Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge [Hardcover]

Thomas Fleming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 25, 2005

"Congress does not trust me. I cannot continue thus," George Washington confided to Congressman Francis Dana of Massachusetts on his first visit to Valley Forge. Though Congressman Dana assured the general that a majority in Congress still had faith in him, he was nonetheless stunned by Washington's apparent defeatism. George Washington's threat to resign during the fateful winter at Valley Forge is just one of the many revelations awaiting the reader in Thomas Fleming's startling new book. Prize-winning author of "Liberty The American Revolution" and "1776: Year of Illusions," Thomas Fleming has returned to the American Revolution, demolishing long-accepted fictions of Valley Forge and cutting through layers of myth to reveal a hitherto unknown side of George Washington. The defining moments of the Revolutionary War did not occur on the battlefield or at the diplomatic table, claims Fleming, but at Valley Forge. Fleming transports his readers to December 1777. While the British army lives in luxury in conquered Philadelphia, Washington's troops huddle in the barracks of Valley Forge, fending off starvation and disease even as threats of mutiny swirl through the regiments. Though his army stands on the edge of collapse, Washington must wage a secondary war, this one against the slander of his reputation as a general and a patriot. Readers watch as Washington strategizes not only against the British army, but against the ambitions of General Horatio Gates, the victor in the battle of Saratoga. Gates has attracted a coterie of ambitious generals who are devising ways to humiliate and embarrass Washington into resignation. Using diaries and letters, Fleming creates anunforgettable portrait of an embattled Washington. Far from the long-suffering stoic of historical myth, Washington responds to attacks from Gates and his allies with the dexterity of a master politician. He parries the thrusts of his covert enemies and, when necessary, strikes back with ferocity and guile. While many histories portray Washington as a man who transcended politics, Fleming's Washington is an exceedingly complex man, a man whose political maneuvering allowed him to retain his command, even as he simultaneously struggled to prevent the Continental Army from dissolving into mutiny at Valley Forge. Written with his customary flair and eye for human detail and drama, Thomas Fleming's gripping narrative develops with the authority of a major historian and the skills of a master storyteller. "Washington's Secret War" is not only a revisionist view of the American ordeal at Valley Forge--it calls for a new assessment of the man too often simplified into an unreal American legend. This is narrative history at its best and most vital.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Fleming enhances his position as a leading general-audience historian of the American Revolution in this convincing argument for the importance of internal diplomacy in the conflict's development. Like David McCullough's 1776, Fleming's volume depicts Valley Forge as the revolution's turning point, with the fulcrum being George Washington's ability to develop "a new kind of leadership" that combined military and political elements. Recognizing the limited applicability of European precedents in the new republic, Washington simultaneously had to revitalize an army on the point of collapse and energize a Continental Congress ignorant of how to conduct a war. He performed both feats while maintaining both his authority as commander-in-chief and the principle of military subordination to political authority. And, all the while, he managed to keep the British believing that conciliation was preferable to battle. Fleming credits Washington's achievement to a force of character that increasingly impressed soldiers and politicians alike, but even more to Washington's ability to persuade waverers and opponents to his point of view by using a "series of positive proposals, well researched and closely argued." Fleming's use of short chapters (one- to three-pages each) and lively prose helps keep the complicated political maneuvers easy to follow. (Oct. 25)
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From Booklist

George Washington's contemporaries regularly referred to his aura of gravitas, part of which was as an apparent ability to remain above the petty squabbles that characterize democratic politics. Yet, as Fleming indicates, that detachment from political warfare was mostly illusion. He focuses on the winter and spring of 1777-78, when the Continental Army was encamped in deprived, brutal conditions at Valley Forge. This, of course, was a turning point for both Washington and his army. Aided by Baron Von Steuben, the army emerged from their travails as a disciplined, professional fighting force. In Fleming's view, this was also the period when Washington honed his skills at political warfare. He was the target of constant criticism from members of the Continental Congress, and ambitious subordinates hoped to replace him. But Washington learned to give as good as he got, while still maintaining the appearance of aristocratic distance from the fray. Fleming has provided an original and provocative reinterpretation of a critical period in the struggle for independence. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Smithsonian; BCE edition (October 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060829621
• ISBN-13: 978-0060829629
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"How do you write a book?" 24 year old Thomas Fleming asked bestselling writer Fulton Oursler in 1951. "Write four pages a day," Oursler said. "Every day except Sunday. Whether you feel like it or not. Inspiration consists of putting the seat of your pants on the chair at your desk." Fleming has followed this advice to good effect. His latest effort, "The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers," is his 50th published book. Twenty three of them have been novels. He is the only writer in the history of the Book of the Month Club to have main selections in fiction and in nonfiction. Many have won prizes. Recently he received the Burack Prize from Boston University for lifetime achievement. In nonfiction he has specialized in the American Revolution. He sees Intimate Lives as a perfect combination of his double talent as a novelist and historian. "Novelists focus on the imtimate side of life. This is the first time anyone has looked at the intimate side of the lives of these famous Americans, with an historian's eyes." Fleming was born in Jersey City, the son of a powerful local politician. He has had a lifetime interest in American politics. He also wrote a history of West Point which the New York Times called "the best...ever written." Military history is another strong interest. He lives in New York with his wife, Alice Fleming, who is a gifted writer of books for young readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A New View of Valley Forge, January 31, 2006

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge (Hardcover)

The young American nation had lost its first capital, Philadelphia, in the fall of 1777. The army of General George Washington had suffered clear defeats from the British, and retired exhausted to Valley Forge, a wooded area 25 miles west of the former capital. The army was there to rest up for the winter in order to fight again when warmer weather came. Washington had to fight the British once again, but that is not the story in _Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge_ (Smithsonian Books / Collins) by Thomas Fleming. The war Washington had to wage while in retreat was not against the British, but against the good guys, well known founding fathers like Sam and John Adams and Benjamin Rush. In many ways, it was a matter of regional prejudice. Fleming writes of Washington's opponents, "They had long since decided that Virginians and almost everyone outside New England were morally inferior to high-minded, Harvard-educated descendents of the Puritans." They were insistent on an unrealistically idealized view of how an army of patriots could fight and how a nation of patriots might supply that army with its needs, and they were willing to sacrifice Washington in order to get their views put into practice. It might well have been that they would have sacrificed victory as well. Fleming presents a fascinating view of Washington's work as a consummate politician, using his strong understanding of practical motivations, to thwart the generals and politicians who were conspiring against him.

Mention the words "Valley Forge" and a patriotic mist clouds the vision of many Americans. Fleming does a wonderful job dispelling the myths while never neglecting the importance of the encampment. The troops certainly suffered hardship; they did not freeze to death (the winter was relatively mild) but they did starve, sacrificed to a commissary and quartermaster system that was inefficient at best and fraudulent at worst. The conspiracy against Washington was not just over how the soldiers were to be paid or fed. The radical Whigs were intent upon replacing Washington with General Horatio Gates, one of their own but a timorous intriguer who enjoyed the flattery of the politicians and officers who boosted him as Washington's replacement. Gates's foul mouth and interest in sexual hanky-panky were in stark contrast to the serious, gentlemanly Washington, whose devoted marriage is depicted here since Martha came to stay the winter with him. There were plots to blame Washington for the army's previous defeats, for holing himself up at Valley Forge, and for whatever other ills his enemies could find. There was even a bizarre plot by Gates to have the Marquis de Lafayette lead an invasion into Canada which would have inevitably have failed and ruined the career of Washington's son-like hero. We think of our founding fathers as united in their just cause, but the picture here is of backstabbing and power-grabbing.

Washington himself dealt with his critics openly, and often with generosity they did not deserve. During the six grim months at Valley Forge, he demonstrated not only military but political leadership. He was able to get concessions from Congress to support his army, and he not only remained the commander, but he was able to install men whom he had chosen and who led the troops to further success. The drills led by the colorful Baron von Steuben (who had imaginary credentials dreamed up by that hoaxer Ben Franklin) all worked well. In ten days after breaking camp, the Army was successful in meeting the British at the Battle of Monmouth. Fleming reflects that with the fame of Valley Forge "... came one of memory's favorite historical tricks: the simplification and sentimentalization of the story." Congressional ineptitude and the plot to unseat Washington didn't fit in with our view of the powerful heroes that brought us liberty, but Fleming's book is a wonderful corrective, as well as providing even more reasons to admire a master politician.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent, much better than 1776!, October 17, 2006

By 

David Kutcher (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge (Hardcover)

Having just finished "1776" and been extremely disappointed, I debated whether I really wanted to follow it up with another American Revolutionary War book.

I'm glad I did.

This book was enjoyable to read, insightful, thought provoking, and again, ENJOYABLE.

If you enjoy history, or even just a good read, pick it up. As you'll gather from the other reviews as well as the book description, you'll learn lots of the back story to the Continental Army's stay in Valley Forge, PA, the politiking of Washington and the Continental Congress, and the "Secret War" that was going on behind that scenes that had the potential of changing the outcome of the war.

All in all, 5 stars and an incredible book to read.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fleming is a gift to America, January 4, 2006

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Robert T. Taylor "louisianataylor" (baton rouge, LA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Washington's Secret War: The Hidden History of Valley Forge (Hardcover)

Once again, Thomas Fleming has brought us closer, ever closer, to what has been so vieled in the fog of history. George Washington, icon, marble statue, staring at us through stiff formal portraits and idealized creations in literature, is so much more in his flesh and bones. The more we get to know him the greater he becomes. Fleming is truly a marvel, once again, at bringing history to us in an intimate and marvelously written portrait of Washington's fight to retain his position as commander in chief of the Continental Army. His war against those who would displace him during the winter at Valley Forge shows his political skill at least as good as his military skill, if not better. Fleming's book 1776 Year of Illusions is far and away better than the more recently published 1776 by another author. There, as here with Washington's Secret War, Thomas Fleming teaches us history in a way that is irrisistable. A wonderful book by probably the best writer on American Revolutionary history in America today.