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After enjoying the society of her friends for a few days, and, at the same time, refreshing herself with needful rest from the fatigue of her already long and laborious journey, Mrs. Washington left Philadelphia,* on her way to New England, "attended by the Troop of Horse, two companies of Light Infantry, &c., &c.”

The anxious and affectionate care with which, despite his engrossing public duties, the Commander-in-Chief endeavored to secure the safety and comfort of Mrs. Washington, during her journey to the American Camp, is proved by the frequent references to the subject contained in his letters. Thus, in a letter to his Military Secretary, Joseph Reed, Esq., we find the following passage, under date of the 20th of November:

"I thank you for your frequent allusions to Mrs. Washington. I expect that she will be in Philadelphia about the time this letter may reach you, on her way hither. As she and her conductor, who I suppose will be Mr. Custis, her son, are perfect strangers to the road, the stages, and the proper place to cross Hudson's River, by

lar feeling given in "Christopher Marshall's Diary of 1775," see NOTE B., of the Appendix.

* 27th November, 1775.

all means avoiding New York, I shall be much obliged by your particular instructions and advice to her. I imagine, as the roads are bad, and the weather cold, her stages must be short, especially as I presume her horses will be fatigued; as when they get to Philadelphia, they will have performed a journey of at least four hundred and fifty miles, my express having found her among her friends, ner Williamsburg, one hundred and fifty miles below our house."

Mrs. Washington reached Cambridge in safety on the 11th December, having accomplished the journey from Philadelphia in about fifteen days. She was soon comfortably established in the elegant mansion of one of the wealthy Tory families, who deserted their residences upon the approach of the Continental Army. The American officers, generally, took possession of these luxurious abodes, thus-and then only during the continuance of the War,-"faring sumptuously every day."

After Mrs. Washington's arrival in the American Camp, the punctilious courtesy of the Commander-in-Chief dictated the following expression of his sense of grateful obligation to the many

friends whose kind attentions she had elicited

during her journey.

"DEAR SIR:

66

*

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I am so much indebted for the civilities shown Mrs. Washington on her journey hither, that I hardly know how to go about to acknowledge them. Some of the enclosed (all of which I beg the favor of you to put into the post-office,) are directed to that end. I shall be obliged to you for presenting my thanks to the commanding officers of the two battalions of Philadelphia, for the honors done her and me, as also to any others equally entitled. I very sincerely offer you the compliments of the season, and wish you, Mrs. Reed, and your fireside, the happy return of a great many of them, being, dear Sir,

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It would of course, be irrelevant to our subject, as well as a work of supererogation, to attempt

* LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF PRESIDENT REED.

a detailed account of the memorable siege and eventual evacuation of Boston.

Mrs. Washington, while participating in the harassing embarrassments that, almost directly upon the assumption of his new position, began to demand the sympathy she always exhibited in whatever affected either the interest or happiness of her husband, was now called upon to illustrate in relation to him, as she had ever done in every personal trial and affliction, her firm reliance upon the beneficent superintendence of overruling Wisdom and Goodness. Even in this early stage of his eventful military career, her habitual cheerfulness and practical abilities, served in many instances, essentially to aid and encourage the

Commander-in-Chief.

The agreeable and estimable qualities of the wife of the American Hero soon won for her the love and veneration of her husband's companions in arms, and her universal popularity among them, occasioned her receiving the appellation of "Lady Washington," the well-known title by which she was always afterwards distinguished in the American Army.

With the departure of the British Fleet from

the Harbor of Boston,* Mrs. Washington prepared to return to her long-deserted home,-the portentous aspect of military affairs warning her of the impracticability of remaining with the Commander-in-Chief during the season of actual

hostilities.

In addition to her parting from her husband, this affectionate mother was, also, necessitated to nerve herself for a separation from her son, who was already pledged to share the military fortunes of his beloved step-father.--For usefulness and. honor she had reared him to manhood, and to her country she now resigned this last lingering scion of maternal hope and joy.†

* 17th March, 1776.

Whether or not Mr. Custis was already one of the military family, strictly speaking, of the Commander-in-Chief, we have not the means of determining; but we know him, together with Mrs. Custis, to have accompanied his mother to Cambridge, to have been at the siege of Boston, and to have continued with Washington throughout the war, though he probably did not, in consequence of his youth, thus early receive the appointment of Aid-de-Camp to the General-in-Chief.

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