1776 by David McCullough
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Book Summary Author: David McCullough Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2006-06-27 ISBN: 0743226720 Number of pages: 400 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Accessories:
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Book Reviews of the 1776
Customer Review: Should Have Been Titled: "The Times That Try Men's Souls"
Summary: 4 Stars
As much as I respect and enjoy David McCullough's works on American History, "1776" is a misnomer.
Why?
Because McCullough concentrates his book strictly on the period engulfing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the battle of New York, the almost disintegration of George Washington's little army, and finally how Washington turned things around at Trenton on Christmas Day.
The debacle of the Continentals in Canada* is not mentioned, nor is the battle of Valcour Island, which in many ways was as decisive as Washington's escape from Howe as it prevented the British from moving down into upstate New York and New England for a year.
The book's main foci is the persona of George Washington.
So, why the four stars?
Honestly I was expecting McCullough to finally address a mystery of history that NO contemporary historians - or even the majority of earlier ones ever addressed.
That mystery was why George Washington rejected the services of Robert Rogers, then turned around and had Rogers arrested as a British agent. Having escaped from American custody, the embittered Rogers turned around and offered his services to the British.
So, you're asking - WHO WAS ROBERT ROGERS???
Ever hear of the Green Berets or the Rangers? Robert Rogers, American-born and bred, was the "grandpappy" of our current Rangers and Green Berets. His "Roger's Rangers" almost singlehandedly stopped the French and Indian atrocities on our Northeastern frontier during the French and Indian Wars. He was also active in putting down "Pontiac's Rebellion" and suggested a "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific 40 years before Lewis and Clark.
By 1763, the exploits and career of Rogers had eclipsed those of his fellow American Washington's. So why his fall from grace and obscurity?
Well, I hope David McCullough would have addressed this. Rogers had a dark side. He gambled much, he drank copious amounts of liquor, he was a womanizer, and he was rude and crude - a woodsman who did not have Washington's education or diplomatic skills. His debts landed him in prison time and time again. At the time of Lexington and Concord, he was in a British prison. He got back to America, and almost immediately offered his services to Washington and the Continental Army. Instead, Washington threw Rogers in jail under the suspicion of being a British agent. Rogers escaped, and ended up forming Tory Ranger units fighting against his countrymen three years before Benedict Arnold turned traitor. Embittered, dissolute, heavily into drink and debt, Rogers left America with the retreating British at the end of the Revolution, and died a pauper in London, a decade after Yorktown.
One recent biography of Rogers by John Cuneo mentions Washington's antipathy towards Rogers but offers little more. So why did a Washington, who along with the Continental Congress overlooked the inadequacies of Arthur St. Clair, Horatio Gates and Charles Lee, all ex-British Army officers who incompetently led American troops during the Revolution (Washington, in a famous episode even "chewed out" Lee after he botched the Monmouth battle)rejected a Rogers whose skills were well-known and respected. Could Washington have been jealous?
(* an aside: Richard Montgomery, the only British General who came over to us and whose star may have shone brilliantly, was killed in the doomed assault on Quebec that might have brought Canada into the United States. McCullough only mentions Montgomery once, in a message sent to Washington informing him of Montgomery's death)
This is something I would have expected David McCullough to investigate, research, and address, and I am disappointed that after "Mornings on Horseback" and "John Adams" he did not do so.
He mentions that Israel Putnam was brave almost reckless combat general but unskilled in leading large formations of men. Why? Was the scheming Charles Lee any better? and why no mention - unless I missed it, of Benedict Arnold and Valcour Island?
McCullough has written a solid history of - THE TIMES THAT TRIED MENS SOULS - a book that deserves its place on the shelf of those who collect American Histories. I just wished that he would have added more.
Any contact information for Mr. McCullough?