WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph letter signed (“G:o Washington”) to Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770), Belvoir, 7 March 1754. 3 pages, folio (backed and silked) .
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph letter signed (“G:o Washington”) to Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770), Belvoir, 7 March 1754. 3 pages, folio (backed and silked) . “Red with them is compard to Blood and is look’d upon as the distinguishing marks of Warriours and great Men” An early Washington letter (only one earlier exists in private hands), that vividly reveals his character as a leader. Twenty-two year old Lt. Col. Washington prepares for the expedition to the forks of the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela Rivers, and the clash with French forces that would launch him on to the world stage. He addresses Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddie about the supplies needed by his 160-man force—displaying the self-assurance and the decorous formality characteristic of his later correspondence as commander-in-chief and president. He notes the need for tent linens, “Cutlasses, Halbards, Officer’s half Pikes, Drum’s &ca” and asks clarification over the “time for payment” of the men (these concerns uncannily presage many of his Revolutionary War problems). Washington particularly stresses to Dinwiddie the need for blood-red uniforms (original spelling preserved): “It is the Nature of Indians to be struck with, and taken by show and this will give them a much higher Conception of our Power and greatness and I verily believe fix in our Interest many that are now wavering and undetermin’d whose Cause to Espouse – If it was only a Coat of the Coarsest red which may be had in these parts it would answer the Intention – red with them is compard to Blood and is look’d upon as the distinguishing marks of Warriours and great Men.” The “shabby and ragged appearance [of] the French common Soldiers” inspired only “ridicule amongst the Indians,” he asserts, “and I really believe is the chief motive why they hate and despise them as they do…” His local knowledge of the Indians leaves him certain about what needs to be done. “I hope Your honour will pardon this freedom, which I should not have assum’d but with a good Intention. It is my acquaintance with these Indians, and a Study of their Tempers that has in some measure let me into their Customs and dispositions.” This too prefigures coming events, as Washington would famously pit his knowledge of Indian fighting against Braddock’s disastrous insistence on European methods in the ill-fated 1755 expedition. The young Lt. Col. led his 160 man contingent of Virginians and Indians northward in April. Along the way he learned that the French had captured a separate band of Virginians sent by Dinwiddie to construct a fort at the fork. The French were in the process of expanding the structure into what would become Fort Duquesne and the commander sent a detachment under Joseph Coulon de Jumonville to deliver an ultimatum to Washington to desist and turn back. Washington encountered Jumonville’s force on 28 May and a firefight ensued--his first time hearing “the bullets whistle” in combat. Jumonville died, along with about a dozen of his men. The killings were likely perpetrated by the Indians under Washington’s control during a pause in the fighting as Jumonville attempted to read his ultimatum. In his report to Dinwiddie, Washington simply noted the deaths—and scalpings—of the French without elaboration. The French inflated the episode into the “assassination” of an officer on a diplomatic mission, putting Washington at the center of an international incident—but raising his reputation for boldness and valor among his fellow Virginians. A remarkable, early expression of Washington’s character as a soldier and a leader. Only one earlier Washington letter has appeared at auction, the 10 June 1752 letter in which Washington requested a commission from Dinwiddie (sold at Sotheby’s New York, 1 May 1985, lot 81; and again in the Malcolm S. Forbes Collection, Christie’s, New York, 27 March 2002, lot 11). Only two earlier letters are known: 5 May 1749 to his brother Lawrence and 20 May 1752 to Wm. Fau
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph letter signed (“G:o Washington”) to Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770), Belvoir, 7 March 1754. 3 pages, folio (backed and silked) .
WASHINGTON, George (1732-1799), President . Autograph letter signed (“G:o Washington”) to Robert Dinwiddie (1693-1770), Belvoir, 7 March 1754. 3 pages, folio (backed and silked) . “Red with them is compard to Blood and is look’d upon as the distinguishing marks of Warriours and great Men” An early Washington letter (only one earlier exists in private hands), that vividly reveals his character as a leader. Twenty-two year old Lt. Col. Washington prepares for the expedition to the forks of the Allegheny, Ohio and Monongahela Rivers, and the clash with French forces that would launch him on to the world stage. He addresses Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddie about the supplies needed by his 160-man force—displaying the self-assurance and the decorous formality characteristic of his later correspondence as commander-in-chief and president. He notes the need for tent linens, “Cutlasses, Halbards, Officer’s half Pikes, Drum’s &ca” and asks clarification over the “time for payment” of the men (these concerns uncannily presage many of his Revolutionary War problems). Washington particularly stresses to Dinwiddie the need for blood-red uniforms (original spelling preserved): “It is the Nature of Indians to be struck with, and taken by show and this will give them a much higher Conception of our Power and greatness and I verily believe fix in our Interest many that are now wavering and undetermin’d whose Cause to Espouse – If it was only a Coat of the Coarsest red which may be had in these parts it would answer the Intention – red with them is compard to Blood and is look’d upon as the distinguishing marks of Warriours and great Men.” The “shabby and ragged appearance [of] the French common Soldiers” inspired only “ridicule amongst the Indians,” he asserts, “and I really believe is the chief motive why they hate and despise them as they do…” His local knowledge of the Indians leaves him certain about what needs to be done. “I hope Your honour will pardon this freedom, which I should not have assum’d but with a good Intention. It is my acquaintance with these Indians, and a Study of their Tempers that has in some measure let me into their Customs and dispositions.” This too prefigures coming events, as Washington would famously pit his knowledge of Indian fighting against Braddock’s disastrous insistence on European methods in the ill-fated 1755 expedition. The young Lt. Col. led his 160 man contingent of Virginians and Indians northward in April. Along the way he learned that the French had captured a separate band of Virginians sent by Dinwiddie to construct a fort at the fork. The French were in the process of expanding the structure into what would become Fort Duquesne and the commander sent a detachment under Joseph Coulon de Jumonville to deliver an ultimatum to Washington to desist and turn back. Washington encountered Jumonville’s force on 28 May and a firefight ensued--his first time hearing “the bullets whistle” in combat. Jumonville died, along with about a dozen of his men. The killings were likely perpetrated by the Indians under Washington’s control during a pause in the fighting as Jumonville attempted to read his ultimatum. In his report to Dinwiddie, Washington simply noted the deaths—and scalpings—of the French without elaboration. The French inflated the episode into the “assassination” of an officer on a diplomatic mission, putting Washington at the center of an international incident—but raising his reputation for boldness and valor among his fellow Virginians. A remarkable, early expression of Washington’s character as a soldier and a leader. Only one earlier Washington letter has appeared at auction, the 10 June 1752 letter in which Washington requested a commission from Dinwiddie (sold at Sotheby’s New York, 1 May 1985, lot 81; and again in the Malcolm S. Forbes Collection, Christie’s, New York, 27 March 2002, lot 11). Only two earlier letters are known: 5 May 1749 to his brother Lawrence and 20 May 1752 to Wm. Fau
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