Different Revolutionary Head of Army

[Beck Reilly]

Who would make the best 'replacement' for George Washington during the American Revolution?

In other words, who would you most like to have leading you into battle?

[Norman]

Honestly I think that one of the best would have been Benedict Arnold. He did a great job in and around West Point, and actually seemed to be pretty good.

[Beck Reilly]

There you go, now you can vote.

[Norman]

Nathaniel Greene was supoosedly a horrible leader. I have heard stories that his greatest military talent was to know who he should lose to at cards.

[Beck Reilly]

Norman: Really? Where'd you hear that? I've always heard that he was one of the best strategists of the American Revolution and one the better military minds this country has produced. Speaking of that, I realized I forgot someone.

[Norman]

Wait - you may be right!

I grew up in Greensburg Pa named after the general, but it had a park named St. Clair park after the not so good general. My so very far away memories may have confused the two.

[Beck Reilly]

The not-so-good general you're refering to is Arthur St. Clair, a late President of Congress and governor of the Northwest Territory, right?

[David Howery]

Gates and Lee were atrocious leaders, but somehow got in the good graces of the Congress. Arnold was a very good leader but had the misfortune to serve under Gates (IIRC) and never got any credit for his victories; that and his personal problems ended up turning him against the rebels. Greene and Morgan did a great job against Cornwallis in the south, but they always commanded pretty small forces, IIRC. I vote for Arnold... if he'd been given the high command before he was turned against the rebellion, he'd likely have done a superb job, although he didn't quite have Washington's charisma...

[Grey Wolf]

Gates and Lee were atrocious leaders, but somehow got in the good graces of the Congress. Arnold was a very good leader but had the misfortune to serve under Gates (IIRC) and never got any credit for his victories; that and his personal problems ended up turning him against the rebels. Greene and Morgan did a great job against Cornwallis in the south, but they always commanded pretty small forces, IIRC. I vote for Arnold... if he'd been given the high command before he was turned against the rebellion, he'd likely have done a superb job, although he didn't quite have Washington's charisma...

Lol, I'd vote for Benedict Arnold as the only one I've heard of :) And he did see the error of his ways at the end as well !

Grey Wolf

[David Howery]

Grey> gee, I thought you'd want Gates in there.... with him, the revolution would have come to a dismal failure, and we'd still be bland Commonwealth "God save the Queen" forelock-tugging ex-colonials :p

[G.Bone]

my question is...why is benedict arnold leading when he betrayed our nation and is generally grouped with people like quisling or brutus?

[Grey Wolf]

David, lol, the question was most capable not most preferred

Mr Bone, well, at that time did you have a nation ? Perhaps - in so far as the Confederacy was a nation in the 1860s. But the Union got them back, so Benedict Arnold could have played a position in the greater glorious British American history as any CSA defector would have had in the ACW for the Union

Grey Wolf

[David Howery]

Bone> Arnold was a very competent military leader. He did very well in the north against Burgoyne, saving the day when Gates pretty much lost it. However, for some reason Congress hated him and never gave him a bit of credit for any of his victories. Also, Arnold had some deep financial problems that were sharpened by the war. Plus, he married a hysterical Tory woman who did her damndest to turn him to the loyalist cause. All of this together turned him against the revolution. If he had been given high command early in the war and been given credit for his victories, he would have done very well on the military field. However, he didn't have Washington's charisma...

[Beck Reilly]

Just out of interest, why did someone voted for Horatio Gates.....?

[Paul Spring]

I voted for Nathaniel Greene, but as far as actual skill at military leadership goes, Benedict Arnold might have been the best. Under different circumstances, Arnold could have ranked almost as high as Washington as an American hero from the War of Independence. Arguably, Arnold and Greene both were actually better commanders in a strict military sense than Washington was, but they didn't have Washington's charisma and political skills which turned out to be just as important.

[Beck Reilly]

Actually, in terms of military importance, Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben may beat all the others. It was thanks to von Steuben that the Continental Army was transformed into a capable fighting force. He is the one that trained, disciplined, and reorganized the army. He is the one that provided a distraction for the troops during the darkest days of the Revolution (Valley Forge, winter of 1777-1778). Without him, who knows what the soldiers, seeing their friends die from starvation, the cold, and dysentary...

Can anyone else smell a 'mutiny'?

[AH Patriot]

Without Washington i dont think that Green, Steuben or Knox would ever have been noticed by anyone else. As for Gates he had a bad habet of relying on militia to much and then once he even ran from a battel and left his men. Arnold was a traitor and thats all there was to it. If he sufferd anywhere nere the same kinda of defeats that Washington had to i think he would have thrown in the towel right away. As for Lee i dont know enough about him other then i think he sufferd some kind of break down on the field. If I had to go with anyone it would be Morgan. But he sufferd from i think a form of arthritis that kept him form finshing the war. It seems to me that the role of head of the army was hand made for Washington.

[Othniel]

Daniel Morgan and his sharpshooters did quite well in the field while Knox always did really well.

[Wendell]

Steuben was likely an impossibility, as he spoke no English. Hamilton (who is not on your list) woudl be interesting.

[Melvin Loh]

Guys, what about Israel Putnam of Connecticut ? Don't forget this F&IW veteran, who commanded Connecticut troops at Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston, and who before Washington was appointed was considered for overall command of the Continental Army, although admittedly his performance in subsequent battles like Long Island showed how he failed to maintain his orig military capability.

http://www.multied.com/Bio/RevoltBIOS/PutnamIsrael.html

The reason why the command eventually went to Washington was due to Congress' desire to create a sense of nat'l unity by placing a Virginian in charge of the combined colonial effort, instead of having a New Englander continue to hold a major role in directing the campaign in NE and thereby regionalise the war effort.

[MerryPrankster]

my question is...why is benedict arnold leading when he betrayed our nation and is generally grouped with people like quisling or brutus?

Arnold was very talented, but he felt like he never got the credit he deserved and he had money problems, which is why he sold out to the British. Had he gotten to the top echelons of the Patriot command, he would have probably never become a traitor.

I don't mind Brutus very much--Caesar had just overturned the Republic and made himself dictator for life.

[Othniel]

Arnold was very talented, but he felt like he never got the credit he deserved and he had money problems, which is why he sold out to the British. Had he gotten to the top echelons of the Patriot command, he would have probably never become a traitor.
He was charged with the defense of the capital, and then he was given West Point (the point American Weakness if it is taken) How can you get any higher than that, except prehaps Command of the Continetal Army? If he hadn't of been shot in the leg (twice) he probably wouldn't been stuck in a fort or a city and most likely would have been given command of the southern army.

[Wendell]

Wasn't there a General Montgomery from that war?

[Melvin Loh]

Yeah, Gen Richard Montgomery was the other American cdr in the 1775-76 invasion of Canada, who was killed at Quebec.