First Encounters
George Washington as Colonel in the Virginia Regiment, Charles Willson Peale, 1772. Courtesy of Mount Vernon.
A twenty-four-year Colonel George Washington arrived in New York City for the first time in 1756. Washington was en route to Boston, Massachusetts, to seek an audience with the British Commander-in-Chief of North America, Governor William Shirley. A surveyor and seasoned soldier from Virginia, young Washington wished to discuss his military commission within the Royal Army with Governor Shirley.
From 1754 to 1763, the British Empire engaged in the Seven Years’ War, better known by the North American theatre’s name: The French and Indian War. A global affair, the War was fought by the French and English empires over claims on who should settle the Ohio Territory. By his first visit to New York City, Washington was already an established public figure through his widely read memoir: The Journal of Major George Washington (1754). A personal account, the journal recounted Washington’s diplomatic mission as a “royal emissary,” sent by Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie to the contested Ohio Territory.
Plan of the City of New York in North America, 1776. Bernard Ratzer. Collection of Fraunces Tavern Museum.
Dressed in his Virginia Regimental Uniform and accompanied by officers and attendants, Washington created a scene of sensation in New York. Wanting to be viewed as an equal standing officer to a British Regular Officer, Washington welcomed the fanfare. Washington indulged in the luxury New York’s mercantile community offered. His account books mention pounds spent on horses, “Taylors Bill” or tailor’s bills, servants, and “Treating the ladies.”
The New York-based newspaper Mercury reported: “Friday last Colonel Washington set out from this city to Boston [February 23, 1756].” Washington’s first trip to New York was brief, as was his trip to Boston. Shirley denied his request, and Washington returned to Virginia. The visit left Washington with a great disdain for the social hierarchy of the British Crown. In the ensuing decades, Washington’s return to New York would grant him military recognition he sought- but as a General against the British Royal Army.
