York City

General Howe in pursuit of George Washington but moving slowly. He felt the war had been won. In just three months, the British had taken:

• 4,500 prisoners;
• almost 3,000 muskets;
• 250 cannons and 17,000 cannonballs

By December, 1776, Washington had lost 3/4th of his army (death, desertion, injury).

The Brits offered a pardon to the citizens of New Jersey which they accepted -- and that's probalby why Washington had to beat it to Pennsylvania

***************************

Trenton And Princeton -- Summary So Far -- The Grand Campaign

Page 86
Summary to date
January, 1977: Trenton and Princeton

Summary to date, the Grand campaign

Benedict Arnold thwarts British plans to come south from Canada (northern campaign)
George Washington getting his bearings
disaster in Manhattan; abandons New York
retreat across New Jersey which has turned pro-British
crosses the Delaware to get to safety in Pennsylvania; stop British advance on Continental Congress
turning point in war? Washington wins at Trenton, then Princeton
too exhausted to move onto (New) Brunswick
winter HQ at Morristown, NJ in the mountains

************************************

Benedict Arnold

Page 87
Benedict Arnold passed for promotion to major general
Benedict Arnold: Rhode Island
Brits on way to Danbury, CT
this would be up the coast of Connecticut, up from NYC, and across from Long Island, on the Long Island Sound

*****************************

Story of Saratoga Begins

Page 141
The story of Saratoga begins
Saratoga: on the Hudson; about 40 miles north of Albany
Albany/Hudson would be the gateway to New York / Philadelphia from the north

***************************************

Battle of Saratoga

Page 171
Battle of Saratoga
huge war in the north
patriots win; turning point of the war
Saratoga, NY: on the Hudson, north of Bemis Heights which was north of Albany
Comment: wow, look at the map. Look how far inland Saratoga is. The Brits were a naval power, not a land power. Had they concentrated on Manhattan and Phildelphia in the north -- both "water" cities -- the Brits would have won the war either outright or through attrition. But following the patriots into the interior -- absolutely stupid. Yes, the Brits were far inland in Canada, but my hunch is that "interior" Canada was also a "naval" theater. South to Lake Champlain, and then south on the Hudson, made sense, but when things were not going well, to follow the patriots into the forests and "mountains" of interior New York was absolutely crazy.

******************************

Update -- about halfway through the book

So, at this point in the story these are my takeaway comments:

• Continental Congress seems to be out-of-touch with regard to how the war is going
• the generals are arguing among themselves
• there are three armies/three campaigns
• Army of the North -- originally Benedict Arnold
• Grand Army -- George Washington
• Arm of the South
• from beginning of the war through summer of 1777, George Washington not doing well
• facing toughest adversary: the Howe brothers
• George Washington loses Manhattan/New York
• races across New Jersey in retreat
• rests in Pennsylvania across the river from Trenton, NJ
• a series of defeats for Washington, both on the field and in Congress
• finally, patriots have a huge win at Saratoga
• Washington yet to show any real success on is own
• Brits blew it tactically many times; strategically blew it by following patriots into the interior; the Brits were a naval power; they had a "continental" army but not one suited for guerilla warfare in rough land

*************************************

Valley Forge 

p. 185
Valley Forge
winter of 1777 - 1778

***********************************

Last notes

I have 125 pages left but it is becoming tedious. I will put it away and re-read it later. I may get a copy for my own library.

Takeaway comments in addition to those above:

• over and over, it is clear that George Washington was a lousy military strategist
• he held the Army together; he was a great politician-general, but a lousy military stratigist
• time after time made huge errors
• when Brits were evacuating to New York in 1781, he had opportunity to bring war to end; when he did not, Brits hunkerered down in New York and the war became a stalemate for the next three years
• the war in the north became a stalemate
• the war in the south became the focus for Brits 
• the Revolutionary War became a world war when the French entered
• the French entering the war clearly tipped the balance
• from 1778 to 1781, Yorktown, a stalemate in the north
• it was still another two years until the Treat of Paris, 1783
• Philbrick's book ends in the fall of 1780, with the treason of Benedict Arnold
• Benedict Arnold died in London, June 14, 1801 -- having led a "full" life even after 1780 -- absolutely amazing
• had the Brits won the war, and had British historians written that history, it is likely Benedict Arnold would be on Mount Rushmore and not George Washington. Two of the other two would have been the brothers Howe, and the fourth, George III.