The Man Who Could Be King
In 1843, Josiah Penn Stockbridge, one of General Washington’s former senior aides, is penning notes for his great-grandchildren about his experiences with the general and especially the momentous and little-known events of the second week of March back in 1783. There have been occasional mutinies among some of the colonial troops throughout the Revolution, but in early 1783 anonymous letters are being circulated by suspected senior officers castigating Congress and seemingly urging a military takeover of the embryonic nation. The difference now is that these letters are apparently being well received throughout the Army.
Josiah goes on to give examples of Washington’s exemplary leadership and decorum covering bad times at New York, Philadelphia and New Jersey, and good times at Boston, Trenton and Yorktown. Stockbridge’s key focus for his heirs is, however, the extraordinary occurrences during that one week in March at Newburgh, New York. Even more fascinating is that it is not significant for what happens there but, more importantly, what does not.
This comprehensive and singularly informative book reads more like non-fiction than a novel. Josiah is a fictional character based on a composite of Washington’s many aides. Most of the text is written in the first person from his perspective, with comparatively little dialogue for a novel. But given the context and intent, this style works well here. It is based on thoroughly researched documentation which is helpfully provided in the appendices in the back. The book humanizes Washington without unduly lionizing him. After getting over my initial skepticism, I came to like the book the more I read. Recommended for its superbly accurate history and insight into a potential tragedy that was fortunately averted at the nation’s birth.
