Saving Washington: Alumnus Tells Forgotten Story of Battle of Brooklyn

Cover of Saving Washington book

Cover of Saving Washington bookIt hasn’t even hit bookshelves yet, but the second book by Chris Formant, GWSB MBA ’79, Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and the Battle of Brooklyn, has already created market buzz and has been optioned by one of HBO’s top producers.

“I got the idea serendipitously,” says Formant, who read a one paragraph announcement in the Baltimore Sun a few years ago about a wreath laying ceremony honoring the Maryland 400 for their sacrifice at the Battle of Brooklyn in August 1776. “All of a sudden, this story was exposed to me — 400 citizen soldiers from Maryland who bravely stood up to a superior British Army in order to allow George Washington and the Continental Army time to escape. It was a true suicide mission, only six weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that saved the young country and its revolution. They were America’s 300 Spartans.”

This may have been one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War for those reasons. The Continental Army lost that battle — and many lives — but it allowed them to continue fighting the war.

Formant had never heard this chapter of America’s history and was so captivated that he immediately started researching. Despite the Battle of Brooklyn being one of the biggest and bloodiest battles of the Revolutionary War, there wasn’t a lot of information. “It was somewhat lost to history,” he says. So, he decided this story needed to be told and chose to bring it to life as historical fiction.

Formant tells the story of this pivotal time in history from the perspective of two teenagers, who are also best friends. One is avenging his father’s murder by the British, and the other is a free black man.

“I was always taught that the revolution was started as a tax revolt. But taxes are a rich person’s problem; teenagers aren’t going to fight for taxes,” he says. “That’s when the story, and the research, took a different turn. I wanted to find out what drove them to enlist and to sacrifice themselves for the ideal of liberty.”

Even with the historical fiction’s initial buzz and film option, Formant, who’s a self-proclaimed “tech guy at heart,” says he thinks of himself more as a storyteller than a writer.

Chris Formant headshot
Chris Formant is CEO of a tech startup and author of two books. “GW created a special kind of education I couldn’t have gotten anywhere else,” he says. “I found the whole experience terrific.” –Photo: Holly Hughes

“I think there’s a direct link between the storytelling skills you acquire as a leader of a large organization and the kind of storytelling skills as a writer you try to develop and hone,” he explains. And he should know, as he was a former executive known for building and leading turnaround and growth teams in technology and services businesses. He served as CEO of Verizon Enterprise before recently investing in and taking the reins as CEO of a technology startup that’s currently in stealth mode.

He also sits on numerous boards, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (Fun fact: His access to their archives helped with his research for his first book, Bright Midnight – a murder mystery that reimagines the deaths of famous rock stars, who died in the 60s and 70s, as murders instead of overdoses.)

“I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I never knew I’d end up doing this,” says Formant, while reflecting on lessons and advice to share with current students and grads. “I also realize no one started out as an accomplished person in the endeavor they begin with. But I always tried to overdeliver on everything I was asked to do and get involved in as much as I could. I would look for things that weren’t asked for but could add value, and I’d do it in a way that was passionate and infectious, so those around me got excited and committed.”

Despite his full schedule, he still finds the time to write. “Some people play golf or tennis to relax. I do this,” he says. “But when I’ve done it, I’ve had to fully commit myself. It becomes a job. I’ve also been lucky to have good editors over the last few years – they spark ideas, challenge the dialogues, and improve the prose. I realized that successful authors almost always have a great team around. Just like great business leaders do.”

What’s next for Formant, aside from launching the new tech company? He says he’s already working on a “Stephen King” style horror story and has outlines for more after that, and adds, “I love to create unique story lines that play with history in a way that draws readers in with a calm sense of familiarity and then takes them in an unexpected direction.”

Saving Washington: The Forgotten Story of the Maryland 400 and the Battle of Brooklyn (Permuted Press) will be available February 19, 2019.

— Christine Cole

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