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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks Pharmboy. |
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Posted on 04/15/2012 11:48:38 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
The American was voted the winner in a contest run by the National Army Museum to identify the country's most outstanding military opponent.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Presumably this is only land opponents, otherwise I’d root for this guy...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Ruyter
And, he's number one on their list because (among the list of possibilities), HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO BEAT THEM! Ha!
And yes, without the French muskets, men (esp. the military engineers) and ships (esp. the blockade which gave us Yorktown), we would NOT have beaten the Brits. BUT, without the General's leadership, innovation (think Trenton and Princeton), courage, wisdom and perseverance, we would not have won even with all the Frenchmen in the world under arms.
And, his game-day coaching abilities on the battlefield improved much after '77.
The RevWar/Colonial History/General Washington ping list...
I’d say Napoleon gave them a run for their money. As did Joan of Arc, and any number of German generals from either World War.
Our Nations victory had nothing to do with military prowess. It was Divine Provenience! GW humbly admitted it as such.
Divine Providence was the greatest factor.
The War of 1812 is more proof of that.
The Continental Army used new and effective tactics against the British.
The military cannot be denied it’s role.
I forget which Frenchman it was who said, that if Washington stepped down after finishing his term as President, he would be the greatest man in the world. He did, and he was.
That was what King George III told the painter Benjamin West.
Washington was not the only one who beat them.
Andrew Jackson beat the heck out of them. Although the war was technically over, the Battle of New Orleans had to have given them an attitude adjustment.
It’s interesting that this same group voted Michael Collins #2 after GW. It makes me proud to be an Irish American!!
According to my father, the source of the quote was actually King George III.
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| GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach | |
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Thanks Pharmboy. |
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But, to augment your point, Jackson--as a 13 y/o--showed incredible bravery during the RevWar as a runner between the lines with messages. He was tough and courageous even as a lad...
Washington's great accomplishment was seeing the big picture, and holding everybody together: the politicians and the soldiers. And he had a great skill for living to fight another day.
I wonder if the British ever regretted not making him a royal officer.
A small residual force from the Continental Army remained at West Point and some frontier outposts until Congress created the United States Army by their resolution of June 3, 1784.
He was tough and courageous even as a lad...
Didn’t a British Officer beat Andrew Jackson when he was a young boy running messages? I know he was hurt somehow.
That’s right.
You are right. Washington was truly the “First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen”, but don’t underestimate what Jackson did either.
He was a terrific general, defeating the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend in a brilliant action. He also captured Pensacola, hanged the British heads of the territory and took Florida from Spain. He also was Florida’s first governor.
I have read that his defeat of the British at New Orleans was the worst defeat the British Army ever suffered and the troops there were supposed to be among their best.
A British officer cut him on the hand and face after Jackson refused to clean his boots. Jackson also blamed the British for the death of his Brother and Mother, rightly so too.
Jackson really knew how to hate. His hatred of the British is probably one reason he hanged the British agents in Pensacola. He also hated the ones he blamed for the death of his wife.
The Indians claim his hatred was responsible for the trail of tears but I wonder. He adopted an Indian baby who was found among all the slain after Horseshoe Bend.
He was one tough man. The Trail of Tears was tragic.
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