“In 1774 and 1775 he was a delegate to the Continental Congress, at Philadelphia. From June 15, 1775, til December 23, 1783, he was Commander in Chief of the Continental forces. In the Congresses he was not a speaker often appealing loudly to his fellow-members in favor of immediate force against England, but a resolute and faithful worker on committees, carrying out plans for the defense of the country and the raising of an army. At the age of forty-three he was elected by ballot in Congress as general of the Continental armies. A historian describes him at this time as a tall man of pleasing and benign countenance. His outdoor life on his plantation and his exposure to all sorts of weather and hardships during his campaigns on the frontier had given him a rugged physical strength. His strict temperance during these years helped to bring him to the perfection of physical fitness. His head was “perfectly round”, his complexion florid. The most characteristic features of his countenance were his broad nostrils, his long, finely arched eyebrows, his high forehead, and his deep-set blue eyes, which looked usually earnest or even pensive. Descriptions of Washington given by friends in 1759, 1778, and 1797 all include mention of his height {6 ft., 3 1/2 inches], his big frame, his great physical strength, and his dignified bearing. In the war he guided the Continental forces in a masterly way familiar to all. It is sufficient here merely to enumerate his more important actions. He vigorously punished a colonel and two captains for cowardly shirking at Bunker Hill, and this brought discipline to the army under his command. He compelled the evacuation of Boston, March 17, 1776, was defeated at the battle of Long Island on August 27, and again at the battle of White Plains on October 28 of the same year. He surprised the Hessians at Trenton December 26,1776, and beat the British army at Princeton in January, 1777. He was defeated at Brandywine and Germantown that year, but brought the army safely through the winter of Valley Forge in 1777-1778. He fought the indecisive battle of Monmouth in 1778, and received a unanimous vote of thanks from Congress for his conduct of this action. Having passed the winter of 1779-1780 with his army near Morristown, New Jersey, he was obliged to remain on the defensive during the following year because of the weakness of his army and the insufficiency of its equipment. In 1781 he compelled the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. All these achievements he accomplished, of course, not by himself alone, but assisted by the celebrated generals of the Revolution and the determined patriots of the colonies. At last, when the war was over, he resigned as commander-in-chief, in December, 1783, at Annapolis, where Congress was then assembled. On the way there, at Fraunce’s Tavern, in Broad Street, New York, he said farewell to his officers in words which epitomize his relations with them during the war, “With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take my leave of you, most devoutly wishing that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable”. At Annapolis he said, in delivering his resignation to Congress, “The great events, on which my resignation depended, having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country.” George Washington.
Excerpted from “WASHINTON’S FAREWELL ADDRESS, WEBSTER’S FIRST BUNKER HILL ORATION”. Publisher: GINN & COMPANY, Boston, New York, Chicago, London.
Islander. To be continued.