Napoleon v. Washington

Among the great military leaders, it is difficult to say which had the greatest impact on modern society because it is difficult to even imagine where one would be without their strategic advances and contributions. In the late 18th century, General George Washington led the American milita and Continental army into battle against the British, and in an unprecedented victory defeat the British military, considered one of the strongest armies during this period (Lengel, 2007). Without Washington’s superb leadership during the American Revolutionary War, there would be no America today. However around the same period in Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte was rising into a military force to be reckoned with, and his achievements as a military leader forever impacted modern European history. At the height of the Napoleonic Empire “Napoleon controlled and dominated much of continental Europe,”(Durant, 1975). His legacy reaches into philosophical thought and political ideas but it is in his military achievements that Napoleon stood apart from the rest. By examining the lives of Washington and Napoleon it is easy to see that it was Napoleon who had the greater military strengths was able to make the most advances in warfare technique.
Washington’s first military experience came when he was appointed as a major in the Virginia colonial militia at the young age of twenty. In 1754, Washington led a small expedition into the Ohio River valley on behalf of Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia to demand that the French withdraw from the British territory on the Ohio frontier. The French attacked his company, forcing Washington to surrender, and sending them back to Virginia in what was Washington’s first experience of military combat. Dampened by this defeat, Washington resigned his commission but found himself rejoining the militia in 1755 as a lieutenant colonel and the aide of General Edward Braddock. In this post, Washington went back into the Ohio Valley frontier and in an ambush attack, Braddock was killed, giving Washington charge over the remaining militia member and leading them to safety. For his bravery and leadership during this episode, Washington was promoted to colonel and in the Seven Years’ War between Britain and France, he led the defenses of the western Virginia frontier into battle.
As hostility between the colonies and Britain grew, Washington took an active place in politics, serving for seventeen years in the House of Burgessess. After war was declared in 1775, Washington showed up before the Continental Congress in his military uniform, offering his services. At his sight, Congress passed a bill authorizing the formation of the Continental army and giving Washington full command over them (Weir, 2006)

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