• Madison420@lemmy.world
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    8 months ago

    It’s a bullshit painting based largely on myth and misunderstanding of history. The dudes on that boat were ready to kill Washington and Washington had a simple choice, lead a fight or die by his men’s hands and hope they don’t have the wish to kill him afterwards or that there wouldn’t be enough of them left to matter.

    • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      That’s how running a revolution goes. You’re always hanging on by a string

        • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          Well obviously but it’s at least a depiction of a real event that has been dramatized

          • Madison420@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Whitewashed bud, not dramatized.

            If I stub my toe and say my foot is ruined I’m being dramatic, if I say I’m a war hero when in reality my military career is mostly huge flops then I’m just a liar.

            • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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              8 months ago
              1. No one actually thinks the depicted crossing happened that way, with the top officer of the army leading the charge in a rowboat. My choice of the word dramatized implied it is fictional in it’s specifics. Hell that’s not even the Delaware depicted.

              2. Washington was not a “war hero” per se, and indeed had some big losses. But to suggest his military career was “mostly huge flops” is silly. He is roundly regarded as a highly successful general and strategist with an acknowledged average tactical record. On the balance there’s no way you can call him a flop general.

              There are really good books on this topic that strongly investigate his career and are not fluff/charity pieces.

              • Madison420@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                His plans were mostly flops often succeeding dispite himself and only through lower officers with actual competency. Re: the whiskey rebellion to see how badly Washington can fuck things up when left to his own devices.

                Von stuben is a hero and largely responsible for Washingtons success and American victory generally.

                • GBU_28@lemm.ee
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                  8 months ago

                  You really need to read more about him. His “genius” was not in battlefield command but in intelligence, recruiting, long game provisioning and politics. You say successes by lower officers, I and many historians and even Washington’s notes say “working as intended”. The whole thing was a slow burn with which he knew he was trading cash and political capital for time. He just had to keep the team together, continue to bring in stud officers who actually were battlefield geniuses and so on.

                  He rope a doped Britain, even using his own reputation as collateral in the game.

                  • Madison420@lemmy.world
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                    8 months ago

                    Simply because I disagree with you doesn’t mean I am uneducated on the matter sir, that’s a fanciful argument to make in itself.

                    Good president, very charismatic and indeed a good political strategist. However a dogshit military leader which is my sole point.