had doubts as it was published so late after it was spoken of.
The new "problem" is that in 1862, there is apparently a written account
by General McClellan of a vision of General Washington visiting his
command warning him of Confederated plans and once again of an
"impending 3rd trial for America in the whole world gathered against her
by envy".
McClellan would not have known of the later 1880 account as it was 38
years in the future, but having preceded his by at least 1777 or 85 years.
George Washington was a very religious gentleman and George McClellan
was a true gentleman. The accounts verify each other and portend very
closely to what the Bible and reasonable deduction concludes is being
formed against the United States of America after George W. Bush is out
of office.
Anthony Sherman, a close friend of George Washington, related a story of
the first President's prophetic vision, which did not find its way into
print until the December 1880 issue of the National Tribune. Because of
the date of the telling of the tale so long after Washington's death,
the validity of the account has been question. Nevertheless, it belongs
in a discussion of the presidency and prediction.
According to Sherman, George Washington had been seated in his study
when he perceived a mysterious visitor standing in one corner. "Son of
the Republic," a voice bade him, "look and learn."
A rising, curling vapor filled the President's study, and he watched a
dark, shadowy angel give three loud blasts on a trumpet. The vapor
glowed with surging life as it formed a representation of the globe. The
angel dipped water from the ocean onto Europe, Asia, and Africa, and
Washington was horrified to see thick black clouds arise from each
continent. The odious clouds then merged into one dark mass which began
to move toward America. Within the black cloud, Washington could see
hordes of armed men. Dimly, he saw the armies land and begin to
devastate cities, which only moments before had sprung up.
His ears rang with the roar of cannon and the shouts and cries of
millions who had become locked in mortal combat. Above the sounds of
strife, the mysterious voice admonished him again to "Look and learn."
Once more the shadowy angel dipped water from the ocean, sprinkled it
upon America, and the invading armies were swept away.
Washington told his friend that he again beheld "... the villages,
towns, and cities springing up where I had seen them before. While the
bright angel, planting the azure standard he had brought into the midst
of them, cried in a loud voice: 'While the states remain, and the
heavens send down dew upon the earth, so long shall the Union last.' "
The vivid scene faded. Washington was once again aware of the mysterious
figure in the shadows of his study. "Son of the Republic," the figure
began, "what you have seen is thus interpreted. Three great perils will
come upon the Republic. The most fearful for her is the third. But the
whole world united shall not prevail against her. Let every child of the
Republic learn to live for his God, his land, and his Union."
Then, Washington told Sherman, "With these words, the vision vanished,
and I started from my seat and felt that I had seen a vision, wherein
had been shown me the birth, progress, and destiny of the United States."
******
General George B. McClellan slumped wearily over his desk. Before him
lay campaign maps, battle reports and a large scale map on which all the
known Confederate positions had been marked.
It was September 1862, and the green Yankee troops had been shattered in
battle after battle by the sharp-shooting, determined Johnny Rebs.
President Lincoln had called on McClellan to take charge of the chaos.
He had appointed him to whip the troops into shape and to rally against
the Rebel-yelling, bulls-eye shooting boys in gray.
The general yawned and stretched in near-exhaustion. If he did not catch
a little sleep, he would not be able to direct a wrestling match, let
alone a war. McClellan's eyelids drooped, and soon he had slumped
forward on his desk.
His slumber did not last long. A booming voice suddenly filled his
campaign tent: "General McClellan, do you sleep at your post? Rouse
yourself, or before. you can prevent it, the foe will be in Washington!"
Wondering if some bold messenger had arrived with news of impending
Confederate attack, McClellan snapped to groggy attention. His eyes
opened wide when he beheld the luminous countenance of George Washington.
As General McClellan later told the story for the Portland, Maine,
Evening Courier, March 8, 1862, the commanding spirit of the nation's
first President wasted no time in delivering his message: "Had God not
willed it otherwise, 'ere the sun of tomorrow had set, the Confederate
flag would have waved above the Capitol and your own grave! Note what
you see. Your time to act is short!"
At a gesture from Washington, McClellan seemed to be envisioning a
living map of all the Confederate troop positions. He grabbed a quill
from his desk and began to jot down all that he could see. Then, as if
they were figures performing in a pageant, he saw the Confederate troops
advancing toward Washington, D.C.
"The Rebs are on their way to try and take the capital!" McClellan
growled. "Why, if they took Washington, they'd break the spirit of the
entire Union!"
At once the strange, living tableau changed, and McClellan saw
Confederate maneuvers of the future. Again, his pen furiously marked
positions on campaign maps. "We must act at once!" he told the specter
of George Washington.
"The warning has come in time, General McClellan," Washington said
softly. "Before I go, I wish to tell you of the days ahead and of other
perils which shall befall our nation in the 20th century."
Washington described the Civil War as America's "passing from childhood
to open maturity," and that now she must learn "that important lesson of
self-control, of self-rule, that in the future will place her in the van
of power and civilization."
The spirit of the first President of the United States then told rhe
Union general that America would be saved in that century, but the great
test was yet to come:
"Her mission will not be finished, for 'ere another century shall have
gone by, the oppressors of the whole earth, hating and envying her
exaltation, shall join themselves together and raise up their hands
against her.
"But if she be found worthy of her calling, they shall be truly
discomfited, and then will be ended her third and last struggle for
existence."
With those words, the ghostly image of George Washington began to fade,
and McClellan once again found himself alone in his tent.
At first he thought the experience had been merely a vivid bit of
dreaming on his part, but then he saw the markings and the symbols of
Confederate maneuvers on his campaign-maps.
The general paused for just a moment. Could he actually act upon advice
given to him in a dream? Were the Confederate troops really advancing
toward Washington?
With a purposeful blow of his open palm on the desk top, McClellan
decided to act. Men had been guided by dreams since the days of the Old
Testament prophets. He would give the orders to move out at once.
Because of the knowledge which McClellan had gained in this unusual
precognitive experience, the Union troops were able to halt the
Confederate invasion of Washington at Antietam and to pursue General
Robert E. Lee by "anticipating" several of his subsequent maneuvers.
General McClellan later wrote of his vision in these words: "Our
beloved, glorious Washington shall rest .. until perhaps the end of the
Prophetic Century approaches that is to bring the Republic to a third
and final struggle, when he may once more become a Messenger of Succor
and Peace from the Great Ruler, who has all nations in his keeping."
General McClellan never repudiated this account, and it was reprinted in
The Individual Christian Scientist, Vol. XI, No. 2.
