Free Being George Washington by Glenn Beck

just three months. He sold 500,000 by the end of the war—meaning that almost 13% of the entire population had received a copy.
    His stirring words, combined with Washington’s determination to push forward, reenergized the Continental Army. But on their march to Trenton, the freezing soldiers must have been asking where their commander’s “Invisible Hand” was. Not only were they woefully behind schedule, but they also left behind a nine-mile trail of blood from frostbitten feet wrapped in rags. Two men perished during this intolerable trek. It was a miracle that more did not die.
    While raging storms caused Washington’s army to miss its scheduled arrival time, the Invisible Hand still remained hard at work. Colonel Rall was overconfident and understaffed (he only had about 1,500 troops on site; Washington had 2,500 and would have had several thousand more if his other regiments weren’t stymied by the raging river). Rall mighthave been reinforced except for the mysterious young widow who busily “entertained” Colonel Carl von Donop nearby. Von Donop’s dallying kept his troops from perhaps tipping the balance against Washington.
    A Mystery Woman
While it’s not at all certain that Betsy Ross was the widow who stayed with von Donop, she is a likely candidate. Her husband, John Ross—to whom she’d been married for just two years—had recently been killed while guarding munitions for the war effort. The Rosses went to church in Philadelphia and sat in the pew next to George and Martha Washington’s. She was passionate about the revolution, working with upholstery to repair uniforms and stuffing paper tube cartridges with musket balls. And, while it’s not confirmed, she reportedly stitched the first American flag and presented it to George Washington in person in the spring of 1776.
Whether or not it was actually Betsy Ross who made the first Stars and Stripes or “entertained” the enemy doesn’t really matter—what matters is that
someone did
do those things. Someone used their skills to create a symbol of freedom that would help to rally demoralized troops and remind them what they were fighting for. A widow
did
actually pretend to be interested in some pompous British colonel for the cause of liberty. Troops
did
march barefoot in the freezing cold and driving snow—lead by a man of honor. And, of course, someone
did
watch over it all.
     
    It’s easy to get lost in the grandeur of Washington’s accomplishments: commander, war hero, president, Founding Father—he was almost mythical, larger than life. But his accomplishments are not what make him great: it was his small, nearly unnoticed acts that did. His simple faith in God, his desire to be a man of virtue in everything he said and did, his focus on the tiniest of character traits all accumulated over time and formed an unshakable, virtuous character built on solid rock. He could not be bought off, tricked, or beaten into submission by the world around him.
    You may not lead an army of men onto the battlefield. You may notever help to found a country or serve as president, but you can
absolutely
be every bit as great as George Washington. Be great in your own city, your own neighborhood, and, most important, your own family. Be someone who relies on character and honor to lead and there will be no bounds to what you can accomplish.

A Valley Forged of Despair
     
    December 21, 1777
    Valley Forge, Pennsylvania
    It was, by the calendar, four days before Christmas and, by the map, eighteen miles northwest of Philadelphia—though nothing about this forlorn place and time suggested anything resembling Christmas festivities or the traditional urban comforts, like taverns, well-stocked shops, or a busy harbor ushering in fine wines and silks.
    There was no luxury at all upon this barren, windswept countryside.
    General Washington, his breath billowing into little clouds of steam against the late December air, tugged at his great chestnut steed’s