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by Douglas M. Branson.
Hardback (6.5×9.5 inches). 258 pages. 2025.
Subtitle: Major Versus Brigadier Generals in the Revolutionary War
The concept is quite interesting: comparing and contrasting the performance of American major generals with American brigadier generals.
The focus is on 11 leaders, seven major generals and four brigadier generals.
These are: Arthur St. Clair, Adam Stephen, Robert Howe, Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, Thomas Mifflin, and Thomas Conway versus Hugh Mercer, William Lee Davidson, Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg, and William Woodford. All receive a mini bio and a maxi look at their battlefield performance.
I already had some knowledge of three major generals and their leadership transgressions: Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, and Thomas Conway. The rest were generally new to me. Ditto with Mercer and the other three brigadier generals.
Besides the jockeying for power and position, itself a distraction from winning the war, I enjoyed the insights into their battlefield prowess or lack thereof. That George Washington would persevere in the face of backbiting, jockeying for power, and incompetence is a miracle. That’s the difference between placing country over self and being a self-serving narcissist.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
