... his major characters: Washington, Nathaniel Greene, Henry Knox, and William Howe. Washington, a Tidewater planter, was also an experienced soldier and surveyor, serving with distinction under Edward Braddock in the French and Indian War. McCullough reminds readers of Washington's background: "Like other planters of the Tidewater, Washington embraced a life very like that of the English gentry. English by ancestry, he was, in ... not remove the stain of defeat from the encounter. If there is a weakness in the narrative of 1776, however, it is in this middle section. Although McCullough de...

• Word Count: 1576
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate