As you know, I’ve been reading this eight-hundred page biography, detailing the life of George Washington. Last time I wrote, I was at the part where the War for American Independence was just brewing on the horizon, which ignited on April 19 1775 – a neat little coincidence, as that happens to be my birthday. As I immerse myself in the pages, what stands out most is the staggering frequency of Washington’s defeats. Battle after battle ended in tragic loss, with American casualties mounting, while the British often emerged with minimal harm. The odds sure were stacked against Washington, who had to confront the formidable British forces, with a ragtag army of novices mostly.
Winning outright must’ve seemed like an insurmountable task. The British, boasting superior naval power and highly trained troops, invaded New York, devastating the American forces. The painful lesson learned was that clinging to territory against the British was a futile endeavor. Instead, the Americans redirected their focus towards prolonging the war and strategically selecting their battlefields, fully aware that the British couldn’t sustain a protracted conflict indefinitely.
Resource scarcity loomed as another hurdle Washington had to overcome. Early in the war, a dire shortage of gunpowder threatened to tip the scales. Only a meager supply, a fraction of what had been expected, was at his disposal. Utmost secrecy was paramount, for if the British discovered this vulnerability, the war might have been lost before it truly began. When, in a moment of exuberance, his soldiers fired celebratory shots into the air, Washington sternly reprimanded them, concealing the true reason behind his ‘strict discipline’. Again, if he inadvertently revealed the truth, it might turn out to be game over. Like a game of poker, bluffing was the order of the day.
Throughout the book, the instances where Washington emerged victorious were often the result of meticulous planning and cunning execution. For example, he employed deceptive maneuvers to harass enemy bases weeks in advance, followed by a night march to encircle the enemy when they least expected it. Swiftly disengaging before British reinforcements arrived was key to these successes—far from elegant, perhaps, but a necessary strategy when facing a formidable foe.
Ron Chernow aptly summarizes Washington’s approach with these words from page 283 of the book: “One consistent thread from his earlier life had prefigured those events: Washington’s tenacity of purpose, his singular ability to stalk a goal with all the resources at his disposal.”
This should remind us of a fundamental truth about achieving our goals in life: sometimes, we must adopt strategies that may not appear elegant but keep us in the game. Washington understood that as long as they had men, the Americans were not defeated, even if they had to temporarily yield symbolically significant pieces of land to the British.
Moreover, it’s telling how history remembers Washington not for his losses but for his victories. The defeats, the setbacks – those are lefts as details for the historians to sort out amongst themselves. This phenomenon is not unique to Washington; it reoccurs with many other people society views as today’s leaders: Steve Jobs, General George S. Patton, Phil Knight, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Each of them, despite their monumental successes, also encountered significant failures along the way.
In life, winning every battle, while an idealistic aspiration, is quite simply not possible. It’s through our losses and missteps that we grow. Like Washington and these iconic figures, we must accept that occasional failures are an integral part of our journey towards success. As I approach my thirtieth birthday, reflecting on the past and envisioning the future, I offer this simple advice: try more, fear less, and embrace the occasional setback, realizing it probably carries some valuable lessons along with it.
Kind regards
Vincent J. Dancet