Christmas 1783

 

George Washington arrived at his Mount Vernon home two hundred and forty (240) years ago this week, on Christmas Eve 1783. Resigning his commission to the Confederation Congress in Annapolis the day before, he told the assembled legislators there in the Maryland State House that he was “Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with satisfaction the Appointment I accepted with diffidence.”

George Washington was a civilian once again.

Throughout his adult life Washington—and his family—had grown accustomed to his long absences from home, including during the holidays. At no time was this truer than during the Revolution. General Washington and his men famously crossed the Delaware on Christmas Night 1776 to surprise the Hessians at Trenton the following day. He and the 11,000 exhausted, ill-clad men under his command spent Christmas 1777 just trying to survive the elements at Valley Forge. One of the most difficult Christmases came two years later here at Morristown, where Washington and his men faced not just the cold but the threat of British attack. General Washington wrote to New Jersey Governor William Livingston on December 21 seeking help should the Redcoats strike. General Washington explained to Governor Livingston that “The situation of our army at this time compared with that of the enemy makes it necessary we should be very much upon our guard. They have more than double our force collected at New York and we are mouldering away dayly.”

When the war finally did end in 1783 Washington and others celebrated in New York City for a few weeks in late November and early December before they began heading home. Washington was determined to get back to his Virginia farm and family in time for Christmas. That was easier said than done on the muddy roads of the era, Nonetheless Washington managed to get home in time to celebrate that Christmas 240 years ago.

All of us here at Morristown National Historical Park wish you a happy holiday season.

 

Image credit: Mount Vernon as it was in the early decades of the twentieth century / Library of Congress

Keith J. Muchowski, a librarian and professor at New York City College of Technology (CUNY) in Brooklyn, volunteers at Morristown National Historical Park.