ons
against the French, who had continued their depredations despite the
earlier diplomatic parley, and had not removed from the lands claimed as
the property of Great Britain.

Came April 2, and from the market place crowded with citizens, "Every
thing being ready," the commander, aged twenty-two, gave the order and
the company set forth to the strident beats of one drummer.[29] As the
creaking wheels of the two wagons and the tramp of marching feet faded
out of hearing, Alexandria had sent her sons off to her first war.

While Lieutenant Colonel Washington was occupied in so spectacular a
fashion, the town trustees were not without their troubles, also. People
were delinquent about complying with the Assembly laws. In June 1754,
the trustees ordered that various lots not built upon be put up at
auction and sold to the highest bidder. They were in earnest about this
dereliction on the part of purchasers, and seven lots were forfeited at
this time. Among those paying such a penalty was George Washington's
half-brother, Augustine Washington.

By December 1754, public buildings were well under way, the courthouse
lot was ordered "paled in with Posts and Rails in a workman-like
manner," and John Carlyle, John Dalton, George Johnston and William
Ramsay were appointed to see what was necessary to be done to the
finishing of the courthouse.

Within the year, his expedition defeated, Washington was back at Mount
Vernon, and very irritated by army orders demoting colonials of the same
grade and rank below the British regulars. Despite a vote of
commendation by the Burgesses and the sum of L50 voted for his services,
he threw up his commission.

The French continued hostilities, stirring up the Indians and causing no
end of trouble. His Majesty's government became sufficiently exercised
to dispatch an officer of the line, Major General Edward Braddock, two
warships in which were stowed a fine arsenal of powder, rifles, and
cannon, and two regiments of regulars. Word reached Alexandria in
February of Braddock's arrival in Williamsburg and that he and the
Governor were in conference. The first result of this conference was a
letter to "Mr. George Washington" written on March 2, 1755, and
dispatched in the person of General Braddock's aide-de-camp, Lieutenant
Robert Orme, requesting the presence of _Mr._ Washington as a member of
the General's military family. This, thought the Governor and the
General, would do away with any