Historical Heroes - George Washington

George Washington was a bad ass. Here are a few things I recently learned about him, that they didn't teach me in school

1. Being the 4th child in his family, there wasn't any money to send him to school

This lead to him studying surveying and map making at home on his own time. Because of this skill he was able to own some pretty sweet real estate nobody knew existed

2. He got really wealthy from his land ownership and by marrying an older rich widow

3. In an early battle he had two horses shot out from under him and bullet holes in his hat and coat

This lead people to believe that a higher power was leading him

4. George lead an army of 7500 men against the British in the early parts of the Revolutionary War and for the most part lost the whole North East Territory

5. Members of George's militia were spies for the British making it pretty difficult to get ahead.

The British were offering pardons and money for anyone who would turn on the colonists

6. Was widely looked down upon for not being British born

Even in America, weird.

7. Wrote the words "Victory or Death" on a piece of paper right before leading an attack on the British / mercenary armies on Christmas Eve night 1776

There is a lot of speculation on if this was just his thoughts or a secret password used by a select group

8. Crossed the Delaware River with a bunch of men on who were fighting with pitchforks and knives, many didn't have shoes.

On Christmas Eve This sneak attack defeated the mercenary army who'd been partying and drinking all night.

9. Sneak attack #2 was on January 3rd which was also a success and was the turning point in the American Revolution

10. This dude was an underdog

Highly inspirational to me