Bradburn, traces the president s military career from french and indian war, through the American Revolution. Here we are again. Welcome back to mt. Vernon. My name is doug bradburn. Im the president and ceo of George Washingtons mt. Vernon. And its been my delight to have these opportunities to talk about the story of George Washington. Last wednesday we were in our museum, this is what we call our Education Center here at mt. Vernon. It focuses on the life of George Washington. Really, a grand sense of his biography and why he matters and how he impacted the age that he lived in and why his legacy Still Matters to us today. Last time we were looking at his youth, a youth that youll remember we said is oftentimes enwrapped in romance. Its wrapped in myth. Its hard to get at because its the period where its least documented. But it really is an interesting period to understand George Washington in the context of the 18th century. Of course, hes most known to americans and perhaps to folks around the world as a great military commander, war for independence, through eight long years of war. And his identity as a warrior is a crucial one when we think about who was George Washington, how did he think of himself, as, and why does it matter today. George washington as a military commander is still studied regularly in the great military disciplines in this country at west point, the naval academy, as well as the war college. Washington is a fundamental figure in the establishment of an american tradition of leadership in arms. He was the first officer of the American Army. The United States army dates its own birth to his service. And the Continental Congress appointment of him taking over the army. So that story is important for thinking about the cultures and the traditions part of American Military power and military leadership today. George washington also was a man of the 18th century. He lived in a very different world. With different assumptions about how warfare should be conducted and what was needed. And some of that, i hope, will come out as well. What was different about the way an 18th century officer might organize troops. Versus today, as well. So lets get into it. I want to start with the french and indian war. George washingtons military education was through the process of fighting in the french and indian war. He had no experience leading men into battle. He had no experience creating a camp, building a supply train, or any of that. So he learned a lot of basics in the field through long service in the french and indian war, and also by many mistakes. He had a skirmish that turned into a nasty assassination as the french consider it. He lost one of his early commands at the battle of fort necessity, where he had the virginia regiment and other troops surrounded by british, with no native american allies, and ultimately had to surrender his post in that moment. And he survived to go on to great things in the french and indian war. He went on to be known as a very respected officer and respected colonial officer. Particularly by virginians, but also by colonials throughout north america. In part this had to do with his exploits at whats off called braddocks defeat. General edward braddock, the Great British he wasnt great. He was a fairly inexperienced by longserving british commander who was sent to attack ft. Decain in 1755. And George Washington served as a volunteer on his staff. At this Point Washington resigned his commission but braddock, in asking around for informed locals, braddock has his war meeting at the John Carlisle house. John carlyle was also married to a daughter of william fairfax. So George Washington was on the radar of people in alexandria when braddock was looking for expertise and he agreed to volunteer. Braddock agreed to have him. It served braddocks army ultimately, because George Washington was able to help lead the retreat after braddocks army was caught by an ambush of well prepared native americans. Braddocks whole army is decimated and washington is able to help guide this retreat through chaos, only a few miles away from the ohio river, which was their goal. George washington comes back after that and finds virginia undefeated. One of the things they did is built a big road. They carved out a road, an army road to make it easier for braddock to bring his army out there. Once they were defeated, it became a highway for native americans to come rushing back throughout the virginia frontier and assault the settlers in the shenandoah valley. So the colony of virginia begged George Washington to come back into service to become the colonel of the virginia regiment with a new plan essentially, a t Strategic Plan to defend the frontier. And washington found himself in an incredibly challenging position for the next few years. It was a defensive one where he only had about 1,000 men, he was supposed to have about 2,000 men, but it was never that many, across multiple forts in the shenandoah valley, intended to cover 400 miles essentially of frontier. And of course native americans are not stupid, they will not just attack the forts, they would go around those and attack the settlements, carry away captives and make civilian life miserable and dangerous on that frontier and keep the whole colony on edge. Washington was in a difficult position of having to defend the fronti frontier, but one of the things he did learn is how to command and train men, how to fight in what at that time was called the indian style in the woods, using light infantry tactics, learning how to track native american groups, and learning about supply and morale and motivation. There is an episode at one of the 40s that washington is in charge of where he had been away from for a while and comes back and there had been drunken carousing by some of the officers and washington goes through the process of a courtmartial, and he has to exercise punishment. After that, he writes an address to the virginia regiment, officers of the virginia regiment, which basically says that it takes more than the title to make the officer. And that it will make it his duty to serve with the utmost respect to the rules of comportment and training, but he would expect that of the others, as well. He said that he would punish with severity, but at the same time, he looks forward to rewarding the merit of the best. The brave and the most meritorious. And that notion he was going to reward merit was the key to understanding washingtons sense of leadership means in that environment. And he puts s an emphasis on training and reading and lists books that officers should read. So the other thing i want to bring up before we get into the American Revolutionary war more generally is that George Washington really become s alienated from the british world for the first time during his experience in the french and indian war. He trained the virginia regiment over these three long years of bloody campaigns, as he called them. They are an established military unit at the province wide level, but they arent whats called the regular british establishment. So theyre not part of the british army per se. Theyre provincial regiment. So George Washingtons commission as a colonel is not effective when hes around an officer who has a Kings Commission. A Kings Commission at the level of captain is supposed to be able to have authority over provincial colonels, which to George Washington is seen as an insult to his rank and honor. So this there is constant concern that the provincials are going to serve alongside regular troops and all of their officers will be graded in the eyes of the troops. So washington was trying to get his own commission and his whole regimen put on a british establishment that equalizes his own status within the british army more generally, but also would do the same for his fellow officers. He had 60 or 70 officers in the virginia regiment. This comes to a head a couple times throughout the course of the french and indian war and he fails to get this recognition. He thinks the great opportunity has emerged with the appointment of a new british commander in chief in about 1756 or 7, which is the earl of loudoun, john campbell, the earl of loudoun. John campbell is a scottsman. He is also a nobleman, the earl of loudoun. And he is appointed the commander and chief. Hes also appointed the royal governor of virginia, which is really point, because the royal governor of virginia obviously represents the throne, the crown in the virginia colony. Virginia is mostly run by what are called lieutenant dwofr ngo. So we have a royal governor, he appoints a Lieutenant Governor who goes and runs the colony on behalf of the actual governor. Most of the time he stays in scotland or in england collecting his salary, but not actually doing anything. In this case, all of a sudden, the royal governor of virginia, the real royal governor, the big cheese, is coming to the colonies. Hes also the commander in chief of all the forces. So heres George Washington think thing is perfect for me, because im the colonel of the virginia regiment, so i have that connection to this royal governor. Plus, im obviously serving in this war, so has that connection to the commander in chief. Plus ive got all this experience in fighting in this war. He has a strategic idea that he wants to bring to his superiors. He wants to go on the offensive. He knows that they can take the forks of the ohio, where the french where built ft. Duchesne, thats the launches point of native american raids southward into pennsylvania from the forks of the ohio. Its a place where the americans are coming from canada and other places coming down and launching raids into the frontier of pennsylvania, virginia, North Carolina and even further south. So if you could take ft. Duchesne, you could cut off that whole regions ability to sustain native warfare on the frontier. Washington knows this. It is the hive that they have to destroy. He wants to go on a mission, he wants to convince the new commander in chief, lord loudoun, to make this assault on the ohio. So what does he do . He takes his he writes a very flattering letter to lord loudoun. He names his new fort after loudoun. He writes a flattering letter that were so delighted that youre now in charge. He goes to give where he is. And loudoun, of course, hes the commander in chief of the british army. This is an idea about what they should be doing. That is typically not the way that these sorts of decisions are made. So washington is put on ice. Here he is cooling his jets for two weeks in philadelphia trying to get the attention of lord loudoun. He is finally allowed to see him whanld does loudoun do . He says i have no interest in hearing your ideas, young man. Washington is only 24 at the time. From loudouns point of view, from little experience. And he is a provincial to begin with, so he doesnt know about warfare from the perspective of a european. So not only do they go on the offensive, but washingtons virginia blues, this regiment that hes trained over these years, hes going to have to lose some of his men who will be sent to south carolina. So washington emerges from this meeting completely humiliated and angry. And writes what i called the smoking gun letter that he writes to the Lieutenant Governor of washington, who he has been working, and he says, i cannot conceive that americans, only because theyre not british, will be denied the rights of british subjects. Hes essentially saying how come we arent treated equally with the british . He goes on to point out there is no other regimen that served three bloody campaigns without recognition. And that idea that americans are lesser than the british comes through very powerfully in an angry way. I think that this is the crucial moment if anyone was to ask why does George Washington ultimately become a rebel against the king . Who he served in the french and indian war. This experience is one of those moments you can point to sea say there is poor George Washington being treated like a dog, and he is never going to forget it. So ultimately, the french and indian war, washington does participate one other thing about loudoun ill say. To give you a sense of the character of john campbell, Benjamin Franklin said of lord loudoun, hes like st. George on the tavern side. Always on horseback but never going anywhere. You get the sense of the man who played a great soldier but never did much. Ultimately, George Washington does participate in a successful march on ft. Duchesne. He goes a forbes campaign. That was in 1758. In that campaign, he believes he has a major impact on helping to lay out the plan of the line of march, because he has experience with this sort of wood fighting. He also even though he doesnt get what he wanted, he wanted fors to take the same route that braddock did, but forbes took a longer but flatter route through pennsylvania. Ultimately had the same success the french left the fort before the british arrived. So that basically ended the french and indian war in the south. The french had no way to project power south of the great lakes. So when that was over, George Washington resigned his commission. It was clear that his ambition in the military was not going to be in the british army. He resigns his commission, marries marsha washington and embarks on his next year as a virginia planter. It is really interesting to see that as connected. That he is turning his back on a military career that has been denied him. And now hes really going to become that virginia planter that he had never had been. And to do that he brings martha to mt. Vernon and the next faze of his life begins. Okay, lets go fast forward then to the American Revolutionary war and why dont i take a question as a way to get into it. As a way to think about George Washington as a soldier. Sure, so washington was one of historys greatest generals, who who were his mentors and how did he learn strategies during wartime . The question is about washington considering that he is one of the greatest generals, and i will submit that he is and we can argue that and why we have to think about him that way. So who were his mentors in arms . How did he learn . A couple interesting things, he learned by doing here. One of the incredible things you see about him is that he will fail or blunder and make mistakes. But he clearly learns from his experiences in the french and indian war. And also in the American Revolution as we will talk about as well. But he was also a great reader of all the military books of the age. He clearly learned a lot from braddock and the officers who surrounded him. People like thomas gage that he will later faus off against in the boston theater. But also you know you ran all of the latest, he started to focus particularly on what was sort of tracks, light infantry, a guerrilla war that we might call it today. But in the 18th century, the european mind of war far was fairly stuck in a tendency that had basically existed for almost 100 years. The technology had not changed that much. The british were using a musket. It was like the musket that they were using in 1705. They were using it in the wars around the 1710s. The brown bess musket, which the british used. And these were, you would mask fire power, and the goal was to outmaneuver, you know, outnumber the other teams infantry on the other side. It was very static in the way they were thinking about tactics and the approach to war fighting at the time. So washington is learning from this european tradition through their manuals that emphasize drill, lines of men with muskets that would march close together and shoot at pointblank range. Until the other side was weakened. Then they would charge by the bayonet. This is how european battles had been fought for hundreds of years. After the evolution of the bayonet on to the musket. And calvary was used in minimal ways as well in these major 18th century european battles. So washington could learn about this tendency of warfare. He also learned from the ancients as well. Interestingly, he read julius ceasar. And caesar, the commentaries on gall that washington was reading while he was defending the british frontier. Caesar is talking about the challenges of defeating an enemy, in this case the german tribes, that fought in a different way than the romans had been fighting. In a sense washington is learning from these tracks. You know the great military figures in the 18th century were you know you have the ancients like phabias. He was able to defeat hannibal. Youve got ceasar. Youve got the moderns. You have the 30 years war. You have maurice of nassau. You have william of orange. You have prince eugene. Youve got frederick the great. In washingtons time frederick the great is the living greatest general. He is the pinnacle of the highest level of what tactics had approached. Bringing fire power to bear. Emphasis on highly trained expensive permanent armies that you would not use very often and hopefully you would not not many of them would die because they were so expensive to train and maintain over the period a and so the warfare tended to be focused on siege craft. When you think about battles and fighting in europe, youre thinking about seizing rivers and fortresses. These armies move extremely slowly. Their supply lines can only be a couple days away at most. They require fodder and food. And horses. One military story described 18th century armies as sort of theyre shackled by their supply line. So imagine a gi