fight, and a French friend of Washington's, obviously an admirer, was asked about the truth of it.

"My answer was no other but that he should rather choose to go to hell than doing of it, for had he had such thing declared, that was his sure road."

In October the Assembly granted £20,000, and the governor received £10,000 sterling from England, with the promise of as much more. He thereupon resolved to enlarge his army to ten companies, of one hundred men each, with no officer in the Virginia regiment above the rank of captain. As all precedence of rank was denied to the colonial officers, in comparison with the bearers of royal commissions, Washington, always keenly interested in what military notions called his honor, immediately resigned.

Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, who was now commander-in-chief of all the forces engaged against the French, was anxious to get Washington back into the army. His second in command, Colonel Fitzhugh, wrote that everything would be done to make him happy and prevent interference, but Washington replied:

"If you think me capable of holding a commission, that has neither rank or emolument annexed to it, you must entertain a very contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe me to be more empty than the commission itself.

"I shall have the consolation of knowing, that I have

opened the way, when the smallness of our numbers exposed us to the attacks of a superior enemy; that I have hitherto stood the heat and brunt of the day, and escaped untouched in time of extreme danger; and that I have the thanks of my country for the services I have rendered it. . .

"It was to obey the call of honor, and the advice of my friends, I declined' it, and not to gratify any desire I had to leave the military line. My inclinations are strongly bent to arms."

The irate young officer even went so far as to hint that the new arrangement was an underhanded effort to do him injustice. In spite of his dissatisfaction he gave general publicity to his desire to serve, if an opportunity should arise to do so without injury to his pride.

General Braddock, the new commander-in-chief, landed in Virginia, with two regiments of the British army, supplies, and artillery, on February 20th, 1755, and soon received, from the anxious youth at Mount Vernon, a congratulatory letter on his safe arrival, a document not without a tinge of flattery. On March 2d he offered Washington the position of aide-de-camp, which removed all his objections and gave him the longed-for privilege of being in the approaching conflict, and leaving the "life of retirement" into which he alleged that he was just entering.

His joining the army was somewhat delayed, owing partly to the alarm of his mother, who

came to Mount Vernon to protest, partly to the confusion of affairs at the family seat, of which he was now the official head. He sent a map, and promised to join the army as soon as possible. To the Speaker of the House of Delegates in Virginia he wrote: The sole motive, which invites me to the field, is the laudable desire of serving my country, and not the gratification of any ambitious or lucrative plans.”

He said he was more unreserved to this friend than he would be to the world, "whose censures and criticisms often place good designs in a bad light." This sensitiveness to the world's comments, which later became so acute, thus began early. He joined Braddock at Frederickstown, much displeased, so strong was the local feeling, that the army should pass through Maryland, when it might have passed through Virginia. From the beginning his relations were pleasant with the General, of whom he wrote to his brother:

"I hope to please without ceremonious attentions or difficulty; for I may add, it cannot be done with them, as he uses and requires less ceremony than you can easily conceive."

Braddock had the distinction of despising all Colonials except Franklin and Washington. Of this picturesque individual Franklin said:

"This general was, I think, a brave man, and might probably have made a good figure in some European

war.

But he had too much self-confidence; too high an opinion of the validity of regular troops; too mean a one of both Americans and Indians."

In his Life of Chatham, the Rev. Francis Thackeray says:

"General Braddock, a stranger certainly to fear, but obstinate in the extreme, with no other notions of war than the punctilious enforcement of military discipline, was sent to oppose the wild attacks and ambuscades of the Indians. A fencing master might, with equal prudence, be sent to attack a tiger."

Although overbearing, it is doubtful if Braddock was overconfident. George Anne Bellamy, the actress, whom he visited the night before he left England for America, says in her "Apology ";—

"Before we parted the General told me that he should never see me more; for he was going with a handful of men to conquer whole nations; and to do this they must cut their way through unknown woods. He produced a map of the country, saying at the same time, 'Dear Pop, we are sent like sacrifices to the altar.'

When the divisions of the army were assembled at Will's Creek, Braddock was enraged at not finding the horses and wagons for which he had contracted. He emerged from his difficulty only through the efficiency of Benjamin Franklin, who, as postmaster-general of the provinces, visited the commander to see about the mail, realized what a hopeless situation he was in, and agreed to furnish

one hundred and fifty wagons and the needed number of horses. He then went among the farmers of Pennsylvania and in two weeks procured the vehicles and animals, on his own personal security, a deed which was described by General Braddock as "the only instance of address or integrity which he had seen in the provinces."

Washington's frame of mind was sanguine.

"As to any danger from the enemy, I look upon it as trifling, for I believe the French will be obliged to exert their utmost force to repel the attacks to the northward."

His practical attitude is shown in this same letter:

"I have now a good opportunity, and shall not neglect it, of forming an acquaintance, which may be serviceable hereafter, if I find it worth while to push my fortune in the military line."

He and the General argued, but always amicably. The conditions which angered Braddock also aroused the ire of Washington. "You may with (almost) equal success attempt to raise the dead as the force of this country." He thought the Pennsylvanians ought to be "chastised for their insensibility to danger, and disregard of their Sovereign's expectation." Nevertheless, he thus severely judged Braddock: