rambling

Book review:

I ran out of material to read so I re-read couple of books. Rise to Rebellion and The Glorious Cause. I like all the books by this author. They are historical novels, and the author tries to be accurate in respect to history. One thing that strikes me, is how close the American Revolution was. We really should have lost. We had such a small army. It seems strange that with such a large population we lacked for volunteers. It seems the hand of God was in it. The British had us over a barrel several times, but Washington always made his escape. If we hadn't had help from foreign officers and the French, we likely would not have succeeded. Not surprisingly, men didn't want to leave their farms and families to fight a war against their own country.

Our successes were mainly due to finding vulnerabilities and striking them, rather than direct confrontation. Another thing that is striking, is the poor performance of the militia. They ran, time and time again. They dropped loaded weapons without firing a shot. As I read, I wanted yell "fight for your freedom you cowards!" The militias were good for general harassment of the British, but in a larger engagement, they were more likely to turn and run. This was used as a strategy in the battle of Cowpens. The movie The Patriot portrays this battle.

As Res pointed out, some of the abuses we suffer under our own government are worse than the ones they fought against. But, few would be willing to take up arms today to fight. I guess the big difference is our chains are gradually being put on. Also, most people are apathetic to the situation. We have a more direct involvement with our government, so some still feel we can solve our problems politically. And now, as in those times, the more idiotic segments of our population want more government intrusion. Too bad we can't tar and feather them.