The Mock Court Martial of British General Sir William Howe: George Washington Revealed as the Greatest Commanding General in World Military History

By Roy Cini Cusumano

David McCullough, Americas award-winning historian, laid down the challenge in an interview on CBS 60 Minutes when he claimed that when it comes to teaching history young Americans are historically illiterate. Hall of Fame, award-winning historian Roy Cini Cusumano took up the challenge: His riveting, fast paced court martial with nonstop suspense. British Commander in Chief General Sir William Howe, facing a death sentence, is haunted in London by his flawed military campaigns at Long Island, Brandywine, Barren Hill, and Valley Forge. The trial also exposes Howes embarrassing life styles including perjury, adultery, and his farewell, wild party gone mad.
In his gripping trial Cusumano exposes Englands best kept secret of the American Revolutionary War concocted by Sir William at Philadelphia. The King and Parliament were furious. General Howes best chance to end the war was at Barren Hill or Valley Forge. If he captures Generals Lafayette or George Washington, the war is over. It was that simple. The British commander had the perfect chance to launch his invasion and capture General Washington with 16,000 British and German armiesthe two greatest, most powerful on the globe. Washington had only 3000. Skillfully, Sir William imposed a code of silence on his generals. He played down the Barren Hill event as a meaningless tactic. Invading Valley Forge was an absurd idea. Testimonies by Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin unsheathe their rhetorical knives drawn to strike at Englands tyrannies. Sir William lost the war; England lost the thirteen colonies. And General George Washington emerged the greatest military commander in the history of warfare.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abbott Press
• Release date: Oct 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781458210739

Roy Cini Cusumano

Roy Cini Cusumano was born in Philadelphia but lived mainly in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was educated at West Chester State College and Villanova University with studies in English and American Literature, Mathematics, and American history, subjects he taught for 38 years as a classroom teacher. He lives with his wife Diane at North Wales, PA.

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Copyright © 2014 Roy Cini Cusumano.

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ISBN: 978-1-4582-1075-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-1074-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4582-1073-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913527

Abbott Press rev. date: 2/17/2014

Contents

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Members of the Court-Martial

Bibliography

Notes

Endorsements for the Publication of the Mock Court Martial

Cusumano has been a tremendous asset to the Methacton School District in his career as a distinguished teacher of English, mathematics, debate and participation in mock trials. (Robert W. O’Donnell, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. May 6, 1991.)

You took the advantage of a unique opportunity to touch the future through the imaginative and fertile minds of our students. On behalf of all Pennsylvanians, I congratulate you for committing your life to our children. (Robert P. Casey, Governor, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. June 5, 1991)

Also by Roy Cini Cusumano

• The Prep School Days of André Watts.

• Valley Forge Version of Student Manuscript: Court Martial of Major General Benedict Arnold.

• In Search of the Grail of Hope and Knowledge.

• General the Marquis de Lafayette: America’s Great Foreign Volunteer Part I.

• General the Marquis de Lafayette: America’s Great Foreign Volunteer Part II.

• General Lafayette at the Battle of Brandywine.

• Three Days in May: General Lafayette’s Stunning Escape at Barren Hill.

• Lafayette Versus Cornwallis in the Virginia Campaign.

• General Lafayette to America’s Rescue: Pathfinder for an American Victory.

• Lafayette’s Vision for the Future: Freedom for Black Slaves.

• Lafayette’s French-American Legacy: His Declaration of the Rights of Man.

• Lafayette Fact Sheet: His Humanitarian Achievements in Europe.

• The American Revolutionary War Diary of General Gilbert Motier de Lafayette.

• The Diary of Adrienne de Lafayette.

• Gilbert and Adrienne: World Class Champions for Human Rights.

• General Lafayette and the Oneida Indians of New York.

THE COURT MARTIAL

OF

General Sir William Howe

IN

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS,

ON AUGUST 28, 1789

RELATIVE TO

HIS FAILURE

TO END THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR

At

VALLEY FORGE

IN

A VICTORY

For

THE KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN

DURING HIS LATE COMMAND OF THE KING’S

TROOPS

IN

N O R T H A M E R I C A

[The First Edition]

L O N D O N

Sold By S. Burns, Bookseller, (No.134) In Crestview,

Opposite Fetter Lane

MDCCLXXXIX

(Price Three Shillings and Sixpence)

PRINTED BY J. KIMBAL BARNES, IN FLEET STREET

For my wife Diane

Introduction

David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize winning historian and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, stated in an interview on CBS 60 Minutes by correspondent Morley Safer that We are raising children in America today who are by and large historically illiterate.

Having spent 38 years in the classroom as a teacher of American history, English, and mathematics, I agree with Mr. McCullough that we could have done much better to teach our children vital courses in American history. I felt an obligation, therefore, to respond to his criticism in the form of a challenge to all classroom English and history teachers by taking Mr. McCullough’s admonition seriously. I believe the best way to teach American history is a thorough application of the court martial format, one that I used for several years in my career. My current work, "The Mock Court Martial of British General Sir William Howe" serves as an example. The advantages of this format are obvious. Conflict is the essence of drama. It is achieved by verse and prose. Emotions produced by behavior are expressed through action and dialogue of each character in a story. Physical and psychological disturbances of all characters are behavioral factors that lead to audience anticipation by way of confrontations among prosecuting lawyers, defense lawyers, and witnesses for both sides. The court martial provides these combinations; it compresses all of the above. Thus, teaching the history of the American War of Independence or any other historical event in classrooms is best achieved by way of this format.

American courts martial proceedings during the War of Independence were structured on the British system. They were the only method of trial by jury available to the colonists. The system in this court martial is a combination of the American model which was adopted by the Continental Congress on September 20, 1776, and the British arrangement already in use much before then. Both models allowed extensive responses by witnesses during direct or cross examination sessions. Some rebuttals resembled speeches. In this trial, the British Judge Advocate will probe any detail, however minor or minute, as he moves from one witness to another by putting to test each and every bit of evidence in order to help the military jury acquit or convict the accused with impartiality and fairness. Indeed, the life of Sir William Howe is at risk.

Anyone who submits accusations also plays the role of prosecutor. The Judge Advocate’s jury members consist of officers with military experience needed to sit in judgment and give their verdict germane to General Howe’s actions and motives as commander in chief of the British forces in the colonies during the War of Independence. Their cross examination sessions, sometimes extended, attempt to help the court decide a verdict. These sessions are often contrary to jury trials in American courts today except in rare occasions where lawyers who cross examine witnesses insist on direct, quick responses. They prefer yes or no answers without details they feel are inconsequential to the case.

This court martial is fiction. It never took place. But it should have. Names of the Members of the Court are fictional. But every battle examined and its commanders are real. All military statistical information cited are accurate. Every character who testifies existed with his proper name except the Oneida Indian Hawkeye whose name is fictitious.

King George III of Great Britain and Parliament were furious at General Sir William Howe for his failure to defeat General Washington at Valley Forge and to end the war in 1778 with a victory for his King. A court martial conducted for the British public, however, would have been a public relations disaster. The prosecution would have proved that one of the most brilliant military commanders of the War of Independence, General Sir William Howe, failed to trap a twenty-year-old boy general, the Marquis de Lafayette, at Barren Hill in White Marsh Township on May 20, 1778, today known as Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania. If he had captured the marquis, Sir William could have had a better chance to win the war. Unfortunately for the British, General Lafayette’s role in the war after his escape would prove crucial to the American victory as this court martial will show. Yet, the fact that General Howe failed to move on to capture General George Washington at Valley Forge only a few miles away from Barren Hill has finally come back to haunt him.

Sir William finally resigned his command at Philadelphia in 1778, sailed away, and appeared before a parliamentary inquiry in London to clear his reputation. Skillfully, he prepared a wily subterfuge by imposing a code of silence on his generals, played down the Barren Hill event as an insignificant maneuver, considered invading Valley Forge an absurd idea, and got influential officials on his side. They cleared him of all charges. Loyalist Joseph Galloway was an American whose bitter accusations against General Howe were expressed in the House of Commons and recorded. But they were ignored by the King who was in no mood to hear any testimony whatsoever that would have embarrassed his military establishment and nation. Officials sympathetic to the Crown, sitting in judgment of the former commander, listened to Galloway’s testimony. They countered with a spurious excuse to downplay his accusations claiming this American who was a devout loyalist knew nothing about military tactics. The officials ignored his evidence as did the public and the King. Sir William kept his innocence.

The trial provides the details of the bitter dispute between both men. His Lordship Sir William having escaped prosecution had lived for the rest of his life employed as a military officer. He continued to serve King George III. The court martial will also disclose how General George Washington, who does not appear as a witness because he is serving his first term as President of the United States, became commander in chief of the American Continental Army by standing tall in many ways as one of the greatest commanders in the history of warfare. In spite of his imperfections, he had awesome challenges and responsibilities to lead an unprepared army and no navy against the two greatest armies of the era: The British and German. No one was more effective or more courageous as a warrior with grace under tremendous pressure than the Virginian. It was he more than anyone else during the war who guaranteed American style democracy, however imperfect during that era, which has lasted until this day; most likely it will continue for centuries to come since 1775 when he became commander in chief. Indeed, his legacy is continuing to spread throughout the globe to other nations even today.

Valley Forge: A Microcosm of a Future America

Battles are fought on more than just one front and in different varieties, not just a battlefield with enemy soldiers in combat. Washington faced the battle which was one of the most treacherous and complex confronting a commander in chief. It became the biggest battle of them all because it had to be resolved before Washington was prepared to win the most important one at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781. If he fails to rebuild his army at Valley Forge and loses here, he loses the war against General Sir William Howe and the British Crown and we could forget Valley Forge, Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the American flag. Imagine the retribution that our Founding Fathers would have endured because of General Howe’s victory. Indeed, a declaration of war against the King of England by the signers of the Declaration of Independence in addition to the commander in chief of the rebels risked the death penalty. If they lost the war, they would have been prosecuted for high treason which was the most serious capital crime. Punishment was by hanging or by having the criminal’s body torn apart and head decapitated according to the violation of the third type of treason: enlisting troops to level war against King George III of England.

The Declaration was the promise; Valley Forge was the fulfillment. The uniqueness of Valley Forge was that it served as a microcosm of a modern America in its infancy—the vanguard that one day would blend into the spirit of America’s greatness as we know it today. During