“Yes, my dear, the Red Coats do look the best, but it takes the ragged boys to do the fighting.”
Wayne Whipple (Retold)
NELLIE AND LITTLE WASHINGTON
George Washington loved children, and, as he had none of his own, he adopted two of his wife’s grandchildren, Nellie Custis and George Washington Parke Custis.
The little boy was known as “Washington.” Nellie was a beautiful child with smiling black eyes and thick curly brown hair; while her brother was of very light complexion.
They had good times together at Mount Vernon. There was a delightfully fearsome pack of hounds in the kennel; French dogs, the gift of Lafayette, “fierce, big-mouthed, savage.” And there were litters of beautiful puppies.
The stables were full of horses, fine creatures for pets and playfellows. Nellie liked to be with the horses, and was constantly alarming her grandmother as she flashed by the windows or down the lanes, mounted upon some half-broken colt.
The children loved old Nelson, Washington’s war horse. They used to climb upon the fence to pat his forehead, as he came racing up to greet his master.
There were many other animals—gifts to Washington of friends and admirers.
Among them were Spanish jackasses, Chinese pigs, and Chinese geese.