Washington Chosen Commander-in-Chief
On the tenth of May, 1775, the Continental Congress again assembled. The
means of defence for all the colonies was taken under consideration.
Washington took the principal part in these deliberations, as he had
been chosen chairman of all the committees on military affairs. The
situation now called for the appointment of a commander-in-chief. There
were able men in Congress who had served as officers in the British army
and one or another of them rather expected to be chosen for the
position. In the first battles—the pursuit of the British and the bloody
battle of Bunker Hill—able leaders had also arisen. There were a few who
made great efforts to get the appointment, while Washington refrained
from influencing any one in his own behalf, as indeed was his custom
under like circumstances throughout his life.
At last, on the fifteenth of June, a vote was taken, and when the votes
were counted it was found that Washington, with the exception of his own
vote, had been unanimously elected. He expressed his thanks to the
members for the confidence they had shown in him and promised to serve
his country faithfully, but added that he feared the task would be too
great for him. In closing he said: “Lest some unlucky event should
happen unfavorable to my reputation, 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.” He looked upon his election as a providential call which it would
be very wrong to refuse; it was his intention to exert his powers to the
utmost, his hope that God would lend him aid. In accepting this
appointment he made a great personal sacrifice to his country, for he
was not spurred by ambition and he comprehended clearly the magnitude of
the task which was set before him. His tastes inclined toward the
delights of peaceful domestic life, the activities of the garden and
fields, and now he was selected to conduct military operations which, he
must have known, would, even under the most favorable circumstances,
keep him away from his family and his home for a long time to come. But
piety and a strong sense of duty filled his manly soul and only a slight
tinge of sadness marks the letters which he wrote immediately after the
appointment. He wrote to his wife, whom he loved tenderly: “You may
believe me when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that so far
from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to
avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part from you and the
family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my
capacity; and I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you
at home than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad. I shall
rely constantly on that Providence which has heretofore preserved and
been bountiful to me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to you
in the Fall. I shall feel no pain from the toil or danger of the
campaign; my unhappiness will flow from the uneasiness I know you will
feel from being left alone. I therefore beg that you will summon your
whole fortitude and pass your time as agreeably as possible. Nothing
will give me so much sincere satisfaction as to hear this, and to hear
it from your own pen.”
To a friend he wrote: “The cause of my country has laid a difficult and
dangerous duty upon me; but I hope that the all-wise Providence, which
guides human destinies, will enable me to fulfil this duty faithfully
and with success.”
As commander-in-chief the sum of five hundred dollars a month was
granted him, but he positively refused any remuneration for his
services. He said that he would keep an account of expenses which he
might incur in the public service and that if these should be paid, it
was all that he wished. A prominent member of Congress, the accomplished
John Adams, wrote to a friend: “There is something charming to me in the
conduct of Washington, a gentleman of one of the first fortunes upon the
continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends,
sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country. His
views are noble and disinterested.”
In the official letter of appointment, which was delivered to him on the
twentieth of July, a tribute was paid to his love of country, his
courage, his faithfulness, and the conscientiousness which he had shown
under all circumstances, and to the purity of his life. As the day for
his departure for the army drew near, every one who had not yet seen him
endeavored to do so. At the request of the officers, he reviewed several
companies of militia. All were delighted with his military bearing.
Washington Irving says: “Rarely has the public _beau ideal_ of a
commander been so fully answered. He was now in the vigor of his days,
forty-three years of age, stately in person, noble in his demeanor, calm
and dignified in his deportment; as he sat his horse, with manly grace,
his military presence delighted every eye, and wherever he went the air
rang with acclamations.” The brilliant wife of John Adams wrote in a
letter to a friend: “Dignity, ease, and complacency, the gentleman and
the soldier, look agreeably blended in him. Modesty marks every line and
feature of his face. Those lines of Dryden instantly occurred to me:
“‘Mark his majestic fabric! He’s a temple
Sacred by birth and built by hands Divine.’”