Turmoil’s blessing.
It is 1757.
The British colonies are in the third year of the French and Indian War in the Ohio Valley.
Col. George Washington, of the Virginia militia, age 25, is Britain’s ambassador there.
The job requires that he work effectively with French officials as well as the leaders of the Iroquois Confederation, while offering protection to British residents.
This is a tall order.
George operates from a military outpost called Fort Loudoun, near present-day Winchester, Virginia.
It was one of a chain of forts constructed by the Virginia colony to defend its western frontier.
Washington’s description:
“Winchester is now the farthest boundary of this county, —no inhabitants beyond it.” Washington, April 1756
Daily life in this raw territory was difficult.
George struggled to obtain enough funding from the stingy colonial government in Williamsburg to feed and clothe his troops.
He detailed his efforts and frustrations in a ninety-seven-page journal.
In its pages, George lists supplies that were needed at Fort Loudoun, describes his half-dozen horses, outlines proposed letters and memos, and notes "sundry things to be done in Williamsburg."
It’s an intimate look at his earliest work as a leader of men.
The journal’s last page contains George’s recipe for “small beer.”
This was a low-alcohol brew typically drunk by servants and colonial soldiers.
Modern brewers say Washington’s recipe reveals the sparse wartime conditions in which the beer would have been made.
It requires just a few ingredients and takes little time.
And George includes suggestions for brewing under difficult weather conditions.
Brewers who have made a batch say George’s small beer is tasty, but too sweet to drink in quantity.
‘Too much molasses,’ they say.
So, why does this matter?
Because he lived long ago and we have no photos, we view George as a monolith.
Like the silent marble statues of him which dot the country.
Not as a twenty-five-year-old beer drinker who fought on America’s western frontier.
In George’s journal, we meet a flesh-and-blood young man whose buds of greatness will flower in the turmoil of the coming revolution.
Turmoil is useful.
It reveals character.
How good is a man?
Take a look at what he does when the times are tough.
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I’ll see you on Monday.
— Brenda
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