HISTORY OF VERMONT. 541 



he \rrote to the commander of the French 

 troops, complaming of sundry acts of hostility ; 

 and desiring to be informed, by what authority, 

 the French troops had taken possession of a 

 territory belonging to his master, the king of 

 Great Britain. 



It was on this occasion that the name of 

 George Washington was first announced 

 to the world. Governor Dinwiddie gave him a 

 major's commission, and appointed him to be 

 the bearer of his letter to the commander of the 

 French troops. In the winter, and through a 

 scene of much suffering and danger, major 

 Washington executed the business of his com- 

 mission with that intrepid, determined, perse- 

 vering spirit, which, since that period, has so 

 much engaged the attention and applause of his 

 country, and of the world. M. Legardeur de 

 St. Pieire, commander of the French troops on 

 the Ohio, returned an answer, December th^ 

 fifth, full of spirit and resolution, declaring the 

 country to belong to the French king ; and an- 

 nouncing hFs determination to obey his orders, 

 preserve his post, and retain a situation so fa-^ 

 "^'orable to defence and strength. 



1754. Convinced by the spirited and re- 

 solute answer of the French commander that 

 further encroachments were to be expected, the 

 governor and general assembly of Virginia de- 

 termined to make a serious op]30sition to the 

 French establishments on the Ohio, In Februr 

 ary 1754, the assembly voted to raise three 

 hundred men, for the protection of their fron- 

 tiers. Washington at that time was a young 

 gentleman of twenty two years of a^e. Hi* 



VOLc I. S ^ 



