Blooding at Great Meadows: Young George Washington and the Battle That Shaped the Man

History celebrates George Washington as the leader of the American Revolution and the father of his country. But what has gone previously unexamined is Washington's life as a twenty-two-year-old lieutenant colonel; he led four hundred American militiamen against a bigger, more experienced French army and paid a high price. Not only did Washington lose over a third of his men, but the Battle of Great Meadows was also the spark that ignited the French and Indian War.

Yet in the midst of this ...