Washington's Partisan War, 1775-1783

by Mark V. Kwasny

Kwasny (history, Ohio State U.-Newark) analyzes George Washington's generalship and the importance of the state militia in the middle states around New York City, arguing that Washington's combined use of 18th century military doctrine and the use of the militia as partisans reveals Washington's significant strategic abilities. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Genres: History, Military History, American Revolutionary War, Nonfiction

425 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important book for those of us who study the American Revolution. This book reminds us that the Revolutionary War was not really a war at all in the way we have come to define it since the world wars of the 20th century. In the 8 years of battles that ended with the British evacuation of New York City in 1783, there took place only a handful of direct battlefield encounters between Washington's Continentals and the British Army (e.g., Brooklyn, Trenton, Saratoga, Brandywine, Camden). Instead the vast majority of the fighting was done by the farmers, shopkeepers, mechanics and tradesmen of the irregular state militias (particularly in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) in skirmishes, ambushes, raids and advance scouting and pickets, Of these small-scale battles, many, if not most, were against Tory brigades, reminding us further that the Revolutionary War was as much a civil war as a war between nations. We know that for the entire war, Washington had, at best, an ambivalent view of the state militiamen. Their lack of discipline, stamina and reliability had him constantly imploring Congress for a larger regular standing army, yet he also praised them when they succeeded in their duty. In fact, through hard experience during the course of the war, Washington learned more and more how best to use the militia and showed himself to be an exceptional tactician by exploiting the militia's strengths in support of his overall strategy. For Kwasny, despite their many failings, the state militias were essential to the American victory. Their contributions (however inconsistent) as scouts, local guards, skirmishers, and hit-and-run guerillas kept the British on the defensive and allowed Washington and his army to keep away from full-scale battle with a stronger, more experienced enemy until that enemy was so worn down that abandoning the war was its only viable alternative.