Jacobus van Braam (b.

Bergen op Zoom Bergen op Zoom (; called ''Berrege'' in the local dialect) is a municipality and a city located in the south of the Netherlands. Etymology The city was built on a place where two types of soil meet: sandy soil and marine clay. The sandy soil ...

, in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, 1 April 1729, d. 1 August 1792

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

) was a sword master and mercenary who trained the 19-year-old

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

in 1751 or shortly thereafter. He was also retained by Washington as a translator.

Biography

Van Braam entered the British naval service and acted as lieutenant with Lawrence Washington, George Washington's elder half brother. They served under Admiral Vernon in the expedition to Carthagena. Then, accompanying Lawrence Washington to

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

, Van Braam was taken on to train George Washington just after Washington was appointed a militia leader for his district with the nominal rank of major. Van Braam gave Washington much instruction as to fencing, flags, fortification and the armies of Europe. Lawrence Washington also trained George at this time, as did Lawrence's cronies, and an adjutant named "Muse" (no first name given) who taught George the "evolution of arms." According to the 1855 biography of Washington by

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

: Curiously other biographers (notably, John Marshall) mention Van Braam only as "an interpreter" brought along on the preliminary diplomatic expeditions leading up to the culmination of his earlier actions against the French, and not as a longtime associate and instructor who campaigned with his brother and schooled George Washington in the art of the sword and other military matters. At the Battle of Great Meadows in July 1754, On account of his alleged wrong rendering of one word, Van Braam received more blame than praise for his services, while others made it the occasion for criticism of Washington himself. The voluminous controversy, which arose in the Virginia colonial legislature over Van Braam's asserted mistranslation, could hardly have arisen in New York, where the Dutch language was generally spoken, and the Netherlanders' association of ideas with the use of the word "assassin," which was not then in the Dutch language, but common in French and English, was better understood. The ordinary meaning of this word "assassin," as used in military parlance at this time, was not that of a dastardly or prowling murderer, but rather that of a soldier who attacks suddenly without warning; and this seems to have been the method of the impetuous, young George Washington, in July 1754, when he rushed upon the French party, during which

Jumonville Jumonville is a United Methodist camp and retreat center located in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, USA near the city of Uniontown, PA. Jumonville is famous for its 60-foot-tall cross that stands on top of Dunbar's Knob on Chestnut Ridge. Jumonvill ...

was killed. Van Braam later joined the 60th Foot ''(The Royal American Regiment)'' and fought in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, serving on the British side. In a letter to Washington, he expressed personal regret at the change of relations and the fortune of war. He resigned his commission in 1779. He then settled in France. He died in Charleville, Champagne, France on 7 August 1792.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Braam, Jacob van 1729 births 1792 deaths Dutch mercenaries Royal Netherlands Army personnel Van Braam, Jacob Van Braam, Jacob Van Braam, Jacob Van Braam, Jacob People from Bergen op Zoom