Anecdote――Washington is appointed to command the Virginia forces――his
visit to Boston――commands the advance division at the taking of Fort
Du Quesne――resigns his military commission――marries――devotes himself
chiefly to agricultural pursuits till called to take command of the
American armies in the war of Independence.
About fifteen years after Braddock’s defeat, as Washington was
exploring wild lands near the Ohio river with a party of woodmen, a
company of Indians came to them with an interpreter, headed by an aged
and venerable chief. This chief told the party that, at the battle of
Monongahela, he had singled out Colonel Washington as a conspicuous
object, fired his rifle at him many times, and directed his young
warriors to do the same, but to his utter astonishment, none of their
balls took effect. He was then persuaded that the young man was under
the special guardianship of the Great Spirit, and stopped firing at
him any longer. He said he had come a great way to pay his respects to
a man who was the peculiar favorite of Heaven, and could never die in
battle.[7]
[7] J. Sparks.
About a fortnight after Washington returned home from Braddock’s
defeat, he was appointed to the chief command of the Virginia forces,
now increased to sixteen companies, with authority to appoint his own
officers, together with an aid-de-camp and Secretary. In this command
he continued three years, defending with energy and resolution three
hundred and sixty miles of frontier against the continual incursions
of a warlike and a savage foe, though furnished with very inadequate
means for the arduous undertaking. His discipline was reasonable and
steady, but rigid. Quarreling and fighting, drunkenness, card playing
and profane swearing were promptly punished.
* * * * *
In March, 1756, Colonel Washington went with his aid to Boston on
military business with General Shirley. He was treated with much
politeness and attention at Boston. He attended with interest the
proceedings of the Legislature of Massachusetts, and visited Castle
William and other places worthy of a stranger’s notice. On his return
home, he passed through Providence, Newport, New London, New York, and
Philadelphia, and spent several days in each of the two last mentioned
cities.
The design of the British to carry the war into Canada, being known
to the French Governor of Canada, he recalled the greater part of the
French troops from the Ohio river. Only about five hundred men were
left for the defence of the French possessions.
In 1758, another expedition marched against Fort Du Quesne, under the
command of General Forbes. Colonel Washington commanded the advanced
division of this army, which was sent forward to clear and prepare the
way for the main body.――The night before the expedition reached Fort
Du Quesne, the French, amounting to about five hundred men, set the
Fort on fire, embarked on board their boats by the light of it, and
sailed down the Ohio; so that the army had nothing to do but to take
possession of the spot where the Fort stood. This they did on the 25th
of November, 1758. General Forbes called the place Pittsburg, in honor
of Mr. Pitt.
Immediately after his return to Virginia from this expedition,
Colonel Washington resigned his military commission. On the 6th of
January, 1759, at the age of twenty-seven, he married Martha Custis,
the widow of Daniel Parke Custis, and daughter of John Dandridge.
Colonel Washington, though absent at the time, was elected a member
of the Virginia Assembly by a large majority over three active rival
candidates. He attended the session of the Assembly held in the
month of February. The house had resolved, without the knowledge of
Washington, to return their thanks to him in a public manner for the
distinguished services he had rendered his country. This duty devolved
on Mr. Robinson, the Speaker. As soon as Colonel Washington took his
seat, the Speaker, following the impulse of his feelings, discharged
the duty assigned him with dignity, but with such warmth and strength
of expression as entirely confounded the young hero. He rose to
express his acknowledgments for the honor done him, but such was his
trepidation and confusion that he could not give distinct utterance to
a single sentence. He blushed, stammered and trembled for a moment,
when the Speaker relieved him by a stroke of address that would have
done honor to Louis the Eighteenth in his proudest and happiest moment.
“Sit down, Colonel Washington,” said he, with a conciliating smile,
“your modesty is equal to your valor; and that surpasses the power of
any language that I possess.”[8]
[8] Wirt’s Life of Patrick Henry, page 45.
When the session closed, the Colonel repaired, with Mrs. Washington,
to his residence at Mount Vernon. Here he enjoyed the pleasures of
domestic life and his favorite agricultural occupations for sixteen
years, until called by the voice of his country to take command of
the American armies at the commencement of the war of the Revolution.
He cultivated and improved his lands with remarkable judgment. He
conducted his business upon a regular system. Economy was observed
through every department of it. His accounts were inspected weekly. The
divisions of his farm were numbered, an exact account was kept of the
produce of each lot together with the expense of cultivating it, so
that the profit or loss of any crop as well as the relative advantages
of different modes of husbandry might be seen at one view.
During Washington’s retreat from military life he was a magistrate of
the county in which he resided, and frequently a member of the Virginia
Legislature. He was hospitable and charitable; a friend to the church
in the parish where he lived, and ever ready to do all in his power to
promote the interests of morality and religion. He was indeed a friend
of his country and a friend of mankind.