Temps Passés: 241 years ago today, George Washington resigned his commission

He could have been king, but instead he retired to Mount Vernon (at age 51) and established the precedent of civilian control of the military.

The Old Senate Chamber in the stately Maryland statehouse, which overlooks downtown Annapolis, was where George Washington stood to deliver a timeless speech and resign his commission as commander of the colonial Army 241 years ago today. Treaty of Paris had been signed only seven weeks before his appearance, and with that the independence of the United States was formally recognized.

The centerpiece of the Old Senate Chamber is the lifelike statue of Washington holding the text of the speech and facing the president and members of the Senate. The room today seems tiny, but history tells us that on that day in 1783 it was full of the Continental Congress, dignitaries and guests, members of Washington's own retinue, and some prominent local citizens. The speech itself is displayed in a protected case in the corridor outside the room.

When Jan and I visited the statehouse last May, as part of our move from Florida to Washington, we spent most of a day exploring its nooks and crannies, including some that are not usually open to the public. The building was almost empty on that rainy day in May and the guards were relaxed about our wandering.

Today the chamber gives no hint of the behemoth the national capital would become, but it's a good reminder of where we started.

This is Washington frozen in bronze on the day I was last there. He was a man retiring in the prime of his life, 51 years old. His retirement lasted only six years, until he returned as first president of the nation in 1789, serving until 1797. He died in 1799.

Heather Cox Richardson had a really interesting lookback on the anniversary of the speech in her post yesterday. I recommend that you read it and subscribe to her Substack.

The plaque explaining the statue and setting:

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Welcome to Temps Passés

This is the first edition of Temps Passés, Past Times, an unplanned series of looks at important or interesting events in the past.

Please look also at the Eddie Grant Series of Paris-based novels. I have written about Finding Pegasus, third in the series, and will have an excerpt from it tomorrow. The most recent is The Final Heist, which I hope you'll look at, and the first was Treasure of Saint-Lazare, which Readers’ Favorite chose as the best historical mystery of its year. You can see both on Amazon at the links embedded in the titles, or the entire series by clicking the button below.

To see how the sausage was made, read Stacy Schiff's magisterial A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, and watch the 2024 Apple TV+ series Franklin, with Michael Douglas in the title role. Trailer. I watched it on Prime TV, as a rental.

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John Pearce