Friday, October 2, 2009

This Glorious Struggle: George Washington's Revolutionary War Letters by Edward G. Lengel



A collection of letters (not all, mind you) written by General George Washington during the Revolutionary years (1775-1783).

There are only two letters to his wife Martha, both written in 1775 when Washington accepted the post of General. The rest were burned by Martha when Washington died in 1799. The rest are letters composed to members of congress (usually the President of the Continental Congress), friends, various family members, his generals and to a few citizens.

Even included is a letter that may have not been written by Washington at all, but might be a forgery. Also included are his farewell to his army when they disbanded after news of the Treaty of Paris reached the Americans at the end of October 1783. The final letter included in this collection is Washington's resignation, read aloud to congress two days before Christmas 1783.

Particularly interesting are Washington's views of what the American Revolution will mean to future generations and also his views of the future of this new country.

Good read. Took a while to get through, not for lack of interest, but because reading letter after letter can get tedious after a while. Worth it in the end.


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