274
Today we celebrate the 274th birthday anniversary of George Washington.
For the masses, Washington is simply the "Father of Our Country," a man with wooden teeth and a countenance to match. Hoary, covered with the dusty sands of time, I doubt many American know all that much about him.
Which is too bad because he truly was an amazing man. Perhaps the only essential American.
The Maryland State Archives has only recently acquired Washington's Farewell Address, written in his own hand, a speech he gave two days before Christmas in 1783. Standing in the Old Senate Chamber of the Maryland State House in Annapolis - then the nation's capital - he announced: "Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action - and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life."
Maryland will also receive a letter sent by eyewitness James McHenry, who represented Maryland at the Constitutional Convention, to his wife-to-be, Peggy Caldwell, in which he described the event - steeped in formality, yet tinged with the fervor of a grand farewell.
"The spectators all wept, and there was hardly a member of Congress who did not drop tears. The General's hand which held the address shook as he read it," the letter reads.
For the commander of an army to relinquish power back to the civilian government was unheard of at the time. Washington understood better than anyone else that he served the government of the people. And having secured our liberty, he retired to his plantation.
For more information about His Excellency, the website of Washington College in Chestertown has more information.
K-
A stature well earned. Can you imagine any of our current public officals speaking as eloquently as that? It really makes a difference.
Nice post, K. You're so right -- I think Washington is really an unknown. A constant presence, but most of us, including me, don't quite grasp why.
I read a great story when I was a , distilled from early American Heritage, about Washington's famous victory over the Hessian mercenaries after he crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, 1776. It was called "Washington's Spy at Trenton," or something like that. The story always stuck in my mind; it talked about how poorly Washington's troops were clad and shod and how the pursuing British troops followed the trail left in the snow by their bleeding feet. Eventually -- the late '80s -- I made it to Washington Crossing State Park. I imagine you've been there, since it's fairly close. On a subsequent visit -- once wasn't enough -- we drove north along the river and came across a little cemetery right. We drove in, and there are the graves of 25 of Washington's men who died before the attack -- most simply from exposure to the bitter winter weather. There they are, on that riverbank, forever, and you realize a little of the sacrifice it took to accomplish what they accomplished and what kind of leader Washington must have been to persuade others to endure what to most of us is an unimaginable level of suffering.
Here's the URL for the original AH Washington's spy story, which ran in 1957.
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1957/5/1957_5_58.shtml