Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1907-02-21
Washington as a General.


by Professor Sloane, of Columbia, ap-
pears in the current number of the
| Century, entitled, ''Von Moltke's Esti-
mate of Washington as a Strategist." !"
From Washington's own time there
has been a tendency on the part of
many to depreciate him as a
| military leader. The comparative
smallness of the armias engaged in the
Revolutionary campaigns has tended
to make the struggle appear petty in
| the eyes of Europeans, and since the
Civil War, in our own eyes as well.
Napoleon, while conceding Washing
toms SKILL spoke of the Revolutionary
struggle as war between picket lines.
Another circumstance which has mill
tated against Washington's fame as q
general is the fact that he never won Il
pitched battle He was defeated at
Long Island and Brandywine, and fail
ed at Freehold. Still another factor
tending to obscure his military fame
was his own love of peace and abhor-
of a military conqueror or of a profess
sional soldier. His fame as patriot and
as Fathel Of his country greatly over
shadows his fame as a soldier
Nevertheless we find so great an
authority as Won Moltke pronouncing
Washington one of the worlds very
greatest strategists. His flight through
the Jerseys and across the Delaware,
with the consequent scattering of the
British forces along the line of pursuit
and up and down the Delaware; his
midnight crossing back to Trenton and
surprise of Rail; his second return to
the Jerseys, drawing CORVALLIS down
to the Assunpink, and then by rapid
nocturnal march surprising and defeat
ing the British at Princeton, thus com
pelling the entire British pursuit to re-
tire to the vicinity of New York; all
these according to Won Moltke, were
feats which only consummate STRAIT
egist could achieve.
1t was the opinion of Won Moltke, in
which he is supported by Professor
Sloane, that the victory at Princeton
really determined the success of the
struggle for independence. Professor
Sloane seems to be of the opinion that
the French alliance was not only I'M
necessary, but actually served to pro-
long the war. The heart of England
was never in the attempt to coerce the
Colonies The attitude of such men as
Chatham and Burke is we'll known.
Many of the foremost leaders in the
army and navy positively refused to
serve against the Colonies. Desertions
from the British army in America were
frequent. Even Sir William Howe,
whose dilatory movements played into
the hands of Washington, was accused
of being in secret sympathy with the
Americans. Altogether the state of
public sentiment in England was such
that had it not been for the French al
lance, England would probably have
accepted the defeat at Princeton as
final and have conceded the indepen-
dence of America early in 1777. But
when once the struggle had become
identified in the British mind with q
war with France, the only result could
be determination to prolong the fight.
From time immemorial England and
France were traditional enemies, and
the thought of yielding anything at
the dictation of Nick Frog could never
find lodgment in the breast of John
Bull After the American alliance
with France, even Chatham gave his
voice for prolonging the war. When in
1888 England finally conceded the in
dependence of America, it was only
after she had won such successes from
France in other parts of the world as
to rob Yorktown of its sting as being
in part a victory of French arms.
American independence was really
won without the aid of France. Not
Yorktown, but Princet ton, was the de-
cisive field. The laurels of that bril-
! liant winter campaign belong to the
brow Of Washington alone.