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General Washington's Christmas Farewell: A Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783, by Stanley Weintraub
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One of America's greatest Christmas stories and also one of its very first -- from the period between the end of the Revolutionary War and the ratification of the Constitution -- was a creation of none other than George Washington. The story isn't just about Washington coming home for Christmas for the first time since the war began, but about the character of our most important Founding Father and about the precedent he set for democratic leadership. It is the story of a loving husband, a beloved military leader, and above all, a humble and great man.
In late November 1783 when Washington finally received formal notice of the signing of a peace treaty with England he had little more than a month to accept the transfer of power from British troops in New York; to bid farewell to his troops; and to resign his commission to Congress if he hoped to make it to Mount Vernon for Christmas. He could have remained in charge of the army and become a virtual king to the Americans who loved him. Control of the newly forming government was his to take -- yet he chose to resign. It was that decision, coupled with his later decision to step down from the presidency after two terms, that rendered him "the greatest character of the age" (according to none other than King George III).
Washington's homeward journey is one of the most moving and inspiring stories from his great and eventful life. When he bade farewell to his troops at Fraunces Tavern in New York City there were no dry eyes. When he reached Congress and gave a retirement speech, it cemented his greatness more fully than had his victory over the British. When he made it to Mount Vernon, finally, on Christmas Eve, it could not have been a happier homecoming.
General Washington's Christmas Farewell is a deeply moving Christmas story as well as a great American story.
- Sales Rank: #1487804 in Books
- Published on: 2003-10-28
- Format: Deckle Edge
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: .83" h x 5.97" w x 8.74" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 224 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Lord Byron once called George Washington the "Cincinnatus of the West," and Weintraub's compelling account also compares the modern general to the ancient military leader who longed to return to his plow. Washington, weary after eight years of leadership on the battlefield, yearned to return to the life of a farmer at his beloved Mount Vernon, 1,800 acres of land alongside the Potomac River on which his plantation stood, but since he had accepted his commission in 1775, he had returned there only once. By the fall of 1783, after orchestrating the reoccupation of New York-his final act in a distinguished military career-Washington began his long journey back to his wife and home, anxious to arrive in time for Christmas. Drawing on Washington's letters and private papers, Weintraub, who had so much success with another Christmas break in Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce, recreates the general's four-week journey home. Along the way, Washington bid farewell to numerous colleagues, was feted in grand style in Philadelphia and Annapolis, and oversaw the transfer of power from the British monarchy to a former colony's republican government. In spite of weather-related delays, Washington arrived at his plantation on Christmas Eve. The general and his wife celebrated the holiday together with numerous guests by burning a Yule log, firing guns and eating heartily. Weintraub's graceful narration brings to life a distant time and place in America, capturing intimately Washington's loyal patriotism and his deep commitment to family.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
In Silent Night (2001), Weintraub chronicled the legendary World War I Christmas truce of 1914, and he now turns his attention to another historically significant Christmas story. Re-creating General George Washington's journey home to Mount Vernon after eight years of exemplary military service and leadership, the author shows a new side of Washington: the family man and eager, would-be homebody. Though desperate to return to hearth and kin in the late fall of 1783, Washington graciously accepted the hospitality of patriots eager to express their gratitude to the new nation's first genuine hero. After stays in New York, Philadelphia, Princeton, Baltimore, and Annapolis, and arriving home in dramatic fashion on Christmas Eve, Washington contentedly rejoined his wife, Martha, anxious to settle into his old life as a gentleman farmer and private citizen. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Weintraub has artfully reconstructed Washington's heartwarming--albeit short-lived--farewell to his troops, his fellow citizens, and public service. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
Thomas Fleming author of Liberty!: The American Revolution This is a different George Washington from the stick figure on the dollar bill -- a man who was not only admired but loved by his fellow Americans. Mr. Weintraub has brought to vivid life a deeply meaningful and profoundly moving chapter from our past. -- Review
Most helpful customer reviews
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful.
Goin' South......
By Bruce Loveitt
Don't be put-off by the cheesy title of this book. Yes...it's obviously a marketing ploy meant to tie in to the holiday season. In any case, Mr. Weintraub has crafted an interesting book. We follow Washington from West Point to Mount Vernon, as he tries to get home for Christmas. Most notably, he stops in New York City, Philadelphia, and Annapolis. In NYC he says farewell to his officers. He also puzzles his subordinates by going to visit a bookseller who is a known Tory sympathizer. (Unknown to Washington's underlings, the man was part of the commander-in-chief's network of spies who kept Washington informed of the goings-on in British occupied NYC.) In Philadelphia, amongst other things, Washington orders some new spectacles from the noted scientist David Rittenhouse. In Annapolis, Washington returns his commission to Congress, thus making formal his resignation from public service and return to private life. The book is only about 175 pages and can easily be read in a day or two. However, Mr. Weintraub manages to provide a lot of information. Some of it is interesting on a "serious" level - for example, we see Washington at the start of the journey insisting that his departure from public life will be permanent. He made several speeches on the way home, and he constantly stressed that Congress needed strong legislative powers so that it could hold the bickering colonies together. By the time he reached Annapolis, Washington had come to the conclusion that it was going to be an extremely difficult process to turn a loose confederation, which no longer had the "glue" of battling a common enemy , into a true nation. Washington was not being an egomaniac, just realistic, when he came to understand that he was the only person who could be a unifying force. Therefore, when he gave the speech in Annapolis in which he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief he changed the language so as to leave the door open for a later return to public service, if such a thing proved to be necessary...which it did. Washington was remarkably unambitious for someone who was held in such awe. He was, indeed, the man who could have been king. (In his own day, everyone wanted to touch him, as though he were holy. Many years later, people had relics - as though he were a saint. Lincoln had a splinter of Washington's coffin contained in a gold ring he wore. McKinley had several strands of Washington's hair.) We owe Washington an eternal debt that he turned his back on dictatorship. On the lighter side, we see Washington the man, warts and all. We see him losing his temper, we see his pride in his dancing ability, his love of fine wine, etc. We also get to hear about his expense account, where it seems as though he put down every possible item, down to the last pound, shilling, and pence. (He even included tips he had given out to people who had waited on him.) I especially enjoyed the little personal touches that Mr. Weintraub included - such as letting us know that the 6'4" Washington slept in a 6'6" bed. The author also tells us about the time that Washington fired a Mount Vernon gardener for getting drunk. Then, when the man expressed remorse and wanted his job back, Washington agreed....but he made the man sign a contract specifying that he could only get looped at certain times of the year. For example, he was allowed 4 days of drunkenness around Christmas! The book, on rare occasions, becomes tedious when Mr. Weintraub gives us excerpts from speeches delivered during the various "farewell" dinners. But, for the most part, this book will hold your interest with its nice balance between the public and the private Washington.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful.
It takes chaos to create something new
By Theodore A. Rushton
Let's start on a personal note: I was in Cuba in January 1959, when the brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista fled in the middle of the night and Fidel Castro began making his way across the country to Havana.
The Cuban celebrations of the collapse of tyranny and terror were much like the events described in this book, a continuing rum-fueled celebration that lasted days and days in a nation at last free after years of terror. Castro made a triumphal procession across the country as a godlike liberator, just as Washington was hailed as the greatest man of his times. It is nice to celebrate the end of a war -- think of George Bush strutting across the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, wearing a borrowed flight suit with the banner 'Mission Accomplished' in the background. But, freedom is much more; it generates an ecstasy that stirs every emotion the heart, not merely the limited glory of victory, but also an unbounded hope for a better and brighter future without fear, fright or futility.
Washington, with a knowledge and wisdom rare among revolutionary leaders, went back to his farm. The ultimate tribute came from King George III, who personally knew something about the temptations and dangers of power, when he said that if Washington actually did return to his farm "he will be the greatest man in the world."
Think of Cuba today had Castro retired to a little rancho and learned how to cut cane instead of crushing gusanos. In Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide should have gone back to the priesthood after he tossed out the Duvalier regime. The list of "liberators" who seize power and try to impose their own rules is almost universal; Washington patterned his retirement after the Roman hero Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus "who, victorious, left the tented field, covered with honor, and withdrew from public life, to enjoy civium cum dignitate."
Unlike Cincinnatus, who was twice recalled from his farm to become dictator, Washington was recalled from his farm only to establish an enduring legacy of democracy. It is a rare quality. Weintraub describes those perilous times with painful detail.
Painful? It was a time of chaos in America, much to the satisfaction of the English who thought the independent colonies would collapse of internal confusion. Congress was even flakier then than now. A third of Americans were loyalists who had supported King George; Washington understood the power of reconciliation rather than the retribution of describing anyone who had not supported him as an enemy.
In 1783, Washington kept urging greater power for the central government. He could have become dictator and imposed his own regal solution; instead, he stepped back and let the people and Congress, however slow in their many imperfections, gradually work out the system that now exists. Everyone was slow to listen, waiting until 1787 to even begin writing a new Constitution. But, after trying all other solutions, they finally listened to Washington. The old boy may have had wooden (or ivory) teeth, but there was no wood between his ears.
Weintraub has written a masterful book outlining the chaos, confusion and cupidity of the time; explaining how from the primordial soup of American independence a resolute democracy emerged. This book helps explain the resolute independence of the American spirit, nicely summed up by a departing British officer, "These Americans are a curious, original people; they know how to govern themselves, but nobody else can govern them."
It was a wonderful tribute to an exceptional people, and this book nicely explains the mood of the times.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful.
Great story badly told
By hrladyship
George Washington's public career was long and one of the most important in history. However, his decision to resign his commission and return to private live in 1783 (although it proved to be a temporary return) is one of the most important events in both the founder's life and in that of America. Comparisons with the Roman Cincinnatus in this matter are appropriate. But must a reader be reminded endlessly of the similarities?
Weintraub documents in this work Washington's last journey home as the leader of the American army and what he hoped would be the last in his public life. It was a hard and grinding trip for as most of us know, roads and weather were not easy to get through in December in the northeast. In voluntarily giving up his commission, Washington guaranteed his premiere place in our history. But by making such a public display of his resignation, he also proved how conscious he was of that place and how later generations would view his career and character.
Weintraub gives the reader none of those contradictions. He takes one of the greatest events and turns it into one of the dullest stories ever told. And in the end, he gives us none of what went on once Washington reached home. What was that Christmas like? What happened at Mount Vernon in the days following his return? In this telling, there is only a timeline of events, quotes from speeches, and a very dull listing of dates, facts, and names. (In keeping with the major complaints of how American history is taught in schools.)
One can only wish that this book was interesting and search for other accounts that document feelings, struggles, and sacrifices that make this story human and important.
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