Dear Sir: I accept, with much pleasure your kind Congratulations on the happy Event of Peace, with the Establishment of our Liberties and Independence. Glorious indeed has been our Contest: glorious, if we consider the Prize for which we have contended, and glorious in its Issue; but in the midst of our Joys, I hope we shall not forget that, to divine Providence is to be ascribed the Glory and the Praise.⁵⁴

In the same spirit of worship, Washington wrote to the people of Princeton, New Jersey, on August 25, 1783:

If in the execution of an arduous Office I have been so happy as to discharge my duty to the Public with fidelity and success, and to obtain the good opinion of my fellow Soldiers and fellow Citizens; I attribute all the glory to that Supreme Being, who hath caused the several parts, which have been employed in the production of the wonderful Events we now contemplate, to harmonize in the most perfect manner, and who was able by the humblest instruments as well as by the most powerful means to establish and secure the liberty and happiness of these United States.⁵⁵

All glory was to be ascribed to “that being, who is powerful to save,”⁵⁶ for all of Washington’s victories.⁵⁷ This was instinctive for him, since he could not forget there were moments when he thought that victory was nearly impossible. A great example of this was his immediate response to the victory at Yorktown, the battle that effectively ended the War. The General Orders on October 20, 1781 said,

Divine Service is to be performed tomorrow in the several Brigades or Divisions. The Commander in Chief earnestly recommends that the troops not on duty should universally attend with that seriousness of Deportment and gratitude of Heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.⁵⁸

THE CONCATENATION OF CAUSES AND THE FINGER OF PROVIDENCE

From the War to the presidency, Washington believed that the rule of divine Providence meant that order and right would eventually emerge from the dark clouds of confusion. So in 1791 he stated,

We must, however, place a confidence in that Providence who rules great events, trusting that out of confusion he will produce order, and, notwithstanding the dark clouds, which may threaten at present, that right will ultimately be established.⁵⁹

Thus, America’s victory resulted from a providential chain of events, or a “concatenation of causes,”⁶⁰ as Washington called them as he wrote on July 8, 1783, to Reverend William Gordon:

To say nothing of the invisible workings of Providence, which has conducted us through difficulties where no human foresight could point the way; it will appear evident to a close Examiner, that there has been a concatenation of causes to produce this Event; which in all probability at no time, or under any Circumstances, will combine again. We deceive ourselves therefore by this mode of reasoning, and what would be much worse, we may bring ruin upon ourselves by attempting to carry it into practice.⁶¹

Similarly, just before becoming the first president under the new Constitution, Washington wrote to Annis Boudinot Stockton on August 31, 1788:

The felicitations you offer on the present prospect of our public affairs are highly acceptable to me, and I entreat you to receive a reciprocation from my part. I can never trace the concatenation of causes, which led to these events, without acknowledging the mystery and admiring the goodness of Providence. To that superintending Power alone is our retraction from the brink of ruin to be attributed.⁶²

The bright future for America under the new Constitution was due to the “remarkably excited” and “invisible hand” of God. Writing to Philip Schuyler on May 9, 1789, Washington explained:

The good dispositions which seem at present to pervade every class of people afford reason for your observation that the clouds which have long darkened our political hemisphere are now dispersing, and that America will soon feel the effects of her natural advantages. That invisible hand which has so often interposed to save our Country from impending destruction, seems in no instance to have been more remarkably excited than in that of disposing the people of this extensive Continent to adopt, in a peaceable manner, a Constitution, which if well administered, bids fair to make America a happy nation.⁶³

A JUST WAR, A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE, AND THE BLESSINGS OF HEAVEN

Washington believed that an army was both appropriate and necessary when it fought for a righteous cause⁶⁴ in a just war⁶⁵ that was conducted by the laws of war.⁶⁶ A strategic policy was to put the enemy in the wrong,⁶⁷ so that in the day of battle, heaven’s blessings would favor the just army, since God stood with the righteous.⁶⁸

The righteousness of the American cause was an important part of the Washington family’s faith. Martha Washington, for example, thus expressed her patriotic support for her husband “to a kinswoman who deprecated what she called ‘his folly.’” She wrote in 1774, “Yes, I foresee consequences—dark days, domestic happiness suspended, social enjoyments abandoned, and eternal separations on earth possible. But my mind is made up, my heart is in the cause. George is right; he is always right. God has promised to protect the righteous, and I will trust Him.”⁶⁹

The connection between a righteous army and victory meant that worship itself became part of the arsenal of the army. God’s blessings needed to rest not just on the men, but even on their “arms.” Accordingly, Washington called on his men to “religiously” observe a day of “Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer,” so that in the words of the Twenty-Third Psalm, God’s “goodness and mercy” would bless the soldiers’ weaponry. The purpose of the fasting and prayer was so that the “righteous dispensations of Providence may be acknowledged and His Goodness and Mercy toward us and our Arms supplicated and implored.”⁷⁰

We can see then why it was no incongruity for the commander in chief to declare in his General Orders, “The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.”⁷¹ An army composed of soldiers striving to live and act as Christians should preeminently be a righteous army.

For Washington, righteousness was defined by the eternal rules ordained by heaven or the Ten Commandments. He believed there was “... an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness.”⁷² Thus, his vocabulary for the divine law includes: “Decalogue,”⁷³ “duties to God and man,”⁷⁴ “infinite obligations,”⁷⁵ “goodness and happiness,”⁷⁶ “virtue and happiness,”⁷⁷ “obligations enjoined by the Creator, and due to his creatures.”⁷⁸ He made the relationship between obedience to God’s “eternal rules” and human “happiness” most clear to the American people in his First Inaugural Address.

... the foundations of our National policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of a free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my Country can inspire: since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity: Since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.⁷⁹

Braddock’s defeat brought Washington fame and deepened his lifelong personal faith in Divine Providential care.

As a believer in divine Providence, Washington always wanted the blessings of God on the American side of the battle. This was particularly true as the American army faced the strongest nation on earth. How could a newly organized army succeed in such a contest if they violated God’s rules? Throughout his career, from soldier to president, he made a point of emphasizing that happiness or the blessings of heaven could not be expected on America’s cause if Americans as a people chose to violate heaven’s own rules. Accordingly, Washington used the religiously oriented term “blessing” over 160 times in his writings. Happiness, heaven, and blessing are related concepts for Washington.⁸⁰ They come to fullest expression in his phrase, “the blessings of heaven,” variations of which he uses some twenty times.⁸¹

Because of this deep adherence to the interconnection between God’s blessings, his soldiers’ virtue and victory, he made the role of the military chaplain an important position of leadership in his army.

WASHINGTON’S INSISTENCE ON CHAPLAINS

George Washington insisted on godly conduct and leadership in his army. He did not permit swearing, cursing, or drunkenness, which might impede rather than implore the “blessings of Heaven.” Precisely a year before America’s Declaration of Independence was dated, Washington’s General Orders declared,

The General most earnestly requires, and expects, a due observance of those articles of war, established for the Government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing and drunkenness; And in like manner requires and expects, of all Officers, and Soldiers, not engaged on actual duty, a punctual attendance on divine Service, to implore the blessings of heaven upon the means used for our safety and defence.⁸²

Precisely to help engender such a standard from his Christian soldiers, Washington instituted chaplains in the Revolutionary Army:

The Hon. Continental Congress having been pleased to allow a Chaplain to each Regiment, with the pay of Thirty-three Dollars and one third pr month—The Colonels or commanding officers of each regiment are directed to procure Chaplains accordingly; persons of good Characters and exemplary lives—To see that all inferior officers and soldiers pay them a suitable respect and attend carefully upon religious exercises. The blessing and protection of Heaven are at all times necessary but especially so in times of public distress and danger—The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavour so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country.⁸³

But Washington’s understanding of the value of chaplains did not begin with the Revolutionary army. In fact, when he was a young soldier, George Washington found himself in disagreement with his employer, the governor of Virginia, over the issue of chaplains. The young man, only in his twenties, was earnestly seeking chaplains to be a built-in part of the army (at the time, it was the British Army). In theory, chaplains were to be a part of the army. But in practice, it didn’t seem to be working out that way. The young Colonel Washington penned a letter to the Royal Governor Robert Dinwiddie on September 23, 1756:

The want of a chaplain, I humbly conceive, reflects dishonor on the regiment, as all other officers are allowed. The gentlemen of the corps are sensible of this, and propose to support one at their private expense. But I think it would have a more graceful appearance were he appointed as others are.⁸⁴

What is Washington saying here? That it reflected badly, in his humble opinion, that chaplains were a low priority to their army and were not there.

The Governor apparently took umbrage at the young man’s letter. So Washington wrote him back on November 9, 1756, in an I-was-misunderstood type of apology. He clarified:

As to a chaplain, if the government will grant a subsistence, we can readily get a person of merit to accept the place, without giving the commissary any trouble on the point.⁸⁵

Colonel Washington clarified further in another letter to the Royal Governor, this one dated November 24, 1756:

When I spoke of a chaplain, it was in answer to yours. I had no person in view, though many have offered; and I only said if the country would provide subsistence, we could procure a chaplain, without thinking there was offense in expression.⁸⁶

Washington had persisted in getting a chaplain to their regiment. The Royal Governor Dinwiddie declined his requests and was later recalled in any event. So on April 17, 1758, Colonel Washington wrote to the president of the Virginia Council:

The last Assembly, in their Supply Bill, provided for a chaplain to our regiment. On this subject I had often without any success applied to Governor Dinwiddie. I now flatter myself, that your honor will be pleased to appoint a sober, serious man for this duty. Common decency, Sir, in a camp calls for the services of a divine, which ought not to be dispensed with, although the world should be so uncharitable as to think us void of religion, and incapable of good instructions.⁸⁷

Here was Washington, the young man, long before he became leader of an army that would be opposing the British Army, asserting his belief that the army needed chaplains—a view he never altered.

As leader of the U.S. Army, Washington continued to insist on chaplains for the military. On the ninth of July, 1776, the very day he received the Declaration of Independence, he issued the order we already quoted at the beginning of this section that established Regimental Chaplains in the army. Clearly, Washington operated with the understanding that his army could not win their contest without God’s help. Therefore, they had to honor him. Intertwined with the General’s goal that the troops hear the Declaration of Independence read aloud were his instructions about how chaplains—men of good character—were to serve in the army.

A CHAPLAIN SPECIALLY HONORED BY GENERAL WASHINGTON

In fact there was one Chaplain, Abiel Leonard from Connecticut, who was so respected by Washington that, as he transitioned in his duty, the General wrote to both honor him and to commend him to Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull.⁸⁸ Later, Washington appointed Abiel Leonard to the rank of Regimental Chaplain to Col. Knox, who was one of Washington’s closest military friends.⁸⁹ Washington heard Leonard preach on at least three occasions.⁹⁰

What makes Chaplain Abiel Leonard particularly noteworthy is that he composed a prayer for the use of Washington’s Army. We include it as an appendix to our book, since it was not only a product of Washington’s esteemed chaplain, but it was also a published prayer that Washington had bound in his personal collection of pamphlets.⁹¹ Published in Cambridge in 1775, its title is “A prayer, composed for the benefit of the soldiery, in the American Army, to assist them in their private devotions; and recommended to their particular use” by Abiel Leonard, A.M., Chaplain to General Putnam’s Regiment in said army.

The Christian character of this prayer, as well as its compatibility with the concerns of General Washington, can be seen by the following selections from the prayer:

O my God, in obedience to the call of thy providence, I have engaged myself, and plighted my faith, to jeopardy my life in the high places of the field in the defense of my dear country and the liberties of it acknowledging thy people to be my people, their interest my interest, and their God to be my God..... And I desire now to make a solemn dedication of myself to thee in it through Jesus Christ presenting myself to thy Divine Majesty to be disposed of by thee to thy glory and the good of America. O do thou, I most fervently entreat, wash away mine iniquities, blot them out of thy remembrance, purify and cleanse my soul in the blood of the great Captain of my salvation—accept of—own and bless me!

Teach, I pray thee, my hands to war, and my fingers to fight in the defense of America, and the rights and liberties of it! Impress upon my mind a true sense of my duty, and the obligation I am under to my country!...but may I live to do further service to my country—to the church and the people of God, and interest of Jesus Christ, and see peace and tranquility restored to this land....

Hear me, O my God, and accept of those my petitions through Jesus Christ, to whom with thee, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, one God, be glory, honor and praise, forever and ever. AMEN.⁹²

Only a devout Christian could find the ministrations of such a chaplain to be worthy of special commendation to his governor, who also happened to be a clergyman. If Washington was not a devout Christian, then he was not only a remarkable actor, but also a most accommodating Deist, given how well, how often, and how openly he played the role of an interested Christian. Of this much we can be certain, since there is simply no escaping the evidence—Christian chaplains were important to George Washington. Even as president, Washington continued to appoint Christian chaplains to serve in the US Army under the new Constitution.⁹³

A SERMON PUBLISHED FOR THE ARMY AND DISTRIBUTED FOR FREE