A Letter to Dinwiddie

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A 1757 letter in Mount Vernon's collection contains the earliest-known example of Washington’s rebellious spirit—foreshadowing a revolution 20 years away.

George Washington as First Colonel in the Virginia Regiment, Charles Willson Peale, oil on canvas, 1772 [U1897.1.1]. Gift of George Washington Custis Lee, University Collections of Art and History, Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia.

George Washington’s career as a soldier began on the Virginia frontier, where, as a young colonial officer, he helped spark a worldwide war for empire, a conflict known in this country as the French and Indian War.

In August 1755, Virginia lieutenant governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed 23-year-old George Washington as commander of the Virginia Regiment. The ambitious leader found success on the battlefield in the following years, and, on March 10, 1757, Washington petitioned Dinwiddie on behalf of the officers of the Virginia Regiment for official commissions in the British Army. A four-page letter, housed in the collections of the Washington Library, is the earliest-known example of Washington’s rebellious spirit.

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Explore the full transcript of Washington's March 10, 1757, letter to Robert Dinwiddie.

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This article originally appeared in Mount Vernon magazine, published three times a year by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.

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The Letter

Letter (page 1 of 4), George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, 1757 March 10. (MVLA)

Letter (page 1 of 4), George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, 1757 March 10. (MVLA)

In his letter, citing three years of continuous service in the French and Indian War, Washington argues that he and his fellow officers of the Virginia Regiment were being unjustly ignored by the royal government of the British American colonies.

Washington warned Dinwiddie that a lack of royal acknowledgment of his men’s defense of the Crown’s lands in America—and, in particular, the lack of British Army commissions for Washington and his fellow officers—was destroying the loyalty of Virginians toward the monarchy. It was, for Washington, a first step toward his alienation from the British government, one that would more fully bloom two decades later.

Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie, unknown artist, c. 1760-1765, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 1640.

The key point, Washington wrote, was that, “We can’t conceive that being Americans should deprive us of the benefits of British Subjects.” By 1757, Washington was coming to realize that being American was not the same thing as being British, and the snubs he faced as a Virginia officer in the French and Indian War would later help to radicalize him into political insurgency during the American Revolution.

 

Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie, unknown artist, c. 1760-1765, National Portrait Gallery, London, NPG 1640.

"We cant conceive, that being Americans shoud deprive us of the benefits of British Subjects ... and we are very certain, that no Body of regular Troops ever before Servd 3 Bloody Campaigns without attracting Royal Notice."

- George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie, 1757

As part of the Washington Library’s collection, this letter is an invaluable resource as Mount Vernon tells the story of how George Washington became a revolutionary and helped to manifest a new nation. Its acquisition was made possible through the generosity of Karen Buchwald Wright.

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