The History Channel has a Memorial Day message: Even legends learn from their mistakes.
History’s “Washington the Warrior” focuses on the evolution of America’s first action hero from a reckless young major in the Virginia militia to a seasoned military leader of wisdom and courage. As narrator Stacy Keach says: “The man and his nation had come of age together.”
“We realized that unlike any other time in history – I dare say it will never happen again – the transformation of one man resulted in the birth of a country,” said Dolores Gavin, History’s executive producer for the two-hour docudrama.
“He went from a man who made some very bad decisions that resulted in the deaths of his men, brash action, indecision. But he was able to use that and develop his own character.”
Telling the story was challenging, partly because Washington is a mythological figure. For example, the tale of the boy’s admitting to his father that he chopped down a cherry tree is false. “Never happened,” Gavin said.
No matter how honest young George may have been, he also may have been the first American politician to understand the concept of spin: Washington, it seems, was careful to edit what he wanted history to remember.
“To understand the man behind the image, one must see him as he saw himself,” narrator Keach says. Washington apparently thought highly of himself and recognized the value of good publicity. After he returned from a harrowing trip into French-controlled frontier territory, his journal somehow got rushed into print, creating the image of a daring 21-year-old hero.
Still, even heroes make mistakes. His first battle, at Great Meadows in southwestern Pennsylvania, was a military and diplomatic disaster that marked the beginning of the French and Indian War. He was forced to surrender after 31 of his men died; threatened with demotion, Washington chose to resign.
Then, recognizing he needed more military experience, Washington signed on as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, whose forces were moving west from Alexandria, Va., toward Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) in French and Indian territory. When Braddock was killed, Washington took charge and proved a worthy leader. He went on to lead the Virginia militia for six years.
At 27, he retired to Mount Vernon to marry the widowed Martha Custis, become stepfather to Patsy and Jack, and run the Potomac River estate he had inherited from his half-brother. But his life as a top military leader was not over.
For this program, Gavin chose to use little-known actors who speak no lines. Shea Patrick, who portrays Washington as a young officer, looks remarkably like early pictures of Washington, she said. Playing the more mature man is Jackson Bolt, 49, who at 6-foot-3 is as tall as Washington was.
“He didn’t have to look exactly like (Washington), but it was his aura we wanted to convey,” Gavin said. “Jackson really took the part to heart despite the fact that he was the representational figure, not acting the words. He was very conscientious, did a lot of reading, had questions for the historians. On the set, the other re-enactors kind of gave him a bit of distance.”
“Washington the Warrior” required more than 1,500 re-enactors, she said, all Lithuanians hired during the eight-week shoot there last year. They portray not only colonial but also British, Hessian and French troops.
“Working to ensure historical accuracy is tough,” Gavin said. “I think of all the shows I’ve worked on, this was by far the most difficult, heartbreaking, in what we had to cut.”
For example, the documentary portrays the tragic winter at Valley Forge but doesn’t mention that Martha Washington stayed there with her husband; or that Washington organized a cattle drive to supply beef for his starving troops.
On the other hand, viewers are reminded that Washington was heartbroken when his teenage stepdaughter, Patsy, suffered an epileptic seizure and died in his arms at Mount Vernon.
“We told that story to portray a man who was trying to find himself,” Gavin said. “That gave him a depth and something that he would use with his own men, a greater understanding of pain and loss.”
The History Channel also plans to air six one-hour documentaries next year under the title “Washington’s Generals.”
“I started thinking about how we perceive our heroes today,” Gavin said. “In the past they were very distant, one-dimensional, remote, their stories told in textbooks, some of which were dry. Now we need to pull them closer to us. I think we need to see their ‘humanness,’ how they learned from their mistakes.”
But, she acknowledged, for some, such as Washington, the stories are difficult to unravel. “That’s one of the things we tried to convey in the show – that ultimately this man will be a mystery forever.”
“Washington the Warrior”
9 p.m. today on the History Channel.
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