of willpower triumphing over everything else. so, washington discovered that his was to be a war of attrition, a test of political endurance as much or more than military might. in other ways, washington, the military chieftain, bore little semblance to the aspiring officer of his youth. he lost more battles than he won, to be sure, yet he bested his enemies in the critical struggle for public opinion. he recognized that it was part of his job to appeal endlessly to his civilian superiors for trained soldiers in place of raw militia, for supplies, ammunition and money worth more than the paper it was printed on. he kept his grumbling to himself, maintained a brave front in public and remained with his army throughout its greatest travails. martha, of course, joined him. showing concern for his men, he

saw that they were inoculated against smallpox, preventing an epidemic that might well have destroyed the tattered remnant of an army that trudged through the jersey hills and retreated from philadelphia. which brings us back to general washington astride his mount here in the education center, staring purposefully out at visitors to modern-day mt. vernon. the year is 1777, the place a bleak and wind-swept camp called valley forge. perched in the hills northwest of philadelphia, the rebel capital recently surrendered to general howe's redcoats. valley forge represents the war's low point for washington and his shivering army. a year has passed since the surprise victories at trenton and princeton. no one who observed the british route at princeton would ever forget the sight of washington astride blueskin pursuing the fleeing invaders while shouting at the top of his voice "it's a fine fox chase, boys!"sive

instincts, the commanding general believed that history might repeat itself at germantown in the philadelphia suburbs, ten months after his little army did the impossible to the watch words victory or death. once again, washington counted on the element of surprise to shift the odds in his favor. his overly complex battle required no fewer than four separate columns to converge on the same spot by as many routes. in the event the morning fog obscured his vision, at one point the fearless commander rode far out in front of his army. exposing himself to enemy fire, chm in the sound of mind th whizzing bullets. victory appeared to be in his grasp when an unexpected volley to the rear spread panic in his ranks. in the end, washington's

elaborate plan of attack defeated itself, as various contingents of his army mistook one another for the enemy. germantown added to the general's gloom. quote, i do not think any officer since the creation ever had such a v difficulties and perplexities to encounter as i have. his despair was reinforced that winter as valley forge became a synonym for desperation and half-naked men lacking blankets or beef battled frostbite, typhoid, the stench of dead horses, and the indifference of their countrymen. under the circumstances, washington did not lki on civilian complaints. criticism from the pennsylvania legislature left him unmoved except to sarcasm. quote, i can assure those gentlemen that it is a much easier and less distressing

thing to draw remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fireside than to occupy a cold, bleak hill and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blank kets. and then, at the worst possible moment, political infighting threatened to do what britain's splendid military machine had thus far failed to achieve -- drive washington from the field. news of horatio gates' victory at saratoga lit the fuse on long moldering dissatisfactions as washington faced a rebellion named for thomas conway, a hot-headed irishman agitating for his own promotion. after conway tattled to congress of the general's shortcomings, meddling lawmakers proposed to install him, conway, atop a new board of war, charged with overall supervision of the war effort. this backdoor attempt to elicit washington's resignation came to grief when an indiscrete aide

exposed conway's scheme and gates' apparent acquiescence of the campaign to replace the commander in chief. conway overplayed his hand, washington let silence speak volumes. he was a master of silence. in the end, writes ron chernow, quote, it was perhaps less his military skills than his character that eclipsed all competitors. his political instincts didn't hurt. hungry as his army was, washington refused to seize provisions at the point of a bayonet. his deference to the people's representatives did not blind him to human weakness or shifting loyalties. it was all very well to talk of patriotism," he wrote in the spring of 1778. quote, but whoever builds upon it as a sufficient basis for conducting a long and bloody war

will find themselves deceived in the end. for a time it may itself push men of action, to bear much, to encounter difficulties, but it will not endure unassisted by interest." "nothing but disunion could hurt our cause," washington said at another time. washington, whose political career found expression in a series of circulars he now directed to the states. "certain i am that unless congress speaks in a more decisive tone, unless they are vested with powers by the several states competent to the great purposes of war or assume them as a matter of right that our cause is lost." by then, washington had ventured dangerously near the third rail of american society. a century and a half had elapsed between the forced relocation of

african slaves to jamestown and washington's induction on cambridge common. as a young man eager to advance himself in the colonial gentry, washington had displayed the conventional views of his class. he was not above selling a slave named tom for whatever he might fetch in rum, limes or molasses. between his marriage and his departure for the war, washington more than doubled the enslaved population which made mt. vernon viable. yet, as early as 1772, he had resolved to stop buying slaves, an action grounded as much in sound agricultural management as moral outrage. henry winchick, whose exhaustive research provides the most comprehensive account of washington and slavery believes that his subjects' racial attitudes began to change after he saw slave families broken up

on a williamsburg auction block. in an unintentionally revealing letter to brian fairfax in england, washington protested british taxes, adding that a failure to resist such oppression would brand he and his fellow colonists as, quote, as tame and abject slaves as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway. better than most, washington understood the devil's bargain on which virginia's economy rested. martha custis's first husband, daniel, had a mulatto brother, the product of his own father's liaison with a slave woman. their child, jack, died when he was but 12 years old. martha washington herself had a slave half sister, ann dandridge, sired by her father and an unknown woman of mixed blood. ann lived at mt. vernon with the washingtons. only after their passing did she receive her freedom. as a member of the colony's

house of burgesses, the future president couldn't fail to note the semi-hysterical reaction when his colleague, richard bland, proposed legislation to allow masters to voluntarily emancipate their slaves. the measure was quickly seconded by lanky idealistic tom jefferson, then in his early 20s, and just as quickly shouted down by angry lawmakers. jefferson's views would undergo considerable change over time. as he grew cautious with age, washington became uncharacteristically radical. but then, virginians like jefferson formed their opinion of the african-american on the plantation. after 1775 in particular, washington had his transformed on the battlefield. some battles were waged over tea cups in the parlor. phyllis wheatley was the african poetess whose work had won

praise from voltaire and censure from jefferson. named for the slave ship that transported her from africa to boston, wheatley entered washington's life in october 1775 when she sent to the american commander a folsom tribute in verse which ended with a flattering, if inaccurate, prediction. a crown, a mansion and a throne that shines, with gold unfading, washington divine. ms. wheatley's salute coincided with a ban on free negroes in continental ranks. one can readily discern washington the southern slave holder in the seclusionary order issued under his name. quote, neither negroes, boys unable to bear arms, nor old men unfit to endure the fatigues of the campaign are to be enlisted, it said. the interdict was short-lived. within days, it became clear

that governor dunmore, having fled his williamsburg palace for the safety of a british man of war, intended to sew sow seeds of racial rebellion by welcoming runaway slaves into the king's ranks. before the year ended, washington lifted his ban on african-american troops. the result as noted by ron chernow was america's most integrated fighting force until the vietnam war. long before yorktown, african-americans comprised from 6% to 12% of washington's army. it was black sailors among john glover's famed marblehead boys who helped to evacuate washington's army from brooklyn heights in august 1776. the same heroes would row the commanding general across the delaware on christmas night four months later. in emanuel leutze's iconic painting a new hampshire officer's slave named prince whipple stands beside washington. at valley forge, washington

welcomed rhode island's offer of black troops entrusted to the command of john lawrence, a radically minded young south carolinian who dissented from his region's prevailing views on race. clearly moved by the effusive lines of verse directed his way by the first of her race to have a book of poetry published. in the spring of 1776, washington saw to it that ms. wheatley's poem appeared in "the pennsylvania" magazine. this was remarkable enough. still more improbable was the general's invitation to "miss phyllis," as he addressed her to call upon him at his army headquarters in cambridge, massachusetts. quote, i shall be happy to see a person so favored by the muses, wrote washington, and to whom nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispositions.

washington's courtesy mashed his prediction, though they too evolved during and after the war. by the time of yorktown, virtually nothing remained of the glory-seeking young colonial who had boasted of his exploits and thirsted after recognition by the very military establishment he would go on to humiliate. in october 1781, at his greatest moment of martial triumph, washington advised his victorious army against unseemly crowing over their defeated foe. imagine the scene. the armies lined up and the americans needed to say, after all they had been through, in a mood to celebrate, to rub it in, to rejoice in their victory. and the cheers rose spontaneously from thousands of throats. and then washington appeared astride his great white charger, riding up and down the american

lines, telling them "posterity will huzzah for us." truthfully enough. first, however, he must put down a threatened uprising by his own troops. in march of 1783, he threw his accumulated prestige on the scales of republican government by first reprimanding and then shaming elements of the army so aggrieved over congress's failure to pay them for their past service or guaranteed future pensions that there was talk of marching on congress. sort of reminds you of today! with his innate grasp of mass psychology, washington made a show of fumbling for his glasses. begging the indulgence of his men, he explained, "i have already grown gray in the service of my country. i am now going blind."

you can imagine the impact on these men. instantly, rebellion dissolved in tears. in that moment, washington's private and public character became one. his subsequent appearance before congress to lay down his sword and resume the status of farmer washington brought them to george iii to declare so self-denying a hero to be the greatest man on earth. long before he assumed the presidency, through the strength of his character, washington had fashioned a government, the makings of a government, at least, whose powers were limited and whose watchword was restraint, a government that was the very mirror image of the general astride his mount. thank you very much.

thank you! [ applause ] now, as you know, we've got c-span here, and i believe we've got someone with -- yep, indeed -- with a microphone. we've got a few minutes for people who have questions. or comments. oh, come on. well, did we exhaust the subject or did we just exhaust you? here. i may regret this.

>> at what point during the war -- you talked about his aggressive style at the beginning, but somewhere, he makes that decision that his goal is not to win a battle but not lose the war and keep his army together, keep it in play, that the british had to win the war, he didn't have to. at what point did he reach that conclusion? >> you know, i'm not sure i can point to a specific -- there may be other people who certainly are more knowledgeable than i about washington and the revolution who would answer that more definitively. the last major battle in which he took part before the siege of yorktown was monmouth in 1778. and i think there was a sense that coming out of valley forge, first of all, that they had gone through hell. they had survived the worst. but it turns out that there was also a turning point in a number of ways.

you had people like baron von steuben who came here, who began to professionalize this army, who drilled it. and again, it's a measure of washington's character, perhaps self-confidence. he was comfortable with such outside help. he welcomed -- i mean, if you think back to washington as a young man, heroic, sometimes rash, certainly difficult to his superiors, and i think he was well aware of that fact so that when he was in a position of command, for example, bringing people like lafayette to the floor, giving them substantial opportunities, not just treating them as figureheads, or alexander hamilton. i mean, if you want in microcosm

the american revolution, here you have, you know, hamilton, john adams f said the bastion brad of a scots peddler, but none of the founding fathers came from such modest or unlikely circumstances, and yet, through sheer effort, classic meritocracy, he worked his way into washington's "family" and beyond. i forget your question. again, going there with alexander hamilton, though. but i don't think -- i think it was something that grew on washington. and by the way, washington never lost his instincts for taking the battle to the enemy. and indeed, frankly, in the last campaign, you know, he didn't intend to go to yorktown.

he intended to try to retake new york. which tells you a couple things. first of all, he was willing to set aside his own strategic which tells you a couple things. first of all, he was willing to set aside his own strategic prejudices, if you will, and allow circumstances to govern his actions and those of the army. so, i think that's maybe the answer to your question. i'm not sure there was ever a time when he resigned himself to this. i think he always understood the war as more than a conventional military conflict. it was a war for mind, more than capitals and armies.

i think you can make the case that washington is a much more moderate general than he is generally described. >> how big was the army went wh it went into valley forge and how big was it when he came out? >> at one point he counted in terms of men reporting for duty, not sick, not missing, not unaccounted for, about 2,300 people. but qualitatively, it also had been through this searing bonding emotional experience.

i think it's safe to say washington was for all of his august qualities was probably more popular with the revolutionary army than it was with the soldiers on the virginia frontier. and i do think washington had his own hierarchal views put to the test. he clearly came to realize painfully that just because you were well born or well connected or well written did not mean that you were, a, a good soldier, or, b, a good person. i think probably the man he hated the most in all the world was charles lee.

and the more you know about charles lee, he's pretty easy to hate. >> having been raised in fort lee new jersey and never was he ever mentioned in my childhood -- >> there's a reason. do you know how his glorious career ended i mean it was -- there was something very appropriate, he decided in addition to intriguing against washington and basically being insubordinate to washington and screwing up on the battlefield in front of washington, which he only got the opportunity to do

once, he then decided to avail himself of the pleasures of a young lady to whom he was not married and indeed unacquainted until that moment. but the wonderful thing is he was taken -- he was british. so he was seen as a traitor to the british, much as ben district arnold would have been seen eventually as a traitor to us. it's a wonderful way, the inglorious career of general lee basically being caught up in a cat house in new jersey. [ laughter ] >> maybe that's why you didn't hear about him when you were

growing up. >> sir, tell us a bit about brandywine and the german baptist who took care of washington's wounded until they died of typhoid. >> i have a hunch you could tell us more. no, i'm serious. i'm serious. i don't -- tell us about -- >> well in, the battle of brandywine, he had many troops that were wounded and they were carried by wagons up to pennsylvania and the german baptists there took care of them and did their very best but unfortunately they got ill and many, many died and are buried there i had relatives who were there. >> really? >> yeah. >> it is absolutely astonishing the percentage of soldiers i think on both side who is

succumb to illness in the revolution. i mean, it far outnumbered those who died from battle wounds. but again, washington paid a lot of attention. you know, he -- the pioneering -- the innovator in washingt washington, he had martha inoculated and he had his army inoculated. that tells you something about what a modern man washington was. >> do you think we would have become a nation if during the long, long warp, eight years, there had been cnn, cbs, an bc, nbc and all of the criticisms of all the failures along the line

had gotten to the people very quickly because news was much slower traveling then? what do been different in our history? >> well, there's two ways to answer that. an honest and an evasive. >> i think over time it raised

profound questions that might never have been asked if had not tv covera probably should have been asked a lot earlier, not just in tv studios but in the halls of power. the other side of the coin is we were -- of the constitution that we periodically debate and most of the time revere, it was written in secret. absolute secrecy. in the summer of 1787, when the delegates arrived one of the very first things they decided was of course we're not going to open the doors. not only that, we're not going to opt windows. it was hot, there were flies and you would have thought that would have sped up the process of writing the document. it did get done in three months, which is significant, and it has

stood the test of time for over two centuries, but there was no doubt at all among the founders that even then in a very radically different media climate, they would get much more done. and they could be much more honest in airing their differences, their regional loyalties if they did it behind closed doors. the question today would the media let -- a, would the del -- delegates have -- well, even if the media went along, i mean, how long would