Jacob Van Braam
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In perhaps the earliest and best sourced biography of George Washington by perhaps the new nations premier writer, Washington Irving it gives details to the effect that in 1751 or shortly after when he was but 19 years old and appointed a militia leader for his district with the nominal rank of Major George Washington set about schooling himself for his military duties under the tutelage of his elder half brother Lawrence Washington, a veteran of campaigns under the British flag..and his old brothers old cronies, an Adjutant named "Muse" (no first name given) who taught him the 'evolution of arms' and sword master named Jacob Van Braam.. styled as being a Mercenary "of the Dalgetty Order"
| “ | He now set about preparing himself, with his usual method and assiduity, for his new duties. Virginia had among its floating population some military relics of the late Spanish war. Among these was a certain Adjutant Muse, a Westmoreland volunteer, who had served with Lawrence Washington in the campaigns in the West Indies, and had been with him in the attack on Carthagena. He now undertook to instruct his brother George in the art of war; lent him treatises on military tactics; put him through the manual exercise, and gave him some idea of evolutions in the field. Another of Lawrence's campaigning comrades was Jacob Van Braam, a Dutchman by birth; a soldier of fortune of the Dalgetty order; who had been in the British army, but was now out of service, and, professing to be a complete master of fence, recruited his slender purse in this time of military excitement, by giving the Virginian youth lessons in the sword exercise. Under the instructions of these veterans Mount Vernon, from being a quiet rural retreat, where Washington, three years previously, had indited love ditties to his "lowland beauty," was suddenly transformed into a school of arms, as he practised the manual exercise with Adjutant Muse, or took lessons on the broadsword from Van Braam. |
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Curiously other biographers (notably, John Marshall) mention him only as 'an interpreter' brought along on the preliminary diplomatic expeditions leading up to the culmination of his earlier actions against the French, and not as a long time associate and instructor who campaigned with his brother and schooled George Washington in the art of the sword and other military matters. At the Battle of Great Meadows in July of 1754,
| “ | The fort was handed over on July 4 and the bulk of British garrison were allowed to return to Maryland honorably. Two British prisoners, Robert Stobo and Jacob Van Braam, were retained by the French as a guarantee of compliance with the terms of surrender. The French burned the fort and returned to Fort Duquesne. | ” |
The order of Dalgetty appears to be completely unknown although it is a place name in Scotland. Curiously enough, a character in Sir Walter Scot's fictional work "Legends of Montrose" set in Scotland of the 17th century and published in 1819 is a Mercenary named Dalgetty.
| “ | Much of the novel is taken up with a subplot involving an expedition into enemy territory by Dugald Dalgetty, an experienced mercenary fighting for Montrose. Dalgetty does not fight out of political or religious conviction, but purely for the love of carnage. However, he is very professional, and remains loyal to an employer to the end of his contract. He gained his experience fighting for various armies during the Thirty Years' War, then still raging in Germany. Note: He did not fight all thirty years. Dalgetty is regarded as one of Scott's finest comic characters, however he dominates so much of the story that the main plot is not really developed in detail. | ” |
