More on GW the Assassin, the cause of this war
"I found her diary underneath the tree. And I started reading all about me."
But the diary George Washington finds is his own.
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He's in Philadelphia
waiting for an audience
with Lord Loudoun
when he sees
a newspaper advertising
the publication of a journal of his
taken by the French
three years before.
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More specifically, what was really captured off that French ship?
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It was this political argument that England is the cause of this war. And one of the proofs contained in that publication is GW's captured journal and his signature on a surrender documenting admitting he GW is an assassin. The publication is titled:
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Mémoire contenant le précis des faits, avec leurs pièces justificatives pour servir de réponse aux Observations envoyées par les ministres d'Angleterre, dans les cours de l'Europe.
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This publication contains: Réponse à Observations sur le mémoire de la France.
Renferme 30 pièces justificatives en date de 1749 à 1755 et portant sur les hostilités anglo-françaises en Amérique: correspondance entre la Jonquiè re, Cornwallis, Albermale et Roüille, Journal de George Washington, Journal de Villiers, correspondance de Braddock et de W. Johnson
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And now GW's journal is in the news of 1757 -- again !
We continue our trek thru 1757 in this year of 2021.
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That journal is in the news again because that captured French ship had it on board.
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And when did GW lose this journal?
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His journal was confiscated 3 years ago
by the French
in his surrender to them
at a fort
he called with
understated alarm,
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He knew the French were coming for him.
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They were coming for him
for revenge,
for honor
and for their
dominion over this land.
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The killing of the
brother de Jumonville
was what had
an army
of French and Indians coming fast.
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And his avenging brother thought
the killing was an assassination
countenanced by GW.
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GW knew he had no chance to escape,
so he had to quick forge his Alamo and make a stand.
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was Great Meadows.
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Most historians say it was a bad choice
because they didn't make sure
to cut down the woods
that were too near the fort,
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See World Wide War map location of this battle.
The enemy
of about 900
to their 300
showed up
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Then after his men
did a cowardly retreat
(not MacKay's men
who stood their ground)
from a failed frontal assault
on the French,
the afternoon
darkened their future
with an unrelenting rain.
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With only two screws
to clean the wet powder
there was just no hope.
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So while GW entertained
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The futility so darkened his men's minds, only liquor could cure it.
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A drunk Alamo in the mud of a pouring rain at night with wet powder was the army GW had.
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That's just a snippet of the story that GW didn't record in his journal, but other eyewitnesses did report those details. Those eyewitness accounts are mentioned here in Founders Online footnotes.
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So when does GW find out what he really signed that night?
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You know, the Articles of Capitulation where he admits to being an assassin?
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They find out fairly quickly
what they signed.
GW signed it.
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So too did
Captain James MacKay
of the South Carolina
Independent Company.
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Captain James MacKay also
signed this
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of GW's provincial rank.
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Captain James MacKay mentions to GW this problem of what they agreed to signing.
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Mackay writes to GW
while still at
Camp Mount Pleasant
at Wills Creek
(to be renamed Fort Cumberland by Braddock):
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"I had Several despuits
about our Capitulation
but I Satisfyd every Person
that mentiond that Subject
as to the artickle in Questan, t
hat they Were owing to a bad Interpretar
and Contrary to the translation
made to us when we signd them . . ."
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Fast forward 3 years later.
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GW is in Philadelphia from Feb 21 to later March when he sees a newspaper advertisement about his journal the French captured.
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We continue our trek thru 1757.
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See Founders Online notes:
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"On 3 Mar. 1757,
while GW was in Philadelphia
to attend Loudoun’s meeting
with the southern governors,
the printer James Chattin
announced in the
Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia)
his intention to publish
within two months
“A MEMORIAL, containing a summary Account of Facts, in Answer to the Observations of the English Ministry,
addressed to the Courts of Europe.” "
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Why is this important to GW?
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Why was this James Chattin's announcement in the PA Gazette so interesting to GW?
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"Among other things, the Memorial included
GW’s journal of his 1754 campaign and “
The Journal of M. de Villiers,” . . ."
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Source:
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GW writes his response to this publication:
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"I am really sorry, that I have it not in my power to answer your request in a more satisfactory manner.
Founders Online believes GW is writing this in March in Philly or in April when he gets to Winchester VA. They believe he is writing to a William Smith "(1727–1803), a Scot who came to New York in 1751, became one of the leading figures in Philadelphia of his generation."
If you had favored me with the journal a few days sooner,
I would have examined it carefully,
and endeavoured to point out such errors
as might conduce to your use,
my advantage,
and the public satisfaction;
but now it is out of my power.
I had no time to make any remarks upon that piece, which is called my journal.1 The enclosed are observations on the French notes. They are of no use to me separated, nor will they, I believe, be of any to you; yet I send them unconnected and incoherent as they were taken, for I have no opportunity to correct them.
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In regard to the journal, I can only observe in general, that I kept no regular one during that expedition; rough minutes of occurrences I certainly took, and find them as certainly and strangely metamorphosed; some parts left out, which I remember were entered, and many things added that never were thought of; the names of men and things egregiously miscalled; and the whole of what I saw Englished is very incorrect and nonsensical; yet, I will not pretend to say that the little body, who brought it to me, has not made a literal translation, and a good one.
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Short as my time is,
I cannot help remarking on
Villiers’ account of the battle of,
and transactions at, the Meadows,
as it is very extraordinary,
and not less erroneous than inconsistent.
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He says the French received the first fire.
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It is well known,
that we received it at
six hundred paces’ distance.
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He also says,
our fears obliged us
to retreat
in a most disorderly manner
after the capitulation.
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How is this consistent
with his other account?
He acknowledges,
that we sustained
the attack warmly
from ten in the morning
until dark,
and that he called
first to parley,
which strongly indicates
that we were not
totally absorbed in fear.
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If the gentleman in his account
had adhered to the truth,
he must have confessed,
that we looked upon his offer to parley as an artifice
to get into and examine our trenches
and refused on this account,
until they desired an officer might be sent to them,
and gave their parole for his safe return.
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He might also,
if he had been as great a lover of the truth
as he was of vainglory,
have said,
that we absolutely refused their first and second proposals,
and would consent to capitulate
on no other terms
than such as we obtained.
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That we were wilfully, or ignorently, deceived by our interpreter
in regard to the word assassination,
I do aver, and will to my dying moment;
so will every officer that was present.
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The interpreter was a Dutchman,
little acquainted with the English tongue,
therefore might not advert
to the tone and meaning of the word in English;
but, whatever his motives were for so doing,
certain it is, he called it the death, or the loss, of the Sieur Jumonville.
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So we received and so we understood it, until, to our great surprise and mortification, we found it otherwise in a literal translation.2
That we left our baggage
and horses
at the Meadows is certain;
that there was
not even a possibility
to bring them away
is equally certain,
as we had every horse
belonging to the camp
killed or taken away
during the action;
so that it was impracticable
to bring any thing off,
that our shoulders were not able to bear; . . ." the letter continues. Read the rest here.
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Again, that letter above
written at the
by GW is his arguments against
the accusations of the French found on that captured ship:
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Mémoire contenant le précis des faits, avec leurs pièces justificatives pour servir de réponse aux Observations envoyées par les ministres d'Angleterre, dans les cours de l'Europe.
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This publication contained: Réponse à Observations sur le mémoire de la France.
Renferme 30 pièces justificatives en date de 1749 à 1755 et portant sur les hostilités anglo-françaises en Amérique: correspondance entre la Jonquiè re, Cornwallis, Albermale et Roüille, Journal de George Washington, Journal de Villiers, correspondance de Braddock et de W. Johnson
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Reviewing GW's
and Lord Loudoun's
whereabouts:
"Washington departed promptly (leaving Fort Loudoun some time after 2 Feb 1757), stopped at home (Mt Vernon) on his way to the city (Philadelphia), left on the 13th (Feb 1757) with Capt Robert Stewart and Thomas Bishop, and reached the place of the conference (Philadelphia) about the 21st (Feb 1757) -- only to be told that the new Commander-in Chief (Lord Loudoun) had not made his appearance. " -- writes Douglas Southall Freeman in Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 236-237, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons: .
GW's Journal in the News
While waiting for Lord Loudoun, GW sees the newspaper advertisement on 3 March 1757, of a future publication date for GW's lost journal.
Ben Franklin
This is the same day, 3 March 1757, Ben Franklin writes Lord Loudoun. Ben Franklin has delayed his trip to England upon Lord Loudoun's request to see Ben Franklin in Philadelphia. Also Bank Franklin's apprentice is James Chattin the one who advertised in the newspaper a future coming publication of GW's Journal among other items in which the English govt sought to counter the French accusation that England started this war.
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Lord Loudoun Arrives His Lord, Lord Loudoun was originally scheduled to arrive in 17 Feb 1757 but reschedules it and shows up on March 14, 1757 in Philly.
Liberty Bell
Lord Loudoun is greeted with great fanfare. The noise of ship's guns and the city's bells heralded his arrival. We wonder if the Liberty Bell (it wasn't called that name of Liberty Bell until 1835) rang for him that day?
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Conferences
Lord Loudoun holds conferences with the southern Governors the very next day on 15 March 1757 thru 21 March 1757.
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Independence Hall
A big dinner to honor Lord Loudoun was held on 18 March 1757 by the corporation of Philadelphia at the State House (the future Independence Hall).
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Finally GW meets Lord Loudoun
Colonel George Washington finally has an audience with Lord Loudoun 20 March 1757.
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Lord Loudoun leaves
Lord Loudoun anticipates leaving Philly for NYC, 25 March 1757.
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Questions:
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What was the name of that captured French ship holding GW's Journal?
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This French ship was the one that carried that French publication listing George Washington as one of the reasons naming England as the cause of this present war. When was it captured?
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MacKay still there for the Indians later?
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Was, James MacKay still at Camp Mount Pleasant at Wills River, (Fort Cumberland named later by Braddock) when the peace treaty conference with the Indians held Oct 19 to Nov 3?
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James MacKay's letter is timestamped late Sept 1754 at Wills Creek.
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See Links on this:
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October 18 to November 3 Camp Mt. Pleasant at Willis Creek, Three Questions: British Army on the Potomac in 1754 ? Where was Camp Mt Pleasant on the Potomac in Western Maryland in 1754 ? And was this treaty never cited by anybody before?
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October 18 to November 3 The Treaty itself. “We are all Soldiers and Warriors. Some sharp words will now pass between us. We shall talk like drunken Men.”
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About MacKay being independent to GW
November 12 King’s Order settling rank and command
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This blog is authored and compiled by Jim Moyer 2/21/2021, update 3/9/21
This blog "Sunday Word 1" is a series posted on Facebook in the year of 2021 following the events of 1757.
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Last year 2020 was a series posted on Facebook for the year 1756.
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More detail below if you want.
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Full Founders Online Footnote quoted partially above.
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From George Washington
to William Smith,
March–April 1757
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To William Smith
. [March-April 1757]
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The text of this letter is printed as Document III of “The Capitulation of Fort Necessity.”1
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There William Smith is tentatively identified as the addressee.
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On 3 Mar. 1757, while GW was in Philadelphia to attend Loudoun’s meeting with the southern governors, the printer James Chattin announced in the Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia) his intention to publish within two months “A MEMORIAL, containing a summary Account of Facts, in Answer to the Observations of the English Ministry, addressed to the Courts of Europe.”
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Among other things, the Memorial included GW’s journal of his 1754 campaign and “The Journal of M. de Villiers,” the two documents with which GW’s letter is mainly concerned.
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The contents of the letter suggest that GW wrote it not long after Chattin’s announcement, either in March 1757 while he was still in Philadelphia or in April in Winchester shortly after his return to Virginia.2
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. Sparks, Writings of Washington, 2:463–65.
. 1. Papers, Colonial Series, 1:168–72.
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Source:
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So we have set the scene for GW's discovery.
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Douglas Southall Freeman doesn't mention that our Colonel George Washington is being accused of being an Assassin here.
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Douglas Southall Freeman does mention that this publication found off a captured French ship lists all the reasons why Britain is considered the cause of this war and not France.
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And one of those reasons is because of a young George Washington.
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So even then in his own time he was being accused as one of the reasons for starting the war.
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From Douglas Southall Freeman's Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 236-237, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons:
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. . . Washington had at least one other experience of interest during his weeks of waiting for the Commander-in-Chief.
About ten days after [ 3 March 1757? ] the Virginian reached Philadelphia he found in the Pennsylvania Gazette an unusual advertisement of a forthcoming book.
Aboard a French vessel captured at sea, British naval officers had found a volume published in Paris by royal order the previous year [1756] This was a “Memoire contenant le Precis des Faits, avec leur Pieces Justificatives pour Servir de Response aux Observations Envoyees par les Ministres d’Angleterre dans les Cours de l’Europe,” and it was described accurately by the title.
It was a collection of documents designed to show that blame for the existing war rested on Britain, not on France — just such a volume, in short, as a printer might seize upon and print quickly in order to satisfy public curiosity of what “the other side” was saying.
More than one such printer, it would appear, soon had the same resolution to translate and issue the Memoire.
There may, indeed, have been something of a race between two of the disciples of Cadmus, one in New York and the other in Philadelphia.
The advertisement in the Pennsylvania paper was exciting to
Washington because it listed among the contents a “Journal” attributed to him. 25
Washington at once investigated, because the publisher announced that the book would be put to press on the 20th of March [1757] and would be issued in six weeks.
The Virginian found that the translation had not been completed and that what had been put into English was awkward and poorly expressed. 26
For his own protection, doubtless, he had a translation of his own made of some of the passages that related to himself. 27
The “Journal” proved to be a French elaboration of notes he had kept in varying form, sometimes in extenso and sometimes in little more than outline, from Mch 31 to June 27, 1754, that is, from the time he was commissioned to start for the Ohio, to protect the building
of the fort at the Junction, until the eve of the retreat to the Great
Meadows.
Many things that he had jotted down the French editor of
his captured notes had eliminated, and some things of which he had
not even thought at the time were attributed to him. 28
He corrected as much of this as he could, m the short time that remained before publication, but apparently the Philadelphia printer decided to adhere to the English text already available. 29
George did not fail to subscribe to it. 30
Footnotes by Douglas Southall Freeman:
24
Wtgan Collection from Sulgrave Manor copy at Mount Vernon It is instructive to compare this paper with the remonstrance published m 2 G W ,25 and provisionally dated April 16 That document is summarized infra , p, 245
25
Issue of Mch 3, 1757*
26
See his undated letter to the printer or editor in 2 Sparks , 463
27
See Ledger 4 , folio 34 “By cash to a French translator 21/6 ”
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2 Sparks , 263
28
There are no more than the normal typographical differences between the New York and
Philadelphia editions
30
Ledger A , folio 35 Apparently he did not purchase then nor is there any record that he later owned a publication that William Bradford advertised in the Penn Gazette of Feb 3, 1757, just before his arrival m Philadelphia — “A Brief View of the Conduct of Pennsylvania for 1755
so Far as it Affected the General service of the British Colonies, particularly the Expedition under General Braddock ” The author was William Smith 31 Penn Gazette , Mch 17, 1757
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This blog is authored and compiled by Jim Moyer 2/21/2021
This blog "Sunday Word 1" is a series posted on Facebook in the year of 2021 following the events of 1757.
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Last year 2020 was a series posted on Facebook for the year 1756.
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See that FB page:
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Sources:
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See links already referenced in the article itself.
We will list all those links here as well at a later date.
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Lengel, Edward (2005). General George Washington.
New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.
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Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg), 19 July 1754.
The newspaper account is preceded by the following paragraph: “On Wednesday [17 July] last arrived in Town, Colonel George Washington and Captain James Maccay, who gave the following Account to his Honour the Governor, of the late Action between them and the French, at the Great Meadows in the Western Parts of this Dominion.”
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The footnotes show all the other eyewitness accounts
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When did they know about the assassin word?
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ancestor group
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the place picked by GW was informed
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Links on the Jumonville Incident
where the alleged assassin accusation took place?
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Jumonville Incident: May 28,1754
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Did the Chief Half King tomahawk the skull of French Officer Jumonville when he was a wounded prisoner — in front of Washington?
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And why did Washington sign his name to a French document calling Washington an “assassin” ?
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There are many sources for this story.
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George Washington’s letters
see 11th paragraph 29 May 1754 Washington letter to Dinwiddie
Click Next Page of this story in Washington’s Diary
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1757 GW writes about Assassin Mis-interpretation
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Adam Stephen’s account
John Shaw – not an eye witness
Monceau’s account
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Lt Joseph-Gaspard Chaussegros de Lery records Contrecour’s recital of Denis Kaninguen‘s testimony
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Follow up needed on these broke links:
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There were many accounts of this.
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Click Next Page of this story in Washington’s Diary
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Monceau’s account
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Research found on unrelated items in the course of researching this blog
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Page 113
Putnam's monthly. no.37-42 1856.
66 years ago - Washington at Boston
Volume VII Feb 1856 No. XXXVIII
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Page 1
Emerson's magazine and Putnam's monthly. v.6,no.43-48 1858.
The Life of Washington
Vol. VI January 1858 No. 43
starts of with section
Washington and troops leaving Fort Necessity
after he had signed the Articles of Capitulation
commenced in the July Number 1857
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Vol V and
Emerson's United States magazine. v.5,no.37-41 1857.
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Disambiguation of the 3 William Smiths
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1. William Smith 1727 to 1803
Episcopal Priest, in Pennsylvania, creator of Huntingdon PA
historian
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Smith was also the founding editor of The American Magazine, or Monthly Chronicle for the British Colonies, the first publication of its kind, which appeared from October 1757 until October 1758, when publication ceased owing to Smith's incarceration due to the previously mentioned libel action initiated by the Pennsylvania Assembly.
Smith's best known work as an author is "Bouquet's Expedition Against the Ohio Indians in 1764" (1765), an account of the last campaign in Pontiac's War, led by Colonel Henry Bouquet.
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Selina Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon, was a patron of William Smith's and had some unfortunate personal tragedies which motivated her interest in the spread of religion. Incidentally, Smith named his real estate venture Huntingdon in her honor. This was along the Juniata River, in central Pennsylvania. Lady Huntingdon was persuaded that the Church of England needed to return to the path of righteousness. The Wesleys (John Wesley, Charles Wesley) and George Whitefield whom she supported, in addition to Smith's interests, found it easier to work towards righteousness in the "low" church or what became called Methodism or the "Methodist Movement."
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William Smith (1727–1803), a Scot who came to New York in 1751, became one of the leading figures in Philadelphia of his generation.
1. Smith sent GW volume I, number 1 (October 1757), of his American Magazine or Monthly Chronicle for the British Colonies, printed and sold by William Bradford of Philadelphia. In Bradford’s papers (PHi) there appears in a folio volume a sheet headed “We the Subscribers agree to pay the Sums Annexed to our Names—for the American Magazine—Octr 1. 1757.” Pasted to the sheet is a facsimile of a slip of paper with the names of Lord Fairfax, John Funk, John Hope, and GW—all written in GW’s hand. Both Funk and Hope were property holders in Winchester. On the sheet itself is a list of the names of thirty men. The list is written by Capt. Robert Stewart (see Stewart to GW, 24 Nov. 1757). The thirty men named include fifteen officers of the Virginia Regiment, the new contractor William Ramsay, Adjutant William Hughes, Quartermaster David Kennedy, and a number of men from Winchester and Frederick County. Each of the subscribers agreed to pay 12s. in Pennsylvania currency for one year’s subscription to the magazine. The “Octr 1. 1757” at the top of the sheet is the date the subscription was to begin.
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From George Washington to William Smith, March–April 1757
To William Smith [March-April 1757] [March-April 1757]. The text of this letter is printed as Document III of “The Capitulation of Fort Necessity.”1 There William Smith is tentatively identified as the addressee. On 3 Mar. 1757, while GW was in Philadelphia to attend Loudoun’s meeting with the southern governors, the printer James Chattin announced in the Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia) his intention to publish within two months “A MEMORIAL, containing a summary Account of Facts, in Answer to the Observations of the English Ministry, addressed to the Courts of Europe.” Among other things, the Memorial included GW’s journal of his 1754 campaign and “The Journal of M. de Villiers,” the two documents with which GW’s letter is mainly concerned. The contents of the letter suggest that GW wrote it not long after Chattin’s announcement, either in March 1757 while he was still in Philadelphia or in April in Winchester shortly after his return to Virginia.2 Sparks, Writings of Washington, 2:463–65. 1. Papers, Colonial Series, 1:168–72. 2. Diaries, 1:162–73.
Source:
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2. William Smith (18 June 1728 – 6 December 1793)
Chief Justice
historian too
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was a lawyer, historian, speaker, loyalist, and eventually the loyalist Chief Justice of the Province of New York from 1780 to 1782 and Chief Justice of the Province of Quebec from 1786, later Lower Canada, from 1791 until his death.
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n 1776, he moved to Albany to avoid the contentious politics but in 1778 declared his allegiance for the loyalist cause and joined the British in New York City. Smith was escorted across the lines by Aaron Burr and became an important adviser and confidant of the military and civilian officials including both Governor William Tryon and General Sir Henry Clinton.[1] In 1780, he was appointed Chief Judge of New York but by this time the office only related to the small part of the Province that was still in British hands. The real judicial power was held by Daniel Horsmanden.[2]
He published the first history of New York, The History of the Province of New-York, from the First Discovery to the Year M.DCC.XXXIII. To which is annexed, A Description of the Country, with a short Account of the Inhabitants, their Trade, Religious and Political State, and the Constitution of the Courts of Justice in the Colony. in 1757 (London: Thomas Wilcox).
Smith returned to England in 1783 and then came to Quebec City in 1786, when he was named Chief Justice for the province and also named to the legislative council. In 1791, he became chief justice for Lower Canada and was appointed to the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, serving as its first speaker.
Personal life
He married Janet Livingston, of the Livingston family of New York.
In 1770, he built a manor house in West Haverstraw, New York.[3] From July 15 to July 18, 1778, while his sister Martha and her husband Col. Ann Hawkes Hay were living in the house, it served as headquarters for General George Washington.[4] The house burned down c. 1808–1809 and the Fraser-Hoyer House later built on the site.[5]
He died in Quebec City in 1793. He was buried at Mount Hermon Cemetery in Sillery. Smith's diary and selected papers were compiled and edited in two volumes by L.F.S. Upton in 1963 as part of the Champlain Society's General Series.[6]
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From George Washington to William Smith, 21 August 1778
To William Smith Head Quarters [White Plains] August 21st 1778 Sir. I received your letter of the 15th Inst. by Lieut. Colonel Burr.1 It gives me pleasure to find that the conduct of the flag was such as contributed to your ease; and I am much obliged to you for the attention shewn to the convenience of my officers. It was really altogether out of my power to take any concern, (without interfering with the civil authority) in the matter of your request, but I have transmitted the letter to Governor Clinton who I doubt not will do every thing proper on the occasion.2 I am Sir your Most Obt Servt. Df, in James McHenry’s writing, DLC:GW; Varick transcript, DLC:GW. William Smith (1728–1793), a New York lawyer and historian, had served from 1763 to the outbreak of the Revolution as chief justice of the Province of New York and since 1767 as a member of the provincial council. Having twice refused to take an oath of allegiance to the state, he was among those ordered banished within enemy lines by the state commissioners for detecting and defeating conspiracies. Smith left New York with the British troops in 1783, and in 1785 he was appointed chief justice of Canada, where he served until his death. 1. Smith’s letter of 15 Aug. has not been found, but according to Smith’s memoirs, he wrote GW “to thank him for the Civilities of his Officers and to solicit his Permission to my Servants to follow me with the Horses” (Sabine, Smith’s Historical Memoirs, 1778–1783, 4). According to Lt. Col. Aaron Burr, Smith’s letter “requested his Negroe Slaves, his Coach Horses, and the Remainder of his Moveables now at Haverstraw” (Burr to George Clinton, 19 Aug. 1778, NHi). GW had appointed Burr on 1 Aug. to conduct Smith and other Loyalists to New York City (see Robert Hanson Harrison to Burr, 1 Aug., NjMoHP, and Clinton to the Commissioners for Conspiracies, 2 Aug., in Hastings, Clinton Papers, 3:601–2). 2. GW wrote George Clinton on this date: “The inclosed was received by Colo. Burr, who conducted the Flag which was sent in with Mr Smith and his family. As I did not conceive myself authorised to interfere or give any orders respecting the matter referred to me, I barely acknowledged the Receipt of it, and informed Mr Smith that I had forwarded it to you” (LS, CSmH).
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Source:
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3. William Smith
prisoner hanged July 29, 1757
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From George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, 3 August 1757
To Robert Dinwiddie [Fort Loudoun, 3 August 1757]
I send Your Honor a copy of the proceedings of a General Court martial. Two of those condemned, namely, Ignatious Edwards, and Wm Smith, were hanged on thursday last, just before the companies marched for their respective posts. Your Honor will, I hope excuse my hanging, instead of shooting them: It conveyed much more terror to others; and it was for example sake, we did it. They were proper objects to suffer: Edwards had deserted twice before, and Smith was accounted one of the greatest villains upon the continent. Those who were intended to be whipped, have received their punishment accordingly; and I should be glad to know what your Honor wou’d choose to have done with the rest?8
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Source:
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General Court-Martial, 25–26 July 1757
General Court-Martial [Fort Loudoun, 25–26 July 1757] The Proceedings of a General-court-martial held at Fort Loudoun on the 25th & 26th Days of July 1757 by Vertue of a Commission directed to
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William Smith a Soldier draughted by a late Act of Assembly, confin’d by Lieut. Crawford for Desertion was brought before the Court.
The Prisoner (after the Nature of his Offence was explain’d & the Act of Assembly relative thereto read &c.) was by the Judge Advocate asked wheather he was guilty or not guilty of the Crime that he was accused of & he answer’d Guilty.
He was then asked the same Questions that had been put to Joshua King & George Curtis all which he answer’d in the same Manner that they had done with this Defference only viz. that he had deserted with an Intent to procure a Man to come in his Room.
It is the Sentence of the Court that the Prisoner William Smith shall suffer Death by hanging.
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From George Washington to William Crawford, 20 July 1757
To William Crawford [Fort Loudoun, 20 July 1757] To Ensign Crawford By George Washington Esquire; Colonel of the Virginia Regiment. You are ordered forthwith to go in pursuit of Wm Smith, a Deserter from the aforesaid regiment, and to use your best endeavours to apprehend and bring him to justice at this place.1 If he shou’d resist, and stand upon his defence, contrary to the Laws of the country; you are in that case, to fire upon him as an Enemy. Given &c. this 20th July 1757. G:W. LB, DLC:GW. 1. In the list of deserters advertised by Dinwiddie (see GW to Dinwiddie, 11 July 1757, n.4) a William Smith is named. He is identified as a 20–year-old “sadler.” See the General Court-Martial, 25–26 July, at which a William Smith in Crawford’s custody was tried for desertion and sentenced to be hanged. He was executed on 29 July.
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