COURAGEOUS MEN:STORIES FROMAMERICAN HISTORY
by Dr. Kenyn Cureton

a ministry of family research council
Washington, D.C.

courageous men:stories from american history
by dr. kenyn cureton© 2020 family research council
all rights reserved.
printed in the united states

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table of contents
Introduction....................................................3
Historic Providers............................................5
Historic Instructors.........................................12
Historic Defenders..........................................19
Historic Battle Buddies...................................29
Historic Chaplains..........................................37
Conclusion......................................................51

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Be watchful, stand firm in the faith,
act like men, be strong.
1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV

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COURAGEOUS MEN:STORIES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY
by Dr. Kenyn Cureton

What does it mean to “act like men?” Obviously, there are a lot of
mixed messages in the culture about masculinity. At the box office,successful movie heroes like Harrison Ford, Denzel Washington,
Sylvester Stallone, Will Smith, Tom Cruise, Dwayne “The Rock”
Johnson, etc. exude a version of manhood that is “large and in
charge.” Yet with the advent of the #MeToo movement, culture
shapers in academia, media, and marketing seem to be demanding
an apology from men for “acting like men.”
Certainly, there is no excuse forsinful and abusive behavior. There isno place for “men behaving badly”
as portrayed in the popular Gillettecommercial. Yet that commercial and,worse still, the October 2019 cover ofGentleman’s Quarterly with musician
Pharrell in what appears to be a dress,
indicates that the pendulum has
swung too far.
The “New Masculinity” being
proposed by the liberal progressive
culture shapers really isn’t masculinity at all. In fact, anything
resembling good old-fashioned, red-blooded manhood is now
considered “toxic,” something to be inoculated against as if itwere a disease. In fact, many universities are doing just that—
helping males unlearn traditional masculinity. In fact, even West
Point cadets, our future war fighters, are being subjected to thisO

3dangerous propaganda. After listening to the “curriculum,” one
cadet commented: “I’m being taught how not to be a man.” 1
The purpose of this booklet is to zoom out from the pop culture
noise and nonsense and provide the perspective of history whenit comes to manhood. What were the courageous men like
who settled the new world, tamed the wilderness, fought for
freedom, founded this country, then moved it forward under
God? What were the men like who served and sacrificed sothat America could become the greatest nation on the face ofthe earth? At the same time, an attempt will be made to relate
examples of manhood in American history that line up with thefive principles of biblical manhood found in Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jerry
Boykin’s book Man to Man, namely man as a Provider, Instructor,
Defender, Battle Buddy, and Chaplain. These five principles help
us arrive at what 1 Corinthians 16:13 means when Paul urges us
to “act like men.”

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historic providers
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especiallyfor members of his household, he has denied the faith and isworse than an unbeliever.
					1 Timothy 5:8

A basic role of every man, unless physically incapable of doing so,
is that of Provider. The Stand Courageous Pledge declares:
As the Provider, I pledge to work as God gives me strengthand provide for the basic needs of my family. I will
demonstrate my love by meeting their needs before my own.
I will honor God by giving to his work and serving thosein need. I will also provide direction, values, and a sense ofidentity for those in my charge.
What follows are some lost episodes of exemplary men
functioning as providers from American history.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
OF JAMESTOWN
Captain John Smith is often called the“Father of Virginia” due to his significant
contributions in the establishment andsurvival of Jamestown, the first permanent
settlement in what became the original 13
colonies of America. He made a detailed
map of Virginia and wrote an early history
called A True Relation. When threatened, he fought the Native
Americans, yet also made the breakthroughs in peaceful relations
with them that were essential for survival. But it is the Bible
verse that led to men becoming providers and literally saving thecolony for a season that is the subject of this lost episode.
John Smith was born in Willoughby, England around 1580.
He grew up in a village close to the sea and loved talk of theO5courageous deeds of naval heroes like Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir
Francis Drake. When his father died when he was a kid, Smith
decided that in order to serve in the Royal Navy he needed somemilitary experience. So he went to Holland and hired himself
out as a mercenary. He learned swordsmanship, hand-to-handcombat, and how to make bombs from clay pots, gunpowder,and tar. Young John Smith fought as a mercenary in wars acrossFrance, the Netherlands, and southeastern Europe to the edge of
the Ottoman-Turkish Empire where he became a living legend
with his swashbuckling exploits. With his purse full and his
broad experience with different cultures and languages, he met
with Rev. Richard Hakluyt, who was pressing Queen Elizabeth
to plant English settlements in America. They became fast
friends, and Smith invested in the Jamestown expedition.
Smith was a stocky, sawed-off stub of a man, a seasoned war
fighter with a valiant past he seldom tired of bragging about.
At 27, he was ready to put the lessons of hard experience togood use and had little respect for authority he deemed inept
or unearned. The elites on the voyage to the New World threw
around their nobility and titles, and it wasn’t long before Smith’s
open contempt for those he called “our ignorant transporters”
landed him in irons for being suspected of mutiny, where hespent part of one of the most historic moments in American
history as an inmate destined to be tried and hung.
Upon landing, in a dramatic turn, the leadership opened thesealed Company documents which showed that John Smith wasnamed to governing Council, but they voted not to admit him to
the Council just yet. So Smith did what came naturally—he went
looking for adventure. While exploring far up the Chickahominy
River in December of 1607, he was captured by a band of
Powhatans Indians and eventually taken to the Chief of the
Powhatan’s village. Smith was held captive for weeks. Eventually,
Smith reports:[T]two great stones were brought before Powhatan: then as
many as could layd hands on him, dragged him to them, and6Othereon laid his head, and being ready with their clubs, tobeate out his braines, Pocahontas the Kings dearest daughter,when no intreaty could prevaile, got his head in her armes,
and laid her owne upon his to saue him from death: whereat
the Emperour was contented he should live.1
Mercifully, Smith was escorted back to Jamestown at the
beginning of January, where they had dwindled from 104 down
to 38 souls. In September 1608, more settlers had arrived, but
the leadership situation in Jamestown had become intolerable.
Captain Ratcliffe resigned under pressure, so Captain Smith waselected the “President.” His courage, honesty, good sense, andskill as a leader set an example that the colonists needed, and his
insistence that everyone work hard to provide for themselves wasan essential ingredient for their survival.
In fact, Smith read the riot act to newcomers who were hoping
to search for gold instead of plow and plant the fields, relying on
the communal system where everybody got an equal share fromthe common store:
Countrymen, the long experience of our late miseries, I hopeis sufficient to perswade every one to a present correctionof himselfe, and thinke not that either my pains, nor the
Adventurers purses, will ever maintaine you in idlenesse andsloath. I speake not this to you all, for divers of you I know
deserue both honour and reward, better then is yet here to
be had: but the greater part must be more industrious, or
starue, how euer you haue beene heretofore tollerated by theauthoritie of the Councell, from that I haue often commandedyou. You see now that power resteth wholly in my selfe: you
must obey this now for a Law, that he that will not worke shallnot eate (except by sicknesse he be disabled:) for the laboursof thirtie or fortie houest and industrious men shall not be
consumed to maintaine an hundred and fiftie idle loyterers…2
Notice that Smith decreed: “he that will not worke, shall noteate.” Sound familiar? It comes from 2 Thessalonians 3:10.

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The men of Jamestown responded. Not too surprisingly, under
Smith’s firm leadership the death toll dropped, relations with theNatives stayed mostly at an uneasy truce, the fort was repaired,crops were planted, a well was dug, trees were cut into clapboards,
and products such as pitch, tar, and soap ash were produced forshipment back to England. Ah, the miracle of capitalism basedon the biblical principle of work.
Due to a severe gunpowder injury in 1609, Smith was forced totake a ship back to England. He never returned to Jamestown,
but he left a lasting mark. It is the biblical work ethic Smith
instituted for the men to become providers that is a lost episodein American history.

JOHN WINTHROP
Men are not only providers for the basic
needs of their families, they also provide
direction and vision. Visionary leader John
Winthrop was born on January 12, 1588.
In England, he was a member of the gentry,
having been raised on the 500-acre estate hisfather had bought from King Henry VIII. He
had become a successful lawyer. Puritan leader
Oliver Cromwell pleaded with Winthrop tojoin the revolution against King Charles I, but he declined. He
decided instead to flee for the sake of religious freedom, leading
the “Great Migration” to America in 1630 with 700 people, someof England’s best and brightest, sailing in 11 ships.
Aboard the Arabella, John Winthrop authored his work, A Modelof Christian Charity, in which he provided the vision for his
family, for their new colony, and indeed for America:
If the Lord shall please to hear us, and bring us in peace tothe place we desire, then hath He ratified this Covenant andsealed our Commission, will expect a strict performance of the
Articles... the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us.

8ONow the only way to avoid this shipwreck and to provide forour posterity, is to follow the counsel of Micah, to do justly,
to love mercy, to walk humbly with our God. For this end, wemust be knit together in this work as one man. We must holda familiar commerce together in each other in all meekness,gentleness, patience, and liberality.
We must delight in each other, make one another’s condition
our own, rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer
together, always having before our eyes our Commission andCommunity in this work, as members of the same body. So
shall we keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace...
We shall find that the God of Israel is among us, when tenof us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when
He shall make us a praise and glory, that men of succeeding
plantations shall say, “The Lord make it like that of New
England.”
For we must Consider that we shall be as a City upon a Hill,the eyes of all people are upon us…3
Over time, other leaders, such as President Ronald Reagan, havereferred to America as a “shining city on a hill,” recalling John
Winthrop’s words. Winthrop, who later became the governor of
the Massachusetts Bay Colony, had laid out the vision for thecolony and indeed provided the vision for our nation, and that is
another lost episode in American history.

RICHARD STOCKTONFounding Father Richard Stockton died on February 28, 1781
as a result of his deteriorated health from being captured andimprisoned by the British during the War for Independence.
Born in Princeton, New Jersey and a graduate of the College,
Stockton became a lawyer and eventually served as an associatejustice on the Supreme Court of New Jersey (1774-76) and as amember of the second Continental Congress (1776). He signed
the Declaration of Independence, which concludes with theseO

9words: “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm
reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutuallypledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacredhonor.” Stockton pledged and gave his life for liberty.
In his Last Will and Testament, Richard Stockton, wrote with aview to his children:
As my children will have frequent occasion of perusing this
instrument, and may probably be peculiarly impressed withthe last words of their father, I think proper here, not only to
subscribe to the entire belief of the great leading doctrinesof the Christian religion, such as the being of a God, theuniversal defection and depravity of human nature, thedivinity of the Person, and completeness of the redemption
purchased by the blessed Saviour, the necessity of the divine
Spirit, of divine faith accompanied with an habitual virtuous
life, and the universality of divine Providence; but also in thebowels of a father’s affection to charge and exhort them toremember that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom[Prov. 9:10].” 4
Stockton left a strong legacy of faith to his son Richard, whobecame a U.S. Senator (1796-99) and a U.S. Representative(1813-15) and to his son Robert, who served with distinction as
a U.S. Naval officer in the War of 1812, conquered California andproclaimed it a U.S. Territory (August 17, 1846), and served asa U.S. Senator (1851-53). Stockton, California, was named after
him. His daughter Julia married Benjamin Rush, a fellow signerof the Declaration. Richard Stockton’s personal sacrifices onbehalf of freedom and the legacy of faith he left his children as aprovider is another lost episode in American history.

10Onotes
1 John Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and theSummer Isles: With the Names of the Adventurers, Planters, and Governours from Their First Beginning, Ano: 1584. To This Present 1624.
With the Procedings of Those Severall Colonies and the Accidents That
Befell Them in All Their Journyes and Discoveries. Also the Maps and
Descriptions of All Those Countryes, Their Commodities, People, Government, Customes, and Religion Yet Knowne. Divided into Sixe Bookes,(London: I.D. and I.H. for Michael Sparkes, 1624), 49.
2 Ibid., 83.
3 James Savage, Laetitia Yeandle, Richard Dunn, eds., Journal of John
Winthrop (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Historical Society,1996), 9-10.
4 Samuel Davies Alexander, Princeton College During the EighteenthCentury (New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Company, 1872), 3-4.
Bracketed item added.

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Historic Instructors
He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, 6 that thenext generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise
and tell them to their children, 7 so that they should set their hope in
God…
					Psalm 78:5-7aServing as an Instructor is a much-needed role every man
should fill for those in his charge. The Stand Courageous Pledge
declares:
As the Instructor, I pledge to teach our family about our own
history. I will also instruct them about our godly heritage as
Americans as the reason for patriotism and sacrifice. I will
instill in the minds of my sons what it means to be masculine
as God made us. I will train those in my care to honor
authority, live responsibly, and fear God so as to leave a godly
legacy.
What follows are some lost episodes of historic Instructors from
American history.

REV. DR. JOHN WITHERSPOON
Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon was born in
Scotland, baptized by his minister father in
Yester Parish Church, and educated at homeby his mother. He descended from a line ofclergy back to Presbyterian Reformer John
Knox. Young John could read the Bible byage four and was later able to recite mostof the New Testament. Consequently, hevalued instruction. John became a pastor andultimately came to America to assume the presidency of the New
Jersey College, which later became Princeton University. Dr.
Witherspoon became one of eight immigrants but the only active
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Oordained minister to sign the Declaration of Independence. In
a sermon titled “Dominion of Providence over the Passions ofMen” on May 17, 1776, Witherspoon preached:[H]e is the best friend to American liberty, who is mostsincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion[ Jam. 1:27], and who sets himself with the greatest firmness tobear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever isan avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemyof his country… It is in the man of piety and inward principle,
that we may expect to find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful
citizen, and the invincible soldier. God grant that in America
true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable and that theunjust attempts to destroy the one, may in the issue tend to
the support and establishment of both.1
Dr. Witherspoon not only preached about patriotism, hemodeled it and instilled it in his children. When the British
invaded New Jersey, Dr. Witherspoon closed and evacuated
the College of New Jersey. The British occupied the College
in January 1777, burned its library, and left a huge mess. Manyof his papers were burned or destroyed at this time. Later thatsame year in the Battle of Germantown on October 4th, he andElizabeth lost their eldest son, James, who had graduated in
1770, but was serving as an aide to General Francis Nash, withthe rank of major.2 His loss was a major blow.
Yet it was the Rev. Dr. Witherspoon’s influence as an educatorthat provides his enduring legacy. As President of New Jersey
College, which later became Princeton University, Witherspoon
graduated 478 students who directly shaped America, including:		• James Madison, who became a chief architect of the 						
U.S. Constitution and later a U.S. President;		 • Aaron Burr, Jr., who became a U.S. Vice-President;		 • Three U.S. Supreme Court justices out of 37 judges;		 • 10 Cabinet members;		 • 13 Governors;		 • 21 U.S. Senators;O

13		 • 39 U.S. Representatives;		 • 114 pastors and missionaries.3

Further, nine of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were trained under Dr. Witherspoon:
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Gunning Bedford, Jr. of Delaware;David Brearley of New Jersey;
William Richardson Davie of North Carolina;
Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey;
William Churchill Houston of New Jersey;
James Madison of Virginia;
Alexander Martin of North Carolina;
Luther Martin of Maryland;
William Paterson of New Jersey.4

Again, note that James Madison, whom some consider as the“Father of the U.S. Constitution,” was personally tutored by Dr.
Witherspoon. Consequently, Witherspoon’s biblical views werereflected in our Constitution through his students, especiallywith regard to its structure and system of checks and balances inlight of our fallen nature and propensity to abuse power.
After his wife died in 1789, Dr. Witherspoon continued toserve. For example, he headed a committee of the New Jersey
legislature assigned to abolish slavery within the state.5 Following
John Witherspoon’s death in 1794, John Adams admired him
as: “A true son of liberty. So he was. But first, he was a son of the
Cross.”6 The life and influence of the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon
as an instructor, especially the indelible mark he made on his
students who became America’s founders and leaders, is a lost
episode in American history.

SAMUEL ADAMSOn October 4, 1790, Founding Father Samuel Adams,
Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, wrote to fellow Founderand his cousin, John Adams, who was then the Vice Presidentof the United States: “Let divines and philosophers, statesmen
and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age, by
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impressing the minds of men with theimportance of educating their little boys andgirls, of inculcating in the minds of youth
the fear and love of the Deity and universal
philanthropy, and, in subordination to thesegreat principles, the love of their country;of instructing them in the art of selfgovernment without which they never can
act a wise part in the government of societies,
great or small; in short, of leading them in the study and practiceof the exalted virtues of the Christian system.”7
Vice President John Adams replied on October 18: “You and I
agree.”8
Both Samuel Adams and John Adams believed that uniting ourefforts to help young people “study and practice” Christianity was
the best way to produce good citizens and effect positive societal
change. That is another lost episode in American history.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN
On Thursday, June 28, 1787, BenjaminFranklin delivered a speech to theConstitutional Convention, which wasembroiled in a debate over how each state
was to be represented in the new government.
The hostile feelings, created by the smaller
states being pitted against the larger states,
was so bitter that some delegates were
threatening to leave the Convention.
Franklin, the President (Governor) of Pennsylvania, hosted therest of the 55 delegates attending the Convention. Being theelder statesman present (81 years old), he commanded the respectof all present. As recorded in James Madison’s detailed records,
Franklin rose to speak in this moment of crisis:
Mr. President: The small progress we have made after fouror five weeks close attendance & continual reasoningsO

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with each other our different sentiments on almost every
question, several of the last producing as many noes as ayes,
is methinks a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the
Human Understanding ….
In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in thedark [ Job 12:25] to find political truth, and scarce able todistinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir,that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying
to the Father of Lights [ James 1:17] to illuminate ourunderstanding?
In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when
we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this roomfor Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, & they
were graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in
the struggle must have observed frequent instances of asuperintending Providence in our favor.
To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of
consulting in peace on the means of establishing our futurenational felicity. And have we now forgotten that powerful
Friend? or do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?
I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the moreconvincing proofs I see of this truth that God Governs in theaffairs of men [Dan. 4:17; 2 Chron. 20:6]. And if a sparrowcannot fall to the ground without His notice [Matt. 10:29;
Luke 12:6], is it probable that an empire can rise without
His aid [Dan. 2:21]?
We have been assured, Sir, in the Sacred Writings, that“except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain thatbuild it.” [Psalm 127:1a] I firmly believe this; and I also
believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed inthis political building no better than the Builders of Babel[Gen. 11:1-9]. We shall be divided by our partial local
interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves
shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages
[Deut. 28:37; Jer. 24:9].
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And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from thisunfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by
Human wisdom and leave it to I chance, war and conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers
imploring the assistance of Heaven [Neh. 2:4], and its
blessing on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every
morning before we proceed to business, and that one or moreof the clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that
service.9
Ben Franklin’s passionate plea for prayer seemed to quell some ofthe dissension and eventually led to the practice of daily prayer
before every session of Congress. His instructive speech at thiscritical moment is a lost episode in American history.

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notes
1 John Witherspoon, The Dominion of Providence Over the Passionsof Men. A Sermon, Preached at Princeton, May 17, 1776, Being thegeneral fast appointed by the Congress through the United Colonies.
To which is added, An address to the natives of Scotland, residing in
America, 3d ed., (London: Fielding and Walker, 1778), 28, 37-38.
2 John Frelinghuysen Hageman, History of Princeton and Its
Institutions, 2 vols., (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1879),
1:92.
3 Martha Lou Lemmon Stohlman, John Witherspoon: Parson,
Politician, Patriot (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1976), 172.
4 Varnum Lansing Collins, President Witherspoon, 2 vols., (New York:Arno Press, 1969), 2:229.
5 Mark F. Bernstein, “The Great Debate: How Princetonians havehelped to shape the national discussion of race,” Princeton Alumni
Weekly, January 13, 2010, accessed March 13, 2020, http://paw.
princeton.edu/issues/2010/01/13/pages/5962/index.xml?page=3&.
6 As cited in Roger Schultz, Covenanting in America: The Political
Theology of John Witherspoon, Master’s Thesis (Deerfield, IL: Trinity
Evangelical Divinity School, 1985), 149.
7 Charles Francis Adams, ed., The Works of John Adams, Second
President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes andIllustrations, 10 vols., (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1850-56), 6:414.
8 Ibid.
9 James Madison, Notes of Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787
(Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1985), 209-10.

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Historic Defenders
And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection againstthem day and night… And our enemies said, “They will not knowor see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”…
So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I
stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears,
and their bows. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and tothe officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them.
Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for yourbrothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
Nehemiah 4:9, 11, 13-14

Defending those in your care and those who are vulnerable is abasic responsibility for every man. The Stand Courageous Pledge
declares:
As the Defender, I pledge to protect my loved ones, andif necessary, lay down my life for my wife and my family
as Jesus Christ did for me. I will guard my home fromdestructive and sinful influences. I pledge to confront evil,
pursue justice, and defend the weak and defenseless when
attacked, including the unborn.
What follows are some episodes of Defenders from American
history.

PATRICK HENRYOn March 23, 1775, the Second Virginia
Convention had convened at what is now St.
John’s Church in Richmond, away from thewatchful eye of the Loyalist Governor. They
had assembled to consider some weighty
matters concerning the British tyranny
and oppression of the King of England. A
39-year-old delegate from Hanover County
named Patrick Henry took a seat in the church with the others.
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Patrick Henry was raised in a Christian home with two richfaith traditions. His father was a devoted Anglican and served
as a vestryman at St. Paul’s Parish. In fact, Patrick was not only
baptized into the Anglican Church, he was also named for
his uncle who was an Anglican pastor, and the elder Patrickeducated the younger in the Anglican catechism. But Patrick
lived in a “house divided” when it came to church. His motherwas a Scottish Presbyterian, and she began taking him as a
12-year-old to hear the powerful preaching of Samuel Davies, a
Presbyterian minister and leader in the Great Awakening in thesouth.
A passionate and fiery preacher, Davies was a mastercommunicator. It was said of Davies: “Indeed, his manner ofdelivery as to pronunciation, gesture, and modulation of voice
was a perfect model of the most moving and striking oratory…
his sermons [were] models for all who heard them.”1 Not
surprisingly, Pastor Davies’ eloquent and spellbinding sermons
made a profound impact on the young and impressionable
Patrick. In fact, his mother would quiz young Patrick on the
points of the sermon, and he would often re-preach the message
on their wagon ride back to their home. That experience would
serve him well when he grew up. So Patrick sat at the feet of
Pastor Samuel Davies, whom he referred to as “the greatest
orator he had ever heard.”2 If you compare some of Davies’
printed sermons to some of Henry’s speeches, the influence isundeniable.
In fact, Pastor Davies had preached to the Hanover Military
Academy years earlier in a sermon entitled: “The Curse of
Cowardice” from Jeremiah 48:10—“Cursed be he that doth thework of the Lord deceitfully; and cursed be he that keepethback his sword from blood.” Here is a part of what Rev. Davies
preached:
Nothing can be more agreeable to the God of Peace thanto see universal harmony and benevolence prevail among
His creatures… But when, in this corrupt, disordered state
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Oof things, where the lusts of men are perpetually embroilingthe world with wars and fightings and throwing all into
confusion; when they would enslave the freeborn mind andcompel us meanly to cringe to usurpation and arbitrary
power; when they would tear from our eager grasp the mostvaluable blessing of Heaven, I mean our religion; when ourearthly all is ready to be seized by rapacious hands, and even
our eternal all is in danger by the loss of our religion; when
this is the case, what is then the will of God?
Must peace then be maintained? Maintained with our…cruelinvaders? Maintained at the expense of property, liberty, life,and everything dear and valuable? Maintained, when it is in
our power to vindicate our right and do ourselves justice? Is
the work of peace then our only business? No; in such a timeeven the God of Peace proclaims by His providence, “To
arms!”
Then the sword is, as it were, consecrated to God; and theart of war becomes a part of our religion… Blessed is thebrave soldier; blessed is the defender of his country andthe destroyer of its enemies. Blessed are they who offer
themselves willingly in this service, and who faithfullydischarge it. But, on the other hand, “Cursed is he that
doth the work of the Lord deceitfully; and cursed is he thatkeepeth back his sword from blood.” . . .
This denunciation, like the artillery of heaven, is leveledagainst the mean, sneaking coward who, when God, in thecourse of His providence, calls him to arms, refuses to obey
and consults his own ease and safety more than his duty to
God and his country!3
Seated in the St. John’s Church during the Virginia Convention
nearly 20 years later, Patrick Henry listened as many babbled
on and on in favor of continued conciliatory measures and more
pleading with Parliament. The longer he listened, the more
his righteous indignation increased. Finally, with the words ofO

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Pastor Davies’ sermon echoing down the halls of his memory,
Henry rose from his pew to address the wavering assembly ofVirginians. With great passion in his voice, this is some of what
he said:
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusionsof hope… but… let us not deceive ourselves, sir… If we wish
to be free… we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An
appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!
They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with soformidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will
it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we aretotally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed
in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution andinaction…until our enemies shall have bound us hand andfoot?
Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means
which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The
millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty… areinvincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.
Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just
God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who willraise up friends to fight our battles for us [2 Chron. 32:8].
The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone [Eccl. 9:11]; it is tothe vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir…There is noretreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged!
Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The
war is inevitable–and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.
It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry,‘Peace, Peace’– but there is no peace [ Jer. 6:14]. The war isactually begun! …. Our brethren are already in the field! Why
stand we here idle [Matt. 20:6]? What is it that gentlemen
wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace sosweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may
take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!422

OWhen Patrick Henry finished his passionate speech, filled withbiblical language and echoes of Pastor Davies’ sermon, the callrang out: “To arms!” And that speech fanned the flames ofRevolution into a raging fire, and within less than a month, thefirst shots were fired in the War for Independence. So now you
know the truth about how a sermon inspired the speech thatlaunched the Revolution, a war fought to defend our freedoms,
and it is another lost episode in American history.

GEORGE WASHINGTON
Soldiers face great risk every day as they enter
harm’s way in war. Part of their training andcommitment is to prepare for the possibilityof making the “ultimate sacrifice” of laying
down their lives for their fellow men andtheir country. George Washington’s heroic
spirit was evident from his earliest militarydays in his extraordinary survival of enemy
fire, but it was also seen in his letters as hegrieved over the suffering civilians that he sought to protect with
woefully inadequate forces.
Writing to Virginia Royal Lt. Governor Robert Dinwiddie on
April 22, 1756, he openly poured out his heart:Your Honor may see to what unhappy straits the distressed
inhabitants as well as I, am reduced. I am too little acquainted,
Sir, with pathetic language, to attempt a description of thepeople distresses, though I have a generous soul, sensibleof wrongs, and swelling for redress. But what can I do? If
bleeding, dying! would glut their insatiate revenge, I would bea willing offering to savage fury, and die by inches. to save apeople! I see their situation, know their danger, and participate
in their sufferings... The supplicating tears of the women, andmoving petitions from the men, melt me into such deadly
sorrow, that I solemnly declare, if I know my own mind, I
could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butchering enemy,
provided that would contribute to the people’s ease. 5O

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Again, this wasn’t just braggadocio or bluster. As a young
soldier in the French and Indian War, he bravely fought andhad been ready to lay down his life, if necessary. He was one of
the few surviving officers in the massacre that was the Battle ofMonongahela in 1755, reporting:[B]y the all powerful dispensations of Providence I have beenprotected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I
had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot underme yet escaped unhurt, although death was levelling mycompanions on every side of me!6
Nothing changed when he became the Commander in Chief of
the Continental Army during the War for Independence. Again
and again he risked his life in the face of deadly fire, as he openly
exposed himself to the enemy to rally his men to stand their
ground.
The Battle of Princeton on January 3, 1777 provides a perfect
example of George Washington as the Defender. On the eveningof January 2, 1777, General Washington and the Continental
Army planned an attack on the British, following the daring
but triumphant Christmas night operation against Hessianheld Trenton, New Jersey. After a successful defense against a
British counter-attack led by Lord Cornwallis at Assunpink
Creek, near Trenton, Washington set his sights on the British
garrison at Princeton. Circling around Cornwallis’ camp atnight, Washington moved his troops into position to take on the
British at Princeton.
The battle began in earnest early in the morning and wasgoing badly. American Brigadier General Hugh Mercer andhis forward troops were overrun by British regiments under
the command of Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood who
were on their way south to reinforce Cornwallis. American
reinforcements from the New Jersey militia also turned to run. In
well-ordered fashion, the British formed their customary battlelines and were about to slice the Patriots to ribbons.
24O

Late to the battle with the main American force, General
Washington urged his mount to the front in an attempt to rally
his wavering troops. With his 6-foot, 3-inch frame mounted
on a large white horse, he was a huge target. Washington rode
between the lines and stopped only 30 yards from the first British
line and directed his men to take aim. The General was about tobe caught in the crossfire. Historian James T. Flexner recounts
the dramatic episode:
When the two forces came in range, both fired; Washington
was between them. [Washington’s] aide, Colonel Richard
Fitzgerald, covered his face with his hat to keep from seeing
the Commander-in-Chief killed. When Fitzgerald lowered
the hat, he saw many men dead and dying, but the General
was sitting untouched on his horse.7
The Americans seized the advantage and the British retreatedto Princeton, where one regiment barricaded itself in Nassau
Hall. After a few cannon balls were fired from General Henry
Knox’s field pieces, the British surrendered. God providentially
protected brave General Washington, who once again took to thebattlefield and personally risked his life to lead his outnumberedarmy to victory, which is another lost episode in American
history.

JOHN PETER GABRIEL MUHLENBERG
Born on October 1, 1746, John Peter
Gabriel Muhlenberg became a pastor,
soldier, and statesman. Son of the founderof the Lutheran church in America, Peterfollowed in his father’s footsteps after arebellious youth. He became pastor of an
English-speaking Episcopal church andsome small German-speaking Lutheranchurches in and around the frontier town of Woodstock, Virginiain the Shenandoah Valley during the 1770s. Muhlenberg was afriend of George Washington and Patrick Henry and became
concerned about British tyranny. He was elected to serve as chairO25

of the Committee for Correspondence of Dunmore County, andwas also elected as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses,
serving as the chair of the Committee of Safety.
With the battles already being fought in Lexington, Concord,
and Bunker Hill, and the threat of armed conflict breaking
out against all the colonies, Pastor Muhlenberg returned toWoodstock to address his churches in the Shenandoah Valley.
He mounted the pulpit in his black clerical robes on January 21,
1776 and read out of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8: “To everything there is aseason, a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to be born,
and a time to die; a time to sow, and a time to reap; a time to kill,
and a time to heal…” When Peter reached verse 8, “A time ofwar, and a time of peace,” he concluded: “In the language of Holy
Writ, there is a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to
pray, but those times have passed away … there is a time to fightand that time has now come!”
Pastor Muhlenberg proceeded to tell them about the clear andpresent danger of British tyranny and the need to stand up for
their liberty. And when he finished, he removed his black clericalrobe. To the surprise of his congregation, there he stood in the
full-dress uniform of a colonel in the Virginia army!
Pastor Muhlenberg strode down the aisle to the front doorof the log church building and asked for those who would be
willing to defend our freedom to meet him outside. He had ayoung man drum for recruits at the door, and by the end of thatday, he had some 300 join him in what would become the 8th
Virginia or German Regiment. The first line of barracks in Valley
Forge are those of the Muhlenberg Brigade, some of which werebuilt by members of Muhlenberg’s churches who endured theharsh winter and prevailed. Indeed, Gen. Muhlenberg foughtwith distinction at Charleston (1776), Brandywine (1777),
Germantown (1777), Monmouth (1778), and Stony Point(1779). He even commanded the unit that led the charge on
Redoubt 10 in the final battle of Yorktown (1781).826

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Peter Muhlenberg became one of Washington’s Major Generals
by the end of the War for Independence, and he is pictured ina painting of the victory at Yorktown in the Capitol Rotunda.
Peter went on to become a U.S. Representative alongside his
brother Frederick, also a Lutheran pastor, who became the House
Speaker in the First Federal Congress under the Constitution,
which framed the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing our religious
freedom. Peter served briefly as a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania,
and the good people of that state commissioned a statue of him
to be placed in the U.S. Capitol, recalling the iconic moment
when he removed his pastor’s robe to reveal his military uniform.
The dramatic story of this pastor who became a Defender is yet
another lost episode in American history.

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27

notes
1 William Wirt Henry, ed., Patrick Henry: Life, Correspondence andSpeeches, 3 vols., (NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1891), 1:13-14.
2 Henry, 1:15
3 Rev. Samuel Davies, The Curse of Cowardice: A Sermon Preached to the
Militia of Hanover County, in Virginia, at a General Muster, May 8,
1758. With a View to Raise a Company for Captain Samuel Meredith(London: 3James Parker, 1759), 1-3.
4 William Wirt, Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry(Philadelphia: James Webster, 1817), 120-23. Bracketed items
added.
5 “From George Washington to Robert Dinwiddie on April 22,1756” as found in John Clement Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George
Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, 39
vols., (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1931-44),
1:324-25.
6 “From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, July
18, 1755” as found in Jared Sparks, ed., The Writings of George
Washington being his correspondence, addresses, messages, and otherpapers, official and private, selected and published from the original
manuscripts with a life of the author, notes and illustrations, 12 vols.
(Boston: American Stationer’s Company, 1837), 2:89. Cited
hereafter as Sparks, WGW.
7 James T. Flexner, Washington: The Indispensable Man (New York:
Signet, 1984), 97; See also Richard M. Ketchum, The Winter
Soldiers: The Battles for Trenton and Princeton (New York: Henry
Holt & Company, 1999), 308.
8 Paul A. W. Wallace, The Muhlenbergs of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia:
University Press, 1950), 116-281.

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Historic Battle Buddies
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for theirtoil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who
is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if
two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?
And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two willwithstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Every man needs a Battle Buddy and should become a Battle
Buddy to another man (or men). The Stand Courageous Pledge
declares:
As the Battle Buddy, I pledge to develop a bond with anothertrustworthy, God-fearing man for prayer, encouragement,
and accountability. I will also seek out a younger man who
needs to be mentored and make a significant investment in
his life. I promise to maintain communications with thesemen despite any bad decisions or distance because I keep mycommitments.
What follows are some episodes of men connecting as Battle
Buddies from American history.

GEORGE WYTHE
Founding Father George Wythe of Virginia was a delegate to
the Second Continental Congress and signed the Declarationof Independence. A lawyer, Wythe also tutored other up andcoming lawyers. One of the young men he mentored was Thomas
Jefferson, who drafted the Declaration and eventually became the
new nation’s third president.
George was the great-grandson of Rev. George Keith, amissionary. Rev. Keith believed in the education of women, andwhen George lost his father at age three, his mother Margret,the granddaughter of Rev. Keith, took over. She home-schooledO

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George in Greek and Latin and the Classics until she died when
he was a teenager. In fact, the Greek text she used was that of the
New Testament.1
He entered William and Mary College at age 14, then studied
law with his uncle Stephen Dewey two years later. At the ageof 20, George passed the bar exam and received his license topractice law on June 18, 1746. He entered practice with Zachary
Lewis, fell in love with his daughter Ann, and married her on
December 26, 1747. However, she died tragically seven months
later. In 1754, he was elected to the House of Burgesses. He
married Elizabeth Taliaferro in 1755 (their marriage did not
produce any children). Wythe became not only a lawyer andlegislator but a teacher and judge, serving as the first Law
Professor at the College of William and Mary. Wythe served asa delegate to the Constitutional Convention until he had to leave
to take care of his dying wife Elizabeth.
George Wythe embraced a lifetime habit of self-study. He
acquired an extensive library with works in Latin, English,
French, Spanish, and Italian. George was widely read on anumber of topics, especially the laws of the ancient Hebrews.
It is interesting to note that when George turned 70, he taught
himself Hebrew due to his lifelong love of the Old Testament
law of God.
He also served as a Vestryman of Bruton Parish Church from1769 until he left for Richmond in 1791, which was like adeacon body or elder board.2 He was faithful in his church
attendance and his service.3
It was George Wythe who tutored Thomas Jefferson from 17601765 in the study of law. Jefferson would forever praise Wythe as
his mentor. In fact, Wythe and Jefferson worked on revising thelaws of Virginia in 1777, bringing into conformity the statutelaws to the newly formed independent state of Virginia. A
monumental work, it disestablished the Anglican Church from
taxpayer support and forced tithing, and it protected religious
liberty under law.
30

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After Jefferson became Governor in 1779, he and James
Madison, the President of William and Mary, created a new
Chair of Law and Police, establishing the first college law
curriculum in America. They appointed George Wythe the first
Professor of this new department so he could mentor others.
Wythe held classes in the Wren building and moot courts inthe old Capitol building. He also had his students participate
in mock legislative sessions to gain experience in parliamentary
procedures as well as debate. Some of his more famous law
students over the years were Henry Clay, who would become
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Littleton Tazewell who
would become Governor of Virginia and a U.S. Senator, James
Monroe, a future President, and John Marshall, the future Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice Marshall spent six
weeks being mentored by George Wythe, which were the only
legal training he ever received.
Upon his death, George Wythe willed his extensive library to his
protégé Thomas Jefferson. When the U.S. Capitol was burnedby the British in the War of 1812, Jefferson offered his library toCongress after the British burned their library, and thus George
Wythe was declared “America’s First Law Professor,” and his
legacy was preserved as the nucleus of the nation’s library.4 Whata legacy is left to us from George Wythe! But it is his role as amentor to Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Marshall, andmany others that is a lost episode in American history.

THOMAS JEFFERSONOn February 21, 1825, in a letter to Thomas
Jefferson Smith, the son of a friend, Thomas
Jefferson gave the admonition:
This letter will to you be as one fromthe dead. The writer will be in the grave
before you can weigh its counsels. Youraffectionate and excellent father has
requested that I would address to you
something which might possibly have a favorable influenceO31

on the course of life you have to run and I too as a namesake
feel an interest in that course. Few words will be necessary,with good dispositions on your part. Adore God. Reverence
and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself. Be
just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shallthe life into which you have entered be the Portal to one ofeternal and ineffable bliss. 5
Jefferson’s biblically sound advice to a young man he wasattempting to mentor before he died is another lost episode in
American history.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
After serving as president, John Quincy
Adams entered the U.S. House ofRepresentatives in 1831 and served there
for nearly 18 years. Bestowed with the title“Father of the House,” he was given all due
deference in choosing his desk as well as theprivilege of swearing in the Speaker at thestart of Congress. Cong. John Wentworth of
New Hampshire, one of Adams’ colleagues
reported: “No man was more regular in his attendance upon
the sessions of the House. The same can be said of the Sunday
service at the Capitol, he always occupying the same seat. He
was with us there the last Sabbath of his life.”6
Yet many might ask, after serving as president, why go serve in alower office. The reason? Adams devoted all his energies to one
single heroic task—battling slavery. It was a Don Quixote-liketask. He had to take on the growing Democratic majority fromthe slave states that overwhelmingly controlled the House ofRepresentatives. This included his eight-year fight against the“Gag Rule,” specifically designed with Adams in mind, which
prohibited any discussion of slavery on the floor of the House.
Yet this period also marked his successful argument before theU.S. Supreme Court in the celebrated Amistad Case in 1841,
which was the subject of a movie in which Adams was portrayed32

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by no less than Sir Anthony Hopkins! Once the “Gag Rule” waslifted, nearly every time Adams rose to address Congress, hewould eventually connect the subject to slavery.
In 1846, slave-owning President James K. Polk led Congress todeclare war on the Republic of Mexico, claiming they had “at lastinvaded our territory and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens
on our own soil.”7 While the authorization passed the House
overwhelmingly (174 ayes against only 14 nays), Adams led the
opposition. In a speech on the floor of the House on May 25,
1846, he proclaimed that the war was in reality a pretense for
expanding slavery into new territories taken from Mexico:
The war now raging in Texas is a Mexican civil war, anda war for the re-establishment of slavery where it was
abolished.... Again, I ask, What will be the cause in sucha war? Aggression, conquest, and the re-establishment ofslavery where it has been abolished... in that war, Sir, thebanners of freedom will be the banners of Mexico; and yourbanners, I blush to speak the word, will be the banners ofslavery.8
Unfortunately, this would be one of his last speeches to theCongress because at age 78 he suffered a debilitating strokethat left him partially paralyzed and with a voice not muchlouder than a whisper that he carried to the grave. However,
he recovered enough to return to Congress the following year.
According to a colleague, “When he walked into the House,slightly tottering, on the morning of February 13, 1847, everyonerose spontaneously and applauded.” The triumphant returnof “Old Man Eloquent,” as many referred to Adams, would
unfortunately be to a diminished role, one in which he was nolonger able to use his powers of oratory.
Yet Adams continued the fight, and since he was one of
the respected elder statesmen, he influenced like-minded
congressmen to take up the cause. During this last term in
office, he apparently made an unusual connection with one ofO

33

the freshmen in Congress. They served together in the 30th
Congress for three months before Adams suffered a second
massive stroke on the floor of the House and died a couple days
later on February 23, 1848.
Obviously, Adams and his younger protégé shared similar views,
particularly on slavery. Yet it was the Mexican-American War in1846 that moved the younger man from simply being personally
opposed to slavery to a place where he was politically andpublicly opposed.9 In fact, when the freshman congressman took
office in December 1847, he took the torch from the venerable
Adams, now unable to make a speech, and addressed the House
in opposition to the Mexican-American War. Bear in mind
this relatively unknown freshman had been in office only for alittle more than two weeks when he boldly stood to speak what
historians have dubbed the “Spot Resolution” on December 22,
1847. Challenging the veracity of President Polk and the legal
basis of the war, the congressman asked: “whether the particularspot of soil on which the blood of our citizens was so shed, was,or was not, our own soil”?10
On January 3, 1848, just 12 days after the congressman’s“Spot Resolution,” the House of Representatives voted 85 to
81 to censure President Polk, calling on him to end the war
with Mexico. On January 12, 1848 the freshman continued tohammer President Polk for a “bait and switch” war that likely
had different aims than simply retaliation, in which he appealed
to Polk to answer truthfully like his predecessor George
Washington, punctuated with allusions to the Bible:
Let him answer, fully, fairly, and candidly. Let him answer
with facts, and not with arguments. Let him remember
he sits where Washington sat, and so remembering, let
him answer, as Washington would answer. As a nation
should not, and the Almighty will not, be evaded, so let
him attempt no evasion—no equivocation. And if, so
answering, he can show that the soil was ours, where thefirst blood of the war was shed… then I am with him for his
34Ojustification… But if he can not, or will not do this… then I
shall be fully convinced, of what I more than suspect already,that he is deeply conscious of being in the wrong—that hefeels the blood of this war, like the blood of Abel, is crying to
Heaven against him…11
John Quincy Adams must have listened to this speech witha broad smile as his young apprentice had officially assumed
the oratorical mantle of opposition to slavery. In addition to
Adams serving as a mentor to this young congressman, they
apparently became so close, so quickly, that when Adams suffered
the terminal stroke and died in the House of Representatives,
this young congressman served on the “Committee on
Arrangements,” which meant he was basically one of thehonorary pallbearers for Adams.12
The young congressman served out his firstterm, didn’t run for reelection, but ran andfailed in his bid for Senate not once but
twice. Yet he was ultimately elected to federal
office in 1860… as the President of theUnited States! His name, you have alreadyguessed, was Abraham Lincoln. Yet it wasJohn Quincy Adams who handed the blazing
torch of opposition to slavery to his “battle
buddy,” Abraham Lincoln, and Lincoln became the president
who signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slavesand helped drive passage of the 13th Amendment. The visionbecame a reality. The battle buddy connection between the elder
Adams and the younger Lincoln is yet another lost episode in
American history.

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notes
1 Thomas Johnson Michie, ed., Virginia Reports, (Charlottesville, VA:
Michie Co., 1903), 86.
2 “George Wythe,” Colonial Williamsburg, accessed March 13, 2020,
https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/explore/nation-builders/george-wythe/.
3 Oscar Lane Shewmake, The Honorable George Wythe: Teacher,
Lawyer, Jurist, Statesman: An Address delivered at the Wythe Law Clubof the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Dec. 18,
1921 (College of William and Mary, 1954), 38.
4 “George Wythe,” The Society of the Descendants of the Signers of
the Declaration of Independence, accessed March 13, 2020, http://
www.dsdi1776.com/signers-by-state/george-wythe/.
5 Thomas Jefferson Randolph, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson:
Memoir, Correspondence and Miscellanies from the Papers of Thomas
Jefferson, 4 vols., (Boston: Grey and Bowen, 1830), 4:413.
6 “John Quincy Adams, Slavery’s Enemy Til the End,” New
England Historical Society, accessed March 13, 2020, https://www.
newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/john-quincy-adams-slaverysenemy-til-end/.
7 “Message of President Polk, May 11, 1846,” Yale Law School –Lillian Goldman Law Library, accessed March 13, 2020, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/polk01.asp.
8 John Quincy Adams, Speech of the Honorable John Quincy Adams, inthe House of Representatives, on the State of the Union delivered May
25, 1846, (New York: H. R. Piercy, 1836), 8, 10.
9 Robert Ingraham, “Abraham Lincoln & John Quincy Adams:
Acting Against Evil,” Executive Intelligence Review 42:34 (2015):
37-43, accessed March 13, 2020, https://larouchepub.com/eiw/
public/2015/eirv42n34-20150828/37-43_4234.pdf.
10 “Lincoln’s Spot Resolution,” History, Art & Archives – U.S. Houseof Representatives, accessed March 13, 2020, https://history.house.
gov/Records-and-Research/Listing/lfp_037/.
11 Roy P. Basler, ed., The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, 9 vols.,(New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1953), 1:439.
12 Matt Guilfoyle, “Lincoln and the Capitol,” Architect of the Capitol,
November 9, 2012, accessed March 13, 2020, https://www.aoc.gov/
blog/lincoln-and-capitol. Lincoln is listed on the Committee on
Arrangements.

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Historic Chaplains
Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and infaithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond theRiver and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes
to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether thegods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of
the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, wewill serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:14-15

Every man is to be a Chaplain, a priest, the spiritual leader of thehome and all under his charge. The Stand Courageous Pledge
declares:
As the Chaplain, I pledge to seek God in prayer, obey His
Word, do His will, be faithful to His church, and encourage
the same in my family. I will provide God’s vision for myfamily and help them see what is happening through a biblicalworldview. I will teach them to love God with all of theirhearts, all of their minds, and all of their strength and will
bless my children as the spiritual leader of my home. As forme and my house, we will serve the LORD! ( Joshua 24:15)
All the biblical roles are vital, but the role of Chaplain is perhaps
most important. Tony Perkins, President of Family ResearchCouncil, argues this point well:
Biblical masculinity calls men and prepares men to be theProvider, the Defender, the Mentor, and the Instructor in
their home. But the foundational role of the biblical man isthat of Chaplain, the spiritual leader of their home: the one
who educates, exhorts, and provides an earnest example of
how to stand courageously for the Lord in every situation…
Simply put, no father, no family, no faith.
What follows are some episodes of exemplary men functioning
as Chaplains from American history.
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SAMUEL ADAMSSamuel Adams was a dedicated Christian who was hopeful thatindependence from Britain would mean a return to the God of
the Puritan immigrants who escaped persecution in America. In
fact, Adams grew up in a Christian home and became a devout
follower of Christ. He entered Harvard at age 14.1 Soon after
graduation at age 18, he heard the great revivalist Rev. George
Whitefield preach in 1740, and soon afterward he presented
himself by profession of his faith and became a member of theBrattle Street Church in Boston. That spiritual encounter madea lasting impact on his life and later career. It also guided him in
his private and public life as a spiritual leader. Historian George
Bancroft described Adams as follows:
Evening and morning his house was a house of prayer;
and no one more revered the Christian sabbath. He
was a tender husband, an affectionate parent, and could
vividly enjoy conversation with friends; but the walls of
his modest mansion never witnessed anything inconsistent
with the discipline of the man whose desire for his birthplace
was that “Boston might become a Christian Sparta.”2
In 1772, Samuel Adams formed the Committees ofCorrespondence, which became the communications networkthat connected the colonies. Think of them as the Facebook
and Twitter of that day as they brought everybody up to speed
on the latest threats to their liberty. That same year, Adams
drafted a document called “The Rights of the Colonists.” It isviewed historically as a key document in articulating the reasons
America should sever all political ties to Great Britain. In thisdocument, he spoke of our rights as men, as Christians, and as
subjects. On our rights as Christians, he wrote:
The right to freedom being the gift of God Almighty... the rights of the Colonists as Christians ... may best
be understood by reading and carefully studying theinstitutions of The Great Law Giver and the Head of the

38

OChristian Church, which are to be found clearly written andpromulgated in the New Testament.3
In other words, study the teachings of Jesus if you want to know
your rights as Christian citizens.
Samuel Adams was chosen as a delegate to the Second
Continental Congress where he became a signer of the
Declaration of Independence in 1776. However, in Septemberof 1777, the Revolution was on life-support. British troops
controlled New York. General Washington suffered losses at
Brandywine on September 11. Another 300 were killed by the
British in the Paoli Massacre on September 21. The Continental
Army was in retreat, and the enemy was closing in. The goodpeople of Philadelphia took down the 2,080 pound Liberty
Bell, which has Lev. 25:10 inscribed on it: “Proclaim Liberty
throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Theylowered it from the spire of Independence Hall and carted it
to the basement of the Zion Reformed Church in Allentown.
Members of the Continental Congress fled to Lancaster,then westward to York. Some narrowly escaped with just theclothes on their backs. It was just in time because the British
captured Philadelphia, America’s largest city, on September 26.
John Adams wrote these sad words in his diary: “The prospect
is chilling, on every Side: Gloomy, dark, melancholly, anddispiriting.”4
Only 20 of the 56 signers of the Declaration gathered in Yorkto discuss their grim prospects. Yet during the final days of
September 1777, Samuel Adams rose to address the discourageddelegates as a spiritual leader with phrases laced with echoesfrom Scripture:
If we despond, public confidence is destroyed, the people
will no longer yield their support to a hopeless contest, andAmerican liberty is no more… Through the darkness whichshrouds our prospects, the Ark of Safety is visible (Heb.
11:7). Despondency becomes not the dignity of our cause,O39

nor the character of those who are its supporters. Let us
awaken then, and evince a different spirit, a spirit that shallinspire the people with confidence in themselves and in us, aspirit that will encourage them to persevere in this glorious
struggle, until their rights and liberties shall be established
on a rock (Psalm 40:2).
We have proclaimed to the world our determination ‘to die
as freemen, rather than live as slaves.’ We have appealed to
Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven we haveplaced our trust (Psalm 56:11). Numerous have been the
manifestations of God’s providence in sustaining us. In thegloomy period of adversity, we have had ‘our cloud by day
and pillar of fire by night’ (Exodus 17:17-21). We have been
reduced to distress, but the arm of Omnipotence has raised
us up. Let us still rely in humble confidence on Him who ismighty to save (Isa. 63:1). Good tidings will soon arrive. We
shall never be abandoned by Heaven while we act worthy of
its aid and protection.5
Samuel Adams’ speech at the end of September 1777 turned out
to be prophetic. On October 17, we won the Battle of Saratoga,
the first major victory in the War for Independence. American
General Gates accepted the surrender of British Gen. Burgoyne
and 5,800 British troops. That vital victory convinced the French
to join on our side and it was the turning point in the war. Led
by Samuel Adams, the Continental Congress called for a Day ofThanksgiving and Prayer on November 1, 1777.
Later, Adams was elected Governor of Massachusetts after
serving as Lt. Gov. alongside his friend, John Hancock. Adams
made numerous proclamations declaring a day of thanksgiving
to God or a day of fasting and prayer. On March 20, 1797,
Governor Samuel Adams issued a Proclamation for a Day of
Fasting and Prayer, which would be his last public paper. In it,
Adams declared:
It having been the invariable practice, derived from the40

Odays of our renowned ancestors, at this season of the year
to set apart a day of public fasting and prayer…earnestly
recommending to the ministers of the Gospel, with theirrespective congregations, then to assemble together, andseriously to consider, and with one united voice, to confessour past sins and transgressions, with holy resolutions, by
the grace of God, to turn our feet into the path of his law,humbly beseeching him to endue us with all the Christianspirit of piety, benevolence, and the love of our country…
And as it is our duty to extend our wishes to the happinessof the great family of man, I conceive that we cannot better
express ourselves than by humbly supplicating the Supreme
Ruler of the world that the rod of tyrants may be broken topieces, and the oppressed made free again; that wars may
cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are andhave been among nations may be overruled by promoting
and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when
the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ may beeverywhere established, and all people everywhere willingly
bow to the sceptre of Him who is Prince of Peace.6
In this Proclamation, Adams called on the people of
Massachusetts to pray for the day when the kingdom of Christ
would be established over all the earth. His Christian faith, afaith he promoted to the public as a spiritual leader, is yet anotherlost episode in American history.

JOHN ARMSTRONG
American Statesman John Armstrong, Jr.
served as a Major under General Horatio
Gates in the War for Independence, adelegate to the Continental Congress(1787-88), a U.S. Senator (1800-04), U.S.
Ambassador to France (1804-06) and Spain(1806-10), and Secretary of War (1813).
More importantly, he was the spiritual leader
in his home, but he did not cease his duties when his children
O

41

grew up and had children of their own. In a letter to his sonJames occasioned by the untimely death of his son on April 12,
1794, Armstrong wrote:
In infancy you were presented to God in the ordinanceof baptism solemn engagements were therein enteredinto for your instruction &c in the faith and practice ofChristianity…, voluntarily taking these solemn obligations
upon yourself and beseeching the free mercy of God throughChrist the Mediator to enable you to perform these vowsby giving you the spiritual blessing signified in and by that
ordinance…
[I]f…a cold indifference or negligence toward God, the stateof the soul, the Mediator, his ordinances and institutions
hath been prevalent, and habitual this fully marks an
unrenewed state of the soul involving in it infidelity, aversion
and contempt of the gospel and the revealed will of God(hence are men in a state of nature called haters of God).
Nor is this spiritual and moral disease to be healed by abetter education, a few external, transient thoughts.
It requires the hand of the great Physician, the Lord Jesus
Christ, by His Holy Spirit, and belief of the truth renewing
the state of the mind and disposition of the heart as well,thereby leading the soul from a sense of fear of the wrath ofGod, the penalty of this broken law, and helpless in itself,
to flee to the merits of Jesus, that only refuge or foundation
which God hath laid in His Church, and who was made sin
for us (that is, a sin-offering), that all ‘believers be made therighteousness of God by Him’ [2 Cor. 5:21].7
John Armstrong’s fatherly admonition to his son to do some
introspection into his faith is a lost episode in American history.

GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington joined Virginia’s volunteer militia as a young
man and by age 20 achieved the rank of major. It became clear
42Oto those who knew him that Washington
was a gifted leader of men. He first cameto the public’s notice for his exploits during
the French and Indian War. While his firstcommand resulted in a defeat, something
he would experience more than once in
his career, Washington gained valuable
experience in battle and it suited him
perfectly. In fact, he wrote in a letter: “I heard
the bullets whistle, and believe me, there is something charmingin the sound.”8With this valuable battle experience and knowledge of theterritory, Washington was appointed as a Colonel in 1755.
After leaving the service briefly, British General Edward
Braddock convinced him to return. At the head of two British
regiments, Gen. Braddock’s mission was to take the French
Fort Duquesne, located at the fork of the Ohio River, which
is modern day Pittsburgh. His men were part of an elite corps,
some of the finest members of the British army. Superbly
equipped and supplied, they could move with perfect precisionin any direction on the parade ground. They were a sight to see.
Consequently, he had near contempt for the colonial militia
as a bunch of undisciplined bumpkins. However, he had heardthat young Colonel Washington knew more than anyone about
the wilderness in the western Virginia region and decided his
expertise might be of use.
Gen. Braddock led this superior British force of 1,300 crosscountry to engage the French. Washington tried to persuade
Braddock to use his Native American scouts, as the French
did, but he was even more prejudiced against them than he wastoward the colonials assigned to his crack British regiments.
Washington also tried to coach Braddock on Native American
war strategy of hit and run, hiding behind rocks and trees,
but Braddock believed in the old-fashioned, civilized way of
conducting war: Drag along heavy artillery, line up in formation,
and attack in waves. That was a winning strategy for the wide-O

43

open battlefields of Europe, but it was a doomed strategy in the
thick-forested American wilderness. Yet Braddock considered
Washington as an upstart colonial who had no cultivatedunderstanding of the finer art of warfare and angrily dismissed
him. Consequently, Washington’s warnings that the British
would be cut to ribbons in an Native American ambush fell on
deaf ears.
Gen. Braddock waded into the wilderness with a four-mile-longcolumn of soldiers and artillery until they walked right into anambush laid by the French and Native Americans. The result
on July 9, 1755, would prove to be one of the bloodiest days in
Anglo-American history. A hail of bullets tore into the British
ranks, their red coats were a perfect target for the French andthe Indians who were hiding in the forest on either side with the
British column caught in the crossfire. The whole British army
was thrown into confusion while their unseen attackers picked
them off.
While the British soldiers fired randomly into the woods, theFrench and Native Americans were deadly in their aim fromtheir ambush positions, felling British soldiers by the scores.
The ground was quickly littered with the dead and dying, horses
panicked and tore off with their wagons, trampling the living
and the dead. It was an absolute massacre. And young Colonel
Washington was right in the middle of it.
Yet miraculously, while carrying the General’s orders to the fieldcommanders in the heat of that battle, Washington survived. At
the end of the day, two horses had been shot from under him
and four times his coat had been shot through or torn by musket
balls. Yet Washington escaped without injury. His friend andeyewitness to the battle, Dr. James Craik, testified: “I expected
every moment to see him fall. His duty and situation exposed
him to every danger. Nothing but the superintending care of
Providence could have saved him from the fate of all aroundhim.”9 In fact, rumors reached Mt. Vernon that he had been
killed, so Washington wrote his step-brother Augustine:44O

As I have heard since my arrival at this place [Fort Cumber­land] a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech,
I take this early opportunity of contradicting the first and ofassuring you that I have not as yet composed the latter. But
by the all‑powerful dispensations of Providence I have beenprotected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I
had four bullets through my coat and two horses shot underme yet escaped unhurt, although death was levelling mycom­panions on every side of me!10
He was indeed shielded by God’s hand, untouched by bullet
or bayonet, arrow or tomahawk, even though scores of fellow
soldiers fell all around him. In fact, over half of the British andColonials (714) were killed or wounded and only about 30 men
survived from the Virginia regiment. Nearly one third of theofficers were killed in action or died later from their wounds.
Among them was theircommander, General
Braddock. Though hewas treated by Dr. Craik,
Braddock was mortallywounded and died threedays later during theirretreat near the Great
Meadows, a mile west ofFort Necessity. Who would do the funeral? Colonel Washington,
the officer in charge, pulled out his copy of The Anglican Book
of Prayers (1662), and conducted a Christian funeral during thenight by torchlight.11 The service he would have led began withthree Bible verses:
The Order for the Burial of the Dead.
I AM the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: andwhosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. St. John
11: 25, 26.12
O45

I KNOW that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shalt standat the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skinworms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, andnot another. Job 19: 25, 26, 27.
WE brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we cancarry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken
away; blessed be the Name of the Lord. 1 Tim. 6: 7. Job 1: 21.
Then, after reading a Psalm, the priest (or in this case,Washington, the lay-leader) was to read from 1 Corinthians 15,
a chapter in the New Testament focusing on the Resurrection.
After other prayers (such as the Lord’s Prayer) are said and otherscriptures are read, the leader closes with this prayer and theattached benediction:
O MERCIFUL God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is the resurrection and the life; in whom whosoever
believeth shall live, though he die; and whosoever liveth,and believeth in him, shall not die eternally; who also hathtaught us, by his holy Apostle Saint Paul, not to be sorry, as
men without hope, for them that sleep in him: We meekly
beseech thee, O Father, to raise us from the death of sin
unto the life of righteousness; that, when we shall departthis life, we may rest in him, as our hope is this our brother
doth; and that, at the general Resurrection in the last day,
we may be found acceptable in thy sight; and receive thatblessing, which thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce toall that love and fear thee, saying, Come, ye blessed childrenof my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you fromthe beginning of the world: Grant this, we beseech thee,O merciful Father, through Jesus Christ, our Mediator andRedeemer. Amen.
THE grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all
evermore. Amen.
46

O

After Col. Washington concluded the funeral service, Braddock
was buried in the middle of the road and wagons were rolled overthe fresh mound of dirt to keep his remains from being foundand desecrated by any Native Americans who might pursue themduring their retreat.
This instance was not the only time Washington functioned
as a chaplain for his men. During the French and Indian War,Washington tried repeatedly to get a chaplain for the Army.
After one wasn’t granted by the Royal Governor, Robert
Dinwiddie, Washington became not only the military leader, but
the chaplain as well. For two years he conducted worship services
on Sunday for his men.14
George Washington not only saw to the spiritual needs of
his soldiers, he also served as the spiritual leader in his home.
Based on the records of Tobias Lear, one of Washington’s
personal secretaries, Washington customarily led a prayer before
meals unless a minister was present.15 Lear’s records show that
Washington also led the family in several spiritual pursuits on
Sundays:
While President, Washington followed an invariable routine
on Sundays. The day was passed very quietly, no company
being invited to the house. After breakfast, the president
read aloud a chapter from the Bible, and the whole family
attended church together.16 Washington spent the afternoon
writing personal letters, never neglecting his weekly
instructions to his manager at Mount Vernon, while Mrs.
Washington frequently went to church again, often taking
the children with her. In the evening Lear read aloud to thefamily some sermon or extracts from a book of a religious
nature, everyone went to bed an early hour.17
Additionally, George Washington Parke Custis, Martha’s
gransdson who grew up in their home, reported:
On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe,
the president and Mrs. Washington attended divine serviceO47

at Christ church [in Philadelphia]; and in the evenings,
the president read to Mrs. Washington, in her chamber, asermon, or some portion from the sacred writings.18
While Washington had no biological children, he faithfully
served as a stepfather to two of Martha’s children and to twoof her son’s children, providing them with spiritual guidance.
In fact, he sponsored the baptisms of eight children. Purchaserecords show that Washington bought Bibles and Anglican
Prayer Books for his stepchildren and had their names engravedwith “gilt Letters,”19 and that he paid to bind his collectionsof sermons into books—all for the use of personal devotions
and family worship.20 Along with his own collected sermons,
Washington possessed various printed collections of sermons byclergy such as Reverend James Beattie,21 Reverend Hugh Blair(published by and purchased from Reverend Mason Weems),22
Laurence Sterne,23 “Shipley’s Sermons” by Reverend Jonathan
Shipley,24 Reverend Gilbert Burnet on the Thirty Nine Articles
of Religion,25 Reverend John Wesley,26 etc. Consequently,
Washington took seriously his role as the Chaplain of his home.
Finally, President Washington guided the new nation spiritually.
Very much aware that his presidency would set the pace forthose who followed him, Washington not only participated inand added to the religious activities surrounding and during
his inauguration, but he also continued to point Americans to
God for the duration of his time in office. From his Inaugural
Address, to his annual addresses to Congress, to his letters tofaith groups, to his Farewell Address before retiring to Mount
Vernon, Washington frequently urged citizens to acknowledge
God. For example, On October 3, 1789, President George
Washington issued a Proclamation of a National Day ofThanksgiving:
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge theProvidence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be gratefulfor his benefits, and humbly to implore His protection andfavor…
48

OThat we may then all unite in rendering unto Him oursincere and humble thanks, for His kind care and protectionof the People of this country previous to their becoming a
Nation; for the signal andmanifold mercies, and thefavorable interpositions of
His Providence, which we
experienced in the courseand conclusion of the latewar…
And also that we maythen unite in most humblyoffering our prayers andsupplications to the great
Lord and Ruler of Nations,and beseech Him to pardon
our national and othertransgressions, to enable
us all, whether in public or
private stations, to perform
our several and relative
duties properly and punctually; to render our national
government a blessing to all the People, by constantly beinga government of wise, just and constitutional laws, discreetly
and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guideall Sovereigns and Nations (especially such as have shown
kindness unto us) and to bless them with good government,
peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practiceof true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among
them and Us; and generally to grant unto all Mankind sucha degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd of
October, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundredand eighty-nine.
Go Washington.27

O

49

The irony is that modern Courts increasingly see governmentsponsored, public prayer as a violation of the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment. Yet this thoughtfully worded
Proclamation, calling on Americans to a “National Day ofPrayer,” was offered by President Washington at the request ofboth Houses of Congress upon the successful passage of the Billof Rights, which includes the same First Amendment quoted byradical separationists. Consequently, the fact that Washington
was a chaplain to his men in the military, a chaplain in his own
home, and as president functioning as a chaplain in calling thenation to pray is a lost episode in American history.

50

O

Conclusion
After reading story after story about courageous men from
American history, it should be evident that the culture shapers ofour day are taking us in the wrong direction, away from healthymasculinity and further from the biblical version of manhood.
It is highly doubtful that GQ’s vision for a “new masculinity”
would have made any significant contribution, let alone survived,
during the settling and founding of America. Consequently, it
is incumbent on us to counter the debilitating and dangerous
messaging being perpetrated on men today.
Here is the challenge. Evaluate your own masculinity. How
do you stack up against some of the examples from American
history? Don’t let your perceived shortcomings discourage you.
Let these men inspire you. Pick one of these men and read his
biography, preferably one that was written before the modern“hero” destroyers masquerading as “historians” wrote about them.
Take one of your favorite stories from this booklet and post it
on social media. Start a conversation. Better yet, get GeneralBoykin’s book Man to Man and start a study of it with a groupof men. Let’s take back masculinity from the progressive culture
shapers. Let us be a new generation that leads the way with
“Courageous Manhood!” Let’s act like men!

O51

notes1

William Wells, The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, 3 vols. (Boston:
Little, Brown, and Company, 1865), 1:10.
2 George Bancroft, History of the United States from the Discovery of theAmerican Continent, 10 vols. (New York: D. Appleton, 1882), 3:76.
3 Edwin Doak Mead, ed., Old South Leaflets (Boston: Directors of the Old
South Work, 1903), 419.
4 Diary entry for September 16, 1777. See “Diary of John Adams, volume 2,”
Massachusetts Historical Society, accessed March 13, 2020, http://www.
masshist.org/publications/adams-papers/index.php/view/ADMS-01-02-020007-0003-0002.
5 William Vincent Wells, The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, 3 vols.,(Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1865), 2:492-493. See also: Ira Stoll,
Samuel Adams: A Life (New York: Free Press, 2008), 3-4. Bible verses addedin parentheses.
6 William V. Wells, The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams, Beinga Narrative of His Acts and Opinions and of His Agency in Producing and
Forwarding the American Revolution, with Extracts from His CorrespondenceState Papers and Political Essays, 3 vols., (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co.,
1865), 3:365-66.
7 Alfred Nevin, Centennial Biography, Men of Mark of the Cumberland Valley,
PA 1776-1876 (Philadelphia: Fulton Publishing Company, 1876), 78.
8 “From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, May 31, 1754”
as found in W. W. Abbot, ed., The Papers of George Washington, Colonial
Series, (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 1:118–119.
9 John Frederick Schroeder, Life and Times of Washington, 2 vols., (New York:Johnson, Fry and Co., 1857), 1:96.
10 “From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, July 18, 1755”
as found in Jared Sparks, ed., The Writings of George Washington being hiscorrespondence, addresses, messages, and other papers, official and private, selected
and published from the original manuscripts with a life of the author, notes andillustrations, 12 vols. (Boston: American Stationer’s Company, 1837), 2:89.
Cited hereafter as Sparks, WGW.
11 E.C. M’guire, The Religious Opinions and Character of Washington, 2d ed.,(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1847), 137. E.C. M’Guire was the sonin-law of Mr. Robert Lewis, Washington’s nephew and one of his private
secretaries, who provided eyewitness accounts to the author.
12 Washington directed that these verses were to be inscribed on his Mount
Vernon tomb.
13 John Clement Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington from theOriginal Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, 39 vols., (Washington, DC:
Government Printing Office, 1931-44); 1:470, 498, 510. letters written on
9-23, 11-9, and 11-24-1756 in unsuccessful requests to Virginia Governor,
Robert Dinwiddie. Cited hereafter as Fitzpatrick, WGW.
14 William J. Johnson, George Washington the Christian (Arlington Heights, IL:
Christian Liberty Press, 1919/1992), 45-47.

52

O

15 Stephen Decatur, Jr., ed., Private Affairs of Washington from the Records andAccounts of Tobias Lear, Esquire, his Secretary (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
1933), 51: “Unless a minister were present, the President would say a shortgrace before they sat down.”
16 Ibid., 90-91: “The President was an Episcopalian and in New York at thefirst went to Saint Paul’s Chapel, as Trinity church, which of been burnedin the great fire of September, 1776, was then being rebuilt. The new
church, when completed in March following, contain the ‘Presidents Pew,’
which was offered to Washington and excepted and after the new edifice
was come consecrated on the 25th of March 1790, he attended services
there until his departure from the city the following autumn.” While inPhiladelphia, Washington and his family attended Christ Church. After heleft office, they returned to Mount Vernon and travelled to Christ Church
in Alexandria. In each church, a pew was purchased or set aside for them as
they were regular worshippers.”
17 Ibid., 90.
18 See Benson J. Lossing, ed., Private Memoirs of Washington by His Adopted
Son George Washington Parke Custis with a Memoir of the Author by His
Daughter (New York: Derby and Jackson, 1860), 508.
19 Fitzpatrick, WGW, 2:370 purchase order on 10-12-61.
20 See, for example, William Coolidge Lane, comp., Catalogue of the
Washington Collection in the Boston Athenaeum Compiled and Annotated by
P.C. Griffin Appleton in Four Parts (Boston: Athenaeum, 1897), 76-77, 132,
145, 162-163, 195.
21 Ibid., 502
22 Ibid., 503.
23 Ibid., 510.
24 Ibid., 500.
25 Ibid., 39.
26 Ibid., 221.
27 Sparks, WGW, 12:119.

O53

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