Officers from the fort went out to meet
the strangers; and, wading through mud and sodden snow, they entered at
the gate. On the next day the young leader of the party, with the help of
an interpreter, for he spoke no French [a deficiency which he laments with
greatest regret later in life], had an interview with the commandant and
gave him a letter from Governor Dinwiddie. St. Pierre and the officer next
in rank, who knew a little English, took it to another room to study it at
their ease; and in it, all unconsciously, they read a name destined to
stand one of the noblest in the annals of mankind, for it introduced Major
George Washington, Adjutant-General of the Virginia Militia." [Footnote:
Parkman, "Montcalm and Wolfe," 1:136-7.]
At the end of three days the young British colonial officer of militia
started on his perilous journey homeward, having been most hospitably
entertained by the one-eyed veteran, bearing on his person a letter which
St. Pierre and his officer had been the three days in preparing.
Pages:
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468