Washington Before the Revolution
by Dr. Ed Rigel, Past SAR State President and Past SAR State Color Guard Commander

I will speak on "Washington - Before the Revolution" in hopes that the audience might gain some insight into how Washington developed into the commander and leader who led our country through the Revolution and the early years of our Republic.

George Washington's family held some distinction in England, being primarily of English gentry descent. But during the English Civil War, Lawrence Washington, George's great-great-grandfather and an Anglican minister was hounded from his parish in the Puritan cleansing of the Church of England under Oliver Cromwell. Persecuted by the Puritans, much of the family's wealth was lost. Lawrence's travails may have spurred his son John to seek his fortune in the burgeoning tobacco trade in North America. In 1656, John, emigrated to Virginia and settled at Bridges Creek by the Potomac River in Westmoreland County. John prospered in the New World exhibiting a bottomless appetite for land, an avidity for public office and a zest for frontier combat, traits that foreshadowed his great-grandson's rapid ascent in the world. John married Anne Pope and received a dowry of seven hundred acres of land from her father. By importing sixty-three indentured servants from England, he capitalized upon a British law that granted fifty acres to each immigrant and he eventually amassed more than five thousand acres, the largest piece of property bordering the Potomac River at Little Hunting Creek, the future site of Mount Vernon. John died in 1677 at age forty-six.

John's eldest son, Lawrence, inherited the bulk of his father's estate. Lawrence added to the tenuous foothold in the gentry established by his father by marrying Mildred Warner, daughter of a member of the prestigious King's Council. Lawrence died in 1698 at age thirty-eight when his second son, Augustine, was only three. Mildred remarried and returned to England where she died soon after. When Mildred's three children became ensnared in a legal battle over their inheritance the court ordered them shipped back to Virginia. Augustine was described as a tall strapping man with a mild-mannered demeanor but as a hard-driving businessman. He specialized in tobacco farming and began snapping up properties near Fredericksburg rich in iron ore. His wife died leaving him with sons Lawrence and Augustine Jr. and daughter Jane. In 1731, he married pious and headstrong Mary Ball. Mary was described as crusty with a stubborn streak. A plain homespun woman, she had little interest in the larger world, preferred the family farm, and shunned high society. Mary gave birth to George in 1732.

But having acquired nearly fifty slaves and then thousand acres of land, Augustine had planted his family firmly among the regional gentry. In 1735, Augustine moved the family up the Potomac River to another Washington family home, Little Hunting Creek Plantation. They moved again in 1738 to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River in Stafford County opposite Fredericksburg. It was around this time that George's older half-brother Lawrence, who George had never seen, returned from his schooling in England. Lawrence would function as both a peer and a parental figure for George. George's first exposure to war came vicariously through his idolized brother Lawrence. Lawrence became the captain of a Virginia Company and served under Admiral Edward Vernon against the Spanish during the War for Jenkins' Ear.

Little is known about George's earliest childhood. This fostered many of the fables later biographers manufactured to fill in the gap. Among those biographers was "Parson" Mason Locke Weems who, in 1800, published The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington which contained some of the most beloved lies of American history. Weems asked a cousin, who happened to be the son of Washington's physician, Dr. James Craik, to arrange for a visit to Mount Vernon. Weems used that brief encounter to claim a relationship with Washington and thus allowed him ideas about how to turn Washington's fame into money. Weems focused on the relationship between George and his father Augustine whose guidance Weems described as firm but never stern. The two walked hand in hand with the father pointing out moral lessons. The best known is the cherry tree tale when George remembered his father's lesson on truthfulness and confessed to chopping down the tree.

But, was it a cherry tree or a peach tree? Joyce Heth, whose broken body looked a thousand years old and exhibited all the effects of a lifetime in slavery, was purportedly a former African Princess who had been sold as a slave to Augustine Washington. She was supposed to have been 161 years old when acquired by none other than P.T. Barnum in about 1835. But her mind was sharp and she gabbled happily about "dear little George" and his childish ways. Barnum dubbed her the Greatest Natural and National Curiosity in the World as it was claimed that she had raised George from infancy, suckled him at her breast, fitted him in his first clothes and swatted his behind when he misbehaved.

Barnum paraded her around that she might tell her stories about young Master George. Joyce's version was that it was a peach tree that George and his friends damaged. Barnum wore Joyce, and her act, out and she died in February of 1836. But Barnum was not done yet! He sold fifteen hundred tickets at 50 cents apiece to allow the viewing of her autopsy to determine her real age. Turns out she was between 75 and 80 years of age.

While the tale of the cherry was a work of fiction, the tale stuck because it was partially true. Though Washington lied and was unscrupulous in some of his business dealings, he was constantly motivated by a great sense of rightness, propriety and duty. He always wanted to be seen as doing right Augustine Washington died in 1743 at age forty-nine. Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek Plantation from his father and renamed it Mount Vernon, in honor of his commanding officer, Admiral Edward Vernon. Augustine Jr. inherited the farm at Pope's Creek and George the Ferry Farm.

Augustine's early death robbed George of the classical education bestowed on his older brothers. His father's death threw George back upon his own resources, stealing any chance for a light-hearted youth. George developed the deeply rooted toughness of children forced to function as adults at an early age. Mary Ball Washington excelled at running the family estate but was extremely critical of George and her four younger children. The great self-control and infrequent volcanic temper that Washington displayed could have been due to his efforts to please her. Though respectful of education, George was never a bookish boy. George studied with the local church sexton and later a schoolmaster in practical math, geography, Latin and the English classics. But much of the knowledge he would use the rest of his life was through his acquaintance with backwoodsmen and plantation foremen. By his early teens, he had mastered growing tobacco, raising livestock and surveying.

Lawrence had married Anne Fairfax, the daughter of Colonel William Fairfax, patriarch of the well to do Fairfax family. Under Anne's tutelage, George was schooled in the finer aspects of colonial culture and would perfect the social graces that prepared him to enter well-bred society.

In 1748, George traveled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia's western territory. At the age of 17, in 1749, Washington would receive his surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary becoming the youngest surveyor in Virginia. Thanks to Lawrence's connection to the powerful Fairfax family, Washington was appointed official surveyor for Culpeper County and for two years he was very busy surveying the land in Culpeper, Frederick and Augusta counties. The experience made him resourceful and toughened his body and mind. It also piqued his interest in western land holdings, an interest that endured throughout his life with speculative land purchases and a belief that the future of the nation lay in colonizing the West. His position as official surveyor was well-paid which enabled him to purchase land in the Shenandoah Valley, the first of his many land acquisitions in western Virginia.

In 1751 Washington traveled to Barbados with Lawrence, who was suffering from tuberculosis, with the hope that the climate would be beneficial to Lawrence's health. Washington contracted smallpox during the trip, which left his face slightly scarred, but immunized him against future exposures to the dreaded disease. However, Lawrence's health failed to improve, and he returned to Mount Vernon, where he would die in the summer of 1752.

Lawrence's position as Adjutant General, that is, militia leader of Virginia was divided into four district offices after his death. Washington, showing early signs of natural leadership, was appointed by Governor Dinwiddie as one of the four district adjutants in February 1753, with the rank of major in the Virginia militia. During this period while in Fredericksburg, Washington became a Freemason, although his involvement was minimal. With Lawrence's death, George became the heir apparent of the Washington lands. Lawrence's only child, Sarah, died two months later and Washington became the head of one of Virginia's most prominent estates, Mount Vernon. He was 20 years old. Throughout his life, he would hold farming as one of the most honorable professions and he was most proud of Mount Vernon. He would gradually increase his landholdings there to about 8,000 acres.

In the early 1750s, France and Britain were at peace. But the border lands of the Ohio Valley area were unclear and prone to dispute between the two countries.

On October 31, 1753, Governor Dinwiddie sent Washington to Fort LeBoeuf, at what is now Waterford, Pennsylvania, to warn the French to remove themselves from land claimed by Britain. The French politely refused and Washington made a hasty ride back to Williamsburg nearly losing his life trying to navigate an icy river on a hand-made raft. Dinwiddie sent Washington back with troops and they set up a post at Great Meadows. Washington's small force attacked a French scouting party killing the commander and nine others and taking the rest prisoners. The French and Indian War had begun.

Washington was subsequently captured by the French at Fort Necessity at Great Meadows but was eventually released and returned to Williamsburg. Though a little embarrassed at being captured, he was grateful to receive the thanks from the House of Burgesses and to see his name mentioned in the London gazettes.

Washington was given the honorary rank of colonel and joined British General Edward Braddock's army in Virginia in 1755. Washington demonstrated his bravery and tenacity later that year when the French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock's forces on their expedition to dislodge the French. Washington escaped injury with four bullet holes in his cloak and two horses shot out from under him and was able to lead the broken army back to safety. In August 1755, Washington was made commander of all Virginia troops at age 23. He was sent to the frontier to patrol and protect nearly 400 miles of border with some 700 ill-disciplined colonial troops and a Virginia colonial legislature unwilling to support him.

Washington retired from his Virginia regiment in December 1758. His experience during the war was generally frustrating, with leadership decisions made excessively slow, poor support from the colonial legislature, and poorly trained recruits. Let me repeat that - decisions made excessively slow, poor support from the colonial legislature, and poorly trained recruits. No wonder he was so well prepared to command the army of the Revolution!

Washington applied for a commission with the British Army but was turned down. In December 1758, he resigned his commission in the Virginia Militia and returned to Mount Vernon disillusioned.

But Washington had gained valuable military, political, and leadership skills. He closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. He demonstrated his toughness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and retreats. He developed a command presence - given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle, he appeared to soldiers to be a natural leader and they followed him without question.

Washington learned to organize, train, drill, and discipline his companies and regiments. From his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics. He gained an understanding of overall strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points.

A month after leaving the army, Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow, who was only a few months older than he. Martha brought to the marriage a considerable fortune including an 18,000-acre estate, from which George personally acquired 6,000 acres. With this acreage and land he was granted for his military service, Washington became one of the more wealthy landowners in Virginia.

From his retirement from the Virginia militia until the start of the Revolution, George Washington devoted himself to the care and development of his land holdings, attending the rotation of crops, managing livestock and keeping up with the latest scientific advances. He loved the landed gentry's life of horseback riding, fox hunts, fishing, and cotillions. He worked six days a week, often taking off his coat and performing manual labor with his workers.

He was an innovative and responsible landowner, breeding cattle and horses and tending to his fruit orchards. While he kept over 100 slaves, his views on slavery evolved to support abolition. He also entered politics and was elected to Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1758. In 1769, he became more politically active, and in August 1774, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention, where he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.

And now you know the beginning of the story. It is the rest of the story with which we are more familiar -- about the man perhaps most responsible for the establishment of this great nation, who led our ancestors in the fight for liberty that brought us all the freedoms that we enjoy to this day.


References:
Chernow, Ron. Washington - A Life. Penguin Books

Lengel, Edward G. Inventing George Washington - America's Founder, in Myth and Memory. Harper Collins


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