day 260: revolutionary fever, again

It is time for my semi-annual (or so) rhapsody on George Washington, which, this time, has been brought on by watching America, The Story of Us on The History Channel.



Did you know that GW was humble enough, and confidant enough in his own manliness, to bring in a Prussian general to rally the troops after a horrific Winter at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania?  It was during this Winter that he also introduced inoculations in the camp by having the doctor scrape pus (sorry) from an open small pox sore on one sick soldier and admit it into the bloodstream of a healthy soldier.  Are you getting how revolutionary (sorry again) his thinking was?


And don't even get me started on his self-discipline and the respect he earned from his troops.  This man was totally born to do what he did, and I will reiterate that again sometime in the next 6 months. 

14 comments

LisAway | May 6, 2010 at 12:02 AM

Wow. George was awesome. Thanks for sharing insight into what he was like.

And I forgive you both times (but barely on the inoculations. Only because I like you so much. :)

Dona | May 6, 2010 at 1:35 AM

I love George Washington almost as much as I love Abraham Lincoln and about the same as John Adams. Thanks for the revolutionary post.

Unknown | May 6, 2010 at 2:28 AM

I do that pus scraping thing when I'm short on crisco. It works miracles. Absolute miracles.

And no denying, he was an extraordinary man. One of my favorite places in the country is Mount Vernon. So beautiful and peaceful, I'm sure it was a place of great solace to him.

Charlotte | May 6, 2010 at 7:08 AM

I love George Washington. What a great man! It seems I am ever learning even greater things about him.

Kazzy | May 6, 2010 at 7:37 AM

DeNae- I love Mount Vernon too, and actually grew up about 40 minutes from it. Of course, I was the typical kid that got kind of tired of going to the Smithsonian, Monticello, and Mount Vernon. Idiot me. :)

Lara Neves | May 6, 2010 at 8:47 AM

Amen.

I didn't know that about how smart he was to innoculate, gross as it is.

Very cool.

Barbaloot | May 6, 2010 at 10:31 AM

I've only been able to catch a few minutes here and there of that show---but it looks good. I love American History. George Washington was such a incredible man!

Melanie Jacobson | May 6, 2010 at 1:06 PM

George Washington rocks so hard. We have The Story of Us waiting on our DVR for some Sunday viewing. Yay!

Kimberly Vanderhorst | May 6, 2010 at 1:49 PM

Amen to that. Heck, I'm Canadian and even so I have huge admiration and respect for him.

Heather | May 6, 2010 at 2:10 PM

Did you see the John Adams series? There was a small-pox puss scraping inoculation scene in that one too.

Heather | May 6, 2010 at 2:10 PM

Did you see the John Adams series? There was a small-pox puss scraping inoculation scene in that one too.

The Way I See It | May 6, 2010 at 11:09 PM

I was never interested in History when I was a kid, but I sure am now. I'd love to go back to school just to learn for the fun of it now. Thanks for a glimpse into George.

The Way I See It | May 6, 2010 at 11:10 PM

I was never interested in History when I was a kid, but I sure am now. I'd love to go back to school just to learn for the fun of it now. Thanks for a glimpse into George.

Luann | May 10, 2010 at 11:44 AM

I was going to watch that and I missed it! Thanks for the recap. George is my hero, too.