This file is copyright (c) 1997 The Philalethes Society and all rights
including any redistribution rights are reserved by the copyright holder.
Permission to quote from, redistribute or to otherwise use these materials
must be obtained from the copyright holder directly by contacting The
Philalethes, Nelson King, FPS, Editor, 2 Knockbolt Crescent, Agincourt
Ontario Canada, M1S 2P6. Tel: 416-293-8071 Fax: 416-293-8634 or
nking@freemasonry.org or nking@onramp.ca




Was George Washington A Sun Tzu Strategist?

by Jack Soroka, MPS

General George Washington was an ar-
dent Freemason who exemplified the
type of hero who declined supreme
power and wished to command only to
serve. His associates referred to him in
his pre-Presidential trek as "the Gen-
eral." As a military genius he presents
an absorbing subject for study. Where he
acquired his knowledge of strategy and
tactics, the skill with which he planned
his battles, his uncanny foreknowledge of
the enemy's movements, has long been
a puzzling question to militarists and
historians alike. It is improbable that
"the General" read "The Art of War,"
400-320 B.C., by the Chinese military
theorist Sun Tzu.

Sun Tzu Ping-Fa's Art of War remains
one of the most quoted works on strategy
read today. The book has timeless appli-
cations for military commanders, com-
puter-strategy game players and Fortune
500 executives alike.

Twenty-five centuries ago, the Chinese
philosopher general Sun Tzu (or Master
Sun) wrote, "Rapidity is the essence of
war. Take advantage of the enemy's un-
readiness, make your way by unexpected
routes, employ spies, attack unguarded
spots, emphasize secrecy, intelligence,
and deception. "

Did Washington, the man the British
called "a paltry colonel of militia" mea-
sure up as a military tactician to Sun
Tzu's aphorisms of warfare? The answer
is a resounding Yes. General Washington
was a strategist and had been schooled in
the rugged campaigns of the French and
Indian War. His early military training
and experience prepared him for his sub-
sequent leadership as commander in
chief of the Revolutionary Army.

Worshipful Brother Washington's tac-
tics are replete with examples of utilizing
Sun Tzu's maxims of fighting smart.
Washington's Six Rules of War reveal
some of the military methods used by Sun
Tzu. They are:

1. Never attack a position in front which
you can gain by turning.

2.Charges of cavalry should be made,
if possible, on the flanks of infantry.

3.The first qualification of a soldier is
fortitude under fatigue and privation;
courage is only the second. Hardship,
poverty and actual want are the soldier' s
best schools.

4.Nothing is so important in war as an
undivided command.

5.Never do what the enemy wishes you
to do.

6.A general of ordinary talent, occupy-
ing a bad position and surprised by a
superior force, seeks safety in retreat- but
a great captain supplies all deficiencies
by his courage, and marches boldly to
meet the attack.

It is said that Napoleon adopted these
rules in his own campaigns. On February
22nd, we celebrated the 257th anniver-
sary of the birth of Washington. His suc-
cess did not depend upon book-learning,
military or otherwise. He relied rather,
upon his expert knowledge of topogra-
phy; his ability to read men and their
motives - what the Rosicrucians call
"psychic intuition;" his unfailing atten-
tion to detail, which took account of
every requirement, however small, and
overlooked nothing; his punctilious ex-
action of obedience from his subordi-
nates.

Washington was essentially a man of
action. He planned his campaigns in
hours of deep reflection, upon which no
intrusion was permitted. He was not a
talker; he gave confidences to few; but
mentally he rehearsed every part of his
strategy - and everyone's part in it - until
every possible movement, with all that it
might entail, stood out in bold relief in
the background of his mind. Contingen-
cies were provided for: accidents consid-
ered; the unexpected especially guarded
against .

He was affectionately called "The Old
Hoss" by the Continental soldiers. It is
a truism that "the General" had plenty
of horse sense in his make-up. It was
Lord Cornwallis who originally nick-
named Washington "The Old Fox; " but
eventually the rank and file of the British
Army followed his example.

Surprise was one of the favorite words
in Washington's military vocabulary. Be-
cause the Redcoats expected surprise at-
tacks at dawn, he recommended mid-
night. "A dark night and even a rainy
one, will contribute to your success,"
said the Old Fox to his staff at councils of
intelligence director. He proved himself
a master of the game, running as many
as a half dozen spy rings in Philadelphia
and New York, and constantly urged his
general to follow suit. More than once he
permitted British spies to rummage
among his private papers - which had
been carefully "doctored" for the occa-
sion; with the result of directing the
enemy attention to quarters where it
would be least likely to interfere with
Washington's projects. At Valley Forge,
he manufactured documents in his own
handwriting, full of returns from imagin-
ary infantry and cavalry regiments.

The strategic patterns employed by
Washington appear to be based on the
writings of the itinerant military Chinese
philosopher-soldier who lived 2,500
years ago. At first glance this seems to be
true. However, it is more plausible to
remember that Washington was, to all
intents and purposes, self-taught and
self-trained. He had learned life-lessons
in the hard school of Experience.

General Washington had a meager mil-
itary library during the War of Indepen-
dence. Realistically, the treatise of Sun
Tzu was not among his military refer-
ences. However, the work of Sun Tzu and
the philosophy of warfighting waged by
"the General" are inseparable.

In the final analysis, it is only fitting and
proper, for modern strategists and histo-
rians to judge General Washington as a
tactical genius since his military skills
were far more complex than guerrilla
warfare. He conceived winning strate-
gies and devised tactics to execute them.
A recurring theme of Sun Tzu's apho-
risms are apparent when one studies
Brother Washington' s military opera-
tions.

The Philalethes, Octobcr 1993

