From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, 25 March 1775
To John Augustine Washington
Richmond March 25th 1775.
Dear Brother,
Mr Smith deliverd me your Letter of the 16th; but as one is generally in a hurry & bustle in such places, & at such times as these I have only time to acknowledge it, & add that it would have given me pleasure to have met you here1—I shall refer you to Mr Smith for an Acct of our proceedings up to this day, & you cannot fail of learning the rest from the Squire, who delights in the Minutiæ of a Tale.2 I am in doubt whether we shall finish here this week; but as I shall delay little time on the Road in returning, I shall hope to see you on your way up, or down, from Berkeley. I am much obliged to you for the Holly Berries & Cotton Seed. My Love to my Sister & the Children—I had like to have forgot, to express my entire approbation of the laudable pursuit you are ⟨en⟩gaged in of Tra⟨in⟩ing an Independant Company—I have promisd to review the Independant Company of Richmond sometime this Summer, they having made me a tender of the Command of it, ⟨at⟩ the same time I could review yours and shall very che⟨er⟩fully accept the honr of Commanding it if oc⟨ca⟩sion requires it to be drawn out, as it is my full intention to devote my Life & Fortune in the cause we are engagd in, if need be.3 I remain Dr Sir Yr Most Affecte Brother
Go: Washington
ALS, DLC:GW. This may be a copy that GW made.
1. Letter not found. Mr. Smith was Philip Smith, John Augustine Washington’s brother-in-law and a member of the Westmoreland County committee to enforce the Association.
2. On 19 Jan. 1775 Speaker Peyton Randolph asked the counties to elect delegates to attend a second Virginia convention in Richmond on Monday, 20 Mar. (, 2:245). The election was held in Fairfax County on 20 Feb., and on 15 Mar. as one of the delegates GW “Set of for Richmond,” arriving there at about midday on 20 Mar. (, 3:313–14). Most of the 127 men elected delegates attended at least some of the sessions of the convention held at the Anglican church from 20 to 27 March. After three days of discussing the proceedings of the First Continental Congress, the delegates on 22 Mar. “unanimously . . . entirely & cordially” endorsed the acts of the Congress. The next day, after hours of fierce debate in which Patrick Henry made his most famous speech, the convention resolved that the colony must “be immediately put into a posture of Defence” and appointed a committee, of which GW was a member, “to prepare a Plan for embodying, arming and disciplining” men “for that purpose.” On Saturday, 25 Mar., the delegates adopted the committee’s plan for arming the colony and held its election of delegates to the Second Continental Congress, when GW received 106 of 108 votes cast. The surviving records of the proceedings of the Second Virginia Convention are printed in , 2:347–86; the documents quoted here are printed within these pages. The “Squire” to whom GW refers was the noted 48–year-old bachelor, Richard Lee of Lee Hall, who with Richard Henry Lee served as a delegate to the convention from Westmoreland County.
3. John Augustine Washington was at Mount Vernon from 21 to 24 April (, 3:322–23). See Richmond County Independent Company to GW, 17 March.