William Peterfield Trent

“ During the five years following the close of Washington's military career, he found sufficient occupation in attending to the affairs of his homestead and property, and in fostering the progress of his native State. Mount Vernon was now constantly the scene of a profuse hospitality over which Washington presided with the courtly dignity natural to him. ”

“ The course pursued by Congress in making its appointments had occasioned much discontent among the general officers; the organization was defective; a commissary and adjutant-general were more needed than a brave warrior or a skillful tactician. In Washington, fortunately for the country, were combined all three. He proceeded at once to complete an effective organization of his army, by forming it into six brigades of six regiments each, keeping together the troops from each colony, as far as practicable, and placing them under a commander from their colony. ”

“ As a growing lad, he was not remarkable as a scholar; was rather reserved and sedate in his demeanor; and was of a more serious turn of mind than is usual among boys. In 1740-42 his half-brother, Lawrence Washington, served, as a captain of Virginia troops, under Admiral Vernon in the expedition against Cartagena, and later named his residence on the Potomac Mount Vernon, in honor of his commander. This connection led to the offer of a midshipman's commission to George, which, but for the opposition of his mother, he would have accepted. ”

“ Having been elected to the House of Burgesses of Virginia shortly before his marriage, he now began to appear prominently in public affairs, attending regularly every meeting of the Assembly, and, though seldom speaking, taking care to be thoroughly informed upon every prominent public question. He moved much in society; was also an enthusiastic hunter; practiced a generous hospitality at Mount Vernon; associated constantly with the leading men of the colony ”

“ He maintained his keen interest in public affairs, greatly regretting the general chaos and such disgraceful outbreaks as Shays's Rebellion, and helped by his correspondence to bring the leading men of the country to a determination to form a more perfect Union. He was president of the Philadelphia convention of 1787, which framed the Constitution of the United States. Washington was unanimously chosen the first President of the United States, and on April 30, 1789, took the oath of office in New York, where Congress was then sitting. ”

“ He personally directed the organization of the different departments of the Government under the new system, and in accordance with the Constitution, and no act of his was more significant than his appointment as heads of departments of such distinguished and able men as Jefferson, Hamilton, Knox, and Edmund Randolph. Meanwhile, before the work of Congress began, Washington found time to make a tour through the Eastern States, better to acquaint himself with the views of the men who were presently to lay the foundations of the commercial and industrial greatness of the United States. ”

“ But Congress took up the question of properly recruiting and providing the army; a treaty with France was ratified, May 4, 1777, with great rejoicing on the part of the Americans; and the British, although only 20 miles distant from the American camp, permitted the winter and spring to pass without any offensive movement. All these circumstances combined enabled Washington to open the campaign of 1778 in somewhat better condition, and with an army in good spirits and rendered more efficient through the energetic drilling of Steuben. ”

“ But while the family had a competency and were large landed proprietors, the facilities for education in the colonies — particularly in the South — were at this time so meagre that the younger children were forced to depend on the poor common schools of the neighborhood, where they acquired only the rudimentary branches. ”

“ For further details concerning his two administrations as President, see the article United States.
At Mount Vernon he devoted himself to agriculture. In 1798 the prospect of a war with France led to his appointment as commander-in-chief of the National Army. On December 12, 1799, he was exposed in the saddle, for several hours, to cold and snow, and attacked with acute laryngitis, for which he was repeatedly and largely bled. He sank rapidly, and died on December 14th. His last words were characteristic. He said: “I die hard ”