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General George Washington: A Military Life

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Edward Lengel has meticulously superseded previous attempts to define the strategy of Washington through the Revolutionary war.
As associate professor of history at the Universtiy of Virgina, Lengel mixes his background of military historic perspective and exhastive investigative research of Washington's personal papers and communique's throughout 1760's-1785 and comes away with an award winning piece of literature that brings Washington's dilemmas and challanges to life.
Lengel's writting style is never overbearing so anyone interested in understanding the events may do so with much enthusiasm, most will find it difficult to put down.
Many interesting facts of Washington's character, judgements, and leadership capabilites are brought to life in a manner that incorporates them into events that would determine the outcome of not only the future republic but many of his commanders and associates.
Begining with Washington's early non military experience and failures, Lengel sets the stage for observing his refusal to accept defeat, always keeping the bigger vision and inspiring those who served him.
Details set aside, "General George Washington" is a fascinating and invigorating piece of work that will be read by anyone who may want an intriguing insight into a man who simply refused to capitulate or compromise his vision.
A brilliant piece of work for the ages............

This is a wonderful book. The book starts with Washington's involvement in the French and Indian War, continues on through the American Revolution, into his Presidency and even after his "retirement." As the book title states, this book is about Washington's military life, and the book sticks to that subject.

For those who have little knowledge of Washington's military life, this book would be an excellent book to read. Many people know of Yorktown, and Valley Forge, and the Battle of Trenton (the crossing of the Delaware), but may have never heard of Washington's exploits before the American Revolution in the French and Indian War when he fought for the British. This book covers that portion of his life and well as his military career after the American Revolution.

There are, of course, entire books written on any single event covered in this book. For instance, one could find many full length books on just the subject of Yorktown, or Valley Forge or the Crossing of the Delaware and the Battle of Trenton or George's involvement in the French and Indian War or the Whisky Rebellion. The strength of this book is while it doesn't cover any one event in as much detail, it does covers them all.

And for those who have read much on Washington's military career, this is still a good book. It puts in order all the different battles and dramas of Washington's military life to show how each affected the others. Besides, the book is simply an enjoyable book to read--it is well written and entertaining. Along the way, the author offers logical opinions of Washington's strengths and weaknesses, and while I didn't agree with all of these opinions, it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book in any way.

While I have read many excellent books on subjects and events covered in this one, this book was a good read to me just because it put everything in Washington's career back into chronological order--a thing than can be disrupted when reading many separate books on various parts of Washington's life.

So whether one is a newcomer to the subject of Washington or well read on the subject, I don't think anyone will be disappointed to use his or her time reading this book. For a book that attempts to cover the entirety of Washington's military life, this is one of the best I have read.

Bravo Dr. Edward Lenge! This book is a fascinating account of the military career of the Father of our Country! George Washington (1732-1799) was the first US President; a planter at

Mt. Vernon and is solidly planted as the indispensable man during the American Revolution. Without Washington's grit and

daring, perseverance and leadership there is a real possibility that the American experiment would have died an early death.

Washington with a band of rag-tag, often hungry and ill-trained troops defeated the greatest military machine in the eighteeth century in the shape of the British regulars led by General

William Howe.

1776 saw Washington victorious in Boston recapturing the city for the patriot cause. 1777 was a bitter year which began brightly with victories at Trenton and Princeton only to founder in the defeats suffered at Brandywine Creek and Germantown.

The harsh winter of Valley Forge in late 1777-1778 led to a reformulation of the army which pressed ahead to victory over

Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.

All of the major battles led by Washington are chronicled in

depth from Boston to Monmouth to final victory. Washington had

great flaws as a military man; he was sometimes indecisive; overly bold; poor in topographical placing of troops and could

be harsh. Nevertheless, it was because of his inimitable courage

and grit which led the army to victory over loyalists, a hard to

work with Congress and the mighty British army .

The American Revolution was hardfought, bloody and our freedom was bathed in the blood of brave men and women. This story needs to be told.

Lengel's book begins with Washington's career in the French and Indian War which culminated in Braddock's defeat; covers the years from 1759-1776 when his acquisition of land, slaves and

the formation of the Virginia Regiment won him colonial fame to

the culminating crown of his career; victory in the War of Independence. Washington was a great man who accomplished much with what he had to work with in men, materials and his strong

willpower never allowing him to quit in tough situations.

Lengel's book is well illustrated with helpful maps and an impressive bibliography of first person accounts and letters and correspondence from Washington's fertile pen. This is one of the

best books I have ever read on Washington's military career.

Well done!

This is a masterful and engaging account of how an untrained impetuous youth turned his ambition for military glory into a life-long quest for the public good - and in the process became one of the greatest military heroes of world history. Based extensively on primary sources - especially Washington's own correspondence, two-thirds of which cover the period of the Revolutionary War - this factual and well-written book tells the dramatic story of how Washington, despite his weaknesses and mistakes and losses of battles, organized from volunteers and conscripts a professional army that wrestled victory away from the most powerful and experienced army in the world. Even the title itself is revealing - A Military Life - for both Washington and his contemporaries considered Washington primarily as a military commander, despite his political and other services to his country. Must reading not only for military enthusiasts but for anyone interested Washington or the history of America.

In General George Washington: A Military Life, author Edward Lengel does an admirable job of revealing through his biographical focus on Washington not just the development and achievements of Washington the general but also the wider events that affected America from the time of the French and Indian War through to the end of the eighteenth century. As a casual reader, I find this biographical approach to history much more enjoyable than detailed accounts of campaign after campaign where the individual personalities are never sufficiently developed.

Lengel's General Washington is virtuous, personally brave, a tireless quartermaster, a meticulous administrator and reformer, a polished diplomat, an unerring positive example to his troops and possesses no small amount of personal charisma. What he is not, is a brilliant battlefield general. Fortunately for Washington and his nascent country, his positive qualities overcome this deficiency.

He is often careless of terrain and does not perform sufficient reconnaissance. In two specific examples, at Long Island and at Brandywine, he leaves one of his flanks "in the air," and on both occasions the British General William Howe takes advantage by marching around the vulnerable end of Washington's line. Also on both occasions, Washington benefits from Howe's reluctance to vigorously pursue the withdrawing Americans.

Although finding numerous faults with Washington's generalship, Lengel concludes that Washington was indeed the indispensable leader, without whom there would have been no United States of America.

General George Washington: A Military Life by Edward G. Lengel. 2005. 450 pages.

This book covers the military career of George Washington from his days as a youth watching the adventures of his brother through the Seven Years War/French and Indian War, the Revolution, The whisky Rebellion and ends with the former President of the United States (POTUS) Washington still on duty at the end of his life.

This book is primarily concerned with Washington the military man. It provides a good history of his military career and some historical evaluation. The author is not a military man or military scholar; rather he is involved with the George Washington Papers Project. The author's lack of military experience however does not impact his selection of material or his evaluation of Washington the soldier.

While Washington's exploits during the Seven Years War and the Revolution are fairly well known some of the details and the scope of these exploits are often not understood. This lack of understanding is partly the result of our distance from the way things were in the 18th century and partly because Washington was a unique and extraordinary leader and man. In many ways he was much more akin to our modern sensibilities than he was to those of the military establishments of his time. Though he himself operated firmly in an 18th century frame of reference.

Washington was a one man staff system who directed his logistics both on the practical side and on the political side, always wary to avoid burdening the populace and maintaining civilian control and a sense of proper order in the army. Washington was heavily involved in conducting his own intelligence and agitory propaganda work to a degree which modern commanders do not do because much of these functions are delegated to dedicated and specially trained staff.

Peeling back the aspects of Washington's organization and activities which today are handled by a staff we come to the issue of Washington in the traditional sense of a military man as we commonly think of them. Washington was by all accounts of friend and foe a very physically brave man on par even with Hernando Cortez. Washington's ability to lead men was remarkable for a man with little education. He was, compared to his 18th century peers, a very modern leader reinforcing the positive and challenging his men to meet his expectation rather then the blunt bully who used the vine stave.

At a tactical level Washington's forces failed more often than they succeeded. Too often the failure was a result of an overly complicated plan. Though Washington was seemingly always itching for a fight he tended towards plans of such intricate timing and advance that they were often doomed. On the operational and strategic level Washington's talents were much more evident. Though he maintained a fixed obsession with New York City he quickly understood the tie between the revolution and its promise to the country and world and the need to keep his army in the field defying the British.

The notion that Washington was a Fabian in his tactics does not strictly hold water. Washington though recognizing the need to maintain the army as a whole in the field in order to preserve the revolution routinely risked the entire main army in battle. The campaigns in New York City, Brandywine, Germantown, even Monmouth showed a desire for that one decisive action which would decide the issue. The author does understand this.

Washington is so far the only sitting POTUS to, as Commander in Chief, command troops in the field, in uniform as President. This occurred during the Whiskey Rebellion though the mere presence of Washington contributed to the end of the rebellion with out a full scale national conflagration. Washington, in a little known tidbit, also returned to military service after his final term as POTUS. He, at the behest of POTUS John Adams, accepted a commission to ready the American military for potential conflict with France. When Washington died he did so under commission and therefore still technically as a serving military officer in the armed forces of the United States.

This book reads quickly, the prose not being a millstone to the material, and does a fine job of presenting this aspect of Washington to the reader.

Edward G. Lengel's book on George Washington was one of the best I have ever read-and I have read many books on Washington. This one was my favorite, because it focuses on Washington's military career and that is the part of Washington's life I love studying most. This book was very well written and it analized Washington's military campaigns and battles like no other book I've read on him

Lengel focuses clearly on Washington's early career as a soldier. He doesn't devote that much time to Washington's childhood-which I though was very well handled. Instead he brought the camera into Washington's entrance onto the military stage in 1753-1758. The years well documented, Washington was always in the forefront, and his military education was clearly explored. Great start.

The author then makes reverances to Washington's years of peace from 1759-1775. It was fun to she the great man spending time building his home, spending time with his family, and being involved in the poltics of Colonial Virginia. and then are the years of 1775-1783, the defineing years of the general's career and life. The battles of New York, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Yorktown were always descriptive and fun to read.

I recommend this book to anyone really intersted in Washington's career as a soldier and the first great American warrior-hero. A well writtwn biography on the greatest American who ever lived.

I thought this was a well written and informative book. Sometimes we try to portray Washington as a God, but not in this book. Edward G. Lengel gives an unbiased fair view of Washington's military life. Sometimes I believe he was overly critical, but then, I am not a military historian. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the American Revolution.

I was enjoying this book for the first sixty-seventy pages until I read Mr. Lengel's description of Ft. Ticonderoga. He places the Fort on the Hudson River. (????) Ft. Ticonderoga, so important a location in the French/Indian and Revolutionary wars is, in fact, on Lake Champlain. Mr. Lengel also incorrectly writes that Henry Knox, after retrieving the cannons from Ft. Ticonderoga takes them down the Hudson. This too is incorrect. Knox and his men took the cannons across land to Lake George (which was frozen in winter), down to Lake George village and south to Albany before turning east to Boston. I'm totally shocked that no review of this book mentions these inaccurate statements. Anyway, after about 100 pages I took the book back to the library. I couldn't depend on the rest of his facts-so what's the point of reading it?

A very readable analysis of George Washington's military career, this book is not for the casual reader but for those more interested and appreciative of 18th century warfare tactics. I found the detailed descriptions of the battles interesting but it got confusing when the author gave detailed troop manuevers regarding terrain and topography. If I was already more familiar with the battlefields I might appreciate and understand the descriptions of the battles. Overall it was pretty good and very readable, I just got bogged down in the detailed battle tactics at times. Also this book covers in detail the engagements that Washington himself participated in and narrowly glosses over other battles and events of the American Revolution.