1776

BY DAVID MCCULLOUGH SIMON AND SCHUSTER 2005, 386 PAGES, $32.00

Two-time Pulitzer prize winner David McCullough has produced a book that should be read and digested by every American. It recalls the early struggles that the colonists went through to gain independence from Great Britain. We owe a debt to them that never can be repaid--only acknowledged.

Divided into three parts--The Siege, Fateful Summer, and The Long Retreat--this tome confines itself to the first year of the Revolution. Beginning with an account of the power and splendor of the mother country, the author explains the commotion discontented Americans 3,000 miles away caused in Parliament. McCullough's research reveals that few of us understood the British mentality of the time. King George III was not mad (not until decades later, due to a hereditary disease) but a well-liked monarch, who himself preferred puttering in his garden to ruling. An eloquent speaker, he wanted to compromise with the Americans and keep the Empire intact. His Boston commander, Gen. William Howe, however, informed him that the Americans wanted nothing less than to establish their own sovereignty.

April 19, 1776, proved to be a fateful day, as the Battle of Concord revealed that Howe's diagnosis was correct. Americans were determined to be a free people. The English felt they had to save face before their other colonies, and subsequently went to war. It was a costly decision. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, for instance, the British emerged victorious, but suffered 1,000 casualties. The majority of the English felt that, basically, Americans were just "rabble rousers" with guns. The colonists lacked discipline and had almost no experience fighting a war. Their early demise was predicted and the British hired foreign mercenaries--mostly Hessians--to help do the dirty work of putting them in their place.

McCullough is excellent at giving thumb-nail sketches of major participants from both sides. He portrays George Washington as a great and inspiring figure, but one who nevertheless had his flaws. Among these was occasional indecisiveness and lack of military expertise--especially as compared to the British generals he faced. Washington had his quiet moments when he despaired of having accepted leadership of the Continental Army due to its ineptness. The soldier's hearts were in the right place, but they were a ragamuffin lot. Some deserted when things got tough and many others left precipitately when their enlistment period was up. Some, however, brought their sons to fight with them. Washington always set an example, if only in the fact that he, one of the wealthiest Americans, risked his fame and fortune in the Revolution.

A great believer in military intelligence, Washington paid almost any price to get information about the enemy. He kept in close contact with John Hancock and John Adams, asking them to help lobby a penurious Congress for monies needed to carry on the war effort. The Army always was short of gunpowder, as importing it was difficult, given the British fleet patrolling the vicinity.

A particularly interesting account is given of the Continental Army's siege of British-held Boston. Eventually, the former were forced to leave. Washington was worried the enemy would now attack New York, a city heavy with Tory sympathizers. In fact, they evacuated to Halifax only to regroup and later take New York.

The book ends on the thrilling episode of Washington crossing the ice-clogged Delaware River and on Christmas Day surprising the Hessians in Trenton, N.J., wounding 90, killing 21, and capturing 900. American casualties amounted to four wounded!

This potboiler is no fiction and should make all of us proud to have such a heritage.

Reviewed by GERALD F. KREYCHE American Thought Editor

COPYRIGHT 2006 Society for the Advancement of Education
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