veyor of Culpeper County; he also worked in Augusta
and Frederick Counties.
In 1751, Washington’s brother Lawrence became
ill with tuberculosis and went to Barbados to recover.
Washington accompanied him and caught smallpox
there, which left him with scars for the rest of his life.
The brothers returned home, and Lawrence died in July
1752, whereupon George became executor and residuary
legatee to his estate. At the age of 20, he was in charge
of a flourishing plantation, and he devoted himself to
its improvement and enlargement so successfully that,
by 1757, he was looking after more than 4,000 acres.
He wrote to a friend in England: “No estate in United
America is more pleasantly situated than this.”
Washington’s military experience began in 1752
when he was appointed adjutant of one of Virginia’s
military districts. Though a salary of £100 a year went
with the post, the duties were light, but this changed
in 1753 when Governor Robert Dinwiddie became
alarmed at French incursions into the Ohio valley. He
appointed Washington to take a small party to deliver
a formal written ultimatum to the French at Fort Le
Boeuf, where the city of Waterford, Pennsylvania, now
stands. The party were received with formal courtesy by
the French, who told Washington that they intended to
occupy the Ohio valley by any means necessary; this was
confirmed in a letter to be taken back to Governor Din-
widdie. On the return journey, Washington’s party was
attacked by Indians, but they reached home safely and
Dinwiddie immediately wrote to London to warn them
of the French intentions. Rather than wait for guidance
from England, Dinwiddie decided the matter needed
prompt action, appointed Washington as lieutenant col-
onel in command of a provincial regiment under Colo-
nel Joshua Fry, and ordered them to attack the French
posts in the Ohio valley.
Washington’s force marched on what had been a
small British fort that the French had occupied and re-
named Fort Duquesne (on the site of today’s Pittsburgh).
Some distance from the French fort, Washington erected
a temporary fortification in Great Meadows, called Fort
Necessity, and launched a surprise attack on a French de-
tachment on 28 May 1754. The attack, the first engage-
ment of the French and Indian Wars (1754–1763), was
successful; the French commander, Colonel Joumon-
ville, was killed and the remainder were taken prisoner.
The clash promptly brought about a counterattack from
the main French force, which pursued Washington and
his men back to Fort Necessity, besieged them there, and
forced their surrender. The French commander showed
leniency and allowed Washington to take his soldiers
back to Virginia once he had agreed that there would be
no English forts built in the Ohio valley for a year and
had acknowledged responsibility for the death of Colo-
nel Joumonville. On his return to Virginia, Washington
received the thanks of the House of Burgesses and was
promoted to colonel, though he resigned his commis-
sion later that year (1754) in protest at the poor pay of
provincial officers.
When General Edward Braddock and his force ar-
rived in Virginia to resume the campaign against Fort
Duquesne in 1755, he asked Washington to accompany
him as aide-de-camp, an offer Washington eagerly ac-
cepted. He was at Braddock’s side when his force was
ambushed by a French and Indian force on the Monon-
gahela River on 9 July 1755 and played a major role
in rallying the survivors and bringing them back to
safety. For his services, he was appointed commander
of the Virginia provincial force with the rank of colo-
nel. The appointment was a difficult one since he had
only about 700 soldiers to defend a border 400 miles
long. Although he had the satisfaction of commanding
the advance guard of General John Forbes when he cap-
tured Fort Duquesne in 1758, Washington resigned his
commission soon afterwards. He was then elected to the
House of Burgesses, and on 6 January 1759 he married
Martha Custis, a wealthy widow.
For the next 15 years, Washington occupied him-
self in improving his estates and fulfilling his duties in
the House of Burgesses. Though he was opposed to the
call for the colonies’ independence, he was firm in de-
fending the rights of the colonists against what he saw as
undue British repression. He was one of Virginia’s del-
egation to the First and Second Continental Congresses
of 1774 and 1775, and on 15 June 1775 he was unani-
mously chosen as commander in chief of the Continen-
tal Army.
Washington arrived at Boston, where the British
were besieged, on 3 July 1775, and for the next eight
months he brought discipline to the army, settled dis-
putes among his subordinate commanders, and enforced
the siege. When he had acquired sufficient guns and
equipment, he forced the British to surrender Boston by
seizing the Dorchester heights overlooking the harbor
and placing cannon there on the night of 4 March 1776.
On 17 March, the British evacuated the city. Washing-wAShington, geoRge