Changes - 1758
Still don't know what I was waitin' for
And my time was runnin' wild
A million dead end streets and
Every time I thought I'd got it made
It seemed the taste was not so sweet
Those last two lines?
Those last two lines really apply to our Colonel George Washington.
Once again our Colonel George Washington has a setback to his ambitions. Once again he must ask for a place in the future.
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As soon as he got a position, a change of leadership would occur.
Washington would need to start all over again, to apply for favor and position.
The best of all GW biographers is Douglas Southall Freeman.
He summarizes the frustration of GW:
"This transfer of Stanwix and the recall of Loudoun meant to Washington that he had to repeat the process of winning the good opinion of new officers who replaced those whose esteem he had acquired.
There seemed to be no end to the succession—
Fry, Innes, Braddock, Shirley, Sharpe, Loudoun, and now Forbes.
In all these changes, Washington himself had received no recognition.
[Note: In a way he did receive recognition, but that recognition was not enough to guarantee a position with the next leader.]
In Loudoun’s own words, “either he must not be minister or I could not be General”
That last line draws a parallel between Lord Loudoun's situation and George Washington's situation.
The choice was either to resign or get a commanding position to affect one's own fate and that of the campaign.
Quote above is from bottom of Page 305.
Read Pages 303 and 315 of all the new commander changes in 1758. From Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington, Volume 2, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons.
And that picture?
A young Washington Irving meets a living icon, George Washington. That young Washington Irving, famous for Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, goes on to create a hugely popular biography of George Washington. Painted By George Bernard Butler Jr,1854.
The song continues:
So I turned myself to face me
But I've never caught a glimpse
How the others must see the faker
I'm much too fast to take that test
This too is our Colonel George Washington. He never sits still. Even if he has to resign. He starts a new direction. He keeps moving. GW immediately applies for a position with the new incoming commanders.
Click on link if on mobile phone:
This year of 1758 gives good bye to a lot of people in Washington's life.
William Fairfax died Sept 3, 1757.
Dinwiddie too is leaving Jan 12, 1758.
Lord Loudoun is leaving Feb 1758.
Duke of Cumberland resigned Oct 1757.
Colonel Stanwix is leaving the Pennsylvania area in 1758.
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Who replaced them?
William Fairfax, Pres of Council, was replaced by John Blair.
Robert Dinwiddle, Lt Gov of VA, was replaced by Fauquier.
Lord Loudoun is replaced by Abercrombie and then by Amherst.
Duke of Cumberland, commander of all world wide forces, is replaced by Ligonier.
Colonel Stanwix leaves the Pennsylvania theatre of operations to John Forbes and his top 2nd commander, Bouquet.
Blog compiled, authored by Jim Moyer 1/2/2022, update 1/25/2022
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