French Revolution he was
found wanting in force of character. The great Mirabeau tried to work
with him for the good of France, but was repelled by La Fayette's
jealous vanity, a vanity so greedy of praise that Jefferson called it a
"canine appetite for popularity and fame." La Fayette once said that
he had never bad a thought with which he could reproach himself, and
he boasted that he has mastered three kings--the King of England in the
American Revolution, the King of France, and King Mob of Paris during
the upheaval in France. He was useful as a diplomatist rather than as a
soldier. Later, in an hour of deep need, Washington sent La Fayette to
France to ask for aid. He was influential at the French court and came
back with abundant promises, which were in part fulfilled.

Washington himself and Oliver Cromwell are perhaps the only two civilian
generals in history who stand in the first rank as military leaders.
It is doubtful indeed whether it is not rather character than military
skill which gives Washington his place. Only one other general of the
Revolution attained to first rank even in secondary fame. Nathanael
Greene was of Quaker stock from Rhode Island. He was a natural student
and when trouble with the mother country was impending in 1774 he
spent the leisure which he could spare from his forges in the study of
military history and in organizing the local militia. Because of his
zeal for military service he was expelled from the Society of Friends.
In 1775 when war broke out he was promptly on hand with a contingent
from Rhode Island. In little more than a year and after a very slender
military experience he was in command of the army on Long Island. On the
Hudson defeat not victory was his lot. He had, however, as much stern
resolve as Washington. He shared Washington's success in the attack on
Trenton, and his defeats at the Brandywine and at Germantown. Now he
was at Valley Forge, and when, on March 2, 1778, he became quartermaster
general, the outlook for food and supplies steadily improved. Later, in
the South, he rendered brilliant service which made possible the final
American victory at Yorktown.

Henry Knox, a Boston bookseller, had, like Greene, only slight training
for military command. It shows the dearth of officers to fight the
highly disciplined British army that Knox, at the age of twenty-five,
and fresh from commercial life, was placed in charge of the meager
artillery which Washington had