General Washington's Christmas Farewell: A Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783

This is a wonderful retelling of George Washington's return to Mount Vernon at the end of the Revolution. It humanizes Washington like few books ever have. Mr. Wintraub even manages to build up suspense as you wonder whether ex-General Washington makes it home in time for Christmas. This is the second Christmas-themed history by Mr. Weintraub, the other being SILENT NIGHT, about the informal truce in 1914. Each time, Mr. Weintraub brings out the significance of seemingly minor events. It is truly masterful.

This book is a masterwork. There may be other books on the subject, but I can't imagine any other book capturing the bittersweet moments of George Washington's return to Mount Vernon after the Revolution more poignantly than Stanley Weintraub does here. The book begins in November 1783 and details Washington's long trip home, and brilliantly captures the trials of long distance travel, as well as the joys of receiving the outpourings of gratitude from his countrymen as he passed through towns and villages. The book gives great insight into the character of Washington and his amazing leadership qualities. I think any reader will better appreciate the suffering and personal sacrifice of this original American patriot after reading this book. The book details the drama of the signing of the final peace treaty with England (assisted by Benjamin Franklin in France), the withdrawal of English troops from New York (a fascinating and oft overlooked drama in and of itself), and the personal interactions of George Washington and other key leaders necessary to keep the coalition of States together in the fight against the British. Particular detail is reserved for efforts to meet the US Army payroll, which, then as now, had substantial Congressional problems as well as issues relating to unwillingness of some States to be taxed. The most interesting facet of the book, though, is the examination of the personal motivations driving Washington. In contrast to most powerful leaders (and Washington at the time was revered enough that he turned down the opportunity to be King of the United States), Washington desired to do his duty, and once having completed his mission by winning the Revolutionary War, to retire from public service. Great detail is spent on the preparations necessary for Washington to resign his commission, and the account of the ceremony and celebrations involved are detailed, scrupulously researched, and thrilling to read. This is a wonderful book. I highly recommend it to anyone, particularly to people who would like to know more about the emotions, motivations, and character of George Washington, the original American patriot.

Eight years of warfare finally over, in 1783, George Washington wanted to go home for Christmas. It seems the most unsurprising of desires. Washington's army had defeated that of the British Empire, and the thirteen American colonies which had declared themselves independent in 1776 had fought to make the independence real rather than merely declared. Washington saw his job as complete, and he wanted nothing more than to resign his commission and become again a Virginia gentleman farmer. The very idea was inconceivable to many. To give up all power, to become a mere citizen when he could quite easily have become king, was simply not the way the game of power was played. We are accustomed to veneration of the Father of Our Country, so Washington's service and humility might not seem so remarkable to us. But in _General Washington's Christmas Farewell: A Mount Vernon Homecoming, 1783_ (Free Press), Stanley Weintraub has, if not made us surprised at Washington's desire for retirement, then made us feel the wonder that Washington's contemporaries felt about it, and has invited us to admire a particularly likable aspect of Washington the man.Weintraub's small, concentrated book follows Washington as he proceeds south into New York City, to Annapolis, Maryland, where Congress was in session and could accept his resignation, and finally to his home. Everywhere he went, citizens who already knew him as Father of His Country were eager to see him. He would leave one village to go to the next, only to find that riders had preceded him to alert the next village to prepare for celebration. There were fireworks and dancing; Washington was an enthusiastic dancer and the ladies eagerly sought their turn with him. Many citizens wrote their compliments to him, and he had an aide to write replies. There was longwinded oratory. There were bad commemorative verses. Manliness at the time did not include an aversion to tears, and many manly tears were shed; an observer of the final farewell wrote, "And many testified their affectionate attachment to our illustrious Hero and their gratitude for his Services to his country by a most copious shedding of tears." Barrels of ale and wine were drunk, as in each gathering thirteen toasts (for the thirteen colonies) were dutifully and gleefully swallowed down. The world was astonished at Washington's self-removal from the national stage. When King George III was told in 1783 that Washington declined further power and wanted only to return to his farm, he declared, "If Washington does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." Washington would have been astonished that we have developed a governmental system where people are politicians as a lifetime occupation and profit handsomely thereby. He clearly believed in his life outside of public service, and in his privacy. His modesty is evident in that we know almost nothing of his 1783 Christmas itself. He did successfully return on Christmas Eve, but h

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 ol

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