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But Washington’s tastes had become so settled, that he followed the general trend of mathematical and military study, until he became so well qualified as a civil engineer, that at the age of sixteen, one year after abandoning the navy as his profession, he was intrusted with important land surveys, by Lord Fairfax; and at the age of nineteen was appointed Military Inspector, with the rank of Major. In 1752 he became the Adjutant-General of Virginia. Having been born on the twenty-second day of February (February 11th, Old Style) he was only twenty years of age when this great responsibility was intrusted to his charge.

The period was one of grave concern to the people of Virginia, especially as the encroachments of the French on the western frontier, and the hostilities of several Indian tribes, had imperilled all border settlements; while the British government was not prepared to furnish a sufficient military force to meet impending emergencies. As soon as Washington entered upon the duties of his office, he made a systematic organization of the militia his first duty. A plan was formulated, having special reference to frontier service. His journals and the old Colonial records indicate the minuteness with which this undertaking was carried into effect. His entire subsequent career is punctuated by characteristics drawn from this experience. Rifle practice, feats of horsemanship, signalling, restrictions of diet, adjustments for the transportation of troops and supplies with the least possible encumbrance; road and bridge building, the care of powder and the casting of bullets, were parts of this system. These were accompanied by regulations requiring an exact itinerary of every march, which were filed for reference, in order to secure the quickest access to every frontier post. The duties and responsibilities of scouts sent in advance of troops, were carefully defined. The passage of rivers, the felling of trees for breastworks, stockades, and block-houses, and methods of crossing swamps, by corduroy adjustments, entered into the instruction of the Virginia militia.