Chapter 7, the final chapter, recounts the continued fighting in New Jersey, especially the battles fought around Christmas Day 1776, which secured two key victories for the Americans. Chapters 4 and 5 recount the armies’ southern advance toward New York, focusing on the Continental Army’s many failures and losses during the New York and New Jersey campaigns.Ĭhapter 6 describes the Continental Army’s disorganized retreat from New York, the disastrous Battle of Fort Washington, and Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River, which pushed the British back northward. This chapter also explores how the conflict affected everyday citizens and how this campaign affected Washington’s leadership style. Chapter 2 shifts to the colonies, tracking Washington’s personal history and recounting how he came to command the Continental Army.Ĭhapter 3 centers around the battle for Boston, as British forces sieged the city. His staid personality comes through, not just in his war exploits but also in his personal dealings with his officers and his men.Ĭhapter 1 opens in London after the battles of Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill, as King George III and Parliament grappled with how to respond to the potential war with the colonies. In addition to chronicling George Washington’s heroic battles, it also gives a thorough report of his early life, his educational background, his marriage to Martha Custis, his life as a wealthy Virginia planter, and his love of architecture and home decor. His desire to bring the colonies back into the fold seems sincere, but McCullough allows readers to decide for themselves. It opens with King George III, the king of England and a villain by most American accounts, seen as having less in common with other royalty than with many commoners. The book also paints objective, detailed portraits of some of the most important American and British participants of the war. Unlike other histories that focus on narrating the Continental Congress’s development of the ideas of “freedom” and “liberty” as they applied to the colonies, this book takes the reader into the trenches, following each of Washington’s battles with his New England militiamen, who were completely untrained and, according to some, unfit for battle.
In recounting Revolutionary War losses and retreats as well as major successes, the book centers primarily on George Washington.
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