George Washington: Letter to Martha Washington

Martha Washington burned all of the letters she could find from her husband, George Washington, before her death in 1802. So far as historians know, only two letters survived, one of them this one, which one of the couple’s granddaughters found jammed behind the drawer of a desk. In it, George told Martha of his appointment as the general in charge of the American colonists’ Continental Army, then located in Boston. While most historians have grown to recognize the ambition behind George Washington’s words—he was wearing a military uniform of his own design while he attended the congress—he also was not afraid to display his fears and doubts in his abilities as a leader, as he expresses in this letter to his wife. His congressional colleagues had fewer doubts in Washington’s abilities. He was nominated for the position by John Adams.