GEORGE WASHINGTON
Ever since the Declaration of Independence George Washington has been
the greatest figure in the history of the United States of America, and
it is certain that he will continue to be so for hundreds of years to
come. In all history there is no parallel to the dignity, the majesty,
the mightiness of his achievement, and no other man who has built a
monument of greatness so enduring as his.
He was born in Virginia in 1732, on the 22d of February. His father was
Augustine Washington and his mother was a second wife named Mary Ball.
The Washingtons were prominent and influential people in Virginia and
had lived there for many years.
In spite of this not a great deal is known about Augustine Washington,
although it is certain that he was an upright and honorable gentleman,
but George's mother was famous for her good sense as well as her
beauty. Her family was a large one; there had been children by the
first wife also, and as Augustine Washington died when George was a
little boy, she was forced to rear this family without a husband's
help.
Perhaps the responsibility that fell on George after his father's death
may have helped to develop his character. At all events there are many
stories about his boyhood in which he seems far older than his years.
Letters and history both tell us of his thoughtfulness, his methodical
habits and his great physical strength. Before he was in his teens he
had become the acknowledged leader of the boys in his neighborhood, and
he was fond of engaging with them in various athletic games. He also
formed a military company of the little negroes on the family estate,
and drilled them keenly, actually making something like a military show
with the barefooted, ragged pickaninnies, with their rolling eyes and
woolly heads. Like all other young Virginians he was accustomed to
riding from his infancy, and before he was ten years old there were few
horses that he could not bridle and master.
But we cannot go into stories of George's boyhood, of the time when he
cut down the cherry tree and faced his father's wrath rather than tell
a lie, or the time when he accidentally killed a high spirited horse
when breaking it to the bridle. He finished his schooling when he was
sixteen years old, and would have gone into the British navy if his
mother had consented. She did not, however, so George studied
surveying; and was soon earning considerable sums from this occupation.
He made an excellent surveyor, and his skilful work and unusual
character soon attracted general attention. He was well versed in
military tactics also, and was made a Major in the Virginia militia
before he was twenty. This gave added zest for his military studies and
he set to work to learn strategy under a fierce old Dutch army officer
named Jacob Van Braam. Together they studied maps and fought out
battles with pins and bits of wood until far into the night. George was
also busied with the care of the Washington estate at Mount Vernon,
which was left to him on the death of his half brother, Lawrence
Washington in 1752. Mount Vernon carried with it about five hundred
slaves and dependents, and the young man had his time fully occupied in
riding over its broad acres and managing its affairs.
When George was twenty-one years old a difficult task was assigned to
him that not only proved that he had really entered the estate of
manhood, but also that he was trusted beyond his years. Governor
Dinwiddie of Virginia sent him on a dangerous trip into the wilderness
to warn off the French from English ground and to gain the friendship
of the wild Indians that lived there. The race for land between the
French and English settlers was growing keener and more bitter every
day, and both countries claimed the land that lay between the Allegheny
and the Mississippi rivers. Finally the Governor of Virginia picked
young Washington to go to Venango and warn the French that they were
trespassing,--and also to make ceremonial visits to the Indians to
ensure their friendship to the English in case of war with the French.
To succeed would require shrewdness, good sense, courage and physical
strength--for a long journey through virgin forests would have to be
made and many dangers encountered. Washington took with him a guide and
pioneer named Christopher Gist, and Jacob Van Braam went also to act as
interpreter.
The journey over six hundred miles of desolate wilderness, across
swollen streams, through forest, swamp and over rugged mountain, was
performed so speedily that it would be hard for strong men to duplicate
it to-day, traveling over good roads. Washington sat beside the council
fires of the Indians, and delivered the Governor's message to the
French. He also noted the best points for fortifications against the
encroaching French, and reported them on his return. The journey had
been a complete success and since others had tried it and failed,
Washington's fame was established throughout Virginia.
The French had received him with sly courtesy and sought to ply his
company with wine and brandy rather than to come to any agreement with
him. It was plain that they meant mischief, and Governor Dinwiddie
decided to send a force of soldiers to build a fort at the juncture
between the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers, one of the places
that Washington had noted down for its good strategic qualities.
Colonel Joshua Fry was placed in command of about three hundred troops,
and Washington was sent with him as his lieutenant.
On the march Colonel Fry died, and Washington was left in sole command
of the troops. Spies and Indian scouts in the employ of the French had
reported the expedition and the French had promptly marched against the
Virginian soldiers with greatly superior numbers. Washington got news
of this act on their part, and hastily threw up fortifications on a
plain called Great Meadows. He called this stronghold Fort Necessity.
The French soon came up and surrounded the fort, and the bark of the
rifles reechoed through the woods and from the hills.
Washington and his men fought with the utmost bravery, but when he saw
that the struggle was hopeless and that they would all be killed or
captured if the fight continued, he made terms with the French,
allowing his men to retire with all their arms and equipment, on
condition that they did not make any further attempt to occupy the
country for a stipulated time. The French success was not the fault of
Washington who displayed great coolness and secured the maximum
advantage for himself and his men. He was warmly commended by the
Governor for his action in this fight and had a higher reputation than
ever among all who knew the circumstances.
Soon after this Washington engaged in another expedition that was far
more disastrous. The English Government put Major General Edward
Braddock in command of a force of English regular soldiers to gain
control of the disputed Ohio Valley, and Washington was appointed as
aide on General Braddock's staff.
Braddock in his way was a good soldier, a hard bitten, dyed in the
wool, regular army officer with a great contempt for the Virginia
militia, and an over confident belief that the British soldier was
invincible. He believed absolutely that the methods of war that were
used on European battlefields would overwhelm anything in America, and
he liked to see his redcoats with their boots polished and their
buttons furbished, marching in solid platoon formation, turning and
wheeling with the mathematical regularity of a machine. His men were
drilled and disciplined until they were automatons, for Braddock was a
martinet. Their ranks ran true, their equipment was in the pink of
soldierly condition; the sunlight glittered from their bayonets, you
could see your face in their leather accouterments, and Braddock
proudly marched them into the American woods as though they were
parading on the Strand in London. When Washington warned him of the
dangers of ambush, urging that an advance guard and scouts be thrown
out, Braddock turned scornfully away, believing that a volley or two
from his brave regulars would soon drive off any foes that might fall
upon him, and he said bluntly that when he desired advice from his
subordinates he would ask for it.
As his men were marching in close formation, their red coats blazing
against the dark green of the forest, shifting figures were seen in the
trees ahead, a French officer suddenly appeared cheering them on to the
attack, and with shouts and yells an unseen enemy shot down the
Britishers from the protection of fallen trees, from behind rocks and
stumps, and from the concealment of forest branches.
The redcoats fell by scores and were thrown into hopeless confusion.
They were not used to fighting a hidden foe, and were appalled by the
death in their midst as well as by the wild cries and war whoops that
echoed from the forest. Braddock, waving his sword, ordered his
platoons to wheel and advance in solid formation into the woods--and
the platoons were wiped out like sheep in a slaughter pit as they tried
to obey the hopeless order. But the despised Virginia militia,
experienced in Indian fighting, spread out in open order at the head of
the column and kept the enemy in check, while Braddock with hopeless
bravery attempted to rally his men. It was in vain. The dismal cries
and yells continued. The bullets sang overhead like a swarm of wasps,
British officers dropped at the shots of invisible sharpshooters, who
picked them off easily on account of their conspicuous uniforms.
Braddock himself, as brave a man as ever lived, had four horses killed
under him and then received a mortal wound. Washington, whose advice
had been laughed at, took command of the Virginians and covered the
headlong rout of the British regulars, who threw away their rifles and
ran blindly into the woods. How Washington escaped alive is nothing
less than a miracle. Like Braddock, he had several horses killed under
him, and four bullets pierced his uniform. He seemed everywhere at once
and showed the most conspicuous bravery, but all he could do was to
save the lives of the flying Britishers. With whoops of victory the
Indians scalped the wounded, dressed themselves in the red coats of the
slain and showed their hideous painted faces beneath the cocked hats of
British officers. And the French, who held the fort that Braddock had
intended to capture, fired their cannon in rejoicing at a victory that
forever killed the prestige of British arms in the New World. For
hitherto the British soldier had been thought invincible, and this
exhibition of crass stupidity and bungling gave the colonials a
different opinion of British arms. The British were brave it is true,
but they could not adjust themselves to meet the enemy on their own
ground,--and in all history the Briton has shown himself clumsy in the
guerilla warfare of the type that won the Revolution for the Americans.
A few years after this tragic affair Washington married Martha Parke
Custis, a young widow with two children. Washington's love affair with
Martha Custis was not the first in his life. He had paid attention to
other young beauties and had shown himself a true Virginian in his
hearty appreciation of the ladies.
With his marriage there commenced the home life at Mount Vernon that
has become so famous in history, and the hospitality for which George
and Martha Washington have ever been famous. Washington was fond of the
good things of life, and his great house at Mount Vernon was filled
with visitors, with whom he hunted and passed his leisure hours in many
delightful ways. But his eye for business was no less keen on account
of his pleasures, and eventually he came to be looked on as the leading
man in the affairs of the colony. His commanding appearance, his
wonderful self-control and his military prestige, coupled with the
dignity and gravity of his manner, made him as prominent among men as
he had been among boys.
The attitude toward "provincials" that brought about Braddock's fatal
error because he could not listen to advice, was destined now to bring
to England the loss of her valuable colonies in America. The English
looked down on the Americans and patronized them because they did not
understand them. They regarded the American Colonies too much in the
light of a supply house to enrich the Crown and the Mother Country, and
too little as the home of a brave and self-reliant people who came of
the most sterling English stock themselves. The colonists bitterly
resented the unjust laws that compelled them to ship their produce to
British ports and to engage in no form of industry that might cripple
British enterprise. And when the British Government imposed taxes on
the colonists that were not imposed on British subjects in England,
indignation rose to white heat, and riots and hot speeches broke out
everywhere, particularly in New England.
The "stamp act," which compelled the colonists to transact all their
legal business on paper bearing the stamp of the British Government,
and sold only by British agents, awoke the wrath of Virginia as well as
of New England. The cry of "no taxation without representation" rang
from Georgia to Massachusetts. The oratory of Patrick Henry added fuel
to the righteous indignation in every American's breast, and when the
British in response to public feeling removed all unwarranted taxes
except one--the tax on tea, a party of young men dressed as Indians
sacked the cargo of a British vessel in Boston, and poured the chests
of tea into the harbor.
Parliament retaliated. Penalties were imposed on Massachusetts. The
Virginian House of Burgesses was forbidden to meet by the King's order,
and meeting in spite of this order it called for a General Congress of
all the Colonies to decide what measures were to be taken to defend the
rights of the American provinces.
Washington, as one of Virginia's leading men, naturally was among those
who represented the colony at this congress, which met in Carpenter's
Hall in Philadelphia. He was listened to with respect and attention,
and was considered to have the sanest viewpoint and the widest fund of
information of any delegate there. The question of armed revolt against
England was still in the background, but Washington was in favor of a
resort to arms only after all other measures had failed and as a last
resort. He was ready and willing to fight if fighting must come,
however, and we have his statement when he heard of how the people of
Boston were laboring under unjust British measures, "I will raise a
thousand men," said Washington, "subsist them at my own expense and
march with them, at their head, for the relief of Boston."
At last it was seen that no other way to escape slavery existed than to
fight. And Washington was one of the first to devote his life and
fortune to the Revolutionary cause.
When the American Congress met on June 15, 1775, Washington was chosen
as Commander in Chief of the new continental army. The flame of
revolution had run through the colonies. The British had killed and
been killed by militiamen at Lexington, and had fallen back before the
hail of lead from the squirrel rifles of angry farmers at the bridge at
Concord. From stonewalls, fences, trees and haylofts, the Americans had
picked off the British redcoats as they retreated back to Boston, and
had proved themselves to be foemen that could not be despised. The
battles of Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights followed. Bloody war was
begun.
No better man for command of the American army could possibly have been
chosen than Washington, and very probably no other could have brought
the revolution to a successful end. His firm and great nature were
known to all, and with this he possessed great military skill and a
thorough knowledge of the country where he would have to fight.
But his heart may well have sunk when he took command, for no worse
scene of confusion and inefficiency can be imagined than that of the
American army when it was first mustered together. Washington, on July
3rd, 1775, took command at Cambridge, Massachusetts, of about sixteen
thousand raw recruits, badly fed, badly quartered, with no uniforms to
speak of, little equipment and a rebellious disregard of all discipline
that was increased by the fact that they were fighting against the
unjust discipline of the British Government. The American forces had no
organization, and the work fell upon Washington, as Commander in Chief,
not only of fighting an enemy far superior in numbers and composed of
well-disciplined and well-equipped veterans, but of organizing his own
army almost in the course of battle, and manufacturing the material for
victory after the gage had been cast and the conflict entered.
But the resolute will and the firm hand brought order out of chaos, and
the British were astonished to see the effectiveness of the rough and
ready troops that opposed them. The city of Boston was besieged so
firmly that the British at last decided to evacuate the town, sailing
away in their warships, headed for New York. Washington by forced
marches attempted to reach that city first and foil their attempt to
land there, but the American army was not large enough for this design,
and American and British forces faced each other on Long Island where a
battle was fought near the present site of Brooklyn on August 27th,
1776. The country was now prepared for a grim struggle and the temper
of the revolutionists was shown by the glorious Declaration of
Independence which was made on July 4th of that year.
But spirit and determination are not proof against cold steel and solid
ranks of veteran soldiers, and Washington's little army was beaten by
the British in the Battle of Long Island, sustaining heavy losses in
dead and wounded. The Americans retreated and then halted and when
night fell only a short distance separated the two armies. The
situation of the Americans was critical in the extreme, and it was
absolutely necessary to cross the East River before the sadly harried
and beaten ranks of the patriot army were attacked again by the
victorious Britishers. Almost within the sound of the voices of the
enemy Washington succeeded in drawing away his army and carrying them
in boats to New York City, without a single foe suspecting his design.
The British followed and there was fighting on Manhattan Island. Slowly
the little force of patriots was driven back, now sadly decreased in
numbers, for the ending of enlistments as well as defeat were playing
havoc with Washington's forces. In November he was obliged to cross the
Hudson River and retreat into New Jersey with only six thousand men
left to him, and still later with a force still smaller and the British
close on his heels, he crossed the Delaware River and sought refuge in
Pennsylvania. By this time the British had gained such successes and
the Americans had undergone so many reverses and privations that it
seemed as if no power on earth could bring victory to the American
arms.
The British found they could not cross into Pennsylvania, for
Washington had taken care to remove all the boats to the other side of
the Delaware River. They temporarily gave over the pursuit of the
Americans, whom they thought were hopelessly beaten, and went into
winter quarters, where they enjoyed themselves immensely and kept an
easy and a comfortable camp.
But Washington was already planning a raid against the German
mercenaries called Hessians who were stationed in the town of Trenton.
He planned to return across the Delaware and fall upon the Hessians by
night in a surprise attack. He tried to secure the cooperation of
General Gates, one of his subordinates, but Gates feigned sickness and
went to Philadelphia to attempt Washington's overthrow on the day
before Washington's attack was to be launched. Disaffection among his
generals was now added to Washington's other troubles, and Gates, in
jealousy, was planning to go before Congress and secure an independent
command for himself.
On Christmas night, 1776, the little American army embarked on its
perilous venture, and prepared to cross the Delaware River which was
now so full of floating ice as to make the passage of boats dangerous
in the extreme. It was black as pitch and a high wind blew, as the
American soldiers with aching backs toiled at the oars and the poles
and so cold that men froze to death. Hours were consumed in the
passage, and by the time the Americans were in position to attack, day
was breaking.
Nevertheless the project seemed likely to succeed. The Hessians were
off their guard and were sleeping soundly. Scattered shots rang out and
were succeeded by the rattle of musketry as the Americans, yelling like
Indians charged upon the silent town. The Hessian bugles blew "to arms"
and the dazed soldiers rushed out of their billets, but instead of
rallying and fighting Washington they fled toward Princeton, leaving
more than a thousand prisoners in Washington's hands, as well as large
numbers of killed and wounded.
Lord Cornwallis was hurriedly sent to oppose Washington, and went to
bed at Trenton within sight of the American camp fires. The British
general was confident of success and boasted that he would certainly
"bag the fox in the morning." That night, however, Washington silently
withdrew his army as he had done on Long Island and in a series of
brilliant maneuvers defeated the British again not far from Princeton.
His skill and generalship were so great that with a half starved and
discouraged remnant of a defeated army he twice defeated the flower of
the British force, and brought new hope and strength to the struggling
colonies. He had done more than this, for his military success was now
closely watched in Europe. And Cornwallis was soon so hard pressed that
he withdrew his troops to New York and in the end the Americans once
more had complete control of the state of New Jersey.
In the year 1778, and largely due to the great qualities of Benjamin
Franklin, who was one of America's commissioners in France, a treaty
was signed with the French providing that if France went to war with
England, there should be an alliance between the French and American
Governments, and neither should cease fighting without the permission
of the other--moreover that both were to continue the struggle until
the independence of the United States of America was gained.
This treaty was not only due to Washington's successes but to a victory
won by General Gates against General Burgoyne, who, after the battle of
Saratoga, was forced to withdraw his army from the conflict and place
himself and his officers on parole to bear arms no more against
America. But there followed a renewal of the bitterness of defeat, for
the Americans were beaten at Brandywine, the British took Philadelphia,
and another reverse befell the American arms at Germantown. It seemed
that in spite of the former American successes and the French treaty,
the British would be victorious after all, for the winter had been a
terrible one, and the worn American army was almost destitute of food
and clothing.
Washington had camped at a place called Valley Forge which has since
become symbolic of hardship and suffering. It is said that detachments
of American soldiers could be traced by the blood in the snow from
their wounded and bare feet, for there were no shoes to clothe them
with and there was very little food or fuel. And in addition to the
physical hardship and the gloom of failure, Washington had to contend
with a conspiracy that was directed against him by some of his most
trusted officers, who desired to place General Gates in supreme command
of the American Army. This conspiracy was called the Conway Cabal,
because the chief plotter was an Irishman named General Thomas Conway.
But the result of this base attempt was added power and glory for
Washington, for Congress was fortunately unaffected by the
representations that were made.
In the following year, 1778, in spite of that terrible winter, the
fighting opened with the Americans in better condition than previously
and with their numbers strengthened with new recruits that Congress had
secured for them. The American cause had also been strengthened by the
voluntary services of a number of foreign officers, who energetically
drilled the American recruits and taught the revolutionary army the
science of war as it was fought by the greatest military countries.
Among these men was the Marquis de Lafayette, a gallant young French
nobleman, and also Baron de Kalb and Von Steuben.
Washington gradually drew nearer to New York, from which he had been
driven so soon after the Battle of Long Island, and that winter he
camped in the highlands of the Hudson and established his troops so as
to defend New England from any offensive campaign the British might
make, and for a year he contented himself with playing a waiting game,
keeping a firm grip on the Hudson Highlands and strengthening his army
as greatly as possible.
Victory now was near, for the French came actively into the war to the
succor of the Americans. The French King, Louis the Sixteenth, sent
Count Rochambeau to command an expedition in America, and the year 1781
saw the trained and seasoned soldiers of France fighting side by side
with the American troops. In this year too a great advantage was given
to Washington's troops by the fact that a large French fleet under the
Count de Grasse compelled the British vessels to keep to the ports,
while Washington with the French laid siege to Yorktown, which was held
by Lord Cornwallis. Washington himself fired the first cannon as the
siege began, and a whirlwind of iron and red hot shot was poured upon
the British works and shipping from French and American guns. The
British resisted stubbornly, but they were cut off and their position
was hopeless. And on October Nineteenth, with the American and French
troops drawn up to receive them, the British marched out and
surrendered.
This was really the end of the war. The news that Cornwallis and at
least sixteen thousand men had been captured was received with wild
rejoicing all through the former colonies, and with amazement and gloom
in England, where it was plainly seen that the valuable colonies were
lost forever. In the month of November, 1783, the British left New York
never to return, after the signing of the peace treaty at Paris in
January of the same year. The war was over, the patriots had conquered,
and a new and mighty nation was in its infancy.
At this time it would without doubt have been easy for Washington to
make himself the head of the new country, and even to have become its
King and permanent ruler. The army worshipped the ground he walked on,
and he actually received a letter from one of his officers in which it
was suggested that he be named as King of the new state. But Washington
with his characteristic greatness refused to advance his own fortunes
at the expense of the liberty of his countrymen, and he wrote an angry
letter indignantly rejecting any such title or position, declaring that
nothing in his long and trying service had justified his fellows in
regarding him as an ambitious self-seeker.
His work was done, or so he considered it, and he proposed to return to
private life. And in Fraunces' Tavern in New York the great commander
bade farewell to the officers who had so gallantly served him and had
been his brothers in arms on so many hard fought fields.
It is said that on this occasion Washington's customary self-control
almost deserted him, as he spoke his words of parting to his fellow
officers. "With a heart full of love and gratitude," said he, "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 cannot come to each of you to take my leave," he
continued, "but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me
by the hand."
But Washington's work was not over. He had counseled all the Governors
of the separate States to form a Federal Government as quickly as
possible, and while he had resigned as head of the army, he continued,
as a private citizen, to watch public matters with the utmost care and
attention. In 1787 Washington presided over the famous convention which
met in Philadelphia to draft the Constitution of the United States, and
largely in accordance with his ideas, which strongly influenced the
minds of all those present, the Government of the United States was
formed. The perfection of the form of government, as entered into by so
many separate and widely different States, seemed to Washington, as he
afterward said in a letter to Lafayette, "little short of a miracle."
It remained for the new country to choose its first President.
Washington was elected without a dissenting voice, and took the reins
of government into his hands on April 30, 1789. He did not desire the
Presidency, and would have greatly preferred to remain quietly at Mount
Vernon, "an honest man on his own farm," engaged in his private
affairs. But he felt that it was his duty to answer so spontaneous and
general a call from his fellow citizens, and in the office of chief
executive he showed the same firm and wise spirit that had
distinguished him as commander of the army. His Cabinet contained the
most famous and brilliant men of the day, and the people throughout the
country felt themselves safe with such a president at the helm.
When his administration ended he was called upon to take a second term,
and in this he had great difficulty in keeping the new republic out of
the turmoil of European politics. France had by this time thrown off
her rulers, organized a revolution and gone to war with England; and
Washington was called on from every part of the country to go to the
aid of his former ally against the former foe. He saw, however, that
war at that time would be fatal for America, and might well result in
the loss of all that had been gained in the bitter years of the
Revolution. He firmly refused to enter the war although his decision
cost him much of his popularity. A commercial treaty was then entered
upon with England.
While Washington was President, the states of Kentucky and Tennessee
were added to the original thirteen that formed the Union, and many
important financial and legal matters were concluded. With a sure hand
the great patriot guided the new country through the dangers that beset
it and at times threatened to swallow it whole, and in the year 1797 he
turned over to John Adams who was to succeed him in the presidential
chair a welded nation, destined for a mighty future.
For the next three years Washington's life at Mount Vernon was quiet
and happy, and he busied himself in the affairs of his estate and in
the dignified hospitality for which he and Martha Washington were so
justly renowned. On December 12, 1799, after a horseback ride through
the snow, he became ill with laryngitis and two days later he breathed
his last.
Throughout the United States he was mourned as a father,--indeed he had
already gained the title of "the father of his country." And it was by
the father of a famous general who was destined to lead the southern
cause in the Civil War some sixty years later that Washington was said
to be "first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his
countrymen," a phrase that has since become familiar to hundreds of
millions of people throughout the world, and has so aptly described
America's mightiest son.