Mount Vernon Fairfax Virginia United States

George Washington, after retiring from the presidency in March 1797, had returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief.

He has devoted much time to his plantations and other business interests, including his distillery, which had produced its first batch of spirits in February 1797.

As Chernow (2010) explains, his plantation operations were at best marginally profitable.

The lands out west yield little income because they are under attack by natives and the squatters living there refuse to pay him rent.

Most Americans assume he is rich because of the well-known "glorified façade of wealth and grandeur" at Mount Vernon.

Historians estimate his estate was worth about a million dollars in 1799 dollars, equivalent to about eighteen million dollars in 2009 purchasing power. (Chernow, Ron (2010). Washington: A Life. New York: Penguin Press)

By 1798, relations with France have deteriorated to the point that war seems imminent, and on July 4, 1798, President Adams offers Washington a commission as lieutenant general and Commander-in-chief of the armies raised or to be raised for service in a prospective war.

He reluctantly accepts, and will serve as the senior officer of the United States Army between July 13, 1798, and December 14, 1799.

He will participate in the planning for a Provisional Army to meet any emergency that might arise, but will avoid involvement in details as much as possible; he will delegate most of the work, including leadership of the army, to Hamilton.

George Washington spends several hours on Thursday, December 12, 1799, inspecting his plantation on horseback, in snow, hail and freezing rain—later that evening eating his supper without changing from his wet clothes.

That Friday he awakens with a severe sore throat (either quinsy or acute epiglottitis) and becomes increasingly hoarse as the day progresses.

Sometime around 3 a.m. that Saturday morning, he awakens his wife and says he feels ill.

Following common medical practice at the time, he is bled—initially by an employee and later again by physicians.

Washington dies at home around 10 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, 1799, aged sixty-seven.

The last words in his diary are "'Tis well."

Throughout the world, men and women are saddened by Washington's death.

Napoleon orders ten days of mourning throughout France; in the United States, thousands will wear mourning clothes for months.

To protect their privacy, Martha Washington burns the correspondence between her husband and her following his death.

Only a total of five letters between the couple are known to have survived, two letters from Martha to George and three from him to Martha.

On December 18, 1799, a funeral is held at Mount Vernon, where his body is interred.