In a short time, Washington was the only aid-de-camp left alive and not wounded. On him, therefore, devolved the whole duty of carrying the general’s orders. He was, of course, obliged to be constantly in motion, traversing the field of battle on horseback in all directions. He had two horses shot under him, and four bullets passed through his coat, but he escaped unhurt, though every other officer on horseback was either killed or wounded. The battle lasted three hours, in the course of which General Braddock had three horses shot under him, and finally received a wound, of which he died soon after the action was over. On the fall of Braddock, his troops gave way in all directions, and could not be rallied till they had crossed the Monongahela. The Indians, allured by plunder, did not pursue. The vanquished regulars soon fell back to Dunbar’s camp, from which, after destroying such of the stores as they could spare, retired to Philadelphia.
Washington had cautioned the gallant but unfortunate general in vain; his ardent desire of conquest made him deaf to the voice of prudence; he saw his error when too late, and bravely perished in his endeavors to save the division from destruction. Amid the carnage, the presence of mind and abilities of Washington were conspicuous; he rallied the troops, and, at the head of a corps of grenadiers, covered the rear of the division, and secured their retreat over the ford of Monongahela.
Kind Providence preserved him for great and nobler services. Soon after this transaction, the regulation of rank, which had justly been considered as a grievance by the colonial officers, was changed in consequence of a spirited remonstrance of Washington; and the governor of Virginia rewarded this brave young officer with the command of all the troops of that colony. The troops under his command were gradually inured in that most difficult kind of warfare called bush-fighting, while the activity of the French and ferocity of the Indians were overcome by his superior valor.
Washington received the most flattering marks of public approbation; but his best reward was the consciousness of his own integrity.
In the course of this decisive campaign, which restored the tranquillity and security of the middle colonies, Washington had suffered many hardships which impaired his health. He was afflicted with an inveterate pulmonary complaint, and extremely debilitated, insomuch that, in the year 1759, he resigned his commission and retired to Mount Vernon. By a due attention to regimen, in the quiet bowers of Mount Vernon, he gradually recovered from his indisposition.
During the tedious period of his convalescence, the British troops had been victorious; his country had no more occasion for the exertion of his military talents. In 1761, he married the young widow of Colonel Custis, who had left her sole executrix to his extensive possessions, and guardian to his two children. The union of Washington with this accomplished lady was productive of their mutual felicity; and as he incessantly pursued agricultural improvements, his taste embellished and enriched the fertile fields around Mount Vernon. But the time was approaching when Washington was to relinquish the happiness of his home to act a conspicuous part on the great theatre of the world.
For more than ten years had the colonies and their mother country been at variance from causes of usurpation and tyranny, and the awful moment was fast approaching when America was to throw off her fetters and proclaim herself free. In 1775, Washington was elected commander-in-chief of the whole American army. The American army were, at the time of this appointment, entrenched on Winter Hill, Prospect Hill and Roxbury, Massachusetts, communicating with each other by small posts, over a distance of ten miles; the head-quarters of the American army was at Cambridge, while the British were entrenched on Bunker’s Hill, defended by three floating batteries on Mystic river below.
Washington having now arrived at the army, which consisted of fourteen thousand, he was determined to bring the enemy to an alternative, either to evacuate Boston, or risk an action. General Howe, the British commander, preferred the latter, and ordered three thousand men to fall down the river to the castle, to prepare for the attack, but during their preparations, they were dispersed by a storm; which so disabled them for their intended attack, that they at last resolved to evacuate the town.
Washington, not wishing to embarrass the British troops in their proposed evacuation, detached part of his army to New York, to complete the fortifications there; and with the remainder, took peaceable possession of Boston, amid the hearty congratulations of the inhabitants, who hailed him as their deliverer.
When the Americans took possession of Boston, they found a multitude of valuable articles, which were unavoidably left by the British army, such as artillery, ammunition, many woolens and linens, of which the American army stood in the most pressing need.