Boys Book of Famous Soldiers | Page 7

rather gained
thereby, is shown by the call that came urgently to him, soon after, to
take command of all the forces of Virginia. He did not want the
command, but felt that after such a vote of confidence he could not
decline it. And so for three years more he struggled on, a general
without an army, to protect the western frontier of Virginia against
invasion. In April, 1757, he wrote:
"I have been posted for more than twenty months past, upon our cold
and barren frontiers, to perform, I think I may say, impossibilities; that
is, to protect from the cruel incursions of a crafty, savage enemy a line
of inhabitants, of more than three hundred and fifty miles in extent,
with a force inadequate to the task."
In the winter of 1758 his health broke down completely, and he feared
that it was permanently impaired. He resigned his commission and
retired to Mount Vernon for a much-needed rest.
Thus closes the first and formative period of Washington's life--the
period with which the present brief sketch is chiefly concerned. As we
read of those years of adventure and hardship from an early age, we
realize that here was being hammered into shape upon the anvil of
circumstance a very special weapon for some great need. Washington

was not an accident. He was a fine example of what special training can
do for the boy who does his bit with all his might. And because he was
better fitted for the task than any other man in America, we find him, a
few years later, chosen to lead the colonist forces against mighty
England. A pen picture of him at the time, from the diary of James
Thacher, a surgeon in the Revolution, deserves repeating:
"The personal appearance of our commander-in-chief is that of a
perfect gentleman and accomplished warrior. He is remarkably tall--full
six feet--erect and well-proportioned. The strength and proportion of
his joints and muscles appear to be commensurate with the pre-eminent
powers of his mind. The serenity of his countenance, and majestic
gracefulness of his deportment impart a strong impression of that
dignity and grandeur which are peculiar characteristics; and no one can
stand in his presence without feeling the ascendancy of his mind, and
associating with his countenance the idea of wisdom, philanthropy,
magnanimity, and patriotism. There is a fine symmetry in the features
of his face indicative of a benign and dignified spirit. His nose is
straight, and his eyes inclined to blue. He wears his hair in a becoming
cue, and from his forehead it is turned back, and powdered in a manner
which adds to the military air of his appearance. He displays a native
gravity, but devoid of all appearance of ostentation. His uniform dress
is a blue coat with two brilliant epaulets, buff-colored underclothes, and
a three-cornered hat with a black cockade. He is constantly equipped
with an elegant small-sword, boots and spurs, in readiness to mount his
noble charger."
In this description, somewhat fulsome in its praise, we can read
between the lines the confidence and affection which inspired his
troops during all the trying days of the Revolution.
Washington has suffered much at the hands of his biographers. They
have over-praised him, with the result that many readers of today have
come to regard him as scarcely human--a sort of demi-god. But one or
two more recent biographers have had the courage and conviction to
tear aside the mask, and we can, if we will, see Washington the
man--quick-tempered at times, perhaps profane in the heat of battle,

fond of display and good living in his hours of ease--but also a man to
be trusted in every crisis, cool, courageous, resourceful--a strategist
who made the ablest generals that England could send over against him,
suffer by comparison.
And when the great fight was won, and the last of their proud generals,
Cornwallis, had grudgingly yielded up his sword--it is pleasant to think
of Washington writing about it to--whom do you think?--a white-haired
old man now ninety years of age, who had given the young surveyor
his first start in life. Lord Fairfax was an old Tory, an unreconstructed
English gentleman of the old school, who drank the King's health
religiously every day at dinner. It must have been with mixed feelings,
therefore, that he heard of Cornwallis's surrender. But pride in his
protégé must have conquered. We can imagine him as lifting his glass
with trembling fingers to another toast:
"Here's to George Washington!"
And to that toast grateful America will ever respond.

IMPORTANT DATES IN WASHINGTON'S LIFE
1732. February 22. George Washington born. 1747. Left school. 1748.
Became a surveyor. 1753. Sent by Governor Dinwiddie on a mission to
the French. 1754. Appointed lieutenant-colonel and sent against the