Washington’s Farewell To His Mother
“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.” George Washington
View: Mary Ball Washington: The Life and Legacy of the “Grandmother of our Country”
“The Engagement between the Surveillante and HMS Quebec” by George Carter
“This stroke is severe indeed, and has distressed us much. But, notwithstanding things at present have a dark and gloomy aspect, I hope a spirited opposition will check the progress of General Burgoyne’s army, and that the confidence derived from his success will lead him into measures that will, in their consequences be favorable to us. We should never despair, our position has before been unpromising, and has changed for the better; so, I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new exertions, and proportion our efforts to the exigency of the times.” George Washington
Source: George Washington’s Letter to Major General Philip Schulyer, July 15, 1777
"Battle of Blue Licks" by George Gray
“Pay strict obedience to the Orders of the Continental Congress, and by their unfeigned, and pious observance of their religious duties, incline the Lord, and Giver of Victory, to prosper our arms.” George Washington, General Orders, May 15, 1776
Read: The Battle of Blue Licks
"Arousing The Minute Men" by John Ward Dunsmore
“For as I can conscientiously declare that I have no object in view incompatible with the Constitution, and the obvious interests of this Country, nor no earthly desire half as strong as that of returning to the walks of private life, so, of consequence I only wish whilst I am a Servant of the public, to know the Will of my masters, that I may govern myself accordingly.” George Washington
Source: George Washington’s letter to Edmund Pendleton, September 23, 1793
Read: The Return of the Public Servant
"The Young Surveyor" by Walter Haskell Hinton
“Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country.” George Washington
Read: George Washington’s letter to Benedict Arnold, September 14, 1775
"Washington at Valley Forge" by Edward P. Moran
“Trembling for the fate of America, which nothing but the infatuation of the enemy could have saved; we should not have remained all the succeeding winter at their mercy, with sometimes scarcely a sufficient body of men to mount the ordinary guards, liable at every moment to be dissipated, if they had only thought proper to march against us: we should not have been under the necessity of fighting at Brandywine, with an unequal number of raw troops, and afterwards of seeing Philadelphia fall a prey to a victorious army; we should not have been at Valley Forge with less than half the force of the enemy, destitute of every thing, in a situation neither to resist nor to retire.” George Washington
Source: George Washington’s Letter to the President of Congress, August 20, 1780
A Great Resource: The Freedom Documents
"The Unexpected Proposal" by Norman Rockwell
“For in my estimation more permanent and genuine happiness is to be found in the sequestered walks of connubial life, than in the giddy rounds of promiscuous pleasure, or the more tumultuous and imposing scenes of successful ambition.” George Washington
About Their Relationship: Family Man: A Letter to Martha
A Question Posed: Why Did Martha Burn Her Letters?
"Jefferson" by Pamela Patrick White
“I felt on his death, with my countrymen, that verily a great man hath fallen this day in Israel.” Thomas Jefferson
The Letter: Thomas Jefferson Writes to Dr. Walter Jones on the Character of Washington, January 2, 1814
"Revolutionary War Harbor Scene" by Edgar Spier Cameron
“The reflection on my situation, and that of this Army, produces many an unhappy hour, when all around me are wrapped in sleep. Few people know the predicament we are in, on a thousand accounts; fewer, still, will believe, if any disaster happens to these lines, from what cause it flows. I have often thought, how much happier I should have been, if, instead of accepting the command under such circumstances, I had taken my musket on my shoulder and entered the ranks; or, if I could have justified the measure to posterity and my own conscience, had retired to the back country and lived in a wigwam. If I shall be able to rise superior to these and many other difficulties which might be enumerated, I shall most religiously believe that the finger of Providence is in it, to blind the eyes of our enemies; for, surely, if we get well through this month, it must be for want of their knowing the disadvantages we labour under.” George Washington, Letter to Joseph Reed, January 14,1776
Source: Letter from General Washington to Joseph Reed
"John Paul Jones At The Constitutional Convention" by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
“Leaving everything to contend for that freedom they hold dear, they will have to wade through much blood and slaughter before they can carry any part of our works, if they carry them at all; and at best be in possession of a melancholy and mournful victory. May the sacredness of our cause inspire our soldiery with sentiments of heroism, and lead them to the performance of the noblest exploits.” George Washington
Source: George Washington’s Letter to Congress, July 10,1776
