General George Washington: True Patriot

Lately I have been reading the book WASHINGTON The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner. Great book by the way, I'm about half-way through it. I just wanted to share a tidbit from the book. There are so many stories in history that we never hear about unless we really dig and want to learn. I have found this to be the case with reading this book. I have always had great respect for George Washington and what he has accomplished for our country. I have a general idea of what he did, but don't exactly know much about him besides him being a revolutionary war general, was the first president of the United States, and had wooden teeth.

Flexner does a good job at demonstrating Washington's character throughout the book through stories and experiences. You feel as though you are at Washington's side the entire time watching him rise to greatness. Anyways, on with the gem. At this point, of the book Washington has just defeated Cornwallis, the British General in Yorktown. A very pivotal victory for the colonials, which pretty much put the defining dagger to Great Britain's relentless will. Leading up to this event, Washington was seen by many as THE rising leader. Many even insisted that he become king once independence was reached!

Washington, being modest as usual didn't really want to lead to begin with. He was a man who had everything he wanted. He had acres of land on Mount Vernon and a farm that was in good working order. He was basically volunteered and voted in to be General of the Continental Army. He really had no desire to lead, due to his limited military expertise. Though he did it, because he was willing to give all for an independent nation from the British. Later, He quickly declined the notions of him becoming king saying "No occurence in the course of the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas existing in the army. . . . I must view with abhorrence and reprehend with severity."

After Cornwallis was defeated, many soldiers in the continental army were rightfully seeking payment for their efforts in the war. Many had left their families for years and had not been able to assist in farming related chores to sustaining life at the time. When they heard that the government was stalling on making payments, they were enraged. It's not that congress didn't want to pay them, it's that they didn't have anything to pay them with! The financial situation was a wreck, and there weren't any signs of payment coming in the near future.

Washington was very influential to the men he served with in the military, so congress wished to convey to him the situation in congress, then relay that to his soldiers to prevent anarchy of any sort. The army was on the verge of marching into Philadelphia for a revolution, with or without Washington's help. They were actually pretty peeved at Washington for not jumping to take action on the matter, since they had been so loyal to him. It's not that Washington was caught in the middle and didn't know what to do. He had just led the Continental Army to deliver a devastating blow to the British, and an independent nation was in their grasp!

A ceremony was to be held to make the British surrender official. Towards the end of the ceremony Washington got up to give a speech. His army made their opinions known of him, showing him their distaste for his lack of action in their financial situation. Washington's remarks were aimed at his army, trying every argument possible to soften them to see the vision he had of an independent nation. The army didn't seem to be moved at all by the speech, and still displayed apprehensive stone faces. Washington announced he would read a letter from a congressmen to give the current status of their payments.

". . . . something seemed to go wrong. The General seemed confused; he stared at the paper helplessly. The officers leaned forward, their hearts contracting with anxiety. Washington pulled from his pocked something only his intimates had seen him wear: a pair of eyeglasses: 'Gentleman,' he said, 'you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country."

"This homely act and simply statement did what all Washington's arguments had failed to do. The hardened soldiers wept. Washington had saved the United States from tyrrany and civil discord. As Jefferson was later to comment 'The modernization and virtue of a single character probably prevented this Revolution from being closed, as most others have been, by a subversion of that liberty was intended to establish."