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Commemorating George Washington's
birthday, we present this article courtesy of the Mount Vernon
Ladies' Association, protectors of Mount Vernon for over 146
years. Mount Vernon is open every day including holidays. Note:
February 20 and February 22 (if that's your birthday or your
name is George) entry to Mount Vernon is FREE!
The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association gained possession
of Mount Vernon on February 22, 1860, at a time when sectionalism
threatened the union and cast a pall over the nation. Despite
the tense political climate, Ann Pamela Cunningham and her secretary,
Miss Sarah Tracy of New York, moved in to begin the process
of preservation. The house was completely empty with the exception
of the key to the Bastille, which had been given as a gift by
Lafayette, a globe in Washington’s study, and a bust by
Jean-Antoine Houdon, a French sculptor who created the masterpiece
from a mask made of Washington’s face.
Just a few months after settling into Mount Vernon, Cunningham
was forced to return to her home in South Carolina due to the
death of her father. Sarah Tracy remained at Mount Vernon with
Upton Herbert, the superintendent selected at the suggestion
of the Washingtons, and a handful of workmen and servants. Little
did they know of the drama and adventure that would soon envelop
their stoic little staff.
Keeping Mount Vernon Safe
In April of 1861 war broke out, affecting every aspect of life
for the residents of Mount Vernon and preventing Cunningham
from returning for six years. Just a few weeks into the war,
Union troops stormed nearby Alexandria and moved within four
miles of Mount Vernon. Confederate forces were almost as close
to the south. According to legend, the cannon at the battle
of Bull Run actually rattled the windows of the Mansion, and
individual rifle shots could be distinguished during the confrontation
at Aquia Creek.
Understandably, Ann Pamela Cunningham was insistent that George
Washington’s estate be sheltered. She persuaded Sarah
Tracy to stay at Mount Vernon, believing that “. . . the
presence of ladies there would be its greatest protection, even
from the unruly.” Herbert also agreed to stay, although
Tracy wrote that he felt conflicted at refusing the command
of several companies and not joining his brothers in the Confederate
Army.
Even though Tracy wrote to Cunningham, “This war news
has completely unnerved me,” she showed no fear when it
came to securing Mount Vernon, sending a letter to the National
Intelligencer to contradict the newspaper’s claim that
Washington’s remains had been removed since the start
of the war:
“Never, since first laid in this, his chosen resting
place, have the remains of our Great Father reposed more quietly
and peacefully than now, when all the outer world is distracted
by warlike thoughts and deeds. And the public, the owners of
this noble possession, need fear no molestation of this one
national spot belonging alike to North and South. Over it there
can be no dispute! No individual or individuals has the right,
and surely none can have the inclination, to disturb this sacred
deposit.”
Tracy followed through on her goal to keep Mount Vernon a “national
spot” free from armed conflict. She first demanded an
audience with General Winfield Scott in Washington, who agreed
to forbid his soldiers from entering the Mount Vernon grounds
under arms. Tracy garnered a similar pledge regarding Confederate
troops from the governor of Virginia. Still, Tracy was constantly
forced to meet with both armies to remind them of the agreements
when officers were replaced with men new to the region.
Surviving the War
Tracy also had to request special passes that would allow her
to pass through military encampments simply to make ends meet.
She raised cabbages on the estate, drove a wagonload to market
in the nation’s capital and Alexandria, and then returned
with much-needed meat, salt, and pepper. Tracy frequently made
these trips on her own, especially when it became evident that
Herbert, a Virginian, would be in danger when crossing Union
barricades.
Simply providing enough food for the table was a full-time
occupation, and the continuing restoration of the house was
all but abandoned when workmen had to be discharged after the
Association could not pay them. Funds had dwindled severely
because within weeks of the start of the war, the federal government
seized both the Alexandria and Mount Vernon boats for use in
the Union’s efforts. With roads blocked and the boats
seized, there was no way for visitors to come to Mount Vernon,
and the procurement of regular, much-needed revenue essentially
ceased.
Soldiers encamped around Mount Vernon were the only visitors
Tracy and Upton entertained, and the two caretakers found themselves
often occupied with showing them around. Typically, the soldiers
were gracious guests, as reported by Tracy in a May 1861 letter
to Ann Pamela Cunningham:
“Mr. Herbert told the Captain of the Company of soldiers
stationed near here your wishes with regard to their not coming
here in uniform or armed. They have behaved very well about
it. Many of them come from a great distance and have never been
here, and have no clothes but their uniforms. They borrow shawls
and cover up their buttons and leave their arms outside the
enclosures, and never come but two or three at a time. That
is as much as can be asked of them.”
Some soldiers even paid the admission fee of twenty-five cents,
although Tracy noted, “ . . . of course the soldiers plead
poverty – many with truth.”
There were times, however, when bands of soldiers did not adhere
to the Association’s wishes. But Tracy always stood firm.
In one instance, large groups of soldiers “refused to
stack their arms, but were for over an hour straggling all over
the place without any order, their guns in their hands. The
Colonel said that if the men were to lay down their arms, we
must have an order to that effect from General Scott.”
Tracy recorded that she went directly to Colonel Townsend who
relayed her concerns to General Scott. “He said I should
have all I wanted. I received a pass and a written order, signed
by General Scott, to show any of his officers who do not wish
to obey our regulations.”
As the war dragged on, the boat was reinstated for a time,
and in 1864 the Association’s itemized revenue amounted
to $348.03, including slightly more than $230 from visitors,
who never paid more than twenty-five cents each. Sales of potatoes,
peaches, pears, tomatoes, cabbages, hay, photographs of Mount
Vernon, and handmade bricks made up the rest. Ever careful with
the Association’s money, Tracy reported that expenses
for the same year totaled $243.30.
Taking Risks
Tracy handled a much larger sum of money on one particular delivery
to Washington. On September 13, 1861, John Augustine Washington
III, a member of General Robert E. Lee’s staff, was killed
in a skirmish in West Virginia. Federal officers had learned
that a large part of the money the Association had paid to assume
ownership of Mount Vernon was left in the hands of an Alexandria
banker, and the Union had every intention of confiscating the
funds as enemy property. The banker tipped off Tracy of the
officers’ plans. She took the cash, tucked it snuggly
at the bottom of her egg basket during one of her regular runs
to deliver fresh eggs, and hurried to Washington, D.C. to the
bank of George W. Riggs, who served as treasurer of the Association.
While Riggs counted out the eggs he wanted, Tracy rented a safe
deposit box for the cash.
A few months later, Union officers forbade Tracy from crossing
into Washington, saying that General George B. McClellan had
deemed her pass null and void. When told that only President
Lincoln could overrule McClellan’s order, Tracy skirted
a blockade, talked her way into the White House, and convinced
the president himself to write a note to the general kindly
requesting an exemption to his orders. As Gerald Johnson noted,
“with what astonished amusement the ungainly giant must
have looked down upon this bit of femininity who had burst in
upon him bristling with indignation against his field commander,
and demanding that he order the United States Army to stand
aside while she passed with her groceries.” Not only did
Tracy receive a new pass, General McClellan offered to send
a boat with provisions to Mount Vernon, which he did a few days
later.
Sarah Tracy faced serious obstacles in her quest to keep Mount
Vernon safe from harm. Fortunately, she wrote about many of
her adventures in regular letters she loyally penned to keep
the Association informed of events. Details of her crossing
army lines and convincing officers to let her pass or escort
her to the next company of soldiers are inspiring. It is because
of Tracy and Herbert that George Washington’s house remained
unscathed, keeping the spirit of George Washington alive, even
during the darkest of hours. In addition to the happy ending
for Mount Vernon, there is a happy ending to the story of Sarah
Tracy and Upton Herbert. The couple wed in 1872 after they both
resigned their posts at Mount Vernon.
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