"Washington's existence at Mount Vernon was being troubled and made fascinating by the woman to whom he wrote, when he was old and celebrated, that none of the subsequent events of his career 'nor all of them together have been able to eradicate from my mind those happy moments, the happiest of my life, which I have enjoyed in your company.' What surely was the most passionate love of Washington's life had dark overtones: Sally was married, married to his neighbor and close friend George William Fairfax." Love and Massacre, p. 19

"The officers on their horses were perfect targets. One after another they went down. Washington's horse was shot from under him. He leapt on another. Bullets tore his coat. Braddock toppled over. Washington's second horse crumpled; his hat was shot off. However, as he later wrote, 'the miraculous care of Providence . . . protected me beyond all human...