Sons of the father: George Washington and his proteges

Abstract

Sons of the Father: George Washington and His Proteges. Edited by Robert M. S. McDonald. Jeffersonian America. (Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press, 2013. Pp. [xxx], 285. Paper, $25.00, ISBN 978-0-8139-3650-5; cloth, $35.00, ISBN 978-0-8139-3438-9.) Sons of the Father: George Washington and His Prote'ge's is an unusually well focused collection and an appropriate Festschrift for the late University of North Carolina historian Don Higginbotham, who spent much of his career examining George Washington's military leadership. Each of these essays, originally presented at a 2010 conference honoring Higginbotham, focuses on Washington's relationship with a fictive son. As noted in the preface, the ten men included in the volume were not always Washington's closest associates; however, all are important figures in that their interactions with him provide glimpses into different aspects of Washington's capacities for management, motivation, control, and the cultivation of talent (p. xv). Some, such as Captain Robert Kirkwood of Delaware and the rifleman Daniel Morgan (subject of one of Higginbotham's early books) had little or no direct interaction with Washington. Others, such as Alexander Hamilton, the Marquis de Lafayette, Nathanael Greene, and Henry Knox are obvious candidates for inclusion. A third group, including Anthony Wayne, Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, and Gouvemeur Morris, are less obvious candidates but fascinating characters in their own right. It is harder to arrive at the sum of the parts. Most of the essays reveal more about the than about the father or, as in Brian Steele's thoughtful examination of Jefferson and Washington's relationship, more about the fictive father constructed during the early republic than the actual Washington. One thing that the essays do not reveal is how Washington was able to choose so many excellent subordinates, although Jack P. Greene's afterword cautions that, given the development of the colonies during the eighteenth century, it is no surprise that such individuals existed here. Taken together, the most notable aspects of Washington's personality illuminated by the essays are his remoteness, his sense of loyalty, and his nationalism. Many of the subjects, including Wayne and Greene, suffered from Washington's lack of warmth, although the quest for affection and approval may also have driven his sons to further achievements. The contrast between Washington's coldness toward his American sons and his relationship with Lafayette is so enormous that Stuart Leibiger's suggestion that Washington's tears of joy at Lafayette's return to America may have been among those staged theatrical moments at which Washington excelled seems credible (p. 224). After all, in addition to being a fictive son, Lafayette also personified the rebels' vital French alliance. Despite his remoteness, Washington was remarkably understanding and loyal to his proteges. In an essay on Washington's mentors during the Seven Years' War, Fred Anderson asks, Did Washington's struggles with his own temper, touchy sense of honor, tendency to insubordination, and relentless ambition help him recognize the importance of assisting the men who served under him in the Revolution to govern those same impulses? …