Portrait of George Washington by C.W.Pealeand was regarded as a man of discretion and understanding in military matters.Lord Cornwallis，whose achievements at Camden and Guilford were blotted out by his surrender at Yorktown，had seen service in the Seven Years'War and had undoubted talents which he afterward displayed with great credit to himself in India.Though none of them，perhaps，were men of firstrate ability，they all had training and experience to guide them.
The Americans had a host in Washington himself.He had long been interested in military strategy and had tested his coolness under fire during the first clashes with the French nearly twenty years before.He had no doubts about the justice of his cause，such as plagued some of the British generals.He was a stern but reasonable disciplinarian.He was reserved and patient，little given to exaltation at success or depression at reverses.In the dark hour of the Revolution，"what held the patriot forces together？"asks Beveridge in his Life of John Marshall.Then he answers："George Washington and he alone.Had he died or been seriously disabled，the Revolution would have ended....Washington was the soul of the American cause.Washington was the government.Washington was the Revolution."The weakness of Congress in furnishing men and supplies，the indolence of civilians，who lived at ease while the army starved，the intrigues of army officers against him such as the "Conway cabal，"the cowardice of Lee at Monmouth，even the treason of Benedict Arnold，while they stirred deep emotions in his breast and aroused him to make passionate pleas to his countrymen，did not shake his iron will or his firm determination to see the war through to the bitter end.The weight of Washington's moral force was immeasurable.
Of the generals who served under him，none can really be said to have been experienced military men when the war opened.Benedict Arnold，the unhappy traitor but brave and daring soldier，was a druggist，book seller，and ship owner at New Haven when the news of Lexington called him to battle.Horatio Gates was looked upon as a "seasoned soldier"because he had entered the British army as a youth，had been wounded at Braddock's memorable defeat，and had served with credit during the Seven Years'War；but he was the most conspicuous failure of the Revolution.The triumph over Burgoyne was the work of other men；and his crushing defeat at Camden put an end to his military pretensions.Nathanael Greene was a Rhode Island farmer and smith without military experience who，when convinced that war was coming，read C？sar's Commentaries and took up the sword.Francis Marion was a shy and modest planter of South Carolina whose sole passage at arms had been a brief but desperate brush with the Indians ten or twelve years earlier.Daniel Morgan，one of the heroes of Cowpens，had been a teamster with Braddock's army andhad seen some fighting during the French and Indian War，but his military knowledge，from the point of view of a trained British officer，was negligible.John Sullivan was a successful lawyer at Durham，New Hampshire，and a major in the local militia when duty summoned him to lay down his briefs and take up the sword.Anthony Wayne was a Pennsylvania farmer and land surveyor who，on hearing the clash of arms，read a few books on war，raised a regiment，and offered himself for service.Such is the story of the chief American military leaders，and it is typical of them all.Some had seen fighting with the French and Indians，but none of them had seen warfare on a large scale with regular troops commanded according to the strategy evolved in European experience.Courage，native ability，quickness of mind，and knowledge of the country they had in abundance，and in battles such as were fought during the Revolution all those qualities counted heavily in the balance.
Foreign Officers in American Service.To native genius was added military talent from beyond the seas.Baron Steuben，well schooled in the iron régime of Frederick the Great，came over from Prussia，joined Washington at Valley Forge，and day after day drilled and manuvered the men，laughing and cursing as he turned raw countrymen into regular soldiers.From France came young Lafayette and the stern De Kalb，from Poland came Pulaski and Kosciusko；all acquainted with the arts of war as waged in Europe and fitted for leadership as well as teaching.Lafayette came early，in 1776，in a ship of his own，accompanied by several officers of wide experience，and remained loyally throughout the war sharing the hardships of American army life.Pulaski fell at the siege of Savannah and De Kalb at Camden.Kosciusko survived the American war to defend in vain the independence of his native land.To these distinguished foreigners，who freely threw in their lot with American revolutionary fortunes，was due much of that spirit and discipline which fitted raw recruits and temperamental militiamen to cope with a military power of the first rank.
The Soldiers.As far as the British soldiers were concerned their annals are short and simple.The regulars from the standing army who were sent over at the opening of the contest，the recruits drummed up by special efforts at home，and the thousands of Hessians bought outright by King George presented few problems of management to the British officers.These common soldiers were far away from home and enlisted for the war.Nearly all of them were well disciplined and many of them experienced in actual campaigns.The armies of King George fought bravely，as the records of Bunker Hill，Brandywine，and Monmouth demonstrate.Many a man and subordinate officer and，for that matter，some of the high officers expressed a reluctance at fighting against their own kin；but they obeyed orders.