turns comic and moving, remained untold for more than a century and a half after his death.
Jackasses of the size and quality Washington's vision demanded were not easily found. The best were Spanish and under export restrictions. For a time the general despaired until he received a royal gift from Spain's Charles I11 of two blooded jacks, one of which survived the Atlantic crossing to reach Mount Vernon in 1785. Lafayette soon sent over another, from Malta.
Breeding proved an uncertain business,...