Probably the happiest and most carefree years of Washington’s life were those after his marriage which were spent at Mount Vernon which he had inherited at the death of his niece. Farming was his “most favorite pursuit,” and he devoted himself with characteristic energy to improving his land by manures and rotation of crops, and his stock of sheep, cattle, and horses by selection and breeding. He was a member of the House of Burgesses, took an interest in public affairs, and was regarded as one of the leading men in the colony. Not long after the French and Indian War, trouble arose between the colonies and England about taxation without representation. As you know, the trouble in Boston finally led to the passage of the Boston Port Bill. Virginia and the other colonies sympathized with Massachusetts. In a speech in the House of Burgesses Washington said, “I will raise a thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march with them, at their head, for the relief of Boston.” George Washington was one of the six Virginia delegates to the first continental congress in September, 1774. It was decided to raise a colonial army, and, June 15, 1775, Washington was appointed its commander-in-chief. In his speech accepting the office he refused to receive pay for his services, saying that only his expenses in the service should be repaid him at the end of the war. June 21 he left Philadelphia and rode to Massachusetts to take charge of the troops. On the third of July, at Cambridge under a great elm-tree still known as “Washington’s elm,” he assumed command of the army. He was an imposing figure, a tall handsome man dressed in a blue coat with buff facings and buff small clothes or knee trousers. The army of which he took command, was, he said, “a mixed multitude of people, under very little discipline, order, or government.” These troops, about sixteen thousand in number, had most of them been enlisted for but a short time and they lacked provisions and supplies,--above all, ammunition. Throughout the war there was scarcity of ammunition and the enemy’s stores of powder and ball and firearms were the most welcome part of an American victory. During the first months, however, the Americans had more experience of defeat than of victory. In the spring of 1776 the Americans took possession of Dorchester Heights and the British evacuated Boston a few days later. When their fleet put to sea, Washington marched across the country, hoping to keep them from landing in New York. But the enemy were too strong for him and they took possession of the city. Up to this time the patriots had been fighting for their rights as British colonists. July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was adopted and the fight was now for freedom. Of this Washington said, “When I first took command of the army I abhorred the idea of independence, but I am fully convinced that nothing else will save us.”