Henry Knox: Visionary General of the American Revolution | 
 enlarge | Author: Mark Puls
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  12 reviews
Sales Rank: 59890
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 1403984271
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.3092
EAN: 9781403984272
ASIN: 1403984271
Publication Date: February 5, 2008
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Product Description
Here is a compelling portrait of the Revolutionary War general whose skills as an engineer and artilleryman played a key role in all of George Washington's battles including the Siege of Boston (where his use of cannons at Dorchester Heights won back the city) and the Battle of Trenton (where he was in charge of Washington's crossing of the Delaware River). Knox became an major advocate of the U.S. Constitution and served as the nation’s first Secretary of War. He was co-founder of the U.S. Navy, laid the foundations for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and negotiated treaties and set policy with Native Americans.With nail-biting battle scenes, patriotism and deep understanding of his subject, Mark Puls breathes new life into the American Revolution and firmly assigns Knox to his deserved place in history.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 7 more reviews...
 "If George Washington was the indispensable man of the Revolution, then Henry Knox was his indispensable man" (Puls, p. 251) November 27, 2008
Perhaps not unlike most successive generations of Americans, I knew not the particular credentials of Henry Knox. Our high schools, undergraduate and graduate educational institutions not really teaching much if anything about the "supporting casts" of the less recognizable American Revolutionary players.
Yet, as author Mark Puls remarks, "...The contributions of soldiers standing in the field are no less signficant than those of the delegates who penned their names to the Declaration...Knox's career crosses the traditional boundaries between soldier and statesman, and his contribution is difficult to categorize" (p. 257).
Importantly, Puls observes, "...It is easy to take for granted his [Knox] efforts simply because success is often quiet while failure is conspicuous, and it can be tempting to view the projects he guided as mystically destined for glory. Yet an examination of the historical record shows that his achievements were anything but foregone conclusions. He took great risks and remained a relatively obscure figure to historians because his endeavors were not plagued with problems" (p. 256).
In my opinion, Puls has written a fine book; one that was most informative, well researched and providing ample citations that allow the reader to tailor their individual interests further (mine being, maternal family member, then NJ militia Captain Daniel Bray and others, work to locate and situate the boats used by Knox to prepare Washington's troops to cross the Delaware). It was a book that I rarely put down, turning the pages at a solid if not increasing pace, and was written so well it made me feel like I had been transported to innumerable, historically relevant locations where Knox's life unfolded.
As Joseph Ellis has assessed this work by Mr. Puls, "...This is unquestionably the authoritative biography." I look forward to reading his work on Samuel Adams next!
Excellent Introduction to General Knox September 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Henry Knox was one of those men who lives in the shadows. He was, in his time, a memorable individual: a fat man with a booming voice and an ebullient personality, a wonderful friend with a hale-fellow-well-met personality. He was also one of the people more instrumental in the success of the Continental army during the American Revolution. So it's a bit surprising that other than the fort named after him, and the city in Tennessee, he's largely unknown. The author of this book, Mark Puls, aims to correct this.
The author writes a short, concise, informative account of Knox's background and upbringing. One chapter suffices to get the reader to the beginning of the Revolution, though it should be pointed out that this isn't that long a period of time: Knox was in his 20s for much of the revolution, something that surprised me. I knew he was young, but not *that* young. Knox took charge of the artillery train that had to be moved from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston, a distance of several hundred miles across very difficult terrain, and did it during early winter, often waiting for the frost to harden the mud on the roads. Knox then was appointed to command Washington's artillery, a position he held from that point until the end of the war.
This means that for all of the major battles of the Revolution that Washington fought, Knox was there with him, directing the guns. He also served as an engineer and logistics chief, and on more than one occasion Washington entrusted the army's safety to Knox, assigning him to ensure the army's crossing of the Delaware to Trenton, for instance. By the end of the Revolution, when the French army joined with the Continental army to besiege the British at Yorktown, the French army's engineers and artillerists were pleasantly surprised to discover that Knox, a young man with no formal training as a soldier, was nonetheless very skilled and knowledgeable.
Knox didn't really leave public service at the end of the war. Instead, he wound up succeeding Washington as commander-in-chief of the army, then served as Secretary at War for the Continental Congress during the period running up to the ratification of the Constitution. Knox supported the constitution, and advocated to Gouveneur Morris a government constructed rather like the one that emerged from the convention; Knox wrote his letter to Morris six months before Morris helped write the Constitution. Knox then served Washington as Secretary of War, among other things constructing the army and founding the modern American Navy, an action for which he usually isn't remembered. The Humphreys frigates ("Constitution", "United States", "President", "Constellation", etc.) were constructed at Knox's direction, though of course Humphreys himself gets the majority of the credit for the idea. These warships were large enough that they could defeat single British frigates in single combat, and fast enough they had a chance of outrunning any larger ships they encountered. Knox deserves some credit for their success, and for the founding of the Navy. He left Washington's cabinet several years before the end of the administration, serving in various capacities in the Massachusetts legislature and government before retiring from public life.
But his signal achievement, probably, was his advocacy of the establishment of a military academy for soldier cadets. As early as the last years of the Revolution he argued that something along these lines be done, and he even established a school for army officers (especially artillerists) in his military camp. He pretty much tirelessly argued for the establishment of a permanent academy at West Point, and finally, after 25 years of advocacy, succeeded in 1803 when the United States Military Academy was established. Knox died three years later, a victim of a chicken bone that lodged in his throat, the wound becoming infected.
The author does a good job of outlining Knox's life without getting into details too much. This is appropriate for a short biography of a soldier of the American Revolution. This book is very comparable to Terry Golway's biography of Nathaniel Greene, "Washington's General", which was released a few years ago, and was, to my mind, very successful. This is a highly recommended account of the life of a very interesting, and little-known, American soldier, and it belongs on the shelf of any military history buff who studies the American Revolution.
The strategist behind the charismatic General Washington September 2, 2008
Our hero George Washington was able to achieve the key Revolutionary War battles with the incredible foresight, creativity, and persistence of his General, Henry Knox - a self taught man. He was with General Washington from the beginning in Boston, through the battles in NYC, engineered the crossing of the Potomac, and finally victory in Yorktown.
George Washington said "There is no man whom I love more or have a stronger friendship."
 Good read, some inaccuracies August 24, 2008
This is a very readable and much needed history of a forgotten founder of our country. I'd never read much of anything about Knox except that he got the cannons from Ticonderoga to Boston at the start of the revolution. It never occurred to me to think much about why Washington put so much trust in him and named him to his cabinet. There are a few minor errors, such as Puls statement that Hamilton wasn't able to run for President due to his foreign birth (false - per Article II, anyone a citizen at the adoption of the Constitution was eligible), but they don;t detract much from the whole.
 Still Waiting July 22, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
From Boston street rat to American revolutionary general to the first U.S. Secretary of War, the career of Henry Knox rose steadily and triumphantly despite a life dogged by personal tragedy. Knox's quick intellect allowed him to turn bombardment theory gained through voracious reading into expert practice during the American Revolution; his unflagging optimism and good-natured love of people charmed open the doors to the halls of political power; his reliability and integrity gained him the respect and admiration of the army and its civic leadership. Perhaps the greatest testament to his spirit was his refusal to break under the deaths of nine children and the gradual mental collapse and death of William, his only sibling.
Puls's biography of Knox falls into the category of "Better than Nothing." Knox, for whom the famed repository of American gold is named, deserves the limelight Puls shines on him. Also, Puls's writing is clear and exciting, the kind of prose that captures the imagination and holds it tightly. However, this is not a scholarly work, and it shows. Speculation on what Knox may have felt or thought is too prominent, and there isn't much in the way of scientifically-historical investigation. This popular biography fills a thoroughly necessary spot in the American library--to introduce the casual reader to a great historical figure who may otherwise have been forgotten. It's simply unfortunate that Knox has the popular biography without the definitive scholarly work to undergird it.
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