An Unlikely Hero

e won only a few battles, and those were small. His generals let him down time and time again. His political opponents carped in Congress to relieve him of command. He faced mutinies of his men and mutinies of his officers. His armies starved and froze. The local farmers, though laden with provisions, sold to the British because they could pay in gold. The desertion rate in the army was astronomical at times. There was little medicine. Hundreds of his soldiers were bare–footed in the winter. Who would follow such a leader or the cause that placed him there? Not many did.

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Walking by Faith — Not by Sight

As a young man, Washington had made the most of every opportunity for advancement and learned from every situation proper conduct and protocol. He self–consciously suppressed his weaknesses and perfected his strengths. He cultivated the personal traits of a gentleman of honor and accepted tasks that strained his endurance and compelled sacrifice and perseverance. His powers of observation and analysis of situations bordered on brilliance but he suffered a number of setbacks that would have debilitated or crushed a lesser man. All of those character traits and experiences became building blocks for the world–changing role he would play as commander–in–chief of the American army in the War for Independence and two terms as the first President of the United States.

God Strengthened Washington’s Hands

In that war, his greatest achievement, save that of actually winning it, can be summed up this way: he kept his army in the field and did not let setbacks and difficulties defeat his purpose or break his will. Not that he was not tempted to quit. He wrote that he was on the verge of despair on several occasions. Congress could not pay the troops. His quartermaster department could not meet the demands. The enemy tempted his troops to desert and be fed dessert. Yet he dug in deeper, kept his spy networks active, encouraged his troops, found time to write ten thousand letters and orders, and planned the next campaign. At least from the time of his close calls in the French and Indian Wars up to the end of his life, Washington noted providences and called upon God to render victory to the cause of independence.

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Men of Character

General Washington surrounded himself with superlative staff men. They had to be of good moral reputation, articulate writers, loyal, and self–disciplined, as was he himself. If they were to supply good counsel, they had to be calm in a crisis and brave on the battlefield. His staff officers met the challenge. Although his gentlemanly reserve isolated him in a very real way, he relied whole–heartedly on the men who carried out his plans and advised him daily. It was another of his martial skills and judge of character to build a winning team.

A Man of Perseverance

The final campaign was a stroke of ingenious strategy, with clever deceptions, hard marching, cooperation with the French army, and aggressive tactics. The siege of Yorktown won independence and made Washington’s name a byword among the nations. He was far from perfect but he persevered to the end and refused to lose. God had molded him in his youth for the greatest task in history, one which required overcoming the most daunting oppositions that a man could ever face. George Washington possessed the character to rise to the challenges.

Inspire Your Children This Summer
by Taking Them to Philadelphia!

We will walk where great men walked and be reminded that indeed “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”

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