Mike Pence: “in the next few moments this evening, I want to share a story about a remarkable act of providence in American history.…”

“in the next few moments this evening, I want to share a story about a remarkable act of providence in American history. By remarkable providence, I mean an example of one of those small twists and turns in history that could have turned out otherwise but did not. And as a function of that, in so many ways, we are gathered here today in a city that bears the name of a man named Washington. It was the year 1755, 20 years before the American Revolution. The British were fighting the French over territory along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. And I think of a 23-year-old soldier who found himself in the midst of a conflagration. The Americans were sided, Mr. Speaker, with the British, and most of the Indians sided with the French. Tensions grew, diplomatic solutions failed, so Great Britain sent 2,300 soldiers to join the rugged untrained American militias to fight the French. A 23-year-old colonel led the Virginia militia, about 100 buckskins who had volunteered to fight. The British soldiers joined them, and over a thousand men made their way north toward Fort Duquesne, now known as the City of Pittsburgh. It was a long march in the summer, a few hundred miles along wooded paths. The Red Coats and militia could not have been more different; one orderly and disciplined, dressed in red wool and uniforms, another a ragtag bunch of young farmers, driven by passion, adventure, and a love of freedom.…”