Posted on 07/04/2017 2:32:11 PM PDT by Eagles Field
I always savor the insight Freeper History Buffs offer, especially the spirited difference in opinion. The easy answers are Washington, Jefferson, the like. Who are the ones unsung, where the tide may not have turned without?
Battle of Pells Point: Glover doesn’t hold Howe & Clinton, and Washington doesn’t get to White Plains then War over Oct. 18, 1776.
Unsung battle and unsung hero’s.
Saratoga was a crucial point in the Revolution. It showed that the Americans could defeat a British army and brought the French in on our side. Schuyler had set the British up using Fabian strategy and isn’t given enough credit. The memoirs of Baroness Riedesel who accompanied Burgoyne’s invading army is an interesting read. She called the Americans natural-born soldiers and good shots.
Two of my German ancestors put down their plows to fight. One scrap of a diary I have says “We encountered some Indians on the way to fight. Fought the British. Went home to farm.”
So many great military men were also alcoholics. One wonders whether their profession drove them to it.
This is one of those impossible questions to answer, but it's good to see someone remember Samuel Adams....
I think it’s more that everyone drank like fishes in those days, regardless of profession.
Galveston, Texas and Galvez, La. are named in honor of Gálvez.
I’ll have to agree. If Felxner says it was Washington, that is a good enough source for me. I finally found a copy of Flexner’s six volume history of Washington last year. Haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
Oh, I like that approach.
Halleck and Lincoln actually assigned a young officer to Grant whose primary task was to keep him away from prospective suppliers to the Army who would ply him with champagne and liquor in an attempt to get business. Lincoln finally arranged to have Grant’s wife brought to camp.
I was doing research on my paternal ancestors in Georgia around 1994. One type of record which was well preserved was Revolutionary War Veterans requests for pensions. They were required to provide such info as one would expect.
One thing was what battles campaigns etc. they participated in. I noticed a really large number had listed “The Florida Campaign” as if everyone knew what that was. I have never heard of it in the history books but it must have been fairly well known back then.
He’s the best. His one-volume “Washington: The Indispensable Man” is also great.
Thanks, but I don’t think his interviews really get to the heart of the matter. It’s like he’s got his six questions & has to get through them.
yes, in PHUSA we make the point that it’s ironic: the French Navy really only wins one major victory over the Brits-—in our Revolution!
You have to wonder if in fact Houston had taken his 1500 men to the Alamo, given that the 250 guys in the Alamo inflicted 1000 casualties on the Mexicans, imagine what 1750 men with more artillery might have done!
Yes, to be sure he did have a “time”, but it was temporary and yet it stuck with his reputation till this day.
I remember years ago how I was going to read that series I just bought, but then there was a TV series over several weeks about Washington that they said was based on those books. Well, I was checking them out from the library and they just disappeared.
I saide to myself, OK I’ll read about the Civil War, and began to accumulate some used books. That worked for a while until Ken Burns presented his Civil War series. You can then guess what luck I had finding books at used book and thrift stores.
Sam made it real clear to abandon the Alamo as it would not be receiving support. It confused Santa Ana, why would Houston give that post up?
Deception. Sam learned studying George that your enemy can be conquered by feint. That’s why the Alamo is right up there with other ‘battkes’ that that the enemy fell for.
General Herkimer who held off the British under St. Leger at Oriskeny. That left Burgoyne alone to fight Saratoga.
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