George Washington - Revolutionary War

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The foundations of George Washington's boyhood home discovered [pics]
The foundations of George Washington's childhood house have been discovered at Ferry Farm in Virginia. The half million artifacts recovered will help historians fill in huge gaps in the story of the first U.S. president's early life. The biographies of Washington usually start when he's 23, but this dig will let historians start stories much earlier. After a 7-year search, the team was able to id the floor plan, and the archaeological data matched information from a tax review after Washington's father died in 1743. The Washingtons kept about 10 slaves in the main farmhouse and outbuildings, while another 20 lived nearby.
by nationalgeographic.com :: 2008-07-02 :: George Washington

This Glorious Struggle: George Washington's Revolutionary War Letters
Professor Edward Lengel has put up a good resource by editing some of Washington's 1775-1783 letters, when the future first President served as the country's first Commander in Chief. Independence was easier said than done, and no one was better positioned to observe this than Washington as he lamented to Colonel Joseph Reed: "For more than 2 months past I have scarcely immerged [sic] from one difficulty before I have plunged into another - how it will end God in his great goodness knows." Opposed by the most efficient military in the world, Washington struggled to form an effective fighting force from scratch.
by nypost :: 2008-02-19 :: George Washington

The Papers of George Washington - Project
Inside box 218 were the blogs of the 18th Century - pamphlets about war, democracy, monarchy and slavery authored by revolutionaries such as Thomas Paine. In another box, an original broadside of the Treaty of Paris dated 1784. And in another, a stamp from the Stamp Act of 1765. They are part of the 329,069 items at the Morristown National Historical Park, where a lack of display space has kept most of the collection in store. Come next President's Day weekend however, the pamphlets will be out for the public to see for the first time inside the expanded museum. The exhibition and other events mark the 75th Anniversary of the park, where the focus is on George Washington.
by nj :: 2008-02-11 :: George Washington

Why General George Washington wept on december 4, 1783
Many know that George Washington wept when he said farewell to his officers at Fraunces Tavern. Almost no one knows the reason. For a long time historians have relied on a memoir by Major Benjamin Tallmadge, who made it seem as if Washington was saying goodbye to dear friends - in fact, he did not know more than a half dozen people in the room. Washington's anguish went back to March when broadsides began passing around the Continental Army, sparked by a report that the British had signed a peace treaty. The appeals urged the officers to abandon requests to Congress for the money. They had not been paid in years and it was becoming clear that the bankrupt Congress had no intention of paying.
by nysun :: 2007-12-06 :: George Washington

George Washington: A Whiskey Distiller who lost most battles
At George Washington's home Mount Vernon, Va., you'll discover everything you knew about our first president is wrong. The first thing you probably didn't know about Washington is his choice for a retirement job: a moonshiner. "It turns out that this was one of the largest whiskey distilleries in the country," Dennis Pogue told. He spent the last decade creating an exact working replica of Washington's still on the spot where the president built his distillery back in 1797. "Washington was probably the most creative cutting-edge farmer in 18th century America," Jim Rees said. He also preached the wonders of manure - he was the first green president.
by cbsnews :: 2007-07-07 :: George Washington

Slave passage found under George Washington's home
Archaeologists unearthing the George Washington's presidential home have discovered a hidden underground passageway, just steps from the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, used by his 9 slaves - raising questions about whether the ruins should be incorporated into a new exhibit at the site. It was designed so guests would not see slaves as they slipped in and out of the main house. "As you enter the heaven of liberty, you literally have to cross the hell of slavery. That's the contrast, that's the contradiction, that's the hypocrisy. But that's also the truth," said Michael Coard.
by msnbc :: 2007-06-11 :: George Washington

What George Washington Really Believed
Look up at the ceiling of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and you'll see a pantheon of gods. On the perimeter is Minerva, with helmet and spear... And there in the center is the greatest god of them all. No, not Zeus - George Washington. The painting, The Apotheosis of Washington, reminds us of a challenge when assessing the faith life of George Washington: it's nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. What do the facts show? A portrait not likely to be satisfying to either extreme: a spiritual man who believed God was protecting him and the nation, and yet who showed disinterest in Christianity.
by beliefnet :: 2007-02-19 :: George Washington

Researchers re-create George Washington's face
Researchers have mixed technology, art and science to re-create the real face of George Washington. Using anthropology, 3-D scanning and digital reconstruction, the 2 1/2-year project has culminated in new life-size figures of the nation's first president and some say the images are the most accurate yet of Washington at a younger age. There is Washington at age 19 as a land surveyor, Washington at 45 during the Revolutionary War, and Washington at 57 when he took the presidential oath. "The whole idea is to put science, history and art together and come up with the absolute best guess of what he looked like," said James Rees.
by boston :: 2007-02-18 :: George Washington

Washington, Lafayette: the friendship that saved the Revolution
The historian David A. Clary's book, Adopted Son: Washington, Lafayette, and the Friendship That Saved the Revolution opens with a startling image: George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette, curled up together, asleep, on a cloak spread on the ground. The commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and the French aristocrat were exhausted in the aftermath of the Battle of Monmouth in July 1778. The childless Washington and the fatherless Lafayette had known each other for less than a year, but they had already a formed a close friendship.
by americanheritage :: 2007-02-14 :: George Washington

George Washington's World - Fleshing Out a Founding Father
A decade ago, the people who run Mount Vernon noticed many of their visitors knew little more about George Washington than that he was the first president. Now visitors there will be able to learn much more about him in two new buildings. The new exhibits include a $5 million movie about his military career, a list of his slaves and the will in which he freed them, the shoe buckles he wore to his inauguration, a look at his early career as a surveyor, his bloody defeats during the French and Indian War, interactive maps showing Revolutionary War battles, his days as a spymaster and his role in the making of the Constitution.
by washingtonpost :: 2006-10-27 :: George Washington

One of George Washington's Revolutionary War headquarters
Article no longer available from the original source.
Used as George Washington's headquarters during the Revolutionary War, the John Kane House emanates history. From George Washington's headquarters to Gov. Thomas Dewey campaigning for president, the John Kane House has seen it all. In 1778, Gen. George Washington became the Kanes' house guest. It was after the evacuation of Philadelphia and the battle of Monmouth, N.J., when he chose to position his forces in the area extending from Danbury, Conn., to Newburgh. George Washington only used the portion of the house, now dedicated to him and boasts many artifacts.
by poughkeepsiejournal :: 2006-10-13 :: George Washington

Washington's loyal horses of Revolutionary War
Blueskin and Old Nelson: Washington's loyal horses of Revolutionary War. But some say Blueskin gets more attention than he deserves, and was Blueskin at Valley Forge? ... Washington wrote a letter in August 1778, thanking Thomas Nelson Jr., who gave him the horse and for whom the animal was named. Does that mean he received the horse then or was he simply too busy for a thank-you note prior to that? "Blueskin, another fine old horse, also had honor during the war. They had heard the roaring of many a cannon in their time. Blueskin was not the favorite on account of his not standing fire so well as venerable Old Nelson."
by fredericksburg :: 2006-07-27 :: George Washington

Gen. George Washington and his battered Continental Army
Article no longer available from the original source.
One of the bleakest periods in the nation's history began in November 1776, when Gen. George Washington and his battered Continental Army were forced from New York City into New Jersey. On Nov. 20, British General William Howe and a force of Redcoat soldiers, supported by Hessian mercenaries drove Washington's troops from Fort Lee. The Continentals, an army of 3,000 to 4,000 men began a desperate westerly retreat across Jersey. The retreat lasted until Dec. 9, when Washington led his men across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Many historians believe those 3 weeks were the best chance the British had to crush the Americans and end the Colonial rebellion.
by northjersey :: 2006-07-05 :: George Washington

George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America
In his revisionist new book about Washington, Mr. Wiencek examines the first president's own dawning comprehension of what slavery entailed. And the process of fathoming Washington's moral evolution is not a simple one. And as a leader of soldiers, he was acutely aware of the importance of black soldiers even as he waffled over the question of their eventual freedom. "George Washington won the Revolutionary War with an army that was more integrated than any military force until the Vietnam War." His book offers evidence that the role of black soldiers under Washington's command was under-reported simply because it was taken for granted.
by nytimes :: 2003-11-03 :: George Washington

Revolutionary War News is an edited review of hand-picked news and articles related to American War of Independence 1775-1783.