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TTLE LIVES OF GREAT MEN 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 From the painting by Gilbert Stuart 
 
Little Lives of Great Men 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 A VIRGINU CAVALIER 
 
 By 
 
 WILLIAM H. 
 
 MACE 
 
 Author of "Stories of Heroism," "The Story 
 
 of Old Europe and Young America,'* 
 
 "Lincoln: The Man of the People" 
 
 WITH 
 5 HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM 
 PHOTOGRAPHS AND 6o PICTURES BY 
 
 HOMER W. COLBY 
 
 Chicago New York London 
 
 RAND McNALLY&CO. 
 
WASHlNGlOWiAtiA 
 
 Copyright, 1916, 
 By William H. Mace 
 
 FEB 18 1916 
 
 iaA4l888(> 
 
s§ 
 
 2 
 
 *>r 
 
 In memory of 
 
 Nancy Johnson Mace 
 
 and 
 
 RosENA Jenkins Dodson 
 
 Who love home and family 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Introduction to the Series .... 
 
 A Preface for People to Read . 
 
 The Men Who Fought Cromwell 
 
 Boyhood and Early School Days . 
 
 Early Life at Mount Vernon. 
 
 The Boy Who Wants to Go to Sea Goes 
 
 Back to School . 
 Mount Vernon., Belvoir, and Green 
 
 WAY Court 
 
 Great Responsibilities Fall Upon 
 
 Young Washington's Shoulders 
 Washington Goes to See the French 
 Virginia Sends Washington Forward 
 An Aide to General Braddock 
 Washington in the Last Campaign 
 
 against Fort Duquesne 
 Love and Marriage . 
 Old Days at Mount Vernon 
 The Mutterings of a Storm 
 The Storm Begins to Break 
 Independence Forever! . 
 The Campaign for the Middle States 
 Redeeming the South .... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ix 
 
 xi 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 28 
 
 42 
 46 
 
 53 
 
 57 
 
 64 
 66 
 
 75 
 84 
 
 93 
 
 103 
 
 105 
 119 
 
 VIX 
 
viii George Washington 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Final Victory at Yorktown . 124 
 Washington Says Good-By . . . .131 
 The Confederation Prepares Its Own 
 
 Death 140 
 
 Washington Points the Way to a 
 
 Constitution 143 
 
 Foreign Relations 161 
 
 Washington's Farewell . . . .162 
 At Home Once More 167 
 
 A Chronology of the Life of George 
 
 Washington lyd 
 
 A Reading List 180 
 
INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES 
 
 THE beneficent reaction of hero-worship on the 
 character of the boy-idolator begins when first 
 the lad reahzes that his ideal of manhood has been 
 subject to all the average boy's handicaps, has been 
 "in all points tempted" as he is, but has risen superior 
 to the multitude of life's physical, mental, and moral 
 dijfficulties. At that moment is born the inspiration, 
 followed by the earnest purpose, "to go and do like- 
 wise." The loftier his model, the higher his aim, the 
 more strongly is the lad vitalized, energized, uplifted. 
 
 On the other hand nothing can so deaden a boy's 
 ambition, as the belief that the object of his admiration 
 lived and fought and achieved in an atmosphere 
 unshared by him, and possessed abilities and opportu- 
 nities he is denied. With such a belief the youth 
 stumbles through year after year of his school career 
 with no realization of the joy of building stone by stone 
 the foundation of an impregnable life-structure. To 
 him remain unseen the possibilities which may be 
 grasped and opened up through the study of happily 
 written biographies of world-toilers who had blood and 
 brawn and fire, who being dead yet speak because of 
 the inherent power of a commanding personality, a 
 mighty will, and a never dying spirit. Why is this so? 
 
 Primarily, because the majority of biographies have 
 been written for mature minds, and deal with those 
 aspects of their subject's public career which appeal 
 only to adult students. They carry no heart message 
 to the boys of fifth or sixth grade, for they are beyond 
 
 IX 
 
^ George Washington 
 
 their comprehension both in style and matter. Biog- 
 raphy exerts no permanent influence for good on the 
 child unless by intimacy with and understanding of 
 boy nature, it grips him so firmly and implants a 
 tenacity of purpose so strong that he is undaunted in 
 endeavor to emulate and even to outstrip his ideal. 
 
 To accomplish this end is the primary object of the 
 "Little Lives of Great Men." It is their aim so to 
 bring biography to the plane of understanding of the 
 child at his most impressionable age, that there will 
 follow appreciation not only of the outstanding ac- 
 complishments of these great men but of the impulses 
 and principles which are the guiding and controlling 
 factors in the lives of all the great and good. 
 
 The fifth and sixth grades are counted the Heroic 
 Period in the lives of school boys and girls, and since 
 psychology, pedagogics, and child study have made 
 apparent this fact, those who have at heart the highest 
 welfare of the young are endeavoring so to shape school 
 book and curriculum that lasting results may be 
 obtained through the child's natural interests. The 
 authors of this series hope these little books will 
 render some service to the cause of education by appeal- 
 ing to the higher nature and molding hitherto undevel- 
 oped faculties in the pupils of the middle grades. By 
 awakening their perceptions, stimulating their instinct 
 for individuality, and quickening their efforts to attain 
 unto the measure of the stature of the high examples of 
 manhood outlined therein, the "Little Lives of Great 
 Men" are calculated to drive telling blows deep into 
 the inner consciousness of the children, and effectually 
 to rouse into vigorous action forces that may yet be 
 felt around the world. 
 
A Preface for People to Read 
 
 ** IV TOBODY reads a preface," some one has 
 
 1^ said. It is hoped that this one will 
 appeal to young hearts whether they 
 beat in old or youthful breasts. 
 
 The purpose of the author has been not to 
 lay stress upon the so-called "true George 
 Washington," or the great planter as he over- 
 saw his plantation or read the London markets ; 
 not even to lay emphasis on the great soldier 
 as he flamed forth in war, or the first president 
 as he marked the pathway of the new republic. 
 
 The chief aim has been to point out those 
 qualities which en^deared him to his generation, 
 to the end that boys and girls may have 
 stirred in them some of the affection and 
 admiration accorded Washington by those 
 of his own time. 
 
 This is no easy task. Americans have 
 placed Washington on a pedestal. Some 
 of his biographers have idealized him so that 
 he seems a demi-god. Others, in trying to 
 avoid this mistake and give a true story, have 
 been too realistic and have pictured only 
 that which was commonplace in his life, 
 calling attention to little human weaknesses 
 which at certain times and under some circum- 
 stances he gave expression to. But you can 
 no more tell a true life story of a man by 
 magnifying his faults than by overrating 
 his virtues. 
 
 xi 
 
%ii A Preface for People to Read 
 
 Between the two Washingtons is the 
 plain, simple-minded, dignified man, whom 
 relatives, neighbors, and friends all loved. 
 This view of Washington may not be a com- 
 plete view, but it is one that boys and girls 
 ought to enjoy. 
 
 Washington, as a pupil at school, was a 
 genuine boy. He played with vim and studied 
 hard. He felt strange emotions for the 
 gentler sex. Sometimes a pair of bright 
 eyes slipped between his studies and his 
 thoughts. To-day he marshals his boy com- 
 panions in a mimic charge, and to-morrow he 
 will ride on errands to distant plantations. 
 This is the boy at sixteen, whom Lord Fairfax 
 sent with companions across the mountains 
 to survey his lands. 
 
 There runs throughout his experiences a 
 vein of fun and frolic, even through the storm 
 and stress of war and the more critical days 
 of starting a new republic on its journey. 
 Always his love for the lighter and brighter 
 side of life is manifest. In his whole diary 
 there is no word of complaint except when 
 he recalls more than once the difficulty of 
 finding some particular kind of food for his 
 company. Mount Vernon became the Mecca 
 for friends, old soldiers, authors, and statesmen 
 and for the greatly beloved Lafayette. 
 
 W. H. Mace 
 
 Syracuse University 
 
 November, 1915 
 
• 
 
 WASHINGTON 
 
 A VIRGINIA CAVALIER 
 The Men Who Fought Cromwell 
 
 NEARLY a hundred years before our 
 hero was born his forefathers were 
 swept into the colony of Virginia by the 
 great wave of CavaHer migration. 
 
 The CavaHers were a noble band of 
 people who had fought bravely in England 
 for their king and church. But the 
 mighty Puritan general, Cromwell, had 
 triumphed over the Cavaliers, and had 
 captured the king and put him to death. 
 Hundreds of Cavaliers then sought in Vir- 
 ginia safety from the fury of the Puritan 
 soldiers. These Cavalier settlers were 
 well to do; they had large farms, lived 
 in good homes, and were people of elegant 
 manners. Virginia received them with 
 open arms. 
 
George Washington 
 
 The name of Washington had been well 
 known in the war between Cavaliers and 
 
 
 ,^"^^^-•^-V^\K'^■.*^^■■■^■-■— ^--~ " — ^''■- .,'C,--^^ 
 
 Sulgrave Manor, the ancestral home of Washington in 
 Northamptonshire, England 
 
 Puritans. Colonel Henry Washington won 
 name and fame for himself in this war. 
 He was in command of the king's men at 
 Worcester when Lord Fairfax demanded 
 the surrender of that town, and his brave 
 answer to the demand compelled the 
 granting of easy terms. 
 
 John Washington, a Cavalier and a 
 relative of Henry Washington, came to 
 Virginia to make his way in the New World. 
 He was full of energy, and very soon began 
 
A Virginia Cavalier j 
 
 to get a foothold in the colony. His 
 neighbors liked him, made him colonel 
 in an Indian war, and elected him to the 
 House of Burgesses to help make the laws 
 of Virginia. To honor his public and 
 private virtues the parish in which he 
 lived was named Washington Parish. 
 
 Augustine, one of the grandsons of 
 John Washington, was also full of vigor 
 and got on well. He owned five thousand 
 acres of land and had many slaves to 
 work for him. Besides, he was part owner 
 of the iron mines of Maryland and Virginia, 
 and was captain of the ship which carried 
 iron ore to London. 
 
 In London he met Mary Ball, a Virginian 
 visiting friends. Her father's estate in 
 Virginia was called Epping Forest, as a 
 reminder of that famous old forest near 
 London, and, because of her beauty, Mary 
 was called *'the rose of Epping Forest." 
 Augustine, a widower with two children, 
 fell in love with this bewitching young 
 lady and married her. Mary Ball Wash- 
 ington was the mother of our hero. 
 
4 George Washington 
 
 Boyhood and Early School Days 
 
 On February 22, 1732, George Washing- 
 ton first saw the light of day. The first 
 signs of gentle spring were beginning to 
 awake in all Atlantic Virginia, and the 
 first songs of returning birds were adding 
 their music, as if in honor of the event. 
 
 It was a happy time to be born, and a 
 happier time for Augustine and Mary 
 Washington, because this lively little 
 Cavalier was the first child that had come 
 to. make life brighter in their home on 
 Bridges Creek. This early home of the 
 Washingtons bore the good old English 
 name of Wakefield, and was located on 
 the Potomac. From the gentle hillslope 
 where the house stood one could see the 
 wooded Maryland shore, broken here 
 and there by some great plantation, or 
 farm, which swept down to the lazily 
 flowing Potomac. 
 
 It v/as a strange world into which young 
 Washington was born. America was a 
 new country. The thirteen colonies had 
 
MARY BALL, "THE ROSE OF EPPING FOREST'* 
 From a painting in the collection of C. F Gunther 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 5 
 
 not yet all been settled. Virginia, the 
 oldest colony, had been settled only about 
 
 ^ If 
 
 .K-wn^^ my* 
 
 mm ^''' 
 
 ' 'iS' f T, 
 
 k 'fi ' 
 
 The site of Washington's birthplace. In the distance, beyond 
 the broad Potomac, lies the Maryland shore 
 
 one hundred and twenty-five years. Men 
 were still living who could remember 
 when the armies of Bacon and Berkeley 
 fought each other. In the whole of 
 Virginia there were not more than one 
 hundred twenty thousand people, who 
 lived for the most part along the seacoast 
 and along the great rivers which flowed 
 into Chesapeake Bay. 
 
 The Virginians had all come from 
 
 2 
 
6 George Washington 
 
 England and dearly loved the motherland 
 and all things made there. They built 
 their homes on rivers or near the sea, in 
 order that ships coming from the old 
 English home might land .at their own 
 doors, leave what had been ordered from 
 London merchants, and take on board 
 tobacco and wheat raised by the planters. 
 It was a happy time for the young folks 
 when the great ship came sailing up to 
 their own wharf to land the beautiful 
 furniture for the ''great house," and 
 those fine things young folks like to see 
 and wear. It was indeed a gala day in 
 the quiet life of the plantation if the ship 
 brought home some absent brother or 
 sister, or brought letters and gifts from 
 their kinsmen in the old English home 
 nest. 
 
 After unloading, the ship sailed up the 
 river to other plantations. In a week 
 or two she came back and stopped for 
 loading. This was a busy time on the 
 old plantation. The tobacco and wheat 
 which had been raised had to be sent to 
 
The great ship from England at a Virginia plantation wharf 
 
8 George Washington 
 
 the great London merchants. The slaves 
 were kept at work rolling great barrels of 
 tobacco and carrying bags of wheat on 
 board. The white folks were busy making 
 out their orders for next year, and writing 
 letters of business or pleasure to people 
 across the sea. 
 
 When everything was ready the ship 
 spread her white sails and flew away like 
 a great bird. Many a Virginia lad longed 
 to go on board and sail away too. 
 
 All Virginia was thickly wooded in that 
 far-away time, except the parts on which 
 the planters raised their crops. So dense 
 were these gigantic forests that they often 
 shut out the sun and shut off one planta- 
 tion from another. When people wished 
 to visit neighbors or go on errands, they 
 had either to use the rivers or ride on 
 horseback. 
 
 George Washington grew up like the 
 sons of other Virginia planters with a 
 "colored mammy" to watch over him, and 
 looked up to with open-mouthed wonder by 
 the many "pickaninnies" playing about. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier Q 
 
 When George was a bit over three years 
 old the house that had seen his birth 
 burned down. 
 
 The family now moved to Hunting 
 Creek, a plantation also on the Potomac. 
 This new home was a most beautiful spot 
 and later was given the name Mount 
 Vernon, in honor of a brave old English 
 sea captain. 
 
 Early Life .at Mount Vernon 
 
 No doubt George remembered some of 
 the most striking events of his life here, 
 for he was seven years old when his 
 parents left this plantation and went to 
 live opposite the quiet town of Fred- 
 ericksburg on the Rappahannock. The 
 plantation was called Ferry Farm. The 
 house stood quite a distance back from 
 the river on a bluff, or ridge. A beautiful 
 stretch of meadow land ran down from 
 the house to the river's edge. Here the 
 Washington children played with their 
 companions. 
 
10 George Washington 
 
 This was the boyhood home that Wash- 
 ington best remembered. It was not a 
 grand home Hke the homes of some of 
 the richest, but was "a story and a half 
 house" with a low, sloping roof on one side. 
 At each end stood a large chimney, as if 
 guarding the house from harm, but really 
 to furnish two great open fireplaces to 
 keep the home warm and cheerful. There 
 were no carpets on the floor, and the 
 furniture was plain. 
 
 A short time after moving to Ferry Farm, 
 George was sent to a school kept by 
 Mr. Hobby, a sexton of the church. He 
 was a poor sort of teacher, for he did not 
 know much more than a little reading, 
 writing, and, perhaps, "ciphering." Good 
 schools were scarce everywhere in America 
 in that early time, and particularly so 
 in Virginia. 
 
 In Mr. Hobby's school was another lad 
 who became famous in after days, — 
 Richard Henry Lee. He and George 
 were good friends and very early began 
 to write to each other. Here are two 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ii 
 
 letters supposed to have been written 
 by them at the age of nine. 
 
 Richard Henry Lee to George 
 Washington: 
 
 Pa brought me two pretty books 
 full of pictures. He got them in 
 Alexandria they have pictures of dogs 
 and cats and tigers and elefants and ' 
 ever so many things cousin bids me 
 send you one of them it has a picture 
 of an elefant and a little Indian boy 
 on his back like uncle jo's sam pa says 
 if I learn my tasks good he will let 
 uncle jo bring me to see you will you 
 ask your ma to let you come to see me. 
 
 George Washington to Richard 
 Henry Lee: 
 
 Dear Dickey, I thank you very 
 much for the picture book you gave 
 me. Sam asked me to show him the 
 pictures and I showed him all the 
 pictures in it; and I read to him how 
 the tame elephant took care of the 
 master's little boy, and put him on 
 
12 George Washington 
 
 his back and would not let any one 
 touch his master's little son. I can 
 read three or four pages sometimes 
 without missing a word. Ma says 
 I may go to see you, and stay all 
 day with you next week if it be not 
 rainy. She says I may ride my pony 
 Hero if Uncle Ben will go with me 
 and lead Hero. . . . 
 Your good friend, 
 
 George Washington 
 It would not take the sharp eyes of a 
 school teacher to discover that these 
 letters were written under different 
 circumstances. Young Lee's letter was 
 written without help, while young Wash- 
 ington's was carefully corrected. Lee be- 
 came famous, in after days, as a writer of 
 good English. 
 
 George's father and mother believed in 
 boys going to school. When George was 
 but seven or eight years old his half- 
 brother, Lawrence, came back from 
 London, where he had spent the entire 
 year in the same school in which his father 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ij 
 
 had studied as a young man. There, in 
 Mr. Appleby's school, Lawrence had 
 received the ''finishing touches" belonging 
 to a Cavalier of good breeding. Besides, 
 Lawrence was the eldest son, and, accord- 
 ing to an old English custom, when his 
 father died he would become "the head 
 of the family." To get ready for this 
 position Lawrence had been sent to 
 England. 
 
 George was proud of his brother and 
 looked upon him as a hero, as a young 
 man who knew the polite manners of 
 London and the Old World, and as one 
 whom all Virginians were bound to respect. 
 Lawrence was quick to see in the sturdy 
 boy those gifts which gave great promise 
 for the future. He took care that they 
 were given the right bent. It is this 
 interest and pride in his little half-brother 
 that speaks to us so highly of the noble 
 character of Lawrence Washington. 
 
 Lawrence Washington seemed to have 
 in him som_e of the fighting blood of 
 Colonel Henry Washington and of his 
 
14 
 
 George Washington 
 
 great-grandfather, John Washington. He 
 was only twenty-two when, as captain 
 of Virginia riflemen, he led his company 
 in a famous charge in the West Indies. 
 Only one half of the twelve hundred men 
 who charged the Spanish fort were left 
 to tell the awful tale. By his bravery, 
 Lawrence had won the high regard of 
 Admiral Vernon, who was in command of 
 the warships England had sent there. 
 
 While Lawrence was away fighting the 
 Spaniards, George, too, caught the war 
 
 Young Washington drilling the schoolboys 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 15 
 
 spirit. He had seen his brother get 
 ready for war and had eagerly seized 
 at every hint in his letters telling of a 
 soldier's life. He turned his schoolmates 
 into soldiers and drilled them, using 
 cornstalks for guns. He divided them 
 into hostile companies, and when all was 
 ready there came the mimic charge! 
 Boys took as much interest in play battles 
 then as in football now. Every boy in 
 Virginia expected to be a soldier some 
 day and fight the Indians, the French, 
 and the Spaniards. 
 
 Before George was twelve he was called 
 to mourn the death of his father. It was 
 a severe blow to the boy to be without 
 his father's advice in those fateful years 
 when the tendency of a full-blooded boy 
 is to break away from parental control. 
 But, fortunately for George, Mary Wash- 
 ington rose to the occasion. She was a 
 strict mother — the kind needed by that 
 household of growing, restless children 
 whose animal spirits pulled hard against 
 authority. Mary Washington won the 
 
1 6 George Washington 
 
 respect of her children and guided them 
 with and a firm, wise hand. 
 
 No doubt George Washington loved 
 his mother dearly, but no one would guess 
 it who has ever seen one of his letters to 
 her. In Virginia, in those old days, it was 
 fashionable for a son to address his mother 
 in a very formal and stiff way. Any 
 other way than ''Honored Madam" in 
 opening, and ''Your dutiful son" in 
 closing a letter would have been rude and 
 impolite. This gives us a glimpse into 
 the stiff atmosphere in which George 
 grew up. When he was presented to 
 any one for the first time he had to bow 
 very low, and if he were wearing a hat 
 he took it off and held it under his arm 
 or by his side. If presented to a young 
 woman she curtsied very low also. Young 
 people followed pretty strictly the manners 
 of their elders. 
 
 Two very striking traits George inherited 
 from his mother : silence, and the power to 
 command. These traits marked his mother, 
 it is said, in a high degree. Certainly 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ly 
 
 Washington was born to command, talked 
 very little, and made but few speeches 
 even as a man. 
 
 By the will of George's father the 
 greater part of his property went to Law- 
 rence as the eldest son. To him was 
 given that splendid plantation lying on 
 the west bank of the Potomac called 
 Hunting Creek, George's second boyhood 
 home. To his brother Augustine was 
 given the old Wakefield home, and to the 
 mother, Ferry' Farm, where George and 
 the family lived. 
 
 An interesting event now occurred in 
 the Washington fortunes. Lawrence fell 
 in love with Anne Fairfax, daughter of 
 William Fairfax, and married her. Now 
 it was Thomas Fairfax, granduncle of 
 Anne Fairfax's father, who had demanded 
 the surrender of Worcester in the wars 
 between Cavaliers and Puritans when 
 Colonel Henry Washington made the bold 
 answer that he would make good the trust 
 the king had given into his hands. Thus 
 were married in Virginia, one hundred 
 
i8 George Washington 
 
 years afterward, the children of forefathers 
 who had fought on opposite sides in the 
 wars between the king and the Puritans. 
 
 Meantime, George's mother had sent 
 him back to Bridges Creek, his birthplace, 
 to live in the home of his half-brother, 
 Augustine Washington, and to attend 
 school. His mother knew it was not best 
 to keep the boy tied too closely to her 
 apron strings. Although George was her 
 eldest son, and her favorite, she never 
 gave him the least sign of her feeling 
 toward him. 
 
 In Mr. Williams' school George studied 
 hard for a boy full of animal spirits. 
 Some of the boyish results of those school- 
 days have come down to us. They may 
 now be seen safely kept by the government 
 in Washington. One of them, a ciphering 
 book, contains his early efforts at writing, 
 and those other "play" exercises, dear to 
 the heart of every schoolboy — pen pictures 
 of birds and of the faces of his schoolmates. 
 
 Before he was thirteen George had made 
 very exact copies of all kinds of mercantile 
 
A Virginia Cavalier IQ 
 
 papers, legal forms, bills of sale, land 
 warrants, notes, deeds, and wills. This 
 was his way of getting ready for the 
 business of a great plantation. 
 
 The Boy Who Wants to Go to Sea 
 Goes Back to School 
 
 George was big of bone, strong of 
 muscle, and much larger for his age — 
 fourteen — than boys usually are. He had 
 already thought- of what he wanted to do 
 when he became a man. No doubt 
 many "councils of war" were held in his 
 household over the question of what the 
 lad was best fitted for or wanted to do. 
 At least, we know that at the age of 
 fourteen George was all excitement over 
 the plan of going to sea. He recalled 
 the stirring days when Lawrence went on 
 board the ship bound for war, and those 
 quieter days when the great merchant 
 ship sailed up to their own wharves at 
 Bridges Creek or at Mount Vernon. And 
 the tales of the sailors! Did they not 
 
20 
 
 George Washington 
 
 stir the heart of many a Virginia lad? 
 George was no exception. He dreamed 
 of the day when, in the uniform of an 
 officer, he would proudly walk the deck 
 of one of the king's great warships. 
 
 It has been shown how natural it was 
 for Virginia boys to talk and play war. 
 King George's War was then raging in the 
 Old World between the English and the 
 French, and it was quite the proper thing, 
 in those old days, for their children to go 
 to fighting in America too. George wanted 
 to go, but was too young for the army. 
 
 Dreaming of a seaman's life 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 21 
 
 Lawrence knew many officers in the navy 
 and, it is said, encouraged George by 
 getting papers for him that gave him 
 the rank of midshipman in the navy. It 
 is further said that a warship lay at 
 anchor in the Potomac, near by, and that 
 George even had his luggage on board, 
 when his mother's heart failed her at 
 the parting, and she wished him not to 
 go. George obeyed. 
 
 Mrs. Washington had just received a 
 letter from Joseph Ball, her brother in 
 England, who said: ''Don't let him go 
 to sea. Make a tinker or a tailor of him, 
 or anything that will keep him on shore. 
 A sailor on one of these trading vessels 
 is worse off than one of your negro slaves. 
 He is kicked and cuffed and robbed and 
 beaten : not a dog but has an easier time." 
 Joseph Ball thought George was going as 
 a simple sailor before the mast on a mer- 
 chant ship, while the story says he was to 
 be a midshipman on a man-of-war. How 
 it would have changed this story if George 
 had gone to sea, and how it would have 
 3 
 
22 George Washington 
 
 changed the history of America had he 
 spent his Hfe on a British man-of-war! 
 
 George went back to Mr. WilHams' 
 school and worked harder than ever. He 
 Hked mathematics better than other sub- 
 jects, because it gave rules for land 
 surveying, in which he took particular 
 delight. But not in books alone did he 
 find all the things he learned. He was 
 a strong, powerful boy, and a leader 
 among the boys of the country round 
 about in athletic sports. He could out- 
 walk, outrun, outjump, out wrestle, and 
 outride the best of them. He was skilled 
 in pitching quoits and throwing stones. 
 Near Fredericksburg, at the lower ferry, a 
 place is still pointed out where he threw 
 a stone across the Rappahannock River. 
 He was frequently called upon to settle 
 disputes among his fellows — a fact which 
 shows that they trusted his judgment and 
 his honesty. 
 
 Some pastimes common to Virginia 
 boys then are rather uncommon now. 
 At an early age George, like other Virginia 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 23 
 
 boys, had been given a norse for his very- 
 own. He took great pride in his horse. 
 He caught him in the pasture when he 
 wanted to ride. This happened very 
 often, for it was far to the neighbors where 
 he sometimes rode on errands for his 
 mother, and he loved to ride for fun and 
 froHc. He rode to school, and to church 
 on Sundays. A Virginia boy without a 
 horse could hardly be the son of a planter. 
 
 Young Washington was just the boy to 
 break his mother's colts. The "breaking" 
 was dangerous business, but George was 
 never wanting in courage. The break- 
 ing consisted in mounting a colt and 
 riding it in spite of its efforts to throw^ 
 the rider. The colt was held by his 
 brothers or some friend until George had 
 mounted it. Then away it flew, running 
 at breakneck speed, kicking, jumping, and 
 rearing in its efforts to throw its rider. 
 This went on until the colt was tired out 
 and stopped. From then on, it could be 
 mounted without danger. 
 
 From late fall until early spring fox 
 
24 
 
 George Washington 
 
 hunting was the favorite outdoor sport in 
 Virginia. Men and women, well mounted, 
 
 answering the 
 call of horn 
 or conch 
 shell, gathered 
 at break of 
 day. When 
 all was ready, 
 the horn again 
 sent its re- 
 sounding 
 notes over the 
 Potomac and 
 among the 
 hills. The 
 hounds, full of the spirit of the chase, made 
 answer with voices tuned like bells, and 
 broke away, each trying to find the telltale 
 scent of the fox. When the fox was well 
 *'up," the young people followed close 
 after the bellowing hounds. George was 
 now old enough to take part in the sport, 
 and, mounted upon his favorite horse, 
 he went sweeping along at full speed. 
 
 With his dog and gun George explored 
 the woods for miles 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 25 
 
 He was always in at the death of the fox. 
 
 Besides such pastimes, there was deer 
 hunting, and the hunting of smaller game, 
 such as the turkey and the squirrel. 
 George was skilled in all these sports, for 
 he knew the haunts and the habits of 
 these animals and was a sure shot with his 
 long rifle. 
 
 With his dogs and gun he could go miles 
 and miles into the woods in search of game, 
 and get back in safety. Only the sharpest 
 ears could hear his steps, though the 
 ground were covered with leaves and brush, 
 for his step was silent as an Indian's and 
 as graceful as a deer's. He made his way 
 through dense Virginia forests without so 
 much as disturbing a partridge on her 
 nest. 
 
 No art or craft of the woodsman, whether 
 white man or Indian, was unknown to him. 
 He could tell the way he was going by the 
 sun, and on a cloudy day by the bark on 
 the trees. His ears were as sharp as his 
 eyes. He could remain in the woods all 
 night and be safe from harm — protected 
 
26 George Washington 
 
 as he was by his dogs and by the fires he 
 built. He could put his ear to the ground 
 and detect, far away, the coming of a 
 carriage or horses along the road. 
 
 When about the age of fifteen, George 
 was taking thought concerning his con- 
 versation and conduct. In a diary kept 
 at this time there have been found one 
 hundred ten rules bearing the odd title 
 of ** Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior 
 and Conversation in Company." Here 
 are some of the rules supposed to have 
 guided him: "Every action in company 
 ought to be with some signs of respect 
 to those present. Be no flatterer. Let 
 your countenance be pleasant but in 
 serious matters somewhat grave. Show 
 not yourself glad at the misfortune of 
 another, though he were your enemy. 
 Let your discourse with men of business 
 be short and comprehensive. When a 
 man does all he can, though he succeeds 
 not well, blame him not. Play not the 
 peacock, looking everywhere about you 
 to see if you be well decked, if your shoes 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 27 
 
 fit well, if your stockings set neatly and 
 that your clothes look handsomely. It is 
 better to be alone than in bad company. 
 Speak not evil of the absent, for it is 
 unjust. Let your recreations be manful, 
 and not sinful. Labor to keep alive in 
 your breast that little spark of celestial 
 fire called conscience." 
 
 From these rules, written in his own 
 hand, we can better judge what things 
 were taking hold of George. If we examine 
 the rules again we shall see plainly that 
 (i) respect for others, especially the 
 unfortunate, (2) curbing his pride in 
 dress, (3) avoiding bad companions, (4) 
 choosing the right kind of pastimes, and 
 (5) being concerned about doing nothing 
 against his conscience were matters of 
 the greatest importance to him. 
 
 George was not a "goody-goody" boy, 
 nor was he a bad one, but he was a boy 
 with strong feelings, whose temper had 
 to be kept under control. He -is a promis- 
 ing boy who keeps down his feelings at 
 the age of fifteen. 
 
28 George Washington 
 
 Mount Vernon, Belvoir, and 
 Green way Court 
 
 Not quite sixteen, George said good-by 
 to school, but he did not quit studying. 
 He kept at his books on surveying. He 
 now went to Hve with his brother Lawrence 
 at beautiful Mount Vernon. The bonds 
 of affection between the two were growing 
 stronger as George grew older. It was 
 a fine opportunity for the boy. Lawrence 
 was still an officer in the Virginia militia, 
 a member of the House of Burgesses, 
 belonged to the Ohio Company, and was 
 often visited by officers in the king's 
 army and navy. Sometimes George 
 listened to the discussion of questions 
 of very great importance. 
 
 Not all his time was spent in the 
 company of fine people at Mount Vernon, 
 for George was still a boy, with a boy's 
 love of things exciting. No doubt he 
 joined heartily with the colored folks in 
 their night hunts for the opossum and 
 the coon, and in the fun and sport of 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 2g 
 
 drawing the seine in the Potomac for fish. 
 
 Lawrence took a fatherly interest in 
 the boy's sports and pastimes. He ar- 
 ranged with his old Dutch soldier, Van 
 Braam, whom he had brought from the 
 West Indies, to give George fencing 
 lessons. George enjoyed this clashing of 
 swords, and much of the dexterity and 
 ease with which Washington could handle 
 himself came from the lessons given by 
 Van Braam. 
 
 Not far below Mount Vernon, on the 
 Potomac, lay the beautiful country-seat 
 of William Fairfax. Fairfax had been an 
 officer in the king's army, was a man of 
 wealth and education, and dearly loved 
 society. His home was called Belvoir, and 
 was one of the best furnished homes in all 
 Virginia. The floors were made soft to the 
 foot by rich carpets, an unusual thing 
 in that day. The handsome rooms were 
 lighted by wax candles, and the servants 
 wore uniforms when the host received his 
 guests. We can well believe that this 
 home was the center of a gay company. 
 
JO George Washington 
 
 Into this cultivated family George was 
 given a hearty welcome. Here he caught 
 something of the atmosphere of Old- 
 Country life. Here, too, young Washing- 
 ton was thrown into the company of 
 people of his own age, — among them 
 George William Fairfax, just returned 
 from England. 
 
 But of all the friends he met at Bel voir 
 he became most warmly attached to 
 Lord Thomas Fairfax, a man of sixty, 
 lately come to Virginia to look after 
 family lands beyond the mountains. Lord 
 Fairfax had studied at Oxford, and had 
 been a soldier. 
 
 From the first he loved young Washing- 
 ton; the frank, manly ways of the boy, 
 his strong, healthful person, took hold on 
 this man of sixty. Lord Fairfax was a 
 great fox hunter, but he found that 
 George liked the pastime equally well and 
 could keep his seat with the best of them. 
 It was indeed a strange companionship 
 between this man of sixty and the youth 
 of sixteen. It exerted a lasting influence 
 
A Virginia Cavalier jl 
 
 upon George. Fairfax was a man worth 
 knowing. He had been the companion of 
 cultivated men in London, and in his li- 
 brary he had the choicest publications of 
 England. He himself had helped write 
 some of them. 
 
 But Lord Fairfax saw more in this lad 
 than a mere lover of outdoor sports. He 
 saw wisdom unusual in one of his years. 
 George was already a woodsman, as we 
 have seen. He was wise in counsel and 
 courageous in action, and he was strong 
 and powerful for one of his age. He had 
 a frank, open face, and kindly gray eyes. 
 He was indeed a boy to be admired. 
 
 Lord Fairfax now suggested to George 
 that he cross the mountains into the 
 valley of the Shenandoah and survey his 
 Lordship's lands. These lands lay some- 
 where between the headwaters of the 
 Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. Like 
 most boys, George was full of the love of 
 adventure, and he accepted the offer. 
 Had not his study of books and his 
 experiences in the woods fitted him for 
 
32 
 
 George Washington 
 
 the task? So far as we know, there was 
 
 not a moment of hesitation because of the 
 
 wildness and danger of the undertaking. 
 
 Numerous bands of Indians lurked 
 
 Young Washington as a surveyor 
 
 among the rocks and ravines, ready to 
 take revenge for some real or fancied 
 wrong, and wild animals roamed freely 
 through the forests of their mountain 
 home. Besides, springtime in upper 
 
A Virginia Cavalier jj 
 
 Virginia was a period of great rains, which, 
 adding to the water from the melting 
 snows in the mountains, filled streams to 
 their banks with a rushing tide that 
 threatened death to any one trying to cross. 
 
 But in the month of March Washington 
 rode gayly forth on his first trip into the 
 western wilderness. Young George Fair- 
 fax and a few others were his companions. 
 It was a lively company that rode the 
 first day's journey of forty miles. On 
 the second day' out, they reached the 
 foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge, 
 crossed these mountains by riding through 
 Ashby's Gap, and arrived at the shores of 
 the sparkling waters of the Shenandoah 
 River. The Shenandoah, in Indian lan- 
 guage, means "the daughter of the stars," 
 so called on account of its beauty. George 
 and his friends were charmed by the 
 scenes around them. They found *'the 
 beautiful groves of sugar trees, and spent 
 part of the day in admiring the trees and 
 the richness of the land." 
 
 For two days they buckled into the work 
 
J4 George Washington 
 
 of surveying. Then they fell in with 
 a backwoods captain and took lodgings 
 with him. ''We got our suppers and I 
 was lighted into a room and not being so 
 good a woodsman as the rest of my 
 companions, stripped myself very orderly 
 and went into the bed (which) I found 
 to be nothing but a little straw matted 
 together (with) one thread-bare blanket 
 with double its weight of vermin, such as 
 lice, fleas, etc. I was glad to get up 
 (and) put on my clothes and lay as the 
 rest of my companions. . . . Had we 
 not been very tired I am sure we should 
 not have slept much that night. I made 
 a promise not to sleep so from that time 
 forward, choosing rather to sleep in the 
 open air, before the fire." 
 
 On the sixth day the party went up the 
 Shenandoah to Frederickstown to meet 
 their luggage. "We cleaned up," says 
 Washington with a twinkle in his eye, 
 "to get rid of the game we had caught 
 the night before." Here we have a hint 
 of the humorous, good-natured side of 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 55 
 
 George's character. How this trip, with 
 its ups and downs, must have strained 
 the good nature of all of them! For the 
 party saw plenty of rough, hard work and 
 rougher ways of eating and sleeping. 
 Sometimes each man, with a "split stick," 
 roasted his own piece of turkey and ate it 
 with the help of a pocket knife, as only 
 men can who are spending days in the 
 fresh air at hard work. Sometimes they 
 sought a settler's cabin to escape the 
 torrents of rain -which fall in Virginia in 
 the early spring. But whether in the 
 rude cabin or under the stars, all the men 
 slept before a huge fire. 
 
 They saw many wild animals, some of 
 which they shot for food. Once they met 
 a party of Indians "on the war path." 
 Very likely these Indians had come from 
 the Six Nations, in far-away New York. 
 Sometimes the Indians traveled long 
 distances from home to seek out their 
 enemies. Through this very region ran 
 one of the "war trails" of the Six Nations. 
 
 These "sons of the forest" were painted 
 
j6 George Washington 
 
 and feathered for war, and were easily 
 persuaded to give a war dance. They 
 cleared a place and in the center built a 
 fire. The warriors sat in a circle while 
 the orator stirred their blood by recalling 
 recent victories. One of the warriors 
 arose, after a time, as if from a dream, 
 and began to leap and sing, being 
 finally joined by the entire party of 
 Indians. For music, they drummed on a 
 deerskin stretched over a pot, and rattled 
 a gourd containing shot. This wild scene 
 in a dark woods, lighted up by fire, made 
 a picture worth remembering. 
 
 Washington noted the war dance in his 
 journal. It was his first contact with the 
 Indians, although he had listened often 
 to tales of Indian adventures, generally of 
 their cruelty. At last he had seen the 
 real Indian with his war paint on! 
 
 George wrote to one of his friends: 
 "I have not slept above three or four 
 nights in bed, but after walking a good 
 deal all day I have lain down before the 
 fire upon a little straw or fodder, or a bear 
 
A Virginia Cavalier jy 
 
 skin, whichever was to be had, with man, 
 wife or children, Hke dogs and cats, and 
 happy is he who gets the berth nearest the 
 fire." In these Hnes you can see the happy, 
 vigorous boy enjoying things to the full. 
 
 In his own w^ay Washington wrote 
 down everything, on every day, just as 
 it happened. This brief journal is now 
 highly prized as being the first account 
 of the early life of Washington, written 
 by his own hand. 
 
 Within a month he was back at Mount 
 Vernon and Belvoir and had reported to 
 Lord Fairfax. The old gentleman was 
 delighted with the way in which George 
 had done his work, and by the great stories 
 the young men had to tell of the charm- 
 ing Shenandoah Valley. His Lordship 
 brought influence to bear .on the proper 
 authorities and had Washington appointed 
 a surveyor with the right to make a record 
 of his work according to the laws of 
 Virginia. 
 
 This old new friend of George's was 
 laying his plans well. He, too, crossed 
 4 
 
38 
 
 George Washington 
 
 into the charming Shenandoah, built a 
 "lodge," and named it Green way Court. 
 
 From an old engraving 
 
 Fox hiinling with Lord Fairfax 
 
 It stood on a beautiful knoll overlooking 
 the country round, and surrounded by 
 those deep, primeval forests where grew 
 the tall and graceful tulip tree — the giant 
 of the forests of upland Virginia. The 
 house which Lord Fairfax built was made 
 of stone, with large dormer windows. 
 A great stone chimney stood at either end, 
 and wide fireplaces gave warmth and 
 comfort to the people who lived there. 
 On one side, the roof ran long and sloping, 
 in the fashion of the day. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier jg 
 
 It was arranged that while practicing 
 his profession as surveyor young Wash- 
 ington should live at Greenway Court. 
 George was eager to do this, for settlers 
 were pouring over the Blue Ridge and he 
 found plenty of hard work to do. Besides, 
 he liked Lord Fairfax's companionship. 
 
 While the work of surveying rested at 
 times, Greenway Court always bade him 
 welcome. Sometimes he rode with his 
 Lordship in the exciting fox chase or 
 associated with- distinguished company 
 from across the mountains. Greenway 
 Court often resounded to the merry voices 
 of its guests, and to the sound of music 
 marking time for its dancers. 
 
 Then, too, in the rainy season, Wash- 
 ington found Greenway Court a quiet, 
 delightful place. In the library he found 
 the latest and the best papers from London. 
 Sometimes he dipped into the more serious 
 study of the history of England. He had 
 many long conversations and discussions 
 with Lord Fairfax over England's past 
 and what she promised for the future. 
 
40 George Washington 
 
 After all, what George learned while 
 surveying lands was to be of greatest 
 value to him in after life. He mastered 
 the art of being a woodsman in a way 
 never to be forgotten. For three years he 
 lived this life, and it left its mark upon 
 him. It taught him self-control. 
 
 It is a dangerous thing to lose one's 
 head or fly into a passion at any time, but 
 the rough woodsmen helping him in his 
 work would not have endured it for a 
 moment. He controlled them because 
 he first controlled himself. He had to 
 be alert in mind, quick in action, and 
 resolute in decision. A keen eye, a sharp 
 ear, and a skillful hand often saved a 
 man's life on that Virginia frontier. In 
 the woods Washington had to guard his 
 own life, day and night, for no man could 
 tell where an Indian lurked until a gun 
 flashed from behind a tree or bowlder, or a 
 tomahawk struck the murderer's blow. 
 
 Life in the woods strengthened Wash- 
 ington's tendency to be silent and never 
 to engage in useless conversation when 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 41 
 
 facing duty. This trait endured. He 
 made few speeches. He had learned that 
 deeds, not words, are wanted. 
 
 People who knew young Washington 
 marveled at his strange Indian manner of 
 walking. He was, while a young lad, as 
 erect as an Indian and walked with his 
 toes pointing, not straight ahead, but a 
 bit to the right and to the left. He 
 walked with the same care as did the 
 Indian. Life in. the western wilderness 
 not only made him independent, self- 
 reliant, and thoughtful, but gave him a 
 powerful physical constitution that en- 
 abled him later to endure the long, con- 
 tinuous strain of terrible hardships. 
 
 Whatever changes came to this Virginia 
 cavalier from living in the woods, he 
 did not forget his friends across the moun- 
 tains, and those loved ones on the Rap- 
 pahannock and at Mount Vernon. In fact, 
 he was often to be found at home advising 
 with his mother about the care of the 
 younger children and the management of 
 her plantation. 
 
42 
 
 George Washington 
 
 Great Responsibilities Fall upon 
 Young Washington's Shoulders 
 
 In 1 75 1 Washington's life as a surveyor 
 came suddenly to an end. He was called 
 to Mount Vernon to take his brother 
 Lawrence to a more genial climate for 
 his health. He went with him to the Ba- 
 hamas. Lawrence had brought the seeds 
 of consumption home from the Spanish 
 War. He had gone to England for relief, 
 but neither England nor the warm springs 
 of Virginia could do him lasting good. 
 
 The old entrance to Mount Vernon 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 43 
 
 So George hurried away with him to a 
 gentler cHmate. 
 
 The trip out, George enjoyed as only one 
 could who had been shut away from the 
 sea for three years. Everything was new 
 — new sights, new sounds. The hopes 
 of his brother's recovery, excited by the 
 first touches of the balmy air of the islands, 
 made sightseeing a charming pastime. 
 But George and his brother did not re- 
 main long in the Bahamas, for it was soon 
 found that nothing could save Lawrence 
 from the dread disease. They hastened 
 home that he might die with eyes resting 
 on his beloved Mount Vernon and upon 
 loved ones gathered there. 
 
 When the will of Lawrence Washington 
 was read, George found himself bearing 
 new relations to all the world. If Law- 
 rence's tender little daughter should fade 
 and die, then George was to own Mount 
 Vernon, one of the most splendid mansions 
 and plantations in all Virginia. 
 
 Years before, when Lawrence received 
 it from his father, he immediately began 
 
44 George Washington 
 
 to build a stately mansion. The spot 
 chosen was a hill rising from the water's 
 edge many feet above the Potomac and 
 overlooking the distant Maryland shore. 
 Here the river sweeps in long, gentle curves 
 above and below the plantation as far 
 as the eye can reach. 
 
 Lawrence patterned the house after the 
 Virginian and the English houses of that 
 day, and it has remained almost untouched 
 to our time. He built the house two 
 stories high, with two great chimneys — 
 one at each end — inside of the house. 
 Like all planters' homes, there was a 
 great porch. This was unique in running 
 the whole length of the front of the house, 
 and eight grand pillars lifted the roof 
 of the porch above the second story. In 
 that time the mansion of Mount Vernon 
 sat like a queen of beauty on her throne. 
 
 A year before, when young Washington 
 was called from happy Greenway Court 
 and its delightful company to take his sick 
 brother on that hopeless journey, little 
 did he dream that it marked the end of 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 45 
 
 his boyhood days. Not that his time of 
 doing interesting things had departed, 
 
 /I r^ 
 
 
 'M»W 
 
 West ft out of Mount Vernon and lau.n 
 
 but play for play's sake would come no 
 more as it had in the past. He must 
 bear a man's part, though not yet out of 
 his teens. In many ways he stood in the 
 place of Lawrence Washington. By his 
 brother's will he was made to answer for 
 the care of Mount Vernon and the dear 
 ones living there. His mother, on Ferry 
 Farm, looked to him for advice in matters 
 of great concern, and Governor Dinwiddle, 
 who had just arrived from England, made 
 him major of the Virginia militia, with 
 
46 George Washington 
 
 authority to train the soldiers of eleven 
 counties. In short, he had to play the 
 part of a man at a man's business. 
 
 Washington Goes to See the 
 French 
 
 Stirring times were now coming upon 
 Virginia. The French were moving down 
 from the Great Lakes and were taking over 
 the lands along the Ohio River. Long 
 before, leading Virginians under the name 
 of the Ohio Company had received from 
 the king a grant of half a million acres. 
 
 George's two brothers were prominent 
 members of the Ohio Company. Lawrence 
 was its manager, and George, while residing 
 at Mount Vernon, had listened to many 
 earnest talks over plans for sending settlers 
 to the source of the Ohio. While survey- 
 ing land at Greenway Court he had met 
 many backwoodsmen from this country in 
 which his brothers had an interest, and 
 had talked with fur traders who hated 
 the Frenchmen with a deadly hatred. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddle had alreadv sent 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 47 
 
 Washington's compass 
 
 one agent to find out the intentions of the 
 French, but he had become frightened and 
 had turned back 
 without having 
 seen a French- 
 man. Dinwid- 
 die had enough 
 Scotch blood in 
 his veins to be 
 resolved to order the Frenchmen away. 
 While he was looking for a man to carry 
 this bold message, Lord Fairfax probably 
 suggested young Washington's fitness. At 
 any rate, the governor's choice lighted 
 on George Washington, then twenty-one 
 years old. 
 
 When we think of what George already 
 knew of that wild region, his observation 
 of Indian character, — their cunning and 
 cruelty, — his knowledge of woodcraft and 
 of the rough ways of the backwoodsman, 
 we can readily see why the youth was 
 selected for this gigantic task. 
 
 George accepted the governor's com- 
 mand, turned his back upon the attractions 
 
4S George Washington 
 
 of Mount Vernon, and faced the respon- 
 sibility like a Cavalier. With the same 
 spirit as had his brother, his great- 
 grandfather, and that older Washington 
 in the days of Cromwell, he answered the 
 call to duty backed by the same deter- 
 mination that won for them and later for 
 him the "Well done" of a grateful people. 
 
 On the last day of October Washington 
 received his papers from Governor Din- 
 widdle commanding him to meet the 
 friendly Indians in council at Logstown 
 on the Ohio, push on northward to the 
 French, order them from the land in the 
 name of the King of England, and return 
 as promptly as possible with the French 
 answer. 
 
 Washington started immediately. He 
 took with him his old fencing master. 
 Van Braam. In two weeks they reached 
 the frontier post, Wills Creek, now Cum- 
 berland, belonging to the neighboring 
 colony of Maryland. Here they engaged 
 Christopher Gist, a backwoodsman and 
 Indian fighter who had already explored 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 4g 
 
 the Ohio. He acted as guide and four 
 others acted as helpers. In the last days 
 of November they made their way, against 
 great obstacles, to the source of the Ohio. 
 Washington was busy studying the best 
 location for a fort, and decided in favor 
 of the point where the Allegheny and 
 Monongahela unite. It turned out that 
 Washington was very wise in pointing out 
 the reasons why this was a good place, for 
 here the French a little later built Fort 
 Duquesne, and still later it became the 
 site of a great city. 
 
 The little party pressed on to Logs- 
 town and met the Indian chiefs, especially 
 Half-King, a brave Iroquois who became 
 a faithful friend to Washington. The 
 Indians told what the French were doing 
 to take possession of the country and to 
 seduce the red men from their friendship 
 with the English. After many long 
 speeches from the chiefs and Washington's 
 reply, he presented them with tokens of 
 English friendship, and received their 
 pledges of loyalty. 
 
50 
 
 George Washington 
 
 Half-King sent four Indians to pilot 
 him to the French, fifteen miles from Lake 
 Erie, where they arrived on an evening in 
 December, 1753. Everywhere Washing- 
 ton saw signs of what the French were 
 planning to do. 
 
 These Frenchmen received Washington 
 with every show of politeness, although 
 they were his deadly enemies. He tried 
 to hurry the business, but they only 
 delayed it. Yet he was not idle, but 
 when chance permitted, took notes of 
 everything he saw, and ordered his men to 
 do the same. It was a hard tussle. The 
 
 j._. .. . . ^ tLwJh.Til^ 
 
 A treacherous guide 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 5/ 
 
 French tried to win his Indians with liquor, 
 but Half-King did all in his power to keep 
 them true to Washington. 
 
 Finally the French gave answer to Din- 
 widdle's demands, and Washington imme- 
 diately set out on his return. He had a 
 long way to go. The journey was full of 
 dangers from accidents, from frozen rivers, 
 and especially from lurking Indians in the 
 pay of the French. Washington was most 
 anxious to get back with his news. He 
 pushed his horses'so hard that they showed 
 signs of giving out. Then he put them 
 under the command of Van Braam while 
 he and Christopher Gist, with guns in 
 their hands and packs on their backs, 
 made their way on foot. 
 
 They used an Indian as guide part of 
 the way. When chance favored him 
 this Indian suddenly turned and fired at 
 Washington, but missed. That old back- 
 woodsman, Christopher Gist, sprang upon 
 the Indian in a moment, and would have 
 killed him outright had not Washington 
 prevented it. They dismissed the Indian, 
 
52 
 
 George Washington 
 
 plunged into the deep forest, and traveled 
 all that night to be out of the Indian's way. 
 
 A narrow escape from drowning 
 
 They finally reached the Allegheny 
 River, which they tried to cross on a 
 hastily made raft. But the rushing ice 
 threatened the raft and finally Washington 
 and his companion were jerked overboard. 
 They swam to an island and there spent 
 the night. Then they hastened forward 
 with all speed until they crossed the Blue 
 Ridge, and in a few days familiar scenes 
 again greeted their eyes. But the charm- 
 ing society at Belvoir could not hold 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 5J 
 
 Washington more than a day. He 
 hastened forward to Williamsburg, the 
 capital, and laid before Governor Din- 
 widdle the French letter and a report of 
 all he had seen and heard. The letter 
 contained a firm refusal by the French to 
 give up the region, and was practically a 
 declaration of war. 
 
 Vv^ashington's report was well received 
 and was widely printed throughout the 
 colonies that the people might know the 
 plans of the F-rench. The report was 
 even sent to England, that the homeland 
 might understand the dangerous schemes 
 of her great rival. Washington although 
 not yet twenty-two years old had really 
 accomplished the deed of a man. 
 
 Virginia Sends Washington 
 Forward 
 
 Virginia took the lead in the struggle to 
 drive out the French. Governor Din- 
 widdle ordered Washington to raise three 
 hundred men at Alexandria, his home town, 
 and push forward the work of cutting a 
 5 
 
54 George Washington 
 
 road through the deep forests to the source 
 of the Ohio. 
 
 Three hundred men could not be found 
 quickly enough, so Washington, early in 
 April, started out with one hundred fifty, 
 to cut down trees, move great rocks, and 
 bridge streams so that an army might 
 follow with its cannon and its wagons. At 
 Wills Creek they heard that a party of 
 English soldiers, building a fort at the 
 beginning of the Ohio, had been set upon 
 by a larger force of Frenchmen and 
 compelled to surrender. This was the 
 very place to which Washington and his 
 men were bound. Wild rumors, set loose 
 by the French, were running through that 
 wild region. Washington well knew what 
 it meant — that the French had been 
 quicker than the English. The taunt 
 that the EngHsh were too slow for the 
 French had been thrown in his face by 
 both French and Indians when visiting 
 the French general. He saw that some- 
 thing had to be done, or else this affair 
 would be told, with great additions, in 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 55 
 
 every wigwam in the Ohio Valley, and 
 would be looked upon by the Indians who 
 were friendly to the English as the begin- 
 ning of French victories. He therefore 
 pushed forward and by the last days of 
 May reached Great Meadows, "a charm- 
 ing field for an encounter, ' ' as Washington 
 thought. 
 
 Now came news from Half- King that 
 he was hastening, as fast as the fear of 
 French scouting parties would permit, to 
 join Washington. He sent this word: 
 "The French army is coming to meet 
 Major Washington. Be on your guard, 
 for they intend to strike the first English 
 that they shall see." Washington knew 
 exactly what to do. He set forth with 
 forty picked men to find the French and 
 himself strike the first blow. He traveled 
 all night, and by the aid of Half- King 
 reached their camp at sunrise. The 
 French did not dream the enemy was so 
 near, but when aroused boldly sprang to 
 arms. But it was in vain. Washington's 
 men poured in a deadly fire, and in fifteen 
 
5<5 George Washington 
 
 minutes one third of the Frenchmen, 
 including their commander, were killed. 
 The remainder of the party, about 
 twenty-one, surrendered. 
 
 It was a short fight, but these shots 
 fired in the heart of the Alleghenies were 
 heard in England and France. Washing- 
 ton wrote to his brother: ''I heard the 
 bullets whistle and believe me, there is 
 something charming in the sound." 
 
 Washington's forces were increased to 
 three hundred fifty. But the French were 
 coming, seven hundred strong. In a dense 
 forest Washington hastily built a rude fort. 
 This the French and Indians attacked 
 from behind trees, and kept up the battle 
 for nine hours. Inside the fort fifty had 
 been killed and wounded when the French 
 general summoned Washington to surren- 
 der. The terms were good. Washing- 
 ton accepted them, and his little army of 
 backwoodsmen took up the long, dreary 
 march home. It was a bitter trial for the 
 young cavalier, but slow Englishmen and 
 quick Frenchmen had beaten him. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier jy 
 
 The House of Burgesses gave the young 
 man a vote of thanks. All Virginia was 
 stirred. The Burgesses voted twenty 
 thousand pounds, and from the king came 
 ten thousand pounds more. Then English 
 pride took the place of good sense. Every 
 one of the ten companies to be raised was to 
 have no American officer higher than cap- 
 tain. Washington immediately resigned. 
 
 He retired to Mount Vernon, glad to 
 be once more in the midst of friends and 
 loved ones. 
 
 An Aide to General Braddock 
 
 But very soon all thoughts of work on 
 the plantation were put to flight. Two 
 splendid regiments of redcoats had come 
 from England with General Braddock. 
 The great ships had unloaded them hard 
 by Mount Vernon, near the town of 
 Alexandria. Washington rode out to see 
 the splendidly dressed officers of the king, 
 and hear the sound of fife and drum of the 
 soldiers on dress parade. General Brad- 
 dock offered to put him on his staff, and 
 
^8 George Washington 
 
 he gladly accepted. It was all new to 
 Washington, for he had never seen real 
 soldiers before. He had seen his own 
 Virginia militia, and had commanded his 
 own backwoodsmen — those ''lean, gaunt, 
 sinewy, bony Virginians of the woods, who 
 knew as little of the manual of arms as he 
 did of fighting by word of command." 
 
 Can you imagine how this bold back- 
 woods fighter looked upon this army that 
 worked like a ''machine"? How aston- 
 ished he was at the form and ceremony of 
 General Braddock! No one could reach 
 his tent without an order, or without 
 running a gauntlet of guards. The dress 
 parade, the mounting of guard, the move- 
 ments by which an entire column could be 
 thrown into a long line of gleaming bay- 
 onets, all new and wonderful, amazed him. 
 
 General Braddock was a brave soldier, 
 but he knew nothing of fighting in America, 
 where the Indian hid behind rocks and 
 trees, crept up to shoot his enemy, and was 
 off in a moment ! He refused Washington's 
 advice, and neither would he take the 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 5P 
 
 advice of Benjamin Franklin, of Philadel- 
 phia. Franklin knew the ways of the 
 Indian. He told General Braddock that 
 his line of march — nearly four miles 
 long — would furnish the Indians just the 
 chance they wanted in that rough country. 
 Braddock smiled at Franklin's ignorance. 
 "These savages may indeed be a formid- 
 able enemy to American militia, but upon 
 the king's troops, sir, it is impossible they 
 should make an impression." 
 
 The army left Alexandria in April in 
 high spirits, and reached Fort Cumberland 
 in May. Washington saw how an English 
 general was accustomed to act. General 
 Braddock drove a fine carriage, with his 
 guards galloping on either side. Drums 
 were beating and fifes playing the 
 ' 'Grenadier's March " as the general passed 
 by, and as Braddock rode into Cumberland'^ 
 seventeen cannons thundered a salute ! 
 
 The army left Fort Cumberland in June. 
 They crossed the mountains with the 
 greatest difficulty. They stopped "to 
 level every mole hill and to erect bridges 
 
6o George Washington 
 
 over every brook, by which means we 
 were four days in getting twelve miles." 
 
 On July 9 they waded the shallow 
 Monongahela but eight miles from the 
 Ohio! There strutted the officers in gay 
 uniform, and there marched the men with 
 glittering arms. Banners fluttered in the 
 breeze. Only Washington and the brave 
 frontiersmen were uneasy with fear of 
 an Indian attack. 
 
 The army marched joyously forward, 
 when suddenly the French and Indians 
 attacked, Indian fashion, from behind 
 trees and logs, yelling like demons. "God 
 save the King!" shouted the regulars, as 
 they formed in ranks. The Virginia troops 
 took to the trees. Washington begged 
 the general to let each man take a tree and 
 fight the Indians in the Indian way. 
 Some did take to the trees, but Braddock 
 beat them with the flat of his sword and 
 ordered them to form in line of battle. 
 After a time great fear seized upon the 
 regulars. Their officers were nearly all 
 killed or wounded. Braddock himself was 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 6i 
 
 mortally wounded. Washington had 
 three horses shot under him. The British 
 soldiers ran wildly back to the rear. 
 Many brave Virginians were killed that 
 day, and but for them the slaughter would 
 have been greater. 
 
 Braddock lived long enough to bestow 
 well-deserved praise upon Washington. As 
 a token of appreciation he gave him his fav- 
 orite horse and his favorite servant, Bishop. 
 
 Braddock died, and Washington read 
 the English funeral service over the body 
 of the general. This was a hard task for 
 an American youth scarcely twenty-two! 
 Braddock was buried in the middle of the 
 road so that the retreating army might 
 hide all trace of his grave. 
 
 When the army reached Fort Cumber- 
 land Washington wrote home: "I have 
 been protected beyond all human proba- 
 bility or expectation, for I had four bul- 
 lets through my coat . . . yet escaped 
 unhurt, though death was leveling my 
 companions on every side of me." 
 
 The regulars had fled before one fourth 
 
62 
 
 George Washington 
 
 their number of French and Indians ! But 
 the Americans gained a valuable lesson: 
 
 Washington in command at Winchester, guarding the homes 
 
 on the frontier 
 
 They learned that British regulars would 
 run, and that the Virginia backwoodsmen 
 were better soldiers to send against the 
 French and Indians. 
 
 For the next three years Washington 
 was kept busy guarding the homes of the 
 settlers in the Shenandoah. Early in 
 1756, before the Indian had left his 
 wigwam to prowl, and scalp, and murder, 
 Washington started on a long journey to 
 Boston to settle his rank in the army 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 6j 
 
 with Governor Shirley, commander in 
 chief of the king's forces in America. 
 
 This young Virginia colonel dressed for 
 the journey as became his station. He did 
 'not love fine clothes for mere $how, as he 
 afterwards proved by introducing Indian 
 dress into General Forbes* army, but he 
 knew that people would form some idea 
 of Virginia from the way in which he 
 carried himself. 
 
 The little cavalcade made a fine appear- 
 ance. First carrie Washington, mounted 
 on one of the finest horses that Mount 
 Vernon afforded. He was dressed in his 
 uniform of buff and blue, with a white 
 and red cloak over his shoulders, and a 
 sword knot of red, and gold. His horse 
 was fitted with the best that could be 
 bought in London shops. Close by his 
 side rode his two aides, likewise in buff 
 and blue. Behind came his servants, 
 dressed in Washington's colors of white 
 and red and wearing hats laced with silver. 
 
 He was well received everywhere, for had 
 he not saved the remnants of Braddock's 
 
64 George Washington 
 
 army from the tomahawk and scalp- 
 ing knife? He pushed on to Boston, 
 where he saw the governor and arranged 
 matters to his hking, and then he stayed 
 there for ten days. He was just at an age 
 to enjoy entertainment to the full. 
 
 But other duties were calling. He 
 hastened home to take up his place on 
 the frontier, and soon forgot the charming 
 faces he had seen on his journey. 
 
 Washington in the Last Campaign 
 against Fort Duquesne 
 
 Finally a great man came to power in 
 England, — William Pitt. The generals 
 who had been defeated by the French and 
 Indians were dismissed, and abler generals 
 were sent to America. He declared that 
 all American officers up to the rank of 
 colonel should have the same authority as 
 the king's officers. This made him popular 
 in America. Pitt sent General Wolfe to 
 capture Quebec, General Amherst to de- 
 molish Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and 
 General Forbes to take Fort Duquesne. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 65 
 
 Now once more all was hurry and 
 bustle in Virginia. Two thousand men, 
 in two regiments, were raised in Virginia. 
 Washington was put at their head. Three 
 thousand soldiers from Pennsylvania were 
 to join the army, and twelve hundred 
 fifty from South Carolina, besides seven 
 hundred Indians. "Convenience rather 
 than show, I think, should be con- 
 sulted," said Washington, and immediately 
 dressed his men in the light hunting garb 
 of the Indian. - 
 
 On November 25 Washington, leading 
 the advance guard, entered Fort Duquesne 
 only to find it had been set on fire and 
 partially blown up the day before. He 
 planted the British flag on the ruins, and 
 Fort Duquesne became Fort Pitt in honor 
 of the man whose enterprise and vigor had 
 put it forever into the hands of the Eng- 
 lish race. Meanwhile, Wolfe's expedition 
 against Quebec had been successful, and 
 soon all Canada became English territory. 
 There was great rejoicing in America. 
 Bonfires blazed forth the glad news, and 
 
66 
 
 George Washington 
 
 cannon boomed in celebration of this 
 great triumph. 
 
 
 Washington and the advance guard entering Fort Duquesne 
 
 Washington was only a young man, 
 but he had done great deeds since that 
 spring morning when, as a mere boy, he rode 
 forth with his little company to survey the 
 lands of Lord Fairfax. Those ten years 
 had been a great school for Washington. 
 
 Love and Marriage 
 
 Back in the days when Washington was 
 a lad at school, even before he was fifteen 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 6y 
 
 years old, a pair of bright eyes and a fair 
 face had attracted him. They sHpped into 
 his copy book in the midst of calculations. 
 He wrote lines that make one feel that the 
 young beauty did not favor him with her 
 smiles. She was none other than Mary 
 Bland, who married Henry Lee. Their 
 son was "Light Horse Harry" of the Revo- 
 lution, who, in turn, was the father of 
 Robert E. Lee, the great soldier of the 
 Confederacy. 
 
 At a later date, during his friendship 
 with Lord Fairfax, one of the charms 
 of Belvoir was Mary Carey, the sister-in- 
 law of George Fairfax. He kept up his 
 interest in Mary Carey for two or three 
 years. Still later, w^e find him writing to 
 one of his friends that he is coming to his 
 home in Richmond to ' ' see his sister. Miss 
 Betsy," and that "he hoped to change her 
 former cruel sentence." 
 
 Not until Washington went on his first 
 visit to Boston, dressed in the dashing 
 colors of a Virginia colonel, do we hear 
 again of the tender passion. While visiting 
 
68 
 
 George Washington 
 
 an old schoolmate in New York, he met 
 Miss Mary Philips, a bewitching beaut}' 
 and an heiress. But she did not look with 
 favor on the Virginia cavalier, and our hero 
 
 ,^^:SM4, 
 
 After the painting by A. Chappel 
 Colonel Washington' s first interview with Mrs. Custis, his future wife 
 
 was in a hurry to get back to his duty in 
 the valley of the Shenandoah! 
 
 One bright day in May, such a day as is 
 common in "old Virginia," Washington 
 was riding with all vSpeed from the frontier 
 toward Williamsburg with important dis- 
 patches. Not even Mount Vernon could 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 6g 
 
 detain him ! Now it was only a little way to 
 the capital. As he hastened along, plan- 
 tations and neighborly homes began to 
 increase in number by the way. Then 
 ''Virginia hospitality" bade him stop for 
 dinner. Washington told of his great 
 hurry with dispatches; but his friend told 
 of a charming young woman whom he 
 would meet, if the dinner did not bring 
 temptation enough! Washington finally 
 stopped for dinner. There he beheld a 
 woman of great -beauty, of his own age, 
 who had been a widow for a year or 
 more. Her quiet manner and dignified 
 bearing conipletely captured the heart of 
 the young cavalier. After dinner his 
 servant led Washington's horse back and 
 forth in front of the windows where 
 Washington and Mrs. Custis sat. But his 
 master tarried; something held him^, and 
 the servant led the impatient charger 
 back to the stable. The dusk of evening 
 came, but still Washington made no 
 motion to journey toward Williamsburg. 
 Not until the next morning was well gone 
 6 
 
'JO George Washington 
 
 did Washington tear himself away from the 
 fair face, mount his charger, and ride with 
 all speed to the capital. 
 
 Just as soon as he had made his report, 
 he set out in all haste for the plantation 
 of Mrs. Custis. He pressed his suit with 
 so much vigor that she surrendered, and 
 gave her pledge to marry him. 
 
 Within ten years Washington had done 
 wonderful deeds — more daring than many 
 a knight of old. His name filled the 
 Virginia colony and broke over its bound- 
 aries to the north and to the south. And 
 even now fathers in Virginia, when they 
 wished to cite some example of duty well 
 performed, would point their sons to this 
 princely cavalier of the Potomac. 
 
 Fortunately, we have a description of 
 Washington from the pen of a girl friend 
 (1759): *'He may be described as being 
 as straight as an Indian, measuring six 
 feet two in his stockings, and weighing 
 175 pounds. . . . His frame is padded 
 with well -developed muscles, indicating 
 great strength. He is wide shouldered, 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ji 
 
 neat waisted, but is broad across the hips 
 and has rather long legs and arms. His 
 head is well shaped, though not large, but 
 is gracefully poised on a superb neck. 
 A long and straight rather than prominent 
 nose; blue-gray, penetrating eyes, widely - 
 separated and overhung by a heavy brow. 
 ... A pleasing, benevolent, though 
 commanding countenance, and dark brown 
 hair. His features are regular, with all 
 the muscles of his face under perfect 
 control, though flexible and expressive of 
 deep feeling when moved by emotion. In 
 conversation he looks you full in the 
 face, is deliberate, deferential, and engaging. 
 His movements and gestures are graceful, 
 his walk majestic, and he is a splendid 
 horseman." 
 
 What a grand wedding in those old 
 Virginia days! In January, 1759, the^ 
 event took place at the Parish Church 
 near the White House on the York River, 
 the home of the bride. There was the new 
 governor, fresh from his Majesty, George 
 II, the gay, light-hearted, and high-living 
 
J2 George Washington 
 
 Francis Farquier. He was dressed in 
 royal style, as befitted his position as 
 governor. British officers were there, look- 
 ing their best in red coats and gold lace. 
 Besides these came the more modest, but 
 none the less proud, Virginia gentlemen who 
 were neighbors to the bride and groom. 
 
 It was a bright day in January, such a 
 day as only tidewater Virginia could boast. 
 The sun cast its brightest rays for that 
 company of Virginia's gayest and best. 
 After the ceremony the bride rode home 
 in a coach and Washington rode a spirited 
 horse by her side, followed by the gay 
 crowd of guests. 
 
 In the early days of their marriage they 
 lived very quietly on the York River 
 plantation, enjoying each other's society. 
 Washington must have forgotten his hard 
 days of marching and fighting in the 
 restful, quiet life at the White House. 
 
 But it was only a seeming. For the 
 bold hunters and fearless frontiersmen 
 beyond the Blue Ridge, only six months 
 before his happy marriage, had elected 
 
74 
 
 George Washington 
 
 Washington's coal 
 of arms 
 
 him a member of the House of Burgesses. 
 It was a cause of much satisfaction to 
 Washington to get this 
 decided proof of affection 
 from these hardy back- 
 woodsmen whose homes 
 he had defended. 
 
 Washington carried his 
 young bride to WilHams- 
 burg to be presented at 
 the governor's reception. 
 This event belonged to the opening of the 
 House of Burgesses. Here came gentlemen 
 in coaches with the family arms blazoned 
 on the windows and on the harness of the 
 horses. There were servants in livery rid- 
 ing before the family carriage, and others 
 after. Many people came in more modest 
 style. What a bustle the old town presented ! 
 The planters went to the governor's 
 reception held in the famous Raleigh 
 Tavern. To this scene of gayety Washing- 
 ton proudly led his young wife, knowing 
 full well that in grace and beauty she 
 would ornament the best society. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 75 
 
 Then Washington took his seat for the 
 first time in the House of Burgesses, one 
 of the ablest parHamentary bodies in 
 America. No sooner had he entered the 
 House than the Burgesses commanded 
 their Speaker to give him the thanks of 
 the colony for the work he had done. 
 The Speaker performed the gracious task 
 in words of ringing eloquence. It was a 
 new position for Washington. He rose 
 to reply, but was so embarrassed that he 
 could not speak a single word. There he 
 stood, his face hot with blushes, stammer- 
 ing and trying to speak, when the Speaker 
 said: **Sit down, Mr. Washington; your 
 modesty equals your valor, and that 
 surpasses the power of any language I 
 possess." 
 
 Old Days at Mount Vernon 
 
 After the session of the Burgesses was 
 over, Washington took his young wife 
 to Mount Vernon. Around it lingered 
 memories of his gentle brother. Fresher 
 still were memories of the young daughter 
 
76 
 
 George Washington 
 
 left to him as ward and whose death had 
 given him that splendid plantation. 
 
 Washington gave himself up to the care 
 of his great plantation. He loved life on 
 the plantation, with its fresh air and 
 
 The main hall and staircase at Mount Vernon 
 
 bright sunshine. He loved its pastimes 
 and its quiet ways. But it took ability 
 to handle a Virginia plantation. There 
 were the slaves to be managed and kept 
 at work. The tobacco and the wheat had 
 to be cut just at the right time. Tobacco 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 77 
 
 had to be cared for in large sheds and 
 then placed in hogsheads or large barrels, 
 and wheat had to be sent to mill to be 
 ground into flour. Then came the great 
 ship from London to get the products. If 
 the men on shipboard were careless, or the 
 agents in London dishonest, the entire 
 crop might be lost! There were the 
 markets to be looked after; to know when 
 to sell and when to buy. High prices or 
 low prices cut a great figure in the income 
 of many a Virginia planter. What a 
 picture of home life it gives to take a peep 
 into the long list of things Washington 
 ordered for his two stepchildren! For 
 Master Jack Custis, six years old, there 
 were gloves, shoes, stockings, hats, brushes, 
 one pair of silver shoe buckles, and 
 another of knee buckles, ten shillings' 
 worth of toys, and six books for children 
 beginning to read. For four-year-old Miss 
 Nellie Custis, besides fine clothes, were 
 two caps, two pairs of ruffles, two tuckers, 
 bibs, and aprons if fashionable, and in the 
 end, a magnificent doll baby. 
 
yS George Washington 
 
 The London merchants soon learned 
 that he watched everything, and at the 
 same time was strictly honest. They had 
 to do the same or lose his trade ! A hogs- 
 head of tobacco or a barrel of flour marked 
 "From George Washington, Mount Ver- 
 non," was seldom examined in London, 
 so certain was each to contain every 
 ounce specified and to be of the best. 
 
 One of Washington's mottoes was: 
 **Buy nothing you can make yourself." 
 Hence he kept a blacksmith to sharpen 
 his tools and to make a few of the simpler 
 ones used on the plantation. A wood 
 burner furnished the blacksmith shop and 
 the "great house" with charcoal. A 
 number of his workmen, more skilled in 
 the use of tools than the others, were kept 
 busy repairing houses, putting up new 
 ones, or engaged in similar work in the 
 near-by town of Alexandria. 
 
 He selected a good man to oversee his 
 gardens and to look after the men who 
 planted shrubs and flowers or labored with 
 the vegetables. A brickmaker furnished 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 79 
 
 brick on his own plantation for building 
 houses or chimneys. On this plantation 
 Washington kept a gristmill turned by 
 water, where a good quality of Indian meal 
 and a fine brand of flour were made. 
 
 Every morning after breakfast Washington rode 
 over his fields 
 
 Coopers prepared the barrels to hold the 
 flour shipped to the London market. 
 
 Shoemakers were in demand on a 
 plantation where over three hundred people 
 lived and labored. By 1768 the weavers 
 living at Mount Vernon produced thirteen 
 hundred sixty-five yards of cloth. Thus it 
 
8o George Washington 
 
 was that Mount Vernon, like all great 
 plantations, was a little world in itself. 
 
 Washington rode over his fields every 
 morning after breakfast to see how the 
 men managing his slaves were getting 
 on. He had his ''chariot and four" for 
 Mrs. Washington, attended by servants 
 on horseback. 
 
 Washington was an admirer of horses 
 and dogs. From early days he was 
 brought up with them, and even in his 
 school days he rode in the chase. A well- 
 planned fox hunt was an event. The 
 country round joined in the sport. The 
 bellowing of the hounds was music in 
 Washington's ears. He called his dogs 
 by such names as Vulcan, Singer, Busy, 
 Sweetlips — each name pointing out some 
 quality of the dog. 
 
 At a signal, away they flew over hedges, 
 fences, across hills, scurrying here and 
 there until they struck the telltale trail 
 of some unfortunate fox. Thus they 
 galloped for hours at a stretch, until the 
 fox found a hole or else was overtaken by 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 8i 
 
 the hounds. Once more the call of the 
 huntsman's horn is heard. They all 
 gather, look at the fox, praise the hounds, 
 and then are off to their homes. 
 
 When Lord Fairfax came over from the 
 Shenandoah, music and dancing and gay 
 young company was the order of the day 
 at Mount Vernon. The mistress and the 
 master were young yet, and proposed to 
 stay so, if fun and frolic, music and song, 
 and other ways of keeping happy, kept 
 youth also. 
 
 Mount Vernon always had visitors. 
 Washington writes that "Mr. Bryan Fair- 
 fax, Mr. Grayson, and Phil Alexander came 
 home by sunrise . Hunted and catched a fox 
 with them. Lord Fairfax, his brother. Col. 
 Fairfax, all of whom, with Mr. Fairfax 
 and Mr. Wilson of England, dined here." 
 
 When the season came for ducks, Wash- 
 ington had rare sport on the river. So 
 good a place to hunt were the Potomac 
 marshes that people came, who had no 
 right, to hunt on the plantation. A 
 rough fellow was in the habit of stealing 
 
82 
 
 George Washington 
 
 in among the creeks and inlets of the river 
 and shooting canvas-back duck, Washing- 
 
 An adventure with a poacher 
 
 ton's favorite for the table. Hearing the 
 report of a gun one morning, he hastened 
 to the spot and there among the bushes he 
 saw the man pushing off in a canoe. The 
 fellow, with a dangerous look in his eyes, 
 pointed his gun at Washington. But 
 the latter rushed into the water, seized 
 the boat, drew it on shore, and gave the 
 insolent fellow a sound beating. 
 
 Fishing was good sport for the negroes. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 8j 
 
 When the herring came into the river in 
 the spring they got out the long seine and 
 drew in great quantities of them. It 
 was the same when the shad came. 
 Washington wrote that Mount Vernon 
 was ' ' situated on one of the finest rivers in 
 the world ; a river well stocked with various 
 kinds of fish at all seasons of the year." 
 
 Once in this happy period a British 
 man-of-war came up the Potomac and 
 anchored opposite Belvoir. What a round 
 of fun and f roli^: ! Dinners and breakfasts 
 followed, now at Belvoir and now at 
 Mount Vernon. Sometimes the gay com- 
 mander gave a tea party, to the ladies of 
 the country round, on board his warship. 
 What a treat to young women who had 
 never seen a warship close at hand! 
 
 The life at Mount Vernon was very 
 agreeable, but Washington and his wife 
 were not to be satisfied with this alone. 
 Washington was one of a very few men 
 in Virginia who had a reputation beyond 
 its borders. He and Mrs. Washington 
 received invitations to visit Annapolis, the 
 
84 George Washington 
 
 capital of Maryland. There were repeated 
 the lively scenes of Williamsburg. 
 
 The people of Maryland were much like 
 those of Virginia, only the Potomac River 
 being between them. And often the 
 Washingtons journeyed to Philadelphia, 
 where they were well received by the 
 people of that old Quaker town. 
 
 Often Washington thought of visiting 
 England and the early home of his people. 
 What a time such a visit promised! But 
 the day of the visit was put off until 
 Washington found the barrier of civil war 
 shutting him out. 
 
 Mount Vernon had happy- ties for 
 Washington. Not only did he enjoy 
 having a wife to hold his affection, but at 
 this period Mrs. Washington's two children 
 were objects of his fatherly care. He looked 
 after their education and accomplishments 
 with all the interest of a real father. 
 
 The Mutterings of a Storm 
 
 One day in 1 765, Washington came home 
 to Mount Vernon much excited over a fiery 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 8j 
 
 speech against the Stamp Act, made by 
 a country lawyer, Patrick Henry. This 
 speech had stirred up the dignified gentle- 
 men who sat in the House of Burgesses, 
 and caused much excitement. Henry 
 declared in a set of resolutions that any 
 one who favored the Stamp Act was an 
 enemy of the colony of Virginia. He 
 had backed up the resolutions by a famous 
 speech which closed with the words: 
 ' ' Caesar had his Brutus ; Charles the First 
 his Cromwell; and George the Third" 
 (' ' Treason ! Treason ! ' ' shouted the Speaker) 
 "may profit by their examples. Sir, if 
 this be treason make the most of it." The 
 House voted in favor of these resolutions. 
 Washington was for them heart and soul. 
 
 The Stamp Act was put on the colonies 
 to raise money to pay soldiers in America. 
 The colonists did not want the troops and 
 refused to pay the tax. From one end of 
 America to the other the stamp officers 
 were forced to resign and the stamps were 
 seized and destroyed. 
 
 Washington looked on the doings of the 
 7 
 
86 George Washington 
 
 people very quietly. But he was only 
 too glad when Parliament repealed the 
 Stamp Act, and the happy intercourse 
 was again taken up. When Parliament 
 passed a new law called the Tea Tax, 
 Washington saw all the old, hot feeling 
 flame up again. 
 
 He suggested to his neighbor, George 
 Mason, that the people of Virginia enter 
 into an agreement not to buy goods from 
 England until this tax also was repealed. 
 Since the northern colonies were trying 
 this plan he thought the House of Burgesses 
 ought to take the same action. Mason 
 agreed, and drew up a set of resolutions 
 which Washington moved and the Bur- 
 gesses adopted. Thus it was that Virginia 
 joined hands with the other colonies in 
 shutting out British goods. 
 
 There came a time of quiet in public 
 affairs, and Washington visited the region 
 across the mountains where Virginia had 
 given a generous grant of land to the bold 
 men who had shouldered their muskets in 
 the war against the French and Indians. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 8y 
 
 Nothing had been done with the lands, and 
 Washington agreed to go as the agent of his 
 old soldiers. He reached Fort Pitt and 
 spent a few days talking over the times 
 long gone with bold backwoodsmen and 
 hardy hunters, who were glad to see him. 
 Although it was a time of peace, some of 
 the Indian tribes were on the warpath. 
 He met them in council, smoked the pipe 
 of peace, and received the Indian ''speech 
 belt." He told them nothing could please 
 the Virginia people better than to live in 
 lasting friendship with them. 
 
 At the mouth of the Great Kanawha, 
 Washington met an Indian chief who told 
 him that he and his warriors had been 
 on the side of the French at Braddock's 
 defeat and that his warriors lay in ambush 
 on that fatal day. They saw Washington 
 riding to and fro, trying to rally the 
 British regulars. The old chief told him 
 that again and again his warriors tried 
 their guns on him, but at last concluded 
 that Washington was under the protection 
 of the Great Spirit. 
 
88 George Washington 
 
 Here, around the mouth of the Great 
 Kanawha, Washington spent some time 
 marking out claims for his old soldiers. 
 His work done, he made his way slowly 
 back to Fort Pitt and finally greeted his 
 loved ones on the banks of the Potomac. 
 
 But news from the north disturbed 
 Washington. He had long since heard 
 of the Boston Massacre; now came the 
 news that the people of Boston had 
 thrown into Boston Harbor the tea brought 
 to their wharves, and that Parliament 
 and king were so very angry that they 
 had shut up the port of Boston so tight 
 that not even a small boat, to say nothing 
 of great ships, dared sail across the harbor. 
 They went even farther and passed a 
 number of harsh laws. Then they sent 
 General Gage to Boston with soldiers to 
 enforce these laws. 
 
 When the news came to Virginia the 
 Burgesses were planning to do great 
 honor to their new governor. Washington 
 arrived at Williamsburg. The Burgesses 
 met. What a burst of indignation flared 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 89 
 
 
 In the National 
 Museum, Washington 
 
 Knife and fork case owned 
 by Washington 
 
 Up ! They were angry that their brethren 
 
 in Massachusetts should be treated so 
 
 badly, and set aside the 
 
 first day of June, 1774, 
 
 as a day of fasting and 
 
 prayer. The governor 
 
 promptly sent them 
 
 home for suggesting such 
 
 a thing. But the day 
 
 had been appointed. 
 
 Washington, however, 
 was not a sullen man, for on the very day 
 the governor dismissed the House of Bur- 
 gesses he took dinner with the governor and 
 rode with him to his farm. Then he went 
 home and sat as chairman of the meeting 
 of his county to protest against the acts of 
 king and Parliament for punishing Boston. 
 
 A convention of all Virginia was soon 
 held at Williamsburg and adopted the 
 same resolutions that Washington's county 
 had passed. Washington declared: "I 
 will raise a thousand men, subsist them at 
 my own expense, and march to the relief 
 of Boston." This aroused the meeting. 
 
QO George Washington 
 
 One man pronounced it ' ' the most eloquent 
 speech that was ever made." This meet- 
 ing sent forth the call for a Congress of the 
 thirteen colonies. Virginia named Wash- 
 ington, Lee, Pendleton, Henry, Harrison, 
 Randolph, and Bland. 
 
 The last of August, Washington, Pen- 
 dleton, and Henry rode away together for 
 Philadelphia, the place of the Congress. 
 
 Washington was the silent man of the 
 company — a good listener. Henry was 
 lively, full of fun, and saw the droll side 
 of things. Pendleton was a hard-headed, 
 sensible man, and a good writer. 
 
 New scenes were now opening before 
 Washington. Had they been military in 
 nature he would easily have been the 
 first man in the Congress. But Henry and 
 Lee were great orators. "There are some 
 fine fellows come from Virginia," said 
 Joseph Reed of Philadelphia. Patrick 
 Henry afterwards said: "If you speak of 
 solid information and sound judgment, 
 Colonel Washington is unquestionably the 
 greatest man on the floor." 
 
A Virginia Cavalier gi 
 
 The Congress contained the ablest body 
 of men America had yet seen. Samuel and 
 John Adams came from Massachusetts, 
 Roger Sherman from Connecticut, John 
 Jay from New York. From Pennsylvania 
 came John Dickinson, and from South 
 Carolina James Lynch and John Rutledge. 
 
 In the Mount Vernon collection 
 Washington' s treasure chest 
 
 No record has been kept of any speeches 
 Washington made in Congress. His diary 
 shows that he visited with the leading men 
 from the different colonies, and so gathered 
 facts for future use. 
 
 He saw what other leaders did. He 
 saw them work out and send to the 
 people of America, to the people of 
 
g2 George Washington 
 
 England, and to the king and to Parlia- 
 ment, a wonderful set of papers. He 
 saw the fine spirit of compromise and good 
 fellowship when Samuel Adams moved 
 that the Congress hear prayers from a 
 clergyman of the Church of England. 
 He was powerfully stirred when Paul 
 Revere came riding into town with news 
 that General Gage was threatening the 
 people of Boston with his soldiers. He 
 heard the ringing resolutions of the Con- 
 gress to stand by the people of Boston. 
 
 This looked like war. Washington 
 wrote a letter to Captain Mackenzie, with 
 General Gage in Boston: ''Permit me, 
 with the freedom of a friend, to express 
 my sorrow that fortune should place you 
 in a service that must fix the curses to the 
 latest posterity upon the contrivers. . . . 
 Again give me leave to add as my opinion 
 that more blood will be spilled on this 
 occasion if the king's ministry are deter- 
 mined to push matters to extremity than 
 history has ever yet furnished instances of 
 in the annals of North America, and such 
 
A Virginia Cavalier gj 
 
 a vital wound will be given to the peace of 
 this great country, as time itself cannot 
 cure." 
 
 These are the words of an earnest, 
 sober man, who speaks what he feels. 
 He went back to Mount Vernon fully 
 convinced that war must come. 
 
 In March, 1775, the people of Virginia 
 held another great meeting at Richmond. 
 Washington was a delegate from Fairfax 
 County. Patrick Henry took the lead, 
 and stirred the heart of every patriot by his 
 bursts of eloquence: ''We must fight, Mr. 
 Speaker. I repeat it, sir, we must fight! 
 An appeal to arms, and to the God of 
 Hosts, is all that is left us!" Washington 
 gave his hearty support to this view, and 
 was put upon the committee to organize 
 the militia of Virginia. 
 
 The Storm Begins to Break 
 
 Suddenly, like an alarm of fire, came 
 the news from Lexington and Concord. 
 
 Washington heard it with strange feel- 
 ings. ''Unhappy is it to reflect that a 
 
g4 George Washington 
 
 brother's sword is sheathed in a brother's 
 breast." Thus he wrote to one Fairfax 
 in England. Bryan Fairfax was at Mount 
 Vernon when the news came, and expressed 
 his deep sorrow over the event. He saw 
 that it must break the ties that bound 
 Belvoir to Mount Vernon! 
 
 With strange feehngs Washington took 
 his way northward to the meeting of the 
 Second Continental Congress. He made 
 a striking figure in the buff and blue 
 uniform of a Virginia colonel. 
 
 Around Boston an army was gathered. 
 It had no commander with authority from 
 the Continental Congress. John Adams, 
 one of the great men from Massachusetts, 
 told Congress that they must adopt the 
 army at Boston and give it a general. 
 He said that he had "but one gentleman 
 in mind for that important position, and 
 that was a gentleman from Virginia, who 
 is among us, and very well known to all 
 of us; a gentleman whose experience and 
 skill as an officer, whose independent 
 fortune, great talents, and excellent 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 95 
 
 universal character, would command the 
 approbation of all America." Washing- 
 
 In the Department of State, Washington 
 Washington's sword and staff. The sword was used by Washing- 
 ton while commander in chief; the staff was willed to him by 
 Benjamin Franklin 
 
 ton, hearing himself alluded to in this very 
 flattering manner, slipped out of the room. 
 The Congress, on June 15, unanimously 
 elected George Washington commander 
 in chief of the continental army. He ac- 
 cepted the office, saying, "I beg it may 
 be remembered by every gentleman in 
 this room, that I this day declare with the 
 utmost sincerity, I do not think myself 
 equal to the command I am honored with. 
 As to pay, I beg leave to assure Congress 
 that as no pecuniary (money) considera- 
 tion could have tempted me to accept this 
 arduous employment, at the expense of 
 my domestic ease and happiness, I do not 
 wish to make any profit out of it. I will 
 
q6 George Washington 
 
 keep an exact account of my expenses. 
 These, I doubt not, they will discharge, 
 and that is all I desire." 
 
 John Adams, writing to a friend about 
 this event, says: "There is something 
 charming to me in the conduct of Wash- 
 ington, a gentleman of one of the finest 
 fortunes upon the continent, leaving his 
 delicious retirement, his family and 
 friends, sacrificing his ease, and hazarding 
 all, in the cause of his country." 
 
 Washington wrote to his wife in simple 
 words: "You may believe me, my dear 
 Patsy, when I assure you in the most 
 solemn manner, that so far from seeking 
 the appointment, I have used every en- 
 deavor in my power to avoid it, not only 
 from my unwillingness to part from you 
 and the family, but from the consciousness 
 of its being a trust too great for my 
 capacity." 
 
 He writes to his favorite brother, John 
 Washington: "I am now to bid adieu to 
 you, and to every kind of domestic ease. 
 ... I have been called upon by the 
 
A Virginia Cavalier gy 
 
 unanimous voice of the colonies to take 
 command of the continental armies; an 
 honor I neither sought after nor desired. 
 ... I shall hope that my friends will 
 visit and endeavor to keep up the spirits 
 of my wife, for my departure will, I know, 
 be a cutting stroke upon her." 
 
 On June 21, 1775, Washington started 
 for Boston. A great body of men rode 
 out across the river with the new gen- 
 eral. When Washington reached Newark 
 the people carae out to see him. A com- 
 mittee of the New Jersey congress went 
 with him to New York. There were 
 great demonstrations in the city. Hun- 
 dreds of people turned out to see him. 
 
 Washington made the people of New 
 York happy by appointing General Schuy- 
 ler commander of the troops of that city 
 and colony. Schuyler remained the firm 
 friend of Washington throughout the long, 
 hard war. 
 
 At New Haven the boys of Yale Col- 
 lege gave Washington a rousing reception. 
 Hurrying on toward Boston, prominent 
 
g8 George Washington 
 
 citizens met and took him to Cambridge, 
 the headquarters of the army. When he 
 approached the army a burst of cheers 
 and a roar of cannon told the British that 
 Washington had reached Cambridge. 
 
 The next day he rode forth, drew his 
 sword beneath the historic elm tree, and 
 took command. The people and soldiers 
 were not disappointed. They beheld a 
 fine looking man, every inch a soldier! 
 They saw in his calm, quiet face the signs 
 of force and courage. 
 
 Here in Cambridge, Washington learned 
 all about Bunker Hill. How eleven hun- 
 dred Americans had stolen over during 
 the night and fortified Breeds Hill, and 
 how the British soldiers, over three thou- 
 sand strong, came to attack the rude 
 fortification. How the sight of the red- 
 coats coming up the hill in solid columns 
 thrilled the minute men. How, when the 
 American guns blazed forth, the British 
 staggered, reeled, and ran. How a second 
 time they came, reenforced by fresh 
 troops, only to be beaten back. How, 
 
A Virginia Cavalier gg 
 
 with true British pluck, they came up the 
 hill a third time, to find the American 
 powder gone, and engaged in a hand- 
 to-hand fight with muskets. How the 
 Americans retreated, and the British got 
 possession of the fort. 
 
 Before this event the British regulars 
 had held the minute man in high contempt. 
 "He will not fight," said the regular. 
 When you think about it, there was some 
 reason in their point of view. The minute 
 man had no training, so far as the practice 
 of British tactics was concerned. But 
 he had been drilled in the best possible 
 way. From boyhood he had been taught 
 to shoot. When he looked along the barrel 
 of his gun, he aimed at some object to 
 be killed! So it was at Bunker Hill; he 
 had killed and wounded just one third of 
 the attacking army. 
 
 The work around Boston was difficult, 
 but Washington set about doing it. The 
 soldiers had no clothes fit for the coming 
 winter. Washington had to write letters 
 to Congress and urge it to send food and 
 
100 
 
 George Washington 
 
 clothes to the army. The people of the 
 country sent food of all sorts into the 
 
 The meeting with General Morgan and his Virginia company 
 
 camp, and somebody had to have charge 
 of these gifts or some would get too much 
 and others too little. Soldiers began to 
 arrive from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
 Virginia. One day, as Washington rode 
 down the line, at the head of the com- 
 pany, dressed in hunting shirt and Indian 
 leggings, he saw General Morgan. He 
 saluted and said, ''From the right bank of 
 the Potomac, General." The men bore 
 upon their hunting shirts the famous 
 
A Virginia Cavalier loi 
 
 words of Patrick Henry: "Liberty or 
 Death!" There were ninety-six men all 
 told. As Washington dismounted and 
 shook hands with each man, tears came 
 into his eyes, for these were his own neigh- 
 bors. Their accurate shooting was the 
 wonder of the camp. While walking at a 
 quickstep they could hit a mark seven 
 inches in diameter at two hundred fifty 
 yards ! 
 
 Washington prepared a surprise for the 
 army. He sent word to Mrs. Washington 
 that she was to join him at Cambridge. 
 She took her son and his wife, and set out 
 in her ** coach and four" for the long, long 
 journey to the northeast. As they came 
 to villages and towns the people gathered 
 to see the wife of their commander in chief 
 go by. A troop of cavalry in bright uni- 
 forms met them and made them welcome 
 to the ' ' capital" of the colonies. Members 
 of Congress called on Mrs. Washington, 
 and showed her every attention. With 
 prancing steeds and sounding trumpets, 
 a gallant body of soldiers carried the party 
 8 
 
102 George Washington 
 
 into New Jersey. Another party of sol- 
 diers and citizens attended them from 
 Ehzabethtown to Newark, where they 
 arrived amid the ringing of bells and the 
 shouts of the people. 
 
 After many days they reached Cam- 
 bridge amid the rejoicing of the army and 
 to the happiness of Washington. Mrs. 
 Washington had brought with her the 
 atmosphere of Mount Vernon. Quiet, 
 dignified, and warm-hearted, she seemed 
 to give a brightness which things had not 
 had before. 
 
 Washington was now eager to strike a 
 blow. General Knox had found fifty 
 pieces of cannon at Ticonderoga and had 
 hauled them on ox sleds all the way to 
 Boston. The spirit of the army was 
 rising. One day the cannon suddenly 
 opened on Boston. The British hardly 
 knew what it meant. Day and night the 
 cannon belched forth fire and smoke. 
 One morning the British army woke to 
 find Dorchester Heights fortified. Wash- 
 ington had sent over two thousand men, 
 
A Virginia Cavalier loj 
 
 and before morning the fortification was 
 bristling with cannon! The British were 
 amazed at the boldness of the Americans. 
 General Howe must fight or leave. On the 
 17th of March, 1776, the whole British 
 army left Boston, carrying with them 
 nine hundred Tories who were afraid to 
 stay and face their neighbors! A victory 
 without a fight! It was high praise for 
 Washington and his men. 
 
 Independence Forever! 
 
 The British army went to Halifax, but 
 Washington knew that they would soon 
 be in New York, so he hurried his army 
 forward. New York lay upon the Hudson, 
 which stretched away to Lake George and 
 Lake Champlain, and thus opened a 
 choice route to Canada. New York was 
 the home of many Tories, and Governor 
 Tryon was trying to arouse them. 
 
 The Continental Congress now raised 
 the question of separating the colonies 
 from the mother country. This was a 
 hard question. Some Americans sided 
 
104 
 
 George Washington 
 
 with Great Britain in the quarrel over 
 taxation, and a still greater number of 
 the colonists were opposed to separation. 
 Several members of Congress took the 
 view that it was not wise. But there 
 were many like Washington who saw that 
 
 Reading the Declaration of Independence to the soldiers 
 
 independence must come. The Congress 
 finally passed the act, and the United 
 Colonies were declared forever free and 
 independent of Great Britain. 
 
 The news flew over the land. It was 
 greeted with rousing cheers, with ringing 
 of bells, lighting of bonfires, and firing of 
 cannon. Washington had the declaration 
 
A Virginia Cavalier loj 
 
 read at the head of each brigade in the 
 army. The people of the city of New York 
 pulled down the leaden statue of George 
 III and turned it into bullets to be used 
 in the cause of independence. 
 
 The Continental Congress declared that 
 the Tories should immediately give up 
 all firearms. The Tories were Americans, 
 yet showed the British every pass, every 
 hiding place, and where they might find 
 plunder. This angered the patriots, and 
 sometimes there. was war between them. 
 They lay in wait for one another, and were 
 shot down in cold blood. They burned 
 each other's homes. Congress, therefore, 
 felt justified in taking away from the 
 Tories all firearms. It seems true, now, 
 that the War of the Revolution was 
 made much longer because of the Tories. 
 
 The Campaign for the Middle 
 States 
 
 Washington knew that the British would 
 invade the Middle States, and therefore 
 gathered twenty thousand troops around 
 
io6 George Washington 
 
 New York. Thirty thousand British, with 
 a great fleet under the command of Howe, 
 sailed into the bay. Lord Howe, a brother 
 of the general, brought with him a par- 
 don for all those who would submit. He 
 tried hard to open communication with 
 Washington, but sent his letters addressed 
 to *' George Washington, Esq." The let- 
 ters were refused, for Washington stood 
 upon his dignity as commander in chief 
 of the American armies. Lord Howe was 
 too late. Independence had been declared ! 
 General Howe commanded some of the 
 best soldiers of Europe, and in a battle on 
 Long Island killed and wounded four 
 hundred Americans and captured one 
 thousand others. The rest of the troops 
 fell back to the fort on Brooklyn Heights. 
 Washington expected the British to attack 
 him behind the fortifications, but they 
 remembered Bunker Hill! Washington 
 was anxious for an attack, but feared the 
 siege for which General Howe now pre- 
 pared. With the aid of some New England 
 fishermen, Washington rowed his entire 
 
A Virginia Cavalier loy 
 
 army over to New York, before morning. It 
 was the move of a master. The British 
 had won a victory, but now it was lost. 
 
 Washington had saved the army, but 
 he could not save the city. It fell, and 
 remained in British hands until the close 
 of the war. But Washington defeated the 
 enemy at Harlem Heights and withstood 
 their charges at White Plains. General 
 Howe became very cautious, sent for re- 
 enforcements, and finally took post at 
 Dobbs Ferry. 
 
 Washington crossed the Hudson and 
 began the retreat through the Jerseys. 
 This retreat brought on the most gloomy 
 time of the war. He had, when he 
 reached Trenton, barely three thousand 
 men, ragged, footsore, and weary. Many 
 people thought the war was surely at an 
 end, and hastened to take the oath to sup- 
 port the king 1 But such men did not know 
 Washington. For seventy miles up and 
 down the Delaware River he collected all 
 the boats he could lay his hands on, and was 
 over the river before the British knew it! 
 
io8 George Washington 
 
 General Howe and Cornwallis went 
 back to New York to spend Christmas. 
 Their army was located in different New 
 Jersey towns. Washington saw his chance. 
 Unfortunately, General Lee, who com- 
 manded almost as many men as did 
 Washington, had refused to join the main 
 army as they ran through the Jerseys, and 
 had been captured. Lee was already 
 playing traitor, but most of his troops 
 succeeded in reaching Washington, who 
 now had some six thousand men. 
 
 Washington divided his army, each part 
 to cross the Delaware and strike a town. 
 He, with twenty-five hundred, crossed the 
 Delaware nine miles above Trenton. They 
 set out for Trenton in a blinding storm of 
 snow and sleet. The men left bloodstains 
 in the snow as they marched ! Some were 
 frozen, and two died. But on went the 
 little army, Washington in the lead. The 
 surprise was complete, for the Hes- 
 sians had celebrated Christmas too much ! 
 Washington recrossed the river with his 
 prisoners. 
 

no George Washington 
 
 Within a few days he again boldly 
 crossed to Trenton. Cornwallis was now 
 hastening forward with eight thousand 
 men. He left three regiments at Prince- 
 ton, and pushed on for Trenton, arriving 
 in the evening. He exclaimed: ''At last 
 w^e have run down the old fox, and we'll 
 bag him in the morning." Only a small 
 river separated them. 
 
 The booming of Washington's cannon 
 gave the first sign to Cornwallis that the 
 "old fox" had slipped away. He was 
 now striking the British at Princeton. 
 The British gave way in all directions. 
 
 Washington hastened with his army to 
 the hills around Morristown, where the 
 British dared not follow. Reenforcements 
 now came pouring in. 
 
 The country began to breathe easier. 
 Foreign nations were stirred by Washing- 
 ton's wonderful fighting. Frederick the 
 Great, one of the greatest generals that 
 ever lived, declared this was the most 
 brilliant campaign of the century. 
 
 The Continental Congress now gave 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 III 
 
 Washington the powers of a dictator. 
 Well they might, for he pledged his own 
 
 
 X ! PS"' 
 
 Close to the lines at Princeton 
 
 fortune to get his men to stay in the army. 
 
 In May Washington moved his army 
 down toward New Brunswick to watch 
 the enemy, but finally they went back to 
 New York. Washington was troubled. 
 Would Howe go up the Husdon to meet 
 Burgoyne, who was coming from Canada, 
 or would he make some other move? 
 
 General Howe set sail for the Chesa- 
 peake. Washington marched his army 
 through Philadelphia, partly for the effect 
 
112 George Washington 
 
 it would have on timid persons. It was 
 a goodly army, eleven thousand strong. 
 The soldiers were in good spirits and wore 
 a sprig of green in their hats. Washington 
 rode at their head with the young Lafay- 
 ette, just from France, at his side. 
 
 On September ii he met the enemy at 
 the fords of the Brandywine, but was 
 forced to retreat. General Howe now 
 occupied the *' rebel capital," but he 
 found nothing but the town. Among the 
 hills and ravines of Valley Forge, Wash- 
 ington took up his winter quarters. 
 
 Burgoyne was now sweeping down from 
 Canada. General Philip Schuyler had 
 command of the American army opposing 
 Burgoyne. His men were not strong 
 enough to fight, but destroyed bridges, 
 and chopped down trees across the roads 
 Burgoyne had to travel with his baggage 
 and cannon. So well did they do their 
 work that Burgoyne was twenty days 
 marching as many miles! Washington 
 sent General Arnold and General Morgan 
 and his sharpshooters to Schuyler. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier iij 
 
 Just as Schuyler was ready to do some- 
 thing, Congress appointed General Gates 
 to the command of his army. Gates was 
 a vain man, and paid no attention to 
 General Schuyler, although Schuyler had 
 offered to aid him in any way he could. 
 There was terrible fighting in which 
 Arnold and Morgan distinguished them- 
 selves. Burgoyne and his entire army 
 were compelled to surrender at Saratoga. 
 
 The surrender of Burgoyne created a 
 great stir in .England because it led 
 France to decide to help America gain her 
 independence. The French sent clothes, 
 money, troops, and ships. A number of 
 noble men from different nations had come 
 to join the banner of Washington, among 
 the most famous being Baron Steuben 
 from the army of Frederick the Great, 
 Pulaski and Kosciusko from Poland, and 
 De Kalb from France. 
 
 During Burgoyne's campaign Washing- 
 ton had kept Howe from sending reenforce- 
 ments to the hard-pressed British army. 
 When winter came on, Washington had 
 
ii/j. George Washington > 
 
 to go into quarters among the bleak woods 
 and rugged hills of Valley Forge. 
 
 The army was freezing and starving at 
 Valley Forge, not because the country had 
 no food and clothes, but because the Con- 
 gress, now sitting at York, Pennsylvania, 
 had lost much of its power. It was a 
 sad time for Washington, but he made 
 the best of it. "Naked and starving as 
 they are, we cannot sufficiently admire 
 the patience and fidelity of the soldiers," 
 wrote Washington. 
 
 But out of Valley Forge came some 
 of the best fighting seen on the battle 
 fields of the Revolution. Baron Steuben 
 turned that hard winter into one of hard 
 work. He taught the soldiers how to 
 form the different movements, to use the 
 bayonet, and to charge in the open field. 
 
 The British said a hasty good-by to 
 Philadelphia, and were on the march for 
 New York as soon as they heard that a 
 French fleet was coming. Washington 
 was at their heels, anxious to see how 
 well Steuben had done his work. At 
 
iegiftiilff*' '■^' 
 
 IWII'i'iVl 
 
 IjPijliiffF'f'IppipjP 
 
 asaii 
 
 Washington and Steuben at Valley Forge 
 
 115 
 
Ii6 George Washington 
 
 Monmouth he ordered Lee, who had been 
 exchanged, to take six thousand men and 
 get around CHnton's left wing, in all about 
 eight thousand men. Washington held 
 his main body ready to strike at any 
 moment. The movement was succeeding, 
 when Lee began to retreat. Lafayette 
 saw the danger, and sent for Washington. 
 He found the men in full retreat. ''What 
 is the meaning of all this?" cried Washing- 
 ton, his face red with anger. Lee stam- 
 mered and stuttered; Washington ordered 
 him to the rear, and himself took charge. 
 The brave fellows wanted a general who 
 could fight. One bayonet charge followed 
 another until the British were thoroughly 
 beaten. That night Clinton retreated to 
 New York, and Washington's chance of 
 dealing the British a blow had passed, but 
 he had a better army than ever. 
 
 Washington remained around New York 
 for two years or more, watching the 
 British, ready to strike a blow at any 
 time. The time came. The British had 
 occupied Stony Point, a fortified place on 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 117 
 
 the Hudson. It looked to Washington as 
 if General Clinton intended to make his 
 
 
 Washington and Lee at Monmouth 
 
 way up the river to capture West Point. 
 Washington decided to capture Stony 
 Point. This place was a very high point 
 projecting far into the river. The fort 
 was occupied by about six hundred troops. 
 To capture this, Washington selected one 
 of his bravest officers, ''Mad Anthony" 
 Wayne, as he came to be called. Midnight 
 was the time. At half-past eleven a 
 negro spy guided the troops. Two stout 
 9 
 
Ii8 George Washington 
 
 "farmers" went with them, and seized two 
 guards and gagged them. They placed 
 one hundred fifty men on the right and 
 one hundred on the left with bayonets 
 fixed! Two lieutenants lead twenty men 
 each in advance to remove obstructions. 
 On they climb. They are discovered, and 
 the fighting begins. Not a gun is fired by 
 Wayne's men. On they go, using the 
 bayonet. They rush into the fort, and 
 the two columns meet. All is over. The 
 British surrender. 
 
 Perhaps the saddest blow Washington 
 received during these two years came from 
 the treason of Benedict Arnold. He had 
 been a favorite officer of Washington. He 
 had done noble service in the attack on 
 Quebec and at Saratoga. Washington ob- 
 tained for him the command of Phila- 
 delphia. He lived beyond his means, 
 and for this he was reprimanded by 
 Washington. Arnold soon asked and was 
 given by Washington the command of the 
 important station of West Point. While 
 here he wrote letters to General Clinton. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier IIQ 
 
 Major Andre, a British officer, met 
 Arnold six miles below Stony Point 
 and they discussed the surrender of West 
 Point to General Clinton. Andre, with 
 his papers and plans in his stockings, was 
 captured on his way back. Arnold escaped 
 to the British forces at New York, and 
 was given a position as a British general. 
 Major Andre was hanged as a spy, 
 according to the rules of war. 
 
 Redeeming the South 
 
 On the 1 2th of May, 1780, the British 
 captured Charleston with General Lincoln 
 and three thousand prisoners. 
 
 General Clinton returned to New York, 
 leaving half his force under Cornwallis. 
 Congress thought Gates a great general, 
 so sent him to South Carolina to catch 
 Cornwallis. Gates went with pomp and 
 parade, intending to serve Cornwallis 
 as he believed he had served Burgoyne. 
 He had about three thousand men, and 
 Cornwallis had but two thousand. Each 
 general started to surprise the other in 
 
120 
 
 George Washington 
 
 the early morning. The fight began, and 
 Gates and the miHtia ran away, while the 
 battle was maintained by De Kalb and his 
 brave Maryland continentals. De Kalb 
 fell, with eleven wounds, and died within a 
 few days. Carolina did indeed seem lost. 
 Cornwallis was happy over the result, 
 and sent Colonel Ferguson with twelve 
 hundred men up into the mountains to 
 encourage the Tories. The backwoods- 
 men gathered from far and near — from 
 
 In the Nationa Museum, Washington 
 Washington's camp chest 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 121 
 
 Tennessee, from Virginia, and from the two 
 Carolinas. Colonel Ferguson took post on 
 
 Id possession of Mrs. Washington's 
 descendants in Baltimore 
 
 Field glass and case used by Washington 
 when commander in chief 
 
 the top of King's Mountain — very steep 
 on one side. The backwoodsmen formed 
 in three divisions — one on each side of 
 the mountain. Up they climbed. The 
 British met the center division with a 
 bayonet charge. The men took to trees, 
 and slowly gave way. From the right 
 came a flanking and deadly fire of the 
 riflemen. Ferguson turned upon them 
 with bayonets drawn, and charged. Down 
 the mountains the men slowly fell back. 
 From the flank and rear came the deadly 
 fire of the other two divisions. The 
 British could not stand before such tactics, 
 and retreated to their breastworks. The 
 backwoodsmen closed in, and Ferguson was 
 
122 
 
 George Washington 
 
 Now at Newburg, N.Y. 
 
 Camp hr oiler used by 
 
 Washington 
 
 killed. Nearly one thousand British were 
 killed, wounded, or taken prisoners here. 
 
 Washington now had 
 his way, and appointed 
 General Greene to the 
 command in the south. 
 Greene took charge of 
 about twenty-three hun- 
 dred men. He sent 
 General Morgan, of sharp- 
 shooter fame, with one part of his army to 
 the region near the Cowpens to find food 
 for the troops. Cornwallis ordered Colonel 
 Tarleton with eleven hundred choice troops 
 to run him down. Morgan retreated to 
 the Cowpens, near a bend in the Broad 
 River. He placed the militia in the front 
 line, with orders to fire twice and then fall 
 back behind the cavalry. His continentals, 
 commanded by 
 the brave Colonel 
 Howard, he lo- 
 cated one hun- 
 dred fifty yards 
 
 , .-I £ J_^ ^^ ^^'^ National Museum, Washington 
 
 LO ine rear or ine Camp lUensHs used by Washington 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 123 
 
 Catnp stool and pewter dish 
 used by Washington 
 
 militia. Colonel William Washington and 
 his cavalry were placed behind the conti- 
 nentals. In front of 
 all, in the woods on 
 the left, he located 
 sixty riflemen, and the 
 same number on the 
 right. Tarleton came 
 rushing on, charging 
 pell-mell into the battle. The militia 
 delivered their fire three or four times 
 before retiring. ^On came the British, and 
 struck Colonel Howard's continentals. 
 Colonel Washington's cavalry now came 
 round one flank and struck the British 
 with great force, and the militia, having 
 rallied, took them on the other flank. The 
 British were thrown into confusion, and 
 the bulk of the army surrendered. Colonel 
 Tarleton and Colonel Washington had 
 a hand-to-hand conflict; Tarleton was 
 wounded, and fled. The victory was 
 complete. 
 
 Greene joined Morgan and retreated 
 across North Carolina into Virginia. No 
 
124 George Washington 
 
 sooner had Greene been reenforced than 
 he marched into North Carohna again 
 and fought CornwalUs at Guilford Court- 
 house. Greene's men were beaten on the 
 field of battle, but Cornwallis lost one 
 fourth of his army. Another victory like 
 this, and he would be ruined! Cornwallis 
 now began to retreat toward Virginia, and 
 Greene turned to conquer South Carolina. 
 
 The Final Victory at Yorktown 
 
 While Cornwallis was hastening to join 
 the British forces in Virginia, the British 
 sent some small vessels up the Potomac on 
 a plundering expedition. They reached 
 beautiful Mount Vernon and demanded 
 supplies, or declared they would burn its 
 buildings. The manager gave them what- 
 ever they wanted and then wrote Washing- 
 ton. Washington was angry, and declared 
 that it would have been less painful to him 
 to have heard that he had refused the 
 request and "they had burned my house 
 and laid my plantation in ruins." 
 
 Lafayette, sent by Washington, soon 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 125 
 
 met and attacked Cornwallis, but was 
 repulsed. Toward the end of the sum- 
 
 Carrying the outer works at Yorktown 
 
 mer, CornwaUis moved from Portsmouth 
 over to Yorktown. Lafayette immediately 
 wrote Washington, asking for aid, and 
 threw his forces across the isthmus to 
 keep watch. Washington saw the situ- 
 ation at a glance. 
 
 He wrote to Lafayette that the French 
 fleet was bound for the Chesapeake and 
 
126 
 
 George Washington 
 
 that he would come with his army! 
 CHnton in New York must be deceived, 
 so Washington made beheve that he was 
 going to attack that city. His army was 
 
 Washington and Rochambeau tn the trenches at Yorktown 
 
 well on the way before Clinton knew bet- 
 ter, and then he did not dream where it 
 was going. There was great rejoicing 
 in Philadelphia as the army, over two 
 miles in length, marched through. Every 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 12 J 
 
 brigade was followed by cannon and am- 
 munition wagons. The officers were well 
 mounted and followed by servants. When 
 the people heard that the French fleet had 
 come into the Chesapeake and had landed 
 three thousand troops to help Lafayette, 
 their joy knew no bounds. 
 
 Washington was now going to Mount 
 Vernon! He had not seen that beloved 
 spot for six years! The French general 
 and his friends came on the next day, and 
 there was feasting and rejoicing once 
 more as in the days long gone by. 
 
 The next day Washington hastened to 
 Williamsburg and then to Yorktown. 
 On the 14th of September Washington's 
 cannon opened fire and tore holes in the 
 Hne of fortification. Cornwallis made a 
 wild attempt to break out, but it failed. 
 It was no use to struggle, for Washington 
 held him in a death grip. On October 19, 
 1 781, Cornwallis and the entire army 
 surrendered. At noon of that day the 
 American army was drawn up in two lines 
 more than a mile in length. The French 
 
128 George Washington 
 
 troops looked fine in their white and green 
 uniforms. The Americans, poor fellows, 
 were dressed in uniforms that told of long 
 marches and hard fighting, and of an 
 empty money box. 
 
 About two o'clock the British army 
 appeared, beating a solemn march. They 
 looked like defeated soldiers! The band 
 played the old tune : ' * The World 's Upside 
 Down." The world was topsy-turvy as 
 far as the British army in America was 
 concerned. Cornwallis was not well, so 
 he sent another general to give his sword 
 to Washington, who pointed to General 
 Lincoln as the man to receive the sword, 
 for Lincoln had surrendered his at the 
 capture of Charleston. He led the British 
 army to the field, where the order to 
 "ground arms" was given. 
 
 The old German guard in Philadelphia 
 cried out, ''Three o'clock, and all is well! 
 Cornwallis is taken ! " As he repeated the 
 cry, windows were thrown open, lights 
 began to appear, and soon the city was 
 in motion. People shouted, shook hands, 
 
A Virginia Cavalier I2g 
 
 and hugged each other. Members of 
 Congress joined in the celebration, and 
 ordered a special Thanksgiving service. 
 Cannons were fired and bonfires lighted to 
 show the joy of the people. 
 
 Washington took the French officers to 
 Fredericksburg to visit his mother, then 
 in the seventy-fourth year of her age. 
 A great ball was given in honor of the 
 victory at Yorktown. How pleased was 
 every one when Washington entered the 
 ballroom with his own dear mother on 
 his arm! She' was beautiful in her old 
 age, and even now as straight as an arrow. 
 She was still the ''rose of Epping Forest." 
 
 When the news reached England, Lord 
 North, the prime minister, exclaimed 
 wildly as he paced up and down the floor, 
 "Oh, God! It is all over!" 
 
 The British people were tired, but 
 George III wanted to fight on. Lord 
 North soon resigned, and the king was 
 compelled to call back to influence those 
 very Englishmen who all along had been 
 the friends of America. When they took 
 
Washington escorting his mother into the ballroom at Fredericksburg 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 131 
 
 office they appointed men to go to Paris to 
 make a treaty with men named by Con- 
 gress. These men agreed upon the Treaty 
 of 1783, which gave the United States in- 
 dependence and made the Mississippi River 
 the western boundary of the United States. 
 
 Washington Says Good-By 
 
 After the treaty was made, and the 
 British had left New York, Washington 
 marched in with his weatherbeaten 
 soldiers. A young woman writing of 
 that time said: ''But they were our 
 troops, and as I looked at them and 
 thought of ail they had done and suffered 
 for us, my heart and my eyes were full 
 and I admired and gloried in them the 
 more because they were weatherbeaten 
 and forlorn." 
 
 In a few days Washington said good-by 
 to his offiicers. He met them at Fraunce's 
 Tavern, near the Ferry. When he entered 
 he found himself surrounded by men who 
 for years had been his true comrades and 
 had been with him through so many 
 
IJ2 George Washington 
 
 scenes of hardship and danger. He turned 
 to them and said : ' ' With my heart full of 
 love and gratitude, I now take leave of you, 
 most devoutly wishing that your latter 
 days may be as prosperous and happy as 
 your former ones have been glorious and 
 honorable. I shall be obliged if each of 
 you will come and take me by the hand!" 
 General Knox came first. Washington 
 grasped his hand and, with tears in his 
 eyes, embraced him. He took leave of 
 each in the same brotherly way. Not a 
 word was spoken. Washington went on 
 board the barge which was to carry him 
 over to the Jersey side, lifted his hat, and 
 bade them a silent farewell. Each officer 
 did the same. 
 
 Washington went to Annapolis, where 
 Congress held its meetings. All along the 
 way he was greeted by thousands of people 
 who rejoiced with him in the return of 
 peace. At Annapolis he was welcomed by 
 Mrs. Washington, who had driven over 
 from Mount Vernon. His arrival was 
 the signal for the firing of cannon. An 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 133 
 
 old-fashioned dinner given to Washington 
 was followed by a grand ball in the State 
 House. 
 
 On the day appointed, at twelve o'clock, 
 the gallery and a large part of the floor 
 of Congress were filled with ladies, with 
 
 After the painting by Trumbull 
 in the capitol at Washington 
 
 Washington resigns his commission 
 
 officers of the state of Maryland, and with 
 other citizens of importance. The Sec- 
 retary of Congress led Washington to a 
 chair. After a pause he arose and said: 
 ''The events on which my resignation 
 depended having at length taken place, 
 I now have the honor of offering my 
 10 
 
IJ4 George Washington 
 
 sincere congratulations to Congress, and to 
 surrender into their hands the trust com- 
 mitted to me, and to claim the indulgence 
 of retiring from the service of my country. 
 ... I here offer my commission and 
 take my leave of all the employments 
 of public life." 
 
 The president of Congress, replying, 
 said: ''You retire from the theater of 
 action, not only with the blessing of your 
 fellow citizens, but the glory of your vir- 
 tues will not terminate with your military 
 command; it will continue to animate the 
 remotest ages." 
 
 Washington and his wife hastened to 
 Mount Vernon, which they reached on 
 Christmas Eve. The delight of the ne- 
 groes knew no bounds. To think that 
 their beloved master and mistress were 
 at home to stay! There was old Bishop, 
 the gift of Braddock, leaning on his staff! 
 
 A letter from a young lady who wit- 
 nessed these events says: "The general 
 and madame came home Christmas Eve, 
 and such a racket the servants made, for 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 135 
 
 they were glad of their coming! Three 
 handsome young officers came with them. 
 All Christmas afternoon 
 people came to pay their 
 respects and duty. 
 Among them were state- 
 ly dames and gay young 
 women. The general 
 seemed very happy and 
 Mistress Washington 
 was busy from daybreak 
 making everything as 
 agreeable as possible for 
 everybody." 
 
 A severe winter now 
 set in with plenty of snow and ice. Wash- 
 ington gladly turned to letter writing. He 
 wrote, like one freed from a great burden, 
 to Lafayette: "I am become a citizen 
 on the banks of the Potomac . . . free' 
 from the bustle of camp and the busy 
 scenes of public life. . . . Envious of 
 none, I am determined to be pleased with 
 all, and this, my dear friend, being the 
 order of my march, I will move gently 
 
 Alt old-fashioned mirror 
 at Mount Vernon 
 
ij6 
 
 George Washington 
 
 down the stream of time until I sleep with 
 
 my fathers." 
 
 But it was not the same 
 Virginia as in 1775. Then 
 George III was king and 
 sent his royal governors to 
 rule the Virginians. Now 
 one of her own sons, Ben- 
 jamin Harrison, was 
 governor. Some of Wash- 
 ington's friends had per- 
 ished in the war. Lord 
 
 Fairfax, the elder, lived at Greenway Court 
 
 until he was ninety-two. He was a friend 
 
 of Washington to the last, but a Tory. 
 Younger men had come to the front in 
 
 Virginia politics, and they all loved and 
 
 honored Washington. 
 
 He seemed a truly 
 great man to them. 
 He was a bit dignified. 
 The war had made him 
 so. The young peo- 
 
 In National Museum, 
 Wasliington 
 
 Lamp at Mount 
 Vernon 
 
 pie who gathered at 
 Mount Vernon, for fun 
 
 In Mount Vernon collection 
 Andirons at Mount Vernon 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 137 
 
 and frolic, were shy of him. Yet he was 
 not always dignified, nor yet always silent. 
 
 In Mount Vernon collection 
 
 Inkstand, candlestick, and snuffers at 
 Mount Vernon 
 
 He had adopted two of Mrs. Washing- 
 ton's grandchildren. It was the delight 
 of his heart to lead them by the hand 
 along the pleasant walks around Mount 
 Vernon, and to listen to their chatter. 
 But it was hard to be young again, and 
 difficult to play the farmer at Mount 
 Vernon, as in earlier days. For, as soon 
 as the winter was over, visitors came 
 trooping to see Washington. But of all 
 the guests coming to the banks of the 
 Potomac no one was more welcome than 
 Lafayette. He came the first summer 
 
138 
 
 George Washington 
 
 Presented to Mount 
 
 Vernon by Edmund 
 
 de Lafayette 
 
 Chair from Lafay- 
 ette s chateau 
 
 after the war and stayed two weeks. 
 Lafayette then went to visit the northern 
 and eastern states where, 
 as Washington wrote to the 
 Marchioness de Lafayette, 
 he was ''crowned every- 
 where with wreaths of love 
 and respect." He came 
 back to Mount Vernon, and 
 spent a few more days 
 within its charming circle. 
 Then he bade Mrs. Wash- 
 ington good-by; but the 
 general went with him to Annapolis, as if 
 to put off the time of parting. When 
 home again, Washington wrote to Lafay- 
 ette: "I often asked myself, as our 
 carriages separated, whether that was the 
 last sight I should ever have of you? 
 And though I wished to answer no, my 
 fears answered yes. I called to mind the 
 days of my youth and found they had 
 long since fled to return no more; that I 
 was now descending the hill I had been 
 fifty-two years in climbing." 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ijQ 
 
 Between Lafayette's two visits Wash- 
 ington had taken his third journey over 
 the mountains. He traveled Hke a soldier 
 on the frontier, with only an outfit for cook- 
 ing and a few stores of food and medicines, 
 and a number of fishhooks and lines. He 
 must have thought of the young surveyor 
 and his party who rode into the valley of 
 the Shenandoah thirty-six years before! 
 
 Now as then he saw how near the head- 
 waters of the streams flowing into the Ohio 
 were to the headwaters of those flowing 
 into tlje Potomac and the James ! His mind 
 kept turning to the plan of a waterway to 
 the Great Lakes. He saw that the hardy 
 sons of Virginia who lived on the western 
 rivers would have their faces turned 
 toward the mouths of the streams by float- 
 ing down them to sell the products of their 
 labor. In a short time they might become 
 drawn away by some hostile government. 
 
 Here was born in the mind of Washing- 
 ton the plans for joining the Virginia of 
 the James and Potomac with the Virginia 
 of the Ohio and the Wabash. 
 
140 George Washington 
 
 The Confederation Prepares Its 
 Own Death 
 
 While the people were fighting for inde- 
 pendence they did not have a very strong 
 government. Again and again Washing- 
 ton had urged Congress to use more power. 
 Congress could advise the states what 
 they should do, but it could not compel 
 them. 
 
 Congress wanted to send the army home 
 without paying the men the money it owed 
 them. This disturbed them, and all, kinds 
 of rumors were running through the army. 
 One day Washington received a letter 
 which stirred him greatly. It was nothing 
 short of a declaration that he ought to be 
 made king, and that the author believed 
 the army would be glad. Washington 
 immediately wrote : * ' I am much at a loss 
 to conceive what part of my conduct could 
 give encouragement to an address which 
 to me seems big with the greatest mischief 
 that can befall my country. . . . Let 
 me conjure you, then, if you have any 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 141 
 
 regard for your country, concern for 
 yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to 
 banish these thoughts from your mind." 
 This was a strange letter! Who can think 
 of George Washington as a king! 
 
 While the army was in camp on the 
 Hudson, at Newburgh, in the last year 
 of the war, the soldiers had little to do but 
 talk over their wrongs. There were wild 
 threats as to what they would do if Con- 
 gress dared send part of the army home 
 without pay. One day they appointed 
 three of their number to go to Congress 
 and see to it that a law was passed giving 
 them a certain sum of money instead of 
 half pay for life, as Congress proposed 
 doing. A letter appeared in camp with 
 no signature. It was dangerous because 
 largely true: "My friends! After seven 
 long years your suffering courage has 
 conducted the United States through a 
 doubtful and bloody war, and peace 
 returns to bless whom ?. A country willing 
 to redress your wrongs, cherish your 
 worth, and regard your services? Or is it 
 
142 George Washington 
 
 rather a country that tramples on your 
 rights, disdains your cries and insults 
 your distresses ? If this be your treatment 
 while the swords you wear are necessary 
 for the defence of America, what have you 
 to expect from peace when these very 
 swords, the instruments and companions 
 of your glory, shall be taken from your 
 sides, and no remaining mark of military 
 distinction left but your wants, infirmities 
 and scars?" 
 
 Washington saw how true it was, but set 
 about to break the force of it. He did not 
 deny it, but with rare good sense he said 
 the proceeding was irregular, and that no 
 attention ought to be paid to it. He called 
 a meeting of officers to consider the report 
 of the men sent to Congress. At the meet- 
 ing Washington arose and said, as he put 
 on his glasses to read his paper: "I have 
 grown gray in your service, and now find 
 myself growing blind. As I was among 
 the first who embarked in the cause of our 
 common country, as I have never left your 
 side one moment . . . as I have been the 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 14J 
 
 constant companion and witness of your 
 distresses, and not among the last to feel 
 your merits, as my heart has ever expanded 
 with joy when I have heard its praises, 
 and my indignation has arisen when the 
 mouth of detraction has been opened 
 against it . . . let me conjure you in 
 the name of our common country, as you 
 value your own sacred honor, to express 
 your utmost horror of the man who wishes 
 to overturn the liberties of our country 
 and deluge our -rising empire with blood." 
 "Happy for America," writes one who 
 witnessed the scene, "that she has a 
 patriot army, and that Washington is its 
 leader." 
 
 Washington Points the Way to a 
 Constitution 
 
 When Washington came back to Mount 
 Vernon he saw that the Confederation 
 could not last long. He sent a letter to 
 the governors of the thirteen states urging 
 them to favor giving more power to 
 Congress. 
 
144 George Washington 
 
 In 1785 a step was taken toward a 
 stronger government. Virginia and Mary- 
 land appointed men to act as commis- 
 sioners in making rules for the control 
 of commerce on the Chesapeake and 
 the Potomac. They met at Alexandria, 
 Washington's old town. He gave them a 
 hearty invitation to come down to Mount 
 Vernon and in a friendly way talk over 
 matters. When they came to discuss the 
 question, they found that other states 
 were interested in the trade on the Chesa- 
 peake and the Potomac. These men 
 went home feeling that a great convention 
 must be called to talk over the question 
 of rules governing commerce. The com- 
 missioners from Maryland advised that 
 a great national convention of states be 
 held. Virginia took it up and sent out a 
 call for all the states to send delegates to 
 a meeting at Annapolis in 1786. 
 
 Only five states were represented at 
 Annapolis — Virginia, Pennsylvania, Dela- 
 ware, New Jersey, and New York. When 
 the men from these five states met, they 
 
In the National Museum, Washinston 
 
 A Virginia Cavalier 14^ 
 
 saw very clearly that they could not make 
 rules for trade without delegates from the 
 other nine states. 
 They resolved to 
 call another con- 
 vention to meet 
 in Philadelphia 
 
 • Q 4- 'P In tue iNational iviuseum, Washinsto 
 
 m 1707 ^^ see 11 PortfoUo on which Washington 
 
 they could not ""'''' dispatches durtng the war 
 
 change the Articles of Confederation. 
 
 Washington now saw the way to a 
 stronger union. But not everybody saw 
 this so clearly. Congress itself was not 
 pleased, and the New England States 
 refused to send delegates to Philadelphia. 
 
 Presently occurred one of those terrible 
 events which Washington had foretold. 
 Daniel Shays, the leader, and hundreds 
 of other armed men in Massachusetts, 
 decided to take matters into their own 
 hands and free themselves from paying 
 debts. They burned and plundered at 
 will, and lived off the land like a hostile 
 army. The state sent armed troops 
 against them, and a battle took place. 
 
146 George Washington 
 
 Some of Shays' men were killed, and the 
 rest scattered to their homes. 
 
 This bloody affair was enough for New 
 England. She sent delegates' to the con- 
 vention at Philadelphia, and Congress 
 joined in the call for such a meeting. 
 Washington wrote to a friend in Congress : 
 **You talk, my good sir, of employing 
 influence to appease the present troubles 
 in Massachusetts. . . . Influence is not 
 government. Let us have one by which 
 our lives, liberties, and properties will be 
 secured, or let us know the worst at once." 
 
 Virginia appointed Washington, Ran- 
 dolph, her governor James Madison, and 
 George Mason, an old-time neighbor of 
 Washington, and one or two others to go 
 to Philadelphia. The other states, except 
 Rhode Island, sent delegates. The Virgin- 
 ians were prompt in reaching Philadelphia. 
 This gave Washington time to talk over 
 matters with the delegates from the other 
 states as they came in. Once in Philadel- 
 phia he hastened to call on Benjamin 
 Franldin, the most learned man on the 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 14^ 
 
 continent. Franklin was the oldest man 
 in the convention, and Washington paid 
 his respects to him not only because he 
 was a great man, but because he loved 
 him. He first met him at the time of 
 Braddock's expedition, and had never 
 ceased to admire him. Washington ar- 
 rived in Philadelphia amid "shouting 
 crowds, with joy bells ringing above his 
 head." How easily a man of smaller 
 mind and vainer feeling would have 
 forgotten Franklin, and have thought only 
 of his own greatness! 
 
 Besides Franklin, Pennsylvania sent 
 Gouverneur Morris, who made more 
 speeches than any one else in the conven- 
 tion (and they were good ones, too), 
 Robert Morris, the man who had managed 
 the money for the war, and James Wilson, 
 a Scotchman, who was Professor of Law in 
 the University of Pennsylvania. Every one 
 of them, too, looked up to Washington as 
 the one man in whom they had most faith. 
 
 When enough men had arrived, they met 
 in Independence Hall and elected George 
 
148 George Washington 
 
 Washington as president. No other man 
 in the convention could act with so much 
 dignity, ease, and self-control. One day 
 when the men of the convention were 
 disputing whether they should make a new 
 Constitution or patch up the old one, 
 Washington is reported to have said: 
 **It is probable that no plan we propose 
 will be adopted. Perhaps another dreadful 
 conflict is to be sustained. If, to please 
 the people, we offer what we ourselves 
 disapprove, how can we afterward defend 
 our work? Let us raise a standard to 
 which the wise and honest can repair. 
 The event is in the hands of God." 
 
 When the convention was not in session 
 Washington was talking with other mem- 
 bers in favor of the new Constitution. 
 For four months the delegates worked 
 hard. On the last day of the convention, 
 when their work was finished, Benjamin 
 Franklin, looking at the back of Washing- 
 ton's chair, on which the bright rays of a 
 half sun were painted, said : * * I have often 
 and often, in the course of the session. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 14Q 
 
 looked at that sun behind the president 
 without being able to tell whether it was 
 rising or setting. At length I have the 
 happiness to know it is a rising and not a 
 setting sun." 
 
 Washington said that ''the business 
 being closed, the members adjourned to 
 the city tavern, dined together, and 
 took a cordial leave of each other." The 
 convention turned over the Constitution 
 to Washington. He sent it to the Con- 
 gress, then holding its meetings in New 
 York. Congress sent the Constitution to 
 the different states. Each state was to 
 submit it to a convention of its people, 
 called to see whether it should be accepted. 
 
 Washington went to Mount Vernon, 
 hopeful but doubtful. *'I never saw him 
 so keen for anything in my life as he is 
 for the adoption of the new scheme of 
 government," wrote a friend about Wash- 
 ington. Washington wrote to his friend, 
 Patrick Henry, who was the great opposer 
 of the Constitution: "I wish the Consti- 
 tution which is offered had been more 
 
 11 
 
1^0 George Washington 
 
 perfect, but I sincerely believe it is the 
 best that could be obtained at this time, 
 and as a constitutional door is opened for 
 amendment hereafter, the adoption of it 
 . . . is in my opinion desirable." 
 
 Washington must have been delighted 
 when Pennsylvania, one of the large 
 states, voted in the convention two to one 
 in favor of the Constitution. Little Dela- 
 ware, however, was not to be beaten by 
 Pennsylvania, for she held her convention 
 and voted unanimously for the Constitu- 
 tion before Pennsylvania did. 
 
 The campaign in Maryland was hot, 
 and Washington, living on the other side 
 of the Potomac, was interested and wrote 
 letters to Maryland to help in the good 
 cause. He was filled with joy when he 
 heard that Maryland, too, had voted for 
 the "New Roof." 
 
 The campaign in Massachusetts was a 
 hard one. Both the friends and the 
 enemies of the Constitution wrote to 
 Virginia for aid. Washington sent argu- 
 ments in favor of the Constitution, but he 
 
A Virginia Cavalier iji 
 
 did not get much encouragement. When 
 the vote was finally taken, and it was 
 found that out of three hundred fifty votes 
 the Constitution had a majority of twenty, 
 Washington was indeed happy. 
 
 Virginia did not call a convention until 
 June, 1788. Washington did not go to 
 the meeting, but he did everything in 
 his power to have Virginia ratify the 
 Constitution. James Madison was its 
 greatest defender, and 'Patrick Henry, 
 "the Orator of the Revolution," its great- 
 est opponent. They debated for many 
 days, but when the convention came to 
 vote, it had twenty-three more votes for 
 the Constitution than against it. Vir- 
 ginia's vote made sure that the **New 
 Roof" would go into effect. 
 
 There was one more chance of defeat. 
 What if the enemies of the Constitution 
 should elect representatives and senators 
 opposed to the new Constitution? Wash- 
 ington therefore urged upon the people to 
 see to it that friends of the new govern- 
 ment were elected. He did not want to 
 
ij2 George Washington 
 
 run any risk with the men who were 
 to put it into operation. 
 
 One thing more was necessary. The 
 people thought of Washington as the only 
 man for the first president of the new 
 republic! "We cannot, sir, do without 
 you," said Governor Johnson of Maryland. 
 "I and thousands more can explain to 
 anybody but yourself why we cannot 
 do without you." But Washington did 
 not want to be president. He wanted only 
 the quiet life of a Virginia farmer. He 
 pleaded old age, and lack of ability, but 
 in vain. The people would have him. 
 
 Washington surrendered. The votes of 
 the electoral college were all cast for him 
 to be the first President of the United 
 States. When the secretary of Congress 
 reached Mount Vernon he found Wash- 
 ington ready to obey the call, after a short 
 visit to his mother. It was a tender 
 farewell, and with a hearty Godspeed and 
 a mother's prayer Washington rode back 
 to Mount Vernon. He writes sadly: 
 "About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount 
 
A Virginia Cavalier i^j 
 
 Vernon, to private life, and to domestic 
 felicity." 
 
 The first part of the trip was the hardest. 
 The people of Alexandria, his home town, 
 gave him a dinner. The mayor spoke 
 the sentiment in every breast when he 
 declared that Washington was the first 
 and best citizen, the ornament of the age, 
 and the model for the young. These 
 words touched him deeply, and he could 
 only say that he would '* commit himself 
 and them to a kind Providence who on a 
 former occasion brought us together after 
 a long and distressing separation." 
 
 At Baltimore cannon thundered his 
 coming. When Pennsylvania was reached, 
 the governor, accompanied by a civil and 
 a military body, came to prepare him for 
 entrance into Philadelphia. 
 
 At Trenton, the place of one of his 
 greatest military triumphs, he met a 
 scene that touched the hero's heart. 
 Sunshine, an arch of triumph, young girls 
 walking before him strewing flowers and 
 singing, made a pretty picture. The arch 
 
Washington met by his neighbors on the way to the inauguration 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ijj 
 
 bore the inscription: "The defender of 
 the mothers will be the protector of the 
 daughters." 
 
 When Washington reached Elizabeth- 
 town Point a committee of Congress came 
 to welcome him. He went on board a 
 splendid barge manned by thirteen pilots 
 in white uniforms. The procession swept 
 up the bay to the strains of a band of music. 
 The ships at anchor in the harbor fired 
 salutes as the procession passed. The 
 bells of the city rang, cannon fired salutes, 
 and the people who lined the wharves 
 shouted welcomes. Governor Clinton, 
 General Knox, and many other old soldiers 
 were there to greet him. Dressed in his 
 suit of buff and blue, he marched along 
 the streets followed by a line of the civil 
 and military people. The streets were 
 crow^ded. The houses were covered with 
 flags and hung with evergreens. Banners 
 bore the name of Washington. 
 
 When inauguration day came there 
 was another great procession, which took 
 Washington to the hall where sat the 
 
156 
 
 George Washington 
 
 Chair used by Wash 
 
 iyiglon at his 
 
 inauguration 
 
 Senate. All was ready for him to take 
 the oath of office. As he went forward 
 to the balcony the people 
 set up a mighty shouting 
 and clapping. Chancellor 
 Livingstone came forward 
 to give him the oath, when 
 Washington kissed the Bible 
 which lay on a stand cov- 
 ered with crimson velvet. 
 After the oath Livingstone 
 waved his hand toward the 
 people and shouted: "Long live George 
 Washington, President of the United 
 States!" A flag was unfurled, cannons 
 were fired, bells rang out 
 a glad peal, and people 
 in the streets, in the win- 
 dows, and on the house- 
 tops shouted for joy. 
 
 Washington went into 
 the Senate chamber and 
 there read a paper called ,^ ^^^,. „, ^,^,^ ^„,. 
 
 • 111 lection, Washington 
 
 an maugural address. Evegiasses given 
 
 There stood about him a '""i^lfi;^: '' 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 157 
 
 From photograph 
 in Library of Congress 
 
 State coach used by Washington 
 while he was president 
 
 body of friends. His hand and his 
 voice trembled as he read to them. He 
 was not so certain 
 
 of things. No one 
 had gone before 
 him, and blazed 
 the path he was 
 to tread. Before 
 this time all the 
 nations had kings 
 or emperors. Washington had no guides 
 to show him the way. "I walk," he said, 
 ' ' on untrodden ground . ' ' Therefore in the 
 last words of the inaugural speech he ap- 
 pealed to the protection of that kindly 
 Providence that seemed to have watched 
 over the republic from the beginning. 
 
 Washington, as president, was anxious 
 that the new government should succeed. 
 He chose Thomas Jefferson as secretary 
 of state to look after the affairs of the 
 United States and foreign nations. It 
 was a wise choice, for Jefferson had not 
 only written the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence but had been governor of Virginia and 
 
1^8 George Washington 
 
 our minister to France at the close of the 
 war. Hamilton, who had been captain of 
 artillery, a general on Washington's staff, 
 one of the great men in the convention of 
 1787, was selected to be secretary of the 
 treasury. General Knox, one of Wash- 
 ington's best men in the Revolutionary 
 War, was chosen secretary of war and 
 the navy. With Governor Randolph 
 chosen to give advice on questions of law, 
 the presidential machinery of government 
 may be said to have been in running order. 
 
 Washington was most anxious to have 
 wise laws passed, and James Madison, 
 called the "Father of the Constitution," 
 was one of the most active men in that 
 body. He talked with Madison about 
 making certain changes in the new Con- 
 stitution. These changes were made, and 
 are found in the Constitution as the first 
 ten amendments. 
 
 When the government was well under 
 way and the cool days of October came, 
 Washington made a journey to the New 
 England States. On this trip the question 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 159 
 
 In Governor's Room, 
 City Hall, New York 
 
 Desk used by President Washington 
 
 arose : ** Who shall be first in social affairs, 
 the president or the governor? " It is said 
 that famous 
 John Hancock, 
 governor of 
 Massachusetts 
 raised the 
 question when 
 Washington 
 was in Boston. 
 Hancock 
 thought the president ought to call on the 
 governor. This was a greater question 
 than it seems. Had the president called 
 first, people all over the country would 
 have said : * ' President Washington shows 
 by calling on Hancock first that he thinks 
 the state governments are of more impor- 
 tance than the national government." 
 President Washington did not think so, 
 and he did not wish to appear to act so. 
 When the war ended the army was in 
 large part disbanded so that for defense 
 against the Indians in the west but a small 
 part remained, under the command of 
 
i6o 
 
 George Washington 
 
 General Josiah Harmer. The Miami 
 Indians had risen against the settlers and 
 
 General Har- 
 
 ___-Typ.^=.-^ mer, with reg- 
 ^^o1^3 ^1^1* troops 
 
 In Governor's Room, City Hall, New York 
 
 and militia, 
 had crossed 
 the Ohio but 
 had been 
 
 Table used by President Washington driven baolc 
 
 by the Indians with frightful slaughter. 
 President Washington then sent Gen- 
 eral St. Clair with a larger army 
 into the Indian regions. Just at sunrise 
 the Indians ambushed his army and 
 drove its broken fragments back upon the 
 forts he had built. Six hundred men were 
 killed. Washington now chose the right 
 man — ' ' Mad Anthony" Wayne — who 
 completely defeated the Indians in the 
 battle of "Fallen Timber." So great was 
 the Indian fear of him that they believed 
 every word when he told them he would 
 rise out of his grave to punish them if they 
 ever violated the treaty they had made. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier i6i 
 
 Secretary Hamilton, by means of a 
 tariff and a tax on whisky, raised money 
 to provide for the payment of the Revolu- 
 tionary debts. One measure — the pay- 
 ment of the war debts of the states — did 
 not pass. Congress at the same time could 
 not agree where the capital of the United 
 States should be located. Jefferson and 
 Hamilton put their heads together. The 
 result was that southern votes carried 
 Hamilton's bill and northern votes located 
 the capital in Philadelphia for ten years 
 and after that on the Potomac. 
 
 Foreign Relations 
 
 Great Britain had been ugly in her 
 treatment of America since the Revolu- 
 tion. Some people wanted to go to war, 
 but Washington saw that the nation was 
 yet too young. He sent John Jay to 
 make a treaty. The Jay treaty was very 
 unpopular, and Hamilton was stoned in 
 New York for defending it. Washington 
 was also blamed for the treaty. 
 
 Meantime the French Revolution had 
 
i62 George Washington 
 
 been coming on. The Americans took the 
 French side against England. Would not 
 America aid her old friend? Washington 
 said '*No," and his secretaries agreed with 
 him. He published a letter telling the 
 people that it was best for us to keep out of 
 European troubles. 
 
 Washington's Farewell 
 
 The times were improving in 1796. 
 Jay's treaty had turned out better than 
 the people thought it would, and com- 
 merce and trade were springing up all 
 over the nation. The eight years of 
 Washington's presidency were drawing to 
 a close. He had guided the ship of state 
 over the rough sea of party quarrels; he 
 was weary of the burden of office, and 
 decided that he would not accept the 
 presidency again. 
 
 A large majority, remembering his great 
 service as a soldier, his noble sacrifices, and 
 work in helping the nation through its 
 first days, wanted him to be president 
 again. But he steadily refused, and in 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 163 
 
 September, 1796, he sent forth his "Fare- 
 well Address to the American People." 
 Washington said it was 
 advice given to the com- 
 mon people, which he hoped 
 they would take to heart. 
 He urged thern jealously to 
 guard every tie that binds 
 the people together. He 
 told them to beware of be- 
 ing mere party men. Party 
 spirit was a poison that all 
 men who loved their coun- 
 
 In National Museum, 
 Washington 
 
 try ought to put away. It ^T.'!:S ti^^JT" 
 was to the people's inter- '"t^^S'^ar/-''' 
 
 , , 1 1 • • J "Well speech 
 
 ests to make religion, edu- 
 cation, and good faith their guides in pro- 
 moting the general welfare. He urged them 
 to resist foreign influence, and not to 
 permit the nation to . be drawn into 
 European quarrels. This paper has been 
 read and reread by thousands upon 
 thousands, and will for ages be read by 
 thousands more. Every person who looks 
 into it with a fair mind will find it contains 
 
164 George Washington 
 
 some of the wisest advice on political 
 affairs ever penned. 
 
 On the 3d of March he gave a farewell 
 dinner to President Adams, Vice-Pres- 
 ident Jefferson, and other distinguished 
 people. Many ladies were present. At 
 the close, Washington filled his glass and 
 said: ''Ladies and gentlemen, this is the 
 last time I shall drink your health as a 
 public man. I do it with sincerity, wishing 
 you all possible happiness." 
 
 The inauguration of the new president 
 came. A vast crowd gathered to witness 
 the event, as it was supposed, but they 
 really came to catch a last glimpse of 
 Washington. All eyes were on the out- 
 going and none upon the incoming pres- 
 ident. When Washington came into the 
 hall he was received with cheers and 
 shouts, and the waving of handkerchiefs. 
 
 After the services were over, there was 
 a rush from the galleries into the street 
 to see him. He took off his hat and 
 bowed to them, but still the great crowd 
 moved after him, going as one man, in 
 
12 
 
 /^ 
 
1 66 George Washington 
 
 total silence, to his very door. Here he 
 turned about, and looked upon that great 
 throng of unknown friends. He waved 
 them a final farewell. "No man ever 
 saw him so moved." Tears rolled down 
 his cheeks. Some people in that mighty 
 crowd broke down and cried. They had 
 seen Washington for the last time. 
 
 That night the merchants of Philadelphia 
 gave Washington a banquet. As he came 
 in, the band played ''Washington's 
 March." In every way these men who 
 owed so much to Washington gave proof 
 of their admiration for him. 
 
 He was anxious to get back to Mount 
 Vernon. He loved it for w^hat it contained, 
 and for the memories that clustered about 
 it. But his carriage stopped at Baltimore. 
 A great crowd on foot and horseback 
 greeted him. With Washington were Mrs. 
 Washington, Miss Custis, and one of the 
 sons of his beloved friend Lafayette. 
 On the morrow they pushed forward to 
 Mount Vernon, with pleasant sounds of 
 hurrahs ringing in their ears. 
 
MARTHA WASHINGTON 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 i6y 
 
 At Home Once More 
 
 But no more is it the Mount Vernon of 
 his early married days. Too many events 
 'have occurred there, and in the noble 
 
 In Mount Vernon collection 
 Washington s flute and Miss Custis' harpsichord 
 
 young nation whose infancy Washington 
 watched over, to make it seem the old 
 place of days long since gone. Some 
 things recalled to Washington and Mrs. 
 Washington those bright, happy days. 
 There was the love-making and marriage 
 of Miss Nellie Custis and W^ashington's 
 
i68 
 
 George Washington 
 
 nephew. Again, came the care of Mrs. 
 Washington's grandchildren. Washing- 
 ton seemed gentler and kinder to the 
 children than before. He took more 
 pleasure in their play and pastimes than 
 ever before. He planned very carefully 
 for their education, and in every way 
 showed as much affection for them as if 
 they had been his own. 
 
 Washington found that Mount Vernon 
 was *'run down" by his eight years of 
 absence. Buildings were in decay, the 
 garden had lost some of its beauty, and the 
 fields did not yield as much as formerly. 
 
 
 Jn the garden at Mount Vernon 
 
A Virginia Cavalier 
 
 log 
 
 In National Museum 
 Part of teaset presented by 
 Lafayette to Mrs. Washington 
 
 Just as when he took command of the 
 army in 1775 he refused any pay, so 
 during his time in the pres- 
 idency he refused to receive 
 a single cent for his services. 
 This resolution cost him a 
 large sum, for he 
 had to sell many 
 hundred acres of 
 his land in order to 
 pay the expenses 
 of the presidency. 
 No nobler self-sacrifice is known than that 
 of Washington, living for sixteen years not 
 upon his salary but upon his own private 
 fortune. 
 
 His letters to friends in this country and 
 in Europe are full of joy over his leaving 
 politics to other people, and of his great 
 satisfaction at being once more at Mount 
 Vernon. He speaks of his pleasure at 
 mounting his horse and riding over the 
 fields, as he had years before. 
 
 Many things spoke to Washington of 
 the days long gone. He had a glimpse of 
 
lyo George Washington 
 
 Belvoir. There rushed over his memory 
 the gay scenes of the past — of dances, 
 fox hunting, and of stateHer times 
 when the great EngHsh warship 
 sailed up the Potomac and cast 
 anchor near Belvoir. He wrote to 
 Mrs. Fairfax in England: *'It is a 
 matter of sore regret when I cast 
 my eyes toward Belvoir, which I 
 often do . . . and the scenes can 
 only be viewed as mementoes of 
 former pleasures." 
 
 The coming of strangers and 
 friends to visit Washington w^as a 
 great tax upon him. He gave each 
 some part of his time. But it was 
 time Mount Vernon sorely needed. 
 stale Li'b'rary Old soMlcrs fouud a Warm greet- 
 pyfsented to i^§- Fricuds had a chance to shake 
 washinsion j^-g ^^^^ Statcsmcu had an 
 
 opportunity to consult him. All this was 
 a great expense to Washington. He lived 
 nine miles from Alexandria. Most of the 
 visitors, with their horses, stayed all night, 
 and some remained for several days. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier lyi 
 
 So the busy, happy years flew by. One 
 day Washington put on his greatcoat and 
 went out to see how things were getting 
 on. There was rain and sleet. Wash- 
 ington's head got wet, and shortly he 
 complained of sore throat. His throat 
 grew worse, and he sent for his old friend. 
 Dr. Craik, then at Alexandria. In the 
 meantime he insisted that one of his men 
 should bleed him — a very common prac- 
 tice at that time. This was done, but 
 when the doctor came he was beyond 
 relief. He died quietly. Mrs. Washing- 
 ton said, "All is now over; I shall soon 
 follow him." 
 
 The funeral was the simple testimony of 
 friends and relations. The people of the 
 neighborhood came on the day of the 
 burial. The officers of the town of 
 Alexandria were there, attended by the 
 militia and the order of Masons. Eleven 
 pieces of cannon arrived, and a vessel was 
 stationed near Mount Vernon, on the 
 Potomac, to fire minute guns. 
 
 Besides those who took part in the 
 
lyz George Washington 
 
 procession there was his warhorse, saddled 
 and wearing holsters and pistols, led by two 
 negroes — silent, dumb testimony of his 
 greatness. Besides the relatives, the chief 
 mourners were Dr. Craik and some of 
 the Fairfaxes who had remained in Amer- 
 ica, — a simple burial, much in keeping with 
 his desires. 
 
 The people of the United States mourned 
 for Washington as for a father. Their 
 grief was heartfelt and deep. "Men car- 
 ried it home with them to their firesides 
 and to their churches, to their offices and 
 to their workshops." All over the land — 
 in the country, the village, and the city — 
 the preacher and the orator made his 
 name and character the text for a sermon 
 or the subject of his noblest oration. 
 Washington's friend, Henry Lee, declared 
 in a great oration that he was ''first in 
 war, first in peace, and first in the hearts 
 of his countrymen." 
 
 The faultfinder hid his head and hushed 
 his words. Congress adjourned immedi- 
 ately out of respect. When it met again, a 
 
A Virginia Cavalier lyj 
 
 committee was appointed to provide some 
 testimony worthy of Washington. 
 
 At the time of 
 his death, it is said 
 that even the British 
 war fleet, in great 
 numbers, which lay 
 watching the coast 
 of France, lowered 
 flags at half-mast as 
 a token of respect. 
 
 -rj\ j."L, 4. J In collection of Samuel Powell, EFin. 
 
 rrOm tnat aay on sUhouette of Washington taken 
 
 few EngHshmen have " ''"'' ''""' ''^''' '" ''"'' 
 spoken of Washington but to praise him, 
 and one of their poets gave voice to the 
 words : 
 
 ''The first, the last, the best. 
 The Cincinnatus of the West." 
 It was a great day in France. Napoleon 
 had ordered that Paris celebrate the' 
 plunder he got when he invaded Egypt. 
 But it was a day of mourning, too, for all 
 the flags and banners were hung with 
 black. A great many people, after the 
 procession was over, went to the temple 
 
174 
 
 George Washington 
 
 In Alexandria collection 
 Washington'' s bed- 
 room clock 
 
 of war and heard an eloquent funeral 
 oration on the death of Washington. 
 Napoleon commanded 
 that a statue of Wash- 
 ington be set up in one 
 of the squares of Paris. 
 The great monument 
 that stands in Washington 
 city is a noble testimonial 
 of a nation's affection. 
 It is more, for each nation gave a stone 
 to help build it. These stones came from 
 the most distant countries — from Brazil, 
 Turkey, Japan, Siam, India, and China. 
 
 To obtain a genuine impression of Wash- 
 ington a visit to Mount Vernon is far bet- 
 ter than to see bust or monument. There 
 stands the home, with its kitchen, smoke- 
 house, and other buildings just as the 
 master left them. In the ''great house" 
 are the rooms, with the furniture and 
 other belongings kept almost the same as 
 in Washington's day. 
 
 From the house a winding pathway 
 leads down to the tomb of the Washington 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ij^ 
 
 family. As you visit this hallowed place, 
 remember that here in 1824 Lafayette, 
 an old man, came to do homage to the 
 name of Washington. 
 
 Standing by his tomb, or wandering over 
 the grounds which Washington himself 
 cared for, you seem carried back to those 
 old days when George and Martha Wash- 
 ington came to Mount Vernon to begin 
 their married life together. 
 
A Chronology of the Life of 
 George Washington 
 
 DATE EVENT 
 
 1732 February 22, George Washington born in West- 
 moreland County, Virginia, near the banks 
 of the Potomac River. 
 
 1733- Family moved to the farm now known as 
 
 1734 Mount Vernon. 
 
 1743 April 12, Death of Augustus Washington. 
 
 1743 George sent to live with his half-brother at his 
 birthplace. 
 
 1743- Mansion built and named Mount Vernon, 
 
 1745 by his half-brother Lawrence. 
 
 1745 He returned to live with his mother at Fred- 
 
 ericksburg. Goes to school. 
 
 1746 At his mother's request gave up the idea of 
 
 entering the navy. 
 
 1 747 Left school to live with his half-brother Lawrence 
 
 at Mount Vernon. 
 
 1748 March 11, Became surveyor for Lord Fairfax. 
 
 1749 Appointed public surveyor. 
 
 1 75 1 Military inspector with the rank of major to 
 protect Virginia frontier against French and 
 Indians. 
 
 1 75 1 September ^ Sailed with his invalid brother 
 
 Lawrence to Barbadoes. 
 
 1752 Adjutant-general. September 26, Mount Ver- 
 
 non left him by Lawrence. 
 
 1753 Sent by Governor Dinwiddie as agent to warn 
 
 the French to leave their new posts on the 
 Ohio, in western Pennsylvania. Venango; 
 Duquesne. Journal of his mission published. 
 
 1754 Appointed lieutenant-colonel of a Virginia 
 
 regiment. Defeated French and Indians at 
 Great Meadows. Attacked at Jumonville and 
 surrendered at Fort Necessity. Ill health. 
 Sojourns at Mount Vernon. 
 
 176 
 
A Virginia Cavalier lyy 
 
 1755 Aide-de-camp to General Braddock. Com- 
 
 mander in chief of the Virginia forces. 
 
 1756 Mihtary mission to New York and Boston. 
 
 1758 Again suffers from ill health. Courtship. 
 
 March to the Ohio. Retired from the army. 
 Elected to the House of Burgesses. 
 
 1759 January 6, Married to Martha (Dandridge) 
 
 Custis at White House, Virginia. May, 
 Took seat in House of Burgesses. 
 1765 Commissioner for settling the military accounts 
 of the colony. 
 
 1769 Disapproved Stamp Acts. 
 
 1770 Journey to the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. 
 
 1773 "Patty" Custis died. Approved Committee of 
 
 Correspondence. 
 
 1774 Took part in meeting at the Raleigh Tavern after 
 
 adjournment by Governor Dunmore. Ap- 
 pointed by the Virginia Convention a delegate 
 to the first "Continental Congress on the points 
 at issue between England and the colonies. 
 Beginning of his national career. 
 
 1775 May 10, Member of the Second Continental 
 
 Congress. June 15, Chosen commander in 
 chief of the Continental army. July j , Took 
 command of the army at Cambridge. Siege 
 of Boston. September, Arnold sent to 
 Canada. 
 
 1776 March 5, Occupied Dorchester Heights. March 
 
 I/, Drove the British out of Boston. April 
 4, Left Boston for New York. August 27, 
 Battle of Long Island. September, Affair at 
 Kip's Bay and Battle of Harlem Plains. 
 October 28, Battle of White Plains. November, 
 Loss of forts Lee and Washington. Retreat 
 through the Jerseys. December 26, Battle of 
 Trenton. December 27, Invested by Congress 
 with dictatorial powers. Received LL.D. 
 from Harvard College. 
 
 1777 /onwary J, Battle of Princeton. January-May, 
 
 Winter quarters at Morristown. Moved 
 
I'/ 8 George Washington 
 
 toward Philadelphia to meet Howe. Septem- 
 ber II, Battle of Brandywine. October 4, 
 Battle of Germantown. October 16, Surrender 
 of Burgoyne. 
 
 1778 Winter quarters at Valley Forge. "Conway's 
 
 Cabal." June, British evacuated Philadel- 
 phia. June 28, Battle of Monmouth Court- 
 house. July, Arrival of D'Estaing's fleet. 
 Failure of Rhode Island campaign. Winter 
 quarters at Middlebrook. 
 
 1779 July 16, Capture of Stony Point. Sullivan sent 
 
 to Indian country. October, Lincoln sur- 
 rendered Savannah. Spent winter at Morris- 
 town. 
 
 1780 July, Rochambeau arrived at Newport. 
 
 August, Gates defeated at Camden. Arnold's 
 treason. Winter quarters at Tappan. 
 
 1781 January, Pennsylvania troops mutiny. May, 
 
 Met Rochambeau at Wethersfield, Connec- 
 ticut. June, With the army before New 
 York. August, Marched with the French for 
 Virginia. October ig, Surrender of Corn- 
 wallis at Yorktown. 
 
 1782 Threatening sedition of the army and talk of 
 
 a dictator. April, At Newburg, New York. 
 November, Provisional Treaty of Peace. 
 
 1783 April iQ, Peace proclaimed to the army. June 
 
 18, Circular letter to the governors of the 
 several states. September, Definitive treaty 
 of peace signed. November 2, Washington's 
 farewell to his army. December 4, His fare- 
 well to his generals. December 2j, He resigned 
 his commission at Annapolis. December 24, 
 Retired to Mount Vernon. 
 
 1784 Engaged in canal project to connect the Ohio 
 
 with tide -water. 
 
 1786 Annapolis Convention. 
 
 1787 May 14, Delegate to constitutional convention 
 
 at Phi''adelphia; president of the convention. 
 September, Signed new constitution. 
 
A Virginia Cavalier ijg 
 
 1788 Used efforts to secure adoption of constitution 
 
 by the states. 
 
 1789 Declared President of the United States and 
 
 inaugurated April 30 in New York. Journey 
 through eastern states, 
 
 1790 Federal city to be on the Potomac. Cabinet 
 
 differences. 
 
 1 79 1 Made tour of the southern states. 
 
 1793 Second time President of the United States. 
 
 Proclamation of neutrality. Recall of Genet, 
 minister from France. Jefferson and Hamil- 
 ton resign from the cabinet. Edmund 
 Randolph Secretary of State. 
 
 1794 Monroe sent to France. Randolph resigns, 
 
 and Timothy Pickering takes his place. 
 Jay's treaty. Whisky insurrection in Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 1796 September 17, Farewell address to the people 
 
 of the United States. 
 
 1797 Home at Mount Vernon. Troubles with France. 
 
 Preparations for war. 
 
 1798 Alien and sedition laws. Virginia and Ken- 
 
 tucky resolutions. July s^ Washington again 
 becomes commander in chief of the armies 
 of the United States. 
 
 1799 December 24, Died at Mount Vernon. 
 
A Reading List 
 
 Bolton, (Mrs.) Sarah K. George Washington. (Fa- 
 mous American Statesmen.) 1888. 
 
 Carrington, Henry B. Washington the Soldier. 
 Boston. 1898. 
 
 Hapgood, Norman. George Washington. New York. 
 1901. 
 
 Harrison, James A. George Washington, Patriot, 
 Soldier, Statesman, First President of the United 
 States. New York: C. P. Putnam's Sons. 
 1906. 
 
 Herbert, Leila. The First American, His Homes and 
 His Households. New York. 1900. 
 
 Hill, Frederick Trevor. On the Trail of Washing- 
 ton. A narrative history of Washington's boyhood 
 and manhood, based on his own writings, authen- 
 tic documents, and other authoritative informa- 
 tion. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1900. 
 
 Lodge, Henry Cabot. George Washington. (2 vols.) 
 Boston. 1890. 
 
 Lord, John. George Washington. (Beacon Lights of 
 History.) 1894. 
 
 Mitchell, Silas Weir. The Youth of Washington. 
 New York: The Century Company. 1904. 
 
 Seelye, (Mrs.) Elizabeth E. The Story of Washing- 
 ton. Ed. with an introduction by E. Eggleston. 
 New York. 1893. 
 
 Taylor, Edward M. George Washington, the Ideal 
 Patriot. With introduction by E. E. Hale. 
 Cincinnati. 1897. 
 
 Wilson, Woodrow. George Washington. New York. 
 1897. 
 
 Wister, Owen. The Seven Ages of Washington. A 
 biography. New York: The Macmillan Com- 
 pany. 1907. 
 
 180 
 
 « 78 
 

 
 
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