George Washington

George Washington, by Calista McCabe Courtenay

The Project Gutenberg EBook of George Washington, by Calista McCabe Courtenay This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: George Washington
Author: Calista McCabe Courtenay
Release Date: June 29, 2007 [EBook #21972]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE WASHINGTON ***

Produced by Stephen Hope, Janet Blenkinship and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

"MAKERS OF AMERICAN HISTORY" SERIES
GEORGE WASHINGTON
By CALISTA McCABE COURTENAY
ILLUSTRATED BY
A. M. TURNER
AND
HARRIET KAUCHER
[Illustration: George Washington]
Copyright, 1917, by SAM'L GABRIEL SONS & COMPANY NEW YORK

CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I
5
Washington's Early Life--Appointed as Surveyor--First Trip into the Wilderness--Entrusted with Message to the French.
CHAPTER II
20
Washington Appointed a Member of Gen. Braddock's Staff--French and Indian War--Washington Made Commander of Virginia Forces--Causes of the American Revolution--Washington a Member of the First Continental Congress.
CHAPTER III
30
Beginning of the Revolution--Washington Made Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army--British Forced to Leave Boston.
CHAPTER IV
40
Declaration of Independence Signed--Battle of Long Island--Battle of White Plains--Washington Crosses the Delaware and Surprises the Hessians at Trenton.
CHAPTER V
52
Recapture of Fort Ticonderoga by Gen. Burgoyne--Battle of Brandywine--Battle of Germantown--Burgoyne's Surrender at Saratoga--Washington at Valley Forge--Alliance with France.
CHAPTER VI
62
Battle of Monmouth--Patriots Receive Aid from France--Recapture of Fort at Stony Point by Gen. Anthony Wayne--Washington at Morristown--Surrender of Charleston, S. C., to the British--Treason of Benedict Arnold.
CHAPTER VII
73
Gen. Gates Defeated at Camden, S. C.--Battle of King's Mountain--Washington Sends Aid to the South--Siege of Yorktown--Surrender of Lord Cornwallis--Peace Treaty Signed--Washington's Farewell to His Officers.
CHAPTER VIII
83
Washington Retires to Mount Vernon--Inaugurated as First President of the United States--His Reelection--His Death at Mount Vernon.
[Illustration: The Washington Monument]
LIST OF COLORED PLATES
Washington Leaving His Home Frontispiece
Washington Taking Command of the Army 20
Washington Crossing the Delaware 40
At Valley Forge 52
Washington Bidding Farewell to His Officers 73
Washington Welcomed in New York 83
[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
WASHINGTON'S EARLY LIFE--APPOINTED AS SURVEYOR--FIRST TRIP INTO THE WILDERNESS--ENTRUSTED WITH MESSAGE TO THE FRENCH--1732-1754
[Illustration]
The twenty-second day of February is a national holiday in America because, as everybody knows, it is the anniversary of George Washington's birthday. All loyal Americans love and honor him, the greatest man in the history of the Republic.
He was born in 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia, where the Potomac River flowed past his father's farm. The farm-house, called "Wakefield," was burned, but the United States Government built a monument to mark the place where it stood.
When "Wakefield" was destroyed, the family lived for a time in a home, later called Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County. But the real boyhood home of George Washington was a farm overlooking the Rappahannock River, where his parents went when he was about eight years old. His father, Augustine Washington, was a prosperous Virginia planter, and owned several fine estates.
His mother's name was Mary Ball. She was a beautiful and sensible woman, and a wise, firm and loving mother. She was his father's second wife and there were two little lads already in the home, Lawrence and Augustine, when she came to take the place of their mother who had died. Besides these two half-brothers, George had two sisters and three brothers. The two older sons were sent to England to school.
When George was eight years old, Lawrence returned home, having finished his studies. A great affection at once sprang up between them. George was a fine, manly little fellow whom any big brother could love, and he looked up to Lawrence as a model. Before long, Lawrence went away to the wars, serving under Admiral Vernon in the West Indies. His letters filled George with admiration and he at once became commander-in-chief of all the boys at school; they had parades and battles in imitation of those Lawrence wrote about.
George's father died when he was twelve years old, but, fortunately, he had a wise and careful mother. She taught him respect and obedience to authority; justice and courtesy to others; loyalty to God and his country. He had a high temper and a spirit of command, which she taught him to control. A few times only in his life, when greatly provoked, did his anger get beyond bounds. He loved and honored his mother deeply and never forgot her teachings.
George and his younger brothers were educated in the country schools of Virginia. George soon showed that he had a practical mind, caring little for poetry and literature. He liked mathematics and wanted to know about business and keeping accounts. He spent hours copying into a book the exact forms of legal papers of all kinds. He was very neat and accurate in his school work and learned the value of system and order. He never began a thing without finishing it. He never did anything without knowing the reason why. When he