Lawrence Washington after his father’s death inherited the estate of Washington and changed its name to Mount Vernon, in honor of an English admiral under whom he had served. Lawrence Washington, who was a fine, manly fellow, married a Miss Fairfax whose home was near Mount Vernon. She was a cousin of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, an English gentleman who came to America to look after land which he had inherited from his grandfather. This was a royal grant of all the land between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers. Lord Fairfax did not even know how many thousands of acres were in this great estate. So he employed young George Washington to explore and survey his lands.
George Washington was sixteen years old when he set out, March, 1748, with one companion, to explore and survey Lord Fairfax’s land. He had a good horse and a gun as well as his surveyor’s instruments, and the two youths spent several weeks on the trip. Sometimes they met Indians and sat beside their camp fires and watched their war dances. Sometimes they slept outdoors, sometimes they spent the night in the rude huts of the settlers. “I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed,” George Washington wrote, “but after walking a good deal all the day, I have lain down before the fire on a little straw, or fodder, or a bearskin, 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.”
On his return Washington gave such a glowing description of the beautiful and fertile country he had visited, that Lord Fairfax determined to move there and make his home at Greenway Court. He employed young Washington to make a careful survey of his lands and got him appointed public surveyor. During the next three years when Washington was not at work in the field he stayed at Greenway Court with Lord Fairfax. This gentleman was a scholar and a courtier and from intercourse with him the young surveyor gained breadth of mind and polished manners, while his outdoor life was making him strong and robust.
At twenty he was a picture of stalwart manhood—over six feet in height, straight as an Indian, and with dignified manners. About this time his brother Lawrence died, leaving Mount Vernon to his little daughter; George, his favorite brother, was to manage the estate and in case of the child’s death was to inherit it.
He went home to take charge of the fine old estate, but he did not long remain there. France and England were beginning their contest for supremacy in the country along the Ohio. When only twenty-one, George Washington was appointed to bear a protest to the French against their occupancy of the land. He set out the very day that he received his appointment, accompanied by some white woodsmen and Indian hunters. His was a long, difficult journey through the untraveled forest to a fort hundreds of miles away near Lake Erie, and it was a vain one. He was received courteously by the commander but was informed that the French were ordered to hold the country and would do so. The return journey was even more difficult than the journey to the fort. It was the depth of winter; the ground was covered with snow and the streams blocked with ice. Leaving the remainder of the party to follow later on horseback, Washington set out on foot with a woodsman named Gist. The two men made their way through the country inhabited by hostile Indians and fierce beasts. Once an Indian shot at young Washington, once he fell into an ice-blocked stream and came near losing his life; he accomplished the dangerous journey in safety and hurried to Williamsburg to inform the governor of the result of his expedition.
It was resolved to defend the frontiers, and some men were sent out to build a fort at the Forks of the Ohio River near Pittsburg. But these men were attacked and defeated by the French who finished and occupied the fort. This they called Fort Du Quesne. The French soldiers marched forth in the spring of 1754 to meet the little band commanded by Washington. Washington, having defeated a small body of the French, stopped at a place called Great Meadows, and defended his troops by an earthwork which he called Fort Necessity. Here he and his soldiers fought bravely against a French force of far superior numbers to which they had to yield at last.
The next year, Washington, in charge of the Virginia troops, went with General Braddock, commanding the English forces, to attack the French and take Fort Du Quesne. Braddock was brave but stubborn and ignorant of the methods of Indian warfare. Washington wished the Virginia rangers to march in front in order to guard the army against surprise.
“What!” said Braddock, “a Virginia colonel teach a British general how to fight!”
Off he marched with flags flying, drums beating, and men in close ranks. Before they reached Fort Du Quesne, the French and Indians attacked them and inflicted a terrible defeat. Braddock paid the penalty of his folly with his life. Washington made a gallant effort to redeem the day. He said, “I had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, altho’ death was levelling my companions on every side of me.” On him devolved the difficult task of leading the shattered remnant of the army back home, protecting it against the unfriendly Indians and the hostile French.
After this campaign he was tendered a vote of thanks in the House of Burgesses. When he rose to reply, he blushed and faltered so that the Speaker said, “Sit down, Colonel Washington, sit down. Your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language I possess.”