Christopher Washington, son of world-renowned general, General Washington, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the year 1765. He was born in the month of February; approximately 10 years before the start of one of the biggest wars in history, The American Revolution. He was born illegitimately to George Washington and a woman Washington picked up at a bar in Boston The woman Washington picked up happened to be named Elizabeth Morris. Christopher did not meet his father until he was 14; he never actually met either of his parents until that point. His mother died while giving birth to him, and he had never known who his father was. Well, not until this point in our story, of course.
Let’s backtrack for a minute. Before he knew that he was his father, Christopher received a handwritten letter from George Washington. “To My Dearest Son,” were the words scrawled across the envelope that held the letter. Christopher was confused; his mother was no longer alive, and his father had never even been in his life. He was legitimately scared to open the letter, for he had no way of knowing what was on the inside. Reluctantly, he peeled up the corner of the envelope, pulled out the letter, and began to read.
The letter read:
“My dearest son: my name is George Washington. I assume that you have heard of me, although your mother may not have told you one other important detail; otherwise you most likely would have made an attempt to contact me. My dearest Christopher, it is with great joy that i enlighten you on this very important detail: I am your father.
I apologize dearly. Had I known that I even had a son, I would have contacted you immediately. I apologize for the grief I may have put you through all this time, you know, with me ceasing to exist in your life all these years.
You may be wondering how I found out that i even had a son. Well, the answer to that is actually quite strange:
You see, I received a letter on the day that I am writing this:19 February, 1779. The letter came from your mother, Elizabeth Morris. I was informed quite a while ago that she had died, but I did not know that she had died whilst giving birth to you, my precious son. All i had known, was that she had died due to “complications.”
The letter i received today informed me of your birth 14 years ago. Today was the day I found out that I was a father, and I do not have a clue as to why I received this letter today, for the signing of the letter occurred just days before you were born.
Son, I am writing this letter in hopes that you will come and visit me at my estate and plantation in Mount Vernon, Virginia. If you do decide to come, I hope that you arrive as quickly as possible, for I could be brought back into the war against the British at any time. Arrive safely.
Best Regards,
General George Washington
************
Christopher was in shock. Fourteen years of not knowing who his father was. Fourteen years of hoping that, one day, his father might show up to swoop him up from the Philadelphia Orphanage in which he resides. And now, not only has his father decided to handwrite a letter detailing the exact location in which he lives, but he included the information that he, George Washington, is Christopher’s father.  Christopher was ecstatic, and he ran the stairs up to his small, 14x14 bedroom in the orphanage. He grabbed a sack and began throwing his belongings into it. He placed the possessions that would fit the bag inside of the small burlap sack, and he ran out of the door. He made sure not to let anyone know that he was leaving (just in case there was even the slightest of chance that he was forbidden to leave). He stepped out into the rainy streets of Philadelphia, and he inhaled a deep breath. He had not been this excited in a very long time.
Christopher walked along the brick-laden streets of Philadelphia and attempted to think of any way he could to get to Virginia from Philadelphia. He knew that it was roughly 300 miles away, and he also knew that he could not afford a carriage to escort him to his father’s plantation. He pondered his situation and came up with a plan: he would inform a carriage heading out towards his destination that he was George Washington’s son, and they would be well paid once he arrived safely in Mount Vernon.
He walked to the nearest shopping district, looking for a place where he could find a carriage that would be willing to cart him all the way  to Virginia. He decided he should walk to the to the “Philadelphia Stables.” He walked inside of the business, and he went to the stable-owner and asked, “Excuse me, sir. I am Christopher Washington, son of George Washington. I am looking for transportation to Mt. Vernon: the location of my father’s plantation. I do not have any money at the moment, but I can promise that if you provide me transportation, you will be well paid for your help as soon as I can ensure cash.”
The stable-owner said, “Son, I can provide transportation; but if I do not get paid, I can promise you that you will regret it. Come back on Sunday. Your cart will be ready. Make sure when my driver arrives at your father’s estate with you in his carriage, they get paid extra. We are the ones supplying everything, after all.”
Christopher replied, “I will make sure of it,” and walked out of the stables.
Sunday came and Christopher was feeling happier than King George when he receives his taxes. Christopher walked briskly to the stables, ready to make that long trek to Virginia: 300 miles to be exact. He arrived at the stables, and his carriage was already loaded with the supplies. The driver was standing outside, smoking some fresh-grown tobacco out of  a pipe.
The driver looked at him and asked, “You ready?”
“Why, yes I am,” replied Christopher.
They loaded into the carriage: Christopher in the back, and the driver, for obvious reasons, was in the front. The driver was holding the reins attached to the horses, and he whipped the horses to get them started on their adventure.
Three days into their journey, they ran into trouble. One of the horses escaped off of its rope and ran into the overgrown Maryland woods. They spent 6 hours looking for the horse, but to no avail.
They started the journey back to the carriage they left behind when all of a sudden, they heard the familiar marching of a group of soldiers. They hid in the underbrush and peeked over the top of it. They saw seven Redcoats marching on a trail, obviously heading toward Philadelphia. However, they noticed one thing: the Redcoats had acquired some of the supplies from their carriage. The driver must have noticed it too, for he popped out of the underbrush quite suddenly.
The redcoats were startled by this sudden movement, and one turned around and shot the driver point blank. He died on the spot. The redcoats were out of order now, and they started panicking. They thought they were under attack, for they did not realize that there was only the driver and Christopher. Christopher just assumed the Redcoats did not notice him in the underbrush, for they started their march to Philadelphia once more.
As soon as the British soldiers were out of view, Christopher ran to check on the driver. He was dead, and he had been dead for the last half-hour while the soldiers recollected themselves. It was then that Christopher performed a small funeral and burial, although he was not strong enough and did not have the supplies to bury the body. He promised himself on that day, after seeing how remorseless the redcoats were by shooting the driver point blank but then not even having the decency to bury him or anything of that sort, that he would force his father to allow him to fight.
Christopher didn’t know what to do from there. He did not have the skill to operate a carriage, and he had just lost his driver to the Redcoats’ wrath. However, there was still a horse, so Christopher went back to the carriage. When he arrived, the horse was (thankfully) still attached to the carriage, waiting for its owner to return. Christopher was saddened by this, for he knew the horse did not know that its owner was deceased. Regardless, Christopher mounted the horse. He assured it, and himself, that they would get to Mount Vernon safely to meet his father.
Christopher, being only fourteen years old, miraculously made it in just 10 days to his father’s plantation. When he arrived at the gate, he tied the horse to a post and walked inside the gates of the large property. When he looked up, he saw his father, George Washington, sitting on the porch, looking at him. The general was astounded to see his son ride up on a horse, alone at just fourteen.
Christopher walked up to his father and did the only thing he could think to do: he hugged him. The general assured him that everything would be alright now, and he invites Christopher inside.
They walked inside and caught up on everything. Christopher began telling his father his entire life story when he decided to bring up the topic that had been on his mind since the driver was shot: war.
George Washington was shocked and confused by the sudden bringing up of such a hard hitting topic, but he asks his son, “Son, why do you want to know about the war?”
His son, Christopher, tells him the whole story of the carriage ride: how the British were heading towards Philadelphia and how his carriage driver was shot by the Redcoats and left there without a second thought. When he finished his story, he said, “Father, I want to join the war.”
George is hesitant at first, but he sees the fire in his son’s eyes; the same fire that he had when he joined the fight for independence. He tells his son he will give him a task: nothing too extreme, but nothing very simple either. He assigns Christopher the job of being the supply runner: he will bring supplies to the camps that the soldiers for the American cause have set up.
Although he was quite scared, Christopher accepted the task without a second thought. He was glad he had met his father, and he was proud that he finally had a purpose... to help turn the American Dream into a reality.