COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

During the fifteen years of Washington’s peaceful abode at Mount Vernon, public affairs were hastening to a crisis. The “Seven Years’ War,” beginning with Washington’s attack upon De Jumonville, and ending with the surrender of Montreal and all Canada, and the signing of the treaty of peace at Fontainbleau, in 1763, had closed; but greater things awaited the colonists in the future.

Scarcely had the people settled down in the enjoyment of peace when an insurrection broke out among the Indian tribes, including the Delawares, Shawnees, and other tribes on the Ohio, with whom Washington had mingled. It was called “Pontiac’s War,” because Pontiac, a famous Indian chief, was its master-spirit. He induced the tribes to take up the hatchet against the English.

An attack was made upon all the English posts, from Detroit to Fort Pitt (late Duquesne). “Several of the small stockaded forts, the places of refuge of woodland neighbors, were surprised and sacked with remorseless butchery. The frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia were laid waste; traders in the wilderness were plundered and slain; hamlets and farm-houses were wrapped in flames, and their inhabitants massacred.”

Washington was not engaged in this Indian war, which was short in duration. At the time he was pushing his project of draining the Dismal Swamp.

Other things, however, of a public nature enlisted his attention, as the following interview with Mr. George Mason will show:

“It appears that the British Government propose to tax the Colonies to help pay its debts,” remarked Mr. Mason. “At least, the subject is before Parliament for discussion.”

“Yes,” answered Washington, “and the proposition is as unjust as it is impolitic. After we have helped the king maintain his authority in this country, we must not only pay our own bills, but help him pay his. The Colonists will never submit to that.”

“They never should, whether they will or not,” replied Mason. “I understand that the British officers have represented to the government that the colonists are rich, and abundantly able to assist in paying the debt of England.”

“And that comes from entertaining them in an extravagant way, as our leaders did. A few rich families furnished the silver plate and luxuries that dazzled the eyes of British officers.” Here Washington referred to what he never approved, “borrowing silver and begging luxuries” to treat British officers with.

“But suppose Parliament actually imposes a tax upon us, and sends agents to collect it, what can be done?”

“Resist the tax,” Washington replied.

“How resist?”

“There is but one way to resist; resort to arms.” “And there will be a poor show for us against the king’s armies,” said Mason.

“And the king’s temper,” added Washington, alluding to the fact that King George the Third, then ruling England, was an ambitious, unprincipled, and tyrannical ruler.

“The king will not be very merciful towards rebels.

“No, of course not. I suppose that resistance to the tax will be rebellion.”

“It cannot be anything else. Nevertheless, we can never submit to taxation without representation,” added Washington, referring to the fact that the Colonists had neither voice nor vote in the administration of the British Government.

“Never! Even loyalty cannot approve so base an act of injustice.”

“Especially after Parliament has gone to the verge of extortion by previous acts,” remarked Washington. “Our ports are now shut against foreign vessels; we can export our productions only to countries belonging to the British Crown, and must import goods only from England, and in English ships. Neither can we manufacture anything that will interfere with the manufactures of England. These are intolerant measures.

“That is so; and I do not wonder that the New England Colonies, particularly, should remonstrate against these arbitrary restraints, since their interests are chiefly commercial, and, therefore, more seriously affected by them.”

“I doubt whether Parliament will venture upon so hazardous an experiment,” continued Washington. “Walpole and Pitt, not to mention others, are opposed to this measure of deriving a revenue by taxation from the Colonies. Walpole said, ’It must be a bolder man than myself, and one less friendly to commerce, who should venture on such an expedient. For my part, I would encourage the trade of the Colonists to the utmost.’ Such sentiments must have weight with the government.”

Contrary to Washington’s expectations, Parliament voted, in 1764, that England had a right to tax America; and Grenville, then at the head of the government, proceeded to preparations for taxing the Colonies. Through his influence, also, the “Stamp Act” was passed in March, 1765, whereby “all instruments in writing were to be executed on stamped paper, to be purchased from the agents of the British Government.”

Other oppressive measures, also, were adopted subsequently, such as the appointment of judges by the English commissioners; that offenders should be tried in England for offences committed in America; with acts of lesser importance that infringed upon the rights of the people.

These things aroused the indignation of the Colonists, and the excitement grew to the highest pitch. In New England violent measures were adopted to express the indignant remonstrance of the people.

Two months after the passage of the “Stamp Act” in England, the Virginia Legislature convened at Williamsburg. Few of the members sympathized with the British Government. A large majority denounced the aforesaid measures as oppressive and tyrannical. Among the new members was Patrick Henry, a young lawyer of fearless courage and fervid eloquence. Rising in his seat, he presented a series of resolutions, which declared that the House of Burgesses of Virginia alone possessed the right to tax the people of that Colony, and whoever maintained the contrary should be deemed an enemy to the Colony.

He supported these resolutions by a speech of surpassing eloquence, surprising his associates by his boldness and powerful oratory.

“The resolutions are inflammatory,” objected the speaker, Mr. Robinson. “We can maintain our rights without challenging the arms of the mother-country.”

“The resolutions are right in principle, but intemperate in spirit,” remarked another.

Our self-respect demands that we indignantly repel such invasion of our rights as taxation imposes! exclaimed a third, in full accord with the resolutions.

After the discussion had proceeded for a while, a timid spirit being manifested by a few, and indignant remonstrance against British tyranny by the many, Patrick Henry rose to reply to objections advanced.

He vindicated colonial rights under the English Constitution by an argument of great power, showing how often and causelessly they had been assailed; and he justified the resolutions by the “cool deliberation” of Parliament in fastening the chains of slavery upon them. Warming with his theme, he advanced to matchless eloquence, and closed his philippic with such a daring burst of patriotism as startled the Assembly.

Csar had his Brutus! he shouted; Charles his Cromwell, and George the Third

“Treason! Treason!” cried the speaker.

And George the Third may profit by their examples! finishing the sentence in thunder tones.

“Sir,” he continued, after running his eye over the Assembly, “if this be treason (bowing to the speaker) make the most of it!”

Lieutenant-governor Fauquier was alarmed at this disloyal demonstration, and proceeded to dissolve the Assembly, though not until the resolutions were adopted in a modified form, still retaining, however, their patriotic spirit.

Washington supported the resolutions, and condemned the governor for dissolving the Assembly; and, as the governor ordered a new election, hoping thereby to secure a Legislature of truly loyal members, he recommended the re-election of those who voted for the resolutions, and the non-election of those who voted against them. The people were so impregnated with the spirit of Patrick Henry, that nearly every man who voted for the resolutions was returned to the next Assembly, and nearly all the others were left at home.

“Patrick Henry’s course was treasonable,” said Lord Fairfax to Washington. “A petition to the king, expressing our grievances, and praying for the removal of these oppressive measures would accomplish far more for us in my judgment.”

“And yet Patrick Henry had right, justice, and patriotism on his side,” replied Washington. “Without his spirit we should bend our necks to the British yoke, and become a nation of slaves.

“Yes; but appeal to the government should precede opposition,” suggested Fairfax.

“We have appealed, vainly appealed,” answered Washington. “The New England Colonies have remonstrated again and again; but their remonstrances have been spurned. The British Government must understand the patriotic spirit that animates our people.”

“All that is true; but it is not necessary to arouse the wrath of the British lion in order to accomplish that,” remarked Fairfax.

“That is a matter which should not trouble us,” replied Washington. “Our rights and liberties should be maintained at all hazards. And I am heartily in favor of the New England plan to cease using importations on which taxes are imposed.”

“I am with you in that,” said Fairfax.

“I confess that my sympathies are with the inhabitants of Boston, even in their violent demonstrations against the enforcement of these unjust measures.

“To what do you particularly refer?” inquired Lord Fairfax.

“The citizens of Boston hung the stamp distributor in effigy, broke the windows of his office, and finally tore his office down and made a bonfire of the fragments. They closed their demonstration by pelting the officials, who interfered, with stones. The stamp distributor resigned his office at once.”

“That is insurrection,” remarked Fairfax.

“Very true, and I would not recommend a resort to such extreme measures; certainly not at this stage of affairs. Yet I really sympathize with the patriotic spirit that has aroused the people of Boston to repel acts of usurpation and tyranny.”

Benjamin Franklin had been sent to England as an agent of the Colonies to intercede for their rights. He was summoned before a committee of Parliament, where the following colloquy occurred:

“What was the temper of America towards Great Britain before the year 1763?” That was the year of the treaty between England and France, as we have seen.

“The best in the world,” Dr. Franklin answered. “They submitted willingly to the government of the Crown, and paid, in all their courts, obedience to the acts of Parliament. Numerous as the people are in the several old provinces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garrisons, or armies, to keep them in subjection. They were governed by this country at the expense only of a little pen, ink, and paper. They were led by a thread.... Natives of Great Britain were always treated with particular regard; to be an Old England man was, of itself, a character of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us.

“And what is their temper now?”

“Oh, very much altered!”

“If the Stamp Act is not repealed, what do you think will be the consequences?”

“A total loss of the respect and affection the people of America bear to this country, and of all the commerce that depends on that respect and affection.”

“Do you think the people of America would submit to pay the stamp duty if it was moderated?”

“No, never, unless compelled by force of arms.

This was stating the case without reserve; and, no doubt, it had much to do with the repeal of the Stamp Act in March, 1766.

It should not be overlooked that the Colonies had some strong friends in Parliament. Charles Townsend advocated the enforcement of the Stamp Act. “Who are these Americans?” he cried. “Are they not our children, planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence, and protected by our arms?”

The brave Colonel Barre, with cheeks all inflamed with virtuous indignation, replied:

“They planted by your care? No, sir; your oppressions planted them in America! They fled from your tyranny to a then uncultivated and inhospitable country, where they exposed themselves to all the evils which a wilderness, filled with blood-thirsty savages, could threaten. And yet, actuated by true English love of liberty, they thought all these evils light in comparison with what they suffered in their own country, and from you, who ought to have been their friends.

“They nourished by your indulgence? No, sir; they grew by your neglect! As soon as you began to indulge them, that boasted indulgence was to send them hungry packs of your own creatures to spy out their liberties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon their substance! Yes, sir; you sent them men, whose behavior has often caused the blood of those Sons of Liberty to recoil within them men promoted by you to the highest seats of justice in that country, who, to my knowledge, had good cause to dread a court of justice in their own! They protected by your arms? No, sir! They have nobly taken up arms in your defence have exerted a most heroic valor, amidst their daily labors, for the defence of a country whose frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior parts gave up all their savings to our emolument!”

These words of Barre were as just as they were heroic; for, in the “Seven Years’ War” the Americans lost about thirty thousand men; and Massachusetts alone spent about two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in defence of the country.

The next session of the House of Burgesses occurred after a Congress of delegates from the several Colonies met in New York City. The doings of that Congress were not suited to make the action of the Virginia Legislature more conciliatory, for that Congressional body denounced the acts of the British Parliament, and declared that Americans could never submit to such assaults upon their liberties.

The Virginia Assembly was more insurrectionary at the next session, startling the new governor (Lord Botetourt) to such a degree that he appeared in the council chamber personally, and said:

“Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, I have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of their effects. You have made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accordingly.”

The Burgesses adjourned to a private house, and made Peyton Randolph moderator. Here Washington presented “a draft of the articles of association, concerted between him and George Mason. They formed the ground-work of an instrument signed by all present, pledging themselves neither to import nor use any goods, merchandise, or manufactures taxed by Parliament to raise a revenue in America.”

This plan had been adopted by the New England Colonies, and now measures were taken to make it universal.

Washington adhered scrupulously to the plan, and allowed nothing to come into his house with the tax of England upon it. He wrote to his London agent:

“You will perceive, in looking over the several invoices, that some of the goods there required are upon condition that the act of Parliament, imposing a duty on tea, paper, etc., for the purpose of raising a revenue in America, is totally repealed; and I beg the favor of you to be governed strictly thereby, as it will not be in my power to receive any articles contrary to our non-importation agreement, which I have subscribed and shall religiously adhere to, and should, if it were as I could wish it to be, ten times as strict.”

He wrote to George Mason:

“Our all is at stake, and the little conveniences and comforts of life, when set in competition with our liberty, ought to be rejected not with reluctance, but with pleasure.... It is amazing how much this practice, if adopted in all the Colonies, would lessen the American imports, and distress the various traders and manufacturers in Great Britain.”

Washington’s prediction was fulfilled. The traders of England were embarrassed by non-importation, and appealed to the government for relief. The tax was removed from all articles except tea. It was retained on tea in order “to show the Colonies that England claimed the right of taxation.”

To the Colonies a tax on one article was just as much an invasion of their rights as a tax upon all; so that the last act of Parliament was additional proof that England meant to force taxation upon them. Of course, as brave and fearless patriots, they resisted. Tea was universally discarded. Ship-loads of it in Boston, New York, and other ports were returned to England, or packed away to perish. In Boston seventeen citizens disguised themselves as Indians, boarded an English tea-vessel, and cast the tea into the dock. This act aroused the British lion, and he shook his mane and roared. Soon an English fleet appeared in Boston Harbor to reduce the inhabitants to subjection by force of arms. At the same time, the Boston Port Bill was enforced, thereby closing the harbor of that city to commerce.

The citizens refused to provide quarters for the English troops, and declared, in public assembly, that quartering British soldiers in the State House and Faneuil Hall, as the English officers had done, was a still further and graver invasion of their rights.

We should have said that the day on which the Stamp Act went into operation, No, 1765, was observed throughout the Colonies as a day of fasting and prayer. The day was ushered in by the tolling of bells, as if the funeral ceremonies of the king himself were to be performed. Ships displayed their colors at half-mast. Business was suspended, and halls and churches were opened for prayer and addresses. Washington’s journal shows that he spent the day very much as he did his Sabbaths, in devout worship in the house of God, and religious exercises at home.

In Boston a solemn procession bore along the streets effigies of the men who were promoters of the Act, burying them with appropriate ceremonies. In New York City a similar procession carried the printed Act itself upon a pole, surmounted by a death’s head, with a scroll bearing the inscription,

“THE FOLLY OF ENGLAND AND RUIN OF AMERICA.”

Lieutenant-Governor Colden, who had lent his influence to secure the Act, fearing violence, fled to the fort, and garrisoned it with marines from a ship of war. “The mob broke into his stable, drew out his chariot, put his effigy into it, paraded it through the streets to the Common (now the Park), where they hung it on a gallows. In the evening it was taken down, put again into the chariot, with the devil for a companion, and escorted back by torchlight to the bowling green, where the whole pageant, chariot and all, was burnt under the very guns of the fort.”

The day on which the Boston Port Bill went into effect was also set apart as a day of fasting, and similar demonstrations were made throughout the Colonies.

It is necessary to turn aside at this point to speak of Washington’s visit to Ohio in the interest of his officers and soldiers. It will be remembered that the Governor of Virginia pledged the Virginia troops led by Washington to the Ohio, two hundred thousand acres of the best land in that region. Years passed by, and this pledge was not redeemed. The British ministry opposed redeeming the pledge. But Washington did not forget the claim of his old associates in the hardships and perils of war. He took the matter in hand, and seized upon an opportune moment to carry out his purpose. He even performed a journey to the Ohio to select the best land possible for his deserving comrades. The opportune moment he chose for his journey is described as follows by Irving:

“The Six Nations, by a treaty in 1768, had ceded to the British Crown, in consideration of a sum of money, all the lands possessed by them south of the Ohio. Land offices would soon be opened for the sale of them. Squatters and speculators were already preparing to swarm in, set up their marks on the choicest spots, and establish what were called preemption rights. Washington determined at once to visit the lands thus ceded, affix his mark on such tracts as he should select, and apply for a grant from government, in behalf of the ‘soldiers’ claim.’”

This expedition was attended by considerable danger, as the Delawares, Shawnees, and Mingees considered that their rights were invaded by the action of the Six Nations. The appearance of white men upon their domains to claim lands was not at all agreeable to them.

In these circumstances Washington undertook the journey, accompanied by his old friend Dr. Craik, and servant, with two servants of his own. All were mounted, with an additional horse to carry the baggage.

They were twelve days on their way to Fort Pitt, where they took a large canoe to descend the Ohio as far as the Great Kanawha. Colonel Croghan, at the fort, engaged two Indians to conduct them thither, and John Nicholson as interpreter.

It was during this trip down the Ohio that Washington enjoyed rare sport. Such herds of deer upon the banks, and flocks of wild turkeys, and such numbers of ducks and geese upon the river, he had never seen before. The canoe was loaded with game.

It was on this trip, also, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, that Washington met the old sachem “who lay in ambush on the banks of the Monongahela, and wrought such havoc in Braddock’s army.” The Indian chief came to honor Washington, accompanied with other warriors. After formal introduction, he addressed him thus, through Nicholson the interpreter:

“I am a chief, and the ruler over many tribes. My influence extends to the waters of the great lakes, and to the far blue mountains. I have travelled a long and weary path that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day when the white man’s blood mixed with the streams of our forest that I first beheld this chief; I called to my young men and said, “Mark yon tall and daring warrior? He is not of the red-coat tribe: he hath an Indian’s wisdom, and his warriors fight as we do; himself is alone exposed. Quick, let your aim be certain and he dies.” Our rifles were levelled, rifles which, but for him, knew not how to miss. ’Twas all in vain; a power mightier far than we shielded him from harm. He cannot die in battle. I am old, and soon shall be gathered to the great council-fire of my fathers, in the land of shades; but ere I go, there is a something bids me speak in the voice of prophecy. Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man, and guides his destinies. He will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire!”

Washington successfully accomplished the object of his mission, and in the end his old companions in arms received their just dues. “Fifteen thousand acres were awarded to a field officer, nine thousand to a captain, six thousand to a subaltern, and so on.” Stobo and Van Braam, who were with him at Great Meadows, received nine thousand acres apiece. They were in London at the time, and subsequently Washington purchased their claims through his London agent.

How perilous his journey was at the time may be inferred from the fact that soon after his return there was another Indian outbreak on the banks of the Great Kanawha, whither Washington went, and in the engagement Colonel Lewis and other Virginians lost their lives.

The Virginia Assembly was in session when the Boston Port Bill took effect, and the members voted to make the day one of fasting. They voted, also, at that session, to call a Congress of the Colonies. Other legislatures adopted a like measure; and the first American Congress convened in Philadelphia on the 5th of September, 1774. Washington was a member of this body, and took a leading part in addressing an able memorial to the King of Great Britain.

Patrick Henry was asked who was the first man in the American Congress at Philadelphia, and he answered:

“If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor.”

The patriots felt the need of divine guidance in their deliberations, and elected Rev. Mr. Duche of Philadelphia, an Episcopal clergyman, chaplain of Congress. A few mornings thereafter, news came that the enemy was cannonading Boston. It so happened that the Psalter for that day included the following passages:

“Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me. Fight against them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for my help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way of them that persecute me. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”

The effect upon the Assembly was thrilling. John Adams wrote to his wife about it:

“You must remember this was the morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning.

“After this, Mr. Duche unexpectedly struck out into an extemporaneous prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. Episcopalian as he is, Dr. Cooper himself never prayed with such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in language so eloquent and sublime for America, for the Congress, for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially for the town of Boston.”

Most of the members stood during the prayer, but Washington was on his knees.

Lord Chatham was still alive, an old man, feeble and disabled, when that memorial was laid before Parliament, and he “crawled” from his sick room into that body to plead for the American cause. The old orator kindled with patriotic fervor as he rose to defend the cause of the oppressed, and he gave utterance to one of the most eloquent and impassioned appeals ever delivered in Parliament. Our space will allow but a brief extract from it:

“For God’s sake then, my lords, let the way be instantly opened for reconciliation; I say instantly, or it will be too late forever. The Americans tell you and remember it is the language of the whole continent they tell you they will never submit to be taxed without their own consent. They insist on a repeal of your laws. They do not ask it as a favor: they claim it as a right; they demand it. And I tell you the acts must be repealed; they will be repealed: you cannot enforce them. But bare repeal will not satisfy this enlightened and spirited people. What! satisfy them by repealing a bit of paper? by repealing a piece of parchment? No! you must declare you have no right to tax them; then they may trust you, then they will confide in you. There are, my lords, three millions of Whigs in America. Three millions of Whigs, with arms in their hands, are a formidable body! There are, I trust, double that number of Whigs in England; and I hope the Whigs in both countries will join and make a common cause. They are united by the strongest ties of sentiment and interest, and will therefore, I hope, fly to support their brethren. In this most alarming and distracted state of our affairs, though borne down by a cruel disease, I have crawled to this house, my lords, to give you my best advice, which is, to beseech his Majesty that orders may instantly be despatched to General Gage to remove the troops from Boston; their presence is a source of perpetual irritation and suspicion to those people. How can they trust you with the bayonet at their breasts? They have all the reason in the world to believe that you mean their death or slavery. Let us then set to this business in earnest. There is no time to be lost: every moment is big with danger. Nay, while I am now speaking, the decisive blow may be struck, and millions involved in the dreadful consequences! The very first drop of blood that is drawn will make a wound perhaps never to be healed a wound of such rancorous malignity, as will, in all probability, mortify the whole body, and hasten, both on England and America, that dissolution to which all nations are destined....

“My lord, if the ministers thus persevere in misadvising the king, he will be undone. He may, indeed, still wear his crown, but the American jewel out of it, it will not be worth the wearing.”

Although Chatham was supported by Lord Camden, Lord Shelburne, and the Marquis of Rockingham, his motion was rejected by a large majority, and nearly seven thousand more troops were forwarded to Boston as soon as possible.

Mr. Weems states, what we should have mentioned before, that when England resolved to enforce the tax on tea, and sent a fleet of vessels loaded with the article to Boston, and other American ports, in order to test the matter, Lord Fairfax called upon Washington at his home.

“A letter from my agent,” said Washington, “announces that several vessels with cargoes of gunpowder tea are about to set sail to this country. Parliament is determined to tax our tea.”

“Why do you call it gunpowder tea?” asked Fairfax.

“Why, I am afraid, my lord,” replied Washington, “it will prove inflammable, and produce an explosion that will shake both countries.

His prediction was fulfilled, showing that he took in the situation, with that sagacity for which he was renowned.

General Gage was in command of the royal forces in Boston. When the Port Bill went into operation, he removed the Legislature to Salem. But such was the indignation of the Colonists that, when the time of opening its session arrived, he did not dare to proceed thither. The members assembled, however, and, after waiting in vain for General Gage, they adjourned to Concord, where, immediately, the patriots began to collect arms, ammunition, and other supplies for war.

The military force of General Gage in Boston was increased to such an extent that he soon exhausted his supplies. For relief, he sent out small foraging parties secretly, to seize and appropriate whatever they could lay their hands upon. Hearing that there was a magazine of supplies at Concord, on the night of April 18, 1775, he sent out eight hundred picked men, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, to destroy it. By some means Dr. Warren of Boston learned of General Gages intentions, and, by a previously concerted signal, gave the alarm. A light in the steeple of the Old North Church was the signal to certain patriots that the people must be called to arms.

A courier on horseback dashed away from Charlestown, at breakneck speed, to give the alarm to the sleeping inhabitants of villages between that place and Concord. At the top of his voice he cried, to startle the minute-men from their beds, “The regulars are coming!”

Certain leading patriots on the way must be aroused and told the story of their danger. So, with a furious pound upon their door, and the wild cry, The regulars are coming! the heroic patriots were routed from their beds.

At Lexington Mrs. Harrington, a brave and trusty heroine, heard the midnight cry, and she sprang from her bed, ran to the chamber door, and shouted to her son, who was a minute-man, “John, get up! The regulars are coming!”

By the time day-light began to dawn, the minute-men were in arms, and the whole region round about was fired with the courage and enthusiasm of men resolved to be free or die. When the British troops reached Lexington at five o’clock on the morning of April 19, they found a hundred minute-men drawn up in battle array. Major Pitcairn rode up to them, and shouted:

“Disperse, you rebels! Throw down your arms and disperse!”

His order was followed by a volley of musketry right into the faces of the Lexington soldiers, killing four and wounding several others. The minute-men dispersed, and the British troops hurried on to Concord. Here they met with an unexpectedly hot reception by several hundred minute-men, who had come through the darkness to defend their supplies and the town. Every hour their number increased by the accession of heroes, who came from even twenty miles away to meet the foe.

The British commander was forced to order a retreat, in which his army suffered even more than it did in the battle. The minute-men, from behind trees, houses, barns, and stone walls, picked off the red-coats, so that when the invaders reached Lexington, on their retreat, they were exhausted, depleted, and disheartened. But for the arrival of reinforcements under Lord Percy, the Yankees would have killed or captured Colonel Smith and all his force.

Notwithstanding Colonel Smith was reinforced by “sixteen companies of foot, a corps of marines, and two pieces of artillery,” the retreat was continued. All the way from Lexington to Boston, minute-men, who lived remote from the route, and heard the startling news too late to hurry to Concord, annoyed the retreating army by pouring the contents of their muskets into their ranks from covert places where they concealed themselves for bloody work. When the British reached Charlestown, they had sustained a loss of sixty-five killed, one hundred and eighty wounded, and twenty-eight prisoners. The Americans lost fifty killed and thirty-four wounded.

That was the opening of the Revolutionary War, in which independence was achieved. On that nineteenth day of April, 1775, was fired the first gun which, John Adams said, “was heard around the world.” From that moment Americans armed themselves, and an army of defence was hastily rallied at Cambridge. The Assembly of Massachusetts was in session at the time, and voted to raise thirteen thousand men in the Colony, and ask the other New England Colonies to increase the number to thirty thousand. There was scarcely any need of such action by the Legislature, however, for the patriotism of the people was unbounded. The Concord fight obliterated the last vestige of apathy, and drew forth a spirit of heroism before unknown. From every quarter men rushed to arms voluntarily, ready to sacrifice even life in the common cause. As an example of the unparalleled devotion to the country, Israel Putnam of Connecticut was ploughing in the field when the news of the Concord fight reached him. Without stopping to go to his house, he jumped upon the back of his horse, instructed his son to carry the intelligence to his mother, and galloped away to join the troops at Cambridge. With such courage and patriotism Americans rallied for the defense of the country, coming even from the most distant hamlets of New England.

The second American Congress met in Philadelphia about four weeks after the battle of Concord. Washington was in his seat promptly, wrought up to the highest pitch of determination in the cause of liberty. He had just come from a convention in Virginia, in which Patrick Henry stirred the hearts of all true patriots by one of his indescribable harangues for the American cause, in which he closed with the memorable words:

“We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!”

In that deep and solemn conviction Washington met his associates in the second Congress at Philadelphia. What were his opinions regarding the situation at that time may be learned from his familiar conversation with John Adams:

“The decisive blow is struck,” remarked Adams; “the Concord fight has made our duty plain.”

“It could not possibly be made plainer,” replied Washington, “and the Concord fight must convince our oppressors that Americans will never yield to their domination.”

“You are right in that view, Colonel Washington; the spirit of hostility to tyranny is grander than I dreamed of. It augurs well for the future.”

“There is no alternative left to the Colonies,” continued Washington; “the army of Great Britain has deliberately attacked us. The work of this Congress should be to create an army, and provide for defence.”

“In the most liberal manner, too, for that only is patriotic,” added Adams. “When Parliament resorts to belligerent measures against the remonstrances of Chatham, Burke, Barre, Pitt, and other worthies, we are justified in putting the worst construction upon their intentions.

“Nothing can be more obvious,” responded Washington. “And the British troops must be expelled from Boston by force, or our American Colonies are reduced to a condition of vassalage. The army that precipitated the attack at Concord must be paid for the effrontery, or we are slaves.

“Without appealing again to the king?”

“Yes, without appealing again to his Majesty. Our appeals have been spurned. Our entreaties have been interpreted as the pleas of cowardice. Our patience has been regarded as pusillanimity. Because British oppression has been met by respectful remonstrance instead of indignant denunciation, it has appealed to arms; and that appeal must be promptly met by warlike preparations and the challenge to battle.”

The second American Congress did send another appeal to the king, though not with the vote of Washington. It was an able, patriotic paper, setting forth the grievances of the Colonists in language that would have moved the hearts of friends to pity. At the same time, however, the members voted to put the Colonies upon a war basis. Many independent military companies had been organized in the Colonies within a few months; and these, by vote, were constituted the Continental Army, in connection with others to be raised. Three millions of dollars were appropriated for supplying arms and stores, and five hundred dollars a month for the salary of a commander-in-chief, to be elected.

The provincial army around Boston was gathered entirely from the New England Colonies, and was wholly without organization or discipline, a motley multitude of men, who left their homes and rushed to camp upon the impulse of patriotic sentiments. John Adams moved that Congress adopt that army, provide for its support, and elect for it a suitable commander. His speech on the occasion pointed so plainly to Washington as the man of all others for commander-in-chief, that the latter gentleman rose from his seat and left the hall. On the following day Washington was unanimously elected commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, a very unexpected honor to him.

With much diffidence, and his usual modesty, he arose in his seat to accept the appointment, and said:

“Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in this appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for the support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation.

“But lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.

“As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses; these, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire.”

His acceptance was received with enthusiastic applause, followed by a resolution, declaring that “they would maintain and assist him and adhere to him with their lives and fortunes in the same cause.”

The same Congress appointed Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam major-generals; and Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene brigadier-generals. Horatio Gates was appointed adjutant-general. These appointments were made with Washington’s acquiescence, if not at his suggestion.

John Adams wrote to a friend: “There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington; a gentleman of the first fortunes on the continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country. His views are noble and disinterested. He declared, when he accepted the mighty trust, that he would lay before us an exact account of his expenses, and not accept a shilling pay.”