The Significance of a Stroll

There Is Magic in Walking Together 

George Washington at the Battle of Princeton,
January 3, 1777.

I had a history professor in college named John Shy. He was a military historian, and he had an interesting take on George Washington's approach to the Revolutionary War.

The early part of the Revolution was not good for George, and I think most people have no idea how close the Americans came to losing the war at the Battle of Brooklyn in August 1776 and in the subsequent campaign. (For more, see The Gowanus Transforms, Again.)

At some point, however, Washington realized that the key to his success would not come in a major battle where all the chips were on the table. Instead, he came to realize that his path to success lay in keeping his army together and in the field. As long as he did that, the Brits could not declare victory.

And that's what he did. He also crossed the Delaware in December 1776 and smacked the snot out of the Hessian mercenaries who thought they had settled into winter quarters in Trenton.

The counterpunches were essential to staying in the war, but the key strategy was to maintain a force in being and never gamble the whole army on a single cast of the dice.

Time helped him in many ways. The Continental Army got better. The Brits, under pressure to suppress a surprisingly durable rebellion, kept trying things that didn't work. And eventually the French came in, and the fighting ended at Yorktown.

I think there is a lesson here for patriotic Americans today. We face a government controlled by Donald Trump and his fellow fascists. They control the high ground. But they do not control the people.

Properly led, the people will win this fight. But the key is maintaining the force in being. The fascists will do everything they can to demoralize and scatter us. We must do everything we can to maintain our solidarity and staying power.

People wonder whether rallies and marches do any good. The answer is yes. People need to stand with their fellow soldiers, shoulder to shoulder, and see that they are part of a much bigger movement. It is an energizing and uplifting experience.

I often hear the thought that a rally in Philadelphia will have no effect on a Republican farmer in Iowa. And I think there is truth in that. A very large part of the American population in the Revolution was essentially neutral. The key was in the hands of the active patriots, and keeping them in the field as an organized force.

So when someone tells you that rallies are a waste of time, and we're failing to reach the indecisive middle, just tell them that the primary mission is to keep our organization together, well trained, well equipped, well led, and in the field.

No Kings.

Charles Wilson Peale painted George Washington at the Battle of Princeton several times. The version above was completed in 1779 and currently resides at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. 

See also We Were There All Along; Quagmire, The Gowanus Transforms, Again; Why Do We Do Sports Anyway?