Tar Heel History
By Billy Arthur
‘A Trifling Place’
It's a booming metropolis now, but George Washington wasn't
very impressed on Ins May 1791 visit to Charlotte.
cveiy hill and stream anti evei\ cclc-
Inated spot it contains."
"During the late war." '.till Washing¬
ton. ”il my information is court I. the
inhabitants were true to the cause
«>1
this
«
otiutry and brave in its dclciisc."
Young Caldwell responded. "Youi
inlor inatiou is correct, sir. In Mecklen¬
burg County, where we are now. and in
Rowan, which lies before us. a Ton’ did
not dare show his face. It was in a small
On his 1791 "grand t in nit ol
Southern states to cement
the newly formed I nion.
President George Washing¬
ton was given a spirited and lestive wel¬
come to North Carolina and < Ilia riot to.
Strangelv. however, some ol Ins i hiel
hiogiapheis make no mention ol his
stop and siav in the "Hornet’s Nest" ol
the Revolutionary War.
In lai t, Washington even spent the
night of May *2S, 1791, in Charlotte and
inadvertently left his powder box at
( look's Inn. mu< h to the delight ol the
village womankind.
In his diary ol the trip. Washington
luiuselt dismisses what was a lug event in
I lie lives ol Mecklenburg County patri¬
ots and former soldiers with a hi id and
indifferent entry, writing: "( lli.u lotte is a
it illitlg plai e. I he t ouri o! Met klenburg
is held in it. I here is a school (t ailed a
College) in it. at which, at limes, there
has been
Г»(М*0
boys."
( lh.tr l< Hie was then |* ipulated with lewei
than
12Г»
lieeholdcrs and slaves, but on
this | mi ti< 1 1 la i davit was teeming with |*eo-
ple awaiting the arrival ol the fir M presi¬
dent. And were it not lor Rowan < lotiniv's
l)r. Charles ( .ildwdl’s lH52auiol»ogiapliv
giving a colorful and detailed aciotiul ol
Washington's arrival and stay — and lot
historian Archibald I lendet son's North
( jnolnoi Yhr <
>1/1
North Stair a a/I I hr Nrw
— (usteiiu would Ik- almost ignotanl
«*1
the ext iting tKcasion.
Wasliiugton bail been on the road two
months and was headed home. Awaiting
him on the Camden road at the South
Carolina border on Mav*27wcrr IS "bril¬
liantly tiiuloi tiled" voting men iioin Sal¬
isbury Military At adeniy. ol whit b ( lald-
vvell was standard hearer, ami a pat tv ol
the Met kle nhtug I lorse.
I lie piesitlt-niial caravan, described
eailier in the diary by Washington,
mi Itltletl "a Cliarriot anti loin Imises . .
. a light baggage wagon anti horses,
(plus) four saddle horses besides a lead
town, through which we shall pass, that
Cornwallis lay encamped, that lie swore
that he had never been in such a
one lor niysell and live <foi the) Valet tie
Cbambie. (wo
ГооИпсп.
Coat liman and
ptislillon."
The “Charriot"
was a coat It. ivoiv
in color with
designs of the four
seasons paintetl bv
the noted at list
Cypriani on the
tloois. It tint and
hack, and the
whole framevvotk
and springs gilded.
The tiuli itlc’i s wore
hiiglil red and
white livery.
Caldwell relates
that bis "column
was conipat t. lout
steeds reined up to
their mettle but held in check: each
mail, bis cap and plume duly adjusted,
seated liriulv anti hoiscinan-like in bis
saddle, inn swords tliawn and at rest."
d. tinned hornets' nest ol Wltig.s, lot that
lie i ould not. in the surrounding t oun-
trv, procure a t bit ken
in a pig lot bistable. in
a gallon of oats ftu bis
horse, but l>v purchas¬
ing it with the blood tif
his soldiers."
“Pray, what is the
name ol that town?"
Wasliiugton asked.
"Chat lotte. sir, the
county seat ol Meck¬
lenburg. anti the place
where independence
was tlec lared about a
veal before its «let I. na¬
tion by Congress: and
my fat bet was tine of
the Whigs who were
concerned by the glut i-
tins transaction. We shall arrive by the
inhabitants of the county, a huge |mrtion
of whom served in some capat itv in the
Revolutionary War."
Washington was not in the coach "bin
riding behind on a magnificent white
charger, a present to lum bv Frederick
ol Prussia. As I approached the Presi¬
dent. an awe
«
ante ovet me. . . . Not only
did I forget my oil-rehearsed address,
Inn I became jKisitively tillable to articu¬
late a word. I ret eivetl hint in silence with
a salute til tnv sword.
"Quit
к
to perceive my embarrassment.
Washington letuined my salute with
marked coni levy, and speaking kintllv.
paused lor a moment, and then desired
that we might pioeecd. I titling abreast
ol him on bis leli, and the privates ol inv
escort falling in double file into the rear.
“How mug have von lived in this pail
of the country!’" Caldwell quotes the
picsident as asking. Anti the rcplv: "F.vei
since childhood, su. I am familial with
Washington wondered il lie might
rxpcc t to meet any members ol the con¬
vention which declared independence,
and Caldwell cited the deaths ol certain
tut- iiiIk'i s and (ailing health ol • ithei s. but
surmised those able to travel would be
ihete. "When I passed through the town
vesterdav. a large iiiiiiiIh'I ol them had
already assembled, and the crowd was
rapidlv increasing. /And thev aie exceed¬
ingly provident. Convinced that tliev can¬
not all Ik- supplied in the town, with either
loud oi lodging, many ol them have
brought large and vvclkovcred faint wag¬
ons lot thcii bed chambers, and enough
substantial food, already cooked, lor a
week's subsistence."
( .ildwell added that some veteran mili¬
tia riflemen had already arrived and
put lied tents under which thev had slept
IhrSlatr/Mjv 1493
Id
