The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1

The Life of George Washington,
Vol. 1 (of 5), by

John Marshall 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: The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5) Commander in
Chief of the American Forces During the War which Established the
Independence of his Country and First President of the United States
Author: John Marshall
Release Date: June 15, 2006 [EBook #18591]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON ***

Produced by Linda Cantoni and David Widger

THE
LIFE

OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE
AMERICAN FORCES,
DURING THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THE
INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY,
AND
FIRST PRESIDENT
OF THE
UNITED STATES.
COMPILED UNDER THE INSPECTION OF
THE HONOURABLE BUSHROD WASHINGTON,
FROM
ORIGINAL PAPERS
BEQUEATHED TO HIM BY HIS DECEASED RELATIVE, AND
NOW IN POSSESSION OF THE AUTHOR.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,
AN INTRODUCTION,
CONTAINING A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE COLONIES
PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH ON THE
CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA,

FROM THEIR SETTLEMENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF
THAT WAR WHICH TERMINATED IN THEIR
INDEPENDENCE.
BY JOHN MARSHALL.
VOL. I.
THE CITIZENS' GUILD OF WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD HOME
FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
1926
[Illustration: General Washington
From the full length portrait by John Trumbull at Yale University
This portrait is one of 54 canvasses the artist presented to Yale
University in return for an annuity of $1,000. Washington was in his
forty-third year and it is considered the best likeness of him at the
outbreak of the Revolution. The canvas depicts him, "six feet two inches
in height, with brown hair, blue eyes, large head and hands, and strong
arms."]

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE
In his will George Washington bequeathed to his favorite nephew,
Bushrod Washington, his personal letters, private papers and secret
documents accumulated during a lifetime of service to his country.
When the bequest became known, many of the literary men of the
country were proposed for the commission to write the authorized life
of our First President.
Bushrod Washington's choice fell upon John Marshall, Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court. To him he handed over all the precious papers left
him by his distinguished relative. George Washington and Marshall's

father, Thomas Marshall, were boyhood companions, so John Marshall
knew "the Father of His Country" as a neighbor and friend from his
earliest youth, and served under him in the Revolution.
If it be true that it takes a great man to interpret the life of a great man
then Bushrod Washington made no mistake in the selection of a
biographer. For Marshall, under the influence of Washington, came to
be nearly as great a man as the character whose life and achievements
held his deepest thought for nearly a quarter of a century. Certainly his
services to his country rank close to Washington's. Marshall's
sympathetic understanding of his subject, his first-hand knowledge of
events with his remarkable powers of expression qualified him to
produce the masterpiece that has come down to us.
Seven years were spent in preparing the first edition, published in
1804-07. The work was based chiefly on Washington's own diaries and
letters and secret archives and it told not simply the epic story of this
great life but the truth about the birth of our nation. Marshall later spent
fifteen years revising the first edition, verifying to the last detail every
chapter, page and paragraph of his monumental work.
The first edition, published by C.P. Wayne of Philadelphia, was an
achievement in beautiful printing and bookmaking and still stands out
today as such. The present publishers have followed the format of the
original edition but have used the revised text which Marshall spent so
many years in perfecting.
Washington's personality lives on in John Marshall's great biography.
He still has the power to raise up men to greatness as he did during his
lifetime. The precepts, the principles and the shining example of this
foremost of self-educated, self-made Americans have the power to
uplift and start toward new heights of achievement, all who come in
contact with him. The work is now reissued in the hope that it may give
his countrymen of the present day the benefit of the counsel, the
guidance and the inspiration that has proven so valuable in the past.
February 22nd, 1926.

PREFACE
BY THE AUTHOR
A desire to know intimately those illustrious personages, who have
performed a conspicuous part on the great theatre of the world, is,
perhaps, implanted in every human bosom. We delight to follow them
through the various critical and perilous situations in which they have
been placed,