GEORGE WASHINGTON
AND
THE WESTLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
(With the exception of the maps and line drawings, the illustrations
face the pages indicated)
THE VIRGINIA COLONEL...................              Frontispiece
"WAKEFIELD," VIRGINIA, WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE...............  4
CHAIN, COMPASSES, AND SCALE, DRAWN BY WASHINGTON............  9
LORD FAIRFAX...............................................  8
COMPASS DRAWN BY WASHINGTON...............................  25
WASHINGTON'S JOURNEY TO FORT LE BOEUF.......................  37
WASHINGTON CROSSING THE ALLEGHENY WITH GIST................ 48
WASHINGTON'S MAP OF HIS "JOURNEY TO THE OHIO," I753.........   51
JUMONVILLE'S GRAVE.........................................  64
HISTORICAL MAP OF THE REDSTONE COUNTRY...............  79
SURRENDER OF FORT NECESSITY, JULY 4, I754..................... 86
FORT NECESSITY RECONSTRUCTED................................   87
BRADDOCK'S TRAIL........................................... 103
ORIGINAL GRAVE OF GENERAL BRADDOCK......................... Io8
BRADDOCK'S GRAVE AND MONUMENT.............................. I09
THE VIRGINIA FRONTIER) I756-I758....9......................... II9
ROADS  TO  FORT  DUQUESNE,  758................................  127
WASHINGTON'S JOURNEY ON AND ALONG THE OHIO, I770............ I43
WASHINGTON'S MILL NEAR PERRYOPOLIS, PENNSYLVANIA............ I54
WASHINGTON'S WESTERN TOUR, I784............................. 179
[ viii ]82              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
stated by Voltaire, it was perhaps of English origin, as the
French very few heavy cannons at Fort Necessity. Traveling
up stream and from Red Stone by a poor road, they were only
five days out from the Forks.29
Whoever fired the first shot at Fort Necessity, accounts
agree that the battle which followed was hotly contested during a period of nine hours, beginning about eleven o'clock A.M.,
July 3, I754.30 At the outset, according to his own account,
Washington tried to induce his assailants to fight in the open.
For this purpose, while they were about six hundred paces distant, he called all of his men to arms and "drew up in order
before our trenches to await their nearer approach." But as
they continued to remain under cover, though advancing, Washington retired to his trenches and reserved his fire. Finally
convinced that they had no mind to force his position, as he
had expected, he ordered his command to fire. From this point
the battle settled down to a more or less routine affair, disturbed only by a single feint at an attack on the part of the
French and Indians. It rained almost incessantly during the
entire time, as a consequence of which Washington's artillery
was put out of commission, and the interior of the Fort and the
ground immediately surrounding it became a quagmire. (See
Appendix A).
As night came on the defenders doubtless considered their
doom sealed, so desperate was their situation. Washington's
swivel guns had done good execution, and many of the enemy,
later and probably erroneously estimated by him at three hundred, were dead and wounded.31 But one-third of his own total effectives were casualties, thirty of them with their lives;
ammunition was all but spent; survivors were starved and exhausted; Indian allies, including the Half-King, had deserted;
one hundred sick men out of a total of four hundred, were
practical casualties; and the effective assailants outnumbered
the defenders five, and probably six, to one.
Knowing that these facts and conditions could not be entirely
concealed, an enemy proposal for a parley, made early in theevening, was suspected by Washington as a "Deceit" and was
declined, care being taken meanwhile to keep them from seeing the inside of the Fort. A second offer of the same kind
was declined likewise but with greater coolness and determination. Whereupon the enemy made a third proposal which
Washington accepted and sent Captain Van Braam and Ensign
William Peyronie to ascertain what was wanted.32 The resulting "Articles of Capitulation," in the drafting of which Villiers, when not himself participating, was represented by M. de
Mercier, were written and signed about midnight,33 July 3, but
they did not become effective until the next morning.
Because of the conditions under which they were drafted
but more especially because of the claims and counterclaims to
which they give rise, these Articles are of more than passing
importance. Prefaced by references to the peaceful relations
then existing between France and England and by expressions
of a desire to preserve peace, they permitted "the English commander" to "retire into his own country," and to carry with him
his remaining supplies, excepting only heavy artillery which,
according to a subsequent agreement not a part of the Articles,
was destroyed. Since the English had scarcely "any horses or
oxen left," they were allowed to keep their supplies and to guard
them with troops until such a time as they could return, but
they were not to work on any "establishment either in the surrounding country or beyond the Highlands during one year
beginning from this day." Although Washington was forbidden
to fly the English flag,34 he was otherwise accorded "honors of
war," as an earnest of which he was permitted to withdraw
"with beating drums, and with a small piece of cannon." Of
greater importance to Villiers was the provision for the immediate return of the prisoners taken, "when they assassinated
Sieur de Jumonville." For the faithful execution of this promise hostages were demanded and given. In retreating the English were not to receive hindrance or insult "from us French,
and... as much as shall be in our power from the Savages that
are with us."
83
FORT NECESSITYWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
The Fort Necessity Articles of Capitulation have been accepted as prima facie evidence of Washington's "first and only"
decisive military defeat. Confirming this belief were subsequent expressions of Villiers regarding his treatment of the
English,35 as well as Washington's admission of defeat. However, this "defeat" was anything but decisive in itself. On this
point one might ask why Villiers, in search of revenge and instructed to pay his Indian allies with scalps, stopped short of his
objectives? Prevailing frontier practices would have condoned
the complete annihilation of Washington's command as a fitting
punishment for the alleged "assassination" of Jumonville, and
little was done by the French, certainly on the following day, to
restrain their Indian allies. A reasonable inference is that it
was not in Villiers's power to have his way at Fort Necessity.
In other words, the results of the battle which took place there
were not quite so decisive as has been generally conceded.
Whatever may be the facts in this matter, there is no denying that the French at Fort Necessity had limitations. First
of all, it was not to their best interest to press the issues of peace
and war at that time and place.36 France was then in the midst
of a diplomatic revolution which in a short time, reshaped the
map of Europe. As yet her allies in an impending world conflict had not been determined, and until that could be done,
she was willing to allow the question of the ownership of the
Ohio Valley to rest with the peaceful exclusion of the English,
however temporary. Such a course would postpone war, while
it, at the same time, seemed to assure the certain and speedy return of the French prisoners taken in the Jumonville skirmish.
Doubtless there were among them persons who were very close
to Villiers, but he will speak for himself on that point:
We considered that nothing could be more advantageous to the
nation than this capitulation, as it was unnatural in the time of peace
to make prisoners. We made the English consent to sign that they
had assassinated my brother in his camp. We took hostages for the
French, who were in their power; we caused them to abandon the
lands belonging to the King; we obliged them to leave their cannon,
84FORT NECESSITY                      8 5
which consisted of nine pieces; we had destroyed all their horses and
cattle, and made them sign that the favor we granted them was only
to prove how much we desired to treat them as friends. That very
night the articles were signed, and I received in camp the hostages
whom I had demanded.37
Despite his use, in the paragraph just quoted above, of such
terms as "we made," "we took," "we obliged them," "we granted
them," etc., Villiers at Fort Necessity was handicapped otherwise than by the international exigencies of the situation. On
their face, the Articles of Capitulation signed there do not reveal this, but it is now known that they were a product of compromise and mutual concession;38 that they were drafted and
signed in the rain and by candlelight; and that the provisions
regarding the "assassination" of Jumonville, as already indicated in Chapter IV of this work, was an inadvertence due most
likely to the ignorance of Van Braam. If Villiers was actuated
by a desire to grant a favor, as he later claimed, it must be said
that Washington's confidence in the Frenchman's honesty was
equal to any concessions he made.
The truth is that Villiers at Fort Necessity, was himself
short of supplies, that he did not have heavy artillery and that
his men with their smooth-bore, large-muzzled, short-barreled
guns were no match for Virginia sharpshooters with their eightfoot rifles of small bore. On these points respective casualties
are significant. Then, too, Villiers is said to have feared for the
loyalty of his Indian allies. Besides, and doubtless more important still, he expected the English to be strongly reenforced
at any time, so effectively had Washington impressed him by his
own masterly bearing and by his wise use of Indian agents, both
friendly and unfriendly. Under the circumstances the decision
of Villiers to hasten his departure39 from Fort Necessity may
have been significant of more than a willingness on his part to
carry out a mutual agreement to retire, "they back to their
post on the Monongahela, and we to Wills Creek."40
Clearly Washington in defeat was the outstanding character
at- Fort Necessity. By foresight and diplomacy he gained whatWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
he could not have won in the wager of battle. If Villiers expected him to be reenforced, he could have himself determined
the facts in the situation, inasmuch as he commanded it. If he
feared the desertion of his Indian allies,4' he should have known
and possibly did know that Indian warriors rarely desert the
winner. As a matter of fact there were few if any desertions
among the French Indians, and early July 4, one hundred additional braves joined them and persisted in annoying the retiring English.
It is thus obvious that Washington was already demonstrating those qualities of courage and leadership indicative
of his future greatness. Outnumbered four to one, including his ineffectives, his defeat at Fort Necessity was due not
so much to the prowess of the enemy as to a needless lack of
preparation and cooperation on the part of the American Colonies, to the favoritism and the incompetency with which he
was surrounded, and to the absence of enthusiasm on the part
of any one, except himself and Dinwiddie. Had the latter
ordered all available forces, particularly those from New York,
to advance to Washington's aid and had he kept Washington
supplied following his skirmish with Jumonville, the story of
Fort Necessity would doubtless have been differently told.42
To the English the results of Fort Necessity were unmistakably bad. According to Bancroft, the historian, "in the valley of the Mississippi no standard floated but that of France,"43
but worse still the English Indian allies deserted to the French
in large numbers. Speeches, wampum, trinkets, and rum availed
nothing to prevent this. The defection extended even to the
Six Nations who were reported by the Governor of New York
to be "dejected on the defeat of Colo[nel] Washington." The
Half-King hid his wife and children and died shortly thereafter believing that the French had bewitched him for his part
in the slaying of Jumonville. The effects of Indian desertions were evident during the long hostilities that followed, as
may be inferred from an extract of a report of that shrewd
and successful Indian agent, Conrad Weiser, in which he said:
86STIRRENDER OF FORT NECESSITY, J-ULY 4, 1754
From aan elngraving by David Shriver Stewart,FORT NECESSITY AS RECONSTRUCTED AT THE TIME OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON
BICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION"It was very unfortunate for the English Interest, that, at
the same Time the Affections of the Indians were alienated from
us by the Abuses committed in Trade, and by our dispossessing
them  of their Lands, their Opinion of our Military Abilities
was very much lessened."44
Forgetful of the fact that Washington was practically forced
into defending himself at Fort Necessity, critics have condemned him for the selection of such a site. With clumps
of elders and briers here and there it was a low open place in
the primeval forest, intersected by a small stream. At varying
distances from the fort of approximately one hundred yards
this spot, then called "the Meadows," was surrounded by gradually rising hills.45 To the uninformed observer from the
National Road which passes to the North at a distance of four
or five hundred yards, the site of Fort Necessity, from the military standpoint is today simply impossible, as it was to some
persons one hundred eighty years ago. On this point a statement credited to the Half-King and approved by the late Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, as having "a deal of truth," is
relevant:
The colonel was a good-natured man, but had no experience; he
took upon him to command the Indians as his slaves, and would have
them every day upon the scout and to attack the enemy by themselves, but would by no means take advice from the Indians. He lay
in one place from one full moon to the other, without making any
fortifications, except that little thing on the meadow; whereas, had
he taken advice, and built such fortifications as I advised him, he
might easily have beat off the French. But the French in the engagement acted like cowards, and the English like fools.46
As a precaution against such superficial conclusions as those
of the Half-King and the late Senator Lodge, it is well to recall
that Washington's first choice of Fort Necessity was deliberate,
though not for the engagement which took place there. When
he first reached Great Meadows on May 24, I754, he began to
construct there a fort regarding which he wrote Governor Dinwiddie: "We have, with Nature's assistance, made a good InFORT NECESSITY
87WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
trenchment, and, by clearing the Bushes out of these Meadows,
prepar'd a charming field for an Encounter."47 And such it
seems to have been. First of all, it was an "open place," perhaps the only one there, certainly the largest one available to
the youthful commander. As the enemy, particularly the Indians fought from cover which was here removed somewhat
beyond the range of the guns then used by the French, a
"charming" feature of Fort Necessity is apparent. Bullets discovered in excavations for its reconstruction in replica, have disclosed the fact that from a ballistic standpoint, it was next to
perfect for its time and conditions. This conclusion is confirmed
by a study of wall angles and possible palisade heights. The
Fort had also a water supply from a stream which passed under
one of its angular corners. Although I754 was an unusually
"wet" year, other years were exceptionally dry in this region.
Therefore a water supply was a matter of prime consideration.
These discoveries and reflections reveal the possibility of
still others, all or any of which might throw additional light
upon events and conditions in the Trans-Allegheny region on
the eve of the French and Indian, or Seven Years, War. However that may be, on July, 4 I754, while Villiers was making
ready to hasten back to the Forks, Washington marched away
from Fort Necessity at the head of his men on pretty much his
own terms and conditions, the Articles of Capitulation under
which he retired, in their final form, being a product of compromise and mutual concession. From the beginning of his
march to Wills Creek, Washington's chief concern was for the
safety of his sick and wounded. Early in the day he was harassed by Indians who interfered with his men; took portions of
his baggage; and, most harmful of all, destroyed Dr. Craik's
medicine box, thus preventing him from caring properly for the
sick and wounded.48  Consequently on his first day out Washington made only three miles, but after a night of rest, marauding Indians having been driven off, he hastened his march to
Wills Creek, where an inspection was made, reports drawn up,
and losses determined.
88FORT NECESSITY                     89
Leaving their men in charge of Colonel Innes and Captain
Stephen and seemingly unconcerned with the fact that they had
made history, Washington and Mackay set out from Wills
Creek direct to Williamsburg to report the details of their defeat. Here, possibly to their surprise, they were received graciously, even honorably. With energy and resourcefulness
spurred doubtless by the fact that his own reputation was at
stake, Dinwiddie not only stood by Washington in Virginia, but
he also wrote letters to Governors in neighboring colonies and
to persons in England praising him in the highest terms. As a
consequence of these activities and the generally friendly and
understanding attitude of the public Washington was promoted
from the rank of Lieutenant Colonel to the rank of Colonel,
and, excepting only Lieutenant Colonel George Muse, accused
of cowardice, and Captain Van Braam, a victim of ignorance and
poor candlelight, Washington's officers were all promoted, and
each of his men received a bounty of five pistoles, while both
officers and men were given land bounties as well.
Shortly after Washington returned to Williamsburg he was
again sent to Alexandria to recruit and train soldiers, for, despite
the terms of his capitulation at Fort Necessity, Dinwiddie was
resolved to strike at the enemy again and at once. For the most
part Washington's new job was a round of hopeless routine with
ragged idlers and insolent adventurers. Mutinies were frequent,
and some of his immediate command deserted. On August 20,
twenty-five slipped away while he was at church, and he reported others as ragged and without credit, "even for a Hatt."
To prevent the complete disruption of his command he finally
asked Dinwiddie, "how far the Martial Law may be extended,"
for it had become "absolutely necessary that an Example be
made of some for warning to others."49
Trying as these experiences must have been, they were not
half so disturbing to Washington as was Dinwiddie's nonchalant
refusal to abide by the conditions of Washington's capitulation
at Fort Necessity, particularly his promise to return the French
prisoners. In this matter Dinwiddie maintained that WashingGEORGE WASHINGTON
AND
THE WESTton had no authority to make binding promises regarding
prisoners not in his possession, but Washington regarded Dinwiddie's refusal to return the French prisoners as involving his
own personal honor and integrity. Besides, he had given his
friends, Van Braam and Robert Stobo, as hostages for the fulfillment of his pledge.50 Although the indifference to Van
Braam could have been justified on the ground of fit punishment for troublesome pretentions, Captain Stobo was a capable
and patriotic engineer, who perhaps more than any other person
was responsible for Fort Necessity, and the French prisoners
were helpless. Meanwhile the ethics and justice involved in
their capture and detention had become a subject of international
interest and comment. Nevertheless, Dinwiddie remained
adamant.
The comparative quiet in the recruiting and training of soldiers at Alexandria gave Washington an opportunity to ponder
and assimilate the lessons of his most recent experiences. Fortunately for him, for his country at large, and possibly for the
world, he had this time to think. Already in the international
limelight, he had scarcely settled himself, when varying reports
of his experiences, most of them uncomplimentary, began to
reach him. In France he was an "assassin," in England a "braggart," and among his recent Indian allies a plain fool.51 These
and similar criticisms pricked him to the heart and caused him
sleepless night hours.
There were still other phases of this situation. It was first
of all an acid test of Washington's friends who, without notable
exception, remained loyal. Among them was Dr. Craik who
was with Washington at Fort Necessity and who formed an
attachment for him that lasted as long as they lived.52 Washington, the true soldier, probably found great satisfaction in the
fact that no one, not even the fickle Half-King, spoke of him
as a coward, but more consoling and sustaining was a consciousness of work reasonably well done, and that against great
odds, with practically no intelligent cooperation on the part of
superiors. Atoning somewhat for this indifference was the
9o
~WASHINGTON AND THE WVESTFORT NECESSITY                      91
satisfaction, rare to subalterns, of having been able to point out,
at various times, some of the mistakes and shortcomings of the
ruling Virginia hierarchy.
Presumptuous as Washington's criticisms of his superiors
may have been, they were in the main wholesome, as such
things are when motivated by character and patriotic purpose.
In the face of the criticism Washington himself was receiving,
his criticisms of others and his friends' intercessions for him
were a part of the give and take of life out of which come
moderation, self-restraint, knowledge, and progress. Suffice it
to say that Washington never again rushed unprepared into any
important undertaking for which he was responsible; never
again did he yield quite so completely to his passions and prejudices in dealing with men; and never again did he build a
defense so vulnerable as was Fort Necessity. In fact, he was
already in a fair way to become the American Fabius, a distinction which he later merited and received.CHAPTER VI
BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA1
CHAFING UNDER the sting of defeat at Fort Necessity and laboring under the impression that the French were temporarily off
guard at Fort Duquesne, Governor Dinwiddie, in the summer
of I754, set about to retrieve the English losses in the Ohio
Valley and to vindicate their claims to ownership of that region.
It was for this purpose that George Washington was again
stationed at Alexandria to enlist and train volunteers, but the
assignment was only a small part of the enlarged and aggressive
program then in process of formation. In behalf of civil and
religious liberty,2 Dinwiddie again appealed to the Virginia Assembly for funds; governors of neighboring colonies were entreated in the same strain to the same end; and because of
alleged supineness and malicious designs of colonial assemblies,
the home government was: asked for immediate succor.3
Equally significant of a new mind and purpose^'were the
comparatively generous responses to these requests. Colonies
most directly concerned showed a disposition to cooperate in the
common defense; and, as the result of a conference between the
governors of Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland, a plan
of military operation was agreed upon. This contemplated the
immediate capture of Fort Duquesne and the planting of the
English flag on Lake Erie.4  To this end Governor Horatio
Sharpe of Maryland displaced Dinwiddie as commander-in-chief
of the forces raised in the central and southern colonies; colonial
assemblies seriously considered the situation; Virginia, appropriated twenty thousand pounds, "a handsome Supply"; to
which the home government added ten thousand pounds and
two thousand stands of arms. It mattered not that the former
grant carried a rider appropriating two thousand five hundred
[92]BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA                 93
pounds to pay the expenses of Peyton Randolph, Esq., on a
mission to England to prefer charges against the impetuous Dinwiddie.5 In comparison with anything yet given him, the
Virginia grant was unprecedented and was for that reason, encouraging and acceptable.
As Governor Sharpe was now in command, thus placating
somewhat the differences between Virginia and Maryland, it
was decided to build a fortified outpost at Wills Creek, now
Cumberland, Maryland.6   For this purpose Colonel James
Innes, left behind following the capitulation of Fort Necessity,
was selected and subsequently recruits were drawn from Washington's "ragmuffins" at Alexandria for the defense of the fort.
Ignoring the strategy of the situation, which would have indicated an attack at some point on the Lakes, Washington's previous defeat at Fort Necessity, together with the influence of
land jobbers, particularly those of the Ohio Company, determined this location. The new post was named Fort Cumberland in honor of the Duke of Cumberland, victor of Culloden
and Captain General of the English Army. At the time of its
construction it was the most advanced fortified English outpost
in the West, which, together with Dinwiddie's enthusiasm, was
the magnet which led General Braddock to his death on the
Monongahela.7
Although honeycombed with inefficiency, these military
preparations were doubtless pleasing to Washington who admittedly liked to "hear the bullets whistle." It must therefore
have been with great reluctance and a real desire to vindicate
principles that, in October, I754, he resigned his military commission and retired to Mount Vernon. While seemingly trivial,
these principles involved more than the immediate points at
issue. They were fraught with a rising tide of resentment of
discriminations of the home government against things colonial
and explained in part why Washington later became a "patriot."
They also throw light upon Washington's character, revealing a
person of courage, force, and independence.
Although other things, such as Dinwiddie's alleged incomWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
petence, must have been involved, the assigned reason for Washington's retirement was his dissatisfaction with certain rules and
regulations controlling the rank and authority of officers in the
regular and provincial armies. To avoid such differences as had
arisen between him and Colonel Mackay at Fort Necessity, Dinwiddie hit upon the plan of dividing all the armed forces under
his command into ten independent companies, with no officer
higher than a captain. While automatically demoting Washington, this ruling was not nearly so objectionable to him as was
an order from the home government that regular officers of
whatever rank should outrank provincials whenever and whereever a question of jurisdiction was involved. This placed Washington under officers whom he formerly commanded, and rather
than accept such a status, he resigned. As has been truthfully
said: "The degradation of being ranked by every whippersnapper who might hold a royal commission by virtue, perhaps,
of being the bastard son of some nobleman's cast-off mistress was
more than the temper of George Washington could bear."8
In an effort to dissuade Washington from this decision, Governor Sharpe offered him a commission with the rank of colonel
and the duties of captain. Whether or not Sharpe's previous
criticisms of Washington's alleged failure at Fort Necessity and
his subsequent inability to explain these criticisms influenced
Washington in declining this offer, would be difficult to determine, but the fact remains that he declined it in what amounted
to a rebuke to "his Excellency."
The opportunity thus afforded a private citizen to condemn
the senseless dicta of official bureaucracy, while giving expression
to his own convictions and sentiments, was just too good to let
pass, and Washington accepted it in these words: "I think the
disparity between the present offer of a company and my former
rank too great to expect any real satisfaction or enjoyment in a
corps, where I once did, or thought I had a right to, command....If you think me capable of holding a commission that has
neither rank nor emolument annexed to it, you must entertain
94BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA                 95
a very contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe me to
be more empty than the commission itself."9
A commendable feature of Washington's retirement from
military life was its sincerity. Without a suggestion of the
bluffer or the temporizer, he simply burned his bridges behind
him. Unlike the small man, he said nothing about prerogatives
or his plans for the future, doubtless conscious of the fact that
they would take care of themselves. He carried into retirement,
however, the consolation that he had helped to open a way to the
interior, and that, too, against great odds; that he had "stood
the heat and brunt of the day, and escaped untouched in time
of extreme danger"; and that he had the thanks of his country
for services rendered.10 To some, this self-consolation was
doubtless only the vain babblings of a conceited braggart; but
as now seen, it flowed from a fountain of conscious power and
patriotic fervor.
While Washington, at the age of twenty-two, was indulging
himself in the language and the thought of a retired veteran,
the home government announced its purpose to send Major
General Edward Braddock to command his Majesty's troops in
America.ll This generalissimo, the first of a long list, was
almost three times Washington's age; he had seen forty-three
years' service, most of it in the famous Coldstream Guards; and
he had heard bullets whistle in the bloody battles of Dettingen,
Culloden, Fontenoy, and Bergen-op-Zoom. Although born in
Ireland, he was neither Irish nor Roman Catholic; although
obsessed with a zeal for discipline, he is said to have been unable
to control his own appetites and passions; although a veteran, on
the American frontier he was a raw recruit.
In the absence of knowledge of military conditions in America at the time of his arrival, Braddock's virtues and weaknesses
cannot be fully appreciated. In command of the famous 44th
and 48th regiments of five hundred soldiers each, he landed at
Hampton Roads, February 20, 1755, whence he proceeded directly to Williamsburg.l2  Here he reported his entire command "all in Health, not one Sick," but he was disgusted to find96              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
the assembly and Dinwiddie wrangling over taxes and prerogatives.l3 Pennsylvania and Virginia were also sparring for advantages, the bone of contention being the route of Braddock's
proposed march into the interior, involving as it did control of
the first important intercommunication between the East and
the West. He was literally besieged by horse traders trying to
dispose of their sickliest nags. In their greed for profits, South
Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York were trading with the
enemy, thus helping to keep them in supplies; the defense of
the Virginia frontier was being left entirely to militiamen and
indifferent rangers; recruits for his own expedition were being
drawn from volunteers, vagrants only being drafted; and the
only experienced local leader was reported as sulking in retirement.
Nor was the Indian situation any better. Despite the fact
that an attack upon Fort Duquesne was contemplated and that
such an undertaking was next to impossible without the aid of
Indian allies, the Indians had all but vanished. In departing
they had not even concealed their disgust with Washington's
defeat at Fort Necessity and with Dinwiddie's subsequent failures in Indian relations. It is true that George Croghan had
succeeded in salvaging about a hundred warriors and squaws,
but these were wholly inadequate for the execution of the proposed undertaking. Moreover, the Winchester conference of
1754, called with a view to bringing about friendly relations
between the Cherokees and the Iroquois and enlisting their
united cooperation with the British, had failed. As a consequence the Indians, other than the Cherokees and the Iroquois,
were almost completely in the control of the French.l4
Indeed, Braddock seems to have been foredoomed from the
beginning, but the Americans and America were not alone responsible for the workings of fate. On this point it should be
recalled that the "famous 44th and 48th regiments of two thousand regulars" actually contained an aggregate of less than one
thousand men; that they had recently mutinied in Ireland; and
that their selection for the American expedition was rather aBATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
punishment than a reward, as was also the selection of their commander. Horace Walpole characterized the former as "the
worst type, who, had they not been in the army, would probably
have been in Bridewell [prison]."15
In the face of admitted difficulties, Braddock, after the manner of one accustomed to obeying and being obeyed, set about
the task before him. February 26, I755, he took up temporary
headquarters at Alexandria, a short distance from Mount Vernon, where George Washington was then residing as a private
citizen with possibly greater interest in the British regulars than
in his estate. However that may be, he found a way, probably
through the forgiving and appreciative Dinwiddie or through
Colonel John L. Peyton and others who appreciated the merits
of Washington's services at Fort Necessity, to let "the General"
know that he would be willing "to make this Campaigne," provided it could be arranged without embarrassment in the matter
of his previous commitments.'6 The presence of British regulars, with the rare opportunity thus afforded to learn military
discipline from a reputed disciplinarian, had fanned Washington's increasing fondness for things military and made imperative
some response to duty's call. He was probably already regretting his civilian status and had expressed a desire to join the
Braddock expedition as a volunteer.
Fortunately its leader was not devoid of appreciation of
character and worth in others, a good sign of their presence in
himself. He was in desperate need of counsel, and, contrary
to general impressions regarding him, he had sense enough to
seek it. Thus knowledge of Washington's accomplishments
sufficed to convince Braddock of his possible helpfulness to him.
It mattered not that the young ex-colonel had only a few months
before suffered defeat at the hands of the French and Indians;
that he was still the laughingstock of certain social and military
circles in Europe; and that former Indian allies continued to
speak of him as a fool. Braddock considered him entirely competent and desirable for a place in his official family. Accordingly, seven days after Braddock's arrival in Alexandria, he
9798              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
asked the young Virginia civilian to join his command in the
capacity of aide-de-camp.
The day following the receipt of this invitation, March 15,
I755, Washington accepted it in his usual dignified and straightforward manner.'7 It offered a rare and agreeable position in
which to serve his country and his King, while attaining an
intimate "knowledge in the military profession." Subsequently
the details of his services were arranged through Robert Orme,
an associate staff officer; and, having put his personal affairs in
shape and arranged to carry on a clandestine correspondence
with Sally Fairfax and possibly one or two other women friends,
Washington was off again to war. The entreaties of his mother
against such a course were met by the gracious assurance that the
God to whom she had commended him on a previous occasion
would care for him on this. In a parting shot at Virginia's incompetent officialdom, Washington doubtless took pride in informing it of his opportunity to serve his country in a position
of honor and trust, where questions of rank and pay did not
enter.
Rejoicing in his freedom from all commands, except those
of his immediate superior, Washington joined Braddock's army
May I, I755, at Frederick, Maryland. Here he first met Braddock, and May io, Washington's appointment to be "Aid-deCamp to His Excellency General Braddock" was announced.l8
Although they detested provincials, his fellow staff officers,
together with the British regular officers, greeted Washington
cordially, a recognition of his accomplishments. This was notably true of Braddock, who admired him at first sight, a fact as
complimentary to the General as it was to the young student
of military tactics.
Washington's ability to throw himself whole-heartedly into
his new duties was doubtless as gratifying to himself as it was to
his associates. Instead of the brutal, obstinate, and incapable
commander that he has since been pictured to have been, Brad-,dock was a counselor and a friend, who, in Washington's words
to his brother, "Jack," "uses, and requires less ceremony thanBATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA                 99
you can well conceive."'9 Had it occurred to the sturdy Britisher, however, that his young staff officer in "observing everything and forgetting nothing" was learning lessons to be used
later in breaking the British power in America, he probably
would have been less kind and indulgent, since Braddock loved
his country supremely.
In the meantime other plans for the proposed expedition
were being rapidly formulated. The governors of Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia had
met Braddock in conference at Alexandria and agreed upon a
plan of campaign. This contemplated the immediate capture of
forts Duquesne, Niagara, and Crown Point, and the erection of
a British fortress upon Lake Erie. More important still, the
interested governors promised to raise a common fund to make
these undertakings possible, and to be responsible for the erection of the proposed fortress.20
The General was, however, far from sanguine. It is true
that his crack regiments were being recruited to their full
strength by provincials, mostly Virginians, "but their languid,
spiritless and unsoldierlike appearance considered with the lowness and ignorance of most of their officers gave little hopes of
their good behaviour."  More discouraging still, Braddock
found it next to impossible to keep his soldiers, of whatever
origin, sober by any amount of whipping. In desperation he
was preparing to leave Alexandria; sutlers were forbidden to
sell any soldier more than one gill of spirit a day; and drunks
were to receive two hundred lashes for each offense.2'
Nor was the situation from the viewpoint of necessary supplies more encouraging. Pennsylvania and Maryland had refused to pay anything toward them, and the twenty thousand
pounds voted by Virginia had "been expended tho not yet collected." Predicting that the home government would have to
be largely responsible for financing his expedition, despite many
promises to the contrary, Braddock hoped, nevertheless, "to be
upon the mountains early in May," and sometime in June to be100            WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
able "to dispatch an Express with some Account of the Event
of our operations upon the Ohio."
Alternating between hopes and fears, Braddock, April 9,
ordered a detachment of his army to leave Alexandria for Fort
Cumberland. It consisted of companies of the 44th Regiment,
commanded by Sir Peter Halkett, and marched by way of Winchester, Virginia. Nine days later, Colonel Thomas Dunbar
followed, leading the main body of the 48th Regiment by way
of Frederick, Maryland, while Braddock and Colonel Gage,
later of Revolutionary fame, in command of heavy artillery,
brought up the rear, by way of Winchester. With each command, in addition to the regulars, were detachments of "pioneers," carpenters, and rangers, most of whom were Virginians.
The names of the minor officials in these commands suggest
an official roster of Virginians in the American Revolutionary
Army. John Rutherford, William Polson and Hugh Mercer
commanded "independents" and pioneers, while Thomas Waggener, Adam Stephen, Peter Hogg, and Thomas Cocke were in
command of Virginia rangers. Joining the command later were
Andrew Lewis and Captain Robert Stewart, each in command
of Virginians. Christopher Gist and his son, Nathaniel, acted
as guides, and George Croghan, temporarily a Virginian, and
Andrew Montour were interpreters.22  For the Virginians the
French and Indian War was indeed a training school for the
Revolution.
Practically all of Braddock's command, which included many
officers in addition to those indicated, assembled at Fort Cumberland between May I o and May 20o, but success in reaching
this outpost had not disillusioned its capable and vigilant commander. Promised funds and supplies had not arrived, nor were
they in sight. In desperation Washington was sent east for
money which he borrowed to the amount of four thousand
pounds. Dinwiddie was unable to supply a penny. To transport his loan to the interior, Washington conscripted eight
militiamen, the only persons whom he actually commanded on
this expedition. They were two days in getting ready for theBATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
trip, and Washington expressed the belief that "they wou'd not
have been more than as many seconds dispersing" in the event
of danger.23
At this juncture, horses, cattle, and wagons were more important to Braddock than was cash, but as he had no reason to
expect the former from promised sources, he appealed to Benjamin Franklin, then "postmaster of Pennsylvania, and a Man
of great Influence in that Province." By placating certain selfish
interests of the Pennsylvania Germans, Franklin was able to
provide quickly "Is50 Waggons and a Number of Horses," as a
result of which Braddock saw in him "almost the only Instance
of Ability and Honesty" he had found "in these provinces."
For a rather dxtravagant use of profanity in expressing his condemnation of these things, he has long since been forgiven, for
said he to a superior: "It would be endless, Sir, to particularize
the numberless Instances of the want of public and private
Faith, and of the most absolute Disregard of all Truth, which
I have met with in carrying on of His Majesty's Service on this
continent."24
Under such conditions Braddock's force again became demoralized.25  When "not fed with Bread, and paid with
Money," officials joined privates in talking about the rights of
"Englishmen and Protestants." To pangs of hunger were
added snake bites and the annoyance of wood ticks, and tried and
trusted officers were forced to the conclusion that the day upon
which they bought their commissions was the most unfortunate
of their lives. Either of Braddock's two cooks could have made
"an excellent Ragout out of a Pair of Boots," but that was impossible because of a lack of materials. The customary thousand lashes amounted to sheer cruelty, but they were used,
nevertheless, for Braddock had resolved to be as free with his
punishment as his soldiers were with their offenses.
This deplorable situation was intensified when Croghan's
Indian recruits reached Fort Cumberland.26 Probably a fortunate circumstance for everyone, the promised Cherokees and
Catawbas did not come, for the crude war dance, demoniacal
IOII02             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
yells, and shameless indecency of those who did come shocked
and discouraged the "brutal" Braddock who was forced to use
drastic measures to prevent scandalous indecencies of his officers
with the Indian maidens. Even the Princess Bright Lightning
was so completely captivated by the gorgeous uniforms of the
British, as to give herself to reckless abandon. These disciplinary
measures offended "Jack the Black Hunter" who deserted, losing to Braddock's force a man who, under the circumstances,
was worth a whole company of regulars. Practically all the
natives followed their leader, leaving only eight to remain with
Braddock to the end.
Refusing to trace the causes of their undoing to America
rather than to individuals, Washington, with a flash of patriotism that bespoke his later Revolutionary fervor, resented Braddock's wholesale and profane impeachments of things American.
With "his two thumbs up into the armpits of his vest" he even
went so far as to advise the General and to argue matters with
him.27  That Braddock did not throw something more than
oaths at Washington, was a tribute to both, which has not been
duly appreciated. After all, each was being tested in the crucible of trials and tribulations, which often makes friendships at
the same time that it tests and tempers them.
Fully warned by Franklin and others of impending dangers,
particularly those besetting a long line of march into an inaccessible wilderness infested by a savage foe, on May 29, Braddock
ordered his vanguard to advance. The route followed was that
later known as Braddock's Road, then only a narrow and abysmal opening through a dense forest. In the course of the next
two weeks his entire force, aggregating more than two thousand
men, more than half of whom were provincials, was pushed into
this death trap. Washington urged action. When the route
was not a stream of mud, it was too frequently a veritable cloud
of dust. Descriptions of this famous highway approach the
classical.28
Hampered by inadequate transportation, Braddock made
slow progress through the wilderness. Supplies were insuffiBRADDOCK S TRAIL
Courtesy of Harry P. Blackford, C.E., Uniontown, PennsylvaniaWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
cient, and from too frequent contacts with stumps and boulders
his wagons were literally jolted to pieces. However delay meant
defeat, even in the absence of the enemy. Accordingly Washington proposed that the command be divided so as to permit
sending a lightly armed advance guard to reconnoiter the way,
while the main body carried forward the artillery and supplies.
Strange as it may seem in the light of all that has been said of
the "intractable" Braddock, this advice was accepted (see Appendix B).29 Thus by sheer force of character and ability,
Washington became a determining factor in this historic expedition. Who can doubt that under more favorable conditions, he
would have been a saving factor?
Thus emancipated, Washington and the brave Braddock,
"ever greedy to lead," joined the vanguard in a dash for a victory of which each felt reasonably certain. Although the General wavered at times, Washington was delighted with the prospect, his chief discomfiture coming from his superior's proneness
to discipline "instead of pushing on with vigour, without regarding a little rough Road," and after the European fashion "halting to level every Mold Hill" and bridging every brook.30 But
for the fact that at this juncture Washington was overtaken by
a serious illness, incapacitating him for days, his experience and
driving power might have saved the day.3' Instead, chafing
for action and dispatch as the only effective means of thwarting
the reported preparations of the enemy, he was forced to tarry
by the roadside under absolute orders from Braddock not to
move except with the permission of Dr. Craik who was instructed to dose his patient freely with Dr. James's powders.
But for the General's assurance that Washington would be permitted to join him before Fort Duquesne was attacked, this
punishment would have been intolerable.
The foregoing incident presents one of the most interesting
and possibly significant personal contacts of this expedition. In
it there is the allegedly austere and brutal Braddock, "a very
Iroquois," playing the part of a tender and sympathetic nurse
for a sick youngster. That he did not care for provincials other
Io4BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
than Washington and Benjamin Franklin, was, considering particularly the slothful and dissipated soldiers with whom he came
in daily contact, possibly a sign of wise selection rather than
of a depraved and unappreciative character. While lamenting
the loss of his own best mount, and complaining of the inattention of unnamed friends, Washington showed himself amenable
to discipline, while not forgetting or even losing interest in his
mission. Throughout, his chief desire was to rejoin his command, which he wrote Orme he "wou'd not fail in doing ere
you reach Duquisne, for 500o~.32
Although emaciated and suffering from excessive weakness,
Washington was able to realize his wish. Following Braddock
in a covered wagon from Dunbar's camp by way of Gist's and
Stewart's Crossing, on July 8 he joined the General in his
camp just below the mouth of the Youghiogheny and about two
miles east of the Monongahela.
The next morning, to avoid the defile of Turtle Creek,
Braddock's troops, with bayonets fixed and presenting one
of the most brilliant spectacles Washington had ever seen,83
marched to the Monongahela which they forded to the southwest shore. Moving thence along the left bank for about three
miles they recrossed the River at Frazier's, just below the mouth
of Turtle Creek. Thence they proceeded along the north bank
of this stream to a small tributary flowing into it from the north,
and later known as "Fall Hollow," now "Ardmore Road Hollow." Following this stream for about a quarter of a mile to
comparatively open land Braddock's army of approximately
thirteen hundred men, including five hundred regulars, came
upon approximately six hundred French and Indians under the
leadership of Captains de Beaujeu and Dumas.
The story of the "Battle of the Monongahela" or "Braddock's Field" has been too frequently and too well told to need
repetition here.34 Enough of its strategic setting will be indicated to make clear its possibilities for surprise and slaughter.
A few miles ahead stood Fort Duquesne, the surrender of which
had already been decided upon by its commander, Contrecoeur.
Io5io6             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
But for the insistence of young Captain Beaujeu, this course
would have been followed without resistance. With the aid of
his Indian allies, Beaujeu begged to be permitted to annoy and
harass the attackers. As there was nothing to lose and everything to gain, his request was granted, and he and his followers
promptly advanced into the pathway of the enemy. Here the
French and Indians were surprised and fired upon, their first
impulse being to flee. In fact one hundred French Canadians
did seek refuge in their fort, and their Indian allies, terrified
at the death of Beaujeu, would have followed, but for the
masterly control of Dumas, second in command, who as if
guided by the gods, rallied his followers and completely enveloped the British on both sides of the pathway over which
they were proceeding with the possible purpose of intercepting
the French at Washington's crossing on the Allegheny River.
The remaining part of this battle was one of the most spectacular scenes in American annals. Fighting at short range from
behind trees, logs, and stones, the French and Indians, with
unerring accuracy, poured volleys of lead into the British. By
the use of his sword and oaths Braddock compelled his men to
remain in formation. Although these tactics afforded his only
means of advance or retreat, they exposed his men to frightful
execution. Unable to see the French, the English milled like
panic-stricken animals, killing more of their companions than of
the enemy. It was only after five horses had been shot from
under him and he had fallen mortally wounded that Braddock
ordered a retreat which instantly became a rout. But for the
forceful intervention of attendants, he would have been run
down and trampled into the earth by his own men, who could
no more be restrained than "a gang of wild bears from the
mountains." (See Appendix B).
Throughout this scene of carnage, Washington conducted
himself with characteristic coolness and valor, a greater hero in
defeat than in victory. On horseback for the first time since
his illness, he wore a buckskin shirt instead of a regulation
uniform, and sat upon a pillow to protect his bony and emaciatedBATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
body from the rigidness of the saddle. It was only after committing him to the care of his own bodyservant, Bishop, with
instructions to "Keep an eye on him," that Braddock had consented to his taking the field that day. In keeping with his
position and his own ideas of discipline, he remained close to the
General but at a crucial point in the contest, when it had become
a problem of extricating themselves with the least possible loss,
he asked to be allowed to join the Virginians in the vanguard
where they had borne the brunt of the fighting, as well as the
losses. Braddock's reluctance in granting this request was as
stupid as was the act of his own men in shooting down the
rallied Virginians, when, under Washington's leadership, they
were attempting to flank the enemy and save the day. That
Washington escaped the shots of the enemy and of his companions is nothing short of marvelous. As his is as correct as
any of the numerous and varied accounts of this important
encounter, he will give it in his own words to Governor Dinwiddie:
We were attack'd (very unexpectedly I must own) by abt. 300
French and Ind'ns; Our members consisted of abt. I300 well arm'd
Men, chiefly Regular's, who were immediately struck with such a
deadly Panick, that nothing but confusion and disobedience of order's
prevail'd amongst them: The Officer's in gen'l behav'd with incomparable bravery, for which they greatly suffer'd, there being near 6o
kill'd and wound'd. A large proportion, out of the number we had!
The Virginian Companies behav'd like Men and died like Soldiers;
for I believe out of the 3 Companys that were there that day, scarce
30 were left alive: Captn. Peyrouny and all his Officer's, down to a
Corporal, were kill'd; Captn. Polson shar'd almost as hard a Fate,
for only one of his Escap'd: In short the dastardly behaviour of the
English Soldier's expos'd all those who were inclin'd to do their duty
to almost certain Death; and at length, in despight of every effort to
the contrary, broke and run as Sheep before the Hounds, leav'g the
Artillery, Ammunition, Provisions, and, every individual thing we
had with us a prey to the Enemy; and when we endeavour'd to
rally them in hopes of regaining our invaluable loss, it was with as
much success as if we had attempted to have stop'd the wild Bears of
Io7108             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
the Mountains. The Genl. was wounded behind in the shoulder,
and into the Breast, of w'ch he died three days after; his two Aids
de Camp were both wounded, but are in a fair way of Recovery;
Colo. Burton and Sir Jno. St. Clair are also wounded, and I hope
will get over it; Sir Peter Halket, with many other brave Officers
were kill'd in the Field. I luckily escap'd with't a wound tho' I
had four Bullets through my Coat and two Horses shot under me. It
is suppose that we left 300 or more dead in the Field;.. 35
A leader in action, Washington was a hero in retreat.36
Leaving eight hundred and seventy-seven dead and wounded
upon the battle field, he and the famous Indian scout and trader,
George Croghan, rushed to the aid of the wounded Braddock
in an effort to save him from scalp hunters and the feet of panicstricken men and horses. Ignoring Braddock's request to be
permitted to die upon the battle field and thwarting his attempts
at suicide, Washington and Croghan used his wide silk sash as
a stretcher from which he was transferred to a horse, thence to
a wagon. In this he was carried to the rear over "the worst road
in the world," jolting his life away. The fact that the road
was his own handiwork did not mitigate the severity of its punishment. Four days later Braddock died near the present site
of his monument on the National Road near Fort Necessity and
his remains were buried nearby in the center of the highway
which later bore his name. Washington read the burial rites
of the Anglican Church over his body.
Meanwhile, Washington, at Braddock's request, had performed heroic service in extricating the wounded and starving
from the scene of carnage on the Monongahela, into which Braddock and his aides with varying degrees of responsibility had led
them. The dead were left upon the battle field, a prey for
vultures and wild beasts. After regaling themselves in an excess
of scalping, the French and Indians appropriated the enemy
artillery and supplies, including a wagon load of presents for
the natives. It was not until years later that the bones of the
fallen were buried.
Unlike the Jumonville skirmish and the Battle of FortO)R[GINAL GR-AVE OF GENERALF BRADDOCK BY A S-MALL STREAM'NEAR HIS PRESENT GATVECHAPTER I
MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN1
A DIRECT DESCENDANT in the tenth generation from  John
Washington of Tewithfield, Lancashire, England, George Washington was born February 22, I732, on his father's estate at
Bridges Creek, later named "Wakefield," Westmoreland County,
Virginia.2  He was the eldest child of Augustine Washington
by his second wife, Mary Ball, and was christened "George" for
Major George Eskridge, his mother's guardian, and not for the
reigning king of England as has been claimed. He had three
brothers, Samuel, John, and Charles, and two sisters, Mildred,
who died in infancy, and Betty, who married Fielding Lewis,
and lived at Kenmore on the Rappahannock River, near Fredericksburg, Virginia.
With this large family, which also included for a time two
half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, children of Jane Butler,
his father's first wife, George Washington made his home until
he went to live with his half-brother, Lawrence. These early
family contacts did much to develop in George the traits of forbearance and consideration which characterized his life to its
end and largely determined its success. For each of his brothers
and for his sister, he had genuine affection which with his halfbrothers ripened into respect and esteem. Another characteristic
of the Washington family attachments was sincerity. With
George this quality became so habitual that he carried it into
other human contacts, winning for himself the respect and
admiration of all classes and conditions of mankind.
Authorities generally agree in giving Washington's mother
chief credit for his best qualities. The direct descendant of a
long line of illustrious ancestors which may have included John
Ball, the "Mad Preacher of Kent," and which certainly included
[3]VBRAI DOCKS GRAVYE AND'MONUMENT ON U, S. HIGHWAY 40 NEAR FORTI' NECESSIT1Y. I-IS REMAINS WERE
REMO(VED) Tr THIS SITE IN I 804BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA                  109
Necessity, the Battle of the Monongahela placed Washington in
a favorable light before the world. Virginians loved him for
his heroic and partly successful efforts to save their provincials;
the French respected him for his bravery; the English praised
him for his loyalty to his fallen chieftain and his subordinate
officials; and Indians described him as having a charmed life.
In the history of the world rarely has any person so young received such universal recognition. It is worth recalling that this
was Washington's third appearance on the world stage in less
than two years.
In the light of subsequent events the disillusioning effects of
the Braddock Expedition were of more consequence to Washington and his country than was the publicity he himself received. For the first time in his life he found it necessary to
deny a much exaggerated report of his death and his dying
speech. Meanwhile he was learning that endurance is largely
a matter of will and courage, a fact which served him well at
Valley Forge and elsewhere, but his greatest discovery was that
British regulars were not invincible and that it never pays to
underrate the enemy. Nor could he attribute Braddock's undoing wholly to rashness and to unwillingness to follow new
methods, for back of it was a long story of jealousies and inefficiencies, together with general mismanagement. There is
much truth in a statement since made, to the effect that Braddock was defeated before he landed in America. All told it was
a bitter experience of which Washington made the most in the
service of his country both at the time and later.CHAPTER VII
DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER
IF THE Jumonville and the Fort Necessity incidents did not
arouse the French and Indians to their maximum enthusiasm
and resourcefulness, the Battle of the Monongahela did. To an
already long drawn out effort to right alleged grievances, it
added zest of triumph, for at once "The West rose like a nest
of hornets, and swarmed in fury against the English Frontier."
In all seriousness Captain Dumas, the French hero of the Battle
of the Monongahela, reported Pennsylvania, Maryland, and
Virginia ruined and their settlements over "a tract of country
thirty leagues wide, reckoning from the line of Fort Cumberland," devastated, while "six or seven different war-parties"
were in the field completing the work of destruction. He
boasted that these successes had cost the French only "two officers and a few soldiers," that the Indian villages of the Ohio
Valley were full of English prisoners "of every age and sex,"
and that the enemy had lost far more since "than on the day of
his defeat" on the Monongahela.' The French gasconade in
these matters moved Captain Robert Stobo, a prisoner in their
possession, to say "I would Die ten thousand Deaths to have the
pleasure of possessing this fort [Duquesne] but one day, they
are so vain of their success at the Meadows, it's worse than
death to hear them."2
Although Washington, like others, may not have realized
the seriousness of this situation, he was keenly alive to it. It
has been said that he was then sick of war and desirous of devoting his whole time to his estate and his friends, but it is hard to
conceive of such an attitude in a soldier by inclination and by
choice. Instead he was as willing and as ready as ever to serve
his country in any way possible, provided only his services were
[I o]DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                III
compensated and recognized. In justification of this position
on August 2, 1755, he wrote his half-brother Augustine, then a
member of the Virginia Assembly, reciting his past services and
his inadequate compensation. His conclusion was that he could
not be blamed in the event he left his family again, for trying
to do so "upon such terms as to prevent my [his] suffer [in]g."3
Two weeks later these reasons were repeated in a letter to
his cousin Warner Lewis,4 but another letter of about the same
time to his mother betrayed an unmistakable hankering for war.
Already apprised through private sources of a movement to
make him commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, he informed her that it would reflect dishonor upon him not to accept
the call, "if the Command is press'd upon me by the gen[era]l
voice of the Country, and offer'd upon such terms as can't be
objected against." Although she had protested against his going
to war again in any. event, he could assure her only of his resolve
not to go, except in "an honourable Com'd." and provided also
it came unsought.5
The following day, August I4, I755, Governor Dinwiddie
commissioned Washington to be Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander-in-chief of all the forces now raised or
to be raised for the "defence of His Majesty's Colony." At the
same time he was given full power to act either offensively or
defensively as he might determine "for the good and Welfare
of the Service."6 Previously the assembly had voted him three
hundred pounds as a reward for his "gallant behavior and
losses," and in response to the earnest pleas of Dinwiddie to the
effect that something be done to preserve "the most dear and
most desirable of all human Treasures-RELIGIOUS AND
CIVIL LIBERTY,"7 it voted forty thousand pounds in paper
for the support of an army of twelve hundred men to be raised
by voluntary enlistments. At the same time the militia law was
strengthened and a bounty of ten pounds was placed upon the
scalps of all hostile male Indians above the age of ten years.8
These preparations and manifestations of serious purpose,
although ridiculed as the ill-advised and ineffective efforts of anII2             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
allegedly incompetent governor, were timely. As the "whole
of" Colonel Dunbar's artillery had been lost and his troops were
"extremealy weakened by Deaths, Wounds and Sickness," it was
judged "impossible to make any farther Attempt," and in
August, I755, he led his troops from the frontier into winter
quarters near Philadelphia.9 Meanwhile the demoralized militia
had been disbanded.
Thus by the use of guns and supplies recently captured from
the English and by way of the road they had recently built,
hundreds of gleeful, triumphant savages under direction of the
French, occupied themselves in wholesale slaughter and destruction. Their belief that the British power in America was broken
forever added zest to their lust for vengeance. Says an historian, "The situation was almost as though the dykes of Holland had been cut and the ocean had begun its inundation....
The people of the frontier, in panic, rolled back in waves over
the mountains into the Shenandoah Valley, the savages upon
their heels.... For a time it looked as if the British would be
swept from the American continent."'0 Contributing to this
dreaded possibility were rumors and fears of Negro slave insurrections.
By spring, 1756, reflection upon the possibilities of this situation, together with the admitted inevitableness of war between France and England, aroused Virginia gentry to the
seriousness of the situation. Accordingly "a great Number of
the principal Gentlemen... voluntarily associated themselves
under the command of the Honourable Peyton Randolph, Esq.,
at their own Expense," to serve on the frontier, thus the more
effectively and readily to relieve the suffering of their fellow
subjects and to chastise and revenge the insolence and cruelties
of "the French and their barbarous Allies."1l For this purpose,
following a preliminary meeting at Fredericksburg in May,
I756, they repaired to Winchester, where early the following
June, they were visited by Washington who reported thence
"all well" and ready to move to Fort Cumberland. Randolph
and William Byrd having meanwhile paved the way for underDEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER
I I3
standings with the Catawbas and the Cherokees, one month
later Washington was back in Winchester at the head of two
hundred Fairfax militia.'2
When, in August, I756, official knowledge of the formal
declaration of war between France and England reached Washington in Winchester,l3 he at once "in the most solemn Manner," ordered "a grand Parade" which he staged "at Fort Loudon, where the Soldiery being properly drawn up, the Declaration was read aloud" and "Healths were drank" to the success
of his Majesty's arms and "a total Extirpation of the French out
of America." This was followed by "a triple Discharge of the
Artillery" accompanied by three rounds of "Musquetry" and
"loud Acclamations of the People." Then, proclaiming the
declaration at street crossings, the army made the rounds of the
town, after which, returning to "the grand Parade," the declaration was read again, and messengers having been dispatched
to Fort Cumberland and other frontier outposts with orders to
proclaim the war declaration "at the Head of the Troops,"
Washington dismissed his immediate command with the following "Exhortation" of loyalty and devotion to King George:
"You see, Gentlemen Soldiers, that it hath pleased our
most gracious Sovereign to declare War in Form against the
French King, and (for divers good Causes, but more particularly for their ambitious Usurpations and Encroachments on
his American Dominions) to pronounce all the said French
King's Subjects and Vassals, to be Enemies to his Crown and
Dignity, and hath willed and required all his Subjects and
People, and in a more especial Manner commanded his Captain
General of his Forces, his Governors, and all other his Commanders and Officers, to do and execute all Acts of Hostility in
the Prosecution of this just and honorable War; and though our
utmost Endeavours can contribute but little to the Advancement
of his Majesty's Honor, and the Interest of his Governments,
yet, let us shew our willing Obedience to the best of Kings, and
by a strict Attachment to his royal Commands, demonstrate the
Love and Loyalty we bear to his sacred Person; let us by Rules114             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
of unerring Bravery strive to merit his royal Favor, and a better
Establishment, as a Reward for our Services."14
Shortly thereafter Washington was at Fort Cumberland,
where he established the uniform of the officers of the Virginia
regiment. This was a blue coat, cuffed and faced with scarlet
and trimmed in silver; blue breeches and a silver faced hat. But
his chief concern was for an adequate defense. Together with
Governor Dinwiddie, he hoped to find it in offensive action, his
objective during the next three years being to remove "the
cause," the French occupation of Fort Duquesne. A tour of inspection from Fort Cumberland to Fort Dinwiddie in Augusta
County had already revealed something of the hazards to be
encountered along the frontier; but to meet these he found only
inefficiency, lack of equipment, selfishness, drunkenness, and
insubordination, a situation making any sort of military action
next to impossible.
Dinwiddie tried to remedy the situation by sending
"rangers" to replace the "dastardly cowardly" militia, but his
reenforcements deserted, and were defended in this course by
the judges who tried them. Washington would have dealt with
them by force, but he was told that "it was impossible to get
above 20 or 25 Men; they having absolutely refused to stir;
choosing as they say to die, with their Wives and Familys."
Believing that they were more encompassed by fear than by the
enemy, Washington sent recruits to relieve rangers reported
"blocked up by the Indians in small Fortresses," but in this, as
in other things, he met with opposition. Except when accompanied by force, his orders were unheeded and met by threats
against his life.l5
In desperation Washington was on the point of resigning
his commission. With this in view, October I, I755, he wrote
Dinwiddie that "unless the Assembly will Enact a Law, to
enforce the Military Law in all its Parts," he would be compelled to "decline the Honour that has been so generously intended me; and for this only Reason" that he could see nothing
but failure ahead. He witnessed with alarm "the growing InDEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                I I
solence of the Soldiers, the Indolence and Inactivity of the Officers" and the possibility of his army becoming "a Nusance, an
insupportable charge to our Country." "If these Practices are
allowed off," he concluded "we may as well quit altogether, for
no duty can ever be carried on, if there is not ye greatest
punctuality observed, one thing always depending so immediately upon another.'16
Thinking that they controlled the balance of power in the
situation and that success was impossible without their aid,
Washington had attempted to enlist the natives in the British
interest. Andrew Montour, a guide on the ill-fated Braddock
expedition, was known to have detached a number of Indians
from the French, and Washington in turn tried to enlist them
as active allies of the British. To this end he wrote Montour a
letter savoring a little of flattery. Attention was called to our
"Glorious Cause," and a wish was expressed that Montour,
through his personal contacts with the Indians, would "animate
their just Indignation to do something Noble, something worthy
themselves, and honourable to you [Montour]."'7
Reminding the natives of his position as commander-in-chief
of the Virginia forces and of his consequent power to entreat
them "as Brethren and Allies," Washington asked to be remembered to particular Indians who were to be told "how happy it
wou'd make Conotocarious [Washington's Indian name] to
have opportunity of taking them by the hand at Fort Cumberland, and how glad he wou'd be to treat them as Brothers of
our great King beyond the waters."18 But still mindful of
Braddock's defeat, the Indians proved as intractable as did the
militia.
An altercation with Captain John Dagworthy in command
of Maryland troops at Fort Cumberland, complicated the situation.19 A royal commissioned officer under Braddock and
commander of a fort beyond the jurisdiction of Virginia, Dagworthy refused to obey Washington, or to give him supplies.
As Washington could not subsist his forces without such aid,
the situation placed him in a quandary, which Dinwiddie wouldI 6             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
not, possibly could not, solve. He ordered Washington to arrest
Dagworthy, but this Washington refused to do, offering to
resign instead. In an effort to prevent this, his officers drew up
a memorial referring the whole matter to Governor Shirley of
Massachusetts, then commander-in-chief of the British forces in
America. This memorial Washington was asked to present to
Shirley in person.
Taking advantage of the winter season, during which the
frontier was comparatively quiet, the natives having retired to
their villages north of the Ohio River, Washington, February
4, 1756, set out on a five hundred mile trip to Boston. In characteristic Southern style, accompanied by his aides, Captain
George Mercer and two servants, he made this journey a tour
of state. Adding to its glamour were the facts that he traveled
on horseback and that he was then probably the most graceful
rider in America. Moreover it afforded his first opportunity to
see American city life, and he consequently made a sort of vacation of the trip.20 Forgetful of Indians and recalcitrant troops,
he celebrated his twenty-fourth birthday in Philadelphia and
tarried long enough in New York City to attend a theater party
or two in company with the beautiful and wealthy Mary
Philipse of Yonkers, sister-in-law of Beverley Robinson, son of
Speaker John Robinson of the Virginia House of Burgesses.
Shopping and gambling on the way, he finally reached the New
England metropolis where Shirley was eagerly awaiting him,
knowing that he would be able to recite incidents in the last days
of Shirley's son, William, who had fallen on Braddock's field.
It was possibly through such narratives that Washington found
a way to the old gentleman's heart. Sufficeth it to say, he
brought back to Fort Cumberland orders to the effect that Captain Dagworthy would be subordinate to him, whenever their
respective jurisdictions clashed.21
In Washington's absence but with his approval, Major Andrew Lewis, later of Point Pleasant fame, undertook to defend
the frontier by offensive action. To this end he led an expedition to the Ohio River by way of the Big Sandy. Aside fromDEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                 I I7
being the first body of British troops to reach the former stream
south of the Forks, the Lewis expedition came to naught. Indeed it sustained losses of men and supplies, but its worst effect
was an additional blow to British prestige among the natives.22
Upon his return to the frontier, April 6, I756, Washington
found the situation there nothing short of appalling. A savage
inundation was again sweeping Hampshire, Frederick, and Augusta counties and at places threatened to pass the Blue Ridge
Mountains. Throughout a vast region to the westward, extending at some points eastward beyond the Blue Ridge, settlers
had either been driven out or forced to take refuge in fortifications, which were then being assailed almost daily by the ever
vigilant savage. Men who tarried behind or were caught by
surprise were killed without quarter; their women folk were
assaulted and carried into captivity; and their children were
dashed to death against trees and boulders, sometimes in the
presence of their parents. To withstand this scene of carnage and
bloodshed, possibly without parallel in American border warfare, Captain John Fenton Mercer led a scouting party of about
one hundred men into Hampshire County, but he, together
with some of his men, was surprised and killed. As a result of
these and similar events, in May, I756, Washington reported
the roads over the Alleghenies as much used by the Indians and
French as they had been by Braddock's men a year before.23
Despite his ever-present interest in property and material
things, Washington was capable of the deepest sentiments and
emotions. Of this fact his reports of the incidents and conditions upon the frontier contain unmistakable evidence. In a
note of April 22, I756, he was willing to make of himself an
"offering to savage fury, and die by inches to save a people!"
His greatest regret was his ability to see their situation, to know
their danger, and to participate in their suffering without having
it in his power "to give them further relief, than uncertain
promises." If the danger had not been so imminent, he would
have resigned a command from which he had never expected
to reap either honor or benefit. Despite the fact that he wasWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Mary Montague of the extinct house of Salisbury, Mary Ball
was born and reared at Epping Forest on the Rappahannock
River, the daughter of Colonel Joseph Ball, who died when she
was young. As a girl Mary Ball was known as the "Rose of
Epping Forest" and the "Belle of the Northern Northern Neck," but,
like most girls of her day, she received little formal education.
Instead she learned to do housework and to read the Bible.
Later she is said to have become somewhat familiar with profound and scholarly writings of the period. More important
still she was "gifted with great firmness and constancy of purpose, as well as with clear judgment and remarkable mental
independence."3 These traits sufficed to make her the ruler of
her household, respected and esteemed by her intimates rather
than fondled and caressed.
Of the many characterizations of this unusual woman, Lawrence Washington of Chotank, one of George Washington's
youthful playmates, left an intimate impression. Lawrence
feared her ten times more than he feared either of his own parents, because she awed him "in the midst of her kindness, for
she was, indeed, truly kind." In his declining years he wrote,
"even now, when... I am the grandparent of a second generation, I could not behold that remarkable woman without feelings it is impossible to describe"; and he traced to her the "aweinspiring air and manner so characteristic of the Father of his
Country."4
Although independent in judgment Mary Washington was
not a "new light" reformer. Instead, she drilled her children
in the rather stiff and formal etiquette of her day and in the
catechism of the Established Churcha With each of them she
was on all occasions the "Honoured Madam," never given to
praise or flattery. Successful achievement of worthy endeavor
was accepted by her as matter of fact. She read to her children
from the Bible, from the sermons of the Bishop of Exeter, and
from Sir Matthew Hale's Contemplations, Moral and Divine.
Today at Mount Vernon there is a copy of the last named work,
a flyleaf of which bears the signature "Jane Washington,"
4II8             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
almost certain to incur the displeasure of Virginia officialdom,
he hesitated to leave his post "while the murder of poor innocent
babes and helpless families may be laid to my account here! "24
During the next ensuing months the burden of Washington's communications was similar to that just quoted, but they
told of other than French and Indian atrocities. Conscientious
objectors were being arrested, detained, and threatened, and in
April, I756, he sent Monsieur Douville's scalp to Dinwiddie
with the request that those who had taken it be rewarded according to their "merit." Realizing the legal difficulties in the
way, no bounties being offered for white scalps, he hoped that
the matter could be adjusted, "as the monsieur's [scalp] is of
much more consequence." It mattered not that Douville carried
on his person orders from Captain Dumas, directing him to "employ all his talents,... to prevent the savages from committing
any cruelties upon those, who may fall into their hands," and
adding that "Honor and humanity ought, in this respect, to
serve as our guide."25  At this time Washington was not overscrupulous in dealing with Indian enemies, who, as previously
indicated, were considered good only when dead. Their instigators, the French, were, if possible, held in even less esteem.
Complicating the situation to the point of moving Washington again to suggest his resignation, were charges of "the
greatest Immoralities and drunkenness" among his troops and
officers, and of a neglect of "proper Discipline." Although he
was not in charge when these indictments were made, the fact
that they had "inflam'd" the Assembly26 produced a similar
effect upon Washington. Accordingly he answered them in no
unmistakable language. While not attempting to speak for
individuals, he called his commission and his orders to witness
how much he had "both by threats and persuasive means, endeavoured to discountenance gaming, drinking, swearing, and
irregularities of every other kind." He had also "practised
every artifice to inspire a laudable emulation in the officers for
the service of their country, and to encourage the soldiers in the
unerring exercise of their duty."  How far he had failed inDEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                 I 19
these ends, he could not say, but he insisted that his efforts to
attain them merited some consideration. He was, however,
resolved to "act with a little more rigor, than has hitherto been
practised, since I find it so absolutely necessary."27
This promise, together with the criticisms provoking it,
THE VIRGINIA FRONTIER, I756-I758WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
doubtless influenced Washington's subsequent efforts at discipline. On May 8, I756, Dinwiddie sent him "a death Warrant for shooting Sergeant Lewis,"28 accused of cowardice.
Washington also asked permission from the Assembly to inflict
more than corporal punishment on deserters. If he could have
laid his hands on two alleged horse thieves, he would have
meted out to one a thousand lashes, and would have induced a
general court-martial to condemn the other to "a life eternal."29
In this manner Washington contended with idleness, drunkenness, and desertion as long as he remained on the frontier.
To those of maudlin sentiments the results of these practices
were as surprising as the practices themselves were disgusting.
By I760 "the best judges" pronounced Washington-trained soldiers superior to "all other provincial troops." Something of
the effectiveness of Washington's methods as well as the qualities of his soldiers may be judged also from the fact that "Virginia had less than half the number of people killed by Indian
raids than the other provinces had suffered during the same
period."30 When it is recalled that these soldiers came largely
from the individualistic Scotch-Irish and clannish Germans of
western Virginia, their record was not only a tribute to their
young commander but also to themselves.
Moved by enemy attacks, the Virginia Assembly, in the
spring of I756, again came to the rescue of the frontier.31
Among other things it authorized an increase in the army and
appropriated twenty-five thousand pounds additional paper for
its uses, two thousand pounds of which were to be used for the
construction of fortifications throughout a frontier three hundred fifty miles long and from twenty-five to one hundred miles
wide. Other acts provided for conscripting soldiers, for provisioning militia, and for constructing a fort in the Cherokee
country in what is now Tennessee.
Encouraging as these measures were, their effectiveness was
nullified somewhat, as far as Washington was concerned, by the
appointment of the Earl of Loudoun to be Governor of Virginia
and Commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. In
120DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                 I21I
May, 1756, England had formally declared war against France,
which was to be prosecuted in earnest but with new objectives
and policies.32 Among other things was a plan for conducting
Indian political relations. Heretofore such matters had been
left to local governors, but they were now placed in the control
of two Indian agents, one, Sir William Johnson, for the district
north of the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and the other,
Edmund Atkins, for the district south thereof. The announcement of further plans and policies had to await Loudoun's arrival in America, late in July of that year.
For Washington, as for Virginians in general, this announcement was even more revolutionary. Profiting by Braddock's
mistakes, Loudoun declined to come to Virginia, going directly
to Philadelphia, which henceforth became the chief base of military operations for Pennsylvania and the southern colonies.
Virginia was ordered to send troops thither to cooperate in proposed military operations to the westward, and Washington was
ordered to prepare the Virginia frontier to withstand attacks.
This order had the effect of withdrawing him from the scene of
operations and making him responsible for a task to which he
could lend only half-hearted interest.
Nevertheless, Washington addressed himself to the work
assigned him.33 A fort inspection trip carried him from Cumberland to within a few miles of the North; Carolina line, but
whatever enthusiasm he might have developed for his service
was alloyed by another difference with the irascible Dinwiddie.
He objected to Washington's proposal to withdraw the Virginia
troops from Fort Cumberland, to his request for a Chaplain
for his regiment, and to the brevity of the report of his tours of
inspection. In support of his desire to retain Fort Cumberland
Dinwiddie insisted that "to give up any Place of Strength"
would "raise the Spirits of the Enemy." Moreover, he urged
its retention because "It is a King's fort."34  In any event he
asked Washington not to abandon it until after the arrival of
Loudoun. As was to be expected, Loudoun decided for its retention, but Dinwiddie left the ultimate decision to Washington122              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
and his "other Gentlemen Officers," who, in the face of Washington's objections and possibly out of deference to the new
commander, voted for retention.35
Relegated to a quiet sector of the war area and ordered to
maintain a strict defensive position, Washington became somewhat restless, even irritable, possibly suspicious. His superiors
were charged with neglect and with a desire to supersede him;
he frequently asked for leave; and more than once he was on
the point of resigning his commission. But for the intercession
of friends, Landon Carter, Colonel Fairfax, and others, he
probably would have given up in disgust after the publication,
over the signature "Centinel X," of a scurrilous attack upon his
officers and men which first appeared in the Virginia Gazette in
the autumn of I756.36
More discouraging still was Loudoun's written criticism of
Washington's conduct, which the latter correctly attributed to
Dinwiddie's influence. This opened the way for a direct appeal which Washington made in a long and convincing letter
to Loudoun. Against Dinwiddie's advice but with his permission, Washington later visited him in Philadelphia, where the
young colonel's ability and earnestness again impressed a superior officer but fell short of their immediate purposes. It is
doubtful whether Washington accomplished this partial victory by revealing his innermost thoughts. -These were probably more freely stated in a letter to his friend, John Robinson,
which reveals the extreme difficulties, even embarrassments, of
Washington's position. In part, he said: "my strongest representations of matters relative to the peace of the frontiers are
disregarded as idle and frivolous; my propositions and measures,
as partial and selfish; and all my sincerest endeavours for the
service of my country perverted to the worst purposes. My orders are dark, doubtful, and uncertain; to-day approved, tomorrow condemned. Left to act and proceed at hazard, accountable for the consequence, and blamed without the benefit
of defence! If you can think my situation capable to excite the
smallest degree of envy, or afford the least satisfaction, the truthDEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER
is yet hid from you, and you entertain notions very different
from the reality of the case. However, I am determined to
bear up under all the embarrassments some time longer,...
The severity of the season, and nakedness of the soldiers, are
matters of much compassion, and give rise to infinite complaints."37
In face of this determination, Washington a few days later
sent to Speaker Robinson a formal proffer of his resignation.
Meanwhile rumors seem to have come to him of dissatisfaction
with his conduct and of plans to supersede him. These did not
disturb him on his own account; for he freely admitted that his
inexperience might have led him into "innumerable errors,"
and he expressed a desire to do anything for the good of his
country, love of which had ever been "the first principle" of
his actions. Furthermore, he let it be known that he had "diligently sought the public welfare." In such reflections he found
a cordial which he was sure would abide as long as he was able
"to distinguish between Good  Evil."38  In this mood he was
willing to give up his command. In the same strain he reviewed
his futile record to his friend Richard Washington, a London
merchant, in these words: "I have been posted then for twenty
Months past upon our cold and Barren Frontiers, to.perform
I think I may say impossibilitys that is, to protect from the cruel
Incursions of a Crafty Savage Enemy a line of Inhabitants of
more than 350 Miles in extent with a force inadequate to the
taske, by this means I am become an exile and Seldom inform'd
of those opportunitys, which I might otherwise embrace, of corrisponding with my friends."39
These conditions tended to strain the usual friendly relations between Washington and Dinwiddie, but the seriousness
of the threatened breach was greatly overestimated.40 It is true
that Dinwiddie denied Washington's requests for leaves, and
scolded him for asking for them, but to the end of his administration he regarded him as an officer of "great Merit and Resolution." On the other hand, Washington did not entertain so
favorable an opinion of Dinwiddie, who, more than any other
I23WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
one person, discovered and advanced him. Taking advantage
of a temperament that made such a thing easy, insinuating persons made much out of Dinwiddie's official contacts with Loudoun. Nevertheless, Washington continued to respect his paralytic chief, now suffering from a new attack, and to obey him
implicitly. However, Dinwiddie could not refrain from accusing him of ingratitude, and in one of the last letters ever
written by him to Washington, that of September 24, I757, Dinwiddie expressed the wish that his successor would show Washington "as much Friendship as I've done."41
The French and Indians having been diverted thence to the
region of the Great Lakes, the Virginia military frontier was
comparatively quiet in the summer of I757, and Washington
took a turn at politics. After frequent and futile intercessions
with Dinwiddie and certain justices of the peace in an effort to
prevent Winchester grog dealers from demoralizing his little
army, Washington sought to represent Frederick County in
the House of Burgesses as a reformer. Being both a tithable
and a landowner in that county, he was eligible for the position
to which he aspired, but he had to oppose Hugh West, Jr., an
Alexandria lawyer, whose father was a man of influence and
desired his son's reelection. As with one accord, the "booze"
dealers and their friends, the horse traders and moralists, also
opposed Washington's candidacy. As a consequence he was defeated, receiving only forty-one votes to two hundred seventyone for his opponent.42
Under the strain of these disappointments and the accompanying accusations, the severest of which was that of padding
his payrolls, Washington's health began to break. As a result the charges of graft against him were more than he could
bear complacently, and he accused his best friends of malicious
designs upon his character. He reiterated also his old charges
against deserters, tippling houses, horse traders, and his superiors, begging at the same time for another leave, which, as
usual, was denied. Finally a fellow officer revealed to Dinwiddie that "For upwards of three Months" Colonel WashI24DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                125
ington had "labour'd under a Bloody Flux" which had developed into a "bad Fever,... Stitches  violent Pleuretick Pains
upon which the Doct'r Bled him and yesterday he twice repeated the same operation." As this treatment did not give
relief, the doctor had recommended a change of climate, which
Washington, because of his debilitated condition, respectfully
asked through the intercession of a fellow officer.43
This appeal was more than Dinwiddie could bear, and WashIngton was granted leave, together with a wish for his speedy
recovery. But it was not until well into the next year that he
was able to leave camp and proceed to Williamsburg. Thence
he went to Mount Vernon, where, at the age of twenty-six he
settled down to await "an approaching decay"44 and to consider relinquishing his command to "some other person more
capable of the task."
As in the history of the English people, the year I758
marked a turning point in the life of George Washington. In
that year the plans of William Pitt, the Elder, for crushing the
French power throughout the world took definite form, turning English fortunes from defeat to victory. While Pitt was
formulating these plans, Virginia physicians were restoring
Washington to health. As a result, in mid-summer I758, he
resumed his command on the frontier.
In the meantime other events had cast a silver lining over
the clouds that had threatened Washington's plans for the future. Among other things, the frontier in his absence had been
visited by repeated attacks, thus reminding all of the need of
a continuous and vigorous defense. More important still, he
had met the beautiful and wealthy widow of John Parke Custis,
who had promised to become his wife, and soon thereafter, by
one of those foiBles peculiar to politics, the constituency which
repudiated him the year before, elected him to membership in
the House of Burgesses. In this contest he prevailed over
Thomas Swearingen, a former favorite of "the meaner class,"
by a majority of three hundred ten to forty-five. It is probably significant that Washington absented himself from thisI26             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
poll; that liquor was used freely to influence voters in his behalf; and that his "friends" refrained from attacking tippling
houses and horse traders.45
The immediate future seemed to offer new opportunities
for Washington's military ambitions. In pursuance of Pitt's
plans, announcement was made of a proposed attack upon Fort
Duquesne. Rumor had it also that the attacking party would
be sufficiently strong to insure success. Inspired by these new
objectives, the Virginia Assembly authorized the enlistment of
additional troops, increased its appropriation for war purposes,
and raised the bounty on Indian scalps.46 The natural inference was that Washington would play a prominent part in the
proposed activities.
As usual Washington's joys were not without alloys. Among
the latter was the announcement that General John Forbes had
landed in Philadelphia and that he planned to construct a military road from a point in Pennsylvania to Fort Duquesne. In
I755 Colonel James Burd had cut a road from Carlisle to
the top of Allegheny Ridge, leaving the Raystown Path, later
Forbes's Road, a little beyond Bedford and running southwest.
The possible use of this road was enough to arouse any Virginian, certainly one interested in the Ohio Company. Accordingly Forbes was accused of being under "Pennsylvania influence" and the superior advantages of "a good road already
made," were insistently urged by the Virginians.
It mattered not that the road proposed by Forbes was forty
miles shorter than that built by Braddock and that the eastern
base of the former was to be in a rich farming country in the
"bread basket" of the colonies. Virginians accused Forbes of
entertaining superstitions but with him the conditions favoring
the new road were decisive. He was doubtless influenced also
by his poor opinion of Virginia soldiers, who, with the exception
of "a few of their principal officers," were described by him as "a
bad Collection of broken Inn-keepers, Horse Jockeys,  Indian
traders," while the men under them were "a direct copy of their
Officers."47 As Washington was not in Forbes's confidence, heDEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER                I27
ROADS TO FORT DUQUESNE, I758
could not understand his "suicidal delays," which were later revealed to be a part of the plan of campaign, involving the exhaustion of the enemy and cooiperation with major movements
to the northward.
Laboring thus in the dark Washington continued to hold out
for the Virginia route. In the event the proposed road through
Pennsylvania were used, he saw only "the luckless Fate of Poor
Virginians to fall a Victim to the views of her crafty Neighbours;
and yield her honest efforts to promote their common Interest,
at the expense of much Blood and Treasure." Worse still, he
was certain that use of the proposed road would entail ultimate
defeat. "Our Enterprise Ruin'd," said he, "and we stop'd at
the Laurel Hill this Winter; not to gather Laurels."4  Rather
than face such an eventuality, he threatened to make "a full representation of the matter to His Majesty." However, if it could
be shown that he was wrong, he was, as usual, willing to acknowledge his error "as becomes a Gentleman, led astray by
judgment and not by prejudice."rrWAKEFIELD,' ViRCINIA, A REPRODITCTION' OF THIE B3THIPLACE OF GOEORGE WASUINGION (GARDEN SIDE)
"Cozlrtesy of United States George Washington Bicentennial Conmmission for the celebration of the T'wo Hundredth Anniversary of the Birth of George Washington.WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Although convinced of Washington's sincerity, Forbes questioned his wisdom and suspected him of being influenced by
provincial rivalries. To Forbes the rejection of the Virginia
route involved the impossibility of two wrongs making one right,
and, unlike Braddock, and under wholly different conditions,
Forbes had the courage of his convictions. When informed by
his engineers, Colonel Henry Bouquet and Sir John St. Clair,
that the road by way of Raystown (Bedford) and Fort Ligonier
was practicable, suggestions looking to the use of other routes
angered Forbes. At this crisis of the controversy Bouquet wrote
him regarding the Virginians: "They believe everything to be
easy which flatters their ideas," and added, "What I shall have
to tell you on this point cannot be discussed in a letter."49
His every suggestion unheeded, his motives questioned, and
his experience ignored, it must have been with some reluctance
that Washington obeyed the orders of General Forbes to leave
Fort Cumberland and join the main army in Pennsylvania. He
reached Raystown September I3 and at once took charge of a
construction party, with orders to push the Virginia-hated route
to completion as rapidly as possible. The severity of this assignment was doubtless mitigated somewhat by the fact that
"the new road" had already reached a base for the proposed
attack. Here drawing upon his experience with Braddock, he
submitted to General Forbes two plans of approach and made
enthusiastic by the possibility of action, he was soon as eager to
reach Fort Duquesne by way of the new road as he had formerly
been by the Virginia route. His interest and approval were reflected in acts of the Virginia Assembly repealing recently enacted laws conditionally withdrawing Virginia's support from
the Forbes expedition.50
However irksome Washington's services as a road engineer
in Pennsylvania may have been, his experiences in the Battle
of the Monongahela were available to oppose precipitate action, even if they would not restrain the impatient Major James
Grant who, with the approval of Colonel Henry Bouquet, led
a command of Scotch Highlanders and provincials, including
I28DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER
Virginians, in a premature attack on Fort Duquesne. At the
head of a force aggregating more than eight hundred men,
Grant attempted this hazardous undertaking, September I4,
I758, being accompanied by Major Andrew Lewis, Captain
Thomas Bullett, and other officers experienced in Indian warfare. Every indication pointed to the success of an attack,
which because of "Grant's thirst for fame," was bungled. As a
result Grant, together with Major Lewis and other officers, was
captured, and twenty-two officers and two hundred seventyeight men were killed. Others were wounded or made prisoners.5' Except for the fact that this defeat was only an incident in a campaign, it might have put the entire force to rout,
but unlike Dunbar at the Battle of the Monongahela, Forbes
held his ground and pressed forward.
While taking delight in reporting that Virginians had again
conducted themselves creditably under fire, Washington could
not refrain from strictures upon the hated "new road." Meanwhile fellow Virginians were making observations upon the alleged grasping and designing qualities of the Pennsylvania
Dutch, and Washington was calling attention to the fact that
nature was changing the face of the Pennsylvania mountains so
that it would soon be impossible for "men half-naked" to live
in tents. With Colonel Stephen and others, he feared lest the
road upon which they were working would never be completed. At any rate, a rumor to that effect reached General
Forbes, who wrote Bouquet that: "Col. Washington and my
friend, Col. [William] Byrd, would rather be glad this was true
than otherways, seeing the other road (their favorite scheme)
was not followed out. I told them plainly that, whatever they
thought, yet I did aver that, in our prosecuting the present
road, we had proceeded from the best intelligence that could
be got for the good and convenience of the army, without any
views to oblige any one province or another; and added that
those two gentlemen were the only people that I had met with
who had shewed their weakness in their attachment to the province they belong to, by declaring so publickly in favour of one
I29WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
road without their knowing anything of the other, having
never heard from any Pennsylvania person one word about the
road."52
In the meantime the French and Indian power in the Ohio
Valley, as elsewhere in North America, was crumbling. The
treaty of Easton, concluded October 26, I758, broke the French
spell over the Pennsylvania Indians and natives residing to the
westward; Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario, and Louisbourg
had fallen; and despite almost incessant rains, impossible roads,
and his own illness, General Forbes concentrated his forces near
Fort Ligonier. Not realizing that a bloodless victory was within
his grasp, he hesitated for a time, and even talked of going into
winter quarters, but his soldiers and officers were impatient for
action. At this juncture word came of further Indian defections
from the French and of starving and helpless conditions at
Fort Duquesne. When Washington and others, fully equipped
for any contingency, went to investigate these reports, they found
them more than true. Fort Duquesne was a smouldering ruin,
and three days later Washington informed Governor Fauquier
that the coveted fort "or the ground rather on which it stood,
was possessed by his Majesty's troops on the 25th instant."5
About a year thereafter it was replaced by Fort Pitt.
For Washington, as for others, there was substance for profound thought in the events culminating at the Forks of the
Ohio in November, I758. For the first time in his life, he had
had an opportunity to experience the differences between a party
and an army, between a battle and a campaign. His failure
to appreciate these differences was perhaps largely responsible
for his inability to see anything good in Pennsylvania or Pennsylvanians or to appreciate the fine qualities of General Forbes
and William Pitt, and for his proneness to overemphasize the
importance of the Indian as a factor in international war on a
grand scale. His experiences did, however, advance his thinking to a world plane, on which basis they were more thoroughly
assimilated during the years immediately following. As an
initial step thereto they doubtless inspired new confidence in
130DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER
British regulars and must have been a cause of renewed devotion to the mother country.
Despite the world aspect of the events in which he participated in the autumn of I758, Washington's mind reverted to
other and immediate consequences. Like other realists of
his day in America, he was concerned with plans for the capture
of Fort Duquesne by the British; with the control and use
of lands in the Ohio Valley; and with the fur trade, "not only
of the Ohio Indians, but, in time, of the numerous nations possessing the back countries westward of it." To prevent these
benefits from going to any one colony, even to Virginia, and
certainly to Pennsylvania, he recommended a joint colonial
commission, a forerunner of federal union, with power to regulate trade and other intercolonial matters. Although he was
unwilling to see Fort Pitt abandoned, he objected seriously to
having the sole responsibility for its maintenance and defense
fall upon Virginia, and for the last time before he became commander-in-chief of the armies of the Continental Congress, his
pleas again went forth in behalf of his naked and starved soldiers. Disillusioned by the results of a campaign that had defied all his predictions and expectations and added nothing to
his own military reputation, and ignoring the numerous pleas
of his officers and soldiers, he resolved to leave the army forever, to marry, and to settle down at Mount Vernon to enjoy
domestic felicity.
I3ICHAPTER VIII
THE FRONTIER ADVANCE
SIx WEEKS after his service with Forbes at the former site of
Fort Duquesne, George Washington (January 6, I759) married
Martha Custis, the widow of Daniel Parke Custis, and after a
brief honeymoon, came to Mount Vernon to live the life of a
Virginia planter. As such his chief interest was in the cultivation of tobacco, in which his initial efforts, his land being unexploited, were successful. His total production for I760 was
65,ooo pounds, approximately double that for any previous
year, and it increased to 89,ooo pounds in I763, after which it
declined perceptibly.'
Although Washington's main dependence was upon tobacco,
he had other economic interests. Among other things he owned,
bred, and sold Negro slaves, and he grew corn, wheat, oats, rye,
and barley in large quantities but mostly for domestic uses, for
which he had his own mill and his own still. At one time he
owned one hundred thirty horses and more than one hundred
cows. He engaged in fishing for commercial purposes, a seasonal catch of shad in 1772, netting ~40. He was interested in
efforts to drain the Dismal Swamp; he marketed lumber and
timber from his own forests; his mother's affairs received his
constant and affectionate attention; and the estate of his ward,
John Parke Custis, was so well administered that Custis was
among the richest men in Virginia at the time he came of age.2
By 1772 Washington's lands east of the Alleghenies aggregated
more than twelve thousand acres,3 and Martha's efforts to supplement the family income and keep down expenses by supervising the weaving, the sewing, and the dairying for the home
plantation met with George's approval.
However self-sufficing the Washington establishment, a prod[1 32]THE FRONTIER ADVANCE
uct of the domestic age of economy, may have been, it was not
at times a paying proposition.4  This was certainly true of
years immediately preceding the American Revolution, when
its owner was compelled to ask the indulgence of creditors. Not
only had tobacco production declined, but prices had fallen.
Possibly because of the poor soil upon which it was produced,
Washington's tobacco rarely, if ever, brought the best price,
a fact he could not understand. Other enterprises were equally
unremunerative: he bought butter for domestic uses; the Dismal Swamp improvement was a veritable rat hole for surplus
earnings; and Washington's salary as a legislator did not pay
his expenses while in Williamsburg.5 The plight of the Virginia farmer of this period was indeed desperate.6
But for political and social diversions, these conditions might
have been intolerable. Washington continued, however, to
speak of himself as a successful planter and to praise farm life.
Although revenues from his estate were not always adequate
to his needs, his was indeed a full life.7 Missing many roll calls,
sometimes for whole sessions, he represented Frederick County
as a Burgess from I757 to I766, when he was elected from Fairfax, his home county, which he represented continuously, when
present, during the next ten years.8 As a Burgess, Washington
was as much interested in society as in legislative duties which
served to keep him in touch with political currents both at home
and abroad. From the standpoint of regularity his church and
lodge (Masonic) attendance was upon a parity with his assembly record,9 but there is every evidence that he enjoyed all with
a sincere fervor and devotion.
In Washington's affections there was no place to compare
with Mount Vernon.1~ With the greatest freedom guests came
and went; there worries incident to crop failures, low prices,
frauds and disappointments, were lost in the chase and the
convivial cup; and no end of attention was given his stepson
"Jacky," and Jacky's sister "Patcy," an epileptic, who died at
the age of sixteen.
Preoccupied with these cares and pleasures, Washington soon
I33WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
lost interest in the army. By mid-summer, I761, the "dispossession of the French in most parts of North America" had become "too stale to relate,"11 and that too, despite the fact that
Goree, Guadelupe, Ticonderoga, and Niagara had fallen; that
both Wolfe and Montcalm had died upon the Heights of Abraham; that the French fleet had been decisively defeated in
Quiberon Bay; and that the English were in possession of Pondicherry in far-off India.
Temporarily lost in efforts to become a sVccessful planter
on lands poorly favored by nature, Washingtco could not have
been wholly indifferent to the results of the war between the
French and the English. Permeated with the traditional Washington land-hunger, he still saw in the West a land of opportunity. The fall of Fort Duquesne had practically cleared the
Ohio Valley of enemy, even the ubiquitous Shawnee, and as the
heir of his half-brother Lawrence and a beneficiary in his own
right under the Dinwiddie Proclamation of I754, promising two
hundred thousand acres of "his Majesty the King of England's
land on the Ohio River," to persons who would volunteer to
fight the French and Indians, Washington was eager to claim
his own. He was therefore in sympathy with an effort made in
1760 to revive the Ohio Company of 1748, and, in I763, he
joined his half-brother, John Augustine Washington, Richard
Henry Lee, Arthur Lee, William Fitzhugh, and others as incorporators of a Mississippi Company, which petitioned the king
for two and a half million acres west of the mountains.12
Similar interests and traditions were meanwhile keeping
Washington in touch with his lands and friends in the valley of
Virginia. Until I766, the annual hustings brought him into
Frederick County and afforded an opportunity to visit his Bullskin estate and Lord Fairfax at Greenway Court. Other visits
to Bullskin and Greenway Court were less regular but could
be expected any time in the harvest and planting seasons. In
August, I76I, he was at Warm Springs, now Berkeley Springs,
Morgan County, West Virginia, where he found "about 200
people... full of all manner of diseases and complaints."
134THE FRONTIER ADVANCE                  I35
This outing sufficed to abate his own fever "a good deal"; but
his pains grew "rather worse," and his sleep was "equally disturbed."3 Six years later he was back at "The Springs" with
Patcy, his afflicted stepdaughter.
In his plans to possess himself of lands in the Ohio Valley,
Washington, together with others with similar purposes, encountered many difficulties. Under charter claims of I609, Virginia was making grants west of the mountains and was tending
otherwise to ignore the Dinwiddie promise of I754. Moreover,
the French and Indian War was no sooner ended than plans
began to be hatched for the formation of new colonies west of
the Alleghenies.14 More discouraging still, along the entire
Appalachian frontier Indians under the leadership of Pontiac,
were making a last stand against the British, particularly the
"Long Knives," or Virginians, in a so-called conspiracy; and to
prevent similar outbursts, in I763, the King issued a proclamation forbidding colonial governors to issue land patents to
would-be settlers beyond the Alleghenies and entrusting the administration of Indian affairs there to agents created for that purpose seven years before. Although intended primarily to control the Indian situation, the Proclamation of I763 was motivated also by schemes of land jobbers and would-be commonwealth builders, as well as by plans for the fur trade. To this
latter end it was proposed to make Fort Pitt an emporium of
trade, surpassing in importance either Quebec or New Orleans,l5
and land jobbers temporarily took cover.
The years immediately following I763 were momentous
in determining the future of the American frontier beyond
the Alleghenies. Like Washington, most persons regarded
the Proclamation of I763 as "a temporary expedient to quiet
the Minds of the Indians," and were willing for the traders to
have their way. Accordingly, under direction of Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan (I765-I766) the fur trade along the Ohio
River gave employment to more than three hundred men and
to a sixth as many batteaux; but it was practically ended by
1768, and Fort Pitt was on the point of being abandoned and deI36              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
stroyed.16 Ignoring paper manifestoes and the plans of embryo capitalists, traders and settlers had meanwhile pushed beyond the Alleghenies in such numbers as to call for their removal by force. As this was impossible, there was nothing left
but to let the settlers have their way.
Meanwhile Washington's interest in western lands grew
apace. Anticipating Horace Greeley by more than a hundred
years, he was advising his impecunious friends to go west before
land-grabbing immigrants appropriated the best lands. In reply to a letter from  his friend and neighbor, Captain John
Posey, asking for an additional loan and the use of Washington's name as an endorser, he, June 24, I767, urged Posey to
sell all his belongings "raising to Negroes, and even Land if
requisite." His advice to Posey shows such a comprehensive
grasp of the West and its possibilities that it is here quoted at
length:
For if the whole shoud go, there is a large Field before you, an
opening prospect in the back Country for Adventures, where numbers resort to, and where an enterprising Man with very little Money
may lay the foundation of a Noble Estate in the New Settlemts.
Upon Monongahela for himself and posterity. The Surplus money
wch you might save after dischargg. your Debts, would possibly secure
you as much Land as in the course of 20 yrs woud sell for 5 times
yr prest Estate. For proof of which only look to Frederick [County],
and see what Fortunes were made by the Hite's... Nay how the
greatest Estates we have in this Colony were made; was it not by
taking up and purchasing at very low rates the rich back Lands which
were thought nothing of in those days, but are now the most valuable
Lands we possess?  Undoubtedly it was, and to pursue this plan is
the advice I w'd offer my Br. were he in yr. Situation, but to you I
only drop it as a hint for your serious reflectn; because I do not expect, nor woud by any means wish to see you adopt any Scheme of
mine without duly attending to it weighing, and well considering of
it in all points and advising with your friends. I woud only ask
whether it would be better to labr. undr. a load of debt, where you
are, wch. must inevitably keep you in continual Anxiety, and dread
of yr. Creditors; by selling the produce of yr. labour at under value,THE FRONTIER ADVANCE
(the never failg. consequence of necessitous Circumstances) with
other evils too obvious to need Inumeration, and which must forever
lend a helping hand to keep you low and.distressed or to Pluck up
resolution at once and disengage yourself of these Incumbrances and
Vexations Abiding where you are if you can save your Land and
have a prospect of reaping future advantages from it, or to remove
back, where there is a moral certainty of laying the foundation of
good Estates to yr. Childn.17
Washington was meanwhile losing no opportunity to lay
the foundation of good estates to himself. In I766 his boyhood
friend, William Crawford, made a permanent residence at
Stewart's Crossing on the Youghiogheny River in what is now
Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where he, together with many
other pioneers, secured land grants. At this vantage point Crawford received a letter from Washington dated September 2I,
I767, directing him to "look me out a Tract of about I500, 2000,
or more Acres... as contiguous to your own Settlemt. as
such a body of good Land coud be found." This he had been
informed could be done "about Jacobs Cabbins." Already experienced with the results of cultivating comparatively poor
lands, Washington let it be known that the desired tract "must
be rich... and if possible... good and level." "As nothing
is more certain than that the Lands cannot remain long ungranted," he advised haste in their location, and as "a good deal
of Land" and in large tracts was desired, he was willing to
associate himself with Crawford to advance their common interests.18
At this juncture the purchase of lands was not so important
to Washington as was the necessity of preempting them for
purchase. The Proclamation of I763 was still binding, and
large grants such as he desired, were made as a rule, only to
groups of individuals. He was certain, however, that the Pennsylvania practice of making grants in tracts of only three hundred acres each, could be circumvented by making several contiguous entries, provided "the expence of doing which is not
too heavy." Although it was then illegal to acquire lands "in
I37I38             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
the King's [Virginia's] part," Washington instructed Crawford,
"under the guise of hunting other Game," to spy out suitable
tracts for future entry, requesting that his, Washington's, interest in the matter be kept secret, as he did not wish his opinion regarding the King's Proclamation to become known. Nor
did he wish to "give the alarm to others."19
September 29, I767, Crawford informed Washington that
"the chief parts of the good land" between the Youghiogheny
and the Monongahela Rivers had already been taken. He had,
however, located "a fine piece" on Chartier's Creek about twentyfive miles from Fort Pitt, which he asked Washington to join
him in acquiring. Regarding the lands "in the King's part," he
was not so encouraging. Indians still claimed them and opposed
their entry without pay, and the ownership of these lands was
a subject of controversy between Pennsylvania and Virginia. A
rumor was current also to the effect that Sir Wm. Johnson had
ordered the Indians to vacate these lands and that "the great
men of Philadelphia" wished them for themselves, and rival
prospectors were reported active in many sections of TransAllegheny Virginia.20 Nevertheless, Crawford was willing to
become Washington's partner and to undertake the somewhat
hazardous work of locating tracts of land suitable for future purchase.
The rumored interest of "the great men of Philadelphia"
was well founded. Although they had lost heavily in the fur
trade, they too had caught "the vision of the inexorable march
of the white man across the American continent." More important still they had sold their viewpoint to Lord Shelburne,
English Secretary of State, who was then characterizing as "nonsense" contentions to the effect that American colonial boundary
lines extended from "sea to sea," which was another way of
saying that the newly acquired lands beyond the Allegheny
Mountains belonged to the King of England to dispose of as
he pleased. This pronouncement was a death-blow to individual claimants, to the pretentions of the Ohio Company, and to
Virginia's claim under her charter of I609, by which she wouldTHE FRONTIER ADVANCE                  I39
have extended her boundary from "sea to sea, west and northwest,"2' but it revived the possibility of new colonies west of
the Alleghenies.
Under these conditions the Pennsylvanians again became
the aggressors. Through their influence in I768, Sir William
Johnson concluded at Fort Stanwix a treaty whereby interested
Indians ceded to the King of England their claims to all the
lands in what is now Trans-Allegheny West Virginia and a large
part of Kentucky. At the same time and place Samuel Wharton, William Trent, William Franklin. and others secured a
private grant later known as Indiana. This comprised about
five thousand square miles and, although made in the King's
name, it was for the "sole benefit and behoof of the despoiled
traders," who had failed to make a success of the fur trade following the French and Indian War and who, together with
others, in the same year began a movement looking to the formation of a new colony west of the Alleghenies to be called Vandalia. For this purpose the King was petitioned for a land
grant, sometimes referred to as the Walpole Grant because of
Thomas Walpole, a London banker, interested in the proposed
new colony.22
Confident that "the lines of the colonies would be extended
soon" and that officers would receive promised lands "agreeable to his Majesty's Proclamation," Washington had meanwhile
taken time by the forelock. Already Crawford acting "as if for
himself," had surveyed a tract in southwestern Pennsylvania,
"taking all the good lands and leaving out the sorry, only some
joining the mill seat."23  Other surveys made for Washington in I770 and 177I included the site of Fort Necessity, which
he wished for sentimental reasons, and the "Washington Lands,"
on Miller's Run near what is now Canonsburg, Pennsylvania,
previously described by Crawford as being on Chartier's Creek.
For various reasons, some of which have already been indicated in this chapter, Crawford was not so successful in locating lands in Virginia. Further complicating the situation was
the prolonged controversy between Virginia and PennsylvaniaWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
regarding their common boundary. Moreover, the "Indian
traders' lands" were said to have priority, and numerous prospectors were abroad in the land with tomahawks, chains, and
compasses. But this situation only stimulated Washington to
activity on his own behalf. Consequently in the later part of
I769 he petitioned the Virginia Executive Council for permission to make the desired surveys. Meanwhile, "as a Lottery
only," he bought up the claims of fellow officers, when they
could be had "for little or nothing," as usual taking care not
to make purchases in his own name. In this manner he acquired claims to thousands of acres, many of which were never
surveyed and patented.
Stimulated by the activities of the Pennsylvanians, the Virginia Executive Council, December I769, permitted Washington to locate two hundred thousand acres allotted claimants under the Dinwiddie Proclamation of I754, provided the surveys
did not encroach upon prior settlements. In pursuance of this
action in August, I770, these claimants met in Fredericksburg,
Virginia, where it was resolved to locate the desired grants in
the region of the Great Kanawha, beyond "the traders' lands"
and the new settlements in the Trans-Allegheny. For this purpose, Washington, an experienced frontiersman, now anxious to
visit the West again, was chosen to represent such persons as
filed their claims with him and bore their part of his expenses.24
On his fifth journey to the Trans-Allegheny, October 5,
I770, Washington left Mount Vernon in company with Doctor
James Craik and servants. Traveling horseback the first day
out he reached Leesburg, forty-five miles distant, where Washington's "Portmanteau horse faild in his Stomach." Twelve
days later after an uneventful journey by way of Fort Necessity
and Braddock's Field, the party reached Fort Pitt, approximately
three hundred miles inland. On the way out the party had
found suitable stopping places at Washington's brother Samuel's,
Jolliff's, Pritchard's, Cox's, Rumney, Wise's, Killam's, Fort
Cumberland, Great Crossings, Gist's, Crawford's (where Captain William Crawford joined him), and Stephenson's. At
140THE FRONTIER ADVANCE                  I4I
Old Town Washington had learned from Colonel Cresap, just
returned from England, additional "particulars of the Grant
said to be lately sold to Walpole and others."25 Throughout
the entire journey Washington had an eye out for good lands,
and at Captain Crawford's, he "Went to see a Coal Mine," the
content of which "seemed to be of the very best kind, burning
freely and abundance of it."
Instead of a smoldering ruin such as he had witnessed twelve
years before, Washington found Fort Pitt a pentagonal structure,
two sides of which were brick, "the others Stockade." A moat
encompassed it, and it was garrisoned by two companies of Royal
Irish commanded by Captain Charles Edmonstone. About three
hundred yards "distant" was "the Town [Pittsburgh]," which
consisted of about twenty log houses inhabited by Indian traders
and arranged in streets along the Monongahela. Here Washington lodged in "a very good House of Publick Entertainment" kept by Samuel Sample.26
Through the intercession of officers at Fort Pitt, Washington met and was reconciled to George Croghan with whom
he had quarreled in I754 over horses which Washington had
seized, thus entailing a considerable loss to Croghan. As he was
now a landed potentate claiming between two hundred thousand
and two hundred fifty thousand of the choicest acres in the vicinity of Pittsburgh, some of which Washington wished to purchase, he could well afford to cultivate Croghan's acquaintance.
Accordingly Washington accepted his invitation to dine at
Croghan Hall on the Allegheny about five miles from Fort
Pitt, where doubtless possible land purchases were discussed and
a meeting between Washington and "the White Mingo and
other Chiefs of the 6 Nations" took place. In the course of this
interview, Washington received "a String of Wampum" and "a
Speech" which summarized the Indian situation and again welcomed him to the interior.27 In response he assured the Indians
"that all the Injuries and affronts" that had passed between
them and the Virginians had been forgotten. Continuing, he
made the timely and diplomatic observation "that the VirginWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
ians were a People not so much engaged in Trade as the Pensylvanians, etca. w[hi]ch was the Reason of their not being so
frequently among them; but that it was possible they might
for the time to come have stricter connections with them."28
The same day, October I9, Washington returned to Pittsburgh and made ready to descend the Ohio. "The boys" in
charge of the horses having been ordered back to Crawford's
with instructions to meet Washington there later, the following
day he set out on the last lap of his journey. Colonel Croghan,
Alexander McKee, and Lieutenant Robert Hamilton accompanied him as far as Logstown. Thence Washington's party
traveled in two canoes, one for the exclusive use of attending
Indians, among them the "Pheasant," and the other for Washington and his white companions, Dr. James Craik, William
Crawford, Joseph Nicholson, Robert Bell, William Harrison,
and Charles Morgan.
Eleven days later the party reached the mouth of the Great
Kanawha. Meanwhile Washington had committed to the pages
of his Diary either names or descriptions, sometimes both, of the
numerous intervening islands and tributary streams between that
point and the source of the Ohio River. Accompanying these
were general descriptions of the lands passed, together with the
patent observation that "the Hills on one side" were "opposite
to the bottoms on the other." Although hundreds of white
men had previously descended the Ohio, the lands bordering
upon its banks were still the domain of the forest primeval, with
only here and there an intervening savannah. The Mingo
Town of about sixty warriors, located on or near the present site
of Steubenville, Ohio, was the only native village of consequence
passed in their course. Here they received the disconcerting intelligence of the murder of white men farther down stream, but
they pressed forward and found that this report had its origin
in the accidental death of a white trader. Otherwise their experiences were most pleasant. The intermittent call of wild
turkey and the sight of grazing deer verified their notions regarding the fatness of the land. Near the mouth of the Great
I42THE FRONTIER ADVANCE                I43
Kanawha they saw many buffalo and "a Couple Birds in size between a Swan and a Goose,"29 the like of which Washington
had never seen. They were probably either blue heron or
American bittern.
In his descent of the Ohio, Washington recorded meeting
only one important Indian hunting party, that of Kiashuta who
was sojourning on the east side of the Ohio about thirty-five
miles below the mouth of the Little Kanawha. For "necessity,"
WASHINGTON'S JOURNEY ON AND ALONG THE OHIO RIVER, I770.
THE ROUTE FOLLOWED BETWEEN FORT PITT AND WILLS CREEK WAS
PRACTICALLY COTERMINOUS WITH BRADDOCK S TRAIL.
SEE PAGE 103.WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
as well as for friendship's sake, Washington, having met him
before, thought it advisable to pay his respects in person, for
which he was agreeably rewarded with "great kindness" and "a
Quarter of very fine Buffalo."
At the earnest invitation of the Indians the two parties spent
the night near each other. "After much Councelling the overnight" the next morning the Indians came to "my fire," and
with extreme formality Kiashuta rehearsed the incidents and
accords of the meeting between Washington and the Indians at
Colonel Croghan's. As a result promises of mutual peace and
friendship were again reaffirmed, as was also the intention of
the Indians to get on with the Virginians, provided they treated
them with fairness in matters of trade.30
In keeping with his original intentions, but contrary to subsequent understandings, neither Washington nor any of his
party surveyed lands on this journey. After exploring the
Great Kanawha for a distance of about fourteen miles above its
mouth, some of his party going four or five miles higher up,
Washington marked "two Maples, an Elm, and Hoopwood
Tree," on the east side, "as a Corn[e]r of the Soldiers L[an]d
(if we can get it) intending to take all the bottom from hence
to the Rapids in the Great Bent into one Survey." He also indicated the beginnings of another proposed survey on the west
side of the Great Kanawha, after which he took courses and distances of that stream, noted the passing of a canoe laden with
sheep for the Illinois Country, and then set out for home. Both
up and down stream Washington traveled almost entirely by
water, but the accompanying map discloses short excursions by
land. These side trips were for inspection purposes.31
Except for another meeting with Kiashuta who gave additional information regarding unexplored portions of the Great
Kanawha Valley, Washington's return trip up the Ohio was uneventful. Among other things he learned from Kiashuta that
the length of the Great Kanawha River between its mouth and
its falls was greater than the distance between the two Kanawhas;
that the bottom land on the south side of the Great Kanawha
I44THE FRONTIER ADVANCE                 I45
was almost continuous throughout its length; that the bottoms
on the north side were rich; and that canoes could not be used
upon the Great Kanawha above "the Falls." As Washington
placed dependence in his informant, he was thus able, in a measure, to master his new environment by a minimum of effort.32
November I7, I770, Washington summarized observations
of his journey in a general description of the Ohio, of the lands
through which it flowed, and of the life and conditions along
its banks. Thence from a point about ten miles north of the
present site of Wellsburg, West Virginia, and opposite "Mingo
Town" he journeyed overland to Fort Pitt. In preparation for
this journey he sent his canoe and baggage ahead by "two Delaware Indians" who performed the service for six dollars and
"a Quart Tinn Can." As his horses had not yet arrived, his own
departure overland was delayed somewhat, but he used the time
to complete his description of the Ohio and its environs. One
of the most significant of the observations then recorded, was
that "the People from Virginia and elsewhere, are exploring
and Marking all the Lands that are valuable not only on Redstone and other waters of Monongahela but along down the
Ohio as low as the little Kanawha; and by next Summer I suppose will get to the great Kanawha, at least." October 2I, he
reached Pittsburgh.
Washington's second Pittsburgh sojourn of this journey
was not so eventful as was his first, but it was important. There
he met a relative of Colonel Croghan, Dr. John Connolly, who
had traveled over "a good deal of this Western Country both
by Land and Water." From him Washington learned much
about the Illinois Country and the lands along the "Shawana"
or Cumberland River.33 He also met parties from whom he
gathered additional data regarding the proposed Vandalia colony.
After settling with Indian and other attendants and paying
sundry bills, among them one to Samuel Samples for a dinner
given by Washington to officers and other gentlemen at Fort
Pitt, November 23, he departed thence for home. CrossingWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
swollen streams by swimming his horses, and renewing acquaintances at the several stopping places passed on his way out,
he reached Mount Vernon, December I after an absence of nine
weeks and one day. None the worse for wear he at once resumed
the rounds of his mill and enjoyment of the chase.
One of the chief results of Washington's visit of I770 to
the Ohio Valley was his heightened concern regarding the proposed Vandalia colony. On April I5, I770, he had written
Governor Botetourt setting forth in some detail its proposed
bounds. At the same time he had expressed the belief that its
authorization "will give a fatal blow... to the interests of
this country." He closed with a plea for consideration of the
land claimants under the Dinwiddie Proclamation of I754 and
with a request that his "Lordship" use his "kind interposition,
and favorable representation" to have his Majesty "confirm this
land to 1s."34 Information gathered in the interior confirmed
Washington's conviction regarding the menacing influence of
the proposed colony to rival claims and heightened his determination to thwart it.
This decision was confirmed by information which had
reached eastern Virginia in Washington's absence. Upon his
return he learned that George Croghan, William Trent, William Franklin, and others had merged their land claims into
the Grand Ohio Company and had renewed the movement looking to the formation of a new colony west of the Alleghenies.
It mattered not that they had provided for claimants under the
Dinwiddie Proclamation and the Old Ohio Company. Rumor
had it that the proposed colony would be closely attached to
the King and that the rights and interests of individuals would
not be safe-guarded as in the older colonies, certainly not in
those accustomed to a large degree of self-government.35 As an
agent and attorney for officers and soldiers of Virginia, as well
as in his own right, Washington appreciated the situation and
felt his responsibilities. As usual he was for action, but he was
unwilling to move without the approval of his clients. AccordI46THE FRONTIER ADVANCE                  I47
ingly they were asked to meet him in March, I77I, in Winchester, Virginia.
At this, the second meeting of the Virginia officers of the
French and Indian war interested in western lands, Washington made a detailed report of his trip of the previous year, and
it was resolved to have the lands which he had located on the
Ohio surveyed at once. It mattered not that the hazards of this
undertaking were great, that the costs would have to be borne
by those interested, and that the Virginia Executive Council,
December IS, I769, had temporarily forbidden such surveys.
The fact remained that the choice lands along the Ohio were
being taken. Accordingly the surveys were authorized, and
soon thereafter William Crawford was employed for that purpose.
As a result of Crawford's activities, Washington, November
7, I77I, reported to George Mercer, agent of the Ohio Company of I748, that36 "we have Surveyed Ten of the largest
Tracts we can find in the district allowed us, and have been
able to get 61,796 Acres, and for this we have been obliged to
go between 2 and 300 Miles below Fort Pitt, as the Lands
thereabouts are thought to be within the Pennsylvania Government; at least, are Survey'd under those Rights, and held by
such a number of Individuals, that it was thought to be Impolitick to engage in private disputes, whilst there appeared but
a gloomy prospect of getting any Land at all."
Early in I772 Lord Dunmore arrived in Virginia to succeed Governor Botetourt who died in October, I770, and temporarily conditions became more favorable for Washington and
his clients wishing to validate their western land claims. Like
Dinwiddie twenty years before, Dunmore caught the western
land fever and secretly and possibly effectively joined those opposed to the Vandalia, or Walpole, colony. Soon Dunmore and
Washington were fast friends and planned to visit the Ohio
Valley together. Because of his inability to make "absolute and
bona fide" grants, Dunmore declined, however, to approve
Washington's request to be permitted to continue his surveys.MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN                5
Augustine Washington's first wife, in her own handwriting, and
below it the additional words "and Mary Washington," in her
hand.5
Recent authors portray Washington's mother as a crude and
illiterate woman; as having had little to do with George's upbringing, far less than did his half-brothers, Lawrence and
Augustine; and as having been an irascible person, increasingly
so as she grew older: an irritant to her son and a source of
worry to him.6 She is said to have smoked almost incessantly.
It may be significant that George never smoked and that he left
home as soon as he could and remained away as long as possible.
Whatever one may think of this rather Spartan yet kind
woman, George Washington attributed to her chief credit for
what he became.7 Probably more than from any other source
or from all other sources combined, he acquired from her the
strength of a philosopher, the truthfulness of a Christian, a fear
of God, and a love of liberty and justice. Nor were the forms
and conventions which she drilled into him without value. They
gave her son poise and bearing and enabled him naturally to
spurn familiarity and to command respect. In his subsequent
intercourse with statesmen and diplomats these traits also commanded respect for the independent government which he was
largely responsible in establishing.
Neither of George Washington's grandfathers was remarkable for talents and achievements, nor did either belong to the
highest class of Virginia gentry. Joseph Ball was a colonel and
left his daughter, Mary, about two thousand acres in her own
right. The Balls came to America as merchants and Joseph's
immediate family had English attachments, largely commercial.8
Nor was George Washington's grandfather, Lawrence
Washington, more distinguished. Like his famous grandson, he
was the eldest child of his immediate family, but, unlike him,
he did not increase its importance. He is said to have been a
quiet, thrifty man who did not seek adventure "either upon
land or water." He died leaving a competent estate but nothI48             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
This refusal brought from Washington an historical review
of the questions involved and a warning to the effect that longer
delays in perfecting land titles would result in losses to "the
Officers and Soldiers who have suffered in the cause of your
Country." Inasmuch as "Emigrants" were "daily and hourly
settling on the choice spots waiting a favourable opportunity
to solicit legal Titles, on the ground of preoccupancy when the
Office shall be open'd," Washington thought it wrong to deny
prior claimants the right to make legal preemptions.37
As a result of these representations and a formal petition
Dunmore permitted the desired surveys but restricted them to
twenty tracts. With the aid of his council he also determined
the proportions of land allowed each claimant, which ranged
from fifteen thousand acres for field officers to four hundred
acres for privates. Although encouraging, these concessions
left obstacles in the way of individual claimants anxious to survey and patent lands of their own choosing and at once. Inasmuch as others were then acquiring lands through patent, settlement, and even tomahawk rights, Washington resented this
discrimination, alleging that it put "the soldiers upon a worse
footing, than the meanest individual in the community." He
added furthermore this philosophic observation "that no country ever was or ever would be settled without some indulgence."
He further analyzed the situation in these questions and their
terse answers: "What inducements have men to explore uninhabited wilds, but the prospect of getting good lands? Would
any man waste his time, expose his fortune, nay, life, in such a
search, if he was to share the good and the bad with those that
come after him? Surely not."38
Meantime a homestead war was in progress in the vicinity
of Fort Pitt.39 A victim of financial reverses, the result of excessive borrowing and plunging, and obsessed with enthusiasm
for the Vandalia enterprise, in which he was personally interested, Croghan was selling his holdings in wholesale fashion
and as recklessly promising valid titles. At the same time he
questioned the legality of Washington's holdings and tried toTHE FRONTIER ADVANCE                  I49
prevent him from using them to advantage. The interposition
of Dunmore in an effort to oust Pennsylvanians from the Monongahela Valley and to overthrow the governments established
there, at the same time disallowing their land grants, did not
help the situation. In fact, it came near precipitating war between Pennsylvania and Virginia. In the course of ensuing
events the Washington-Crawford interests were outstanding participants. In some instances rival claimants were ejected by
force, and they vied with others in the use of log cabins and
other devices to establish coveted land claims.40
Ever awake to his own interests and never averse to a fight
when they were involved, in I773 Washington planned another visit to the Trans-Allegheny, which he probably would
have made but for the death of his stepdaughter in August of
that year. As in the past, western lands doubtless occupied
much of his attention, and communications from his partner,
Crawford, regarding them were awaited with concern. Of incidents thus revealed in the homestead war these are typical:
"The man that is strong and able to make Others Afraid of
him Seems to have the Best Chance as tims go now.... I do
not find I can get you the Quantity of Land... without I
cold stay all Summer and be on the spot as People Crowd out
in such numbers the Like never was seen," and "they took your
Land and say the[y] will keep it. I could Drive them away
but they will com back Emedetly as soon as my back is turned.
They man I put on the Land they have drove away and Built
a house so Close to his dore he cannot get into the house at
the dore.. there is no getting them of[f] without Force of
Arms."41
Out of this bonanza condition, fraught with intercolonial
rivalries and plans for new commonwealths, Washington
emerged the owner of several potential estates. They were scattered here and there in southwestern Pennsylvania and along
the Ohio and the Great Kanawha rivers and varied in size from
approximately two hundred fifty to eleven thousand acres. The
aggregate of his tracts in southwestern Pennsylvania was almostWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
five thousand acres, while his lands on the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers then actually surveyed and patented, reached more
than twenty thousand acres.42
Although the titles to his western lands were somewhat
clouded, as were also the uses to be made of them, Washington was not satisfied with the amount of his holdings and
wished to acquire still others. In I772 Governor Dunmore
was willing to grant patents to lands lying below the Scioto
River in what is now Ohio, to officers and soldiers under a
proclamation of I763. As Washington was a claimant in his
own right under this proclamation and by purchase from others and was contemplating the possibility of "some new revolution... in our political System," he wished to have his lands
aggregating ten thousand acres, surveyed at once. Moreover,
he desired to have his survey in one tract and as near the mouth
of the Scioto as possible, "but for the sake of better land" he
was willing to go "down to the Falls, or even below." Nor was
he averse to joining the initial rush to Kentucky and acquiring
a tract embracing a salt spring upon Kentucky River, a grant
which he then planned to turn "to an extensive public benefit, as
well as private advantage."43
Washington's land-grabbing activities of the pre-Revolutionary days extended to the lower Mississippi and to West
Florida. In the latter country he acquired the claims of Captain John Posey and the Reverend Dr. Thurston, each connected
with "Lyman's Military Adventure." In the location of these
claims Washington enlisted the services of his friend, James
Wood, then sojourning in Florida, who was instructed to look
out for "good Lands easy to be obtained, and not difficult to
keep under the established Rules of Government." Washington directed also that lands chosen for him on the Mississippi
should be as far up stream "as the Navigation is good."44
Although the Boston Tea Party, December, I773, was a
godsend to Washington in many ways, certainly in the matter
of western lands, this patriotic and somewhat selfish demonstration of the New Englanders gave new momentum to the
I5oTHE FRONTIER ADVANCE                  ISI
ball of revolution, then growing ever larger in America. Henceforth land interests, certainly those on the frontier, became more
and more involved in matters affecting the mother country and
will be treated accordingly. In other words, what Washington
hoped for from Westminster, the rejection of the Vandalia petition, was accomplished in Boston. One of the results was the
validation of additional land claims in the Trans-Allegheny,
thus augmenting his private fortune and his public influence.CHAPTER IX
IN THE REVOLUTION
ON THE EVE Of the American Revolution Washington was trying to establish a permanent settlement on his lands near the
mouth of the Great Kanawha River and the proposed capitol
site of the Vandalia colony. Although his title to these lands
was not questioned, he doubtless thought that possession
amounted to the proverbial nine points of the law. Virginia
had not yet opened a land office west of the Alleghenies; surveys there were still a matter of individual initiative and expense; and, in the midst of an ever-increasing number of claimants, settlement rights were necessary to clinch other preEpmtions. In this move Washington was doubtless motivated also
by the example of his half-brother Lawrence, who, ignoring
the dicta of an Established Church and other conventions of a
somewhat aristocratic society, had planned to colonize the lands
of the Ohio Company, of which he was president, with Palatine
Germans. Already Washington was as liberal in practice as
Thomas Jefferson later became in theory.?:
In this movement Washington was to all intents and purposes a modern real estate promoter, promising everything to
everybody. Irish, Scotch, English, and German immigrants
alike were to have religious and civil liberty, and that too within
the bounds of Virginia which maintained an Established Church
and a local government not renowned for liberalism. Referring
to reported suspicions of certain interested Palatines to the contrary, Washington saw "no prospect of these People being restrained in the smallest degree either in their Civil, or Religious Principles."'  His reason for this statement, namely:
"these are Privileges, which Mankind are solicitous to enjoy,
[152 ]IN THE REVOLUTION
and Emigrants must be Anxious to know,"2 would have done
credit to either Thomas Jefferson or to Thomas Paine.
In this mood Washington appealed to his old friend and
fellow officer, John David Woelper, or as Washington spelled
his name, "Wilper," for aid in inducing Germans to emigrate
to America. Although Woelper's chief concern seems to have
been to sell his own land claims to Washington, he was not
averse to helping him, stating his decision and understanding
of the situation in these words: "Sir, as you have Some Intainsion, to Impord Some of my Countery man, To Sattlen your
Land, and to Resolve your Quistion, which you has macke, to
your Servant, To which I will give you, my Humble answer,
to the best of my knowledge, and Informaision," adding, in
equally good Pennsylvania Dutch, the following directions for
lodging, or rather "packing" the desired colonists for shipment
to America: "They are Logged in Bed Stals, macke of boards,
6-feet Long and 2 feet waith, This Bed Stals, are so Regulatted,
acorting, to the vessel, Some Bed Stals are made for 2.3.4.5.6.
Fraight, to hold, and Lay in it, and To keep Theries Nessisary
by them, The other paggach, muss be but Down, in the
hold,-."3
For some reason, possibly aversion to the method of lodging the desired immigrants, Washington did not follow Woelper's suggestion. In I773 and I774 his agents were active in
Ireland and England, in the latter of which his press advertisement attracted so much attention as to cause Lord Hillsborough to predict the consequent depopulation of that country.4 Already both England and Ireland had supplied thousands of persons who indentured themselves for short periods
to those willing to pay their passage to America. As their
exodus had not produced appreciable results in the population of either country, certainly not in the number of indigent
poor, Hillsborough's fears were as baseless as they were perhaps insincere. Nevertheless Washington was able to purchase
"four men convicts, four indented servants for three years and
a man and his wife for four years." Their total cost, one hunI53WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
dred ten pounds, was not considered excessive, as they were
"country convicts" and "likely people."5 In an advertisement
of I774, announcing plans to send carpenters and pioneers to
his western lands, he offered "leases for lives, renewable forever."6 Thus it seems he was not averse to building up in the
heart of the New World a society not unlike that of Medieval
Europe, and that too despite his avowed leanings toward civil
and religious liberty.
In this novel enterprise on March, I774, "more than twenty
servants and hirelings" left Mount Vernon for the Great Kanawha River.7  They were under the direction of Valentine
Crawford and were provided with "a great number of tools,
nails, and necessaries"; but because of threatened Indian hostilities in the interior, they were unable to proceed beyond Redstone on the Monongahela. Here they were detained temporarily, but in time Crawford found it necessary to dispose of
them. The entire "parcel" was offered to Gilbert Simpson, then
engaged in building a mill for Washington on his lands near the
present site of Perryopolis in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, but
Simpson refused to purchase "for fear they would run away."
Later he took some of them, and Crawford found it necessary
to use others in the construction of a blockhouse, so threatening
had the Indian situation become, even on the Monongahela.
About May I, I774, one thousand refugees crossed that stream
in a single day, and Crawford was able to find employment for
the "hierlings" as militiamen. The remaining "servants" he
sold like cattle to the highest bidder, one "parcel," Peter Miller
and John Wood, for forty-five pounds; and another, consisting
of Thomas McPherson and his wife, James Lowe and Jones
Ennis, for sixty-five pounds. Agreeable to Washington's instructions, Crawford would have sold all the servants, had not
"the confusion of the times put it out of" his power.8
This "confusion" was brought on by a new rush of settlers
into the Trans-Allegheny, even into the "Dark and Bloody
land." Both Harrodsburg and Louisville were founded in
1774, and about the same time new settlements were made along
I54'W'ASt4{ ING1( 1O()N-S MILER'B'lU'llT iX E74-:R 776, N.9-A. APRES] F'NT PERRICYOPO',:l'S Pt,NNSNYIt,VANTAIN THE REVOLUTION                   155
the upper Great Kanawha and the upper Ohio Rivers. These
aggressions brought protests from the Grand Ohio Company,9
from British officialdom, and as usual from the natives. Because
of the treaties at Fort Stanwix and Lochaber, the Iroquois and
Cherokees were restrained, but the Shawnees, former inhabitants
of the Cumberland Valley and transient residents in the Great
Kanawha Valley then living north of the Ohio River in the
present state of Ohio, proved intractable.10 Following Dunmore's meddling in the affairs of western Pennsylvania, and
the murder of Logan's family at Yellow Creek, the clash, long
feared by the mother country, was on, and plans for planting
new settlements along the Ohio and the Great Kanawha rivers
were temporarily abandoned. Soon thereafter the vicinity of
Washington's would-be settlement became the scene of one of
the bloodiest Indian battles in American annals. This, the Battle
of Point Pleasant, was the major engagement of Dunmore's
War.11
Washington's attitude toward this war was not clearly revealed. Already preoccupied with the effects of the "Intolerable Acts," he was persuaded that Americans were no longer
governed by principles of justice and that redress could not be
had through formal petitions. Accordingly while the American
frontiersmen were marshaling their forces for war, Washington
was helping to formulate the famous "Fairfax Resolves"'l2 and
getting ready to attend the first Continental Congress. When
the Battle of Point Pleasant took place, he was in Philadelphia
hobnobbing with "Boston gentlemen." When those disappointed with Dunmore's alleged precipitous course in concluding peace with the Indians were formulating the "Fort Gower
Address," Washington was helping to draft the equally threatening "Declaration and Resolves" and the "Association" of the
First Continental Congress. That he was in complete accord
with the leading Virginians of his day in their resentment of
British aggressiveness is attested by the fact that the Virginia
delegation to the First Continental Congress, finding it neces6               WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
ing to be compared with those left by the Byrds, the Carters,
the Fairfaxes, and others of their day.9
More can be said for George Washington's great-grandfather, John Washington, the first of his family in Virginia.l~
"He was a man of great personal strength, inclined to war, very
resolute, and of a masterful and very violent temper," in whom
biographers have found striking resemblance to his greatgrandson. Completing a sojourn in Barbadoes, John Washington, came to Virginia in I657 and soon thereafter came into
possession of a large estate in Prince William County, later
called Mount Vernon, which was granted to him and Colonel
Spencer for transporting "an hundred laborers."
Thus established upon what was then the frontier, John
Washington sympathized with Nathaniel Bacon in his difficulties with Governor William Berkeley, resulting in Bacon's Rebellion, which occurred just one hundred years before the
American Revolution. In fact, Washington was reprimanded
by Berkeley for harsh treatment of Indians. What this treatment was has not been definitely determined, but there is evidence that the Indians feared Washington. For this reason they
gave him the name "Conotocarious" meaning the "Destroyer of
Villages."
Whatever may be said of the relations existing between the
Indians and John Washington, he died enjoying the respect and
esteem of his white neighbors. In I670 he was a member of
the House of Burgesses and at other times he held public positions of honor and trust. Throughout his life he was an active
churchman, which does not mean that he subjected himself to
great denial, as determined by more recent standards. Rectors
of his day engaged in fox hunting and gambling, and became
so intoxicated that they could not perform baptismal services.
He left a legacy to a church in Washington Parish, Prince William County, and provided also for the erection of a tablet
therein, on which was inscribed the Ten Commandments and
the King's Arms.ll Consequently some have traced GeorgeWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
sary to retire before its sessions were ended, deputized Washington to sign their names "to any of the proceedings."
Intense interest in these and similar things easily explains
Washington's seeming indifference to Dunmore's War, but
further explanation might be found in the facts that Dunmore
commanded his own army and that the frontier militia, of which
his army was composed, was commanded by its own officers,
among them being Major Andrew Lewis. In speaking of this
war one of these commanders, Colonel William Preston, a
western landowner, doubtless expressed the sentiments of many,
possibly those of Washington, in these words: "The Oppertunty
we hav[el So long wished for, is now before us."13 Immediately upon the termination of hostilities, Washington's agent,
William Crawford, expressed the general sentiment of all those
interested in the West in these words: "we may with propriety
say we have had great success; as we have made them [Indians]
sensible of their villany and weakness, and, I hope, made peace
with them on such a footing as will be lasting.'14
That this expressed Washington's sentiments is evidenced
by the fact that he at once resumed his efforts to plant a permanent settlement on his lands at the mouth of the Great Kanawha
River. For this purpose, January Io, I775, he found an "overseer" in James Cleveland, formerly employed on the Mount
Vernon estate. For the necessary manual labor Washington
bought another "parcel of servants" who were temporarily
lodged at Mount Vernon for safe-keeping.15 Cleveland becoming ill, the enterprise was temporarily entrusted to William
Stevens who was instructed to proceed to Simpson's on the
Youghiogheny, there to complete arrangements for the proposed journey down the Ohio.
Other instructions to Stevens testify to Washington's infinite
capacity for essential details and to the practical character of his
experiences. Diligence was to be used in the construction of necessary living quarters; as much land as possible was to be made
ready for corn; Major Crawford was to be consulted about a
"Hunter" and "a good one"; "Peach Stone Kernals" were to
I56be planted, two thousand of them; without arousing his servants
suspicions, precautions were to be taken against their running
away; a list of everything carried down the river, "though
never so trifling," was to be left at Simpson's; and frequent reports were requested.16  One cannot restrain the observation
that Washington would have been as successful in founding
commonwealths as he was in building and defending them.
With instructions already at hand Cleveland, in April, I775,
again took charge of the settlement project, and was soon thereafter at his post on the Great Kanawha. His reports, in the
form of letters, are typical of those of others who have founded
and attempted to found pioneer settlements. They told of the
loss of needed supplies in a long and hazardous water journey,
and of the building of log houses and the clearing and planting
of new lands, of efforts to stock these lands with cattle and other
domestic animals, of shortages of food supplies, and of the utter
uselessness of indentured laborers.  Many of these sought
refuge in neighboring Indian villages, so that Cleveland, to
avoid loss to his employer, was compelled to spend a large part
of his time hunting them and compelling their return. As a
result he concluded that "the time lost and the expense" was
more than the enterprise could bear, and Cleveland resolved to
permit the more untractable to go their way. Others were sent
to Colonel Crawford with instructions "to sell them on the best
terms."17
With the help of hirelings and a few Negroes, Cleveland
was able to make a good showing in the way of improvements.
April 2, I776, he appeared before the County Court of Fincastle
to have his effects recorded, according to law. A previous appraisement had fixed their value at ~I Ioo.I5-7' 2. This represented fourteen buildings, three of which were designated as
dwelling houses of four to five rooms each, whereas the others,
except a barn, were just plain houses, or cabins. Twenty-eight
acres had been cleared and were producing "large crops of corn,
potatoes,  turnips." Near two thousand "peach stone cornols"
had been planted.l8
I57
IN THE REVOLUTIONI58             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Thus, long after the beginning of hostilities between the
colonies and the mother country, the Washington "settlement"
on the Great Kanawha River was a going concern. What it
might have become, had not the Indians again turned against
the Virginians, can only be a matter of conjecture. "As it was,
nothing came of the attempt." At least seventy-five miles from
the settlements upon the upper Great Kanawha River and with
small protection from Fort Blair at its mouth, which was soon
deserted, there was nothing to do but to abandon the project.
The houses were later burned, presumably by Indians.x9
Meanwhile Washington had made an important decision.
While he was planning another trip to the Ohio River, this time
to look after his settlement, the Second Continental Congress
offered him the chief command of the forces raised or to be
raised for the defense of American liberties. On the same day,
June I5, I775, the Virginia Burgesses named him a member of
a commission authorized to conclude a final treaty with Indians
interested in the results of Dunmore's War.20  The proposed
treaty was to clinch the effects of the Battle of Point Pleasant
and otherwise to complete the unfinished work of Dunmore on
the frontier and was for that reason important, but Washington's choice in the matter is well known.
Although not generally appreciated, this decision marked a
turning point in American political thought and practice. Had
Washington accepted the Virginia appointment, he would probably have continued his fight for particularism as in 1758, when
he preferred Braddock's Road to Forbes's Road and could see
little good in Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians.21 Thanks to
the benign influence of more constructive forces, his vision and
patriotism had meanwhile risen to a higher plane. He was now
able to speak of the "American Empire," and his friend Patrick
Henry had become an "American."
Negotiations for the final termination of Dunmore's War
took place at Pittsburgh in the autumn of I775 and resulted in
a treaty, concluded jointly by representatives of Virginia and of
the Continental Congress.22 Thus in a very real way the latterbody had superseded the mother country. As Washington had
opposed its plans for the government and control of the West,
he could not, in the light of his personal interests, have been
ignorant of or indifferent to the possibilities of this change of
jurisdiction. There is, however, no evidence that he opposed
it. He too had become an American.
On this point, Washington's relations to the Continental
Congress during the period that he served it as commander-inchief of its armed forces is something that inspires thought and
admiration. It is perhaps the most beautiful and wholesome
thing in his career. This was certainly true of the time during
which he was a practical dictator. Instead of adorning himself
with the conventional trappings of regal power, as a Napoleon
or an Hohenzollern would have done, Washington continued
to advise with that discredited body, and, at the earliest possible
opportunity, he turned back to it the powers temporarily entrusted to him.23 His ability to do this, without any apparent
thought of another course, was the measure of his Americanism,
of his faith in a new order, of his greatness. That it influenced
his outlook toward western lands, few will question.
The scope and character of the grievances leading Washington into rebellion must not be overlooked. His approval of
and participation in drafting the "Fairfax Resolves" of his home
county, and the "Declaration and Resolves" and the "Association" of the First Continental Congress, leave no doubt of the
fact that his grievances embraced taxation, trade, and commerce,
but he was also concerned with matters affecting the American frontier, on the future of which he had staked his fortune.
Despite his liberality in matters of creed, he opposed the Quebec
Act, not primarily because it extended the bounds of Catholicism
to the Ohio River, but because it intercepted an incipient westward extension of English possessions and English institutions.
A casual reading of his correspondence covering the two decades
immediately preceding the American Revolution leaves no
doubt of Washington's answers to such questions as: Whenever
possible in their common efforts, did not British regulars cast the
I59
IN THE REVOLUTIONWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
brunt of war upon American provincials? Were not these provincials denied promised land grants because of efforts to please
jobbers and court favorites? In Dunmore's premature peace
negotiations following the Battle of Point Pleasant, did he not
forfeit an opportunity of a generation?
If the cumulative effects of these grievances did not make
a rebel out of Washington, other events of the last days of the
Dunmore regime in Virginia were equal to that consummation.
About the time that Washington was named commander-inchief of the Continental Army, it was currently reported there
that Dunmore had declared null and void patents granted by
him for lands surveyed in I772 and I773. As these were the
dates of some of Washington's patents, he was much concerned,
expressing his inability to believe in the "reality" of the report.
Fortunately it was unfounded, but as much could not be said of
reports regarding Dunmore's efforts to use Indians and Negroes
against the Virginians.
Undoubtedly Washington sympathized with the sentiments
of the "Fort Gower Address," anticipating by months the more
famous "Mecklenberg Declaration." This "Address" was issued
November 5, I774, as a protest against the unsatisfactory condition of things in Virginia both in the older settlements and upon
the frontier. It was issued by active participants in Dunmore's
War and upon the soil of what is now the state of Ohio. While
expressing confidence in Dunmore, it committed its authors to
the use of arms "for no other purpose than the honor of America
and Virginia."24
From the beginning to the end of the Revolution, Washington placed much, possibly chief, dependence upon the Continental soldiers and militia of the American backwoods, particularly those from Virginia. With his approval and possibly at
his suggestion, Congress, in one of its first acts following the
opening of hostilities, voted to send him ten companies of riflemen to be drawn from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia,
and about the same time, through an address to the captains of
the "several independent companies" in Virginia, Washington
I6oentreated them not to relax their "discipline."25 August 6,
I775, accompanied by Captain William Hendricks at the head
of a company of Pennsylvania riflemen, Captain Hugh Stephenson and Colonel Daniel Morgan joined Washington in Cambridge with the first recruits from beyond the Potomac.26 As
Stephenson's command was largely from present Berkeley
County, West Virginia, while Morgan's came from and near
Winchester, Virginia, it is probably true, as reported, that Washington greeted each of them personally, calling them by name.
Because of his reputed prowess in a series of Indian wars,
the fame of the American frontier soldier was already abroad
in America, even in Europe. Their arrival at Cambridge must
therefore have encouraged Washington, who knew their qualities better than anyone else. It was stimulating also to the
country at large. In contemplation of their arrival, John Adams
wrote his wife: "These are an excellent species of light infantry.
They use a peculiar kind of musket, called a rifle. It has circular or-groves within the barrel, and carries a ball with great
exactness to great distances. They are the most accurate marksmen in the world."27 Possibly a better characterization of the
strength and methods of the Virginia frontier riflemen was given
by Richard Henry Lee:
"This one County of Fincastle can furnish Iooo Rifle Men
that for their number make most formidable light Infantry in
the world. The six frontier Counties can produce 6ooo of these
Men who from their amazing hardihood, their method of living
so long in the woods without carrying provisions with them, the
exceeding quickness with which they can march to distant parts,
and above all, the dexterity to which they have arrived in the
use of the Rifle Gun. Their is not one of these Men who wish
a distance less than 200 yards or a larger object than an Orange
-Every shot is fatal."28
That Washington made good use of these soldiers goes
almost without saying. Wherever light infantry was needed,
they, under his orders, were generally present. Scarcely had
Morgan arrived in Cambridge before he was sent off with
I6I
IN THE REVOLUTIONi62             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Arnold on an invasion of Canada. There were few important
battles of the Revolution in which frontiersmen did not function
more or less effectively. This was certainly true of Saratoga,
where Morgan and his Virginia neighbor, Horatio Gates, each
commanding Virginia riflemen, played important, yes, decisive
r6les. This was true also of Cowpens, of King's Mountain, and
of still other engagements.
Washington's appreciation of these soldiers was evidenced
by the numerous trusts reposed in them, but he had a sentimental attachment, as well as a feeling of security, for the mountains
and valleys whence they came. These sentiments manifested
themselves in various ways and on various occasions but never
more strikingly than in I776, following his retreat beyond the
Delaware. He was then said to have been in despair and to
have contemplated the necessity of finding a temporary retreat
beyond the reach of his pursuers. In reply to a discouraging
remark from Colonel Joseph Reed regarding the possibility of
such a course, Washington said: "We must retire to Augusta
County in Virginia. Numbers will be obliged to repair to us
for safety; and we must try what we can do in carrying on a
predatory war; and if overpowered we must cross the Alleghany
Mountains."29
Another manifestation of the same sentiment came near the
close of the war. In reply to a call for volunteers, Mrs. William Lewis of Augusta County, Virginia, had permitted her remaining sons of seventeen, fifteen, and thirteen years, respectively, to join the Continental army with the injunction, "Go,
my children. I spare not my youngest, my fair haired boy, the
comfort of my declining years." When this incident was related
to Washington he is reported to have exclaimed: "Leave me
but a banner to place upon the mountains of Augusta, and I will
rally around me the men who will lift our bleeding country
from the dust, and set her free!"30
Throughout the Revolution Washington's time was "so constantly taken up and engrossed by public matters" that he
scarcely bestowed a thought on his private affairs and his "busiIN THE REVOLUTION                    I63
ness... West of the Alleghanies." It will be recalled that
his efforts to perfect titles to western lands had resulted in
abortive failures. Plans for new commonwealths west of the
Alleghenies followed, and there was always the possibility that
"some new revolution.. in our political system" would put
to naught plans for recouping his declining resources by selling
or removing to his western lands. In September, I775, he asked
Thomas Everard of Virginia to take charge of his interests on
the Great Kanawha River.31  Nothing coming of this, they
were mentioned from time to time in letters to others, and October, I778, General Andrew Lewis was asked regarding the possibility of perfecting new land titles. But more significant still
was a statement of the same date to the effect that Washington
had not had time to think about his western holdings.32
Despite this indifference and neglect, in I779 certain Britishers looked upon Washington as being primarily a western
land speculator. He was accused of having tricked Dunmore
into granting land titles to which Washington's claims were still
questionable. As proof of his large holdings in the West, his
land advertisements of 1773 were called into evidence. In these
matters he was pictured by the Reverend Bennett Allen, M.A.,
in the London Morning Post for June 7, I779, as being: "Ambitious, with the fairest professions of moderation, and avaritious
under the most specious appearance of disinterestedness-particularly eager in engrossing large tracts of land, though he has
no family, but by a widow lady of fortune he married, who bore
children by a former husband." His holdings on the Ohio were
placed at two hundred thousand acres which, it was claimed, he
purchased from army and militia officers "for a trifle," and then
procured "an order of the council of Virginia to extend the proclamation of I763 to the Provincials employed in the last war."33
Although this characterization was wide of the truth, leisure
alone was all that was needed to arouse Washington's latent
interest in western lands. This leisure came while he was stationed at Newburg pending the final peace negotiations leading
to American independence. While thus detained he made a6WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
horseback trip of three weeks through the present state of New
York. On this journey he traversed practically the entire length
of the Mohawk River, incidentally seeing Lakes Champlain,
George, and Oneida. As a result of observations made on this
trip he pointed out the commercial advantages of the Mohawk
Valley and located choice lands which he and George Clinton
later acquired to the amount of six thousand acres.34
Whatever may be said of Washington's interest in western
lands, his chief concern during the period of actual fighting for
independence was in their defense. On his way to Cambridge
he took steps looking to the protection of New York and New
England against back door attacks. Expressing in a formal
address the expectation that Canadians were "capable of distinguishing between the blessings of liberty, and the wretchedness
of slavery," he invited them to rally to the "cause of America"
and informed them that "the grand American congress have sent
an army into your province,... not to plunder but to protect
you.35
In these appeals and assurances Washington shows little
knowledge of the Canadians. Unlike him they did not care
about the Quebec Act, and their comparative inexperience with
democratic institutions rendered them impervious to appeals involving academic questions of taxation and representation.
Later a great number of loyalists sought refuge in Canada, and
through their influence the Canadians remained loyal to the
British Empire. Consequently their country became a base of
rear attacks upon the revolting colonies.
While giving every possible aid in concentrating frontier
militia about Saratoga, thus making possible the successes that
followed there under the leadership of his fellow Virginians,
Gates and Morgan, Washington was somewhat chagrined because of the comparisons which followed, particularly those involving himself and the hero, Gates. Simultaneously Washington had been losing important engagements to General Howe,
as a consequence of which his critics would have superseded him
by the new hero. To this movement Washington paid little
i64attention, but, confidentially, he brought to the attention of his
friend, Landon Carter, some pertinent observations. Among
these was the fact that "The northern army,... was reinforced
by upwards of twelve hundred militia, who shut the only door
by which Burgoyne could retreat, and cut off all his supplies."
Nor did Washington hesitate to call Carter's attention to his
own "case," saying36 "The disaffection of a great part of the
inhabitants of this State [Pennsylvania], the languor of others,
and the internal distractions of the whole, have been among the
great and insuperable difficulties, which I have met with, and
have contributed not a little to my embarrassments this campaign." He was willing, however, to trust the outcome to a
"superintending Providence."
From the beginning of hostilities one of the most trying
frontier problems was that of the Iroquois. They occupied a
strategic area in western New York, the control of which,
through their loyalty to the English, had been an important,
possibly a determining, factor in century-old encounters with the
French. True to their traditions most Iroquois remained loyal
to the British and persisted in fighting their enemies. The consequences were menacing, and there was a possibility of their
proving fatal. Accordingly, in I779, Washington sent General
John Sullivan with instructions to remedy the situation at all
costs. With the co3peration of Colonel Daniel Brodhead stationed at Fort Pitt, Sullivan marched against the Iroquois by
way of the Susquehanna River and effected a destruction wellnigh complete. Iroquois warriors were killed, their wives and
children were dispatched in a ruthless manner, and their crops
and villages were destroyed. Of the success of this expedition
and its consequences Washington on October 20, I779, wrote
General Lafayette predicting that Sullivan's victory over the
Iroquois, together with the simultaneous defeat of Mingo and
Muncey tribes on the Allegheny River, would be "productive
of great good; as they are undeniable proofs to them, that Great
Britain can not protect them and that it is in our power to
chastise them, whenever their hostile conduct deserves it."37
i65
IN THE REVOLUTIONMAKING A FRONTIERSMAN                7
Washington's pious and sterling qualities to others than his
maternal ancestors.
Most of the traditions regarding George Washington's early
education are of uncertain origin and authenticity.12 At least
there is no documentary source available to the present writer to
support the claims that Washington, when about six years old,
attended a school taught by one of his father's indentured servants, William Grove, nicknamed "Hobby." This school is
supposed to have been located near the Washington homestead,
Ferry Farm, on the Rappahannock River, almost opposite
Fredericksburg, Virginia, to which Augustine Washington
moved his family, after an accidental fire in his home at Little
Hunting Creek, later named Mount Vernon for Admiral Vernon, where he had been living since I734 or I735. It was from
Ferry Farm, according to tradition, that George Washington
was first sent to school. It is said that as the school was some
distance from his home, he went and came on horseback in the
company of a Negro, named Peter.
Equally unauthentic, but nevertheless interesting because of
its admitted possibilities, is a tradition to the effect that George
Washington attended a school in Fredericksburg, Virginia,
taught by the Reverend James-Marye. Here Washington is
said to have received lessons in writing and in business accounting. If he did attend school in Fredericksburg, he probably
made there his first contacts with real boys, robust fellows, his
equals in wrestling and other sports. One of them, William
Crawford, at whose home Washington is said to have lodged
during the school week, later surveyed Washington's western
lands and in I782 was burned to death at the stake by Indians
at or near what is now Upper Sandusky, Ohio. Others of
Washington's companions of this period later fought with him
in the French and Indian and other wars.
Another similar tradition regarding George Washington's
early education is that his mother wished him to enter the
Christian ministry. His aptitude for learning and his alleged
piety prompted this desire which, however, may have beenWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Sullivan's success against the Iroquois not only furthered
the cause of independence but also enhanced Washington's
prestige among them. Formerly the "destroyer of villages," he
now became the destroyer of peoples. Eleven years later he was
addressed in the Federal capital by Iroquois chieftains as "the
Great Counsellor in whose heart and wise mind all of the thZirteen fires have placed their wisdom." At the same time he was
told that "to this day, when your name is heard, our women
look behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close
to the necks of their mothers."3 The defeat of the Iroquois was
a retaliation in kind for their atrocities in the Wyoming and
Cherry valleys.
During the Revolution, Fort Pitt was the key to the Ohio
Valley, but during the first three years of hostilities while the
Indians continued to keep their peace treaties,39 Washington
paid little or no attention to the frontier defense. In May,
I778, he confessed that he did "not know particularly what the
objects are, which Congress have in contemplation in this [Upper
Ohio] command."40   Previous thereto he had relied upon
militia as being "from inclination as well as ability, peculiarly
adapted"41 to withstand sporadic Indian attacks, and daring and
brilliant achievements of individual militiamen were accordingly rewarded by promotions and otherwise. For example, for
transporting gunpowder from New Orleans to forts on the
upper Ohio George Gibson was made a colonel in the Continental Army.
Available sources do not indicate Washington's possible and
probable interest and tacit participation in George Rogers Clark's
expedition for the conquest of the Northwest Territory. It was
secretly planned by Patrick Henry, Clark, and others as a
Virginia enterprise, but Washington knew about it. This conceded, it is a reasonable inference that the Sullivan expedition
may have been "an effort to push the northwestern frontier
nearer in line to Clark's conquest." Furthermore, as has been
observed: "It is hardly possible... that his [Washington's]
vision of the future of the western country did not have some
I66IN THE REVOLUTION                    I67
weight in the decision to send out Sullivan's expedition....
The liberty of Amnerica was his thought and not victory for his
own army alone."42
With the resumption of Indian hostilities throughout the
Trans-Allegheny in I777, and the Tory exodus thence to Canada
in the following yea-~4a it became necessary for Congress to give
attention to frontier defense. Later the situation was complicated by Spanish designs upon the Trans-Allegheny and French
connivance with Spanish plans for conquest, but despite these
and other menaces Washington's choices of commanders for the
Fort Pitt post were not always wise. General Edward Hand,
the first commandant and a former resident, was too closely
identified with the situation to avoid its entanglements.44 "After
much consideration" Washington, May I2, I778, named General Lachlan McIntosh, a Georgian, to succeed Hand, but McIntosh knew too little about conditions to avoid intr,gues.45
Consequently he too, after less than a year's service, was recalled, but not before he had made a formidable showing against
hostile Indians in what is now the state of Ohio, and not before
he had carried the cause of independence in the Ohio Valley to
its zenith. Although Washington could not understand the
demands for McIntosh's recall, those making them were persistent, and Washington was practically forced to yield.
Under the control of Colonel Daniel Brodhead, successor to
McIntosh, the military situation in and about Fort Pitt gradually became impossible. Covetous, intriguing, and accused of
corruption, Brodhead was unable to coJperate with others.
Under Washington's directions he did make an effective attack
upon Indian enemies residing upon the upper Allegheny, thus
preventing them from joining the Iroquois, when they were attacked by General Sullivan. Because of this and minor successes, together with Clark's victories on the l-ower Ohio, a
number of Indian treaties were concluded in and around Fort
Pitt in I780; as a consequence the Americans gained control of
the Indian situation along the entire Ohio frontier. Taking advantage of this opportunity, plans for attacking Detroit wereI68             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
revived and the possibility of dislodging the British from the
lower Mississippi was also suggested, the objective being
Natchez.
The proposed attack upon Natchez is informing not only
because of the light it throws upon the scope of frontier operations, but also because of Washington's reactions. While not
discouraging the undertaking "altogether," he did not hesitate
to point out its difficulties. First and most important of all was
the possibility of a counterattack upon Fort Pitt in the temporary absence of its defenders. Then too, no one among available leaders for the proposed enterprise understood the situation
at Natchez, and finally, in the event of failure, Washington indicated that the return trip "against the current" would be difficult, exposing those making it to Indian attacks. He advised,
however, that preparations looking to such an adventure be
continued.46
Washington looked with greater favor upon the proposed attack upon Detroit. That frontier outpost then occupied a position
relevant to the American Revolutionary frontier similar to that
of Fort Duquesne during the greater part of the French and
Indian War. As then, Washington was now in favor of removing "the cause." To this end, while not surrendering the prerogatives of Congress, he was willing to cooperate with the State
of Virginia and offered assistance to George Rogers Clark,
whom he did not know personally, for an attack upon Detroit.
Stating that he had "ever had in view" the proposed attack and
that he had wished "to carry [it] into execution by a Continental
force," Washington, December 29, I780, bespoke for the undertaking Brodhead's "countenance and assistance," and ordered
him to turn over to Clark certain supplies which Governor Jefferson had requested. Even in the event of failure Washington
was persuaded that "this most desirable object" would result in
"much good" by creating "a diversion and giving the enemy
employ[ment] in their own country."47
Despite these favorable harbingers and the prestige of its
leader, the Detroit expedition came to naught. Shortly after itwas launched the faithful Delawares went on the warpath; from
beginning to end the expedition had the covert opposition of
Brodhead; and meanwhile Washington and Congress became
absorbed in common efforts to defend the South, where the
British were trying to "roll up the scroll" and thus to end the
Revolution to their advantage. As a result the West was again
neglected; Clark was unable to collect a sufficient force for the
Detroit expedition; and conditions in the upper Ohio Valley became demoralized. As has been truthfully said: "With all the
Indian nations arrayed in complete hostility, with the army of
defence honeycombed with dishonesty and intrigue, with discredit and discontent rife among the inhabitants, even the
Herculean efforts of Clark were insufficient to restore the morale
of the frontier."48
For his part in these developments, in November, I78I,
Colonel Brodhead was superseded by Brigadier General William Irvine, and Colonel John Gibson was entrusted with the
command at Fort Pitt during the short interim. Irvine found
conditions there in a "wretched state"; troops presented a deplorable, even despicable figure; "indeed," said Irvine, "no
man would believe from their appearance that they were soldiers; nay, it would be difficult to determine whether they were
white men."  So hopeless was the situation that Irvine recommended the removal of the principal post on the upper Ohio
from Fort Pitt to Chartier's Creek,49 where Washington owned
a considerable estate.
Although Irvine was able to effect a measure of rehabilitation in military conditions at Fort Pitt, his commander-in-chief
could not forget the result of the Detroit expedition. Because
it was undertaken with militia he was not surprised at its failure,
but he was nevertheless sorry and convinced that the possession
or destruction of that post was "the only means of giving peace
and security to the western frontier." When the states had
filled "up their regular battalions," he hoped for greater success.50
From the military standpoint conditions on the Ohio did not
I69
IN THE REVOLUTIONI70             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
improve greatly during the ensuing months. At the instance of
Washington, Fort Pitt was reenforced and put in condition for
defense, and for a time another attack upon Detroit was contemplated. From such an adventure Irvine hoped for "at
least temporary ease to this country," but in time all thought of
such an undertaking was given up. Even Washington approved
this course, giving as his reasons the savage resentment produced
by such excursions. An expedition against Sandusky had proved
unsuccessful, fifty men losing their lives, among them Washington's friend and former surveyor, Colonel William Crawford, who in I782, was burned at the stake;51 the Moravian
Indians on the Tuscarawas River in what is now the state of
Ohio, were almost completely annihilated; and September Io,
I782, a second attack was made upon Fort Henry, now Wheeling, West Virginia, which proved all but successful. As a result
of these developments Irvine concluded that "if this post [Fort
Pitt] was evacuated, the bounds of Canada would be extended
to the Laurel Hill in a few weeks."52
Thus at the termination of the Revolution, American frontier conditions were anything but favorable or creditable to the
Americans. Everywhere north of the Ohio River, Indians were
in hostile array; the Illinois was practically abandoned by Americans; Spain was in possession of lands along the Mississippi;
the British had designs upon the Northwest Territory; and
some states had not yet surrendered their claims to that coveted
region and to other lands westward of the Alleghenies.
Although Washington may not have appreciated the full
significance of this situation in its earlier phases, the refusal of
the British to surrender posts in the Northwest Territory pending final peace negotiations aroused his suspicions. Acting under
directions from Congress, in the summer of I783, he named
Baron Steuben a special commissioner to arrange for the transfer
of these posts,53 but the British, while treating Steuben politely,
refused to negotiate to that end, even to permit him to visit the
posts. In August, I783, their assigned reason for this course
was that peace had not been formally concluded. This actionIN THE REVOLUTION                    I7I
was in line with Washington's prediction of a year earlier to the
effect that there would be "no posts to occupy," and as American
traders penetrating the Northwest in the summer, encountered
hostile Indians everywhere, he concluded they were being
bribed and estranged by artful Britishers. This was true, and
thus was laid the setting for another chapter of American
history.CHAPTER X
IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD
As A RESULT of the treaties acknowledging American independence, the United States secured all the territory westward of the
Allegheny Mountains to the Mississippi River, between the
northern boundary of Florida and a line passing centrally
through the Great Lakes. Already effective in binding the
states together in the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual
Union, this domain continued to be a bond of union and became
the touchstone of public policy. It was therefore largely because of his continued interest in the West that Washington was
able to retain in peace that preeminence which he won in war.
Thus the late Herbert B. Adams, in one of the most singular
tributes ever paid by scholar to soldier and statesman, could say:
"It would seem as though all lines of our public policy lead
back to Washington as all roads lead to Rome."'
When they first acquired a public domain, the United States
had difficulty to determine what to do with it. In September,
I783, when the Treaty of Paris was concluded, practically all
claimant states had signified intention to cede their western lands
to the Federal government.2  As a consequence the solution of
its territorial problems became imperative.
It was at this juncture that Washington formulated "the first
definite plan for the formation of new States in the West," a
service sometimes attributed to Thomas Jefferson. Together
with a practical suggestion with reference to an Indian policy,
Washington's plan was set forth in a letter to James Duane,
chairman of the Congressional Committee on Indian Affairs. It
provided for the formation of two new states, in shape and
location resembling the present Ohio and Michigan. This general suggestion was adopted by Congress, October I5, I783,
[ I72 ]IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD
"almost word for word"3 and later became the basis for the
organization of the Northwest Territory.
Whatever Washington's post-Revolutionary solicitude for
the American Indians may have been, it was not "consistent with
the ease and tranquillity" to which he meant to devote the remainder of his life, to take an active and responsible part in
effecting their civilization by spreading Christianity among
them.4 This decision he made known to the Countess of Huntington, who sought to enlist his active service in this work.
Evincing an entirely different attitude from that of French and
Indian War days, when he regarded no Indian good but a dead
Indian, Washington commended the plan of her Ladyship for
settling Christian immigrants here and there among Indian
Tribes as a means of advancing their civilization. In this plan
he saw not only "humanity and charity" but also, and possibly
more important to him, a means to "valuable political purposes"
particularly the extension of the power and influence of the Confederation Congress. He therefore advised his friend, Richard
Henry Lee, to suggest to the Countess that, instead of looking
to the several states for suitable settlement sites, she should turn
to Congress.5
At the close of the Revolution, Washington owned approximately 58,ooo acres of land beyond the Alleghenies,6 4695
acres of which were in Southwestern Pennsylvania, 9744 along
the Ohio River, and 43,466 in the Great Kanawha Valley. His
Ohio River lands were distributed as follows: 587 acres at
"Round Bottom" a short distance below the present site of
Moundsville, West Virginia; 2314 acres at "Washington Bottom" on the Ohio River below the mouth of the little Kanawha
River; 2448 acres at or near the present site of Ravenswood,
West Virginia; and 4395 acres a short distance below, at what
is now Millwood. Beginning about three miles above its mouth,
his Great Kanawha acreage extended along the meanderings of
that stream, in some places on both sides, "from half a mile to a
mile back" for a distance of approximately forty miles. It included Io,99o acres in what is now Mason County; 7276 acres
I73174             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
in Putnam; and 2000 at St. Albans, 2950 at Dunbar, and a half
interest in 250 acres at the Burning Spring, Kanawha County.
His Pennsylvania holdings consisted of 2800 acres on Miller's
Run near what is now Canonsburg; 166I acres at Perryopolis on
the Youghiogheny River; and 234 acres embracing the former
site of Fort Necessity.
The larger part of these lands were still the domain of the
forest primeval; the remainder were occupied by "squatters"
and poor superintendents. Under the care of that "confounded
fellow Simpson,"7 Washington's mill at Perryopolis, one of the
first west of the Alleghenies, had fallen into decay, and suits
were being brought and others threatened to test the validity of
his land titles. To give these matters personal attention, Washington in I784 made another journey to the Trans-Allegheny.8
The major purpose of this visit did not, however, have to
do directly with personal affairs, as some have supposed. Since
I769 Washington had been interested in the improved navigation of the Potomac River. In I772, he had fathered the enactment of a law by the Virginia Assembly for that purpose and,
when he left home for Cambridge in I775, this improvement
was in "a tolerable good train" and would have been in "an
excellent way" but for the opposition it had encountered from
certain Baltimore merchants interested in possible consequences
to their city. Other jealousies had been removed by including
the James River in the general plan of improvement, which, in
I784, embraced also the Ohio River and the two Kanawha
rivers.9
With Thomas Jefferson, Washington believed "that not a
moment ought to be lost in recommencing this business [the
Potomac improvement]." He well knew that "the Yorkers
will delay no time to remove every obstacle in the way of the
other communication, so soon as the posts of Oswego and Niagara are surrendered."10 He predicted also that they would
build vessels for the navigation of the lakes, eliminating the
coast traffic.1l Thus it was as a promoter of internal improvement enterprises, the completion of which has since challengedIN THE CRITICAL PERIOD                I75
the best engineering talent of America, that the "Father of his
Country" visited the Trans-Allegheny for the sixth and last
time. 12
On this mission Washington left Mount Vernon, September
I, I784, two days after General Lafayette had ended a two
weeks visit with him. Again Washington was accompanied by
his friend, neighbor, and physician, Dr. James Craik, who alone
received a written invitation to make the trip, but as finally
constituted, the party included also Washington's nephew, Bushrod Washington; William Craik, son of the doctor; and
servants. As usual they traveled horseback, going this time by
way of Leesburg, Snicker's Gap, Charles Town, Bath, and Old
Town, to Cumberland. Because of the experience of their
leader, they traveled light, taking, among other things, only a
marquee, camp utensils, a few stores, medicines, hooks and
lines.13
As commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary armies, in a
region renowned for its patriotism and patriots, Washington
was greeted with marked distinction on his way into the interior;
bevies of friends, sometimes including relatives, awaited him
here and there; and his journey was thus more eventful than it
would otherwise have been. His first stop of importance was
with his brother, Charles Washington, at "Happy Retreat" in
Jefferson County, V7irginia. Here, possibly by appointment, he
met his cousin, Warner Washington, Ralph Wormley, General
Daniel Morgan, and "many other Gentlemen."
Having finished his business with his tenants residing within
reach of his brother, "so far at least as partial payments could
put a close to it," and having provided a wagon for the transportation of his baggage thence to the Warm Springs, now
Berkeley Springs, Morgan County, West Virginia, the extreme
heat having caused his horses "to Rub and gaul," Washington.
reached the Springs the following day, September 5. Here he
"was showed the Model of a Boat constructed by the ingenious
Mr. Rumsey, for ascending rapid currents by mechanism."'4
Later he engaged this same "ingenious Rumsey" to build aWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
unwittingly thwarted by the boy's father, a typical Virginia
planter, who took a keen delight in teaching his son George to
ride well, to shoot accurately, and to jump and climb with
agility. Tradition has it that in recognition of his accomplishments in these boyhood sports the father gave his son George a
small sword with which he was greatly delighted. It is said
that his attitude toward his toy disturbed his mother, who thus
detected in her son greater interest in the career of a soldier
than in the career which she had chosen for him. But these
stories may be as baseless as those built around the cherry tree
and the fiery colt.
Everything considered, particularly the scarcity of schools
and the prevailing customs, it is reasonable to assume that
George Washington's early education was directed largely by
his father with the possible aid of a private tutor or tutors.
Confirming this idea and the belief that George's education was
directed, after his father's death, by his half-brother Lawrence
Washington, are George's school exercise books.l3  These fall
into two distinct groups which overlap each other at dates corresponding to those of his father's death and of the marriage of
Lawrence, after which the latter presumably assumed greater
responsibility for his youthful half-brother. Whatever these
facts may have been, at the age of eleven George Washington
"could write a fair and legible, if unformed and sprawling,
juvenile hand and had made some progress in the elementals
of arithmetic."'4
Enough of Washington's school exercises have been preserved to give a fair idea of his educational equipment. They
were "written in ink, in home-made blank books of paper sheets,
folded to about nine by eleven inches and stitched with
thread."'5 The earliest documents of this kind are devoted to
arithmetic and include fractions, decimals, and interest. For a
later period they are given up to trigonometry, logarithms, and
finally to geometry and surveying in the pursuit of which he
drew splendid illustrations of compasses and chains, the instruments he used.
8I76             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
dwelling house, a kitchen, and a stable upon his lots in the town
of Bath. Thence he reached Cumberland, September io, having stopped meanwhile to visit a tract of his land near the
Springs. From the outset of this journey Washington showed
far greater interest in internal improvement projects than in his
own affairs. At Happy Retreat he learned from General Morgan that Berkeley, Frederick, and Hampshire counties would
contribute "freely towards the extension of the Navigtation of
the Potomack; as well as towards opening a Road from East to
West."15
On the way from Happy Retreat to Bath, Washington met
Captain Stroads, "an intelligent man, who had been several
times in the Western Country." With him Washington "held
much conversation," as a result of which he gained additional
information regarding approaches between the eastern and western waters and what was possibly his first suggestion regarding
the possibility of connecting waters of the Monongahela with
those of the Little Kanawha River, by a route wholly within the
state of Virginia. This suggestion came indirectly from Captain
Thomas Swearingen, and, although its possibilities were exaggerated, Washington reverted to them from time to time on this
trip and subsequently.
From Fort Cumberland, Washington journeyed directly to
Simpson's on the Youghiogheny, passing enroute the Great
Meadows which, in the fourteen years since he had last seen
them, had become "a very good stand for a Tavern." Thence
in crossing the mountains he met "numbers of Persons and Pack
horses going in with Ginseng; and for Salt and other articles at
the Markets below." Arrived at Simpson's (Perryopolis),
Washington first visited his mill and his several "tenements,"
all of which were disappointing. The mill was almost a wreck,
and the tenements were in poor repair and improvement. As a
consequence he was unable to sell the moiety of his "Co-partnership Stock" on the day appointed for that purpose, or even to
get a bid on the mill, and that too, despite the fact that "many
People were gathered," as Washington thought "more out ofIN THE CRITICAL PERIOD                I77
curiosity... than from other motives."16 Finally, despairing of a "chance to get a good offer in money, for Rent," he
leased the Simpson estate for five hundred bushels of wheat,
payable annually at any place in the County he or his agents
might direct. While not wholly satisfactory, this arrangement
terminated the annoying and unprofitable partnership with
Simpson. Upon terms to be inserted in future instructions,
Washington then engaged Major James Freeman as superintendent of his "business over the Mountains."
In the week spent at Simpson's Washington made many contacts and gathered much information regarding conditions on
the frontier. Squatters from his Miller's Run lands visited him
in an attempt to establish their "fair and upright" intentions,
and officers from Fort Pitt "confirmed reports of the discontented
temper of the Indians and the Mischiefs done by some parties of
them" in an effort to prevent white settlements north of the
Ohio River. Indians were reported also to have attacked the
Kentucky settlements and "a Party who had driven cattle to
Detroit." For this reason Washington decided not to continue
his "intended trip to the Great Kanawha."17 Unable to get "a
satisfactory acct. of the Navigation of the Cheat River,... nor
any acct. of the distance and kind of Country between that,.
and the Waters of Potomack-nor of the Country between the
Little Kanawha and the Waters of the Monongahela," he resolved to return the way he came, or by "what is commonly
called the Turkey foot Road."
On his Miller's Run lands, which he reached September i8,
Washington encountered a trying situation. A large portion of
these lands had been taken over by a Scotch-Irish sect of "Ceceders" whose "apparently very religious" attitude was such that
Washington did not suggest business matters to them on the
Sunday following his arrival on Saturday. These people, living
in log dwellings with "punchion" roofs, and with their more
commodious barns and stables at no great distance, were bound
together by common hardships and common religious principles
into a sort of cooperative settlement and were unwilling "toWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
separate or remove." Although he did not then wish to sell the
lands occupied by them, their representations were such that
Washington offered "the whole tract at 25 S [hillings] per Acre,
the money to be paid at 3 annual payments with Interest," or he
would have taken them as tenants of "999 year" leases at an
annual rental of ten pounds per hundred acres. After a long
consultation upon the former proposition both were declined by
the "Ceceders" who, in true frontier fashion, resolved "to stand
suit, and abide the Issue of the Law."18
After another visit to Simpson's, where he gave Major Freeman final instructions regarding the conduct of his business west
of the mountains and made preparations for his return home,
requesting Dr. Craik and his son William to return by way of
the Turkey Foot Road "to make a more minute enquiry into
the Navigation of Yohiogany Waters," Washington went to
Beason Town, now Uniontown, Pennsylvania, to engage a
lawyer to bring ejectment proceedings against the defiant settlers
on his Miller's Run lands. While in Beason Town, he received
information regarding the possibilities of connecting the navigable waters of the Monongahela with those of the Little Kanawha, and those of Cheat with those of the Potomac, which caused
him again to change his plans for his return trip to the East.
Still hopeful of finding a practical route of intercommunication
between the eastern and western waters, wholly within the state
of Virginia, he decided to explore Cheat River and to continue
thence home by a route to the southward of the Turkey Foot
Road.
In pursuance of this plan Washington left Beason Town,
September 23, 1784, going direct to Colonel Theophilus
Philips's sixteen miles distant, where he spent the night, near
the mouth of Cheat River in the then county seat of Monongalia County, Virginia. In crossing this stream the following
morning he was struck by its dark color which he readily attributed to the laurel, "among which it rises"; but he did not
tarry. Thence, by way of the dividing ridge between Cheat
and Monongahela rivers, he went directly to the office of CapI78WASHINGTON'S WESTERN TOUR, I784
From a drawing by Robert MerricksI 80           WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
tain Samuel Hanway, surveyor of Monongalia County. This
office was at Peirpoint's on the present road between Ice's Ferry
and Morgantown about five miles from the latter.
Here Zackquill Morgan, founder of the city which bears his
name, and others, including Captain Hanway, discussed with
Washington, at his request, many phases of inland navigation
and intercommunication.19 From them he learned that there
were three routes between the region of the Cheat and the
Youghiogheny rivers and that of the upper Potomac. One of
these, the "New Road," connected Morgantown by way of Ice's
Ferry and the Sandy Creek Glades with Braddock's Road;
another branched from the New Road near Bruceton Mills, and
followed McCulloch's Path to the North Branch of the Potomac; and the third connected the upper Tygart Valley River,
near the present site of Clarksburg, with the North Branch at
Fort Pendleton by way of Dunkard Bottom, one of the oldest
settlements on Cheat River.
As none of these routes followed the meanderings of Cheat
River, which was reported obstructed beyond Dunkard Bottom,
Washington recrossed it at Andrew Ice's Ferry, going thence in
an easterly direction over Cheat Mountain to what is now Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. Thence, in company with his nephew,
Bushrod Washington, he proceeded in a southeasterly direction
by way of McCulloch's Path, an old buffalo trail, through the
sunny glades of the Youghiogheny (on the edge of which he
spent the rainy night of September 25, without shelter other than
his cloak), across Briery or Snaggy Mountain by Charles
Friend's, near the present site of Oakland, Maryland, almost
direct to the North Branch of the Potomac at Fort Pendleton,
where he spent the night with Thomas Logston. Thence in the
same general direction he traveled to Fort Pleasant upon the
South Branch of the Potomac, where he spent the night of September 28, and the following day in the home of Abraham Hite,
conversing with the Hites, Colonel John Neville, and others.20
Meanwhile, Washington had missed no opportunity to determine the general lay of the land and to gather other usefulIN THE CRITICAL PERIOD
information. As a result, he was forced to the conclusion that
some of the accounts given him had to be received with "great
caution." This was particularly true "in the article of Roads;
which (where they have been marked) seem calculated more
to promote individual interest, than the public good."21 Then
as now, residents hoped that projected roads would pass by or
near their doors, likely tavern sites being to them what service
station and tourist camp sites are to present day landowners.
On the South Branch Washington again changed his plans
for his homeward trip. Thence he was to have joined Dr. Craik
at Colonel Warner Washington's near Charles Town, but finding that it would take only one day longer, he decided to go by
the home of Thomas Lewis near Rockingham Court House,
now Harrisonburg, Virginia. From Lewis, Washington hoped
to get papers needed to prosecute ejectments of those who had
settled on his Miller's Run lands in Pennsylvania and "a more
distinct acct. of the communication between Jackson's River and
the green Brier." Accordingly his nephew was sent to apprise
the faithful Dr. Craik of Washington's change of plans, and
September 29, accompanied by Captain Hite, Washington set
out for Lewis's. Going by way of Roudebush's and Brock's
Gap, he reached his destination the following day about sundown.
Washington's Diary for this period throws no light upon
the immediate purpose of this side trip, but it is profuse regarding new possibilities for connecting and improving the eastern
and western waters. With Gabriel Jones, a leading lawyer of
the Shenandoah Valley and for a long time counsel for Lord
Fairfax, Washington "had a good deal of conversation... on
the Waters, and trade of the Western Country; and particularly
with respect to the Navigation of the Great Kanawha and its
communication with James and Roanoke Rivers." Although
Mr. Lewis did not agree with them, thinking it possible to
improve the New River and thus connect the headwaters of the
Great Kanawha with those of the James, Jones confirmed Washington's conclusion "that the easiest and best communication beISII82             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
tween the Eastern and Western Waters is from the North
branch of Potomack to Yohiogany or Cheat River; and ultimately that the Trade between the two Countries will settle in
this Channel."22  Thus to Washington, more perhaps than to
any other person, may be given chief credit for seeing the trade
possibilities of the general route now followed by the Baltimore
and Ohio Railroad and the National Road.
"Having travelled on the same horses since the first day of
September by the computed distances 680 Miles," Washington
reached Mount Vernon, October 4, and at once committed to
his Diary "Reflections" upon his journey, with which, notwithstanding his disappointment in being unable "to examine into
the situation quality and advantages" of his lands upon the Ohio
and the Great Kanawha rivers, then occupied by squatters and
offered for sale in Philadelphia and in Europe by jobbers, he
was well pleased. In the Shenandoah and South Branch rivers
he discovered adequate water transportation "for all that fertile
Country between the blue ridge and the Alligany Mountains."
But immense and important as this area and its transportation
were, Washington considered them "trifling when viewed upon
that immeasurable scale," embracing the Ohio and the Great
Lakes region. After indicating distances between Detroit and
Alexandria, Richmond, Philadelphia, and New York, distances
between Detroit and Alexandria being given for a route passing
through Virginia and for another by way of Pittsburgh, Washington's exposition of the needs for and the benefits to be derived from an improvement of inland transportation, contained
the highest order of statesmanship and patriotism. In this he
set a goal that has never been fully attained, but in the proposed
Lake Erie and Ohio Deep Water Canal and in the improved
transportation of the Ohio River, this goal is more eagerly and
confidently sought than ever before.
Other points of Washington's Reflections are worth while
and in themselves would entitle their author to a place among
American statesmen. Their chief concern was for the inhabitants of "the Western Country" immediately back of "the midIN THE CRITICAL PERIOD                 I83
die States," or in other words in the Ohio Valley. Flanked as
these people were by enemies and detached from the East by
mountain barriers, Washington saw that they stood "on a pivot"
and that "the touch of a feather" would incline them almost any
way. Accentuating this condition was their comparative freedom from labor and care, a condition made possible by the fact
that their lands produced luxuriantly and that their surplus of
flour could sometimes be marketed on the lower Mississippi at
high prices. Without considering the tediousness of the return
voyage or the time necessary to perform it, they floated to these
markets as light-heartedly as they lived, but fortunately for the
Union and for the settlers themselves, the Spaniards had "at
times shut their ports against them altogether" and were at
other times threatening.23
Washington's remedy for this situation was improved intercommunication between the East and the West. By extending
inland navigation as far as possible and crossing portages by improved roads, he would have demonstrated to the western settlers "how easy it is to bring produce of their lands to our
markets" to the great advantage of the country at large. In
this way he would have dried up Spanish sources of trade; or if
any part of that from the western settlements should continue
to flow "down the Mississippi, from the Falls of the Ohio, in
Vessels which may be built-fitted for the Sea-and sold with
their Cargoes," he hoped at least to divert the proceeds "this
way." As these settlements were already important and would
in the future be composed largely of foreigners "who can have
no predilection for us," Washington urged the necessity of immediate action, the more effectively to counteract the habitforming influences of trade, which he regarded as almost unalterable. Great as were these considerations from an economic
viewpoint, Washington regarded their political advantages as
of "much greater importance."
Washington believed "a combination of circumstances" made
"the present juncture more favorable than any other to fix the
trade of the Western Country to our Markets." In the "jealousWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
and untoward disposition of the Spaniards on the one side, and
the private views of some individuals coinciding with the policy
of the Court of G[reat] Britain on the other, to retain the Posts
of Oswego, Niagara, Detroit," he saw an opportunity for Virginia to open her arms and bring the western settlements within
her embrace. "The way is plain," said he, "and the expence,
comparitively speaking deserves not a thought, so great would
be the prize. The Western Inhabitants would do their part
towards accomplishing it, weak as they now are, they would, I
am persuaded meet us half way rather than be driven into the
arms of, or be in any wise dependent upon, foreigners; the consequence of which would be, a seperation, or a War."24
In reply to arguments then being made that "the most direct
Routs from the Lakes to the Navigation of Potomack are
through the State of Pennsylvania" and that she would oppose
an improvement by way of the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers, Washington answered that an application for this
purpose, the proposed route by Cheat River proving impracticable, would place the legislature of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth in a very delicate situation. Admitting that such a proposition could not be wholly pleasing, he could not "readily conceive" that it would be rejected. On this point he continued:
"There is in that State, at least Ioo,ooo Souls West of the
Laurel hill, who are groaning under the inconveniences of a
long land transportation. They are wishing, indeed looking,
for the extension of inland Navigation; and if this can not be
made easy for them to Philadelphia... they will seek,a Mart
elsewhere; and none is so convenient as that which offers itself
through Yohiogany or Cheat River.... The certain consequence therefore of an attempt to restrain the extension of the
Navigation of these Rivers,... or to impose any extra duties
upon the exports, or imports, to or from another State, would be
a seperation of the Western Settlers from the old and more
interior government."25
Rumsey's discovery for "working boats against stream, by
mechanical powers principally,"26 a demonstration of which
I84IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD
Washington had witnessed at Bath only a few weeks previously,
made a lasting impression on him. Upon his return to Mount
Vernon he predicted that it "may not only be considered as a
fortunate invention for these States in general," but that it
would also be "one of those circumstances which have combined
to render the present epoche favorable above all others for
securing... a large portion of the produce of the Western
Settlements, and of the Fur and Peltry of the Lakes." Accordingly, he regarded the economic and political importance of such
an invention as "immense."
In the spirit of the foregoing "Reflections," and sometimes
in their exact words, Washington set about at once following
his return from the West, to interest fellow Virginians in the
transportation needs and possibilities of that region and in the
routes leading thereto. His letter of October IO, I784, to
Governor Benjamin Harrison on these subjects was admittedly
"so much more explicit" than any Harrison could have written
that he submitted it to the assembly with his approval and commendation. The legislators received the communication with
such favor that it at once took rank among the most valuable
Virginia state papers. More than anything else it set in motion
those activities which resulted in her incorporation of the James
River and the Potomac improvement companies. The difficulties encountered in the general situation, together with reasons
for the two companies, were set forth in Washington's letter to
Governor Harrison:
The first and principal one is, the unfortunate jealousy, which
ever has, and it is to be feared ever will prevail, lest one part [Potomac] of the State should obtain an advantage over the other parts,
as if the benefits of the trade were not diffusive and beneficial to all.
Then follows a train of difficulties, namely, that our people are
already heavily taxed; that we have no money; that the advantages
of this trade are remote; that the most direct route for it is through
other States, over which we have no control; that the routes over
which we have control are as distant as either of those which lead to
Philadelphia, Albany, or Montreal; that a sufficient spirit of comI85MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN                 9
Other exercise books contain copies of business forms and
legal instruments. Among these are a promissory note; a bill
of exchange; a general release; a servant indenture; a bill of
sale; a power of attorney; and still other forms, notably bonds,
judgments, transfers, conveyances, and the like. Practically all
of these belong to the period following his father's death and
were the product of Lawrence's ideas of a practical education.
If more generally known, these devices would doubtless commend themselves to modern educators who claim to have found
something new and original in the utilitarian idea of education.
Washington's mathematical exercise culminated in selfassigned problems in surveying, thus further demonstrating the
practical character of his education. Indeed, it seems probable
that he was taught and studied for the attainment of a definite
objective. Be that as it may, at an early age he was trying to
demonstrate: "How to take an Inaccessible distance at two
Stations;" "How to measure any piece of Ground be it never so
Irregular and to Cast up the Content thereof in Acres, Roodes
THE CHAIN AND COMPASSES AND SCALE WERE DRAWN BY
GEORGE WASHINGTON WHEN HE WAS FOURTEEN YEARS OLD6WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
merce does not prevade the citizens of this commonwealth; and that
we are in fact doing for others, what they ought to do for themselves.27
Urging the reasonableness of Virginia's doing her part "towards opening the communication for the fur and peltry trade
of the Lakes," and for the produce of the intervening country,
which he predicted would "be settled faster than any other ever
was, or any one could imagin," when once Congress had settled
Indian matters and terms for disposing of public lands, Washington indicated the following advantages to be derived from
an improved transportation between inland America and the
Atlantic seaboard:
Without going into the investigation of a question, which has
employed the pens of able politicians, namely, whether trade with
foreigners is an advantage or disadvantage to a country, this State,
as a part of the confederated States, all of which have the spirit of it
very strongly working within them, must adopt it or submit to the
evils arising therefrom  without receiving its benefits.  Common
policy, therefore, points clearly and strongly to the propriety of our
enjoying all the advantages, which nature and our local situation
afford us; and evinces clearly, that, unless this spirit could be totally
eradicated in other States as well as in this, and every man be made
to become either a cultivator of the land or a manufacturer of such
articles as are prompted by necessity, such stimulus should be employed as will force this spirit, by showing to our countrymen the
superior advantages we possess beyond others, and the importance of
being upon an equal footing with our neighbors.28
Meanwhile Washington had demonstrated something of the
accuracy of his vision and the depth of his patrotism by taking
the country at large into his confidence. This was accomplished
in a letter of December I4, I784, to Richard Henry Lee, President of Congress, in which it was suggested that that bodyi
"have the western waters well explored, the navigation of them
fully ascertained, accurately laid down, and a complete and perfect map made of the country."29  More important still was an
accompanying suggestion that "all mines, minerals, and salt
I86IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD                 187
springs" be reserved in grants made from the public domain.
In this way Washington would have benefited "the public, instead of the few knowing ones" and that too "without infringing any rule of justice"; for such a policy would, he thought,
"inflict just punishment upon those, who in defiance" of their
own laws, had dared to create enemies to disturb the public
tranquillity by roaming "over the country, marking and surveying the valuable spots in it."30
Following the incorporation of the James River and the
Potomac companies, Washington's public, or semi-public, activities were for some time given almost entirely to the organization
and work of the latter. With a capital stock of approximately
two hundred thousand dollars, it was organized May I7, I785,
with Thomas Johnson and Thomas Sim Lee of Maryland, who
had joined in the enterprise, and John Fitzgerald and George
Galpin of Virginia assisting the president, Washington, in the
capacity of directors.31  Soon thereafter work was commenced
under the direction of "the ingenious Rumsey" and prosecuted
rapidly. Washington and his associate directors gave it their
personal attention at various times in I785 and for some time
thereafter.32
Meanwhile the Potomac had become associated with plans
for immediate navigation by steam; John Fitch visited Washington in that interest;33 and James Rumsey left his regular
employment to perfect a steamboat.34 Thus, in February, 1789,
Washington was able to predict that the benefits of the improved navigation of the Potomac "will not be confined to narrower limits than the extent of the whole western territory of
the United States,"35 the presidency of which he was about to
undertake.
In the organization of the James River and Potomac companies, Washington, with seeming unconsciousness and thus all
the more effectively, found a rare opportunity to set an example
for all well-meaning and truly patriotic Americans. With a
view to rewarding his varied and valuable services, after a
fashion then common in foreign lands, the Virginia AssemblyI88             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
offered him one hundred fifty shares of stock in these companies,
but he declined them, modestly and considerately, but in the
language of a true patriot opposed to the exploitation of a
situation fraught with incalculable opportunities for favors and
advantages. In this matter, as in others, he refused to subject
himself to suspicions of sinister motives, preferring to remain
"as free and independent as the air," and to be at liberty to
express his sentiments and to suggest what occurred to him
under the fullest conviction. This was his idea of loyalty to
"the Union, and to this State [Virginia] in particular."36
During the years immediately following I785, there were
few phases of the western situation which escaped Washington's
attention. Of most immediate concern was the road connecting
the Potomac with Cheat River from the mouth of Savage River
by way of the Glades to Dunkard Bottom, first surveyed in
I786 by Colonels Francis Deakins and John Neville.37 Washington lost no opportunity to collect data upon Ohio Valley
transportation and plans for connecting it with that of the Great
Lakes region.38 Because of a fear that it might be "disadvantageous" to the Union he opposed Connecticut's reservation of
lands now within the State of Ohio.39 In I785 he would have
established forts within the states to counteract British influences
in the Northwest.40  A year later he favored speaking "decisively" to those Kentuckians contemplating a Spanish alliance
in the interest of trade,41 but he was not averse to allowing Kentucky separate statehood in the Union.42  Throughout these
years his lands in southwestern Pennsylvania gave him no end
of trouble,43 but his lands on the Ohio and the Great Kanawha
were rarely mentioned in his voluminous correspondence.
The settlements and proposed settlements north of the Ohio
River; beginning with that at Marietta in I788, met with Washington's unqualified approbation. Of the latter he said, "No
colony in America was ever settled under such favorable auspices," and he rightly predicted that "information, property,
and strength will be its characteristics."44 This faith had its
origin not only in the character of the promoters of the MariettaIN THE CRITICAL PERIOD                I89
settlement, many of whom Washington knew personally, but
also in the varied opportunities of their new environment. For
similar reasons he predicted success for other proposed settlements in the Northwest Territory, notably that for which Joel
Barlow was then gathering colonists in Europe. While advising
him to locate westward of the mountains, Washington also commended thd plans of a certain Richard Henderson bent upon
establishing a colony in America, and he showed great versatility
regarding local conditions, recommending to Henderson such
works as Franklin's Information for those who wish to remove
to America, Carey's American Museum, Morse's American
Geography, and Jefferson's Notes on Virginia.45
On the absorbing subject of Mississippi navigation, then before the country in the famous Jay-Gardoqui Treaty, Washington's views were shaped largely by his plans for and his belief
in the practicability of carrying the trade "of the Lakes, and of
the Ohio River, as low down as the Great Kanawha if not to
the Falls,... to the Atlantic ports easier and cheaper, taking
the whole voyage together, than it can be carried to New Orleans."46 Thus, in August, 1785, he was unable to divest himself of the opinion, however singular, "that the navigation of
the Mississippi, at this time, ought to be no object with us." On
the other hand, he thought it better to have this navigation
temporarily obstructed, as that would allow time "to open and
make easy the ways between the Atlantic States and the western
territory."47
Furthermore in support of this position Washington said:
"There is nothing which binds one country or one State to
another but interest. Without this cement the western inhabitants, who more than probably will be composed in a great
degree of foreigners, can have no predilection for us, and a
commercial connection is the only tie we can have upon them."48
In I787, the activities of certain "ambitious and turbulent"
spirits in Kentucky caused Washington to admit that the Mississippi navigation might be a "moot point to determine," but his
sentiments with respect to it remained unchanged.49 AdherenceI90             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
to the commercial and political advantages of this position enabled him to iron out controversies between Maryland and Virginia, and was a potent, possibly a determining factor, in his
support of the movement to make a more perfect union, whose
political traditions were largely Federalist and whose greatest
potentialities were to be found in the West.CHAPTER XI
IN THE FEDERALIST REGIME
WHILE PRESIDENT of the United States, Washington realized
in a measure his hopes and expectations regarding the West.
In keeping with his previously stated ideas, new states were
carved out of the common territory and admitted to the Union
on a basis of equality with the original states; Indian relations
became comparatively peaceful and satisfactory; the frontier
began to show obedience to and respect for the laws of the central government; foreign powers practically ceased to covet the
American hinterland which, in keeping with Washington's predictions and to his great satisfaction, filled with an industrious
and prosperous population; and by means of roads, post offices,
river craft, and the Conestoga wagon, the West was being bound
to the East by ties of interest.l More perhaps than any other
person Washington foresaw these possibilities and was responsible for their consummation.
Inevitable as these achievements may now seem, they presented real problems in their day and cannot now be understood
aside from their European background. Shortly after Washington became president, the French Estates General met, and
soon thereafter France was in the throes of a revolution, the
immediate effects of which extended through Europe and to
America. Out of an archaic and semi-mediaeval condition a new
France was born and, in its enthusiasm for its own achievements,
began to extend its ideas and institutions to neighboring states
and peoples. Not satisfied with this, the French planned to
recover their former possessions in America, together with dependencies of decadent Spain to the south and the southwest.2
It was to enlist Americans in this enterprise that "Citizen"
[I9']192              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Genet on April 8, I793, landed in the United States as the agent
of the French Republic.
In the accomplishment of his undertakings Genet proposed
to take the greatest possible advantage of the well-known hostility of American frontiersmen to Spain.3 It is true that Spain
as an ally of France, had assisted the United States to independence, but even in this service her selfishness was too thinly
veiled to be disguised and, together with her subsequent course
in refusing to withdraw from posts claimed by the United
States eastward of the Mississippi River, had provoked bitter
resentment. Moreover Spain continued to deny Americans the
privilege of depositing goods at New Orleans, thus practically
excluding them from the greatest possible benefits of the navigation of "the Father of Waters." Spain was also known to have
intrigued with Indian tribes and was suspected of plotting
treason with Kentucky and Tennessee malcontents. As a consequence American frontiersmen generally were threatening to
descend upon New Orleans, to take it by force, and to hold it
permanently for themselves and their children.4
By various means Washington kept in more or less intimate
touch with this situation. For instance, a letter of January 25,
I790, from George Nicholas, a resident of Kentucky, to James
Madison was referred by him to Washington. The letter
brought the gratifying intelligence that Kentuckians were no
longer seriously considering separating themselves from the
Union and that neither the English nor the Spanish were then
trying to persuade them to such a course; but it also told of
efforts on the part of the Spanish to induce Kentuckians to settle
within their territory, of their attempts to interfere with American trade, and of gross mismanagement of Indian affairs. More
alarming still was the intelligence conveyed to the effect that
the Spaniards had placed their affairs in and about Natchez in
the hands of a capable administrator, de Lemos. Accordingly
Nicholas advised that the United States take steps to win the
affection of the westerners, that it determine at once its rights in
Mississippi navigation, and that the Indians be made to underIN THE FEDERALIST REGIME                I93
stand that the United States was one country and not thirteen.5
In his dealings with Dr. James O'Fallon, agent of the South
Carolina Yazoo Company, and incidentally James Wilkinson,
"the most consummate artist in treason that the nation ever
possessed,"6 Washington was already alive to western conditions. On lands purchased from Georgia and still occupied by
Indians, whose rights and interests the United States was bound
by treaty to respect, O'Fallon planned to make a settlement in
the Yazoo country in what is now western Mississippi.7 Being
assured that the proposed settlement would maintain its independence of Spain and remain a part of the United States, Kentuckians were willing to join in the enterprise, but, at the same
time, the Spanish Governor, Estevan Miro, was told by O'FalIon, Wilkinson, and possibly others, of the desire of the would-be
settlers "to be the slaves" of Spain. Alleging that the O'Fallon
scheme was a violation of covenanted Indian rights and the
laws and treaties of the United States and that it was also a
menace to the peace and security of the frontier, Washington
nipped it in the bud by a proclamation forbidding it and warning those "who have incautiously associated themselves with the
said James O'Fallon."8
Despite the vigorous tone of this proclamation subsequent
events on the frontier were not reassuring. In the increasing
difficulties between lawless settlers and greedy land speculators
on the one side and jealous Indians and their banditti on the
other, Washington detected the ever-subtle hand of Spain and
the double-dealing and perfidy of Alexander McGillivary in
whom he had formerly confided.9 When England and Spain,
in the face of common dangers from revolutionary France, developed a measure of accord, Washington suspected them of "an
understanding in all this business,"'0 but he did not even suspect
Wilkinson. Instead he continued to praise his "great zeal and
ability for the public weal" and through a mutual friend he informed Wilkinson of "the favorable light" with which his
conduct was viewed in the Federal capital.ll
It was into this whirlpool of treachery and discontent thatWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Genet hoped to pour additional elements of revolution. In
view of the offensive and defensive alliances still existing between his country and the United States he anticipated no
serious objections on the part of Americans. In the event that
any arose, he was prepared to offer them the Floridas as their
portion of the spoils to be wrenched from Spain.l2  Thus fortified Gent landed in Charleston, South Carolina, and, following an enthusiastic reception, proceeded thence to Philadelphia
by an inland route through the Piedmont foothills, where the
inhabitants were more in accord with his revolutionary sentiments
and purposes than were those of the lowlands. On the way he
took steps looking to the fitting out of armed expeditions against
Spain and communicated with their prospective leaders. Everywhere he was greeted with enthusiasm, but despite all this he
was effectively checked at Philadelphia by a proclamation of
neutrality from Washington, in which he apprised his countrymen of the fact that the United States was then at peace with
the warring powers of Europe and warned citizens of the United
States against acts of hostility toward any of them.
Buoyed by the belief that American sovereignty rested in
Congress, a mistake repeated by Europeans and others, Genet
soon recovered from the shock of Washington's neutrality proclamation and continued to plan for the consummation of his
purposes.l3 Although confident of ultimate success, he nevertheless complained that "the old man [Washington]" was blocking him at every turn, and could not forgive his popularity with
the people. Genet even thought it might be necessary to press
"secretly the convening of Congress."  Openly he conferred
with members of the opposition party and in Washington's absence at Mount Vernon, Genet released the "Petite Democrate"
to prey upon English commerce. Upon his return Genet's acts
met with Washington's unqualified disapproval, whereupon
Genet precipitated his own undoing by a threat to appeal from
Washington to the American people.l4 As a result he was recalled, and Washington thus took another step to assert the dignity and the independence of the United States. At the same
I94IN THE FEDERALIST REGIME
time he entrenched it in a policy of neutrality toward European
affairs, which was maintained for more than a century.
Hoping to lull the United States into inertia by "wise delay
and useful temporising," Genet's successor, Jean-Antoine-Joseph
Fauchet, continued thus to plan for the acquisition of Louisiana
by France.'5 To that end Indian wars and the Whiskey Rebellion were watched by him and his successor, Pierre-Auguste
Adet, in the expectation that some favorable turn would redound to the advantage of their country. The resulting suspicions had something to do with the accord that led the United
States to negotiate the Jay Treaty of I794 and the Pinckney
Treaty of the year following.'6 By the latter Spain relinquished
claim to lands eastward of the Mississippi River and north of
the thirty-first parallel, and temporarily accorded to Americans
the privilege of depositing goods at New Orleans.
These victoiies of the Washington administration only
widened the breach between the United States and France. In
I795 the latter concluded with Spain the Treaty of Basel in the
negotiations of which she made known her desire for Louisiana
but did not press it. Had France then attained her pet American objective, the indications are that Washington would have
taken a position not unlike that taken by Jefferson in I802, in
explanation of which he said: "There is on the globe one single
spot, the possessor of which is our natural and habitual enemy.
It is New Orleans. The day that France takes possession of
New Orleans fixes the sentence which is to restrain her within
her low water mark..... From that day we must marry ourselves to the British fleet and nation."'7 The fact that Washington leaned more and more toward the Federalists, beginning
with I794, did not nourish his old-time friendship for France.
It is perhaps significant that in I798 he accepted the chief command of the forces raised by the United States to fight France,
her former ally.
In this as in other matters affecting French-American relations Washington was undoubtedly influenced somewhat by the
presence in this country of "Democratic Societies" organized by
I95IO              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
and Perches.""' More important still, according to one of his
most recent and authentic biographers, "Washington had a
natural liking for surveying." Continuing, this author says "the
examples are too many, too varied and too carefully inscribed
to have been done entirely as tasks."'7
Washington followed his practical training in mathematics
and surveying by equally practical lessons in geography, for
which he seems to have had an aptitude. After a fashion somewhat original, his exercise books contained definitions of a continent, a peninsula, a "promatory," climate, and the ocean. For
example, "A Climate is a Certain space of Earth  Sea that is
included within ye Space of two Parrallels  of them there have
been Anciently Accounted Seven," and the earth was "Divided
into five Zones."'8 However naive this phase of Washington's
education may seem, it developed him as a map-maker, an art
in which he became proficient. As much as any other accomplishment map-making stood him in stead during the rest of his
life. Moreover his knowledge of general geography he used
almost constantly. It is well known that his ability to judge
distances with accuracy approached the marvelous, and that it
was next to impossible to lose him anywhere, even in the heart
of a trackless forest.
Meanwhile young Washington was making other contacts
with the practical side of life.19 Virginians then led active lives
in the open. There were horses to ride; forests contained game
in abundance; the broad rivers flowing into Chesapeake Bay
were full of oysters, fish, and crabs; and, in season, the marshes
paralleling these rivers were favorite haunts for ducks and
geese, in the pursuit of which Washington became more or less
expert. Another boyhood pleasure was swimming, his favorite
resort being "Hobb's Hole, the deepest place in the river."
Here he and his companions became past masters in aquatic arts;
here they had their clothes stolen; here they played practical
jokes on one another; and here they tried the patience of
parents by foolhardy darings.
A turning point in the life of this unusual yet quite humanI96             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Citizen Genet. These societies flourished in the Kentucky country and their existence was, in Washington's mind, always traced
to the French. "Under a display of popular and convincing
guises" he feared that they might destroy "the best fabric of
human government and happiness, that has ever been presented
to the experience of mankind." Voicing further his disapproval
of their methods and purposes he said: "If the laws are to be
so trampled upon with impunity, and a minority, a small one
too, is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put, at one
stroke, to republican government; and nothing but anarchy and
confusion is to be expected hereafter."'8
Meanwhile England had pursued a course in the Northwest
not unlike that followed by Spain in the Southwest. Reluctant
to yield the profits of the fur trade and the opportunities of an
uncertain international situation, she had, on technical grounds,
refused to surrender American posts in the region of the Great
Lakes.'9 Washington's administration was only a few months
old when he tried to determine her intentions in the matter,20
but he was met by evasion. In fact, England had already resolved to keep the Trans-Allegheny region as distinct from the
United States as possible and as closely connected with herself
as possible. This policy was set forth in I790, in a report of the
Lords of Trade, in which they declared that it would be to
England's best interest "to prevent Vermont and Kentucky and
all other Settlements now forming in the Interior parts of the
great Continent of North America, from becoming dependent
on the Government of the United States, or on that of any other
Foreign Country."2' This policy of local autonomy mapped
out by the English for the American frontier applied also to
Indians and gave a measure of unanimity to their counsels and
their dealings with the United States during the years immediately following.
When American settlements finally advanced beyond the
Ohio River, I788, the English policy of intermeddling could no
longer be regarded complacently. By early I79I their attitude
in Indian affairs was such that Washington suspected them ofIN THE FEDERALIST REGIME
intensifying and prolonging the campaign reluctantly undertaken by the United States to preserve "the peace and safety to
the inhabitants of their frontier."22  Realizing the dangers to
which the United States was thus exposed, Washington shortly
thereafter suggested to Jefferson the matter of an alliance between the United States and France. As Jefferson's heart was
already set upon a French alliance, this suggestion caught his
fancy, and, but for the unfortunate Genet affair, it might have
been followed up, thus altering completely the early course of
American political history and foreign policy.
If Genet's conduct dampened Washington's ardor for a
French-American alliance and confirmed him in a policy of
neutrality as between the United States and the warring powers
of Europe, it did not diminish his concern regarding the British
menace in the Northwest. During I792 and I793, conditions
there were precarious, and the famous speech of February Io,
I794, made by Lord Dorchester, lately returned from England,
did not help the situation. In this speech Dorchester conveyed
to a disgruntled Indian delegation the possibilities of war between the United States and England. Moreover, the English
seemed bent upon precipitating war when Governor Simcoe,
with Dorchester's approval, built a fort at the Maumee Rapids
in or near the course of General Wayne's proposed march against
the Indians. The tenseness thus produced was heightened by
the wide circulation given Dorchester's speech and the contention
that the newly constructed fort was necessary for the protection
of Detroit.23
Although partisans tried to explain away these incidents,
alleging that the objectionable speech was spurious and that the
construction of the fort on the Maumee was not fraught with
sinister motives, Washington insisted that Dorchester had voiced
the sentiments of the British cabinet,24 and he characterized
Simcoe's act as "the most open and daring,.  of the British
agents in America, though it is not the most hostile and cruel."25
This he found in British-inspired "murders of helpless women
and innocent children along our frontiers." In keeping with his
I97I98             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
policy of French and Indian War days, he was for removing
the cause by aggressive action. Through Secretary of War
Knox, he informed General Wayne that, if in the course of his
campaign it should be necessary to dislodge the British garrison
on the Maumee, it should be done. With a view to possible
war with England, about the same time he requested information regarding the population and resources of Upper Canada
and Lower Canada and regarding the temper and patriotic
inclinations of their peoples.26
Fortunately the English government was not so warlike as
were its representatives in Canada. Ever since England had
become involved in war with France (i793), the English had
in fact shown a disposition to amicable adjustments of differences
with the United States.27 As the United States was not averse
to such an accord and also desired commercial concessions from
England, Washington, April 6, I794, named John Jay as
special envoy to represent him in negotiations to these ends.
The disadvantages thus occasioned by his playing into the hands
of the Federalists and further alienating Jefferson's party were
considered small in comparison with the advantages of averting
a war with England, which might, through a concerted attack
from Canada and the lower Mississippi, possibly in conjunction
with Spain, have resulted in the loss to the United States of the
entire Mississippi Valley.
The accord that followed, known as the Jay Treaty, was
ratified by the United States Senate, June 24, I795, and was at
once given to the public, where it produced a veritable storm of
indignation. Although gratified with the English surrender of
the American posts along the lakes and with the free navigation
of the Mississippi, which the English again conceded, the
westerners opposed the commercial and other features of the Jay
Treaty, in demonstrations of "a very unpleasant nature." While
not entirely pleased with the treaty, Washington considered
it better "than to suffer matters as they are, unsettled." In the
face of protests against it he voiced the spirit of modern scienceIN THE FEDERALIST REGIME                199
when he said, "there is but one straight course, and that is to
seek truth and pursue it steadily."28
While inextricably involved in foreign relations, Indian
affairs both in the Southwest and in the Northwest had local
aspects. In keeping with the policy of Congress to retain for
itself exclusive control over territorial Indians, additional
treaties were concluded in Washington's administration, but the
whites openly violated them by wholesale encroachments upon
Indian lands and by unscrupulous trade practices.29  On the
other hand, the Indians retaliated by murdering whites and
destroying their property.30 This was notably true in the Northwest and in regions now embraced in Georgia and Tennessee.
Indians opposed the encroachment of white settlers north of the
Ohio on the grounds that the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, I784, and
the Treaty of Fort Harmar, I789, were fraudulent and void.
Unwilling to concede these contentions, Washington sent armed
forces against them with varying results. First General Josiah
Harmar met with indifferent success, then came Governor
Arthur St. Clair's inglorious defeat, which was followed in I794
by General Anthony Wayne's victory at Fallen Timber. This
was followed by the treaty of Greenville, as the result of which
Indians ceded to the United States the larger part of what is
now the state of Ohio. Meanwhile John Sevier and James
Robertson had defeated the Cherokees and Chickamauguas thus
opening to white settlement additional areas.
Washington was not, however, wholly satisfied with force as
a means of dealing with the natives, whose comparative helplessness and ignorance he recognized and pitied. While rejoicing in Wayne's and Sevier's victories and deploring St. Clair's
defeat, his desire for victory was only as a means to "a lasting
peace upon terms of candor, equality, and good neighborhood.''31 As a father would advise his children, Washington
admonished Indians to be good.32 He offered a reward of $500
each for the arrest of whites accused of perpetrating outrages
upon natives,33 and although he considered trade indispensable
as a means to political control of the Indians,34 he advised thatWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
it be conducted on an honest basis and that profits be reasonable.
While defending the practice of using gifts as a means of making
compensations for injuries "not otherwise to be redressed,"
Washington agreed with Edmund Pendleton that "the plan of
annual presents, in an abstract view, unaccompanied by other
measures, is not the best mode of treating ignorant savages."35
Forecasting a policy adopted almost one hundred years later, he
would instead have layed greater stress upon the primary principles of civilization, education and husbandry.36
Although the Whiskey Rebellion, I792-I794, was primarily
a local affair, it had national, even international aspects. It was
the last formidable stand in the Trans-Allegheny for unauthorized autonomy involving the power of the new Federal
government, and it was closely watched by the agents of France,
Spain, and England in the hope that it might eventuate in some
favorable turn to their respective governments. Washington
regarded it as "the first formidable fruit of the Democratic Societies"37 and as a test of the Federal government. With him
its suppression was therefore an act of patriotism fraught with
far-reaching consequences, but his interest in the Rebellion can
be best understood in the light of its historical background.
With a view to ascertaining the powers of the Federal government and raising revenues for its support, Congress, March
3, I79I, and May 8, I792, authorized a general excise tax on
spiritous liquors. As this tax was prying and sumptuary, it was
resented generally, and in Trans-Allegheny Pennsylvania,
where distilled spirits were produced and consumed in large
quantities, opposition became intense. In the absence of roads
and adequate water transportation, whiskey afforded the inhabitants of that region, mostly Scotch-Irish long accustomed to
the use of strong drinks, a concentrated form for marketing and
consuming their farm products to the greatest possible advantage. Thus any tax upon this staple was looked upon as an
encroachment upon natural rights and was resented accordingly.88
Unlike other demonstrations against governmental author200IN THE FEDERALIST REGIME
ity, this one was slow in developing and was persistent and
studied. An initial outbreak in the summer of I792 was effectively suppressed by a proclamation from President Washington, admonishing and exhorting all persons against resistance to
the laws and constituted authorities of their country,39 but discontent continued to smoulder and in the summer of I794
burst into open and formidable defiance. In Westmoreland,
Washington, Fayette, and Allegheny counties federal inspectors
and marshals were driven from their posts by armed mobs;
other officers suffered violence; buildings were burned; and law
was set at defiance.
Upon being notified of these happenings and of the impotency of the courts to prevent them, Washington, August 5,
I794, sent commissioners among the insurgents in an effort "to
induce them to submit peacefully to the laws, and to prevent
the necessity of using coercion to enforce their execution." To
the same end two days later he issued a proclamation commanding all disaffected persons to cease opposition by September first
of that year.40 But as neither his commissioners nor his own
entreaties were heeded, in the exercise of "that high and irresistible duty consigned... by the constitution," he called into
action the militia of Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and New
Jersey to enforce the laws of the United States. While not
according "too much importance to the opposition," Washington
intentionally authorized a force sufficiently large to make a
formidable showing. The chief command was entrusted to his
friend, Governor Henry Lee of Virginia.
By this demonstration of power, fifteen thousand strong,
Washington hoped to "prevent the effusion of blood," as well as
to make resistance futile. This was his conception of the best
way to uphold the power and dignity of the central government.4' That there might be no mistaking the latter purpose,
he decided to give the mobilization of the militia his personal
oversight. For this purpose, in company with Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington left Philadelphia
for Carlisle, Pennsylvania, September 30, I794, the same day
20IWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
on which he received information of Wayne's victory over the
Indians at Fallen Timbers. With this intelligence to brighten
his way, he journeyed by Morris Town, Reading, and Lebanon
and reached his destination four days later.
At Carlisle Washington received his first direct information
concerning the insurrectionists and their purposes. Here he talked
with William Findley and David Redick, representatives of a
"Committee of Safety" of the "Whiskey Boys." Largely with
a view to preventing an armed demonstration against their constituents, Findley and Redick begged Washington to discontinue
military preparations and promised immediate obedience to the
laws of Congress. But as neither could promise that Federal
excise officers would be permitted to function in the disaffected
areas, "except under the influence of the garrison," and as each
admitted that the insurgents were opposed not only to the excise
laws, but also to "all law and Government," and "the officers of
Government,"42 Washington ordered the preparations to continue and to be made effective. To the latter end he visited
camps at Cumberland, Maryland, and at Bedford, Pennsylvania, and had the continuance of his presence in either been
considered necessary, "it would not have been witholden."43
In his decision to give these preparations personal attention,
Washington was doubtless motivated also by representations to
the effect that the insurgents were "ignorant" to a degree beyond "anything he had any comprehension of." They were
represented also as thinking themselves invulnerable to any
power that could be sent against them. Rather than submit to
the laws of the United States, some were reported to have sold
their belongings preparatory to removal to Detroit. All this
savored too much of border warfare and Revolutionary days to
permit Washington to regard it complacently. He answered
Findley's and Redick's requests in no unmistakable terms, the
essence of which was "unequivocal proof" of their absolute submission to the laws of the United States. In reply to an inquiry
regarding the character of the proof desired, Washington left
202IN THE FEDERALIST REGIME                203
it to them to determine "what was due to justice and example."44
The results of this firm stand are well known. In brief the
insurgents vanished, a fact in which Washington found keen
satisfaction, because their decision "demonstrated that our prosperity rests on solid foundations." According to Washington,
it was also an "additional proof that his fellow-citizens understood the true principles of government and liberty; that they
felt their inseparable union; that notwithstanding all the devices
which have been used to sway them from their interest and
duty, they were as ready to maintain the authority of the laws
against licentious invasions as they were to defend their rights
against usurpation." In the willingness of "the most and least
wealthy" of citizens to stand in the same ranks as private soldiers, undeterred by a march of 300 miles over rugged mountains, by the approach of an inclement season, or by any other
discouragement, Washington found another proof of the advantages of republican institutions.45
Both in respect to the "internal peace and welfare of this
country, and because of the impression it made upon others,
Washington considered the "great expense" of putting down
the Whiskey Rebellion advantageous. Soon thereafter he suggested the enactment of a law for "devising and establishing a
well regulated militia," which was postponed, with doubtful results, for more than a hundred years. Whatever may have been
his opinion of militiamen in the French and Indian War and in
the Revolution, he now conceded them "immortal glory" and
saw in the spirit of their conduct a "conclusive refutation" of the
assertion of Lord Sheffield, that "without the protection of
Great Britain, we [United States] should be unable to govern
ourselves, and would soon be involved in confusion." As a
consequence of this demonstration, Washington hoped the British would understand "that republicanism is not the phantom
of a deluded imagination."46
The announcement of final plans for the admission of Kentucky and Tennessee to separate statehood in the Union was a204             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
source of satisfaction to Washington. This was particularly true
of Kentucky, the admission of which he said "would inspire the
citizens of America with such confidence in it [Union], as
effectively to do away [with] those apprehensions, which, under
the former confederation, our best men entertain of division
among ourselves."47
Meanwhile other matters, of primary concern to the West,
did not escape Washington's attention. Among other things he
approved the congressional plan for disposing of parts of the
public domain in large tracts as a means of discharging the
public debt.48 In I79I while on a tour of the South, he inspected the James River improvement,49 and, three years later,
he approved an act of the Virginia Assembly extending the time
for the completion of the Potomac navigation.50 Always he was
interested in data regarding possible routes and distances for
connecting the eastern and western waters, but, strange as it may
seem to those who have suspected him of selfishness in his desires for a strong Union, his correspondence and papers are
astonishingly free from reference to his own western lands. But
for infrequent warnings to squatters and a few sale and rent
notices,5' evidences of such holdings are conspicuous by their
absence.
Whatever Washington's early expectations regarding his
western lands may have been, experience taught him that "distant property in land [was] more pregnant of perplexities than
profit."52 As opportunities seemed to favor from time to time
during a period of more than twenty-five years, he alternately
tried to rent and to sell his western holdings to advantage but
with little or no success, certainly with none in the desired sales.
Thus at his death, in addition to the tracts previously spoken of
in this work, some of which had been increased in size by resurveys, he owned 305I acres on the Little Miami in Ohio, and
5000 acres in Kentucky.53  In I796 he advertised his lands on
the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers as "among the most valuable on the western waters," but he was unable to sell them at
prices ranging from three to six dollars per acre. At one timeIN THE FEDERALIST REGIME
he was on the point of selling this entire acreage to a French
gentleman, but because of revolutionary disturbances in his
homeland, this prospective buyer was released from his contract.54 After Washington's death these lands, with an estimated total valuation of approximately $300,000, were distributed among his heirs, some of whom later established homes
upon them. His Ohio lands, valued at $I5,25I, were lost to his
heirs in the legal contests which followed his death.55
The possession of Washington heirlooms by his relatives in
the transmontane regions enriched their traditions almost as
effectively as did the numerous sojourns and reputed sojourns
of Washington himself.56 This was notably true of his soldier
relics, many of which were carried beyond the mountains following the distribution of his estate. With the injunction that
they were not to be unsheathed "for the purpose of shedding
blood, except it be for self-defense, or in defense of their country
and its rights," five swords were inherited by as many nephews.
William Augustine Washington received the sword given his
uncle by Frederick the Great with the compliments of "the
oldest general in the world to the greatest." This sword was
inherited by Colonel John W. Washington and for years reposed in his home, Belle Air, near Harpers Ferry, where, together with a pistol presented to General Washington by
Lafayette, it was captured by John Brown and used by him in
his attack upon the United States Arsenal at Harpers Ferry, as
a symbol of liberty. For a long time General, Washington's
"Spanish Dress" sword reposed also at Belle Air, but his famous
"Battle" sword, the one carried by him during the periods of
his military service, was carried to the banks of the Great Kanawha River, where it was a favorite possession in the home of
Samuel W. Washington until I843, when it was presented by
its owner to "the Congress of the United States, in behalf of
the nation." General Washington's "Sollingen" sword was
carried directly to what is now Charles Town, West Virginia,
where it remained until shortly after the Civil War. Thus the
number and location of Washington trophies and mementoes in
205MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN                  I I
youth came in 1743 with the death of his father. Shortly thereafter, according to the prevailing custom, the Washington estates
were divided, the largest ones going to the eldest sons. Thus
Lawrence became the owner of Mount Vernon and Augustine
of Bridges Creek, while the lands on the Rappahannock, together
with a number of Negro slaves and a small amount of personal
property, went to the children by his second wife who was to
hold and manage the lands specifically willed to each son until
he became of age; but in the event that Lawrence died without
issue, Mount Vernon was to go to George.
Of greater consequence, the death of George's father is supposed to have caused changes in plans for his son's education.
It is reasonable to presume that Augustine Washington had
intended to give his eldest son, by his second wife, the same
educational advantages which he gave his eldest son by his first
marriage and which he himself had received.20  Such a plan
would have taken George to Appleby School in England, but
there is no documentary proof that he attended school anywhere. Certainly whatever plans may have been made for his
institutional training, they were not carried out following his
father's death, and his education continued to be of the practical
sort. He was not even sent to William and Mary College in
Virginia, a privilege then accorded many sons of first families.
Fortunately, both Lawrence and Augustine were in a position
to assume a measure of responsibility for their half-brother
George.
Because Lawrence was about to be married George did not
go to Mount Vernon at once following his father's death but
sojourned for a time thereafter with Augustine in his home at
Bridges Creek, where George himself had been born. Although
he was not able to continue there the training which his father
had begun and which Lawrence later continued, Bridges Creek
offered George an attractive social life. Augustine Washington
had married Ann Aylett, "a kind woman, very orderly and
handsome," who brought to her husband a fortune. In her
home and under her direction George first met gentle folk and206
WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
what is now West Virginia and its immediate environs could be
multiplied almost indefinitely.57
From present West Virginia, descendants of Washington's
brothers, carrying relics and mementoes of their distinguished
relative, extended to many parts of the farther West. Outstanding among them was Lawrence Augustine Washington, Jr., son
of Washington's nephew, Lawrence Augustine Washington
(1774-I824), who died and was buried near Wheeling. In
185o, when flush times were on in Texas, the younger Washington, together with his family including a sister, Mary Dorcas,
moved from their farm of I26 acres to the Lone Star state,
whence his descendants extended to several western states.
Like others who set out from western Virginia to begin life
anew in the West, Lawrence Augustine Washington, Jr. was
well equipped. He was a graduate of the University of
Virginia and of Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. He
took with him one hundred Negro slaves; blooded stock of
horses, sheep and cattle; hounds; a library; a grand piano; and
some of the treasured George Washington relics. In I919 most,
if not all of these, were turned over to the Mount Vernon Association, at an appropriate service held at the Dallas Scottish Rite
Temple, Dallas, Texas.58
Although Washington's predilections for the West were
strong, justifying the commemoration of his name in hundreds
of its governmental units and natural features, he did not expect
or wish for it a growth and development distinct from that of
the other sections of the Union. This was clearly revealed in
his farewell address, I796, in which he warned against dangers
of sectional strife and forcefully presented the reciprocal advantages of harmony and accord among the great sections of his
country. Following a presentation of such advantages to the
North and to the South, he predicted that "The East in a like
intercourse with the West," had already found, and would continue to find through progressive improvement of internal communications "a valuable vent for the commodities which it
brings from abroad or manufactures at home." On the otherIN THE FEDERALIST REGIME                207
hand and of perhaps "still greater consequence" he was convinced that the West "must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the
weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community
of interest as one nation."59
After he left the presidency, Washington's suggestions regarding the West were as wholesome and constructive as they
had ever been. Forecasting an arrangement which has survived
for one hundred and fifteen years as a model for the world, he
advised that neither the United States nor Great Britain in times
of peace, keep armed vessels "on the Lakes."60 Because of its
central location, he preferred a site in the vicinity of Louisville
instead of Natchez, for a proposed army observation post,6'
and he was largely responsible for the choice of Harpers Ferry
as a federal arsenal site. Factors recommending this location
attest the same sort of realism in the "Father of his Country" as
he displayed in his boyhood. First was the proximity of Harpers Ferry to furnaces and forges of the best iron; moreover, it
had fine shipping facilities by water both east and west; and
finally, it was on the great highway "to the country of the Ohio
River."62
Although Washington's suggestions regarding the West
were forward-looking, the extent of his vision of its future cannot of course be definitely determined. Unlike Jefferson, he
put no time limits upon the possible extension of white settlements westward of the Mississippi River, if indeed he contemplated such a thing, which he doubtless did. Both by personal contacts and through plans for its settlement and government he was familiar with the Trans-Allegheny to the Mississippi. He had seen settlement extend itself throughout almost
the entire area, and probably more than most men of his
time, he reckoned with the possible effect of an improved transportation. He must therefore have realized that the TransAllegheny, like the older sections to the eastward, would become208             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
too small for the white man and that he would push farther the
relentless course of empire.
As respects the Trans-Allegheny Washington's plans for
tying it to the East by ties of interest are perhaps his greatest
claims to statesmanship. In them he laid the basis for the future
development of the country whose independence he had done
most to win, but in doing so he doubtless had a view to the
growth of American democratic ideals as well. Washington's
writings afford abundant evidences of the fact that he appreciated the democratizing influences and possibilities, as well as
the loyalty of the West. It will be recalled that his settlement
on the Great Kanawha was to have both civil and religious liberty, and in the event of failure elsewhere, he was prepared to
make a last stand for independence in the mountains of West
Augusta, where after the manner of a Scotch Highlander, he
was determined to carry on the fight until his efforts were
crowned with victory. Thus his subsequent plans to lay low
the hills and exalt the valleys of the Appalachian range were
not due to his fear of democracy but rather to his confidence in
and devotion to it. In this way he laid the basis for the Federalist party in the West long before that party was born. If
the seeds of Jeffersonian democracy grew best in that virgin soil,
the way was meanwhile being paved there for Henry Clay and
the American System.
Whatever may be said of Washington's interest in western
lands, particularly the amount of his holdings and the method
and purpose of acquiring them, these considerations never
blinded him to the public interest, as has been implied by those
who espouse the economic interpretation of American history in
its narrowest sense. Those of Washington's lands which did
not come to him as compensation for services, were purchased
from fellow soldiers, usually as personal favors and at their
earnest request. Through several decades these lands were held
at great sacrifice and were offered for sale at moderate prices. If
as a young man he had illusions about getting rich through his
western holdings, these illusions were dissipated long before theIN THE FEDERALIST REGIME
Federal Constitution was made, for already according to his own
words, he had learned that "distant property in land [was] more
pregnant with perplexities than with profit." Nevertheless, his
interest for the public good would permit no limits upon our
western boundary.
After all the most informing phase of Washington's personal
interests in the West was the readiness and completeness with
which he forgot them when the public was involved. While he
was fighting for the independence of America, his settlement on
the Great Kanawha River was destroyed; his mill at Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, went to rack; and squatters occupied the
select sites of his other landed holdings. Yet forgetful of the
fact that he had meanwhile served his country without monetary
compensation, there are those who mischievously magnify the
personal phase of his visit of I784 to the West. For all such as
well as for others, it is well to recall that, while on that visit,
Washington in the eagerness of his search for road and canal
sites did not even visit his lands on the Ohio and Great Kanawha
rivers as he had set out to do, and that shortly thereafter he
recommended to Richard Henry Lee, President of the Continental Congress, that "all mines, minerals, and salt springs," be
reserved for public uses in future grants from the public domain.
Reflecting his own growth and earnestness in the public interest
over a period of years, was his accompanying statement to the
effect that choice natural resources should not become the property of those who in childish fashion, claimed them because they
happened to be the first to see them.
Finally and despite his intense love for the West, Washington was the father of the entire country. As such, like a loving
and.indulgent parent, his vision rose above sections and factions.
In fact, his chief objection to the latter was that they would
become sectional and destroy the Union. Thus not only was he
"first in the hearts of his countrymen," but they, all of them,
were first in his heart, a fact which has added an element of
sacredness to his name among leaders of all parties and all sections. Moreover, unlike the prophets of old, this attitude was
209210             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
shown him before he died and by those who knew him best.
Indeed, it is doubtful whether it has grown much through the
succeeding ages. Accordingly the conclusion: Whatever the
vicissitudes of American government, the present indications
are that succeeding systems, even a possible more socialistic
regime, will be proud to acknowledge Washington's paternity
of the United States.APPENDIX A
THE BATTLE OF FORT NECESSITY
JULY 3, 1754
I. CONTEMPORANEOUS NEWSPAPER ACCOUNTS
I. Maryland Gazette (Annapolis) for July 25, I754, quoting
the Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg) for July I9, I754, summarizing unofficial reports attributed to Colonel George Washington and
Captain James Mackay.
"WILLIAMSBURG, July 19, [I754]
"On Wednesday last arrived in Town, Colonel George Washington and
Captain James Maccay, who gave the following Account to his Honour the
Governor, of the late Action between them and the French, at the Great
Meadows in the Western Parts of this Dominion.
"The third of this Instant July, about 9 o'Clock, we received Intelligence
that the French, having been reinforced with 700 Recruits, had left Monongehela, and were in full March with goo Men to attack us. Upon this, as our
Numbers were so unequal, (our whole Force not exceeding 300) we prepared for our Defence in the best Manner we could, by throwing up a small
Intrenchment, which we had not Time to perfect, before our Centinel gave
Notice, about Eleven o'Clock, of their Approach, by firing his Piece, which
he did at the Enemy, and as we learned afterwards killed three of their
Men, on which they began to fire upon us, at about 600 Yards Distance,
but without any Effect: We immediately called all our Men to their Arms,
and drew up in Order before our Trenches; but as we looked upon this
distant Fire of the Enemy only as an Artifice to intimidate, or draw our
Fire from us, we waited their nearer Approach before we returned their
Salute. They then advanced in a very irregular Manner to another Point
of Woods, about 60 Yards off, and from thence made a second Discharge;
upon which, finding they had no Intention of attacking us in the open Field,
we retired into our Trenches, and still reserved our Fire; as we expected
from their great Superiority of Numbers, that they would endeavour to force
our Trenches; but finding they did not seem to intend this neither, the Colonel
gave Orders to fire, which was done with great Alacrity and Undauntedness.
We continued this unequal Fight, with an Enemy sheltered behind the Trees,
ourselves without Shelter, in Trenches full of Water, in a settled Rain, and
the Enemy galling us on all Sides incessantly from the Woods, till 8 o'Clock
at Night, when the French called to Parley: From the great Improbability
[2II ]WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
that such a vastly superior Force, and possessed of such an Advantage, would
offer a Parley first, we suspected a Deceit, and therefore refused to consent
that they should come among us; on which they desired us to send an Officer
to them, and engaged their Parole for his Safety; we then sent Captain Van
Braam, and Mr. Peyronee, to receive their Proposals, which they did, and
about Midnight we agreed that each Side should retire without Molestation,
they back to their Fort at Monongehela, and we to Wills's Creek: That we
should march away with all the Honours of War, and with all our Stores,
Effects and Baggage. Accordingly the next Morning, with our Drums
beating, and our Colours flying, we began our March in good Order, with
our Stores, c. in Convoy; but we were interrupted by the Arrival of a
Reinforcement of Ioo Indians among the French, who were hardly restrained
from attacking us, and did us considerable Damage by pilfering our Baggage.
We then proceeded, but soon found it necessary to leave our Baggage and
Stores; the great Scarcity of our Provisions obliged us to use the utmost
Expedition, and having neither Waggons nor Horses to transport them. The
Enemy had deprived us of all our Creatures, by killing, in the Beginning of
the Engagement, our Horses, Cattle, and every living Thing they could, even
to the very Dogs. The Number of the Killed on our Side was 3o, and 70
wounded; among the former was Lieutenant Mercier, of Capt. Maccay's
Independent Company; a Gentleman of true military Worth, and whose
Bravery would not permit him to retire, tho' dangerously wounded,'til a
second Shot disabled him, and a third put an End to his Life, as he was carrying to the Surgeon. Our Men behaved with singular Intrepidity, and we
determined not to ask for Quarter, but with our Bayonets screw'd, to sell our
Lives as dearly as possibly we could. From the Numbers of the Enemy,
and our Situation, we could not hope for Victory; and from the Character
of those we had to encounter, we expected no Mercy, but on Terms that we
positively resolved not to submit to. The Number killed and wounded of the
Enemy is uncertain, but by the Information given by some Dutch in their
Service to their Countrymen in ours, we learn that it amounted to above
300; and we are induced to believe it must be very considerable, by their
being busy all Night in burying their Dead, and yet many remained the next
Day; and their Wounded we know was considerable, by one of our Men,
who had been made Prisoner by them after signing the Articles, and who,
on his Return told us, that he saw great Numbers much wounded and carried
off upon Litters. We were also told by some of their Indians after the
Action, that the French had an Officer of distinguishable Rank killed. Some
considerable Blow they must have received, to induce them to call first for a
Parley, knowing, as they perfectly did, the Circumstances we were in.
"Col. Washington, and Capt. Maccay, left Capt. Clarke at Winchester,
on the IIth last, and his Men were not then arrived there. Thus have a
few brave Men been exposed, to be butchered, by the Negligence of those
who, in Obedience to their Sovereign's Command ought to have been with
them many Months before; and it is evidently certain, that had the Companies
from New York been as expeditious as Capt. Maccay's from South Carolina,
212our Camp would have been secure from the Insults of the French, and our
brave Men still alive to serve their King and Country. Surely, this will
remove the Infatuation that seems to have prevailed too much among our
Neighbours, and inforce a late ingenious Emblem well worthy of their Attention and Consideration."
2. Maryland Gazette, August I, I754, quoting letter of Colonel
James Innes, in command of North Carolina troops, to Governor
James Hamilton of Pennsylvania.
"Having notice of a Person going to your Province immediately, I
thought it proper, on this Occasion, to give you a short Detail of what hath
lately happen'd.
"After having regulated the March, and the Transportation of the
North Carolina Regiment, I immediately proceeded to Williamsburg, and
by my Commission from Governor Dinwiddie, as Commander in Chief of
this Expedition, I set out for Winchester, where I arrived on the 3oth of
June, in order to take the Command upon me, and to bring up the Necw
York two independent Companies, with those of the North Carolina Regiment then upon their March from Alexandria for this Town.
"Col. Washington, with the Virginia Regiment, and Captain Maccay, with
the South Carolina Independent Company, together, did consist but of Four
Hundred Men, of which a good many were sick, and out of Order.
"On the third of July the French, with about Nine Hundred Men, and
considerable Body of Indians, came down upon our Incampment, and continued to fire, from all Quarters, from Eleven in the Morning till Night,
when the French called out to our People, they would give them good Conditions, if they would capitulate, a Copy of which I here inclose you.
"After the Capitulation the French demolished the Works, and in some
Time after retir'd to the Ohio, taking two Captains as Hostages along with
them. We all know the French are a people that never pay, any Regard to
Treaties longer than they find them consistent with their Interest; and this
Treaty they broke immediately, by letting the Indians demolish and destroy
every Thing our People had, especially the Doctor's Box, that our wounded
should meet with no Relief. In, this Action it is said that we had about
Ioo Men killed and wounded, a Third whereof supposed to be killed; and it
is reported we kill'd double the Number of the French. If this does not
alarm the neighbouring Governments, nothing can; and I make no Doubt
but the French will soon claim this fine Body of Land, as their right by
Conquest, if we do not immediately raise a sufficient Force to convince them
of the contrary. What I can learn of their Force, is, that they had 700
Men in their first Division; 8oo in the next, and 500 in the last, not as yet
joined; which, with their Indians, make a considerable Body.
"Colonel Washington and Captain Maccay, told me, there were many of
our Friend Indians along with the French, sundry of which came up, and
spoke to them, told them they were their Brothers, and ask'd them how they
APPENDIX A
213WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
did; particularly, Susquehanna Jack, and others, who distinguished themselves by their Names; and it is also said, that some of the Delawares were
there. We had not an Indian to assist when the Engagement commenced or
ended.
"It is my real Opinion, that nothing will secure to us the Indians now
in our Friendship, if we allow ourselves to be baffled by the French; as it is
very natural and common for a more polite People than the Indians to side
with the strongest: So that there is a Necessity either to go into the Affair
in Dispute heartily at once, or to give it up entirely."
3. Maryland Gazette for August 29, I754, quoting letter from
Captain Adam Stephen to "a Gentleman in this Province [Pennsylvania]."
"June 29, we received certain Intelligence, that the French were reinforced with 300 White Men, and the same Number of Indians, and that they
intend to march immediately to attack us; Whereupon Col. Washington call'd
a Council of War, wherein it was resolved to send an Express to hasten the
Independents to join us, and that in the mean Time we should set about
fortifying ourselves, as well as the Time would permit, and there wait the
arrival of Cap. Lewis, and Mr. Polson, who were out on Detachments, and
to whom Orders were sent to join us with the utmost Expedition. Captain
Maccay arrived at our Camp at Gist's House, in the Night, and we were
joined by our Detachment next Forenoon: when a Council of War was
again call'd, wherein it was unanimously resolved to retreat immediately,
carrying all public Stores with us; and as we had but two very indifferent
Teams, and few Horses, the Officers loaded their own Horses with Ammunition, and left part of their Baggage behind; Col. Washington setting them
an Example, by ordering his Horse to be loaded first, and giving four Pistoles
to some Soldiers to carry his necessary Baggage. We had nine Swivels, which
were drawn by the Soldiers of the Virginia Regiment twelve Miles, of the
roughest and most hilly Road of'any on the Alleghany Mountains. The independents refused to lend a Hand to draw the Guns, or help off with the
Ammunition; nor would they do Duty as Pioneers, which had an unhappy
Effect on our Men, who no sooner learned that it was not the proper Duty
of Soldiers to perform these Services, than they became as backward as the
Independents. This was one great Reason why we had not completeated [sic]
our Works before the Attack.
"July Ist, we arrived very much fatigued at the Meadows, and had continued our Retreat, but for want of Horses and Conviences to carry our
Ammunition. Our Men had been eight Days without Bread, and instead of
a large Convoy, which we had long expected, there arrived only a few Bags
of Flour: They were so harassed with working on the Fortifications at
Gist's, and with marching, that they were not able to draw the Swivels. This
being the Case, and having certain Intelligence that the Yorkers had
arrived at Alexandria about twenty Days before, a fatal Stay! and a flying
2I4Report, that they had got to Will's Creek on their March to join us, it
was thought most advisable to fortify ourselves in the best Manner possible,
and wait our Convoys and Reinforcements, which we daily expected.
"In the mean Time an Express was sent to inform them of our Station,
and hasten them to our Assistance. We set about clearing the Woods nearest to us, and carrying in the Logs, to raise a Breastwork, and enlarge the
Fort. July 3d, by Break of Day, we were alarmed by one of our Centries,
who was shot in the Leg by the Enemy; and about nine, we received Intelligence, by some of our advanced Parties, that the Enemy were within four
Miles of us, that they were a heavy numerous Body, and all naked. We
continued to fortify, and prepare ourselves for their Reception. They came
up with us before eleven o'Clock, and by their furious Attacks and superior
Numbers, we expected that they would have attempted to storm us directly,
and therefore answered them only with Musket Shot now and then, as we
could make sure of an active Fellow. The keeping up our Fire made the
Enemy more secure, and expose themselves the more, which was a principal
Reason of their losing so many Men on that Occasion. At Night, they call'd
to Parly, and we suspecting Deceit took but little Notice of it, until they
repeated the same frequently, and then Mr. Van Braam was sent to speak
with them, who soon returned to assure us that they were in earnest. This
was no disagreeable News to us, who had received no Intelligence of the approach of our Convoys or Reinforcements, and who had only a Couple Bags of
Flour and a little Bacon left for the Support of 300 Men. We had intended
to have killed the Milch Cows which were our greatest Dependence before
the Engagement, but had no Salt to preserve them, and they soon bcame the
property of a superior Enemy. By the continued Rains, and Water in the
Trenches, the most of our Arms were out of Order, and we had only a
Couple of Screws in the whole Regiment to clean them. But what was still
worse, it was no sooner dark, than one-half of our Men got drunk. Under
these disadvantageous Circumstances, we agreed to the Articles of Capitulation,
which no Doubt you have seen, with the Difference which I shall remark, and
which I think very Material. Mr. Peyronie was dangerously wounded, and
we much regretted to the Loss of his Services on this Occasion.
"When Mr. Van Braam returned with the French Proposals, we were
obliged to take the Sense of them by word of Mouth: It rained so heavily
that he could not give us a written Translation of them; we could scarcely
keep the Candle light to read them; they were wrote in a bad Hand, on wet
and blotted Paper so that no Person could read them but Van Braam who had
heard them from the mouth of the French Officer. Every Officer then present,
is willing to declare, that there was no such word as Assassination mentioned;
the Terms expressed to us were'the Death of Jumonville.' If it had been
mentioned, we could have got it altered, as the French seemed very condenscending, and willing to bring Things to a Conclusion; during the whole
course of the Interview: Upon our insisting on it they altered what was more
material to them, the Article relating to Ammunition, which they wanted to
detain; and that of the Cannon, which they agreed to have destroyed, instead
APPENDIX A
215WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
tasted formal society. In these contacts he acquitted himself
well and was a favorite with all. Handsome and mature, with
a serious manner, he was not lacking in a sense of humor, and
his fondness for sports and life in the open made him what
would today be called a "good fellow." For a boy on the
threshold of adolescence this was indeed a helpful experience.
Even thus early Washington showed evidences of that
moderation and restraint that characterized his later life and
made him master of himself. The gay life at Bridges Creek,
with its race horses and hounds, which would have distracted
many another youth, did not banish from his mind the serious
purpose of his visit, the furthering of his education. Although
he found time to beat his brother and his brother's friends in a
fox hunt or two, he lost no opportunity to improve his knowledge of surveying. This was done by continuing his exercises
and, when possible, by accompanying surveying parties into the
surrounding country. More significant still, George showed as
much interest in his brother's large and well-assorted library as
in his horses and his hounds. Thus in the midst of what would
have been the most unfavorable conditions for a less purposeful
youth, George Washington prepared for a career of usefulness,
which would in all probability have led him to fame and fortune, had he not achieved them through more important roles.
Perhaps because of possible reflections upon his limitations in
the circle of the socially elite at Bridges Creek, but more probably because of a realization of the facts that he would have
to educate himself and that no education is complete without
finished manners, Washington early in his teens copied and
formulated for his own guidance his famous "Rules of Civility
and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation."  These
rules had to do with such things as coughing, sneezing, spitting,
sighing, and yawning; with the killing of such vermin as "Fleas,
lice, c., in the Sight of Others"; and with the proper care of
one's nails, clothing, hair and teeth. They were probably copied
from a work by Hawkins, then much used in both France and
I2WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
of reserved for their Use. Another Article, which appears to our Disadvantage, is that whereby we obliged ourselves not to attempt an Establishment
beyond the Mountains: This was translated to us,'Not to attempt Buildings or
Improvements, on the Lands of his Most Christian Majesty.' This we
never intended; but denied that he had any Lands there, and therefore thought
it needless to dispute that Point.
"The Article, which related to the Hostages, is quite different from the
Translation of it given to us; they are mentioned for the Security of the
Performance of the Tready, as well as for the Return of the Prisoners:
There was never such intention on our Side, nor mention of it made on
theirs by our Interpreter.  Thus by the evil Intention or Negligence of
Van Braam, our Conduct is blamed by a busy World, fond of finding Fault
without considering Circumstances, or giving just Attention to Reasons which
might be offered to obviate their Clamours. Let any of these brave Gentlemen, who fight so many successful Engagements over a Bottle, imagine himself at the Head of 300 Men, and laboring under all the Disadvantages abovementioned, and would not accept of worse Terms than Col. Washington
agreed to? Which were, all the Honours of War, without the mention of'Assassination' or any other Expression objected to in the abovementioned
Articles. It appears to me, that if he did not, he might justly be said to be
Accessary to the Destruction of so many Men, which would have been the inevitable Consequence of his mistaken Courage, or Obstinacy. You have no
Reason to doubt but the whole Affair was well conducted, when the French,
who had first orders to give no Quarter, and to pay the Indians with our
Scalps and Spoils, were the first who discovered an Inclination to Treat. That
they had such Orders and intended no Quarter, is certain, from the Mouth of
one of their own Officers."
II. ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION
Capitulation granted Mons. De Villier, captain and commander of infantry and troops of his most Christian Majesty, to those English troops actually in the fort of Necessity which was built on the lands of the King's
dominions July the 3rd, at eight o'clock at night, 1754.
As our intention has never been to trouble the peace and good harmony
which reigns between the two friendly princes, but only to revenge the assassination which has been done on one of our officers, bearer of a summons,
upon his party, as also to hinder any establishment on the lands of the
dominions of the King, my master; upon these considerations, we are
willing to grant protection or favor, to all the English that are in the said
fort, upon the conditions hereafter mentioned.
I. We grant the English Commander to retire with all his garrisons, to
return peaceably into his own country, and we promise to hinder his receiving
any insult from us French, and to restrain as much as shall be in our power the
Savages that are with us.
2. He shall be permitted to withdraw and to take with him whatever belongs to them excepting the artillery, which we reserve for ourselves.
2163. We grant them the honors of war; they shall come out with drums
beating, and with a small piece of cannon, wishing to show by this means
that we treat them as friends.
4. As soon as these Articles are signed by both parties they shall take down
the English flag.
5. Tomorrow at daybreak a detachment of French shall receive the surrender of the garrison and take possession of the aforesaid fort.
6. Since the English have scarcely any horses or oxen left, they shall be
allowed to hide their property, in order that they may return to seek for it
after they shall have recovered their horses; for this purpose they shall be permitted to leave such number of troops as guards as they may think proper,
under this condition that they give their word of honor that they will work
on no establishment either in the surrounding country or beyond the Highlands
during one year beginning from this day.
7. Since the English have in their power an officer and two cadets, and,
in general, all the prisoners whom they took when they assassinated Sieur de
Jumonville they now promise to send them with an escort to Fort Duquesne,
situated on Belle River, and to secure the safe performance of this treaty
article, as well as of the treaty Messrs. Jacob Van Braam and Robert Stobo,
both Captains shall be delivered to us as hostages until the arrival of our
French and Canadians herein before mentioned.
We on our part declare that we shall give an escort to send back in safety
the two officers who promise us our French in two months and a half at the
latest.
Made out in duplicate on one of the posts of our blockhouse the same day
and year as before.
Signed
JAMES MACKAY
Go. WASHINGTON
COULON DE VILLIER
III. ROSTER OF VIRGINIA OFFICERS AND PRIVATES1
1The Roster of Captain James Mackay's command consisting of South Carolina
troops, is not available. The spelling used is that found in the reports made at Wills
Creek, July 9, 1754.
FIELD OFFICERS OF THE VIRGINIA REGIMENT
Colonel George Washington, Commanding
Lieutenant Colonel George Muse
Major Adam Stephen
Ensign William Peyronie, Adjutant
Ensign James Craik, Surgeon
CAPTAIN STOBO'S COMPANY
Captain Robert Stobo--hostage      Sergeant Robert Tunstill
Lieutenant William Polson          Corporal Nathan Lewis
Sergeant Thomas Langdon               Drummer James Carson
APPENDIX A
217WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Private Charles Smith
Private John Jones
Private John Goldson
Private John Ritson-killed
Private William Coffland
Private David Welch (Daniel)
Private Michael McGrath-wounded
Private John Franklin
Private Michael Reilly-wounded
Private Daniel McClaren-killed
Private Adam Jones
Private John Carroll
Private Thomas Fisher-killed
Private Patrick Durphy-wounded
Private James Good-wounded
Private William Stallons
Private Robert McCulroy
Private Jesse Morris
Private Joseph Gibbs
Private Anthony Kennedy
Private John Tranton-killed
Private Charles Waddy
Private Henry Bayly
Private William Deveeny
Private Alexander Stewart-wounded
Private Nicholas Foster
Private Isaac Moore
Private Peregrin Williams-wounded
Private James Welch
Private Joseph Casterton
Private Henry Bowman
Private Henry Neill
Private John Bryan
Private Jacob Gowing
Private John Brown
Private James Milton
Private William Swallow
Private Robert McCulroy-wounded
Private Edward Graves
Private Richard Morris
Private Ware Rocket
Private Dennis Kinton
Private Daniel Staple
Private John Allen
Private James Batty
Private Thomas Ogden
Private Benjamin Gause
Private Richard Smith
Private John Capshaw
Private John Harwood
CAPTAIN HOG'S COMPANY
Captain Peter Hog
Lieutenant James Towers
Ensign William Bronaugh
Sergeant Edmond Waggoner
Sergeant Richard Trotter
Corporal James Thomas
Corporal Nicholas Morgan
Private Robert Jones-wounded
Private James Heyler-wounded
Private Jesse May
Private James Samuel
Private Joseph Milton
Private Benjamin Hamilton
Private Mathew Cox
Private John Martin
Private Mathew Durham-wounded
Private Michael Scully
Private Joshua Burton-wounded
Private William Johnston
Private Abner Hazlip
Private William Coleman
Private Argyle House-wounded
Private Thomas Kitson
Private Thomas Moss
Private David Gorman-wounded
Private John Ogilby
Private John Roe
Private Southy Hazlip
Private Peter Effleck
Private Duncan Farguson
Private Thomas Chaddock
Private Robert Elliot-wounded
Private John Ramsay
Private Andrew Fowler
Private Samuel Hyden-wounded
Private Zachariah Smith
Private Thomas Napp
Private Bibby Brooke
218APPENDIX A
Private Thomas Slaughter
Private Joseph Gatewood
Private Briant Page
Private John Chapman-wounded
Private John Mears
Private Matthew Nevison
Private William Underhill
Private Thomas Harris
Private Edward Goodwin-wounded
Private James Ford-wounded
Private Joseph Scott
Private Marshal Pratt
Private William Dean
Private James Letort
Private Dominick Moran
Private Dudley Skinner-wounded
Private Andrew Clark
Private John Stephens
Private Philip Gatewood
Private James Meggs
Private Thomas Sellars
CAPTAIN LEWIS'S COMPANY
Captain Andrew Lewis-wounded
Lieutenant John Savage-wounded
Sergeant John McCulley--wounded
Sergeant Robert Graham
Corporal Thomas Stedman
Corporal Josias Baker
Drummer Abraham Mashaw
Drummer David Wilkinson
Private John Whitman
Private Thomas Scott-killed
Private John Smith
Private William Harbinson
Private James Fullham-wounded
Private Robert Grymes
Private John Poor
Private John Rodgers-wounded
Private Garrett Clark-killed
Private William Poor
Private Michael McCannon
Private John Maston
Private Thomas Bird-wounded
Private Edward Cahell-wounded
Private Arthur Watts-wounded
Private John Biddlecome
Private Thomas Pearson
Private Edward Bayley
Private John Powers
Private James Faugesson
Private Nehemiah Tendall-wounded
Private James Rowe
Private John Mulholand
Private Patrick Coyle
Private John Ramsay--killed
Private John Smith
Private John Durham-wounded
Private John Rodgers
Private Mathew Jones
Private Joseph Baxter
Private James Ludlow
Private Thomas Foster
Private Thomas Burney
Private Thomas Nicholson-wounded
Private John Burk
Private Nathan Chapman-wounded
Private Cornelius Henley
Private William Carnes
Private Tarance Swinney
Private Philip Connerley-wounded
Private James Smith
Private John Field
Private Robert Murphey
Private James Tytus
Private George McSwine-wounded
Private John McEntire
Private Bartholemew Burns
Private Patrick McPick
Private John Truston
Private Daniel Malatte
Private James McCommac
CAPTAIN VAN BRAAM'S COMPANY
Captain Jacob Van Braam-hostage   Ensign John Mercer
Lieutenant Thomas Wagener          Sergeant Major John Hamilton
-wounded                           -wounded
2I9WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Sergeant Rudolph Brickner-wounded
Sergeant Thomas Carter
Corporal Nicholas Major
Corporal John Allan
Drummer Ezekiel Richardson
Private John Robinson-killed
Private Wile Johnston-wounded
Private William Gerrard
Private Robert Bell
Private Richard Bolton
Private Thomas Donahough
Private Michael Franks
Private William Simmons-killed
Private William Knowls
Private James Black
Private John Brown
Private Godfry Bomgardner
Private Christopher Byerley
Private George Taylor-wounded
Private William Mitchell
Private John Stewart
Private John Potter-wounded
Private John McGuire
Private Charles Allbury
Private George Malcomb
Private Francis Self
Private John Johnson
Private John Campbell
Private William Bayley-killed
Private Joseph Powell-wounded
Private Edward King
Private John Coin
Private Charles Dunn
Private Patrick Gallaway
Private Jacob Funkhouser
Private Bernard Draxeller
Private George Gobell
Private William Carter
Private John Thomson
Private Thomas Hennesey
Private Francis Rogers
Private Benjamin Spiser
Private Demsey Simmons-wounded
Private Edward Whitehead
Private Hugh Paul
Private Angus McDonald
Private Arthur Howard
Private Mathias Sharp
Private Edward Minor
Private William Hogan
CAPTAIN MERCER'S COMPANY
Captain George Mercer-wounded     Private Jacob Myer
Sergeant Mark Hollis               Private Frederick Rupart
Sergeant James Tyrrell             Private Barnaby McKan-killed
Corporal Hugh McCoy                Private Henry Earnest
Corporal John Boyd                 Private Alexander Pierry
Drummer Edward Evans               Private Thomas Burk
Private James Dewey                Private Adam Leonard
Private James Gwin                 Private Hugh Stone
Private Robert Bennett             Private Christopher Bombgardner
Private Robert Stewart-wounded    Private Claud Dallowe
Private David Montgomery           Private William Gardner-wounded
Private William Lowry              Private Christopher Helsley
Private Samuel Arsdale             Private William Pullen-killed
Private Timothy Conway-wounded    Private Mathew Howard-missing
Private John Bisnor-missing        Private John Biyans
Private Nathaniel Barrett          Private Thomas Burris
Private William Field              Private John Farmer
Private William Holland-missing   Private Jacob Arrens-captured by
Private John Ferguson                 the enemy
Private George Gibbons             Private John McGuire
220APPENDIX A
Private Philip Waters
Private Robert Bennett
Private Joshua Jordan-wounded
Private Michael Walker
Private William Broughton
Private Henry Bristowe
Private Hugh McKoy
Private James Daily
Private John May
Private John Gollahorn
Private John Clements
Private John Huston
Private William McIntire
Private Hugh Ratchford
Private Gasper Moorhead
Private William Tyan
Private Bryan Conner
221APPENDIX B
THE BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
I. Account of the march and first report of the battle as given in
extracts from letters, the first from Little Meadows, June 18, I755,
and the second from   Great Meadows, July I, I755, and printed in
the Pennsylvania Gazette for July 24, I 75 5.
I. "I have nothing material since my last: There is a Party gone this Day
of near 500 Men, and To-morrow the General marches with Iooo of the
choicest Men: They take but four Hawitzers, four Twelve-pounders, twelve
Cohorns, and thirty Waggons, with the best Horses, and spare Ones, and the
Remainder of their Provisions to be carried on Horses Backs; and they expect to be at the French Fort in less than ten Days; and Colonel Dunbar, with
the Remainder of the Forces, Carriages, c. are to march next Monday, so
that I hope my next will give you an Account of our being in Fort Du Quesne.
The General has sent a Captain and I50 Men to cover your Workmen at the
Roads, so that we hope the so much wished for Communication with Philadelphia will soon be opened. We are already greatly distressed for fresh Provisions, all our Hopes are on you."
2. "On the gth of last Month, the whole Army (except 600 Men, with
Sir John St. Clair, who marched two Days before) went from Wills's-Creek,
and with infinite Difficulty, through the worst Roads in the World, arrived
ten Days afterwards at the Little Meadows, where an Abbatis was made by
Sir John. and two Engineers, incircling the whole Camp. Here the Whole
halted three Days; then the Baronet with his Party moved forwards, and the
second Day after the General with four Hawitzers, four I2 Pounders, 13 Artillery Waggons, besides Ammunition Carts, followed him, and have kept marching ever since, and this Evening it is expected his Excellency will be within
25 Miles of the Fort. Colonel Dunbar, with the Remainder of the Army,
four Artillery Officers, 84 Carriages, with Ordnance Stores, and all the Provision Waggons, form the Rear, amongst whom I am.
"The Night before last we were alarmed four different Times by the
skulking Indians, on whom our Out-Guards and Centries fired.'Tis said
this Morning the General has had Advice, that 500 Regulars are in full March
to the Fort, which is the Reason he is determined to be there before them.
As we have had but very little fresh Provisions since we left the Fort at Wills's
Creek, the Officers as well as private Men have been, and still are, extremely
ill of the Flux, many have died. To-morrow Morning we march again,
and are to encamp on the western Side of the Great Meadows; from whence
[ 222 ]we are to proceed after the General, but am fearful it will not be before
we have built some Fortification there, and leave a strong Party of Men, with
a great Deal of Provisions and Artillery Stores, our Horses being so weak,
for want of Food and Rest, that it is impossible for the whole Rear to join
the Front in Five and Twenty Days.
"We are sorry to acquaint our Readers, that by Variety of Accounts from
the Frontiers it appears, that General Braddock, with I5oo Men, being
on the Ninth Instant within a few miles of Fort Du Quesne, was attacked
by the French and their Indians, who fought in the Indian Manner from
behind Trees, taking Aim, firing and retiring; but the English kept together
in a Body, firing in the European Manner; and after an Engagement of near
three Hours, they were obliged to retreat, with the Loss of Part of the Artillery and the Baggage; a great Number of Officers and Soldiers being killed
and wounded. The Remainder had joined Colonel Dunbar, who with his
Regiment was bringing up the Rear with the heavy Baggage, some Artillery
Stores, Provisions, c. and the whole marched back on the Twelfth for Fort
Cumberland, where it was expected they might arrive about the Twentieth.'Tis said the General had three Horses shot under him, and himself and Sir
John St. Clair, are both wounded, but it was hoped not mortally. That the
Officers behaved extremely well, but the Soldiers could not be kept in Order.
In these Circumstances most of the Accounts agree; but there is a great
Variety in other Respects, and therefore, as more authentick Accounts are
hourly expected, we chuse to def [er] other Particulars till we have better
Authority for inserting them.
"It is hoped that these Southern Colonies, by a vigorous Exertion of their
Strength, will soon have a Body of Men upon the Frontiers, capable of repairing our late Loss, and asserting their Right to the Country the French
have taken Possession of."
II. The battle and participating officers as given in an "Extract
of a Letter from an Officer" at Fort Cumberland, July I8, I755, and
printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette, No. I388, July 3I, I755.
"The gth Inst. we passed and repassed the Monongahela, by advancing
first a Party of 300 Men, which was immediately followed by another of zoo.
The General, with the Column of Artillery, Baggage, and the main Body
of the Army, passed the River the last Time about One a Clock. As soon
as the whole had got on the Fort Side of the Monongahela, we heard a very
heavy and quick Fire in our Front; we immediately advanced in order to
sustain them; but the Detachment of the 2oo and 3oo Men gave Way, and
fell back upon us, which caused such Confusion, and struck so great a Panick
among our Men, that afterwards no military Expedient could be made use of
that had any Effect upon them: The Men were so extreamly deaf to the Exhortations of the General, and the Officers, that they fired away, in the most
irregular Manner, all their Ammunition, and then run off, leaving to the
Enemy the Artillery, Ammunition, Provision and Baggage; nor could they
be persuaded to stop till they got as far as Gist's Plantation, nor there only in
223
APPENDIX BWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Part, many of them proceeding as far as Colonel Dunbar's Party, who lay six
Miles on this Side.
"The Officers were absolutely sacrificed by their unparallelled good Behaviour, advancing sometimes in Bodies, and sometimes separately, hoping by
such Example to engage the Soldiers to follow them, but to no Purpose.
"The General had five Horses killed under him, and at last received a
Wound thro' his Right Arm into his Lungs, of which he died the I3th Instant.
Secretary Shirley was shot thro' the Head; Capt. Morris wounded; Mr.
Washington had two Horses shot under him, and his Clothes shot thro' in
several Places, behaving the whole Time with the greatest Courage and
Resolution. Sir Peter Halket was killed upon the Spot. Col. Burton, and
Sir John St. Clair wounded; and enclosed I have sent you a List of the Killed
and Wounded, according to as exact Account as we are yet able to get.
"Upon our proceeding with the whole Convoy to the Little Meadows,
it was found impracticable to advance in that Manner; the General therefore
advanced with Twelve Hundred Men, with the necessary Artillery, Ammunition and Provisions, leaving the main Body of the Convoy under the Command of Col. Dunbar, with Orders to join him as soon as possible.
"In this Manner we proceeded with Safety and Expedition, till the fatal
Day I have just related; and happy it was, that this Disposition was made,
otherwise the whole must either have starved, or fallen into the Hands of
the Enemy, as Numbers would have been of no Service to us, and our Provision was all lost.
"As our Number of Horses was so much reduced, and those extreamly
weak, and many Carriages being wanted for the wounded Men, occasioned
our destroying the Ammunition and superfluous Part of the Provision left in
Col. Dunbar's Convoy, to prevent its falling into the Hands of the Enemy.
"As the whole of the Artillery is lost, and the Troops are so extreamly
weakened by Deaths, Wounds and Sickness, it was judged impossible to make
any farther Attempt; therefore Col. Dunbar is returning to Fort Cumberland, with every Thing he is able to bring up with him.
"By the particular Disposition of the French and Indians, it was impossible to judge of the Numbers they had that Day in the Field.
"A List of the Officers who were present, and of those killed and wounded
in the Action on the Banks of Monongahela, the ninth Day of July, I755.
STAFF
His Excellency Edward Braddock, Esq; General and Commander in Chief
of all his Majesty's Forces in North America. Died of his Wounds.
Robert Orme, Esq;                               wounded.
Roger Morris, Esq;          Aid de Camps.       wounded.
George Washington, Esq;
William Shirley, Esq; Secretary, killed.
Sir John St. Clair, Deputy Quarter-Master General, wounded.
Matthew Lesly, Gent. Assistant to the Q. Master General, wounded.
Francis Halket, Esq; Major of Brigade,
224APPENDIX B
44TH REGIMENT
Sir Peter Halket, Colonel, killed.
Lieutenant Colonel Gage, slightly
wounded.
Capts. Tatton, killed.
Hobson,
Beckworth,
Gethins, killed.
Lieuts. Falconer,
Litteler, wounded.
Bailey,
Dunbar, wounded.
Pottinger,
Halket, killed.
Treeby, wounded.
Allen, killed.
Simpson, wounded.
Lock, wounded.
Disney, wounded.
Kennedy, wounded.
Townsend, killed.
Preston,
Nartlow, killed.
Pennington, wounded.
48TH REGIMENT
Lieut. Col. Burton, wounded.
Major Sparks, slightly wounded.
Capts. Dobson,
Cholmley, killed.
Bowyer, wounded.
Ross, wounded.
Capt. Lieut. Morris,
Lieuts. Barbut, wounded.
Walsham, wounded.
Crimble, killed.
Wideman, killed.
Hansard, killed.
Gladwis, wounded.
Capt. Orde,
Capt. Lieut. Smith, killed.
Lieut. Buchannan, wounded.
Hathorn,
Edmeston, wounded.
Cope,
Brereton, killed.
Hart, killed.
Montrefeur, wounded.
Dunbar,
Harrison,
Cowhart,
M'Mullen, wounded.
Crow, wounded.
Stirling, wounded.
ARTILLERY
Lieut. M'Cloud, wounded.
Lieut. M'Culler, wounded.
DETACHMENT OF SAILORS
Lieut. Spendelow, killed.
Mr. Haynes, Midshipman,
Mr. Talbot, Midshipman, killed.
Capt. Stone, of General Lascell's
Regiment, killed.
Capt. Floyer, of General Warburton's
Regiment, wounded.
INDEPENDENT COMPANIES OF NEW-YORK
Capt. Gates, wounded.             Lieut. Howarth, of Capt. Demerie's
Lieut. Soumain, killed.              Independent Company, wounded.
Lieut. Miller,                    Lieut. Gray, of the same Company,
wounded.
225MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN                    I3
England,2' and throughout were based upon a polite consideration for the rights and feelings of others.
Because of an absorbing attempt on the part of scholars to
determine the source of these rules, Washington's reactions to
them have been overlooked. It is difficult and sometimes of
doubtful value to trace character-forming influences to their
sources; but Washington's personality is such a common asset
and his conduct parallels so closely some of the rules adopted
for his youthful guidance, that the influence of those rules upon
his character should not be ignored. For example, the seventeenth rule, "Be no Flatterer," found a living exemplification
in him; the thirty-ninth rule, "In writing and Speaking, give
to every Person his due title According to his Degree and the
Custom of the Place," was observed by him in thousands of
letters and otherwise; and the last rule, the one hundred tenth,
"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial
fire called Conscience," is one which public men have since too
frequently ignored. With Washington the obeying of this precept was habitual.
Joseph Addison's tragedy, Cato, was also almost certainly a
formative influence in Washington's life.22  To his probable
acquaintance with it writers have traced his love of the theater
and his knowledge of political philosophy. His friend and adviser, Lord Fairfax, was well acquainted with Addison and several dozen copies of Cato were distributed from Williamsburg,
Virginia, in I743. It is thus reasonable to presume that Washington read this work, and, this being granted, that its "high
republican principles" left a deep impression upon him. However that may be, "Throughout Washington's entire life the
heroics of various lines of Cato appear in his letters, and where
such lines stuck in his memory, it is safe to say that the philosophy of them lingered."23
During the remaining years that Washington resided with
his mother he made frequent and extended visits with his halfbrothers, Lawrence and Augustine, and with his cousins at
Chotank. In this way he continued his informal education andWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Capts. Stephens, wounded.
Waggoner,
Polson, killed.
Peronie, killed.
Stewart,
Lieut. Hamilton, killed.
VIRGINIA TROOPS
Lieuts. Woodward,
Wright, killed.
Splitdorff, killed.
Stuart, wounded.
Waggoner, killed.
M'Neale,
According to the most exact Return we can as yet get, about 6oo Men
killed and wounded."
226NOTES
CHAPTER I
I. For more detailed information on the early life of George Washington see:
S. W. Mitchell, Youth of Washington, chaps. I-Ioi J. C. Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, chaps. x-3; Woodrow Wilson, Washington, PP.3-49; R. A. Pryor, Mother ot
Washington and Her Times; United States George Washington Bicentennial Commission, History of the George Washington Bicentennial Celebration, I, 5-15, 205-35
(hereafter cited as Bicentennial Commission, History); Charles Moore, Family Life
of George Washington; Grace King, Mount Vernon on the Potomac; M. D. Conway,
George Washington and Mount Vernon, and Barons of the Potomac and the Rappahannock; G. W. P. Custis, Recollections and Private Memoirs of Washington; Rupert
Hughes, George Washington, I, chaps. I-2.
2. Fitzpatrick, op. cit., pp. I7-19; Hughes, I, 1-38.
3. Bicentennial Commission, History, I, 230-34.
4. Ibid., p. 233.
S. P. L. Ford, The True George Washington, pp. I7-19; Hughes, op. cit., I, 13-15.
6. Ford, op. cit., pp. 17-22; Custis, op. cit., p. 303.
7. Hughes, op. cit., II, 46.
8. Bicentennial Commission, History, I, 230.
9. H. C. Lodge, George Washington, I, chap. 2, "The Washingtons."
Io. Hughes, op. cit., I, I2; William Meade, Old Churches, Ministers and Failies of Virginia, II, I67.
i. Hughes, op. cit., I, I 2; Fitzpatrick, op. cit., p. I7; Washington, Writings
(ed. by W. C. Ford), XIV, 39I-96.
12. Fitzpatriclk, op. cit., pp. 19-20, 5I7 n.
13. Ibid., p. I9.
14. Ibid.
i5. Ibid., p. 20.
I6. Ibid., p. 25.
17. Ibid.
I8. Ibid., p. 26.
I9. For instances and alleged instances in the early life of Washington, see Conway, George Washington and Mount Vernon; Moore, op. cit.; Hughes, op cit., 1,
chap. 2; and W. R. Thayer, George Washington, chap. i.
20. Fitzpatrick, op. cit., p. 2x.
21. See J. M. Toner, Washington's Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior; Conway, George Washington's Rules of Civility; Fitzpatrick, op. cit., p. 518 n.
22. Ibid., p. 28.
23. Ibid., p. 43.
24. Ibid., pp. 35, 5i8 n; Hughes, op. cit., I, 35.
CHAPTER II
I. Thomas Fairfax   (October 22, I693-December 9, I78I), sixth    Baron of
Cameron, was born at Leeds Castle, County Kent, England. On his mother's side
he was a direct descendant from the Culpepers. In physique and in character, Fair[ 227 ]fax was indeed said to be a Culpeper. At the age of sixteen'he succeeded to his family peerage and entered Oriel College, Oxford, where, except for a single contribution
to Addison's Spectator, Fairfax's career was uneventful.  In  1719 following the
death of his mother, from whom he inherited his Virginia estate, a large part of his
heritage in England going to pay the debts of his spendthrift father, Fairfax secured
a commission in King George's Army and later became Treasurer of the Royal
Household. While thus engaged his chief concern was to arrange a marriage to untangle an inherited litigation involving his claims to the Fairfax estates in Yorkshire.
Disappointed in this and possibly also in love, he abandoned a career and withdrew
to Leeds Castle to devote his time to fox hunting and breeding hounds. See Fairfax
Harrison, "Thomas Fairfax," Dictionary of American Biography, VI, 255-57; J. E.
Cooke, Fairfax, or The Master of Greenway Court, and Stories of the Old Dominion,
PP. 94-IIo; Wilson, George Washington, pp. 48-59; George Washington Bicentennial Commission, History, I, 5-x6; Samuel Kercheval, History of the Valley of Virginia; 0. F. Morton, Story of Winchester in Virginia, chap. 3; Fairfax Harrison, "The
Proprietors of the Northern Neck," in The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, XXXIII; Washington, Diaries (ed. by J. C. Fitzpatrick), I, 3-I2; C. E.
Kemper, "Early Westward Movement of Virginia," in Virginia Magazine of History
and Biography, XII-XIII; T. K. Cartmell, A History of Frederick County Virginia,
chap. 47; Ford, The True George Washington; S. N. Robins, Love Affairs of Famous Virginians; Hughes, George Washington, I, chaps. 3-5.
2. As the late S. Weir Mitchell understood Washington's boyhood environment and the boy Washington as well as, or perhaps better than, any of the numerous writers on those subjects, the following imaginary letter from his fertile pen
but purporting to be from Lord Fairfax to Washington's mother, is informing:
"CBELVOIR
"HONORED MADAM: You are so good as to ask what I think of a temporary residence for your son George in England. It is a country for which I myself have no
inclination, and the gentlemen you mention are certainly renowned gamblers and
rakes, which I should be sorry your son were exposed to, even if his means easily
admitted of a residence in England. He is strong and hardy, and as good a master
of a horse as any could desire.  His education might have been bettered, but what
he has is accurate and inclines him to much life out of doors.  He is very grave
for one of his age, and reserved in his intercourse; not a great talker at any time.
His mind appears to me to act slowly, but, on the whole, to reach just conclusions,
and he has an ardent wish to see the right of questions-what my friend, Mr. Addison,
was pleased to call'the intellectual conscience.'  Method and exactness seem  to
be natural to George.  He is, I suspect, beginning to feel the sap rising, being in
the spring of life, and is getting ready to be the prey of your sex, wherefore may the
Lord help him, and deliver him from the nets those spiders, called women, will
cast for his ruin. I presume him to be truthful because he is exact. I wish I could
say that he governs his temper.  He is subject to attacks of anger on provocation,
and sometimes without just cause; but as he is a reasonable person, time will cure
him of this vice of nature, and in fact he is, in my judgment, a man who will go to
school all his life and profit thereby.
"I hope, madam, that you will find pleasure in what I have written, and will rest
assured that I shall continue to interest myself in his fortunes.
"Much honoured by your appeal to my judgment, I am, my dear madam, your
obedient humble servant, FAIRFAX."
3. Harrison's "The Proprietors of the Northern Neck," in Virginia Magazine
of History and Biography, XXXIII; Kercheval, History of the Valley of Virginia;
228
NOTESNOTES                                   229
Cartmell, op. cit., chap. 47; F. V. Aler, History of Martinsburg and Berkeley County,
chap. 5; W. W. Hening, Statutes at Large, IV, 514.
4. Thomas Lewis and Peter Jefferson, father of Thomas Jefferson, were the leading surveyors of this party.  See Thomas Lewis's Journal, September 10, 1746February, 1747.
5. Harrison, "Thomas Fairfax," Dictionary of American Biography, VI, 255-57;
Cooke, Fairfax; or, The Master of Greenway Court.
6. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 6; Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 3-4.
7. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I I; Washington, Diaries (ed.
Fitzpatrick), I, 9.
8. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I i; Washington, Diaries, (ed.
Fitzpatrick), I, 9-I o.
9. Ibid., p. i I.
Io. Ibid., p. 7; Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 9; A. C. Myers, The
Boy George Washington.
ii. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 5i Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 7.
12. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 6.
13. Ibid., p. 4.
14. By subsequent purchases, one of 456 acres in 1750, and another of 552 acres
in 1752, Washington's realty holdings were increased to 1558 acres, all of which
were paid for from his own holdings.
I5. Mitchell, op. cit., chap. 13; Lodge, George Washington, I, 55-60; Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 13-I8.
I6. Ibid., p. 17.
I7. Hughes, George Washing2on, I, 43.
I8. Rev. Jonathan Boucher, Reminiscences of an American Loyalist, p. 49.
I9. Moore, Family Life of Washington, p. 34.
20. For detail of voyage see Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I7-36.
21. Fairfax Harrison's "George Washington's First Commission," in Virginia
Magazine of History and Biography, XXXI, 271-73.
22. His pay was 100 pounds a year. "The Official Records of Robert Dinwiddie...," Virginia Historical Collections, I, 390.  (Hereafter cited as Dinwiddie
Papers.)
23. Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, p. 49.
CHAPTER III
I. Suggested readings: Hayes Baker-Crothers, Virginia and the French and Indian
War; L. K. Koontz, "The Virginia Frontier, 1754-I763," Johns Hopkins University
Studies, XLIII, II-I86; Mitchell, The Youth of Washington; A. B. Hulbert, Historic
Highways of America, III; C. W. Alvord, The Mississippi Valley in British Politics,
I and II; A. T. Volwiler, George Croghan and the Western Movement, I74I-I782;
R. G. Thwaites, France in America; Hughes, George Washington, I, chap. 6; W. J.
Showalter, "The Travels of George Washington," The National Geographic Magazine, LXI, I-63.
2. C. W. Alvord    and Lee Bidgood, The First Explorations of the TransAlleghany, p. 28.
3. Thwaites, op. cit., chap. 5; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., chap. I; Volwiler, op. cit.,
pp. 20-30.
4. Francis Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, I, 48. See also Hughes, op. cit., I,
79'5. Volwiler, op. cit., pp. 2x-25; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., pp. 3-6; C. A. Hanna,
The Wilderness Trail, I, 2-24; Christopher Gist, Journal (ed. Darlington), pp. 44-45;
Justin Winsor, The Mississippi Basin, p. 249.
6. Hanna, op. cit., I, 2-6; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., pp. 39-40, 73-77, 93-95, 154-55.
7. Kemper, "The Early Westward Movement of Virginia," Virginia Magazine
of History and Biography, XII and XIII; Alvord and Bidgood, op. cit., pp. 17-249;
Fairfax Harrison, "The Virginians of the Ohio and the Mississippi in 1742," Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, XXX, 203-22.
8. Cartmell, History of Frederick County Virginia, p. 250.
9. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 17 n; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., pp. 8-II, 27-28; Koontz,
op. cit., p. 39.
xo. Journal (ed. Darlington).
xI. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 35.
12. This appointment carried a competence of one hundred pounds per annum.
In November of the following year Washington was made adjutant of the Northern
Neck and Eastern Shore. In this position his duties were to muster the militia, inspect their equipment, and witness drills. Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, pp. 47-48.
I3. Kemper, op. cit., XIII, 140-50.
14. Alvord, op. cit., I, 89-90.
I5. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 22-305 Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick),
I, 43-67- See also Gist's, "Journal," Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, V,
Ioz-8.
x6. Washington, Diaries; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 43-44.
17. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 44.
I8. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 24; Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 45.
x9. Ibid., p. 46.
20. Ibid., pp. 47-49.
21. Ibid., p. 48.
22. Ibid., p. 49.
23. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 25; Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 50.
24. Ibid., p. 52.
25. Ibid., p. 55.
26. Hulbert, op. cit., III, io8; Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 58.
27. Ibid., p. 59.
28. Hulbert, op. cit., p. io8; Hughes, op. cit., I, 89; Pennsylvania Gazette,
March 26, 1754.
29. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 6o.
30. Ibid., p. 67; Hughes, op. cit., I, 94.
3I. Dinwiddie Papers,, I, 75; Boucher, Reminiscences of an American Loyalist,
p. 49. Quoting a letter dated January I6, 1754, from  "a Gentleman in Virginia to
his Friend here [Annapolis]," the Maryland Gazette for February 14, I754, carried
this naive notice of Washington's safe return from his journey to the French:
"Mr. Washington, the Ambassador sent to the Indian Country, is returned, which
affords us new Conversation.  It is undoubtedly offered for Truth, that the French
have settled and fixed several Forts near the Ohio Tract, especially one upon French
River, which Mr. Washington was at, and that proper Officers and Five Hundred
Men, are in each Fort, chiefly French, and that they have twelve Cannon mounted
on each of them, and great Numbers of French and Indians close at Hand, to assist
at a smal warning. Mr. Washington was received in a polite genteel Manner by
the Commandant of the Fort, who read and answered our Governor's Letter, and
at the same Time told Mr. Washington, that it was his Instructions from the King
his Master, to keep Possession, and to advance farther and fight those who shall op230
NOTESpose them, c. and added that he had expected an Army to be sent for twelve
Months past by the English, and that they were prepared for them, for he supposed they must knock it out, and he did not care how soon. Mr. Washington is
gone to Williamsburg, and'tis supposed the Assembly will meet immediately, and that
Men will be rais'd, c."
Generally local newspapers printed in full Washington's Journal of his journey
to the French. It occupied a large portion of each issue of the Maryland Gazette for
March 2I and March 28, I754.
CHAPTER IV
I. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 22, 55, 56; Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I,
20 n, 30.
2. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 43-65.
3. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 59.
4. Ibid., pp. 96, Io07, III, IIS, II8; Maryland.Gazette, August 22, I754.
5. Koontz, "The Virginia Frontier, 1754-I763," Johns Hopkins      University
Studies, XLIII, 53.
6. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 75.
7. Pennsylvania Gazette, January 23, I754; Ibid., May I6, I754.
8. South Carolina Gazette, June 4- I, I754.  Under the same date this newspaper printed the following appeal and facts sustaining it from "a gentleman residing
in one of the colonies to the Northward:"
"April 8, I754
"I AM extremely sorry to hear, that the governments of Pennsylvania and Maryland, have not view'd the incroachments of the French in their proper light; or, if
they have, that they won't exert themselves at this time of imminent danger. Should
the French once gain a settlement. on Ohio, they will then have great advantages
over the Southern colonies, as must be obvious to every person the least acquainted with
their situation. In time of peace between the two crowns, they will be continually
spiriting on the Indians in their alliance, to murder and scalp the inhabitants of your
back counties in order to prevent the extension of your back settlements; and,. in time
of war, how easy will it be for a number of troops, collected from their several forts,
or perhaps sent from Old France for that purpose, to make a descent upon some or
other of the colonies. What then must be the consequence! Unarmed, and disunited
as you are, will you be able to repel the invaders, or prevent their ravaging or laying
waste your country, or hinder them from committing their too well known barbarities
on such of your inhabitants as may fall within their power? The evil day may be a
while put off, but sooner or later it will surely come, unless you rouze from the
lethargy you seem at present in, and make use of those means to protect yourselves
which the almighty has put in your power; the most proper way of doing which is, to
obstruct those incendiaries, the French and their Indians, from settling in your frontiers. By an hearty union of the colonies, and proper management, we might, with
little assistance from our mother country, not only dislodge the French from Ohio,
but from Quebec itself. But to send 3 or 400 men against 5 times their number, can
answer no other end than to expose us to the contempt of our Indian allies, who
will think themselves obliged to quit the interest of those that seem unable to
protect them.
"You desire me to acquaint you with what I hear that may be depended on,
concerning the designs of the French, in sending so large a number of troops from
Canada as they did the last summer. In answer to which I can inform you, that I
have lately seen Mr. B    r, who was at Oswego at the time their forces passed by
that fort; who says, he learnt by sundry deserters, and others, that Mons. du Quisne,
23I
NOTESthe new governor general of Canada, a young gentleman formerly captain of a man
of war, declares, he will have a French fort on each of the waters that empty themselves into St. Lawrence, or Mississippi; that he believes the late governors of Canada
have been all asleep, but that he will make every officer under him know his duty, and
do it. That 4 or 5 detachments were, during the last summer, sent from Canada to
the Ohio, making in the whole about 2000, besides Indians, under the command of
Mons. Morin (or Morang, as some call him) whose knowledge of the Indians recommended him to the new governor for that office. The detachment that accompanied
Morin, consisted of about 40 or 50 large bateaus, and canows, many of them supposed to carry more than 30 men; they sailed within musket shot of Oswego, without
ever striking their colours, and had their trumpets blowing, drums beating, c. This
was in sight of many of the six Nations, and foreign Indians, who could not sufficiently
express their surprise at such an armament, and asked whether the English and French
were not at peace.
"Some of these troops returned to Canada during the winter, to quarters, but great
part of them were left, as is supposed, at the forts on and near the lakes, to be ready
to go down the Ohio early in the spring: Those that returned had with them the
Pennsylvania Indian traders so often mentioned to be taken by the French on Ohio;
these poor wretches were in irons, and lodged a night within a few miles of Oswego.
One of the famous chiefs of the Cahuga nation, proposed to some of the traders to
attack the French, and recover the prisoners, but they could not muster a sufficient
party to do this. Mons. Morin built 2 or 3 forts, but many disputes arising between
him and his officers, together with a severe fit of the gout, obliged him to desire to
quit his command; for which purpose an express was last September sent to Canada,
and I suppose the gentleman who writes to governor Dinwiddie was made his successor, who if he exceeds Morin as much in humanity, as he does in politeness and good
sense, may be of service to those who may have the misfortune of being taken prisoners
in that country.
"I saw Morin and his son, some years ago in Canada; they have all the vain
airs of the French, joined with the savageness of the Indians, without the least of
the politeness of the former, or native simplicity and grandeur of the latter. The
father commanded when the brave Donahew, Captain of one of the Boston sloops,
was decoyed ashore and killed; the son was one of his party: As trophies of their
victory, the old man shewed me a tobacco pouch, which he, and the young brute, let
me know was made of the skin of poor Donahew's arm: The father had also Donahew's ring, which the son, acquainted me he cut off the finger to get, as it would not
come off easily. After this, I saw some of Donahew's men who were prisoners, they
not only confirmed the above, but assured me, the brutish father did himself cut off
several pieces of their dead captain's fiesh, and threw them into the fire, and encouraged
the Indians to do the like; and when they were roasted, the cannibal son, and sundry
Indians, tore them with their teeth. This may serve as a specimen of the neighbours
you are like to have."
9. Baker-Crothers, Virginia in the French and Indian War, chap. 3; Koontz,
op. cit., chap. 3.
Io. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 32; Dinwiddie Papers, I, 92.
i I. Alvord, Mississippi Valley in British Politics, I, o05-7; G. L. Beer, British
Colonial Policy, r754-Z756, pp. 132-59; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., pp. 6-8; South Carolina Gazette, I754 passim.
I2. Baker-Crothers, op. cit., pp. 40-45.
1 3. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 8I.
14. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 37-38; Washington, Diaries (ed.
Fitzpatrick), I, 73; Dinwiddie Papers, I, 59.
232
NOTESI5. Washington, Journal of 1754 (ed. Toner), pp. I4, 1I7 Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, p. 57; Dinwiddie Papers, I, 59.
I6. Maryland Gazette, March 14, I754.
I7. Ibid.
I8. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 74; Washington, Writings (ed.
Fitzpatrick), I, 38.
I9. Lodge, George Washington, I, 69.
2o. As given in the Maryland Gazette for May 23, I754, quoting a dispatch
from Philadelphia, dated May 9, Washington made the following report of events
and conditions on the frontier:
"Friday last an Express arrived here from Major Washington with Advice that
Mr. Ward, Ensign of Captain Trent's Company, was compelled to surrender his small
Fort in the Forks of Monongahela to the French, on the I7th past; who fell down
from Venango with a fleet of 360 Battoes and Canoes, upwards of Iooo Men, and I8
Pieces of Artillery, which they planted against the Fort; and Mr. Ward, having but
44 men and no Cannon to make a proper Defence, was obliged to surrender on Summons, capitulating to march out with their Arms, c. and they had accordingly joined
Major Washington, who was advanced with three Companies of the Virginia Forces,
as far as the New Store near the Allegheny Mountains, where the Men were employed
in clearing a Road for the Cannon, which were every Day expected with Col. Fry, and
the Remainder of the Regiment. We hear farther, that some few of the English
Traders on the Ohio escaped, but'tis supposed the greater Part are taken, with all
their Goods, and Skins, to the Amount of near 20,000 ~. The Indian Chiefs, however, have dispatched Messages to Pennsylvania, and Virginia, desiring that the English would not be discouraged, but send out our Warriors to join them, and drive the
French out of the Country before they fortify; otherwise the Trade will be lost, and
to their great Grief, an eternal Separation made between the Indians and their
Brethren the English.'Tis farther said, that besides the French that came down from
Venango, another Body of near 400, is coming up the Ohio; and that 6oo French
Indians of the Chippeways and Ottoways are coming down Siota River, from the
Lake, to join them; and many more French are expected from Canada; the design
being to establish themselves, settle their Indians, and build Forts just on the Back
of our Settlements in all our Colonies; from which Forts, as they did from CrownPoint, they may send out their Parties to kill and scalp the Inhabitans, and ruin our
Frontier Counties. Accordingly, we hear, that the Back Settlers in Virginia, are so
terrifi'd by the Murdering and Scalping a whole Family last Winter, and the taking of
this Fort, that they begin already to abandon their Plantations, and remove to
Places of more Safety. The Confidence of the French in this Undertaking seems well
grounded on the present disunited State of the British Colonies, and the extreme
Difficulty of bringing so many different Governments and Assemblies to agree in any
speedy and effectual Measures for our common Defence and Security; while our
Enemies have the very great Advantage of being under one Direction, with one Council and one Purse. Hence, and from the great Distance of Britain, they presume that
they may with Impunity violate the most solemn Treaties subsisting between the two
Crowns, kill, seize and imprison our Traders, and confiscate their Effects at Pleasure
(as they have done for several Years past) murder and scalp our Farmers, with their
Wives and Children, and take an easy Possession of such Parts of the British Territory
as they shall find most convenient for them; which if they are permitted to do, must
end in the Destruction of the British Interest, Trade and Plantations in America."
21. Captain de Contrecoeur with six hundred men established a camp where
Pittsburgh now stands on April I6.    See C. W. Dahlinger, Marquis Duquesne, p.
233
NOTES234                                   NOTES
48; Gist, Journal (ed. Darlington), p. 275; F. X. Garneau, History of Canada, I,
467; Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 52, 75-76.
22. Ibid., p. 77.
23. Ibid., pp. 79-82.
24. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 48; Dinwiddie Papers, I, I70.
25. Ibid., pp. 17I-72.
26. Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), 1, 59-63.
27. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 83-84.
28. Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), I, 82; Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 87; Dinwiddie Papers, I, 179; Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I,
63-64; Alexandria Gazette, July I9, I754; N. B. Craig, Washington's First Campaign, Death of Jumonville, and the Taking of Fort Necessity, p. 5; I. D. Rupp,
Early History of Western Pennsylvania, p. 74; and Washington, Writings (ed.
Sparks), II, Appendix, p. 447.
29. Washington, Journal of 1754 (ed. Toner), pp. 14, 17, 89; James Veech,
Monongahela of Old, p. 47.
30. Fitzpatrick, op. cit., p. 62; Pennsylvania Gazette, June 27, 1754; Maryland
Gazette, June 13, 1754.
31. Ibid; Pennsylvania Gazette, June 27, 1754; Washington, Writings (ed.
Fitzpatrick), I, 63-64.
32. For French accounts see G. R. de Flassan, Histoire de la Diplomatie Franfaise,
VI, 28; Lacretelle Le Jeune, Histoire de France, II, 234; Abb6 G. H. R. de Montgaillard, Histoire de France, V, 297.
33. Memoire contenant le precis des faits, avec leur pieces justificatives, pour
servir de re'pose aux observations envoyees, par les ministers d'Angleterre, dans les
course de l'Europe. In I757 this work was published in English at Philadelphia. See
also N. B. Craig, Olden Time, II, I40-277; and Hughes, George Washington, I, I41.
34. Washington, Journal of 1754 (ed. Toner), p. 17; Fitzpatrick, op. cit., p. 62.
Reputable American historians, mostly local, have accepted the French accounts of
the Jumonville affair as in the main correct. For example, the English accounts failed
to satisfy Samuel W. Pennypacker, see his Pennsylvania in American History, p. I52;
and Winthrop Sargent in his History of an Expedition against Fort Du Quesne, in
1755, p. 43, states that "considering all that we can learn, it is to be regretted that
there seems some cause to believe the truth of this [the French] story."
35. Antoine L. Thomas, Oeuvres Diverses, I, 2-Io; Dahlinger, op. cit., pp. 52-53..36. Dr. William   Hindman, pastor of the Presbyterian    Church, Uniontown,
Pennsylvania, and chairman of the local committee in charge of the reconstruction
of Fort Necessity, first suggested the possible use of this information to the present
author.
37. Dinwiddie Papers, I, I8o.
38. Rupp, op. cit., p. 84; Washington, Journal of I754 (ed. Toner), p. 8. See
Appendix A, II.
39. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 69.
40. Maryland Gazette, August 29, 1754. See Appendix A, I, 2.
41. Pennsylvania Gazette, June 27, I754.
42. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 70; Washington, Writings (ed.
Fort), I, 89-9o.
43. Lodge, George Washington, I, 74-75.
CHAPTER V
i. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 58.
2. Ibid., p. 67.3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., p. 69.
5. Ibid., p. 73.
6. Ibid., pp. 71-74.
7. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 91; Washington, Journal of 1754
(ed. Toner), p. Io2. A dispatch summarizing a report by Christopher Gist quoted
in the Pennsylvania Gazette for June 27, I754, said:
"Colonel Fry's Illness has greatly retarded the March of the Division under his
Command, which would otherwise have been long ago at the Camp, where we hourly
expected to hear of their Arrival, and that of the Company from South Carolina....
And on Tuesday Evening last, the above-mentioned Twenty-one Prisoners arrived in
this City [Winchester], under a strohg Guard, amongst whom are four Officers, who
acquaint us that their Commander Captain Dijonville [sic] was killed in the Action
[Jumonville skirmish].
"We are likewise certainly assured by the Gentlemen who escorted the Prisoners,
of the Death of Joshua Fry, Esq; Colonel of the Virginia Regiment, and Commander
in Chief of the Expedition to Ohio. He was born in Somersetshire, and bred at Oxford, where he made a very eminent Proficiency in all the solid and useful Learning
of that noble Place; and particularly excelled in the Mathematical Sciences. He was
first Grammar-Master, and then Professor of Mathematicks at William and Mary
College; but having quitted those Posts, he has since gone through various publick
Employments in this Country, with acknowledged Ability, and unblemished Honour
and Reputation. He was a Man of so clear a Head, so mild a Temper, and so good a
Heart, that he never failed to engage the Love and Esteem of all that knew, or were:oncerned with him, and therefore died universally lamented."
8. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 74.
9. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 92.
io. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 8o.
I I. Ibid., p. 76.
2z. Ibid., pp. 8o-8I.
13. Ibid., p. 83.
14. Ibid., pp. 8 -82.
IS. Dinwiddie Papers, I, zI8; Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 82 n.
I6. Ibid., pp. 84-88; Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 99, 93-IO1I Journal of z754
(ed. Toner), p. 126.
17. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 99-Ioo.
I8. Rupp, Early History of Western Pennsylvania, pp. 75-76. See Appendix A,
I, 3.
I9. South Carolina Gazette, September 26, 1754; Maryland Gazette, August 29,
1754.
20. The name "Fort Necessity" was first used in the "Articles" of its capitulation.
2I. Villiers, "Journal," in Craig, Olden Time, II, 212; C. H. Sipe, Indian Wars
of Pennsylvania, p. I6I; Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, VI, I42, quoting letter
from Captain Robert Stobo.
22. Rupp, op. cit., pp. 75-76, 84-865 Alexandria Gazette, July 19, 1754; Dinnwiddie Papers, I, 233, 240.
23. Washington, Journal of I754 (ed. Toner), p. I65.
24. Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, I, I; Thayer, George Washington, p. I9.
25. G. M. Wrong, Rise and Fall of New France, II, 751.
26. Craig, Olden Time, II, 2II-I3; Maryland Gazette, July 25, I754. See also
Appendix A, I, I.
27. Rupp, op. cit., p. 84.
235
NOTESWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
kept in touch with the social life of Virginia. For these purposes he doubtless found Mount Vernon most helpful. Shortly
after his father's death Lawrence Washington married Anne
Fairfax, daughter of William Fairfax of Belvoir, a near-by
estate. William, a cousin of Lord Fairfax and his agent in
America, had been educated in England and had seen official
service in the English navy, and his accomplished daughter,
Anne, brought to Mount Vernon such a gracious hospitality as
to make it one of the popular social centers of colonial Virginia.
Fortunately for George, the affection Lawrence had always
shown him was shared by his new sister-in-law, for whom he
developed a strong attachment.
In this new environment Washington learned rapidly. The
Fairfaxes were frequent visitors, and doubtless he heard of the
romantic adventures of the English navy, in which Lawrence
had been an officer, and of British sea power. These accounts
must have revived his childhood memories of 174I, when the
Washington family, with eagerness and high expectations,
though with some concern, sent Lawrence to join Admiral Vernon on an expedition to the West Indies. From his earliest
childhood he had also seen strange sailing vessels, some of
which belonged to his own father, "Captain" Washington,
ascend and descend the Rappahannock; and now similar vessels
were appearing in increasing numbers upon the Potomac, all
tangible evidence of British sea strength. From the furnace of
the Principio Company at Accotink, near Fredericksburg, in
which he with others, mostly residents of England, was interested, Augustine Washington transported iron to that country, return cargoes sometimes containing indentured servants,
among them convicts.
Out of the mysteries of this situation Washington, just entering his sixteenth year, heeded the call of the sea and decided to
become a sailor. Adding to his enthusiasm was the presence of
British naval vessels in the Chesapeake and the success of his
brother, Lawrence, in securing for him a midshipman's commission. His mother had consented to the appointment, and
14236
NOTES
28. Villiers, "Journal" in Craig, Olden Time, II, 2I2.
29. Villiers reached Fort Duquesne from Montreal, June 26, and set out the following day. See "Journal" in Memorial Containing a Summary View of Facts, p.
173; F. H. Severance, "An Old Frontier of France," in Buffalo Historical Society
Publications, XX; and Dahlinger, Marquis Duquesne, p. 55.
30. For accounts of the Battle of Fort Necessity see Dinwiddie Papers, I, 239-43;
Rupp, op. cit., pp. 85-88; Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, VI; Maryland Gazette,
July 25, I754; Virginia Gazette, July I9, I754; Craig, Olden Time, II, 2II-13.
3I. Probably as far from the truth as was Washington's estimate, based largely
upon reports given him by Indians, was that by Villiers placing his casualties at two
killed and a few slightly wounded. Craig, Olden Time, II, 213; Appendix A, I, i.
3 2. Rupp, op. cit., pp. 74-77; Virginia Gazette, July 19, 1754.
33. These "Articles" are printed in French in Washington, Writings (ed. Ford),
I, i20-2I; see also Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), II, Appendix, p. 464. See
Appendix A, II.
34- Villiers carried this flag to Canada, and one of the Virginia colors. Dahlinger,
op. cit., p. 56.
35. "Journal" in Craig, Olden Time, II, 212.
36. Arthur Hassall, The Balance of Power, I7I5-I789, chap. 8, "The Diplomatic Revolution."
37. Mimoire Contenant de Pricis des Faits, p. 147; Rupp, op. cit., p. 83; Craig,
Olden Time, II, 212.
38. Rupp, op. cit., pp. 84-85; South Carolina Gazette, September I9, I754; Ibid.,
September 26, I754.
39. "Journal" in Craig, Olden Time, II, 2I3.
40. South Carolina Gazette, September  9, 1754; Ibid., September 26, I754.
41. Sipe, op. cit., p. I66.
42. Maryland Gazette, April I7, I755; Ibid., August 29, 1754.
43. History of the United States, III, 78 (Century edition, Boston, I879).
44. Quoted in Hughes, George Washington, I, I59.
45. Harry R. Blackford, C. E., The Reconstruction of Fort Necessity. A pamphlet.
46. Lodge, George Washington, I, 74-75.
47. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 54.
48. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 230; Rupp, op. cit., pp. 75, 84; South Carolina Gazette,
September 19, 1754.
49. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 228, 287-89.
5o. Van Braam was taken to Canada, where he was detained six years. During
most of this time he was subjected to great hardships. Among other things he was
forced to subsist on bread and water with a limited allowance of horse meat. For
sketch see Washington's Journal of I754 (ed. Toner), pp. 21-24.
Captain Stobo escaped shortly after his arrival in Canada and had many adventures before his return to Virginia. His Memoirs were published at Pittsburgh in
I854. Both Van Braam and Stobo were given land grants by Virginia. For sketch
of Stobo see Washington's Journal of 1754 (ed. Toner), p. 8i.
SI. Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), II, 447; Hughes, George Washington,
I, Io; Lodge, George Washington, I, 76.
52. Craik was Washington's physician and accompanied him on most of his
journeys and campaigns.
CHAPTER VI
I. Suggested readings: Sargent, History of an Expedition against Fort Du Quesne,
the standard secondary account of the Braddock expedition; Boyd Crumrine, HistoryNOTES
237
of Washington County [Pennsylvania]; W. H. Lowdermilk, History of Cumberland
[Maaryland]; Baker-Crothers, Virginia and the French and Indian War, pp. 58-81;
Koontz, "The Virginia Frontier, I754-I763," Johns Hopkins University Studies,
XLIII, 68-75; Lodge, George Washington, I, 75-85; Hughes, George Washington, I,
12-14; Volwiler, George Croghan     and the Westward    Movement, I74I-1782;
Thwaites, France in America, chaps. 9-II.
2. The local newspaper press carried many comments on religious liberty.  One
of the most informing to come to the attention of the present writer being that from
Philo Hugo, "Shenandoe," Virginia, telling of the hardships endured by French Protestants in i686 and I687 following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.   See
Maryland Gazette, August 29, I754.
3. Koontz, op. cit., pp. 42-48; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., chap. 3.
4. Horatio Sharpe, Correspondence, I, o04-6; Maryland Gazette, April 14, 1755.
5. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 3I0.
6. Hulbert, Historic Highways, IV, 25.
7. Ibid., pp. 53-58.
8. Lodge, George Washington, I, 78.
9. Writings (ed. Ford), I, I38-39; Hughes, op. cit., I, I73-74.
Io. Writings (ed. Ford), I, 140.
ii. Hulbert, op. cit., IV, 36-38; Hughes, op. cit., I, 195-204.
I2. Dinwiddie Papers, I, 5II.   The Maryland Gazette for March 20, 1755,
quoting a dispatch from Williamsburg, Virginia, made the following announcement of
Braddock's arrival in America: "February 28. The Three Ships of War arrived at
Hampton, are the Centurian, Commodore Keppel, the Norwich, the Honourable Captain Barrington and the Syren, Capt. Proby; in the Norwich came passengers, the
Honourable Major General Braddock, Commander of all the Forces in North America;
Capt. Orme, Aid-de-Camp, and Mr. Shirley, Secretary, who came to this City last
Sunday, where they await the arrival of the Forces, who are every Day expected."
13. Baker-Crothers, op. cit., chap. 4.
14. Ibid., pp. 63-64; Volwiler, op. cit., pp. 95-98; Hulbert, op. cit., IV,.I2-I4.
IS. Ibid., p. 58.
x6. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 109-14; S. M. Hamilton (ed.),
Letters to Washington, I, 57; N. W. Stephenson, "The Romantics and George Washington," American Historical Review, XXXIX, 28I-82.
I7. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, o09; Writings (ed. Ford), I, I41-44.
i8. Ibid., p. 152; Hughes, op. cit., I, 204; South Carolina Gazette, July 25,
1754.
I9. Writings (ed. Ford), I, 152.
20. Sharpe, op. cit., I, 203-4; Baker-Crothers, op. cit., pp. 70-71; Dinwiddie
Papers, I, 496; Maryland Gazette, April I4, 1754.
21. Hughes, op. cit., I, 2Io-IIx Hulbert, op. cit., IV, 58-6o.
22. Sargent, op. cit., pp. I93-96; Crumrine, op. cit., pp. 48-52.
23. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 139; Writings (ed. Ford), I, I6I n.
24. Hulbert, op. cit., IV, 67-75, quoting Braddock's letters of June 5, 1755, to
Sir John Robinson.
25. Hughes, op. cit., I, 212-I3.
26. Ibid., pp. 214-I5; Sargent, op. cit., pp. I68-76; Dinwiddie Papers, I, 484;
Baker-Crothers, op. cit., p. 63; Koontz, op. cit., p. 70.
27. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I33; Hughes, op. cit., I, 209,
quoting Watson's Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, (I857), II, 140.
28. The following is perhaps the best description of this historic highway, certainly the best description of it in the process of making:238
NOTlS
"In the forests it is easy to conjure up the scene when this old track was opened
-for it was cut through a'wooden country,' to use an expression common among the
pioneers. Here you can see the long line of sorry wagons standing in the road when
the army is encamped; and though many of them seem unable to carry their loads
one foot further--yet there is ever the ringing chorus of the axes of six hundred
choppers sounding through the twilight of the hot May evening. It is almost suffocating in the forests when the wind does not blow, and the army is unused to the scorching American summer which has come early this year. The wagon train is very long,
and though the van may have halted on level ground, the line behind stretches down
and up the shadowy ravines. The wagons are blocked in all conceivable positions on
the hillsides. The condition of the horses is pitiful beyond description. If some are
near to the brook or spring, others are far away. Some horses will never find water
tonight. To the right and left the sentinels are lost in the surrounding gloom.
"And then with those singing axes for the perpetual refrain, consider the mighty
epic poem to be woven out of the days that have succeeded Braddock here. Though
lost in the Alleghenies, this road and all its busy days mirror perfectly the social
advance of the western empire to which it led. Its first mission was to bind, as with
a strange, rough, straggling cincture the East and the West."-Hulbert, op. cit., IV,
206.
29. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 143; Writings (ed. Ford), I, I66; Hughes,
op. Cit., 1, 227-28.
30. Writings (ed. Ford), I, i68.
31. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 145-46; Writings (ed. Ford), I, I70-71;
Hughes, op. cit., I, 229.
32. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 146; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 170; Hulbert,
op. cit., IV, I I.
33. Sargent, op. cit., p. 217.
34. Ibid., pp. 221-32; Crumrine, op. cit., p. 44.
35. Washington's account of the Battle of the Monongahela to his mother, written the same day as that to Dinwiddie, is less formal than the latter and may be
interesting for purposes of comparison, if for nothing else. In part, he wrote:
"We March'd on to that place with't any considerable loss, having only now and
then a stragler pick'd up by the French Scoutg. Ind'nd. When we came here, we were
attack'd by a Body of French and Indns. whose number, (I am certain) did not exceed
300 Men; our's consisted of abt. 1,300 well arm'd Troops; chiefly of the English
Soldiers, who were struck with such a panick, that they behav'd with more cowardice
than it is possible to conceive; The Officers behav'd Gallantly in order to encourage
their Men, for which they suffer'd greatly; there being near 60 kill'd and wounded;
a large proportion out of the number we had! The Virginia Troops shew'd a good
deal of Bravery, and were near all kill'd; for I believe out of 3 Companys that were
there, there is scarce 30 Men left alive; Capt. Peyrouny and all his Officer's down to
a Corporal was kill'd; Capt. Polson shar'd near as hard a Fate; for only one of his
was left: In short the dastardly behaviour of those they call regular's expos'd all others
that were inclin'd to do their duty to almost certain death; and at last, in dispight
of all the efforts of the Officer's to the Contrary, they broke and run as Sheep pursued
by dogs; and it was impossible to rally them.
"The Genl. was wounded; of w'ch he died 3 Days after; Sir Peter Halket was
kill'd in the Field where died many other brave Officer's; I luckily escap'd with't a
wound, tho' I had four Bullets through my Coat, and two Horses shot under me;
Captns. Orme and Morris two of the Genls. Aids de Camp, were wounded early in
the Engagem't. which render'd the duty hard upon me, as I was the only person then
left to distribute the Genl's. Orders which I was scarcely able to do, as I was not halfrecover'd from a violent illness, that confin'd me to my Bed, and a Waggon, for above
Io Days; I am still in a weak and Feeble cond'n; which induces me to halt here,
2 or 3 Days in hopes of recov'g. a little Strength, to enable me to proceed homewards;
from whence, I fear I shall not be able to stir till towards Sept., so that I shall not
have the pleasure of seeing you till then, unless it be in Fairfax; please to give my
love to Mr. Lewis and my Sister, and Compts. to Mr. Jackson and all other Fds. that
enquire after me. I am, Hon'd Madam Yr. most dutiful Son."-Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I5I-52. See also Appendix B.
36. For July 31, I775 the Pennsylvania Gazette said: "Mr. Washington had two
Horses shot under him, and his Clothes shot thru' in several Places, behaving the
whole Time with the greatest courage and Resolution."
CHAPTER VII
I. Hughes, George Washington, I, 277-78; Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, I,
341.  Letters from  Carlisle, Pennsylvania, extracts of which were printed in the
Pennsylvania Gazette for July 31, I755, confirmed in part these claims with respect
to that colony. That dated July 22 told of murdered families and of others "coming
on this Side the Mountain" and continued:
"We are now in the utmost Confusion, not knowing what Hand to turn to, being
more afraid of the Indians (whom we doubt were the late Murderers on the new
Road) than of the French. Our Back Settlers are in general fled, and are likely to
be ruined for the Loss of their Crops and Summer's Labour; several of them on Juniata
having left some Part of their Household Furniture in the Flight, and since, going
back to fetch or hide it, have found every Thing broken and destroyed by the Indians,
and their Horses in the Corn-fields."
2.' Wrong, Rise and Fall of New France, II, 755.
3. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, x56-575; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 179.
4. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I59-63; Writings (ed. Ford), I, I8I.
5. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I59; Writings (ed. Ford), I, i8i.
6. Hamilton, Letters to Washington, I, 79-8I.
7. Dinwiddie Papers, II, I35.
8. Hening, Statutes at Large, VI, 52I-30, 550-52; Baker-Crothers, Virginia in
the French and Indian War, pp. 84-85; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), I, I8i n.
9. Dinwiddie Papers, II, 139-40; Pennsylvania Gazette, July 3x, I755.   See
Appendix B, II.
Io. Koontz, "The Virginia Frontier, I754-I763," Johns Hopkins University
Studies, XLIII, 72-73; Dinwiddie Papers, II, II2-13.
I. Pennsylvania Gazette, July I, I756.
I2. Ibid., May 20, I756; Ibid., July I, I756.
I3. Ibid., September i6, I756.
14. Ibid.
I5. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 20Io   Dinwiddie Papers, II,
236-42.
i6. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 202-7; Dinwiddie Papers, II, 237, 242; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), I, 194-95, 20I.
17. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, I97; Dinwiddie Papers, II, 243.
I 8. Ibid., p. 243.
I9. Ibid., pp. 318, 325, 331, 338; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), I, 229-34;
Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), I, 77.
20o. Hughes, op. cit., I, 294-30I.
21. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 289-91, 293-96; William Shirley,
Correspondence (ed. C. H. Lincoln), II, 4I2.
239
NOTES.22. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 285-86; Koontz, op. cit., p. 86.
23. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 355; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 277.
24. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 324-25; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 249-52; See
also Hughes, op. cit., I, 3o8.
25. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 302-3; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), I,
238 n5 Hughes, op. cit., I, 302-3.
26. Dinwiddie Papers, II, 38I.
27. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 3I7; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 245-55.
28. Dinwiddie Papers, II, 407.
29. Writings (ed. Ford), I, 335.
30. Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, p. 92; Koontz, op. cit., p. 85.
3I. Baker-Crothers, op. cit., p. Io2.
32. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 423, 487-92; Beer, British Colonial
Policy, p. 2545 Baker-Crothers, op. cit., p. Io6.
33. For names, location, and description of eighty-one forts built on the Virginia
frontier at this time see Koontz, op. cit., Appendix I.
34. Dinwiddie Papers, II, 523.
35. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 487-90, 49I n, 5II-145 Dinwiddie Papers, II,
552; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), I, 312; Koontz, op. cit., pp. 8o-8I.
36. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 471; Hughes, op. cit., I, 3I4-I8.
37. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 528-295 Writings (ed. Ford), I, 404-5.
38. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 531-33; Writings (ed. Ford), I, 406-9.
39. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 225 Writings (ed. Ford), I, 431-32.
40. Koontz, op. cit., pp. 82-83.
41. Dinwiddie Papers, II, 703.
42. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, xIo; R. T. Barton, "The First Election of Washington to the House of Burgesses," in Viriginia Historical Society Collections, XI, I I  
43. Quoted in Hughes, op. cit., I, 342.
44. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, I66-67.
45. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 25I; Hughes, op. cit., I, chap. 25; Barton, op.
cit., p. I 5; Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, p. I I 9.
46. Baker-Crothers, op. cit., chap. 7.
47. Hughes, op. cit., I, 376.
48. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 260, 276-82; Writings (ed. Ford), II, 72.
49. Quoted in Hughes, op. cit., I, 383. See also Hulbert, Historic Highways, V,
113.
50. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 283; Hening, op. cit., VII, 171;
Baker-Crothers, op. cit., p. I36.
SI. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 290-93; Writings (ed. Ford),
II, 101-2; Parkman, op. cit., II, i6o.
52. Hughes, op. cit., I, 424.
53. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 308-Io; Writings (ed. Ford), II, ix6-I8.
CHAPTER VIII
I. Hughes, George Washington, II, 80.
2. P. L. Haworth, George Washington, Country Gentleman, pp. 60-go; Hughes,
op. cit., II, 90-Io5.
3. R. B. Cook, Washington's Western Lands, chaps. 3-7.
4. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 414-I8, 430, 442i Writings (ed. Ford), II, I89,
200, 207; Haworth, op. cit., p. 286.
5. Hughes, op. cit., II, chap. 4.
240
NOTES6. This condition is perhaps adequately described in the following extract from a
review by Daniel Grinnan of Professor A. 0. Craven's Soil Exhaustion as a Factor in
the Agricultural History of Virginia and Maryland, in Virginia Magazine of History
and Biography, July, I927:
"He [Virginia Farmer] had to struggle to earn his bread. England, his only permitted market for his tobacco, his single crop, was 3,000 miles away across a stormy
sea, and when the tobacco, after the sweat and toil of raising and curing it had been
endured, and the expenses of putting it on a ship in the river had been paid, it then
was plucked by so many harpies, that there was but little left to the credit of the
planter; and this small balance went into the purchase of English articles at swollen
prices that were shipped to him at heavy cost across the same wild sea.
"The proud Virginian was really regarded as a helot that was useful only for the
crop he raised.  It is difficult to enumerate the charges that the tobacco had to bear:
there were charges for freight, insurance, drayage, English tariff taxes for coming in
and for going out, charges for handling, warehouse charges, inspection charges,
factor's charges and some others.   Being across the wide ocean the planter had to
accept any statement that his factor chose to render, and being always in debt to the
factor there was an interest charge; and for the purchase of the articles that were
shipped to Virginia there was another factor's charge and the prices paid for articles
as shown by the factor's statement had to be accepted as correct solely on faith.
In addition, the price of tobacco fluctuated and was often so low that the planter received only a pittance and sometimes received nothing but a debit entry. He was cut
off from trade of all kinds with other countries than England, and the value of tobacco stored in England that could not be sold or exported to the Continent was soon
consumed by warehouse charges."
7. Writings (ed. Ford), XII, 36o0; Haworth, op. cit., p. 68 ff.
8. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, 1758-1776.
9. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), passim.
I o. Hughes, op. cit., II, chap. 8.
i I. Writings (ed. Ford), II, 179.
I 2. Alvord, Mississippi Valley in British Politics, II, 92-93, I I9, I89; H. B.
Adams, "Maryland's Influence upon the Land Cessions of the United States," in Johns
Hopkins University Studies, III, 12.
13. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 365; Cook, op. cit., p. 157.
I14. G. H. Alden, "New    Governments West of the Allegheny Mountains before
I 780," in University of Wisconsin Bulletin, II, I-74; Washington, Writings (ed.
Sparks), II, 479; Benjamin Franklin, Writings, IV, 233; Alvord, op. cit., II, iI6.
I S. C. H. Ambler, History of Transportation in the Ohio Valley, p. 32; Volwiler,
George Croghan and the Westward Movement, pp. I 80-90, 200-5; Washington,
Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 468-69.
x6. Ambler, op. cit., pp. 28-33.
17. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 458-59; Writings (ed. Ford), II, 213-I8. See
also Hughes, op. cit., II, 65I-56.
i8. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 467-70; Writings (ed. Sparks), II, 346-50.
19. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 470-715 Writings (ed. Sparks), II, 349.
20. C. W. Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, pp. 5-10.
21. Alvord, op. cit., I, 3 I4, 3 1 8.
22. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 9, 26, 66, 76, 157, I83; Alden, op. cit., pp.
22-36; Alvord, op. cit., II, ii6, i65; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), II, 35i-54;
Hughes, op. cit., II, Appendix III.
z3. Butterfield, op. cit., p. x i,
24I
NOTES24. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 22; Writings (ed. Ford), II, 366-72; Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, p. 142.
25. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 26; Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 404-6.
26. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), I, 409-1o.
27. Ibid., p. 41I.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid., p. 426.
30. Ibid., p. 423.
31. Ibid., pp. 426-29.
32. Ibid., p. 431.
33. Ibid., p. 447.
34. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 9-I2; Writings (ed. Ford), II, 272-76, 36672; Writings (ed. Sparks), II, 355-59; Butterfield, op. cit., p. 23.
35. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 47-50; Journals of the House of Burgesses of
Virginia, 1770-1772, pp. xii, xxvi; Alvord, op. cit., II, I81-83; Writings (ed. Ford),
II, 465-69.
36. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 68.
37. Ibid., III, 86; Writings (ed. Sparks), II, 357-60; Writings (ed. Ford), II,
394-96; Journals of the House of Burgesses, Virginia, 1770-I772, pp. xx, xxi.
38. Writings (ed. Ford), II, 366-72, 35I-54, 465-69; Hughes, op. cit., II, chap. 12.
39. Volwiler, op. cit., p. 2975 Hamilton, Letters to Washington, IV, 294.
40. Hughes, op. cit., II, I38; R. G. Thwaites and Louise P. Kellogg, Documentary History of Dunmore's War, 1774, p. 66 passim; Alvord, op. cit., II, x88-89.
41. Butterfield, op. cit., pp. 25, 35, 375 Hamilton, op. cit., IV, 294. On July 5,
1775, to avoid further trouble, Lord Dunmore issued Washington a military patent
for his lands on Miller's Run. Cook, op. cit., p. II8.
42. Some idea of the location and extent of Washington's western lands as of
1773, may be had from the following advertisement which appeared in the Baltimore
Advertiser for August 20 of that year:
MOUNT VERNON IN VIRGINIA,
July 15, 1773.
"The Subscriber having obtained Patents for upwards of TWENTY THOUSAND ACRES
of LAND on the Ohio and Great Kanhawa (Ten Thousand of which are situated on
the banks of the first-mentioned river, between the mouths of the two Kanhawas, and
the remainder on the Great Kanhawa, or New River, from     the mouth, or near it,
upwards, in one countinued survey) proposes to divide the same into any sized tenements that may be desired, and lease them upon moderate terms, allowing a reasonable number of years rent free, provided, within the space of two years from next
October, three acres for every fifty contained in each lot, and proportionably for a
less quantity, shall be cleared, fenced, and tilled; and that, by or before the time
limited for the commencement of the first rent, five acres for every hundred, and
proportionably, as above, shall be enclosed and laid down in good grass for meadow;
and moreover, that at least fifty good fruit trees for every like quantity of land shall
be planted on the Premises. Any persons inclinable to, settle on these lands may be
morefully informed of the terms by applying to the subscriber, near Alexandria, or in
his absence, to MR. LUND WASHINGTON; and would do well in communicating their
intentions before the Ist of October next, in order that a sufficient number of lots may
be laid off to answer the demand.
"As these lands are among the first which have been surveyed in the part of the
country they lie in, it is almost needless to premise that none can exceed them in
luxuriance of soil, or convenience of situation, all of them lying upon the banks
242
NOTES~NOtES
243
either of the Ohio or Kanhawa, and abounding with fine fish and wild fowl of various kinds, as also in most excellent meadows, many of which (by the bountiful hand
of nature) are, in their present state, almost fit for the scythe. From every part of
these lands water carriage is now had to Fort Pitt, by an easy communication; and
from Fort Pitt up the Monongahela, to Redstone, vessels of convenient burthen, may
and do pass continually; from whence, by means of Cheat River, and other navigable
branches of the Monongahela it is thought the portage to Potowmack may, and will,
be reduced within the compass of a few miles, to the great ease and convenience of
the settlers in transporting the produce of their lands to market. To which may be
added, that as patents have now actually passed the seals for the several tracts here
offered to be leased, settlers on them may cultivate and enjoy the lands in peace
and safety, notwithstanding the unsettled counsels respecting a new colony on the
Ohio; and as no right money is to be paid for these lands, and quitrent of two
shillings sterling a hundred, demandable some years hence only, it is highly presumable that they will always be held upon a more desirable footing than where both
these are laid on with a very heavy hand. And it may not be amiss further to observe, that if the scheme for establishing a new government on the Ohio, in the manner talked of, should ever be effected, these must be among the most valuable lands
in it, not only on account of the goodness of soil, and the other advantages above
enumerated, but from  their contiguity to the seat of government, which more than
probable will be fixed at the mouth of the Great Kanhawa. GEORGE WASHINGTON."
See also Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, I44.
43. Ibid., p. ISI; Butterfield, op. cit., pp. 29-32. In 1798 Washington purchased
from Henry Lee 5000 acres of land in what is now Grayson County, Kentucky. See
W. R. Jillson, Land Adventures of George Washington, pp. 34-38.
44. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 124-29, I5I; Writings (ed.
Ford), II, 37I-74.
CHAPTER IX
I. Washington to Henry Riddell, February 22, I774, quoted in Hamilton, Letters
to Washington, IV, 337-39; Washington, Writings (ed. Ford), II, 407.
2. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, I9o0; Hamilton, op. cit., IV, 339.
3. Ibid., pp. 357-59.
4. Alvord, Mississippi Valley in British Politics, II, I87.
5. Hughes, George Washington, II, I48.
6. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 2I2; Writings (ed. Ford), II, 408 n, 4I2.
7. Hamilton, op. cit., IV, pp. 337-39 n; Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), III,
94-95; Cook, Washington's Western Lands, pp. 44-45. For Washington's instructions
to Crawford see Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 199-204.
8. Butterfield, Washington-Crawford Letters, pp. 96-97.
9. E. D. Branch, Westward, chap. 7, "The Wilderness Road"; F. L. Paxson,
American Frontier, I763-I893, pp. 26-32; Thwaites and Kellogg, Dunmore's War,
introduction; Alvord, op. cit., II, chap. 5.
I o. Ibid., pp. I88-89.
xi. V. A. Lewis, History of the Battle of Point Pleasant.
12. Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 229-33, 237-38i for copy of
"Fairfax Resolves," see Peter Force (ed.), American Archives, I, 597-600. (Hereafter
cited as American Archives.)
I3. Thwaites and Kellogg, op. cit., p. 93.
14. Butterfield, op. cit., p. 54.
I5. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 268-72; Writings (ed. Ford), II, 454, 462;
Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, I87.16. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 268-72.
I7. Cook, op. cit., pp. 47-50, quoting letters from James Cleveland to Washington.
I8. Ibid., p. 52.
I 9. Butterfield, op. cit., p. 74.
20. Journals of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, I773-I776, XIII, 282;
American Archives, II, 1240.
21. See chapter 5 of this work.
22. For copy of treaty see Thwaites and Kellogg, Revolution on the Upper Ohio,
pp. 25-I27.
23. Writings (ed. Sparks), IV, 232, 254, 257, 550-52; Hughes, op. cit., II, 554.
24. American Archives, I, 962-63; Thwaites and Kellogg, Dunmore's War, p.
3I1; W. Va. Legislature, Hand Book and Manual (I926), pp. 468-73; A. S. Withers, Chronicles of Border Warfare, p. I79.
25. Writings (ed. Sparks), III, 4-5.
26. Shortly after Morgan reached Cambridge, Washington's forces were augmented, August II, I775, by a company from Virginia led by Captain Hugh Stephenson. See Bedinger's "Journal" in Danske Dandridge, Historic Sheperdstown, chap 8.
See also "Alphabetical List of Officers and Privates connected with Shepherdstown, or
recruited in its Neighborhood, during the Revolution," in Dandridge, op. cit., pp. 298359, Appendix A; Washington, Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 507. See also Morton, Story of Winchester in Virginia, p. 87; P. A. Bruce, The Virginia Plutarch, chap.
I8.
27. Quoted in Hughes, op. cit., II, 246.
28. R. H. Lee, Letters (ed. Ballagh), I, i5o.  See also Hughes, op. cit., II,
225-26.
29. Quoted in Ibid., p. 552.
30. Henry Howe, Historical Collections of Virginia, p. I83.  See Ibid., p. 454.
3I. Writings (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 498; Writings (ed. Sparks), III, 94-95.
32. Ibid., p. 94.
33. Hughes, op. cit., II, 145-46, quoting the London Morning Post, June 7, 1779.
34. Washington's New York lands embraced the site of Fort Schuyler and were
known as the "Oriskany tract."  Ford, True George Washington, p. I32; Cook, op.
cit., p. 139.
35. Writings (ed. Sparks), III, 92-94.
36. Ibid., V. II8-20.
37. Ibid., VI, 384.
38. Hughes, op. cit., III, 490; S. A. Drake, Aboriginal Races of North America,
p. 609.
39. J. A. James, "Pittsburgh a Key to the West During the American Revolution,"
in Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, XXII, 64-79.
40. Writings (ed. Sparks), V, 382.
41. Ibid., IV, 138.
42. Fitzpatrick, Washington Himself, p. 364; J. A. James, The Life of George
Rogers Clark, pp. 114-I5; James, George Rogers Clark Papers, LIV and chap. 7;
Louise P. Kellogg, Frontier Advance on the Upper Ohio, pp. I7-19; Hening, Statutes
at Large, IX, 375.
43. Thwaites and Kellogg, Frontier Defense on the Upper Ohio, pp. 51-53, 24956; Kellogg, op. cit., pp. 13-14, 49-5I; C. H. Van Tyne, The Loyalist in the American Revolution.
44. Kellogg, op. cit., pp. I4, 45, 54, 6o, I28.
45. Ibid., pp. 27-28, 238-39, 253, 262.
46. Writings (ed. Sparks), VI, 434.
244
NOTES47. Ibid., VII, 343-45.
48. Kellogg, Frontier Retreat on the Upper Ohio, p. 34.
49. C. W. Butterfield (ed.), Washington-Irvine Correspondence, pp. 75, 78.
5o. Ibid., p. 83.
5 I. See biographical sketch of William  Crawford, Butterfield, Washington-Irvine
Correspondence, pp. I I4-I7.
52. Ibid.
53. Writings (ed. Sparks), VIII, 452-64, 465 n.
CHAPTER X
I. Quoted in A. B. Hulbert, Washington and the West, p. 3. See also Adams,
"Maryland's Influence," in Johns Hopkins University Studies, III, 7-I27; Justin
Winsor, The Westward Movement, chaps. 7-8.
2. Adams, op. cit., pp. 9-54.
3. Ibid., pp. 41-42.
4. Writings (ed. Sparks), IX, 86, 9I, III.
5. Ibid., p. 93.
6. For locations, surveys, and plats see Cook, Washington's Western Lands, chaps.
3-7.
7. Ibid., p. II4; Writings (ed. Sparks), XII, 264, 275.
8. Washington, Diaries (ed.. Fitzpatrick), II, 279-3I6.
9. See "Washington and the Potomac: Manuscripts," in American Historical
Review, XXVIII, 497-520, 705-23; Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), IX, 30-34.
I o. Ibid., p. 32.
II. Ibid.
I2. For a splendid r6sum6 of this journey and its objectives see Hulbert, Washington and the West, pp. 107, I99. See also Adams, op. cit., pp. 72-74; Cook, op. cit.,
pp. I6I-63.
I3. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 299, 279-328.
14. Ibid., p. 282.
I5. Ibid., p. 28o.
I6. Ibid., p. 292. Washington's Mill at Simpson's (Perryopolis, Pennsylvania,)
was built in I774-1776 and ceased to run in I918.
17. Ibid., pp. 290-93.
s8. Ibid., p. 298.
I9. Ibid., pp. 302-4.
20. This route may have passed by or near the site recently marked by a West
Virginia Commission as the birthplace of Nancy Hanks, the mother of Abraham Lincoln, but there is no evidence that Washington stopped there.
21. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 310.
22. Ibid., p. 3I5.
23. Ibid., p. 325.
24. Ibid., p. 327.
25. Ibid., p. 328.
26. Ibid., pp. 327-28.
27. Writings (ed. Sparks), IX, 6i, 58-68; Hulbert, Washington and the West,
pp. I75-86.
28. Washington Writings, (ed. Sparks), IX, 6i-62.
29. Ibid., p. 80.
30. Ibid., p. 8I.
31. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), II, 377 n; 376.
32. Ibid., pp. 336, 352, 376, 394NOTES
245MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN
his clothes and other personal belongings were aboard a ship of
his Majesty's navy, when, lo and behold, Mary Washington,
according to a well-recognized prerogative of women, changed
her mind! As usual, her son obeyed her dictum, and her stepsons were helpless.
Whatever may have been behind this decision, its subsequent
effects were momentous. For that reason the following communication from her brother, Joseph Ball, to whom Mary
Washington appealed in the matter, confirming his sister's decision, is both interesting and instructive:
STRATFORD-BY-BOW, Igth of May, I747
I understand that you are advised and have some thoughts of
putting your son George to sea. I think he had better be put a
prentice to a tinker, for a common sailor before the mast has by no
means the common liberty of the subject; for they will press him
from a ship where he has fifty shillings a month and make him take
twenty-three, and cut and slash and use him like a negro, or rather
like a dog. And, as to any considerable preferment in the navy, it is
not to be expected, as there are always so many gaping for it here
who have interest, and he has none. And if he should get to be master of a Virginia ship, (which it is very difficult to do) a planter that
has three or four hundred acres of land and three or four slaves, if
he be industrious, may live more comfortably, and leave his family in
better bread, than such a master of a ship can..... He must not be
too hasty to be rich, but go on gently and with patience, as things
will naturally go. This method, without aiming at being a fine
gentleman before his time, will carry a man more comfortably and
surely through the world than going to sea, unless it be a great chance
indeed.
I pray God to keep you and yours,
Your loving brother, JOSEPH BALL.24
To the credit of the Washingtons, Mary Washington's
abrupt and somewhat surprising exercise of authority did not
disturb the friendly relations existing between Ferry Farm and
Mount Vernon, where George continued henceforth to make his
home, to learn the ways of the world, and to develop new interests. Both he and his sister Betty were frequent visitors at
15246
NOTES
33. Ibid., p. 432.
34. E. M. Turner, James Rumsey: Pioneer in Steam Navigation, pp. IIO-II, I23.
35. Writings (ed. Sparks), IX, 470.
36. At the solicitation of friends he accepted this gift as a trust for the state
of Virginia.  Later one hundred shares were given to Liberty Hall Academy, now
Washington and Lee University.   The remaining fifty shares were left to endow a
university in the District of Columbia, embracing as it then did a part of what is
now Virginia. See Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), XI, I9-24, I72-73.
37. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), III, 84.
38. Writings (ed. Sparks), IX, 214, 29I-92, 302-3, 326-27, 445.
39. Ibid., pp. I78-79.
40. Ibid., p. Io9.
4I. Ibid., p. I8o.
42. Ibid., p. I34.
43. Washington, Writings from    Original Manuscript Sources, reports from  his
agent, Tobias Lear, 1791-1799.
44. Writings (ed. Sparks), IX, 385.
45. Ibid., pp. 384-86.
46. Ibid., p. II9.
47. Ibid.
48. Ibid.
49. Ibid., p. 261.
CHAPTER XI
x. Suggested readings: F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks on
Louisiana and the Floridas," American Historical Review, III, 650-7I5 F. J. Turner,
"The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley in the Period of Washington
and Adams," American Historical Review, X, 249-80; J. S. Bassett, The Federalist
System, chaps. 4-8; A. C. McLaughlin, "The Western Posts and the British Debts,"
Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 1894, pp. 412-14; Winsor,
The Westward Movement, chaps. I3-24; S. F. Bemis, Jay's Treaty.
2. F. J. Turner, "The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley...,"
American Historical Review, X, 259-63; F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks...," American Historical Review, III, 650. "Selection from the Draper
Collection in the possession of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin to elucidate
the proposed French expedition under George Rogers Clark against Louisiana, in the
years, 1793-94," Annual Report of the American Historical Association, I896, I, 930IIo07 "Correspondence on Genet's Projected Attack, 1793-94," Annual Report of the
American Historical Association, I897, pp. 567-679; "Correspondence of Genet,"
Annual Report of the American Historical Association, I9o3, II, 201-86.
3. F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks...," American Historical Review, III, 650o-5.
4. Ambler, History of Transportation in the Ohio Valley, pp. 71-72.
5. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, 74-77.
6. F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks..," American Historical Review, III, 652; R. O. Shreve, The Finished Scoundrel.
7. C. H. Haskins, "Yazoo Land Companies," American Historical Association
Papers, V, 69-72.
8. J. D. Richardson, Messages and Papers of the Presidents, I, o2;i Washington,
Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, 126-27, 157; F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's
Projected Attacks...," American Historical Review, III, 652.
9. Writings (ed. Sparks), X, 267-78.Io. Ibid., p. 280.
II x. Ibid., p. 265.
12. F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks...," American Historical Review, III, p. 664; Jefferson, Writings (ed. Ford), VI, 206.
13. F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks..," American Historical Review, III, 665-67; Bemis, op. cit., p. 145.
14. Bassett, op. cit., pp. 92-96.
I5. F. J. Turner, "The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley...,"
American Historical Review, X, 265.
I6. Bassett, op. cit.; Bemis, op. cit.
I7. F. J. Turner, "The Origin of Genet's Projected Attacks..," American Historical Review, III, 669; Bemis, op. cit., p. 123.
I8. Writings (ed. Sparks), X, 426, 427-30, 435-54.
19. F. J. Turner, "The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley...,"
American Historical Review, X, 256.
20. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, I7.
21zi. F. J. Turner, "The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley...,"
American Historical Review, X, 256.
22. Writings (ed. Sparks), X, I53.
23. F. J. Turner, "The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley...,"
American Historical Review, X, 2595 Jefferson, Writings (ed. Ford), I, 212.
24. Bemis, op. cit., p. 195 n5 Bassett, op. cit., chap. 4; Winsor, Westward Movement.
25. Writings (ed. Sparks), X, 434.
26. Ibid., 395; Bemis, op. cit., p. 72.
27. F. J. Turner, "The Policy of France toward the Mississippi Valley...,"
American Historical Review, X, 265-68.
28. Writings (ed. Sparks), XI, 51.
29. Ibid., p. 73; Richardson, op. cit., I, 65.
30. Ibid., p. 82.
31x. Ibid., p. I67.
32. Writings (ed. Sparks), X, 130-31, 2I0-I4.
33. Richardson, op. cit., I, 137.
34. Ibid., p. 76.
35. Writings (ed. Sparks), XI, z2.
36. Richardson, op. cit., I, I22; Washington, Writings (ed. Sparks), X, 132.
37. Ibid., p. 429. See official papers relating to the Whiskey Rebellion in Annals
of Congress, 4th Congress, 279I-2866. See also American State Papers, Military Affairs, I. For contemporary accounts see William  Findley, History of the Insurrection
in the Four Western Counties of Pennsylvania and H. M. Brackenridge, History of the
Western Insurrection in Western Pennsylvania.
38. Washington, Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, 209; Bassett, op. cit., chap. 7.
39. Richardson, op. cit., I, I24-25; Writings (ed. Sparks), X, 297.
40. Richardson, op. cit., 1, 158-60, 162-66.
41. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, 212-13.
42. Ibid., pp. 214-16.
43. Richardson, op. cit., I, I65.
44. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, 213-I5.
45. Richardson, op. cit., I, i66.
46. Writings (ed. Sparks), XI, 11.
47. Ibid., X, 137.
48. Richardson, op. cit., I, 83.
NOTES
247248
NoTES
49. Diaries (ed. Fitzpatrick), IV, I58.
50. Writings (ed. Sparks), XI, 6-7.
5I. Ibid., X, 200.
52. Cook, Washington's Wester-n Lands, p. 124.
53. Ibid., pp. I07-II; Bicentennial Commission, History, I, 4775 Jillson, Land
Adventures of George Washington, p. 58.
54. Cook, op. cit., p. I25.
55. Ibid., pp. I30, I07-II; Bicentennial Commission, History, I, 477; Jillson,
op. cit., chap. 2.
56. See Boyd B. Stutler, "The Swords of Washington," West Virginia Review,
IX, 346-4757. Washington's most famous swords now repose in widely separated places.
The "Frederick the Great" sword was all but destroyed in the fire of the New York
Capitol, I9II, where it still reposes, a piece of bent and twisted steel. The "Spanish
Dress" sword, the "Sollingen" sword, and the sword said to have been used by
him when he surrendered command of the Continental Army, are now at Mount Vernon. His "Battle" sword is in the United States National Museum at Washington,
D. C., and the sword presented him by General William Darke, a resident of what
is now Jefferson County, West Virginia, is in the Washington Headquarters of the
Washington Association of New Jersey, at Morristown, New Jersey. See Stutler, op.
cit., 346-47.
58. Wheeling Sunday News, February I7, 1935.
59. Writings (ed. Sparks), XII, 219-20; Richardson, op. cit., I, 2I5-I6.
60. Writings (ed. Sparks), XI, 456.
6 I. Ibid., pp. 453-54.
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For the most part, this work is based upon printed sources, the most important of which are Washington's Diaries and his Writings. Inasmuch as a
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The present writer makes particular acknowledgments to Dr. Roy Bird Cook,
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ADAMS, Herbert Baxter, quoted, I72
Adams, John, quoted, I6I
Addison, Joseph, influence on George
Washington, 13
Adet, Pierre-Auguste, I95
Albany, N. Y., I85
Alexandria, Va., 52, 89, 93, 97, 99, I82
Allegheny Mountains, 117, 135, 136,
I38, i62, I82
Allegheny River, 39, 40
Allen, Reverend Bennett, I63
Alvord, Clarence Walworth, quoted, 38
American System, 207
Appleby School, x I
Ardmore Road Hollow, Io5
Arnold, Benedict, I6I, I62
Ashby's Gap, 2I
Atkins, Edmund, 121
Aylett, Ann, II
BACON'S Rebellion, 6
Ball, John, "Mad Preacher of Kent," 3
Ball, Colonel Joseph, 4, 5; letter of, to
Mary Ball Washington, 15
Baltimore, Lord, 33
Bancroft, George, quoted, 86
Barbadoes, 6, 26
Barlow, Joel, I89
Batts and Fallam, explorations, 32
Baynton, Wharton, and Morgan, I35,
I38, I39
Beaujeu, Daniel Hyacinth Mary Li6nard
de, Io5, Io6
Bedford, Penna., z26
Bell, Robert, 142
Belvoir, Fairfax estate, I4, i6, i8, I9, 52
Berkeley, William, 6
Berkeley Springs. See Warm Springs
Blue Ridge Mountains, 32, II7
Boone, Daniel, 33
Boston, Mass., 55, ISI
"Bostonians,"  concern  regarding  the
French, 55
Boston Tea Party, I5o
Botetourt, Norborne Berkeley, Baron de,
I46, I47
Bouquet, Colonel Henry, 128, I295 comments of, regarding Virginians, I28
Bradbury, John, and Ohio Company, 32
Braddock, General Edward, 93; arrival
of, in America, 95; virtues and weaknesses of, 95-965 headquarters of, at
Alexandria, 97; traits of character of,
97, 98) I02; maintains discipline, 995
leaves Alexandria, Ioo; Franklin's estimate of, IOI5 defeat of, Io5-85 death
and burial of, Io8; grave and monument of, Io9
Braddock's Expedition, I00oo-9; importance
of, Io09
"Braddock's Field," I05-IO, I28, I40,
222-26
Braddock's Road, Io02-4, I58
Bridges Creek, II
Brodhead, Colonel Daniel, I65, I67, I68,
I69
Brown, John, at Harpers Ferry, 205
Bullett, Thomas, I29
Bullskin Creek, 23, 26
Burd, Colonel James, I z6
Burgoyne, General John, x65
Byrd, William, 3I, II2, I29
CANADA, 3I, 54, I985 French settlements in, 55
Capon River, 26
Carlisle, Penna., I26
Carter, Landon, 122, I65
Cassey, Peter, 22
Catawba Indians, IOI, 113
Cavaliers, 19
"Ceceders," 177
Celoron, plants leaden plates, 31
"Centinel X," 122
Charleston, S. C., 194
Charlesvoix, Father, quoted, 54
Chartier's Creek, I38
Cheat River, I77, I78, I8o, I82, I84
Cherokee Indians, 55, 57, 59, 96, 113,
I20, 155, I90
Chicamauga Indians, I99
Churches, Catholic, 38; Protestant, 38
[ 26I ]262
INDEX
Clark, George Rogers, x66, I67, I69;
failure of Detroit expedition under, i68
Clay, Henry, 208
Cleveland, James, I56
Clinton, George, I64
Cocke, Thomas, Ioo
Coldstream Guards, 95
Colonies, failure of, to cooiperate, 56;
differences among, 96
Committee of Safety, 202
Conestoga wagon, I9I
Confederation, Articles of, 172
Congresses, Albany, 1754, 57; First Continental, I55, I59; Second Continental,
I58, I6o, 172, I86; Federal, 200
Congressional Committee on Indian Affairs, 172
Connolly, Doctor John, I45
"Conotocarious,"  Washington's  Indian
name, 6, 15
Contrecoeur, Captain Claude Pierre P6caudy, sieur de, 6I, 65, 71, I05
Cornwallis, Charles, 20
Cowpens, battle of, I62
Craik, Doctor James, 88, 90, 104, I40,
I42, I75, 178, i8i
Craik, William, 175
Crawford, Valentine, 154
Crawford, William, 7; Washington's land
agent, I37-40, I42, I47, I49, I54;
comments on Dunmore's War, I56;
burned at stake, I70
Cresap, Thomas, 22, I41 blazed Nemacolin path, 33
Croghan, George, I42, 144, 145, I46,
148; Indian trader, 31-33; diplomat,
50; Indian leader, 59; with Braddock,
96, Ioo, Io8
Croghan Hall, I41
Crown Point, Fort, 99, 134
Culpeper, Lord, 19
Cumberland, Duke of, 93
Cumberland, Fort, 93, 1oo, 101, IIo,
112, II3, II4, 115, II6, I2I, I28
Cumberland, Md., 175, 176
Cumberland River, 145
Currin, Barnaby, 39
Custis, Daniel Parke, 132
Custis, John Parke (Jacky), I25, 132,
33
Custis, Martha. See Washington, Martha
Custis, Martha Parke (Patcy), 133, 135
DAGWORTHY, Captain          John, II5,
116
Dallas, Texas, Scottish Rite Temple of,
206
Davison, John, 43, 44
Deakins, Colonel Francis, I88
Delaware Indians, 40, 74, 77, i69
"Democratic Societies," I95, 200
Detroit, Mich., i82
Dettingen, battle of, 72
Dillon's Run, 26
Dinwiddie, Robert, 38, 46, 48, 50, 52,
54, 57, 6I, 68, 70, 73, 74, 76, 93,
97, 00,, II4, II5, 12I, I35; names
Washington   county  lieutenant,  20o
names Washington adjutant of militia,
26, 27, 34; refuses to permit Ohio
Company surveys, 34; commissioned
Washington to be adjutant for the
"Southern District of Virginia," 345
interest of, in Ohio Company, 35;
sends messenger to French, 36; letter
of, to St. Pierre, 455 publishes Washington's "Account," 48; reaction of,
to Fort Necessity defeat, 5o0 appeal of,
to Virginia (1753), 525 differences of,
with general assembly, 53, 56, 965 at
Winchester Indian conference, 57; resolves of, on aggression, 58; Lodge
characterization of, 6o; refuses "Spirit" for soldiers, 62; advises Washington, 62, 635 appoints Colonel James
Innes as commander-in-chief, 74; Captain Mackay questions authority of, 76,
77; enthusiastic over contest with
French, 86; resolves to strike French,
89; refuses to abide by terms of Fort
Necessity capitulation, 89, go; effort
to retrieve English losses, 925 demotes
Washington, 94; failure of, in Indian
relations, 96; plea  of, for  action
against Fench, III; signs death warrant for Sergeant Lewis, I20; attitude  of, toward  Washington,   122,
I23; threatened breach of, with Washington, 123; official contact of, with
Loudoun, I24; grants Washington
leave, 124, I25; proclamation of I754,'34INDEX
"Dinwiddie's War," 51, 52, I56
Dismal Swamp, 132, 133
Dorchester, Lord, speech of, 197, 198
Douville, Dagneau, scalped,  8
Duane, James, 172
Dumas, Captain, oS5, 1o6, o10, I18
Dunbar, Colonel Thomas, 100, 105, 112
Dunkard Bottom, I80, I88
Dunmore, John Murray, earl of, I47,
I49, I50, 155
Dunmore's War, I55, I56, I58
Duquesne, Fort, 62, 78, 92, 128, 130,
132, 134; Braddock's objective, 96, 99,
104j roads to, 127j grand attack on,
I29
EDMONSTONE, Captain Charles, 14I
English, traders, 30, 31, 58, 59, 62;
contest of, for Ohio Valley, 30; claims
of, to the Ohio Valley, 32; claims of,
to Indian lands, 36; Indian allies of,
39, 58, 6I; in Ohio Valley, 43, 66;
Indian relations of, 48; inroads upon,
53, 54; military failures of, 57
Ennis, Jones, 154
Epping Forest, 4
Erskine, Robert, 28
Eskridge, Major George, 3
Everard, Thomas, 163
FAIRFAX, Anne, wife of Lawrence
Washington, 14
Fairfax,  George  William,  friend  of
Washington, I6; journey of, beyond
Blue Ridge, I8
Fairfax, Lord, 13, 28, 52; surveys western lands, I8; influence of, on Washington, i8; sues Yost Hite, 19; proprietor of Greenway Court, 20; death
of, 20; burial place of, 20; employs
Washington to survey, 23; land holdings of, 29; visits Dinwiddie, 34; interest of, in interior, 34; visited by
Washington, 134
Fairfax, Sally, 98
Fairfax, William, proprietor of Belvoir,
14; makes Indian treaty, 35
Fairfax, Colonel William, 122
"Fairfax Boundary Line," 19, 21
"Fairfax Resolves," I55, I59
"Fairfax Stone," I9
Fallen Timbers, battle of, 202
263
Fauchet, Joseph, I9g
Fauquier, Francis, 130
Fayette County, Penna., map of, 79
Ferry Farm, 7, 15
Fincastle riflemen, i6i
Findley, William, 202
Fitch, John, I87
Fitzgerald, John, 187
Fitzhugh, William, 134
Forbes, General John, 28, I 26 comments of, regarding Washington and
Byrd, I29
Forbes's Road, 126, 127, 158
"Fort Gower Address," I55, I6o
Fort Necessity, battle of, 80-83; contemporaneous newspaper accounts of, 211I6
Forts, chain of, 118, I20; on Mississippi,
41, 42
Franklin, Benjamin, 31, 36, 57, 105;
aids Braddock, IoI
Franklin, William, 139, 146
Frazier, John, trader, 31, 43; trading
post, 47, 48, o05
Frederick, Md., 98
Frederick the Great, 205
Fredericksburg, Va., 39, I 2
Freeman, Major James, 177, 178
French, arrest Howard and Salling, 16;
contest of, for Ohio Valley, 30;
traders, 30; Indian influences of, 33;
claims of, to Indian lands, 36; on
Ohio in 1753, 47; possessions of, in
North America, 53; plans of, for empire, 55; in the Ohio Valley, 58, 59,
66, 67; with Indians at Logstown, 6oi
spy  on  English,  64;  accounts  of
Jumonville skirmish of, 65, 66; capture Washington's notes, 69; occupy
Gist's, 80; Canadians, io6; exultant
over Braddock's defeat, I 12
French and English War, 30
French and Indian War, 88; declared,
II3; 139, 147, I68
French Estates General, I9I
Friend, Charles, 80o
Frontenac, Fort, 130
Frontier, Virginia, 1756-1758, II9, I24
Fry, Joshua, 35; commands Virginia
frontier forces, 58, 74; death of, 74264
INDEX
GAGE, Colonel Thomas, Ioo
Galpin, George, I87
Gates, Horatio, I62, I64
Genet, Edmond Charles, I9I, 192, 19496, 197
Genn, James, 21
George II, comments on Washington, 72
George III, Washington's plea for loyalty to, I 13
Germans, in Shenandoah Valley, 16, I9;
Palatine, 152, 153
Gibson, George, i66
Gibson, Colonel John, I69
Gist, Christopher, agent of Ohio Company, 33; second journey of to Ohio
Valley, 34; makes Indian treaty, 35;
Washington's guide, 395 returns from
Fort Le Boeuf, 48; crosses the Allegheny, 48; letter of, from Monongahela, 59; leads scouting party, 63;
gives account of Jumonville skirmish,
70
Gist, Nathaniel, Ioo
Gist's. See Mount Braddock
Grant, Major James, I28, 129
Great Crossing, 62
Great Kanawha River, 142, 149, 152,
I54, I55, I56, I57, i58, I63, 174,
I77, i8i, 182, I83, I88, I89, 204,
208
Great Lakes, I96
Great Meadows, 63, 8o, 87, 88, II0, 176
Great Miami River, 33, 204
Greeley, Horace, I36
Greenbrier Land Company, 33
"Greenway Court," I9, 20, 21, 23, 24,
I34
Grove, William, 7
HALE, Sir Matthew, 4
Half-King, Indian chief, 40, 41, 46, 6i,
64, 67, 75, 82, 87, 90
Halkett, Sir Peter, Ioo, Io8
Hamilton, Alexander, 201
Hamilton, Governor James, 35
Hamilton, Lieutenant Robert, 142
Hampton Roads, 95
Hand, General Edward, I67
Hanway, Captain Samuel, I8o
"Happy Retreat," 175, 176
"Harewood," 32
Harmar, General Josiah, I99
Harpers Ferry, arsenal site, 207
Harrevelt, publisher, 66
Harrison, Governor Benjamin, I85
Harrison, William, 142
"Heights of Abraham," I34
Henderson, Richard, I89
Hendricks, Captain William, i6I
Henry, Fort, 170
Henry, Patrick, i58, i66
Hillsborough, Willis Hill, earl of, 153
Hite, Abraham, I8o, 181
Hite, Yost, 19
Hobb's Hole, Io
Hogg, Peter, 6o, oo
Howard, John, 16
Howe, Sir William (General), I64
Hudson River, 55
Huntington, Countess, 173
ICE's Ferry, I8o
Indians, war dance of, 22i trade of, 33;
veer to English, 39, 58; at Logstown, 42, I6o0 accompany Washington to Venango, 43; with Jumonville,
64, 65; English allies, 68; relations of
Braddock with, 96; exultant because
of Braddock's defeat, II2; attack valley settlements, 117; trade with, 138i
murder Logan's family, x55; defeat of,
at Fallen Timbers, 2oI, 202
Innes, Colonel James, 74, 77, 89, 93
Iroquois Indians, 35, 57, 96, I55, I65;
address of Washington to, I66
Irvine, Brigadier General William, 169,
170
"JACK    the  Black  Hunter," Indian
leader, Io02
James River, I74
James River and Potomac improvement,
I85, 187, I88, 204
Jay, John, I98
Jefferson, Thomas, 152, 153, i68, 172,
174, 197, 207; quoted, I95
Jenkins, William, 39
Johnson, Sir William, I21, 138
Johnson, Trhomas, I87
Joncaire, Captain Philippe Thomas, 43,
44, 47
Jones, Gabriel, 8  
Jumonville, Joseph Coulon de, skirmishINDEX
of, 64 i grave of, 64; accounts of
death of, 65-72; references to, in Fort
Necessity capitulation, 83-86
KENTUCKY River, I50o
Kiashuta, I43, I44
King William's War, 30
King's Mountain, battle of, I62
Knights of Golden Horseshoe, I6
Knox, General Henry, I98
LAFAYETTE, Marquis de, I65, 175,
205
La Force, Captain......, 44, 62, 64,
67, 70
Lake Erie, 92, 99
"Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  Deep   Water
Canal," I82
La Salle, Robert, 30
Laurel Mountain, 64, 72, 73, 78, 127
Le Boeuf, Fort, 37, 44, 4-7, 50, 60
Lee, Arthur, I34
Lee, Governor Henry, 20I
Lee, Richard Henry, I6, I34., 173, I86,
209; quoted, I6I
Lee, Thomas, and the Ohio Company, 32
Lee, Thomas Sim, 187
Leesburg, Va., I40
L'Enfant, Peter Charles, 28
Lewis, Andrew, 78, Ioo, I29, I63; expedition of, to Ohio River, I I6; in
Dunmore's War, 156
Lewis, Fielding, 3, 27
Lewis, Sergeant........, ordered shot,
120
Lewis, Thomas, I 8  
Lewis, Warner, I I
Lewis, Mrs. William, quoted, 162
Ligonier, Fort, 128
Little Kanawha River, 143, I76, I77,
178
Lodge, Henry Cabot, quoted, 60o, 87
Logston, Thomas, I8o
Logstown, 36; treaty of, 35; visited by
Washington, 40o; Indian conference at,
41, 42
London Morning Post, quoted, I63
"Long Knives," 33, 135
"Lords of Trade," I96
Lost River, 26
Loudoun, Fort, 28, II3
Loudoun, John C., Earl of, commander265
in-chief of King's army, I2o, 121;
criticized Washington, I22
Louis XIV (The Grand Monarch), 54
Louisburg, Fort, I30
Lowe, James, I54
Lower Mississippi, I50
"Lyman's Military Adventure," I50
M  cCUILLOCH's Path, I8o
McGillivary, Alexander, I93
McIntosh, General Lachlan, 167
Mackay, Captain James, 75, 76, 80, 89,
94
McKee, Alexander, I42
McPherson, Thomas, I 54
MacQuire (McQuire), John, 39
Madison, James, I92
Map, of Washington's journey to Fort
Le Boeuf, 37; of Washington's journey to the Ohio (I753), 5;1 of Redstone country, 79; of Braddock's trail,
I035 of Washington's chain of forts,
II9; of roads to Fort Duquesne, 127;
of Washington's journey to the Ohio
(I770), I43j of Washington's western
tour (I784), I79
Marietta, settled, i88
Marin, Pierre Paul, sieur de, 39, 41, 45
Malrtial law, 89, I I4
Marye, Reverend James, 7
Maryland, colony of, 57, 67, 92, 99, 110
Maryland Gazette, quoted, 213-16
Mason, George, i6
Masonic Lodge, I33
Massachusetts, colony of, 99
Maumee Rapids, I97
"Mecklenberg Declaration," I6o
"Memoire Contenant le Prtcis des Faits,"
65
Mercer, Captain George, I I6, I47
Mercer, Hugh, Ioo
Mercer, Ensign John, 78
Mercer, Captain John Fenton, II7
Miller, Peter, I54
Miller's Run, I39
Miro, Governor Estevan, I93
Mississippi Land Company, I34
Mississippi River, I6, 3I, I50, I82, I92;
French settlement on, 55
Mohawk River, I64
Monongahela, battle of, IoS-Io, 128,
I40, 222-26MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN                  17
things, not words, and the verbal intoxication of the Reformation and pre-Revolutionary periods of European history meant
nothing to him. He was already, in fact, one of America's first
great realists. Of equal importance, in learning to obey, he had
learned to command.266
INDEX
Monongahela River, 39, 74, I38, 154,
I76, 177, 184
Montague, Mary, 4
Montcalm, Louis Joseph, 134
Montour, Andrew, Ioo, 115
Montreal, Canada, 185
Moravian Indians, 170
"Mordington," 32
Moreau, M. de Sechelles, 66
Morgan, Charles, 142
Morgan, General D., I6i, I64, I75, 176
Morgan, Zackquill, 80o
Moundsville, W. Va., 173
Mount Braddock (Gist's) Penna., 39, 77
Mount Pleasant, Penna., 39
Mount Vernon, granted to John Washington, 6; named, 7; home of Lawrence Washington, II; boyhood home
of George Washington, 14; visited by
George Washington, 24; inherited by
George Washington, 275 Washington
retires to, 93, I 255 seat of Washington's activities, I325 in Washington's
affections, I33; Washington returns to,
146
Muse, Colonel George, 74, 89
NAPOLEON, 30
Natchez, Miss., I68, 2o8
Necessity, Fort, 73, 89, go, 91, 92, 93,
94; built, 73; battle of, 8o, 83; capitulation of, 83-885 reconstructed, 86-88
Negro Slaves, insurrection of, feared,
I I2; sold by Washington, 1325 John
Posey's, 136; on Great Kanawha, 157;
of Lawrence Augustine Washington,
Jr., 206
Nemacolin, 33; path, 63
Neville, Colonel John, 80o, 188
New Orleans, La., 135, I66, 192, 195
New River, IS8
New York, city of, i 6, I 82
New York, colony of, 57, 77, 96, 99
Niagara, Fort, 99
Nicholas, George, 192
Nicholson, Joseph, I42
North Branch River, I8o
North Carolina, colony of, 57, 92
Northern Neck, Va., i8, 19, 20, 24, 27
Northwest Territory, I66, 170, i88
Nova Scotia, 55
O'FALLON, Doctor James, 193
Ohio Company, 146, I52; organized, 32;
attempts settlements, 33, 34, 53; interest of, in Ohio Valley, 93, I2z6
revived, 134; and Vandalia, I38
Ohio Company, Grand, I46, 155. See
Vandalia
Ohio Pile (Pyle) Falls, 63
Ohio River, i6, 30, 3I, 32, 35, 40, 45,
47, 52, 54, 58, 62, 130, 135, 142, 149,
155, 159, 170, I74, 177, 182, I88,
I89, I96, 204
Ohio Valley, 30, 1885 story of conquest
of, 3I; Washington's first visit to, 39;
rivalries for (1752), 52; French refusal to abandon, 535 French inroads
into, 58; trade of, 183
Old Town (Cresap's), Md., 22, 60
Orme, Robert, 98, Io5
Ovid, quoted, 53
PAINE, Thomas, 153
Peirpoint's, 8o
Pendleton, Edmund, 200
Pendleton, Fort, I8o
Penn, William, 33
Pennsylvania, colony of, 31, 57, 96, 99,
IIO, 127, I39
"Pennsylvania Dutch," 2I, 32, IOI, 120,
129, 153
Pennsylvania Gazette, quoted, 54, 67,
222-26
Perryopolis, Penna., 154
"Petite Democrate," 194
Peyronie, Ensign William, 83, 107
Peyton, Colonel John L., 97
Philadelphia, Penna., 38, II6, 122, I26,
135, 138, i82, I85
Philips (Phillips), Colonel Theophilus,
178
Philipse, Mary, II6
Pitt, Fort, 28, I30, 131, 135, 138, I4I,
145, 147, 148, 165, I66, 169, 170;
emporium of trade, 135
Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 30, I25,
I30
Pittsburg, Penna., 141, I82
Point Pleasant, battle of, II6, 155, I6o
Polson, William, Ioo, I07IND]
Posey, Captain John, I5o
Potomac Falls, z8
Potomac River, 174, I75, 178, I82, 184
Pownall, Thomas, 57
Preston, Colonel William, I56
Princess Bright Lightning, I02
Proclamations (I763), 135, 137, 139;
Dinwiddie (x754), 50, I40, 146
QUEBEC, Canada, 135
Quebec Act, I64
Queen Aliquippa, Indian chieftainess, 48,
74, 75
RANDOLPH, Peyton, 93, II2
Rappahannock River, I8, 27
Raystown, Penna., 128
Raystown Path, 33
Redick, David, 202
Redstone, Fort, 58, 76, 77, 78; maps
of district around, 79
Reed, Colonel Joseph, I6z
Repentigny, Captain Legardeur de, 45
Revolution, American, Ioo
Richmond, Va., I82
Roanoke River, i8i
Robertson, James, I99
Robinson, Beverley, II 6
Robinson, John, II6, I22, I23
Rochester, N. Y., 43
Roster, of Virginia officers and privates
engaged at Fort Necessity, 217-2I
Round Bottom Lands, I73
Rumsey, James, makes model boat, I75;
importance of boat of, I84, I85; perfects steamboat, I87
Rutherford, John, Ioo
ST. CLAIR, Governor Arthur, I99
St. Clair, Sir John, Io8, I28
St. Pierre, Jacques le Gardeur, sieur de,
44, 54, 7I1 answer of, to Dinwiddie,
45; and the Half-King, 46
SalLing, John Peter, I6
Samples, Samuel, 145
Sandy Creek Glades, I8o
Santo Domingo, 55
Saratoga, battle of, I62, 164, I65
Scotch Highlanders, x28
Scotch-Irish, in Shenandoah Valley, I6,
19; individualistic nature of, x20;
EX                                 267
"Ceceders," 177; and strong drink,
200
Seneca Indians, 40, 74, 77
Servants, indentured, I52, 154, I57
Sevier, John, I99
Sharpe, Governor Horatio, 92, 93, 94
Shawnee Indians, 59, 77
Shawnee Town, 59
Sheffield, Lord, quoted, 203
Shelburne, William Petty, Earl of, I38
Shingiss (Shingas), King of Delawares,
40
Shirley, Governor William, II6
Shirley, William, Jr., killed, II6
Simcoe, Governor John Graves, 197
Simpson, Gilbert, I54, I74, I76
Six Nations, league of Indian tribes, 59,
86
South Branch River, x8o, 8I, I82z
South Carolina, colony of, 57, 67, 75, 96
South Carolina Gazette, quoted, 67
Spaniards, on lower Mississippi and western trade, x83, 192
Spotswood, Alexander, x6, 31
Stanwix, Fort, I39
Stephen, Adam, 89, Ioo; gives account
of Jumonville skirmish, 70; opposes
building Forbes's Road, I29
Stephenson, Captain Hugh, I6I
Steuben, Frederich Wilhelm August Heinrich Ferdinand von, 170
Steubenville, Ohio, 142
Stevens, William, I56
Steward, Henry, 39
Stewart, Captain Robert, Ioo
Stobo, Robert, hostage, 90go, IIo
Stroads (Strode), Captain........, I76
Sullivan, General John, I65, I67
"Summit House," 64
Suver, Peter, 63
Swearingen, Captain Thomas, I25, I76
THOMAS, Antoine L., 66
Ticonderoga, Fort, I34
Tobacco, grown by Washington, I32, 133
Tories, I67
Trans-Allegheny, 32, 39, 50, 138, I5I,
174, I75, I96, 200, 207, 208; proposed colonies in, 135
Treaties:
Basel, 195
Easton, I30268
INDEX
Fort Harmar, I99
Fort Stanwix, I30, 139, 155; (I784),
199
Greenville, 199
Jay, 195, I98
Jay-Gardoqui, I89
Lancaster, 35
Lochaber, x 55
Logstown, 35
Paris (I873), 172
Pinckney, I95
Trent, William, 36, 50, I39, I46; instructed to build forts, 58
Turtle Creek, Io5
Tygart Valley River, I8o
UNIONTOWN            (Beason    Town),
Penna., 178
VAN    BRAAM, Jacob, 39, 45, 47, 6o;
poor knowledge of French of, 70, 85,
89; hostage, 83, 90
Vandalia, I46, 147, 151.   See Grand
Ohio Company
Van Meter, Henry, 22
Veech, James, quoted, 64
Venango, Fort, 31, 43, 47, 6z
Vernon, Admiral Edward, 39
Villiers, Coulon de, 8I, 83, 84, 85, 86,
88
Virginia, colony of, claim of, to Ohio
Valley, 31, 32, 67, 92, 96, 99, Ixo;
executive council of, 140, I47
Virginia Assembly, mistrusts Dinwiddie,
53; authorizes volunteers, 55, 565 Dinwiddie appeals to, 92; difficulties of,
with Dinwiddie, 96; aids in French
and Indian War, I26; Washington a
member   of,  I33;  approved  James
River improvement, 204
Virginia Gazette, quoted, 67, 2II-I3
Voltaire, quoted, 8i
Von Steuben. See Steuben
\WAKEFIELD,"        3;   Washington's
birthplace, 4
Walker, Thomas, explorer, 33
Walpole, Horace, quoted, 8i, 97
Walpole, Thomas, I39, 141
"Walpole Grant," 139, I41. See Vandalia
War of the English Succession. See King
William's War
Ward, Ensign Edward, 60, 6i, 71
Warm Springs, 26, 134, I35, 175
Washington, Anne Fairfax, 14
Washington,    Augustine,  father   of
George, 4, 5; directs George's education, 8; business interests of, 14
Washington, Augustine, half-brother of
George, 3, I;I; at Bridges Creek, I1;
George's sojourn with, I3;5 promotel
of Ohio Company, 32; interest of, in
Ohio Company, 134
Washington, Bushrod, I8o
Washington, Charles, 3, 32, 175
Washington, Elizabeth (Betty), 3, I5
Washington, George, ancestry and youth
of, 3; traits of character of, 35 tribute
of to mother, 5; Indian name of, 6;
education of, 7-15; chain and compass
drawing by, 9, 25; "Rules of Civility"
of, 12; sojourns at Mount Vernon, 13;
journies in 1748 beyond Blue Ridge,
I8-23;  describes Indian  dance, 22;
surveys for Lord Fairfax, 235 surveyor of Culpeper County, 25; visits
Barbadoes, 26; surveys, 265 adjutant
of militia, 27, 34; inherits Mount Vernon, 27; survey books of, 27 i surveyor, 28; land owner, 29; returns
from Barbadoes, 34; messenger to
French, 36-49; Diary of, 39; describes
Forks of Ohio, 40; at Logstown, 42;
delivers letter to St. Pierre, 44; interviews St. Pierre, 46; "Account" of
journey to French of, 48, 49, 50;
crosses the Allegheny, 48; is commissioned lieutenant colonel, 50o map of
"Journey to the Ohio" (i753) of, 5I  
military  experience  (I753) of, 52  
recruits soldiers at Alexandria, 52, 56;
at Old Town, 60o    builds road into
interior,  6 5  makes   request  for
"Spirit," 62; at Great Meadows, 6z2;
resents  discriminations  against Virginia militia, 63; part of, in Jumonville affair, 65-725 letter of May 29,
1754 of, to Dinwiddie, 68-69; comments on French accounts of Jumonville skirmish, 69, 705 comments on
Jumonville skirmish, 72i builds Fort
Necessity, 73; takes French prisoners,INDEX
73; makes efforts to win Indians, 75;
disputes with Mackay, 76    negotiates
with Indians, 77; sends scouts, 77, 78j
at Fort Necessity, 85, 86; describes
Fort Necessity, 87, 88j recruits army
at Alexandria, 89; and Fort Necessity,
go; again at Alexandria, 92; patriotism of, 93; retires to Mount Vernon,
93-95; accompanies Braddock, 97, 98;
finances Braddock's expedition, Ioo0
advises Braddock, Io4; in "Battle of
Monongahela,"   Io6-7j makes report
of Braddock's   defeat,  I07-8;  commander-in-chief, III; formally declares
war on France, I I3; prescribes uniforms for militia, I I4   defends the
frontier, II4-31; visits Boston, Ii6;
sentiments of, aroused, I 7; problems
of discipline of, II8; chain of forts
of, I I9; letter of, to John Robinson,
I22;  defends his administration   to
Loudoun, I22; writes John Robinson,
122, 123; defeated in election to House
of Burgesses, I24; accused of padding
pay rolls, 124; granted leave, I25;
engaged to marry, 125; elected to
House   of  Burgesses,  125;  opposes
building  Forbes's  Road,  127,  I28;
makes account of fall of Fort Duquesne,
1 3 I; leaves the army, I 3 I; reflects on
experiences, 1I3I; tobacco grower, 32;
administers Custis estates, 132; business activities of, I33; member of
Burgesses, 133; Mason, 133; loses interest in army, I34; interested in western lands, 134; Bullskin estate of,
I34; visits Warm Springs, 134, I35;
advises John Posey, I36; attempts to
get good lands, 137, I39; asks permission to survey land, I40; journies
(1770) to West, I40; at Fort Pitt,
141; descends Ohio, I42; at mouth of
Great Kanawha, I42; locates lands,
144; defends soldiers' land rights, I48;
plans visit to Trans-Allegheny, I49;
interest in Kentucky lands, I50; Perryopolis mill of, I54, 174; member
First Continental Congress, I55; attitude of toward Dunmore's War, 157;
and the Great Kanawha settlement,
1 6,  I57;   commander-in-chief   of
269
American army, 158, I6o; plans to
retire  beyond  Alleghenies, I62;  at
Newburg, I63; land speculations of,
I63; letter of, to Landon Carter, I65;
opposes  Natchez   expedition,  i68;
makes efforts to drive British from
Northwest Territory,   I70;  western
lands of, I73, 177; journies (1784)
to West, 175-8I; and the "Ceceders,"
177, 178; "Reflections" of, I82; plans
to connect East and West, I83-86;
quoted on Potomac navigation, 184;
letter of, to Governor Harrison, 185,
I86; letter of, to R. H. Lee, I86, 187;
opposes Connecticut Reserve, I88; on
Mississippi navigation, I89; realizes
hopes regarding West, I91j opposes
O'Fallon enterprise, 193; tendency of,
to Federalists, I95; and Whiskey Rebellion, 200-3  defends republicanism,
203; favors admission of Kentucky,
203, 204; western lands of, 204; heirlooms of, 205; swords of, 205; relics
of, 206; Farewell Address of, 2o6;
selects Harpers Ferry as arsenal site,
207; place in history, 208-10
Washington, Henry, 20
Washington, Jane, 4
Washington, John, 3
Washington, John, great-grandfather of
George, 6
Washington, John W., 205
Washington, Lawrence, grandfather. of
George, q
Washington, Lawrence, half-brother of
George, 3; directs George's education,
8; George sojourns with, I 3; joins
Admiral Vernon, 14;   death of, 26;
promoter of Ohio Company, 32; president of Ohio Company, 34
Washington, Lawrence Augustine, 206
Washington, Mary Ball, mother of
George, 3, 4; teaches her children, 4;
influences of, on her son George, 5;
refuses to let George go to sea,  5;
opposes George's bent for war, 52
Washington, Martha Dandridge-Custis,
wife  of George, I32;    supplements
family income, 132
Washingtoin, Mary Dorcas, 2o6
Washington, Richard, 123
Washington, Samuel, 3, 32INDEX
Washington, Samuel W., 205
Washington, Warner, 175, I8I
Washington, William Augustine, 205
Washington, William Augustine, Jr., 206
Waterford, Penna., 44
Wayne, Anthony, 198, I99
Weiser, Conrad, Indian agent, 31, 32;
quoted, 86, 87
West, Hugh, Jr., I24
West, Lieutenant John, 63
West Florida, I50
Westminister Journal, quoted, 53
Wharton, Samuel, 31, 139
Wheeling, W. Va., 206
"Whiskey Boys," 202
Whiskey Rebellion, 195, 200, 203
White Mingo, Indian chief, x4I
Wilkinson, James, I93
William and Mary College, 24, 34, 58
Williamsburg, Va., 39, 40, 48, 52, 73,
89, 133
Wills Creek, base for Ohio Company, 33,
39; Washington's conference at, 6I,
74; Colonel Fry killed at, 74; attempt of Washington to reach, 78, 85,
88, 89
Winchester (Frederick Town), Va., 23,
24, 25, 35, 39; Indian conference at,
57; 96, Ioo, 112, I13
Woelper, John David, 153
Wolfe, James, 134
Wood, James, I0o
Wood, John, I54
Wormley, Ralph, I75
YADKIN River, 33
Yazoo Company, 193
Youghiogheny River,
I8o, 182, I84
33, 62, 63, I74,CHAPTER II
THE FRONTIER SURVEYOR
JUST AS George Washington was entering his sixteenth year an
arrangement was made whereby he and his friend and companion, George William Fairfax, accompanied beyond the Blue
Ridge Mountains a party of surveyors which Lord Fairfax was
sending out to prepare his lands for tenantry. So far as available records disclose Washington received no compensation for
his services on this journey, if indeed he was expected to perform any. Indications are that it was somewhat of a lark for
him, arranged doubtless by his gracious and wise friend, Lord
Fairfax.1
More than any other person, except his mother and his halfbrothers, Lawrence and Augustine, Lord Fairfax influenced and
determined the early career of George Washington. Before
I748 they had met at Belvoir, and Fairfax had become interested in Washington's efforts to learn surveying, in his
friends, especially young George William Fairfax, and in their
sports and athletic achievements. Here young Washington
doubtless learned from Fairfax himself of the history and conventions of the Old World and received first impressions of the
comparatively greater opportunities of the New World. In any
event, Fairfax's concern for his young protege was such that he
did not hesitate to advise his mother regarding his schooling
and other matters pertaining to his welfare.2
Through their common interest in the Northern Neck,
Washington as a surveyor and Fairfax as owner, the friendship
thus formed ripened into an arrangement beneficial and agreeable to both. As finally determined, these lands included all
the territory between the Rappahannock and the Potomac
rivers, aggregating more than five million acres. In I649
[ I8 ]LORD FAIRFAX
-'Jromt an oil portrait in t.he Masonic Lodge Hall, Alexanzdria, VirgiiaziaTHE FRONTIER SURVEYOR
Charles II had granted this vast estate to Lord Culpeper and
others as a refuge for Cavaliers, but Culpeper's son, the governor of Virginia, later acquired all the ungranted claims thereto,
his father's by inheritance and the others by purchase. His
agents managed his estate so badly, however, that repeated
efforts were made to dispossess him in the public interest.3 Consequently when Fairfax inherited his Virginia lands, they were
under a ban capable of varied uses in the hands of avaricious
lawyers and designing politicians.
Complicating this situation Germans and Scotch-Irish were
then pushing into that part of the Northern Neck west of the
Blue Ridge Mountains. Ignoring the Fairfax claims, some came
as squatters, while others purchased lands from rival claimants,
notably Yost Hite. Accordingly Fairfax petitioned the King to
determine his rights in the matter, and in I735 he came to
Virginia to give his interests there personal attention. He remained two years. In this time he was able to make a satisfactory arrangement with the Virginia Assembly, which mitigated
somewhat the objections to his feudal holdings and brought
them into greater favor with the English Privy Council. As a
result, but not until I745, the King confirmed the validity of
the Fairfax title to the whole of the Northern Neck but on
condition that all legal grants made to others therein prior to
that date be respected and confirmed. To determine the legality
of a grant to Yost Hite, in I736 Fairfax instituted a suit which
was not finally adjudicated until several years after his death.
The legality of his holdings having been confirmed, Lord
Fairfax lost no time in taking possession of them. To this end,
in I746, a company of surveyors ran the famous "Fairfax
Boundary Line" which connected the head springs of the Rappahannock and the North Branch of the Potomac rivers.4 In
the same year they planted at the latter "Fairfax Stone." The
following year Lord Fairfax emigrated to America and after a
sojourn at Belvoir, during which he was in touch with his
western interests, he moved permanently to "Greenway Court,"
a hunting lodge previously built for him but under his direction,
I920              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
on a site about eleven miles from the present city of Winchester,
Virginia. To this day the approach of this lodge is indicated by
a white post planted on the public highway at a place known as
"White Post."
In this retreat this strange man, a tart old bachelor, lived
a life that savored somewhat of the American frontiersman of
his day. He became a justice of the peace with authority in,each county of his proprietary domain, and in I754, under a
commission from Governor Dinwiddie, acted as county lieutenant of militia. As Greenway Court was quite adequate to
his needs, his proposed feudal mansion remained only a dream,
its would-be lord living instead in the utmost simplicity.' Each
year he imported new clothes of the latest model but, unlike his
protege, George Washington, Fairfax did not wear them. A
titular aristocrat, being the only resident English peer in America, he lived the life of a democrat; an alleged Tory, there is no
record of his having raised his voice in defense of English
royalty.
Consequently till his death, December 9, I78I, Fairfax was
accorded all the privileges of a patriot Virginian, honored and
respected even in the bitterest days of the Revolution. Upon
being informed of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, he is reported to have said: "Take me to bed, Joe. It is
time for me to die," a statement capable of more than one
interpretation. Apropos of this, let it be remembered that Lord
Fairfax, the Virginian, was a direct descendant of Lord Fairfax,
the Parliamentary leader who, in I646, vainly commanded
Colonel Henry Washington to surrender into his hands Worcester, a Royalist stronghold. The dust of the sixth Lord Fairfax reposes in a crypt beneath Christ Church, Winchester,
Virginia.5
Even before the ownership of the unappropriated lands in
the Northern Neck had been definitely determined, Lord Fairfax had made known his desire to open, to settle, and to develop
them. As the first surveying party sent out for these purposes
had experienced no mishaps or unusual adventures, youngWashington was allowed to accompany the party going beyond
the mountains in the spring of I748. This party was in charge
of James Genn, the county surveyor of Prince William County
and a man of many adventures in the wilderness. Accompanied
by young Washington, rodmen, chainmen, and other attendants,
Genn set out March i i. Going by way of Ashby's Gap and
Greenway Court he made his first important stop on the South
Branch of the Potomac where that stream intersected the "Fairfax Boundary" which had been determined two years previously.6 Washington kept a diary of his experiences and
adventures.
On March 30, after making a few surveys on or near the
Shenandoah River, where they were delayed by swollen streams,
over which they swam their horses and conveyed themselves in
canoes, the party reached its destination and began its "Intended
Business of Laying off Lots," which was not allowed to become
monotonous. Hardly a day passed that someone of the party
did not kill a wild turkey or two. They cooked meat by holding
it over the fire on forked sticks and used bark for dishes. They
had scarcely become settled before a "bolstering" night wind
carried away their tent, making it necessary for the entire party
"to Lie ye Latter part of ye night without covering," drenched
by the rain. A few days later they were surprised by "a great
Company of People Men Women and Children," who came to
inspect their strange operations and to attend them "through
ye Woods."7
Despite their solicitude for his welfare and their efforts to
help him, Washington's first impressions of these people"Pennsylvania Dutch"-were not very favorable. Fresh from his
comfortable living quarters, his wholesome and generous repasts,
and his formal and proper contacts, he had not yet developed
those traits which, when acquired later, permitted him to go to
school anywhere and to learn as long as he lived. He was only
a boy, and these strange people apparently annoyed him, for,
said he, "they would never speak English but when spoken to
they speak all Dutch," which, together with their "Antick
THE FRONTIER SURVEYOR
2122              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
tricks," led him to conclude that they were "as Ignorant a Set
of People as the Indians."8 It was not with great regret therefore that the party, April 6, prepared to leave "ye. Branch."
Going by way of Henry Van Meter's, they came the next day
to Peter Cassey's, where Washington had his first night's rest
"in a House since I came to ye Branch."9 Six days later they
were at home.
In other ways than those just indicated, this initiation to the
wilderness prepared Washington for the trying ordeals which
were before him. March 23, while sojourning with Colonel
Thomas Cresap at Old Town on the Potomac at the mouth of
the South Branch, he first saw wild Indians near their native
haunts, when a band of thirty odd warriors stopped there. They
had only one scalp and seemed somewhat dejected; but, when
given "Liquor," their spirits revived, and they executed a war
dance which Washington described in these words: "They clear
a Large Circle and make a Great Fire in y. middle then seats
themselves around it y. Speaker makes a grand speech telling
them in what Manner they are to Daunce after he has finished
y. best Dauncer jumps up as one awaked out of a Sleep and runs
and Jumps about y. Ring in a most comical Manner he is followed by y. Rest then begins there Musicians to Play ye. Musick
is a Pot half [full] of Water with a Deerskin Stretched over it
as tight as it can and a goard with some Shott in it to Rattle
and a Piece of an horses Tail tied to it to make it look fine y.
one keeps Rattling and y. other Drumming all y. while y. others
is Dauncing."10
More disillusioning was the knowledge which this journey
brought to Washington of the actual living conditions of people of his own race. Horrible as their language must have been
to one of his contacts, their manner of living was worse; but
it enabled him to see for the first time how the other half of
the world lived. As no improvement can be made upon his
naive manner of recording this discovery, Washington will speak
for himself: "we got our Supper and was lighted into a Room
and I not being so good a Woodsman as ye rest of my CompanyTHE FRONTIER SURVEYOR                  23
striped myself very orderly and went in to ye Bed as they called
it when to my Surprize I found it to be be nothing but a Little
Straw-Matted together without Sheets or any thing else but
only one thread Bear blanket with double its Weight of Vermin
such as Lice Fleas c I was glad to get up (as soon as y. Light
was carried from us) I put on my Cloths and Lay as my Companions. Had we not been very tired I am sure we should not
have slep'd much that night I made a Promise not to Sleep so
from that time forward chusing rather to sleep in y. open Air
before a fire as will appear hereafter."'" Two days later he
reached Frederick Town [Winchester], where he found his baggage and bathed himself, thus getting "Rid of y. Game we had
catched y. Night before."l2
The novelties and vicissitudes of these experiences were not
their only important features. True to the traditions of the
man in the making, Washington never lost sight of the beauties
of the country through which he passed, particularly its rich
lands. As he approached his Lordship's quarters on his way
out, he was struck by the "beautiful Groves of Sugar Trees"
and spent "ye. best part of y. Day in admiring ye. Trees and
richness of ye. Land."'3  The confidence and hope in the expanding West thus inspired, together with the example of his
benefactor, were doubtless in a measure responsible for Washington's decision at this time to invest in western lands. Although the sum then expended was not large, it was the first
step in the acquisition of that vast acreage later owned by Washington in the West. The payment was an initial one on a tract
of 550 acres located on Bullskin Creek in Frederick County,
near Greenway Court.l4
Elated by the thrills that came to most normal persons of
the earlier period of American history because of the consciousness of being landowners in their own rights, Washington nevertheless was not satisfied. His interest in surveying
continued to appeal to Lord Fairfax who shortly after Washington's initial journey beyond the Blue Ridge gave him more
or less regular employment as a surveyor. But preoccupation24              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
in this did not keep him from using the library at Greenway
Court; at odd intervals he also studied military tactics; he lost
few opportunties to take a turn at the broadsword with soldiers
who visited Major Washington at Mount Vernon; and at no
time did he neglect his mother who was as accessible from
Greenway Court as from Mount Vernon. During the surveying seasons of I749-I75I he was in the field, far and near, incidentally increasing his knowledge of and acquaintance among
the newly arrived settlers, as his business opened their doors
to him. Consequently, it has been truthfully said: "the engaging mixture in him of man and boy, must have become
familiar to everybody worth knowing throughout all the
Northern Neck."15
In November, I749, he wrote of his experiences on the frontier: "since you receid my Letter in October Last I have not
sleep'd above three Nights or four in a bed but after walking
a good deal all the Day lay down before the fire upon a Little
Hay Straw Fodder or bairskin whichever is to be had with
Man Wife and Children like a Parcel of Dogs or Catts and
happy's he that gets the Birth nearest the fire there's nothing
would make it pass of[f] tolerably but a good Reward a Dubbleloon is my constant gain every Day that the Weather will
permit my going out and sometime Six Pistoles... I have
never had my cloths of but lay and sleep in them like a Negro
except the few Nights I have lay'n in Frederick Town.""'
Meanwhile young Washington graduated from the school
of experience, and, strange as it may seem, the documentary evidence thereof was conferred by William and Mary College.
Through its charter that institution was given the office of surveyor general of Virginia, which carried with it the right to
appoint all county surveyors and to retain one-sixth of all fees
collected for their services in laying off new lands. The college
took its rights and privileges in this matter seriously, all surveyors being appointed by its faculty, usually after a preliminary
examination. After only a little more than one year of pracTHE FRONTIER SURVEYOR                  25
tical experience Washington, July 20, I749, passed the required
tests and was duly licensed as a county surveyor.17
DRAWN BY GEORGE WASHINGTON IN I 750
Shortly thereafter, July 20, I749, Washington was made
surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, at an annual salary
of approximately fifty pounds. Thus at the age of seventeen
he became a public official. Before entering upon the discharge
of his duties, "he took the usual oaths to His Majesty's person
and government, and took and subscribed to the adjuration oath
and test, and then took the oath of surveyor."18 Fortunately
the duties of the office did not occupy him completely, and he
continued, from time to time, in the employ of Lord Fairfax
and others, making his headquarters at Winchester, where he
had an office which he later used as a military headquarters.19GEORGE WASH INGTON
From the "VTirqgitia Coloanel" portsrait by Charles Willsoiz Peale, painted at
Moalnt Veraloa i?l 7 77: w evz e I/ashington uvas forty years of age.  The original hangs in the Lee MIemzorial Chapel of Washlington and Lee University at
Lexingtonl, Virginia. Conlrtesy, of Unlited States George WashiJngton Bicente'nnial Commission for the celebration of the T'vo Hulndiredith Anniversary of
the Birth of George Washington.WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Washington's professional career was temporarily interrupted in I75I, when, at the age of nineteen, it became his duty
and privilege to accompany his half-brother, Lawrence, to Barbadoes in a quest for health.20 Never robust, Lawrence's constitution had suffered during those long months spent in the torrid South with Admiral Vernon's fever-stricken fleet, and a
fatal consumption had fastened itself upon him. Neither a trip
to England nor to the waters of Berkeley Springs, to which
George accompanied him, brought relief, and his physicians
ordered a sojourn in a tropical climate. George, whom Lawrence loved and trusted, was asked to accompany him on what
proved to be the only journey of the former beyond his native
land. As if it had been a request from his mother, he consented, thus entering a new field of service generally conceded
to belong to women of the most delicate and considerate qualities.
Upon his return from Barbadoes Washington was engaged
professionally on several occasions. During the latter part of
March, I752, he undertook a surveying expedition of a month's
duration along the waters of Lost River, the Bullskin, Capon
River, Dillon's Run, and other streams. The following spring
found him again on the frontier making surveys in what are now
Hardy, Hampshire, and Jefferson counties, West Virginia. In
January, April, and August, I753, he made trips to Frederick
County, apparently in connection with matters related to his
profession, but there is meager evidence of surveys which he
made that year. Although his short professional career soon
came to a close, his journals and papers enumerate over two
hundred people for whom he made surveys or transacted business during his four years as a surveyor on the frontier.
Lawrence Washington's death, July 26, I752, had, in fact,
changed the course of George's life, putting "a final term to his
youth," and bringing him into man's responsibilities in advance
of his years. Before setting out for Barbadoes, Lawrence had
arranged to transfer to George his place in the militia and had
obtained for him the promise of a commission. Governor Din26THE FRONTIER SURVEYOR
widdie, newly arrived in Virginia, kept this promise by dividing Virginia into four military districts and assigning one of
them to young Washington with the rank of adjutant of militia.2'
This was not only a tribute to the deceased Lawrence, but was
also a recognition of George's accomplishments as an engineer.
At first, November, I752, he was assigned to the "Southern
District" composed of counties south of the James River, but
in November, I 753, he was given the adjutancy of the Northern
Neck which embraced his home.22
In private affairs also Lawrence's death effected a great
change in his half-brother's plans. By Lawrence's will, confirming a provision of their father's will, George became residuary legatee of Mount Vernon, in case Lawrence's only surviving child died. As this child, Sarah, survived her father only
a few weeks, George came shortly into possession of his brother's estate, except for a life interest belonging to his sister-inlaw who married George Lee and accepted an annual allowance
in tobacco in lieu of formal possession. Thus, just as he was
rounding twenty, George Washington became a large landholder in his own right. Moreover, many things other than
his profession demanded attention. Most important of all, he
was the executor of his brother's estate; and his mother's affairs could not be neglected. It was at this time that he sojourned at his mother's home, surveyed lands for his brotherin-law, Fielding Lewis, and supervised home affairs, possibly
with a view to taking over, the following year, the estates which
his father had bequeathed to him on the Rappahannock River.
Despite these forced changes, Washington remained a surveyor and an engineer. Had his brother lived, George would
doubtless have continued in the active practice of his profession and would have spent more time upon the frontier. As
it was, these experiences rounded out his character, heightened
his realistic objectives, and perfected his efficiency and method.
His "Book of Surveys" shows his extreme care for detail and
his considerable skill. Many of his surveys still exist, unquestioned as to their accuracy.
27WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Although Washington's vocation was not the first choice
of his parents, his brothers, or himself, it is doubtful whether
he could have chosen one that would have fitted him better
for the course before him. The hardships and dangers that
he encountered in surveying a virgin forest wilderness of
swamps, rivers, and mountains, were comparable to those one
would now encounter on a journey to the heart of Africa or on
the plains of Manchuria, and they fitted him for still other
adventures upon the frontier and in command of armed forces.
In addition to informing him regarding the extreme hardships
and ever-present dangers besetting the scattered and isolated
pioneers residing beyond the mountains and on the outskirts
of other settlements, begetting patience and confidence, Washington's experiences in surveying taught self-reliance and resourcefulness. Thus he was able to combine the functions of
military leader and executive with those of surveyor and architect. For instance, while assembling and rescuing the shattered remnants of Forbes's army, he did actual construction
work on Fort Pitt, and tradition has it that he had previously
used his own blacksmith to aid and hasten the construction of
Fort Loudoun, near Winchester.
Throughout his life Washington made frequent use of the
chain and the compass. As previously indicated, they served
him well as a military engineer. Because of the knowledge thus
gained, he appreciated the value of maps and charts to the armies
of the Revolution and secured the appointment of Robert
Erskine as the first geographer of the army. His knowledge
of surveying was of material benefit in the numerous enterprises
with which he later became associated. For instance, he aided
L'Enfant in laying out the grounds for the Federal Capital.
After retiring from the presidency Washington made a number
of surveys, and as close to his death as November, I799, he
surveyed some of his own lands south of Potomac Falls, making his own notes and transcribing them with the care which he
gave to his work while in the employ of Lord Falrfax.
More important still, as has been truthfully said: "Wash28THE FRONTIER SURVEYOR                   29
ington's observations [as a surveyor]... strengthened and deepened his conviction that landownership was the most important
factor of colonial development."23  As a consequence he early
became a landowner in his own right and added to his landed
possessions, rarely parting with any, until well along in life.
His familiarity with Lord Fairfax's large holdings and his contacts with numerous smaller owners and their rivalries only
confirmed the fact that "landownership seemed the most important thing in the daily life of the gentlemen around him."
It was therefore with real zest and enthusiasm that he entered
upon the next phase of his life, that of asserting England's ownership to the Ohio Valley.CHAPTER III
A GRAND ADVENTURE1
WHILE George Washington was surveying lands for Lord
Fairfax and others, pursuing fruitless and impossible affairs
with his "Lowland Beauty" and others, and trying to nurse his
favorite brother to health, the stage was being set for a contest
between the French and English for ownership of the Ohio
Valley, and between the Pennsylvanians and Virginians for control of "the Forks" of the Ohio, including the surrounding territory. So far as England and France were concerned this contest had been on for more than half a century, and it continued
even longer. Beginning in I689 with King William's War, or
the War of the English Succession, echoes of the French and
English struggle for North America ceased to be heard only
with the overthrow of Napoleon; all the important intervening
wars entailed loss of life and destruction of property in America.
The impending conflict was only one of several in what has been
fittingly called the "Second Hundred Years War," but it
marked a turning point in world events and gave birth to the
British Empire, child of William Pitt, the Elder.
At this stage the French took the initiative. Although their
claims under the alleged discovery of the Ohio River by La
Salle (I669-I670) have long since been exploded,2 they were
then seriously asserted. More effective still were their permanent settlements in the Illinois Country and along the lower
Mississippi River and the fact that a more or less uninterrupted commerce had long been maintained between these settlements. In the meantime French traders had penetrated the
Ohio Valley carrying the fruits of their activities to Great Lake
posts and other points.3
Finally, stimulated by counter activities of the English,
[30]particularly the Pennsylvanians, in I749, one Celoron in behalf
of the French, had planted leaden plates at several points on
the Ohio River, to assert their claims to exclusive ownership.
At the same time they warned the Governor of Pennsylvania
to keep his traders out of French territory, since "our Commandant-General would be very sorry to be forced to use violence."4 In preparation for such a contingency, they, nevertheless, began to build a line of forts all the way from Lake
Erie to the lower Mississippi. Already they had arrested English traders and carried them to Canada, while others, notably
John Frazier located at Venango, were driven from their posts.
In the counter movement on the part of the English, the
Pennsylvanians took the lead and that too despite the early
warnings of Governor Spotswood and other Virginians, including William Byrd, the Elder, of impending trade dangers to
their colony. With the city of brotherly love and its peaceloving traditions as a base of operations and with Benjamin
Franklin and Samuel Wharton to aid financially and otherwise,
George Croghan, Conrad Weiser, and other traders and agents
penetrated the upper Ohio country while George Washington
was yet a youth.5 Before Washington was ten years old Croghan owned a farm of twelve hundred acres on the Pennsylvania
border, where he built a house which became a rendezvous for
Indian and white traders. Thence, aided by Croghan's intimate
knowledge of Indian diplomacy the English penetrated the
Indiatl country to and beyond the Ohio River.
Under these benign influences Pennsylvanians were pushing
into the region about the upper Ohio,6 and but for the flat refusal of their colonial government, under traditional Quaker
influences, to build a fort at "the Forks" for the protection of
traders, settlers, and friendly Indians, the story of the conquest
of the Ohio Valley might have been differently told. Indeed,
the whole course of American history might have been altered.
In the meantime the Virginians were not indifferent to developments beyond the mountains, but their suspicions of Pennsylvanians were greater stimuli to immediate action than was
3I
A GRAND ADVENTURE32              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
their concern for French pretentions. Under a Charter of I609
to the Virginia Company, Virginia claimed most of the country
in dispute. It was also maintained that Batts and Fallam, Virginians, were the first explorers of record to discover waters
flowing into the Ohio. In quest of furs Virginia traders had
reached the Ohio, possibly before either Croghan or Weiser,
and the undetermined location of the common boundary line
between Pennsylvania and Virginia west of the mountains, had
already given rise to uncompromising claims regarding the
ownership of the Monongahela Valley.7
In a very real way the early eighteenth-century movement
of Virginia planters beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains was a
part of the larger westward movement which soon followed into
the Trans-Allegheny. Not satisfied with acquiring choice lands
in the former region for themselves and locating Pennsylvania
Dutch and Scotch-Irish settlers upon the refuse, Lord Fairfax
and his young surveyor had little difficulty in inducing friends
and relatives in tidewater Virginia to become original patentees
of lands west of the mountains and to settle there. This was
notably true of Washington's brothers, Samuel and Charles,
each of whom settled in the Shenandoah Valley upon lands
originally purchased from Lord Fairfax in I747, by their halfbrother, Lawrence. Here they lived and reared large families;
Samuel married five times and had more children than money.
To this day the Washington estates, "Harewood" and "Mordington," are well-known landmarks. Charles Washington
owned the site of and laid out Charles Town, the present county
seat of Jefferson County, West Virginia.8
Sensing the far-reaching importance to Virginia of this intercolonial and international rivalry for trade and lands, in I748
Lawrence and Augustine Washington, Thomas Lee, president
of the Council of Virginia, John Bradbury, a London merchant,
and others organized the Ohio Company. It was promised a
grant of two hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio River,
on condition that the company erect and maintain a fort, and
within seven years, settle a hundred families thereon. AnotherA GRAND ADVENTURE                    33
grant of three hundred thousand acres awaited the successful
fulfillment of the conditions of the first.9
In the midst of much opposition, politicians and speculators
being increasingly fearful of encroachments upon Virginia's
western lands by imperial grants such as those made to Lord
Baltimore and to William Penn, the Ohio Company prepared to
comply with the conditions of its grant and thus to make it
effective. To this end the company imported a large quantity
of goods from the mother country to be used in the Indian
trade, established a base of operations at Wills Creek, now Cumberland, and engaged Colonel Thomas Cresap to open a wagon
road thence to a point on the Youghiogheny River about eighty
miles distant. With the aid of Nemacolin, a trusted Delaware
Indian, this road was "blazed" in I750, and, in the same year,
some months after Dr. Thomas'Walker had set out to explore
a similar grant of I00oo,ooo acres for the Greenbrier Land Company in what is now central eastern West Virginia, Christopher
Gist was sent by the Ohio Company to locate its lands and to
determine the general conditions on the extreme frontier.
Because Gist was Washington's forerunner in the wilderness, he is here given more than passing mention. A native
Marylander and a surveyor by profession, at the time he entered
the employ of the Ohio Company, he was a farmer living on
the Yadkin River in North Carolina near the home of Daniel
Boone. Going by way of the "Reystown Path," on October 20,
I750, he reached the Forks where he found the natives in a
state of unrest. Disguising his real mission of land prospector
for the acquisitive "Long Knives" whose reputation for close
bargaining had p;receded them, thanks to the Pennsylvanians
and the French, Gist concealed his compass and was accepted by
the Indians as a friend. Thus he was able to penetrate the
country beyond the Ohio to a point on the waters of the Great
Miami, encountering as he went many Pennsylvania traders,
including George Croghan, and unmistakable evidences of
French hostility to Virginians. He returned through Kentucky34              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
by way of the Cumberland foothills, and, after a short visit at
his home, made a report to his employers.10
Although the Ohio Company found Gist's report discouraging, it was not half so much so as was the opposition the Company was then encountering among Virginians. The Governor
and Council had refused to allow the company to survey lands,
as desired; the faculty of William and Mary College had also
refused to commission a surveyor for that purpose; and the
Governor and Council had made out "large grants to private
persons, landjobbers, to the amount of I,400,ooo acres." As a
consequence the members of the Ohio Company feared that
they might "be prevented from fulfilling their covenant of settling the lands and completing their Fort in the time specified."
Relying upon the royal favor, in November, I75I, they again
sent Gist into the interior upon another prospecting expedition
and awaited developments. Beset by the opposition of interested but non-participating Virginians, by the intrigues of the
Pennsylvanians, and by the growing hostility of the French,
they were forced to this action.
At this juncture conditions took a turn favorable to action by
Virginians regarding their frontier. Shortly before Lawrence
Washington left for Barbadoes in search of health (I75I) he
became president of the Ohio Company. Although George's
early return was primarily to bring his brother's wife, Anne
Fairfax Washington, out to Bermuda, whither Lawrence intended to go, it is a fair presumption that George was interested
in other phases of his brother's affairs. However that may be,
about the same time, the energetic and somewhat impetuous
Robert Dinwiddie became governor of Virginia and incidentally
a shareholder in the Ohio Company. It may be significent also
that George Washington, on his way home from BarbadoesTl
and bearing greetings and good wishes from his brother, called
to see the new governor; that, a few months later, following
Lawrence's death in July, 1752, George went to Williamsburg
to receive from Dinwiddie personally a commission as adjutant
for the Southern District of Virginia;l2 and that Lord Fairfaxhad meanwhile visited Dinwiddie and continued to pay him his
respects.
Being interested primarily in permanent settlements rather
than in trade, as yet only a few Virginians favored an aggressive
policy in the interior. Outstanding among them were Lord
Fairfax; the Washingtons, and the Governor. Had Lawrence
Washington lived, he, in all probability, would have become
their military, as well as their executive, leader, but with his
death Dinwiddie himself assumed active direction of the affairs
of the Ohio Company, which gave it a semblance of official approval. In this capacity Dinwiddie urged action as necessary
to preserve the Protestant religion and human liberty. Little
was said of his investments. Instead he vainly implored the
assembly for aid and attempted to allay the opposition of the
Pennsylvanians to the proposed settlements by offering them
the quit rents therefrom until such time as the common boundary line between Pennsylvania and Virginia could be determined.
Equally if not more constructive were Dinwiddie's efforts
to allay the suspicions and secure the cooperation of interested
Indian tribes. To this end, in I752, Joshua Fry joined Christopher Gist and Indian chieftains of the upper Ohio for a conference at Logstown, a trading post located on the Ohio River
about twenty miles below the Forks on or near the present site
of Legionville, Pennsylvania. Probably more with a view to
his own colonial interests than to friendly understandings with
the Indians, Governor James Hamilton of Pennsylvania attended this conference which resulted in a treaty favorable to
the Virginians. It confirmed previous treaties, notably that
made at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in I744, and approved the
proposed settlements. Early the next year, in an effort to keep
the northern and the southern Indians friendly, William Fairfax met chiefs of the Iroquois at Winchester, gave them presents, and arranged for another conference the following year.
Thus, so far as the Ohio Company was concerned, the Indian
situation was promising, but it was admittedly not all that could
A GRAND ADVENTURE
35GEORGE WASHINGTON
AND
THE WEST
CHARLES H. AMBLER
Professor of history
West Virginia University
0
" LIBETASZ
CHAPEL HILL
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
I936WASIHINGTON AND THE WEST
be desired. While most Virginians did not yet insist that "The
only good Indian is a dead Indian," they were, as of old, willing
to extract desired land concessions from signs and grunts made
in the process of negotiating "solemn" and "binding" treaties.
For such transactions even those receiving no direct benefits
found salve for their consciences in the belief that these benighted children of the forest had found salvation, or at least
the opportunity to get it. Their ominous protests counted for
little, though pointed and unanswerable. For example, a Delaware chieftain at the Logstown conference said: "The French
claim all the land on one side of the river, and the English claim
all the land on the other side of the river. Just where is the
Indian's land? 1l3
Ignoring all such embarrassing inquiries, if indeed they were
embarrassing, Dinwiddie directed his attention to the French.
Although hostilities between them and the English were then
thought to be inevitable, the canny Governor was determined
not to be the aggressor. Accordingly in behalf of his Majesty
the King of England, Dinwiddie resolved to send to the erring
subjects of George's beloved cousin, the most Christian King of
France, a solemn warning to cease trespassing upon the preserves
of King George. For this mission Captain William Trent, a
partner of Benjamin Franklin, was first selected, but Trent advanced no farther than Logstown one hundred fifty miles short
of his destination. Here he heard that the French were advancing toward the upper Ohio in large numbers, having previously
defeated Indians friendly to the English, and he turned back,
winning for himself a possibly undeserved reputation for
cowardice.
It was under these conditions that Governor Dinwiddie
turned to George Washington, ward of a founder of the Ohio
Company, not yet twenty-two years old. Captain Trent having
failed, Washington was asked to carry a message of warning to
the French, it being understood also that he was to gather all
the information possible pertaining to conditions in the frontier.
The call was not entirely unexpected, since Washington had
36A GRAND ADVENTURE                   37
previously expressed a desire for it and had been groomed for
the opportunity by his friend, Lord Fairfax; but it was a moWASHINGTON'S JOURNEY TO FORT LE BOEUF, 1753WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
mentous undertaking for anyone, regardless of age, experience,
or friends. Countless thousands of men had already performed
daring feats and have continued to perform them, but rarely
did it fall to any to be sent into a veritable hotbed of intercolonial, international, and interracial strife fraught with the
bitterness of rival religions, pagan, Catholic, and Protestant, and
of rival systems and notions of government. The situation has
been aptly described by Professor Alvord:
The preparations of Virginia to extend her dominion over the
rich western territory by actual occupation were watched with increasing jealousy by the men of other colonies, who were far from
being satisfied with a policy that would place in the control of any
one province the exploitation of such a vast and valuable region. It
is therefore not strange that any plans promoted by them should
assume the form of a limitation of the territory of Virginia by the
erection of independent colonies. The city of Philadelphia in particular was very much interested in the disposition of the West, which
was well known there from the accounts of her merchants who at an
early date had sent their fur-trading representatives across the mountains. These traders, it was said, were so hostile to Virginia that they
were the chief agents in arousing among the Indians fears of the
threatened encroachments on their hunting-grounds and were therefore the real instigators of the war, because the French were induced
to enter the valley of the Ohio by the clamor of their Indian allies.14
Under such conditions the successful performance of a mission such as that entrusted by Dinwiddie to Washington, would
have entitled any person to an enviable place in history. Successful performance of this mission required the cunning of a
savage, the tact of a diplomat, the patience of a saint, the endurance of a beast of burden. However, it offered a grand
opportunity to play a role upon a world stage involving the
possession of a Golconda and the potentialities of empire.
Through experience and natural endowment, as well as through
the tutelage of his brother Lawrence and his friend, Lord Fairfax, Washington was prepared for the undertaking; nevertheless it was a grand adventure. Henceforth there were fewer
38A GRAND ADVENTURE
love affairs in his life, and like others of his name, he began to
show evidences of having been born old as well as wise.
On the first of his six journeys into the Trans-Allegheny
and with no companions of record in the Diary which he kept
of his adventures,l1 Washington left Williamsburg, October 3I,
I753, to deliver a letter of warning to the French Commandant
in the Ohio Valley, then supposed to be stationed at the Forks.
The next day he stopped at Fredericksburg to take leave of his
mother and to engage the services of a jolly Dutch adventurer,
Jacob Van Braam, to act as his French interpreter. As Van
Braam had been with Lawrence Washington under Admiral
Vernon at Carthagenia, had served the Washington family in
various capacities, and was supposed to know French, his choice
as Washington's companion for this mission was as natural as
it was agreeable. Gathering provisions, blankets, and guns at
Alexandria, and horses, tents, and other supplies at Winchester,
Washington and Van Braam pushed on to Wills Creek, now
Cumberland, which they reached November I4 in a rain and
snow storm.
The following day with Christopher Gist as guide, "Barnaby
Currin and John MacQuire, Indian Traders, Henry Steward,
and William Jenkins," servitors, Washington and Van Braam
pushed deeper into the wilderness.l6  Going by way of Gist's,
now Mount Braddock, Pennsylvania, and Jacob's, a settlement
near the present site of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, they did
not reach Frazier's on the Monongahela at the mouth of Turtle
Creek until the twenty-second of November. Excessive rain
and heavy snow prevented their earlier arrival. Here the good
news awaited them that the French General, Sieur de Marin,
sent to erect a fort at the junction of the Allegheny and the
Monongahela rivers, had died, and that the major part of the
French army had retired to winter quarters on the waters of the
upper Allegheny River.
With the way thus cleared, the Indians also veering to the
side of the English because of threatened aggressions of the
French, Washington's party pushed forward, the servitors carry3940              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
ing the baggage down the Monongahela to the Forks in a canoe,
while Washington and Gist proceeded to the same point on
horseback. As he reached his temporary objective before his
baggage, Washington had an opportunity to examine that
strategic point in some detail. At once he recognized its importance, for, said he, "it has the absolute Command of both
Rivers. The Land at the Point is 20 or 25 Feet above the common Surface of the Watter; and a considerable Bottome of flat,
well timbered land all around it, very convenient for Building:
The Rivers are each a Quarter of a Mile, or more, across, and
run here very near at right Angles."17
Swimming their horses across the Allegheny River at a
point near the present Manchester Bridge, Washington and his
companions continued about two miles to a place on the Ohio,
where lived Shingiss, king of the Delawares. Here the Ohio
Company had planned to build a fort, and for that reason
Washington examined the site with care. As compared with "the
Situation at the Forks," the proposed site did not appeal to him,
either for "Defence or Advantages," especially the latter:
"For," said he, "a Fort at the Forks would be equally well situated on the Ohio, and have the entire Command of the Monongahela; which runs up to our Settlements and is extremely
well designed for Water Carriage."'8  Later the French, the
English, and the American governments put their seals of approval upon the recommendations of this boy engineer.
Accompanied by Shingiss, the following day, the twenty-fifth
after he left Williamsburg, Washington reached "Loggs-Town."
Here lived Tanacharisson, a Seneca chief who, because he owed
allegiance to the Six Nations, was called the Half-King. For
some reason he was away from his village when Washington
arrived. Accordingly Tanacharisson and other sachems were
sent for, while Washington acted as host to "the other great
Men."
While the sachems were assembling, Washington used his
time to advantage. On the day following his arrival a number
of Frenchmen, deserters from a company stationed on BigA: GRAND ADVENTURE                   4I
Beaver Creek, came to Logstown on their way to Philadelphia.
"They were," reported Washington, "sent from New-Orleans
with Ioo men, and 8 Canoe-Loads of Provisions to this Place;
where they expected to have met the same Number of Men,
from the Forts on this Side Lake Erie, to convey them and the
Stores up, who were not arrived so they ran-off."l9 From them
he learned in detail the number, location, and strength of the
French forts on the Mississippi and in the Illinois country.
The same day, about three o'clock in the afternoon, the
Half-King reached home and upon invitation, went at once to
Washington's tent. Shortly before the Half-King, too, had
performed a mission of warning and inquiry to the French
Commandant, and Washington was anxious to learn from his
Indian friend of "the Particulars of his Journey"; of his reception, and of "the Ways and Distance." He reported the roads
bad and the temper of the French worse; for in reply to his
earnest entreaties, expressed in a formal speech, that the French
"Disturbers in this Land" leave it to its rightful owners, "the
Indians, as the English had agreed to do [sic]," the late French
Commandant, in a speech equally formal, had insulted the
Half-King by telling him that he owned no land, not even as
much as Sieur de Marin could carry under his finger nails.20
To all protests and warnings the French were reported to be
equally indifferent and insulting. It mattered not that the
Half-King called General Marin's attention to a former treaty
between his people and the French, in which they "set a silver
Bason before us, wherein there was the Leg of a Beaver, and
desir'd all the Nations to come and eat of it; to eat in Peace and
Plenty, and not to be churlish to one another: and that if any
such Person should be found to be a Disturber, I here lay down
by the edge of the Dish a Rod, which you must scourge them
with."2' Regardless of this, the general had called the Indians
flies and mosquitoes and declared the irrevocable intention of
his King to occupy their lands, peacefully if he could, but forcefully if he must. In proof \pf this resolve the Half-King called
attention to the fact that the French had already built forts,WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
one on Lake Erie and another on French Creek, both connected
by "a Large Waggon Road."22
On the following day Washington and the friendly sachems
met "in Council at the Long-House," where Washington and
the Half-King were the orators of the occasion. As Washington's speech was his first of record, being one of the few informal addresses he ever made that has been preserved, as it
betrays latent qualities which might have developed a diplomat,
and as Washington was his own reporter, his Logstown address
is here reproduced in full.
Brothers, I have called you together in Council by order of your
Brother, the Governor of Virginia, to acquaint you, that I am sent,
with all possible Dispatch, to visit, and deliver a Letter to the French
Commandant, of very great Importance to your Brothers, the English; and I dare say, to you their Friends and Allies.
I was desired, Brothers, by your Brother the Governor, to call
upon you, the Sachems of the Nations, to inform you of it, and to ask
your Advice and Assistance to proceed to the nearest and best Road
to the French. You see, Brothers, I have gotten thus far on my
Journey.
His Honour likewise desired me to apply to you for some of your
young Men, to conduct and provide Provisions for us on our Way;
and be a safe-guard against those French Indians who have taken up
the hatchet against us.  I have spoken thus particularly to you
Brothers, because his Honour our Governor treats you as good
Friends and Allies; and holds you in great Esteem. To confirm
what I have said, I give you this String of Wampum.23
In an equally formal speech the Half-King accepted this
evidence of the friendship of his "Brother the Governor" and
promised, with his help, to avenge himself of the insults recently
shown the Indians by the French. That his "Brothers may see
the Love and Loyalty we bear them," at the same time he
promised to send a guard to accompany Washington to the
French, asking only that he delay his departure long enough,
about three days, to permit the "French-Speech-Belt" to be
brought from Half-King's hunting cabin and to permit the
chieftains whom he had sent for to assemble.
42A GRAND ADVENTURE                    43
Urging the importance of his mission, and the necessity for
dispatch, Washington at first refused to comply with this request, but as the possibility of bringing about a complete breach
between the Indians and the French became more evident, even
the return of all mementoes of the peaceful relations between
them, he tarried from day to day, as requested. Meanwhile he
made friends of the sachems, and in so far as it was discreet to
do so, informed them of his plans and purposes. These conferences confirmed the decision of the French to retire temporarily, but gave assurances of their intention to return "in the
Spring, with a far greater Number," at which time they would
surely conquer their enemies, or, in their failure to do so, "they
and the English would join to cut them [the Indians] all off,
and divide the Land between them."24
Following a conference with "the great Men," the number
in his party having been increased from seven to twelve by the
addition of John Davison, an Indian interpreter, and by four
Indian guides, "the Half-King, Jeskakake, White Thunder, and
the Hunter," on November 30, Washington set out on the road
to Venango. As the result of a private conference the Indians
had'decided not to send more guides, so as not to arouse "the
French Suspicions of some bad Design." Descending the Ohio
to a point near the present Rochester, the Party cut across
country in a northeasterly direction, coming in about fifteen
miles to Murdering Town and in about thirty more to a path
leading to the Kuskuskies. Thence, almost direct, they reached
their destination, an old Indian town on the Allegheny, then
called the Ohio, about sixty miles from Logstown. Here they
found "the French Colours hoisted on a House from which
they had driven Mr. John Frazier, an English Subject."
It was at Venango that Washington first learned directly
from the French of their plans and purposes. At first Captain
Joncaire, the commander, treated him rather formally, inviting
his party to dine and assuming a rather complacent attitude;
but soon wine loosened the tongues of the French, and they
revealed their sentiments more freely. In this condition they44               WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
informed the Virginians "That it was their absolute Design to
take possession of the Ohio, and by G- they would do it.1"25
Although admitting the ability of the English to raise two men
to their one for service in the interior, they nevertheless chided
them with being "too slow and dilatory to prevent any Undertaking" of the French. As a consequence they did not hesitate
to reveal the exact location of their forts and the strength of
each.
The gasconade in this attitude was soon betrayed by Joncaire's sudden concern for Washington's Indian companions
whose presence had been concealed for a whole day. When
he learned of the stealth which had thus been perpetrated
upon him, Joncaire expressed great concern, but Washington
countered his craftiness with a compliment which also concealed
a warning. In this Joncaire was reminded of his "great Influence among the Indians" and of Washington's consequent concern for the loyalty of his guides. Undaunted, Joncaire continued to give them presents and to douse them with "Liquor
so fast, that they were soon rendered incapable of the Business
they came about," the surrender of the "Speech-Belt" and the
termination of peaceful relations. It took a whole day to put
the Half-King in condition to do this, but Joncaire refused to
take him seriously and continued to give him presents and wine.
It required all the resources of Washington, Gist, and Davison
to separate this child of the forest from his toys and his "spirit"
and to induce him to continue the journey.
Although defeated in the practice of a craftiness that approached diplomacy, Joncaire was not thereby bereft of courtesy.
Accordingly he sent a French Commissary, La Force, and three
soldiers to escort Washington's party to his superior, the new
commandant. Four days of hard travel through rain, snow,
mire, and swamps brought them, December i I, to their destination, Fort Le Boeuf, on French Creek at the present site of
Waterford, Pennsylvania, about twenty miles south of Erie.
Here they were introduced to Legardeur de St. Pierre, "an old
man with one eye," who only seven days before had succeededA GRAND ADVENTURE
the late General Marin in command. It was to him, a knight
of the military Order of St. Louis, that Washington delivered
Governor Dinwiddie's letter which said:
The Lands upon the River Ohio in the Western Parts of the
Colony of Virginia are so notoriously known to be the Property of
the Crown of Great Britain; that it is a Matter of equal Concern and
Surprize to me, to hear that a Body of French Forces are erecting
Fortresses, and making Settlements upon that River, within his
Majesty's Dominions....
It becomes my Duty to require your peaceable Departure; and
that you would forbear prosecuting a Purpose so interruptive of the
Harmony and good Understanding, which his Majesty is desirous to
continue and cultivate with the most Christian King. I persuade myself you will receive and entertain Major Washington with the
candour and Politeness natural to your Nation... your most
obedient Humble Servant, Robert Dinwiddie.26
This communication and its bearer St. Pierre received kindly
and courteously but his ignorance of English compelled him to
send for his relative and interpreter, Captain de Repentigny.
Fortunately for Washington, Captain Repentigny knew no more
English than Van Braam knew French, and thus it took some
time to translate Dinwiddie's letter. Meanwhile Washington
took advantage of "an opportunity of taking the Dimensions of
the Fort and making what Observations" he could, while his
companions, under his direction, made an inventory of the
canoes being built and assembled for military use the following
spring.27 Taking time by the forelock they also sent their halfstarved and exhausted horses back toward Venango, to save
them and to expedite their own return.
After two days deliberation St. Pierre, December I4, sent
Washington this formal and positive "Answer to his Honour
the Governor's Letter:"
I shall transmit your Letter to the Marquis Duquisne. His
Answer will be a Law to me..... As to the Summons you send
me to retire, I do not think myself obliged to obey it. What-ever
may be your Instructions, I am here by Virtue of the Orders of my
45COPYRIGHT, I936, BY
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE SEEMAN PRINTERY,
DURHAM, N. C., AND BOUND BY L. H. JENKINS, INC., RICHMOND, VA.WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
General; and I intreat you, Sir, not to doubt one Moment, but that
I am determined to conform myself to them with all the Exactness
and Resolution which can be expected from the best Officer....
I made it my particular Care to receive Mr. Washington, with
a Distinction suitable to your Dignity, as well as to his own Quality
and great Merit. I flatter myself that he will do me this Justice
before you, Sir; and that he will signify to you in the Manner I do
myself, the profound Respect with which I am, Sir, your most
humble, and most obedient Servant, Legardeur de St. Pierre.28
Thus informed, Washington might have set out for home at
once, but for the fact that his Indian attendants were again being
tampered with. From the first he had tried to induce the HalfKing to break off peaceful relations with the French by formally
surrendering the "Speech-Belt" which St. Pierre shrewdly refused to accept. Instead he gave the Half-King presents and
liquor, made "many fair Promises of Love and Friendship,"
and asserted his wish to live in peace and to trade amicably with
his Indian brothers.
Attracted more by French fire-water and trinkets than by
French oratory, the Indians lingered after St. Pierre delivered
his reply to Governor Dinwiddie. Finally Washington went to
see St. Pierre about the matter, complaining to him of illtreatment because of the fact that his company, of which the Indians
were a part, was being detained. Professing ignorance of the
cause, the French continued to dispense presents and wine
among the Indians who were unwilling to depart until two days
after the formal negotiations ended and then only at the earnest
solicitation of Washington himself. His concern over this phase
of his negotiations was recorded in his Diary in these unmistakable words: "I can't say that ever in my Life I suffered so much
Anxiety as I did in this Affair; I saw that every Strategem
which the most fruitful Brain could invent, was practised, to
win the Half-King to their Interest; and that leaving him here
was giving them the Opportunity they aimed at."
In the meantime Washington used his trials to advance his
purposes. In the course of his conference with St. Pierre re46A GRAND ADVENTURE                    47
garding his Indian companions he found an opportunity to ask
"by what Authority he [St. Pierre] made Prisoners of several
of our English Subjects" and was informed that the country
belonged to the French; "that no Englishman had a Right to
trade upon those Waters; and that he had Orders to make every
Person Prisoner who attempted it on the Ohio, or the Waters
of it."29
Undeceived, and possibly disillusioned regarding the plans
and purposes of the French on the Ohio, and fully informed
regarding military and other conditions there, December I6,
Washington left Fort Le Boeuf for Venango, traveling by way
of French Creek. The passage was tedious and fatiguing, rocks
were treacherous, and shoals were passable only by wading
through ice-ladened waters. Consequently the party did not
reach Venango until the twenty-second. Here they recovered
their horses, which were found to be too starved and weak to
carry heavy baggage with dispatch. Accordingly it was decided
to turn them over to drivers, all others being required to walk,
"carrying their Packs to assist along with the Baggage."
Performing packhorse service with others of his party,
Washington left Venango December 23. In this fashion he
spent Christmas eve and Christmas day, 1753, caring little about
the Half-King who had tarried with Joncaire, again to regale
himself with wine. Despairing of "getting Home in any reasonable Time" by traveling with his horses and his party, and
with the importance of his mission constantly before him, Washington determined to prosecute his journey to the Virginia
settlements "the nearest Way through the Woods, on Foot."
For this purpose, Van Braam being left behind with the horses
and the baggage, he tied himself in a matchcoat and with his gun
in his hand and his pack on his back, December 26, he set out
with Gist, "fitted in the same Manner."
The days immediately following brought the most thrilling
and trying personal experiences of the entire journey. After
trying in vain to divert Washington from his course, a French
Indian who insisted on accompanying him, suddenly whirledWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
upon his heel and shot at Washington at close range. Gist was
for shooting the scoundrel at once, but Washington stayed his
hand and gave the Indian the slip. In crossing the Allegheny,
Washington was thrown from a raft into deep water, amid floating ice, but he fought his way out, and he and Gist spent the
following night on an island with their clothes frozen upon
them. As a result "Gist had all his Fingers, and some of his
Toes frozen," but the refugees were able to escape their retreat
without further mishap. By morning the river had closed with
firm and solid ice over which they walked to shore. Thence
they went direct to Frazier's.
As the plan was to continue the journey on horseback, while
the horses and supplies were being made ready, Washington
visited Queen Aliquippa, a wrinkled old squaw who exercised
a sort of regal power at or near the mouth of the Youghiogheny
River. Rumor had had it that she was displeased because
Washington and his party had passed her by on their way to
Fort Le Boeuf. In an effort to appease her and to retain her
friendship for the English, Washington "made her a present of
a Matchcoat and a Bottle of Rum; which latter was thought
much the best Present of the Two."
From Frazier's, January I, I754, Washington and Gist set
out direct to the latter's home which they reached the next day.
Here Washington was able to purchase a horse and saddle,
with the aid of which he completed his journey without unusual
personal incident, but he did encounter unmistakable evidences
of the continued westward course of empire. January 6, he met
seventeen "Horses loaded with Materials and Stores, for a Fort
at the Forks of the Ohio, and the Day after some Families
going out to settle."30  Stopping only one day at Belvoir for
"necessary Rest," he reached Williamsburg, January 16, to find
himself the hero of the day.
Immediately Washington delivered to the Governor St.
Pierre's letter, together with an "Account" of his "Proceeding
to and from the French on the Ohio." In his enthusiasm over
the confirmation of his worst suspicions, Dinwiddie asked that
48GEORGE ^WASHINGTON CROSSING T'HE ALLEGHENY RIVER         WITH  GIST
RETURNING FROM    FORT LE BOEUF     TDECECMBERR, 1753
F`ron0 da engy'ravingi by D9. Kizhberly after a paiftir'g by D. Hflzntiglto.  Courtesy of UniZed Sat6zs (Geor-e WashingtonT
icti.terniial Colnm.sissiot for the:elebration of tho e Twvo H'nirezti  ~i,.versa?y of,6he B8r6/ of George Washington,A GRAND ADVENTURE
the "Account" be phrased in a connected story so! as to be readable by his Council. Only one day was allowed for this, and
the results were published immediately. Contrary to Washington's expectations, copies were distributed widely both in England and America. As they made most interesting reading, their
author's name became known to two continents.A  More important still they made clear the impossibility of longer averting
war between England and France and thus launched a movement which resulted in the practical expulsion of the French
from America, and in the birth of the British Empire.
In view of these facts, it is worth while to pause further over
this grand adventure to determine from its record something
more of the character of its hero. That he did his work well is
now the consensus of all, even those of the countries then opposed to him. All now appreciate his cool courage, his infinite
patience, his common sense in handling Indians, his immunity
to the crafts and wiles of the French, and his rare faculty for
dealing with men of all classes and conditions. More significant
still, this report was a narrative of wild adventure, wily diplomacy, and personal peril without a word regarding the thoughts
and the feelings of the chief participant. There are few more
exemplary lessons in the annals of any country.
49CHAPTER IV
JUMONVILLE
FOR A YEAR or more following Washington's return from Fort
Le Boeuf, English interests in the Ohio Valley were dominated
by the zealous and at times impetuous Governor Dinwiddie.
Obsessed with the belief that war between England and France
was inevitable, his former selfish interests in the Ohio Company
had developed into patriotic zeal. From time to time this was
stimulated by additional reports of impending dangers to English interests in America. Even before receiving the French refusal to abandon the Ohio Valley, Dinwiddie had sent Captain
William Trent with instructions to build a fort at the Forks.1
With the aid of his brother-in-law, Colonel George Croghan, an
adept at Indian diplomacy, it was expected that Trent would be
able to make the most out of the frontier situation for the
English.
As Washington's "Account" of his journey of warning to
the French2 confirmed Dinwiddie's course in sending out Captain Trent and otherwise indicated the necessity for immediate
action, January II, I754, after the Account was made public,
Dinwiddie summoned the general assembly to meet at once, but
before it convened, upon the advice of his Council, February I4,
I754, he commissioned George Washington Lieutenant Colonel
in command of troops then stationed and being trained at
Alexandria. With these he was instructed, as soon as possible,
to move toward the Ohio River to aid Captain Trent.3 In an
effort to stimulate additional enlistments, Dinwiddie promised
two hundred thousand acres of land in the Trans-Allegheny for
distribution among such persons as would agree to serve against
the French.4
Thus without resources other than land, the ownership of
[ 50 ]JUMONVILLE                        5I
which was then a subject of intercolonial and international controversy, and without the approval of either the colonial or the
home taxing powers, a newly arrived and inexperienced governor launched into what has been erroneously called "Dinwiddie's War," "for," according to a reputable historian,5 "it
was begun in his attempt to protect Virginia territory. The first
hostile forces sent out were Virginians; the first blood was shed
GEORGE WASHINGTON S MAP OF HIS
"JOURNEY TO THE OHIO," 175352              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
by Virginians." But these presumptive deductions place too
great a responsibility upon Dinwiddie. Already, as will be
shown in this chapter, there were currents and countercurrents in
the Ohio Valley which were fraught with the potentialities of
empire. Unmindfulness of them would have been a betrayal
of one of the most important trusts ever bestowed upon an
English colonial governor.
Fortunately for Dinwiddie, as well as for the English, the
man for the occasion was at hand. It was true that he was
young and only an "adjutant," charged with the duty of "exercising the officers, and inspecting the militia at stated times," and
that he was practically without military experience or training.
He had played at swords at Belvoir, it is true; but he had never
drilled in a company. This was certainly inadequate preparation
with which to cope with the soldiers of France, then among the
best trained in the world. On the other hand Washington had
military traditions, recently enriched by his half-brother Lawrence, and although George was young, he was a person of character and had the courage of his convictions. Tradition has it
that his mother continued to discourage his bent for things
military, and there is no evidence of Lord Fairfax's enthusiasm
over this particular appointment. Washington's own decision,
a short time later, to decline the chief command was, however,
proof of his becoming modesty, as well as of the fitness of his
selection.
While Washington was recruiting and training soldiers at
Alexandria, the assembly met in Williamsburg. At once it was
addressed by Dinwiddie in a detailed review of conditions on
the frontier as reported by Washington, and of more recent
happenings there, in which whole families were reported to have
been murdered in a fashion shocking even in savage warfare.
Dinwiddie climaxed his appeal with a request for supplies to be
used "to drive away these cruel and treacherous Invadors of
your Properties, and Destroyers of your Families," thus the
better to establish "the Security and Prosperity of Virg[ini]a
on the most solid and permanent Foundations."6Unselfish as this appeal doubtless was, it was not convincing.
Assemblymen did not trust Dinwiddie. They could not forget
differences with him over "pistole fees," and some legislators
differentiated between the interests of the Ohio Company, of
which Dinwiddie was a member, and the interests of the Commonwealth. Some went so far as to deny the rights of either
to lands beyond the mountains, so steeped were they in provincialism. In the light of reports of French activities, which were
reaching Virginia and other colonial capitals in almost every
dispatch, the failure of the Virginia legislators to cope with the
situation was not only unpatriotic but stupid.
Among other things these reports affirmed that the French,
since the days of the "Grand Monarch" and notwithstanding
his "distinguished Delicacy and Politeness," had planned to extend their American possessions "from the Mouth of the Mississippi on the South to Hudson's Bay on the North." This
was no "new or partial Scheme of the French, merely for the
Sake of Trade, or a Settlement on the Lands, but a Thing long
ago concerted, and but Part of a grand Plan for rendering themselves Masters of North America." Already in a dispatch carrying the captions:
Bella gerant fortes; tu, Pari, semper anna.
--OVID
The Brave shou'd fight; but for the Fops of France,'Tis theirs to cook, to taylorize and dance.
the Westminster Journal for September 2I, 1753, had announced its protest and warning against the consummation of
these plans.
This and like dispatches which went the rounds of the American newspaper press,7 insisted that the refusal of the French
to abandon the Ohio Valley after being formally requested to
do so by Washington, demonstrated their disregard for "the
Sanction of the most solemn Engagements," and alleged furthermore that the Indians were being rewarded by the French
"in Proportion, as they assassinate and make Inroads upon the
JUMONVILLE
53PREFACE
FEW of the thousand and more books about George Washington
treat exclusively of his western interests and activities. As these
were extensive and admittedly determining factors in his career
as a soldier and a statesman, the present writer believes there is
a place for another work, to present in some detail the high
spots in Washington's relations to the West. By many, such a
work may indeed be welcomed, not as a feature in the commemoration of the two hundredth anniversary of Washington's
birth but as a permanent contribution to history. Certainly this
will be true of all those who believe that the West was a determining influence upon American life and institutions and of
all those who admit even an element of truth in the statement
of the late Herbert B. Adams, that "it would seem as though all
lines of our public policy lead back to Washington as all roads
lead to Rome."
For assistance in the preparation of this volume the author
is indebted to many persons, most of them students in his classes
in the West Virginia University. Accompanied by them he
visited many points in the Trans-Allegheny region of the upper
Ohio Valley associated with Washington legends and traditions;
but specific acknowledgments are due Dr. L. D. Arnett, Librarian of the West Virginia University, for his innumerable kindnesses and his personal interest; Robert Merricks, maker of some
of the maps used; my wife, Helen Carle Ambler, Dr. William
E. Brooks, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, Morgantown,
West Virginia, and Professor Curtis C. Williams, Jr., of the West
Virginia University, College of Law Faculty, each of whom
criticized the manuscript while it was in process of making; Dr.
William B. Hindman, Pastor of the Presbyterian Church and
Chairman of the Fort Necessity Memorial Association, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, through whose kindness unexplored data
[v]
110502WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
English." Moreover, the dispatch alleged that "War, (though
not proclaim'd) is actually carried on, and our Blood is spilt and
Property invaded on the Sophistry of the most subtile Pretences." In proof of this the "shuffling, evasive, unsatisfactory"
answer given by St. Pierre to Dinwiddie's request was quoted
and expounded at length with the conclusion that "a good
Squadron properly accoutred would soon bring these Violators
of the Law of Nations to Reason." In support of this appeal
to force it was asked:.................. Can Britannia see
Her Foes, oft vanquish'd, thus defy her Pow'r,
Insult her Standard and enslave her Sons;
Yet not arise to Justice? Did our Sires
Unawed by Chains, by Exile, or by Death,
Preserve inviolate her Guardian Rights,
And sacred ev'n to Britons, that her Sons
Shou'd give them up to France?
A dispatch from New York, dated May 13, I754 and quoted
in the Pensylvania Gazette for May I6, I754, contained one of
the earliest assertions in American annals of the justifying right
of "necessity" as a sufficient cause of hostile action. It traced
also the French plans for "making an Establiment on the River
Ohio to the Grand Monarch," in support of which plans, Book
Twelve of Father Charlevoix's History of New France was
quoted at length. Indeed, this work fixed the date upon which
the French "Scheme" respecting North America "was first laid
down in the year I72I, Nov. 8." Continuing, Charlevoix said:
"There is not in all Louisiana, a Spot more proper for a Settlement than this on the Ohio, nor where it is of greater Importance to the French to have one. The whole Country that is
washed by the Rivers Ouabach and Ohio, is most fertile; there
are vast Pastures finely water'd, where the wild Cattle graze by
Thousands; besides, the Communication with Canada is, this
way, much easier, better, and infinitely shorter, than thro' the
River Ilanois: A Fort with a good Garrison here, would be a
compleat and sufficient Curb on the Indians in general; but
54above all, on the Cherokees, at present the most numerous
Nation on the Continent."
The feature of this dispatch which concerned New Yorkers
most and doubtless caused it to be first published there, was the
declaration which it carried, of the intention of the French "to
become Masters of Albany, the River Hudson, and New York."
According to a plan approved by the French court "There is no
other Way... for the Preservation of Canada," and "the absolute Necessity of doing this, renders it lawful and justifiable."
This course had been decided upon as "the only Measure to
compleat and secure the Settlement of Canada, to conquer and
secure the Conquest of the Indians, and make them sue for
Peace on any Conditions the French shall please to impose on
them." As previously stated to Washington when on his mission of I753 to the French, in the execution of these purposes,
they depend upon their ability to cajole and outwit the English,
in other words "to use any Disguise or Pretexts, that will be
received as probable or plausible."
Meanwhile dispatches from Boston told of grand scale preparations on the part of the French for the consummation of their
plans respecting America. To this end 7000 soldiers, together
with their wives and children, were reported to have been
landed there, 2500 in Canada, 3500 at the mouth of the Mississippi, and Iooo in Santo Domingo. Other reports from the
same quarter were to the effect that the French had engaged
"three large Tribes of Indians living upon the Lakes to take up
the Hatchet against the English; that they were encroaching
upon Nova Scotia; and that they were building a Fort near
Kennebeck River in Massachusetts province." Thus the French
design was clearly revealed, and the Bostonians concluded: "if
there is not a vigorous and united opposition effectively to
prevent it," they will in a few years, "lay a solid and lasting
foundation for making themselves Masters of America."8
Under these conditions the Virginia Assembly, the traditional conservatism of which had degenerated to inertia, could
hardly refuse a grant, but it was limited to ten thousand pounds
55
JUMONVILLE56              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
which was to be used only for enlisting and maintaining volunteers. Moreover, supervision of its expenditure was placed in
the hands of a committee of the house, "thereby making the
burgesses the real directors of the war." It mattered not that
there was precedent for this course; it was sorely trying to Dinwiddie, who more than once, was on the point of dissolving the
assembly.9 Later he admitted that he had refrained from such
a course only in the hope that a timely order from England
might accomplish the same end, thus making the rebuke the
more severe.
That Washington shared Dinwiddie's sentiments regarding
these useless delays and indifferences, there can be little doubt.
From time to time he doubtless recalled the reports which he
himself had heard upon the frontier of the menacing activities
of the French and Indians. Moreover, recruiting was going
slowly and his first real experiences as a soldier were proving
anything but attractive. By March 9, I754, he had enlisted
twenty-five "loose, Idle Persons, that are quite destitute of
House, and Home; and... many of them of Cloaths." Continuing, he wrote Dinwiddie, "There is many of them without
Shoes, others want Stockings, some are without Shirts, and not
a few that have Scarce a Coat, or Waistcoat, to their Backs; in
short, they are so illy provided as can well be conceiv'd, but I
really believe every Man of them for their own Credits sake, is
willing to be Cloathed at their own Expence."Ml0
Other factors in the situation must have been as trying to
Washington as they were to Dinwiddie. Outstanding among
these was the failure of the colonies, even those nearest Virginia,
to appreciate the impending danger and to cooperate in meeting
it. Among other things tending to make for a lack of cooperation was the fact that the colonies held divergent views regarding the proper uses of western lands.ll Generally colonies with
fixed boundaries insisted upon the alleged right of the home
government to hold and use ungranted lands for the common
benefit, whereas those claiming extensive unsettled areas under
charter grants insisted upon their own rights and prerogatives.For the most part colonies in the former group favored the
formation of new colonies in the West, whereas those in the
latter group, in conjunction with certain British financial interests, particularly traders, aimed at a policy of exploitation.
All were jealous, the one of the other, but the several suggestions of colonial union made at this time, shed a ray of hope
over an otherwise almost hopeless situation.
Closer study throws additional light upon this intercolonial
situation, which was probably more responsible than any other
one cause for the English military failures in America in I754.
Although sister colonies, South Carolina, North Carolina, and
New York, made a better response toward the middle of the
year, first reactions to Dinwiddie's appeals were practically negative. Because her "undoubted limits" had not been determined, Pennsylvania would send neither soldiers nor money;
Maryland claimed that Virginia had not been attacked; and
South Carolina, eager to protect "her Indians" and "her fur
trade," at first not only refused to send aid, but also kept the
Cherokees from sending it. Of all the colonies first appealed to,
North Carolina alone responded. Her contribution was ten
thousand pounds, paper currency.12
Nor was Dinwiddie more successful in dealing with the
Indian situation. Under his directions Virginia did not send
delegates to the Albany Congress of I754, called to consider
Indian relations and plans of colonial union.l3 When the Virginians later learned that this congress fell largely under the
influence of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Pownall, and other
would-be new colony makers, they did not regret indifference
toward it; yet there was no denying Virginia's failures to solve,
in her own way, the problems the Albany Congress was authorized to consider.
This was notably true of the Indian situation for the solution
of which a conference had been called to meet in Winchester
in I754. The chief purposes of this meeting were further to
attach the Cherokees and the Iroquois to the English interests
and, if possible, to bring about friendly relations between these
JtJMONVILLE
575?Z             WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
two powerful and usually hostile confederations. Although
Dinwiddie attended in person, its results were negligible: no
Indians of consequence came. In the meantime the French
continued to make inroads among the English Indians in the
Ohio Valley.
Despite these failures, some of which had not yet materialized, in March, I754, Dinwiddie resolved upon a policy of
aggression. To this end Washington was relieved of chief
responsibility for the success of the proposed expedition to the
Ohio River, and a Dinwiddie friend and favorite, Joshua Fry,
an Oxford-bred Englishman and a professor in William and
Mary College, was placed in supreme command of all Virginia
troops on the frontier. In conformity with these plans Washington was ordered to lead his poorly clad and discontented volunteers to the Ohio River, "there to aid Captain Trent in building Forts, and in defending the possessions of his Majesty
against the attempts and hostilities of the French."l4 From the
outset it was understood that Washington was "to repel force
by force,"15 and that Colonel Fry was to follow him with reenforcements and instructions to build a fort on the Monongahela at or near the present site of Brownsville, Pennsylvania,
then called Red Stone Old Fort.
In these preparations Dinwiddie was motivated no doubt
by reports which continued to reach him from the frontier.
From "Yaughyaughgany big Bottom," February i 9, Trent
wrote Washington of his arrival at "the Forks of Monongahela
from the mouth of Red Stone Creek," where he had built a
strong store house.'6 In two or three days he expected "down
all the People," and as soon as they came, he planned "to lay
the Foundation of the Fort." The Indians were to join his
party "and make them strong" and had asked Washington "to
march out to them with all possible Expedition." Trent reported that La Force had made a speech to some of the English
Indians, in which he had informed them that "neither they nor
the English there, would see the Sun above 20 Days longer; I3
of the Days being then to come." By that time the French expected four hundred Frenchmen would have reached the Forks.
Moreover, six hundred French and Indians were reported as
then moving against the Shawnee to cut them off from the
English. Accordingly the Indians urged Croghan "to hurry
the English to come, for that they expected soon to be attack'd."
In a letter to Washington from "Monongahella," dated
February 23, Gist told of having learned from a friendly Chickasaw then of the Six Nations, how he, "in his Passage up the
Ohio," from a visit to his former tribe, had fallen in with "a
Body of near 400 French coming up the River."17 In quest of
a safe-conduct through the Shawnee's country he had accompanied the French to Shawnee Town, where he found the English traders hostile to the French purposes and determined to
make prisoners of the French, but they "getting a Hint" of this,
had fled. Gist reported also that six hundred French and Indians had gone down "to fall on the Shawneese" to assist their
kindred in passing them. All this he thought it "prudent to
let the Governor know," as he might wish to send "a Number
of Cherokees to join the Shawneese at the lower Town," and
defeat the French or "prevent their joining those above." In
conclusion he asked to be informed of "the exact Time you
[Washington] will be here, that we may speak Truth in all
we say to our Friends."
A dispatch from Annapolis, dated March 2I and published
with Gist's account as indicated in the last preceding paragraph,
confirmed generally its particulars and supplied additional "Intelligence from the Westward." According to the Annapolis
dispatch 400 French soldiers had come down from the lakes,
300 of whom had gone to the Lower Shawnee Town to demand
the surrender of the English traders "(about 20 in Number),"
but the Shawnee had refused to grant their request and had
"sent up for the Cataways, to come to their Assistance." According to this same dispatch 22 French then at Logstown
and Ioo on the Muskingum were to be joined by 400 others
"as soon as they can come down from the Lakes." Confirming an item of Gist's letter, this dispatch told of a council of
JUMONVILLE
5960              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
French and Indians at Logstown, in which the latter were given
their choice of dying in twenty days or deserting their "Brothers
the English." Upon which "Monocatoocha took his Tommahawk from his Bosom, and said... we are ready for you, and
will stand by, and join our Brothers against you [the French]."
It was into this maelstrom of international and intertribal
rivalry with all its possibilities for misrepresentation and exaggeration, that Washington, accompanied by "two Companies
of Foot, commanded by Captain Peter Hog and Lieutenant
Jacob Vanbraam, five subalterns, two Sergeants, six Corporals,
one Drummer, and one hundred and twenty soldiers, one
Surgeon, one Swedish Gentleman, who was a volunteer, two
wagons, guarded by one Lieutenant, Sergeant, Corporal and
twenty-five Soldiers,"18 left Alexandria April 2, I754, beginning
actively that "long experience of human stupidity and inefficienty" with which he was to struggle through all his military
career, as has been said by the late Senator Henry Cabot Lodge,
"suffering from them, and triumphing in spite of them to a
degree unequalled by any other great commander." "Dinwiddie, the Scotch governor," Lodge continues, "was eager enough
to fight, and full of energy and good intentions, but he was
hasty and not overwise, and was filled with an excessive idea
of his prerogatives." Getting at the real crux of the situation,
he continued: "The assembly, on its side, was sufficiently patriotic, but its members came from a community which for more
than half a century had had no fighting, and they knew nothing
of war and its necessities."'9
Equally inexperienced, but little concerned with "impending fate," Washington launched into the wilderness. All went
well until April 20, when he reached Cresap's (Old Town)
and there learned that the French had forced Captain Trent to
abandon fort building at the Forks, and that the Virginians thus
engaged were then on their way east. At Wills Creek on
April 23, this intelligence was confirmed by Ensign Edward
Ward, who had been forced to leave the Forks by a superior
force of French and Indians.20 Ward, an officer in Trent's comJUMONVILLE                        oI
pany, reported to Washington having seen "a Body of more
than one thousand French, under the Command of Captain
Contrecoeur, who came from Venango with sixty bateaux, and
three hundred canoes, and eighteen pieces of artillery." Moreover, Contrecoeur was reported as being in the act of constructing a fort,2' but Washington was pleased to learn that his
former Indian friends remained loyal to the English, in proof
whereof Ensign Ward delivered to him a speech and a belt of
wampum from the Half-King.
As it had thus become impossible to comply with the letter
of his instructions, Washington held a council at Wills Creek
to decide upon a course of action. In this deliberation, in which
the speech of the Half-King was a factor, it was decided "that
it would be proper to advance, as far as Red-Stone Creek on
Monongahela, about thirty-seven miles on this side of the fort
[Duquesne, then being built by the French], and there to erect
a fortification, clearing a road broad enough to pass with our
artillery and our baggage, and there to await for fresh Orders."
The reasons for this course were stated by Washington to be:
Ist. That the mouth of Red-Stone is the first convenient place
on the River Monongahela.
2nd. The stores are already built at that place for the provisions
of the Company, wherein the Ammunition may be laid up, our great
guns may be also sent by water whenever we shall think it convenient
to attack the Fort.
3rd. We may easily (having all these conveniences) preserve
our men from the ill consequences of inaction, and encourage the
Indians our Allies, to remain in our interest.22
In a veiled request for reenforcements and haste in sending
them, Governor Dinwiddie was notified of this decision by special messenger, as was also the Half-King, the governor of
Maryland, and the governor of Pennsylvania.
In the execution of his self-appointed task, Washington encountered almost insuperable difficulties.23  Bearing assurances
of love and affection for their Indian allies and brothers, a
speech from him to "the Half-King, and the Chiefs and WarWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
riors of the Shawnese and Loups our Friends and Brethren"
paved the way for the advance, but the "jungle" proved "all
but impenetrable." As a consequence, at one time he made only
twenty miles in fifteen days. In the meantime reports from
the Ohio River were increasingly alarming. English traders
were retreating; the French were receiving reenforcements and
proceeding with the construction of Fort Duquesne; and Monsieur La Force, who only a few months before had escorted
Washington from Venango to Fort Le Boeuf, had been seen
scouting the country immediately in front of the Virginians with
armed men "under the suspicious pretense of hunting Deserters."
Still other factors were equally annoying, the more so because they were largely the result of inefficiency and haste.
Probably the most serious of these was Dinwiddie's failure to
supply "Spirit," then considered indispensable for satisfactory
military service. The whites used it as a preventive for ills
incident to such hardships and exposures as "struggling through
water up to the arm pits," and it was next to impossible to conduct Indian negotiations without wine. Said Washington, "every Indian that brings a Message or good report; Also the
Chiefs who visit and converse in Council look for it."24  Confusing the situation was the continued absence of Colonel Fry,
but, May I7, while at the Great Crossing of the Youghiogheny
River, Washington received the gratifying intelligence that
Dinwiddie had approved his decision to advance. Equally gratifying was his promise to send reenforcements.
When complaints from the front reached Dinwiddie, he
characterized them as "ill-timed" and reminded Washington
that a soldier's life, even under the most favorable conditions,
was not an easy one. He also informed him that the desired
beer and wine were not a part of a soldier's compensation and
dwelt at length upon the opportunities of soldiers and officers
alike to serve their country and their King.25  Willing to
take second place to no one in such things, Washington offered
to serve voluntarily and without pay rather than "upon such
62ignoble terms."26  Referring to the alleged inadequate and
discriminatory compensation allowed Virginia officers and soldiers, he could not forbear asking Dinwiddie "why the lives
of his Majesty's subjects in Virginia should be of less value,
than those in other parts of his American dominions?" As most
of the Washingtons, including George, were good business men,
it is probable that he was not wholly disinterested in the financial
side of this situation.
Doubtless relieved somewhat by his frank statements to Dinwiddie on the subject of compensation, while awaiting the arrival of Indian reinforcements being brought to his aid by the
Half-King, on May 20 Washington, together with Lieutenant
John West, three soldiers, and one Indian, set out from Great
Crossing to run down a frontier rumor to the effect that the
Youghiogheny River was navigable thence to the Monongahela.27 Verification of this rumor would have simplified Washington's problems, as it would have enabled him to reach Red
Stone and the Forks by a continuous water route. Accompanied
by Peter Suver, a trader, who joined the exploring party about
one-half mile from its starting place, Washington proceeded
as far as the Ohio Pile Falls only to find the stories about the
navigation of the Youghiogheny River as baseless as were the
numerous other stories which he heard from time to time. Instead of being a clear, deep, navigable stream, as described, the
Youghiogheny was found to be "narrow" with "many currents"
and "full of rocks and rapid." Although these obstacles were
not considered wholly insurmountable, the quest was abandoned
as impracticable.
Despite these delays, on May 24 Washington reached Great
Meadows with the first wheeled vehicle and artillery to cross
the Allegheny Mountains. The latter part of his course thither
had been alternately over streambeds and over the famous
Nemacolin path. At Great Meadows he received reports of
French activities, this time in the immediate vicinity. Accordingly, two days later, May 27, Christopher Gist was sent out with
a scouting party to locate the French and Indians, but before
63
JUMONVILLEVi                       PREFACE
on Washington's western activities of 1754, particularly English
contemporary newspaper accounts, were made available to the
present writer; Dr. Solon J. Buck, of the National Archives,
who read most of the galley proof and through his suggestions
saved the author from a number of errors; Charles McCamie,
Esquire, Moundsville, West Virginia, who read the page proof
and made helpful suggestions; and his secretary, Mrs. Mary
Scott Wunschel, for her patience and helpful suggestions in
matters of style and format. For whatever errors this book
may contain in possible misstatements of fact and interpretation
the author alone is responsible.
CHARLES HENRY AMBLER.
West Virginia University
January I, 193564              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
Gist returned a message from the Half-King brought information to the effect that the French were hiding in "a low obscure
place" to the westward.
Leaving only a few men to guard his camp, Washington took
forty others and in a heavy rain, set out to locate the French.
Traveling in "a night as dark as pitch, along a path scarce broad
enough for one man," and with his companions "tumbling one
over another," the following morning he reached his objective
on Laurel Mountain at a point about three miles north of the
present Summit House on the National Road,28 where, after
a conference with the Half-King, it was decided to approach the
French at once. As he was operating under instructions to
meet force with force, Washington was prepared for any emergency. Accordingly the sight which met his eyes must have
fired his fighting blood. As reported by the Half-King the
French were found in "a low obscure place," the like of which,
according to James Veech in a statement confirmed by other
historians, "There is not above ground, in Fayette County
[Pennsylvania], a place so well calculated for concealment,
and for secretly watching and counting Washington's little
army.29
Accounts of who fired the first shot in the skirmish which
followed on Laurel Mountain, May 28, I754, are conflicting,30
but under the conditions and the prevailing practices either
party would have been justified in firing it. However that
may be, this skirmish like the Sarajevo incident one hundred
sixty years later, made history. Under the command of the
"buckskin-general," as the French sneeringly called Washington, the English subjected their quarry to an effective fire for
about fifteen minutes. At the end of this period, further defense
being impossible, Monsieur de Jumonville, a lovable young
fellow in command of the French, is reported to have fled and
to have been surprised and scalped by the Half-King. Nine of
Jumonville's companions were killed; another was wounded;
one escaped; and twenty-one, including Monsieur La Force,
were made prisoners. The English Indians scalped the French' -M(')N'VlTilV S CGRA\VYi   ON  1  IFH  Sllli; 0F1  HITS S1KIRMISH1 -WI'1'11 WA\S1\lIN( 1'()N, JVI\Y'2, (JUMONVILLE                        05
dead and sent their gruesome trophies to confederates, as a
proof of what had happened and as a summons to them to rally
to the defense of their country.31
For his alleged attack upon the Jumonville party and its
alleged consequences Washington was subjected to severe criticism, possibly the severest of his early career. The French,
whose account of the affair has been generally accepted, insisted
that Jumonville was on a friendly mission, such as Washington
had made to the French only a few months before, and that
Washington's attack was unnecessary, unprovoked, and unsanctioned by the practices of warfare.32 Strange as it may seem, in
view of the cricumstances and the importance of the accompanying events, the French accounts of this incident have scarcely
been questioned, but it is well to recall that they were first published in I756 on the eve of a world war the echoes of which
ceased only with Waterloo.
In part, as set forth in their Me'moire Con:tenant le Precis
des Faits, the account was: "That deputy [Jumonville] set out
with an escort of thirty men, and the next morning found himself surrounded by a number of English and Indians: The English quickly fired two vollies which killed some soldiers. M. de
Jumonville made a sign that he had a letter from his commander; hereupon the fire ceased, and they surrounded the
French officer, in order to hear it. He immediately ordered
the summons to be read, and as it was reading the second time,
the English assassinated him. The rest of the French that escorted him, were, upon the spot made prisoners of war.
"The only one who escaped, and who gave M. de Contrecoeur a circumstantial account of that affair, assured him, that
the Indians who were with the English, had not fired a gun;
and that at the instant M. de Jumonville was assassinated, they
threw themselves in between the French and their enemies."33
According to this record Washington was a merciless fellow, capable of outdoing savages in barbarity. That he was
then inexperienced, at times hot-headed, and on this occasion
without counsel other than that of an Indian chief bent on takWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
ing scalps, is true; but there was certainly no truth in the contention that the English and French relations in the Ohio Valley
as of May 28, I754, were the same as, or even similar to, those
of the autumn and winter of I753. From reports reaching
Washington almost daily, as Jumonville's party approached his
camp and prior thereto, he was justified in concluding that war
was a fait accompli. These reports told of the marshaling of
troops, of their proposed concentration upon a common objective,
of the construction of forts, and of the threatening dicta of
rulers. As such preparations had in the past meant war, there
was no reason why anyone, certainly a person with a bent for
war, should have concluded they had another meaning in May,
I754. As already indicated Washington was acting under instructions "to make Prisoners of or kill and destroy" any persons who might interrupt or oppose him in his efforts to reach
his objective.34  Consequently in seeking out the Jumonville
party, Washington was within the bounds of his instructions
and doubtless thought he was discharging his whole duty.
In the light of subsequent events and Washington's wellknown character, the charges of cruelty and assassination made
against him by the French savor of propaganda. When did
Indians under such conditions fail to fire a gun?  Clearly
the French, in I756, like other peoples both before and since,
were trying to shift responsibility for precipitating a world war.
For this purpose the Jumonville incident was indeed an excellent theme. The facts surrounding it were indefinite and probably never will be determined, but it was an incident fit to arouse
patriotic sentiments. M. Thomas, Professor in the University
of Paris and in the College of Bouvais, made it the subject of
a poem entitled "Jumonville."35  This poem was sold on the
streets of Paris and was later included in a collection of the
works of M. Thomas, published by van Harrevelt, Amsterdam
I762, and dedicated to M. Moreau de Sechelles, French Minister of State.
Meanwhile English contemporaneous accounts of the Jumonville incident had ceased to be noticed. Nevertheless, they were
66published in the American newspaper press, but, in the midst
of the stirring events which followed, they were not discussed
and were accordingly almost completely forgotten until brought
to light by persons interested in the Washington Bicentennial
Anniversary.36  To the satisfaction of his admirers, these accounts shed new and favorable light upon Washington's part
in the Jumonville skirmish. To appreciate this one should recall the fact that the English accounts were contemporaneous
and comparatively free from propaganda, in the absence of a
motive. The narrative which went the rounds of the Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina newspapers as it appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette for June 27,
I754, and the South Carolina Gazette for July 25-August I,
I754, based upon a dispatch from the Virginia Gazette for July
I9, I754, was:
We have a certain Account from the Westward, of an Engagement between a Party of English and French, on the 27th of May
past, beyond the Allegheny Mountains, in a Place called The Flats,
about 80 Miles from our back Settlements, about 240 Miles near
N.W. of this Place, and some Miles to the Eastward of the New
Fort on the Ohio, which was surrendered to the French by Capt.
Trent. Some of the Particulars are as follows: Major Washington
had Intelligence, from our Friend the Half King, that a Party of
French were encamped on this Side of the Fork, on which he immediately marched at the Head of a Company of about 40 Men,
but during their March the Rains fell so heavy that they could scarce
keep their Ammunition dry; the French observed them before they
came up, and speedily put themselves in Order of Battle, being under
the Command of Monsieur Le Force: When the two Parties approached nigh, the French (who were about 36 in Number) gave
the first Fire, by which one of Major Washington's Men was killed,
and another knock'd down: The English returned the Fire, and
killed 7 or 8 of the French, on which the Rest took to their Heels;
but the Half King, and his Indians, who lay in Ambush to cut them
off in their Retreat, fell upon them, and soon killed and scalped Five
of them. Monsieur Le Force finding that they were all likely to lose
their Lives under the Hands of the Savages, called to his Men, and
67
JUMONVILLEWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
advised them to surrender to the English; they immediately, with
great Precipitation, ran towards the English, flung down their Arms,
and begg'd for Quarter. Major Washington interposed between
them and the Half King and it was with great Difficulty that he prevented the Indians from doing them further Mischief, the Half King
insisting on Scalping them all, as it was their Way of Fighting, and
he alleged that those People had killed, boiled, and eat his Father,
and that the Indians would not be satisfied without all their Scalps;
however, Major Washington at Length persuaded him to be content
with what Scalps he had already got. One of those Five which were
killed and scalped by the Indians, was Monsieur Jumonville, an Ensign, whom the Half King himself dispatched with his Tomahawk.
Monsieur Le Force, and Twenty more Frenchmen, who were taken
Prisoners, are carried down to Williamsburgh. One or Two, it is
said, got away before the Rest surrendered, and it is not known what
is become of them. Le Force has the Character of an expert Officer,
and the Half King reckoned that the English had gained a great
Advantage in taking him, telling Major Washington, that That
Man (Le Force) was a Thousand.
Whatever may have been Washington's part in the death of
Jumonville, there is no doubt of his attitude toward the French
at the time. They were the enemies of his country. Had they
not made threats against both the English and their Indian
allies? Had they not captured and imprisoned English traders
who ventured beyond the Ohio River? Had they not taken
the Forks of the Ohio by force and driven the English away?
Were they not at that very moment planning to defeat and subject the English Indian Allies in the Ohio Valley? From time
to time during the preceding weeks Washington had received
unmistakable reports of their threatened hostility, to which his
letter of May 29 to Governor Dinwiddie is a sufficient testimonial. In part, it said:
These officers pretend they were coming on an Embassy, but the
absurdity of this pretext is too glaring, as your Honour will see by
the Instructions and Summons inclos'd. These Instructions were to
reconnoitre the country, Roads, Creeks, c., to Potomack, which
they were ab't to do. These Enterprising Men were purposely
68choosen out to get intelligence, which they were to send Back by
some brisk dispatches with mention of the Day that they were to
serve the Summons, which could be through no other view than to
get sufficient Re-inforcements to fall upon us immediately after; this,
with several other Reasons, induc'd all the Officers to believe firmly
that they were sent as spys rather than any thing else, and has
occasion'd my sending them as prisoners, tho' they expected, or at
least had some faint hope of being continued as ambassadors.
They finding where we were Incamp'd, instead of coming up in
a Publick manner, sought out one of the most secret Retirements,
fitter for a Deserter than an Ambassador to incamp in, s[t]ay'd
there two or 3 Days, sent Spies to Reconnoitre our Camp, as we are
told, tho' they deny it. Their whole Body mov'd back near 2 Miles,
sent off two runners to acquaint Contrecoeur with our Strength, and
where we were Incamp'd, c. Now, 36 Men w'd almost have been
a Retinue for a Princely Ambassador, instead of Petit, why did they,
if their designs were open, stay so long within 5 Miles of us with't
delivering his Ambassy, or acquainting me with it. His waiting c'd
be with no other design than to get [a] Detachm't to enforce the
Summons as soon as it was given; they had no occasion to send out
Spy's, for the name of Ambassador is Sacred among all Nations, but
it was by the Tract of these Spy's they were discover'd.37
Inasmuch as Washington kept rather full accounts of his
other activities, it is regrettable that there is so little from him
on details of his encounter with Jumonville. When the French
account of this skirmish reached him, he was constrained to
observe that he had kept no journal "during that expedition"
and to note furthermore that his "rough minutes," captured
by the French at Fort Necessity, had been "certainly and
strangely" altered, some points being omitted entirely, while
others had been added. Yet he would not say that a literal
translation had not been made. This was true even of that
part of the Articles of Capitulation signed at Fort Necessity, in
which he twice admitted the "assassination" of Jumonville.88
Washington recalled something in the Articles about the "death"
or "loss" of Jumonville, but admission of more than this he
attributed either to the willfullness or to the ignorance of his
69
JUMONVILLEWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
interpreter, Van Braam. As he had already caused some trouble by confusing "Illinois" with certain "Black Islands," never
since located, it is a reasonable presumption that Van Braam's
English was as poor as his French and that his approval of
Washington's alleged "assassination" of Jumonville was due to
ignorance and to the exigencies of the situation under which approval was given.
A letter from Washington to Dinwiddie, written shortly
after the departure of the French prisoners from Fort Necessity
to Williamsburg, confirmed somewhat English contemporaneous newspaper accounts of the Jumonville skirmish. In part,
it said: "I have heard, since they went away, that they should
say they call'd to us not to Fire; but that I know to be False, for
I was the first Man that approached them, and the first whom
they saw, and immediately upon it ran to their Arms, and fir'd
briskly till they were defeated."39 In a letter from Alexandria,
Virginia, to a friend in Philadelphia, dated August I, I754,
Colonel Adam Stephen, who was present when Jumonville was
killed, confirmed Washington's account: "let the French term
it an Assassination" said he, "I am ready to embrace the first
Opportunity of being concerned in such another."40 Furthermore Stephen denied that "Assassination" or "any other Expression objected by Washington" had been used in the Articles
of Capitulation at Fort Necessity.
Another contemporaneous account of the Jumonville skirmish, that attributed to Christopher Gist, is, in the details reported, in accord with those given by Washington, Stephen and
others.41  It told of the "total Defeat of a Party of French,
that came to attack our People in the Night of the 28th last
past." Friendly Indians had informed "the Colonel of their
Design, and he, with the Vigilance and Bravery of a good Officer, met them with a Party of about 40 Men, and gave them so
proper a Reception, that ten of them fell in the Action, one
was wounded, and the remaining 2I were made Prisoners." Of
greater importance to Gist than additional details of the skirmish, were the facts that Monsieur La Force, a prisoner, was
7o"a Person of great Influence among the Indians, whose Language he speaks perfectly" and that Washington's "well timed
Success had rivetted the Indians to our Interest." As proof
of this they had scalped and killed and sent their scalps and "a
black Belt to all their Allies, to oblige them to take up the
Hatchet (as they express it) and strike the French," whose
numbers Gist was assured "from good Intelligence, do not in
the whole amount to 6oo."
Some writers have drawn parallels between the mission of
Washington to Saint Pierre and the mission of Jumonville to
Washington. It is true that both were on peaceful errands,
but the manner of their respective approaches forbids carrying the comparison further. Washington had as his companions a guide, an interpreter, four servants, and four Indians.
It is true that he observed and noted signs of military preparations on the part of the French, but it is also true that he proceeded directly to his objective and retired as soon as his mission was ended. On the other hand, Jumonville was accompanied by thirty-four soldiers, and instead of proceeding directly
to Washington's camp, he hid in a "low obscure spot" somewhat
removed from the customary route of travel but in a position to
observe it, while his scouts were spying upon Washington and
keeping Contrecoeur at the Forks informed of his movements.
From all available evidence it seems that the French meant
to give Washington a peaceful summons to retire, but there is
no denying their intention ultimately to use force in the event
he refused to go. As determined by the previously announced
purposes and large-scale preparations of the French, Washington was to be treated as had been Ensign Ward and those several traders whom they had either driven from their posts in
the Ohio Valley or carried to Canada. Contrecoeur's instructions to Jumonville leave no doubt on this point. They were:
"we further charge him to dispatch a speedy messenger to us
before the summons be read,. to acquaint us with all the discoveries he has made, of the day he intends to read them the
summons, with all possible diligence after it is read." A reaJUMONVILLE
7ITABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PREFACE.
I. MAKING A FRONTIERSMAN.....
II. THE FRONTIER SURVEYOR....
III. A GRAND ADVENTURE.........
IV. JUMONVILLE................
V. FORT NECESSITY..........
VI. BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA
VII. DEFENDER OF THE FRONTIER...
VIII. THE FRONTIER ADVANCE......
IX. IN THE REVOLUTION.........
X. IN THE CRITICAL PERIOD......
XI. IN THE FEDERALIST REGIME....
PAGE
V
3
i8
30
50
73
92
I IO
I32
I52
I72
I'I
APPENDIX A. THE BATTLE OF FORT NECESSITY.... 2 I
I. Contemporaneous Newspaper Accounts-II. Articles of
Capitulation--III. Roster of Virginia Officers and Privates.
APPENDIX B. THE BATTLE OF THE MONONGAHELA 222
I. Contemporaneous Accounts in the Pennsylvania Gazette
for July 24, I755-II. Contemporaneous Account in the
Pennsylvania Gazette for July 31, 1755.
NOTES..................................... 227
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY........................ 249
INDEX..................................... 261
[ vii ]....................................................................................................WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
sonable assumption is that hostile demonstrations and preparations on the part of the English were to have been met in kind
by the French. Thus the skirmish on Laurel Mountain was
only the match which all but ignited the already overstocked
tinder box of war.
Because of its betrayal of his immaturity and inexperience,
Washington's letter on the same subject to his brother, Augustine, was more informing possibly than was his report to Dinwiddie. While indicating a disposition to consider lightly his
first taste of battle, it also leaves no doubt of his belief that it
was a beginning of formal hostilities. Said he: "Most of our
men were out upon other detachments, so that I had scarcely
40 men remaining under my command, and about Io or 12 Indians; nevertheless we obtained a most signal victory.... We
expect every hour to be attacked by superior force, but, if they
forbear one day longer, we shall be prepared for them....
"P. S. I fortunately escaped without any wound, for the
right wing, where I stood, was exposed to and received all the
enemy's fire, and it was the part where the man was killed, and
the rest wounded. I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me,
there is something charming in the sound."42
A copy of this letter was published in England, where it
came to the attention of George II, a former soldier who had
heard bullets whistle at the Battle of Dettingen.43  Commenting upon young Washington's seeming flippancy, George is
reported to have said: "He would not say so, if he had been
used to hear many." If this comment ever came to Washington's attention, he may have received some satisfaction from the
claim that it was among the few pieces of Hanoverian witticism.
72CHAPTER V
FORT NECESSITY
EXPECTING to be attacked any time by a superior force of French
and Indians bent upon self-interest and revenge, Washington,
immediately following his skirmish with Jumonville, fell back
from Laurel Mountain to Great Meadows. The possibility of
losing his Indian allies by a betrayal of weakness seemed to
make imperative a stand at that point which he resolved to hold
against all odds. At once he sent a dispatch to Colonel Fry telling of his successful encounter with the French and asking that
reenforcements be sent "immediately."' Betraying that same
fortitude and patience which characterized his later conduct,
Washington the same day wrote Governor Dinwiddie: "I will
not be surprized let them come what hour they will; and this
is as much as I can promise, but my best endeavour's shall not
be wanting to deserve more, I doubt not if you hear I am beaten,
but you will at the same [time,] hear that we have done our duty
in fighting as long [as] there was a possibility of hope."2 At
the same time Washington told Dinwiddie that he had "already begun a Palisado'd Fort [Necessity]."3
Despite his determination to have it out as just indicated
above, the Jumonville incident concerned Washington. The
prisoners taken in the skirmish continued to insist upon their
peaceful intentions, but more disconcerting than their claims,
were evidences of their truthfulness, disclosed by a search of
their effects. Nevertheless, Washington continued to object
to the manner of their approach, and Lieutenant West was ordered to take them to Williamsburg at once. At the same time
West bore to Dinwiddie a letter confirming Washington's belief that the prisoners were spies, but he bespoke for them that
"respect... due to all unfortunate Persons in their Condition."
[73]WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
By the same means Dinwiddie was warned against "smooth
Stories" about "Privileges due to an Embassy."4
So far as Washington was concerned the skirmish on Laurel
Mountain was the beginning of hostilities, and he conducted
himself accordingly. Work on the proposed fort was pushed,
and, June 3, he announced its completion. Although it was
primarily for emergency uses, it was considered adequate to
withstand five hundred attackers.5 After all it was only an
outpost with Wills Creek as a base of operations.
Next Washington concerned himself with pressing Indian
affairs.6 Despite an inadequate food supply, he found a temporary shelter for Queen Aliquippa and her son, Canachyusay,
and the Half-King, together with his party which included
twenty-five families with an aggregate of eighty persons. With
a view to a possible descent upon the Forks by way of Red Stone
and the Monongahela River, when cannon and reenforcements
arrived, Washington next summoned a conference of Indians to
meet at Red Stone, and in a few days Senecas, Wyandot, Delawares, and other natives were there apprised of his friendly desires. Under more favorable conditions he might have perfected
an alliance between the Indians and the English, which would
have been a great advantage to the latter.
In the midst of these preparations, June 6 brought disconcerting intelligence. Following an illness which had retarded
his efforts to join Washington, Colonel Fry had met his death
at Wills Creek, May 3 I, by falling from his horse.7 This meant
additional responsibilities for Washington who thus became acting commander-in-chief, but any encouragement which he might
otherwise have felt because of a deserved recognition, was
marred by a letter from Dinwiddie informing him that the chief
command had been given to Colonel James Innes, a North Carolinian. As this appointment afforded Washington an opportunity to serve under "an experienced Officer and a man of
Sense," he welcomed it,8 but, like Fry, Innes never reached the
military front.
The arrival of Lieutenant Colonel George Muse in Wash74ington's camp, June I o, was timely. He brought nine swivel
guns and enough recruits to raise Washington's command to two
hundred ninety-three officers and men.9 Although they were
never so welcomed as were Virginians, the simultaneous arrival
at Wills Creek of a company of South Carolina regulars under
command of Captain James Mackay was also helpful and encouraging. It gave assurance of reenforcements in an emergency
and indicated the concern of the colonies in their common fight
for possession of the Ohio Valley.
Meanwhile still other problems continued to perplex and
plague Washington. First of all was the necessity of keeping
his Indian allies happy and contented, so as to prevent them
from deserting to the French. To this end Queen Aliquippa
was flattered by having her son named "Colonel Fairfax" and by
being told this name meant "the first of the council." But this
displeased the Half-King, who was accordingly named "Dinwiddie" and told that it meant "the head of all."10 By playing
upon the ignorance and the credulity of the natives Washington
was able to manage them as long as he had bread; but when
his supplies were low, it was sometimes embarrassing.ll On
June I2 he had been "six days without flour," and, despite repeated appeals for supplies, no relief was in sight. At another
time his embarrassment was relieved, when "Providence...
sent a trader from the Ohio" with flour which was purchased
at twenty-one shillings and eight pence per hundred. The delayed arrival of "suitable stores of ammunition" prevented
Washington from moving on to Red Stone and attempting another "advantageous enterprise," but he was resolved to "set
off" as soon as possible.
The five days' allowance of flour and the sixty beeves which
Captain Mackay brought were duly consumed, and thus his arrival on June I2, only added to Washington's troubles.l2
Mackay, a regular officer, was in command of South Carolina
troops which he had organized and drilled for service against
the French and Indians. According to a well-established tradition he could not take orders from a subaltern, in this case Lieu75
FORT NECESSITYWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
tenant Colonel Washington, and accordingly Mackay refused
either to do so or to co6perate in the execution of Washington's
program. Instead he and his South Carolinians camped by
themselves and even refused to exchange salutes and countersigns with provincials. Washington's decision, made three days
after Mackay's arrival, to resume road building in the direction
of Red Stone was doubtless a happy way out of an embarrassing
situation. It mattered not that the South Carolinians were thus
left free to eat beefsteak, while the Virginians worked and
sweltered in the hot sun.
Washington's attitude toward road building, as it affected
his own program and Captain Mackay, is another proof of his
fortitude and diplomacy. In the same letter in which he informed Dinwiddie of the necessity in the "Publick interest," of
his parting with Captain Mackay and resuming road building,
Washington continued: "Capt. Mackay says, that it is not in his
power to oblige his Men to work upon the Road, unless he will
engage them a Shilling Sterling a Day, which I [Washington]
would not choose to do; and to suffer them to March at their
ease, whilst our faithful Soldiers are laboriously employed,
carry's an air of such distinction that it is not to be wondered at
if the poor fellows were to declare the hardship of it. He also
declares to me that this is not particular to his Company only,
but that no Soldiers subject to Martial law can be obliged to do
it for less. I, therefore, shall continue to compleat the work
we have begun with my poor fellows; we shall have the whole
credit, as none others have assisted."'3
Rather than take issue with Mackay on subjects which neither
could determine, Washington decided to appeal to Governor
Dinwiddie.l4  Doubtless this course was taken with Mackay's
approval, as he and Washington had lived "in the most perfect harmony since his arrival." They had even reasoned the
matter together "calmly." Accordingly, in their failure to
agree, Washington wrote Dinwiddie that it behooved him, in
the interest of the public service, "to lay your absolute commands on one or the other to obey." At the same time Wash76ington let it be known that Mackay questioned Dinwiddie's
authority "to give commissions, that will command him." In
the event that this were true Washington concluded that Mackay's "absence would tend to the public advantage."
This difference was not adjusted by Dinwiddie until June
25, and it was some days later before Washington received
instructions placing Colonel Innes in chief command of all the
forces then on the Virginia frontier, while Washington himself
was to be second in rank.15 As Innes continued to absent himself this decision left Washington in practical command, but
Mackay continued to act more or less independently even
through the crisis that followed.
In the meantime the road to Red Stone was being pushed to
completion. As both the wagons and horses used in its construction became increasingly frail and inadequate, that part of
the road covering the western slope of Laurel Mountain proved
most difficult of construction. But rumors regarding the approach of enemy proved unfounded, and the road was extended.
June I8 it reached Gist's [Mount Braddock], where Washington found a number of Indians awaiting'him. Among them
were parties of Senecas, Delawares, and Shawnee, forty in all,
whom he met that evening in a council which lasted three days.
In the course of their deliberations the Indians said many harsh
things about the French and made many avowals of friendship
for the English, but Washington was not deceived thereby.
Soon after they departed he made known to friendly Delawares
who remained the object of the retiring visitors. They "had
been sent by the French to act as spies," but Washington found
comfort in the belief that the "treacherous devils" through
stories prepared for the French, might be of service to his own
designs.'6
At this juncture Washington decided to do some spying himself. Although his men were short of rations, he was confidently expecting reenforcements, particularly those promised
by the colony of New York. With their arrival he hoped to replenish his own supplies and to push on to Red Stone, and, if
77
FORT NECESSITY78              WASHINGTON AND THE WEST
things went well, perhaps to the Forks. Accordingly, June 2I,
the day the Indian conference at Gist's broke -up, Washington
sent two trusted Delawares with instructions to scout the French
and report their movements.17
It was in the midst of these preparations and counterpreparations, June 28, that Washington received information of the
plan of the French and Indians to attack him. At once he called
a council of war at which it was decided to make a stand at
Gist's, a high point commanding the surrounding country on all
sides, and to prepare for an attack. To these ends Captain Andrew Lewis and Ensign John Mercer were ordered to cease
road building, and a messenger was sent to Mackay to urge him
to come forward with all haste.
Two days later the fortification at Gist's was completed, but
that same day, June 30, Washington was informed that the
French and Indians were already descending upon him. It has
since been determined that there were approximately sixteen
hundred of them, of which five hundred were Indians. Convinced of the folly of trying to withstand such a force, Washington called another council which decided that he should withdraw his entire command to Wills Creek, there to await reenforcements and supplies. In this decision the English were
motivated by their expectation of immediate reenforcements and
by the better-founded conclusion that the French then had no
intention to reconnoiter the country to the eastward of the Alleghenies. Thus Washington planned to escape the French and
Indians and to avoid a conflict the odds of which were overwhelmingly against him.
However, the retreat from Gist's which began at once, encountered unexpected difficulties. Worn out by hard work and
inadequate food, horses proved practically useless in negotiating the return trip across Laurel Mountain. Consequently the
fittest among Washington's men were drafted for dray horse
service for transporting cannon formerly intended for use in the
proposed attack upon Fort Duquesne, while others, officers
and men alike, did pack horse service in the transportation ofHISTORICAL MAP OF THE REDSTONE COUNTRYWASHINGTON AND THE WEST
supplies. In this manner Washington returned to Great Meadows after a continuous march of twenty-four hours.18
Confronted by the frightful possibility of being overtaken
by the oncoming enemy, if the rate of his retreat could not be
accelerated, Washington halted at Great Meadows for an inspection. This revealed a deplorable condition: nearly one hundred of his immediate command of approximately three hundred men were found to be sick; for eight days all had been
without bread; and there were only two bags of flour and a few
sides of bacon at "the Meadows."T9 Thus further retreat was inexpedient. It was in fact impossible.
Under these circumstances the Fort completed at the Meadows a month before became a refuge in time of need. Although
inadequate because of its size, necessity compelled its use. Accordingly it was formally occupied and named, "Fort Necessity."20 The only consolation in its forced use was the possibility of reenforcements which were hourly expected.  It
should be recalled also that Captain Mackay's command of one
hundred men was still at the Meadows, even if it had done little
or nothing to provide for its own defense in the emergency
with which it was overtaken.
While Washington was preparing his defense, July 2, the
French and Indians occupied Gist's. Here they learned from
captives and traders of Washington's decision to make a stand
at the Meadows and of the half-starved and generally destitute condition of his men. This information only whetted the
French and Indian appetites for glory and revenge, and, confident of their ability to achieve both, they hastened to descend
upon their prey.2' In their zeal they traveled light, thus perhaps in a measure defeating the fullest realization of their purposes.
In the face of impending danger Washington and Mackay
had meanwhile strengthened their position. Mackay had even
learned to coSperate, if he would not always obey. Inasmuch
as the fort had been built by the Virginians and was too small
to accommodate even them, Mackay decided to dig a ditch
80FORT NECESSITY                     8 I
along the exposed, or south, side, and to have his men fight from
it. After all he was a brave soldier and, when it came to
fighting, asked no favors either for himself or his men. While
the South Carolinians were engaged in ditch digging, which
they continued until it became necessary to exchange their
shovels for their guns, Washington's men were making rifle
pits and throwing up earthern embankments against outer portions of their palisaded fort. With an aggregate force of four
hundred men including sick and other ineffectives, in this way
the two commanders made ready to withstand the enemy.
The following day, July 3, the French and Indians under
the command of Jumonville's brother, Coulon de Villiers, descended upon Fort Necessity.22 While they were~yet four miles
away but steadily advancing over a road which Washington had
unwittingly prepared for them, their presence was made known
to him by a wounded picket whom enemy skirmishers had shot.
By eleven o'clock they reached the edge of the clearing surrounding the fort at varying distances, and soon thereafter a
battle was on "which led not only to the expulsion of the French
but also to the independence of the American Colonies."23 In
fact, the first important world war had been launched. Before
it ended it involved not only England and France but also
most of Continental Europe and North America and much of
Asia. Of its beginnings Voltaire later said: "A cannon shot
fired in the woods of America was the signal that set Europe
in a blaze."24 Of these same beginnings Horace Walpole is
reputed to have said: "A volley fired by a young Virginian in
the backwoods of America set the world on fire."25
Responsibility for this shot has never been definitely determined. According to one account, that attributed to Washington and Mackay, the English fired it,26 but subsequently
Washington denied this in a statement in which he said: "It is
well known that we received it at six hundred paces distance."27
In keeping with their general practice in this war, French accounts generally agreed in fixing responsibility upon the English.28 If it was indeed "a cannon shot" which was fired, as