es.
He was a thoroughly practical man, a strategist by instinct, fearless but
not rash, possessing an impetuous temper kept within careful control, and
unleashed only when, as at the battle of Monmouth, there was prudence in
its vehemence. He was an excellent judge of men. The officers who owed
their advancement to Washington seldom disappointed and often exceeded
expectations. He was above the petty jealousy, so conspicuous in our late
civil war, that would permit another general to be defeated in order to
shine by contrast. He was devoted to the cause more than to winning
personal reputation, and the effect of his unselfishness was that the
cause triumphed with his name fixed in history as that of its leader and
champion.

It is difficult to compare the military achievements of Washington with
those of Old World commanders. Marlborough, Wellington and Napoleon had
troops thoroughly organized, under complete military control, and held to
service by iron rules which made the general always sure that his
military machine would be ready for use, barring the chances of war.
Washington's forces were largely composed of militia, enlisted for short
periods, many of them induced to serve by bounties, and anxious to go
home and attend to their farms.[3] The soldiers, too, were shamefully
neglected by Congress and by their States, and it seems wonderful that
Washington should have kept them together as he did, or maintained an
army at all. In this respect Washington showed genius as a military
manager without parallel in history. It should not be forgotten, also,
that to Washington is largely due credit for victories at which he was
not present. His was the master mind which scanned the entire field,
directed all operations and made the triumphs of others possible. His
closing campaign, which ended in the surrender of Cornwallis, exhibited
military talent of the highest order. In conception and execution it was
equal to any of Napoleon's campaigns. It embraced an extent of territory,
from New York to North Carolina inclusive, as extensive as the present
German empire, and every movement was that of a master hand on the
chess-board of war. Success without the French would have been
impossible, without Greene's admirable generalship it might have been
impossible, but Washington conceived and carried through to
accomplishment the whole great scheme which resulted in a final and
crashing blow to British hopes of subjugating America.