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 Book_ 
 
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 A STUDY 
 
 I 
 
 George Washington. 
 
A STUDY 
 
 George Washington. 
 
 WILLIAM S. STRYKER, 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF THE CINCINNATI 
 IN THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 V\' 
 
 Si 
 
 READ BEFORE THE SOCIETY AT ITS MEETING AT 
 TRENTON, FEBRUARY 22, 1S97. 
 
 TRENTON, N. J. 
 
 Naar, Day <fe Naar, Printers. 
 1898. 
 

 
A Study of George Washington. 
 
 The study of the life and character of General Washing- 
 ton is a pleasant and instructive work to every true Ameri- 
 can scholar. To one who loves to search among the records, 
 letters, documents and contemporaneous biogi'aphies of the 
 Revolutionary period, nothing is more interesting than to 
 picture to oneself in strong outlines the grand personality 
 of the great commander. It is a most delightful pastime on 
 a winter evening, surrounded by a library rich in Ameri- 
 cana, to read what has been said of him by officers of his 
 own army, by distinguished members of the French contin- 
 gent and by the common people — how he appeared to them, 
 how he impressed them from the time he drew his sword on 
 the common at Cambridge until he bade them farewell at 
 the Fraunces Tavern in New York. I shall give j'ou the 
 result of my own searches on this line in as brief a sketch as 
 possible, and in this way, on his natal day, we will to some 
 degree, I trust, form a conception of what manner of man 
 he was. 
 
 In a letter from John Adams to his wife, dated June 17, 
 1775, we find the following paragraph, descriptive of the 
 young soldier who had just been selected to lead the for- 
 tunes of the cause of independence : " I can now inform you 
 that the Congress have made choice of the modest and vir- 
 tuous, the amiable, generous and brave George Washington, 
 Esquire, to be General of the American Army." 
 
4 A Study op George Washington. 
 
 AdJ the next day the same great statesman wrote to El- 
 bridge Gerry, " There is something charming to me in the 
 conduct of Washington. A gentleman of one of the first 
 fortunes upon the continent leaving his delicious retirement, 
 his family and friends, sacrificing his ease and hazarding 
 all in the cause of his country ! His views are noble and 
 disinterested ! " 
 
 After the disastrous battle of Long Island, in August, 
 1776, the Abbe Robin said that the men of the American 
 Army " were rivals in praising him, fearing him when he 
 was silent, and retaining thein full confidence in him after 
 defeats and disgrace." 
 
 ^ His bravery in conflict is clearly evinced when at Prince- 
 ton in 1777 his officers said, "Our arni}- love their General 
 very mucb, but they have one thing against him, which is 
 the little care he takes of himself in any action." 
 
 The battles of Brandywiue and Germantown had been 
 fought, nearly three months of that awful winter at ^'alley 
 Forge had slowly passed, the countenance of Washington 
 had become more grave and careworn, his stately bearing 
 still more dignified, his manner still more reserved, when 
 Peter S. Du Ponceau came to America with General the 
 Baron von Steuben and gave us, February 23, 1 778, his im- 
 pressions of the cliief: " I could not keep my eyes from that 
 imposing countenance, — grave, yet not severe! affable with- 
 out familiarity ! Its predominant expression was calm dig- 
 nity, through which you could trace the strong feelings of 
 the patriot and discern the father as well as the commander 
 of his soldiers ! I have never seen a picture which repre- 
 sents him to me as I saw him at Valley Forge. Perhaps 
 that expression was beyond the skill of the painter, but 
 while I live it will remain impressed on my memory." 
 
A Study of (rKOKciE Washington. 5 
 
 The cold of that terrible winter encampment on the 
 Sehuylkill had given way to the warmth of June when the 
 race began between the British and American forces across 
 New Jersey to the plains uf MoiiiiKiiitii. 'Plie night after 
 (lie i)attle, the oallant (icncial Lafayette, wiin liad slept by 
 the side of General Washington under the same military 
 cloak, said of him, "During this allair which ended so well, 
 although begun so ill. General Washington appeared to ar- 
 rest fortune by one glance, and liis pr6sence of mind, valour 
 an<l decision of character were never displaye<l to greater 
 advantage than at that moment." 
 
 Later on in the year. Doctor James Thatcher, a Surgeon 
 (if Colonel Henry Jackson's Massachusetts Continental regi- 
 ment, gives us in his military journal a very graphic 
 description of Washington. "The personal appearance of 
 our Commander-in-Chief is tiiat of the perfect gentleman 
 and accomplished warrioi-. lie is rcmarkiibly tall, full six 
 feet, erect and well proportioned. Tlie .strength and pro- 
 portion of his muscles appear to be commensurate with pre- 
 eminent powers of his mind. The scvei-ity of iiis counte- 
 nance and majestic gracefullness of ids (i('|iortnuiit imparl 
 a strong impre.ssion of that dignity and grandeur, which 
 are his peculiar characteristics, and no one can stand in his 
 presence without feeling the ascendency of his mind and 
 associating with liis (■ountenance the idea of wisdom, phil- 
 antiiropy, magnaiumity and jiati'iotism, 'I'iiere is a tine 
 .synnnetry in the features of his fai'c indicatiNc of a licnign 
 and dignified spirit." 
 
 And at the close of tiie year .\lajor-( Icncrai tiic Manjuis 
 do Ciiastelleux, a noted French officer under tlic Count do 
 IvoclKUnhcau, when he, saw the leader of the American 
 troops i'oi' the first time .said, " It is not my intention to ex- 
 
6 A Study of Geobgk Washington. 
 
 aggerate, I' wish onlj' to express the impression General 
 Washington has left on vay mind. Brave without temerity, 
 generous without prodigality, noble without pride, virtuous 
 without serenity ; he seems always to have confined himself 
 within tliose limits where the virtues, by clothing them- 
 .selves in more lively, but more changeable and doubtful 
 colors, may be mistaken for faults. It will be said of him 
 at the end of a long civil war he had nothing with which he 
 could reproach himself" 
 
 On the 3rd day of May, 1779, .John Bell, Esquire, of 
 Maryland, in a letter to the Reverend Doctor Charles Henry 
 Wharton, of Worcester, England, says, " General Washing- 
 ton is now in the forty-seventh year of his age ; he is tall, 
 well-made man, rather larged boned, and has a tolerably 
 genteel address; his features are manly and bold, his eyes 
 of a bluish cast and very lively ; his hair a deep brown, his 
 face rather long, and marked with the small pox ; his com- 
 plexion sunburnt and without much colour, and his counte- 
 nance sensible, composed and thoughtful : there is a re- 
 markable air of dignity about him, with a striking degree 
 of gracefulness. * "■ * Candour, sincerity, affability 
 and simplicity seem to be the striking features of his char- 
 acter, till an occasion offers of displaying the most de- 
 termined bravery and independence of spirit." 
 
 Again on November 23, 1780, the Marquis de Chastelleux 
 met General Washington at Pomptou in our State, and he 
 remarked: "The goodness and benevolence which charac- 
 terize him are evident from everything about him ; but the 
 confidence he gives birth to never occasions improper fa- 
 miliarity ; for the sentiment he inspires has the same origin 
 in every individual, a profound esteem for his virtues and a 
 high opinion of his talents," 
 
A Study of George Washington. 7 
 
 On the 10th of January, 1781, the gallant General Na- 
 tliauael Greene, second only to Washington in soldierly 
 ability in the Continental Army, wrote to Colonel Alexander 
 Hamilton, who knew him equally well, — " I always thought 
 him exceedingly popular, but in many places he is little 
 less than adored, and universally admired. His influence 
 in this country might possibly effect something great." 
 
 And again in August of the same year the Abbe Robin, 
 Chaplain of the Regiment Soissonnais of the French con- 
 tingent, said : " I have seen General Washington, that most 
 singular man, the soul and support of one of the greatest 
 revolutions that has ever happened or can happen. He is 
 of tall and noble stature, well proportioned, a fine, cheerful 
 open countenance, a simple and modest carriage. * * * 
 In all these extensive States they consider him in the light 
 of a beneficient God, dispensing peace and happiness arovind 
 him. Old men, women and children press about him 
 when he accidentally passes along, and think them- 
 selves happy once in their lives to have seen him. The 
 Americans are aroused, animated and inflamed at the very 
 mention of his name ; and the first songs that sentiment 
 or gratitude has dictated have been to celebrate General 
 Washington." 
 
 When in September, 1782, the Count de Segur, the Colonel 
 of the same French regiment as Chaplain the Abbe Robin, 
 gives us in his "Recollections," this description: "His ex- 
 terior disclosed, as it were, the history of his life ; simplicity, 
 grandeur, dignity, calmness, goodness, firmness, the attrib- 
 utes of his character were also stamped upon his features 
 and in all his person. His stature was noble and elevated ; 
 the expression of his features mild and benevolent; his 
 
 l>*e if} leQ2 
 
8 A Study of George Washington. 
 
 smile graceful and pleasing, his manners simple, without 
 familiarity." 
 
 In these quotations we can, as with the pencil of an artist, 
 picture to ourselves the singular majesty of his figure and 
 the peculiar expression of his countenance. We are im- 
 pressed with his grave dignity, his unconscious sincerity, 
 the reverent awe his appearance and mind created, the pure- 
 uess of his motives, the simple qualities of his patriotism. 
 And as we feel the warm hlood pulse through our veins, 
 the same strain of l)lood that flowed in the comrades of 
 Washington, we greet him in the words of Light Horse 
 Harry Lee, as " first in war, first in peace, and first in the 
 hearts of his countrymen ! "