Tag: george washington

A Spy is Hanged


Today in History, September 29: 1780 – 

British Major John Andre is sentenced to death by hanging by Gen. George Washington. Andre had been the spy who met with the traitor Benedict Arnold in Arnold’s attempt to give the fort at West Point, New York to the British in exchange for a commission in the British Army. 

 Washington first offered to trade Andre for Arnold, who had fled to the Royal Navy ship Vulture. When he received no response from Britsh General Henry Clinton, Washington ordered the spy’s hanging.

The hanging was also carried out because the British had set the precedent four years earlier when they had hanged American spy Nathan Hale. 

I Regret Only That I Have But One Life to Give For My Country


Today in History, September 10: 1776 – “I regret only that I have but one life to give for my country.” Continental Army General George Washington asks for a volunteer to go undercover and spy on the British in New York. 21-year-old Captain Nathan Hale immediately steps up…America’s first spy. A Yale graduate, he would pose as a Dutch teacher and gather information on British troop strength and movements. On September 21st he would be captured attempting to sneak back to Continental lines. British General William Howe interrogated him and summarily ordered that he be hanged the next day. Before his death, young Hale made his now historic statement. His demise would result in another death. Four years later, also in September, British master spy Major John Andre would be captured by the Americans behind their lines meeting with traitor Gen. Benedict Arnold. Tried and found guilty, Gen. Washington, who actually liked Andre, reacted in kind. The British were horrified as the upstart Americans hanged Andre, using the standard set by the British with Hale.

George Washington Setting the Standard 


Today in History, August 4: 1753 – 21-year-old George Washington becomes a Master Mason, the highest rank of Freemason in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Rather than an evil conspiracy, the Freemasons were (are) a fraternity based on the medieval guild system, thus “masons”. Their requirements were (are) public service and high moral standards. 14 US Presidents were Freemasons.

Union Soldiers Burn the White House

 

Today in History, June 28:  1862 – Union soldiers inadvertently burn the White House.  No, not that White House.  In fact, the Executive Mansion which housed the President wasn’t known by that name until 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt renamed it.

Another difference between these “White Houses”, is that George Washington never resided in the Presidential Mansion along the Potomac.  His successor, John Adams was the first President to live there.  But he courted and married the widow Martha Custis at and near the White House on the Pamunkey River.

One of General Washington’s officers was Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee.  His son, Robert E. Lee, would marry Martha Custis-Washington’s granddaughter, Mary.  Together they would live in Arlington House, overlooking the Potomac…and the Executive Mansion.  When the Civil War began, Robert E. Lee chose to support “his country”, Virginia; which also meant the Confederacy.  As a result he and his family had to leave Arlington House and move to one of their more southern Virginia properties…the White House on the Pamunkey.

As the Union dead mounted, Union Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered the area around Arlington House to be used as a cemetery so that Lee could never again live there.  Today it is Arlington National Cemetery.

In 1862 during the Seven Day’s Battles, Union forces pushed the Confederates back past Lee’s family’s new home at White House Landing, using it as a major supply base.

Before she fled further south from yet another home, Mary Lee left a message on the door of the residence, “Northern soldiers, who profess to reverence Washington, forbear to desecrate the house of his first married life, the property of his wife, now owned by her descendants.”  Union soldiers agreed.  General George McClellan ordered a guard to posted around the house to prevent looting or vandalism.

McClellan took a lot of heat from the press and DC for the protection of General Washington’s one-time home.  It should be used as a hospital for Union soldiers!  Even though it had but six rooms.

As was frequent in the Civil War, the lines moved back north after moving south.  And on this date in 1862 Confederates took White House Landing back.  As the Union Army fled, McClellan ordered all supplies and outbuildings burned to prevent their use by the Confederates…with the exception of the White House, it was to be spared.

As often happens in war, orders from the top rarely get carried out to the letter.  The White House was burned to the ground.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

Today in History, March 17: 1780 – “The General directs that all fatigue and working parties cease for to-morrow the SEVENTEENTH instant,” read the orders, “a day held in particular regard by the people of [Ireland].” General George Washington’s Army was bedded down amidst 6 foot snow drifts, suffering through the worst winter on record…even worse than Valley Forge. Recently the Irish, who were also in rebellion against the Crown, had declared themselves AMERICANS in solidarity with the American colonists that were fighting for their independence. At least a quarter of Washington’s army was Irish…and a vast majority of his commanders shared that distinction. So GW decided that St. Patrick’s Day…(not Christmas, nor Easter)…would be a day of rest and celebration for his army.