The name, George, is Greek in origin. It means, farmer. In the Western world, its ascendancy to a common name began when Saint George, or Georgios, was martyred. There is also the St. George that killed a dragon. Whilst both events are subject to debate, the name began its roll out as a popular name, in early Christianity. The aristocracy adopted it first, and then later, the common folk made use of the name. Female versions include Georgia, Georgiana, and Georgina.
The name was first appended to the god, Zeus. He was called Zeus Georgos, or, Zeus the Farmer.
Todays’s essay is about 4 Georges. Two are Americans: George Washington, and George Patton. Two were kings of Britain: George III and George VI.
All four lived in interesting times, the four of them caught up in the same wars, two at a time. Such is life, how are lives are intertwined. What other name stands out in our recent history?
Zeus the Farmer was one of the later creator gods in the Greek pantheon of deities. The Farmer was not kind to humanity. He refused humanity light, and when humans did receive it, from Prometheus, Zeus punished him for thousands of year. Zeus was also known to be quite the philanderer. I guess that is why they referred to him as the farmer, because he plowed many fields.
The first George, who killed the dragon, has been one of the saints of Scotland and England. Therefore, it is not surprising that many males would bear that name. However, the first king George came from Hanover, Germany. George I spoke German, not English. So, too, did George II. We might say that the Hanover Georges were a second invasion of Britain by Germans, 1000 years after the first invasions of Angles and Saxons. Those first invaders gave us our English language. Alas, the first two Hanovers never bothered to learn English. However, they were protestants. And that is what mattered.
George III was born in England in 1738. He spoke English, was educated in English. His father, Frederick, Prince of Wales, died before his father, George II. George III inherited the throne from his grandfather, in 1760. George III considered himself a proud Englishman. He said so. Good for him.
George Washington, born 1732, was a subject of the British crown. This George was born in that most rebellious colony, Virginia. He grew up to be a gentleman farmer, and an officer in the British Army. He fought, as a colonel, in the French and Indian War. He didn’t know that in the next decade he would be an enemy combatant to his king, with the same name. Indeed, he would win the War of Independence, and end up the leader of his nation.
The two namesakes would know of each other, of course. Washington, during the war, had more freedom to act, whilst the king had to weigh the opinions and advice of others. George the king had the more difficult job. George the general was boots on the ground, which is always the best perspective in a time of war. Soldiers are focused on the situation at hand. The king, by sending in his Regulars, made the job easier on the rebels. The lines were clear cut, everyone knew who the enemy was.
George the king, in 1788, had his first serious bout with the disease that would eventually, destroy his life. What is was, no one can say for certain. His illness effected his mind. In 1789, George of the newly minted United States, became its first president. George spent the next 8 years as president. He would die two years after he stepped down. George Washington was 67 when he died. George the king, who spent his senior years in and out of the mental illness he suffered from, died in 1820, at the age of 81.
Fast forward to the 20th century. In the early part of that century, two men named George would receive their training to take part in a second war, brought about by the peace, of their first one. One was a king, the other a general, just as was with the first two Georges. These two were George VI, the king of the UK, and General George Patton, probably the most complex and brilliant general produced by the United States.
King George, born 1895, named Albert, and called “Bertie,” was the man who was not supposed to be king. He was the second son of George V. The man who was to be king, Edward, called David, fell in love with one of those American women who was considered unsuitable because she was married when David began his affair with her.
The elites have had this rule for a very long time, that it is okay to have sex with a married woman. But not to marry her. Usually, such women are what we refer to as gold differs. But not all. Whilst David’s predicament was not common, it was not unheard of. Eleanor of Aquitaine, dumped her French husband for the English Henry. Augustus, that most “moral” of men, within a Roman context, forced Livia to divorce her husband so that he could marry her.
No one would ever accuse Augustus of being timid. And I can tell you other, naughty, shaking of the sheets, stories. But back to our Georges.
To be fair to Wallis, in one biography of her I read, it is said she did not want David to abdicate. Nonetheless, when events unfold rapidly, no one gets to control the actions of another. George V knew his eldest son was a n’er-do-well. He said as much when he openly wished the crown would descend onto Bertie’s head.
Be careful for what you wish for. Then again, the monarchy was in trouble in the 1930s as the mood of the day was anarchy, fascism, and the depression. A would-be king having an affair with a married woman, well, yeah, that looks frivolous to me too. The royal family is supposed to be above reproach. Anyone, after the era of Queen Victoria, having an affair, well, it just wasn’t done. Not publicly, anyway.
And then, there is Bertie’s wish, i.e., he did not want to be king. He was happy in his work, he was married to a good woman, and he adored his daughters. They were a good team, this family. That would be his saving grace when the proverbial doo-doo hit the fan. It hit only months after George V died, and David, now using his official name, Edward, became king.
Edward didn’t want the job. Besotted and obsessed-sounds like song lyrics-with Wallis, he abdicated. The royals are not happy, but neither is the public. Like people everywhere, the British want stability in their lives, not kings that kick the throne to the curb to run off and marry their paramour. Not when the economy stinks and the Germans are rattling their swords. Not when hundreds of thousands still mourn their dead from the Great War. Not when people are out of work, by the thousands, and stand in bread lines.
The royals are not standing in bread lines.
The man who becomes king, Bertie, now called George, rises to the occasion. He is a good man. And Britain will need him. He will lead, he will stay the course. Elizabeth, his wife, is a true wife in every sense of the word. The new queen is a member of the team. She will prove that when Bertie married Elizabeth, he made the best decision of his life.
The other George, the one whose destiny would not be denied, was now a general in the United States Army. Tanks were his thing. George Patton was a descendent of Brigadier General Hugh Mercer, a friend of Washington’s. Mercer was an immigrant to the colonies, and a survivor of the Battle of Culloden, in 1746. That was another war that would live in infamy, one of those wars of independence that the British would be forever fighting against. Scotland wanted its own king, a Stuart, and not one of these Germans.
It is tough keeping an empire together.
Mercer was not a combatant at Culloden. He was a part of the medical team. That made no difference to the British. They hunted down any Scotsman they knew of who had engaged in the battle. Like many participants, Mercer stayed hidden until he could leave Scotland. And then, in thirty years time, he would fight against the king whose grandfather had so devastated his mother country.This war would be his death. Mercer died in 1777 of wounds sustained in the Battle of Princeton.
General Mercer’s daughter married into the Patton family. Five generations later, George Patton came onto the scene. The Pattons are a military/political family. George’s grandfather, also named George, was a colonel in the Confederate Army. He died from wounds sustained in that war. The second George was a politician in Los Angeles. The third George was the WWII general. There was a 4th Patton, also in the army. He died in 2004.
The Pattons are not a squeamish bunch.
General Patton is both famous, and infamous. He could swear like a sailor, and kick the enemy back to their side faster than any other general ever has. Patton was there to get a job done, and so he did. He was there to help the other George win a war. The King George knew who Patton was because this king kept tabs on the war. Both Georges had that common enemy. They were focused on winning. George the general used the device of competition with another general, Field Marshal Montgomery, to make sure things moved along in a super timely fashion. Both men were no nonsense types. What ever had to be done, to win, they did it. Both men were controversial.
Patton’s big mistake in the war was to not keep his mouth shut, and to slap a soldier. Whatever one does, they mustn’t slap a soldier who is traumatized. Or look into the future to see that the Russians would cause much trouble on down the road.
Too bad the war weary victors did not heed George the general’s, advice. They called him mad. But prophets are often referred to as crazy men. Now here we are, in a proxy war, with the Russians. George was not so crazy after all.
In 1945, George died due to injuries sustained in a car accident There are those that think he was assassinated. That the accident was a setup. I don’t find this convincing. George had been relieved of his command, so he could not start a war with the Russians.
George the king celebrated the end of the war with his immediate and extended family, the people of Britain. As his empire shrank his health deteriorated. He was a chain smoker. In 1952, he died. His daughter, Elizabeth, became queen. We are familiar with her history.
Thus ends the story of the Georges. In all, six men named George were kings of England. A new Prince George is in line to the UK throne. He is but 9 years of age.
There are several Georges in the United States military, but only the two, Generals Washington and Patton, are related to the history of the English speaking people. All four men were outstanding, in that they made a difference. All four had the same name. All four put their stamp on the past. We won’t forget them.
Thus ends my thoughts on Presidents’ Day, 2023, the day I wrote this essay.