Two-hundred-and-thirty-five years ago this week, October 31 through November 5, 1776, our American Fabius was executing his military plans with the same tatics as his Roman nickname-namesake. Who was the Roman Fabius? and what was our American Fabius doing to earn his moniker?
Around 141BC Hannibal and his Carthiginian armies (including multiple elephants) passed through the Alps into northern Italy, conquering all the Latin territories, and even capturing and occupying Rome itself. The Roman Senate authorized the General Maximus Fabius to lead the legions of Rome to fight the invaders. Completely overwhelmed by the Carthaginian fire-power of men, arms, and elephants, Fabius fought the invaders through tactics of evasion, attack and withdraw, and what we know today as guerilla warfare. It was a long war of attrition, but after four years Fabius drove the Carthaginians out of Italy.
Our American Fabius, George Washington, faced the same overwhelming odds in the fall of 1776. That June, the British navy, with an armada of 45 ships, had deposited 30,000 red coats, and 17,000 Hessian mercenaries on the shores of New York with one intention in mind. To break the rebellion and return the American colonies to the authority of the Crown. The American Continental Army had 8,800 men, while only 6,923 were reported fit for duty. Washington, understanding that his army was outnumbered, uneqipped, untrained, and incapable of victory in the field, undertook the tactics of Fabius. He hit the enemy when he had the advantage, and ordered an "alteration of position," whenever the odds looked bad. He knew he could not defeat the British with European battle tactics, so he determined to beat them by extending the conflict through unending minor skirmishes. Eventually pressure from London would bring the war to a victorious close.
The Battle of White Plains, which took place between October 31 and November 5, 1776, is a perfect example of Washington's successful tactics. British commander General Howe deployed 13,000 Red Coats and Hessians in the area north of New York. Greatly outnumbered the Americans fought behind rock fences and trees. After five days of fighting the British claimed a victory, but they lost two times as many men as the Americans, and they soon picked up and moved back to New York City.
What revelance does this story have to do with us today? It teaches us that character and commitment to an honorable goal will always bring success. It reminds us of what great cost our liberties were purchased. It inspires us to honor those great men, who had such a vision for this nation that they were willing to die for it. It gives us a clear path to victory in our own lives--don't get overwhelmed by circumstances, use what you have, and don't give up. And, it charges our imaginations with the question: if, two-hundred-and-thirty-five years ago this week, these men had given up, where would we be today?
Submitted by Sonia Skillman
