WASHINGTON 



6201 



WASHINGTON 



Since you have received my letter of October 

 last, I have not slept above three or four nights 

 in a bed, but, after having walked a good deal all 

 day, I have lain down before the fire upon a little 

 hay, straw, fodder, or a bearskin, whichever was 

 to be had, with man, wife, and children, like dogs 

 and cats; and happy is he who gets the berth 

 nearest the fire. 



Three years thus slipped by in hard work, 

 mixed with recreation on the estates of his 

 brother Lawrence and of Lord Fairfax. Law- 

 rence Washington's health, affected by exposure 

 during the War of the Spanish Succession, 

 caused alarm in 1749 and in 1750, and as a last 

 resort in 1751 he made a trip, with his brother 

 George, to the West Indies. When they ar- 

 med they were promptly invited to dine with 

 the major in command of the local British 

 forces. In his diary George remarked: "We 

 W ent myself with some reluctance, as the 

 smallpox was in the family." George fell a 

 victim to his good manners, and had 'a mild 

 case of the smallpox. In July, 1752, four 

 months after their return to Virginia, Law- 

 rence Washington died, leaving George the 

 guardian of a daughter, and the heir to the 

 family estates in the event of that daughter's 

 death. 



While Washington's home relations were thus 

 undergoing great changes, his relations to pub- 

 lic affairs were becoming more marked. Even 

 before he was legally of age he had saved 

 considerable sums out of his fees for surveying, 

 had bought several parcels of land and had won 

 a reputation for solid worth unusual in so 

 young a man. His brother Lawrence, who had 

 long before become manager of the Ohio Com- 

 pany, procured for him an appointment as one 

 of the adjutant-generals, with the rank of 

 major, in the Virginia militia, a remarkable 

 honor for a boy of nineteen. At the same time 

 George was studying the art of war, under the 

 instruction of two friends of Lawrence's. When 

 Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia wanted a man 

 to undertake the dangerous mission of warning 

 tin French not to trespass in English territory, 

 his choice fell on ' Iv-appointed adju- 



tant-general. In October, 1753, Washington set 

 forth, accompanied by Christopher Gist, noted 

 as the boldest frontiersman of Virginia. In 

 spite of hardship, treachery by the Indians and 

 accidents which almost cost their lives, the 

 men carried out their mission, and finally re- 

 turned to Williamsburg, then capital of Vir- 



Tti. information Washington gleaned on his 

 n spelled war. Shortly after his return 



he was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the single 

 regiment which constituted Virginia's military 

 force. Taking half the regiment to defend the 

 outposts on the Ohio, Washington advanced to 

 meet the French, and in a preliminary skirmish 

 routed a small band of the enemy. But the 

 French were much the stronger, and Washing- 

 ton's position was not an enviable one. The 

 death of the colonel left him in command, and 

 he reunited the two halves of the regiment. 

 At Great Meadows the exhaustion of his men 

 compelled a halt, and there he ordered the 

 hasty construction of a little stockade, which 

 he named Fort Necessity. There the French 

 appeared on July 3, 1754. Hopelessly out- 

 numbered, without ammunition for their worn- 

 out muskets, the colonists agreed to a parley. 

 The French were not eager to fight, and al- 

 lowed the English to retire with their arms on 

 condition that they should not come to the 

 Ohio for a year. Thus nothing came of the 

 expedition, but Washington gained valuable 

 experience, and for the moment won a reputa- 

 tion not only in Virginia but throughout the 

 colonies and even in Europe. Shortly after this 

 expedition, the Virginia militia was reorganised. 

 The result would have been to maker Washing- 

 ton, the only officer who had seen fighting, a 

 captain on a par with numerous other officers, 

 but Washington rightly resented tKs senseless 

 policy, and resigned his commission. A proud 

 man, conscious of his own strength and pur- 

 pose, he was irritated by the bickerings in tlu> 

 militia, and determined for a time to keep out 

 of military life. 



The opportunity to reenter the army came 

 more quickly than he expected. The campaign 

 of 1754 aroused the other colonies, as well as 

 the mother country. In accordance with a gen- 

 eral plan to attack the French, General Brad- 

 dock arrived in Virginia late in February, 1755, 

 with two picked regiments. Braddock. 1< 

 ing that Washington had expressed a desire to 

 be in service again, offered the young Virginian 

 a place on his personal staff with the rank of 

 colonel. Washington accepted at once, and 

 tlnvw himself into his new work. The expedi- 

 tion, as every school child knows, was doomed 

 to failure. After months of delay, the army 

 finally moved forward, and on tin- mhth of 

 July arrived in front of Fort Duquesne. I 

 tin- attack Washington was everywhere. He 

 had two hones shot under him, and his coat 

 showed four bullet holes. But nothing could 

 turn away defeat. After Braddock was mor- 

 tally wounded the command fell on Washing- 



