Year Released: 2026
Directed by: John Erwin
Starring: William Franklyn, Ben Kingley, Andy Serkis, Kelsey Grammer
(PG, 122 min.)
Genre: Action and Adventure, Historical Drama

"Men, this is our land and we will fight for it." George Washington

Forget that old guy on the one-dollar bill. This young Washington is handsome, reckless, vulnerable, and prone to mistakes in judgement.

Here is what Instagram tells us:

         He didn’t have military experience when he entered service.
He had reddish brown hair.|
He never attended or graduated from college.
        He fought for the British Army before he fought against it.
        He spent years surveying wilderness before leading armies.
He didn’t wear a wig; his later white hair was his own.
        He was a great dancer and loved attending formal balls.

Before he was the Father of a Nation, he was a soldier fighting to survive. A single misstep thrusts young George Washington into the center of a global conflict, testing his honor, loyalty, and courage. As alliances crumble and the frontier erupts into war, he must confront not only his enemies but the man he's becoming. This is the untold story of Young Washington.

Early on 11-year-old George finds out how closed the British system is. His father dies and his elder half brother Lawrence inherits the entire estate, leaving Washington, his siblings, and his mother (who as the second wife of his father) with very little.

George cannot even attend school here since he is just a Colonial. Lawrence, who is kind to him, has had a European education. He gives Washington several books to read, such as Plutarch, Seneca, Livy and Cato, which young George devours.

Lawrence also teachers him the social graces by example and practical texts, as well as land surveying, which the ambitious George later uses to begin working for the British Crown.

Washington’s reckless and cunning side resembles a young Odysseus, the real one Homer depicted not the ridiculous one on screens now.

Washington crashes an elite party at the Fairfax estate and meets the Fairfax Lord, played by Kelsey Grammer, who is no fan of these grand affairs.

“I saw you sneaking in just as I was sneaking out,” he offers, which begins a connection that will help and haunt George.

At this soiree he meets young Sally Cary, who is charmed but as tied to British class rules from the inside just as George is rejected by them from the outside.

George’s meetings with her and the love letters he writes from wilderness encampments earn taunting from his rough comrades, but he pays it no mind.

Since her name is not Martha, we know this will not end as he desires, but it is this early romance the film focuses upon. And here they take some liberties, since in reality, the young Sally was already married when Washington writes all those love letters. And ironically to William Fairfax, the son of the kindly gentleman he runs into at the huge Fairfax estate. Not to mention that Washington’s half-brother Lawrence is also married into that fabulously wealthy clan.

Almost as complicated and gaudy as the current British royalty or our own, the Kennedys or the Kardashians, take your pick.

Another area where young George steps into it is when the British use him to expel the French, who are trying to take over the land in the Ohio territory that the British have already claimed. Here he befriends an Indian called Half King, who sees the land as his, but sides with Washington, because his experience with the French pales even the British usurpers.

Little will the naïve Washington realize this friendship is about as dangerous as the one with the British, who use the Colonist Washington for their dirty work instead of their own British officers. He is warned that success or failure, he will be the loser. Succeed and the British claim credit; fail and he gets the blame. But those warnings do not stop him.

The fort he reinforces for the standoff is labeled Fort Necessity, and that is where young Washington will have to learn from his failures, because this is a big one.

***

And learn he does, realizing loyalty is not owed to the Crown, but to his men, those dirty, gritty countrymen caught behind enemy lines.

Here is where Washington becomes a hero, the one who fathered our country and kept us together throughout the Revolutionary War, still decades in the future.

A final insight comes from a current American hero, Dr. Ben Carson, who says many Americans never learned because it was removed from history books.”

After the 1755 Battle of Monongahela, Washington wrote to his brother that he had “four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me,” yet he escaped without a single wound. He credited the “all-powerful dispensations of Providence” for preserving his life.

A Native American chief who fought in the battle later tells Washington he had ordered his warriors to shoot him, but every attempt failed. The chief concludes that the Great Spirit was protecting Washington and that no bullet could kill the man God had chosen to preserve.

Dr. Ben Carson recently said this account was taken out of many history books because it openly acknowledged God’s hand in American history. He argued that as references to God disappeared from classrooms, stories like Washington’s miraculous preservation disappeared with them.

The Young Washington movie is introducing this remarkable account to a new generation, bringing renewed attention to one of the most extraordinary stories surrounding America’s first president.

If you have been boycotting the cinema because great films seem few and far between, or if the bastardization of Homer’s Odyssey has disgusted you, throw that aside.

Now is the time to watch exciting cinema that stirs your heart. Like Mel Gibson’s The Patriot, Young Washington will make you proud of our country.

Not to miss.

–Kathy Borich
🥁🥁🥁🥁

Trailer

Film-Loving Foodie

One of Washington’s favorite breakfasts was hoe cakes with butter and honey, although he might not have had time for them during his wanderings in the wilderness or the many battles he fought, even as a young man.

Like Washington, they also had humble beginnings.

Here is a little bit of their history and name:

The History of Hoe Cakes

Hoe cakes (also sometimes referred to as johnnycakes) have deep roots in American culinary history. The name originates from the 18th and 19th centuries, when field hands, enslaved workers, and poor laborers cooked the simple cornmeal batter on the flat, broad metal blades of agricultural hoes over an open fire. –Chef Vic

Over time, as cooking methods shifted indoors, the name stuck, even as the cakes transitioned to being cooked on iron griddles or in cast-iron skillets. They were historically eaten by everyone from early American settlers to George Washington, who famously requested them for breakfast with butter and honey. –Kenneth Temple

Hoe Cakes

Easy old-fashioned Hoe Cakes or fried cornbread are versatile little yellow miracles of crispy, warm corn cake deliciousness! Hoe cakes are considered a southern quick bread or flatbread and can be served any time of day straight out of the cast-iron skillet.

Ingredients

· 1 cup self-rising flour

· 1 cup self-rising cornmeal

· 2 eggs beaten

· 1 tablespoon sugar

· ¾ cup buttermilk

· ½ cup water

· ½ cup vegetable oil divided

Instructions

Add the flour, cornmeal, and sugar to a large bowl. Add the eggs and buttermilk to a smaller bowl and whisk well.

Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients along with ¼ cup of vegetable oil and ½ cup of water. Mix well to combine all ingredients but don’t over mix. The batter will be thick. If you think it is too thick, add a bit more water, about one tablespoon at a time, until it gets to the consistency you like.

Add ¼ cup of vegetable oil (I use peanut oil, but any kind will do) to a large skillet over medium heat.

When the oil is hot, add the batter using a large spoon or small ice-cream scoop. About two tablespoons of batter will make a hoecake about 3 inches across.

Cook the hoe cake for one to two minutes on each side or until each side is brown and the edges are crispy. Use a pancake turner or spatula to remove them and drain them on a paper towel.

Serve immediately.

Grits and Pinecones.com

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