George Washington's "Celestial Vision"

From an 1859 oral history

Richard C. Cook comments: George Washington is the most famous person in American history. He had already won renown for his role with the Virginia militia and on General Braddock’s staff in the French and Indian War and his longstanding elective membership in Virginia’s colonial House of Burgesses. Then in 1775 he was nominated by John Adams and named by the Continental Congress to command the American forces starting with besieging Boston which the British were occupying. This was less than three months after the opening salvos of the War of Independence at Lexington and Concord.

Fighting what was largely a defensive war after his army’s near-annihilation at Brooklyn and Manhattan in August 1776, Washington hung on with sometimes only a skeleton army before the fortuitous victory at Yorktown in October 1781. The band of the surrendering British force under General Cornwallis played, “The World Turned Upside Down,” while the victory would scarcely have been possible without French support, including the presence of Lafayette. Later, Washington became chairman of the Constitutional Convention and first president of the United States, unanimously elected and serving two terms from 1789 to 1797.

It was Washington’s rock-solid character and integrity, amplifying his surpassing leadership skills and steady judgment, that made him a legend then and now. His chief adversary, King George III, even called him “the greatest man of the age.” But there was something even more. Historian Forrest McDonald (1927-2016) wrote:

“His [Washington’s] physical appearance was complemented by an aura, not merely of strength, but of invincibility. His immunity to gunfire seemed almost supernatural. Early in his career a treacherous guide fired at him from point-blank range and missed. Once he rode between two columns of his own men who were firing at one another by mistake and struck up their guns with his sword—the musket balls whizzed harmlessly by his head. Time and again during the Revolutionary War musket balls tore his clothes, knocked off his hat, and shredded his cape; horses were killed under him; but he was never touched. What mortal could refuse to entrust his life to a man whom God obviously favored! What country could refuse to do so?”

These and other facts and legends about Washington are recounted by Janice T. Connell in her remarkable book, The Spiritual Journey of George Washingon (Copyright by Janice T. Connell, 2013). Some of the material is quite familiar to students of Washington’s life, including the “Rules of Civility” young George imbibed from the Reverend James Marye with whom he studied during his boyhood near Fredericksburg, VA. Another instance was the daily prayers he recited from his personal prayer book starting as a young man and continuing throughout his lifetime.

But of unique interest was the story of the “celestial vision” Washington was said to have experienced during a period of solitude while his tattered army of half-dressed veterans suffered privation and loneliness at their Valley Forge encampment outside Philadelphia during the bitter winter of 1777-1778, when some even starved to death.

The story of Washington’s vision goes well beyond the familiar account of a Quaker named Isaac Potts seeing Washington praying alone in the woods at Valley Forge, also a matter of legend.

Janice T. Connell writes:

An eyewitness of George Washington’s testimony of his celestial vision, [99-year-old] Anthony Sherman later recounted segments of the heavenly phenomenon to Wesley Bradshaw [in 1859]. The oral history of this apparition to the American commander-in-chief at Valley Forge was published in the National Tribune, Volume 4, No. 12, December 1880, and is preserved in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

“…From the opening of the (American) Revolution we experienced all phases of fortune, now good and now ill, one time victorious and another time conquered. The darkest period we had, I think, was when Washington, after several reverses, retreated to Valley Forge, where he resolved to pass the winter of 1777. Ah! I have often seen the tears course down our dear commander’s careworn cheeks, as he would be conversing with confidential officers about the condition of the poor soldiers. You have doubtless heard the story of Washington going to the thicket to pray. It was not only true but he used often to pray in secret for aid and comfort from God, [and] the Interposition of Divine Providence brought us safely through the darkest day of tribulation.

“One day, I remember it well, the chilly wind whistled through the leafless trees, though the sky was cloudless and the sun shone brightly. He remained in his quarters nearly all afternoon alone. When he came out I noticed that his face was a shade paler than usual, and there seemed to be something on his mind of more than ordinary importance. Returning just after dark, he dispatched an orderly to the quarters of another officer, who was presently in attendance. After a preliminary conversation of about half an hour, Washington, gazing upon us with that strange look of dignity, which he alone could command, said:

‘I do not know whether it is owing to the anxiety of my mind, but this afternoon, as I was sitting at this table engaged in preparing a dispatch, something disturbed me. Looking up, I saw standing opposite a singularly beautiful female. So astonished was I, for I had given strict orders not to be disturbed, that it was some moments before I found language to inquire the purpose of her presence. A second, third, even a fourth time did I repeat my question but received no answer from my mysterious visitor, except a slight raising of her eyes. By this time I felt strange sensations spreading through me. I would have risen but the riveted gaze of the being before me rendered volition impossible. I essayed once more to address her, but my tongue had become useless. Even thought itself had become paralyzed. A new influence, mysterious, potent, irresistible, took possession of me. All I could do was to gaze steadily at my unknown visitor. Gradually the surrounding atmosphere filled with sensation and grew luminous. Everything about me seemed to rarefy, the mysterious visitor herself becoming more airy and yet more distinct to my sight than before. I now began to feel as one dying, or rather to experience the sensation which I have sometimes imagined accompanies dissolution. I did not think, I did not reason, I did not move. All, alike, were impossible. I was conscious only of gazing fixedly at my companion.

‘Presently I heard a voice say, “Son of the Republic, look and learn!” while at the same time my visitor extended her arm eastward. I looked and beheld a heavy white vapor rising at some distance, fold upon fold. This gradually dissipated, and I watched before me lay spread out in one vast plain all the countries of the world: Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. I saw rolling and tossing between Europe and America, the billows of the Atlantic Ocean, and between America and Asia lay the Pacific.

‘“Son of the Republic” said the mysterious voice as before, “look and learn.” At that moment I beheld a dark shadowy being standing, or rather floating in mid-air between Europe and America. Dipping water out of the ocean with his right hand, he cast it upon America, while that in his left hand went upon the European countries. Immediately a cloud arose from these countries and joined in mid-ocean. For a while it remained stationery, and then it move slowly westward until it enveloped America in its folds. Sharp flashes of lightning gleamed through at intervals, and I heard the smothered groans of the American people. A second time the angel dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it as before. The dark cloud was then drawn back to the ocean, in whose heaving bellows it sank from view.

Richard C. Cook comments: We’ll pause for a moment simply to point out that this episode of the vision may be taken to signify the Revolutionary War. To continue in Washington’s words:

“‘A third time I heard the mysterious voice say: “Son of the Republic, look and learn.” I cast my eyes upon America and beheld villages, towns, and cities springing up one after another until the whole land, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was dotted with them.

‘Again I heard the voice say, “Son of the Republic, the end of the century comes. Look and learn.” And with this the dark, shadowy angel turned its face southward and from Africa an ill-omened spectra approached our land. It flitted slowly over every town and city of the land. The inhabitants presently set themselves in battle array against each other.

‘As I continued to look I saw a bright angel, on whose brow rested a crown of light on which was traced the word UNION, place an American flag between the divided nation and say: “Remember ye are brethren.” Instantly the inhabitants, casting from them weapons, became friends once more and united around the National Standard.’

Richard C. Cook comments: This part of the vision obviously forecasts the American Civil War. At the time of Washington’s vision, African slavery had been practiced in the British colonies for a century-and-a-half. Washington himself was a major slaveholder. During the struggle for independence, profound differences had emerged between the economies, outlook, and culture of the Southern states where slavery dominated and those of the North based on trade and free labor. After the Revolution, when the new government was being formed, the possibility of a future civil war was already being discussed. To continue:

‘Again I heard the voice of my most beautiful and mysterious visitor say, “Son of the Republic, look and learn.” At this the dark, shadowy angel placed a trumpet to his mouth and blew three distinct blasts; and taking water from the ocean he sprinkled it upon Europe, Asia, and Africa.

‘Then my eyes beheld a fearful scene: from each of these countries arose thick black clouds that were soon joined into one. Throughout this mass there gleamed a Red Light, by which I saw hordes of armed men, who, moving with the cloud, marched by land and sailed by sea to America, which country was enveloped in the volume of cloud.

‘And I saw these vast armies devastate the whole country and burn the villages, towns, and cities that I saw springing up. As my ears listed to the thundering of the cannon, the clashing of the swords, and the shouts and cries of millions in mortal combat, I again heard the mysterious voice say: “Son of the Republic, look and learn.”

‘As the voice ceased, the bright angel, for the last time, dipped water from the ocean and sprinkled it on America. Instantly the dark cloud rolled back, together with the armies it had brought, leaving the inhabitants of the land victorious. Once more I beheld villages, towns, and cities springing up where I had seen them before; while the bright angel, planing the azure standard he had brought in the middle of them, cried in a loud voice, “While the stars remain and the heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last.”

‘And taking from her angelic brow the crown on which was blazoned the word UNION, she placed it upon the National Standard, while people kneeling down said, “Amen.”

‘The scene instantly began to fade away, and I saw nothing but the rising, curling vapor I had first beheld. This also disappeared, and I found myself once more gazing upon the mysterious beautiful visitor who said, "“Son of the Republic, what you have seen is thus: three great perils will come upon the Republic. The most fearful is the third, but the whole world united shall not prevail upon her. Let every child of the Republic learn to live for God, his land, and the Union.” With these words the beautiful visitor and the bright angel accompanying her disappeared from my sight.

“Such, my friend, were the very words I heard from Washington’s own lips, and America will do well to profit by them,” concluded the narrator of this oral history.

Richard C. Cook comments: The third and final part of Washington’s vision is the most difficult to interpret. We might bear in mind that the original oral history was written in 1859, long before the two catastrophic world wars of the 20th century, neither of which took place on US soil. We might speculate, of course, that the Red Light refers to social and economic crises that have become more and more frequent during this time, such as the Great Depression. Could the Red Light refer to communism?

Because of this ambiguity, I refrained from publishing the account of Washington’s vision until now. There are many indications, however, that a third world war has begun, where it seems much more likely that actual fighting may take place in the US compared to World Wars I and II. Also, in recent weeks, with the growing resistance to the administration of President Donald Trump and the outbreak of violence through what is being called a “color revolution,” I decided to wait no longer but to present this material now. Make of it what you will. As far as I know, and Janice T. Connell is an outstanding researcher, it is authentic.