Paul Douglas Lockhart
Autor von The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army
Über den Autor
Paul Douglas Lockhart is Associate Professor of History at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio
Bildnachweis: Smithsonian Books
Werke von Paul Douglas Lockhart
The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army (2008) 219 Exemplare
The Whites of Their Eyes: Bunker Hill, the First American Army, and the Emergence of George Washington (2011) 111 Exemplare
Zugehörige Werke
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Winter 2010 (2009) — Author "Steuben Comes to America" — 6 Exemplare
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 2013 (2013) — Author "Guns vs. Pikes" — 3 Exemplare
MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History — Summer 2011 (2011) — Author "Bunker Hill: America’s Greatest Battle?" — 2 Exemplare
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- Lockhart, Paul Douglas
- Geburtstag
- 1963-02-03
- Geschlecht
- male
- Nationalität
- USA
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- State University of New York, Potsdam (1985)
Purdue University (1986)
Purdue University (1989) - Berufe
- historian
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- Wright State University
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Author's style is fantastic, what might be a rather dry topic with ever going list of names and contemporaries is actually a beautifully written and engaging story of a professional man who devoted his entire life to profession of arms.
Born and raised in strict discipline of Prussia, von Stauben found himself in that limbo many professional soldier is terrified of (even today, current events testifying to it) - lack of wars. This forced him to seek employment elsewhere but not being high in rank although with very extensive military experience (that would make him promoted in more, lets call it active, periods) he was not what you might call a catch for military offices of European countries.
This set him towards the brewing troubles in English colonies in the New World, and here he will make name of himself. As it comes with every professional man he will fight the bureaucracy and politicians, people who want to avoid full commitment if possible (and wars are not times for this) and jealous colleagues who wanted to bring him down either directly or indirectly (von Steuben being collateral damage of efforts aimed against Washington and his supporters). He will weather all of this, and succeed with help of his friends.
I like how author always tries to give us von Steuben, the man, not only the military officer. His commitment to people he led, train and lived with is a testament to his professionalism. Steuben worked to provide the newborn army with practical advice and training, without elements that played no part in the field. In this he succeeded, providing guidebooks for training, making sure officers are involved with their men, making sure basic tenants of force deployment, encampment (his constant critique of relaxed camp guards) and most importantly logistics are followed (his efforts to raise troops in Virginia were truly herculean). It is not that he made any breakthroughs in the military science. No, he did what geniuses usually do - he integrated the knowledge into usable, practical and easily understandable units and made sure that they are thought to everyone, from officers to lowly private. This raised level of military capabilty of Washington's troops in a relatively short time.
Excellent book about a very interesting and extraordinary professional - man who was never quite understood outside the military milieu, man who kept private life for himself, cherished his friends immensely, but due to sporadic outbursts of bad temper remained the enigma to many (not to mention he was even marked as mercenary by his opposition which was truly a case of injustice and slander in my opinion).
Highly recommended.… (mehr)