George Davidson
- "You mock me! I chose my destiny. That is real freedom. Perhaps one day you will know it too."
- ―George to Aveline, 1777.[src]
George Davidson (1752 – 1777) was a former slave, Loyalist soldier and member of the Templar Order.
Being promised freedom in exchange for his loyalty to the cause, George was rescued from enslavement by Madeleine de L'Isle, Louisiana's head Templar. Aided by Madeleine's stepdaughter, Aveline de Grandpré, he was then brought to the Patriots, who accepted him into their ranks.
However, George would later switch alliances, abandoning the Patriot cause to serve in Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, thus becoming a Loyalist. All the while, he remained a loyal servant to the Order.
Biography
Early life and escape from slavery
- "I will fight for you, sir, over any cause."
- ―George, swearing loyalty to the Patriots, 1773.[src]
Born in 1752, George was, along with another worker called Titus, one of four slaves owned by Quaker John Corlies. In the 1770s, he was offered a chance at freedom by Madeleine de L'Isle, though she demanded his servitude to the Templar Order in return.
Deciding to accept, George attempted to escape with Madeleine's help, though their plan went awry when he was discovered by soldiers. While George sought a hiding place, Madeleine turned to Aveline, her stepdaughter, for aid. Unaware of either person's true allegiance, the Assassin accepted and, after saving him from a couple of guards, helped George escape the city of New Orleans unharmed.
Having found temporary safety in the Louisiana Bayou, George was then introduced to Aveline's smuggler allies, Élise Lafleur and Roussillon. Hoping they could provide safe passage through the swamp, Aveline and George were informed of the smugglers' most recent business opportunity, which consisted of transporting supplies from the Spanish governor to the American Patriots. However, they were being hindered in this endeavor by rogue Spanish soldiers, bribed by the Templar Vázquez, who attempted to steal back the cargo.
Believing the Patriots might be willing to escort George north, Aveline proposed the smugglers transport the former slave along with their wares, while she defended them from Vázquez's men. Agreeing, the smugglers set off on a raft, with Aveline taking out their attackers in close combat, while George provided support with a musket. Eventually, they managed to reach the designated meeting place, where they were greeted by Hopton and his allies. Following the transferral of the goods, Aveline requested they take along George for additional protection, to which they accepted.
Serving in the Ethiopian Regiment
- "Who do you serve? And do you really think yourself free? "Charity should begin at himself," Miss Aveline."
- ―George, about Aveline's position as an Assassin, 1777.[src]
In 1775, Lord John Murray Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, issued a proclamation offering freedom to any slave who would join the Loyalist forces, prompting George to abandon the Patriot cause. In doing so, he reunited with Titus to fight together against their former masters.
Two years later, George was based in a fort located in the New York Frontier, still fighting for the British. Unbeknownst to the Templar, Aveline had come to New York as well, seeking a Templar called "Officer Davidson", unaware that Davidson and George were one and the same. With the help of the Kanien'kehá:ka Assassin, Ratonhnhaké:ton, Aveline managed to locate and infiltrate George's fort, following which she confronted him in the watchtower.
Surprised, Aveline questioned his allegiances to the Templars and the British Army, but George replied that his freedom had been guaranteed by the Loyalists in return for his service. He and his men subsequently engaged Aveline in battle, though the Assassin easily dispatched George's subordinates. Before they could continue their fight, however, a sudden explosion, set off by Ratonhnhaké:ton as a distraction for George's reinforcements, could be heard. George, deciding to run, locked Aveline inside the watchtower and fled the fort in a gunpowder carriage.
However, Aveline managed to escape the watchtower and shot at one of the barrels inside George's carriage as he rode by, blowing it up and mortally wounding the Templar. In his final moments, George claimed that he had chosen his destiny, which he considered to be true freedom. Aveline then hesitated, before asking him who the Company Man truly was. With his dying breath, he told her that "the answer had been in her own backyard all along", prompting the Assassin to understand that the Company Man was her own stepmother, Madeleine de L'Isle.
Trivia
- "Charity should begin at himself", a quote by John Wycliffe, is the antiquated equivalent of the contemporary proverb "charity begins at home". In citing it, George essentially scolds Aveline for neglecting her hometown of New Orleans by coming to New York to "play the hero".
- George's owner, John Corlies, was mistakenly referred to as John Cornelius in George's database entry.
- Like other individuals appearing in Abstergo Entertainment's Liberation product, George's database entry was edited to omit any reference to the Templars.
Gallery
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Aveline leading George through New Orleans -
George, Aveline and Élise conversing with Hopton
Reference
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