THE A 12499 HOME OF WASHINGTON AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS, HISTORICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND PICTORIAL. NEW EDITION, REVISED, WITH ADDITIONS. BY BENSON J. LOSSING. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS, CHIEFLY FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR, ENGRAVED BY LOSSING & BARRITT, NEW YORK: W. A. TOWNSEND, PUBLISHER, 55 WALKER STREET. 1866. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, by BENSON J. LOSSING In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for, the Southern District of New York. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by BENSON J. LOSSING. In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. ALVORD, PRINTER. TO HIS PATRIOTIC COUNTRY WOMEN, BY WHOSE EFFORTS The Home and Tomb of Washington HAVE BEEN RESCUED FROM DECAY, This Volume is Dedicated BY THE AUTHOR PREFACE. THIS work was first introduced to the public in the year 1859, at about the time when the estate of Mount Vernon-the HOME OF WASHINGTON-passed from the possession of the family of that great and good man, forever. During that and the previous year, I had carefully sought at Mount Vernon, Arlington House, and other places, for existing mementoes of that Home and its venerated occupant. The result may be found in the following pages. This volume makes no claim to the character of a Biography, yet it will be found that by the consecutive arrangement of facts and illustrations, in proper chronological order, quite a complete picture of the Private and Domestic life of Washington is presented; for that life from his early childhood, was associated with Mount Vernon. It is a fact eminently satisfactory to every American, that during the terrible Civil War that was kindled in the bosom of the Republic in the Spring of 1861, and which raged at times with intense and destructive energy in the vicinity of Mount Vernon, the most profound and reverential respect for the HOME OF WASHINGTON was shown by the soldiery of both parties engaged in the contest. The sentiment of Love for the great patriot was too deeply rooted in the American heart to be eradicated by the intense hatred which such a war engenders. The mansion and its surroundings had no other guardian than an accomplished woman who had been placed in charge of it |