GEORGE WASHINGTON

In Two Volumes

VOL. I.

By

HENRY CABOT LODGE

1899

Frontispiece I.
GEORGE WASHINGTON

Frontispiece II.
The Home of the Washington Family

PREFACE

This edition has been carefully revised, and although very little has been added of late years to our knowledge of the facts of Washington's life, I have tried to examine all that has appeared. The researches of Mr. Waters, which were published just after these volumes in the first edition had passed through the press, enable me to give the Washington pedigree with certainty, and have turned conjecture into fact. The recent publication in full of Lear's memoranda, although they tell nothing new about Washington's last moments, help toward a completion of all the details of the scene.

H.C. LODGE.

WASHINGTON, February 7, 1898.

Table of Contents

Chapter I  — THE OLD DOMINION

Chapter II  —  THE WASHINGTONS

Chapter III  —  ON THE FRONTIER

Chapter IV  —  LOVE AND MARRIAGE

Chapter V  —  TAKING COMMAND

Chapter VI  —  SAVING THE REVOLUTION

Chapter VII  —  MALICE DOMESTIC, AND FOREIGN LEVY

Chapter VIII  —  THE ALLIES

Chapter IX  —  ARNOLD'S TREASON, AND THE WAR IN THE SOUTH

Chapter X  —  YORKTOWN

Chapter XI  —  PEACE

INDEX

List of Illustrations

GEORGE WASHINGTON

From the painting by Gilbert Stuart in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. This painting is owned by the Boston Athenæum and is known as the Athenæum portrait.

Autograph is from Washington's signature to a bill of exchange, from "Talks about Autographs" by George Birkbeck Hill.

VIGNETTE of the RESIDENCE of the WASHINGTON FAMILY

From "Homes of American Statesman," published by Alfred W. Putnam, New York.

LAWRENCE WASHINGTON

From an original painting in the possession of Lawrence Washington, Esq., Alexandria, Va., a great-great-great-nephew.

Autograph from MS. in New York Public Library, Lenox Building.

MISS MARY CARY

From an original painting owned by Dr. James D. Moncure of Virginia, one of her descendants.

No autograph can be found.

MISS MARY PHILIPSE

From Irving's "Washington," published by G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Autograph from Appleton's "Cyclopædia of American Biography."

WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE

From the original painting by Emanuel Leutze in the New York Metropolitan Museum. The United States flag shown in the picture is an anachronism. The stars and stripes were first adopted by Congress in June, 1777; and any flag carried by Washington's army in December, 1776, would have consisted of the stripes with the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew in the blue field where the stars now appear.

INTRODUCTION

February 9 in the year 1800 was a gala day in Paris. Napoleon had decreed a triumphal procession, and on that day a splendid military ceremony was performed in the Champ de Mars, and the trophies of the Egyptian expedition were exultingly displayed. There were, however, two features in all this pomp and show which seemed strangely out of keeping with the glittering pageant and the sounds of victorious rejoicing. The standards and flags of the army were hung with crape, and after the grand parade the dignitaries of the land proceeded solemnly to the Temple of Mars, and heard the eloquent M. de Fontanes deliver an "Eloge Funèbre."¹

[Footnote 1: (return) A report recently discovered shows that more even was intended than was actually done.

The following is a translation of the paper, the original of which is Nos. 172 and 173 of volume 51 of the manuscript series known as Etats-Unis, 1799, 1800 (years 7 and 8 of the French republic):—

"Report of Talleyrand, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on the occasion of the death of George Washington.

"A nation which some day will he a great nation, and which today is the wisest and happiest on the face of the earth, weeps at the bier of a man whose courage and genius contributed the most to free it from bondage, and elevate it to the rank of an independent and sovereign power. The regrets caused by the death of this great man, the memories aroused by these regrets, and a proper veneration for all that is held dear and sacred by mankind, impel us to give expression to our sentiments by taking part in an event which deprives the world of one of its brightest ornaments, and removes to the realm of history one of the noblest lives that ever honored the human race.

"The name of Washington is inseparably linked with a memorable epoch. He adorned this epoch by his talents and the nobility of his character, and with virtues that even envy dared not assail. History offers few examples of such renown. Great from the outset of his career, patriotic