Young Washington had already, through the influence of his brother, been appointed major and adjutant-general of one of the military districts of Virginia.  The depredations of the French and Indians on the border had grown into dangerous aggression, and in 1753 Major Washington was sent as a commissioner through the wilderness to the French headquarters in Ohio, to remonstrate.  His admirable conduct on this occasion resulted in his appointment as lieutenant-colonel of the Virginia regiment of six companies sent to the Ohio frontier; and in this campaign Washington gained new laurels, surprising and defeating the French.  His native and acquired powers and his varied experience in Indian warfare now marked him out as a suitable aide to the British General Braddock, who, early in 1755, arrived with two regiments of English soldiers to operate against the French and Indians.  This was the beginning of the memorable Seven Years’ War.

Washington was now a young man of twenty-three, full of manly vigor and the spirit of adventure, brave as a lion,—­a natural fighter, but prudent and far-seeing.  He fortunately and almost alone escaped being wounded in the disastrous campaign which the British general lost through his own obstinacy and self-confidence, by taking no advice from those used to Indian warfare.  Braddock insisted upon fighting foes concealed behind trees, as if he were in the open field.  After the English general’s inglorious defeat and death, Washington continued in active service as commander of the Virginia forces for two years, until toil, exposure, and hardship produced an illness which compelled him to withdraw for several months from active service.  When at the close of the war he returned to private life, Colonel Washington had won a name as the most efficient commander in the whole conflict, displaying marvellous resources in the constant perils to which he was exposed.  Among his exploits was the capture of Port Duquesne, now Pittsburgh, in 1758, which terminated the French domination of the Ohio, and opened up Western Pennsylvania to enterprising immigrants.  For his rare services this young man of twenty-six received the thanks of the House of Burgesses, of which he had been elected a member at the close of the war.  When he entered that body to take his place, the welcome extended to him was so overwhelming that he stood silent and abashed.  But the venerable Speaker of the House exclaimed, “Sit down, Mr. Washington; your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language I possess.”

Meanwhile, Mount Vernon, a domain which extended ten miles along the Potomac River, fell into Washington’s possession by the death of his brother Lawrence’s daughter, which made him one of the richest planters in Virginia.  And his fortunes were still further advanced by his marriage in 1759 with the richest woman in the region, Martha, the widow of Daniel Parke Custis.  This lady esteemed his character as much