February 17, 2017 Hello ,
George Washington is probably the only politician in American history with a reputation for honesty!
Although the famous confession regarding the cherry tree and six-year-old George's hatchet was pure fabrication by Washington biographer Mason Locke Weems. And it turns out, George knew when and how to tell a good lie.
"Father, I Can Not Tell a Lie: I Cut the Tree," engraving by John C. McRae, 1867.
Washington's Skillful Use of Deception |
Ironically, without Washington's skill at deception, the ragtag patriots
might never have beaten the superior fire and manpower of the British.
According to the CIA, "General Washington was more deeply involved in intelligence
operations than any American general-in-chief until Dwight Eisenhower during World War ll."
The deprivations of Valley Forge are legendary, but many historians consider the winter in 1779-1780 when Washington’s troops camped at Morristown, NJ, to be the most severe winter of the 18th century. Shown above are replicas of the
huts soldiers spent the winter in.
Then spring brought the British victory at Charleston, S.C., the worst defeat of the war and the capture of 3000 patriots and large amounts of munitions and equipment.
The Continental Army was in serious trouble. Washington knew a French fleet was sailing to his aid, but not when or where it would arrive. British General Sir Henry Clinton and his army of 10,000 sat fat and happy in New York City, while the northern patriot army lay scattered in New England.
Lacking muscle and might, Washington turned to mind games and deception.
Washington concocted a ruse meant to fool General Clinton into believing the French fleet was arriving to help the colonists liberate Canada from the
British.
Washington and General Lafayette prepared a document written in French purporting to rally Canadians to the American cause.
"It may indeed be well to throw out an idea that you are to command the corps of American troops destined to cooperate with the French armament," he wrote
Lafayette. "The more mystery in this business the better. It will get out and it ought to seem to be against our intention.”
As it turned out, the document was passed to the British by an American commander in Philadelphia--Benedict Arnold, whose traitorous behavior actually did Washington a favor.
More significant was Washington's duplicity a month later when the
French fleet landed in Rhode Island. When he learned through his spy network that General Clinton was quitting New York to engage the French, Washington wrote letters describing plans for a full-fledged attack on New York. Planting the letters with known British agents, got the word to Clinton, who came sailing back to New York allowing the newly arrived French to
rendezvous unhindered with Continental forces. The next year Washington used similar techniques to throw Clinton off and allow the patriots to march south unmolested and lay siege to Yorktown, culminating in the
British surrender and freedom for the colonies.
Lucky for us, our first president was not opposed to few untruths for a good cause.
At left, the surrender of the British army to George Washington, Yorktown, October 19 1781, by Eugene Hess. A huge shout out of thanks to Kellee Moye and Ricki Ginsberg, language arts teachers who publish the blog Unleashing Readers.
I'm thrilled they featured my article on coping with fear and overwhelm in the writing process. If you have a moment, please stop by
their blog and let them know they're appreciated. Check it out here....
Also, my heartfelt thanks to all of you who reached out with
kind words after the death of my mother. It really means a lot.
My Schedule
Saturday, February 18, 2017, 7-8:30pm
Spokane,
Washington Auntie's Bookstore
Auntie’s recognizes the extraordinary achievements of Spokane’s writing community and will be hosting an event celebrating Spokane’s Washington State Book Award winners and finalists, including Sharma
Shields, Bruce Holbert, Mary Cronk Farrell, Gregory Spatz, Nance Van Winckle, Shann Ray, Paul Lindholdt and Bill Youngs.
Tuesday, March 21, 2017 11:30am-1pm
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
Chatham University, Mellon Board Room
Women’s Leadership Lecture Series
Free, but you must register
If
you're in the neighborhood, I'd love to connect!
Until next week... Have you read a great book? Tell me about it. Have a burning question? Let me know.
If you know someone who might enjoy
my newsletter or books, please forward this e-mail. I will never spam you or sell your email address, you can unsubscribe below anytime with a single mouse click. To find out more about my books, how I help students, teacher and librarians, visit my website at www.MaryCronkFarrell.com. My best, Mary
Questions? Comments? Contact me at MaryCronkFarrell@gmail.com. Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. |
|
