George Washington Quotes
To expect ... the same service from raw and undisciplined recruits, as from veteran soldiers, is to expect what never did and perhaps never will happen. Men, who are familiarized to danger, meet it without shrinking; whereas troops unused to service often apprehend danger where no danger is.
Washington, George. "From George Washington to John Hancock, 9 February 1776." The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 3, 1 January 1776–31 March 1776, edited by Philander D. Chase, University of Virginia Press, 1988, pp. 277-285.
This quotation is very controversial among historians. Beverly was in a sense the first American historian, although he had no formal training. His extolling the military and sharpshooting virtues of his fellows may or may not have been an exaggeration both as to their skill with firearms and their ability as soldiers. There is much evidence that only a minority of the people of Virginia possessed firearms at the time yet Beverly’s image is the one that has come down to us in the romanticized view of early America. Even fellow Virginian, George Washington {613056} complained that his Virginia civilians made poor soldiers compared with “regulars” who had been trained to shoot, and when Virginia militia reported for duty less than one quarter had firearms which were very expensive and not very accurate at the time.
1st Baron Verulam. While most agree with the importance of this principle, it is easy to say and very hard to do. Appointing or electing leaders for wartime situations has always been difficult as it involves predicting how people will behave in the future. In WWII for example, many American and German Generals were fired. Adolf Hitler was the classic example of a very popular politician and demagogue who did not have a steady hand but whose maniacal lurches actually weakened the German military effort despite the morale contribution his popularity made.
George Washington was the first President of the United States (1789-97), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the convention that drafted the current United States Constitution and during his lifetime was called the "father of his country".
