About book Washington's General: Nathanael Greene And The Triumph Of The American Revolution (2006)
Nathanael Greene was one of George Washington's most trusted subordinates. This book does a signal job in describing why this was the case and why Greene deserved this trust. Greene was a most unlikely military leader. He was a complete amateur, coming into the military with very little martial background. He had a physical disability. Early on, he made a major error in the New York campaign, leading to the loss of troops who could not be spared, when the fort that he had urged be defended fell--with no strategic gain in the process. Another leader might have cashiered Greene, but Washington maintained his faith in the junior officer. Greene played an important role in the desperate attack on Trenton. When General Gates suffered a disastrous defeat in the south, Greene was dispatched to somehow try to retrieve the situation. Greene did well. The irony of his life is that--after having provided yeoman service to the new republic--he did not long survive the victory to enjoy the fruits of success. This is a solid biography of an underappreciated Revolutionary War leader; it is well worth reading.
Most people do not know who Nathanael Greene was or the amount that he contributed to America's independence from Great Britain. He was one of Washington's generals, but was overshadowed by Horatio Gates and Henry Knox. Golway makes Greene very relatable to the reader as somebody who was truly human. He walked with a limp, but through hard work, rose through the ranks to become one of Washington's most trusted generals. When looking at somebody like Nathanael Greene, it is important to discuss, much like JQA, where he came from and why his role was significant. In this book, Golway showed me that it is not only important to do those two things, but find common ground between your subject and your reader. If this gap is not bridged, it is difficult to connect with a text. I felt like I was able to connect with Nathanael Greene more than any of the other Revolutionaries I have read about.
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