Major Jonathan Bratton

There's so many, many who say that, well, you know, we don't know how America would fare in the type of warfare that is going on in Ukraine, for example, which is different from what we have experienced ourselves.

But that is the nature of war.

It always changes.

Yeah, that is the nature of all these people that we've been talking about.

You know, the Mexican war was not the same thing as a civil war for that generation.

World War One was not World War Two for that generation, et cetera, et cetera.

So Washington's legacy has been questioned from the very moment that he first started his military career to the present day.

I mean, he was questioned repeatedly.

throughout the entire American Revolution by all of his subordinates.

And justly so, I would say.

Washington's record as a commander is mixed at best.

If you were to look at sort of his ledger of wins and losses, it's pretty close to 50-50, and it might even be a little bit more on the loss side.

Begins his career pretty...

ingloriously with the Virginia militia inadvertently doing his best, I would say, but presented with a situation that ends up with him starting a war with France, which is a rough thing to do when you're a lieutenant colonel of Virginia militia in the back country of Pennsylvania in 1754.

You will then have to surrender a force for necessity.

He's present at Braddock's defeat.

He is present at a lot of failed British military operations.

He does lead a brigade command in the Seven Years' War, sort of the highest field command of an American, which sets him up for the revolution.

But what does set Washington aside?

What sets Washington aside is that he can see beyond the small picture.