Kind Providence preserved him for great and nobler services. Soon after this transaction, the regulation of rank, which had justly been considered as a grievance by the colonial officers, was changed in consequence of a spirited remonstrance of Washington; and the governor of Virginia rewarded this brave young officer with the command of all the troops of that colony. The troops under his command were gradually inured in that most difficult kind of warfare called bush-fighting, while the activity of the French and ferocity of the Indians were overcome by his superior valor. Washington received the most flattering marks of public approbation; but his best reward was the consciousness of his own integrity. In the course of this decisive campaign, which restored the tranquillity and security of the middle colonies, Washington had suffered many hardships which impaired his health. He was afflicted with an inveterate pulmonary complaint, and extremely debilitated, insomuch that, in the year 1759, he resigned his commission and retired to Mount Vernon. By a due attention to regimen, in the quiet bowers of Mount Vernon, he gradually recovered from his indisposition. During the tedious period of his convalescence, the British troops had been victorious; his country had no more occasion for the exertion of his military talents. In 1761, he married the young widow of Colonel Custis, who had left her sole executrix to his extensive possessions, and guardian to his two children. The union of Washington with this accomplished lady was productive of their mutual felicity; and as he incessantly pursued agricultural improvements, his taste embellished and enriched the fertile fields around Mount Vernon. But the time was approaching when Washington was to relinquish the happiness of his home to act a conspicuous part on the great theatre of the world. For more than ten years had the colonies and their mother country been at variance from causes of usurpation and tyranny, and the awful moment was fast approaching when America was to throw off her fetters and proclaim herself free. In 1775, Washington was elected commander-in-chief of the whole American army. The American army were, at the time of this appointment, entrenched on Winter Hill, Prospect Hill and Roxbury, Massachusetts, communicating with each other by small posts, over a distance of ten miles; the head-quarters of the American army was at Cambridge, while the British were entrenched on Bunker’s Hill, defended by three floating batteries on Mystic river below.