CAMPAIGNS IN THE NORTH.--WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON.
[Before following Washington into the retirement of domestic life, we
think it proper to notice the events which closed the great struggle
between England and France for empire in America. Abercrombie had been
superseded in command by Major-general Amherst. According to the plan
of operations for 1759, General Wolfe was to ascend the St. Lawrence
in a fleet of ships of war with eight thousand men, and lay siege to
Quebec. General Amherst, in the meantime, was to advance against
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, reduce them, and push on to the St.
Lawrence to co-operate with Wolfe. A third expedition, under
Brigadier-general Prideaux, aided by Sir William Johnson, was to
attack Fort Niagara. Having reduced this fort he was to proceed
against Montreal.
The last mentioned expedition was the first executed. The fort was
invested by General Prideaux, early in July. The garrison, six hundred
strong, made a resolute defence. Prideaux was killed on the 20th of
July while visiting his trenches, and General Gage was sent to succeed
him in command. Meantime the siege was pressed with vigor by Sir
William Johnson. Learning that twelve hundred regular troops were
hastening to the rescue of the besieged, he despatched a force to
intercept them. They met within distant view of the fort, and after a
sharp conflict the French were routed and pursued through the woods.
The garrison, having now no alternative, surrendered, the terms
offered being honorable.
Meanwhile, General Amherst with twelve thousand men had descended Lake
George. On the 23d they debarked, and proceeded toward Ticonderoga.
Montcalm was absent for the protection of Quebec. The garrison did not
exceed four hundred men. A defence against Amherst's overwhelming
force would have been madness; and Bourlamarque, who was in command,
consequently dismantled the fortifications, as he did likewise those
of Crown Point, and retreated down the lake. Instead of following him
up and hastening to co-operate with Wolfe, General Amherst proceeded
to repair the forts, though neither was in present danger of being
attacked. His delay enabled the enemy to rally their forces at Isle
Aux Noix, and deprive Wolfe of the aid essential to the general
success of the campaign.
Wolfe ascended the St. Lawrence in June. With him were Colonel Guy
Carlton, and Lieutenant-Colonel William Howe, both destined to achieve
celebrity in the annals of the American Revolution. The troops
debarked on the Isle of Orleans, a little below Quebec. Quebec is
built around the point of a rocky promontory, and flanked by
precipices. The St. Lawrence sweeps by it on the right, and the St.
Charles on the left. The place was not then, as now, rendered
impregnable by fortifications. Montcalm commanded the post. His forces
were drawn out along the northern shore below the city, from the St.
Charles to the Falls of Montmorency, and their position was secured by
intrenchments. Wolfe established batteries at the west point of the
Isle of Orleans, and at Point Levi, on the south bank of the St.
Lawrence, within cannon range of the city. From Point Levi the city
was cannonaded; the lower town was reduced to rubbish, and many houses
in the upper town were fired. Anxious for a decisive action, Wolfe, on
the 9th of July crossed to the north bank of the St. Lawrence, and
encamped below the Montmorency. He determined to attack Montcalm in
his camp, however difficult to be approached, and however strongly
posted. The plan of attack was complicated; orders were misunderstood;
confusion ensued; and the attack proved a disastrous failure. News was
now received of the capture of Fort Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Crown
Point. Their successes fired the sensitive commander, and he declared
he would never return without success. He made a reconnoitering
expedition above Quebec. Rugged cliffs rose from the water's edge;
above them was a plain called the Plains of Abraham, by which the
upper town might be approached on its weakest side. It was determined
to attempt reaching the Plains by scaling the cliffs at night. On the
13th of September, in flat-bottomed boats the troops passed the town
undetected; landed in a cove called Cape Diamond; scrambled and
struggled with difficulty up a cragged path; put to flight a
sergeant's guard at the summit, and by break of day were in possession
of the Plains.
Montcalm was thunderstruck when intelligence of the fact was brought
to him. He hastened to the defence of the approaches to the city; a
desperate battle ensued on the fated Plains. Wolfe, who was in front
of the English line, was wounded in the wrist. A second ball struck
him in the breast. He was borne to the rear. "It is all over with me,"
said he, and desired those about him to lay him down. Presently they
cried, "They run! they run! see how they run!" "Who runs?" asked Wolfe
eagerly, rousing from a lethargy into which he had fallen. "The enemy,
sir: they give way everywhere." "Now, God be praised, I will die in
peace," exclaimed the dying hero, and, turning upon his side, expired.
The English had indeed obtained a complete victory; and among the
enemy's losses was that of their gallant leader, Montcalm. The
English, now in strong position on the Plains, hastened to fortify.
Preparations were now made for the attack by both army and fleet on
the upper and lower town, but the spirit of the garrison was broken,
and they capitulated on the 17th of September.
Had Amherst followed up his successors, the year's campaign would have
ended in the subjugation of Canada. His delay gave De Levi, the
successor of Montcalm, time to rally and struggle for the salvation of
the province. He laid siege to Quebec in the spring, and was on the
eve of success, when the arrival of a British fleet reversed the
scene. The besieging army retreated, and made a last stand at
Montreal; but being invested with an overwhelming force, defence was
hopeless. On the 8th of September, Montreal, and with it all Canada,
surrendered, and the contest between France and England for dominion
in America was ended.]
For three months after his marriage, Washington resided with his bride
at the White House. During his sojourn there, he repaired to
Williamsburg, to take his seat in the House of Burgesses. By a vote of
the House it had been determined to greet his installation by a signal
testimonial of respect. Accordingly, as soon as he took his seat, Mr.
Robinson, the Speaker, in eloquent language, dictated by the warmth of
private friendship, returned thanks, on behalf of the colony, for the
distinguished military services he had rendered to his country.
Washington rose to reply; blushed--stammered--trembled, and could not
utter a word. "Sit down, Mr. Washington," said the Speaker, with a
smile, "your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power
of any language I possess." Such was Washington's first launch into
civil life, in which he was to be distinguished by the same judgment,
devotion, courage, and magnanimity exhibited in his military career.
He attended the House frequently during the remainder of the session,
after which he conducted his bride to his favorite abode of Mount
Vernon. "I am now, I believe," he writes, "fixed in this seat, with an
agreeable partner for life, and I hope to find more happiness in
retirement than I ever experienced in the wide and bustling world."
Mount Vernon was his harbor of repose, where he repeatedly furled his
sail, and fancied himself anchored for life. No impulse of ambition
tempted him thence; nothing but the call of his country and his
devotion to the public good. The place was endeared to him by the
remembrance of his brother Lawrence, and of the happy days he had
passed here with that brother in the days of boyhood: but it was a
delightful place in itself, and well calculated to inspire the rural
feeling. The mansion was beautifully situated on a swelling height,
crowned with wood, and commanding a magnificent view up and down the
Potomac. The grounds immediately about it were laid out somewhat in
the English taste. The estate was apportioned into separate farms,
devoted to different kinds of culture, each having its allotted
laborers. Much, however, was still covered with wild woods, seamed
with deep dells and runs of water, and indented with inlets; haunts of
deer, and lurking-places of foxes.
These were, as yet, the aristocratical days of Virginia. The estates
were large, and continued in the same families by entails. Many of the
wealthy planters were connected with old families in England. The
young men, especially the elder sons, were often sent to finish their
education there, and on their return brought out the tastes and habits
of the mother country. The governors of Virginia were from the higher
ranks of society, and maintained a corresponding state. A style of
living prevailed that has long since faded away. The houses were
spacious, commodious, liberal in all their appointments, and fitted to
cope with the free-handed, open hearted hospitality of the owners.
Nothing was more common than to see handsome services of plate,
elegant equipages, and superb carriage-horses--all imported from
England.
Washington, by his marriage, had added above one hundred thousand
dollars to his already considerable fortune, and was enabled to live
in ample and dignified style. His intimacy with the Fairfaxes, and his
intercourse with British officers of rank, had perhaps had their
influence on his mode of living. He had his chariot and four, with
black postilions in livery, for the use of Mrs. Washington and her
lady visitors. As for himself, he always appeared on horseback. His
stable was well filled and admirably regulated. His stud was
thoroughbred and in excellent order.
A large Virginia estate, in those days, was a little empire. The
mansion-house was the seat of government, with its numerous
dependencies, such as kitchens, smoke-house, workshops and stables. In
this mansion the planter ruled supreme; his steward or overseer was
his prime minister and executive officer; he had his legion of house
negroes for domestic service, and his host of field negroes for the
culture of tobacco, Indian corn, and other crops, and for other
out-of-door labor. Their quarter formed a kind of hamlet apart,
composed of various huts, with little gardens and poultry yards, all
well stocked, and swarms of little negroes gambolling in the sunshine.
Then there were large wooden edifices for curing tobacco, the staple
and most profitable production, and mills for grinding wheat and
Indian corn, of which large fields were cultivated for the supply of
the family and the maintenance of the negroes.
Washington carried into his rural affairs the same method, activity
and circumspection that had distinguished him in military life. He
kept his own accounts, posted up his books and balanced them with
mercantile exactness. The products of his estate became so noted for
the faithfulness, as to quality and quantity, with which they were put
up, that it is said any barrel of flour that bore the brand of George
Washington, Mount Vernon, was exempted from the customary inspection
in the West India ports.
He was an early riser, often before daybreak in the winter when the
nights were long. He breakfasted at seven in summer, at eight in
winter. Two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of Indian meal
(called hoe cakes), formed his frugal repast. Immediately after
breakfast he mounted his horse and visited those parts of the estate
where any work was going on, seeing to every thing with his own eyes,
and often aiding with his own hand. Dinner was served at two o'clock.
He ate heartily, but was no epicure, nor critical about his food. His
beverage was small beer or cider, and two glasses of old Madeira. He
took tea, of which he was very fond, early in the evening, and retired
for the night about nine o'clock.
{Illustration: MOUNT VERNON. Vol. I}
Washington delighted in the chase. In the hunting season, when he rode
out early in the morning to visit distant parts of the estate where
work was going on, he often took some of the dogs with him for the
chance of starting a fox, which he occasionally did, though he was not
always successful in killing him. He was a bold rider and an admirable
horseman, though he never claimed the merit of being an accomplished
fox-hunter. In the height of the season, however, he would be out with
the fox-hounds two or three times a week, accompanied by his guests at
Mount Vernon and the gentlemen of the neighborhood, especially the
Fairfaxes of Belvoir, of which estate his friend George William
Fairfax was now the proprietor. On such occasions there would be a
hunting dinner at one or other of those establishments, at which
convivial repasts Washington is said to have enjoyed himself with
unwonted hilarity.
The waters of the Potomac also afforded occasional amusement in
fishing and shooting. The fishing was sometimes on a grand scale, when
the herrings came up the river in shoals, and the negroes of Mount
Vernon were marshalled forth to draw the seine, which was generally
done with great success. Canvas-back ducks abounded at the proper
season, and the shooting of them was one of Washington's favorite
recreations. The river border of his domain, however, was somewhat
subject to invasion. An oysterman once anchored his craft at the
landing-place, and disturbed the quiet of the neighborhood by the
insolent and disorderly conduct of himself and crew. It took a
campaign of three days to expel these invaders from the premises. A
more summary course was pursued with another interloper. This was a
vagabond who infested the creeks and inlets which bordered the estate,
lurking in a canoe among the reeds and bushes, and making great havoc
among the canvas-back ducks. He had been warned off repeatedly, but
without effect. As Washington was one day riding about the estate he
heard the report of a gun from the margin of the river. Spurring in
that direction he dashed through the bushes and came upon the culprit
just as he was pushing his canoe from shore. The latter raised his gun
with a menacing look; but Washington rode into the stream, seized the
painter of the canoe, drew it to shore, sprang from his horse, wrested
the gun from the hands of the astonished delinquent, and inflicted on
him a lesson in "Lynch law" that effectually cured him of all
inclination to trespass again on these forbidden shores.
Occasionally he and Mrs. Washington would pay a visit to Annapolis, at
that time the seat of government of Maryland, and partake of the
gayeties which prevailed during the session of the legislature.
Dinners and balls abounded, and there were occasional attempts at
theatricals. The latter was an amusement for which Washington always
had a relish, though he never had an opportunity of gratifying it
effectually. Neither was he disinclined to mingle in the dance, and we
remember to have heard venerable ladies, who had been belles in his
day, pride themselves on having had him for a partner, though, they
added, he was apt to be a ceremonious and grave one.
In this round of rural occupation, rural amusements and social
intercourse, Washington passed several tranquil years, the halcyon
season of his life. His marriage was unblessed with children; but
those of Mrs. Washington experienced from him parental care and
affection, and the formation of their minds and manners was one of the
dearest objects of his attention. His domestic concerns and social
enjoyments, however, were not permitted to interfere with his public
duties. He was active by nature, and eminently a man of business by
habit. As judge of the county court, and member of the House of
Burgesses, he had numerous calls upon his time and thoughts, and was
often drawn from home; for whatever trust he undertook, he was sure to
fulfil with scrupulous exactness.
About this time we find him engaged, with other men of enterprise, in
a project to drain the great Dismal Swamp, and render it capable of
cultivation. This vast morass was about thirty miles long, and ten
miles wide, and its interior but little known. With his usual zeal and
hardihood he explored it on horseback and on foot. In many parts it
was covered with dark and gloomy woods of cedar, cypress, and hemlock,
or deciduous trees, the branches of which were hung with long,
drooping moss. Other parts were almost inaccessible, from the density
of brakes and thickets, entangled with vines, briers and creeping
plants, and intersected by creeks and standing pools. In the centre of
the morass he came to a great piece of water, six miles long, and
three broad, called Drummond's Pond, but more poetically celebrated as
the Lake of the Dismal Swamp. It was more elevated than any other part
of the swamp, and capable of feeding canals, by which the whole might
be traversed. Having made the circuit of it and noted all its
characteristics, he encamped for the night upon the firm land which
bordered it, and finished his explorations on the following day. In
the ensuing session of the Virginia Legislature, the association in
behalf of which he had acted was chartered under the name of the
Dismal Swamp Company; and to his observations and forecast may be
traced the subsequent improvement and prosperity of that once desolate
region.