George Washington: “Our population advances with a celerity which, exceeding the most sanguine calculations, proportionally augments our…”

I have finally determined to accept the commission of Commander in Chief of the armies of the United States.

Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and exhausted to the last drop the cup of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts appeal to Heaven for the justice of our cause.

I must not conceal from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a man less declined in years and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war.

Believe me, sir, no one can more cordially approve of the wise and prudent measures of your Administration.