Securing the Blessing of Liberty
School children today learn the empty fact that George Washington was the first president of the United States, forgetting that he was first the commanding general who let our colonial troops to victory in the War for Independence. Across America we have erected statues and named cities and streets to commemorate the great character and leadership of General George Washington. Washington endeared himself to his men through personal bravery and refusal to retreat. He was a man of moral character that is at the heart of leadership, and he called out that kind of leader in war. He wrote,
The General hopes and trusts that every officer and man will endeavour to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the dearest rights and liberties of his country.
It was the religious fervor of men like Patrick Henry, John Adams, and General George Washington who instilled faith in those first Colonial troops to defeat the most powerful military force in the world. It was a costly war, and what seemed humanly impossible chiseled away at the morale of overextended regimens that were called upon to persevere.
General Washington gave a candid appeal after his retreat following the fall of Ft. Washington and Fort Lee.
“In this season of despondency, congress recommended to each of the States, the observance of a ‘day of solemn fasting and humiliation before God.’ At the same time they called upon the States to furbish militia to reinforce the continental army, now so enfeebled as scarcely to amount to three thousand men.”
And again, as troops suffered with lack of food and bitter cold in Washington’s winter at Valley Forge, he issued this order on May 5, 1778:
It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the cause of the United American States, and finally to raise up a powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty and independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day for gratefully acknowledging the divine goodness, and celebrating the important event, which we owe to His divine interposition.
At the close of the Revolutionary War, on December 23, 1784, Washington appeared before Congress to surrender his commission. He concluded his speech as follows:
I consider it an indispensable duty to close the last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them to his holy keeping.
Congress responded,
“We join you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching Him to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for YOU, we address to HIM our earnest prayers, that a life so beloved, may be fostered with all His care; that your days may be as happy as they have been illustrious; and that HE will finally give you that reward which this world cannot give.”
Those who fought in the War for Independence and secured liberty for this new nation, the United States of America, endured through leader-led prayer the hardship of war and the unwavering believe in the Providence of Almighty God.
In 1789, President Washington began his inaugural address calling upon the same strength that had carried him and his troops to victory, “It will be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe who presides in the councils of nations.”
Our founders experienced the blessings which are Endowed By Our Creator for which they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. Read the history of prayer in our military, and the collection of prayers prayed by men of valor throughout the wars that have been fought to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
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