general called on the colonels of regiments, to submit severally to his consideration, a plan for his march. That proposed by colonel Washington has been preserved, and appears to have been judiciously formed.

They reached the camp at Loyal Hanna, through a road said to be undescribably bad, about the fifth of November, where, as had been predicted, a council of war determined that it was unadvisable to proceed further this campaign. It would have been almost impossible to have wintered an army in that position. They must have retreated from the cold inhospitable wilderness into which they had penetrated, or have suffered immensely; perhaps have perished. Fortunately, some prisoners were taken who informed them of the extreme distress of the fort. Deriving no support from Canada, the garrison was weak; was in great want of provisions; and had been deserted by the Indians. These encouraging circumstances changed the resolution which had been taken, and determined the general to prosecute the expedition.

Colonel Washington was advanced in front, and with infinite labour, opened the way for the main body of the army. In this manner, they moved forward with slow and painful steps, until they reached fort du Quesne, of which they took peaceable possession, the enemy having on the preceding night, after evacuating and setting it on fire, proceeded down the Ohio in their boats.

It is evident that the capture of this place, so all important to the middle and southern provinces,

was entirely to be attributed to the British fleet, which had intercepted a considerable part of the re-enforcements designed by France for her colonies, and to the success of the English and American arms to the north, which rendered it impossible for the French in Canada to support it; and at the same time weakened their influence over the Indians. Without the aid of these causes, the extraordinary and unaccountable delays of the campaign must have defeated its object.

The works were repaired, and the new fort was distinguished by the title of fort Pitt, the name of the great minister, who, with unparalleled vigour and talents then governed the nation.

Having furnished two hundred men from his regiment as a garrison for fort Pitt, colonel Washington marched back to Winchester, whence he soon afterwards proceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the general assembly, of which he had been elected a member by the county of Frederick, while at fort Cumberland.

A cessation of Indian hostility having been, in a great measure, produced by the removal of the French from the Ohio, his country was relieved from the dangers with which it had been threatened, and the object for which alone he had continued in the service, after perceiving that he should not be placed on the permanent establishment, was accomplished. His health was much impaired, and his domestic affairs required his attention.

Impelled by these and other motives of a private nature, he determined to withdraw from a service, which he believed he might now quit without dishonour; and, about the close of the year, he resigned his commission as colonel of the first Virginia regiment, and commander in chief of all the troops raised in the colony.

The officers whom he had commanded were greatly attached to him, and manifested their esteem for him, and their regret at parting with him, by a very affectionate address,* expressive of the high opinion they entertained both of his military and private character.

This opinion was not confined to the officers of his regiment. It was common to Virginia, and had been adopted by the British officers with whom he served. The duties he performed, though not splendid, were arduous; and were executed with zeal, and with judgment. The exact discipline he established in his regiment, when the temper of Virginia was extremely hostile to discipline, does credit to his military character; and the gallantry they displayed whenever called into action, manifests the spirit infused into them by their commander.

The difficulties of his situation, while unable to cover the frontiers from the French and Indians, who were spreading death and desolation in every quarter, were incalculably great; and no better evidence of his exertions, under these distressing circumstances, can be given, than the undimi

See Note, No. III. at the end of the volume.

nished confidence still placed in him by those whom he was unable to protect.

The efforts to which he perpetually stimulated his country, for the purpose of obtaining possession of the Ohio; the system for the conduct of the war, which he continually recommended; the vigorous and active measures always advocated by him in his opinions to those by whom he was commanded; manifest an ardent and an enterprising mind, tempered by judgment, and quickly improved by experience.

Not long after his resignation, he was married to the widow of Mr. Custis, a young lady to whom he had been for some time strongly attached, and who, to a large fortune and a fine person, added those amiable accomplishments which ensure domestic happiness, and fill with silent, but unceasing felicity, the quiet scenes of private life.

CHAPTER II.

Opinions on the supremacy of parliament, and its right to tax the colonies....The stamp act....Congress assemble at New York....Violence in the great towns....Change of the administration....Stamp act repealed....Opposition to the mutiny act....Act imposing duties on tea, &c. resisted in America....The assembly of Massachussetts address letters to several members of the administration in England.... Petition to the king....Circular letters to the colonial assemblies....Letter from the earl of Hillsborough.... Assembly of Massachussetts dissolved....Seizure of the sloop Liberty....A convention assembles at Faneuil Hall....Moderation of its proceedings.... Two British regiments arrive at Boston....Resolutions of the house of burgesses of Virginia ....The governor dissolves the assembly....The members form and sign a non-importation association....Measures generally taken against the importation of British manufactures....General court again convened in Massachussetts .... Its proceedings.... Is prorogued....Administration resolve on a repeal of all the duties except that on tea....Circular letter of the earl of Hillsborough....New York recedes in part from the non-importation agreement....The example generally followed....Riot in Boston....Trial and acquittal of captain Preston,

AT no period of time, was the attachment of the colonists to the mother country more strong, or more general, than in 1763,* when the definitive of articles of the treaty which restored peace to Great Britain, France and Spain, were signed. The war just concluded had deeply inter

*After the expulsion of the French from Canada, a considerable degree of ill humour was manifested in Massachussetts with respect to the manner in which the laws of trade were executed. A question was agitated in the court in which