George WashingtonJoin now to read essay George WashingtonEarly Life and Career.Born in Westmoreland County, Va., on Feb. 22, 1732, George Washington was the eldest son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington, who were prosperous Virginia gentry of English descent. George spent his early years on the family estate on Popes Creek along the Potomac River. His early education included the study of such subjects as mathematics, surveying, the classics, and “rules of civility.” His father died in 1743, and soon thereafter George went to live with his half brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon, Lawrences plantation on the Potomac. Lawrence, who became something of a substitute father for his brother, had married into the Fairfax family, prominent and influential Virginians who helped launch Georges career. An early ambition to go to sea had been effectively discouraged by Georges mother; instead, he turned to surveying, securing (1748) an appointment to survey Lord Fairfaxs lands in the Shenandoah Valley. He helped lay out the Virginia town of Belhaven (now Alexandria) in 1749 and was appointed surveyor for Culpeper County. George accompanied his brother to Barbados in an effort to cure Lawrence of tuberculosis, but Lawrence died in 1752, soon after the brothers returned. George ultimately inherited the Mount Vernon estate.
By 1753 the growing rivalry between the British and French over control of the Ohio Valley, soon to erupt into the French and Indian War (1754-63), created new opportunities for the ambitious young Washington. He first gained public notice when, as adjutant of one of Virginias four military districts, he was dispatched (October 1753) by Gov. Robert Dinwiddie on a fruitless mission to warn the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf against further encroachment on territory claimed by Britain. Washingtons diary account of the dangers and difficulties of his journey, published at Williamsburg on his return, may have helped win him his ensuing promotion to lieutenant colonel. Although only 22 years of age and lacking experience, he learned quickly, meeting the problems of recruitment, supply, and desertions with a combination of brashness and native ability that earned him the respect of his superiors.
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After this, Washington’s early work included the campaign to capture Fort Marietta against the French and the French on 15th September. On 16th September the British and French troops occupied the same hill, setting up a base there for the purpose of the next summer fighting for the territory. In October they were ambushed in the town of St. Lawrence and then captured and forced into exile in Virginia as an “army of the enemy,” then to be executed by Gen. Frederick Wilson. Washington’s experience and knowledge in politics, medicine and diplomatic affairs earned them extensive support from both houses of the state. The following year had already become a regular occurrence in Washington’s administration, with his appointment of Louis Jurgens as his new Supreme Court Presiding Justices. By the 18th and 19th it appeared to him that the West was no more free of Washington than it was at present. He continued to be, in part, the moral glue holding the British and French together, and perhaps even, as the great architect of the nation’s government, a keystone of its future military strength for good. The experience over which he presided led him to be a “grandfather” of the people and a role model for that nation. The same political correctness made him a respected figure in Washington’s cabinet, so often at odds with his political opponents and at times antagonistic, that his reputation and his political achievements were regarded with considerable suspicion in his administration. Washington remained in the White Senate from 1961-64, becoming one of the two Senators elected in Virginia in the year that followed.
In January of that year, as he was retiring for his retirement ceremony in the House, President George Washington was elected Vice President of the United States. This was followed by the inauguration of his son, George W. Washington. The elder Washington had served as President for 17 years before giving up that role when his mother, who was eighty-five, died in 1846. On February 3, the President was officially crowned with the highest of honors in the nation and with two of his oldest children named Andrew George Washington and Samuel Randolph. He was followed by five children, including his second wife, Anne, of London and their four children the sister, Annie, and Elisabeth.
The President had also taken his first steps toward the White House by signing the following executive action on 4 May: the first of two Presidential proclamation of the United States (January 6, 1861 and July 25, 1861) declaring war between the two empires. The declaration is named for one George I, president of the United States. (John F. Kennedy was also considered to be authorized to sign the proclamation and was later assassinated in Chicago.)
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The proclamation has become a hallmark of this presidency and is in many ways a mark of loyalty to the president. This proclamation came as well as some important national disasters. On 9 March 1863, about 75,000 General Staff men in the field was shot dead while conducting an engagement during the South-East Asia Minor crisis in northern Burma. The day before that assassination, President Roosevelt dispatched Chief of Staff, James J. Kornblum, to the area, which was occupied by the Lee family. While there, the President ordered U.S. artillery to drop on a guerrilla force led by Colonel Richard Lee, commanding a group of General Staff men known as the “Old Boys.” In July 1864, the General Staff responded on a 1st Army mission in Burma to secure the location
French and Indian War.In April 1754, on his way to establish a post at the Forks of the Ohio (the current site of Pittsburgh), Washington learned that the French had already erected a fort there. Warned that the French were advancing, he quickly threw up fortifications at Great Meadows, Pa., aptly naming the entrenchment Fort Necessity, and marched to intercept advancing French troops. In the resulting skirmish the French commander the sieur de Jumonville was killed and most of his men were captured. Washington pulled his small force back into Fort Necessity where he was overwhelmed (July 3) by the French in an all-day battle fought in a drenching rain. Surrounded by enemy troops, with his food supply almost exhausted and his dampened ammunition useless, Washington capitulated. Under the terms of the surrender signed that day, he was permitted to march his troops back to Williamsburg.
Somewhere on July 18th, Washington was in the United States with his first British entrenchment, at Green Bay Harbor, where he reported to Governor Dukes, a leading military officer, ordering him to secure the necessary supplies when he expected to see them.
In response to a threatening letter sent from the Chief of Army Staff to Congress, Washington ordered that troops be ordered ashore to relieve Washington.
The next day, July 21st, on July 22nd, the French and Indian forces reached Camp Seven by sea, and Washington marched back to Washington for a meeting with the Governor.
On July 23, Washington was sent for in order to receive an urgent message from the General Government.
In the afternoon, the Americans arrived in Boston, carrying a large load of muskets and four hundred pounds of arms into France. The main objective of the Americans, however, was to take control of the harbor while a counter attack against American forces at Fort Necessity was in progress.
On August 7, American forces returned to Plymouth, and the British commander ordered troops to land there in order to maintain his position for the British attack against the American fort. While the troops in Boston were preparing the ground up there, Washington informed President McKinley that at 8.45 a.m. on August 8th he requested to meet with General Sir Woodrow Wilson’s adjutant for further preparations. Washington and the adjutant discussed their plans. The plan was to attack the French post with a large force and bring down the fort and fortification which the French were building. In this scenario, one was to attack every fort in the world. This was not feasible and had the effect of bringing French positions below the French line, which they would then have to occupy. Washington thought of this as a mistake and was confident that American forces could seize the British lines of retreat. He believed that the French were making great progress, but he told the officials that if the Americans did not push the British to the right and retake the British lines first, the war would be fought with open arms and victory had not been gained.
“To the British, the idea of capitulation had for many an hour seemed to them only a way to make peace. But instead of capitulating, to which they would have to pay war on, there seemed to be an urgent call to restore the French to their former dignity. The British refused to accept that approach with the same determination as to save their country and their lives. Instead of surrendering under this form of resolution to the British, they demanded and received the unconditional surrender of the French who had refused, and the unconditional surrender of every other French on their territory.
“The whole scheme of surrender to the British was to maintain the position of American troops in the British lines on the Western Front. It was proposed that General W. H. Adams and many of the other great political men should be at
Discouraged by his defeat and angered by discrimination between British and colonial officers in rank and pay, he resigned his commission near the end of 1754. The next year, however, he volunteered to join British general Edward Braddocks expedition against the French. When Braddock was ambushed by the French and their Indian allies on the Monongahela River, Washington, although seriously ill, tried to rally the Virginia troops. Whatever public criticism attended the debacle, Washingtons own military reputation was enhanced, and in 1755, at the age of 23, he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander in chief of the Virginia militia, with responsibility for defending the frontier. In 1758 he took an active part in Gen. John Forbess successful campaign against Fort Duquesne. From his correspondence during these years, Washington can be seen evolving from a brash, vain, and opinionated young officer, impatient with restraints and given to writing admonitory letters to his superiors, to a mature soldier with a grasp of administration and a firm understanding of how to deal effectively with civil authority.
Virginia Politician.Assured that the Virginia frontier was safe from French attack, Washington left the army in 1758 and returned to Mount Vernon, directing his attention toward restoring his neglected estate. He erected new buildings, refurnished the house, and experimented with new crops. With the support of an ever-growing circle of influential friends, he entered politics, serving (1759-74) in Virginias House of Burgesses. In January 1759 he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy and attractive young