Patriots, The Men Who Started the American Revolution by A.J.Langguth

This book is a natural follow-up to one’s high school American history lessons that may have been mostly highlights in the first place, but might also be largely forgotten in the second. As the author wrote in his acknowledgements, he intended his book for the reader who “knew that Washington had crossed the Delaware but didn’t know why; that Benedict Arnold had betrayed his country, but didn’t know how.”  Exactly.  

This book is thematically similar to Langguth’s book on the war of 1812 in his use of topics, as opposed to a chronology of events, to tell the story of the beginnings of the American Revolution.  The approach works well. 

A closer-up look at familiar firebrands like Samuel Adams, James Otis, Thomas Paine, Patrick Henry and John Hancock shows them to be lesser lights when it comes to intellect and brain power and more accurately seen as dreamers and instigators; they are a collection of rather self-serving and unappealing individuals on closer reading.  They were all much as John Adams described Thomas Paine.  They, like Paine, had… “a better hand in pulling down than building.” (p. 340)  I conjecture that the work of building up was done by the likes of Adams (John), Jefferson, Washington, Madison and Hamilton.   

On the British side, King George III and some of the British appointments like Hutchinson and Bernard come across as neither so vile nor so tyrannical.  Even the British generals Howe, Burgoyne and Clinton are more bureaucratic than they are cutthroat.    

Benjamin Franklin is one of the most elusive characters of all. He is in his 60s as the colonies begin their quest for independence.  He is neither the firebrand that I thought he was nor is he particularly in the forefront of the movement for independence.  He is in Europe during most of the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary period and operates behind the scenes. For my taste, John Adams stands out from the crowd as a surprising model of prudence and statesmanship and he is easily the most level-headed of the patriots.   Adams was not showy or particularly impressive in any way.  He wasn’t a great orator, he wasn’t a great writer and he was not a physically commanding presence.  Yet he unceasingly read the big picture with insight and clarity. His lack of stage personality may be what gave him the ability to be so consistently honest and balanced.    

The Revolutionary War endured until 1781 with the British surrender at Yorktown. It took until 1783 to establish the terms for peace. If Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence is the document that served as the colonies’ formal declaration of war (and there is no other that I remember reading about), then many of the familiar events associated with the American Revolution occurred either prior to the actual beginning of the war or within its first year! 

Thus, the Stamp Act and associated rioting 1765, the Boston Massacre 1770, the Boston Tea Party 1773, the convenings of the Continental Congresses 1774 and 1775, the battles of Lexington and Concord and Bunker Hill, all 1775, the establishment of a continental army with George Washington at its command 1775, even Washington’s first bloodless victory in Boston (March of 1776) all preceded Jefferson’s penning of the Declaration.   

What followed that same year were the American defeats in the battles in New York (Brooklyn and Kips’ Bay, the retreat to Harlem Heights and then White Plains for the Americans), then Washington’s retreat to New Jersey and Pennsylvania from which point he made his Christmas Day crossing of the ice-packed Delaware River to stage his successful attack on the Hessian soldiers in Trenton.  December of 1776 ushered in the battle of Princeton prior to which Washington made his impassioned plea to his soldiers to give him six weeks more service to the cause. They did and the colonies were triumphant at Princeton.  The year of 1776 was just completed!  

I have copious notes on the battles that followed as well as other aspects of the war.  I confess to having skipped over three chapters in this lengthy book.  They were chapters on the battles of Bunker Hill, Saratoga and Yorktown.  My ability to process and digest the strategies and particulars of battles seems to be shamefully limited whether through a lack of brain power on my part or disinterest I’m not sure.  Probably both.  After a point, I just want to know who and when and was it a win or a loss. 

I recommend this book.   The depth and breadth of this subject in which all Americans should be well-versed requires more reading on the subject.  A good follow-up will be Angels in the Whirlwind by Benson Bobrick.