Shortly before this week's Democratic primary, Jim Webb spoke at a rally, encouraging his army of volunteers to "be their own officers." Webb reminded us that these were the instructions given to the "over the mountain men" who gathered to defeat Cornwallis' commander Ferguson in the battle of King's Mountain in 1780. Not surprisingly, the irregular ragtag American army of volunteers back in 1780 responded angrily to Cornwallis' arrogant warning to behave themselves or he would crush them. The "over the mountain men" knew exactly what their leader meant when he said to "be their own officers."Thereafter, it was a long, hard slog to the siege of Yorktown in 1781, where the combined forces of the French Army and Navy, along with the Americans, defeated the British and effectively won the Revolution. But Yorktown was a very different kind of battle; it was a classic set piece of siege warfare, in which the highly trained French regulars, well supplied and well funded, carried the load, ably assisted by an American Army which itself was now well trained and drilled by the German Baron von Steuben. In short, it took discipline, supplies, money, and outside professional help.
When Cornwallis finally surrendered and the British marched out between the two rows of American and French professional soldiers to lay down their arms, the military band played "The World Turned Upside Down."
Webb called us to King's Mountain, and we, the "ragtag volunteer army," answered. Each of us became our own officer, providing the final surge in the last days of the primary. We won, but now we face a long, hard slog of our own against an entrenched, well disciplined, well-funded, arrogant and wily opponent.
We will corner Allen just as Washington and Rochambeau cornered Cornwallis, and we, too, will win. However, it will be a very different campaign from that of the primary (there is a reason we use the word "campaign" for both warfare and politics). Now it's time for the disciplined regulars, the well-supplied and well-funded outside help, to show up. It's time for intelligent maneuvering, training and discipline...without, to be sure, giving up the instinctive fighting smarts of the "over the mountain men."
Make common cause now with that establishment we considered to be calcified losers with a perpetual minority party mindset. They have the experience and political knowledge, money and contacts even us victorious irregulars will need for the set piece battle coming up. If we come together, we will Turn The World Upside Down come November.
I got to your piece a little late...very well done ... better late than never. When Jim Webb gave his King's Mountain rally speech (which I didn't make because ... like too many things in the campaign ... I found out about it through the website - LATE) .... I had just finished reading about that story in "Born Fighting".
It occurs to me to that key campaign staff probably have never read the book and haven't fully grasped what / how our candidate thinks. They never really adjusted to this "everyone is their own officer" concept ... care and feeding of the grassroots was often neglected. Benign neglect? And I hope ... yes it's still a hope at this point that the campaign quickly adjusts to the new reality... a major national level campaign against a "corporate politician".
We'll need to double / triple our volunteer base, bring back the Miller folks and build a Big Tent for new joins ... overall get the message out.... that there is indeed a worthy and talented individual who the voters of Virginia can count on ... as their own!!! Jim Webb for Senate!!!
On the other hand, I hope Jim and us ragtag volunteers also understand that the general election is not like the primary and Kings Mountain, it is more like Yorktown, and from now we need organization, shrewd political analysis, quick response... and money and supplies. That was my message: George Washington and von Steuben drilled the ragtag sharshooters into a professional force, and Washington graciously accepted the help, supplies, AND advice of the better trained, experienced French, even though he had fought the French only a few years before during the French and Indian Wars, and did it without actually giving these new allies control of his Revolution. We should be so smart.