David Humphreys' life of General Washington

By Humphreys, David

Subjects: Biography, Generals, United States. Continental Army, United States

Description: In a remarkable feat of historical detective work, Rosemarie Zagarri has assembled manuscripts from three separate archives to reconstruct and publish for the first time in its full form the only biography of George Washington authorized by the general himself. Written by his close friend and military aide David Humphreys, it offers a rare, intimate glimpse of Washington's life, from his birth in 1732 until his assumption of the presidency in 1789. Best known as a minor poet of the Revolutionary War era, Humphreys became Washington's aide-de-camp during the war. Afterward, in 1786, he came to Mount Vernon at Washington's invitation and lived there for nearly three years, drawing on private papers and the general's reminiscences to compose the story of Washington's life. Before he finished, however, it became clear that Washington's story was far from over. The ratification of the Constitution paved the way for Washington's reluctant reentry into public life. Although Humphreys abandoned his plans for a full-scale biography, Zagarri has discovered that he did publish anonymously a much shorter version of his work as part of Jedidiah Morse's American Geography. Humphreys never published the fuller biography, which contained important details about Washington's childhood, his life at Mount Vernon, and his agonizing struggle over whether to accept the presidency. (Humphreys claims, in fact, to have been the first person with whom Washington discussed the presidency.) Washington reviewed a portion of Humphreys' manuscript for accuracy and added a detailed account of his experiences in the French and Indian War. The general described his frustration with British authorities over the need to defend the frontier, his horror at the war's carnage, his affection for his troops, and his terror at having to stop a group of British soldiers from firing on their compatriots. Washington's "Remarks," included in this edition, reveal a personal side that he seldom exposed in his letters or other writings. Zagarri has collated the three manuscripts -- located at the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia, the Yale University Library, and the Forbes Magazine Collection in New York -- into a smooth narrative and has provided notes containing alternative readings of the text as well as substantive historical commentary. Her introduction places the work in both historical and literary perspective. Written at nearly the same time as Parson Weems' more famous but much less accurate account, Humphreys' biography challenges a host of stereotypical images and myths about the first president. It is a volume that will fascinate specialists and nonspecialists alike. - Jacket flap.