How George Washington rose to fame and became the stuff of legend

BOSTON (AP) — More than a decade before he became the nation’s first president, George Washington was leading a critical campaign in the early days of the American Revolution. The Siege of Boston was his first campaign as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, and in many ways paved the way for his military and political successes—celebrated on Presidents’ Day.

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After the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the militias were able to besiege the British at Boston in April 1775. The Continental Congress, recognizing the need for a more organized military effort, chose Washington to lead the newly formed army.

The Siege of Boston and its importance

On this day 250 years ago, Washington was nearing the end of a nearly year-long siege that had trapped up to 11,000 British soldiers and hundreds more loyalists. The British were occupying Boston at the time, and the aim of the siege was to force them out.

Washington’s crucial decision was to send Henry Knox, a young bookseller, to Fort Ticonderoga in New York to retrieve dozens of cannons. The cannons, transported hundreds of miles in the dead of winter, were eventually used to fire on British positions. This contributed to the British deciding, in the face of dwindling supplies, to leave the city by boat on 17 March 1776.

Historians argue that the British abandonment of their positions, which was celebrated in Boston as Evacuation Day, rid the city of Loyalists at a critical time, deprived the British of access to an important port and gave the Patriots an enormous morale boost.

“The success of the Siege of Boston gave new life and new impetus to the revolution,” said Chris Beegan, site director of the Longfellow House in Cambridge, a national historic site that served as Washington’s headquarters during the American Revolution. “Had it failed, royal control over New England would have continued, and the Continental Army would likely have been disbanded.”

How did the siege shape Washington?

The siege was also a critical test for Washington. Washington, a surveyor and farmer, had been out of military service for nearly 20 years after commanding British forces during the French and Indian War. His successful campaign ensured that Washington would remain commander-in-chief for the remainder of the Revolution.

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Washington took the first steps to create a geographically diverse army that included militiamen from Massachusetts to Virginia, and by the end of the war, a fighting force with significant representation of blacks and Native Americans, said Doug Bradburn, George Washington’s chief of Mount Vernon. He said it was the most integrated military until President Harry Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948.

Washington, a slave owner who relied on hundreds of slaves on his Mount Vernon property, was initially opposed to accepting enslaved and formerly freed black soldiers into the army. Because of the shortage of men, Bradburn said, Washington realized that “there were free blacks who wanted to enlist and he needed them to prevent the British from escaping” during the siege.

Ridding Boston of the British also transformed Washington into one of the most popular political figures in the country.

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“He came to embody the cause at a time before you had a nation, before you had a Declaration of Independence, before you were really sure what the goal of this struggle was,” Bradburn said. “He became the face of the revolutionary movement.”

Leading the military for more than eight years prepared Washington for the presidency, said Rick Atkinson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning military historian. “Perhaps more importantly, it gave him the sense that Americans could and should be one people, rather than citizens of thirteen different entities.”

Washington myths

His rise to prominence also gave rise to many myths about Washington, many of which persist to this day.

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One of the most popular is the legend of the cherry tree. It was invented by one of Washington’s early biographers, according to George Washington Mount Vernon, who wrote the story down after his death. 6-year-old Washington supposedly took an ax to a cherry tree and confessed to it when his father caught him, famously saying “I can’t tell a lie…I cut it down with my axe.”

The second is the myth of wooden teeth. Washington was rumored to have had wooden dentures, and scholars, in the twentieth century, were quoted as saying that his false teeth were made of wood. Not true. He never wore wooden dentures, instead using ones with ivory, gold, and even human teeth.

More than a statesman

During his life, Washington had countless interests. He was known as an innovative farmer, according to George Washington’s Mount Vernon, and an advocate of western expansion, purchasing as much as 50,000 acres of land in several mid-Atlantic states. After returning to Mount Vernon, he built a whiskey distillery that became one of the largest in the country.

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His relationship with slavery was complicated. He called for the end of slavery, and his will called for the emancipation of all slaves he owned after the death of his wife, Martha Washington. But he did not own all the slaves at Mount Vernon, so he could not legally free them all.

Celebrating Presidents’ Day

For George Washington fans, Presidents’ Day is their Super Bowl. The holiday originated to celebrate Washington’s Birthday, which falls on February 22, and has become associated with good deals on the mall. However, there are plenty of places that celebrate all things Washington on this day.

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There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at Washington’s grave at Mount Vernon, and there will be a Continental Army encampment. There will be a parade honoring Washington in Alexandria, Va., and in Laredo, Texas. The month-long celebration includes a carnival, beauty pageants, an air show and a jalapeño festival.