nt-general, whose duty it was to organize and train
the militia, instruct the officers in matters touching the art and
science of war, to review the different companies when on parade, and
to inspect their arms and accoutrements, and see that they were kept
ready for use at a moment's warning.

The energy, fidelity, and soundness of judgment, that young Washington
had lately shown while acting as surveyor, had won for him a name in
the colony; and, becoming known to Governor Dinwiddie, he was
appointed by that gentleman adjutant-general of the Northern district;
receiving along with his commission the rank of major, which entitled
him to the salary of seven hundred and fifty dollars a year. You have
already seen what great delight he took in martial exercises when a
school-boy; and, now that he was to become a soldier in the true sense
of the term, you will not be surprised to learn that this appointment
was altogether agreeable to his present taste and inclinations. To
show his deep sense of the honor done him, and the trust and
confidence reposed in him, he determined to perform his work well and
faithfully as far as in him lay.

The better to qualify himself for the duties of his office, he placed
himself under the instruction of his brother Lawrence, and other
officers living in that part of the province, who had served under
Admiral Vernon during the late Spanish war. These gentlemen, besides
giving him the benefit of their experience and observation, placed in
his hands the best works on military science then in use; from which
he learned the various modes of training militia, the different
manoeuvres of an army on the field of battle, and their management
while on the line of march, together with the most approved plans of
building forts, throwing up intrenchments and redoubts, and the
construction of other works of defence, whether of wood or earth or
stone. At the same time, he also made himself acquainted with the
handling and design of many weapons and engines of war; and under the
instruction of Capt. Van Braam, a Dutch fencing-master, he became very
skilful in the use of the sword. Thus Mount Vernon, from being the
quiet mansion of a country gentleman, was now, in a manner, converted
into a military school; and the youth, who but a few years before, as
he strolled among its verdant retreats, had, in honor of his Lowland
Beauty, made his first and only attempt of putting his thoughts and
feelings in verse,