George 6: Starting a World War

While still chopping a road through the wilderness, looking for a place to make a desparate stand against the French, George Washington wrote letters to the Governors of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland asking for help. The Governor and Assembly of Pennsylvania wasted time arguing about how any money appropriated should be raised.

Over and over in his military career George would experience frustrations like this with weak colonial governments, weak Governors, and militia units that felt they had the right to go home whenever they felt like it. By the time of the Revolution – still 20 years away - these experiences made George a firm advocate – unlike some other Founding Fathers - of strong central government, a strong executive, and a standing army.

In May George had his men start building a circular pallisade he called Fort Necessity at a place named Great Meadows. George's ally from his diplomatic expedition a few months earlier, the Seneca chief Half-king, sent him a message that the French army was on the move in his direction. His old guide Christopher Gist arrived to tell him that 50 French soldiers had passed his house 15 miles away. On the journey Gist had seen signs of perhaps the same group only five miles from George's fort.

It looks like George was spoiling for a fight at this point and he took 40 men to Half-king's camp. Here there were more signs of French soldiers on the move and George and his ally set out to track them down.

***

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The young leader and his men, along with the Half-king and his men, moved stealthily through the forest searching for the French. Then..., well, then we don't know for sure what happened. Here is our chance to act like real historians and analyze bits of incompatible evidence. Check out the accounts of what happened at Jumonville Glen and then try to figure out what "really" happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumonville_Glen

Based on my studies this is what I think: George was in the lead when he spotted a group of French soldiers. Some of the French ran for their guns. I'm quite sure George would have ordered his men to fire first. According to his report to Dinwiddie he set out that day with the intention of attacking so he was ready to fight. The French returned fire and the gun battle blazed for several minutes. People were killed and wounded on both sides. The Indians seem to have stayed hidden in the woods for a time.

Then Jumonville, the leader of the French, although wounded, made his voice heard and got everyone to stop shooting. He said he had a written message from the French to the English. I believe George would have had this message brought to him so somone who spoke French could translate it for him. At this point the impatient Indians burst from the woods and started killing the wounded French and scalping the dead. The uninjured French soldiers would have rushed forward to surrender to the colonists to escape from the Indians. When George realized what was happening he would have rushed forward to stop the Indians, but not before they killed Jumonville who may have been on a diplomatic mission similar to the one George had gone on a few months before.

This fight on May 28, 1754, was George's first combat action. These were the first shots in the French and Indian War that would last nine years in North America and of the Seven Years War that would spread around the globe.

***

Note:

My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:

First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.

Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.

Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.

***

Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

George 5: Preparing to Fight the French

George Washington's journal of his diplomatic mission to the French in the Winter of 1753-54 was printed and distributed throughout the colonies and in England. By the time he was 22 years old then, George was already famous. The journal warned the British of French intentions in the Ohio Valley and paved the way for the Seven Year's War between the two great empires.

George's mission to the French had also demonstrated two of the characteristics that would make him great: courage and perseverance. He had dealt with difficult frontiersman, scheming French officers, and both friendly and hostile Indians. He had endured physical exhaustion, freezing cold, and heavy rain and snow. He had been almost shot, almost drowned, and almost frozen. But through everything that happened there is no sign that George ever deviated from his course, ever took his eyes off the goal, ever hesitated to take the next step forward, ever considered - even for a second - giving up.

In many ways George was a normal man. In some ways he even fell short of the skills or accomplishments enjoyed by other Founding Fathers. But what he demonstrated on this diplomatic expedition, and what he would show many times in later years was that when it came to courage and perseverance he did not fall short and he was not normal at all, but rather extraordinary. These are the same traits that would later carry him through eight years of revolution and then another eight years as President.

***

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***

Now that imperial conflict seemed inevitable, Governor Dinwiddie decided to raise an entire regiment and send it into the wilderness to thwart French schemes. George Washington was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. He would join the regiment as second-in-command.

The Governor understood that the race in the Spring of 1754 would be to see whether the French or the English would first reach the fork of the Ohio – the point where the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers join to form the Ohio River. George Washington himself – in his Journal – had described this spot as ideal for a fort. When the French moved in the Spring they would undoubtedly find the same spot and reach the same conclusion.

Dinwiddie sent a Captain Trent with one company of soldiers (about 50 to 100 men) to reach the fork first and start building a fort. George set out with two more companies (about 150 men) on April 2, planning to join Captain Trent and take command of the new fort. Along the way George and his men would prepare a road for the regimental commander, Colonel Joshua Fry, who would follow along with an additional three companies and some artillery.

At a place called Will's Creek, far from the fork, George was surprised to find Captain Trent, and horrified five days later when Trent's men came straggling in. They reported that a force of 1000 French soldiers had arrived at the fork to seize their half-finished fort and drive them away. Trent's men had seen enough and headed for home. George heard rumors that more French were on the way with 600 Indians.

Far from home, with evidence that he would be outnumbered more than 10 to 1, George started looking around for a place to build his own fort.

***

Note:
My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:

First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.

Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.

Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.

***

Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

George 5: The Dangerous Mission to the French

When George Washington arrived at the French fort he met the Chevalier Legerdeur de St. Pierre who accepted the letter and spent two days with his staff preparing a negative reply. The French were continuing to lay claim to the lands along the Ohio River and had no intention of leaving.
While waiting for the answer George studied the fort, taking notes and drawing diagrams that might be militarily useful if war broke out. He had one of his companions count how many canoes the French had and how many more were being constructed to get some idea how many soldiers they were planning to transport.
When the French answer was ready George and his party left the fort traveling by canoe down freezing streams where floating blocks and sheets of ice threatened to crush or poke holes through the boats. When they arrived back in Venango the Half-king and his companions decided to stay there with the French. George was very worried about this, worried that the French speeches, presents, and alcohol would eventually draw the Native Americans away from the English and make them allies with the French if war broke out. The only thing he could do was get the French answer, and his own report, back to Governor Dinwiddie in Virginia as quickly as possible.
***
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***
George Washington led his little expedition out of Venango on Christmas Day 1753 – headed home to Virginia. They plowed through deep and freezing snow that exhausted the horses. George dismounted to lighten the load on his horse and had the other men who were able, do the same. After three days the slow pace was too much for George to bear so he decided to press ahead of the group taking only his guide Christopher Gist with him.
George and Gist camped one night before reaching the ominously named Murdering Town. Here they found a group of Indians who seemed to be waiting for them and asked many questions about where the rest of their party was and when it would arrive. The Virginians gave evasive answers since they feared these Indians might be allies of the French and planning to prevent the completion of George's mission.
As the two travelers pressed on with their journey one Indian insisted on joining them. He offered to carry George's pack and then later offered to cary George's gun. George decided to keep the gun. Suddenly, in a broad meadow the Indian turned and fired his rifle from 15 paces away and then ran to a tree and began reloading. Neither George nor Gist were injured and they quickly captured the Indian.
Gist wanted to kill their assailant on the spot but George refused. Instead they pretended to believe that the shot might have been an accident, or maybe a signal to the Indian's friends. They told hm to go on ahead and they would follow his tracks and catch up with him the next day. As soon as he left George and Gist built a large campfire to make it look like they were staying put and then they set out to trudge through the snow all night long to make their escape.
After hiking through deep snow for more than 24 hours George Washington and Christopher Gist reached the Allegheney River. Both sides of the river were frozen but the middle was still flowing. The travelers used their one hatchet to chop logs and build a raft. They used poles to try to push the raft across the river. At one point George's pole got jammed in the ice and he was thrown into ten feet of water. After Gist helped George back onto the raft they found themselves unable to reach either shore. Fortunately they were able to land on an island in the middle of the river. That night was bitterly cold and Gist got frostbite on his hands and feet.
By morning the great cold had frozen the river hard enough that they could walk across. Soon they arrived at the cabin of an Indian trader named Frazier. While they rested and recuperated there George met an Indian queen named Aliquippa. She was offended that he had not visited her on his way into the wilderness. He was able to console her with a gift of a watch-coat and a bottle rum.
George and Gist left Frazier's cabin on horses on New Year's Day. They reached Gist's home the next day and from there George traveled alone back into the more settled parts of Virginia. He met with Governor Dinwiddie on 16 January 1754 to deliver the letter from the French and his own report, thus completing his mission into the wilderness.
***
Note:
My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:
First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.
Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.
Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.
***
Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

George 4: Visit to Barbados and First Mission Into the Wilderness

Before George could become fully engaged with his new military career there was a crisis in Lawrence's health to be dealt with. Lawrence had tuberculosis and his doctors advised him to spend the winter of 1751-52 in a warm climate to see if that might help.

On 28 September 1751 the brothers sailed for the island of Barbados, in the Caribbean, and spent 36 days at sea. This was George's one and only trip away from the United States. He kept a journal of his observations and experiences while on the island. One of those experiences was his first visit to a theater to see a play. This became a favorite form of entertainment for him in later years.

George's journals tend to be very unsentimental. They generally record practical information about soils, crops, weather, fortifications, etc. At one meal he recorded a long list of tropical fruits that were served including water-lemons, guava, and "forbidden fruit" which was probably grapefruit.

***

[This is one of the best single volume biographies of our greatest President.]

[If you want to support "Anything Smart" just click on book links like the one below to buy your books. "Anything Smart" will receive a commission. Thanks!]

***

While in Barbados George came down with small pox for three weeks which left him with light marks on his face but also made him immune to one of the most dangerous killers of soldiers during the American Revolution. Unfortunately Lawrence's health did not improve.

George sailed for home in December, planning to bring his sister-in-law to Bermuda where Lawrence would meet them. Unfortunately, Lawrence continued to deteriorate, and decided to skip a stay in Bermuda and sail straight home instead. He died at Mount Vernon in July 1752 when he was just 34 years old.

The year after Lawrence died George was given his first official mission for the government of Virginia.

As the French and the British each became more and more determined to control the Ohio River valley the French strategy was to build a string of forts along the river. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia prepared a letter for the French explaining that they were on British territory, asking them to explain why they were there, and ordering them to leave. The 21 year old George Washington was chosen to deliver the letter.

George set out on 30 October 1753. Along the way he picked up Jacob Van Braam to serve as interpreter, Christopher Gist to serve as guide, and five other men to round out the expedition. The group made slow progress in an unusually rainy and snowy winter season but finally reached the Native American settlement called Logstown on 24 November.

George spent some time in discussions with Native American leaders such as the Seneca chief Tanacharrisson, known as the half-king because he owed allegiance to the Iroquois confederation. The mission here was to ensure that the tribal leaders would remain loyal to England and also accompany George on his trip to the French.

The Half-king promised to stand by the English and also to accompany George on his trip. Together they traveled another 70 miles through the snow to Venango where they met the French Captain Joncaire. The French plied the Native Americans with presents and alcohol to see if they could be persuaded to switch sides. They also invited George and his men to a dinner where wine flowed freely and everyone got drunk except for George, who later wrote all that he saw and heard, that might be useful for the Governor, into his journal.

Ultimately, Captain Joncaire refused to read the letter from Governor Dinwiddie so George and his expedition had to journey on to another French fort 15 miles south of Lake Erie.

***

Note:

My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:

First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.

Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.

Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.

***

Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

George 3: Surveying the Wilderness

From March to April 1748 the 16 year old George Washington was off on his first expedition into the wilderness. His assignment was to survey the land, and lay out lots, from Lord Fairfax's vast holdings along the banks of the Shenandoah River. He traveled on horseback, accompanied by the Lord's son, George William Fairfax. Many nights they slept out in the open, beside a campfire, eating wild turkey or some other game they managed to capture.

There were already some settlers out there on the frontier west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Many of the settlers were actually squatting on Lord Fairfax's land, and many of them spoke German rather than English. At one cabin the family offered to sleep in front of the fireplace and give George the bed. When he found that the bed was a straw mat with no sheet overed by a thin blanket, the whole thing swarming with bugs, George decided he would sleep in front of the fireplace as well. At one point the surveyors came across an Indian war party with a scalp and watched them dance in celebration late into the night.

We know quite a bit about this trip because George kept a journal where he recorded his observations of the land and people he came across. The surveying expedition was a great success and with his new experience and the support of the Fairfax family George became a Public Surveyor for Culpepper County, Virginia.

***

[This is one of the best single volume biographies of our greatest President.]

[If you want to support "Anything Smart" just click on book links like the one below to buy your books. "Anything Smart" will receive a commission. Thanks!]

***

Young George spent about three years working as a surveyor. He did more than 190 surveys in that time and must have been pretty well paid because he saved up enough money to buy a 1,459 acre estate on Bullskin Creek.

During these years tensions were growing between the British and the French in North America since they both laid claim to the lands along the Ohio River. The English were moving West from Virginia and Pennsylvania while the French were moving South from Canada and they were ending up in the same place – starting to crowd each other. Both sides were trying to win the loyalty and trade of the Native American tribes in the Ohio Valley while keeping the other side out.

Lawrence Washington now used his influence with Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia to have George appointed an Adjutant-General with the rank of Major. This position made George responsible for raising, organizing, and equipping militia units when he was just 19 years old. Two of Lawrence's friends were called upon to give the young officer some training. A man named Adjutant Muse started teaching him military tactics while a Jacob Van Braam taught him to fence.

George would be interested in land for the rest of his life but his professional surveying career was over. He was now starting out on a military career that would lead through many twists and turns, and one long period of retirement, but would ultimately make him known and respected around the world, and also lead to the founding of a new nation.

***

Note:

My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:

First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.

Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.

Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.

***

Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

George 2: Befriending Aristocrats

When the youthful George Washington visited his half-brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon he was only a few miles from Belvoir, the estate of Lord Fairfax. Of all the members of the British Peerage Lord Fairfax was the only one who visited the colonies and decided to make his permanent residence there. Maybe he was influenced by the fact that he owned more than 5 MILLION acres in the Potomac and Shenandoah Valleys.

Since Lawrence had married into the Fairfax family George had many opportunities to visit the old aristocrat who was about 40 years his senior. As a young boy George had written out 110 maxims of good behavior from a book of etiquette so he would know how to behave in polite society and this probably helped him make a good impression in the noble household.

Lord Fairfax's true passion, though, was not etiquette but fox hunting – and what really won him over to friendship with his teenaged neighbor was the discovery that George was a great horseman who could ride to the hounds just as hard and fearlessly as he could himself. Fairfax grew to respect his young neighbor so much that he hired him to survey his vast lands when George was only 16 years old.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[This is one of the best single volume biographies of our greatest President.]

[If you want to support "Anything Smart" just click on book links like the one below to buy your books. "Anything Smart" will receive a commission. Thanks!]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

George had very little formal education as a child. He probably had some lessons at home to supplement his meager classroom experience. Part of his self-education was copying all sorts of legal documents such as deeds into his notebooks. This was the kind of useful information that would be helpful to a great landowner someday.

He learned reading and writing and arithmetic from the parish sexton in a little school house. Later he did some more advanced studies under a Mr. Williams. Here he learned some higher mathematics and maybe some English Literature and the beginnings of surveying.

George became especially interested in surveying and practiced around Mount Vernon. He kept a field notebook where he recorded his measurements, diagrams, and calculations. Surveying was an especially useful skill in a land where millions of acres would soon be divided up and sold. When Lord Fairfax asked George to survey his lands the young man was ready for the job, and ready for his first expedition into the wilderness.

***

Note:
My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:

First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.

Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.

Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.

***

Copyright © 2018 by Joseph Wayne Gadway

George 1: George's First Hero

George Washington's father Augustine died when George was only 11 years old. Augustine left three plantations and 64 slaves to be divided among his three sons. He had spent most of his time growing tobacco but he was also active in the Anglican Church and served his community as Justice of the Peace and County Sheriff. He was only 48 when he died.

George's mother was Mary Ball Washington. After her husband died she raised George and managed the land he inherited until he became an adult. When he was 14 George was very enthusiastic about joining the British Navy and most of his relatives and friends thought that would be a great career. All the arrangements were made and he was just about to depart when his mother finally said no.

Good thing for us. Joining the British navy would have radically changed George's life and might have altered the course of U.S. history beyond recognition.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

["Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow is one of the best single volume biographies of our greatest President.]

[If you want to support "Anything Smart" just click on book links like the one below to buy your books. "Anything Smart" will receive a commission. Thanks!]

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

The greatest hero of George's youth was his older half-brother Lawrence. In George's earliest years Lawrence was far away in England going to school. When George was about eight years old Lawrence returned home but soon left again for two years of service in the oddly named War of Jenkin's Ear between the British and the American colonists on one side and the Spanish and French on the other.

Lawrence served in the Caribbean and survived, even though fighting and disease produced a ferocious mortality rate of about 90% on the Americans who served there. (For the men from Massachusetts it was even worse. Out of 5000 who went to war only 50 made it home. 99% died.)

When Lawrence got home to Virginia and inherited an estate from his father he named it Mount Vernon after the Admiral Vernon he served under during the war. That home would later become George's, and is now one of the most famous historical sites in the United States.

***

Note:
My biographical study of George Washington was intended for my own education but I thought I would also like to share what I have learned here on my blog. The main sources of information I used were:

First, "George Washington: A Biography" by Washington Irving. I like this one because it was written by one of our early American literary masters and because it was written so long ago that Irving often mentions talking with people who had actually seen George.

Second, "Washington: An abridgement in one volume By Richard Harwell of the seven-volume George Washington" By Douglas Southall Freeman. I wanted the complete seven volume set but that is not yet available on Kindle. Too bad. Still, this abridgement is a great work, packed with information.

Third, "Washington: A Life" By Ron Chernow. This is an excellent modern biography that came out in 2010, helping me to get some of the more recent research missing from the older biographies.

***

Copyright © 2017 by Joseph Wayne Gadway