Blood of Tyrants: George Washington & the Forging of the Presidency (3 page)
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Authors: Logan Beirne
Tags: #American Revolution, #Founding Fathers, #George Washington, #18th Century
BOOK: Blood of Tyrants: George Washington & the Forging of the Presidency
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INTRODUCTION
“The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.”—THOMAS JEFFERSON, 1787
A
bloodthirsty Congress demands revenge. The commander in chief weighs torture. Politicians clash with generals over war policy. Americans’ liberties come under attack. No, this is not the post-9/11 United States. This is the side of the American Revolution you never knew.
bloodthirsty Congress demands revenge. The commander in chief weighs torture. Politicians clash with generals over war policy. Americans’ liberties come under attack. No, this is not the post-9/11 United States. This is the side of the American Revolution you never knew.
Many hold the mistaken belief that America’s Founders simply divined the answers to antiquated problems that are of little importance today. This could not be further from the truth. Instead of knowing all of the solutions, the founding generation battled the horrors of war as they struggled to define what it meant to be an American. And their definition remains relevant. While much of their correspondence involved horses and bayonets, they nevertheless confronted the same fundamental issues of leadership and government that continue to perplex us. In doing so, the Founders forged the American way. From their triumphs emerged bedrock principles that have direct applicability to contemporary debate. This book tells the story of those American ideals from our humble beginnings.
Long before he was known as the “Father of Our Country,” George Washington was the “Devourer of Villages.”
1
The great leader first tasted warfare two decades before the Revolutionary War when he led a peacetime act of aggression against a French diplomatic party. In doing so, he unwittingly sparked a bloody war that spanned two continents.
1
The great leader first tasted warfare two decades before the Revolutionary War when he led a peacetime act of aggression against a French diplomatic party. In doing so, he unwittingly sparked a bloody war that spanned two continents.
At the time, the territory inland from the eastern seaboard of the American colonies was a vast wilderness, dominated by the rolling hills of the Appalachians. On a wet May morning in 1754, an abundance of broadleaf trees created a thick canopy that shaded Washington and his troops from the rising sun. The smell of fresh pollen and moist earth permeated the air as the soldiers crouched behind the large, moss-covered boulders thrown haphazardly about the little glen. The natural beauty of the verdant fauna amidst the jagged rock was the least of Washington’s cares, however. He and his regiment were primed for attack.
Washington’s early morning trap consisted of forty haggard colonists along with thirteen semi-naked Native American allies. Ironically, Washington and his soldiers were poised in this foreign land under orders not to destroy, but to build.
2
Not yet at war, the age-old blood rivals Britain and France fiercely contested this region, since each viewed the Ohio River basin as the key to dominating the continent. And the young Washington marched headstrong into this international powder keg.
2
Not yet at war, the age-old blood rivals Britain and France fiercely contested this region, since each viewed the Ohio River basin as the key to dominating the continent. And the young Washington marched headstrong into this international powder keg.
Not yet the regal image now depicted on the dollar bill, Washington was a fresh-faced surveyor-turned-warrior with long, red-brown hair atop his prominent forehead, large gray-blue eyes, long, broad nose, and rippling jaw.
3
A muscular six feet and 175 pounds, he was literally a giant among men of the time, although a bit unusually proportioned, with “[h]is shoulders narrow for his height but his hands and feet tremendous.”
4
He possessed a commanding presence despite his youth, and “exuded such masculine power as frightens young women.”
5
This fearsome young man ached for glory.
3
A muscular six feet and 175 pounds, he was literally a giant among men of the time, although a bit unusually proportioned, with “[h]is shoulders narrow for his height but his hands and feet tremendous.”
4
He possessed a commanding presence despite his youth, and “exuded such masculine power as frightens young women.”
5
This fearsome young man ached for glory.
When the upper echelons of Virginia society sent Washington to stake Britain’s claim to the Ohio Valley, the twenty-one-year-old Washington was determined to prove himself. But dealing with the French was no easy task. During his first diplomatic attempt to drive them from the region, Washington was cordially received and invited to dine with the French officers. “The Wine, as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, soon banished the[ir] Restraint,” he wrote. “They Told me That it was their absolute Design to take possession of the Ohio [River basin], and by G___ they would do it.”
6
Washington used this alcohol-induced intelligence to advocate that the British construct a fort in the area to establish control.
6
Washington used this alcohol-induced intelligence to advocate that the British construct a fort in the area to establish control.
Obtaining approval to do so, the ambitious young lieutenant colonel led his militia through the spring mud of the thick virgin wilderness, lugging along the supplies necessary to construct the stronghold. But what had begun as an adventure quickly deteriorated into a perilous mess. As it turned out, the colonists enjoyed the realities of military service far less than their idealized notions of battle.
Washington struggled to hold his militia together as they grumbled about their low pay, dwindling rum, and the wet, inhospitable conditions.
7
Some deserted and many others were threatening to follow suit. Desperate to pacify his shoeless—and even shirtless—men, Washington confiscated supplies along the way.
7
Some deserted and many others were threatening to follow suit. Desperate to pacify his shoeless—and even shirtless—men, Washington confiscated supplies along the way.
“I doubt not that in some points I may have strained the law,” he recorded, “but I hope, as my sole motive was to expedite the march, I shall be supported in it, should my authority be questioned, which at present I do not apprehend, unless some busybody intermeddles.”
8
Bending the rules as his unit slowly disintegrated in the middle of the vast wilderness, Washington was not only wary of Native American attack, but above all feared disgrace before his superiors back in Virginia.
9
8
Bending the rules as his unit slowly disintegrated in the middle of the vast wilderness, Washington was not only wary of Native American attack, but above all feared disgrace before his superiors back in Virginia.
9
It was at this increasingly desperate time that he received intelligence from his Native American ally, a shrewd Seneca warrior named Chief Tanacharison. Although not the actual ruler of the Iroquois Confederacy that dominated much of the region, Tanacharison was called the “Half King” due to his diplomatic and military leadership within the confederation. The man’s very appearance provoked fear in the British and French alike: usually bare-chested except for ornamental necklaces that swung around his sinewy neck, the Half King wore large earrings in his startlingly stretched earlobes. Above a dark, weathered face and wrinkled brow, his bronzed head was bald except for long, braided hair stemming from the very back of his scalp.
10
And this menacing warrior had an ax to grind—both figuratively and literally.
10
And this menacing warrior had an ax to grind—both figuratively and literally.
The Half King harbored a seething hatred for the French, whom he accused of boiling and eating his father.
11
Tanacharison was born into a tribe described by Jesuit missionaries as “altogether barbarous, being cruel, sly, cunning, and prone to bloodshed and carnage,” and his vendetta was no trivial matter.
12
He viewed the British “fools” as the lesser of two evils and was eager to fight alongside them to exact his revenge.
13
So he approached Washington with a report that a French scouting party of approximately fifty soldiers loomed nearby.
14
The Half King convinced the young Virginian that they “had bad hearts” and were “resolved to strike the first English they meet.”
15
11
Tanacharison was born into a tribe described by Jesuit missionaries as “altogether barbarous, being cruel, sly, cunning, and prone to bloodshed and carnage,” and his vendetta was no trivial matter.
12
He viewed the British “fools” as the lesser of two evils and was eager to fight alongside them to exact his revenge.
13
So he approached Washington with a report that a French scouting party of approximately fifty soldiers loomed nearby.
14
The Half King convinced the young Virginian that they “had bad hearts” and were “resolved to strike the first English they meet.”
15
Under strict orders from the French governor not to attack unless provoked, these French soldiers were likely to be little threat. France’s explicit goal, in fact, was to “keep up that Union which exists between the [British and French] Crowns.”
16
Although Washington was likewise ordered in no uncertain terms to act “on the defensive,” he feared imminent attack and lusted for a glorious military victory before his enemies could strike.
17
Late that night, Washington led his small force on an eight-hour march “in small path, & heavy rain, and night as dark as it is possible to conceive,” to rendezvous with the Half King’s war party.
18
“They groped their way in single file, by footpaths through the woods, in a heavy rain and murky darkness, tripping occasionally and stumbling over each other, sometimes losing the track for fifteen or twenty minutes,” but found the enemy camp before sunrise.
19
16
Although Washington was likewise ordered in no uncertain terms to act “on the defensive,” he feared imminent attack and lusted for a glorious military victory before his enemies could strike.
17
Late that night, Washington led his small force on an eight-hour march “in small path, & heavy rain, and night as dark as it is possible to conceive,” to rendezvous with the Half King’s war party.
18
“They groped their way in single file, by footpaths through the woods, in a heavy rain and murky darkness, tripping occasionally and stumbling over each other, sometimes losing the track for fifteen or twenty minutes,” but found the enemy camp before sunrise.
19
Disregarding his direct order to warn all Frenchmen away before initiating hostilities, Washington was persuaded by Tanacharison to stage a joint strike. He approached with his exhausted men “in Indian fashion,” stealthily setting up his ambush.
20
He and his still-soaked team peered over a small cliff at the French force, whose blue, well-tailored uniforms made them absurdly obvious targets against the muted browns and greens of the early morning forest floor.
21
Washington’s hodgepodge group of young militiamen presented a stark contrast to their foes’ prim color coordination. Some, like Washington, boasted decorative red uniforms complete with three-pointed black hats. Others sported the tattered remains of the earth-toned wool and linen coats and breeches that they wore on their farms back home. Whatever their dress, all had guns pointed at their French foes.
20
He and his still-soaked team peered over a small cliff at the French force, whose blue, well-tailored uniforms made them absurdly obvious targets against the muted browns and greens of the early morning forest floor.
21
Washington’s hodgepodge group of young militiamen presented a stark contrast to their foes’ prim color coordination. Some, like Washington, boasted decorative red uniforms complete with three-pointed black hats. Others sported the tattered remains of the earth-toned wool and linen coats and breeches that they wore on their farms back home. Whatever their dress, all had guns pointed at their French foes.
They patiently aimed between the small maples that clung to the cracks in the outcropping and waited with bated breath in anticipation of an intense fire fight. Alongside Tanacharison’s braves, they watched their prey wake and prepare for the day. The groggy, unsuspecting French party was surrounded.
22
22
In his signature gallant fashion, Washington rose from his hiding place at seven o’clock and boomingly ordered the attack.
23
A startled French sentry attempted to sound an alarm, but to no avail, as he quickly fell to the Americans’ lead. Although they were meant to serve more as a construction crew than a lethal fighting force, Washington’s men proved exceedingly efficient in mowing down their targets as they took “their Arms, and fir’d briskly till [the French] were defeated.”
24
After this brief, bloody firefight, a majority of the Frenchmen were killed or captured.
23
A startled French sentry attempted to sound an alarm, but to no avail, as he quickly fell to the Americans’ lead. Although they were meant to serve more as a construction crew than a lethal fighting force, Washington’s men proved exceedingly efficient in mowing down their targets as they took “their Arms, and fir’d briskly till [the French] were defeated.”
24
After this brief, bloody firefight, a majority of the Frenchmen were killed or captured.
Washington’s formal report back to his commander described the battle with detached military precision: “I there upon in conjunction with the Half King . . . formed a disposition to attack them on all sides, which we accordingly did and after an Engagement of abt 15 minutes we killed 10, wounded one and took 21 prisoners, amongst those that were killed was Monsieur De Jumonville, the Commander.”
25
His diary account provided a fuller picture, albeit one that still glossed over the more gruesome details: “we killed Mr. de Jumonville—also nine others . . . . The Indians scalped the dead.”
26
Washington’s brevity, however, was largely self-serving. Though accounts of that day differ, it appears that Washington was actually covering up a massacre.
27
25
His diary account provided a fuller picture, albeit one that still glossed over the more gruesome details: “we killed Mr. de Jumonville—also nine others . . . . The Indians scalped the dead.”
26
Washington’s brevity, however, was largely self-serving. Though accounts of that day differ, it appears that Washington was actually covering up a massacre.
27
After the firing abated, the French regiment’s wounded commanding officer, Joseph Coulon de Villiers de Jumonville, attempted to negotiate a surrender.
28
He handed Washington papers showing that the party was merely on a diplomatic mission. But as Washington attempted to translate them from French, Tanacharison seized the opportunity to exact his revenge.
29
Shouting “Tu n’es pas encore mort, mon père,” which translates as “You are not yet dead, my father,” he split Jumonville’s skull with his hatchet and plunged his hands into the Frenchman’s brain.
30
“The tall Virginian who until that instant had thought himself in command did nothing while the Half King’s warriors, as if on signal, set about killing the wounded,” an egregious violation of European military protocol.
31
Washington, powerless, stared in horror as the helpless Frenchmen were cut down in a bloody rage. In a matter of seconds, nearly all of the injured Frenchmen were slaughtered before his eyes.
32
28
He handed Washington papers showing that the party was merely on a diplomatic mission. But as Washington attempted to translate them from French, Tanacharison seized the opportunity to exact his revenge.
29
Shouting “Tu n’es pas encore mort, mon père,” which translates as “You are not yet dead, my father,” he split Jumonville’s skull with his hatchet and plunged his hands into the Frenchman’s brain.
30
“The tall Virginian who until that instant had thought himself in command did nothing while the Half King’s warriors, as if on signal, set about killing the wounded,” an egregious violation of European military protocol.
31
Washington, powerless, stared in horror as the helpless Frenchmen were cut down in a bloody rage. In a matter of seconds, nearly all of the injured Frenchmen were slaughtered before his eyes.
32
Fearing French reprisal as well as damage to his own reputation, Washington astutely communicated only the most self-aggrandizing details back to Virginia. In demonstration of his bravery, he wrote, “I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound.”
33
But despite his best efforts, the cover-up was unsuccessful and word of the massacre quickly reached the colonial, British, and French governments. The French were incensed by the atrocity and readied their counterattack against Washington and his countrymen. In London, the debacle was derided as “a volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America [that] set the world on fire.”
34
Washington’s scandalous “Jumonville Affair” had sparked the global Seven Years’ War.
33
But despite his best efforts, the cover-up was unsuccessful and word of the massacre quickly reached the colonial, British, and French governments. The French were incensed by the atrocity and readied their counterattack against Washington and his countrymen. In London, the debacle was derided as “a volley fired by a young Virginian in the backwoods of America [that] set the world on fire.”
34
Washington’s scandalous “Jumonville Affair” had sparked the global Seven Years’ War.
This telling episode serves as a symbolic prelude to Washington’s epic role in achieving the United States’ independence. The life-and-death struggles were violent. They were desperate. They were messy. And above all, Washington did what he thought necessary to defend his country. In doing so, the “Founder of Our Nation” sent shockwaves throughout the world and set enduring precedents that continue to define us to this day. With so many repercussions across space and time, this real life story holds more twists than any fiction writer could invent.
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