commander of all the forces of the colony, to do with them as he might
deem best.

The war with the French for the possession of the Ohio Country and the
valley of the Mississippi, had now fairly begun. It would be more than
seven years before it came to an end.

But most of the fighting was done at the north--in New York and Canada;
and so Washington and his Virginian soldiers did not distinguish
themselves in any very great enterprise.

It was for them to keep watch of the western frontier of the colony lest
the Indians should cross the mountains and attack the settlements.

Once, near the middle of the war, Washington led a company into the very
country where he had once traveled on foot with Christopher Gist.

The French had built a fort at the place where the Ohio River has its
beginning, and they had named it Fort Duquesne. When they heard that
Washington was coming they set fire to the fort and fled down the river
in boats.

The English built a new fort at the same place, and called it Fort Pitt;
and there the city of Pittsburg has since grown up.

And now Washington resigned his commission as commander of the little
Virginian army. Perhaps he was tired of the war. Perhaps his great
plantation of Mount Vernon needed his care. We cannot tell.

But we know that, a few days later, he was married to Mrs. Martha