George Washington, Spymaster: Chapters 1–2

by Thomas B. Allen
In this engrossing nonfiction account, Thomas Allen explains how the colonists used spies, codes, and covert operations in order to win the American Revolution.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–9
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. militia
    civilians trained as soldiers, not part of the regular army
    George Washington was an officer in the Virginia militia, the small army that Dinwiddie controlled in the king’s name.
  2. surveyor
    an engineer who determines boundaries and elevations of land
    Although he didn’t know it then, George’s adventures as a surveyor would prepare him for the rugged times to come in war.
  3. abate
    become less in amount or intensity
    His diary tells of many days and nights in the wild during survey trips:...“Finding the River not much abated we in the Evening Swam our horses over.”
  4. excessive
    beyond normal limits
    Washington and the six men set out in “excessive Rains & vast Quantity of Snow.”
  5. impassable
    incapable of being gone across or through
    Because the “Waters were quite impassable” for horses, Washington sent three men along the shore and sped up his own journey by borrowing a canoe and taking the rest of the party by water.
  6. restraint
    discipline in personal and social activities
    The wine, he wrote, “soon banish’d the Restraint which at first appear’d in their Conversation, & gave Licence to their Tongues....They told me. That it was their absolute Design to take Possession of the Ohio, & by G— they would do it.”
  7. convey
    take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
    Washington believed that the French were building a fleet of canoes “to convey their Forces down in the Spring.”
  8. ambush
    wait in hiding to attack
    That struggle, known in America as the French and Indian War, began in 1754, after Washington ambushed a small French force.
  9. honorary
    given as an award without the normal duties
    George Washington resigned from the militia with the honorary rank of brigadier general and returned home to Mount Vernon.
  10. affable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
    His officers wrote of their regret that they had lost “such an excellent Commander, such a sincere Friend, and so affable a Companion.”
  11. propaganda
    information that is spread to promote some cause
    Propaganda can be one of the jobs of an intelligence service.
  12. civil right
    right belonging to a person by reason of citizenship
    In June 1773 the Boston Gazette published letters that Hutchinson had written secretly to his superiors in England urging that more troops be sent to Boston and that the colonists deserved to lose some of their civil rights.
  13. outraged
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Outraged, the royal governor closed the port to all trade, threatening the people with starvation until they paid for the tossed tea.
  14. obligation
    the state of being bound to do or pay something
    One of the delegates’ first acts was a decision that “the doors be kept shut” and that “the members consider themselves under the strongest obligations of honor, to keep the proceedings secret.”
  15. bayonet
    a knife fixed to the end of a rifle and used as a weapon
    The Redcoats fired a volley and charged with bayonets, killing eight Americans.
Created on Tue Dec 10 20:17:00 EST 2019 (updated Fri Jul 11 14:21:43 EDT 2025)

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