Monday, July 11, 2016

A QUIRKY LOOK AT THE MILITARY CAMPAIGNS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

BOOK REVIEW

A FIRST SALUTE, BARBARA TUCHMAN, HYPERION, NEW 2000


Since the ending of the American Revolution historians have probably presented the narrative of the military campaigns which led to independence in every possible way. Ms. Tuchman, well known for her quirky looks at other historical events such as World War I, the Middle Ages and China in the 1930’s and 40’s, has done a commendable job of linking up the land war with the less well known, but crucial, naval campaigns of the Revolution. Ms. Tuchman’s argument is that, given the nature of the evolution of 18th century warfare, particularly British warfare as it became Queen of the seas, the land war could not be successful without the naval component, whether by an indigenous Continental navy or, more importantly, with French naval assistance. Fair enough, as far as she goes.

The key to understanding the American Revolution is that of an early national liberation struggle that like all such struggles were desperately in need of arms. And like all such struggles the rebels were not particular about where they got them. This, in the final analysis, is the importance of the first salute- that is the recognition of the colonials to belligerent status by the Dutch in the West Indies where the American rebels could get arms and ammunition. Ms. Tuchman mentions this need in passing but does not expand on it and rather gets caught up going off on a tangent about the history of the Dutch, French and British struggle for naval supremacyin the 17th and 18th centuries.

Ms. Tuchman‘s book is, however, marred by more than the question of a different emphasis on particular aspects of the military struggle. And for lack of a better expression, it is her underlying theme of the futility of war as a means of solving political problems. In the great beyond every thoughtful person would hope that pacific day would come (and damn soon). However in the world of the American Revolutionary War, a just war, is sometimes the only legitimate way to resolve political questions. Call it the march of folly, if you will, but that is the case here. Thus, Ms. Tuchman may snigger at the incompetent and defeatism of the military and civilian leadership of the British forces but to be consistent she would have to fault the American forces as well. The plain hard fact of the matter was that the British monarchy was, short of war, not going to grant any of the colonial demands. End of story. Thus, not only was the American Revolution a just war from the colonial side but a necessary one. Ms. Tuchman, moreover, gives the game away by her sincere admiration of General Washington and his hard scrabble forces. Following her premise we today would be still bending our knees before the Queen. No way.

No comments:

Post a Comment