....Carleton defeated at Longueisle....St. Johns capitulates ....Montreal surrenders....Arnold's expedition by the way of the Kennebec....He arrives before Quebec....And retires to Point Aux Trembles....Montgomery lays siege to Quebec.... Unsuccessful attack on that place....Death of Montgomery ....Blockade of Quebec continued...General Thomas takes command of the army... The blockade of Quebec is raised... Transactions in Virginia....Action at the Great Bridge....Nor- folk evacuated... And burnt...Transactions of North Caro- lina....Action at Moore's Creek Bridge.... Invasion of South Carolina....British fleet repulsed at fort Moultrie.... Trans- Lord and sir William Howe arrive before New York....Circu lar letter of lord Howe....State of the American army...The British land in force on Long island....Battle of Brooklyn Skirmish on the heights of Haerlem.... The British land at Frogs' Neck ... The American army evacuates York island, except fort Washington....Both armies move towards the White Plains....Battle of the White Plains.... The British army returns to King's-bridge, and general Washington with a part of his army crosses the North river....The lines of fort Washington carried by the British, and the gar rison made prisoners....Evacuation of fort Lee....Weakness of the American army....Ineffectual attempts to raise the militia.....General Washington retreats through Jersey.... Capture of general Lec....General Washington crosses the Delaware....Danger of Philadelphia.... The British go into LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. CHAPTER I. Birth of Mr. Washington....His mission to the French on the Ohio....Appointed lieutenant colonel of a regiment of regular troops....Surprises monsieur Jumonville....Capitulation of fort Necessity....Is appointed aid-de-camp to general Braddock....Defeat and death of that general....Is appointed to the command of a regiment....Extreme distress of the frontiers, and exertions of colonel Washington to augment the regular forces of the colony....General Forbes undertakes the expedition against fort du Quesne....Defeat of major Grant....Fort du Quesne evacuated by the French, and taken possession of by the English....Resignation and marriage of colonel Washington. GEORGE WASHINGTON, the third son of Augustine Washington, was born on the 22d of February 1732, at Bridges creek, in the county of Westmoreland, in Virginia. He was the great grandson of John Washington, a gentleman of a respectable family in the north of England, who had emigrated about the year 1657, and settled on the place where Mr. Washington was born. Having lost his father at the age of ten years, he only received what was denominated an English education, a term which excludes the acquisition of foreign languages. As his patrimonial estate was by no means considerable, his youth was employed in useful industry; and in the practice of his profession as a surveyor, he had an opportunity of acquiring that information respecting vacant lands, and of forming those opinions concerning their future value, which afterwards greatly contributed to the increase of his private fortune. To a young and ardent mind, endowed by nature with an uncommon share of firmness, the profession of arms affords attractions which are with difficulty resisted. On Mr. Washington who probably felt that enthusiasm which military genius not unfrequently inspires, they made their full impression. While yet a youth the war in which his country was engaged against France and Spain, kindled those latent sparks, which in the ripeness of manhood yielded a flame not less beneficial than brilliant; and at the age of fifteen, he urged so pressingly to be permitted to enter into the British navy, that the place of a midshipman was obtained for him. The interference of a timid and affectionate mother, suspended for a time the commencement of his military course. It is a strong proof of the opinion entertained of his capacity that, when not more than nineteen years of age, and at a time when the militia were to be trained for actual service, he was appointed one of the adjutants general of Virginia, with the rank of major. The duties annexed to this office were performed by him only for a short time. The plan formed by France for connecting her extensive dominions in America by uniting Canada with Louisiana, was beginning to develop itself. The troops of that nation had taken possession of a tract of country then deemed to be within the province of Virginia, and had commenced a line of posts to extend from the lakes to the Ohio. The attention of Mr. Dinwiddie, the lieutenant governor of that province, was attracted by these supposed encroachments, and he deemed it his duty to demand, in the name of the king his master, that they should desist from the prosecution of designs which violated, as he thought, the treaties between the two crowns. A proper person was to be selected for the performance of this duty, which, at that time, was believed to be a very arduous one. A great part of the country through which the envoy was to pass, was almost entirely unexplored by his countrymen, and was inhabited only by Indians, who were either hostile to the English, or of doubtful attachment. While the dangers and fatigues of the journey deterred all those from undertaking it who did not extend their views to the future scenes to be exhibited in that country, or who did not wish to be actors in them; they seem to have furnished motives to Mr. Washington for desiring to be employed in this hazardous service, and he engaged in it with the utmost alacrity. He commenced his journey from Williamsburg, the day on which he was commissioned, (October 31, 1753) and arrived on the 14th of November at Wills' creek, then the extreme frontier settlement of the English. Guides were there engaged |