SEEDS OF VICTORY: Defeat, Triumph, and the American Way of War

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Looks at how pivotal American defeats fueled crucial victories through resilience and strategic adaptation, shaping the nation's path from loss to triumph in warfare. The battles covered are Long Island (1776) to Trenton and Princeton (1777), Charleston (1780) to Cowpens and Guilford Court House (1781), Invasion of Canada (1812) to Battles of Lake Erie and the Thames (1813), First Bull Run (1861) to Antietam (1862), Pearl Harbor (1941) to Midway (1942), Luzon (1942) to Buna-Gona (1943), Schweinfurt (1943) to the 'Big B' (1944), and Chongchon River (1950) to Operation Ripper (1951). Describes each battle, explaining how it was fought and lost, and then shifts gears to detail how leaders assessed the factors that led to defeat and made changes to training, tactics, and strategy so that American forces entered the next battle wiser and able to win. Then evaluates the wars waged in more recent decades in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq.