From the bronze figure of the Washington monument by Crawford at Richmond
What Washington saw in Boston in 1775
The men who heard this great speech never forgot it. The people of Virginia now pushed forward the work of arming her men. And when her own Washington went to take command of the army at Boston he found Virginia soldiers there wearing on their hunting shirts the words "Liberty or death!"
Patrick Henry loved by Virginians
From this time on Patrick Henry was in the forefront of the struggle with England. Virginia sent him to Congress, then she made him an officer in the army, and finally not only made him the first governor after independence was declared, but elected him to that office three times in succession, and offered him the same office three times more.
After independence was won Patrick Henry opposed the adoption of our constitution, although Washington, Madison, and many of his friends were in favor of it. When, however, he saw that the new constitution was a good one, he gave his support to his friend, President Washington.
Patrick Henry in his old age
Patrick Henry finally retired to his plantation and refused all offers of office. Many old friends and many great strangers went to visit him in his old age as one of the great men of the American Revolution. In the year of his death (1799), when some danger threatened Virginia, Patrick Henry came forth at Washington's request, old and feeble as he was, and aroused the people once more with his burning words. They elected him to the House of Burgesses by a great majority, but he did not live to take office.