ho
picked them off easily on account of their conspicuous uniforms.
Braddock himself, as brave a man as ever lived, had four horses killed
under him and then received a mortal wound. Washington, whose advice
had been laughed at, took command of the Virginians and covered the
headlong rout of the British regulars, who threw away their rifles and
ran blindly into the woods. How Washington escaped alive is nothing
less than a miracle. Like Braddock, he had several horses killed under
him, and four bullets pierced his uniform. He seemed everywhere at once
and showed the most conspicuous bravery, but all he could do was to
save the lives of the flying Britishers. With whoops of victory the
Indians scalped the wounded, dressed themselves in the red coats of the
slain and showed their hideous painted faces beneath the cocked hats of
British officers. And the French, who held the fort that Braddock had
intended to capture, fired their cannon in rejoicing at a victory that
forever killed the prestige of British arms in the New World. For
hitherto the British soldier had been thought invincible, and this
exhibition of crass stupidity and bungling gave the colonials a
different opinion of British arms. The British were brave it is true,
but they could not adjust themselves to meet the enemy on their own
ground,--and in all history the Briton has shown himself clumsy in the
guerilla warfare of the type that won the Revolution for the Americans.

A few years after this tragic affair Washington married Martha Parke
Custis, a young widow with two children. Washington's love affair with
Martha Custis was not the first in his life. He had paid attention to
other young beauties and had shown himself a true Virginian in his
hearty appreciation of the ladies.

With his marriage there commenced the home life at Mount Vernon that
has become so famous in history, and the hospitality for which George
and Martha Washington have ever been famous. Washington was fond of the
good things of life, and his great house at Mount Vernon was filled
with visitors, with whom he hunted and passed his leisure hours in many
delightful ways. But his eye for business was no less keen on account
of his pleasures, and eventually he came to be looked on as the leading
man in the affairs of the colony. His commanding appearance, his
wonderful self-control and his military prestige, coupled with the
dignity and gravity of his manner, made him as prominent among men