Guy's Books and Thoughts

This is a fascinating book. Newsmax advertised it with
words to the effect as to how God intervened to save
General Washington. I did not run accross any statement
by the author saying God interevened to save George Washington.
However I did read that many regarded the storm which hit Boston
as providential. Some will say the storm caused the British to abandon
the planned attack on Washington's forces, others will say the British
had planned to abandon Boston anyways and that the storm was a face saving excuse. But the author does mention one of the British had said
the plan was originally to attack Washington's army. I found it interesting to see the religious or faith references in the book. Apparently worship services were part of the army. It was either Henry Knox or Nathaniel Greene who made a reference to prayers and Bible reading. Granted these people in Washington's army may not be members of the Holiness churches which originated int he 19th century, but neither were they secularists.

I think the faith aspect of these people from Revolutionary times
has been overlooked, neglected or maybe even suppressed by our public
schools. Granted Jefferson was a Deist and not a Chrisitian. But I find it hard to classify Washington as a Deist, since he had a sense
of providence. I don't believe providence was part of the Deist belief
system. I do recall seeing a letter by Washington saying to the address that he hopes that person will conduct himself as a "good
Christian." Note "Good Christian" not "Good Deist." There is a saying
"there are now atheist in foxholes." The people in the Revolutionary
war with people with their backs to the wall. They faced the might
of the British military. I believe Britain had the strongest navy
at the time and that continued to be the case up until the 20th century.
During the war, not only did the colonist have to face the British navy,
they also suffered the loss of New York and Philadelphia to the British.
Yet they still managed to win their independence from Britain. I wonder
if one may say that the American victory in the war for Indenpendence
was a miracle? Alright, maybe it was not a miracle on the scale
of Moses crossing the Red Sea, but look at what was accomplished inspite
of the enormity of the foe and the disastrous defeats. In spite
of the obstacles, the Colonists won their independence. I wonder
if the Revolutionaries would barf if they could see these so called
anti war types, who whine over every little obstacle in the current war, or those who would seek to abolish faith and impose a secular society?

A good companion book to read in conjunction with Mc Cullough's book is
ANGEL IN THE WHIRLWIND by Benson Bobrick. While Mc Cullouhgh 1776 is good in that it provides a detailed account of events around that year, I believe it's weakness is that it does not chronicle the entire
Revolutionary War. The book is good in so far as it goes. But I believe Bobrick's book serves as a good complement. Bobrick covers not
only the loss of New York, but the loss of Philadelphia and the war
from beginning to end. Bobrick's book gave me a perspective on the LENGTH of the struggle. The war lasted from 1776 to 1783. It was longer
than either the Civil War or World War II.

Guy