OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - HISTORY: Chapter 2 (Abbott, John S. C., 1875)
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Continued from Chapter 1

fires curled up through the forest, while the flash from the paddle of the 
red man's canoe glanced over the waves, and occasionally the sails of the 
white man's ship were seen ascending the majestic stream.
   George, from earlies childhood, developed a noble character. He was a 
handsome boy, of commanding figure and great strength. His frankness, 
fearlessness, moral courage and sense of justice, attracted the attention 
and admiration of his companions. The story of his trying the keen edge of
his hatchet upon the cherry tree is known to every child. It alike 
illustrates the character of the father and the son.
   When George was but twelve years of age his father died. The grief-
stricken widow was left with six fatherless children. But Mary Wash-
ington was equal to the task. The confidence which Augustine reposed
in his wife is shown by the fact, that he left the entire income of 
his property to her until the children should become of age. Nobly 
she discharged her task. A nation's home now gathers around the memory
of Mary, the mother of Washington.
   George never ceased to revere his mother. She was to him as a 
guardian angel. She formed his character. To the principles of probity
and religion which she instilled into his mind, he ever attributed
his success in life. In the final division of the estate, the eldest
son, Lawrence, the child of Jane Butler, inherited Mount Vernon, in-
cluding twenty-five acres of land. George received, as his share, the 
paternal mansion, with its broad and fertile acres, which was situated
several miles farther down the river.
   Lady Washington, before her marriage, was deemed one of the most 
beautiful girls in Virginia. Through life's severe discipline she
had developed a remarkably sincere, well-balanced and lovely character.
The influence which she thus acquired over her noble son continued
unabated until the hour of her death. The first families in Virginia
took much pride in splendid horses. Lady Washington had a span of
iron grays remarkable for their spirit and beauty. One of these colts,
though accustomed to the carriage, had never been broken to the saddle.
It was said that no one could mount him. George, then a lad of thir-
teen, approached the colt, soothed him with caressed, and watching 
his opportunity leaped upon his back. The spirited animal, half terr-
ified, half indignant, after a few desparate but vain attempts to 
throw his rider, dashed over the fields with the speed of the wind.
   The inconsiderate boy, fearless and ardent, gave him the rein, 
and when the breathless steed began to flag urged him on, unaware
of the injury he was doing, until the nervous, high-blooded animal
burst a blood vessel and dropped dead beneath him. George, greatly
agitated, hastened to his mother and informed her of what he had done.
Her characteristic reply was-
  "My son, I forgive you because you have had the courage to tell me
the truth at once. Had you skulked away I should have despised you."
   In a common school George was a diligent scholar, though he did
not develope any brilliance of genius. He had simply a good, well-
balanced mind. There is now extant a manuscript book, in which he
carefully copied out promissary notes, bills of sale, land warrants, 
leases, wills and other such business papers, that he might be ready,
at any time, to draw up such documents. Another manuscript book he
had collated with great care, entitles "Rules for Behavior in Company."
Thus was this boy of thirteen preparing for the future by the care-
ful culture of his mind, his manners and his heart. He could hardly 
have made better preparations for the illustrious career before him
had some good angel informed him of the responsibilities he was to
brave and the renown he was to attain.
   At sixteen years of age, George, then a man in maturity of charac-
ter, left school. He was fond of mathematical studies and excelled in
them. His tastes led him to enter upon the profession of a civil en-
gineer. In a new country, increasing rapidly in population, there was
great demand for such services, there were but few men capable of 
performing them, and consequently the employment was highly renumerative.
   George Washington was even then an accomplished man. Whatever he
undertook he did well. His handwriting was plain as print. Every
document which came from his pen was perfect in spelling, punctuation 
and capitals. These excellent habits, thus early formed, he retained
through life. Upon leaving school he visited his brother at Mount
Vernon. It was then, as now, a lovely spot, commanding an enchanting
view. Mr. William Fairfax, an English gentleman of education and
refinement, resided about eight miles from Mount Vernon. Lawrence had
married one of his daughters. Lord Fairfax, a brother of William, had 
purchased an immense estate in Virginia, extending over unexplored
regions of mountains, rivers, and valleys. Lord Fairfax met George
Washington at his brother William's. He was charmed with his intell-
ignece, energy and manliness - a boy in years, a man in maturity of
character.
   He engaged this lad, then but one month over sixteen years of age,
to survey these pathless wilds, ranged then by ferocious beasts and 
savage men. It may be doubted whether a boy of his age ever before
undertook a task so arduous. It was thus that George Washington entered
upon the stern duties of his eventful life.
   It was the month of March, 1748, when young Washington commenced
the survey for Lord Fairfax. The cold blasts of winter were still
sweeping the ridges of the mountains which were crested with ice and
snow. The mountain streams were swollen by the spring rains into foam-
ing torrents. The Indians, however, inhabiting the regions he was to
traverse, were generally supposed to be friendly. There were also to
be found, scattered here and there through the wilderness, the huts of
rude and fearless frontiersmen.
   Through almost pathless solitudes, this heroic boy undertook to
thread his way. It was a journey full of toil, romance and peril. 
There were no paths through the wilderness but the narrow trail of the
savage. He floated down the silent rivers in the frail birch canoe. 
There were towering mountains to be climbed, and morasses to be pen
etrated, which had never been traversed by the foot of a white man.
Generally, at night, he slept in the open air, or in such a rude 
shelter as he could in a few moments construct. Sometimes he would 
find a resting place in the log cabin of a settler, and again an
Indian would give him hospitable welcome to the fire in his wigwam.
   This must have been a strange experience for this quiet, thoughtful
boy, who had been so tenderly nurtured in his Christian home. We can 
but faintly imaging his feelings, as at midnight, wrapped in his 
cloak, with his feet to the fire, in the wigwam, with slumbering sav-
ages all around him, men, women and children, he listened to the storm
as it breathed its requiem through the surging forest, blending with
the cry of wild beasts. The following extract from his journal under
the date of the 15th of March, 1748, gives us a little insight into 
some of his experiences. It is describing a night in a settler's log
hut.
   "Worked hard till night and then returned. After supper we were
lighted into a room. I, not being so good a woodman as the rest, 
stripped myself very orderly and went into bed, as they call it, when,
to my surprise, I found it to be nothing but a little straw matted
together, without sheet of anything else but one thread-bare blanket,
with double its weight of vermin. I was glad to get up and put on my
clothes, and lie as my companions did. Had we not been very tired, I 
am sure we should not have slept much that night. I made a promise
to sleep in the open air before a fire."
   Again he wrote, on the 2d of April: "A blowing, rainy night. Our
straw upon which we were lying took fire. But I was luckily preserved
by one of our men awaking when it was in a flame. We have run off four
lots this day."
   Again he wrote in terms characteristic of this noble man; "The 
receipt of your kind letter of the 2d instant, offered me unspeakable
pleasure. It convinces me that I am still in the memory of so worthy
a friend - a friendship I shall ever be proud of increasing.
   "Yours gave me the more pleasure as I received it among barbarians
and an uncouth set of people. Since you received my letter of October
last, I have not slept above three of four nights in a bed. But after
walking a good deal all of day, I have lain down before the fire, on 
a little hay, straw, fodder or bear skin, whichever was to be had, with 
man, wife and children, like dogs and cats, and happy is he who gets 
the berth nearest the fire. I have never had my clothes off, but have 
lain and slept on them, except the few nights I have been in Freder-
icksburg."
   Washington gained so much reputation on this tour that he was em-
ployed by the State of Virginia as state surveyor. For three years he 
was employed in these arduous and responsible duties. We can hardly
conceive of anything more attractive than such a life to a young man
in all the vigor of youth and health, and with a soul capable of 
appreciating the beauties and sublimities of nature and the romance
of wild adventure.
   The Indian paddled him in his fairy-like canoe, along the river or
over the lake. Now he stood in the bright morning sunlight upon the
brow of the mountain, gazing over an interminable expanse of majestic
forests, where lakes slept, and streams glided, and valleys opened in 
Eden-like beauty.
   Lord Fairfax, who had become the warm friend of George Washington, 
had reared for himself quite an imposing mansion of stone, in a lovely
valley of the Alleghenies, beyond the Blue Ridge. He was living there 
in baronial splendor, and in his spacious saloons George Washington
was ever a welcome guest.
   The tide of emigration was slowly working its way over the moun-
tains, into the vast valleys beyond, which had then no recognized
boundaries or limits. Though the French in Canada were far more 
favorably situated to enter this region, through their lakes and 
rivers, than were the English on the Atlantic coast, in population, 
exceeded the French eight or ten to one.
   Unprinciples desparadoes, from the English frontiers, armed with 
the deadly rifle, were continually exciting the vengence of the
peacefully-inclined Indians, by the most atrocious crimes. The war
whoop echoed through the forest. At midnight merciless savages, with 
hideous yells, assailed the lonely hut of the settler. Speedily his 
whole household fell beneath the tomahawk, and around the burning
dwelling the maddened Indians indulged in their horrid orgies. No
pen can describe the horrors which then ensued. Tragedies were en-
acted, in the solitudes of the wilderness, which the revelations of 
the judgement-day can alone bring to light. The whole military force
of Virginia was called into requisition to protect the frontier. The
ignorant savages could make no discrimination between the innocent and
the guilty. The state was divided into districts, over which a mili-
tary commander was appointed with the title of major.
   George Washington was one of the majors. With tireless energies he 
devoted himself to the study of military are, with especial reference
to the peculiar warfare essential in a conflict with savages in the 
depthe of the wilderness. He saw clearly that the tactics of European
armies would be of little avail under these novel circumstances.
   The State of Virginia was then, as now, bounded, according to the 
claim of the English, for a distance of several hundred miles by the
waters of the Ohio River.
   When Washington, a young man not yet twenty-one years of age, vol-
unteered his services to convey the remonstrance of the governors
against the French, it was universally regarded as an act of great
heroism. The sobriety and dignity of his character were such that no
one could ever accuse hime of boyish foolhardiness. He knew perfectly
wekk what he had undertaken, of he had already experienced and tri-
umphed over the perils and hardships of the wilderness.
   Lord Dinwiddie, the Governor of Virginia, a sturdy old Scotchman, 
as he accepted the proffered aid of this heroic young man, said to 
him:
   "Truly you are a brave lad, and if you play your cards well, you 
shall have no cause to repent your bargain."
   Is was the 14th of November when Washington left Williamsburg on
this difficult and arduous enterprise. The following narration on 
of his adventures by the way is given mainly in the words to be 
found in Abbott's "Lives of the Presidents." There is something 
sublime in the calm courage with which he set out, well knowing that
he was to pass through the region of hostile Indian tribes, and that 
it was their practice not merely to kill their prisoners, but to 
prolong their sufferings as far as possible, through the most exqui-
site and diabolical tortures.
   He took with him but eight men, two of them being Indians. They
soon passed the few sparse settlements which were springing up near
the Atlantic coast, and plunged into the pathless forest. Winter was
fast approaching, and its dismal gales wailed through the tree tops.
The early snow crowned the summits of the mountains, and the autumnal
rains had swollen the brooks and the rivers.
   Guided by the sagacity of the Indians, they threaded the forest un-
til they reached the Monongahela River, which, as we have said, flow-
ing from the south, unites with the Allegheny from the north and forms
the Ohio. Here they took a birch canoe, and in eight days paddles down
the river a distance of nearly three hundred miles, to the mouth of 
the Allegheny, where Pittsburgh now stands. The sublime solitudes of
these realms was then broken only by the occasional cluster of a few 
Indian wigwams upon the bank, and now and then the shouts of children
playing in the water. No blows of the settler's ax reverberated through
forest. No report of the hunter's gun was heard. The birch canoe glided 
noiselessly by over the waves, and the arrow of the hunter gave forth
no sound in its flight through the air - this dead silence of the 
wilderness!
   At the junction of the two rivers Washington commenced descending
the Ohio, a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, to the principle
post of the French commandant. It was necessary for him to practice
the utmost caution, as the Indians were proverbial for their treachery,
and he was liable at any time to drift into an ambush. He at length
reached the French fort in safety and delivered his message.
   The French commander, St. Pierre, received Washington at Fort Le
Boeuf with much courtesy. He respectfully read his remonstrance, and 
gave him a written reply, in which he stated that he must obey the
commands of his government; and that he could not vacate his post 
until his government should give him orders to that effect. Washington
saw very clearly that force alone could drive the French from the 
Valley of the Ohio. he was also surprised to see how strongly they
were intrenching themselves there.
   Having accomplished this much of his mission, and fearing that the 
Indians, of their own will or instigated by the French, might inter-
cept his return, as he should paddle up slowly against the current of
the Ohio, he decided to leave the river, and with one only companion,
to make their way back through the wilderess on foot. They would be 
compelled to construct their lodgings with their hatchets for the 
stormy day or the tempestuous night, and to live upon such game as 
they might take by the way. It was a very weary journey to take, with
the rifle upon the shoulder and the pack upon the back.
   Washington's suspicions that he might be waylaid by French jealousy
were not unfounded. Some Indians were put upon his trail; but even
Indian sagacity could not follow two pair of moccasined feet over 
pathless wastes. Washington was familiar with wilderness life, and
with all the Indian arts and cunning. He succeeded in eluding his
pursuers. Still he came very near losing his life through savage
treachery. One Indian, employed, it is supposed by the French, met 
him as it were accidently, and offered his services as a guide through
a very intricate part of the way. He could lead through a narrow 
defile which would save many leagues of toilsome journeying.
   At night this Indian of iron sinews, seeing his companions so
much fatigued by their day's tramp that he supposed they could not
possibly pursue him, fired at Washington, at a distance of not more 
than fifteen paces, and missed his aim. Instantly he sprang into the
woods. Fleet of foot as he was, his indignant pursuers were more 
fleet, and he was soon caught. Washington's companion urged that the 
would-be assassin should instantly be put to death.
   But Washington shrunk from thus taking life in cold blood, and 
having disarmed the wretch, let him go. Still, thinking it not im-
possible that he might have some confederates near, he thought it ex-
pedient to push on as fast as possible through the long December 
night, taking especial care to leave no trace of his path behind him.
   They followed up the south side of the Ohio River, a few miles 
from its banks. When they reached the Allegheny River, nearly opposite
where Pittsburgh now stands, there were no signs of civilized or even
fringed with ice, and immense solid blocks were floating down the 
middle of the stream. It took them all day with one hatchet to con-
struct a frail raft. It was bound together with flexible vines and 
boughs. Upon this they endeavored to cross the rapid stream, encum-
bered as it was with the swiftly drifting ice.
   Half-frozen as they both were, and drenched as was Washington, 
they hastily found some slight shelter, built a roaring fire, and, 
with the wintery blast sweeping by them, found such warmth and com-
fort as the circumstances could afford. Their situation, however, was
not so very uncomfortable as many sitting by their own warm fireside
might imagine. Experienced woodmen will, open on one, which, with
sheathing of overlapping bark, will afford a very effectual shelter
against the wind. A few boughts of the hemlock make a very soft and 
fragrant matrass. Then, wrapped in blankets, with a crackling fire
which illuminates the whole forest blazing at one's feet, a degree of
real comfort can often be enjoyed which is sought for in vain in 
ceiled chambers. 
   The night was so cold that in the morning the river was frozen over,
and they crossed upon the ice. The remainder of the journey home was
uneventful. Williamsburg was then the capital of Virginia. Washington
made his report to the Governor. It was published, and was extensively
read in this country, and by statesmen in England. The one prominent
fact which it established, and which arrested universal attention, 
was that France would resist, with all her military force, any 
attempts on the part of the English to establishe settlements in the 
valley of the Ohio.
   The Legislature of Virginia happened to be in session, at Williams-
burgh, when Washington returned. This modest young man seemed entire-
ly unconscious that he had accomplished any feat which would give him
renown. A few days after his return he went into the gallery of the 
House, to witness the proceedings of the Legislature. The speaker 
chanced to see him, and rising from his chair, addressed the assembly, 
saying;
   "I propose that the thankds of this house be given to Major George
Washington, who now sits in the gallery, for the gallant manner in 
which he has executed the important trust lately reposed in him by
his Excellency the Governor."
   The homage thus called forth was instantaneous and unanimous. Every 
member rose to his feet. There was a burst of applause which almost
shook the rafters of the ceiling. Washington was immediately conduct-
ed to the speaker's chair. Every eye was fixed upon him. He was quite
overwhelmed by this enthusiastic greeting. Being entirely unaccustomed
to public speaking, he knew not what to say. The speaker perceived his
embarrassment, and very happily relieved him by saying:
   "Sit down, Major Washington. Your modesty is alone equal to your
merit."
   Governor Dinwiddie was a reckless, headstrong man, who acted first, 
and then reflectd, if he ever reflected at all. He not only hated but
despised the French. In his judgement the insolence of the French in
claiming territory which the King of England claimed, was not to be 
tolerated for a moment. He would not condescend to take any consid-
eration the forces which France had gathered in the great valley. 
They were all to be driven out instantaneously, neck and heels.
   He raised a regiment of four hundred men, who were to march across 
the mountains, with orders "to drive away, kill of seize, as prisoners, 
all persons not the subjects of the King of Great Britain, who should
attept to take possession of the land on the Ohio River, or any of its
tributaries."
   George Washington was appointed colonel of this regiment. In his 
previous tour, his military eye had selected the point of land at the
junction of the Monongahela and the Allegheny, for a fort where England
should concentrate her strength. Having built this fort, garrisoned it, 
and supplied it with ample military and commisary stores, he would then
construct several flat-bottomed boats, and, with the remainder of his 
little army, drift down the river, destroying all the trading posts of 
the French he might encounter by the way.
   In a military point of view there could not have been any better plan
devised. But the French officers had military skill as well the English. 
They also selected that very spot for a French fortress, and were already
very energetically at work throwing up its ramparts.
   As Washington, with his feeble regiment, was hurrying along through the
forest-covered defiles of the mountains, he learned, greatly to his dis-
appointment, and probably through the Indian runners, that the French had
anticipated him. A large working party was already on the ground, under
the direction of the most experienced engineers, and were erecting a fort, 
which his little band could not think of assailing.
   The tidings which reached the ears of Washington, were alarming in the 
extreme. They indicated that the only prudent course for him to pursue, 
was an ignominious and precipitant retreat. The French had sent a force
of a thousand well armed men to the designated point. They had descended
the Allegheny River in sixty flat-bottomed boats, and three hundred birch
canoes. They had already taken with them eighteen pieces of cannon, which
were already in position. They had also quite a numerous band of Indian
allies. The French had kept themselves informed of every contemplated 
movement of the English. They had watched the discussions in the legis-
lature, and knew, as definitely as did the English themselves, the number
of men whom they had sent across the mountains, their destination, and 
the time of their expected arrival. To prevent, if possible, any hostile
collision, they had sent so overwhelming a force that an attack could
not be thought of. 
   Washington had found his march through the rugged passes of the moun-
tains extremely exhausting. His men had suffered both from fatigue and 
hunger. It was reasonably supposed that, in the rich valleys beyond the 
mountains, abundance of grain would be found. Experienced hunters accom-
panied the little band, whose duty it was to range the fields, for miles 
around their path, to procure food.
   The little army had just emerged from the rugged defiles of the Alle-
ghenies, and were entering these fertile and well-stocked pastures, when
the appalling news reached them. They were then within two or three days' 
march of Fort Duquesne, as the French named their works. To add to their
misfortune, rumor, though false, said that an outnumbering party of the
French, accompanied by numerous Indian allies, were on a rapid march to
destroy them. This rumor led, as will be subsequently be seen, to very
deplorable consequences.
   Washington was then but twenty-two years of age. In contemplation of his 
apparently hopeless condition, his sufferings must have been dreadful. The
thought of attacking the French, who were behind their ramparts, in such
overpowering numbers, was madness. Retreat, in their exhausted state, 
through the rugged, barren, pathless gorges of the mountains, was almost
impossible. Two-thirds of their number would probably perish by the way. 
The thought of a surrender, without striking a blow, of the whole force, 
was humilitating beyond endurance. Washington was ready for almost any
act of desparation rather than this.
   France and England were at that time at peace with each other. Though, 
as usual, they were regarding each other with jealousy, there was no
declaration of war whatever. The French, in building a fort on territory
of which they had been for nearly half a century in undisputed possess-
ion, had merely anticipated the English by a few days. The rumor that the 
French were on the march to attack the English was, as we have said, false, 
and as unsustained by any appearance of the foe. Subsequent developements
established the following facts.
   The French were very anxious to avoid any collision on the distant 
banks of the Ohio, which would involved the two great kingdoms, of France
and England, in a desolating war. By their spies they had kept themselves
correctly informed the daily progress of the English. Washington and his 
band were entirely in the power of the French, who could crush them at a 
single blow. But that one blow would be the signal of a conflich which 
would encircle the globe.
   The French commandant at Fort Duquesne sent a peaceful embassage to
Colonel Washington, seeking to avert hostile action. M. Jamonville, the
peace commisioner, was a civilian. He took with him, as his escort 
through the wilderness, but thirty-four men; not one to ten of the soldiers
in Colonel Washington's regiment. This fact seems conclusive proof that 
the French declaration, that no hostile demonstrative was intended, should
be credited.
   About nine o'clock of one dark and stormy night, when the rain was
falling in torrents, some friendly Indians came into Washington's camp
and informed him that the French soldiers, who, it was supposed, were on
the march to attack him, had encamped at the distance of but a few miles.
They were in low bottom land, near the Monongahela River, in a place shut
in by rocks, where they could very easily be taken by surprise and fired
upon by an invisible foe. They also stated that there was a band of Indian
warriors near by, who would gladly join them in the attack.
   Washington doubted not that this party was advancing to attack him by 
surprise. Within an hour he was on the march, led by his Indian guides
through the dripping forest. They soon reached the camp of the Indians, 
who were all ready to join them. The assailants, their movements being
concealed by the darkness and the storm, crept stealthily into the thick-
ets, so as to attack the French in two separate parties.
   Just as the day was beginning to dawn, so that they could see to take 
ailm at their sleeping and unsuspecting foes, there was a simultaneous
discharge of musketry, and a storm of deadly bullets fell upon the French.
M. Jamonville and ten of his men were killed outright. Others were wounded.
The French sprang to their arms and fought bravely. But they were soon over-
powered, and the survivors, twenty-five in number, were taken prisoners. 
This unhappy event, the result of a mistake, resulting in one of the most
cruel wars which ever desolated humanity.

Continued in Chapter 3