A Winter Of Discontent

I just bought Valley Forge: George Washington and the Crucible of Victory today and I'm hopeful it will be as good as the previous books that Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen have written on the Civil War, WWII, and now the Revolutionary War. Their previous book was To Try Men's Souls and it was an account of weeks leading up to the Christmas morning attack on the Hessian camp in 1776. There the army and the entire cause of revolution was meeting its first major challenge in the harsh winter months and their commitment was being tested.

The winter at Valley Forge was a similarly trying time for Washington and the army. Baron von Steuben shows up and turns the ragtag boys into professional soldiers. He is responsible for the military's traditions for instilling discipline and professionalism into its new recruits. After the war he also became the first Inspector General for the U.S. Army. He said that when he gave orders to his soldiers in Prussia that they would execute it without question. With his American soldiers, though, he found himself spending time explaining what he wanted them to do and why. That's a telling insight into American culture.

Here are a couple of reviews for the book which are a bit mixed:

http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/valley-forge/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/02/AR2010110205357.html