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In any book which undertakes to tell, no
matter how slightly, the story of some of the heroic deeds of American
history, that noble figure must always stand in the forefront. But, to
sketch the life of George Washington, even in the barest outline, is
to write the history of the events which made the United States
independent and gave birth to the American nation. Even to give a list
of what he did, to name his battles and recount his acts as president,
would be beyond the limit and the scope of this book. Yet, it is
always possible to recall the man and to consider what he was and what
he meant for us and for mankind He is worthy the study and the
remembrance of all men, and to Americans, he is at once a great glory
of their past and an inspiration and an assurance of their future.
To understand Washington at all, we must first strip off all the myths
which have gathered about him. We must cast aside into the dust-heaps,
all the wretched inventions of the cherry-tree variety, which were
fastened upon him nearly seventy years after his birth. We must look
at him as he looked at life and the facts about him, without any
illusion or deception, and no man in history can better stand such a
scrutiny.
Born of a distinguished family in the days
when the American colonies were still ruled by an aristocracy,
Washington started with all that good birth and tradition could give.
Beyond this, however, he had little. His family was poor, his mother
was left early a widow, and he was forced, after a very limited
education, to go out into the world to fight for himself. He had
strong within him the adventurous spirit of his race. He became a
surveyor, and in the pursuit of this profession plunged into the
wilderness, where he soon grew to be an expert hunter and
backwoodsman. Even as a boy, the gravity of his character and his
mental and physical vigor commended him to those about him, and
responsibility and military command were put in his hands at an age
when most young men are just leaving college. As the times grew
threatening on the frontier, he was sent on a perilous mission to the
Indians, in which, after passing through many hardships and dangers,
he achieved success. When the troubles came with France it was by the
soldiers under his command that the first shots were fired in the war
which was to determine whether the North American continent should be
French or English. In his earliest expedition he was defeated by the
enemy. Later, he was with General Edward Braddock, and it was he who
tried, to rally the broken English army on the stricken field near
Fort Duquesne. On that day of surprise and slaughter he displayed not
only cool courage but the reckless daring which was one of his chief
characteristics. He so exposed himself that bullets passed through his
coat and hat, and the Indians and the French who tried to bring him
down thought he bore a charmed life. He afterwards served with
distinction all through the French War, and when peace came he went
back to the estate which he had inherited from his brother, the most
admired man in Virginia.
At that time he married, and during the
ensuing years he lived the life of a Virginia planter, successful in his
private affairs and serving the public effectively but quietly as a member
of the House of Burgesses. When the troubles with the mother country began
to thicken he was slow to take extreme ground, but he never wavered in his
belief that all attempts to oppress the colonies should be resisted, and
when he once took up his position there was no shadow of turning. He was
one of Virginia's delegates to the first Continental Congress, and,
although he said but little, he was regarded by all the representatives
from the other colonies as the strongest man among them. There was
something about him even then which commanded the respect and the
confidence of every one who came in contact with him.
It was from New England, far removed from
his own State, that the demand came for his appointment as
commander-in-chief of the American Army. Silently he accepted the duty,
and, leaving Philadelphia, took command of the army at Cambridge.
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There is no need to trace him
through the events that followed. From the time when he drew his sword
under the famous elm tree, he was the embodiment of the American
Revolution, and without him that revolution would have failed almost
at the start. How he carried it to victory through defeat and trial
and every possible obstacle is known to all men.
When it was all over he found himself facing a new situation. He was
the idol of the country and of his soldiers. The army was unpaid, and
the veteran troops, with arms in their hands, were eager to have him
take control of the disordered country as Cromwell had done in England
a little more than a century before. With the army at his back, and
supported by the great forces which, in every community, desire order
before everything else, and are ready to assent to any arrangement
which will bring peace and quiet, nothing would have been easier than
for Washington to have made himself the ruler of the new nation. |
George Washington Family by C. Schussele.
This image available for photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
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George Washington in military uniform, painted by Rembrandt Peale, 1823.
This image available for photographic prints and downloads
HERE!
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But,
that was not his conception of duty, and he not only refused to have
anything to do with such a movement himself, but he repressed, by his
dominant personal influence, all such intentions on the part of the
army. On December 23, 1783, he met the Congress at Annapolis, and
there resigned his commission. What he then said is one of the two
most memorable speeches ever made in the United States, and is also
memorable for its meaning and spirit among all speeches ever made by
men. He spoke as follows:
"Mr. President: --The great events on which my resignation depended
having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my
sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before
them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me and to
claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.
Continued Next Page
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