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The Incredible American Generals that Defined their Eras

Khalid Elhassan May 4, 2022 36 min

1. A Touching and Honorable Moment In the Midst of War

George Washington riding after his hounds at a hunt. Journal of the American Revolution

George Washington bucked his men and resisted their calls to keep Sir William Howe’s prized terrier. Instead, he sent a messenger under a white flag of truce, across the lines to the British commander. The messenger delivered the dog to Sir William, along with a note that read in relevant part: “General Washington’s compliments to General Howe. He does himself the pleasure to return to him a dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, and by the inscription on the Collar appears to belong to General Howe“.

Howe was impressed by the unexpected gesture from his enemy. The British commander expressed his gratitude to Washington, and described the incident as “the honorable act of a fine gentleman“. The touching episode did not end the war, which continued unabated for years. Nor did it end Howe’s participation in the conflict. However, although he continued to fight and win battles against the Americans, Sir William Howe did so with less enthusiasm than he had exhibited before Washington interrupted the war to return an enemy’s dog.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

American Battlefield Trust – The Death of John Sedgwick

Antietam on the Web – Special Order 191: Perhaps the Greatest ‘What If’ of American Military History

Arnold, Isaac Newton – The Life of Benedict Arnold: His Patriotism and His Treason (1880)

Atkinson, Rick – The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944 (2007)

Barthel, Thomas – Abner Doubleday: A Civil War Biography (2010)

Burns, Patrick – American Working Terriers (2006)

Catton, Bruce – The Civil War, Three Volumes in One (1984)

Chernow, Ron – Washington: A Life (2011)

Coffey, Thomas M. – Iron Eagle: The Turbulent Life of General Curtis LeMay (1986)

Council on Foreign Relations – TWE Remembers: Secret Soviet Tactical Nuclear Weapons in Cuba (Cuban Missile Crisis, a Coda)

Doubleday, Abner – My Life in the Old Army (1998 Edition)

Elting, John Robert – Amateurs, to Arms! A Military History of the War of 1812 (1995)

Encyclopedia Britannica – Benedict Arnold

Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia – Trenton and Princeton Campaign (Washington’s Crossing)

History Collection – 10 Significant Things About the Culper Ring, George Washington’s Most Important Spy Network

History Daily – When George Washington Ordered a Ceasefire to Return a Dog

James, Dorris Clayton – The Years of MacArthur: Triumph & Disaster, 1945-1964 (1985)

Kilmeade, Brian, and Yaeger, Don – George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring that Saved the American Revolution (2013)

Manchester, William – American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur, 1880-1964 (1978)

Politico, December 24^th, 2015 – George Washington Crosses the Delaware, Dec. 25, 1776

Psychology Today – George Washington: President, General, and Dog Breeder

Sears, Stephen W. – To the Gates of Richmond: The Peninsula Campaign (1992)

Task Force Baum – The Hammelburg Raid

Zaslow, Morris – The Defended Border: Upper Canada and the War of 1812 (1964)

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.