inherited from his brother, the most admired man in Virginia.

At that time he married, and during the ensuing years he lived
the life of a Virginia planter, successful in his private affairs
and serving the public effectively but quietly as a member of the
House of Burgesses. When the troubles with the mother country
began to thicken he was slow to take extreme ground, but he never
wavered in his belief that all attempts to oppress the colonies
should be resisted, and when he once took up his position there
was no shadow of turning. He was one of Virginia's delegates to
the first Continental Congress, and, although he said but little,
he was regarded by all the representatives from the other
colonies as the strongest man among them. There was something
about him even then which commanded the respect and the
confidence of every one who came in contact with him.

It was from New England, far removed from his own State, that the
demand came for his appointment as commander-in-chief of the
American army. Silently he accepted the duty, and, leaving
Philadelphia, took command of the army at Cambridge. There is no
need to trace him through the events that followed. From the time
when he drew his sword under the famous elm tree, he was the
embodiment of the American Revolution, and without him that
revolution would have failed almost at the start. How he carried
it to victory through defeat and trial and every possible
obstacle is known to all men.

When it was all over he found himself facing a new situation. He
was the idol of the country and of his soldiers. The army was
unpaid, and the veteran troops, with arms in their hands, were