George Washington was born 293 years ago today in Virginia. In the 1990s, I regretted knowing way too little about him. Like most everyone, I knew that he led American forces against the British in the Revolutionary War and was our first president, but that was just about it. To remedy that, I’ve read and have continued to read a number of Washington biographies through the years, and frankly the man truly amazes me. There are a lot of things I’ve learned about him that others may not know and I wanted to share. Here are a few:
1. He was a big man for his era, physically imposing at over 6'2" and 200 pounds. He also was one of the greatest horsemen of his age. In an era long before sports became a national obsession, this was probably the equivalent of having a Michael Jordan-type reputation for physical prowess.
2. When he was 19, he traveled with his older brother Lawrence to Barbados in the West Indies. It was the only time he ever left what eventually became the U.S. While in Barbados, Washington caught the dreaded smallpox. He survived and later during the American Revolution, when smallpox was ravaging American troops, Washington was able to circulate among them freely because he had acquired immunity to the virus.
3. Some historians believe he was responsible, at age 22, for triggering a world war between France and England (the Seven Year's War/French & Indian War) -- when the militia unit he commanded attacked a French "diplomatic" party in the Pennsylvania territory.
4. He was nearly shot and killed by a traitorous Indian guide as a young man exploring the Pennsylvania territory. Wow -- how might history have been different if that guide had been a little more accurate?
5. GW was no idiot. When it came time to look for a wife, he had his eye on 25-year-old Martha Dandridge Custis of the Virginia low country. She was an attractive widow who had four kids and had inherited five Virginia plantations from her late husband, so was one of the wealthiest Virginians in the colony at the time. After their marriage, she and Washington were devoted to each other; however, they were destined never to have any children of their own.
6. Washington was incredibly personally brave, exposing himself to direct enemy fire on numerous occasions while being out in front of his troops during the French & Indian War and the Revolution. He certainly did not “lead from the rear.”
7. In December 1776, the nadir of the Revolution, Washington knew it was about all over for him, his ragtag troops, and the colonies. His patchwork army had almost been destroyed on Long Island, had been run out of New York, up and down the Hudson River, and across New Jersey by British Gen. William Howe and his vastly superior army, one of the best in the world. Washington wrote his brother:
Washington knew he was on the verge of losing everything -- his army, the Revolution, his personal fortune, and probably his life when the British caught up with him and hung him as a traitor to the King. Anyone whose been getting kicked to the ground in life, in business, or even at halftime of a football game knows the feeling. Yet somewhere deep down, Washington mustered the guts to take his little army on Christmas night 1776 -- in a driving sleet and snowstorm -- across the wide, ice-choked Delaware River with the password "Victory or Death" and surprised the hired-gun German Hessian troops stationed at Trenton. Then, instead of retreating, he led his soldiers on to victory a few days later over the British regular troops at Princeton. It was a get-up-off-the-mat and slug your opponent in the gut move, completely surprising the British and a turning point – maybe the turning point -- in the Revolutionary War.
8. And despite the victories at Trenton and Princeton, the bleak winter for him and his "army" at Valley Forge -- and the even worse winter at Morristown the following year – still lay in the future.
1. He was a big man for his era, physically imposing at over 6'2" and 200 pounds. He also was one of the greatest horsemen of his age. In an era long before sports became a national obsession, this was probably the equivalent of having a Michael Jordan-type reputation for physical prowess.
2. When he was 19, he traveled with his older brother Lawrence to Barbados in the West Indies. It was the only time he ever left what eventually became the U.S. While in Barbados, Washington caught the dreaded smallpox. He survived and later during the American Revolution, when smallpox was ravaging American troops, Washington was able to circulate among them freely because he had acquired immunity to the virus.
3. Some historians believe he was responsible, at age 22, for triggering a world war between France and England (the Seven Year's War/French & Indian War) -- when the militia unit he commanded attacked a French "diplomatic" party in the Pennsylvania territory.
4. He was nearly shot and killed by a traitorous Indian guide as a young man exploring the Pennsylvania territory. Wow -- how might history have been different if that guide had been a little more accurate?
5. GW was no idiot. When it came time to look for a wife, he had his eye on 25-year-old Martha Dandridge Custis of the Virginia low country. She was an attractive widow who had four kids and had inherited five Virginia plantations from her late husband, so was one of the wealthiest Virginians in the colony at the time. After their marriage, she and Washington were devoted to each other; however, they were destined never to have any children of their own.
6. Washington was incredibly personally brave, exposing himself to direct enemy fire on numerous occasions while being out in front of his troops during the French & Indian War and the Revolution. He certainly did not “lead from the rear.”
7. In December 1776, the nadir of the Revolution, Washington knew it was about all over for him, his ragtag troops, and the colonies. His patchwork army had almost been destroyed on Long Island, had been run out of New York, up and down the Hudson River, and across New Jersey by British Gen. William Howe and his vastly superior army, one of the best in the world. Washington wrote his brother:
We are in a very disaffected part of the Province; and, between you and me, I think our affairs are in a very bad situation; . . . .
I have no doubt but that general Howe will still make an attempt upon Philadelphia this winter. I see nothing to oppose him a fortnight hence, as the time of all the troops, except those of Virginia reduced (almost to nothing,) and Smallwood's Regiment of Maryland, equally as bad, will expire in less than that time. In a word, my dear Sir, if every nerve is not strained to recruit the new army with all possible expedition, I think the game is pretty near up . . . .
Washington knew he was on the verge of losing everything -- his army, the Revolution, his personal fortune, and probably his life when the British caught up with him and hung him as a traitor to the King. Anyone whose been getting kicked to the ground in life, in business, or even at halftime of a football game knows the feeling. Yet somewhere deep down, Washington mustered the guts to take his little army on Christmas night 1776 -- in a driving sleet and snowstorm -- across the wide, ice-choked Delaware River with the password "Victory or Death" and surprised the hired-gun German Hessian troops stationed at Trenton. Then, instead of retreating, he led his soldiers on to victory a few days later over the British regular troops at Princeton. It was a get-up-off-the-mat and slug your opponent in the gut move, completely surprising the British and a turning point – maybe the turning point -- in the Revolutionary War.
8. And despite the victories at Trenton and Princeton, the bleak winter for him and his "army" at Valley Forge -- and the even worse winter at Morristown the following year – still lay in the future.
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