The True George Washington [10th Ed.]Ford, Paul Leicester
History
The True George Washington [10th Ed.]
Ford, Paul Leicester
Generals -- United States -- Biography; Presidents -- United States -- Biography; Washington, George, 1732-1799
Into this life Washington entered eagerly. As a mere lad his ledger
records expenditures: “By a club in Arrack at Mr. Gordon’s 2/6;” “Club
of a bottle of Rhenish at Mitchells 1/3;” “To part of the club at Port
Royal 1/;” “To Cash in part for a Bowl of fruit punch 1/7-1/2.” So,
too, he was a visitor at this time at some of the great Virginian
houses, as elsewhere noted. When he came into possession of Mount
Vernon he offered the same unstinted welcome that he had met with, and
even as a bachelor he writes of his “having much company,” and again of
being occupied with “a good deal of Company.” In two months of 1768
Washington had company to dinner, or to spend the night, on twenty-nine
days, and dined or visited away from home on seven; and this is
typical.
Whenever, too, trips were made to Williamsburg, Annapolis,
Philadelphia, or elsewhere, it was a rare occurrence when the various
stages of the journey were not spent with friends, and in those cities
he was dined and wined to a surfeit.
During the Revolution all of Washington’s aides and his secretary lived
with him at head-quarters, and constituted what he always called “my
family.” In addition, many others sat down at table,—those who came on
business from a distance, as well as bidden guests,—-which frequently
included ladies from the neighborhood, who must have been belles among
the sixteen to twenty men who customarily sat down to dinner. “If …
convenient and agreeable to you to take pot luck with me to-day,” the
General wrote John Adams in 1776, “I shall be glad of your company.”
Pot luck it was for commander-in-chief and staff. Mention has been made
of how sometimes Washington slept on the ground, and even when under
cover there was not occasionally much more comfort. Pickering relates
that one night was passed in “Headquarters at Galloway’s, an old log
house. The General lodged in a bed, and his family on the floor about
him. We had plenty of sepawn and milk, and all were contented.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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