William Washington of Stafford County, VA; William and Mary Collete Qrtly, Vol. 15, No. 2 Transcribed by Kathy Merrill for the USGenWeb Archives Special Collections Project ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgwarchives.net *********************************************************************** William Washington of Stafford County, Virginia William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Oct., 1906), pp. 132-134. Page 132. WILLIAM WASHINGTON OF STAFFORD COUNTY, VIRGINIA.* Born in Stafford County, Va., Feb. 28, 1752. Died near Charleston, S. C., March 6, 1810. Modesty and courage were two of the conspicuous characteristics of that family of which George Washington was the most illustrious member. Among the kinsmen of Washington, who achieved during the period of the American revolution, some degree of fame through individual merit alone, perhaps the best known is William Washington, who exhibited throughout his career many of the characteristics of his great kinsman. On the occasion of William Washington's death, the American revolution society of South Carolina adopted resolutions in which he was spoken of as "modest without timidity, generous without extravagance, brave without rashness and disinterested without austerity; which imparted firmness to his conduct and mildness to his manners, solidity to his judgment and boldness to his achievements; which armed him with an equanimity unalterable by the frowns of adversity or the smiles of fortune, and steadiness of soul not to be subdued by the disasters of defeat or elated by the triumphs of victory." This ecomium surely might have been passed, without the alteration of a single word, on George Washington himself. William Washington was twenty years younger than his great kinsman. He was the son of Bailey Washington, and belonged __________________________________________________________ *From an article published in the Boston Globe. Page 133. to a younger branch of the original Washington family. He was intended for the church, and received a much more careful education than George Washington had enjoyed. At the outbreak of the war of the Revolution, William was not much more than a youth. If he had intended to be a clergyman he soon abandoned that idea, and early in the war received a commission as captain of infantry in the 3d regiment of the Virginia line. He was with the commander-in-chief in the operations about New York, and was severely wounded at the battle of Long Island. He made the retreat through New Jersey with Gen. Washington, and at the battle of Trenton led a daring charge upon one of the enemy's batteries, capturing the guns, but receiving a severe wound. Two years later he was transferred to the dragoons and appointed major. While he was captain one of his lieutenants was James Monroe, a future president of the United States. Joining the army of Gen. Lincoln in the South, he was appointed to the command of a regiment. He first defeated Tarleton, the British cavalry leader, but afterward was surprised by that dashing officer. In the battle of Cowpens, the courage of Col. Washington was exhibited in a daring charge at a critical moment, and himself and his commander, Gen. Daniel Morgan, with Lieut. Col. Howard, received medals from Congress. It was in this battle that Tarleton and Washington had a personal encounter, the hand-to-hand combat resulting in a victory for the American. Until at the battle of Eutaw Springs in South Carolina in 1781, Col. Washington was unhorsed and wounded and made prisoner, he was one of the most conspicuous fighters in the southern campaign that practically closed the war. After the cessation of hostilities, Col. Washington who had married and moved to Charleston, S. C. was elected to the legislature and put forward as a candidate for the governorship, but he declined the nomination because, as he declared, he "could not make a speech." During the war Gen. Washington had watched the conduct of his brave young kinsman, and when, in 1798, President Adams, Page 134. at the time of the trouble with France, appointed George Washington commander- in-chief of the American army, the general appointed his kinsman a member of his staff and had him made a brigadier general, while suggesting that he receive an independent command in South Carolina and Georgia. A portrait of Col. Washington was placed at Mt. Vernon by three of his great nieces and hangs in the banquet room of that historic house.