The life of George Washington

Preface

THE enterprising proprietors of the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" requested the late Lord MACAULAY to prepare the article on "Washington," for the new Edition of that Work now in course of publication. His other engagements prevented his complying with their request, and thinking also that it would, on some accounts, be desirable that the memoir of Washington should be written by a countryman, he advised the Messrs. BLACK to apply to me. This they did in the month of March, 1859, expressing the wish that the article should be furnished to them in Edinburgh, in the month of October last. Though much occupied with previous iv PREFACE.

engagements, and otherwise not favorably situated for cheerful mental effort, I thought it my duty to comply with the request of the Messrs. BLACK, regretting, however, that the time allowed me besides constant interruptions was too short to admit of careful research among the original materials for a life of Washington.

In fact, I feel that some apology is due to the public, for attempting to compress into the narrow compass of a volume like this a career like that of Washington, which has been so fully treated in the great national works of MARSHALL, SPARKS, and IRVING. It w r ill, however, I think, be generally felt to have been desirable, that a comprehensive memoir of our illustrious Countryman should be prepared by an American writer, for a work like the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," and a republication in this

PREFACE. V

country follows as a matter of course. The purpose for which the memoir was written will, I trust, sufficiently account for the necessary condensation of the narrative ; for the omission of many facts of importance, and for the superficial statement of others; as also for the occasional mention of what is familiar to every American, but which may need explanation to the European reader.

The historical materials of the following pages have been mainly derived from the standard works already alluded to, in which is contained everything of importance authentically known of the life and career of Washington. Diligent search among official papers and private letters will no doubt throw further light on matters of detail, especially as far as his domestic life is concerned; but it is hardly to be expected that anything will be added to our vi PREFACE

knowledge of important events. To Mr. SPARKS I am under especial obligations. No one can have occasion to write or to speak on the life of Washington, however compendiously, without finding constant occasion to repeat the acknowledgment of Mr. IRVING, who justly places him "among the greatest benefactors of our national literature."

I regret that the valuable work of Mr. BENSON J. LOSSING, entitled " Mount Vernon and its Associations," was not published till the following memoir was nearly completed, and it was consequently not in my power to make as much use as I could have wished of the stores of information contained in it. The same remark applies to the " Recollections and Memoirs of Washington," by the late Mr. G. W. PARKE CUSTIS, of which the excellent edition by Mr. LOSSING appeared too late to

PREFACE. vii

render me the assistance I might otherwise have derived from it.

In what I have said of the important topic of President WASHINGTON'S "Farewell Address," I have followed the footsteps, at. however great a distance, of the Hon. HOR- ACE BINNEY, in his late exhaustive treatise on that subject ; which seems to me to put to rest the hitherto existing uncertainty as to the preparation of that most important State-paper.

Although the plan of the following pages did not admit of great detail as to the private life of Washington, I could not forbear to narrate at length the incidents of the closing scene, as minutely described by an eye-witness. The nature of the disease of which Washington died, and its professional treatment by the attending physicians, having been sometimes drawn in question, it is with much satisfaction that I am able to lay before the viii PREFACE.

reader, in the Appendix, a paper on that subject, written at my request, by my honored friend, Dr. JAMES JACKSON, the venerable head of his profession in this city.

I have also, through' the kindness of Mr. JOHN A. WASHINGTON, procured from the archives of the Court in Fairfax County a copy of the official inventory of General WASHINGTON'S personal estate. A copy of Mrs. WASHINGTON'S Will has also been kindly furnished me from the same quarter. These documents will be found in the Appendix. They have never, I believe, been published.

I cannot close this preface without alluding to the melancholy tidings which have reached this country, within a few days, of the premature decease of the most brilliant writer of the age, perhaps of any age of English literature, at whose suggestion the preparation of the

PREFACE. i x

following memoir was proposed to me by the publishers of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica." Great as are the losses sustained by science and letters in Europe and America during the year 1859, the death of Lord MACAULAY is, in some respects, the greatest. Of the other illustrious persons who have been taken from us in the course of the year, some, as HUMBOLDT, HALLAM, and IRVING, had attained advanced years, and nobly completed the work given them to do. PRES- COTT, though leaving his last great work half written, leaves with it three completed histories, either of which would suffice for a reputation. MACAULAY, at a time of life which, in the course of nature, admitted many years of added labor, has been called away in the midst of the triumphant prosecution of his great enterprise. While the volumes already given to the world will go down to the latest

X PREFACE.

posterity as one of the most valuable contributions to the literature of the English language, how keenly must we not regret, that they form at best but a moiety of the work, which might have been confidently expected from his wondrous pen ! With what sorrow must we not reflect, that the talent which could clothe with the interest of romance a period of English history not usually regarded as the most inviting ; that stores of information, collected by a memory of truly miraculous grasp, often from sources the most obscure and distant, and arranged with matchless skill, should be lost to us forever, and this at the time when they were most successfully employed for the admiration of the reading world ! Absolutely identifying himself with the scenes he described, and mingling with fervor, though under the guidance of laborious research, in the great contentions of the

PREFACE. xi

times, it was scarcely possible that he should fall into no errors of judgment, and never form a mistaken estimate of character. One such has been keenly felt in this country. But his work owes some of its highest qualities to that earnestness of conviction and warmth of feeling, which may, in the manner alluded to, have occasionally warped his judgment.

But admirable as he was as a writer, Lord MACAULAY was still more admirable as a man. His principles were liberal, his emotions generous, his manners affable, his life exemplary, his morals pure. The splendor of his page was, if possible, excelled by the brilliancy of his conversation. His personal intercourse was a perpetual feast of rational pleasure. The world admired the magnificence of his rhetoric, and contemplated with equal delight and wonder the profusion with which be poured forth the stores of his

Xii PREFACE.

memory, gathered from the literature of every language and every country. Those who knew him loved him for his amiable personal qualities ; for the unaffected meekness with which he bore his transcendent honors ; for the sunny cheerfulness of his disposition, and the generous warmth of his heart. I cannot but reflect with melancholy satisfaction on the many happy hours passed in his society during four years of intimate acquaintance, and on the proofs of friendly regard with which he honored me to the very last days of his life.

EDWARD EVERETT.

BOSTON, 25th January, 1860.

Chapter I

Birth Parentage Genealogy Emigration of the Family to America Education of George Washington Proposal to place him in the Navy of Great Britain Influence of his Mother in the Formation of his Character. 19

Chapter II

Washington commences Life as a Surveyor of Lord Fairfax's Estates His Duties in that Capacity First Military Appointment Accompanies his Brother to Barbadoes Takes the Small-Pox in the natural Way in that Island Approach of the Seven Years' War New Commission as Adjutant-General of the Northern Division. 38

CHAPTER in.

Commencement of Settlements in the West The Ohio Company Hostile Movements of the French Wash-

XIV CONTENTS.

ingtou's Perilous Expedition to Venango Disastrous Campaign of 1754 Braddock's Expedition and Defeat in 1755 Arduous and Responsible Duties of Washington during the War Expedition against Fort Duquesne And its Capture. 53

Chapter IV

Retirement from the Army Marriage Election to the House of Burgesses and Character as a Member His Occupations as a Planter, and business Habits Visits the unsettled Parts of the State Commencement of the Controversy with the Mother-Country Mistaken Impression that Washington was ever lukewarm in the American Cause Proofs of the Contrary His early Career admirably calculated to fit him for the great Work of his Life. 83

Chapter V

Commencement of the War Lexington and Concord The Royal Army blockaded in Boston Washington chosen Commander-in-Chief by the Continental Congress Destitute Condition of the Army Dorchester Heights fortified in the Spring of 1776 Boston evacuated by the Royal Forces The War transferred to New York Disastrous Battle of Long Island Washington retreats through New Jersey to Philadelphia

CONTENTS. XV

Recrosses the Delaware and surprises the Hessians at Trenton Gains the Battle of Princeton and retrieves the Fortune of the Campaign. 104

Chapter VI

Campaign of 1777 Sir William Howe sails from Staten Island and ascends the Chesapeake The Battle of Brandy wine adverse to the Americans Sir W. Howe occupies Philadelphia Battle of Germantown Capitulation of Burgoyne Washington in Winter-Quarters at Valley Forge The Gates and Con way Cabal Forged Letters Campaign of 1778 The French Alliance Sir W. Howe evacuates Philadelphia Battle of Monmouth Lee sentenced by a Court-Martial, and leaves the Army The Count d'Estaing with a French Fleet arrives in the American Waters Campaign of 1779 No general Operation of the Main Body Campaign of 1 780 Arrival of the First Division of the French Army under Rochambeau Treason of Arnold Fate of Andre Campaign of 1 781 Arrival of Count de Grasse with Reinforcements Capitulation of Cornwallis at Yorktown Negotiations for Peace Provisional Articles signed November, 1782 Discontents in the American Army The Newburg Address Definitive Treaty of Peace Washington resigns his Commission to the Congress at Annapolis, 23d December, 1 783. 130 xv i CONTENTS.

Chapter VII

Washington retires to Mount Vernon Visits the Country west of the Alleghanies Recommends opening a Communication between the Head Waters of the Atlantic Rivers and the Ohio Agricultural Pursuits His Views of Slavery Critical State of the Country Steps that led to the Formation of the present Government The Federal Convention and Washington its President The Constitution framed Adopted by the States Washington elected the First President of the United States, and inaugurated 30th of April, 1789. 154

Chapter VIII

Washington's Administration continued through two Terms of Office Peculiar Difficulties at Home and Abroad Tendency toward the Formation of Parties The Cabinet divided Growth of Party-Spirit Washington unanimously reflected Retirement of Jefferson and Hamilton from the Cabinet War between France and England Neutrality of the United States Violated by both the Belligerents Offensive Proceedings of Genet, the French Minister Mission of Jay to England His Treaty unpopular Attempt in the House of Representatives to withhold the Appropriations to carry it into Effect Washington refuses to commu-

CONTENTS. XVU

nicate the Instructions under which it was negotiated. 175

Chapter IX

Insurrection in Pennsylvania suppressed Washington's Interest in Lafayette His Son received at Mount Vernon Close of the Second Term of Office and Farewell Address Denunciation of the spurious Letters Retirement from the Presidency Return to Mount Vernon Rupture between the United States and France Washington appointed Lieutenant-GeneralAnticipations of the Conflict Downfall of the Directory, and Accommodation with France. 205

Chapter X

Sudden Attack of Illness in December, 1799 Rapid Progress and Fatal Termination of the Disease Public Mourning Emancipation of his Slaves by Will Mount Vernon Personal Appearance and Habits Religious Opinions General Views of his Character Testimony of Lord Erskine, of Mr. Fox, of Lord Brougham, of Fontanes, and of Guizot His Military Character Natural Temperament Genius for the Conduct of Affairs Final Estimate. 236 xviii CONTENTS.

Appendix

No. I.

On the last Illness of General Washington and its Professional Treatment by the Attending Physicians, by James Jackson, M. D., of Boston. 273

No. H.

Inventory of the Personal Property at Mount Vernon at the Time of General Washington's Death, returned to the Court of Fairfax County, Virginia, by the Sworn Appraisers of the Estate. 286

No. ffl.

The Will of Martha Washington of Mount Vernon. -818

.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

Chapter I

Birth Parentage Genealogy Emigration of the Family to America Education of George Washington Proposal to place him in the Navy of Great Britain Influence of his Mother in the Formation of his Character.

IN the family record contained in a Bible which belonged to the mother of Washington, and which is now in the possession of George Washington Bassett, of Hanover county, Virginia, who married a grandniece of Washington, the following entry is found :

" George Washington, son to Augustine and Mary his wife, was born y e llth day of February 173^ about ten in the morning, and was baptized the 3d of April following ; Mr. Beverly Whiting and Captain Christopher Brooks, godfathers, and Mrs. Mildred Gregory godmother."

GEORGE WASHINGTON was accordingly bom on the 22d of February, 1732, New Style, in the county of Westmoreland, in the parish of Washington, (so called from the family, whose seat it had been for three generations,) on Pope's Creek, a small tributary to the Potomac, and at the distance of about hah a mile from its junction with that river. The house in which he was born was destroyed before the American Revolution, but a stone with a suitable inscription was placed upon the spot a few years since, by the late George Washington Parke Custis, the grandson of Mrs. Washington. This spot has lately been ceded to the State of Virginia.

The County of Westmoreland, famous as the birthplace not only of Washington but of several other eminent persons, such as Richard Henry Lee, who moved the resolution for declaring Independence in the Congress at Philadelphia in 1776; his three brothers, Thomas, Francis, and Arthur, and his kinsman, General Henry Lee, all distinguished in their day ; James Monroe, the fifth President of the United States; and Bushrod Washington, a nephew of the General and a Justice of the Supreme Court, lies between the Potomac and Rappahannoc rivers, in what is called the northern neck of Virginia. Notwithstanding the notoriety of the facts, a statement is sometimes made in British publications, and has been repeated by a respectable writer within the past year, (1858,) that George Washington was born in England.*

* The Editor of the Cornwallis Papers. The error was 2orrected in an erratum.

Augustine Washington, the father of the General, was twice married. His first wife was Jane Butler, by whom he had three sons and a daughter, namely, Butler, who died in infancy, Lawrence, Augustine, and Jane, the last-named of whom also died in childhood. His second wife was Mary Ball, to whom he was married on the 6th of March, 1730. By this marriage he had six children, namely, GEORGE, Betty, Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred, the last of whom died in infancy.

George Washington was the great-grandson of John Washington, who, with a brother named Lawrence, emigrated to Virginia in 1657. They were great-grandsons of Lawrence Washington, sometime Mayor of Northampton, and the first lay proprietor of the manor of Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, which was granted to him in 1538. Their eldest brother, Sir William Washington, married a half-sister of

George Villiers, the famous Duke of Buckingham. This connection indicates, if it did not cause, a leaning of the family toward the Royal side in the civil wars. Another of the name, Sir Henry Washington, a relative though not a brother, signalized himself by his persevering gallantry in sustaining the siege of Worcester against the Republican forces. Of the two brothers who came to Virginia, Lawrence had been a student at Oxford ; John had resided on an estate at South Cave in Yorkshire, which gave rise to an erroneous tradition among his descendants, that their ancestor came from the North of England.

There is no doubt that the politics of the family determined the two brothers John and Lawrence to emigrate to Virginia, that colony being the favorite resort of the Cavaliers, during the government of Cromwell, as New England was the retreat of the Puritans, in the period which preceded the Commonwealth. John Washington and his brother took up lands and became successful planters in Virginia, The former, soon after his arrival, rose to the rank of Colonel in the Indian wars, and gave his name to the parish in which he lived. He married Ann Pope, by whom he had two sons, Lawrence and John, and a daughter. Lawrence, the oldest son, married Mildred Warner, of the neighboring county of Gloucester, and had three children, John, Augustine, and Mildred. The second son, Augustine, was the father of GEORGE WASHINGTON.

About fifty years before the emigration from England, the family removed from Sulgrave to Brington (near Althorpe), in Northamptonshire. The name of Washington may still be seen on the gravestones in the church of that and other parishes in the county. The original grantee of

Sulgrave was probably born at Warton, in Lancashire, where his father is known to have lived. In the next generation after the emigration to America, another of the family, perhaps a brother, passed to the Continent and established himself in Bavaria, where the descendants, bearing the family name and somewhat resembling General George Washington in personal appearance, are still found.

It may be mentioned as a somewhat striking fact, and one I believe not hitherto adverted to, that the families of Washington and Franklin, the former the great leader of the American Kevolution, the latter not second to any of his patriotic associates, were established for several generations in the same central county of Northamptonshire, and within a few miles of each other ; the Washingtons, at Brington and Sulgrave, belonging to the landed gentry of the county and in the great civil war supporting the royal side ; the Franklins, at the village of Ecton, living on the produce of a farm of thirty acres and the earnings of their trade as blacksmiths, and espousing, some of them at least, and the father and uncle of Benjamin Franklin among the number, the principles of the non-conformists. Their respective emigrations, germs of great events in History, took place, that of John "Washington, the great-grandfather of George, in 1657, to loyal Virginia; that of Josiah Franklin, the father of Benjamin, about the year 1685, to the metropolis of Puritan New England.

The genealogy of George Washington is a matter of greater importance to the memory of his ancestors than to his own ; he throws back far greater glory than he can inherit. Nevertheless, it may be a matter of curiosity to note, that the family and name are traced by genealogists to the twelfth century, and to the county of Durham. Among those who held manorial estates in that region, in the period succeeding the Norman Conquest, was "William de Hertburn, so called from his estate, probably the modern Hartburn on the Tees. This estate was exchanged by him for that of Wessyngton, and with it the family name, which afterwards passed into Washington. From this person thus designated, the family of Washington, in its various branches, and now widely spread in England, on the Continent of Europe, and in the United States, is descended. For further details on this subject, for which the limits of this work afford no room, the reader is referred to the Appendix to the first volume of Mr. Sparks's admirable edition of the " Writings of Washington," and to the first volume of his Life, by the late honored and lamented

Nestor of American literature. General Washington's own feelings on the genealogy of his family are intimated in his answer to a letter from Sir Isaac Heard, Garter King at Arms, in 1792. Sir Isaac having addressed a letter to Washington, at that time President of the United States, making inquiry about his genealogy, the President, in his reply, says: "This is a subject to which I confess I have paid very little attention. My time has been so much occupied in the busy and active scenes of life from an early period of it, that but a small portion of it could have been devoted to researches of this nature, even if my inclination or particular circumstances should have prompted to the inquiry."

Shortly after the birth of George Washington, his father removed his family from the county of Westmoreland to that of Stafford, and established himself on an estate upon the eastern bank of the Rappahannoc River, opposite Fredericksburg, where he died in 1743, leaving a valuable landed property to his widow and five children. To his oldest son, Lawrence, he gave an estate near Hunting Creek, on the Potomac River, afterwards called Mount Vernon ; to George, the oldest son of the second marriage, the estate opposite Fredericksburg ; and to each of the other sons a plantation of six or seven hundred acres; the income of the whole being left within the control of the mother, till the sons respectively should come of age.

The mother was a woman of superior intelligence and energy, and ruled her family and household with a firm hand. The means of education at that time, compared with the present day, were scanty in all the Anglo-American colonies, but especially at the South, where a larger portion of the inhabitants lived on their landed estates, and the population was less compact. The sons of affluent planters were sometimes sent " home," as it was called, and placed at the English schools and universities, and afterwards at the inns of court; but for others, who for any cause were unable to avail themselves of these advantages, the instruction to be had at the local schools in the Southern colonies did not extend beyond the ordinary branches of an English education. George Washington was taught reading, writing, book-keeping, and at a later period surveying ; an important occupation at that time, being liberally compensated, and affording facilities for finding out and entering valuable ungranted lands in the almost boundless wilderness, which lay west of the settled parts of the country. Some of the manuscript books kept by him at school are still preserved.

They are marked by neatness, method, skill in the use of figures, in the construction of tables, and in the delineation of plans ; in a word, by the display of the favorite tastes which he carried through life, and manifested in the business details of military and civil affairs of importance.

According to still existing traditions, he evinced in his boyhood the military taste,, which seems to have been hereditary in his family. The self-elected but willingly obeyed leader of his comrades, he formed them into companies for their juvenile battles. His early repute for veracity and justice, with his athletic prowess beyond his years, made him the chosen umpire of their disputes. He wrestled, leaped, ran, threw the bar, and rode with the foremost. A spot is still pointed out, where, in his boyhood, he threw a stone across the Rappahannoc ;

he was proverbially strong of arm ; in manhood he had one of the largest hands ever seen;* and he was through life a bold and graceful horseman.

Among his manuscripts still in existence, there is one, written under thirteen years of age, which deserves to be mentioned as containing striking indications of early maturity. The piece referred to is entitled "Kules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation." These rules are written out in the form of maxims, to the number of one hundred and ten. "They form," says Mr. Sparks, who gives a considerable specimen of them, "a minute code of regulations for building up the habits of morals and manners and good conduct in very

* The late Hon. Timothy Pickering, who was Secretary of State under Washington and the elder President Adams, said, in my hearing, that General Washington was the only man whom he ever knew, that had a larger hand than himself.

young persons." Whether they were taken in a body from some manual of education, or compiled by Washington himself from various books, or framed from his own youthful observation and reflection, is unknown. The first is, perhaps, the more probable supposition. If compiled by a lad under thirteen, and still more if the fruit of his own meditations, they would constitute a most extraordinary example of early prudence and thoughtfulness. Some of the rules, which form a part of this youthful code of manners and morals, had their influence over Washington and gave a complexion to his habits, through life.

Washington's early education did not extend beyond his own language, nor was that taught grammatically either in England or this country a hundred years ago. The grammatical rules of the English tongue were first learned from the study of the Latin language. Washington gave some attention to the French in after-life, when the armies of Count de Rochambeau were placed under his command; but he never attempted to speak or write it. By long practice, attentive reading of good authors, and scrupulous care in the preparation of his letters and other compositions, he acquired a correct and perspicuous English style.

While he was still at school, a project was formed by some of his relatives and friends, which, if it had taken effect, would have changed the entire course of his life. His oldest brother, Lawrence, had been an officer in the war lately waged to avenge the loss of " Captain Jenkins's ears;" he had served as a captain on the Spanish Main, and formed friendly relations with General Wentworth and Admiral Vernon. Observing the military turn of his brother George, he naturally thought he should promote his advancement in life by placing him in the British service. A midshipman's warrant was obtained for him, no doubt through Admiral Vernon's interest; but the prophetic heart of the mother rebelled at the last moment, and the project was abandoned, although his luggage, it is said, had been sent on board a ship of war lying in the Potomac.

Washington is unquestionably to be added to the list of eminent men whose characters have been moulded by a mother's influence. The control of their children's property, devolved upon her by the will of her husband, shows his confidence in her discretion and energy ; and tradition represents her as a woman of vigorous character, fully equal to the trust. The modest dwelling in Fredericksburg, in which she passed the latter part of her life, is still standing, and, in its unpretending style and dimensions, forms a striking contrast with the ambitious, half-finished monument over her grave. She educated her children in habits of frugality, diligence, and virtue. Books, at that time, were few; the luxuries, not the daily food of the mind, even among persons of fortune and leisure. With those in narrower circumstances, the range of reading did not extend much beyond the Bible, manuals of devotion, the sermons of some standard divine, and books of practical piety. Among the few books belonging to the elder generation, and still preserved at Mount Vernon, is a well-worn copy of Sir Matthew Hale's "Contemplations," a volume which had belonged to George Washington's father, and in which the names of his two wives, Jane and Mary, are written, each in her own handwriting, on the blank page. It would not be difficult to point out in the character of Washington some practical exemplification of the maxims of the Christian life, as laid down by that illustrious magistrate.

It is worthy of remark, that, although he had not himself received a college education, Washington entertained decided opinions of its utility. He appropriated the shares in the Potomac and James Kiver Canal, presented to him by the legislature of Virginia, for the endowment of collegiate institutions, and recommended, in his last annual message to Congress, the foundation of a national university at the seat of the general government.

Chapter II

Washington commences Life as a Surveyor of Lord Fairfax's Estates His Duties in that Capacity First Military Appointment Accompanies his Brother to Barbadoes Takes the Small-Pox in the natural Way in that Island Approach of the Seven Years' War New Commission as Adjutant-General of the Northern Division.

WE have now reached the period in the life of Washington, when he may be considered as passing from boyhood to youth, and when the serious, though unconscious, training for his great public career began. His older brother Lawrence, who stood to him in many respects in the place of a parent, had removed to the estate near Hunting Creek to which he gave the name of MOUNT VERNON, in honor of his friend the " gallant V ernon,"

the commander of the naval expedition against the Spanish Main, commemorated in "Thomson's Seasons." George had ever been a favorite with his brother Lawrence, and on leaving school went to reside at Mount Vernon. His time was passed, in the pleasant season of the year, in the usual round of plantation employment, visiting, and sports; and in the winter was devoted to his favorite study of surveying. By way of practice, accurate plans were taken by him of Hunting Creek and the neighboring estates, some of which are still preserved among his papers.