The Soldier of Virginia

A Novel on George Washington “Mr. Washington — and who is Mr. Washington?” “It is the Governor of Virginia’s envoy, Monsieur — bearing a letter from his Excellency.” St. Pierre gave his inferior officer a quick glance; two things occurred to him: the first was that Dinwiddie must be serious if he had sent a messenger in such weather; the second was that it would have been more courteous if the envoy had been a man of some rank; he remarked on neither of these things, but quietly requested that Mr. Washington should be brought into his presence. The scene was St. Pierre’s room in the newly erected Fort le Boeuf; December cold filled the apartment despite the huge fire of logs that roared on the hearth; and the view from the window was of a frozen lake, great trees against a drab sky, and the steady falling of snowflakes. Originally published in 1912, this is a fictionalized biography on America’s first President by one of the best authors of historical fiction.