French & Indian War: The Courage and Faith of young Colonel George Washington

American Minute ^ | July 18, 2019 | Bill Federer

[oldvirginian]

“It also showed people that one can grow and mature as a leader.”

I read that Washington’s greatest asset was that he KNEW he wasn’t ALWAYS the smartest man in the room which enabled him to see that others had better plans and he would accept and execute those plans with the same vigor and determination as he would his own.

General Washington was particularly galled by the fact he had been run out of the city of New York. It was his burning passion to retake the city and keep the British out.

When the French naval leader de Grasse informed Washington that he intended to blockade the Chesapeake bay Washington abandoned New York, the apple of his eye, and set out for Virginia.

Washington was also known for his loyalty, honor and sense of justice.

When Cornwallis forced the surrender of Charles town, SC he denied the request of Continental General Benjamin Lincoln to be allowed to surrender with Military Honors of War.

When Cornwallis asked to surrender with Military Honors of War General George Washington insisted: “The same Honors will be granted to the Surrendering Army as were granted to the Garrison of Charles Town.”
When Cornwallis’s sword was presented to General Washington by the British second in command he refused and gestured to his second in command, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, the same man who had been treated so shabbily at Charles town.

Is there any wonder his officers loved him?

[dandiegirl]

Very interesting. I’m going to watch the Netflix series on this spy ring. Maybe my ancestor was a spy, sure sounds like it. The British were full of drink and food and were playing cards when the messenger arrived.

[oldvirginian]

Yeah, that message was probably on it’s way to the colonial army before the British finished playing cards. :p)

Turn is about the Culper spy ring, so named by Washington for Culpeper county, Va which Washington surveyed as a young man.

The members of the Culper ring were everyday people who had access to information through their everyday lives.
One was the owner of a loyalist paper prominent in New York.
Another was the writer for the society section of that newspaper. Both men had access to high ranking loyalists and British officers.

Anna Strong would hang her laundry in a certain manner to let her contact know when a message was dropped and at which pre-arranged drop site it would be found.
The Culper ring
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/spying-and-espionage/american-spies-of-the-revolution/

Washington was the consummate spy master.
He set about creating an intelligence organization that was on the cutting edge of spycraft of the day.

Knowing that invisible ink was visible when heat was applied, held over a lit candle, Washington drafted James Jay (brother of John Jay) to develop an invisible ink that only became visible when a chemical re-agent was applied (think the secret msgs on the Declaration of Independence in the movie National Treasure).

The colonial intelligence service designed ever evolving codes that the British never seemed to catch up to.
After the war one British intelligence officer stated “Washington did not really outfight the British. He simply out-spied us.”

The spies were so vital to the Independence cause that their names were kept secret long after the war.

Washington the spymaster
https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-revolutionary-war/spying-and-espionage/george-washington-spymaster/

[dandiegirl]

Very interesting information. My next book is one called Young Washington by Peter Stark. Washington was a brilliant man. Going to read more about the spies. Fascinating!