About George Washington’s “Remarks” · Becoming GEORGE WASHINGTON ©2005 French and Indian War 250, Inc. For classroom use only George Washington’s “Remarks”—Transcription,

Although George Washington kept extensivediaries and wrote numerous letters and otherdocuments, he shied away from personalreflection, preferring to let official accountstell the story of his life and achievements. In1786, however, Washington agreed to allowhis friend and aide Colonel David Humphreysto write his biography. A year or so later,Washington corrected Humphrey’s initialdraft. He entitled his edits “Remarks.”

In editing the biography Washington wasmoved to tell the story of his adventures as ayoung man in his 20s, when he was trying todistinguish himself as a military officer. Herecounts his experiences from late 1753 to theend of 1758, the five-year period when he ledVirginia troops in the French and Indian War.

Washington did not write his “Remarks” forposterity. Instead, he instructed his aide toburn or return the manuscript. Thankfullyfor history, the aide did not comply with therequest. The 11-page manuscript, which hadbeen held in private hands, was purchasedfor the commemoration of the 250thanniversary of the French and Indian Warwith funds made available by the LaurelFoundation, Suzy and Jim Broadhurst, andDiane and Glen Meakem. Publicly displayedfor the first time during the commemo-ration, the manuscript is housed at FortLigonier in western Pennsylvania.

Facsimiles of the manuscript and a fulltranscription appear on the CD-ROM thataccompanies Becoming George Washington.

About George Washington’s“Remarks”

30

French and Indian War 250, Inc. gives special thanks to the Fort Ligonier Associationfor permission to reprint portions of the “Remarks” manuscript, which was generouslydonated to Fort Ligonier by the Laurel Foundation, Suzy and Jim Broadhurst, andDiane and Glen Meakem.

It was rather the wish of my eldest brother (onwhom the general concerns of the family devolved)that this shd take place & the mat<ter> wascontemplated by him—My father died when I wasonly 10 years old.

He was not appointed Adjutant General of theMilitia of Virginia untill after his return from theexpedition to Carthagena—Nor did he Commandthe Colonial troops on that occasion—these wereunder the Orders of Sir Wm. Gouch Lt Govr ofVirginia—He was no more than the Senior Officerof those which were raised in this Colony & wchwith those of the other Colonies formed what wascalled the American Brigade—under Sir WilliamGouch—he was scarcely of age when he went onthis expedn. and from whom he had received manydistinguished marks of patronage & favor. Not all—for the second Son (Augustine) left many childn,sevl of whom are now living; and inherit a very largeportion of his Fathers Estate. perhaps the best part.Before he was 20 years of age.

He was then more than 21 years—as will appearfrom dates. at a most inclement Season, for hetravelled over the Apalacheon Mountains, andpassed 250 miles thro an uninhabited wildernessCountry (except by a few tribes of Indians settledon the Banks of the Ohio) to Presque Isle within 15Miles of Lake Erie in the depth of winter when theface of the Earth was covered with snow and thewaters covered with Ice; The whole dist[anc]e fromWmsburgh the then seat of Governmt at least 500miles.

It was on this occasion he was named by the half-King (as he was called) and the tribes of Nationswith whom he treated—Caunotaucarius (inEnglish) the Town taker; which name being regis-tered in their Manner & communicated to otherNations of Indians, has been remembered by themever since in all their transactions with him duringthe late war.

This is a task to which G.W. feels himself veryincompetent (with any degree of accuracy) from thebadness of his memory—loss of Papers—mutilatedstate, in which those of that date were preserved—and the derangement of them by frequent removalsin the late war & want of time to collect andmethodize them since. However accordg to the bestof his recollection: By the indefatigable Industry ofthe Lt Colo. and the Officers who seconded hismeasures the Regiment was in great forwardness atAlexandria (the place of general rendezvous) early inthe spring of 1754 and without waiting till thewhole should be completed—or for a detachmentfrom the Independent Companies of regulars in theSouthern Provences (which had been <reqd> by theExecutive of Virginia for this Service) or for troopswhich were raising in North Carolina and destinedin conjunction to oppose the Incroachment of theFrench on our Western frontiers—He began hisMarch in the Month of May in order to open theRoads, and this he had to do almost the wholedistance from Winchester (in the County ofFrederick not more than 80 miles from Alexandriato the Ohio)—For deposits—&ca—and for theespeciall purpose of siezing, if possible, before the

Becoming GEORGE WASHINGTON

©2005 French and Indian War 250, Inc.For classroom use only

his transcription of the “Remarks” manuscript was prepared by the staff of The

Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia and appeared in George

Washington Remembers: Reflections on the French & Indian War, edited by Fred

Anderson (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2004).

Square brackets [ ] in the transcription are used for editorial insertions.

Angle brackets < > enclose text that is illegible in the original manuscript.

George Washington’s “Remarks”—Transcription, page 1

T

French shd arrive at it, the important Post at theconflux of the Alligany and Monongahela; with theadvantages of which he was forcibly struck thepreceeding year; and earnestly advised the securingof with Militia, or some other temporary force. Butnotwithstanding all his exertions, the New, anduncommon difficulties he had to encounter (mademore intolerable by incessant Rains and swelledwaters of which he had many to cross) he had butjust ascended the Lawrel Hill 50 M: short of hisobject: after a March of 230 Miles from Alexa.when he received information from his Scouts thatthe French had in force, siezed the Post he waspushing to obtain; having descended from PresqueIsle by the Rivers Le beouf and Alligany to thisPlace by water with artillery &ca &ca—The objectof his precipitate advance being thus defeated—Thedetachmt of regulars, wch had arrived at Alexa. (bywater) and under his orders being far in his rear—and no Acct of the Troops from No. Carolina—itwas thought advisable to fall back a few miles, to aplace known by the name of the great meadows—abounding in Forage more convenient for thepurpose of forming a Magazine & bringing up therear—and to advance from (if we should ever be inforce to do it) to the attack of the Post which theenemy now occupied; and had called Du Quesne—At this place, some days after, we were joined by theabove detachment of regulars; consisting (beforethey were reduced on the March by desertion,Sickness &ca) of a Captn (McKay a brave & worthyOfficer)—three Subalterns—and 100 Rank & file.But previous to this junction the French sent adetachment to reconnoitre our Camp to obtainintelligence of our strength & position; notice ofwhich being given by the Scouts G.W. marched atthe head of a party, attacked, killed 9 or 10; &captured 20 odd. This, as soon as the enemy hadassembled their Indian allies, brought their wholeforce upon him; consisting, according to their owncompared with the <best> accts that could beobtained from others of about 1500 Men—Hisforce consisted of the detachment above mentioned,and between two & 300 Virginians; for the fewIndians which till now had attended <him,> andwho by reconnoitering the enemy on their March

had got terrified at their numbers and resolved toretreat as they advised us to do also but which wasimpracticable without abandoning our Stores—Baggage—&ca as the horses which had broughtthem to this place had returned for Provision hadleft us previous to the Attack. About 9 Oclock onthe 3d of July the Enemy advanced with Shouts, &dismal Indian yells to our Intrenchments, but wasopposed by so warm, spirited, & constant a fire,that to force the works in that way was abandonedby them—they then, from every little rising—tree—Stump—Stone—and bush kept up a constantgalding fire upon us; which was returned in the bestmanner we could till late in the afternn when theirfell the most tremendous rain that can beconceived—filled our trenches with water—wet, notonly the ammunition in Cartouch boxes andfirelocks, but that which was in a small temporaryStockade in the middle of the Intrenchment calledFort necessity erected for the sole purpose of itssecurity, and that of the few stores we had; and leftus nothing but a few (for all were not provided withthem) Bayonets for defence. In this situation & noprosp[ec]t of bettering it[,] terms of capitulationwere offered to us by the ene<my> wch with somealterations that were insisted upon were the morereadily acceded to, as we had no Salt provisions, &but indifferently supplied with fresh; which, fromthe heat of the weather, would not keep; andbecause a full third of our numbers Officers as wellas privates were, by this time, killed or wounded—The next Morning we marched out with the honorsof War, but were soon plundered contrary to thearticles of capitulation of great part of our Baggageby the Savages. Our Sick and wounded were leftwith a detachment under the care, and command ofthe worthy Doctr Craik (for he was not onlySurgeon to the Regiment but a lieutt therein[)] withsuch necessaries as we could collect and the Remainsof the Regimt, and the detachment of Regulars,took up their line for the interior Country. And atWinchester met 2 Companies from No. Carolina ontheir March to join them—These being fresh, &properly provided, were ordered to proceed toWills’s Creek & establish a post (<since> called FortCumberland) for the purpose of covering the





Frontiers, Where they were joined by a Companyfrom Maryland, which, about this time, had beenraized—Captn McKay with his detachment remd atWinchester; & the Virginia Regiment proceedd toAlexandria in order to recruit, & get supplied withcloathing & necessarys of which they stood much inneed. In this manner the Winter was employed,when advice was recd of the force destined for thisService under the ordrs of G.B. and the arrival of SirJno. St Clair the Q: Mastr Genl with some newarrangement of Rank by which no officer who didnot immediately derive his Comn from the Kingcould command one who did—This was toodegrading for G.W. to submit to; accordingly, heresigned his Military employment; determining toserve the next campaign as a Volunteer; but uponthe arrival of Genl Braddock he was very particu-larly noticed by that General—taken into his familyas an extra-Aid—offered a Captns Comn by brevet(which was the highest Grade he had it in his powerto bestow[)] and had the compliment of severalblank Ensigncies given him to dispose of to theYoung Gentlemen of his acqe to supply thevacancies in the 44 and 48 Regts which had arrivedfrom Ireland.

In this capacity he commenced his secondCampaign and used every proper occasion till hewas taken Sick & left behind in the vicinity of FortCumberland to impress the Genl, & the principalOfficers around him, with the necessity of opposingthe nature of his defence, to the mode of attackwhich, more than probably, he would experiencefrom the Canadian French, and their Indians on hisMarch through the Mountains & covered Countrybut so prepossed were they in favr of regularity &disci- pline and in such absolute contemp<t> werethese people held, that the admonition wassuggested in vain.

About the middle of June, this Armament consistingof the two Regiments from Ireland—someIndependant Companies and the Provincial troopsof Virga Maryld & North Carolina, began to movefrom Fort Cumberland whither they hadassembled—after several days March; and difficulties

to which they had never been accustomed in regularService, in Champaign Countries; and of whh theyseemed to have had very little idea—the Genlresolved to divide his force, and at the head of thefirst division which was composed of the flower ofhis Army, to advance; and leave Colo. Dunbar withthe second division & the heavy Baggage & Stores,to follow after. By so doing, the first divisionapproached the Monongahela 10 miles short of FortDuquesne the 8th of July; at which time and placehaving so far recovered from a severe fever anddelerium from which he had been rescued byJames’s powder, administed by the positive order ofthe Genl as to travel in a covered Waggon, he joinedhim and the next day tho much reduced and veryweak mounted his horse on cushions, & attended asone of his aids.

About 10 Oclock on the 9th, after the Van hadcrossed the Monongahela the second time, to avoidan ugly defile (the season being very dry & waterslow) and the rear yet in the River the front wasattacked; and by the unusual Hallooing andwhooping of the enemy, whom they could not see,were so disconcerted and confused, as soon to fallinto irretrievable disorder. The rear was forcedforward to support them, but seeing no enemy, andthemselves falling every moment from the fire, ageneral panic took place among the Troops fromwhich no exertions of the Officers could recoverthem—In the early part of the Action some of theIrregulars (as they were called) without direc<t>nsadvanced to the right, in loose order, to attack; butthis, unhappily from the unusual appearance of themovement being mistaken for cowardice and arunning away was discountenanced—and before itwas too late, & the confusion became general anoffer was made by G.W. to head the Provincials, &engage the enemy in their own way; but thepropriety of it was not seen into until it was too latefor execution[.] after this, many attempts were madeto dislod<ge> the enemy from an eminence on theRight but they all proved eneffectual; and fatal tothe Officers who by great exertions and goodexamples endeavourd to accomplish it. In one ofthese the Genl recd the Wd of which he died; butprevious to it, had several horses killed & disabled





under him. Captns Orme & Morris his two Aids deCamp having received wounds which renderedthem unable to attd G.W. remained the sole aidthrough the day, to the Genl; he also had one horsekilled, and two wounded under him—A ballthrough his hat—and several through his clothes,but escaped unhurt. Sir Peter Halket (secd inCommand) being early killed—Lieutt Colo. Burton& Sir Jno. St Clair (who had the Rank of Lt Colo.in the Army) being badly wounded—Lieutt Colo.Gage (afterwards Genl Gage) having recd acontusion—No person knowing in the disorderedState things were who the Surviving Senr Officerwas & the Troops by degrees going off in confusion;without a ray of hope left of further oppositionfrom those that remained; G.W. placed the Genl ina small covered Cart, which carried some of hismost essential equipage, and in the best order hecould, with the last Troops (who only contind to befired at) brought him over the first ford of theMonongahela; where they were formed in the bestorder circumstances would admit on a piece ofrising ground; after wch, by the Genls order, he rodeforward to halt those which had been earlier in theretreat: Accordingly, after crossing the Monongahelathe second time and ascending the heights, hefound Lieutt Colo. Gage engaged in this business towhom he delivered the Genls order and thenreturned to report the situation he found them in—When he was again requested by the Genl whom hemet coming on, in his litter with the first haltedtroops, to proceed (it then being after sundown) tothe second division under the command of Colo.Dunbar, to make arrangements for covering theretreat, and forwarding on provisions & refresh-ments to the retreating & wounded Soldiery—Toaccomplish this, for the 2d division was 40 oddmiles in the rear it took up the whole night & partof the next morning—which from the weak state inwhich he was, and the fatiegues, and anxiety of thelast 24 hours, rendered him in a manner whollyunfit for the execution of the duty he was sent uponwhen he arrived at Dunbars Camp—To the best ofhis power however, he discharged it, and remainedwith the secd division till the other joined it. Theshocking Scenes which presented themselves in this

Nights March are not to be described—The dead—the dying—the groans—lamentation—and crysalong the Road of the wounded for help (for thoseunder the latter descriptions endeavoured from thefirst commencement of the action—or ratherconfusion to escape to the 2d divn) were enough topierce a heart of adamant. the gloom & horror ofwhich was not a little encreased by the imperviousdarkness occa- sioned by the close shade of thickwoods which in places rendered it impossible for thetwo guides which attended to know when they werein, or out of the track but by groping on the groundwith their hands.

Happy was it for him, and the remains of the firstdivision that they left such a quantity of valuableand enticing baggage on the field as to occasion ascramble and contention in the seizure & distri-bution of it among the enemy for had a pursuittaken place—by passing the defile which we hadavoided; and they had got into our rear, the whole,except a few woodsmen, would have fallen victimsto the merciless Savages—Of about 12 or 13hundred which were in this action eight or 9 hunddwere either killed or wounded; among whom a largeproportion of brave & valuable Officers wereincluded—The folly & consequence of opposingcompact bodies to the sparse manner of Indianfighting, in woods, which had in a manner beenpredicted, was now so clearly verified that fromhence forward another mode obtained in all futureoperations.

As soon as the two divisions united, the wholeretreated towards Fort Cumberland; and at anIncampment near the Great Meadows the brave, butunfortunate Genl Braddock breathed his last. Hewas interred with the honors of war, and as it wasleft to G.W. to see this performed, & to mark outthe spot for the reception of his remains—to guardagainst a savage triumph, if the place should bediscovered—they were deposited in the Road overwhich the Army, Waggons &ca passed to hide everytrace by which the entombment could bediscovered. Thus died a man, whose good & badqualities were intimately blended. He was braveeven to a fault and in regular Service would have





done honor to his profession—His attachmentswere warm—his enmities were strong—and havingno disguise about him, both appeared in full force.He was generous & disinterested—but plain andblunt in his manner even to rudeness—After thisevent, the Troops continued their March for, &soon arrived at Fort Cumberland withoutmolestation: and all except the P[rovinci]alsimmediately resolved to proceed to Philadelphia; bywhich means the Frontiers of that State but moreespecially those of Virginia and Maryland were laidentirely open by the very avenue which had beenprepared.—Of the direful consequences of thismeasure G.W., in a visit wch he immediately madeto Williamsburgh for the purpose brought the Govr& Council of Virga acquainted—But In vain didthey remonstrate against the March of the B. Troopsto that place to the Officer com[mandin]g them.They proceeded to augment their own: thecommand of which under a very & enlarged &dignified Commission, to Command all the Troopsnow raised, or to be raised in the Colony, was givento him with very extensive powers, and blankCommissions to appoint all New Officers. Aboutthis time also or soon after it the discontents andclamours of the Provincial Officers, and the remon-strance of G.W. in person, to Genl Shirley, the thenComr in chief of the British Forces in America andthrough the Govr & Council to the Kings Ministerwith respect to the degrading Situation in whichthey were placed[,] a new arrangement took placeby the Kings order, by which every ProvincialOfficer was to rank according to the Comn he bore,but to be junr to those of the same grade in theestablished Corps.

As G.W. foresaw, so it happened, the frontiers werecontinually harrassed—but not having force enoughto carry the war to the gates of Du Quesne, hecould do no more than distribute the Troops alongthe Frontiers in Stockaded Forts; more with a viewto quiet the fears of the Inhabitants than from anyexpectation of giving security on so extensive a lineto the settlements. During this interval in one of histours along the frontier posts—he narrowly escaped,according to the acc. afterwards given by some ofour People who were Prisoners with them, and

eyewitness at the time <of the parties falling> by anIndian party who had waylaid (for another purpose)the communication along which with a small partyof horse only he was passing—the road in this placeformed a curve—and the prey they were in weightfor being expected at the reverse part, the Captn ofthe party had gone across to observe the number[and] manner of their movemt &ca in order that hemight make his disposition accordingly leavingorders for the party not to take notice of anypassengers the other <way> till he returned tothem—in the mean time in the opposite direction Ipassed & escaped almt certain destruction for theweather was raining and the few Carbines unfit foruse if we had escaped the first fire—This happenednear Fort Vass. Never ceasing in the mean time inhis attempts, to demonstrate to the Legislature ofVirga—to Lord Loudoun—&ca that the onlymeans of preventing the devastations to which themiddle states were exposed, was to remove thecause. But the war by this time raging in anotherquarter of the Continent all applications wereunheeded till the year 1758 when an Expeditionagainst Fort Du Quesne was concerted, and under-taken under the conduct of Genl Forbes; who tho abrave & good Officer, was so much debilitated bybad health, and so illy supplied with the means tocarry on the expedition, that it was Novemberbefore the Troops got to Loyalhanning: 50 or 60miles short of Duquesne & even then was on thevery point of abandoning the Exhibition when someseasonable supplies arriving the Army was formedinto three Brigades took up its March—and movedforward; the Brigade Commanded by G.W. beingthe leading one.

Previus to this, and during the time the Army lay atLoyalhaning a circumstance occurred wch involvedthe life of G.W. in as much jeopardy as it had everbeen before or since[.] the enemy sent out a largedetachment to reconnoitre our Camp, and toascertain our strength; in consequence ofIntelligence that they were within 2 Miles of theCamp a party commanded by Lt Colo. Mercer ofthe Virga line (a gallant & good Officer) was sent todislodge them between whom a Severe conflict &hot firing ensued which lasting some time &





appearing to approach the Camp it was conceivedthat our party was yielding the ground upon whichG.W. with permission of the Genl called (fordispatch) for Volunteers and immediately marchedat their head to sustain, as was conjectured theretiring troops. led on by the firing till he camewithin less than half a mile, & it ceasing, hedetached Scouts to investigate the cause & tocommunicate his approach to his friend Colo.Mercer advancing slowly in the meantime—But itbeing near dusk and the intelligence not havingbeen fully dissiminated among Colo. MercersCorps, and they taking us, for the enemy who hadretreated approaching in another directioncommenced a heavy fire upon the releiving partywhich drew fire in return in spite of all the exertionsof the Officers one of whom & several privates werekilled and many wounded before a stop could beput to it. to accomplish which G.W. never was inmore imminent danger by being between two fires,knocking up with his sword the presented pieces.

When the Army had got within about 12 or 15miles of the Fort the enemy dispairing of itsdefence, blew it up—having first embarked theirArtillery Stores & Troops—and retreated by waterdown the Ohio to their Settlements below—thusended that Campaign, a little before Christmas invery inclement weather; and the last one madeduring that War by G.W. whose health by this time(as it had been declining for many months beforeoccasioned by an inveterate disorder in his Bowels)became so precarious as to induce him (having seenquiet restored by this event to the Frontiers of hisown Country which was the principal inducementto his taking arms) to resign his Military appoint-ments—The sollicitation of the Troops which hecommanded to Con- tinue—their Affecte farewelladdress—to him, when they found the Situation ofhis health and other circumstances would not allowit affected him exceedingly and in grateful sensibilityhe expressed the warmth of his attachmt to them onthat, and his inclination to serve them on everyother future occasion.

I beleive about 7,000 Bushls of Wheat and 10,000bushels of Indn Corn which was more the staple ofthe farm.

Whether it be necessary to mention that my time &Services were given to the public without compen-sation, and that every direct and indirect attemptafterwards, to reward them (as appeared by theLetter of G. Mifflin—and the vote of 50 shares ineach of the Navigations of Potomack & James Riverby the State of Virga who knew that I would refuseany thing that should carry with it the appearanceof reward[)]—you can best judge. (1). once a weekis his fixed hunts tho sometimes he goes oftner.

(2) and many others in this Country

(3) remarking the state of the Weather—nature ofthe Soil &ca

The information given in these sheets—tho relatedfrom Memory, It is I believe to be depended upon.It is hastily and incorrectly related—but not somuch for these reasons, as some others, it isearnest<ly> requestd that after Colo. Humphreyshas extracted what he shall judge necessary, andgiven it in his own language, that the whole of whatIs here contained may be returned to G.W., orcommitted to the flames.—some of the enumera-tions are trifling; and perhaps more importantcircumstances omitted; but just as they occurred tothe memory, they were committed—If there are anygrains among them Colo. H. can easily seperatethem from the chaff. [Inscription on wrapper, byJohn Pickering (1777–1846)] Washington—Paper—given to me by Mrs [Ann Frances Bulkeley]Humphreys 1829 containing original memos. inWashington’s handwriting by way of remarks uponan intended biography which Genl Humphreys waswriting Jno. Pickering.








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About George Washington’s “Remarks” · Becoming GEORGE WASHINGTON ©2005 French and Indian War 250, Inc. For classroom use only George Washington’s “Remarks”—Transcription,