Life of George Washington, volume 4 of 5

"Life of George Washington, volume 4 of 5" by Washington Irving is a historical biography written in the mid-19th century. It focuses on the closing years of the American Revolution, tracing Washington’s leadership through severe supply shortages, political friction, and the shifting war to the South, while foreshadowing the allied effort that will decide the conflict and usher him toward peacetime roles.

The opening of the volume depicts the brutal winter at Morristown, where Washington’s half-starved, ill-clad army endures a currency-collapse, commissary chaos, and forced impressments tempered by his insistence on fairness, even as New Jersey’s citizens rally with food and clothing. Raids and counterraids follow—Lord Stirling’s failed strike on Staten Island; Knyphausen’s destructive forays, including the burning of Reverend Caldwell’s church; and the British attack on Young’s House in Westchester. The narrative then turns to Benedict Arnold’s controversial rule in Philadelphia—his lavish lifestyle, disputes with Pennsylvania’s council, public charges, court-martial, and Washington’s gentle reprimand—while Washington, short of men and money, anxiously reinforces the threatened South, sends De Kalb, and welcomes Lafayette with news of French aid and a plan to target New York. As mutiny flares among underpaid troops and Washington pleads successfully with Pennsylvania for emergency powers and provisions, the scene shifts to South Carolina: Clinton’s painstaking siege operations, Tarleton’s ruthless cavalry strokes at Monk’s Corner and Laneau’s Ferry, the British fleet forcing the harbor, and, after a grinding investment, the capitulation of Charleston—followed by Tarleton’s bloody defeat of Buford at the Waxhaws and a harsh British proclamation compelling “protected” Carolinians back into arms, before Clinton departs for New York.