Benjamin Rush Quotes

At one level this quotation shows that Congress made the rules and regulations of the armed forces and not the Commander in Chief or the General Officers. But the quotation is important for several other reasons. First, it is the first federal attempt to regulate alcohol and drinking. It is also what we would regard today as a severe infringement of freedom of speech. Politically, it was very hard for any member of Congress not to support legislation to prevent blasphemy. But these and other examples of over a decade of the Continental Congress legislation persuaded most Americans that Congress was not to be trusted to protect their rights and there was a real need for a Bill of Rights so that much of the early activity of the Continental Congress would not continue.

Conway was made a Major General by Congress and appointed as Inspector General of the Revolutionary Army. However, then as now, officers who told the truth about the failings of other senior officers were not well liked by the officer corps. The cover up was the norm even then. Rush ran the hospitals for the Revolutionary Army and talked to many officers and enlisted men, and also observed much of the British military practices.

History is replete with instances of military coups. In the final analysis, in every country at all times, there is no force in a society that could cope with a military which decides to act on its own. The Founding Fathers were very conscious of this reality and history, hence the firm civilian control of the military in America.

While most modern armies treat officers and enlisted men who desert equally or even favor the officers, the Visigoths made desertion by an officer the severest of crimes. A centurion was the officer in charge of 100 men. There were 10 decurians (leaders of 10) under him, They were the modern equivalent of the Sergeants—non-commissioned officers. Their penalty for desertion was only the paying of a heavy fine. It was the officers who had to set the example. This set of laws is the most formalized and sophisticated compendium of laws of the so-called “barbaric peoples” of Europe. The compilation was in many ways a documentation of the traditional laws of the Visigoths that had evolved over hundreds of years.

This has always been a problem for the US Military. Attempts at prohibition have been bad for morale, and there is a cultural tradition that military men drink alcohol. However in the Gulf War, our military men and women stationed in Saudi Arabia could not drink as a consequence of the Islamic prohibition of alcohol in Saudi Arabia. There has never been, in the history of our military a period with fewer courts martials, and discipline problems in general. Very few assaults, rapes and murders.

Few high ranking officers, or officials of civilian organizations, take the responsibility for subordinates not understanding instructions.

Eggleston was an accomplished writer who had served in the Confederate army of the Civil War. 20 year after the war he wrote a series of articles for the prestigious Northern Atlantic Monthly trying to convey the war from the Southerner’s point of view.

Socioeconomic class was a major factor in the Continental Army just as it was in the British Army. New York, unlike New England, did not have the clear-cut majority in favor of independence. Most of the working class at this stage had no opinion on independence as they did not need to and were not of the social class that had been discussing and arguing about the relationship with England. The upper class had been discussing the issue for some time and were polarized into Patriot and Loyalist sympathies. When the Patriots of New York voted to raise its first Regiment, the first people to volunteer were the men of the upper class who had been debating the question for some time. Because of their social class, they had to be officers. The lower classes got into the intellectual and political debate later, and they too were divided. The Patriots among them then volunteered to provide the privates and other enlisted men to the NY regiment. But the early contingents of New Yorkers were very top heavy with officers. While not as rigid as the Continental Army, the modern American Armed Services are still affected by this tradition. While there are many exceptions, there is still a strong correlation between military rank and socioeconomic family status.

Public Statement to all the Marines after it had been revealed that some male marines had posted nude pictures of female marines without their knowledge of consent.

Washington, though a military officer at the time, was very concerned with protecting the rights of citizens from abuse by the military for he had seen much of the abuse. The third amendment for example was later written to protect people from the military. The Constitution also requires that Congress make such rules for the military. Note that Washington, our first senior military officer at the time, wanted Congress to make detailed rules for the conduct of soldiers. In the 20th and 21st century, as the imperial presidency developed, there was a political view that only the military officers and the Commander in Chief should make the rules and regulations for the soldiers. However, there was no question but that the Founding Fathers saw this as a legislative branch function. Congress and Presidents have contested for this power every since.

George Washington had been appointed by the Continental Congress as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army but was politic about keeping Congress informed and not appear to be usurping authority. He asked Adams for an opinion of whether his authority reached beyond Boston to include the defense of New York City. Adams had been a member of the Congress that appointed Washington. Adams reply has been used as precedent for the broad authority of the President as Commander in Chief by those claiming broad Presidential power since.

See {629263} for more on the “Gentleman” Southern officers.

Rush ran the hospitals for the Revolutionary Army and talked to many officers and enlisted men, and also observed much of the British military practices.

We are so accustomed to thinking about George Washington as a great military leader that it is surprising to see contemporary comparisons where Washington was found wanting or second. Actually Horatio Gates was a brilliant tactical general and a great leader of men—many think far better than Washington, but the genius of Washington was his strategic and political grasp of the situation. Essentially, with exceptions like the Battle of Trenton, Washington lost almost all the battles he fought as a tactical general. He realized early on that he did not have to win battles; he just had to prevent losing them so badly that he could not continue the fight. The insurgent wins as long as he can still fight. The British could not win unless they eliminated the ability of the revolutionists to fight. But Washington won the last battle at Yorktown, and that is the one that counted. Rush ran the hospitals for the Revolutionary Army and talked to many officers and enlisted men, and also observed much of the British military practices.

General Howe was the Commander of British Troops in the American Revolution. The early American Army was neither professional, experienced, or well officered. Execution as a means of punishment was much more common than in the larger, professional British army. Rush ran the hospitals for the Revolutionary Army and talked to many officers and enlisted men, and also observed much of the British military practices.