When the first American Congress selected George Washington to be the Commander In Chief of the forces fighting the British, they picked a man with limited experience.
Washington had not been in the military service for more than fifteen years, his experience limited to fighting in the backwoods. He was not a seasoned leader, having commanded nothing larger than a regiment of men. The one expedition he had been on as one of the leaders resulted in disaster.
Yet, almost instinctively, Washington knew he needed to find an advantage to end the British occupation of Boston. Even before he assumed command, Washington took stock of what he had in his favor, and what was working against him. More than two hundred years later, Jim Collins would write about “facing the brutal facts of your current reality” in his best selling book Good to Great. (This book is available at www.amazon.com).
Washington also subscribed to something else Collins shared in his book: the Stockdale Paradox. Admiral James Stockdale was the highest ranking prisoner held by North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. His greatest teaching from that time period was the understanding that a person must “retain faith that you will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties and, at the same time, confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they may be.” (If you like Collin’s work, you can keep track of his work by visiting www.AuthorTracker.com).
At his first council of war, on July 9, 1775, it was suggested that the Americans move forward and take the Dorchester Heights overlooking Boston, providing the needed advantage. This would likely force the British to either fight to take the Heights themselves, or to abandon Boston altogether, thus breaking the stalemate. The idea was unanimously rejected by those present. By October, nothing had changed and the stalemate continued.
Three days after he took command, Washington met Henry Knox, a Boston book store owner, a patriot and a leader of the Boston Grenadier Corps. Washington had made no secret of his dislike of New Englanders but he knew that in order to be successful in his mission, he would have to set aside his own personal preferences and bias. Washington resolved to put his best people on his biggest opportunities instead of on his biggest problems regardless of where they came from or their background.
It was Knox who suggested to Washington a way to break the siege. The Americans had captured Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain in May, but had abandoned the facility and left its captured artillery there. Knox suggested to Washington that the guns could be retrieved and hauled overland to Boston. With a budget of $1000 and a mission to “get the artillery to Boston” Knox set out on November 16, 1775 with the odds stacked against him.
Washington’s situation in Boston continued to worsen, with troop enlistments expiring, men not being paid, everyone on short rations and nature working against them. The winter of 1775-76 came early and was bitterly cold. On January 14, 1776, Washington wrote one of the most despairing letters of his life stating, “Few people know the predicament we are in.”
Just 4 days later, on January 18, word arrived from Knox that the guns from Fort Ticonderoga were on their way. His force brought them by ox-drawn sled south along the west bank of the Hudson River from Fort Ticonderoga to Albany, where they crossed the Hudson and then continued east through The Berkshires and finally to Boston. Knox and his men averaged approximately 5 miles per day, completing the 300 mile trip through the wilderness in 56 days, between December 5, 1775, and January 24, 1776. Their “Cannon Train” was composed of fifty-nine cannon and mortars, and weighed a total of 60 tons.
The Americans moved on Dorchester Heights after sunset on March 4, completing the advance by the morning of March 5. Washington had come to understand how important the concept of recognition was as a leader. As the sun rose on the American forces overlooking Boston, it was the sixth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, considered by many to be the start of the American Revolution.
The basis for this article comes from David McCullough’s best selling book 1776, which is available for purchase at your local bookstore, or by going to such fine booksellers as:
