WASHINGTON, GEoitou, commander in-chief of the continental forces in the war of the American revolution, and first president of the United States, was b. in West moreland co., Va., Feb. 22,1132; son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball; a Washington, who emigrated to'Virginia from England about 1657, who was a grandson of John Washington, mayor of Northampton, and first lay-proprietor of the manor of Sulgrave, in Northamptonshire, who married a daughter of Shirty, earl Ferrers. Lawrence, an elder brother of John, studied at Oxford; John re sided at one time at South Cave, Yorkshire. Being royalists in the time of Cromwell, both emigrated, and became landed proprietors and planters in Virginia, in the district between ilia Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. Augustine Washington died when his second son George was 12 years old, leaving a large property to his widow and five children. His education in the indifferent local schools extended only to reading, writ ing, arithmetic, book-keeping, and land-surveying, then an important ac ulsition He grew tall, had great physical strength, and was fond of military and exercises. At the age of 13 lie wrote out, for his own use, 110 maxims of civility and good behavior. In 1740 his elder brother, capt. Lawrence served under admiral Vernon In the expedition against earth a-ena, and named his residence on the Potomac Mount Vernon, in honor of his commander, who offered George a commission as midshipman on his ship, which, hut for the opposition of his mother, he would have gladly accepted. He then spent his time chiefly with his brother at Mount' Vernon, and with lord Fairfax, who owned great estates in the Virginia valley; • and in 1748 he engaged to survey these wild territories for a doubloon aday, cam in out for months in the forest, in peril from Indians and squatters. At the age of 19, at the beginning of the seven years' war, he was appointed adjutant of the provincial troops, with the rank of maj.; in 1751 he made his only sea voyage—a trip to Barbadoes—with his brother Lawrence, who died soon after, and left George heir to his estates at Mount Vernon. At 22 (1754) he com manded a regiment against the French, who had established themselves at fort Duquesne (now Pittsburg), and held fort Necessity against superior numbers, until compelled to capitulate. The year following, when two regiments of regulars were led against fort Duquesne by gen. Braddock, Washington volunteered; and at the disastrous ambuscade of July 9,1755, he was the only aid not killed or wounded. He had four bullets through his coat, and two horses were shot under him. The Indians believed that he bore a charmed life, and his countrymen were proud of his courage and conduct. Two thou sand men were raised, and he was selected to command them. In 1759 be married Mrs. Martha Custis, a wealthy widow, resigned his military appointments, and engaged in the improvement of his estates, raising wheat and tobacco, and carrying on brick-yards and fisheries. He was, like nearly all Americans of property at that period, a slaveholder, and possessed at his death 124 slaves, whom he directed, in his will, to be emancipated at the death of his wife (who survived him but three years), so that the negroes of the two estates, who had intermarried, might not be separated. He was for some years a member of the Virginia assembly; and in 1774, though opposed to the idea of independ ence, and in favor of the union with Great Britain so ardently desired by all British Americans, he was ready to fight, if necessary, for the constitutional rights of the colo nists. He spoke seldom and briefly; but Patrick Henry declared him to be, " for solid information and sound judgment, unquestionably the greatest man in the assembly."
The news of the battle of Lexington (April 19, 1775) called the country to arms; and Wa.shington, then a member of the continental congress, was elected commander-in-chief by that body. He hastened to the camp at Cambridge; compelled the evacuation of Boston ; was driven from New York; compelled to retreat across New Jersey; often defeated and reduced to the most desperate straits, by disaffection, lack of men and sup plies, and even cabals against his authority; but by his calm courage, prudence, firm ness, and perseverence, he brought the war, with the aid of powerful allies, to a success ful termination ; and (Dec. 23, 1783), the independence of the thirteen colonies achieved, he retired from the army to Mount Vernon, which he had, during the eight years of the war, but once visited. He refused pay, but kept a minute account of his personal expenses, which were reimbursed by congress. In 1784 he crossed the Alleghanies to see his lands in western Virginia, and.planned the James river and Potomac canals. The shares voted him by the state he gave to endow Washington college, at Lexington, Va., and for a university. The federation of states having failed to give an efficient govern ment, Washington proposed conventions for commercial purposes, which led to the con vention of 1787, of which lie was a member,which formed the present federal constitution, considered by him as the only alternative to anarchy and civil war. Under this consti tution he was chosen president, and inaugurated at New York, April 30, 1789. With " Washington," so termed by the courtesy of the period, he presided over a federal court,•far more formal and elegant than exists at this day, and made triumphal progresses in the north and south. During his second term of office, he was disgusted by the oppo sition of the republican party, under the leadership of Jefferson and Randolph, and refusing a third election, he issued, in 1796, his farewell address, and retired to Mount Vernon. In 1797, when there arose a difficulty with France, threatening hostilities, he was appointed lieut.gen. and commander-in-chief. On the Dec. 12th, 1799,_ he was exposed in the saddle, for several hours, to cold and snow, and attacked with acute laryngitis, for which he was repeatedly and largely bled, but sunk rapidly, and died, Dec. 14. His last words were characteristic. He said: "I die hard; but I am not afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I should not survive it. My breath cannot last long." A little later he said: " I feel myself going. I thank you for your attentions; but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. Let me go quietly. I cannot last long." After some instructions to his secretary about his burial, lie became easier, felt his own pulse, and died without a struggle. He was mourned even by his enemies, and deserved the record: "First in peace, first in war, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Washington was 6 ft. 2 in. high, with brown hair, blue eyes, large head, and strong arms; a bola and graceful rider and hunter; attentive to his personal appearance and dignity; gracious and gentle, though at times cold and reserved; childless, but very happy in his domestic relations and his adopted children—nephews and nieces. His best portraits are those by Stuart, and statue by Houdin at Richmond. • Ile was an exemplary Member of the church of England.—See art. UNITED STATES; also Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, 12 vols. 8vo (Boston, 1834-37); of Washington, by chief-justice Marshall, 5 vols. 8vo (Philadelphia, 1805); Life of Wa,shtng ton, by Washington Irving, 5 vols. 8vo (New York, 1855-59); etc.