GMFT ©IP 
 Miss Charlotte Evans 
 

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 From . '' ie possession of 
 
 . N.YOH-X. 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 BY 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVING 
 
 IN THREE VOLS. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 NEW YOEK: 
 G. P. PUTNAM & CO., 10 PARK PLACE. 
 
 1856. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, 
 
 By G. P. PUTNAM & CO., 
 
 la the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 
 
 District of New York. 
 
 -&&*> 7<w- ££**£*& t'-rt^J 
 
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 7* , 
 
 JOHN T. TROVT, 
 
 printer axfa Steteotjjpet, 
 
 817 & 379 Broadway, cor. White-it. 
 
 KKW YORK. 
 

 V , 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 4 — ^v^ 
 
 The following work has long been announced as forth- 
 coming, to the great annoyance of the author. It 
 was, indeed, commenced several years since, but the 
 prosecution of it has been repeatedly interrupted by 
 other occupations, by a long absence in Europe, and 
 by occasional derangement of health. It is only with- 
 in the last two or three years that I have been able to 
 apply myself to it steadily. This is stated to account 
 for the delay in its publication. 
 
 The present volume treats of the earlier part of 
 Washington's life previous to the war of the Revolu- 
 tion, giving his expeditions into the wilderness, his 
 campaigns on the frontier in the old French war, and 
 the other " experiences," by which his character was 
 formed, and he was gradually trained up and prepared 
 for his great destiny. 
 
 MHGS3SG 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 Though a biography, and of course admitting of 
 familiar anecdote, excursive digressions, and a flexible 
 texture of narrative, yet, for the most part, it is essen- 
 tially historic. Washington, in fact, had very little 
 private life; but was eminently a public character. 
 All his actions and concerns, almost from boyhood, 
 were connected with the history of his country. In 
 writing his biography, therefore, I am obliged to take 
 g'ances over collateral history, as seen from his point 
 of view and influencing his plans, and to narrate dis- 
 tant transactions apparently disconnected with his con- 
 cerns, but eventually bearing upon the great drama in 
 which he was the principal actor. 
 
 I have endeavored to execute my task with candor 
 and fidelity ; stating facts on what appeared to be good 
 authority, and avoiding as much as possible all false 
 coloring and exaggeration. My work is founded on the 
 correspondence of Washington, which, in fact, affords 
 the amplest and surest groundwork for his biography. 
 This I have consulted as it exists in manuscript in the 
 archives of the Department of State, to which I have had 
 full and frequent access. I have also made frequent use 
 of " Washington's Writings," as published by Mr. 
 Sparks ; a careful collation of many of them with the 
 originals having convinced me of the general correctness 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 of the collection and of the safety with which it may 
 
 be relied upon for historical purposes ; and I am happy 
 
 to bear this testimony to the essential accuracy of one 
 
 whom I consider among the greatest benefactors to our 
 
 national literature ; and to whose writings and researches 
 
 I acknowledge myself largely indebted throughout my 
 
 work. 
 
 W. T. 
 
 Suxntside, 1855. 
 
CONTENTS OF VOL. I. 
 
 Genealogy of the Washington family, 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 PAGE 
 1 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 The Home of Washington's boyhood — His Early Education — Lawrence 
 "Washington and his Campaign in the "West Indies — Death of 
 Washington's Father — The Widowed Mother and Her Children — 
 School Exercises, 19 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Paternal Conduct of an Elder Brother — The Fairfax family — Washing- 
 ton's Code of Morals and Manners — Soldiers' Tales — Their Influence 
 — Washington prepares for the Navy — A mother's objections — Re- 
 turn to School — Studies and Exercises — A School-boy Passion — The 
 Lowland Beauty — Love Ditties at Mount Yernon — Visit to Belvoir 
 — Lord Fairfax — His Character — Fox-hunting a remedy for Love — 
 Proposition for a Surveying Expedition, 27 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Expedition beyond the Blue Ridge — The Valley of the Shenandoah — 
 Lord Halifax — Lodge in the Wilderness — Surveying — Life in the 
 Backwoods — Indians — War Dance — German Settlers — Return 
 Home — Washington as Public Surveyor — Sojourn at Greenway 
 Court — Horses, Hounds, and Boots — Rugged Experience among 
 the Mountains, 38 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PAGH 
 
 English and French Claims to the Ohio Valley — Wild State of the Coun- 
 try — Projects of Settlements — The Ohio Company — Enlightened 
 views of Lawrence Washington — French Rivalry — Celeron de Bien- 
 ville — His Signs of Occupation — Hugh Crawford — George Croghan, 
 a Veteran Trader, and Montour, his Interpreter — Their Mission from 
 Pennsylvania to the Ohio Tribes — Christopher Gist, the Pioneer of 
 the Yadkin — Agent of the Ohio Company — His Expedition to the 
 frontier — Reprobate traders at Logstown — Negotiations with the 
 Indians — Scenes in the Ohio Country — Diplomacy at Piqua — 
 Kegs of Brandy and Rolls of Tobacco — Gist's return across Ken- 
 tucky — A Deserted Home — French Schemes — Captain Joncaire, a 
 Diplomat of the Wilderness — His Speech at Logstown — The In- 
 dians' Land— "Where? " 47 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Preparations for Hostilities — Washington appointed District Adjutant 
 General — Mount Vernon a School of Arms — Adjutant Muse a 
 veteran Campaigner — Jacob Van Braam a Master of Fence — 111 
 health of Washington's brother Lawrence — Voyage with him to 
 the West Indies — Scenes at Barbadoes — Tropical Fruits — Beef- 
 steak and Tripe Club — Return Home of Washington — Death of 
 Lawrence, 64 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Council of the Ohio Tribes at Logstown — Treaty with the English — 
 Gist's Settlement — Speeches of the Half-king and the French Com- 
 mandant — French Aggressions — The Ruins of Piqua — Washing- 
 ton sent on a Mission to the French Commander — Jacob Van 
 Braam, his Interpreter — Christopher Gist, his Guide — Halt at the 
 Confluence of the Monongahela and Allegany — Projected Fort — 
 Shingis, a Delaware Sachem — Logstown — The Half-king — Indian 
 Councils — Indian Diplomacy — Rumors concerning Joncaire — In- 
 dian escorts — The Half-king, Jeskakake, and White Thunder, . 71 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Arrival at Venango — Captain Joncaire — Frontier Revelry — Discussions 
 over the Bottle — The old Diplomatist and the young — The Half- 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 king, Jeskakake, and White Thunder staggered — The Speech-belt 
 — Departure — La Force, the wily Commissary — Fort at French 
 Creek — The Chevalier Legardeur de St. Pierre, Knight of St 
 Louis — Captain Reparti — Transactions at the Fort — Attempts to 
 seduce the Sachems — Mischief Brewing on the Frontier — Difficul- 
 ties and Delays in Parting — Descent of French Creek — Arrival at 
 Venango, 82 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Return from Venango — A Tramp on Foot — Murdering Town — The In- 
 dian Guide — Treachery — An Anxious Night — Perils on the Alle- 
 gany River — Queen Aliquippa — The Old Watch-coat — Return 
 across the Blue Ridge, 92 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Reply of the Chevalier de St. Pierre — Trent's Mission to the Frontier 
 — Washington recruits Troops — Dinwiddie and the House of Bur- 
 gesses — Independent Conduct of the Virginians — Expedients to 
 gain Recruits — Jacob Van Braam in Service — Toilful March to 
 Wills' Creek — Contrecoeur at the Fork of the Ohio — Trent's Re- 
 fractory Troops, 100 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 March to the Little Meadows — Rumors from the Ohio — Correspond- 
 ence from the Banks of the Youghiogeny — Attempt to Descend that 
 River — Alarming Reports — Scouting Parties — Perilous Situation 
 of the Camp — Gist and La Force — Message from the Half-king — 
 French Tracks — The Jumonville Skirmish — Treatment of La Force 
 — Position at the Great Meadows — Belligerent Feelings of a Young 
 Soldier, 112 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Scarcity in the Camp — Death of Colonel Fry — Promotions — Mackay 
 and his Independent Company — Major Muse — Indian Ceremonials 
 — Public Prayers in Camp — Alarms — Independence of an Inde- 
 pendent Company — Affairs at the Great Meadows — Desertion of 
 the Indian Allies — Capitulation of Fort Necessity — Van Braam as 
 an Interpreter — Indian Plunderers — Return to Williamsburg — 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Vote of Thanks of the House of Burgesses— Subsequent Fortunes 
 of the Half-king— Comments on the Affair of Jumonville and the 
 Conduct of Van Braam, 125 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Founding of Fort Cumberland— Secret Letter of Stobo— The Indian 
 Messenger — Project of Dinwiddie — His Perplexities — A Taint of 
 Republicanism in the Colonial Assemblies — Dinwiddie's Military- 
 Measures — "Washington quits the Service — Overtures of Governor 
 Sharpe, of Maryland— Washington's dignified Reply — Questions 
 of Rank between Royal and Provincial Troops — Treatment of the 
 French Prisoners — Fate of La Force — Anecdotes of Stobo and 
 Van Braam, 141 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Return to quiet Life — French and English prepare for Hostilities — 
 Plan of a Campaign — General Braddock — His Character — Sir 
 John St. Clair Quartermaster-general — His Tour of Inspection — 
 Projected Roads — Arrival of Braddock — Military Consultations 
 and Plans — Commodore Keppel and his Seamen — Ships and 
 Troops at Alexandria — Excitement of Washington — Invited to 
 join the Staff of Braddock — A Mother's Objections — Washington 
 at Alexandria — Grand Council of Governors — Military Arrange- 
 ments^ — Colonel William Johnson — Sir John St. Clair at Fort Cum- 
 berland — His Explosions of Wrath — Their Effects — Indians to be 
 enlisted — Captain Jack and his Band of Bush-beaters, . . 150 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Washington proclaimed Aide-de-camp — Disappointments at Frederick- 
 town — Benjamin Franklin and Braddock — Contracts — Departure 
 for Wills' Creek — Rough Roads — The General in his Chariot — 
 Camp at Fort Cumberland — Hugh Mercer — Dr. Craik — Military 
 Tactics — Camp Rules — Secretary Peters — Indians in Camp — In- 
 dian Beauties — The Princess Bright Lightning — Errand to Wil- 
 liamsburg — Braddock's Opinion of Contractors and Indians — 
 Arrival of Conveyances, 166 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 March from Fort Cumberland — The Great Savage Mountain — Camp at 
 the Little Meadows — Division of the Forces — Captain Jack and 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 PAGB 
 
 his Band — Scarooyadi in Danger — Illness of Washington — His 
 Halt at the Youghiogeny — March of Braddock — The Great Mead- 
 ows — Lurking Enemies — Their Tracks — Precautions — Thicketty 
 Run — Scouts — Indian Murders — Funeral of an Indian "Warrior — 
 Camp on the Monongahela — Washington's Arrival there — March 
 for Fort Duquesne — The Fording of the Monongahela — The Bat- 
 tle—The Retreat— Death of Braddock, 179 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 Arrival at Fort Cumberland — Letters of Washington to his Family — 
 Panic of Dunbar — Fortunes of Dr. Hugh Mercer — Triumph of the 
 French, 203 
 
 CHAPTER XYIII. 
 
 Costs of Campaigning — Measures for Public Safety — Washington in 
 Command — Head-quarters at Winchester — Lord Fairfax and his 
 Troop of Horse — Indian Ravages — Panic at Winchester — Cause of 
 the Alarm — Operations elsewhere — Shirley against Niagara — 
 Johnson against Crown Point — Affair at Lake George — Death of 
 Dieskau, . 208 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Reform in the Militia Laws — Discipline of the Troops — Dagworthy 
 and the Question of Precedence — Washington's Journey to Boston 
 — Style of Travelling — Conference with Shirley — The Earl of Lou- 
 doun — Military Rule for the Colonies — Washington at New York 
 — Miss Mary Philipse, 224 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Troubles in the Shenandoah Valley — Greenway Court and Lord Fair- 
 fax in danger — Alarms at Winchester — Washington appealed to 
 for Protection — Attacked by the Virginia Press — Honored by the 
 Public — Projects for Defence — Suggestions of Washington — The 
 Gentlemen Associators — Retreat of the Savages — Expedition 
 against Kittanning — Captain Hugh Mercer — Second Struggle 
 through the Wilderness, " 232 
 
Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Founding of Fort Loudoun — "Washington's Tour of Inspection — Ineffi- 
 ciency of the Militia System— Gentlemen Soldiers— Cross-purposes 
 with Dinwiddie — Military Affairs in the North— Delays of Lord 
 Loudoun — Activity of Montcalm — Loudoun in Winter Quarters, . 245 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Washington vindicates his conduct to Lord Loudoun — His reception 
 by his Lordship — Military Plans — Lord Loudoun at Halifax — 
 Montcalm on Lake George — His Triumphs — Lord Loudoun's fail- 
 ures — Washington at Winchester — Continued Misunderstandings 
 with Dinwiddie — Return to Mount Vernon, . . . . . 254 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Washington Recovers his Health — Again in Command at Fort Lou- 
 doun — Administration of Pitt — Loudoun succeeded by General 
 Abercrombie— Military Arrangements — Washington Commander- 
 in-chief of the Virginia Forces — Amherst against Louisburg — 
 General Wolfe — Montgomery — Capture of Louisburg — Abercrom- 
 bie on Lake George — Death of Lord Howe — Repulse of Abercrom- 
 bie — Success of Bradstreet at Oswego, 263 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Slow Operations — Washington orders out the Militia — Mission to Wil- 
 liamsburg — Halt at Mr. Chamberlayne's — Mrs. Martha Custis — A 
 brief Courtship — An Engagement — Return to Winchester — The 
 Rifle Dress — Indian Scouts — Washington elected to the House of 
 Burgesses — Tidings of Amherst's success — The new Road to Fort 
 Duquesne — March for the Fort — Indiscreet conduct of Major Grant 
 — Disastrous Consequences — Washington advances against Fort 
 Duquesne — End of the Expedition — Washington Returns Home — 
 His Marriage, 275 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Plan of Operations for 1759 — Investment of Fort Niagara — Death of 
 Prideaux — Success of Sir William Johnson — Amherst at Ticon- 
 deroga — Wolfe at Quebec — His Triumph and Death — Fate of 
 
CONTENTS. Xlll 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Montcalm — Capitulation of Quebec — Attempt of De Levi to retake 
 it — Arrival of a British Fleet — Last stand of the French at Mon- 
 treal — Surrender of Canada, 290 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Washington's Installation in the House of Burgesses — His Rural Life — 
 Mount Yernon and its vicinity — Aristocratical days of Virginia — 
 "Washington's Management of his Estate — Domestic Habits — Fox- 
 hunting — Lord Fairfax — Fishing and Duck-shooting — The Poacher 
 — Lynch Law — Aquatic State — Life at Annapolis — Washington in 
 the Dismal Swamp, . 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Treaty of Peace — Pontiac's War — Course of Public Events — Board of 
 Trade against Paper Currency — Restrictive Policy of England — 
 Navigation Laws — Discontents in New England — Of the other 
 Colonies — Projects to raise Revenue by Taxation — Blow at the In- 
 dependence of the Judiciary — Naval Commanders employed a? 
 Custom-house Officers — Retaliation of the Colonists — Taxation re- 
 sisted in Boston — Passing of the Stamp Act — Burst of opposition 
 in Virginia — Speech of Patrick Henry, 325 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Washington's ideas concerning the Stamp Act — Opposition to it in the 
 Colonies — Portentous Ceremonies at Boston and New York — Non- 
 importation Agreement among the Merchants — Washington and 
 George Mason — Dismissal of Grenville from the British Cabinet — 
 Franklin before the House of Commons — Repeal oi the Stamp Act 
 — Joy of Washington — Fresh causes of Colonial dissensions — Cir- 
 cular of the General Court of Massachusetts — Embarkation of 
 Troops for Boston — Measures of the Bostonians, . . . .336 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 Cheerful life at Mount Vernon — Washington and George Mason — Cor- 
 respondence concerning the Non-importation Agreement — Feeling 
 toward England — Opening of the Legislative Session — Semi-regal 
 state of Lord Botetourt — High-toned proceedings of the House — 
 Sympathy with New England— Dissolved by Lord Botetourt — 
 Washington and the Articles of Association, . ... 347 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Hood at Boston — The General Court refuse3 to do business under 
 Military sway — Resists the Billeting Act — Effect of the Non-im- 
 portation Association — Lord North premier — Duties Revoked ex- 
 cept on Tea — The Boston Massacre — Disuse of Tea— Conciliatory 
 conduct of Lord Botetourt — His Death, 356 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Expedition of Washington to the Ohio, in behalf of Soldiers' Claims — 
 Uneasy state of the Frontier — "Visit to Fort Pitt — George Croghan 
 — His Mishaps during Pontiac's War — Washington descends the 
 Ohio — Scenes and Adventures along the River — Indian Hunting 
 Camp — Interview" with an old Sachem at the Mouth of the Kena- 
 wha — Retxirn — Claims of Stobo and Van Braam — Letter to Colonel 
 George Muse, 361 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Lord Dunmore Governor of Virginia — Piques the pride of the Virgin- 
 ians — Opposition of the Assembly — Corresponding Committees — 
 Death of Miss Custis — Washington's Guardianship of John Parke 
 Custis — His opinions as to Premature Travel and Premature Mar- 
 riage, 3U 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Lord North's Bill favoring the Exportation of Teas — Ships freighted 
 with Tea to the Colonies — Sent back from some of the Ports — Tea 
 Destroyed at Boston — Passage of the Boston Port Bill — Session of 
 the House of Burgesses — Splendid Opening — Burst of Indignation 
 at the Port Bill — House Dissolved — Resolutions at the Raleigh 
 Tavern — Project of a General Congress — Washington and Lord 
 Dunmore— The Port Bill goes into effect — General Gage at Boston 
 — League and Covenant, . . 3T8 
 
 CHAPTER XXXrV. 
 
 Washington Chairman of a Political Meeting— Correspondence with 
 Bryan Fairfax— Patriotic Resolutions— Washington's opinions on 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Public Affairs — Non-importation Scheme — Convention at "Williams- 
 burg — Washington appointed a Delegate to the General Congress 
 ■ — Letter from Bryan Fairfax — Perplexities of General Gage at 
 Boston, 887 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Meeting of the First Congress — Opening Ceremonies — Eloquence of 
 Patrick Henry and Henry Lee — Declaratory Resolution — Bill of 
 Rights — State Papers — Chatham's opinions of Congress — Washing- 
 ton's Correspondence with Capt. Mackenzie — Views with Respect 
 to Independence — Departure of Fairfax for England, . . . 397 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVL 
 
 Gage's Military Measures — Removal of Gunpowder from the Arsenal — 
 Public Agitation — Alarms in the Country — Civil Government ob- 
 structed — Belligerent Symptoms — Israel Putnam and General 
 Charles Lee, their Characters and Stories — General Election — Self- 
 constituted Congress — Hancock President — Adjourns to Concord 
 — Remonstrance to Gage — His Perplexities — Generals Artemas 
 Ward and Seth Pomeroy — Committee of Safety — Committee of 
 Supplies — Restlessness throughout the Land — Independent Com- 
 panies in Virginia — Military tone at Mount Vernon — Washing- 
 ton's Military Guests — Major Horatio Gates — Anecdotes concern- 
 ing him — General Charles Lee — His Peculiarities and Dogs — 
 Washington at the Richmond Convention — War Speech of Patrick 
 Henry — Washington's Military Intentions, 410 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Infatuation in British Councils — Colonel Grant, the Braggart — Coercive 
 Measures — Expedition against the Military Magazine at Concord 
 — Battle of Lexington — The cry of Blood through the Land — 
 Old Soldiers of the French War — John Stark — Israel Putnam — 
 Rising of the Yeomanry — Measures of Lord Dunmore in Virginia 
 — Indignation of the Virginians — Hugh Mercer and the Friends of 
 Liberty — Arrival of the news of Lexington at Mount Vernon — 
 Effects on Bryan Fairfax, Gates, and Washington, . . . 427 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Enlisting of Troops in the East — Camp at Boston — General Artemas 
 Ward — Scheme to surprise Ticonderoga — New Hampshire Grants 
 
XVI CONTENTS. 
 
 page 
 — Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys — Benedict Arnold — 
 Affair of Ticonderoga and Crown Point — A dash at St Johns, . 440 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Second Session of Congress — John Hancock — Petition to the King — 
 Federal Union — Military Measures — Debates about the Army — 
 Question as to Commander-in-chief — Appointment of "Washington 
 — Other Appointments — Letters of Washington to his Wife and 
 Brother — Preparations for Departure, 448 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 More Troops arrive at Boston — Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Clinton 
 — Proclamation of Gage — Nature of the American Army — Scorn- 
 ful conduct of the British Officers — Project of the Americans to 
 seize upon Breed's Hill — Putnam's opinion of it — Sanctioned by 
 Prescott — Nocturnal March of the Detachment — Fortifying of 
 Bunker's Hill — Break of Day, and astonishment of the Enemy, . 459 
 
 CHAPTER XLL 
 Battle of Bunker's Hill, 471 
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 Departure from Philadelphia — Anecdotes of General Schuyler — of Lee 
 — Tidings of Bunker Hill — Military Councils — Population of New 
 York — The Johnson Family — Governor Tryon — Arrival at New 
 York — Military Instructions to Schuyler — Arrival at the Camp, 485 
 
 lllttstraiiflns. 
 
 PORTRAIT OP WASHINGTON, 1T95. "Weetmullee. . . . Frontispiece. 
 
 ERADDOCK'S ROUTE, 1755. From Mr. T. C. Atkinson's Survey, 1847, . page 169 
 
 THE SAME. From the Original Map in Capt Orme's Journal, 1755, . . " 169 
 
 BATTLE OF BUNKER'S HILL, * . . « 467 
 
LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENEALOGY OF THE WASHINGTON FAMILY. 
 
 The Washington family is of an ancient English stock, 
 the genealogy of which has been traced up to the 
 century immediately succeeding the Conquest. At 
 that time it was in possession of landed estates and 
 manorial privileges in the county of Durham, such as 
 were enjoyed only by those, or their descendants, who 
 had come over from Normandy with the Conqueror, or 
 fought under his standard. When William the Con- 
 queror laid waste the whole country north of the Hum- 
 ber, in punishment of the insurrection of the Northum- 
 brians, he apportioned the estates among his followers, 
 and advanced Normans and other foreigners to the prin- 
 cipal ecclesiastical dignities. One of the most wealthy 
 and important sees was that of Durham. Hither had 
 been transported the bones of St. Cuthbert from their 
 original shrine at Lindisfarne, when it was ravaged by 
 
Z LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 the Danes. That saint, says Camden, was esteemed 
 by princes and gentry a titular saint against the Scots.* 
 His shrine, therefore, had been held in peculiar rever- 
 ence by the Saxons, and the see of Durham endowed 
 with extraordinary privileges. 
 
 William continued and increased those privileges. 
 He needed a powerful adherent on this frontier to keep 
 the restless Northumbrians in order, and check Scot- 
 tish invasion ; and no doubt considered an enlightened 
 ecclesiastic, appointed by the crown, a safer depositary 
 of such power than an hereditary noble. 
 
 Having placed a noble and learned native of Lo- 
 raine in the diocese, therefore, he erected it into a 
 palatinate, over which the bishop, as Count Palatine, 
 had temporal, as well as spiritual jurisdiction. He 
 built a strong castle for his protection, and to serve as 
 a barrier against the Northern foe. He made him lord 
 high-admiral of the sea and waters adjoining his palat- 
 inate, — lord warden of the marches, and conservator of 
 the league between England and Scotland. Thence- 
 forth, we are told, the prelates of Durham owned no 
 earthly superior within their diocese, but continued for 
 centuries to exercise every right attached to an inde- 
 pendent sovereign.! 
 
 The bishop, as Count Palatine, lived in almost 
 royal state and splendor. He had his lay chancellor, 
 chamberlains, secretaries, steward, treasurer, master of 
 the horse, and a host of minor officers. Still he was 
 under feudal obligations. All landed property in those 
 
 • Camden, Brit iv., 849. 
 
 f Annals of Roger de Hovedon. Hutchinson's Durham, voL ii. Qul- 
 Iactanea Curiosa, voL ii., p. 83. 
 
GENEALOGY. 6 
 
 warlike times, implied military service. Bishops and 
 abbots, equally with great barons who held estates im- 
 mediately of the crown, were obliged, when required, 
 to furnish the king with armed men in proportion to 
 their domains ; but they had their feudatories under 
 them to aid them in this service. 
 
 The princely prelate of Durham had his barons 
 and knights, who held estates of him on feudal tenure, 
 and were bound to serve him in peace and war. They 
 sat occasionally in his councils, gave martial splendor 
 to his court, and were obliged to have horse and 
 weapon ready for service, for they lived in a belligerent 
 neighborhood, disturbed occasionally by civil war, and 
 often by Scottish foray. When the banner of St. 
 Cuthbert, the royal standard of the province, was dis- 
 played, no armed feudatory of the bishop could refuse 
 to take the field.* 
 
 Some of these prelates, in token of the warlike du- 
 ties of their diocese, engraved on their seals a knight on 
 horseback armed at all points, brandishing in one hand 
 a sword, and holding forth in the other the arms of the 
 see.f 
 
 Among the knights who held estates in the pala- 
 tinate on these warlike conditions, was William de 
 Hertburn, the progenitor of the Washingtons. His 
 Norman name of William would seem to point out his 
 national descent; and the family long continued to 
 have Norman names of baptism. The surname of 
 De Hertburn was taken from a village on the palatinate 
 
 * Robert de Graystanes, Ang. Sac, p. 746. 
 f Camden, Brit iv., 349. 
 
4 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 which he held of the bishop in knight's fee ; probably 
 the same now called Hartburn on the banks of the 
 Tees. It had become a custom among the Norman 
 families of rank about the time of the Conquest, to 
 take surnames from their castles or estates ; it was not 
 until some time afterwards that surnames became gen- 
 erally assumed by the people.* 
 
 How or when the De Hertburns first acquired 
 possession of their village is not known. They may 
 have been companions in arms with Robert de Bras 
 (or Bruce), a noble knight of Normandy, rewarded by 
 William the Conqueror with great possessions in the 
 North, and among others, with the lordships of Hert 
 and Hertness in the county of Durham. 
 
 The first actual mention we find of the family is 
 in the Bolden Book, a record of all the lands appertain- 
 ing to the diocese in 1183. In this it is stated that 
 William de Hertburn had exchanged his village of 
 Hertburn for the manor and village of Wessyngton, 
 likewise in the diocese ; paying the bishop a quit-rent 
 of four pounds, and engaging to attend him with two 
 greyhounds in grand hunts, and to furnish a man at 
 arms whenever military aid should be required of the 
 palatinate, f 
 
 * Lower on Surnames, voL i., p. 43. Fuller says, that the custom of 
 surnames was brought from France in Edward the Confessor's time, about 
 fifty years before the Conquest; but did not become universally settled 
 until some hundred years afterwards. At first they did not descend hered- 
 itarily on the family. — Fuller, Church History. Roll Battle Abbey. 
 
 f The Bolden Book. As this ancient document gives the first trace of 
 the Washington family, it merits especial mention. In 1183, a survey was 
 made by order of Bishop de Pusaz of all the lands of the see held in de- 
 mesne, or by tenants in villanage. The record was entered in a book 
 called the Bolden Bute: the parish of Bolden occurring first in alphabet!- 
 
GENEALOGY. 5 
 
 The family changed its surname with its estate, 
 and thenceforward assumed that of De Wessyng- 
 ton.* The condition of military service attached to 
 its manor will be found to have been often exacted, 
 nor was the service in the grand hunt an idle form. 
 Hunting came next to war in those days, as the occu- 
 pation of the nobility and gentry. The clergy en- 
 gaged in it equally with the laity. The hunting estab- 
 lishment of the Bishop of Durham was on a princely 
 scale. He had his forests, chases and parks, with their 
 train of foresters, rangers, and park keepers. A grand 
 hunt was a splendid pageant in which all his barons 
 and knights attended him with horse and hound. The 
 stipulations with the Seignior of Wessyngton show 
 how strictly the rights of the chase were defined. All 
 the game taken by him in going to the forest belonged 
 to the bishop ; all taken on returning belonged to him- 
 self.! 
 
 Hugh de Pusaz (or De Pudsay) during whose epis- 
 copate we meet with this first trace of the De Wes- 
 
 cal arrangement. The document commences in the following manner: 
 Incipit liber qui vocatur Bolden Book. Anno Dominice Incarnationis 
 1183, &c. 
 
 The following is the memorandum in question : — 
 
 Willus de Herteburn habet Wessyngton (excepta ecclesia et terra eo- 
 clesiae pertinente)ad excanib. pro villa de Herteburn quam pro hac quietam 
 clamavit : Et reddit 4 L. Et vadit in magna caza cum 2 Leporar. Et 
 quando commune auxilium venerit debet dare 1 Militem ad plus de aux- 
 ilio, &c. — Collectanea Curiosa, vol. ii., p. 89. 
 
 The Bolden Buke is a small folio, deposited in the office of the bishop s 
 auditor, at Durham. 
 
 * The name is probably of Saxon origin. It existed in England prior 
 to the Conquest The village of Wassengtone i8 mentioned in a Saxon 
 charter as granted by king Edgar in 973 to Thorney Abbey.— Collectanea 
 Topographica, iv., 55. 
 
 f Hutchinson's Durham, vol. ii„ p. 489- 
 
6 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 syngtons, was a nephew of king Stephen, and a prelate 
 of great pretensions ; fond of appearing with a train of 
 ecclesiastics and an armed retinne. When Richard 
 Coeur de Lion pnt every thing at pawn and sale to 
 raise funds for a crusade to the Holy Land, the bishop 
 resolved to accompany him. More wealthy than his 
 sovereign, he made magnificent preparations. Besides 
 ships to convey his troops and retinue, he had a sump- 
 tuous galley for himself, fitted up with a throne or epis- 
 copal chair of silver, and all the household, and even 
 culinary utensils, were of the same costly material. 
 In a word, had not the prelate been induced to stay 
 at home, and aid the king with his treasures, by being 
 made one of the regents of the kingdom, and Earl of 
 Northumberland for life, the De Wessyngtons might 
 have followed the banner of St. Cuthbert to the Holy 
 wars. 
 
 Nearly seventy years afterwards we find the family 
 still retaining its manorial estate in the palatinate. 
 The names of Bondo de Wessyngton and William his 
 son appear on charters of land, granted in 1257 to 
 religious houses. Soon after occurred the wars of the 
 barons, in which the throne of Henry III. was shaken 
 by the De Mountforts. The chivalry of the palatinate 
 rallied under the royal standard. On the fist of loyal 
 knights who fought for their sovereign in the disas- 
 trous battle of Lewes (1264), in which the king was 
 taken prisoner, we find the name of William Weshing- 
 ton, of Weshington.* 
 
 During the splendid pontificate of Anthony Beke 
 
 * This list of knights was inserted in the Bolden Book as an additional 
 entry. It is cited at full length by Hutchinson. — Hist Dvrham, vol I, p. 220. 
 
GENEALOGY. 7 
 
 (or Beak), the knights of the palatinate had continually 
 to be in the saddle, or buckled in armor. The prelate 
 was so impatient of rest that he never took more 
 than one sleep, saying it was unbecoming a man to 
 turn from one side to another in bed. He was perpet- 
 ually, when within his diocese, either riding from one 
 manor to another, or hunting and hawking. Twice he 
 assisted Edward I. with all his force in invading Scot- 
 land. In the progress northward with the king, the 
 bishop led the van, marching a day in advance of the 
 main body, with a mercenary force, paid by himself, 
 of one thousand foot and five hundred horse. Besides 
 these he had his feudatories of the palatinate ; six ban- 
 nerets and one hundred and sixty knights, not one of 
 whom, says an old poem, but surpassed Arthur him- 
 self, though endowed with the charmed gifts of Mer- 
 lin.* We presume the De Wessyngtons were among 
 those preux chevaliers, as the banner of St. Cuthbert 
 had been taken from its shrine on the occasion, and of 
 course all the armed force of the diocese was bound to 
 follow. It was borne in front of the army by a monk 
 of Durham. There were many rich caparisons, says 
 the old poem, many beautiful pennons, fluttering from 
 lances, and much neighing of steeds. The hills and 
 valleys were covered with sumpter horses and waggons 
 laden with tents and provisions. The Bishop of Dur- 
 ham in his warlike state appeared, we are told, more 
 like a powerful prince, than a priest or prelate. f 
 
 * Onques Artous pour touz ces charmes, 
 Si beau prisent ne ot de Merlyn. 
 
 Sikgb op Kablavekock ; an old Poem in Norman French 
 f Kobert de Graystanes, Ang. Sac., p. 746, cited by Hutchinson, vol. i 
 p. 239. 
 
8 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 At the surrender of the crown of Scotland by 
 John Baliol, which ended this invasion, the bishop ne- 
 gotiated on the part of England. As a trophy of the 
 event, the chair of Schone used on the inauguration 
 of the Scottish monarchs, and containing the stone on 
 which Jacob dreamed, the palladium of Scotland, was 
 transferred to England and deposited in Westminster 
 Abbey.* 
 
 In the reign of Edward III. we find the De Wes- 
 syngtons still mingling in chivalrous scenes. The name 
 of Sir Stephen de Wessyngton appears on a list of 
 knights (nobles chevaliers) who were to tilt at a tourna- 
 ment at Dunstable in 1334. He bore for his device a 
 golden rose on an azure field, f 
 
 He w T as soon called to exercise his arms on a stern- 
 er field. In 1346, Edward and his son, the Black 
 Prince, being absent with the armies in Erance, king 
 David of Scotland invaded Northumberland with a 
 powerful army. Queen Philippa, who had remained 
 in England as regent, immediately took the field, call- 
 ing the northern prelates and nobles to join her stand- 
 
 * An extract from an inedited poem, cited by Nicolas in his translation 
 of the Siege of Carlaverock, gives a striking picture of the palatinate in 
 these days of its pride and splendor : — 
 
 There valour bowed before the rood and book, 
 
 And kneeling knighthood served a prelate lord, 
 Yet little deigned he on such train to look, 
 
 Or glance of ruth or pity to afford. 
 There time has heard the peal rung out at night, 
 
 Has seen from every tower the cressets stream, 
 When the red bale fire on yon western height 
 
 Had roused the warder from his fitful dream. 
 Has seen old Durham's lion banner float 
 
 O'er the proud bulwark, that, with giant pride 
 And feet deep plunged amidst the circling moat, 
 
 The efforts of the roving Scot defied. 
 
 | Collect. Topog. et Genealog. T. iv., p. 895. 
 
GENEALOGY. 9 
 
 ard. They all hastened to obey. Among the prelates 
 was Hatfield, the Bishop of Durham. The sacred 
 banner of St. Cuthbert was again displayed, and the 
 chivalry of the palatinate assisted at the famous battle 
 of NeviTs cross, near Durham, in which the Scottish 
 army was defeated and king David taken prisoner. 
 
 Queen Philippa hastened with a victorious train to 
 cross the sea at Dover, and join king Edward in his 
 camp before Calais. The prelate of Durham accompa- 
 nied her. His military train consisted of three ban- 
 nerets, forty-eight knights, one hundred and sixty-four 
 esquires, and eighty archers, on horseback.* They all 
 arrived to witness the surrender of Calais (1346), on 
 which occasion queen Philippa distinguished herself by 
 her noble interference in saving the lives of its patriot 
 citizens. 
 
 Such were the warlike and stately scenes in which 
 the De Wessyngtons were called to mingle by their 
 feudal duties as knights of the palatinate. A few 
 years after the last event (1350) William, at that time 
 lord of the manor of Wessyngton, had license to set- 
 tle it and the village upon himself, his wife, and " his 
 own right heirs." He died in 1367, and his son and 
 heir, William, succeeded to the estate. The latter is 
 mentioned under the name of Sir William de Wesch- 
 ington, as one of the knights who sat in the privy 
 council of the county during the episcopate of John 
 Fordham.f During this time the whole force of the 
 palatinate was roused to pursue a foray of Scots, under 
 
 * Collier's Eccles. Hist, Book VL, Cent. XTV. 
 f HutchiDson, voL ii. 
 
10 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Sir William Douglas, who, having ravaged the country, 
 were returning laden with spoil. It was the fruit of 
 the feud between the Douglases and the Percys. The 
 marauders were overtaken by Hotspur Percy, and 
 then took place the battle of Otterbourne, in which 
 Percy was taken prisoner and Douglas slain.* 
 
 Por upwards of two hundred years the De Wes- 
 syngtons had now sat in the councils of the palatinate ; 
 had mingled with horse and hound in the stately hunts 
 of its prelates, and followed the banner of St. Cuthbert 
 to the field ; but Sir William, just mentioned, was the 
 last of the family that rendered this feudal service. 
 He was the last male of the line to which the inherit- 
 ance of the manor, by the license granted to his father, 
 was confined. It passed away from the De Wessyng- 
 tons, after his death, by the marriage of his only 
 daughter and heir, Dionisia, with Sir William Temple 
 of Studley. By the year 1400 it had become the 
 property of the Blaykestones.f 
 
 But though the name of De Wessyngton no longer 
 figured on the chivalrous roll of the palatinate, it con- 
 tinued for a time to flourish in the cloisters. In the 
 year 1416, John De Wessyngton was elected prior of 
 the Benedictine convent, attached to the cathedral. 
 The monks of this convent had been licensed by Pope 
 Gregory VII. to perform the solemn duties of the ca- 
 thedral in place of secular clergy, and William the 
 Conqueror had ordained that the priors of Durham 
 
 * Theare the Dowglas lost his life, 
 And the Percye was led away. 
 
 Foedun. Quoted by Surtees, Hist. Durham, voL l 
 f Hutchinson's Durham, vol. ii., p. 489. 
 
GENEALOGY. 11 
 
 should enjoy all the liberties, dignities and honors of 
 abbots ; should hold their lands and churches in their 
 own hands and free disposition, and have the abbot's 
 seat on the left side of the choir — thus taking rank of 
 every one but the bishop.* 
 
 In the course of three centuries and upwards, which 
 had since elapsed, these honors and privileges had been 
 subject to repeated dispute and encroachment, and the 
 prior had nearly been elbowed out of the abbot's chair 
 by the archdeacon. John de Wessyngton was not a 
 man to submit tamely to such infringements of his 
 rights. He forthwith set himself up as the champion 
 of his priory, and in a learned tract, de Junius et Poa- 
 sessionibus Ecclesice Dunelm, established the validity of 
 the long controverted claims, and fixed himself firmly 
 in the abbot's chair. His success in this controversy 
 gained him much renown among his brethren of the 
 cowl, and in 1426 he presided at the general chapter 
 of the order of St. Benedict, held at Northampton. 
 
 The stout prior of Durham had other disputes with 
 the bishop and the secular clergy touching his ecclesi- 
 astical functions, in which he was equally victorious, 
 and several tracts remain in manuscript in the dean 
 and chapter's library ; weapons hung up in the church 
 armory as memorials of his polemical battles. 
 
 Finally, after fighting divers good fights for the 
 honor of his priory, and filling the abbot's chair for 
 thirty years, he died, to use an ancient phrase, " in all 
 the odor of sanctity," in 1446, and was buried like a 
 soldier on his battle-field, at the door of the north 
 
 * Dugdale,Monasticon Anglicanum, T. i, p. 231. London ed. 1846. 
 
12 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 aisle of his church, near to the altar of St. Benedict. 
 On his tombstone was an inscription in brass, now un- 
 fortunately obliterated, which may have set forth the 
 valiant deeds of this Washington of the cloisters.* 
 
 By this time the primitive stock of the De Wes- 
 syngtons had separated into divers branches, holding 
 estates in various parts of England ; some distinguish- 
 ing themselves in the learned professions, others receiv- 
 ing knighthood for public services. Their names are 
 to be found honorably recorded in county histories, or 
 engraved on monuments in time-worn churches and 
 cathedrals, those garnering places of English worthies. 
 
 By degrees the seignorial sign of de disappeared 
 from before the family surname, which also varied 
 from Wessyngton to Wassington, Wasshington, and 
 finally, to Washington.! A parish in the county of 
 Durham bears the name as last written, and in this 
 probably the ancient manor of Wessyngton was situ- 
 ated. There is another parish of the name in the 
 county of Sussex. 
 
 The branch of the family to which our Washington 
 immediately belongs sprang from Laurence Washing- 
 ton, Esquire, of Gray's Inn, son of John Washington, 
 of Warton in Lancashire. This Laurence Washington 
 was for some time mayor of Northampton, and on the 
 
 • Hutchinson's Durham, vol. iL, passim. 
 
 f " The de came to be omitted," says an old treatise, " when English- 
 men and English manners began to prevail upon the recovery of lost 
 credit" — Restitution of decayed intelligence in antiquities. Lond. 1634. 
 
 About the time of Henry VL, says another treatise, the de or d' was 
 generally dropped from surnames, when the title of armiger, esquier, 
 amongst the heads of families, and generosus, or gentylman, among younger 
 90ns was substituted. — Lower on Surnames vol. i. 
 
GENEALOGY. 13 
 
 dissolution of the priories by Henry VIII. he received, 
 in 1538, a grant of the manor of Sulgrave, in North- 
 amptonshire, with other lands in the vicinity, all con- 
 fiscated property formerly belonging to the monastery 
 of St. Andrew's. 
 
 Sulgrave remained in the family until 1620, and 
 was commonly called " Washington's manor."* 
 
 One of the direct descendants of the grantee of 
 Sulgrave was Sir William Washington, of Packington, 
 in the county of Kent. He married a sister of George 
 Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the unfortunate favor- 
 ite of Charles I. This may have attached the Sulgrave 
 Washingtons to the Stuart dynasty, to which they ad- 
 hered loyally and generously throughout all its vicis- 
 situdes. One of the family, Lieutenant Colonel James 
 Washington, took up arms in the cause of king 
 
 * The manor of Garsdon m Wiltshire has been mentioned as the home- 
 stead of the ancestors of our Washington. This is a mistake. It was the 
 residence of Sir Laurence Washington, second son of the above-mentioned 
 grantee of Sulgrave. Elizabeth, granddaughter of this Sir Laurence, mar- 
 ried Robert Shirley, Earl Ferrers and Viscount of Tarnworth. Washington 
 became a baptismal name among the Shirleys — several of the Earls Ferrers 
 have borne it. 
 
 The writer of these pages visited Sulgrave a few years since. It was in 
 a quiet rural neighborhood, where the farm-houses were quaint and anti- 
 quated. A part only of the manor house remained, and was inhabited by 
 a farmer. The Washington crest, in colored glass, was to be seen in a 
 window of what was now the buttery. A window on which the whole 
 family arms was emblazoned had been removed to the residence of the ac- 
 tual proprietor of the manor. Another relic of the ancient manor of the 
 Washingtons was a rookery in a venerable grove hard by. The rooks, 
 those stanch adherents to old family abodes, still hovered and cawed about 
 their hereditary nests. In the pavement of the parish church we were 
 ehown a stone slab bearing effigies on plates of brass of Laurence Wassh- 
 ington, gent, and Anne his wife, and their four sons and eleven daughters. 
 The inscription in black letter was dated 1564. 
 
14 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Charles, and lost his life at the siege of Pontefract 
 castle. Another of the Sulgrave line, Sir Henry Wash- 
 ington, son and heir of Sir William, before mentioned, 
 exhibited in the civil wars the old chivalrous spirit of 
 the knights of the palatinate. He served under prince 
 Rupert at the storming of Bristol in 1643, and when 
 the assailants were beaten off at every point, he broke 
 in with a handful of infantry at a weak part of the 
 wall, made room for the horse to follow, and opened a 
 path to victory.* 
 
 He distinguished himself still more in 1646, when 
 elevated to the command of Worcester, the governor 
 having been captured by the enemy. It was a time of 
 confusion and dismay. The king had fled from Ox- 
 ford in disguise and gone to the parliamentary camp 
 at Newark. The royal cause was desperate. In this 
 crisis Sir Henry received a letter from Fairfax, who, 
 with his victorious army, "was at Haddington, demand- 
 ing the surrender of Worcester. The following was 
 Colonel Washington's reply : 
 
 Sir, 
 
 It is acknowledged by your books and by report 
 of your own quarter, that the king is in some of your 
 armies. That granted, it may be easy for you to pro- 
 cure his Majesty's commands for the disposal of this 
 garrison. Till then I shall make good the trust reposed 
 in me. As for conditions, if I shall be necessitated, 
 I shall make the best I can. The worst I know and 
 fear not ; if I had, the profession of a soldier had not 
 
 * Clarendon, Book vii 
 
GENEALOGY. 1 5 
 
 been begun, nor so long continued by your Excellency's 
 humble servant, 
 
 Henry Washington.* 
 
 In a few days Colonel Whalley invested the city with 
 five thousand troops. Sir Henry despatched messen- 
 ger after messenger in quest of the king to know his 
 pleasure. None of them returned. A female emis- 
 sary was equally unavailing. Week after week elapsed, 
 until nearly three months had expired. Provisions 
 began to fail. The city was in confusion. The troops 
 grew insubordinate. Yet Sir Henry persisted in the 
 defence. General Fairfax, with 1,500 horse and foot, 
 was daily expected. There was not powder enough 
 for an hour's contest should the city be stormed. Still 
 Sir Henry " awaited his Majesty's commands." 
 
 At length news arrived that the king had issued an 
 order for the surrender of all towns, castles, and forts. 
 A printed copy of the order was shown to Sir Henry, 
 and on the faith of that document he capitulated (19th 
 of July, 1646) on honorable terms, won by his forti- 
 tude and perseverance. Those who believe hi hered- 
 itary virtues may see foreshadowed in the conduct 
 of this Washington of Worcester, the magnanimous 
 constancy of purpose, the disposition to " hope against 
 hope," which bore our Washington triumphantly 
 through the darkest days of our revolution. 
 
 We have little note of the Sulgrave branch of the 
 family after the death of Charles I. and the exile of 
 his successor. England, during the protectorate, be- 
 
 * Greene's Antiquities of Worcester, p. 273. 
 
16 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 came an uncomfortable residence to such as had sig- 
 nalized themselves as adherents to the house of Stuart. 
 In 1655, an attempt at a general insurrection drew on 
 them the vengeance of Cromwell. Many of their party 
 who had no share in the conspiracy, yet sought refuge 
 in other lands, where they might live free from moles- 
 tation. This may have been the case with two brothers, 
 John and Andrew Washington, great-grandsons of 
 the grantee of Sulgrave, and uncles of Sir Henry the 
 gallant defender of Worcester. John had for some 
 time resided at South Cave, in the East Riding of York- 
 shire ;* but now emigrated with his brother to Vir- 
 ginia ; which colony, from its allegiance to the exiled 
 monarch and the Anglican Church,had become a favor- 
 ite resort of the Cavaliers. The brothers arrived in 
 Virginia in 1657, and purchased lands in Westmore- 
 land County, on the northern neck, between the Poto- 
 mac and Rappahannock rivers. John married a Miss 
 Anne Pope, of the same county, and took up his resi- 
 dence on Bridges Creek, near where it falls into the 
 Potomac. He became an extensive planter, and, in 
 process of time, a magistrate and member of the 
 House of Burgesses. Having a spark of the old mili- 
 tary fire of the family, we find him, as Colonel Wash- 
 ington, leading the Virginia forces, in co-operation 
 with those of Maryland, against a band of Seneca In- 
 dians, who were ravaging the settlements along the 
 Potomac. In honor of his public services and private 
 
 * South Cave is near the Humber. " In the vicinity is Cave Castle, an 
 embattled edifice. It has a noble collection of paintings, including a por- 
 trait of General Washington, whose ancestors possessed a portion of the 
 estate." — Lewes, Topog. Diet vol I, p. 530 
 
GENEALOGY. 17 
 
 virtues, the parish in which he resided was called after 
 him, and still bears the name of Washington. He 
 lies buried in a vault on Bridges Creek, which, for 
 generations, was the family place of sepulture. 
 
 The estate continued in the family. His grandson 
 Augustine, the father of our Washington, was born 
 there in 1694. He was twice married; first (April 
 20th, 1715), to Jane, daughter of Caleb Butler, Esq., 
 of Westmoreland County, by whom he had four chil- 
 dren, of whom only two, Lawrence and Augustine, 
 survived the years of childhood; their mother died 
 November 24th, 1728, and was buried in the family 
 vault. 
 
 On the 6th of March, 1730, he married in second 
 nuptials, Mary, the daughter of Colonel Ball, a young 
 and beautiful girl, said to be the belle of the Northern 
 Neck. By her he had four sons, George, Samuel, 
 John Augustine, and Charles; and two daughters, 
 Elizabeth, or Betty, as she was commonly called, and 
 Mildred, who died in infancy. 
 
 George, the eldest, the subject of this biography, 
 was born on the 22d of Eeb. (11th, O. S.), 1732,in the 
 homestead on Bridges Creek. This house commanded 
 a view over many miles of the Potomac, and the oppo- 
 site shore of Maryland. It had probably been pur- 
 chased with the property, and was one of the primitive 
 farm-houses of Virginia. The roof was steep, and 
 sloped down into low projecting eaves. It had four 
 rooms on the ground floor, and others in the attic, and 
 an immense chimney at each end. Not a vestige of it 
 remains. Two or three decayed fig-trees, with shrubs 
 and vines, linger about the place, and here and there 
 VOL i. — 2 
 
18 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 a flower grown wild serves " to mark where a garden 
 has been." Such, at least, was the case a few years 
 since ; but these may have likewise passed away. A 
 stone* marks the site of the house, and an inscription 
 denotes its being the birthplace of Washington. 
 
 We have entered with some minuteness into this 
 genealogical detail; tracing the family step by step 
 through the pages of historical documents for upwards 
 of six centuries ; and we have been tempted to do so 
 by the documentary proofs it gives of the lineal and 
 enduring worth of the race. We have shown that, 
 for many generations, and through a variety of eventful 
 scenes, it has maintained an equality of fortune and 
 respectability, and whenever brought to the test has 
 acquitted itself with honor and loyalty. Hereditary 
 rank may be an illusion ; but hereditary virtue gives 
 a patent of innate nobleness beyond all the blazonry 
 of the Heralds' College. 
 
 * Placed there by George W. Custis, Esq. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 the home of washington's boyhood — his eaelt education — law- 
 eenoe washington and his campaign in the west indies — 
 death of Washington's father — the widowed mother and 
 her children — school exercises. 
 
 Not long after the birth of George, his father removed 
 to an estate in Stafford County, opposite Fredericks- 
 burg. The house was similar in style to the one at 
 Bridges Creek, and stood on a rising ground overlook- 
 ing a meadow which bordered the Rappahannock. 
 This was the home of George's boyhood ; the meadow 
 was his play-ground, and the scene of his early ath- 
 letic sports ; but this home, like that in which he was 
 born, has disappeared ; the site is only to be traced by 
 fragments of bricks, china, and earthenware. 
 
 In those days the means of instruction in Virginia 
 were limited, and it was the custom among the wealthy 
 planters to send their sons to England to complete 
 their education. This was done by Augustine Wash- 
 ington with his eldest son Lawrence, then about fifteen 
 years of age, and whom he no doubt considered the 
 future head of the family. George was yet in early 
 
20 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1740. 
 
 childhood : as his intellect dawned he received the ru- 
 diments of education in the best establishment for the 
 purpose that the neighborhood afforded. It was what 
 was called, in popular parlance, an " old field school- 
 house " humble enough in its pretensions, and kept by 
 one of his father's tenants named Hobby, who more- 
 over was sexton of the parish. The instruction doled 
 out by him must have been of the simplest kind, read- 
 ing, writing, and ciphering, perhaps ; but George had 
 the benefit of mental and moral culture at home, from 
 an excellent father. 
 
 Several traditional anecdotes have been given to 
 the world, somewhat prolix and trite, but illustrative 
 of the familiar and practical manner in which Augus- 
 tine Washington, in the daily intercourse of domestic 
 life, impressed the ductile mind of his child with high 
 maxims of religion and virtue, and imbued him with a 
 spirit of justice and generosity, and above all a scrupu- 
 lous love of truth. 
 
 When George was about seven or eight years old 
 his brother Lawrence returned from England, a well- 
 educated and accomplished youth. There was a dif- 
 ference of fourteen years in their ages, which may have 
 been one cause of the strong attachment which took 
 place between them. Lawrence looked down with a 
 protecting eye upon the boy, whose dawning intelli- 
 gence and perfect rectitude won his regard; while 
 George looked up to his manly and cultivated brother 
 as a model in mind and manners. We call particu- 
 lar attention to this brotherly interchange of affection, 
 from the influence it had on all the future career of 
 the subject of this memoir. 
 
1740.] LAWRENCE WASHINGTON. 21 
 
 Lawrence Washington had something of the old 
 military spirit of the family, and cirenmstances soon 
 called it into action. Spanish depredations on British 
 commerce had recently provoked reprisals. Admiral 
 Vernon, commander-in-chief in the West Indies, had 
 accordingly captured Porto Bello, on the Isthmus of 
 Darien. The Spaniards were preparing to revenge the 
 blow ; the Erench were fitting out ships to aid them. 
 Troops were embarked in England for another cam- 
 paign in the West Indies ; a regiment of four battalions 
 was to be raised in the colonies and sent to join them 
 at Jamaica. There was a sudden outbreak of milita- 
 ry ardor in the province ; the sound of drum and fife 
 was heard in the villages with the parade of recruit- 
 ing parties. Lawrenca Washington, now twenty-two 
 years of age, caught the infection. He obtained a 
 captain's commission in the newly raised regiment, and 
 embarked with it for the West Indies in 1740. He 
 served in the joint expeditions of Admiral Vernon and 
 General Wentworth, in the land forces commanded by 
 the latter, and acquired the friendship and confidence 
 of both of those officers. He was present at the siege 
 of Carthagena, when it was bombarded by the fleet, and 
 when the troops attempted to escalade the citadel. It 
 was an ineffectual attack ; the ships could not get near 
 enough to throw their shells into the town, and the 
 scaling ladders proved too short. That part of the 
 attack, however, with which Lawrence was concerned, 
 distinguished itself by its bravery. The troops sus- 
 tained unflinching a destructive fire for several hours, 
 and at length retired with honor, their small force 
 
22 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1742 
 
 having sustained a loss of about six hundred killed and 
 wounded. 
 
 We have here the secret of that martial spirit so 
 often cited of George in his boyish days. He had seen 
 his brother fitted out for the wars. He had heard by 
 letter and otherwise of the warlike scenes in which he 
 was mingling. All his amusements took a military 
 turn. He made soldiers of his schoolmates ; they had 
 their mimic parades, reviews, and sham fights. A 
 boy named William Bustle was sometimes his compet- 
 itor, but George was commander-in-chief of Hobby's 
 school. 
 
 Lawrence Washington returned home in the au- 
 tumn of 1742, the campaigns in the West Indies being 
 ended, and Admiral Vernon and General Wentwortli 
 being recalled to England. It was the intention of 
 Lawrence to rejoin his regiment in that country, and 
 seek promotion in the army, but circumstances com- 
 pletely altered his plans. He formed an attachment 
 to Anne, the eldest daughter of the Honorable Wil- 
 liam Fairfax, of Fairfax County ; his addresses were 
 well received, and they became engaged. Their nup- 
 tials were delayed by the sudden and untimely death 
 of his father, which took place on the 12th of April, 
 1743, after a short but severe attack of gout in the 
 stomach, and when but forty-nine years of age. 
 George had been absent from home on a visit during 
 his father's illness, and just returned in time to receive 
 a parting look of affection. 
 
 Augustine Washington left large possessions, distri- 
 buted by will among his children. To Lawrence, the 
 estate on the banks of the Potomac, with other real 
 
1743.J Washington's mother. 23 
 
 property, and several shares in iron works. To Aug- 
 ustine, the second son by the first marriage, the old 
 homestead and estate in Westmoreland. The children 
 by the second marriage were severally well provided 
 for, and George, when he became of age, was to have 
 the house and lands on the Rappahannock. 
 
 In the month of July the marriage of Lawrence 
 with Miss Fairfax took place. He now gave up all 
 thoughts of foreign service, and settled himself on his 
 estate on the banks of the Potomac, to which he gave 
 the name of Mount Vernon, in honor of the admiral. 
 
 Augustine took up his abode at the homestead on 
 Bridges Creek, and married Anne, daughter and co- 
 heiress of William Aylett, Esquire, of Westmoreland 
 County. George, now eleven years of age, and the 
 other children of the second marriage, had been left un- 
 der the guardianship of their mother, to whom was in- 
 trusted the proceeds of all their property until they 
 should severally come of age. She proved herself wor- 
 thy of the trust. Endowed with plain, direct good 
 sense, thorough conscientiousness, and prompt decision, 
 she governed her family strictly, but kindly, exacting 
 deference while she inspired affection. George, being 
 her eldest son, was thought to be her favorite, yet she 
 never gave him undue preference, and the implicit def- 
 erence exacted from him in childhood continued to be 
 habitually observed by him to the day of her death. 
 He inherited from her a high temper and a spirit of 
 command, but her early precepts and example taught 
 him to restrain and govern that temper, and to square 
 his conduct on the exact principles of equity and jus- 
 tice. 
 
24 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1746. 
 
 Tradition gives an interesting picture of the widow, 
 with her little flock gathered round her, as was her 
 daily wont, reading to them lessons of religion and 
 morality out of some standard work. Her favorite 
 volume was Sir Matthew Hale's Contemplations, moral 
 and divine. The admirable maxims therein contained, 
 for outward action as w r ell as self-government, sank 
 deep into the mind of George, and, doubtless, had a 
 great influence in forming his character. They certain- 
 ly were exemplified in his conduct throughout life. 
 This mother's manual, bearing his mother's name, 
 Mary Washington, written with her own hand, was 
 ever preserved by him with filial care, and may still be 
 seen in the archives of Mount Vernon. A precious 
 document ! Let those who wish to know the moral 
 foundation of his character consult its pages. 
 
 Having no longer the benefit of a father's instruc- 
 tions at home, and the scope of tuition of Hobby, the 
 sexton, being too limited for the growing wants of his 
 pupil, George was now sent to reside with Augustine 
 Washington, at Bridges Creek, and enjoy the benefit 
 of a superior school in that neighborhood, kept by a 
 Mr. Williams. His education, however, was plain and 
 practical. He never attempted the learned languages, 
 nor manifested any inclination for rhetoric or belles- 
 lettres. His object, or the object of his friends, seems 
 to have been confined to fitting him for ordinary busi- 
 ness. His manuscript school books still exist, and are 
 models of neatness and accuracy. One of them, it is 
 true, a ciphering book, preserved in the library at 
 Mount Vernon, has some school-boy attempts at cali- 
 
1746.J SCHOOL EXERCISES. 25 
 
 graphy ; nondescript birds, executed with, a flourish of 
 the pen, or profiles of faces, probably intended for those 
 of his schoolmates ; the rest are all grave and business 
 like. Before he was thirteen years of age, he had 
 copied into a volume forms for all kinds of mercantile 
 and legul papers; bills of exchange, notes of hand, 
 deeds, bonds, and the like. This early self-tuition 
 gave him throughout life a lawyer's skill in drafting 
 documents, and a merchant's exactness in keeping ac- 
 counts ; so that all the concerns of his various estates ; 
 his dealings with his domestic stewards and foreign 
 agents; his accounts with government; and all his 
 financial transactions are to this day to be seen posted 
 up in books, in his own handwriting, monuments of 
 his method and unwearied accuracy. 
 
 He was a self-disciplinarian in physical as well as 
 mental matters, and practised himself in all kinds of 
 athletic exercises, such as running, leaping, wrestling, 
 pitching quoits and tossing bars. His frame even in 
 infancy had been large and powerful, and he now ex- 
 celled most of his playmates in contests of agility and 
 strength. As a proof of his muscular power, a place 
 is still pointed out at Fredericksburg, near the lower 
 ferry, where, when a boy, he flung a stone across the 
 Rappahannock. In horsemanship too he already ex- 
 celled, and was ready to back, and able to manage the 
 most fiery steed. Traditional anecdotes remain of 
 his achievements in this respect. 
 
 Above all, his inherent probity, and the principles 
 of justice on which he regulated all his conduct, even 
 at this early period of life, were soon appreciated by 
 his schoolmates ; he was referred to as an umpire in 
 
26 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1740. 
 
 their disputes, and his decisions were never reversed. 
 As he had formerly been military chieftain, he was now 
 legislator of the school ; thus displaying in boyhood a 
 type of the future man. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 patebnal conduct of an eldeb beothee — the faibfax family 
 — Washington's code of moeals and mannees — soldiers' tales 
 — theie influence — washington peepaees fob the navy — a 
 mother's objections — eetuen to school — studies and exer- 
 cises — a school-boy passion— the lowland beauty — love dit- 
 ties at mount vernon — visit to belvoie — lobd faibfax — his 
 character — fox-hunting a remedy fob love — peoposition fob 
 a surveying expedition. 
 
 The attachment of Lawrence Washington to his 
 brother George, seems to have acquired additional 
 strength and tenderness on their father's death ; he 
 now took a truly paternal interest in his concerns, and 
 had him as frequently as possible a guest at Mount 
 Vernon. Lawrence had deservedly become a popular 
 and leading personage in the country. He was a 
 member of the House of Burgesses, and adjutant- 
 general of the district, with the rank of major and a 
 regular salary. A frequent sojourn with him brought 
 George into familiar intercourse with the family of his 
 father-in-law, the Hon. William Fairfax, who resided 
 at a beautiful seat called Belvoir, a few miles below 
 Mount Vernon, and on the same woody ridge border- 
 ing the Potomac. 
 
28 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1746 
 
 William Fairfax was a man of liberal education and 
 intrinsic worth ; he had seen much of the world, and 
 his mind had been enriched and ripened by varied and 
 adventurous experience. Of an ancient English family 
 in Yorkshire, he had entered the army at the age of 
 twenty-one ; had served with honor both in the East 
 and West Indies, and officiated as governor of New 
 Providence, after having aided in rescuing it from pi- 
 rates. Eor some years past he had resided in Virginia, 
 to manage the immense landed estates of his cousin, 
 Lord Fairfax, and lived at Belvoir in the style of an 
 English country gentleman, surrounded by an intelli- 
 gent and cultivated family of sons and daughters. 
 
 An intimacy with a family like this, in which the 
 frankness and simplicity of rural and colonial life were 
 united with European refinement, could not but have 
 a beneficial effect in moulding the character and man- 
 ners of a somewhat homebred school-boy. It was prob- 
 ably his intercourse with them, and his ambition to 
 acquit himself well in their society, that set him upon 
 compiling a code of morals and manners, which still 
 exists in a manuscript in his own handwriting, entitled 
 " rules for behavior in company and conversation." It 
 is extremely minute and circumstantial. Some of the 
 rules for personal deportment extend to such trivial 
 matters, and are so quaint and formal, as almost to 
 provoke a smile ; but in the main, a better manual of 
 conduct could not be put into the hands of a youth. 
 The whole code evinces that rigid propriety and self- 
 control to which he subjected himself, and by which 
 he brought all the impulses of a somewhat ardent tem- 
 per under conscientious government. 
 
1746.J soldiers' tales. 29 
 
 Other influences were brought to bear on George 
 during his visit at Mount Vernon. His brother Law- 
 rence still retained some of his military inclinations, 
 fostered no doubt by his post of adjutant-general. 
 William Fairfax, as we have shown, had been a soldier, 
 and in many trying scenes. Some of Lawrence's com- 
 rades of the provincial regiment, who had served with 
 him in the West Indies, were occasional visitors at 
 Mount Vernon: or a ship of war, possibly one of 
 Vernon's old fleet, would anchor in the Potomac, and 
 its officers be welcome guests at the tables of Lawrence 
 and his father-in-law. Thus military scenes on sea 
 and shore would become the topics of conversation. 
 The capture of Porto Bello; the bombardment of 
 Carthagena ; old stories of cruisings in the East and 
 West Indies, and campaigns against the pirates. We 
 can picture to ourselves George, a grave and earnest 
 boy, with an expanding intellect, and a deep-seated 
 passion for enterprise, listening to such conversations 
 with a kindling spirit and a growing desire for military 
 life. In this way most probably was produced that 
 desire to enter the navy which he evinced when about 
 fourteen years of age. The opportunity for gratifying 
 it appeared at hand. Ships of war frequented the col- 
 onies, and at times, as we have hinted, were anchored 
 in the Potomac. The inclination was encouraged by 
 Lawrence Washington and Mr. Fairfax. Lawrence 
 retained pleasant recollections of his cruisings in the 
 fleet of Admiral Vernon, and considered the naval 
 service a popular path to fame and fortune. George 
 was at a suitable age to enter the navy. The great 
 difficulty was to procure the assent of his mother. 
 
30 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1746. 
 
 She was brought, however, to acquiesce ; a midship- 
 man's warrant was obtained, and it is even said that 
 the luggage of the youth was actually on board of a 
 man of war, anchored in the river just below Mount 
 Vernon. 
 
 At the eleventh hour the mother's heart faltered. 
 This was her eldest born. A son, whose strong and 
 steadfast character promised to be a support to herself 
 and a protection to her other children. The thought 
 of his being completely severed from her, and exposed 
 to the hardships and perils of a boisterous profession, 
 overcame even her resolute mind, and at her urgent 
 remonstrances the nautical scheme was given up. 
 
 To school, therefore, George returned, and contin- 
 ued his studies for nearly two years longer, devoting 
 himself especially to mathematics, and accomplishing 
 nimself in those branches calculated to fit him either 
 for civil or military service. Among these, one of the 
 most important in the actual state of the country was 
 land surveying. In this he schooled himself thor- 
 oughly, using the highest processes of the art ; making 
 surveys about the neighborhood, and keeping regular 
 field books, some of which we have examined, in which 
 the boundaries and measurements of the fields surveyed 
 were carefully entered, and diagrams made, with a 
 neatness and exactness as if the whole related to im- 
 portant land transactions instead of being mere school 
 exercises. Thus, in his earliest days, there was perse- 
 verance and completeness in all his undertakings. 
 Nothing was left half done, or done in a hurried and 
 slovenly manner. The habit of mind thus cultivated 
 continued throughout life ; so that however complicat- 
 
1747.J A SCHOOL-BOY PASSION. 31 
 
 ed his tasks and overwhelming his cares, in the ardu- 
 ous and hazardous situations in which he was often 
 placed, he found time to do every thing, and to do it 
 well. He had acquired the magic of method, which of 
 itself works wonders. 
 
 In one of these manuscript memorials of his practi- 
 cal studies and exercises, we have come upon some doc- 
 uments singularly in contrast with all that we have 
 just cited, and with his apparently unromantic charac- 
 ter. In a word, there are evidences in his own hand- 
 writing, that, before he was fifteen years of age, he had 
 conceived a passion for some unknown beauty, so seri- 
 ous as to disturb his otherwise well-regulated mind, 
 and to make him really unhappy. Why this juvenile 
 attachment was a source of unhappiness we have no 
 positive means of ascertaining. r Perhaps the object of 
 it may have considered him a mere school-boy, and 
 treated him as such ; or his own shyness may have been 
 in his way, and his " rules for behavior and conversa- 
 tion " may as yet have sat awkwardly on him, and 
 rendered him formal and ungainly when he most sought 
 to please. Even in later years he was apt to be silent 
 and embarrassed in female society. " He was a very 
 bashful young man," said an old lady, whom he used 
 to visit when they were both in their nonage. " I used 
 often to wish that he would talk more/' 
 
 Whatever may have been the reason, this early 
 attachment seems to have been a source of poignant dis- 
 comfort to him. It clung to him after he took a final 
 leave of school in the autumn of 1747, and went to re- 
 side with his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon. 
 Here he continued his mathematical studies and his 
 
32 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1747. 
 
 practice in surveying, disturbed at times by recurrences 
 of his unlucky passion. Though by no means of a 
 poetical temperament, the waste pages of his journal 
 betray several attempts to pour forth his amorous 
 sorrows in verse. They are mere common-place 
 rhymes, such as lovers at his age are apt to write, in 
 which he bewails his " poor restless heart, wounded by 
 Cupid's dart," and "bleeding for one who remains 
 pitiless of his griefs and woes." 
 
 The tenor of some of his verses induces us to believe 
 that he never told his love ; but, as we have alreadv 
 surmised, was prevented by his bashfulness. 
 
 " Ah, woe is me, that I should love and conceal ; 
 Long have I wished and never dare reveal." 
 
 It is difficult to reconcile one's self to the idea of 
 the cool and sedate Washington, the great champion of 
 American liberty, a woe-worn lover in his youthful 
 days, "sighing like furnace," and inditing plaintive 
 verses about the groves of Mount Vernon. We are 
 glad of an opportunity, however, of penetrating to his 
 native feelings, and finding that under his studied de- 
 corum and reserve he had a heart of flesh, throbbing 
 with the warm impulses of human nature. 
 
 Being a favorite of Sir William Fairfax, he was now 
 an occasional inmate of Belvoir. Among the persons 
 at present residing there, was Thomas Lord Fairfax, 
 cousin of William Fairfax, and of whose immense land- 
 ed property the latter was the agent. As this noble- 
 man was one of Washington's earliest friends, and in 
 some degree the founder of his fortunes, his character 
 and history are worthy of especial note. 
 
1747.] LORD FAIRFAX. 33 
 
 Lord Fairfax was now nearly sixty years of age, 
 upwards of six feet high, gaunt and raw-boned, near- 
 sighted, with light gray eyes, sharp features, and an 
 aquiline nose. However ungainly his present appear- 
 ance, he had figured to advantage in London life in his 
 younger days. He had received his education at the 
 university of Oxford, where he acquitted himself with 
 credit. He afterwards held a commission, and remain- 
 ed for some time in a regiment of horse called the 
 Blues. His title and connections of course gave him 
 access to the best society, in which he acquired addi- 
 tional currency by contributing a paper or two to Ad- 
 dison's Spectator, then in great vogue. 
 
 In the height of his fashionable career, he became 
 strongly attached to a young lady of rank ; paid his 
 addresses, and was accepted. The wedding day was 
 fixed; the wedding dresses were provided; together 
 with servants and equipages for the matrimonial estab- 
 lishment. Suddenly the lady broke her engagement. 
 She had been dazzled by the superior brilliancy of a 
 ducal coronet. 
 
 It was a cruel blow, alike to the affection and pride 
 of Lord Fairfax, and wrought a change in both charactei 
 and conduct. From that time he almost avoided the 
 sex, and became shy and embarrassed in their society, 
 excepting among those with whom he was connected 
 or particularly intimate. This may have been among 
 the reasons which ultimately induced him to abandon 
 the gay world, and bury himself in the wilds of Amer- 
 ica. He made a voyage to Virginia about the year 
 1739, to visit his vast estates there. These he inher- 
 ited from his mother, Catharine, daughter of Thomas, 
 
 VOL. I. 3 
 
34 life or WASHINGTON. [1748. 
 
 Lord Culpepper, to whom they had been granted by 
 Charles II. The original grant was for all the lands 
 lying between the Rappahannock and Potomac rivers ; 
 meaning thereby, it is said, merely the territory on the 
 northern neck, east of the Blue Ridge. His lordship, 
 however, discovering that the Potomac headed in the 
 Allegany Mountains, returned to England and claimed 
 a correspondent definition of his grant. It was ar- 
 ranged by compromise ; extending his domain into the 
 Allegany Mountains, and comprising, among other 
 lands, a great portion of the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 Lord Fairfax had been delighted with his visit to 
 Virginia. The amenity of the climate, the magnifi- 
 cence of th3 forest scenery, the abundance of game, — 
 all pointed it out as a favored land. He was pleased, 
 too, with the frank, cordial character of the Virginians, 
 and their independent mode of life ; and returned to it 
 with the resolution of taking up his abode there for the 
 remainder of his days. His early disappointment in 
 love was the cause of some eccentricities in his con- 
 duct ; yet he was amiable and courteous in his man- 
 ners, and of a liberal and generous spirit. 
 
 Another inmate of Belvoir at this time was George 
 William Fairfax, about twenty-two years of age, the 
 eldest son of the proprietor. He had been educated 
 in England, and since his return had married a daugh- 
 ter of Colonel Carey, of Hampton, on James River. 
 He had recently brought home his bride and her sister 
 to his father's house. 
 
 The merits of Washington were known and appreciat- 
 ed by the Fairfax family. Though not quite sixteen years 
 of age, he no longer seemed a boy, nor was he treated as 
 
1748.] THE LOWLAND BEAUTY. 35 
 
 such. Tall, athletic, and manly for his years, his early 
 self-training, and the code of conduct he had devised, 
 gave a gravity and decision to his conduct ; his frank- 
 ness and modesty inspired cordial regard, and the mel- 
 ancholy, of which he speaks, may have produced a soft- 
 ness in his manner calculated to win favor in ladies' 
 eyes. According to his own account, the female socie- 
 ty by which he was surrounded had a soothing effect 
 on that melancholy. The charms of Miss Carey, the sis- 
 ter of the bride, seem even to have caused a slight 
 fluttering in his bosom ; which, however, was constant- 
 ly rebuked by the remembrance of his former passion 
 — so at least we judge from letters to his youthful con- 
 fidants, rough drafts of which are still to be seen in his 
 tell-tale journal. 
 
 To one whom he addresses as his dear friend Rob- 
 in, he writes : " My residence is at present at his lord- 
 ship's, where I might, was my heart disengaged, pass 
 my time very pleasantly, as there's a very agreeable 
 young lady lives in the same house (Col. George Fair- 
 fax's wife's sister) ; but as that's only adding fuel to 
 fire, it makes me the more uneasy, for by often and 
 unavoidably being in company with her, revives my 
 former passion for your Lowland Beauty; whereas was 
 I to live more retired from young women, I might in 
 some measure alleviate my sorrows, by burying that 
 chaste and troublesome passion in the grave of obli- 
 vion," &c. 
 
 Similar avowals he makes to another of his young 
 correspondents, whom he styles, " Dear friend John ; " 
 as also to a female confidant, styled " Dear Sally," to 
 whom he acknowledges that the company of the " very 
 
36 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1748, 
 
 agreeable young lady, sister-in-law of Col. George 
 .Fairfax," in a great measure cheers his sorrow and de- 
 jectedness. The object of this early passion is not pos- 
 itively known. Tradition states that the "lowland 
 beauty " was a Miss Grimes, of Westmoreland, after- 
 wards Mrs. Lee, and mother of General Henry Lee, 
 who figured in revolutionary history as Light Horse 
 Harry, and was always a favorite with Washington, 
 probably from the recollections of his early tenderness 
 for the mother. 
 
 Whatever may have been the soothing effect of the 
 female society by which he was surrounded at Belvoir, 
 the youth found a more effectual remedy for his love 
 melancholy in the company of Lord Fairfax. His lord- 
 ship was a stanch fox-hunter, and kept horses and 
 hounds in the English style. The hunting season had 
 arrived. The neighborhood abounded with sport ; but 
 fox-hunting in Virginia required bold and skilful 
 horsemanship. He found Washington as bold as 
 himself in the saddle, and as eager to follow the hounds. 
 He forthwith took him into peculiar favor ; made him 
 his hunting companion; and it was probably under the 
 tuition of this hard-riding old nobleman that the youth 
 imbibed that fondness for the chase for which he was 
 afterwards remarked. 
 
 Their fox-hunting intercourse was attended with 
 more important results. His lordship's possessions 
 beyond the Blue Ridge had never been regularly set- 
 tled nor surveyed. Lawless intruders — squatters, as 
 they were called — were planting themselves along the 
 finest streams and in the richest valleys, and virtually 
 taking possession of the country. It was the anxious 
 
1748.J ENGAGEMENT AS SURVEYOR. 37 
 
 desire of Lord Fairfax to have these lands examined, 
 surveyed, and portioned out into lots, preparatory to 
 ejecting these interlopers or bringing them to reasona- 
 ble terms. In Washington, notwithstanding his youth, 
 he beheld one fit for the task — having noticed the ex- 
 ercises in surveying which he kept up while at Mount 
 Vernon, and the aptness and exactness with which 
 every process was executed. He was well calculated, 
 too, by his vigor and activity, his courage and hardi- 
 hood, to cope with the wild country to be surveyed, 
 and with its still wilder inhabitants. The proposition 
 had only to be offered to Washington to be eagerly ac- 
 cepted. It was the very kind of occupation for which 
 he had been diligently training himself. All the pre- 
 parations required by one of his simple habits were 
 soon made, and in a very few days he was ready for 
 his first expedition into the wilderness. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EXPEDITION BEYOND THE BLUE BIDGE — THE VALLEY OF THE SHENAN- 
 DOAH — LOED HALIFAX — LODGE IN THE WILDERNESS — SURVEYING 
 
 LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS — INDIANS — WAR DANCE — GERMAN SET- 
 TLERS — RETURN HOME — WASHINGTON AS PUBLIC SURVEYOR — SOJOURN 
 AT GREENWAY COURT — HORSES, HOUNDS, AND BOORS — RUGGED 
 EXPERIENCE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 It was in the month of March (1748), and just after 
 he had completed his sixteenth year, that Washington 
 set out on horseback on this surveying expedition, in 
 company with George William Fairfax. Their route 
 lay by Ashley's Gap, a pass through the Blue Ridge, 
 that beautiful line of mountains which, as yet, almost 
 formed the western frontier of inhabited Virginia. 
 Winter still lingered on the tops of the mountains, 
 whence melting snows sent down torrents, which swell- 
 ed the rivers, and occasionally rendered them almost 
 impassable. Spring, however, was softening the lower 
 parts of the landscape and smiling in the valleys. 
 They entered the great valley of Virginia, where it 
 is about twenty-five miles wide ; a lovely and temper- 
 ate region, diversified by gentle swells and slopes, 
 admirably adapted to cultivation. The Blue Ridge 
 
1748.J VALLEY OF THE SHENANDOAH. 39 
 
 bounds it on one side, the North Mountain, a ridge of 
 the Alleganies, on the other ; while through it flows 
 that bright and abounding river, which, on account of 
 its surpassing beauty, was named by the Indians the 
 Shenandoah — that is to say, " the daughter of the 
 stars." 
 
 The first station of the travellers was at a kind of 
 lodge in the wilderness, where the steward or land- 
 bailiff of Lord Halifax resided, with such negroes as 
 were required for farming purposes, and which Wash- 
 ington terms " his lordship's quarters." It was situated 
 not far from the Shenandoah, and about twelve miles 
 from the site of the present town of Winchester. 
 
 In a diary kept with his usual minuteness, Wash- 
 ington speaks with delight of the beauty of the trees 
 and the richness of the land in the neighborhood, and 
 of his riding through a noble grove of sugar-maples on 
 the banks of the Shenandoah ; and at the present day, 
 the magnificence of the forests which still exist in this 
 favored region justifies his eulogium. 
 
 He looked around, however, with an eye to the 
 profitable rather than the poetical. The gleam of 
 poetry and romance, inspired by his " lowland beauty," 
 occurs no more. The real business of life has com- 
 menced with him. His diary affords no food for 
 fancy. Every thing is practical. The qualities of the 
 soil, the relative value of sites and localities, are faith- 
 fully recorded. In these his early habits of observa- 
 tion and his exercises in surveying had already made 
 him a proficient. 
 
 His surveys commenced in the lower part of the 
 valley, some distance above the junction of the Shenan- 
 
40 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1748. 
 
 doah with the Potomac, and extended for many miles 
 along the former river. Here and there partial 
 "clearings" had been made by squatters and hardy 
 pioneers, and their rude husbandry had produced 
 abundant crops of grain, hemp, and tobacco ; civiliza- 
 tion, however, had hardly yet entered the valley, if we 
 may judge from the note of a night's lodging at the 
 house of one of the settlers — Captain Hite, near the 
 site of the present town of Winchester. Here, after 
 supper, most of the company stretched themselves in 
 backwood style, before the fire ; but Washington was 
 shown into a bedroom. Fatigued with a hard day's 
 work at surveying, he soon undressed ; but instead of 
 being nestled between sheets in a comfortable bed, as 
 at the maternal home, or at Mount Vernon, he found 
 himself on a couch of matted straw, under a threadbare 
 blanket, swarming with unwelcome bedfellows. After 
 tossing about for a few moments, he was glad to put 
 on his clothes again, and rejoin his companions before 
 the fire. 
 
 Such was his first experience of life in the wilder- 
 ness ; he soon, however, accustomed himself to " rough 
 it," and adapt himself to fare of all kinds, though he 
 generally preferred a bivouac before a fire, in the open 
 air, to the accommodations of a woodman's cabin. Pro- 
 ceeding down the valley to the banks of the Potomac, 
 they found that river so much swollen by the rain 
 which had fallen among the Alleganies, as to be un- 
 fordable. To while away the time until it should 
 subside, they made an excursion to examine certain 
 warm springs in a valley among the mountains, since 
 called the Berkeley Springs. There they camped out 
 
1748.J LIFE IN THE WILDERNESS. 41 
 
 at night, under the stars ; the diary makes no complaint 
 of their accommodations ; and their camping-ground 
 is now known as Bath, one of the favorite watering- 
 places of Virginia. One of the warm springs was 
 subsequently appropriated by Lord Fairfax to his own 
 use, and still bears his name. 
 
 After watching in vain for the river to subside, 
 they procured a canoe, on which they crossed to the 
 Maryland side, swimming their horses. A weary 
 day's ride of forty miles up the left side of the river, 
 in a continual rain, and over what Washington pro- 
 nounces the worst road ever trod by man or beast, 
 brought them to the house of a Colonel Cresap, oppo- 
 site the south branch of the Potomac, where they put 
 up for the night. 
 
 Here they were detained three or four days by 
 inclement weather. On the second day they were 
 surprised by the appearance of a war party of thirty 
 Indians, bearing a scalp as a trophy. A little liquor 
 procured the spectacle of a war-dance. A large space 
 was cleared and a fire made in the centre, round which 
 the warriors took their seats. The principal orator 
 made a speech, reciting their recent exploits, and rous- 
 ing them to triumph. One of the warriors started up 
 as if from sleep, and began a series of movements half- 
 grotesque, half-tragical ; the rest followed. Tor music, 
 one savage drummed on a deerskin, stretched over a 
 pot half filled with water; another rattled a gourd, 
 containing a few shot, and decorated with a horse's tail. 
 Their strange outcries, and uncouth forms and garbs, 
 seen by the glare of the fire, and their whoops and yells, 
 made them appear more like demons than human be- 
 
42 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1^8. 
 
 ings. All this savage gambol was no novelty to Wash- 
 ington's companions, experienced in frontier life; bnt 
 to the yonth, fresh from school, it was a strange spec- 
 tacle, which he sat contemplating with deep interest, 
 and carefully noted down in his journal. It will be 
 found that he soon made himself acquainted with the 
 savage character, and became expert at dealing with 
 these inhabitants of the wilderness. 
 
 From this encampment the party proceeded to the 
 mouth of Patterson's Creek, where they recrossed the 
 river in a canoe, swimming their horses as before. 
 More than two weeks were now passed by them in the 
 wild mountainous regions of Frederick County, and 
 about the south branch of the Potomac, surveying lands 
 and laying out lots, camped out the greater part of 
 the time, and subsisting on wild turkeys and other 
 game. Each one was his own cook; forked sticks 
 served for spits, and chips of wood for dishes. The 
 weather was unsettled. At one time their tent was 
 blown down ; at another they were driven out of it by 
 smoke ; now they were drenched with rain, and now 
 the straw on which Washington was sleeping caught 
 fire, and he was awakened by a companion just in time 
 to escape a scorching. 
 
 The only variety to this camp life was a supper at 
 the house of one Solomon Hedge, Esquire, his majesty's 
 justice of the peace, where there were no forks at table, 
 nor any knives, but such as the guests brought in their 
 pockets. During their surveys they were followed by 
 numbers of people, some of them squatters, anxious, 
 doubtless, to procure a cheap title to the land they 
 had appropriated; others, German emigrants, with 
 
1748-50. 1 RETURN HOME. 43 
 
 their wives and children, seeking a new home in the 
 wilderness. Most of the latter could not speak Eng- 
 lish; but when spoken to answered in their native 
 tongue. They appeared to Washington ignorant as 
 Indians, and uncouth, but " merry, and full of antic 
 tricks." Such were the progenitors of the sturdy 
 yeomanry now inhabiting those parts, many of whom 
 still preserve their strong German characteristics. 
 
 " I have not slept above three or four nights in a 
 bed," writes Washington to one of his young friends 
 at home, " but after walking a good deal all the day, I 
 have lain down before the fire upon a little straw or 
 fodder, or a bearskin, whichever was to be had, with 
 man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats ; and hap- 
 py is he who gets the berth nearest the fire." 
 
 Having completed his surveys, he set forth from 
 the south branch of the Potomac on his return home- 
 ward ; crossed the mountains to the great Cacapehon ; 
 traversed the Shenandoah valley ; passed through the 
 Blue Ridge, and on the 12th of April found himself 
 once more at Mount Vernon. For his services he 
 received, according to his note-book, a doubloon per 
 day when actively employed, and sometimes six pis- 
 toles.* 
 
 The manner in which he had acquitted himself in 
 this arduous expedition, and his accounts of the 
 country surveyed, gave great satisfaction to Lord 
 Fairfax, who shortly afterwards moved across the Blue 
 Ridge, and took up his residence at the place hereto- 
 fore noted as his "quarters." Here he laid out a 
 
 * A pistole is $3 60. A doubloon is double that sum. 
 
44 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1748-50. 
 
 manor, containing ten thousand acres of arable grazing 
 land, vast meadows, and noble forests, and projected a 
 spacious manor-house, giving to the place the name of 
 Greenway Court. 
 
 It was probably tlirough the influence of Lord 
 Fairfax that Washington received the appointment of 
 public surveyor. This conferred authority on his sur- 
 veys, and entitled them to be recorded in the county 
 offices; and so invariably correct have these surveys 
 been found, that, to this day, wherever any of them 
 stand on record, they receive implicit credit. 
 
 For three years he continued in this occupation, 
 which proved extremely profitable, from the vast extent 
 of country to be surveyed and the very limited number 
 of public surveyors. It made him acquainted, also, 
 with the country, the nature of the soil in various parts, 
 and the value of localities ; all which proved advan- 
 tageous to him in his purchases in after years. Many 
 of the finest parts of the Shenandoah valley are yet 
 owned by members of the Washington family. 
 
 While thus employed for months at a time survey- 
 ing the lands beyond the Blue Ridge, he was often an 
 inmate of Greenway Court. The projected manor- 
 house was never even commenced. On a green knoll 
 overshadowed by trees was a long stone building, one 
 story in height, with dormer windows, two wooden 
 belfries, chimneys studded with swallow and martin 
 coops, and a roof sloping down in the old Virginia 
 fashion, into low projecting eaves that formed a veran- 
 dah the whole length of the house. It was probably 
 the house originally occupied by his steward or land 
 agent, but was now devoted to hospitable purposes, 
 
1748-50.] GREEN WAY COURT. 45 
 
 and the reception of guests. As to his lordship, it was 
 one of his many eccentricities, that he never slept in 
 the main edifice, but lodged apart in a wooden house 
 not much above twelve feet square. In a small build- 
 ing was his office, where quitrents were given, deeds 
 drawn, and business transacted with his tenants. 
 
 About the knoll were out-houses for his numerous 
 servants, black and white, with stables for saddle- 
 horses and hunters, and kennels for his hounds, for his 
 lordship retained his keen hunting propensities, and the 
 neighborhood abounded in game. Indians, half-breeds, 
 and leathern-clad woodsmen loitered about the place, 
 and partook of the abundance of the kitchen. His 
 lordship's table was plentiful but plain, and served in 
 the English fashion. 
 
 Here Washington had full opportunity, in the 
 proper seasons, of indulging his fondness for field 
 sports, and once more accompanying his lordship in 
 the chase. The conversation of Lord Fairfax, too, was 
 full of interest and instruction to an inexperienced 
 youth, from his cultivated talents, his literary taste, and 
 his past intercourse with the best society of Europe, 
 and its most distinguished authors. He had brought 
 books, too, with him into the wilderness, and from 
 Washington's diary we find, that during his sojourn 
 here he was diligently reading the history of England, 
 and the essays of the Spectator. 
 
 Such was Greenway Court in these its palmy days. 
 We visited it recently, and found it tottering to its 
 fall, mouldering in the midst of a magnificent country, 
 where nature still flourishes in full luxuriance and 
 beauty. 
 
46 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1748-50. 
 
 Three or four years were thus passed by Washing- 
 ton, the greater part of the time beyond the Blue 
 Ridge, but occasionally with his brother Lawrence at 
 Mount Vernon. His rugged and toilsome expeditions 
 in the mountains, among rude scenes and rough people, 
 inured him to hardships, and made him apt at expedi- 
 ents ; while his intercourse with his cultivated brother, 
 and with the various members of the Fairfax family, 
 had a happy effect in toning up his mind and manners, 
 and counteracting the careless and self-indulgent habi- 
 tudes of the wilderness. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 ENGLISH AND FEENCH CLAIMS TO THE OniO VALLEY — WILD STATE OF 
 THE COUNTRY — PROJECTS OF SETTLEMENTS — THE OHIO COMPANY — 
 ENLIGHTENED VIEWS OF LAWRENCE WASHINGTON — FRENCH RIVALRY 
 CELERON DE BIENVILLE — HIS SIGNS OF OCCUPATION — HUGH CRAW- 
 FORD — GEORGE CROGHAN, A VETERAN TRADER, AND MONTOUR, HIS 
 INTERPRETER — THEIR MISSION FROM PENNSYLVANIA TO THE OHIO 
 TRIBES — CHRISTOPHER GIST, THE PIONEER OF THE YADKIN — AGENT OF 
 THE OHIO COMPANY — HIS EXPEDITION TO THE FRONTIER — REPROBATE 
 
 TRADERS AT LOGSTOWN — NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE INDIANS SCENES 
 
 IN THE OHIO COUNTRY — DIPLOMACY AT PIQUA — KEGS OF BRANDY 
 AND BOLLS OF TOBACCO— GIST'S RETURN ACROSS KENTUCKY — A DE- 
 SERTED HOME — FRENCH SCHEMES — CAPTAIN JONOAERE, A DIPLOMAT 
 OF THE WILDERNESS — HIS SPEECH AT LOGSTOWN — THE INDIANS' 
 LAND — " WHERE ? " 
 
 During the time of Washington's surveying campaigns 
 among the mountains, a grand colonizing scheme had 
 been set on foot, destined to enlist him in hardy 
 enterprises, and in some degree to shape the course of 
 his future fortunes. 
 
 The treaty of peace concluded at Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 which had put an end to the general war of Europe, 
 had left undefined the boundaries between the British 
 and Trench possessions in America ; a singular remiss- 
 ness, considering that they had long been a subject in 
 
48 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 dispute, and a cause of frequent conflicts in the 
 colonies. Immense regions were still claimed by both 
 nations, and each was now eager to forestall the other 
 by getting possession of them, and strengthening its 
 claim by occupancy. 
 
 The most desirable of these regions lay west of 
 the Allegany Mountains, extending from the lakes to 
 the Ohio, and embracing the valley of that river and its 
 tributary streams. An immense territory, possessing 
 a salubrious climate, fertile soil, fine hunting and 
 fishing grounds, and facilities by lakes and rivers for a 
 vast internal commerce. 
 
 The French claimed all this country quite to the 
 Allegany Mountains, by the right of discovery. In 
 1673, Padre Marquette, with his companion, Joliet, of 
 Quebec, both subjects of the crown of France, had 
 passed down the Mississippi in a canoe quite to the 
 Arkansas, thereby, according to an alleged maxim in 
 the law of nations, establishing the right of their 
 sovereign, not merely to the river so discovered and 
 its adjacent lands, but to all the country drained by 
 its tributary streams, of which the Ohio was one ; a 
 claim, the ramifications of which might be spread, like 
 the meshes of a web, over half the continent. 
 
 To this illimitable claim the English opposed a 
 right derived, at second hand, from a traditionary 
 Indian conquest. A treaty they said, had been made 
 at Lancaster, in 1744, between commissioners from 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, and the Iroquois, 
 or Six Nations, whereby the latter, for four hundred 
 pounds, gave up all right and title to the land west of 
 the Allegany Mountains, even to the Mississippi, 
 
INDIAN TRADERS. 49 
 
 which land, according to their traditions, had been 
 conquered by their forefathers. 
 
 It is undoubtedly true that such a treaty was made, 
 and such a pretended transfer of title did take place, 
 under the influence of spirituous liquors ; but it is 
 equally true that the Indians in question did not, at 
 the time, possess an acre of the land conveyed; and that 
 the tribes actually in possession scoffed at their preten- 
 sions, and claimed the country as their own from time 
 immemorial. 
 
 Such were the shadowy foundations of claims 
 which the two nations were determined to maintain 
 to the uttermost, and which ripened into a series of 
 wars, ending in a loss to England of a great part of 
 her American possessions, and to Prance of the whole. 
 
 As yet in the region in question there was not a 
 single w T hite settlement. Mixed Iroquois tribes of 
 Delawares, Shawnees, and Mingoes, had migrated into 
 it early in the century from the French settlements in 
 Canada, and taken up their abodes about the Ohio 
 and its branches. The French pretended to hold them 
 under their protection; but their allegiance, if ever 
 acknowledged, had been sapped of late years by the 
 influx of fur traders from Pennsylvania. These were 
 often rough, lawless men; half Indians in dress and 
 habits, prone to brawls, and sometimes deadly in their 
 feuds. They were generally in the employ of some 
 trader, who, at the head of his retainers and a string 
 of packhorses, would make his way over mountains 
 and through forests to the banks of the Ohio, establish 
 his head-quarters in some Indian town, and disperse 
 his followers to traffic among the hamlets, hunting- 
 
 VOL. I. — 4 
 
50 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 camps and wigwams, exchanging blankets, gaudy col- 
 ored cloth, trinketry, powder, shot, and mm, for val- 
 uable furs and peltry. In this way a lucrative trade 
 with these western tribes was springing up and be- 
 coming monopolized by the Pennsylvanians. 
 
 To secure a participation in this trade, and to gain 
 a foothold in this desirable region, became now the 
 wish of some of the most intelligent and enterprising 
 men of Virginia and Maryland, among whom were 
 Lawrence and Augustine Washington. With these 
 views they projected a scheme in connection with 
 John Hanbury, a wealthy London merchant, to obtain 
 a grant of land from the British government, for the 
 purpose of forming settlements or colonies beyond the 
 Alleganies. Government readily countenanced a 
 scheme by which Trench encroachments might be fore- 
 stalled, and prompt and quiet possession secured of the 
 great Ohio valley. An association was accordingly 
 chartered in 1749, by the name of " the Ohio Compa- 
 ny," and five hundred thousand acres of land were 
 granted to it west of the Alleganies; between the 
 Monongahela and Kanawha rivers ; though part of the 
 land might be taken up north of the Ohio, should it 
 be deemed expedient. The company were to pay no 
 quitrent for ten years; but they were to select two 
 fifths of their lands immediately ; to settle one hundred 
 families upon them within seven years ; to build a fort 
 at their own expense, and maintain a sufficient garri- 
 son in it for defence against the Indians. 
 
 Mr. Thomas Lee, president of the council of Vir- 
 ginia, took the lead in the concerns of the company 
 at the outset, and by many has been considered its 
 
LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE. 51 
 
 founder. On his death, which soon took place, Law- 
 rence Washington had the chief management. His 
 enlightened mind and liberal spirit shone forth in his 
 earliest arrangements. He wished to form the settle- 
 ments with Germans from Pennsylvania. Being dis- 
 senters, however, they would be obliged, on becoming 
 residents within the jurisdiction of Virginia, to pay 
 parish rates, and maintain a clergyman of the Church 
 of England, though they might not understand his 
 language nor relish his doctrines. Lawrence sought 
 to have them exempted from this double tax on purse 
 and conscience. 
 
 " It has ever been my opinion," said he, " and I 
 hope it ever will be, that restraints on conscience are 
 cruel in regard to those on whom they are imposed, 
 and injurious to the country imposing them. England, 
 Holland, and Prussia, I may quote as examples, and 
 much more Pennsylvania, which has flourished under 
 that delightful liberty, so as to become the admiration 
 of every man who considers the short time it has been 
 settled. * * * This colony (Virginia) was 
 greatly settled in the latter part of Charles the First's 
 time, and during the usurpation,by the zealous church- 
 men ; and that spirit, which was then brought in, has 
 ever since continued ; so that, except a few Quakers, 
 we have no dissenters. But what has been the conse- 
 quence ? We have increased by slow degrees, whilst 
 our neighboring colonies, whose natural advantages 
 are greatly inferior to ours, have become populous." 
 
 Such were the enlightened views of this brother of 
 our Washington, to whom the latter owed much of his 
 moral and mental training. The company proceeded 
 
52 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 to make preparations for their colonizing scheme. 
 Goods were imported from England suited to the 
 Indian trade, or for presents to the chiefs. Rewards 
 were promised to veteran warriors and hunters among 
 the natives acquainted with the woods and mountains, 
 for the best route to the Ohio. Before the company 
 had received its charter, however, the French were in 
 the field. Early in 1749, the Marquis de la Galison- 
 niere, Governor of Canada, despatched Celeron de 
 Bienville, an intelligent officer, at the head of three 
 hundred men, to the banks of the Ohio, to make peace, 
 as he said, between the tribes that had become em- 
 broiled with each other during the late war, and to 
 renew the French possession of the country. Celeron 
 de Bienville distributed presents among the Indians, 
 made speeches reminding them of former friendship, 
 and warned them not to trade with the English. 
 
 He furthermore nailed leaden plates to trees, and 
 buried others in the earth, at the confluence of the 
 Ohio and its tributaries, bearing inscriptions purporting 
 that all the lands on both sides of the rivers to their 
 sources appertained, as in foregone times, to the crown 
 of France.* The Indians gazed at these mysterious 
 plates with wondering eyes, but surmised their pur- 
 port. "They mean to steal our country from us," 
 murmured they ; and they determined to seek protec- 
 tion from the English. 
 
 Celeron, finding some traders from Pennsylvania 
 trafficking among the Indians, summoned them to 
 depart, and wrote by them to James Hamilton, Gov- 
 
 * One of these plates, bearing date August 16, 1740, was found in re- 
 cent years at the confluence of the Muskingum with the Ohio. 
 
GEORGE CROGHAN CHRISTOPHER GIST. 53 
 
 ernor of Pennsylvania, telling him the object of his 
 errand to those parts, and his surprise at meeting with 
 English traders in a country to which England had no 
 pretensions ; intimating that, in future, any intruders 
 of the kind would be rigorously dealt with. 
 
 His letter, and a report of his proceedings on the 
 Ohio, roused the solicitude of the governor and council 
 of Pennsylvania, for the protection of their Indian 
 trade. Shortly afterwards, one Hugh Crawford, who 
 had been trading with the Miami tribes on the Wa- 
 bash, brought a message from them, speaking of the 
 promises and threats with which the Erench were 
 endeavoring to shake their faith, but assuring the gov- 
 ernor that their friendship for the English " would last 
 while the sun and moon ran round the world." This 
 message was accompanied by three strings of wam- 
 pum. 
 
 Governor Hamilton knew the value of Indian 
 friendship, and suggested to the Assembly that it would 
 be better to clinch it with presents, and that as soon 
 as possible. An envoy accordingly was sent off early 
 in October, who was supposed to have great influence 
 among the western tribes. This was one George 
 Croghan, a veteran trader, shrewd and sagacious, who 
 had been frequently to the Ohio country with pack- 
 horses and followers, and made himself popular among 
 the Indians by dispensing presents with a lavish hand. 
 He was accompanied by Andrew Montour, a Canadian 
 of half Indian descent, who was to act as interpreter. 
 They were provided with a small present for the emer- 
 gency ; but were to convoke a meeting of all the tribes 
 at Logstown, on the Ohio, early in the ensuing spring, 
 
54 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 to receive an ample present which would be provided 
 by the Assembly. 
 
 It was some time later in the same autumn that the 
 Ohio company brought their plans into operation, and 
 despatched an agent to explore the lands upon the 
 Ohio and its branches as low as the Great Palls, take 
 note of their fitness for cultivation, of the passes 
 of the mountains, the courses and bearings of the 
 rivers, and the strength and disposition of the native 
 tribes. The man chosen for the purpose was Chris- 
 topher Gist, a hardy pioneer, experienced in woodcraft 
 and Indian life, who had his home on the banks of the 
 Yadkin, near the boundary line of Virginia and North 
 Carolina. He was allowed a woodsman or two for the 
 service of the expedition. He set out on the 31st of 
 October, from the banks of the Potomac, by an Indian 
 path which the hunters had pointed out, leading from 
 Wills' Creek, since called Cumberland River, to the 
 Ohio. Indian paths and buffalo tracks are the primi- 
 tive highways of the wilderness. Passing the Juniata, 
 he crossed the ridges of the Allegany, arrived at Shan- 
 nopin, a Delaware village on the south-east side of the 
 Ohio, or rather of that upper branch of it now called 
 the Allegany, swam his horses across that river, and 
 descending along its valley arrived at Logstown, an 
 important Indian village a little below the site of the 
 present city of Pittsburg. Here usually resided Tan- 
 acharisson, a Seneca chief of great note, being head 
 sachem of the mixed tribes who had migrated to the 
 Ohio and its branches. He was generally surnamed 
 the half-king, being subordinate to the Iroquois confed- 
 eracy. The chief was absent at this time, as were most 
 
GIST AT MUSKINGUM. 55 
 
 of his people, it being the hunting season. George 
 Croghan, the envoy from Pennsylvania, with Montour 
 his interpreter, had passed through Logstown a week 
 previously, on his way to the Twightwees and other 
 tribes, on the Miami branch of the Ohio. Scarce any 
 one was to be seen about the village but some of 
 Croghan's rough people, whom he had left behind — 
 "reprobate Indian traders," as Gist terms them. They 
 regarded the latter with a jealous eye, suspecting him 
 of some rivalship in trade, or designs on the Indian 
 lands; and intimated significantly that "he would 
 never go home safe." 
 
 Gist knew the meaning of such hints from men of 
 this stamp in the lawless depths of the wilderness ; but 
 quieted their suspicions by letting them know that he 
 was on public business, and on good terms with their 
 great man, George Croghan, to whom he despatched 
 a letter. He took his departure from Logstown, 
 however, as soon as possible, preferring, as he said, the 
 solitude of the wilderness to such company. 
 
 At Beaver Creek, a few miles below the village, 
 he left the river and struck into the interior of the 
 present State of Ohio. Here he overtook George 
 Croghan at Muskingum, a town of Wyandots and 
 Mingoes. He had ordered all the traders in his em- 
 ploy who were scattered among the Indian villages, to 
 rally at this town, where he had hoisted the English 
 flag over his residence, and over that of the sachem. 
 This was in consequence of the hostility of the French, 
 who had recently captured, in the neighborhood, three 
 white men in the employ of Prazier, an Indian trader, 
 and had carried them away prisoners to Canada. 
 
56 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Gist was well received by the people of Muskin- 
 gum. They were indignant at the Trench violation 
 of their territories, and the capture of their " English 
 brothers." They had not forgotten the conduct of 
 Celeron de Bienville in the previous year, and the mys- 
 terious plates which he had nailed against trees and 
 sunk in the ground. " If the Trench claim the rivers 
 which run into the lakes," said they, " those which run 
 into the Ohio belong to us and to our brothers the 
 English." And they were anxious that Gist should 
 settle among them, and build a fort for their mutual 
 defence. 
 
 A council of the nation was now held, in which 
 Gist invited them, in the name of the Governor of 
 Virginia, to visit that province, where a large present 
 of goods awaited them, sent by their father, the great 
 king, over the water to his Ohio children. The invi- 
 tation was graciously received, but no answer could be 
 given until a grand council of the western tribes had 
 been held, which was to take place at Logstown in the 
 ensuing spring. 
 
 Similar results attended visits made by Gist and 
 Croghan to the Delawares and the Shawnees at their 
 villages about the Scioto River ; all promised to be at 
 the gathering at Logstown. Erom the Shawnee vil- 
 lage, near the mouth of the Scioto, the two emissaries 
 shaped their course north two hundred miles, crossed 
 the Great Moneami, or Miami River, on a raft, swim- 
 ming their horses ; and on the 17th of Eebruary arri- 
 ved at the Indian town of Piqua. 
 
 These journeyings had carried Gist about a wide 
 extent of country beyond the Ohio. It was rich and 
 
DIPLOMACY AT PIQUA. 57 
 
 level, watered with streams and rivulets, and clad with 
 noble forests of hickory, walnut, ash, poplar, sugar- 
 maple, and wild cherry-trees. Occasionally there were 
 spacious plains covered with wild rye; natural mea- 
 dows, with blue grass and clover ; and buffaloes, thirty 
 and forty at a time, grazing on them as in a cultivat- 
 ed pasture. Deer, elk, and wild turkeys abounded. 
 " Nothing is wanted but cultivation," said Gist, " to 
 make this a most delightful country. " Cultivation has 
 since proved the truth of his words. The country 
 thus described is the present State of Ohio. 
 
 Piqua, where Gist and Croghan had arrived, was 
 the principal town of the Twightwees or Miamis ; the 
 most powerful confederacy of the West, combining 
 four tribes, and extending its influence even beyond the 
 Mississippi. A king or sachem of one or other of 
 the different tribes presided over the whole. The head 
 chief at present was the king of the Piankeshas. 
 
 At this town Croghan formed a treaty of alliance 
 in the name of the Governor of Pennsylvania with two 
 of the Miami tribes. And Gist was promised by the 
 king of the Piankeshas, that the chiefs of the various 
 tribes would attend the meeting at Logstown to make 
 a treaty with Virginia. 
 
 In the height of these demonstrations of friendship, 
 two Ottawas entered the council-house, announcing 
 themselves as envoys from the Prench Governor of 
 Canada to seek a renewal of ancient alliance. They 
 were received with all due ceremonial ; for none are 
 more ceremonious than the Indians. The Prench 
 colors were set up beside the English, and the ambas- 
 sadors opened their mission. " Your father, the Prench 
 
58 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 king," said they, "remembering his children on the 
 Ohio, has sent them these two kegs of milk ; " — here, 
 with great solemnity, they deposited two kegs of 
 brandy, — " and this tobacco " — here they deposited a 
 roll ten pounds in weight. " He has made a clean road 
 for you to come and see him and his officers; and 
 urges you to come, assuring you that all past differ- 
 ences will be forgotten." 
 
 The Piankesha chief replied in the same figura- 
 tive style. "It is true our father has sent for us 
 several times, and has said the road was clear; but I 
 understand it is not clear — it is foul and bloody, 
 and the French have made it so. We have cleared a 
 road for our brothers, the English; the French have 
 made it bad, and have taken some of our brothers 
 prisoners. This we consider as done to ourselves." 
 So saying, he turned his back upon the ambassadors, 
 and stalked out of the council-house. 
 
 In the end the ambassadors were assured that the 
 tribes of the Ohio and the Six Nations were hand in 
 hand with their brothers, the English ; and should war 
 ensue with the Erench, they were ready to meet it. 
 
 So the Erench colors were taken down ; the " kegs 
 of milk " and roll of tobacco were rejected ; the grand 
 council broke up with a war-dance, and the ambassa- 
 dors departed, weeping and howling, and predicting 
 ruin to the Miamis. 
 
 When Gist returned to the Shawnee town, near the 
 mouth of the Scioto, and reported to his Indian friends 
 there the alliance he had formed with the Miami con- 
 federacy, there was great feasting and speech-making, 
 and firing of guns. He had now happily accomplish- 
 
GIST S RETURN ACROSS KENTUCKY. 59 
 
 ed the chief object of his mission — nothing remained 
 but to descend the Ohio to the Great Tails. This, 
 however, he was cautioned not to do. A large party 
 of Indians, allies of the French, were hunting in that 
 neighborhood, who might kill or capture him. He 
 crossed the river, attended only by a lad as a travelling 
 companion and aid, and proceeded cautiously down 
 the east side until within fifteen miles of the Palls. 
 Here he came upon traps newly set, and Indian foot- 
 prints not a day old ; and heard the distant report of 
 guns. The story of Indian hunters then was true. 
 He was in a dangerous neighborhood. The savages 
 might come upon the tracks of his horses, or hear the 
 bells put about their necks when turned loose in the 
 wilderness to graze. 
 
 Abandoning all idea, therefore, of visiting the Falls, 
 and contenting himself with the information concerning 
 them which he had received from others, he shaped his 
 course on the 18th of March for the Cuttawa, or Ken- 
 tucky River. From the top of a mountain in the 
 vicinity he had a view to the south-west as far as the 
 eye could reach, over a vast woodland country in the 
 fresh garniture of spring, and watered by abundant 
 streams ; but as yet only the hunting-ground of savage 
 tribes, and the scene of their sanguinary combats. In 
 a word, Kentucky lay spread out before him in all its 
 wild magnificence ; long before it was beheld by Daniel 
 Boone. 
 
 For six weeks was this hardy pioneer making his 
 toilful way up the valley of the Cuttawa, or Kentucky 
 River, to the banks of the Blue Stone ; often checked 
 by precipices, and obliged to seek fords at the heads 
 
60 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 of tributary streams ; and happy when he could find a 
 buffalo path broken through the tangled forests, or 
 worn into the everlasting rocks. 
 
 On the 1st of May he climbed a rock sixty feet 
 high, crowning a lofty mountain, and had a distant 
 view of the great Kanawha, breaking its way through 
 a vast sierra ; crossing that river on a raft of his own 
 construction, he had many more weary days before 
 him, before he reached his frontier abode on the banks 
 of the Yadkin. He arrived there in the latter part of 
 May, but there was no one to welcome the wanderer 
 home. There had been an Indian massacre in the 
 neighborhood, and he found his house silent and 
 deserted. His heart sank within him, until an old 
 man whom he met near the place assured him his 
 family were safe, having fled for refuge to a settlement 
 thirty-five miles off, on the banks of the Roanoke. 
 There he rejoined them on the following day. 
 
 While Gist had been making his painful way home- 
 ward, the two Ottawa ambassadors had returned to 
 Fort Sandusky, bringing word to the French that 
 their flag had been struck in the council-house at 
 Piqua, and their friendship rejected and their hostility 
 defied by the Miamis. They informed them also of 
 the gathering of the western tribes that was to take 
 place at Logstown, to conclude a treaty with the Virgin- 
 ians. 
 
 It was a great object with the French to prevent this 
 treaty, and to spirit up the Ohio Indians against the 
 English. This they hoped to effect through the agency 
 of one Captain Joncaire, a veteran diplomatist of the 
 
CAPTAIN JONCAIRE. 61 
 
 wilderness, whose character and story deserve a passing 
 notice. 
 
 He had been taken prisoner when quite young by 
 the Iroquois, and adopted into one of their tribes. 
 This was the making of his fortune. He had grown 
 up among them, acquired their language, adapted him- 
 self to their habits, and was considered by them as one 
 of themselves. On returning to civilized life, he be- 
 came a prime instrument in the hands of the Canadian 
 government, for managing and cajoling the Indians. 
 Sometimes he was an ambassador to the Iroquois ; 
 sometimes a mediator between the jarring tribes; 
 sometimes a leader of their warriors when employed by 
 the French. When in 1728 the Delawares and Shaw- 
 nees migrated to the banks of the Ohio, Joncaire was 
 the agent who followed them, and prevailed on them 
 to consider themselves under French protection. 
 When the French wanted to get a commanding site 
 for a post on the Iroquois lands, near Niagara, Joncaire 
 was the man to manage it. He craved a situation 
 where he might put up a wigwam, and dwell among 
 his Iroquois brethren. It was granted of course, " for 
 was he not a son of the tribe — was he not one of 
 themselves ? " By degrees his wigwam grew into an 
 important trading post; ultimately it became Fort 
 Niagara. Years and years had elapsed ; he had grown 
 gray in Indian diplomacy, and was now sent once more 
 to maintain French sovereignty over the valley of the 
 Ohio. 
 
 He appeared at Logstown accompanied by another 
 Frenchman, and forty Iroquois warriors. He found an 
 assemblage of the western tribes, feasting and rejoicing, 
 
62 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 and firing of guns, for George Croghan and Montour 
 the interpreter were there, and had been distributing 
 presents on behalf of the Governor of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Joncaire was said to have the wit of a Frenchman, 
 and the eloquence of an Iroquois. He made an ani- 
 mated speech to the chiefs in their own tongue, the 
 gist of which was that their father Onontio (that is to 
 say, the Governor of Canada) desired his children of 
 the Ohio to turn away the Indian traders, and never to 
 deal with them again on pain of his displeasure ; so 
 saying, he laid down a wampum belt of uncommon 
 size, by way of emphasis to his message. 
 
 For once his eloquence was of no avail ; a chief rose 
 indignantly, shook his finger in his face, and stamping 
 on the ground, " this is our land," said he. " What 
 right has Onontio here ? The English are our broth- 
 ers. They shall live among us as long as one of us is 
 alive. We will trade with them, and not with you ; " 
 and so saying he rejected the belt of wampum. 
 
 Joncaire returned to an advanced post recently 
 established on the upper part of the river, whence he 
 wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania : " The Marquis 
 de la Jonquiere, Governor of New Prance, having or- 
 dered me to watch that the English make no treaty in 
 the Ohio country, I have signified to the traders of 
 your government to retire. You are not ignorant that 
 all these lands belong to the king of Prance, and that 
 the English have no right to trade in them." He 
 concluded by reiterating the threat made two years 
 previously by Celeron de Bienville against all intruding 
 fur traders. 
 
 In the mean time, in the face of all these protests 
 
THE INDIANS LAND. 63 
 
 and menaces, Mr. Gist, under sanction of the Virginia 
 Legislature, proceeded in the same year to survey the 
 lands within the grant of the Ohio company, lying on 
 the south side of the Ohio river, as far down as the 
 great Kanawha. An old Delaware sachem, meeting 
 him while thus employed, propounded a somewhat 
 puzzling question. " The French," said he, " claim all 
 the land on one side of the Ohio, the English claim all 
 the land on the other side — now where does the In- 
 dians' land he ? " 
 
 Poor savages ! Between their "fathers," the French, 
 and their " brothers," the English, they were in a fair 
 way of being most lovingly shared out of the whole 
 country. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PBEPARATIONS TOE HOSTILITIES — WASHINGTON APPOINTED DISTBIOT AD- 
 JUTANT-GENEEAL — MOUNT VEENON A SCHOOL OF AEMS — ADJUTANT 
 MUSE A VETEEAN CAMPAIGNEE — JACOB VAN BEAAM THE MASTEE OF 
 FENCE — ILL HEALTH OF WASHINGTON'S BEOTHEE LAWEENOE — VOYAGE 
 
 WITH HIM TO THE WEST INDIES — SCENES AT BAEBADOES TEOPIOAL 
 
 FRUITS — BEEFSTEAK AND TRIPE CLUB— EETUEN HOME OF WASHING- 
 TON — DEATn OF LAWEENOE. 
 
 The French now prepared for hostile contingencies. 
 They launched an armed vessel of unusual size on Lake 
 Ontario; fortified their trading house at Niagara; 
 strengthened their outposts, and advanced others on 
 the upper waters of the Ohio. A stir of warlike pre- 
 paration was likewise to be observed among the British 
 colonies. It was evident that the adverse claims to the 
 disputed territories, if pushed home, could only be 
 settled by the stern arbitrament of the sword. 
 
 In Virginia, especially, the war spirit was manifest. 
 The province was divided into military districts, each 
 having an adjutant-general, with the rank of major, and 
 the pay of one hundred and fifty pounds a year, whose 
 duty was to attend to the organization and equipment 
 of the militia. 
 
 Such an appointment was sought by Lawrence 
 
1751. J MOUNT VERNON A SCHOOL 01? AUMS. 65 
 
 Washington for his brother George. It shows what 
 must have been the maturity of mind of the latter, and 
 the confidence inspired by his judicious conduct and 
 aptness for business, that the post should not only be 
 sought for him, but readily obtained; though he was 
 yet but nineteen years of age. He proved himself 
 worthy of the appointment. 
 
 He now set about preparing himself, with his usual 
 method and assiduity, for his new duties. Virginia 
 had among its floating population some military relics 
 of the late Spanish war. Among these was a certain 
 Adjutant Muse, a Westmoreland volunteer, who had 
 served with Lawrence Washington in the campaigns in 
 the West Indies, and had been with him in the attack 
 on Carthagena. He now undertook to instruct his 
 brother George in the art of war ; lent him treatises on 
 military tactics ; put him through the manual exercise, 
 and gave him some idea of evolutions in the field. 
 Another of Lawrence's campaigning comrades was 
 Jacob Van Braam, a Dutchman by birth ; a soldier of 
 fortune of the Dalgetty order ; who had been in the 
 British army, but was now out of service, and, profes- 
 sing to be a complete master of fence, recruited his 
 slender purse in this time of military excitement, by 
 giving the Virginian youth lessons in the sword exercise. 
 
 Under the instructions of these veterans Mount 
 Vernon, from being a quiet rural retreat, where Wash- 
 ington, three years previously, had indited love ditties 
 to his " lowland beauty," was suddenly transformed 
 into a school of arms, as he practised the manual exer- 
 cise with Adjutant Muse, or took lessons on the broad- 
 sword from Van Braam. 
 VOL. i. — 5 
 
6C LIFE OF WASHINGTON. L 1751 * 
 
 His martial studies, however, were interrupted for a 
 time by the critical state of his brother's health. The 
 constitution of Lawrence had always been delicate, and 
 he had been obliged repeatedly to travel for a change 
 of air. There were now pulmonary symptoms of a 
 threatening nature, and by advice of his physicians 
 he determined to pass a winter in the West Indies, 
 taking with him his favorite brother George as a com- 
 panion. 
 
 They accordingly sailed for Barbadoes on the 28th 
 of September, 1751. George kept a journal of the 
 voyage with logbook brevity ; recording the wind and 
 weather, but no events worth citation. They landed 
 at Barbadoes on the 3d of November. The resident 
 physician of the place gave a favorable report of Law- 
 rence's case, and held out hopes of a cure. The bro- 
 thers were delighted with the aspect of the country, as 
 they drove out in the cool of the evening, and beheld 
 on all sides fields of sugar cane, and Indian corn, and 
 groves of tropical trees, in full fruit and foliage. 
 
 They took up their abode at a house pleasantly 
 situated about a mile from town, commanding an 
 extensive prospect of sea and land, including Carlyle 
 bay and its shipping, and belonging to Captain Crofton, 
 commander of James Port. 
 
 Barbadoes had its theatre, at which Washington 
 witnessed for the first time a dramatic representation, 
 a species of amusement of which he afterwards became 
 fond. It was in the present instance the doleful tra- 
 gedy of George Barnwell. " The character of Barn- 
 well, and several others," notes he in his journal, "were 
 said to be well performed. There was music adapted 
 
1751.J SCENES AT BARBADOES. 67 
 
 and regularly conducted/ ' A safe but abstemious 
 criticism. 
 
 Among the hospitalities of the place the brothers 
 were invited to the house of a Judge Maynards, to 
 dine with an association of the first people of the place, 
 who met at each other's house alternately every Satur- 
 day, under the incontestably English title of " The 
 Beefsteak and Tripe Club." Washington notes with 
 admiration the profusion of tropical fruits with which 
 the table was loaded, " the granadilla, sapadella, pome- 
 granate, sweet orange, water-melon, forbidden fruit, 
 and guava." The homely prosaic beefsteak and tripe 
 must have contrasted strangely, though sturdily, with 
 these magnificent poetical fruits of the tropics. But 
 John Bull is faithful to his native habits and native 
 dishes, whatever may be the country or clime, and 
 would set up a chop-house at the very gates of para- 
 dise. 
 
 The brothers had scarcely been a fortnight at the 
 island when George was taken down by a severe attack 
 of small-pox. Skilful medical treatment, with the 
 kind attentions of friends, and especially of his brother, 
 restored him to health in about three weeks ; but his 
 face always remained slightly marked. 
 
 After his recovery he made excursions about the 
 island, noticing its soil, productions, fortifications, 
 public works, and the manners of its inhabitants. 
 While admiring the productiveness of the sugar plan- 
 tations, he was shocked at the spendthrift habits of the 
 planters, and their utter want of management. 
 
 " How wonderful," writes he, " that such people 
 should be in debt, and not be able to indulge them- 
 
68 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1752. 
 
 selves in all the luxuries, as well as the necessaries of 
 life. Yet so it happens. Estates are often alienated 
 for debts. How persons coming to estates of two, 
 three, and four hundred acres can want, is to me most 
 wonderful." How much does this wonder speak for 
 his own scrupulous principle of always living within 
 compass. 
 
 The residence at Barbadoes failed to have the antici- 
 pated effect on the health of Lawrence, and he deter- 
 mined to seek the sweet climate of Bermuda in the 
 spring. He felt the absence from his wife, and it was 
 arranged that George should return to Virginia, and 
 bring her out to meet him at that island. Accordingly, 
 on the 2 2d of December George set sail in the Indus- 
 try, bound to Virginia, where he arrived on the 1st 
 February, 1752, after five weeks of stormy winter 
 seafaring. 
 
 Lawrence remained through the winter at Barba- 
 does ; but the very mildness of the climate relaxed and 
 enervated him. He felt the want of the bracing winter 
 weather to which he had been accustomed. Even the 
 invariable beauty of the climate, the perpetual summer, 
 wearied the restless invalid. " This is the finest island 
 of the West Indies," said he ; " but I own no place 
 can please me without a change of seasons. We soon 
 tire of the same prospect." A consolatory truth for 
 the inhabitants of more capricious climes. 
 
 Still some of the worst symptoms of his disorder 
 had disappeared, and he seemed to be slowly recover- 
 ing ; but the nervous restlessness and desire of change 
 often incidental to his malady, had taken hold of him, 
 and early in March he hastened to Bermuda. He had 
 
1752.] DEATH OF LAWRENCE. 69 
 
 come too soon. The keen air of early spring brought 
 on an aggravated return of his worst symptoms. " I 
 have now got to my last refuge," writes he to a friend, 
 "where I must receive my final sentence, which at 
 present Dr. Forbes will not pronounce. He leaves 
 me, however, I think, like a criminal condemned, 
 though not without hopes of reprieve. But this I am 
 to obtain by meritoriously abstaining from flesh of 
 every sort, all strong liquors, and by riding as much as 
 I can bear. These are the only terms on which I am 
 to hope for life." 
 
 He was now afflicted with painful indecision, and 
 his letters perplexed his family, leaving them uncer- 
 tain as to his movements, and at a loss how to act. 
 At one time he talked of remaining a year at Bermuda, 
 and wrote to his wife to come out with George and 
 rejoin him there ; but the very same letter shows his 
 irresolution and uncertainty, for he leaves her coming 
 to the decision of herself and friends. As to his own 
 movements, he says, " Six weeks will determine me 
 what to resolve on. Forbes advises the south of 
 France, or else Barbadoes." The very next letter, 
 written shortly afterwards in a moment of despond- 
 ency, talks of the possibility of "hurrying home to his 
 grave ! " 
 
 The last was no empty foreboding. He did indeed 
 hasten back, and just reached Mount Vernon in time to 
 die under his own roof, surrounded by his family and 
 friends, and attended in his last moments by that 
 brother on whose manly affection his heart seemed to 
 repose. His death took place on the 26th July, 1752, 
 when but thirty-four years of age. He was a noble- 
 
70 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1752. 
 
 spirited, pure-minded, accomplished gentleman; hon- 
 ored by the public, and beloved by his friends. The 
 paternal care ever manifested by him for his youthful 
 brother, George, and the influence his own character 
 and conduct must have had upon him in his ductile 
 years, should link their memories together in history, 
 and endear the name of Lawrence Washington to every 
 American. 
 
 Lawrence left a wife and an infant daughter to inhe- 
 rit his ample estates. In case his daughter should die 
 without issue, the estate of Mount Vernon, and other 
 lands specified in his wdll, were to be enjoyed by her 
 mother during her lifetime, and at her death to be 
 inherited by his brother George. The latter was 
 appointed one of the executors of the will ; but such 
 was the implicit confidence reposed in his judgment 
 and integrity, that although he was but twenty years of 
 age, the management of the affairs of the deceased 
 was soon devolved upon him almost entirely. It is 
 needless to say that they were managed with consum- 
 mate skill and scrupulous fidelity. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 COUNCIL OF THE OHIO TEIBES AT LOGSTOWN — TEEATY WITH THE ENGLISH 
 — GIST'S SETTLEMENT — SPEECHES OF THE HALF-KING AND THE FEENCH 
 COMMANDANT — FEENCH AGGEESSIONS — THE RUINS OF PIQUA — WASH- 
 INGTON SENT ON A MISSION TO THE FEENCH COMMANDEE — JACOB VAN 
 
 BEAAM, HIS INTEEPEETEE CHEISTOPHEE GIST, HIS GUIDE — HALT AT 
 
 THE CONFLUENCE OF THE MONONGAHELA AND ALLEGANY — PEOJECTED 
 FOET — SHINGIS, A DELAWAEE SACHEM — LOGSTOWN — THE HALF-KING 
 — INDIAN COUNCILS — INDIAN DIPLOMACY — EUMOES CONCEENING JON- 
 OAIEE — INDIAN ESCOETS — THE HALF-KING, JESKAKAKE AND WHITE 
 THUNDEE. 
 
 The meeting of the Ohio tribes, Delawares, Shawnees, 
 and Mingoes, to form a treaty of alliance with Virginia, 
 took place at Logstown, at the appointed time. The 
 chiefs of the Six Nations declined to attend. " It is 
 not our custom," said they proudly, " to meet to treat 
 of affairs in the woods and weeds. If the Governor of 
 Virginia wants to speak with us, and deliver us a 
 present from our father (the king), we will meet him 
 at Albany, where we expect the Governor of New 
 York will be present."* 
 
 At Logstown, Colonel Pry and two other com- 
 
 * Letter of Col. Johnson to Gov. Clinton,— Doc. Hist. 1ST. Y. ii., fi24 
 
72 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1752. 
 
 missioners from Virginia, concluded a treaty with the 
 tribes above named ; by which the latter engaged not 
 to molest any English settlers south of the Ohio. 
 Tanacharisson, the half-king, now advised that his 
 brothers of Virginia should build a strong house at the 
 fork of the Monongahela, to resist the designs of the 
 French. Mr. Gist was accordingly instructed to lay 
 out a town and build a fort at Chartier's Creek, on the 
 east side of the Ohio, a little below the site of the 
 present city of Pittsburg. He commenced a settle- 
 ment, also, in a valley just beyond Laurel Hill, not far 
 from the Youghiogeny, and prevailed on eleven families 
 to join him. The Ohio Company, about the same 
 time, established a trading post, well stocked with 
 English goods, at Wills' Creek (now Cumberland 
 River). 
 
 The Ohio tribes were greatly incensed at the aggres- 
 sions of the Erench, who were erecting posts within 
 their territories, and sent deputations to remonstrate, 
 but without effect. The half-king, as chief of the 
 western tribes, repaired to the Erench posts on Lake 
 Erie, where he made his complaint in person. 
 
 "Eathers," said he, "you are the disturbers of this 
 land by building towns, and taking the country from 
 us by fraud and force. We kindled a fire a long time 
 since at Montreal, where we desired you to stay, and 
 not to come and intrude upon our land. I now advise 
 you to return to that place, for this land is ours. 
 
 " If you had come in a peaceable manner, like our 
 brothers the English, we should have traded with you 
 as we do with them ; but that you should come and 
 build houses on our land, and take it by force, is what 
 
1752.J FRENCH HAUTEUR. 73 
 
 we cannot submit to. Both you and the English are 
 white. We live in a country between you both ; the 
 land belongs to neither of you. The Great Being 
 allotted it to us as a residence. So, fathers, I desire 
 you, as I have desired our brothers the English, to 
 withdraw, for I will keep you both at arm's length. 
 Whichever most regards this request, that side will we 
 stand by and consider friends. Our brothers, the 
 English, have heard this, and I now come to tell it to 
 you, for I am not afraid to order you off this land." 
 
 "Child," replied the Erench commandant, "you 
 talk foolishly. You say this land belongs to you ; 
 there is not the black of my nail yours. It is 
 my land, and I will have it, let who will stand up 
 against me. I am not afraid of flies and mosquitoes, 
 for as such I consider the Indians. I tell you that down 
 the river I will go, and build upon it. If it were 
 blocked up I have forces sufficient to burst it open and 
 trample down all who oppose me. My force is as the 
 sand upon the sea-shore. Therefore here is your wam- 
 pum ; I fling it at you." 
 
 Tanacharisson returned, wounded at heart, both by 
 the language and the haughty manner of the Erench 
 commandant. He saw the ruin impending over his 
 race, but looked with hope and trust to the English 
 as the power least disposed to wrong the red man. 
 
 French influence was successful in other quarters. 
 Some of the Indians who had been friendly to the 
 English showed signs of alienation. Others menaced 
 hostilities. There were reports that the Erench were 
 ascending the Mississippi from Louisiana. Erance, it 
 was said, intended to connect Louisiana and Canada by 
 
74 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 a chain of military posts, and hem the English within 
 the Allegany Mountains. 
 
 The Ohio Company complained loudly to the Lieu- 
 tenant-governor of Virginia, the Hon. Robert Dinwid- 
 die, of the hostile conduct of the French and their 
 Indian allies. They found in Dinwiddie a ready list- 
 ener ; he was a stockholder in the company. 
 
 A commissioner, Captain William Trent, was sent 
 to expostulate with the French commander on the Ohio 
 for his aggressions on the territory of his Britannic 
 majesty ; he bore presents also of guns, powder, shot, 
 and clothing for the friendly Indians. Trent was not 
 a man of the true spirit for a mission to the frontier. 
 He stopped a short time at Logstown, though the French 
 were one hundred and fifty miles further up the river, 
 and directed his course to Piqua, the great town of 
 the Twightwees, where Gist and Croghan had been so 
 well received by the Miamis, and the French flag 
 struck in the council-house. All now was reversed. 
 The place had been attacked by the French and 
 Indians ; the Miamis defeated with great loss ; the 
 English traders taken prisoners ; the Piankesha chief, 
 who had so proudly turned his back upon the Ottawa 
 ambassadors, had been sacrificed by the hostile sava- 
 ges, and the French flag hoisted in triumph on the 
 ruins of the town. The whole aspect of affairs was 
 so threatening on the frontier, that Trent lost heart, 
 and returned home without accomplishing his errand. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddie now looked round for a person 
 more fitted to fulfil a mission which required physical 
 strength and moral energy ; a courage to cope with 
 savages, and a sagacity to negotiate with white men. 
 
1753.] MISSION TO THE FRENCH COMMANDER. 75 
 
 Washington was pointed out, as possessed of those 
 requisites. It is true he was not yet twenty-two years 
 of age, but public confidence in his judgment and 
 abilities had been manifested a second time, by renewing 
 his appointment of adjutant-general, and assigning him 
 the northern division. He was acquainted too with 
 the matters in litigation, having been in the bosom 
 councils of his deceased brother. His woodland expe- 
 rience fitted him for an expedition through the wilder- 
 ness ; and his great discretion and self-command for a 
 negotiation with wily commanders and fickle savages. 
 He was accordingly chosen for the expedition. 
 
 By his letter of instructions he was directed to 
 repair to Logstown, and hold a communication with 
 Tanacharisson, Monacatoocha, alias Scarooyadi, the next 
 in command, and the other sachems of the mixed 
 tribes friendly to the English; inform them of the 
 purport of his errand, and request an escort to the 
 head-quarters of the French commander. To that 
 commander he was to deliver his credentials, and the 
 letter of Governor Dinwiddie, and demand an answer 
 in the name of his Britannic majesty ; but not to wait 
 for it beyond a week. On receiving it, he was to re- 
 quest a sufficient escort to protect him on his return. 
 
 He was, moreover, to acquaint himself with the 
 numbers and force of the French stationed on the Ohio 
 and in its vicinity ; their capability of being reinforced 
 from Canada; the forts they had erected; where 
 situated, how garrisoned; the object of their advan- 
 cing into those parts, and how they were likely to be 
 supported. 
 
 Washington set off from Williamsburg on the 
 
76 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 30th of October (1753), the very day on which he 
 received his credentials. At Fredericksburg he en- 
 gaged his old " master of fence," Jacob Van Braam, 
 to accompany him as interpreter; though it would 
 appear from subsequent circumstances, that the vet- 
 eran swordsman was but indifferently versed either in 
 French or English. 
 
 Having provided himself at Alexandria with neces- 
 ^ saries for the journey, he proceeded to Winchester, then 
 on the frontier, where he procured horses, tents, and 
 other travelling equipments, and then pushed on by 
 a road newly opened to Wills' Creek (Cumberland 
 River), where he arrived on the 14th of November. 
 
 Here he met with Mr. Gist, the intrepid pioneer, 
 who had explored the Ohio in the employ of the com- 
 pany, and whom he engaged to accompany and pilot 
 him in the present expedition. He secured the 
 services also of one John Davidson as Indian inter- 
 preter, and of four frontiersmen, two of whom were 
 Indian traders. With this little band, and his swords- 
 man and interpreter, Jacob Van Braam, he set forth 
 on the 15th of November, through a wild country, 
 rendered almost impassable by recent storms of rain 
 and snow. 
 
 At the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monongahela, 
 he found John Frazier, the Indian trader, some of 
 whose people, as heretofore stated, had been sent off 
 prisoners to Canada. Frazier himself had recently 
 been ejected by the French from the Indian village of 
 Venango, where he had a gunsmith's establishment. 
 According to his account, the French general who had 
 
1753.J PROJECTED FORT. 77 
 
 commanded on this frontier was dead, and the greater 
 part of the forces were retired into winter quarters. 
 
 As the rivers were all swollen so that the horses 
 had to swim them, Washington sent all the baggage 
 down the Monongahela in a canoe under care of two 
 of the men, who had orders to meet him at the con- 
 fluence of that river with the Allegany, where their 
 united waters form the Ohio. 
 
 " As I got down before the canoe," writes he in his 
 journal, " I spent some time in viewing the rivers, and 
 the land at the Fork, which I think extremely well 
 situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of 
 both rivers. The land at the point is twenty or twenty- 
 five feet above the common surface of the water, and 
 a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land all 
 around it, very convenient for building. The rivers 
 are each a quarter of a mile or more across, and run 
 here very nearly at right angles; Allegany bearing 
 north-east, and Monongahela south-east. The former 
 of these two is a very rapid and swift-running water, 
 the other deep and still, without any perceptible fall." 
 The Ohio company had intended to build a fort about 
 two miles from this place, on the south-east side of the 
 river; but Washington gave the fork the decided 
 preference. French engineers of experience proved 
 the accuracy of his military eye, by subsequently 
 choosing it for the site of Port Duquesne, noted in 
 frontier history. 
 
 In this neighborhood lived Shingis, the king or 
 chief sachem of the Delawares. Washington visited 
 him at his village, to invite him to the council at 
 Logstown. He was one of the greatest warriors of his 
 
78 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 tribe, and subsequently took up the hatchet at various 
 times against the English, though now he seemed fa- 
 vorably disposed, and readily accepted the invitation. 
 
 They arrived at Logstown after sunset on the 24th 
 of November. The half-king was absent at his hunt- 
 ing lodge on Beaver Creek, about fifteen miles 
 distant; but Washington had runners sent out to 
 invite him and all the other chiefs to a grand talk on 
 the following day. 
 
 In the morning four French deserters came into 
 the village. They had deserted from a company of 
 one hundred men, sent up from New Orleans with 
 eight canoes laden with provisions. Washington drew 
 from them an account of the French force at New 
 Orleans, and of the forts along the Mississippi, and 
 at the mouth of the Wabash, by which they kept up a 
 communication with the lakes ; all which he carefully 
 noted down. The deserters were on their way to 
 Philadelphia, conducted by a Pennsylvania trader. 
 
 About three o'clock the half-king arrived. Wash- 
 ington had a private conversation with him in his tent, 
 through Davidson, the interpreter. He found hhn 
 intelligent, patriotic, and proudly tenacious of his 
 territorial rights. We have already cited from Wash- 
 ington's papers, the account given by this chief in this 
 conversation, of his interview with the late French com- 
 mander. He stated, moreover, that the French had 
 built two forts, differing in size, but on the same 
 model, a plan of which he gave, of his own drawing. 
 The largest was on Lake Erie, the other on French 
 Creek, fifteen miles apart, with a waggon road between 
 them. The nearest and levellest way to them was now 
 
1753.] INDIAN COUNCILS. 79 
 
 impassable, lying through large and miry savannas; 
 they would have, therefore, to go by Venango, and it 
 would take five or six sleeps (or days) of good travel- 
 ling to reach the nearest fort. On the following 
 morning at nine o'clock, the chiefs assembled at the 
 council-house; where Washington, according to his 
 instructions, informed them that he was sent by their 
 brother, the Governor of Virginia, to deliver to the 
 French commandant a letter of great importance, both 
 to their brothers the English and to themselves ; and 
 that he was to ask their advice and assistance, and 
 some of their young men to accompany and provide for 
 him on the way, and be his safeguard against the 
 "French Indians" who had taken up the hatchet. 
 He concluded by presenting the indispensable docu- 
 ment in Indian diplomacy, a string of wampum. 
 
 The chiefs, according to etiquette, sat for some 
 moments silent after he had concluded, as if ruminating 
 on what had been said, or to give him time for further 
 remark. 
 
 The half-king then rose and spoke in behalf of the 
 tribes, assuring him that they considered the English 
 and themselves brothers, and one people; and that 
 they intended to return the French the " speech-belts," 
 or wampums, which the latter had sent them. This, 
 in Indian diplomacy, is a renunciation of all friendly 
 relations. An escort would be furnished to Washing- 
 ton composed of Mingoes, Shannoahs, and Delawares, 
 in token of the love and loyalty of those several tribes ; 
 but three days would be required to prepare for the 
 journey. 
 
 Washington remonstrated against such delay ; but 
 
80 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 was informed, that an affair of such moment, where 
 three speech-belts were to be given up, was not to be 
 entered into without due consideration. Besides, the 
 young men who were to form the escort were absent 
 hunting, and the half-king could not suffer the party to go 
 without sufficient protection. His own French speech- 
 belt, also, was at his hunting lodge, where he must go 
 in quest of it. Moreover, the Shannoah chiefs were 
 yet absent, and must be waited for. In short, Wash- 
 ington had his first lesson in Indian diplomacy, which 
 for punctilio, ceremonial, and secret manceuvering, is 
 equal at least to that of civilized life. He soon found 
 that to urge a more speedy departure would be offen- 
 sive to Indian dignity and decorum, so he was fain to 
 await the gathering together of the different chiefs with 
 their speech-belts. 
 
 In fact there was some reason for all this caution. 
 Tidings had reached the sachems that Captain Joncaire 
 had called a meeting at Venango, of the Mingoes, 
 Delawares, and other tribes, and made them a speech, 
 informing them that the French, for the present, had 
 gone into winter quarters, but intended to descend the 
 river in great force, and fight the English in the spring. 
 He had advised them, therefore, to stand aloof; for 
 should they interfere, the French and English would 
 join, cut them all off, and divide their land between 
 them. 
 
 With these rumors preying on their minds, the 
 half-king and three other chiefs waited on Washington 
 in his tent in the evening, and after representing that 
 they had complied with all the requisitions of the 
 Governor of Virginia, endeavored to draw from the 
 
1753.] THE SACHEMS. 81 
 
 youthful ambassador the true purport of his mission to 
 the French commandant. Washington had anticipated 
 an inquiry of the kind, knowing how natural it was 
 that these poor people should regard, with anxiety and 
 distrust, every movement of two formidable powers 
 thus pressing upon them from opposite sides; he 
 managed, however, to answer them in such a manner 
 as to allay their solicitude without transcending the 
 bounds of diplomatic secrecy. 
 
 After a day or two more of delay and further con- 
 sultations in the council-house, the chiefs determined 
 that but three of their number should accompany the 
 mission, as a greater number might awaken the suspi- 
 cions of the French. Accordingly, on the 30th of 
 November, Washington set out for the French post, 
 having his usual party augmented by an Indian hunter, 
 and being accompanied by the half-king, an old 
 Shannoah sachem named Jeskakake, and another 
 chief, sometimes called Belt of Wampum, from being 
 the keeper of the speech-belts, but generally bearing 
 the sounding appellation of White Thunder. 
 vol. i. — 6 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ABBIVAL AT VENANGO — CAPTAIN JONOAIEE — FEONTIEB BEVELEY — ^DIS- 
 CUSSIONS OVEB THE BOTTLE — THE OLD DIPLOMATIST AND THE YOUNG 
 — THE HALF-KING, JESKAKAKE, AND WHITE THUNDEB STAGGEBED — 
 THE SPEECH-BELT — DEPABTUBE — LA FOBCE, THE WILY COMMISSAEY 
 
 FOET AT FEENCH OBEEK — THE CHEVALIEB LEGAEDEUB DE ST. 
 
 PIEBBE, KNIGHT OF ST. LOUIS — CAPTAIN BEPAETI — TBANSACTIONS AT 
 THE FOET — ATTEMPTS TO SEDUCE THE SACHEMS — MISCHIEF BEEWING 
 ON THE FEONTD3B — DIFFICULTIES AND DELAYS IN PABTING — DESCENT 
 OF FEENCH OEEEK — AEBIVAL AT VENANGO. 
 
 Although the distance to Venango, by the route taken, 
 was not above seventy miles, yet such was the inclem- 
 ency of the weather and the difficulty of travelling, that 
 Washington and his party did not arrive there until the 
 4th of December. The French colors were flying at 
 a house whence John Frazier, the English trader, had 
 been driven. Washington repaired thither, and in- 
 quired of three French officers whom he saw there 
 where the commandant resided. One of them prompt- 
 ly replied that he " had the command of the Ohio." 
 It was, in fact, the redoubtable Captain Joncaire, the 
 veteran intriguer of the frontier. On being apprised, 
 however, of the nature of Washington's errand, he 
 informed him that there was a general officer at the 
 
1753.] FRONTIER REVELRY. 83 
 
 next fort, where he advised him to apply for an answer 
 to the letter of which he was the bearer. 
 
 In the mean time, he invited Washington and his 
 party to a supper at head-quarters. It proved a jovial 
 one, for Joncaire appears to have been somewhat of a 
 boon companion, and there is always ready, though 
 rough hospitality in the wilderness. It is true, Wash- 
 ington, for so young a man, may not have had the 
 most convivial air, but there may have been a moist 
 look of promise in the old soldier Van Braam. 
 
 Joncaire and his brother officers pushed the bottle 
 briskly. "The wine," says Washington, "as they 
 dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, soon ban- 
 ished the restraint which at first appeared in their 
 conversation, and gave a license to their tongues to 
 reveal their sentiments more freely. They told me 
 that it was their absolute design to take possession of 
 the Ohio, and by G — they would do it; for that 
 although they were sensible the English could raise 
 two men for their one, yet they knew their motions 
 were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertaking. 
 They pretend to have an undoubted right to the river 
 from a discovery made by one La Salle sixty years 
 ago, and the rise of this expedition is to prevent our 
 settling on the river or the waters of it, as they heard 
 of some families moving out in order thereto." 
 
 Washington retained his sobriety and his com- 
 posure throughout all the rodomontade and baccha- 
 nalian outbreak of the mercurial Frenchmen ; leaving 
 the task of pledging them to his master of fence, Van 
 Braam, who was not a man to flinch from potations. 
 He took careful note, however, of all their revelations, 
 
84 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 and collected a variety of information concerning the 
 French forces ; how and where they were distributed ; the 
 situations and distances of their forts, and their means 
 and mode of obtaining supplies. If the veteran diplomat- 
 ist of the wilderness had intended this revel for a snare, 
 he was completely foiled by his youthful competitor. 
 
 On the following day there was no travelling on 
 account of excessive rain. Joncaire, in the mean time, 
 having discovered that the half-king was with the 
 mission, expressed his surprise that he had not accom- 
 panied it to his quarters on the preceding day. 
 Washington, in truth, had feared to trust the sachem 
 within the reach of the politic Frenchman. Nothing 
 would do now but Joncaire must have the sachems at 
 head-quarters. Here his diplomacy was triumphant. 
 He received them with open arms. He was enrap- 
 tured to see them. His Indian brothers ! How could 
 they be so near without coming to visit him? He 
 made them presents; but, above all, plied them so 
 potently with liquor, that the poor half-king, Jeska- 
 kake, and White Thunder forgot all about their wrongs, 
 their speeches, their speech-belts, and all the business 
 they had come upon ; paid no heed to the repeated 
 cautions of their English friends, and were soon in a 
 complete state of frantic extravagance or drunken 
 oblivion. 
 
 The next day the half-king made his appearance at 
 Washington's tent, perfectly sober, and very much 
 crestfallen. He declared, however, that he still in- 
 tended to make his speech to the French, and offered 
 to rehearse it on the spot ; but Washington advised 
 him not to waste his ammunition on inferior game like 
 
1753.] LA FORCE, THE WILY COMMISSARY. 85 
 
 Joncaire and his comrades, but to reserve it for the 
 commandant. The sachem was not to be persuaded. 
 Here, he said, was the place of the council fire, where 
 they were accustomed to transact their business with the 
 French ; and as to Joncaire, he had all the management 
 of French affairs with the Indians. 
 
 Washington was fain to attend the council fire and 
 listen to the speech. It was much the same in pur- 
 port as that which he had made to the French general, 
 and he ended by offering to return the French speech- 
 belt ; but this Joncaire refused to receive, telling him 
 to carry it to the commander at the fort. 
 
 All that day and the next was the party kept at 
 Venango by the stratagems of Joncaire and his 
 emissaries to detain and seduce the sachems. It was 
 not until 12 o'clock, on the 7th of December, that 
 Washington was able to extricate them out of their 
 clutches and commence his journey. 
 
 A French commissary by the name of La Force, 
 and three soldiers, set off in company with him. La 
 Force went as if on ordinary business, but he proved 
 one of the most active, daring, and mischief-making of 
 those anomalous agents employed by the French 
 among the Indian tribes. It is probable that he was 
 at the bottom of many of the perplexities experienced 
 by Washington at Venango, and now travelled with 
 him for the prosecution of his wiles. He will be 
 found, hereafter, acting a more prominent part, and 
 ultimately reaping the fruit of his evil doings. 
 
 After four days of weary travel through snow and 
 rain, and mire and swamp, the party reached the fort. 
 It was situated on a kind of island on the west fork of 
 
86 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 French Creek, about fifteen miles south of Lake Erie, 
 and consisted of four houses, forming a hollow square, 
 defended by bastions made of palisades twelve feet 
 high, picketed, and pierced for cannon and small arms. 
 Within the bastions were a guard-house, chapel, and 
 other buildings, and outside were stables, a smith's 
 forge, and log-houses covered with bark, for the soldiers. 
 
 On the death of the late general, the fort had 
 remained in charge of one Captain Reparti until within 
 a week past, when the Chevalier Legardeur de St. 
 Pierre had arrived, and taken command. 
 
 The reception of Washington at the fort was very 
 different from the unceremonious one experienced at 
 the outpost of Joncaire and his convivial messmates. 
 When he presented himself at the gate, accompanied 
 by his interpreter, Van Braam, he was met by the offi- 
 cer second in command and conducted in due military 
 form to his superior; an ancient and silver-haired 
 chevalier of the military order of St. Louis, courteous 
 but ceremonious; mingling the polish of the French 
 gentleman of the old school with the precision of the 
 soldier. 
 
 Having announced his errand through his interpre- 
 ter, Van Braam, Washington offered his credentials and 
 the letter of Governor Dinwiddie, and was disposed to 
 proceed at once to business with the prompt frankness 
 of a young man unhackneyed in diplomacy. The chev- 
 alier, however, politely requested him to retain the do- 
 cuments in his possession until his predecessor, Captain 
 Reparti, should arrive, who was hourly expected from 
 the next post. 
 
 At two o'clock the captain arrived. The letter and 
 
1753.] TRANSACTIONS AT THE FORT. 87 
 
 its accompanying documents were then offered again, 
 and received in due form, and the chevalier and his 
 officers retired with them into a private apartment, 
 where the captain, who understood a little English, 
 officiated as translator. The translation being finished, 
 Washington was requested to walk in and bring his 
 translator, Van Braam, with him, to peruse and correct 
 it, which he did. 
 
 In this letter, Dinwiddie complained of the intru- 
 sion of French forces into the Ohio country, erecting 
 forts and making settlements in the western parts of 
 the colony of Virginia, so notoriously known to be the 
 property of the crown of Great Britain. He inquired 
 by whose authority and instructions the French Com- 
 mander-general had marched this force from Canada, 
 and made this invasion ; intimating that his own action 
 would be regulated by the answer he should receive, 
 and the tenor of the commission with which he was 
 honored. At the same time he required of the com- 
 mandant his peaceable departure, and that he would 
 forbear to prosecute a purpose " so interruptive of the 
 harmony and good understanding which his majesty 
 was desirous to continue and cultivate with the most 
 catholic king." 
 
 The latter part of the letter related to the youthful 
 envoy. "I persuade myself you will receive and 
 entertain Major Washington with the candor and 
 politeness natural to your nation, and it will give me 
 the greatest satisfaction if you can return him with an 
 answer suitable to my wishes for a long and lasting 
 peace between us." 
 
 The two following days were consumed in councils 
 
88 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 of the chevalier and his officers over the letter, and the 
 necessary reply. Washington occupied himself in the 
 mean time in observing and taking notes of the plan, 
 dimensions, and strength of the fort, and of every 
 tiling about it. He gave orders to his people, also, to 
 take an exact account of the canoes in readiness, and 
 others in the process of construction, for the conveyance 
 of troops down the river in the ensuing spring. 
 
 As the weather continued stormy, with much snow, 
 and the horses were daily losing strength, he sent them 
 down, unladen, to Venango, to await his return by 
 water. In the mean time, he discovered that busy 
 intrigues were going on to induce the half-king and 
 the other sachems to abandon him, and renounce all 
 friendship with the English. Upon learning this, he 
 urged the chiefs to deliver up their " speech-belts " 
 immediately, as they had promised, thereby shaking 
 off all dependence upon the French. They according- 
 ly pressed for an audience that very evening. A 
 private one was at length granted them by the 
 commander, in presence of one or two of his officers. 
 The half-king reported the result of it to Washington. 
 The venerable but astute chevalier cautiously evaded 
 the acceptance of the proffered wampum ; made many 
 professions of love and friendship, and said he wished 
 to live in peace and trade amicably with the tribes of 
 the Ohio, in proof of which he would send down some 
 goods immediately for them to Logstown. 
 
 As Washington understood, privately, that an offi- 
 cer was to accompany the man employed to convey these 
 goods, he suspected that the real design was to arrest 
 and bring off all straggling English traders they might 
 
1753.J TRANSACTIONS AT THE FORT. 89 
 
 meet with. What strengthened this opinion was a 
 frank avowal which had been made to him by the che- 
 valier, that he had orders to capture every British 
 subject who should attempt to trade upon the Ohio or 
 its waters. 
 
 Captain Reparti, also, in reply to his inquiry as to 
 what had been done with two Pennsylvania traders, 
 who had been taken with all their goods, informed him 
 that they had been sent to Canada, but had since 
 returned home. He had stated, furthermore, that 
 during the time he held command, a white boy had 
 been carried captive past the fort by a party of Indians, 
 who had with them, also, two or three white men's 
 scalps. 
 
 All these circumstances showed him the mischief 
 that was brewing in these parts, and the treachery and 
 violence that pervaded the frontier, and made him the 
 more solicitous to accomplish his mission successfully, 
 and conduct his little band in safety out of a wily 
 neighborhood. 
 
 . On the evening of the 14th, the Chevalier de St. 
 Pierre delivered to Washington his sealed reply to the 
 letter of Governor Dinwiddie. The purport of pre- 
 vious conversations with the chevalier, and the whole 
 complexion of affairs on the frontier, left no doubt of 
 the nature of that reply. 
 
 The business of his mission being accomplished, 
 Washington prepared on the 15th to return by water 
 to Venango ; but a secret influence was at work which 
 retarded every movement. 
 
 " The commandant," writes he, " ordered a plenti- 
 ful store of liquor and provisions to be put on board 
 
90 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 our canoes, and appeared to be extremely complaisant, 
 though he was exerting every artifice which he could 
 invent to set our Indians at variance with us, to 
 prevent their going until after our departure ; presents, 
 rewards, and every thing which could be suggested by 
 him or his officers. I cannot say that ever in my life 
 I suffered so much anxiety as I did in this affair. I 
 saw that every stratagem which the most fruitful brain 
 could invent was practised to win the half-king to theii 
 interests, and that leaving him there was giving them 
 the opportunity they aimed at. I went to the half- 
 king, and pressed him in the strongest terms to go • 
 he told me that the commandant would not discharge 
 him until the morning. I then went to the command- 
 ant, and desired him to do their business, and 
 complained to him of ill treatment ; for, keeping them, 
 as they were a part of my company, was detaining me. 
 This he promised not to do, but to forward my journey 
 as much as he could. He protested he did not keep 
 them, but was ignorant of the cause of their stay ; 
 though I soon found it out. He had promised them a 
 present of guns if they would wait until the morning. 
 As I was very much pressed by the Indians to wait 
 this day for them, I consented, on the promise that 
 nothing should hinder them in the morning." 
 
 The next morning (16th) the French, in fulfilment 
 of their promise, had to give the present of guns. They 
 then endeavored to detain the sachems with liquor, 
 which at any other time might have prevailed ; but 
 Washington reminded the half-king that his royal word 
 was pledged to depart, and urged it upon him so close- 
 
1753.] ARRIVAL AT VENANGO. 91 
 
 ly that, exerting unwonted resolution and self-denial, 
 he turned his back upon the liquor and embarked. 
 
 It was rough and laborious navigation. French 
 Creek was swollen and turbulent, and full of floating 
 ice. The frail canoes were several times in danger of 
 being staved to pieces against rocks. Often the voy- 
 agers had to leap out and remain in the water half an 
 hour at a time, drawing the canoes over shoals, and at 
 one place to carry them a quarter of a mile across a 
 neck of land, the river being completely dammed 
 by ice. It was not until the 22d that they reached 
 Venango. 
 
 Here Washington was obliged most unwillingly to 
 part company with the sachems. White Thunder had 
 hurt himself and was ill and unable to walk, and the oth- 
 ers determined to remain at Venango for a day or two, 
 and convey him down the river in a canoe. There was 
 danger that the smooth-tongued and convivial Joncaire 
 would avail himself of the interval to ply the poor 
 monarchs of the woods with flattery and liquor. 
 Washington endeavored to put the worthy half-king on 
 his guard, knowing that he had once before shown 
 himself but little proof against the seductions of the 
 bottle. The sachem, however, desired him not to be 
 concerned ; he knew the French too well for any thing 
 to engage him in their favor ; nothing should shake 
 his faith to his English brothers ; and it will be found 
 that in these assurances he was sincere. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 BETUEN FBOM VENANGO — A TEAMP ON FOOT — MUEDEBING TOWN — THE 
 INDIAN GUIDE — TEEAOHEBY — AN ANXIOUS NIGHT — PEBILS ON THE 
 ALLEGANY BIVEB — QUEEN ALIQUIPPA— THE OLD WATCH-COAT — BE- 
 TUEN ACBOSS THE BLUE EIDGE. 
 
 On the 25th of December, Washington and his little 
 party set out by land from Venango on their route 
 homeward. They had a long winter's journey before 
 them, through a wilderness beset with dangers and 
 difficulties. The packhorses, laden with tents, bag- 
 gage, and provisions, were completely jaded; it was 
 feared they would give out. Washington dismounted, 
 gave up his saddle-horse to aid in transporting the 
 baggage, and requested his companions to do the same. 
 None but the drivers remained in the saddle. He 
 now equipped himself in an Indian hunting- dress, and 
 with Van Braam, Gist, and John Davidson, the Indian 
 interpreter, proceeded on foot. 
 
 The cold increased. There was deep snow that 
 froze £s it fell. The horses grew less and less capable 
 of travelling. For three days they toiled on slowly 
 and wearily. Washington was impatient to accom- 
 
1753.] A TRAMP ON FOOT. 93 
 
 plish his journey, and make his report to the governor ; 
 he determined, therefore, to hasten some distance in 
 advance of the party, and then strike for the fork of 
 the Ohio by the nearest course directly through the 
 woods. He accordingly put the cavalcade under the 
 command of Van Braam, and furnished him with 
 money for expenses ; then disencumbering himself of 
 all superfluous clothing, buckling himself up in a 
 watch-coat, strapping his pack on his shoulders, con- 
 taining his papers and provisions, and taking gun in 
 hand, he left the horses to flounder on, and struck 
 manfully ahead, accompanied only by Mr. Gist, who 
 had equipped himself in like manner. 
 
 At night they lit a fire, " and camped " by it in 
 the woods. At two o'clock in the morning they were 
 again on foot, and pressed forward until they struck 
 the south-east fork of Beaver Creek, at a place bearing 
 the sinister name of Murdering Town ; probably the 
 scene of some Indian massacre. 
 
 Here Washington, in planning his route, had in- 
 tended to leave the regular path, and strike through 
 the woods for Shannopins Town, two or three miles 
 above the fork of the Ohio, where he hoped to be able 
 to cross the Allegany River on the ice. 
 
 At Murdering Town he found a party of Indians, 
 who appeared to have known of his coming, and to 
 have been waiting for him. One of them accosted Mr. 
 Gist, and expressed great joy at seeing him. The 
 wary woodsman regarded him narrowly, and thought 
 he had seen him at Joncaire's. If so, he and his com- 
 rades were in the French interest, and their lying in 
 wait boded no good. The Indian was very curious in 
 
94 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 his inquiries as to when they had left Venango ; how 
 they came to be travelling on foot ; where they had left 
 their horses, and when it was probable the latter would 
 reach this place. All these questions increased the 
 distrust of Gist, and rendered him extremely cautious 
 in reply. 
 
 The route hence to Shannopins Town lay through a 
 trackless wild, of which the travellers knew nothing ; 
 after some consultation, therefore, it was deemed expe- 
 dient to engage one of the Indians as a guide. He 
 entered upon his duties with alacrity, took Washing- 
 ton's pack upon his back, and led the way by what he 
 said was the most direct course. After travelling 
 briskly for eight or ten miles Washington became 
 fatigued, and his feet were chafed ; he thought, too, 
 they were taking a direction too much to the north- 
 east ; he came to a halt, therefore, and determined to 
 light a fire, make a shelter of the bark and branches of 
 trees, and encamp there for the night. The Indian 
 demurred; he offered, as Washington was fatigued, to 
 carry his gun, but the latter was too wary to part with 
 his weapon. The Indian now grew churlish. There 
 were Ottawa Indians in the woods, he said, who might 
 be attracted by their fire, and surprise and scalp them ; 
 he urged, therefore, that they should continue on : he 
 would take them to his cabin, where they would be safe. 
 Mr. Gist's suspicions increased, but he said no- 
 thing. Washington's also were awakened. They pro- 
 ceeded some distance further : the guide paused and 
 listened. He had heard, he said, the report of a gun 
 toward the north ; it must be from his cabin ; he ac- 
 cordingly turned his steps in that direction. 
 
1753.] THE INDIAN GUIDE. 95 
 
 Washington began to apprehend an ambuscade of 
 savages. He knew the hostility of many of them to 
 the English, and what a desirable trophy was the scalp 
 of a white man. The Indian still kept on toward the 
 north ; he pretended to hear two whoops — they were 
 from his cabin — it could not be far off. 
 
 They went on two miles further, when Washington 
 signified his determination to encamp at the first water 
 they should find. The guide said nothing but kept 
 doggedly on. After a little while they arrived at an 
 opening in the woods, and emerging from the deep 
 shadows in which they had been travelling, found 
 themselves in a clear meadow, rendered still more light 
 by the glare of the snow upon the ground. Scarcely had 
 they emerged when the Indian, who was about fifteen 
 paces ahead, suddenly turned, levelled his gun, and 
 fired. Washington was startled for an instant, but, 
 feeling that he was not wounded, demanded quickly 
 of Mr. Gist if he was shot. The latter answered in the 
 negative. The Indian in the mean time had run forward, 
 and screened himself behind a large white oak, where 
 he was reloading his gun. They overtook, and seized 
 him. Gist would have put him to death on the spot, 
 but Washington humanely prevented him. They per- 
 mitted him to finish the loading of his gun ; but, after 
 he had put in the ball, took the weapon from him, and 
 let him see that he Was under guard. Arriving at 
 a small stream they ordered the Indian to make a fire, 
 and took turns to watch over the guns. While he was 
 thus occupied, Gist, a veteran woodsman, and accus- 
 tomed to hold the life of an Indian rather cheap, was 
 somewhat incommoded by the scruples of his youthful 
 
96 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1753. 
 
 commander, which might enable the savage to carry 
 out some scheme of treachery. He observed to 
 Washington that, since he could not suffer the Indian 
 to be killed, they must manage to get him out of the 
 way, and then decamp with all speed, and travel all 
 night to leave this perfidious neighborhood behind 
 them ; but first it was necessary to blind the guide as 
 to their intentions. He accordingly addressed him in 
 a friendly tone, and adverting to the late circumstance, 
 pretended to suppose that he had lost his way, and 
 fired his gun merely as a signal. The Indian, whether 
 deceived or not, readily chimed in with the explanation. 
 He said he now knew the way to his cabin, which 
 was at no great distance. " Well then," replied Gist, 
 " you can go home, and as we are tired we will remain 
 here for the night, and follow your track at daylight. 
 In the mean time here is a cake of bread for you, and 
 you must give us some meat in the morning." 
 
 Whatever might have been the original designs of 
 the savage, he was evidently glad to get off. Gist 
 followed him cautiously for a distance, and listened 
 until the sound of his footsteps died away ; returning 
 then to Washington, they proceeded about half a mile, 
 made another fire, set their compass and fixed their 
 course by the light of it, then leaving it burning, 
 pushed forward, and travelled as fast as possible all 
 night, so as to gain a fair start should any one pursue 
 them at daylight. Continuing on the next day they 
 never relaxed their speed until nightfall, when they 
 arrived on the banks of the Allegany River, about two 
 miles above Shannopins Town. 
 
 Washington had expected to find the river frozen 
 
1753.] AN ANXIOUS NIGHT. 97 
 
 completely over ; it was so only for about fifty yards 
 from either shore, while great quantities of broken ice 
 were driving down the main channel. Trusting that 
 he had out-travelled pursuit, he encamped on the 
 border of the river ; still it was an anxious night, and 
 he was up at daybreak to devise some means of reach- 
 ing the opposite bank. No other mode presented it- 
 self than by a raft, and to construct this they had but 
 one poor hatchet. With this they set resolutely to 
 work and labored all day, but the sun went down be- 
 fore their raft was finished. They launched it, how- 
 ever, and getting on board, endeavored to propel it 
 across with setting poles. Before they were half way 
 over the raft became jammed between cakes of ice, and 
 they were in imminent peril. Washington planted his 
 pole on the bottom of the stream, and leaned against it 
 with all his might, to stay the raft until the ice should 
 pass by. The rapid current forced the ice against the 
 pole with such violence that he was jerked into the 
 water, where it was at least ten feet deep, and onlj 
 saved himself from being swept away and drowned hy 
 catching hold of one of the raft logs. 
 
 It was now impossible with all their exertions to 
 get to either shore ; abandoning the raft therefore, they 
 got upon an island, near which they were drifting. 
 Here they passed the night exposed to intense cold, 
 by which the hands and feet of Mr. Gist were frozen. 
 In the morning they found the drift ice wedged so 
 closely together, that they succeeded in getting from 
 the island to the opposite side of the river j and before 
 night were in comfortable quarters at the house of 
 
 VOL. i. — 7 
 
98 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 Frazier, the Indian trader, at the mouth of Turtle 
 Creek on the Monongahela. 
 
 Here they learned from a war party of Indians that 
 a band of Ottawas, a tribe in the interest of the 
 French, had massacred a whole family of whites on the 
 banks of the Great Kanawha River. 
 
 At Frazier's they were detained two or three days 
 endeavoring to procure horses. In this interval Wash- 
 ington had again occasion to exercise Indian diplomacy. 
 About three miles distant, at the mouth of the 
 Youghiogeny River, dwelt a female sachem, Queen 
 Aliquippa, as the English called her, whose sovereign 
 dignity had been aggrieved that the party, on their 
 way to the Ohio, had passed near her royal wigwam 
 without paying their respects to her. 
 
 Aware of the importance, at this critical juncture 
 of securing the friendship of the Indians, Washington 
 availed himself of the interruption of his journey, to 
 pay a visit of ceremony to this native princess. What- 
 ever anger she may have felt at past neglect, it was 
 readily appeased by a present of his old watch-coat ; 
 and her good graces were completely secured by a 
 bottle of rum, which, he intimates, appeared • to be 
 peculiarly acceptable to her majesty. 
 
 Leaving Frazier's on the 1st of January, they 
 arrived on the 2d at the residence of Mr. Gist, on the 
 Monongahela. Here they separated, and Washington 
 having purchased a horse, continued his homeward 
 course, passing horses laden with materials and stores 
 for the fort at the fork of the Ohio, and families doing 
 out to settle there. 
 
 Having crossed the Blue Ridge, and stopped one 
 
1/54.J TEST OF CHARACTER. 9S 
 
 day at Belvoir to rest, he reached Williamsburg on the 
 16th of January, where he delivered to Governoi 
 Dinwiddie the letter of the French commandant, and 
 made him a full report of the events of his mission. 
 
 We have been minute in our account of this expedi- 
 tion, as it was an early test and development of the 
 various talents and characteristics of Washington. 
 
 The prudence, sagacity, resolution, firmness, and 
 self-devotion manifested by him throughout ; his admi- 
 rable tact and self-possession in treating with fickle 
 savages and crafty white men ; the soldier's eye with 
 which he had noticed the commanding and defensible 
 points of the country, and every thing that would bear 
 upon military operations; and the hardihood with 
 which he had acquitted himself during a wintry tramp 
 through the wilderness, through constant storms of 
 rain and snow ; often sleeping on the ground without a 
 tent in the open air, and in danger from treacherous foes, 
 — all pointed him out, not merely to the governor, but 
 to the public at large, as one eminently fitted, notwith- 
 standing his youth, for important trusts involving civil 
 as well as military duties. It is an expedition that 
 may be considered the foundation of his fortunes. 
 From that moment he was the rising hope of Virginia. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 BEPLY OP THE CHEVALIER DE ST. PIEBRE — TRENT'S MISSION TO TH8 
 FEONTIEB — WASHINGTON BEOEUITS TBOOPS — DINWIDDIE AND THE 
 HOUSE OP BURGESSES — INDEPENDENT CONDUCT OP THE VIRGINIANS 
 — EXPEDIENTS TO GAIN REOBUITS — JACOB VAN BBAAM IN SEBVICE — 
 TOILFUL MABCH TO WILLS' OBEEK — 00NTBE0O2UB AT THE POEK OP TnE 
 OHIO — TBENT'S BEFBACTORY TROOPS. 
 
 The reply of the Chevalier de St. Pierre was such as 
 might have been expected from that courteous, but 
 wary commander. He should transmit, he said, the 
 letter of Governor Dinwiddie to his general, the Mar- 
 quis du Quesne, " to whom, " observed he, " it better 
 belongs than to me to set forth the evidence and reality 
 of the rights of the king, my master, upon the land sit- 
 uated along the river Ohio, and to contest the preten- 
 sions of the king of Great Britain thereto. His an- 
 swer shall be a law to me. ***** A s to the 
 summons you send me to retire, I do not think myself 
 obliged to obey it. Whatever may be your instruc- 
 tions, I am here by virtue of the orders of my general ; 
 and I entreat you, sir, not to doubt one moment but 
 that I am determined to conform myself to them with 
 
1754.] Trent's mission to the frontier. 101 
 
 all the exactness and resolution which can be expected 
 from the best officer." * * * * 
 
 " I made it my particular care," adds he, " to re- 
 ceive Mr. Washington with a distinction suitable to 
 your dignity, as well as his own quality and great 
 merit. I natter myself that he will do me this justice 
 before you, sir, and that he will signify to you, in the 
 manner I do myself, the profound respect with which 
 I am, sir," &c. * 
 
 This soldierlike and punctilious letter of the cheva- 
 lier was considered evasive, and only intended to gain 
 time. The information given by Washington of what 
 he had observed on the frontier, convinced Governor 
 Dinwiddie and his council that the French were pre- 
 paring to descend the Ohio in the spring, and take mil- 
 itary possession of the country. Washington's journal 
 was printed, and widely promulgated throughout the 
 colonies and England, and awakened the nation to a 
 sense of the impending danger, and the necessity of 
 prompt measures to anticipate the French movements. 
 
 Captain Trent was despatched to the frontier, com- 
 missioned to raise a company of one hundred men, 
 march with all speed to the fork of the Ohio, and 
 finish as soon as possible the fort commenced there by 
 the Ohio Company. He was enjoined to act only on 
 the defensive, but to capture or destroy whoever should 
 oppose the construction of the works, or disturb their 
 settlements. The choice of Captain Trent for this ser- 
 vice, notwithstanding his late inefficient expedition, 
 was probably owing to his being brother-in-law to 
 
 * London Mag., June, 1754. 
 
102 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 George Croghan, who had grown to be quite a person- 
 age of consequence on the frontier, where he had an es- 
 tablishment or trading-house, and was supposed to 
 have great influence among the western tribes, so as to 
 be able at any time to persuade many of them to take 
 up the hatchet. 
 
 Washington was empowered to raise a company of 
 like force at Alexandria ; to procure and forward mu- 
 nitions and supplies for the projected fort at the fork, 
 and ultimately to have command of both companies. 
 When on the frontier he was to take counsel of George 
 Croghan and Andrew Montour, the interpreter, in all 
 matters relating to the Indians, they being esteemed 
 perfect oracles in that department. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddie in the mean time called upon 
 the governors of the other provinces to make common 
 cause against the foe ; he endeavored, also, to effect 
 alliances with the Indian tribes of the south, the Cataw- 
 bas and Cherokees, by way of counterbalancing the 
 Chippewas and Ottawas, who were devoted to the 
 French. 
 
 The colonies, however, felt as yet too much like 
 isolated territories ; the spirit of union was wanting. 
 Some pleaded a want of military funds; some ques- 
 tioned the justice of the cause ; some declined taking 
 any hostile step that might involve them in a war, un- 
 less they should have direct orders from the crown. 
 
 Dinwiddie convened the House of Burgesses to de- 
 vise measures for the public security. Here his high 
 idea of prerogative and of gubernatorial dignity met 
 with a grievous countercheck from the dawning spirit of 
 independence. High as were the powers vested in the 
 
1754.] DOUBTS OF THE BURGESSES. 103 
 
 colonial government of Virginia, of which, though but 
 lieutenant-governor, he had the actual control ; they 
 were counterbalanced by the power inherent in the 
 people, growing out of their situation and circumstan- 
 ces, and acting through their representatives. 
 
 There was no turbulent factious opposition to gov- 
 ernment in Virginia ; no " fierce democracy," the rank 
 growth of crowded cities, and a fermenting populace ; 
 but there was the independence of men, living apart in 
 patriarchal style on their own rural domains ; sur- 
 rounded by their families, dependants and slaves, 
 among whom their will was law, — and there was the 
 individuality in character and action of men prone to 
 nurture peculiar notions and habits of thinking, in the 
 thoughtful solitariness of country life. 
 
 When Dinwiddie propounded his scheme of opera- 
 tions on the Ohio, some of the burgesses had the har- 
 dihood to doubt the claims of the king to the disputed 
 territory ; a doubt which the governor reprobated as 
 savoring strongly of a most disloyal French spirit ; he 
 fired, as he says, at the thought " that an English leg- 
 islature should presume to doubt the right of his maj- 
 esty to the interior parts of this continent, the back 
 part of his dominions ! " 
 
 Others demurred to any grant of means for military 
 purposes which might be construed into an act of hos- 
 tility. To meet this scruple, it was suggested that the 
 grant might be made for the purpose of encouraging 
 and protecting all settlers on the waters of the Missis- 
 sippi. And under this specious plea, ten thousand 
 pounds were grudgingly voted ; but even this moder- 
 ate sum was not put at the absolute disposition of the 
 
104 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 governor. A committee was appointed, with whom 
 he was to confer as to its appropriation. 
 
 This precaution Dinwiddie considered an insulting 
 invasion of the right he possessed as governor, to con- 
 trol the purse as well as the sword ; and he complained 
 bitterly of the Assembly, as deeply tinctured with a 
 republican way of thinking, and disposed to encroach 
 on the prerogative of the crown, "which he feared 
 would render them more and more difficult to be 
 brought to order!' 
 
 Ways and means being provided, Governor Din- 
 widdie augmented the number of troops to be enlisted 
 to three hundred, divided into six companies. The 
 command of the whole, as before, was offered to Wash- 
 ington ; but he shrank from it, as a charge too great 
 for his youth and inexperience. It was given, there- 
 fore, to Colonel Joshua Pry, an English gentleman of 
 worth and education, and Washington was made sec- 
 ond in command, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 The recruiting, at first, went on slowly. Those 
 who offered to enlist, says Washington, were for the 
 most part loose idle persons, without house or home, 
 some without shoes or stockings, some shirtless, and 
 many without coat or waistcoat. 
 
 He was young in the recruiting service, or he would 
 have known that such is generally the stuff of which 
 armies are made. In this country especially it has al- 
 ways been difficult to enlist the active yeomanry by 
 holding out merely the pay of a soldier. The means 
 of subsistence are too easily obtained by the industri- 
 ous, for them to give up home and personal independ- 
 ence for a mere daily support. Some may be tempted 
 
1754.J RECRUITING EXPEDIENTS. 105 
 
 by a love of adventure ; but, in general, they require 
 some prospect of ultimate advantage that may "better 
 their condition." 
 
 Governor Dinwiddie became sensible of this, and 
 resorted to an expedient rising out of the natural re- 
 source of the countiy, which has since been frequently 
 adopted, and always with efficacy. He proclaimed a 
 bounty of two hundred thousand acres of land on the 
 Ohio River, to be divided among the officers and soldiers 
 who should engage in this expedition ; one thousand 
 to be laid off contiguous to the fort at the fork, for the 
 use of the garrison. This was a tempting bait to the 
 sons of farmers, who readily enlisted in the hope of 
 having, at the end of a short campaign, a snug farm of 
 their own in this land of promise. 
 
 It was a more difficult matter to get officers than 
 soldiers. Very few of those appointed made their ap- 
 pearance ; one of the captains had been promoted ; 
 two declined; Washington found himself left, almost 
 alone, to manage a number of self-willed, undisciplined 
 recruits. Happily he had with him, in the rank of 
 lieutenant, that soldier of fortune, Jacob Van Braam, 
 his old " master of fence," and travelling interpreter. 
 
 In his emergency he forthwith nominated him cap- 
 tain, and wrote to the governor to confirm the ap- 
 pointment, representing him as the oldest lieutenant, 
 and an experienced officer. 
 
 On the 2d of April, Washington set off from Alex- 
 andria for the new fort, at the fork of the Ohio. He 
 had but two companies with him, amounting to about 
 one hundred and fifty men ; the remainder of the regi- 
 ment was to follow under Colonel Fry with the artillery, 
 
106 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 which was to be conveyed up the Potomac. While on 
 the march he was joined by a detachment under Cap- 
 tain Adam Stephens, an officer destined to serve with 
 him at distant periods of his military career. 
 
 At Winchester he found it impossible to obtain 
 conveyances by gentle means, and was obliged reluc- 
 tantly to avail himself of the militia law of Virginia, 
 and impress horses and waggons for service ; giving the 
 owners orders on government for their appraised value. 
 Even then, out of a great number impressed, he ob- 
 tained but ten, after waiting a week ; these, too, were 
 grudgingly furnished by farmers with their worst 
 horses, so that in steep and difficult passes they were 
 incompetent to the draught, and the soldiers had con- 
 tinually to put their shoulders to the wheels. 
 
 Thus slenderly fitted out, Washington and his little 
 force made their way toilfully across the mountains, 
 having to prepare the roads as they went for the trans- 
 portation of the cannon, which were to follow on with 
 the other division under Colonel Pry. They cheered 
 themselves with the thoughts that this hard work would 
 cease w T hen they should arrive at the company's tra- 
 ding-post and storehouse at Wills' Creek, where Cap- 
 tain Trent was to have packhorses in readiness, with 
 which they might make the rest of the way by light 
 stages. Before arriving there, they were startled by a 
 rumor that Trent and all his men had been captured 
 by the French. With regard to Trent, the news soon 
 proved to be false, for they found him at Wills' Creek 
 on the 20th of April. With regard to his men there 
 was still an uncertainty. lie had recently left them 
 at the fork of the Ohio, busily at work on the fort, un- 
 
1754.] CATASTROPHE AT THE FORT. 107 
 
 der the command of his lieutenant, Frazier, late Indian 
 trader and gunsmith, but now a provincial officer. If 
 the men had been captured, it must have been since 
 the captain's departure. Washington was eager to 
 press forward and ascertain the truth, but it was im- 
 possible. Trent, inefficient as usual, had failed to pro- 
 vide packhorses. It was necessary to send to Win- 
 chester, forty miles distant, for baggage waggons, and 
 await their arrival. All uncertainty as to the fate of 
 the men, however, was brought to a close by their ar- 
 rival, on the 25th, conducted by an ensign, and bring- 
 ing with them their working implements. The French 
 might well boast that they had again been too quick for 
 the English. Captain Contrecoeur, an alert officer, had 
 embarked about a thousand men with field-pieces, in 
 a fleet of sixty batteaux and three hundred canoes, 
 dropped down the river from Venango, and suddenly 
 made his appearance before the fort, on which the men 
 were working, and which was not half completed. 
 Landing, drawing up his men, and planting his artil- 
 lery, he summoned the fort to surrender, allowing one 
 hour for a written reply. 
 
 What w as to be done ? the whole garrison did not 
 exceed fifty men. Captain Trent was absent at Wills' 
 Creek; Frazier, his lieutenant, was at his own resi- 
 dence at Turtle Creek, ten miles distant. There was 
 no officer to reply but a young ensign of the name of 
 Ward. In his perplexity, he turned for counsel to 
 Tanacharisson, the half-king, who was present in the 
 fort. The chief advised the ensign to plead insuffi- 
 ciency of rank and powers, and crave delay until the 
 arrival of his superior officer. The ensign repaired to 
 
108 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 the French camp to offer this excuse in pei-son, and 
 was accompanied by the half-king. They were courte- 
 ously received, but Contrecceur was inflexible. There 
 must be instant surrender, or he would take forcible 
 possession. All that the ensign could obtain was per- 
 mission to depart with his men, taking with them their 
 working tools. The capitulation ended, Contrecceur, 
 with true French gayety, invited the ensign to sup with 
 him, treated him with the utmost politeness, and 
 wished him a pleasant journey, as he set off the next 
 morning with his men laden with their working tools. 
 
 Such was the ensign's story. He was accompa- 
 nied by two Indian warriors, sent by the half-king to 
 ascertain where the detachment was, what was its 
 strength, and when it might be expected at the Ohio. 
 They bore a speech from that sachem to Washington, 
 and another, with a belt of wampum for the Governor 
 of Virginia. In these he plighted his steadfast faith to 
 the English, and claimed assistance from his brothers 
 of Virginia and Pennsylvania. 
 
 One of these warriors Washington forwarded on 
 with the speech and wampum to Governor Dinwiddie. 
 The other he prevailed on to return to the half-king, 
 bearing a speech from him addressed to the " sachems, 
 warriors of the Six United Nations, Shannoahs and 
 Delawares, our friends and brethren." In this he 
 informed them that he was on the advance with a part 
 of the army, to clear the road for a greater force 
 coming with guns, ammunition, and provisions ; and 
 he invited the half-king and another sachem to meet 
 him on the road as soon as possible to hold a council. 
 
 In fact, his situation was arduous in the extreme. 
 
1754.] INCREASING DANGERS. 109 
 
 Regarding the conduct of the French in the recent 
 occurrence an overt act of war, he found himself thrown 
 with a handful of raw recruits far on a hostile frontier, 
 in the midst of a wilderness, with an enemy at hand 
 greatly superior in number and discipline ; provided 
 with artillery, and all the munitions of war, and with- 
 in reach of constant supplies and reinforcements. 
 Beside the French that had come from Venango, he 
 had received credible accounts of another party ascend- 
 ing the Ohio ; and of six hundred Chippewas and 
 Ottawas marching down Scioto Creek to join the 
 hostile camp. Still, notwithstanding the accumulating 
 danger, it would not do to fall back, nor show signs of 
 apprehension. His Indian allies in such case might 
 desert him. The soldiery, too, might grow restless and 
 dissatisfied. He was already annoyed by Captain 
 Trent's men, who, having enlisted as volunteers, con- 
 sidered themselves exempt from the rigor of martial 
 law; and by their example of loose and refractory 
 conduct, threatened to destroy the subordination of 
 his own troops. 
 
 In this dilemma he called a council of war, in which 
 it was determined to proceed to the Ohio Company 
 store-houses, at the mouth of Redstone Creek ; fortify 
 themselves there, and wait for reinforcements. Here 
 they might keep up a vigilant watch upon the enemy, 
 and get notice of any hostile movement in time for 
 defence, or retreat; and should they be reinforced 
 sufficiently to enable them to attack the fort, they could 
 easily drop down the river with their artillery. 
 
 With these alternatives in view, Washington detached 
 sixty men in advance to make a road; and at the 
 
110 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754 
 
 same time wrote to Governor Dinwiddie for mortars 
 and grenadoes, and cannon of heavy metal. 
 
 Aware that the Assembly of Pennsylvania was in 
 session, and that the Maryland Assembly would also 
 meet in the course of a few days, he wrote directly to 
 the governors of those provinces, acquainting them with 
 the hostile acts of the French, and with his perilous 
 situation ; and endeavoring to rouse them to co-opera- 
 tion in the common cause. We will here note in 
 advance that his letter was laid before the Legislature 
 of Pennsylvania, and a bill was about to be passed 
 making appropriations for the service of the king ; but 
 it fell through, in consequence of a disagreement 
 between the Assembly and the governor as to the 
 mode in which the money should be raised ; and so no 
 assistance was furnished to Washington from that 
 quarter. The youthful commander had here a foretaste, 
 in these his incipient campaigns, of the perils and per- 
 plexities which awaited him from enemies in the field, 
 and lax friends in legislative councils in the grander 
 operations of his future years. Before setting off for 
 Redstone Creek, he discharged Trent's refractory men 
 from his detachment, ordering them to await Colonel 
 Fry's commands ; they, however, in the true spirit of 
 volunteers from the backwoods, dispersed to their 
 several homes. 
 
 It may be as well to observe, in this place, that 
 both Captain Trent and Lieutenant Frazier were se- 
 verely censured for being absent from their post at the 
 time of f the French summons. " Trent's behavior," 
 said Washington, in a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, 
 " has been very tardy, and has convinced the world of 
 
1754.] TRENT AND ERAZIER CENSURED. Ill 
 
 what they before suspected — his great timidity. Lieu- 
 tenant Irazier, though not altogether blameless, is 
 much more excusable, for he would not accept of the 
 commission until he had a promise from his captain 
 that he should not reside at the fort, nor visit it above 
 once a week, or as he saw necessity." In fact, Wash- 
 ington subsequently recommended Erazier for the office 
 of adjutant. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 MARCH TO THE LITTLE MEADOWS — RUMORS FROM THE OHIO CORRE- 
 SPONDENCE FKOM THE BANKS OF THE TOTJGHIOGENY — ATTEMPT TO DE- 
 SCEND THAT RIVER — ALARMING REPORTS SCOUTING PARTIES — PERIL- 
 OUS SITUATION OF TnE CAMP — GIST AND LA FORCE — MESSAGE FROM 
 
 THE nALF-KING FRENCH TRACKS — THE JUMONVILLE SKIRMISH — 
 
 TREATMENT OF LA FORCE — POSITION AT TnE GREAT MEADOWS — BEL- 
 LIGERENT FEELINGS OF A YOUNG SOLDIER. 
 
 On the 29th of April, Washington set ont for Wills' 
 Creek, at the head of one hundred and sixty men. 
 He soon overtook those sent in advance to work the 
 road ; they had made but little progress. It was a 
 difficult task to break a road through the wilderness 
 sufficient for the artillery coming on with Colonel Fry's 
 division. All hands were now set to work, but with 
 all their labor they could not accomplish more than 
 four miles a day. They were toiling through Savage 
 Mountain and that dreary forest region beyond it, since 
 bearing the sinister name of " The Shades of Death." 
 On the 9th of May they were not further than twenty 
 miles from Wills' Creek, at a place called the Little 
 Meadows. 
 
1754. J RUMORS FROM THE OHIO. 113 
 
 Every day came gloomy accounts from the Ohio ; 
 brought chiefly by traders, who, with packhorses bear- 
 ing their effects, were retreating to the more settled 
 parts of the country. Some exaggerated the number 
 of the French, as if strongly reinforced. All represent- 
 ed them as diligently at work constructing a fort. By 
 their account, Washington perceived the French had 
 chosen the very place which he had noted in his jour- 
 nal as best fitted for the purpose. 
 
 One of the traders gave information concerning 
 La Force, the French emissary who had beset Wash- 
 ington when on his mission to the frontier, and acted, 
 as he thought, the part of a spy. He had been at 
 Gist's new settlement, beyond Laurel Hill, and was 
 prowling about the country with four soldiers at his 
 heels on a pretended hunt after deserters. Washing- 
 ton suspected him to be on a reconnoitering expedition. 
 
 It was reported, moreover, that the French were 
 lavishing presents on the Indians about the lower part 
 of the river, to draw them to their standard. Among 
 all these flying reports and alarms, Washington was 
 gratified to learn that the half-king was on his way tc 
 meet him at the head of fifty warriors. 
 
 After infinite toil through swamps and forests, and 
 over rugged mountains, the detachment arrived at the 
 Youghiogeny River, where they were detained some days 
 constructing a bridge to cross it. 
 
 This gave Washington leisure to correspond with 
 Governor Dinwiddie, concerning matters which had 
 deeply annoyed him. By an ill-judged economy of the 
 Virginia government at this critical juncture, its pro- 
 vincial officers received less pay than that allowed in 
 
 VOL. I. 8 
 
114 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754 
 
 the regular army. It is true the regular officers were 
 obliged to furnish their own table, but their superior 
 pay enabled them to do it luxuriously ; whereas the 
 provincials were obliged to do hard duty on salt provi- 
 sions and water. The provincial officers resented this 
 inferiority of pay as an indignity, and declared that 
 nothing prevented them from throwing up their com- 
 missions but unwillingness to recede before approach- 
 ing danger. 
 
 Washington shared deeply this feeling. " Let him 
 serve voluntarily, and he would with the greatest plea- 
 sure in life devote his services to the expedition — but 
 to be slaving through woods, rocks, and mountains, for 
 the shadow of pay — " writes he, "I would rather toil 
 like a day laborer for a maintenance, if reduced to the 
 necessity, than serve on such ignoble terms. ,, Parity of 
 pay was indispensable to the dignity of the service. 
 
 Other instances of false economy were pointed out 
 by him, forming so many drags upon the expedition, 
 that he quite despaired of success. " Be the conse- 
 quence what it will, however," adds he, " I am deter- 
 mined not to leave the regiment, but to be among the 
 last men that leave the Ohio ; even if I serve as a pri- 
 vate volunteer, which I greatly prefer to the establish- 
 ment we are upon. * * * * I have a constitu- 
 tion hardy enough to encounter and undergo the most 
 severe trials, and I natter myself resolution to face what 
 any man dares, as shall be proved when it comes to 
 the test." 
 
 And in a letter to his friend Colonel Fairfax — " For 
 my own part," writes he, " it is a matter almost indif- 
 ferent whether I serve for full pay or as a generous vol- 
 
1754.] Washington's motives of action. 115 
 
 unteer ; indeed, did my circumstances correspond with 
 my inclinations, I should not hesitate a moment to pre- 
 fer the latter ; for the motives that have led me here are 
 pure and noble, I had no view of acquisition but that 
 of honor, by serving faithfully my Icing and country!' 
 
 Such were the noble impulses of Washington at the 
 age of twenty-two, and such continued to actuate him 
 throughout life. We have put the latter part of the 
 quotation in italics, as applicable to the motives which 
 in after life carried him into the Revolution. 
 
 While the bridge over the Youghiogeny was in the 
 course of construction, the Indians assured Washing- 
 ton he would never be able to open a waggon-road 
 across the mountains to Redstone Creek ; he embarked 
 therefore in a canoe with a lieutenant, three soldiers, 
 and an Indian guide, to try whether it was possible to 
 descend the river. They had not descended above ten 
 miles before the Indian refused to go further. Wash- 
 ington soon ascertained the reason. " Indians," said 
 he, "expect presents — nothing can be done without 
 them. The French take this method. If you want 
 one or more to conduct a party, to discover the coun- 
 try, to hunt, or for any particular purpose, they must 
 be bought; their friendship is not so warm as to 
 prompt them to these services gratis." The Indian 
 guide, in the present instance, was propitiated by the 
 promise of one of Washington's ruffled shirts and a 
 watch-coat. 
 
 The river was bordered by mountains and obstruct- 
 ed by rocks and rapids. Indians might thread such a 
 labyrinth in their light canoes, but it would never ad- 
 mit the transportation of troops and military stores. 
 
116 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 Washington kept on for thirty miles, until he came 
 to a place where the river fell nearly forty feet in the 
 space of fifty yards. There he ceased to explore, and 
 returned to camp, resolving to continue forward by 
 land. 
 
 On the 23d Indian scouts brought word that the 
 French were not above eight hundred strong, and that 
 about half their number had been detached at night on 
 a secret expedition. Close upon this report came a 
 message from the half-king, addressed " to the first of 
 his majesty's officers whom it may concern. ,, 
 
 " It is reported," said he, " that the French army 
 is coming to meet Major Washington. Be on your 
 guard against them, my brethren, for they intend to 
 strike the first English they shall see. They have been 
 on their march two days. I know not their number. 
 The half-king and the rest of the chiefs will be with 
 you in five days to hold a council." 
 
 In the evening Washington was told that the 
 French were crossing the ford of the Youghiogeny 
 about eighteen miles distant. He now hastened to take 
 a position in a place called the Great Meadows, where 
 he caused the bushes to be cleared away, made an in- 
 trenchment, and prepared what he termed " a charm- 
 ing field for an encounter." A party of scouts were 
 mounted on waggon horses, and sent out to recon- 
 noitre. They returned without having seen an enemy. 
 A sensitiveness prevailed in the camp. They were 
 surrounded by forests, threatened by unseen foes, and 
 hourly in danger of surprise. There was an alarm 
 about two o'clock in the night. The sentries fired 
 upon what they took to be prowling foes. The troops 
 
1754.] LURKING FOES. 117 
 
 sprang to arms, and remained on the alert until day- 
 break. Not an enemy was to be seen. The roll was 
 called. Six men were missing, who had deserted. 
 
 On the 25th Mr. Gist arrived from his place, about 
 fifteen miles distant. La Force had been there at noon 
 on the previous day, with a detachment of fifty men, 
 and Gist had since come upon their track within five 
 miles of the camp. Washington considered La Force 
 a bold, enterprising man, subtle and dangerous ; one 
 to be particularly guarded against. He detached sev- 
 enty-five men in pursuit of him and his prowling band. 
 
 About nine o'clock at night came an Indian mes- 
 senger from the half-king, who was encamped with 
 several of his people about six miles off. The chief 
 had seen tracks of two Frenchmen, and was convinced 
 their whole body must be in ambush near by. 
 
 Washington considered this the force which had 
 been hovering about him for several days, and deter- 
 mined to forestall their hostile designs. Leaving a 
 guard with the baggage and ammunition, he set out 
 before ten o'clock, with forty men, to join his Indian 
 ally. They groped their way in single file, by footpaths 
 through the woods, in a heavy rain and murky dark- 
 ness, tripping occasionally and stumbling over each 
 other, sometimes losing the track for fifteen or twenty 
 minutes, so that it was near sunrise when they reached 
 the camp of the half-king. 
 
 That chieftain received the youthful commander 
 with great demonstrations of friendship, and engaged 
 to go hand in hand with him against the lurking ene- 
 my. He set out accordingly, accompanied by a few 
 of his warriors and his associate sachem Scarooyadi, or 
 
118 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754 
 
 Monacatoocha, and conducted Washington to the tracks 
 which he had discovered. Upon these he put two of 
 his Indians. They followed them up like hounds, and 
 brought back word that they had traced them to a low 
 bottom, surrounded by rocks and trees, where the 
 Trench were encamped, having built a few cabins for 
 shelter from the rain. 
 
 A plan was now concerted to come upon them by sur- 
 prise : Washington with his men on the right ; the half- 
 king with his warriors on the left ; all as silently as 
 possible. Washington was the first upon the ground. 
 As he advanced from among the rocks and trees at the 
 head of his men, the French caught sight of him and 
 ran to their arms. A sharp firing instantly took place, 
 and was kept up on both sides for about fifteen 
 minutes. Washington and his party were most ex- 
 posed, and received all the enemy's fire. The balls 
 whistled around him; one man was killed close by 
 him, and three others wounded. The French at length 
 having lost several of their number, gave way and ran. 
 They were soon overtaken ; twenty-one were captured, 
 and but one escaped, a Canadian, who carried the ti- 
 dings of the affair to the fort on the Ohio. The In- 
 dians would have massacred the prisoners had not 
 Washington prevented them. Ten of the French had 
 fallen in the skirmish, and one been wounded. Wash- 
 ington's loss was the one killed and three wounded 
 which we have mentioned. He had been in the hottest 
 fire, and having for the first time heard balls whistle 
 about him, considered his escape miraculous. Jumon- 
 ville, the French leader, had been shot through the 
 head at the first fire. He was a young officer of merit, 
 
1754.] SKIRMISH WITH JUMONVILLE. 119 
 
 and his fate was made the subject of lamentation in 
 prose and verse — chiefly through political motives. 
 
 Of the twenty-one prisoners, the two most impor- 
 tant were an officer of some consequence named Dron- 
 illon, and the subtle and redoubtable La Force. As 
 Washington considered the latter an arch mischief- 
 maker, he was rejoiced to have him in his power. La 
 Force and his companion would fain have assumed the 
 sacred character of ambassadors, pretending they were 
 coming with a summons to him to depart from the 
 territories belonging to the crown of France. 
 
 Unluckily for their pretensions, a letter of instruc- 
 tions, found on Jumonville, betrayed their real errand, 
 which w^as to inform themselves of the roads, rivers, 
 and other features of the countiy as far as the Poto- 
 mac ; to send back from time to time, by fleet messen- 
 gers, all the information they could collect, and to give 
 word of the day on which they intended to serve the 
 summons. Their conduct had been conformable. In- 
 stead of coining in a direct and open manner to his 
 encampment, when they had ascertained where it was, 
 and delivering their summons, as they would have done 
 had their designs been frank and loyal, they had moved 
 back two miles, to one of the most secret retirements, 
 better for a deserter than an ambassador to encamp in, 
 and staid there within five miles of his camp, sending 
 spies to reconnoitre it, and despatching messengers to 
 Contrecceur to inform him of its position and numerical 
 strength, to the end, no doubt, that he might send a suffi- 
 cient detachment to enforce the summons as soon as it 
 should be given. In fact, the footprints which had 
 first led to the discovery of the French lurking-plrxo, 
 
120 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 were those of two " runners," or swift messengers, sent, 
 by Jumonville to the fort on the Ohio. 
 
 It w r ould seem that La Force, after all, was but an 
 instrument in the hands of his commanding officers, 
 and not in their full confidence ; for when the commis- 
 sion and instructions found on Jumonville were read 
 before him, he professed not to have seen them before, 
 and acknowledged, with somewhat of an air of ingen- 
 uousness, that he believed they had a hostile tendency.* 
 
 Upon the whole, it was the opinion of Washington 
 and his officers that the summons, on which so much 
 stress was laid, was a mere specious pretext to mask 
 their real designs, and be used as occasion might 
 require. " That they were spies rather than any thing 
 else," and were to be treated as prisoners of war. 
 
 The half-king joined heartily in this opinion ; indeed 
 had the fate of the prisoners been in his hands, neither 
 diplomacy nor any thing else would have been of avail. 
 "They came with hostile intentions," he said; "they 
 had bad hearts, and if his English brothers were so 
 foolish as to let them go, he would never aid in taking 
 another Frenchman." 
 
 The prisoners were accordingly conducted to the 
 camp at the Great Meadows, and sent on the following 
 day (29th), under a strong escort, to Governor Din- 
 widdie, then at Winchester. Washington had treated 
 them with great courtesy; had furnished Drouillon 
 and La Force with clothing from his own scanty stock, 
 and, at their request, given them letters to the gov- 
 ernor, bespeaking for them " the respect and favor due 
 to their character and personal merit." 
 
 * Washington's letter to Dinwiddle, 29th May, 1754. - 
 
1754.] TREATMENT OF PRISONERS. 121 
 
 A sense of duty, however, obliged him, in his gen- 
 eral despatch, to put the governor on his guard against 
 La Force. " I really think, if released, he would do 
 more to our disservice than fifty other men, as he is a 
 person whose active spirit leads him into all parties, 
 and has brought him acquainted with all parts of the 
 country. Add to this a perfect knowledge of the In- 
 dian tongue, and great influence with the Indians." 
 
 After the departure of the prisoners, he wrote again 
 respecting them : "I have still stronger presumption, 
 indeed almost confirmation, that they were sent as 
 spies, and were ordered to wait near us till they were 
 fully informed of our intentions, situation, and strength, 
 and were to have acquainted their commander there- 
 with, and to have been lurking here for reinforcements 
 before they served the summons, if served at all. 
 
 "I doubt not but they will endeavor to amuse you 
 with many smooth stories, as they did me ; but they 
 were confuted in them all, and, by circumstances too 
 plain to be denied, almost made ashamed of their as- 
 sertions. 
 
 "I have heard since they went away, they should 
 say they called on us not to fire ; but that I know to 
 be false, for I was the first man that approached them, 
 and the first whom they saw, and immediately they 
 ran to their arms, and fired briskly till they were de- 
 feated." * * * * "I fancy they will have the 
 assurance of asking the privileges due to an embassy, 
 when in strict justice they ought to be hanged as spies 
 of the worst sort." 
 
 The situation of Washington was now extremely 
 perilous. Contrecoeur, it was said, had nearly a thou- 
 
122 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 sand men with him at the fort, beside Indian allies ; 
 and reinforcements were on the w T ay to join him. The 
 messengers sent by Jumonville, previous to the late af- 
 fair, must have apprised him of the weakness of the 
 encampment on the Great Meadows. Washington 
 hastened to strengthen it. He wrote by express also 
 to Colonel Fry, who lay ill at Wills' Creek, urging in- 
 stant reinforcements ; but declaring his resolution to 
 " fight with very unequal numbers rather than give up 
 one inch of what he had gained. " 
 
 The half-king w T as full of fight. He sent the scalps 
 of the Frenchmen slain in the late skirmish, accompa- 
 nied by black wampum and hatchets, to all his allies, 
 summoning them to take up arms and join him at 
 Redstone Creek, " for their brothers the English had 
 now begun in earnest." It is said he would even have 
 sent the scalps of the prisoners had not Washington 
 interfered.* He went off for his home, promising to 
 send down the river for all the Mingoes and Shawnees, 
 and to be back at the camp on the 30th, with thirty 
 or forty warriors, accompanied by their wives and chil- 
 dren. To assist him in the transportation of his people 
 and their effects thirty men were detached, and twenty 
 horses. 
 
 " I shall expect every hour to be attacked," writes 
 Washington to Governor Dinwiddie, on the 29th, " and 
 by unequal numbers, which I must withstand, if there 
 are five to one, for I fear the consequence will be that 
 we shall lose the Indians if we suffer ourselves to be 
 driven back. Your honor may depend I will not be 
 
 * Letter from Virginia. — London Mag., 1754. 
 
1754.] MILITARY EXCITEMENT. 123 
 
 surprised, let them come at what hour they will, and 
 this is as much as I can promise ; but my best endea- 
 vors shall not be wanting to effect more. I doubt not 
 if you hear I am beaten, but you will hear at the same 
 time that we have done our duty in fighting as long as 
 there is a shadow of hope." 
 
 The fact is, that Washington was in a high state of 
 military excitement. He was a young soldier; had 
 been for the first time in action, and been successful. 
 The letters we have already quoted show, in some 
 degree, the fervor of his mind, and his readiness to 
 brave the worst ; but a short letter, written to one of 
 his brothers, on the 31st, lays open the recesses of his 
 heart. 
 
 " We expect every hour to be attacked by superior 
 force ; but if they forbear but one day longer we shall 
 be prepared for them. * * * * We have al- 
 ready got intrenchments, and are about a palisade, 
 which, I hope, will be finished to-day. The Min- 
 goes have struck the French, and, I hope, will give a 
 good blow before they have done. I expect forty odd 
 of them here to-night, which, with our fort, and some 
 reinforcements from Colonel Fry, will enable us to ex- 
 ert our noble courage with spirit." 
 
 Alluding in a postscript to the late affair, he adds : 
 "I fortunately escaped w ; thout any wound; for the 
 right wing, where 1 stood, was exposed to, and received, 
 all the enemy's fire ; and it was the part where the 
 man was killed and the rest wounded. I heard the 
 bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something 
 charming in the sound!' 
 
 This rodomontade, as Horace Walpole terms it 
 
124 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754, 
 
 reached the ears of George II. " He would not say so," 
 observed the king, dryly, " if he had been used to hear 
 many."* 
 
 Washington himself thought so when more expe- 
 rienced in warfare. Being asked, many years after- 
 wards, whether he really had made such a speech 
 about the whistling of bullets, " If I said so," replied 
 he quietly, " it was when I was young."f He was, 
 indeed, but twenty-two years old when he said it ; it 
 was just after his first battle ; he was flushed with suc- 
 cess, and was writing to a brother. 
 
 * This anecdote has hitherto rested on the authority of Horace Wal- 
 pole, who gives it in his memoirs of George II., and in his correspondence. 
 Pie cites the rodomontade as contained in the express despatched by Wash- 
 ington, whom he pronounces a "brave braggart." As no despatch of 
 Washington contains any rodomontade of the kind; as it is quite at vari- 
 ance with the general tenor of his character ; and as Horace Walpole is 
 well known to have been a " great gossip dealer," apt to catch up any idle 
 rumor that would give piquancy to a paragraph, the story has been held 
 in great distrust. We met with the letter recently, however, in a column 
 of the London Magazine for 1754, page 370, into which it must hare found 
 its way not long after it was written. 
 
 f Gordon, Hist. Am. War, vol. ii., p. 203. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 80 AE CITY IN THE CAMP — DEATH OF COLONEL FRY — PROMOTIONS — MACKAY 
 AND HIS INDEPENDENT COMPANY — MAJOR MUSE — INDIAN CEREMONIALS 
 — PUBLIC PRAYERS IN CAMP — ALARMS — INDEPENDENCE OF AN INDE- 
 PENDENT COMPANY — AFFAIRS AT THE GREAT MEADOWS — DESERTION 
 OF THE INDIAN ALLIES — CAPITULATION OF FORT NECESSITY — VAN 
 BRAAM AS AN INTERPRETER — INDIAN PLUNDERERS — RETURN TO WIL- 
 LIAMSBURG — VOTE OF THANES OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES — SUBSE- 
 QUENT FORTUNES OF THE HALF-KING COMMENTS ON THE AFFAIR OF 
 
 JUMONVILLE AND THE CONDUCT OF VAN BRAAM. 
 
 Scarcity began to prevail in the camp. Contracts 
 had been made with George Croghan for flour, of 
 which he had large quantities at his frontier establish- 
 ment ; for he was now trading with the army as well 
 as with the Indians. None, however, made its appear- 
 ance. There was mismanagement in the commissariat. 
 At one time the troops were six days without flour ; 
 and even then had only a casual supply from an Ohio 
 trader. In this time of scarcity the half-king, his fel- 
 low sachem, Scarooyadi, and thirty or forty warriors, 
 arrived, bringing with them their wives and children 
 —so many more hungry mouths to be supplied. 
 Washington wrote urgently to Croghan to send for- 
 ward all the flour he could furnish. 
 
126 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 News came of the death of Colonel Fry at Wills' 
 Creek, and that he was to be succeeded in the com- 
 mand of the expedition by Colonel Innes of North 
 Carolina, who was actually at Winchester with three 
 hundred and fifty North Carolina troops. Washing- 
 ton, who felt the increasing responsibilities and difficul- 
 ties of his situation, rejoiced at the prospect of being 
 under the command of an experienced officer, who had 
 served in company with his brother Lawrence at the 
 siege of Carthagena. The colonel, however, never came 
 to the camp, nor did the North Carolina troops render 
 any service in the campaign — the fortunes of which 
 might otherwise have been very different. 
 
 By the death of Pry, the command of the regiment 
 devolved on Washington. Finding a blank major's 
 commission among Fry's papers, he gave it to Captain 
 Adam Stephens, who had conducted himself with spirit. 
 As there would necessarily be other changes, he wrote 
 to Governor Dinwiddie in behalf of Jacob Van Braam. 
 " He has acted as captain ever since we left Alexan- 
 dria. He is an experienced officer, and worthy of the 
 command he has enjoyed." 
 
 The palisaded fort was now completed, and was 
 named Fort Necessity, from the pinching famine that 
 had prevailed during its construction. The scanty 
 force in camp was augmented to three hundred, by the 
 arrival from Wills' Creek of the men who had been un- 
 der Colonel Fry. With them came the surgeon of the 
 regiment, Dr. James Craik, a Scotchman by birth, 
 and one destined to become a faithful and confidential 
 friend of Washington for the remainder of his life. 
 
 A letter from Governor Dinwiddie announced, how- 
 
1754.J INDEPENDENT COMPANIES. 127 
 
 ever, that Captain Mackay would soon arrive with an 
 independent company, of one hundred men, from South 
 Carolina. 
 
 The title of independent company had a sound omi- 
 nous of trouble. Troops of the kind raised in the col- 
 onies, under direction of the governors, were paid by 
 the crown, and the officers had king's commissions ; 
 such, doubtless, had Captain Mackay. " I should have 
 been particularly obliged," writes Washington to Gov- 
 ernor Dinwiddie, " if you had declared whether he was 
 under my command, or independent of it. I hope he 
 will have more sense than to insist upon any unrea- 
 sonable distinction, because he and his officers have 
 commissions from his majesty. Let him consider, 
 though we are greatly inferior in respect to advantages 
 of profit, yet we have the same spirit to serve our gra- 
 cious king as they have, and are as ready and willing 
 to sacrifice our lives for our country's good. And 
 here, once more, and for the last time, I must say, that 
 it will be a circumstance which will act upon some offi- 
 cers of this regiment, above all measure, to be obliged 
 to serve upon such different terms, when their lives, 
 their fortunes, and their operations are equally, and, 
 I dare say, as effectually exposed as those of others, 
 who are happy enough to have the king's commission." 
 
 On the 9th arrived Washington's early instructor 
 in military tactics, Adjutant Muse, recently appointed 
 a major in the regiment. He was accompanied by 
 Montour, the Indian interpreter, now a provincial cap- 
 tain, and brought with him nine swivels, and a small 
 supply of powder and ball. Fifty or sixty horses were 
 forthwith sent to Wills' Creek, to bring on further sup- 
 
128 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754 
 
 plies, and Mr. Gist was urged to hasten forward the 
 artillery. 
 
 Major Muse was likewise the bearer of a belt of 
 wampum and a speech, from Governor Dinwiddie, to 
 the half-king ; with medals for the chiefs, and goods for 
 presents among the friendly Indians, a measure which 
 had been suggested by Washington. They were dis- 
 tributed with that grand ceremonial so dear to the red 
 man. The chiefs assembled, painted and decorated in 
 all their savage finery ; Washington wore a medal sent 
 to him by the governor for such occasions. The wam- 
 pum and speech having been delivered, he advanced, 
 and with all due solemnity, decorated the chiefs and 
 warriors with the medals, which they were to wear in 
 remembrance of their father the King of England. 
 
 Among the warriors thus decorated was a son of 
 Queen Aliquippa, the savage princess whose good gra- 
 ces Washington had secured in the preceding year, by 
 the present of an old watch-coat, and whose friendship 
 was important, her town being at no great distance 
 from the Trench fort. She had requested that her son 
 might be admitted into the war councils of the camp, 
 and receive an English name. The name of Fairfax 
 was accordingly given to him, in the customary Indian 
 form; the half-king being desirous of like distinction, 
 received the name of Dinwiddie. The sachems re- 
 turned the compliment in kind, by giving Washington 
 the name of Connotaucarius ; the meaning of which is 
 not explained. 
 
 William Fairfax, Washington's paternal adviser, had 
 recently counselled him by letter, to have public prayers 
 in his camp ; especially when there were Indian families 
 
1754.] ALARMS. 129 
 
 there ; this was accordingly done at the encampment 
 in the Great Meadows, and it certainly was not one of 
 the least striking pictures presented in this wild cam- 
 paign — the youthful commander, presiding with calm 
 seriousness over a motley assemblage of half-equipped 
 soldiery, leathern-clad hunters and woodsmen, and 
 painted savages with their wives and children, and 
 uniting them all in solemn devotion by his own exam- 
 ple and demeanor. 
 
 On the 10th there was agitation in the camp. 
 Scouts hurried in with word, as Washington under- 
 stood them, that a party of ninety Frenchmen were 
 approaching. He instantly ordered out a hundred and 
 fifty of his best men ; put himself at their head, and 
 leaving Major Muse with the rest, to man the fort and 
 mount the swivels, sallied forth " in the full hope," 
 as he afterwards wrote to Governor Dinwiddie, " of 
 procuring him another present of French prisoners." 
 
 It was another effervescence of his youthful military 
 ardor, and doomed to disappointment. The report 
 of the scouts had been either exaggerated or misunder- 
 stood. The ninety Frenchmen in military array dwin- 
 dled down into nine French deserters. 
 
 According to their account, the fort at the fork was 
 completed, and named Duquesne, in honor of the 
 Governor of Canada. It was proof against all attack, 
 excepting with bombs on the land side. The garrison 
 did not exceed five hundred ; but two hundred more 
 were hourly expected, and nine hundred in the course 
 of a fortnight. 
 
 Washington's suspicions with respect to La Force's 
 party were justified by the report of these deserters ; 
 VOL. i. — 9 
 
130 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 they had been sent ont as spies, and were to show the 
 summons if discovered or overpowered. The French 
 commander, they added, had been blamed for sending 
 out so small a party. 
 
 On the same day Captain Mackay arrived, with 
 his independent company of South Carolinians. The 
 cross-purposes which Washington had apprehended, 
 soon manifested themselves. The captain was civil and 
 well disposed, but full of formalities and points of eti- 
 quette. Holding a commission direct from the king, 
 he could not bring himself to acknowledge a provincial 
 officer as his superior. He encamped separately, kept 
 separate guards, would not agree that Washington 
 should assign any rallying place for his men in case of 
 alarm, and objected to receive from him the parole and 
 countersign, though necessary for their common safety. 
 
 Washington conducted himself with circumspec- 
 tion, avoiding every thing that might call up a ques- 
 tion of command, and reasoning calmly whenever such 
 question occurred; but he urged the governor by 
 letter, to prescribe their relative rank and authority. 
 " He thinks you have not a power to give commissions 
 that will command him. If so, I can very confidently 
 say that his absence would tend to the public advan- 
 tage." 
 
 On the 11th of June, Washington resumed the labo- 
 rious march for Bedstone Creek. As Captain Mackay 
 could not oblige his men to work on the road, un- 
 less they were allowed a shilling sterling a day ; and 
 as Washington did not choose to pay this, nor to suffer 
 them to march at their ease while his own faithful sol- 
 diers were laboriously employed ; he left the captain 
 
1754.J RETREAT TO THE GREAT MEADOWS. 131 
 
 and his independent company as a guard at Port Ne- 
 cessity, and undertook to complete the military road 
 with his own men. 
 
 Accordingly, he and his Virginia troops toiled for- 
 ward through the narrow denies of the mountains, 
 working on the road as they went. Scouts were sent 
 out in all directions, to prevent surprise. While on 
 the march he was continually beset by sachems, with 
 their tedious ceremonials and speeches, all to very little 
 purpose. Some of these chiefs were secretly in the 
 French interest ; few rendered any real assistance, and 
 all expected presents. 
 
 At Gist's establishment, about thirteen miles from 
 Fort Necessity, Washington received certain intelli- 
 gence that ample reinforcements had arrived at Fort 
 Duquesne, and a large force would instantly be de- 
 tached against him. Coming to a halt, he began to 
 throw up intrenchments, calling in two foraging parties, 
 and sending word to Captain Mackay to join him with 
 all speed. The captain and his company arrived in the 
 evening; the foraging parties the next morning. A 
 council of war was held, in wiiich the idea of awaiting 
 the enemy at this place was unanimously abandoned. 
 
 A rapid and toilsome retreat ensued. There was a 
 deficiency of horses. Washington gave up his own to 
 aid in transporting the military munitions, leaving his 
 baggage to be brought on by soldiers, whom he paid 
 liberally. The other officers followed his example. 
 The weather was sultry j the roads were rough ; provi- 
 sions were scanty, and the men dispirited by hunger. 
 The Virginian soldiers took turns to drag the swivels, 
 but felt almost insulted by the conduct of the South 
 
132 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754, 
 
 Carolinians, who, piquing themselves upon their as- 
 sumed privileges as " king's soldiers/' sauntered along 
 at their ease ; refusing to act as pioneers, or participate 
 in the extra labors incident to a hurried retreat. 
 
 On the 1st of July they reached the Great Mead- 
 ows. Here the Virginians, exhausted by fatigue, hun- 
 ger, and vexation, declared they would carry the bag- 
 gage and drag the swivels no further. Contrary to his 
 original intentions, therefore, Washington determined 
 to halt here for the present, and fortify ; sending off 
 expresses, to hasten supplies and reinforcements from 
 Wills' Creek, where he had reason to believe that two 
 independent companies, from New York, were by this 
 time arrived. 
 
 The retreat to the Great Meadows had not been in 
 the least too precipitate. Captain de Villiers, a broth- 
 er-in-law of Jumonville, had actually sallied forth from 
 Fort Duquesne at the head of upwards of five hundred 
 French, and several hundred Indians, eager to avenge 
 the death of his relative. Arriving about dawn of 
 day, at Gist's plantation, he surrounded the works 
 which Washington had hastily thrown up there, and 
 fired into them. Finding them deserted, he conclud- 
 ed that those of whom he came in search had made 
 good their retreat to the settlements, and it was too 
 late to pursue them. He was on the point of return- 
 ing to Fort Duquesne, when a deserter arrived, who 
 gave word that Washington had come to a halt in the 
 Great Meadows, where his troops were in a starving 
 condition ; for his own part, he added, hearing that the 
 French were coming, he had deserted to them to es- 
 cape starvation. 
 
1754.J DESERTION OP THE INDIAN ALLIES. 133 
 
 De Villiers ordered the fellow into confinement ; to 
 be rewarded if his words proved true, otherwise to be 
 hanged. He then pushed forward for the Great Mead- 
 ows.* 
 
 In the mean time Washington had exerted himself 
 to enlarge and strengthen Port Necessity, nothing of 
 which had been done by Captain Mackay and his men, 
 while encamped there. The fort was about a hundred 
 feet square, protected by trenches and palisades, It 
 stood on the margin of a small stream, nearly in the 
 centre of the Great Meadows, which is a grassy plain, 
 perfectly level, surrounded by wooded hills of a mode- 
 rate height, and at that place about two hundred and 
 fifty yards wide. Washington asked no assistance 
 from the South Carolina troops, but set to work with 
 his Virginians, animating them by word and example ; 
 sharing in the labor of felling trees, hewing off the 
 branches, and rolling up the trunks to form a breast- 
 work. 
 
 At this critical juncture he was deserted by his 
 Indian allies. They were disheartened at the scanty 
 preparations for defence against a superior force, and 
 offended at being subjected to military command. 
 The half-king thought he had not been sufficiently con- 
 sulted, and that his advice had not been sufficiently 
 followed; such, at least, were some of the reasons 
 which he subsequently gave for abandoning the youth- 
 ful commander on the approach of danger. The true 
 reason was, a desire to put his wife and children in a 
 place of safety. Most of his warriors followed his ex- 
 
 * Hazard's Register of Pennsylvania, vol. iv., p. 229. 
 
134 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 ample ; very few, and those probably who had no fam- 
 ilies at risk, remained in the camp. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 3d, while Washing- 
 ton and his men were working on the fort, a sentinel 
 came in wounded and bleeding, having been fired up- 
 on. Scouts brought word ^shortly afterwards that the 
 French were in force, about four miles off. Washing- 
 ton drew up his men on level ground outside of the 
 works to await their attack. About 11 o'clock, there 
 was a firing of musketry from among trees on rising 
 ground, but so distant as to do no harm ; suspecting this 
 to be a stratagem designed to draw his men into the 
 woods, he ordered them to keep quiet, and refrain from 
 firing until the foe should show themselves, and draw 
 near. 
 
 The firing was kept up, but still under cover. He 
 now fell back with his men into the trenches, order- 
 ing them to fire whenever they could get sight of an 
 enemy. In this way there was skirmishing throughout 
 the day ; the French and Indians advancing as near as 
 the covert of the woods would permit, which in the 
 nearest place was sixty yards, but never into open sight. 
 In the mean while the rain fell in torrents ; the harassed 
 and jaded troops were half drowned in their trenches, 
 and many of their muskets were rendered unfit for use. 
 
 About eight at night the French requested a parley. 
 Washington hesitated. It might be a stratagem to 
 gain admittance for a spy into the fort. The request 
 was repeated, with the addition that an officer might 
 be sent to treat with them, under their parole for his 
 safety. Unfortunately, the Chevalier de Peyrouney, 
 engineer of the regiment, and the only one who could 
 
1754,] VAN BRAAM AS AN INTERPRETER. 135 
 
 speak French correctly, was wounded and disabled. 
 Washington had to send, therefore, his ancient swords- 
 man and interpreter, Jacob Van Braam. The captain 
 returned twice with separate terms, in which the gar- 
 rison was required to surrender ; both were rejected. 
 He returned a third time, with written articles of capit- 
 ulation. They were in French. As no implements of 
 writing were at hand, Van Braam undertook to trans- 
 late them by word of mouth. A candle was brought, 
 and held close to the paper while he read. The rain 
 fell in torrents ; it was difficult to keep the light from 
 being extinguished. The captain rendered the capit- 
 ulation, article by article, in mongrel English, while 
 Washington and his officers stood listening, endeavor- 
 ing to disentangle the meaning. One article stipulated 
 that on surrendering the fort they should leave all their 
 military stores, munitions, and artillery in possession 
 of the French. This was objected to, and was readily 
 modified. 
 
 The main articles, as Washington and his officers 
 understood them, were that they should be allowed to 
 return to the settlements, without molestation from 
 French or Indians. That they should march out of 
 the fort with the honors of war, drums beating and col- 
 ors flying, and with all their effects and military stores 
 excepting the artillery, which should be destroyed. 
 That they should be allowed to deposit their effects in 
 some secret place, and leave a guard to protect them 
 until they could send horses to bring them away ; their 
 horses having been nearly all killed or lost during the 
 action. That they should give their word of honor not 
 to attempt any buildings or improvements on the lands 
 
136 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. T1754. 
 
 of his most Christian majesty, for the space of a year. 
 That the prisoners taken in the skirmish of Jumonville 
 should be restored, and until their delivery, Captain 
 Van Braam and Captain Stobo should remain with the 
 French as hostages.* 
 
 The next morning accordingly, Washington and his 
 men marched out of their forlorn fortress with the hon- 
 ors of war, bearing with them their regimental colors, 
 but leaving behind a large flag, too cumbrous to be 
 transported. Scarcely had they begun their march, 
 however, when, in defiance of the terms of capitula- 
 tion, they were beset by a large body of Indians, allies 
 of the French, who began plundering the baggage, 
 and committing other irregularities. Seeing that the 
 French did not, or could not, prevent them, and that 
 all the baggage which could not be transported on the 
 shoulders of his troops would fall into the hands of 
 these savages, Washington ordered it to be destroyed, 
 as well as the artillery, gunpowder, and other military 
 stores. All this detained him until ten o'clock, when 
 he set out on his melancholy march. He had not pro- 
 ceeded above a mile when two or three of the wounded 
 men were reported to be missing. He immediately 
 detached a few men back in quest of them, and con- 
 tinued on until three miles from Fort Necessity, where 
 he encamped for the night, and was rejoined by the 
 stragglers. 
 
 * Horace Walpole, in a flippant notice of this capitulation, says : " The 
 French have tied up the hands of an excellent fanfaron, a Major Washing 
 ton, whom they took and engaged not to serve for one year." (Correspon- 
 dence, vol. ill., p. *73.) Walpole, at this early date, seems to have consid 
 sred Washington a perfect fire-eater. 
 
1754] RETURN TO WILLIAMSBURG. 137 
 
 In this affair, out of the Virginia regiment, consist- 
 ing of three hundred and five men, officers included, 
 twelve had been killed, and forty-three wounded. 
 The number killed and wounded in Captain Mackay's 
 company is not known. The loss of the French and 
 Indians is supposed to have been much greater. 
 
 In the following days' march, the troops seemed 
 jaded and disheartened; they were encumbered and 
 delayed by the wounded ; provisions were scanty, and 
 they had seventy weary miles to accomplish before 
 they could meet with supplies. Washington, however, 
 encouraged them by his own steadfast and cheerful de- 
 meanor, and by sharing all their toils and privations ; 
 and at length conducted them in safety to Wills' 
 Creek, where they found ample provisions in the mili- 
 tary magazines. Leaving them here to recover their 
 strength, he proceeded with Captain Mackay to Wil- 
 liamsburg, to make his military report to the gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 A copy of the capitulation was subsequently laid 
 before the Virginia House of Burgesses, with explana- 
 tions. Notwithstanding the unfortunate result of the 
 campaign, the conduct of Washington and his officers 
 was properly appreciated, and they received a vote of 
 thanks for their bravery, and gallant defence of their 
 country. Three hundred pistoles (nearly eleven hun- 
 dred dollars) also were voted to be distributed among 
 the privates who had been in action. 
 
 Erom the vote of thanks, two officers were except- 
 ed; Major Muse, who was charged with cowardice, 
 and Washington's unfortunate master of fence and 
 blundering interpreter, Jacob Van Braam, who was ac- 
 
138 -JFE OF WASHINGTON, [1754, 
 
 cused of treachery, in purposely misrepresenting the 
 articles of capitulation. 
 
 In concluding this chapter, we will anticipate dates 
 to record the fortunes of the half-king after his with- 
 drawal from the camp. He and several of his warri- 
 ors, with their wives and children, retreated to Augh- 
 quick, in the back part of Pennsylvania, where George 
 Croghan had an agency, and was allowed money from 
 time to time for the maintenance of Indian allies. By 
 the by, Washington, in his letter to William Fairfax, 
 expressed himself much disappointed in Croghan and 
 Montour, who proved, he said, to be great pretenders, 
 and by vainly boasting of their interest with the In- 
 dians, involved the country in great calamity, causing 
 dependence to be placed where there was none. * 
 For, with all their boast, they never could induce above 
 thirty fighting men to join the camp, and not more 
 than half of those rendered any service. 
 
 As to the half-king, he expressed himself perfectly 
 disgusted with the white man's mode of warfare. The 
 French, he said, were cowards; the English, fools. 
 Washington was a good man, but wanted experience : 
 he would not take advice of the Indians, and was al- 
 ways driving them to fight according to his own no- 
 tions. For this reason he (the half-king) had carried 
 off his wife and children to a place of safety. 
 
 After a time the chieftain fell dangerously ill, and 
 a conjurer or ' medicine man ' was summoned to in- 
 quire into the cause or nature of his malady. He gave 
 it as his opinion that the French had bewitched him, in 
 
 * Letter to W. Fairfax, Aug. 11th, 1754. 
 
1754.] STATEMENT OF DE VILLIERS. 139 
 
 revenge for the great blow lie had struck them in the 
 affair of Jumonville; for the Indians gave him the 
 whole credit of that success, he having sent round the 
 Trench scalps as trophies. In the opinion of the con- 
 jurer all the friends of the chieftain concurred, and on 
 his death, which took place shortly afterwards, there 
 was great lamentation, mingled with threats of imme- 
 diate vengeance. The foregoing particulars are gath- 
 ered from a letter written by John Harris, an Indian 
 trader, to the Governor of Pennsylvania, at the request 
 of the half-king's friend and fellow sachem, Manacatoo- 
 cha, otherwise called Scarooyadi. "I humbly pre- 
 sume," concludes John Harris, " that his death is a 
 very great loss, especially at this critical time." * 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 We have been thus particular in tracing the affair of the Great 
 Meadows, step by step, guided by the statements of Washington him- 
 self and of one of his officers, present in the engagement, because it is 
 another of the events in the early stage of his military career, before the 
 justice and magnanimity of his character were sufficiently established, 
 which have been subject to misrepresentation. When the articles of 
 capitulation came to be correctly translated and published, there were 
 passages in them derogatory to the honor of Washington and his 
 troops, and which, it would seem, had purposely been inserted for 
 their humiliation by the French commander ; but which, they protest- 
 ed, had never been rightly translated by Yan Braam. For instance, 
 in the written articles, they were made to stipulate that for the space 
 of a year, they would not work on any establishment beyond the 
 mountains ; whereas it had been translated by Yan Braam " on any 
 establishment on the lands of the "king of France" which was quite 
 another thing, as most of the land beyond the mountains was consid- 
 ered by them as belonging to the British crown. There were other 
 points, of minor importance, relative to the disposition of the artillery; 
 but the most startling and objectionable one was that concerning the 
 
 * Pennsylvania Archives, vol. ii., p. 1*78. 
 
140 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754 
 
 previous skirmish in the Great Meadows. This was mentioned in the 
 written articles as Vassassinat du Sieur de Jumonville, that is to say, 
 the murder of De Jumonville ; an expression from which Washington 
 and his officers wonld have revolted with scorn and indignation ; and 
 which, if truly translated, would, in all probability, have caused the 
 capitulation to be sent back instantly to the French commander. On 
 the contrary, they declared it had been translated to them by Van 
 Braam the death of De Jumonville. 
 
 M. de Villiers, in his account of this transaction to the French 
 government, avails himself of these passages in the capitulation to cast 
 a slur on the conduct of Washington. He says, " We made the Eng- 
 lish consent to sign that they had assassinated my brother in his 
 camp." — "We caused them to abandon the lands belonging to the 
 king. — We obliged them to leave their cannon, which consisted 
 of nine pieces, &c." He further adds : " The English, struck with 
 panic, took to flight, and left their flag and one of their colors." We 
 have shown that the flag left was the unwieldy one belonging to the 
 fort ; too cumbrous to be transported by troops who could not carry 
 their own necessary baggage. The regimental colors, as honorable 
 symbols, were scrupulously carried off by Washington, and retained by 
 him in after years. 
 
 M. de Villiers adds another incident intended to degrade his 
 enemy. He says, " One of my Indians took ten Englishmen, whom 
 he brought to me, and whom I sent back by another." These, doubt- 
 less, were the men detached by Washington in quest of the wounded 
 loiterers ; and who, understanding neither French nor Indian, found a 
 difficulty in explaining their peaceful errand. That they were cap- 
 tured by the Indian seems too much of a gasconade. 
 
 The public opinion at the time was, that Van Braam had been 
 suborned by De Villiers to soften the offensive articles of the capitula- 
 tion in translating them, so that they should not wound the pride nor 
 awaken the scruples of Washington and his officers, yet should stand 
 on record against them. It is not probable that a French officer of 
 De Villiers' rank would practise such a base perfidy, nor does the sub- 
 sequent treatment experienced by Van Braam from the French cor- 
 roborate the charge. It is more than probable the inaccuracy of 
 translation originated in his ignorance of the precise weight and value 
 of words in the two languages, neither of which was native to him, 
 and between which he was the blundering agent of exchange. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FOUNDING OF FORT CUMBERLAND — SECRET LETTER OF STOBO — THE INDIAN 
 MESSENGER — PROJECT OF DINWIDDIE — HIS PERPLEXITIES — A TAINT OF 
 REPUBLICANISM IN THE COLONIAL ASSEMBLIES — DINWIDDIE's MILITARY 
 MEASURES — WASHINGTON QUITS THE SERVICE — OVERTURES OF GOVER- 
 NOR SHARPS, OF MARYLAND — "WASHINGTON'S DIGNIFIED REPLY — QUES- 
 TIONS OF RANK BETWEEN ROYAL AND PROVINCIAL TROOPS — TREAT- 
 MENT OF THE FRENCH PRISONERS — FATE OF LA FORCE — ANECDOTES 
 OF STOBO AND VAN BEAAM. 
 
 Early in August Washington rejoined his regiment, 
 which had arrived at Alexandria by the way of Win- 
 chester. Letters from Governor Dinwiddie urged him 
 to recruit it to the former number of three hundred 
 men, and join Colonel Innes at Wills' Creek, where 
 that officer was stationed with Mackay's independent 
 company of South Carolinians, and two independent 
 companies from New York, and had been employed 
 in erecting a work to serve as a frontier post and 
 rallying point ; which work received the name of Port 
 Cumberland, in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, 
 captain-general of the British army. 
 
 In the mean time the French, elated by their recent 
 triumph, and thinking no danger at hand, relaxed their 
 
142 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 vigilance at Port Duquesne. Stobo, who was a kind 
 of prisoner at large there, found means to send a letter 
 secretly by an Indian, dated July 28, and directed to 
 the commander of the English troops. It was accom- 
 panied by a plan of the fort. " There are two hundred 
 men here," writes he, "and two hundred expected; 
 the rest have gone off in detachments to the amount 
 of one thousand, besides Indians. None lodge in the 
 fort but Contrecceur and the guard, consisting of forty 
 men and five officers ; the rest lodge in bark cabins 
 around the fort. The Indians have access day and 
 night, and come and go when they please. If one 
 hundred trusty Shawnees, Mingoes, and Delawares 
 were picked out, they might surprise the fort, lodging 
 themselves under the palisades by day, and at night 
 secure the guard with their tomahawks, shut the sally- 
 gate, and the fort is ours." 
 
 One part of Stobo's letter breathes a loyal and 
 generous spirit of self-devotion. Alluding to the 
 danger in which he and Van Braam, his fellow- 
 hostage, might be involved, he says: "Consider the 
 good of the expedition without regard to us. When 
 we engaged to serve the country, it was expected we 
 were to do it with our lives. For my part, I would 
 die a hundred deaths to have the pleasure of possessing 
 this fort but one day. They are so vain of their suc- 
 cess at the Meadows, it is worse than death to hear 
 them. Haste to strike."* 
 
 The Indian messenger carried the letter to Augh- 
 quick and delivered it into the hands of George Crog- 
 
 * Hazard's Register of Penn. iv., 829. 
 
1754.] dinwiddie' s project. 143 
 
 han. The Indian chiefs who were with him insisted 
 upon his opening it. He did so, but on finding the 
 tenor of it, transmitted it to the Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania. The secret information communicated by Stobo, 
 may have been the cause of a project suddenly conceiv- 
 ed by Governor Dinwiddie, of a detachment which, by 
 a forced march across the mountains, might descend 
 upon the French and take Port Duquesne at a single 
 blow; or, failing that, might build a rival fort in its 
 vicinity. He accordingly wrote to Washington to 
 march forthwith to Wills' Creek, with such companies 
 as were complete, leaving orders with the officers to 
 follow as soon as they should have enlisted men suffi- 
 cient to make up their companies. "The season of 
 the year/' added he, " calls for despatch. I depend 
 upon your usual diligence and spirit to encourage your 
 people to be active on this occasion." 
 
 The ignorance of Dinwiddie in military affairs, and 
 his want of forecast, led him perpetually into blunders. 
 Washington saw the rashness of an attempt to dispos- 
 sess the French with a force so inferior that it could be 
 harassed and driven from place to place at their plea- 
 sure. Before the troops could be collected, and muni- 
 tions of war provided, the season would be too far ad- 
 vanced. There would be no forage for the horses; 
 the streams would be swollen and unfordable ; the 
 mountains rendered impassable by snow, and frost, 
 and slippery roads. The men, too, unused to cam- 
 paigning on the frontier, would not be able to endure 
 a winter in the wilderness, with no better shelter than 
 a tent ; especially in their present condition, destitute 
 of almost every thing. Such are a few of the cogent rea- 
 
144 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 sons urged by Washington in a letter to his friend, 
 William Fairfax, then in the House of Burgesses, which 
 no doubt was shown to Governor Dinwiddie, and prob- 
 ably had an effect in causing the rash project to be 
 abandoned. 
 
 The governor, in truth, was sorely perplexed about 
 this time by contradictions and cross -purposes, both in 
 military and civil affairs. A body of three hundred 
 and fifty North Carolinian troops had been enlisted at 
 high pay, and were to form the chief reinforcement of 
 Colonel Innes at Wills' Creek. By the time they 
 reached Winchester, however, the provincial military 
 chest was exhausted, and future pay seemed uncertain ; 
 whereupon they refused to serve any longer, disbanded 
 themselves tumultuously, and set off for their homes 
 without taking leave. 
 
 The governor found the House of Burgesses equal- 
 ly unmanageable. His demands for supplies were re- 
 sisted on what he considered presumptuous pretexts ; 
 or granted sparingly, under mortifying restrictions. His 
 high Tory notions were outraged by such republican 
 conduct. " There appears to me," said he, " an infat- 
 uation in all the Assemblies in this part of the world." 
 In a letter to the Board of Trade, he declared that the 
 only way effectually to check the progress of the French, 
 would be an act of Parliament requiring the colonies 
 to contribute to the common cause, independently of 
 Assemblies ; and in another, to the Secretary of State, 
 he urged the policy of compelling the colonies to their 
 duty to the king by a general poll-tax of two-and-six- 
 pence a head. The worthy governor would have made 
 a fitting councillor for the Stuart dynasty. Subse- 
 
1754.] OVERTURES OF GOVERNOR SHARPE. 145 
 
 quent events have shown how little his policy was suit- 
 ed to compete with the dawning republicanism of 
 Ajnerica. 
 
 In the month of October the House of Burgesses 
 made a grant of twenty thousand pounds for the pub- 
 He service ; and ten thousand more were sent out from 
 England, beside a supply of fire-arms. The governor 
 now applied himself to military matters with renewed 
 spirit; increased the actual force to ten companies; 
 and, as there had been difficulties among the different 
 kinds of troops with regard to precedence, he reduced 
 them all to independent companies; so that there 
 would be no officer in a Virginia regiment above the 
 rank of captain. 
 
 This shrewd measure, upon which Dinwiddie se- 
 cretly prided himself as calculated to put an end to 
 the difficulties in question, immediately drove Wash- 
 ington out of the service; considering it derogatory 
 to his character to accept a lower commission than that 
 under which his conduct had gained him a vote of 
 thanks from the Legislature. 
 
 Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, appointed by the 
 king commander-in-chief of all the forces engaged 
 against the French, sought to secure his valuable servi- 
 ces, and authorized Colonel Fitzhugh, whom he had 
 placed in temporary command of the army, to write 
 to him to that effect. The reply of Washington (15th 
 Nov.) is full of dignity and spirit, and shows how 
 deeply he felt his military degradation. 
 
 " You make mention," says he, " of my continuing 
 in the service and retaining my colonel's commission. 
 This idea has rilled me with surprise ; for if you think 
 
 VOL. I. 10 
 
146 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [~1754. 
 
 me capable of holding a commission that has neither 
 rank nor emolument annexed to it, you must maintain 
 a very contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe 
 me more empty than the commission itself." After 
 intimating a suspicion that the project of reducing the 
 regiment into independent companies, and thereby 
 throwing out the higher officers, was " generated and 
 hatched at Wills' Creek," — in other words, was an ex- 
 pedient of Governor Dinwiddie, instead of being a pe- 
 remptory order from England, he adds, "Ingenuous 
 treatment and plain dealing I at least expected. It is 
 to be hoped the project will answer • it shall meet with 
 my acquiescence in every thing except personal servi- 
 ces. I herewith inclose Governor Sharpe's letter, 
 which I beg you will return to him with my acknowl- 
 edgments for the favor intended me. Assure him, sir, 
 as you truly may, of my reluctance to quit the service, 
 and the pleasure I should have received in attending 
 his fortunes. Inform him, also, that it was to obey the 
 call of honor and the advice of my friends that I de- 
 clined it, and not to gratify any desire I had to leave 
 the military line. My feelings are strongly bent to 
 arms." 
 
 Even had Washington hesitated to take this step, 
 it would have been forced upon him by a further reg- 
 ulation of government, in the course of the ensuing 
 winter, settling the rank of officers of his majesty's 
 forces when joined or serving with the provincial forces 
 in North America, " which directed that all such as 
 were commissioned by the king, or by his general com- 
 mander-in-chief in North America, should take rank of 
 all officers commissioned by the governors of the re- 
 
1754.J QUESTIONS OF RANK. 147 
 
 spective provinces. And further, that the general and 
 field officers of the provincial troops should have no 
 rank when serving with the general and field officers 
 commissioned by the crown ; but that all captains and 
 other inferior officers of the royal troops should take 
 rank over provincial officers of the same grade, having 
 older commissions." 
 
 These regulations, originating in that supercilious 
 assumption of superiority which sometimes overruns and 
 degrades true British pride, would have been spurned 
 by Washington, as insulting to the character and con- 
 duct of his high-minded brethren of the colonies. 
 How much did this open disparagement of colonial 
 honor and understanding, contribute to wean from 
 England the affection of her American subjects, and 
 prepare the way for their ultimate assertion of inde- 
 pendence. 
 
 Another cause of vexation to Washington was the 
 refusal of Governor Dinwiddie to give up the French 
 prisoners, taken in the affair of De Jumonville, in ful- 
 filment of the articles of capitulation. His plea was, 
 that since the capitulation, the French had taken seve- 
 ral British subjects, and sent them prisoners to Cana- 
 da ; he considered himself justifiable in detaining those 
 Frenchmen which he had in his custody. He sent a 
 flag of truce, however, offering to return the officer 
 Drouillon, and the two cadets, in exchange for Cap- 
 tains Stobo and Van Braam, whom the French held as 
 hostages ; but his offer was treated with merited dis- 
 regard. Washington felt deeply mortified by this ob- 
 tuseness of the governor on a point of military punc- 
 
148 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1754. 
 
 fcilio and honorable faith, but his remonstrances were 
 unavailing. 
 
 The French prisoners were clothed and maintained 
 at the public expense, and Drouillon and the cadets 
 were allowed to go at large ; the private soldiers were 
 kept in confinement. La Force, also, not having acted 
 in a military capacity, and having offended against the 
 peace and security of the frontier, by his intrigues 
 among the Indians, was kept in close durance. Wash- 
 ington, who knew nothing of this, was shocked on vis- 
 iting Williamsburg, to learn that La Force was in pris- 
 on. He expostulated with the governor on the sub- 
 ject, but without effect ; Dinwiddie was at all times 
 pertinacious, but particularly so when he felt himself to 
 be a little in the wrong. 
 
 As we shall have no further occasion to mention 
 La Force, in connection with the subject of this work, 
 we will anticipate a page of his fortunes. After re- 
 maining two years in confinement he succeeded in 
 breaking out of prison, and escaping into the country. 
 An alarm was given, and circulated far and wide ; for 
 such was the opinion of his personal strength, desperate 
 courage, wily cunning, and great influence over the In- 
 dians, that the most mischievous results were appre- 
 hended should he regain the frontier. In the mean time 
 he was wandering . about the country, ignorant of the 
 roads, and fearing to make inquiries, lest his foreign 
 tongue should betray him. He reached King and Queen 
 Court-House, about thirty miles from Williamsburg, 
 when a countryman was struck with his foreign air and 
 aspect. La Force ventured to put a question as to the 
 distance and direction of Fort Duquesne, and his bro- 
 
1754.] LA FORCE STOBO AND VAN BRAAM. 149 
 
 ken English convinced the countryman of his being the 
 French prisoner, whose escape had been noised about 
 the country. Watching an opportunity he seized him, 
 and regardless of offers of great bribes, conducted him 
 back to the prison of Williamsburg, where he was 
 secured with double irons, and chained to the floor of 
 his dungeon. 
 
 The refusal of Governor Dinwiddie to fulfil the ar- 
 ticle of the capitulation respecting the prisoners, and 
 the rigorous treatment of La Force, operated hardly 
 upon the hostages, Stobo and Van Braam, who, in retal- 
 iation, were confined in prison in Quebec, though oth- 
 erwise treated with kindness. They, also, by extraor- 
 dinary efforts, succeeded in breaking prison, but found 
 it more difficult to evade the sentries of a fortified 
 place. Stobo managed to escape into the country; 
 but the luckless Van Braam sought concealment under 
 an arch of a causeway leading from the fortress. Here 
 he remained until nearly exhausted by hunger. See- 
 ing the Governor of Canada passing by, and despair- 
 ing of being able to effect his escape, he came forth 
 from his hiding-place, and surrendered himself, invok- 
 ing his clemency. He was remanded to prison, but 
 experienced no additional severity. He was subse- 
 quently shipped by the governor from Quebec to Eng- 
 land, and never returned to Virginia. It is this treat- 
 ment of Van Braam, more than any thing else, which 
 convinces us that the suspicion of his being in collu- 
 sion with the French in regard to the misinterpretation 
 of the articles of capitulation, was groundless. He was 
 simply a blunderer. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 EETUBN TO QUIET LITE — FEENCH AND ENGLISH PEEPAEE FOB HOSTILI- 
 TIES — PLAN OF A CAMPAIGN — GENEBAL BBADDOOK — HIS OHABACTEB 
 — SIB JOHN ST. OLAIB, QTTABTEBMA6TEE-GENEBAL — HIS TOUB OF IN- 
 SPECTION— PEOJECTED EOADS — AEEIVAL OF BBADDOOK — MILITAEY 
 CONSULTATIONS AND PLANS — COMMODOEE KEPPEL AND HIS SEAMEN — 
 SHIPS AND TBOOPS AT ALEXANDEIA — EXCITEMENT OF WASHINGTON 
 — INVITED TO JOIN THE STAFF OF BEADDOCK — A MOTHEE's OBJEC- 
 TIONS — WASHINGTON AT ALEXANDEIA — GEAND COUNCIL OF GOV- 
 EENOES — MILITAEY AEEANGEMENTS — COLONEL "WILLIAM JOHNSON — 
 SIB JOHN ST. CLAIB AT FOBT CUMBEE LAND— HIS EXPLOSIONS OF 
 WEATH — THEIB EFFECTS — INDIANS TO BE ENLISTED — CAPTAIN JACK 
 AND HIS BAND OF BUSH-BE ATEES. 
 
 Having resigned his commission, and disengaged him- 
 self from public affairs, Washington's first care was to 
 visit his mother, inquire into the state of domestic con- 
 cerns, and attend to the welfare of his brothers and 
 sisters. In these matters he was ever his mother's ad- 
 junct and counsellor, discharging faithfully the duties 
 of an eldest son, who should consider himself a second 
 father to the family. 
 
 He now took up his abode at Mount Vernon, and 
 prepared to engage in those agricultural pursuits, for 
 which, even in his youthful days, he had as keen a rel- 
 
1755.] MILITARY PREPARATIONS. 151 
 
 ish as for the profession of arms. Scarcely had he en- 
 tered upon his rural occupations, however, when the ser- 
 vice of his country once more called him to the field. 
 
 The disastrous affair at the Great Meadows, and 
 the other acts of Trench hostility on the Ohio, had 
 roused the attention of the British ministry. Their 
 ambassador at Paris was instructed to complain of those 
 violations of the peace. The court of Versailles amused 
 him with general assurances of amity, and a strict ad- 
 herence to treaties. Their ambassador at the court of 
 St. James, the Marquis de Mirepoix, on the faith of 
 his instructions, gave the same assurances. In the 
 mean time, however, French ships were fitted out, and 
 troops embarked, to carry out the schemes of the gov- 
 ernment in America. So profound was the dissimula- 
 tion of the court of Versailles, that even their own am- 
 bassador is said to have been kept in ignorance of 
 their real designs, and of the hostile game they were 
 playing, while he was exerting himself in good faith, to 
 lull the suspicions of England, and maintain the inter- 
 national peace. When his eyes, however, were opened, 
 he returned indignantly to Prance, and upbraided the 
 cabinet with the duplicity of which he had been made 
 the unconscious instrument. 
 
 The British government now prepared for military 
 operations in America ; none of them professedly ag- 
 gressive, but rather to resist and counteract aggressions. 
 A plan of campaign was devised for 1755, having four 
 objects. ■<*■ 
 
 To eject the French from the lands which they held 
 unjustly, in the province of Nova Scotia. 
 
 To dislodge them from a fortress which they had 
 
152 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755 
 
 erected at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, within 
 what was claimed as British territory. 
 
 To dispossess them of the fort which they had con- 
 structed at Niagara, between Lake Ontario and Lake 
 Erie. 
 
 To drive them from the frontiers of Pennsylvania 
 and Virginia, and recover the valley of the Ohio. 
 
 The Duke of Cumberland, captain-general of the 
 British army, had the organization of this campaign ; 
 and through his patronage, Major-general Edward 
 Braddock was intrusted with the execution of it, being 
 appointed generalissimo of all the forces in the colonies. 
 
 Braddock was a veteran in service, and had been 
 upwards of forty years in the guards, that school of 
 exact discipline and technical punctilio. Cumberland, 
 who held a commission in the guards, and was bigoted 
 to its routine, may have considered Braddock fitted, by 
 his skill and preciseness as a tactician, for a command 
 in a new country, inexperienced in military science, to 
 bring its raw levies into order, and to settle those ques- 
 tions of rank and etiquette apt to arise where regular 
 and provincial troops are to act together. 
 
 The result proved the error of such an opinion. 
 Braddock was a brave and experienced officer ; but his 
 experience was that of routine, and rendered him prag- 
 matical and obstinate ; impatient of novel expedients 
 "not laid down in the books," but dictated by emer- 
 gencies in a " new country ; " and his military precision, 
 which would have been brilliant on parade, was a con- 
 stant obstacle to alert action in the wilderness.* 
 
 * Horace Walpole, in his letters, relates some anecdotes of Braddock, 
 which give a familiar picture of him in the fashionable life in which he had 
 
1755.] ST. CLAIR S TOUR OP INSPECTION. 153 
 
 Braddock was to lead in person the grand enter- 
 prise of the campaign, that destined for the frontiers of 
 Virginia and Pennsylvania; it was the enterprise in 
 which Washington became enlisted, and, therefore, 
 claims our especial attention. 
 
 Prior to the arrival of Braddock, came out from 
 England Lieutenant-colonel Sir John St. Clair, deputy 
 quartermaster-general, eager to make himself acquaint- 
 ed with the field of operations. He made a tour of 
 inspection, in company with Governor Sharpe, of Ma- 
 ryland, and appears to have been dismayed at sight of 
 the impracticable wilderness, the region of Washing- 
 ton's campaign. Prom Port Cumberland, he wrote in 
 Pebruary to Governor Morris, of Pennsylvania, to have 
 the road cut, or repaired, toward the head of the river 
 Youghiogeny, and another opened from Philadelphia for 
 the transportation of supplies. " No general," writes 
 he, " will advance with an army without having a com- 
 munication open to the provinces in his rear, both for 
 the security of retreat, and to facilitate the transport of 
 
 mingled in London, and are of value, as letting us into the private charac- 
 ter of a man whose name has become proverbial in American history. 
 " Braddock," says Walpole, " is a very Iroquois in disposition. He had a 
 sister, who, having gamed away all her little fortune at Bath, hanged her- 
 self with a truly English deliberation, leaving a note on the table with 
 these lines : ■ To die is landing on some silent shore/ <fcc. When Braddock 
 was told of it, he only said : ' Poor Fanny ! I always thought she would 
 play till she would be forced to tuck herself up.' " 
 
 Braddock himself had been somewhat of a spendthrift. He was touchy 
 also, and punctilious. " He once had a duel," says Walpole, " with Colonel 
 Glumley, Lady Bath's brother, who had been his great friend. As they 
 were going to engage, Glumley, who had good humor and wit (Braddock 
 had the latter) said : ' Braddock, you are a poor dog ! here, take my purse, 
 if you kill me you will be forced to run away, and then you will not have 
 a shilling to support you.' Braddock refused the purse, insisted on the 
 duel, was disarmed, and would not even ask for his life." 
 
154 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 provisions, the supplying of which must greatly depend 
 on your province." * 
 
 Unfortunately the Governor of Pennsylvania had no 
 money at his command, and was obliged, for expen- 
 ses, to apply to his Assembly, " a set of men," writes 
 he, " quite unacquainted with every kind of military ser- 
 vice, and exceedingly unwilling to part with money on any 
 terms." However, by dint of exertions, he procured 
 the appointment of commissioners to explore the coun- 
 try, and survey and lay out the roads required. At 
 the head of the commission was George Croghan, the 
 Indian trader, whose mission to the Twightwees we 
 have already spoken of. Times had gone hard with 
 Croghan. The French had seized great quantities of 
 his goods. The Indians, with whom he traded, had 
 failed to pay their debts, and he had become a bank- 
 rupt. Being an efficient agent on the frontier, and 
 among the Indians, he still enjoyed the patronage of 
 the Pennsylvania government. 
 
 When Sir John St. Clair had finished his tour of 
 inspection, he descended Wills' Creek and the Potomac 
 for two hundred miles in a canoe to Alexandria, and re- 
 paired to Virginia to meet General Braddock. The 
 latter had landed on the 20th of February at Hampton, 
 in Virginia, and proceeded to Williamsburg to con- 
 sult with Governor Dinwiddie. Shortly afterwards he 
 was joined there by Commodore Keppel, whose squad- 
 ron of two ships of war, and several transports, had 
 anchored in the Chesapeake. On board of these ships 
 were two prime regiments of about five hundred men 
 
 * Colonial Records, vi., 300. 
 
1755.J INDIAN ALLIES. 155 
 
 each ; one commanded by Sir Peter Halket, the other 
 by Colonel Dunbar ; together with a train of artillery, 
 and the necessary munitions of war. The regiments 
 were to be augmented to seven hundred men each by 
 men selected by Sir John St. Clair from Virginia com- 
 panies recently raised. 
 
 Alexandria was fixed upon as the place where the 
 troops should disembark, and encamp. The ships 
 were accordingly ordered up to that place, and the 
 levies directed to repair thither. 
 
 The plan of the campaign included the use of 
 Indian allies. Governor Dinwiddie had already sent 
 Mr. Gist, son of the pioneer, Washington's guide in 
 1753, to engage the Cherokees and Catawbas, the 
 bravest of the Southern tribes, who he had no doubt 
 would take up the hatchet for the English, peace 
 being first concluded, through the mediation of his 
 government, between them and the Six Nations ; and 
 he gave Braddock reason to expect at least four hun- 
 dred Indians to join him at Port Cumberland. He laid 
 before him also contracts that he had made for cattle, 
 and promises that the Assembly of Pennsylvania had 
 made of flour ; these, with other supplies, and a thou- 
 sand barrels of beef on board of the transports, would 
 furnish six months' provisions for four thousand men. 
 
 General Braddock apprehended difficulty in pro- 
 curing waggons and horses sufficient to attend him in 
 his march. Sir John St. Clair, in the course of his 
 tour of inspection, had met with two Dutch settlers, at 
 the foot of the Blue Ridge, who engaged to furnish 
 two hundred waggons, and fifteen hundred carrying 
 horses, to be at Port Cumberland early in May. 
 
156 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 Governor Sharpe was to furnish above a hundred 
 waggons for the transportation of stores, on the Mary- 
 land side of the Potomac. 
 
 Keppel furnished four cannons from his ships, for the 
 attack on Port Duquesne, and thirty picked seamen to 
 assist in dragging them over the mountains ; for " sol- 
 diers/' said he, " cannot be as well acquainted with the 
 nature of purchases, and making use of tackles as sea- 
 men." They were to aid also in passing the troops 
 and artillery on floats or in boats, across the rivers, 
 and were under the command of a midshipman and 
 lieutenant. * 
 
 " Every thing," writes Captain Robert Orme, one 
 of the general's aides-de-camp, "seemed to promise 
 so far the greatest success. The transports were all 
 arrived safe, and the men in health. Provisions, Indi- 
 ans, carriages, and horses, were already provided ; at 
 least were to be esteemed so, considering the authori- 
 ties on which they were promised to the general." 
 
 Trusting to these arrangements, Braddock proceed- 
 ed to Alexandria. The troops had all been disem- 
 barked before his arrival, and the Virginia levies se- 
 lected by Sir John St. Clair, to join the regiments of 
 regulars, were arrived. There were beside two com- 
 panies of hatchet men, or carpenters ; six of rangers ; 
 and one troop of light horse. The levies, having been 
 clothed, were ordered to march immediately for Win- 
 chester, to be armed, and the general gave them in 
 charge of an ensign of the 44th, " to make them as 
 like soldiers as possible." f The light horse were re- 
 tained by the general as his escort and body guard. 
 
 * Keppel's Life of Keppel, p. 205. \ Orme's Journal. 
 
1755.] EXCITEMENT OF WASHINGTON. 157 
 
 The din and stir of warlike preparation disturbed 
 the quiet of Mount Vernon. Washington looked 
 down from his rural retreat upon the ships of war and 
 transports, as they passed up the Potomac, with the 
 array of arms gleaming along their decks. The boom- 
 ing of cannon echoed among his groves. Alexandria 
 was but a few miles distant. Occasionally he mounted 
 his horse, and rode to that place ; it was like a garri- 
 soned town, teeming with troops, and resounding with 
 the drum and fife. A brilliant campaign was about to 
 open under the auspices of an experienced general, and 
 with all the means and appurtenances of European 
 warfare. How different from the starveling expeditions 
 he had hitherto been doomed to conduct. What an 
 opportunity to efface the memory of his recent disaster. 
 All his thoughts of rural life were put to flight. The 
 military part of his character was again in the ascend- 
 ant; his great desire was to join the expedition as a 
 volunteer. 
 
 It was reported to General Braddock. The latter 
 was apprised by Governor Dinwiddie and others, of 
 Washington's personal merits, his knowledge of the 
 country, and his experience in frontier service, The 
 consequence was, a letter from Captain Robert Orme, 
 one of Braddock's aides-de-camp, written by the gen- 
 eral's order, inviting Washington to join his staff; the 
 letter concluded with frank and cordial expressions of 
 esteem on the part of Orme, which were warmly recip- 
 rocated, and laid the foundation of a soldierlike friend- 
 ship between them. 
 
 A volunteer situation on the staff of General Brad- 
 dock offered no emolument nor command, and would 
 
158 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755, 
 
 be attended with considerable expense, beside a sacri- 
 fice of his private interests, having no person in whom 
 he had confidence, to take charge of his affairs in his 
 absence ; still he did not hesitate a moment to accept 
 the invitation. In the position offered to him, all the 
 questions of military rank which had hitherto annoyed 
 him, would "be obviated. He could indulge his passion 
 for arms without any sacrifice of dignity, and he looked 
 forward with high anticipation to an opportunity of ac- 
 quiring military experience in a corps well organized, 
 and thoroughly disciplined, and in the family of a com- 
 mander of acknowledged skill as a tactician. 
 
 His mother heard with concern of another projected 
 expedition into the wilderness. Hurrying to Mount 
 Vernon, she entreated him not again to expose himself 
 to the hardships and perils of these frontier campaigns. 
 She doubtless felt the value of his presence at home, 
 to manage and protect the complicated interests of the 
 domestic connection, and had watched with solicitude 
 over his adventurous campaigning, where so much 
 family welfare was at hazard. However much a moth- 
 er's pride may have been gratified by his early ad- 
 vancement and renown, she had rejoiced on his return 
 to the safer walks of peaceful life. She was thorough- 
 ly practical and prosaic in her notions ; and not to be 
 dazzled by military glory. The passion for arms which 
 mingled with the more sober elements of Washington's 
 character, would seem to have been inherited from his 
 father's side of the house ; it was, in fact, the old chiv- 
 alrous spirit of the De Wessyngtons. 
 
 His mother had once prevented him from entering 
 the navy, when a gallant frigate was at hand, anchored 
 
1755.J WASHINGTON AT ALEXANDRIA. 159 
 
 in the waters of the Potomac ; with all his deference 
 for her, which he retained through life, he could not 
 resist the appeal to his martial sympathies, which called 
 him to the head-quarters of General Braddock at 
 Alexandria. 
 
 His arrival was hailed by his young associates, 
 Captains Orme and Morris, the general's aides-de- 
 camp, who at once received him into frank companion- 
 ship, and a cordial intimacy commenced between them, 
 that continued throughout the campaign. 
 
 He experienced a courteous reception from the 
 general, who expressed in flattering terms the impres- 
 sion he had received of his merits. Washington soon 
 appreciated the character of the general. He found 
 him stately and somewhat haughty, exact in matters of 
 military etiquette and discipline, positive in giving an 
 opinion, and obstinate in maintaining it ; but of an hon- 
 orable and generous, though somewhat irritable nature. 
 
 There were at that time four governors, beside 
 Dinwiddie, assembled at Alexandria, at Braddock's 
 request, to concert a plan of military operations j Gov- 
 ernor Shirley, of Massachusetts; Lieutenant-governor 
 Delancey, of New York ; Lieutenant-governor Sharpe, 
 of Maryland; Lieutenant-governor Morris, of Penn- 
 sylvania. Washington was presented to them in a 
 manner that showed how well his merits were al- 
 ready appreciated. Shirley seems particularly to have 
 struck him as the model of a gentleman and statesman. 
 He was originally a lawyer, and had risen not more by 
 his talents, than by his implicit devotion to the crown. 
 His son William was military secretary to Braddock. 
 
 A grand council was held on the 14th of April, 
 
160 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755 
 
 composed of General Braddock, Commodore Keppel, 
 and the governors, at which the general's commission 
 was read, as were his instructions from the king, rela- 
 ting to a common fund, to be established by the 
 several colonies, toward defraying the expenses of the 
 campaign. 
 
 The governors were prepared to answer on this 
 head, letters to the same purport having been addressed 
 to them by Sir Thomas Robinson, one of the king's 
 secretaries of state, in the preceding month of October. 
 They informed Braddock that they had applied to their 
 respective Assemblies for the establishment of such a 
 fund, but in vain; and gave it as their unanimous 
 opinion, that such a fund could never be established 
 in the colonies without the aid of Parliament. They 
 had found it impracticable, also, to obtain from their 
 respective governments the proportions expected from 
 them by the crown, toward military expenses in Amer- 
 ica ; and suggested that ministers should find out some 
 mode of compelling them to do it; and that, in the 
 mean time, the general should make use of his credit 
 upon government, for current expenses, lest the expe- 
 dition should come to a stand.* 
 
 In discussing the campaign, the governors were of 
 opinion that New York should be made the centre 
 of operations, as it afforded easy access by water to the 
 heart of the French possessions in Canada. Braddock, 
 however, did not feel at liberty to depart from his in- 
 structions, which specified the recent establishments of 
 the French on the Ohio as the objects of his expedition, 
 
 * Colonial Records, vol. vi., p. 366. 
 
1755.] COLONEL WILLIAM JOHNSON. 161 
 
 Niagara and Crown Point were to be attacked 
 about the same time with Fort Duquesne, the former 
 by Governor Shirley, with his own and Sir William 
 PepperelTs regiments, and some New York companies ; 
 the latter by Colonel William Johnson, sole manager 
 and director of Indian affairs ; a personage worthy of 
 especial note. 
 
 He was a native of Ireland, and had come out to 
 this country in 1734, to manage the landed estates 
 owned by his uncle, Commodore Sir Peter Warren, in 
 the Mohawk country. He had resided ever since in 
 the vicinity of the Mohawk River, in the province of 
 New York. By his agency, and his dealings with the 
 native tribes, he had acquired great wealth, and become 
 a kind of potentate in the Indian country. His influ- 
 ence over the Six Nations was said to be unbounded ; 
 and it was principally with the aid of a large force of 
 their warriors that it was expected he would accom- 
 plish his part of the campaign. The end of June, 
 " nearly in July," was fixed upon as the time when the 
 several attacks upon Ports Duquesne, Niagara, and 
 Crown Point, should be carried into execution; and 
 Braddock anticipated an easy accomplishment of his 
 plans. 
 
 The expulsion of the Prench from the lands wrong- 
 fully held by them in Nova Scotia, was to be assigned 
 to Colonel Lawrence, Lieutenant-governor of that prov- 
 ince ; we will briefly add, in anticipation, that it was 
 effected by him, with the aid of troops from Massachu- 
 setts and elsewhere, led by Lieutenant-colonel Monck- 
 ton. 
 
 The business of the Congress being finished, Gene- 
 
 VOL. I. 11 
 
162 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 ral Braddock would have set out for Predericktown, in 
 Maryland, but few waggons or teams had yet come to 
 remove the artillery. Washington had looked with 
 wonder and dismay at the huge paraphernalia of war, 
 and the world of superfluities to be transported across 
 the mountains, recollecting the difficulties he had expe- 
 rienced in getting over them with his nine swivels and 
 scanty supplies. " If our march is to be regulated by 
 the slow movements of the train," said he, " it will be 
 tedious, very tedious, indeed/' His predictions exci- 
 ted a sarcastic smile in Braddock, as betraying the lim- 
 ited notions of a young provincial officer, little acquaint- 
 ed with the march of armies. 
 
 In the mean while, Sir John St. Clair, who had re- 
 turned to the frontier, was storming at the camp at 
 Fort Cumberland. The road required of the Pennsyl- 
 vania government had not been commenced. George 
 Croghan and the other commissioners were but just ar- 
 rived in camp. Sir John, according to Croghan, re- 
 ceived them in a very disagreeable manner ; would not 
 look at their draughts, nor suffer any representations 
 to be made to him in regard to the province, " but 
 stormed like a lion rampant ; " declaring that the want 
 of the road and of the provisions promised by Pennsyl- 
 vania had retarded the expedition, and might cost them 
 their lives from the fresh numbers of Erench that might 
 be poured into the country. — " That instead of march- 
 ing to the Ohio, he would in nine days march his army 
 into Cumberland County to cut the roads, press horses, 
 waggons, &c. — That he would not suffer a soldier to 
 handle an axe, but by fire and sword oblige the inhab- 
 itants to do it. * * * That he would kill all 
 
1755.J st. clair's explosions of wrath. 163 
 
 kinds of cattle, and carry away the horses, burn the 
 houses, &c. ; and that if the French defeated them, by 
 the delays of Pennsylvania, he would, with his sword 
 drawn, pass through the province and treat the inhab- 
 itants as a parcel of traitors to his master. That he 
 would write to England by a man-of-war ; shake Mr. 
 Penn's proprietaryship, and represent Pennsylvania as a 
 disaffected province. * * * He told us to go to 
 the general, if we pleased, who would give us ten bad 
 words for one that he had given! 9 
 
 The explosive wrath of Sir John, which was not to 
 be appeased, shook the souls of the commissioners, and 
 they wrote to Governor Morris, urging that people 
 might be set at work upon the road, if the Assembly 
 had made provision for opening it; and that flour 
 might be sent without delay to the mouth of Canoco- 
 cheague River, " as being the only remedy left to pre- 
 vent these threatened mischiefs." * 
 
 In reply, Mr. Richard Peters, Governor Morris's 
 secretary, wrote in his name : " Get a number of hands 
 immediately, and further the work by all possible meth- 
 ods. Your expenses will be paid at the next sitting of 
 Assembly. Do your duty, and oblige the general and 
 quartermaster if possible. Finish the road that will be 
 wanted first, and then proceed to any other that may 
 be thought necessary." 
 
 An additional commission, of a different kind, was 
 intrusted to George Croghan. Governor Morris by 
 letter requested him to convene at Aughquick, in Penn- 
 
 * Colonial Records, vol. vi., p. 368. 
 
164 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755, 
 
 sylvania, as many warriors as possible of the mixed 
 tribes of the Ohio, distribute among them wampum 
 belts sent for the purpose, and engage them to meet 
 General Braddock when on the march, and render him 
 all the assistance in their power. 
 
 In reply, Croghan engaged to enlist a strong body 
 of Indians, being sure of the influence of Scarooyadi, 
 successor to the half-king, and of his adjunct, White 
 Thunder, keeper of the speech-belts.* At the instance 
 of Governor Morris, Croghan secured the services of 
 another kind of force. This was a band of hunters, 
 resolute men, well acquainted with the country, and in- 
 ured to hardships. They were under the command of 
 Captain Jack, one of the most remarkable characters of 
 Pennsylvania ; a complete hero of the wilderness. He 
 had been for many years a captive among the Indians ; 
 and, having learnt their ways, had formed this associa- 
 tion for the protection of the settlements, receiving a 
 commission of captain from the Governor of Pennsyl- 
 vania. The band had become famous for its exploits, 
 and was a terror to the Indians. Captain Jack was 
 at present protecting the settlements on the Canoco- 
 cheague ; but promised to march by a circuitous route 
 and join Braddock with his hunters. " They require no 
 shelter for the night," writes Croghan ; " they ask no 
 pay. If the whole army was composed of such men 
 there would be no cause of apprehension. I shall bo 
 with them in time for duty/'f 
 
 * Colonial Records, toL vi., p. 375. 
 
 f Hazard's Register of Penn., voL iv., p. 416. 
 
1755.] CAPTAIN JACK AND HIS BAND. 165 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 The following extract of a letter, dated August, 1750, gives one of 
 the stories relative to this individual : 
 
 "The * Black Hunter,' the 'Black Rifle,' the 'Wild Hunter ot 
 Juniata,' is a white man ; his history is this : He entered the woods 
 with a few enterprising companions ; huilt his cabin ; cleared a littlo 
 land, and amused himself with the pleasures of fishing and hunting. 
 He felt happy, for then he had not a care. But on an evening, when 
 he returned from a day of sport, he found his cabin burnt, his wife 
 and children murdered. From that moment he forsakes civilized 
 man ; hunts out caves, in which he lives ; protects the frontier inhab- 
 itants from the Indians; and seizes every opportunity of revenge 
 that offers. He lives the terror of the Indians and the consolation of 
 the whites. On one occasion, near Juniata, in the middle of a dark 
 night, a family were suddenly awaked from sleep by the report of a 
 gun; they jump from their hut, and by the glimmering light from 
 the chimney saw an Indian fall to rise no more. The open door ex- 
 posed to view the wild hunter. * I have saved your lives,' he cried, 
 then turned and was buried in the gloom of night." — Hazard's Register 
 ofPenn., vol. iv., 389. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WASHINGTON PEOCLAIMED AIDE-DE-CAMP — DISAPPOINTMENTS AT FEED* 
 ERICKTOWN — BENJAMIN FRANKLIN AND BRADDOCK — CONTEAOTS — DE- 
 PARTURE FOR "WILLS' CREEK— ROUGH ROADS — THE GENERAL IN HIS 
 
 CHARIOT — CAMP AT FORT CUMBERLAND HUGH MERCER — DR. CRAIK 
 
 — MILITARY TACTICS — CAMP RULES — SECRETARY PETERS — INDIANS 
 IN CAMP — INDIAN BEAUTIES — THE PRINCESS BRIGHT LIGHTNING ER- 
 RAND TO "WILLIAMSBURG — BRADDOOk's OPINION OF CONTRACTORS 
 AND INDIANS — ARRIVAL OF CONVEYANCES. 
 
 General Braddock set out from Alexandria on the 
 20th of April. Washington remained behind a few 
 days to arrange his affairs, and then rejoined him at 
 Fredericktown, in Maryland, where, on the 10th of 
 May, he was proclaimed one of the general's aides-de- 
 camp. The troubles of Braddock had already com- 
 menced. The Virginian contractors failed to fulfil 
 their engagements ; of all the immense means of trans- 
 portation so confidently promised, but fifteen waggons 
 and a hundred draft-horses had arrived, and there was 
 no prospect of more. There was equal disappoint- 
 ment in provisions, both as to quantity and quality ; 
 and he had to send round the country to buy cattle for 
 the subsistence of the troops. 
 
1755.] BRADDOCK AND FRANKLIN. 167 
 
 Fortunately, while the general was venting his 
 spleen in anathemas against army contractors, Benja- 
 min Franklin arrived at Fredericktown. That eminent 
 man, then about forty-nine years of age, had been for 
 many years member of the Pennsylvania Assembly, 
 and was now postmaster-general for America. The 
 Assembly understood that Braddock was incensed 
 against them, supposing them adverse to the service of 
 the war. They had procured Franklin to wait upon 
 him, not as if sent by them, but as if he came in his 
 capacity of postmaster-general, to arrange for the sure 
 and speedy transmission of despatches between the 
 commander-in-chief and the governors of the provinces. 
 
 He was well received, and became a daily guest at 
 the general's table. In his autobiography, he gives us 
 an instance of the blind confidence and fatal prejudices 
 by which Braddock was deluded throughout this expe- 
 dition. " In conversation with him one day," writes 
 Franklin, "he was giving me some account of his in- 
 tended progress. ' After taking Fort Duquesne,' said 
 he, ' I am to proceed to Niagara ; and, having taken 
 that, to Frontenac, if the season will allow time ; and 
 I suppose it will, for Duquesne can hardly detain me 
 above three or four days : and then I can see nothing 
 that can obstruct my march to Niagara.' 
 
 " Having before revolved in my mind," continues 
 Franklin, "the long line his army must make in their 
 march by a very narrow road, to be cut for them 
 through the woods and bushes, and also what I had 
 heard of a former defeat of fifteen hundred French, 
 who invaded the Illinois country, I had conceived some 
 doubts and some fears for the event of the campaign ; 
 
168 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 but I ventured only to say, * To be sure, sir, if you ar- 
 rive well before Duquesne with these fine troops, so 
 well provided with artillery, the fort, though complete- 
 ly fortified, and assisted with a very strong garrison, 
 can probably make but a short resistance. The only 
 danger I apprehend of obstruction to your march, is 
 from the ambuscades of the Indians, who, by constant 
 practice, are dexterous in laying and executing them ; 
 and the slender line, nearly four miles long, which 
 your army must make, may expose it to be attacked 
 by surprise on its flanks, and to be cut like thread 
 into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot 
 come up in time to support one another/ 
 
 " He smiled at my ignorance, and replied : ' These 
 savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to raw 
 American militia, but upon the king's regular and dis- 
 ciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make 
 an impression.' I was conscious of an impropriety in 
 my disputing with a military man in matters of his 
 profession, and said no more." * 
 
 As the whole delay of the army was caused by the 
 want of conveyances, Franklin observed one day to the 
 general, that it was a pity the troops had not been 
 landed in Pennsylvania, where almost every farmer had 
 his waggon. "Then, sir," replied Braddock, "you, 
 who are a man of interest there, can probably procure 
 them for me, and I beg you will." Franklin consent- 
 ed. An instrument in writing was drawn up, empow- 
 ering him to contract for one hundred and fifty wag- 
 gons, with four horses to each waggon, and fifteen hun- 
 
 * Autobiography of Franklin. Sparks' Edition, p. 190. 
 
A HAP W Til S.BUNTIBY 
 
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1755.J the general's travelling chariot. 169 
 
 dred saddle or packhorses for the service of his maj- 
 esty's forces, to be at Wills' Creek on or before the 
 20th of May, and he promptly departed for Lancaster 
 to execute the commission. 
 
 After his departure, Braddock, attended by his 
 staff, and his guard of light horse, set off for Wills' 
 Creek by the way of Winchester, the road along the 
 north side of the Potomac not being yet made. " This 
 gave him," writes Washington, " a good opportunity 
 to see the absurdity of the route, and of damning it 
 very heartily." * 
 
 Three of Washington's horses were knocked up be- 
 fore they reached Winchester, and he had to purchase 
 others. This was a severe drain of his campaigning 
 purse ; fortunately, he was in the neighborhood of 
 Greenway Court, and was enabled to replenish it by a 
 loan from his old friend Lord Fairfax. 
 
 The discomforts of the rough road were increased 
 with the general, by his travelling with some degree of 
 state in a chariot which he had purchased of Governor 
 Sharpe. In this he dashed by Dunbar's division of 
 the troops, which he overtook near Wills' Creek ; his 
 body guard of light horse galloping on each side of his 
 chariot, and his staff accompanying him ; the drums 
 beating the Grenadier's march as he passed. In this 
 style, too, he arrived at Port Cumberland, amid a thun- 
 dering salute of seventeen guns.f 
 
 By this time the general discovered that he was not 
 in a region fitted for such display, and his travelling 
 
 * Draft of a letter, among Washington's papers, addressed to Major John 
 Carlyle. 
 
 | Journal of the Seamen's detachment. 
 
170 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 chariot was abandoned at Fort Cumberland; other- 
 wise it would soon have become a wreck among the 
 mountains beyond. 
 
 By the 19th of May, the forces were assembled at 
 Fort Cumberland. The two royal regiments, original- 
 ly one thousand strong, now increased to fourteen hun- 
 dred, by men chosen from the Maryland and Virginia 
 levies. Two provincial companies of carpenters, or 
 pioneers, thirty men each, with subalterns and cap- 
 tains. A company of guides, composed of a captain, 
 two aids, and ten men. The troop of Virginia light 
 horse, commanded by Captain Stewart ; the detach- 
 ment of thirty sailors with their officers, and the rem- 
 nants of two independent companies from New York, 
 one of which was commanded by Captain Horatio 
 Gates, of whom we shall have to speak much hereafter, 
 in the course of this biography. 
 
 Another person in camp, of subsequent notoriety, 
 and who became a warm friend of Washington, was 
 Dr. Hugh Mercer, a Scotchman, about thirty-three 
 years of age. About ten years previously he had 
 served as assistant surgeon in the forces of Charles Ed- 
 ward, and followed his standard to the disastrous 
 field of Culloden. After the defeat of the "cheva- 
 lier," Mercer had escaped by the way of Inverness to 
 America, and taken up his residence in Virginia. He 
 was now with the Virginia troops, rallying under the 
 standard of the House of Hanover, in an expedition 
 led by a general who had aided to drive the chevalier 
 from Scotland.* 
 
 * Braddock had been an officer under the Duke of Cumberland, in his 
 campaign against Charles Edward. 
 
1755. J DR. CRAIK. 171 
 
 Another young Scotchman in the camp was Dr. 
 James Craik, who had. become strongly attached to 
 Washington, being about the same age, and having 
 been with him in the affair of the Great Meadows, 
 serving as surgeon in the Virginia regiment, to which 
 he still belonged. 
 
 At Port Cumberland, Washington had an opportu- 
 nity of seeing a force encamped according to the plan 
 approved of by the council of war ; and military tac- 
 tics, enforced with all the precision of a martinet. 
 
 The roll of each company was called over morning, 
 noon, and night. There was strict examination of 
 arms and accoutrements; the commanding officer of 
 each company being answerable for their being kept in 
 good order. 
 
 The general was very particular in regard to the 
 appearance and drill of the Virginia recruits and com- 
 panies, whom he had put under the rigorous discipline 
 of Ensign Allen. " They performed their evolutions 
 and firings, as well as could be expected," writes Cap- 
 tain Orme, "but their languid, spiritless, and unsol- 
 dier-like appearance, considered with the lowness and 
 ignorance of most of their officers, gave little hopes of 
 their future good behavior."* He doubtless echoed 
 the opinion of the general ; how completely were both 
 to be undeceived as to their estimate of these troops ! 
 
 The general held a levee in his tent every morning, 
 from ten to eleven. He was strict as to the morals of 
 the camp. Drunkenness was severely punished. A 
 soldier convicted of theft was sentenced to receive one 
 
 * Orme's Journal. 
 
172 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 thousand lashes, and to be drummed out of his regi- 
 ment. Part of the first part of the sentence was re- 
 mitted. Divine service was performed every Sunday, 
 at the head of the colors of each regiment, by the 
 chaplain. There was the funeral of a captain who 
 died at this encampment. A captain's guard marched 
 before the corpse, the captain of it in the rear, the 
 firelocks reversed, the drums beating the dead march. 
 When near the grave, the guard formed two lines, fa- 
 cing each other ; rested on their arms, muzzles down- 
 wards, and leaned their faces on the butts. The corpse 
 was carried between them, the sword and sash on the 
 coffin, and the officers following two and two. After 
 the chaplain of the regiment had read the service, the 
 guard fired three volleys over the grave, and returned.* 
 
 Braddock's camp, in a word, was a complete study 
 for Washington, during the halt at Port Cumberland, 
 where he had an opportunity of seeing military routine 
 in its strictest forms. He had a specimen, too, of con- 
 vivial life in the camp, which the general endeavored 
 to maintain, even in the wilderness, keeping a hospita- 
 ble table ; for he is said to have been somewhat of a 
 bon vivant, and to have had with him " two good cooks, 
 who could make an excellent ragout out of a pair of 
 boots, had they but materials to toss them up with."f 
 
 There was great detention at the fort, caused by the 
 want of forage and supplies, the road not having been 
 finished from Philadelphia. Mr. Richard Peters, the 
 secretary of Governor Morris, was in camp, to attend 
 to the matter. He had to bear the brunt of Brad- 
 
 * Orme's Journal. Journal of the Seamen's detachment 
 f Preface to Winthrop Sargent's Introductory Memoir. 
 
1755.] SECRETARY PETERS. 173 
 
 dock's complaints. The general declared he would not 
 stir from Wills' Creek until he had the governor's as- 
 surance that the road would be opened in time. Mr. 
 Peters requested guards to protect the men while at 
 work, from attacks by the Indians. Braddock swore 
 he would not furnish guards for the woodcutters, — 
 " let Pennsylvania do it ! " He scoffed at the talk 
 about danger from Indians. Peters endeavored to 
 make him sensible of the peril which threatened him in 
 this respect. Should an army of them, led by Prench 
 officers, beset him on his march, he would not be able, 
 with all his strength and military skill, to reach Port 
 Duquesne without a body of rangers, as well on foot 
 as horseback. The general, however, " despised his 
 observations." * Still, guards had ultimately to be 
 provided, or the work on the road would have been 
 abandoned. 
 
 Braddock, in fact, was completely chagrined and 
 disappointed about the Indians. The Cherokees and 
 Catawbas, whom Dinwiddie had given him reason to 
 expect in such numbers, never arrived. 
 
 George Croghan reached the camp with but about fifty 
 warriors, whom he had brought from Aughquick. At 
 the general's request he sent a messenger to invite the 
 Delawares and Shawnees from the Ohio, who returned 
 with two chiefs of the former tribe. Among the sa- 
 chems thus assembled were some of Washington's for- 
 mer allies ; Scarooyadi, alias, Monacatoocha, successor 
 to the half-king ; White Thunder, the keeper of the 
 speech-belts, and Silver Heels, so called, probably, from 
 being swift of foot. 
 
 * Colonial Records, vi., 396. 
 
174 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755 
 
 Notwithstanding his secret contempt for the In- 
 dians, Braddock, agreeably to his instructions, treated 
 them with great ceremony. A grand council was held 
 in his tent, where all his officers attended. The chiefs, 
 and all the warriors, came painted and decorated for 
 war. They were received with military honors, the 
 guards resting on their fire-arms. The general made 
 them a speech through his interpreter, expressing the 
 grief of their father, the great king of England, at the 
 death of the half-king, and made them presents to con- 
 sole them. They in return promised their aid as guides 
 and scouts, and declared eternal enmity to the French, 
 following the declaration with the war song, " making 
 a terrible noise." 
 
 The general, to regale and astonish them, ordered 
 all the artillery to be fired, " the drums and fifes play- 
 ing and beating the point of war ; " the fete ended by 
 their feasting, in their own camp, on a bullock which 
 the general had given them, following up their repast 
 by dancing the war dance round a fire, to the sound of 
 their uncouth drums and rattles, " making night hid- 
 eous," by howls and yellings. 
 
 " I have engaged between forty and fifty Indians 
 from the frontiers of your province, to go over the 
 mountains with me," writes Braddock to Governor 
 Morris, " and shall take Croghan and Montour into ser- 
 vice." Croghan was, in effect, put in command of the 
 Indians, and a warrant given to him of captain. 
 
 For a time all went well. The Indians had their 
 separate camp, where they passed half the night sing- 
 ing, dancing, and howling. The British were amused 
 by their strange ceremonies, their savage antics, and 
 
1755.) INDIAN BEAUTIES. 175 
 
 savage decorations. The Indians, on the other hand, 
 loitered by day abont the English camp, fiercely paint- 
 ed and arrayed, gazing with silent admiration at the 
 parade of the troops, their marchings and evolutions ; 
 and delighted with the horse-races, with which the 
 young officers recreated themselves. 
 
 Unluckily the warriors had brought their families 
 with them to Wills' Creek, and the women were even 
 fonder than the men of loitering about the British 
 camp. They were not destitute of attractions ; for the 
 young squaws resemble the gypsies, having seductive 
 forms, small hands and feet, and soft voices. Among 
 those who visited the camp, was one who no doubt 
 passed for an Indian princess. She was the daughter 
 of the sachem, White Thunder, and bore the dazzling 
 name of Bright Lightning.* The charms of these 
 wild-wood beauties were soon acknowledged. " The 
 squaws," writes Secretary Peters, " bring in money 
 plenty ; the officers are scandalously fond of them."t 
 
 The jealousy of the warriors was aroused ; some 
 of them became furious. To prevent discord, the 
 squaws were forbidden to come into the British camp. 
 This did not prevent their being sought elsewhere. It 
 was ultimately found necessary, for the sake of quiet, 
 to send Bright Lightning, with all the other women 
 and children, back to Aughquick. White Thunder, 
 and several of the warriors, accompanied them for their 
 protection. 
 
 As to the three Delaware chiefs, they returned to 
 the Ohio, promising the general they would collect 
 
 * Seamen's Journal 
 
 f Letter of Peters to Governor Morris. 
 
176 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 their warriors together, and meet him on his march 
 They never kept their word. " These people are vil- 
 lains, and always side with the strongest," says a shrewd 
 journalist of the expedition. 
 
 During the halt of the troops at Wills' Creek, 
 Washington had been sent to Williamsburg to bring 
 on four thousand pounds for the military chest. He 
 returned after a fortnight's absence, escorted from 
 Winchester by eight men, " which eight men," writes 
 he, " were two days assembling, but I believe would 
 not have been more than as many seconds dispersing 
 if I had been attacked." 
 
 He found the general out of all patience and temper 
 at the delays and disappointments in regard to horses, 
 waggons, and forage, making no allowances for the 
 difficulties incident to a new country, and to the novel 
 and great demands upon its scanty and scattered re- 
 sources. He accused the army contractors of want of 
 faith, honor, and honesty ; and in his moments of pas- 
 sion, which were many, extended the stigma to the whole 
 country. This stung the patriotic sensibility of Wash- 
 ington, and overcame his usual self-command, and the 
 proud and passionate commander was occasionally sur- 
 prised by a well-merited rebuke from his aide-de-camp. 
 " We have frequent disputes on this head," writes Wash- 
 ington, " which are maintained with warmth on both 
 sides, especially on his ; as he is incapable of arguing 
 without it, or of giving up any point he asserts, be it 
 ever so incompatible with reason or common sense." 
 
 The same pertinacity was maintained with respect 
 to the Indians. George Croghan informed Washing- 
 ton that the sachems considered themselves treated with 
 
1755.] INDIAN SERVICES REJECTED. 177 
 
 slight, in never being consulted in war matters. That 
 he himself had repeatedly offered the services of the 
 warriors under his command as scouts and outguards, 
 but his offers had been rejected. Washington ven- 
 tured to interfere, and to urge their importance for such 
 purposes, especially now when they were approaching 
 the stronghold of the enemy. As usual, the general 
 remained bigoted in his belief of the all-sufficiency of 
 well-disciplined troops. 
 
 Either from disgust thus caused, or from being ac- 
 tually dismissed, the warriors began to disappear from 
 the camp. It is said that Colonel Innes, who was to 
 remain in command at Port Cumberland, advised the 
 dismissal of all but a few to serve as guides ; certain it 
 is, before Braddock recommenced his march, none re- 
 mained to accompany him but Scarooyadi, and eight 
 of his warriors.* 
 
 Seeing the general's impatience at the non-arrival 
 of conveyances, Washington again represented to him 
 the difficulties he would encounter in attempting to 
 traverse the mountains with such a train of wheel-car- 
 riages, assuring him it would be the most arduous part 
 of the campaign; and recommended, from his own 
 experience, the substitution, as much as possible, of 
 packhorses. Braddock, however, had not been suffi- 
 ciently harassed by frontier campaigning, to depart 
 
 * Braddock's own secretary, William Shirley, was disaffected to him. 
 Writing about him to Governor Morris, he satirically observes : " We have 
 a general most judiciously chosen for being disqualified for the service ho 
 is employed in, in almost every respect." And of the secondary officers : 
 " As to them, I don't think we have much to boast. Some are insolent and 
 ignorant ; others capable, but rather aiming at showing their own abilities 
 than making a proper use of them." — Colonial Records, vi., 405. 
 VOL. I. — 12 
 
178 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 from his European modes, or to be swayed in his mili- 
 tary operations by so green a counsellor. 
 
 At length the general was relieved from present 
 perplexities by the arrival of the horses and waggons 
 which Franklin had undertaken to procure. That em- 
 inent man, with his characteristic promptness and un- 
 wearied exertions, and by his great personal popularity, 
 had obtained them from the reluctant Pennsylvania 
 farmers, being obliged to pledge his own responsibility 
 for their being fully remunerated. He performed this 
 laborious task out of pure zeal for the public service, 
 neither expecting nor receiving emolument; and, in 
 fact, experiencing subsequently great delay and embar- 
 rassment before he was relieved from the pecuniar}* 
 responsibilities thus patriotically incurred. 
 
 The arrival of the conveyances put Braddock in 
 good humor with Pennsylvania. In a letter to Gover- 
 nor Morris, he alludes to the threat of Sir John St. 
 Clair to go through that province with a drawn sword 
 in his hand. " He is ashamed of his having talked to 
 you in the manner he did." Still the general made 
 Franklin's contract for waggons the sole instance in 
 which he had not experienced deceit and villany. " I 
 hope, however, in spite of all this," adds he, " that we 
 shall pass a merry Christmas together." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MAE OH FEOM FOET OUMBEBLAND THE GEE AT SAVAGE MOUNTAIN — CAMP 
 
 AT THE LITTLE MEADOWS — DIVISION OF THE FOEOES — CAPTAIN JACK 
 AND HIS BAND — SOAEOOTADI IN DANGEE — ILLNESS OF WASHINGTON — 
 HIS HALT AT THE YOUGHIOGENY — MAE OH OF BEADDOCK — THE GEEAT 
 
 MEADOWS — LUBKING ENEMIES — THEIE TE ACKS PEECAUTIONS — 
 
 THICKETTY EUN — SCOUTS — INDIAN MUEDEES — FUNERAL OF AN INDIAN 
 WAEEIOE — OAMP ON THE MONONGAHELA — WASHINGTON'S AEEIVAL 
 THEEE — MAECH FOE FOET DUQUESNE — THE FOEDING OF THE MONON- 
 GAHELA — THE BATTLE — THE EETEEAT — DEATH OF BEADDOCK. 
 
 On the 10th of June, Braddock set off from Fort 
 Cumberland with his aides-de-camp, and others of his 
 staff, and his body guard of light horse. Sir Peter 
 Halket, with his brigade, had marched three days pre- 
 viously ; and a detachment of six hundred men, under 
 the command of Colonel Chapman, and the supervision 
 of Sir John St. Clair, had been employed upwards of 
 ten days in cutting down trees, removing rocks, and 
 opening a road. 
 
 The march over the mountains proved, as Wash- 
 ington had foretold, a " tremendous undertaking." It 
 was with difficulty the heavily laden waggons could be 
 dragged up the steep and rugged roads, newly made, 
 or imperfectly repaired. Often they extended for three 
 
180 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 or four miles in a straggling and broken line, with the 
 soldiers so dispersed, in guarding them, that an attack 
 on any side would have thrown the whole in confusion. 
 It was the dreary region of the great Savage Mountain, 
 and the " Shades of Death " that was again made to 
 echo with the din of arms. 
 
 What outraged Washington's notions of the abste- 
 mious frugality suitable to campaigning in the " back- 
 woods," was the great number of horses and waggons 
 required by the officers for the transportation of their 
 baggage, camp equipage, and a thousand articles of ar- 
 tificial necessity. Simple himself in his tastes and hab- 
 its, and manfully indifferent to personal indulgences, 
 he almost doubted whether such sybarites in the camp 
 could be efficient in the field. 
 
 By the time the advanced corps had struggled 
 over two mountains, and through the intervening for- 
 est, and reached (16th June) the Little Meadows, 
 where Sir John St. Clair had made a temporary camp, 
 General Braddock had become aware of the difference 
 between campaigning in a new country, or on the old 
 well beaten battle-grounds of Europe. He now, of 
 his own accord, turned to Washington for advice, 
 though it must have been a sore trial to his pride to 
 seek it of so young a man ; but he had by this time 
 sufficient proof of his sagacity, and his knowledge of 
 the frontier. 
 
 Thus unexpectedly called on, Washington gave his 
 counsel with becoming modesty, but with his accustomed 
 clearness. There was just now an opportunity to 
 strike an effective blow at Port Duquesne, but it might 
 be lost by delay. The garrison, according to credible 
 
1755.] DIVISION Of THE FORCES. 181 
 
 reports, was weak ; large reinforcements and supplies, 
 which were on their way, would be detained by the 
 drought, which rendered the river by which they must 
 come low and unnavigable. The blow must be struck 
 before they could arrive. He advised the general, 
 therefore, to divide his forces ; leave one part to come 
 on with the stores and baggage, and all the cumbrous 
 appurtenances of an army, and to throw himself in the 
 advance with the other part, composed of his choicest 
 troops, lightened of every thing superfluous that might 
 impede a rapid march. 
 
 His advice was adopted. Twelve hundred men, 
 selected out of all the companies, and furnished with 
 ten field-pieces, were to form the first division, their 
 provisions, and other necessaries, to be carried on pack- 
 horses. The second division, with all the stores, mu- 
 nitions, and heavy baggage, was to be brought on by 
 Colonel Dunbar. 
 
 The least practicable part of the arrangement was 
 with regard to the officers of the advance. Washing- 
 ton had urged a retrenchment of their baggage and 
 camp equipage, that as many of their horses as possi- 
 ble might be used as packhorses. Here was the diffi- 
 culty. Brought up, many of them, in fashionable and 
 luxurious life, or the loitering indulgence of country 
 quarters, they were so encumbered with what they con- 
 sidered indispensable necessaries, that out of two hun- 
 dred and twelve horses generally appropriated to their 
 use, not more than a dozen could be spared by them 
 for the public service. Washington, in his own case, 
 acted up to the advice he had given. He retained no 
 more clothing and effects with him than would about 
 
182 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755 
 
 half fill a portmanteau, and gave up his best steed as 
 a packhorse, — which he never heard of afterwards.* 
 
 During the halt at the Little Meadows, Captain 
 Jack and his band of forest rangers, whom Croghan had 
 engaged at Governor Morris's suggestion, made their 
 appearance in the camp; armed and equipped with 
 rifle, knife, hunting-shirts, leggings and moccasins, and 
 looking almost like a band of Indians as they issued 
 from the woods. 
 
 The captain asked an interview with the general, 
 by whom, it would seem, he was not expected. Brad- 
 dock received him in his tent, in his usual stiff and 
 stately manner. The " Black Rifle " spoke of himself 
 and his followers as men inured to hardships, and accus- 
 tomed to deal with Indians who preferred stealth and 
 stratagem to open warfare. He requested his compa- 
 ny should be employed as a reconnoitering party, to 
 beat up the Indians in their lurking-places and ambus- 
 cades. 
 
 Braddock, who had a sovereign contempt for the 
 chivalry of the woods, and despised their boasted strat- 
 egy, replied to the hero of the Pennsylvania settle- 
 ments in a manner to which he had not been accus- 
 tomed. "There was time enough/' he said, "for 
 making arrangements ; and he had experienced troops, 
 on whom he could completely rely for all purposes." 
 
 Captain Jack withdrew, indignant at so haughty 
 a reception, and informed his leathern-clad followers of 
 his rebuff. They forthwith shouldered their rifles, 
 turned their backs upon the camp, and, headed by 
 
 * Letter to J. Augustine Washington. Sparks, ii., 81. 
 
1755.] A SCIENTIFIC MARCH. 183 
 
 the captain, departed in Indian file through the 
 woods, for the usual scenes of their exploits, where 
 men knew their value, the banks of the Juniata or the 
 Conococheague.* 
 
 On the 19th of June Braddock's first division set 
 out, with less than thirty carriages, including those that 
 transported ammunition for the artillery, all strongly 
 horsed. The Indians marched with the advanced 
 party. In the course of the day, Scarooyadi and his son 
 being at a small distance from the line of march, were 
 surrounded and taken by some French and Indians. 
 His son escaped, and brought intelligence to his war- 
 riors; they hastened to rescue or revenge him, but 
 found him tied to a tree. The French had been dis- 
 posed to shoot him, but their savage allies declared 
 they would abandon them should they do so : having 
 some tie of friendship or kindred with the chieftain, 
 who thus rejoined the troops unharmed. 
 
 Washington was disappointed in his anticipations 
 of a rapid march. The general, though he had adopt- 
 ed his advice in the main, could not carry it out in de- 
 tail. His military education was in the way ; bigoted 
 to the regular and elaborate tactics of Europe, he could 
 not stoop to the make-shift expedients of a new coun- 
 try, where every difficulty is encountered and mastered 
 in a rough-and-ready style. " I found," said Wash- 
 ington, " that instead of pushing on with vigor, with- 
 out regarding a little rough road, they were halting to 
 
 * On the Conococheague and Juniata are left the history of their ex- 
 ploits. At one time you may hear of the band near Fort Augusta, next at 
 Fort Franklin, then at Loudon, then at Juniata,— rapid were the movements 
 of this hardy band.— Hazard? 8 Reg. Penn., iv., 390; also, v., 194. 
 
184 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 level every mole hill, and to erect bridges over every 
 brook, by which means we were four days in getting 
 twelve miles/' 
 
 Por several days Washington had suffered from 
 fever, accompanied by intense headache, and his illness 
 increased in violence to such a degree that he was una- 
 ble to ride, and had to be conveyed for a part of the 
 time in a covered waggon. His illness continued with- 
 out intermission until the 23d, " when I was relieved," 
 says he, "by the general's absolutely ordering the 
 physician to give me Dr. James's powders ; one of the 
 most excellent medicines in the world. It gave me 
 immediate relief, and removed my fever and other com- 
 plaints in four days' time." 
 
 He was still unable to bear the jolting of the wag- 
 gon, but it needed another interposition of the kindly 
 intended authority of General Braddock, to bring him 
 to a halt at the great crossings of the Youghiogeny. 
 Here the general assigned him a guard, provided him 
 with necessaries, and requested him to remain, under 
 care of his physician, Dr. Craik, until the arrival of 
 Colonel Dunbar's detachment, which was two days' 
 march in the rear ; giving him his word of honor that 
 he should, at all events, be enabled to rejoin the main 
 division before it reached the Trench fort.* 
 
 This kind solicitude on the part of Braddock, 
 shows the real estimation in which he was held by that 
 officer. Doctor Craik backed the general's orders, by 
 declaring that should Washington persevere in his at- 
 tempts to go on in the condition he then was, his life 
 
 •Letter to John Augustine Washington. Sparks, ii., 80. 
 
1755.J DESERTED INDIAN CAMP. 185 
 
 would be in danger. Orme also joined his entreaties, 
 and promised, if he would remain, he would keep him 
 informed by letter of every occurrence of moment. 
 
 Notwithstanding all the kind assurances of Brad- 
 dock and his aide-de-camp Orme, it was with gloomy 
 feelings that Washington saw the troops depart, fearful 
 he might not be able to rejoin them in time for the attack 
 upon the fort, which, he assured his brother aide-de- 
 camp, he would not miss for five hundred pounds. 
 
 Leaving Washington at the Youghiogeny, we will 
 follow the march of Braddock. In the course of the 
 first day (June 24th), he came to a deserted Indian 
 camp; judging from the number of wigwams, there 
 must have been about one hundred and seventy war- 
 riors. Some of the trees about it had been stripped, 
 and painted, with threats, and bravadoes, and scurril- 
 ous taunts written on them in the French language, 
 showing that there were white men with the sav- 
 ages. 
 
 The next morning at daybreak, three men ventur- 
 ing beyond the sentinels, were shot and scalped ; par- 
 ties were immediately sent out to scour the woods, and 
 drive in the stray horses. 
 
 The day's march passed by the Great Meadows 
 and Fort Necessity, the scene of Washington's capitu- 
 lation. Several Indians were seen hovering in the 
 woods, and the light horse and Indian allies were sent 
 out to surround them, but did not succeed. In cross- 
 ing a mountain beyond the Great Meadows, the car- 
 riages had to be lowered with the assistance of the sail- 
 ors, by means of tackle. The camp for the night was 
 about two miles beyond Port Necessity. Several French 
 
186 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 and Indians endeavored to reconnoitre it, but were 
 fired upon by the advanced sentinels. 
 
 The following day (26th) there was a laborious 
 march of but four miles, owing to the difficulties of 
 the road. The evening halt was at another deserted 
 Indian camp, strongly posted on a high rock, with a 
 steep and narrow ascent ; it had a spring in the mid- 
 dle, and stood at the termination of the Indian path to 
 the Monongahela. By this pass the party had come 
 which attacked Washington the year before, in the 
 Great Meadows. The Indians and French too, who 
 were hovering about the army, had just left this camp. 
 The fires they had left were yet burning. The French 
 had inscribed their names on some of the trees with 
 insulting bravadoes, and the Indians had designated 
 in triumph the scalps they had taken two days previ- 
 ously. A party was sent out with guides, to follow 
 their tracks and fall on them in the night, but again 
 without success. In fact, it was the Indian boast, that 
 throughout this march of Braddock, they saw him 
 every day from the mountains, and expected to be able 
 to shoot down his soldiers " like pigeons." 
 
 The march continued to be toilful and difficult; 
 on one day it did not exceed two miles, having to cut 
 a passage over a mountain. In cleaning their guns 
 the men were ordered to draw the charge, instead of 
 firing it off. No fire was to be lighted in front of the 
 pickets. At night the men were to take their arms 
 into the tents with them. 
 
 Further on, the precautions became still greater. 
 On the advanced pickets the men were in two divisions, 
 relieving each other every two hours. Half remained 
 
1755.] scouts. 187 
 
 on guard with fixed bayonets, the other half lay down 
 by their arms. The picket sentinels were doubled. 
 
 On the 4th of July they encamped at Thicketty 
 Run. The country was less mountainous and rocky, 
 and the woods, consisting chiefly of white pine, were 
 more open. The general now supposed himself to be 
 within thirty miles of Tort Duquesne. Ever since his 
 halt at the deserted camp on the rock beyond the 
 Great Meadows, he had endeavored to prevail upon 
 the Croghan Indians to scout in the direction of the 
 fort, and bring him intelligence, but never could suc- 
 ceed. They had probably been deterred by the num- 
 ber of French and Indian tracks, and by the recent 
 capture of Scarooyadi. This day, however, two con- 
 sented to reconnoitre ; and shortly after their depar- 
 ture, Christopher Gist, the resolute pioneer, who acted 
 as guide to the general, likewise set off as a scout. 
 
 The Indians returned on the 6th. They had been 
 close to Port Duquesne. There were no additional 
 works there ; they saw a few boats under the fort, and 
 one with a white flag coming down the Ohio; but 
 there were few men to be seen, and few tracks of any. 
 They came upon an unfortunate officer, shooting with- 
 in half a mile of the fort, and brought a scalp as a 
 trophy of his fate. None of the passes between the 
 camp and fort were occupied; they believed there 
 were few men abroad reconnoitering. 
 
 Gist returned soon after them. His account cor- 
 roborated theirs ; but he had seen a smoke in a valley 
 between the camp and the fort, made probably by 
 some scouting party. He had intended to prowl 
 about the fort at night, but had been discovered, and 
 
188 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 pursued by two Indians, and narrowly escaped with 
 his life. 
 
 On the same day, during the march, three or four 
 men loitering in the rear of the grenadiers were killed 
 and scalped. Several of the grenadiers set off to take 
 revenge. They came upon a party of Indians, who 
 held up boughs and grounded their arms, the concerted 
 sign of amity. Not perceiving or understanding it, 
 the grenadiers fired upon them, and one fell. It 
 proved to be the son of Scarooyadi. Aware too late 
 of their error, the grenadiers brought the body to the 
 camp. The conduct of Braddock was admirable on 
 the occasion. He sent for the father and the other 
 Indians, and condoled with them on the lamentable 
 occurrence; making them the customary presents of 
 expiation. But what was more to the point, he caused 
 the youth to be buried with the honors of war ; at his 
 request the officers attended the funeral, and a volley 
 was fired over the grave. 
 
 These soldierlike tributes of respect to the deceased, 
 and sympathy with the survivors, soothed the feelings 
 and gratified the pride of the father, and attached him 
 more firmly to the service. We are glad to record an 
 anecdote so contrary to the general contempt for the 
 Indians with which Braddock stands charged. It 
 speaks well for the real kindness of his heart. 
 
 We will return now to Washington in his sick encamp- 
 ment on the banks of the Youghiogheny, where he was 
 left repining at the departure of the troops without 
 him. To add to his annoyances, his servant, John 
 Alton, a faithful Welshman, was taken ill with the 
 same malady, and unable to render him any services. 
 
J 755.] CAMP OF THE MONONGAHELA. 189 
 
 Letters from his fellow aides-de-camp showed him 
 the kind solicitude that was felt concerning him. At 
 the general's desire, Captain Morris wrote to him, 
 informing him of their intended halts. 
 
 " It is the desire of every individual in the family," 
 adds he, " and the general's positive commands to you, 
 not to stir, but by the advice of the person [Dr. Craik] 
 under whose care you are, till you are better, which we 
 all hope will be very soon." 
 
 Orme, too, according to promise, kept him inform- 
 ed of the incidents of the inarch ; the frequent night 
 alarms, and occasional scalping parties. The night 
 alarms Washington considered mere feints, designed to 
 harass the men and retard the march ; the enemy, he was 
 sure, had not sufficient force for a serious attack j and 
 he was glad to learn from Orme that the men were in 
 high spirits and confident of success. 
 
 He now considered himself sufficiently recovered to 
 rejoin the troops, and his only anxiety was, that he 
 should not be able to do it in time for the great blow. 
 He was rejoiced, therefore, on the 3d of July, by the 
 arrival of an advanced party of one hundred men con- 
 voying provisions. Being still too weak to mount his 
 horse, he set off with the escort in a covered waggon ; 
 and after a most fatiguing journey, over mountain and 
 through forest, reached Braddock's camp on the 8th 
 of July. It was on the east side of the Monongahela, 
 about two miles from the river, in the neighborhood of 
 the town of Queen Aliquippa, and about fifteen miles 
 from Fort Duquesne. 
 
 In consequence of adhering to technical rules and 
 military forms, General Braddock had consumed a 
 
190 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 month in marching little more than a hundred miles. 
 The tardiness of his progress was regarded with sur- 
 prise and impatience even in Europe ; where his patron, 
 the Duke of Brunswick, was watching the events of 
 the campaign he had planned. " The Duke," writes 
 Horace Walpole, " is much dissatisfied at the slowness 
 of General Braddock, who does not march as if he was 
 at all impatient to be scalped" The insinuation of the 
 satirical wit was unmerited. Braddock was a stranger 
 to fear ; but in his movements he was fettered by sys- 
 tem. 
 
 Washington was warmly received on his arrival, 
 especially by his fellow aides-de-camp, Morris and 
 Orme. He was just in time, for the attack upon Port 
 Duquesne was to be made on the following day. The 
 neighboring country had been reconnoitred to deter- 
 mine upon a plan of attack. The fort stood on the 
 same side of the Monongahela with the camp ; but 
 there was a narrow pass between them of about two 
 miles, with the river on the left and a very high moun- 
 tain on the right, and in its present state quite impas- 
 sable for carriages. The route determined on was to 
 cross the Monongahela by a ford immediately opposite 
 to the camp ; proceed along the west bank of the river, 
 for about five miles, then recross by another ford to 
 the eastern side, and push on to the fort. The river 
 at these fords was shallow, and the banks were not 
 steep. 
 
 According to the plan of arrangement, Lieutenant- 
 colonel Gage, with the advance, was to cross the rivei 
 before daybreak, march to the second ford, and re- 
 crossing there, take post to secure the passage of the 
 
1755.] FORDING OF THE MONONGAHELA. 191 
 
 main force. The advance was to be composed of two 
 companies of grenadiers, one hundred and sixty infan- 
 try, the independent company of Captain Horatio 
 Gates, and two six -pounders. 
 
 Washington, who had already seen enough of 
 regular troops to doubt their infallibility in wild bush- 
 fighting, and who knew the dangerous nature of the 
 ground they were to traverse, ventured to suggest, that 
 on the following day the Virginia rangers, being accus- 
 tomed to the country and to Indian warfare, might be 
 thrown in the advance. The proposition drew an 
 angry reply from the general, indignant, very proba- 
 bly, that a young provincial officer should presume to 
 school a veteran like himself. 
 
 Early next morning (July 9th), before daylight, 
 Colonel Gage crossed with the advance. He was fol- 
 lowed, at some distance, by Sir John St. Clair, quar- 
 termaster-general, with a working party of two hundred 
 and fifty men, to make roads for the artillery and bag- 
 gage. They had with them their waggons of tools, and 
 two six-pounders. A party of about thirty savages 
 rushed out of the woods as Colonel Gage advanced, 
 but were put to flight before they had done any harm. 
 
 By sunrise the main body turned out in full uni- 
 form. At the beating of the general, their arms, 
 which had been cleaned the night before, were charged 
 with fresh cartridges. The officers were perfectly 
 equipped. All looked as if arrayed for a fete, rather 
 than a battle. Washington, who was still weak and 
 unwell, mounted his horse, and joined the staff of the 
 general, who was scrutinizing every thing with the eye 
 of a martinet. As it was supposed the enemy would 
 
192 LIEE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 be on the watch for the crossing of the troops, it had 
 been agreed that they should do it in the greatest or- 
 der, with bayonets fixed, colors flying, and drums and 
 fifes beating and playing.* They accordingly made a 
 gallant appearance as they forded the Monongahela, 
 and wound along its banks, and through the open forests, 
 gleaming and glittering in morning sunshine, and step- 
 ping buoyantly to the Grenadier's march. 
 
 Washington, with his keen and youthful relish for 
 military affairs, was delighted with their perfect order 
 and equipment, so different from the rough bush-fight- 
 ers, to which he had been accustomed. Roused to 
 new life, he forgot his recent ailments, and broke forth 
 in expressions of enjoyment and admiration, as he rode 
 in company with his fellow aides-de-camp, Orme and 
 Morris. Often, in after life, he used to speak of the 
 effect upon him of the first sight of a well- disciplined 
 European army, marching in high confidence and bright 
 array, on the eve of a battle. 
 
 About noon they reached the second ford. Gage 
 with the advance, was on the opposite side of the Mo- 
 nongahela, posted according to orders ; but the river 
 bank had not been sufficiently sloped. The artillery 
 and baggage drew up along the beach and halted until 
 one, when the second crossing took place, drums beat- 
 ing, fifes playing, and colors flying, as before. When 
 all had passed, there was again a halt close by a small 
 stream called Irazier's Run, until the general arranged 
 the order of march. 
 
 First went the advance, under Gage, preceded by 
 the engineers and guides, and six light horsemen. 
 
 * Orme's Journal. 
 
1755.] THE BATTLE. 193 
 
 Then, Sir John St. Clair and the working party, 
 with their waggons and the two six-pounders. On 
 each side were thrown out four flanking parties. 
 
 Then, at some distance, the general was to follow 
 with the main body, the artillery and baggage preceded 
 and flanked by light horse and squads of infantry; 
 while the Virginian, and other provincial troops, were 
 to form the rear guard. 
 
 The ground before them was level until about half 
 a mile from the river, where a rising ground, covered 
 with long grass, low bushes, and scattered trees, sloped 
 gently up to a range of hills. The whole country, gen- 
 erally speaking, was a forest, with no clear opening 
 but the road, which was about twelve feet wide, and 
 flanked by two ravines, concealed by trees and thickets. 
 
 Had Braddock been schooled in the warfare of the 
 woods, or had he adopted the suggestions of Washing- 
 ton, which he rejected so impatiently, he would have 
 thrown out Indian scouts or Virginia rangers in the 
 advance, and on the flanks, to beat up the woods and 
 ravines; but, as has been sarcastically observed, he 
 suffered his troops to march forward through the centre 
 of the plain, with merely their usual guides and flank- 
 ing parties, " as if in a review in St. James's Park." 
 
 It was now near two o'clock. The advanced party 
 and the working party had crossed the plain and were 
 ascending the rising ground. Braddock was about to 
 follow with the main body, and had given the word to 
 march, when he heard an excessively quick and heavy 
 firing in front. Washington, who was with the gen- 
 eral, surmised that the evil he had apprehended had 
 come to pass. For want of scouting parties ahead the 
 
 VOL. I. — 13 
 
194 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 advance parties were suddenly and warmly attacked. 
 Braddock ordered Lieutenant-colonel Burton to hasten 
 to their assistance with the vanguard of the main 
 body, eight hundred strong. The residue, four hun- 
 dred, were halted, and posted to protect the artillery 
 and baggage. 
 
 The firing continued, with fearful yelling. There 
 was a terrible uproar. By the general's orders an aide- 
 de-camp spurred forward to bring him an account of 
 the nature of the attack. Without waiting for his re- 
 turn the general himself, rinding the turmoil increase, 
 moved forward, leaving Sir Peter Halket with the 
 command of the baggage.* 
 
 The van of the advance had indeed been taken by 
 surprise. It was composed of two companies of car- 
 penters or pioneers to cut the road, and two flank com- 
 panies of grenadiers to protect them. Suddenly the 
 engineer who preceded them to mark out the road 
 gave the alarm, " French and Indians ! " A body of 
 them was approaching rapidly, cheered on by a 
 Frenchman in gaily fringed hunting-shirt, whose gor- 
 get showed him to be an officer. 
 
 There was sharp firing on both sides at first. Sev- 
 eral of the enemy fell ; among them their leader ; but a 
 murderous fire broke out from among trees and a ra- 
 vine on the right, and the woods resounded with un- 
 earthly whoops and yellings. The Indian rifle was at 
 work, levelled by unseen hands. Most of the grena- 
 diers and many of the pioneers were shot down. The 
 survivors were driven in on the advance. 
 
 Gage ordered his men to fix bayonets and form in 
 
 * Orme's Journal. 
 
1755.] BUSH FIGHTING. 195 
 
 order of battle. They did so in hurry and trepidation. 
 He would have scaled a hill on the right whence there 
 was the severest firing. Not a platoon would quit the 
 line of march. They were more dismayed by the yells 
 than by the rifles of the unseen savages. The latter 
 extended themselves along the hill and in the ravines ; 
 but their whereabouts was only known by their de- 
 moniac cries and the puffs of smoke from their rifles. 
 The soldiers fired wherever they saw the smoke. Their 
 officers tried in vain to restrain them until they should 
 see their foe. All orders were unheeded; in their 
 fright they shot at random, killing some of their own 
 flanking parties, and of the vanguard, as they came 
 running in. The covert fire grew more intense. In 
 a short time most of the officers and many of the men 
 of the advance were killed or wounded. Colonel Gage 
 himself received a wound. The advance fell back in 
 dismay upon Sir John St. Clair's corps, which was 
 equally dismayed. The cannon belonging to it were 
 deserted. 
 
 Colonel Burton had come up with the reinforce- 
 ment, and was forming his men to face the rising 
 ground on the right, when both of the advanced de- 
 tachments fell back upon him, and all now was confu- 
 sion. 
 
 By this time the general was upon the ground. He 
 tried to rally the men. "They would fight," they 
 said, " if they could see their enemy ; but it was useless 
 to fire at trees and bushes, and they could not stand to 
 be shot down by an invisible foe." 
 
 The colors were advanced in different places to sep- 
 arate the men of the two regiments. The general or- 
 
196 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. \l7ho. 
 
 dered the officers to form the men, tell them off into 
 small divisions, and advance with them ; but the sol- 
 diers could not be prevailed upon either by threats or 
 entreaties. The Virginia troops, accustomed to the 
 Indian mode of fighting, scattered themselves, and 
 took post behind trees, where they could pick off the 
 lurking foe. In this way they, in some degree, pro- 
 tected the regulars. Washington advised General 
 Braddock to adopt the same plan with the regulars ; 
 but he persisted in forming them into platoons ; con- 
 sequently they were cut down from behind logs and 
 trees as fast as they could advance. Several attempted 
 to take to the trees without orders, but the general 
 stormed at them, called them cowards, and even struck 
 them with the flat of his sword. Several of the Vir- 
 ginians, who had taken post and were doing good 
 service in this manner, were slain by the fire of the 
 regulars, directed wherever a smoke appeared among 
 the trees. 
 
 The officers behaved with consummate bravery; 
 and Washington beheld with admiration those who, in 
 camp or on the march, had appeared to him to have an 
 almost effeminate regard for personal ease and conve- 
 nience, now exposing themselves to imminent death, 
 with a courage that kindled with the thickening hor- 
 rors. In the vain hope of inspiriting the men to drive 
 off the enemy from the flanks and regain the cannon, 
 they would dash forward singly or in groups. They 
 were invariably shot down; for the Indians aimed 
 from their coverts at every one on horseback, or who 
 appeared to have command. 
 
 Some were killed by random shot of their own 
 
1755.] WASHINGTON IN THE ACTION. 197 
 
 men, who, crowded in masses, fired with affrighted ra- 
 pidity, but without aim. Soldiers in the front ranks 
 were killed by those in the rear. Between friend and 
 foe, the slaughter of the officers was terrible. All this 
 while the woods resounded with the unearthly yellings 
 of the savages, and now and then one of them, hide- 
 ously painted, and ruffling with feathered crest, would 
 rush forth to scalp an officer who had fallen, or seize 
 a horse galloping wildly without a rider. 
 
 Throughout this disastrous day, Washington distin- 
 guished himself by his courage and presence of mind. 
 His brother aids, Orme and Morris, were wounded and 
 disabled early in the action, and the whole duty of car- 
 rying the orders of the general devolved on him. His 
 danger was imminent and incessant. He was in every 
 part of the field, a conspicuous mark for the murderous 
 rifle. Two horses were shot under him. Pour bul- 
 lets passed through his coat. His escape without a 
 wound was almost miraculous. Dr. Craik, who was 
 on the field attending to the wounded, watched him with 
 anxiety as he rode about in the most exposed manner, 
 and used to say that he expected every moment to see 
 him fall. At one time he was sent to the main body to 
 bring the artillery into action. All there was likewise 
 in confusion ; for the Indians had extended themselves 
 along the ravine so as to flank the reserve and carry 
 slaughter into the ranks. Sir Peter Halket had been 
 shot down at the head of his regiment. The men who 
 should have served the guns were paralyzed. Had they 
 raked the ravines with grape-shot the day might have 
 been saved. In his ardor, Washington sprang from 
 his horse ; wheeled and pointed a brass field-piece with 
 
198 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 his own hand, and directed an effective discharge into 
 the woods ; but neither his efforts nor example were of 
 avail. The men could not be kept to the guns. 
 
 Braddock still remained in the centre of the field, 
 m the desperate hope of retrieving the fortunes of the 
 day. The Virginia rangers, who had been most efficient 
 in covering his position, were nearly all killed or wound- 
 ed. His secretary, Shirley, had fallen by his side. 
 Many of his officers had been slain within his sight, 
 and many of his guard of Virginia light horse. Five 
 horses had been killed under him; still he kept his 
 ground, vainly endeavoring to check the flight of his 
 men, or at least to effect their retreat in good order. 
 At length a bullet passed through his right arm, and 
 lodged itself in his lungs. He fell from his horse, but 
 was caught by Captain Stewart of the Virginia guards, 
 who, with the assistance of another American, and a 
 servant, placed him in a tumbril. It was with much 
 difficulty they got him out of the field — in his despair 
 he desired to be left there.* 
 
 The rout now became complete. Baggage, stores, 
 artillery, every thing was abandoned. The waggoners 
 took each a horse out of his team, and fled. The offi- 
 cers were swept off with the men in this headlong 
 flight. It was rendered more precipitate by the shouts 
 and yells of the savages, numbers of whom rushed forth 
 from their coverts, and pursued the fugitives to the 
 river side, killing several as they dashed across in tu- 
 multuous confusion. Fortunately for the latter, the 
 victors gave up the pursuit in their eagerness to collect 
 the spoil. 
 
 * Journal of the Seamen's detachment. 
 
1755.] THE RETREAT. 199 
 
 The shattered army continued its flight after it had 
 crossed the Monongahela, a wretched wreck of the bril- 
 liant little force that had recently gleamed along its 
 banks, confident of victory. Out of eighty-six officers, 
 twenty-six had been killed, and thirty-six wounded. 
 The number of rank and file killed and wounded was 
 upwards of seven hundred. The Virginia corps had 
 suffered the most ; one company had been almost anni- 
 hilated, another, beside those killed and wounded in the 
 ranks, had lost all its officers, even to the corporal. 
 
 About a hundred men were brought to a halt about 
 a quarter of a mile from the ford of the river. Here 
 was Braddock, with his wounded aides-de-camp and 
 some of his officers ; Dr. Craik dressing his wounds, 
 and Washington attending him with faithful assiduity. 
 Braddock was still able to give orders, and had a faint 
 hope of being able to keep possession of the ground 
 until reinforced. Most of the men were stationed in a 
 very advantageous spot about two hundred yards from 
 the road; and Lieutenant-colonel Burton posted out 
 small parties and sentinels. Before an hour had elapsed 
 most of the men had stolen off. Being thus deserted, 
 Braddock and his officers continued their retreat ; he 
 would have mounted his horse but was unable, and 
 had to be carried by soldiers. Orme and Morris were 
 placed on fitters borne by horses. They were subse- 
 quently joined by Colonel Gage with eighty men whom 
 he had rallied. 
 
 Washington, in the mean time, notwithstanding his 
 weak state, being found most efficient in frontier ser- 
 vice, was sent to Colonel Dunbar's camp, forty miles 
 distant, with orders for him to hurry forward provi- 
 
200 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 sions, hospital stores, and waggons for the wounded, 
 under the escort of two grenadier companies. It was a 
 hard and a melancholy ride throughout the night and the 
 following day. The tidings of the defeat preceded him, 
 borne by the waggoners, who had mounted their horses, 
 on Braddock's fall, and fled from the field of battle. 
 They had arrived, haggard, at Dunbar's camp at mid- 
 day; the Indian yells still ringing in their ears. "All 
 was lost ! " they cried. " Braddock was killed ! They 
 had seen wounded officers borne off from the field in 
 bloody sheets ! The troops were all cut to pieces ! " 
 A panic fell upon the camp. The drums beat to arms. 
 Many of the soldiers, waggoners and attendants, took 
 to flight ; but most of them were forced back by the 
 sentinels. 
 
 Washington arrived at the camp in the evening, 
 and found the agitation still prevailing. The orders 
 which he brought were executed during the night, and 
 he was in the saddle early in the morning accompany- 
 ing the convoy of supplies. At Gist's plantation, about 
 thirteen miles off, he met Gage and his scanty force 
 escorting Braddock and his wounded officers. Captain 
 Stewart and a sad remnant of the Virginia light horse 
 still accompanied the general as his guard. The cap- 
 tain had been unremitting in his attentions to him dur- 
 ing the retreat. There was a halt of one day at Dun- 
 bar's camp for the repose and relief of the wounded. 
 On the 13th they resumed their melancholy march, 
 and that night reached the Great Meadows. 
 
 The proud spirit of Braddock was broken by his 
 defeat. He remained silent the first evening after the 
 battle, only ejaculating at night, "Who would have 
 
1755.J DEATH OF BRADDOCK. 201 
 
 thought it!" He was equally silent the following 
 day ; yet hope still seemed to linger in his breast, from 
 another ejaculation: "We shall better know how to 
 deal with them another time 1 " * 
 
 He was grateful for the attentions paid to him by 
 Captain Stewart and Washington, and more than once, 
 it is said, expressed his admiration of the gallantry dis- 
 played by the Virginians in the action. It is said, 
 moreover, that in his last moments, he apologized to 
 Washington for the petulance with which he had re- 
 jected his advice, and bequeathed to him his favorite 
 charger and his faithful servant, Bishop, who had 
 helped to convey him from the field. 
 
 Some of these facts, it is true, rest on tradition, yet 
 we are willing to believe them, as they impart a gleam 
 of just and generous feeling to his closing scene. He 
 died on the night of the 13th, at the Great Meadows, 
 the place of Washington's discomfiture in the previous 
 year. His obsequies were performed before break of 
 day. The chaplain having been wounded, Washington 
 read the funeral service. All was done in sadness, and 
 without parade, so as not to attract the attention of 
 lurking savages, who might discover, and outrage his 
 grave. It is doubtful even whether a volley was fired 
 over it, that last military honor which he had recently 
 paid to the remains of an Indian warrior. The place 
 of his sepulture, however, is still known, and pointed out. 
 
 * Captain Orme, who gave these particulars to Dr. Franklin, says that 
 Braddock " died a few minutes after." This, according to his account, was 
 on the second day ; whereas the general survived upwards of four days. 
 Orme, being conveyed on a litter at some distance from the general, could 
 only speak of his moods from hearsay. 
 
202 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 Reproach spared him not, even when in his grave. 
 The failure of the expedition was attributed both in 
 England and America to his obstinacy, his technical 
 pedantry, and his military conceit. He had been con- 
 tinually warned to be on his guard against ambush and 
 surprise, but without avail. Had he taken the advice 
 urged on him by Washington and others, to employ 
 scouting parties of Indians and rangers, he would never 
 have been so signally surprised and defeated. 
 
 Still his dauntless conduct on the field of battle 
 shows him to have been a man of fearless spirit ; and 
 he was universally allowed to be an accomplished dis- 
 ciplinarian. His melancholy end, too, disarms censure 
 of its asperity. Whatever may have been his faults 
 and errors, he, in a manner, expiated them by the hard- 
 est lot that can befall a brave soldier, ambitious of re- 
 nown — an unhonored grave in a strange land ; a mem- 
 ory clouded by misfortune, and a name for ever coupled 
 with defeat. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 In narrating the expedition of Braddock, we have frequently cited 
 the Journals of Captain Orme and of the " Seamen's Detachment ; n 
 they were procured in England by the Hon. Joseph E. Ingersoll, 
 while Minister at the Court of St. James, and recently published by 
 the Historical Society of Pennsylvania : ably edited, and illustrated 
 with an admirable Introductory Memoir by Winthrop Sargent, Esq., 
 member of that Society. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ABBIVAL AT FOBT OUMBEBLAND — LETTEES OP WASHINGTON TO HIS FAM- 
 ILY — PANIC OF DTJNBAE — FOE TUNES OF DE. HUGH MEECEE — TEIUMPn 
 OF THE FEENCH. 
 
 The obsequies of the unfortunate Braddock being fin- 
 ished, the escort continued its retreat with the sick 
 and wounded. Washington, assisted by Dr. Craik, 
 watched with assiduity over his comrades, Orme and 
 Morris. As the horses which bore their litters were 
 nearly knocked up, he despatched messengers to the 
 commander of Port Cumberland, requesting that others 
 might be sent on, and that comfortable quarters might 
 be prepared for the reception of those officers. 
 
 On the 17th 3 the sad cavalcade reached the fort, 
 and were relieved from the incessant apprehension of 
 pursuit. Here, too, flying reports had preceded them, 
 brought by fugitives from the battle $ who, with the 
 disposition usual in such cases to exaggerate, had repre- 
 sented the whole army as massacred. Fearing these 
 reports might reach home, and affect his family, Wash- 
 ington wrote to his mother, and his brother, John 
 
204 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 Augustine, apprising them of Ms safety. "The Vir- 
 ginia troops," says he, in a letter to his mother, 
 " showed a good deal of bravery, and were nearly all 
 killed. * * * * The dastardly behavior of those 
 they called regulars exposed all others, that were ordered 
 to do their duty, to almost certain death ; and, at last, 
 in despite of all the efforts of the officers to the con- 
 trary, they ran, as sheep pursued by dogs, and it was 
 impossible to rally them." 
 
 To his brother, he writes : " As I have heard, since 
 my arrival at this place, a circumstantial account of my 
 death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity 
 of contradicting the first, and of assuring you that I 
 have not composed the latter. But, by the all-power- 
 ful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected 
 beyond all human probability, or expectation; for I 
 had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot 
 under me, yet escaped unhurt, though death was level- 
 ling my companions on every side of me ! 
 
 "We have been most scandalously beaten by a 
 trifling body of men, but fatigue and want of time pre- 
 vent me from giving you any of the details, until I have 
 the happiness of seeing you at Mount Vernon, which I 
 now most earnestly wish for, since we are driven in 
 thus far. A feeble state of health obliges me to halt 
 here for two or three days to recover a little strength, 
 that I may thereby be enabled to proceed homeward 
 with more ease." 
 
 Dunbar arrived shortly afterward with the remain- 
 der of the army. No one seems to have shared more 
 largely in the panic of the vulgar than that officer. 
 From the moment he received tidings of the defeat, his 
 
1755.] FLIGHT OF DUNBAR. 205 
 
 camp became a scene of confusion. All the ammuni- 
 tion, stores, and artillery were destroyed, to prevent, it 
 was said, their falling into the hands of the enemy ; 
 but, as it was afterwards alleged, to relieve the terror- 
 stricken commander from all incumbrances, and furnish 
 him with more horses in his flight toward the settle- 
 ments.* 
 
 At Cumberland his forces amounted to fifteen hun- 
 dred effective men ; enough for a brave stand to pro- 
 tect the frontier, and recover some of the lost honor ; 
 but he merely paused to leave the sick and wounded 
 under care of two Virginia and Maryland companies, 
 and some of the train, and then continued his hasty 
 march, or rather flight, through the country, not think- 
 ing himself safe, as was sneeringly intimated, until he 
 arrived in Philadelphia, where the inhabitants could 
 protect him. 
 
 Among the wounded survivors of the defeat, who 
 found their way to Port Cumberland, was Washing- 
 ton's friend and neighbor, Dr. Hugh Mercer. He had 
 received a severe wound in the shoulder, and being un- 
 able to keep up with the fugitives, concealed himself 
 behind a fallen tree. Thence he was a sad witness of a 
 demoniac scene, which followed the defeat. The field 
 was strewed with the dead and dying, and among them 
 several gallant officers. White man and red man vied 
 with each other in stripping and plundering them; 
 those who were still alive were despatched by the mer- 
 ciless tomahawk, and all were scalped. When the 
 plunder and massacre were finished, the victors set out 
 
 * Franklin's Autobiography. 
 
206 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 for the fort, laden with booty, the savages bearing aloft 
 the scalps as trophies, and making the forest ring with 
 their yells of triumph. Mercer then set out on a lonely 
 struggle through the wilderness, guiding himself by the 
 stars and the course of the streams, and arrived at Fort 
 Cumberland, almost exhausted by sickness, famine, and 
 fatigue. We shall have to speak hereafter of his ser- 
 vices when under the standard of Washington, and his 
 heroic death on a more successful field of action. 
 
 The true reason why the enemy did not pursue the 
 retreating army was not known until some time after- 
 wards, and added to the disgrace of the defeat. They 
 were not the main force of the French, but a mere de- 
 tachment of 72 regulars, 146 Canadians, and 637 
 Indians, 855 in all, led by Captain de Beaujeu. De 
 Contrecceur, the commander of Fort Duquesne, had 
 received information, through his scouts, that the Eng- 
 lish, three thousand strong, were within six leagues of 
 his fort. Despairing of making an effectual defence 
 against such a superior force, he was balancing in his 
 mind whether to abandon his fort without awaiting their 
 arrival, or to capitulate on honorable terms. In this 
 dilemma Beaujeu prevailed on him to let him sally forth 
 with a detachment to form an ambush, and give check 
 to the enemy. De Beaujeu was to have taken post at 
 the river, and disputed the passage at the ford. For 
 that purpose he was hurrying forward when discovered 
 by the pioneers of Gage's advance party. He was a 
 gallant officer, and fell at the beginning of the fight. 
 The whole number of killed and wounded of French 
 and Indians, did not exceed seventy. 
 
 Such was the scanty force which the imagination 
 
1755.J TRIUMPH OF THE VICTORS. 207 
 
 of the panic-stricken army had magnified into a great 
 host, and from which they had fled in breathless terror, 
 abandoning the whole frontier. No one could be more 
 surprised than the French commander himself, when the 
 ambuscading party returned in triumph with a long 
 train of packhorses laden with booty, the savages ua- 
 couthly clad in the garments of the slain, grenadier 
 caps, officers' gold-laced coats, and glittering epau- 
 lettes ; flourishing swords and sabres, or firing off mus- 
 kets, and uttering fiendlike yells of victory. But when 
 De Contrecceur was informed of the utter rout and de- 
 struction of the much dreaded British army, his joy 
 was complete. He ordered the guns of the fort to be 
 fired in triumph, and sent out troops in pursuit of the 
 fugitives. 
 
 The affair of Braddock remains a memorable event 
 in American history, and has been characterized as 
 " the most extraordinary victory ever obtained, and the 
 farthest flight ever made." It struck a fatal blow to 
 the deference for British prowess, which once amounted 
 almost to bigotry, throughout the provinces. 
 
 " This whole transaction," observes Franklin, in his 
 autobiography, "gave us the first suspicion that our 
 exalted ideas of the prowess of British regular troops 
 had not been well founded." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 COSTS OF CAMPAIGNING — MEASUEES FOB PUBLIC SAFETY — WASHINGTON 
 IN COMMAND — HEAD-QUAETEES AT WINOHESTEE — LOED FAIEFAX AND 
 HIS TEOOP OF HOESE — INDIAN EAVAGES — PANIC AT WINOHESTEE — 
 CAUSE OF THE ALAEM — OPEBATIONS ELSEWHEBE— SHIELEY AGAINST 
 NIAGABA — JOHNSON AGAINST CEOWN POINT — AFFAIR AT LAKE GEOEGE 
 — DEATH OF DIESKAH. 
 
 Washington arived at Mount Vernon on the 26th 
 of July, still in feeble condition from his long illness. 
 His campaigning, thus far, had trenched upon his pri- 
 vate fortune, and impaired one of the best of constitu- 
 tions. 
 
 In a letter to his brother Augustine, then a mem- 
 ber of Assembly at Williamsburg, he casts up the re- 
 sult of his frontier experience. "I was employed," 
 writes he, " to go a journey in the winter, when I be- 
 lieve few or none would have undertaken it, and what 
 did I get by it ? — my expenses borne ! I was then 
 appointed, with trifling pay, to conduct a handful of 
 men to the Ohio. What did I get by that? Why, 
 after putting myself to a considerable expense in equip- 
 ping and providing necessaries for the campaign, I 
 
1755.] MEASURES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY. 209 
 
 went out, was soundly beaten, and lost all ! Came in, 
 and had my commission taken from me ; or, in other 
 words, my command reduced, under pretence of an 
 order from home (England). I then went out a volun- 
 teer with General Braddock, and lost all my horses, 
 and many other things. But this being a voluntary 
 act, I ought not to have mentioned it ; nor should I 
 have done it, were it not to show that I have been on 
 the losing order ever since I entered the service, which 
 is now nearly two years." 
 
 What a striking lesson is furnished by this brief 
 summary ! How little was he aware of the vast advan- 
 tages he was acquiring in this school of bitter experi- 
 ence ! " In the hand of heaven he stood/' to be shaped 
 and trained for its great purpose ; and every trial and 
 vicissitude of his early life, but fitted him to cope with 
 one or other of the varied and multifarious duties of his 
 future destiny. 
 
 But though, under the saddening influence of de- 
 bility and defeat, he might count the cost of his cam- 
 paigning, the martial spirit still burned within him. 
 His connection with the army, it is true, had ceased at 
 the death of Braddock, but his military duties contin- 
 ued as adjutant-general of the northern division of the 
 province, and he immediately issued orders for the 
 county lieutenants to hold the militia in readiness for 
 parade and exercise, foreseeing that in the present de- 
 fenceless state of the frontier, there would be need of 
 their services. 
 
 Tidings of the rout and retreat of the army had 
 circulated far and near, and spread consternation 
 throughout the country. Immediate incursions both 
 
 VOL. I. 14 
 
210 LIFE OH 1 WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 of French and Indians were apprehended ; and volun* 
 teer companies began to form, for the purpose of 
 marching across the mountains to the scene of danger. 
 It was intimated to Washington that his services would 
 again be wanted on the frontier. He declared instant- 
 ly that he was ready to serve his country to the extent 
 of his powers ; but never on the same terms as here- 
 tofore. 
 
 On the 4th of August, Governor Dinwiddie con- 
 vened the Assembly to devise measures for the public 
 safety. The sense of danger had quickened the slow 
 patriotism of the burgesses ; they no longer held back 
 supplies ; forty thousand pounds were promptly voted, 
 and orders issued for the raising of a regiment of one 
 thousand men. 
 
 Washington's friends urged him to present himself 
 at Williamsburg as a candidate for the command; 
 they were confident of his success, notwithstanding 
 that strong interest was making for the governor's 
 favorite, Colonel Innes. 
 
 With mingled modesty and pride, Washington de- 
 clined to be a solicitor. The only terms, he said, on 
 which he would accept a command, were a certainty as 
 to rank and emoluments, a right to appoint his field offi- 
 cers, and the supply of a sufficient military chest ; but 
 to solicit the command, and, at the same time, to make 
 stipulations, would be a little incongruous, and carry 
 with it the face of self-sufficiency. "If," added he, 
 " the command should be offered to me, the case will 
 then be altered, as I should be at liberty to make such 
 objections as reason, and my small experience, have 
 pointed out." 
 
1755.] WASHINGTON IN COMMAND. 211 
 
 While this was in agitation, he received letters from 
 his mother, again imploring him not to risk himself in 
 these frontier wars. His answer was characteristic, 
 blending the filial deference with which he was accus- 
 tomed from childhood to treat her, with a calm patriot- 
 ism of the Roman stamp. 
 
 " Honored Madam : If it is in my power to avoid 
 going to the Ohio again, I shall ; but if the command 
 is pressed upon me by the general voice of the country, 
 and offered upon such terms as cannot be objected 
 against, it would reflect dishonor on me to refuse it ; 
 and that, I am sure, must, and ought, to give you 
 greater uneasiness, than my going in an honorable com- 
 mand. Upon no other terms will I accept it. At 
 present I have no proposals made to me, nor have I 
 any advice of such an intention, except from private 
 hands." 
 
 On the very day that this letter was despatched 
 (Aug. 14), he received intelligence of his appointment 
 to the command on the terms specified in his letters 
 to his friends. His commission nominated him com- 
 mander-in-chief of all the forces raised, or to be raised, 
 in the colony. The Assembly also voted three hundred 
 pounds to him, and proportionate sums to the other 
 officers, and to the privates of the Virginia companies, 
 in consideration of their gallant conduct, and their 
 losses in the late battle. 
 
 The officers next in command under him were 
 Lieutenant-colonel Adam Stephens, and Major An- 
 drew Lewis. The former, it will be recollected, had 
 been with him in the unfortunate affair at the Great 
 
212 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 Meadows ; his advance in rank shows that his conduct 
 had been meritorious. 
 
 The appointment of Washington to his present sta- 
 tion was the more gratifying and honorable from being 
 a popular one, made in deference to public sentiment ; 
 to which Governor Dinwiddie was obliged to sacrifice 
 his strong inclination in favor of Colonel Innes. It is 
 thought that the governor never afterwards regarded 
 Washington with a friendly eye. His conduct towards 
 him subsequently, was on various occasions cold and 
 ungracious.* 
 
 It is worthy of note, that the early popularity of 
 Washington was not the result of brilliant achievements 
 nor signal success ; on the contrary, it rose among trials 
 and reverses, and may almost be said to have been the 
 fruit of defeats. It remains an honorable testimony of 
 Virginian intelligence, that the sterling, enduring, but 
 undazzling qualities of Washington were thus early dis- 
 cerned and appreciated, though only heralded by mis- 
 fortunes. The admirable manner in which he had con- 
 ducted himself under these misfortunes, and the saga- 
 city and practical wisdom he had displayed on all 
 occasions, were universally acknowledged ; and it was 
 observed that, had his modest counsels been adopted 
 by the unfortunate Braddock, a totally different result 
 might have attended the late campaign. 
 
 An instance of this high appreciation of his merits 
 occurs in a sermon preached on the 17th of August, by 
 the Rev. Samuel Davies, wherein he cites him as "that 
 heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but 
 
 * Sparks. Writings of Washington, vol. ii., p. 161, note. 
 
1755.] LORD FAIRFAX AND HIS TROOP. 213 
 
 hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a 
 manner for some important service to Ms country. 39 
 The expressions of the worthy clergyman may have 
 been deemed enthusiastic at the time ; viewed in con- 
 nection with subsequent events they appear almost pro- 
 phetic. 
 
 Having held a conference with Governor Dinwiddie 
 at Williamsburg, and received his instructions, Wash- 
 ington repaired, on the 14th of September, to Win- 
 chester, where he fixed his head- quarters. It was a 
 place as yet of trifling magnitude, but important from 
 its position; being a central point where the main 
 roads met, leading from north to south, and east to 
 west, and commanding the channels of traffic and com- 
 munication between some of the most important colo- 
 nies and a great extent of frontier. 
 
 Here he was brought into frequent and cordial 
 communication with his old friend Lord Fairfax. The 
 stir of war had revived a spark of that military fire which 
 animated the veteran nobleman in the days of his 
 youth, when an officer in the cavalry regiment of the 
 Blues. He was lord-lieutenant of the county. Green- 
 way Court was his head-quarters. He had organized 
 a troop of horse, which occasionally was exercised about 
 the lawn of his domain, and he was now as prompt to 
 mount his steed for a cavalry parade as he ever was for 
 a fox chase. The arrival of Washington frequently 
 brought the old nobleman to Winchester, to aid the 
 young commander with his counsels or his sword. 
 
 His services were soon put in requisition. Wash- 
 ington, having visited the frontier posts, established 
 recruiting places, and taken other measures of security, 
 
214 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 had set off for Williamsburg on military business, when an 
 express arrived at Winchester from Colonel Stephens, 
 who commanded at Tort Cumberland, giving the alarm 
 that a body of Indians were ravaging the country, 
 burning the houses, and slaughtering the inhabitants. 
 The express was instantly forwarded after Washington ; 
 in the mean time, Lord Fairfax sent out orders for the 
 militia of Fairfax and Prince William counties to arm 
 and hasten to the defence of Winchester, where all was 
 confusion and affright. One fearful account followed 
 another. The whole country beyond it was said to be 
 at the mercy of the savages. They had blockaded the 
 rangers in the little fortresses or outposts provided for 
 the protection of neighborhoods. They were advan- 
 cing upon Winchester with fire, tomahawk, and scalp- 
 ing-knife. The country people were flocking into the 
 town for safety — the townspeople were moving off to 
 the settlements beyond the Blue Ridge. The beautiful 
 valley of the Shenandoah was likely to become a scene 
 of savage desolation. 
 
 In the height of the confusion, Washington rode into 
 the town. He had been overtaken by Colonel Ste- 
 phens' express. His presence inspired some degree of 
 confidence, and he succeeded in stopping most of the 
 fugitives. He would have taken the field at once 
 against the savages, believing their numbers to be few ; 
 but not more than twenty-five of the militia could be 
 mustered for the service. The rest refused to stir — 
 they would rather die with their wives and children. 
 
 Expresses were sent off to hurry up the militia 
 ordered out by Lord Fairfax. Scouts were ordered 
 out to discover the number of the foe, and convey 
 
1755.] PANIC AT WINCHESTER. 215 
 
 assurances of succor to the rangers said to be blocked 
 up in the fortresses, though "Washington suspected the 
 latter to be " more encompassed by fear than by the 
 enemy." Smiths were set to work to furbish up and 
 repair such fire-arms as were in the place, and waggons 
 were sent off for musket-balls, flints, and provisions. 
 
 Instead, however, of animated co-operation, Wash- 
 ington was encountered by difficulties at every step. 
 The waggons in question had to be impressed, and the 
 waggoners compelled by force to assist. " No orders," 
 writes he, " are obeyed, but such as a party of soldiers 
 or my own drawn sword enforces. Without this, not 
 a single horse, for the most earnest occasion, can be 
 had, — to such a pitch has the insolence of these people 
 arrived, by having every point hitherto submitted to 
 them. However, I have given up none, where his 
 majesty's service requires the contrary, and where my 
 proceedings are justified by my instructions ; nor will 
 I, unless they execute what they threaten, — that is, 
 blow out our brains." 
 
 One is tempted to smile at this tirade about the 
 "insolence of the people," and this zeal for "his 
 majesty's service," on the part of Washington ; but he 
 was as yet a young man and a young officer ; loyal to 
 his sovereign, and with high notions of military author- 
 ity, which he had acquired in the camp of Braddock. 
 
 What he thus terms insolence was the dawning 
 spirit of independence, which he was afterwards the 
 foremost to cherish and promote ; and which, in the 
 present instance, had been provoked by the rough 
 treatment from the military, which the waggoners and 
 others of the yeomanry had experienced when em- 
 
216 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 ployed in Braddock's campaign, and by the neglect to 
 pay them for their services. Much of Washington's 
 difficulties also arose, doubtlessly, from the inefficiency 
 of the military laws, for an amendment of which he 
 had in vain made repeated applications to Governor 
 Dinwiddie. 
 
 In the mean time the panic and confusion increased. 
 On Sunday, an express hurried into town, breathless 
 with haste and terror. The Indians, he said, were but 
 twelve miles off; they had attacked the house of Isaac 
 Julian; the inhabitants were flying for their lives. 
 Washington immediately ordered the town guards to 
 be strengthened; armed some recruits who had just 
 arrived, and sent out two scouts to reconnoitre the 
 enemy. It was a sleepless night in Winchester. Hor- 
 ror increased with the dawn ; before the men could be 
 paraded a second express arrived, ten times more terri- 
 fied than the former. The Indians were within four 
 miles of the town, killing and destroying all before 
 them. He had heard the constant firing of the savages 
 and the shrieks of their victims. 
 
 The terror of Winchester now passed all bounds. 
 Washington put himself at the head of about forty 
 men, militia and recruits, and pushed for the scene of 
 carnage. 
 
 The result is almost too ludicrous for record. The 
 whole cause of the alarm proved to be three drunken 
 troopers, carousing, hallooing, uttering the most un- 
 heard of imprecations, and ever and anon firing off 
 their pistols. Washington interrupted them in the 
 midst of their revel and blasphemy, and conducted them 
 prisoners to town. 
 
1755.] THE INDIANS RETREAT. 217 
 
 The reported attack on the house of Isaac Julian 
 proved equally an absurd exaggeration. The ferocious 
 party of Indians turned out to be a mulatto and a 
 negro in quest of cattle. They had been seen by a 
 child of Julian, who alarmed his father, who alarmed 
 the neighborhood. 
 
 "These circumstances," says "Washington, "show 
 what a panic prevails among the people ; how much 
 they are all alarmed at the most usual and customary 
 cries ; and yet how impossible it is to get them to act 
 in any respect for their common safety." 
 
 They certainly present a lively picture of the fever- 
 ish state of a frontier community, hourly in danger of 
 Indian ravage and butchery ; than which no kind of 
 warfare is more fraught with real and imaginary 
 horrors. 
 
 The alarm thus originating had spread throughout 
 the country. A captain, who arrived with recruits 
 from Alexandria, reported that he had found the road 
 across the Blue Ridge obstructed by crowds of people 
 flying for their lives, whom he endeavored in vain to 
 stop. They declared that Winchester was in flames ! 
 
 At length the band of Indians, whose ravages had 
 produced this consternation throughout the land, and 
 whose numbers did not exceed one hundred and fifty, 
 being satiated with carnage, conflagration, and plunder, 
 retreated, bearing off spoils and captives. Intelligent 
 scouts sent out by Washington, followed their traces, 
 and brought back certain intelligence that they had 
 recrossed the Allegany Mountains and returned to their 
 homes on the Ohio. This report allayed the public 
 
218 LIFFL OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 panic, and restored temporary quiet to the harassed 
 frontier. 
 
 Most of the Indians engaged in these ravages were 
 Delawares and Shawnees, who, since Braddock's de- 
 feat, had been gained over by the French. A principal 
 instigator was said to be Washington's old acquaint- 
 ance, Shengis, and a reward was offered for his head. 
 
 Scarooyadi, successor to the half-king, remained 
 true to the English, and vindicated his people to the 
 Governor and Council of Pennsylvania from the charge 
 of having had any share in the late massacres. As to 
 the defeat at the Monongahela, "it was owing," he 
 said, " to the pride and ignorance of that great general 
 (Braddock) that came from England. He is now 
 dead ; but he was a bad man when he was alive. He 
 looked upon us as dogs, and would never hear any 
 thing that was said to him. We often endeavored to 
 advise him, and tell him of the danger he was in with 
 his soldiers ; but he never appeared pleased with us, 
 and that was the reason that a great many of our war- 
 riors left him." * 
 
 Scarooyadi was ready with his warriors to take up 
 the hatchet again with their English brothers against 
 the Erench. " Let us unite our strength," said he ; 
 "you are numerous, and all the English governors 
 along your sea-shore can raise men enough ; but don't 
 let those that come from over the great seas be con- 
 cerned any more. They are unfit to fight in the woods. 
 Let us go ourselves — we that came out of this ground.'* 
 
 No one felt more strongly than Washington the 
 
 * Hazard's Register of Penn., v., p. 252, 2G6. 
 
1755.] OPERATIONS ELSEWHERE. 219 
 
 importance, at this trying juncture, of securing the 
 assistance of these forest warriors. "It is in their 
 power," said he, "to be of infinite use to us; and 
 without Indians, we shall never be able to cope with 
 these cruel foes to our country." * 
 
 Washington had now time to inform himself of the 
 fate of the other enterprises included in this year's plan 
 of military operations. We shall briefly dispose of 
 them, for the sake of carrying on the general course of 
 events. The history of Washington is linked with the 
 history of the colonies. 
 
 The defeat of Braddock paralyzed the expedition 
 against Niagara. Many of General Shirley's troops, 
 which were assembled at Albany, struck with the con- 
 sternation which it caused throughout the country, de- 
 serted. Most of the batteau men, who were to trans- 
 port stores by various streams, returned home. It 
 was near the end of August before Shirley was in force 
 at Oswego. Time was lost in building boats for the 
 lake. Storms and head winds ensued ; then sickness : 
 military incapacity in the general completed the list of 
 impediments. Deferring the completion of the enter- 
 prise until the following year, Shirley returned to Al- 
 bany with the main part of his forces in October, 
 leaving about seven hundred men to garrison the 
 fortifications he had commenced at Oswego. 
 
 To General William Johnson, it will be recollected, 
 had been confided the expedition against Crown Point, 
 on Lake Champlain. Preparations were made for it in 
 Albany, whence the troops were to march, and the 
 
 * Letter to Dinwiddle. 
 
220 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 artillery, ammunition, and stores to be conveyed up the 
 Hudson to the carrying-place, between that river and 
 Lake St. Sacrament, as it was termed by the French, 
 but Lake George, as Johnson named it, in honor of his 
 sovereign. At the carrying-place a fort was com- 
 menced, subsequently called Port Edward. Part of 
 the troops remained under General Lyman, to com- 
 plete and garrison it ; the main force proceeded under 
 General Johnson to Lake George, the plan being to 
 descend that lake to its outlet at Ticonderoga, in Lake 
 Champlain. Having to attend the arrival of batteaux 
 forwarded for the purpose from Albany by the carry- 
 ing-place, Johnson encamped at the south end of the 
 lake. He had with him between five and six thousand 
 troops of New York and New England, and a host of 
 Mohawk warriors, loyally devoted to him. 
 
 It so happened, that a Erench force of upwards of 
 three thousand men, under the Baron de Dieskau, an 
 old general of high reputation, had recently arrived at 
 Quebec, destined against Oswego. The baron had 
 proceeded to Montreal, and sent forward thence seven 
 hundred of his troops, when news arrived of the army 
 gathering on Lake George for the attack on Crown 
 Point, perhaps for an inroad into Canada. The public 
 were in consternation ; yielding to their importunities, 
 the baron took post at Crown Point for its defence. 
 Beside his regular troops, he had with him eight hun- 
 dred Canadians, and seven hundred Indians of different 
 tribes. The latter were under the general command 
 of the Chevalier Legardeur de St. Pierre, the veteran 
 officer to whom Washington had delivered the des- 
 patches of Governor Dinwiddie on his diplomatic mis- 
 
1755.] JOHNSON ON LAKE GEORGE. 221 
 
 sion to the frontier. The chevalier was a man of great 
 influence among the Indians. 
 
 In the mean time, Johnson remained encamped at 
 the south end of Lake George, awaiting the arrival of 
 his batteaux. The camp was protected in the rear by 
 the lake, in front by a bulwark of felled trees ; and 
 was flanked by thickly wooded swamps. 
 
 On the 7th of September, the Indian scouts 
 brought word that they had discovered three large 
 roads made through the forests toward Port Edward. 
 An attack on that post was apprehended. Adams, a 
 hardy waggoner, rode express with orders to the com- 
 mander to draw all the troops within the works. 
 About midnight came other scouts. They had seen 
 the French within four miles of the carrying-place. 
 They had heard the report of a musket, and the voice of 
 a man crying for mercy, supposed to be the unfortunate 
 Adams. In the morning, Colonel Williams was de- 
 tached with one thousand men, and two hundred In- 
 dians, to intercept the enemy in their retreat. Within 
 two hours after their departure a heavy fire of mus- 
 ketry, in the midst of the forest, about three or four 
 miles off, told of a warm encounter. The drums beat 
 to arms; all were at their posts. The firing grew 
 sharper and sharper, and nearer and nearer. The de- 
 tachment under Williams was evidently retreating. 
 Colonel Cole was sent with three hundred men to cover 
 their retreat. The breastwork of trees was manned. 
 Some heavy cannon were dragged up to strengthen the 
 front. A number of men were stationed with a field- 
 piece on an eminence on the left flank. 
 
 In a short time fugitives made their appearance ; 
 
222 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1755. 
 
 first singly, then in masses, flying in confusion, with a 
 rattling fire behind them, and the horrible Indian war- 
 whoop. Consternation seized npon the camp, espe- 
 cially when the French emerged from the forest in bat- 
 tle array, led by the Baron Dieskau, the gallant com- 
 mander of Crown Point. Had all his troops been as 
 daring as himself, the camp might have been carried 
 by assault ; but the Canadians and Indians held back, 
 posted themselves behind trees, and took to bush- 
 fighting. 
 
 The baron was left with his regulars (two hundred 
 grenadiers) in front of the camp. He kept up a fire 
 by platoons, but at too great a distance to do much 
 mischief; the Canadians and Indians fired from their 
 coverts. The artillery played on them in return. The 
 camp, having recovered from its panic, opened a fire 
 of musketry. The engagement became general. The 
 French grenadiers stood their ground bravely for a long 
 time, but were dreadfully cut up by the artillery and 
 small arms. The action slackened on the part of the 
 French, until, after a long contest, they gave way. 
 Johnson's men and the Indians then leaped over the 
 breastwork, and a chance medley fight ensued, that 
 ended in the slaughter, rout, or capture of the enemy. 
 
 The Baron de Dieskau had been disabled by a 
 wound in the leg. One of his men, who endeavored 
 to assist him, was shot down by his side. The baron, 
 left alone in the retreat, was found by the pursuers 
 leaning against a stump of a tree. As they ap- 
 proached, he felt for his watch to insure kind treat- 
 ment by delivering it up. A soldier, thinking he was 
 drawing forth a pistol to defend himself, shot him 
 
1755.] JOHNSON RECEIVES A BARONETCY. 223 
 
 through the hips. He was conveyed a prisoner to the 
 camp, but ultimately died of his wounds. 
 
 The baron had really set off from Crown Point to 
 surprise Fort Edward, and, if successful, to push on to 
 Albany and Schenectady ; lay them in ashes, and cut 
 off all communication with Oswego. The Canadians 
 and Indians, however, refused to attack the fort, fear 
 ful of its cannon ; he had changed his plan, therefore, 
 and determined to surprise the camp. In the encoun- 
 ter with the detachment under Williams, the brave 
 Chevalier Legardeur de St. Pierre lost his life. On 
 the part of the Americans, Hendrick, a famous old 
 Mohawk sachem, grand ally of General Johnson, was 
 slain. 
 
 Johnson himself received a slight wound early in 
 the action, and retired to his tent. He did not follow 
 up the victory as he should have done, alleging that it 
 was first necessary to build a strong fort at his en- 
 campment, by way of keeping up a communication 
 with Albany, and by the time this was completed, it 
 would be too late to advance against Crown Point. 
 He accordingly erected a stockaded fort, which re- 
 ceived the name of William Henry ; and having garri- 
 soned it, returned to Albany. His services, although 
 they gained him no laurel-wreath, were rewarded by 
 government with five thousand pounds, and a baro- 
 netcy; and he was made Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs.* 
 
 * Johnson's Letter to the Colonial Governors, Sept. 9th, 1*753. London 
 Mag., 1755, p. 544. Holmes's Am. Annals, voL ii., p. 63. 4th edit., 1829. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 P.EFOEM IN THE MILITIA LAWS — DISCIPLINE OF THE TEOOPS — DAGWOETHY 
 AND THE QUESTION OP PRECEDENCE — WASHINGTON'S JOTJENET TO 
 
 BOSTON — STYLE OF TEAVELLLNG CONFERENCE WITH SniELEY — THE 
 
 EAEL OF LOUDOUN — MILITAEY EULE FOE TnE COLONIES — WASHINGTON 
 AT NEW YOEK — MISS MAEY PHILIPSE. 
 
 Mortifying experience had convinced Washington of 
 the inefficiency of the militia laws, and he now set 
 about effecting a reformation. Through his great and 
 persevering efforts, an act was passed in the Virginia 
 Legislature giving prompt operation to courts-martial ; 
 punishing insubordination, mutiny and desertion with 
 adequate severity; strengthening the authority of a 
 commander, so as to enable him to enforce order and 
 discipline among officers as well as privates; and to 
 avail himself, in time of emergency, and for the com- 
 mon safety, of the means and services of individuals. 
 
 This being effected, he proceeded to fill up his 
 companies, and to enforce this newly-defined authority 
 within his camp. All gaming, drinking, quarrelling, 
 swearing, and similar excesses, were prohibited under 
 severe penalties. 
 
1755.J CAPTAIN DAGWORTHY. 225 
 
 In disciplining his men, they were instructed not 
 merely in ordinary and regular tactics, but in all the 
 strategy of Indian warfare, and what is called " bush- 
 fighting," — a knowledge indispensable in the wild wars 
 of the wilderness. Stockaded forts, too, were con- 
 structed at various points, as places of refuge and de- 
 fence, in exposed neighborhoods. Under shelter of 
 these, the inhabitants began to return to their deserted 
 homes. A shorter and better road, also, was opened 
 by him between Winchester and Cumberland, for the 
 transmission of reinforcements and supplies. 
 
 His exertions, however, were impeded by one of 
 those questions of precedence, which had so often an- 
 noyed him, arising from the difference between crown 
 and provincial commissions. Maryland having by a 
 scanty appropriation raised a small militia force, sta- 
 tioned Captain Dagworthy, with a company of thirty 
 men, at Tort Cumberland, which stood within the 
 boundaries of that province. Dagworthy had served 
 in Canada in the preceding war, and had received a 
 king's commission. This he had since commuted for 
 half-pay, and, of course, had virtually parted with its 
 privileges. He was nothing more, therefore, than a 
 Maryland provincial captain, at the head of thirty men. 
 He now, however, assumed to act under his royal com- 
 mission, and refused to obey the orders of any officer, 
 however high his rank, who merely held his commis- 
 sion from a governor. Nay, when Governor, or rather 
 Colonel Innes, who commanded at the fort, was called 
 away to North Carolina by his private affairs, the cap- 
 tain took upon himself the command, and insisted 
 upon it as his right. 
 
 VOL. I. 15 
 
226 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 Parties instantly arose, and quarrels ensued among 
 the inferior officers ; grave questions were agitated be- 
 tween the Governors of Maryland and Virginia, as to 
 the fort itself; the former claiming it as within his 
 province, the latter insisting that, as it had been built 
 according to orders sent by the king, it was the king's 
 fort, and could not be subject to the authority of 
 Maryland. 
 
 Washington refrained from mingling in this dis- 
 pute ; but intimated, that if the commander-in-chief of 
 the forces of Virginia must yield precedence to a Mary- 
 land captain of thirty men, he should have to resign 
 his commission, as he had been compelled to do before, 
 by a question of military rank. 
 
 So difficult was it, however, to settle these disputes 
 of precedence, especially where the claims of two gov- 
 ernors came in collision, that it was determined to refer 
 the matter to Major-general Shirley, who had succeed- 
 ed Braddock in the general command of the colonies. 
 For this purpose Washington was to go to Boston, 
 obtain a decision from Shirley of the point in dispute, 
 and a general regulation, by which these difficulties 
 could be prevented in future. It was thought, also, 
 that in a conference with the commander-in-chief he 
 might inform himself of the military measures in con- 
 templation. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 4th of February (1756), leaving 
 Colonel Adam Stephens in command of the troops, 
 Washington set out on his mission, accompanied by his 
 aide-de-camp, Captain George Mercer of Virginia, and 
 Captain Stewart of the Virginia light horse ; the officer 
 
1756.] JOURNEY TO BOSTON. 227 
 
 who had taken care of General Braddock in his last 
 moments. 
 
 In those days the conveniences of travelling, even 
 between onr main cities, were few, and the roads ex- 
 ecrable. The party, therefore, travelled in Virginia 
 style, on horseback, attended by their black servants in 
 livery.* In this way they accomplished a journey of 
 five hundred miles in the depth of winter ; stopping for 
 some days at Philadelphia and New York. Those cities 
 were then comparatively small, and the arrival of a 
 party of young Southern officers attracted attention. 
 The late disastrous battle was still the theme of every 
 tongue, and the honorable way in which these young 
 officers had acquitted themselves in it, made them 
 objects of universal interest. Washington's fame, 
 especially, had gone before him ; having been spread 
 by the officers who had served with him, and by the 
 
 * We have hitherto treated of Washington in his campaigns in the 
 wilderness, frugal and scanty in his equipments, often, very probably, in 
 little better than hunter's garb. His present excursion through some of the 
 Atlantic cities presents him in a different aspect. His recent intercourse 
 with young British officers, had probably elevated his notions as to style in 
 dress and appearance ; at least we are inclined to suspect so from the fol- 
 lowing aristocratical order for clothes, sent shortly before the time in ques- 
 tion, to his correspondent in London. 
 
 "2 complete livery suits for servants; with a spare cloak, and all other 
 necessary trimmings for two suits more. I would have you choose the 
 livery by our arms, only as the field of the arms is white, I think the 
 clothes had better not be quite so, but nearly like the inclosed. The trim- 
 mings and facings of scarlet, and a scarlet waistcoat. If livery lace is not 
 quite disused, I should be glad to have the cloaks laced. I like that fashion 
 best, and two silver-laced hats for the above servants. 
 
 " 1 set of horse furniture, with livery lace, with the Washington crest 
 on the housings, &c. The cloak to be of the same piece and color of the 
 clothes. 
 
 " 3 gold and scarlet sword-knots. 3 silver and blue do. 1 fashionable 
 gold-laced hat." 
 
228 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 public honors decreed him by the Virginia Legislature. 
 " Your name," wrote his former fellow-campaigner, Gist, 
 in a letter dated in the preceding autumn, " is more 
 talked of in Philadelphia than that of any other person 
 in the army, and every body seems willing to venture 
 under your command." 
 
 With these prepossessions in his favor, when we 
 consider "Washington's noble person and demeanor, his 
 consummate horsemanship, the admirable horses he 
 was accustomed to ride, and the aristocratical style of 
 his equipments, we may imagine the effect produced 
 by himself and his little cavalcade, as they clattered 
 through the streets of Philadelphia, and New York, 
 and Boston. It is needless to say, their sojourn in 
 each city was a continual fete. 
 
 The mission to General Shirley w r as entirely suc- 
 cessful as to the question of rank. A written order 
 from the commander-in-chief, determined that Dag- 
 worthy was entitled to the rank of a provincial captain 
 only, and, of course, must on all occasions give prece- 
 dence to Colonel Washington, as a provincial field offi- 
 cer. The latter was disappointed, however, in the hope 
 of getting himself and his officers put upon the regu- 
 lar establishment, with commissions from the king, and 
 had to remain subjected to mortifying questions of 
 rank and etiquette, when serving in company with re- 
 gular troops. 
 
 Prom General Shirley he learnt that the main 
 objects of the ensuing campaign would be the reduc- 
 tion of Port Niagara, so as to cut off the communica- 
 tion between Canada and Louisiana; the capture of 
 Ticonderoga and Crown Point, as a measure of safety 
 
1756.] THE EARL OF LOUDOUN. 229 
 
 for New York ; the besieging of Fort Duquesne, and 
 the menacing of Quebec by a body of troops which 
 were to advance by the Kennebec River. 
 
 The official career of General Shirley was drawing 
 to a close. Though a man of good parts, he had 
 always, until recently, acted in a civil capacity, and 
 proved incompetent to conduct military operations. 
 He was recalled to England, and was to be superseded 
 by General Abercrombie, who was coming out with 
 two regiments. 
 
 The general command in America, however, was to 
 be held by the Earl of Loudoun, who was invested 
 with powers almost equal to those of a viceroy, being 
 placed above all the colonial governors. These might 
 claim to be civil and military representatives of their 
 sovereign within their respective colonies ; but, even 
 there, were bound to defer and yield precedence to this 
 their official superior. This was part of a plan devised 
 long since, but now first brought into operation, by 
 which the ministry hoped to unite the colonies under 
 military rule, and oblige the Assemblies, magistrates, 
 and people to furnish quarters and provide a general 
 fund subject to the control of this military dictator. 
 
 Beside his general command, the Earl of Loudoun 
 was to be governor of Virginia and colonel of a royal 
 American regiment of four battalions, to be raised in 
 the colonies, but furnished with officers who, like him- 
 self, had seen foreign service. The campaign would 
 open on his arrival, which, it was expected, would be 
 early in the spring ; and brilliant results were antici- 
 pated. 
 
 Washington remained ten days in Boston, attend- 
 
230 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 ing, with great interest, the meetings of the Massachu- 
 setts Legislature, in which the plan of military opera- 
 tions was ably discussed ; and receiving the most hos- 
 pitable attentions from the polite and intelligent society 
 of the place, after which he returned to New York. 
 
 Tradition gives very different motives from those of 
 business for his two sojourns in the latter city. He 
 found there an early friend and school-mate, Beverly 
 Robinson, son of John Robinson, speaker of the Vir- 
 ginia House of Burgesses. He was living happily and 
 prosperously with a young and wealthy bride, having 
 married one of the nieces and heiresses of Mr. Adol- 
 phus Philipse, a rich landholder, whose manor-house is 
 still to be seen on the banks of the Hudson. At the 
 house of Mr. Beverly Robinson, where Washington 
 was an honored guest, he met Miss Mary Philipse, sis- 
 ter and co-heiress of Mrs. Robinson, a young lady 
 whose personal attractions are said to have rivalled her 
 reputed wealth. 
 
 We have already given an instance of Washington's 
 early sensibility to female charms. A life, however, of 
 constant activity and care, passed for the most part in 
 the wilderness and on the frontier, far from female soci- 
 ety, had left little mood or leisure for the indulgence of 
 the tender sentiment ; but made him more sensible, in 
 the present brief interval of gay and social life, to the 
 attractions of an elegant woman, brought up in the 
 polite circle of New York. 
 
 That he was an open admirer of Miss Philipse is 
 an historical fact ; that he sought her hand, but was 
 refused, is traditional, and not very probable. His 
 military rank, his early laurels and distinguished pres- 
 
1756.] MISS MARY PHILIPSE. 231 
 
 ence, were all calculated to win favor in female eyes ; 
 but his sojourn in New York was brief; he may have 
 been diffident in urging his suit with a lady accustomed 
 to the homage of society, and surrounded by admirers. 
 The most probable version of the story is, that he was 
 called away by his public duties before he had made 
 sufficient approaches in his siege of the lady's heart to 
 warrant a summons to surrender. In the latter part 
 of March we find him at Williamsburg, attending the 
 opening of the Legislature of Virginia, eager to pro- 
 mote measures for the protection of the frontier and 
 the capture of Fort Duquesne, the leading object of his 
 ambition. Maryland and Pennsylvania were erecting 
 forts for the defence of their own borders, but showed 
 no disposition to co-operate with Virginia in the field ; 
 and artillery, artillerymen, and engineers were wanting 
 for an attack on fortified places. Washington urged, 
 therefore, an augmentation of the provincial forces, 
 and various improvements in the militia laws. 
 
 While thus engaged, he received a letter from a 
 friend and confidant in New York, warning him to 
 hasten back to that city before it was too late, as Cap- 
 tain Morris, who had been his fellow aide-de-camp under 
 Braddock, was laying close siege to Miss Philipse. 
 Sterner alarms, however, summoned him in another 
 direction. Expresses from Winchester brought word 
 that the Trench had made another sortie from Port 
 Duquesne, accompanied by a band of savages, and 
 were spreading terror and desolation through the coun- 
 try. In this moment of exigency all softer claims were 
 forgotten; Washington repaired in all haste to his 
 post at Winchester, and Captain Morris was left to 
 urge his suit unrivalled and carry off the prize. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 TROUBLES IN THE SHENANDOAn VALLEY — GEEENWAY COUET AND LOED 
 FAIEFAX IN DANGEE — ALAEMS AT WINCHESTEE — WASHINGTON AP- 
 PEALED TO FOE PEOTECTION — ATTACKED BY THE VIRGINIA PEESS — 
 
 HONORED BY THE PUBLIC PROJECTS FOE DEFENCE — SUGGESTIONS 
 
 OF WASHINGTON — THE GENTLEMEN ASSOOIATOES — EETEEAT OF THE 
 
 8AVAGES — EXPEDITION AGAINST KITTANNING CAPTAIN nUGH MEECER 
 
 SECOND STBUGGLE THEOUGH THE WILDEENESS. 
 
 Report had not exaggerated the troubles of the fron- 
 tier. It was marauded by merciless bands of savages, 
 led, in some instances, by Frenchmen. Travellers 
 were murdered, farm-houses burnt down, families 
 butchered, and even stockaded forts, or houses of 
 refuge, attacked in open day. The marauders had 
 crossed the mountains and penetrated the valley of the 
 Shenandoah; and several persons had fallen beneath 
 the tomahawk in the neighborhood of Winchester. 
 
 Washington's old friend, Lord Fairfax, found him- 
 self no longer safe in his rural abode. Greenway 
 Court was in the midst of a woodland region, afford- 
 ing a covert approach for the stealthy savage. His 
 lordship was considered a great chief, whose scalp 
 would be an inestimable trophy for an Indian warrior. 
 
1756.] LORD FAIRFAX IN DANGER. 233 
 
 Fears were entertained, therefore, by his friends, that 
 an attempt would be made to surprise him in his green- 
 wood castle. His nephew, Colonel Martin, of the mi- 
 litia, who resided with him, suggested the expediency 
 of a removal to the lower settlements, beyond the Blue 
 Ridge. The high-spirited old nobleman demurred; 
 his heart cleaved to the home which he had formed 
 for himself in the wilderness. " I am an old man," 
 said he, " and it is of little importance whether I fall 
 by the tomahawk, or die of disease and old age ; but 
 you are young, and, it is to be hoped, have many years 
 before you, therefore decide for us both ; my only fear 
 is, that if we retire, the whole district will break up 
 and take to flight ; and this fine country, which I have 
 been at such cost and trouble to improve, will again 
 become a wilderness." 
 
 Colonel Martin took but a short time to deliberate. 
 He knew the fearless character of his uncle, and per- 
 ceived what was his inclination. He considered that 
 his lordship had numerous retainers, white and black, 
 with hardy huntsmen and foresters to rally round him, 
 and that Greenway Court was at no great distance from 
 Winchester; he decided, therefore, that they should 
 remain and abide the course of events. 
 
 Washington, on his arrival at Winchester, found 
 the inhabitants in great dismay. He resolved immedi- 
 ately to organize a force, composed partly of troops 
 from Port Cumberland, partly of militia from Winches- 
 ter and its vicinity ; to put himself at its head, and 
 "scour the woods and suspected places in all the 
 mountains and valleys of this part of the frontier, in 
 quest of the Indians and their more cruel associates." 
 
234 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 He accordingly despatched an express to Fort 
 Cumberland with orders for a detachment from the 
 garrison ; " but how," said he, " are men to be raised 
 at Winchester, since orders are no longer regarded in 
 the county ? " 
 
 Lord Fairfax, and other militia officers with whom 
 he consulted, advised that each captain should call a 
 private muster of his men, and read before them an 
 address, or " exhortation " as it was called, being an 
 appeal to their patriotism and fears, and a summons to 
 assemble on the 1 5th of April to enroll themselves for 
 the projected mountain foray. 
 
 This measure was adopted ; the private musterings 
 occurred ; the exhortation was read ; the time and 
 place of assemblage appointed ; but, when the day of 
 enrolment arrived, not more than fifteen men appeared 
 upon the ground. In the mean time the express re- 
 turned with sad accounts from Fort Cumberland. No 
 troops could be furnished from that quarter. The gar- 
 rison was scarcely strong enough for self-defence, hav- 
 ing sent out detachments in different directions. The 
 express had narrowly escaped with his life, having been 
 fired upon repeatedly, his horse shot under him, and 
 his clothes riddled with bullets. The roads, he said, 
 were infested by savages ; none but hunters, who knew 
 how to thread the forests at night, could travel with 
 safety. 
 
 Horrors accumulated at Winchester. Every hour 
 brought its tale of terror, true or false, of houses 
 burnt, families massacred, or beleaguered and famish- 
 ing in stockaded forts. The danger approached. A 
 scouting party had been attacked in the Warm Spring 
 
1756.J TERROR OF THE PEOPLE OF WINCHESTER. 235 
 
 Mountain, about twenty miles distant, by a large body 
 of French and Indians, mostly on horseback. The 
 captain of the scouting party and several of his men 
 had been slain, and the rest put to flight. 
 
 An attack on Winchester was apprehended, and 
 the terrors of the people rose to agony. They now 
 turned to Washington as their main hope. The women 
 surrounded him, holding up their children, and implor- 
 ing him with tears and cries to save them from the sav- 
 ages. The youthful commander looked round on the 
 suppliant crowd with a countenance beaming with pity, 
 and a heart wrung with anguish. A letter to Governor 
 Dinwiddie shows the conflict of his feelings. "lam 
 too little acquainted with pathetic language to attempt 
 a description of these people's distresses.. But what 
 can I do ? I see their situation ; I know their danger, 
 and participate their sufferings, without having it in my 
 power to give them further relief than uncertain pro- 
 mises." — " The supplicating tears of the women, and 
 moving petitions of the men, melt me into such deadly 
 sorrow, that I solemnly declare, if I know my own 
 mind, I could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the 
 butchering enemy, provided that would contribute to 
 the people's ease." 
 
 The unstudied eloquence of this letter drew from 
 the governor an instant order for a militia force from 
 the upper counties to his assistance ; but the Virginia 
 newspapers, in descanting on the frontier troubles, 
 threw discredit on the army and its officers, and at- 
 tached blame to its commander. Stung to the quick 
 by this injustice, Washington publicly declared, that 
 nothing but the imminent danger of the times prevent- 
 
236 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 ed him from instantly resigning a command from which 
 he could never reap either honor or benefit. His sensi- 
 tiveness called forth strong letters from his friends, 
 assuring him of the high sense entertained at the seat 
 of government, and elsewhere, of his merits and ser- 
 vices. " Your good health and fortune are the toast of 
 every table," wrote his early friend, Colonel Fairfax, at 
 that time a member of the governor's council. " Your 
 endeavors in the service and defence of your country 
 must redound to your honor." 
 
 " Our hopes, dear George," wrote Mr. Robinson, 
 the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, " are all fixed 
 on you for bringing our affairs to a happy issue. Con- 
 sider what fatal consequences to your country your 
 resigning the command at this time may be, especially 
 as there is no doubt most of the officers will follow 
 your example." 
 
 In fact, the situation and services of the youthful 
 commander, shut up in a frontier town, destitute of 
 forces, surrounded by savage foes, gallantly, though de- 
 spairingly, devoting himself to the safety of a suffering 
 people, were properly understood throughout the coun- 
 try, and excited a glow of enthusiasm in his favor. 
 The Legislature, too, began at length to act, but timid- 
 ly and inefficiently. " The country knows her danger," 
 writes one of the members, " but such is her parsi- 
 mony, that she is willing to wait for the rains to wet 
 the powder, and the rats to eat the bowstrings of the 
 enemy, rather than attempt to drive them from her 
 frontiers." 
 
 The measure of relief voted by the Assembly, was 
 an additional appropriation of twenty thousand pounds, 
 
1756.] PROJECTS FOR DEFENCE. 237 
 
 and an increase of the provincial force to fifteen hun- 
 dred men. With this, it was proposed to erect and 
 garrison a chain of frontier forts, extending through 
 the ranges of the Allegany Mountains, from the Poto- 
 mac to the borders of North Carolina ; a distance of 
 between three and four hundred miles. This was one 
 of the inconsiderate projects devised by Governor Din- 
 widdie. 
 
 Washington, in letters to the governor and to the 
 speaker of the House of Burgesses, urged the impolicy 
 of such a plan, with their actual force and means. 
 The forts, he observed, ought to be within fifteen or 
 eighteen miles of each other, that their spies might be 
 able to keep watch over the intervening country ; oth- 
 erwise the Indians would pass between them unper- 
 ceived, effect their ravages, and escape to the moun- 
 tains, swamps, and ravines, before the troops from the 
 forts could be assembled to pursue them. They ought 
 each to be garrisoned with eighty or a hundred men, 
 so as to afford detachments of sufficient strength, with- 
 out leaving the garrison too weak ; for the Indians are 
 the most stealthy and patient of spies and lurkers ; will 
 lie in wait for days together about small forts of the 
 kind, and, if they find, by some chance prisoner, that 
 the garrison is actually weak, will first surprise and cut 
 off its scouting parties, and then attack the fort itself. 
 It was evident, therefore, observed he, that to garrison 
 properly such a line of forts, would require, at least, 
 two thousand men. And even then, a line of such ex- 
 tent might be broken through at one end before the 
 other end could yield assistance. Feint attacks, also, 
 might be made at one point, while the real attack was 
 
238 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 made at another, quite distant, and the country be 
 overrun before its widely-posted defenders could be 
 alari aed and concentrated. Then must be taken into 
 consideration the immense cost of building so many 
 forts, and the constant and consuming expense of sup- 
 plies and transportation. 
 
 His idea of a defensive plan was to build a strong 
 fort at Winchester, the central point, where all the 
 main roads met of a wide range of scattered settle- 
 ments, where tidings could soonest be collected from 
 every quarter, and whence reinforcements and supplies 
 could most readily be forwarded. It was to be a grand 
 deposit of military stores, a residence for commanding 
 officers, a place of refuge for the women and children 
 in time of alarm, when the men had suddenly to take 
 the field ; in a word, it was to be the citadel of the 
 frontier. 
 
 Beside this, he would have three or four large for- 
 tresses erected at convenient distances upon the frontier, 
 with powerful garrisons, so as to be able to throw out, 
 in constant succession, strong scouting parties, to range 
 the country. Port Cumberland he condemned as being 
 out of the province, and out of the track of Indian 
 incursions ; insomuch that it seldom received an alarm 
 until all the mischief had been effected. 
 
 His representations with respect to military laws 
 and regulations were equally cogent. In the late act 
 of the Assembly for raising a regiment, it was pro- 
 vided that, in cases of emergency, if recruits should 
 not offer in sufficient number, the militia might be 
 drafted to supply the deficiencies, but only to serve 
 until December, and not to be marched out of the 
 
1756.] SUGGESTIONS OE WASHINGTON. 239 
 
 province. In this case, said he, before they have en- 
 tered upon service, or got the least smattering of duty, 
 they will claim a discharge ; if they are pursuing an 
 enemy, who has committed the most unheard-of cruel- 
 ties, he has only to step across the Potomac, and he is 
 safe. Then as to the limits of service, they might just 
 as easily have been enlisted for seventeen months, as 
 seven. They would then have been seasoned as well 
 as disciplined; "for we find by experience," says he, 
 "that our poor ragged soldiers would kill the most 
 active militia in five days' marching." 
 
 Then, as to punishments : death, it was true, had 
 been decreed for mutiny and desertion ; but there was 
 no punishment for cowardice ; for holding correspond- 
 ence with the enemy ; for quitting, or sleeping on one's 
 post ; all capital offences, according to the military code 
 of Europe. Neither were there provisions for quarter- 
 ing or billeting soldiers, or impressing waggons and 
 other conveyances, in times of exigency. To crown 
 all, no court-martial could sit out of Virginia ; a most 
 embarrassing regulation, when troops were fifty or a 
 hundred miles beyond the frontier. He earnestly sug- 
 gested amendments on all these points, as well as with 
 regard to the soldiers' pay ; which was less than that 
 of the regular troops, or the troops of most of the 
 other provinces. 
 
 All these suggestions, showing at this youthful 
 age that forethought and circumspection which distin- 
 guished him throughout life, were repeatedly and elo- 
 quently urged upon Governor Dinwiddie, with very 
 little effect. The plan of a frontier line of twenty- 
 three forts was persisted in. Port Cumberland was 
 
240 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 pertinaciously kept up at a great and useless expense 
 of men and money, and the militia laws remained lax 
 and inefficient. It was decreed, however, that the 
 great central fort at Winchester, recommended by 
 Washington, should be erected. 
 
 In the height of the alarm, a company of one hun- 
 dred gentlemen, mounted and equipped, volunteered 
 their services to repair to the frontier. They were 
 headed by Peyton Randolph, attorney-general, a man 
 deservedly popular throughout the province. Their 
 offer was gladly accepted. They were denominated the 
 "Gentlemen Associators," and great expectations, of 
 course, were entertained from their gallantry and devo- 
 tion. They were empowered, also, to aid with their 
 judgment in the selection of places for frontier forts. 
 
 The " Gentlemen Associators," like all gentlemen 
 associators in similar emergencies, turned out with 
 great zeal and spirit, and immense popular effect, but 
 wasted their fire in preparation, and on the march. 
 Washington, who well understood the value of such 
 aid, observed dryly in a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, 
 " I am heartily glad that you have fixed upon these 
 gentlemen to point out the places for erecting forts, but 
 regret to find their motions so slow." There is no 
 doubt that they would have conducted themselves gal- 
 lantly, had they been put to the test ; but before they 
 arrived near the scene of danger the alarm was over. 
 About the beginning of May, scouts brought in word 
 that the tracks of the marauding savages tended toward 
 Fort Duquesne, as if on the return. In a little while 
 it was ascertained that they had recrossed the Allegany 
 Mountain to the Ohio in such numbers as to leave a 
 
1755.] EXPEDITION AGAINST KITTANNING. 241 
 
 beaten track, equal to that made in the preceding year 
 by the army of Braddock. 
 
 The repeated inroads of the savages called for an 
 effectual and permanent check. The idea of being 
 constantly subject to the irruptions of a deadly foe, 
 that moved with stealth and mystery, and was only to 
 be traced by its ravages, and counted by its footprints, 
 discouraged all settlement of the country. The beau- 
 tiful valley of the Shenandoah was fast becoming a de- 
 serted and a silent place. Her people, for the most 
 part, had fled to the older settlements south of the 
 mountains, and the Blue Ridge was likely soon to be- 
 come virtually the frontier line of the province. 
 
 We have to record one signal act of retaliation on 
 the perfidious tribes of the Ohio, in which a person 
 whose name subsequently became dear to Americans, 
 was concerned. Prisoners who had escaped from the 
 ravages reported that Shingis, Washington's faithless 
 ally, and another sachem, called Captain Jacobs, were 
 the two heads of the hostile bands that had desolated 
 the frontier. That they lived at Kittanning, an Indian 
 town, about forty miles above Port Duquesne; at 
 which their warriors were fitted out for incursions, and 
 whither they returned with their prisoners and plunder. 
 Captain Jacobs was a daring fellow, and scoffed at pali- 
 sadoed forts. <'He could take any fort," he said, 
 " that would catch fire." 
 
 A party of two hundred and eighty provincials, 
 resolute men, undertook to surprise, and destroy this 
 savage nest. It was commanded by Colonel John 
 Armstrong ; and with him went Doctor, now Captain 
 Hugh Mercer, eager to revenge the savage atrocities of 
 
 VOL. i. — 16 
 
242 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 [1756. 
 
 which he had been a witness at the defeat of Brad- 
 dock. 
 
 Armstrong led his men rapidly, bnt secretly, over 
 mountain, and through forest, until, after a long and 
 perilous march, they reached the Allegany. It was a 
 moonlight night when they arrived in the neighbor- 
 hood of Kittanning. They were guided to the village 
 by whoops and yells, and the sound of the Indian 
 drum. The warriors were celebrating their exploits by 
 the triumphant scalp-dance. After a while the revel 
 ceased, and a number of fires appeared here and there 
 in a corn-field. They were made by such of the In- 
 dians as slept in the open air, and were intended to 
 drive off the gnats. Armstrong and his men lay 
 down "quiet and hush," observing every thing nar- 
 rowly, and waiting until the moon should set, and the 
 warriors be asleep. At length the moon went down, 
 the fires burned low ; all was quiet. Armstrong now 
 roused his men, some of whom, wearied by their long 
 march, had fallen asleep. He divided his forces ; part 
 were to attack the warriors in the corn-field, part were 
 despatched to the houses, which were dimly seen by 
 the first streak of day. There was sharp firing in both 
 quarters, for the Indians, though taken by surprise, 
 fought bravely, inspired by the war-whoop of their 
 chief, Captain Jacobs. The women and children fled 
 to the woods. Several of the provincials were killed 
 and wounded. Captain Hugh Mercer received a 
 wound in the arm, and was taken to the top of a hill. 
 The fierce chieftain, Captain Jacobs, was besieged in 
 his house, which had port-holes ; whence he and his 
 warriors made havoc among the assailants. The ad- 
 
1756.] BURNING OF KITTANNING. 243 
 
 joining houses were set on fire. The chief was sum- 
 moned to surrender himself. He replied he was a 
 man, and would not be a prisoner. He was told he 
 would be burnt. His reply was, " he would kill four 
 or five before he died." The flames and smoke ap- 
 proached. " One of the besieged warriors, to show his 
 manhood, began to sing. A squaw at the same time 
 was heard to cry, but was severely rebuked by the 
 men." * 
 
 In the end, the warriors were driven out by the 
 flames; some escaped, and some were shot. Among 
 the latter was Captain Jacobs, and his gigantic son, 
 said to be seven feet high. Fire was now set to all the 
 houses, thirty in number. "During the burning of 
 the houses," says Colonel Armstrong, " we were agree- 
 ably entertained with a quick succession of charged 
 guns, gradually firing off as reached by the fire, but 
 much more so with the vast explosion of sundry bags, 
 and large kegs of powder, wherewith almost every 
 house abounded." The colonel was in a strange con- 
 dition to enjoy such an entertainment, having received 
 a wound from a large musket-ball in the shoulder. 
 
 The object of the expedition was accomplished. 
 Thirty or forty of the warriors were slain ; their strong- 
 hold was a smoking ruin. There was danger of the 
 victors being cut off by a detachment from Port Du- 
 quesne. They made the best of their way, therefore, 
 to their horses, which had been left at a distance, and 
 set off rapidly on their march homewards. 
 
 Captain Hugh Mercer was again left behind, 
 
 * Letter from Col. Armstrong. 
 
244 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 wounded. He had another long, solitary, and painful 
 struggle through the wilderness, and again reached 
 Fort Cumberland sick, weary, and half famished. — 
 Heaven reserved him to illustrate a more distinguished 
 page in American history.* 
 
 * Colonial Register, vii., 257. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FOUNDING OP FORT LOUDOUN — WASHINGTON'S TOUR OF INSPECTION — 
 INEFFICIENCY OF THE MILITIA SYSTEM — GENTLEMEN SOLDIERS — CROSS- 
 PURPOSES WITH DINWIDDIE — MILITARY AFFAIRS IN THE NORTH — DE- 
 LAYS OF LORD LOUDOUN — ACTIVITY OF MONTCALM — LOUDOUN IN WIN- 
 TER QUARTERS. 
 
 Throughout the summer of 1756, Washington ex- 
 erted himself diligently in carrying out measures deter- 
 mined upon for frontier security. The great fortress at 
 Winchester was commenced, and the work urged for- 
 ward as expeditiously as the delays and perplexities 
 incident to a badly organized service would permit. 
 It received the name of Port Loudoun, in honor of 
 the commander-in-chief, whose arrival in Virginia was 
 hopefully anticipated. 
 
 As to the sites of the frontier posts, they were de- 
 cided upon by Washington and his officers, after fre- 
 quent and long consultations ; parties were sent out to 
 work on them, and men recruited, and militia drafted, 
 to garrison them. Washington visited occasionally 
 such as were in progress, and near at hand. It was a 
 service of some peril, for the mountains and forests 
 were still infested by prowling savages, especially in 
 
246 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 the neighborhood of these new forts. At one time 
 when he was reconnoitering a wild part of the conn- 
 try, attended merely by a servant and a guide, two men 
 were murdered by the Indians in a solitary defile, 
 shortly after he had passed through it. 
 
 In the autumn, he made a tour of inspection along 
 the whole line, accompanied by his friend, Captain 
 Hugh Mercer, who had recovered from his recent 
 wounds. This tour furnished repeated proofs of the 
 inefficiency of the militia system. In one place he 
 attempted to raise a force with which to scour a region 
 infested by roving bands of savages. After waiting 
 several days, but five men answered to his summons. 
 In another place, where three companies had been 
 ordered to the relief of a fort, attacked by the Indians, 
 all that could be mustered were a captain, a lieutenant, 
 and seven or eight men. 
 
 When the militia were drafted, and appeared under 
 arms, the case was not much better. It was now late 
 in the autumn ; their term of service, by the act of the 
 Legislature, expired in December, — half of the time, 
 therefore, was lost in marching out and home. Their 
 waste of provisions was enormous. To be put on al- 
 lowance, like other soldiers, they considered an indig- 
 nity. They would sooner starve than carry a few days' 
 provisions on their backs. On the march, when break- 
 fast was wanted, they would knock down the first 
 beeve they met with, and, after regaling themselves, 
 march on till dinner, when they would take the same 
 method ; and so for supper, to the great oppression of 
 the people. For the want of proper military laws, 
 they were obstinate, self-willed, and perverse. Every 
 
1756.] INEFFICIENCY OF THE MILITIA SYSTEM. 247 
 
 individual had his own crude notion of things, and 
 would undertake to direct. If his advice were neg- 
 lected, he would think himself slighted, abused, and 
 injured, and, to redress himself, would depart for his 
 home. 
 
 The garrisons were weak for want of men, but 
 more so from indolence and irregularity. None were 
 in a posture of defence ; few but might be surprised 
 with the greatest ease. At one fort, the Indians rushed 
 from their lurking-place, pounced upon several children 
 playing under the walls, and bore them off before they 
 were discovered. Another fort was surprised, and 
 many of the people massacred in the same manner. 
 In the course of his tour, as he and his party ap- 
 proached a fort, he heard a quick firing for several 
 minutes; concluding that it was attacked, they has- 
 tened to its relief, but found the garrison were merely 
 amusing themselves firing at a mark, or for wagers. 
 In this way they would waste their ammunition as 
 freely as they did their provisions. In the mean time, 
 the inhabitants of the country were in a wretched situ- 
 ation, feeling the little dependence to be put on militia, 
 who were slow in coming to their assistance, indifferent 
 about their preservation, unwilling to continue, and re- 
 gardless of every thing but of their own ease. In short, 
 they were so apprehensive of approaching ruin, that 
 the whole back country was in a general motion towards 
 the southern colonies. 
 
 Prom the Catawba, he was escorted along a range 
 of forts by a colonel, and about thirty men, chiefly 
 officers. "With this small company of irregulars," 
 says he, " with whom order, regularity, circumspection, 
 
248 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 and vigilance were matters of derision and contempt, 
 we set ont, and, by the protection of Providence, 
 reached Augusta court-house in seven days, without 
 meeting the enemy ; otherwise, we must have fallen a 
 sacrifice, through the indiscretion of these whooping, 
 hallooing, gentlemen soldiers ! " 
 
 How lively a picture does this give of the militia 
 system at all times, when not subjected to strict mili- 
 tary law. 
 
 What rendered this year's service peculiarly irksome 
 and embarrassing to Washington, was the nature of his 
 correspondence with Governor Dinwiddie. That gentle- 
 man, either from the natural hurry and confusion of his 
 mind, or from a real disposition to perplex, was ex- 
 tremely ambiguous and unsatisfactory in most of his 
 orders and replies. " So much am I kept in the dark," 
 says Washington, in one of his letters, " that I do not 
 know whether to prepare for the offensive or defensive. 
 What would be absolutely necessary for the one, would 
 be quite useless for the other." And again: "The 
 orders I receive are full of ambiguity. I am left like a 
 wanderer in the wilderness, to proceed at hazard. I 
 am answerable for consequences, and blamed, without 
 the privilege of defence." 
 
 In nothing was this disposition to perplex more ap- 
 parent than in the governor's replies respecting Port 
 Cumberland. Washington had repeatedly urged the 
 abandonment of this fort as a place of frontier deposit, 
 being within the bounds of another province, and out 
 of the track of Indian incursion; so that often the 
 alarm would not reach there until after the mischief 
 had been effected. He applied, at length, for particular 
 
1766.] cross-purposes. 249 
 
 and positive directions from the governor on this head. 
 "The following," says he, "is an exact copy of his an- 
 swer : — ' Port Cumberland is a kings fort, and built 
 chiefly at the charge of the colony, therefore properly 
 under our direction until a new governor is appointed/ 
 Now, whether I am to understand this aye or no to the 
 plain simple question asked, Is the fort to be continued 
 or removed ? I know not. But in all important mat- 
 ters I am directed in this ambiguous and uncertain 
 way." 
 
 Governor Dinwiddie subsequently made himself 
 explicit on this point. Taking offence at some of 
 Washington's comments on the military affairs of the 
 frontier, he made the stand of a self-willed and obsti- 
 nate man, in the case of Port Cumberland ; and repre- 
 sented it in such light to Lord Loudoun, as to draw 
 from his lordship an order that it should be kept up : 
 and an implied censure of the conduct of Washington 
 in slighting a post of such paramount importance. " I 
 cannot agree with Colonel Washington," writes his 
 lordship, "in not drawing in the posts from the stock- 
 ade forts, in order to defend that advanced one ; and I 
 should imagine much more of the frontier will be ex- 
 posed by retiring your advanced posts near Winches- 
 ter, where I understand he is retired ; for, from your 
 letter, I take it for granted he has before this executed 
 his plan, without waiting for any advice. If he leaves 
 any of the great quantity of stores behind, it will be 
 very unfortunate, and he ought to consider that it must 
 lie at his own door." 
 
 Thus powerfully supported, Dinwiddie went so far 
 as to order that the garrisons should be withdrawn from 
 
250 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 the stockades and small frontier forts, and most of the 
 troops from Winchester, to strengthen Port Cumber- 
 land, which was now to become head-quarters ; thus 
 weakening the most important points and places, to 
 concentrate a force where it was not wanted, and would 
 be out of the way in most cases of alarm. By these 
 meddlesome moves, made by Governor Dinwiddie from 
 a distance, without knowing any thing of the game, all 
 previous arrangements were reversed, every thing was 
 thrown into confusion, and enormous losses and ex- 
 penses were incurred. 
 
 " Whence it arises, or why, I am truly ignorant," 
 writes Washington to Mr. Speaker Robinson, " but my 
 strongest representations of matters relative to the fron- 
 tiers are disregarded as idle and frivolous ; my propo- 
 sitions and measures as partial and selfish ; and all my 
 sincerest endeavors for the service of my country are 
 perverted to the worst purposes. My orders are dark 
 and uncertain ; to-day approved, to-morrow disap- 
 proved." 
 
 Whence all this contradiction and embarrassment 
 arose has since been explained, and with apparent rea- 
 son. Governor Dinwiddie had never recovered from 
 the pique caused by the popular elevation of Washing- 
 ton to the command in preference to his favorite, 
 Colonel Innes. His irritation was kept alive by a little 
 Scottish faction, who were desirous of disgusting Wash- 
 ington with the service, so as to induce him to resign, 
 and make way for his rival. They might have carried 
 their point during the panic at Winchester, had not his 
 patriotism and his sympathy with the public distress 
 been more powerful than his self-love. He determined, 
 
1756.] MILITARY AFFAIRS IN THE NORTH. 251 
 
 he said, to bear up under these embarrassments, in the 
 hope of better regulations when Lord Loudoun should 
 arrive ; to whom he looked for the future fate of Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 While these events were occurring on the Virginia 
 frontier, military affairs went on tardily and heavily at 
 the north. The campaign against Canada, which was 
 to have opened early in the year, hung fire. The arma- 
 ment coming out for the purpose, under Lord Lou- 
 doun, was delayed through the want of energy and 
 union in the British cabinet. General Abercrombie, 
 who was to be next in command to his lordship, and to 
 succeed to General Shirley, set sail in advance for New 
 York with two regiments, but did not reach Albany, 
 the head-quarters of military operation, until the 25th 
 of June. He billeted his soldiers upon the town, 
 much to the disgust of the inhabitants, and talked of 
 ditching and stockading it, but postponed all exterior 
 enterprises until the arrival of Lord Loudoun ; then the 
 campaign was to open in earnest. 
 
 On the 12th of July, came word that the forts On- 
 tario and Oswego, on each side of the mouth of the 
 Oswego River, were menaced by the French. They 
 had been imperfectly constructed by Shirley, and were 
 insufficiently garrisoned, yet contained a great amount 
 of military and naval stores, and protected the vessels 
 which cruised on Lake Ontario. 
 
 Major-general Webb was ordered by Abercrombie 
 to hold himself in readiness to march with one regi- 
 ment to the relief of these forts, but received no fur- 
 ther orders. Every thing awaited the arrival at Albany 
 of Lord Loudoun, which at length took place, on the 
 
252 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1756. 
 
 29th of July. There were now at least ten thousand 
 troops, regulars and provincials, loitering in an idle 
 camp at Albany, yet relief to Oswego was still delayed. 
 Lord Loudoun was in favor of it, but the governments 
 of New York and New England urged the immediate 
 reduction of Crown Point, as necessary for the security 
 of their frontier. After much debate, it was agreed 
 that General Webb should march to the relief of Os- 
 wego. Pie left Albany on the 12th of August, but had 
 scarce reached the carrying-place, between the Mohawk 
 River and Wood Creek, when he received news that 
 Oswego was reduced, and its garrison captured. While 
 the British commanders had debated, Field-marshal the 
 Marquis De Montcalm, newly arrived from Prance, had 
 acted. He was a different kind of soldier from Aber- 
 crombie or Loudoun. A capacious mind and enter- 
 prising spirit animated a small, but active and untiring 
 frame. Quick in thought, quick in speech, quicker 
 still in action, he comprehended every thing at a glance, 
 and moved from point to point of the province with a 
 celerity and secrecy that completely baffled his slow 
 and pondering antagonists. Crown Point and Ticon- 
 deroga were visited, and steps taken to strengthen their 
 works, and provide for their security ; then hastening 
 to Montreal, he put himself at the head of a force of 
 regulars, Canadians, and Indians; ascended the St 
 Lawrence to Lake Ontario ; blocked up the mouth of 
 the Oswego by his vessels, landed his guns, and be- 
 sieged the two forts ; drove the garrison out of one into 
 the other ; killed the commander, Colonel Mercer, and 
 compelled the garrisons to surrender prisoners of war. 
 With the forts was taken an immense amount of mili» 
 
1756.J LOUDOUN IN WINTER QUARTERS. 253 
 
 tary stores, ammunition, and provisions ; one hundred 
 and twenty-one cannon, fourteen mortars, six vessels of 
 war, a vast number of batteaux, and three chests of 
 money. His blow achieved, Montcalm returned in tri- 
 umph to Montreal, and sent the colors of the captured 
 forts to be hung up as trophies in the Canadian 
 churches. 
 
 The season was now too far advanced for Lord 
 Loudoun to enter upon any great military enterprise ; 
 he postponed, therefore, the great Northern campaign, 
 so much talked of and debated, until the following 
 year ; and having taken measures for the protection of 
 his frontiers, and for more active operations in the 
 spring, returned to New York, hung up his sword, and 
 went into comfortable winter quarters. 
 
CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 WASHINGTON VINDICATES HIS CONDUCT TO LOED LOUDOUN — HIS EEOEPTION 
 BY HIS LOEDSHIP — MILITAET PLANS — LOED LOUDOUN AT HALIFAX 
 — MONTCALM ON LAZE GEOEGE — HIS TEIUMPHS — LOED LOUDOUN'S 
 FAILUBES — WASHINGTON AT WINCHESTEE — CONTINUED MISUNDEE- 
 STANDLNGS WITH DINWIDDLE— EETUEN TO MOUNT YEENON. 
 
 Circumstances had led Washington to think that 
 Lord Loudoun " had received impressions to his pre- 
 judice by false representations of facts," and that a 
 wrong idea prevailed at head-quarters respecting the 
 state of military affairs in Virginia. He was anxious, 
 therefore, for an opportunity of placing all these mat- 
 ters in a proper light ; and, understanding that there 
 was to be a meeting in Philadelphia in the month of 
 March, between Lord Loudoun and the southern gov- 
 ernors, to consult about measures of defence for their 
 respective provinces, he wrote to Governor Dinwiddie 
 for permission to attend it. 
 
 "I cannot conceive," writes Dinwiddie in reply, 
 " what service you can be of in going there, as the plan 
 concerted will, in course, be communicated to you and 
 the other officers. However, as you seem so earnest to 
 go, I now give you leave." 
 
1757. J LETTER TO LORD LOUDOUN. 255 
 
 This ungracious reply seemed to warrant the sus- 
 picions entertained by some of Washington's friends, 
 that it was the busy pen of Governor Dinwiddie which 
 had given the " false representation of facts," to Lord 
 Loudoun. About a month, therefore, before the time 
 of the meeting, Washington addressed a long letter to his 
 lordship, explanatory of military affairs in the quarter 
 where he had commanded. In this he set forth the 
 various defects in the militia laws of Virginia; the 
 errors in its system of defence, and the inevitable con- 
 fusion which had thence resulted. 
 
 Adverting to his own conduct : " The orders I re- 
 ceive," said he, " are full of ambiguity. I am left like 
 a wanderer in the wilderness to proceed at hazard. I 
 am answerable for consequences, and blamed, without 
 the privilege of defence. ***** It is not 
 to be wondered at, if, under such peculiar circum- 
 stances, I should be sick of a service which promises so 
 little of a soldier's reward. 
 
 " I have long been satisfied of the impossibility of 
 continuing in this service, without loss of honor. In- 
 deed, I was fully convinced of it before I accepted the 
 command the second time, seeing the cloudy prospect 
 before me ; and I did, for this reason, reject the offer, 
 until I was ashamed any longer to refuse, not caring to 
 expose my character to public censure. The solicita- 
 tions of the country overcame my objections, and 
 induced me to accept it. Another reason has of late 
 operated to continue me in the service until now, and 
 that is, the dawn of hope that arose, when I heard 
 your lordship was destined, by his majesty, for the im- 
 portant command of his armies in America, and ap- 
 
256 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1757. 
 
 pointed to the government of his dominion of Virginia. 
 Hence it was, that I drew my hopes, and fondly pro- 
 nounced your lordship our patron. Although I have not 
 the honor to be known to your lordship, yet your name 
 was familiar to my ear, on account of the important servi- 
 ces rendered to his majesty in other parts of the world." 
 
 The manner in which Washington was received by 
 Lord Loudoun on arriving in Philadelphia, showed him 
 at once, that his long, explanatory letter, had produced 
 the desired effect, and that his character and conduct 
 were justly appreciated. During his sojourn in Phila- 
 delphia he was frequently consulted on points of fron- 
 tier service, and his advice was generally adopted. 
 On one point it failed. He advised that an attack 
 should be made on Port Duquesne, simultaneous with 
 the attempts on Canada. At such time a great part 
 of the garrison would be drawn away to aid in the de- 
 fence of that province, and a blow might be struck 
 more likely to insure the peace and safety of the south- 
 ern frontier, than all its forts and defences. 
 
 Lord Loudoun, however, was not to be convinced, 
 or at least persuaded. According to his plan, the mid- 
 dle and southern provinces were to maintain a merely 
 defensive warfare ; and as Virginia would be required 
 to send four hundred of her troops to the aid of South 
 Carolina, she would, in fact, be left weaker than before. 
 
 Washington was also disappointed a second time, 
 in the hope of having his regiment placed on the same 
 footing as the regular army, and of obtaining a king's 
 commission ; — the latter he was destined never to hold. 
 
 His representations with respect to Port Cumber- 
 land had the desired effect, in counteracting the mis- 
 
1757.J LORD LOUDOUN SAILS FOR HALIFAX. 257 
 
 chievous intermeddling of Dinwiddie. The Virginia 
 troops and stores were ordered to be again removed to 
 Fort Loudoun, at Winchester, which once more became 
 head-quarters, while Fort Cumberland was left to be 
 occupied by a Maryland garrison. Washington was 
 instructed, likewise, to correspond and co-operate, in 
 military affairs, with Colonel Stanwix, who was sta- 
 tioned on the Pennsylvania frontier, with five hundred 
 men from the Royal American regiment, and to whom 
 he would be, in some measure, subordinate. This 
 proved a correspondence of friendship, as well as duty ; 
 Colonel Stanwix being a gentleman of high moral 
 worth, as well as great ability in military affairs. 
 
 The great plan of operations at the north was again 
 doomed to failure. The reduction of Crown Point, on 
 Lake Champlain, which had long been meditated, was 
 laid aside, and the capture of Louisburg substituted, as 
 an acquisition of far greater importance. This was a 
 place of great consequence, situated on the isle of Cape 
 Breton, and strongly fortified. It commanded the fish- 
 eries of Newfoundland, overawed New England, and 
 was a main bulwark to Acadia. 
 
 In the course of July, Lord Loudoun set sail for 
 Halifax with all the troops he could collect, amounting 
 to about six thousand men, to join with Admiral Hol- 
 bourne, who had just arrived at that port with eleven 
 ships of the line, a fire-ship, bomb-ketch, and fleet of 
 transports, having on board six thousand men. With 
 this united force Lord Loudoun anticipated the certain 
 capture of Louisburg. 
 
 Scarce had the tidings of his lordship's departure 
 reached Canada, when the active Montcalm again took 
 
 VOL. I. — 17 » 
 
258 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1757. 
 
 the field, to follow up the successes of the preceding 
 year. Port William Henry, which Sir Wm. Johnson 
 had erected on the southern shore of Lake George, was 
 now his object ; it commanded the lake, and was an 
 important protection to the British frontier. A brave 
 old officer, Colonel Monro, with about five hundred 
 men, formed the garrison ; more than three times that 
 number of militia were intrenched near by. Montcalm 
 had, early in the season, made three ineffectual attempts 
 upon the fort ; he now trusted to be more successful. 
 Collecting his forces from Crown Point, Ticonderoga, 
 and the adjacent posts, with a considerable number of 
 Canadians and Indians, altogether nearly eight thou- 
 sand men, he advanced up the lake, on the 1st of 
 August, in a fleet of boats, with swarms of Indian 
 canoes in the advance. The fort came near being sur- 
 prised ; but the troops encamped without it, abandoned 
 their tents and hurried within the works. A summons 
 to surrender was answered by a brave defiance. Mont- 
 calm invested the fort, made his approaches, and bat- 
 tered it with his artillery. Por five days its veteran 
 commander kept up a vigorous defence, trusting to re- 
 ceive assistance from General Webb, who had failed to 
 relieve Port Oswego in the preceding year, and who 
 was now at Port Pdward, about fifteen miles distant, 
 with upwards of five thousand men. Instead of this, 
 Webb, who overrated the Prench forces, sent him a 
 letter, advising him to capitulate. The letter was 
 intercepted by Montcalm, but still forwarded tc 
 Monro. The obstinate old soldier, however, persisted 
 in his defence, until most of his cannon were burst, 
 and his ammunition expended. At length, in the 
 
1757.] FAILURES OF LORD LOUDOUN. 259 
 
 month of August, lie hung out a flag of truce, and 
 obtained honorable terms from an enemy who knew 
 how to appreciate his valor. Montcalm demolished 
 the fort, carried off all the artillery and munitions of 
 war, with vessels employed in the navigation of the 
 lake ; and having thus completed his destruction of the 
 British defences on this frontier, returned once more in 
 triumph with the spoils of victory, to hang up fresh 
 trophies in the churches of Canada. 
 
 Lord Loudoun, in the mean time, formed his junc- 
 tion with Admiral Holbourne at Halifax, and the troops 
 were embarked with all diligence on board of the trans- 
 ports. "Unfortunately, the French were again too 
 quick for them. Admiral De Bois de la Mothe had 
 arrived at Louisburg, with a large naval and land 
 force ; it was ascertained that he had seventeen ships 
 of the line, and three frigates, quietly moored in the 
 harbor ; that the place was well fortified and supplied 
 with provisions and ammunition, and garrisoned with 
 six thousand regular troops, three thousand natives, 
 and thirteen hundred Indians. 
 
 Some hot-heads would have urged an attempt 
 against all such array of force, but Lord Loudoun was 
 aware of the probability of defeat, and the disgrace and 
 ruin that it would bring upon British arms in America. 
 He wisely, though ingloriously, returned to New York. 
 Admiral Holbourne made a silly demonstration of his 
 fleet off the harbor of Louisburg, approaching within 
 two miles of the batteries, but retired on seeing the 
 French admiral preparing to unmoor. He afterwards 
 returned with a reinforcement of four ships of the line ; 
 cruised before Louisburg, endeavoring to draw the 
 
260 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1757 
 
 enemy to an engagement, which De la Mothe had the 
 wisdom to decline; was overtaken by a hurricane, in 
 which one of his ships was lost, eleven were dismasted, 
 others had to throw their guns overboard, and all re- 
 turned in a shattered condition to England. Thus 
 ended the northern campaign by land and sea ; a sub- 
 ject of great mortification to the nation, and ridicule 
 and triumph to the enemy. 
 
 During these unfortunate operations to the north, 
 Washington was stationed at Winchester, shorn of part 
 of his force by the detachment to South Carolina, and 
 left with seven hundred men to defend a frontier of 
 more than three hundred and fifty miles in extent. 
 The capture and demolition of Oswego by Montcalm 
 had produced a disastrous effect. The whole country 
 of the five nations was abandoned to the Trench. The 
 frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were 
 harassed by repeated inroads of French and Indians, 
 and Washington had the mortification to see the noble 
 valley of the Shenandoah almost deserted by its inhab- 
 itants, and fast relapsing into a wilderness. 
 
 The year wore away on his part in the harassing 
 service of defending a wide frontier with an insufficient 
 and badly organized force, and the vexations he experi- 
 enced were heightened by continual misunderstandings 
 with Governor Dinwiddie. Prom the ungracious tenor 
 of several of that gentleman's letters, and from private 
 information, he was led to believe that some secret ene- 
 my had been making false representations of his mo- 
 tives and conduct, and prejudicing the governor against 
 him. He vindicated himself warmly from the alleged 
 aspersions, proudly appealing to the whole course of his 
 
1757.J OFFICIAL CENSORIOUSNESS. 261 
 
 public career in proof of their falsity. " It is uncer- 
 tain," said he, " in what light my services may have 
 appeared to your honor ; but this I know, and it is the 
 highest consolation I am capable of feeling, that no 
 man that ever was employed in a public capacity has 
 endeavored to discharge the trust reposed in him with 
 greater honesty and more zeal for the country's interest 
 than I have done : and if there is any person living 
 who can say, with justice, that I have offered any in- 
 tentional wrong to the public, I will cheerfully submit 
 to the most ignominious punishment that an injured 
 people ought to inflict. On the other hand, it is hard 
 to have my character arraigned, and my actions con- 
 demned, without a hearing/' 
 
 His magnanimous appeal had but little effect. 
 Dinwiddie was evidently actuated by the petty pique 
 of a narrow and illiberal mind, impatient of contradic- 
 tion, even when in error. He took advantage of his 
 official station to vent his spleen and gratify his petu- 
 lance in a variety of ways incompatible with the cour- 
 tesy of a gentleman. It may excite a grave smile at the 
 present day, to find Washington charged by this very 
 small-minded man with looseness in his way of writing 
 to him ; with remissness in his duty towards him ; and 
 even with impertinence in the able and eloquent repre- 
 sentations which he felt compelled to make of disas- 
 trous mismanagement in military affairs; and still 
 more, to find his reasonable request, after a long course 
 of severe duty, for a temporary leave of absence, to 
 attend to his private concerns, peremptorily refused, and 
 that with as little courtesy as though he were a mere 
 
262 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [17581 
 
 subaltern, seeking to absent himself on a party of 
 pleasure. 
 
 The multiplied vexations which Washington had 
 latterly experienced from this man, had preyed upon 
 his spirits, and contributed, with his incessant toils and 
 anxieties, to undermine his health. For some time he 
 struggled with repeated attacks of dysentery and fever, 
 and continued in the exercise of his duties ; but the 
 increased violence of his malady, and the urgent advice 
 of his friend Dr. Craik, the army surgeon, induced him 
 to relinquish his post towards the end of the year, and 
 retire to Mount Vernon. 
 
 The administration of Dinwiddie, however, was 
 now at an end. He set sail for England in January, 
 1758, very little regretted, excepting by his immediate 
 hangers-on ; and leaving a character overshadowed by 
 the imputation of avarice and extortion in the exaction 
 of illegal fees, and of downright delinquency in regard 
 to large sums transmitted to him by government, to be 
 paid over to the province in indemnification of its extra 
 expenses ; for the disposition of which sums he failed 
 to render an account. 
 
 He was evidently a sordid, narrow-minded, and 
 somewhat arrogant man ; bustling rather than active ; 
 prone to meddle with matters of which he was pro- 
 foundly ignorant, and absurdly unwilling to have his 
 ignorance enlightened. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 WASHINGTON EEOOVEE8 HIS HEALTH — AGAIN IN COMMAND AT FOET 
 LOUDOUN — ADMINISTRATION OF PITT — LOUDOUN SUCCEEDED BY GEN- 
 ERAL ABEECEOMBIE — MILITAET AEEANGEMENTS — WASHINGTON COM- 
 MANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE VIEGINIA FOECES — AMHEEST AGAINST 
 LOUISBUEG GENEEAL WOLFE — MONTGOMEBY OAPTUEE OF LOUIS- 
 BUB G ABEECEOMBIE ON LAKE GEOEGE — DEATH OF LORD HOWE — 
 
 EEPULSE OF ABEECEOMBIE — SUCCESS OF BEADSTEEET AT OSWEGO. 
 
 For several months, Washington was afflicted by re- 
 turns of his malady, accompanied by symptoms indica- 
 tive, as he thought, of a decline. " My constitution," 
 writes he to his friend Colonel Stanwix, "is much 
 impaired, and nothing can retrieve it but the greatest 
 care and the most circumspect course of life. This 
 being the case, as I have now no prospect left of prefer- 
 ment in the military way, and despair of rendering that 
 immediate service which my country may require from 
 the person commanding its troops, I have thoughts of 
 quitting my command and retiring from all public busi- 
 ness, leaving my post to be filled by some other person 
 more capable of the task, and who may, perhaps, have 
 
264 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 his endeavors crowned with better success than mine 
 have been/' 
 
 A gradual improvement in his health, and a change 
 in his prospects, encouraged him to continue in what 
 really was his favorite career, and at the beginning of 
 April he was again in command at Port Loudoun. Mr. 
 Francis Fauquier had been appointed successor to Din- 
 widdie, and, until he should arrive, Mr. John Blair, 
 president of the council, had, from his office, charge 
 of the government. In the latter, Washington had a 
 friend who appreciated his character and services, and 
 was disposed to carry out his plans. 
 
 The general aspect of affairs, also, was more ani- 
 mating. Under the able and intrepid administration 
 of William Pitt, who had control of the British cabi- 
 net, an effort was made to retrieve the disgraces of the 
 late American campaign, and to carry on the war with 
 greater vigor. The instructions for a common fund 
 were discontinued ; there was no more talk of taxation 
 by Parliament. Lord Loudoun, from whom so much 
 had been anticipated, had disappointed by his inactiv- 
 ity, and been relieved from a command in which he had 
 attempted much and done so little. His friends alleged 
 that his inactivity was owing to a want of unanimity 
 and co-operation in the colonial governments, which 
 paralyzed all his well-meant efforts. Franklin, it is 
 probable, probed the matter with his usual sagacity 
 when he characterized him as a man " entirely made 
 up of indecision." — "Like St. George on the signs, 
 he was always on horseback, but never rode on." 
 
 On the return of his lordship to England, the gen- 
 eral command in America devolved on Major-general 
 
1758.] DIVISION OF THE FORCES. 265 
 
 Abercrombie, and the forces were divided into three 
 detached bodies ; one, under Major-general Amherst, 
 was to operate in the north with the fleet under Bos- 
 cawen, for the reduction of Louisburg and the island of 
 Cape Breton ; another, under Abercrombie himself, was 
 to proceed against Ticonderoga and Crown Point on 
 Lake Champlain ; and the third, under Brigadier-gen- 
 eral Forbes, who had the charge of the middle and 
 southern colonies, was to undertake the reduction of 
 Fort Duquesne. The colonial troops were to be sup- 
 plied, like the regulars, with arms, ammunition, tents, 
 and provisions, at the expense of government, but 
 clothed and paid by the colonies ; for which the king 
 would recommend to Parliament a proper compensa- 
 tion. The provincial officers appointed by the govern- 
 ors, and of no higher rank than colonel, were to be 
 equal in command, when united in service with those 
 who held direct from the king, according to the date 
 of their commissions. By these wise provisions of Mr. 
 Pitt, a fertile cause of heartburnings and dissensions 
 was removed. 
 
 It was with the greatest satisfaction Washington 
 saw his favorite measure at last adopted, the reduction 
 of Fort Duquesne ; and he resolved to continue in the 
 service until that object was accomplished. In a letter 
 to Stanwix, who was now a brigadier-general, he mod- 
 estly requested to be mentioned in favorable terms to 
 General Forbes j " not," said he, " as a person who 
 would depend upon him for further recommendation to 
 military preferment (for I have long conquered all such 
 inclinations, and shall serve this campaign merely for 
 the purpose of affording my best endeavors to bring 
 
266 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758 
 
 matters to a conclusion), but as a person who would 
 gladly be distinguished in some measure from the com- 
 mon run of provincial officers, as I understand there 
 will be a motley herd of us." He had the satisfaction 
 subsequently of enjoying the fullest confidence of Gen- 
 eral Forbes, who knew too well the sound judgment 
 and practical ability evinced by him in the unfortunate 
 campaign of Braddock, not to be desirous of availing 
 himself of his counsels. 
 
 Washington still was commander-in-chief of the 
 Virginia troops, now augmented, by an act of the As- 
 sembly, to two regiments of one thousand men each ; 
 one led by himself, the other by ^Colonel Byrd j the 
 whole destined to make a part of the army of General 
 Forbes in the expedition against Fort Duquesne. 
 
 Of the animation which he felt at the prospect of 
 serving in this long-desired campaign, and revisiting 
 with an effective force the scene of past disasters, we 
 have a proof in a short letter, written during the ex- 
 citement of the moment, to Major Francis Halket, his 
 former companion in arms. 
 
 " My dear Halket : — Are we to have you once more 
 among us ? And shall we revisit together a hapless spot, 
 that proved so fatal to many of our former brave com- 
 panions ? Yes ; and I rejoice at it, hoping it will now 
 be in our power to testify a just abhorrence of the cruel 
 butcheries exercised on our friends in the unfortunate 
 day of General Braddock's defeat ; and, moreover, to 
 show our enemies, that we can practise all that lenity 
 of which they only boast, without affording any ade- 
 quate proof." 
 
 Before we proceed to narrate the expedition against 
 
1758.] AMHERST AGAINST LOTJISBURG. 267 
 
 Fort Duquesne, however, we will briefly notice the con- 
 duct of the two other expeditions, which formed im- 
 portant parts in the plan of military operations for the 
 year. And first, of that against Louisburg and the 
 Island of Cape Breton. 
 
 Major-general Amherst, who conducted this expe- 
 dition, embarked with between ten and twelve thousand 
 men, in the fleet of Admiral Boscawen, and set sail 
 about the end of May, from Halifax, in Nova Scotia. 
 Along with him went Brigadier-general James Wolfe, 
 an officer young in years, but a veteran in military ex- 
 perience, and destined to gain an almost romantic 
 celebrity. He may almost be said to have been born 
 in the camp; for he was the son of Major-general 
 Wolfe, a veteran officer of merit, and when a lad had 
 witnessed the battles of Dettingen and Fontenoy. 
 While a mere youth, he had distinguished himself at 
 the battle of Laffeldt, in the Netherlands ; and now, 
 after having been eighteen years in the service, he was 
 but thirty-one years of age. In America, however, he 
 was to win his lasting laurels. 
 
 On the 2d of June, the fleet arrived at the Bay of 
 Gabarus, aboutr seven miles to the west of Louisburg. 
 The latter place was garrisoned by two thousand five 
 hundred regulars, and three hundred militia, and sub- 
 sequently reinforced by upwards of four hundred Cana- 
 dians and Indians. In the harbor were six ships of 
 the line, and five frigates ; three of which were sunk 
 across the mouth. For several days the troops were 
 prevented from landing by boisterous weather, and a 
 heavy surf. The French improved that time to 
 
268 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 strengthen a chain of forts along the shore, deepening 
 trenches, and constructing batteries. 
 
 On the 8th of June, preparations for landing were 
 made before daybreak. The troops were embarked in 
 boats hi three divisions, under Brigadiers Wolfe, Whet- 
 more, and Laurens. The landing was to be attempted 
 west of the harbor, at a place feebly secured. Several 
 frigates and sloops previously scoured the beach with 
 their shot, after which Wolfe pulled for shore with his 
 divisions ; the other two divisions distracting the atten- 
 tion of the enemy, by making a show of landing in 
 other parts. The surf still ran high, the enemy opened 
 a fire of cannon and musketry from their batteries, 
 many boats were upset, many men slain ; but Wolfe 
 pushed forward, sprang into the water when the boats 
 grounded, dashed through the surf with his men, storm- 
 ed the enemy's breastworks and batteries, and drove 
 them from the shore. Among the subalterns who stood 
 by Wolfe on this occasion, was an Irish youth, twenty- 
 one years of age, named Richard Montgomery, whom, 
 for his gallantry, Wolfe promoted to a lieutenantcy, and 
 who was destined, in after years, to gain an imperisha- 
 ble renown. The other divisions effected a landing 
 after a severe conflict ; artillery and stores were brought 
 on shore, and Louisburg was formally invested. 
 
 The weather continued boisterous ; the heavy can- 
 non, and the various munitions necessary for a siege, 
 were landed with difficulty. Amherst, moreover, was 
 a cautious man, and made his approaches slowly, secur- 
 ing his camp by redoubts and epaulements. The 
 Chevalier Drucour, who commanded at Louisburg, 
 called in his outposts, and prepared for a desperate de- 
 
1758.] CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG. 269 
 
 fence ; keeping up a heavy fire from his batteries, and 
 from the ships in the harbor. 
 
 Wolfe, with a strong detachment, surprised at 
 night, and took possession of Light House Point, on 
 the north-east side of the entrance to the harbor. Here 
 he threw up batteries in addition to those already there, 
 from which he was enabled greatly to annoy both town 
 and shipping, as well as to aid Amherst in his slow, but 
 regular and sure approaches. 
 
 On the 21st of July, the three largest of the ene- 
 my's ships were set on fire by a bombshell. On the 
 night of the 25th, two other of the ships were board- 
 ed, sword in hand, from boats of the squadron ; one 
 being aground, was burnt, the other was towed out of 
 the harbor in triumph. The brave Drucour kept up 
 the defence until all the ships were either taken or de- 
 stroyed ; forty, out of fifty-two pieces of cannon dis- 
 mounted, and his works mere heaps of ruins. When 
 driven to capitulate, he refused the terms proposed, as 
 being too severe, and, when threatened with a general 
 assault, by sea and land, determined to abide it, rather 
 than submit to what he considered a humiliation. The 
 prayers and petitions of the inhabitants, however, over- 
 came his obstinacy. The place was surrendered, and 
 he and his garrison became prisoners of war. Captain 
 Amherst, brother to the general, carried home the news 
 to England, with eleven pair of colors, taken at Louis- 
 burg. There were rejoicings throughout the kingdom. 
 The colors were borne in triumph through the streets 
 of London, with a parade of horse and foot, kettle 
 drums and trumpets, and the thunder of artillery, and 
 were put up as trophies in St. Paul's Cathedral. 
 
270 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. * [1758L 
 
 Boscawen, who was a member of Parliament, re- 
 ceived a unanimous vote of praise from the House of 
 Commons, and the youthful Wolfe, who returned shortly 
 after the victory to England, was hailed as the hero of 
 the enterprise. 
 
 We have disposed of one of the three great expe- 
 ditions contemplated in the plan of the year's cam- 
 paign. The second was that against the Trench forts 
 on Lakes George and Champlain. At the beginning of 
 July, Abercrombie was encamped on the borders of 
 Lake George, with between six and seven thousand 
 regulars, and upwards of nine thousand provincials, 
 from New England, New York, and New Jersey. 
 Major Israel Putnam, of Connecticut, who had .served 
 on this lake, under Sir William Johnson, in the cam- 
 paign in which Dieskau was defeated and slain, had 
 been detached with a scouting party to reconnoitre the 
 neighborhood. After his return and report, Aber- 
 crombie prepared to proceed against Ticonderoga, situ- 
 ated on a tongue of land in Lake Champlain, at the 
 mouth of the strait communicating with Lake George. 
 
 On the 5th of July, the forces were embarked in 
 one hundred and twenty-five whale-boats, and nine 
 hundred batteaux, with the artillery on rafts. The vast 
 flotilla proceeded slowly down the lake, with banners 
 and pennons fluttering in the summer breeze; arms 
 glittering in the sunshine, and martial music echoing 
 along the wood-clad mountains. With Abercrombie 
 went Lord Howe, a young nobleman, brave and enter- 
 prising, full of martial enthusiasm, and endeared to the 
 soldiery by the generosity of his disposition, and the 
 sweetness of his manners. 
 
1758.] DEATH OF LORD HOWE. 271 
 
 On the first night they bivouacked for some hours 
 at Sabbath-day Point, but re-embarked before mid- 
 night. The next day they landed on a point on the 
 western shore, just at the entrance of the strait leading 
 to Lake Champlain. Here they were formed into three 
 columns, and pushed forward. 
 
 They soon came upon the enemy's advanced guard, 
 a battalion encamped behind a log breastwork. The 
 French set fire to their camp, and retreated. The 
 columns kept their form, and pressed forward; but, 
 through ignorance of their guides, became bewildered 
 in a dense forest, fell into confusion, and blundered 
 upon each other. 
 
 Lord Howe urged on with the van of the right 
 centre column. Putnam, who was with him, and more 
 experienced in forest warfare, endeavored in vain to 
 inspire him with caution. After a time they came 
 upon a detachment of the retreating foe, who, like 
 themselves, had lost their way. A severe conflict en- 
 sued. Lord Howe, who gallantly led the van, was 
 killed at the onset. His fall gave new ardor to his 
 troops. The enemy were routed, some slain, some 
 drowned, about one hundred and fifty taken prisoners, 
 including five officers. Nothing further was done that 
 day. The death of Lord Howe more than counterbal- 
 anced the defeat of the enemy. His loss was bewailed 
 not merely by the army, but by the American people ; 
 for it is singular how much this young nobleman, in a 
 short time, had made himself beloved. The point near 
 which the troops had landed still bears his name ; the 
 place where he fell is still pointed out ; and Massachu- 
 setts voted him a monument in Westminster Abbey. 
 
272 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 With Lord Howe expired the master spirit of the 
 enterprise. Abererombie fell back to the landing- 
 place. The next day he sent out a strong detachment 
 of regulars, royal provincials, and batteaux men, under 
 Lieutenant-colonel Bradstreet, of New York, to secure 
 a saw-mill, which the enemy had abandoned. This 
 done, he followed on the same evening "with the main 
 forces, and took post at the mill, within two miles of 
 the fort. Here he was joined by Sir William Johnson, 
 with between four and five hundred savage warriors 
 from the Mohawk River. 
 
 Montcalm had called in all his forces, between three 
 and four thousand men, and was strongly posted be- 
 hind deep intrenchments and breastworks eight feet 
 high ; -with an abbatis, or felled trees, in front of his 
 lines, presenting a horrid barrier, with their jagged 
 boughs pointing outward. Abererombie was deceived 
 as to the strength of the French works ; his engineers 
 persuaded him they were formidable only in appear- 
 ance, but really weak and flimsy. Without waiting for 
 the arrival of his cannon, and against the opinion of his 
 most judicious officers, he gave orders to storm the 
 works. Never were rash orders more gallantly obeyed. 
 The men rushed forward with fixed bayonets, and at- 
 tempted to force their way through, or scramble over 
 the abbatis, under a sheeted fire of swivels and mus- 
 ketry. In the desperation of the moment, the officers 
 even tried to cut their way through with their swords. 
 Some even reached the parapet, where they were shot 
 down. The breastwork was too high to be surmount- 
 ed, and gave a secure covert to the enemy. Repeated 
 assaults were made, and as often repelled, with dread- 
 
1758.] FAILURE OF ABERCROMBIE. 273 
 
 ful havoc. The Iroquois warriors, who had arrived 
 with Sir William Johnson, took no part, it is said, in 
 this fierce conflict, but stood aloof as unconcerned spec 
 tators of the bloody strife of white men. 
 
 After four hours of desperate and fruitless fight- 
 ing, Abercrombie, who had all the time remained aloof 
 at the saw-mills, gave up the ill-judged attempt, and 
 withdrew once more to the landing-place, with the loss 
 of nearly two thousand in killed and wounded. Had 
 not the vastly inferior force of Montcalm prevented him 
 from sallying beyond his trenches, the retreat of the 
 British might have been pushed to a headlong and dis- 
 astrous flight. 
 
 Abercrombie had still nearly four times the number 
 of the enemy, with cannon, and all the means of carry- 
 ing on a siege, with every prospect of success ; but the 
 failure of this rash assault seems completely to have 
 dismayed him. The next day he re-embarked all his 
 troops, and returned across that lake where his dis- 
 graced banners had recently waved so proudly. 
 
 While the general was planning fortifications on 
 Lake George, Colonel Bradstreet obtained permission 
 to carry into effect an expedition which he had for 
 some time meditated, and which had been a favorite 
 project with the lamented Howe. This was to reduce 
 Fort Frontenac, the stronghold of the French on the 
 north side of the entrance of Lake Ontario, command- 
 ing the mouth of the St. Lawrence. This post was a 
 central point of Indian trade, where the tribes resorted 
 from all parts of a vast interior, sometimes a dis- 
 tance of a thousand miles, to traffic away their peltries 
 with the fur-traders. It was, moreover, a magazine for 
 
 VOL. I. 18 
 
274 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 the more southern posts, among which was Port Du- 
 quesne on the Ohio. 
 
 Bradstreet was an officer of spirit. Pushing his 
 way along the valley of the Mohawk and by the Oneida, 
 where he was joined by several warriors of the Six Na- 
 tions, he arrived at Oswego in August, with nearly 
 three thousand men ; the greater part of them provin- 
 cial troops of New York and Massachusetts. Embark- 
 ing at Oswego in open boats, he crossed Lake Ontario, 
 and landed within a mile of Frontenac. The fort 
 mounted sixty guns, and several mortars, yet though a 
 place of such importance, the garrison consisted of 
 merely one hundred and ten men, and a few Indians. 
 These either fled, or surrendered at discretion. In the 
 fort was an immense amount of merchandise and mili- 
 tary stores ; part of the latter intended for the supply 
 of Port Duquesne. In the harbor were nine armed 
 vessels, some of them carrying eighteen guns; the 
 whole of the enemy's shipping on the lake. Two of 
 these Colonel Bradstreet freighted with part of the 
 spoils of the fort, the others he destroyed ; then having 
 dismantled the fortifications, and laid waste every thing 
 which he could not carry away, he recrossed the lake 
 to Oswego, and returned with his troops to the army 
 on Lake George. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 BLOW OPEEATIONS — WASHINGTON OEDEBS OUT THE MILITIA — MISSION 
 
 TO WILLIAMSBUEG HALT AT ME. CHAMBEELAYNE's MES. MAETHA 
 
 CUSTIS — A BEIEF COUBTSHIP — AN ENGAGEMENT — EETTJEN TO WIN- 
 OHESTEE — THE BIFLE DEESS — INDIAN SCOUTS — WASHINGTON ELECTED 
 TO THE HOUSE OF BUEGESSES — TIDINGS OF AMHEBST's SUCCESS — THE 
 
 NEW EOAD TO FOET DUQUESNE — MAECH FOE THE FOET INDISCEEET 
 
 CONDUCT OF MA JOE GEANT DISASTEOUS CONSEQUENCES — WASHING- 
 TON ADVANCES AGAINST FOET DUQUESNE END OF THE EXPEDITION — 
 
 WASHINGTON EETUENS HOME — HIS MAEEIAGE. 
 
 Operations went on slowly in that part of the year's 
 campaign in which Washington was immediately en- 
 gaged — the expedition against Port Duquesne. Briga- 
 dier-general Forbes, who was commander-in-chief, was 
 detained at Philadelphia by those delays and cross-pur- 
 poses incident to military affairs in a new country. 
 Colonel Bouquet, who was to command the advanced 
 division, took his station, with a corps of regulars, at 
 Raystown in the centre of Pennsylvania. There slowly 
 assembled troops from various parts. Three thousand 
 Pennsylvanians, twelve hundred and fifty South Caro- 
 linians, and a few hundred men from elsewhere. 
 
 Washington, in the mean time, gathered together 
 
276 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 his scattered regiment at Winchester, some from a dis- 
 tance of two hundred miles, and diligently disciplined 
 his recruits. He had two Virginia regiments under 
 him, amounting, when complete, to about nineteen 
 hundred men. Seven hundred Indian warriors, also, 
 came lagging into his camp, lured by the prospect of a 
 successful campaign. 
 
 The president of the council had given Washington 
 a discretionary power in the present juncture, to order 
 out militia for the purpose of garrisoning the fort in the 
 absence of the regular troops. Washington exercised 
 the power with extreme reluctance. He considered it, 
 he said, an affair of too important and delicate a nature 
 for him to manage, and apprehended the discontent it 
 might occasion. In fact, his sympathies were always 
 with the husbandmen and the laborers of the soil, and 
 he deplored the evils imposed upon them by arbitrary 
 drafts for militia service ; a scruple not often indulged 
 by youthful commanders. 
 
 The force thus assembling was in want of arms, 
 tents, field-equipage, and almost every requisite. Wash- 
 ington had made repeated representations, by letter, 
 of the destitute state of the Virginia troops, but with- 
 out avail ; he was now ordered by Sir John St. Clair, 
 the quartermaster-general of the forces under General 
 Forbes, to repair to Williamsburg, and lay the state of 
 the case before the council. He set off promptly on 
 horseback, attended by Bishop, the well-trained mili- 
 tary servant, who had served the late General Brad- 
 dock. It proved an eventful journey, though not in a 
 military point of view. In crossing a ferry of the 
 Pamunkey, a branch of York River, he fell in company 
 
1758.] MRS. MARTHA CUSTIS. 277 
 
 with a Mr. Chamberlayne, who lived in the neighbor- 
 hood, and who, in the spirit of Virginian hospitality, 
 claimed him as a guest. It was with difficulty Wash- 
 ington could be prevailed on to halt for dinner, so im- 
 patient was he to arrive at Williamsburg, and accom- 
 plish his mission. 
 
 Among the guests at Mr. Chamberlayne's was a 
 young and blooming widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, 
 daughter of Mr. John Dandridge, both patrician names 
 in the province. Her husband, John Parke Custis, 
 had been dead about three years, leaving her with two 
 young children, and a large fortune. She is represent- 
 ed as being rather below the middle size, but extremely 
 well shaped, with an agreeable countenance, dark hazel 
 eyes and hair, and those frank, engaging manners, so 
 captivating in Southern women. We are not informed 
 whether Washington had met with her before ; proba- 
 bly not during her widowhood, as during that time he 
 had been almost continually on the frontier. We have 
 shown that, with all his gravity and reserve, he was 
 quickly susceptible to female charms; and they may 
 have had a greater effect upon him when thus casually 
 encountered, in fleeting moments snatched from the 
 cares and perplexities and rude scenes of frontier war- 
 fare. At any rate, his heart appears to have been taken 
 by surprise. 
 
 The dinner, which in those days was an earlier 
 meal than at present, seemed all too short. The after- 
 noon passed away like a dream. Bishop was punctual 
 to the orders he had received on halting ; the horses 
 pawed at the door ; but for once Washington loitered 
 in the path of duty. The horses were countermanded, 
 
278 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [UBS. 
 
 and it was not until the next morning that he was again 
 in the saddle, spurring for Williamsburg. Happily, 
 the White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, was in 
 New Kent County, at no great distance from that city, 
 so that he had opportunities of visiting her in the inter- 
 vals of business. His time for courtship, however, 
 was brief. Military duties called him back almost im- 
 mediately to Winchester; but he feared, should he 
 leave the matter in suspense, some more enterprising 
 rival might supplant him during his absence, as in the 
 case of Miss Philipse, at New York. He improved, 
 therefore, his brief opportunity to the utmost. The 
 blooming widow had many suitors, but Washington 
 was graced with that renown so ennobling in the eyes 
 of woman. In a word, before they separated, they had 
 mutually plighted their faith, and the marriage was to 
 take place as soon as the campaign against Fort Du- 
 quesne was at an end. 
 
 Before returning to Winchester, Washington was 
 obliged to hold conferences with Sir John St. Clair and 
 Colonel Bouquet, at an intermediate rendezvous, to 
 give them information respecting the frontiers, and 
 arrange about the marching of his troops. His con- 
 stant word to them was forward ! forward ! For the 
 precious time for action was slipping away, and he 
 feared their Indian allies, so important to their security 
 while on the march, might, with their usual fickleness, 
 lose patience, and return home. 
 
 On arriving at Winchester, he found his troops rest- 
 less and discontented, from prolonged inaction; the 
 inhabitants impatient of the burdens imposed on them, 
 and of the disturbances of an idle camp ; while the 
 
1758.] THE RIFLE DRESS. 279 
 
 Indians, as he apprehended, had deserted outright. It 
 was a great relief, therefore, when he received orders 
 from the commander-in-chief to repair to Port Cumber- 
 land. He arrived there on the 2d of July, and pro- 
 ceeded to open a road between that post and head- 
 quarters, at Raystown, thirty miles distant, where 
 Colonel Bouquet was stationed. 
 
 His troops were scantily supplied with regimental 
 clothing. The weather was oppressively warm. He 
 now conceived the idea of equipping them in the light 
 Indian hunting garb, and even of adopting it himself. 
 Two companies were accordingly equipped in this style, 
 and sent under the command of Major Lewis to head- 
 quarters. " It is an unbecoming dress, I own, for an 
 officer," writes Washington, "but convenience rather 
 than show, I think, should be consulted. The reduc- 
 tion of bat-horses alone would be sufficient to recom- 
 mend it; for nothing is more certain than that less 
 baggage would be required." 
 
 The experiment was successful. " The dress takes 
 very well here," writes Colonel Bouquet ; " and, 
 thank God, we see nothing but shirts and blankets. 
 * * * Their dress should be one pattern for this 
 expedition." Such was probably the origin of the 
 American rifle dress, afterwards so much worn in war- 
 fare, and modelled on the Indian costume. 
 
 The army was now annoyed by scouting parties of 
 Indians hovering about the neighborhood. Expresses 
 passing between the posts were fired upon ; a waggoner 
 was shot down. Washington sent out counter-parties 
 of Cherokees. Colonel Bouquet required that each 
 party should be accompanied by an officer and a num- 
 
280 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 ber of white men. Washington complied with the 
 order, though he considered them an encumbrance 
 rather than an advantage. " Small parties of Indians," 
 said he, " will more effectually harass the enemy, by 
 keeping them under continual alarms, than any parties 
 of white men can do. For small parties of the latter 
 are not equal to the task, not being so dexterous at 
 skulking as Indians ; and large parties will be discov- 
 ered by their spies early enough to have a superior 
 force opposed to them." With all his efforts, however, 
 he was never able fully to make the officers of the 
 regular army appreciate the importance of Indian allies 
 in these campaigns in the wilderness. 
 
 On the other hand, he earnestly discountenanced a 
 proposition of Colonel Bouquet, to make an irruption 
 into the enemy's country with a strong party of regulars. 
 Such a detachment, he observed, could not be sent 
 without a cumbersome train of supplies, which would 
 discover it to the enemy, who must at that time be col- 
 lecting his whole force at Tort Duquesne ; the enter- 
 prise, therefore, would be likely to terminate in a mis- 
 carriage, if not in the destruction of the party. We 
 shall see that his opinion was oracular. 
 
 As Washington intended to retire from military life 
 at the close of this campaign, he had proposed himself 
 to the electors of Frederick County as their representa- 
 tive in the House of Burgesses. The election was 
 coming on at Winchester ; his friends pressed him to 
 attend it, and Colonel Bouquet gave him leave of ab- 
 sence ; but he declined to absent himself from his post 
 for the promotion of his political interests. There were 
 three competitors in the field, yet so high was the pub- 
 
1758.] TIDINGS OF AMHERST S SUCCESS. 281 
 
 lie opinion of his merit, that, though Winchester had 
 been his head-quarters for two or three years past, and 
 he had occasionally enforced martial law with a rigor- 
 ous hand, he was elected by a large majority. The 
 election was carried on somewhat in the English style. 
 There was much eating and drinking at the expense of 
 the candidate. Washington appeared on the hustings 
 by proxy, and his representative was chaired about the 
 town with enthusiastic applause and huzzaing for 
 Colonel Washington. 
 
 On the 21st of July arrived tidings of the brilliant 
 success of that part of the scheme of the year's cam- 
 paign, conducted by General Amherst and Admiral 
 Boscawen, who had reduced the strong town of Louis- 
 burg, and gained possession of the Island of Cape Bre- 
 ton. This intelligence increased Washington's impa- 
 tience at the delays of the expedition with which he 
 was connected. He wished to rival these successes by 
 a brilliant blow in the south. Perhaps a desire for 
 personal distinction in the eyes of the lady of his choice 
 may have been at the bottom of this impatience ; for 
 we are told that he kept up a constant correspondence 
 with her throughout the campaign. 
 
 Understanding that the commander-in-chief had 
 some thoughts of throwing a body of light troops in 
 the advance, he wrote to Colonel Bouquet, earnestly 
 soliciting his influence to have himself and his Virginia 
 regiment included in the detachment. "If any argu- 
 ment is needed to obtain this favor," said he, " I hope, 
 without vanity, I may be allowed to say, that from long 
 intimacy with these woods, and frequent scoutings in 
 them, my men are at least as well acquainted with all 
 
282 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 the passes and difficulties as any troops that will be 
 employed." 
 
 He soon learned to his surprise, however, that the 
 road to which his men were accustomed, and which had 
 been worked by Braddock's troops in his campaign, 
 was not to be taken in the present expedition, but a new 
 one opened through the heart of Pennsylvania, from 
 Raystown to Port Duquesne, on the track generally 
 taken by the northern traders. He instantly com- 
 menced long and repeated remonstrances on the sub- 
 ject ; representing that Braddock's road, from recent 
 examination, only needed partial repairs, and showing 
 by clear calculation that an army could reach Fort Du- 
 quesne by that route in thirty-four days, so that the 
 whole campaign might be effected by the middle of 
 October; whereas the extreme labor of opening a 
 new road across mountains, swamps, and through a 
 densely wooded country, would detain them so late, 
 that the season would be over before they could reach 
 the scene of action. His representations were of no 
 avail. The officers of the regular service had received 
 a fearful idea of Braddock's road from his own des- 
 patches, wherein he had described it as lying " across 
 mountains and rocks of an excessive height, vastly 
 steep, and divided by torrents and rivers." Whereas 
 the Pennsylvania traders, who were anxious for the 
 opening of the new road through their province, de- 
 scribed the country through which it would pass as less 
 difficult, and its streams less subject to inundation; 
 above all, it was a direct line, and fifty miles nearer. 
 This route, therefore, to the great regret of Washing- 
 ton, and the indignation of the Virginia Assembly, 
 
1758.] A NEW ROAD TO FORT DUQUESNE. 283 
 
 was definitively adopted, and sixteen hundred men were 
 immediately thrown in the advance from Raystown to 
 work upon it. 
 
 The first of September found Washington still en- 
 camped at Port Cumberland; his troops sickly and 
 dispirited, and the brilliant expedition which he had 
 anticipated, dwindling down into a tedious operation 
 of road-making. In the mean time, his scouts brought 
 him word that the whole force at Fort Duquesne on 
 the 13th of August, Indians included, did not exceed 
 eight hundred men: had an early campaign been 
 pressed forward, as he recommended, the place by this 
 time would have been captured. At length, in the 
 month of September, he received orders from General 
 Forbes to join him with his troops at Raystown, where 
 he had just arrived, having been detained by severe 
 illness. He was received by the general with the high- 
 est marks of respect. On all occasions, both in pri- 
 vate and at councils of war, that commander treated 
 his opinions with the greatest deference. He, more- 
 over, adopted a plan drawn out by Washington for 
 the march of the army, and an order of battle which 
 still exists, furnishing a proof of his skill in frontier 
 warfare. 
 
 It was now the middle of September; yet the 
 great body of men engaged in opening the new mili- 
 tary road, after incredible toil, had not advanced above 
 forty-five miles, to a place called Loyal Hannan, a little 
 beyond Laurel Hill. Colonel Bouquet, who command- 
 ed the division of nearly two thousand men sent for- 
 ward to open this road, had halted at Loyal Hannan to 
 establish a military post and deposit. 
 
284 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 He was upwards of fifty miles from Port Duquesne, 
 and was tempted to adopt the measure, so strongly dis- 
 countenanced by Washington, of sending a party on a 
 foray into the enemy's country. He accordingly de- 
 tached Major Grant with eight hundred picked men, 
 some of them Highlanders, others, in Indian garb, the 
 part of Washington's Virginian regiment sent forward 
 by him from Cumberland under command of Major 
 Lewis. 
 
 The instructions given to Major Grant were merely 
 to reconnoitre the country in the neighborhood of Fort 
 Duquesne, and ascertain the strength and position of 
 the enemy. He conducted the enterprise with the 
 foolhardiness of a man eager for personal notoriety. 
 His whole object seems to have been by open bravado 
 to provoke an action. The enemy were apprised, 
 through their scouts, of his approach, but suffered him 
 to advance unmolested. Arriving at night in the 
 neighborhood of the fort, he posted his men on a hill, 
 and sent out a party of observation, who set fire to a 
 log house near the walls and returned to the encamp- 
 ment. As if this were not sufficient to put the enemy 
 on the alert, he ordered the reveille to be beaten in the 
 morning in several places ; then, posting Major Lewis 
 with his provincial troops at a distance in the rear, to 
 protect the baggage, he marshalled his regulars in bat- 
 tle array, and sent an engineer, with a covering party, 
 to take a plan of the works in full view of the garrison. 
 Not a gun was fired by the fort ; the silence which 
 was maintained was mistaken for fear, and increased 
 the arrogance and blind security of the British com- 
 mander. ' At length, when he was thrown off his 
 
1758.] DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES. 285 
 
 guard, there was a sudden sally of the garrison, and an 
 attack on the flanks by Indians hid in ambush. A 
 scene now occurred similar to that at the defeat of 
 Braddock. The British officers marshalled their men 
 according to European tactics, and the Highlanders for 
 some time stood their ground bravely ; but the destruc- 
 tive fire and horrid yells of the Indians soon produced 
 panic and confusion. Major Lewis, at the first noise 
 of the attack, left Captain Bullitt, with fifty Virginians, 
 to guard the baggage, and hastened with the main part 
 of his men to the scene of action. The contest was 
 kept up for some time, but the confusion was irretriev- 
 able. The Indians sallied from their concealment, and 
 attacked with the tomahawk and scalping-knife. Lewis 
 fought hand to hand with an Indian brave, whom he 
 laid dead at his feet ; but was surrounded by others, 
 and only saved his life by surrendering himself to a 
 French officer. Major Grant surrendered himself in 
 like manner. The whole detachment was put to the 
 rout with dreadful carnage. 
 
 Captain Bullitt rallied several of the fugitives, and 
 prepared to make a forlorn stand, as the only chance 
 where the enemy was overwhelming and merciless. 
 Despatching the most valuable baggage with the strong- 
 est horses, he made a barricade with the baggage wag- 
 gons, behind which he posted his men, giving them 
 orders how they were to act. All this was the thought 
 and the work almost of a moment; for the savages, 
 having finished the havoc and plunder of the field of 
 battle, were hastening in pursuit of the fugitives. Bul- 
 litt suffered them to come near, when, on a concerted 
 signal, a destructive fire was opened from behind the 
 
286 LI*£ OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 baggage waggons. They were checked for a time, but 
 were again pressing forward in greater numbers, when 
 Bullitt and his men held out the signal of capitulation, 
 and advanced as if to surrender. When within eight 
 yards of the enemy, they suddenly levelled their arms, 
 poured a most effective volley, and then charged with 
 the bayonet. The Indians fled in dismay, and Bullitt 
 took advantage of this check to retreat with all speed, 
 collecting the wounded and the scattered fugitives as he 
 advanced. The routed detachment came back in frag- 
 ments to Colonel Bouquet's camp at Loyal Hannan, 
 with the loss of twenty-one officers, and two hundred 
 and seventy-three privates, killed and taken. The 
 Highlanders and the Virginians were those that fought 
 the best, and suffered the most in this bloody battle. 
 Washington's regiment lost six officers and sixty-two 
 privates. 
 
 If Washington could have taken any pride in see- 
 ing his presages of misfortune verified, he might have 
 been gratified by the result of this rash " irruption into 
 the enemy's country," which was exactly what he had 
 predicted. In his letters to Governor Fauquier, how- 
 ever, he bears lightly on the error of Colonel Bouquet. 
 " Prom all accounts I can collect," says he, " it appears 
 very clear that this was a very ill-concerted, or a very 
 ill-executed plan, perhaps both; but it seems to be 
 generally acknowledged that Major Grant exceeded his 
 orders, and that no disposition was made for en- 
 gaging" 
 
 Washington, who was at Raystown when the disas- 
 trous news arrived, was publicly complimented by 
 General Forbes, on the gallant conduct of his Virgin- 
 
1758.J THE ARMY AT LOYAL HANNA^. 287 
 
 ian troops, and Bullitt's behavior was " a matter of 
 great admiration." The latter was soon after reward- 
 ed with a major's commission. 
 
 As a further mark of the high opinion now enter- 
 tained of provincial troops for frontier service, Washing- 
 ton was given the command of a division, partly com- 
 posed of his own men, to keep in the advance of the 
 main body, clear the roads, throw out scouting parties, 
 and repel Indian attacks. 
 
 It was the 5th of November before the whole army 
 assembled at Loyal Hannan. Winter was now at 
 hand, and upwards of fifty miles of wilderness were 
 yet to be traversed, by a road not yet formed, before 
 they could reach Tort Duquesne. Again Washington's 
 predictions seemed likely to be verified, and the expe- 
 dition to be defeated by delay ; for in a council of war 
 it was determined to be impracticable to advance fur- 
 ther with the army that season. Three prisoners, how- 
 ever, who were brought in, gave such an account of the 
 weak state of the garrison at Port Duquesne, its want 
 of provisions, and the defection of the Indians, that it 
 was determined to push forward. The march was ac- 
 cordingly resumed, but without tents or baggage, and 
 with only a light train of artillery. 
 
 Washington still kept the advance. After leaving 
 Loyal Hannan, the road presented traces of the late 
 defeat of Grant ; being strewed with human bones, the 
 sad relics of fugitives cut down by the Indians, or of 
 wounded soldiers who had died on the retreat ; they 
 lay mouldering in various stages of decay, mingled 
 with the bones of horses and of oxen. As they ap- 
 proached Port Duquesne, these mementoes of former 
 
288 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1758. 
 
 disasters became more frequent ; and the bones of 
 those massacred in the defeat of Braddock, still lay 
 scattered about the battle field, whitening in the sun. 
 
 At length the army arrived in sight of Port Du- 
 quesne, advancing with great precaution, and expecting 
 a vigorous defence ; but that formidable fortress, the 
 terror and scourge of the frontier, and the object of 
 such warlike enterprise, fell without a blow. The 
 recent successes of the English forces in Canada,, 
 particularly the capture and destruction of Port 
 Frontenac, had left the garrison without hope of 
 reinforcements and supplies. The whole force, at the 
 time, did not exceed five hundred men, and the pro- 
 visions were nearly exhausted. The commander, there- 
 fore, waited only until the English army was within 
 one day's march, when he embarked his troops at night 
 in batteaux, blew up his magazines, set fire to the fort, 
 and retreated down the Ohio, by the light of the 
 flames. On the 25th of November, Washington, with 
 the advanced guard, marched in, and planted the Brit- 
 ish flag on the yet smoking ruins. 
 
 One of the first offices of the army was to collect 
 and bury, in one common tomb, the bones of their 
 fellow-soldiers who had fallen in the battles of Brad- 
 dock and Grant. In this pious duty it is said every 
 one joined, from the general down to the private soldier ; 
 and some veterans assisted, with heavy hearts and fre- 
 quent ejaculations of poignant feeling, who had been 
 present in the scenes of defeat and carnage. 
 
 The ruins of the fortress were now put in a defen- 
 sible state, and garrisoned by two hundred men from 
 Washington's regiment ; the name was changed to that 
 
1759.J MARRIAGE WITH MRS. CUSTIS. 289 
 
 of Port Pitt, in honor of the illustrious British minis- 
 ter, whose measures had given vigor and effect to this 
 year's campaign ; it has since been modified into Pitts- 
 burg, and designates one of the most busy and popu- 
 lous cities of the interior. 
 
 The reduction of Port Duquesne terminated, as 
 Washington had foreseen, the troubles and dangers of 
 the southern frontier. The Prench domination of the 
 Ohio was at an end ; the Indians, as usual, paid hom- 
 age to the conquering power, and a treaty of peace was 
 concluded with all the tribes between the Ohio and the 
 lakes. 
 
 With this campaign ended, for the present, the 
 military career of Washington. His great object was 
 attained, the restoration of quiet and security to his 
 native province; and, having abandoned all hope of 
 attaining rank in the regular army, and his health being 
 much impaired, he gave up his commission at the close 
 of the year, and retired from the service, followed by 
 the applause of his fellow-soldiers, and the gratitude 
 and admiration of all his countrymen. 
 
 His marriage with Mrs. Custis took place shortly 
 after his return. It was celebrated on the 6th of Jan- 
 uary, 1759, at the White House, the residence of the 
 bride, in the good old hospitable style of Virginia, amid 
 a joyous assemblage of relatives and friends. 
 
 VOL. i. — 19 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 PLAN OF OPERATIONS FOE 1759 — INVESTMENT OF FOET NIAGARA — DEATH 
 OF PRIDE ATJX — SUCCESS OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON — AMHERST AT TI- 
 CONDEROGA — WOLFE AT QUEBEC — HIS TRIUMPH AND DEATH — FATE 
 OF MONTCALM — CAPITULATION OF QUEBEC — ATTEMPT OF DE LEVI 
 TO RETAKE IT — ARRIVAL OF A BRITISH FLEET — LAST STAND OF THE 
 FRENCH AT MONTREAL — SURRENDER OF CANADA. 
 
 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. In that struggle he 
 had first become practised in arms, and schooled in the 
 ways of the world ; and its results will be found con- 
 nected with the history of his later years. 
 
 General Abercrombie had been superseded as com- 
 mander-in-chief of the forces in America, by Major- 
 general Amherst, who had gained great favor by the 
 reduction of Louisburg. According to the plan of 
 operations for 1759, General Wolfe, who had risen to 
 fame by his gallant conduct in the same affair, was to 
 
1759.] INVESTMENT OF FORT NIAGARA. 291 
 
 ascend the St. Lawrence in a fleet of ships of war, 
 with eight thousand men, as soon as the river should 
 be free of ice, and lay siege to Quebec, the capital of 
 Canada. General Amherst, in the mean time, was to 
 advance, as Abercrombie had done, by Lake George, 
 against Ticonderoga and Crown Point; reduce those 
 forts, cross Lake Champlain, push on to the St. Law- 
 rence, and co-operate with Wolfe. 
 
 A third expedition, under Brigadier-general Pri- 
 deaux, aided by Sir William Johnson and his Indian 
 warriors, was to attack Port Niagara, which controlled 
 the whole country of the Six Nations, and commanded 
 the navigation of the great lakes, and the intercourse 
 between Canada and Louisiana. Having reduced this 
 fort, he was to traverse Lake Ontario, descend the St. 
 Lawrence, capture Montreal, and join his forces with 
 those of Amherst. 
 
 The last mentioned expedition was the first execu- 
 ted. General Prideaux embarked at Oswego on the 
 first of July, with a large body of troops, regulars and 
 provincials, — the latter partly from New York. He 
 was accompanied by Sir William Johnson, and his In- 
 dian braves of the Mohawk. Landing at an inlet of 
 Lake Ontario, within a few miles of Port Niagara, he 
 advanced, without being opposed, and proceeded to in- 
 vest it. The garrison, six hundred strong, made a 
 resolute defence. The siege was carried on by regular 
 approaches, but pressed with vigor. On the 20th of 
 July, Prideaux, in visiting his trenches, was killed by 
 the bursting of a cohorn. Informed by express of this 
 misfortune, General Amherst detached from the main 
 
292 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 army Brigadier-general Gage, the officer who had led 
 Braddock's advance, to take the command. 
 
 In the mean time, the siege had been conducted by 
 Sir William Johnson with courage and sagacity. He 
 was destitute of military science, but had a natural 
 aptness for warfare, especially for the rough kind carried 
 on in the wilderness. Being informed by his scouts 
 that twelve hundred regular troops, drawn from De- 
 troit, Venango, and Presque Isle, and led by D'Aubry, 
 with a number of Indian auxiliaries, were hastening to 
 the rescue, he detached a force of grenadiers and light 
 infantry, with some of his Mohawk warriors, to inter- 
 cept them. They came in sight of each other on the 
 road, between Niagara Tails and the fort, within the 
 thundering sound of the one, and the distant view of 
 the other. Johnson's "braves" advanced to have a 
 parley with the hostile red-skins. The latter received 
 them with a war-whoop, and Frenchman and savage 
 made an impetuous onset. Johnson's regulars and 
 provincials stood their ground firmly, while his red 
 warriors fell on the flanks of the enemy. After a 
 sharp conflict, the French were broken, routed, and 
 pursued through the woods, with great carnage. 
 Among the prisoners taken were seventeen officers. 
 The next day Sir William Johnson sent a trumpet, 
 summoning the garrison to surrender, to spare the 
 effusion of blood, and prevent outrages by the Indians. 
 They had no alternative ; were permitted to march out 
 with the honors of war, and were protected by Sir 
 William from his Indian allies. Thus was secured the 
 key to the communication between Lakes Ontario and 
 Erie, and to the vast interior region connected with 
 
1759.] AMHERST AT TICONDEROGA. 293 
 
 them. The blow alarmed the French for the safety of 
 Montreal, and De Levi, the second in command of 
 their Canadian forces, hastened up from before Quebec, 
 and took post at the fort of Oswegatchie (now Og- 
 densburg), to defend the passes of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 We now proceed to notice the expedition against 
 Ticonderoga and Crown Point. In the month of July, 
 General Amherst embarked with nearly twelve thou- 
 sand men, at the upper part of Lake George, and pro- 
 ceeded down it, as Abercrombie had done in the 
 preceding year, in a vast fleet of whaleboats, bat- 
 teaux, and rafts, and all the glitter and parade of war. 
 On the 2 2d, the army debarked at the lower part of 
 the lake, and advanced toward Ticonderoga. After a 
 slight skirmish with the advanced guard, they secured 
 the old post at the saw-mill. 
 
 Montcalm was no longer in the fort ; he was absent 
 for the protection of Quebec. The garrison did not 
 exceed four hundred men. Bourlamarque, a brave 
 officer, who commanded, at first seemed disposed to 
 make defence ; but against such overwhelming force 
 it would have been madness. Dismantling the fortifi- 
 cations, therefore, he abandoned them, as he did like- 
 wise those at Crown Point, and retreated down the 
 lake, to assemble forces, and make a stand at the Isle 
 Aux Noix, for the protection of Montreal and the 
 province. 
 
 Instead of following him up, and hastening to co- 
 operate with Wolfe, General Amherst proceeded to 
 repair the works at Ticonderoga, and erect a new fort 
 at Crown Point, though neither were in present dan- 
 ger of being attacked, nor would be of use if Canada 
 
294 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759 
 
 were conquered. Amherst, however, was one of those 
 cautious men, who, in seeking to be sure, are apt to be 
 fatally slow. His delay enabled the enemy to rally 
 their forces at Isle Aux Noix, and call in Canadian 
 reinforcements, while it deprived Wolfe of that co- 
 operation which, it will be shown, was most essential 
 to the general success of the campaign. 
 
 Wolfe, with his eight thousand men, ascended the 
 St. Lawrence in the fleet, in the month of June. With 
 him came Brigadiers Monckton, Townshend and Mur- 
 ray, youthful and brave like himself, and, like himself, 
 already schooled in arms. Monckton, it will be recol- 
 lected, had signalized himself, when a colonel, in the 
 expedition in 1755, in which the French were driven 
 from Nova Scotia. The grenadiers of the army were 
 commanded by Colonel Guy Carleton, and part of the 
 light infantry by Lieutenant-colonel William Howe, 
 both destined to celebrity in after years, in the annals 
 of the American Revolution. Colonel Howe was 
 brother of the gallant Lord Howe, whose fall in the 
 preceding year was so generally lamented. Among 
 the officers of the fleet, was Jervis, the future admiral, 
 and ultimately Earl St. Vincent ; and the master of 
 one of the ships, was James Cook, afterwards re- 
 nowned as a discoverer. 
 
 About the end of June, the troops debarked on the 
 large, populous, and well-cultivated Isle of Orleans, a 
 little below Quebec, and encamped in its fertile fields. 
 Quebec, the citadel of Canada, was strong by nature. 
 It was built round the point of a rocky promontory, 
 and flanked by precipices. The crystal current of the 
 St. Lawrence swept by it on the right, and the river St. 
 
1759.J WOLFE BEFORE QUEBEC. 295 
 
 Charles flowed along on the left, before roingling with 
 that mighty stream. The place was tolerably fortified, 
 but art had not yet rendered it, as at the present day, 
 impregnable. 
 
 Montcalm commanded the post. His troops were 
 more numerous than the assailants; but the greater 
 part were Canadians, many of them inhabitants of 
 Quebec; and he had a host of savages. His forces 
 were drawn out along the northern shore below the 
 city, from the river St. Charles to the Palls of Mont- 
 morency, and their position was secured by deep in- 
 trenchments. 
 
 The night after the debarkation of Wolfe's troops, 
 a furious storm caused great damage to the transports, 
 and sunk some of the small craft. While it was still 
 raging, a number of fire-ships, sent to destroy the fleet, 
 came driving down. They were boarded intrepidly by 
 the British seamen, and towed out of the way of doing 
 harm. After much resistance, Wolfe established bat- 
 teries at the west point of the Isle of Orleans, and at 
 Point Levi, on the right (or south) bank of the St. 
 Lawrence, within cannon range of the city. Colonel 
 Guy Carleton commanded at the former battery; 
 Brigadier Monckton at the latter. Prom Point Levi, 
 bombshells and red-hot shot were discharged; many 
 houses were set on fire in the upper town, the lower 
 town was reduced to rubbish ; the main fort, however, 
 remained unharmed. 
 
 Anxious for a decisive action, Wolfe, on the 9th of 
 July, crossed over in boats from the Isle of Orleans, to 
 the north bank of the St. Lawrence, and encamped 
 below the Montmorency. It was an ill-judged posi- 
 
296 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 tion, for there was still that tumultuous stream, with 
 its rocky banks, between him and the camp of Mont- 
 calm ; but the ground he had chosen was higher than 
 that occupied by the latter, and the Montmorency had 
 a ford below the falls, passable at low tide. Another 
 ford was discovered, three miles within land, but the 
 banks were steep, and shagged with forest. At both 
 fords the vigilant Montcalm had thrown up breast- 
 works, and posted troops. 
 
 On the 18th of July, Wolfe made a reconnoitering 
 expedition up the river, with two armed sloops, and 
 two transports with troops. He passed Quebec un- 
 harmed, and carefully noted the shores above it. Rug- 
 ged cliffs rose almost from the water's edge. Above 
 them, he was told, was an extent of level ground, 
 called the Plains of Abraham, by which the upper 
 town might be approached on its weakest side ; but 
 how was that plain to be attained, when the cliffs, for 
 the most part, were inaccessible, and every practicable 
 place fortified ? 
 
 He returned to Montmorency disappointed, and 
 resolved to attack Montcalm in his camp, however diffi- 
 cult to be approached, and however strongly posted. 
 Townshend and Murray, with their brigades, were to 
 cross the Montmorency at low tide, below the falls, and 
 storm the redoubt thrown up in front of the ford. 
 Monckton, at the same time, was to cross with part of 
 his brigade in boats, from Point Levi. The ship Cen- 
 turion, stationed in the channel, was to check the fire 
 of a battery which commanded the ford; a train of 
 artillery planted on an eminence, was to enfilade the 
 enemy's intrenchments ; and two armed, flat-bottomed 
 
1759.] WOLFE AT THE FALLS OF MONTMORENCY. 297 
 
 boats, were to be run on shore, near the redoubt, and 
 favor the crossing of the troops. 
 
 As usual, in complicated orders, part were misun- 
 derstood, or neglected, and confusion was the conse- 
 quence. Many of the boats from Point Levi ran 
 aground on a shallow in the river, where they were ex- 
 posed to a severe fire of shot and shells. Wolfe, who 
 was on the shore, directing every thing, endeavored to 
 stop his impatient troops until the boats could be got 
 afloat, and the men landed. Thirteen companies of 
 grenadiers, and two hundred provincials were the first 
 to land. Without waiting for Brigadier Monckton 
 and his regiments ; without waiting for the co-opera- 
 tion of the troops under Townshend j without waiting 
 even to be drawn up in form, the grenadiers rushed 
 impetuously towards the enemy's intrenchments. A 
 sheeted fire mowed them down, and drove them to 
 take shelter behind the redoubt, near the ford, which 
 the enemy had abandoned. Here they remained, una- 
 ble to form under the galling fire to which they were 
 exposed, whenever they ventured from their covert. 
 Monckton' s brigade at length was landed, drawn up in 
 order, and advanced to their relief, driving back the en- 
 emy. Thus protected, the grenadiers retreated as pre- 
 cipitately as they had advanced, leaving many of their 
 comrades wounded on the field, who were massacred 
 and scalped in their sight, by the savages. The delay 
 thus caused was fatal to the enterprise. The day was 
 advanced ; the weather became stormy ; the tide began 
 to make ; at a later hour, retreat, in case of a second 
 repulse, would be impossible. Wolfe, therefore, gave 
 up the attack, and withdrew across the river, having 
 
298 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 lost upwards of four hundred men, through this head- 
 long impetuosity of the grenadiers. The two vessels 
 which had been run aground were set on fire, lest they 
 should fall into the hands of the enemy.* 
 
 Brigadier Murray was now detached with twelve 
 hundred men, in transports, to ascend above the town, 
 and co-operate with Rear-admiral Holmes in destroying 
 the enemy's shipping, and making descents upon the 
 north shore. The shipping were safe from attack ; 
 some stores and ammunition were destroyed; some 
 prisoners taken, and Murray returned with the news 
 of the capture of Fort Niagara, Ticonderoga, and 
 Crown Point, and that Amherst was preparing to 
 attack the Isle Aux Noix. 
 
 Wolfe, of a delicate constitution and sensitive na- 
 ture, had been deeply mortified by the severe check 
 sustained at the Palls of Montmorency, fancying him- 
 self disgraced ; and these successes of his fellow-com- 
 manders in other parts increased his self-upbraiding. 
 The difficulties multiplying around him, and the delay 
 of General Amherst in hastening to his aid, preyed in- 
 cessantly on his spirits ; he was dejected even to de- 
 spondency, and declared he would never return without 
 success, to be exposed, like other unfortunate com- 
 manders, to the sneers and reproaches of the populace. 
 The agitation of his mind, and his acute sensibility, 
 brought on a fever, which for some time incapacitated 
 him from taking the field. 
 
 In the midst of his illness he called a council of 
 ivar, in which the whole plan of operations was altered. 
 
 * Wolfe's letter to Pitt, Sept. 2d, 1759. 
 
1759.] WOLFE BEFORE THE BATTLE. 299 
 
 It was determined to convey troops above the town, 
 and endeavor to make a diversion in that direction, or 
 draw Montcalm into the open field. Before carrying 
 this plan into effect, Wolfe again reconnoitered the 
 town in company with Admiral Saunders, but nothing 
 better suggested itself. 
 
 The brief Canadian summer was over ; they were 
 in the month of September. The camp at Montmo- 
 rency was broken up. The troops were transported to 
 Point Levi, leaving a sufficient number to man the bat- 
 teries on the Isle of Orleans. On the fifth and sixth 
 of September the embarkation took place above Point 
 Levi, in transports which had been sent up for the pur- 
 pose. Montcalm detached De Bougainville with fifteen 
 hundred men, to keep along the north shore above the 
 town, w r atch the movements of the squadron, and pre- 
 vent a landing. To deceive him, Admiral Holmes 
 moved with the ships of war three leagues beyond the 
 place where the landing was to be attempted. He was 
 to drop down, however, in the night, and protect the 
 landing. Cook, the future discoverer, also, was em- 
 ployed with others to sound the river and place buoys 
 opposite the camp of Montcalm, as if an attack were 
 meditated in that quarter. 
 
 Wolfe was still suffering under the effects of his 
 late fever. " My constitution," writes he to a friend, 
 " is entirely ruined, without the consolation of having 
 done any considerable service to the state, and without 
 any prospect of it." Still he was unremitting in his 
 exertions, seeking to wipe out the fancied disgrace 
 incurred at the Palls of Montmorency. It was in this 
 mood he is said to have composed and sung at his 
 
300 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759 
 
 evening mess, that little campaigning song still linked 
 with his name : 
 
 Why, soldiers, why 
 Should we be melancholy, boys ! 
 Why, soldiers, why? 
 Whose business 'tis to die ! 
 
 Even when embarked in his midnight enterprise, 
 the presentiment of death seems to have cast its shadow 
 over him. A midshipman who was present,* nsed to 
 relate, that as Wolfe sat among his officers, and the 
 boats floated down silently with the current, he recited, 
 in low and touching tones, Gray's Elegy in a country 
 churchyard, then just published. One stanza may 
 especially have accorded with his melancholy mood. 
 
 " The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
 
 And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, 
 Await alike th' inevitable hour, 
 The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 
 
 " Now gentlemen," said he, when he had finished, 
 " I would rather be the author of that poem than take 
 Quebec. ,, 
 
 The descent was made in flat-bottomed boats, past 
 midnight, on the 13th of September. They dropped 
 down silently with the swift current. " Qui va la ? " 
 (who goes there?) cried a sentinel from the shore. 
 " La France' 9 replied a captain in the first boat, who 
 understood the Trench language. "A quel regi- 
 ment?" was the demand. "Be la Heine" (the 
 queen's), replied the captain, knowing that regiment 
 was in De Bougainville's detachment. Fortunately, a 
 
 * Afterwards Professor John Robison, of Edinburgh. 
 
1759.] WOLFE ON THE PLAINS OF ABRAHAM. 301 
 
 convoy of provisions was expected down from De Bou- 
 gainville's, which the sentinel supposed this to be. 
 "Passe" cried he, and the boats glided on without 
 further challenge. The landing took place in a cove 
 near Cape Diamond, which still bears Wolfe's name. 
 He had marked it in reconnoitering, and saw that a 
 cragged path straggled up from it to the Heights of 
 Abraham, which might be climbed, though with diffi- 
 culty, and that it appeared to be slightly guarded at 
 top. Wolfe was among the first that landed and 
 ascended up the steep and narrow path, where not 
 more than two could go abreast, and which had been 
 broken up by cross ditches. Colonel Howe, at the 
 same time, with the light infantry and Highlanders, 
 scrambled up the woody precipices, helping themselves 
 by the roots and branches, and putting to flight a 
 sergeant's guard posted at the summit. Wolfe drew 
 up the men in order as they mounted ; and by the 
 break of day found himself in possession of the fateful 
 Plains of Abraham. 
 
 Montcalm was thunderstruck when word was 
 brought to him in his camp that the English were on 
 the heights threatening the weakest part of the town. 
 Abandoning his intrenchments, he hastened across the 
 river St. Charles and ascended the heights, which slope 
 up gradually from its banks. His force was equal in 
 number to that of the English, but a great part was 
 made up of colony troops and savages. When he saw 
 the formidable host of regulars he had to contend with, 
 he sent off swift messengers to summon De Bougain- 
 ville with his detachment to his aid ; and De Vaudreuil 
 to reinforce him with fifteen hundred men from the 
 
802 ' LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759, 
 
 camp. In the mean time he prepared to flank the left 
 of the English line and force them to the opposite pre- 
 cipices. Wolfe saw his aim, and sent Brigadier Towns- 
 hend to counteract him with a regiment which was 
 formed en jpotence, and supported by two battalions, 
 presenting on the left a double front. 
 
 The French, in their haste, thinking they were to 
 repel a mere scouting party, had brought but three 
 light field-pieces with them; the English had but a 
 single gun, which the sailors had dragged up the 
 heights. With these they cannonaded each other for a 
 time, Montcalm still waiting for the aid he had sum- 
 moned. At length, about nine o'clock, losing all pa- 
 tience, he led on his disciplined troops to a close con- 
 flict with small arms, the Indians to support them by a 
 galling fire from thickets and corn-fields. The Erench 
 advanced gallantly, but irregularly ; firing rapidly, but 
 with little effect. The English reserved their fire until 
 their assailants were within forty yards, and then deliv- 
 ered it in deadly volleys. They suffered, however, 
 from the lurking savages, who singled out the officers. 
 Wolfe, who was in front of the line, a conspicuous 
 mark, was wounded by a ball in the wrist. He bound 
 his handkerchief round the wound, and led on the 
 grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, to charge the foe, who 
 began to waver. Another ball struck him in the 
 breast. He felt the wound to be mortal, and feared 
 his fall might dishearten the troops. Leaning on a 
 lieutenant for support, " Let not my brave fellows see 
 me drop," said he faintly. He was borne off to the 
 rear ; water was brought to quench his thirst, and he 
 was asked if he would have a surgeon. "It is need- 
 
1759.] DEATH OF WOLFE. 303 
 
 less," he replied ; " it is all over with me." He de- 
 sired those about him to lay him down. The lieutenant 
 seated himself on the ground, and supported him in his 
 arms. "They run! they run! see how they run!" 
 cried one of the attendants. " Who run ? " demanded 
 Wolfe, earnestly, like one aroused from sleep. "The 
 enemy, sir ; they give way every where." The spirit 
 of the expiring hero flashed up. " Go, one of you, my 
 lads, to Colonel Burton; tell him to march Webb's 
 regiment with all speed down to Charles River, to cut 
 off the retreat by the bridge." Then turning on his 
 side ; " Now, God be praised, I will die in peace ! " 
 said he, and expired,* — soothed in his last moments by 
 the idea that victory would obliterate the imagined dis- 
 grace at Montmorency. 
 
 Brigadier Murray had indeed broken the centre of 
 the enemy, and the Highlanders were making deadly 
 havoc with their claymores, driving the French into the 
 town or down to their works on the river St. Charles. 
 Monckton, the first brigadier, was disabled by a wound 
 in the lungs, and the command devolved on Towns- 
 hend, who hastened to re-form the troops of the centre, 
 disordered in pursuing the enemy. By this time De 
 Bougainville appeared at a distance in the rear, advanc- 
 ing with two thousand fresh troops ; but he arrived too 
 late to retrieve the day. The gallant Montcalm had 
 received his death-wound near St. John's Gate, while 
 endeavoring to rally his flying troops, and had been 
 borne into the town. 
 
 Townshend advanced with a force to receive De 
 
 * Hist. Jour, of Capt. John Knox, vol i., p. 79. 
 
304 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 Bougainville ; but the latter avoided a combat, and 
 retired into woods and swamps, where it was not 
 thought prudent to follow him. The English had ob- 
 tained a complete victory ; slain about five hundred of 
 the enemy; taken above a thousand prisoners, and 
 among them several officers ; and had a strong position 
 on the Plains of Abraham, which they hastened to 
 fortify with redoubts, and artillery drawn up the 
 heights. 
 
 The brave Montcalm wrote a letter to General 
 Townshend, recommending the prisoners to British 
 humanity. When told by his surgeon that he could 
 not survive above a few hours; "So much the 
 better," replied he; "I shall not five to see the 
 surrender of Quebec." To De Ramsey, the French 
 king's lieutenant, who commanded the garrison, he 
 consigned the defence of the city. " To your keep- 
 ing," said he, " I commend the honor of Prance. Ill 
 neither give orders, nor interfere any further. I have 
 business to attend to of greater moment than your 
 ruined garrison, and this wretched country. My time 
 is short, — I shall pass this night with God, and pre- 
 pare myself for death. I wish you all comfort; and 
 to be happily extricated from your present perplexi- 
 ties." He then called for his chaplain, who, with the 
 bishop of the colony, remained with him through the 
 night. He expired early in the morning, dying like a 
 brave soldier and a devout Catholic. Never did two 
 worthier foes mingle their life-blood on the battle-field 
 than Wolfe and Montcalm.* 
 
 N * Knox: Hist Jour, vol i., p. 11. 
 
1759.] CAPITULATION OP QUEBEC. 305 
 
 Preparations were now made by the army and the 
 fleet to make an attack on both upper and lower town ; 
 but the spirit of the garrison was broken, and the 
 inhabitants were clamorous for the safety of their wives 
 and children. On the 17th of September, Quebec 
 capitulated, and was taken possession of by the Brit- 
 ish, who hastened to put it in a complete posture of 
 defence. A garrison of six thousand effective men was 
 placed in it, under the command of Brigadier-general 
 Murray, and victualled from the fleet. General Towns- 
 hend embarked with Admiral Saunders, and returned 
 to England ; and the wounded General Monckton was 
 conveyed to New York, of which he afterwards became 
 governor. 
 
 Had Amherst followed up his success at Ticonde- 
 roga the preceding summer, the year's campaign would 
 have ended, as had been projected, in the subjugation 
 of Canada. His cautious delay gave De Levi, the suc- 
 cessor of Montcalm, time to rally, concentrate the scat- 
 tered French forces, and struggle for the salvation of 
 the province. 
 
 In the following spring, as soon as the river St 
 Lawrence opened, he approached Quebec, and landed 
 at Point au Tremble, about twelve miles off. The gar- 
 rison had suffered dreadfully during the winter from 
 excessive cold, want of vegetables, and of fresh pro- 
 visions. Many had died of scurvy, and many more 
 were ill. Murray, sanguine and injudicious, on hear- 
 ing that De Levi was advancing with ten thousand 
 men, and five hundred Indians, sallied out with his di- 
 minished forces of not more than three thousand. 
 English soldiers, he boasted, were habituated to vic- 
 vol. i.— 20 
 
306 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 tory j he had a fine train of artillery, and stood a bet- 
 ter chance in the field than cooped up in a wretched 
 fortification. If defeated, he would defend the place 
 to the last extremity, and then retreat to the Isle of 
 Orleans, and wait for reinforcements. More brave 
 than discreet, he attacked the vanguard of the enemy ; 
 the battle which took place was fierce and sanguinary. 
 Murray's troops had caught his own headlong valor, 
 and fought until near a third of their number were 
 slain. They were at length driven back into the town, 
 leaving their boasted train of artillery on the field. 
 
 De Levi opened trenches before the town the very 
 evening of the battle. Three Erench ships, which had 
 descended the river, furnished him with cannon, mor- 
 tars, and ammunition. By the 11th of May, he had 
 one bomb battery, and three batteries of cannon. 
 Murray, equally alert within the walls, strengthened his 
 defences, and kept up a vigorous fire. His garrison 
 was now reduced to two hundred and twenty effective 
 men, and he himself, with all his vaunting spirit, was 
 driven almost to despair, when a British fleet arrived in 
 the river. The whole scene was now reversed. One 
 of the French frigates was driven on the rocks above 
 Cape Diamond ; another ran on shore, and was burnt ; 
 the rest of their vessels were either taken, or destroyed. 
 The besieging army retreated in the night, leaving pro- 
 visions, implements, and artillery behind them ; and so 
 rapid was their flight, that Murray, who sallied forth 
 on the following day, could not overtake them. 
 
 A last stand for the preservation of the colony was 
 now made by the Trench at Montreal, where De Vau- 
 
1759.] LAST STAND OF THE FRENCH. 307 
 
 dreuil fixed his head-quarters, fortified himself, and 
 called in all possible aid, Canadian and Indian. 
 
 The cautious, but tardy Amherst, was now in the 
 field, to carry out the plan in which he had fallen short 
 in the previous year. He sent orders to General Mur- 
 ray to advance by water against Montreal, with all the 
 force that could be spared from Quebec ; he detached 
 a body of troops under Colonel Haviland from Crown 
 Point, to cross Lake Champlain, take possession of the 
 Isle Aux Noix, and push on to the St. Lawrence, while 
 he took the roundabout way with his main army by the 
 Mohawk and Oneida rivers to Lake Ontario ; thence to 
 descend the St. Lawrence to Montreal. 
 
 Murray, according to orders, embarked his troops 
 in a great number of small vessels, and ascended the 
 river in characteristic style, publishing manifestoes in 
 the Canadian villages, disarming the inhabitants, and 
 exacting the oath of neutrality. He looked forward to 
 new laurels at Montreal, but the slow and sure Amherst 
 had anticipated him. That worthy general, after de- 
 laying on Lake Ontario to send out cruisers, and stop- 
 ping to repair petty forts on the upper part of the St. 
 Lawrence, which had been deserted by their garrisons, 
 or surrendered without firing a gun, arrived on the 6th 
 of September at the island of Montreal, routed some 
 fight skirmishing parties, and presented himself before 
 the town. Vaudreuil found himself threatened by an 
 army of nearly ten thousand men, and a host of Indians ; 
 for Amherst had called in the aid of Sir William Johnson, 
 and his Mohawk braves. To withstand a siege in an 
 almost open town against such superior force, was out 
 of the question; especially as Murray from Quebec, 
 
308 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 and Haviland from Crown Point, were at hand with 
 additional troops. A capitulation accordingly took 
 place on the 8th of September, including the surrender 
 not merely of Montreal, but of all Canada. 
 
 Thus ended the contest between Prance and Eng- 
 land for dominion in America, in which, as has been 
 said, the first gun was fired in Washington's encounter 
 with De Jumonville. A Prench statesman and diplo- 
 matist consoled himself by the persuasion that it would 
 be a fatal triumph to England. It would remove the 
 only check by which her colonies were kept in awe. 
 " They will no longer need her protection," said he ; 
 " she will call on them to contribute toward supporting 
 the burdens they have helped to bring on her, and 
 they will answer by strUciny off all dependence."* 
 
 * Count de Vergennes, French ambassador at Constantinople. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Washington's installation in the house of bubgesses — his bubal 
 life — mount veenon and its vicinity — aeistoceatical dats of 
 vieginia — Washington's management of his estate — domestic 
 habits — fox-hunting — loed fairfax — fishing and duck-shoot- 
 ing the poachee — lynch law — aquatic state — life at an- 
 napolis — washington in the dismal swamp. 
 
 For three months after his marriage, Washington re- 
 sided 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 instalment by 
 a signal testimonial of respect. Accordingly, as soon as 
 he took his seat, Mr. Robinson, the speaker, in elo- 
 quent 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." 
 
310 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 Such was Washington's first launch into civil life, 
 in which he was to be distinguished by the same judg- 
 ment, devotion, courage, and magnanimity exhibited in 
 his military career. He attended the House frequently 
 during the remainder of the session, after which he 
 conducted Ms bride to his favorite abode of Mount 
 Vernon. 
 
 Mr. Custis, the first husband of Mrs. Washington, 
 had left large landed property, and forty-five thousand 
 pounds sterling in money. One third fell to his widow 
 in her own right ; two thirds were inherited equally by 
 her two children, — a boy of six, and a girl of four 
 years of age. By a decree of the General Court, 
 Washington was intrusted with the care of the prop- 
 erty inherited by the children ; a sacred and delicate 
 trust, which he discharged in the most faithful and 
 judicious manner ; becoming more like a parent, than 
 a mere guardian to them. 
 
 Prom a letter to his correspondent in England, it 
 would appear that he had long entertained a desire to 
 visit that country. Had he done so, his acknowledged 
 merit and military services would have insured him a 
 distinguished reception ; and it has been intimated, 
 that the signal favor of government might have 
 changed the current of his career. We believe him, 
 however, to have been too pure a patriot, and too 
 clearly possessed of the true interests of his country, 
 to be diverted from the course which he ultimately 
 adopted. His marriage, at any rate, had put an end 
 to all travelling inclinations. In his letter from Mount 
 Vernon, he writes : " I am now, I believe, fixed in this 
 seat, with an agreeable partner for life, and I hope to 
 
1759.] MOUNT VERNON AND ITS VICINITY. 311 
 
 find more happiness in retirement than I ever experi- 
 enced in the wide and bustling world." 
 
 This was no Utopian dream transiently indulged, 
 amid the charms of novelty. It was a deliberate pur- 
 pose with him, the result of innate and enduring inch- 
 nations. Throughout the whole course of his career, 
 agricultural life appears to have been his beau ideal of 
 existence, which haunted his thoughts even amid the 
 stern duties of the field, and to which he recurred with 
 unflagging interest whenever enabled to indulge his 
 natural bias. 
 
 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 dehghtful 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 mag- 
 nificent view up and down the Potomac. The grounds 
 immediately about it were laid out somewhat in the 
 English taste. The estate was apportioned into sepa- 
 rate 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. The whole woody 
 region along the Potomac from Mount Vernon to Bel- 
 voir, and far beyond, with its range of forests and hills, 
 
312 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759. 
 
 and picturesque promontories, afforded sport of various 
 kinds, and was a noble hunting-ground. Washington 
 had hunted through it with old Lord Fairfax in his 
 stripling days ; we do not wonder that his feelings 
 throughout life incessantly reverted to it. 
 
 " No estate in United America," observes he, in 
 one of his letters, " is more pleasantly situated. In a 
 high and healthy country ; in a latitude between the 
 extremes of heat and cold ; on one of the finest rivers 
 in the world ; a river well stocked with various kinds 
 of fish at all seasons of the year, and in the spring with 
 shad, herrings, bass, carp, sturgeon, &c, in great abun- 
 dance. The borders of the estate are washed by more 
 than ten miles of tide water ; several valuable fisheries 
 appertain to it : the whole shore, in fact, is one entire 
 fishery." 
 
 These were, as yet, the aristocratical days of Vir- 
 ginia. The estates were large, and continued in the 
 same families by entails. Many of the wealthy plant- 
 ers 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 coun- 
 try. The governors of Virginia were from the higher 
 ranks of society, and maintained a corresponding state. 
 The "established," or Episcopal Church, predominated 
 throughout the " ancient dominion," as it was termed ; 
 each county was divided into parishes, as in England, — 
 each with its parochial church, its parsonage, and glebe. 
 Washington was vestryman of two parishes, Fairfax 
 and Truro ; the parochial church of the former was at 
 Alexandria, ten miles from Mount Vernon ; of the lat- 
 
1759. J VIRGINIA LIFE. 313 
 
 ter, at Pohick, about seven miles. The church at 
 Pohick was rebuilt on a plan of his own, and in a great 
 measure at his expense. At one or other of these 
 churches he attended every Sunday, when the weather 
 and the roads permitted. His demeanor was reveren- 
 tial and devout. Mrs. Washington knelt during the 
 prayers ; he always stood, as was the custom at that 
 time. Both were communicants. 
 
 Among his occasional visitors and associates were 
 Captain Hugh Mercer and Dr. Craik ; the former, after 
 his narrow escapes from the tomahawk and scalping- 
 knife, was quietly settled at Fredericksburg ; the latter, 
 after the campaigns on the frontier were over, had 
 taken up his residence at Alexandria, and was now 
 Washington's family physician. Both were drawn to 
 him by campaigning ties and recollections, and were 
 ever welcome at Mount Vernon. 
 
 A style of living prevailed among the opulent Vir- 
 ginian families in those days 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 ser- 
 vices of plate, elegant equipages, and superb carriage 
 horses — all imported from England. 
 
 The Virginians have always been noted for their 
 love of horses ; a manly passion which, in those days 
 of opulence, they indulged without regard to expense. 
 The rich planters vied with each other in their studs, 
 importing the best English stocks. Mention is made 
 of one of the Randolphs of Tuckahoe, who built a sta- 
 ble for his favorite dapple-gray horse, Shakespeare, with 
 
314 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759-03. 
 
 a recess for the bed of the negro groom, who always 
 slept beside him at night. 
 
 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 inter- 
 course 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 him- 
 self, he always appeared on horseback. His stable was 
 well filled, and admirably regulated. His stud was 
 thorough-bred and in excellent order. His household 
 books contain registers of the names, ages, and marks 
 of his favorite horses ; such as Ajax, Blueskin, Valiant, 
 Magnolia (an Arab), &c. Also his dogs, chiefly fox- 
 hounds, Vulcan, Singer, Bingwood, Sweetlips, Forres- 
 ter, Music, Bockwood, Truelove, &c* 
 
 A large Virginia estate, in those days, was a little 
 empire. The mansion-house was the seat of govern- 
 ment, with its numerous dependencies, such as kitch- 
 
 * In one of his letter-books we find orders on his London agent for 
 riding equipments. For example : 
 
 1 Man's riding-saddle, hogskin seat, large plated stirrups, and every 
 thing complete. Double reined bridle and Pelham bit, plated. 
 
 A very neat and fashionable Newmarket saddle-cloth. 
 
 A large and best portmanteau, saddle, bridle, and pillion. 
 
 Cloak-bag surcingle ; checked saddle-cloth, holsters, <fcc. 
 
 A riding-frock of a handsome drab-colored broadcloth, with plain double 
 gilt buttons. 
 
 A riding waistcoat of superfine scarlet cloth and gold lace, with buttons 
 like those of the coat. 
 
 A blue surtout coat 
 
 A neat switch whip, silver cap. 
 
 Black velvet cap for servant 
 
1759-63.] DOMESTIC HABITS. 315 
 
 ens, 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 ser- 
 vice, 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 gar- 
 dens 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. 
 
 Among the slaves were artificers of all kinds, 
 tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, smiths, wheelwrights, 
 and so forth; so that a plantation produced every 
 thing within itself for ordinary use : as to articles of 
 fashion and elegance, luxuries, and expensive clothing, 
 they were imported from London ; for the planters on 
 the main rivers, especially the Potomac, carried on an 
 immediate trade with England. Their tobacco was put 
 up by their own negroes, bore their own marks, was 
 shipped on board of vessels which came up the rivers 
 for the purpose, and consigned to some agent in Liver- 
 pool or Bristol, with whom the planter kept an account. 
 
 The Virginia planters were prone to leave the care 
 of their estates too much to their overseers, and to 
 think personal labor a degradation. Washington car- 
 ried into his rural affairs the same method, activity, 
 and circumspection that had distinguished him in miK- 
 
316 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759-63 
 
 tary life. He kept his own accounts, posted np his 
 books, and balanced them with mercantile exactness. 
 We have examined them, as well as his diaries record- 
 ing his daily occupations, and his letter-books, contain- 
 ing entries of shipments of tobacco, and correspond- 
 ence with his London agents. They are monuments 
 of his business habits.* 
 
 The products of his estate also 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 in- 
 spection in the West India ports. f 
 
 He was an early riser, often before daybreak in the 
 winter when the nights were long. On such occasions 
 he lit his own fire, and wrote or read by candle-light. 
 He breakfasted at seven in summer, at eight in winter. 
 Two small cups of tea and three or four cakes of In- 
 dian meal (called hoe-cakes), formed his frugal repast. 
 
 * The following letter of Washington to his London correspondents will 
 give an idea of the early intercourse of the Virginia planters with the mo- 
 ther country. 
 
 " Our goods by the Liberty, Capt. Walker, came to hand in good order, 
 and soon after his arrival, as they generally do when shipped in a vessel to 
 this river [the Potomac], and scarce ever when they go to any others ; for 
 it don't often happen that a vessel bound to one river has goods of any con- 
 sequence to another ; and the masters, in these cases, keep the packages till 
 an accidental conveyance offers, and for want of better opportunities fre- 
 quently commit them to boatmen, who care very little for the goods, so 
 they get their freight, and often land them wherever it suits their conveni- 
 ence, not where they have engaged to do so. * * * * A ship from 
 London to Virginia may be in Rappahannock or any of the other rivers 
 three months before I know any thing of their arrival, and may make 
 twenty voyages without my seeing or even hearing of the captain." 
 
 f Speech of the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop on laying the corner-stone of 
 Washington's Monument. 
 
1759-63.] DAILY HABITS. 317 
 
 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. 
 
 If confined to the house by bad weather, he took 
 that occasion to arrange his papers, post up his ac- 
 counts, or write letters ; passing part of the time in 
 reading, and occasionally reading aloud to the family. 
 
 He treated his negroes with kindness ; attended to 
 their comforts; was particularly careful of them in 
 sickness ; but never tolerated idleness, and exacted a 
 faithful performance of all their allotted tasks. He had 
 a quick eye at calculating each man's capabilities. An 
 entry in his diary gives a curious instance of this. 
 Eour of his negroes, employed as carpenters, were 
 hewing and shaping timber. It appeared to him, in 
 noticing the amount of work accomplished between 
 two succeeding mornings, that they loitered at their 
 labor. Sitting down quietly he timed their operations ; 
 how long it took them to get their cross-cut saw and 
 other implements ready ; how long to clear away the 
 branches from the trunk of a fallen tree ; how long to 
 hew and saw it ; what time was expended in consider- 
 ing and consulting, and after all, how much work was 
 effected during the time he looked on. From this he 
 
318 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759-63. 
 
 made his computation how much they could execute in 
 the course of a day, working entirely at their ease. 
 
 At another time we find him working for a part of 
 two days with Peter, his smith, to make a plough on a 
 new invention of his own. This, after two or three 
 failures, he accomplished. Then, with less than his 
 usual judgment, he put his two chariot horses to the 
 plough, and ran a great risk of spoiling them, in giv- 
 ing his new invention a trial over ground thickly 
 swarded. 
 
 Anon, during a thunder-storm, a frightened negro 
 alarms the house, with word that the mill is giving 
 way, upon which there is a general turn-out of all the 
 forces, with Washington at their head, wheeling and 
 shovelling gravel, during a pelting rain, to check the 
 rushing water. 
 
 Washington delighted in the chase. In the hunt- 
 ing 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, accom- 
 panied by his guests at Mount Vernon and the gentle- 
 men 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 Wash- 
 
1759-63.] FOX-HUNTING. 319 
 
 ington is said to have enjoyed himself with unwonted 
 hilarity. 
 
 Now and then his old friend and instructor in the 
 noble art of venery, Lord Fairfax, would be on a visit 
 to his relatives at Belvoir, and then the hunting was 
 kept up with unusual spirit.* 
 
 His lordship, however, since the alarms of Indian 
 war had ceased, lived almost entirely at Greenway 
 Court, where Washington was occasionally a guest, 
 when called by public business to Winchester. Lord 
 Fairfax had made himself a favorite throughout the 
 neighborhood. As lord-lieutenant and custos rotulorum 
 of Frederick County, he presided at county courts held 
 at Winchester, where, during the sessions, he kept open 
 table. He acted also as surveyor and overseer of the 
 public roads and highways, and was unremitting in his 
 exertions and plans for the improvement of the country. 
 Hunting, however, was his passion. When the sport 
 was poor near home, he would take his hounds to a 
 distant part of the country, establish himself at an inn, 
 and keep open house and open table to every person of 
 good character and respectable appearance who chose to 
 join him in following the hounds. 
 
 * Hunting memoranda from Washington's journal, Mount Vernon. 
 
 Nov. 22.— Hunting with Lord Fairfax and his brother, and Colonel Fair- 
 fax. 
 
 Nov. 25.— Mr. Bryan Fairfax, Mr. Grayson, and Phil. Alexander came 
 here by sunrise. Hunted and catched a fox with these, Lord Fairfax, his 
 brother, and Col. Fairfax,— all of whom, with Mr. Fairfax and Mr. Wilson 
 of England, dined here. 26th and 29th. — Hunted again with the same 
 company. 
 
 Dec. 5.— Fox-hunting with Lord Fairfax and his brother, and Colonel 
 Fairfax. Started a fox and lost it. Dined at Belvoir, and returned in the 
 evening. 
 
320 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759-63. 
 
 It was probably in quest of sport of the kind that 
 he now and then, in the hunting season, revisited his 
 old haunts and former companions on the banks of the 
 Potomac, and then the beautiful woodland region about 
 Belvoir and Mount Vernon was sure to ring at early 
 morn with the inspiring music of the hound. 
 
 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 some- 
 what 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 Wash- 
 ington 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 push- 
 ing his canoe from shore. The latter raised his gun 
 with a menacing look ; but Washington rode into the 
 
1759-63.] AQUATIC RECREATIONS. 321 
 
 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 forbid- 
 den shores. 
 
 The Potomac, in the palmy days of Virginia, was 
 occasionally the scene of a little aquatic state and 
 ostentation among the rich planters who resided on its 
 banks. They had beautiful barges, which, like their 
 land equipages, were imported from England; and 
 mention is made of a Mr. Digges, who always received 
 Washington in his barge, rowed by six negroes, arrayed 
 in a kind of uniform of check shirts and black velvet 
 caps. At one time, according to notes in Washington's 
 diary, the whole neighborhood is thrown into a par- 
 oxysm of festivity, by the anchoring of a British frigate 
 (the Boston) in the river, just in front of the hospitable 
 mansion of the Fairfaxes. A succession of dinners 
 and breakfasts takes place at Mount Vernon and Bel- 
 voir, with occasional tea parties on board of the frigate. 
 The commander, Sir Thomas Adams, his officers, and 
 his midshipmen, are cherished guests, and have the 
 freedom of both establishments. 
 
 Occasionally he and Mrs. Washington would pay 
 a visit to Annapolis, at that time the seat of govern- 
 ment of Maryland, and partake of the gayeties which 
 prevailed during the session of the legislature. The 
 society of these seats of provincial governments was 
 always polite and fashionable, and more exclusive than 
 in these republican days, being, in a manner, the out- 
 posts of the English aristocracy, where all places of 
 vcl. l— 21 
 
322 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759-63. 
 
 dignity or profit were secured for younger sons, and 
 poor, but proud relatives. 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 gratify- 
 ing it effectually. Neither was he disinclined to mingle 
 in the dance, and we remember to have heard venera- 
 ble ladies, who had been belles in his day, pride them- 
 selves 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 amuse- 
 ments, and social intercourse, Washington passed several 
 tranquil years, the halcyon season of his life. His 
 already established reputation drew many visitors to 
 Mount Vernon ; some of his early companions in arms 
 were his occasional guests, and his friendships and con- 
 nections linked him with some of the most prominent 
 and worthy people of the country, who were sure to be 
 received with cordial, but simple and unpretending hos- 
 pitality. 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 
 
 * We hare had an amusing picture of Annapolis, as it was at this pe- 
 riod, furnished to us some years since by an octogenarian, who had resided 
 there in his boyhood. " In those parts of the country," said he, " where 
 the roads were too rough for carriages, the ladies used to ride on ponies, 
 followed by black servants on horseback ; in this way his mother, then ad- 
 vanced in life, used to travel, in a scarlet cloth riding habit, which she 
 had procured from England. Nay, in this way, on emergencies," he added, 
 " the young ladies from the country used to come to the balls at Annapolis, 
 riding with their hoops arranged ' fore and aft ' like lateen sails ; and after 
 dancing all night, would ride home again in the morning." 
 
1759-63.J DISMAL SWAMP. 323 
 
 attention. His domestic concerns and social enjoy- 
 ments, 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 under- 
 took, 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 Dis- 
 mal 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 de- 
 ciduous trees, the branches of which were hung with 
 long drooping moss. Other parts were almost inacces- 
 sible, from the density of brakes and thickets, en- 
 tangled with vines, briers, and creeping plants, and 
 intersected by creeks and standing pools. Occasionally 
 the soil, composed of dead vegetable fibre, was over his 
 horse's fetlocks, and sometimes he had to dismount and 
 make his way on foot over a quaking bog that shook 
 beneath his tread. 
 
 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 feed- 
 ing canals, by which the whole might be traversed. 
 Having made the circuit of it, and noted all its charac- 
 
324 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1759-63. 
 
 teristics, lie 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 Com- 
 pany ; and to his observations and forecast may be 
 traced the subsequent improvement and prosperity of 
 that once desolate region. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 teeatt of peace — pontiao's was' — couese of public events — boaed 
 of teade against papee cubeenoy — eesteictive policy of eng- 
 land — navigation laws — discontents in new england — of the 
 otheb colonies — peojeots to eaise eevenite by taxation — 
 blow at the independence of the judioiaey — naval oom- 
 mandees employed as custom-house officees — eetaliation of 
 the colonists — taxation eesisted in boston — passing of the 
 stamp act — buest of opposition in vieglnia — speech of pa- 
 teioe: heney. 
 
 Tidings of peace gladdened the colonies in the spring 
 of 1763. The definitive treaty between England and 
 Prance had been signed at Fontainebleau. Now, it was 
 trusted, there would be an end to those horrid ravages 
 that had desolated the interior of the country. " The 
 desert and the silent place would rejoice, and the wil- 
 derness would blossom like the rose." 
 
 The month of May proved the fallacy of such 
 hopes. In that month the famous insurrection of the 
 Indian tribes broke out, which, from the name of the 
 chief who was its prime mover and master spirit, is 
 commonly called Pontiac's war. The Delawares and 
 Shawnees, and other of those emigrant tribes of the 
 Ohio, among whom Washington had mingled, were 
 
326 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1763. 
 
 foremost in this conspiracy. Some of the chiefs who had 
 been his allies, had now taken up the hatchet against 
 the English. The plot was deep laid, and conducted 
 with Indian craft aiid secrecy. At a concerted time, 
 an attack was made upon all the posts from Detroit to 
 Fort Pitt (late Fort Duquesne). Several of the small 
 stockaded forts, the places of refuge of woodland neigh- 
 borhoods, were surprised and sacked with remorseless 
 butchery. The frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, 
 and Virginia, were laid waste ; traders in the wilder- 
 ness were plundered and slain ; hamlets and farm- 
 houses were wrapped in flames, and their inhabitants 
 massacred. Shingis, with his Delaware warriors, 
 blockaded Fort Pitt, which, for some time, was in im- 
 minent danger. Detroit, also, came near falling into 
 the hands of the savages. It needed all the influence 
 of Sir William Johnson, that potentate in savage life, 
 to keep the Six Nations from joining this formidable 
 conspiracy; had they done so, the triumph of the 
 tomahawk and scalping-knife would have been com- 
 plete ; as it was, a considerable time elapsed before the 
 frontier was restored to tolerable tranquillity. 
 
 Fortunately, Washington's retirement from the 
 army prevented his being entangled in this savage war, 
 which raged throughout the regions he had repeatedly 
 visited ; or rather his active spirit had been diverted 
 into a more peaceful channel, for he was at this time 
 occupied in the enterprise just noticed, for draining the 
 great Dismal Swamp. 
 
 Public events were now taking a tendency which, 
 without any political aspiration or forethought of his 
 own, was destined gradually to bear him away from his 
 
1763.] RESTRICTIVE POLICY OF ENGLAND. 327 
 
 quiet home and individual pursuits, and launch him 
 upon a grander and wider sphere of action than any in 
 which he had hitherto been engaged. 
 
 The prediction of the Count de Vergennes was in the 
 process of fulfilment. The recent war of Great Britain 
 for dominion in America, though crowned with success, 
 had engendered a progeny of discontents in her colo- 
 nies. Washington was among the first to perceive its 
 bitter fruits. British merchants had complained loudly 
 of losses sustained by the depreciation of the colonial 
 paper, issued during the late war, in times of emergen- 
 cy, and had addressed a memorial on the subject to the 
 Board of Trade. Scarce was peace concluded, when 
 an order from the board declared that no paper, issued 
 by colonial Assemblies, should thenceforward be a legal 
 tender in the payment of debts. Washington depre- 
 cated this " stir of the merchants " as peculiarly ill-timed ; 
 and expressed an apprehension that the orders in ques- 
 tion "would set the whole country in flames." 
 
 We do not profess, in this personal memoir, to en- 
 ter into a wide scope of general history, but shall con- 
 tent ourselves with a glance at the circumstances and 
 events which gradually kindled the conflagration thus 
 apprehended by the anxious mind of Washington. 
 
 Whatever might be the natural affection of the col- 
 onies for the mother country, — and there are abundant 
 evidences to prove that it was deep-rooted and strong, 
 — it had never been properly reciprocated. They 
 yearned to be considered as children ; they were treat- 
 ed by her as changelings. Burke testifies that her 
 policy toward them from the beginning had been pure- 
 
328 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1763. 
 
 ly commercial, and her commercial policy wholly re- 
 strictive. " It was the system of a monopoly." 
 
 Her navigation laws had shut their ports against 
 foreign vessels ; obliged them to export their produc- 
 tions only to countries belonging to the British crown • 
 to import European goods solely from England, and in 
 English ships; and had subjected the trade between 
 the colonies to duties. All manufactures, too, in the 
 colonies, that might interfere with those of the mother 
 country, had been either totally prohibited, or subject- 
 ed to intolerable restraints. 
 
 The acts of Parliament, imposing these prohibitions 
 and restrictions, had at various times produced sore 
 discontent and opposition on the part of the colonies, 
 especially among those of New England. The inter- 
 ests of these last were chiefly commercial, and among 
 them the republican spirit predominated. They had 
 sprung into existence during that part of the reign of 
 James I. when disputes ran high about kingly preroga- 
 tive and popular privilege. 
 
 The Pilgrims, as they styled themselves, who found- 
 ed Plymouth colony in 1620, had been incensed while 
 in England by what they stigmatized as the oppressions 
 of the monarchy, and the established church. They 
 had sought the wilds of America for the indulgence of 
 freedom of opinion, and had brought with them the 
 spirit of independence and self-government. Those 
 who followed them in the reign of Charles I. were im- 
 bued with the same spirit, and gave a lasting character 
 to the people of New England. 
 
 Other colonies, having been formed under other cir- 
 cumstances, might be inclined toward a monarchical 
 
1763.J REVENUE BY TAXATION. 329 
 
 government, and disposed to acquiesce in its exactions ; 
 but the republican spirit was ever alive in New Eng- 
 land, watching over " natural and chartered rights," 
 and prompt to defend them against any infringement. 
 Its example and instigation had gradually an effect on 
 the other colonies; a general impatience was evinced 
 from time to time of parliamentary interference in colo- 
 nial affairs, and a disposition in the various provincial 
 Legislatures to think and act for themselves in matters 
 of civil and religious, as well as commercial polity. 
 
 There was nothing, however, to which the jealous 
 sensibilities of the colonies were more alive, than any 
 attempt of the mother country to draw a revenue from 
 them by taxation. From the earliest period of their 
 existence, they had maintained the principle that they 
 could only be taxed by a Legislature in which they 
 were represented. Sir Robert Walpole, when at the 
 head of the British government, was aware of their 
 jealous sensibility on this point, and cautious of pro- 
 voking it. When American taxation was suggested, 
 " it must be a bolder man than himself," he replied, 
 " and one less friendly to commerce, who should ven- 
 ture on such an expedient. Tor his part, he would en- 
 courage the trade of the colonies to the utmost; one 
 half of the profits would be sure to come into the royal 
 exchequer through the increased demand for British 
 manufactures. This," said he, sagaciously, " is taxing 
 them more agreeably to their own constitution and laws!* 
 
 Subsequent ministers adopted a widely different 
 policy. During the progress of the French war, vari- 
 ous projects were discussed in England with regard to 
 the colonies, which were to be carried into effect on the 
 
330 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1763> 
 
 return of peace. The open avowal of some of these 
 plans, and vague rumors of others, more than ever irri- 
 tated the jealous feelings of the colonists, and put the 
 dragon spirit of New England on the alert. 
 
 In 1760, there was an attempt in Boston to collect 
 duties on foreign sugar and molasses imported into the 
 colonies. Writs of assistance were applied for by the 
 custom-house officers, authorizing them to break open 
 ships, stores, and private dwellings, in quest of articles 
 that had paid no duty ; and to call the assistance of oth- 
 ers in the discharge of their odious task. The mer- 
 chants opposed the execution of the writ on constitu- 
 tional grounds. The question was argued in court, 
 where James Otis spoke so eloquently in vindication of 
 American rights, that all his hearers went away ready 
 to take arms against writs of assistance. " Then and 
 there," says John Adams, who was present, " was the 
 first scene of opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great 
 Britain. Then and there American Independence was 
 born." 
 
 Another ministerial measure was to instruct the 
 provincial governors to commission judges. Not as 
 theretofore " during good behavior," but " during the 
 king's pleasure." New York was the first to resent 
 this blow at the independence of the judiciary. The 
 lawyers appealed to the public through the press, 
 against an act which subjected the halls of justice to 
 the prerogative. Their appeals were felt beyond the 
 bounds of the province, and awakened a general spirit 
 of resistance. 
 
 Thus matters stood at the conclusion of the war. 
 One of the first measures of ministers, on the return 
 
1763.] PAPER CHAINS ON THE COLONIES. 331 
 
 of peace, was to enjoin on all naval officers stationed 
 on the coast of the American colonies the performance, 
 under oath, of the duties of custom-house officers, for 
 the suppression of smuggling. This fell ruinously 
 upon a clandestine trade which had long been connived 
 at between the English and Spanish colonies, profitable 
 to both, but especially to the former, and beneficial to 
 the mother country, opening a market to her manufac- 
 tures. 
 
 " Men-of-war," says Burke, " were for the first 
 time armed with the regular commissions of custom- 
 house officers, invested the coasts, and gave the col- 
 lection of revenue the air of hostile contribution. 
 # * # # They fell so indiscriminately on all sorts 
 of contraband, or supposed contraband, that some of 
 the most valuable branches of trade were driven vio- 
 lently from our ports, which caused an universal con- 
 sternation throughout the colonies." * 
 
 As a measure of retaliation, the colonists resolved 
 not to purchase British fabrics, but to clothe themselves 
 as much as possible in home manufactures. The de- 
 mand for British goods in Boston alone was diminished 
 upwards of £10,000 sterling in the course of a year. 
 
 In 1764, George Grenville, now at the head of 
 government, ventured upon the policy from which Wal- 
 pole had so wisely abstained. Early in March the 
 eventful question was debated, " whether they had a 
 right to tax America." It was decided in the affirma- 
 tive. Next followed a resolution, declaring it proper to 
 charge certain stamp duties in the colonies and planta- 
 
 * Burke on the state of the nation. 
 
332 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1763. 
 
 tions, but no immediate step was taken to carry it into 
 effect. Mr. Grenville, however, gave notice to the 
 American agents in London, that he should introduce 
 such a measure on the ensuing session of Parliament. 
 In the mean time, Parliament perpetuated certain du- 
 ties on sugar and molasses — heretofore subjects of 
 complaint and opposition — now reduced and modified 
 so as to discourage smuggling, and thereby to render 
 them more productive. Duties, also, were imposed on 
 other articles of foreign produce or manufacture im- 
 ported into the colonies. To reconcile the latter to 
 these impositions, it was stated that the revenue thus 
 raised was to be appropriated to their protection and 
 security ; in other words, to the support of a standing 
 army, intended to be quartered upon them. 
 
 We have here briefly stated but a part of what 
 Burke terms an " infinite variety of paper chains," ex- 
 tending through no less than twenty-nine acts of Par- 
 liament, from 1660 to 1764, by which the colonies had 
 been held in thraldom. 
 
 The New Englanders were the first to take the field 
 against the project of taxation. They denounced it as 
 a violation of their rights as freemen ; of their char- 
 tered rights, by which they were to tax themselves for 
 their support and defence ; of their rights as British 
 subjects, who ought not to be taxed but by themselves 
 or their representatives. They sent petitions and re- 
 monstrances on the subject to the king, the lords, and 
 the commons, in which they were seconded by New 
 York and Virginia. Pranklin appeared in London at 
 the head of agents from Pennsylvania, Connecticut and 
 South Carolina, to deprecate, in person, measures so 
 
1765.] STAMP ACT. 333 
 
 fraught with mischief. The most eloquent arguments 
 were used by British orators and statesmen to dissuade 
 Grenville from enforcing them. . He was warned of the 
 sturdy independence of the colonists, and the spirit of 
 resistance he might provoke. All was in vain. Gren- 
 ville, " great in daring and little in views," says Horace 
 Walpole, " was charmed to have an untrodden field 
 before him of calculation and experiment." In March, 
 1765, the act was passed, according to which all instru- 
 ments in writing were to be executed on stamped pa- 
 per, to be purchased from the agents of the British 
 government. What was more : all offences against the 
 act could be tried in any royal, marine, or admiralty 
 court throughout the colonies, however distant from the 
 place where the offence had been committed ; thus 
 interfering with that most inestimable right, a trial by 
 
 i ur y- 
 
 It was an ominous sign that the first burst of op- 
 position to this act should take place in Virginia. That 
 colony had hitherto been slow to accord with the re- 
 publican spirit of New England. Pounded at an 
 earlier period of the reign of James I., before kingly 
 prerogative and ecclesiastical supremacy had been made 
 matters of doubt and fierce dispute, it had grown up 
 in loyal attachment to king, church, and constitution ; 
 was aristocratical in its tastes and habits, and had been 
 remarked above all the other colonies for its sympathies 
 with the mother country: Moreover, it had not so 
 many pecuniary interests involved in these questions as 
 had the people of New England, being an agricultural 
 rather than a commercial province; but the Virginians 
 are of a quick and generous spirit, readily aroused on 
 
334 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1765 
 
 all points of honorable pride, and they resented the 
 stamp act as an outrage on their rights. 
 
 Washington occupied his seat in the House of Bur- 
 gesses, when, on the 29th of May, the stamp act be- 
 came a subject of discussion. We have seen no previ- 
 ous opinions of his on the subject. His correspondence 
 hitherto had not turned on political or speculative 
 themes ; being engrossed by either military or agricul- 
 tural matters, and evincing little anticipation of the 
 vortex of public duties into which he was about to be 
 drawn. All his previous conduct and writings show a 
 loyal devotion to the crown, with a patriotic attachment 
 to his country. It is probable that on the present oc- 
 casion that latent patriotism received its first electric 
 shock. 
 
 Among the Burgesses sat Patrick Henry, a young 
 lawyer, who had recently distinguished himself by 
 pleading against the exercise of the royal prerogative 
 in church matters, and who was now for the first time 
 a member of the House. Rising in his place, he intro- 
 duced his celebrated resolutions, declaring that the 
 General Assembly of Virginia had the exclusive right 
 and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the in- 
 habitants, and that whoever maintained the contrary 
 should be deemed an enemy to the colony. 
 
 The speaker, Mr. Robinson, objected to the resolu- 
 tions, as inflammatory. Henry vindicated them, as 
 justified by the nature of the case ; went into an able 
 and constitutional discussion of colonial rights, and an 
 eloquent exposition of the manner in which they had 
 been assailed ; wound up by one of those daring flights 
 of declamation for which he was remarkable, and 
 
1765.] SPEECH OF PATRICK HENRY. 335 
 
 startled the House by a warning flash from history : 
 " Caesar had his Brutus ; Charles his Cromwell • and 
 George the Third — (' Treason! treason!' resounded 
 from the neighborhood of the Chair) — may profit by 
 their examples," added Henry. " Sir, if this be trea- 
 son (bowing to the speaker), make the most of it ! " 
 
 The resolutions were modified, to accommodate 
 them to the scruples of the speaker and some of the 
 members, but their spirit was retained. The Lieu- 
 tenant-governor (Fauquier), startled by this patriotic 
 outbreak, dissolved the Assembly, and issued writs for 
 a new election ; but the clarion had sounded. " The 
 resolves of the Assembly of Virginia," says a corre- 
 spondent of the ministry, " gave the signal for a gen- 
 eral outcry over the continent. The movers and sup- 
 porters of them were applauded as the protectors and 
 assertors of American liberty." * 
 
 * Letter to Secretary Conway, New York, Sept. 23.— Parliamentary 
 Register, 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE COLONIES — PORTENTOUS CEREMONIES AT BOSTON AND NEW YORK 
 — NON-IMPOETATION AGREEMENT AMONG THE MERCHANTS — WASHING- 
 TON AND GEORGE MASON — DISMISSAL OF GRENVILLE FROM THE BRITISH 
 
 CABINET FRANKLIN BEFORE THE HOUSE OF COMMONS — REPEAL OF 
 
 THE STAMP ACT — JOY OF WASHINGTON — FRESH CAUSES OF COLONIAL 
 DISSENSIONS — CIRCULAR OF THE GENERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 EMBARKATION OF TROOPS FOR BOSTON — MEASURES OF THE BOS- 
 
 TONIANS. 
 
 Washington returned to Mount Vernon full of anxious 
 thoughts inspired by the political events of the day, 
 and the legislative scene which he witnessed. His 
 recent letters had spoken of the state of peaceful tran- 
 quillity in which he was living; those now written 
 from his rural home show that he fully participated in 
 the popular feeling, and that while he had a presenti- 
 ment of an arduous struggle, his patriotic mind was 
 revolving means of coping with it. Such is the tenor 
 of a letter written to his wife's uncle, Francis Dan- 
 dridge, then in London. " The stamp act," said he, 
 "engrosses the conversation of the speculative part of 
 the colonists, who look upon this unconstitutional 
 method of taxation as a direful attack upon their liber- 
 
1765.J OPPOSITION TO THE STAMP ACT. 337 
 
 ties, and loudly exclaim against the violation. What 
 may be the result of this, and of some other (I think I 
 may add ill-judged) measures, I will not undertake to 
 determine; but this I may venture to affirm, that the 
 advantage accruing to the mother country, will fall 
 greatly short of the expectation of the ministry; for 
 certain it is, that our whole substance already in a 
 manner flows to Great Britain, and that whatsoever con- 
 tributes to lessen our importations must be hurtful to 
 her manufactures. The eyes of our people already 
 begin to be opened ; and they will perceive that many 
 luxuries, for which we lavish our substance in Great 
 Britain, can well be dispensed with. This, conse- 
 quently, will introduce frugality, and be a necessary 
 incitement to industry. ****** As to 
 the stamp act, regarded in a single view, one of the 
 first bad consequences attending it, is, that our courts 
 of judicature must inevitably be shut up ; for it is im- 
 possible, or next to impossible, under our present cir- 
 cumstances, that the act of Parliament can be com- 
 plied with, were we ever so willing to enforce its exe- 
 cution. And not to say (which alone would be suffi- 
 cient) that we have not money enough to pay for the 
 stamps, there are many other cogent reasons which 
 prove that it would be ineffectual." 
 
 A letter of the same date to his agents in London, 
 of ample length and minute in all its details, shows 
 that, while deeply interested in the course of public 
 affairs, his practical mind was enabled thoroughly and 
 ably to manage the financial concerns of his estate and 
 of the estate of Mrs. Washington's son, John Parke 
 Custis, towards whom he acted the part of a faithful 
 
 vol. i.— 22 
 
338 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1765. 
 
 and affectionate guardian. In those days, Virginia 
 planters were still in direct and frequent correspond- 
 ence with their London factors ; and Washington's let- 
 ters respecting his shipments of tobacco, and the re- 
 turns required in various articles for household and 
 personal use, are perfect models for a man of business. 
 And this may be remarked throughout his whole career, 
 that no pressure of events nor multiplicity of cares 
 prevented a clear, steadfast undercut rent of attention 
 to domestic affairs, and the interest and well-being of 
 all dependent upon him. 
 
 In the mean time, from his quiet abode at Mount 
 Vernon, he seemed to hear the patriotic voice of Pa- 
 trick Henry, which had startled the House of Burgesses, 
 echoing throughout the land, and rousing one legis- 
 lative body after another to follow the example of that 
 of Virginia. At the instigation of the General Court 
 or Assembly of Massachusetts, a Congress was held in 
 New York in October, composed of delegates from 
 Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and 
 South Carolina. In this they denounced the acts of 
 Parliament imposing taxes on them without their con- 
 sent, and extending the jurisdiction of the courts of 
 admiralty, as violations of their rights and liberties as 
 natural born subjects of Great Britain, and prepared an 
 address to the king, and a petition to both Houses of 
 Parliament, praying for redress. Similar petitions were 
 forwarded to England by the colonies not represented 
 in the Congress. 
 
 The very preparations for enforcing the stamp act 
 called forth popular tumults in various places. In Bos- 
 
1765.] POPULAR AGITATION. 339 
 
 ton the stamp distributor was hanged in effigy; his 
 windows were broken ; a house intended for a stamp 
 office was pulled down, and the effigy burnt in a bon- 
 fire made of the fragments. The lieutenant-governor, 
 chief justice, and sheriff, attempting to allay the 
 tumult, were pelted. The stamp officer thought him- 
 self happy to be hanged merely in effigy, and next day 
 publicly renounced the perilous office. 
 
 Various were the proceedings in other places, all 
 manifesting public scorn and defiance of the act. In 
 Virginia, Mr. George Mercer had been appointed dis- 
 tributor of stamps, but on his arrival at Williamsburg 
 publicly declined officiating. It was a fresh triumph 
 to the popular cause. The bells were rung for joy ; 
 the town was illuminated, and Mercer was hailed with 
 acclamations of the people.* 
 
 The 1st of November, the day when the act was 
 to go into operation, was ushered in with portentous 
 solemnities. There was great tolling of bells and 
 burning of effigies in the New England colonies. At 
 Boston the ships displayed their colors but half-mast 
 high. Many shops were shut ; funeral knells resound- 
 ed from the steeples, and there was a grand auto-da-fe, 
 in which the promoters of the act were paraded, and 
 suffered martyrdom in effigy. 
 
 At New York the printed act was carried about 
 the streets on a pole, surmounted by a death's head, 
 with a scroll bearing the inscription, " The folly of Eng- 
 land and ruin of America." Colden, the lieutenant- 
 governor, who acquired considerable odium by recom- 
 
 * Holmes's Annals, vol. ii., p. 138. 
 
340 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1765. 
 
 mending to government the taxation of the colonies, 
 the institution of hereditary Assemblies, and other 
 tory measures, seeing that a popular storm was rising, 
 retired into the fort, taking with him the stamp papers, 
 and garrisoned it with marines from a ship of war. 
 The mob broke into his stable ; drew out his chariot ; 
 put his effigy into it ; paraded it through the streets to 
 the common (now the Park), where they hung it on a 
 gallows. In the evening it was taken down, put again 
 into the chariot, with the devil for a companion, and 
 escorted back by torchlight to the Bowling Green; 
 where the whole pageant, chariot and all, was burnt 
 under the very guns of the fort. 
 
 These are specimens of the marks of popular repro- 
 bation with which the stamp act was universally nulli- 
 fied. No one would venture to carry it into execution. 
 In fact, no stamped paper was to be seen; all had 
 been either destroyed or concealed. All transactions 
 which required stamps to give them validity were sus- 
 pended, or were executed by private compact. The 
 courts of justice were closed, until at length some con- 
 ducted their business without stamps. Union was be- 
 coming the watch-word. The merchants of New 
 York, Philadelphia, Boston, and such other colonies as 
 had ventured publicly to oppose the stamp act, agreed 
 to import no more British manufactures after the 1st 
 of January unless it should be repealed. So passed 
 away the year 1765. 
 
 As yet Washington took no prominent part in the 
 public agitation. Indeed he was never disposed to put 
 himself forward on popular occasions, his innate mod- 
 esty forbade it ; it was others who knew his worth that 
 
1765.] FRANKLIN BEFORE THE COMMONS. 341 
 
 called him forth ; but when once he engaged in any 
 public measure, he devoted himself to it with con- 
 scientiousness and persevering zeal. At present he 
 remained a quiet but vigilant observer of events from his 
 eagle nest at Mount Vernon. He had some few inti- 
 mates in his neighborhood who accorded with him in 
 sentiment. One of the. ablest and most efficient of 
 these was Mr. George Mason, with whom he had occa- 
 sional conversations on the state of affairs. His friends 
 the Fairfaxes, though liberal in feelings and opinions, 
 were too strong in their devotion to the crown not to 
 regard with an uneasy eye the tendency of the popular 
 bias. From one motive or other, the earnest attention 
 of all the inmates and visitors at Mount Vernon was 
 turned to England, watching the movements of the 
 ministry. 
 
 The dismissal of Mr. Grenville from the cabinet 
 gave a temporary change to public affairs. Perhaps 
 nothing had a greater effect in favor of the colonies 
 than an examination of Dr. Franklin before the House 
 of Commons, on the subject of the stamp act. 
 
 "What," he was asked, "was the temper of Amer- 
 ica towards Great Britain, before the year 1763 ? " 
 
 " The best in the world. They submitted willingly 
 to the government of the crown, and paid, in all their 
 courts, obedience to the acts of Parliament. Numerous 
 as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost 
 you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to 
 keep them in subjection. They were governed by this 
 country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and 
 paper. They were led by a thread. They had not 
 only a respect, but an affection for Great Britain, for 
 
342 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1766. 
 
 its laws, its customs, and manners, and even a fondness 
 for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. 
 Natives of Great Britain were always treated with par- 
 ticular regard; to be an Old-England man was, of 
 itself, a character of some respect, and gave a kind of 
 rank among us." 
 
 " And what is their temper now? " 
 
 " Oh ! very much altered." 
 
 " If the act is not repealed, what do you think will 
 be the consequences ? " 
 
 " A total loss of the respect and affection the people 
 of America bear to this country, and of all the com- 
 merce that depends on that respect and affection." 
 
 " Do you think the people of America would sub- 
 mit to pay the stamp duty if it was moderated ? " 
 
 " No, never, unless compelled by force of arms."* 
 
 The act was repealed on the 18th of March, 1766, 
 to the great joy of the sincere friends of both coun- 
 tries, and to no one more than to Washington. In one 
 of his letters he observes : " Had the Parliament of 
 Great Britain resolved upon enforcing it, the conse- 
 quences, I conceive, would have been more direful 
 than is generally apprehended, both to the mother 
 country and her colonies. All, therefore, who were 
 instrumental in procuring the repeal, are entitled to the 
 thanks of every British subject, and have mine cor- 
 dially."! 
 
 Still, there was a fatal clause in the repeal, which 
 declared that the king, with the consent of Parliament, 
 had power and authority to make laws and statutes of 
 
 * Parliamentary Register, 1766. 
 
 f Sparks. Writings of Washington, ii., 345, note. 
 
1766.] THE MUTINY ACT. 343 
 
 sufficient force and validity to " bind the colonies, and 
 people of America, in all cases whatsoever." 
 
 As the people of America were contending for prin- 
 ciples, not mere pecuniary interests, this reserved power 
 of the crown and Parliament left the dispute still open, 
 and chilled the feeling of gratitude which the repeal 
 might otherwise have inspired. Further aliment for 
 public discontent was furnished by other acts of Par- 
 liament. One imposed duties on glass, pasteboard, 
 white and red lead, painters' colors, and tea ; the du- 
 ties to be collected on the arrival of the articles in the 
 colonies ; another empowered naval officers to enforce 
 the acts of trade and navigation. Another wounded 
 to the quick the pride and sensibilities of New York. 
 The mutiny act had recently been extended to Amer- 
 ica, with an additional clause, requiring the provincial 
 Assemblies to provide the troops sent out with quar- 
 ters, and to furnish them with fire, beds, candles, and 
 other necessaries, at the expense of the colonies. The 
 Governor and Assembly of New York refused to com- 
 ply with this requisition as to stationary forces, insist- 
 ing that it applied only to troops on a march. An act 
 of Parliament now suspended the powers of the Gov- 
 ernor and Assembly until they should comply. Chat- 
 ham attributed this opposition of the colonists to the 
 mutiny act to "their jealousy of being somehow or 
 other taxed internally by the Parliament; the act," 
 said he, "asserting the right of Parliament, has cer- 
 tainly spread a most unfortunate jealousy and diffi- 
 dence of government here throughout America, and 
 makes them jealous of the least distinction between 
 
344 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1766 
 
 this country and that, lest the same principle may be 
 extended to taxing them." * 
 
 Boston continued to be the focus of what the min- 
 isterialists termed sedition. The General Court of 
 Massachusetts, not content with petitioning the king 
 for relief against the recent measures of Parliament, 
 especially those imposing taxes as a means of revenue, 
 drew up a circular, calling on the other colonial 
 Legislatures to join with them in suitable efforts to ob- 
 tain redress. In the ensuing session, Governor Sir 
 Francis Bernard called upon them to rescind the reso- 
 lution on which the circular was founded, — they refused 
 to comply, and the General Court was consequently 
 dissolved. The governors of other colonies required 
 of their Legislatures an assurance that they would not 
 reply to the Massachusetts circular,' — these Legislatures 
 likewise refused compliance, and were dissolved. All 
 this added to the growing excitement. 
 
 Memorials were addressed to the lords, spiritual 
 and temporal, and remonstrances to the House of Com- 
 mons, against taxation for revenue, as destructive to 
 the liberties of the colonists ; and against the act sus- 
 pending the legislative power of the province of New 
 York, as menacing the welfare of the colonies in 
 general. 
 
 Nothing, however, produced a more powerful effect 
 upon the public sensibilities throughout the* country, 
 than certain military demonstrations at Boston. In 
 consequence of repeated collisions between the people 
 of that place and the commissioners of customs, two 
 
 * Chatham's Correspondence, vol. iii., p. 189-192. 
 
1766.! CONVENTION AT BOSTON. 345 
 
 regiments were held in readiness at Halifax to embark 
 for Boston in the ships of Commodore Hood whenever 
 Governor Bernard, or the general, should give the 
 word. "Had this force been landed in Boston six 
 months ago," writes the commodore, " I am perfectly 
 persuaded no address or remonstrances would have 
 been sent from the other colonies, and that all would 
 have been tolerably quiet and orderly at this time 
 throughout America." * 
 
 Tidings reached Boston that these troops were em- 
 barked, and that they were coming to overawe the 
 people. What was to be done ? The General Court 
 had been dissolved, and the governor refused to con- 
 vene it without the royal command. A convention 
 therefore, from various towns, met at Boston, on the 
 22d of September, to devise measures for the public 
 safety; but disclaiming all pretensions to legislative 
 powers. While the convention was yet in session 
 (September 28th), the two regiments arrived, with 
 seven armed vessels. " I am very confident," writes 
 Commodore Hood from Halifax, " the spirited measures 
 now pursuing will soon effect order in America." 
 
 On the contrary, these " spirited measures " added 
 fuel to the fire they were intended to quench. It was 
 resolved in a town meeting that the king had no right 
 to send troops thither without the consent of the As- 
 sembly; that Great Britain had broken the original 
 compact, and that, therefore, the king's officers had no 
 longer any business there. f 
 
 The " selectmen " accordingly refused to find quar- 
 
 * Grenville Papers, vol. iv., p. 362. 
 
 f Whately to Grenville. Gren. Papers, vol. iv., p. 389. 
 
346 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1766 
 
 ters for the soldiers in the town ; the council refused to 
 find barracks for them, lest it should be construed into 
 a compliance with the disputed clause of the mutiny 
 act. Some of the troops, therefore, which had tents, 
 were encamped on the Common ; others, by the gov- 
 ernor's orders, were quartered in the state-house, and 
 others in Paneuil Hall, to the great indignation of the 
 public, who were grievously scandalized at seeing field- 
 pieces planted in front of the state-house; sentinels 
 stationed at the doors, challenging every one who 
 passed ; and, above all, at having the sacred quiet of 
 the Sabbath disturbed by drum and fife, and other 
 nilitary music. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 CHEERFUL LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON — WASHINGTON AND GEOEGE MASON — 
 CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THE NON-IMPORTATION AGREEMENT — 
 FEELING TOWARD ENGLAND — OPENING OF THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION — 
 SEMI-REGAL STATE OF LORD BOTETOURT — HIGH-TONED PROCEEDINGS 
 OF THE HOUSE — SYMPATHY WITH NEW ENGLAND — DISSOLVED BY LORD 
 BOTETOURT — WASHINGTON AND THE ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 
 
 Throughout these public agitations, Washington en- 
 deavored to preserve his equanimity. Removed from 
 the heated throngs of cities, his diary denotes a cheer- 
 ful and healthful life at Mount Vernon, devoted to 
 those rural occupations in which he delighted, and 
 varied occasionally by his favorite field sports. Some- 
 times he is duck-shooting on the Potomac. Repeatedly 
 we find note of his being out at sunrise with the 
 hounds, in company with ©Id Lord Fairfax, Bryan 
 Fairfax, and others ; and ending the day's sport by a 
 dinner at Mount Vernon, or Belvoir. 
 
 Still he was too true a patriot not to sympathize in 
 the struggle for colonial rights which now agitated the 
 whole country, and we find him gradually carried more 
 and more into the current of political affairs. 
 
 A letter written on the 5th of April, 1769, to his 
 
348 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1769. 
 
 friend, George Mason, shows the important stand he 
 was disposed to take. In the previous year, the mer- 
 chants and traders of Boston, Salem, Connecticut, and 
 New York, had agreed to suspend for a time the im- 
 portation of all articles subject to taxation. Similar 
 resolutions had recently been adopted by the merchants 
 of Philadelphia. Washington's letter is emphatic in 
 support of the measure. "At a time," writes he, 
 " when our lordly masters in Great Britain will be sat- 
 isfied with nothing less than the deprivation of Ameri- 
 can freedom, it seems highly necessary that something 
 should be done to avert the stroke, and maintain the 
 liberty which we have derived from our ancestors. But 
 the manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effectu- 
 ally, is the point in question. That no man should 
 scruple, or hesitate a moment in defence of so valuable 
 a blessing, is clearly my opinion ; yet arms should be 
 the last resource — the dernier ressort. We have already, 
 it is said, proved the inefficacy of addresses to the 
 throne, and remonstrances to Parliament. How far 
 their attention to our rights and interests is to be 
 awakened, or alarmed, by starving their trade and 
 manufactures, remains to be tried. 
 
 " The northern colonies, it appears, are endeavoring 
 to adopt this scheme. In my opinion, it is a good one, 
 and must be attended with salutary effects, provided it 
 can be carried pretty generally into execution. * * 
 * That there will be a difficulty attending it every 
 where from clashing interests, and selfish, designing 
 men, ever attentive to their own gain, and watchful of 
 every turn that can assist their lucrative views, cannot 
 be denied ; and in the tobacco colonies where the trade 
 
1769.] NON-IMPORTATION PROJECT. 349 
 
 is so diffused, and in a manner wholly conducted by 
 factors for their principals at home, these difficulties are 
 certainly enhanced, but I think not insurmountably 
 increased, if the gentlemen in their several counties 
 will be at some pains to explain matters to the people, 
 and stimulate them to cordial agreements to purchase 
 none but certain enumerated articles out of any of the 
 stores, after a definite period, and neither import, nor 
 purchase any themselves. * * * I can see but 
 one class of people, the merchants excepted, who will 
 not, or ought not, to wish well to the scheme, — namely, 
 they who live genteelly and hospitably on clear estates. 
 Such as these, were they not to consider the valuable 
 object in view, and the good of others, might think it 
 hard to be curtailed in their living and enjoyments." 
 
 This was precisely the class to which Washington 
 belonged ; but he was ready and willing to make the 
 sacrifices required. " I think the scheme a good one," 
 added he, " and that it ought to be tried here, with 
 such alterations as our circumstances render absolutely 
 necessary." 
 
 Mason, in his reply, concurred with him in opinion. 
 "Our all is at stake," said he, "and the little conve- 
 niences and comforts of life, when set in competition with 
 our liberty, ought to be rejected, not with reluctance, 
 but with pleasure. Yet it is plain that, in the tobacco 
 colonies, we cannot at present confine our importations 
 within such narrow bounds as the northern colonies. 
 A plan of this kind, to be practicable, must be adapted 
 to our circumstances; for, if not steadily executed, it 
 had better have remained unattempted. We may re- 
 trench all manner of superfluities, finery of all descrip- 
 
350 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1769. 
 
 tions, and confine ourselves to linens, woollens, &c., not 
 exceeding a certain price. It is amazing how much 
 this practice, if adopted in all the colonies, would lessen 
 the American imports, and distress the various trades 
 and manufactures of Great Britain. This would awa- 
 ken their attention. They would see, they would feel, 
 the oppressions we groan under, and exert themselves 
 to procure us redress. This once obtained, we should 
 no longer discontinue our importations, confining our- 
 selves still not to import any article that should here- 
 after be taxed by act of Parliament for raising a reve- 
 nue in America ; for, however singular I may be in the 
 opinion, I am thoroughly convinced, that, justice and 
 harmony happily restored, it is not the interest of these 
 colonies to refuse British manufactures. Our supplying 
 our mother country with gross materials, and taking her 
 manufactures in return, is the true chain of connection 
 between us. These are the bands which, if not broken 
 by oppression, must long hold us together, by maintain- 
 ing a constant reciprocation of interests!' 
 
 The latter part of the above quotation shows the 
 spirit which actuated Washington and the friends of 
 his confidence; as yet there was no thought nor de- 
 sire of alienation from the mother country, but only a 
 fixed determination to be placed on an equality of 
 rights and privileges with her other children. 
 
 A single word in the passage cited from Washing- 
 ton's letter, evinces the chord which still vibrated in 
 the American bosom : he incidentally speaks of Eng- 
 land as home. It was the familiar term with which she 
 was usually indicated by those of English descent ; and 
 the writer of these pages remembers when the endear- 
 
1769.] LORD BOTETOURT. 351 
 
 ing phrase still lingered on Anglo-American lips even 
 after the Revolution. How easy would it have been 
 before that era for the mother country to have rallied 
 back the affections of her colonial children, by a proper 
 attention to their complaints. They asked for nothing 
 but what they were entitled to, and what she had taught 
 them to prize as their dearest inheritance. The spirit 
 of liberty which they manifested had been derived from 
 her own precept and example. 
 
 The result of the correspondence between Wash- 
 ington and Mason was the draft by the latter of a plan 
 of association, the members of which were to pledge 
 themselves not to import or use any articles of British 
 merchandise or manufacture subject to duty. This 
 paper Washington was to submit to the consideration 
 of the House of Burgesses, at the approaching session 
 in the month of May. 
 
 The Legislature of Virginia opened on this occasion 
 with a brilliant pageant. While military force was 
 arrayed to overawe the republican Puritans of the east, 
 it was thought to dazzle the aristocratical descendants 
 of the Cavaliers by the reflex of regal splendor. Lord 
 Botetourt, one of the king's lords of the bed-chamber, 
 had recently come out as governor of the province. 
 Junius described him as " a cringing, bowing, fawning, 
 sword-bearing courtier." Horace Walpole predicted 
 that he would turn the heads of the Virginians in one 
 way or other. " If his graces do not captivate them, 
 he will enrage them to fury ; for I take all his douceur 
 to be enamelled on iron."* The words of political 
 
 * Grenville papers, iv., note to p. 830. 
 
352 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1769. 
 
 satirists and court wits, however, are always to be taken 
 with great distrust. However his lordship may have 
 bowed in presence of royalty, he elsewhere conducted 
 himself with dignity, and won general favor by his en- 
 dearing manners. He certainly showed promptness of 
 spirit in his reply to the king on being informed of his 
 appointment. "When will you be ready to go?" 
 asked George III. "To-night, sir." 
 
 He had come out, however, with a wrong idea of 
 the Americans. They had been represented to him as 
 factious, immoral, and prone to sedition ; but vain and 
 luxurious, and easily captivated by parade and splen 
 dor. The latter foibles were aimed at in his appoint- 
 ment and fitting out. It was supposed that his titled 
 rank would have its effect. Then, to prepare him for 
 occasions of ceremony, a coach of state was presented 
 ,o him by the king. He was allowed, moreover, the 
 quantity of plate usually given to ambassadors, where- 
 upon the joke was circulated that he was going " pleni- 
 po to the Cherokees." * 
 
 His opening of the session was in the style of the 
 royal opening of Parliament. He proceeded in due 
 parade from his dwelling to the capitol, in his state 
 coach, drawn by six milk-white horses. Having deliv- 
 ered his speech according to royal form, he returned 
 home with the same pomp and circumstance. 
 
 The time had gone by, however, for such display to 
 have the anticipated effect. The Virginian legislators 
 penetrated the intention of this pompous ceremonial, 
 and regarded it with a depreciating smile. Sterner 
 
 • Whately to Geo. Grenville. Grenville papers. 
 
1769.J ADDRESS TO THE KING. 353 
 
 matters occupied their thoughts ; they had come pre- 
 pared to battle for their rights, and their proceedings 
 soon showed Lord Botetourt how much he had mistaken 
 them. Spirited resolutions were passed, denouncing 
 the recent act of Parliament imposing taxes ; the power 
 to do which, on the inhabitants of this colony, "was 
 legally and constitutionally vested in the House of Bur- 
 gesses, with consent of the council and of the king or 
 of his governor, for the time being." Copies of these 
 resolutions were ordered to be forwarded by the speak- 
 er to the Legislatures of the other colonies, with a 
 request for their concurrence. 
 
 Other proceedings of the Burgesses showed their 
 sympathy with their fellow-patriots of New England. 
 A joint address of both Houses of Parliament had 
 recently been made to the king, assuring him of their 
 support in any further measures for the due execution 
 of the laws in Massachusetts, and beseeching him that 
 all persons charged with treason, or misprision of trea- 
 son, committed within that colony since the 30th of 
 December, 1767, might be sent to Great Britain for 
 trial. 
 
 As Massachusetts had no General Assembly at this 
 time, having been dissolved by government, the Legis- 
 lature of Virginia generously took up the cause. An 
 address to the king was resolved on, stating, that all 
 trials for treason, or misprision of treason, or for any 
 crime whatever, committed by any person residing in a 
 colony, ought to be in and before his majesty's courts 
 within said colony 5 and beseeching the king to avert 
 from his loyal subjects those dangers and miseries 
 which would ensue from seizing and carrying beyond 
 vol. l— 23 
 
354 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1769. 
 
 sea any person residing in America suspected of any 
 crime whatever, thereby depriving them of the inesti- 
 mable privilege of being tried by a jury from the vici- 
 nage, as well as the liberty of producing witnesses on 
 such trial. 
 
 Disdaining any further application to Parliament, 
 the House ordered the speaker to transmit this address 
 to the colonies' agent in England, with directions to 
 cause it to be presented to the king, and afterwards to 
 be printed and published in the English papers. 
 
 Lord Botetourt was astonished and dismayed when 
 he heard of these high-toned proceedings. Repairing 
 to the capitol on the following day at noon, he sum- 
 moned the speaker and members to the council cham- 
 ber, and addressed them in the following words : " Mr. 
 Speaker, and gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, I 
 have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of their 
 effects. You have made it my duty to dissolve you, 
 and you are dissolved accordingly." 
 
 The spirit conjured up by the late decrees of Par- 
 liament was not so easily allayed. The Burgesses ad- 
 journed to a private house. Peyton Randolph, their 
 late speaker, was elected moderator. Washington now 
 brought forward a draft of the articles of association, 
 concerted between him and George Mason. They 
 formed the groundwork of an instrument signed by all 
 present, pledging themselves neither to import, nor use 
 any goods, merchandise, or manufactures taxed by Par- 
 liament to raise a revenue in America. This instru- 
 ment was sent throughout the country for signature, 
 and the scheme of non-importation, hitherto confined 
 to a few northern colonies, was soon universally 
 
1769.] LORD BOTETOURT UNDECEIVED. 355 
 
 adopted. For his own part, Washington adhered to it 
 rigorously throughout the year. The articles proscribed 
 by it were never to be seen in his house, and his agent 
 in London was enjoined to ship nothing for him while 
 subject to taxation. 
 
 The popular ferment in Virginia was gradually 
 allayed by the amiable and conciliatory conduct of 
 Lord Botetourt. His lordship soon became aware of 
 the erroneous notions with which he had entered upon 
 office. His semi-royal equipage and state were laid 
 aside. He examined into public grievances ; became a 
 strenuous advocate for the repeal of taxes ; and, author- 
 ized by his despatches from the ministry, assured the 
 public that such repeal would speedily take place. His 
 assurance was received with implicit faith, and for a 
 while Virginia was quieted. 
 
CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 HOOD AT BOSTON — THE GENERAL COURT REFUSES TO DO BUSINESS UNDER 
 MILITARY SWAY — RESISTS THE BILLETING ACT — EFFECT OF THE NON- 
 IMPORTATION ASSOCIATION — LORD NORTH PREMIER — DUTIES REVOKED 
 EXCEPT ON TEA — THE BOSTON MASSACRE — DISUSE OF TEA — CONCILIA- 
 TORY CONDUCT OF LORD BOTETOURT — HI8 DEATH. 
 
 " The worst is past, and the spirit of sedition broken," 
 writes Hood to Grenville, early in the spring of 1769.* 
 When the commodore wrote this, his ships were in the 
 harbor, and troops occupied the town, and he nattered 
 himself that at length turbulent Boston was quelled. 
 But it only awaited its time to be seditious according 
 to rule ; there was always an irresistible " method in its 
 madness/' 
 
 In the month of May, the General Court, hitherto 
 prorogued, met according to charter. A committee 
 immediately waited on the governor, stating it was im- 
 possible to do business with dignity and freedom while 
 the town was invested by sea and land, and a military 
 guard was stationed at the state-house, with cannon 
 pointed at the door ; and they requested the governor, 
 as his majesty's representative, to have such forces re- 
 
 * Grenville Papers, vol. iii. 
 
1770.J THE ASSEMBLY PROROGUED. 357 
 
 moved out of the port and gates of the city during the 
 session of the Assembly. 
 
 The governor replied that he had no authority over 
 either the ships or troops. The Court persisted in 
 refusing to transact business while so circumstanced, 
 and the governor was obliged to transfer the session to 
 Cambridge. There he addressed a message to that 
 body in July, requiring funds for the payment of the 
 troops, and quarters for their accommodation. The 
 Assembly, after ample discussion of past grievances, 
 resolved, that the establishment of a standing army in 
 the colony in a time of peace was an invasion of natu- 
 ral rights ; that a standing army was not known as a 
 part of the British constitution, and that the sending 
 an armed force to aid the civil authority was unprece- 
 dented, and highly dangerous to the people. 
 
 After waiting some days without receiving an an- 
 swer to his message, the governor sent to know whether 
 the Assembly would, or would not, make provision for 
 the troops. In their reply, they followed the example 
 of the Legislature of New York, in commenting on the 
 mutiny, or billeting act, and ended by declining to fur- 
 nish funds for the purposes specified, " being incompati- 
 ble with their own honor and interest, and their duty to 
 their constituents." They were in consequence again 
 prorogued, to meet in Boston on the 10th of January. 
 
 So stood affairs in Massachusetts. In the mean 
 time, the non-importation associations, being generally 
 observed throughout the colonies, produced the effect 
 on British commerce which Washington had anticipa- 
 ted, and Parliament was incessantly importuned by 
 
358 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1770. 
 
 petitions from British merchants, imploring its inter- 
 vention to save them from ruin. 
 
 Early in 1770, an important change took place in 
 the British cabinet. The Duke of Grafton suddenly 
 resigned, and the reins of government passed into the 
 hands of Lord North. He was a man of limited ca- 
 pacity, but a favorite of the king, and subservient to 
 his narrow colonial policy. His administration, so 
 eventful to America, commenced with an error. In 
 the month of March, an act was passed, revoking all 
 the duties laid in 1767, excepting that on tea. This 
 single tax was continued, as he observed, " to maintain 
 the parliamentary right of taxation," — the very right 
 which was the grand object of the contest. In this, 
 however, he was in fact yielding, against his better 
 judgment, to the stubborn tenacity of the king. 
 
 He endeavored to reconcile the opposition, and per- 
 haps himself, to the measure, by plausible reasoning. 
 An impost of threepence on the pound could never, he 
 alleged, be opposed by the colonists, unless they were 
 determined to rebel against Great Britain. Besides, a 
 duty on that article, payable in England, and amount- 
 ing to nearly one shilling on the pound, was taken off 
 on its exportation to America, so that the inhabitants 
 of the colonies saved ninepence on the pound. 
 
 Here was the stumbling-block at the threshold of 
 Lord North's administration. In vain the members of 
 the opposition urged that this single exception, while it 
 would produce no revenue, would keep alive the whole 
 cause of contention; that so long as a single external 
 duty was enforced, the colonies would consider their 
 rights invaded, and would remain unappeased. Lord 
 
1770.J THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 359 
 
 North was not to be convinced ; or rather, he knew the 
 royal will was inflexible, and he complied with its be- 
 hests. "The properest time to exert our right of taxa- 
 tion, ,, said he, " is when the right is refused. To tem- 
 porize is to yield; and the authority of the mother 
 country, if it is now unsupported, will be relinquished 
 for ever : a total repeal cannot be thought of, till Amer- 
 ica is prostrate at our feet." * 
 
 On the very day in which this ominous bill was 
 passed in Parliament, a sinister occurrence took place 
 in Boston. Some of the young men of the place in- 
 sulted the military while under arms ; the latter resent- 
 ed it; the young men, after a scuffle, were put to 
 flight, and pursued. The alarm bells rang, — a mob 
 assembled; the custom-house was threatened; the 
 troops, in protecting it, were assailed with clubs and 
 stones, and obliged to use their fire-arms, before the 
 tumult could be quelled. Pour of the populace were 
 killed, and several wounded. The troops were now 
 removed from the town, which remained in the highest 
 state of exasperation; and this untoward occurrence 
 received the opprobrious, and somewhat extravagant 
 name of " the Boston massacre." 
 
 The colonists, as a matter of convenience, resumed 
 the consumption of those articles on which the duties 
 had been repealed; but continued, on principle, the 
 rigorous disuse of tea, excepting such as had been 
 smuggled in. New England was particularly earnest 
 in the matter ; many of the inhabitants, in the spirit 
 of their Puritan progenitors, made a covenant to drink 
 
 * Holmes's Airer. Annals, vol. ii, p. 173. 
 
360 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1770. 
 
 no more of the forbidden beverage, until the duty on 
 tea should be repealed. 
 
 In Virginia the public discontents, which had been 
 allayed by the conciliatory conduct of Lord Botetourt, 
 and by his assurances, made on the strength of letters 
 received from the ministry, that the grievances com- 
 plained of would be speedily redressed, now broke out 
 with more violence than ever. The Virginians spurned 
 the mock-remedy which left the real cause of complaint 
 untouched. His lordship also felt deeply wounded by 
 the disingenuousness of ministers which had led him 
 into such a predicament, and wrote home demanding 
 his discharge. Before it arrived, an attack of bilious 
 fever, acting upon a delicate and sensitive frame, en- 
 feebled by anxiety and chagrin, laid him in his grave. 
 He left behind him a name endeared to the Virginians 
 by his amiable manners, his liberal patronage of the 
 arts, and, above all, by his zealous intercession for their 
 rights. Washington himself testifies that he was in- 
 clined " to render every just and reasonable service to 
 the people whom he governed." A statue to his mem- 
 ory was decreed by the House of Burgesses, to be 
 erected in the area of the capitol. It is still to be 
 seen, though in a mutilated condition, in Williams- 
 burg, the old seat of government, and a county in 
 Virginia continues to bear his honored name. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 EXPEDITION OF WASHINGTON TO THE OHIO, IN BEHALF OF SOLDIERS* 
 CLAIMS — UNEASY STATE OF THE FRONTIER — VISIT TO FOET PITT — 
 GEOEGE OEOGHAN — HIS MISHAPS DURING PONTIAO's WAR — WASHING- 
 TON DESCENDS THE OHIO — SCENES AND ADVENTURES ALONG THE RrVEE 
 — INDIAN HUNTING CAMP — INTERVIEW WITH AN OLD SACHEM AT THE 
 MOUTH OF THE iKANAWHA — RETURN — CLAIMS OF STOBO AND VAN 
 BRAAM — LETTER TO COLONEL GEORGE MUSE. 
 
 In the midst of these popular turmoils, Washington 
 was induced, by public as well as private considera- 
 tions, to make another expedition to the Ohio. He 
 was one of the Virginia Board of Commissioners, ap- 
 pointed, at the close of the late war, to settle the mili- 
 tary accounts of the colony. Among the claims which 
 came before the board, were those of the officers and 
 soldiers who had engaged to serve until peace, under 
 the proclamation of Governor Dinwiddie, holding forth 
 a bounty of two hundred thousand acres of land, to be 
 apportioned among them according to rank. Those 
 claims were yet unsatisfied, for governments, like indi- 
 viduals, are slow to pay off in peaceful times the debts 
 incurred while in the fighting mood. Washington be- 
 came the champion of those claims, and an opportunity 
 now presented itself for their liquidation. The Six 
 Nations, by a treaty in 1768, had ceded to the British 
 
362 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1770. 
 
 crown, in consideration of a sum of money, all the 
 lands possessed by them south of the Ohio. Land 
 offices would soon be opened for the sale of them. 
 Squatters and speculators were already preparing to 
 swarm in, set up their marks on the choicest spots, and 
 establish what were called pre-emption rights. Wash- 
 ington determined at once to visit the lands thus 
 ceded; affix his mark on such tracts as he should 
 select, and apply for a grant from government in be- 
 half of the " soldiers' claim." 
 
 The expedition would be attended with some de- 
 gree of danger. The frontier was yet in an uneasy 
 state. It is true, some time had elapsed since the 
 war of Pontiac, but some of the Indian tribes were 
 almost ready to resume the hatchet. The Delawares, 
 Shawnees, and Mingoes, complained that the Six Na- 
 tions had not given them their full share of the consid- 
 eration money of the late sale, and they talked of 
 exacting the deficiency from the white men who came 
 to settle in what had been their hunting-grounds. 
 Traders, squatters, and other adventurers into the wil- 
 derness, were occasionally murdered, and further trou- 
 bles were apprehended. 
 
 Washington had for a companion in this expedition 
 his friend and neighbor, Dr. Craik, and it was with 
 strong community of feeling they looked forward peace- 
 ably to revisit the scenes of their military experience. 
 They set out on the 5th of October with three negro 
 attendants, two belonging to Washington, and one to 
 the doctor. The whole party was mounted, and there 
 was a led horse for the baggage. 
 
 After twelve days' travelling they arrived at Fort 
 
1770.] VISIT TO FORT PITT. 363 
 
 Pitt (late Fort Duquesne). It was garrisoned by two 
 companies of royal Irish, commanded by a Captain 
 Edmonson. A hamlet of about twenty log-houses, in- 
 habited by Indian traders, had sprung up within three 
 hundred yards of the fort, and was called " the town." 
 It was the embryo city of Pittsburg, now so popu- 
 lous. At one of the houses, a tolerable frontier inn, 
 they took up their quarters; but during their brief 
 sojourn, they were entertained with great hospitality at 
 the fort. 
 
 Here at dinner Washington met his old acquaint- 
 ance, George Croghan, who had figured in so many 
 capacities and experienced so many vicissitudes on the 
 frontier. He was now Colonel Croghan, deputy-agent 
 to Sir William Johnson, and had his residence — or 
 seat, as Washington terms it — on the banks of the 
 Allegany River, about four miles from the fort. 
 
 Croghan had experienced troubles and dangers 
 during the Pontiac war, both from white man and sav- 
 age. At one time, while he was convoying presents 
 from Sir William to the Delawares and Shawnees, his 
 caravan was set upon and plundered by a band of 
 backwoodsmen of Pennsylvania — men resembling In- 
 dians in garb and habits, and fully as lawless. At 
 another time, when encamped at the mouth of the 
 Wabash with some of his Indian allies, a band of 
 Kickapoos, supposing the latter to be Cherokees, their 
 deadly enemies, rushed forth from the woods with hor- 
 rid yells, shot down several of his companions, and 
 wounded himself. It must be added, that no white 
 men could have made more ample apologies than did 
 
364 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1770. 
 
 the Kickapoos, when they discovered that they had 
 fired upon friends. 
 
 Another of Croghan's perils was from the redoubt- 
 able Pontiac himself. That chieftain had heard of his 
 being on a mission to win off, by dint of presents, the 
 other sachems of the conspiracy, and declared, signifi- 
 cantly, that he had a large kettle boiling in which he 
 intended to seethe the ambassador. It was fortunate 
 for Croghan that he did not meet with the formidable 
 chieftain while in this exasperated mood. He subse- 
 quently encountered him when Pontiae's spirits were 
 broken by reverses. They smoked the pipe of peace 
 together, and the colonel claimed the credit of having, 
 by his diplomacy, persuaded the sachem to bury the 
 hatchet. 
 
 On the day following the repast at the fort, Wash- 
 ington visited Croghan at his abode on the Allegany 
 River, where he found several of the chiefs of the Six 
 Nations assembled. One of them, the "White Mingo by 
 name, made him a speech, accompanied, as usual, by a 
 belt of wampum. Some of his companions, he said, 
 remembered to have seen him in 1753, when he came 
 on his embassy to the French commander; most of 
 them had heard of him. They had now come to wel- 
 come him to their country. They wished the people 
 of Virginia to consider them as friends and brothers, 
 linked together in one chain, and requested him to 
 mform the governor of their desire to live in peace and 
 harmony with the white men. As to certain unhappy 
 differences which had taken place between them on the 
 frontiers, they were all made up, and, they hoped, for- 
 gotten. 
 
1770.] VOYAGE DOWN THE OHIO. 365 
 
 Washington accepted the " speech-belt," and made 
 a suitable reply, assuring the chiefs that nothing was 
 more desired by the people of Virginia than to live 
 with them on terms of the strictest friendship. 
 
 At Pittsburg the travellers left their horses, and 
 embarked in a large canoe, to make a voyage down the 
 Ohio as far as the Great Kanawha. Colonel Croghan 
 engaged two Indians for their service, and an inter- 
 preter named John Nicholson. The colonel and some 
 of the officers of the garrison accompanied them as far 
 as Logstown, the scene of Washington's early diplo- 
 macy, and his first interview with the half-king. Here 
 they breakfasted together ; after which they separated, 
 the colonel and his companions cheering the voyagers 
 from the shore, as the canoe was borne off by the cur- 
 rent of the beautiful Ohio. 
 
 It was now the hunting season, when the Indians 
 leave their towns, set off with their families, and lead a 
 roving life in cabins and hunting-camps along the 
 river ; shifting from place to place, as game abounds 
 or decreases, and often extending their migrations two 
 or three hundred miles down the stream. The women 
 were as dexterous as the men in the management of 
 the canoe, but were generally engaged in the domestic 
 labors of the lodge while their husbands were abroad 
 hunting. 
 
 Washington's propensities as a sportsman had here 
 full play. Deer were continually to be seen coming 
 down to the water's edge to drink, or browsing along 
 the shore ; there were innumerable flocks of wild tur- 
 keys, and streaming flights of ducks and geese; so 
 that as the voyagers floated along, they were enabled 
 
366 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1770, 
 
 to load their canoe with game. At night they en- 
 camped on the river bank, lit their fire, and made a 
 sumptuous hunter's repast. Washington always rel- 
 ished this wild-wood life; and the present had that 
 spice of danger in it, which has a peculiar charm for 
 adventurous minds. The great object of his expedi- 
 tion, however, is evinced in his constant notes on the 
 features and character of the country ; the quality of 
 the soil as indicated by the nature of the trees, and 
 the level tracts fitted for settlements. 
 
 About seventy-five miles below Pittsburg the voy- 
 agers landed at a Mingo town, which they found in a 
 stir of warlike preparation — sixty of the warriors being 
 about to set off on a foray into the Cherokee country 
 against the Catawbas. 
 
 Here the voyagers were brought to a pause by a 
 report that two white men, traders, had been murdered 
 about thirty-eight miles further down the river. Re- 
 ports of the kind were not to be treated lightly. 
 Indian faith was uncertain along the frontier, and 
 white men were often shot down in the wilderness for 
 plunder or revenge. On the following day the report 
 moderated. Only one man was said to have been 
 killed, and that not by Indians ; so Washington deter- 
 mined to continue forward until he could obtain correct 
 information in the matter. 
 
 On the 24th, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the 
 voyagers arrived at Captema Creek, at the mouth of 
 which the trader was said to have been killed. As all 
 was quiet and no one to be seen, they agreed to en- 
 camp, while Nicholson the interpreter, and one of the 
 Indians, repaired to a village a few miles up the creek 
 
1770.J kiashuta' s hunting camp. 367 
 
 to inquire about the murder. They found but two old 
 women at the village. The men were all absent, hunt- 
 ing. The interpreter returned to camp in the evening, 
 bringing the truth of the murderous tale. A trader 
 had fallen a victim to his temerity, having been drowned 
 in attempting, in company with another, to swim his 
 horse across the Ohio. 
 
 Two days more of voyaging brought them to an 
 Indian hunting camp, near the mouth of the Mus- 
 kingum. Here it was necessary to land and make a cere- 
 monious visit, for the chief of the hunting party was 
 Kiashuta, a Seneca sachem, the head of the river tribes. 
 He was noted to have been among the first to raise the 
 hatchet in Pontiac's conspiracy, and almost equally 
 vindictive with that potent warrior. As Washington 
 approached the chieftain, he recognized him for one of 
 the Indians who had accompanied him on his mission 
 to the French in 1753. 
 
 Kiashuta retained a perfect recollection of the 
 youthful ambassador, though seventeen years had ma- 
 tured him into thoughtful manhood. With hunter's 
 hospitality he gave him a quarter of a fine buffalo just 
 slain, but insisted that they should encamp together 
 for the night ; and in order not to retard him, moved 
 with his own party to a good camping place some dis- 
 tance down the river. Here they had long talks and 
 council-fires over night and in the morning, with all 
 the " tedious ceremony," says Washington, " which the 
 Indians observe in their councillings and speeches/' 
 Kiashuta had heard of what had passed between 
 Washington and the "White Mingo," and other 
 sachems, at Colonel Croghan's, and was eager to ex- 
 
368 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1770. 
 
 press his own desire for peace and friendship with Vir- 
 ginia, and fair dealings with her traders; all which 
 Washington promised to report faithfully to the gov- 
 ernor. It was not until a late hour in the morning 
 that he was enabled to bring these conferences to a 
 close, and pursue his voyage. 
 
 At the mouth of the Great Kanawha, the voyagers 
 encamped for a day or two to examine the lands in the 
 neighborhood, and Washington set up his mark upon 
 such as he intended to claim on behalf of the soldiers' 
 grant. It was a fine sporting country, having small 
 lakes or grassy ponds abounding with water-fowl, such 
 as ducks, geese, and swans. Flocks of turkeys, as 
 usual ; and, for larger game, deer and buffalo ; so that 
 their camp abounded with provisions. 
 
 Here Washington was visited by an old sachem, 
 who approached him with great reverence, at the head 
 of several of his tribe, and addressed him through 
 Nicholson, the interpreter. He had heard, he said, of 
 his being in that part of the country, and had come 
 from a great distance to see him. On further dis- 
 course, the sachem made known that he was one of 
 the warriors in the service of the French, who lay in 
 ambush on the banks of the Monongahela, and 
 wrought such havoc in Braddock's army. He de- 
 clared that he and his young men had singled out 
 Washington, as he made himself conspicuous riding 
 about the field of battle with the general's orders, and 
 had fired at him repeatedly, but without success ; 
 whence they had concluded that he was under the pro- 
 tection of the Great Spirit, had a charmed life, and 
 could not be slain in battle. 
 
1770.] HAZARDS OF THE VOYAGE. 369 
 
 At the Great Kanawha Washington's expedition 
 down the Ohio terminated; having visited all the 
 points he wished to examine. His return to Port Pitt, 
 and thence homeward, affords no incident worthy of 
 note. The whole expedition, however, was one of that 
 hardy and adventurous kind, mingled with practical 
 purposes, in which he delighted. This winter voyage 
 down the Ohio in a canoe, with the doctor for a com- 
 panion and two Indians for crew, through regions yet 
 insecure from the capricious hostility of prowling sav- 
 ages, is not one of the least striking of his frontier 
 " experiences/' The hazardous nature of it was made 
 apparent shortly afterwards by another outbreak of the 
 Ohio tribes ; one of its bloodiest actions took place on 
 the very banks of the Great Kanawha, in which Colonel 
 Lewis and a number of brave Virginians lost their 
 lives. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 In the final adjustment of claims under Governor Dinwiddie's pro- 
 clamation, Washington, acting on behalf of the officers and soldiers, 
 obtained grants for the lands he had marked out in the course of his 
 visit to the Ohio. Fifteen thousand acres were awarded to a field- 
 officer, nine thousand to a captain, six thousand to a subaltern, and so 
 on. Among the claims which he entered were those of Stobo and 
 Van Braam, the hostages in the capitulation at the Great Meadows. 
 After many vicissitudes they were now in London, and nine thousand 
 acres were awarded to each of them. Their domains were ultimately 
 purchased by Washington through his London agent. 
 
 Another claimant was Colonel George Muse, Washington's early 
 instructor in military science. His claim was admitted with difficulty, 
 for he stood accused of having acted the part of a poltroon in the 
 campaign, and Washington seems to have considered the charge well 
 founded. Still he appears to have been dissatisfied with the share of 
 land assigned him, and to have written to Washington somewhat 
 rudely on the subject. His letter is not extant, but we subjoin Wash- 
 vol. I.— 24 
 
370 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1773. 
 
 ington's reply almost entire, as a specimen of the caustic pen he could 
 wield under a mingled emotion of scorn and indignation. 
 
 "Sir, — Your impertinent letter was delivered to me yesterday. 
 As I am not accustomed to receive such from any man, nor would have 
 taken the same language from you personally, without letting you feel 
 some marks of my resentment, I advise you to be cautious in writing 
 me a second of the same tenor; for though I understand you were 
 drunk when you did it, yet give me leave to tell you that drunken- 
 ness is no excuse for rudeness. But for your stupidity and sottishness 
 you might have known, by attending to the public gazette, that you 
 had your full quantity of ten thousand acres of land allowed you ; 
 that is, nine thousand and seventy-three acres in the great tract, and 
 the remainder in the small tract. 
 
 " But suppose you had really fallen short, do you think your su- 
 perlative merit entitles you to greater indulgence than others ? Or, 
 if it did, that I was to make it good to you, when it was at the option 
 of the governor and council to allow but five hundred acres in the 
 whole, if they had been so inclined ? If either of these should happen 
 to be your opinion, I am very well convinced that you will be singu- 
 lar in it ; and all my concern is that I ever engaged myself in behalf 
 of so ungrateful and dirty a fellow as you are." 
 
 N". B. — The above is from the letter as it exists in the archives of 
 the Department of State at Washington. It differs in two or three 
 particulars from that published among Washington's writings. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 LOED DUNMOEE GOVERNOE OF VIRGINIA — PIQUES THE PBIDE OF THE VIR- 
 GINIANS — OPPOSITION OF THE ASSEMBLY — OOE RESPONDING COMMITTEES 
 — DEATH OF MISS CUSTIS — WASHINGTON'S GUAEDIANSHIP OF JOHN 
 PAEKE CUSTIS — HIS OPINIONS AS TO PREMATURE TRAVEL AND PEEMA- 
 TURE MAERIAGE. 
 
 The discontents of Virginia, which had been partially 
 soothed by the amiable administration of Lord Bote- 
 tourt, were irritated anew under his successor, the Earl 
 of Dunmore. This nobleman had for a short time 
 held the government of New York. When appointed 
 to that of Virginia, he lingered for several months at 
 his former post. In the mean time, he sent his military 
 secretary, Captain Toy, to attend to the despatch of 
 business until his arrival; awarding to him a salary 
 and fees to be paid by the colony. 
 
 The pride of the Virginians was piqued at his lin- 
 gering at New York, as if he preferred its gayety and 
 luxury to the comparative quiet and simplicity of 
 Williamsburg. Their pride was still more piqued on 
 his arrival, by what they considered haughtiness on his 
 part. The spirit of the "Ancient Dominion " was 
 
372 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1773. 
 
 roused, and his lordship experienced opposition at his 
 very outset. 
 
 The first measure of the Assembly, at its opening, 
 was to demand by what right he had awarded a salary 
 and fees to his secretary without consulting it ; and to 
 question whether it was authorized by the crown. 
 
 His lordship had the good policy to rescind the un- 
 authorized act, and in so doing mitigated the ire of the 
 Assembly ; but he lost no time in proroguing a body, 
 which, from various symptoms, appeared to be too in- 
 dependent, and disposed to be untractable. 
 
 He continued to prorogue it from time to time, 
 seeking in the interim to conciliate the Virginians, and 
 soothe their irritated pride. At length, after repeated 
 prorogations, he was compelled by circumstances to 
 convene it on the 1st of March, 1773. 
 
 Washington was prompt in his attendance on the 
 occasion ; and foremost among the patriotic members, 
 who eagerly availed themselves of this long wished for 
 opportunity to legislate upon the general affairs of the 
 colonies. One of their most important measures was 
 the appointment of a committee of eleven persons, 
 " whose business it should be to obtain the most clear 
 and authentic intelligence of all such acts and resolu- 
 tions of the British Parliament, or proceedings of ad- 
 ministration, as may relate to or affect the British 
 colonies, and to maintain with their sister colonies a 
 correspondence and communication." 
 
 The plan thus proposed by their "noble, patriotic 
 sister colony of Virginia," * was promptly adopted by 
 
 * Boston Town Records. 
 
1773.] DEATH OF MISS CUSTIS. 373 
 
 the people of Massachusetts, and soon met with gene- 
 ral concurrence. These corresponding committees, in 
 effect, became the executive power of the patriot party, 
 producing the happiest concert of design and action 
 throughout the colonies. 
 
 Notwithstanding the decided part taken by Wash- 
 ington in the popular movement, very friendly relations 
 existed between him and Lord Dunmore. The latter 
 appreciated his character, and sought to avail himself 
 of his experience in the affairs of the province. It 
 was even concerted that Washington should accompany 
 his lordship on an extensive tour, which the latter 
 intended to make in the course of the summer along 
 the western frontier. A melancholy circumstance oc- 
 curred to defeat this arrangement. 
 
 We have spoken of Washington's paternal conduct 
 towards the two children of Mrs. Washington. The 
 daughter, Miss Custis, had long been an object of ex- 
 treme solicitude. She was of a fragile constitution, 
 and for some time past had been in very declining health. 
 Early in the present summer, symptoms indicated a 
 rapid change for the worse. Washington was absent 
 from home at the time. On his return to Mount Ver- 
 non, he found her in the last stage of consumption. 
 
 Though not a man given to bursts of sensibility, he 
 is said on the present occasion to have evinced the 
 deepest affliction ; kneeling by her bedside, and pour- 
 ing out earnest prayers for her recovery. She expired 
 on the 19th of June, in the seventeenth year of her 
 age. This, of course, put an end to Washington's 
 intention of accompanying Lord Dunmore to the fron- 
 tier ; he remained at home to console Mrs. Washing- 
 
374 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1773. 
 
 ton in her affliction, — furnishing his lordship, however, 
 with travelling hints and directions, and recommending 
 proper guides. And here we will take occasion to give 
 a few brief particulars of domestic affairs at Mount 
 Vernon. 
 
 For a long time previous to the death of Miss 
 Custis, her mother, despairing of her recovery, had 
 centered her hopes in her son, John Parke Custis. 
 This rendered Washington's guardianship of him a 
 delicate and difficult task. He was lively, susceptible 
 and impulsive ; had an independent fortune in his own 
 right, and an indulgent mother, ever ready to plead in 
 his behalf against wholesome discipline. He had been 
 placed under the care and instruction of an Episcopal 
 clergyman at Annapolis, but was occasionally at home, 
 mounting his horse, and taking a part, while yet a boy, 
 in the fox-hunts at Mount Vernon. His education had 
 consequently been irregular and imperfect, and not 
 such as Washington would have enforced had he pos- 
 sessed over him the absolute authority of a father. 
 Shortly after the return of the latter from his tour to 
 the Ohio, he was concerned to find that there was an 
 idea entertained of sending the lad abroad, though but 
 little more than sixteen years of age, to travel under 
 the care of his clerical tutor. Through his judicious 
 interference, the travelling scheme was postponed, and 
 it was resolved to give the young gentleman's mind the 
 benefit of a little preparatory home culture. 
 
 Little more than a year elapsed before the sallying 
 impulses of the youth had taken a new direction. He 
 was in love ; what was more, he was engaged to the 
 
1773.] EARLY TRAVEL AND EARLY MARRIAGE. 375 
 
 object of his passion, and on the high road to matri- 
 mony. 
 
 Washington now opposed himself to premature 
 marriage as he had done to premature travel. A cor- 
 respondence ensued between him and the young lady's 
 father, Benedict Calvert, Esq. The match was a satis- 
 factory one to all parties, but it was agreed, that it was 
 expedient for the youth to pass a year or two previously 
 at college. Washington accordingly accompanied him 
 to New York, and placed him under the care of the 
 Rev. Dr. Cooper, president of King's (now Columbia) 
 College, to pursue his studies in that institution. All 
 this occurred before the death of his sister. Within a 
 year after that melancholy event, he became impatient 
 for a union with the object of his choice. His mother, 
 now more indulgent than ever to this, her only child, 
 yielded her consent, and Washington no longer made 
 opposition. 
 
 " It has been against my wishes," writes the latter 
 to President Cooper, " that he should quit college in 
 order that he may soon enter into a new scene of life, 
 which I think he would be much fitter for some years 
 hence than now. But having his own inclination, the 
 desires of his mother, and the acquiescence of almost all 
 his relatives to encounter, I did not care, as he is the 
 last of the family, to push my opposition too far; I 
 have, therefore, submitted to a kind of necessity." 
 
 The marriage was celebrated on the 3d of Febru- 
 ary, 1774, before the bridegroom was twenty-one years 
 of age. 
 
376 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1773. 
 
 NOTE. 
 
 We are induced to subjoin extracts of two letters from Washington 
 relative to young Custis. The first gives his objections to premature 
 travel ; the second to premature matrimony. Both are worthy of 
 consideration in this country, where our young people have such a 
 general disposition to " go ahead."- 
 
 To the reverend Jonathan Boucher (the tutor of young Custis). 
 
 * * * * ccj canno t help giving it as my opinion, that 
 his education, however advanced it may be for a youth of his 
 age, is by no means ripe enough for a travelling tour ; not that I 
 think his becoming a mere scholar is a desirable education for a gen- 
 tleman, but I conceive a knowledge of books is the basis upon which 
 all other knowledge is to be built, and in travelling he is to become 
 acquainted with men and things, rather than books. At present, 
 however well versed he may be in the principles of the Latin language 
 (which is not to be wondered at, as he began the study of it as soon 
 as he could speak), he is unacquainted with several of the classic 
 authors that might be useful to him. He is ignorant of Greek, the 
 advantages of learning which I do not pretend to judge of; and he 
 knows nothing of French, which is absolutely necessary to him as a 
 traveller. He has little or no acquaintance with arithmetic, and is 
 totally ignorant of the mathematics — than which, at least, so much 
 of them as relates to surveying, nothing can be more essentially 
 necessary to any man possessed of a large landed estate, the bounds of 
 some part or other of which are always in controversy. Now, 
 whether he has time between this and next spring to acquire a suffi- 
 cient knowledge of these studies, I leave you to judge ; as, also, 
 whether a boy of seventeen years old (which will be his age next No- 
 vember), can have any just notions of the end and design of travel- 
 ling. I have already given it as my opinion that it would be 
 precipitating this event, unless he were to go immediately to the 
 university for a couple of years ; in which case he could see nothing 
 of America ; which might be a disadvantage to him, as it is to be 
 expected that every man, who travels with a view of observing the 
 laws and customs of other countries, should be able to give some 
 description of the situation and government of his own." 
 
 The following are extracts from the letter to Benedict Calvert, 
 Esq., the young lady's father: 
 
 " I write to you on a subject of importance, and of no small em 
 barrassment to me. My son-in-law and ward, Mr. Custis, has, as I 
 
L773.] EARLY MARRIAGE. 377 
 
 have been informed, paid his addresses to your second daughter ; and 
 having made some progress in her affections, has solicited her in mar- 
 riage. How far a union of this sort may be agreeable to you, you 
 best can tell ; but I should think myself wanting in candor, were 1 
 not to confess that Miss Nelly's amiable qualities are acknowledged 
 on all hands, and that an alliance with your family will be pleasing 
 to his. 
 
 " This acknowledgment being made, you must permit me to add, 
 sir, that at this, or in any short time, his youth, inexperience, and 
 unripened education are, and will be, insuperable obstacles, in my 
 opinion, to the completion of the marriage. As his guardian, I con- 
 ceive it my indispensable duty to endeavor to carry him through a 
 regular course of education (many branches of which, I am sorry 
 to say, he is totally deficient in), and to guide his youth to a more 
 advanced age, before an event, on which his own peace and the hap- 
 piness of another are to depend, takes place. * * * If the affec- 
 tion which they have avowed for each other is fixed upon a solid 
 basis, it will receive no diminution in the course of two or three 
 years; in which time he may prosecute his studies, and thereby 
 render himself more deserving of the lady, and useful to society. If, 
 unfortunately, as they are both young, there should be an abatement 
 of affection on either side, or both, it had better precede than follow 
 marriage. 
 
 " Delivering my sentiments thus freely, will not, I hope, lead you 
 into a belief that I am desirous of breaking off the match. To post- 
 pone it is all I have in view ; for I shall recommend to the young 
 gentleman, with the warmth that becomes a man of honor, to con- 
 sider himself as much engaged to your daughter, as if the indissolu- 
 ble knot were tied ; and as the surest means of effecting this, to 
 apply himself closely to his studies, by which he will, in a great 
 measure, avoid those little flirtations with other young ladies, that 
 may, by dividing the attention, contribute not a little to divide the 
 affection." 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 LORD NOETH's BILL FAVORING THE EXPOETATION OF TEAS — SHIPS 
 FEEIGHTED WITH TEA TO THE COLONIES — SENT BACK FEOM SOME OF 
 THE POETS — TEA DESTROYED AT BOSTON — PASSAGE OF THE BOSTON 
 POET BILL — SESSION OF THE HOUSE OF BURGESSES — SPLENDID OPENING 
 — BURST OF INDIGNATION AT THE POET BILL — HOUSE DISSOLVED — EE- 
 SOLUTIONS AT THE EALEIGH TAVEEN — PEOJEOT OF A GENEEAL CON- 
 GBESS — WASHINGTON AND LOED DUNMOEE — THE POET BLLL GOES INTO 
 EFFECT — GENEEAL GAGE AT BOSTON — LEAGUE AND COVENANT. 
 
 The general covenant throughout the colonies against 
 the use of taxed tea, had operated disastrously against 
 the interests of the East India Company, and produced 
 an immense accumulation of the proscribed article in 
 their warehouses. To remedy this, Lord North brought 
 in a bill (1773), by which the company were allowed 
 to export their teas from England to any part what- 
 ever, without paying export duty. This, by enabling 
 them to offer their teas at a low price in the colonies, 
 would, he supposed, tempt the Americans to purchase 
 large quantities, thus relieving the company, and at 
 the same time benefiting the revenue by the impost 
 duty. Confiding in the wisdom of this policy, the 
 company disgorged their warehouses, freighted several 
 
1773.] . DESTRUCTION OF THE TEA. 379 
 
 ships with tea, and sent them to various parts of the 
 colonies. This brought matters to a crisis. One senti- 
 ment, one determination, pervaded the whole continent. 
 Taxation was to receive its definitive blow. Who- 
 ever submitted to it was an enemy to his country. 
 From New York and Philadelphia the ships were sent 
 back, unladen, to London. In Charleston the tea was 
 unloaded, and stored away in cellars and other places, 
 where it perished. At Boston the action was still more 
 decisive. The ships anchored in the harbor. Some 
 small parcels of tea were brought on shore, but the 
 sale of them was prohibited. The captains of the 
 ships, seeing the desperate state of the case, would 
 have made sail back for England, but they could not 
 obtain the consent of the consignees, a clearance at the 
 custom-house, or a passport from the governor to clear 
 the fort. It was evident the tea was to be forced upon 
 the people of Boston, and the principle of taxation 
 established. 
 
 To settle the matter completely, and prove that, on 
 a point of principle, they were not to be trifled with, a 
 number of the inhabitants, disguised as Indians, board- 
 ed the ships in the night (18th December), broke open 
 all the chests of tea, and emptied the contents into the 
 sea. This was no rash and intemperate proceeding of 
 a mob, but the well-considered, though resolute act of 
 sober respectable citizens, men of reflection, but deter- 
 mination. The whole was done calmly, and in perfect 
 order; after which the actors in the scene dispersed 
 without tumult, and returned quietly to their homes. 
 
 The general opposition of the colonies to the prin- 
 ciple of taxation had given great annoyance to govern- 
 
380 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 tnent, but this individual act concentrated all its wrath 
 upon Boston. A bill was forthwith passed in Parlia- 
 ment (commonly called the Boston port bill), by which 
 all lading and unlading of goods, wares, and merchan- 
 dise, were to cease in that town and harbor, on and 
 after the 4th of June, and the officers of the customs 
 to be transferred to Salem. 
 
 Another law, passed soon after, altered the charter 
 of the province, decreeing that all counsellors, judges, 
 and magistrates, should be appointed by the crown, 
 and hold office during the royal pleasure. 
 
 This was followed by a third, intended for the sup- 
 pression of riots; and providing that any person in- 
 dicted for murder, or other capital offence, committed 
 in aiding the magistracy, might be sent by the gov- 
 ernor to some other colony, or to Great Britain, for 
 trial. 
 
 Such was the bolt of Parliamentary wrath fulmi- 
 nated against the devoted town of Boston. Before it 
 fell there was a session in May, of the Virginia House 
 of Burgesses. The social position of Lord Dunmore 
 had been strengthened in the province by the arrival 
 of his lady, and a numerous family of sons and daugh- 
 ters. The old Virginia aristocracy had vied with each 
 other in hospitable attentions to the family. A court 
 circle had sprung up. Regulations had been drawn 
 up by a herald, and published officially, determining 
 the rank and precedence of civil and military officers, 
 and their wives. The aristocracy of the "Ancient Do- 
 minion" was furbishing up its former splendor. Car- 
 riages and four rolled into the streets of Williamsburg, 
 with horses handsomely caparisoned, bringing the 
 
1774.] HOUSE or BURGESSES. 381 
 
 wealthy planters and their families to the seat of gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Washington arrived in Williamsburg on the 16th, 
 and dined with the governor on the day of his arrival, 
 having a distinguished position in the court circle, and 
 being still on terms of intimacy with his lordship. 
 The House of Burgesses was opened in form, and one 
 of its first measures was an address of congratulation 
 to the governor, on the arrival of his lady. It was* 
 followed up by an agreement among the members to 
 give her ladyship a splendid ball, on the 27th of the 
 month. 
 
 All things were going on smoothly and smilingly, 
 when a letter, received through the corresponding com- 
 mittee, brought intelligence of the vindictive measure 
 of Parliament, by which the port of Boston was to be 
 closed on the approaching 1st of June. 
 
 The letter was read in the House of Burgesses, and 
 produced a general burst of indignation. All other 
 business was thrown aside, and this became the sole 
 subject of discussion. A protest against this and other 
 recent acts of Parliament was entered upon the journal 
 of the House, and a resolution was adopted, on the 
 24th of May, setting apart the 1st of June as a day of 
 fasting, prayer, and humiliation ; in which the divine 
 interposition was to be implored, to avert the heavy 
 calamity threatening destruction to their rights, and all 
 the evils of civil war ; and to give the people one heart 
 and one mind in firmly opposing every injury to Amer- 
 ican liberties. 
 
 On the following morning, while the Burgesses 
 were engaged in animated debate, they were sum- 
 
382 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774, 
 
 nioned to attend Lord Dunmore in the council cham- 
 ber, where he made them the following laconic speech : 
 " Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the House of Bur- 
 gesses : I have in my hand a paper, published by order 
 of your House, conceived in such terms, as reflect 
 highly upon his majesty, and the Parliament of Great 
 Britain, which makes it necessary for me to dissolve 
 you, and you are dissolved accordingly." 
 
 As on a former occasion, the Assembly, though dis- 
 solved, was not dispersed. The members adjourned to 
 the long room of the old Raleigh tavern, and passed reso- 
 lutions, denouncing the Boston port bill as a most dan- 
 gerous attempt to destroy the constitutional liberty 
 and rights of all North America ; recommending their 
 countrymen to desist from the use, not merely of tea, 
 but of all kinds of East Indian commodities; pro- 
 nouncing an attack on one of the colonies, to enforce 
 arbitrary taxes, an attack on all; and ordering the 
 committee of correspondence to communicate with the 
 other corresponding committees, on the expediency of 
 appointing deputies from the several colonies of British 
 America, to meet annually in General Congress, at 
 such place as might be deemed expedient, to deliberate 
 on such measures as the united interests of the colonies 
 might require. 
 
 This was the first recommendation of a General 
 Congress by any public assembly, though it had been 
 previously proposed in town meetings at New York 
 and Boston. A resolution to the same effect was 
 passed in the Assembly of Massachusetts before it was 
 aware of the proceedings of the Virginia Legislature. 
 The measure recommended met with prompt and gen- 
 
1774.J PROJECT OF A GENERAL LEAGUE. 383 
 
 eral concurrence throughout the colonies, and the fifth 
 day of September next ensuing was fixed upon for the 
 meeting of the first Congress, which was to be held at 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Notwithstanding Lord Dunmore's abrupt dissolu- 
 tion of the House of Burgesses, the members still con- 
 tinued on courteous terms with him, and the ball which 
 they had decreed early in the session in honor of Lady 
 Dunmore, was celebrated on the 27th with unwavering 
 gallantry. 
 
 As to Washington, widely as he differed from Lord 
 Dunmore on important points of policy, his intimacy 
 with him remained uninterrupted. By memorandums 
 in his diary, it appears that he dined and passed the 
 evening at his lordship's on the 25th, the very day of 
 the meeting at the Raleigh tavern. That he rode out 
 with him to his farm, and breakfasted there with him 
 on the 26th, and on the evening of the 27th attended 
 the ball given to her ladyship. Such was the well-bred 
 decorum that seemed to quiet the turbulence of popu- 
 lar excitement, without checking the full and firm ex- 
 pression of popular opinion. 
 
 On the 29th, two days after the ball, letters arrived 
 from Boston giving the proceedings of a town meeting, 
 recommending that a general league should be formed 
 throughout the colonies suspending all trade with Great 
 Britain. But twenty-five members of the late House 
 of Burgesses, including Washington, were at that time 
 remaining in Williamsburg. They held a meeting on 
 the following day, at which Peyton Randolph presided 
 as moderator. After some discussion, it was deter- 
 mined to issue a printed circular, bearing their signa- 
 
384 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774 
 
 tures, and calling a meeting of all the members of the 
 late House of Burgesses, on the 1st of August, to take 
 mto consideration this measure of a general league. 
 The circular recommended them, also, to collect, in the 
 mean time, the sense of their respective counties. 
 
 Washington was still at Williamsburg on the 1st 
 of June, the day when the port bill was to be enforced 
 at Boston. It was ushered in by the tolling of bells, 
 and observed by all true patriots as a day of fasting 
 and humiliation. Washington notes in his diary that 
 he fasted rigidly, and attended the services appointed 
 in the church. Still his friendly intercourse with the 
 Dunmore family was continued during the remainder 
 of his sojourn in Williamsburg, where he was detained 
 by business until the 20th, when he set out on his re- 
 turn to Mount Vernon. 
 
 In the mean time the Boston port bill had been 
 carried into effect. On the 1st of June, the harbor of 
 Boston was closed at noon, and all business ceased. 
 The two other parliamentary acts altering the charter 
 of Massachusetts were to be enforced. No public 
 meetings, excepting the annual town meetings in 
 March and May, were to be held without permission 
 of the governor. 
 
 General Thomas Gage had recently been appointed 
 to the military command of Massachusetts, and the 
 carrying out of these offensive acts. He was the same 
 officer who, as lieutenant-colonel, had led the advance 
 guard on the field of Braddock's defeat. Fortune had 
 since gone well with him. Rising in the service, he 
 had been governor of Montreal, and had succeeded 
 Amherst in the command of the British forces on this 
 
1774.] GENERAL GAGE AT BOSTON. 385 
 
 continent. He was linked to the country also by 
 domestic ties, having married into one of the most 
 respectable families of New Jersey. In the various 
 situations in which he had hitherto been placed he had 
 won esteem, and rendered himself popular. Not much 
 was expected from him in his present post by those 
 who knew him well. William Smith, the historian, 
 speaking of him to Adams, " Gage," said he, " was a 
 good-natured, peaceable, sociable man while here (in 
 New York), but altogether unfit for a governor of 
 Massachusetts. He will lose all the character he has 
 acquired as a man, a gentleman, and a general, and 
 dwindle down into a mere scribbling governor — a 
 mere Bernard or Hutchinson." 
 
 With all Gage's experience in America, he had 
 formed a most erroneous opinion of the character of 
 the people. "The Americans," said he to the king, 
 " will be lions only as long as the English are lambs ; " 
 and he engaged, with five regiments, to keep Boston 
 quiet ! 
 
 The manner in which his attempts to enforce the 
 recent acts of Parliament were resented, showed how 
 egregiously he was in error. At the suggestion of the 
 Assembly, a paper was circulated through the province 
 by the committee of correspondence, entitled " a solemn 
 league and covenant," the subscribers to which bound 
 themselves to break off all intercourse with Great Bri- 
 tain from the 1st of August, until the colony should be 
 restored to the enjoyment of its chartered rights ; and 
 to renounce all dealings wijh those who should refuse 
 to enter into this compact. 
 
 The very title of league and covenant had an omi- 
 vol. i. — 25 
 
386 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774 
 
 nous sound, and startled General Gage. He issued a 
 proclamation, denouncing it as illegal and traitorous. 
 Furthermore, he encamped a force of infantry and 
 artillery on Boston Common, as if prepared to enact 
 the lion. An alarm spread through the adjacent coun- 
 try. " Boston is to be blockaded ! Boston is to be 
 reduced to obedience by force or famine ! " The spirit 
 of the yeomanry was aroused. They sent in word to 
 the inhabitants promising to come to their aid if neces- 
 sary ; and urging them to stand fast to the faith. Affairs 
 were coming to a crisis. It was predicted that the new 
 acts of Parliament would bring on "a most important 
 and decisive trial. ,, 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 WASHINGTON OHAIEMAN OF A POLITICAL MEETING COBEESPONDENOE 
 
 WITH BETAN FAIEFAX — PATEIOTIO EESOLUTIONS — WASHINGTON'S 
 OPINIONS ON PUBLIC AFFAIES — NON-IMPOBTATION SCHEME — CONVEN- 
 TION AT WILLIAMSBUEG WASHINGTON APPOINTED A DELEGATE TO 
 
 THE GENEEAL CONGE ESS — LETTEE FEOM BEY AN FAIEFAX — PEE- 
 PLEXITIES OF GENEEAL GAGE AT BOSTON. 
 
 Shortly after Washington's return to Mount Vernon, 
 in the latter part of June, he presided as moderator at 
 a meeting of the inhabitants of Fairfax County, where- 
 in, after the recent acts of Parliament had been dis- 
 cussed, a committee was appointed, with himself as 
 chairman, to draw up resolutions expressive of the sen- 
 timents of the present meeting, and to report the same 
 at a general meeting of the county, to be held in the 
 court-house on the 18th of July. 
 
 The course that public measures were taking, 
 shocked the loyal feelings of Washington's valued 
 friend, Bryan Fairfax, of Tarlston Hall, a younger 
 brother of George William, who was absent in Eng- 
 land. He was a man of liberal sentiments, but at- 
 tached to the ancient rule ; and, in a letter to Wash- 
 ington, advised a petition to the throne, which would 
 
388 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 give Parliament an opportunity to repeal the offensive 
 acts. 
 
 " I would heartily join you in your political senti- 
 ments," writes Washington in reply, " as far as relates 
 to a humble and dutiful petition to the throne, pro- 
 vided there was the most distant hope of success. 
 But have we not tried this already? Have we not 
 addressed the Lords, and remonstrated to the Com- 
 mons? And to what end? Does it not appear as 
 clear as the sun in its meridian brightness, that there is 
 a regular, systematic plan to fix the right and practice 
 of taxation upon us? ***** Is not the 
 attack upon the liberty and property of the people of 
 Boston, before restitution of the loss to the India Com- 
 pany was demanded, a plain and self-evident proof of 
 what they are aiming at ? Do not the subsequent bills 
 for depriving the Massachusetts Bay of its charter, and 
 for transporting offenders to other colonies or to Great 
 Britain for trial, where it is impossible, from the nature 
 of things, that justice can be obtained, convince us that 
 the administration is determined to stick at nothing to 
 carry its point ? Ought we not, then, to put our vir- 
 tue and fortitude to the severest tests ? " 
 
 The committee met according to appointment, with 
 Washington as chairman. The resolutions framed at 
 the meeting insisted, as usual, on the right of self-gov- 
 ernment, and the principle that taxation and represen- 
 tation were in their nature inseparable. That the 
 various acts of Parliament for raising revenue ; taking 
 away trials by jury ; ordering that persons might be 
 tried in a different country from that in which the 
 cause of accusation originated; closing the port of 
 
1774.] RESOLUTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE. 389 
 
 Boston ; abrogating the charter of Massachusetts Bay, 
 &c., &c., — were all part of a premeditated design and 
 system to introduce arbitrary government into the colo- 
 nies. That the sudden and repeated dissolutions of 
 Assemblies whenever they presumed to examine the 
 illegality of ministerial mandates, or deliberated on the 
 violated rights of their constituents, were part of the 
 same system, and calculated and intended to drive the 
 people of the colonies to a state of desperation, and to 
 dissolve the compact by which their ancestors bound 
 themselves and their posterity to remain dependent on 
 the British brown. The resolutions, furthermore, re- 
 commended the most perfect union and co-operation 
 among the colonies ; solemn covenants with respect to 
 non-importation and non-intercourse, and a renunciation 
 of all dealings with any colony, town, or province, that 
 should refuse to agree to the plan adopted by the Gen- 
 eral Congress. 
 
 They also recommended a dutiful petition and 
 remonstrance from the Congress to the king, asserting 
 their constitutional rights and privileges; lamenting 
 the necessity of entering into measures that might be 
 displeasing ; declaring their attachment to his person, 
 family, and government, and their desire to continue in 
 dependence upon Great Britain; beseeching him not 
 to reduce his faithful subjects of America to despera- 
 tion, and to reflect, that from our sovereign there can 
 be but one appeal. 
 
 These resolutions are the more worthy of note, as 
 expressive of the opinions and feelings of Washington 
 at this eventful time, if not being entirely dictated by 
 
390 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 him. The last sentence is of awful import, suggesting 
 the possibility of being driven to an appeal to arms. 
 
 Bryan Fairfax, who was aware of their purport, 
 addressed a long letter to Washington, on the 17th of 
 July, the day preceding that in which they were to be 
 reported by the committee, stating his objections to 
 several of them, and requesting that his letter might 
 be publicly read. The letter was not received until 
 after the committee had gone to the court-house on the 
 18th, with the resolutions revised, corrected, and ready 
 to be reported. Washington glanced over the letter 
 hastily, and handed it round to several of the gentle- 
 men present. They, with one exception, advised that 
 it should not be publicly read, as it was not likely 
 to make any converts, and was repugnant, as some 
 thought, to every principle they were contending for. 
 Washington forbore, therefore, to give it any further 
 publicity. 
 
 The resolutions reported by the committee were 
 adopted, and Washington was chosen a delegate to 
 represent the county at the General Convention of the 
 province, to be held at Williamsburg on the 1st of 
 August. After the meeting had adjourned, he felt 
 doubtful whether Fairfax might not be dissatisfied 
 that his letter had not been read, as he requested, to 
 the county at large; he wrote to him, therefore, ex- 
 plaining the circumstances which prevented it ; at the 
 same time replying to some of the objections which 
 Fairfax had made to certain of the resolutions. He 
 reiterated his belief that an appeal would be ineffect- 
 ual. " What is it we are contending against ? " asked 
 he ; "Is it against paying the duty of threepence per 
 
1774.] LETTER TO BRYAN FAIRFAX. 391 
 
 pound on tea because burdensome? No, it is the 
 right only, that we have all along disputed; and to 
 this end, we have already petitioned his majesty in as 
 humble and dutiful a manner as subjects could do. 
 Nay, more, we applied to the House of Lords and 
 House of Commons in their different legislative capaci- 
 ties, setting forth that, as Englishmen, we could not be 
 deprived of this essential and valuable part of our con- 
 stitution. ***** 
 
 "The conduct of the Boston people could not 
 justify the rigor of their measures, unless there had 
 been a requisition of payment, and refusal of it ; nor 
 did that conduct require an act to deprive the govern- 
 ment of Massachusetts Bay of their charter, or to exempt 
 offenders from trial in the places where offences were 
 committed, as there was not, nor could there be, a sin- 
 gle instance produced to manifest the necessity of it. 
 Are not all these things evident proofs of a fixed and 
 uniform plan to tax us ? If we want further proofs, 
 do not all the debates in th$ House of Commons serve 
 to confirm this ? And has not General Gage's conduct 
 since his arrival, in stopping the address of his council, 
 and publishing a proclamation, more becoming a Turk- 
 ish bashaw than an English governor, declaring it trea- 
 son to associate in any manner by which the commerce 
 of Great Britain is to be affected, — has not this exhib- 
 ited an unexampled testimony of the most despotic sys- 
 tem of tyranny that ever was practised in a free gov- 
 ernment ? " 
 
 The popular measure on which Washington laid 
 the greatest stress as a means of obtaining redress 
 from government, was the non-importation scheme; 
 
392 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. • [1774. 
 
 " for I am convinced," said he, " as much as of my 
 existence, that there is no relief for us but in their dis- 
 tress ; and I think — at least I hope — that there is pub- 
 lic virtue enough left among us to deny ourselves every 
 thing but the bare necessaries of life to, accomplish this 
 and." At the same time, he forcibly condemned a 
 suggestion that remittances to England should be with- 
 held. "While we are accusing others of injustice," 
 said he, " we should be just ourselves ; and how this 
 can be whilst we owe a considerable debt, and refuse 
 payment of it to Great Britain, is to me inconceivable : 
 nothing but the last extremity can justify it." 
 
 On the 1st of August, the Convention of represen- 
 tatives from all parts of Virginia assembled at Wil- 
 liamsburg. Washington appeared on behalf of Fairfax 
 County, and presented the resolutions, already cited, as 
 the sense of his constituents. He is said, by one who 
 was present, to have spoken in support of them in a 
 strain of uncommon eloquence, which shows how his 
 latent ardor had been excited on the occasion, as elo- 
 quence was not in general among his attributes. It is 
 evident, however, that he was roused to an unusual 
 pitch of enthusiasm, for he is said to have declared that 
 he was ready to raise one thousand men, subsist them 
 at his own expense, and march at their head to the 
 relief of Boston.* 
 
 The Convention was six days in session. Resolu- 
 tions, in the same spirit with those passed in Fairfax 
 County, were adopted, and Peyton Randolph, Richard 
 Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Rich- 
 
 * See information given to the elder Adams, by Mr. Lynch of South 
 Carolina. — Adams's Diary. 
 
1774.] LETTER FROM BRYAN FAIRFAX. 393 
 
 ard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendle- 
 ton, ware appointed delegates, to represent the people 
 of Virginia in the General Congress. 
 
 Shortly after Washington's return from Williams- 
 burg, he received a reply from Bryan Fairfax, to his 
 last letter. Fairfax, who was really a man of liberal 
 views, seemed anxious to vindicate himself from any 
 suspicions of the contrary. In adverting to the partial 
 suppression of his letter by some of the gentlemen of 
 the committee : "I am uneasy to find," writes he, 
 " that any one should look upon the letter sent down 
 as repugnant to the principles we are contending for ; 
 and, therefore, when you have leisure, I shall take it as 
 a favor if you will let me know wherein it was thought 
 so. I beg leave to look upon you as, a friend, and it is 
 a great relief to unbosom one's thoughts to a friend. 
 Besides, the information, and the correction of my 
 errors, which I«may obtain from a correspondence, are 
 great inducements to it. For I am convinced that no 
 man in the colony wishes its prosperity more, would go 
 greater lengths to serve it, or is, at the same time, a 
 better subject to the crown. Pray excuse these com- 
 pliments, they may be tolerable from a friend."* 
 
 The hurry of various occupations prevented Wash- 
 ington, in his reply, from entering into any further dis- 
 cussion of the popular theme. " I can only in general 
 add," said he, " that an innate spirit of freedom first 
 told me that the measures which the administration 
 have for some time been, and now are violently pursu- 
 ing, are opposed to every principle of natural justice; 
 
 * Sparks. Washington's Writings, vol. ii., p. 329. 
 
394 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 whilst much abler heads than my own have fully con- 
 vinced me, that they are not only repugnant to natural 
 right, but subversive of the laws and constitution of 
 Great Britain itself. * * * * I shall conclude 
 with remarking that, if you disavow the right of Par- 
 liament to tax us, unrepresented as we are, we only 
 differ in the mode of opposition, and this difference 
 principally arises from your belief that they (the Par- 
 liament I mean), want a decent opportunity to repeal 
 the acts ; whilst I am fully convinced that there has 
 been a regular systematic plan to enforce them, and 
 that nothing but unanimity and firmness in the colo- 
 nies, which they did not expect, can prevent it. By 
 the best advices from Boston, it seems that General 
 Gage is exceedingly disconcerted at the quiet and 
 steady conduct of the people of the Massachusetts 
 Bay, and at the measures pursuing by the other gov- 
 ernments. I dare say he expected to force those op- 
 pressed people into compliance, or irritate them to acts 
 of violence before this, for a more colorable pretence of 
 ruling that, and the other colonies, with a high hand." 
 
 Washington had formed a correct opinion of the 
 position of General Gage. Prom the time of taking 
 command at Boston, he had been perplexed how to 
 manage its inhabitants. Had they been hot-headed, 
 impulsive, and prone to paroxysm, his task would have 
 been comparatively easy ; but it was the cool, shrewd 
 common sense, by which all their movements were re- 
 gulated, that confounded him. 
 
 High-handed measures had failed of the anticipated 
 effect. Their harbor had been thronged with ships ; 
 their town with troops. The port bill had put an end 
 
L774.J TOWN MEETINGS KEPT ALIVE. 395 
 
 to commerce ; wharves were deserted, warehouses 
 closed ; streets grass-grown and silent. The rich were 
 growing poor, and the poor were without employ ; yet 
 the spirit of the people was unbroken. There was no 
 uproar, however; no riots; every thing was awfully 
 systematic and according to rule. Town meetings 
 were held, in which public rights and public measures 
 were eloquently discussed by John Adams, Josiah 
 Quincy, and other eminent men. Over these meet- 
 ings, Samuel Adams presided as moderator; a man 
 clear in judgment, calm in conduct, inflexible in reso- 
 lution ; deeply grounded in civil and political history, 
 and infallible on all points of constitutional law. 
 
 Alarmed at the powerful influence of these assem- 
 blages, government issued an act prohibiting them 
 after the 1st of August. The act was evaded by con- 
 voking the meetings before that day, and keeping them 
 alive indefinitely. Gage was at a loss how to act. It 
 would not do to disperse these assemblages by force of 
 arms ; for, the people who composed them mingled the 
 soldier with the polemic; and, like their prototypes, 
 the covenanters of yore, if prone to argue, were as 
 ready to fight. So the meetings continued to be held 
 pertinaciously. Paneuil Hall was at times unable to 
 hold them, and they swarmed from that revolutionary 
 hive into old South Church. The liberty tree became 
 a rallying place for any popular movement, and a flag 
 hoisted on it was saluted by all processions as the em- 
 blem of the popular cause. 
 
 Opposition to the new plan of government assumed 
 a more violent aspect at the extremity of the province, 
 and was abetted by Connecticut. " It is very high," 
 
396 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 writes Gage, (August 27th,) "in Berkshire County, 
 and makes way rapidly to the rest. At Worcester 
 they threaten resistance, purchase arms, provide pow- 
 der, cast balls, and threaten to attack any troops who 
 may oppose them. I apprehend I shall soon have to 
 march a body of troops into that township." 
 
 The time appointed for the meeting of the General 
 Congress at Philadelphia was now at hand. Delegates 
 had already gone on from Massachusetts. " It is not 
 possible to guess," writes Gage, " what a body com- 
 posed of such heterogeneous matter will determine; 
 but the members from hence, I am assured, will pro- 
 mote the most haughty and insolent resolves ; for their 
 plan has ever been, by threats and high-sounding sedi- 
 tion, to terrify and intimidate. ,, 
 
CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 meeting of the first congress — opening ceeemonies — eloquence of 
 patrick henry and heney lee — deolaeatoey resolution — bill 
 of eights — state papees— chatham's opinions of congress — 
 Washington's correspondence with capt. Mackenzie — views 
 with respect to independence — departure of fairfax for 
 
 ENGLAND. 
 
 When the time approached for the meeting of the 
 General Congress at Philadelphia, Washington was 
 joined at Monnt Vernon by Patrick Henry and Ed- 
 mund Pendleton, and they performed the journey to- 
 gether on horseback. It was a noble companionship. 
 Henry was then in the youthful vigor and elasticity of 
 his bounding genius; ardent, acute, fanciful, eloquent. 
 Pendleton, schooled in public life, a veteran in council, 
 with native force of intellect, and habits of deep reflec- 
 tion. Washington, in the meridian of his days, ma- 
 ture in wisdom, comprehensive in mind, sagacious in 
 foresight. Such were the apostles of liberty, repairing 
 on their august pilgrimage to Philadelphia from all 
 parts of the land, to lay the foundations of a mighty 
 empire. Well may we say of that eventful period, 
 " There were giants in those days." 
 
398 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 Congress assembled on Monday, the 5th of Sep- 
 tember, in a large room in Carpenter's Hall. There 
 were fifty-one delegates, representing all the colonies 
 excepting Georgia. 
 
 The meeting has been described as " awfully sol- 
 emn." The most eminent men of the various colonies 
 were now for the first time brought together; they 
 were known to each other by fame, but were, person- 
 ally, strangers. The object which had called them 
 together, was of incalculable magnitude. The liberties 
 of no less than three millions of people, with that of 
 all their posterity, were staked on the wisdom and 
 energy of their councils.* 
 
 " It is such an assembly," writes John Adams, who 
 was present, " as never before came together on a sud- 
 den, in any part of the world. Here are fortunes, 
 abilities, learning, eloquence, acuteness, equal to any I 
 ever met with in my life. Here is a diversity of reli- 
 gions, educations, manners, interests, such as it would 
 seem impossible to unite in one plan of conduct." 
 
 There being an inequality in the number of dele- 
 gates from the different colonies, a question arose as to 
 the mode of voting; whether by colonies, or by the 
 poll, or by interests. 
 
 Patrick Henry scouted the idea of sectional distinc- 
 tions or individual interests. " All America," said he, 
 "is thrown into one mass. Where are your land- 
 marks — your boundaries of colonies? They are all 
 thrown down. The distinctions between Virginians, 
 Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers and New Englanders, 
 
 * Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry, p. 224. 
 
1774.] PRATERS IN CONGRESS. 399 
 
 are no more. / am not a Virginian, but an Ameri- 
 
 can."* 
 
 After some debate, it was determined that each 
 colony should have but one vote, whatever might be the 
 number of delegates. The deliberations of the House 
 were to be with closed doors, and nothing but the re- 
 solves promulgated, unless by order of the majority. 
 
 To give proper dignity and solemnity to the pro- 
 ceedings of the House, it was moved on the following 
 day, that each morning the session should be opened 
 by prayer. To this it was demurred, that as the dele- 
 gates were of different religious sects, they might not 
 consent to join in the same form of worship. 
 
 Upon this, Mr. Samuel Adams arose, and said : 
 " He would willingly join in prayer with any gentle- 
 man of piety and virtue, whatever might be his cloth, 
 provided he was a friend of his country;" and he 
 moved that the reverend Mr. Duche, of Philadelphia, 
 who answered to that description, might be invited to 
 officiate as chaplain. This was one step towards unan- 
 imity of feeling, Mr. Adams being a strong Congrega- 
 tionalist, and Mr. Duche an eminent Episcopalian cler- 
 gyman. The motion was carried into effect ; the invi- 
 tation was given and accepted. 
 
 In the course of the day, a rumor reached Phila- 
 delphia that Boston had been cannonaded by the Brit- 
 ish. It produced a strong sensation ; and when Con- 
 gress met on the following morning (7th), the effect 
 was visible in every countenance. The delegates from 
 the East were greeted with a warmer grasp of the hand 
 by their associates from the South. 
 
 * J. Adams' Diary. 
 
400 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 The reverend Mr. Duche, according to invitation., 
 appeared in his canonicals, attended by his clerk. The 
 morning service of the Episcopal church was read with 
 great solemnity, the clerk making the responses. The 
 Psalter for the 7th day of the month includes the 35th 
 Psalm, wherein David prays for protection against his 
 enemies. 
 
 " Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive 
 with me : fight against them that fight against me. 
 
 " Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up 
 for my help. 
 
 " Draw out, also, the spear, and stop the way of 
 them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, I am thy 
 salvation," &c, &c. 
 
 The imploring words of this psalm, spoke the feel- 
 ings of all hearts present ; but especially of those from 
 New England. John Adams writes in a letter to his 
 wife : " You must remember this was the morning after 
 we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Bos- 
 ton. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. 
 It seemed as if heaven had ordained that psalm to be 
 read on that morning. After this, Mr. Duche unex- 
 pectedly struck out into an extemporary prayer, which 
 filled the bosom of every man present. Episcopalian 
 as he is, Dr. Cooper himself never prayed with such 
 fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in 
 language so eloquent and sublime, for America, for the 
 Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and 
 especially the town of Boston. It has had an excellent 
 effect upon every body here," * 
 
 * John Adams's Correspondence and Diary. 
 
1774] OPENING OF THE FIRST CONGRESS. 401 
 
 It has been remarked that Washington was espe- 
 cially devout on this occasion — kneeling, while others 
 stood up. In this, however, each no doubt observed 
 the attitude in prayer to which he was accustomed. 
 Washington knelt, being an Episcopalian. 
 
 The rumored attack upon Boston/rendered the ser- 
 vice of the day deeply affecting to all present. They 
 were one political family, actuated by one feeling, and 
 sympathizing with the weal and woe of each individual 
 member. The rumor proved to be erroneous ; but it 
 had produced a most beneficial effect, in calling forth 
 and quickening the spirit of union, so vitally important 
 in that assemblage. 
 
 Owing to closed doors, and the want of reporters, 
 no record exists of the discussions and speeches made 
 in the first Congress. Mr. Wirt, speaking from tra- 
 dition, informs us that a long and deep silence followed 
 the organization of that august body; the members 
 looking round upon each other, individually reluctant 
 to open a business so fearfully momentous. This 
 "deep and deathlike silence" was beginning to be- 
 come painfully embarrassing, when Patrick Henry 
 arose. He faltered at first, as was his habit ; but his 
 exordium was impressive; and as he launched forth 
 into a recital of colonial wrongs, he kindled with his 
 subject, until he poured forth one of those eloquent 
 appeals which had so often shaken the House of Bur- 
 gesses, and gained him the fame of being the greatest 
 orator of Virginia. He sat down, according to Mr. 
 Wirt, amidst murmurs of astonishment and applause, 
 and was now admitted, on every hand, to be the first 
 orator of America. He was followed by Richard 
 vol i.— 26 
 
402 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 Henry Lee, who, according to the same writer, charmed 
 the House with a different kind of eloquence, chaste 
 and classical ; contrasting, in its cultivated graces, 
 with the wild and grand effusions of Henry. "The 
 superior powers of these great men, however," adds 
 he, " were manifested only in debate, and while gen- 
 eral grievances were the topic ; when called down from 
 the heights of declamation to that severer test of intel- 
 lectual excellence, the details of business, they found 
 themselves in a body of cool-headed, reflecting, and 
 most able men, by whom they were, in their turn, com- 
 pletely thrown into the shade." * 
 
 The first public measure of Congress was a resolu- 
 tion, declaratory of their feelings with regard to the 
 recent acts of Parliament, violating the rights of the 
 people of Massachusetts, and of their determination to 
 combine in resisting any force that might attempt to 
 carry those acts into execution. 
 
 A committee of two from each province reported a 
 series of resolutions, which were adopted and promul- 
 gated by Congress, as a "declaration of colonial 
 rights." In this were enumerated their natural rights 
 to the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property ; and 
 their rights as British subjects. Among the latter was 
 participation in legislative councils. This they could 
 not exercise through representatives in Parliament; 
 they claimed, therefore, the power of legislating in 
 their provincial Assemblies; consenting, however, to 
 such acts of Parliament as might be essential to the 
 
 * Wirt's Life of Patrick Henry. 
 
1774.] DECLARATION OF COLONIAL RIGHTS. 403 
 
 regulation of trade ; but excluding all taxation, inter- 
 nal or external, for raising revenue in America. 
 
 The common law of England was claimed as a 
 birthright, including the right of trial by a jury of the 
 vicinage ; of holding public meetings to consider griev- 
 ances ; and of petitioning the king. The benefits of 
 all such statutes as existed at the time of the coloniza- 
 tion were likewise claimed ; together with the immuni- 
 ties and privileges granted by royal charters, or secured 
 by provincial laws. 
 
 The maintenance of a standing army in any colony 
 in time of peace, without the consent of its Legislature, 
 was pronounced contrary to law. The exercise of the 
 legislative power in the colonies by a council appointed 
 during pleasure by the crown, was declared to be un- 
 constitutional, and destructive to the freedom of Ameri- 
 can legislation. 
 
 Then followed a specification of the acts of Parlia- 
 ment, passed during the reign of George III., infring- 
 ing and violating these rights. These were : The sugar 
 act ; the stamp act ; the two acts for quartering troops ; 
 the tea act ; the act suspending the New York Legisla- 
 ture; the two acts for the trial in Great Britain of 
 offences committed in America ; the Boston port bill ; 
 the act for regulating the government of Massachusetts, 
 and the Quebec act. 
 
 "To these grievous acts and measures," it was 
 added, "Americans cannot submit ; but in hopes their 
 fellow-subjects in Great Britain will, on a revision of 
 them, restore us to that state in which both countries 
 found happiness and prosperity, we have, for the pres- 
 ent, only resolved to pursue the following peaceable 
 measures : 
 
404 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 "1st. To enter into a non-importation, non-con- 
 sumption, and non-exportation agreement, or association. 
 
 "2d. To prepare an address to the people of Great 
 Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British 
 America. 
 
 " 3d. To prepare a loyal address to his majesty." 
 
 The above-mentioned association was accordingly 
 formed, and committees were to be appointed in every 
 county, city, and town, to maintain it vigilantly and 
 strictly. 
 
 Masterly state papers were issued by Congress in 
 conformity to the resolutions : viz., a petition to the 
 king, drafted by Mr. Dickinson, of Philadelphia ; an 
 address to the people of Canada by the same hand, 
 inviting them to join the league of the colonies ; 
 another to the people of Great Britain, drafted by 
 John Jay, of New York ; and a memorial to the inhab- 
 itants of the British colonies by Richard Henry Lee, 
 of Virginia.* 
 
 The Congress remained in session fifty-one days. 
 Every subject, according to Adams, was discussed 
 " with a moderation, an acuteness, and a minuteness 
 equal to that of Queen Elizabeth's privy council."f 
 The papers issued by it, have deservedly been pro- 
 nounced masterpieces of practical talent and political 
 wisdom. Chatham, when speaking on the subject in 
 the House of Lords, could not restrain his enthusiasm. 
 " When your lordships," said he, " look at the papers 
 transmitted to us from America; when you consider 
 
 * See Correspondence and Diary of J. Adams, vols. ii. and ix. 
 
 ♦ Letter to William Tudor, 29th Sept., 1114, 
 
1774.] MASTERLY STATE PAPERS. 405 
 
 their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but 
 respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. 
 For myself, I must declare and avow that, in the mas- 
 ter states of the world, I know not the people, or sen- 
 ate, who, in such a complication of difficult circum- 
 stances, can stand in preference to the delegates of 
 America assembled in General Congress at Philadel- 
 phia." 
 
 From the secrecy that enveloped its discussions, we 
 are ignorant of the part taken by Washington in the 
 debates ; the similarity of the resolutions, however, in 
 spirit and substance, to those of the Fairfax County 
 meeting, in which he presided, and the coincidence of 
 the measures adopted with those therein recommended, 
 show that he had a powerful agency in the whole pro- 
 ceedings of this eventful assembly. Patrick Henry, 
 being asked, on his return home, whom he considered 
 the greatest man in Congress, replied : " If you speak 
 of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is by 
 far the greatest orator ; but if you speak of solid in- 
 formation and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is 
 unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." 
 
 How thoroughly and zealously he participated in 
 the feelings which actuated Congress in this memorable 
 session, may be gathered from his correspondence with 
 a friend enlisted in the royal cause. This was Captain 
 Robert Mackenzie, who had formerly served under him 
 in his Virginia regiment during the French war, but 
 now held a commission in the regular army, and was 
 stationed among the British troops at Boston. 
 
 Mackenzie, in a letter, had spoken with loyal abhor- 
 rence of the state of affairs in the " unhappy province " 
 
406 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 of Massachusetts, and the fixed aim of its inhabitants 
 at " total independence." " The rebellious and numer- 
 ous meetings of men •in arms," said he, "their scandal- 
 ous and ungenerous attacks upon the best characters 
 in the province, obliging them to save themselves by 
 flight, and their repeated, but feeble threats, to dispos- 
 sess the troops, have furnished sufficient reasons to Gen- 
 eral Gage to put the town in a formidable state of 
 defence, about which we are now fully employed, and 
 which will be shortly accomplished to their great morti- 
 fication." 
 
 " Permit me," writes Washington in reply, " with 
 the freedom of a friend (for you know I always es- 
 teemed you), to express my sorrow that fortune should 
 place you in a service that must fix curses, to the latest 
 posterity, upon the contrivers, and, if success (which, 
 by the by, is impossible) accompanies it, execrations 
 upon all those who have been instrumental in the exe- 
 cution. * * * * When you condemn the con- 
 duct of the Massachusetts people, you reason from 
 effects, not causes ; otherwise you would not wonder at 
 a people, who are every day receiving fresh proofs of 
 a systematic assertion of an arbitrary power, deeply 
 planned to overturn the laws and constitution of their 
 country, and to violate the most essential and valuable 
 rights of mankind, being irritated, and with difliculty 
 restrained from acts of the greatest violence and in- 
 temperance. 
 
 " For my own part, I view things in a very differ- 
 ent point of light from the one in which you seem to 
 consider them; and though you are led to believe, by 
 venal men, that the people of Massachusetts are rebel- 
 
1774.] WASHINGTON TO CAPT. MACKENZIE. 407 
 
 lious, setting up for independency, and what not, give 
 me leave, my good friend, to tell you that you are 
 abused, grossly abused. * * * * I think I can 
 announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish or interest 
 of that government, or any other upon this continent, 
 separately or collectively, to set up for independence ; 
 but this you may at the same time rely on, that none 
 of them will ever submit to the loss of their valuable 
 rights and privileges, which are essential to the happi- 
 ness of every free state, and without which, life, liber- 
 ty, and property, are rendered totally insecure. 
 
 "These, sir, being certain consequences, which 
 must naturally result from the late acts of Parliament 
 relative to America in general, and the government of 
 Massachusetts in particular, is it to be wondered at 
 that men who wish to avert the impending blow, 
 should attempt to oppose its progress, or prepare for 
 their defence, if it cannot be averted ? Surely I may 
 be allowed to answer in the negative; and give me 
 leave to add, as my opinion, that more blood will be 
 spilled on this occasion, if the ministry are determined 
 to push matters to extremity, than history has ever yet 
 furnished instances of in the annals of North America ; 
 and such a vital wound will be given to the peace of 
 this great country, as time itself cannot cure, or eradi- 
 cate the remembrance of." 
 
 In concluding, he repeats his views with respect to 
 independence : " I am well satisfied that no such thing 
 is desired by any thinking man in all North America ; 
 on the contrary, that it is the ardent wish of the warm- 
 est advocates for liberty, that peace and tranquillity, 
 
408 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 upon constitutional grounds, may be restored, and the • 
 horrors of civil discord prevented." * 
 
 This letter we have considered especially worthy of 
 citation, from its being so full and explicit a declaration 
 of Washington's sentiments and opinions at this criti- 
 cal juncture. His views on the question of indepen- 
 dence are particularly noteworthy, from his being at 
 this time in daily and confidential communication with 
 the leaders of the popular movement, and among them 
 with the delegates from Boston. It is evident that the 
 filial feeling still throbbed toward the mother country, 
 and a complete separation from her had not yet entered 
 into the alternatives of her colonial children. 
 
 On the breaking up of Congress, Washington has- 
 tened back to Mount Vernon, where his presence was 
 more than usually important to the happiness of Mrs. 
 Washington, from the loneliness caused by the recent 
 death of her daughter, and the absence of her son. 
 The cheerfulness of the neighborhood had been dimin- 
 ished of late by the departure of George William Pair- 
 fax for England, to take possession of estates which 
 had devolved to him in that kingdom. His estate of 
 Belvoir, so closely allied with that of Mount Vernon 
 by family ties and reciprocal hospitality, was left in 
 charge of a steward, or overseer. Through some acci- 
 dent the house took fire, and was burnt to the ground. 
 It was never rebuilt. The course of political events 
 which swept Washington from his quiet home into the 
 current of public and military life, prevented William 
 
 * Sparks. Washington's Writings, vol. ii., p. 899. 
 
1774] A CONNECTION SEVERED. 409 
 
 Fairfax, who was a royalist, though a liberal one, 
 from returning to his once happy abode, and the hos- 
 pitable intercommunion in Mount Vernon and Belvoir 
 was at an end for ever. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 GAGE'S MIL1TAEY MEASUEES — REMOVAL OF GUNPOWDER FROM THE 
 
 ARSENAL — PUBLIC AGITATION — ALARMS IN THE COUNTRY OIYIL 
 
 GOVERNMENT OBSTRUCTED — BELLIGERENT SYMPTOMS — ISRAEL PUT- 
 NAM AND GENERAL CHARLES LEE, THEIR CHARACTERS AND STORIES 
 
 — GENEE AL ELECTION — SELF-CONSTITUTED CONGRESS HANCOCK 
 
 PEE3IDENT — ADJOURNS TO CONCORD — REMONSTRANCE TO GAGE — HIS 
 
 PERPLEXITIES — GENERALS ARTEMAS WARD AND SETH POMEROY 
 
 COMMITTEE OF SAFETY — COMMITTEE OF SUPPLIES — RESTLESSNESS 
 THROUGHOUT THE LAND — INDEPENDENT COMPANIES IN VIRGINIA — 
 MILITARY TONE AT MOUNT VERNON — WASHINGTON'S MILITARY GUESTS 
 — MAJOR HORATIO GATES — ANECDOTES CONCERNING HIM — GENERAL 
 CHARLES LEE — HIS PECULIARITIES AND DOGS — WASHINGTON AT THE 
 RICHMOND CONVENTION — WAR SPEECH OF PATRICK HENRY — WASHING- 
 TON'S MILITARY INTENTIONS. 
 
 The rumor of the cannonading of Boston, which had 
 thrown such a gloom over the religious ceremonial at 
 the opening of Congress, had been caused by measures 
 of Governor Gage. The public mind in Boston and 
 its vicinity, had been rendered excessively jealous and 
 sensitive by the landing and encamping of artillery upon 
 the Common, and Welsh Eusiliers on Fort Hill, and 
 by the planting of four large field-pieces on Boston 
 Neck, the only entrance to the town by land. The 
 country people were arming and disciphning themselves 
 
1774.J SACKING OF THE ARSENAL. 41] 
 
 in every direction, and collecting and depositing arms 
 and ammunition in places where they would be at hand 
 in case of emergency. Gage on the other hand, issued 
 orders that the munitions of war in all the public mag- 
 azines should be brought to Boston. One of these 
 magazines was the arsenal in the north-west part of 
 Charlestown, between Medford and Cambridge. Two 
 companies of the king's troops passed silently in boats 
 up Mystic River in the night; took possession of a 
 large quantity of gunpowder deposited there, and con- 
 veyed it to Castle Williams. Intelligence of this sack- 
 ing of the arsenal flew with lightning speed through 
 the neighborhood. In the morning several thousands 
 of patriots were assembled at Cambridge, weapon in 
 hand, and were with difficulty prevented from marching 
 upon Boston to compel a restitution of the powder. 
 In the confusion and agitation, a rumor stole out into 
 the country that Boston was to be attacked ; followed 
 by another that the ships were cannonading the town, 
 and the soldiers shooting down the inhabitants. The 
 whole country was forthwith in arms. Numerous 
 bodies of the Connecticut people had made some 
 marches before the report was contradicted.* 
 
 To guard against any irruption from the country, 
 Gage encamped the 59th regiment on Boston Neck, 
 and employed the soldiers in intrenching and fortify- 
 ing it. 
 
 In the mean time the belligerent feelings of the in- 
 habitants were encouraged, by learning how the rumor 
 of their being cannonaded had been received in the 
 
 * Holmes's Annals, ii., 191. — Letter of Gage to Lord Dartmouth. 
 
412 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 General Congress, and by assurances from all parts that 
 the cause of Boston would be made the common cause 
 of America. " It is surprising," writes General Gage, 
 " that so many of the other provinces interest them- 
 selves so much in this. They have some warm friends 
 in New York, and I learn that the people of Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, are as mad as they are here." * 
 
 The commissions were arrived for those civil officers 
 appointed by the crown under the new modifications 
 of the charter : many, however, were afraid to accept 
 of them. Those who did, soon resigned, finding it 
 impossible to withstand the odium of the people. The 
 civil government throughout the province became ob- 
 structed in all its operations. It was enough for a man 
 to be supposed of the governmental party, to incur 
 popular ill will. 
 
 Among other portentous signs, war^hawks began 
 to appear above the horizon. Mrs. Cushing, wife to a 
 member of Congress, writes to her husband: "Two 
 of the greatest military characters of the day are visit- 
 ing this distressed town. General Charles Lee, who 
 has served in Poland, and Colonel Israel Putnam, 
 whose bravery and character need no description." As 
 these two men will take a prominent part in coming 
 events, we pause to give a word or two concerning 
 them. 
 
 Israel Putnam was a soldier of native growth. 
 One of the military productions of the Prench war; 
 seasoned and proved in frontier campaigning. He had 
 served at Louisburg, Port Duquesne, and Crown Point ; 
 
 * Gage to Dartmouth, Sept. 20. 
 
1774] GENERALS PUTNAM AND LEE. 413 
 
 had signalized himself in Indian warfare; been cap- 
 tured by the savages, tied to a stake to be tortured and 
 burnt, and had only been rescued by the interference, at 
 the eleventh hour, of a French partisan of the Indians. 
 
 Since the peace, he had returned to agricultural 
 life, and was now a farmer at Pomfret, in Connecticut, 
 where the scars of his wounds and the tales of his ex- 
 ploits rendered him a hero in popular estimation. The 
 war spirit yet burned within him. He was now chair- 
 man of a committee of vigilance, and had come to Bos- 
 ton in discharge of. his political and semi-belligerent 
 functions. 
 
 General Charles Lee was a military man of a differ- 
 ent stamp ; an Englishman by birth, and a highly cul- 
 tivated production of European warfare. He was the 
 son of a British officer, Lieutenant-colonel John Lee, 
 of the dragoons, who married the daughter of Sir 
 Henry Bunbury, Bart., and afterwards rose to be a 
 general. Lee was born in 1731, and may almost be 
 said to have been cradled in the army, for he received 
 a commission by the time he was eleven years of age. 
 He had an irregular education; part of the time in 
 England, part on the continent, and must have scrambled 
 his way into knowledge ; yet by aptness, diligence, and 
 ambition, he had acquired a considerable portion, being 
 a Greek and Latin scholar, and acquainted with modern 
 languages. The art of war was his especial study from 
 his boyhood, and he had early opportunities of practical 
 experience. At the age of twenty-four, he commanded 
 a company of grenadiers in the 44th regiment, and served 
 in the Erench war in America, where he was brought 
 into military companionship with Sir William Johnson's 
 
414 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 Mohawk warriors, whom he used to extol for their 
 manly beauty, their dress, their graceful carriage and 
 good breeding. In fact, he rendered himself so much 
 of a favorite among them, that they admitted him to* 
 smoke in their councils, and adopted him into the 
 tribe of the Bear, giving him an Indian name, signify- 
 ing " Boiling Water." 
 
 At the battle of Ticonderoga, where Abercrombie 
 was defeated, he was shot through the body, while lead- 
 ing his men against the French breastworks. In the 
 next campaign, he was present at the siege of Tort 
 Niagara, where General Prideaux fell, and where Sir 
 William Johnson, with his British troops and Mohawk 
 warriors, eventually won the fortress. Lee had, prob- 
 ably, an opportunity on this occasion of fighting side 
 by side with some of his adopted brethren of the Bear 
 tribe, as we are told he was much exposed during the 
 engagement with the French and Indians, and that two 
 balls grazed his hair. A military errand, afterwards, 
 took him across Lake Erie, and down the northern 
 branch of the Ohio to Fort Duquesne, and thence by 
 a long march of seven hundred miles to Crown Point, 
 where he joined General Amherst. In 1760, he was 
 among the forces which followed that general from Lake 
 Ontario down the St. Lawrence ; and was present at 
 the surrender of Montreal, which completed the con- 
 quest of Canada. 
 
 In 1762, he bore a colonel's commission, and 
 served under Brigadier-general Burgoyne in Portugal, 
 where he was intrusted with an enterprise against a 
 Spanish post at the old Moorish castle of Villa Velha, 
 on the banks of the Tagus. He forded the river in 
 
1774.] GENERAL CHARLES LEE. 415 
 
 the night, pushed his way through mountain passes, 
 and at 2 o'clock in the morning, rushed with his gren- 
 adiers into the enemy's camp before daylight, where 
 every thing was carried at the point of the bayonet, 
 assisted by a charge of dragoons. The war over, he 
 returned to England, bearing testimonials of bravery 
 and good conduct from his commander-in-chief, the 
 Count de la Lippe, and from the king of Portugal.* 
 
 Wielding the pen as well as the sword, Lee under- 
 took to write on questions of colonial policy, relative 
 to Pontiac's war, in which he took the opposition side. 
 This lost him the favor of the ministry, and with it all 
 hope of further promotion. 
 
 He now determined to offer his services to Poland, 
 supposed to be on the verge of a war. Recommenda- 
 tions from his old commander, the Count de la Lippe, 
 procured him access to some of the continental courts. 
 He was well received by Frederick the Great, and had 
 several conversations with him, chiefly on American 
 affairs. At Warsaw, his military reputation secured 
 him the favor of Poniatowsky, recently elected king of 
 Poland, with the name of Stanislaus Augustus, who 
 admitted him to his table, and made him one of his 
 aides-de-camp. Lee was disappointed in his hope of 
 active service. There was agitation in the country, 
 but the power of the king was not adequate to raise 
 forces sufficient for its suppression. He had few troops, 
 and those not trustworthy ; and the town was full of 
 the disaffected. " We have frequent alarms," said Lee, 
 
 * Life of Charles Lee, by Jared Sparks. Also, Memoirs of Charles 
 Lee, published 111 London, 1792. 
 
416 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 " and the pleasure of sleeping every night with our 
 pistols on our pillows/' 
 
 By way of relieving his restlessness, Lee, at the 
 suggestion of the king, set off to accompany the Polish 
 ambassador to Constantinople. The latter travelled too 
 slow for him ; so he dashed ahead when on the fron- 
 tiers of Turkey, with an escort of the grand seignior's 
 treasure ; came near perishing with cold and hunger 
 among the Bulgarian Mountains, and after his arrival 
 at the Turkish capital, ran a risk of being buried under 
 the ruins of his house in an earthquake. 
 
 Late in the same year (1766), he was again in 
 England, an applicant for military appointment, bear- 
 ing a letter from king Stanislaus to king George. His 
 meddling pen is supposed again to have marred his 
 fortunes, having indulged in sarcastic comments on the 
 military character of General Townshend and Lord 
 George Sackville. " I am not at all surprised," said a 
 friend to him, " that you find the door shut against you 
 by a person who has such unbounded credit, as you 
 have ever too freely indulged in a liberty of declaiming, 
 which many invidious persons have not failed to inform 
 him of. The principle on which you thus freely speak 
 your mind, is honest and patriotic, but not politic.'' 
 
 The disappointments which Lee met with during a 
 residence of two years in England, and a protracted 
 attendance on people in power, rankled in his bosom, 
 and embittered his subsequent resentment against the 
 king and his ministers. 
 
 In 1768, he was again on his way to Poland, with 
 the design of performing a campaign in the Russian 
 service. "I natter myself," said he, "that a little 
 
1774] GENERAL CHARLES LEE. 417 
 
 more practice will make me a good soldier. If not, it 
 will serve to talk over my kitchen fire in my old age, 
 which will soon come upon us all." 
 
 He now looked forward to spirited service. "I am 
 to have a command of Cossacks and Wallacks," writes 
 he, " a kind of people I have a good opinion of. I am 
 determined not to serve in the line. One might as well 
 be a churchwarden." 
 
 The friendship of king Stanislaus continued. " He 
 treats me more like a brother than a patron," said Lee. 
 In 1769, the latter was raised to the rank of major-gen- 
 eral in the Polish army, and left Warsaw to join the 
 Russian force, which was crossing the Dniester and 
 advancing into Moldavia. He arrived in time to take 
 part in a severe action between the Russians and Turks, 
 in which the Cossacks and hussars were terribly cut up 
 by the Turkish cavalry, in a ravine near the city of 
 Chotzim. It was a long and doubtful conflict, with 
 various changes; but the rumored approach of the 
 grand vizier, with a hundred and seventy thousand 
 men, compelled the Russians to abandon the enterprise 
 and recross the Dniester. 
 
 Lee never returned to Poland, though he ever re- 
 tained a devoted attachment to Stanislaus. He for 
 some time led a restless life about Europe — visiting 
 Italy, Sicily, Malta, and the south of Spain ; troubled 
 with attacks of rheumatism, gout, and the effects of a 
 " Hungarian fever." He had become more and more 
 cynical and irascible, and had more than one " affair of 
 honor," in one of which he killed his antagonist. His 
 splenetic feelings, as well as his political sentiments, were 
 occasionally vented in severe attacks upon the ministry, 
 
 vol. i. — 27 
 
418 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 full of irony and sarcasm. They appeared in the pub- 
 lic journals, and gained him such reputation, that even 
 the papers of Junius were by some attributed to him. 
 
 In the questions which had risen between England 
 and her colonies, he had strongly advocated the cause 
 of the latter ; and it was the feelings thus excited, and 
 the recollections, perhaps, of his early campaigns, that 
 had recently brought him to America. Here he had 
 arrived in the latter part of 1773, had visited various 
 parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, taking an 
 active part in the political agitations of the country. His 
 caustic attacks upon the ministry; his conversational 
 powers and his poignant sallies, had gained him great 
 reputation ; but his military renown rendered him espe- 
 cially interesting at the present juncture. A general, 
 who had served in the famous campaigns of Europe, 
 commanded Cossacks, fought with Turks, talked with 
 Frederick the Great, and been aide-de-camp to the king 
 of Poland, was a prodigious acquisition to the patriot 
 cause ! On the other hand, his visit to Boston was 
 looked upon with uneasiness by the British officers, who 
 knew his adventurous character. It was surmised that 
 he was exciting a spirit of revolt, with a view to put- 
 ting himself at its head. These suspicions found their 
 way into the London papers, and alarmed the British 
 cabinet. " Have an attention to his conduct," writes 
 Lord Dartmouth to Gage, " and take every legal method 
 to prevent his effecting any of those dangerous pur- 
 poses he is said to have in view." 
 
 Lee, when subsequently informed of these suspi- 
 cions, scoffed at them in a letter to his friend, Edmund 
 
1774.] PROVINCIAL CONGRESS AT CONCORD. 419 
 
 Burke, and declared that he had not the " temerity and 
 vanity " to aspire to the aims imputed to him. 
 
 " To think myself qualified for the most important 
 charge that ever was committed to mortal man," writes 
 he, " is the last stage of presumption ; nor do I think 
 the Americans would, or ought to confide in a man, let 
 his qualifications be ever so great, who has no property 
 among them. It is true, I most devoutly wish them 
 success in the glorious struggle ; that I have expressed 
 my wishes both in writing and viva voce ; but my 
 errand to Boston was mere curiosity to see a people in 
 so singular circumstances ; and I had likewise an am- 
 bition to be acquainted with some of their leading 
 men ; with them only I associated during my stay in 
 Boston. Our ingenious gentlemen in the camp, there- 
 fore, very naturally concluded my design was to put 
 myself at their head." 
 
 To resume the course of events at Boston. Gage, 
 on the 1st of September, before this popular agitation, 
 had issued writs for an election of an Assembly to meet at 
 Salem in October ; seeing, however, the irritated state 
 of the public mind, he now countermanded the same 
 by proclamation. The people, disregarding the coun- 
 termand, carried the election and ninety of the new 
 members thus elected met at the appointed time. They 
 waited a whole day for the governor to attend, admin- 
 ister the oaths, and open the session ; but as he did 
 not make his appearance, they voted themselves a pro- 
 vincial Congress, and chose for president of it, John 
 Hancock, — a man of great wealth, popular, and some- 
 what showy talents, and ardent patriotism ; and emi- 
 nent from his social position. 
 
420 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 This self-constituted body adjourned to Concord, 
 about twenty miles from Boston ; quietly assumed su- 
 preme authority, and issued a remonstrance to the gov- 
 ernor, virtually calling him to account for his military 
 operations in fortifying Boston Neck, and collecting 
 warlike stores about him, thereby alarming the fears of 
 the whole province, and menacing the lives and property 
 of the Bostonians. 
 
 General Gage, overlooking the irregularity of its 
 organization, entered into explanations with the Assem- 
 bly, but failed to give satisfaction. As winter ap- 
 proached, he found his situation more and more critical. 
 Boston was the only place in Massachusetts that now 
 contained British forces, and it had become the refuge 
 of all the " tones " of the province : that is to say, of 
 all those devoted to the British government. There 
 was animosity between them and the principal inhabi- 
 tants, among whom revolutionary principles prevailed. 
 The town itself, almost insulated by nature, and sur- 
 rounded by a hostile country, was like a place besieged. 
 
 The provincial Congress conducted its affairs with 
 the order and system so formidable to General Gage. 
 Having adopted a plan for organizing the militia, it had 
 nominated general officers, two of whom, Artemas 
 Ward and Seth Pomeroy, had accepted. 
 
 The executive powers were vested in a committee 
 of safety. This was to determine when the services of 
 the militia were necessary ; was to call them forth, — to 
 nominate their officers to the Congress, — to commission 
 them, and direct the operations of the army. Another 
 committee was appointed to furnish supplies to the 
 
1774.] MILITARY MOVEMENTS. 421 
 
 forces when called out ; hence, named the committee 
 of supplies. 
 
 Under such auspices, the militia went on arming 
 and disciplining itself in every direction. They asso- 
 ciated themselves in large bodies, and engaged, verbally 
 or by writing, to assemble in arms at the shortest 
 notice for the common defence, subject to the orders of 
 the committee of safety. 
 
 Arrangements had been made for keeping up an 
 active correspondence between different parts of the 
 country, and spreading an alarm in case of any threat- 
 ening danger. Under the direction of the committees 
 just mentioned, large quantities of military stores had 
 been collected and deposited at Concord and Worces- 
 ter. 
 
 This semi-belligerent state of affairs in Massachu- 
 setts produced a general restlessness throughout the 
 land. The weak-hearted apprehended coming troubles : 
 the resolute prepared to brave them. Military mea- 
 sures, hitherto confined to New England, extended to 
 the middle and southern provinces, and the roll of the 
 drum resounded through the villages. 
 
 Virginia was among the first to buckle on its armor. 
 It had long been a custom among its inhabitants to 
 form themselves into independent companies, equipped 
 at their own expense, having their own peculiar uni- 
 form, and electing their own officers, though holding 
 themselves subject to militia law. They had hitherto 
 been self- disciplined ; but now they continually resorted 
 to Washington for instruction and advice ; considering 
 him the highest authority on military affairs. He was 
 frequently called from home, therefore, in the course of 
 
422 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774 
 
 the winter and spring, to different parts of the country 
 to review independent companies ; all of which were 
 anxious to put themselves under his command as field- 
 officer. 
 
 Mount Vernon, therefore, again assumed a military 
 tone as in former days, when he took his first lessons 
 there in the art of Avar. He had his old campaigning 
 associates with him occasionally, Dr. Craik and Captain 
 Hugh Mercer, to talk of past scenes and discuss the 
 possibility of future service. Mercer was already be- 
 stirring himself in disciplining the militia about Fred- 
 ericksburg, where he resided. 
 
 Two occasional and important guests at Mount 
 Vernon, in this momentous crisis, were General Charles 
 Lee, of whom we have just spoken, and Major Horatio 
 Gates. As the latter is destined to occupy an impor- 
 tant page in this memoir, we will give a few particulars 
 concerning him. He was an Englishman by birth, the 
 son of a captain in the British army. Horace Wal- 
 pole, whose christian name he bore, speaks of him in 
 one of his letters as his godson, though some have in- 
 sinuated that he stood in filial relationship of a less 
 sanctified character. He had received a liberal educa- 
 tion, and, when but twenty-one years of age, had 
 served as a volunteer under General Edward Corn- 
 wallis, governor of Halifax. He was afterwards cap- 
 tain of a New York independent company, with which, it 
 may be remembered, he marched in the campaign of 
 Braddock, in which he was severely wounded. Eor 
 two or three subsequent years he was with his company 
 in the western part of the province of New York, 
 receiving the appointment of brigade major. He 
 
1774.] MAJOR HORATIO GATES. 423 
 
 accompanied General Monckton as aide-de-camp to the 
 West Indies, and gained credit at the capture of Mar- 
 tinico. Being despatched to London with tidings of 
 the victory, he was rewarded by the appointment of 
 major to a regiment of' foot; and afterwards, as a 
 special mark of royal favor, a majority in the Royal 
 Americans. His promotion did not equal his expecta- 
 tions and fancied deserts. He was married, and wanted 
 something more lucrative ; so he sold out on half-pay, 
 and became an applicant for some profitable post under 
 government, which he hoped to obtain through the 
 influence of General Monckton and some friends m the 
 aristocracy* Thus several years were passed, partly 
 with his family in retirement, partly in London, paying 
 court to patrons and men in power, until, finding there 
 was no likelihood of success, and having sold his com- 
 mission and half-pay, he emigrated to Virginia in 
 1772, a disappointed man; purchased an estate in 
 Berkeley County, beyond the Blue Ridge; espoused 
 the popular cause, and renewed his old campaigning 
 acquaintance with Washington. 
 
 He was now about forty-six years of age, of a florid 
 complexion and goodly presence, though a little inclined 
 to corpulency ; social, insinuating, and somewhat spe- 
 cious in his manners, with a strong degree of self- 
 approbation. A long course of solicitation ; haunting 
 public offices and antechambers, and " knocking about 
 town," had taught him, it was said, how to wheedle 
 and flatter, and accommodate himself to the humors of 
 others, so as to be the boon companion of gentlemen, 
 and " hail fellow well met " with the vulgar. 
 
 Lee, who was an old friend and former associate in 
 
424 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1774. 
 
 arms, had recently been induced by him to purchase an 
 estate in his neighborhood in Berkeley County, with a 
 view to making it his abode, having a moderate com- 
 petency, a claim to land on the Ohio, and the half-pay 
 of a British colonel. Both of these officers, disap- 
 pointed in the British service, looked forward probably 
 to greater success in the patriot cause. 
 
 Lee had been at Philadelphia since his visit to Bos- 
 ton, and had made himself acquainted with the leading 
 members of Congress during the session. He was 
 evidently cultivating an intimacy with every one likely 
 to have influence in the approaching struggle. 
 
 To Washington the visits of these gentlemen were 
 extremely welcome at this juncture, from their military 
 knowledge and experience, especially as much of it had 
 been acquired in America, in the same kind of warfare, 
 if not the very same campaigns in which he himself 
 had mingled, Both were interested in the popular 
 cause. Lee was full of plans for the organization and 
 disciplining of the militia, and occasionally accompa- 
 nied Washington in his attendance on provincial re- 
 views. He was subsequently very efficient at Annapo- 
 lis in promoting and superintending the organization 
 of the Maryland militia. 
 
 It is doubtful whether the visits of Lee were as 
 interesting to Mrs. Washington as to the general. He 
 was whimsical, eccentric, and at times almost rude ; 
 negligent also, and slovenly in person and attire ; for 
 though he had occasionally associated with kings and 
 princes, he had also campaigned with Mohawks and 
 Cossacks, and seems to have relished their "good 
 breeding." What was still more annoying in a well 
 
1775.] PATRICK HENRY. 425 
 
 regulated mansion, lie was always followed by a legion 
 of dogs, which shared his affections with his horses, 
 and took their seats by him when at table. " I must 
 have some object to embrace," said he misanthropically. 
 " When I can be convinced that men are as worthy 
 objects as dogs, I shall transfer my benevolence, and 
 become as stanch a philanthropist as the canting 
 Addison affected to be." * 
 
 In his passion for horses and dogs, Washington, to 
 a certain degree, could sympathize with him, and had 
 noble specimens of both in his stable and kennel, 
 which Lee doubtless inspected with a learned eye. 
 During the season in question, Washington, according 
 to his diary, was occasionally in the saddle at an early 
 hour following the fox-hounds. It was the last time 
 for many a year that he was to gallop about his beloved 
 hunting-grounds of Mount Vernon and Belvoir. 
 
 In the month of March the second Virginia Con- 
 vention was held at Richmond. Washington attended 
 as delegate from Fairfax County. In this assembly, 
 Patrick Henry, with his usual ardor and eloquence, 
 advocated measures for embodying, arming and disci- 
 plining a militia force, and providing for the defence of 
 the colony. " It is useless," said he, " to address fur- 
 ther petitions to government, or to await the effect of 
 those already addressed to the throne. The time for 
 supplication is past; the time for action is at hand. 
 We must fight, Mr. Speaker," exclaimed he emphati- 
 cally; " I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! An appeal to 
 arms, and to the God of Hosts, is all that is left us ! " 
 
 * Lee to Adams. Life and Works of Adams, ii., 414. 
 
426 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775, 
 
 Washington joined him in the conviction, and was 
 one of a committee that reported a plan for carrying 
 those measures into effect. He was not an impulsive 
 man to raise the battle cry, but the executive man to 
 marshal the troops into the field, and carry on the war. 
 
 His brother, John Augustine, was raising and dis- 
 ciplining an independent company ; Washington offered 
 to accept the command of it, should occasion require it 
 to be drawn out. He did the same with respect to an 
 independent company at Richmond. "It is my full 
 intention, if needful," writes he to his brother, " to 
 devote my life and fortune to the cause!' * 
 
 * Letter to John Augustine. Sparks, ii., 405. 
 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 INFATUATION IN BRITISH COUNCILS — COLONEL GBANT, THE BEAGGAET — 
 COEECIVE MEASUEES — EXPEDITION AGAINST THE MILITAET MAGAZINE 
 AT CONCOED — BATTLE OF LEXINGTON — THE GET OF BLOOD THEOUGH 
 THE LAND — OLD SOLDIEES OF THE FEENOH WAE — JOHN STAEE — 
 ISEAEL PUTNAM — EISING OF THE TEOMANEY — MEASUEES OF LOED 
 DUNMORE IN VIRGINIA — INDIGNATION OF THE VIEGINIANS — HUGH 
 MEECEE AND THE FEIENDS OF LIBEETT — AEEIVAL OF THE NEWS OF 
 LEXINGTON AT MOUNT VEENON — EFFECT ON BEYAN FAIRFAX, GATES, 
 AND WASHINGTON. 
 
 While the spirit of revolt was daily gaining strength 
 and determination in America, a strange infatuation 
 reigned in the British councils. While the wisdom and 
 eloquence of Chatham were exerted in vain in behalf 
 of American rights, an empty braggadocio, elevated to 
 a seat in Parliament, was able to captivate the attention 
 of the members, and influence their votes by gross mis- 
 representations of the Americans and their cause. This 
 was no other than Colonel Grant, the same shallow 
 soldier who, exceeding his instructions, had been guilty 
 of a foolhardy bravado before the walls of Port Du- 
 quesne, which brought slaughter and defeat upon his 
 troops. Prom misleading the army, he was now pro- 
 moted to a station where he might mislead the councils 
 of his country. We are told that he entertained Par- 
 
428 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 liament, especially the ministerial side of the House, 
 with ludicrous stories of the cowardice of Americans. 
 He had served with them, he said, and knew them 
 well, and would venture to say they would never dare 
 to face an English army ; that they were destitute of 
 every requisite to make good soldiers, and that a very 
 slight force would be sufficient for their complete re- 
 duction. With five regiments, he could march through 
 all America ! 
 
 How often has England been misled to her cost by 
 such slanderous misrepresentations of the American 
 character! Grant talked of having served with the 
 Americans ; had he already forgotten that in the field 
 of Braddock's defeat, when the British regulars fled, it 
 was alone the desperate stand of a handful of Virgin- 
 ians, which covered their disgraceful flight, and saved 
 them from being overtaken and massacred by the sav- 
 ages ? 
 
 This taunting and braggart speech of Grant was 
 made in the face of the conciliatory bill of the venera- 
 ble Chatham, devised with a view to redress the wrongs 
 of America. The counsels of the arrogant and scorn- 
 ful prevailed ; and instead of the proposed bill, further 
 measures of a stringent nature were adopted, coercive 
 of some of the middle and southern colonies, but ruin- 
 ous to the trade and fisheries of New England. 
 
 At length the bolt, so long suspended, fell ! The 
 troops at Boston had been augmented to about four 
 thousand men. Goaded on by the instigations of the 
 tories, and alarmed by the energetic measures of the 
 whigs, General Gage now resolved to deal the latter a 
 crippling blow. This was to surprise and destroy their 
 
1775.] DESIGN ON THE MAGAZINE AT CONCORD. 429 
 
 magazine of military stores at Concord, about twenty 
 miles from Boston. It was to be effected in the night 
 of the 18th of April, by a force detached for the pur- 
 pose. 
 
 Preparations were made with great secrecy. Boats 
 for the transportation of the troops were launched, and 
 moored under the sterns of the men-of-war. Grena- 
 diers and light infantry were relieved from duty, and 
 held in readiness. On the 18th, officers were stationed 
 on the roads leading from Boston, to prevent any intel- 
 ligence of the expedition getting into the country. At 
 night orders were issued by General Gage that no per- 
 son should leave the town. About ten o'clock, from 
 eight to nine hundred men, grenadiers, light infantry, 
 and marines, commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Smith, 
 embarked in the boats at the foot of Boston Common, 
 and crossed to Lechmere Point, in Cambridge, whence 
 they were to march silently, and without beat of drum, 
 to the place of destination. 
 
 The measures of General Gage had not been 
 shrouded in all the secrecy he imagined. Mystery 
 often defeats itself by the suspicions it awakens. Dr. 
 Joseph Warren, one of the committee of safety, had 
 observed the preparatory disposition of the boats and 
 troops, and surmised some sinister intention. He sent 
 notice of these movements to John Hancock and Sam- 
 uel Adams, both members of provincial Congress, but 
 at that time privately sojourning with, a friend at Lex- 
 ington. A design on the magazine at Concord was 
 suspected, and the committee of safety ordered that the 
 cannon collected there should be secreted, and part of 
 the stores removed. 
 
430 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 On the night of the 18th, Dr. Warren sent off two 
 messengers by different routes, to give the alarm that 
 the king's troops were actually sallying forth. The 
 messengers got out of Boston just before the order of 
 General Gage went into effect, to prevent any one from 
 leaving the town. About the same time a lantern was 
 hung out of an upper window of the north church, in 
 the direction of Charlestown. This was a preconcerted 
 signal to the patriots of that place, who instantly des- 
 patched swift messengers to rouse the country. 
 
 In the mean time, Colonel Smith set out on his 
 nocturnal march from Lechmere Point, by an unfre- 
 quented path across marshes, where at times the troops 
 had to wade through water. He had proceeded but a 
 few miles when alarm guns, booming through the night 
 air, and the clang of village bells, showed that the 
 news of his approach was travelling before him, and 
 the people were rising. He now sent back to General 
 Gage for a reinforcement, while Major Pitcairn was 
 detached with six companies to press forward, and se- 
 cure the bridges at Concord. 
 
 Pitcairn advanced rapidly, capturing every one 
 that he met, or overtook. Within a mile and a half of 
 Lexington, however, a horseman was too quick on the 
 spur for him, and galloping to the village, gave the 
 alarm that the redcoats were coming. Drums were 
 beaten; guns fired. By the time that Pitcairn en- 
 tered the village, about seventy or eighty of the yeo- 
 manry, in military array, were mustered on the green 
 near the church. It was a part of the " constitutional 
 army," pledged to resist by force any open hostility of 
 
1775.J A DISASTROUS TRIUMPH. 431 
 
 British troops. Besides these, there were a number of 
 lookers on, armed and unarmed. 
 
 The sound of drum, and the array of men in arms, 
 indicated a hostile determination. Pitcairn halted his 
 men within a short distance of the church, and ordered 
 them to prime and load. They then advanced at double 
 quick time. The major, riding forward, waved his 
 sword, and ordered the rebels, as he termed them, to 
 disperse. Other of the officers echoed his words as 
 they advanced : " Disperse, ye villains ! Lay down 
 your arms, ye rebels, and disperse ! " The orders were 
 disregarded. A scene of confusion ensued, with firing 
 on both sides ; which party commenced it, has been a 
 matter of dispute. Pitcairn always maintained that, 
 finding the militia would not disperse, he turned to 
 order his men to draw out, and surround them, when 
 he saw a flash in the pan from the gun of a countryman 
 posted behind a wall, and almost instantly the report 
 of two or three muskets. These he supposed to be 
 from the Americans, as his horse was wounded, as was 
 also a soldier close by him. His troops rushed on, and 
 a promiscuous fire took place, though, as he declared, 
 he made repeated signals with his sword for his men to 
 forbear. 
 
 The firing of the Americans was irregular, and 
 without much effect; that of the British was more 
 fatal. Eight of the patriots were killed, and ten 
 wounded, and the whole put to flight. The victors 
 formed on the common, fired a volley, and gave three 
 cheers for one of the most inglorious and disastrous 
 triumphs ever achieved by British arms. 
 
 Colonel Smith soon arrived with the residue of the 
 
432 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 detachment, and they all marched on towards Concord, 
 about six miles distant. 
 
 The alarm had reached that place in the dead hour 
 of the preceding night. The church bell roused the 
 inhabitants. They gathered together in anxious con- 
 sultation. The militia and minute men seized their 
 arms, and repaired to the parade ground, near the 
 church. Here they were subsequently joined by armed 
 yeomanry from Lincoln, and elsewhere. Exertions were 
 now made to remove and conceal the military stores. 
 A scout, who had been sent out for intelligence, 
 brought word that the British had fired upon the 
 people at Lexington, and were advancing upon Con- 
 cord. There was great excitement and indignation. 
 Part of the militia marched down the Lexington road 
 to meet them, but returned, reporting their force to be 
 three times that of the Americans. The whole of the 
 militia now retired to an eminence about a mile from 
 the centre of the town, and formed themselves into two 
 battalions. 
 
 About seven o'clock, the British came in sight, ad- 
 vancing with quick step, their arms glittering in the 
 morning sun. They entered in two divisions by differ- 
 ent roads. Concord is traversed by a river of the same 
 name, having two bridges, the north and the south. 
 The grenadiers and light infantry took post in the 
 centre of the town, while strong parties of light troops 
 were detached to secure the bridges, and destroy the 
 military stores. Two hours were expended in the work 
 of destruction without much success, so much of the 
 stores having been removed, or concealed. During all 
 this time the yeomanry from the neighboring towns 
 
1775.] RETALIATION. 433 
 
 were hurrying in with such weapons as were at hand, 
 and joining the militia on the height, until the little 
 cloud of war gathering there numbered about four 
 hundred and fifty. 
 
 About ten o'clock, a body of three hundred under- 
 took to dislodge the British from the north bridge. 
 As they approached, the latter fired upon them, killing 
 two, and wounding a thud. The patriots returned the 
 fire with spirit and effect. The British retreated to the 
 main body, the Americans pursuing them across the 
 bridge. 
 
 By this time all the military stores which could be 
 found had been destroyed; Colonel Smith, therefore, 
 made preparations for a retreat. The scattered troops 
 were collected, the dead were buried, and conveyances 
 procured for the wounded. About noon he commenced 
 his retrograde march for Boston. It was high time. 
 His troops were jaded by the night march, and the 
 morning's toils and skirmishings. 
 
 The country was thoroughly alarmed. The yeor 
 manry were hurrying from every quarter to the scene 
 of action. As the British began their retreat, the 
 Americans began the work of sore and galling retalia- 
 tion. Along the open road, the former were harassed 
 incessantly by rustic marksmen, who took deliberate 
 aim from behind trees, or over stone fences. Where 
 the road passed through woods, the British found 
 themselves between two fires, dealt by unseen foes, the 
 minute men having posted themselves on each side 
 among the bushes. It was in vain they threw out 
 flankers, and endeavored to dislodge their assailants j 
 each pause gave time for other pursuers to come within 
 
 vol. i.— 28 
 
434 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 reach, and open attacks from different quarters. Poi 
 several miles they urged their way along woody defiles, 
 or roads skirted with fences and stone walls, the retreat 
 growing more and more disastrous; some were shot 
 down, some gave out through mere exhaustion; the 
 rest hurried on without stopping to aid the fatigued, or 
 wounded. Before reaching Lexington, Colonel Smith 
 received a severe wound in the leg, and the situation 
 of the retreating troops was becoming extremely criti- 
 cal, when, about two o'clock, they were met by Lord 
 Percy, with a brigade of one thousand men, and two 
 field-pieces. His lordship had been detached from 
 Boston about nine o'clock by General Gage, in compli- 
 ance with Colonel Smith's urgent call for a reinforce- 
 ment, and had marched gaily through Boxbury to the 
 tune of " Yankee Doodle," in derision of the " rebels." 
 He now found the latter a more formidable foe than he 
 had anticipated. Opening his brigade to the right and 
 left, he received the retreating troops into a hollow 
 square ; where, fainting and exhausted, they threw 
 themselves on the ground to rest. His lordship showed 
 no disposition to advance upon the assailants, but con- 
 tented himself with keeping them at bay with his field- 
 pieces, which opened a vigorous fire from an eminence. 
 Hitherto the Provincials, being hasty levies, without 
 a leader, had acted from individual impulse, without 
 much concert ; but now General ' Heath was upon the 
 ground. He was one of those authorized to take com- 
 mand when the minute men should be called out. 
 That class of combatants promptly obeyed his orders, 
 and he was efficacious in rallying them, and bringing 
 
1775.] THE CHASE. 435 
 
 them into military order, when checked and scattered 
 by the fire of the field-pieces. 
 
 Dr. Warren, also, arrived on horseback, having 
 spurred from Boston on receiving news of the skir- 
 mishing. In the subsequent part of the day, he was 
 one of the most active and efficient men in the field. 
 His presence, like that of General Heath, regulated 
 the infuriated ardor of the militia, and brought it into 
 system. 
 
 Lord Percy, having allowed the troops a short in- 
 terval for repose and refreshment, continued the retreat 
 toward Boston. As soon as he got under march, the 
 galling assault by the pursuing yeomanry was recom- 
 menced in flank and rear. The British soldiery, irrita- 
 ted in turn, acted as if in an enemy's country. Houses 
 and shops were burnt down in Lexington; private 
 dwellings along the road were plundered, and their 
 inhabitants maltreated. In one instance, an unof- 
 fending invalid was wantonly slain in his own house. 
 All this increased the exasperation of the yeomanry. 
 There was occasional sharp skirmishing, with blood- 
 shed on both sides, but in general a dogged pursuit, 
 where the retreating troops were galled at every step. 
 Their march became more and more impeded by the 
 number of their wounded. Lord Percy narrowly 
 escaped death from a musket-ball, which struck off a 
 button of his waistcoat. One of his officers remained 
 behind wounded in West Cambridge. His ammuni- 
 tion was failing as he approached Charlestown. The 
 Provincials pressed upon him in rear, others were ad- 
 vancing from Boxbury, Dorchester, and Milton ; Colonel 
 Pickering, with the Essex militia, seven hundred strong, 
 
436 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 was at hand ; there was danger of being intercepted in 
 the retreat to Charlestown. The field-pieces were again 
 brought into play, to check the ardor of the pursuit ; 
 but they were no longer objects of terror. The sharpest 
 firing of the Provincials was near Prospect Hill, as the 
 harassed enemy hurried along the Charlestown road, 
 eager to reach the Neck, and get under cover of their 
 ships. The pursuit terminated a little after sunset, at 
 Charlestown Common, where General Heath brought 
 the minute men to a halt. Within half an hour more, 
 a powerful body of men, from Marblehead and Salem, 
 came up to join the chase. " If the retreat," writes 
 Washington, " had not been as precipitate as it was, — 
 and God knows it could not well have been more so, — 
 the ministerial troops must have surrendered, or been 
 totally cut off." 
 
 The distant firing from the mainland had reached 
 the British at Boston. The troops which, in the morn- 
 ing, had marched through Roxbury, to the tune of 
 Yankee Doodle, might have been seen at sunset, 
 hounded along the old Cambridge road to Charlestown 
 Neck, by mere armed yeomanry. Gage was astounded 
 at the catastrophe. It was but a short time previous, 
 that one of his officers, in writing to friends in Eng- 
 land, scoffed at the idea of the Americans taking up 
 arms. "Whenever it comes to blows," said he, "he 
 that can run the fastest, will think himself well off, 
 believe me. Any two regiments here ought to be 
 decimated, if they did not beat in the field the whole 
 force of the Massachusetts province." How frequent- 
 ly, throughout this Revolution, had the English to pay 
 
1775.] JOHN STARK. 437 
 
 the penalty of thus undervaluing the spirit they were 
 provoking ! 
 
 In this memorable affair, the British loss was 
 seventy-three killed, one hundred and seventy-four 
 wounded, and twenty-six missing. Among the slain 
 were eighteen officers. The loss of the Americans was 
 forty-nine killed, thirty-nine wounded, and five miss- 
 ing. This was the first blood shed in the revolutionary- 
 struggle ; a mere drop in amount, but a deluge in its 
 effects, — rending the colonies for ever from the mother 
 country. 
 
 The cry of blood from the field of Lexington, went 
 through the land. None felt the appeal more than the 
 old soldiers of the French war. It roused John Stark, 
 of New Hampshire — a trapper and hunter in his 
 youth, a veteran in Indian warfare, a campaigner under 
 Abercrombie and Amherst, now the military oracle of 
 a rustic neighborhood. Within ten minutes after re- 
 ceiving the alarm, he was spurring towards the sea- 
 coast, and on the way stirring up the volunteers of the 
 Massachusetts borders, to assemble forthwith at Bed A 
 ford, in the vicinity of Boston. 
 
 Equally alert was his old comrade in frontier ex- 
 ploits, Colonel Israel Putnam. A man on horseback, 
 with a drum, passed through his neighborhood in Con- 
 necticut, proclaiming British violence at Lexington. 
 Putnam was in the field ploughing, assisted by his son. 
 In an instant the team was unyoked ; the plough left 
 in the furrow j the lad sent home to give word of his 
 father's departure ; and Putnam, on horseback, in his 
 working garb, urging with all speed to the camp. Such 
 was the spirit aroused throughout the country. The 
 
438 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 sturdy yeomanry, from all parts, were hastening toward 
 Boston with such weapons as were at hand ; and happy 
 was he who could command a rusty fowling-piece and 
 a powder-horn. 
 
 The news reached Virginia at a critical moment. 
 Lord Dunmore, obeying a general order issued by the 
 ministry to all the provincial governors, had seized 
 upon the military munitions of the province. Here 
 was a similar measure to that of Gage. The cry went 
 forth that the subjugation of the colonies was to be 
 attempted. All Virginia was in combustion. The 
 standard of liberty was reared in every county ; there 
 was a general cry to arms. Washington was looked 
 to, from various quarters, to take command. His old 
 comrade in arms, Hugh Mercer, was about marching 
 down to Williamsburg at the head of a body of reso- 
 lute men, seven hundred strong, entitled " The friends 
 of constitutional liberty in America," whom he had 
 organized and drilled in Fredericksburg, and nothing 
 but a timely concession of Lord Dunmore, with respect 
 to some powder which he had seized, prevented his 
 being beset in his palace. 
 
 Before Hugh Mercer and the Friends of Liberty 
 disbanded themselves, they exchanged a mutual pledge 
 to reassemble at a moment's warning, whenever called 
 on to defend the liberty and rights of this or any other 
 sister colony. 
 
 Washington was at Mount Vernon, preparing to 
 set out for Philadelphia as a delegate to the second 
 Congress, when he received tidings of the affair at 
 Lexington. Bryan Fairfax and Major Horatio Gates, 
 were his guests at the time. They all regarded the 
 
1775.] DIFFERENT EFFECTS OF THE TIDINGS. 439 
 
 event as decisive in its consequences ; but they regard- 
 ed it with different feelings. The worthy and gentle- 
 spirited Fairfax deplored it deeply. He foresaw that it 
 must break up all his pleasant relations in life ; array- 
 ing his dearest friends against the government to 
 which, notwithstanding the errors of its policy, he was 
 loyally attached and resolved to adhere. 
 
 Gates, on the contrary, viewed it with the eye of a 
 soldier and a -place-hunter — hitherto disappointed in 
 both capacities. This event promised to open a new 
 avenue to importance and command, and he deter- 
 mined to enter upon it. 
 
 Washington's feelings were of a mingled nature. 
 They may be gathered from a letter to his friend and 
 neighbor, George William Fairfax, then in England, in 
 which he lays the blame of this " deplorable affair " on 
 the ministry and their military agents ; and concludes 
 with the following words, in which the yearnings of the 
 patriot give affecting solemnity to the implied resolve 
 of the soldier : " Unhappy it is to reflect that a broth- 
 er's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast; 
 and that the once happy and peaceful plains of Ame- 
 rica are to be either drenched with blood or inhabited 
 by slaves. Sad alternative ! But can a virtuous man 
 hesitate in Ids choice ? " 
 
CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 ENLISTING OF TEOOPS IN THE EAST CAMP AT BOSTON — GENEEAL AETEMAS 
 
 WAED — SCHEME TO SUEPEISE TICONDEEOGA — NEW nAMPSHIEE GEANTS 
 — ETHAN ALLEN AND THE GEEEN MOUNTAIN BOYS — BENEDICT AENOLD 
 — APFAIE OF TICONDEEOGA AND CEOWN POINT — A DASH AT ST. JOHN'S. 
 
 At the eastward, the march of the Revolution went on ' 
 with accelerated speed. Thirty thousand men had 
 been deemed necessary for the defence of the country. 
 The provincial Congress of Massachusetts resolved to 
 raise thirteen thousand six hundred, as its quota. Cir- 
 cular letters, also, were issued by the committee of 
 safety, urging the towns to enlist troops with all speed, 
 and calling for military aid from the other New Eng- 
 land provinces. 
 
 Their appeals were promptly answered. Bodies of 
 militia, and parties of volunteers from New Hamp- 
 shire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, hastened to join 
 the minute men of Massachusetts in forming a camp 
 in the neighborhood of Boston. With the troops of 
 Connecticut, came Israel Putnam ; having recently 
 raised a regiment in that province, and received from 
 its Assembly the commission of brigadier-general. 
 
1775.] GENERAL ARTEMAS WARD. 441 
 
 Some of his old comrades in French and Indian war- 
 fare, had hastened to join his standard. Such were 
 two of his captains, Durkee and Knowlton. The lat- 
 ter, who was his especial favorite, had fought by his 
 side when a mere boy. 
 
 The command of the camp was given to General 
 Artemas Ward, already mentioned. He was a native 
 of Shrewsbury, in Massachusetts, and a veteran of the 
 seven years' war — having served as lieutenant-colonel 
 under Abercrombie. He had, likewise, been a mem- 
 ber of the legislative bodies, and had recently been 
 made, by the provincial Congress of Massachusetts, 
 commander-in-chief of its forces. 
 
 As affairs were now drawing to a crisis, and war 
 was considered inevitable, some bold spirits in Con- 
 necticut conceived a project for the outset. This was 
 the surprisal of the old forts of Ticonderoga and Crown 
 Point, already famous in the French war. Their situa- 
 tion on Lake Champlain, gave them the command of 
 the main route to Canada ; so that the possession of 
 them would be all-important in case of hostilities. 
 They were feebly garrisoned and negligently guarded, 
 and abundantly furnished with artillery and military 
 stores, so much needed by the patriot army. 
 
 This scheme was set on foot in the purlieus, as it 
 were, of the provincial Legislature of Connecticut, then 
 in session. It was not openly sanctioned by that body, 
 but secretly favored, and money lent from the treasury 
 to those engaged in it. A committee was appointed, 
 also, to accompany them to the frontier, aid them in 
 raising troops, and exercise over them a degree of su- 
 perintendence and control. 
 
442 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 Sixteen men were thus enlisted in Connecticut, a 
 greater number in Massachusetts, but the greatest acces- 
 sion of force was from what was called the " New Hamp- 
 shire Grants." This was a region having the Connecticut 
 River on one side, and Lake Champlain and the Hud- 
 son River on the other — being, in fact, the country 
 forming the present State of Vermont. It had long 
 been a disputed territory, claimed by New York and 
 New Hampshire. George II. had decided in favor of 
 New York ; but the Governor of New Hampshire had 
 made grants of between one and two hundred town- 
 ships in it, whence it had acquired the name of the 
 New Hampshire Grants. The settlers on those grants 
 resisted the attempts of New York to eject them, and 
 formed themselves into an association, called "The 
 Green Mountain Boys." Resolute, strong-handed fel- 
 lows they were, with Ethan Allen at their head; a 
 native of Connecticut, but brought up among the 
 Green Mountains. He and his lieutenants, Seth War- 
 ner and Remember Baker, were outlawed by the Leg- 
 islature of New York, and rewards offered for their 
 apprehension. They and their associates armed them- 
 selves, set New York at defiance, and swore they would 
 be the death of any one who should attempt their 
 arrest. 
 
 Thus Ethan Allen was becoming a kind of Robin 
 Hood among the mountains, when the present crisis 
 changed the relative position of things as if by magic. 
 Boundary feuds were forgotten amid the great ques- 
 tions of colonial rights. Ethan Allen at once stepped 
 forward, a patriot, and volunteered with his Green 
 Mountain Boys to serve in the popular cause. He was 
 
1775.] BENEDICT ARNOLD. 443 
 
 well fitted for the enterprise in question, by his experi- 
 ence as a frontier champion, his robustness of mind 
 and body, and his fearless spirit. He had a kind of 
 rough eloquence, also, that was very effective with his 
 followers. " His style," says one, who knew him 
 personally, " was a singular compound of local barba- 
 risms, scriptural phrases, and oriental wildness; and 
 though unclassic, and sometimes ungrammatical, was 
 highly animated and forcible." Washington, in one of 
 his letters, says there was " an original something in 
 him which commanded admiration." 
 
 Thus reinforced, the party, now two hundred and 
 seventy strong, pushed forward to Castleton, a place 
 within a few miles of the head of Lake Champlain. 
 Here a council of war was held on the 2d of May. 
 Ethan Allen was placed at the head of the expedition, 
 with James Easton and Seth Warner as second and 
 third in command. Detachments were sent off to 
 Skenesborough (now Whitehall), and another place on 
 the lake, with orders to seize all the boats they could 
 find and bring them to Shoreham, opposite Ticonde- 
 roga, whither Allen prepared to proceed with the main 
 body. 
 
 At this juncture, another adventurous spirit arrived 
 at Castleton. This was Benedict Arnold, since so 
 sadly renowned. He, too, had conceived the project 
 of surprising Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; or, per- 
 haps, had caught the idea from its first agitators in Con- 
 necticut, — in the militia of which province he held a 
 captain's commission. He had proposed the scheme 
 to the Massachusetts committee of safety. It had met 
 with their approbation. They had given him a colonel's 
 
444 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 commission, authorized him to raise a force in Western 
 Massachusetts, not exceeding four hundred men, and 
 furnished him with money and means. Arnold had 
 enlisted but a few officers and men when he heard of 
 the expedition from Connecticut being on the march. 
 Pie instantly hurried on with one attendant to overtake 
 it, leaving his few recruits to follow, as best they 
 could : in this way he reached Castleton just after the 
 council of war. 
 
 Producing the colonel's commission received from 
 the Massachusetts committee of safety, he now aspired 
 to the supreme command. His claims were disregarded 
 by the Green Mountain Boys ; they would follow no 
 leader but Ethan Allen. As they formed the majority 
 of the party, Arnold w r as fain to acquiesce, and serve 
 as a volunteer, with the rank, but not the command 
 of colonel. 
 
 The party arrived at Shoreham, opposite Ticonde- 
 roga, on the night of the 9th of May. The detachment 
 sent in quest of boats had failed to arrive. There were 
 a few boats at hand, with which the transportation was 
 commenced. It was slow work ; the night wore away ; 
 day was about to break ; and but eighty-three men, 
 with Allen and Arnold, had crossed. Should they 
 wait for the residue, day would dawn, the garrison 
 awake, and their enterprise might fail. Allen drew up 
 his men, addressed them in his own emphatic style, 
 and announced his intention to make a dash at the 
 fort, without waiting for more force. " It is a des- 
 perate attempt," said he, "and I ask no man to go 
 against his will. I will take the lead, and be the first 
 
1775. j ARRIVAL AT TICONDEROGA. 445 
 
 to advance. You that are willing to follow, poise 
 your firelocks." Not a firelock but was poised. 
 
 They mounted the hill briskly, but in silence, 
 guided by a boy from the neighborhood. The day 
 dawned as Allen arrived at a sally port. A sentry 
 pulled trigger on him, but his piece missed fire. He 
 retreated through a covered way. Allen and his men 
 followed. Another sentry thrust at Easton with his 
 bayonet, but was struck down by Allen, and begged 
 for quarter. It was granted on condition of his 
 leading the way instantly to the quarters of the com- 
 mandant, Captain Delaplace, who was yet in bed. 
 Being arrived there, Allen thundered at the door, and 
 demanded a surrender of the fort. By this time his 
 followers had formed into two fines on the parade- 
 ground, and given three hearty cheers. The comman- 
 dant appeared at his door half-dressed, " the frightened 
 face of his pretty wife peering over his shoulder." He 
 gazed at Allen in bewildered astonishment. " By 
 whose authority do you act ? " exclaimed he. " In the 
 name of the great Jehovah, and the Continental Con- 
 gress ! " replied Allen, with a flourish of his sword, 
 and an oath which we do not care to subjoin. 
 
 There was no disputing the point. The garrison, 
 like the commander, had been startled from sleep, and 
 made prisoners as they rushed forth in their confusion. 
 A surrender accordingly took place. The captain, and 
 forty-eight men, which composed his garrison, were 
 sent prisoners to Hartford, in Connecticut. A great 
 supply of military and naval stores, so important in the 
 present crisis, was found in the fortress. 
 
 Colonel Seth Warner, who had brought over the 
 
446 LIFE OF WASHINGTCW& fl77b, 
 
 residue of the party from Shoreham, was now sent 
 with a detachment against Crown Point, which surren- 
 dered on the 12th of May, without firing a gun ; the 
 whole garrison being a sergeant and twelve men. 
 Here were taken upward of a hundred cannon. 
 
 Arnold now insisted vehemently on his right to 
 command Ticonderoga; being, as he said, the only 
 officer invested with legal authority. His claims had 
 again to yield to the superior popularity of Ethan 
 Allen, to whom the Connecticut committee, which had 
 accompanied the enterprise, gave an instrument in 
 writing, investing him with the command of the 
 fortress, and its dependencies, until he should receive 
 the orders of the Connecticut Assembly, or the Conti- 
 nental Congress. Arnold, while forced to acquiesce, 
 sent a protest, and a statement of his grievances to the 
 Massachusetts Legislature. In the mean time, his 
 chagrin was appeased by a new project. The detach- 
 ment originally sent to seize upon boats at Skenes- 
 borough, arrived with a schooner, and several batteaux. 
 It was immediately concerted between Allen and Ar- 
 nold to cruise in them down the lake, and surprise St. 
 John's, on the Sorel River, the frontier post of Canada. 
 The schooner was accordingly armed with cannon 
 from the fort. Arnold, who had been a seaman in his 
 youth, took the command of her, while Allen and his 
 Green Mountain Boys embarked in the batteaux. 
 
 Arnold outsailed the other craft, and arriving at 
 St. John's, surprised and made prisoners of a sergeant 
 and twelve men; captured a king's sloop of seventy 
 tons, with two brass six-pounders and seven men; 
 took four batteaux, destroyed several others, and then, 
 
1775.] A DASH AT ST. JOHN'S. 447 
 
 learning that troops were on the way from Montreal 
 and Chamblee, spread all his sails to a favoring breeze, 
 and swept up the lake with his prizes and prisoners, 
 and some valuable stores, which he had secured. 
 
 He had not sailed far when he met Ethan Allen 
 and the batteaux. Salutes were exchanged ; cannon on 
 one side, musketry on the other. Allen boarded the 
 sloop ; learnt from Arnold the particulars of his suc- 
 cess, and determined to push on, take possession of St. 
 John's, and garrison it with one hundred of his Green 
 Mountain Boys. He was foiled in the attempt by the 
 superior force which had arrived ; so he returned to 
 his station at Ticonderoga. 
 
 Thus a partisan band, unpractised in the art of 
 war, had, by a series of daring exploits, and almost with- 
 out the loss of a man, won for the patriots the command 
 of Lakes George and Champlain, and thrown open the 
 great highway to Canada. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 SECOND SESSION OF CONGEESS — JOHN HANCOCK — PETITION TO THE KING — 
 FEDEEAL UNION — MILITAKY MEASUEES — DEBATES ABOUT THE AEMY — 
 QUESTION AS TO COMMANDEE -IN-CHIEF — APPOINTMENT OF "WASHINGTON 
 
 OTHEB APPOINTMENTS — LETTEES OF WASHINGTON TO HIS WIFE AND 
 
 BEOTHEE — PBEPAEATIONS FOE DEPAETUEE. 
 
 The second General Congress assembled at Philadel- 
 phia on the 10th of May. Peyton Randolph was 
 again elected as president; but being obliged to re- 
 turn, and occupy his place as speaker of the Virginia 
 Assembly, John Hancock, of Massachusetts, was eleva- 
 ted to the chair. 
 
 A lingering feeling of attachment to the mother 
 country, struggling with the growing spirit of self- 
 government, was manifested in the proceedings of this 
 remarkable body. Many of those most active in vin- 
 dicating colonial rights, and Washington among the 
 number, still indulged the hope of an eventual recon- 
 ciliation, while few entertained, or, at least, avowed the 
 idea of complete independence. 
 
 A second "humble and dutiful" petition to the 
 king was moved, but met with strong opposition. 
 
1775.] A FEDERAL UNION FORMED. 449 
 
 John Adams condemned it as an imbecile measure, 
 calculated to embarrass the proceedings of Congress. 
 He was for prompt and vigorous action. Other mem- 
 bers concurred with him. Indeed, the measure itself 
 seemed but a mere form, intended to reconcile the half- 
 scrupulous; for subsequently, when it was carried, 
 Congress, in face of it, went on to assume and exercise 
 the powers of a sovereign authority. A federal union 
 was formed, leaving to each colony the right of regu- 
 lating its internal affairs according to its own individ- 
 ual constitution, but vesting in Congress the power of 
 making peace or war; of entering into treaties and 
 alliances ; of regulating general commerce ; in a word, 
 of legislating on all such matters as regarded the 
 security and welfare of the whole community. 
 
 The executive power was to be vested in a council 
 of twelve, chosen by Congress from among its own 
 members, and to hold office for a limited time. Such 
 colonies as had not sent delegates to Congress, might 
 yet become members of the confederacy by agreeing 
 to its conditions. Georgia, which had hitherto hesi- 
 tated, soon joined the league, which thus extended 
 from Nova Scotia to Florida. 
 
 Congress lost no time in exercising their federated 
 powers. In virtue of them, they ordered the enlist- 
 ment of troops, the construction of forts in various 
 parts of the colonies, the provision of arms, ammuni- 
 tion and military stores ; while to defray the expense 
 of these, and other measures, avowedly of self-defence, 
 they authorized the emission of notes to the amount 
 of three millions of dollars, bearing the inscription of 
 
 vol. i.— 29 
 
450 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 " The United Colonies ; " the faith of the confederacy 
 being pledged for their redemption. 
 
 A retaliating decree was passed, prohibiting all sup- 
 plies of provisions to the British fisheries ; and another, 
 declaring the province of Massachusetts Bay absolved 
 from its compact with the crown, by the violation of its 
 charter ; and recommending it to form an internal gov- 
 ernment for itself. 
 
 The public sense of Washington's military talents 
 and experience, was evinced in his being chairman of 
 all the committees appointed for military affairs. Most 
 of the rules and regulations for the army, and the 
 measures for defence, were devised by him. 
 
 The situation of the New England army, actually be- 
 sieging Boston, became an early and absorbing consider- 
 ation. It was without munitions of war, without arms, 
 clothing, or pay; in fact, without legislative counte- 
 nance or encouragement. Unless sanctioned and assist- 
 ed by Congress, there was danger of its dissolution. 
 If dissolved, how could another be collected? If dis- 
 solved, what would there be to prevent the British 
 from sallying out of Boston, and spreading desolation 
 throughout the country ? 
 
 All this was the subject of much discussion out of 
 doors. The disposition to uphold the army was gen- 
 eral; but the difficult question was, who should be 
 commander-in-chief? Adams, in his diary, gives us 
 glimpses of the conflict of opinions and interests within 
 doors. There was a southern party, he said, which 
 could not brook the idea of a New England army, 
 commanded by a New England general. " Whether 
 this jealousy was sincere," writes he, " or whether it 
 
1775.] GENERAL CHARLES LEE. 451 
 
 was mere pride, and a haughty ambition of furnishing 
 a southern general to command the northern army, I 
 cannot say ; but the intention was very visible to me, 
 that Colonel Washington was their object ; and so 
 many of our stanchest men were in the plan, that we 
 could carry nothing without conceding to it. There 
 was another embarrassment, which was never publicly 
 known, and which was carefully concealed by those 
 who knew it : the Massachusetts and other New Eng- 
 land delegates were divided. Mr. Hancock and Mr. 
 Cushing hung back ; Mr. Paine did not come forward, 
 and even Mr. Samuel Adams was irresolute. Mr. 
 Hancock himself had an ambition to be appointed 
 commander-in-chief. Whether he thought an election 
 a compliment due to him, and intended to have the 
 honor of declining it, or whether he would have ac- 
 cepted it, I know not. To the compliment, he had 
 some pretensions ; for, at that time, his exertions, sac- 
 rifices, and general merits in the cause of his country, 
 had been incomparably greater than those of Colonel 
 Washington. But the delicacy of his health, and his 
 entire want of experience in actual service, though an 
 excellent militia officer, were decisive objections to him 
 in my mind." 
 
 General Charles Lee was at that time in Philadel- 
 phia. His former visit had made him well acquainted 
 with the leading members of Congress. The active* 
 interest he had manifested in the cause was well 
 known, and the public had an almost extravagant idea 
 of his military qualifications. He was of foreign birth, 
 however, and it was deemed improper to confide the 
 supreme command to any but a native-born American. 
 
452 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 In fact, if he was sincere in what we have quoted from 
 his letter to Burke, he did not aspire to such a signal 
 mark of confidence. 
 
 The opinion evidently inclined in favor of Wash- 
 ington ; yet it was promoted by no clique of partisans 
 or admirers. More than one of the Virginia delegates, 
 says Adams, were cool on the subject of his appoint- 
 ment ; and particularly Mr. Pendleton, was clear and 
 full against it. It is scarcely necessary to add, that 
 Washington in this, as in every other situation in life, 
 made no step in advance to clutch the impending 
 honor. 
 
 Adams, in his diary, claims the credit of bringing 
 the members of Congress to a decision. Rising in his 
 place, one day, and stating briefly, but earnestly, the 
 exigencies of the case, he moved that Congress should 
 adopt the army at Cambridge, and appoint a general. 
 Though this was not the time to nominate the person, 
 " yet," adds he, " as I had reason to believe this was a 
 point of some difficulty, I had no hesitation to declare, 
 that I had but one gentleman in my mind for that im- 
 portant command, and that was a gentleman from Vir- 
 ginia, who was among us, and very well known to all 
 of us ; a gentleman, whose skill and experience as an 
 officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and 
 excellent universal character, would command the ap- 
 probation of all America, and unite the cordial exer- 
 tions of all the colonies better than any other person in 
 the Union. Mr. Washington, who happened to sit 
 near the door, as soon as he heard me allude to him, 
 from his usual modesty, darted into the library-room. 
 Mr. Hancock, who was our president, which gave me 
 
1775.] WASHINGTON COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 453 
 
 an opportunity to observe his countenance, while I was 
 speaking on the state of the colonies, the army at Cam- 
 bridge, and the enemy, heard me with visible pleasure ; 
 but when I came to describe Washington for the com- 
 mander, I never remarked a more sudden and striking 
 change of countenance. Mortification and resentment 
 were expressed as forcibly as his face could exhibit 
 them." 
 
 "When the subject came under debate, several 
 delegates opposed the appointment of Washington; 
 not from personal objections, but because the army 
 were all from New England, and had a general of their 
 own, General Artemas Ward, with whom they ap- 
 peared well satisfied ; and under whose command they 
 had proved themselves able to imprison the British 
 army in Boston ; which was all that was to be expected 
 or desired." 
 
 The subject was postponed to a future day. In 
 the interim, pains were taken out of doors to obtain a 
 unanimity ; and the voices were in general so clearly 
 in favor of Washington, that the dissentient members 
 were persuaded to withdraw their opposition. 
 
 On the 15th of June, the army was regularly 
 adopted by Congress, and the pay of the commander- 
 in-chief fixed at five hundred dollars a month. Many 
 still clung to the idea, that in all these proceedings 
 they were merely opposing the measures of the minis- 
 try, and not the authority of the crown ; and thus the 
 army before Boston was designated as the Continental 
 Army, in contradistinction to that under General Gage, 
 which was called the Ministerial Army. 
 
 In this stage of the business, Mr. Johnson, of 
 
454 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 Maryland, rose, and nominated Washington for the 
 station of commander-in-chief. The election was by 
 ballot, and was unanimous. It was formally announced 
 to him by the president, on the following day, when 
 he had taken his seat in Congress. Rising in his 
 place, he briefly expressed his high and grateful sense 
 of the honor conferred on him, and his sincere devo- 
 tion to the cause. " But," added he, " lest some un- 
 lucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputa- 
 tion, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman 
 in the 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 
 the Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration 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 of it. I will keep an 
 exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, 
 they will discharge, and that is all I desire." 
 
 " There is something charming to me in the con- 
 duct of Washington," writes Adams to a friend ; " a 
 gentleman of one of the first fortunes upon the conti- 
 nent, 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 disin- 
 terested. He declared, when he accepted the mighty 
 trust, that he would lay before us an exact account of 
 his expenses, and not accept a shilling pay." 
 
 Four major-generals were to be appointed. Among 
 those specified were General Charles Lee and General 
 Ward. Mr. Mifflin, of Philadelphia, who was Lee's 
 especial friend and admirer, urged that he should be 
 
1775.] OTHER APPOINTMENTS. 455 
 
 second in command. " General Lee," said he, " would 
 cheerfully serve under Washington; but considering 
 his rank, character, and experience, could not be ex- 
 pected to serve under any other. He must be aut se- 
 cundus, aut tiullus." 
 
 Adams, on the other hand, as strenuously objected 
 that it would be a great deal to expect that General 
 Ward, who was actually in command of the army in 
 Boston, should serve under any man; but under a 
 stranger he ought not to serve. General Ward, ac- 
 cordingly, was elected the second in command, and 
 Lee the third. The other two major-generals were, 
 Philip Schuyler, of New York, and Israel Putnam, of 
 Connecticut. Eight brigadier-generals were likewise 
 appointed ; Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, Da- 
 vid Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John 
 Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Green. 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Mifflin's objection to having 
 Lee ranked under Ward, as being beneath his dignity 
 and merits, he himself made no scruple to acquiesce ; 
 though, judging from his supercilious character, and 
 from circumstances in his subsequent conduct, he no 
 doubt considered himself vastly superior to the provin- 
 cial officers placed over him. 
 
 At Washington's express request, his old friend, 
 Major Horatio Gates, then absent at his estate in 
 Virginia, was appointed adjutant-general, with the rank 
 of brigadier. 
 
 Adams, according to his own account, was ex- 
 tremely loth to admit either Lee or Gates into the 
 American service, although he considered them officers 
 of great experience and confessed abilities. He appre- 
 
456 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 hended difficulties, he said, from the " natural preju- 
 dices and virtuous attachment of our countrymen to 
 their own officers." " But," adds he, " considering 
 the earnest desire of General Washington to have the 
 assistance of those officers, the extreme attachment of 
 many of our best friends in the southern colonies to 
 them, the reputation they would give to our arms in 
 Europe, and especially with the ministerial generals and 
 army in Boston, as well as the real American merit of 
 both, I could not withhold my vote from either." 
 
 The reader will possibly call these circumstances to 
 mind when, on a future page, he finds how Lee and 
 Gates requited the friendship to which chiefly they 
 owed their appointments. 
 
 In this momentous change in his condition, which 
 suddenly altered all his course of life, and called him 
 immediately to the camp, Washington's thoughts re- 
 curred to Mount Vernon, and its rural delights, so dear 
 to his heart, whence he was to be again exiled. His 
 chief concern, however, was on account of the distress 
 it might cause to his wife. His letter to her on the 
 subject is written in a tone of manly tenderness. 
 "You may believe me," writes he, "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 unwilling- 
 ness to part with you and the family, but from a con- 
 sciousness of its being a trust too great for my ca- 
 pacity ; and I should enjoy more real happiness in one 
 month with you at home, than I have the most distant 
 prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven 
 times seven years. But as it has been a kind of des- 
 
1775.] LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO HIS "WIFE. 457 
 
 tiny that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope 
 that my undertaking it is designed to answer some 
 good purpose. * * * * 
 
 " I shall rely confidently 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 cam- 
 paign ; 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." 
 
 And to his favorite brother, John Augustine, he 
 writes : " I am now to bid adieu to you, and to every 
 kind of domestic ease, for a while. I am embarked on 
 a wide ocean, boundless in its prospect, and in which, 
 perhaps, no safe harbor is to be found. I have been 
 called upon by the unanimous voice of the colonies to 
 take the command of the continental army ; an honor 
 I neither sought after, nor desired, as I am thoroughly 
 convinced that it requires great abilities, and much 
 more experience, than I am master of." And subse- 
 quently, referring to his wife : " I shall hope that my 
 friends will visit, and endeavor to keep up the spirits 
 of my wife as much as they can, for my departure will, 
 I know, be a cutting stroke upon her ; and on this ac- 
 count alone I have many disagreeable sensations." 
 * On the 20th of June, he received his commission 
 from the president of Congress. The following day 
 was fixed upon for his departure for the army. He 
 reviewed previously, at the request of their officers, 
 
458 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1775, 
 
 several militia companies of horse and foot. Every one 
 was anxious to see the new commander, and rarely has 
 the public beau ideal of a commander been so fully an- 
 swered. He was now in the vigor of his days, forty- 
 three years of age, stately in person, noble in his de- 
 meanor, calm and dignified in his deportment ; as he 
 sat his horse, with manly grace, his military pres- 
 ence delighted every eye, and wherever he went the air 
 rang with acclamations. 
 
CHAPTER XL. 
 
 MORE TEOOPS AEEIVE AT BOSTON — GENEBALS HOWE, BUEGOYNE, AND 
 CLINTON — PROCLAMATION OE GAGE — NATUEE OF THE AMEBIC AN AEMT 
 
 SCOBNFUL CONDUCT OF THE BEITISH OFFICERS — PEOJECT OF THE 
 
 AMEEICANS TO SEIZE UPON BEEED's HILL— PUTNAM'S OPINION OF IT 
 
 SANCTIONED BY PEESOOTT — NOCTUBNAL MAECH OF THE DETACHMENT 
 — FOBTIFTING OF BUNKEb's HILL — BEEAK OF DAT, AND ASTONISHMENT 
 OF THE ENEMY. 
 
 While Congress had been deliberating on the adoption 
 of the army, and the nomination of a commander-in- 
 chief, events had been thickening and drawing to a 
 crisis in the excited region abont Boston. The provin- 
 cial troops which blockaded the town prevented sup- 
 plies by land, the neighboring country refused to fur- 
 nish them by water ; fresh provisions and vegetables 
 were no longer to be procured, and Boston began to 
 experience the privations of a besieged city. 
 
 On the 25th of May, arrived ships of war and 
 transports from England, bringing large reinforce- 
 ments, under Generals Howe, Burgoyne, and Henry 
 Clinton, commanders of high reputation. 
 
 As the ships entered the harbor, and the "rebel 
 camp " was pointed out, ten thousand yeomanry be- 
 leaguering a town garrisoned by five thousand regulars, 
 Burgoyne could not restrain a burst of surprise and 
 
460 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 scorn. "What!" cried he, "ten thousand peasants 
 keep five thousand king's troops shut up ! Well, let 
 us get in, and we'll soon find elbow-room." 
 
 Inspirited by these reinforcements, General Gage 
 determined to take the field. Previously, however, in 
 conformity to instructions from Lord Dartmouth, the 
 head of the war department, he issued a proclamation 
 (12th June), putting the province under martial law, 
 threatening to treat as rebels and traitors all malcon- 
 tents who should continue under arms, together with 
 their aiders and abettors; but offering pardon to all 
 who should lay down their arms, and return to their 
 allegiance. Prom this proffered amnesty, however, 
 John Hancock and Samuel Adams were especially ex- 
 cepted ; their offences being pronounced " too flagitious 
 not to meet with condign punishment." 
 
 This proclamation only served to put the patriots 
 on the alert against such measures as might be expect- 
 ed to follow, and of which their friends in Boston stood 
 ready to apprise them. The besieging force, in the 
 mean time, was daily augmented by recruits and vol- 
 unteers, and now amounted to about fifteen thousand 
 men distributed at various points. Its character and 
 organization were peculiar. As has well been observed, 
 it could not be called a national army, for, as yet, there 
 was no nation to own it ; it was not under the author- 
 ity of the Continental Congress, the act of that body 
 recognizing it not having as yet been passed, and the 
 authority of that body itself not having been ac- 
 knowledged. It was, in fact, a fortuitous assemblage 
 of four distinct bodies of troops, belonging to different 
 provinces, and each having a leader of its own election. 
 
1775.] NATURE OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 461 
 
 About ten thousand belonged to Massachusetts, and 
 were under the command of General Artemas Ward 
 whose head-quarters were at Cambridge. Anothei 
 body of troops, under Colonel John Stark, already 
 mentioned, came from New Hampshire. Rhode Island 
 furnished a third, under the command of General Na- 
 thaniel Greene. A fourth was from Connecticut, under 
 the veteran Putnam. 
 
 These bodies of troops, being from different colo- 
 nies, were independent of each other, and had their 
 several commanders. Those from New Hampshire 
 were instructed to obey General Ward as commander- 
 in-chief ; with the rest, it was a voluntary act, rendered 
 in consideration of his being military chief of Massa- 
 chusetts, the province which, as allies, they came to 
 defend. There was, in fact, but little organization in 
 the army. Nothing kept it together, and gave it unity 
 of action, but a common feeling of exasperated pa- 
 triotism. 
 
 The troops knew but little of military discipline. 
 Almost all were familiar with the use of fire-arms in 
 hunting and fowling j many had served in frontier cam- 
 paigns against the French, and in " bush fighting " 
 with the Indians ; but none were acquainted with reg- 
 ular service,' or the discipline of European armies. 
 There was a regiment of artillery, partly organized by 
 Colonel Gridley, a skilful engineer, and furnished with 
 nine field-pieces ; but the greater part of the troops 
 were without military dress or accoutrements ; most of 
 them were hasty levies of yeomanry, some of whom 
 had seized their rifles and fowling-pieces, and turned 
 out in their working clothes and homespun country 
 
462 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 garbs. It was an army of volunteers, subordinate 
 through inclination and respect to officers of their own 
 choice, and depending for sustenance on supplies sent 
 from their several towns. 
 
 Such was the army spread over an extent of ten or 
 twelve miles, and keeping watch upon the town of 
 Boston, containing at that time a population of seven- 
 teen thousand souls, and garrisoned with more than ten 
 thousand British troops, disciplined and experienced in 
 the wars of Europe. 
 
 In the disposition of these forces, General Ward 
 had stationed himself at Cambridge, with the main 
 body of about nine thousand men, and four companies 
 of artillery. Lieutenant-general Thomas, second in 
 command, was posted, with five thousand Massachu- 
 setts, Connecticut and Bhode Island troops, and three 
 or four companies of artillery, at Boxbury and Dor- 
 chester, forming the right wing of the army ; while the 
 left, composed in a great measure of New Hampshire 
 troops, stretched through Medford to the hills of 
 Chelsea. 
 
 It was a great annoyance to the British officers and 
 soldiers, to be thus hemmed in by what they termed a 
 rustic rout with calico frocks and fowling-pieces. The 
 same scornful and taunting spirit prevailed among 
 them, that the Cavaliers of yore indulged toward the 
 Covenanters. Considering episcopacy as the only loyal 
 and royal faith, they insulted and desecrated the " sec- 
 tarian" places of worship. One was turned into a 
 riding school for the cavalry, and the fire in the stove 
 was kindled with books from the library of its pastor. 
 The Provincials retaliated, by turning the Episcopal 
 
1775.] PROJECTED ENTERPRISE. 463 
 
 church at Cambridge into a barrack, and melting 
 down its organ-pipes into bullets. 
 
 Both parties panted for action ;* the British through 
 impatience of their humiliating position, and an eager- 
 ness to chastise what they considered the presumption 
 of their besiegers ; the Provincials through enthusiasm 
 in their cause, a thirst for enterprise and exploit, and, 
 it must be added, an unconsciousness of their own 
 military deficiencies. 
 
 We have already mentioned the peninsula of 
 Charlestown (called from a village of the same name), 
 which lies opposite to the north side of Boston. The 
 heights, which swell up in rear of the village, overlook 
 the town and shipping. The project was conceived in 
 the besieging camp to seize and occupy those heights. 
 A council of war was held upon the subject. The 
 arguments in favor of the attempt were, that the army 
 was anxious to be employed; that the country was 
 dissatisfied with its inactivity; and that the enemy 
 might thus be drawn out to ground where they might 
 be fought to advantage. General Putnam was one of 
 the most strenuous in favor of the measure. 
 
 Some of the more wary and judicious, among 
 whom were General Ward and Dr. Warren, doubted 
 the expediency of intrenching themselves on those 
 heights, and the possibility of maintaining so exposed 
 a post, scantily furnished, as they were, with ordnance 
 and ammunition. Besides, it might bring on a gen- 
 eral engagement, which it was not safe to risk. 
 
 Putnam made light of the danger. He was confi- 
 dent of the bravery of the militia if intrenched, having 
 seen it tried in the old French war. "The Ameri- 
 
464 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775 
 
 cans," said he, " are never afraid of their heads ; they 
 only think of their legs ; shelter them, and they'll fight 
 for ever." He was seconded by General Pomeroy, a 
 leader of like stamp, and another veteran of the French 
 war. He had been a hunter in his time ; a dead shot 
 with a rifle, and was ready to lead troops against the 
 enemy, "with, five cartridges to a man." 
 
 The daring counsels of such men are always capti- 
 vating to the inexperienced; but in the present in- 
 stance, they were sanctioned by one whose opinion in 
 such matters, and in this vicinity, possessed peculiar 
 weight. This was Colonel William Prescott, of Pepe- 
 rell, who commanded a regiment of minute men. He, 
 too, had seen service in the French war, and acquired 
 reputation as a lieutenant of infantry at the capture of 
 Cape Breton. This was sufficient to constitute him an 
 oracle in the present instance. He was now about fifty 
 years of age, tall and commanding in his appearance, 
 and retaining the port of a soldier. What was more, 
 he had a military garb ; being equipped with a three- 
 cornered hat, a top wig, and a single-breasted blue 
 coat, with facings, and lapped up at the skirts. All 
 this served to give him consequence among the rustic 
 militia officers with whom he was in council. 
 
 His opinion, probably, settled the question j and it 
 was determined to seize on and fortify Bunker's Hill 
 and Dorchester Heights. In deference, however, to 
 the suggestions of the more cautious, it was agreed to 
 postpone the measure until they were sufficiently sup- 
 plied with the munitions of war to be able to maintain 
 the heights when seized. 
 
 Secret intelligence hurried forward the project. 
 
1775.] PROJECT TO SEIZE THE HEIGHTS. 465 
 
 General Gage, it was said, intended to take possession 
 of Dorchester Heights on the night of the 18th of 
 June. These heights lay on the opposite side of Bos- 
 ton, and the committee were ignorant of their locali- 
 ties. Those on Charlestown Neck, being near at hand, 
 had some time before been reconnoitered by Colonel 
 Richard Gridley, and other of the engineers. It was 
 determined to seize and fortify these heights on the 
 night of Friday, the 16th of June, in anticipation of 
 the movement of General Gage. Troops were draught- 
 ed for the purpose from the Massachusetts regiments 
 of Colonels Prescott, Prye and Bridges. There was 
 also a fatigue party of about two hundred men from 
 Putnam's Connecticut troops, led by his favorite officer, 
 Captain Knowlton ; together with a company of forty- 
 nine artillery men, with two field-pieces, commanded 
 by Captain Samuel Gridley. 
 
 A little before sunset the troops, about twelve hun- 
 dred in all, assembled on the common, in front of Gen- 
 eral Ward's quarters. They came provided with packs, 
 blankets and provisions for four-and-twenty hours, but 
 ignorant of the object of the expedition. Being all 
 paraded* prayers were offered up by the reverend Presi- 
 dent Langdon, of Harvard College ; after which they 
 all set forward on their silent march. 
 
 Colonel Prescott, from his experience in military 
 matters, and his being an officer in the Massachusetts 
 line, had been chosen by General Ward to conduct the 
 enterprise. His written orders were to fortify Bunker's 
 Hill, and defend the works until he should be relieved. 
 Colonel Richard Gridley, the chief engineer, who had 
 likewise served in the Trench war, was to accompany 
 vol. i.— 30 
 
466 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 him and plan the fortifications. It was understood 
 that reinforcements and refreshments would be sent to 
 the fatigue party in the morning. 
 
 The detachment left Cambridge about 9 o'clock, 
 Colonel Prescott taking the lead, preceded by two ser- 
 geants with dark lanterns. At Charlestown Neck they 
 were joined by Major Brooks, of Bridges' regiment, and 
 General Putnam; and here were the waggons laden 
 with intrenching tools, which first gave the men an 
 indication of the nature of the enterprise. 
 
 Charlestown Neck is a narrow isthmus, connecting 
 the peninsula with the main land ; having the Mystic 
 River about half a mile wide, on the north, and a large 
 embayment of Charles River on the south or right side. 
 
 It was now necessary to proceed with the utmost 
 caution, for they were coming on ground over which 
 the British kept jealous watch. They had erected a 
 battery at Boston on Copp's Hill, immediately opposite 
 to Charlestown. Pive of their vessels of war were sta- 
 tioned so as to bear upon the peninsula from different 
 directions, and the guns of one of them swept the 
 isthmus, or narrow neck just mentioned. 
 
 Across this isthmus, Colonel Prescott conducted 
 the detachment undiscovered, and up the ascent of Bun- 
 ker's Hill. This commences at the Neck, and slopes 
 up for about three hundred yards to its summit, which 
 is about one hundred and twelve feet high. It 
 then declines toward the south, and is connected by a 
 ridge with Breed's Hill, about sixty or seventy feet 
 high. The crests of the two hills are about seven 
 hundred yards apart. 
 
 ' On attaining the heights, a question rose which of 
 
Reduced from the British. Map. 
 
 a flan § piths M(gf«i $ct 
 
 BUNKERS HILL, 
 
 on the 17^ of June 1775. 
 
 BETWEEN HIS HAJESTYS TUDOPS, 
 TOBER. THE COMMAND OE M& GENERAL HOWE 
 AND THE REBEL EORCES. 
 Uy Xieu* PAGE of the Engineers, fy 
 
 Who ndtd a&Aide. dt Campio fyrremlHotvein that Ac/ton 
 
 * ft 
 
 
 
 7** 
 
 Cans 
 
 gr<^ 
 
 erway 
 
 NarrowPass Bunker's _Hi]l ..'sHill. MaultonsTi 
 
 VIEW OF CHABLESTOW 6c, TWUBMCQKmLL£08T0N.-Frc<hi, t qha, n ?s, er 
 
 ^ ** t'« BtiiuA Hop tlu no, >us of 'Bunkers t\Bwdi Will an , \ 
 
 an nror which hathetn perpetuaitd. 
 
 (\.V. Putna 
 
.>>-: 
 
 REFUJUSJSTC-ESTO THEPLA.JST. 
 
 A to CompU'fGrenVIOllTofligUlnf^Cy-ZButtiucoMritS. 
 B FMkearJmutnc behind U StoneWciU . 
 
 C Fight lnf?movcd forward covcrd by a break in. the Ground-. 
 
 ^ iTkeBatt V-rnoved forward fromtfu Stone Wall c\ joined hv aiadher from tlicLines. 
 \lting covered by the rising of the Hill thorn the lire oftheSedoubt . 
 E.F AMedge Icing part of the Fcbels &e fences onlyMiskct proof. 
 ^y G Redoubt CrFntrencTvuent proof 'against our field Fteces. 
 
 H J? Situation of ourFicld Pieces with the direction of their Hit . 
 ^^ I Artillery moved forward .the J'J direction of the Fire shewn in dotted Lines. 
 
 V^i, I.P Fire of the And lery against i.r\ellcdqcY.toco\crflie Attack upon theirLtfl 
 v\' V s "** }LTht Order our Iroops -woo :i 'd probai A- h : o <ve Attackd m had onvl . Lnf?bten able 
 
 to penetrate . 
 
 L Jjqht Infantry- advancing to flu Attack of the Toent . 
 ~ytM Grenadienstakinq Groundtothc Left of Out L L Inf~ which had not. lee.rvable to force theEnemv- 
 
 "& The principal Fire ofthe Artillery was directed from thisPotnt against IheJledge ~F . 
 0. Thc45?fr3??Hca t . s after7iavini/ indinedlo the left to leave an Interval for I7ie Artillery. 
 P.T? Tfic 5 ^.&3 8f Regiments. 
 
 jf 6~jfatt 9 of Marines disembarked v^ar the Maid cfCliarlesTown.afierit 
 incited c\- assisted in tAeF&hjjdiontifiheFiedoiibt. 
 
 tort^Afy^^Gmriadirrs & •Fcgimenls immediately opposite to it 
 -&xn*03^:fcwied;oncl,ri7e iaorderto retumtheFmemysFtre . 
 
 £-C° .New York. 
 
1775.] OPERATIONS AT NIGHT. 467 
 
 the two they should proceed to fortify. Bunker's Hill 
 was specified in the written orders given to Colonel 
 Prescott by General Ward, but Breed's Hill was much 
 nearer to Boston, and had a better command of the 
 town and shipping. Bunker's Hill, also, being on the 
 upper and narrower part of the peninsula, was 'itself 
 commanded by the same ship which raked the Neck. 
 Putnam was clear for commencing at Breed's Hill, and 
 making the principal work there, while a minor work 
 might be thrown up at Bunker's Hill, as a protection 
 in the rear, and a rallying point, in case of being 
 driven out of the main work. Others concurred with 
 this opinion, yet there was a hesitation in deviating 
 from the letter of their orders. At length Colonel 
 Gridley became impatient; the night was waning; 
 delay might prostrate the whole enterprise. Breed's 
 Hill was then determined on. Gridley marked out 
 the lines for the fortifications ; the men stacked their 
 guns ; threw off their packs ; seized their trenching 
 tools, and set to work with great spirit ; ' but so much 
 time had been wasted in discussion, that it was mid- 
 night before they struck the first spade into the ground. 
 Prescott, who felt the responsibility of his charge, 
 almost despaired of carrying on these operations un- 
 discovered. A party was sent out by him silently to 
 patrol the shore at the foot of the heights, and watch 
 for any movement of the enemy. Not willing to trust 
 entirely to the vigilance of others, he twice went down 
 during the night to the water's edge ; reconnoitering 
 every thing scrupulously, and noting every sight and 
 sound. It was a warm, still, summer's night; the 
 stars shone brightly, but every thing was quiet. Bos- 
 
468 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 ton was buried in sleep. The sentry's cry of " All's 
 well " could be heard distinctly from its shores, toge- 
 ther with the drowsy calling of the watch on board of 
 the ships of war, and then all would relapse into silence. 
 Satisfied that the enemy were perfectly unconscious of 
 what was going on upon the hill, he returned to the 
 works, and a little before daybreak called in the patrol- 
 ling party. 
 
 So spiritedly, though silently, had the labor been 
 carried on, that by morning a strong redoubt was 
 thrown up as a main work, flanked on the left by a 
 breastwork, partly cannon-proof, extending down the 
 crest of Breed's Hill to a piece of marshy ground 
 called the Slough. To support the right of the re- 
 doubt, some troops were thrown into the village of 
 Charlestown, at the southern foot of the hill. The 
 great object of Prescott's solicitude was now attained, 
 a sufficient bulwark to screen his men before they 
 should be discovered ; for he doubted the possibility 
 of keeping raw recruits to their post, if openly exposed 
 to the fire of artillery, and the attack of disciplined 
 troops. 
 
 At dawn of day, the Americans at work were 
 espied by the sailors on board of the ships of war, and 
 the alarm was given. The captain of the Lively, the 
 nearest ship, without waiting for orders, put a spring 
 upon her cable, and bringing her guns to bear, opened 
 a fire upon the hill. The other ships and a floating 
 battery followed his example. Their shot did no mis- 
 chief to the works, but one man, among a number who 
 had incautiously ventured outside, was killed. A 
 subaltern reported his death to Colonel Prescott, and 
 
1775.] PRESCOTT ON THE PARAPET. 469 
 
 asked what was to be done. " Bury him," was the 
 reply. The chaplain gathered some of his military 
 flock around him, and was proceeding to perform suit- 
 able obsequies over the "first martyr," but Prescott 
 ordered that the men should disperse to their work, 
 and the deceased be buried immediately. It seemed 
 shocking to men accustomed to the funeral solemni- 
 ties of peaceful life, to bury a man without prayers, 
 but Prescott saw that the sight of this man suddenly 
 shot down had agitated the nerves of his comrades, 
 unaccustomed to scenes of war. Some of them, in 
 fact, quietly left the hill, and did not return to it. 
 
 To inspire confidence by example, Prescott now 
 mounted the parapet, and walked leisurely about, 
 inspecting the works, giving directions, and talking 
 cheerfully with the men. In a little while they got 
 over their dread of cannon-balls, and some even made 
 them a subject of joke, or rather bravado ; a species 
 of sham courage occasionally manifested by young 
 soldiers, but never by veterans. 
 
 The cannonading roused the town of Boston. 
 General Gage could scarcely believe his eyes, when he 
 beheld on the opposite hill a fortification full of men, 
 which had sprung up in the course of the night. As 
 he reconnoitered it through a glass from Copp's Hill, 
 the tall figure of Prescott, in military garb, walking 
 the parapet, caught his eye. "Who is that officer 
 who appears in command ? " asked he. The question 
 was answered by Counsellor Willard, Prescott's bro- 
 ther-in-law, who was at hand, and recognized his rela- 
 tive. "Will he fight?" demanded Gage, quickly. 
 " Yes, sir ! he is an old soldier, and will fight to the 
 
470 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 last drop of blood; but I cannot answer for his 
 
 men." 
 
 " The works must be carried ! " exclaimed Gage. 
 
 He called a council of war. The Americans might 
 intend to cannonade Boston from this new fortification ; 
 it was unanimously resolved to dislodge them. How 
 was this to be done ? A majority of the council, inclu- 
 ding Clinton and Grant, advised that a force should be 
 landed on Charlestown Neck, under the protection of 
 their batteries, so as to attack the Americans in rear, 
 and cut off their retreat. General Gage objected that 
 it would place his troops between two armies ; one at 
 Cambridge, superior in numbers, the other on the 
 heights, strongly fortified. He was for landing in 
 front of the works, and pushing directly up the hill ; 
 a plan adopted, through a confidence that raw militia 
 would never stand their ground against the assault of 
 veteran troops ; another instance of undervaluing the 
 American spirit, which was to cost the enemy a lamen- 
 table loss of life. 
 
 
CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 The sound of drum and trumpet, the clatter of hoofs, 
 the rattling of gun-carriages, and all the other military 
 din and bustle in the streets of Boston, soon apprised 
 the Americans on their rudely fortified height of an im- 
 pending attack. They were ill fitted to withstand it, 
 being jaded by the night's labor, and want of sleep ; 
 hungry and thirsty, having brought but scanty supplies, 
 and oppressed by the heat of the weather. Prescott 
 sent repeated messages to General Ward, asking rein- 
 forcements and provisions. Putnam seconded the re- 
 quest in person, urging the exigencies of the case. 
 Ward hesitated. He feared to weaken his main body 
 at Cambridge, as his military stores were deposited 
 there, and it might have to sustain the principal attack. 
 At length, having taken advice of the council of safety, 
 he issued orders for Colonels Stark and Reed, then at 
 Medford, to march to the relief of Prescott with their 
 New Hampshire regiments. The orders reached Med- 
 ford about 11 o'clock. Ammunition was distributed 
 
472 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 in all haste ; two flints, a gill of powder, and fifteen 
 balls to each man. The balls had to be suited to the 
 different calibres of the guns ; the powder to be car- 
 ried in powder-horns, or loose in the pocket, for there 
 were no cartridges prepared. It was the rude turn 
 out of yeoman soldiery destitute of regular accoutre- 
 ments. 
 
 In the mean while, the Americans on Breed's Hill 
 were sustaining the fire from the ships, and from the 
 battery on Copp's Hill, which opened upon them 
 about ten o'clock. They returned an occasional shot 
 from one corner of the redoubt, without much harm to 
 the enemy, and continued strengthening their position 
 until about 11 o'clock; when they ceased to work, 
 piled up their intrenching tools in the rear, and looked 
 out anxiously and impatiently for the anticipated rein- 
 forcements and supplies. 
 
 About this time General Putnam, who had been to 
 head-quarters, arrived at the redoubt on horseback. 
 Some words passed between him and Prescott with 
 regard to the intrenching tools, which have been vari^ 
 ously reported. The most probable version is, that he 
 urged to have them taken from their present place, 
 where they might fall into the hands of the enemy, 
 and carried to Bunker's Hill, to be employed in throw- 
 ing up a redoubt, which was part of the original plan, 
 and which would be very important should the troops 
 be obliged to retreat from Breed's Hill. To this Pres- 
 cott demurred that those employed to convey them, 
 and who were already jaded with toil, might not re- 
 turn to his redoubt. A large part of the tools were 
 ultimately carried to Bunker's Hill, and a breastwork 
 
1775.] APPROACH OF THE ENEMY. 473 
 
 commenced by order of General Putnam. The impor- 
 tance of such a work was afterwards made apparent. 
 
 About noon the Americans descried twenty-eight 
 barges crossing from Boston in parallel lines. They 
 contained a large detachment of grenadiers, rangers, 
 and light infantry, admirably equipped, and commanded 
 by Major-general Howe. They made a splendid and 
 formidable appearance with their scarlet uniforms, and 
 the sun flashing upon muskets and bayonets, and brass 
 field-pieces. A heavy fire from the ships and batteries 
 covered their advance, but no attempt was made to op- 
 pose them, and they landed about 1 o'clock at Moul- 
 ton's Point, a little to the north of Breed's Hill. 
 
 Here General Howe made a pause. On reconnoi- 
 tering the works from this point, the Americans ap- 
 peared to be much more strongly posted than he had 
 imagined. He descried troops also hastening to their 
 assistance. These were the New Hampshire troops led 
 on by Stark. Howe immediately sent over to Genera] 
 Gage for more forces, and a supply of cannon-balls ; 
 those brought by him being found, through some egre- 
 gious oversight, too large for the ordnance. While 
 awaiting their arrival, refreshments were served out to 
 the troops, with " grog," by the bucketful ; and tanta- 
 lizing it was, to the hungry and thirsty provincials, to 
 look down from their ramparts of earth, and see their 
 invaders seated in groups upon the grass, eating and 
 drinking, and preparing themselves by a hearty meal 
 for the coming encounter. Their only consolation was 
 to take advantage of the delay, while the enemy were 
 carousing, to strengthen their position. The breastwork 
 on the left of the redoubt extended to what was called 
 
474 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 the Slough, but beyond this, the ridge of the bill, and 
 the slope toward Mystic River, were undefended, leav 
 ing a pass by which the enemy might turn the left flank 
 of the position, and seize upon Bunker's Hill. Putnam 
 ordered his chosen officer, Captain Knowlton, to cover 
 this pass with the Connecticut troops under his com- 
 mand. A novel kind of rampart, savoring of rural de- 
 vice, was suggested by the rustic general. About six 
 hundred feet in the rear of the redoubt, and about 
 one hundred feet to the left of the breastwork, 
 was a post-and-rail fence, set in a low foot-wall 
 of stone, and extending down to Mystic River. The 
 posts and rails of another fence were hastily pulled up, 
 and set a few feet in behind this, and the intermediate 
 space was filled up with new mown hay from the adja- 
 cent meadows. This double fence, it will be found, 
 proved an important protection to the redoubt, although 
 there still remained an unprotected interval of about 
 seven hundred feet. 
 
 While Knowlton and his men were putting up this 
 fence, Putnam proceeded with other of his troops to 
 throw up the work on Bunker's Hill, despatching his 
 son, Captain Putnam, on horseback, to hurry up the re- 
 mainder of his men from Cambridge. By this time 
 his compeer in Prench and Indian warfare, the veteran 
 Stark, made his appearance with the New Hampshire 
 troops, five hundred strong. He had grown cool and 
 wary with age, and his march from Medford, a dis- 
 tance of five or six miles, had been in character. He 
 led his men at a moderate pace to bring them into ac- 
 tion fresh and vigorous. In crossing the Neck, which 
 was enfiladed by the enemy's ships and batteries, Cap- 
 
1775.J NOBLE CONDUCT OF WARREN. 475 
 
 tain Dearborn, who was by his side, suggested a quick 
 step. The veteran shook his head : " One fresh man 
 in action is worth ten tired ones," replied he, and 
 marched steadily on. 
 
 Putnam detained some of Stark's men to aid in 
 throwing up the works on Bunker's Hill, and directed 
 him to reinforce Knowlton with the rest. Stark made 
 a short speech to his men now that they were likely to 
 have warm work. He then pushed on, and did good 
 service that day at the rustic bulwark. 
 
 About 2 o'clock, Warren arrived on the heights, 
 ready to engage in their perilous defence, although he 
 had opposed the scheme of their occupation. He had 
 recently been elected a major-general, but had not re- 
 ceived his commission ; like Pomeroy, he came to serve 
 in the ranks with a musket on his shoulder. Putnam 
 offered him the command at the fence ; he declined it, 
 and merely asked where he could be of most service 
 as a volunteer. Putnam pointed to the redoubt, ob- 
 serving that there he would be under cover. " Don't 
 think I seek a place of safety," replied Warren, quickly ; 
 "where will the attack be hottest?" Putnam still 
 pointed to the redoubt. " That is the enemy's object ; 
 if that can be maintained, the day is ours." Warren 
 was cheered by the troops as he entered the redoubt. 
 Colonel Prescott tendered him the command. He 
 .again declined. " I have come to serve only as a vol- 
 unteer, and shall be happy to learn from a soldier of 
 your experience." Such were the noble spirits assem- 
 bled on these perilous heights. 
 
 The British now prepared for a general assault. 
 An easy victory was anticipated ; the main thought was, 
 
476 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 how to make it most effectual. The left wing, com- 
 manded by General Pigot, was to mount the hill and 
 force the redoubt, while General Howe, with the right 
 wing, was to push on between the fort and Mystic 
 River, turn the left flank of the Americans, and cut off 
 their retreat. 
 
 General Pigot, accordingly, advanced up the hill 
 under cover of a fire from field-pieces and howitzers 
 planted on a small height near the landing-place on 
 Moulton's Point. His troops commenced a discharge 
 of musketry while yet at a long distance from the re- 
 doubts. The Americans within the works, obedient to 
 strict command, retained their fire until the enemy were 
 within thirty or forty paces, when they opened upon 
 them with a tremendous volley. Being all marksmen, 
 accustomed to take deliberate aim, the slaughter was 
 immense, and especially fatal to officers. The assail- 
 ants fell back in some confusion ; but, rallied on by 
 their officers, advanced within pistol shot. Another 
 volley, more effective than the first, made them again 
 recoil. To add to their confusion, they were galled by 
 a flanking fire from the handful of Provincials posted in 
 Chaiiestown. Shocked at the carnage, and seeing the 
 confusion of his troops, General Pigot was urged to 
 give the word for a retreat. 
 
 In the mean while, General Howe, with the left 
 wing, advanced along Mystic River, toward the fence 
 where Stark, Reed and Knowlton were stationed, think-* 
 ing to carry this slight breastwork with ease, and so 
 get in the rear of the fortress. His artillery proved of 
 little avail, being stopped by a swampy piece of ground, 
 while his columns suffered from two or three field-pieces 
 
1775.] THE SECOND ASSAULT. 477 
 
 with which Putnam had fortified the fence. Howe's 
 men kept up a fire of musketry as they advanced ; but 
 not taking aim, their shot passed over the heads of the 
 Americans. The latter had received the same orders 
 with those in the redoubt, not to fire until the enemy 
 should be within thirty paces. Some few transgressed 
 the command. Putnam rode up, and swore he would 
 cut down the next man that fired contrary to orders. 
 When the British arrived within the stated distance, a 
 sheeted fire opened upon them from rifles, muskets, and 
 fowling-pieces, all levelled with deadly aim. The car- 
 nage, as in the other instance, was horrible. The 
 British were thrown into confusion and fell back ; some 
 even retreated to the boats. 
 
 There was a general pause on the part of the Brit- 
 ish. The American officers availed themselves of it to 
 prepare for another attack, which must soon be made. 
 Prescott mingled among his men in the redoubt, who 
 were all in high spirits at the severe check they had 
 given "the regulars." He praised them for their 
 steadfastness in maintaining their post, and their good 
 conduct in reserving their fire until the word of com- 
 mand, and exhorted them to do the same in the next 
 attack. 
 
 Putnam rode about Thinker's Hill and its skirts, to 
 rally and bring on reinforcements which had been checked 
 or scattered in crossing Charlestown Neck by the rak- 
 ing fire from the ships and batteries. Before many 
 could be brought to the scene of action the British had 
 commenced their second attack. They again ascended 
 the hill to storm the redoubt; their advance was 
 covered as before by discharges of artillery. Charles- 
 
478 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775, 
 
 town, which had annoyed them on their first attack by 
 a flanking fire, was in flames, by shells thrown from 
 Copp's Hill, and by marines from the ships. Being 
 built of wood, the place was soon wrapped in a general 
 conflagration. The thunder of artillery from batteries 
 and ships ; the bursting of bomb -shells ; the sharp dis- 
 charges of musketry ; the shouts and yells of the com- 
 batants ; the crash of burning buildings, and the dense 
 volumes of smoke, which obscured the summer sun, all 
 formed a tremendous spectacle. " Sure I am," said 
 Burgoyne in one of his letters, — " Sure I am nothing 
 ever has or ever can be more dreadfully terrible than 
 what was to to be seen or heard at this time. The 
 most incessant discharge of guns that ever was heard 
 by mortal ears." 
 
 The American troops, although unused to war, stood 
 undismayed amidst a scene where it was bursting upon 
 them with all its horrors. Reserving their fire, as be- 
 fore, until the enemy was close at hand, they again 
 poured forth repeated volleys with the fatal aim of 
 sharpshooters. The British stood the first shock, and 
 continued to advance ; but the incessant stream of fire 
 staggered them. Their officers remonstrated, threat- 
 ened, and even attempted to goad them on with their 
 swords, but the havoc was too deadly ; whole ranks were 
 mowed down ; many of the officers were either slain or 
 wounded, and among them several of the staff of 
 General Howe. The troops again gave way and re- 
 treated down the hill. 
 
 All this passed under the eye of thousands of spec- 
 tators of both sexes and all ages, watching from afar 
 every turn of a battle in which the lives of those most 
 
1775.] THE THIRD ATTACK. 479 
 
 dear to them were at hazard. The British soldiery in 
 Boston gazed with astonishment and almost incredulity 
 at the resolute and protracted stand of raw militia, 
 whom they had been taught to despise, and at the 
 havoc made among their own veteran troops. Every 
 convoy of wounded brought over to the town increased 
 their consternation; and General Clinton, who had 
 watched the action from Copp's Hill, embarking in a 
 boat, hurried over as a volunteer, taking with him rein- 
 forcements. 
 
 A third attack was now determined on, though 
 some of Howe's officers remonstrated, declaring it 
 would be downright butchery. A different plan was 
 adopted. Instead of advancing in front of the redoubt, 
 it was to be taken in flank on the left, where the open 
 space between the breastwork and the fortified fence 
 presented a weak point. It having been accidentally dis- 
 covered that the ammunition of the Americans was nearly 
 expended, preparations were made to carry the works at 
 the point of the bayonet ; and the soldiery threw off 
 their knapsacks, and some even their coats, to be more 
 light for action. 
 
 General Howe, with the main body, now made a 
 feint of attacking the fortified fence ; but, while a part 
 of his force was thus engaged, the rest brought some 
 of the field-pieces to enfilade the breastwork on the left 
 of the redoubt. A raking fire soon drove the Ame- 
 ricans out of this exposed place into the inclosure. 
 Much damage, too, was done in the latter by balls 
 which entered the sallyport. 
 
 The troops were now led on to assail the works ; 
 those who flinched were, as before, goaded on by the 
 
480 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 swords of the officers. The Americans again reserved 
 their fire until their assailants were close at hand, and 
 then made a murderous volley, by which several officers 
 were laid low, and General Howe himself was wounded 
 in the foot. The British soldiery this time likewise re- 
 served their fire, and rushed on with fixed bayonet. 
 Clinton and Pigot had reached the southern and eastern 
 sides of the redoubt, and it was now assailed on three 
 sides at once. Prescott ordered those who had no 
 bayonets to retire to the back part of the redoubt, and 
 fire on the enemy as they showed themselves on the 
 parapet. The first who mounted exclaimed in triumph, 
 " The day is ours ! " He was instantly shot down, and 
 so were several others who mounted about the same 
 time. The Americans, however, had fired their last 
 round, their ammunition was exhausted ; and now suc- 
 ceeded a desperate and deadly struggle, hand to hand, 
 with bayonets, stones, and the stocks of their muskets. 
 At length as the British continued to pour in, Prescott 
 gave the order to retreat. His men had to cut their 
 way through two divisions of the enemy who were get- 
 ting in rear of the redoubt, and they received a des- 
 tructive volley from those who had formed on the cap- 
 tured works. By that volley fell the patriot Warren, 
 who had distinguished himself throughout the action. 
 He was among the last to leave the redoubt, and had 
 scarce done so when he was shot through the head with 
 a musket-ball, and fell dead on the spot. 
 
 While the Americans were thus slowly dislodged 
 from the redoubt, Stark, Reed and Knowlton maintained 
 their ground at the fortified fence ; which, indeed, had 
 been nobly defended throughout the action. Pomeroy 
 
1775.] THE RETREAT. 481 
 
 distinguished himself here by his sharp-shooting, until 
 his musket was shattered by a ball. The resistance at 
 this hastily constructed work was kept up after the 
 troops in the redoubt had given way, and until Colonel 
 Prescott had left the hill; thus defeating General 
 Howe's design of cutting off the retreat of the main 
 body ; which would have produced a scene of direful 
 confusion and slaughter. Having effected their pur- 
 pose, the brave associates at the fence abandoned their 
 weak outpost, retiring slowly, and disputing the ground 
 inch by inch, with a regularity remarkable in troops 
 many of whom had never before been in action. 
 
 The main retreat was across Bunker's Hill, where 
 Putnam had endeavored to throw up a breastwork. 
 The veteran, sword in hand, rode to the rear of the 
 retreating troops, regardless of the balls whistling about 
 him. His only thought was to rally them at the un- 
 finished works. " Halt ! make a stand here ! " cried 
 he, " we can check them yet. In God's name, form, 
 and give them one shot more." 
 
 Pomeroy, wielding his shattered musket as a trun- 
 cheon, seconded him in his efforts to stay the torrent. 
 It was impossible, however, to bring the troops to a 
 stand. They continued on down the hill to the Neck, 
 and across it to Cambridge, exposed to a raking fire 
 from the ships and batteries, and only protected by a 
 single piece of ordnance. The British were too ex- 
 hausted to pursue them; they contented themselves 
 with taking possession of Bunker's Hill, were reinforced 
 from Boston, and threw up additional works during the 
 night. 
 
 We have collected the preceding facts from various 
 
 VOL. I. 31 
 
482 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 sources, examining them carefully, and endeavoring to 
 arrange them with scrupulous fidelity. We may ap- 
 pear to have been more minute in the account of the 
 battle than the number of troops engaged would warrant ; 
 but it was one of the most momentous conflicts in our 
 revolutionary history. It was the first regular battle be- 
 tween the British and the Americans, and most event- 
 ful in its consequences. The former had gained the 
 ground for which they contended ; but, if a victory, it 
 was more disastrous and humiliating to them than an 
 ordinary defeat. They had ridiculed and despised their 
 enemy, representing them as dastardly and inefficient ; 
 yet here their best troops, led on by experienced officers, 
 had repeatedly been repulsed by an inferior force of 
 that enemy, — mere yeomanry, — from works thrown up 
 in a single night, and had suffered a loss rarely paralleled 
 in battle with the most veteran soldiery ; for according 
 to their own returns, their killed and wounded, out of a 
 detachment of two thousand men, amounted to one thou- 
 sand and fifty-four, and a large proportion of them 
 officers. The loss of the Americans did not exceed 
 four hundred and fifty. 
 
 To the latter this defeat, if defeat it might be called, 
 had the effect of a triumph. It gave them confidence 
 in themselves and consequence in the eyes of their ene- 
 mies. They had proved to themselves and to others, 
 that they could measure weapons with the disciplined 
 soldiers of Europe, and inflict the most harm in the 
 conflict. 
 
 Among the British officers slain was Major Pit- 
 cairn, who, at Lexington, had shed the first blood in 
 the Revolutionary war. 
 
1775.] WARREN PRESC0TT PUTNAM. 483 
 
 In the death of Warren the Americans had to lament 
 the loss of a distinguished patriot and a most estimable 
 man. It was deplored as a public calamity. His 
 friend Elbridge Gerry had endeavored to dissuade him 
 from risking his life in this perilous conflict : " Dulce et 
 decorum est pro patria mori," replied Warren, as if he 
 had foreseen his fate — a fate to be envied by those am- 
 bitious of an honorable fame. He was one of the first 
 who fell in the glorious cause of his country, and his 
 name has become consecrated in its history. 
 
 There has been much discussion of the relative 
 merits of the American officers engaged in this affair — 
 a difficult question where no one appears to have had the 
 general command. Prescott conducted the troops in 
 the night enterprise ; he superintended the building of 
 the redoubt, and defended it throughout the battle ; his 
 name, therefore, will ever shine most conspicuous, and 
 deservedly so, on this bright page of our Revolutionary 
 history. 
 
 Putnam also was a leading spirit throughout the 
 affair ; one of the first to prompt and of the last to main- 
 tain it. He appears to have been active and efficient at 
 every point ; sometimes fortifying ; sometimes hurrying 
 up reinforcements ; inspiriting the men by his presence 
 while they were able to maintain their ground, and 
 fighting gallantly at the outpost to cover their retreat. 
 The brave old man, riding about in the heat of the ac- 
 tion, on this sultry day, " with a hanger belted across his 
 brawny shoulders, over a waistcoat without sleeves," has 
 been sneered at by a contemporary, as " much fitter to 
 head a band of sickle men or ditchers than musketeers/' 
 But this very description illustrates his character, and 
 
484 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 identifies him with the times and the service, A yeo- 
 man warrior fresh from the plough, in the garb of rural 
 labor ; a patriot brave and generous, but rough and ready, 
 who thought not of himself in time of danger, but was 
 ready to serve in any way, and to sacrifice official rank 
 and self-glorification to the good of the cause. He was 
 eminently a soldier for the occasion. His name has 
 long been a favorite one with young and old ; one of 
 the talismanic names of the Revolution, the very men- 
 tion of which is like the sound of a trumpet. Such 
 names are the precious jewels of our history, to be 
 garnered up among the treasures of the nation, and 
 kept immaculate from the tarnishing breath of the 
 cynic and the doubter. 
 
 Note. — In treating of the battle of Bunker's Hill, and of other 
 occurrences about Boston at this period of the Revolution, we have 
 had repeated occasion to consult the History of the Siege of Boston, 
 by Richard Frothingham, Jr. ; a work abounding with facts as to 
 persons and events, and full of interest for the American reader. 
 
CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 DEPABTUEE FEOM PHILADELPHIA — ANECDOTES OF GENEEAL SCHUYLEE— 
 OP LEE — TIDINGS OF BUNKEB HILL — MILITAEY COUNCILS — POPULATION 
 OF NEW YOEK — THE JOHNSON FAMILY — GOVEENOB TEYON — ABEIYAL 
 AT NEW YOBK — MILITAEY INSTBUCTIONS TO SOHUYLEB — AEEIVAL AT 
 THE CAMP. 
 
 In a preceding chapter we left Washington preparing 
 to depart from Philadelphia for the army before Bos- 
 ton. He set out on horseback on the 21st of June, 
 having for military companions of his journey Major- 
 generals Lee and Schuyler, and being accompanied for 
 a distance by several private friends. As an escort he 
 had a " gentleman troop " of Philadelphia, commanded 
 by Captain Markoe; the whole formed a brilliant 
 cavalcade. 
 
 General Schuyler was a man eminently calculated 
 to sympathize with Washington in all his patriotic 
 views and feelings, and became one of his most faithful 
 coadjutors. Sprung from one of the earliest and most 
 respectable Dutch families which colonized New York, 
 all his interests and affections were identified with the 
 country. He had received a good education ; applied 
 himself at an early age to 'the exact sciences, and be- 
 came versed in finance, military engineering, and politi- 
 
486 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 cal economy. He was one of those native born soldiers 
 who had acquired experience in that American school 
 of arms, the old French war. When but twenty-two 
 years of age, he commanded a company of New York 
 levies under Sir William Johnson, of Mohawk renown, 
 which gave him an early opportunity of becoming 
 acquainted with the Indian tribes, their country and 
 their policy. In 1758 he was in Abercrombie's expedi- 
 tion against Ticonderoga, accompanying Lord Viscount 
 Howe as chief of the commissariat department ; a post 
 well qualified to give him experience in the business 
 part of war. When that gallant young nobleman fell 
 on the banks of Lake George, Schuyler conveyed his 
 corpse back to Albany, and attended to his honorable 
 obsequies. Since the close of the French war he had 
 served his country in various civil stations, and , been 
 one of the most zealous and eloquent vindicators of 
 colonial rights. He was one of the " glorious mino- 
 rity" of the New York General Assembly; George 
 Clinton, Colonel Woodhull, Colonel Philip Livingston, 
 and others ; who, when that body was timid and 
 wavering, battled nobly against British influence and 
 oppression. His last stand had been recently as a del- 
 egate to Congress, where he had served with Wash- 
 ington on the committee to prepare rules and regula- 
 tions for the army, and where the latter had witnessed 
 his judgment, activity, practical science, and sincere 
 devotion to the cause. 
 
 Many things concurred to produce perfect harmony 
 of operation between these distinguished men. They 
 were nearly of the same age, Schuyler being one year 
 the youngest. Both were men of agricultural, as well 
 
1775.] GENERAL SCHUYLER LEE. 487 
 
 as military tastes. Both were men of property, living at 
 their ease in little rural paradises ; Washington on the 
 grove-clad heights of Mount Vernon, Schuyler on the 
 pastoral banks of the upper Hudson, where he had a 
 noble estate at Saratoga, inherited from an uncle ; and 
 the old family mansion, near the city of Albany, half 
 hid among ancestral trees. Yet both were exiling them- 
 selves from these happy abodes, and putting life and for- 
 tune at hazard in the service of their country. 
 
 Schuyler and Lee had early military recollections to 
 draw them together. Both had served under Aber- 
 crombie in the expedition against Ticonderoga. There 
 was some part of Lee's conduct in that expedition which 
 both he and Schuyler might deem it expedient at this mo- 
 ment to forget. Lee was at that time a young captain, 
 naturally presumptuous, and flushed with the arrogance 
 of military power. On his march along the banks of 
 the Hudson, he acted as if in a conquered country ; 
 impressing horses and oxen, and seizing upon supplies, 
 without exhibiting any proper warrant. It was enough 
 for him, " they were necessary for the service of his 
 troops." Should any one question his right, the reply 
 was a volley of execrations. 
 
 Among those who experienced this unsoldierly treat- 
 ment was Mrs. Schuyler, the aunt of the general ; a 
 lady of aristocratical station, revered throughout her 
 neighborhood. Her cattle were impressed, herself in- 
 sulted. She had her revenge. After the unfortunate 
 affair at Ticonderoga, a number of the wounded were 
 brought down along the Hudson to the Schuyler man- 
 sion. Lee was among the number. The high-minded 
 mistress of the house never alluded to his past con- 
 
488 LIFE OP WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 duct. He was received like his brother officers with 
 the kindest sympathy. Sheets and tablecloths were 
 torn up to serve as bandages. Every thing was done 
 to alleviate their sufferings. Lee's cynic heart was con- 
 quered. " He swore in his vehement manner, that he 
 was sure there would be a place reserved for Mrs. Schuy- 
 ler in heaven, though no other woman should be there, 
 and that he should wish for nothing better than to share 
 her final destiny I " * 
 
 Seventeen years had since elapsed, and Lee and the 
 nephew of Mrs. Schuyler were again allied in mili- 
 tary service, but under a different banner ; and recollec- 
 tions of past times must have given peculiar interest 
 to their present intercourse. In fact, the journey of 
 Washington with his associate generals, experienced like 
 him in the wild expeditions of the old French war, was 
 a revival of early campaigning feelings. 
 
 They had scarcely proceeded twenty miles from Phila- 
 delphia when they were met by a courier, spurring with all 
 speed, bearing despatches from the army to Congress, 
 communicating tidings of the battle of Bunker's Hill. 
 Washington eagerly inquired particulars ; above all, how 
 acted the militia? When told that they stood their 
 ground bravely ; sustained the enemy's fire — reserved 
 their own until at close quarters, and then delivered it 
 with deadly effect ; it seemed as if a weight of doubt and 
 solicitude were lifted from his heart. " The liberties of 
 the country are safe ! " exclaimed he. 
 
 The news of the' battle of Bunker's Hill had star- 
 tled the whole country ; and this clattering cavalcade, 
 
 * Memoirs of an American lady (Mrs. Grant, of Laggan), vol ii., chap. ix. 
 
1775 J MILITARY COUNCILS. 489 
 
 escorting the commander-in-chief to the army, was the 
 gaze and wonder of every town and village. 
 
 The journey may be said to have been a continnal 
 council of war between Washington and the two gene- 
 rals. Even the contrast in character of the two latter 
 made them regard questions from different points of 
 view. Schuyler, a warm-hearted patriot, with every 
 thing staked on the cause ; Lee, a soldier of fortune, 
 indifferent to the ties of home and country, drawing 
 his sword without enthusiasm ; more through resent- 
 ment against a government which had disappointed 
 him, than zeal for liberty or for colonial rights. 
 
 One of the most frequent subjects of conversation 
 was the province of New York. Its power and posi- 
 tion rendered it the great link of the confederacy ; what 
 measures were necessary for its defence, and most cal- 
 culated to secure its adherence to the cause ? A lin- 
 gering attachment to the crown, kept up by the influ- 
 ence of British merchants, and military and civil func- 
 tionaries in royal pay, had rendered it slow in coming 
 into the colonial compact ; and it was only on the con- 
 temptuous dismissal of their statement of grievances, 
 unheard, that its people had thrown off their allegiance, 
 as much in sorrow as in anger. 
 
 No person was better fitted to give an account of 
 the interior of New York than General Schuyler ; and 
 the hawk-eyed Lee during a recent sojourn had made 
 its capital somewhat of a study ; but there was much 
 yet for both of them to learn. 
 
 The population of New York was more varied in its 
 elements than that of almost any other of the provin- 
 ces, and had to be cautiously studied. The New York- 
 
490 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [17751 
 
 eis were of a mixed origin, and stamped with the pecu- 
 liarities of their respective ancestors. The descendants 
 of the old Dutch and Huguenot families, the earliest set- 
 tlers, were still among the soundest and best of the pop- 
 ulation. They inherited the love of liberty, civil and 
 religious, of their forefathers, and were those who stood 
 foremost in the present struggle for popular rights. 
 Such were the Jays, the Bensons, the Beekmans, the 
 Hoffmans, the Van Homes, the Roosevelts, the Duyc- 
 kinks, the Pintards, the Yateses, and others whose 
 names figure in the patriotic documents of the day. 
 Some of them, doubtless, cherished a remembrance of 
 the time when their forefathers were lords of the land, 
 and felt an innate propensity to join in resistance to the 
 government by which their supremacy had been over- 
 turned. A great proportion of the more modern fami- 
 lies, dating from the downfall of the Dutch government 
 in 1664, were English and Scotch, and among these 
 were many loyal adherents to the crown. Then there 
 was a mixture of the whole, produced by the intermar- 
 riages of upwards of a century, which partook of every 
 shade of character and sentiment. The operations of 
 foreign commerce, and the regular communications with 
 the mother country through packets and ships of war, 
 kept these elements in constant action, and contributed 
 to produce that mercurial temperament, that fondness 
 for excitement, and proneness to pleasure, which dis- 
 tinguished them from their neighbors on either side — 
 the austere Puritans of New England, and the quiet 
 " Eriends " of Pennsylvania. 
 
 There was a power, too, of a formidable kind within 
 the interior of the province, which was an object of much 
 
1775. J THE JOHNSON FAMILY. 491 
 
 solicitude. This was the " Johnson Family." We have 
 repeatedly had occasion to speak of Sir William John- 
 son, his majesty's general agent for Indian affairs, of his 
 great wealth, and his almost sovereign sway over the Six 
 Nations. He had originally received that appointment 
 through the influence of the Schuyler family. Both 
 Generals Schuyler and Lee, when young men, had cam- 
 paigned with him ; and it was among the Mohawk war- 
 riors, who rallied under his standard, that Lee had be- 
 held his vaunted models of good-breeding. 
 
 In the recent difficulties between the crown and col- 
 onies, Sir William had naturally been in favor of the 
 government which had enriched and honored him, but 
 he had viewed with deep concern the acts of Parliament 
 which were goading the colonists to armed resistance. 
 In the height of his solicitude, he received despatches 
 ordering him, in case of hostilities, to enlist the Indians 
 in the cause of government. To the agitation of feel- 
 ings produced by these orders many have attributed a 
 stroke of apoplexy, of which he died, on the 11th of 
 July, 1774, about a year before the time of which we 
 are treating. 
 
 His son and heir, Sir John Johnson, and his sons- 
 in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson and Colonel Claus, felt 
 none of the reluctance of Sir William to use harsh meas- 
 ures in support of royalty. They lived in a degree of 
 rude feudal style in stone mansions capable of defence, 
 situated on the Mohawk River and in its vicinity ; they 
 had many Scottish Highlanders for tenants ; and among 
 their adherents were violent men, such as the Butlers 
 of Tryon County, and Brant, the Mohawk sachem, since 
 famous in Indian warfare. They had recently gone 
 
492 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 about with armed retainers, overawing and breaking up 
 patriotic assemblages, and it was known they could at 
 any time bring a force of warriors in the field. 
 
 Recent accounts stated that Sir John was fortifying 
 the old family hall at Johnstown with swivels, and had a 
 hundred and fifty Roman Catholic Highlanders quarter- 
 ed in and about it, all armed and ready to obey his orders. 
 
 Colonel Guy Johnson, however, was the most active 
 and zealous of the family. Pretending to apprehend a 
 design on the part of the New England people to sur- 
 prise and carry him off, he fortified his stone mansion 
 on the Mohawk, called Guy's Park, and assembled 
 there a part of his militia regiment, and other of his 
 adherents, to the number of five hundred. He held a 
 great Indian council there, likewise, in which the chiefs 
 of the Six Nations recalled the friendship and good deeds 
 of the late Sir William Johnson, and avowed their de- 
 termination to stand by and defend every branch of his 
 family. 
 
 As yet it was uncertain whether Colonel Guy really 
 intended to take an open part in the appeal to arms. 
 Should he do so, he would carry with him a great force 
 of the native tribes, and might almost domineer over 
 the frontier. 
 
 Tryon, the governor of New York, was at present 
 absent in England, having been called home by the min- 
 istry, to give an account of the affairs of the province, 
 and to receive instructions for its management. He 
 was a tory in heart, and had been a zealous opponent 
 of all colonial movements, and his talents and address 
 gave him great influence over an important part of the 
 community. Should he return with hostile instructions, 
 
1775.] SCHUYLER IN COMMAND OF NEW YORK. 493 
 
 and should he and the Johnsons co-operate, the one 
 controlling the bay and harbor of New York and the 
 waters of the Hudson by means of ships and land for- 
 ces ; the others overrunning the valley of the Mohawk 
 and the regions beyond Albany with savage hordes, this 
 great central province might be wrested from the con- 
 federacy, and all intercourse broken off between the 
 eastern and southern colonies. 
 
 All these circumstances and considerations, many 
 of which came under discussion in the course of this 
 military journey, rendered the command of New York 
 a post of especial trust and importance, and deter- 
 mined Washington to confide it to General Schuyler. 
 He was peculiarly fitted for it by his military talents, 
 his intimate knowledge of the province and its con- 
 cerns, especially what related to the upper parts of it, 
 and his experience in Indian affairs. 
 
 At Newark, in the Jerseys, Washington was met 
 on the 25th by a committee of the provincial Con- 
 gress, sent to conduct him to the city. The Congress 
 was in a perplexity. It had in a manner usurped and 
 exercised the powers of Governor Tryon during his ab- 
 sence, while at the same time it professed allegiance to 
 the crown which had appointed him. He was now in 
 the harbor, just arrived from England, and hourly ex- 
 pected to land. Washington, too, was approaching. 
 How were these double claims to ceremonious respect 
 happening at the same time to be managed ? 
 
 In this dilemma a regiment of militia was turned 
 out, and the colonel instructed to pay military honors to 
 whichever of the distinguished functionaries should 
 first arrive. Washington was earlier than the gover- 
 
494 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 nor by several hours, and received those honors. Peter 
 Van Burgh Livingston, president of the New York Con- 
 gress, next delivered a congratulatory address, the lat- 
 ter part of which evinces the cautious reserve with which, 
 in these revolutionary times, military power was intrust- 
 ed to an individual : — 
 
 " Confiding in you, sir, and in the worthy generals 
 immediately under your command, we have the most 
 flattering hopes of success in the glorious struggle for 
 American liberty, and the fullest assurances that when- 
 ever this important contest shall be decided by that fond- 
 est wish of each American soul, an accommodation with 
 our mother country, you will cheerfully resign the impor- 
 tant deposit committed into your hands, and reassume 
 the character of our worthiest citizen." 
 
 The following was Washington's reply, in behalf of 
 himself and his generals, to this part of the address. 
 
 " As to the fatal, but necessary operations of war, 
 when we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the 
 citizen ; and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in 
 that happy hour, when the establishment of American 
 liberty on the most firm and solid foundations, shall 
 enable us to return to our private stations, in the bosom 
 of a free, peaceful, and happy country." 
 
 The landing of Governor Try on took place about 
 eight o'clock in the evening. The military honors were 
 repeated ; he was received with great respect by the 
 mayor and common council, and transports of loyalty 
 by those devoted to the crown. It was unknown what 
 instructions he had received from the ministry, but it 
 was rumored that a large force would soon arrive from 
 England, subject to his directions. At this very moment 
 
1775.] INSTRUCTIONS TO SCHUYLER. 495 
 
 a ship of war, the Asia, lay anchored opposite the city ; 
 its grim batteries bearing upon it, greatly to the dis- 
 quiet of the faint-hearted among its inhabitants. 
 
 In this situation of affairs, Washington was happy 
 to leave such an efficient person as General Schuyler in 
 command of the place. According to his instructions, 
 the latter was to make returns once a month, and oft- 
 ener, should circumstances require it, to Washington 
 as commander-in-chief, and to the Continental Congress, 
 of the forces under him, and the state of his supplies ; 
 and to send the earliest advices of all events of impor- 
 tance. He was to keep a wary eye on Colonel Guy 
 Johnson, and to counteract any prejudicial influence he 
 might exercise over the Indians. With respect to Gov- 
 ernor Tryon, Washington hinted at a bold and decided 
 line of conduct. " If forcible measures are judged ne- 
 cessary respecting the person of the governor, I should 
 have no difficulty in ordering them, if the Continental 
 Congress were not sitting ; but as that is the case, and 
 the seizing of a governor quite a new thing, I must refer 
 you to that body for direction. " 
 
 Had Congress thought proper to direct such a 
 measure, Schuyler certainly would have been the man 
 to execute it. 
 
 At New York, Washington had learned all the de- 
 tails of the battle of Bunker's Hill ; they quickened his 
 impatience to arrive at the camp. He departed, there- 
 fore, on the 26th, accompanied by General Lee and es- 
 corted as far as Kingsbridge, the termination of New 
 York Island, by Markoe's Philadelphia light horse, and 
 several companies of militia. 
 
 In the mean time the provincial Congress of Mas- 
 
496 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 sachusetts, then in session at Watertown, had made 
 arrangements for the expected arrival of Washington. 
 According to a resolve of that body, " the president's 
 house in Cambridge, excepting one room reserved by 
 the president for his own use, was to be taken, cleared, 
 prepared, and furnished, for the reception of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief and General Lee." The Congress had 
 likewise sent on a deputation which met Washington at 
 Springfield, on the frontiers of the province, and pro- 
 vided escorts and accommodations for him along the 
 road. Thus honorably attended from town to town, and 
 escorted by volunteer companies and cavalcades of gen- 
 tlemen, he arrived at Watertown on the 2d of July, 
 where he was greeted by Congress with a congratula- 
 tory address, in which, however, was frankly stated the 
 undisciplined state of the army he was summoned to 
 command. An address of cordial welcome was likewise 
 made to General Lee. 
 
 The ceremony over, Washington was again in the 
 saddle, and, escorted by a troop of light horse and a 
 cavalcade of citizens, proceeded to the head-quarters 
 provided for him at Cambridge, three miles distant. 
 As he entered the confines of the camp, the shouts of the 
 multitude and the thundering of artillery, gave note to 
 the enemy beleaguered in Boston of his arrival. 
 
 His military reputation had preceded him, and ex- 
 cited great expectations. They were not disappointed. 
 His personal appearance, notwithstanding the dust of 
 travel, was calculated to captivate the public eye. As 
 he rode through the camp, amidst a throng of officers, 
 he was the admiration of the soldiery, and of a curious 
 throng collected from the surrounding country. Hap- 
 
1775.] ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP. 497 
 
 py was the countryman who could get a full view of him 
 to carry home an account of it to his neighbors. " I 
 have been much gratified this day with a view of Gen- 
 eral Washington," writes a contemporary chronicler. 
 " His excellency was on horseback, in company with 
 several military gentlemen. It was not difficult to dis- 
 tinguish him from all others. He is tall and well-pro- 
 portioned, and his personal appearance truly noble and 
 majestic." * 
 
 The fair sex were still more enthusiastic in their ad- 
 miration, if we may judge from the following passage of 
 a letter written by the intelligent and accomplished wife 
 of John Adams to her husband : " Dignity, ease and 
 complacency, the gentleman and the soldier, look agree- 
 ably 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 ; 
 His soul's the deity that lodges there ; 
 Nor is the pile unworthy of the God.' " 
 
 With Washington, modest at all times, there was no 
 false excitement on the present occasion ; nothing to call 
 forth emotions of self-glorification. The honors and 
 congratulations with which he was received, the accla- 
 mations of the public, the cheerings of the army, only 
 told him how much was expected from him ; and when 
 he looked round upon the raw and rustic levies he was 
 to command, " a mixed multitude of people, under very 
 
 * Thacher. — Military Journal. 
 vol. i.— 32 
 
498 LIFE OF WASHINGTON. [1775. 
 
 little discipline, ^order, or government," scattered in 
 rough encampments about hill and dale, beleaguering a 
 city garrisoned by veteran troops, with ships of war 
 anchored about its harbor, and strong outposts guard- 
 ing it, he felt the awful responsibility of his situation, 
 and the complicated and stupendous task before him. 
 He spoke of it, however, not despondingly, nor boast- 
 fully and with defiance; but with that solemn and 
 sedate resolution, and that hopeful reliance on Su- 
 preme Goodness, which belonged to his magnanimous 
 nature. The cause of his country, he observed, had 
 called him to an active and dangerous duty ; but he 
 trusted that Divine Providence, which wisely orders the 
 affairs of men, would enable him to discharge it with 
 fidelity and success* 
 
 * Letter to Governor Trumbull. — Sparks, iii., 81. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 ' - 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 [PUBLISHERS' NOTICE.] 
 
 PORTRAITS OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 The Portrait engraved for this volume is from an original pic- 
 ture by Wertmuller, a Danish or Swedish artist, who painted it 
 from life, in Philadelphia, in 1795. The earliest portrait of 
 Washington — that by C. W. Peale, 1772, which properly belongs 
 in this volume, will be given in the second volume. The third 
 will contain an engraving from Houdon's full-length statue of 
 Washington, now in the Capitol at Richmond. 
 
 Wertmuller's portrait represents Washington as much younger 
 looking than the standard portrait by Stuart. A clumsily fitted 
 set of artificial teeth affects the expression about the mouth, in 
 Stuart's picture, adding also to the appearance of age. In re- 
 gard to the authenticity and history of the portrait now first en- 
 graved, we annex the following letter from its present proprietor, 
 Charles Augustus Davis, Esq., of New York, who has kindly 
 loaned the picture for our engraving. 
 
 No. 1 University Place, New York, April, 1855. 
 GrENTLEMEN '. 
 
 It gives me great pleasure to comply with the request of Mr. 
 Irving, to allow the portrait of Washington, in my possession, to 
 be engraved for " The Life " of that illustrious person, which 
 Mr. Irving is now about completing, and which you are about to 
 
500 APPENDIX. 
 
 publish. A brief history of this portrait I gather from the Baron 
 Saladin, residing near Geneva (Switzerland), from whom I ob- 
 tained it in September last. The wife of the Baron is the grand- 
 daughter of the late Mr. Cazenove, and she inherited it from he* 
 grandfather, to whom it was given by General Washington him- 
 self, at the period of its being painted (1795) ; the General's age 
 then sixty-two. It was taken by Mr. Cazenove to Switzerland 
 at that period, and has been ever regarded by all who saw it, as 
 a faithful and accurate likeness — it could scarcely be otherwise 
 — Wertmuller, the artist, was, in his day, a highly esteemed 
 painter in Philadelphia, where this portrait was painted ; and it 
 is hardly probable that, under all the circumstances, an inaccurate 
 picture would have been conveyed to Switzerland. 
 
 The Baron Saladin, from whom (as before said) I obtained 
 this picture, and who is a gentleman of the highest reputation, 
 writes as follows : — " In answer to your inquiry on the subject of 
 the Portrait of Washington, I have to state that it was painted 
 by 'Wertmuller,' in Philadelphia, from life (d'apres nature), 
 and given by the General himself to Mr. Cazenove, the grand- 
 father of my wife ; — the General and Mr. Cazenove were very in- 
 timate. It was brought by Mr. Cazenove from America. Voila 
 la tradition de famille." 
 
 This Mr. Cazenove was a very respectable Swiss gentleman, 
 who undertook the introduction of Swiss culture, &c. &c, in our 
 State. The town of " Cazenovia " was named in honor of him. 
 
 In regard to the truthfulness of this portrait, I can only say 
 that since its arrival here, gentlemen who remember the illustri- 
 ous original say, that of all the portraits they have ever seen of 
 Washington, none brings home to their memory so much of truth- 
 fulness and accuracy. 
 
 Very respectfully your obt. servt., 
 
 Chas. Aug. Davis. 
 To Messrs. Putxam <fe Co., 
 New York. 
 
 The following information is kindly communicated in a letter 
 to the Publishers, by Benson J. Lossing, Esq., author of the 
 u Field Book of the Revolution." Mr. Lossing's inquiries on 
 
APPENDIX. 501 
 
 the subject have been extensive and thorough, and these partic- 
 ulars are valuable and reliable : — 
 
 " The picture of Washington at forty years of age, painted 
 at Mount Vernon, by Charles Wilson Peale, and now at Arling- 
 ton House, was, as I am informed, the first portrait of him ever 
 delineated. He is represented in the costume of a Virginian 
 Colonel of that day (1772) ; a blue coat faced with red, bright 
 metal buttons, and dark red waistcoat and breeches. Peale 
 painted three other pictures of Washington, from life, all of 
 which I have seen. One was commenced at Valley Forge, in the 
 spring of 1778. Peale was then a captain in the Continental 
 army. Soon after the first sitting, the troops left Valley Forge, 
 and pursued the British in their flight from Philadelphia toward 
 New York. The painter took his materials with him, partici- 
 pated in the battle of Monmouth at the close of June, and, a day 
 or two afterward, procured another sitting at New Brunswick. 
 The picture was finally completed at Princeton, and Nassau 
 Hall is a prominent object in the background. That portrait is 
 now in the gallery of the National Institute, Washington City. 
 The original of the sword upon the thigh of the Chief, in the 
 painting, is in a glass case a few feet from it, and attests the ex- 
 treme accuracy of the artist, even in the subordinate parts of 
 the picture. Another was painted by Peale, in 1780, for the 
 College of New Jersey at Princeton, to occupy a frame in which 
 a portrait of G-eorge the Third had been destroyed by an Ameri- 
 can cannon-ball, during the battle at that place, on the 3d of 
 January, 1777. It remains in the possession of the College, and 
 was spared by the late fire which destroyed Nassau Hall. The 
 last portrait from life, painted by Peale, was executed in 1783, 
 and continued in possession of the painter until his death. It 
 was sold, with the ' Peale Gallery,' at Philadelphia, in October 
 last, for fifty-five dollars. 
 
 "In 1783, the late William Dunlap painted an indifferent 
 portrait (quarter length) of Washington, while he was at Rocky 
 Hill, in New Jersey, just before he issued his Farewell Address 
 to the Army. Dunlap was then between seventeen and eighteen 
 years of age. He has left no record concerning its subsequent 
 history. 
 
502 APPENDIX. 
 
 "In 1784, an artist, named Wright, painted a full-length 
 portrait of Washington, from life, for Mrs. Elizabeth Powell, a 
 valued friend of the patriot and his family. It is in the posses- 
 sion of John Hare Powell, Esq., of Powellton, a nephew of Mrs. 
 Powell, whose residence is on the banks of the Schuylkill, oppo- 
 site Philadelphia. He also preserves the carriage which belonged 
 to his aunt, and which was imported with, and is an exact dupli- 
 cate of, the * state carriage ' of Washington, while he was Pre- 
 sident of the United States. I hav£ a drawing of the carriage, 
 made while on a visit to Mr. Powell, in 1848. 
 
 "In 1785, Pine, an English artist, painted a portrait from 
 life, for Francis Hopkinson. You doubtless remember the Gene- 
 ral's letter to that gentleman on the subject of his sittings for the 
 picture, in which he says : ' It is a proof, among many others, of 
 what habit and custom can effect. At first, I was as impatient 
 at the request, and as restive under the operation, as a colt is of 
 the saddle. The next time I submitted very reluctantly, but 
 with less flouncing. Now, no dray moves more readily to the 
 thill, than I to the painter's chair.' That picture was painted at 
 Mount Vernon, and is in possession (I believe) of the family of 
 the late Judge Hopk,inson, of Philadelphia. The same year 
 Houdon, the eminent French sculptor, took his model for the 
 statue, now in the Capitol, at Richmond. The original plaster 
 cast, taken from the living face, is upon a bracket in the library 
 at Mount Yernon, where I saw it a few months ago. 
 
 " A miniature painter, named Robertson (a Scotchman), ob- 
 tained a sitting from the President and his wife in 1790. They 
 were exquisitely painted on ivory. I was permitted to copy them 
 in 1852. That of Mrs. Washington, I engraved for the Field 
 Book. The other was so unlike any portraits of Washington 
 (being painted just before his artificial teeth were inserted), that 
 after I had engraved it, I did not publish it. Mr. Custis has a 
 miniature of his grandmother, by the same artist, a copy of 
 which is in the American Portrait Gallery. 
 
 " The late Colonel Trumbull painted three full-length por- 
 traits of Washington, from life. The first was painted for the 
 Corporation of the City of New York, in 1792, and remains in 
 the City Hall. It represents Washington in full uniform, stand- 
 
APPENDIX. 503 
 
 ing by a white horse, leaning his arm upon the saddle. In the 
 background is a view of Broadway in ruins, with Fort George at 
 the termination; and in the bay is seen the embarkation of the 
 British troops, who were about to leave our shores for ever. In 
 1792, the City of Charleston commissioned Trumbull to paint a 
 full-length portrait. He represented the chief at the moment 
 when he resolved to retreat back into the country, from the banks 
 of the frozen Delaware, during the night just at hand. The 
 agent of the Charleston Council wanted a more matter-of-fact 
 picture. The artist procured another sitting, and Washington 
 said to him, in reference to the first, l Keep this picture for 
 yourself, Mr. Trumbull, and finish it to your own taste.' The 
 first picture was painted in New York ; the last two in Philadel- 
 phia The one kept by the artist is the property of Yale Col- 
 lege, and is considered the best military portrait of Washington 
 ever painted. Trumbull excelled all others in delineating his 
 peculiar figure. 
 
 "In 1793, Stuart painted, in Philadelphia, that head of 
 Washington, which is regarded by all as the standard portrait of 
 the first President. It remained in the possession of the artist 
 until his death, in 1828, when it was purchased from his widow 
 by the Boston Atheneum. At about the same time, a portrait 
 from life was painted for the Marquis of Lansdowne, one of 
 Washington's valued correspondents. I do not remember by 
 whom it was painted. 
 
 " The last original picture of Washington was made in 1796, 
 by an exceedingly clever artist named Sharpless. It is a profile, 
 outlined by a pantograph, and colored with crayons. It is of 
 cabinet size, and is pronounced by Mr. Custis, its possessor, to be 
 the most faithful likeness of the first President extant. Mr. Custis 
 also has, in marble bas-relief, a profile life size, by Houdon, 
 which that artist executed in 1785, and presented to Washington. 
 Sharpless obtained the profiles of many of the distinguished 
 Americans of that day. Among them were those of Jefferson and 
 Monroe. These originals I recently found, in dingy frames, in the 
 possession of a gallant soldier in the war of 1812, living at Hamp- 
 ton, near Old Point Comfort. As I could not obtain either of 
 them by purchase, I made a careful copy of Jefferson's. I have 
 
504 APPENDIX. 
 
 also a copy of the crayon sketch of Washington, which is at your 
 service if you desire it." 
 
 An interesting account of the various portraits of "Washing- 
 ton will be found in the Republican Court, by Dr. B. W. Gtris- 
 wold, New York, 1855. 
 
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