THE HISTORIC TREES OF MASSACHUSETTS 



That commander was found in George 

 Washington of Virginia. A New England 

 delegate suggested him,^ a Maryland delegate 

 nominated him - and the confederate con- 

 gress appointed him commander-in-chief of 

 all "the Continental forces raised or to be 

 raised for the defense of American liberty." 

 The army at Boston was adopted as the 

 army of the nation; and on the twenty-first 

 of June, 1775, Washington left Philadelphia for 

 the New England capital to take command 

 of it. He arrived at Cambridge and made 

 his headquarters there, the second of July. 

 He was accompanied by Major-general Lee, 

 his next in command, and other officers, 

 and received the most enthusiastic greetings 

 of the people on the way. At about nine 

 o'clock on the morning of the 3rd of July, 

 Washington, accompanied by the general 

 officers of the army who were present, pro- 

 ceeded on foot from the quarters of the 

 Commander-in-chief, to a great elm tree 

 at the north of the Cambridge Common, 

 near which the Republican forces were drawn 



' John Adams. ^ Thomas Johnson. 



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