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diff --git a/old/8145-8.txt b/old/8145-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..236f16f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8145-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,30689 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2, by +John Frederick Schroeder and Benson John Lossing + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2 + +Author: John Frederick Schroeder + Benson John Lossing + +Commentator: Edward C. Towne + + +Release Date: May, 2005 [EBook #8145] +This file was first posted on June 19, 2003 +Last Updated: June 4, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND TIMES OF WASHINGTON *** + + + + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Marvin A. +Hodges, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + +LIFE AND TIMES OF WASHINGTON + +VOLUME II + +By John F. Schroeder and Benson John Lossing + + +[Editorial note: The title page of the 1903 source for this e-text + identifies the author only as "Schroeder-Lossing" + without first names or other identification. The + available evidence indicates the work was begun by + John Frederick Schroeder (1800-1857) and after his + death was completed by Benson John Lossing (1813- + 1891).] + + + + +REVISED, ENLARGED, AND ENRICHED: AND WITH A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY +EDWARD C. TOWNE, B.A. + + + + +[Note from etext producer: Some portions of the original hard copy from +which this text was produced were missing. These places in the text are +indicated with the notation: [missing text]. Anyone who has access to an +intact copy is encouraged to contact Project Gutenberg.] + + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS. + + +VOLUME II. PART IV. Washington Continental Commander-in-Chief. +1775-1783. + + +CHAP. X. Lord Howe Outgeneraled by Washington + + XI. Washington Holds Howe in Check + + XII. Burgoyne's Defeat and Surrender + + XIII. Washington at Valley Forge + + XIV. The Battle of Monmouth + + XV. Washington Directs a Descent on Rhode Island + + XVI. Washington Prepares to Chastise the Indians + + XVII. Washington's Operations in the Northern States + + XVIII. Campaign in the North--Arnold's Treason + + XIX. Operations at the South + + XX. Preparations for a New Campaign + + XXI. The Campaign at the South + + XXII. Continuation of the Campaign at the South + + XXIII. Washington Captures Cornwallis + + XXIV. Final Events of the Revolution + + * * * * * + +PART V. Washington, a Private Citizen. 1783-1788. + + CHAP. + + I. Washington's Return to Private Life + + II. Washington President of the Constitutional Convention + + * * * * * + +PART VI. Washington as President and in Retirement. 1789-1799. + + I. Washington Elected First President of the United States + + II. Washington's Inauguration and First Administration Formed + + III. Measures for Establishing the Public Credit + + IV. Establishment of a National Bank + + V. Political Parties Developed + + VI. Washington Inaugurates the System of Neutrality + + VII. Washington Sends Jay to England + + VIII. Washington Quells the Western Insurrection + + IX. Washington Signs Jay's Treaty + + X. Washington Maintains the Treaty-Making Power of the Executive + + XI. Washington Retires from the Presidency + + XII. Washington Appointed Lieutenant-General + + XIII. Last Illness, Death, and Character of Washington + + * * * * * + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Vol. II. + + WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT + + VALLEY FORGE--WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE + + WASHINGTON AT TRENTON + + MAJOR-GENERAL BARON STEUBEN + + PHILIP SCHUYLER + + HORATIO GATES + + BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN + + TREASON OF ARNOLD + + ROBERT MORRIS + + LEE'S CAVALRY SKIRMISHING AT THE BATTLE OF GUILFORD + + GENERAL FRANCIS MARION + + MAJOR-GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE + + ALEXANDER HAMILTON + + ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON + + WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL TO HIS OFFICERS + + LAFAYETTE + + JOHN JAY + + INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON + + THE FIRST CABINET + + JOHN HANCOCK + + JOHN ADAMS + + WASHINGTON AND FAMILY AT MOUNT VERNON + + CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL + + THOMAS JEFFERSON + + HENRY LAURENS + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +WASHINGTON OUT-GENERALS HOWE. 1777. + + +Among the many perplexing subjects which claimed the attention of +Washington during the winter (1776-1777), while he was holding his +headquarters among the hills at Morristown, none gave him more annoyance +than that of the treatment of American prisoners in the hands of the +enemy. Among the civilized nations of modern times prisoners of war are +treated with humanity and principles are established on which they are +exchanged. The British officers, however, considered the Americans as +rebels deserving condign punishment and not entitled to the sympathetic +treatment commonly shown to the captive soldiers of independent nations. +They seem to have thought that the Americans would never be able, +or would never dare, to retaliate. Hence their prisoners were most +infamously treated. Against this the Americans remonstrated, and, +on finding their remonstrances disregarded, they adopted a system of +retaliation which occasioned much unmerited suffering to individuals. +Col. Ethan Allen, who had been defeated and made prisoner in a bold but +rash attempt against Montreal, was put in irons and sent to England as +a traitor. In retaliation, General Prescott, who had been taken at the +mouth of the Sorel, was put in close confinement for the avowed purpose +of subjecting him to the same fate which Colonel Allen should suffer. + +Both officers and privates, prisoners to the Americans, were more +rigorously confined than they would otherwise have been, and, that +they might not impute this to wanton harshness and cruelty, they were +distinctly told that their own superiors only were to blame for any +severe treatment they might experience. + +The capture of General Lee became the occasion of embittering the +complaints on this subject, and of aggravating the sufferings of the +prisoners of war. Before that event something like a cartel for the +exchange of prisoners had been established between Generals Howe +and Washington, but the captivity of General Lee interrupted that +arrangement. The general, as we have seen, had been an officer in the +British army, but having been disgusted had resigned his commission, +and, at the beginning of the troubles, had offered his services to +Congress, which were readily accepted. General Howe affected to consider +him as a deserter, and ordered him into close confinement. Washington +had no prisoner of equal rank, but offered six Hessian field officers +in exchange for him, and required that, if that offer should not be +accepted, General Lee should be treated according to his rank in the +American army. General Howe replied that General Lee was a deserter from +his majesty's service, and could not be considered as a prisoner of war +nor come within the conditions of the cartel. A fruitless discussion +ensued between the Commanders-in-Chief. Congress took up the matter and +resolved that General Washington be directed to inform General Howe, +that should the proffered exchange of six Hessian field officers for +General Lee not be accepted, and his former treatment continued, the +principle of retaliation shall occasion five of the Hessian field +officers, together with Lieut. Col. Archibald Campbell, or any other +officers that are or shall be in possession of equivalent in number or +quality, to be detained, in order that the treatment which General Lee +shall receive may be exactly inflicted upon their persons. Congress also +ordered a copy of their resolution to be transmitted to the Council of +Massachusetts Bay, and that they be desired to detain Lieutenant-Colonel +Campbell, and keep him in close custody till the further orders of +Congress, and that a copy be also sent to the committee of Congress, in +Philadelphia, and that they be desired to have the prisoners, officers, +and privates lately taken properly secured in some safe place. + +Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell of the Seventy-first Regiment, with about +270 of his men, had been made prisoner in the bay of Boston, while +sailing for the harbor, ignorant of the evacuation of the town by +the British. Hitherto the colonel had been civilly treated; but, +on receiving the order of Congress respecting him, the Council of +Massachusetts Bay, instead of simply keeping him in safe custody, +according to order, sent him to Concord jail, and lodged him in a filthy +and loathsome dungeon, about twelve or thirteen feet square. He was +locked in by double bolts and expressly prohibited from entering the +prison yard on any consideration whatever. A disgusting hole, fitted up +with a pair of fixed chains, and from which a felon had been removed to +make room for his reception, was assigned him as an inner apartment. +The attendance of a servant was denied him, and no friend was allowed to +visit him. + +Colonel Campbell naturally complained to Howe of such unworthy +treatment, and Howe addressed Washington on the subject. The latter +immediately wrote to the Council of Massachusetts Bay, and said, "You +will observe that exactly the same treatment is to be shown to Colonel +Campbell and the Hessian officers that General Howe shows to General +Lee, and as he is only confined to a commodious house, with genteel +accommodation, we have no right or reason to be more severe to Colonel +Campbell, whom I wish to be immediately removed from his present +situation and put into a house where he may live comfortably." + +The historian (Gordon), who wrote at the time, gives a very graphic +account of the sufferings of the American prisoners in New York, which, +dreadful as it seems, is confirmed by many contemporary authorities. He +says: "Great complaints were made of the horrid usage the Americans met +with after they were captured." + +The garrison of Fort Washington surrendered by capitulation to General +Howe, the 16th of November. The terms were that the fort should be +surrendered, the troops be considered prisoners of war, and that the +American officers should keep their baggage and sidearms. These articles +were signed and afterwards published in the New York papers. Major Otho +Holland Williams, of Rawling's Rifle Regiment, in doing his duty +that day, unfortunately fell into the hands of the enemy. The haughty +deportment of the officers, and the scurrility of the soldiers of the +British army, he afterward said, soon dispelled his hopes of being +treated with lenity. Many of the American officers were plundered of +their baggage and robbed of their sidearms, hats, cockades, etc., and +otherwise grossly ill-treated. Williams and three companions were, on +the third day, put on board the Baltic-Merchant, a hospital ship, then +lying in the sound. The wretchedness of his situation was in some degree +alleviated by a small pittance of pork and parsnip which a good-natured +sailor spared him from his own mess. The fourth day of their captivity, +Rawlings, Hanson, M'Intire, and himself, all wounded officers, were put +into one common dirt-cart and dragged through the city of New York as +objects of derision, reviled as rebels, and treated with the utmost +contempt. + +From the cart they were set down at the door of an old wastehouse, the +remains of Hampden Hall, near Bridewell, which, because of the openness +and filthiness of the place, he had a few months before refused as +barracks for his privates, but now was willing to accept for himself +and friends, in hopes of finding an intermission of the fatigue and +persecution they had perpetually suffered. Some provisions were issued +to the prisoners in the afternoon of that day, what quantity he could +not declare, but it was of the worst quality he ever, till then, saw +made use of. He was informed the allowance consisted of six ounces of +pork, one pound of biscuit, and some peas per day for each man, and +two bushels and a half of sea coal per week for the officers to each +fireplace. These were admitted on parole, and lived generally in +wastehouses. The privates, in the coldest season of the year, were close +confined in churches, sugar-houses, and other open buildings (which +admitted all kinds of weather), and consequently were subjected to the +severest kind of persecution that ever unfortunate captives suffered. + +Officers were insulted and often struck for attempting to afford some +of the miserable privates a small relief. In about three weeks Colonel +Williams was able to walk, and was himself a witness of the sufferings +of his countrymen. He could not describe their misery. Their +constitutions were not equal to the rigor of the treatment they received +and the consequence was the death of many hundreds. The officers were +not allowed to take muster-rolls, nor even to visit their men, so that +it was impossible to ascertain the numbers that perished; but from +frequent reports and his own observations, he verily believed, as well +as had heard many officers give it as their opinion, that not less than +1,500 prisoners perished in the course of a few weeks in the city of New +York, and that this dreadful mortality was principally owing to the want +of provisions and extreme cold. If they computed too largely, it must be +ascribed to the shocking brutal manner of treating the dead bodies, and +not to any desire of exaggerating the account of their sufferings. + +When the King's commissary of prisoners intimated to some of the +American officers General Howe's intention of sending the privates +home on parole, they all earnestly desired it, and a paper was signed +expressing that desire; the reason for signing was, they well knew the +effects of a longer confinement, and the great numbers that died when on +parole justified their pretensions to that knowledge. In January almost +all the officers were sent to Long Island on parole, and there billeted +on the inhabitants at $2 per week. + +The filth in the churches (in consequence of fluxes) was beyond +description. Seven dead have been seen in one of them at the same time, +lying among the excrements of their bodies. The British soldiers were +full of their low and insulting jokes on those occasions, but less +malignant than the Tories. The provision dealt out to the prisoners was +not sufficient for the support of life, and was deficient in quantity, +and more so in quality. The bread was loathsome and not fit to be +eaten, and was thought to have been condemned. The allowance of meat +was trifling and of the worst sort. The integrity of these suffering +prisoners was hardly credible. Hundreds submitted to death rather than +enlist in the British service, which they were most generally pressed +to do. It was the opinion of the American officers that Howe perfectly +understood the condition of the private soldiers, and they from thence +argued that it was exactly such as he and his council intended. After +Washington's success in the Jerseys, the obduracy, and malevolence of +the Royalists subsided in some measure. The surviving prisoners were +ordered to be sent out as an exchange, but several of them fell down +dead in the streets while attempting to walk to the vessels. + +Washington wrote to General Howe in the beginning of April: "It is a +fact not to be questioned that the usage of our prisoners while in your +possession, the privates at least, was such as could not be justified. +This was proclaimed by the concurrent testimony of all who came out. +Their appearance justified the assertion, and melancholy experience in +the speedy death of a large part of them, stamped it with infallible +certainty." + +The cruel treatment of the prisoners being the subject of conversation +among some officers captured by Sir Guy Carleton, General Parsons, who +was of the company, said, "I am very glad of it." They expressed their +astonishment and desired him to explain himself. He thus addressed them: +"You have been taken by General Carleton, and he has used you with great +humanity, would you be inclined to fight against him?" The answer was, +"No." "So," added Parsons, "would it have been, had the troops taken by +Howe been treated in like manner, but now through this cruelty we shall +get another army." + +The Hon. William Smith, learning how the British used the prisoners, +and concluding it would operate to that end by enraging the Americans, +applied to the committee of New York State for leave to go into the city +and remonstrate with the British upon such cruel treatment, which he +doubted not but that he should put a stop to. The committee, +however, either from knowing what effect the cruelties would have in +strengthening the opposition to Britain, or from jealousies of his being +in some other way of disservice to the American cause or from these +united, would not grant his request. + +Washington, at the beginning of 1777, determined to have the army +inoculated for the smallpox, which had made fearful ravages in the +ranks. It was carried forward as secretly and carefully as possible, and +the hospital physicians in Philadelphia were ordered at the same time to +inoculate all the soldiers who passed through that city on their way +to join the army. The same precautions were taken in the other military +stations, and thus the army was relieved from an evil which would have +materially interfered with the success of the ensuing campaign. +The example of the soldiery proved a signal benefit to the entire +population, the practice of inoculation became general, and, by little +and little, this fatal malady disappeared almost entirely. + +In the hope that something might be effected at New York, Washington +ordered General Heath, who was in command in the Highlands, to move +down towards the city with a considerable force. Heath did so, and in a +rather grandiloquent summons called upon Fort Independence to surrender. +The enemy, however, stood their ground, and Heath, after a few days, +retreated, having done nothing, and exposed himself to ridicule for not +having followed up his words with suitable deeds. + +While Washington was actively employed in the Jerseys in asserting the +independence of America, Congress could not afford him much assistance, +but that body was active in promoting the same cause by its enactments +and recommendations. Hitherto the Colonies had been united by no bond +but that of their common danger and common love of liberty. Congress +resolved to render the terms of their union more definite, to ascertain +the rights and duties of the several Colonies, and their mutual +obligations toward each other. A committee was appointed to sketch the +principles of the union or confederation. + +This committee presented a report in thirteen Articles of Confederation +and perpetual Union between the States, and proposed that, instead of +calling themselves the United Colonies, as they had hitherto done, they +should assume the name of the United States of America; that each State +should retain its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every +power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by the confederation +expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled; +that they enter into a firm league for mutual defense; that the free +inhabitants of any of the States shall be entitled to the privileges +and immunities of free citizens in any other State; that any traitor or +great delinquent fleeing from one State and found in another shall be +delivered up to the State having jurisdiction of his offense; that full +faith and credit shall be given in each of the States to the records, +acts, and judicial proceedings of every other State; that delegates +shall be annually chosen in such manner as the legislature of each State +shall direct, to meet in Congress on the first Monday of November, with +power to each State to recall its delegates, or any of them, at any time +within the year, and to send others in their stead; that no State shall +be represented in Congress by less than two or more than seven members, +and no person shall be a delegate for more than three out of six years, +nor shall any delegate hold a place of emolument under the United +States; that each State shall maintain its own delegates; that in +Congress each State shall have only one vote; that freedom of speech +shall be enjoyed by the members, and that they shall be free from +arrest, except for treason, felony, or breach of the peace; that no +State, without the consent of Congress, shall receive any ambassador, or +enter into any treaty with any foreign power; that no person holding any +office in any of the United States shall receive any present, office, or +title from any foreign State, and that neither Congress nor any of the +States shall grant any titles of nobility; that no two or more of the +States shall enter into any confederation whatever without the consent +of Congress; that no State shall impose any duties which may interfere +with treaties made by Congress; that in time of peace no vessels of +war or military force shall be kept up in any of the States but by the +authority of Congress, but every State shall have a well-regulated and +disciplined militia; that no State, unless invaded, shall engage in war +without the consent of Congress, nor shall they grant letters of marque +or reprisal till after a declaration of war by Congress; that colonels +and inferior officers shall be appointed by the Legislature of each +State for its own troops; that the expenses of war shall be defrayed out +of a common treasury, supplied by the several States according to the +value of the land in each; that taxes shall be imposed and levied by +authority and direction of the several States within the time prescribed +by Congress; that Congress has the sole and exclusive right of deciding +on peace and war, of sending and receiving ambassadors, and entering +into treaties; that Congress shall be the last resort on appeal in +all disputes and differences between two or more of the States; that +Congress have the sole and exclusive right and power of regulating the +alloy and value of coin struck by their own authority, or by that of +the respective States, fixing the standard of weights and measures, +regulating the trade, establishing post-offices, appointing all +officers of the land forces in the service of the United States, except +regimental officers, appointing all the officers of the naval forces, +and commissioning all officers whatever in the service of the United +States, making rules for the government and regulation of the said land +and naval forces, and directing their operations; that Congress have +authority to appoint a committee to sit during their recess, to be +dominated a Committee of the States, and to consist of one delegate from +each State; that Congress shall have power to ascertain the necessary +sums of money to be raised for the service of the United States, and +to appropriate and apply the same, to borrow money or emit bills on +the credit of the United States, to build and equip a navy, to fix the +number of land forces, and to make requisitions from each State for its +quota, in proportion to the number of white inhabitants in such State; +that the consent of nine States shall be requisite to any great public +measure of common interest; that Congress shall have power to adjourn to +any time within the year, and to any place within the United States, but +the adjournment not to exceed six months, and that they shall publish +their proceedings monthly, excepting such parts relating to treaties, +alliances, or military operations, as in their judgment require +secrecy; that the yeas and nays of the delegates of each State shall, +if required, be entered on the journal, and extracts granted; that the +Committee of the States, or any nine of them, shall, during the recess +of Congress, exercise such powers as Congress shall vest them with; +that Canada, if willing, shall be admitted to all the advantages of +the union; but no other colony shall be admitted, unless such admission +shall be agreed to by nine States; that all bills of credit emitted, +moneys borrowed, or debts contracted by Congress before this +confederation, shall be charges on the United States; that every State +shall abide by the determinations of Congress on all questions submitted +to them by this confederation; that the articles of it shall be +inviolably observed by every State, and that no alteration in any of +the articles shall be made, unless agreed to by Congress, and afterward +confirmed by the legislature of every State. + +Such was the substance of this confederation or union. After much +discussion, at thirty-nine sittings, the articles were approved by +Congress, transmitted to the several State Legislatures, and, meeting +with their approbation, were ratified by all the delegates on the 15th +of November, 1778. + +Congress maintained an erect posture, although its affairs then wore the +most gloomy aspect. It was under the provisions of this confederation +that the war was afterward carried on, and, considered as a first +essay of legislative wisdom, it discovers a good understanding, and +a respectable knowledge of the structure of society. Had peace been +concluded before the settlement of this confederation, the States would +probably have broken down into so many independent governments, and the +strength of the Union been lost in a number of petty sovereignties. + +It is not hazarding much to say that, considering all the circumstances, +it was the best form of government which could have been framed at +that time. Its radical defect arose from its being a confederation +of independent States, in which the central government had no direct +recourse to the people. It required all grants of men or money to be +obtained from the State governments, who were often, during the war, +extremely dilatory in complying with the requisitions of Congress. This +defect was strongly felt by Washington, who was often compelled to exert +his personal influence, which, in all the States, was immense, to +obtain the supplies which Congress had no power to exact. We shall +see hereafter, that in forming the new constitution, a work in which +Washington took a leading part, this defect was remedied. + +While Congress was beginning to form these articles of confederation, +and Washington was giving a new aspect to the war in New Jersey, the +people of Great Britain, long accustomed to colonial complaints and +quarrels, and attentive merely to their own immediate interests, paid +no due regard to the progress of the contest or to the importance of the +principles in which it originated. Large majorities in both houses of +parliament supported the ministry in all their violent proceedings, +and although a small minority, including several men of distinguished +talents, who trembled for the fate of British liberty if the court +should succeed in establishing its claims against the colonists, +vigorously opposed the measures of administration, yet the great body +of the people manifested a loyal zeal in favor of the war, and the +ill success of the Colonists in the campaign of 1776, gave that zeal +additional energy. + +But amidst all the popularity of their warlike operations, the +difficulties of the ministry soon began to multiply. In consequence of +hostilities with the American provinces, the British West India islands +experienced a scarcity of the necessaries of life. About the time +when the West India fleet was about to set sail, under convoy, on its +homeward voyage, it was discovered that the negroes of Jamaica meditated +an insurrection. By means of the draughts to complete the army in +America, the military force in that island had been weakened, and the +ships of war were detained to assist in suppressing the attempts of the +negroes. By this delay the Americans gained time for equipping their +privateers. After the fleet sailed it was dispersed by stormy weather +and many of the ships, richly laden, fell into the hands of the American +cruisers who were permitted to sell their prizes in the ports of France, +both in Europe and in the West Indies. + +The conduct of France was now so openly manifested that it could no +longer be winked at, and it drew forth a remonstrance from the British +cabinet. The remonstrance was civilly answered, and the traffic in +British prizes was carried on somewhat more covertly in the French ports +in Europe; but it was evident that both France and Spain were in a state +of active preparation for war. The British ministry could no longer shut +their eyes against the gathering storm, and began to prepare for it. +About the middle of October (1776) they put sixteen additional ships +into commission, and made every exertion to man them. + +On the 31st of October the parliament met and was opened by a speech +from the throne, in which his majesty stated that it would have given +him much satisfaction if he had been able to inform them that the +disturbances in the revolted Colonies were at an end, and that the +people of America, recovering from their delusion, had returned to their +duty; but so mutinous and determined was the spirit of their leaders +that they had openly abjured and renounced all connection and +communication with the mother country and had rejected every +conciliatory proposition. Much mischief, he said, would accrue not only +to the commerce of Great Britain but to the general system of Europe if +this rebellion were suffered to take root. The conduct of the Colonists +would convince every one of the necessity of the measures proposed to be +adopted, and the past success of the British arms promised the happiest +results; but preparations must be promptly made for another campaign. A +hope was expressed of the general continuance of tranquility in Europe, +but that it was thought advisable to increase the defensive resources at +home. + +The addresses to the speech were in the usual form, but amendments +were moved in both houses of parliament; in the Commons by Lord John +Cavendish and in the Lords by the Marquis of Rockingham. After an +animated debate the amendment was rejected, in the House of Commons by +242 against 87, and in the Lords by 91 against 26. During the session +of parliament some other attempts were made for adopting conciliatory +measures, but the influence of ministry was so powerful that they were +all completely defeated, and the plans of administration received the +approbation and support of parliament. + +During the winter (1776-1777), which was very severe, the British +troops at Brunswick and Amboy were kept on constant duty and suffered +considerable privations. The Americans were vigilant and active, and the +British army could seldom procure provisions or forage without fighting. +But although in the course of the winter the affairs of the United +States had begun to wear a more promising aspect, yet there were still +many friends of royalty in the provinces. By their open attachment to +the British interest, numbers had already exposed themselves to the +hostility of the patriotic party; and others, from affection to Britain +or distrust of the American cause, gave their countenance and aid to +General Howe. Early in the season a considerable number of these men +joined the royal army, and were embodied under the direction of the +Commander-in-Chief with the same pay as the regular troops, besides +the promise of an allotment of land at the close of the disturbances. +Governor Tryon, who had been extremely active in engaging and +disciplining them, was promoted to the rank of major-general of the +Loyal Provincialists. [1] + +The campaign opened on both sides by rapid predatory incursions and bold +desultory attacks. At Peekskill, on the North river, about fifty miles +above New York, the Americans had formed a post, at which, during the +winter, they had collected a considerable quantity of provisions and +camp-equipage to supply the stations in the vicinity as occasion might +require. + +The most mountainous part of the district, named the Manor of Courland, +was formed into a kind of citadel, replenished with stores, and +Peekskill served as a port to it. On the 23d of March (1777), as soon +as the river was clear of ice, Howe, who thought Peekskill of more +importance than it really was, detached Colonel Bird, with about 500 +men, under convoy of a frigate and some armed vessels, against that +post. General M'Dougal, who commanded there, had then only about 250 +men in the place. He had timely notice of Colonel Bird's approach, and, +sensible that his post was untenable, he exerted himself to remove the +stores to the strong grounds about two miles and a half in his rear; but +before he had made much progress in the work the British appeared, when +he set fire to the stores and buildings and retreated. Colonel Bird +landed and completed the destruction of the stores which he was unable +to remove. On the same day he re-embarked, and returned to New York. + +On the 8th of April (1777), says Gordon, Congress concluded upon the +erection of a monument to the memory of General Warren in the town of +Boston, and another to the memory of General Mercer in Fredericksburg, +in Virginia, and that the eldest son of General Warren, and the youngest +son of General Mercer, be educated from henceforward at the expense of +the United States. They conveyed in a few words the highest eulogium on +the characters and merits of the deceased. Through inattention, General +Warren, who fell on Breed's Hill, had not been properly noted when +Congress passed their resolve respecting General Montgomery: the +proposal for paying due respect to the memory of Mercer led to the like +in regard to Warren. + +On the 13th of April Lord Cornwallis and General Grant, with about 2,000 +men, attempted to surprise and cut off General Lincoln, who, with 500 +men, was posted at Bound Brook, seven miles from Brunswick, and nearly +succeeded in their enterprise. But by a bold and rapid movement Lincoln, +when almost surrounded, forced his way between the British columns and +escaped, with the loss of sixty men, his papers, three field pieces, and +some baggage. + +At that early period of the campaign Howe attempted no grand movement +against the main body of the army under Washington at Morristown, but +he made several efforts to interrupt his communications, destroy his +stores, and impede his operations. He had received information that +the Americans had collected a large quantity of stores in the town of +Danbury and in other places on the borders of Connecticut. These +he resolved to destroy, and appointed Major-General Tryon of the +Provincials, who panted for glory in his newly-acquired character, to +command an expedition for that purpose, but prudently directed Generals +Agnew and Sir William Erskine to accompany him. + +On the 25th of April (1777) the fleet appeared off the coast of +Connecticut, and in the evening the troops were landed without +opposition between Fairfield and Norwalk. General Silliman, then +casually in that part of the country, immediately dispatched expresses +to assemble the militia. In the meantime Tryon proceeded to Danbury +which he reached about 2 the next day. On his approach Colonel +Huntingdon, who had occupied the town with about 150 men, retired to a +neighboring height, and Danbury, with the magazines it contained, was +consumed by fire. + +General Arnold, who was also in the State superintending the recruiting +service, joined General Silliman at Reading, where that officer had +collected about 500 militia. General Wooster, who had resigned his +commission in the Continental service, and been appointed major-general +of the militia, fell in with them at the same place, and they proceeded +in the night through a heavy rain to Bethel, about eight miles from +Danbury. Having heard next morning that Tryon, after destroying the town +and magazines, was returning, they divided their troops, and General +Wooster, with about 300 men, fell in his rear, while Arnold, with about +500, crossing the country, took post in his front at Ridgefield. Wooster +came up with his rear about 11 in the morning, attacked it with great +gallantry, and a sharp skirmish ensued in which he was mortally wounded, +[2] and his troops were repulsed. + +Tryon then proceeded to Ridgefield where he found Arnold already +entrenched on a strong piece of ground, and prepared to dispute his +passage. A warm skirmish ensued, which continued nearly an hour. +Arnold was at length driven from the field after which he retreated to +Paugatuck, about three miles east of Norwalk. + +At break of day next morning, after setting Ridgefield on fire, the +British resumed their march. About 11 in the forenoon, April 28th +(1777), they were again met by Arnold, whose numbers increased during +the day to rather more than 1,000 men, among whom were some Continental +troops. A continued skirmishing was kept up until 5 in the afternoon, +when the British formed on a hill near their ships. The Americans +attacked them with intrepidity, but were repulsed and broken. Tryon, +availing himself of this respite, re-embarked his troops and returned to +New York. + +The loss of the British amounted to about 170 men. [3] That of the +Americans was represented by Tryon as being much more considerable. By +themselves it was not admitted to exceed 100. In this number, however, +were comprehended General Wooster, Lieutenant-Colonel Gould, and another +field officer, killed, and Colonel Lamb wounded. Several other +officers and volunteers were killed. Military and hospital stores to +a considerable amount, which were greatly needed by the army, were +destroyed in the magazines at Danbury, but the loss most severely +felt was rather more than 1,000 tents which had been provided for the +campaign about to open. + +Not long afterward this enterprise was successfully retaliated. A +British detachment had been for some time employed in collecting forage +and provisions on the eastern end of Long Island. Howe supposed this +part of the country to be so completely secured by the armed vessels +which incessantly traversed the Sound, that he confided the protection +of the stores deposited at a small port called Sag Harbor to a schooner +with twelve guns and a company of infantry. + +General Parsons, who commanded a few recruits at New Haven, thinking +it practicable to elude the cruisers in the bay, formed the design of +surprising this party and other adjacent posts, the execution of which +was entrusted to Lieutenant-Colonel Meigs, a gallant officer who had +accompanied Arnold in his memorable march to Quebec. He embarked with +about 230 men on board 13 whale-boats, and proceeded along the coast +to Guilford, where he was to cross the Sound. With about 170 of his +detachment, under convoy of two armed sloops, he proceeded (May +23, 1777) across the Sound to the north division of the island near +Southhold in the neighborhood of which a small foraging party against +which the expedition was in part directed, was supposed to lie, but they +had marched two days before to New York. The boats were conveyed across +the land, a distance of about fifteen miles, into a bay which deeply +intersects the eastern end of Long Island, where the troops re-embarked. +Crossing the bay they landed at 2 in the morning, about four miles from +Sag Harbor, which they completely surprised and carried with charged +bayonets. At the same time a division of the detachment secured the +armed schooner and the vessels laden with forage, which were set on fire +and entirely consumed. Six of the enemy were killed and ninety taken +prisoners. A very few escaped under cover of the night. + +The object of his expedition being effected without the loss of a man, +Colonel Meigs returned to Guilford with his prisoners. "Having," as +was stated in the letter to General Parsons, "moved with such uncommon +celerity as to have transported his men by land and water 90 miles in 25 +hours." Congress directed a sword to be presented to him, and passed a +resolution expressing the high sense entertained of his merit, and of +the prudence, activity, and valor displayed by himself and his party. + +The exertions made by Washington through the winter to raise a powerful +army for the ensuing campaign had not been successful. The hopes +respecting its strength, which the flattering reports made from every +quarter had authorized him to form, were cruelly disappointed, and +he found himself not only unable to carry into effect the offensive +operations he had meditated, but unequal even to defensive warfare. That +steady and persevering courage, however, which had supported himself and +the American cause through the gloomy scenes of the preceding year +did not forsake him, and that sound judgment which applies to the best +advantage those means which are attainable, however inadequate they may +be, still remained. His plan of operations was adapted to that which +he believed his enemy had formed. He was persuaded either that General +Burgoyne, who was then at Quebec, would endeavor to take Ticonderoga and +to penetrate to the Hudson, in which event General Howe would cooperate +with him by moving up that river, and attempting to possess himself +of the forts and high grounds commanding its passage, or that Burgoyne +would join the grand army at New York by sea, after which the combined +armies would proceed against Philadelphia. + +To counteract the designs of the enemy, whatever they might be, to +defend the three great points, Ticonderoga, the Highlands of New York, +and Philadelphia, against two powerful armies so much superior to him +in arms, in numbers, and in discipline, it was necessary to make such an +arrangement of his troops as would enable the parts reciprocally to +aid each other without neglecting objects of great and almost equal +magnitude, which were alike threatened, and were far asunder. To effect +these purposes, the troops of New England and New York were divided +between Ticonderoga and Peekskill, while those from Jersey to North +Carolina inclusive, were directed to assemble at the camp to be formed +in Jersey. The more southern troops remained in that State for its +protection. + +These arrangements being made and the recruits collected, the camp +at Morristown was broken up, the detachments called in, and the army +assembled at Middlebrook (May 28, 1777), just behind a connected +ridge of strong and commanding heights north of the road leading to +Philadelphia, and about ten miles from Brunswick. + +This camp, the approaches to which were naturally difficult, Washington +took care to strengthen still further by entrenchments. The heights in +front commanded a prospect of the course of the Raritan, the road to +Philadelphia, the hills about Brunswick, and a considerable part of the +country between that place and Amboy, so as to afford him a full view of +the most interesting movements of the enemy. + +The force brought into the field by the United States required all +the aid which could be derived from strong positions and unremitting +vigilance. On the 20th of May (1777) the army in Jersey, excluding +cavalry and artillery, amounted to only 8,378 men, of whom upwards of +2,000 were sick. The effective rank and file were only 5,738. + +Had this army been composed of the best disciplined troops, its +inferiority in point of numbers must have limited its operations to +defensive war, and have rendered it incompetent to the protection of any +place whose defense would require a battle in the open field. But more +than half the troops were unacquainted with the first rudiments +of military duty, and had never looked an enemy in the face. As an +additional cause of apprehension, a large proportion of the soldiers, +especially from the middle States, were foreigners, in whose attachment +to the American cause full confidence could not be placed. + +Washington, anticipating a movement by land toward Philadelphia, had +taken the precaution to give orders for assembling on the western bank +of the Delaware an army of militia strengthened by a few Continental +troops, the command of which was given to General Arnold who was then in +Philadelphia employed in the settlement of his accounts. + +The first and real object of the campaign on the part of Howe was the +acquisition of Philadelphia. He intended to march through Jersey, and +after securing the submission of that State to cross the Delaware on a +portable bridge constructed in the winter for the purpose and proceed +by land to that city. If, in the execution of this plan, the Americans +could be brought to a general action on equal ground, the advantages of +the royal army must insure a victory. But should Washington decline an +engagement and be again pressed over the Delaware the object would be as +certainly obtained. + +Had Howe taken the field before the Continental troops were assembled +this plan might probably have been executed without any serious +obstruction, but the tents and camp equipage expected from Europe +did not arrive until Washington had collected his forces and taken +possession of the strong post on the Heights of Middlebrook. It would be +dangerous to attack him on such advantageous ground, for, although his +camp might be forced, victory would probably be attended with such loss +as to disable the victor from reaping its fruits. + +If it was deemed too hazardous to attack the strong camp at Middlebrook, +an attempt to cross the Delaware in the face of an army collected on its +western bank, while that under Washington remained unbroken in his rear, +was an experiment of equal danger. It suited the cautious temper of Howe +to devise some other plan of operation to which he might resort should +he be unable to seduce Washington from his advantageous position. + +The two great bays of Delaware and Chesapeake suggested the alternative +of proceeding by water, should he be unable to maneuver Washington out +of his present encampment. + +The plan of the campaign being settled and some small reinforcements +with the expected camp equipage being received from Europe, Howe, +leaving a garrison in New York and a guard in Amboy, assembled his army +at Brunswick, and gave strong indications of an intention to penetrate +through the country to the Delaware and reach Philadelphia by land. + +Believing this to be his real design Washington (June 13, 1777) placed +a select corps of riflemen under the command of Colonel Morgan, who had +distinguished himself in the unfortunate attempt to storm Quebec, and +in whom those particular qualities which fit a man for the command of a +partisan corps, designed to act on the lines of a formidable enemy, were +eminently united. + +He was ordered to take post at Vanvighton's bridge on the Raritan, just +above its confluence with the Millstone river, to watch the left flank +of the British army and seize every occasion to harass it. + +Early in the morning of the 14th, Howe, leaving 2,000 men under the +command of General Matthews at Brunswick, advanced in two columns toward +the Delaware. The front of the first, under Cornwallis, reached Somerset +Court House, nine miles from Brunswick, by the appearance of day, and +the second, commanded by General de Heister, reached Middlebush about +the same time. + +This movement was made with the view of inducing Washington to quit his +fortified camp and approach the Delaware, in which event, Howe expected +to bring on an engagement on ground less disadvantageous than that now +occupied by the American army. But Washington understood the importance +of his position too well to abandon it. + +On the first intelligence that the enemy was in motion, he drew out his +whole army, and formed it to great advantage on the heights in front of +his camp. This position was constantly maintained. The troops remained +in order of battle during the day, and in the night slept on the ground +to be defended. + +In the meantime the Jersey militia, with alacrity theretofore unexampled +in that State, took the field in great numbers. They principally joined +General Sullivan, who had retired from Princeton, behind the Sourland +hills toward Flemington, where an army of some extent was forming, which +could readily cooperate with that under the immediate inspection of +Washington. + +The settled purpose of Washington was to defend his camp, but not to +hazard a general action on other ground. He had therefore determined not +to advance from the heights he occupied into the open country, either +towards the enemy or the Delaware. + +The object of Howe was, by acting on his anxiety for Philadelphia, to +seduce him from the strong ground about Middlebrook, and tempt him to +approach the Delaware in the hope of defending its passage. Should +he succeed in this, he had little doubt of being able to bring on an +engagement, in which he counted with certainty on victory. + +The considerations which restrained Howe from attempting to march +through Jersey, leaving the American army in full force in his rear, had +determined Washington to allow him to proceed to the Delaware, if such +should be his intention. In that event, he had determined to throw those +impediments only in the way of the hostile army which might harass and +retard its march, and maintaining the high and secure grounds north +of the road to be taken by the enemy, to watch for an opportunity of +striking some important blow with manifest advantage. + +Washington was not long in penetrating Howe's designs. "The views of +the enemy," he writes to General Arnold in a letter of the 17th (June, +1777), "must be to destroy this army and get possession of Philadelphia. +I am, however, clearly of opinion, that they will not move that way +until they have endeavored to give a severe blow to this army. The risk +would be too great to attempt to cross a river when they must expect +to meet a formidable opposition in front and would have such a force +as ours in their rear. They might possibly be successful, but the +probability would be infinitely against them. Should they be imprudent +enough to make the attempt, I shall keep close upon their heels and will +do everything in my power to make the project fatal to them." + +"But, besides the argument in favor of their intending, in the first +place, a stroke at this army, drawn from the policy of the measure, +every appearance contributes to conform the opinion. Had their design +been for the Delaware in the first instance, they would probably have +made a secret, rapid march for it, and not have halted so as to awaken +our attention, and give us time to prepare for obstructing them. Instead +of that they have only advanced to a position necessary to facilitate an +attack on our right, the part in which we are most exposed. In addition +to this circumstance, they have come out as light as possible, leaving +all their baggage, provisions, boas, and bridges at Brunswick. This +plainly contradicts the idea of their intending to push for the +Delaware." + +Finding the American army could not be drawn from its strong position +Howe determined to waste no more time in threatening Philadelphia +by land, but to withdraw from Jersey and to embark his army as +expeditiously as possible for the Chesapeake or the Delaware. On the +night of the 19th of June (1777), he returned to Brunswick, and on the +22d to Amboy, from which place the heavy baggage and a few of his troops +passed into Staten Island on the bridge which had been designed for the +Delaware. [2] + +Washington had expected this movement from Brunswick and had made +arrangements to derive some advantage from it. General Greene was +detached with three brigades to annoy the British rear, and Sullivan +and Maxwell were ordered to cooperate with him. In the meantime the army +paraded on the Heights of Middlebrook, ready to act as circumstances +might require. + +About sunrise, Colonel Morgan drove in a picket-guard, soon after which +that division commenced its march to Amboy. Some sharp skirmishing took +place between this party and Morgan's regiment, but the hope of gaining +any important advantage was entirely disappointed, and the retreat to +Amboy was effected with inconsiderable loss. + +In order to cover his light parties, which still hung on the British +flank and rear, Washington advanced six or seven miles to Quibbletown +on the road to Amboy, and Lord Stirling's division was pushed still +further, to the neighborhood of the Metucking Meeting House, for the +purpose of co-operating with the light parties should the retreat to +Staten Island afford an opportunity of striking at the rear. + +Believing it now practicable to bring on an engagement and probably +hoping to turn the left of the American army and gain the heights in its +rear, Howe, in the night of the 25th, recalled the troops from Staten +Island, and early next morning (June 26, 1777) made a rapid movement +in two columns, towards Westfield. The right, under the command of +Cornwallis took the route by Woodbridge to the Scotch plains, and the +left, led by Howe in person, marched by Metucking Meeting House to fall +into the rear of the right column. It was intended that the left should +take a separate road soon after this junction and attack the left flank +of the American army at Quibbletown, while Cornwallis should gain the +heights on the left of the camp at Middlebrook. Four battalions with six +pieces of cannon were detached to Bonhamtown. + +About Woodbridge the right column fell in with one of the American +parties of observation, which gave notice of this movement. Washington +discerned his danger, put the whole army instantly in motion, and +regained the camp at Middlebrook. Cornwallis fell in with Lord Stirling +and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which the Americans were driven from +their ground with the loss of three field-pieces and a few men. They +retreated to the hills about the Scotch Plains and were pursued as far +as Westfield. Perceiving the passes in the mountains on the left of the +American camp to be guarded, and the object of this skilful maneuver to +be, consequently, unattainable, Cornwallis returned through Rahway to +Amboy, and the whole army crossed over to Staten Island. Washington was +now again left to his conjectures respecting the plan of the campaign. +The very next day (June 27), after Howe had finally evacuated the +Jerseys, intelligence was received of the appearance of Burgoyne on +Lake Champlain, and that Ticonderoga was threatened. This intelligence +strengthened the opinion that the design of Howe must be to seize the +passes in the mountains on the Hudson, secure the command of that river, +and effect a junction between the two armies. Yet Washington could not +permit himself to yield so entirely to this impression, as to make a +movement which might open the way by land to Philadelphia. His army, +therefore, maintained its station at Middlebrook, but arrangements were +made to repel any sudden attack on the posts which defended the Hudson. + +Some changes made in the stations of the British ships and troops +having relieved Washington from his apprehensions of a sudden march to +Philadelphia, he advanced Sullivan's division to Pompton Plains, on +the way to Peekskill, and proceeded with the main body of his army to +Morristown, thus approaching the Highlands of New York without removing +so far from Middlebrook as to be unable to regain that camp should Howe +indicate an intention to seize it. + +Meanwhile Howe prosecuted diligently his plan of embarkation, which was +necessarily attended with circumstances indicating a much longer voyage +than one up the North river. These circumstances were immediately +communicated to the Eastern States, and Congress was earnestly pressed +to strengthen the fortifications on the Delaware, and to increase the +obstructions in that river. + +In the midst of these appearances certain intelligence was received +that Burgoyne was in great force on the lakes, and was advancing against +Ticonderoga. This intelligence confirmed the opinion that the main +object of Howe must be to effect a junction with Burgoyne on the North +river. Under this impression Washington ordered Sullivan to Peekskill, +and slowly advanced himself, first to Pompton Plains, and afterward to +the Clove, where he determined to remain until the views of the enemy +should be disclosed. + +While Washington thus anxiously watched the movements of his adversary, +an agreeable and unexpected piece of intelligence was received from New +England. The command of the British troops in Rhode Island had devolved +on General Prescot. Thinking himself perfectly secure in an island, +the water surrounding which was believed to be entirely guarded by his +cruisers, and at the head of an army greatly superior to any force then +collected in that department, he indulged himself in convenient quarters +rather distant from camp, and was remiss with respect to the guards +about his person. Information of this negligence was communicated to the +main, and a plan was formed to surprise him. This spirited enterprise +was executed with equal courage and address by Lieutenant-Colonel Barton +of the Rhode Island militia. + +On the night of the 10th (June, 1777) he embarked on board four +whale-boats at Warwick Neck, with a party consisting of about forty +persons, including Captains Adams and Philips, and several other +officers. After proceeding about ten miles by water unobserved by the +British guard boats, although several ships of war lay in that quarter, +he landed on the west of the island, about midway between Newport +and Bristol Ferry, and marching a mile to the quarters of Prescot, +dexterously seized the sentinel at his door, and one of his aids. The +general himself was taken out of bed and conveyed to a place of safety. + +The success of this intrepid enterprise diffused the more joy throughout +America, because it was supposed to secure the liberation of General Lee +by enabling Washington to offer an officer of equal rank in exchange for +him. + +Congress expressed a high sense of the gallant conduct of Colonel Barton +and his party, and presented him with a sword as a mark of approbation. + +As the fleet fell down toward Sandy Hook, Washington withdrew slowly +from the Clove, and disposed his army in different divisions, so as to +march to any point which might be attacked. + +At length the embarkation was completed and the fleet put to sea. Still, +its destination was uncertain. It might be going to the south, or +it might return to New York and ascend the Hudson. Soon, however, +Washington received intelligence that it had been seen off the capes +of the Delaware. It was of course expected to come up the Delaware and +attack Philadelphia. + +Washington ordered the army to march to Germantown, and himself hastened +forward to Chester. The fleet of the British had disappeared again. It +might have returned to New York, or it might have sailed to New England, +with a view to joining Burgoyne as he was advancing on Ticonderoga. + +During this period of suspense and conjecture, Washington was for +several days in Philadelphia consulting on public measures with the +committees and members of Congress. Here he first met Lafayette. This +young nobleman, whose name has since become so dear to every American +heart, was born at Auvergne, in France, on the 6th of September, 1757. +His family was of ancient date and of the highest rank among the French +nobility. He was left an orphan at an early age, heir to an immense +estate, and exposed to all the temptations of "the gayest and most +luxurious city on earth at the period of its greatest corruption. He +escaped unhurt." Having completed his college education, he married at +the age of sixteen the daughter of the Duke D'Ayen, of the family of +Noailles. She was younger than himself and was always "the encourager of +his virtues, and the heroic partner of his sufferings, his great name, +and his honorable grave." [3] + +In the summer of 1776 (says Mr. Everett), and just after the American +declaration of independence, Lafayette was stationed at Metz, a +garrisoned town on the road from Paris to the German frontier with the +regiment to which he was attached as a captain of dragoons, not then +nineteen years of age. The Duke of Gloucester, the brother of the King +of England happened to be on a visit to Metz, and a dinner was given to +him by the commandant of the garrison. Lafayette was invited with other +officers to the entertainment. Dispatches had just been received by the +duke from England relating to American affairs--the resistance of the +Colonists, and the strong measures adopted by the ministers to crush the +rebellion. Among the details stated by the Duke of Gloucester was +the extraordinary fact that these remote, scattered, and unprotected +settlers of the wilderness had solemnly declared themselves an +independent people. That word decided the fortunes of the enthusiastic +listener, and not more distinctly was the great declaration a charter +of political liberty to the rising States, than it was a commission to +their youthful champion to devote his life to the same cause. + +The details which he heard were new to him. The American contest was +known to him before but as a rebellion--a tumultuary affair in a remote +transatlantic colony. He now, with a promptness of perception +which, even at this distance of time, strikes us as little less than +miraculous, addressed a multitude of inquiries to the Duke of Gloucester +on the subject of the contest. His imagination was kindled at the idea +of a civilized people struggling for political liberty. His heart was +warmed with the possibility of drawing his sword in a good cause. Before +he left the table his course was mentally resolved on, and the brother +of the King of England (unconsciously, no doubt) had the singular +fortune to enlist, from the French court and the French army, this +gallant and fortunate champion in the then unpromising cause of the +colonial Congress. + +He immediately repaired to Paris to make further inquiries and +arrangements toward the execution of his great plan. He confided it +to two young friends, officers like himself, the Count de Ségur and +Viscount de Noailles, and proposed to them to join him. They shared his +enthusiasm, and determined to accompany him, but on consulting their +families, they were refused permission. But they faithfully kept +Lafayette's secret. Happily--shall I say--he was an orphan, independent +of control, and master of his own fortune, amounting to near $40,000 per +annum. + +He next opened his heart to the Count de Broglie, a marshal in the +French army. To the experienced warrior, accustomed to the regular +campaigns of European service, the project seemed rash and quixotic, and +one that he could not countenance. Lafayette begged the count at least +not to betray him, as he was resolved (notwithstanding his disapproval +of the subject) to go to America. This the count promised, adding, +however, "I saw your uncle fall in Italy, and I witnessed your father's +death at the battle of Minden, and I will not be accessory to the ruin +of the only remaining branch of the family." He then used all the powers +of argument which his age and experience suggested to him, to dissuade +Lafayette from the enterprise, but in vain. Finding his determination +unalterable, he made him acquainted with the Baron De Kalb, who the +count knew was about to embark for America--an officer of experience and +merit who, as is well known, fell at the battle of Camden. + +The Baron de Kalb introduced Lafayette to Silas Deane, then agent of the +United States in France, who explained to him the state of affairs in +America, and encouraged him in his project. Deane was but imperfectly +acquainted with the French language, and of manners somewhat repulsive. +A less enthusiastic temper than that of Lafayette might, perhaps, have +been chilled by the reception that he met with from Deane. He had, as +yet, not been acknowledged in any public capacity, and was beset by +the spies of the British ambassador. For these reasons it was judged +expedient that the visit of Lafayette should not be repeated, and their +further negotiations were conducted through the intervention of Mr. +Carmichael, an American gentleman at that time in Paris. The arrangement +was at length concluded, in virtue of which Deane took upon himself, +without authority, but by a happy exercise of discretion, to engage +Lafayette to enter the American service with the rank of major-general. +A vessel was about to be dispatched with arms and other supplies for +the American army, and in this vessel it was settled that he should take +passage. + +At this juncture the news reached France of the evacuation of New York, +the loss of Fort Washington, the calamitous retreat through New Jersey, +and other disasters of the campaign of 1776. The friends of America in +France were in despair. The tidings, bad in themselves, were greatly +exaggerated in the British gazettes. The plan of sending an armed +vessel with munitions was abandoned. The cause, always doubtful, was now +pronounced desperate, and Lafayette was urged by all who were privy to +his project, to give up an enterprise so wild and hopeless. Even our +commissioners (for Deane had been joined by Dr. Franklin and Arthur Lee) +told him they could not in conscience urge him to proceed. His answer +was: "My zeal and love of liberty have perhaps hitherto been the +prevailing motive with me, but now I see a chance of usefulness which +I had not anticipated. These supplies I know are greatly wanted by +Congress. I have money; I will purchase a vessel to convey them to +America, and in this vessel my companions and myself will take passage." + +His purpose was opposed by the government, and he was obliged to escape +into Spain and sail from that country. He landed near Georgetown in +South Carolina, and in company with the Baron de Kalb, the companion +of his voyage, proceeded to Charleston, where they were received with +enthusiasm by the magistrates and the people. + +As soon as possible they proceeded by land to Philadelphia. On his +arrival there, with the eagerness of a youth anxious to be employed upon +his errand, he sent his letters to Mr. Lovell, chairman of the committee +of foreign relations. He called the next day at the hall of Congress, +and asked to see this gentleman. Mr. Lovell came out to him, stated that +so many foreigners offered themselves for employment in the American +army that Congress was greatly embarrassed to find them commands; that +the finances of the country required the most rigid economy, and that he +feared, in the present case, there was little hope of success. Lafayette +perceived that the worthy chairman had made up his report without +looking at the papers; he explained to him that his application, +if granted, would lay no burden upon the finances of Congress, and +addressed a letter to the president, in which he expressed a wish to +enter the American army on the condition of serving without pay or +emolument, and on the footing of a volunteer. These conditions removed +the chief obstacles alluded to in reference to the appointment of +foreign officers; the letters brought by Lafayette made known to +Congress his high connections, and his large means of usefulness, +and without an hour's delay he received from them a commission of +major-general in the American army, a month before he was twenty years +of age. + +Washington was at headquarters when Lafayette reached Philadelphia, +but he was daily expected in the city. The introduction of the youthful +stranger to the man on whom his career depended was therefore delayed +a few days. It took place in a manner peculiarly marked with the +circumspection of Washington, at a dinner party, where Lafayette was one +among several guests of consideration. Washington was not uninformed +of the circumstances connected with his arrival in the country. He knew +what benefit it promised the cause if his character and talents were +adapted to the cause he had so boldly struck out, and he knew also how +much it was to be feared that the very qualities which had prompted +him to embark in it, would make him a useless and even a dangerous +auxiliary. We may well suppose that the piercing eye of the Father of +his Country was not idle during the repast. But that searching glance, +before which pretense or fraud never stood undetected, was completely +satisfied. When they were about to separate, Washington took Lafayette +aside, spoke to him with kindness, paid a just tribute to the noble +spirit which he had shown, and the sacrifices he had made in the +American cause, invited him to make the headquarters of the army his +home, and to regard himself at all times as one of the family of the +Commander-in-Chief. + +Such was the reception given to Lafayette by the most sagacious and +observant of men, and the personal acquaintance thus commenced ripened +into an intimacy, a confidence, and an affection without bounds, and +never for one moment interrupted. If there lived a man whom Washington +loved it was Lafayette. The proofs of this are not wanted by those who +have read the history of the Revolution, but the private correspondence +of these two great men, hitherto unpublished, discloses the full extent +of the mutual regard and affection which united them. It not only shows +that Washington entertained the highest opinion of the military talent, +the personal probity, and the general prudence and energy of Lafayette, +but that he regarded him with the tenderness of a father, and found in +the affection which Lafayette bore to him in return one of the greatest +comforts and blessings of his own life. Whenever the correspondence of +Washington and Lafayette shall be published, the publication will +do what perhaps nothing else can--raise them both in the esteem and +admiration of mankind. + +Our readers will pardon this somewhat lengthened quotation respecting +the bosom friend of Washington. We now return to our narrative of +events. + +Late in the month of August (1777), Washington was relieved from his +suspense in regard to the movements of Howe. He received intelligence +that the British fleet had sailed up Chesapeake Bay, and that he was +landing his army at the head of Elk river, now Elkton. It was at length +clearly apparent that his object was the capture of Philadelphia. + +At the place of debarkation the British army was within a few days' +march of Philadelphia; no great rivers were in its way, and there was +no very strong position of which the enemy could take possession. On +landing, General Howe issued a proclamation promising that private +property should be respected, and offering pardon and protection to all +who should submit to him, but, as the American army was at hand, the +proclamation produced little effect. + +Washington distinctly understood the nature of the contest in which he +was engaged, and, sensible of the inferiority of his raw and disorderly +army to the veteran troops under Howe, he wished to avoid a general +engagement, but aware of the effect which the fall of Philadelphia would +produce on the minds of the people, determined to make every effort in +order to retard the progress and defeat the aim of the royal army. + +Accordingly, he marched to meet General Howe, who, from want of horses, +many of which had perished in the voyage, and from other causes, was +unable to proceed from the head of the Elk before the 3d of September +(1777). On the advance of the royal array, Washington retreated across +Brandywine creek, which falls into the Delaware at Wilmington. He took +post with his main body opposite Chad's ford, where it was expected the +British would attempt the passage, and ordered General Sullivan, with a +detachment, to watch the fords above. He sent General Maxwell with about +1,000 light troops, to occupy the high ground on the other side of +the Brandywine, to skirmish with the British, and retard them in their +progress. + +On the morning of the 11th of September, the British army advanced in +two columns; the right, under General Knyphausen, marched straight +to Chad's ford; the left, under Cornwallis, accompanied by Howe and +Generals Grey, Grant, and Agnew, proceeded by a circuitous route toward +a point named the Forks, where the two branches of the Brandywine unite, +with a view to turn the right of the Americans and gain their rear. +General Knyphausen's van soon found itself opposed to the light troops +under General Maxwell. A smart conflict ensued. General Knyphausen +reinforced his advanced guard, and drove the Americans across the +rivulet to shelter themselves under their batteries on the north bank. +General Knyphausen ordered some artillery to be placed on the most +advantageous points, and a cannonade was carried on with the American +batteries on the heights beyond the ford. + +Meanwhile the left wing of the British crossed the fords above the +Forks. Of this movement General Washington had early notice, but the +information which he received from different quarters, through his raw +and unpracticed scouts, was confused and contradictory, and consequently +his operations were embarrassed. After passing the fords, Cornwallis +took the road to Dilworth, which led him on the American right. General +Sullivan, who had been appointed to guard that quarter, occupied the +heights above Birmingham Church, his left extending to the Brandywine, +his artillery judiciously placed, and his right flank covered by woods. +About four in the afternoon Cornwallis formed the line of battle +and began the attack: for some time the Americans sustained it with +intrepidity, but at length gave way. When Washington heard the firing +in that direction he ordered General Greene, with a brigade, to support +General Sullivan. General Greene marched four miles in forty-two +minutes, but, on reaching the scene of action, he found General +Sullivan's division defeated, and in confusion. He covered the retreat, +and, after some time, finding an advantageous position, he renewed the +battle, and arrested the progress of the pursuing enemy. + +General Knyphausen, as soon as he heard the firing of Cornwallis's +division, forced the passage of Chad's ford, attacked the troops opposed +to him, and compelled them to make a precipitate and disorderly retreat. +General Washington, with the part of his army which he was able to keep +together, retired with his artillery and baggage to Chester, where he +halted within eight miles of the British army, till next morning, when +he retreated to Philadelphia. + +Among the foreign officers engaged in this battle besides Lafayette, who +was wounded in the leg during the action, were General Deborre, a French +officer; [6] General Conway, an Irishman, who had served in France; +Capt. Louis Fleury, a French engineer, and Count Pulaski, a Polish +nobleman, subsequently distinguished as a commander of cavalry. + +As must ever be the case in new-raised armies, unused to danger and from +which undeserving officers have not been expelled, their conduct was not +uniform. Some regiments, especially those which had served the preceding +campaign, maintained their ground with the firmness and intrepidity of +veterans, while others gave way as soon as they were pressed. The author +of a very correct history of the war, speaking of this action, says: "A +part of the troops, among whom were particularly numbered some Virginia +regiments, and the whole corps of artillery, behaved exceedingly well in +some of the actions of this day, exhibiting a degree of order, firmness, +and resolution, and preserving such a countenance in extremely sharp +service, as would not have discredited veterans. Some other bodies of +their troops behaved very badly." + +The official letter of Sir William Howe stated his loss at rather less +than 100 killed and 400 wounded, and this account was accepted at the +time as true. A late discovery shows its falsehood. Mr. Headley, in his +recent "Life of Washington," notices the finding of a document which +settles the question. + +It was found, he says, among Gen. James Clinton's papers, carefully +filed away and indorsed by himself. On the back, in his own handwriting, +is inscribed: "Taken from the enemy's ledgers, which fell into the hands +of General Washington's army at the action of Germantown." + +Within is the following statement: "State of the British troops and +position they were in when they made the attack at Brandywine, the 11th +of September, 1777. + + The upper ford, under the command of Lieutenant + Lord Cornwallis: + + Killed and + Second Regiment, British Guards; Second wounded. + Regiment, Light Infantry 1,740 612 + Second Brigade, British Foot 2,240 360 + First Division, Hessians 800 70 + Ferguson's Riflemen 80 46 + ______ _____ + Totals 4,860 1,088 + + + Middle ford, under the command of Major-General + Gray: + + + Second Battalion, Guards 500 + Second Battalion, Second Highlanders 700 + Second Battalion, Seventieth Highlanders 700 + ____ + Total 1,900 + + + Lower ford, under the command of Lieutenant-General + Knyphausen: + + Second Brigade, consisting of the Fourth, Killed and + Fifth, Tenth, Fifteenth, Twenty-third, wounded. + Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Fortieth, + Forty-fourth, and Fifty-fifth Regiments 2,240 580 + Hessians to the amount of 800 28 + Queen's Rangers 480 290 + ________ _____ + + Total 3,520 898 + 1,900 + 4,860 1,088 + ________ ______ + + The whole British force 10,280 1,986 + 1,986 + ________ + 8,294" + +The estimate, says Mr. Headley, of the total force which the British +had on the field, makes the two armies actually engaged about equal. The +heavy loss here given seems, at first sight, almost incredible, and +puts an entirely different aspect on the battle. Of the authenticity and +accuracy of this document I think there can be no doubt. + +From the ardor with which Washington had inspired his troops before this +action, it is probable that the conflict would have been more severe had +the intelligence respecting the movement on the left of the British army +been less contradictory. Raw troops, changing their ground in the moment +of action, and attacked in the agitation of moving, are easily thrown +into confusion. This was the critical situation of a part of Sullivan's +division, and was the cause of its breaking before Greene could be +brought up to support it, after which it was impossible to retrieve the +fortune of the day. But had the best disposition of the troops been made +at the time, which subsequent intelligence would suggest, the action +could not have terminated in favor of the Americans. Their inferiority +in numbers, in discipline, and in arms was too great to leave them a +probable prospect of victory. A battle, however, was not to be avoided. +The opinion of the public and of Congress demanded it. The loss of +Philadelphia, without an attempt to preserve it, would have excited +discontent throughout the country, which might be productive of serious +mischief, and action, though attended with defeat, provided the loss +be not too great, must improve an army in which not only the military +talents, but even the courage of officers, some of them of high rank, +remained to be ascertained. + +The battle of Brandywine was not considered as decisive by Congress, +the general, or the army. The opinion was carefully cherished that the +British had gained only the ground, and that their loss was still more +considerable than had been sustained by the Americans. Congress appeared +determined to risk another battle for the metropolis of America. Far +from discovering any intention to change their place of session, they +passed vigorous resolutions for reinforcing the army, and directed +Washington to give the necessary orders for completing the defenses of +the Delaware. + +From Chester the army marched through Darby, over the Schuylkill bridge +to its former ground near the falls of that river. Greene's division, +which, having been less in action, was more entire than any other, +covered the rear, and the corps of Maxwell remained at Chester until +the next day as a rallying point for the small parties and straggling +soldiers who might yet be in the neighborhood. + +Having allowed his army one day for repose and refreshment, Washington +recrossed the Schuylkill and proceeded on the Lancaster road, with the +intention of risking another engagement. + +Sir William Howe passed the night of the 11th on the field of battle. On +the succeeding day he detached Major-General Grant with two brigades +to Concord Meeting House, and on the 13th (September, 1777), Lord +Cornwallis joined General Grant, and marched toward Chester. Another +detachment took possession of Wilmington, to which place the sick and +wounded were conveyed. + +To prevent a sudden movement to Philadelphia by the lower road the +bridge over the Schuylkill was loosened from its moorings, and General +Armstrong was directed, with the Pennsylvania militia, to guard the +passes over that river. + +On the fifteenth the American army, intending to gain the left of the +British, reached the Warren tavern, on the Lancaster road, twenty-three +miles from Philadelphia. Intelligence was received early next morning +that Howe was approaching in two columns. It being too late to reach the +ground he had intended to occupy Washington resolved to meet and engage +him in front. + +Both armies prepared with great alacrity for battle. The advanced +parties had met, and were beginning to skirmish, when they were +separated by a heavy rain, which, becoming more and more violent, +rendered the retreat of the Americans a measure of absolute necessity. +The inferiority of their arms never brought them into such imminent +peril as on this occasion. Their gun-locks not being well secured, their +muskets soon became unfit for use. Their cartridge-boxes had been so +badly constructed as not to protect their ammunition from the tempest. +Their cartridges were soon damaged, and this mischief was the more +serious, because very many of the soldiers were without bayonets. + +The army being thus rendered unfit for action the design of giving +battle was reluctantly abandoned by Washington and a retreat commenced. +It was continued all the day and great part of the night, through a cold +and most distressing rain and very deep roads. A few hours before day +(September 17th), the troops halted at the Yellow Springs, where their +arms and ammunition were examined, and the alarming fact was disclosed +that scarcely a musket in a regiment could be discharged and scarcely +one cartridge in a box was fit for use. This state of things suggested +the precaution of moving to a still greater distance in order to refit +their arms, obtain a fresh supply of ammunition, and revive the spirits +of the army. Washington therefore retired to Warwick Furnace on the +south branch of French creek, where ammunition and muskets might be +obtained in time to dispute the passage of the Schuylkill and make yet +another effort to save Philadelphia. + +The extreme severity of the weather had entirely stopped the British +army. During two days Howe made no other movement than to unite his +columns. + +From French creek General Wayne was detached with his division into +the rear of the British with orders to join General Smallwood, and, +carefully concealing himself and his movements, to seize every occasion +which this march might offer of engaging them to advantage. Meanwhile, +General Washington crossed the Schuylkill at Parker's Ferry, and +encamped on both sides of Perkyomen creek. + +General Wayne lay in the woods near the entrance of the road from Darby +into that leading to Lancaster, about three miles in the rear of +the left wing of the British troops encamped at Trydruffin, where +he believed himself to be perfectly secure. But the country was so +extensively disaffected that Howe received accurate accounts of his +position and of his force. Major-General Gray was detached to surprise +him, and effectually accomplished his purpose. About 11 in the night of +the 20th his pickets, driven in with charged bayonets, gave the first +intimation of Gray's approach. Wayne instantly formed his division, and, +while his right sustained a fierce assault, directed a retreat by the +left, under cover of a few regiments, who, for a short time, withstood +the violence of shock. In his letter to Washington, he says that they +gave the assailants some well-directed fires, which must have done +considerable execution, and that, after retreating from the ground on +which the engagement commenced, they formed again, at a small distance +from the scene of action, but that both parties drew off without +renewing the conflict. He states his loss at about 150 killed and +wounded. The British accounts admit, on their part, a loss of only 7. + +When the attack commenced, General Smallwood, who was on his march to +join Wayne, a circumstance entirely unexpected by General Gray, was +within less than a mile of him, and, had he commanded regulars, might +have given a very different turn to the night. But his militia thought +only of their own safety, and, having fallen in with a party returning +from the pursuit of Wayne, fled in confusion, with the loss of only one +man. + +Some severe animadversions on this unfortunate affair having been +made in the army, General Wayne demanded a court-martial, which, after +investigating his conduct, was unanimously of opinion, "that he had done +everything to be expected from an active, brave, and vigilant officer," +and acquitted him with honor. + +Having secured his rear, by compelling Wayne to take a greater distance, +Howe marched along the valley road to the Schuylkill and encamped on the +bank of that river, from the Fatland ford up to French creek, along +the front of the American army. To secure his right from being turned, +Washington again changed his position and encamped with his left near, +but above, the British right. + +Howe now relinquished his plan of bringing Washington to another battle, +and thinking it advisable, perhaps, to transfer the seat of war to the +neighborhood of his ships, determined to cross the Schuylkill and take +possession of Philadelphia. In the afternoon he ordered one detachment +to cross at Fatland ford, which was on his right, and another to cross +at Gordon's ford, on his left, and to take possession of the heights +commanding them. These orders were executed without much difficulty, and +the American troops placed to defend these fords were easily dispersed. + +This service being effected, the whole army marched by its right, +about midnight, and crossing at Fatland without opposition, proceeded +a considerable distance toward Philadelphia, and encamped with its left +near Sweed's ford and its right on the Manatawny road, having Stony Run +in its course. + +It was now apparent that only immediate victory could save Philadelphia +from the grasp of the British general whose situation gave him the +option of either taking possession of that place or endeavoring to bring +on another engagement. If, therefore, a battle must certainly be risked +to save the capital it would be necessary to attack the enemy. + +Public opinion, which a military chief finds too much difficulty in +resisting, and the opinion of Congress, required a battle; but, on a +temperate consideration of circumstances, Washington came to the wise +decision of avoiding one for the present. + +His reasons for this decision were conclusive. Wayne and Smallwood had +not yet joined the army. The Continental troops ordered from Peekskill, +who had been detained for a time by an incursion from New York, were +approaching, and a reinforcement of Jersey militia, under General +Dickenson, was also expected. + +To these powerful motives against risking an engagement, other +considerations of great weight were added, founded on the condition of +his soldiers. An army, maneuvering in an open country, in the face of +a very superior enemy, is unavoidably exposed to excessive fatigue and +extreme hardship. The effect of these hardships was much increased by +the privations under which the American troops suffered. While in almost +continual motion, wading deep rivers, and encountering every vicissitude +of the seasons, they were without tents, newly without shoes, or winter +clothes, and often without food. + +A council of war concurred in the opinion Washington had formed, not to +march against the enemy, but to allow his harassed troops a few days +for repose and to remain on his present ground until the expected +reinforcements should arrive. + +Immediately after the battle of Brandywine, the distressed situation +of the army had been represented to Congress, who had recommended the +executive of Pennsylvania to seize the cloths and other military stores +in the warehouses of Philadelphia, and, after granting certificates +expressing their value, to convey them to a place of safety. The +executive, being unwilling to encounter the odium of this strong +measure, advised that the extraordinary powers of the Commander-in-Chief +should be used on the occasion. Lieut. Col. Alexander Hamilton, one +of the General's aides, already in high estimation for his talents and +zeal, was employed on this delicate business. "Your own prudence," said +the General, in a letter to him while in Philadelphia, "will point out +the least exceptionable means to be pursued; but remember, delicacy and +a strict adherence to the ordinary mode of application must give place +to our necessities. We must, if possible, accommodate the soldiers with +such articles as they stand in need of or we shall have just reason +to apprehend the most injurious and alarming consequences from the +approaching season." + +All the efforts, however, of this very active officer could not obtain +a supply in any degree adequate to the pressing and increasing wants of +the army. + +Colonel Hamilton was also directed to cause the military stores which +had been previously collected to a large amount in Philadelphia, and the +vessels which were lying at the wharves, to be removed up the Delaware. +This duty was executed with so much vigilance that very little public +property fell, with the city, into the hands of the British general, +who entered it on the 26th of September (1777). The members of Congress +separated on the 18th, in the evening, and reassembled at Lancaster on +the 27th of the same month. From thence they subsequently adjourned +to Yorktown, where they remained eight months, till Philadelphia was +evacuated by the British. + +From the 25th of August, when the British army landed at the head of +Elk, until the 26th of September, when it entered Philadelphia, the +campaign had been active, and the duties of the American general +uncommonly arduous. + +Some English writers bestow high encomiums on Sir William Howe for his +military skill and masterly movements during this period. At Brandywine +especially, Washington is supposed to have been "out-generaled, more +out-generaled than in any action during the war." If all the operations +of this trying period be examined, and the means in possession of both +be considered, the American chief will appear in no respect inferior +to his adversary, or unworthy of the high place assigned to him in the +opinions of his countrymen. With an army decidedly inferior, not only +in numbers, but in every military requisite except courage, in an open +country, he employed his enemy near thirty days in advancing about sixty +miles. In this time he fought one general action, and, though defeated, +was able to reassemble the same undisciplined, unclothed, and almost +unfed army; and, the fifth day afterward, again to offer battle. When +the armies were separated by a storm which involved him in the most +distressing circumstances, he extricated himself from them, and still +maintained a respectable and imposing countenance. + +The only advantage he is supposed to have given was at the battle of +Brandywine, and that was produced by the contrariety and uncertainty +of the intelligence received. A general must be governed by his +intelligence, and must regulate his measures by his information. It +is his duty to obtain correct information, and among the most valuable +traits of a military character is the skill to select those means which +will obtain it. Yet the best-selected means are not always successful; +and, in a new army, where military talent has not been well tried by the +standard of experience, the general is peculiarly exposed to the chance +of employing not the best instruments. In a country, too, which is +covered with wood precise information of the numbers composing different +columns is to be gained with difficulty. + +Taking into view the whole series of operations, from the landing of +Howe at the Head of Elk to his entering Philadelphia, the superior +generalship of Washington is clearly manifest. Howe, with his numerous +and well-appointed army, performed a certain amount of routine work and +finally gained the immediate object which he had in view--the possession +of Philadelphia--when, by every military rule, he should have gone +up the Hudson to cooperate with Burgoyne. Washington, with his army, +composed almost entirely of raw recruits and militia, kept his adversary +out of Philadelphia a month, still menaced him with an imposing front in +his new position, and subsequently held him in check there while Gates +was defeating and capturing Burgoyne. + +We shall see, in the ensuing chapter, that although Howe had attained +his first object in gaining possession of Philadelphia, he had still +many new difficulties and dangers to encounter at the hands of his +daring and persevering opponent before he could comfortably establish +himself in winter quarters. + +1. Footnote: About this time the Royalists in the counties of Somerset +and Worcester, in the province of Maryland, became so formidable that an +insurrection was dreaded. And it was feared that the insurgents would, +in such a case, be joined by a number of disaffected persons in the +county of Sussex, in the Delaware State. Congress, to prevent this evil, +recommended the apprehension and removal of all persons of influence, or +of desperate characters, within the counties of Sussex, Worcester, and +Somerset, who manifested a disaffection to the American cause, to some +remote place within their respective States, there to be secured. From +appearances, Congress had also reason to believe that the Loyalists in +the New England governments and New York State, had likewise concerted +an insurrection. See Gordon's "History of the American Revolution," vol. +II, pp. 461, 462. By the same authority we are informed that General +Gates wrote to General Fellowes for a strong military force, for the +prevention of plots and insurrection in the provinces of New England and +New York. + +2. Footnote: Congress voted a monument to his memory. + +3. Footnote: Stedman, the British historian of the Revolution, +acknowledges a loss of 200, including 10 officers. + +4. Footnote: Lieutenant-Colonel Palfrey, formerly an aide-de-camp to +General Washington, and now paymaster-general, wrote to his friend: "I +was at Brunswick just after the enemy had left it. Never let the +British troops upbraid the Americans with want of cleanliness, for such +dog-kennels as their huts were my eyes never beheld. Mr. Burton's house, +where Lord Cornwallis resided, stunk so I could not bear to enter it. +The houses were torn to pieces, and the inhabitants as well as the +soldiers have suffered greatly for want of provisions."--Gordon, +"History of the American Revolution." + +5. Footnote: Eulogy on Lafayette. See "Orations and Speeches on Various +Occasions," by Edward Everett, vol. I, p. 462. + +6. Footnote: Deborre's brigade broke first; and, on an inquiry into his +conduct being directed, he resigned. A misunderstanding existed between +him and Sullivan, on whose right he was stationed. + +7. Footnote: All English writers do not concur in this view of the +matter. The British historian, Stedman, gives the following sharp +criticism on Howe's conduct in the affair of the Brandywine: + +"The victory does not seem to have been improved in the degree which +circumstances appeared to have admitted. When the left column of the +British had turned Washington's right flank, his whole army was hemmed +in:--General Knyphausen and the Brandywine in front; Sir William Howe +and Lord Cornwallis on his right; the Delaware in his rear; and the +Christiana river on his left. He was obliged to retreat twenty-three +miles to Philadelphia, when the British lay within eighteen miles of +it. Had the Commander-in-Chief detached General Knyphausen's column in +pursuit early next morning, General Washington might with ease have been +intercepted, either at the Heights of Crum Creek, nine miles; at Derby, +fourteen; or at Philadelphia, eighteen miles, from the British camp; +or, the Schuylkill might have been passed at Gray's Ferry, only seventy +yards over, and Philadelphia, with the American magazines, taken, had +not the pontoons been improvidently left at New York as useless. Any one +of these movements, it was thought, might have been attended with the +total destruction of the American army. For some reason, however, which +it is impossible to divine, the Commander-in-Chief employed himself +for several days in making slight movements which could not by any +possibility produce any important benefits to the British cause." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +WASHINGTON HOLDS HOWE IN CHECK. 1777. + + +Washington seems to have been by no means disheartened at the loss of +Philadelphia. On the contrary he justly regarded the circumstance of the +enemy holding that city as one which might, as in the sequel it actually +did, turn to the advantage of the American cause. Writing to General +Trumbull on the 1st of October (1777), he says: "You will hear, before +this gets to hand, that the enemy have at length gained possession of +Philadelphia. Many unavoidable difficulties and unlucky accidents which +we had to encounter helped to promote this success. This is an event +which we have reason to wish had not happened, and which will be +attended with several ill consequences, but I hope it will not be so +detrimental as many apprehend, and that a little time and perseverance +will give us some favorable opportunity of recovering our loss, and of +putting our affairs in a more flourishing condition. Our army has now +had the rest and refreshment it stood in need of, and our soldiers are +in very good spirits." + +Philadelphia being lost Washington sought to make its occupation +inconvenient and insecure by rendering it inaccessible to the British +fleet. With this design works had been erected on a low, marshy island +in the Delaware, near the junction of the Schuylkill, which, from the +nature of its soil, was called Mud Island. On the opposite shore of +Jersey, at Red Bank, a fort had also been constructed which was defended +with heavy artillery. In the deep channel between, or under cover of +these batteries, several ranges of _chevaux-de-frise_ had been sunk. +These were so strong and heavy as to be destructive of any ship which +might strike against them, and were sunk in such a depth of water as +rendered it equally difficult to weigh them or cut them through; no +attempt to raise them, or to open the channel in any manner, could +be successful until the command of the shores on both sides should be +obtained. + +Other ranges of _chevaux-de-frise_ had been sunk about three miles +lower down the river, and some considerable works were in progress at +Billingsport on the Jersey side, which were in such forwardness as to be +provided with artillery. These works were further supported by several +galleys mounting heavy cannon, together with two floating batteries, a +number of armed vessels, and some fire ships. + +The present relative situation of the armies gave a decisive importance +to these works. Cutting off the communication of Howe with his brother's +fleet, they prevented his receiving supplies by water. While the +American vessels in the river above Fort Mifflin, the name given to +the fort on Mud Island, rendered it difficult to forage in Jersey, +Washington hoped to render his supplies on the side of Pennsylvania so +precarious as to compel him to evacuate Philadelphia. + +The advantages of this situation were considerably diminished by the +capture of the Delaware frigate. + +The day after Cornwallis entered Philadelphia three batteries were +commenced for the purpose of acting against any American ships which +might appear before the town. While yet incomplete they were attacked +by two frigates, assisted by several galleys and gondolas. The Delaware, +being left by the tide while engaged with the battery, grounded and was +captured, soon after which the smaller frigate and the other vessels +retired under the guns of the fort. This circumstance was the more +unfortunate as it gave the British general the command of the ferry, +and consequently free access to Jersey, and enabled him to intercept the +communication between the forts below and Trenton, from which place the +garrisons were to have drawn their military stores. + +All the expected reinforcements, except the State regiment and militia +from Virginia, being arrived, and the detached parties being called in, +the effective strength of the army amounted to 8,000 Continental troops +and 3,000 militia. With this force Washington determined to approach the +enemy and seize the first favorable moment to attack him. In pursuance +of this determination the army took a position on the Skippack road, +September 30th (1777), about twenty miles from Philadelphia and sixteen +from Germantown--a village stretching on both sides the great road +leading northward from Philadelphia, which forms one continued street +nearly two miles in length. The British line of encampment crossed +this village at right angles near the center, and Cornwallis, with four +regiments of grenadiers, occupied Philadelphia. The immediate object of +General Howe being the removal of the obstructions in the river, Colonel +Stirling, with two regiments, had been detached to take possession of +the fort at Billingsport, which he accomplished without opposition. +This service being effected, and the works facing the water destroyed, +Colonel Stirling was directed to escort a convoy of provisions from +Chester to Philadelphia. Some apprehensions being entertained for the +safety of this convoy, another regiment was detached from Germantown, +with directions to join Colonel Stirling. + +This division of the British force appeared to Washington to furnish a +fair opportunity to engage Sir William Howe with advantage. Determining +to avail himself of it, he formed a plan for surprising the camp at +Germantown. This plan consisted, in its general outline, of a night +march and double attack, consentaneously made, on both flanks of the +enemy's right wing, while a demonstration, or attack, as circumstances +should render proper, was to be directed on the western flank of his +left wing. With these orders and objects the American army began its +march from Skippack creek at 7 o'clock in the evening of the 3d of +October (1777), in two columns--the right, under Sullivan and Wayne, +taking the Chestnut Hill road, followed by Stirling's division in +reserve; the left, composed of the divisions of Greene and Stephen, +with M'Dougal's brigade and 1,400 Maryland and Jersey militia taking +the Limekiln and old York roads, while Armstrong's Pennsylvania militia +advanced by the Ridge road. Washington accompanied the right wing, and +at dawn of day, next morning, attacked the royal army. After a smart +conflict he drove in the advance guard, which was stationed at the head +of the village, and with his army divided into five columns prosecuted +the attack, but Lieutenant-Colonel Musgrave, of the Fortieth regiment, +which had been driven in, and who had been able to keep five companies +of the regiment together, threw himself into a large stone house in the +village, belonging to Mr. Chew, which stood in front of the main column +of the Americans, and there almost a half of Washington's army was +detained for a considerable time. Instead of masking Chew's house with +a sufficient force and advancing rapidly with their main body, the +Americans attacked the house, which was obstinately defended. The delay +was very unfortunate, for the critical moment was lost in fruitless +attempts on the house; the royal troops had time to get under arms and +be in readiness to resist or attack, as circumstances required. General +Grey came to the assistance of Colonel Musgrave; the engagement for some +time was general and warm; at length the Americans began to give way and +effected a retreat with all their artillery. The morning was very foggy, +a circumstance which had prevented the Americans from combining and +conducting their operations as they otherwise might have done, but which +now favored their retreat by concealing their movements. + +In this engagement the British had 600 men killed or wounded; among +the slain were Brigadier-General Agnew and Colonel Bird, officers of +distinguished reputation. The Americans lost an equal number in killed +and wounded, besides 400 who were taken prisoners. General Nash, of +North Carolina, was among those who were killed. After the battle +Washington returned to his encampment at Skippack creek. + +The plan of attack formed by Washington for the battle of Germantown +was fully justified by the result. The British camp was completely +surprised, and their army was on the point of being entirely routed, +when the continued fog led the American soldiers to mistake friends +for foes, and caused a panic which threw everything into confusion and +enabled the enemy to rally. + +Washington, writing to his brother John Augustine, says: "If it had not +been for a thick fog, which rendered it so dark at times that we were +not able to distinguish friend from foe at the distance of thirty yards, +we should, I believe, have made a decisive and glorious day of it. But +Providence designed it otherwise, for, after we had driven the enemy a +mile or two, after they were in the utmost confusion and flying before +us in most places, after we were upon the point, as it appeared to +everybody, of grasping a complete victory, our own troops took fright +and fled with precipitation and disorder. How to account for this I know +not, unless, as I before observed, the fog represented their own friends +to them for a reinforcement of the enemy, as we attacked in different +quarters at the same time, and were about closing the wings of our army +when this happened. One thing, indeed, contributed not a little to our +misfortune, and that was a want of ammunition on the right wing, which +began the engagement, and in the course of two hours and forty minutes, +which time it lasted, had, many of them, expended the forty rounds that +they took into the field. After the engagement we removed to a place +about twenty miles from the enemy to collect our forces together, to +take care of our wounded, get furnished with necessaries again, and be +in a better posture either for offensive or defensive operations. We are +now advancing toward the enemy again, being at this time within twelve +miles of them." + +Writing to the President of Congress (October 7, 1777) he still imputes +the disaster to the fog: "It is with much chagrin and mortification I +add that every account confirms the opinion I at first entertained, that +our troops retreated at the instant when victory was declaring herself +in our favor. The tumult, disorder, and even despair, which, it seems, +had taken place in the British army, were scarcely to be paralleled; and +it is said, so strongly did the idea of a retreat prevail, that Chester +was fixed on as their rendezvous. I can discover no other cause for +not improving this happy opportunity, than the extreme haziness of the +weather." + +Much controversy has arisen among writers as to the cause of failure +at Germantown, but Washington's means of observation were certainly +not inferior to those of any other person whatever, and in the above +extracts the whole matter is clearly explained. He does not refer to +the delay at Chew's house as the cause of failure. Panic struck as the +British were, they would have been defeated, notwithstanding the delay +at that impromptu fortress, if the fog had not occasioned the American +soldiers to believe that the firing on their own side proceeded from the +enemy, and that they were about to be surrounded. Hence the recoil and +retreat. It was apparently a great misfortune, but it was the destiny +of Washington to achieve greatness in spite of severe and repeated +misfortunes. + +The same opinion respecting the fog is expressed in the following +extract from a letter from General Sullivan to the President of New +Hampshire: "We brought off all our cannon and all our wounded. Our loss +in the action amounts to less than 700, mostly wounded. We lost some +valuable officers, among whom were the brave General Nash, and my two +aides-de-camp, Majors Sherburne and White, whose singular bravery must +ever do honor to their memories. Our army rendezvoused at Paulen's +Mills, and seems very desirous of another action. The misfortunes of +this day were principally owing to a thick fog which, being rendered +still more so by the smoke of the cannon and musketry, prevented our +troops from discovering the motions of the enemy, or acting in concert +with each other. I cannot help observing that with great concern I saw +our brave commander exposing himself to the hottest fire of the enemy in +such a manner that regard for my country obliged me to ride to him and +beg him to retire. He, to gratify me and some others, withdrew a small +distance, but his anxiety for the fate of the day soon brought him up +again, where he remained till our troops had retreated." + +Congress unanimously adopted the following resolution on hearing of the +battle of Germantown: + +"_Resolved,_ That the thanks of Congress be given to General Washington, +for his wise and well-concerted attack upon the enemy's army near +Germantown, on the 4th instant, and to the officers and soldiers of the +army for their brave exertions on that occasion; Congress being well +satisfied, that the best designs and boldest efforts may sometimes fail +by unforeseen incidents, trusting that, on future occasions, the valor +and virtue of the army will, by the blessing of Heaven, be crowned with +complete and deserved success." + +The attention of both armies was now principally directed to the forts +below Philadelphia. These it was the great object of Howe to destroy, +and of Washington to defend and maintain. + +The loss of the Delaware frigate, and of Billingsport, greatly +discouraged the seamen by whom the galleys and floating batteries +were manned. Believing the fate of America to be decided, an opinion +strengthened by the intelligence received from their connections in +Philadelphia, they manifested the most alarming defection, and several +officers as well as sailors deserted to the enemy. This desponding +temper was checked by the battle of Germantown, and by throwing a +garrison of Continental troops into the fort at Red Bank, called Fort +Mercer, the defense of which had been entrusted to militia. This fort +commanded the channel between the Jersey shore and Mud Island, and the +American vessels were secure under its guns. The militia of Jersey +were relied on to reinforce its garrison, and also to form a corps of +observation which might harass the rear of any detachment investing the +place. + +To increase the inconvenience of Howe's situation by intercepting his +supplies Washington ordered 600 militia, commanded by General Potter, +to cross the Schuylkill and scour the country between that river and +Chester, and the militia on the Delaware, above Philadelphia, were +directed to watch the roads in that vicinity. + +The more effectually to stop those who were seduced by the hope of gold +and silver to supply the enemy at this critical time, Congress passed a +resolution subjecting to martial law and to death all who should furnish +them with provisions, or certain other enumerated articles, who should +be taken within thirty miles of any city, town, or place in Jersey, +Pennsylvania, or Delaware, occupied by British troops. + +These arrangements being made to cut off supplies from the country, +Washington took a strong position at White Marsh, within fourteen miles +of Philadelphia. + +Meanwhile General Howe was actively preparing to attack Fort Mifflin +from the Pennsylvania shore. He erected some batteries at the mouth of +the Schuylkill, in order to command Webb's Ferry, which were attacked by +Commodore Hazlewood and silenced; but the following night a detachment +crossed over Webb's Ferry into Province Island, and constructed a slight +work opposite Fort Mifflin, within two musket shots of the blockhouse, +from which they were enabled to throw shot and shells into the barracks. +When daylight discovered this work three galleys and a floating battery +were ordered to attack it and the garrison surrendered. While the boats +were bringing off the prisoners, a large column of British troops +were seen marching into the fortress, upon which the attack on it +was renewed, but without success, and two attempts made by +Lieutenant-Colonel Smith to storm it failed. [1] + +In a few nights works were completed on the high ground of Province +Island, which enfiladed the principal battery of Fort Mifflin, and +rendered it necessary to throw up some cover on the platform to protect +the men who worked the guns. + +The aid expected from the Jersey militia was not received. "Assure +yourself," said Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, in a letter pressing earnestly +for a reinforcement of Continental troops, "that no dependence is to be +put on the militia; whatever men your Excellency determines on sending, +no time is to be lost." The garrison of Fort Mifflin was now reduced to +156 effectives, and that of Red Bank did not much exceed 200. + +In consequence of these representations Washington ordered Col. +Christopher Greene, of Rhode Island, with his regiment, to Red Bank, +and Lieut.-Col. John Greene, of Virginia, with about 200 men, to Fort +Mifflin. + +Immediately after the battle of Brandywine Admiral Howe had sailed for +the Delaware, where he expected to arrive in time to meet and cooperate +with the army in and about Philadelphia. But the winds were so +unfavorable, and the navigation of the Bay of Delaware so difficult, +that his van did not get into the river until the 4th of October. The +ships of war and transports which followed came up from the 6th to the +8th, and anchored from New Castle to Reddy Island. + +The frigates, in advance of the fleet, had not yet succeeded in +their endeavors to effect a passage through the lower double row +of _chevaux-de-frise_. Though no longer protected by the fort at +Billingsport, they were defended by the water force above, and the work +was found more difficult than had been expected. It was not until the +middle of October that the impediments were so far removed as to afford +a narrow and intricate passage through them. In the meantime the fire +from the Pennsylvania shore had not produced all the effect expected +from it, and it was perceived that greater exertions would be necessary +for the reduction of the works than could safely be made in the present +relative situation of the armies. Under this impression, General Howe, +soon after the return of the American army to its former camp on the +Skippack, withdrew his troops from Germantown into Philadelphia, as +preparatory to a combined attack by land and water on Forts Mercer and +Mifflin. + +After effecting a passage through the works sunk in the river at +Billingsport, other difficulties still remained to be encountered by +the ships of war. Several rows of _chevaux-de-frise_ had been sunk about +half a mile below Mud Island, which were protected by the guns of the +forts, as well as by the movable water force. To silence these +works, therefore, was a necessary preliminary to the removal of these +obstructions in the channel. + +On the 21st of October (1777) a detachment of Hessians, amounting +to 1,200 men, commanded by Col. Count Donop, crossed the Delaware +at Philadelphia with orders to storm Fort Mercer, at Red Bank. The +fortifications consisted of extensive outer works, within which was an +entrenchment eight or nine feet high, boarded and fraized. Late in the +evening of the 22d Count Donop appeared before the fort and attacked +it with great intrepidity. It was defended with equal resolution by +the brave garrison of Rhode Island Continentals, under command of Col. +Christopher Greene. The outer works being too extensive to be manned +by the troops in the fort, were used only to gall the assailants while +advancing. On their near approach the garrison retired within the +inner entrenchment, whence they poured upon the Hessians a heavy +and destructive fire. Colonel Donop received a mortal wound, and +Lieutenant-Colonel Mengerode, the second in command, fell about the same +time. [2] + +Lieutenant-Colonel Linsing, the oldest remaining officer, drew off his +troops and returned next day to Philadelphia. The loss of the assailants +was estimated by the Americans at 400 men. The garrison was reinforced +from Fort Mifflin, and aided by the galleys which flanked the Hessians +in their advance and retreat. The American loss, in killed and wounded, +amounted to only thirty-two men. + +The ships having been ordered to cooperate with Count Donop, +the Augusta, with four smaller vessels, passed the lower line of +_chevaux-de-frise_, opposite to Billingsport, and lay above it, waiting +until the assault should be made on the fort. The flood tide setting in +about the time the attack commenced they moved with it up the river. +The obstructions sunk in the Delaware had in some degree changed its +channel, in consequence of which the Augusta and the Merlin grounded a +considerable distance below the second line of _chevaux-de-frise_, and a +strong wind from the north so checked the rising of the tide that these +vessels could not be floated by the flood. Their situation, however, was +not discerned that evening, as the frigates which were able to approach +the fort, and the batteries from the Pennsylvania shore, kept up an +incessant fire on the garrison, till night put an end to the cannonade. +Early next morning it was recommenced in the hope that, under its +cover, the Augusta and the Merlin might be got off. The Americans, on +discovering their situation, sent four fire ships against them, but +without effect. Meanwhile a warm cannonade took place on both sides, +in the course of which the Augusta took fire, and it was found +impracticable to extinguish the flames. Most of the men were taken out, +the frigates withdrawn, and the Merlin set on fire, after which the +Augusta blew up, and a few of the crew were lost in her. + +This repulse inspired Congress with flattering hopes for the permanent +defense of the posts on the Delaware. That body expressed its high sense +of the merits of Colonel Greene, of Rhode Island, who had commanded in +Fort Mercer; of Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, of Maryland, who had commanded +in Fort Mifflin; and of Commodore Hazlewood, who commanded the galleys; +and presented a sword to each of these officers, as a mark of the +estimation in which their services were held. + +The situation of these forts was far from justifying this confidence +of their being defensible. That on Mud Island had been unskillfully +constructed and required at least 800 men fully to man the lines. The +island is about half a mile long. Fort Mifflin was placed at the lower +end, having its principal fortifications in front for the purpose of +repelling ships coming up the river. The defenses in the rear consisted +only of a ditch and palisade, protected by two blockhouses, the upper +story of one of which had been destroyed in the late cannonade. Above +the fort were two batteries opposing those constructed by the British on +Province and Carpenter's Islands, which were separated from Mud Island +only by a narrow passage between 400 and 500 yards wide. + +The garrison of Fort Mifflin consisted of only 300 Continental troops, +who were worn down with fatigue and incessant watching, under the +constant apprehension of being attacked from Province Island, from +Philadelphia, and from the ships below. + +Having failed in every attempt to draw the militia of New Jersey to the +Delaware, Washington determined to strengthen the garrison by further +drafts from his army. Three hundred Pennsylvania militia were detached +to be divided between the two forts, and a few days afterward General +Varnum was ordered, with his brigade, to take a position above Woodbury, +near Red Bank, and to relieve and reinforce the garrisons of both +forts as far as his strength would permit. Washington hoped that the +appearance of so respectable a Continental force might encourage the +militia to assemble in greater numbers. + +Aware of the advantage to result from a victory over the British army +while separated from the fleet, Washington had been uniformly determined +to risk much to gain one. He had, therefore, after the battle of +Germantown, continued to watch assiduously for an opportunity to attack +his enemy once more to advantage. The circumspect caution of General +Howe afforded none. After the repulse at Red Bank his measures were slow +but certain, and were calculated to insure the possession of the forts +without exposing his troops to the hazard of an assault. + +In this state of things intelligence was received of the successful +termination of the northern campaign, in consequence of which great part +of the troops who had been employed against Burgoyne, might be drawn to +the aid of the army in Pennsylvania. But Washington had just grounds to +apprehend that before these reinforcements could arrive Howe would gain +possession of the forts and remove the obstructions to the navigation of +the Delaware. This apprehension furnished a strong motive for vigorous +attempts to relieve Fort Mifflin. But the relative force of the armies, +the difficulty of acting offensively against Philadelphia, and, above +all, the reflection that a defeat might disable him from meeting his +enemy in the field even after the arrival of the troops expected from +the north, determined Washington not to hazard a second attack under +existing circumstances. + +To expedite the reinforcements for which he waited, Washington +dispatched Colonel Hamilton to General Gates, with directions to +represent to him the condition of the armies in Pennsylvania, and +to urge him, if he contemplated no other service of more importance, +immediately to send the regiments of Massachusetts and New Hampshire to +aid the army of the middle department. These orders were not peremptory, +because it was possible that some other object (as the capture of New +York) still more interesting than the expulsion of General Howe from +Philadelphia might be contemplated by Gates; and Washington meant not to +interfere with the accomplishment of such object. + +On reaching General Putnam, Colonel Hamilton found that a considerable +part of the northern army had joined that officer, but that Gates had +detained four brigades at Albany for an expedition intended to be made +in the winter against Ticonderoga. Having made such arrangements with +Putnam as he supposed would secure the immediate march of a large body +of Continental troops from that station, Colonel Hamilton proceeded +to Albany for the purpose of remonstrating with General Gates against +retaining so large and valuable a part of the army unemployed at a time +when the most imminent danger threatened the vitals of the country. +Gates was by no means disposed to part with his troops. He could not +believe that an expedition then preparing at New York was designed +to reinforce General Howe; and insisted that, should the troops then +embarked at that place, instead of proceeding to the Delaware, make a +sudden movement up the Hudson, it would be in their power, should Albany +be left defenseless, to destroy the valuable arsenal which had been +there erected, and the military stores captured with Burgoyne, which had +been chiefly deposited in that town. + +Having, after repeated remonstrances, obtained an order directing three +brigades to the Delaware, Hamilton hastened back to Putnam and found the +troops which had been ordered to join Washington, still at Peekskill. +The detachment from New York had suggested to Putnam the possibility +of taking that place; and he does not appear to have made very great +exertions to divest himself of a force he deemed necessary for an +object, the accomplishment of which would give so much splendor to his +military character. In addition to this circumstance, an opinion had +gained ground among the soldiers that their share of service for the +campaign had been performed, and that it was time for them to go into +winter quarters. Great discontents, too, prevailed concerning their pay, +which the government had permitted to be more than six months in arrear; +and in Poor's brigade a mutiny broke out in the course of which a +soldier who was run through the body by his captain, shot the captain +dead before he expired. Colonel Hamilton came in time to borrow money +from the Governor, George Clinton, of New York, to put the troops +in motion; and they proceeded by brigades to the Delaware. But these +several delays retarded their arrival until the contest for the forts on +that river was terminated. + +The preparations of Sir William Howe being completed, a large battery on +Province Island of twenty-four and thirty-two pounders and two howitzers +of eight inches each opened, early in the morning of the 10th of +November, upon Fort Mifflin, at the distance of 500 yards, and kept +up an incessant fire for several successive days. The blockhouses were +reduced to a heap of ruins; the palisades were beaten down, and most of +the guns dismounted and otherwise disabled. The barracks were battered +in every part, so that the troops could not remain in them. They were +under the necessity of working and watching the whole night to repair +the damages of the day, and to guard against a storm, of which they were +in perpetual apprehension. If, in the days, a few moments were allowed +for repose, it was taken on the wet earth, which, in consequence of +heavy rains, had become a soft mud. The garrison was relieved by General +Varnum every forty-eight hours, but his brigade was so weak that half +the men were constantly on duty. + +Colonel Smith was decidedly of opinion, and General Varnum concurred +with him, that the garrison could not repel an assault, and ought to be +withdrawn; but Washington still cherished the hope that the place might +be maintained until he should be reinforced from the northern army. +Believing that an assault would not be attempted until the works were +battered down, he recommended that the whole night should be employed in +making repairs. His orders were that the place should be defended to the +last extremity; and never were orders more faithfully executed. + +Several of the garrison were killed and among them Captain Treat, a +gallant officer, who commanded the artillery. Colonel Smith received a +contusion on his hip and arm which compelled him to give up the command +and retire to Red Bank. Major Fleury, a French officer of distinguished +merit, who served as engineer, reported to Washington that, although +the blockhouses were beaten down, all the guns in them, except two, +disabled, and several breaches made in the walls, the place was still +defensible; but the garrison was so unequal to the numbers required by +the extent of the lines, and was so dispirited by watching, fatigue, and +constant exposure to the cold rains, which were almost incessant, that +he dreaded the event of an attempt to carry the place by storm. Fresh +troops were ordered to their relief from Varnum's brigade, and the +command was taken, first by Colonel Russell, and afterward by Major +Thayer. The artillery, commanded by Captain Lee, continued to be well +served. The besiegers were several times thrown into confusion, and a +floating battery, which opened on the morning of the 14th, was silenced +in the course of the day. + +The defense being unexpectedly obstinate, the assailants brought up +their ships (November 15, 1777) as far as the obstructions in the river +permitted and added their fire to that of the batteries, which was the +more fatal as the cover for the troops had been greatly impaired. The +brave garrison, however, still maintained their ground with unshaken +firmness. In the midst of this stubborn conflict, the Vigilant and a +sloop-of-war were brought up the inner channel, between Mud and Province +Islands, which had, unobserved by the besieged, been deepened by the +current in consequence of the obstructions in the main channel, and, +taking a station within 100 yards of the works, not only kept up a +destructive cannonade, but threw hand-grenades into them, while the +musketeers from the round-top of the Vigilant killed every man that +appeared on the platform. + +Major Thayer applied to the Commodore to remove these vessels, and he +ordered six galleys on the service, but, after reconnoitering their +situation, the galleys returned without attempting anything. Their +report was that these ships were so covered by the batteries on Province +Island as to be unassailable. + +It was now apparent to all that the fort could be no longer defended. +The works were in ruins. The position of the Vigilant rendered any +further continuance on the island a prodigal and useless waste of human +life; and on the 16th, about 11 at night, the garrison was withdrawn. + +A second attempt was made to drive the vessels from their stations, with +a determination, should it succeed, to repossess the island, but the +galleys effected nothing, and a detachment from Province Island soon +occupied the ground which had been abandoned. + +The day after, receiving intelligence of the evacuation of Fort Mifflin, +Washington deputed Generals De Kalb and Knox to confer with General +Varnum and the officers at Fort Mercer on the practicability of +continuing to defend the obstructions in the channel, to report thereon, +and to state the force which would be necessary for that purpose. Their +report was in favor of continuing the defense. A council of the navy +officers had already been called by the Commodore in pursuance of a +request of the Commander-in-Chief, made before the evacuation had taken +place, who were unanimously of opinion that it would be impracticable +for the fleet, after the loss of the island, to maintain its station or +to assist in preventing the _chevaux-de-frise_ from being weighed by the +ships of the enemy. + +General Howe had now completed a line of defense from the Schuylkill to +the Delaware, and a reinforcement from New York had arrived at Chester. +These two circumstances enabled him to form an army in the Jerseys, +sufficient for the reduction of Fort Mercer, without weakening himself +so much in Philadelphia as to put his lines in hazard. Still, deeming +it of the utmost importance to open the navigation of the Delaware +completely, he detached Lord Cornwallis, about 1 in the morning of the +17th (1777), with a strong body of troops to Chester. From that place +his lordship crossed over to Billingsport, where he was joined by the +reinforcement from New York. + +Washington received immediate intelligence of the march of this +detachment, which he communicated to General Varnum, with orders that +Fort Mercer should be defended to the last extremity. With a view to +military operations in that quarter he ordered one division of the +army to cross the river at Burlington, and dispatched expresses to the +northern troops who were marching on by brigades, directing them to move +down the Delaware on its northern side until they should receive further +orders. + +General Greene was selected for this expedition. A hope was entertained +that he would be able not only to protect Fort Mercer, but to obtain +some decisive advantage over Lord Cornwallis, as the situation of +the fort, which his lordship could not invest without placing himself +between Timber and Manto creeks, would expose the assailants to great +peril from a respectable force in their rear. But, before Greene could +cross the Delaware, Cornwallis approached with an army rendered more +powerful than had been expected by the junction of the reinforcement +from New York, and Fort Mercer was evacuated. A few of the smaller +galleys escaped up the river, and the others were burnt by their crews. + +Washington still hoped to recover much of what had been lost. A victory +would restore the Jersey shore, and this object was deemed so important +that General Greene's instructions indicated the expectation that he +would be in a condition to fight Cornwallis. + +Greene feared the reproach of avoiding an action less than the just +censure of sacrificing the real interests of his country by engaging the +enemy on disadvantageous terms. The numbers of the British exceeded his, +even counting his militia as regulars, and he determined to wait for +Glover's brigade, which was marching from the north. Before its arrival, +Cornwallis took post on Gloucester point, a point of land making deep +into the Delaware, which was entirely under cover of the guns of the +ships, from which place he was embarking his baggage and the provisions +he had collected for Philadelphia. + +Believing that Cornwallis would immediately follow the magazines he had +collected, and that the purpose of Howe was, with his united forces, +to attack the American army while divided, General Washington ordered +Greene to re-cross the Delaware and join the army. + +Thus, after one continued struggle of more than six weeks, in which +the Continental troops displayed great military virtues, the army in +Philadelphia secured itself in the possession of that city by opening a +free communication with the fleet. + +While Lord Cornwallis was in Jersey, and General Greene on the Delaware +above him, the reinforcements from the north being received, an attack +on Philadelphia was strongly pressed by several officers high in rank, +and was, in some measure, urged by that torrent of public opinion, +which, if not resisted by a very firm mind, overwhelms the judgment, and +by controlling measures not well comprehended may frequently produce, +especially in military transactions, the most disastrous effects. The +officers who advised this measure were Lord Stirling, Generals Wayne, +Scott, and Woodford. The considerations urged upon Washington in its +support were: That the army was now in greater force than he could +expect it to be at any future time; that being joined by the troops who +had conquered Burgoyne, his own reputation, the reputation of his army, +the opinion of Congress and of the nation required some decisive blow +on his part; and that the rapid depreciation of the paper currency, +by which the resources for carrying on the war were dried up, rendered +indispensable some grand effort to bring it to a speedy termination. + +Washington reconnoitered the enemy's lines with great care and took into +serious consideration the plan of attack proposed. The plan proposed +was that General Greene should embark 2,000 men at Dunks' ferry, and +descending the Delaware in the night land in the town just before day, +attack the enemy in the rear, and take possession of the bridge over the +Schuylkill; that a strong corps should march down on the west side of +that river, occupy the heights enfilading the works of the enemy, and +open a brisk cannonade upon them, while a detachment from it should +march down to the bridge and attack in front at the same instant that +the party descending the river should commence its assault on the rear. + +Not only the Commander-in-Chief, but some of his best officers--those +who could not be impelled by the clamors of the ill-informed to ruin the +public interests--were opposed to this mad enterprise. The two armies, +they said, were now nearly equal in point of numbers, and the detachment +under Lord Cornwallis could not be supposed to have so weakened Sir +William Howe as to compensate for the advantages of his position. His +right was covered by the Delaware, his left by the Schuylkill, his +rear by the junction of those two rivers, as well as by the city of +Philadelphia, and his front by a line of redoubts extending from river +to river and connected by an abatis and by circular works. It would be +indispensably necessary to carry all these redoubts, since to leave a +part of them to play on the rear of the columns while engaged in front +with the enemy in Philadelphia would be extremely hazardous. Supposing +the redoubts carried and the British army driven into the town, yet +all military men were agreed on the great peril of storming a town. The +streets would be defended by an artillery greatly superior to that of +the Americans, which would attack in front, while the brick houses +would be lined with musketeers, whose fire must thin the ranks of the +assailants. + +A part of the plan, on the successful execution of which the whole +depended, was that the British rear should be surprised by the corps +descending the Delaware. This would require the concurrence of too many +favorable circumstances to be calculated on with any confidence. As the +position of General Greene was known, it could not be supposed that Sir +William Howe would be inattentive to him. It was probable that not even +his embarkation would be made unnoticed, but it was presuming a degree +of negligence which ought not to be assumed to suppose that he could +descend the river to Philadelphia undiscovered. So soon as his movement +should be observed, the whole plan would be comprehended, since it would +never be conjectured that Greene was to attack singly. + +If the attack in front should fail, which was not even improbable, the +total loss of the 2,000 men in the rear must follow, and General Howe +would maintain his superiority through the winter. + +The situation did not require these desperate measures. The British +general would be compelled to risk a battle on equal terms or to +manifest a conscious inferiority to the American army. The depreciation +of paper money was the inevitable consequence of immense emissions +without corresponding taxes. It was by removing the cause, not by +sacrificing the army, that this evil was to be corrected. + +Washington possessed too much discernment to be dazzled by the false +brilliant presented by those who urged the necessity of storming +Philadelphia in order to throw lustre round his own fame and that of +his army, and too much firmness of temper, too much virtue and real +patriotism to be diverted from a purpose believed to be right, by the +clamors of faction or the discontents of ignorance. Disregarding +the importunities of mistaken friends, the malignant insinuations of +enemies, and the expectations of the ill-informed, he persevered in his +resolution to make no attempt on Philadelphia. He saved his army and was +able to keep the field in the face of his enemy, while the clamor of the +moment wasted in air and was forgotten. + +About this time Washington learnt, by a letter from General Greene, that +his young friend Lafayette, although hardly recovered from the wound +received at Brandywine, had signalized his spirit and courage by +an attack on Cornwallis' picket guard at Gloucester point, below +Philadelphia. "The Marquis," writes Greene, "with about 400 militia and +the rifle corps, attacked the enemy's picket last evening, killed about +20, wounded many more, and took about 20 prisoners. The Marquis is +charmed with the spirited behavior of the militia and rifle corps; they +drove the enemy about half a mile and kept the ground till dark. The +enemy's picket consisted of about 300 and were reinforced during the +skirmish. The Marquis is determined to be in the way of danger." + +The following letter to Washington, cited by Sparks, contains +Lafayette's own account of this affair: "After having spent the most +part of the day in making myself well acquainted with the certainty of +the enemy's motions, I came pretty late into the Gloucester road between +the two creeks. I had 10 light horse, almost 150 riflemen, and 2 pickets +of militia. Colonel Armand, Colonel Laumoy, and the Chevaliers +Duplessis and Gimat were the Frenchmen with me. A scout of my men, under +Duplessis, went to ascertain how near to Gloucester were the enemy's +first pickets, and they found at the distance of two miles and a half +from that place a strong post of 350 Hessians, with field pieces, and +they engaged immediately. As my little reconnoitering party were all in +fine spirits I supported them. We pushed the Hessians more than half a +mile from the place where their main body had been and we made them run +very fast. British reinforcements came twice to them, but, very far +from recovering their ground, they always retreated. The darkness of the +night prevented us from pursuing our advantage. After standing on +the ground we had gained, I ordered them to return very slowly to +Haddonfield." + +The Marquis had only one man killed and six wounded. "I take the +greatest pleasure," he added, "in letting you know that the conduct +of our soldiers was above all praise. I never saw men so merry, so +spirited, and so desirous to go on to the enemy, whatever force they +might have, as that same small party in this little fight." + +Washington, in a letter to Congress dated November 26, 1777, mentions +this affair with commendation, and suggests, as he had repeatedly done +before, Lafayette's appointment to one of the vacant divisions of the +army, and on the same day that this letter was received Congress +voted that such an appointment would be agreeable to them. Three days +afterward Washington placed Lafayette in command of the division of +General Stephen, who had been dismissed from the army for having been +intoxicated, to the great injury of the public service, on the eventful +day of the battle of Germantown. We shall see that this appointment, by +enabling Lafayette to act occasionally on a separate command, afforded +him the opportunity of rendering essential service to the cause of +independence. + +On the 27th of November (1777), the Board of War was increased +from three to five members, viz.: General Mifflin, formerly aide to +Washington and recently quartermaster-general; Joseph Trumbull, Richard +Peters, Col. Timothy Pickering, of Massachusetts, and General Gates. +Gates was appointed president of the board, with many flattering +expressions from Congress. His recent triumph over Burgoyne had gained +him many friends among the members of Congress and a few among the +officers of the army. His head, naturally not over-strong, had been +turned by success, and he entered into the views of a certain clique +which had recently been formed, whose object was to disparage Washington +and put forward rather high pretensions in favor of the "hero of +Saratoga." This clique, called from the name of its most active member, +General Conway, the "Conway Cabal," we shall notice hereafter. At the +time of this change in the constitution of the Board of War it was in +full activity, and its operations were well known to Washington. In +fact, he had already applied the match which ultimately exploded the +whole conspiracy and brought lasting disgrace on every one of its +members. + +General Howe in the meantime was preparing to attack Washington in +his camp, and, as he confidently threatened, to "drive him beyond the +mountains." + +On the 4th of December (1777), Captain M'Lane, a vigilant officer on the +lines, discovered that an attempt to surprise the American camp at +White Marsh was about to be made, and communicated the information to +Washington. In the evening of the same day General Howe marched out of +Philadelphia with his whole force, and about 11 at night, M'Lane, who +had been detached with 100 chosen men, attacked the British van at +the Three Mile Run on the Germantown road, and compelled their front +division to change its line of march. He hovered on the front and flank +of the advancing army, galling them severely until 3 next morning, when +the British encamped on Chestnut Hill in front of the American right, +and distant from it about three miles. A slight skirmish had also taken +place between the Pennsylvania militia, under General Irvine, and the +advanced light parties of the enemy, in which the general was wounded +and the militia without much other loss were dispersed. + +The range of hills on which the British were posted approached nearer +to those occupied by the Americans as they stretched northward. Having +passed the day in reconnoitering the right Howe changed his ground in +the course of the night, and moving along the hills to his right took +an advantageous position about a mile in front of the American left. +The next day he inclined still further to his right, and in doing so +approached still nearer to the left wing of the American army. Supposing +a general engagement to be approaching Washington detached Gist, with +some Maryland militia, and Morgan, with his rifle corps, to attack the +flanking and advanced parties of the enemy. A sharp action ensued in +which Major Morris, of New Jersey, a brave officer in Morgan's regiment +was mortally wounded, and twenty-seven of his men were killed and +wounded. A small loss was also sustained in the militia. The parties +first attacked were driven in, but the enemy reinforcing in numbers and +Washington unwilling to move from the heights and engage on the ground +which was the scene of the skirmish, declining to reinforce Gist and +Morgan, they, in turn, were compelled to retreat. + +Howe continued to maneuver toward the flank and in front of the left +wing of the American army. Expecting to be attacked in that quarter in +full force Washington made such changes in the disposition of his troops +as the occasion required, and the day was consumed in these movements. +In the course of it Washington rode through every brigade of his army, +delivering in person his orders respecting the manner of receiving the +enemy, exhorting his troops to rely principally on the bayonet, and +encouraging them by the steady firmness of his countenance, as well as +by his words, to a vigorous performance of their duty. The dispositions +of the evening indicated an intention to attack him the ensuing morning, +but in the afternoon of the 8th the British suddenly filed off from +their right, which extended beyond the American left, and retreated +to Philadelphia. The parties detached to harass their rear could not +overtake it. [3] + +The loss of the British in this expedition, as stated in the official +letter of General Howe, rather exceeded 100 in killed, wounded, and +missing, and was sustained principally in the skirmish of the 7th +(December, 1777) in which Major Morris fell. + +On no former occasion had the two armies met, uncovered by works, with +superior numbers on the side of the Americans. The effective force of +the British was then stated at 12,000 men. Stedman, the historian, who +then belonged to Howe's army, states its number to have been 14,000. The +American army consisted of precisely 12,161 Continental troops and +3,241 militia. This equality in point of numbers rendered it a prudent +precaution to maintain a superiority of position. As the two armies +occupied heights fronting each other neither could attack without giving +to its adversary some advantage in the ground, and this was an advantage +which neither seemed willing to relinquish. + +The return of Howe to Philadelphia without bringing on an action after +marching out with the avowed intention of fighting is the best testimony +of the respect which he felt for the talents of his adversary and the +courage of the troops he was to encounter. + +The cold was now becoming so intense that it was impossible for an army +neither well-clothed nor sufficiently supplied with blankets longer to +keep the field in tents. It had become necessary to place the troops +in winter quarters, but in the existing state of things the choice of +winter quarters was a subject for serious reflection. It was impossible +to place them in villages without uncovering the country or exposing +them to the hazard of being beaten in detachment. + +To avoid these calamities it was determined to take a strong position +in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, equally distant from the Delaware +above and below that city, and there to construct huts in the form of +a regular encampment which might cover the army during the winter. +A strong piece of ground at Valley Forge, on the west side of the +Schuylkill between twenty and thirty miles from Philadelphia, was +selected for that purpose, and some time before day on the morning of +the 11th of December (1777) the army marched to take possession of it. +By an accidental concurrence of circumstances Lord Cornwallis had been +detached the same morning at the head of a strong corps on a foraging +party on the west side of the Schuylkill. He had fallen in with a +brigade of Pennsylvania militia commanded by General Potter which he +soon dispersed, and, pursuing the fugitives, had gained the heights +opposite Matron's ford, over which the Americans had thrown a bridge for +the purpose of crossing the river, and had posted troops to command the +defile called the Gulph just as the front division of the American army +reached the bank of the river. This movement had been made without any +knowledge of the intention of General Washington to change his position +or any design of contesting the passage of the Schuylkill, but the +troops had been posted in the manner already mentioned for the sole +purpose of covering the foraging party. + +Washington apprehended from his first intelligence that General Howe had +taken the field in full force. He therefore recalled the troops already +on the west side and moved rather higher up the river for the purpose of +understanding the real situation, force, and designs of the enemy. The +next day Lord Cornwallis returned to Philadelphia, and in the course of +the night the American army crossed the river. + +Here the Commander-in-Chief communicated to his army in general orders +the manner in which he intended to dispose of them during the winter. +He expressed in strong terms his approbation of their conduct, presented +them with an encouraging state of the future prospects of their +country, exhorted them to bear with continuing fortitude the hardships +inseparable from the position they were about to take, and endeavored to +convince their judgments that those hardships were not imposed on them +by unfeeling caprice, but were necessary for the good of their country. + +The winter had set in with great severity, and the sufferings of +the army were extreme. In a few days, however, these sufferings were +considerably diminished by the erection of logged huts, filled up with +mortar, which, after being dried, formed comfortable habitations, and +gave content to men long unused to the conveniences of life. The order +of a regular encampment was observed, and the only appearance of winter +quarters was the substitution of huts for tents. + +Stedman, who, as we have already remarked, was in Howe's army, has not +only given a vivid description of the condition of Washington's army, +which agrees in the main with those of our own writers, but he has also +exhibited in contrast the condition and conduct of the British army in +Philadelphia. We transcribe this instructive passage: + +"The American general determined to remain during the winter in the +position which he then occupied at Valley Forge, recommending to his +troops to build huts in the woods for sheltering themselves from the +inclemency of the weather. And it is perhaps one of the most striking +traits in General Washington's character that he possessed the faculty +of gaining such an ascendancy over his raw and undisciplined followers, +most of whom were destitute of proper winter clothing and otherwise +unprovided with necessaries, as to be able to prevail upon so many of +them to remain with him during the winter in so distressing a situation. +With immense labor he raised wooden huts, covered with straw and earth, +which formed very uncomfortable quarters. On the east and south an +entrenchment was made--the ditch six feet wide and three in depth; the +mound not four feet high, very narrow, and such as might easily have +been beat down by cannon. Two redoubts were also begun but never +completed. The Schuylkill was on his left with a bridge across. His rear +was mostly covered by an impassable precipice formed by Valley creek, +having only a narrow passage near the Schuylkill. On the right his camp +was accessible with some difficulty, but the approach on his front was +on ground nearly on a level with his camp. It is indeed difficult to +give an adequate description of his misery in this situation. His army +was destitute of almost every necessary of clothing, nay, almost naked, +and very often on short allowance of provisions; an extreme mortality +raged in his hospitals, nor had he any of the most proper medicines to +relieve the sick. There were perpetual desertions of parties from him of +ten to fifty at a time. In three months he had not 4,000 men and these +could by no means be termed effective. Not less than 500 horses perished +from want and the severity of the season. He had often not three days' +provisions in his camp and at times not enough for one day. In this +infirm and dangerous state he continued from December to May, during all +which time every person expected that General Howe would have stormed +or besieged his camp, the situation of which equally invited either +attempt. To have posted 2,000 men on a commanding ground near the +bridge, on the north side of the Schuylkill, would have rendered +his escape on the left impossible; 2,000 men placed on a like ground +opposite the narrow pass would have as effectually prevented a retreat +by his rear, and five or six thousand men stationed on the front and +right of his camp would have deprived him of flight on those sides. The +positions were such that if any of the corps were attacked they could +have been instantly supported. Under such propitious circumstances what +mortal could doubt of success? But the British army, neglecting all +these opportunities, was suffered to continue at Philadelphia where the +whole winter was spent in dissipation. A want of discipline and proper +subordination pervaded the whole army, and if disease and sickness +thinned the American army encamped at Valley Forge, indolence and luxury +perhaps did no less injury to the British troops at Philadelphia. During +the winter a very unfortunate inattention was shown to the feelings of +the inhabitants of Philadelphia, whose satisfaction should have been +vigilantly consulted, both from gratitude and from interest. They +experienced many of the horrors of civil war. The soldiers insulted and +plundered them, and their houses were occupied as barracks without +any compensation being made to them. Some of the first families were +compelled to receive into their habitations individual officers who were +even indecent enough to introduce their mistresses into the mansions of +their hospitable entertainers. This soured the minds of the inhabitants, +many of whom were Quakers. But the residence of the army at Philadelphia +occasioned distresses which will probably be considered by the +generality of mankind as of a more grievous nature. It was with +difficulty that fuel could be got on any terms. Provisions were most +exorbitantly high. Gaming of every species was permitted and even +sanctioned. This vice not only debauched the mind, but by sedentary +confinement and the want of seasonable repose enervated the body. A +foreign officer held the bank at the game of faro by which he made a +very considerable fortune, and but too many respectable families in +Britain had to lament its baleful effects. Officers who might have +rendered honorable service to their country were compelled, by what was +termed a bad run of luck, to dispose of their commissions and return +penniless to their friends in Europe. The father who thought he had +made a provision for his son by purchasing him a commission in the army +ultimately found that he had put his son to school to learn the science +of gambling, not the art of war. Dissipation had spread through the +army, and indolence and want of subordination, its natural concomitants. +For if the officer be not vigilant the soldier will never be alert. + +"Sir William Howe, from the manners and religious opinions of the +Philadelphians, should have been particularly cautious. For this public +dissoluteness of the troops could not but be regarded by such people +as a contempt of them, as well as an offense against piety; and it +influenced all the representations which they made to their countrymen +respecting the British. They inferred from it, also, that the commander +could not be sufficiently intent on the plans of either conciliation +or subjugation; so that the opinions of the Philadelphians, whether +erroneous or not, materially promoted the cause of Congress. During the +whole of this long winter of riot and dissipation, General Washington +was suffered to continue with the remains of his army, not exceeding +5,000 effective men at most, undisturbed at Valley Forge, considerable +arrears of pay due to them; almost in a state of nature for want of +clothing; the Europeans in the American service disgusted and deserting +in great numbers, and indeed in companies, to the British army, and the +natives tired of the war. Yet, under all these favorable circumstances +for the British interest, no one step was taken to dislodge Washington, +whose cannon were frozen up and could not be moved. If Sir William Howe +had marched out in the night he might have brought Washington to action, +or if he had retreated, he must have left his sick, cannon, ammunition, +and heavy baggage behind. A nocturnal attack on the Americans would +have had this further good effect: it would have depressed the spirit +of revolt, confirmed the wavering, and attached them to the British +interest. It would have opened a passage for supplies to the city, +which was in great want of provisions for the inhabitants. It would have +shaken off that lethargy in which the British soldiers had been immerged +during the winter. It would have convinced the well-affected that the +British leader was in earnest. If Washington had retreated the British +could have followed. With one of the best-appointed in every respect +and finest armies (consisting of at least 14,000 effective men) ever +assembled in any country, a number of officers of approved service, +wishing only to be led to action, this dilatory commander, Sir William +Howe, dragged out the winter without doing any one thing to obtain +the end for which he was commissioned. Proclamation was issued after +proclamation calling upon the people of America to repair to the British +standard, promising them remission of their political sins and an +assurance of protection in both person and property, but these promises +were confined merely to paper. The best personal security to the +inhabitants was an attack by the army, and the best security of property +was peace, and this to be purchased by successful war. For had Sir +William Howe led on his troops to action victory was in his power and +conquest in his train. During Sir William Howe's stay at Philadelphia a +number of disaffected citizens were suffered to remain in the garrison; +these people were ever upon the watch and communicated to Washington +every intelligence he could wish for." + +We have copied this passage from Stedman, with a view to show the +contrast between the situation of Washington and Howe and their +respective armies, as exhibited by an enemy to our cause. It is +literally the contrast between virtue and vice. The final result shows +that Providence in permitting the occupation of Philadelphia by the +British army was really promoting the cause of human liberty. + +Stedman's statement of the numbers of Washington's army is erroneous, +even if it refers only to effective men, and his schemes for +annihilating Washington's army would probably not have been so easily +executed as he imagined. Still the army was very weak. Marshall says +that although the total of the army exceeded 17,000 men (February, +1778), the present effective rank and file amounted to only 5,012. This +statement alone suggests volumes of misery, sickness, destitution, and +suffering. + +We must now call the reader's attention to the northern campaign of 1777 +which, remote as it was from Washington's immediate scene of action, was +not conducted without his aid and direction. + +1. Footnote: This was Lieut.-Col. Samuel Smith, of the Maryland line. +After serving in this perilous post at Fort Mifflin, he was made +general, and in that rank assisted in the defense of Baltimore in the +War of 1812. See Document [A] at the end of this chapter. + +2. Footnote: Donop was a brave officer. He was found on the battlefield +by Captain Mauduit Duplessis, a talented French engineer, who had +assisted Greene in defense of the fort, and who attended the unfortunate +count on his death-bed till he expired, three days after the battle, at +the early age of thirty-seven. "I die," said he, in his last hour, +"a victim of my ambition, and of the avarice of my sovereign." A fine +commentary on the mercenary system of the German princes. The government +of Hesse Cassel quite recently caused the remains of Count Donop to be +removed from Red Bank, to be interred with distinguished honor in his +own country. + +3. Footnote: Judge Marshall, the biographer of Washington, on whose +account of this affair ours is founded, was present on the occasion. He +served in the army from the beginning of the war; was appointed first +lieutenant in 1776, and captain in 1777. He resigned his commission in +1778, and, devoting himself to the practice of the law, subsequently +rose to the eminent office of Chief Justice of the United States. He +died at Philadelphia, July 6th, 1836, aged seventy-nine. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +BURGOYNE'S INVASION OF NEW YORK PUNISHED BY SCHUYLER AND GATES. 1777. + + +We have already had occasion to refer to what was passing in the North +during the time when Washington was conducting the arduous campaign in +Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. General Schuyler had held the chief +command of the army operating against Canada since the opening of the +war in 1775. Under his direction the force of Montgomery was sent to +Quebec in the disastrous expedition of which we have already related +the history, and Arnold was acting in a subordinate capacity to Schuyler +when he so bravely resisted the descent of Carleton on the lakes. +Schuyler also performed the best part of the service of resisting the +invasion of New York from Canada, and nearly completed the campaign +which terminated in the surrender of Burgoyne to Gates. To the events of +this campaign we now call the reader's attention. + +At the commencement of the campaign of 1777 the American army on the +frontier of Canada having been composed chiefly of soldiers enlisted +for a short period only, had been greatly reduced in numbers by the +expiration of their term of service. + +The cantonments of the British northern army, extending from Isle aux +Noix and Montreal to Quebec, were so distant from each other that they +could not readily have afforded mutual support in case of an attack, +but the Americans were in no condition to avail themselves of this +circumstance. They could scarcely keep up even the appearance of +garrisons in their forts and were apprehensive of an attack on +Ticonderoga as soon as the ice was strong enough to afford an easy +passage to troops over the lakes. At the close of the preceding campaign +General Gates had joined the army under Washington, and the command of +the army in the northern department, comprehending Albany, Ticonderoga, +Fort Stanwix, and their dependencies, remained in the hands of General +Schuyler. The services of that meritorious officer were more solid than +brilliant, and had not been duly valued by Congress, which, like other +popular assemblies, was slow in discerning real and unostentatious +merit. Disgusted at the injustice which he had experienced he was +restrained from leaving the army merely by the deep interest which he +took in the arduous struggle in which his country was engaged, but after +a full investigation of his conduct during the whole of his command, +Congress was at length convinced of the value of his services and +requested him to continue at the head of the army of the northern +department. That army he found too weak for the services which it was +expected to perform and ill-supplied with arms, clothes, and provisions. +He made every exertion to organize and place it on a respectable footing +for the ensuing campaign, but his means were scanty and the new levies +arrived slowly. General St. Clair, who had served under Gates, commanded +at Ticonderoga, and, including militia, had nearly 2,000 men under him, +but the works were extensive and would have required 10,000 men to man +them fully. [1] + +The British ministry had resolved to prosecute the war vigorously on the +northern frontier of the United States, and appointed Burgoyne, who had +served under Carleton in the preceding campaign, to command the royal +army in that quarter. The appointment gave offense to Carleton, then +Governor of Canada, who naturally expected to be continued in +the command of the northern army, and that officer testified his +dissatisfaction by tendering the resignation of his government. +But although displeased with the nomination, he gave Burgoyne every +assistance in his power in preparing for the campaign. + +Burgoyne had visited England during the winter, concerted with the +ministry a plan of the campaign and given an estimate of the force +necessary for its successful execution. Besides a fine train of +artillery and a suitable body of artillerymen, an army, consisting of +more than 7,000 veteran troops, excellently equipped and in a high state +of discipline, was put under his command. Besides this regular force he +had a great number of Canadians and savages. + +The employment of the savages had been determined on at the very +commencement of hostilities, their alliance had been courted and their +services accepted, and on the present occasion the British ministry +placed no small dependence on their aid. Carleton was directed to use +all his influence to bring a large body of them into the field, and +his exertions were very successful. General Burgoyne was assisted by +a number of distinguished officers, among whom were Generals Philips, +Fraser, Powel, Hamilton, Riedesel, and Specht. A suitable naval +armament, under the orders of Commodore Lutwych, attended the +expedition. + +After detaching Colonel St. Leger with a body of light troops and +Indians, amounting to about 800 men, by the way of Lake Oswego and the +Mohawk river, to make a diversion in that quarter and to join him when +he advanced to the Hudson, Burgoyne left St. John's on the 16th of June, +and, preceded by his naval armament, sailed up Lake Champlain and in a +few days landed and encamped at Crown Point earlier in the season than +the Americans had thought it possible for him to reach that place. + +He met his Indian allies and, in imitation of a savage partisan, gave +them a war feast, at which he made them a speech in order to inflame +their courage and repress their barbarous cruelty. He next issued a +lofty proclamation addressed to the inhabitants of the country in +which, as if certain of victory, he threatened to punish with the utmost +severity those who refused to attach themselves to the royal cause. He +talked of the ferocity of the Indians and their eagerness to butcher the +friends of independence, and he graciously promised protection to +those who should return to their duty. The proclamation was so far from +answering the general's intention that it was derided by the people as a +model of pomposity. + +Having made the necessary arrangements on the 30th of June, Burgoyne +advanced cautiously on both sides of the narrow channel which connects +Lakes Champlain and George, the British on the west and the German +mercenaries on the east, with the naval force in the center, forming a +communication between the two divisions of the army, and on the 1st of +July his van appeared in sight of Ticonderoga. + +The river Sorel issues from the north end of Lake Champlain and throws +its superfluous waters into the St. Lawrence. Lake Champlain is about +eighty miles long from north to south, and about fourteen miles +broad where it is widest. Crown Point stands at what may properly be +considered the south end of the lake, although a narrow channel, +which retains the name of the lake, proceeds southward and forms a +communication with South river and the waters of Lake George. + +Ticonderoga is on the west side of the narrow channel, twelve miles +south from Crown Point. It is a rocky angle of land, washed on three +sides by the water and partly covered on the fourth side by a deep +morass. On the space on the northwest quarter, between the morass and +the channel, the French had formerly constructed lines of fortification, +which still remained, and those lines the Americans had strengthened by +additional works. + +Opposite Ticonderoga on the east side of the channel, which is here +between three and four hundred yards wide, stands a high circular hill +called Mount Independence, which had been occupied by the Americans when +they abandoned Crown Point, and carefully fortified. On the top of it, +which is flat, they had erected a fort and provided it sufficiently with +artillery. Near the foot of the mountain, which extends to the water's +edge, they had raised entrenchments and mounted them with heavy guns, +and had covered those lower works by a battery about half way up the +hill. + +With prodigious labor they had constructed a communication between those +two posts by means of a wooden bridge which was supported by twenty-two +strong wooden pillars placed at nearly equal distances from each other. +The spaces between the pillars were filled up by separate floats, +strongly fastened to each other and to the pillars by chains and rivets. +The bridge was twelve feet wide and the side of it next Lake Champlain +was defended by a boom formed of large pieces of timber, bolted and +bound together by double iron chains an inch and a half thick. Thus +an easy communication was established between Ticonderoga and Mount +Independence and the passage of vessels up the strait prevented. + +Immediately after passing Ticonderoga the channel becomes wider and, on +the southeast side, receives a large body of water from a stream at +that point called South river, but higher up named Wood creek. From the +southwest come the waters flowing from Lake George, and in the angle +formed by the confluence of those two streams rises a steep and +rugged eminence called Sugar Hill, which overlooks and commands both +Ticonderoga and Mount Independence. That hill had been examined by +the Americans, but General St. Clair, considering the force under his +command insufficient to occupy the extensive works of Ticonderoga and +Mount Independence and flattering himself that the extreme difficulty +of the ascent would prevent the British from availing themselves of it, +neglected to take possession of Sugar Hill. It may be remarked that +the north end of Lake George is between two and three miles above +Ticonderoga, but the channel leading to it is interrupted by rapids +and shallows and is unfit for navigation. Lake George is narrow, but is +thirty-five miles long, extending from northeast to southwest. At the +head of it stood a fort of the same name, strong enough to resist an +attack of Indians, but incapable of making any effectual opposition to +regular troops. Nine miles beyond it was Fort Edward on the Hudson. + +On the appearance of Burgoyne's van St. Clair had no accurate knowledge +of the strength of the British army, having heard nothing of the +reinforcement from Europe. He imagined that they would attempt to take +the fort by assault and flattered himself that he would easily be able +to repulse them. But, on the 2d of July, the British appeared in great +force on both sides of the channel and encamped four miles from the +forts, while the fleet anchored just beyond the reach of the guns. After +a slight resistance Burgoyne took possession of Mount Hope, an important +post on the south of Ticonderoga, which commanded part of the lines of +that fort as well as the channel leading to Lake George, and extended +his lines so as completely to invest the fort on the west side. The +German division under General Riedesel occupied the eastern bank of the +channel and sent forward a detachment to the vicinity of the rivulet +which flows from Mount Independence. Burgoyne now labored assiduously in +bringing forward his artillery and completing his communications. On the +5th of the month (July, 1777) he caused Sugar Hill to be examined, and +being informed that the ascent, though difficult, was not impracticable, +he immediately resolved to take possession of it and proceeded with such +activity in raising works and mounting guns upon it that his battery +might have been opened on the garrison next day. + +These operations received no check from the besieged, because, as it has +been alleged, they were not in a condition to give any. St. Clair was +now nearly surrounded. Only the space between the stream which flows +from Mount Independence and South river remained open, and that was to +be occupied next day. + +In these circumstances it was requisite for the garrison to come to a +prompt and decisive resolution, either at every hazard to defend the +place to the last extremity or immediately to abandon it. St. Clair +called a council of war, the members of which unanimously advised the +immediate evacuation of the forts, and preparations were instantly made +for carrying this resolution into execution. The British had the command +of the communication with Lake George, and consequently the garrison +could not escape in that direction. The retreat could be effected by +the South river only. Accordingly the invalids, the hospital, and such +stores as could be most easily removed, were put on board 200 boats and, +escorted by Colonel Long's regiment, proceeded, on the night between +the 5th and 6th of July, up the South river towards Skeenesborough. The +garrisons of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence marched by land through +Castleton, towards the same place. The troops were ordered to march out +in profound silence and particularly to set nothing on fire. But these +prudent orders were disobeyed, and, before the rear guard was in motion, +the house on Mount Independence, which General Fermoy had occupied, was +seen in flames. That served as a signal to the enemy, who immediately +entered the works and fired, but without effect, on the rear of the +retreating army. + +The Americans marched in some confusion to Hubbardton whence the main +body, under St. Clair, pushed forward to Castleton. But the English +were not idle. General Fraser, at the head of a strong detachment of +grenadiers and light troops, commenced an eager pursuit by land upon the +right bank of Wood creek: General Riedesel, behind him, rapidly +advanced with his Brunswickers, either to support the English or to act +separately as occasion might require. Burgoyne determined to pursue the +Americans by water. But it was first necessary to destroy the boom and +bridge which had been constructed in front of Ticonderoga. The British +seamen and artificers immediately engaged in the operation, and in less +time than it would have taken to describe their structure, those works +which had cost so much labor and so vast an expense, were cut through +and demolished. The passage thus cleared, the ships of Burgoyne +immediately entered Wood creek and proceeded with extreme rapidity +in search of the Americans. All was in movement at once upon land +and water. By three in the afternoon the van of the British squadron, +composed of gunboats, came up with and attacked the American galleys +near Skeenesborough Falls. In the meantime three regiments which had +been landed at South bay, ascended and passed a mountain with great +expedition, in order to turn the retreating army above Wood creek, to +destroy the works at the Falls of Skeenesborough, and thus to cut off +the retreat of the army to Fort Anne. But the Americans eluded this +stroke by the rapidity of their march. The British frigates having +joined the van, the galleys, already hard pressed by the gunboats, were +completely overpowered. Two of them surrendered; three of them were +blown up. The Americans having set fire to their boats, mills, and +other works, fell back upon Fort Anne, higher up Wood creek. All their +baggage, however, was lost and a large quantity of provisions and +military stores fell into the hands of the British. + +The pursuit by land was not less active. Early on the morning of the +7th of July (1777) the British overtook the American rear guard who, +in opposition to St. Clair's orders, had lingered behind and posted +themselves on strong ground in the vicinity of Hubbardton. Fraser's +troops were little more than half the number opposed to him, but aware +that Riedesel was close behind and fearful lest his chase should give +him the slip, he ordered an immediate attack. Warner opposed a vigorous +resistance, but a large body of his militia retreated and left him to +sustain the combat alone, when the firing of Riedesel's advanced guard +was heard and shortly after his whole force, drums beating and colors +flying, emerged from the shades of the forest and part of his troops +immediately effected a junction with the British line. Fraser now gave +orders for a simultaneous advance with the bayonet which was effected +with such resistless impetuosity that the Americans broke and fled, +sustaining a very serious loss. St. Clair, upon hearing the firing, +endeavored to send back some assistance, but the discouraged militia +refused to return and there was no alternative but to collect the +wrecks of his army and proceed to Fort Edward to effect a junction with +Schuyler. + +Burgoyne lost not a moment in following up his success at +Skeenesborough, but dispatched a regiment to effect the capture of Fort +Anne, defended by a small party under the command of Colonel Long. This +officer judiciously posted his troops in a narrow ravine through which +his assailants were compelled to pass and opened upon them so severe +a fire in front, flank, and rear, that the British regiments, nearly +surrounded, with difficulty escaped to a neighboring hill, where the +Americans attacked them anew with such vigor that they must have been +utterly defeated had not the ammunition of the assailants given out at +this critical moment. No longer being able to fight Long's troops fell +back, and, setting the fort on fire, also directed their retreat to the +headquarters at Fort Edward. + +While at Skeenesborough, General Burgoyne issued a second proclamation +summoning the people of the adjacent country to send ten deputies from +each township to meet Colonel Skeene at Castleton in order to deliberate +on such measures as might still be adopted to save those who had not +yet conformed to his first and submitted to the royal authority. +General Schuyler, apprehending some effect from this paper, issued +a counter-proclamation, stating the insidious designs of the +enemy--warning the inhabitants by the example of Jersey of the danger to +which their yielding to this seductive proposition would expose them and +giving them the most solemn assurances that all who should send deputies +to this meeting or in any manner aid the enemy, would be considered as +traitors and should suffer the utmost rigor of the law. + +Nothing, as Botta remarks, [2] could exceed the consternation and +terror which the victory of Ticonderoga and the subsequent successes +of Burgoyne spread through the American provinces nor the joy and +exultation they excited in England. The arrival of these glad tidings +was celebrated by the most brilliant rejoicings at court and welcomed +with the same enthusiasm by all those who desired the unconditional +reduction of America. They already announced the approaching termination +of this glorious war; they openly declared it a thing impossible that +the rebels should ever recover from the shock of their recent losses, as +well of men as of arms and of military stores, and especially that they +should ever regain their courage and reputation, which, in war, always +contribute to success as much, at least, as arms themselves. Even the +ancient reproaches of cowardice were renewed against the Americans and +their own partisans abated much of the esteem they had borne them. They +were more than half disposed to pronounce the Colonists unworthy to +defend that liberty which they gloried in with so much complacency. +But it deserves to be noted here especially that there was no sign of +faltering on the part of the people, no disposition to submit to the +invading force. The success of the enemy did but nerve our fathers to +more vigorous resolves to maintain the cause of liberty even unto death. + +Certainly the campaign had been opened and prosecuted thus far in a very +dashing style by Burgoyne and had he been able to press forward it is +quite possible that success might have crowned his efforts. But there +were some sixteen miles of forest yet to be traversed; Burgoyne waited +for his baggage and stores, and meanwhile General Schuyler, who was in +command of the American forces, took such steps as would necessarily +put a stop to the rapid approach of the enemy. Trenches were opened, the +roads and paths were obstructed, the bridges were broken up, and in the +only practicable defiles large trees were cut in such a manner on both +sides of the road as to fall across and lengthwise, which, with their +branches interwoven, presented an insurmountable barrier; in a word, +this wilderness, of itself by no means easy of passage, was thus +rendered almost absolutely impenetrable. Nor did Schuyler rest satisfied +with these precautions; he directed the cattle to be removed to the +most distant places and the stores and baggage from Fort George to Fort +Edward, that articles of such necessity for the troops might not +fall into the power of the British. He urgently demanded that all the +regiments of regular troops found in the adjacent States should be sent +without delay to join him; he also made earnest and frequent calls upon +the militia of New England and of New York. He likewise exerted his +utmost endeavors to procure himself recruits in the vicinity of Fort +Edward and the city of Albany; the great influence he enjoyed with the +inhabitants gave him in this quarter all the success he could desire. +Finally, to retard the progress of the enemy, he resolved to threaten +his left flank. Accordingly, he detached Colonel Warner, with his +regiment, into the State of Vermont with orders to assemble the militia +of the country and to make incursions toward Ticonderoga. In fact +Schuyler did everything which was possible to be done under the +circumstances, and it is not too much to assert in justice to the good +name of General Schuyler, that the measures which he adopted paved the +way to the victory which finally crowned the American arms at Saratoga. + +Washington, equally with Congress, supposing that Schuyler's force was +stronger and that of the British weaker than was really the case, was +very greatly distressed and astonished at the disasters which befell +the American cause in the north. He waited, therefore, with no little +anxiety, later and more correct information before he was willing to +pronounce positively upon the course pursued by St. Clair. When that +officer joined Schuyler the whole force did not exceed 4,400 men; about +half of these were militia, and the whole were ill-clothed, badly armed, +and greatly dispirited by the recent reverses. Very ungenerously and +unjustly it was proposed to remove the northern officers from the +command and send successors in their places. An inquiry was instituted +by order of Congress, which resulted honorably for Schuyler and his +officers, and Schuyler, the able commander and zealous-hearted patriot, +remained for the present at the head of the northern department. [3] + +Washington exerted himself with all diligence to send reinforcements and +supplies to the army of Schuyler. The artillery and warlike stores were +expedited from Massachusetts. General Lincoln, a man of great influence +in New England, was sent there to encourage the militia to enlist. +Arnold, in like manner, repaired thither; it was thought his ardor might +serve to inspire the dejected troops. Colonel Morgan, an officer whose +brilliant valor we have already had occasion to remark, was ordered +to take the same direction with his troop of light horse. All these +measures, conceived with prudence and executed with promptitude, +produced the natural effect. The Americans recovered by degrees their +former spirit and the army increased from day to day. + +During this interval Burgoyne actively exerted himself in opening +a passage from Fort Anne to Fort Edward. But, notwithstanding the +diligence with which the whole army engaged in the work, their progress +was exceedingly slow, so formidable were the obstacles which nature as +well as art had thrown in their way. Besides having to remove the fallen +trees with which the Americans had obstructed the roads they had no less +than forty bridges to construct and many others to repair; one of these +was entirely of log work, over a morass two miles wide. In short the +British encountered so many impediments in measuring this inconsiderable +space that it was found impossible to reach the banks of the Hudson near +Fort Edward until the 30th of July (1777). The Americans, either because +they were too feeble to oppose the enemy or that Fort Edward was no +better than a ruin, not susceptible of defense, or finally because they +were apprehensive that Colonel St. Leger, after the reduction of Fort +Stanwix, might descend by the left bank of the Mohawk to the Hudson and +thus cut off their retreat, retired lower down to Stillwater where they +threw up entrenchments. At the same time they evacuated Fort George, +having previously burned their boats upon the lake, and in various ways +obstructed the road to Fort Edward. Burgoyne might have reached Fort +Edward much more readily by way of Lake George, but he had judged +it best to pursue the panic-stricken Americans, and, despite the +difficulties of the route, not to throw any discouragements in the way +of his troops by a retrograde movement. + +At Fort Edward General Burgoyne again found it necessary to pause in +his career, for his carriages, which in the hurry had been made of +unseasoned wood, were much broken down and needed to be repaired. From +the unavoidable difficulties of the case not more than one-third of +the draught horses contracted for in Canada had arrived, and General +Schuyler had been careful to remove almost all the horses and draught +cattle of the country out of his way. Boats for the navigation of the +Hudson, provisions, stores, artillery, and other necessaries for the +army were all to be brought from Fort George, and although that place +was only nine or ten miles from Fort Edward, yet such was the condition +of the roads, rendered nearly impassable by the great quantities of +rain that had fallen, that the labor of transporting necessaries was +incredible. Burgoyne had collected about 100 oxen, but it was often +necessary to employ ten or twelve of them in transporting a single boat. +With his utmost exertions he had on the 15th of August conveyed only +twelve boats into the Hudson and provisions for the army for four days +in advance. Matters began to assume a very serious aspect indeed, and +as the further he removed from the lakes the more difficult it became to +get supplies from that quarter, Burgoyne saw clearly that he must look +elsewhere for sustenance for his army. + +The British commander was not ignorant that the Americans had +accumulated considerable stores, including live cattle and vehicles of +various kinds at Bennington, about twenty-four miles east of the Hudson. +Burgoyne, easily persuaded that the Tories in that region would aid his +efforts, and thinking that he could alarm the country as well as secure +the supplies of which he began to stand in great need, determined +to detach Colonel Baum with a force of some six or eight hundred of +Riedesel's dragoons for the attack upon Bennington. His instructions +to Baum were "to try the affections of the country, to disconcert the +counsels of the enemy, to mount Riedesel's dragoons, to complete Peters' +corps (of Loyalists), and to obtain large supplies of cattle, horses, +and carriages." Baum set off on the 13th of August on this expedition +which was to result so unfortunately to himself, and which proved in +fact the ruin of Burgoyne's entire plans and purposes. + +We have spoken of the consternation which filled the minds of men a +short time before this, when Burgoyne seemed to be marching in triumph +through the country. The alarm, however, subsided, and the New England +States resolved to make most vigorous efforts to repel the attack of +the enemy. John Langdon, a merchant of Portsmouth and speaker of the New +Hampshire Assembly, roused the desponding minds of his fellow-members to +the need of providing defense for the frontiers, and with whole-hearted +patriotism thus addressed them: "I have $3,000 in hard money; I will +pledge my plate for $3,000 more. I have seventy hogsheads of Tobago rum +which shall be sold for the most it will bring. These are at the service +of the State. If we succeed in defending our firesides and homes I may +be remunerated, if we do not the property will be of no value to me. +Our old friend Stark, who so nobly sustained the honor of our State at +Bunker Hill may be safely entrusted with the conduct of the enterprise, +and we will check the progress of Burgoyne." That brave son of New +Hampshire, General Stark, conceiving himself aggrieved by certain acts +of Congress in appointing junior officers over his head, had resigned +his commission. He was now prevailed upon to take service under +authority from his native State, it being understood that he was to +act independently as to his movements against the enemy. His popularity +speedily called in the militia, who were ready to take the field under +him without hesitation. + +Soon after Stark proceeded to Manchester, twenty miles north of +Bennington, where Colonel Seth Warner, the former associate of Ethan +Allen, had taken post with the troops under his command. Here he met +General Lincoln, who had been sent by Schuyler to lead the militia to +the west bank of the Hudson. Stark refused to obey Schuyler's orders, +and Congress, on the 19th of August (1777), passed a vote of censure +upon his conduct. But Stark did not know of this, and as his course +was clearly that of sound policy, and his victory two days before the +censure cast upon him showed it to be so, he had the proud satisfaction +of knowing that the Commander-in-Chief approved of his plan of harassing +the rear of the British, and that the victory of Bennington paralyzed +the entire operations of Burgoyne. + +On the day that Baum set out Stark arrived at Bennington. The progress +of the German troops, at first tolerably prosperous, was soon impeded +by the state of the roads and the weather, and as soon as Stark heard of +their approach he hurried off expresses to Warner to join him, who +began his march in the night. After sending forward Colonel Gregg to +reconnoiter the enemy he advanced to the rencontre with Baum, who, +finding the country thus rising around him, halted and entrenched +himself in a strong position above the Wollamsac river and sent off an +express to Burgoyne, who instantly dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman +with a strong reinforcement. + +During the 15th of August (1777) the rain prevented any serious +movement. The Germans and English continued to labor at their +entrenchments upon which they had mounted two pieces of artillery. The +following day was bright and sunny and early in the morning Stark sent +forward two columns to storm the entrenchments at different points, and +when the firing had commenced threw himself on horseback and advanced +with the rest of his troops. As soon as the enemy's columns were seen +forming on the hill-side, he exclaimed, "See, men! there are the red +coats; we must beat to-day, or Molly Stark's a widow." The military +replied to this appeal by a tremendous shout and the battle which +ensued, as Stark states in his official report, "lasted two hours, and +was the hottest I ever saw. It was like one continual clap of thunder." +The Indians ran off at the beginning of the battle; the Tories were +driven across the river; and although the Germans fought bravely they +were compelled to abandon the entrenchments, and fled, leaving their +artillery and baggage on the field. + +As Breyman and his corps approached they heard the firing and hurried +forward to the aid of their countrymen. An hour or two earlier they +might have given a different turn to the affair, but the heavy rain had +delayed their progress. They met and rallied the fugitives and returned +to the field of battle. Stark's troops, who were engaged in plunder, +were taken in great measure by surprise, and the victory might after +all have been wrested from their grasp but for the opportune arrival +of Warner's regiment at the critical moment. The battle continued until +sunset when the Germans, overwhelmed by numbers, at length abandoned +their baggage and fled. Colonel Baum, their brave commander, was killed, +and the British loss amounted to some eight or nine hundred effective +troops, in killed and prisoners. The loss of the Americans was 30 killed +and 40 wounded. Stark's horse was killed in the action. + +Too much praise, as Mr. Everett well remarks, [4] cannot be bestowed on +the conduct of those who gained the battle of Bennington, officers and +men. It is, perhaps, the most conspicuous example of the performance +by militia of all that is expected of regular, veteran troops. The +fortitude and resolution with which the lines at Bunker Hill were +maintained by recent recruits against the assault of a powerful army of +experienced soldiers have always been regarded with admiration. But +at Bennington the hardy yeomen of New Hampshire, Vermont, and +Massachusetts, many of them fresh from the plough and unused to the +camp, "advanced," as General Stark expresses it in his official +letter, "through fire and smoke, and mounted breastworks that were well +fortified and defended with cannon." + +Fortunately for the success of the battle Stark was most ably seconded +by the officers under him; every previous disposition of his little +force was most faithfully executed. He expresses his particular +obligations to Colonels Warner and Herrick, "whose superior skill was of +great service to him." Indeed the battle was planned and fought with a +degree of military talent and science which would have done no discredit +to any service in Europe. A higher degree of discipline might have +enabled the general to check the eagerness of his men to possess +themselves of the spoils of victory, but his ability, even in that +moment of dispersion and under the flush of success, to meet and conquer +a hostile reinforcement, evinces a judgment and resource not often +equaled in partisan warfare. + +In fact it would be the height of injustice not to recognize in this +battle the marks of the master mind of the leader, which makes good +officers and good soldiers out of any materials and infuses its own +spirit into all that surround it. This brilliant exploit was the work of +Stark from its inception to its achievement. His popular name called +the militia together. His resolute will obtained him a separate +commission--at the expense, it is true, of a wise political principle, +but on the present occasion with the happiest effect. His firmness +prevented him from being overruled by the influence of General Lincoln, +which would have led him with his troops across the Hudson. How few +are the men who in such a crisis would not merely not have sought but +actually have repudiated a junction with the main army! How few who +would not only have desired, but actually insisted on taking the +responsibility of separate action! Having chosen the burden of acting +alone, he acquitted himself in the discharge of his duty with the spirit +and vigor of a man conscious of ability proportioned to the crisis. He +advanced against the enemy with promptitude; sent forward a small force +to reconnoiter and measure his strength; chose his ground deliberately +and with skill; planned and fought the battle with gallantry and +success. + +The consequences of this victory were of great moment. It roused the +people and nerved them to the contest with the enemy, and it also +justified the sagacity of Washington, whose words we have quoted on +a previous page. Burgoyne's plans were wholly deranged and instead of +relying upon lateral excursions to keep the population in alarm and +obtain supplies, he was compelled to procure necessaries as best he +might. His rear was exposed, and Stark, acting on his line of policy, +prepared to place himself so that Burgoyne might be hemmed in and be, as +soon after he was, unable to advance or retreat. When Washington heard +of Stark's victory he was in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, whence he wrote +to Putnam: "As there is now not the least danger of General Howe's going +to New England I hope the whole force of that country will turn out and +by following the great stroke struck by General Stark, near Bennington, +entirely crush General Burgoyne, who, by his letter to Colonel Baum, +seems to be in want of almost everything." + +The defeat at Bennington was not the only misfortune which now fell upon +the British arms. We have noted on a previous page that Burgoyne had +detached Colonel St. Leger with a body of regular troops, Canadians, +Loyalists, and Indians, by the way of Oswego, to make a diversion on +the upper part of the Mohawk river and afterward join him on his way to +Albany. On the 2d of August (1777) St. Leger approached Fort Stanwix, or +Schuyler, a log fortification situated on rising ground near the source +of the Mohawk river, and garrisoned by about 600 Continentals under the +command of Colonel Gansevoort. Next day he invested the place with an +army of sixteen or seventeen hundred men, nearly one-half of whom were +Indians, and the rest British, Germans, Canadians, and Tories. On being +summoned to surrender Gansevoort answered that he would defend the place +to the last. + +On the approach of St. Leger to Fort Schuyler, General Herkimer, who +commanded the militia of Tryon county, assembled about 700 of them and +marched to the assistance of the garrison. On the forenoon of the 6th of +August a messenger from Herkimer found means to enter the fort and gave +notice that he was only eight miles distant and intended that day to +force a passage into the fort and join the garrison. Gansevoort resolved +to aid the attempt by a vigorous sally, and appointed Colonel Willet +with upwards of 200 men to that service. + +St. Leger received information of the approach of Herkimer, and placed +a large body consisting of the "Johnson Greens," and Brant's Indians in +ambush near Oriskany, on the road by which he was to advance. Herkimer +fell into the snare. The first notice which he received of the presence +of an enemy was from a heavy discharge of musketry on his troops, which +was instantly followed by the war-whoop of the Indians who attacked the +militia with their tomahawks. Though disconcerted by the suddenness +of the attack many of the militia behaved with spirit, and a scene +of unutterable confusion and carnage ensued. The royal troops and the +militia became so closely crowded together that they had not room to +use firearms, but pushed and pulled each other, and using their daggers, +fell pierced by mutual wounds. Some of the militia fled at the first +onset; others made their escape afterwards; about 100 of them retreated +to a rising ground where they bravely defended themselves till a +successful sortie from the fort compelled the British to look to the +defense of their own camp. Colonel Willet in this sally killed a number +of the enemy, destroyed their provisions, carried off some spoil, and +returned to the fort without the loss of a man. Besides the loss of +the brave General Herkimer, who was slain, the number of the killed +was computed at 400. St. Leger, imitating the grandiloquent style of +Burgoyne, again summoned the fort to surrender, but Colonel Gansevoort +peremptorily refused. Colonel Willet, accompanied by Lieutenant +Stockwell, having passed through the British camp, eluded the patrols +and the savages and made his way for fifty miles through pathless woods +and dangerous morasses and informed General Schuyler of the position of +the fort and the need of help in the emergency. He determined to afford +it to the extent of his power, and Arnold, who was always ready for such +expeditions, agreed to take command of the troops for the purpose of +relieving the fort. Arnold put in practice an acute stratagem, which +materially facilitated his success. It was this. Among the Tory +prisoners was one Yost Cuyler, who had been condemned to death, but whom +Arnold agreed to spare on consideration of his implicitly carrying out +his plan. Accordingly, Cuyler, having made several holes in his coat to +imitate bullet shots, rushed breathless among the Indian allies of St. +Leger and informed them that he had just escaped in a battle with the +Americans who were advancing on them with the utmost celerity. While +pointing to his coat for proof of his statement, a sachem, also in +the plot, came in and confirmed the intelligence. Other scouts arrived +speedily with a report which probably grew out of the affair at +Bennington, that Burgoyne's army was entirely routed. All this made a +deep impression upon the fickle-minded redmen. + +Fort Schuyler was better constructed and defended with more courage than +St. Leger had expected, and his light artillery made little impression +on it. His Indians, who liked better to take scalps and plunder than +to besiege fortresses became very unmanageable. The loss which they had +sustained in the encounters with Herkimer and Willet deeply affected +them; they had expected to be witnesses of the triumphs of the British +and to share with them the plunder. Hard service and little reward +caused bitter disappointment, and when they knew that a strong +detachment of Americans was marching against them, they resolved to +take safety in flight. St. Leger employed every argument and artifice +to detain them, but in vain; part of them went off and all the rest +threatened to follow if the siege were persevered in. Therefore, on the +22d of August (1777), St. Leger raised the siege, and retreated with +circumstances indicating great alarm; the tents were left standing, the +artillery was abandoned, and a great part of the baggage, ammunition, +and provisions fell into the hands of the garrison, a detachment from +which harassed the retreating enemy. But the British troops were exposed +to greater danger from the fury of their savage allies than from the +pursuit of the Americans. During the retreat they robbed the officers +of their baggage, and the army generally of their provisions and stores. +Not content with this they first stripped off their arms, and afterwards +murdered with their own bayonets all those who from inability to keep +up, from fear or other cause were separated from the main body. The +confusion, terror, and sufferings of this retreat found no respite till +the royal troops reached the lake on their way to Montreal. + +Arnold arrived at Fort Schuyler two days after the retreat of the +besiegers, but finding no occasion for his services he soon returned to +camp. The successful defense of Fort Stanwix, or Schuyler, powerfully +cooperated with the defeat of the royal troops at Bennington in +raising the spirits and invigorating the activity of the Americans. The +Loyalists became timid; the wavering began to doubt the success of +the royal arms, and the great body of the people became convinced that +nothing but steady exertion on their part was necessary to ruin that +army which a short time before had appeared to be sweeping every +obstacle from its path on the high road to victory. The decisive victory +at Bennington and the retreat of St. Leger from Fort Schuyler, however +important in themselves, were still more so in their consequences. An +army which had spread terror and dismay in every direction--which had +previously experienced no reverse of fortune was considered as already +beaten, and the opinion became common that the appearance of the great +body of the people in arms would secure the emancipation of their +country. It was, too, an advantage of no inconsiderable importance +resulting from this change of public opinion that the disaffected became +timid, and the wavering who, had the torrent of success continued, would +have made a merit of contributing their aid to the victor were no longer +disposed to put themselves and their fortunes in hazard to support an +army whose fate was so uncertain. + +The barbarities which had been perpetrated by the Indians belonging to +the invading armies excited still more resentment than terror. As the +prospect of revenge began to open their effect became the more apparent, +and their influence on the royal cause was the more sensibly felt +because they had been indiscriminate. + +The murder of Miss M'Crea passed through all the papers on the +continent, and the story being retouched by the hand of more than one +master, excited a peculiar degree of sensibility. [5] + +But there were other causes of still greater influence in producing +the events which afterward took place. The last reinforcements of +Continental troops arrived in camp about this time and added both +courage and strength to the army. The harvest, which had detained the +northern militia upon their farms, was over, and General Schuyler, whose +continued and eminent services had not exempted him from the imputation +of being a traitor, was succeeded by General Gates, who possessed a +large share of the public confidence. + +When Schuyler was directed by Congress to resume the command of the +northern department, Gates withdrew himself from it. When the resolution +passed recalling the general officers who had served in that department, +General Washington was requested to name a successor to Schuyler. On +his expressing a wish to decline this nomination and representing the +inconvenience of removing all the general officers, Gates was again +directed to repair thither and take the command, and their resolution to +recall the brigadiers was suspended until the Commander-in-Chief should +be of opinion that it might be carried into effect with safety. + +Schuyler retained the command until the arrival of Gates, which was on +the 10th of August (1777), and continued his exertions to restore the +affairs of the department, though he felt acutely the disgrace of being +recalled in this critical and interesting state of the campaign. "It +is," said he, in a letter to the Commander-in-Chief, "matter of extreme +chagrin to me to be deprived of the command at a time when, soon if +ever, we shall probably be enabled to face the enemy; when we are on the +point of taking ground where they must attack to a disadvantage, should +our force be inadequate to facing them in the field; when an opportunity +will in all probability occur in which I might evince that I am not what +Congress have too plainly insinuated by taking the command from me." + +If error be attributable to the evacuation of Ticonderoga, no portion of +it was committed by Schuyler. His removal from the command was probably +severe and unjust as respected himself, but perhaps wise as respected +America. The frontier towards the lakes was to be defended by the troops +of New England, and however unfounded their prejudices against him might +be, it was prudent to consult them. + +Notwithstanding the difficulties which multiplied around him Burgoyne +remained steady to his purpose. The disasters at Bennington and on the +Mohawk produced no disposition to abandon the enterprise and save his +army. + +It had now become necessary for Burgoyne to recur to the slow and +toilsome mode of obtaining supplies from Fort George. Having, with +persevering labor, collected provision for thirty days in advance he +crossed the Hudson on the 13th and 14th of September (1777) and encamped +on the heights and plains of Saratoga, with a determination to decide +the fate of the expedition in a general engagement. + +Gates, having been joined by all the Continental troops destined for the +northern department and reinforced by large bodies of militia, had +moved from his camp in the islands, and advanced to the neighborhood of +Stillwater. + +The bridges between the two armies having been broken down by General +Schuyler, the roads being excessively bad and the country covered with +wood, the progress of the British army down the river was slow. On the +night of the 17th of September, Burgoyne encamped within four miles of +the American army and the next day was employed in repairing the bridges +between the two camps. In the morning of the 19th he advanced in full +force toward the American left. Morgan was immediately detached with his +rifle corps to observe the enemy and to harass his front and flanks. He +fell in with a picket in front of the right wing which he attacked with +vivacity and drove in upon the main body. Pursuing with too much ardor +he was met in considerable force, and after a severe encounter was +compelled in turn to retire in some disorder. Two regiments led by +Arnold being advanced to his assistance his corps was rallied, and the +action became more general. The Americans were formed in a wood, with +an open field in front, and invariably repulsed the British corps which +attacked them, but when they pursued those corps to the main body they +were in turn driven back to their first ground. Reinforcements were +continually brought up, and about 4 in the afternoon upward of 3,000 +American troops were closely engaged with the whole right wing of the +British army commanded by General Burgoyne in person. The conflict was +extremely severe and only terminated with the day. At dark the Americans +retired to their camp, and the British, who had found great difficulty +in maintaining their ground, lay all night on their arms near the field +of battle. + +In this action the killed and wounded on the part of the Americans were +between three and four hundred. Among the former were Colonels Colburn +and Adams and several other valuable officers. The British loss has been +estimated at rather more than 500 men. + +Each army claimed the victory and each believed itself to have beaten +near the whole of the hostile army with only a part of its own force. +The advantage, however, taking all circumstances into consideration, was +decidedly with the Americans. In a conflict which nearly consumed the +day, they found themselves at least equal to their antagonists. In every +quarter they had acted on the offensive, and after an encounter for +several hours had not lost an inch of ground. They had not been driven +from the field, but had retired from it at the close of day to the camp +from which they had marched to battle. Their object, which was to +check the advancing enemy, had been obtained, while that of the British +general had failed. In the actual state of things to fight without being +beaten was on their part victory, while on the part of the British +to fight without a decisive victory was defeat. The Indians who found +themselves beaten in the woods by Morgan, [6] and restrained from +scalping and plundering the unarmed by Burgoyne, saw before them the +prospect of hard fighting without profit, grew tired of the service and +deserted in great numbers. The Canadians and Provincials were not much +more faithful, and Burgoyne soon perceived that his hopes must rest +almost entirely on his European troops. + +With reason, therefore, this action was celebrated throughout the United +States as a victory and considered as the precursor of the total ruin of +the invading army. The utmost exultation was displayed and the militia +were stimulated to fly to arms and complete the work so happily begun. + +General Lincoln, in conformity with directions which have been stated, +had assembled a considerable body of New England militia in the rear of +Burgoyne, from which he drew three parties of about 500 men each. One of +these was detached under the command of Colonel Brown to the north end +of Lake George, principally to relieve a number of prisoners who were +confined there, but with orders to push his success, should he be +fortunate, as far as prudence would admit. Colonel Johnson, at the +head of another party, marched towards Mount Independence, and Colonel +Woodbury with a third was detached to Skeenesborough to cover the +retreat of both the others. With the residue, Lincoln proceeded to the +camp of Gates. + +Colonel Brown, after marching all night, arrived at the break of day on +the north end of the lake where he found a small post which he carried +without opposition. The surprise was complete, and he took possession of +Mount Defiance, Mount Hope, the landing place, and about 200 batteaux. +With the loss of only three killed and five wounded, he liberated 100 +American prisoners and captured 293 of the enemy. This success was +joyfully proclaimed through the northern States. It was believed +confidently that Ticonderoga and Mount Independence were recovered, and +the militia were exhorted, by joining their brethren in the army, to +insure that event if it had not already happened. + +The attempt on those places, however, failed. The garrison repulsed the +assailants, who, after a few days abandoned the siege. On their return +through Lake George in the vessels they had captured the militia made an +attack on Diamond Island, the depot of all the stores collected at the +north end of the lake. Being again repulsed they destroyed the vessels +they had taken and returned to their former station. + +The day after the battle of Stillwater General Burgoyne took a position +almost within cannon-shot of the American camp, fortified his right, +and extended his left to the river. Directly after taking this ground +he received a letter from Sir Henry Clinton informing him that he should +attack Fort Montgomery about the 20th of September (1777). The messenger +returned with information that Burgoyne was in extreme difficulty and +would endeavor to wait for aid until the 12th of October. [7] + +Both armies retained their position until the 7th of October (1777). +Burgoyne in the hope of being relieved by Sir Henry Clinton, and Gates +in the confidence of growing stronger every day. + +Having received no further intelligence from Sir Henry and being reduced +to the necessity of diminishing the ration issued to his soldiers, +Burgoyne determined to make one more trial of strength with his +adversary. In execution of this determination he drew out on his right +1,500 choice troops whom he commanded in person assisted by Generals +Philips, Riedesel, and Fraser. + +The right wing was formed within three-quarters of a mile of the left of +the American camp, and a corps of rangers, Indians, and Provincials was +pushed on through secret paths to show themselves in its rear and excite +alarm in that quarter. + +These movements were perceived by General Gates, who determined to +attack their left and at the same time to fall on their right flank. +Poor's brigade and some regiments from New Hampshire were ordered to +meet them in front, while Morgan with his rifle corps made a circuit +unperceived and seized a very advantageous height covered with wood +on their right. As soon as it was supposed that Morgan had gained the +ground he intended to occupy the attack was made in front and on the +left in great force. At this critical moment Morgan poured in a deadly +and incessant fire on the front and right flank. + +While the British right wing was thus closely pressed in front and on +its flank, a distinct division of the American troops was ordered to +intercept its retreat to camp, and to separate it from the residue of +the army. Burgoyne perceived the danger of his situation and ordered +the light infantry under General Fraser with part of the Twenty-fourth +regiment to form a second line in order to cover the light infantry of +the right and secure a retreat. While this movement was in progress +the left of the British right was forced from its ground and the light +infantry was ordered to its aid. In the attempt to execute this order +they were attacked by the rifle corps with great effect, and Fraser was +mortally wounded. Overpowered by numbers and pressed on all sides by +a superior weight of fire, Burgoyne with great difficulty and with the +loss of his field pieces and great part of his artillery corps regained +his camp. The Americans followed close in his rear, and assaulted +his works throughout their whole extent. Toward the close of day the +entrenchments were forced on their right, and General Arnold with a few +men actually entered their works, but his horse being killed under him +and himself wounded, the troops were forced out of them, and it being +nearly dark they desisted from the assault. The left of Arnold's +division was still more successful. Jackson's regiment of Massachusetts, +then led by Lieutenant-Colonel Brooks, turned the right of the +encampment and stormed the works occupied by the German reserve. +Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman who commanded in them was killed and the +works were carried. The orders given by Burgoyne to recover them were +not executed, and Brooks maintained the ground he had gained. + +Darkness put an end to the action and the Americans lay all night with +their arms in their hands about half a mile from the British lines ready +to renew the assault with the return of day. The advantage they had +gained was decisive. They had taken several pieces of artillery, killed +a great number of men, made upwards of 200 prisoners, among whom were +several officers of distinction, and had penetrated the lines in a part +which exposed the whole to considerable danger. + +Unwilling to risk the events of the next day on the same ground, +Burgoyne changed his position in the course of the night and drew his +whole army into a strong camp on the river heights, extending his right +up the river. This movement extricated him from the danger of being +attacked the ensuing morning by an enemy already in possession of part +of his works. The 8th of October (1777) was spent in skirmishing and +cannonading. About sunset the body of General Fraser, who had been +mortally wounded on the preceding day was, agreeably to his own desire, +carried up the hill to be interred in the great redoubt attended only +by the officers who had lived in his family. Generals Burgoyne, Philips, +and Riedesel, in testimony of respect and affection for their late +brave companion in arms joined the mournful procession which necessarily +passed in view of both armies. The incessant cannonade, the steady +attitude and unfaltering voice of the chaplain, and the firm demeanor of +the company, though occasionally covered with the earth thrown up by the +shot from the hostile batteries ploughing the ground around them, +the mute expression of feeling pictured on every countenance, and the +increasing gloom of the evening, all contributed to give an affecting +solemnity to the obsequies. General Gates afterwards declared that if he +had been apprised of what was going on he would at least have silenced +his batteries and allowed the last offices of humanity to be performed +without disturbance, or even have ordered minute-guns to be fired in +honor of the deceased general. + +Gates perceived the strength of Burgoyne's new position and was not +disposed to hazard an assault. Aware of the critical situation of his +adversary he detached a party higher up the Hudson for the purpose of +intercepting the British army on its retreat, while strong corps were +posted on the other side of the river to guard its passage. + +This movement compelled Burgoyne again to change his position and to +retire to Saratoga. About 9 at night the retreat was commenced and was +effected with the loss of his hospital, containing about 300 sick, and +of several batteaux laden with provisions and baggage. On reaching the +ground to be occupied he found a strong corps already entrenched on +the opposite side of the river prepared to dispute its passage. From +Saratoga, Burgoyne detached a company of artificers under a strong +escort to repair the roads and bridges toward Fort Edward. Scarcely +had this detachment moved when the Americans appeared in force on the +heights south of Saratoga creek and made dispositions which excited the +apprehension of a design to cross it and attack his camp. The Europeans +escorting the artificers were recalled, and a Provincial corps employed +in the same service, being attacked by a small party, ran away and left +the workmen to shift for themselves. No hope of repairing the roads +remaining it became impossible to move the baggage and artillery. + +The British army was now almost completely environed by a superior +force. No means remained of extricating itself from difficulties and +dangers which were continually increasing, but fording a river, on the +opposite bank of which a formidable body of troops was already posted, +and then escaping to Fort George through roads impassable by artillery +or wagons, while its rear was closely pressed by a victorious enemy. [8] + +A council of general officers, called to deliberate on their situation, +took the bold resolution to abandon everything but their arms and such +provisions as the soldiers could carry, and by a forced march in the +night up the river, to extricate themselves from the American army, +and crossing at Fort Edward, or at a ford above it, to press on to Fort +George. + +Gates had foreseen this movement and had prepared for it. In addition +to placing strong guards at the fords of the Hudson he had formed an +entrenched camp on the high grounds between Fort Edward and Fort George. +The scouts sent to examine the route returned with this information and +the plan was abandoned as impracticable. + +Nothing could be more hopeless than the condition of the British army, +or more desperate than that of their General, as described by himself. +In his letter to Lord George Germain, Secretary of State for American +affairs, he says: "A series of hard toil, incessant effort, stubborn +action, until disabled in the collateral branches of the army by +the total defection of the Indians; the desertion or timidity of the +Canadians and provincials, some individuals excepted; disappointed in +the last hope of any cooperation from other armies; the regular troops +reduced by losses from the best parts to 3,500 fighting men, not 2,000 +of which were British; only three days' provisions upon short allowance +in store; invested by an army of 16,000 men, and no appearance of +retreat remaining--I called into council all the generals, field +officers, and captains commanding corps, and by their unanimous +concurrence and advice I was induced to open a treaty with Major-General +Gates." + +A treaty was opened with a general proposition stating the willingness +of the British general to spare the further effusion of blood, provided +a negotiation could be effected on honorable terms. This proposition +was answered by a demand that the whole army should ground their arms in +their encampment and surrender themselves prisoners of war. This demand +was instantly rejected with a declaration that if General Gates +designed to insist on it the negotiation must immediately break off and +hostilities recommence. On receiving this decided answer Gates receded +from the rigorous terms at first proposed, and a convention was signed +(October 17, 1777), in which it was agreed that the British army, after +marching out of their encampment with all the honors of war, should lay +down their arms and not serve against the United States till exchanged. +They were not to be detained in captivity, but to be permitted to embark +for England. + +The situation of the armies considered, [9] these terms were highly +honorable to the British general and favorable to his nation. They were +probably more advantageous than would have been granted by Gates had he +entertained no apprehension from Sir Henry Clinton, who was at length +making the promised diversion on the North river, up which he had +penetrated as far as Aesopus. The drafts made from Peekskill for both +armies had left that post in a situation to require the aid of militia +for its security. The requisitions of General Putnam were complied with, +but the attack upon them being delayed, the militia, who were anxious to +attend to their farms, became impatient; many deserted, and Putnam was +induced to discharge the residue. + +Governor Clinton immediately ordered out half the militia of New York +with assurances that they should be relieved in one month by the other +half. This order was executed so slowly that the forts were carried +before the militia were in the field. + +Great pains had been taken and much labor employed to render the +position of the American army for guarding the passage up the Hudson +secure. The principal defenses were Forts Montgomery and Clinton. They +had been constructed on the western bank of the Hudson, on very high +ground extremely difficult of access and were separated from each other +by a small creek which runs from the mountains into the river. These +forts were too much elevated to be battered from the water, and the +hills on which they stood were too steep to be ascended by troops +landing at the foot of them. The mountains, which commence five or six +miles below them, are so high and rugged, the defiles, through which the +roads leading to them pass, so narrow and so commanded by the heights +on both sides, that the approaches to them are extremely difficult and +dangerous. + +To prevent ships from passing the forts, _chevaux-de-frise_ had been +sunk in the river and a boom extended from bank to bank, which was +covered with immense chains stretched at some distance in its front. +These works were defended by the guns of the forts and by a frigate and +galleys stationed above them, capable of opposing with an equal fire in +front any force which might attack them by water from below. + +Fort Independence is four or five miles below Forts Montgomery and +Clinton and on the opposite side of the river on a high point of land, +and Fort Constitution is rather more than six miles above them on an +island near the eastern shore. Peekskill, the general headquarters of +the officer commanding at the station, is just below Fort Independence +and on the same side of the river. The garrisons had been reduced to +about 600 men and the whole force under Putnam did not much exceed +2,000. Yet this force, though far inferior to that which Washington had +ordered to be retained at the station, was, if properly applied, more +than competent to the defense of the forts against any numbers which +could be spared from New York. To insure success to the enterprise it +was necessary to draw the attention of Putnam from the real object and +to storm the works before the garrisons could be aided by his army. This +Sir Henry Clinton accomplished. + +Between three and four thousand men embarked at New York and landed on +the 5th of October (1777) at Verplanck's Point on the east side of the +Hudson, a short distance below Peekskill, upon which Putnam retired to +the heights in his rear. On the evening of the same day a part of these +troops re-embarked and the fleet moved up the river to Peekskill Neck +in order to mask King's Ferry, which was below them. The next morning at +break of day the troops destined for the enterprise landed on the west +side of Stony Point and commenced their march through the mountains +into the rear of Forts Clinton and Montgomery. This disembarkation was +observed, but the morning was so foggy that the numbers could not be +distinguished, and a large fire, which was afterward perceived at the +landing place, suggested the idea that the sole object of the party on +shore was the burning of some storehouses. In the meantime the maneuvers +of the vessels and the appearance of a small detachment left at +Verplanck's Point persuaded Putnam that the meditated attack was on Fort +Independence. + +His whole attention was directed to this object, and the real designs of +the enemy were not suspected until a heavy firing from the other side +of the river announced the assault on Forts Clinton and Montgomery. Five +hundred men were instantly detached to reinforce the garrisons of those +places, but, before this detachment could cross the river, the forts +were in possession of the British. + +Having left a battalion at the pass of Thunderhill to keep up +a communication, Sir Henry Clinton had formed his army into two +divisions--one of which, consisting of 900 men, commanded by +Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, made a circuit by the forest of Deane, +in order to fall on the back of Fort Montgomery, while the other, +consisting of 1,200 men, commanded by General Vaughan and accompanied by +Sir Henry Clinton in person, advanced slowly against Fort Clinton. + +Both posts were assaulted about five in the afternoon. The works were +defended with resolution and were maintained until dark, when, the lines +being too extensive to be completely manned, the assailants entered them +in different places. The defense being no longer possible some of +the garrison were made prisoners, while their better knowledge of the +country enabled others to escape. Governor Clinton passed the river in +a boat and Gen. James Clinton, though wounded in the thigh by a bayonet, +also made his escape. Lieutenant-Colonels Livingston and Bruyn and +Majors Hamilton and Logan were among the prisoners. The loss sustained +by the garrisons was about 250 men; that of the assailants was stated +by Sir Henry Clinton at less than 200. Among the killed were +Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell and two other field officers. + +As the boom and chains drawn across the river could no longer be +defended the Continental frigates and galleys lying above them were +burnt to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. Fort +Independence and Fort Constitution were evacuated the next day and +Putnam retreated to Fishkill. General Vaughan, after burning Continental +village, where stores to a considerable amount had been deposited, +proceeded at the head of a strong detachment up the river to Aesopus, +which he also destroyed. [10] + +Putnam, whose army had been augmented by reinforcements of militia to +6,000 men, detached General Parsons with 2,000 to repossess himself of +Peekskill and of the passes in the Highlands, while with the residue +he watched the progress of the enemy up the river. The want of heavy +artillery prevented his annoying their ships in the Hudson. + +On the capitulation of Burgoyne, near 5,000 men had been detached by +Gates to aid Putnam. Before their arrival General Vaughan had returned +to New York, whence a reinforcement to General Howe was then about to +sail. + +Great as was the injury sustained by the United States from this +enterprise Great Britain derived from it no solid advantage. It was +undertaken at too late a period to save Burgoyne, and though the passes +in the Highlands were acquired, they could not be retained. The British +had reduced to ashes every village and almost every house within their +power, but this wanton and useless destruction served to irritate +without tending to subdue. A keenness was given to the resentment of the +injured, which outlived the contest between the two nations. + +The army which surrendered at Saratoga exceeded 5,000 men. On marching +from Ticonderoga it was estimated at 9,000. In addition to this great +military force the British lost and the Americans acquired, a fine +train of artillery, 7,000 stand of excellent arms, clothing for 7,000 +recruits, with tents and other military stores to a considerable amount. + +The thanks of Congress were voted to General Gates and his army, and +a medal of gold in commemoration of this great event was ordered to be +struck and presented to him by the President in the name of the United +States. Colonel Wilkinson, his adjutant-general, whom he strongly +recommended, was appointed brigadier-general by brevet. + +In the opinion that the British would not immediately abandon the passes +in the Highlands, Congress ordered Putnam to join Washington with +a reinforcement not exceeding 2,500 men, and directed Gates to take +command of the army on the Hudson, with unlimited powers to call for +aids of militia from the New England States as well as from New York and +New Jersey. + +A proposition to authorize the Commander-in-Chief, after consulting with +General Gates and Governor George Clinton, to increase the detachment +designed to strengthen his army, if he should then be of opinion that +it might be done without endangering the objects to be accomplished +by Gates, was seriously opposed. An attempt was made to amend this +proposition so as to make the increase of the reinforcement to depend +on the assent of Gates and Clinton, but this amendment was lost by a +considerable majority and the original resolution was carried. These +proceedings were attended with no other consequences than to excite some +degree of attention to the state of parties. + +Soon after the capitulation of Burgoyne, Ticonderoga and Mount +Independence were evacuated and the garrison retired to Isle aux Noix +and St. John's. The effect produced by this event on the British cabinet +and nation was great and immediate. It seemed to remove the delusive +hopes of conquest with which they had been flattered, and suddenly to +display the mass of resistance which must yet be encountered. Previous +to the reception of this disastrous intelligence the employment of +savages in the war had been the subject of severe animadversion. +Parliament was assembled on the 20th of November (1777), and, as usual, +addresses were proposed in answer to the speech from the throne entirely +approving the conduct of the administration. In the House of Lords +the Earl of Chatham moved to amend the address by introducing a clause +recommending to his majesty an immediate cessation of hostilities and +the commencement of a treaty of conciliation, "to restore peace and +liberty to America, strength and happiness to England, security and +permanent prosperity to both countries." In the course of the very +animated observations made by this extraordinary man in support of his +motion, he said: "But, my lords, who is the man that, in addition to the +disgraces and mischiefs of war, has dared to authorize and associate +to our arms the tomahawk and scalping-knife of the savage? to call into +civilized alliance the wild and inhuman inhabitant of the woods? to +delegate to the merciless Indian the defense of disputed rights and to +wage the horrors of his barbarous war against our brethren? My lords, +these enormities cry aloud for redress and punishment. Unless thoroughly +done away they will be a stain on the national character. It is not the +least of our national misfortunes that the strength and character of +our army are thus impaired. Familiarized to the horrid scenes of savage +cruelty, it can no longer boast of the noble and generous principles +which dignify a soldier; no longer sympathise with the dignity of the +royal banner nor feel the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war +that makes ambition virtue. What makes ambition virtue? The sense of +honor. But is this sense of honor consistent with the spirit of plunder +or the practice of murder? Can it flow from mercenary motives? or can it +prompt to cruel deeds?" + +The conduct of the administration, however, received the full +approbation of large majorities, but the triumph these victories in +parliament afforded them was of short duration. The disastrous issue of +an expedition from which the most sanguine expectations had been +formed was soon known, and the mortification it produced was extreme. +A reluctant confession of the calamity was made by the minister and a +desire to restore peace on any terms consistent with the integrity of +the empire found its way into the cabinet. + +The surrender of Burgoyne was an event of very great importance in a +political point of view as it undoubtedly decided the French government +to form an alliance with the United States, but it was only one of the +many disasters to the British arms which compelled them to acknowledge +our independence. There remained much to be done. Washington was still +to endure greater hardships and mortifications--to have his patriotism +and disinterestedness more severely tried than ever during the coming +campaigns. We must now return to his dreary camp at Valley Forge. + +1. Footnote: The weakness of St. Clair's garrison was partly owing to +its having contributed detachments to the support of Washington's army +in New Jersey. + +2. Footnote: "History of the War of Independence." vol. II, p. 280. + +3. Footnote: Washington, writing to General Schuyler, clearly presaged +the great and auspicious change in affairs which was soon to take place: +"Though our affairs have for some days past worn a gloomy aspect, yet +I look forward to a happy change. I trust General Burgoyne's army will +meet sooner or later an effectual check, and, as I suggested before, +that the success he has had will precipitate his ruin. From your +accounts, he appears to be pursuing that line of conduct which, of +all others, is most favorable to us--I mean acting in detachment. This +conduct will certainly give room for enterprise on our part, and expose +his parties to great hazard. Could we be so happy as to cut one of them +off, though it should not exceed four, five, or six hundred men, it +would inspirit the people, and do away much of their present anxiety. In +such an event, they would lose sight of past misfortunes, and urged on +at the same time by a regard for their own security, they would fly to +arms, and afford every aid in their power." + +4. Footnote: "Life of John Stark," p. 58. + +5. Footnote: Mr. Jones, an officer of the British army, had gained the +affections of Miss M'Crea, a lovely young lady of amiable character +and spotless reputation, daughter of a gentleman attached to the royal +cause, residing near Fort Edward, and they had agreed to be married. In +the course of service, the officer was removed to some distance from his +bride, and became anxious for her safety and desirous of her company. He +engaged some Indians, of two different tribes, to bring her to camp, and +promised a keg of rum to the person who should deliver her safe to +him. She dressed to meet her bridegroom, and accompanied her Indian +conductors; but by the way, the two chiefs, each being desirous of +receiving the promised reward, disputed which of them should deliver +her to her lover. The dispute rose to a quarrel, and, according to their +usual method of disposing of a disputed prisoner, one of them instantly +cleft the head of the lady with his tomahawk. + +This is the common version of the story found in the histories. Mr. +Lossing, in his Field Book of the Revolution, relying on the traditions +in the neighborhood of the scene, comes to the conclusion that the +lady was accidentally killed by a party of Americans in pursuit of the +Indians who had carried her off. Irving says she was killed by one of +the Indians. + +6. Footnote: Colonel Morgan, with his regiment of riflemen, had been +recently sent by Washington to join the northern army. Gates, writing +to Washington, May 226, 1777, says: "I cannot sufficiently thank your +Excellency for sending Colonel Morgan's corps to this army; they will be +of the greatest service to it; for, until the late success this way, I +am told the army were quite panic-struck by the Indians, and their Tory +and Canadian assassins in Indian dress. Horrible, indeed, have been the +cruelties they have wantonly committed upon the miserable inhabitants, +insomuch that all is now fair with General Burgoyne, even if the bloody +hatchet he has so barbarously used should find its way into his own +head." + +7. Footnote: Letter of Burgoyne. + +8. Footnote: Gordon, in his history of the war, states himself to +have received from General Glover an anecdote showing that all these +advantages were on the point of being exposed to imminent hazard: "On +the morning of the 11th, Gates called the general officers together, and +informed them of his having received certain intelligence, which might +be depended upon, that the main body of Burgoyne's army was marched off +for Fort Edward with what they could take; and that the rear guard only +was left in the camp, who, after a while, were to push off as fast as +possible, leaving the heavy baggage behind. On this it was concluded +to advance and attack the camp in half an hour. The officers repaired +immediately to their respective commands. General Nixon's, being +the eldest brigade, crossed the Saratoga creek first. Unknown to the +Americans, Burgoyne had a line formed behind a parcel of brushwood, to +support the park of artillery where the attack was to be made. General +Glover was upon the point of following Nixon. Just as he entered the +water, he saw a British soldier making across, whom he called and +examined. This soldier was a deserter, and communicated the very +important fact that the whole British army were in their encampment. +Nixon was immediately stopped, and the intelligence conveyed to Gates, +who countermanded his orders for the assault, and called back his +troops, not without sustaining some loss from the British artillery." +Gordon is confirmed by General Wilkinson, who was adjutant-general in +the American army. The narrative of the General varies from that of +Gordon only in minor circumstances. + +9. Footnote: The American army consisted of 9,093 Continental troops. +The number of the militia fluctuated, but amounted, at the signature of +the convention, to 4,129. The sick exceeded 2,500 men. + +10. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. 1777, 1778. + + +We have already given some details of the sufferings endured by +Washington and his brave soldiers at Valley Forge. One-half the tale +is not told--never will be told; their sufferings were unutterable. A +review of this portion of Washington's life will show that at Valley +Forge not only was a great deal suffered but a great deal was done. Here +the army was hardened from the gristle of youth to the bone and muscle +of manhood. It entered the tents of that dreary encampment a courageous +but disorderly rabble; it left them a disciplined army. But we must not +anticipate events. + +This army, which was under the immediate command of Washington, was +engaged through the winter (1777-1778) in endeavoring to stop the +intercourse between Philadelphia and the country. To effect this object +General Smallwood was detached with one division to Wilmington; Colonel +Morgan, who had been detached from Gates's army, was placed on the +lines on the west side of the Schuylkill, and General Armstrong with the +Pennsylvania militia, was stationed near the old camp at White Marsh. +Major Jameson with two troops of cavalry and M'Lane's infantry, was +directed to guard the east and Capt. Henry Lee with his troop, the west +side of that river. General Count Pulaski, who commanded the horse, led +the residue of the cavalry to Trenton, where he trained them for the +ensuing campaign. + +One of the first operations meditated by Washington after crossing the +Schuylkill was the destruction of a large quantity of hay which remained +in the islands above the mouth of Darby creek, within the power of the +British. Early in the morning, after his orders for this purpose had +been given (December 22d), Howe marched out in full force and encamped +between Darby and the middle ferry, so as completely to cover the +islands while a foraging party removed the hay. Washington, with the +intention of disturbing this operation, gave orders for putting his army +in motion, when the alarming fact was disclosed that the commissary's +stores were exhausted and that the last ration had been delivered and +consumed. + +Accustomed as were the Continental troops to privations of every +sort, it would have been hazarding too much to move them under these +circumstances against a powerful enemy. In a desert or in a garrison +where food is unattainable, courage, patriotism, and habits of +discipline enable the soldier to conquer wants which, in ordinary +situations, would be deemed invincible. But to perish in a country +abounding with provisions requires something more than fortitude; nor +can soldiers readily submit while in such a country to the deprivation +of food. It is not, therefore, surprising that among a few of the troops +some indications of a mutiny appeared. It is much more astonishing that +the great body of the army bore a circumstance so irritating, and to +them so unaccountable, without a murmur. + +On receiving intelligence of the fact, Washington ordered the country to +be scoured and provisions for supplying the pressing wants of the moment +to be seized wherever found. In the meantime light parties were detached +to harass the enemy about Darby, where Howe, with his accustomed +circumspection, kept his army so compact and his soldiers so within the +lines that an opportunity to annoy him was seldom afforded even to the +vigilance of Morgan and Lee. After completing his forage he returned, +with inconsiderable loss, to Philadelphia. + +That the American army, while the value still retained by paper bills +placed ample funds in the hands of government, should be destitute +of food in the midst of a State so abounding with provisions as +Pennsylvania, is one of those extraordinary facts which cannot fail +to excite attention. A few words of explanation seem to be needed +to account for such a fact. Early in the war the office of +commissary-general had been conferred on Colonel Trumbull, of +Connecticut, a gentleman well fitted for that important station. Yet, +from the difficulty of arranging so complicated a department, complaints +were repeatedly made of the insufficiency of supplies. The subject +was taken up by Congress, but the remedy administered served only to +increase the disease. The system was not completed till near midsummer, +and then its arrangements were such that Colonel Trumbull refused +the office assigned to him. The new plan contemplated a number of +subordinate officers, all to be appointed by Congress, and neither +accountable to nor removable by the head of the department. This +arrangement, which was made in direct opposition to the opinion of the +Commander-in-Chief, drove Colonel Trumbull from the army. Congress, +however, persisted in the system, and its effects were not long in +unfolding themselves. In every military division of the continent loud +complaints were made of the deficiency of supplies. The armies were +greatly embarrassed and their movements suspended by the want of +provisions. The present total failure of all supply was preceded by +issuing meat unfit to be eaten. Representations on this subject had been +made to the Commander-in-Chief and communicated to Congress. That body +had authorized him to seize provisions for the use of his army within +seventy miles of headquarters and to pay for them in money or in +certificates. The odium of this measure was increased by the failure +of government to provide funds to take up these certificates when +presented. At the same time the provisions carried into Philadelphia +were paid for in specie at a fair price. The temptation was too great +to be resisted. Such was the dexterity employed by the inhabitants +in eluding the laws that notwithstanding the vigilance of the troops +stationed on the lines they often succeeded in concealing their +provisions from those authorized to impress for the army and in +conveying them to Philadelphia. Washington, urged on by Congress, issued +a proclamation requiring all the farmers within seventy miles of Valley +Forge to thresh out one-half of their grain by the 1st of February and +the rest by the 1st of March, under the penalty of having the whole +seized as straw. Many farmers refused, defended their grain and cattle +with muskets and rifle, and, in some instances, burnt what they could +not defend. + +It would seem that Washington had a sufficiently heavy burden upon his +shoulders in the harassing cares and anxieties of his position, and that +he might have been spared from trials of another sort to which he was +exposed at this time, but Washington experienced what every great and +good man must expect to meet with in an envious and malicious world. +Thus far, apparently, little else than ill-success had attended the +military exploits of the Commander-in-Chief. He had been compelled to +retreat continually before a powerful enemy. New York and Philadelphia +had been lost, and there was almost nothing of a brilliant or striking +character in what had transpired during the war under Washington's +immediate direction. On the other hand, the victory at Saratoga had +thrown a lustre around Gates' name which far outshone for the time the +solid and enduring light of Washington's noble and patriotic devotion +to his country. It was the first great victory of the war and it was a +victory which necessarily had a most important effect upon the future +prospects of the United States. No wonder, then, that restless and +envious men should make invidious comparisons between the hero of +Saratoga and the Commander-in-Chief. No wonder that Washington should +suffer from detraction and the intrigues of dissatisfied and scheming +men, to whom his unsullied virtue, purity, and integrity were invincible +obstacles to every design of theirs to promote selfish or ambitious +ends. + +A direct and systematic attempt was made to ruin the reputation of +Washington, and from the name of the person principally concerned this +attempt is known by the title of Conway's Cabal. General Gates and +General Mifflin of the army and Samuel Adams and others in Congress had +more or less to do with this matter. Gates and Mifflin had taken offense +at not receiving certain appointments during the siege of Boston, and +were at no time well disposed toward Washington; Conway, a restless, +boastful, and intriguing character, had always been distrusted by +Washington, and he knew it. Some of the New England members do not +seem ever to have cordially liked Washington's appointment as +Commander-in-Chief, and now, when the capture of Burgoyne had been +effected by the northern army without the intervention of Washington the +malcontents ventured to assume a bolder attitude. Anonymous letters were +freely circulated, attributing the ill-success of the American arms +to the incapacity or vacillating policy of Washington and filled with +insinuations and exaggerated complaints against the Commander-in-Chief. +[1] + +Washington was not unaware of what his enemies were attempting, but it +was not till after the victory of Saratoga that the matter assumed a +definite shape. The success of the northern army, which in fact was +chiefly due to Schuyler, so elated Gates that he seemed to adopt the +views of those other members of the cabal who were disposed to favor his +aspirations to the office of commander-in-chief. He even ventured to do +what few men ever dared, to treat Washington with disrespect. After the +victory of the 7th of October (1777) had opened to him the prospect of +subduing the army of Burgoyne, he not only omitted to communicate his +success to Washington, but carried on a correspondence with Conway, in +which that officer expressed great contempt for the Commander-in-Chief. +When the purport of this correspondence, which had been divulged by +Wilkinson to Lord Stirling, became known to Washington, he exploded the +whole affair by sending the offensive expressions directly to Conway, +who communicated the information to Gates. [1] Gates demanded the name +of the informer in a letter to Washington, far from being conciliatory +in its terms, which was accompanied with the very extraordinary +circumstance of being passed through Congress. Washington's answer +completely humbled him. + +It pointed out the inconsistencies and contradictions of Gates' defense +and showed him that Washington had penetrated his whole scheme and +regarded it with lofty contempt. In a subsequent letter Gates besought +him to bury the subject in oblivion. + +Meantime, Washington's enemies in Congress were bold and active. A new +Board of War was created, of which Gates was appointed the president, +and Mifflin, who was of the party unfriendly to Washington, was one of +its members. Conway, who was probably the only brigadier in the army +that had joined this faction, was appointed Inspector-general and was +promoted above senior brigadiers to the rank of major-general. These +were evidences that if the hold which the Commander-in-Chief had +taken of the affections and confidence of the army and nation could be +loosened, the party in Congress disposed to change their general was far +from being contemptible in point of numbers. But to loosen this hold +was impossible. The indignation with which the idea of such a change was +received, even by the victorious troops who had conquered under Gates, +forms the most conclusive proof of its strength. Even the northern army +clung to Washington as the savior of his country. + +These machinations to diminish the well-earned reputation of Washington +made no undue impression on his steady mind, nor did they change one of +his measures. His sensibilities seem to have been those of patriotism, +of apprehension for his country, rather than of wounded pride. [2] + +His desire to remain at the head of the army seemed to flow from the +conviction that his retaining that station would be useful to his +country, rather than from the gratification his high rank might furnish +to ambition. + +When he unbosomed himself to his private friends, the feelings and +sentiments he expressed were worthy of Washington. To Mr. Laurens, [3] +the President of Congress, and his private friend, who, in an unofficial +letter, had communicated an anonymous accusation made to him, as +President, containing heavy charges against the Commander-in-Chief, he +said. "I cannot sufficiently express the Obligation I feel toward you +for your friendship and politeness upon an occasion in which I am deeply +interested. I was not unapprised that a malignant faction had been for +some time forming to my prejudice, which, conscious as I am of having +ever done all in my power to answer the important purposes of the trusts +reposed in me, could not but give me some pain on a personal account; +but my chief concern arises from an apprehension of the dangerous +consequences which intestine dissensions may produce to the common +cause. + +"As I have no other view than to promote the public good, and am +unambitious of honors not founded in the approbation of my country, +I would not desire in the least degree to suppress a free spirit of +inquiry into any part of my conduct that even faction itself may deem +reprehensible. The anonymous paper handed you exhibits many serious +charges and it is my wish that it may be submitted to Congress. This I +am the more inclined to as the suppression or concealment may possibly +involve you in embarrassment hereafter since it is uncertain how many or +who may be privy to the contents. + +"My enemies take an ungenerous advantage of me. They know the delicacy +of my situation and that motives of policy deprive me of the defense I +might otherwise make against their insidious attacks. They know I cannot +combat their insinuations, however injurious, without disclosing secrets +it is of the utmost moment to conceal. But why should I expect to be +free from censure, the unfailing lot of an elevated station? Merit and +talents which I cannot pretend to rival have ever been subject to it. +My heart tells me it has been my unremitted aim to do the best which +circumstances would permit. Yet I may have been very often mistaken +in my judgment of the means and may in many instances deserve the +imputation of error." + +While Washington expressed himself in these modest terms to a personal +friend, he assumed a much bolder and higher tone to the dastardly +enemies who were continually thwarting his designs and injuring the +public service by their malignity and incapacity. These were public +enemies to be publicly arraigned. Seizing the occasion to which we have +already referred, when the army was unable to march against the enemy +for want of provisions, he sent to the President of Congress the +following letter which, of course, like the rest of his correspondence, +was to be read to the whole house. It is severer than any he had ever +written: "Full as I was in my representation of the matters in the +commissary's department yesterday, fresh and more powerful reasons +oblige me to add that I am now convinced beyond a doubt that unless some +great and capital change suddenly takes place in that line this army +must inevitably be reduced to one or other of these three things--to +starve, dissolve, or disperse in order to obtain subsistence. Rest +assured, sir, that this is not an exaggerated picture, and that I have +abundant reason to suppose what I say. + +"Saturday afternoon receiving information that the enemy in force had +left the city and were advancing toward Darby with apparent design to +forage and draw subsistence from that part of the country, I ordered +the troops to be in readiness that I might give every opposition in +my power, when, to my great mortification, I was not only informed +but convinced that the men were unable to stir on account of a want +of provisions, and that a dangerous mutiny begun the night before, and +which with difficulty was suppressed by the spirited exertions of some +officers, was still much to be apprehended from the want this article. + +"This brought forth the only commissary in the purchasing line in this +camp and with him this melancholy and alarming truth, that he had not +a single hoof of any kind to slaughter and not more than twenty-five +barrels of flour! From hence form an opinion of our situation when I add +that he could not tell when to expect any. + +"All I could do under these circumstances was to send out a few light +parties to watch and harass the enemy, whilst other parties were +instantly detached different ways to collect, if possible, as much +provisions as would satisfy the pressing wants of the soldiers; but will +this answer? No, sir. Three or four days of bad weather would prove our +destruction. What then is to become of the army this winter? And if we +are now as often without provisions as with them what is to become of us +in the spring when our force will be collected, with the aid perhaps of +militia, to take advantage of an early campaign before the enemy can be +reinforced? These are considerations of great magnitude, meriting the +closest attention, and will, when my own reputation is so intimately +connected with and to be affected by the event, justify my saying that +the present commissaries are by no means equal to the execution of the +office, or that the disaffection of the people surpasses all belief. The +misfortune, however, does in my opinion proceed from both causes, and +though I have been tender heretofore of giving my opinion or of lodging +complaints, as the change in that department took place contrary to my +judgment and the consequences thereof were predicted, yet finding that +the inactivity of the army, whether for want of provisions, clothes, or +other essentials is charged to my account, not only by the common vulgar +but by those in power, it is time to speak plain in exculpation of +myself. With truth then I can declare that no man, in my opinion, ever +had his measures more impeded than I have by every department of +the army. Since the month of July we have had no assistance from the +Quartermaster-General, and to want of assistance from this department +the Commissary-General charges great part of his deficiency. To this I +am to add that notwithstanding it is a standing order (often repeated) +that the troops shall always have two days' provision by them, that they +may be ready at any sudden call, yet scarcely any opportunity has +ever offered of taking advantage of the enemy that has not been either +totally obstructed or greatly impeded on this account, and this, the +great and crying evil, is not all. Soap, vinegar, and other articles +allowed by Congress we see none of, nor have we seen them, I believe, +since the battle of Brandywine. The first, indeed, we have little +occasion for--few men having more than one shirt, many only the moiety +of one, and some none at all. In addition to which, as a proof of +the little benefit from a clothier-general, and at the same time as a +further proof of the inability of an army under the circumstances of +this to perform the common duties of soldiers, we have, by a field +return this day made, besides a number of men confined to hospitals for +want of shoes and others in farmers' houses on the same account, no less +than 2,898 men now in camp unfit for duty because they are barefoot and +otherwise naked. By the same return it appears that our whole strength +in Continental troops, including the eastern brigades, which have joined +us since the surrender of General Burgoyne, exclusive of the Maryland +troops sent to Wilmington, amounts to no more than 8,200 in camp fit for +duty; notwithstanding which, and that since the 4th inst., our number +fit for duty, from the hardships and exposures they have undergone, +particularly from the want of blankets, have decreased near 2,000 men, +we find, gentlemen, without knowing whether the army was really going +into winter quarters or not (for I am sure no resolution of mine would +warrant the remonstrance), reprobating the measure as much as if +they thought the soldiers were made of stocks or stones, and equally +insensible to frost and snow; and, moreover, as if they conceived it +easily practicable for an inferior army, under the disadvantages I have +described ours to be--which are by no means exaggerated--to confine a +superior one, in all respects well appointed and provided for a winter's +campaign, within the city of Philadelphia, and to cover from depredation +and waste the States of Pennsylvania, Jersey, etc. But what makes this +matter still more extraordinary in my eye is that these very gentlemen, +who were well apprised of the nakedness of the troops from ocular +demonstration, who thought their own soldiers worse clad than others and +advised me near a month ago to postpone the execution of a plan I was +about to adopt, in consequence of a resolve of Congress for seizing +clothes, under strong assurances that an ample supply would be collected +in ten days, agreeably to a decree of the State (not one article of +which, by the by, is yet come to hand), should think a winter's campaign +and the covering of their States from the invasion of an enemy so easy +and practicable a business. I can assure those gentlemen that it is +a much easier and less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a +comfortable room, by a good fireside, than to occupy a cold, bleak hill, +and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blankets. However, +although they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed +soldiers, I feel superabundantly for them, and from my soul pity those +miseries which it is not in my power either to relieve or to prevent." + +This letter must have convinced Washington's implacable enemies in +Congress that he had no thoughts of conciliating them. He despised +and defied them. Its effect on those who were friendly to him would +necessarily be inspiriting. His bold attitude justified their reliance +on his moral courage and enabled them to demand the enactment of those +measures which were necessary for the preservation of the army and the +successful assertion of the country's independence. + +It is probable that this letter gave the finishing stroke to the Conway +Cabal. While Gates and Mifflin denied that they had ever desired or +aimed at Washington's removal from the office of Commander-in-Chief +and sought to recover his confidence, Conway himself, who was still +inspector-general, after denying any design to remove Washington, still +maintained an offensive attitude toward him, wrote impertinent letters +to him, and persisted in intriguing against him with Congress. But he +found himself foiled in all his ambitious and factious designs, and he +had become excessively unpopular in the army. He felt at last that he +was in a false position; we shall presently see how his career in this +country terminated. + +Washington's conduct through the whole period of the Conway Cabal, which +lasted several months, is highly characteristic of the man. While he +regarded it with contempt, so far as he was personally concerned, he +felt annoyed and distressed at the injury which it was inflicting on the +public service. When the moment was come for unmasking the conspirators, +by informing Conway that he was aware of their designs, he applied the +match which was to explode the whole plot and cover its originators with +shame and confusion. This he did in a quiet, business-like way because +the public service required it. Congress, having committed itself by +promoting his enemies, could not at once retract, but the officers +themselves made haste to escape from public indignation by denials and +apologies, and the final effect of the Conway Cabal was to establish +Washington more firmly than ever in the confidence and affection of the +whole country. [4] + +His situation, however, was by no means enviable. His army was much +attached to him, but weakened by disease, and irritated by nakedness and +hunger, it was almost on the point of dissolution. In the midst of +the difficulties and dangers with which he was surrounded Washington +displayed a singular degree of steady perseverance, unshaken fortitude, +and unwearied activity. Instead of manifesting irritable impatience +under the malignant attacks made on his character he behaved with +magnanimity, and earnestly applied to Congress and to the legislative +bodies of the several States for reinforcements to his army in order +that he might be prepared to act with vigor in the ensuing campaign. + +But to recruit and equip the army was no easy task. The great +depreciation of paper money rendered the pay of the soldiers inadequate +to their support, and consequently it was not likely that voluntary +enlistment would be successful, especially since the patriotic ardor of +many had begun to cool by the continuance of the war, and all knew that +great hardships and dangers were to be encountered by joining the army. +The pay even of the officers, in the depreciated paper currency, was +wholly unequal to the maintenance of their rank. Some of them who had +small patrimonial estates found them melting away, while their lives +were unprofitably devoted to the service of their country, and they +who had no private fortune could not appear in a manner becoming their +station. A commission was a burden, and many considered the acceptance +of one as conferring rather than receiving a favor--a state of things +highly disadvantageous to the service, for the duties of an office +scarcely reckoned worth holding will seldom be zealously and actively +discharged. There was reason to apprehend that many of the most +meritorious officers would resign their commissions, and that they only +who were less qualified for service would remain with the army. + +Congress, moved by the remonstrances of Washington, and by the +complaints with which they were assailed from every quarter, deputed +a committee of their body to reside in camp during the winter, and in +concert with the general to examine the state of the army and report on +the measures necessary to be taken for placing it in a more respectable +condition. The members of this committee were Francis Dana, General +Reed, Nathaniel Folsom, Charles Carroll, and Governeur Morris. On their +arrival at Valley Forge Washington submitted to them a memoir, filling +fifty folio pages, exhibiting the existing state of the army, the +deficiencies and disorders, and their causes, and suggesting such +reforms as he deemed necessary. Upon this document the plan for +improving the efficiency of the army was formed and communicated to +Congress by the committee, who remained in camp nearly three months. +Congress approved of their proceedings and adopted their plan, but they +legislated so slowly that the effect of their proceedings was hardly +felt before the month of April (1778). + +Among the reforms recommended by the committee, called the "Committee +of Arrangement," who were sent to the camp, none met with so much +opposition in Congress as that which provided for increasing the pay +of the officers and soldiers of the army. Hitherto there had been no +provision made for officers after the war should end, and the pay which +they were actually receiving being in depreciated Continental bills was +merely nominal. To the effect of this state of things in the army we +have already adverted. It was most disastrous. Washington was desirous +that Congress should make provision for giving officers half pay for +life, or some other permanent provision, and increasing the inducements +for soldiers to enlist. A party in Congress opposed this as having the +appearance of a standing army, a pension list, and a privileged order in +society. + +In a letter to Congress Washington said: "If my opinion is asked with +respect to the necessity of making this provision for the officers I am +ready to declare that I do most religiously believe the salvation of +the cause depends upon it, and without it your officers will moulder to +nothing, or be composed of low and illiterate men, void of capacity for +this or any other business. + +"Personally, as an officer, I have no interest in their decision, +because I have declared, and I now repeat it, that I never will receive +the smallest benefit from the half-pay establishment, but as a man who +fights under the weight of a proscription, and as a citizen, who +wishes to see the liberty of his country established upon a permanent +foundation, and whose property depends upon the success of our arms, +I am deeply interested. But all this apart and justice out of the +question, upon the single ground of economy and public saving, I will +maintain the utility of it, for I have not the least doubt that until +officers consider their commissions in an honorable and interested point +of view, and are afraid to endanger them by negligence and inattention, +no order, regularity, or care either of the men or public property, will +prevail." + +The following passages, from a letter addressed to a delegate in +Congress from Virginia, exhibit the view Washington took at the time of +public affairs and the spirit and eloquence with which he pleaded the +cause of the country and the army. + +"Before I conclude there are one or two points more upon which I will +add an observation or two. The first is the indecision of Congress and +the delay used in coming to determinations on matters referred to +them. This is productive of a variety of inconveniences, and an early +decision, in many cases, though it should be against the measure +submitted, would be attended with less pernicious effects. Some new plan +might then be tried, but while the matter is held in suspense nothing +can be attempted. The other point is the jealousy which Congress +unhappily entertain of the army, and which, if reports are right, some +members labor to establish. You may be assured there is nothing more +injurious or more unfounded. This jealousy stands upon the commonly +received opinion, which under proper limitations is certainly true, +that standing armies are dangerous to a State. The prejudices in other +countries have only gone to them in time of peace, and these from their +not having in general cases any of the ties, the concerns, or interests +of citizens, or any other dependence than what flowed from their +military employ; in short, from their being mercenaries, hirelings. It +is our policy to be prejudiced against them in time of war, though they +are citizens, having all the ties and interests of citizens, and in most +cases property totally unconnected with the military line. + +"If we would pursue a right system of policy, in my opinion, there +should be none of these distinctions. We should all, Congress and army, +be considered as one people, embarked in one cause, in one interest, +acting on the same principle and to the same end. The distinction, the +jealousies set up, or perhaps only incautiously let out, can answer +not a single good purpose. They are impolitic in the extreme. Among +individuals the most certain way to make a man your enemy is to tell him +you esteem him such. So with public bodies, and the very jealousy which +the narrow politics of some may affect to entertain of the army, in +order to a due subordination to the supreme civil authority, is a likely +means to produce a contrary effect--to incline it to the pursuit of +those measures which they may wish it to avoid. It is unjust because no +order of men in the thirteen States has paid a more sacred regard to +the proceedings of Congress than the army, for without arrogance or the +smallest deviation from truth it may be said that no history now extant +can furnish an instance of an army's suffering such uncommon hardships +as ours has done, and bearing them with the same patience and fortitude. +To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets +to lie on, without shoes (for the want of which their marches might +be traced by the blood from their feet), and almost as often without +provisions as with them, marching through the frost and snow, and at +Christmas taking up their winter quarters within a day's march of the +enemy, without a house or hut to cover them till they could be built, +and submitting without a murmur, is a proof of patience and obedience +which in my opinion can scarcely be paralleled." + +Such representations as these could not fail to produce some effect even +on the minds of those who were opposed to the measures which Washington +proposed. Still the action of Congress was, as usual, dilatory. After a +great deal of discussion a vote was passed by a small majority to give +the officers half pay for life. This vote was reconsidered, and it was +finally agreed that the officers should receive half pay for seven years +after the close of the war, or that each noncommissioned officer and +soldier, who should continue in the army till the close of the war, +should receive a bounty of $80. + +We have anticipated the order of time in order to dispose finally of +this matter which was not terminated till the spring of 1778. + +During the winter Howe confined his operations to those small excursions +that were calculated to enlarge the comforts of his own soldiers, who, +notwithstanding the favorable dispositions of the neighboring country, +were much distressed for fuel and often in great want of forage and +fresh provisions. The vigilance of the parties on the lines, especially +on the south side of the Schuylkill, intercepted a large portion of the +supplies intended for the Philadelphia market, and corporal punishment +was frequently inflicted on those who were detected in attempting this +infraction of the laws. As Capt. Henry Lee, called in the army "Light +Horse Harry," was particularly active, a plan was formed late in January +to surprise and capture him in his quarters. An extensive circuit was +made by a large body of cavalry who seized four of his patrols without +communicating an alarm. About break of day the British horse appeared, +upon which Captain Lee placed his troopers that were in the house at the +doors and windows, who behaved so gallantly as to repulse the assailants +without losing a horse or man. Only Lieutenant Lindsay and one private +were wounded. The whole number in the house did not exceed ten. That of +the assailants was said to amount to 200. They lost a sergeant and three +men, with several horses killed, and an officer and three men wounded. +The result of this skirmish gave great pleasure to Washington who had +formed a high opinion of Lee's talents as a partisan. He mentioned the +affair in his orders with strong marks of approbation, and in a private +letter to the captain testified the satisfaction he felt. For his merit +through the preceding campaign Congress promoted him to the rank of +major and gave him an independent partisan corps, to consist of three +troops of horse. + +While the deficiency of the public resources, arising from the alarming +depreciation of the bills of credit, manifested itself in all the +military departments, a plan was matured in Congress and in the Board of +War, without consulting the Commander-in-Chief, for a second irruption +into Canada. It was proposed to place the Marquis de Lafayette at the +head of this expedition and to employ Generals Conway and Stark as the +second and third in command. + +This was a measure planned by those who were not friendly to Washington; +and one of its objects was to detach Lafayette from his best and dearest +friend and bring him over to the Conway party. Lafayette would have +declined the appointment, but Washington advised him to accept it, +probably foreseeing how the affair would terminate. + +The first intimation to Washington that the expedition was contemplated +was given in a letter from the President of the Board of War of the +24th of January (1778), enclosing one of the same date to the Marquis, +requiring his attendance on Congress to receive his instructions. +Washington was requested to furnish Colonel Hazen's regiment, chiefly +composed of Canadians, for the expedition, and in the same letter his +advice and opinion were asked respecting it. The northern States were to +furnish the necessary troops. + +Without noticing the manner in which this business had been conducted +and the marked want of confidence it betrayed, Washington ordered +Hazen's regiment to march toward Albany, and Lafayette proceeded +immediately to the seat of Congress at Yorktown. At his request he was +to be considered as an officer detached from the army of Washington, to +remain under his orders, and Major-General the Baron de Kalb was added +to the expedition; after which Lafayette repaired in person to Albany to +take charge of the troops who were to assemble at that place in order to +cross the lakes on the ice and attack Montreal. + +On arriving at Albany he found no preparations made for the expedition. +Nothing which had been promised being in readiness, he abandoned +the enterprise as impracticable. Some time afterward Congress also +determined to relinquish it, and Washington was authorized to recall +both Lafayette and De Kalb. + +While the army lay at Valley Forge the Baron Steuben arrived in camp. +This gentleman was a Prussian officer who came to the United States with +ample recommendations. He had served many years in the armies of the +great Frederick, had been one his aides-de-camp, and had held the +rank of lieutenant-general. He was well versed in the system of field +exercise which the King of Prussia had introduced, and was qualified to +each it to raw troops. He claimed no rank and offered his services as +a volunteer. After holding a conference with Congress he proceeded to +Valley Forge. + +Although the office of inspector-general had been bestowed on Conway, +he had never entered on its duties, and his promotion to the rank of +major-general had given much umbrage to the brigadiers who had been his +seniors. That circumstance, in addition to the knowledge of his being in +a faction hostile to the Commander-in-Chief, rendered his situation in +the army so uncomfortable that he withdrew to Yorktown, in Pennsylvania, +which was then the seat of Congress. When the expedition to Canada was +abandoned he was not directed, with Lafayette and De Kalb, to rejoin the +army. Entertaining no hope of being permitted to exercise the functions +of his new office, he resigned his commission about the last of April +and, some time afterward, returned to France. [6] + +On his resignation the Baron Steuben, who had, as a volunteer, performed +the duties of inspector-general much to the satisfaction of the +Commander-in-Chief and of the army, was, on the recommendation of +Washington, appointed to that office, with the rank of major-general, +without exciting the slightest murmur. + +This gentleman was of immense service to the American troops. He +established one uniform system of field exercise, and, by his skill and +persevering industry, effected important improvements through all ranks +of the army during its continuance at Valley Forge. + +While it was encamped at that place several matters of great interest +engaged the attention of Congress. Among them was the stipulation in the +convention of Saratoga for the return of the British army to England. +Boston was named as the place of embarkation. At the time of the +capitulation the difficulty of making that port early in the winter +was unknown to General Burgoyne. Consequently, as some time must elapse +before a sufficient number of vessels for the transportation of his army +could be collected, its embarkation might be delayed until the ensuing +spring. + +On being apprised of this circumstance, Burgoyne applied to Washington, +desiring him to change the port of embarkation and to appoint Newport, +in Rhode Island, or some other place on the Sound instead of Boston, +and, in case this request should not be complied with, soliciting, on +account of his health and private business, that the indulgence might +be granted to himself and suite. Washington, not thinking himself +authorized to decide on such an application, transmitted it to Congress, +which took no notice of the matter further than to pass a resolution +"That General Washington be directed to inform General Burgoyne that +Congress will not receive or consider any proposition for indulgence +or altering the terms of the convention of Saratoga, unless immediately +addressed to their own body." The application was accordingly made +to Congress, who readily complied with the request in so far as it +respected himself personally, but refused the indulgence to his troops, +and ultimately forbade their embarkation. + +Congress watched with a jealous eye every movement of the convention +army and soon gave public indications of that jealousy. Early in +November they ordered General Heath, who commanded in Boston, "to take +the name, rank, former place of abode, and description of every person +comprehended in the convention of Saratoga, in order that, if afterward +found in arms against the United States, they might be punished +according to the law of nations." Burgoyne showed some reluctance to the +execution of this order, and his reluctance was imputed to no honorable +motives. + +If the troops had been embarked in the Sound they might have reached +Britain early in the winter, where, without any breach of faith, +government might have employed them in garrison duty and been enabled to +send out a corresponding number of troops in time to take an active part +in the next campaign. But if the port of Boston were adhered to as the +place of embarkation, the convention troops could not, it was thought, +sail before the spring, and, consequently, could not be replaced by the +troops whose duties they might perform at home till late in the year +1778. This circumstance, perhaps, determined Congress to abide by Boston +as the port of embarkation, and in this their conduct was free from +blame. But, by the injuries mutually inflicted and suffered in the +course of the war, the minds of the contending parties were exasperated +and filled with suspicion and distrust of each other. Congress placed +no reliance on British faith and honor, and, on the subject under +consideration, gave clear evidence that on those points they were not +over-scrupulous themselves. + +On arriving in Boston the British officers found their quarters +uncomfortable. This probably arose from the large number of persons to +be provided for and the scarcity of rooms, fuel, and provisions, arising +from the presence of the whole captured army. But the officers were much +dissatisfied, and, after a fruitless correspondence with Heath, Burgoyne +addressed himself to Gates and complained of the inconvenient quarters +assigned his officers as a breach of the articles of capitulation. +Congress was highly offended at the imputation and considered or +affected to consider the charge as made with a view to justify a +violation of the convention by his army as soon as they escaped from +captivity. A number of transports for carrying off the convention troops +was collected in the Sound sooner than was expected, but that number, +amounting only to twenty-six, the Americans thought insufficient for +transporting such a number of men to Britain in the winter season, and +inferred that the intention could only be to carry them to the Delaware +and incorporate them with Howe's army. They also alleged that a number +of cartouche-boxes and other accoutrements of war belonging to the +British army had not been delivered up, agreeably to the convention, and +argued that this violation on the part of the British released Congress +from its obligations to fulfill the terms of that compact. + +On the 8th of January (1778), Congress resolved "to suspend the +embarkation of the army till a distinct and explicit ratification of the +convention of Saratoga shall be properly notified by the court of +Great Britain to Congress." Afterward the embarkation of the troops was +delayed or refused for various reasons, and that part of the convention +remained unfulfilled. The troops were long detained in Massachusetts; +they were afterward sent to the back parts of Virginia and none of them +were released but by exchange. + +Mrs. Washington, as usual, visited her illustrious consort in his +quarters at Valley Forge during the winter. Writing from thence to a +friend in Boston, she says: "I came to this place some time about +the 1st of February (1778), where I found the General very well. The +General's apartment is very small; he has had a log cabin built to dine +in, which has made our quarters much more tolerable than they were at +first." To those American citizens who are now reaping the rich fruits +of Washington's toils and sufferings in his country's cause, these few +lines are very suggestive. One cannot help contrasting the luxurious +habitations of the present generation with that log hut of the Father of +his Country at Valley Forge, to which the addition of another log hut to +dine in was considered by his consort a very comfortable appendage. We +should remember these things. + +The effect of the news of Burgoyne's surrender, which reached Europe in +the autumn of 1777, could not be otherwise than highly favorable to +the cause of American independence. Our envoys in France, Dr. Franklin, +Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee had long been soliciting an alliance with +France. But the cautious ministers of Louis XVI, although secretly +favoring our cause and permitting supplies to be forwarded by +Beaumarchais, and the prizes of our ships to be brought into their ports +and sold, had hitherto abstained from openly supporting us, lest our +arms should finally prove unsuccessful. But the surrender of a large +army to Gates and the firm attitude of Washington's army, besieging Howe +in Philadelphia, as they had previously besieged him in Boston, gave a +new turn to French policy and disposed the ministry of Louis to treat +for an alliance with the new republic. + +On the other hand, the British court was in a state of utter +consternation. The war began to assume a more portentous aspect, and +the British ministry, unable to execute their original purpose, lowered +their tone and showed an inclination to treat with the Colonies on +any terms which did not imply their entire independence and complete +separation from the British empire. In order to terminate the quarrel +with America before the actual commencement of hostilities with France, +Lord North introduced two bills into the House of Commons. The first +declared that Parliament would impose no tax or duty whatever, payable +within any of the Colonies of North America, except only such duties as +it might be expedient to impose for the purposes of commerce, the net +produce of which should always be paid and applied to and for the use +of the Colonies in which the same shall be respectively levied, in like +manner as other duties collected under the authority of their respective +Legislatures are ordinarily paid and applied; the second authorized +the appointment of commissioners by the Crown, with power to treat with +either the constituted authorities or with individuals in America, but +that no stipulation entered into should have any effect till approved +in Parliament. It empowered the commissioners, however, to proclaim +a cessation of hostilities in any of the Colonies; to suspend the +operation of the Non-intercourse Act; also to suspend, during the +continuance of the act, so much of all or any of the acts of Parliament +which have passed since the 10th day of February, 1763, as relates to +the Colonies; to grant pardons to any number or description of persons, +and to appoint a governor in any Colony in which his Majesty had +heretofore exercised the power of making such appointment. The duration +of the act was limited to the 1st day of June, 1779. + +These bills passed both Houses of Parliament, and as about the time of +their introduction ministry received information of the conclusion of +the treaty between France and the Colonies, they sent off copies of them +to America, even before they had gone through the usual formalities, in +order to counteract the effects which the news of the French alliance +might produce. Early in March, the Earl of Carlisle, George Johnstone, +and William Eden, Esqs., were appointed commissioners for carrying +the acts into execution, and the celebrated Dr. Adam Ferguson, then +professor of moral philosophy in the University of Edinburgh, was +nominated their secretary. The commissioners sailed without delay for +America. But the present measure, like every other concession in the +course of this protracted contest, came too late. What was now offered +would at one time have been hailed in America with acclamations of joy +and secured the grateful affection of the Colonists. But circumstances +were now changed. The minds of the people were completely alienated from +the parent state and their spirits exasperated by the events of the war. +Independence had been declared, victory had emblazoned the standards of +Congress, and a treaty of alliance with France had been concluded. + +On the 16th of December (1777) the preliminaries of a treaty between +France and America were agreed on, and the treaty itself was signed +at Paris on the 6th of February, 1778--an event of which the British +ministry got information in little more than forty-eight hours after the +signatures were affixed. The principal articles of the treaty were: That +if Britain, in consequence of the alliance, should commence hostilities +against France, the two countries should mutually assist each other; +that the independence of America should be effectually maintained; that +if any part of North America still professing allegiance to the Crown of +Britain should be reduced by the Colonies it should belong to the United +States; that if France should conquer any of the British West India +Islands they should be deemed its property; that the contracting parties +should not lay down their arms till the independence of America was +formally acknowledged, and that neither of them should conclude a peace +without the consent of the other. + +Lord North's conciliatory bills reached America before the news of the +French treaty and excited in Congress considerable alarm. There were a +number of Loyalists in each of the Colonies; many, though not unfriendly +to the American cause, had never entered cordially into the quarrel, and +the heavy pressure of the war had begun to cool the zeal and exhaust +the patience of some who had once been forward in their opposition to +Britain. Congress became apprehensive lest a disposition should prevail +to accept of the terms proposed by the British government, and the great +body of the people be willing to resign the advantages of independence, +in order to escape from present calamity. + +The bills were referred to a committee, which, after an acute and severe +examination, gave in a report well calculated to counteract the effects +which it was apprehended the terms offered would produce on the minds of +the timid and wavering. They reported as their opinion that it was the +aim of those bills to create divisions in the States; and "that they +were the sequel of that insidious plan, which, from the days of the +Stamp Act down to the present time, hath involved this country in +contention and bloodshed; and that, as in other cases, so in this, +although circumstances may at times force them to recede from their +un- [missing text] + +of the British fleets and armies and the acknowledgment of American +independence. At the same time the bills were published, together with +the action of Congress on the subject, and dispersed throughout the +country. This decisive stand was taken before it was known that a treaty +had been concluded with France. + +The British commissioners, Carlisle, Johnstone, and Eden, charged with +negotiating and reconciliation on the basis of Lord North's bills, did +not arrive until (June, 1778) six weeks after drafts of the bills had +been published by Governor Tryon and rejected by Congress. On their +arrival at New York, Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded Howe as +Commander-in-Chief, requested a passport for Dr. Ferguson, the secretary +of the commissioners, to proceed to Yorktown and lay certain papers +before Congress. + +Washington, not deeming the matter within his province, declined until +he could have the instruction of Congress, who sustained him in refusing +the passport. The commissioners, impatient of delay, sent on the papers +through the ordinary medium of a flag, addressed to the President of +Congress. + +The commissioners offered in their letter to consent to an immediate +cessation of hostilities by sea and land; to agree that no military +force should be kept up in the Colonies without the consent of Congress, +and also both to give up the right of taxation and to provide for a +representation in Parliament. They promised to sustain and finally pay +off the paper money then in circulation. Every inducement short of the +recognition of independence was held out to lead the Colonists to return +to their allegiance. But if, when relying upon their own strength alone, +they had refused to listen to such overtures, they were not likely to +do so now that they were assured of the support of France. By order +of Congress the President of that body wrote as follows to the +commissioners: "I have received the letter from your Excellencies, dated +the 9th instant, with the enclosures, and laid them before Congress. +Nothing but an earnest desire to spare the further effusion of human +blood could have induced them to read a paper containing expressions so +disrespectful to his Most Christian Majesty, the good and great ally of +these States, or to consider propositions so derogatory to the honor +of an independent nation. The acts of the British Parliament, the +commission from your sovereign, and your letter suppose the people +of these States to be subjects of the Crown of Great Britain and are +founded on the idea of dependence, which is utterly inadmissible. I am +further directed to inform your Excellencies that Congress are inclined +to peace, notwithstanding the unjust claims from which this war +originated, and the savage manner in which it hath been conducted. They +will, therefore, be ready to enter upon the consideration of a treaty +of peace and commerce not inconsistent with treaties already subsisting, +when the King of Great Britain shall demonstrate a sincere disposition +for that purpose. The only solid proof of this disposition will be an +explicit acknowledgment of these States or the withdrawing his fleets +and armies." + +The British commissioners remained several months in the country and +made many and various attempts to accomplish the objects of their +mission, but without success. + +They were compelled to return to England baffled and disappointed. +Thus the Americans, as an eloquent historian suggests, steady in their +resolutions, chose rather to trust to their own fortune, which they had +already proved, and to the hope they placed in that of France, than to +link themselves anew to the tottering destiny of England; abandoning all +idea of peace, war became the sole object of their solicitude. Such +was the issue of the attempts to effect an accommodation and thus were +extinguished the hopes which the negotiation had given birth to in +England. It was the misfortune of England to be governed by ministers +who were never willing to do justice until they were compelled by main +force. Their present concessions, as on all previous occasions, came too +late. + +We have had frequent occasion to notice the embarrassments and +mortifications to which Washington was subjected by the interference of +Congress in those executive matters which should have been left entirely +under his own control. This was particularly injurious to the public +service in their conduct with respect to the treatment and exchange +of prisoners. Much correspondence on this subject took place between +Washington and Howe during the winter when the army was at Valley Forge, +and whenever the generals were on the eve of arranging an exchange +Congress would interfere and prevent it. Washington had been compelled, +by his sense of justice and humanity, to censure Howe for his treatment +of American prisoners. An order hastily given out by the Board of War +exposed Washington himself, without any fault of his own, to a similar +censure from Howe. The circumstances, as related by Marshall, were +these: + +"General Washington had consented that a quartermaster, with a small +escort, should come out of Philadelphia, with clothes and other comforts +for the prisoners who were in possession of the United States. He had +expressly stipulated for their security, and had given them a passport. +While they were traveling through the country, information was given to +the Board of War that General Howe had refused to permit provisions +to be sent in to the American prisoners in Philadelphia by water. This +information was not correct. General Howe had only requested that flags +should not be sent up or down the river without previous permission +obtained from himself. On this information, however, the board ordered +Lieutenant-Colonel Smith immediately to seize the officers, though +protected by the passport of Washington, their horses, carriages, and +the provisions destined for the relief to the British prisoners, and +to secure them until further orders, either from the Board or from the +Commander-in-Chief. + +"Washington, on hearing this circumstance, dispatched one of his aids +with orders for the immediate release of the persons and property which +had been confined; but the officers refused to proceed on their journey, +and returned to Philadelphia. [10] + +"This untoward event was much regretted by Washington. In a letter +received some time afterwards, Howe, after expressing his willingness +that the American prisoners should be visited by deputy commissaries, +who should inspect their situation and supply their wants, required, +as the condition on which this indulgence should be granted, 'that a +similar permit should be allowed to persons appointed by him, which +should be accompanied with the assurance of General Washington, that +his authority will have sufficient weight to prevent any interruption +to their progress, and any insult to their persons.' This demand was +ascribed to the treatment to which officers under the protection of his +passport had already been exposed. + +"Washington lamented the impediment to the exchange of prisoners, +which had hitherto appeared to be insuperable, and made repeated but +ineffectual efforts to remove it. Howe had uniformly refused to proceed +with any cartel unless his right to claim for all the diseased and +infirm, whom he had liberated, should be previously admitted. + +"At length, after all hope of inducing him to recede from that high +ground had been abandoned, he suddenly relinquished it of his own +accord, and acceded completely to the proposition of Washington for the +meeting of commissioners, in order to settle equitably the number to +which he should be entitled for those he had discharged in the +preceding winter. This point being adjusted, commissioners were mutually +appointed, who were to meet on the 10th of March (1778), at Germantown, +to arrange the details of a general cartel. + +"Washington had entertained no doubt of his authority to enter into this +agreement. On the 4th of March, however, he had the mortification to +perceive in a newspaper a resolution of Congress, calling on the several +States for the amounts of supplies furnished the prisoners, that they +might be adjusted according to the rule of the 10th of December, before +the exchange should take place. + +"On seeing this embarrassing resolution, Washington addressed a letter +to Howe, informing him that particular circumstances had rendered +it inconvenient for the American commissioners to attend at the time +appointed, and requesting that their meeting should be deferred from +the 10th to the 21st of March. The interval was employed in obtaining a +repeal of the resolution. + +"It would seem probable that the dispositions of Congress, on the +subject of an exchange, did not correspond with those of Washington. +From the fundamental principle of the military establishment of the +United States at its commencement, an exchange of prisoners would +necessarily strengthen the British much more than the American army. The +war having been carried on by troops raised for short times, aided by +militia, the American prisoners, when exchanged, returned to their homes +as citizens, while those of the enemy again took the field. + +"Washington, who was governed by a policy more just, and more +permanently beneficial, addressed himself seriously to Congress, urging +as well the injury done the public faith and his own personal honor, by +this infraction of a solemn engagement, as the cruelty and impolicy of +a system which must cut off forever all hopes of an exchange, and render +imprisonment as lasting as the war. He represented in strong terms +the effect such a measure must have on the troops on whom they should +thereafter be compelled chiefly to rely, and its impression on the +friends of those already in captivity. These remonstrances produced the +desired effect, and the resolutions were repealed. The commissioners met +according to the second appointment; but, on examining their powers, it +appeared that those given by Washington were expressed to be in virtue +of the authority vested in him, while those given by Howe contained no +such declaration. This omission produced an objection on the part of +Congress; but Howe refused to change the language, alleging that he +designed the treaty to be of a personal nature, founded on the mutual +confidence and honor of the contracting generals, and had no intention +either to bind his government or to extend the cartel beyond the limits +and duration of his own command. + +"This explanation being unsatisfactory to the American commissioners, +and Howe persisting in his refusal to make the required alteration in +his powers, the negotiation was broken off, and this fair prospect of +terminating the distresses of the prisoners on both sides passed away +without effecting the good it had promised. + +"Some time after the failure of this negotiation for a general cartel, +Howe proposed that all prisoners actually exchangeable should be sent +into the nearest posts, and returns made of officer for officer of equal +rank, and soldier for soldier, as far as numbers would admit; and that +if a surplus of officers should remain, they should be exchanged for an +equivalent in privates. + +"On the representations of Washington, Congress acceded to this +proposition so far as related to the exchange of officer for officer and +soldier for soldier, but rejected the part which admitted an equivalent +in privates for a surplus of officers, because the officers captured +with Burgoyne were exchangeable within the powers of Howe. Under this +agreement an exchange took place to a considerable extent; but as the +Americans had lost more prisoners than they had taken, unless the army +of Burgoyne should be brought into computation, many of their troops +were still detained in captivity." + +The British army held possession of Philadelphia during the winter and +the following spring; but they were watched and checked during the whole +time by the Americans. They were not quite so closely besieged as in +Boston, but they were quite as effectually prevented from accomplishing +any military purpose. They sent out occasional foraging parties, who +were fiercely attacked by Washington's detachments, and almost always +purchased their supplies with blood. But Howe never made an attack on +Washington's camp. Doctor Franklin, when he heard in Paris that General +Howe had taken Philadelphia, corrected his informant very justly. +"Say, rather," said the acute philosopher, "that Philadelphia has taken +General Howe." The capture of Philadelphia, as we have already +taken occasion to remark, was perfectly useless--in fact, worse than +useless--to the British arms. It only provided winter quarters to an +army which would have been more comfortable and secure in New York; +and it held them beleaguered at a remote point when their services were +greatly needed to aid Burgoyne and save his army from capture. In point +of fact, Philadelphia did take Howe; and Washington kept him out of the +way and fully employed until Burgoyne had fallen, and by his fall had +paved the way to the French alliance and to the ruin of the British +cause in America. + +1. Footnote: The cool contempt expressed in Washington's letter to +Conway is one of the most curious features of this affair. It reads as +follows: "To Brigadier-General Conway: Sir--A letter which I received +last night contained the following paragraph: 'In a letter from General +Conway to General Gates, he says, "Heaven has determined to save your +country, or a weak general and bad counsellors would have ruined it."' +"I am, sir, your humble servant." + +2. Footnote: Marshall + +3. Footnote: John Hancock, who succeeded Peyton Randolph as president of +Congress, retired on the 29th of October, 1777. His successor was Henry +Laurens, of South Carolina. + +4. Footnote: The correspondence relating to the Conway Cabal is given +entire in the Appendix to the fifth volume of Sparks' "Writings of +Washington." It is very curious and interesting. Among other letters are +anonymous ones addressed to Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia, and to +Mr. Laurens, President of Congress, full of slanders against Washington. + +5. Footnote: Previous to this affair, Captain Lee, in his frequent +skirmishes with the enemy, had already captured at least a hundred of +their men. + +6. Footnote: General Conway, after his resignation, frequently indulged +in expressions of extreme hostility to the Commander-in-Chief. +These indiscretions were offensive to the gentlemen of the army. In +consequence of them, he was engaged in an altercation with General +Caldwalader, which produced a duel, in which Conway received a wound +supposed for some time to be mortal. While his recovery was despaired +of, he addressed the following letter to General Washington: + +PHILADELPHIA, July 23d, 1778. + +SIR--I find myself just able to hold the pen during a few minutes, and +take this opportunity of expressing my sincere grief for having done, +written, or said, any thing disagreeable to your excellency. My career +will soon be over; therefore, justice and truth prompt me to declare my +last sentiments. You are, in my eyes, the great and good man. May you +long enjoy the love, veneration, and esteem of these States, whose +liberties you have asserted by your virtues. I am, with the greatest +respect, sir, + +Your excellency's most obedient humble servant, THS. CONWAY. + +7. Footnote: Gordon says: "May 13, 1778. General Burgoyne landed at +Portsmouth. On his arrival at London, he soon discovered that he was no +longer an object of court favor. He was refused admission to the royal +presence; and from thence experienced all those marks of being in +disgrace, which are so well understood, and so quickly observed by the +retainers and followers of courts." + +8. Footnote: As early as the month of April, 1776, Turgot had said to +the ministers of Louis XVI--"The supposition of the absolute separation +between Great Britain and her Colonies seems to me infinitely probable. +This will be the result of it; when the independence of the Colonies +shall be entire and recognized by the English themselves, a total +revolution will follow in the political and commercial relations between +Europe and America; and I firmly believe that every other mother-country +will be forced to abandon all empire over her Colonies, and to leave +an entire freedom of commerce with all nations, to content herself +with partaking with others in the advantages of a free trade, and with +preserving the old ties of friendship and fraternity with her former +colonists. If this is an evil, I believe that there exists no remedy or +means of hindering it; that the only course to pursue is to submit to +the inevitable necessity, and console ourselves as best we may under it. +I must also observe, that there will be a very great danger to all such +powers as obstinately attempt to resist this course of events; that +after ruining themselves by efforts above their means, they will still +see their Colonies equally escape from them, and become their bitter +enemies, instead of remaining their allies." Mémoire de M. Turgot, à +l'occasion du Mémoire remis par M. le Compte de Vergennes sur la manière +dont la France at l'Espagne doivent envisager les suites de la querelle +entre la Grande Bretagne et ses Colonies. In "Politique de tous les +Cabinets de l'Europe pendant les Règnes to Louis XV. et de Louis XVI." +Par L.P. Segue l'ainé. + +9. Footnote: The commissioners published their final manifesto and +proclamation to the Americans on the 3d of October, and on the 10th. +Congress issued a cautionary declaration in reply. No overtures were +made to the commissioners from any quarter, and not long after they +embarked for England. Thacher, in his "Military Journal," states +that "Governor Johnstone, one of the commissioners, with inexcusable +effrontery, offered a bribe to Mr. Reed, a member of Congress. In +an interview with Mrs. Ferguson at Philadelphia, whose husband was a +Royalist, he desired she would mention to Mr. Reed, that if he would +engage his interest to promote the object of their commission, he might +have any office in the Colonies in the gift of his Britannic majesty, +and ten thousand pounds in hand. Having solicited an interview with Mr. +Reed, Mrs. Ferguson made her communication. Spurning the idea of being +purchased, he replied that he was not worth purchasing, but such as he +was, the King of Great Britain was not rich enough to do it." + +10. Footnote: They alleged that their horses had been disabled, and the +clothing embezzled. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +MONMOUTH. 1778. + + +For prosecuting the campaign of 1778 Washington had not been provided +with an adequate force. The committee of Congress who visited the army +at Valley Forge had agreed that the army should consist of about 40,000 +men, besides artillery and horse. In May (1778) the army, including the +detachments at different places, was found to amount only to 15,000, +with little prospect of increase. At Valley Forge Washington had 11,800. +The British army at this time numbered 33,000. With such odds the plan +of operations for this season must necessarily be defensive. + +From the position which Washington had taken at Valley Forge, and +from the activity and vigilance of his patrols, the British army +in Philadelphia was straitened for forage and fresh provisions. A +considerable number of the people of Pennsylvania were well affected to +the British cause and desirous of supplying the troops, while many more +were willing to carry victuals to Philadelphia, where they found a ready +market and payment in gold or silver, whereas the army at Valley Forge +could pay only in paper money of uncertain value. But it was not easy +to reach Philadelphia nor safe to attempt it, for the American parties +often intercepted and took the provisions without payment and not +unfrequently chastised those engaged. The first operations on the part +of the British, therefore, in the campaign of 1778, were undertaken +in order to procure supplies for the army. About the middle of March +a strong detachment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Mawhood, made a foraging +excursion for six or seven days into Jersey, surprised and defeated the +American parties at Hancock's and Quinton's bridges on Always creek, +which falls into the Delaware to the south of Reedy Island, killed or +took fifty or sixty of the militia prisoners, and after a successful +expedition returned to Philadelphia with little loss. + +A corps of Pennsylvania militia, daily varying in number, sometimes not +exceeding fifty, sometimes amounting to 600, under General Lacey, had +taken post at a place called Crooked Billet, about seventeen miles from +Philadelphia on the road to New York, for the purpose of intercepting +the country people who attempted to carry provisions to the British +army. Early on the morning of the 4th of May, Colonel Abercrombie and +Major Simcoe, with a strong detachment, attempted to surprise this +party, but Lacey escaped with little loss, except his baggage, which +fell into the hands of the enemy. + +On the 7th of May the British undertook an expedition against the +galleys and other shipping which had escaped up the Delaware after the +reduction of Mud Island, and destroyed upward of forty vessels and some +stores and provisions. The undisputed superiority of the British +naval force and the consequent command of the Delaware gave them great +facilities in directing a suitable armament against any particular +point, and the movements of the militia, on whom Congress chiefly +depended for repelling sudden predatory incursions and for guarding the +roads to Philadelphia, were often tardy and inefficient. The roads were +ill guarded, and the British frequently accomplished their foraging and +returned to camp before an adequate force could be assembled to oppose +them. + +To remedy these evils--to annoy the rear of the British troops in case +they evacuated Philadelphia, which it was now suspected they intended to +do, and also to form an advanced guard of the main army--Lafayette, with +upward of 2,000 chosen men and six pieces of artillery, was ordered to +the east of the Schuylkill, and took post on Barren Hill, seven or +eight miles in advance of the army at Valley Forge. Sir William Howe +immediately got notice of his position and formed a plan to surprise and +cut him off. For that purpose a detachment of 5,000 of the best troops +of the British army, under General Grant, marched from Philadelphia +on the night of the 20th of May and took the road which runs along the +Delaware and consequently does not lead directly to Barren Hill. But +after advancing a few miles the detachment turned to the left, and +proceeding by White Marsh passed at no great distance from Lafayette's +left flank and about sunrise reached a point in his rear where two roads +diverged, one leading to the camp of the marquis, the other to Matson's +ford, each about a mile distant. There General Grant's detachment was +first observed by the Americans, and the British perceived by the rapid +movements of some hostile horsemen that they were seen. Both Lafayette's +camp and the road leading from it to Matson's ford were concealed from +the British troops by intervening woods and high grounds. General Grant +spent some time in making dispositions for the intended attack. That +interval was actively improved by Lafayette, who, although not apprised +of the full extent of his danger, acted with promptitude and decision. +He marched rapidly to Matson's ford, from which he was somewhat more +distant than the British detachment, and reached it while General Grant +was advancing against Barren Hill in the belief that Lafayette was still +there. The Americans hurried through the ford leaving their artillery +behind, but on discovering they were not closely pursued some of them +returned and dragged the field pieces across the river; a small party +was also sent into the woods to retard the progress of the British +advanced guard, if it should approach while the artillery was in the +ford. + +On finding the camp at Barren Hill deserted General Grant immediately +pursued in the track of the retreating enemy toward Matson's ford. His +advanced guard overtook some of the small American party, which had +been sent back to cover the passage of the artillery, before they could +recross the river and took or killed a few of them, but on reaching +the ford General Grant found Lafayette so advantageously posted on the +rising ground on the opposite bank and his artillery so judiciously +placed that it was deemed unadvisable to attack him. Thus the attempt +against Lafayette failed, although the plan was well concerted and on +the very point of success. In the British army sanguine expectations of +the favorable issue of the enterprise were entertained, and in order +to insure a happy result a large detachment, under General Grey, in the +course of the night took post at a ford of the Schuylkill, two or three +miles in front of Lafayette's right flank, to intercept him if he should +attempt to escape in that direction, while the main body of the army +advanced to Chestnut Hill to support the attack, but on the failure of +the enterprise the whole returned to Philadelphia. + +General Grant's detachment was seen by Washington from the camp at +Valley Forge about the time it was discovered by the troops at Barren +Hill, alarm guns were fired by his order to warn Lafayette of his +danger, and the whole army was drawn out to be in readiness to act as +circumstances might require. The escape of the detachment was the cause +of much joy and congratulation in the American and of disappointment and +chagrin in the British army. + +That a strong detachment of hostile troops should pass at a small +distance from Lafayette's flank and gain his rear unobserved seems +to argue a want of due vigilance on the part of that officer, but a +detachment of the Pennsylvania militia had been posted at a little +distance on his left and he relied on them for watching the roads in +that quarter. The militia, however, had quitted their station without +informing him of their movement, and consequently his left flank and the +roads about White Marsh remained unguarded. + +This was the last enterprise attempted by Sir William Howe. Soon after +he resigned the command of the army. So far back as the month of October +in the preceding year he had requested to be relieved from the painful +service in which he was engaged. On the 14th of April, 1778, he received +the King's permission to resign, but at the same time he was directed, +while he continued in command, to embrace every opportunity of putting +an end to the war by a due employment of the force under his orders. In +the beginning of June after having received, in a triumphal procession +and festival, a testimony of the approbation and esteem of the army +he sailed for England, leaving the troops under the care of Sir Henry +Clinton as his successor. + +Sir William Howe has been much blamed for inactivity and for not +overwhelming the Americans, but he was at least as successful as any +other general employed in the course of the war. He was cautious and +sparing of the lives of his men. In his operations he discovered +a respectable share of military science, and he met with no great +reverses. They who blame him for want of energy may look to the history +of Generals Burgoyne and Cornwallis for the fate of more enterprising +leaders in America. + +About the time when Howe resigned the command of the army the British +government ordered the evacuation of Philadelphia. While the British had +an undisputed naval superiority Philadelphia was in some respects a good +military station. Although in all the States a decided majority of the +people gave their support to Congress, yet in every province south of +New England there was a considerable minority friendly to the claims of +the mother country. The occupation of Philadelphia, the principal city +of the confederation, encouraged the latter class of the inhabitants, +and the army there formed a point round which they might rally. But +Philadelphia is more than 100 miles up the Delaware, and as Howe +had been unable to drive Washington from the field he had found some +difficulty in subsisting his army in that city, even when the British +ships had the full command of the sea and could force their way up the +great rivers; but when the empire of the ocean was about to be disputed +by the French Philadelphia became a hazardous post on account of +the difficulty and uncertainty of procuring provisions, receiving +communications, or sending aid to such places as might be attacked. It +was accordingly resolved to abandon that city, and after shipping +his cavalry, formed of the German troops and American Loyalists, his +provision train and heavy baggage, on the few vessels that were in +the river, Clinton had to march the remainder of his army through the +Jerseys to New York, where the communication with the ocean is more +easy. + +The preparations for this movement could not be so secretly made as to +escape the notice of the Americans, and to be in readiness for it was +one reason of detaching Lafayette to Barren Hill, where he had been +exposed to so much danger. Washington called in his detachments and +pressed the State governments to hasten the march of their new levies +in order that he might be enabled to act offensively; but the new +levies arrived slowly, and in some instances the State Legislatures were +deliberating on the means of raising them at the time when they should +have been in the field. + +Although Washington was satisfied of the intention of the British +Commander-in-Chief to evacuate Philadelphia yet it was uncertain in what +way he would accomplish his purpose, but the opinion that he intended +to march through the Jerseys to New York gained ground in the American +camp; and in this persuasion Washington detached General Maxwell +with the Jersey brigade across the Delaware to cooperate with General +Dickinson, who was assembling the Jersey militia, in breaking down the +bridges, felling trees across the roads, and impeding and harassing +the British troops in their retreat, but with orders to be on his guard +against a sudden attack. + +Washington summoned a council of war to deliberate on the measures to be +pursued in that emergency. It was unanimously resolved not to molest +the British army in passing the Delaware, but with respect to subsequent +operations there was much difference of opinion in the council. General +Lee, who had lately joined the army after his exchange, was decidedly +against risking either a general or partial engagement. The British army +he estimated at 10,000 men fit for duty, exclusive of officers, while +the American army did not amount to more than 11,800; he was, therefore, +of opinion that with so near an equality of force it would be criminal +to hazard a battle. He relied much on the imposing attitude in which +their late foreign alliance placed them, and maintained that nothing but +a defeat of the army could now endanger their independence. Almost all +the foreign officers agreed in opinion with General Lee, and among the +American generals only Wayne and Cadwalader were decidedly in favor +of attacking the enemy. Under these circumstances Washington, although +strongly inclined to fight, found himself constrained to act with much +circumspection. + +Having made all the requisite preparations Sir Henry Clinton, early +in the morning of the 18th of June (1778), led the British army to the +confluence of the Delaware and Schuylkill, where boats and other vessels +were ready to receive them, and so judicious were the arrangements +made by Admiral Lord Howe that all the troops, with the baggage and +artillery, were carried across the Delaware and safely landed on +the Jersey side of the river before 10 in the forenoon. Many of the +Loyalists of Philadelphia accompanied the army, carrying their effects +along with them, and such of them as ventured to remain behind met with +little indulgence from their irritated countrymen. Several of them +were tried for their lives and two Quakers were executed. The Americans +entered the city before the British rear guard had entirely left it. + +There were two roads leading from Philadelphia to New York--the one +running along the western bank of the Delaware to Trenton Ferry, and +the other along the eastern bank to the same point. The British army +had wisely crossed the river at the point where it was least exposed +to molestation and entered on the last of these two roads. In marching +through a difficult and hostile country Sir Henry Clinton prudently +carried along with him a considerable quantity of baggage and a large +supply of provisions, so that the progress of the army, thus heavily +encumbered, was but slow. It proceeded leisurely through Huddersfield, +Mount Holly, and Crosswick, and reached Allentown on the 24th (June, +1778), having in seven days marched less than forty miles. This slow +progress made the Americans believe that Sir Henry Clinton wished to be +attacked. General Maxwell, who was posted at Mount Holly, retired on his +approach, and neither he nor General Dickinson was able to give him much +molestation. + +As the march of the British army till it passed Crosswick was up the +Delaware, and only at a small distance from that river, Washington, +who left Valley Forge on the day that Sir Henry Clinton evacuated +Philadelphia, found it necessary to take a circuitous route and pass the +river higher up at Coryell's Ferry, where he crossed it on the 22d and +took post at Hopewell on the high grounds in that vicinity, and remained +during the 23d in that position. + +From Allentown there were two roads to New York--one on the left, +passing through South Amboy to the North river; the other on the right, +leading to Sandy Hook. The first of these was somewhat shorter but the +river Raritan lay in the way and it might be difficult and dangerous to +pass it in presence of a hostile force. Sir Henry Clinton, therefore, +resolved to take the road to Sandy Hook by which the Raritan would be +altogether avoided. + +Although a great majority in the American council of war were averse +to fighting, yet Washington was strongly inclined to attack the British +army. He summoned the council of war a second time and again submitted +the subject to their consideration, but they adhered to their former +opinion, and Washington, still inclined to attack the enemy, determined +to act on his own responsibility. + +The Jersey militia and a brigade of Continentals, under Generals +Dickinson and Maxwell, hovered on the left flank of the British army; +General Cadwalader, with a Continental regiment and a few militia was in +its rear, and Colonel Morgan, with his rifle regiment 600 strong, was on +its right. These detachments were ordered to harass the enemy as much as +possible. + +As Sir Henry Clinton proceeded on the route toward Sandy Hook Washington +strengthened his advanced guard till it amounted to 5,000 men. General +Lee, from his rank, had a claim to the command of that force, but at +first he declined it and Lafayette was appointed to that service. But +General Lee perceiving the importance of the command solicited the +appointment which he had at first declined, and was accordingly sent +forward with a reinforcement, when, from seniority, the whole of the +advanced guard became subject to his orders. + +On the evening of the 27th (June, 1778) Sir Henry Clinton took a strong +position on the high grounds about Freehold Court House, in the county +of Monmouth. His right was posted in a small wood; his left was covered +by a thick forest and a morass; he had a wood in front, also a marsh for +a considerable space toward his left, and he was within twelve miles of +the high grounds at Middletown, after reaching which no attempt could +be made upon him with any prospect of success. His position was +unassailable, but Washington resolved to attack his rear in the morning, +as soon as it descended from the high grounds into the plain beyond them +and gave orders accordingly to Lee, who was at Englishtown, three miles +in the rear of the British army and as much in advance of the main body +of the Americans. + +By the strong parties on his flanks and rear Clinton was convinced that +the hostile army was at hand, and suspecting that an attempt on his +baggage was intended on the morning of the 28th he changed his order of +march and put all the baggage under the care of General Knyphausen, who +commanded the van division of his army, in order that the rear division, +consisting of the flower of the troops under Cornwallis, might be +unencumbered and ready to act as circumstances might require. Clinton +remained with the rear division. + +To avoid pressing on Knyphausen Cornwallis remained on his ground +until about 8, and then descending from the heights of Freehold into an +extensive plain took up his line of march in rear of the front division. + +General Lee had made dispositions for executing orders given the +preceding evening, and repeated in the morning, and soon after the +British rear had moved from its ground prepared to attack it. General +Dickinson had been directed to detach some of his best troops, to take +such a position as to cooperate with him, and Morgan, with his riflemen, +was ordered to act on the right flank. + +Lee appeared on the heights of Freehold soon after Cornwallis had left +them, and following the British into the plain ordered General Wayne to +attack the rear of their covering party with sufficient vigor to check +it, but not to press it so closely as either to force it up to the main +body or to draw reinforcements to its aid. In the meantime he intended +to gain the front of this party by a shorter road, and, intercepting its +communication with the line, to bear it off before it could be assisted. +While in the execution of this design an officer in the suite of +Washington came up to gain intelligence and Lee communicated to him his +present object. Before he reached the point of destination, however, +there was reason to believe that the British rear was much stronger +than had been conjectured. The intelligence on this subject being +contradictory, and the face of the country well calculated to conceal +the truth, he deemed it advisable to ascertain the fact himself. + +Sir Henry Clinton, soon after the rear division was in full march, +received intelligence that an American column had appeared on his left +flank. This, being a corps of militia, was soon dispersed and the march +was continued. When his rear guard had descended from the heights he +saw it followed by a strong corps, soon after which a cannonade was +commenced upon it, and at the same time a respectable force showed +itself on each of his flanks. Suspecting a design on his baggage he +determined to attack the troops in his rear so vigorously as to compel +a recall of those on his flanks, and for this purpose marched back his +whole rear division. This movement was in progress as Lee advanced for +the purpose of reconnoitering. He soon perceived his mistake respecting +the force of the British rear, but still determined to engage on that +ground although his judgment disapproved the measure--there being a +morass immediately in his rear, which would necessarily impede the +reinforcements which might be advancing to his aid and embarrass his +retreat should he be finally overpowered. This was about 10. While both +armies were preparing for action General Scott (as stated by General +Lee) mistook an oblique march of an American column for a retreat, and +in the apprehension of being abandoned left his position and repassed +the ravine in his rear. + +Being himself of opinion that the ground was unfavorable Lee did not +correct the error he ascribed to Scott but ordered the whole detachment +to regain the heights. He was closely pressed and some slight +skirmishing ensued without much loss on either side. + +As soon as the firing announced the commencement of the action the rear +division of the army advanced rapidly to the support of the front. As +they approached the scene of action, Washington, who had received no +intelligence from Lee giving notice of his retreat, rode forward, and to +his utter astonishment and mortification met the advanced corps retiring +before the enemy without having made a single effort to maintain its +ground. The troops he first saw neither understood the motives which had +governed Lee nor his present design, and could give no other information +than that by his orders they had fled without fighting. + +Washington rode to the rear of the division where he met Lee, to whom he +spoke in terms of some warmth, implying disapprobation of his conduct. +[2] + +Orders were immediately given to Colonel Stewart and Lieutenant-Colonel +Ramsay to form their regiments for the purpose of checking the pursuit, +and Lee was directed to take proper measures with the residue of his +force to stop the British column on that ground. Washington then rode +back to arrange the rear division of the army. + +These orders were executed with firmness, and, when forced from his +ground, Lee brought off his troops in good order, and was directed to +form in the rear of Englishtown. + +This check afforded time to draw up the left wing and second line of +the American army on an eminence covered by a morass in front. Lord +Stirling, who commanded the left wing, brought up a detachment of +artillery under Lieutenant-Colonel Carrington, and some field pieces, +which played with considerable effect on a division of the British which +had passed the morass, and was pressing on to the charge. These pieces, +with the aid of several parties of infantry, effectually stopped the +advance of the enemy. + +Finding themselves warmly opposed in front, the British attempted to +turn the left flank of the American army, but were repulsed. They then +attempted the right with as little success. General Greene had advanced +a body of troops with artillery to a commanding piece of ground in his +front, which not only disappointed the design of turning the right, but +enfiladed the party which yet remained in front of the left wing. + +At this moment General Wayne was advanced with a body of infantry to +engage them in front, who kept up so hot and well-directed a fire that +they soon withdrew behind the ravine to the ground on which the action +had commenced immediately after the arrival of Washington. + +Lafayette, speaking of this battle, said: "Never was General Washington +greater in war than in this action. His presence stopped the retreat. +His dispositions fixed the victory. His fine appearance on horseback, +his calm courage roused by the animation produced by the vexation of the +morning, gave him the air best calculated to excite enthusiasm." + +The position now taken by the British army was very strong. Both flanks +were secured by thick woods and morasses, and their front was accessible +only through a narrow pass. The day had been intensely hot, and +the troops were much fatigued. Notwithstanding these circumstances, +Washington resolved to renew the engagement. For this purpose he ordered +Brigadier-General Poor, with his own and the North Carolina brigade, +to gain their right flank, while Woodford with his brigade should turn +their left. At the same time the artillery was ordered to advance and +play on their front. These orders were obeyed with alacrity, but the +impediments on the flanks of the British were so considerable, that +before they could be overcome it was nearly dark. Further operations +were therefore deferred until next morning; and the brigades which +had been detached to the flanks of the British army continued on their +ground through + +[missing text] + +the justifiable claims, there can be no doubt but they will, as +heretofore, upon the first favorable occasion, again display that lust +of domination which hath rent in twain the mighty empire of Britain." + +They further reported it as their opinion that any men or body of +men who should presume to make any separate or partial convention or +agreement with commissioners under the Crown of Great Britain should be +considered and treated as open and avowed enemies of the United States. +The committee further gave it as their opinion that the United States +could not hold any conference with the British commissioners unless +Britain first withdrew her fleets and armies, or in positive and express +terms acknowledged the independence of the States. + +While these things were going on, Mr. Silas Deane arrived from Paris +with the important and gratifying information that treaties of alliance +and commerce had been concluded between France and the United States. +This intelligence diffused a lively joy throughout America and was +received by the people as the harbinger of their independence. The +alliance had been long expected, and the delays thrown in the way of its +accomplishment had excited many uneasy apprehensions. But these were +now dissipated, and, to the fond imaginations of the people, all the +prospects of the United States appeared gilded with the cheering beams +of prosperity. + +Writing to the President of Congress on this occasion (May 4, 1778), +Washington says: "Last night at 11 o'clock I was honored with your +dispatches of the 3d. The contents afford me the most sensible pleasure. +Mr. Silas Deane had informed me by a line from Bethlehem that he was +the bearer of the articles of alliance between France and the States. +I shall defer celebrating this happy event in a suitable manner until I +have liberty from Congress to announce it publicly. I will only say that +the army are anxious to manifest their joy upon the occasion." + +On the 7th of May the great event referred to in the preceding extract +was celebrated by the army at Valley Forge with the highest enthusiasm. +The following general orders were issued by Washington on the day +before: + +"It having pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the +cause of the United American States, and finally to raise us up a +powerful friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty +and independency upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a +day for gratefully acknowledging the Divine goodness and celebrating the +important event, which we owe to his Divine interposition. The several +brigades are to be assembled for this purpose at 9 o'clock to-morrow +morning, when their chaplains will communicate the intelligence +contained in the postscript of the 'Pennsylvania Gazette' of the 2d +instant, and offer up thanksgiving and deliver a discourse suitable to +the occasion. At half after 10 o'clock a cannon will be fired, which is +to be a signal for the men to be under arms; the brigade inspectors will +then inspect their dress and arms and form the battalions according to +the instructions given them, and announce to the commanding officers of +the brigade that the battalions are formed. + +"The commanders of brigades will then appoint the field officers to +the battalions, after which each battalion will be ordered to load and +ground their arms. At half-past 11 a second cannon will be fired as a +signal for the march, upon which the several brigades will begin their +march by wheeling to the right by platoons and proceed by the nearest +way to the left of their ground by the new position; this will be +pointed out by the brigade inspectors. A third signal will then be +given, on which there will be a discharge of thirteen cannon, after +which a running fire of the infantry will begin on the right of +Woodford's and continue throughout the front line; it will then be +taken upon the left of the second line and continue to the right. Upon a +signal given, the whole army will huzza, 'Long live the King of France!' +The artillery then begins again and fires thirteen rounds; this will +be succeeded by a second general discharge of the musketry in a running +fire, and huzza, 'Long live the friendly European Powers!' The last +discharge of thirteen pieces of artillery will be given, followed by a +general running fire and huzza, 'The American States!'" + +An officer who was present describes the scene as follows: + +"Last Wednesday was set apart as a day of general rejoicing, when we had +a _feu de joie_ conducted with the greatest order and regularity. The +army made a most brilliant appearance, after which his Excellency dined +in public, with all the officers of his army, attended with a band of +music. I never was present where there was such unfeigned and perfect +joy as was discovered in every countenance. The entertainment was +concluded with a number of patriotic toasts, attended with huzzas. When +the General took his leave there was a universal clap, with loud huzzas, +which continued till he had proceeded a quarter of a mile, during which +time there were a thousand hats tossed in the air. His Excellency turned +round with his retinue and huzzaed several times." + +Dr. Thacher, in his "Military Journal," mentions the presence of +"Washington's lady and suite, Lord Stirling and the Countess of +Stirling, with other general officers and ladies," at this _fête_. +Our readers, after passing with us through the dismal scenes of the +preceding winter, will readily sympathize with the army in the feelings +attending this celebration. It is worthy of special notice that in his +general order Washington was careful to give the religious feature +of the scene a prominent place by distinctly acknowledging the Divine +interposition in favor of the country. This was his invariable habit on +all occasions. Religion with him was not merely an opinion, a creed, or +a sentiment. It was a deep-rooted, all-pervading feeling, governing his +life and imparting earnestness, dignity, and power to all his actions. +Hence the reverence and affection which was the voluntary homage of all +who knew him. + +Lord North's conciliatory bills, as we have seen, were not acceptable +to Congress. Washington's views in relation to them are given in the +following letter, written to a member of that body two days after he had +learned the terms proposed by the British government: + +"Nothing short of independence, it appears to me, can possibly do. A +peace on other terms would, if I may be allowed the expression, be a +peace of war. The injuries we have received from the British nation were +so unprovoked, and have been so great and so many, that they can never +be forgotten. Besides the feuds, the jealousies, the animosities +that would ever attend a union with them; besides the importance, the +advantages, which we should derive from an unrestricted commerce, our +fidelity as a people, our gratitude, our character as men, are opposed +to a coalition with them but in case of the last extremity. Were +we easily to accede to terms of dependence, no nation, upon future +occasions, let the oppression of Britain be ever so flagrant and unjust, +would interpose for our relief, or, at most; they would do it with a +cautious reluctance and upon conditions most probably that would be +hard, if not dishonorable, to us." + +Congress fully agreed in these views and rejected the advances of the +British government, refusing all terms of accommodation which did not +begin with the withdrawal is probable that explanations might have been +made which would have rescued him from the imputations that were cast on +him, and have restored him to the esteem of the army, could his haughty +temper have brooked the indignity he believed to have been offered him +on the field of battle. Washington had taken no measures in consequence +of the events of that day, and would probably have come to no resolution +concerning them without an amicable explanation, when he received from +Lee a letter expressed in very unbecoming terms, in which he, in the +tone of a superior, required reparation for the injury sustained "from +the very singular expressions" said to have been used on the day of the +action by Washington. + +This letter was answered (July 30, 1778) by an assurance that, so +soon as circumstances would admit of an inquiry, he should have an +opportunity of justifying himself to the army, to America, and to the +world in general; or of convincing them that he had been guilty +of disobedience of orders and misbehavior before the enemy. On his +expressing a wish for a speedy investigation of his conduct, and for a +court-martial rather than a court of inquiry, he was arrested--first, +for disobedience of orders in not attacking the enemy on the 28th of +June, agreeably to repeated instructions; secondly, for misbehavior +before the enemy on the same day, in making an unnecessary, +disorderly, and shameful retreat; and thirdly, for disrespect to the +Commander-in-Chief in two letters. + +Before this correspondence had taken place, strong and specific charges +of misconduct had been made against General Lee by several officers of +his detachment, and particularly by Generals Wayne and Scott. In these, +the transactions of the day, not being well understood, were represented +in colors much more unfavorable to Lee than facts, when properly +explained, would seem to justify. + +These representations, most probably, induced the strong language of the +second article in the charge. A court-martial, over which Lord Stirling +presided, after a tedious investigation, found him guilty of all the +charges exhibited against him, and sentenced him to be suspended for one +year. This sentence was afterward, though with some hesitation, approved +almost unanimously by Congress. The court, softened in some degree the +severity of the second charge, by finding him guilty, not in its very +words, but "of misbehavior before the enemy, by making an unnecessary, +and, in some few instances, a disorderly retreat." + +Lee defended himself with his accustomed ability. He proved that, after +the retreat had commenced, in consequence of General Scott's repassing +the ravine, on the approach of the enemy, he had designed to form on the +first advantageous piece of ground he could find; and that in his +own opinion, and in the opinion of some other officers, no safe and +advantageous position had presented itself until he met Washington, at +which time it was his intention to fight the enemy on the very ground +afterwards taken by Washington himself. He suggested a variety +of reasons in justification of his retreat, which, if they do not +absolutely establish its propriety, give it so questionable a form as +to render it probable that a public examination never would have taken +place, could his proud spirit have stooped to offer explanation instead +of outrage to the Commander-in-Chief. + +His suspension gave general satisfaction through the army. Without +judging harshly of his conduct as a military man, they perfectly +understood the insult offered to their general by his letters; and, +whether rightly or not, believed his object to have been to disgrace +Washington and to obtain the supreme command for himself. So devotedly +were all ranks attached to their general, that the mere suspicion of +such a design would have rendered his continuance in the army extremely +difficult. + +Whatever judgment may be formed on the propriety of his retreat, it is +not easy to justify either the omission to keep the Commander-in-Chief +continually informed of his situation and intentions, or the very rude +letters written after the action was over. + +The battle of Monmouth gave great satisfaction to Congress. A resolution +was passed unanimously, thanking Washington for the activity with which +he marched from the camp at Valley Forge in pursuit of the enemy; for +his distinguished exertions in forming the line of battle, and for his +great good conduct in the action; and he was requested to signify +the thanks of Congress to the officers and men under his command who +distinguished themselves by their conduct and valor in the battle. + +After the battle of Monmouth, Washington gave his army one day's repose, +and then (June 30, 1778,) commenced his march toward Brunswick, at which +place he encamped, and remained for several days. Thence he sent out +parties to reconnoiter the enemy's position, and learn his intentions. +Among other persons sent out with this design was Aaron Burr, a +lieutenant-colonel, who had served in Arnold's expedition to Quebec, and +who was destined to become a conspicuous person in American history. + +Clinton had arrived with his army in the neighborhood of Sandy Hook on +the 30th of June. Here he was met by Lord Howe with the fleet, which had +just arrived from Philadelphia. Sandy Hook having been converted by the +winter storms from a peninsula to an island, Lord Howe caused a bridge +of boats to be constructed, over which Clinton's army passed from the +mainland to the Hook. It was soon afterward distributed into different +encampments on Staten Island, Long Island, and the island of New York. + +When Washington had learned that the British army was thus situated, he +was satisfied that Clinton had no present intention of passing up the +Hudson, and he halted a few days at Paramus, at which place he received +intelligence of an important event which will claim our attention in the +next chapter. + +1. Footnote: Spencer, "History of the United States." + +2. Footnote: This interview between Washington and Lee was followed by +such important results that one is naturally curious to know exactly +what passed between them. The interview is described by Lee himself in +his defense before the court-martial: + +"When I arrived first in his presence, conscious of having done nothing +which could draw on me the least censure, but rather flattering myself +with his congratulation and applause, I confess I was disconcerted, +astonished, and confounded by the words and manner in which his +Excellency accosted me. It was so novel and unexpected from a man, +whose discretion, humanity, and decorum I had from the first of our +acquaintance stood in admiration of, that I was for some time unable to +make any coherent answer to questions so abrupt, and in a great measure +to me unintelligible. The terms, I think, were these: 'I desire to know, +sir, what is the reason, whence arises this disorder and confusion?' The +manner in which he expressed them was much stronger and more severe +than the expressions themselves. When I recovered myself sufficiently, +I answered that I saw or knew of no confusion but what naturally +arose from disobedience of orders, contradictory intelligence, and the +impertinence and presumption of individuals, who were invested with no +authority, intruding themselves in matters above them and out of their +sphere; that the retreat in the first instance was contrary to my +intentions, contrary to my orders, and contrary to my wishes." + +Washington replied that all this might be true, but that he ought not to +have undertaken the enterprise unless he intended to go through with it. +He then rode away, and ordered some of the retreating regiments to be +formed on the ground which he pointed out. + +Gordon says that, after the first meeting with Lee, Washington rode on +towards the rear of the retreating troops. He had not gone many yards +before he met his secretary, who told him that the British army were +within fifteen minutes' march of that place, which was the first +intelligence he received of their pushing on so briskly. He remained +there till the extreme rear of the retreating troops got up, when, +looking about, and judging the ground to be an advantageous spot for +giving the enemy the first check, he ordered Colonel Stewart's and +Lieutenant-Colonel Ramsey's battalions to form and incline to their +left, that they might be under cover of a corner of woods, and not be +exposed to the enemy's cannon in front. Lee having been told by one of +his aids that Washington had taken the command, answered, "Then I +have nothing further to do," and turned his horse and rode after his +Excellency in front. Washington, on his coming up, asked, "Will you +command on this ground or not? If you will, I will return to the main +body and have them formed upon the next height." Lee replied, "It is +equal with me where I command." Washington then told him, "I expect +you will take proper measures for checking the enemy," Lee said, "Your +orders shall be obeyed, and I will not be the first to leave the field." +Washington then rode to the main army, which was formed with the utmost +expedition on the eminence, with the morass in front. Immediately upon +his riding off, a warm cannonade commenced between the British and +American artillery on the right of Stewart and Ramsay, between whom and +the advanced troops of the British army a heavy fire began soon after in +the skirt of the woods before mentioned. The British pressed on close; +their light horse charged upon the right of the Americans, and the +latter were obliged to give way in such haste, that the British horse +and infantry came out of the wood seemingly mixed with them. + +The action then commenced between the British and Colonel Livingston's +regiment, together with Varnum's brigade, which had been drawn up by +Lee's order, and lined the fence that stretched across the open field +in front of the bridge over the morass, with the view of covering +the retreat of the artillery and the troops advanced with them. The +artillery had timely retired to the rear of the fence, and from an +eminence discharged several rounds of shot at the British engaged with +Livingston's and Varnum's troops; these were soon broken by a charge of +the former, and retired. The artillery were then ordered off. Prior to +the commencement of the last action, Lee sent orders to Colonel Ogden, +who had drawn up in the wood nearest the bridge to defend that post to +the last extremity, thereby to cover the retreat of the whole over the +bridge. Lee was one of the last that remained on the field, and brought +off the rear of the retreating troops. Upon his addressing General +Washington, after passing the morass, with, "Sir, here are my troops, +how is it your pleasure that I should dispose of them?" he was ordered +to arrange them in the rear of Englishtown. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +WASHINGTON DIRECTS A DESCENT ON RHODE ISLAND. 1778. + + +Previous to evacuating Philadelphia, Clinton had received notice from +his government that, in consequence of the alliance between France and +the United States, a new plan of operations had been determined on. The +French were to be attacked in their West Indian possessions by way of +diversion from the main scene of action. Five thousand men were detached +from his army to aid in the execution of this purpose, and 3,000 were +sent to Florida. Clinton was also apprised that a French fleet would +probably appear in the Delaware and thus prevent any possibility of +his leaving Philadelphia by water. Hence his sudden departure from +Philadelphia with the remainder of his forces. He was only just in time +to save his army and Lord Howe's fleet. + +On the 5th of July (1778), the day on which the British army arrived +at New York, the Count D'Estaing, with a French fleet, appeared on the +coast of Virginia. + +In the month of March the French ambassador in London, by order of his +government, notified to the British court the treaties entered into +between France and America. In a few days afterward he quitted London +without the ceremony of taking leave, and about the same time the +British ambassador left Paris in a similar manner. This was considered +equivalent to a declaration of war, and although war was not actually +declared, yet both parties diligently prepared for hostilities. + +The French equipped at Toulon a fleet of twelve sail of the line and +six frigates, and gave the command to Count D'Estaing, who, with a +considerable number of troops on board, sailed on the 13th of April +(1778); but meeting with contrary winds he did not reach the coast of +America till the 5th of July. He expected to find the British army in +Philadelphia and the fleet in the Delaware, and if this expectation had +been realized the consequences to Britain must have been calamitous. +But the British fleet and army were at Sandy Hook or New York before the +French fleet arrived on the coast. Count D'Estaing touched at the capes +of the Delaware on the 5th of July, and on learning that the British had +evacuated Philadelphia, he dispatched one of his frigates up the river +with M. Gerard, the first minister from France to the United States, and +then sailed for Sandy Hook. + +Washington received intelligence of D'Estaing's arrival in a letter +from the President of Congress while he was at Paramus. The next day +he received a second letter on the same subject, enclosing two +resolutions--one directing him to cooperate with the French admiral and +the other authorizing him to call on the States from New Hampshire +to New Jersey, inclusive, for such aids of militia as he might deem +necessary for the operations of the allied arms. He determined to +proceed immediately to White Plains, whence the army might cooperate +with more facility in the execution of any attempt which might be made +by the fleet, and dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, one of his +aides-de-camp, with all the information relative to the enemy, as +well as to his own army, which might be useful to D'Estaing. +Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens was authorized to consult on future conjoint +operations, and to establish conventional signals for the purpose of +facilitating the communication of intelligence. + +The French admiral, on arriving off the Hook, dispatched Major de +Choisi, a gentleman of his family, to Washington for the purpose of +communicating fully his views and his strength. His first object was to +attack New York. If this should be found impracticable, he was desirous +of turning his attention to Rhode Island. To assist in coming to a +result on these enterprises, Washington dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel +Hamilton, another of his aides-de-camp, with such further communications +as had been suggested by inquiries made since the departure of Laurens. + +Fearing that the water on the bar at the entrance of the harbor was not +of sufficient depth to admit the passage of the largest ships of the +French fleet without much difficulty and danger, Washington had turned +his attention to other objects which might be eventually pursued. +General Sullivan, who commanded the troops in Rhode Island, was directed +(July 21, 1778) to prepare for an enterprise against Newport, and +Lafayette was detached with two brigades to join him at Providence. The +next day Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton returned to camp with the final +determination of the Count D'Estaing to relinquish the meditated +attack on the fleet in the harbor of New York, in consequence of the +impracticability of passing the bar. + +General Greene was immediately ordered to Rhode Island, of which State +he was a native, and Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens was directed to attach +himself to the French admiral and to facilitate all his views by +procuring whatever might give them effect, after which he was to act +with the army under Sullivan. + +Writing to the President of Congress (August 3, 1778), Washington says: +"As the army was encamped and there was no great prospect of a sudden +removal, I judged it advisable to send General Greene to the eastward +on Wednesday last, being fully persuaded his services, as well in the +quartermaster line as in the field, would be of material importance +in the expedition against the enemy in that quarter. He is intimately +acquainted with the whole of that country, and, besides, he has an +extensive interest and influence in it. And, in justice to General +Greene, I take occasion to observe that the public is much indebted to +him for his judicious management and active exertions in his present +department. When he entered upon it, he found it in a most confused, +distracted, and destitute state. This, by his conduct and industry, +has undergone a very happy change and such as enabled us, with great +facility, to make a sudden move, with the whole army and baggage, from +Valley Forge, in pursuit of the enemy, and to perform a march to this +place. In a word, he has given the most general satisfaction, and his +affairs carry much the face of method and system. I also consider it +as an act of justice to speak of the conduct of Colonel Wadsworth, +commissary-general. He has been indefatigable in his exertions to +provide for the army, and, since his appointment, our supplies of +provision have been good and ample." + +We copy this extract from Washington's correspondence because it does +justice to Greene and gives us information of the favorable change which +had taken place in the condition of the army since its dreary sojourn at +Valley Forge. + +The resolution being taken to proceed against Rhode Island, the fleet +got under way and on the 25th of July (1778) appeared off Newport and +cast anchor about five miles from that place; soon after which General +Sullivan visited D'Estaing and concerted with him a plan of operations. +The fleet was to enter the harbor and land the French troops on the +west side of the island, a little to the north of Dyer's Island. The +Americans were to land at the same time on the opposite coast under +cover of the guns of a frigate. + +A delay of several days now took place on account of the tardiness of +the neighboring militia in joining Sullivan's army. + +As the militia of New Hampshire and Massachusetts approached, Sullivan +joined Greene at Tiverton and it was agreed with the admiral that the +fleet should enter the main channel immediately (August 8th), and that +the descent should be made the succeeding day. The French fleet passed +the British batteries and entered the harbor without receiving or doing +any considerable damage. + +The militia not arriving precisely at the time they were expected, +Sullivan could not hazard the movement which had been concerted, and +stated to the Count the necessity of postponing it till the next day. +Meanwhile the preparations for the descent being perceived, General +Pigot drew the troops which had been stationed on the north end of the +island into the lines at Newport. + +On discovering this circumstance the next morning, Sullivan determined +to avail himself of it and to take immediate possession of the works +which had been abandoned. The whole army crossed the east passage +and landed on the north end of Rhode Island. This movement gave great +offense to D'Estaing who resented the indelicacy supposed to have +been committed by Sullivan in landing before the French and without +consulting him. + +Unfortunately some difficulties on subjects of mere punctilio had +previously arisen. D'Estaing was a land as well as sea officer, and held +the high rank of lieutenant-general in the service of France. Sullivan +being only a major-general, some misunderstanding on this delicate point +had been apprehended, and Washington had suggested to him the necessity +of taking every precaution to avoid it. This, it was supposed, had been +effected in their first conference, in which it was agreed that the +Americans should land first, after which the French should land to be +commanded by D'Estaing in person. The motives for this arrangement +are not stated. Either his own after-reflections or the suggestions of +others dissatisfied D'Estaing with it and he insisted that the descent +should be made on both sides of the island precisely at the same +instant, and that one wing of the American army should be attached to +the French and land with them. He also declined commanding in person and +wished Lafayette to take charge of the French troops as well as of the +Americans attached to them. + +It being feared that this alteration of the plan might endanger both its +parts D'Estaing was prevailed on to reduce his demand from one wing of +the American army to 1,000 militia. When afterward Sullivan crossed over +into the island before the time to which he had himself postponed +the descent, and without giving previous notice to the count of this +movement, considerable excitement was manifested. The count refused to +answer Sullivan's letter, and charged Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury, who +delivered it, with being more an American than a Frenchman. + +At this time a British fleet appeared which, after sailing close into +the land and communicating with General Pigot, withdrew some distance +and came to anchor off Point Judith, just without the narrow inlet +leading into the harbor. + +After it had been ascertained that the destination of the Count +D'Estaing was America, he was followed by a squadron of twelve ships of +the line under Admiral Byron who was designed to relieve Lord Howe, +that nobleman having solicited his recall. The vessels composing this +squadron meeting with weather unusually bad for the season, and being +separated in different storms, arrived, after lingering through a +tedious passage in various degrees of distress, on different and remote +parts of the American coast. Between the departure of D'Estaing from the +Hook on the 23d of July (1778) and the 30th of that month, four ships of +sixty-four and fifty guns arrived at Sandy Hook. + +This addition to the British fleet, though it left Lord Howe +considerably inferior to the Count D'Estaing, determined him to attempt +the relief of Newport. He sailed from New York on the 6th of August and +on the 9th appeared in sight of the French fleet before intelligence of +his departure could be received by the admiral. + +At the time of his arrival the wind set directly into the harbor so +that it was impossible to get out of it, but it shifted suddenly to the +northeast the next morning and the count determined to stand out to +sea and give battle. Previous to leaving port (August 10th) he informed +General Sullivan that on his return he would land his men as that +officer should advise. + +Not choosing to give the advantage of the weather-gauge Lord Howe also +weighed anchor and stood out to sea. He was followed by D'Estaing, and +both fleets were soon out of sight. + +The militia were now arrived and Sullivan's army amounted to 10,000 +men. Notwithstanding some objections made by Lafayette to his commencing +operations before the return of D'Estaing, Sullivan determined to +commence the siege immediately. Before this determination could be +executed a furious storm blew down all the tents, rendered the arms +unfit for immediate use, and greatly damaged the ammunition, of which +fifty rounds had just been delivered to each man. The soldiers having +no shelter suffered extremely, and several perished in the storm which +continued three days. On the return of fair weather the siege was +commenced and continued without any material circumstance for several +days. + +As no intelligence had been received from the admiral the situation of +the American army was becoming very critical. On the evening of the 19th +their anxieties were relieved for a moment by the reappearance of the +French fleet. + +The two admirals, desirous the one of gaining and the other of retaining +the advantage of the wind, had employed two days in maneuvering without +coming to action. Toward the close of the second they were on the point +of engaging when they were separated by the violent storm which had been +so severely felt on shore and which dispersed both fleets. Some single +vessels afterward fell in with each other, but no important capture was +made, and both fleets retired in a very shattered condition, the one to +the harbor of New York and the other to that of Newport. + +A letter was immediately dispatched by D'Estaing to Sullivan, informing +him that, in pursuance of orders from the King and of the advice of all +his officers, he had taken the resolution to carry the fleet to Boston. +His instructions directed him to sail for Boston should his fleet meet +with any disaster or should a superior British fleet appear on the +coast. + +To be abandoned by the fleet in such critical circumstances and not only +deprived of the brilliant success which they thought within their reach, +but exposed to imminent hazard, caused much disappointment, irritation, +and alarm in the American camp. Lafayette and Greene were dispatched +to D'Estaing to remonstrate with him on the subject and to press +his cooperation and assistance for two days only, in which time they +flattered themselves the most Brilliant success would crown their +efforts. But the count was not popular in the fleet; he was a military +officer as well as a naval commander, and was considered as belonging to +the army rather than to the navy. The officers of the sea service looked +on him with a jealous and envious eye and were willing to thwart him as +far as they were able with safety to themselves. When, on the pressing +application of Lafayette and Greene, he again submitted the matter to +their consideration, they took advantage of the letter of the admiral's +instructions and unanimously adhered to their former resolution, +sacrificing the service of their prince to their own petty jealousies +and animosities. D'Estaing, therefore, felt himself constrained to set +sail for Boston. + +The departure of the French marine force left Sullivan's army in a +critical situation. It was in a firm reliance on the cooperation of +the French fleet that the expedition was undertaken, and its sudden and +unexpected departure not only disappointed the sanguine hopes of speedy +success, but exposed the army to much hazard, for the British troops +under General Pigot might have been reinforced and the fleet might have +cut off Sullivan's retreat. + +The departure of the French fleet greatly discouraged the American +army, and in a few days Sullivan's force was considerably diminished +by desertion. On the 26th of August he therefore resolved to raise the +siege and retreat to the north end of the island, and took the necessary +precautions for the successful execution of that movement. + +In the night of the 28th, Sullivan silently decamped and retired +unobserved. Early in the morning the British discovered his retreat and +instantly commenced a pursuit. They soon overtook the light troops who +covered the retreat of the American army, and who continued skirmishing +and retreating till they reached the north end of the island, where the +army occupied a strong position at a place where the British formerly +had a fortified post, the works of which had been strengthened during +the two preceding days. There a severe conflict for about half an hour +ensued, when the combatants mutually withdrew from the field. The loss +of the armies was nearly equal, amounting to between two and three +hundred killed or wounded in the course of the day. + +On the 30th of August there was a good deal of cannonading, but +neither party ventured to attack the other. The British were expecting +reinforcements, and Sullivan, although he made a show of resolutely +maintaining his post, was busily preparing for the evacuation of the +island. In the evening he silently struck his tents, embarked his army, +with all the artillery, baggage, and stores, on board a great number of +boats and landed safely on the continent before the British suspected +his intention to abandon the post. General Sullivan made a timely +escape, for Sir Henry Clinton was on his way, with 4,000 men, to the +assistance of General Pigot. He was detained four days in the Sound +by contrary winds, but arrived on the day after the Americans left the +island. A very short delay would probably have proved fatal to their +army. + +The most sanguine expectations had been entertained throughout the +United States of the reduction of Rhode Island and the capture of +the British force which defended it, so that the disappointment and +mortification on the failure of the enterprise were exceedingly bitter. +The irritation against the French, who were considered the authors of +the miscarriage, was violent. Sullivan was confident of success; and +his chagrin at the departure of the French fleet made him use some +expressions, in a general order, which gave offense to D'Estaing. + +Washington foresaw the evils likely to result from the general and +mutual irritation which prevailed, and exerted all his influence to calm +the minds of both parties. He had a powerful coadjutor in Lafayette, +who was as deservedly dear to the Americans as to the French. His first +duties were due to his King and country, but he loved America, and was +so devoted to the Commander-in-Chief of its armies, as to enter into his +views and second his softening conciliatory measures with truly filial +affection. Washington also wrote to General Heath, who commanded at +Boston, and to Sullivan and Greene, who commanded at Rhode Island. In +his letter to General Heath he stated his fears "that the departure of +the French fleet from Rhode Island at so critical a moment, would +not only weaken the confidence of the people in their new allies, but +produce such prejudice and resentment as might prevent their giving the +fleet, in its present distress, such zealous and effectual assistance +as was demanded by the exigency of affairs and the true interests of +America;" and added "that it would be sound policy to combat these +effects and to give the best construction of what had happened; and at +the same time to make strenuous exertions for putting the French fleet, +as soon as possible, in a condition to defend itself and be useful." He +also observed as follows: "The departure of the fleet from Rhode Island +is not yet publicly announced here; but when it is, I intend to ascribe +it to necessity produced by the damage received in the late storm. This, +it appears to me, is the idea which ought to be generally propagated. +As I doubt not the force of these reasons will strike you equally +with myself, I would recommend to you to use your utmost influence to +palliate and soften matters, and to induce those whose business it is to +provide succors of every kind for the fleet, to employ their utmost +zeal and activity in doing it. It is our duty to make the best of our +misfortunes and not suffer passion to interfere with our interest and +the public good." + +Writing to General Sullivan he observed: "The disagreement between +the army under your command and the fleet has given me very singular +uneasiness. The continent at large is concerned in our cordiality, and +it should be kept up by all possible means consistent with our honor and +policy. First impressions are generally longest retained, and will serve +to fix in a great degree our national character with the French. In our +conduct toward them we should remember that they are a people old in +war, very strict in military etiquette, and apt to take fire when others +seem scarcely warmed. Permit me to recommend, in the most particular +manner, the cultivation of harmony and good agreement, and your +endeavors to destroy that ill-humor which may have found its way among +the officers. It is of the utmost importance, too, that the soldier and +the people should know nothing of this misunderstanding; or if it has +reached them, that means may be used to stop its progress and prevent +its effects." + +To General Greene, Washington wrote: "I have not now time to take notice +of the several arguments which were made use of, for and against the +count's quitting the harbor of Newport and sailing for Boston. Right or +wrong, it will probably disappoint our sanguine expectations of success +and which I deem a still worse consequence, I fear it will sow the seeds +of dissension and distrust between us and our new allies, unless the +most prudent measures be taken to suppress the feuds and jealousies +that have already arisen. I depend much on your temper and influence +to conciliate that animosity which, subsists between the American and +French officers in our service. I beg you will take every measure to +keep the protest entered into by the general officers from being made +public. Congress, sensible of the ill consequences that will flow from +our differences being known to the world, have passed a resolve to that +purpose. Upon the whole, my dear sir, you can conceive my meaning better +than I can express it; and I therefore fully depend on your exerting +yourself to heal all private animosities between our principal officers +and the French, and to prevent all illiberal expression and reflections +that may fall from the army at large." + +Washington also improved the first opportunity of recommencing his +correspondence with Count D'Estaing, in a letter to him, which, without +noticing the disagreements that had taken place, was well calculated to +soothe every unpleasant sensation which might have disturbed his mind. +In the course of a short correspondence, the irritation which threatened +serious mischiefs gave way to returning good understanding and +cordiality; although here and there popular ill-will manifested itself +in rather serious quarrels and disputes with the French sailors and +marines. + +Meantime, in the storm which had separated the fleets of D'Estaing +and Howe when just about to engage, the British fleet had suffered +considerably, but had not sustained so much damage as the French. In a +short time Lord Howe was again ready for sea; and having learned that +D'Estaing had sailed for Boston, he left New York with the intention of +reaching that place before him, or of attacking him there, if he found +it could be done with advantage. But on entering the bay of Boston he +perceived the French fleet in Nantasket Roads, so judiciously stationed +and so well protected by batteries that there was no prospect of +attacking it with success. He therefore returned to New York, where, +finding that by fresh arrivals his fleet was decidedly superior to +that of the French, he availed himself of the permission which he had +received some time before and resigned the command to Admiral Gambier, +who was to continue in the command till the arrival of Admiral Byron, +who was daily expected from Halifax. + +Sir Henry Clinton, finding that General Sullivan had effected his +retreat from Rhode Island, set out on his return to New York; but that +the expedition might not be wholly ineffectual, he meditated an attack +on New London, situated on a river which falls into the Sound. The wind, +however, being unfavorable to the enterprise, he gave the command of +the troops on board the transports to Maj.-Gen. Sir Charles Grey, with +orders to proceed in an expedition against Buzzard's Bay, and continued +his voyage to New York. [1] + +In obedience to the orders which he had received, General Grey sailed +to Acushnet river where he landed on the 5th of September (1778), and +destroyed all the shipping in the river, amounting to more than seventy +sail. He burned a great part of the towns of Bedford and Fairhaven, +the one on the west and the other on the east bank, destroying a +considerable quantity of military and naval stores, provisions, and +merchandise. He landed at six in the evening, and so rapid were his +movements that the work of destruction was accomplished and the troops +re-embarked before noon the next day. He then proceeded to the island +called Martha's Vineyard, a resort of privateers, where he took +or burned several vessels, destroyed the salt works, compelled the +inhabitants to surrender their arms, and levied from them a contribution +of 1,000 sheep and 300 oxen. + +Having mercilessly ravaged the seacoast, the hero of the Paoli massacre +returned, heavily laden with plunder, to New York. + +The return of the British fleet and of the troops under Grey relieved +the Americans from the anxious apprehension of an attack on their allies +at Boston. Under that apprehension, Washington had broken up his camp +at White Plains, and proceeding northward taken a position at +Fredericksburg, thirty miles from West Point near the borders of +Connecticut. He detached Generals Gates and M'Dougall to Danbury, +in Connecticut, in order that they might be in readiness to move as +circumstances might require, and he sent General Putnam to West Point to +watch the North river and the important passes in the Highlands. But the +return of the fleet and troops to New York quieted those apprehensions. + +Meanwhile Washington received intelligence that an expedition was +preparing at New York, the object of which was not clearly apparent; but +soon after the return of the troops under Grey the British army advanced +in great force on both sides of the North river. The column on the west +bank, consisting of 5,000 men commanded by Cornwallis, extended from the +Hudson to the Hackensack. The division on the east side consisting of +about 3,000 men under Knyphausen, stretched from the North river to +the Bronx. The communication between them was kept up by flat-bottomed +boats, by means of which the two divisions could have been readily +united if the Americans had advanced against either of them. + +Washington sent out several detachments to observe the movements +of those columns. Colonel Baylor, who with his regiment of cavalry +consisting of upwards of a hundred men had been stationed near Paramus, +crossed the Hackensack on the morning of the 27th of September and +occupied Tappan or Herringtown, a small village near New Tappan, where +some militia were posted. Of these circumstances Cornwallis received +immediate notice and he formed a plan to surprise and cut off both the +cavalry and militia. The execution of the enterprise against Baylor was +entrusted to the unscrupulous General Grey, and Colonel Campbell with a +detachment from Knyphausen's division was to cross the river and attack +the militia at New Tappan. Colonel Campbell's part of the plan failed by +some delay in the passage of the river, during which a deserter informed +the militia of their danger and they saved themselves by flight. But +Grey completely surprised Baylor's troops and killed, wounded, or took +the greater part of them. Colonel Baylor was wounded and made prisoner. +The slaughter on that occasion which as at the Paoli, was a literal +massacre of surprised and defenseless men excited much indignation and +was the subject of loud complaints throughout the United States. + +Three days after the surprise of Baylor, Col. Richard Butler with a +detachment of infantry assisted by Maj. Henry Lee with part of his +cavalry, fell in with a party of 15 chasseurs and about 100 yagers under +Captain Donop, on whom they made such a rapid charge that without the +loss of a man, they killed ten of them on the spot and took about twenty +prisoners. + +The movement of the British army up the North river already mentioned, +was made for the purpose of foraging and also to cover a meditated +attack on Little Egg Harbor, and having accomplished its object it +returned to New York. Little Egg Harbor, situated on the coast of +Jersey, was a rendezvous of privateers, and being so near the entrance +to New York ships bound to that port were much exposed to their +depredations. An expedition against it was therefore planned and the +conduct of the enterprise entrusted to Capt. Patrick Ferguson of the +Seventeenth regiment with about 300 men, assisted by Captain Collins of +the navy. He sailed from New York, but short as the passage was he was +detained several days by contrary winds and did not arrive at the place +of his destination till the evening of the 5th of October (1778). The +Americans had got notice of his design and had sent to sea such of their +privateers as were ready for sailing. They had also hauled the largest +of the remaining vessels, which were chiefly prizes, twenty miles up +the river to Chestnut Neck, and had carried their smaller vessels still +further into the country. Ferguson proceeded to Chestnut Neck, burned +the vessels there, destroyed the storehouses and public works of every +sort, and in returning committed many depredations on private property. + +Count Pulaski with his legionary corps composed of three companies of +foot and a troop of horse, officered principally by foreigners, had been +detached by Washington into Jersey to check these depredations. He was +ordered toward Little Egg Harbor and lay without due vigilance eight or +ten miles from the coast. One Juliet, a Frenchman, who had deserted +from the British service and obtained a commission in Pulaski's corps +redeserted, joined Captain Ferguson at Little Egg Harbor after his +return from Chestnut Neck and gave him exact information of the strength +and situation of Pulaski's troops. + +Ferguson and Collins immediately resolved to surprise the Polish +nobleman, and for that purpose, on the 15th of October (1778), they +embarked 250 men in boats, rowed ten miles up the river before daybreak, +landed within a small distance of his infantry, left fifty men to guard +their boat, and with the remainder of their force suddenly fell on the +unsuspicious detachment, killed fifty of them among whom were the Baron +de Bosc and Lieutenant de la Borderie, and retreated with scarcely any +loss before they could be attacked by Pulaski's cavalry. + +This was another massacre similar to those of the infamous Grey. [2] +Only five prisoners were taken. The commander pretended to have received +information that Pulaski had ordered his men to give no quarter, but +this was false. + +Admiral Byron reached New York and took command of the fleet about the +middle of September (1778). After repairing his shattered vessels he +sailed for the port of Boston. Soon after his arrival in the bay fortune +disconcerted all his plans. A furious storm drove him out to sea and +damaged his fleet so much that he found it necessary to put into Newport +to refit. This favorable moment was seized by the Count D'Estaing who +sailed on the 3d of November for the West Indies. + +Thus terminated an expedition from which the most important advantages +had been anticipated. A variety of accidents had defeated plans +judiciously formed which had every probability of success in their +favor. + +Lafayette, ambitious of fame on another theater, was now desirous of +returning to France. Expecting war on the continent of Europe he was +anxious to tender his services to his King and to his native country. + +From motives of real friendship as well as of policy, Washington was +desirous of preserving the connection of this officer with the army and +of strengthening his attachment to America. He therefore expressed to +Congress his wish that Lafayette, instead of resigning his commission, +might have unlimited leave of absence to return when it should be +convenient to himself, and might carry with him every mark of the +confidence of the government. This policy was adopted by Congress in its +full extent. The partiality of America for Lafayette was well placed. +Never did a foreigner, whose primary attachments to his own country +remained undiminished, feel more solicitude for the welfare of another +than was unceasingly manifested by this young nobleman for the United +States. + +The French alliance having effected a change in the position of affairs +on the ocean, Congress devoted a good deal of attention to naval +matters; several new vessels were built and others were purchased, and +the present year (1778) gave token of the spirit and ability of some of +our earlier naval officers in contending with a navy usually held to be +invincible. Early in the year Captain Biddle, in the Randolph, a +frigate of thirty-six guns, engaged his majesty's ship the Yarmouth, a +sixty-four, but after an action of twenty minutes the Randolph blew up +and Captain Biddle and crew perished with the exception of only four men +who were picked up a few days after on a piece of wreck. The celebrated +Paul Jones made his appearance on the English coast during this year, +and rendered his name a terror by the bold and daring exploits which +he performed. Captain Barry, off the coast of Maine, behaved in a most +gallant manner in an action with two English ships, sustaining the +contest for seven hours, and at last escaping with his men on shore. +Captain Talbot in October of this year (1778) distinguished himself by +a well-planned and successful attack upon a British vessel off Rhode +Island. The schooner Pigot, moored at the mouth of Seconset river, +effectually barred the passage, broke up the local trade, and cut off +the supplies of provisions and reinforcements for that part of the +colony. Talbot, earnestly desirous of relieving the country of this +annoyance, obtained the consent of General Sullivan to make the attempt. +With his usual alacrity he set about the affair and was entirely +successful. The Pigot was captured and carried off in triumph by the +gallant band under Talbot. In the succeeding November Captain Talbot +received a complimentary letter from the President of Congress, together +with a resolve of Congress, presenting him with the commission of +lieutenant-colonel in the army of the United States. + +There being no prospect of an active winter campaign in the northern +or middle States and the climate admitting of military operations +elsewhere, a detachment from the British army consisting of 5,000 men +commanded by Major-General Grant, sailed early in November under a +strong convoy for the West India islands, and toward the end of the +same month another embarkation was made for the southern parts of the +continent. This second detachment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel +Campbell who was escorted by Com. Hyde Parker, and was destined to act +against the Southern States. + +As a force sufficient for the defense of New York yet remained the +American army retired into winter quarters (Dec., 1778). The main body +was cantoned in Connecticut, on both sides the North river, about West +Point, and at Middlebrook. Light troops were stationed nearer the lines, +and the cavalry were drawn into the interior to recruit the horses for +the next campaign. In this distribution the protection of the country, +the security of important points, and a cheap and convenient supply of +provisions were consulted. + +The troops again wintered in huts, but they were used to this mode of +passing that inclement season. Though far from being well clothed their +condition in that respect was so much improved by supplies from France +that they disregarded the inconveniences to which they were exposed. + +Colonel Campbell, who sailed from the Hook about the last of November, +1778, escorted by a small squadron commanded by Com. Hyde Parker reached +the Isle of Tybee, near the Savannah, on the 23d of December, and in a +few days the fleet and the transports passed the bar and anchored in the +river. + +The command of the Southern army, composed of the troops of South +Carolina and Georgia, had been committed to Major-General Robert Howe, +who in the course of the preceding summer had invaded East Florida. +The diseases incident to the climate made such ravages among his raw +soldiers that though he had scarcely seen an enemy he found himself +compelled to hasten out of the country with considerable loss. After +this disastrous enterprise his army, consisting of between six and seven +hundred Continental troops aided by a few hundred militia had encamped +in the neighborhood of the town of Savannah, situated on the southern +bank of the river bearing that name. The country about the mouth of the +river is one track of deep marsh intersected by creeks and cuts of water +impassable for troops at any time of the tide, except over causeways +extending through the sunken ground. + +Without much opposition Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell effected a landing +on the 29th (December, 1778), about three miles below the town, upon +which Howe formed his line of battle. His left was secured by the river, +and along the whole extent of his front was a morass which stretched to +his right and was believed by him to be impassable for such a distance +as effectually to secure that wing. + +After reconnoitering the country Colonel Campbell advanced on the great +road leading to Savannah, and about 3 in the afternoon appeared in +sight of the American army. While making dispositions to dislodge it +he accidentally fell in with a negro who informed him of a private path +leading through the swamp round the right of the American lines to their +rear. Determining to avail himself of this path he detached a column +under Sir James Baird which entered the morass unperceived by Howe. + +As soon as Sir James emerged from the swamp he attacked and dispersed +a body of Georgia militia which gave the first notice to the American +general of the danger which threatened his rear. At the same instant the +British troops in his front were put in motion and their artillery began +to play upon him. A retreat was immediately ordered and the Continental +troops were under the necessity of running across a plain in front of +the corps which had been led to the rear by Sir James Baird who attacked +their flanks with great impetuosity and considerable effect. The few who +escaped retreated up the Savannah, and crossing that river at Zubly's +Ferry took refuge in South Carolina. + +The victory was complete and decisive in its consequences. About 100 +Americans were either killed in the field or drowned in attempting to +escape through a deep swamp. Thirty-eight officers and 415 privates were +taken. Forty-eight pieces of cannon, twenty-three mortars, the fort, +with all its military stores, a large quantity of provisions collected +for the use of the army, and the capital of Georgia fell into the hands +of the conqueror. These advantages were obtained at the expense of only +seven killed and nineteen wounded. + +No military force now remained in Georgia except the garrison of Sunbury +whose retreat to South Carolina was cut off. All the lower part of that +State was occupied by the British who adopted measures to secure the +conquest they had made. The inhabitants were treated with a lenity +as wise as it was humane. Their property was spared and their persons +protected. To make the best use of victory and of the impression +produced by the moderation of the victors a proclamation was issued +inviting the inhabitants to repair to the British standard and offering +protection to those who would return to their allegiance. + +The effect of these measures was soon felt. The inhabitants flocked in +great numbers to the royal standard; military corps for the protection +of the country were formed, and posts were established for a +considerable distance up the river. + +The northern frontier of Georgia being supposed to be settled into a +state of quiet Colonel Campbell turned his attention toward Sunbury and +was about to proceed against that place when he received intelligence +that it had surrendered to General Prevost. + +Sir Henry Clinton had ordered that officer from East Florida to +cooperate with Colonel Campbell. On hearing that the troops from the +north were off the coast he entered the southern frontier of Georgia +(Jan. 9, 1779) and invested Sunbury, which, after a slight resistance +surrendered at discretion. Having placed a garrison in the fort he +proceeded to Savannah, took command of the army, and detached Colonel +Campbell with 800 regulars and a few Provincials to Augusta which fell +without resistance, and thus the whole State of Georgia was reduced. + +1. Footnote: This officer was the same Grey who had surprised Wayne's +detachment near the Paoli Tavern, in Pennsylvania (Sept. 20, 1777), as +already related in the text. His merciless massacre of Wayne's men, with +the bayonet, will ever be remembered. A monument is erected on the +spot where the massacre took place, consecrated to the memory of the +sufferers. + +2. Footnote: The British government rewarded Grey for his cruelty by +making him a peer. He was the father of Earl Grey, who became prime +minister of Great Britain. This reward to Colonel Grey was in strict +consistency with the spirit in which the whole war against the United +States was conducted. Fortunately, the cruel and brutal outrages of the +invaders reacted on themselves, and contributed greatly to the final +result. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +WASHINGTON PREPARES TO CHASTISE THE INDIANS. 1778. + + +While the events were passing which are recorded in the preceding +chapter a terrible war with the Indians was raging on the western +frontier of the United States. While the British were abundantly able to +supply the Indians with all those articles of use and luxury which they +had been accustomed to receive from the whites, Congress was not in a +condition to do anything of this sort to conciliate them or to secure +their neutrality in the existing war. Stimulated by the presents as +well as by the artful representations of British agents the Indians had +consequently become hostile. Early in 1778 there were many indications +of a general disposition among the savages to make war on the United +States, and the frontiers, from the Mohawk to the Ohio, were threatened +with the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. Every representation from +that country supported Washington's opinion that a war with the Indians +should never be defensive and that to obtain peace it must be carried +into their own country. Detroit was understood to be in a defenseless +condition, and Congress resolved on an expedition against that place. +This enterprise was entrusted to General M'Intosh, who commanded at +Pittsburgh, and was to be carried on with 3,000 men, chiefly militia, to +be drawn from Virginia. To facilitate its success another force was to +attack the Senecas, advancing from the east of the Hudson. + +Unfortunately the acts of the government did not correspond with the +vigor of its resolutions. The necessary preparations were not made and +the inhabitants of the frontiers remained without sufficient protection +until the plans against them were matured and the storm which had been +long gathering burst upon them with a fury which spread desolation +wherever it reached. + +About 300 white men, commanded by the British Col. John Butler, and +about 500 Indians, led by the Indian Chief Brandt, who had assembled +in the north, marched late in June (1778) against the settlement of +Wyoming. These troops embarked on the Chemung or Tioga and descending +the Susquehanna, landed at a place called the Three Islands, whence +they marched about twenty miles, and crossing a wilderness and passing +through a gap in the mountain, entered the valley of Wyoming near its +northern boundary. At this place a small fort called Wintermoots had +been erected, which fell into their hands without resistance and was +burnt. The inhabitants who were capable of bearing arms assembled on +the first alarm at Forty Fort on the west side of the Susquehanna, four +miles below the camp of the invading army. + +The regular troops, amounting to about sixty, were commanded by Col. +Zebulon Butler, [1] the militia by Colonel Dennison. Colonel Butler was +desirous of awaiting the arrival of a small reinforcement under Captain +Spalding who had been ordered by Washington to his aid on the first +intelligence of the danger which threatened the settlement, but the +militia generally, believing themselves sufficiently strong to repel +the invading force, urged an immediate battle so earnestly that Colonel +Butler yielded to their remonstrances, and on the 3d of July (1778) +marched from Forty Fort at the head of near 400 men to attack the enemy. + +The British and Indians were prepared to receive him. Their line was +formed a small distance in front of their camp on a plain thinly covered +with pine, shrub-oaks, and under-growth, and extended from the river +about a mile to a marsh at the foot of the mountain. The Americans +advanced in a single column without interruption until they approached +the enemy, when they received a fire which did not much mischief. +The line of battle was instantly formed and the action commenced with +spirit. The Americans rather gained ground on the right where Colonel +Butler commanded, until a large body of Indians passing through the +skirt of the marsh turned their left flank, which was composed of +militia, and poured a heavy and most destructive fire on their rear. +The word "retreat" was pronounced by some person and the efforts of the +officers to check it were unavailing. The fate of the day was decided, +and a flight commenced on the left which was soon followed by the right. +As soon as the line was broken the Indians, throwing down their rifles +and rushing upon them with the tomahawk, completed the confusion. The +attempt of Colonel Butler and of the officers to restore order was +unavailing and the whole line broke and fled in confusion. The massacre +was general and the cries for mercy were answered by the tomahawk. +Rather less than sixty men escaped, some to Forty Fort, some by swimming +the river, and some to the mountain. A very few prisoners were made, +only three of whom were preserved alive, who were carried to Niagara. + +Further resistance was impracticable and Colonel Dennison proposed +terms of capitulation which were granted to the inhabitants. It being +understood that no quarter would be allowed to the Continental troops +Colonel Butler with his few surviving soldiers fled from the valley. + +The inhabitants generally abandoned the country and, in great distress, +wandered into the settlements on the Lehigh and the Delaware. The +Indians, according to their usual practice, destroyed the houses and +improvements by fire and plundered the country. After laying waste +the whole settlement they withdrew from it before the arrival of the +Continental troops, who were ordered to meet them. On the 11th of +November (1778) 500 Indians and Loyalists, with a small detachment of +regular troops, under the command of the notorious John Butler, made +an irruption into the settlement at Cherry Valley, in the State of New +York, surprised and killed Colonel Allen, commander of the American +force at that place, and ten of his soldiers. They attacked a fort +erected there, but were compelled to retreat. Next day they left the +place, after having murdered and scalped thirty-two of the inhabitants, +chiefly women and children. + +On the first intelligence of the destruction of Wyoming the regiments +of Hartley and Butler with the remnant of Morgan's corps, commanded by +Major Posey, were detached to the protection of that distressed country. +They were engaged in several sharp skirmishes, made separate incursions +into the Indian settlements, broke up their nearest villages, destroyed +their corn, and, by compelling them to retire to a greater distance, +gave some relief to the inhabitants. + +While the frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania were thus suffering +the calamities incident to savage warfare, a fate equally severe was +preparing for Virginia. The western militia of that State had made some +successful incursions into the country northwest of the Ohio and had +taken some British posts on the Mississippi. These were erected into the +county of Illinois, and a regiment of infantry with a troop of cavalry +was raised for its protection. The command of these troops was given +to Col. George Rogers Clarke, a gentleman who courage, hardihood, +and capacity for Indian warfare had given repeated success to his +enterprises against the savages. + +This corps was divided into several detachments, the strongest of +which remained with Colonel Clarke at Kaskaskia. Colonel Hamilton, the +Governor of Detroit, was at Vincennes with about 600 men, principally +Indians, preparing an expedition, first against Kaskaskia and then +up the Ohio to Pittsburgh, after which he purposed to desolate the +frontiers of Virginia. Clarke anticipated and defeated his design by one +of those bold and decisive measures, which, whether formed on a great or +a small scale, mark the military and enterprising genius of the man who +plans and executes them. + +He was too far removed from the inhabited country to hope for support, +and was too weak to maintain Kaskaskia and the Illinois against the +combined force of regulars and Indians by which he was to be attacked as +soon as the season for action should arrive. While employed in preparing +for his defense he received unquestionable information that Hamilton had +detached his Indians on an expedition against the frontiers, reserving +at the post he occupied only about eighty regulars with three pieces +of cannon and some swivels. Clarke instantly resolved to seize this +favorable moment. After detaching a small galley up the Wabash with +orders to take her station a few miles below Vincennes and to permit +nothing to pass her, he marched in the depth of winter with 130 men, +the whole force he could collect, across the country from Kaskaskia to +Vincennes. This march through the woods and over high waters required +sixteen days, five of which were employed in crossing the drowned lands +of the Wabash. The troops were under the necessity of wading five +miles in water frequently up to their breasts. After subduing these +difficulties this small party appeared before the town, which was +completely surprised and readily consented to change its master. + +Hamilton, after defending the fort a short time, surrendered himself and +his garrison prisoners of war. With a few of his immediate agents and +counselors, who had been instrumental in the savage barbarities he had +encouraged, he was, by order of the Executive of Virginia, put in irons +and confined in a jail. + +This expedition was important in its consequences. It disconcerted +a plan which threatened destruction to the whole country west of the +Allegheny Mountains, detached from the British interest many of those +numerous tribes of Indians south of the waters immediately communicating +with the Great Lakes, and had most probably considerable influence in +fixing the boundary of the United States. + +These Indian hostilities on the western border were a subject of extreme +solicitude to Washington, ever alive as he was to the cry of distress +and ever anxious to preserve peace and security to the rural population +of the country. Experience and observation had long since taught him +that the only effectual protection to the inhabitants of the frontier +settlements consisted in carrying the war with severity into the enemy's +own country. Hence we find that from the moment these atrocities of the +Indians commenced in the western country he was engaged in planning that +expedition which, in the next campaign, under the direction of General +Sullivan, carried desolation to their own homes and taught them a lesson +which they could not soon forget. In the following extract of a letter +to Gov. George Clinton of New York, dated March 4, 1779, it will be +perceived that he speaks of his plan as already matured: + +"The President of Congress has transmitted to me your Excellency's +letter to the delegates of New York, representing the calamitous +situation of the northwestern frontier of that State, accompanied by a +similar application from the Pennsylvania Assembly, and a resolve of +the 25th, directing me to take the most effectual measures for the +protection of the inhabitants and chastisement of the Indians. The +resolve has been in some measure anticipated by my previous dispositions +for carrying on offensive operations against the hostile tribes of +savages. It has always been my intention early to communicate this +matter to your Excellency in confidence, and I take occasion, from the +letter above mentioned, to inform you that preparations have some time +since been making, and they will be conducted to the point of execution +at a proper season, if no unexpected accident prevents, and the +situation of affairs on the maritime frontier justifies the undertaking. + +"The greatest secrecy is necessary to the success of such an enterprise, +for the following obvious reasons: That, immediately upon the discovery +of our design, the savages would either put themselves in condition to +make head against us, by a reunion of all their force and that of +their allies, strengthened besides by succors from Canada; or elude the +expedition altogether, which might be done at the expense of a temporary +evacuation of forests which we could not possess, and the destruction of +a few settlements which they might speedily re-establish." + +Washington concludes this letter by calling upon Governor Clinton for +an account of the force which New York can furnish for the contemplated +expedition and describing the kind of men most desirable for this +peculiar service--"active rangers, who are at the same time expert +marksmen, and accustomed to the irregular kind of wood-fighting +practiced by the Indians." He concludes by expressing a desire to have +the advantage of any sentiments or advice the Governor might be pleased +to communicate relative to the expedition. This is but one among many +instances which might be cited of the vigilance and unceasing activity +of Washington in everything connected with the national defense. + +In addition to this Indian war Washington at this time (1778) had +another cause of deep anxiety continually upon his mind, in the +comparatively weak and inefficient character of the legislative body to +whom he must necessarily look for support and sanction in all measures +for the defense of the country. The Congress of 1774--that Congress +whose proceedings and State papers had elicited the admiration of +the illustrious Earl of Chatham--had comprised the ablest and most +influential men in the country. But most of these men had withdrawn from +Congress or had accepted high offices under their own State governments, +and their places had either not been filled at all or had been filled +by incompetent men. For the year 1778 the average number of members had +been between twenty-five and thirty. Some States were not represented +and others had not sent delegates enough to entitle them to a vote. But +small as the number of delegates in Congress was they were sufficiently +numerous to entertain the fiercest feuds among themselves, and seriously +to embarrass the public service by permitting party considerations to +interfere with the measures most essential to the safety and efficiency +of the army and the preservation of order in the country. + +Washington was acutely sensible to this disastrous state of things. Full +of disinterested zeal for the public service he could hardly comprehend +the apathy prevailing in the different States, which occasioned their +omitting to fill up their "quotas" of representatives in Congress, and +he was embarrassed and distressed with the weak and inefficient +manner in which the military and civil affairs, under the direction of +Congress, were conducted. In a letter to Benjamin Harrison of Virginia, +a member of the Congress of 1774, he expresses frankly his views on this +unpleasant topic as follows: + +"It appears as clear to me as ever the sun did in its meridian +brightness, that America never stood in more eminent need of the wise, +patriotic, and spirited exertions of her sons than at this period, and +if it is not a sufficient cause for general lamentation my misconception +of the matter impresses it too strongly upon me that the States, +separately, are too much engaged in their local concerns and have too +many of their ablest men withdrawn from the general council for the +good of the commonweal. In a word I think our political system may be +compared to the mechanism of a clock and that we should derive a lesson +from it, for it answers no good purpose to keep the smaller wheels in +order if the greater one, which is the support and prime mover of the +whole, is neglected. How far the latter is the case it does not become +me to pronounce, but as there can be no harm in a pious wish for the +good of one's country, I shall offer it as mine, that each would not +only choose, but absolutely compel their ablest men to attend Congress, +and that they would instruct them to go into a thorough investigation of +the causes that have produced so many disagreeable effects in the army +and country, in a word, that public abuses should be corrected. Without +this it does not in my judgment require the spirit of divination to +foretell the consequences of the present administration nor to how +little purpose the States individually are framing constitutions, +providing laws, and filling offices with the abilities of their ablest +men. These, if the great whole is mismanaged, must sink in the general +wreck, which will carry with it the remorse of thinking that we are lost +by our own folly and negligence or by the desire, perhaps, of living in +ease and tranquility during the accomplishment of so great a revolution, +in the effecting of which the greatest abilities and the most honest men +our American world affords ought to be employed. + +"It is much to be feared, my dear sir, that the States in their separate +capacities have very inadequate ideas of the present danger. Many +persons removed far distant from the scene of action and seeing and +hearing such publications only as flatter their wishes, conceive that +the contest is at an end and that to regulate the government and police +of their own State is all that remains to be done, but it is devoutly +to be wished that a sad reverse of this may not fall upon them like +a thunderclap that is little expected. I do not mean to designate +particular States. I wish to cast no reflections upon any one. The +public believe (and if they do believe it, the fact might almost as well +be so) that the States at this time are badly represented and that the +great and important concerns of the nation are horribly conducted for +want either of abilities or application in the members, or through the +discord and party views of some individuals. That they should be so is +to be lamented more at this time than formerly, as we are far advanced +in the dispute and, in the opinion of many, drawing to a happy period; +we have the eyes of Europe upon us and I am persuaded many political +spies to watch, who discover our situation and give information of our +weaknesses and wants." + +We have already seen that Congress, actuated by their wishes rather than +governed by a temperate calculation of the means in their possession, +had, in the preceding winter, planned a second invasion of Canada to +be conducted by Lafayette and that, as the generals only were got +in readiness for this expedition, it was necessarily laid aside. The +design, however, seems to have been suspended, not abandoned. The +alliance with France revived the latent wish to annex that extensive +territory to the United States. That favorite subject was resumed, and +toward autumn a plan was completely digested for a combined attack to be +made by the allies on all the British dominions on the continent and +on the adjacent islands of Cape Breton and Newfoundland. This plan was +matured about the time Lafayette obtained leave to return to his own +country and was ordered to be transmitted by him to Doctor Franklin, +the minister of the United States at the court of Versailles with +instructions to induce, if possible, the French cabinet to accede to it. +Some communications respecting this subject were also made to Lafayette, +on whose influence in securing its adoption by his own government much +reliance was placed, and in October 1778, it was for the first time +transmitted to Washington, with a request that he would enclose it by +Lafayette, with his observations on it, to Doctor Franklin. + +This very extensive plan of military operations for the ensuing +campaign, prepared entirely in the cabinet without consulting, so far as +is known, a single military man, consisted of many parts. + +Two detachments, amounting each to 1,600 men, were to march from +Pittsburgh and Wyoming against Detroit and Niagara. A third body of +troops which was to be stationed on the Mohawk during the winter and +to be powerfully reinforced in the spring, was to seize Oswego and to +secure the navigation of Lake Ontario with vessels to be constructed of +materials to be procured in the winter. A fourth corps was to penetrate +into Canada by the St. Francis and to reduce Montreal and the posts on +Lake Champlain, while a fifth should guard against troops from Quebec. + +Thus far America could proceed unaided by her ally. But Upper Canada +being reduced another campaign would still be necessary for the +reduction of Quebec. This circumstance would require that the army +should pass the winter in Canada, and in the meantime the garrison of +Quebec might be largely reinforced. It was therefore essential to the +complete success of the enterprise that France should be induced to take +a part in it. + +The conquest of Quebec and of Halifax was supposed to be an object of so +much importance to France as well as to the United States that her aid +might be confidently expected. + +It was proposed to request the King of France to furnish four or five +thousand troops, to sail from Brest the beginning of May under convoy +of four ships of the line and four frigates, the troops to be clad as if +for service in the West Indies and thick clothes to be sent after them +in August. A large American detachment was to act with this French army +and it was supposed that Quebec and Halifax might be reduced by the +beginning or middle of October. The army might then either proceed +immediately against New Foundland or remain in garrison until the spring +when the conquest of that place might be accomplished. + +It had been supposed probable that England would abandon the further +prosecution of the war on the continent of North America, in which +case the government would have a respectable force at its disposal, the +advantageous employment of which had engaged in part the attention of +Washington. He had contemplated an expedition against the British posts +in Upper Canada as a measure which might be eventually eligible and +which might employ the arms of the United States to advantage if their +troops might safely be withdrawn from the sea-board. He had, however, +considered every object of this sort as contingent. Having estimated the +difficulties to be encountered in such an enterprise he had found them +so considerable as to hesitate on the extent which might safely be given +to the expedition admitting the United States to be evacuated by the +British armies. + +In this state of mind Washington received the magnificent plan already +prepared by Congress. He was forcibly struck with the impracticability +of executing that part of it which, was to be undertaken by the United +States should the British armies continue in the country and with the +serious mischief which would result to the common cause as well as from +diverting so considerable a part of the French force from other objects +to one which was, in his opinion, so unpromising as from the ill +impression which would be made on the court and nation by the total +failure of the American government to execute its part of a plan +originating with itself--a failure would most probably sacrifice the +troops and ships employed by France. + +On comparing the naval force of England with that of France in different +parts of the world, the former appeared to Washington to maintain a +decided superiority and consequently to possess the power of shutting up +the ships of the latter which might be trusted into the St. Lawrence. +To suppose that the British government would not avail itself of +this superiority on such an occasion would be to impute to it a blind +infatuation or ignorance of the plans of its adversary, which could not +be safely assumed in calculations of such serious import. + +A plan, too, consisting of so many parts to be prosecuted both from +Europe and America by land and by water--which, to be successful, +required such an harmonious cooperation of the whole, such a perfect +coincidence of events--appeared to him to be exposed to too many +accidents to risk upon it interests of such high value. + +In a long and serious letter to Congress he apologized for not obeying +their orders to deliver the plan with his observations upon it to +Lafayette, and entering into a full investigation of all its parts +demonstrated the mischiefs and the dangers with which it was replete. +This letter was referred to a committee whose report admits the force +of the reasons urged by Washington against the expedition and their own +conviction that nothing important could be attempted unless the British +armies should be withdrawn from the United States and that even in that +event the present plan was far too complex. + +Men, however, recede slowly and reluctantly from favorite and flattering +projects on which they have long meditated, and the committee in their +report proceeded to state the opinion that the posts held by the British +in the United States would probably be evacuated before the active part +of the ensuing campaign, and that, therefore, eventual measures for the +expedition ought to be taken. + +This report concludes with recommending, "that the general should be +directed to write to the Marquis de Lafayette on that subject, and also +write to the minister of these States at the court of Versailles +very fully, to the end that eventual measures may be taken in case an +armament should be sent from France to Quebec for co-operating therewith +to the utmost degree which the finances and resources of these States +will admit." + +This report also was approved by Congress and transmitted to Washington +who felt himself greatly embarrassed by it. While his objections to the +project retained all their force he found himself required to open a +correspondence for the purposes of soliciting the concurrence of France +in an expedition he disapproved, and of promising a cooperation he +believed to be impracticable. In reply to this communication he said: +"The earnest desire I have strictly to comply in every instance with the +views and instructions of Congress cannot but make me feel the greatest +uneasiness when I find myself in circumstances of hesitation or doubt +with respect to their directions. But the perfect confidence I have +in the justice and candor of that honorable body emboldens me to +communicate without reserve the difficulties which occur in the +execution of their present order, and the indulgence I have experienced +on every former occasion induces me to imagine that the liberty I now +take will not meet with disapprobation." + +After reviewing the report of the committee and stating his objections +to the plan and the difficulties he felt in performing the duty assigned +to him, he added: "But if Congress still think it necessary for me to +proceed in the business I must request their more definite and explicit +instructions and that they will permit me, previous to transmitting the +intended dispatches, to submit them to their determination. I could +wish to lay before Congress more minutely the state of the army, the +condition of our supplies and the requisites necessary for carrying into +execution an undertaking that may involve the most serious events. +If Congress think this can be done more satisfactorily in a personal +conference I hope to have the army in such a situation before I can +receive their answer as to afford me an opportunity of giving my +attendance." + +Congress acceded to his request for a personal interview, and on his +arrival in Philadelphia a committee was appointed to confer with him as +well on this particular subject as on the general state of the army and +of the country. + +The result of these conferences was that the expedition against Canada +was entirely, though reluctantly, given up, and every arrangement +recommended by Washington received that attention which was due to his +judgment and experience and which his opinions were entitled to receive. + +If anything were necessary to be added to this ridiculous scheme for the +conquest of Canada in order to prove the inefficiency and folly of the +Congress of 1778 we have it in the fact that France was averse to adding +that province to the United States and did not desire to acquire it +for herself. She only sought the independence of this country and its +permanent alliance. + +Mr. De Sevelinges in his introduction to Botta's History recites the +private instructions to Mr. Gerard on his mission to the United States. +One article was, "to avoid entering into any formal engagement relative +to Canada and other English possessions which Congress proposed to +conquer." Mr. De Sevelinges adds, that "the policy of the cabinet of +Versailles viewed the possession of those countries, especially of +Canada by England as a principle of useful inquietude and vigilance to +the Americans. The neighborhood of a formidable enemy must make +them feel more sensibly the price which they ought to attach to the +friendship and support of the King of France." + + [C.] REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONFER WITH WASHINGTON ON +THE SECOND SCHEME FOR THE CONQUEST OF CANADA, AND ON THE GENERAL STATE +OF THE ARMY AND THE COUNTRY. + +"January I, 1779. The committee appointed to confer with the +commander-in-chief on the operations of the next campaign, report +that the plan proposed by Congress for the emancipation of Canada, in +cooperation with an army from France, was the principal subject of the +said conference. That, impressed with a strong sense of the injury and +disgrace which must attend an infraction of the proposed stipulations, +on the part of these States, your committee have taken a general view +of our finances, of the circumstances of our army, of the magazines of +clothes, artillery, arms and ammunition, and of the provisions in store, +and which can be collected in season. + +"Your committee have also attentively considered the intelligence and +observations communicated to them by the commander-in-chief, respecting +the number of troops and strongholds of the enemy in Canada; their naval +force, and entire command of the water communication with that country; +the difficulties, while they possess such signal advantages, of +penetrating it with an army by land; the obstacles which are to be +surmounted in acquiring a naval superiority; the hostile temper of many +of the surrounding Indian tribes towards these States; and above all, +the uncertainty whether the enemy will not persevere in their system +of harassing and distressing our sea-coast and frontiers by a predatory +war. + +"That on a most mature deliberation, your committee cannot find room for +a well grounded presumption that these States will be able to perform +their part of the proposed stipulations. That in a measure of such +moment, calculated to call forth, and direct to a single object, a +considerable portion of the force of our ally which may otherwise be +essentially employed, nothing else than the highest probability of +success could justify Congress in making the proposition. + +"Your committee are therefore of opinion, that the negotiation in +question, however desirable and interesting, should be deferred until +circumstances render the cooperation of these States more certain, +practicable, and effectual. + +"That the minister plenipotentiary of these States at the court of +Versailles, the minister of France in Pennsylvania, and the minister +of France, be respectively informed that the operations of the next +campaign must depend on such a variety of contingencies to arise, as +well from our own internal circumstances and resources as the progress +and movements of our enemy, that time alone can mature and point out the +plan which ought to be pursued. That Congress, therefore, cannot, with +a degree of confidence answerable to the magnitude of the object, decide +on the practicability of their cooperating the next campaign in an +enterprise for the emancipation of Canada; that every preparation in our +power will nevertheless be made for acting with vigor against the common +enemy, and every favorable incident embraced with alacrity to facilitate +and hasten the freedom and independence of Canada, and her union with +these States--events which Congress, from motives of policy with +respect to the United States, as well as of affection to their Canadian +brethren, have greatly at heart." + +This report is evidently inspired by Washington, from beginning to end. + +1. Footnote: This officer was not of the same family with the Tory +Butler. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +WASHINGTON'S OPERATIONS IN THE NORTHERN STATES. 1779. + + +We have seen that Washington had gone from his winter quarters near +Middlebrook in the Jerseys to hold a conference with Congress on the +subject of the invasion of Canada. When this matter had been disposed of +there still remained many subjects demanding the joint attention of the +supreme Legislature and the Commander-in-Chief, and accordingly he spent +a considerable part of the winter of 1778-9 at Philadelphia consulting +with Congress on measures for the general defense and welfare of the +country. Washington felt extreme anxiety at the inadequate means at +his disposal for conducting the campaign of 1779. The state of Congress +itself, as we have already shown, was sufficiently embarrassing to +him, but there were other causes of uneasiness in the general aspect of +affairs. The French alliance was considered by the people as rendering +the cause of independence perfectly safe; with little or no exertion on +our part England was supposed to be already conquered in America, and, +moreover, she was threatened with a Spanish war. Hence the States +were remiss in furnishing their quotas of men and money. The currency, +consisting of Continental bills, was so much depreciated that a silver +dollar was worth forty dollars of the paper money. The effect of this +last misfortune was soon apparent in the conduct of the officers of the +Jersey brigade. + +In pursuance of Washington's plan of chastising the Indians, to which we +referred in the last chapter, it was resolved to lead a force into those +villages of the Six Nations which were hostile to the United States and +destroy their settlements. + +As the army destined for this expedition was about to move alarming +symptoms of discontent appeared in a part of it. The Jersey brigade, +which had been stationed during the winter at Elizabethtown, was ordered +early in May (1779) to march by regiments. This order was answered by +a letter from General Maxwell stating that the officers of the First +regiment had delivered a remonstrance to their colonel, addressed to the +Legislature of the State, declaring that unless their complaints on the +subjects of pay and support should obtain the immediate attention of +that body, they were, at the expiration of three days, to be considered +as having resigned, and requesting the Legislature, in that event, to +appoint other officers to succeed them. They declared, however, their +readiness to make every preparation for obeying the orders which had +been given, and to continue their attention to the regiment until a +reasonable time should elapse for the appointment of their successors. +"This," added the letter of General Maxwell, "is a step they are +extremely unwilling to take, but it is such as I make no doubt they +will all take; nothing but necessity--their not being able to support +themselves in time to come and being loaded with debts contracted in +time past--could have induced them to resign at so critical a juncture." + +The intelligence conveyed in this letter made a serious impression on +Washington. He was strongly attached to the army and to its interests, +had witnessed its virtues and its sufferings, and lamented sincerely its +present distresses. The justice of the complaints made by the officers +could no more be denied than the measure they had adopted could be +approved. Relying on their patriotism and on his own influence, he +immediately wrote a letter to General Maxwell to be laid before them +in which, mingling the sensibility of a friend with the authority of +a general, he addressed to their understanding and to their love of +country, observations calculated to invite their whole attention to the +consequences which must result from the step they were about to take. + +"The patience and perseverance of the army," proceeds the letter, "have +been, under every disadvantage, such as to do them the highest honor +both at home and abroad, and have inspired me with an unlimited +confidence of their virtue, which has consoled me amidst every +perplexity and reverse of fortune to which our affairs, in a struggle of +this nature, were necessarily exposed. Now that we have made so great a +progress to the attainment of the end we have in view, so that we cannot +fail without a most shameful desertion of our own interests, anything +like a change of conduct would imply a very unhappy change of +principles, and a forgetfulness as well of what we owe to ourselves as +to our country. Did I suppose it possible this could be the case, even +in a single regiment of the army, I should be mortified and chagrined +beyond expression. I should feel it as a wound given to my own honor, +which I consider as embarked with that of the army at large. But this I +believe to be impossible. Any corps that was about to set an example +of the kind would weigh well the consequences, and no officer of common +discernment and sensibility would hazard them. If they should stand +alone in it, independent of other consequences, what would be their +feelings on reflecting that they had held themselves out to the world in +a point of light inferior to the rest of the army? Or if their +example should be followed, and become general, how could they console +themselves for having been the foremost in bringing ruin and disgrace +upon their country? They would remember that the army would share +a double portion of the general infamy and distress, and that the +character of an American officer would become as infamous as it is now +glorious. + +"I confess the appearances in the present instance are disagreeable, but +I am convinced they seem to mean more than they really do. The Jersey +officers have not been outdone by any others in the qualities either of +citizens or soldiers; and I am confident no part of them would seriously +intend anything that would be a stain on their former reputation. The +gentlemen cannot be in earnest; they have only reasoned wrong about the +means of obtaining a good end, and, on consideration, I hope and flatter +myself they will renounce what must appear to be improper. At the +opening of a campaign, when under marching orders for an important +service, their own honor, duty to the public and to themselves, and +a regard to military propriety, will not suffer them to persist in a +measure which would be a violation of them all. It will even wound their +delicacy, coolly to reflect that they have hazarded a step which has +an air of dictating terms to their country, by taking advantage of the +necessity of the moment." + +This letter did not completely produce the desired effect. The officers +did not recede from their claims. In an address to Washington, they +expressed their unhappiness that any act of theirs should give him pain, +but proceeded to justify the step they had taken. Repeated memorials +had been presented to their Legislature which had been received with +promises of attention, but had been regularly neglected. "At length," +said they, "we have lost all confidence in our Legislature. Reason +and experience forbid that we should have any. Few of us have private +fortunes; many have families, who already are suffering everything that +can be received from an ungrateful country. Are we then to suffer all +the inconveniences, fatigues, and dangers of a military life, while our +wives and our children are perishing for want of common necessaries at +home--and that without the most distant prospect of reward, for our pay +is now only nominal? We are sensible that your Excellency cannot wish +nor desire this from us. We are sorry that you should imagine we meant +to disobey orders. It was and still is our determination to march with +our regiment and to do the duty of officers until the Legislature should +have a reasonable time to appoint others, but no longer. + +"We beg leave to assure your Excellency that we have the highest sense +of your ability and virtues; that executing your orders has ever given +us pleasure; that we love the service, and we love our country--but when +that country gets so lost to virtue and justice as to forget to support +its servants, it then becomes their duty to retire from its service." + +This letter was peculiarly embarrassing to Washington. To adopt a stern +course of proceeding might hazard the loss of the Jersey line, an event +not less injurious to the service than painful to himself. To take up +the subject without doing too much for the circumstances of the army +would be doing too little for the occasion. He therefore declined taking +any other notice of the letter than to declare through General Maxwell, +that while they continued to do their duty in conformity with the +determination they had expressed he should only regret the part they had +taken and should hope they would perceive its impropriety. + +The Legislature of New Jersey, alarmed at the decisive step taken by +the officers, was at length induced to pay some attention to their +situation--they consenting on their part to withdraw their remonstrance. +In the meantime they continued to perform their duty and their march was +not delayed by this unpleasant altercation. + +In communicating this transaction to Congress Washington took occasion +to remind that body of his having frequently urged the absolute +necessity of some general and adequate provision for the officers of the +army. "I shall only observe," continued the letter, "that the distresses +in some corps are so great, either where they were not until lately +attached to any particular State, or where the State has been less +provident, that the officers have solicited even to be supplied with the +clothing destined for the common soldiery, coarse and unsuitable as it +was. I had not power to comply with the request. + +"The patience of men animated by a sense of duty and honor will support +them to a certain point, beyond which it will not go. I doubt not +Congress will be sensible of the danger of an extreme in this respect, +and will pardon my anxiety to obviate it." + +Before the troops destined for the grand expedition were put in motion +an enterprise of less extent was undertaken which was completely +successful. A plan for surprising the towns of the Onondagas, one of the +nearest of the hostile tribes, having been formed by General +Schuyler and approved by Washington, Colonel Van Schaick assisted by +Lieutenant-Colonel Willet and Major Cochran marched from Fort Schuyler +on the morning of the 19th of April at the head of between five and six +hundred men and on the third day reached the point of destination. The +whole settlement was destroyed after which the detachment returned +to Fort Schuyler without the loss of a single man. For this handsome +display of talents as a partisan, the thanks of Congress were voted to +Colonel Van Schaick and the officers and soldiers under his command. + +The cruelties exercised by the Indians in the course of the preceding +year had given a great degree of importance to the expedition now +meditated against them, and the relative military strength and situation +of the two parties rendered it improbable that any other offensive +operations could be carried on by the Americans in the course of the +present campaign. The army under the command of Sir Henry Clinton, +exclusive of the troops in the southern department, was computed at +between sixteen and seventeen thousand men. The American army, the +largest division of which lay at Middlebrook under the immediate command +of Washington, was rather inferior to that of the British in real +strength. The grand total, except those in the southern and western +country, including officers of every description amounted to about +16,000. Three thousand of these were in New England under the command of +General Gates, and the remaining 13,000 were cantoned on both sides of +the North river. + +After the destruction of Forts Clinton and Montgomery in 1777, it had +been determined to construct the fortifications intended for the future +defense of the North river at West Point, a position which being more +completely embosomed in the hills was deemed more defensible. The works +had been prosecuted with unremitting industry but were far from being +completed. + +King's Ferry, some miles below West Point, where the great road, the +most convenient communication between the middle and eastern States, +crossed the North river, is completely commanded by two opposite points +of land. That on the west side, a rough and elevated piece of ground, is +denominated Stony Point; and the other, on the east side, a flat neck +of land projecting far into the water, is called Verplanck's Point. +The command of King's Ferry was an object worth the attention of either +army, and Washington had comprehended the points which protect it within +his plan of defense for the Highlands. A small but strong work called +Fort Fayette was completed at Verplanck's and was garrisoned by a +company commanded by Captain Armstrong. The works on Stony Point were +unfinished. As the season for active operations approached Sir Henry +Clinton formed a plan for opening the campaign with a brilliant _coup +de main_ up the North river and toward the latter end of May made +preparations for the enterprise. + +These preparations were immediately communicated to Washington who was +confident that Clinton meditated an attack on the forts in the Highlands +or designed to take a position between those forts and Middlebrook, in +order to interrupt the communication between the different parts of +the American army, to prevent their reunion and to beat them in detail. +Measures were instantly taken to counteract either of these designs. +The intelligence from New York was communicated to Generals Putnam and +M'Dougal, who were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to march, and +on the 29th of May (1779) the army moved by divisions from Middlebrook +toward the Highlands. On the 30th the British army commanded by Clinton +in person and convoyed by Sir George Collier proceeded up the river, and +General Vaughan at the head of the largest division, landed next morning +about eight miles below Verplanck's. The other division under the +particular command of General Patterson, but accompanied by Clinton, +advancing further up, landed on the west side within three miles of +Stony Point. + +That place being immediately abandoned, General Patterson took +possession of it on the same afternoon. He dragged some heavy cannon and +mortars to the summit of the hill in the course of the night (June 1, +1779), and at five next morning opened a battery on Fort Fayette at the +distance of about 1,000 yards. During the following night two galleys +passed the fort and anchoring above it prevented the escape of the +garrison by water while General Vaughan invested it closely by land. +No means of defending the fort or of saving themselves remaining the +garrisons became prisoners of war. Immediate directions were given +for completing the works at both posts and for putting Stony Point in +particular in a strong state of defense. + +Washington determined to check any further advance of the enemy, and +before Clinton was in a situation to proceed against West Point, General +M'Dougal was so strengthened and the American army took such a position +on the strong grounds about the Hudson that the enterprise became too +hazardous to be further prosecuted. + +After completing the fortifications on both sides of the river at King's +Ferry, Clinton placed a strong garrison in each fort and proceeded down +the river to Philipsburg. The relative situation of the hostile armies +presenting insuperable obstacles to any grand operation they could be +employed offensively only on detached expeditions. Connecticut, from +its contiguity to New York and its extent of sea coast, was peculiarly +exposed to invasion. The numerous small cruisers which plied in the +sound, to the great annoyance of British commerce, and the large +supplies of provisions drawn from the adjacent country for the use of +the Continental army, furnished great inducements to Clinton to direct +his enterprises particularly against that State. He also hoped to draw +Washington from his impregnable position on the North river into the low +country and thus obtain an opportunity of striking at some part of +his army or of seizing the posts which were the great object of the +campaign. With these views he planned an expedition against Connecticut, +the command of which was given to Governor Tryon, who reached New Haven +bay on the 5th of July (1779) with about 2,600 men. + +Washington was at the time on the lines examining in person the +condition of the works on Stony and Verplanck's Points, in consequence +of which the intelligence which was transmitted to headquarters that the +fleet had sailed could not be immediately communicated to the Governor +of Connecticut, and the first intimation which that State received +of its danger was given by the appearance of the enemy. The militia +assembled in considerable numbers with alacrity, but the British +effected a landing and took possession of the town. After destroying +the military and naval stores found in the place, they re-embarked and +proceeded westward to Fairfield which was reduced to ashes. The spirited +resistance made by the militia at this place is attested by the apology +made by General Tryon for the wanton destruction of private property +which disgraced his conduct. "The village was burnt," he says, "to +resent the fire of the rebels from their houses and to mask our +retreat." + +From Fairfield the fleet crossed the sound to Huntington bay where it +remained until the 9th (July, 1779), when it recrossed that water. The +troops were landed in the night on a peninsula on the east side of the +Bay of Norwalk. About the same time a much larger detachment from +the British army directed its course towards Horse Neck and made +demonstrations of a design to penetrate into the country in that +direction. + +On the first intelligence that Connecticut was invaded, General Parsons, +a native of that State, had been directed by Washington to hasten to the +scene of action. Placing himself at the head of about 150 Continental +troops who were supported by considerable bodies of militia, he attacked +the British on the morning of the twelfth as soon as they were in motion +and kept up an irregular distant fire throughout the day. But, being +too weak to prevent the destruction of any particular town on the coast, +Norwalk was reduced to ashes, after which the British re-embarked and +returned to Huntington bay there to await for reinforcements. At this +place, however, Tryon received orders to return to Whitestone where in +a conference between Clinton and Sir George Collier it was determined to +proceed against New London with an increased force. + +On the invasion of Connecticut, Washington was prompt in his exertions +to send Continental troops from the nearest encampments to its aid, but +before they could afford any real service Clinton found it necessary to +recall Tryon to the Hudson. + +Washington had planned an enterprise against the posts at King's Ferry, +comprehending a double attack to be made at the same time on both. But +the difficulty of a perfect cooperation of detachments, incapable of +communicating with each other, determined him to postpone the attack on +Verplanck's and to make that part of the plan dependent on the success +of the first. His whole attention, therefore, was turned to Stony Point +and the troops destined for this critical service proceeded on it as +against a single object. + +The execution of the plan was entrusted by Washington to General Wayne +who commanded the light infantry of the army. His daring courage had +long since obtained for him the sobriquet of "Mad Anthony." He accepted +the command with alacrity. Secrecy was deemed so much more essential to +success than numbers that no addition was made to the force already on +the lines. One brigade was ordered to commence its march so as to reach +the scene of action in time to cover the troops engaged in the attack +should any unlooked-for disaster befall them, and Maj. Henry Lee of +the light dragoons, who had been eminently useful in obtaining the +intelligence which led to the enterprise, was associated with Wayne as +far as cavalry could be employed in such a service. The night of the +15th (July, 1779), and the hour of twelve, were chosen for the assault. + +Stony Point is a commanding hill projecting far into the Hudson which +washes three-fourths of its base. The remaining fourth was in a great +measure covered by a deep marsh, commencing near the river on the upper +side and continuing into it below. Over this marsh there was only one +crossing place, but at its junction with the river was a sandy beach +passable at low tide. On the summit of this hill stood the fort which +was furnished with heavy ordnance. Several breastworks and strong +batteries were advanced in front of the main work, and about half way +down the hill were two rows of abattis. The batteries were calculated to +command the beach and the crossing place of the marsh, and to rake and +enfilade any column which might be advancing from either of those points +toward the fort. In addition to these defenses several vessels of war +were stationed in the river and commanded the ground at the foot of +the hill. The garrison consisted of about 600 men commanded by Colonel +Johnson. + +Wayne arrived about eight in the evening at Springsteel's, one and a +half miles from the fort and made his dispositions for the assault. + +It was intended to attack the works on the right and left flanks at the +same instant. The regiments of Febiger and of Meigs with Major Hull's +detachment formed the right column, and Butler's regiment, with two +companies under Major Murfree, formed the left. One hundred and fifty +volunteers led by Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury and Major Posey constituted +the van of the right, and 100 volunteers under Major Stewart composed +the van of the left. At 11:30 the two columns moved to the assault, the +van of each with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets. They were +each preceded by a forlorn hope of twenty men, the one commanded by +Lieutenant Gibbon and the other by Lieutenant Knox. They reached the +marsh undiscovered and at 12:20 commenced the assault. + +Both columns rushed forward under a tremendous fire of grape-shot and +musketry. Surmounting every obstacle, they entered the works at the +point of the bayonet and without discharging a single musket obtained +possession of the fort. + +The humanity displayed by the conquerors was not less conspicuous nor +less honorable than their courage. Not an individual suffered after +resistance had ceased. + +All the troops engaged in this perilous service manifested a degree +of ardor and impetuosity which proved them to be capable of the most +difficult enterprises, and all distinguished themselves whose situation +enabled them to do so. Colonel Fleury, who had distinguished himself in +defense of the forts on the Delaware in 1777, was the first to enter +the fort and strike the British standard. Major Posey mounted the works +almost at the same instant and was the first to give the watch-word, +"The fort's our own." Lieutenants Gibbon and Knox performed the service +allotted to them with a degree of intrepidity which could not be +surpassed. Of twenty men who constituted the party of the former, +seventeen were killed or wounded. [1] Sixty-three of the garrison were +killed, including two officers. The prisoners amounted to 543, among +whom were 1 lieutenant-colonel, 4 captains, and 20 subaltern officers. +The military stores taken in the fort were considerable. + +The loss sustained by the assailants was not proportioned to the +apparent danger of the enterprise. The killed and wounded did not exceed +100 men. Wayne, who marched with Febiger's regiment in the right +column received a wound in the head which stunned him. Recovering +consciousness, but believing the wound to be mortal, he said to his +aids, "Carry me into the fort and let me die at the head of my column." +Being supported by his aids he entered the fort with the regiment. +Lieutenant-Colonel Hay was also among the wounded. + +Although the design upon Fort Fayette had yielded to the desire of +securing the success of the attack on Stony Point it had not been +abandoned. Two brigades under General M'Dougal had been ordered to +approach the works on Verplanck's, in which Colonel Webster commanded, +and be in readiness to attack them the instant Wayne should obtain +possession of Stony Point. That this detachment might not permit the +favorable moment to pass unimproved Wayne had been requested to direct +the messenger who should convey the intelligence of his success to +Washington to pass through M'Dougal's camp and give him advice of that +event. He was also requested to turn the cannon of the fort against +Verplanck's and the vessels in the river. The last orders were executed +and a heavy cannonade was opened on Fort Fayette and on the vessels, +which compelled them to fall down the river. Through some misconception, +never explained, the messenger dispatched by Wayne did not call on +M'Dougal, but proceeded directly to headquarters. Thus, every advantage +expected from the first impression made by the capture of Stony Point +was lost, and the garrison had full leisure to recover from the surprise +occasioned by that event and to prepare for an attack. This change +of circumstances made it necessary to change the plan of operation. +Washington ordered General Howe to take the command of M'Dougal's +detachment to which some pieces of heavy artillery were to be annexed. +He was directed, after effecting a breach in the walls, to make the +dispositions for an assault and to demand a surrender, but not to +attempt a storm until it should be dark. To these orders explicit +instructions were added not to hazard his party by remaining before +Verplanck's after the British should cross Croton river in force. + +Through some unaccountable negligence in the persons charged with the +execution of these orders the battering artillery was not accompanied +with suitable ammunition, and the necessary entrenching tools were not +brought. These omissions were supplied the next day, but it was then too +late to proceed against Verplanck's. + +On receiving intelligence of the loss of Stony Point and of the danger +to which the garrison of Fort Fayette was exposed, Sir Henry Clinton +relinquished his views on Connecticut and made a forced march to Dobb's +Ferry. Some troops were immediately embarked to pass up the river and +a light corps was pushed forward to the Croton. This movement relieved +Fort Fayette. + +The failure of the attempt to obtain possession of Verplanck's Point, +leaving that road of communication still closed, diminished the +advantages which had been expected to result from the enterprise so +much that it was deemed unadvisable to maintain Stony Point. On +reconnoitering the ground Washington believed that the place could not +be rendered secure with a garrison of less than 1,500 men--a number +which could not be spared from the army without weakening it too much +for further operations. He determined, therefore, to evacuate Stony +Point and retire to the Highlands. As soon as this resolution was +executed Clinton repossessed himself of that post, repaired the +fortifications, and placed a stronger garrison in it, after which he +resumed his former situation at Philipsburg. + +The two armies watched each other for some time. At length, Clinton, +finding himself unable to attack Washington in the strong position he +had taken or to draw him from it, and being desirous of transferring +the theater of active war to the south, withdrew to New York and was +understood to be strengthening the fortifications erected for its +defense, as preparatory to the large detachments he intended making to +reinforce the southern army. + +Although this movement was made principally with a view to southern +operations, it was in some degree hastened by the opinion that New +York required immediate additional protection during the absence of the +fleet, which was about to sail for the relief of Penobscot. + +Scarcely had Sir George Collier, who had accompanied Clinton up the +Hudson to take possession of Stony Point, returned to New York, when he +was informed that a fleet of armed vessels with transports and troops +had sailed from Boston to attack a post which General M'Lean was +establishing at Penobscot in the eastern part of the province of +Massachusetts bay. He immediately got ready for sea that part of the +naval force which was at New York, and on the 3d of August sailed to +relieve the garrison of Penobscot. + +In the month of June (1779) General M'Lean, who commanded the royal +troops in Nova Scotia, arrived in the bay of Penobscot with nearly 700 +men, in order to establish a post which might at once be a means +of checking the incursions of the Americans into Nova Scotia and of +supplying the royal yards at Halifax with ship timber, which abounded in +that part of the country. This establishment alarmed the government of +Massachusetts bay, which resolved to dislodge M'Lean, and, with great +promptitude, equipped a fleet and raised troops for that purpose. +The fleet, which consisted of fifteen vessels of war, carrying from +thirty-two to twelve guns each with transports, was commanded by +Commodore Saltonstall; the army, amounting to between three and four +thousand militia, was under the orders of General Lovell. + +General M'Lean chose for his post a peninsula on the east side of +Penobscot bay, which is about seven leagues wide and seventeen deep, +terminating at the point where the river Penobscot flows into it. +M'Lean's station was nine miles from the bottom of the bay. As that part +of the country was then an unbroken forest he cleared away the wood on +the peninsula and began to construct a fort in which he was assisted +and protected by the crews of three sloops-of-war which had escorted him +thither. M'Lean heard of the expedition against him on the 21st of July +(1779), when he had made little progress in the erection of his fort. +On the 25th the American fleet appeared in the bay, but, owing to the +opposition of the British sloops-of-war and to the bold and rugged +nature of the shore, the troops did not effect a landing until the 28th. +This interval M'Lean improved with such laborious diligence that his +fortifications were in a state of considerable forwardness. Lovell +erected a battery within 750 yards of the works, and for nearly a +fortnight a brisk cannonade was kept up and preparations were made to +assault the fort. But, on the 13th of August (1779), Lovell was informed +that Sir George Collier with a superior naval force had entered the +bay; therefore in the night he silently embarked his troops and cannon, +unperceived by the garrison, which was every moment in expectation of +being assaulted. + +On the approach of the British fleet the Americans, after some show +of preparation for resistance, betook themselves to flight. A general +pursuit and unresisted destruction ensued. The Warren, a fine new +frigate of thirty-two guns, and fourteen other vessels of inferior +force, were either blown up or taken. The transports fled in confusion +and, after having landed the troops in a wild and uncultivated part +of the country, were burnt. The men, destitute of provisions and other +necessaries, had to explore their way for more than 100 miles through +an uninhabited and pathless wilderness and many of them perished before +reaching the settled country. After this successful exploit Sir George +Collier returned to New York, where he resigned the command of the fleet +to Admiral Arbuthnot, who had arrived from England with some ships of +war and with provisions, stores, and reinforcements for the army. + +On descending the river, after replacing the garrison of Stony Point, +Sir Henry Clinton encamped above Harlem, with his upper posts at +Kingsbridge. Washington remained in his strong position in the +Highlands, but frequently detached numerous parties on both sides of +the river in order to check the British foragers and to restrain the +intercourse with the Loyalists. Major Lee ("Light Horse Harry"), who +commanded one of those parties, planned a bold and hazardous enterprise +against the British post at Paulus Hook on the Jersey bank of the river, +opposite New York. That post was strongly fortified and of difficult +access, and therefore the garrison thought themselves secure. But Lee +determined to make an attempt on the place and chose the morning of the +20th of August (1779) for his enterprise, when part of the garrison was +absent on a foraging excursion. Advancing silently at the head of +300 men the sentinel at the gate mistook his party for that which had +marched out the preceding day, and allowed them to pass unchallenged, +and almost in an instant they seized the blockhouse and two redoubts +before the alarm was given. Major Sutherland, commandant of the post, +with sixty Hessians, entered a redoubt and began a brisk fire on the +assailants. This gave an extensive notice of the attack, and the firing +of guns in New York, and by the shipping in the roads, proved that the +alarm was widely spread. In order, therefore, not to hazard the loss +of his party, Lee retreated with the loss of two men killed and three +wounded, carrying along with him about 150 prisoners. Notwithstanding +the difficulties and dangers which he had to encounter, he effected his +retreat. It was not his design to keep possession of the place, but +to carry off the garrison, reflect credit on the American arms, and +encourage a spirit of enterprise in the army. [2] + +The expedition planned by Washington for chastising the Indians who had +committed such atrocities last year on the frontier and particularly at +Wyoming, was the most important of this campaign. Washington entrusted +the command of it to General Sullivan. The largest division of the army +employed on that service assembled at Wyoming. Another division, which +had wintered on the Mohawk, marched under the orders of Gen. James +Clinton and joined the main body at the confluence of the two great +sources of the Susquehanna. On the 22d. of August (1779), the united +force, amounting to nearly 5,000 men, under the command of General +Sullivan, proceeded up the Cayuga or western branch of the last-named +river which led directly into the Indian country. The preparations for +this expedition did not escape the notice of those against whom it was +directed, and the Indians seem fully to have penetrated Sullivan's plan +of operation. Formidable as his force was they determined to meet him +and try the fortune of a battle. They were about 1,000 strong, commanded +by the two Butlers, Guy Johnson, M'Donald, and Brandt. They chose their +ground with judgment and fortified their camp at some distance above +Chemung and within a mile of Newtown. + +There Sullivan attacked them and, after a short but spirited resistance, +they retreated with precipitation. The Americans had thirty men killed +or wounded; the Indians left only eleven dead bodies on the field, +but they were so discouraged by this defeat that they abandoned their +villages and fields to the unresisted ravages of the victor, who laid +waste their towns and orchards, so that they might have no inducement +again to settle so near the settlements of the whites. + +The severity of this proceeding has been censured by some writers, +but it requires no apology. Nothing could convince the savages of +the injustice and inhumanity of their usual system of warfare on the +frontier so effectually as to give them a specimen of it, even in a +milder form, in their own country. Sullivan desolated their villages and +farms, but we do not learn that he took any scalps or murdered any +women or children, or tortured any of his prisoners. The measure of +retaliation which he dealt to the miscreants who sacked Wyoming was +gentleness and humanity when compared with their proceedings. It is only +to be regretted that his retaliation could not have been applied to the +homes of the British and Tories who assisted the Indians at Wyoming. +Sullivan and his army received a vote of thanks from Congress, but the +general's health failing, he soon resigned his commission and retired +from the service. + +Sullivan's orders from Washington exculpate him from all blame as to the +mode of punishing the Indians. "Of the expedition," Washington says, +in writing to him, "the immediate objects are the total destruction and +devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners +of every age and sex as possible." Washington knew that this kind of +warfare was the only possible means of putting an end to Indian wars. +Any other mode of proceeding, he was fully aware, was treachery and +cruelty to his own countrymen. + +A few days after the surprise of Paulus Hook by Major Lee, the +long-expected fleet from Europe, under the command of Admiral Arbuthnot, +having on board a reinforcement for the British army, arrived at New +York. This reinforcement, however, did not enable Clinton to enter +immediately on that active course of offensive operations which he had +meditated. It was soon followed by the Count D'Estaing, who arrived on +the southern coast of America with a powerful fleet, after which Clinton +deemed it necessary to turn all his attention to his own security. Rhode +Island and the posts up the North river were evacuated and the whole +army was collected in New York, the fortifications of which were carried +on with unremitting industry. + +The Count D'Estaing and Admiral Byron having sailed about the same time +from the coast of North America, met in the West Indies, where the +war was carried on with various success. St. Lucia surrendered to the +British in compensation for which the French took St. Vincent's and +Grenada. About the time of the capture of the latter island D'Estaing +received reinforcements which gave him a decided naval superiority, +after which a battle was fought between the two hostile fleets, in which +the count claimed the victory and in which so many of the British ships +were disabled that the admiral was compelled to retire into port in +order to refit. + +Early in May (1779) Sir Henry Clinton had dispatched from New York +a squadron under Sir George Collier with 2,500 troops under General +Mathews, who entered Chesapeake Bay, and, after taking possession of +Portsmouth, sent out parties of soldiers to Norfolk, Suffolk, Gosport, +and other places in the neighborhood, where there were large deposits +of provisions and military and naval stores, and many merchant vessels, +some on the stocks and some laden with valuable cargoes. These were all +burnt and the whole neighborhood subjected to plunder and devastation. +This was a severe blow to the commerce on which Congress placed great +dependence for supplies to the army and for sustaining its own credit. + +In compliance with the solicitations of General Lincoln and the +authorities of South Carolina, D'Estaing directed his course to the +coast of Georgia with twenty-two ships of the line and eleven frigates +having on board 6,000 soldiers, and arrived so suddenly on the southern +coast of America that the Experiment, of fifty guns, and three frigates, +fell into his hands. A vessel was sent to Charleston with information of +his arrival and a plan was concerted for the siege of Savannah. + +General Lincoln, who, after the fall of Savannah, had been sent to +Charleston to take command of the southern department of the army, was +to cooperate with D'Estaing's fleet and army in the siege. Instead of +assaulting the place at the earliest practicable moment, they granted +Prevost, the British commander at Savannah, an armistice of twenty-four +hours, during which he received reinforcements and set them at defiance. +They then commenced a siege by regular approaches on land and cannonade +and bombardment from D'Estaing's formidable fleet in the harbor. This +lasted for three weeks. + +On the 9th of October (1779), without having effected a sufficient +breach, the united French and American forces stormed the works. Great +gallantry was displayed by the assailants. The French and American +standards were both planted on the redoubts. But it was all in vain. +They were completely repulsed, the French losing 700 and the Americans +340 men. Count Pulaski was among the slain. + +The loss of the garrison was astonishingly small. In killed and wounded +it amounted only to fifty-five--so great was the advantage of the +cover afforded by their works. After this repulse the Count D'Estaing +announced to General Lincoln his determination to raise the siege. The +remonstrances of that officer were unavailing, and the removal of the +heavy ordnance and stores was commenced. This being accomplished, both +armies moved from their ground on the evening of the 18th of October +(1779). The Americans, recrossing the Savannah at Zubly's Ferry, again +encamped in South Carolina, and the French re-embarked. D'Estaing +himself sailed with a part of his fleet for France; the rest proceeded +to the West Indies. + +Although the issue of this enterprise was the source of severe chagrin +and mortification the prudence of General Lincoln suppressed +every appearance of dissatisfaction, and the armies separated with +manifestations of reciprocal esteem. The hopes which had brought the +militia into the field being disappointed they dispersed, and the +affairs of the southern States wore a more gloomy aspect than at any +former period. + +During the siege of Savannah an ingenious enterprise of partisan warfare +was executed by Colonel White of the Georgia line. Before the arrival +of the French fleet in the Savannah, a British captain with in men had +taken post near the river Ogeeche, twenty-five miles from Savannah. At +the same place were five British vessels, four of which were armed, the +largest with fourteen guns, the least with four, and the vessels were +manned with forty sailors. Late at night, on the 30th of September +(1779), White, who had only six volunteers, including his own servant, +kindled a number of fires in different places so as to exhibit the +appearance of a considerable encampment, practiced several other +corresponding artifices, and then summoned the captain instantly to +surrender. That officer, believing that he was about to be attacked by a +superior force and that nothing but immediate submission could save him +and his men from destruction, made no defense. The stratagem was carried +on with so much address that the prisoners, amounting to 141, were +secured and conducted to the American post at Sunbury, twenty-five miles +distant. + +On receiving intelligence of the situation of Lincoln, Congress passed a +resolution requesting Washington to order the North Carolina troops, +and such others as could be spared from the northern army, to the aid of +that in the South and assuring the States of South Carolina and Georgia +of the attention of government to their preservation, but requesting +them, for their own defense to comply with the recommendations formerly +made respecting the completion of their Continental regiments, and the +government of their militia while in actual service. + +Washington had already received (November 1779) intelligence of the +disastrous result of D'Estaing and Lincoln's attack on Savannah, and had +formed his plans of operation before Congress sent assurances of aid +to the South. Giving up all expectation of cooperation from the French +fleet, he disbanded the New York and Massachusetts militia and made his +arrangements for the winter. He ordered one division of the army under +General Heath to the Highlands to protect West Point and the posts +in that neighborhood, and with the other division he went into winter +quarters near Morristown, the army being quartered in huts, as at Valley +Forge. The cavalry were sent to Connecticut. + +Washington had already penetrated the design of the enemy to make the +southern States their principal field of operation, and accordingly he +dispatched to Charleston the North Carolina brigade in November, and the +whole of the Virginia line in December. On the other hand, Clinton and +Cornwallis embarked with a large force in transports convoyed by Admiral +Arbuthnot with a fleet of five ships of the line and several frigates, +and sailed on the 26th of December 1779, for Savannah. Knyphausen was +left in command of the garrison of New York. [3] + +Washington's own summary of the operations of this campaign (1779) +is contained in a letter to Lafayette in the following terms: "The +operations of the enemy this campaign have been confined to the +establishment of works of defense, taking a post at King's Ferry, and +burning the defenseless towns of New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, +on the Sound, within reach of their shipping, where little else was +or could be opposed to them than the cries of distressed women and +children; but these were offered in vain. Since these notable exploits +they have never stepped out of their works or beyond their lines. How a +conduct of this kind is to effect the conquest of America, the wisdom of +a North, a Germaine, or a Sandwich can best decide. It is too deep and +refined for the comprehension of common understandings and the general +run of politicians." + +1. Footnote: For their bravery and good conduct at Stony Point, Wayne +received a gold, and Stewart and Fleury silver medals, with the thanks +of Congress. A separate medal was designed and struck for each of them. + +2. Footnote: Lee, for this exploit at Paulus Hook, was presented with a +gold medal by Congress. + +3. Footnote: Irving + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +CAMPAIGN IN THE NORTH-ARNOLD'S TREASON. 1780. + + +During the winter which followed the campaign of 1779, Washington, with +his army hutted on the heights of Morristown, was beset by pressing +and formidable difficulties. The finances of Congress were in a most +depressed condition, and the urgent wants of the army were but ill +supplied. The evils of short enlistment, though distinctly understood +and strongly felt, could not be remedied, and the places of those men +who were leaving the army on the expiration of their stipulated term +of service could not easily be filled up. Besides, the troops were +in danger of perishing by cold and famine. During the preceding year +General Greene and Colonel Wadsworth had been at the head of the +quartermaster and commissary departments, and notwithstanding their +utmost exertions, the wants of the army had been ill supplied. After +being put into winter quarters it was in great danger of being dissolved +by want of provisions or of perishing through famine. The Colonial paper +money was in a state of great and increasing depreciation, and in +order to check the alarming evil Congress, which, like other popular +assemblies had in it no small share of ignorance and self-sufficiency, +resolved to diminish the circulation and keep up the value of their +paper currency by withholding the necessary supplies from the public +agents. This foolish resolution threatened the ruin of the army. Nobody +was willing to make contracts with the public and some of those entered +into were not fulfilled. + +Congress, jealous of the public agents, because ignorant of what was +really necessary, repeatedly changed the form of its engagements +with them, and, at length, by its fluctuating policy, real wants, and +imprudent parsimony, brought matters to such extremities that Washington +was compelled to require the several counties of the State of New Jersey +to furnish his army with certain quantities of provisions within six +days in order to prevent them from being taken by force. Although the +province was much exhausted, yet the people instantly complied with the +requisition and furnished a temporary supply to the army. [1] + +Soon after Clinton sailed on his expedition against Charleston a frost +of unexampled intensity began. The Hudson, East river, and all the +waters around New York were so completely frozen that an army with its +artillery and wagons might have crossed them in all directions with +perfect safety. New York lost all the advantages of its insular +situation and became easily accessible on every side. The city was +fortified by the British, but on account of its insular situation, +several parts being considered of difficult access were left undefended. +By the strength of the ice, however, every point became exposed, and in +that unforeseen emergency, Knyphausen who commanded in the city with a +garrison of 10,000 men took every prudent precaution for his defense and +fortified every vulnerable part, but the inefficiency of the American +army was his best security. Washington easily perceived the advantages +which the extraordinary frost gave him, but from the destitute state +of his army he was unable to avail himself of them. The army under his +immediate command was inferior in number to the garrison of New York; +it was also ill clad, scantily supplied with provisions, and in no +condition to undertake offensive operations. + +The British had a post on Staten Island, and as the ice opened a free +communication between the island and the New Jersey coast, Washington, +notwithstanding the enfeebled condition of his army resolved to attack +the garrison, and appointed Lord Stirling to conduct the enterprise. +The night of the 14th of January (1780) was chosen for the attempt, but, +though the Americans used every precaution, the officer commanding on +Staten Island discovered their intention and took effectual measures +to defeat it. The attack was repulsed, but little loss was sustained on +either side. + +The extreme cold occasioned much suffering in New York by want of +provisions and fuel, for as the communication by water was entirely +stopped the usual supplies, were cut off. The demand for fuel in +particular was so pressing that it was found expedient to break up some +old transports, and to pull down some uninhabited wooden houses for +the purpose of procuring that necessary article. As the British paid in +ready money for provisions or firewood carried within the lines many of +the country people, tempted by the precious metals, so rare among them, +tried to supply the garrison. The endeavors of the British to encourage +and protect this intercourse and the exertions of the Americans to +prevent it brought on a sort of partisan warfare in which the former +most frequently had the advantage. In one of the most important of those +encounters, early in February (1780), near White Plains, a captain and +14 men of a Massachusetts regiment were killed on the spot, 17 were +wounded, and 90, with Colonel Thompson, the officer who commanded +the party, were made prisoners. Washington, writing to General Heath +respecting this affair, says: "It is some consolation that our officers +and men appear to have made a brave resistance. I cannot help suspecting +that our officers in advance quarter too long in a place. By these +means the enemy by their emissaries gain a perfect knowledge of their +cantonments and form their attacks accordingly. Were they to shift +constantly the enemy could scarcely ever attain this knowledge." + +Congress found itself placed in very difficult circumstances. It always +contained a number of men of talents and manifested no small share of +vigor and activity. Many of the members were skilful in the management +of their private affairs, and having been successful in the world +thought themselves competent to direct the most important national +concerns, although unacquainted with the principles of finance, +legislation, or war. Animated by that blind presumption which generally +characterizes popular assemblies they often entered into resolutions +which discovered little practical wisdom. In pecuniary matters they were +dilatory and never anticipated trying emergencies, or made provision +for probable events, till they were overtaken by some urgent necessity. +Hence they were frequently deliberating about levying troops and +supplying the army when the troops ought to have been in the field, and +the army fully equipped for active service. This often placed Washington +in the most trying and perilous circumstances. + +Congress had solemnly resolved not to exceed $200,000,000 in Continental +bills of credit. In November, 1779, the whole of that sum was issued +and expended also. The demand on the States to replenish the treasury +by taxes had not been fully complied with, and even although it had +been completely answered would not have furnished a sum adequate to the +expenses of government. Instead of maturely considering and digesting +a plan, adhering to it, and improving it by experience, Congress often +changed its measures, and even in the midst of those distresses which +had brought the army to the verge of dissolution, was busy in devising +new and untried expedients for supporting it. As the treasury was empty +and money could not be raised, Congress, on the 25th of February +(1780), resolved to call on the several States for their proportion of +provisions, spirits, and forage for the maintenance of the army during +the ensuing campaign, but specified no time within which these were +to be collected, and consequently the States were in no haste in the +matter. In order to encourage and facilitate compliance with this +requisition it was further resolved that any State which should have +taken the necessary measures for furnishing its quota, and given notice +thereof to Congress, should be authorized to prohibit any Continental +quartermaster or commissary from purchasing within its limits. + +Every man who had a practical knowledge of the subject easily perceived +the defective nature and dangerous tendency of this arrangement. It was +an attempt to carry on the war rather by separate provincial efforts +than by a combination of national strength, and if the army received +from any State where it was acting the appointed quantity of necessaries +it had no right, though starving, to purchase what it stood in need of. +Besides the carriage of provisions from distant parts was troublesome, +expensive, and sometimes impracticable. + +The troops were ill clothed, their pay was in arrear, and that of the +officers, owing to the great depreciation of the paper currency, was +wholly unequal to their decent maintenance. These multiplied privations +and sufferings soured the temper of the men, and it required all the +influence of Washington to prevent many of the officers from resigning +their commissions. The long continuance of want and hardship produced +relaxation of discipline which at length manifested itself in open +mutiny. On the 25th of May (1780) two regiments belonging to Connecticut +paraded under arms, with the avowed intention of returning home, or +of obtaining subsistence at the point of the bayonet. The rest of +the soldiers, though they did not join in the mutiny, showed little +disposition to suppress it. At length the two regiments were brought +back to their duty, but much murmuring and many complaints were heard. +While the army was in such want the inhabitants of New Jersey, where +most of the troops were stationed, were unavoidably harassed by frequent +requisitions, which excited considerable discontent. Reports of the +mutinous state of the American army and of the dissatisfaction of the +people of New Jersey, probably much exaggerated, were carried to General +Knyphausen, who, believing the American soldiers ready to desert their +standards and the inhabitants of New Jersey willing to abandon +the Union, on the 6th of June (1780), passed from Staten Island to +Elizabethtown, in Jersey, with 5,000 men. That movement was intended to +encourage the mutinous disposition of the American troops, and to fan +the flame of discontent among the inhabitants of the province. Early +next morning he marched into the country toward Springfield by the way +of Connecticut Farms, a flourishing plantation, so named because the +cultivators had come from Connecticut. But even before reaching that +place which was only five or six miles from Elizabethtown, the British +perceived that the reports which they had received concerning the +discontent of the Americans were incorrect, for on the first alarm the +militia assembled with great alacrity and aided by some small parties of +regular troops, annoyed the British by an irregular but galling fire +of musketry, wherever the nature of the ground presented a favorable +opportunity, and although those parties were nowhere strong enough +to make a stand, yet they gave plain indications of the temper and +resolution which were to be encountered in advancing into the country. +At Connecticut Farms the British detachment halted. The settlers were +known to be zealous in the American cause and therefore with a little +spirit of revenge, the British, among whom was General Tryon, laid the +flourishing village, with its church and the minister's house, in ashes. +Here occurred one of those affecting incidents which being somewhat out +of the ordinary course of the miseries of war make a deep impression +on the public mind. Mr. Caldwell, minister of the place, had withdrawn +toward Springfield, but had left his wife and family behind believing +them to be in no danger. The British advanced to the industrious and +peaceful village. Mrs. Caldwell, trusting to her sex for safety and +unsuspicious of harm, was sitting in her house with her children around +her when a soldier came up, leveled his musket at the window, and +shot her dead on the spot in the midst of her terrified family. On the +intercession of a friend the dead body was permitted to be removed when +the house was set on fire. This atrocious deed excited such general +horror and detestation that the British thought proper to disavow it, +and to impute the death of Mrs. Caldwell to a random shot from the +retreating militia, though the militia did not fire a musket in the +village. The wanton murder of the lady might be the unauthorized act of +a savage individual, but can the burning of the house after her death +be accounted for in the same way? Knyphausen was a veteran officer and +cannot be supposed capable of entering into local animosities or of +countenancing such brutality, but Tryon was present and his conduct on +other occasions was not unblemished. + +Mr. Caldwell had rendered himself particularly obnoxious to the enemy, +and was cordially hated by Tryon for his zealous devotion to the +patriotic cause. He had served as a chaplain in the army, was +exceedingly popular among the patriots of New Jersey, had given up his +church to be used as a hospital, and had exerted himself by eloquent +appeals to arouse his countrymen to unflinching resistance against the +enemy. For this Tryon caused his church to be burnt and did not prevent +the soldiers from shooting his wife. + +After destroying the Connecticut Farms, Knyphausen advanced toward +Springfield, where the Jersey brigade, under General Maxwell, and a +large body of militia had taken an advantageous position and seemed +resolved to defend it. General Knyphausen, however, had met with a +reception so different from what he expected that without making +any attempt on the American post he withdrew during the night to +Elizabethtown. + +On being informed of the invasion of New Jersey, Washington put his army +in motion early on the morning of the day in which Knyphausen marched +from Elizabethtown and proceeded to the Short hills behind Springfield, +while the British were in the vicinity of that place. Feeble as his army +was, he made the necessary dispositions for fighting, but the unexpected +retreat of Knyphausen rendered a battle unnecessary. The British were +followed by an American detachment, which attacked their rear guard next +morning but was repulsed. Instead of returning to New York, Knyphausen +lingered in the vicinity of Elizabethtown and on Staten Island, and +Washington, unwilling with his inadequate force to hazard an engagement +except on advantageous ground, remained on the hills near Springfield to +watch the movements of the British army. At that time the army under the +immediate orders of Washington did not exceed 4,000 effective men. + +On the 18th of June (1780), Sir Henry Clinton returned from South +Carolina with about 4,000 men, and after receiving this reinforcement +the British force in New York and its dependencies amounted to 12,000 +effective and regular troops, most of whom could be brought into the +field for any particular service; besides these, the British commander +had about 4,000 militia and refugees for garrison duty. The British +army directed on any one point would have been irresistible; therefore +Washington could only follow a wary policy, occupying strong ground, +presenting a bold front, and concealing the weakness of his army as far +as possible. + +The embarkation of troops by Sir Henry Clinton awakened the +apprehensions of Washington lest he should sail up the Hudson and attack +the posts in the Highlands. Those posts had always been objects of much +solicitude to Washington, and he was extremely jealous of any attack +upon them. In order to be in readiness to resist any such attack, he +left General Greene at Springfield, with 700 Continentals, the Jersey +militia, and some cavalry, and proceeded toward Pompton with the +main body of the army. Sir Henry Clinton, after having perplexed the +Americans by his movements, early on the morning of the 23d of June +(1780), rapidly advanced in full force from Elizabethtown toward +Springfield. General Greene hastily assembled his scattered detachments +and apprised Washington of the march of the royal army, who instantly +returned to support Greene's division. The British marched in two +columns--one on the main road leading to Springfield and the other on +the Vauxhall road. Greene scarcely had time to collect his troops at +Springfield and make the necessary dispositions when the royal army +appeared before the town and a cannonade immediately began. A fordable +rivulet, with bridges corresponding to the different roads, runs in +front of the place. Greene had stationed parties to guard the bridges +and they obstinately disputed the passage, but after a smart conflict +they were overpowered and compelled to retreat. + +Greene then fell back and took post on a range of hills, where he +expected to be again attacked. But the British, instead of attempting +to pursue their advantage, contented themselves with setting fire to the +village and laying the greater part of it in ashes. Discouraged by the +obstinate resistance they had received and ignorant of the weakness +of the detachment which opposed them, they immediately retreated to +Elizabethtown, pursued with the utmost animosity by the militia, +who were provoked at the burning of Springfield. They arrived at +Elizabethtown about sunset, and, continuing their march to Elizabeth +Point, began at midnight to pass over to Staten Island. Before 6 next +morning they had entirely evacuated the Jerseys and removed the bridge +of boats which communicated with Staten Island. + +In the skirmish at Springfield the Americans had about 20 men killed and +60 wounded. The British suffered a corresponding loss. Clinton's object +in this expedition seems to have been to destroy the American magazines +in that part of the country. But the obstinate resistance which he +met with at Springfield deterred him from advancing into a district +abounding in difficult passes, where every strong position would +be vigorously defended. He seems also to have been checked by the +apprehension of a fleet and army from France. + +Washington was informed of Clinton's march soon after the British +left Elizabethtown, but, though he hastily returned, the skirmish at +Springfield was over before he reached the vicinity of that place. + +After Clinton left the Jerseys, Washington planned an enterprise against +a British post at Bergen point, on the Hudson, opposite New York, +garrisoned by seventy Loyalists. It was intended to reduce the post +and also to carry off a number of cattle on Bergen Neck, from which the +garrison of New York occasionally received supplies of fresh provisions. +General Wayne was appointed to conduct the enterprise. With a +respectable force he marched against the post, which consisted of +a blockhouse covered by an abattis and palisade. Wayne pointed +his artillery against the blockhouse, but his field pieces made no +impression on the logs. Galled by the fire from the loopholes, some of +his men rushed impetuously through the abattis and attempted to storm +the blockhouse, but they were repulsed with considerable loss. Though +the Americans, however, failed in their attempt against the post, they +succeeded in driving off most of the cattle. + +On the commencement of hostilities in Europe, Lafayette, as we have +seen, returned home in order to offer his services to his King, still, +however, retaining his rank in the army of Congress. His ardor in behalf +of the Americans remained unabated and he exerted all his influence +with the court of Versailles to gain its effectual support to the United +States. His efforts were successful and the King of France resolved +vigorously to assist the Americans both by sea and land. Having gained +this important point, and perceiving that there was no need for his +military services in Europe, he obtained leave from his sovereign to +return to America and join his former companions in arms. He landed +at Boston toward the end of April (1780), and, on his way to Congress, +called at the headquarters of Washington and informed him of the +powerful succor which might soon be expected from France. He met with a +most cordial reception both from Congress and Washington on account of +his high rank, tried friendship, and distinguished services. + +The assistance expected from their powerful ally was very encouraging +to the Americans, but called for corresponding exertions on their part. +Washington found himself in the most perplexing circumstances; his army +was feeble, and he could form no plan for the campaign till he knew what +forces were to be put under his orders. His troops, both officers and +privates, were ill clothed and needed to be decently appareled +before they could be led into the field to cooperate with soldiers in +respectable uniforms, for his half-naked battalions would only have +been objects of contempt and derision to their better-dressed allies. +In order to supply these defects and to get his army in a state of due +preparation before the arrival of the European auxiliaries, Washington +made the most pressing applications to Congress and to the several State +Legislatures. Congress resolved and recommended, but the States were +dilatory, and their tardy proceedings ill accorded with the exigencies +of the case or with the expectations of those who best understood the +affairs of the Union. Even on the 4th of July (1780), Washington had the +mortification to find that few new levies had arrived in camp and some +of the States had not even taken the trouble to inform him of the number +of men they intended to furnish. + +In the month of June the State of Massachusetts had resolved to send a +reinforcement, but no part of it had yet arrived. About the same time a +voluntary subscription was entered into in Philadelphia for the purpose +of providing bounties to recruits to fill up the Pennsylvania line, +and the President or Vice-President in council was empowered, if +circumstances required it, to put the State under martial law. + +The merchants and other citizens of Philadelphia, with a zeal guided +by that sound discretion which turns expenditure to the best account, +established a bank, for the support of which they subscribed £315,000, +Pennsylvania money, to be paid, if required, in specie, the principal +object of which was to supply the army with provisions. By the plan +of this bank its members were to derive no emolument whatever from the +institution. For advancing their credit and their money they required +only that Congress should pledge the faith of the Union to reimburse the +costs and charges of the transaction in a reasonable time, and should +give such assistance to its execution as might be in their power. + +The ladies of Philadelphia, too, gave a splendid example of patriotism +by large donations for the immediate relief of the suffering army. [2] + +This example was extensively followed, but it is not by the +contributions of the generous that a war can or ought to be maintained. +The purse of a nation alone can supply the expenditures of a nation, +and when all are interested in a contest all ought to contribute to +its support. Taxes and taxes only can furnish for the prosecution of +a national war means which are just in themselves or competent to the +object. + +Notwithstanding these donations the distresses of the army, for clothing +especially, still continued and were the more severely felt when a +cooperation with French troops was expected. So late as the 20th of +June (1780) Washington informed Congress that he still labored under +the painful and humiliating embarrassment of having no shirts for the +soldiers, many of whom were destitute of that necessary article. "For +the troops to be without clothing at any time," he added, "is highly +injurious to the service and distressing to our feelings, but the want +will be more peculiarly mortifying when they come to act with those of +our allies. If it be possible, I have no doubt immediate measures will +be taken to relieve their distress. + +"It is also most sincerely wished that there could be some supplies +of clothing furnished to the officers. There are a great many whose +condition is still miserable. This is, in some instances, the case with +the whole lines of the States. It would be well for their own sakes and +for the public good if they could be furnished. They will not be able, +when our friends come to cooperate with us, to go on a common routine of +duty, and if they should, they must, from their appearance, be held in +low estimation." + +This picture presents in strong colors the real patriotism of the +American army. One heroic effort, though it may dazzle the mind with its +splendor, is an exertion most men are capable of making, but continued +patient suffering and unremitting perseverance in a service promising +no personal emolument and exposing the officer unceasingly not only to +wants of every kind, but to those circumstances of humiliation which +seem to degrade him in the eyes of others, demonstrate a fortitude of +mind, a strength of virtue, and a firmness of principle which ought +never to be forgotten. + +Washington was greatly embarrassed by his uncertainty with respect +to the force which he might count upon to cooperate with the expected +succors from France. Writing to Congress on this subject he said: "The +season is come when we have every reason to expect the arrival of the +fleet, and yet, for want of this point of primary consequence, it is +impossible for me to form a system of cooperation. I have no basis to +act upon, and, of course, were this generous succor of our ally now +to arrive, I should find myself in the most awkward, embarrassing, and +painful situation. The general and the admiral, from the relation in +which I stand, as soon as they approach our coast, will require of me a +plan of the measures to be pursued, and there ought of right to be +one prepared; but, circumstanced as I am, I cannot even give them +conjectures. From these considerations I have suggested to the +committee, by a letter I had the honor of addressing them yesterday, +the indispensable necessity of their writing again to the States, urging +them to give immediate and precise information of the measures they +have taken and of the result. The interest of the States, the honor and +reputation of our councils, the justice and gratitude due to our allies, +all require that I should, without delay, be enabled to ascertain and +inform them what we can or cannot undertake. There is a point which +ought now to be determined, on the success of which all our future +operations may depend, on which, for want of knowing our prospects, I +can make no decision. For fear of involving the fleet and army of our +allies in circumstances which would expose them, if not seconded by us, +to material inconvenience and hazard, I shall be compelled to suspend +it, and the delay may be fatal to our hopes." + +While this uncertainty still continued, the expected succors from +France, consisting of a fleet of eight ships of the line, with frigates +and other vessels, under the Chevalier de Ternay, having about 6,000 +troops on board under General the Count de Rochambeau, reached Rhode +Island on the evening of the 10th of July (1780), and in a few days +afterward Lafayette arrived at Newport from Washington's headquarters to +confer with his countrymen. + +At the time of the arrival of the French in Rhode Island, Admiral +Arbuthnot had only four sail of the line at New York, but in a few days +Admiral Graves arrived from England with six sail of the line, which +gave the British a decided superiority over the French squadron, +and therefore Sir Henry Clinton, without delay, prepared for active +operations. He embarked about 8,000 men and sailed with the fleet to +Huntington bay, in Long Island, with the intention of proceeding against +the French at Newport. The militia of Massachusetts and Connecticut were +ordered by Washington to join the French forces in Rhode Island, and +the combined army there thought itself able to give the British a good +reception. + +As the garrison of New York was weakened by the sailing of the armament +under Clinton, Washington, having received considerable reinforcements, +suddenly crossed the North river and advanced toward New York; that +movement brought Clinton back to defend the place and consequently +Washington proceeded no further in his meditated enterprise. + +The want of money and of all necessaries still continued in the American +camp, and the discontent of the troops, gradually increasing, was +matured into a dangerous spirit of insubordination. The men, indeed, +bore incredible hardships and privations with unexampled fortitude and +patience, but the army was in a state of constant fluctuation; it was +composed, in a great measure, of militia harassed by perpetual service +and obliged to neglect the cultivation of their farms and their private +interests in order to obey the calls of public duty, and of soldiers on +short enlistments, who never acquired the military spirit and habits. + +In consequence of an appointment, Washington and suite set out to a +conference with Count Rochambeau and Admiral de Ternay, and on the 21st +of September (1780) met them at Hartford, in Connecticut, where they +spent a few days together, and conversed about a plan for the next +campaign. + +The conference was useful in making the respective commanders well +acquainted with each other, and promoting a spirit of harmony between +them; but it led to no settled plan for the next campaign. A plan +of operations for the combined forces, which had been drawn up by +Washington and sent to Rochambeau by Lafayette when he went to Newport, +had contemplated the superiority of the naval force of the French, which +had now ceased to exist in consequence of the arrival of Admiral Graves +with a fleet of six ships of the line. It was consequently agreed +that nothing could be done in the way of offensive movements until the +arrival of a second division of the French fleet and army from Brest, +which was expected, or that of the Count de Guichen from the West +Indies. In the sequel, neither of these arrivals took place. The second +French division was blockaded at Brest, and never came to this country, +and de Guichen sailed direct to France from the West Indies. +Meantime Admiral Arbuthnot blockaded the French fleet at Newport, and +Rochambeau's army remained there for its protection. Both the parties +remained watching each other's movements, and depending on the +operations of the British and French fleets. Washington crossed the +Hudson to Tappan and remained there till winter. + +Washington did not relinquish without infinite chagrin the sanguine +expectations he had formed of rendering this campaign decisive of +the war. Never before had he indulged so strongly the hope of happily +terminating the contest. In a letter to an intimate friend, this chagrin +was thus expressed: "We are now drawing to a close an inactive campaign, +the beginning of which appeared pregnant with events of a very favorable +complexion. I hoped, but I hoped in vain, that a prospect was opening +which would enable me to fix a period to my military pursuits and +restore me to domestic life. The favorable disposition of Spain, the +promised succor from France, the combined force in the West Indies, the +declaration of Russia (acceded to by other powers of Europe, humiliating +the naval pride and power of Great Britain), the superiority of France +and Spain by sea in Europe, the Irish claims and English disturbances, +formed in the aggregate an opinion in my breast (which is not very +susceptible of peaceful dreams), that the hour of deliverance was not +far distant; for that, however unwilling Great Britain might be to yield +the point, it would not be in her power to continue the contest. But, +alas, these prospects, flattering as they were, have proved delusive, +and I see nothing before us but accumulating distress. We have been half +of our time without provisions and are likely to continue so. We have no +magazines nor money to form them. We have lived upon expedients until +we can live no longer. In a word, the history of the war is a history of +false hopes and temporary devices, instead of system and economy. It +is in vain, however, to look back, nor is it our business to do so. +Our case is not desperate if virtue exists in the people, and there is +wisdom among our rulers. But to suppose that this great revolution can +be accomplished by a temporary army, that this army will be subsisted by +State supplies and that taxation alone is adequate to our wants is in +my opinion absurd, and as unreasonable as to expect an inversion of the +order of nature to accommodate itself to our views. If it were necessary +it could be easily proved to any person of a moderate understanding that +an annual army or any army raised on the spur of the occasion besides +being unqualified for the end designed is, in various ways that could be +enumerated, ten times more expensive than a permanent body of men under +good organization and military discipline, which never was nor will +be the case with raw troops. A thousand arguments, resulting from +experience and the nature of things, might also be adduced to prove +that the army, if it is to depend upon State supplies, must disband or +starve, and that taxation alone (especially at this late hour) cannot +furnish the means to carry on the war. Is it not time to retract from +error and benefit by experience? Or do we want further proof of the +ruinous system we have pertinaciously adhered to?" + +While the respective armies were in the state of inaction to which we +have just referred, the whole country was astounded by the discovery of +Arnold's treason. The details of this sad affair disclosed traits in +the character of this officer which were previously unknown, and, by the +public generally, unsuspected. + +The great service and military talents of General Arnold, his courage +in battle and patient fortitude under excessive hardships had secured +to him a high place in the opinion of the army and of his country. Not +having sufficiently recovered from the wounds received before Quebec and +at Saratoga to be fit for active service, and having large accounts +to settle with the government, which required leisure, he was, on the +evacuation of Philadelphia in 1778, appointed to the command in that +place. + +Unfortunately that strength of principle and correctness of judgment +which might enable him to resist the various seductions to which his +fame and rank exposed him in the metropolis of the Union, were not +associated with the firmness which he had displayed in the field and in +the most adverse circumstances. Yielding to the temptations of a false +pride and forgetting that he did not possess the resources of private +fortune, he indulged in the pleasures of a sumptuous table and +expensive equipage, and soon swelled his debts to an amount which it was +impossible for him to discharge. Unmindful of his military character, +he engaged in speculations which were unfortunate, and with the hope of +immense profits took shares in privateers which were unsuccessful. His +claims against the United States were great and he looked to them for +the means of extricating himself from the embarrassments in which +his indiscretions had involved him; but the commissioners to whom his +accounts were referred for settlement had reduced them considerably, and +on his appeal from their decision to Congress, a committee reported that +the sum allowed by the commissioners was more than he was entitled to +receive. + +He was charged with various acts of extortion on the citizens of +Philadelphia, and with peculating on the public funds. [3] + +Not the less soured by these multiplied causes of irritation, from the +reflection that they were attributable to his own follies and vices, he +gave full scope to his resentments, and indulged himself in expressions +of angry reproach against what he termed the ingratitude of his country, +which provoked those around him, and gave great offense to Congress. +Having become peculiarly odious to the government of Pennsylvania, the +executive of that State (President Reed, formerly aid to Washington) +exhibited formal charges against him to Congress, who directed that he +should be arrested and brought before a court-martial. His trial was +concluded late in January, 1779, and he was sentenced to be reprimanded +by the Commander-in-Chief. This sentence was approved by Congress and +carried into execution. [4] + +From the time the sentence against him was approved, if not sooner, his +proud unprincipled spirit revolted from the cause of his country and +determined him to seek an occasion to make the objects of his resentment +the victims of his vengeance. + +Turning his eyes on West Point as an acquisition which would give value +to treason and inflict a mortal wound on his former friends, he sought +the command of that fortress for the purpose of gratifying both his +avarice and his hate. + +To New York the safety of West Point was peculiarly interesting, and +in that State the reputation of Arnold was particularly high. To its +delegation he addressed himself; and one of its members had written +a letter to Washington, suggesting doubts respecting the military +character of General Robert Howe, to whom its defense was then +entrusted, and recommending Arnold for that service. This request was +not forgotten. Some short time afterward General Schuyler mentioned to +Washington a letter he had received from Arnold intimating his wish to +join the army, but stating his inability, in consequence of his wounds, +to perform the active duties of the field. Washington observed that, as +there was a prospect of a vigorous campaign he should be gratified with +the aid of General Arnold--that so soon as the operations against New +York should commence, he designed to draw his whole force into the +field, leaving even West Point to the care of invalids and a small +garrison of militia. Recollecting, however, the former application of +a member of Congress respecting this post, he added that "if, with this +previous information, that situation would be more agreeable to him than +a command in the field, his wishes should certainly be indulged." + +This conversation being communicated to Arnold, he caught eagerly at +the proposition, though without openly discovering any solicitude on the +subject, and in the beginning of August (1780) repaired to camp, where +he renewed the solicitations which had before been made indirectly. + +At this juncture Clinton embarked on an expedition he meditated against +Rhode Island, and Washington was advancing on New York. He offered +Arnold the left wing of the army, which he declined under the pretexts +mentioned in his letter to Schuyler. + +Incapable of suspecting a man who had given such distinguished proofs of +courage and patriotism, Washington was neither alarmed at his refusal +to embrace so splendid an opportunity of recovering the favor of his +countrymen nor at the embarrassment accompanying that refusal. Pressing +the subject no further, he assented to the request which had been made +and invested Arnold with the command of West Point. Previous to his +soliciting this station Arnold had, in a letter to Colonel Robinson, of +the British army, signified his change of principles, and his wish to +restore himself to the favor of his prince by some signal proof of his +repentance. This letter opened the way to a correspondence with Clinton, +the immediate object of which, after obtaining the appointment he had +solicited, was to concert the means of delivering the important post he +commanded to the British general. + +Major John André, an aide-de-camp of Clinton, and adjutant-general of +the British army, was selected as the person to whom the maturing of +Arnold's treason, and the arrangements for its execution should +be entrusted. A correspondence was carried on between them under a +mercantile disguise in the feigned names of Gustavus and Anderson; +and at length, to facilitate their communications, the Vulture, +sloop-of-war, moved up the North river and took a station convenient for +the purpose, but not so near as to excite suspicion. + +The time when Washington met Rochambeau at Hartford was selected for +the final adjustment of the plan, and as a personal interview was deemed +necessary André came up the river and went on board the Vulture. The +house of a Mr. Smith, without the American posts, was appointed for the +interview, and to that place both parties repaired in the night--André +being brought under a pass for John Anderson in a boat dispatched from +the shore. While the conference was yet unfinished, daylight approached, +and to avoid discovery Arnold proposed that André should remain +concealed until the succeeding night. They continued together during +the day, and when, in the following night, his return to the Vulture was +proposed, the boatmen refused to carry him because she had shifted her +station during the day, in consequence of a gun which was moved to the +shore without the knowledge of Arnold and brought to bear upon her. This +embarrassing circumstance reduced him to the necessity of endeavoring +to reach New York by land. To accomplish this purpose, he reluctantly +yielded to the urgent representations of Arnold, and laying aside his +regimentals, which he had hitherto worn under a surtout, put on a plain +suit of clothes and received a pass from Arnold, authorizing him, under +the name of John Anderson, to proceed on the public service to White +Plains or lower if he thought proper. + +With this permit he had passed all the guards and posts on the road +unsuspected and was proceeding to New York in perfect security, when one +of three militiamen who [5] + +[missing text] + +night, and the other troops lay on the field of battle with their arms +in their hands. Washington passed the night in his cloak in the midst +of his soldiers. The British employed the early part of the morning in +removing their wounded, and about midnight marched away in such silence +that their retreat was not perceived until day. + +As it was certain that they must gain the high grounds about Middletown +before they could be overtaken, as the face of the country afforded no +prospect of opposing their embarkation, and as the battle already fought +had terminated in a manner to make a general impression favorable to the +American arms, Washington decided to relinquish the pursuit. Leaving a +detachment to hover about the British rear, the main body of the army +moved towards the Hudson. + +Washington was highly gratified with the conduct of his troops in +this action. Their behavior, he said, after recovering from the first +surprise occasioned by the unexpected retreat of the advanced corps, +could not be surpassed. Wayne he particularly mentioned, and spoke of +the artillery in terms of high praise. + +The loss of the Americans in the battle of Monmouth was 8 officers +and 61 privates killed, and about 160 wounded. Among the slain were +Lieutenant-Colonel Bonner, of Pennsylvania, and Major Dickinson, of +Virginia, both of whom were much regretted. One hundred and thirty were +missing, but a considerable number of these afterward rejoined their +regiments. + +In his official letter, Sir Henry Clinton states his dead and missing +at 4 officers and 184 privates; his wounded, at 16 officers and 154 +privates. This account, so far as it respects the dead, cannot be +correct, as 4 officers and 245 privates were buried on the field by +persons appointed for the purpose, who made their report to Washington; +and some few were afterward found, so as to increase the number to +nearly 300. The uncommon heat of the day proved fatal to several on both +sides. + +As usual, when a battle has not been decisive, both parties claimed the +victory. In the early part of the day the advantage was certainly +with the British; in the latter part it may be pronounced with equal +certainty to have been with the Americans. They maintained their ground, +repulsed the enemy, were prevented only by the night and by the retreat +of the hostile army from renewing the action, and suffered less in +killed and wounded than their adversaries. + +It is true that Sir Henry Clinton effected what he states to have +been his principal object--the safety of his baggage. But when it is +recollected that the American officers had decided against hazarding +an action, that this advice must have trammeled the conduct and +circumscribed the views of Washington, he will be admitted to have +effected no inconsiderable object in giving the American arms that +appearance of superiority which was certainly acquired by this +engagement. + +Independent of the loss sustained in the action, the British army was +considerably weakened in its march from Philadelphia to New York. About +100 prisoners were made, and near 1,000 soldiers, chiefly foreigners, +deserted while passing through Jersey. Many of the soldiers had formed +attachments in Philadelphia, which occasioned their desertion. Clinton's +whole loss, including killed, wounded, prisoners, and deserters, +amounted to at least 2,000 men. + +The conduct of Lee was generally disapproved. As, however, he had +possessed a large share of the confidence and good opinion of the +Commander-in-Chief, it + +[missing text] + +were employed between the lines of the two armies, springing suddenly +from his covert into the road, seized the reins of his bridle and +stopped his horse. Losing his accustomed self possession, André, instead +of producing the pass from Arnold, asked the man hastily where he +belonged. He replied, "To below," a term implying that he was from New +York. "And so," said André, not suspecting deception, "am I." He then +declared himself to be a British officer on urgent business, and begged +that he might not be detained. The appearance of the other militiamen +disclosed his mistake too late to correct it. He offered a purse of gold +and a valuable watch, with tempting promises of ample reward from his +government if they would, permit him to escape; but his offers were +rejected, and his captors proceeded to search him. They found concealed +in his stockings, in Arnold's handwriting, papers containing all the +information which could be important respecting West Point. When carried +before Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, the officer commanding the scouting +parties on the lines, he maintained his assumed character and requested +Jameson to inform his commanding officer that Anderson was taken. +Jameson dispatched an express with this communication. On receiving +it, Arnold comprehended the full extent of his danger, and flying from +well-merited punishment took refuge on board the Vulture. + +When sufficient time for the escape of Arnold was supposed to have +elapsed, André, no longer effecting concealment, acknowledged himself to +be the adjutant-general of the British army. Jameson, seeking to correct +the mischief of his indiscreet communication to Arnold, immediately +dispatched a packet to the Commander-in-Chief containing the papers +which had been discovered, with a letter from André relating the manner +of his capture and accounting for the disguise he had assumed. + +The express was directed to meet the Commander-in-Chief, who was then on +his return from Hartford, but, taking different roads, they missed each +other, and a delay attended the delivery of the papers, which ensured +the escape of Arnold. + +Washington, with Generals Lafayette and Knox, had turned from the direct +route in order to visit a redoubt. Colonels Hamilton and M'Henry, the +aides-de-camp of Washington and Lafayette, went forward to request Mrs. +Arnold not to wait breakfast. Arnold received André's billet in +their presence. He turned pale, left them suddenly, called his wife, +communicated the intelligence to her, and left her in a swoon, without +the knowledge of Hamilton and M'Henry. Mounting the horse of his +aide-de-camp, which was ready saddled, and directing him to inform +Washington on his arrival that Arnold was gone to receive him at West +Point, he gained the river shore, and was conveyed in a canoe to the +Vulture. + +Washington, on his arrival, was informed that Arnold awaited him at West +Point. Taking it for granted that this step had been taken to prepare +for his reception he proceeded thither without entering the house, and +was surprised to find that Arnold was not arrived. On returning to the +quarters of that officer he received Jameson's dispatch which disclosed +the whole mystery. + +Every precaution was immediately taken for the security of West Point, +after which the attention of the Commander-in-Chief was turned to André. +A board of general officers, of which General Greene was president, +and Lafayette and Steuben were members, was called, to report a precise +state of his case, and to determine the character in which he was to be +considered, and the punishment to which he was liable. + +The frankness and magnanimity with which André had conducted himself +from the time of his appearance in his real character had made a very +favorable impression on all those with whom he had held any intercourse. +From this cause he experienced every mark of indulgent attention which +was compatible with his situation, and, from a sense of justice as well +as of delicacy, was informed, on the opening of the examination that he +was at liberty not to answer any interrogatory which might embarrass +his own feelings. But, as if only desirous to rescue his character from +imputations which he dreaded more than death, he confessed everything +material to his own condemnation, but would divulge nothing which might +involve others. + +The board reported the essential facts which had appeared, with their +opinion that Major André was a spy and ought to suffer death. The +execution of this sentence was ordered to take place on the day +succeeding that on which it was pronounced. + +Superior to the terrors of death, but dreading disgrace, André was +deeply affected by the mode of execution which the laws of war decree +to persons in his situation. He wished to die like a soldier not as +a criminal. To obtain a mitigation of his sentence in this respect he +addressed a letter to Washington, replete with the feelings of a man of +sentiment and honor. But the occasion required that the example should +make its full impression, and this request could not be granted. He +encountered his fate with composure and dignity, and his whole conduct +interested the feelings of all who witnessed it. + +The general officers lamented the sentence which the usages of +war compelled them to pronounce, and never perhaps did the +Commander-in-Chief obey with more reluctance the stern mandates of duty +and policy. The sympathy excited among the American officers by his fate +was as universal as it is unusual on such occasions, and proclaims alike +the merit of him who suffered, and the humanity of those who inflicted +the punishment. + +Great exertions were made by Sir Henry Clinton, to whom André was +particularly dear, first, to have him considered as protected by a flag +of truce, and afterward as a prisoner of war. + +Even Arnold had the hardihood to interpose. After giving a certificate +of facts tending, as he supposed, to exculpate the prisoner, exhausting +his powers of reasoning on the case, and appealing to the humanity +of Washington, he sought to intimidate that officer by stating the +situation of many of the most distinguished individuals of South +Carolina, who had forfeited their lives, but had hitherto been spared +through the clemency of the British general. This clemency, he said, +could no longer be extended to them should Major André suffer. + +It may well be supposed that the interposition of Arnold could have no +influence on Washington. He caused Mrs. Arnold to be conveyed to her +husband in New York, and also transmitted his clothes and baggage, for +which he had written, but in every other respect his letters, which were +unanswered, were also unnoticed. + +The night after Arnold's escape, when his letter respecting André was +received, the general directed one of his aides to wait on Mrs. Arnold, +who was convulsed with grief, and inform her that he had done everything +which depended on him to arrest her husband, but that, not having +succeeded, it gave him pleasure to inform her that her husband was safe. +It is honorable to the American character that, during the effervescence +of the moment, Mrs. Arnold was permitted to go to Philadelphia to +take possession of her effects, and to proceed to New York under the +protection of a flag without receiving the slightest insult. + +This treatment of Mrs. Arnold by Washington is the more remarkable for +its delicacy when we recollect that she was under very strong suspicions +at the time of being actively concerned in the treason of her husband. +Historians are still divided on the question of her guilt or innocence. + +The mingled sentiments of admiration and compassion excited in every +bosom for the unfortunate André, seemed to increase the detestation in +which Arnold was held. "André," said General Washington in a private +letter, "has met his fate with that fortitude which was to be expected +from an accomplished man and a gallant officer, but I am mistaken if at +this time Arnold is undergoing the torments of a mental hell. He wants +feeling. From some traits of his character which have lately come to my +knowledge, he seems to have been so hardened in crime, so lost to all +sense of honor and shame, that while his faculties still enable him to +continue his sordid pursuits, there will be no time for remorse." + +The traits in his character above alluded to, were disclosed in a +private letter from Hamilton, who said: "This man (Arnold) is in every +sense despicable. In addition to the scene of knavery and prostitution +during his command in Philadelphia, which the late seizure of his papers +has unfolded, the history of his command at West Point is a history +of little as well as great villainies. He practiced every dirty act of +peculation, and even stooped to connections with the sutlers to defraud +the public." [6] + +From motives of policy, or of respect for his engagements, Sir Henry +Clinton conferred on Arnold the commission of a brigadier-general in +the British service, which he preserved throughout the war. Yet it +is impossible that rank could have rescued him from the contempt and +detestation in which the generous, and honorable, and the brave could +not cease to hold him. It was impossible for men of this description to +bury the recollection of his being a traitor--a sordid traitor--first +the slave of his rage, then purchased with gold, and finally secured at +the expense of the blood of one of the most accomplished officers in the +British army. + +His representations of the discontent of the country and of the army, +concurring with reports from other quarters, had excited the hope that +the Loyalists and the dissatisfied, allured by British gold and the +prospect of rank in the British service, would flock to his standard +and form a corps at whose head he might again display his accustomed +intrepidity. With this hope he published an address to the inhabitants +of America in which he labored to palliate his own guilt, and to +increase their dissatisfaction with the existing state of things. + +This appeal to the public was followed by a proclamation addressed "To +the officers and soldiers of the Continental army, who have the real +interests of their country at heart, and who are determined to be no +longer the tools and dupes of Congress or of France." + +The object of this proclamation was to induce the officers and soldiers +to desert the cause they had embraced from principle by holding up to +them the very flattering offers of the British general, and contrasting +the substantial emoluments of the British service with their present +deplorable condition. He attempted to cover this dishonorable +proposition with a decent garb, by representing the base step he +invited them to take as the only measure which could restore peace, real +liberty, and happiness to their country. + +These inducements did not produce their intended effect. Although the +temper of the army might be irritated by real suffering, and by the +supposed neglect of government, no diminution of patriotism had been +produced. Through all the hardships, irritations, and vicissitudes of +the war Arnold remains the solitary instance of an American officer who +abandoned the side first embraced in this civil contest, and turned his +sword upon his former companions in arms. + +In the whole course of this affair of Arnold's treason, Washington, +according to the habitually religious turn of his mind, distinctly +recognized the hand of Divine Providence. Writing to Col. John Laurens +he says: "In no instance since the commencement of the war has the +interposition of Providence appeared more remarkably conspicuous than +in the rescue of the post and garrison of West Point from Arnold's +villainous perfidy. How far he meant to involve me in the catastrophe of +this place does not appear by any indubitable evidence, and I am rather +inclined to think he did not wish to hazard the more important object +of his treachery by attempting to combine two events, the less of +which might have marred the greater. A combination of extraordinary +circumstances, an unaccountable deprivation of presence of mind in a man +of the first abilities, and the virtue of three militiamen, threw the +adjutant-general of the British forces, with full proofs of Arnold's +treachery, into our hands. But for the egregious folly, or the +bewildered conception, of Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, who seemed lost +in astonishment and not to know what he was doing, I should undoubtedly +have got Arnold." + +Arnold, however, had not yet displayed the whole of his character. +Savage revenge and ruthless cruelty were yet to become apparent in his +conduct as an officer in the British service. It seems to have been the +design of Providence that Americans, in all ages, should learn to detest +treason by seeing it exhibited in all its hideous deformity, in the +person of "ARNOLD, THE TRAITOR." [7] + +1. Footnote: While Washington was in winter quarters at Morristown, +he requested Congress to send a committee to the camp, as had been +previously done at Valley Forge, for the purpose of giving effect to the +arrangements for the ensuing campaign, and drawing more expeditiously +from the States their respective quotas of soldiers and supplies. +General Schuyler, who had retired from the army and was then in +Congress, was a member of this committee. He rendered essential service +at this time by his judgment and experience. The committee remained in +camp between two and three months. + +2. Footnote: It is pleasant to know that Mrs. Washington was at the head +of this movement. Dr. Spencer says: "In all parts of the country the +women displayed great zeal and activity, particularly in providing +clothing for the soldiers. In Philadelphia they formed a society, at +the head of which was Martha Washington, wife of the Commander-in-Chief. +This lady was as prudent in private affairs as her husband was in +public. She alone presided over their domestic finances, and provided +for their common household. Thus it was owing to the talents and virtues +of his wife, that Washington could give himself wholly to the dictates +of that patriotism which this virtuous pair mutually shared and +reciprocally invigorated. Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Bache, the +daughter of Dr. Franklin, with the other ladies who had formed the +society, themselves subscribed considerable sums for the public; and +having exhausted their own means, they exerted their influence, and went +from house to house to stimulate the liberality of others." + +3. Footnote: While these charges were hanging over his head, Arnold +courted and married Miss Shippen, a young lady, not yet eighteen, the +daughter of Mr. Edward Shippen, of Philadelphia. + +4. Footnote: "Our service,"--such were his words,--"is the chastest +of all. Even the shadow of a fault tarnishes the lustre of our finest +achievements. The least inadvertence may rob us of the public favor, +so hard to be acquired. I reprimand you for having forgotten, that in +proportion as you had rendered yourself formidable to our enemies, you +should have been guarded and temperate in your deportment toward your +fellow-citizens. + +"Exhibit anew those noble qualities which have placed you on the list of +our most valued commanders. I will myself furnish you, as far as it +may be in my power, with opportunities of gaining the esteem of your +country." + +5. Footnote: The names of these militiamen were John Paulding, David +Williams, and Isaac Van Wart. + +6. Footnote: "I am inclined to believe that Arnold was a finished +scoundrel from early manhood to his grave; nor do I believe that he had +any real and true-hearted attachment to the Whig cause. He fought as a +mere adventurer, and took sides from a calculation of personal gain, and +chances of plunder and advancement."--_Sabine's "American Loyalists_," +p. 131. + +7. Footnote: On the third of November it was resolved, "That Congress +have a high sense of the virtuous and patriotic conduct of John +Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac Van Wart; in testimony whereof, +ordered, that each of them receive annually $200 in specie, or an +equivalent in the current money of these States, during life, and that +the Board of War be directed to procure for each of them a silver medal, +on one side of which shall be a shield, with this inscription--FIDELITY: +and on the other, the following motto--VINCIT AMOR PATIAE, and forward +them to the Commander-in-Chief, who is requested to present the same, +with a copy of this resolution, and the thanks of Congress for their +fidelity, and the eminent service they have rendered their country." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +OPERATIONS AT THE SOUTH. 1780. + + +Although Washington was aware that the British were aiming at the +conquest of the southern States he still considered the middle States to +be the main theater of war, and felt the necessity of reserving his main +force for the defense of that portion of the Union. He did not believe +that the possession by the British of a few posts in the South would +contribute much to the purposes of the war, and he sent no more troops +to that part of the country than he could conveniently spare from the +main army. Writing to Lafayette in Paris, after the fall of Savannah +(8th March, 1779), he says: "Nothing of importance has happened since +you left us except the enemy's invasion of Georgia and possession of +its capital, which, though it may add something to their supplies on the +score of provisions, will contribute very little to the brilliancy of +their arms; for, like the defenseless Island of St. Lucia, [1] it only +required the appearance of force to effect the conquest of it, as the +whole militia of the State did not exceed 1,200 men, and many of them +disaffected. General Lincoln is assembling a force to dispossess them, +and my only fear is that he will precipitate the attempt before he is +fully prepared for the execution." + +As early as September 1778, General Lincoln had been appointed to +supersede Gen. Robert Howe in the command of the southern army. Lincoln +had baffled the attempts of General Prevost on South Carolina, and had +commanded the American forces in the unsuccessful siege of Savannah, +acting in concert with D'Estaing. He was still in command at Charleston +when Clinton, whose departure from New York on an expedition to the +South we have already noticed, made his descent on South Carolina. In +this command at Charleston General Lincoln unfortunately labored under +great disadvantages and discouragements. + +The failure of the attack on Savannah (in which bombardment 1,000 lives +were lost, Count Pulaski, the Polish patriot, was mortally wounded, and +the simple-hearted Sergeant Jasper died grasping the banner presented to +his regiment at Fort Moultrie), with the departure of the French fleet +from the coast of America, presented a gloomy prospect and was the +forerunner of many calamities to the southern States. By their courage +and vigor the northern provinces had repelled the attacks of the enemy +and discouraged future attempts against them. And although having +bravely defended Sullivan's Island, in 1776, the southern colonists were +latterly less successful than their victorious brethren in the North. +The rapid conquest of Georgia and the easy march of Prevost to the very +gates of Charleston had a discouraging effect and naturally rendered +the southern section vulnerable to attack. In the North the military +operations of 1778 and 1779 had produced no important results, and, +therefore, the late transactions in Georgia and South Carolina more +readily attracted the attention of the British Commander-in-Chief to +those States. + +Savannah, the chief town of Georgia, as we have already seen, was in the +hands of the British troops, and had been successfully defended against +a combined attack of the French and Americans, and therefore Sir Henry +Clinton resolved to gain possession of Charleston also, the capital of +South Carolina, which would give him the command of all the southern +parts of the Union. Having made the necessary preparations he sailed, as +we have seen, from New York on the 26th of December 1779, under convoy +of Admiral Arbuthnot, but did not arrive at Savannah till the end of +January (1780). The voyage was tempestuous; some of the transports and +victuallers were lost, others shattered, and a few taken by the American +cruisers. Most of the cavalry and draught horses perished. One of the +transports, which had been separated from the fleet and captured by the +Americans, was brought into Charleston on the 23d of January, and +the prisoners gave the first certain notice of the destination of the +expedition. + +As soon as it was known that an armament was fitting out at New York +many suspected that the southern States were to be assailed, and such +was the unhappy posture of American affairs at that time, that no +sanguine expectations of a successful resistance could be reasonably +entertained. The magazines of the Union were everywhere almost empty, +and Congress had neither money nor credit to replenish them. The army at +Morristown, under the immediate orders of Washington, was threatened, as +we have seen, with destruction by want of provisions, and consequently +could neither act with vigor in the North, nor send reinforcements to +the South. + +General Lincoln, though aware of his danger,--was not in a condition +to meet it. On raising the siege of Savannah he had sent the troops of +Virginia to Augusta; those of South Carolina were stationed partly at +Sheldoa, opposite Port Royal, between thirty and forty miles north from +Savannah, and partly at Fort Moultrie, which had been allowed to +fall into decay; those of North Carolina were with General Lincoln at +Charleston. All these detachments formed but a feeble force, and to +increase it was not easy, for the Colonial paper money was in a state of +great depreciation; the militia, worn out by a harassing service, were +reluctant again to repair to the standards of their country, and the +brave defense of Savannah had inspired the people of the southern +provinces with intimidating notions of British valor. The patriotism of +many of the Colonists had evaporated; they contemplated nothing but the +hardships and dangers of the contest and recoiled from the protracted +struggle. + +In these discouraging circumstances Congress recommended the people +of South Carolina to arm their slaves, a measure to which they were +generally averse; although, had they been willing to comply with the +recommendation, arms could not have been procured. Washington had, as we +have already seen, ordered the Continental troops of North Carolina and +Virginia to march to Charleston, and four American frigates, two French +ships of war; the one mounting twenty-six and the other eighteen guns, +with the marine force of South Carolina under Commodore Whipple, were +directed to cooperate in the defense of the town. No more aid could be +expected; yet, under these unpromising circumstances, a full house of +assembly resolved to defend Charleston to the last extremity. + +Although Clinton had embarked at New York on the 26th of December, 1779, +yet, as his voyage had been stormy and tedious, and as some time had +been necessarily spent at Savannah, it was the 11th of February, 1780, +before he landed on John's Island, thirty miles south from Charleston. +Had he even then marched rapidly upon the town he would probably have +entered it without much opposition, but mindful of his repulse in 1776 +his progress was marked by a wary circumspection. He proceeded by the +islands of St. John and St. James, while part of his fleet advanced to +blockade the harbor. He sent for a reinforcement from New York, ordered +General Prevost to join him with 1,100 men from Savannah, and neglected +nothing that could insure success. + +General Lincoln was indefatigable in improving the time which the +slow progress of the royal army afforded him. Six hundred slaves were +employed in constructing or repairing the fortifications of the town; +vigorous though not very successful measures were taken to bring the +militia into the field; and all the small detachments of regular +troops were assembled in the capital. The works which had been begun on +Charleston Neck when General Prevost threatened the place were resumed. +A chain of redoubts, lines, and batteries was formed between the Cooper +and Ashley rivers. In front of each flank the works were covered by +swamps extending from the rivers; those opposite swamps were connected +by a canal; between the canal and the works were two strong rows +of abattis, and a ditch double picketed, with deep holes at short +distances, to break the columns in case of an assault. Toward the water, +works were thrown up at every place where a landing was practicable. +The vessels intended to defend the bar of the harbor having been found +insufficient for that purpose, their guns were taken out and planted on +the ramparts, and the seamen were stationed at the batteries. One of +the ships, which was not dismantled, was placed in the Cooper river to +assist the batteries, and several vessels were sunk at the mouth of the +channel to prevent the entrance of the royal fleet. Lincoln intended +that the town should be defended until such reinforcements would arrive +from the North as, together with the militia of the State, would compel +Clinton to raise the siege. As the regular troops in the town did not +exceed 1,400, a council of war found that the garrison was too weak to +spare detachments to obstruct the progress of the royal army. Only a +small party of cavalry and some light troops were ordered to hover on +its left flank and observe its motions. + +While these preparations for defense were going on in Charleston the +British army was cautiously but steadily advancing toward the town. +As he proceeded Clinton erected forts and formed magazines at proper +stations, and was careful to secure his communications with those forts +and with the sea. All the horses of the British army had perished in the +tedious and stormy voyage from New York to Savannah, but on landing in +South Carolina Clinton procured others to mount his dragoons, whom +he formed into a light corps, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel +Tarleton. That officer was extremely active in covering the left wing of +the army and in dispersing the militia. In one of his excursions he fell +in with Lieut.-Col. William Washington, who commanded the remnant of +Baylor's regiment, and who beat him back with loss. + +On the 20th of March (1780) the British fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, +consisting of 1 ship of 50 guns, 2 of 44 each, 4 of 32 each, and an +armed vessel, passed the bar in front of Rebellion Road, and anchored in +Five Fathom Hole. + +It being now thought impossible to prevent the fleet from passing Fort +Moultrie, and taking such stations in Cooper river as would enable them +to rake the batteries on shore, and to close that communication between +the town and country, the plan of defense was once more changed, and the +armed vessels were carried into the mouth of Cooper river, and sunk in a +line from the town to Shute's Folly. + +This was the critical moment for evacuating the town. The loss of +the harbor rendered the defense of the place, if not desperate, so +improbable, that the hope to maintain it could not have been rationally +entertained by a person who was not deceived by the expectation of aids +much more considerable than were actually received. + +When this state of things was communicated to Washington by +Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens he said in reply: "The impracticability of +defending the bar, I fear, amounts to the loss of the town and garrison. +At this distance it is impossible to judge for you. I have the greatest +confidence in General Lincoln's prudence, but it really appears to me +that the propriety of attempting to defend the town depended on the +probability of defending the bar, and that when this ceased, the +attempt ought to have been relinquished. In this, however, I suspend +a definitive judgment, and wish you to consider what I say as +confidential." Unfortunately this letter did not arrive in time to +influence the conduct of the besieged. + +On the 4th of April (1780), Admiral Arbuthnot, taking advantage of a +strong southerly wind and a flowing tide, passed Fort Moultrie [2] and +anchored just without reach of the guns of Charleston. The fort kept +up a heavy fire on the fleet while passing which did some damage to the +ships and killed or wounded twenty-seven men. + +On the 29th of March the royal army reached Ashley river and crossed it +ten miles above the town without opposition, the garrison being too +weak to dispute the passage. Sir Henry Clinton having brought over his +artillery, baggage, and stores marched down Charleston Neck, and on the +night of the 1st of April, broke ground at the distance of 800 +yards from the American works. The fortifications of Charleston were +constructed under the direction of Mr. Laumoy, a French engineer of +reputation in the American service, and, although not calculated to +resist a regular siege, were by no means contemptible; and Clinton +made his approaches in due form. Meanwhile the garrison received a +reinforcement of 700 Continentals under General Woodford, and, after +this accession of strength, amounted to somewhat more than 2,000 regular +troops, besides 1,000 militia of North Carolina, and the citizens of +Charleston. + +On the 9th of April (1780) Clinton finished his first parallel, forming +an oblique line between the two rivers, from 600 to 1,100 yards from the +American works, and mounted his guns in battery. He then, jointly with +the admiral, summoned Lincoln to surrender the town. Lincoln's answer +was modest and firm: "Sixty days," said he, "have passed since it has +been known that your intentions against this town were hostile, in which +time was afforded to abandon it, but duty and inclination point to the +propriety of supporting it to the last extremity." + +On receiving this answer Clinton immediately opened his batteries, and +his fire was soon felt to be superior to that of the besieged. Hitherto +the communication with the country north of the Cooper was open and +a post was established to prevent the investiture of the town on that +side. After the summons, Governor Rutledge, with half of his council, +left the town for the purpose of exercising the functions of the +executive government in the State, and in the hope of being able to +bring a large body of the militia to act on the rear or left flank of +the besieging army, but the militia were as little inclined to embody +themselves as to enter the town. + +For the purpose of maintaining the communication with the country north +of the Cooper, of checking the British foragers, and of protecting +supplies on their way to the town, the American cavalry, under General +Huger, had passed the river and taken post at Monk's Corner, thirty +miles above Charleston. Posts of militia were established between the +Cooper and Santee and at a ferry on the last-named river, where boats +were ordered to be collected in order to facilitate the passage of the +garrison, if it should be found necessary to evacuate the town. But +Clinton defeated all these precautions. For as the possession of +the harbor rendered the occupation of the forts to the southward +unnecessary, he resolved to call in the troops which had been employed +in that quarter, to close the communication of the garrison with the +country to the northward, and to complete the investiture of the town. +For these purposes, as the fleet was unable to enter the Cooper river, +he deemed it necessary to dislodge the American posts and employed +Tarleton to beat up the quarters of General Huger's cavalry at Monk's +Corner. Conducted during the night by a negro slave through unfrequented +paths, Tarleton proceeded toward the American post, and, although +General Huger had taken the precaution of placing sentinels a mile in +front of his station and of keeping his horses saddled and bridled, yet +Tarleton advanced so rapidly that, notwithstanding the alarm was given +by the outposts, he began the attack before the Americans could put +themselves in a posture of defense, killed or took about thirty of them, +and dispersed the rest. General Huger, Colonel Washington, and many +others made good their retreat through the woods. Such as escaped +concealed themselves for several days in the swamps. The horses taken by +the British fell very seasonably into their hands, as they were not +well mounted. After this decisive blow it was some time before any armed +party of the Americans ventured to show themselves south of the Santee. +That part of the country was laid open to the British, who established +posts in such a way as completely to enclose the garrison. The arrival +of 3,000 men from New York greatly increased the strength of the +besiegers. + +The second parallel was completed, and it daily became more apparent +that the garrison must ultimately submit. An evacuation of the town was +proposed and Lincoln seems to have been favorable to the measure, but +the garrison could scarcely have escaped, and the principal inhabitants +entreated the general not to abandon them to the fury of the enemy. + +The British troops on the north of the Cooper were increased, and +Cornwallis was appointed to command in that quarter. On the 20th April +(1780) General Lincoln again called a council of war to deliberate on +the measures to be adopted. The council recommended a capitulation; +terms were offered, but rejected, and hostilities recommenced. After +the besiegers had begun their third parallel, Colonel Henderson made +a vigorous sally on their right, which was attended with some success; +but, owing to the weakness of the garrison, this was the only attempt of +the kind during the siege. + +After the fleet passed it, Fort Moultrie became of much less importance +than before, and part of the garrison was removed to Charleston. The +admiral, perceiving the unfinished state of the works on the west side, +prepared to storm it. On the 7th of May, everything being ready for the +assault, he summoned the garrison, consisting of 200 men, who, being +convinced of their inability to defend the place, surrendered themselves +prisoners of war without firing a gun. On the same day the cavalry which +had escaped from Monk's Corner, and which had reassembled under the +command of Colonel White, were again surprised and defeated by Colonel +Tarleton. After Cornwallis had passed the Cooper and made himself master +of the peninsula between that river and the Santee, he occasionally sent +out small foraging parties. Apprised of that circumstance, Colonel White +repassed the Santee, fell in with and took one of those parties, and +dispatched an express to Colonel Buford, who commanded a regiment of +new levies from Virginia, requesting him to cover his retreat across +the Santee at Lanneau's ferry, where he had ordered some boats to be +collected to carry his party over the river. Colonel White reached the +ferry before Buford's arrival, and, thinking himself in no immediate +danger, halted to refresh his party. Cornwallis, having received notice +of his incursion, dispatched Tarleton in pursuit, who, overtaking him a +few minutes after he had halted, instantly charged him, killed or took +about thirty of the party, and dispersed the rest. + +Charleston was now completely invested, all hopes of assistance had +been cruelly disappointed, and the garrison and inhabitants were left +to their own resources. The troops were exhausted by incessant duty and +insufficient to man the lines. Many of the guns were dismounted, the +shot nearly expended, and the bread and meat almost entirely consumed. +The works of the besiegers were pushed very near the defenses of +the town, and the issue of an assault was extremely hazardous to the +garrison and inhabitants. In these critical circumstances, General +Lincoln summoned a council of war, which recommended a capitulation. +Terms were accordingly proposed, offering to surrender the town and +garrison on condition that the militia and armed citizens should not +be prisoners of war, but should be allowed to return home without +molestation. These terms were refused, hostilities were recommenced, +and preparations for an assault were in progress. The citizens, who had +formerly remonstrated against the departure of the garrison, now became +clamorous for a surrender. In this hopeless state Lincoln offered to +give up the place on the terms which Clinton had formerly proposed. The +offer was accepted and the capitulation was signed on the 12th of May +(1780). + +The town and fortifications, the shipping, artillery, and all public +stores were to be given up as they then were; the garrison, consisting +of the Continental troops, militia, sailors, and citizens who had borne +arms during the siege, were to be prisoners of war; the garrison were to +march out of the town and lay down their arms in front of the works, but +their drums were not to beat a British march, and their colors were not +to be uncased; the Continental troops and sailors were to be conducted +to some place afterward to be agreed on, where they were to be well +supplied with wholesome provisions until exchanged; the militia were to +be allowed to go home on parole; the officers were to retain their arms, +baggage, and servants, and they might sell their horses, but were +not permitted to take them out of Charleston; neither the persons nor +property of the militia or citizens were to be molested so long as they +kept their parole. [3] + +On these terms the garrison of Charleston marched out and laid down +their arms, and General Leslie was appointed by Clinton to take +possession of the town. The siege was more obstinate than bloody. The +besiegers had 76 men killed and 189 wounded; the besieged had 92 killed +and 148 wounded; about 20 of the inhabitants were killed in their houses +by random shots. The number of prisoners reported by Clinton amounted +to upward of 5,000, exclusive of sailors, but in that return all the +freemen of the town capable of bearing arms, as well as the Continental +soldiers and militia, were included. The number of Continental troops in +the town amounted only to 1,777, about 500 of whom were in the hospital. +The effective strength of the garrison was between 2,000 and 3,000 men. +The besieging army consisted of about 9,000 of the best of the British +troops. + +After the British got possession of the town the arms taken from the +Americans, amounting to 5,000 stand, were lodged in a laboratory near a +large quantity of cartridges and loose powder. By incautiously snapping +the muskets and pistols the powder ignited and blew up the house, and +the burning fragments, which were scattered in all directions, set fire +to the workhouse, jail, and old barracks, and consumed them. The British +guard stationed at the place, consisting of fifty men, was destroyed, +and about as many other persons lost their lives on the disastrous +occasion. + +Clinton carried on the siege in a cautious but steady and skilful +manner. Lincoln was loaded with undeserved blame by many of his +countrymen, for he conducted the defense as became a brave and +intelligent officer. The error lay in attempting to defend the town, +but, in the circumstances in which Lincoln was placed, he was almost +unavoidably drawn into that course. It was the desire of the State that +the capital should be defended, and Congress, as well as North and South +Carolina, had encouraged him to expect that his army would be increased +to 9,000 men--a force which might have successfully resisted all the +efforts of the royal army. But neither Congress nor the Carolinas were +able to fulfill the promises which they had made, for the militia were +extremely backward in taking the field, and the expected number of +Continentals could not be furnished. Lincoln, therefore, was left to +defend the place with only about one-third of the force which he had +been encouraged to expect. At any time before the middle of April he +might have evacuated the town, but the civil authority then opposed +his retreat, which soon afterward became difficult, and ultimately +impracticable. + +At General Lincoln's request Congress passed a resolve directing the +Commander-in-Chief to cause an inquiry to be made concerning the loss +of Charleston and the conduct of General Lincoln while commanding in +the southern department. Washington, who knew Lincoln's merit well, +determined to give Congress time for reflection before adopting any +measure which had the least appearance of censure. The following extract +from his letter to the President of Congress (10th July, 1780) points +out clearly the impropriety of the hasty proceedings which had been +proposed in regard to this able and deserving officer: + +"At this time," Washington writes, "I do not think that the +circumstances of the campaign would admit, at any rate, an inquiry to be +gone into respecting the loss of Charleston, but, if it were otherwise, +I do not see that it could be made so as to be completely satisfactory +either to General Lincoln or to the public, unless some gentlemen could +be present who have been acting in that quarter. This, it seems, would +be necessary on the occasion, and the more so as I have not a single +document or paper in my possession concerning the department, and a copy +of the instructions and orders which they may have been pleased to +give General Lincoln from time to time and of their correspondence. And +besides the reasons against the inquiry at this time, General Lincoln +being a prisoner of war, his situation, it appears to me, must preclude +one till he is exchanged, supposing every other obstacle were out of the +question. If Congress think proper, they will be pleased to transmit to +me such papers as they may have which concern the matters of inquiry, +that there may be no delay in proceeding in the business when other +circumstances will permit." + +The fall of Charleston was matter of much exultation to the British and +spread a deep gloom over the aspect of American affairs. The southern +army was lost, and, although small, it could not soon be replaced. In +the southern parts of the Union there had always been a considerable +number of persons friendly to the claims of Britain. The success of her +arms roused all their lurking partialities, gave decision to the conduct +of the wavering, encouraged the timid, drew over to the British cause +all those who are ever ready to take part with the strongest, and +discouraged and intimidated the friends of Congress. + +Clinton was perfectly aware of the important advantage which he had +gained, and resolved to keep up and deepen the impression on the public +mind by the rapidity of his movements and the appearance of his troops +in different parts of the country. For that purpose he sent a strong +detachment under Cornwallis over the Santee toward the frontier of +North Carolina. He dispatched an inferior force into the center of the +province, and sent a third up the Savannah to Augusta. These detachments +were instructed to disperse any small parties that still remained in +arms, and to show the people that the British troops were complete +masters of South Carolina and Georgia. + +Soon after passing the Santee, Cornwallis was informed that Colonel +Buford was lying, with 400 men, in perfect security, near the border +of North Carolina. He immediately dispatched Colonel Tarleton, with his +cavalry, named the Legion, to surprise that party. After performing a +march of 104 miles in fifty-four hours, Tarleton, at the head of 700 +men, overtook Buford on his march, at the Waxhaws, and ordered him to +surrender, offering him the same terms which had been granted to the +garrison of Charleston. On Buford's refusal, Tarleton instantly charged +the party, who were dispirited and unprepared for such an onset. Most of +them threw down their arms and made no resistance, but a few continued +firing, and an indiscriminate slaughter ensued of those who had +submitted as well as of those who had resisted. Many begged for +quarter, but no quarter was given. Tarleton's quarter became proverbial +throughout the Union and certainly rendered some subsequent conflicts +more fierce and bloody than they would otherwise have been. Buford and a +few horsemen forced their way through the enemy and escaped; some of +the infantry, also, who were somewhat in advance, saved themselves by +flight, but the regiment was almost annihilated. Tarleton stated that +113 were killed on the spot, 150 left on parole, so badly wounded that +they could not be removed, and 53 brought away as prisoners. So feeble +was the resistance made by the Americans that the British had only 12 +men killed and 5 wounded. The slaughter on this occasion excited much +indignation in America. The British endeavored to justify their +conduct by asserting that the Americans resumed their arms after having +pretended to submit, but such of the American officers as escaped from +the carnage denied the allegation. For this exploit, Tarleton was highly +praised by Cornwallis. + +After the defeat of Buford there were no parties in South Carolina +or Georgia capable of resisting the royal detachments. The force +of Congress in those provinces seemed annihilated and the spirit of +opposition among the inhabitants was greatly subdued. Many, thinking +it vain to contend against a power which they were unable to withstand, +took the oath of allegiance to the King or gave their parole not to bear +arms against him. + +In order to secure the entire submission of that part of the country, +military detachments were stationed at the most commanding points, and +measures were pursued for settling the civil administration and for +consolidating the conquest of the provinces. So fully was Clinton +convinced of the subjugation of the country and of the sincere +submission of the inhabitants, or of their inability to resist, that, on +the 3d of June (1780), he issued a proclamation, in which, after stating +that all persons should take an active part in settling and securing +his majesty's government and in delivering the country from that anarchy +which for some time had prevailed, he discharged from their parole the +militia who were prisoners, except those only who had been taken in +Charleston and Fort Moultrie, and restored them to all the rights and +duties of inhabitants; he also declared that such as should neglect to +return to their allegiance should be treated as enemies and rebels. + +This proclamation was unjust and impolitic. Proceeding on the +supposition that the people of those provinces were subdued rebels, +restored by an act of clemency to the privileges and duties of citizens, +and forgetting that for upward of four years they had been exercising an +independent authority, and that the issue of the war only could stamp +on them the character of patriots or rebels. It might easily have been +foreseen that the proclamation was to awaken the resentment and alienate +the affections of those to whom it was addressed. Many of the Colonists +had submitted in the fond hope of being released, under the shelter of +the British government, from that harassing service to which they had +lately been exposed, and of being allowed to attend to their own affairs +in a state of peaceful tranquility; but the proclamation dissipated this +delusion and opened their eyes to their real situation. Neutrality and +peace were what they desired, but neutrality and peace were denied them. +If they did not range themselves under the standards of Congress, they +must, as British subjects, appear as militia in the royal service. The +people sighed for peace, but, on finding that they must fight on one +side or the other, they preferred the banners of their country and +thought they had as good a right to violate the allegiance and parole +which Clinton had imposed on them as he had to change their state from +that of prisoners to that of British subjects without their consent. +They imagined that the proclamation released them from all antecedent +obligations. Not a few, without any pretense of reasoning on the +subject, deliberately resolved to act a deceitful part and to make +professions of submission and allegiance to the British government so +long as they found it convenient, but with the resolution of joining the +standards of their country on the first opportunity. Such duplicity and +falsehood ought always to be reprobated, but the unsparing rapacity with +which the inhabitants were plundered made many of them imagine that no +means of deception and vengeance were unjustifiable. + +Hitherto the French fleets and troops had not afforded much direct +assistance to the Americans, but they had impeded and embarrassed the +operations of the British Commander-in-Chief. He had intended to sail +against Charleston so early as the month of September, 1779, but the +unexpected appearance of Count D'Estaing on the southern coast had +detained him at New York till the latter part of December. It was his +intention, after the reduction of Charleston, vigorously to employ the +whole of his force in the subjugation of the adjacent provinces, but +information, received about the time of the surrender of the town, that +Monsieur de Ternay, with a fleet and troops from France, was expected on +the American coast, deranged his plan and induced him to return to New +York with the greater part of his army, leaving Cornwallis at the head +of 4,000 men to prosecute the southern conquests. Clinton sailed from +Charleston on the 5th of June. + +After the reduction of Charleston and the entire defeat of all the +American detachments in those parts, an unusual calm ensued for six +weeks. Imagining that South Carolina and Georgia were reannexed to the +British empire in sentiment as well as in appearance, Cornwallis now +meditated an attack on North Carolina. Impatient, however, as he was +of repose, he could not carry his purpose into immediate execution. The +great heat, the want of magazines, and the impossibility of subsisting +his army in the field before harvest, compelled him to pause. But the +interval was not lost. He distributed his troops in such a manner in +South Carolina and the upper parts of Georgia as seemed most favorable +to the enlistment of young men who could be prevailed on to join the +royal standard; he ordered companies of royal militia to be formed; and +he maintained a correspondence with such of the inhabitants of North +Carolina as were friendly to the British cause. He informed them of the +necessity he was under of postponing the expedition into their country, +and advised them to attend to their harvest and to remain quiet till the +royal army advanced to support them. Eager, however, to manifest +their zeal and entertaining sanguine hopes of success, certain +Tories disregarded his salutary advice and broke out into premature +insurrections, which were vigorously resisted and generally suppressed +by the patriots, who were the more numerous and determined party. But +one band of Tories, amounting to 800 men, under a Colonel Bryan, marched +down the Yadkin to a British post at the Cheraws and afterward reached +Camden. + +The people of North Carolina were likely to prove much more intractable +than those of South Carolina and Georgia. They were chiefly descendants +of Scotch-Irish settlers--stern Presbyterians and ardent lovers of +liberty. When Tryon was their governor, they had resisted his tyranny +under the name of Regulators, and at Mecklenburg had published a +declaration of independence more than a year before Congress took the +same attitude of defiance. Such were the North Carolinians; and their +State was destined to be the scene of many battles in which the power of +Britain was bravely resisted. + +Having made the necessary dispositions Cornwallis entrusted the command +on the frontier to Lord Rawdon and returned to Charleston in order to +organize the civil government of the province and to establish such +regulations as circumstances required. But Cornwallis showed himself +more a soldier than a politician, and more a tyrant than either. Instead +of endeavoring to regain, by kindness and conciliation, the good will of +a people whose affections were alienated from the cause in which he was +engaged, Cornwallis attempted to drive them into allegiance by harshness +and severity. Indeed, many of the British officers viewed the Americans +merely in the light of rebels and traitors, whose lives it was +indulgence to spare; treated them not only with injustice, but with +insolence and insult more intolerable than injustice itself; and +exercised a rigor which greatly increases the miseries without promoting +the legitimate purposes of war. + +By the capitulation of Charleston, the citizens were prisoners on +parole, but successive proclamations were published, each abridging the +privileges of prisoners more than that which had gone before. A board +of police was established for the administration of justice, and before +that board British subjects were allowed to sue for debts, but prisoners +were denied that privilege; they were liable to prosecution for debts, +but had no security for what was owing them, except the honor of their +debtors, and that, in many instances, was found a feeble guarantee. If +they complained they were threatened with close confinement; numbers +were imprisoned in the town and others consigned to dungeons at a +distance from their families. In short, every method, except that of +kindness and conciliation, was resorted to in order to compel the people +to become British subjects. A few, who had always been well affected +to the royal cause, cheerfully returned to their allegiance, and many +followed the same course from convenience. To abandon their families and +estates and encounter all the privations of fugitives required a degree +of patriotism and fortitude which few possessed. + +In that melancholy posture of American affairs, many of the ladies of +Charleston displayed a remarkable degree of zeal and intrepidity in the +cause of their country. They gloried in the appellation of rebel ladies, +and declined invitations to public entertainments given by the British +officers, but crowded to prison ships and other places of confinement +to solace their suffering countrymen. While they kept back from the +concerts and assemblies of the victors they were forward in showing +sympathy and kindness toward American officers whenever they met them. +They exhorted their brothers, husbands, and sons to an unshrinking +endurance in behalf of their country, and cheerfully became the +inmates of their prison and the companions of their exile--voluntarily +renouncing affluence and ease and encountering labor, penury, and +privation. + +For some time the rigorous measures of the British officers in South +Carolina seemed successful and a deathlike stillness prevailed in the +province. The clangor of arms ceased and no enemy to British authority +appeared. The people of the lower parts of South Carolina were generally +attached to the revolution, but many of their most active leaders were +prisoners. The fall of Charleston and the subsequent events had sunk +many into despondency, and all were overawed. This gloomy stillness +continued about six weeks when the symptoms of a gathering storm began +to show themselves. The oppression and insults to which the people were +exposed highly exasperated them; they repented the apathy with which +they had seen the siege of Charleston carried on, and felt that the fall +of their capital, instead of introducing safety and rural tranquility, +as they had fondly anticipated, was only the forerunner of insolent +exactions and oppressive services. Peaceful and undisturbed neutrality +was what they desired and what they had expected; but when they found +themselves compelled to fight, they chose to join the Provincial +banners, and the most daring only waited an opportunity to show their +hostility to their new masters. + +Such an opportunity soon presented itself. In the end of March (1780) +Washington dispatched the troops of Maryland and Delaware, with a +regiment of artillery, under the Baron de Kalb, to reinforce the +southern army. That detachment met with many obstructions in its +progress southward. Such was the deranged state of the American finances +that it could not be put in motion when the order was given. After +setting out it marched through Jersey and Pennsylvania, embarked at the +head of Elk river, was conveyed by water to Petersburgh in Virginia, +and proceeded thence towards the place of its destination. But as no +magazines had been provided, and as provisions could with difficulty be +obtained, the march of the detachment through North Carolina was greatly +retarded. Instead of advancing rapidly, the troops were obliged to +spread themselves over the country in small parties, in order to collect +corn and to get it ground for their daily subsistence. In this way +they proceeded slowly through the upper and more fertile parts of North +Carolina to Hillsborough, and were preparing to march by Cross creek +to Salisbury, where they expected to be joined by the militia of North +Carolina. + +The approach of this detachment, together with information that great +exertions were making to raise troops in Virginia, encouraged the +irritation which the rigorous measures of the British officers had +occasioned in South Carolina; and numbers of the inhabitants of that +State, who had fled from their homes and taken refuge in North Carolina +and Virginia, informed of the growing discontents in their native State, +and relying on the support of regular troops, assembled on the frontier +of North Carolina. + +About 200 of these refugees chose Colonel Sumter, an old Continental +officer, called by his comrades the "Gamecock," as their leader. On +the advance of the British into the upper parts of South Carolina, this +gentleman had fled into North Carolina, but had left his family behind. +Soon after his departure a British party arrived, turned his wife and +family out of door, and burned his house and everything in it. This +harsh and unfeeling treatment excited his bitterest resentment, which +operated with the more virulence by being concealed under the fair veil +of patriotism. + +At the head of his little band, without money or magazines, and but ill +provided with arms and ammunition, Sumter made an irruption into South +Carolina. Iron implements of husbandry were forged by common blacksmiths +into rude weapons of war; and pewter dishes, procured from private +families and melted down, furnished part of their supply of balls. + +This little band skirmished with the royal militia and with small +parties of regular troops, sometimes successfully, and always with the +active courage of men fighting for the recovery of their property. + +Sometimes they engaged when they had not more than three rounds of shot +each, and occasionally some of them were obliged to keep at a distance +till, by the fall of friends or foes, they could be furnished with arms +and ammunition. When successful, the field of battle supplied them with +materials for the next encounter. + +This party soon increased to 600 men, and, encouraged by its daring +exertions, a disposition manifested itself throughout South Carolina +again to appeal to arms. Some companies of royal militia, embodied under +the authority of Cornwallis, deserted to Sumter and ranged themselves +under his standard. + +Cornwallis beheld this change with surprise: he had thought the conflict +ended, and the southern provinces completely subdued; but, to his +astonishment, saw that past victories were unavailing, and that the work +yet remained to be accomplished. He was obliged to call in his outposts +and to form his troops into larger bodies. + +But Cornwallis was soon threatened by a more formidable enemy than +Sumter, who, though an active and audacious leader, commanded only an +irregular and feeble band, and was capable of engaging only in desultory +enterprises. Congress, sensible of the value and importance of the +provinces which the British had overrun, made every effort to reinforce +the southern army; and, fully aware of the efficacy of public opinion +and of the influence of high reputation, on the 13th of June (1780) +appointed General Gates to command it. He had acquired a splendid name +by his triumphs over Burgoyne, and the populace, whose opinions +are formed by appearances and fluctuate with the rumors of the day, +anticipated a success equally brilliant. [4] + +On receiving notice of his appointment to the command of the southern +army, Gates, who had been living in retirement on his estate in +Virginia, proceeded southward without delay, and on the 25th of July +(1780) reached the camp at Buffalo ford, on Deep river, where he was +received by De Kalb with respect and cordiality. The army consisted of +about 2,000 men, and considerable reinforcements of militia from North +Carolina and Virginia were expected. In order that he might lead +his troops through a more plentiful country, and for the purpose of +establishing magazines and hospitals at convenient points, De Kalb +had resolved to turn out of the direct road to Camden. But Gates, in +opposition to De Kalb's advice, determined to pursue the straight route +toward the British encampment, although it lay through a barren country, +which afforded but a scanty subsistence to its inhabitants. + +On the 27th of July (1780) he put his army in motion and soon +experienced the difficulties and privations which De Kalb had been +desirous to avoid. The army was obliged to subsist chiefly on poor +cattle, accidentally found in the woods, and the supply of all kinds of +food was very limited. Meal and corn were so scarce that the men +were compelled to use unripe corn and peaches instead of bread. That +insufficient diet, together with the intense heat and unhealthy climate, +engendered disease, and threatened the destruction of the army. Gates at +length emerged from the inhospitable region of pine-barrens, sand hills, +and swamps, and, after having effected a junction with General Caswell, +at the head of the militia of North Carolina, and a small body of +troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Porterfield, he arrived at Clermont, or +Rugely's Mills, on the 13th of August (1780), and next day was joined by +the militia of Virginia, amounting to 700 men, under General Stevens. + +On the day after Gates arrived at Rugley's Mills, he received an express +from Sumter, stating that a number of the militia of South Carolina +had joined him on the west side of the Wateree, and that an escort of +clothes, ammunition, and other stores for the garrison at Camden was on +its way from Ninety-Six and must pass the Wateree at a ford covered by a +small fort nor far from Camden. + +Gates immediately detached 100 regular infantry and 300 militia of North +Carolina to reinforce Sumter, whom he ordered to reduce the fort and +intercept the convoy. Meanwhile he advanced nearer Camden, with the +intention of taking a position about seven miles from that place. For +that purpose he put his army in motion at 10 in the evening of the 15th +of August, having sent his sick, heavy baggage, and military stores +not immediately wanted, under a guard to Waxhaws. On the march Colonel +Armand's [5] legion composed the van; Porterfield's light infantry, +reinforced by a company of picked men from Stevens' brigade, marching in +Indian files, two hundred yards from the road, covered the right flank +of the legion, while Major Armstrong's light infantry of North Carolina +militia, reinforced in like manner by General Caswell, in the same +order, covered the left. The Maryland division, followed by the North +Carolina and Virginia militia, with the artillery, composed the main +body and rear guard; and the volunteer cavalry were equally distributed +on the flanks of the baggage. The American army did not exceed 4,000 +men, only about 900 of whom were regular troops, and 70 cavalry. + +On the advance of Gates into South Carolina, Lord Rawdon had called +in his outposts, and concentrated his force at Camden. Informed of the +appearance of the American army, and of the general defection of the +country between the Pedee and the Black river, Cornwallis quitted +Charleston and repaired to Camden, where he arrived on the same day that +Gates reached Clermont. + +The British force was reduced by sickness, and Cornwallis could not +assemble more than two thousand men at Camden. That place, though +advantageous in other respects, was not well adapted for resisting an +attack; and as the whole country was rising against him, Cornwallis +felt the necessity of either retreating to Charleston, or of instantly +striking a decisive blow. If he remained at Camden, his difficulties +would daily increase, his communication with Charleston be endangered, +and the American army acquire additional strength. A retreat to +Charleston would be the signal for the whole of South Carolina and +Georgia to rise in arms; his sick and magazines must be left behind; +and the whole of the two provinces, except the towns of Charleston and +Savannah, abandoned. The consequences of such a movement would be nearly +as fatal as a defeat. Cornwallis, therefore, although he believed the +American army considerably stronger than what it really was, determined +to hazard a battle; and, at 10 at night, on the 15th of August, the +very hour when Gates proceeded from Rugely's Mills, about thirteen miles +distant, he marched towards the American camp. + +About 2 in the morning of the 16th of August (1780) the advanced guards +of the hostile armies unexpectedly met in the woods, and the firing +instantly began. Some of the cavalry of the American advanced guard +being wounded by the first discharge, the party fell back in confusion, +broke the Maryland regiment which was at the head of the column, and +threw the whole line of the army into consternation. From that first +impression, deepened by the gloom of night, the raw and ill-disciplined +militia seem not to have recovered. In the reencounter several prisoners +were taken on each side, and from them the opposing generals acquired a +more exact knowledge of circumstances than they had hitherto possessed. +Several skirmishes happened during the night, which merely formed a +prelude to the approaching battle, and gave the commanders some notion +of the position of the hostile armies. + +Cornwallis, perceiving that the Americans were on ground of no great +extent, with morasses on their right and left, so that they could not +avail themselves of their superior numbers to outflank his little army, +impatiently waited for the returning light, which would give every +advantage to his disciplined troops. [6] + +Both armies prepared for the conflict. Cornwallis formed his men in two +divisions; that on the right was under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel +Webster, that on the left under Lord Rawdon. In front were four field +pieces. The Seventy-first regiment, with two cannon, formed the reserve; +and the cavalry, about 300 in number, were in the rear, ready to act as +circumstances might require. + +In the American army the second Maryland brigade, under General Gist, +formed the right of the line; the militia of North Carolina, commanded +by General Caswell, occupied the center; and the militia of Virginia, +with the light infantry and Colonel Armand's corps, composed the left; +the artillery was placed between the divisions. The First Maryland +brigade was stationed as a reserve 200 or 300 yards in the rear. Baron +de Kalb commanded on the right; the militia generals were at the head of +their respective troops, and General Gates resolved to appear wherever +his presence might be most useful. + +At dawn of day Cornwallis ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, with the +British right wing, to attack the American left. As Webster advanced he +was assailed by a desultory discharge of musketry from some volunteer +militia who had advanced in front of their countrymen, but the British +soldiers, rushing through that loose fire, charged the American line +with a shout. The militia instantly threw down their arms and fled, many +of them without even discharging their muskets, and all the efforts +of the officers were unable to rally them. A great part of the center +division, composed of the militia of North Carolina, imitated the +example of their comrades of Virginia; few of either of the divisions +fired a shot, and still fewer carried their arms off the field. Tarleton +with his legion pursued and eagerly cut down the unresisting fugitives. +Gates, with some of the militia general officers, made several attempts +to rally them, but in vain. The further they fled the more they +dispersed, and Gates in despair hastened with a few friends to +Charlotte, eighty miles from the field of battle. + +De Kalb at the head of the Continentals, being abandoned by the militia, +which had constituted the center and left wing of the army, and being +forsaken by the general also, was exposed to the attack of the whole +British army. De Kalb and his troops, however, instead of imitating the +disgraceful example of their brethren in arms, behaved with a steady +intrepidity and defended themselves like men. Rawdon attacked them about +the time when Webster broke the left wing, but the charge was firmly +received and steadily resisted, and the conflict was maintained for some +time with equal obstinacy on both sides. The American reserve covered +the left of De Kalb's division, but its own left flank was entirely +exposed by the flight of the militia, and, therefore, Webster, after +detaching some cavalry and light troops in pursuit of the fugitive +militia, with the remainder of his division attacked them at once in +front and flank. A severe contest ensued. The Americans, in a great +measure intermingled with British, maintained a desperate conflict. +Cornwallis brought his whole force to bear upon them; they were at +length broken and began to retreat in confusion. The brave De Kalb, +while making a vigorous charge at the head of a body of his men, fell +pierced with eleven wounds. His aide-de-camp, Lieutenant-Colonel de +Buysson, embraced the fallen general, announced his rank and nation to +the surrounding enemy, and while thus generously exposing his own life +to save his bleeding friend, he received several severe wounds, and was +taken prisoner with him. De Kalb met with all possible attention and +assistance from the victorious enemy, but that gallant officer expired +in a few hours. Congress afterward ordered a monument to be erected to +his memory. + +Never was victory more complete or defeat more total. Every regiment was +broken and dispersed through the woods, marshes, and brushwood, which +at once saved them from their pursuers and separated them more entirely +from each other. The officers lost sight of their men and every +individual endeavored to save himself in the best way he was able. The +British cavalry pursued; and for many miles the roads were strewed with +the wrecks of a ruined army. Wagons or fragments of wagons, arms, +dead or maimed horses, dead or wounded soldiers, were everywhere seen. +General Rutherford, of the North Carolina militia, was made prisoner, +but the other general officers reached Charlotte at different times and +by different routes. + +About 200 wagons, a great part of the baggage, military stores, small +arms, and all the artillery fell into the hands of the conquerors. This +decisive victory cost the British only 80 men killed and 245 wounded. +Eight hundred or 900 of the Americans were killed or wounded, and about +1,000 taken prisoners. The militia endeavored to save themselves by +flight; the Continentals alone fought, and almost half their number +fell. + +While the army under Gates was completely defeated and dispersed +Colonel Sumter was successful in his enterprise. On the evening in which +Cornwallis marched from Camden he reduced the redoubt on the Wateree, +took the stores on their way to Camden, and made about 100 prisoners. +On hearing, however, of the disastrous fate of the army under Gates, +Sumter, fully aware of his danger, retreated hastily with his stores and +prisoners up the south side of the Wateree. On the morning of the +17th (September, 1780) Cornwallis sent Tarleton, with the legion and a +detachment of infantry, in pursuit of him. That officer proceeded with +his usual rapidity. Finding many of his infantry unable to keep pace +with him he advanced with about 100 cavalry and sixty of the most +vigorous of the infantry, and on the 18th (September, 1780) suddenly and +unexpectedly came upon the Americans. + +Sumter, having marched with great diligence, thought himself beyond the +reach of danger, and his men being exhausted by unremitting service and +want of sleep, he halted near the Catawba ford to give them some repose +during the heat of the day. In order to prevent a surprise he had placed +sentinels at proper stations to give warning of approaching danger, +but overcome by fatigue and equally regardless of duty and safety the +sentinels fell asleep at their post and gave no alarm. Tarleton suddenly +burst into the encampment of the drowsy and unsuspecting Americans, and, +though some slight resistance was at first made from behind the baggage, +soon gained a complete victory. The Americans fled precipitately toward +the river or the woods. Between 300 and 400 of them were killed or +wounded. Sumter escaped, galloping off on horseback, without coat, hat, +or saddle, but all his baggage fell into the hands of the enemy, while +the prisoners and stores which he had taken were recovered. About 150 of +his men made good their retreat. + +By the complete defeat and dispersion of the army under Gates and of +Sumter's corps, South Carolina and Georgia appeared to be again laid +prostrate at the feet of the royal army, and the hope of maintaining +their independence seemed more desperate than ever. + +Affairs did not seem desperate, however, to Washington. He knew the +defensible nature of the country--intersected in every direction by +rivers and swamps, and affording every facility for partisan warfare +against regular troops, and he knew that the infamous conduct of the +British in the South had thoroughly roused the indignation of the +people. While Gates was gathering together a new army and stationing +detachments in different posts near Hillsborough, Washington received +intelligence of the disastrous battle of Camden. The sad news came +unexpectedly, as the previous reports had given hopes of some brilliant +feat on the part of Gates. The unlooked-for disaster, however, did +not for a moment dishearten Washington. He was fully aware of the +determination of the British to conquer the South, and if possible to +detach it from the confederacy, and he was determined on his part to +defeat their purpose. This was to be done chiefly by rousing the South +itself to action, since the position of affairs at the North did not +admit of large detachments from the force under his own immediate +command. He ordered, however, that some regular troops enlisted in +Maryland for the war should be sent to the southward. To show how +attentive he was to all the details of the necessary measures for +defending the South we copy his letter of September 12th (1780) +to Governor Rutledge, of South Carolina, who had been armed with +dictatorial power by the Legislature of that State. [7] + +"I am fully impressed," he writes, "with the importance of the southern +States, and of course with the necessity of making every effort to expel +the enemy from them. The late unlucky affair near Camden renders their +situation more precarious and calls for every exertion to stop at least +the further progress of the British army. It is to be wished that the +composition of our force in this quarter, our resources, and the present +situation of the fleet and army of our ally would admit of an immediate +and sufficient detachment, not only to answer the purpose I have just +mentioned, but to carry on operations of a more serious and extensive +nature. But this not being the case, for reasons which must be obvious +to you, let it suffice that your Excellency be informed that our views +tend ultimately to the southward. + +"In the meantime our endeavors in that quarter should be directed rather +to checking the progress of the enemy by a permanent, compact, and +well-organized body of men, than attempting immediately to recover the +State of South Carolina by a numerous army of militia, who, besides +being inconceivably expensive, are too fluctuating and undisciplined to +oppose one composed chiefly of regular troops. I would recommend to you, +therefore, to make use of your influence with the States from Maryland +southward, to raise without delay at least 5,000 men for the war, if it +can be effected; if not, for as long a time as possible. These, with the +militia in the vicinity, would answer the purpose I have last mentioned, +and would in proper time make a useful body, either to form a diversion +in favor of, or to cooperate with, a force upon the coast. + +"I have hinted the outlines of a plan to your Excellency which for many +reasons should be in general kept to yourself. You will oblige me by +informing yourself as accurately as possible, what may be the present +resources of the country as to meat, corn, wheat, or rice, and +transportation, as I suppose circumstances may have occasioned a +considerable change. And if it is possible to form magazines of either, +it should be done, especially of salt meat, which is an article so +essential to military operations, that the States of Virginia and North +Carolina should be requested to lay up, as soon as the weather will, +permit, at least 4,000 barrels in proportion to their respective +ability. You will also be pleased to endeavor to gain a knowledge of the +force of the enemy, the posts they occupy, the nature and state of those +posts, and the reinforcements they may probably derive from the people +of the country. As you receive these several intelligences you will be +pleased to communicate them to me with your opinion of the best place +for debarking troops, in case of an expedition against the enemy in +the southern States, and the names of the persons in that quarter whose +opinion and advice may be serviceable in such an event." + +In the following extract from a letter to Count de Guichen in the +West Indies, September 12, 1780, we have from Washington a view of the +general state of affairs after the battle of Camden. Its object was to +induce the French admiral to come immediately to the United States. +The letter did not reach the West Indies until De Guichen had sailed to +France. + +"The situation of America," Washington writes, "at this time is +critical. The government is without finances. Its paper credit is sunk +and no expedients can be adopted capable of retrieving it. The resources +of the country are much diminished by a five years' war in which it has +made efforts beyond its ability. Clinton, with an army of 10,000 regular +troops (aided by a considerable body of militia, whom from motives of +fear and attachment he has engaged to take arms), is in possession +of one of the capital towns and a large part of the State to which it +belongs. The savages are desolating the frontier. A fleet superior to +that of our allies not only protects the enemy against any attempt of +ours, but facilitates those which they may project against us. Lord +Cornwallis, with seven or eight thousand men, is in complete possession +of two States, Georgia and South Carolina, and by recent misfortunes +North Carolina is at his mercy. His force is daily increasing by an +accession of adherents, whom his successes naturally procure in a +country inhabited by emigrants from England and Scotland who have not +been long enough transplanted to exchange their ancient habits and +attachments in favor of their new residence. + +"By a letter received from General Gates we learn that in attempting +to penetrate and regain the State of South Carolina he met with a total +defeat near Camden in which many of his troops have been cut off and the +remainder dispersed with the loss of all their cannon and baggage. +The enemy are said to be now making a detachment from New York for a +southern destination. If they push their successes in that quarter we +cannot predict where their career may end. The opposition will be feeble +unless we can give succor from hence, which, from a variety of causes +must depend on a naval superiority." + +The remainder of the letter gives more details and urges the admiral to +give his aid to the United States. + +It will be recollected by the reader that Gates when in the height of +his glory did not make any report to Washington of the surrender of +Burgoyne. This was in the days of the Conway Cabal. He then slighted and +almost insulted the great commander, whom, it is not improbable he +hoped to supersede. But in the hour of disaster and defeat it was to +Washington himself that he turned for help, protection, and countenance. +He is prompt enough with his official report now although he writes his +first dispatch to Congress in order that his apology may be published. +The following letter to Washington is dated at Hillsborough, August 30, +1780: [8] + +"My public letter to Congress has surely been transmitted to your +Excellency. Since then I have been able to collect authentic returns of +the killed, wounded, and missing of the officers of the Maryland line, +Delaware regiment, artillerists, and those of the legion under Colonel +Armand. They are enclosed. The militia broke so early in the day, and +scattered in so many directions upon their retreat, that very few have +fallen into the hands of the enemy. + +"By the firmness and bravery of the Continental troops the victory is +far from bloodless on the part of the foe, they having upwards of 500 +men, with officers in proportion, killed and wounded. I do not think +Lord Cornwallis will be able to reap any advantage of consequence from +his victory as this State seems animated to reinstate and support the +army. Virginia, I am confident, will not be less patriotic. By the joint +exertions of these two States there is good reason to hope that should +the events of the campaign be prosperous to your Excellency all South +Carolina might be again recovered. Lord Cornwallis remained with his +army at Camden when I received the last accounts from thence. I am +cantoning ours at Salisbury, Guilford, Hillsborough, and Cross creek. +The Marylanders and artillerists, with their general hospital, will be +here; the cavalry near Cross creek, and the militia to the westward. +This is absolutely necessary as we have no magazine of provisions and +are only supplied from hand to mouth. Four days after the action of +the 16th, fortune seemed determined to distress us; for Colonel Sumter +having marched near forty miles up the river Wateree halted with the +wagons and prisoners he had taken the 15th; by some indiscretion the +men were surprised, cut off from their arms, the whole routed, and the +wagons and prisoners retaken. + +"What encouragement the numerous disaffected in this State may give Lord +Cornwallis to advance further into the country I cannot yet say. Colonel +Sumter, since his surprise and defeat upon the west side of the Wateree, +has reinstated and increased his corps to upwards of 1,000 men. I +have directed him to continue to harass the enemy upon that side. Lord +Cornwallis will therefore be cautious how he makes any considerable +movement to the eastward while his corps remains in force upon his left +flank, and the main body is in a manner cantoned in his front. Anxious +for the public good I shall continue my unwearied endeavors to stop +the progress of the enemy, to reinstate our affairs, to recommence an +offensive war and recover all our losses in the southern States. But +if being unfortunate is solely reason sufficient for removing me from +command, I shall most cheerfully submit to the orders of Congress and +resign an office few generals would be anxious to possess, and where the +utmost skill and fortitude are subject to be baffled by the difficulties +which must for a time surround the chief in command here. That your +Excellency may meet with no such difficulties, that your road to fame +and fortune may be smooth and easy is the sincere wish of, sir, your +Excellency's most obedient, etc." + +In the following extract from a letter of the 3d of September (1780), he +again calls Washington's attention to his own pitiable case: "If I can +yet render good service to the United States," he writes, "it will be +necessary it should be seen that I have the support of Congress and your +Excellency; otherwise some men may think they please my superiors by +blaming me, and thus recommend themselves to favor. But you, sir, will +be too generous to lend an ear to such men, if such there be, and will +show your greatness of soul rather by protecting than slighting the +unfortunate. If, on the contrary, I am not supported and countenance is +given to everyone who will speak disrespectfully of me it will be better +for Congress to remove me at once from where I shall be unable to render +them any good service. This, sir, I submit to your candor and honor, and +shall cheerfully await the decision of my superiors. With the warmest +wishes for your prosperity, and the sincerest sentiments of esteem and +regard, I am, sir, your Excellency's most obedient, humble servant." + +Notwithstanding these letters and any friendly help which Washington +may have rendered to his fallen rival, the fickle Congress, as we shall +presently see, deserted at his utmost need the man who they had advanced +against Washington's advice. + +After the battle of Camden, Cornwallis was unable to follow up the +victory with his usual activity. His little army was diminished by the +sword and by disease. He had not brought with him from Charleston the +stores necessary for a long march, and he did not deem it expedient to +leave South Carolina till he had suppressed that spirit of resistance to +his authority which had extensively manifested itself in the province. +In order to consummate, as he thought, the subjugation of the State, he +resorted to measures of great injustice and cruelty. He considered the +province as a conquered country, reduced to unconditional submission +and to allegiance to its ancient sovereign, and the people liable to the +duties of British subjects and to corresponding penalties in case of +a breach of those duties. He forgot, or seemed to forget, that many +of them had been received as prisoners of war on parole; that, without +their consent, their parole had been discharged, and that, merely by +a proclamation, they had been declared British subjects instead of +prisoners of war. + +In a few days after the battle of Camden, when Cornwallis thought the +country was lying prostrate at his feet, he addressed the following +letter to the commandant of the British garrison at Ninety-six: "I +have given orders that all the inhabitants of this province who have +subscribed and taken part in the revolt should be punished with the +utmost rigor; and also those who will not turn out, that they may be +imprisoned and their whole property taken from them or destroyed. I have +also ordered that compensation should be made out of these estates to +the persons who have been injured or oppressed by them. I have ordered, +in the most positive manner, that every militiaman who has borne arms +with us and afterward joined the enemy shall be immediately hanged. I +desire you will take the most vigorous measures to punish the rebels in +the district you command and that you obey, in the strictest manner, the +directions I have given in this letter relative to the inhabitants +of the country." Similar orders were given to the commanders of other +posts. [9] + +In any circumstances, such orders given to officers often possessing +little knowledge and as little prudence or humanity could not fail to +produce calamitous effects. In the case under consideration, where +all the worst passions of the heart were irritated and inflamed, the +consequences were lamentable. The orders were executed in the spirit in +which they were given. Numbers of persons were put to death; many were +imprisoned and their property was destroyed or confiscated. The country +was covered with blood and desolation, rancor and grief. + +The prisoners on parole thought they had a clear right to take arms, for +from their parole they had been released by the proclamation of the +20th of June (1780), which indeed called them to the duty of subjects, a +condition to which they had never consented, and therefore they reckoned +that they had as good a right to resume their arms as the British +commander had to enjoin their allegiance. The case of those who had +taken British protections in the full persuasion that they were to be +allowed to live peaceably on their estates, but who, on finding that +they must fight on one side or the other, had repaired to the standards +of their country, was equally hard. Deception and violence were +practiced against both. So long as the struggle appeared doubtful the +Colonists met with fair promises and kind treatment, but at the moment +when resistance seemed hopeless and obedience necessary they were +addressed in the tone of authority, heard stern commands and bloody +threatenings, and received harsh usage. Hence the province, which for +some time presented the stillness of peace, again put on the ruthless +aspect of war. + +A number of persons of much respectability remained prisoners of war in +Charleston since the capitulation of that town, but, after the battle +of Camden, Cornwallis ordered them to be carried out of the province. +Accordingly, early in the morning of the 27th of August (1780), some of +the principal citizens of Charleston were taken out of bed, put on board +a guard-ship, and soon afterward transported to St. Augustine. They +remonstrated with Lieutenant-Colonel Balfour, the commandant of +Charleston, but experienced only the insolence of authority from that +officer. + +While Cornwallis endeavored by severe measures to break the spirits of +the people and to establish the royal authority in South Carolina, he +did not lose sight of his ulterior projects. He sent emissaries into +North Carolina to excite the Loyalists there, and to assure them of +the speedy march of the British army into that province. On the 8th of +September (1780) he left Camden, and toward the end of the month arrived +at Charlottetown, in North Carolina, of which place he took possession +after a slight resistance from some volunteer cavalry under Colonel +Davie. Though symptoms of opposition manifested themselves at Charlotte +yet he advanced toward Salisbury and ordered his militia to cross the +Yadkin. But Cornwallis was suddenly arrested in his victorious career +by an unexpected disaster. He made every exertion to embody the Tory +inhabitants of the country and to form them into a British militia. For +that purpose he employed Major Ferguson of the Seventy-first regiment +with a small detachment in the district of Ninety-six, to train the +Loyalists and to attach them to his own party. From the operations of +that officer he expected the most important services. + +Ferguson executed his commission with activity and zeal, collected +a large number of Loyalists, and committed great depredations on the +friends of independence in the back settlements. When about to return to +the main army in triumph he was detained by one of those incidents which +occasionally occur in war and influence the course of events and the +destiny of nations. Colonel Clarke, of Georgia, who had fled from +that province on its reduction by Campbell in 1779, had retired to the +northward, and having collected a number of followers in the Carolinas, +he returned to his native province at the head of about 700 men, and +while Cornwallis was marching from Camden to Charlottetown, attacked the +British post at Augusta. Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, who commanded at that +place with a garrison of about 150 Provincials, aided by some friendly +Indians, finding the town untenable, retired toward an eminence on the +banks of the Savannah, named Garden Hill. But the Americans occupied +it before his arrival; by bringing his artillery, however, to bear upon +them, after a desperate conflict he succeeded in dislodging them and in +gaining possession of the hill, but with the loss of his cannon. There +Clarke besieged him till informed of the near approach of a British +detachment from Ninety-six, under Colonel Kruger. He then retreated, +abandoning the cannon which he had taken, and, though pursued, effected +his escape. Notice was instantly sent to Ferguson of Clarke's retreat +and of his route, and high hopes of intercepting him were entertained. +For that purpose Ferguson remained longer in those parts and approached +nearer the mountains than he would otherwise have done. As he had +collected about 1,500 men he had no apprehension of any force assembling +in that quarter able to embarrass him. + +Meanwhile the depredations committed by Ferguson exasperated many of the +inhabitants of the country, some of whom, fleeing across the Allegheny +mountains, gave their western brethren an alarming account of the evils +with which they were threatened. Those men, living in the full enjoyment +of that independence for which the Atlantic States were struggling, +resolved to keep the war at a distance from their settlements. The +hardy mountaineers of the western parts of Virginia and North Carolina +assembled under Colonels Campbell, Shelby, Cleveland, and Sevier. Other +parties, under their several leaders, hastened to join them. They were +all mounted and unencumbered with baggage. Each man had his blanket, +knapsack, and rifle, and set out in quest of Ferguson, equipped in the +same manner as when they hunted the wild beasts of the forest. At night +the earth afforded them a bed and the heavens a covering; the flowing +stream quenched their thirst; their guns, their knapsacks, or a few +cattle driven in their rear, supplied them with food. Their numbers +made them formidable, and the rapidity of their movements rendered it +difficult to escape them. They amounted to nearly 3,000 men. + +On hearing of their approach Ferguson began to retreat toward Charlotte +and sent messengers to Cornwallis to apprise him of his danger. But the +messengers were intercepted, and Cornwallis remained ignorant of the +perilous situation of his detachment. In the vicinity of Gilbert town +the Americans, apprehensive of Ferguson's escape, selected 1,000 of +their best riflemen, mounted them on their fleetest horses, and +sent them in pursuit. Their rapid movements rendered his retreat +impracticable, and Ferguson, sensible that he would inevitably be +overtaken, chose his ground on King's mountain on the confines of North +and South Carolina, and waited the attack. + +On the 7th of October (1780) the Americans came up with him. Campbell +had the command, but his authority was merely nominal, for there was +little military order or subordination in the attack. They agreed to +divide their forces in order to assail Ferguson from different quarters, +and the divisions were led on by Colonels Cleveland, Shelby, Sevier, +and Williams. Cleveland, who conducted the party which began the attack, +addressed his men as follows: + +"My brave fellows! we have beaten the Tories and we can beat them. When +engaged you are not to wait for the word of command from me. I will show +you by my example how to fight; I can undertake no more. Every man +must consider himself an officer and act on his own judgment. Though +repulsed, do not run off; return and renew the combat. If any of you are +afraid you have not only leave to withdraw, but are requested to do so." + +Cleveland instantly began the attack, but was soon compelled to retire +before the bayonet. But Ferguson had no time to continue the pursuit, +for Shelby came forward from an unexpected quarter and poured in a +destructive fire. Ferguson again resorted to the bayonet and was again +successful. But at that moment Campbell's division advanced on another +side and a new battle began. Campbell, like his comrades, was obliged to +retreat. But Cleveland had now rallied his division and advanced anew to +the combat. The Royalists wheeled and met this returning assailant. In +this way there was an unremitting succession of attacks for about +fifty minutes. Ferguson obstinately defended himself and repulsed every +assailant, but at last he fell mortally wounded, and the second in +command, seeing the contest hopeless, surrendered. Ferguson and 150 of +his men lay dead on the field; as many were wounded; nearly 700 laid +down their arms, and upwards of 400 escaped. Among the prisoners the +number of regular British soldiers did not amount to 100. The Americans +lost about twenty men, who were killed on the field, and they had many +wounded. They took 1,500 stand of arms. Major Ferguson's position was +good, but the hill abounded with wood and afforded the Americans, who +were all riflemen, an opportunity of fighting in their own way and of +firing from behind trees. + +The Americans hanged ten of their prisoners on the spot, pleading the +guilt of the individuals who suffered and the example of the British, +who had executed a great number of Americans. One of the victims was +a militia officer, who accepted a British commission, although he +had formerly been in the American service. Those rude warriors, whose +enterprise was the spontaneous impulse of their patriotism or revenge, +who acknowledged no superior authority, and who were guided by no +superior counsels, having achieved their victories and attained their +object, dispersed and returned home. Most of the prisoners were soon +afterward released on various conditions. + +The ruin of Ferguson's detachment, from which so much had been expected, +was a severe blow to Cornwallis; it disconcerted his plans and prevented +his progress northward. On the 14th of October (1780), as soon after +obtaining certain information of the fall of Major Ferguson as the army +could be put in motion, he left Charlotte, where Ferguson was to have +met him and began his retreat toward South Carolina. In that retrograde +movement the British army suffered severely; for several days it rained +incessantly; the roads were almost impassable; the soldiers had no +tents, and at night encamped in the woods in an unhealthy climate. The +army was ill supplied with provisions; sometimes the men had beef, but +no bread; at other times bread, but no beef. Once they subsisted during +five days on Indian corn collected as it stood in the fields. Five ears +were the daily allowance of two men, but the troops bore their toils and +privations without a murmur. + +In these trying circumstances the American Loyalists who had joined +the royal standard were of great service, but their services were ill +requited, and several of them, disgusted by the abusive language and +even blows, which they received from some of the officers, left the +British army forever. At length the troops passed the Catawba, and +on the 29th of October (1780) reached Wynnesborough, an intermediate +station between Camden and Ninety-six. During this difficult march +Cornwallis was ill and Lord Rawdon had the command. + +Washington directed the operations of this southern campaign as far +as it was in his power. But he was interfered with by the pragmatical, +imbecile, and conceited Congress. Had Greene been appointed to take +command of the southern army, according to Washington's desire, instead +of Gates, he would soon have assembled around him that "permanent, +compact, and well-organized body of men," referred to in Washington's +letter to Governor Rutledge, which we have quoted, and would have given +a very different account of the British from that of Gates. Greene was +second only to the Commander-in-Chief in ability--second to none in +courage, coolness, and perseverance. His campaign in the South, as we +shall presently see, was one of the most remarkable performances of +the war. But Congress would not send him to the South till repeated +disasters compelled them to listen to Washington's advice. The old virus +of the Conway Cabal must have been still lurking among the members or +they would scarcely have preferred Gates to Greene. We must now leave +the South for a season and turn to the course of events in the northern +States. + +1. Footnote: This was a recent conquest of the British fleet in the West +Indies. + +2. Footnote: The reader will recollect that Fort Moultrie received its +name from its defense by Colonel Moultrie in 1776. + +3. Footnote: The reader will recollect that Fort Moultrie received its +name from its defense by Colonel Moultrie in 1776. + +4. Footnote: Washington, who had long ago taken the measure of Gates' +capacity, was desirous that Greene should receive the appointment to the +command of the southern army at this time; but his wishes were overruled +by Congress. Had Greene been appointed, or even had De Kalb been left in +command, the campaign of 1780 would have been quite another affair. + +5. Footnote: Charles Armand, Marquis de la Rouerie, was a French officer +of note when he entered our army as colonel in 1777, and was ordered to +raise a corps of Frenchmen not exceeding 200 men. He served in Jersey +and Pennsylvania in 1777, and in Westchester county, New York, in 1778, +where he captured Major Baremore and his Loyalists, as mentioned in +Washington's certificate below. In 1779 he was stationed at Ridgefield, +Connecticut, under Gen. Robert Howe. He was sent with a legion composed +of his own and Pulaski's cavalry to aid in Gates' southern expedition, +as mentioned in the text. In 1781 he went to France to obtain clothes +and equipments, and returned soon enough to assist at the siege of +Yorktown. Washington recommended him strongly to Congress, who gave him +the commission of brigadier-general in the spring of 1783. He returned +to France in 1784, engaged in the French revolution, and took an active +part. He died January 30th, 1793. On the occasion of Colonel Armand's +going to join the southern army under Gates, Washington gave him the +following certificate under his own hand: + +CERTIFICATE. + +I certify that the Marquis de la Rouerie has served in the army of the +United States since the beginning of 1777, with the rank of colonel, +during which time he has commanded an independent corps with much honor +to himself and usefulness to the service. He has upon all occasions +conducted himself as an officer of distinguished merit, of great zeal, +activity, vigilance, intelligence, and bravery. In the last campaign, +particularly, he rendered very valuable services, and towards the close +of it made a brilliant partisan stroke, by which, with much enterprise +and address, he surprised a major and some men of the enemy in quarters, +at a considerable distance within their pickets, and brought them off +without loss to his party. I give him this certificate In testimony +of my perfect approbation of his conduct, and esteem for himself +personally. + + +6. Footnote: Colonel Armand censured Gates' conduct on this occasion +severely. It is clear that he chose the ground best suited for the +enemy's purpose. "I will not say," Armand remarked, "that the general +contemplated treason, but I will say, that if he had desired to betray +his army, he could not have chosen a more judicious course." + +7. Footnote: Sparks, "Writings of Washington," vol. VII, p.201. 8. +Footnote: Sparks, "Correspondence of the Revolution," vol. III, P.66. + +9. Footnote: The orders of Rawdon and Cornwallis to the subordinates to +treat the Americans in this cruel manner were intercepted and sent to +Washington, who transmitted them, with a sharp letter, to Sir Henry +Clinton. His reply sustained Rawdon and Cornwallis. The original letters +and the whole correspondence may be found in the 7th volume of Sparks, +"Writings of Washington." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN. 1781. + + +The contest between Great Britain and her revolted Colonies had involved +her in other wars. Spain had already joined with France in the alliance +against her, and the Dutch were now drawn into the contest. Great +Britain had claimed and exercised what she called the "right of search," +which included the right to seize the property of an enemy, wherever +found, at sea. The Dutch, who had an extensive carrying trade with +France, being plundered by the British under their insolent "right of +search," were already preparing to join the other allies and commence +open hostilities. + +The next act in the drama was the formation of the armed neutrality +denying the "right of search," and declaring that free ships made free +goods. Catharine II. of Russia was at its head. Sweden and Denmark +immediately joined it. It was resolved that neutral ships should enjoy +a free navigation even from port to port and on the coasts of the +belligerent powers; that all effects belonging to the subjects of the +said belligerent powers should be looked upon as free on board +such neutral ships, except only such goods as were stipulated to be +contraband, and that no port should be considered under blockade unless +there should be a sufficient force before it to render the blockade +effectual. The other European powers were invited to join this +confederacy. France and Spain agreed to do so at once; Portugal +hesitated and declined, and the United Provinces delayed for a time +their answer. The Emperor of Germany and the King of Prussia joined the +armed neutrality in 1781. + +Meanwhile, Henry Laurens having been taken prisoner on his way to +Holland (1780) to solicit a loan for the United States, and his papers +having made the British ministry acquainted with the fact that overtures +for a treaty between Holland and America were under consideration, +England, at the close of 1780, resolved upon a war with the States +General. Thus England, by this step, without friend or allies, prepared +to wage, single-handed, the contest with enemies in every quarter of the +globe. + +In the beginning of the year 1781, the affairs of the American Union +wore a gloomy and alarming aspect. Vigorous and united efforts were +needful; but all seemed feeble and irresolute. The people were heartily +tired of the war; and, though no better affected to the parent State +than before, yet they earnestly desired deliverance from the multiplied +miseries of the protracted struggle. + +The alliance with France had promised a speedy termination to the war; +but hitherto, while its existence made the Americans comparatively +remiss in their own exertions to prosecute hostilities, the French fleet +and army had performed no important service. + +Congress had called for an army of 37,000 men, to be in camp on the +1st of January (1781). The resolution, as usual, was too late, but even +although it had been promulgated in due time, so large a force could +not have been brought into the field. The deficiencies and delays on the +part of the several States exceeded all reasonable anticipation. At no +time during this active and interesting campaign did the regular force, +drawn from Pennsylvania to Georgia inclusive, amount to 3,000 men. So +late as the month of April (1781), the States, from New Jersey to New +Hampshire inclusive, had furnished only 5,000 infantry, but this force +was slowly and gradually increased, till, in the month of May, including +cavalry and artillery which never exceeded 1,000 men, it presented a +total of about 7,000, of whom upwards of 4,000 might have been relied +on in active service. A considerable part of this small force arrived +in camp too late to acquire during the campaign that discipline which is +essential to military success. Inadequate as this army was for asserting +the independence of the country, the prospect of being unable to support +it was still more alarming. The men were in rags; clothing had long been +expected from Europe but had not yet arrived and the disappointment was +severely felt. + +The magazines were ill supplied, the troops were often almost starving +and the army ready to be dissolved for want of food. The arsenals were +nearly empty. Instead of having the requisites of a well-appointed army +everything was deficient and there was little prospect of being better +provided, for money was as scarce as food and military stores. Congress +had resolved to issue no more bills on the credit of the Union, and +the care of supplying the army was devolved upon the several States +according to a rule established by that body. Even when the States had +collected the specified provisions, the quartermaster-general had no +funds to pay for the transportation of them to the army to accomplish +which military impressment was resorted to in a most offensive degree. +Congress was surrounded with difficulties, the several States were +callous and dilatory, and affairs generally wore an aspect of debility +and decay. + +To deepen the general gloom there were portentous rumors of preparations +for savage warfare along the whole extent of the western frontier and +of an invasion on the side of Canada. In the midst of financial +difficulties and apprehensions of attack both from foreign and domestic +enemies, a new and alarming danger appeared in a quarter where it was +little expected and which threatened to consummate the ruin of American +independence. The privations and sufferings of the troops had been +uncommonly great. To the usual hardships of a military life were added +nakedness and hunger, under that rigor of climate which whets the +appetite and renders clothing absolutely necessary. By the depreciation +of the paper currency their pay was little more than nominal, and it was +many months in arrear. + +Besides those evils which were common to the whole army the troops of +Pennsylvania imagined that they labored under peculiar grievances. Their +officers had engaged them for three years or during the war. On the +expiration of three years the soldiers thought themselves entitled to a +discharge; the officers alleged that they were engaged for the war. The +large bounties given to those who were not bound by previous enlistment +heightened the discontent of the soldiers, and made them more zealous +in asserting what they thought their rights. In the first transports +of their patriotism they had readily enlisted, but men will not long +willingly submit to immediate and unprofitable hardships in the prospect +of distant and contingent rewards. + +The discontents engendered by the causes now mentioned had for some time +been increasing and on the 1st of January, 1781, broke out into the open +and almost universal mutiny of the troops of Pennsylvania. On a signal +given, the greater part of the noncommissioned officers and privates +paraded under arms, declaring their intention of marching to the seat +of Congress at Philadelphia to obtain a redress of grievances, or to +abandon the service. The officers made every exertion to bring them back +to their duty, but in vain; in the attempt, a captain was killed and +several other persons wounded. General Wayne interposed, but, on cocking +his pistols at some of the most audacious of the mutineers, several +bayonets were at his breast, the men exclaiming, "We respect you--we +love you; but you are a dead man if you fire! Do not mistake us: we +are not going to the enemy, on the contrary, were they to come out, you +should see us fight under you with as much resolution and alacrity as +ever, but we wish a redress of grievances and will no longer be trifled +with." Such of the Pennsylvania troops as had at first taken no part in +the disturbance were prevailed on to join the mutineers and the whole, +amounting to 1,300 men, with six field pieces, marched from Morristown +under temporary officers of their own election. Washington's +headquarters were then at New Windsor on the North river. + +Next day (Jan. 2, 1781), General Wayne and Colonels Butter and Stewart, +officers who in a high degree enjoyed the confidence and affection of +the troops, followed the mutineers, but though civilly received, +they could not succeed in adjusting the differences or in restoring +subordination. On the third day the mutineers resumed their march and +in the morning arrived at Princeton. Congress and the Pennsylvania +government, as well as Washington, were much alarmed by this mutiny +fearing the example might be contagious and lead to the dissolution of +the whole army. Therefore a committee of Congress, with President +Reed [1] at their head and some members of the executive council of +Pennsylvania, set out from Philadelphia for the purpose of allaying this +dangerous commotion. + +Sir Henry Clinton, who heard of the mutiny on the morning of the 3d +(January 1781), was equally active in endeavoring to turn it to the +advantage of his government. He ordered a large corps to be in readiness +to march on a moment's notice and sent two American spies by way of +Amboy and two by way of Elizabethtown, as agents from himself to treat +with the mutineers. But two of the persons employed were actually spies +on himself and soon disclosed his proposals to the American authorities. +The two real spies on reaching Princeton were seized by the mutineers +and afterwards delivered up to General Wayne who had them tried and +executed on the 10th. + +At first the mutineers declined leaving Princeton, but finding their +demands would be substantially complied with they marched to Trenton +on the 9th, and before the 15th (January 1781), the matter was so far +settled that the committee of Congress left Trenton and returned to +Philadelphia. All who had enlisted for three years or during the war +were to be discharged, and in cases where the terms of enlistment could +not be produced the oath of the soldier was to be received as evidence +on the point. They were to receive immediate certificates for the +depreciation on their pay, and their arrears were to be settled as +soon as circumstances would admit. On those terms about one-half of the +Pennsylvania troops obtained their discharge, numbers of them having, +as afterwards appeared, made false declarations concerning the terms of +their enlistment. + +Intelligence of this mutiny was communicated to Washington at New +Windsor before any accommodation had taken place. Though he had been +long accustomed to decide in hazardous and difficult situations yet +it was no easy matter in this delicate crisis to determine on the most +proper course to be pursued. His personal influence had several times +extinguished rising mutinies. The first scheme that presented itself was +to repair to the camp of the mutineers and try to recall them to a sense +of their duty, but on mature reflection this was declined. He well knew +that their claims were founded in justice, but he could not reconcile +himself to wound the discipline of his army by yielding to their demands +while they were in open revolt with arms in their hands. He viewed the +subject in all its relations and was well apprised that the principal +grounds of discontent were not peculiar to the Pennsylvania line, but +common to all the troops. + +If force was requisite he had none to spare without hazarding West +Point. If concessions were unavoidable they had better be made by any +person than the Commander-in-Chief. After that due deliberation which +he always gave to matters of importance he determined against a personal +interference and to leave the whole to the civil authorities which had +already taken it up, but at the same time prepared for those measures +which would become necessary if no accommodation took place. This +resolution was communicated to Wayne, with a caution to regard the +situation of the other lines of the army in any concessions which +might be made and with a recommendation to draw the mutineers over the +Delaware, with a view to increase the difficulty of communicating with +the enemy in New York. The result, however, showed that this last was an +unnecessary precaution. + +The success of the Pennsylvania troops in exacting from their country by +violence what had been denied to the claims of equity produced a similar +spirit of insubordination in another division of the army. On the night +of the 20th of January (1781), about 160 of the Jersey brigade, which +was quartered at Pompton, complaining of grievances similar to those of +the Pennsylvania line and hoping for equal success, rose in arms, and +marched to Chatham with the view of prevailing on some of their comrades +stationed there to join them. Their number was not formidable and +Washington, knowing that he might depend on the fidelity of the greater +part of his troops detached Gen. Robert Howe against the mutineers, with +orders to force them to unconditional submission and to execute some +of the most turbulent of them on the spot. These orders were promptly +obeyed and two of the ringleaders were put to death. + +Sir Henry Clinton, as in the case of the Pennsylvanians, endeavored to +take advantage of the mutiny of the Jersey brigade. He sent emissaries +to negotiate with them, and detached General Robertson with 3,000 men to +Staten Island to be in readiness to support them if they should accede +to his proposals, but the mutiny was so speedily crushed that his +emissaries had no time to act. + +The situation of Congress at this time was trying in the extreme. The +contest was now one for very existence. A powerful foe was in full +strength in the heart of the country; they had great military operations +to carry on, but were almost without an army and wholly without money. +Their bills of credit had ceased to be of any worth; and they were +reduced to the mortifying necessity of declaring by their own acts +that this was the fact, as they no longer made them a legal tender or +received them in payment of taxes. Without money of some kind an army +could neither be raised nor maintained. But the greater the exigency +the greater were the exertions of Congress. They directed their agents +abroad to borrow, if possible, from France, Spain, and Holland. They +resorted to taxation, although they knew that the measure would be +unpopular and that they had not the power to enforce their decree. The +tax laid they apportioned among the several States, by whose authority +it was to be collected. Perceiving that there was great disorder and +waste, or peculation, in the management of the fiscal concerns they +determined on introducing a thorough reform and the strictest economy. +They accordingly appointed as treasurer Robert Morris of Philadelphia, +a man whose pure morals, ardent patriotism, and great knowledge of +financial concerns eminently fitted him for this important station. The +zeal and genius of Morris soon produced the most favorable results. By +means of the "Bank of North America," to which in the course of the year +he obtained the approbation of Congress, he contrived to draw out the +funds of wealthy individuals. By borrowing in the name of the government +from this bank and pledging for payment the taxes not yet collected, he +was enabled to anticipate them and command a ready supply. He also used +his own private credit which was good though that of the government +had failed, and at one time bills signed by him individually, were in +circulation to the amount of $581,000. + +The establishment of a revenue subject to the exclusive control and +direction of the Continental government was connected inseparably +with the restoration of credit. The efforts, therefore, to negotiate a +foreign loan were accompanied by resolutions requesting the respective +States to place a fund under the control of Congress which should be +both permanent and productive. A resolution was passed recommending the +respective States to vest a power in Congress to levy for the use of the +United States a duty of five per centum ad valorem on all goods imported +into any of them, and also on all prizes condemned in any of the +American courts of admiralty. + +This fund was to be appropriated to the payment of both the principal +and interest of all debts contracted in the prosecution of the war, and +was to continue until those debts should be completely discharged. + +Congress at that time contained several members who perceived the +advantages which would result from bestowing on the government of the +nation the full power of regulating commerce, and consequently, of +increasing the imports as circumstances might render advisable; +but State influence predominated and they were overruled by great +majorities. Even the inadequate plan which they did recommend was never +adopted. Notwithstanding the greatness of the exigency and the pressure +of the national wants, never during the existence of the Confederation +did all the States unite in assenting to this recommendation, so +unwilling are men possessed of power to place it in the hands of others. + +About the same time a reform was introduced into the administration the +necessity of which had been long perceived. From a misplaced prejudice +against institutions sanctioned by experience all the great executive +duties had been devolved either on committees of Congress or on boards +consisting of several members. This unwieldy and expensive system had +maintained itself against all the efforts of reason and public utility. +But the scantiness of the national means at length prevailed over +prejudice, and the several committees and boards yielded to a secretary +for foreign affairs, a superintendent of finance, a secretary of +war, and a secretary of marine. But so miserably defective was the +organization of Congress as an executive body that the year (1781) had +far advanced before this measure, the utility of which all acknowledged, +could be carried into complete operation by making all the appointments. + +The war had continued much longer than was originally anticipated, and +the natural resources of the country, mismanaged by the inexperience of +the government and its ignorance of the principles of political economy +were so much exhausted that it became apparent the war could not be +carried on without a foreign loan and France, sufficiently embarrassed +with her own affairs, was the only country to which Congress could look +for pecuniary aid. Accordingly, Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, who had +been one of Washington's aids, was employed on this mission, and besides +endeavoring to negotiate a loan was instructed to press on the French +monarch the advantage of maintaining a naval superiority in the American +seas. While the energies of America were thus paralyzed by the financial +difficulties of Congress, the mutinous spirit of part of the army +and the selfishness and apathy of several of the States, the British +interest in the Provinces seemed in a prosperous condition. General +Greene, as we shall presently see, was maintaining a doubtful and +hazardous struggle against Cornwallis on the northern frontier of North +Carolina. A British detachment from New York had made a deep impression +on Virginia where the resistance was neither so prompt nor so vigorous +as had been expected from the strength of that State and the unanimity +of its citizens. + +On the 1st of May, 1781, Washington commenced a military journal. The +following statement is extracted from it: "I begin at this epoch a +concise journal of military transactions, &c. I lament not having +attempted it from the commencement of the war in aid of my memory, and +wish the multiplicity of matter which continually surrounds me and +the embarrassed state of our affairs which is momentarily calling +the attention to perplexities of one kind or another may not defeat +altogether or so interrupt my present intention and plan as to render it +of little avail. + +"To have the clearer understanding of the entries which may follow it +would be proper to recite in detail our wants and our prospects, but +this alone would be a work of much time and great magnitude. It may +suffice to give the sum of them, which I shall do in a few words, viz.: + +"Instead of having magazines filled with provisions we have a scanty +pittance scattered here and there in the distant States. + +"Instead of having our arsenals well supplied with military stores they +are poorly provided, and the workmen all leaving them. Instead of +having the various articles of field equipage in readiness the +quartermaster-general is but now applying to the several States to +provide these things for their troops respectively. Instead of having +a regular system of transportation established upon credit, or funds in +the quartermaster's hands to defray the contingent expenses thereof we +have neither the one nor the other; and all that business, or a great +part of it being done by impressment, we are daily and hourly oppressing +the people, souring their tempers, and alienating their affections. +Instead of having the regiments completed agreeable to the requisitions +of Congress, scarce any State in the Union has at this hour one-eighth +part of its quota in the field, and there is little prospect of ever +getting more than half. In a word, instead of having anything in +readiness to take the field, we have nothing; and, instead of having the +prospect of a glorious offensive campaign before us we have a bewildered +and gloomy prospect of a defensive one, unless we should receive a +powerful aid of ships, troops, and money from our generous allies, and +these at present are too contingent to build upon." + +While the Americans were suffering the complicated calamities which +introduced the year 1781 their adversaries were carrying on the most +extensive plan of operations against them which had ever been attempted. +It had often been objected to the British commanders that they had not +conducted the war in the manner most likely to effect the subjugation +of the revolted provinces. Military critics found fault with them for +keeping a large army idle at New York, which, they said, if properly +applied, would have been sufficient to make successful impressions at +one and the same time on several of the States. The British seemed to +have calculated the campaign of 1781 with a view to make an experiment +of the comparative merit of this mode of conducting military operations. +The war raged in that year not only in the vicinity of the British +headquarters at New York, but in Georgia, South Carolina, North +Carolina, and in Virginia. + +In this extensive warfare Washington could have no immediate agency in +the southern department. His advice in corresponding with the officers +commanding in Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, was freely and +beneficially given, and as large detachments sent to their aid as could +be spared consistently with the security of West Point. In conducting +the war his invariable maxim was to suffer the devastation of property +rather than hazard great and essential objects for its preservation. +While the war raged in Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, the Governor, its +representatives in Congress, and other influential citizens, urged his +return to the defense of his native State. But considering America as +his country and the general safety as his object, he deemed it of more +importance to remain on the Hudson. There he was not only securing the +most important post in the United States but concerting a grand plan of +combined operations which, as shall soon be related, not only delivered +Virginia but all the States from the calamities of the war. In +Washington's disregard of property when in competition with national +objects he was in no respect partial to his own. While the British were +in the Potomac they sent a flag to Mount Vernon requiring a supply +of fresh provisions. Refusals of such demands were often followed by +burning the houses and other property near the river. To prevent this +catastrophe the person entrusted with the management of the estate went +on board with the flag and carrying a supply of provisions, requested +that the buildings and improvements might be spared. For this he +received a severe reprimand in a letter to him in which Washington +observed: "It would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have +heard that in consequence of your noncompliance with the request of the +British they had burned my house and laid my plantation in ruins. You +ought to have considered yourself as my representative, and should have +reflected on the bad example of communicating with the enemy and making +a voluntary offer of refreshment to them with a view to prevent a +conflagration." + +To the other difficulties with which Washington had to contend in the +preceding years of the war a new one was about this time added. While +the whole force at his disposal was unequal to the defense of the +country against the common enemy, a civil war was on the point of +breaking out among his fellow-citizens. The claims of Vermont to be +a separate, independent State, and of the State of New York to their +country, as within its chartered limits, together with open offers from +the royal commanders to establish and defend them as a British province, +produced a serious crisis which called for the interference of the +American chief. This was the more necessary, as the governments of New +York and Vermont were both resolved on exercising a jurisdiction over +the same people and the same territory. Congress, wishing to compromise +the controversy, on middle ground, resolved, in August, 1781, to accede +to the independence of Vermont on certain conditions and within certain +specified limits which they supposed would satisfy both parties. +Contrary to their expectations this mediatorial act of the national +Legislature was rejected by Vermont, and yet was so disagreeable to the +Legislature of New York as to draw from them a spirited protest against +it. Vermont complained that Congress interfered in their internal +police; New York viewed the resolve as a virtual dismemberment of their +State, which was a constituent part of the Confederacy. Washington, +anxious for the peace of the Union, sent a message to Governor +Chittenden of Vermont desiring to know "what were the real designs, +views, and intentions of the people of Vermont; whether they would +be satisfied with the independence proposed by Congress, or had it +seriously in contemplation to join with the enemy and become a British +province." The Governor returned an unequivocal answer: "That there were +no people on the continent more attached to the cause of America than +the people of Vermont, but they were fully determined not to be put +under the government of New York; that they would oppose this by force +of arms and would join with the British in Canada rather than submit to +that government." While both States were dissatisfied with Congress, and +their animosities, from increasing violence and irritation, became daily +more alarming, Washington, aware of the extremes to which all parties +were tending, returned an answer to Governor Chittenden in which +were these expressions: "It is not my business, neither do I think +it necessary now to discuss the origin of the right of a number of +inhabitants to that tract of country formerly distinguished by the name +of the New Hampshire grants, and now known by that of Vermont. I will +take it for granted that their right was good, because Congress by their +resolve of the 17th of August imply it, and by that of the 21st are +willing fully to confirm it, provided the new State is confined to +certain described bounds. It appears, therefore, to me that the dispute +of boundary is the only one that exists, and that being removed all +other difficulties would be removed also and the matter terminated to +the satisfaction of all parties. You have nothing to do but withdraw +your jurisdiction to the confines of your old limits and obtain an +acknowledgment of independence and sovereignty under the resolve of the +21st of August (1781), for so much territory as does not interfere +with the ancient established bounds of New York, New Hampshire, and +Massachusetts. In my private opinion, while it behooves the delegates to +do ample justice to a body of people sufficiently respectable by +their numbers and entitled by other claims to be admitted into that +confederation, it becomes them also to attend to the interests of their +constituents and see that under the appearance of justice to one they +do not materially injure the rights of others. I am apt to think this is +the prevailing opinion of Congress." + +The impartiality, moderation, and good sense of this letter, together +with a full conviction of the disinterested patriotism of the writer, +brought round a revolution in the minds of the Legislature of Vermont, +and they accepted the propositions of Congress though they had rejected +them four months before. A truce among the contending parties followed +and the storm blew over. Thus the personal influence of one man, derived +from his pre-eminent virtues and meritorious services, extinguished the +sparks of civil discord at the time they were kindling into flame. [2] + +While Washington, during the early part of the year 1781, was thus +contending with every species of discouragement and difficulty, +prevented from acting offensively by want of means, and thus apparently +wasting away the fighting season in comparative inaction the war +was actively raging in the southern States. To this grand theater of +hostilities, as interesting as they are terrible, we must now call the +reader's attention. + + 1. Footnote: Gen. Joseph Reed, formerly secretary to Washington. + +2. Footnote: It was during this dispute between New York and Vermont +that Gen. Ethan Allen, then residing in the latter State, received large +offers from the British to use his influence to detach Vermont from the +Union and annex it to Canada. Of course these offers were indignantly +rejected. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +THE CAMPAIGN AT THE SOUTH. 1781. + + +In our last notice of the movements and operations of the contending +armies in the southern States, we left Cornwallis, after a dreary and +disastrous retreat, at Wynnsborough. The Americans, in the meantime, +were not idle. Defeated, but not subdued, they were active in preparing +to renew the struggle. After the defeat and dispersion of his army at +Camden, General Gates retreated to Charlotte, eighty miles from the +field of battle. There he halted to collect the straggling fugitives and +to endeavor from the wreck of his discomfited army to form a force with +which he might check or impede the advancing foe. He was soon joined +by Generals Smallwood and Gist, and about 150 dispirited officers and +soldiers. Most of the militia who escaped returned home, and General +Caswell was ordered to assemble those of the neighboring counties. Major +Anderson of the Third Maryland regiment, who had collected a number of +fugitives not far from the field of battle, proceeded toward Charlotte +by easy marches in order to give stragglers time to join him. But as +Charlotte was utterly indefensible and as no barrier lay between it +and the victorious enemy Gates retreated to Salisbury and sent Colonel +Williams, accompanied by another officer, on the road leading to Camden +to gain information of the movements of Cornwallis, and to direct +such stragglers as he met to hasten to Salisbury. From Salisbury Gates +proceeded to Hillsborough, where he intended to assemble an army with +which he might contend for the southern Provinces. + +It was from Hillsborough that he wrote the letter to Washington, which +we have already quoted, desiring the exertion of his influence to +prevent his being superseded in the command of the southern army. + +At Hillsborough every exertion was made to collect and organize a +military force and ere long Gates was again at the head of 1,400 men. +Even before the royal army entered North Carolina that State had called +out the second division of its militia, under Generals Davidson and +Sumner, and they were joined by the volunteer cavalry under Colonel +Davie. + +When Cornwallis entered Charlotte, Gates ordered General Smallwood to +take post at the fords of the Yadkin in order to dispute the passage of +the river, and Morgan, who had joined the southern army with the rank of +brigadier-general, was employed with a light corps to harass the enemy. + +When Cornwallis retreated Gates advanced to Charlotte; he stationed +General Smallwood further down the Catawba on the road to Camden and +ordered Morgan to some distance in his front. Such was the position +of the troops when Gates was superseded in the command of the southern +army. + +On the 5th of October (1780) Congress, without any previous indications +of dissatisfaction, had passed a resolution requiring Washington to +order a court of inquiry into the conduct of Major-General Gates, as +commander of the southern army, and to appoint another officer to that +command till such inquiry should be made. The order of Congress to +inquire into the conduct of Gates was unsatisfactory, as we have already +seen, to Washington. It was afterward dispensed with and Gates restored +to a command in the army. + +Meanwhile Washington recommended Major-General Greene to Congress as a +person qualified to command the southern army. Greene, by his activity, +intrepidity, and good conduct, had gained the confidence of Washington +long ago; he had desired him to have the command when Gates was +appointed, as we have already seen, and he now again recommended him as +an officer in whose ability, fortitude, and integrity he could trust. On +the 2d of December (1780) Greene arrived at Charlotte and informed Gates +of his commission. That was the first official notice which Gates, the +former favorite of Congress, received of his removal from the command of +the southern army. Next day Gates resigned the command of the army with +becoming dignity and patriotism, and Greene, who was dissatisfied with +the treatment which he had received, behaved toward him with the most +polite attention. + +In a few hours after Greene entered on his command he received the +report of one of Morgan's foraging parties, not far from Camden. The +party advanced to the vicinity of the British posts at Clermont, which +was viewed by Col. William A. Washington, who saw that it was too +strong to be taken by small arms and cavalry, the only weapons and force +present; he therefore had recourse to stratagem. Having made an imposing +show of part of his men and having placed the trunk of a pine tree in +such a situation as, at a distance, to have the appearance of a cannon, +he summoned the post to surrender, and it yielded without firing a shot. +The Tory Colonel Rugely and 112 men whom he had collected in the place +were made prisoners. This inconsiderable event elated Greene's army and +was considered by them as a good omen of success under their new leader. + +General Greene's situation was embarrassing. His army was feeble, +consisting, on the 8th of December (1780), of 2,029 infantry, of whom +1,482 were in camp and 547 in detachments; 821 were Continentals +and 1,208 were militia. Besides these there were 90 cavalry, 60 +artillerymen, and 128 Continentals on extra service, constituting in all +a force of 2,307 men. + +In North Carolina there were many Loyalists, and hostilities were +carried on between them and their republican neighbors with the most +rancorous animosity. The country was thinly inhabited and abounded +in woods and swamps. The cultivated parts were laid waste by hostile +factions, and no magazines for the army were provided. The troops were +almost naked, and Greene obliged to procure subsistence for them day by +day. + +He found that he could not long remain at Charlotte for the country +between that place and Camden, having been traversed by the contending +armies, was quite exhausted. In order, therefore, to procure subsistence +for his troops, as well as to distract and harass the enemy, Greene, +though fully aware of the danger of such a measure, felt himself +constrained to divide his little army. + +General Morgan had been invested with the command of the light troops by +Gates, and Greene placed him at the head of one of the divisions of his +army, consisting of nearly 400 infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Howard, +170 Virginia riflemen under Major Triplett, and 80 light dragoons under +Lieut.-Col. William A. Washington. With this small force Morgan was sent +to the south of the Catawba to observe the British at Wynnsborough and +Camden and to shift for himself, but was directed to risk as little as +possible. On the 25th of December (1780) he took a position toward the +western frontier of South Carolina, not far from the confluence of +the Pacolet and Broad rivers, and about fifty miles northwest from +Wynnsborough. With the other division of his army Greene left Charlotte +on the 20th of the same month (December, 1780), and on the 29th arrived +at Hick's Corner on the east side of the Pedee, opposite the Cheraw +hills, about seventy miles northeast from Wynnsborough, where he +remained some time. He marched to that place in the hope of finding +more plentiful subsistence for his troops, but his difficulties in that +respect were not much diminished, for the country was almost laid waste +by the cruel feuds of the hostile factions. + +General Morgan did not long remain inactive. On the 27th of December +(1780) he detached Colonel Washington with his dragoons and 200 militia, +who next day marched forty miles, surprised a body of Loyalists at +Ninety-six, killed or wounded 150 of them, and took 40 prisoners, +without sustaining any loss. At that time Morgan was joined by Major +M'Dowell with 200 North Carolina, and by Colonel Pickens with 70 South +Carolina militia. + +The British had to contend not only with the force under Greene and +Morgan, but were also obliged to watch other adversaries not less active +and enterprising. Sumter had been defeated by Tarleton on the 18th +of August (1780), and his followers dispersed, but that daring and +indefatigable partisan did not long remain quiet. He was soon again at +the head of a considerable band and had frequent skirmishes with his +adversaries. Always changing his position about Enoree, Broad, and Tiger +rivers, he often assailed the British posts in that quarter. On the 12th +of November (1780) he was attacked at Broad river by Major Wemyss, but +repulsed the party and made the major prisoner. On the 20th of the same +month he was attacked by Tarleton at Black Stocks, near Tiger river; the +encounter was sharp and obstinate; Tarleton was repulsed with loss, +but Sumter was wounded in the battle, and, being unfitted for active +service, his followers dispersed. Sumter showed much humanity to his +prisoners. Although Wemyss had deliberately hanged Mr. Cusack in the +Cheraw district, and although he had in his pocket a list of several +houses burned by his orders, yet he met with every indulgence. At Black +Stocks the wounded were kindly treated. + +Other partisan chiefs arose and among them General Marion held a +distinguished place. He had commanded a regiment in Charleston at the +time of the siege, but having received a wound which fractured his leg, +and being incapable of discharging the [1] active duties of his office, +he withdrew from the town. On the advance of Gates, having procured a +band of followers, he penetrated to the Santee, harassed the British +detachments, and discouraged the Loyalists. After the defeat of the +Americans at Camden he rescued a party of Continental prisoners who +were under a British guard. So ill was he provided with arms that he +was obliged to forge the saws of the sawmills into rude swords for his +horsemen, and so scanty was his ammunition that at times he engaged when +he had not three cartridges to each of his party. He secured himself +from pursuit in the recesses of the forest and in deep swamps. [2] + +Cornwallis impatiently waited the arrival of reinforcements. After the +victory at Camden, when he was flushed with the sanguine hope not only +of overrunning North Carolina, but of invading Virginia, General Leslie +was detached from New York to the southward with a considerable body of +troops, and, according to orders, landed in Virginia, expecting to meet +the southern army in that State. On finding himself unable to accomplish +his lofty schemes, and obliged to fall back into South Carolina, +Cornwallis ordered Leslie to re-embark and sail for Charleston. He +arrived there on the 13th of December (1780), and on the 19th began his +march with 1,500 men to join Cornwallis. His lordship resolved to begin +offensive operations immediately on the arrival of his reinforcements, +but, in the meantime, alarmed by the movements of Morgan for the safety +of the British post at Ninety-six, he detached Tarleton with the light +and legion infantry, the fusiliers or Seventh regiment, the first +battalion of the Seventy-first regiment, 350 cavalry, 2 field pieces, +and an adequate number of the royal artillery, in all about 1,100 +men, with orders to strike a blow at Morgan and drive him out of the +province. As Tarleton's force was known to be superior to that under +Morgan, no doubt whatever was entertained of the precipitate flight or +total discomfiture of the Americans. + +Meanwhile Cornwallis left Wynnsborough and proceeded toward the +northwest, between the Broad and Catawba rivers. General Leslie, who had +halted at Camden in order to conceal as long as possible the road which +the British army was to take, was now ordered to advance up the Catawba +and join the main body on its march. By this route Cornwallis hoped to +intercept Morgan if he should escape Tarleton, or perhaps to get between +General Greene and Virginia and compel him to fight before the arrival +of his expected reinforcements. The British generals encumbered with +baggage and military stores, marching through bad roads, and a country +intersected by rivulets which were often swollen by the rains, advanced +but slowly. Tarleton, however, with his light troops, proceeded with +great celerity and overtook Morgan probably sooner than was expected. + +On the 14th of January (1781) Morgan was informed of the movements of +the British army and got notice of the march of Tarleton and of the +force under his command. Sensible of his danger he began to retreat, and +crossed the Pacolet, the passage of which he was inclined to dispute, +but, on being told that Tarleton had forded the river six miles above +him, he made a precipitate retreat, and at ten at night on the 16th of +January the British took possession of the ground which the Americans +had left a few hours before. + +Although his troops were much fatigued by several days' hard marching +through a difficult country, yet, determined that Morgan should not +escape, Tarleton resumed the pursuit at three next morning, leaving his +baggage behind under a guard with orders not to move till break of +day. Morgan, though retreating, was not disinclined to fight. By great +exertions he might have crossed Broad river or reached a hilly tract of +country before he could have been overtaken. He was inferior to +Tarleton in the number of his troops, but more so in their quality, as +a considerable part of his force consisted of militia, and the British +cavalry were three times more numerous than the American. But +Morgan, who had great confidence both in himself and in his men, was +apprehensive of being overtaken before he could pass Broad river, and +he chose rather to fight voluntarily than to be forced to a battle. +Therefore, having been joined by some militia under Colonel Pickens, he +halted at a place called the Cowpens, about three miles from the line +of separation between North and South Carolina. Before daylight on +the morning of the 17th of January (1781), he was informed of the near +approach of Tarleton, and instantly prepared to receive him. + +The ground on which Morgan halted had no great advantages, but his +dispositions were judicious. On rising ground, in an open wood, he drew +up his Continental troops and Triplett's corps, amounting together to +nearly 500 men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Howard. Colonel Washington with +his cavalry was posted in their rear, behind the eminence, ready to +act as occasion might require. At a small distance in front of his +Continentals was a line of militia under Colonel Pickens and Major +M'Dowell, and 150 yards in front of Pickens was stationed a battalion +of North Carolina and Georgia volunteers under Major Cunningham, with +orders to give one discharge on the approaching enemy, and then to +retreat and join the militia. Pickens was directed, when he could no +longer keep his ground, to fall back with a retreating fire and form on +the right of the Continentals. + +Scarcely were those dispositions made when the British van appeared. +Tarleton, who had been informed by two prisoners of Morgan's position +and strength, instantly formed his troops. The light and legion infantry +and the Seventh regiment, and a captain with fifty dragoons on +each flank, constituted his first line; the first battalion of the +Seventy-first regiment and the rest of the cavalry composed the reserve. +Formerly Tarleton had succeeded by sudden and impetuous assaults, and, +entertaining no doubt of speedy and complete victory on the present +occasion, he led on his men to the attack with characteristic ardor, +even before his troops were well formed. The British rushed forward +impetuously, shouting and firing as they advanced. The American +volunteers, after a single discharge, retreated to the militia under +Pickens. The British advanced rapidly, and furiously attacked the +militia, who soon gave way and sought shelter in the rear of the +Continentals. Tarleton eagerly pressed on, but the Continentals, +undismayed by the retreat of the militia, received him firmly, and an +obstinate conflict ensued. Tarleton ordered up his reserve, and the +Continental line was shaken by the violence of the onset. Morgan ordered +his men to retreat to the summit of the eminence and was instantly +obeyed. The British, whose ranks were somewhat thinned, exhausted by the +previous march and by the struggle in which they had been engaged, and +believing the victory won, pursued in some disorder, but, on reaching +the top of the hill, Howard ordered his men to wheel and face the enemy; +they instantly obeyed and met the pursuing foe with a well-directed and +deadly fire. This unexpected and destructive volley threw the British +into some confusion, which Howard observing, ordered his men to charge +them with the bayonet. Their obedience was as prompt as before, and the +British line was soon broken. About the same moment Washington routed +the cavalry on the British right, who had pursued the flying militia +and were cutting them down on the left and even in the rear of the +Continentals. Ordering his men not to fire a pistol, Washington charged +the British cavalry sword in hand. The conflict was sharp, but not of +long duration. The British were driven from the ground with considerable +loss and closely pursued. Howard and Washington pressed the advantage +which they had gained; many of the militia rallied and joined in the +battle. In a few minutes after the British had been pursuing the enemy, +without a doubt of victory, the fortune of the day entirely changed; +their artillerymen were killed, their cannon taken, and the greater part +of the infantry compelled to lay down their arms. Tarleton, with about +forty horse, made a furious charge on Washington's cavalry, but the +battle was irrecoverably lost, and he was reluctantly obliged to +retreat. Upwards of 200 of his cavalry, who had not been engaged, fled +through the woods with the utmost precipitation, bearing away with them +such of the officers as endeavored to oppose their flight. The only +part of the infantry which escaped was the detachment left to guard the +baggage, which they destroyed when informed of the defeat, and, mounting +the wagons and spare horses, hastily retreated to the army. The cavalry +arrived in camp in two divisions; one in the evening, with the tidings +of their disastrous discomfiture, and the other, under Tarleton himself, +appeared next morning. In this battle the British had ten commissioned +officers and upwards of 100 privates killed. More than 500 were made +prisoners, nearly 200 of whom, including twenty-nine commissioned +officers, were wounded. Two pieces of artillery, two standards, 800 +muskets, thirty-five baggage wagons and about 100 horses fell into the +hands of the Americans whose loss amounted only to 12 men killed and 60 +wounded. The British force under Tarleton has been commonly estimated +at 1,100 men, and the American army at 1,000, although Morgan, in his +official report to Greene, written two days after the battle, states it +to have been only 800. [3] + +Cornwallis was at Turkey creek, twenty-five miles from the Cowpens, +confident of the success of his detachment or at least without the +slightest apprehension of its defeat. He was between Greene and Morgan +and it was a matter of much importance to prevent their junction and +to overthrow the one of them while he could receive no support from the +other. For that purpose he had marched up Broad river and instructed +General Leslie to proceed on the banks of the Catawba in order to keep +the Americans in a state of uncertainty concerning the route which he +intended to pursue, but the unexpected defeat of his detachment was an +occurrence equally mortifying and perplexing and nothing remained but to +endeavor to compensate the disaster by the rapidity of his movements and +the decision of his conduct. + +He was as near the fords of the Catawba as Morgan and flattered himself +that, elated with victory and encumbered with prisoners and baggage, +that officer might yet be overtaken before he could pass those fords. +Accordingly, on the 18th of January, (1781) he formed a junction with +General Leslie and on the 19th began his remarkable pursuit of Morgan. +In order the more certainly to accomplish his end at Ramsour's Mills he +destroyed the whole of his superfluous baggage. He set the example +by considerably diminishing the quantity of his own and was readily +imitated by his officers although some of them suffered much less by the +measure. He retained no wagons except those loaded with hospital stores +and ammunition and four empty ones for the accommodation of the sick +and wounded. But notwithstanding all his privations and exertions he +ultimately missed his aim for Morgan displayed as much prudence and +activity after his victory as bravery in gaining it. Fully aware of his +danger he left behind him, under a flag of truce, such of the wounded as +could not be moved with surgeons to attend them, and scarcely giving his +men time to breathe he sent off his prisoners under an escort of militia +and followed with his regular troops and cavalry, bringing up the rear +in person. He crossed Broad river at the upper fords, hastened to the +Catawba, which he reached on the evening of the 28th, and safely passed +it with his prisoners and troops next day--his rear having gained the +northern bank only about two hours before the van of the British army +appeared on the opposite side. + +Much rain had fallen on the mountains a short time before and it rained +incessantly during the night. The river rose and in the morning was +impassable. Morgan made a hair-breadth escape, for had the river risen +a few hours sooner he would have been unable to pass and probably would +have been overtaken and overwhelmed by his pursuers and had the flood in +the river been a little later Cornwallis might have forced a passage and +entirely discomfited the American division. But it was two days before +the inundation subsided, and in that interval Morgan sent off his +prisoners towards Charlottesville, in Virginia, under an escort of +militia and they were soon beyond the reach of pursuit. The Americans +regarded the swelling of the river with pious gratitude as an +interposition of Heaven in their behalf and looked forward with +increased confidence to the day of ultimate success. + +Morgan called for the assistance of the neighboring militia, and +prepared to dispute the passage of the river; but on the 31st of January +(1781), while he lay at Sherwood's ford, General Greene unexpectedly +appeared in camp and took on himself the command. Toward the end of +December, (1781) Greene, as already mentioned, took a position at Hick's +creek on the east side of the Peedee, and had in camp 1,100 Continental +and State troops fit for service. On the 12th of January (1781) he was +joined by Col. Henry Lee's partisan legion which arrived from the +North and consisted of 100 well-mounted horsemen and 120 infantry. This +reinforcement was next day dispatched on a secret expedition and in +order to divert the attention of the enemy from the movements of the +legion, Major Anderson, with a small detachment was sent down the +Peedee. On the night of the 24th, Lee surprised Georgetown and killed +some of the garrison, but the greater part fled into the fort which Lee +was not in a condition to besiege. + +Although Cornwallis perceived that he would meet with opposition yet +he determined to force the passage. The river was about 500 yards wide, +three feet deep, and the stream rapid. The light infantry of the guards +under Colonel Hall, accompanied by a guide, first entered the ford; they +were followed by the grenadiers who were succeeded by the battalions. +As soon as Davidson perceived the direction of the British column he led +his men to the point where it was about to land. But before he arrived +the light infantry had overcome all difficulties and were ascending the +bank and forming. While passing the river, in obedience to orders, they +reserved their fire, and, on gaining the bank, soon put the militia to +flight. Davidson was the last to retreat and on mounting his horse to +retire he received a mortal wound. + +The defeat of Davidson opened the passage of the river. All the American +parties retreated, and on the same day the rest of the British +army crossed at Beattie's ford. Tarleton, with the cavalry and the +Twenty-third regiment, was sent in pursuit of the militia, and being +informed on his march that the neighboring militia were assembling at +Tarrant's tavern, about ten miles distant, he hastened with the +cavalry to that place. About 500 militia were assembled and seemed not +unprepared to receive him. He attacked them with his usual impetuosity +and soon defeated and dispersed them with considerable slaughter. +The passage of the river and the total discomfiture of the party at +Tarrant's tavern so much intimidated the inhabitants of the country that +the royal army received no further trouble from the militia till it had +passed the Yadkin. + +A grand military race now began between the retreating Americans under +Greene and the pursuing British under Cornwallis. Greene marched so +rapidly that he passed the Yadkin at the trading ford on the night +between the 2d and 3d of February (1781), partly by fording and partly +by means of boats and flats. So closely was he pursued that the British +van was often in sight of the American rear and a sharp conflict +happened not far from the ford, between a body of American riflemen +and the advanced guard of the British army, when the latter obtained +possession of a few wagons. Greene secured all the boats on the south +side and here it again happened as at the Catawba--the river suddenly +rose by reason of the preceding rains and the British were unable to +pass. This second escape by the swelling of the waters was interpreted +by the Americans as a visible interposition of Heaven in their behalf +and inspired then with a lofty enthusiasm in that cause which seemed to +be the peculiar care of Omnipotence. + +Greene, released from the immediate pressure of his pursuers, continued +his march northward and on the 7th of February joined his division under +Huger and Williams near Guilford Courthouse. + +In order to cover his retreat and to check the pursuing enemy +Greene formed a light corps out of Lee's legion, Howard's infantry, +Washington's cavalry, and some Virginia riflemen under Major Campbell, +amounting to 700 men, the flower of the southern army. As General Morgan +was severely indisposed the command of these light troops was given to +Col. Otho Holland Williams, formerly adjutant-general. + +Having refreshed his troops, and made the necessary arrangements on the +morning of the 10th of February (1781), Greene left Guilford Courthouse +on his march towards the Dan, and was pursued by Cornwallis, who had +been detained by the long circuit which he was obliged to make in order +to pass the Yadkin. The retreat and pursuit were equally rapid, but the +boldness and activity of the American light troops compelled the British +to march compactly and with caution, for on one occasion Colonel Lee +charged the advanced cavalry of the British army suddenly and furiously, +killed a number, and made some prisoners. On this occasion Cornwallis +felt the loss of the light troops who had been killed or taken at the +Cowpens. He was destined to regret their loss through the rest of the +campaign. + +Greene's precautions and preparations for passing the Dan were +successful and on the 14th of February he crossed that river at Boyd's +and Irwin's ferries with his army, baggage, and stores. Although his +light troops had marched forty miles that day, yet the last of them +had scarcely reached the northern bank when the advanced guard of the +British army appeared on the other side of the river. + +The escape of Greene into Virginia without a battle and without any +loss except a few wagons at the Yadkin, was a severe disappointment to +Cornwallis. He had entirely failed in his attempts against Greene, but +he was consoled by the reflection that he had completely driven him out +of North Carolina, and that now there was nothing to hinder the loyal +inhabitants from openly espousing the British cause and reinforcing the +royal army. + +Cornwallis now gave up the pursuit and repaired to Hillsborough with the +view of calling out and organizing the Royalist forces. His adherents, +though here particularly strong, did not come forward to the extent +expected. The larger portion, as elsewhere, regarded the cause with +that passive and inert attachment which we have remarked to be generally +prevalent and even the more zealous having suffered severely by former +premature displays, dreaded lest the republican cause should regain the +ascendancy. The view also of the distress and exhaustion of the British +troops after so long a march was by no means alluring. Yet seven +companies were formed and detachments began to come in from different +quarters. + +On the other hand, Greene, having obtained a reinforcement of Virginia +militia, repassed the Dan and with his light troops endeavored to +annoy the British army and prevent recruiting. Major Lee surprised a +detachment of Royalists who mistook him for Tarleton and cut them +nearly to pieces. On account of the exhausted state of the country at +Hillsborough, Cornwallis soon withdrew to a position on the Allimance +creek between Haw and Deep rivers, where he could be better supplied +and support his friends who were numerous there. Greene, however, by +an active use of his cavalry and light troops, severely harassed his +opponent and by changing his own position every night, eluded the +attempt to bring him to an engagement. + +At length General Greene, having received reinforcements which raised +his army to above 4,200 men, of whom about a third were regulars, +determined to offer battle. This was what Cornwallis had eagerly sought, +yet his own effective force being reduced to somewhat under 2,000 he +felt now some hesitation, and probably would have acted more wisely in +maintaining the defensive. Even the enterprising Tarleton observes +that in his circumstances defeat would have been total ruin, while any +victory he might expect to gain could yield little fruit. All the habits +and views of Cornwallis, however, being directed to an active campaign, +he formed his resolution and, on the 15th of March (1781), proceeded to +the attack. Greene had drawn up his army very judiciously near Guilford +Courthouse mostly on a range of hills covered with trees and brushwood. + +Greene made disposition of his troops in the following order: The first +line was composed of North Carolina militia, the right under General +Eaton and the left under General Butler, with two pieces of artillery +under Captain Singleton. The right flank was supported by +Kirkwood's Delawareans, Lynch's riflemen, and the cavalry, all +under Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, and the left in like manner by +Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell's riflemen and the infantry of the legion, +all under Lieutenant-Colonel Lee. The second line, which was formed 300 +yards in the rear of the first, consisted of two brigades of Virginia +militia, the right under General Lawson and the left under General +Stevens. The third, 400 yards in reserve was formed upon the brow of the +hill near the courthouse. The right of this line was composed of Hawes's +and Greene's Virginia regiments under General Huger; the left of the +first and second Maryland regiments, the former under Gunby, the latter +under Ford--the whole commanded by Colonel Williams. In the center of +the last line was placed the remainder of the artillery. + +Captain Singleton commenced his fire, which was returned by the enemy, +who had formed their line of battle--the right wing under General Leslie +and the left under Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, with the artillery in +the center under Lieutenant-Colonel McLeod. The first battalion of the +guards, under Lieutenant-Colonel Norton, served as a support for the +right, and the second, with one company of grenadiers under General +O'Hara, for the left wing. Tarleton's dragoons were held in reserve. The +British commander having made all his dispositions advanced, fired one +round, and charged bayonets. Our militia having given a few shots while +the enemy was at a distance were seized by a panic when they saw him +coming down upon them. Many of them threw away their muskets, and the +entreaties of Butler, Eaton, and Davie, with the threats of Lee, were of +no avail. Almost the entire body fled. The artillery now retired to the +left of the Marylanders. At this crisis the enemy considered victory as +already within his grasp and continued to push on when he was attacked +on his right and left by Lee and Washington. Cornwallis perceiving this +threw one regiment out to engage Lee, and one regiment together with his +light infantry and yagers to resist Washington, filling up the breach +thus created by advancing the grenadiers with two battalions of the +guards, which had formed the supports to the flanks. Lee and Washington +fell back in good order, delivering their fire until they came up with +the second line which gave battle in good earnest. The right flank was +supported by Washington, who ordered Lynch's riflemen to fall upon the +left of Webster, who had to be supported by O'Hara. Here Webster ordered +the Thirty-third regiment to attack Lynch and was thereby in a measure +relieved. O'Hara charged the Virginia right wing, which was obliged to +yield ground. Lee on the left nobly did his duty and firmly held his +position. When the militia on the right gave way those on the left fell +back and were not rallied until they came up on the left of the third +line. Campbell's riflemen and Lee's legion stood perfectly firm and +continued the contest against one regiment, one battalion, and a body of +infantry and riflemen. The American reserve, with the artillery posted +in a most favorable position, was fresh and ready for the word of +command. Webster having overcome the Americans of the second line in +his front advanced upon the third and was received by Gunby's Maryland +regiment with a most galling fire which made his troops falter. Gunby +advanced, charging bayonets, when the enemy was completely routed. + +Leslie, after the left of the Virginia militia gave way, advanced to +the support of O'Hara, who had forced the American right wing, and the +combined commands of these generals charged the Second Maryland regiment +of the third line. This regiment, panic-stricken, fled. Gunby, coming up +at the time, held the enemy in check and a deadly conflict ensued. Gunby +having his horse shot under him, Lieutenant-Colonel Howard assumed the +command. Washington seeing how hot was the battle at this point pushed +forward and charged the enemy, and Howard advancing with his bayonets +leveled, the British were completely routed. + +The pursuit was continued for some distance when Cornwallis came up and +determined to gain the victory at any cost. He opened the fire of his +artillery alike on friend and foe, causing an indiscriminate slaughter +of British and Americans. + +The British were rallied at all points, and Greene, considering it +better to preserve the advantages he had gained, withdrew his forces. +This was done in good order and Cornwallis continued the pursuit but a +short distance. The loss of the Americans was about 400 in killed and +wounded; that of the British about 800. The enemy retained the field, +but his victory was both empty, and disastrous. + +Notwithstanding Cornwallis claimed a victory he resolved to fall back +on Wilmington, near the mouth of Cape Fear river, where he could recruit +his troops and obtain supplies and reinforcements by sea. + +Greene retreated about fifteen miles, taking post behind a small stream +called Troublesome creek, where he expected and awaited an attack. + + +1. Footnote: Marion was a strict temperance man. Being at a dinner party +where the guests, determined on a hard drinking bout, had locked the +door to prevent his exit, he jumped out of a second-story window, and +broke his leg. This was the wound above referred to. It occasioned him +to leave the city. He thus escaped surrendering when Charleston +fell, and his temperance preserved to the country one of its bravest +defenders. + +2. Footnote: Marion, on account of his successful stratagems and sudden +surprises of the British, was called by them the _Swamp-Fox_. His own +countrymen styled him the _Bayard_ of the South. + +3. Footnote: The action at the Cowpens was one of the medal victories. +Congress had separate gold medals struck in honor of it, and presented +to Morgan, Howard, and Col. William A. Washington. The name Cowpens, +according to Irving, comes from the old designation of Hannah's Cowpens, +the place being part of a grazing establishment belonging to a man named +Hannah. The worthy grazier could hardly have foreseen the immortality +which was destined to attach to his Cowpens. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +THE CAMPAIGN AT THE SOUTH CONCLUDED. 1781. + + +While the events recorded in the last chapter were passing Washington +was by no means a passive spectator. He held a constant correspondence +with Greene and sent him all the aid he could. Writing to him on the 9th +of January, 1781, he says: "It is impossible for anyone to sympathize +more feelingly with you in the sufferings and distresses of the troops +than I do, and nothing could aggravate my unhappiness so much as the +want of ability to remedy or alleviate the calamities which they suffer +and in which we participate but too largely. + +"The brilliant action of General Sumter and the stratagem of Colonel +Washington deserve great commendation. It gives me inexpressible +pleasure to find that such a spirit of enterprise and intrepidity still +prevails." [1] + +Writing to Greene again (on the 21st of March, 1781), he says: "You may +be assured that your retreat before Lord Cornwallis is highly applauded +by all ranks and reflects much honor on your military abilities." Such +words, from such a man, must have inspirited Greene amidst his toils and +perils. + +Greene, writing to Washington three days after the battle of Guilford +Courthouse, says: "In my former letters I enclosed to your Excellency +the probable strength of the British army, since which they have been +constantly declining. Our force, as you will see by the returns, was +respectable, and the probability of not being able to keep it long +in the field, and the difficulty of subsisting men in this exhausted +country, together with the great advantages which would result from +the action if we were victorious, and the little injury if we were +otherwise, determined me to bring on an action as soon as possible. When +both parties are agreed in a matter all obstacles are soon removed. I +thought the determination warranted by the soundest principles of good +policy and I hope events will prove it so though we were unfortunate. +I regret nothing so much as the loss of my artillery, though it was of +little use to us, nor can it be in this great wilderness. However, as +the enemy have it, we must also." + +"Lord Cornwallis," he writes in the same letter, "will not give up +this country without being roundly beaten. I wish our force was more +competent to the business. But I am in hopes, by little and little, +to reduce him in time. His troops are good, well found, and fight with +great obstinacy. + +"Virginia has given me every support I could wish or expect since Lord +Cornwallis has been in North Carolina, and nothing has contributed more +to this than the prejudice of the people in favor of your Excellency +which has been extended to me from the friendship you have been pleased +to honor me with." + +The reader will not fail to observe the soundness of Greene's judgment +as to the beneficial effect of the battle of Guilford Courthouse. It +was truly a disastrous victory for Cornwallis and a fortunate defeat for +Greene, whose subsequent operations we must now notice. + +When Greene took his position at the ironworks on Troublesome creek +after the battle of Guilford Courthouse he expected that Cornwallis +would follow up his advantage and attack him without delay. He therefore +prepared again to fight. His army, indeed, was much diminished, but he +had lost more in numbers than in effective strength. The militia, many +of whom had returned home, had shown themselves very inefficient in +the field. As soon as he received certain information that instead +of pursuing, Cornwallis was retreating, he resolved to follow him and +advanced accordingly. + +Greene was now in his turn the pursuer and followed Cornwallis so +closely that skirmishes occasionally happened between his advanced +parties and the rear guard of the British army, but no conflict of +importance ensued. On the morning of the 28th of March he arrived at +Ramsay's Mills, on Deep river, a strong post which the British had +evacuated a few hours before, crossing the river by a bridge erected for +the purpose. There Greene paused and meditated on his future movements. +His army, like that of the British, for some time past had suffered much +from heavy rains, deep roads, and scarcity of provisions. On reaching +Ramsay's Mills his men were starving with hunger and fed voraciously on +some fresh quarters of beef left behind by the British army. The troops +were much exhausted and stood in need of repose and refreshment. Besides +in that critical state of the campaign he found himself reduced to a +handful of Continentals. Most of the militia had left him. Small as his +army was he found great difficulty in procuring subsistence for it. + +Cornwallis had fairly the start of the Americans and was advancing to a +place where he would find more plentiful supplies and easily communicate +with the sea; so that Greene was sensible that with the force then under +his command he could make no impression on him. He resolved, therefore, +instead of following his opponent, to proceed to South Carolina. That +step, he thought, would oblige Cornwallis either to follow him or to +abandon his posts in the upper parts of the southern States. If he +followed him North Carolina would be relieved and enabled to raise its +quota of men for the Continental service, but if he remained in that +State or proceeded to the northward it was likely that the greater part +of the British posts in South Carolina and Georgia would be reduced and +that those States would be restored to the Union. He entertained little +apprehension of Cornwallis being able with the force then under his +command to make any permanent impression on the powerful State of +Virginia. + +Having refreshed his troops and collected provisions for a few days +Greene moved from Ramsay's Mills, on Deep river, on the 5th of April +(1781), toward Camden, and on the morning of the 20th of the same month +encamped at Logtown in sight of the British works at that place. + +Soon after his arrival at Wilmington, Cornwallis received certain +information that Greene was proceeding to South Carolina, and it threw +him into much perplexity. He was alarmed for the safety of Lord Rawdon, +but, though desirous of assisting him, he was convinced that the +Americans were already so far advanced that it was impossible for him +to arrive at Camden in time to succor Rawdon if he should need it. His +lordship's fate and that of his garrison would probably be decided +long before he could reach them, and if Greene should be successful at +Camden, he, by attempting to relieve it, might be hemmed in between the +great rivers and exposed to the most imminent hazard. On the other hand, +if Rawdon should defeat Greene there would be no need of his assistance. +A movement so perilous in the execution and promising so little in the +result was abandoned and Rawdon left to his own resources. + +Greene, without regard to the movements of his opponent, pushed on +and established himself at Hobkirk's Hill, about a mile from Rawdon's +headquarters at Camden. The militia having either deserted or their term +of service being expired his force was reduced to 1,800 men, but those +in fact included all on whom he could ever place much dependence. +Camden was occupied by Rawdon with about 800 men, the other troops being +employed upon the defense of detached posts, yet his position was judged +so strong as to afford no hope of success in a direct attack. The object +aimed at was, by throwing out detachments which might capture the forts +and cut off the supplies in his rear, to compel him gradually to fall +back. Lee, for this purpose, was sent with a strong party to cooperate +with Marion and Sumter. The English general seeing the hostile troops +thus reduced to about 1,500, formed the bold resolution of attacking +them. Making a large circuit round a swamp he came upon their left +flank quite unexpectedly, while the soldiers were busied in cooking +and washing. This first surprise was never wholly recovered, yet they +quickly stood to their arms and formed in order of battle. They had even +gained some advantages when the First Maryland regiment, considered the +flower of the army and which had highly distinguished itself both at +Cowpens and Guilford, fell into confusion, and when ordered to make a +retrograde movement, converted it into a complete retreat. The other +corps also, beginning to give ground, Greene thought it expedient to +cause the whole to retire. The loss on each side was about 260 killed +and wounded, and the Americans carried off fifty prisoners, including +six officers. + +This battle, commonly called the battle of Hobkirk's Hill, reflected +much honor on Lord Rawdon considering the disproportion of force which +was, in fact, greater than at Guilford, yet it did not change materially +the relative situation of the armies. Greene could still maintain +his position and support the detachments operating in the rear of his +adversary. + +Lee and Marion proceeded next against Fort Watson on the Santee which +commanded in a great measure the communication with Charleston. Having +neither artillery nor besieging tools they reared a tower above the +level of the rampart whence their rifle fire drove the defenders, and +themselves then mounted and compelled the garrison to surrender. They +could not, however, prevent Colonel Watson from leading 500 men to +reinforce Lord Rawdon, who then advanced with the intention of bringing +Greene again to action, but found him fallen back upon so strong a +position as to afford no reasonable hope of success. His lordship +finding his convoys intercepted and viewing the generally insecure state +of his posts in the lower country, considered himself under at least +the temporary necessity of retreating thither. He had first in view the +relief of Mott's House, on the Congaree, but before reaching it had the +mortification to find that with the garrison of 165 it had fallen into +the hands of Marion and Lee. He continued his march to Monk's Corner, +where he covered Charleston and the surrounding country. + +The partisan chiefs rapidly seized this opportunity of attacking the +interior posts and reduced successively Orangeburg and Granby on +the Congaree, and early in June, Augusta, the key of upper Georgia, +surrendered to Lee and Pickens. In these five forts they made 1,100 +prisoners. The most important one, however, was that named Ninety-Six, +on the Saluda, defended by a garrison of 500 men. Orders had been sent +to them to quit and retire downward but the messenger was intercepted +and Colonel Cruger, the commander, made the most active preparations +for its defense. Greene considered the place of such importance that +he undertook the siege in person with 1,000 regulars. He broke ground +before it on the night of the 23d of May (1781), and though much impeded +by a successful sally on the following day, proceeded with such energy +that by the 3d of June the second parallel was completed and the +garrison summoned, but in vain, to surrender. On the 8th, he was +reinforced by Lee from the capture of Augusta and though he encountered +a most gallant and effective resistance trusted that the place must in +due time fall. Three days after, however, he learned that Rawdon, having +received a reinforcement from Ireland, was in full march to relieve +it and had baffled the attempts of Sumter to impede his progress. The +American leader, therefore, feeling himself unable to give battle saw +no prospect of carrying the fortress unless by storm. On the 18th (June, +1781), an attack against the two most commanding outworks was led by +Lee and Campbell, the former of whom carried his point, but the latter, +though he penetrated into the ditch and maintained his party there for +three-quarters of an hour, found them exposed to so destructive a fire +as compelled a general retreat. [2] The siege was immediately raised +and Lord Rawdon, on the 21st, entered the place in triumph. Being again +master of the field, he pressed forward in the hope of bringing his +antagonist to battle but the latter rather chose to fall back towards +the distant point of Charlotte in Virginia, while Rawdon did not attempt +to pursue him beyond the Ennoree. + +Notwithstanding this present superiority his lordship, having failed in +his hopes of a decisive victory and viewing the general aspect of the +country, considered it no longer possible to attempt more than covering +the lower districts, of South Carolina. He therefore fell back to +Orangeburg on the Edisto and though he attempted at first to maintain +Cruger with a strong body at Ninety-Six was soon induced to recall +him. Greene, being reinforced by 1,000 men under Marion and Sumter, +reconnoitered his position but, judging it imprudent to attack, retired +to the high hills of the Santee, July the 15th (1781), and both armies, +exhausted by such a series of active movements, took an interval of +repose during the heat of the season. + +Lord Rawdon being at this time obliged by ill health to return to +England left the army under the command of Colonel Stuart, who, to cover +the lower country, occupied a position at the point where the Congaree +and Wateree unite in forming the Santee. Greene, having received +reinforcements from the North and collected all his partisan detachments +soon found himself strong enough to try the chance of battle. His +approach on the 7th of September (1781) with this evident view induced +the British to retire down the river to the strong post of Eutaw +Springs, whither the American army immediately followed. + +On the 8th of September, Greene determined to attack the British camp, +placing as usual his militia in front, hoping that the English in +charging them would get into confusion, but from apprehension of this +the latter had been warned to keep their posts till ordered to move. The +American front, however, maintained their ground better than usual +and the British having become heated and forgetting the warnings given +pushed forward irregularly. They were then charged by the veterans +of the second line and after a very desperate struggle driven off the +field. There lay in their way, however, a large brick building and +adjacent garden, where Stuart had placed a strong corps which could not +be dislodged and which kept up a deadly fire which checked the victors, +enabling the retreating troops to be formed anew. At the same time +Colonel Washington attacked the British flank, but finding it strongly +posted amongst the woods he was repulsed with great loss and himself +taken prisoner. The American general seeing no hope of making any +further impression, retreated to his previous position. The conflict +lasted four hours and great bravery was shown on both sides. Colonel +Campbell was mortally wounded. Learning the British were dispersing he +exclaimed, like Wolfe at Quebec, "Then I die contented!" and immediately +expired. + +In this bloody and doubtful battle both parties claimed the victory +though the Americans with most reason as the general result was greatly +to their advantage. It was certainly far from decisive and the British +loss in killed and wounded was much greater than that of the Americans, +who also carried off above 500 prisoners. The British commander, +prompted as well probably by the result of the day as by the general +state of the country and the numbers and activity of the American light +troops, conceiving himself unable to maintain so advanced a position, +retired during the evening of the 9th (September 1781), and proceeded +down to Monk's Corner, where he covered Charleston and its vicinity. To +this and to Savannah were now limited that proud British authority which +had lately extended so widely over the southern States. [3] + +Thus ended the campaign of 1781 in South Carolina. At its commencement +the British were in force all over the State. History affords but a few +instances of commanders who have achieved so much with equal means +as was done by General Greene in the short space of twelve months. He +opened the campaign with gloomy prospects but closed it with glory. +His unpaid and half-naked army had to contend with veteran soldiers, +supplied with everything that the wealth of Great Britain or the plunder +of Carolina could procure. Under all these disadvantages he compelled +superior numbers to retire from the extremity of the State, and confine +themselves in the capital and its vicinity. Had not his mind been of the +firmest texture he would have been discouraged, but his enemies found +him as formidable on the evening of a defeat as on the morning after a +victory. + +The reader will not fail to perceive how important a bearing the +operations of Greene in the South had upon those of Washington in the +North. Before recovering North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, +Greene had partly led and partly driven Cornwallis into Virginia, where +he was destined to be conquered by Washington and the war was thus to be +virtually terminated. How this was accomplished will now be the object +of our attention. Virginia had insensibly, as it were, become the +principal theater of war. General Leslie had been sent thither to +reinforce Cornwallis, who it was hoped might penetrate through the +Carolinas, but after Ferguson's disaster he was ordered to go round by +Charleston. With the view, however, of creating a diversion in favor of +the southern army, Clinton, in December, 1780, sent Arnold with 1,600 +men to the Chesapeake. That infamous traitor, displaying all his wonted +activity, overran a great extent of country and captured Richmond, the +capital, destroying great quantities of stores. Washington, most anxious +to strike a blow against him, prevailed upon Destouches, the French +admiral to proceed thither with a land force but the latter was +overtaken by Arbuthnot and endured a hard battle which though not +admitted to be a defeat obliged him to return to Newport; thus Arnold +escaped the danger of falling into the hands of his enraged countrymen. +Clinton, still with the same view, sent another force of 2,000 men under +General Phillips which arrived in the Chesapeake on the 26th of March +(1781). This officer being complete master of the field, overran +the country between the James and York rivers, seized the town of +Petersburg, as also Chesterfield Courthouse, the militia rendezvous, and +other stations, destroying great quantities of shipping and stores, with +all the warehoused tobacco. Lafayette, then in command of about 3,000 +men for the defense of Virginia, succeeded by skilful maneuvering in +securing Richmond. + +Operations seemed at a stand, when, late in April, intelligence was +received of Cornwallis' march from South Carolina toward Virginia and, +in spite of every effort of Lafayette, he, at the end of May (1781), +joined Phillips at Petersburg, taking the command of the whole army. +Being then decidedly superior he took possession of Richmond and began +a hot pursuit of Lafayette, who retreated into the upper country so +rapidly and so skillfully that he could not be overtaken. The English +general then turned back and sent a detachment under Colonel Simcoe, +who destroyed the chief magazine at the junction of the two branches of +James river. Tarleton pushed his cavalry so swiftly upon Charlotteville, +where the State Assembly was met, that seven members were taken and +the rest very narrowly escaped. Lafayette, however, now returned with a +considerable force and by his maneuvers induced the British commander to +retire to Williamsburg. He afterward continued his retreat to Portsmouth +in the course of which the former made an attack but was repulsed and +would have been totally routed had not his strength been estimated above +its real amount. + +The movement of Cornwallis into Virginia had been wholly disapproved by +Clinton who complained that, contrary to all his views and intentions, +the main theater of war had been transferred to a territory into +which he never proposed more than partial inroads, considering it very +difficult to subdue and maintain. His grand object had always been first +to secure New York and, if sufficient strength was afforded, to push +offensive operations thence into the interior. Hoping, therefore, that +the Carolinas, once subdued, might be retained by a small force, he +had repeatedly solicited the partial return of the troops. Cornwallis +defended the movement by observing that his situation at Wilmington, +allowing no time to send for instructions, obliged him to act on his own +responsibility. Communicating also with the government at home he urged +that the Carolinas could not be securely held without the possession +also of Virginia; that this might be attained by a vigorous effort, +and would make Britain mistress of all the southern Colonies, whose +resources could be then employed in conquering the more stubborn regions +of the North. These arguments, recommended by his lordship's brilliant +achievements at Camden and elsewhere, convinced the ministry, and +Lord Germaine wrote to the Commander-in-Chief to direct his principal +attention to the war in Virginia and to the plan of conquest from south +to north. The latter, considering himself thus slighted, solicited +permission to resign and leave the command to an officer who enjoyed +greater confidence, but his merits being highly estimated this tender +was not accepted. + +Under the apprehension inspired by the threatening movements of +Washington and the French army against New York, he had ordered a +considerable reinforcement from Virginia, but countermanded it on +receiving the above instructions, along with an additional body of +troops. He had formed, apparently, a favorite plan somewhat of a +compromise between the two. It is nowhere distinctly developed in his +letters, but by a passage in one very active operations were proposed at +the head of the Chesapeake, to be combined probably with a movement from +New York and comprehending Philadelphia and Baltimore. Aware that this +plan required the maritime command of that great inlet, he inquired if +ministers would insure its maintenance, and they made this engagement +without duly considering its difficulties. Under these views he directed +Cornwallis to occupy and fortify a naval position at the entrance of +the bay, specially recommending Old Point Comfort, at the mouth of James +river. This measure did not harmonize with Cornwallis' views; however, +he obeyed, but, the above position being declared by the engineers +indefensible, he recommended, in preference, Yorktown on the York river, +which was agreed to and operations actively commenced at the latter end +of August. The whole British force at this time in Virginia was about +7,000 men. + +1. Footnote: Referring to the affair at Rugely's Mills, where Colonel +Washington frightened the militia colonel into a surrender by means of a +pine log mounted like a cannon. + +2. Footnote: On this occasion Kosciusko, the Polish general, +particularly distinguished himself. + +3. Footnote: In the southern provinces the campaign of 1781 was +uncommonly active. The exertions and sufferings of the army were great. +But the troops were not the only sufferers; the inhabitants were exposed +to many calamities. The success of Colonel Campbell at Savannah laid +Georgia and the Carolinas open to all the horrors which attend the +movements of conflicting armies and the rage of civil dissensions for +two years. + +In those provinces the inhabitants were nearly divided between the +British and American interests, and, under the names of Tories and +Whigs, exercised a savage hostility against each other, threatening +the entire depopulation of the country. Besides, each of the contending +armies, claiming the provinces as its own, showed no mercy to those +who, in the fluctuations of war, abandoned its cause or opposed its +pretensions. Numbers were put to death as deserters and traitors at the +different British posts. One of those executions, that of Colonel Hayne, +happened at Charleston on the 4th of August, while Lord Rawdon was in +that town, preparing to sail for Europe, and threatened to produce the +most sanguinary consequences. + +Colonel Hayne had served in the American militia during the siege of +Charleston, but, after the capitulation of that place and the expulsion +of the American army from the province, he was, by several concurring +circumstances, constrained, with much reluctance, to subscribe a +declaration of allegiance to the British government being assured that +his services against his country would not be required. He was allowed +to return to his family, but, in violation of the special condition on +which he had signed the declaration, he was soon called on to take up +arms against his countrymen, and was at length threatened with close +confinement in case of further refusal. Colonel Hayne considered this +breach of contract on the part of the British, and their inability +to afford him the protection promised in reward of his allegiance, +as absolving him from the obligations into which he had entered, and +accordingly he returned to the American standard. In the month of July +he was taken prisoner, confined in a loathsome dungeon, and, by the +arbitrary mandate of Lord Rawdon and Colonel Balfour, without trial, +hanged at Charleston. He behaved with much firmness and dignity, and his +fate awakened a strong sensation. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +WASHINGTON CAPTURES CORNWALLIS. 1781. + + +We have already seen, by the quotation from Washington's journal, how +gloomy was the prospect presented to him at this time. He evidently saw +little to encourage a hope of the favorable termination of the campaign +of that year. Indeed, it is quite apparent that our national affairs +were then at a lower ebb than they had ever been since the period +immediately preceding the battle of Trenton. But by the merciful +interposition of divine Providence, the course of events took a +favorable turn much sooner than he had anticipated. His letter to Col. +John Laurens, on the occasion, already mentioned, of that gentleman's +mission to France to obtain a loan, had been productive of remarkable +effects. + +In this paper he detailed the pecuniary embarrassments of the +government, and represented with great earnestness the inability of the +nation to furnish a revenue adequate to the support of the war. He dwelt +on the discontents which the system of impressment had excited among the +people, and expressed his fears that the evils felt in the prosecution +of the war, might weaken the sentiments which began it. + +From this state of things he deduced the vital importance of an +immediate and ample supply of money, which might be the foundation for +substantial arrangements of finance, for reviving public credit, and +giving vigor to future operations, as well as of a decided effort of the +allied arms on the continent to effect the great objects of the alliance +in the ensuing campaign. + +Next to a supply of money he considered a naval superiority in the +American seas as an object of the deepest interest. To the United States +it would be of decisive importance, and France also might derive great +advantages from transferring the maritime war to the coast of her ally. +The future ability of the United States to repay any loan which might +now be obtained was displayed, and he concluded with assurances that +there was still a fund of inclination and resource in the country, equal +to great and continued exertions, provided the means were afforded of +stopping the progress of disgust by changing the present system and +adopting another more consonant with the spirit of the nation, and more +capable of infusing activity and energy into public measures, of which +a powerful succor in money must be the basis. "The people were +discontented, but it was with the feeble and oppressive mode of +conducting the war, not with the war itself." + +With great reason did Washington urge on the cabinet of Versailles the +policy of advancing a sum of money to the United States which might be +adequate to the exigency. Deep was the gloom with which the political +horizon was then overcast. The British in possession of South Carolina +and Georgia had overrun the greater part of North Carolina also, and it +was with equal hazard and address that Greene maintained himself in the +northern frontier of that State. + +A second detachment from New York was making a deep impression on +Virginia, where the resistance had been neither so prompt nor so +vigorous as the strength of that State and the unanimity of its citizens +had given reason to expect. + +Such were the facts and arguments urged by Washington in his letter to +Colonel Laurens. Its able exposition of the actual state of the country, +and his arguments in support of the application of Congress for a fleet +and army as well as money, when laid before the King and the ministry, +decided them to afford the most ample aid to the American cause. A +loan of $6,000,000 was granted, which was to be placed at Washington's +disposal, but he was happy to be relieved from that responsibility. +A loan from Holland was also guaranteed by the French government, and +large reinforcements of ships and men were sent to the United States. +The intelligence of these succors followed within a few days after the +desponding tone of Washington's journal, to which we have just referred. + +Early in May (1781) the Count de Barras, who had been appointed to the +command of the French fleet on the American coast, arrived at Boston, +accompanied by the Viscount de Rochambeau, commander of the land +forces. An interview between Washington and the French commanders was +immediately appointed to be held at Wethersfield, near Hartford, on the +21st (May, 1781), but some movements of the British fleet made de Barras +repair to Newport, while the two generals met at the appointed place and +agreed on a plan of the campaign. It was resolved to unite the French +and American armies on the Hudson and to commence vigorous operations +against New York. The regular army at that station was estimated at only +4,500 men, and though Sir Henry Clinton might be able to reinforce it +with 5,000 or 6,000 militia, yet it was believed he could not maintain +the post without recalling a considerable part of his troops from the +southward and enfeebling the operations of the British in that quarter; +in which case it was resolved to make a vigorous attack on the point +which presented the best prospect of success. + +In a letter to General Greene, dated June 1, 1781, Washington thus gives +the result of the conference with Rochambeau: "I have lately had an +interview with Count de Rochambeau at Weathersfield. Our affairs were +very attentively considered in every point of view and it was finally +determined to make an attempt upon New York, with its present garrison, +in preference to a southern operation, as we had not the decided command +of the water. You will readily suppose the reasons which induced this +determination were the inevitable loss of men from so long a march, more +especially in the approaching hot season, and the difficulty, I may say +impossibility, of transporting the necessary baggage, artillery, and +stores by land. If I am supported as I ought to be by the neighboring +States in this operation, which, you know, has always been their +favorite one, I hope that one of these consequences will follow--either +that the enemy will be expelled from the most valuable position which +they hold upon the continent or be obliged to recall part of their force +from the southward to defend it. Should the latter happen you will be +most essentially relieved by it. The French troops will begin their +march this way as soon as certain circumstances will admit. I can only +give you the outlines of our plan. The dangers to which letters are +exposed make it improper to commit to paper the particulars, but, as +matters ripen, I will keep you as well informed as circumstances will +allow." + +Washington immediately required the States of New England to have 6,000 +militia in readiness to march wherever they might be called for, and +sent an account of the conference at Wethersfield to Congress. His +dispatch was intercepted in the Jerseys and carried to Clinton, who, +alarmed by the plan which it disclosed, made the requisition, already +mentioned, of part of the troops under Cornwallis, and took diligent +precautions for maintaining his post against the meditated attack. + +Meanwhile the several States of the Union were extremely dilatory in +furnishing their contingents of troops, and it was found difficult to +procure subsistence for the small number of men already in the field. +The people and their rulers talked loudly of liberty, but each was +anxious to sacrifice as little as possible to maintain it and to devolve +on his neighbor the expense, dangers, and privations of the struggle. + +In consequence of this dilatory spirit, when the troops left their +winter quarters in the month of June (1781), and encamped at Peekskill, +the army under Washington did not amount to 5,000 men. This force was so +much inferior to what had been contemplated when the plan of operations +was agreed on at Wethersfield that it became doubtful whether it would +be expedient to adhere to that plan. But the deficiency of the American +force was in some measure compensated by the arrival at Boston of a +reinforcement of 1,500 men to the army under Rochambeau. + +The hope of terminating the war in the course of the campaign encouraged +the States to make some exertions. Small as was their military force +it was difficult to find subsistence for the troops, and even after the +army had taken the field there was reason to apprehend that it would be +obliged to abandon the objects of the campaign for want of provisions. +It was at that critical juncture of American affairs that the finances +of the Union were entrusted to Robert Morris, a member of Congress for +Pennsylvania, a man of considerable capital and of much sagacity and +mercantile enterprise. He, as we have already seen, extensively pledged +his personal credit for articles of the first necessity to the army, +and, by an honorable fulfillment of his engagements, did much to restore +public credit and confidence. It was owing mainly to his exertions that +the active and decisive operations of the campaign were not greatly +impeded or entirely defeated by want of subsistence to the army and of +the means of transporting military stores. + +By his plan of a national bank, already referred to, Mr. Morris rendered +still more important service. Its notes were to be received as cash into +the treasuries of the several States, and also as an equivalent for the +necessaries which the States were bound to provide for the army. In this +way, and by a liberal and judicious application of his own resources, an +individual afforded the supplies which government was unable to furnish. + +The French troops, under Rochambeau, marched from Newport and Boston +toward the Hudson. Both in quarters and on the route their behavior +was exemplary, and gained the respect and good will of the inhabitants. +Toward the end of June (1781) Washington put his army in motion, and, +learning that a royal detachment had passed into the Jerseys, he formed +a plan to surprise the British posts on the north end of York Island, +but it did not succeed, and General Lincoln, who commanded the +Americans, being attacked by a strong British party, a sharp conflict +ensued. Washington marched with his main body to support his detachment, +but on his advance the British retired into their works at Kingsbridge. +Rochambeau, then on his march to join Washington, detached the Duke de +Lauzun with a body of men to support the attack, who advanced with his +troops within supporting distance, but the British had retreated before +they could be brought into action. + +Having failed in his design of surprising the British posts Washington +withdrew to Valentine's Hill, and afterward to Dobb's Ferry. While +encamped there, on the 6th of July (1781), the van of the long-expected +French reinforcements under Rochambeau was seen winding down the +neighboring heights. The arrival of these friendly strangers +elevated the minds of the Americans, who received them with sincere +congratulations. Washington labored, by personal attentions, to +conciliate the good will of his allies, and used all the means in +his power to prevent those mutual jealousies and irritations which +frequently prevail between troops of different nations serving in the +same army. An attack on New York was still meditated, and every exertion +made to prepare for its execution, but with the determination, if it +should prove impracticable, vigorously to prosecute some more attainable +object. [1] + +On the evening of the 21st of July (1781), the greater part of the +American, and part of the French troops, left their encampment, and +marching rapidly during the night, appeared in order of battle before +the British works at Kingsbridge, at 4 next morning. Washington and +Rochambeau, with the general officers and engineers, viewed the British +lines in their whole extent from right to left, and the same was again +done next morning. But, on the afternoon of the 23d they returned to +their former encampment without having made any attempt on the British +works. + +At that time the new levies arrived slowly in the American camp, and +many of those who were sent were mere boys utterly unfit for active +service. The several States discovered much backwardness in complying +with the requisitions of Congress, so that there was reason to apprehend +that the number of troops necessary for besieging New York could not be +procured. This made Washington turn his thoughts more seriously to the +southward than he had hitherto done, but all his movements confirmed +Clinton in the belief that an attack on New York was in contemplation. +As the British Commander-in-Chief, however, at that time received about +3,000 troops from Europe, he thought himself able to defend his post +without withdrawing any part of the force from Virginia. Therefore he +countermanded the requisition which he had before sent to Cornwallis for +part of the troops under his command. The troops were embarked before +the arrival of the counter order, and of their embarkation Lafayette +sent notice to Washington. On the reception of new instructions, +however, as formerly mentioned they were relanded and remained in +Virginia. + +No great operation could be undertaken against the British armies so +long as their navy had undisputed command of the coast and of the great +navigable rivers. Washington, as we have seen, had already, through +Colonel Laurens, made an earnest application to the court of France for +such a fleet as might be capable of keeping in check the British navy +in those seas and of affording effectual assistance to the land forces. +That application was not unsuccessful, and towards the middle of the +month of August the agreeable information was received of the approach +of a powerful French fleet to the American coast. + +Early in March (1781) the Count de Grasse had sailed from Brest with +twenty-five ships-of-the-line, five of which were destined for the East, +and twenty for the West Indies. After an indecisive encounter in the +Straits of St. Lucie with Sir Samuel Hood, whom Sir George Rodney, the +British admiral in the West Indies had detached to intercept him, Count +de Grasse formed a junction with the ships of his sovereign on that +station and had a fleet superior to that of the British in the West +Indies. De Grasse gave the Americans notice that he would visit their +coast in the month of August and take his station in Chesapeake Bay, +but that his continuance there could only be of short duration. This +dispatch at once determined Washington's resolution with respect to +the main point of attack, and as it was necessary that the projected +operation should be accomplished within a very limited time prompt +decision and indefatigable exertion were indispensable. Though it was +now finally resolved that Virginia should be the grand scene of action, +yet it was prudent to conceal till the last moment this determination +from Sir Henry Clinton, and still to maintain the appearance of +threatening New York. + +The defense of the strong posts on the Hudson or North river was +entrusted to General Heath who was instructed to protect the adjacent +country as far as he was able, and for that purpose a respectable force +was put under his command. Every preparation of which circumstances +admitted was made to facilitate the march to the southward. Washington +was to take the command of the expedition and to employ in it all the +French troops and a strong detachment of the American army. + +On the 19th of August (1781) a considerable corps was ordered to cross +the Hudson at Dobbs' Ferry and to take a position between Springfield +and Chatham, where they were directed to cover some bakehouses which it +was rumored were to be immediately constructed in the vicinity of those +places in order to encourage the belief that there the troops intended +to establish a permanent post. On the 20th and 21st the main body of the +Americans passed the river at King's ferry, but the French made a longer +circuit and did not complete the passage till the 25th. Desirous of +concealing his object as long as possible, Washington continued his +march some time in such a direction as still to keep up the appearance +of threatening New York. When concealment was no longer practicable he +marched southward with the utmost celerity. His movements had been of +such a doubtful nature that Sir Henry Clinton, it is said, was not fully +convinced of his real destination till he had crossed the Delaware. + +Great exertions had been made to procure funds for putting the army +in motion, but, after exhausting every other resource, Washington was +obliged to have recourse to Rochambeau for a supply of cash, which he +received. [2] + +On the 2d and 3d of September (1781) the combined American and French +armies passed through Philadelphia, where they were received with +ringing of bells, firing of guns, bonfires, illuminations, and every +demonstration of joy. Meanwhile Count de Grasse, with 3,000 troops on +board, sailed from Cape Francois with a valuable fleet of merchantmen, +which he conducted out of danger, and then steered for Chesapeake Bay +with twenty-eight sail-of-the-line and several frigates. Toward the end +of August (1781) he cast anchor just within the capes, extending across +from Cape Henry to the middle ground. There an officer from Lafayette +waited on the count, and gave him full information concerning the +posture of affairs in Virginia, and the intended plan of operations +against the British army in that State. + +Cornwallis was diligently fortifying himself at York and Gloucester. +Lafayette was in a position on James river to prevent his escape into +North Carolina, and the combined army was hastening southward to attack +him. In order to cooperate against Cornwallis De Grasse detached four +ships-of-the-line and some frigates to block up the entrance of York +river, and to carry the land forces which he had brought with him, under +the Marquis de St. Simon, to Lafayette's camp. The rest of his fleet +remained at the entrance of the bay. + +Sir George Rodney, who commanded the British fleet in the West Indies, +was not ignorant that the count intended to sail for America, but +knowing that the merchant vessel which he convoyed from Cape Francois +were loaded with valuable cargoes the British admiral believed that he +would send the greater part of his fleet along with them to Europe and +would visit the American coast with a small squadron only. + +Accordingly, Rodney detached Sir Samuel Hood with fourteen +sail-of-the-line to America as a sufficient force to counteract the +operations of the French in that quarter. Admiral Hood reached the capes +of Virginia on the 25th of August (1781), a few days before de Grasse +entered the bay and finding no enemy there sailed for Sandy Hook, where +he arrived on the 28th of August. + +Admiral Graves, who had succeeded Admiral Arbuthnot in the command of +the British fleet on the American station, was then lying at New York +with seven sail-of-the-line; but two of his ships had been damaged in a +cruise near Boston and were under repair. At the same time that Admiral +Hood gave information of the expected arrival of de Grasse on the +American coast, notice was received of the sailing of de Barras with his +fleet from Newport. Admiral Graves, therefore, without waiting for his +two ships which were under repair, put to sea on the 31st of August with +nineteen sail-of-the-line and steered to the southward. + +On reaching the capes of the Chesapeake, early on the morning of the +5th of September (1781), he discovered the French fleet, consisting of +twenty-four ships-of-the-line, lying at anchor in the entrance of the +bay. Neither admiral had any previous knowledge of the vicinity of the +other till the fleets were actually seen. The British stretched into the +bay and soon as Count de Grasse ascertained their hostile character he +ordered his ships to slip their cables, form the line as they could +come up without regard to their specified stations and put to sea. The +British fleet entering the bay and the French leaving it, they were +necessarily sailing in different directions, but Admiral Graves put his +ships on the same tack with the French and about four in the afternoon +a battle began between the van and centre of the fleets which continued +till night. Both sustained considerable damage. The fleets continued +in sight of each other for five days, but de Grasse's object was not to +fight unless to cover Chesapeake Bay, and Admiral Graves, owing to the +inferiority of his force and the crippled state of several of his ships, +was unable to compel him to renew the engagement. + +On the 10th (September, 1781), de Grasse bore away for the Chesapeake +and anchored within the capes next day when he had the satisfaction to +find that Admiral de Barras with his fleet from Newport and fourteen +transports laden with heavy artillery and other military stores for +carrying on a siege had safely arrived during his absence. That officer +sailed from Newport on the 25th of August, and making a long circuit to +avoid the British, entered the bay while the contending fleets were at +sea. Admiral Graves followed the French fleet to the Chesapeake, but on +arriving there he found the entrance guarded by a force with which he +was unable to contend. He then sailed for New York and left de Grasse in +the undisputed possession of the bay. + +While these naval operations were going on the land forces were not less +actively employed in the prosecution of their respective purposes. The +immediate aim of Washington was to overwhelm Cornwallis and his army +at Yorktown; that of Clinton, to rescue him from his grasp. As soon as +Clinton was convinced of Washington's intention of proceeding to the +southward with a view to bring him back, he employed the infamous +traitor Arnold, with a sufficient naval and military force, on an +expedition against New London. The "parricide," as Jefferson calls him, +had not the slightest objection to fill his pockets with the plunder of +his native State. He passed from Long Island and on the forenoon of the +6th of September (1781) landed his troops on both sides of the harbor; +those on the New London side being under his own immediate orders and +those on the Groton side commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Eyre. As the +works at New London were very imperfect, no vigorous resistance was +there made, and the place was taken possession of with little loss. But +Fort Griswold, on the Groton side, was in a more finished state and the +small garrison made a desperate defense. The British entered the fort at +the point of the bayonet. + +Col. William Ledyard, brother of the celebrated traveler, commanded the +fort. Colonel Eyre and Major Montgomery having fallen in the assault, +the command had devolved on Major Bromfield, a New Jersey Tory. After +the works had been carried, Ledyard ordered his men to lay down their +arms. Bromfield called out, "Who commands in this fort?" Ledyard +advanced and presenting his sword, replied, "I did, but you do now." +Bromfield seized the sword and ran Ledyard through the body. This was +the signal for an indiscriminate massacre of a greater part of the +garrison by the Tories, refugees, and Hessians, of which the army +of Arnold was very appropriately composed. Seventy were killed and +thirty-five desperately wounded. The enemy lost 2 officers and 46 men +killed, 8 officers and 135 soldiers wounded. Few Americans had fallen +before the British entered the works. + +The loss sustained by the Americans at New London was great, but that +predatory incursion had no effect in diverting Washington from his +purpose or in retarding his march southward. From Philadelphia the +allied armies pursued their route, partly to the head of Elk river, +which falls into the northern extremity of Chesapeake Bay, and partly to +Baltimore, at which places they embarked on board transports +furnished by the French fleet, and the last division of them landed at +Williamsburgh on the 25th of September (1781). Washington, Rochambeau, +and their attendants proceeded to the same place by land, and reached +it ten days before the troops. Virginia had suffered extremely in +the course of the campaign; the inhabitants were clamorous for the +appearance of Washington in his native State, and hailed his arrival +with acclamations of joy. + +Washington and Rochambeau immediately repaired on board de Grasse's ship +in order to concert a joint plan of operations against Cornwallis. +De Grasse, convinced that every exertion would be made to relieve his +lordship, and being told that Admiral Digby had arrived at New York with +a reinforcement of six ships-of-the-line, expected to be attacked by a +force little inferior to his own, and, deeming the station which he then +occupied unfavorable to a naval engagement, he was strongly inclined to +leave the bay and to meet the enemy in the open sea. Washington, fully +aware of all the casualties which might occur to prevent his return and +to defeat the previous arrangements, used every argument to dissuade the +French admiral from his purpose, and prevailed with him to remain in the +bay. + +As de Grasse could continue only a short time on that station, every +exertion was made to proceed against Cornwallis at Yorktown. Opposite +Yorktown is Gloucester point, which projects considerably into the +river, the breadth of which at that place does not exceed a mile. +Cornwallis had taken possession of both these places and diligently +fortified them. The communication between them was commanded by his +batteries and by some ships-of-war which lay in the river under cover of +his guns. The main body of his army was encamped near Yorktown, beyond +some outer redoubts and field works calculated to retard the approach +of an enemy. Colonel Tarleton, with six or seven hundred men, occupied +Gloucester point. + +The combined army, amounting to upwards of 11,000 men, exclusive of the +Virginia militia, under the command of the patriotic Governor Nelson, +was assembled in the vicinity of Williamsburgh, and on the morning +of the 28th of September (1781), marched by different routes toward +Yorktown. About midday the heads of the columns reached the ground +assigned them, and, after driving in the outposts and some cavalry, +encamped for the night. The next day was employed in viewing the British +works and in arranging the plan of attack. At the same time that the +combined army encamped before Yorktown the French fleet anchored at the +mouth of the river and completely prevented the British from escaping by +water as well as from receiving supplies or reinforcements in that way. +The legion of Lauzun and a brigade of militia, amounting to upwards of +4,000 men, commanded by the French general de Choisé, were sent across +the river to watch Gloucester Point and to enclose the British on that +side. + +On the 30th (September, 1781) Yorktown was invested. The French troops +formed the left wing of the combined army, extending from the river +above the town to a morass in front of it; the Americans composed the +right wing and occupied the ground between the morass and the river +below the town. Till the 6th of October the besieging army was +assiduously employed in disembarking its heavy artillery and military +stores and in conveying them to camp from the landing place in James +river, a distance of six miles. On the night of the 6th the first +parallel was begun, under the direction of General du Portail, the chief +engineer, 600 yards from the British works. The night was dark, rainy, +and well adapted for such a service; and in the course of it the +besiegers did not lose a man. Their operations seem not to have been +suspected by the besieged till daylight disclosed them in the morning, +when the trenches were so far advanced as in a good measure to cover the +workmen from the fire of the garrison. By the afternoon of the 9th the +batteries were completed, notwithstanding the most strenuous opposition +from the besieged, and immediately opened on the town. From that time an +incessant cannonade was kept up, and the continual discharge of shot +and shells from twenty-four and eighteen pounders and ten-inch mortars, +damaged the unfinished works on the left of the town, silenced the guns +mounted on them and occasioned a considerable loss of men. Some of the +shot and shells from the batteries passed over the town, reached the +shipping in the harbor, and set on fire the Charon of forty-four guns +and three large transports, which were entirely consumed. + +"From the bank of the river," says Dr. Thacher, "I had a fine view of +this splendid conflagration. The ships were enwrapped in a torrent +of fire, which, spreading with vivid brightness among the combustible +rigging and running with amazing rapidity to the tops of the several +masts, while all around was thunder and lightning from our numerous +cannon and mortars, and in the darkness of night presented one of the +most sublime and magnificent spectacles that can be imagined. Some of +our shells, overreaching the town, are seen to fall into the river, and +bursting, throw up columns of water, like the spouting of the monsters +of the deep." + +On the night of the 11th (October, 1781), the besiegers, laboring with +indefatigable perseverance, began their second parallel, 300 yards +nearer the British works than the first; and the three succeeding days +were assiduously employed in completing it. + +During that interval the fire of the garrison was more destructive +than at any other period of the siege. The men in the trenches were +particularly annoyed by two redoubts toward the left of the British +works, and about 200 yards in front of them. Of these it was necessary +to gain possession, and on the 14th preparations were made to carry +them both by storm. In order to avail himself of the spirit of emulation +which existed between the troops of the two nations, and to avoid any +cause of jealousy to either, Washington committed the attack of the one +redoubt to the French and that of the other to the Americans. The latter +were commanded by Lafayette, attended by Col. Alexander Hamilton, who +led the advance, and the former by the Baron de Viomenil. + +On the evening of the 14th, as soon as it was dark, the parties marched +to the assault with unloaded arms. The redoubt which the Americans under +Lafayette attacked was defended by a major, some inferior officers, and +forty-five privates. The assailants advanced with such rapidity, without +returning a shot to the heavy fire with which they were received, that +in a few minutes they were in possession of the work, having had 8 men +killed and 7 officers and 25 men wounded in the attack. Eight British +privates were killed; Major Campbell, a captain, an ensign, and +seventeen privates were made prisoners. The rest escaped. Although +the Americans were highly exasperated by the recent massacre of their +countrymen in Fort Griswold by Arnold's detachment, yet not a man of the +British was injured after resistance ceased. Retaliation had been talked +of but was not exercised. [3] + +The French advanced with equal courage, but not with equal rapidity. The +American soldiers had removed the abattis themselves. The French waited +for the sappers to remove them according to military rule. While thus +waiting a message was brought from Lafayette to Viomenil, informing +him that he was in his redoubt, and wished to know where the baron was. +"Tell the marquis," replied Viomenil, "that I am not in mine, but will +be in five minutes." The abattis being removed, the redoubt was carried +in very nearly the time prescribed by the baron. There were 120 men in +this redoubt, of whom 18 were killed and 42 taken prisoners; the rest +made their escape. The French lost nearly 100 men killed or wounded. +During the night these two redoubts were included in the second +parallel, and, in the course of next day, some howitzers were placed on +them, which, in the afternoon, opened on the besieged. + +"During the assault," says Dr. Thacher, "the British kept up an +incessant firing of cannon and musketry from their whole line. His +Excellency, General Washington, Generals Lincoln and Knox, with their +aids, having dismounted, were standing in an exposed situation, waiting +the result. Colonel Cobb, one of Washington's aids, solicitous for his +safety, said to his Excellency, 'Sir, you are too much exposed here; +had you not better step a little back?' 'Colonel Cobb,' replied his +Excellency, 'if you are afraid, you have liberty to step back.' + +"Cornwallis and his garrison had done all that brave men could do to +defend their post. But the industry of Laurens, and to each and all the +officers and men, are above expression. Not one gun was fired, and the +ardor of the troops did not give time for the sappers to derange the +abattis; and owing to the conduct of the commanders and the bravery of +the men, the redoubt was stormed with uncommon rapidity." + +[missing text] + +the besiegers was persevering and their approaches rapid. The condition +of the British was becoming desperate. In every quarter their works +were torn to pieces by the fire of the assailants. The batteries already +playing upon them had nearly silenced all their guns, and the second +parallel was about to open on them, which in a few hours would render +the place untenable. + +Owing to the weakness of his garrison, occasioned by sickness and +the fire of the besiegers, Cornwallis could not spare large sallying +parties, but, in the present distressing crisis, he resolved to make +every effort to impede the progress of the besiegers, and to preserve +his post to the last extremity. For this purpose, a little before +daybreak on the morning of the 16th of October (1781), about 350 men, +under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Abercrombie, sallied out against +two batteries, which seemed in the greatest state of forwardness. They +attacked with great impetuosity, killed or wounded a considerable number +of the French troops, who had charge of the works, spiked eleven +guns, and returned with little loss. This exploit was of no permanent +advantage to the garrison, for the guns, having been hastily spiked, +were soon again rendered fit for service. + +About 4 in the afternoon of the 16th of October, several batteries of +the second parallel opened on the garrison, and it was obvious that, in +the course of next day, all the batteries of that parallel, mounting +a most formidable artillery, would be ready to play on the town. The +shattered works of the garrison were in no condition to sustain such a +tremendous fire. In the whole front which was attacked the British could +not show a single gun, and their shells were nearly exhausted. In this +extremity Cornwallis formed the desperate resolution of crossing the +river during the night with his effective force and attempting to escape +to the northward. His plan was to leave behind his sick, baggage, and +all encumbrances; to attack de Choisé, who commanded on the Gloucester +side, with his whole force; to mount his own infantry, partly with the +hostile cavalry which he had no doubt of seizing, and partly with such +horses as he might find by the way; to hasten toward the fords of the +great rivers in the upper country, and then, turning northward, to pass +through Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the Jerseys, and join the army +at New York. The plan was hazardous, and presented little prospect of +success; but in the forlorn circumstances of the garrison anything that +offered a glimpse of hope was reckoned preferable to the humiliation of +an immediate surrender. + +In prosecution of this perilous enterprise the light infantry, most of +the guards, and a part of the Twenty-third regiment embarked in boats, +passed the river, and landed at Gloucester point before midnight. +A storm then arose, which rendered the return of the boats and the +transportation of the rest of the troops equally impracticable. In that +divided state of the British forces the morning of the 17th of October +(1781) dawned, when the batteries of the combined armies opened on the +garrison at Yorktown. As the attempt to escape was entirely defeated +by the storm, the troops that had been carried to Gloucester point were +brought back in the course of the forenoon without much loss, though the +passage was exposed to the artillery of the besiegers. The British +works were in ruins, the garrison was weakened by disease and death, and +exhausted by incessant fatigue. Every ray of hope was extinguished. It +would have been madness any longer to attempt to defend the post and to +expose the brave garrison to the danger of an assault, which would soon +have been made on the place. + +At 10 in the forenoon of the 17th Cornwallis sent a flag of truce with +a letter to Washington, proposing a cessation of hostilities for +twenty-four hours, in order to give time to adjust terms for the +surrender of the forts at Yorktown and Gloucester point. To this letter +Washington immediately returned an answer, expressing his ardent desire +to spare the further effusion of blood and his readiness to listen to +such terms as were admissible, but that he could not consent to lose +time in fruitless negotiations, and desired that, previous to the +meeting of commissioners, his lordship's proposals should be transmitted +in writing, for which purpose a suspension of hostilities for two hours +should be granted. + +The terms offered by Cornwallis, although not all deemed admissible, +were such as induced the opinion that no great difficulty would occur +in adjusting the conditions of capitulation, and the suspension of +hostilities was continued through the night. Meanwhile, in order +to avoid the delay of useless discussion, Washington drew up and +transmitted to Cornwallis such articles as he was willing to grant, +informing his lordship that, if he approved of them, commissioners might +be immediately appointed to reduce them to form. Accordingly, Viscount +Noailles and Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens, whose father was then a +prisoner in the Tower of London, on the 18th met Colonel Dundas and +Major Ross of the British army at Moore's house, in the rear of +the first parallel. They prepared a rough draft, but were unable +definitively to arrange the terms of capitulation. + +The draught was to be submitted to Cornwallis, but Washington, resolved +to admit of no delay, directed the articles to be transcribed; and, +on the morning of the 19th, sent them to his lordship, with a letter +expressing his expectation that they would be signed by 11 and that +the garrison would march out at 2 in the afternoon. [4] Finding that +no better terms could be obtained, Cornwallis submitted to a painful +necessity, and, on the 19th of October, surrendered the posts of +Yorktown and Gloucester point to the combined armies of America and +France, on condition that his troops should receive the same honors +of war which had been granted to the garrison of Charleston when +it surrendered to Sir Henry Clinton. The army, artillery, arms, +accoutrements, military chest, and public stores of every description +were surrendered to Washington; the ships in the harbor and the seamen +to Count de Grasse. + +Cornwallis wished to obtain permission for his European troops to return +home, on condition of not serving against America, France, or their +allies during the war, but this was refused, and it was agreed that they +should remain prisoners of war in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, +accompanied by a due proportion of officers for their protection and +government. The British general was also desirous of securing from +punishment such Americans as had joined the royal standard, but this +was refused, on the plea that it was a point which belonged to the civil +authority and on which the military power was not competent to decide. +But the end was gained in an indirect way, for Cornwallis was permitted +to send the Bonetta sloop-of-war unsearched to New York, with dispatches +to the Commander-in-Chief and to put on board as many soldiers as he +thought proper, to be accounted for in any subsequent exchange. This was +understood to be a tacit permission to send off the most obnoxious of +the Americans, which was accordingly done. + +The officers and soldiers were allowed to retain their private property. +Such officers as were not required to remain with the troops were +permitted to return to Europe or to reside in any part of America not in +possession of the British troops. + +Dr. Thacher, who was present during the whole siege, thus describes the +surrender: "At about 12 o'clock the combined army was arranged and drawn +up in two lines, extending more than a mile in length. The Americans +were drawn up in a line on the right side of the road, and the French +occupied the left. At the head of the former the great American +commander, mounted on his noble courser, took his station, attended +by his aides. At the head of the latter was posted the excellent Count +Rochambeau and his suite. The French troops, in complete uniform, +displayed a noble and martial appearance; their band of music, of which +the timbrel formed a part, is a delightful novelty, and produced, while +marching to the ground, a most enchanting effect. The Americans, though +not all in uniform nor their dress so neat, yet exhibited an erect, +soldierly air and every countenance beamed with satisfaction and joy. +The concourse of spectators from the country was prodigious, in point +of numbers nearly equal to the military, but universal silence and order +prevailed. It was about 2 o'clock when the captive army advanced through +the line formed for their reception. Every eye was prepared to gaze on +Lord Cornwallis, the object of peculiar interest and solicitude, but he +disappointed our anxious expectations. Pretending indisposition, he made +General O'Hara his substitute as the leader of his army. This officer +was followed by the conquered troops in a slow and solemn step, with +shouldered arms, colors cased, and drums beating a British march. Having +arrived at the head of the line, General O'Hara, elegantly mounted, +advanced to his Excellency, the Commander-in-Chief, taking off his hat +and apologizing for the nonappearance of Earl Cornwallis. With his usual +dignity and politeness, his Excellency pointed to Major-General Lincoln +for directions, by whom the British army was conducted into a spacious +field, where it was intended they should ground their arms. The royal +troops, while marching through the line formed by the allied army, +exhibited a decent and neat appearance as respects arms and clothing, +for their commander opened his store and directed every soldier to be +furnished with a new suit complete prior to the capitulation. But in +their line of march we remarked a disorderly and unsoldierlike conduct; +their step was irregular and their ranks frequently broken. But it was +in the field, when they came to the last act of the drama, that the +spirit and pride of the British soldier was put to the severest test. +Here their mortification could not be concealed. Some of the platoon +officers appeared to be exceedingly chagrined when giving the word, +'Ground arms!' and I am a witness that they performed this duty in a +very unofficerlike manner and that many of the soldiers manifested a +sullen temper, throwing their arms on the pile with violence, as if +determined to render them useless. This irregularity, however, was +checked by the authority of General Lincoln. After having grounded their +arms and divested themselves of their accoutrements, the captive troops +were conducted back to Yorktown and guarded by our troops until they +could be conducted to the place of their destination." + +Congress bestowed its thanks freely and fully upon the +Commander-in-Chief, Count de Rochambeau, Count de Grasse, and the +various officers of the different corps, and the brave soldiers under +their command. Two stands of colors, trophies of war, were voted to +Washington and two pieces of cannon to Rochambeau and de Grasse, and it +was also voted that a marble column to commemorate the alliance and the +victory should be erected in Yorktown. On the day after the surrender +the general orders closed as follows: "Divine service shall be performed +tomorrow in the different brigades and divisions. The Commander-in-Chief +recommends that all the troops that are not upon duty do assist at +it with a serious deportment and that sensibility of heart which +the recollection of the surprising and particular interposition of +Providence in our favor claims." A proclamation was also issued by +Congress appointing the 13th of December as a day of thanksgiving +and prayer, on account of this signal and manifest favor of Divine +Providence in behalf of our country. + +The news of Cornwallis' surrender was received throughout the country +with the most tumultuous expressions of joy. The worthy New England +Puritans considered it, as Cromwell did the victory at Worcester, "the +crowning mercy." It promised them a return of peace and prosperity. The +people of the middle States regarded it as a guarantee for their speedy +deliverance from the presence of a hated enemy. But to the southern +States it was more than this. It was the retributive justice of Heaven +against a band of cruel and remorseless murderers and robbers, who +had spread desolation and sorrow through their once happy homes. It is +asserted in Gordon's "History of the War" that wherever Cornwallis' army +marched the dwelling-houses were plundered of everything that could be +carried off. The stables of Virginia were plundered of the horses on +which his cavalry rode in their ravaging march through that State. +Millions of property, in tobacco and other merchandise and in private +houses and public buildings, were destroyed by Arnold, Philips, and +Cornwallis in Virginia alone. The very horse which Tarleton had +the impudence to ride on the day of the surrender was stolen from a +planter's stable, who recognized it on the field and compelled Tarleton +to give it up and mount a sorry hack for the occasion. + +It was computed at the time that 1,400 widows were made by the war in +the single district of Ninety-Six. The whole devastation occasioned +by the British army, during six months previous to the surrender at +Yorktown, amounted to not less than £3,000,000 sterling, an immense +loss for so short a time, falling, as it did, chiefly on the rural +population. No wonder that they assembled in crowds to witness the +humiliation of Cornwallis and his army. To them it was not only a +triumph, but a great deliverance. Well might the Virginians triumph. +The return of their favorite commander, a son of the soil, had speedily +released their State from ravage and destruction and restored them to +comparative peace and repose. + +On the very day of Cornwallis' surrender, Clinton sailed from New York +with reinforcements. He had been perfectly aware of Cornwallis' extreme +peril and was anxious to relieve him, but the fleet had sustained +considerable damage in the battle with de Grasse and some time +was necessarily spent in repairing it. During that interval four +ships-of-the-line arrived from Europe and two from the West Indies. At +length Clinton embarked with 7,000 of his best troops, but was unable to +sail from Sandy Hook till the 19th (1781), the day on which Cornwallis +surrendered. The fleet, consisting of twenty-five ships-of-the-line, +two vessels of fifty guns each, and eight frigates, arrived off +the Chesapeake on the 24th (October, 1781), when Clinton had the +mortification to be informed of the event of the 19th. He remained +on the coast, however, till the 29th, when, every doubt being removed +concerning the capitulation of Cornwallis, whose relief was the sole +object of the expedition, he returned to New York. + +While Clinton continued off the Chesapeake, the French fleet, consisting +of thirty-six sail-of-the-line, satisfied with the advantage already +gained, lay at anchor in the bay without making any movement whatever. + +Washington, considering the present a favorable opportunity for +following up his success by an expedition against the British army +in Charleston, wrote a letter to Count de Grasse on the day after the +capitulation, requesting him to unite his fleet to the proposed armament +and assist in the expedition. He even went on board the admiral's fleet +to thank him for his late services in the siege and to urge upon him the +feasibility and importance of this plan of operations. But the orders of +his court, ulterior projects, and his engagements with the Spaniards put +it out of the power of the French admiral to continue so long in America +as was required. He, however, remained some days in the bay in order to +cover the embarkation of the troops and of the ordnance to be conveyed +by water to the head of the Elk. [5] + +Some brigades proceeded by land to join their companions at that place. +Some cavalry marched to join General Greene, but the French troops, +under Count Rochambeau, remained in Virginia to be in readiness to march +to the south or north, as the circumstances of the next campaign might +require. On the 27th the troops of St. Simon began to embark, in order +to return to the West Indies, and early in November Count de Grasse +sailed for that quarter. + +Part of the prisoners were sent to Winchester in Virginia and +Fredericktown, Maryland, the remainder to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Lord +Cornwallis and the principal officers were paroled and sailed for New +York. During their stay at Yorktown, after the surrender, they received +the most delicate attentions from the conquerors. Dr. Thacher, in his +"Military Journal," notices particularly some of these attentions: "Lord +Cornwallis and his officers," he says, "since their capitulation, have +received all the civilities and hospitality which is in the power of +their conquerors to bestow. General Washington, Count Rochambeau, and +other general officers have frequently invited them to entertainments, +and they have expressed their grateful acknowledgments in return. They +cannot avoid feeling the striking contrast between the treatment which +they now experience and that which they have bestowed on our prisoners +who have unfortunately fallen into their hands. It is a dictate of +humanity and benevolence, after sheathing the sword, to relieve and +meliorate the condition of the vanquished prisoner. + +"On one occasion, while in the presence of General Washington, Lord +Cornwallis was standing with his head uncovered. His Excellency said to +him, politely, 'My lord, you had better be covered from the cold.' His +lordship, applying his hand to his head, replied, 'It matters not, sir, +what becomes of this head now.'" The reader will not have failed to +notice that the capture of Cornwallis was effected solely by the able +and judicious strategy of Washington. It was he that collected from +different parts of the country the forces that were necessary to enclose +that commander and his hitherto victorious army as it were in a net, +from which there was no possibility of escape. It was he who, by +personal influence and exertion, brought de Grasse to renounce his +expected triumphs at sea and zealously assist in the siege by preventing +Cornwallis from receiving any aid from British naval forces. It was he +who detained de Grasse at a critical moment of the siege, when he +was anxious to go off with the chief part of his force and engage the +British at sea. In short, it was he who provided all, oversaw all, +directed all, and having, by prudence and forethought, as well as +by activity and perseverance, brought all the elements of conquest +together, combined them into one mighty effort with glorious success. +It was the second siege on a grand scale which had been brought to a +brilliant and fortunate conclusion by the wisdom and prudence as well as +the courage and perseverance of Washington. In the first he expelled the +enemy and recovered Boston uninjured, freeing the soil for a time from +the presence of the enemy. In the second, he captured the most renowned +and successful British army in America and dictated his own terms of +surrender to a commander who, from his marquee, had recently given law +to three States of the Union. + +1. Footnote: Dr. Thacher, in his Military Journal, has an entry: "July +7th. Our army was drawn up in a line and reviewed by General +Rochambeau, with his Excellency, General Washington, and other general +officers.--July 10th. Another review took place in presence of the +French ambassador from Philadelphia, after which the French army passed +a review in presence of the general officers of both armies." Speaking +of the French army, Dr. Thacher says: "In the officers we recognize +the accomplished gentlemen, free and affable in their manners. Their +military dress and side-arms are elegant. The troops are under +the strictest discipline, and are amply provided with arms and +accoutrements, which are kept in the neatest order. They are in complete +uniform--coats of white broadcloth, trimmed with green, and white +under-dress, and on their heads they wear a singular kind of hat or +chapeau. It is unlike our cocked hats, in having but two corners instead +of three, which gives them a very novel appearance." + +2. Footnote: The amount was $20,000 in specie, to be refunded by Robert +Morris on the 1st of October. On the 31st of August, Dr. Thacher says: +"Colonel Laurens arrived at headquarters, camp, Trenton, on his way from +Boston to Philadelphia. He brought two and a half millions of livres in +cash, a part of the French subsidy,--a most seasonable supply, as the +troops were discontented and almost mutinous for want of pay." + +3. Footnote: Lafayette (letter to Washington, 16th October, 1781) says +"Your Excellency having personally seen our dispositions, I shall only +give you an account of what passed in the execution. Colonel Gimat's +battalion led the van, and was followed by that of Colonel Hamilton, who +commanded the whole advanced corps. At the same time a party of eighty +men, under Colonel Laurens, turned the redoubt. I beg leave to refer +your Excellency to the report I have received from Colonel Hamilton, +whose well-known talents and gallantry were, on this occasion, most +conspicuous and serviceable. Our obligations to him, to Colonel Gimat, +to Colonel + +[missing footnote text] + +4. Footnote: The whole number of prisoners, exclusive of seamen, was +over 7,000, and the British loss during the siege was between five and +six hundred. The army of the allies consisted of 7,000 American regular +troops, upward of 5,000 French, and 4,000 militia. The loss in killed +and wounded was about 300. The captured property consisted of a large +train of artillery--viz., 75 brass and 69 iron cannon, howitzers, and +mortars; also a large quantity of arms, ammunition, military stores, and +provisions fell to the Americans. One frigate, 2 ships of twenty guns +each, a number of transports and other vessels, and 1,500 seamen were +surrendered to de Grasse. + +5. Footnote: On his departure, the Count de Grasse received from +Washington a present of two elegant horses as a token of his friendship +and esteem. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +CLOSE OF THE WAR. 1782-1783. + + +After the surrender of Cornwallis, the combined forces were distributed +in different parts of the country, in the manner we have described +at the close of the last chapter. Having personally superintended +the distribution of the ordnance and stores, and the departure of the +prisoners as well as the embarkation of the troops, who were to go +northward under General Lincoln, Washington left Yorktown on the 5th of +November (1781) for Eltham, the seat of his friend, Colonel Basset. +He arrived there the same day, but he came to a house of mourning. His +stepson, John Parke Custis, was just expiring when he reached the house. +Washington was just in time to be present, with Mrs. Washington and Mrs. +Custis, her daughter-in-law, at the last painful moment of the young +man's departure to the world of spirits. Mr. Custis had been an object +of peculiar affection and care to Washington, who had superintended his +education and introduction to public life. He had entered King's college +in New York, in 1773, but soon after left that institution and married +the daughter of Mr. Benedict Calvert, February 3, 1774. He had passed +the winter of 1775 at headquarters in Cambridge with his wife and Mrs. +Washington. He had subsequently been elected a member of the House of +Burgesses of Virginia, in which office he acquitted himself with +honor, and he was now cut off on the very threshold of life being only +twenty-eight years of age at the time of his decease. He left a widow +and four young children. The two youngest of these children, one less +than two and the other four years old, were adopted by Washington, and +thenceforward formed a part of his immediate family. During the last +year of Mr. Custis' life, Washington, writing to General Greene, took +occasion to cite a passage from his correspondence. He says, "I have +received a letter from Mr. Custis, dated the 29th ultimo (March, 1781), +in which are these words: 'General Greene has by his conduct gained +universal esteem, and possesses, in the fullest degree, the confidence +of all ranks of people.'" He had just then returned from the Assembly at +Richmond. Washington remained for several days at Eltham to comfort the +family in their severe affliction, and then proceeded to Mount Vernon, +where he arrived on the 13th of November. From this home of his early +affections he wrote to Lafayette on the 15th (1781), accounting for his +not having joined him in Philadelphia, by the pressure of private and +public duties. In this letter, ever attentive to the interests of +his country, Washington expresses his views with respect to the next +campaign; and as Lafayette, after the expedition with de Grasse to +the South was abandoned, had determined to pass the winter in France, +Washington takes occasion in this letter to impress upon his mind the +absolute necessity of a strong naval force in order to conduct the +next campaign to a successful termination. In concluding his letter, +Washington says: "If I should be deprived of the pleasure of a personal +interview with you before your departure, permit me to adopt this method +of making you a tender of my ardent vows for a prosperous voyage, +a gracious reception from your prince, an honorable reward for your +services, a happy meeting with your lady and friends, and a safe return +in the spring to, my dear marquis, your affectionate friend, etc.-- + +"WASHINGTON." + + +Washington had given Lafayette leave to proceed to Philadelphia, where +he obtained from Congress permission to visit his family in France +for such a period as he should think proper. Congress at the same time +passed resolutions doing justice to the zeal and military conduct of +Lafayette. Among them were the following: + +"Resolved, that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs acquaint the ministers +plenipotentiary of the United States, that it is the desire of Congress +that they confer with the Marquis de Lafayette, and avail themselves of +his information relative to the affairs of the United States. + +"Resolved, that the Secretary of Foreign Affairs further acquaint +the minister plenipotentiary at the court of Versailles, that he will +conform to the intention of Congress by consulting with and employing +the assistance of the Marquis de Lafayette in accelerating the supplies +which may be afforded by his most Christian majesty for the use of the +United States." + +Lafayette was also commended by Congress to the notice of Louis XVI +in very warm terms. Having received his instructions from Congress +and completed his preparations, he went to Boston, where the American +frigate Alliance awaited his arrival. His farewell letter to Congress +is dated on board this vessel, December 23, 1781, and immediately after +writing it he set sail for his native country. + +Before proceeding to Philadelphia Washington visited Alexandria, where +he was honored with a public reception and an address from a committee +of the citizens, in replying to which he was careful to remind them, +when referring to the late success at Yorktown, that "a vigorous +prosecution of this success would, in all probability," procure +peace, liberty, and independence. He also visited Annapolis, where the +Legislature was in session. A vote of thanks was passed by that body +(22d November, 1781), and in replying to it Washington also reminded the +legislators of Maryland that the war was by no means finished, and that +further exertions were required to be made by the States. + +The splendid success of the allied arms in Virginia, and the great +advantages obtained still further south, produced no disposition in +Washington to relax those exertions which might yet be necessary to +secure the great object of the contest. "I shall attempt to stimulate +Congress," said he in a letter to General Greene, written at Mount +Vernon, "to the best improvement of our late success, by taking the most +vigorous and effectual measures to be ready for an early and decisive +campaign the next year. My greatest fear is that viewing this stroke +in a point of light which may too much magnify its importance they may +think our work too nearly closed and fall into a state of languor and +relaxation. To prevent this error I shall employ every means in my +power, and, if unhappily we sink into this fatal mistake, no part of the +blame shall be mine." + +On the 27th of November (1781) Washington reached Philadelphia, and +Congress passed a resolution granting him an audience on the succeeding +day. On his appearance the President addressed him in a short speech, +informing him that a committee was appointed to state the requisitions +to be made for the proper establishment of the army, and expressing the +expectation that he would remain in Philadelphia, in order to aid the +consultations on that important subject. + +The Secretary of War, the financier, Robert Morris, and the Secretary of +Foreign Affairs, Robert R. Livingston, assisted at these deliberations, +and the business was concluded with unusual celerity. + +A revenue was scarcely less necessary than an army, and it was obvious +that the means for carrying on the war must be obtained either by +impressments or by a vigorous course of taxation. But both these +alternatives depended on the States, and the government of the Union +resorted to the influence of Washington in aid of its requisitions. + +But no exertions on the part of America alone could expel the invading +army. A superiority at sea was indispensable to the success of offensive +operations against the posts which the British still held within +the United States. To obtain this superiority Washington pressed its +importance on the Chevalier de la Luzerne, the minister of France, and +commanding officers of the French troops, as he had on Lafayette when he +was about to return to his native country. + +The first intelligence from Europe was far from being conciliatory. The +Parliament of Great Britain reassembled in November (1781). The speech +from the throne breathed a settled purpose to continue the war, and +the addresses from both houses, which were carried by large majorities, +echoed the sentiment. + +In the course of the animated debates which these addresses occasioned, +an intention was indeed avowed by some members of the administration to +direct the whole force of the nation against France and Spain, and to +suspend offensive operations in the interior of the United States until +the strength of those powers should be broken. In the meantime the posts +then occupied by their troops were to be maintained. + +This development of the views of the administration furnished additional +motives to the American government for exerting all the faculties of the +nation to expel the British garrisons from New York and Charleston. +The efforts of Washington to produce these exertions were earnest and +unremitting, but not successful. The State Legislatures declared the +inability of their constituents to pay taxes. Instead of filling the +Continental treasury some were devising means to draw money from it, and +some of those which passed bills imposing heavy taxes directed that the +demands of the State should be first satisfied, and that the residue +only should be paid to the Continental receiver. By the unwearied +attention and judicious arrangements of Robert Morris, the minister of +finance, the expenses of the nation had been greatly reduced. The bank +established in Philadelphia, and his own high character, had enabled him +to support in some degree a system of credit, the advantages of which +were incalculably great. He had, through the Chevalier de la Luzerne, +obtained permission from the King of France to draw for half a million +of livres monthly, until 6,000,000 should be received. To prevent the +diversion of any part of this sum from the most essential objects, he +had concealed the negotiation even from Congress, and had communicated +it only to Washington; yet after receiving the first installment it was +discovered that Dr. Franklin had anticipated the residue of the loan +and had appropriated it to the purposes of the United States. At the +commencement of the year 1782 not a dollar remained in the treasury, and +although Congress had required the payment of 2,000,000 on the 1st of +April not a cent had been received on the 23d of that month, and so +late as the 1st of June (1782) not more than $20,000 had reached the +treasury. Yet to Robert Morris every eye was turned, to him the empty +hand of every public creditor was stretched for, and against him, +instead of the State governments, the complaints and imprecations of +every unsatisfied claimant were directed. In July (1782), when the +second quarter annual payment of taxes ought to have been received, +Morris was informed by some of his agents, that the collection of the +revenue had been postponed in some of the States, in consequence of +which the month of December would arrive before any money could come +into the hands of the Continental receivers. In a letter communicating +this unpleasant intelligence to Washington, he added: "With such +gloomy prospects as this letter affords I am tied here to be baited +by continual clamorous demands; and for the forfeiture of all that is +valuable in life, and which I hoped at this moment to enjoy, I am to be +paid by invective. Scarce a day passes in which I am not tempted to give +back into the hands of Congress the power they have delegated, and to +lay down a burden which presses me to the earth. Nothing prevents me but +a knowledge of the difficulties I am obliged to struggle under. What +may be the success of my efforts God only knows, but to leave my post at +present would, I know, be ruinous. This candid state of my situation and +feelings I give to your bosom, because you, who have already felt and +suffered so much, will be able to sympathize with me." + +Fortunately for the United States the temper of the British nation +on the subject of continuing the war did not accord with that of its +Sovereign. That war, into which the people had entered with at least as +much eagerness as the minister, had become almost universally unpopular. +Motions against the measures of administration respecting America were +repeated by the opposition, and, on every experiment, the strength +of the minority increased. At length, on the 27th of February (1782), +General Conway moved in the House of Commons, "that it is the opinion of +this house that a further prosecution of offensive war against America +would, under present circumstances, be the means of weakening the +efforts of this country against her European enemies, and tend to +increase the mutual enmity so fatal to the interests both of Great +Britain and America." The whole force of administration was exerted to +get rid of this resolution, but was exerted in vain, and it was carried. +An address to the King, in the words of the resolution, was immediately +voted, and was presented by the whole house. The answer of the Crown +being deemed inexplicit it was, on the 4th of March (1782), resolved +"that the house will consider as enemies to his Majesty and the +country, all those who should advise or attempt a further prosecution of +offensive war on the continent of North America." + +These votes were soon followed by a change of ministers and by +instructions to the officers commanding the forces in America, which +conformed to them. + +While Washington was employed in addressing circular letters to the +State governments, suggesting all those motives which might stimulate +them to exertions better proportioned to the exigency, English papers, +containing the debates in Parliament on the various propositions +respecting America, reached the United States. Alarmed at the impression +these debates might make, he introduced the opinions it was deemed +prudent to inculcate respecting them into the letters he was then about +to transmit to the Governors of the several States. "I have perused +these debates," he said, "with great attention and care, with a view, +if possible, to penetrate their real design, and upon the most mature +deliberation I can bestow I am obliged to declare it as my candid +opinion that the measure, in all its views, so far as it respects +America, is merely delusory, having no serious intention to admit our +independence upon its true principles, but is calculated to produce a +change of ministers to quiet the minds of their own people and reconcile +them to a continuance of the war, while it is meant to amuse this +country with a false idea of peace, to draw us from our connection with +France, and to lull us into a state of security and inactivity; which +taking place, the ministry will be left to prosecute the war in other +parts of the world with greater vigor and effect. Your Excellency will +permit me on this occasion to observe that, even if the nation and +Parliament are really in earnest to obtain peace with America, it +will undoubtedly be wisdom in us to meet them with great caution and +circumspection, and by all means to keep our arms firm in our hands, and +instead of relaxing one iota in our exertions, rather to spring forward +with redoubled vigor, that we may take the advantage of every favorable +opportunity until our wishes are fully obtained. No nation yet suffered +in treaty by preparing (even in the moment of negotiation) most +vigorously for the field. + +"The industry which the enemy is using to propagate their pacific +reports appears to me a circumstance very suspicious, and the eagerness +with which the people, as I am informed, are catching at them, is, in my +opinion, equally dangerous." + +While Washington was still residing at Philadelphia, in conference with +the committees of Congress, a spirited naval action took place near the +capes of the Delaware, which must have afforded him much gratification. + +The Delaware bay was, at this period, says Peterson, [1] infested with +small cruisers of the enemy, which not only captured the river craft, +but molested the neighboring shores. To repress these marauders, the +State of Pennsylvania determined to fit out a vessel or two at its own +expense, and with this view a small merchant ship, called the Hyder All, +then lying outward-bound with a cargo of flour, was purchased. It took +but a few days to discharge her freight, to pierce her for sixteen +guns, and to provide her with an armament. Volunteers flocked to offer +themselves for her crew. The command was given to Barney, and, at the +head of a convoy of outward-bound merchantmen, he stood down the bay, +and anchored, on the 8th of April (1782), in the roads off Cape May, +where he awaited a proper wind for the traders to go to sea. Suddenly +two ships and a brig, one of the former a frigate, were seen rounding +the cape, obviously with the intention of attacking him, on which +he signaled the convoy to stand up the bay, the wind being at the +southward, himself covering their rear, and the enemy in hot pursuit. + +In order to head off the fugitives, the frigate took one channel and her +consorts the other, the ship and brig choosing that which the Hyder +Ali had selected. The brig, being a very fast vessel, soon overhauled +Barney, but, contenting herself with giving him a broadside as she +passed, pressed on in pursuit of the convoy. The Hyder Ali declined +to return this fire, holding herself in reserve for the ship, +a sloop-of-war mounting twenty guns, which was now seen rapidly +approaching. When the Englishman drew near, Barney suddenly luffed, +threw in his broadside, and immediately righting his helm, kept away +again. This staggered the enemy, who, being so much the superior and +having a frigate within sustaining distance, had expected the Hyder Ali +to surrender. The two vessels were now within pistol shot of each other, +and the forward guns of the British were just beginning to bear, when +Barney, in a loud voice, ordered his quartermaster "to port his helm." +The command was distinctly heard on board the enemy, as indeed Barney +had intended it should be, and the Englishman immediately prepared to +maneuver his ship accordingly. But the quartermaster of the Hyder Ali +had, prior to this, received his instructions, and, instead of obeying +Barney's pretended order, whirled his wheel in the contrary direction, +luffing the American ship athwart the hawse of her antagonist. The +jib-boom of the enemy, in consequence of this, caught in the forerigging +of the Hyder Ali, giving the latter the raking position which Barney had +desired. + +Not a cheer rose from the American vessel, even at this welcome +spectacle, for the men knew that victory against such odds was still +uncertain, and they thought as yet only of securing it. Nor did the +British, at a sight so dispiriting to them, yield in despair. On the +contrary, both crews rushed to their guns, and, for half an hour, the +combat was waged on either side with desperate fury. The two vessels +were soon enveloped in smoke. The explosions of the artillery were like +continuous claps of thunder. In twenty-six minutes not less than +twenty broadsides were discharged. Nor was the struggle confined to the +batteries. Riflemen, posted in the tops of the Hyder Ali, picked off one +by one the crew of the enemy, until his decks ran slippery with blood +and 56 out of his crew of 140 had fallen. All this while Barney stood +on the quarter-deck of his ship, a mark for the enemy's sharpshooters, +until they were driven from their stations by the superior aim of +the Americans. At length, finding further resistance hopeless, the +Englishman struck his colors. Huzza on huzza now rose from the deck of +the victor. Barney, on taking possession, discovered that the vessel +he had captured was the General Monk, and that her weight of metal was +nearly twice his own. Notwithstanding the presence of the frigate, the +young hero succeeded in bringing off his prize in safety and in a few +hours had moored her by the Hyder Ali's side, opposite Philadelphia, +with the dead of both ships still on their decks. In this action Barney +lost but 4 killed and 11 wounded. For the victory, conceded to be the +most brilliant of the latter years of the war, Barney was rewarded by +the State of Pennsylvania with a gold-hilted sword. In consequence of +the capture of the General Monk, the Delaware ceased to be infested with +the enemy. + +About the middle of April (1782), Washington left Philadelphia, where +he had remained since November (1781), and joined the army, his +headquarters being at Newburg. He was directly informed of a very +shameful proceeding on the part of some refugees from New York, and felt +compelled to give the matter his serious attention. The circumstances +were these: Captain Huddy, who commanded a body of troops in Monmouth +county, New Jersey, was attacked by a party of refugees, was made +prisoner, and closely confined in New York. A few days afterward they +led him out and hanged him, with a label on his breast declaring that +he was put to death in retaliation for some of their number, who, +they said, had suffered a similar fate. Taking up the matter promptly, +Washington submitted it to his officers, laid it before Congress, and +wrote to Clinton demanding that Captain Lippencot, the perpetrator of +the horrid deed, should be given up. The demand not being complied with, +Washington, in accordance with the opinion of the council of officers, +determined upon retaliation. A British officer, of equal rank with +Captain Huddy, was chosen by lot. Captain Asgill, a young man just +nineteen years old, and the only son of his parents, was the one upon +whom the lot fell. The whole affair was in suspense for a number of +months. Both Clinton and Carleton, his successor, reprobated the act +of Lippencot with great severity, yet he was not given up, it being +considered by a court-martial that he had only obeyed the orders of the +Board of Associated Loyalists in New York. Great interest was made to +save Asgill's life; his mother begged the interference of the Count +de Vergennes, who wrote to Washington in her behalf. Early in November +Washington performed the grateful task of setting Captain Asgill at +liberty. + +Meantime the army, by whose toils and sufferings the country had +been carried through the perils of the Revolution, remained unpaid, +apparently disregarded by Congress and by the people whom they had +delivered from oppression. It seemed probable that they would speedily +be disbanded, without any adequate provision being made by Congress +for the compensation which was due to them, and which had been solemnly +promised by repeated acts of legislation. They were very naturally +discontented. Their complaints and murmurs began to be ominous of very +serious consequences. They even began to question the efficiency of the +form of government, which appeared to be unfitted for meeting the first +necessities of the country--the maintenance and pay of its military +force. They began to consider the propriety of establishing a more +energetic form of government, while they still had their arms in their +hands. Colonel Nicola, an able and experienced officer, who stood high +in Washington's estimation, and had frequently been made the medium of +communication between him and the officers, was chosen as the organ +for making known their sentiments to him on the present occasion. In +a letter carefully written, after commenting upon the gloomy state +of public affairs, the disordered finances, and other embarrassments +occasioned by the war, all caused by defective political organization, +he proceeded to say: "This must have shown to all, and to military men +in particular, the weakness of republics, and the exertions the army +have been able to make by being under a proper head. Therefore, I little +doubt that, when the benefits of a mixed government are pointed out and +duly considered, such will be readily adopted. In this case it will, +I believe, be uncontroverted that the same abilities which have led +us through difficulties, apparently insurmountable by human power, to +victory and glory, those qualities that have merited and obtained the +universal esteem and veneration of an army, would be most likely to +conduct and direct us in the smoother paths of peace. Some people +have so connected the ideas of tyranny and monarchy as to find it very +difficult to separate them. It may, therefore, be requisite to give +the head of such a constitution as I propose some title apparently +more moderate; but, if all things were once adjusted, I believe strong +arguments might be produced for admitting the name of King, which I +conceive would be attended with some material advantages." + +The answer of Washington to this communication was in the following +terms: + +"NEWBURG, 22d _May_, 1782. + +"SIR.--With a mixture of great surprise and astonishment, I have read +with attention the sentiments you have submitted to my perusal. Be +assured, sir, no occurrence in the course of the war has given me more +painful sensations than your information of there being such ideas +existing in the army as you have expressed, and I must view with +abhorrence and reprehend with severity. For the present, the +communication of them will rest in my own bosom, unless some further +agitation of the matter shall make a disclosure necessary. + +"I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my conduct could have +given encouragement to an address, which to me seems big with the +greatest mischiefs that can befall my country. If I am not deceived in +the knowledge of myself, you could not have found a person to whom your +schemes are more disagreeable. At the same time, in justice to my own +feelings, I must add, that no man possesses a more sincere wish to see +ample justice done to the army than I do; and as far as my powers and +influence, in a constitutional way, extend, they shall be employed, to +the utmost of my abilities, to effect it, should there be any occasion. +Let me conjure you, then, if you have any regard for your country, +concern for yourself or posterity, or respect for me, to banish these +thoughts from your mind, and never communicate, as from yourself or any +one else, a sentiment of the like nature. + +"I am, sir, &c., + +"GEORGE WASHINGTON." + + * * * * * + +This was the language of Washington at a time when the army was entirely +devoted to him, when his popularity was equal to that of Cromwell or +Napoleon in their palmiest days. Certain officers of the army were +ready, at a word, to make him king; and the acknowledged inefficiency of +the existing government would have furnished a plausible reason for the +act. But Washington was not formed of the material that kings are made +of. Personal ambition he despised. To be, not to seem great and good was +his aim. To serve, and not to rule his country was his object. He was +too true a patriot to assume the power and title of a monarch. + +Early in May (1782) Sir Guy Carleton, who had succeeded Sir Henry +Clinton in the command of all the British forces in the United States, +arrived at New York. Having been also appointed, in conjunction with +Admiral Digby, a commissioner to negotiate a peace, he lost no time in +conveying to Washington copies of the votes of the British +Parliament, and of a bill which had been introduced on the part of the +administration, authorizing the King to conclude a peace or truce +with those who were still denominated "the revolted Colonies of North +America." These papers, he said, would manifest the dispositions +prevailing with the government and people of England toward those of +America, and, if the like pacific temper should prevail in this country, +both inclination and duty would lead him to meet it with the most +zealous concurrence. He had addressed to Congress, he said, a letter +containing the same communications, and he solicited a passport for the +person who should convey it. + +At this time (1782) the bill enabling the British monarch to conclude a +peace or truce with America had not become a law, nor was any assurance +given that the present commissioners were empowered to offer other +terms than those which had been formerly rejected. General Carleton, +therefore, could not hope that negotiations would commence on such a +basis, nor be disappointed at the refusal of the passports he requested +by Congress, to whom the application was, of course, referred by +Washington. The letter may have been written for the general purpose +of conciliation, but the situation of the United States justified a +suspicion of different motives, and prudence required that their conduct +should be influenced by that suspicion. The repugnance of the King to a +dismemberment of the empire was understood, and it was thought +probable that the sentiments expressed in the House of Commons might be +attributable rather to a desire of changing ministers than to any fixed +determination to relinquish the design of reannexing America to the +Crown. + +Under these impressions, the overtures now made were considered as +opiates administered to lull the spirit of vigilance, which Washington +and his friends in Congress labored to keep up, into a state of fatal +repose, and to prevent those measures of security which it might yet be +necessary to adopt. + +This jealousy was nourished by all the intelligence received from +Europe. The utmost address of the British cabinet had been employed to +detach the belligerents from each other. The mediation of Russia had +been accepted to procure a separate peace with Holland; propositions had +been submitted both to France and Spain, tending to an accommodation +of differences with each of those powers singly, and inquiries had been +made of Mr. Adams, the American minister at the Hague in place of Mr. +Laurens, which seemed to contemplate the same object with regard to the +United States. These political maneuvers furnished additional motives +for doubting the sincerity of the English cabinet. Whatever views might +actuate the court of St. James on this subject, the resolution of the +American government to make no separate treaty was unalterable. + +But the public votes which have been stated, and probably his private +instructions, restrained Sir Guy Carleton from offensive war, and the +state of the American army disabled Washington from making any attempt +on the posts in possession of the British. The campaign of 1782 +consequently passed away without furnishing any military operations +of moment between the armies under the immediate direction of the +respective Commanders-in-Chief. + +Early in August (1782) a letter was received by Washington from Sir +Guy Carleton and Admiral Digby, which, among other communications +manifesting a pacific disposition on the part of England, contained the +information that Mr. Grenville was at Paris, invested with full powers +to treat with all the parties at war, that negotiations for a general +peace were already commenced and that his Majesty had commanded his +minister to direct Mr. Grenville that the independence of the thirteen +provinces should be proposed by him in the first instance instead of +being made a condition of a general treaty. But that this proposition +would be made in the confidence that the Loyalists would be restored +to their possessions, or a full compensation made them for whatever +confiscations might have taken place. + +This letter was, not long afterward, followed by one from Sir Guy +Carleton, declaring that he could discern no further object of contest, +and that he disapproved of all further hostilities by sea or land, which +could only multiply the miseries of individuals, without a possible +advantage to either nation. In pursuance of this opinion, he had, soon +after his arrival in New York, restrained the practice of detaching +parties of Indians against the frontiers of the United States and had +recalled those which were previously engaged in those bloody incursions. + +These communications appear to have alarmed the jealousy of the minister +of France. To quiet his fears Congress renewed the resolution "to enter +into no discussion of any overtures for pacification, but in confidence +and in concert with his most Christian Majesty," and again recommended +to the several States to adopt such measures as would most effectually +guard against all intercourse with any subjects of the British Crown +during the war. + +In South Carolina the American army under General Greene maintained +its position in front of Jacksonborough, and that of the British under +General Leslie was confined to Charleston and its immediate vicinity. +Both were inactive for a long period, and during this time Greene's army +suffered so much for want of provisions that he was under the necessity +of authorizing the seizure of them by the odious measure of impressment. + +Privations, which had been borne without a murmur under the excitement +of active military operations, produced great irritation during the +leisure which prevailed after the enemy had abandoned the open field, +and, in the Pennsylvania line, which was composed chiefly of foreigners, +the discontent was aggravated to such a point as to produce a +treasonable intercourse with the enemy, in which a plot is understood +to have been laid for seizing General Greene and delivering him to a +detachment of British troops which would move out of Charleston for the +purpose of favoring the execution of the design. It was discovered when +it is supposed to have been on the point of execution, and a Sergeant +Gornell, believed to be the chief of the conspiracy, was condemned to +death by a court-martial, and executed on the 22d of April. Some others, +among whom were two domestics in the general's family, were brought +before the court on suspicion of being concerned in the plot, but the +testimony was not sufficient to convict them, and twelve deserted the +night after it was discovered. There is no reason to believe that the +actual guilt of this transaction extended further. + +Charleston was held until the 14th of December. Previous to its +evacuation General Leslie had proposed a cessation of hostilities, and +that his troops might be supplied with fresh provisions, in exchange +for articles of the last necessity in the American camp. The policy of +government being adverse to this proposition, General Greene was under +the necessity of refusing his assent to it, and the British general +continued to supply his wants by force. This produced several skirmishes +with foraging parties, to one of which importance was given by the +untimely death of the intrepid Laurens, whose loss was universally +lamented. + +This gallant and accomplished young gentleman had entered into the +military family of Washington at an early period of the war and had +always shared a large portion of his esteem. Brave to excess, he sought +every occasion to render service to his country and to acquire that +military fame which he pursued with the ardor of a young soldier, whose +courage seems to have partaken largely of that romantic spirit which +youth and enthusiasm produce in a fearless mind. No small addition to +the regrets occasioned by his loss was derived from the reflection that +he fell unnecessarily, in an unimportant skirmish, in the last moments +of the war, when his rash exposure to the danger which proved fatal to +him could no longer be useful to his country. + +From the arrival of Sir Guy Carleton at New York, the conduct of the +British armies on the American continent was regulated by the spirit +then recently displayed in the House of Commons, and all the sentiments +expressed by their general were pacific and conciliatory. But to these +flattering appearances it was dangerous to yield implicit confidence. +With a change of men a change of measures might also take place, and, in +addition to the ordinary suggestions of prudence, the military events +in the West Indies were calculated to keep alive the attention, and to +continue the anxieties of the United States. + +After the surrender of Lord Cornwallis the arms of France and Spain in +the American seas had been attended with such signal success that the +hope of annihilating the power of Great Britain in the West Indies was +not too extravagant to be indulged. Immense preparations had been made +for the invasion of Jamaica, and, early in April, Admiral Count de +Grasse sailed from Martinique with a powerful fleet, having on board the +land forces and artillery which were to be employed in the operations +against that island. His intention was to form a junction with the +Spanish Admiral Don Solano, who lay at Hispaniola; after which the +combined fleet, whose superiority promised to render it irresistible, +was to proceed on the important enterprise which had been concerted. On +his way to Hispaniola de Grasse was overtaken by Rodney, and brought to +an engagement in which he was totally defeated and made a prisoner. This +decisive victory disconcerted the plans of the combined powers and gave +security to the British islands. In the United States it was feared that +this alteration in the aspect of affairs might influence the councils +of the English cabinet on the question of peace, and these apprehensions +increased the uneasiness with which all intelligent men contemplated the +state of the American finances. + +It was then in contemplation to reduce the army by which many of +the officers would be discharged. While the general declared, in a +confidential letter to the Secretary of War, his conviction of the +alacrity with which they would retire into private life, could they be +placed in a situation as eligible as they had left to enter into the +service, he added--"Yet I cannot help fearing the result of the +measure, when I see such a number of men goaded by a thousand stings of +reflection on, the past, and of anticipation on the future, about to +be turned on the world, soured by penury, and what they call the +ingratitude of the public; involved in debts, without one farthing of +money to carry them home, after having spent the flower of their days, +and many of them their patrimonies, in establishing the freedom and +independence of their country; and having suffered everything which +human nature is capable of enduring on this side of death. I repeat +it, when I reflect on these irritating circumstances, unattended by one +thing to soothe their feelings or brighten the gloomy prospect, I cannot +avoid apprehending that a train of evils will follow of a very serious +and distressing nature. + +"I wish not to heighten the shades of the picture so far as the real +life would justify me in doing, or I would give anecdotes of patriotism +and distress which have scarcely ever been paralleled, never surpassed, +in the history of mankind. But you may rely upon it, the patience and +long-sufferance of this army are almost exhausted, and there never was +so great a spirit of discontent as at this instant. While in the field I +think it may be kept from breaking out into acts of outrage, but when we +retire into winter quarters (unless the storm be previously dissipated) +I cannot be at ease respecting the consequences. It is high time for a +peace." + +"To judge rightly," says Marshall, "of the motives which produced this +uneasy temper in the army it will be necessary to recollect that the +resolution of October, 1780, granting half-pay for life to the officers +stood on the mere faith of a government possessing no funds enabling +it to perform its engagements. From requisitions alone, to be made on +sovereign States, the supplies were to be drawn which should satisfy +these meritorious public creditors, and the ill success attending these +requisitions while the dangers of war were still impending, furnished +melancholy presages of their unproductiveness in time of peace. In +addition to this reflection, of itself sufficient to disturb the +tranquility which the passage of the resolution had produced, were other +considerations of decisive influence. The dispositions manifested by +Congress itself were so unfriendly to the half-pay establishment as to +extinguish the hope that any funds the government might acquire would be +applied to that object. Since the passage of the resolution the articles +of confederation, which required the concurrence of nine States to any +act appropriating public money, had been adopted, and nine States had +never been in favor of the measure. Should the requisitions of Congress +therefore be respected, or should permanent funds be granted by the +States, the prevailing sentiment of the nation was too hostile to the +compensation which had been stipulated to leave a probability that it +would be substantially made. This was not merely the sentiment of the +individuals then administering the government which might change with +a change of men; it was known to be the sense of the States they +represented, and consequently the hope could not be indulged that, on +this subject, a future Congress would be more just or would think more +liberally. As, therefore, the establishment of that independence for +which they had fought and suffered appeared to become more certain as +the end of their toils approached--the officers became more attentive to +their own situation, and the inquietude of the army increased with the +progress of the negotiation." + +In October (1782) the French troops marched to Boston, in order to +embark for the West Indies, and the Americans retired into winter +quarters. The apparent indisposition of the British general to act +offensively, the pacific temper avowed by the cabinet of London, and the +strength of the country in which the American troops were cantoned, gave +ample assurance that no military operations would be undertaken during +the winter which would require the continuance of Washington in camp. +But the irritable temper of the army furnished cause for serious +apprehension, and he determined to forego every gratification to be +derived from a suspension of his toils, in order to watch the progress +of its discontent. + +The officers who had wasted their fortunes and the prime of their lives +in unrewarded service, fearing, with reason, that Congress possessed +neither the power nor the inclination to comply with its engagements +to the army, could not look with unconcern at the prospect which was +opening to them. In December, soon after going into winter quarters, +they presented a petition to Congress respecting the money actually due +to them, and proposing a commutation of the half-pay stipulated by the +resolutions of October, 1780, for a sum in gross, which, they flattered +themselves, would encounter fewer prejudices than the half-pay +establishment. Some security that the engagements of the government +would be complied with was also requested. A committee of officers was +deputed to solicit the attention of Congress to this memorial, and to +attend its progress through the house. + +Among the most distinguished members of the Federal government were +persons sincerely disposed to do ample justice to the public creditors +generally, and to that class of them particularly whose claims were +founded in military service. But many viewed the army with jealous eyes, +acknowledged its merit with unwillingness, and betrayed, involuntarily, +their repugnance to a faithful observance of the public engagements. +With this question another of equal importance was connected, on which +Congress was divided almost in the same manner. One party was attached +to a State, the other to a Continental system. The latter labored to +fund the public debts on solid Continental security, while the former +opposed their whole weight to measures calculated to effect that object. + +In consequence of these divisions on points of the deepest interest, +the business of the army advanced slowly, and the important question +respecting the commutation of their half-pay remained undecided +(March, 1783), when intelligence was received of the signature of the +preliminary and eventual articles of peace between the United States and +Great Britain. + +The officers, soured by their past sufferings, their present wants, +and their gloomy prospects--exasperated by the neglect which they +experienced and the injustice which they apprehended, manifested an +irritable and uneasy temper, which required only a slight impulse to +give it activity. To render this temper the more dangerous, an opinion +had been insinuated that the Commander-in-Chief was restrained, by +extreme delicacy, from supporting their interests with that zeal which +his feelings and knowledge of their situation had inspired. Early +in March a letter was received from their committee in Philadelphia, +showing that the objects they solicited had not been obtained. On the +10th of that month (1783) an anonymous paper was circulated, requiring a +meeting of the general and field officers at the public building on the +succeeding day at 11 in the morning, and announcing the expectation +that an officer from each company, and a delegate from the medical staff +would attend. The object of the meeting was avowed to be, "to consider +the late letter from their representatives in Philadelphia, and what +measures (if any) should be adopted to obtain that redress of grievances +which they seemed to have solicited in vain." + +On the same day an address to the army was privately circulated, which +was admirably well calculated to work on the passions of the moment, +and to lead to the most desperate resolutions. This was the first of the +celebrated "Newburg Addresses," since acknowledged to have been written +by Gen. John Armstrong, at the request of several of the officers in +camp. The following were the concluding passages of the first address: + +"After a pursuit of seven long years, the object for which we set out +is at length brought within our reach. Yes, my friends, that suffering +courage of yours was active once. It has conducted the United States of +America through a doubtful and a bloody war. It has placed her in the +chair of independency; and peace returns again to bless--whom? A country +willing to redress your wrongs, cherish your worth, and reward your +services? A country courting your return to private life with tears +of gratitude and smiles of admiration--longing to divide with you that +independency which your gallantry has given, and those riches which your +wounds have preserved? Is this the case? Or is it rather a country +that tramples upon your rights, disdains your cries, and insults your +distresses? Have you not more than once suggested your wishes and made +known your wants to Congress? Wants and wishes which gratitude and +policy would have anticipated rather than evaded; and have you not +lately, in the meek language of entreating memorials, begged from their +justice what you could no longer expect from their favor? How have you +been answered? Let the letter which you are called to consider tomorrow +reply. + +"If this, then, be your treatment while the swords you wear are +necessary for the defense of America, what have you to expect from +peace, when your voice shall sink and your strength dissipate by +division? When those very swords, the instruments and companions of your +glory, shall be taken from your sides, and no remaining mark of military +distinction left but your wants, infirmities, and scars? Can you then +consent to be the only sufferers by this Revolution, and, retiring from +the field, grow old in poverty, wretchedness, and contempt? Can you +consent to wade through the vile mire of dependency, and owe the +miserable remnant of that life to charity which has hitherto been spent +in honor? If you can, go; and carry with you the jest of Tories and the +scorn of Whigs, the ridicule, and, what is worse, the pity of the world. +Go--starve and be forgotten. But if your spirit should revolt at this, +if you have sense enough to discover, and spirit enough to oppose, +tyranny under whatever garb it may assume, whether it be the plain +coat of republicanism or the splendid robe of royalty; if you have yet +learned to discriminate between a people and a cause, between men and +principles, awake; attend to your situation and redress yourselves. If +the present moment be lost, every future effort is in vain, and your +threats then will be as empty as your entreaties now. + +"I would advise you, therefore, to come to some final opinion upon what +you can bear and what you will suffer. If your determination be in any +proportion to your wrongs, carry your appeal from the justice to the +fears of the government. Change the milk-and-water style of your +last memorial. Assume a bolder tone, decent, but lively; spirited and +determined; and suspect the man who would advise to more moderation and +longer forbearance. Let two or three men who can feel as well as write +be appointed to draw up your last remonstrance; for I would no longer +give it the suing, soft, unsuccessful epithet of memorial. Let it be +represented in language that will neither dishonor you by its rudeness +nor betray you by its fears, what has been promised by Congress and what +has been performed; how long and how patiently you have suffered; how +little you have asked, and how much of that little has been denied. Tell +them that, though you were the first, and would wish to be the last +to encounter danger; though despair itself can never drive you into +dishonor it may drive you from the field; that the wound often irritated +and never healed may at length become incurable, and that the slightest +mark of indignity from Congress now must operate like the grave, +and part you forever; that in any political event, the army has its +alternative--if peace, that nothing shall separate you from your +arms but death; if war, that, courting the auspices and inviting the +directions of your illustrious leader, you will retire to some unsettled +country, smile in your turn, and 'mock when their fear cometh on.' But +let it represent also that should they comply with the request of your +late memorial, it would make you more happy and them more respectable. +That while war should continue you would follow their standard into the +field, and when it came to an end, you would withdraw into the shade +of private life, and give the world another subject of wonder and +applause--an army victorious over its enemies, victorious over itself." + +Persuaded as the officers in general were of the indisposition of +government to remunerate their services, this eloquent and impassioned +address, dictated by genius and by feeling, found in almost every bosom +a kindred though latent sentiment prepared to receive its impression. +Quick as the train to which a torch is applied, the passions caught its +flame and nothing seemed to be required but the assemblage proposed for +the succeeding day to communicate the conflagration to the combustible +mass and to produce an explosion ruinous to the army and to the nation. + +Accustomed as Washington had been to emergencies of great delicacy and +difficulty, yet none had occurred which called more pressingly than the +present for the utmost exertion of all his powers. He knew well that it +was much easier to avoid intemperate measures than to recede from them +after they have been adopted. He therefore considered it as a matter +of the last importance to prevent the meeting of the officers on the +succeeding day, as proposed in the anonymous summons. The sensibilities +of the army were too high to admit of this being forbidden by authority, +as a violation of discipline; but the end was answered in another way +and without irritation. Washington, in general orders, noticed the +anonymous summons, as a disorderly proceeding, not to be countenanced; +and the more effectually to divert the officers from paying any +attention to it, he requested them to meet for the same nominal purpose, +but on a day four days subsequent to the one proposed by the anonymous +writer. On the next day (March 12th), the second "Newburg Address" +appeared, affecting to consider Washington as approving the first, and +only changing the day of meeting. But this artifice was defeated. +The intervening period was improved in preparing the officers for the +adoption of moderate measures. Washington sent for one officer after +another, and enlarged in private on the fatal consequences, and +particularly the loss of character, which would result from the adoption +of intemperate resolutions. His whole personal influence was exerted to +calm the prevailing agitation. When the officers assembled (March +15, 1783), General Gates was called to the chair. Washington rose and +apologized for being present, which had not been his original intention; +but the circulation of anonymous addresses had imposed on him the duty +of expressing his opinion of their tendency. He had committed it to +writing, and, with the indulgence of his brother officers, he would take +the liberty of reading it to them; and then proceeded as follows: + +"GENTLEMEN.--By an anonymous summons an attempt has been made to +convene you together. How inconsistent with the rules of propriety, how +unmilitary, and how subversive of all order and discipline, let the good +sense of the army decide. + +"In the moment of this summons, another anonymous production was sent +into circulation, addressed more to the feelings and passions than to +the reason and judgment of the army. The author of the piece is entitled +to much credit for the goodness of his pen, and I could wish he had +as much credit for the rectitude of his heart; for, as men see through +different optics, and are induced, by the reflecting faculties of the +mind, to use different means to attain the same end, the author of the +address should have had more charity than to mark for suspicion the man +who should recommend moderation and longer forbearance; or, in other +words, who should not think as he thinks, and act as he advises. But he +had another plan in view, in which candor and liberality of sentiment, +regard to justice, and love of country have no part; and he was right to +insinuate the darkest suspicion to effect the blackest design. That +the address is drawn with great art and is designed to answer the most +insidious purposes; that it is calculated to impress the mind with an +idea of premeditated injustice in the sovereign power of the United +States, and rouse all those resentments which must unavoidably flow from +such a belief that the secret mover of this scheme, whoever he may be, +intended to take advantage of the passions, while they were warmed +by the recollection of past distresses, without giving time for cool, +deliberate thinking, and that composure of mind which is so necessary to +give dignity and stability to measures, is rendered too obvious, by the +mode of conducting the business, to need other proof than a reference to +the proceeding. Thus much, gentlemen, I have thought it incumbent on me +to observe to you, to show upon what principles I opposed the irregular +and hasty meeting which was proposed to have been held on Tuesday last, +and not because I wanted a disposition to give you every opportunity, +consistent with your own honor and the dignity of the army, to make +known your grievances. If my conduct heretofore has not evinced to you +that I have been a faithful friend to the army, my declaration of it at +this time would be equally unavailing and improper. But as I was among +the first who embarked in the cause of our common country; as I have +never left your side one moment, but when called from you on public +duty; as I have been the constant companion and witness of your +distresses, and not among the last to feel and acknowledge your merits; +as I have ever considered my own military reputation as inseparably +connected with that of the army; as my heart has ever expanded with joy +when I have heard its praises, and my indignation has arisen when the +mouth of detraction has been opened against it, it can scarcely be +supposed, at this late stage of the war, that I am indifferent to its +interests. But how are they to be promoted? The way is plain, says +the anonymous addresser. If war continues, remove into the unsettled +country; there establish yourselves and leave an ungrateful country to +defend itself. But who are they to defend? Our wives, our children, our +farms and other property, which we leave behind us? Or, in this state of +hostile separation, are we to take the two first (the latter cannot be +removed), to perish in a wilderness with hunger, cold, and nakedness? +If peace takes place, never sheathe your swords, says he, until you have +obtained full and ample justice. This dreadful alternative of either +deserting our country in the extremist hour of her distress, or turning +our arms against it, which is the apparent object, unless Congress can +be compelled into instant compliance, has something so shocking in it +that humanity revolts at the idea. My God! What can this writer have in +view, by recommending such measures? Can he be a friend to the army? Can +he be a friend to this country? Rather is he not an insidious foe? some +emissary, perhaps, from New York, plotting the ruin of both, by sowing +the seeds of discord and separation between the civil and military +powers of the continent? And what a compliment does he pay to our +understandings, when he recommends measures, in either alternative, +impracticable in their nature! + +"But here, gentlemen, I will drop the curtain, because it would be as +imprudent in me to assign my reasons for this opinion as it would be +insulting to your conception to suppose you stood in need of them. +A moment's reflection will convince every dispassionate mind of the +physical impossibility of carrying either proposal into execution. There +might, gentlemen, be an Impropriety in my taking notice, in this +address to you, of an anonymous production, but the manner in which that +performance has been introduced to the army, the effect it was intended +to have, together with some other circumstances, will amply justify my +observations on the tendency of that writing. With respect to the advice +given by the author, to suspect the man who shall recommend moderate +measures and longer forbearance, I spurn it, as every man who regards +that liberty and reveres that justice for which we contend, undoubtedly +must; for, if men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on +a matter which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences +that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us. +The freedom of speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent, we may be +led like sheep to the slaughter. + +"I cannot, in justice to my own belief and what I have great reason to +conceive is the intention of Congress, conclude this address without +giving it as my decided opinion that that honorable body entertain +exalted sentiments of the services of the army, and from a full +conviction of its merits and sufferings will do it complete justice; +that their endeavors to discover and establish funds for this purpose +has been unwearied, and will not cease till they have succeeded, I have +not a doubt. But, like all other large bodies where there is a variety +of different interests to reconcile, their determinations are slow. Why, +then, should we distrust them, and, in consequence of that distrust, +adopt measures which may cast a shade over that glory which has been +so justly acquired, and tarnish the reputation of an army which is +celebrated through all Europe for its fortitude and patriotism? And +for what is this done? To bring the object we seek nearer? No; most +certainly, in my opinion, it will cast it at a greater distance. For +myself--and I take no merit in giving the assurance, being induced to it +from principles of gratitude, veracity, and justice--a grateful sense +of the confidence you have ever placed in me, a recollection of the +cheerful assistance and prompt obedience I have experienced from you +under every vicissitude of fortune, and the sincere affection I feel +for an army I have so long had the honor to command, will oblige me +to declare in this public and solemn manner that in the attainment +of complete justice for all your toils and dangers, and in the +gratification of every wish, so far as may be done consistently with the +great duty I owe my country, and those powers we are bound to respect, +you may freely command my services to the utmost extent of my abilities. +While I give you these assurances, and pledge myself in the most +unequivocal manner to exert whatever ability I am possessed of in your +favor, let me entreat you, gentlemen, on your part, not to take any +measure, which, viewed in the calm light of reason, will lessen the +dignity and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained. Let me request +you to rely on the plighted faith of your country, and place a full +confidence in the purity of the intentions of Congress, that, previous +to your dissolution as an army, they will cause all your accounts to be +fairly liquidated, as directed in the resolutions which were published +to you two days ago; and that they will adopt the most effectual +measures in their power to render ample justice to you for your faithful +and meritorious services. And let me conjure you, in the name of our +common country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect +the rights of humanity, and as you regard the military and national +character of America, to express your utmost horror and detestation +of the man who wishes, under any specious pretenses, to overturn +the liberties of our country, and who wickedly attempts to open the +floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood. + +"By thus determining and thus acting, you will pursue the plain and +direct road to the attainment of your wishes; you will defeat the +insidious designs of our enemies, who are compelled to resort from open +force to secret artifice. You will give one more distinguished proof +of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the +pressure of the most complicated sufferings; and you will, by the +dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when +speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind--'Had +this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of +perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining.'" + +After concluding this address, Washington read to the meeting a letter +from one of his frequent correspondents in Congress, the Hon. Joseph +Jones, pointing out the difficulties Congress had to contend with, but +expressing the opinion that the claims of the army would, at all events, +be paid. When he got through with the first paragraph of the letter he +made a short pause, took out his spectacles, and craved the indulgence +of the audience while he put them on, remarking, while he was engaged in +that operation, that "he had grown gray in their service, and now found +himself growing blind." The effect of such remark from Washington, at +such a moment, may be imagined. It brought tears to the eyes of many a +veteran in that illustrious assemblage. When he had finished reading +the letter he retired, leaving the officers to deliberate and act as the +crisis demanded. + +On the present occasion, as on previous ones, Washington's appeal to the +officers was successful. The sentiments uttered in his address, from +a person whom the army had been accustomed to love, to revere, and to +obey--the solidity of whose judgment and the sincerity of whose zeal +for their interests were alike unquestioned--could not fail to be +irresistible. No person was hardy enough to oppose the advice he had +given, and the general impression was apparent. A resolution, moved by +General Knox and seconded by Brigadier-General Putnam, "assuring him +that the officers reciprocated his affectionate expressions with the +greatest sincerity of which the human heart is capable," was unanimously +voted. On the motion of General Putnam, a committee consisting of +General Knox, Colonel Brooks, and Captain Howard was then appointed to +prepare resolutions on the business before them, and to report in half +an hour. The report of the committee being brought in and considered, +resolutions were passed declaring that no circumstances of distress +should induce the officers to sully, by unworthy conduct, the reputation +acquired in their long and faithful service; that they had undiminished +confidence in the justice of Congress and of their country; and that +the Commander-in-Chief should be requested to write to the President +of Congress, earnestly entreating a speedy decision on the late address +forwarded by a committee of the army. In compliance with the request of +the officers, expressed in the above mentioned resolution, and with the +pledge which he had voluntarily given, Washington forthwith addressed +the following letter to the President of Congress: + +"The result of the proceedings of the grand convention of the officers, +which I have the honor of enclosing to your Excellency for the +inspection of Congress, will, I flatter myself, be considered as the +last glorious proof of patriotism which could have been given by men who +aspired to the distinction of a patriot army, and will not only +confirm their claim to the justice but will increase their title to the +gratitude of their country. Having seen the proceedings on the part +of the army terminate with perfect unanimity and in a manner entirely +consonant to my wishes; being impressed with the liveliest sentiments +of affection for those who have so long, so patiently, and so cheerfully +suffered and fought under my immediate direction; having, from motives +of justice, duty, and gratitude, spontaneously offered myself as an +advocate for their rights, and, having been requested to write to your +Excellency, earnestly entreating the most speedy decision of Congress +upon the subjects of the late address from the army to that honorable +body, it now only remains for me to perform the task I have assumed, and +to intercede in their behalf, as I now do, that the sovereign power +will be pleased to verify the predictions I have pronounced of, and the +confidence the army have reposed in, the justice of their country. And +here I humbly conceive it is altogether unnecessary (while I am pleading +the cause of an army which have done and suffered more than any other +army ever did in the defense of the rights and liberties of human +nature) to expatiate on their claims to the most ample compensation +for their meritorious services, because they are known perfectly to the +whole world, and because (although the topics are inexhaustible) enough +has already been said on the subject. To prove these assertions, to +evince that my sentiments have ever been uniform, and to show what +my ideas of the rewards in question have always been, I appeal to the +archives of Congress, and call on those sacred deposits to witness for +me. And in order that my observations and arguments in favor of a +future adequate provision for the officers of the army may be brought +to remembrance again and considered in a single point of view, without +giving Congress the trouble of having recourse to their files, I will +beg leave to transmit herewith an extract from a representation made by +me to a committee of Congress, so long ago as the 29th of January, 1778, +and also the transcript of a letter to the President of Congress, dated +near Passaic Falls, October 11, 1780. + +"That in the critical and perilous moment when the last-mentioned +communication was made there was the utmost danger a dissolution of the +army would have taken place unless measures similar to those recommended +had been adopted, will not admit a doubt. That the adoption of the +resolution granting half-pay for life has been attended with all the +happy consequences I had foretold, so far as respected the good of the +service, let the astonishing contrast between the state of the army +at this instant and at the former period determine. And that the +establishment of funds and security of the payment of all the just +demands of the army will be the most certain means of preserving the +national faith and future tranquility of this extensive continent, is my +decided opinion. + +"By the preceding remarks it will readily be imagined that instead of +retracting and reprehending (from further experience and reflection) the +mode of compensation so strenuously urged in the enclosures, I am more +and more confirmed in the sentiment, and if in the wrong, suffer me to +please myself with the grateful delusion. + +"For if, besides the simple payment of their wages, a further +compensation is not due to the sufferings and sacrifices of the +officers, then have I been mistaken indeed. If the whole army have not +merited whatever a grateful people can bestow, then have I been beguiled +by prejudice and built opinion on the basis of error. If this country +should not in the event perform everything which has been requested in +the late memorial to Congress, then will my belief become vain, and +the hope that has been excited void of foundation. And if (as has been +suggested for the purpose of inflaming their passions) the officers of +the army are to be the only sufferers by this revolution; 'if, retiring +from the field, they are to grow old in poverty, wretchedness, and +contempt; if they are to wade through the vile mire of dependency and +owe the miserable remnant of that life to charity which has hitherto +been spent in honor,' then shall I have learned what ingratitude +is--then shall I have realized a tale which will embitter every moment +of my future life. + +"But I am under no such apprehensions; a country rescued by their arms +from impending ruin will never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude. + +"Should any intemperate or improper warmth have mingled itself amongst +the foregoing observations, I must entreat your Excellency and Congress +it may be attributed to the effusion of an honest zeal in the best of +causes, and that my peculiar situation may be my apology, and I hope +I need not on this momentous occasion make any new protestations of +personal disinterestedness, having ever renounced for myself the idea +of pecuniary reward. The consciousness of having attempted faithfully to +discharge my duty and the approbation of my country will be a sufficient +recompense for my services." + +This energetic letter, connected with recent events, induced Congress to +decide on the claims of the army. These were liquidated, and the amount +acknowledged to be due from the United States. Thus the country was +once more indebted to the wisdom and moderation of Washington for its +preservation from imminent danger. + +Soon after these events intelligence of a general peace was received. +The news came by a French vessel from Cadiz, with a letter from +Lafayette, who was then at that place preparing for an expedition to the +West Indies, under Count d'Estaing. Shortly after, Sir Guy Carleton gave +official information to the same effect and announced a cessation of +hostilities. The joyful intelligence was notified by proclamation of +Washington to the army, in the camp at Newburg, on the 19th of April +(1783), exactly eight years after the commencement of hostilities at +Lexington. In general orders a public religious service and thanksgiving +was directed by him to take place on the evening of the same day, when +the proclamation was read at the head of every regiment and corps of +the army. The immediate reduction of the army was resolved upon, but the +mode of effecting it required deliberation. To avoid the inconveniences +of dismissing a great number of soldiers in a body, furloughs were +freely granted on the application of individuals, and after their +dispersion they were not enjoined to return. By this arrangement +a critical moment was got over. A great part of an unpaid army was +dispersed over the States without tumult or disorder. + +At the instance of Washington the soldiers were permitted to carry +home their arms, to be preserved and transmitted to their posterity as +memorials of the glorious war of independence. + +While the veterans serving under the immediate eye of their beloved +Commander-in-Chief manifested the utmost good temper and conduct, +a mutinous disposition broke out among some new levies stationed at +Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. About eighty of this description marched in +a body to Philadelphia, where they were joined by some other troops, so +as to amount in the whole to 300. They marched with fixed bayonets to +the statehouse, in which Congress and the State Executive Council held +their sessions. They placed guards at every door and threatened the +President and Council of the State with letting loose an enraged +soldiery upon them, unless they granted their demands in twenty minutes. +As soon as this outrage was known to Washington, he detached General +Howe with a competent force to suppress the mutiny. This was +effected without bloodshed before his arrival. The mutineers were too +inconsiderable to commit extensive mischief, but their disgraceful +conduct excited the greatest indignation in the breast of the +Commander-in-Chief, which was expressed in a letter to the President of +Congress in the following words: + +"While I suffer the most poignant distress in observing that a handful +of men, contemptible in numbers, and equally so in point of service (if +the veteran troops from the southward have not been seduced by their +example), and who are not worthy to be called soldiers, should disgrace +themselves and their country, as the Pennsylvania mutineers have done, +by insulting the sovereign authority of the United States, and that of +their own, I feel an inexpressible satisfaction that even this behavior +cannot stain the name of the American soldiery. + +"It cannot be imputable to or reflect dishonor on the army at large, +but, on the contrary, it will, by the striking contrast it exhibits, +hold up to public view the other troops in the most advantageous point +of light. Upon taking all the circumstances into consideration, I cannot +sufficiently express my surprise and indignation at the arrogance, +the folly, and the wickedness of the mutineers; nor can I sufficiently +admire the fidelity, the bravery, and patriotism which must forever +signalize the unsullied character of the other corps of our army. For +when we consider that these Pennsylvania levies who have now mutinied +are recruits and soldiers of a day, who have not borne the heat and +burden of war, and who can have in reality very few hardships to +complain of, and when we at the same time recollect that those soldiers +who have lately been furloughed from this army, are the veterans who +have patiently endured hunger, nakedness, and cold; who have suffered +and bled without a murmur, and who, with perfect good order have retired +to their homes without a settlement of their accounts or a farthing of +money in their pockets, we shall be as much astonished at the virtues of +the latter as we are struck with detestation at the proceedings of the +former." + +On the occasion of disbanding the army, Washington addressed a circular +letter to the governors of all the States, in which he gave his views +of the existing state of the country and the principles upon which the +future fabric of united government should be founded. It is one of the +most remarkable state papers ever produced in this country. + +Meantime Sir Guy Carleton was preparing to evacuate the city of New +York. On the 27th of April (1783) a fleet had sailed for Nova Scotia +with 7,000 persons and their effects. These were partly soldiers and +partly Tories exiled by the laws of the States. + +On the 6th of May Washington had a personal interview with Carleton at +Orangetown respecting the delivery of the British ports in the United +States, and of property directed to be surrendered by an article of the +treaty. + +The independence of his country being established, Washington looked +forward with anxiety to its future destinies. These might greatly +depend on the systems to be adopted on the return of peace, and to +those systems much of his attention was directed. The future peace +establishment of the United States was one of the many interesting +subjects which claimed the consideration of Congress. As the experience +of Washington would certainly enable him to suggest many useful ideas on +this important point, his opinions respecting it were requested by +the committee of Congress to whom it was referred. His letter on this +occasion will long deserve the attention of those to whom the interests +of the United States may be confided. His strongest hopes of securing +the future tranquility, dignity, and respectability of his country +were placed on a well-regulated and well-disciplined militia; and his +sentiments on this subject are entitled to the more regard as a +long course of severe experience had enabled him to mark the total +incompetence of the existing system to the great purposes of national +defense. + +At length the British troops evacuated New York, and on the 25th of +November (1783) a detachment from the American army took possession of +that city. + +Guards being posted for the security of the citizens, Washington, +accompanied by Governor George Clinton, and attended by many civil +and military officers and a large number of respectable inhabitants on +horseback, made his public entry into the city, where he was received +with every mark of respect and attention. His military course was now on +the point of terminating, and he was about to bid adieu to his comrades +in arms. This affecting interview took place on the 4th of December. At +noon the principal officers of the army assembled at Frances' tavern, +soon after which their belove'd Commander entered the room. His emotions +were too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass, he turned to them and +said, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of +you; I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous +and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable." Having +drunk, he added, "I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but +shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand." +General Knox, being nearest, turned to him. Washington, incapable of +utterance, grasped his hand and embraced him. In the same affectionate +manner he took leave of each succeeding officer. The tear of manly +sensibility was in every eye, and not a word was articulated to +interrupt the dignified silence and the tenderness of the scene. Leaving +the room, he passed through the corps of light infantry and walked to +Whitehall, where a barge waited to convey him to Paulus Hook. The +whole company followed in mute and solemn procession, with dejected +countenances, testifying feelings of delicious melancholy which no +language can describe. Having entered the barge he turned to the company +and, waving his hat, bid them a silent adieu. They paid him the same +affectionate compliment, and, after the barge had left them, returned in +the same solemn manner to the place where they had assembled. + +Congress was then in session at Annapolis, in Maryland, to which place +Washington repaired for the purpose of resigning into their hands the +authority with which they had invested him. He arrived on the 19th of +December (1783). The next day he informed that body of his intention to +ask leave to resign the commission he had the honor of holding in their +service, and requested to know whether it would be their pleasure that +he should offer his resignation in writing or at an audience. + +To give the more dignity to the act, they determined that it should be +offered at a public audience on the following Tuesday, 23d of December, +at 12. + +When the hour arrived for performing a ceremony so well calculated +to recall the various interesting scenes which had passed since the +commission now to be returned was granted, the gallery was crowded with +spectators and several persons of distinction were admitted on the floor +of Congress. The members remained seated and covered. The spectators +were standing and uncovered. Washington was introduced by the secretary +and conducted to a chair. After a short pause the President, General +Mifflin, informed him that "the United States in Congress assembled were +prepared to receive his communications." With native dignity, improved +by the solemnity of the occasion, Washington rose and delivered the +following address: + +"MR. PRESIDENT.--The great events on which my resignation depended +having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my +sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before +them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to +claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. + +"Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and +pleased with an opportunity afforded the United States of becoming +a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I +accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish +so arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in +rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, +and the patronage of Heaven. + +"The successful termination of the war has verified the most sanguine +expectations, and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and +the assistance I have received from my countrymen increases with every +review of the momentous contest. While I repeat my obligations to +the army in general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to +acknowledge in this place the peculiar services and distinguished merits +of the gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the war. It +was impossible the choice of confidential officers to compose my +family should have been more fortunate. Permit me, sir, to recommend +in particular, those who have continued in the service to the present +moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress. + +"I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last act of my +official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the +protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of +them to His holy keeping. + +"Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great +theater of action, and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this +august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my +commission and take my leave of all the employments of public life." + +After advancing to the chair and delivering his commission to the +President, he returned to his place and received, standing, the +following answer of Congress, which was delivered by the President: + +"SIR.--The United States, in Congress assembled, receive with emotions +too affecting for utterance, the solemn resignation of the authorities +under which you have led their troops with success through a perilous +and a doubtful war. Called upon by your country to defend its invaded +rights, you accepted the sacred charge before it had formed alliances +and whilst it was without funds or a government to support you. You +have conducted the great military contest with wisdom and fortitude, +invariably regarding the rights of the civil power through all disasters +and changes. You have, by the love and confidence of your fellow +citizens, enabled them to display their martial genius and transmit +their fame to posterity. You have persevered until these United States, +aided by a magnanimous King and nation, have been enabled, under a just +Providence, to close the war in freedom, safety, and independence, on +which happy event we sincerely join you in congratulations. + +"Having defended the standard of liberty in this new world, having +taught a lesson useful to those who inflict and to those who feel +oppression, you retire from the great theater of action with the +blessings of your fellow-citizens. But the glory of your virtues will +not terminate with your military command; it will continue to animate +remotest ages. + +"We feel with you our obligations to the army in general and will +particularly charge ourselves with the interests of those confidential +officers who have attended your person to this affecting moment. + +"We join you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the +protection of Almighty God, beseeching Him to dispose the hearts and +minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of +becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for you we address to Him +our earnest prayers that a life so beloved may be fostered with all his +care; that your days may be as happy as they have been illustrious, and +that he will finally give you that reward which this world cannot give." + +This scene being closed, a scene rendered peculiarly interesting by the +personages who appeared in it, by the great events it recalled to the +memory, and by the singularity of the circumstances under which it +was displayed, the American chief withdrew from the hall of Congress, +leaving the silent and admiring spectators deeply impressed with those +sentiments which its solemnity and dignity were calculated to inspire. + +Divested of his military character, Washington, on the following day, +set out for Mount Vernon to which favorite residence he now retired, +followed by the enthusiastic love, esteem, and admiration of his +countrymen. Relieved from the agitations of a doubtful contest and from +the toils of an exalted station he returned with increased delight to +the duties and the enjoyments of a private citizen. He indulged the +hope that in the shade of retirement, under the protection of a free +government and the benignant influence of mild and equal laws, he might +taste that felicity which is the reward of a mind at peace with itself +and conscious of its own purity. [2] + +"Though General Washington was not stayed in his progress to +Philadelphia, by the Congress, who, on the 1st of November, had elected +the Honorable Thomas Mifflin President, and three days after had +adjourned to meet at Annapolis in Maryland on the 26th; yet it was +the 8th of December, at noon, before General Washington arrived at the +Capital of Pennsylvania. When his intention of quitting the army was +known he was complimented and received with the utmost respect and +affection, by all orders of men, both civil and military. He remained +some days in Philadelphia. While in the city he delivered in his +accounts to the comptroller, down to December the 13th, all in his own +handwriting, and every entry made in the most particular manner, +stating the occasion of each charge, so as to give the least trouble +in examining and comparing them with the vouchers with which they were +attended. + + "The heads are as follows, copied from the folio manuscript paper book, + in the file of the treasury office, No. 3700, being a black box of tin + containing, under lock and key, both that and the vouchers: + + "Total of expenditures from 1775 to 1783, exclusive £. s. d. + of provisions from commissaries and contractors, + and of liquors, &c., from them and others............ 3387 14 4 + Secret intelligence and service...................... 1982 10 0 + Spent in reconnoitering and traveling................ 874 8 8 + Miscellaneous charges ............................... 2952 10 1 + Expended besides, dollars according to the scale of + depreciation ........................................ 6114 14 0 + ___________ + + £16,311 17 1 + + [3] "(General Washington's account) from June, 1775, £. s. d. + to the end of June, 1783............................ 16,311 17 1 + Expenditure from July 1, 1783, to Dec. 13........... 1717 5 4 + (Added afterwards) from thence to Dec. 28........... 213 8 4 + Mrs. Washington's traveling expenses in coming + to the General and returning........................ 1064 1 0 + + £19,306 11 9 + + "Lawful money of Virginia, + the same as the Massachusetts, or £14,479 18 9 3/4 sterling. + +"The General entered in his book--'I find upon the final adjustment of +these accounts, that I am a considerable loser--my disbursements falling +a good deal short of my receipts, and the money I had upon hand of my +own; for besides the sums I carried with me to Cambridge in 1775, I +received moneys afterward on private account in 1777 and since, which +(except small sums that I had occasion now and then to apply to private +uses) were all expended in the public service: through hurry, I suppose, +and the perplexity of business (for I know not how else to account for +the deficiency) I have omitted to charge the same, whilst every debit +against me is here credited. July 1, 1783.'" [4] + +"Happy would it have been for the United States had each person who has +handled public money been equally exact and punctual! + +"General Washington, after delivering in his accounts, hastened to +Annapolis, where he arrived on the evening of the 19th December." + +A facsimile of the original account, filling many foolscap pages, has +been published; and copies were eagerly ordered by collectors in Europe +as well as the United States. + +The document through which Washington, at the close of the Revolution, +left to the States whose trust he had held, and whose work he had +done, does not yield in interest and importance to even the more famous +Farewell Address. It was sent to each of the Governors of the several +States, and was as follows: + +WASHINGTON'S CIRCULAR LETTER TO THE GOVERNORS OF ALL THE STATES ON +DISBANDING THE ARMY. + +"Headquarters, Newburg, June 18, 1783. Sir:--The object for which I +had the honor to hold an appointment in the service of my country +being accomplished, I am now preparing to resign it into the hands of +Congress, and return to that domestic retirement, which, it is well +known, I left with the greatest reluctance; a retirement for which I +have never ceased to sigh through a long and painful absence, in which +(remote from the noise and trouble of the world) I meditate to pass the +remainder of life, in a state of undisturbed repose: but, before I carry +this resolution into effect, I think it a duty incumbent on me to make +this my last official communication, to congratulate you on the glorious +events which Heaven has been pleased to produce in our favor; to offer +my sentiments respecting some important subjects, which appear to me to +be intimately connected with the tranquility of the United States; to +take my leave of your Excellency as a public character; and to give my +final blessing to that country in whose service I have spent the prime +of my life, for whose sake I have consumed so many anxious days and +watchful nights, and whose happiness, being extremely dear to me, will +always constitute no inconsiderable part of my own. + +"Impressed with the liveliest sensibility on this pleasing occasion, I +will claim the indulgence of dilating the more copiously on the subject +of our mutual felicitation. When we consider the magnitude of the prize +we contended for, the doubtful nature of the contest, and the favorable +manner in which it has terminated, we shall find the greatest possible +reason for gratitude and rejoicing. This is a theme that will afford +infinite delight to every benevolent and liberal mind, whether the event +in contemplation be considered as a source of present enjoyment, or +the parent of future happiness; and we shall have equal occasion to +felicitate ourselves on the lot which Providence has assigned us, +whether we view it in a natural, a political, or moral point of light. + +"The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the +sole lords and proprietors of a vast tract of continent, comprehending +all the various soils and climates of the world, and abounding with +all the necessaries and conveniences of life, are now, by the late +satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute +freedom and independency: they are from this period to be considered as +the actors on a most conspicuous theatre, which seems to be peculiarly +designed by Providence for the display of human greatness and felicity. +Here they are not only surrounded with every thing that can contribute +to the completion of private and domestic enjoyment; but Heaven has +crowned all its other blessings, by giving a surer opportunity for +political happiness, than any other nation has ever been favored +with. Nothing can illustrate these observations more forcibly than a +recollection of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances under +which our republic assumed its rank among the nations. The foundation of +our empire was not laid in a gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, +but at an epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and +more clearly defined, than at any former period. Researches of the human +mind after social happiness have been carried to a great extent; the +treasures of knowledge acquired by the labors of philosophers, sages, +and legislators, through a long succession of years, are laid open +for us, and their collected wisdom may be happily applied in the +establishment of our forms of government. The free cultivation of +letters, the unbounded extension of commerce, the progressive refinement +of manners, the growing liberality of sentiment; and, above all, the +pure and benign light of revelation, have had a meliorating influence +on mankind, and increased the blessings of society. At this auspicious +period, the United States came into existence as a nation; and if their +citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be +entirely their own. + +"Such is our situation, and such are our prospects. But notwithstanding +the cup of blessing is thus reached out to us; notwithstanding happiness +is ours, if we have a disposition to seize the occasion, and make it our +own; yet it appears to me there is an option still left to the United +States of America, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, +or contemptible and miserable as a nation. This is the time of their +political probation; this is the moment when the eyes of the whole +world are turned upon them; this is the time to establish or ruin their +national character forever; this is the favorable moment to give such a +tone to the federal government, as will enable it to answer the ends of +its institution; or, this may be the ill-fated moment for relaxing the +powers of the union, annihilating the cement of the confederation, and +exposing us to become the sport of European politics, which may play one +State against another, to prevent their growing importance, and to serve +their own interested purposes. For, according to the system of policy +the States shall adopt at this moment, they will stand or fall; and, +by their confirmation or lapse, it is yet to be decided, whether the +Revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse:--a +blessing or a curse, not to the present age alone, for with our fate +will the destiny of unborn millions be involved. + +"With this conviction of the importance of the present crisis, silence +in me would be a crime; I will therefore speak to your Excellency +the language of freedom and sincerity, without disguise. I am aware, +however, those who differ from me in political sentiments may, perhaps, +remark, I am stepping out of the proper line of my duty; and they may +possibly ascribe to arrogance or ostentation, what I know alone is the +result of the purest intention. But the rectitude of my own heart, which +disdains such unworthy motives; the part I have hitherto acted in +life; the determination I have formed of not taking any share in public +business hereafter; the ardent desire I feel, and shall continue to +manifest, of quietly enjoying in private life, after all the toils of +war, the benefits of a wise and liberal government, will, I flatter +myself, sooner or later, convince my countrymen, that I could have +no sinister views in delivering with so little reserve the opinions +contained in this address. + +"There are four things which I humbly conceive are essential to the +well-being, I may even venture to say to the existence, of the United +States as an independent power. + +"1st. An indissoluble union of the States under one federal head. + +"2dly. A sacred regard to public justice. + +"3dly. The adoption of a proper peace establishment. And, + +"4thly. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among +the people of the United States, which will induce them to forget their +local prejudices and policies; to make those mutual concessions which +are requisite to the general prosperity; and, in some instances, to +sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the community. + +"These are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our independency +and national character must be supported. Liberty is the basis; and +whoever would dare to sap the foundation, or overturn the structure, +under whatever specious pretext he may attempt it, will merit the +bitterest execration, and the severest punishment, which can be +inflicted by his injured country. + +"On the three first articles I will make a few observations; leaving the +last to the good sense and serious consideration of those immediately +concerned. + +"Under the first head, although it may not be necessary or proper for me +in this place to enter into a particular disquisition of the principles +of the union, and to take up the great question which has been +frequently agitated, whether it be expedient and requisite for the +States to delegate a larger portion of power to Congress, or not; yet +it will be a part of my duty, and that of every true patriot, to assert, +without reserve, and to insist upon the following positions:--That +unless the States will suffer Congress to exercise those prerogatives +they are undoubtedly invested with by the Constitution, every thing must +very rapidly tend to anarchy and confusion: That it is indispensable +to the happiness of the individual States, that there should be lodged, +somewhere, a supreme power to regulate and govern the general concerns +of the confederated Republic, without which the union cannot be of long +duration: That there must be a faithful and pointed compliance on the +part of every State with the late proposals and demands of Congress, or +the most fatal consequences will ensue: That whatever measures have a +tendency to dissolve the union, or contribute to violate or lessen the +sovereign authority, ought to be considered as hostile to the +liberty and independence of America, and the authors of them treated +accordingly. And, lastly, that unless we can be enabled by the +concurrence of the States to participate of the fruits of the +Revolution, and enjoy the essential benefits of civil society, under a +form of government so free and uncorrupted, so happily guarded against +the danger of oppression, as has been devised and adopted by the +articles of confederation, it will be a subject of regret that so much +blood and treasure have been lavished for no purpose; that so many +sufferings have been encountered without a compensation; and that so +many sacrifices have been made in vain. Many other considerations might +here be adduced to prove, that without an entire conformity to the +spirit of the union, we cannot exist as an independent power. It will be +sufficient for my purpose to mention but one or two, which seem to me +of the greatest importance. It is only in our united character, as an +empire, that our independence is acknowledged that our power can be +regarded, or our credit supported among foreign nations. The treaties +of the European powers with the United States of America, will have no +validity on a dissolution of the union. We shall be left nearly in a +state of nature; or we may find, by our own unhappy experience, that +there is a natural and necessary progression from the extreme of anarchy +to the extreme of tyranny; and that arbitrary power is most easily +established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. + +"As to the second article, which respects the performance of public +justice, Congress have, in their late address to the United States, +almost exhausted the subject; they have explained their ideas so +fully, and have enforced the obligations the States are under to render +complete justice to all the public creditors, with so much dignity +and energy, that, in my opinion, no real friend to the honor and +independency of America can hesitate a single moment respecting the +propriety of complying with the just and honorable measures proposed. If +their arguments do not produce conviction, I know of nothing that will +have greater influence, especially when we reflect that the system +referred to, being the result of the collected wisdom of the continent, +must be esteemed, if not perfect, certainly the least objectionable of +any that could be devised; and that, if it should not be carried into +immediate execution, a national bankruptcy, with all its deplorable +consequences, will take place before any different plan can possibly be +proposed or adopted; so pressing are the present circumstances, and such +is the alternative now offered to the States. + +"The ability of the country to discharge the debts which have been +incurred in its defense, is not to be doubted; and inclination, I +flatter myself, will not be wanting. The path of our duty is plain +before us; honesty will be found, on every experiment to be the best and +only true policy. Let us then, as a nation, be just; let us fulfill the +public contracts which Congress had undoubtedly a right to make for +the purpose of carrying on the war, with the same good faith we suppose +ourselves bound to perform our private engagements. In the mean time, +let an attention to the cheerful performance of their proper business, +as individuals, and as members of society, be earnestly inculcated +on the citizens of America; then will they strengthen the bands of +government, and be happy under its protection. Every one will reap the +fruit of his labors: every one will enjoy his own acquisitions, without +molestation and without danger. + +"In this state of absolute freedom and perfect security, who will grudge +to yield a very little of his property to support the common interests +of society, and insure the protection of government? Who does not +remember the frequent declarations at the commencement of the war, that +we should be completely satisfied, if, at the expense of one half, we +could defend the remainder of our possessions? Where is the man to be +found, who wishes to remain in debt for the defense of his own person +and property, to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood of others, +without making one generous effort to pay the debt of honor and of +gratitude? In what part of the continent shall we find any man, or body +of men, who would not blush to stand up and propose measures purposely +calculated to rob the soldier of his stipend, and the public creditor of +his due? And were it possible that such a flagrant instance of injustice +could ever happen, would it not excite the general indignation, and tend +to bring down upon the authors of such measures the aggravated vengeance +of Heaven? If, after all, a spirit of disunion, or a temper of obstinacy +and perverseness should manifest itself in any of the States; if such an +ungracious disposition should attempt to frustrate all the happy effects +that might be expected to flow from the union; if there should be a +refusal to comply with requisitions for funds to discharge the annual +interest of the public debts; and if that refusal should revive all +those jealousies, and produce all those evils, which are now happily +removed, Congress, who have in all their transactions shown a great +degree of magnanimity and justice, will stand justified in the sight of +God and man! and that State alone, which puts itself in opposition to +the aggregate wisdom of the continent, and follows such mistaken and +pernicious councils, will be responsible for all the consequences. + +"For my own part, conscious of having acted, while a servant of the +public, in the manner I conceived best suited to promote the real +interests of my country; having, in consequence of my fixed belief, in +some measure pledged myself to the army that their country would finally +do them complete and ample justice; and not wishing to conceal any +instance of my official conduct from the eyes of the world, I have +thought proper to transmit to your Excellency the enclosed collection of +papers, relative to the half-pay and commutation granted by Congress to +the officers of the army. From these communications my decided sentiment +will be clearly comprehended, together with the conclusive reasons +which induced me, at an early period, to recommend the adoption of this +measure in the most earnest and serious manner. As the proceedings of +Congress, the army, and myself, are open to all, and contain, in my +opinion, sufficient information to remove the prejudices and errors +which may have been entertained by any, I think it unnecessary to say +any thing more than just to observe, that the resolutions of Congress +now alluded to, are as undoubtedly and absolutely binding upon the +United States, as the most solemn acts of confederation or legislation. + +"As to the idea which, I am informed, has in some instances prevailed, +that the half-pay and commutation are to be regarded merely in the +odious light of a pension, it ought to be exploded forever: that +provision should be viewed, as it really was, a reasonable compensation +offered by Congress, at a time when they had nothing else to give to +officers of the army, for services then to be performed. It was the only +means to prevent a total dereliction of the service. It was a part of +their hire; I may be allowed to say, it was the price of their blood, +and of your independency. It is therefore more than a common debt; it is +a debt of honor: it can never be considered as a pension, or gratuity, +nor cancelled until it is fairly discharged. + +"With regard to the distinction between officers and soldiers, it is +sufficient that the uniform experience of every nation of the world, +combined with our own, proves the utility and propriety of the +discrimination. Rewards in proportion to the aid the public draws from +them, are unquestionably due to all its servants. In some lines, the +soldiers have perhaps, generally, had as ample compensation for their +services, by the large bounties which have been paid them, as their +officers will receive in the proposed commutation; in others, if, +besides the donation of land, the payment of arrearages of clothing and +wages (in which articles all the component parts of the army must be put +upon the same footing), we take into the estimate the bounties many of +the soldiers have received, and the gratuity of one year's full pay, +which is promised to all, possibly their situation (every circumstance +being duly considered) will not be deemed less eligible than that of the +officers. Should a further reward, however, be judged equitable, I +will venture to assert, no man will enjoy greater satisfaction than +myself,--in an exemption from taxes for a limited time (which has been +petitioned for in some instances), or any other adequate immunity or +compensation granted to the brave defenders of their country's cause. +But neither the adoption or rejection of this proposition will, in any +manner, affect, much less militate against, the act of Congress by which +they have offered five years' full pay in lieu of the half-pay for life, +which had been before promised to the officers of the army. + +"Before I conclude the subject on public justice, I cannot omit to +mention the obligations this country is under to the meritorious class +of veterans, the non-commissioned officers and privates, who have been +discharged for inability, in consequence of the resolution of Congress +of the 23d of April, 1782, on an annual pension for life. Their peculiar +sufferings, their singular merits and claims to that provision, need +only to be known to interest the feelings of humanity in their behalf. +Nothing but a punctual payment of their annual allowance can rescue them +from the most complicated misery; and nothing could be a more melancholy +and distressing sight than to behold those who have shed their blood, +or lost their limbs in the service of their country, without a shelter, +without a friend, and without the means of obtaining any of the comforts +or necessaries of life, compelled to beg their bread daily from door +to door. Suffer me to recommend those of this description, belonging +to your State, to the warmest patronage of your Excellency and your +legislature. + +"It is necessary to say but a few words on the third topic which was +proposed, and which regards particularly the defense of the republic--as +there can be little doubt but Congress will recommend a proper peace +establishment for the United States, in which a due attention will +be paid to the importance of placing the militia of the Union upon a +regular and respectable footing. If this should be the case, I should +beg leave to urge the great advantage of it in the strongest terms. + +"The militia of this country must be considered as the palladium of our +security, and the first effectual resort in case of hostility. It is +essential, therefore, that the same system should pervade the whole; +that the formation and discipline of the militia of the continent should +be absolutely uniform; and that the same species of arms, accoutrements, +and military apparatus should be introduced in every part of the United +States. No one, who has not learned it from experience, can conceive the +difficulty, expense, and confusion which result from a contrary system, +or the vague arrangements which have hitherto prevailed. + +"If, in treating of political points, a greater latitude than usual has +been taken in the course of the address, the importance of the crisis, +and the magnitude of the objects in discussion, must be my apology. +It is, however, neither my wish nor expectation that the preceding +observations should claim any regard, except so far as they shall appear +to be dictated by a good intention, consonant to the immutable rules of +justice, calculated to produce a liberal system of policy, and founded +on whatever experience may have been acquired by a long and close +attention to public business. Here I might speak with more confidence, +from my actual observations; and if it would not swell this letter +(already too prolix) beyond the bounds I had prescribed myself, I could +demonstrate to every mind, open to conviction, that in less time, and +with much less expense than has been incurred, the war might have been +brought to the same happy conclusion, if the resources of the continent +could have been properly called forth; that the distresses and +disappointments which have very often occurred have, in too many +instances, resulted more from a want of energy in the continental +government, than a deficiency of means in the particular States; that +the inefficiency of the measures, arising from the want of an adequate +authority in the supreme power, from a partial compliance with the +requisitions of Congress in some of the States, and from a failure of +punctuality in others, while they tended to damp the zeal of those who +were more willing to exert themselves, served also to accumulate the +expenses of the war, and to frustrate the best concerted plans; and +that the discouragement occasioned by the complicated difficulties and +embarrassments in which our affairs were by this means involved, would +have long ago produced the dissolution of any army, less patient, less +virtuous, and less persevering than that which I have had the honor to +command. But while I mention those things which are notorious facts, as +the defects of our federal constitution, particularly in the prosecution +of a war, I beg it may be understood, that as I have ever taken a +pleasure in gratefully acknowledging the assistance and support I have +derived from every class of citizens, so shall I always be happy to do +justice to the unparalleled exertions of the individual States, on many +interesting occasions. + +"I have thus freely disclosed what I wished to make known, before I +surrendered up my public trust to those who committed it to me. The task +is now accomplished. I now bid adieu to your Excellency, as the chief +magistrate of your State; at the same time, I bid a last farewell to the +cares of office, and all the employments of public life. + +"It remains, then, to be my final and only request, that your Excellency +will communicate these sentiments to your legislature at their next +meeting; and that they may be considered as the legacy of one who has +ardently wished, on all occasions, to be useful to his country, and who, +even in the shade of retirement, will not fail to implore the divine +benediction upon it. + +"I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State +over which you preside, in his holy protection; that he would incline +the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and +obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly affection and love for +one another; for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large, +and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field; and, +finally, that he would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all to +do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, +humility, and pacific temper of the mind, which were the characteristics +of the divine Author of our blessed religion; without an humble +imitation of whose example, in these things, we can never hope to be a +happy nation. + +"I have the honor to be, with much esteem and respect, sir, your +Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant, + +"GEO. WASHINGTON." + + +NOTE.--On the 3d of September, 1783, the Definitive Treaty of Peace, +between Great Britain and the United States of America, was signed at +Paris, by David Hartley, Esq., on the part of his Britannic Majesty, and +by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, Esqs., on the part of +the United States. The treaty was ratified by Congress early in January, +1784. + + +IN THE NAME OF THE MOST HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY. + +It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the +most serene and most potent prince, George the Third, by the grace of +God King of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, +Duke of Brunswick and Lunenburg, Arch-Treasurer and Prince Elector of +the holy Roman empire, etc., and of the United States of America, to +forget all past misunderstandings and differences that have unhappily +interrupted the good correspondence and friendship which they mutually +wish to restore, and to establish such a beneficial and satisfactory +intercourse between the two countries, upon the ground of reciprocal +advantages and mutual convenience, as may promote and secure to both +perpetual peace and harmony; and having for this desirable end already +laid the foundation of peace and reconciliation, by the provisional +articles signed at Paris, on the 30th of November, 1782, by the +commissioners empowered on each part; which articles were agreed to +be inserted in, and to constitute the treaty of peace proposed to be +concluded between the crown of Great Britain and the said United States, +but which treaty was not to be concluded until the terms of peace should +be agreed upon between Great Britain and France, and his Britannic +majesty should be ready to conclude such treaty accordingly; and the +treaty between Great Britain and France having since been concluded, his +Britannic majesty and the United States of America, in order to carry +into full effect the provisional articles above mentioned, according to +the tenor thereof, have constituted and appointed, that is to say, +his Britannic majesty on his part, David Hartley, Esq., member of the +Parliament of Great Britain; and the said United States on their part, +John Adams, Esq., late a commissioner of the United States of America +at the court of Versailles, late delegate in Congress from the State +of Massachusetts, and chief-justice of the said State, and minister +plenipotentiary of the said United States to their high mightinesses the +States General of the United Netherlands; Benjamin Franklin, Esq., late +delegate in Congress from the State of Pennsylvania, president of the +Convention of the said State, and minister plenipotentiary from the +United States of America at the court of Versailles; and John Jay, Esq., +late president of Congress, and chief-justice of the State of New York, +and minister plenipotentiary from the said United States at the court of +Madrid; to be the plenipotentiaries for the concluding and signing the +present definitive treaty; who, after having reciprocally communicated +their respective full powers, have agreed upon and confirmed the +following articles. + +ART. I.--His Britannic majesty acknowledges the said United States, +viz., New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence +Plantations, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, +Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, to be +free, sovereign, and independent States; that he treats them as such, +and for himself, his heirs, and successors, relinquishes all claim to +the government, proprietary, and territorial right of the same, and +every part thereof. + +ART. II.-And that all disputes which might arise in future on the +subject of the boundaries of the said United States may be prevented, it +is hereby agreed and declared that the following are and shall be their +boundaries, viz.: from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz., that +angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of +St. Croix River to the high lands which divide those rivers that empty +themselves into the river St. Lawrence from those which fall into the +Atlantic Ocean, to the northwestern most head of Connecticut River; +thence drawn along the middle of that river to the forty-fifth degree of +north latitude; from thence by a line due west on said latitude, until +it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy; thence along the middle of +said river into Lake Ontario; through the middle of said lake until +it strikes the communication by water between that lake and Lake Erie; +thence along the middle of the said communication into Lake Erie, +through the middle of said lake, until it arrives at the water +communication between that lake and Lake Huron; thence through the +middle of said lake to the water communication between that lake and +Lake Superior; thence through Lake Superior northward to the isles Royal +and Philipeaux, to the Long Lake; thence through the middle of said Long +Lake, and the water communication between it and the Lake of the Woods, +to the said Lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most +northwestern most point thereof, and from thence a due west course to +the river Mississippi; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of +the said river Mississippi, until it shall intersect the northernmost +part of the thirty-first degree of north latitude; south, by a line to +be drawn due east from the determination of the line last mentioned, in +the latitude of thirty-one degrees north of the equator, to the middle +of the river Apalachicola or Catahouche; thence along the middle +thereof, to its junction with the Flint River; thence straight to the +head of St. Mary's River, and thence down the middle of St. Mary's River +to the Atlantic Ocean; east, by a line to be drawn along the middle of +the River St. Croix, from its mouth in the Bay of Fundy to its source, +and from its source directly north to the aforesaid high lands, which +divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which +fall into the river St. Lawrence, comprehending all islands within +twenty leagues of any part of the shores of the United States, and lying +between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesaid +boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and east Florida on the +other, shall respectively touch the Bay of Fundy and the Atlantic Ocean, +excepting such islands as now are or heretofore have been within the +limits of the said province of Nova Scotia. + +ART. III.--It is agreed, that the people of the United States shall +continue to enjoy, unmolested, the right to take fish of every kind on +the Great Bank, and on all the other banks of Newfoundland; also in +the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and at all other places in the sea where the +inhabitants of both countries used at any time heretofore to fish; and +also that the inhabitants of the United States shall have liberty to +take fish of every kind on such part of the coast of Newfoundland as +British fishermen shall use (but not to dry or cure the same on that +island), and also on the coasts, bays, and creeks of all other of +his Britannic majesty's dominions in America; and that the American +fishermen shall have liberty to dry and cure fish in any of the +unsettled bays, harbors, and creeks of Nova Scotia, Magdalen Islands, +and Labrador, so long as the same shall remain unsettled; but as soon as +the same shall be settled, it shall not be lawful for the said fishermen +to dry or cure fish at such settlement, without a previous agreement +for that purpose with the inhabitants, proprietors, or possessors of the +ground. + +ART. IV.--It is agreed, that the creditors, on either side, shall meet +with no lawful impediment to the recovery of the full value in sterling +money of all _bona fide_ debts heretofore contracted. + +ART. V.--It is agreed, that Congress shall earnestly recommend it to the +legislatures of the respective States, to provide for the restitution +of all estates, rights, and properties, which have been confiscated, +belonging to real British subjects; and also of the estates, rights, +and properties of persons resident in districts in the possession of his +majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms against the United States; +and that persons of any other description shall have free liberty to go +to any part or parts of any of the thirteen United States, and therein +to remain twelve months unmolested in their endeavors to obtain the +restitution of such of their estates, rights, and properties as may have +been confiscated; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend to +the several States a reconsideration and revision of all acts or laws +regarding the premises, so as to render the said laws or acts perfectly +consistent, not only with justice and equity, but with that spirit of +conciliation which, on the return of the blessings of peace, should +invariably prevail; and that Congress shall also earnestly recommend +to the several States, that the estates, rights, and properties of such +last-mentioned persons shall be restored to them, they refunding to any +persons who may be now in possession, the _bona fide_ price (where any +has been given) which such persons may have paid on purchasing any of +the said lands, rights, or properties, since the confiscation. And it +is agreed, that all persons who have any interest in confiscated lands, +either by debts, marriage settlements, or otherwise, shall meet with no +lawful impediment in the prosecution of their just rights. + +ART. VI.--That there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any +prosecutions commenced against any person or persons, for or by reason +of the part which he or they may have taken in the present war; and that +no person shall on that account suffer any future loss or damage, +either in his person, liberty, or property; and that those who may be +in confinement on such charges, at the time of the ratification of +the treaty in America, shall be immediately set at liberty, and the +prosecutions so commenced be discontinued. + +ART. VII.--There shall be a firm and perpetual peace between his +Britannic majesty and the said United States, and between the subjects +of the one and the citizens of the other; wherefore all hostilities, +both by sea and land, shall from henceforth cease; all prisoners, on +both sides, shall be set at liberty; and his Britannic majesty shall, +with all convenient speed, and without causing any destruction, or +carrying away any negroes or other property of the American inhabitants, +withdraw all his armies, garrisons, and fleets from the said United +States, and from every post, place, and harbor within the same, leaving +in all fortifications the American artillery that may be therein; and +shall also order and cause all archives, records, deeds, and papers +belonging to any of the said States, or their citizens, which in the +course of the war may have fallen into the hands of his officers, to be +forthwith restored, and delivered to the proper States and persons to +whom they belong. + +ART. VIII.--The navigation of the river Mississippi, from its source to +the ocean, shall forever remain free and open to the subjects of Great +Britain and the citizens of the United States. + +Art. IX.--In case it should so happen that any place or territory, +belonging to Great Britain or to the United States, should have been +conquered by the arms of either from the other, before the arrival of +the said provisional articles in America, it is agreed that the +same shall be restored without difficulty and without requiring any +compensation. + +Art. X.--The solemn ratifications of the present treaty, expedited in +good and due form, shall be exchanged between the contracting parties in +the space of six months, or sooner, if possible, to be computed from the +day of the signature of the present treaty. + +1. Footnote: C. J. Peterson, "History of the Navy of the United States." + +2. Footnote: Gordon thus notices the settlement of Washington's accounts +with the government. + +3. Footnote: Two hundred guineas advanced to General M'Dougat are not +included in the £1982 10, not being yet settled, but included in some of +the other charges, and so reckoned in the general sum. + +4. Footnote: 104,364, of the dollars were received after March, 1780, +and although credited forty for one, many did not fetch at the rate of +a hundred for one, while 27,775 of them are returned without deducting +anything from the above account (and therefore actually made a present +to the public). + + * * * * * + +PART V. WASHINGTON A PRIVATE CITIZEN. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +WASHINGTON'S RETURN TO PRIVATE LIFE. 1783-1784. + + +When Washington retired from the command of the army it was undoubtedly +his intention to devote the remainder of his life to his favorite +pursuit of agriculture. His estate had suffered considerably from his +devotion to public duties, and his private affairs now demanded all his +attention. The Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania instructed the +delegates of that State in Congress to propose a public remuneration for +his services, but when the proposition was submitted for his approbation +he promptly declined it. This was in strict consistency with his uniform +character of disinterestedness. A liberal grant would have been voted by +Congress and sanctioned by the nation, but Washington would not consent +to receive it. + +His feelings on finding himself a private citizen are expressed in his +correspondence. In a letter to Governor Clinton, written only three +days after his arrival at Mount Vernon, he says: "The scene is at length +closed. I feel myself eased of a load of public care and hope to spend +the remainder of my days in cultivating the affections of good men, and +in the practice of the domestic virtues." + +"At length, my dear marquis," said he to his noble and highly-valued +friend, Lafayette, "I have become a private citizen on the banks of the +Potomac, and under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig tree, free +from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am +solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments of which the soldier, +who is ever in pursuit of fame--the statesman, whose watchful days and +sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare +of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was +insufficient for us all--and the courtier, who is always watching the +countenance of his prince in the hope of catching a gracious smile--can +have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public +employments, but am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view +the solitary walk and tread the paths of private life with heartfelt +satisfaction. Envious of none I am determined to be pleased with all, +and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move +gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers." + +But a mind accustomed to labor for a nation's welfare does not +immediately divest itself of ancient habits. That custom of thinking on +public affairs, and that solicitude respecting them, which belong to the +patriot in office, follow him into his retreat. In a letter to General +Knox, written soon after his resignation, Washington thus expressed the +feelings attendant upon this sudden transition from public to private +pursuits. "I am just beginning to experience the ease and freedom from +public cares, which however desirable, takes some time to realize, for, +strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true that it was not until +lately I could get the better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon +as I awoke in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day, and of my +surprise at finding, after revolving many things in my mind, that I was +no longer a public man or had anything to do with public transactions. +I feel now, however, as I conceive a wearied traveler must do who, after +treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is +eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all the former +were directed, and from his house-top is looking back and tracing with +an eager eye the meanders by which he escaped the quicksands and mires +which lay in his way, and into which none but the all-powerful Guide and +Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling." + +For several months after arriving at Mount Vernon, almost every day +brought him the addresses of an affectionate and grateful people. The +glow of expression in which the high sense universally entertained +of his services was conveyed, manifested the warmth of feeling which +animated the American bosom. This unexampled tribute of voluntary +applause, paid by a whole people to an individual no longer in power, +made no impression on the unassuming modesty of his character and +deportment. The same firmness of mind, the same steady and well-tempered +judgment, which had guided him through the most perilous seasons of the +war, still regulated his conduct, and the enthusiastic applauses of an +admiring nation served only to cherish sentiments of gratitude and to +give greater activity to the desire still further to contribute to the +general prosperity. + +Soon after peace was proclaimed Congress unanimously passed a resolution +for the erection of an equestrian statue of Washington, at the place +which should be established for the residence of the government. + +The Legislature of Virginia, too, at its first session after his +resignation, passed the following resolution: + +"Resolved, That the Executive be requested to take measures for +procuring a statue of General Washington, to be of the finest marble and +best workmanship, with the following inscription on its pedestal: + +"The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia have caused this +statue to be erected as a monument of affection and gratitude to George +Washington, who, uniting to the endowments of the hero, the virtues +of the patriot, and exerting both in establishing the liberties of his +country, has rendered his name dear to his fellow-citizens, and given +the world an immortal example of true glory." [5] + +In addition to the attention which he bestowed on his own estate +Washington endeavored to ameliorate the condition of agriculture +generally. Nothing could be more wretched than the general state of this +useful art in America. To its amelioration by examples which might be +followed, and by the introduction of systems adapted to the soil, the +climate, and to the wants of the people, the energies of his active and +intelligent mind were now in a great degree directed. No improvement +of the implements to be used on a farm, no valuable experiments in +husbandry, escaped his attention. His inquiries, which were equally +minute and comprehensive, extended beyond the limits of his own country, +and he entered into a correspondence on this interesting subject with +Arthur Young, the celebrated English writer, and with other foreigners +who had been most distinguished for their additions to the stock of +agricultural science. + +Mingled with this favorite pursuit were the multiplied avocations +resulting from the high office he had lately filled. He was engaged in +an extensive correspondence with the friends most dear to his heart--the +foreign and American officers who had served under him during the late +war--and with almost every conspicuous political personage of his own, +and with many of other countries. Literary men also were desirous +of obtaining his approbation of their works, and his attention was +solicited to every production of American genius. His countrymen who +were about to travel were anxious to receive from the first citizen of +the rising Republic, some testimonial bearing his signature, and all +those strangers of distinction, who visited this newly-created empire, +were ambitious of being presented to its founder. In addition to +visitors of distinction, and those who had claims of ancient friendship, +he was subjected to the annoyance of visitors, who, without any just +pretension to such an honor, made visits to Mount Vernon merely to +gratify their curiosity, and to the scarcely less wearisome annoyance of +tedious and unnecessary letters. Of these unwelcome intrusions upon his +time Washington thus complained to an intimate military friend. "It is +not, my dear sir, the letters of my friends which give me trouble or add +aught to my perplexity. I receive them with pleasure, and pay as much +attention to them as my avocations will permit. It is references to old +matters with which I have nothing to do--applications which oftentimes +cannot be complied with--inquiries, to satisfy which would employ the +pen of an historian--letters of compliment, as unmeaning perhaps as they +are troublesome, but which must be attended to--and the common-place +business--which employ my pen and my time often disagreeably. Indeed +these, with company, deprive me of exercise, and, unless I can obtain +relief, must be productive of disagreeable consequences. Already I begin +to feel their effects. Heavy and painful oppressions of the head +and other disagreeable sensations often trouble me. I am determined +therefore to employ some person who shall ease me of the drudgery of +this business. At any rate, if the whole of it is thereby suspended, +I am determined to use exercise. My private affairs also require +infinitely more attention than I have given or can give them under +present circumstances. They can no longer be neglected without involving +my ruin." + +It was some time after the date of this letter before he introduced into +his family a young gentleman, qualified by education and manners to fill +the station of private secretary and friend. This was Mr. Tobias Lear of +New Hampshire, who had graduated at Harvard college. + +The numerous visits which Washington received made Mount Vernon anything +but a place of seclusion and repose, and "during these stirring times +Mrs. Washington performed the duties of a Virginia housewife and +presided at her well-spread board with that ease and elegance of manners +which always distinguished her." [2] + +This multiplicity of private avocations could not entirely withdraw the +mind of Washington from objects tending to promote and secure the public +happiness. His resolution never again to appear in the busy scenes of +political life, though believed by himself and by his bosom friends to +be unalterable, could not render him indifferent to those measures on +which the prosperity of his country essentially depended. + +It is a very interesting fact that Washington was among the first, +if not the very first of our public men, who were impressed with the +importance of connecting the western with the eastern territory, by +facilitating the means of intercourse between them. To this subject his +attention had been directed in the early part of his life. While the +American States were yet British colonies he had obtained the passage +of a bill for opening the Potomac so as to render it navigable from +tide-water to Wills creek, a distance of about 150 miles. The river +James had also been comprehended in this plan, and he had triumphed so +far over the opposition produced by local interests and prejudices, +that the business was in a train which promised success, when the +Revolutionary War diverted the attention of its patrons, and of all +America, from internal improvements to the still greater objects of +liberty and independence. As that war approached its termination, +subjects which for a time had yielded their pretensions to +consideration, reclaimed that place to which their real magnitude +entitled them, and internal navigation again attracted the attention of +the wise and thinking part of society. Accustomed to contemplate America +as his country and to consider with solicitude the interests of the +whole, Washington now took a more enlarged view of the advantages to be +derived from opening both the eastern and the western waters; and for +this, as well as for other purposes, after peace had been proclaimed, +he traversed the western parts of New England and New York. "I have +lately," said he, in a letter to the Marquis of Chastellux, "made a +tour through the lakes George and Champlain as far as Crown Point; +then returning to Schenectady I proceeded up the Mohawk river to Fort +Schuyler, crossed over to Wood creek, which empties into the Oneida lake +and affords the water communication with Ontario. I then traversed the +country to the head of the eastern branch of the Susquehanna and viewed +the lake Otsego and the portage between that lake and the Mohawk river +at Canajoharie. Prompted by these actual observations, I could not +help taking a more contemplative and extensive view of the vast inland +navigation of these United States, and could not but be struck with the +immense diffusion and importance of it, and with the goodness of that +Providence which has dealt His favors to us with so profuse a hand. +Would to God we may have wisdom enough to improve them. I shall not rest +contented until I have explored the western country and traversed those +lines (or great part of them) which have given bounds to a new empire." +The journey here referred to was performed in company with Governor +Clinton while the army was encamped at Newburg. + +Scarcely had he answered those spontaneous offerings of the heart which +flowed in upon him from every part of a grateful nation, when his views +were once more seriously turned to this truly interesting subject. Its +magnitude was also impressed on others, and the value of obtaining the +aid which his influence and active interference would afford to any +exertions for giving this direction to the public mind, and for securing +the happy execution of the plan which might be devised, was perceived by +all those who attached to the great work its real importance. Jefferson, +who had taken an expanded view of it concluded a letter to Washington +containing a detailed statement of his ideas on the subject in these +terms: + +"But a most powerful objection always arises to propositions of this +kind. It is, that public undertakings are carelessly managed and much +money spent to little purpose. To obviate this objection is the purpose +of my giving you the trouble of this discussion. You have retired +from public life. You have weighed this determination, and it would be +impertinence in me to touch it. But would the superintendence of this +work break in too much on the sweets of retirement and repose? If they +would I stop here. Your future time and wishes are sacred in my eye. If +it would be only a dignified amusement to you, what a monument of your +retirement would it be! It is one which would follow that of your public +life and bespeak it the work of the same great hand. I am confident that +would you, either alone or jointly with any persons you think proper, be +willing to direct this business, it would remove the only objection, the +weight of which I apprehend." + +In September, 1784, Washington fulfilled the intention expressed in his +letter to the Marquis of Chastellux, by making a tour to the western +country. He went on horseback, using pack-horses for his tent and +baggage. He crossed the Alleghenies by Braddock's road, examined his +lands on the Monongahela river, and returned through the wilderness by +a circuitous route, examining the country in order to determine the +practicability of connecting the Potomac and James rivers with the +western waters by means of canals. The whole journey extended some 680 +miles. [3] + +After returning from this tour Washington's first moments of leisure +were devoted to the task of engaging his countrymen in a work which +appeared to him to merit still more attention from its political than +from its commercial influence on the Union. In a long and interesting +letter to Mr. Harrison then Governor of Virginia, he detailed the +advantages which might be derived from opening the great rivers, the +Potomac and the James, as high as should be practicable. After stating, +with his accustomed exactness, the distances and the difficulties to be +surmounted in bringing the trade of the west to different points on +the Atlantic, he expressed unequivocally the opinion that the rivers of +Virginia afforded a more convenient and a more direct course than could +be found elsewhere for that rich and increasing commerce. This was +strongly urged as a motive for immediately commencing the work. But +the rivers of the Atlantic constituted only a part of the great plan he +contemplated. He suggested the appointment of commissioners who should, +after an accurate examination of the James and the Potomac, search out +the nearest and best portages between those waters and the streams which +run into the Ohio. Those streams were to be accurately surveyed, +the impediments to their navigation ascertained, and their relative +advantages examined. The navigable waters west of the Ohio toward the +great lakes were also to be traced to their sources and those which +emptied into the lakes to be followed to their mouths. "These things +being done, and an accurate map of the whole presented to the public, he +was persuaded that reason would dictate what was right and proper." For +the execution of this latter part of his plan he had also much reliance +on Congress, and, in addition to the general advantages to be drawn from +the measure, he labored in his letters to the members of that body to +establish the opinion that the surveys he recommended would add to the +revenue by enhancing the value of the lands offered for sale. "Nature," +he said, "had made such an ample display of her bounties in those +regions that the more the country was explored the more it would rise in +estimation." + +The assent and cooperation of Maryland being indispensable to the +improvement of the Potomac, he was equally earnest in his endeavors to +impress a conviction of its superior advantages on those individuals +who possessed most influence in that State. In doing so he detailed +the measures which would unquestionably be adopted by New York and +Pennsylvania for acquiring the monopoly of the western commerce, and the +difficulty which would be found in diverting it from the channel it had +once taken. "I am not," he added, "for discouraging the exertions of any +State to draw the commerce of the western country to its seaports. The +more communications we open to it the closer we bind that rising world +(for indeed it may be so called) to our interests, and the greater +strength shall we acquire by it. Those to whom nature affords the best +communication will, if they are wise, enjoy the greatest share of the +trade. All I would be understood to mean, therefore, is, that the gifts +of Providence may not be neglected." + +But the light in which this subject would be viewed with most interest +and which gave to it most importance, was its political influence on +the Union. "I need not remark to you, sir," said he, in his letter to +Governor Harrison of Virginia, "that the flanks and rear of the United +States are possessed by other powers--and formidable ones, too: nor need +I press the necessity of applying the cement of interest to bind all +parts of the Union together by indissoluble bonds--especially of binding +that part of it which lies immediately west of us to the middle States. +For what ties, let me ask, should we have upon those people? How +entirely unconnected with them shall we be, and what troubles may we +not apprehend if the Spaniards on their right and Great Britain on +their left, instead of throwing impediments in their way as they now +do, should hold out lures for their trade and alliance? When they get +strength, which will be sooner than most people conceive, what will be +the consequence of their having formed close commercial connections with +both or either of those powers, it needs not, in my opinion, the gift of +prophecy to foretell." + +This idea was enlarged and pressed with much earnestness in his letters +to several members of Congress. + +The letter to Governor Harrison was communicated to the Assembly of +Virginia, and the internal improvements it recommended were zealously +supported by the wisest members of that body. While the subject remained +undecided, Washington, accompanied by Lafayette, who had crossed the +Atlantic and had arrived at Mount Vernon on the 17th of August, paid a +visit to the capital of the State. Never was reception more cordial +or more demonstrative of respect and affection than was given to +these beloved personages. But amidst the display of addresses and of +entertainments which were produced by the occasion, the great business +of internal improvements was not forgotten, and the ardor of the moment +was seized to conquer those objections to the plan which yet lingered +in the bosoms of members who could perceive in it no future advantage to +compensate for the present expense. + +An exact conformity between the acts of Virginia and of Maryland being +indispensable to the improvement of the Potomac, a resolution was passed +soon after the return of Washington to Mount Vernon, requesting him to +attend the Legislature of Maryland, in order to agree on a bill which +might receive the sanction of both States. This agreement being happily +completed, the bills were passed, and thus began that grand system of +internal improvement by which the eastern portion of the Union is bound +to the west. Canals and portages were the forerunners of the railroads +by which every part of the country is now traversed, and the whole +Republic is firmly united in bonds of mutual intercourse, which, it is +fondly hoped will prove perpetual. + +The Legislature of Virginia seized the occasion afforded by the passage +of these acts to signalize the affection and gratitude of the State +towards her favorite son. A bill was drafted by Mr. Madison, the +preamble of which was in the following words: + +"Whereas, it is the desire of the representatives of this commonwealth +to embrace every suitable occasion of testifying their sense of the +unexampled merits of George Washington, Esquire, toward his country, +and it is their wish in particular that those great works for its +improvement, which, both as springing from the liberty which he has been +so instrumental in establishing and as encouraged by his patronage will +be durable monuments of his glory, may be made monuments also of the +gratitude of his country. Be it enacted, &c." + +By this bill the treasurer was instructed to subscribe, in behalf of +the State, for a specified number of shares in each company. Just at +the close of the session, when no refusal of their offer could be +communicated to them, a bill was suddenly brought in which received the +unanimous assent of both houses, authorizing the treasurer to subscribe +for the benefit of Washington the same number of shares in each company +as were to be taken for the State. The actual value of the shares was +$40,000. + +Washington was greatly embarrassed by this mark of gratitude. It +afforded him pleasure to see that his character and services were +appreciated by his fellow-citizens. But he would not depart from his +determination to receive no pecuniary reward for his public services. + +To Madison, who conveyed to him the first intelligence of this bill, his +difficulties were thus expressed: + +"It is not easy for me to decide by which my mind was most affected upon +the receipt of your letter of the sixth instant--surprise or gratitude. +Both were greater than I had words to express. The attention and good +wishes which the Assembly has evinced by their act for vesting in me 150 +shares in the navigation of the rivers Potomac and James, is more +than mere compliment--there is an unequivocal and substantial meaning +annexed. But, believe me, sir, no circumstance has happened since I left +the walks of public life which has so much embarrassed me. On the one +hand, I consider this act, as I have already observed, as a noble and +unequivocal proof of the good opinion, the affection, and disposition +of my country to serve me, and I should be hurt, if, by declining the +acceptance of it my refusal should be construed into disrespect or the +smallest slight upon the generous intention of the legislature, or that +an ostentatious display of disinterestedness of public virtue was the +source of refusal. + +"On the other hand, it is really my wish to have my mind and my actions, +which are the result of reflection as free and independent as the air, +that I may be more at liberty (in things which my opportunities +and experience have brought me to the knowledge of) to express my +sentiments, and, if necessary, to suggest what may occur to me under the +fullest conviction that, although my judgment may be arraigned, there +will be no suspicion that sinister motives had the smallest influence +in the suggestion. Not content then with the bare consciousness of +my having in all this navigation business, acted upon the clearest +conviction of the political importance of the measure, I would wish that +every individual who may hear that it was a favorite plan of mine, +may know also, that I had no other motive for promoting it than the +advantage of which I conceived it would be productive to the Union at +large and to this State in particular, by cementing the eastern and +western territory together, at the same time that it will give vigor and +increase to our commerce and be a convenience to our citizens." + +At length he determined, in the same letter which should convey his +resolution not to retain the shares for his private emolument, +to signify his willingness to hold them in trust for such public +institution as the Legislature should approve. The following letter +conveyed this resolution to the General Assembly through the governor of +the State: + + +OCTOBER, 1785. + +"SIR:--Your Excellency having been pleased to transmit me a copy of +the act appropriating to my benefit certain shares in the companies for +opening the navigation of James and Potomac rivers, I take the liberty +of returning to the General Assembly, through your hands, the profound +and grateful acknowledgments inspired by so signal a mark of their +beneficent intentions towards me. I beg you, sir, to assure them that +I am filled on this occasion with every sentiment which can flow from +a heart warm with love for my country, sensible to every token of its +approbation and affection, and solicitous to testify in every instance a +respectful submission to its wishes. + +"With these sentiments in my bosom, I need not dwell on the anxiety I +feel in being obliged, in this instance, to decline a favor which is +rendered no less flattering by the manner in which it is conveyed, +than it is affectionate in itself. In explaining this I pass over +a comparison of my endeavors in the public service, with the many +honorable testimonies of approbation which have already so far +overrated, and overpaid them--reciting one consideration only, which +supersedes the necessity of recurring to every other. + +"When I was first called to the station with which I was honored during +the late conflict for our liberties, to the diffidence which I had so +many reasons to feel in accepting it, I thought it my duty to join a +firm resolution to shut my hand against every pecuniary recompense. To +this resolution I have invariably adhered, and from it (if I had the +inclination) I do not consider myself at liberty now to depart. + +"Whilst I repeat therefore my fervent acknowledgments to the Legislature +for their very kind sentiments and intentions in my favor, and at the +same time beg them to be persuaded that a remembrance of this singular +proof of their goodness towards me will never cease to cherish returns +of the warmest affection and gratitude, I must pray that their act, so +far as it has for its object my personal emolument, may not have its +effect; but if it should please the General Assembly to permit me to +turn the destination of the fund vested in me, from my private emolument +to objects of a public nature, it will be my study, in selecting these, +to prove the sincerity of my gratitude for the honor conferred upon me, +by preferring such as may appear most subservient to the enlightened and +patriotic views of the Legislature." + +The wish suggested in this letter immediately received the sanction +of the Legislature, and at a subsequent time the trust was executed +by conveying the shares respectively to the use of a seminary of +learning--which is now called Washington college, and to a university +to be established in the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the +government. + +Washington felt too strong an interest in the success of these works to +refuse the presidency of the companies instituted for their completion. +In conducting the affairs of the Potomac company, he took an active +part; to that formed for opening the navigation of the James, he could +only give his counsel. + +While Washington was at Richmond attending to the interests of internal +navigation he had been joined by Lafayette, who, since his recent visit +to Mount Vernon, had accompanied the commissioners to Fort Schuyler to +make a treaty with the Indians, and had assisted on that occasion. +He had subsequently made a tour in the eastern States, where he was +received with much distinction and he was now on his return to pay a +farewell visit to Washington at Mount Vernon. + +He remained only a week at Mount Vernon. Washington accompanied him +to Annapolis, where Lafayette was honored with a public reception +and address by the Legislature of Maryland, and there, on the 30th of +November, 1784, these distinguished men took leave of each other. From +Annapolis Lafayette proceeded to Trenton, where Congress was then in +session, and on Christmas day he embarked at New York for France in the +frigate Nymphe. The following is an extract from a letter written by +Washington to Lafayette on his return to Mount Vernon: + +"The peregrination of the day in which I parted from you ended at +Maryborough. The next day, bad as it was, I got home before dinner. + +"In the moment of separation, upon the road as I traveled, and every +hour since, I have felt all that love, respect, and attachment for +you, with which length of years, close connection, and your merits have +inspired me. I often asked myself, as our carriages separated, whether +that was the last sight I ever should have of you? And though I wished +to say No, my fears answered Yes. I called to mind the days of my youth, +and found they had long since fled to return no more; that I was now +descending the hill I had been fifty-two years climbing, and that, +though I was blest with a good constitution, I was of a short-lived +family, and might soon expect to be entombed in the mansion of my +fathers. These thoughts darkened the shades, and gave a gloom to the +picture, and consequently to my prospect of seeing you again. But I will +not repine; I have had my day. + +"Nothing of importance has occurred since I parted with you. I found my +family well, and am now immersed in company; notwithstanding which, I +have in haste produced a few more letters to give you the trouble of, +rather inclining to commit them to your care, than to pass them through +many and unknown hands." + +Among the letters referred to in the above extract was one to the +Marchioness de Lafayette and another to her little daughter. In the +former he writes: "The Marquis returns to you with all the warmth and +ardor of a newly-inspired lover. We restore him to you in good health, +crowned with wreaths of love and respect from every part of the Union." + +1. Footnote: This statue was executed by Houdon, and stands in the +capitol at Richmond. It is in the costume of commander-in-chief of +the army, and is considered an excellent likeness. Another statue +of Washington, by Canova, was in the Roman costume, and in a sitting +posture. It was made for the State of North Carolina, and was +unfortunately destroyed when the capitol was burnt. Another statue +stands in the statehouse at Boston. It was the result of a private +subscription. A fourth, by Greenough, adorns the grounds of the capitol +at Washington. + +2. Footnote: Custis, "Memoir of Martha Washington." + +3. Footnote: Sparks. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +WASHINGTON PRESIDES AT THE FORMATION OP THE CONSTITUTION. 1785-1788. + + +On first retiring to Mount Vernon (1785), Washington had devoted his +attention to the restoration of his estate to that high condition +of order and productiveness which had been maintained under his own +personal superintendence previous to the war. During his absence of +nine years he had constantly corresponded with his manager and given +particular directions respecting its cultivation. But it had suffered +much in his absence, and he was determined to renovate it by assiduous +care. He gave up the cultivation of tobacco because it had a tendency +to exhaust the soil, and planted wheat in its stead, giving attention at +the same time to the production of grass, maize, potatoes, and oats, and +pursuing the system of rotation in crops now considered so indispensable +by intelligent farmers. + +When this system was well established he commenced planting and adorning +with trees the grounds surrounding the mansion-house. His diary shows +that he paid great attention to this object, directing the setting out +of a great number and variety of ornamental trees, some of them being +obtained in the neighboring woods and others brought from a great +distance. He also replenished his gardens, orchards, and green-houses +with choice fruits and flowers which were confided to the care of +skilful gardeners. + +Meantime the number of guests entertained at Mount Vernon was ever on +the increase. Many were known to have crossed the Atlantic for the sole +purpose of visiting the founder of the Republic. Among these was Mrs. +Catharine Macauley Graham. By the principles contained in her "History +of the Stuarts," this lady had acquired much reputation in republican +America and by all was received with marked attention. She was cordially +received at Mount Vernon, and, if her letters may be credited, the +exalted opinion she had formed of its proprietor was "not diminished by +a personal acquaintance with him." + +The French military and naval officers, Lafayette, Rochambeau, +D'Estaing, and others, gave letters of introduction to be presented to +Washington by their friends whenever any of them came to America, and +those letters were always duly honored by hospitable attentions to those +who bore them. His own compatriots were still more numerous and more +assiduous in attention to the retired commander. Officers who had +served with him in the old French war and in the Revolution, members of +Congress, politicians, and magistrates from distant States, were among +the guests at Mount Vernon; so that Washington's time would thus have +been completely taken up but for the efficient aid which he received +in discharging the duties of hospitality from the ease, urbanity, and +excellent management of his accomplished lady. + +"His habits," says Mr. Sparks, "were uniform and nearly the same as they +had been previously to the war. He arose before the sun and employed +himself in his study writing letters or reading till the hour of +breakfast. When breakfast was over his horse was ready at the door, and +he rode to his farms and gave directions for the day to the managers +and laborers. Horses were likewise prepared for his guests whenever they +chose to accompany him, or to amuse themselves by excursions into the +country. Returning from his fields and dispatching such business as +happened to be on hand, he went again to his study, and continued there +till 3 o'clock, when he was summoned to dinner. The remainder of the day +and the evening were devoted to company or to recreation in the family +circle. At 10 he retired to rest. From these habits he seldom deviated +unless compelled to do so by particular circumstances." [1] + +In a delightful memoir [2] of his own life and times by Mr. Elkanah +Watson, we find the following interesting notice of Washington at home, +and we also learn what subject chiefly occupied his thoughts at the time +of which we are writing: + +"I had feasted my imagination for several days," says Mr. Watson, "on +the near prospect of a visit to Mount Vernon--the seat of Washington. No +pilgrim ever approached Mecca with deeper enthusiasm. I arrived there +on the afternoon of January 23d, 1785. I was the bearer of a letter from +General Greene, with another from Colonel Fitzgerald, one of the former +aides of Washington, and also the books from Granville Sharpe. Although +assured that these credentials would secure me a respectful reception, +I felt an unaccountable diffidence as I came into the presence of the +great man. I found him at table with Mrs. Washington and his private +family, and was received with the native dignity and urbanity so +peculiarly combined in the character of a soldier and eminent private +gentleman. He soon put me at ease, by unbending in a free and affable +conversation. + +"The cautious reserve which wisdom and policy dictated whilst engaged in +rearing the glorious fabric of our independence was evidently the result +of consummate prudence and not characteristic of his nature. Although +I had frequently seen him in the progress of the Revolution and had +corresponded with him from France in 1781 and 1782, this was the first +occasion on which I had contemplated him in his private relations. I +observed a peculiarity in his smile which seemed to illuminate his +eye; his whole countenance beamed with intelligence, while it commanded +confidence and respect. The gentleman who had accompanied me from +Alexandria left in the evening, and I remained alone in the enjoyment of +the society of Washington for two of the richest days of my life. I saw +him reaping the reward of his illustrious deeds in the quiet shade +of his beloved retirement. He was at the matured age of fifty-three. +Alexander died before he reached that period of life and he had +immortalized his name. How much stronger and nobler the claims of +Washington to immortality! In the impulses of mad, selfish ambition, +Alexander acquired fame by wading to the conquest of the world through +seas of blood. Washington, on the contrary, was parsimonious of the +blood of his countrymen, stood forth the pure and virtuous champion of +their rights, and formed for them, not himself, a mighty empire. + +"To have communed with such a man in the bosom of his family I shall +always regard as one of the highest privileges and most cherished +incidents of my life. I found him kind and benignant in the domestic +circle, revered and beloved by all around him, agreeably social, without +ostentation; delighting in anecdote and adventures, without assumption; +his domestic arrangements harmonious and systematic. His servants seemed +to watch his eye, and to anticipate his every wish; hence a look was +equivalent to a command. His servant Billy, the faithful companion of +his military career, was always at his side. Smiling content animated +and beamed on every countenance in his presence. + +"The first evening I spent under the wing of his hospitality we sat a +full hour at table, by ourselves, without the least interruption, after +the family had retired. I was extremely oppressed with a severe cold +and excessive coughing, contracted from the exposure of a harsh winter +journey. He pressed me to use some remedies, but I declined doing so. As +usual after retiring my cough increased. When some time had elapsed the +door of my room was gently opened, and on drawing my bed-curtains, to my +utter astonishment, I beheld Washington himself standing at my bedside +with a bowl of hot tea in his hand. I was mortified and distressed +beyond expression. This little incident, occurring in common life with +an ordinary man would not have been noticed, but as a trait of the +benevolence and the private virtue of Washington it deserves to be +recorded. + +"He modestly waived all allusions to the events in which he had acted so +glorious and conspicuous a part. Much of his conversation had reference +to the interior country and to the opening of the navigation of the +Potomac, by canals and locks at the Seneca, the Great, and the Little +Falls. His mind appeared to be deeply absorbed in that object, then in +earnest contemplation. He allowed me to take minutes from his former +journal on this subject, of which the following is a partial summary: + +"'The stock of the company is divided into 500 shares at £50 sterling +each. The canal company has been incorporated by both Maryland +and Virginia.' Washington had accepted the presidency of it. 'The +preliminary preparations are in full train, to commence operations in +the ensuing spring, not only to remove the obstacles in the Potomac to +a boat navigation from Georgetown to Fort Cumberland, a distance of 190 +miles, but to the ultimate construction of a canal to Lake Erie, which +is intended not only to give a direction to the fur trade from Detroit +to Alexandria, but to attract the eventual trade of the country north +of the Ohio which now slumbers in a state of nature.' This scheme was +worthy of the comprehensive mind of Washington. + +"To demonstrate the practicability and the policy of diverting the trade +of the immense interior world yet unexplored to the Atlantic cities, +especially in view of the idea that the Mississippi would be opened +by Spain, was his constant and favorite theme. To elucidate the +probability, also, that the Detroit fur trade would take this direction, +he produced the following estimates, which I copied in his presence and +with his aid from the original manuscript: + +"From Detroit, at the head of Lake Erie, via Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) +and Fort Cumberland, to the head of the Potomac, is 607 Miles. + +"To Richmond 840 + +"To Philadelphia 741 + +"To Albany 943 + +"To Montreal 955 + +"Thus it appeared that Alexandria is 348 miles nearer Detroit than +Montreal, with only two carrying places of about forty miles." + +"Since my travels in 1779 I had been deeply and constantly impressed +with the importance of constructing canals to connect the various waters +of America. This conviction was confirmed under the examination of +numerous canals of Europe, and traveling extensively on several of them. +Hearing little else for two days from the persuasive tongue of this +great man I was, I confess, completely under the influence of the canal +mania, and it en kindled all my enthusiasm." + +Among the objects which claimed the attention of Washington in his +retirement was a change in the constitution of the Cincinnati. This +society had been formed in May, 1783, when the army was encamped +at Newburg. The prospect of speedily separating from each other had +suggested the plan of forming an association among the officers to serve +as a tie of brotherhood for the future. + +This idea was suggested by General Knox and was matured in a meeting +composed of the generals, and of deputies from the regiments, at which +Major-General Steuben presided. An agreement was then entered into by +which the officers were to constitute themselves into one society of +friends, to endure as long as they should endure, or any of their eldest +male posterity, and, in failure thereof, any collateral branches who +might be judged worthy of becoming its supporters and members, were to +be admitted into it. To mark their veneration for that celebrated Roman +between whose situation and their own they found some similitude, they +were to be denominated "The Society of the Cincinnati." Individuals of +the respective States, distinguished for their patriotism and abilities, +might be admitted as honorary members for life, provided their numbers +should at no time exceed a ratio of one to four. + +The society was to be designated by a medal of gold representing the +American eagle bearing on its breast the devices of the order, which was +to be suspended by a ribbon of deep blue edged with white, descriptive +of the union of America and France. To the ministers who had represented +the King of France at Philadelphia, to the admirals who had commanded +in the American seas, to the Count de Rochambeau and the generals and +colonels of the French troops who had served in the United States, the +insignia of the order were to be presented and they were to be invited +to consider themselves as members of the society, at the head of which +the Commander-in-Chief was respectfully solicited to place his name. An +incessant attention, on the part of the members, to the preservation +of the exalted rights and liberties of human nature for which they had +fought and bled, and an unalterable determination to promote and cherish +between the respective States union and national honor, were declared +to be the immutable principles of the society. Its objects were to +perpetuate the remembrance of the American revolution, as well as +cordial affection and the spirit of brotherly kindness among the +officers, and to extend acts of beneficence to those officers and their +families whose situation might require assistance. To give effect to the +charitable object of the institution a common fund was to be created by +the deposit of one month's pay on the part of every officer becoming +a member, the product of which fund, after defraying certain necessary +charges, was to be sacredly appropriated to this humane purpose. + +The military gentlemen of each State were to constitute a distinct +society, deputies from which were to assemble triennially in order to +form a general meeting for the regulation of general concerns. + +Without encountering any open opposition this institution was carried +into complete effect, and its honors were sought, especially by the +foreign officers, with great avidity. But soon after it was organized +those jealousies, which in its first moments had been concealed, burst +forth into open view. In October, 1783, a pamphlet was published by Mr. +Burk of South Carolina, for the purpose of rousing the apprehensions +of the public, and of directing its resentments against the society. In +this work its was denounced as an attempt to form an order of nobility. +The hereditary feature of the constitution and the power of conferring +its honors on distinguished personages, not descended from the officers +of the army, were considered particularly inconsistent with the genius +of our republican institutions. In Massachusetts the subject was +even taken up by the Legislature, and it was well understood that, in +Congress, the society was viewed with secret disapprobation. + +It was impossible for Washington to view with indifference this state of +the public feeling. Bound to the officers of his army by the strictest +ties of esteem and affection, conscious of their merits and assured of +their attachment to his person, he was alive to everything which +might affect their reputation or their interests. However innocent the +institution might be in itself or however laudable its real objects, if +the impression it made on the public mind was such as to draw a line +of distinction between the military men of America and their +fellow-citizens, he was earnest in his wishes to adopt such measures as +would efface that impression. However ill founded the public prejudices +might be he thought this a case in which they ought to be respected, +and, if it should be found impracticable to convince the people that +their fears were misplaced, he was disposed "to yield to them in a +degree, and not to suffer that which was intended for the best of +purposes to produce a bad one." + +A general meeting was to be held in Philadelphia in May, 1784, and, in +the meantime, he had been appointed the temporary president. Washington +was too much in the habit of considering subjects of difficulty in +various points of view, and of deciding on them with coolness and +deliberation, to permit his affections to influence his judgment. The +most exact inquiries, assiduously made into the true state of the +public mind, resulted in a conviction that opinions unfriendly to the +institution, in its actual form, were extensively entertained, and that +those opinions were founded, not in hostility to the late army, but in +real apprehensions for equal liberty. + +A wise and necessary policy required, he thought, the removal of these +apprehensions, and, at the general meeting in May, the hereditary +principle, and the power of adopting honorary members, were +relinquished. The result demonstrated the propriety of this alteration. +Although a few, who always perceive most danger where none exists, and +the visionaries then abounding in Europe, continued their prophetic +denunciations against the order, America dismissed her fears, and, +notwithstanding the refusal of several of the State societies to adopt +the measures recommended by the general meeting, the members of the +Cincinnati were received as brethren into the bosom of their country. +[3] + +While Washington was engaged in the cultivation of his extensive estate +his thoughts were by no means withdrawn from the political concerns of +the country, which at this time were assuming rather an ominous aspect. +His correspondence evinces that his advice was much sought for by the +leading men in the country, and that his opinions on the aspect of +the public affairs were freely given. The want of power in the central +government, arising from the defects of the old confederation, was +becoming more and more apparent, and the evils arising from this want +of power were pressing severely on every side. While the war lasted the +external pressure held the government together, but on the return +of peace its dissolution had become imminent. Large debts had been +contracted to pay the expenses of the war, and, although an attempt +had been made to establish a general system of revenue from duties on +imports, individual States had obstructed the prosecution of this plan, +and the government had found itself unable to raise the funds necessary +to pay the interest on the public debt. It had, in fact, no power +to regulate commerce or collect a revenue. This made it incapable of +executing treaties, fulfilling its foreign engagements, or causing +itself to be respected by foreign nations. While at home its weakness +was disgusting the public creditors and raising a clamor of discontent +and disaffection on every side. An alarming crisis was rapidly +approaching. + +By the enlightened friends of republican government, this gloomy state +of things was viewed with deep chagrin. Many became apprehensive that +those plans from which so much happiness to the human race had been +anticipated would produce only real misery, and would maintain but a +short and a turbulent existence. Meanwhile, the wise and thinking +part of the community, who could trace evils to their source, labored +unceasingly to inculcate opinions favorable to the incorporation of some +principles into the political system which might correct the obvious +vices, without endangering the free spirit of the existing institutions. + +While the advocates for union were exerting themselves to impress its +necessity on the public mind, measures were taken in Virginia, which, +though originating in different views, terminated in a proposition for a +general convention to revise the state of the Union. + +To form a compact relative to the navigation of the rivers Potomac and +Pocomoke, and of part of Chesapeake Bay, commissioners were appointed by +the Legislatures of Virginia and Maryland, who assembled in Alexandria +in March, 1785. While at Mount Vernon on a visit [4] they agreed +to propose to their respective governments the appointment of other +commissioners, with power to make conjoint arrangements, to which the +assent of Congress was to be solicited, for maintaining a naval force in +the Chesapeake, and to establish a tariff of duties on imports to which +the laws of both States should conform. When these propositions received +the assent of the Legislature of Virginia an additional resolution +was passed, directing that which respected the duties on imports to be +communicated to all the States in the Union, who were invited to send +deputies to the meeting. + +On the 21st of January, 1786, a few days after the passage of these +resolutions, another was adopted appointing Edmund Randolph, James +Madison, Walter Jones, St. George Tucker, and Meriwether Smith, +commissioners, "who were to meet such as might be appointed by the other +States in the Union, at a time and place to be agreed on, to take into +consideration the trade of the United States; to examine the relative +situation and trade of the said States; to consider how far a uniform +system in their commercial relations may be necessary to their common +interest and their permanent harmony, and to report to the several +States such an act relative to this great object, as, when unanimously +ratified by them, will enable the United States in Congress assembled +effectually to provide for the same." + +In the circular letter transmitting these resolutions to the respective +States, Annapolis, in Maryland, was proposed as the place, and the +ensuing September (1786) as the time of meeting. + +Before the arrival of the period at which these commissioners were +to assemble the idea was carried by those who saw and deplored the +complicated calamities which flowed from the inefficacy of the general +government, much further than was avowed by the resolution of Virginia. +"Although," said Mr. Jay, one of the most conspicuous patriots of the +Revolution, in a letter to Washington, dated the 16th of March, 1786, +"you have wisely retired from public employments, and calmly view, +from the temple of fame, the various exertions of that sovereignty +and independence which Providence has enabled you to be so greatly and +gloriously instrumental in securing to your country, yet I am persuaded +you cannot view them with the eye of an unconcerned spectator. + +"Experience has pointed out errors in our national government which call +for correction, and which threaten to blast the fruit we expected from +our tree of liberty. The convention proposed by Virginia may do some +good, and would perhaps do more, if it comprehended more objects. An +opinion begins to prevail that a general convention for revising the +articles of confederation would be expedient. Whether the people are yet +ripe for such a measure, or whether the system proposed to be attained +by it is only to be expected from calamity and commotion, is difficult +to ascertain. + +"I think we are in a delicate situation, and a variety of considerations +and circumstances give me uneasiness. It is in contemplation to take +measures for forming a general convention. The plan is not matured. If +it should be well connected and take effect, I am fervent in my wishes +that it may comport with the line of life you have marked out for +yourself to favor your country with your counsels on such an important +and single occasion. I suggest this merely as a hint for consideration." + +To the patriots who accomplished the great revolution which gave to the +American people a national government capable of maintaining the union +of the States and of preserving republican liberty, we must ever feel +grateful and admire and honor them for their services during that +arduous and doubtful struggle which terminated in the triumph of human +reason and the establishment of a free government. To us who were not +actors in those busy scenes, but who enjoy the fruits of the labor +without having participated in the toils or the fears of the patriots +who achieved such glorious results, the sentiments entertained by the +most enlightened and virtuous of America at that eventful period cannot +be uninteresting. + +"Our affairs," said Mr. Jay, in a letter of the 27th of June (1786), +"seem to lead to some crisis, some revolution--something that I cannot +foresee or conjecture. I am uneasy and apprehensive, more so than during +the war. Then, we had a fixed object and, though the means and time of +obtaining it were often problematical, yet I did firmly believe that we +should ultimately succeed, because I did firmly believe that justice +was with us. The case is now altered, we are going and doing wrong and +therefore I look forward to evils and calamities, but without being able +to guess at the instrument, nature, or measure of them. + +"That we shall again recover and things again go well, I have no doubt. +Such a variety of circumstances would not, almost miraculously, have +combined to liberate and make us a nation for transient and unimportant +purposes. I therefore believe we are yet to become a great and +respectable people, but when or how, only the spirit of prophecy can +discern. + +"There doubtless is much reason to think and to say that we are +woefully, and, in many instances, wickedly misled. Private rage for +property suppresses public considerations, and personal rather than +national interests have become the great objects of attention. New +governments have not the aid of habit and hereditary respect, and, +being generally the result of preceding tumult and confusion, do +not immediately acquire stability or strength. Besides, in times of +commotion, some men will gain confidence and importance who merit +neither, and who, like political mountebanks, are less solicitous about +the health of the credulous crowd than about making the most of their +nostrums and prescriptions. + +"What I most fear is that the better kind of people (by which I mean +the people who are orderly and industrious, who are content with their +situations, and not uneasy in their circumstances) will be led by the +insecurity of property, the loss of confidence in their rulers, and the +want of public faith and rectitude, to consider the charms of liberty +as imaginary and delusive. A state of uncertainty and fluctuation must +disgust and alarm such men and prepare their minds for almost any change +that may promise them quiet and security." + +To this interesting letter Washington made the following reply: + +"Your sentiments, that our affairs are drawing rapidly to a crisis, +accord with my own. What the event will be, is also beyond the reach of +my foresight. We have errors to correct; we have probably had too good +an opinion of human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has +taught us that men will not adopt and carry into execution measures the +best calculated for their own good without the intervention of coercive +power. I do not conceive we can exist long as a nation, without lodging +somewhere a power which will pervade the whole Union in as energetic +a manner as the authority of the State governments extends over the +several States. To be fearful of investing Congress, constituted as that +body is with ample authorities for national purposes, appears to me the +very climax of popular absurdity and madness. Could Congress exert them +for the detriment of the people, without injuring themselves in an equal +or greater proportion? Are not their interests inseparably connected +with those of their constituents? By the rotation of appointment, must +they not mingle frequently with the mass of citizens? Is it not +rather to be apprehended, if they were possessed of the powers before +described, that the individual members would be induced to use them, +on many occasions, very timidly and inefficaciously, for fear of losing +their popularity and future election? We must take human nature as +we find it; perfection falls not to the share of mortals. Many are of +opinion that Congress have too frequently made use of the suppliant +humble tone of requisition, in applications to the States, when they had +a right to assert their imperial dignity, and command obedience. Be that +as it may, requisitions are a perfect nullity, where thirteen sovereign, +independent, disunited States are in the habit of discussing, and +refusing or complying with them at their option. Requisitions are +actually little better than a jest and a by-word throughout the land. +If you tell the Legislatures they have violated the treaty of peace, +and invaded the prerogatives of the confederacy, they will laugh in your +face. What then is to be done? Things cannot go on in the same train +forever. It is much to be feared, as you observe, that the better kind +of people, being disgusted with these circumstances, will have their +minds prepared for any revolution whatever. We are apt to run from one +extreme into another. To anticipate and prevent disastrous contingencies +would be the part of wisdom and patriotism. + +"What astonishing changes a few years are capable of producing! I am +told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of +government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking; thence to +acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous! +what a triumph for our enemies to verify their predictions! what a +triumph for the advocates of despotism, to find that we are incapable +of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of equal +liberty are merely ideal and fallacious! Would to God that wise measures +may be taken in time to avert the consequences we have but too much +reason to apprehend. + +"Retired as I am from the world, I frankly acknowledge I cannot feel +myself an unconcerned spectator. Yet, having happily assisted in +bringing the ship into port, and having been fairly discharged, it is +not my business to embark again on a sea of troubles. + +"Nor could it be expected that my sentiments and opinions would have +much weight on the minds of my countrymen. They have been neglected, +though given as a last legacy in the most solemn manner. I had then +perhaps some claims to public attention. I consider myself as having +none at present." + +The convention at Annapolis was attended by commissioners from only +six States--New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, +and Virginia. These, after appointing Mr. Dickinson their chairman, +proceeded to discuss the objects for which they had convened. Perceiving +that more ample powers would be required to effect the beneficial +purposes which they contemplated, and hoping to procure a representation +from a greater number of States, the convention determined to rise +without coming to any specific resolutions on the particular subject +which had been referred to them. + +Previous to their adjournment, however, they agreed on a report to be +made to their respective States, in which they represented the necessity +of extending the revision of the Federal system to all its defects, and +recommended that deputies for that purpose be appointed by the several +Legislatures, to meet in convention in the city of Philadelphia on the +second day of the ensuing May (1787). + +The reasons for preferring a convention to a discussion of this subject +in Congress, were stated to be, "that in the latter body it might be +too much interrupted by the ordinary business before them and would, +besides, be deprived of the valuable counsels of sundry individuals who +were disqualified by the constitution or laws of particular States or by +peculiar circumstances from a seat in that assembly." + +A copy of this report was transmitted to Congress in a letter from +the chairman, stating the inefficacy of the Federal government and +the necessity of devising such further provisions as would render it +adequate to the exigencies of the Union. On receiving this report, the +Legislature of Virginia (1786) passed an act for the appointment of +deputies to meet such as might be appointed by other States, to assemble +in convention at Philadelphia at the time and for the purposes specified +in the recommendation from the convention which had met at Annapolis. + +When the plan of a convention was thus ripened and its meeting appointed +to be at Philadelphia in May, 1787, Mr. Madison communicated to +Washington the intention of that State to elect him one of her +representatives on this important occasion. He explicitly declined +being a candidate, yet the Legislature placed him at the head of her +delegation, in the hope that mature reflection would induce him to +attend upon the service. The governor of the State, Mr. Randolph, +informed him of his appointment by the following letter: + +"By the enclosed act you will readily discover that the assembly are +alarmed at the storms which threaten the United States. What our enemies +have foretold seems to be hastening to its accomplishment, and cannot be +frustrated but by an instantaneous, zealous, and steady union among the +friends of the Federal government. To you I need not press our present +dangers. The inefficacy of Congress you have often felt in your official +character, the increasing languor of our associated republics you hourly +see; and a dissolution would be, I know, to you a source of the deepest +mortification. I freely then entreat you to accept the unanimous +appointment of the General Assembly to the convention at Philadelphia. +For the gloomy prospect still admits one ray of hope--that those who +began, carried on, and consummated the Revolution, can yet restore +America from the impending ruin." + +"Sensible as I am," said Washington in his answer, "of the honor +conferred on me by the General Assembly of this commonwealth, in +appointing me one of the deputies to a convention proposed to be held +in the city of Philadelphia in May next, for the purpose of revising +the Federal constitution, and desirous as I am on all occasions of +testifying a ready obedience to the calls of my country, yet, sir, there +exist at this moment circumstances which I am persuaded will render this +fresh instance of confidence incompatible with other measures which +I had previously adopted and from which, seeing little prospect of +disengaging myself, it would be disingenuous not to express a wish +that some other character, on whom greater reliance can be had, may be +substituted in my place, the probability of my nonattendance being too +great to continue my appointment. + +"As no mind can be more deeply impressed than mine is with the critical +situation of our affairs, resulting in a great measure from the want of +efficient powers in the Federal head and due respect to its ordinances, +so consequently those who do engage in the important business of +removing these defects will carry with them every good wish of mine, +which the best dispositions toward their obtainment can bestow." + +The governor declined the acceptance of his resignation of the +appointment and begged him to suspend his determination until the +approach of the period of the meeting of the convention, that his +final judgment might be the result of a full acquaintance with all +circumstances. + +Thus situated, Washington reviewed the subject that he might, upon +thorough deliberation, make the decision which duty and patriotism +enjoined. He had, by a circular letter to the State societies, declined +being re-elected the president of the Cincinnati, and had announced that +he should not attend their general meeting at Philadelphia in the next +May, and he apprehended that if he attended the convention at the time +and place of their meeting he should give offense to all the officers of +the late army who composed this body. He was under apprehension that the +States would not be generally represented on this occasion, and that a +failure in the plan would diminish the personal influence of those who +engaged in it. Some of his confidential friends were of opinion that the +occasion did not require his interposition and that he ought to reserve +himself for a state of things which would unequivocally demand his +agency and influence. Even on the supposition that the plan should +succeed they thought that he ought not to engage in it, because his +having been in convention would oblige him to make exertions to +carry the measures that body might recommend into effect, and would +necessarily "sweep him into the tide of public affairs." His own +experience since the close of the Revolutionary War created in his mind +serious doubts whether the respective States would quietly adopt +any system calculated to give stability and vigor to the national +government. "As we could not," to use his own language, "remain quiet +more than three or four years in times of peace under the constitutions +of our own choosing, which were believed in many States to have been +formed with deliberation and wisdom, I see little prospect either of our +agreeing on any other, or that we should remain long satisfied under it, +if we could. Yet I would wish anything and everything essayed to prevent +the effusion of blood and to divert the humiliating and contemptible +figure we are about to make in the annals of mankind." + +These considerations operated powerfully to confirm him in the +determination first formed, not to attend the convention. On the other +hand he realized the greatness of the emergency. The confederation +was universally considered as a nullity. The advice of a convention, +composed of respectable characters from every part of the Union, would +probably have great influence with the community, whether it should +be to amend the articles of the old government or to form a new +constitution. + +Amidst the various sentiments which at this time prevailed respecting +the state of public affairs, many entertained the supposition that the +"times must be worse before they could be better," and that the American +people could be induced to establish an efficient and liberal national +government only by the scourge of anarchy. Some seemed to think that the +experiment of a republican government in America had already failed and +that one more energetic would soon by violence be introduced. Washington +entertained some apprehension that his declining to attend the +convention would be considered as a dereliction of republican +principles. + +While he was balancing these opposite circumstances in his mind the +insurrection of Massachusetts occurred, [5] which turned the scale of +opinion in favor of his joining the convention. He viewed this event +as awfully alarming. "For God's sake, tell me," said he, in a letter to +Colonel Humphreys, "what is the cause of all these commotions? Do they +proceed from licentiousness, British influence disseminated by the +Tories, or real grievances which admit of redress? If the latter, why +was redress delayed until the public mind had become so much agitated? +If the former, why are not the powers of the government tried at once? +It is as well to be without as not to exercise them." + +To General Knox and other friends similar apprehensions were expressed. +"I feel infinitely more than I can express to you for the disorders +which have arisen in these States. Good God! who besides a Tory could +have foreseen, or a Briton have predicted them? I do assure you that +even at this moment, when I reflect upon the present aspect of our +affairs, it seems to me like the visions of a dream. My mind can +scarcely realize it as a thing in actual existence, so strange, so +wonderful, does it appear to me. In this, as in most other matters, we +are too slow. When this spirit first dawned it might probably have been +easily checked, but it is scarcely within the reach of human ken, at +this moment, to say when, where, or how it will terminate. There +are combustibles in every State to which a spark might set fire. In +bewailing, which I have often done with the keenest sorrow, the death of +our much-lamented friend, General Greene, I have accompanied my regrets +of late with a query, whether he would not have preferred such an exit +to the scenes which it is more than probable many of his compatriots may +live to bemoan. + +"You talk, my good sir, of employing influence to appease the present +tumults in Massachusetts. I know not where that influence is to be +found, nor if attainable, that it would be a proper remedy for these +disorders. Influence is not government. Let us have a government by +which our lives, liberties, and properties will be secured, or let us +know the worst at once. Under these impressions my humble opinion +is that there is a call for decision. Know then precisely what the +insurgents aim at. If they have real grievances redress them if +possible, or acknowledge the justice of them and your inability to do +it in the present moment. If they have not, employ the force of the +government against them at once. If this is inadequate all will be +convinced that the superstructure is bad or wants support. To be more +exposed in the eyes of the world, and more contemptible than we already +are, is hardly possible. To delay one or the other of these expedients +is to exasperate on the one hand or to give confidence on the other, and +will add to their numbers, for, like snowballs, such bodies increase +by every movement, unless there is something in the way to obstruct and +crumble them before their weight is too great and irresistible. + +"These are my sentiments. Precedents are dangerous things. Let the reins +of government then be braced and held with a steady hand, and every +violation of the constitution be reprehended. If defective, let it +be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon while it has an +existence." + +Colonel Humphreys having intimated by letter his apprehension that civil +discord was near, in which event he would be obliged to act a public +part, or to leave the continent--"It is," said Washington in reply, +"with the deepest and most heartfelt concern I perceive, by some late +paragraphs extracted from the Boston papers, that the insurgents of +Massachusetts, far from being satisfied with the redress offered by +their General Court, are still acting in open violation of law and +government, and have obliged the chief magistrate, in a decided tone, to +call upon the militia of the State to support the constitution. + +"What, gracious God, is man, that there should be such inconsistency +and perfidiousness in his conduct! It is but the other day that we +were shedding our blood to obtain the constitutions under which we +live--constitutions of our own choice and making--and now we are +unsheathing the sword to overturn them. The thing is so unaccountable +that I hardly know how to realize it, or to persuade myself that I am +not under the illusion of a dream. My mind, previous to the receipt of +your letter of the first ultimo, had often been agitated by a thought +similar to the one you expressed respecting a friend of yours, but +heaven forbid that a crisis should come when he shall be driven to +the necessity of making a choice of either of the alternatives there +mentioned." + +Having learned that the States had generally elected their +representatives to the convention, and Congress having given its +sanction to it, he on the 28th of March communicated to the governor of +Virginia his consent to act as one of the delegates of his State on this +important occasion. + +When this determination was formed Washington at once commenced his +preparations to leave Mount Vernon at an early day, so that he might be +able to be present at the meeting of the Cincinnati; but on the 26th of +April (1787) he received intelligence by an express that his mother and +sister were dangerously ill at Fredericksburg. He immediately set off +for that place, and the detention thus occasioned prevented his meeting +the Cincinnati. After remaining three days at Fredericksburg, his mother +and sister being partially recovered, he returned to Mount Vernon, and +was enabled to complete his preparations for leaving home in season to +arrive in Philadelphia on the 13th of May, the day before the opening of +the convention. [6] + +Public honors had awaited him everywhere on his route. At Chester he was +met by General Mifflin, then speaker of the Assembly of Pennsylvania, +and several officers of the army and other public characters who +accompanied him to Gray's Ferry, where his former escort, the "First +Troop" of Philadelphia, were waiting to conduct him to the city. On his +arrival he paid his first visit to Dr. Franklin, president of the State +of Pennsylvania, who had also been elected a member of the convention. + +On the next day (May 14, 1787), the convention assembled which was to +accomplish one of the most splendid works that ever was achieved by +human wisdom. Several days, however, elapsed before a quorum of members +could be formed. When the moment for commencing the organization of +the convention arrived, Robert Morris, on behalf of the Pennsylvania +delegation, nominated Washington as its president. John Rutledge of +South Carolina, future chief justice of the United States, seconded +the nomination, remarking at the same time that the presence of General +Washington forbade any observations on the occasion which might not be +proper. He was elected by a unanimous vote. By this act the convention +did but fulfill the wishes of the whole nation. A crisis had arrived in +which all eyes were turned to the Great Founder for deliverance. To use +his own language in a letter written to Mr. Jefferson a few days later +(May 30, 1787), "That something is necessary none will deny, for the +general government, if it can be called a government, is shaken to its +foundation and liable to be overturned by every blast. In a word, it +is at an end, and unless a remedy is soon applied anarchy and confusion +will inevitably ensue." + +Among the members of the convention were many men of exalted character +and signal abilities. New York sent Alexander Hamilton, himself a host. +No member was better fitted for the work or exerted a more important +influence in perfecting it. Madison was one of the delegates from +Virginia, whose pen was subsequently exerted, in connection with those +of Hamilton and Jay in defending and expounding the constitution to the +people in the memorable papers of the "Federalist." Massachusetts +sent Nathaniel Gorham and Rufus King; New Hampshire, John Langdon +and Nicholas Gilman; Pennsylvania counted in her numerous delegates +Franklin, Mifflin, James Wilson, Robert Morris, and Gouverneur Morris, +with others whose historical names are less distinguished for ability +and eloquence, though not less for integrity and patriotism. South +Carolina sent John Rutledge, her former governor, one of the ablest +and purest men then living, and destined to preside over the supreme +judiciary of the Union. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, one of the bravest +of the revolutionary generals, and the future ambassador to France, was +also among the delegates of South Carolina. Among the other names on the +roll of the convention, we recognize those of another Pinckney, famed +for eloquence; Roger Sherman, a veteran statesman and signer of the +Declaration of Independence; William Livingston, afterwards Governor +of New Jersey, friend and correspondent of Washington, and Doctor +Hugh Williamson of North Carolina, an early patriot, who had assisted +Franklin in detecting the intrigues of Hutchinson and Oliver. + +It would fill far too much space to enumerate all the members of the +convention, or even to glance at their respective titles, already earned +by public service, to the confidence of their countrymen. + +"It was a most fortunate thing for America," says a recent writer, [7] +"that the Revolutionary age, with its hardships, its trials, and its +mistakes, had formed a body of Statesmen capable of framing for it a +durable constitution. The leading persons in the convention which formed +the constitution had been actors either in civil or military life in the +scenes of the Revolution. In those scenes their characters as American +statesmen had been formed. When the condition of the country had fully +revealed the incapacity of the government to provide for its wants, +these men were naturally looked to to construct a system which +would save it from anarchy. And their great capacities, their +high disinterested purposes, their freedom from all fanaticism and +illiberality, and their earnest, unconquerable faith in the destiny of +the country, enabled them to found that government which now upholds and +protects the whole fabric of liberty in the States of this Union." + +The convention remained in session four months, and their industry and +devotion to their important work is amply testified by the fact +that they sat from five to seven hours a day. It was a most imposing +assemblage. "The severe, unchanging presence of Washington," says the +writer last quoted, "presided over all. The chivalrous sincerity and +disinterestedness of Hamilton pervaded the assembly with all the power +of his fascinating manners. The flashing eloquence of Gouverneur +Morris recalled the dangers of anarchy, which must be accepted as the +alternative of an abortive experiment. The calm, clear, statesmanlike +views of Madison, the searching and profound expositions of King, the +prudent influence of Franklin, at length ruled the hour." + +On the 17th of September, 1787, the constitution was signed by all +the members present, except Edmund Randolph, the governor of Virginia; +George Mason and Elbridge Gerry; and it was then forwarded with a letter +to Congress. By that assembly it was sent to the State Legislatures to +be submitted in each State to a convention of delegates, to be chosen +by the people, for approval or rejection. As the State Legislatures +assembled at different times, nearly a year would elapse before the +result could be known. + +Immediately after the convention had ended its labors, Washington +returned to Mount Vernon to resume his agricultural pursuits and +to watch with intense interest the slow process of ratifying the +constitution by the several States. His correspondence with Hamilton, +Madison, Jay, Wilson, Governor Langdon of New Hampshire, Generals Knox +and Lincoln, and Governor Randolph, at this time, shows that the subject +occupied a great share of his attention, and that he was extremely +anxious that the constitution should be adopted by all the States. + +In a letter to Lafayette (7th of February, 1788), he says: "As to my +sentiments with respect to the merits of the new constitution, I +will disclose them without reserve, although, by passing through the +post-offices they should become known to all the world; for, in truth, I +have nothing to conceal on that subject. It appears to me, then, little +short of a miracle that the delegates from so many States, different +from each other, as you know, in their manners, circumstances, and +prejudices, should unite in forming a system of national government +so little liable to well-founded objections. Nor am I yet such an +enthusiastic, partial, or undiscriminating admirer of it as not to +perceive it is tinctured with some real though not radical defects. The +limits of a letter would not suffer me to go fully into an examination +of them; nor would the discussion be entertaining or profitable. I +therefore forbear to touch upon it. With regard to the two great points, +the pivots upon which the whole machine must move, my creed is simply-- + +"First, That the general government is not invested with more powers +than are indispensably necessary to perform the functions of a good +government, and, consequently, that no objection ought to be made +against the quantity of power delegated to it. + +"Secondly, That these powers, as the appointment of all rulers will +forever arise from, and at short stated intervals recur to the free +suffrage of the people, are so distributed among the legislative, +executive, and judicial branches in to which the general government is +arranged that it can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, +an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form +so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people. + +"I would not be understood, my dear Marquis, to speak of consequences +which may be produced in the revolution of ages, by corruption of +morals, profligacy of manners, and listlessness in the preservation of +the natural and unalienable rights of mankind, nor of the successful +usurpations that may be established at such an unpropitious juncture +upon the ruins of liberty, however providentially guarded and secured, +as these are contingencies against which no human prudence can +effectually provide. It will at least be a recommendation to the +proposed constitution that it is provided with more checks and barriers +against the introduction of tyranny and those of a nature less liable to +be surmounted than any government hitherto instituted among mortals. +We are not to expect perfection in this world: but mankind, in modern +times, have apparently made some progress in the science of government. +Should that which is now offered to the people of America be found an +experiment less perfect than it can be made, a constitutional door is +left open for its amelioration." + +A letter of Mr. Jefferson, written to one of his friends while the +constitution was under consideration, gives some interesting particulars +respecting its reception and the opinions of some of the States and +leaders in regard to it: + +"The constitution," he says, "has been received with very general +enthusiasm; the bulk of the people are eager to adopt it. In the eastern +States the printers will print nothing against it unless the writer +subscribes his name. Massachusetts and Connecticut have called +conventions in January to consider it. In New York there is a division; +the governor, Clinton, is known to be hostile. Jersey, it is thought, +will accept; Pennsylvania is divided, and all the bitterness of her +factions has been kindled anew. But the party in favor of it is the +strongest, both in and out of the Legislature. This is the party +anciently of Morris, Wilson, etc. Delaware will do what Pennsylvania +shall do. Maryland is thought favorable to it, yet it is supposed that +Chase and Paca will oppose it. As to Virginia, two of her delegates, in +the first place, refused to sign it; these were Randolph, the governor, +and George Mason. Besides these, Henry, Harrison, Nelson, and the Lees +are against it. General Washington will be for it, but it is not in his +character to exert himself much in the case. Madison will be its main +pillar," etc. + +With respect to Washington, Jefferson was mistaken. His letters show +that he did exert himself very zealously to remove the objections of +recusant States and statesmen, especially the Virginia leaders who were +all numbered among his personal friends. + +The following letter to Jonathan Trumbull, of Connecticut, written at +Mount Vernon on the 20th of July, 1788, when the final event was pretty +certain, evinces the lively interest he took in the progress of affairs +and the deep religious feeling of thankfulness with which, as usual, he +recognized the hand of Providence in the result: + +"You will have perceived from the public papers," he writes, "that I was +not erroneous in my calculation, that the constitution would be accepted +by the convention of this State. The majority, it is true, was small and +the minority respectable in many points of view. But the great part of +the minority here, as in most other States, have conducted themselves +with great prudence and political moderation, insomuch that we may +anticipate a pretty general and harmonious acquiescence. We shall +impatiently wait the result from New York and North Carolina. The other +State, which has not yet acted, is nearly out of the question. + +"I am happy to hear from General Lincoln and others that affairs are +taking a good turn in Massachusetts, but the triumph of salutary and +liberal measures over those of an opposite tendency seems to be as +complete in Connecticut as in any other State, and affords a particular +subject of congratulation. Your friend, Colonel Humphreys, informs me +from the wonderful revolution of sentiment in favor of Federal measures +and the marvelous change for the better in the elections of your State, +that he shall begin to suspect that miracles have not ceased. Indeed, +for myself, since so much liberality has been displayed in the +construction and adoption of the proposed general government, I am +almost disposed to be of the same opinion. Or at least we may, with a +kind of pious and grateful exultation, trace the finger of Providence +through those dark and mysterious events which first induced the States +to appoint a general convention and then led them one after another, by +such steps as were best calculated to effect the object into an adoption +of the system recommended by that general convention, thereby, in all +human probability, laying a lasting foundation for tranquility and +happiness, when we had but too much reason to fear that confusion and +misery were coming rapidly upon us." + +North Carolina and Rhode Island did not at first accept the constitution +and New York was apparently dragged into it by a repugnance to being +excluded from the confederacy. At length the conventions of eleven +States assented to and ratified the constitution. When officially +informed of this fact, Congress passed an act appointing a day for the +people throughout the Union to choose electors of a president of the +United States in compliance with the provision in the constitution and +another day for the electors to meet and vote for the person of their +choice. The choice of electors was to take place in February, 1789, and +the electors were to meet and choose a president on the first Wednesday +in March following. + +A few days before the close of the convention, Washington prepared +and submitted a draft of a letter to Congress, which was adopted. The +constitution having been duly signed, it was transmitted to Congress, +with the letter from the president of the convention. + + +"IN CONVENTION, September 17, 1787. + +"SIR:--We have now the honor to submit to the consideration of the +United States, in Congress assembled, that constitution which has +appeared to us the most advisable. + +"The friends of our country have long seen and desired, that the +power of making war, peace, and treaties; that of levying money, and +regulating commerce, and the correspondent executive and judicial +authorities, should be fully and effectually vested in the general +government of the Union: but the impropriety of delegating such +extensive trust to one body of men is evident. Hence results the +necessity for a different organization. + +"It is obviously impracticable in the federal government of these States +to secure all the rights of independent sovereignty to each, and yet +provide for the interest and safety of all. Individuals entering into +society, must give up a share of liberty, to preserve the rest. The +magnitude of the sacrifice must depend, as well on situation and +circumstance, as on the object to be obtained. It is at all times +difficult to draw with precision the line between those rights which +must be surrendered, and those which may be reserved; and on the present +occasion, this difficulty was increased by a difference among the +several States, as to their situation, extent, habits, and particular +interests. + +"In all our deliberations on this subject, we kept steadily in our view +that which appears to us the greatest interest of every true American, +the consolidation of our Union, in which is involved our prosperity, +felicity, safety, perhaps our national existence. This important +consideration, seriously and deeply impressed on our minds, led each +State in the Convention to be less rigid on points of inferior magnitude +than might have been otherwise expected; and thus the constitution, +which we now present, is the result of a spirit of amity, and of that +mutual deference and concession, which the peculiarity of our political +situation rendered indispensable. + +"That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every State, is +not perhaps to be expected; but each State will doubtless consider, that +had her interests alone been consulted, the consequences might have been +particularly disagreeable or injurious to others; that it is liable to +as few exceptions as could reasonably have been expected, we hope and +believe; that it may promote the lasting welfare of that country so +dear to us all, and secure her freedom and happiness, is our most ardent +wish. + +"With great respect, we Have the honor to be, sir, your Excellency's +most obedient and humble servants. + +"GEORGE WASHINGTON, + +"_President_. + +"By unanimous Order of the Convention. + +"His EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS." + +We give this important document in full, as contained in the Supplement +to the Journal of the Federal Convention. + +THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. + +We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect +union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the +common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings +of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this +Constitution for the United States of America. + +ARTICLE I. + +Sect. 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a +Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House +of Representatives. + +Sect. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members +chosen every second year by the people of the several States; and the +electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for +electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislature. + +No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to the +age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United +States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State +in which he shall be chosen. + +Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several +States which may be included within this union, according to their +respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole +number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term +of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other +persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after +the first meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within +every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law +direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for +every thirty thousand, but each State shall have, at least, one +representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of +New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, +Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York +six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, +Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia +three. + +When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the +executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such +vacancies. + +The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other +officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. + +SECT. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two +senators from each State, chosen by the legislature thereof, for six +years; and each senator shall have one vote. + +Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first +election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, into three +classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated +at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the +expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration +of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; +and if vacancies happen by resignation or otherwise, during the +recess of the Legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make +temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which +shall then fill such vacancies. + +No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age of +thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and +who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he +shall be chosen. + +The vice-president of the United States shall be president of the +Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. + +The Senate shall choose their other officers, also a president pro +tempore, in the absence of the vice-president, or when he shall exercise +the office of president of the United States. + +The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When +sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When +the president of the United States is tried, the chief-justice shall +preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of +two-thirds of the members present. + +Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to +removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office +of honor, trust, or profit, under the United States; but the party +convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, +judgment, and punishment, according to law. + +SECT. 4. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for +senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the +legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time, by law, make or +alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. + +The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such +meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by +law appoint a different day. + +SECT. 5. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, +and qualifications of its own members; and a majority of each shall +constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn +from day to day, and imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout +the United States: + +To borrow money on the credit of the United States: + +To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, +and with the Indian tribes: + +To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the +subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States: + +To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix +the standard of weights and measures: + +To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and +current coin of the United States: + +To establish post-offices and post-roads: + +To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for +limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their +respective writings and discoveries: + +To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court: + +To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, +and offences against the law of nations: + +To declare war, to grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules +concerning captures on land and water: + +To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money to that use +shall be for a longer term than two years: + +To provide and maintain a navy: + +To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval +forces: + +To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the +Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions: + +To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and +for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the +United States-reserving to the States respectively the appointment of +the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the +discipline prescribed by Congress: + +To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases whatsoever, over +such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of +particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of +government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over +all places purchased, by the consent of the legislature of the State in +which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, +dock-yards, and other needful buildings:--and, + +To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into +execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by +this constitution in the government of the United States, or in any +department or officer thereof. + +SECT. 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of +the States, now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not be +prohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808, but a tax or duty +may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each +person. + +The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, +unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may +require it. + +No bill of attainder, or ex post facto law, shall be passed. + +No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion +to the census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken. + +No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. No +preference shall be given, by any regulation of commerce or revenue, to +the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound +to, or from one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in +another. + +No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of +appropriations made by law: and a regular statement and account of the +receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from +time to time. + +No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no +person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without +the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, +or title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state. + +SECT. 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or +confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit +bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in +payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law +impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. + +No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or +duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary +for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and +imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use +of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject +to the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the +consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships of +war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another +State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually +invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay. + +ARTICLE II. + +SECT. I. The executive power shall be vested in a president of the +United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of +four years, and, together with the vice-president, chosen for the same +term, be elected as follows: + +Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may +direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators and +representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but +no senator or representative, or person holding any office of trust or +profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. + +The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot +for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of +the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the +persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list +they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the +government of the United States, directed to the president of the +Senate. The president of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate +and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes +shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes +shall be the president, if such number be a majority of the whole number +of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such +majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the House of +Representatives shall immediately choose, by ballot, one of them for +president; and if no person have a majority, then from the five highest +on the list, the said house shall, in like manner, choose the president. +But in choosing the president, the votes shall be taken by States, +the representation from each State having one vote. A quorum for this +purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the +States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. +In every case, after the choice of the president, the person having the +greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the vice-president. +But if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate +shall choose from them, by ballot, the vice-president. + +The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the +day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same +throughout the United States. + +No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United +States at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall be +eligible to the office of president; neither shall any person be +eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of +thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United +States. + +In case the removal of the president from office, or of his death, +resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said +office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president; and the Congress +may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or +inability, both of the president and vice-president, declaring what +officer shall then act as president, and such officer shall act +accordingly until the disability be removed, or a president shall be +elected. + +The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services a +compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the +period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive +within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of +them. + +Before he enters on the execution of his office, he shall take the +following oath or affirmation: + +"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the +office of president of the United States, and will, to the best of my +ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United +States." + +SECT. 2. The president shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy +of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when +called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the +opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive +departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective +offices; and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for +offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. + +He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, +to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur; +and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the +Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, +judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United +States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and +which shall be established by law. But the Congress may by law vest +the appointment of such inferior officers as they think proper in the +president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. + +The president shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen +during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, which shall +expire at the end of their next session. + +SECT. 3. He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress information +of the state of the Union, and recommend to their consideration +such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on +extraordinary occasions, convene both houses, or either of them, and +in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of +adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; +he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take +care that the laws be faithfully executed; and shall commission all the +officers of the United States. + +SECT. 4. The president, vice-president, and all civil officers of the +United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and +conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. + +ARTICLE III. + +SECT. 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one +supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from +time to time, ordain and establish. The judges, both of the supreme +and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior; and +shall, at stated times, receive for their services a compensation, which +shall not be diminished during their continuance in office. + +SECT. 2. The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law and equity, +arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and +treaties made, or which shall be made under their authority; to all +cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all +cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which +the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more +States, between a State and citizens of another State, between citizens +of different States, between citizens of the same State, claiming lands +under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens +thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. + +In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, +and those in which a State shall be a party, the supreme court shall +have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, +the supreme court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and +fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress +shall make. + +The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by +jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes +shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the +trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have +directed. + +SECT. 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying +war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and +comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony +of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. +The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason; but +no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture, +except during the life of the person attainted. + +ARTICLE IV. + +SECT. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the +public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And +the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such +acts, records, and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. + +SECT. 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges +and immunities of citizens in the several States. + +A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who +shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand +of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered +up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. + +No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thereof, +escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation +therein, be discharged from such service or labor; but shall be +delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be +due. + +SECT. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but +no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any +other State, nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more +States, or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of +the States concerned, as well as of the Congress. + +The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules +and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging +to the United States; and nothing in this constitution shall be so +construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any +particular State. + +SECT. 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union +a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against +invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive +(when the legislature cannot be convened), against domestic violence. + +ARTICLE V. + +The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it +necessary, shall propose amendments to this constitution; or, on the +application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, +shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either +case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this +constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the +several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the +one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress: +Provided, that no amendment which may be made prior to the year 1808, +shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the ninth +section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, +shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. + +ARTICLE VI. + +All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the adoption +of this constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under +this constitution as under the confederation. + +This constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made +in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be made, +under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of +the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, +any thing in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary +notwithstanding. + +The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the members of +the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, +both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by +oath or affirmation to support this constitution; but no religious test +shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust +under the United States. + +ARTICLE VII. + +The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient +for the establishment of this constitution between the States so +ratifying the same. + +Done in convention, by the unanimous consent of the States present, +the 17th day of September, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of the +independence of the United States of America, the twelfth. In witness +whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names. + +GEORGE WASHINGTON, + +_President, and Deputy from Virginia._ + +_New Hampshire_. + +JOHN LANGDON, + +NICHOLAS GILMAN. + +_Massachusetts_. + +NATHANIEL GORHAM, + +RUFUS KING. + +_Connecticut._ + +WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON, + +ROGER SHERMAN. + +_New York_. + +ALEXANDER HAMILTON. + +_New Jersey_. + +WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, + +DAVID BREARLY, + +WILLIAM PATTERSON, + +JONATHAN DAYTON. + +_Pennsylvania_. + +BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, + +THOMAS MIFFLIN, + +ROBERT MORRIS, G + +GEORGE CLYMER, + +THOMAS FITZSIMONS, + +JARED INGERSOLL, + +JAMES WILSON, + +GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. + +_Delaware_. + +GEORGE READ, + +GUNNING BEDFORD, JR., + +JOHN DICKINSON, + +RICHARD BASSETT, + +JACOB BROOM. + +_Maryland_. + +JAMES M'HENRY, + +DANIEL OF ST. THOMAS JENIFER, + +DANIEL CARROLL. + +_Virginia_. + +JOHN BLAIR, + +JAMES MADISON, JR. + +_North Carolina_. + +WILLIAM BLOUNT, + +RICHARD DOBBS SPAIGHT, + +HUGH WILLIAMSON. + +_South Carolina_. + +JOHN RUTLEDGE, + +CHARLES COTESWORTH PINCKNEY, + +CHARLES PINCKNEY, + +PIERCE BUTLER. + +_Georgia_. + +WILLIAM FEW, + +ABRAHAM BALDWIN. + +Attest: WILLIAM JACKSON, Secretary. + + +1. Footnote: "Life of Washington," p. 389. + +2. Footnote: "Men and Times of the Revolution, or Memoirs of Elkanah +Watson." + +3. Footnote: Marshall, "Life of Washington." + +4. Footnote: It is a very interesting fact that the proposition in which +the Convention that formed the Constitution originated should have been +made at Mount Vernon, in Washington's presence, if not by himself. +As Faneuil Hall is called the Cradle of Liberty, Mount Vernon may be +regarded as the Cradle of the Constitution. + +5. Footnote: The occasion and effect of this insurrection, commonly +called Shay's Rebellion, are thus described by a recent writer. The +jealousy felt toward the statesmen of the Republic, or toward the upper +by the middle class--if the terms may be allowed--was likely to operate +fatally in marring the project of a Constitution, and rendering any +innovation for the purpose impracticable; since the dissentient States +were resolved not to choose delegates, or accede to the desire of +Virginia. + +These democratic opinions of the middle classes, however, and the +resolutions founded upon them, were eventually shaken and overturned by +the extreme to which they were carried by the lower orders. These were +no sooner inspired by the same political feelings, than, after their +fashion, they rose in insurrection; bade defiance not only to Congress, +but to the State authorities themselves; and, collecting in armed bands, +threatened to effect a serious revolution by taking law and property +into their own hands. The New England States, principally Massachusetts, +were the scenes of these disorders, which took place toward the close of +1786. + +A body of 2,000 men, assembled in the northwestern region of the State, +chose one of their number, Daniel Shay, for leader. They asked for +suspension of taxes, and the remission of paper money; but it was +known that their favorite scheme was that of an agrarian law--a general +division of property. Respectable classes were, of course, thrown into +alarm; Congress recovered a portion of that vigor which had marked it +during the war; troops were dispatched, under General Lincoln and other +officers, against the insurgents; and the citizens of the New England +towns forgot their late jealousy of the military so far as to join them +in the task of putting down their domestic foes. Funds were raised by +private subscription to supply the emptiness of the public treasury; and +an efficient force was enabled to march, in the midst of winter, against +the insurgents, who were soon dispersed and reduced. + +The rebellion thus suppressed was productive of the most salutary +result. The middle classes, terrified at the exaggeration of their own +doctrines, and at the risk of exciting the mob as supporters, rallied +universally to the support of Congress. + +Jealousy of those above was counterbalanced by fear of those below; and +the majority of the State Legislatures was brought to coincide with +the views of the Federal statesmen. Convinced by late experience of the +necessity of an established and general government, even for purposes +of domestic security, the hitherto refractory States named, without +hesitation, their delegates to the appointed convention for forming a +constitution. Rhode Island alone refused. + +6. Footnote: Sparks, "Writings of Washington." + +7. Footnote: George Ticknor Curtis, "History of the Constitution of the +United States." + + * * * * * + +PART VI. + + + + +WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT AND IN RETIREMENT. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +THE ELECTION. 1789. + + +As soon as it was ascertained that the new form of government had +received the sanction of the people and would go into immediate +operation, all eyes were at once turned to Washington as the first +President of the United States. During the war he had, in fact, directed +the course of public affairs. His suggestions had been almost invariably +followed by Congress. His recommendations had influenced the action of +the different States. His practical administrative abilities were known +to all. He alone possessed the confidence of the people to that degree +which was necessary to carry the constitution into vigorous effect +at the outset and to defend it against its secret as well as its open +enemies. But it was by no means certain that he would accept the office. +By all who knew him, fears were entertained that his preference for +private life would prevail over the wishes of the public, and soon after +the adoption of the constitution was ascertained, his correspondents +began to press him on a point which was believed essential to the +completion of the great work on which the grandeur and happiness of +America was supposed to depend. "We cannot," said Mr. Johnson, a man +of great political eminence in Maryland, "do without you; and I, and +thousands more, can explain to anybody but yourself why we cannot do +without you." "I have ever thought," said Gouverneur Morris, "and +have ever said, that you must be President; no other man can fill that +office. No other man can draw forth the abilities of our country into +the various departments of civil life. You alone can awe the insolence +of opposing factions and the greater insolence of assuming adherents. +I say nothing of foreign powers nor of their ministers. With these last +you will have some plague. As to your feelings on this occasion they +are, I know, both deep and affecting: you embark property most precious +on a most tempestuous ocean; for, as you possess the highest reputation, +so you expose it to the perilous chance of popular opinion. On the other +hand, you will, I firmly expect, enjoy the inexpressible felicity of +contributing to the happiness of all your countrymen. You will become +the father of more than three millions of children; and while your bosom +glows with parental tenderness, in theirs or at least in a majority of +them, you will excite the duteous sentiments of filial affection. This, +I repeat it, is what I firmly expect; and my views are not directed by +that enthusiasm which your public character has impressed on the public +mind. Enthusiasm is generally short-sighted and too often blind. I form +my conclusions from those talents and virtues which the world believes +and which your friends know you possess." + +In a letter detailing the arrangements which were making for the +introduction of the new government, Col. Henry Lee proceeded thus to +speak of the presidency of the United States. "The solemnity of +the moment and its application to yourself have fixed my mind in +contemplations of a public and a personal nature, and I feel an +involuntary impulse which I cannot resist, to communicate without +reserve to you some of the reflections which the hour has produced. +Solicitous for our common happiness as a people, and convicted as +I continue to be that our peace and prosperity depend on the proper +improvement of the present period, my anxiety is extreme that the new +government may have an auspicious beginning. To effect this and to +perpetuate a nation formed under your auspices it is certain that again +you will be called forth. + +"The same principles of devotion to the good of mankind which have +invariably governed your conduct will no doubt continue to rule your +mind, however opposite their consequences may be to your repose and +happiness. It may be wrong, but I cannot suppress, in my wishes for +national felicity, a due regard for your personal fame and content. + +"If the same success should attend your efforts on this important +occasion which has distinguished you hitherto, then, to be sure, you +will have spent a life which Providence rarely if ever before gave to +the lot of one man. It is my anxious hope, it is my belief, that this +will be the case; but all things are uncertain, and perhaps nothing more +so than political events." He then proceeded to state his apprehensions +that the government might sink under the activity hostility of its +foes, and in particular the fears which he entertained from the circular +letter of New York, around which the minorities in the several States +might be expected to rally. Before concluding his letter, Colonel Lee +said, "Without you the government can have but little chance of success; +and the people of that happiness which its prosperity must yield." + +In reply to this letter Washington said: "Your observations on the +solemnity of the crisis and its application to myself bring before me +subjects of the most momentous and interesting nature. In our +endeavors to establish a new general government the contest, nationally +considered, seems not to have been so much for glory as existence. +It was for a long time doubtful whether we were to survive as +an independent Republic or decline from our federal dignity into +insignificant and wretched fragments of empire. The adoption of the +constitution so extensively and with so liberal an acquiescence on the +part of the minorities in general, promised the former; but lately +the circular letter of New York has manifested, in my apprehension, an +unfavorable if not an insidious tendency to a contrary policy. I still +hope for the best, but before you mentioned it I could not help fearing +it would serve as a standard to which the disaffected might resort. It +is now evidently the part of all honest men who are friends to the new +constitution, to endeavor to give it a chance to disclose its merits and +defects, by carrying it fairly into effect in the first instance. + +"The principal topic of your letter is to me a point of great delicacy +indeed--insomuch that I can scarcely without some impropriety touch upon +it. In the first place, the event to which you allude may never happen; +among other reasons, because, if the partiality of my fellow-citizens +conceive it to be a means by which the sinews of the new government +would be strengthened, it will of consequence be obnoxious to those +who are in opposition to it, many of whom unquestionably will be placed +among the electors. + +"This consideration alone would supersede the expediency of announcing +any definite and irrevocable resolution. You are among the small number +of those who know my invincible attachment to domestic life, and that +my sincerest wish is to continue in the enjoyment of it solely, until +my final hour. But the world would be neither so well instructed, nor +so candidly disposed, as to believe me to be uninfluenced by sinister +motives, in case any circumstance should render a deviation from the +line of conduct I had prescribed for myself indispensable. Should the +contingency you suggest take place, and (for argument sake alone, let me +say) should my unfeigned reluctance to accept the office be overcome +by a deference for the reasons and opinions of my friends, might I not, +after the declarations I have made (and heaven knows they were made in +the sincerity of my heart), in the judgment of the impartial world, and +of posterity, be chargeable with levity and inconsistency, if not +with rashness and ambition? Nay, further, would there not even be some +apparent foundation for the two former charges? Now, justice to myself, +and tranquility of conscience, require that I should act a part, if not +above imputation, at least capable of vindication. Nor will you conceive +me to be too solicitous for reputation. Though I prize as I ought the +good opinion of my fellow-citizens, yet, if I know myself, I would not +seek or retain popularity at the expense of one social duty or moral +virtue. While doing what my conscience informed me was right, as it +respected _my God_, my country, and myself, I could despise all the +party clamor and unjust censure which must be expected from some, +whose personal enmity might be occasioned by their hostility to the +government. I am conscious that I fear alone to give any real occasion +for obloquy, and that I do not dread to meet with unmerited reproach. +And certain I am, when-so-ever I shall be convinced the good of my +country requires my reputation to be put in risk, regard for my own fame +will not come in competition with an object of so much magnitude. + +"If I declined the task it would be upon quite another principle. +Notwithstanding my advanced season of life, my increasing fondness for +agricultural amusements, and my growing love of retirement, augment and +confirm my decided predilection for the character of a private citizen, +yet it will be no one of these motives, nor the hazard to which my +former reputation might be exposed, or the terror of encountering new +fatigues and troubles, that would deter me from an acceptance, but +a belief that some other person, who had less pretense and less +inclination to be excused, could execute all the duties full as +satisfactorily as myself. To say more would be indiscreet, as a +disclosure of a refusal beforehand might incur the application of the +fable in which the fox is represented as undervaluing the grapes +he could not reach. You will perceive, my dear sir, by what is here +observed (and which you will be pleased to consider in the light of +a confidential communication), that my inclinations will dispose +and decide me to remain as I am, unless a clear and insurmountable +conviction should be impressed on my mind, that some very disagreeable +consequences must in all human probability result from the indulgence of +my wishes." + +About the same time Colonel Hamilton concluded a letter on miscellaneous +subjects with the following observations. "I take it for granted, sir, +you have concluded to comply with what will, no doubt, be the general +call of your country in relation to the new government. You will permit +me to say that it is indispensable you should lend yourself to its first +operations. It is to little purpose to have introduced a system, if +the weightiest influence is not given to its firm establishment in the +outset." + +"On the delicate subject," said Washington in reply, "with which you +conclude your letter, I can say nothing; because the event alluded to +may never happen; and because, in case it should occur, it would be +a point of prudence to defer forming one's ultimate and irrevocable +decision so long as new data might be afforded for one to act with the +greater wisdom and propriety. I would not wish to conceal my prevailing +sentiment from you. For you know me well enough, my good sir, to be +persuaded that I am not guilty of affectation, when I tell you it is my +great and sole desire to live and die in peace and retirement on my own +farm. Were it even indispensable a different line of conduct should +be adopted, while you and some others who are acquainted with my heart +would acquit, the world and posterity might probably accuse me of +inconsistency and ambition. Still, I hope I shall always possess +firmness and virtue enough to maintain (what I consider the most +enviable of all titles) the character of an honest man." + +This answer drew from Hamilton the following reply: "I should be deeply +pained, my dear sir, if your scruples in regard to a certain station +should be matured into a resolution to decline it; though I am neither +surprised at their existence, nor can I but agree in opinion that the +caution you observe in deferring the ultimate determination is prudent. +I have, however, reflected maturely on the subject, and have come to +the conclusion (in which I feel no hesitation) that every public and +personal consideration will demand from you an acquiescence in what will +certainly be the unanimous wish of your country. + +"The absolute retreat which you meditated at the close of the late war +was natural and proper. Had the government produced by the Revolution +gone on in a tolerable train, it would have been most advisable to have +persisted in that retreat. But I am clearly of opinion that the crisis +which brought you again into public view left you no alternative but to +comply; and I am equally clear in the opinion that you are by that act +pledged to take a part in the execution of the government. I am not +less convinced that the impression of the necessity of your filling the +station in question is so universal that you run no risk of any uncandid +imputation by submitting to it. But even if this were not the case, a +regard to your own reputation, as well as to the public good, calls upon +you in the strongest manner to run that risk. + +"It cannot be considered as a compliment to say that, on your acceptance +of the office of President, the success of the new government in its +commencement may materially depend. Your agency and influence will +be not less important in preserving it from the future attacks of its +enemies than they have been in recommending it in the first instance to +the adoption of the people. Independent of all considerations drawn from +this source, the point of light in which you stand at home and abroad +will make an infinite difference in the respectability with which the +government will begin its operations, in the alternative of your being +or not being at the head of it. I forbear to mention considerations +which might have a more personal application. What I have said will +suffice for the inferences I mean to draw. + +"First. In a matter so essential to the well-being of society as the +prosperity of a newly-instituted government, a citizen of so much +consequence as yourself to its success has no option but to lend his +services if called for. Permit me to say it would be inglorious, in such +a situation, not to hazard the glory, however great, which he might have +previously acquired. + +"Secondly. Your signature to the proposed system pledges your judgment +for its being such a one as, upon the whole, was worthy of the public +approbation. If it should miscarry (as men commonly decide from success +or the want of it), the blame will, in all probability, be laid on +the system itself. And the framers of it will have to encounter the +disrepute of having brought about a revolution in government without +substituting anything that was worthy of the effort; they pulled down +one utopia, it will be said, to build up another. This view of the +subject, if I mistake not, my dear sir, will suggest to your mind +greater hazard to that fame which must be, and ought to be, dear to you, +in refusing your future aid to the system than in affording it. I will +only add that in my estimate of the matter that aid is indispensable. + +"I have taken the liberty to express these sentiments and to lay before +you my view of the subject. I doubt not the considerations mentioned +have fully occurred to you, and I trust they will finally produce in +your mind the same result which exists in mine. I flatter myself the +frankness with which I have delivered myself will not be displeasing to +you. It has been prompted by motives which you would not disapprove." + +In answer to this letter, Washington expressed himself without reserve. +"In acknowledging," said he, "the receipt of your candid and kind letter +by the last post, little more is incumbent on me than to thank you +sincerely for the frankness with which you communicated your sentiments, +and to assure you that the same manly tone of intercourse will always be +more than barely welcome--indeed, it will be highly acceptable to me. + +"I am particularly glad, in the present instance, that you have dealt +thus freely and like a friend. Although I could not help observing, from +several publications and letters, that my name had been sometimes spoken +of, and that it was possible the contingency which is the subject of +your letter might happen, yet I thought it best to maintain a guarded +silence, and to lack the counsel of my best friends (which I certainly +hold in the highest estimation), rather than to hazard an imputation +unfriendly to the delicacy of my feelings. For, situated as I am, I +could hardly bring the question into the slightest discussion, or ask an +opinion even in the most confidential manner, without betraying, in +my judgment, some impropriety of conduct, or without feeling an +apprehension that a premature display of anxiety might be construed into +a vainglorious desire of pushing myself into notice as a candidate. Now, +if I am not grossly deceived in myself, I should unfeignedly rejoice, in +case the electors, by giving their votes in favor of some other person, +would save me from the dreadful dilemma of being forced to accept or +refuse. If that may not be, I am, in the next place, earnestly desirous +of searching out the truth, and of knowing whether there does not +exist a probability that the government would be just as happily and +effectually carried into execution without my aid as with it. I am +truly solicitous to obtain all the previous information which the +circumstances will afford, and to determine (when the determination can +with propriety be no longer postponed), according to the principles of +right reason and the dictates of a clear conscience, without too great +a reference to the unforeseen consequences which may affect my person +or reputation. Until that period, I may fairly hold myself open to +conviction, though I allow your sentiments to have weight in them, and I +shall not pass by your arguments without giving them as dispassionate a +consideration as I can possibly bestow upon them. + +"In taking a survey of the subject, in whatever point of light I have +been able to place it, I will not suppress the acknowledgment, my dear +sir, that I have always felt a kind of gloom upon my mind, as often as I +have been taught to expect I might, and perhaps must ere long, be called +to make a decision. You will, I am well assured, believe the assertion +(though I have little expectation it would gain credit from those who +are less acquainted with me), that if I should receive the appointment, +and should be prevailed upon to accept it, the acceptance would be +attended with more diffidence and reluctance than ever I experienced +before in my life. It would be, however, with a fixed and sole +determination of lending whatever assistance might be in my power to +promote the public weal, in hopes that at a convenient and an early +period, my services might be dispensed with, and that I might be +permitted once more to retire--to pass an unclouded evening, after the +stormy day of life, in the bosom of domestic tranquility." + +This correspondence was thus closed by Hamilton: "I feel a conviction +that you will finally see your acceptance to be indispensable. It is no +compliment to say that no other man can sufficiently unite the public +opinion, or can give the requisite weight to the office, in the +commencement of the government. These considerations appear to me of +themselves decisive. I am not sure that your refusal would not throw +everything into confusion. I am sure that it would have the worst effect +imaginable. + +"Indeed, as I hinted in a former letter, I think circumstances leave no +option." + +Although this correspondence does not appear to have absolutely decided +Washington on the part he should embrace, it could not have been without +its influence on his judgment, nor have failed to dispose him to +yield to the wish of his country. "I would willingly," said he, to his +estimable friend, General Lincoln, who had also pressed the subject on +him, "pass over in silence that part of your letter in which you +mention the persons who are candidates for the two first offices in the +executive, if I did not fear the omission might seem to betray a want +of confidence. Motives of delicacy have prevented me hitherto from +conversing or writing on this subject, whenever I could avoid it with +decency. I may, however, with great sincerity, and I believe without +offending against modesty or propriety, say to you that I most heartily +wish the choice to which you allude might not fall upon me; and that +if it should, I must reserve to myself the right of making up my final +decision at the last moment, when it can be brought into one view and +when the expediency or inexpediency of a refusal can be more judiciously +determined than at present. But be assured, my dear sir, if from any +inducement I shall be persuaded ultimately to accept, it will not be (so +far as I know my own heart) from any of a private or personal nature. +Every personal consideration conspires to rivet me (if I may use +the expression) to retirement. At my time of life, and under my +circumstances, nothing in this world can ever draw me from it, unless +it be a conviction that the partiality of my countrymen had made my +services absolutely necessary, joined to a fear that my refusal might +induce a belief that I preferred the conservation of my own reputation +and private ease to the good of my country. After all, if I should +conceive myself in a manner constrained to accept, I call Heaven +to witness that this very act would be the greatest sacrifice of my +personal feelings and wishes that ever I have been called upon to make. +It would be to forego repose and domestic enjoyment for trouble--perhaps +for public obloquy; for I should consider myself as entering upon an +unexplored field, enveloped on every side with clouds and darkness. + +"From this embarrassing situation I had naturally supposed that my +declarations at the close of the war would have saved me, and that my +sincere intentions, then publicly made known, would have effectually +precluded me forever afterward from being looked upon as a candidate for +any office. This hope, as a last anchor of worldly happiness in old age, +I had still carefully preserved, until the public papers and private +letters from my correspondents in almost every quarter taught me to +apprehend that I might soon be obliged to answer the question whether I +would go again into public life or not." + +"I can say little or nothing new," said he in a letter to Lafayette, "in +consequence of the repetition of your opinion on the expediency there +will be for my accepting the office to which you refer. Your sentiments, +indeed, coincide much more nearly with those of my other friends than +with my own feelings. In truth, my difficulties increase and magnify as +I draw toward the period when, according to the common belief, it will +be necessary for me to give a definitive answer in one way or other. +Should circumstances render it, in a manner, inevitably necessary to +be in the affirmative, be assured, my dear sir, I shall assume the task +with the most unfeigned reluctance and with a real diffidence, for which +I shall probably receive no credit from the world. If I know my own +heart, nothing short of a conviction of duty will induce me again to +take an active part in public affairs. And in that case, if I can form +a plan for my own conduct, my endeavors shall be unremittingly exerted +(even at the hazard of former fame or present popularity) to extricate +my country from the embarrassments in which it is entangled through +want of credit, and to establish a general system of policy which, if +pursued, will insure permanent felicity to the commonwealth. I think I +see a path, as clear and as direct as a ray of light, which leads to the +attainment of that object. Nothing but harmony, honesty, industry, and +frugality are necessary to make us a great and happy people. Happily, +the present posture of affairs, and the prevailing disposition of my +countrymen, promise to cooperate in establishing those four great and +essential pillars of public felicity." + +After the electors had been chosen, and before the electoral +colleges met, Washington was assailed with the usual importunities of +office-seekers. + +As marking the frame of mind with which he came into the government, +the following extract is given from one of the many letters written to +persons whose pretensions he was disposed to favor. "Should it become +absolutely necessary for me to occupy the station in which your letter +presupposes me, I have determined to go into it perfectly free from all +engagements of every nature whatsoever. A conduct in conformity to this +resolution would enable me, in balancing the various pretensions of +different candidates for appointments, to act with a sole reference to +justice and the public good. This is, in substance, the answer that I +have given to all applications (and they are not few) which have already +been made. Among the places sought after in these applications, I +must not conceal that the office to which you particularly allude is +comprehended. This fact I tell you merely as matter of information. +My general manner of thinking, as to the propriety of holding myself +totally disengaged, will apologize for my not enlarging further on the +subject. + +"Though I am sensible that the public suffrage which places a man in +office should prevent him from being swayed, in the execution of it, by +his private inclinations, yet he may assuredly, without violating his +duty, be indulged in the continuance of his former attachments." + +Although the time appointed for the new government to commence its +operations was the 4th of March, 1789, the members of Congress were so +dilatory in their attendance that a House of Representatives was not +formed till the 1st nor a Senate till the 6th of April. + +When at length the votes for President and Vice-President were opened +and counted in the Senate, it was found that Washington was unanimously +elected President, and that the second number of votes was given to John +Adams. George Washington and John Adams were therefore declared to be +duly elected President and Vice-President of the United States, to serve +for four years from the 4th of March, 1789. + +In a letter to General Knox, just before this announcement, Washington +thus adverts to the delay in forming a quorum of Congress: "I feel +for those members of the new Congress, who, hitherto, have given an +unavailing attendance at the theater of action. For myself, the delay +may be compared to a reprieve; for, in confidence, I tell you (with the +world it would obtain little credit) that my movements to the chair of +government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit +who is going to the place of his execution; so unwilling am I, in the +evening of life, nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful +abode for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political +skill, abilities, and inclination which are necessary to manage the +helm. I am sensible that I am embarking the voice of the people, and a +good name of my own, on this voyage; but what returns will be made for +them heaven alone can foretell. Integrity and firmness are all I can +promise; these, be the voyage long or short, shall never forsake me, +although I may be deserted by all men; for of the consolations which +are to be derived from these, under any circumstances, the world cannot +deprive me." There is every reason to believe that the diffidence +expressed in the above was sincere. It is perfectly consistent with the +unaffected modesty of Washington's character. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +THE ADMINISTRATION FORMED. 1789. + + +Washington's election was announced to him by a special messenger from +Congress, on the 14th of April, 1789. His acceptance of it, and +his expressions of gratitude for this fresh proof of the esteem +and confidence of his country, were connected with declarations of +diffidence in himself. "I wish," he said, "that there may not be +reason for regretting the choice--for, indeed, all I can promise is to +accomplish that which can be done by an honest zeal." + +As the public business required the immediate attendance of the +President at the seat of government, he hastened his departure, and, on +the second day after receiving notice of his appointment, took leave of +Mount Vernon. + +In an entry made by himself in his diary, the feelings inspired by an +occasion so affecting to his mind are thus described: "About 10 o'clock +I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity, +and, with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations +than I have words to express, set out for New York in company with Mr. +Thomson and Colonel Humphreys, with the best dispositions to render +service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hope of +answering its expectations." + +"The President and his lady," says Mr. Custis, "bid adieu with extreme +regret to the tranquil and happy shades where a few years of repose had, +in a great measure, effaced the effects of the toils and anxieties of +war; where little Eden had bloomed and nourished under their fostering +hands and where a numerous circle of friends and relatives would +sensibly feel the privation of their departure. They departed and +hastened to where duty called the man of his country." + +Soon after leaving Mount Vernon he was met by a cavalcade of gentlemen, +who escorted him to Alexandria, where a public dinner had been prepared +to which he was invited. Arrived at that place, he was greeted by a +public address, to which he made an appropriate reply. The address +differs from others, inasmuch as it came from his personal friends and +neighbors, and gives some interesting personal details. The tenor of the +following passage must have sensibly touched the feelings of Washington: + +"Not to extol your glory as a soldier; not to pour forth our gratitude +for past services; not to acknowledge the justice of the unexampled +honor which has been conferred upon you by the spontaneous and unanimous +suffrages of 3,000,000 of freemen, in your election to the supreme +magistracy; nor to admire the patriotism which directs your conduct, do +your neighbors and friends now address you. Themes less splendid, but +more endearing, impress our minds. The first and best of citizens must +leave us; our aged must lose their ornament; our youth their model; our +agriculture its improver; our commerce its friend; our infant academy +its protector; our poor their benefactor; and the interior navigation of +the Potomac (an event replete with the most extensive utility, already, +by your unremitted exertions, brought into partial use) its institutor +and promoter." + +Washington left Alexandria on the afternoon of the same day and attended +by his neighbors proceeded to Georgetown, where he was received by a +number of citizens of Maryland. His journey thenceforth to the seat +of government was a continual triumph. Military escorts, cavalcades of +citizens, and crowds of people of all ages and both sexes awaited +his arrival at each town. We may imagine the enthusiastic shouts and +welcomes with which he was received by the people. + +On his approach to Philadelphia he was met by Governor Mifflin, Judge +Peters, and a military escort, headed by General St. Clair, and followed +by the usual cavalcade of gentlemen. Washington was mounted on a +splendid white horse. The procession passed into the city through +triumphal arches adorned with wreaths of flowers and laurel, attended +by an immense crowd of people. The day was a public festival, and in +the evening an illumination and a display of fireworks testified the +enthusiasm of the occasion. The next day, at Trenton, he was welcomed +in a manner as new as it was pleasing. In addition to the usual +demonstrations of respect and attachment which were given by the +discharge of cannon, by military corps, and by private persons of +distinction, the gentler sex prepared in their own taste a tribute of +applause indicative of the grateful recollection in which they held +their deliverance twelve years before from a formidable enemy. On +the bridge over the creek which passes through the town was erected a +triumphal arch highly ornamented with laurels and flowers and supported +by thirteen pillars, each entwined with wreaths of evergreen. On the +front arch was inscribed in large gilt letters, "The defender of the +mothers will be the protector of the daughters." + +On the center of the arch, above the inscription, was a dome or cupola +of flowers and evergreens, encircling the dates of two memorable events +which were peculiarly interesting to New Jersey. The first was the +battle of Trenton, and the second the bold and judicious stand made +by the American troops at the same creek, by which the progress of +the British army was arrested on the evening preceding the battle of +Princeton. + +At this place he was met by a party of matrons leading their daughters, +dressed in white, who carried baskets of flowers in their hands and +sang, with exquisite sweetness, an ode of two stanzas, composed for the +occasion. + +At New Brunswick he was joined by the Governor of New Jersey, who +accompanied him to Elizabethtown Point. A committee of Congress received +him on the road and conducted him with military parade to the Point, +where he took leave of the Governor and other gentlemen of New Jersey +and embarked for New York in an elegant barge of thirteen oars, manned +by thirteen branch pilots, prepared for the purpose by the citizens of +New York. + +"The display of boats," says Washington, in his private journal, "which +attended and joined on this occasion, some with vocal and others with +instrumental music, on board, the decorations of the ships, the roar of +cannon, and the loud acclamations of the people, which rent the sky as +I passed along the wharves, filled my mind with sensations as painful +(contemplating the reverse of this scene, which may be the case after +all my labors to do good) as they were pleasing." + +At the stairs on Murray's wharf, which had been prepared and ornamented +for the purpose, he was received by Governor Clinton, of New York, and +conducted with military honors, through an immense concourse of people, +to the apartments provided for him. These were attended by all who +were in office and by many private citizens of distinction, who pressed +around him to offer their congratulations and to express the joy which +glowed in their bosoms at seeing the man in whom all confided at the +head of the American empire. This day of extravagant joy was succeeded +by a splendid illumination. + +Mr. Custis, writing of the journey from Mount Vernon to New York, and of +Washington's mode of living at the seat of government, says: + +"The august spectacle at the bridge of Trenton brought tears to the eyes +of the chief, and forms one of the most brilliant recollections of the +age of Washington. + +"Arrived at the seat of the Federal government, the President and +Mrs. Washington formed their establishment upon a scale that, while it +partook of all the attributes of our republican institutions, possessed +at the same time that degree of dignity and regard for appearances so +necessary to give our infant Republic respect in the eyes of the world. +The house was handsomely furnished; the equipages neat, with horses of +the first order; the servants wore the family liveries, and, with the +exception of a steward and housekeeper, the whole establishment differed +but little from that of a private gentleman. On Tuesdays, from 3 to 4 +o'clock, the President received the foreign ambassadors and strangers +who wished to be introduced to him. On these occasions, and when opening +the sessions of Congress, the President wore a dress sword. His +personal apparel was always remarkable for its being old-fashioned and +exceedingly plain and neat. On Thursdays were the congressional dinners +and on Friday nights Mrs. Washington's drawing-room. The company usually +assembled about 7 and rarely stayed exceeding 10 o'clock. The ladies +were seated, and the President passed around the circle, paying his +compliments to each. At the drawing-rooms Mrs. Morris always sat at the +right of the lady president, and at all the dinners, public or private, +at which Robert Morris was a guest, that venerable man was placed at the +right of Mrs. Washington. + +"On the great national festivals of the 4th of July and 22d of February, +the sages of the Revolutionary Congress and the officers of the +Revolutionary army renewed their acquaintance with Mrs. Washington; many +and kindly greetings took place with many a recollection of the days of +trial. The Cincinnati, after paying their respects to their chief, were +seen to file off toward the parlor, where Lady Washington was in waiting +to receive them, and where Wayne, and Mifflin, and Dickinson, and +Stewart, and Moylan, and Hartley, and a host of veterans were cordially +welcomed as old friends, and where many an interesting reminiscence was +called up, of the headquarters and the 'times of the Revolution.' + +"On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe, the President +and Mrs. Washington attended divine service at Christ Church, and in the +evening the President read to Mrs. Washington, in her chamber, a +sermon or some portion from the sacred writings. No visitors, with the +exception of Mr. Speaker Trumbull, were admitted to the presidoliad on +Sundays. + +"There was one description of visitors, however, to be found about the +first President's mansion on all days. The old soldiers repaired, as +they said, to headquarters just to inquire after the health of his +Excellency and Lady Washington. They knew his Excellency was, of course, +much engaged, but they would like to see the good lady, one had been +a soldier of the life guard, another had been on duty when the British +threatened to surprise the headquarters, a third had witnessed that +terrible fellow, Cornwallis, surrender his sword; each one had some +touching appeal with which to introduce himself to the peaceful +headquarters of the presidoliad. All were 'kindly bid to stay,' were +conducted to the steward's apartments, and refreshments set before them, +and, after receiving some little token from the lady, with her best +wishes for the health and happiness of an old soldier, they went their +ways, while blessings upon their revered commander and the good Lady +Washington were uttered by many a war worn veteran of the Revolution." +[1] + +The simple mode of life above described did not save Washington from +public censure by those who are always ready to carp at the doings of +distinguished men, however unexceptionable their conduct may be. Free +levees were said to savor of an affectation of royal state. In a +letter to his friend, Dr. Stewart, Washington thus puts to silence this +calumny, with his usual good sense and unanswerable argument: + +"Before the custom was established which now accommodates foreign +characters, strangers, and others, who, from motives of curiosity, +respect to the chief magistrate, or any other cause, are induced to +call upon me, I was unable to attend to any business whatsoever. For +gentlemen, consulting their own convenience rather than mine, were +calling from the time I rose from breakfast--often before--until I sat +down to dinner. This, as I resolved not to neglect my public duties, +reduced me to the choice of one of these alternatives--either to refuse +them altogether or to appropriate a time for the reception of them. The +first would, I well knew, be disgusting to many; the latter I expected +would undergo animadversion from those who would find fault with or +without cause. To please everybody was impossible. I therefore adopted +that line of conduct which combined public advantage with private +convenience, and which, in my judgment, was unexceptionable in itself. + +"These visits are optional. They are made without invitation. Between +the hours of 3 and 4 every Tuesday I am prepared to receive them. +Gentlemen, often in great numbers, come and go, chat with each other, +and act as they please. A porter shows them into the room, and they +retire from it when they choose, and without ceremony. At their first +entrance they salute me and I them, and as many as I can talk to I +do. What pomp there is in all this I am unable to discover. Perhaps it +consists in not sitting. To this two reasons are opposed: first, it is +unusual; secondly (which is a more substantial one); because I have +no room large enough to contain a third of the chairs which would +be sufficient to admit it. If it is supposed that ostentation or the +fashions of courts (which by the by, I believe originate oftener in +convenience, not to say necessity, than is generally imagined) gave rise +to this custom, I will boldly affirm that no supposition was ever more +erroneous, for were I to indulge my inclinations every moment that +I could withdraw from the fatigues of my station should be spent in +retirement. That they are not proceeds from the sense I entertain of +the propriety of giving to everyone as free access as consists with that +respect which is due to the chair of government; and that respect, I +conceive, is neither to be acquired or preserved but by maintaining a +just medium between too much state and too great familiarity. + +"Similar to the above, but of a more familiar and sociable kind, are +the visits every Friday afternoon to Mrs. Washington, where I always am. +These public meetings, and a dinner once a week to as many as my table +will hold, with the references to and from the different departments of +state and other communications with all parts of the Union, is as much +if not more than I am able to undergo; for I have already had within +less than a year two severe attacks--the last worse than the first; +a third, it is more than probable, will put me to sleep with my +fathers--at what distance this may be I know not." + +The inauguration of Washington deserves particular notice, inasmuch as +in its chief outlines it has served for the precedent to all succeeding +inaugurations. Congress had determined that the ceremony of taking the +oath of office should be performed in public and in the open air. It +took place on the 30th of April, 1789. In the morning religious +services were performed in all the churches of the city. At 12 o'clock a +procession was formed at the residence of the President, consisting of a +military escort and the committees of Congress and heads of departments +in carriages, followed by Washington alone in a carriage, and his +aid-de-camp, Colonel Humphreys, and secretary, Mr. Lear, in another +carriage, with the foreign ministers and citizens bringing up the rear. +The procession moved to the hall of Congress, where Washington alighted +with his attendants and entered the senate chamber. Here he was received +by the Senate and House of Representatives. The Vice-President, John +Adams, conducted Washington to his appointed seat, and shortly after +announced to him that all was prepared for his taking the oath of +office. Washington then proceeded to an open balcony in front of the +house, where was a table with an open Bible lying upon it. On his +appearance in the balcony, he was received with a most enthusiastic +burst of popular applause, which he acknowledged by bowing to the +people. Chancellor Livingston administered the oath, while Adams, +Hamilton, Knox, Steuben, and others stood near the President. While the +oath was being administered Washington laid his hand on the Bible. At +its conclusion he said, "I swear, so help me God." His administration +proves that the oath was sincere. He then stooped down and kissed +the Bible. When the ceremony was concluded, he returned to the senate +chamber and delivered his inaugural address to the two branches of +Congress. He then proceeded on foot, with the whole assemblage, to St. +Paul's Church, where prayers were read by the bishop, and the public +ceremonial of the day was completed. + +The occasion was celebrated by the people as a grand festival, and +in the evening there was a display of fireworks as well as a general +illumination of the city. + +This display of enthusiasm on the part of the people was far from +rendering Washington over-confident of success in his new position. +He was thoroughly aware of the difficulties which would have to be +encountered in putting the new government into action, so as to insure +its stability and success. The opening of his inaugural address to both +branches of Congress gives a clear indication of his views and feelings +on taking office. It is as follows: + +"Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled +me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was +transmitted by your order and received on the 14th day of the present +month. On the one hand I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can +never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had +chosen with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with +an immutable decision, as the asylum of my declining years; a retreat +which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me +by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions +in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other +hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of +my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and +most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his +qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one, who, +inheriting inferior endowments from nature, and unpracticed in the +duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his +own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, +that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just +appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be effected. All +I dare hope is, that if, in accepting this task, I have been too +much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances or by an +affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of +my fellow-citizens, and have thence too little consulted my incapacity, +as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before +me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and its +consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality +in which they originated. + +"Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the +public summons, repaired to the present station, it will be peculiarly +improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications +to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe--who presides in the +councils of nations, and whose Providential aids can supply every +human defect--that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and +happiness of the people of the United States, a government instituted by +themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument +employed in its administration to execute with success the functions +allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the great Author of +every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your +sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at +large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore +the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the +people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to +the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished +by some token of Providential agency, and in the important Revolution +just accomplished in the system of their united government, the tranquil +deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, +from which the event has resulted, cannot be compared with the means +by which most governments have been established, without some return +of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future +blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out +of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind +to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there +are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free +government can more auspiciously commence." + +It will be seen by these expressions that the same sense of solemn +responsibility and the same undoubting trust in Providence, so often +evinced by Washington during the conflicts and perils of the war, marked +his entrance upon the arduous duties of chief magistrate of the nation. +As in the previous instance of accepting office, he now signified to +Congress that he would receive no compensation for his services, except +such as should be necessary to defray the expenses incident to the +position in which he was placed. + +This determination was announced in the concluding portion of the +inaugural address, which was as follows: + +"By the article establishing the executive department, it is made the +duty of the President 'to recommend to your consideration such measures +as he shall judge necessary and expedient.' The circumstances under +which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject, +further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which +you are assembled, and which, in defining your powers, designates +the objects to which your attention is to be given. It will be more +consistent with those circumstances and far more congenial with the +feelings which actuate me to substitute in place of a recommendation +of particular measures the tribute that is due to the talents, the +rectitude, and the patriotism which adorn the characters selected to +devise and adopt them. In these honorable qualifications I behold the +surest pledges that, as on one side no local prejudices or attachments, +no separate views nor party animosities will misdirect the comprehensive +and equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of +communities and interests; so, on another, that the foundations of our +national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of +private morality, and the pre-eminence of free government be exemplified +by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens and +command the respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect with every +satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire, since +there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in +the economy and course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue +and happiness--between duty and advantage--between the genuine maxims +of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public +prosperity and felicity, since we ought to be no less persuaded that +the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that +disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has +ordained, and since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and +the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered +as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the +hands of the American people. + +"Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care it will remain +with your judgment to decide how far an exercise of the occasional +power delegated by the fifth article of the constitution is rendered +expedient, at the present juncture, by the nature of objections which +have been urged against the system or by the degree of inquietude +which has given birth to them. Instead of undertaking particular +recommendations on this subject, in which I could be guided by no lights +derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire +confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good, for I +assure myself that, whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which +might endanger the benefits of a united and effective government, or +which ought to await the future lessons of experience, a reverence for +the characteristic rights of freemen and a regard for the public harmony +will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far +the former can be more impregnably fortified or the latter be safely and +advantageously promoted. + +"To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most +properly addressed to the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, +and will, therefore, be as brief as possible. When I was first honored +with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an +arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my +duty required that I should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From +this resolution I have in no instance departed. And being still under +the impressions which produced it, I must decline, as inapplicable to +myself, any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably +included in a permanent provision for the executive department, and must +accordingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which +I am placed, may, during my continuance in it, be limited to such actual +expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. + +"Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened +by the occasion which brings us together, I shall take my present leave, +but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of the human +race, in humble supplication, that since He has been pleased to favor +the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect +tranquility and dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on +a form of government for the security of their union and the advancement +of their happiness, so his divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in +the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures +on which the success of his government must depend." + +This speech was read to Congress by the President himself. The practice +of sending a message instead of reading the speech in person was +introduced by President Jefferson, who did not appear to advantage as an +orator, and it has been continued to the present time. The same persons +who found fault with Washington's levees would probably have regarded +the practice introduced by Washington as anti-republican, as it is +practiced by the sovereigns of Great Britain. + +The executive departments which had existed under the confederation were +necessarily continued until Congress should make new arrangements. Mr. +Jay still acted as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, an office analogous to +that which is now denominated Secretary of State, and General Knox +as Secretary of War. The treasury was entrusted to a board of +commissioners. Each of these at the request of the President furnished +a full report of the state of the department respectively under their +control. To the digesting, condensing, and studying of these, and of the +diplomatic correspondence of the government since the close of the war, +Washington now devoted himself with unwearied attention. + +Of the mode in which his daily life was now passed during the hours +when not engaged in official duty, we gain a pleasing glimpse from +the following extract from G. W. P. Custis' "Recollections and Private +Memoirs of the Life and Character of Washington," as follows: + +"In the then limited extent and improvement of the city there was +some difficulty in selecting a mansion for the residence of the chief +magistrate and a house suitable to his rank and station. Osgood's house, +a mansion of very moderate extent, was at length fixed upon, situated in +Cherry street. + +"There the President became domiciled. His domestic family consisted +of Mrs. Washington, the two adopted children, Mr. Lear, as principal +secretary, Colonel Humphreys, with Messrs. Lewis and Nelson, +secretaries, and Maj. William Jackson, aide-de-camp. + +"Persons visiting the house in Cherry street at this time of day will +wonder how a building so small could contain the many and mighty spirits +that thronged its halls in olden days. Congress, cabinets, all public +functionaries in the commencement of the government were selected +from the very elite of the nation. Pure patriotism, commanding talent, +eminent services, were the proud and indispensable requisites for +official station in the first days of the Republic. The first Congress +was a most enlightened and dignified body. In the Senate were several +of the members of the Congress of 1776 and signers of the Declaration of +Independence--Richard Henry Lee, who moved the Declaration, John Adams, +who seconded it, with Sherman, Morris, Carroll, etc. + +"The levees of the first President were attended by these illustrious +patriots and statesmen, and by many other of the patriots, statesmen, +and soldiers, who could say of the Revolution, '_magna pars fui_,' while +numbers of foreigners and strangers of distinction crowded to the seat +of the general government, all anxious to witness the grand experiment +that was to determine how much rational liberty mankind is capable of +enjoying, without said liberty degenerating into licentiousness. + +"Mrs. Washington's drawing-rooms, on Friday nights, were attended by +the grace and beauty of New York. On one of these occasions an incident +occurred which might have been attended by serious consequences. Owing +to the lowness of the ceiling in the drawing-room, the ostrich feather +in the head-dress of Miss McIver, a belle of New York, took fire from +the chandelier, to the no small alarm of the company. Major Jackson, +aide-de-camp to the President, with great presence of mind and equal +gallantry, flew to the rescue of the lady, and, by clapping the burning +plumes between his hands, extinguished the flames, and the drawing-room +went on as usual. + +"Washington preserved the habit, as well in public as in private life, +of rising at 4 o'clock and retiring to bed at 9. On Saturdays he rested +somewhat from his labors by either riding into the country, attended by +a groom, or with his family in his coach drawn by six horses. + +"Fond of horses, the stables of the President were always in the finest +order and his equipage excellent, both in taste and quality. Indeed, +so long ago as the days of the vice-regal court of Lord Botetourt, at +Williamsburg, in Virginia, we find that there existed a rivalry between +the equipages of Colonel Byrd, a magnate of the old _régime_, and +Colonel Washington--the grays against the bays. Bishop, the celebrated +body-servant of Braddock, was the master of Washington's stables. And +there were what was termed muslin horses in those days. At cockcrow the +stable boys were at work; at sunrise Bishop stalked into the stables, +a muslin handkerchief in his hand, which he applied to the coats of the +animals, and, if the slightest stain was perceptible upon the muslin, +up went the luckless wights of the stableboys and punishment was +administered instanter; for to the veteran Bishop, bred amid the iron +discipline of European armies, mercy for anything like a breach of duty +was altogether out of the question. + +"The President's stables in Philadelphia were under the direction of +German John, and the grooming of the white chargers will rather surprise +the moderns. The night before the horses were expected to be rode +they were covered entirely over with a paste, of which whiting was the +principal component part; then the animals were swathed in body clothes +and left to sleep upon clean straw. In the morning the composition had +become hard, was well rubbed in, and curried and brushed, which process +gave to the coats a beautiful, glossy, and satin-like appearance. The +hoofs were then blacked and polished, the mouths washed, teeth picked +and cleaned, and, the leopard-skin housings being properly adjusted, +the white chargers were led out for service. Such was the grooming of +ancient times. + +"There was but one theater in New York in 1789 (in John street), and so +small were its dimensions that the whole fabric might easily be placed +on the stage of one of our modern theaters. Yet, humble as was the +edifice, it possessed an excellent company of actors and actresses, +including old Morris, who was the associate of Garrick, in the very +outset of that great actor's career, at Goodrhan's Fields. The stage +boxes were appropriated to the President and Vice-President, and were +each of them decorated with emblems, trophies, etc. At the foot of the +playbills were always the words, '_Vivat Respublica_.' Washington +often visited this theater, being particularly gratified by Wignell's +performance of Darby, in the 'Poor Soldier.' + +"It was in the theater in John street that the now national air of 'Hail +Columbia,' then called the 'President's March,' was first played. It was +composed by a German musician by the name of Fyles, the leader of the +orchestra, in compliment to the President. The national air will last as +long as the nation lasts, while the meritorious composer has been long +since forgotten. + +"It was while residing in Cherry street that the President was attacked +by a severe illness that required a surgical operation. He was attended +by the elder and younger Drs. Bard. The elder, being somewhat doubtful +of his nerves, gave the knife to his son, bidding him 'cut away--deeper, +deeper still; don't be afraid; you see how well he bears it.' Great +anxiety was felt in New York at this time, as the President's case +was considered extremely dangerous. Happily, the operation proved +successful, and the patient's recovery removed all cause of alarm. +During the illness a chain was stretched across the street and the +sidewalks laid with straw. Soon after his recovery the President set out +on his intended tour through the New England States. + +"The President's mansion was so limited in accommodation that three of +the secretaries were compelled to occupy one room--Humphreys, Lewis, and +Nelson. Humphreys, aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief at Yorktown, +was a most estimable man, and at the same time a poet. About this period +he was composing his 'Widow of Malabac.' Lewis and Nelson, both young +men, were content, after the labors of the day, to enjoy a good night's +repose. But this was often denied them, for Humphreys, when in the vein, +would rise from his bed at any hour, and, with stentorian voice, recite +his verses. The young men, roused from their slumbers, and rubbing their +eyes, beheld a great burly figure, '_en chemise_,' striding across +the floor, reciting, with great emphasis, particular passages from his +poems, and calling on his room-mates for their approbation. Having, +in this way, for a considerable time, 'murdered the sleep' of his +associates, Humphreys, at length, wearied by his exertions, would sink +upon his pillow in a kind of dreamy languor. So sadly were the young +secretaries annoyed by the frequent outbursts of the poet's imagination +that it was remarked of them by their friends, that, from 1789 to the +end of their lives, neither Robert Lewis nor Thomas Nelson was ever +known to evince the slightest taste for poetry." + +Washington had hardly recovered from the severe attack of illness above +referred to, when he heard of the death of his mother, who died on the +25th of August, 1789. He had paid her a visit just before leaving +Mount Vernon for the seat of government. She was then residing at +Fredericksburg, and was gradually sinking under a disease which was +evidently mortal; and Washington, fully aware that he was seeing her for +the last time, was much affected at the interview. She also felt that +they were parting to meet no more in this world. "But she bade him go, +with Heaven's blessing and her own, to fulfill the high destinies to +which he had been called." + +The mother of Washington was, in many respects, a remarkable woman. Her +influence over her son in early life we have already had occasion +to notice. In her last days she presents a true picture of matronly +dignity. Mr. Custis states that she was continually visited and solaced, +in the retirement of her declining years, by her children and numerous +grandchildren. Her daughter, Mrs. Lewis, repeatedly and earnestly +solicited her to remove to her house and there pass the remainder of her +days. Her son pressingly entreated her that she would make Mount Vernon +the home of her age. But the matron's answer was: "I thank you for your +affectionate and dutiful offers, but my wants are few in this world and +I feel perfectly competent to take care of myself." To the proposition +of her son-in-law, Colonel Lewis, to relieve her by taking the direction +of her concerns, she replied. "Do you, Fielding, keep my books in +order, for your eyesight is better than mine; but leave the executive +management to me." Such were the energy and independence she preserved +to an age beyond that usually allotted to mortals, and till within three +years of her death, when the disease under which she suffered (cancer of +the breast) prevented exertion. + +Her meeting with Washington, after the victory which decided the fortune +of America, illustrates her character too strikingly to be omitted: +"After an absence of nearly seven years it was, at length, on the return +of the combined armies from Yorktown, permitted to the mother to see and +embrace her illustrious son. So soon as he had dismounted, in the midst +of a numerous and brilliant suite, he sent to apprise her of his arrival +and to know when it would be her pleasure to receive him. And now, mark +the force of early education and habits, and the superiority of the +Spartan over the Persian schools, in this interview of the great +Washington with his admirable parent and instructor. No pageantry of war +proclaimed his coming--no trumpets sounded--no banners waved. Alone, +and on foot, the Marshal of France, the General-in-Chief of the combined +armies of France and America, the deliverer of his country, the hero of +the age, repaired to pay his humble duty to her whom he venerated as the +author of his being, the founder of his fortune and his fame. Full well +he knew that the matron was made of sterner stuff than to be moved by +all the pride that glory ever gave or by all the "pomp and circumstance" +of power. The lady was alone--her aged hands employed in the works of +domestic industry--when the good news was announced, and it was further +told that the victor chief was in waiting at the threshold. She welcomed +him with a warm embrace, and by the well-remembered and endearing names +of his childhood. Inquiring as to his health, she remarked the lines +which mighty cares and many trials had made on his manly countenance, +spoke much of old times and old friends, but of his glory, not one word! + +"Meantime, in the village of Fredericksburg, all was joy and revelry. +The town was crowded with the officers of the French and American +armies, and with gentlemen from all the country around, who hastened to +welcome the conquerors of Cornwallis. The citizens made arrangements for +a splendid ball to which the mother of Washington was specially invited. +She observed that although her dancing days were pretty well over +she should feel happy in contributing to the general festivity, and +consented to attend. + +"The foreign officers were anxious to see the mother of their chief. +They had heard indistinct rumors respecting her remarkable life and +character, but, forming their judgment from European examples, they were +prepared to expect in the mother that glare and show which would have +been attached to the parents of the great in the old world. How were +they surprised when the matron, leaning on the arm of her son, entered +the room! She was arrayed in the very plain, yet becoming garb worn by +the Virginia lady of the olden time. Her address, always dignified and +imposing, was courteous though reserved. She received the complimentary +attentions which were profusely paid her without evincing the slightest +elevation, and, at an early hour, wished the company much enjoyment of +their pleasures, and observing that it was time for old people to be at +home, retired, leaning as before on the arm of her son." + +To this picture may be added another: + +"The Marquis de Lafayette repaired to Fredericksburg, previous to his +departure for Europe in the fall of 1784, to pay his parting respects to +the mother, and to ask her blessing. Conducted by one of her grandsons +he approached the house, when the young gentleman observed: 'There, sir, +is my grandmother.' Lafayette beheld--working in the garden, clad in +domestic-made clothes, and her gray head covered with a plain straw +hat--the mother of 'his hero, his friend, and a country's preserver.' +The lady saluted him, kindly observing: 'Ah, marquis! you see an old +woman, but come, I can make you welcome to my poor dwelling without the +parade of changing my dress.'" + +To the encomiums lavished by the marquis on his chief, the mother +replied: "I am not surprised at what George has done for he was always +a very good boy." So simple, in her true greatness of soul, was this +remarkable woman. + +Her piety was ardent, and she associated devotion with the grand and +beautiful in nature. She was in the habit of repairing every day for +prayer to a secluded spot, formed by rocks and trees, near her dwelling. + +The person of Mrs. Washington is described as being of the medium height +and well proportioned--her features pleasing, though strongly marked. +There were few painters in the Colonies in those days, and no portrait +of her is in existence. Her biographer saw her but with infant eyes, +but well remembered the sister of the chief. Of her we are told nothing, +except that "she was a most majestic woman and so strikingly like the +brother that it was a matter of frolic to throw a cloak around her and +place a military hat upon her head, and such was the perfect resemblance +that had she appeared on her brother's steed, battalions would have +presented arms, and senates risen to do homage to the chief." + +Mrs. Washington died at the age of eighty-five, rejoicing in the +consciousness of a life well spent, and the hope of a blessed +immortality. Her ashes repose at Fredericksburg, where a splendid +monument has been erected to her memory. [2] + +Deeply as Washington felt the loss of his estimable parent his attention +was speedily withdrawn from his private and personal interests by the +important political affairs which were pressing upon him. Congress were +now fairly engaged in giving form and efficiency to the newly-created +government. [3] + +The continued existence of the constitution itself was menaced by some +of the States which had acceded to it, as well as by those who had +refused to adopt it. In some of the States a disposition to acquiesce +in the decision which had been made, and to await the issue of a fair +experiment of the constitution was avowed by the minority. In others +the chagrin of defeat seemed to increase the original hostility to the +instrument, and serious fears were entertained by its friends that a +second general convention might pluck from it the most essential of +its powers before their value and the safety with which they might be +confided where they were placed could be ascertained by experience. + +From the same cause exerting itself in a different direction the friends +of the new system had been still more alarmed. In all those States where +the opposition was sufficiently formidable to inspire a hope of success, +the effort was made to fill the Legislature with the declared enemies of +the government and thus to commit it, in its infancy, to the custody of +its foes. Their fears were quieted for the present. In both branches +of the Legislature the Federalists, an appellation at that time +distinguishing those who had supported the constitution, formed the +majority, and it soon appeared that a new convention was too bold an +experiment to be applied for by the requisite number of States. But two +States, Rhode Island and North Carolina, still remained out of the pale +of the Union, and a great deal of ill humor existed among those who were +included within it, which increased the necessity of circumspection in +those who administered the government. + +To the western parts of the continent the attention of the Executive was +attracted by discontents which were displayed with some violence, and +which originated in circumstances and in interests peculiar to that +country. + +Spain, in possession of the mouth of the Mississippi, had refused to +permit the citizens of the United States to follow its waters into the +ocean, and had occasionally tolerated or interdicted their commerce to +New Orleans, as had been suggested by the supposed interest or caprice +of the Spanish government or of its representatives in America. The eyes +of the inhabitants adjacent to the waters which emptied into that +river were turned down it as the only channel through which the surplus +produce of their luxuriant soil could be conveyed to the markets of the +world. Believing that the future wealth and prosperity of their +country depended on the use of that river they gave some evidence of a +disposition to drop from the Confederacy, if this valuable acquisition +could not otherwise be made. This temper could not fail to be viewed +with interest by the neighboring powers, who had been encouraged by it +and by the imbecility of the government, to enter into intrigues of an +alarming nature. + +Previous to his departure from Mount Vernon, Washington had received +intelligence, too authentic to be disregarded, of private machinations, +by real or pretended agents both of Spain and Great Britain, which were +extremely hostile to the peace and to the integrity of the Union. + +Spain had intimated that the navigation of the Mississippi could never +be conceded while the inhabitants of the western country remained +connected with the Atlantic States, but might be freely granted to them +if they should form an independent empire. + +On the other hand a gentleman from Canada, whose ostensible business was +to repossess himself of some lands on the Ohio which had been formerly +granted to him, frequently discussed the vital importance of the +navigation of the Mississippi, and privately assured several individuals +of great influence that if they were disposed to assert their rights he +was authorized by Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Canada, to say that +they might rely confidently on his assistance. With the aid it was in +his power to give they might seize New Orleans, fortify the Balize at +the mouth of the Mississippi, and maintain themselves in that place +against the utmost efforts of Spain. [4] + +The probability of failing in any attempt to hold the mouth of the +Mississippi by force, and the resentments against Great Britain which +prevailed generally throughout the western country, diminished the +danger to be apprehended from any machinations of that power, but +against those of Spain the same security did not exist. + +In contemplating the situation of the United States in their relations +not purely domestic the object demanding most immediate consideration +was the hostility of several tribes of Indians. The military strength +of the nations who inhabited the country between the lakes, the +Mississippi, and the Ohio was computed at 5,000 men, of whom about 1,500 +were at open war with the United States. Treaties had been concluded +with the residue, but the warlike disposition of the Indians, and the +provocations they had received, furnished reasons for apprehending that +these treaties would soon be broken. + +In the South the Creeks, who could bring into the field 6,000 fighting +men, were at war with Georgia. In the mind of their leader, M'Gillivray, +the son of a white man, some irritation had been produced by the +confiscation of the lands of his father who had resided in that State, +and several other refugees, whose property had also been confiscated, +contributed still further to exasperate the nation. But the immediate +point in contest between them was a tract of land on the Oconee, which +the State of Georgia claimed under a purchase, the validity of which was +denied by the Indians. + +The regular force of the United States was less than 600 men. + +Not only the policy of accommodating differences by negotiation which +the government was in no condition to terminate by the sword, but a real +respect for the rights of the natives and a regard for the claims of +justice and humanity, disposed Washington to endeavor, in the first +instance, to remove every cause of quarrel by a treaty, and his +message to Congress on this subject evidenced his preference of pacific +measures. + +Possessing many valuable articles of commerce for which the best market +was often found on the coast of the Mediterranean, struggling to export +them in their own bottoms, and unable to afford a single gun for their +protection, the Americans could not view with unconcern the dispositions +which were manifested toward them by the Barbary powers. A treaty had +been formed with the Emperor of Morocco, but from Algiers, Tunis, and +Tripoli peace had not been purchased, and those regencies considered all +as enemies to whom they had not sold their friendship. The unprotected +vessels of America presented a tempting object to their rapacity, and +their hostility was the more terrible, because by their public law +prisoners became slaves. + +The United States were at peace with all the powers of Europe, but +controversies of a delicate nature existed with some of them, the +adjustment of which required a degree of moderation and firmness which +there was reason to fear might not, in every instance, be exhibited. + +The apprehensions with which Spain had contemplated the future strength +of the United States, and the consequent disposition to restrict them +to narrow limits, have been already noticed. After the conclusion of the +war the attempt to form a treaty with that power had been repeated, but +no advance toward an agreement on the points Of difference between the +two governments had been made. + +Circumstances attending the points of difference with Great Britain were +still more serious, because, in their progress, a temper unfavorable to +accommodation had been uniformly displayed. + +The resentments produced by the various calamities war had occasioned +were not terminated with their cause. The idea that Great Britain +was the natural enemy of America had become habitual. Believing it +impossible for that nation to have relinquished its views of conquest, +many found it difficult to bury their animosities and to act upon the +sentiment contained in the Declaration of Independence, "to hold them as +the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends." In addition to +the complaints respecting the violation of the treaty of peace +events were continually supplying this temper with fresh aliment. +The disinclination which the cabinet of London had discovered to a +commercial treaty with the United States was not attributed exclusively +to the cause which had been assigned for it. It was in part ascribed to +that jealousy with which Britain was supposed to view the growing trade +of America. + +The general restrictions on commerce by which every maritime power +sought to promote its own navigation, and that part of the European +system in particular by which each aimed at a monopoly of the trade of +its Colonies, were felt with peculiar keenness when enforced by England. +In this suspicious temper almost every unfavorable event which occurred +was traced up to British hostility. + +That an attempt to form a commercial treaty with Portugal had failed, +was attributed to the influence of the cabinet of London, and to the +machinations of the same power were also ascribed the danger from +the corsairs of Barbary and the bloody incursions of the Indians. The +resentment excited by these causes was felt by a large proportion of the +American people, and the expression of it was common and public. That +correspondent dispositions existed in England is by no means improbable, +and the necessary effect of this temper was to increase the difficulty +of adjusting the differences between the two nations. + +With France the most perfect harmony subsisted. Those attachments which +originated in the signal services received from the King of France +during the war of the Revolution had sustained no diminution. Yet, +from causes which it was found difficult to counteract, the commercial +intercourse between the two nations was not so extensive as had been +expected. It was the interest and, of consequence, the policy of France, +to avail herself of the misunderstandings between the United States and +Great Britain, in order to obtain such regulations as might gradually +divert the increasing trade of the American continent from those +channels in which it had been accustomed to flow, and a disposition was +felt throughout the United States to cooperate with her in enabling her +merchants, by legislative encouragements, to rival those of Britain in +the American market. + +A great revolution had commenced in that country, the first stage of +which was completed by limiting the powers of the monarch, and by the +establishment of a popular assembly. In no part of the globe was this +revolution hailed with more joy than in America. The influence it would +have on the affairs of the world was not then distinctly foreseen, and +the philanthropist, without becoming a political partisan, rejoiced in +the event. On this subject, therefore, but one sentiment existed. + +The relations of the United States with the other powers of Europe +did not require particular attention. Their dispositions were rather +friendly than otherwise, and an inclination was generally manifested +to participate in the advantages which the erection of an independent +empire on the western shores of the Atlantic held forth to the +commercial world. + +By the ministers of foreign powers in America it would readily be +supposed that the first steps taken by the new government would not +only be indicative of its present system, but would probably affect its +foreign relations permanently, and that the influence of the President +would be felt in the Legislature. Scarcely was the exercise of his +executive functions commenced when Washington received an application +from the Count de Moustiers, the minister of France, requesting a +private conference. On being told that the Department of Foreign Affairs +was the channel through which all official business should pass, the +count replied that the interview he requested was not for the purpose of +actual business, but rather as preparatory to its future transaction. + +The next day, at 1 in the afternoon, was named for the interview. The +count commenced the conversation with declarations of his personal +regard for America, the manifestations of which, he said, had been early +and uniform. His nation, too, was well disposed to be upon terms of +amity with the United States, but at his public reception there were +occurrences which he thought indicative of coolness in the Secretary +of Foreign Affairs, who had, he feared, while in Europe, imbibed +prejudices, not only against Spain, but against France also. If this +conjecture should be right the present head of that department could not +be an agreeable organ of intercourse with the President. He then took +a view of the modern usages of European courts, which, he said, favored +the practice he recommended, of permitting foreign ministers to make +their communications directly to the chief of the executive. "He then +presented a letter," says Washington in his private journal, "which +he termed confidential, and to be considered as addressed to me in my +private character, which was too strongly marked with an intention, as +well as a wish, to have no person between the minister and President in +the transaction of business between the two nations." + +In reply to these observations Washington assured him that, judging from +his own feelings and from the public sentiment, there existed in America +a reciprocal disposition to be on the best terms with France. That +whatever former difficulties might have occurred he was persuaded the +Secretary of Foreign Affairs had offered no intentional disrespect +either to the minister or to his nation. Without undertaking to know +the private opinions of Mr. Jay he would declare that he had never heard +that officer express, directly or indirectly, any sentiment unfavorable +to either. + +Reason and usage, he added, must direct the mode of treating national +and official business. If rules had been established they must be +conformed to. If they were yet to be framed it was hoped that they would +be convenient and proper. So far as case could be made to comport with +regularity and with necessary forms, it ought to be consulted, but +custom, and the dignity of office, were not to be disregarded. The +conversation continued upward of an hour, but no change was made in the +resolution of the President. + +During its first session the national Legislature was principally +occupied in providing revenues for the long-exhausted treasury, in +establishing a judiciary, in organizing the executive departments in +detail, and in framing amendments to the constitution, agreeably to the +suggestion of the President. The members immediately entered upon +the exercise of those powers so long refused under the articles of +confederation. They imposed a tonnage duty, as well as duties on various +imported articles, steadily keeping in sight, however, the navigating +interest of the country, which had hitherto been almost wholly at the +mercy of other nations. Higher tonnage duties were imposed on foreign +than on American bottoms, and goods imported in vessels belonging to +citizens of the United States paid 10 per cent less duty than the same +goods brought in those owned by foreigners. These discriminating duties +were intended to counteract the commercial regulations of foreign +nations and to encourage American shipping. To aid in the management of +the affairs of government three executive departments were established, +styled Departments of War, Foreign Affairs, and of the Treasury, with a +secretary at the head of each. + +The heads of these departments, in addition to the duties specially +assigned them, were intended to constitute a council, to be consulted +by the President whenever he thought proper, and the Executive was +authorized by the constitution to require the opinion, in writing, +of the principal officers in the executive departments, on subjects +relating to the duties of their offices. In framing the acts +constituting these offices and defining their duties, it became an +important subject of inquiry in what manner or by whom these important +officers could be removed from office. This was a question as new as +it was momentous and was applicable to all officers of executive +appointment. In the long and learned debates on the subject in Congress, +there arose a very animated opposition to such a construction of the +constitution as to give this power to any one individual. Whatever +confidence might be placed in the chief magistrate then at the head +of the government, equal confidence could not be expected in his +successors, and it was contended that a concurrence of the Senate was +as necessary and proper in the removal of a person from office as in his +appointment. Some of the members of the House of Representatives were +of opinion that they could not be removed without impeachment. The +principal question, however, on which Congress was divided, was, whether +they were removable by the President alone, or by the President in +concurrence with the Senate. A majority, however, in both houses, +decided that this power was in the President alone. In the House, the +majority in favor of this construction was twelve. This decision of +a great constitutional question has been acquiesced in, and in its +consequences has been of greater importance than almost any other since +the establishment of the new government. From the manner in which this +power has been exercised, it has given a tone and character to the +executive branch of the government not contemplated, it is believed, by +the framers of the constitution or by those who constituted the first +Congress under it. It has greatly increased the influence and patronage +of the President and in no small degree made him the center around which +the other branches of the government revolve. [4] + +In a free country, where the private citizen has both the right and the +inclination to take an interest in the public concerns, it is natural +that political parties and civil contentions should arise. These will be +more or less violent, angry, and hostile, according as a sense of common +security from external dangers leaves no cause for united action, and +little anxiety for the common peace. A natural consequence of this +strife of parties is the exercise of the passions--pride, interest, +vanity, resentment, gratitude--each contributing its share in irritating +and prolonging the controversy. In the beginning of the Revolution, +the people of the United States divided themselves into the two great +classes of Whigs and Tories; then they again separated upon the question +of absolute independence. Other questions arose during the war, relative +to its conduct, and the qualifications of the leaders of the army. +Independence achieved, the minds of the people were agitated about the +nature of the government, which all saw to be necessary for their own +happiness, and for the better enabling them to prosecute with foreign +countries peaceful negotiations or the operations of war. Many saw, in +too close a union, dangers as great and consequences as distasteful as +in their entire separation. It was believed by many that the extent +of the country, the great diversity of character, habits, and pursuits +among the several States, presented insuperable obstacles to a closer +union than that afforded by the articles of confederation. Some were +almost exclusively commercial, others agricultural; some were disposed +to engage in manufacturing pursuits; some had domestic slavery firmly +connected with their domestic relations and were disposed to look +favorably on the extension of the institution; others regarded +involuntary servitude as a curse, and desired its abolition. + +It was not to be wondered at, that with such points of diversity, many +should suppose that a single government could not administer the affairs +of all, except by a greater delegation of power than would be submitted +to by the American people. While some looked wholly to these apprehended +consequences of a close union and a single government, others chiefly +regarded the dangers arising from disunion, domestic dissensions, +and even war. One party dreaded consolidation; the other, anarchy and +separation. Each saw, in the object of its dread, the destruction +of good government, though one party looked too exclusively to its +characteristic of order, the other to that of civil liberty. These were +the thoughts of the people, widely different, but all equally honest. +But the politicians addressed themselves to these prejudices, often with +unworthy motives. Local prejudices, self-interest, fears, in some cases +from an anticipated loss of consequence, in the event of a transfer of +sovereignty from the individual States to the general government, all +combined to make many violent in their expressions of opposition to the +plan. Apprehensions of violence and disorder, and fears from +individual popularity in a circumscribed sphere, led others to desire +consolidation. With these, ranked others who were fond of the pomp and +show of authority which would attend a powerful government; and still +others, who, having claims upon the country, supposed that they would +have much stronger hopes of being paid themselves and of seeing the +debts due abroad liquidated if a system of government were established +which could be certain to raise a revenue for these objects. On the +formation of the constitution, the community settled down into two +great parties, Federalists and Anti-Federalists, or Democrats; the first +believing that the most imminent danger to our peace and prosperity was +in disunion, and that popular jealousy, always active, would withhold +the power which was essential to good order and national safety; the +other party believing that the danger most to be apprehended was in +too close a union, and that their most powerful opponents wished a +consolidated and even a monarchial government. + +There were many who had been accustomed to reflect upon government and +political relations previously to the war of independence, when the +constitution of Great Britain being by far the best that had ever +existed, they may naturally be supposed to have conceived for it +a degree of homage and respect which it could not now inspire. The +speculations on political rights, to which the contest with Great +Britain and the debates on the question of independence gave rise, +greatly favored the doctrines of political equality and the hatred of +power in any form that could control the public will. There are, in the +heart of every man, principles which readily prepare him for republican +doctrines, and after a few years some of the speculative politicians +began to think that the free, simple, and equal government which was +suited to the tastes and habits of our people, was also the best +in theory. The great body of the people were partial to the form of +government to which they had been accustomed and wished for none other, +though the leading statesmen differed upon this point. Some preferred +the republican form in theory and believed that no other would be +tolerated in practice, and others regretted that they were obliged to +yield so far to popular prejudice as to forego the form they deemed +best, but determined to avail themselves of every opportunity of +improving the existing government into that form. Nor were they without +hopes that by siding with the general government in every question of +power between that and the separate States, and with the Executive +in all questions between that and the Legislature, and by continually +increasing the patronage of the executive by means of an army, a navy, +and the multiplication of civil officers, they would ultimately obtain +their object. [5] + +It was in the midst of this society, so agitated and disturbed, that +Washington, without ambition, without any false show, from a sense of +duty rather than inclination and rather trusting in truth than confident +of success, undertook actually to found the government decreed by the +new-born constitution. He rose to his high office invested with an +immense influence, which was acknowledged and received even by his +enemies. + +Washington's natural inclination, says Guizot, [7] was rather to a +democratic social state than to any other. Of a mind just rather than +expansive, of a temper wise and calm, full of dignity, but free from +all selfish and arrogant pretensions--coveting rather respect than +power--the impartiality of democratic principles and the simplicity +of democratic manners, far from offending or annoying him, suited his +tastes and satisfied his judgment. He did not trouble himself with +inquiring whether more elaborate combinations, a division into ranks, +privileges, and artificial barriers, were necessary to the preservation +of society. He lived tranquilly in the midst of an equal and sovereign +people, finding its authority to be lawful and submitting to it without +effort. + +But when the question was one of political and not social order, when +the discussion turned upon the organization of the government, he was +strongly federal, opposed to local and popular pretensions and the +declared advocate of the unity and force of the central power. + +He placed himself under this standard and did so to insure its triumph. +But still his elevation was not the victory of a party and awakened in +no one either exultation or regret. In the eyes, not only of the public, +but of his enemies, he was not included in any party and was above them +all: "the only man in the United States," said Jefferson, "who possessed +the confidence of all;--there was no other one who was considered as +anything more than a party leader." + +It was his constant effort to maintain this honorable privilege. "It is +really my wish to have my mind and my actions, which are the result +of reflection, as free and independent as the air. If it should be my +inevitable fate to administer the government, I will go to chair under +no pre-engagement of any kind or nature whatsoever. Should anything +tending to give me anxiety present itself in this or any other +publication, I shall never undertake the painful task of recrimination, +nor do I know that I should ever enter upon my justification. All else +is but food for declamation. Men's minds are as various as their faces, +and, where the motives of their actions are pure, the operations of the +former are no more to be imputed to them as a crime than the appearance +of the latter. Differences in political opinions are as unavoidable, as, +to a certain point, they may, perhaps, be necessary." [8] + +A stranger also to all personal disputes, to the passions and prejudices +of his friends, as well as his enemies, the purpose of his whole policy +was to maintain this position and to this policy he gave the true name, +"the just medium!" + +It is much, continues the great statesman of France, to have the wish to +preserve a just medium; but the wish, though accompanied with firmness +and ability, is not always enough to secure it. Washington succeeded in +this as much by the natural turn of his mind and character as by making +it his peculiar aim; he was, indeed, really of no party, and his country +in esteeming him so, did no more than pay homage to truth. + +A man of experience and a man of action, he had an admirable wisdom, and +made no pretension to systematic theories. He took no side beforehand; +he made no show of the principles that were to govern him. Thus, there +was nothing like a logical harshness in his conduct, no committal of +self-love, no struggle of rival talent. When he obtained the victory, +his success was not to his adversaries either a stake lost or a sweeping +sentence of condemnation. It was not on the ground of the superiority +of his own mind that he triumphed, but on the ground of the nature of +things and of the inevitable necessity that accompanied them. Still, his +success was not an event without a moral character, the simple result of +skill, strength, or fortune. Uninfluenced by any theory he had faith in +truth and adopted it as the guide of his conduct. He did not pursue the +victory of one opinion against the partisans of another; neither did +he act from interest in the event alone, or merely for success. He did +nothing which he did not think to be reasonable and just; so that his +conduct, which had no systematic character that might be humbling to his +adversary, had still a moral character which commanded respect. + +Men had, moreover, the most thorough conviction of his +disinterestedness, that great light to which men so willingly trust +their fate; that vast power which draws after it their hearts, while at +the same time it gives them confidence that their interests will not be +surrendered, either as a sacrifice or as instruments to selfishness +and ambition. A striking proof of his impartiality was afforded in the +choice of the persons who were to form his cabinet under the law for the +formation of the executive departments. + +The government being completely organized and a system of revenue +established, the important duty of filling the offices which had been +created remained to be performed. In the execution of this delicate +trust the purest virtue and the most impartial judgment were exercised +by Washington in selecting the best talents and the greatest weight +of character which the United States could furnish. The unmingled +patriotism of the motives by which he was actuated, receives its +clearest demonstration from a view of all his private letters on this +subject, and the success of his endeavors is attested by the abilities +and reputation which he drew into the public service. + +At the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, since denominated the +Department of State, he placed Jefferson, who had been bred to the bar, +and at an early period of life had acquired considerable reputation +for extensive attainments in the science of politics. He had been a +distinguished member of the Second Congress and had been offered a +diplomatic appointment, which he had declined. Withdrawing from the +administration of Continental affairs, he had been elected Governor +of Virginia, which office he filled for two years. He afterwards again +represented his native State in the councils of the Union, and in +the year 1784 was appointed to succeed Dr. Franklin at the court of +Versailles. In that station he had acquitted himself much to the public +satisfaction. His "Notes on Virginia," which were read with applause, +were believed to evince the soundness of his political opinions, and the +Declaration of Independence was universally ascribed to his pen. He had +long been placed by America amongst the most eminent of her citizens, +and had long been classed by the President with those who were most +capable of serving the nation. Having lately obtained permission to +return for a short time to the United States, he was, while on his +passage, nominated to this important office, and, on his arrival in +Virginia, found a letter from the President, giving him the option of +becoming the Secretary of Foreign Affairs or of retaining his station at +the court of Versailles. He appears rather to have inclined to continue +in his foreign appointment, and, in changing his situation, to have +consulted the wishes of the first magistrate more than the preference of +his own mind. [8] + +The task of restoring public credit, of drawing order and arrangement +from the chaotic confusion in which the finances of America were +involved, and of devising means which should render the revenue +productive and commensurate with the demand, in a manner least +burdensome to the people, was justly classed among the most arduous of +the duties which devolved on the new government. In discharging it, much +aid was expected from the head of the treasury. This important, and at +that time, intricate department, was assigned to Colonel Hamilton. + +This gentleman was a native of the Island of St. Croix, and at a +very early period of life had been placed by his friends in New York. +Possessing an ardent temper, he caught fire from the concussions of the +moment, and, with all the enthusiasm of youth, engaged first his pen, +and afterwards his sword in the stern contest between the American +Colonies and their parent State. Among the first troops raised by New +York was a corps of artillery, in which he was appointed a captain. Soon +after the war was transferred to the Hudson, his superior endowments +recommended him to the attention of the Commander-in-Chief, into whose +family, before completing his twenty-first year, he was invited to +enter. Equally brave and intelligent, he continued in this situation to +display a degree of firmness and capacity which commanded the confidence +and esteem of his general and of the principal officers in the army. + +After the capitulation at Yorktown, the war languished throughout +the American continent and the probability that its termination was +approaching daily increased. + +The critical circumstances of the existing government rendered the +events of the civil more interesting than those of the military +department, and Colonel Hamilton accepted a seat in the Congress of +the United States. In all the important acts of the day he performed +a conspicuous part, and was greatly distinguished among those +distinguished men whom the crisis had attracted to the councils of their +country. He had afterwards been active in promoting those measures which +led to the convention at Philadelphia, of which he was a member, and had +greatly contributed to the adoption of the constitution by the State of +New York. In the preeminent part he had performed, both in the military +and civil transactions of his country, he had acquired a great degree of +well-merited fame, and the frankness of his manners, the openness of his +temper, the warmth of his feelings, and the sincerity of his heart, had +secured him many valuable friends. + +To talents equally splendid and useful he united a patient industry, not +always the companion of genius, which fitted him, in a peculiar manner, +for subduing the difficulties to be encountered by the man who should be +placed at the head of the American finances. [9] + +The Department of War was already filled by General Knox, and he was +again nominated to it. + +Throughout the contest of the Revolution this officer had continued +at the head of the American artillery, and from being the colonel of +a regiment, had been promoted to the rank of a major-general. In this +important station he had preserved a high military character, and on the +resignation of General Lincoln had been appointed Secretary of War. To +his past services and to unquestionable? integrity, he was admitted to +unite a sound understanding, and the public judgment, as well as that +of the chief magistrate, pronounced him in all respects competent to the +station he filled. + +The office of attorney-general was filled by Edmund Randolph. To a +distinguished reputation in the line of his profession, this gentleman +added a considerable degree of political eminence. After having been, +for several years the attorney-general of Virginia, he had been elected +its Governor. While in this office he was chosen a member of the +convention which framed the constitution, and was also elected to that +which was called by the State for its adoption or rejection. After +having served at the head of the executive the term permitted by the +constitution of the State, he entered into its Legislature, where he +preserved a great share of influence. + +Such was the first cabinet council of the President. In its composition, +public opinion as well as intrinsic worth had been consulted, and a high +degree of character had been combined with real talent. + +In the selection of persons for high judicial offices, the President was +guided by the same principles. At the head of this department he placed +John Jay. + +From the commencement of the Revolution this gentleman had filled a +large space in the public mind. Remaining, without intermission, in +the service of his country, he had passed through a succession of +high offices, and in all of them had merited the approbation of his +fellow-citizens. To his pen, while in Congress, America was indebted +for some of those masterly addresses which reflected most honor upon the +government, and to his firmness and penetration was to be ascribed, +in no inconsiderable degree, the happy issue of those intricate +negotiations which were conducted, toward the close of the war, at +Madrid and at Paris. On returning to the United States he had been +appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs, in which station he had +conducted himself with his accustomed ability. A sound judgment improved +by extensive reading and great knowledge of public affairs, unyielding +firmness, and inflexible integrity, were qualities of which Mr. Jay had +given frequent and signal proofs. Although for some years withdrawn from +that profession to which he was bred, the acquisitions of his early life +had not been lost, and the subjects on which his mind had been exercised +were not entirely foreign from those which would, in the first instance, +employ the courts in which he was to preside. + +John Rutledge of South Carolina, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, William +Gushing of Massachusetts, Robert Harrison of Maryland, and John Blair of +Virginia, were nominated as associate justices. Some of these gentlemen +had filled the highest law offices in their respective States, and all +of them had received distinguished marks of the public confidence. + +In the systems which had been adopted by the several States, offices +corresponding to those created by the revenue laws of Congress had been +already established. + +Uninfluenced by considerations of personal regard, Washington could +not be induced to change men whom he found in place, if worthy of being +employed, and where the man who had filled such office in the former +state of things was unexceptionable in his conduct and character he +was uniformly reappointed. In deciding between competitors for vacant +offices the law he prescribed for his government was to regard +the fitness of candidates for the duties they would be required to +discharge, and, where an equality in this respect existed, former merits +and sufferings in the public service gave claims to preference which +could not be overlooked. + +In the legislative, as well as in the executive and judicial +departments, great respectability of character was also associated with +an eminent degree of talents. The constitutional prohibition to appoint +any member of the Legislature to an office created during the time for +which he had been elected did not exclude men of the most distinguished +abilities from the First Congress. Impelled by an anxious solicitude +respecting the first measures of the government its zealous friends had +pressed into its service, and, in both branches of the Legislature, men +were found who possessed the fairest claims to the public confidence. + +From the duties attached to his office the Vice-President of the +United States and President of the Senate, though not a member of the +Legislature, was classed, in the public mind, with that department not +less than with the executive. Elected by the whole people of America in +common with the President he could not fail to be taken from the most +distinguished citizens and to add to the dignity of the body over which +he presided. + +John Adams was one of the earliest and most ardent patriots of the +Revolution. Bred to the bar, he had necessarily studied the constitution +of his country and was among the most determined assertors of its +rights. Active in guiding that high spirit which animated all New +England, he became a member of the Congress of 1774 and was among the +first who dared to avow sentiments in favor of independence. In that +body he soon attained considerable eminence, and, at an early stage of +the war, was chosen one of the commissioners to whom the interests of +the United States in Europe were confided. In his diplomatic character +he had contributed greatly to those measures which drew Holland into the +war; had negotiated the treaty between the United States and the Dutch +Republic, and had, at critical points of time, obtained loans of money +which were of great advantage to his country. In the negotiations which +terminated the war he had also rendered important services, and, after +the ratification of the definitive articles of peace, had been deputed +to Great Britain for the purpose of effecting a commercial treaty with +that nation. The political situation of America having rendered this +object unattainable he solicited leave to return, and arrived in the +United States soon after the adoption of the constitution. + +As a statesman John Adams had at all times ranked high in the estimation +of his countrymen. He had improved a sound understanding by extensive +political and historical reading, and perhaps no American had reflected +more profoundly on the subject of government. The exalted opinion he +entertained of his own country was flattering to his fellow-citizens, +and the purity of his mind, the unblemished integrity of a life spent in +the public service, had gained him their confidence. + +A government, supported in all its departments by so much character +and talent, at the head of which was placed a man whose capacity +was undoubted, whose life had been one great and continued lesson of +disinterested patriotism, and for whom almost every bosom glowed with +an attachment bordering on enthusiasm, could not fail to make a rapid +progress in conciliating the affection of the people. That all hostility +to the constitution should subside, that public measures should receive +universal approbation, that no particular disgusts and individual +irritations should be excited, were expectations which could not +reasonably be indulged. Exaggerated accounts were indeed occasionally +circulated of the pomp and splendor which were affected by certain high +officers of the monarchical tendencies of particular institutions and +of the dispositions which prevailed to increase the powers of the +executive. That the doors of the Senate were closed and that a +disposition had been manifested by that body to distinguish the +President of the United States by a title, gave considerable umbrage, +and were represented as evincing inclinations in that branch of the +Legislature unfriendly to republicanism. The exorbitance of salaries +was also a subject of some declamation, and the equality of commercial +privileges with which foreign bottoms entered American ports, was not +free from objection. But the apprehensions of danger to liberty from the +new system, which had been impressed on the minds of well-meaning men, +were visibly wearing off; the popularity of the administration was +communicating itself to the government, and the materials with which the +discontented were furnished could not yet be efficaciously employed. + +Toward the close of the session a report on a petition which had been +presented at an early period by the creditors of the public residing in +the State of Pennsylvania was taken up in the House of Representatives. +Though many considerations rendered a postponement of this interesting +subject necessary two resolutions were passed: the one, "declaring that +the House considered an adequate provision for the support of the +public credit, as a matter of high importance to the national honor and +prosperity," and the other, directing "the Secretary of the Treasury to +prepare a plan for that purpose, and to report the same to the House at +its next meeting." + +On the 29th of September (1789) Congress adjourned to the first Monday +in the succeeding January (1790). + +Throughout the whole of this laborious and important session perfect +harmony subsisted between the executive and the Legislature, and no +circumstance occurred which threatened to impair it. The modes of +communication between the departments of government were adjusted in +a satisfactory manner, and arrangements were made on some of those +delicate points in which the Senate participate of executive power. + +Washington's own views of the proceedings of Congress are expressed in +the following extract from a letter to a friend: + +"That Congress does not proceed with all that dispatch which people at +a distance expect, and which, were they to hurry business, they possibly +might, is not to be denied. That measures have been agitated which are +not pleasing to Virginia--and others, pleasing perhaps to her, but +not to some other States--is equally unquestionable. Can it well be +otherwise in a country so extensive, so diversified in its interests? +And will not these different interests naturally produce--in an assembly +of representatives who are to legislate for, and to assimilate and +reconcile them to, the general welfare--long, warm, and animated +debates? Most assuredly they will, and if there was the same propensity +in mankind for investigating the motives as there is for censuring the +conduct of public characters, it would be found that the censure so +freely bestowed is oftentimes unmerited and uncharitable. For instance, +the condemnation of Congress for sitting only four hours in the day. The +fact is, by the established rules of the House of Representatives, no +committee can sit whilst the House is sitting, and that is, and has been +for a considerable time, from 10 o'clock in the forenoon until 3, often +later, in the afternoon, before and after which the business is going on +in committees. If this application is not as much as most constitutions +are equal to, I am mistaken. + +"Many other things, which undergo malignant constructions, would be +found, upon a candid examination, to wear a better face than is given to +them. The misfortune is that the enemies to the government, always more +active than its friends and always upon the watch to give it a stroke, +neglect no opportunity to aim one. If they tell truth it is not the +whole truth, by which means one side only of the picture is exhibited, +whereas, if both sides were seen it might, and probably would, assume a +different form in the opinion of just and candid men, who are disposed +to measure matters by a continental scale. + +"I do not mean, however, from what I have here said, to justify the +conduct of Congress in all its movements, for some of these movements, +in my opinion, have been injudicious, and others unreasonable; whilst +the questions of assumption, residence, and other matters, have been +agitated with a warmth and intemperance, with prolixity and threats, +which, it is to be feared, have lessened the dignity of that body and +decreased that respect which was once entertained for it. And this +misfortune is increased by many members, even among those who wish well +to the government, ascribing, in letters to their respective States, +when they are defeated in a favorite measure, the worst motives for the +conduct of their opponents, who, viewing matters through another medium, +may and do retort in their turn, by which means jealousies and distrusts +are spread most impolitically far and wide, and will, it is to be +feared, have a most unhappy tendency to injure our public affairs, +which, if wisely managed, might make us, as we are now by Europeans +thought to be, the happiest people upon earth." + +Anxious to visit New England to observe in person the condition of the +country and the dispositions of the people toward the government and +its measures, the President was disposed to avail himself of the short +respite from official cares afforded by the recess of Congress, to make +a tour through the eastern States. + +His resolution being taken and the executive business which required his +immediate personal attendance being dispatched, he commenced his tour +on the 15th of October (1789), and, passing through Connecticut and +Massachusetts, as far as Portsmouth in New Hampshire, returned by a +different route to New York, where he arrived on the 13th of November. + +With this visit the President had much reason to be satisfied. To +contemplate the theater on which many interesting military scenes had +been exhibited, and to review the ground on which his first campaign as +Commander-in-Chief of the American army had been made, were sources of +rational delight. To observe the progress of society, the improvements +in agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, and the temper, +circumstances, and dispositions of the people, could not fail to be +grateful to an intelligent mind, and an employment in all respects +worthy of the chief magistrate of the nation. The reappearance of their +general in the high station he now filled brought back to recollection +the perilous transactions of the war, and the reception universally +given to him attested the unabated love which was felt for his person +and character, and indicated unequivocally the growing popularity, at +least in that part of the Union, of the government he administered. + +The sincerity and warmth with which he reciprocated the affection +expressed for his person in the addresses presented to him was well +calculated to preserve the sentiments which were generally diffused. "I +rejoice with you, my fellow-citizens," said he in answer to an address +from the inhabitants of Boston, "in every circumstance that declares +your prosperity, and I do so most cordially, because you have well +deserved to be happy. + +"Your love of liberty, your respect for the law, your habits of +industry, and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, +are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness; and they +will, I trust, be firmly and lastingly established." + +But the interchange of sentiments with the companions of his military +toils and glory will excite most interest, because on both sides the +expressions were dictated by the purest and most delicious feelings of +the human heart. + +From the Cincinnati of Massachusetts he received the following address: +"Amidst the various gratulations which your arrival in this metropolis +has occasioned, permit us, the members of the Society of the Cincinnati +in this commonwealth, most respectfully to assure you of the ardor of +esteem and affection you have so indelibly fixed in our hearts, as our +glorious leader in war and illustrious example in peace. + +"After the solemn and endearing farewell on the banks of the Hudson, +which our anxiety presaged as final, most peculiarly pleasing is +the present unexpected meeting. On this occasion we cannot avoid the +recollection of the various scenes of toil and danger through which you +conducted us, and while we contemplate various trying periods of the +war, and the triumphs of peace, we rejoice to behold you, induced by the +unanimous voice of your country, en-terming upon other trials and +other services alike important, and, in some points of view, equally +hazardous. For the completion of the great purposes which a grateful +country has assigned you, long, very long, may your invaluable life +be preserved. And as the admiring world, while considering you as a +soldier, have long wanted a comparison, may your virtue and talents as a +statesman leave them without a parallel. + +"It is not in words to express an attachment founded like ours. We can +only say that, when soldiers, our greatest pride was a promptitude +of obedience to your orders; as citizens, our supreme ambition is +to maintain the character of firm supporters of that noble fabric of +Federal government over which you preside. + +"As members of the Society of the Cincinnati it will be our endeavor +to cherish those sacred principles of charity and fraternal attachment +which our institution inculcates. And while our conduct is thus +regulated, we can never want the patronage of the first of patriots and +the best of men." + +To this address the following answer was returned: + +"In reciprocating with gratitude and sincerity the multiplied and +affecting gratulations of my fellow-citizens of this commonwealth, they +will all of them with justice allow me to say, that none can be dearer +to me than the affectionate assurances which you have expressed. Dear, +indeed, is the occasion which restores an intercourse with my faithful +associates in prosperous and adverse fortune; and enhanced are the +triumphs of peace, participated with those whose virtue and valor so +largely contributed to procure them. To that virtue and valor your +country has confessed her obligations. Be mine the grateful task to add +the testimony of a connection which it was my pride to own in the field, +and is now my happiness to acknowledge in the enjoyments of peace and +freedom. + +"Regulating your conduct by those principles which have heretofore +governed your actions as men, soldiers, and citizens, you will repeat +the obligations conferred on your country, and you will transmit to +posterity an example that must command their admiration and grateful +praise. Long may you continue to enjoy the endearments of fraternal +attachments and the heartfelt happiness of reflecting that you have +faithfully done your duty. + +"While I am permitted to possess the consciousness of this worth, which +has long bound me to you by every tie of affection and esteem, I will +continue to be your sincere and faithful friend." + +After Washington's return to New York from his tour to the north +and east, Mrs. Washington expressed, in the following letter, the +gratification and benefit he had derived from his journey. It also +presents a delightful view of her feelings and character: + + +"NEW YORK, _December_ 26th, 1789. + +"MY DEAR MADAM:--Your very friendly letter, of the 27th of last month, +has afforded me much more satisfaction than all the formal compliments +and empty ceremonies of mere etiquette could possibly have done. I am +not apt to forget the feelings that have been inspired by my former +society with good acquaintances, nor to be insensible to their +expressions of gratitude to the President of the United States; for you +know me well enough to do me the justice to believe that I am only fond +of what comes from the heart. Under a conviction that the demonstrations +of respect and affection which have been made to the President originate +from that source, I cannot deny that I have taken some interest and +pleasure in them. The difficulties which presented themselves to view +upon his first entering upon the Presidency, seem thus to be, in some +measure, surmounted. It is owing to this kindness of our numerous +friends, in all quarters, that my new and unwished-for situation is not +indeed a burden to me. When I was much younger, I should probably have +enjoyed the innocent gayeties of life as much as most of my age. But I +had long since placed all the prospects of my future worldly happiness +in the still enjoyments of the fireside at Mount Vernon. + +"I little thought, when the war was finished, that any circumstances +could possibly have happened which would call the General into public +life again. I had anticipated that, from that moment, we should have +been left to grow old, in solitude and tranquility, together. That was, +my dear madam, the first and dearest wish of my heart; but in that I +have been disappointed. I will not, however, contemplate with too +much regret disappointments that were inevitable. Though the General's +feelings and my own were perfectly in unison with respect to our +predilection for private life, yet I cannot blame him for having acted +according to his ideas of duty in obeying the voice of his country. The +consciousness of having attempted to do all the good in his power, and +the pleasure of finding his fellow-citizens so well satisfied with the +disinterestedness of his conduct, will doubtless be some compensation +for the great sacrifices which I know he has made. Indeed, in his +journey from Mount Vernon to this place, in his late tour through the +eastern States, by every public and by every private information which +has come to him, I am persuaded that he has experienced nothing to make +him repent his having acted from what he conceived to be, alone, a sense +of indispensable duty. On the contrary, all his sensibility has been +awakened in receiving such repeated and unequivocal proofs of sincere +regards from all his countrymen. + +"With respect to myself, I sometimes think the arrangement is not quite +as it ought to have been; that I, who had much rather be at home, should +occupy a place with which a great many younger and gayer women would be +prodigiously pleased. As my grandchildren and domestic connections make +up a great portion of the felicity which I looked for in this world, I +shall hardly be able to find any substitute that would indemnify me for +the loss of a part of such endearing society. I do not say this because +I feel dissatisfied with my present station. No, God forbid! For +everybody and everything conspire to make me as contented as possible +in it; yet I have seen too much of the vanity of human affairs to expect +felicity from the splendid scenes of public life. I am still determined +to be cheerful and to be happy in whatever situation I may be; for I +have also learnt from experience that the greater part of our happiness +or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances. +We carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us, in our minds, +where-so-ever we go. I have two of my grandchildren with me, who enjoy +advantages in point of education, and who, I trust, by the goodness of +Providence, will continue to be a great blessing to me. My other two +grandchildren are with their mother, in Virginia. + +"The President's health is quite re-established by his late journey. +Mine is much better than it used to be. I am sorry to hear that General +Warren has been ill; hope, before this time, that he may be entirely +recovered. We should rejoice to see you both. To both, I wish the best +of Heaven's blessings; and am, my dear madam, with esteem and regard, +your friend and humble servant, + +"M. WASHINGTON." + + +Soon after his return to New York, after his visit to the eastern +States, the President was informed of the ill success which had attended +his first attempt to negotiate a peace with the Creek Indians. General +Lincoln, Mr. Griffin, and Colonel Humphreys had been deputed on this +mission, and had met M'Gillivray with several other chiefs, and about +2,000 men, at Rock Landing, on the Oconee, on the frontiers of Georgia. +The treaty commenced with favorable appearances, but was soon abruptly +broken off by M'Gillivray. Some difficulties arose on the subject of a +boundary, but the principal obstacles to a peace were supposed to grow +out of his personal interests, and his connections with Spain. + +This intelligence was more than counterbalanced by the accession +of North Carolina to the Union. In the month of November a second +convention had assembled under the authority of the Legislature of that +State, and the constitution was adopted by a great majority. + +We embrace the occasion afforded by the interval between the two +sessions of Congress to insert some further notices of Washington's mode +of life in New York, as well as of his personal appearance. + +The manner of living observed by President Washington has been described +in the following speech, delivered by Mr. Stuyvesant, the president of +the New York Historical society, at the dinner on the occasion of the +jubilee celebration, in the city of New York, April 30, 1839. + +"It cannot be expected, at this time and place, that any allusion should +be made to the public character of Washington; we are all in possession +of his history, from the dawn of life to the day that Mount Vernon +was wrapped in sable; and, after the exercises of this morning, if any +attempt to portray his political or military life were made, it would +only be the glimmering light of a feeble star succeeding the rays of a +meridian sun. + +"But the occasion affords an opportunity of congratulating the small +number of gentlemen present, who enjoyed the privilege of participating +in the ceremonies of the 30th of April, 1789; they will recall to their +memories the spontaneous effusions of joy that pervaded the breasts +of the people who on that occasion witnessed the organization of +a constitutional government, formed by intelligent freemen, and +consummated by placing at its head the man in whom their affections were +concentrated as the father of their country. + +"Washington's residence in this city, after his inauguration, was +limited to about two years. His deportment in life was not plain, nor +was it at all pompous, for no man was more devoid of ostentation than +himself, his style, however, gave universal satisfaction to all classes +in the community, and, his historian has informed us, was not adopted +for personal gratification, but from a devotion to his country's +welfare. Possessing a desirable stature, an erect frame, and, +superadded, a lofty and sublime countenance, he never appeared in public +without arresting the reverence and admiration of the beholder; and +the stranger who had never before seen him, was at the first impression +convinced it was the President who delighted him. + +"He seldom walked in the street; his public recreation was in riding. +When accompanied by Mrs. Washington, he rode in a carriage drawn by +six horses, with two outriders who wore rich livery, cocked hats, with +cockades and powder. When he rode on horseback he was joined by one or +more of the gentlemen of his family and attended by his outriders. +He always attended Divine service on Sundays. His carriage on those +occasions contained Mrs. Washington and himself, with one or both +of their grandchildren and was drawn by two horses, with two footmen +behind; it was succeeded by a post-chaise, accommodating two gentlemen +of his household. On his arrival in the city the only residence that +could be procured was a house in Cherry street, long known as the +mansion of the Franklin family, but in a short time afterwards he +removed to and occupied the house in Broadway, now Bunker's hotel. + +"Washington held a levee once a week, and, from what is now recollected, +they were generally well attended, but confined to men in public life +and gentlemen of leisure, for at that day it would have been thought +a breach of decorum to visit the President of the United States in +dishabille. + +"The arrival of Washington, in 1789, to assume the reins of government, +was not his first entry into this city, accompanied with honor to +himself and glory to this country. This was on the 24th of November, +1783, and here again, I must observe, the number present who witnessed +the ceremonies of that day, must, indeed, be very limited; on that day +he made his triumphal entry, not to sway the sceptre, but to lay down +his sword, not for personal aggrandizement, but to secure the happiness +of his countrymen. He early in the morning left Harlem and entered the +city through what is now called the Bowery; he was escorted by cavalry +and infantry and a large concourse of citizens, on horseback and on +foot, in plain dress. The latter must have been an interesting sight to +those of mature age who were capable of comprehending their merit. In +their ranks were seen men with patched elbows, odd buttons on their +coats and unmatched buckles in their shoes; they were not, indeed, +Falstaff's company of scarecrows, but the most respectable citizens who +had been in exile, and endured privations we know not of, for seven long +and tedious years." + +On that occasion, and on his arrival in 1789, Washington was received, +as is well known, by the elder Clinton, who was at both periods Governor +of the State. + +In the following extract, from a reliable source, we have a fine +description of the effect produced by Washington's personal appearance +and manners on the mind of a highly intelligent observer: + +"The beautiful effusion which the reader will find below is the +production of the chaste and classic mind of the late venerable and +distinguished senator from Rhode Island, Mr. Robbins, and was occasioned +by the following circumstances. During the session of 1837-8, Mr. +Webster entertained a large party of friends at dinner, among them +the venerable senator we have named. The evening passed off with much +hilarity, enlivened with wit and sentiment, but, during the greater part +of the time, Mr. Robbins maintained that grave but placid silence which +was his habit. While thus apparently abstracted, someone suddenly called +on him for a toast, which call was seconded by the company. He rose, and +in his surprise asked if they were serious in making such a demand of +so old a man, and being assured that they were, he said, if they would +suspend their hilarity for a few moments, he would give them a toast +and preface it with a few observations. Having thus secured a breathless +stillness, he went on to remark, that they were then on the verge of the +22d of February, the anniversary of the birth of the great patriot and +statesman of our country, whom all delighted to remember and to honor, +and he hoped he might be allowed the privilege of an aged man to recur, +for a few moments, to past events connected with his character +and history. He then proceeded and delivered in the most happy and +impressive manner the beautiful speech which now graces our columns. The +whole company were electrified by his patriotic enthusiasm, and one of +the guests, before they separated, begged that he would take the trouble +to put on paper what he had so happily expressed and furnish a copy for +publication. Mr. Robbins obligingly complied with this request on the +following day, but by some accident the manuscript got mislaid and +eluded all search for it until a few days ago, when it was unexpectedly +recovered, and is now presented to our readers. + +"'On the near approach of that calendar-day which gave birth to +Washington, I feel rekindling within me some of those emotions always +connected with the recollection of that hallowed name. Permit me to +indulge them, on this occasion, for a moment, in a few remarks, as +preliminary to a sentiment which I shall beg leave to propose. + +"'I consider it as one of the consolations of my age, that I am old +enough and fortunate enough to have seen that wonderful man. This +happiness is still common to so many yet among the living, that less +is thought of it now than will be in after-times; but it is no less a +happiness to me on that account. + +"'While a boy at school, I saw him for the first time; it was when +he was passing through New England, to take command in chief of the +American armies at Cambridge. Never shall I forget the impression his +imposing presence then made upon my young imagination, so superior did +he seem to me to all that I had seen or imagined of the human form for +striking effect. I remember with what delight, in my after studies, I +came to the line in Virgil that expressed all the enthusiasm of my own +feelings, as inspired by that presence, and which I could not often +enough repeat: + +"'I saw him again at his interview with Rochambeau, when they met to +settle the plan of combined operations between the French fleet and the +American armies against the British on the Chesapeake, and then I saw +the immense crowd drawn together from all the neighboring towns, to get, +if possible, one look at the man who had throned himself in every heart. +Not one of that immense crowd doubted the final triumph of his country +in her arduous conflict, for everyone saw, or thought he saw, in +Washington, her guardian angel, commissioned by Heaven to insure her +that triumph. 'Nil desperandum' was the motto with everyone. + +"'In after-life, when the judgment corrects the extravagance of early +impressions, I saw him on several occasions, but saw nothing to admonish +me of any extravagance in my early impressions. "Credo equidem, nee vana +fides, genus esse Deorum." [10] + +"'"Nil desperandum, Teucro duce, et auspice Teucro." [11] The impression +was still the same; I had the same overpowering sense of standing in the +presence of some superior being. + +"'It is indeed remarkable, and I believe unique, in the history of men, +that Washington made the same impression upon all minds, at all places, +and at once. When his fame first broke upon the world, it spread at +once over the whole world. By the consent of mankind, by the universal +sentiment, he was placed at the head of the human species; above all +envy, because above all emulation; for no one then pretended, or has +pretended to be--at least who has been allowed to be--the co-rival of +Washington in fame. + +"'When the great Frederick of Prussia sent his portrait to Washington, +with this inscription upon it--"From the oldest general in Europe to the +greatest general in the world," he did but echo the sentiment of all the +chivalry of Europe. Nor was the sentiment confined to Europe, nor to the +bounds of civilization; for the Arab of the desert talked of Washington +in his tent; his name wandered with the wandering Scythian, and was +cherished by him as a household word in all his migrations. No clime was +so barbarous as to be a stranger to the name, but everywhere, and by +all men, that name was placed at the same point of elevation, and above +compare. As it was in the beginning, so it is now; of the future we +cannot speak with certainty. Some future age, in the endless revolutions +of time, may produce another Washington, but the greater probability +is, that he is destined to remain forever, as he now is, the Phoenix of +human kind. + +"'What a possession to his country is such a fame! Such a "Clarum et +venerabile nomen gentibus?" [12] + +"'To all his countrymen it gives, and forever will give, a passport to +respect wherever they go, to whatever part of the globe, for his country +is in every other identified with that fame. + +"'What, then, is incumbent upon us, his countrymen? Why, to be such a +people as shall be worthy of such a fame--a people of whom it shall be +said, "No wonder such a people have produced such a man as Washington." +I give you, therefore, this sentiment: + +"'The memory of Washington: May his countrymen prove themselves a people +worthy of his fame.'" + + +1. Footnote: Memoir of Martha Washington in Longacre's Gallery. + +2. Footnote: Mrs. Ellet, "Women of the Revolution" + +3. Footnote: One of the first topics of debate in Congress was the +title by which the President should be addressed. Such title as "His +Highness," "His Mightiness," etc., having been discussed, it was finally +and very properly determined that the title of "President of the United +States" should be used; and it was accordingly used in the answers to +the inaugural address. No title could be more dignified. + +4. Footnote: Marshall + +5. Footnote: Pitkin. + +6. Footnote: Tucker's "Life of Jefferson." + +7. Footnote: "Essay on the Character and Influence of Washington." + +8. Footnote: "Washington's Writings," vols. IX, X. + +9. Footnote: Marshall. + +10. Footnote: I verily believe, nor is my confidence unfounded, that he +is of Divine descent. + +11. Footnote: Let us never despair, with Teucer to lead us, and under +Teucer's auspices. + +12. Footnote: A name, illustrious and venerable among the nations! + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +THE PUBLIC CREDIT ESTABLISHED. 1789-1790. + + +During the recess of Congress Washington generally visited Mount Vernon, +but, after the rising of the first Congress under the constitution, his +visit to New England consumed so much time that he remained in New York +till Congress reassembled. His eastern tour commenced on the 15th of +October, as we have already seen, and ended on the 13th of November. +As Congress was to meet on the 1st of January, 1790, he had no time to +visit Mount Vernon. During the short time which elapsed before that +day he was very earnestly engaged in the duties of his office and in +correspondence with public men on political affairs. One of his letters, +addressed to the Emperor of Morocco, is curious, as showing the tact +with which he accommodated his style to the comprehension of the +oriental sovereign. It was written in consequence of an intimation from +Mr. Chiappe, the American agent at Mogadore, that the emperor was not +well pleased at receiving no acknowledgment from the government in +respect to the treaty with Morocco of the 28th of June, 1786, his +subsequent faithful observance of the same, as well as his good offices +in favor of the Americans with the bashaws of Tunis and Tripoli. The +letter is as follows: + +"GREAT AND MAGNANIMOUS FRIEND: + +"Since the date of the last letter which the late Congress by their +President addressed to your Imperial Majesty, the United States of +America have thought proper to change their government and to institute +a new one, agreeably to the constitution, of which I have the honor of +herewith enclosing a copy. The time necessarily employed in the arduous +task and the derangements occasioned by so great, though peaceable, a +revolution, will apologize and account for your Majesty's not having +received those regular advices and marks of attention from the United +States, which the friendship and magnanimity of your conduct toward them +afforded reason to expect. + +"The United States having unanimously appointed me to the supreme +executive authority in this nation, your Majesty's letter of the 17th +of August, 1788, which, by reason of the dissolution of the late +government, remained unanswered, has been delivered to me. I have also +received the letters which your Imperial Majesty has been so kind as +to write, in favor of the United States, to the bashaws of Tunis and +Tripoli, and I present to you the sincere acknowledgments and thanks of +the United States for this important mark of your friendship for them. + +"We greatly regret that the hostile disposition of those regencies +toward this nation, who have never injured them, is not to be removed on +terms in our power to comply with. Within our territories there are no +mines either of gold or silver, and this young nation, just recovering +from the waste and desolation of a long war, has not as yet had time to +acquire riches by agriculture and commerce. But our soil is bountiful +and our people industrious, and we have reason to flatter ourselves that +we shall gradually become useful to our friends. + +"The encouragement which your Majesty has been pleased generously to +give to our commerce with your dominions, the punctuality with which you +have caused the treaty with us to be observed, and the just and generous +measures taken in the case of Captain Proctor, make a deep impression +on the United States, and confirm their respect for, and attachment to, +your Imperial Majesty. + +"It gives me pleasure to have this opportunity of assuring your Majesty +that, while I remain at the head of this nation, I shall not cease to +promote every measure that may conduce to the friendship and harmony +which so happily subsist between your empire and them, and shall esteem +myself happy on every occasion of convincing your Majesty of the +high sense which, in common with the whole nation, I entertain of the +magnanimity, wisdom, and benevolence of your Majesty. In the course of +the approaching winter the national Legislature, which is called by +the former name of Congress, will assemble, and I shall take care that +nothing be omitted that may be necessary to cause the correspondence +between our countries to be maintained and conducted in a manner +agreeable to your Majesty and satisfactory to all parties concerned in +it. + +"May the Almighty bless your Imperial Majesty--our great and magnanimous +friend--with his constant guidance and protection. + +"Written at the city of New York, the 1st day of December, 1789." + + * * * * * + +In December, 1789, Washington was requested by Mr. Joseph Willard, the +president of Harvard University, to sit to Mr. Savage for his portrait, +to be placed in the philosophy chamber of the university. Washington +promptly replied to the letter of the president, and the portrait was +painted by Mr. Savage, and deposited in the university. + +On the 8th of January, 1790, the President met both houses of Congress +in the Senate chamber. In his speech, which was delivered from the chair +of the Vice-President, after congratulating Congress on the accession of +the important State of North Carolina to the Union and on the prosperous +aspect of American affairs, he proceeded to recommend certain great +objects of legislation to their more especial consideration. + +"Among the many interesting objects," continued the speech, "which will +engage your attention, that of providing for the common defense will +merit your particular regard. To be prepared for war is one of the most +effectual means of preserving peace. + +"A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined, to which +end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite, and their safety and +interest require that they should promote such manufactories as tend +to render them independent on others for essential, particularly for +military, supplies." + +As connected with this subject a proper establishment for the troops +which they might deem indispensable, was suggested for their mature +deliberation, and the indications of a hostile temper given by several +tribes of Indians, were considered as admonishing them of the necessity +of being prepared to afford protection to the frontiers and to punish +aggression. + +The interests of the United States were declared to require that the +means of keeping up their intercourse with foreign nations should +be provided, and the expediency of establishing a uniform rule of +naturalization was suggested. + +After expressing his confidence in their attention to many improvements +essential to the prosperity of the interior, the President added: "Nor +am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in opinion that there +is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of +science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis +of public happiness. In one, in which the measures of government receive +their impression so immediately from the sense of the community as +in ours, it is proportionally essential. To the security of a free +constitution it contributes in various ways, by convincing those who +are entrusted with the public administration that every valuable end of +government is best answered by the enlightened confidence of the people, +and by teaching the people themselves to know and to value their own +rights; to discern and provide against invasions of them; to +distinguish between oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful +authority--between burdens proceeding from a disregard to their +convenience, and those resulting from the inevitable exigencies +of society; to discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of +licentiousness, cherishing the first, avoiding the last, and uniting a +speedy but temperate vigilance against encroachments, with an inviolable +respect to the laws. + +"Whether this desirable object will be best promoted by affording aids +to seminaries of learning already established by the institution of a +national university or by any other expedients, will be well worthy of a +place in the deliberations of the Legislature." + +Addressing himself then particularly to the representatives, he said: +"I saw with peculiar pleasure, at the close of the last session, the +resolution entered into by you, expressive of your opinion that an +adequate provision for the support of the public credit is a matter of +high importance to the national honor and prosperity. In this sentiment +I entirely concur, and to a perfect confidence in your best endeavors to +devise such a provision as will be truly consistent with the end, I add +an equal reliance on the cheerful cooperation of the other branch of the +Legislature. It would be superfluous to specify inducements to a measure +in which the character and permanent interests of the United States are +so obviously and so deeply concerned, and which has received so explicit +a sanction from your declaration." + +Addressing himself again to both houses he observed that the estimates +and papers respecting the objects particularly recommended to their +attention would be laid before them, and concluded with saying: "The +welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and +efforts ought to be directed, and I shall derive great satisfaction from +a cooperation with you in the pleasing though arduous task of insuring +to our fellow-citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect +from a free, efficient, and equal government." + +The answers of both houses were indicative of the harmony which +subsisted between the executive and legislative departments. + +Congress had been so occupied during its first session with those bills +which were necessary to bring the new system into full operation and to +create an immediate revenue, that some measures which possessed +great and pressing claims to immediate attention had been unavoidably +deferred. The neglect under which the creditors of the public had +been permitted to languish could not fail to cast an imputation on the +American republic, and had been sincerely lamented by the wisest among +those who administered the former government. The power to comply +substantially with the engagements of the United States being at length +conferred on those who were bound by them, it was confidently expected +by the friends of the constitution that their country would retrieve +its reputation, and that its fame would no longer be tarnished with the +blots which stain a faithless people. + +On the 9th of January (1790), a letter from Mr. Hamilton, the Secretary +of the Treasury, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was +read, stating that, in obedience to the resolution of the 21st of +September (1789), he had prepared a plan for the support of public +credit, which he was ready to report when the House should be pleased to +receive it, and, after a short debate in which the personal attendance +of the secretary, for the purpose of making explanations, was urged by +some and opposed by others, it was resolved that the report should be +received in writing on the succeeding Thursday. + +Availing himself of the latitude afforded by the terms of the resolution +under which he acted, the secretary had introduced into his report +an able and comprehensive argument elucidating and supporting +the principles it contained. After displaying, with strength and +perspicuity, the justice and the policy of an adequate provision for the +public debt, he proceeded to discuss the principles on which it should +be made. + +"It was agreed," he said, "by all, that the foreign debt should be +provided for according to the precise terms of the contract. It was to +be regretted that, with respect to the domestic debt, the same unanimity +of sentiment did not prevail." + +The first point on which the public appeared to be divided, involved +the question, "whether a discrimination ought not to be made between +original holders of the public securities and present possessors by +purchase." After reviewing the arguments generally urged in its support, +the secretary declared himself against this discrimination. He deemed +it "equally unjust and impolitic, highly injurious even to the original +holders of public securities, and ruinous to public credit." To the +arguments with which he enforced these opinions, he added the authority +of the government of the Union. From the circular address of Congress to +the States of the 26th of April, 1783, accompanying their revenue +system of the 18th of the same month, passages were selected indicating, +unequivocally, that in the view of that body the original creditors, and +those who had become so by assignment, had equal claims upon the nation. + +After reasoning at great length against a discrimination between the +different creditors of the Union, the secretary proceeded to examine +whether a difference ought to be permitted to remain between them and +the creditors of individual States. + +Both descriptions of debt were contracted for the same objects and were +in the main the same. Indeed, a great part of the particular debts of +the States had arisen from assumptions by them on account of the Union, +and it was most equitable that there should be the same measure of +retribution for all. There were many reasons, some of which were stated, +for believing this would not be the case, unless the State debts should +be assumed by the nation. + +In addition to the injustice of favoring one class of creditors more +than another which was equally meritorious, many arguments were urged in +support of the policy of distributing to all with an equal hand from the +same source. + +After an elaborate discussion of these and some other points connected +with the subject, the secretary proposed that a loan should be opened to +the full amount of the debt, as well of the particular States as of the +Union. + +The terms to be offered were-- + +First. That for every $100 subscribed payable in the debt, as well +interest as principal, the subscriber should be entitled to have +two-thirds funded on a yearly interest of six per cent, (the capital +redeemable at the pleasure of government by the payment of the +principal), and to receive the other third in lands of the western +territory at their then actual value. Or, + +Secondly. To have the whole sum funded at a yearly interest of four per +cent., irredeemable by any payment exceeding five dollars per annum both +on account of principal and interest, and to receive as a compensation +for the reduction of interest, fifteen dollars and eighty cents, payable +in lands as in the preceding case. Or, + +Thirdly. To have sixty-six and two-thirds of a dollar funded at a yearly +interest of six per cent., irredeemable also by any payment exceeding +four dollars and two-thirds of a dollar per annum on account both of +principal and interest, and to have at the end of ten years twenty-six +dollars and eighty-eight cents funded at the like interest and rate of +redemption. + +In addition to these propositions, the creditors were to have an option +of vesting their money in annuities on different plans, and it was +also recommended to open a loan at five per cent, for ten millions of +dollars, payable one-half in specie and the other half in the debt, +irredeemable by any payment exceeding six dollars per annum both of +principal and interest. + +By way of experiment, a tontine, on principles stated in the report, was +also suggested. + +The secretary was restrained from proposing to fund the whole debt +immediately at the current rate of interest, by the opinion, "that +although such a provision might not exceed the abilities of the country, +it would require the extension of taxation to a degree and to objects +which the true interests of the creditors themselves would forbid. It +was therefore to be hoped and expected that they would cheerfully concur +in such modifications of their claims, on fair and equitable principles +as would facilitate to the government an arrangement substantial, +durable, and satisfactory to the community. Exigencies might ere long +arise which would call for resources greatly beyond what was now deemed +sufficient for the current service, and should the faculties of the +country be exhausted or even strained to provide for the public debt, +there could be less reliance on the sacredness of the provision. + +"But while he yielded to the force of these considerations, he did not +lose sight of those fundamental principles of good faith which dictate +that every practicable exertion ought to be made, scrupulously to +fulfill the engagements of government; that no change in the rights of +its creditors ought to be attempted without their voluntary consent, +and that this consent ought to be voluntary in fact, as well as in name. +Consequently, that every proposal of a change ought to be in the +shape of an appeal to their reason and to their interest, not to their +necessities. To this end, it was requisite that a fair equivalent should +be offered for what might be asked to be given up and unquestionable +security for the remainder." This fair equivalent for the proposed +reduction of interest was, he thought, offered in the relinquishment of +the power to redeem the whole debt at pleasure. + +That a free judgment might be exercised by the holders of public +securities in accepting or rejecting the terms offered by the +government, provision was made in the report for paying to +nonsubscribing creditors a dividend of the surplus which should remain +in the treasury after paying the interest of the proposed loans; but, +as the funds immediately to be provided were calculated to produce only +four per cent. on the entire debt, the dividend, for the present, was +not to exceed that rate of interest. + +To enable the treasury to support this increased demand upon it, an +augmentation of the duties on imported wines, spirits, tea, and coffee +was proposed and a duty on homemade spirits was also recommended. + +This celebrated report, which has been alike the fruitful theme of +extravagant praise and bitter censure, merits the more attention, +because the first regular and systematic opposition to the principles +on which the affairs of the Union were administered, originated in the +measures which were founded on it. + +On the 28th of January (1790), says Marshall, this subject was taken up, +and, after some animadversions on the speculations in the public debt to +which the report, it was said, had already given birth, the business was +postponed until the 8th of February, when it was again brought forward. + +Several resolutions affirmative of the principles contained in the +report, were moved by Mr. Fitzsimmons. To the first, which respected a +provision for the foreign debt, the House agreed without a dissenting +voice. The second, in favor of appropriating permanent funds for payment +of the interest on the domestic debt and for the gradual redemption of +the principal, gave rise to a very animated debate. [1] + +Mr. Jackson declared his hostility to funding systems generally. To +prove their pernicious influence, he appealed to the histories of +Florence, Genoa, and Great Britain, and contending that the subject +ought to be deferred until North Carolina should be represented, moved +that the committee should rise. This question being decided in the +negative, Mr. Scott declared the opinion that the United States were +not bound to pay the domestic creditors the sums specified in the +certificates of debts in their possession. He supported this opinion by +urging, not that the public had received less value than was expressed +on the face of the paper which had been issued, but that those to whom +it had been delivered by parting with it at two shillings and sixpence +in the pound, had themselves fixed the value of their claims, and had +manifested their willingness to add to their other sacrifices this +deduction from their demand upon the nation. He therefore moved to amend +the resolution before the committee so as to require a resettlement of +the debt. + +The amendment was opposed by Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Ames, Mr. +Sherman, Mr. Hartley, and Mr. Goodhue. They stated at large the terms on +which the debt had been contracted, and urged the confidence which +the creditors had a right to place in the government for its discharge +according to settlements already made, and acknowledgments already +given. The idea that the legislative body could diminish an ascertained +debt was reprobated with great force, as being at the same time unjust, +impolitic, and subversive of every principle on which public contracts +are founded. The evidences of debt possessed by the creditors of the +United States were considered as public bonds, for the redemption of +which the property and the labor of the people were pledged. + +After the debate had been protracted to some length, the question was +taken on Mr. Scott's amendment, and it passed in the negative. + +Mr. Madison then rose, and, in an eloquent speech, replete with +argument, proposed an amendment to the resolution, the effect of which +was to discriminate between the public creditors, so as to pay the +present holder of assignable paper the highest price it had borne in +the market, and give the residue to the person with whom the debt was +originally contracted. Where the original creditor had never parted with +his claim, he was to receive the whole sum acknowledged to be due on the +face of the certificate. + +This motion was supported by Mr. Jackson, Mr. White, Mr. Moore, Mr. +Page, Mr. Stone, Mr. Scott, and Mr. Seney. + +It was opposed with great earnestness and strength of argument by Mr. +Sedgewic, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Smith, of South Carolina, Mr. Ames, Mr. +Gerry, Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Wadsworth, Mr. Goodhue, Mr. Hartley, Mr. Bland, +Mr. Benson, Mr. Burke, and Mr. Livermore. + +The argument was ably supported on both sides, was long, animated, +and interesting. At length the question was put and the amendment was +rejected by a great majority. + +This discussion deeply engaged the public attention. The proposition was +new and interesting. That the debt ought to be diminished for the public +advantage, was an opinion which had frequently been advanced, and was +maintained by many. But a reduction from the claims of its present +holders for the benefit of those who had sold their rights, was a +measure which saved nothing to the public purse, and was therefore +recommended only by considerations, the operation of which can never be +very extensive. Against it were arrayed all who had made purchases, and +a great majority of those who conceived that sound policy and honest +dealing require a literal observance of public contracts. + +Although the decision of Congress against a discrimination in favor +of the original creditor produced no considerable sensation, the +determination on that part of the secretary's report which was the +succeeding subject of deliberation, affecting political interests +and powers which are never to be approached without danger, seemed +to unchain all those fierce passions which a high respect for the +government, and for those who administered it, had in a great measure +restrained. + +The manner in which the several States entered into and conducted +the war of the Revolution, is well known. Acting in some respects +separately, and in others conjointly, for the attainment of a common +object, their resources were exerted, sometimes under the authority +of Congress, sometimes under the authority of the local government, to +repel the enemy wherever he appeared. The debt incurred in support of +the war was, therefore, in the first instance, contracted partly by +Congress and partly by the States. When the system of requisitions was +adopted, the transactions of the Union were carried on almost entirely +through the agency of the States, and, when the measure of compensating +the army for the depreciation of their pay became necessary, this +burden, under the recommendation of Congress, was assumed by the +respective States. Some had funded this debt, and paid the interest upon +it. Others had made no provision for the interest; but all, by taxes, +paper money, or purchase, had in some measure reduced the principal. In +their exertions some degree of inequality had obtained, and they looked +anxiously to a settlement of accounts, for the ascertainment of claims +which each supposed itself to have upon the Union. Measures to effect +this object had been taken by the former government, but they were slow +in their progress, and intrinsic difficulties were found in the thing +itself, not easily to be overcome. + +Hamilton proposed to assume these debts and to fund them in common with +that which continued to be the proper debt of the Union. + +The resolution which comprehended this principle of the report was +vigorously opposed. + +It was contended that the general government would acquire an undue +influence, and that the State governments would be annihilated by the +measure. Not only would all the influence of the public creditors be +thrown into the scale of the former, but it would absorb all the powers +of taxation, and leave to the latter only the shadow of a government. +This would probably terminate in rendering the State governments +useless, and would destroy the system so recently established. The +Union, it was said, had been compared to a rope of sand, but gentlemen +were cautioned not to push things to the opposite extreme. The attempt +to strengthen it might be unsuccessful, and the cord might be strained +until it should break. + +The constitutional authority of the Federal government to assume the +debts of the States was questioned. Its powers, it was said, were +specified, and this was not among them. + +The policy of the measure, as it affected merely the government of the +Union, was controverted, and its justice was arraigned. + +On the ground of policy, it was objected that the assumption would +impose on the United States a burden, the weight of which was +unascertained, and which would require an extension of taxation beyond +the limits which prudence would prescribe. An attempt to raise the +impost would be dangerous, and the excise added to it would not produce +funds adequate to the object. A tax on real estate must be resorted to, +objections to which had been made in every part of the Union. It would +be more advisable to leave this source of revenue untouched in the hands +of the State governments, who could apply to it with more facility, with +a better understanding of the subject, and with less dissatisfaction to +individuals, than could possibly be done by the government of the United +States. + +There existed no necessity for taking up this burden. The State +creditors had not required it. There was no petition from them upon the +subject. There was not only no application from the States, but there +was reason to believe that they were seriously opposed to the measure. +Many of them would certainly view it with a jealous--a jaundiced eye. +The convention of North Carolina which adopted the constitution had +proposed, as an amendment to it, to deprive Congress of the power of +interfering between the respective States and their creditors, and there +could be no obligation to assume more than the balances which on a final +settlement would be found due to creditor States. + +That the debt by being thus accumulated would be perpetuated, was +also an evil of real magnitude. Many of the States had already made +considerable progress in extinguishing their debts, and the process +might certainly be carried on more rapidly by them than by the Union. A +public debt seemed to be considered by some as a public blessing, but +to this doctrine they were not converts. If, as they believed, a public +debt was a public evil, it would be enormously increased by adding those +of the States to that of the Union. + +The measure was unwise, too, as it would affect public credit. Such an +augmentation of the debt must inevitably depreciate its value, since it +was the character of paper, whatever denomination it might assume, to +diminish in value in proportion to the quantity in circulation. + +It would also increase an evil which was already sensibly felt. The +State debts, when assumed by the continent, would, as that of the Union +had already done, accumulate in large cities; and the dissatisfaction +excited by the payment of taxes would be increased by perceiving +that the money raised from the people flowed into the hands of a few +individuals. Still greater mischief was to be apprehended. A great part +of this additional debt would go into the hands of foreigners, and the +United States would be heavily burdened to pay an interest which could +not be expected to remain in the country. + +The measure was unjust, because it was burdening those States which had +taxed themselves highly to discharge the claims of their creditors with +the debts of those which had not made the same exertions. It would delay +the settlement of accounts between the individual States and the United +States, and the supporters of the measure were openly charged with +intending to defeat that settlement. + +It was also said that in its execution the scheme would be found +extremely embarrassing, perhaps impracticable. The case of a partial +accession to the measure by the creditors, a case which would probably +occur, presented a difficulty for which no provision was made, and of +which no solution had been given. Should the creditors in some States +come into the system, and those in others refuse to change their +security, the government would be involved in perplexities from which no +means of extricating itself had been shown. Nor would it be practicable +to discriminate between the debts contracted for general and for local +objects. + +In the course of the debate severe allusions were made to the conduct +of particular States, and the opinions advanced in favor of the measure +were ascribed to local interests. + +In support of the assumption, the debts of the States were traced to +their origin. America, it was said, had engaged in a war the object of +which was equally interesting to every part of the Union. It was not +the war of a particular State, but of the United States. It was not the +liberty and independence of a part, but of the whole, for which they had +contended, and which they had acquired. The cause was a common cause. As +brethren, the American people had consented to hazard property and life +in its defense. All the sums expended in the attainment of this great +object, whatever might be the authority under which they were raised or +appropriated, conduced to the same end. Troops were raised, and military +stores purchased, before Congress assumed the command of the army or the +control of the war. The ammunition which repulsed the enemy at Bunker's +Hill was purchased by Massachusetts, and formed a part of the debt of +that State. + +Nothing could be more erroneous than the principle which had been +assumed in argument, that the holders of securities issued by individual +States were to be considered merely as State creditors, as if the +debt had been contracted on account of the particular State. It was +contracted on account of the Union, in that common cause in which all +were equally interested. + +From the complex nature of the political system which had been adopted +in America, the war was, in a great measure, carried on through the +agency of the State governments, and the debts were, in truth, the debts +of the Union, for which the States had made themselves responsible. +Except the civil list, the whole State expenditure was in the +prosecution of the war, and the State taxes had undeniably exceeded the +provision for their civil list. The foundation for the several classes +of the debt was reviewed in detail, and it was affirmed to be proved +from the review, and from the books in the public offices, that, in its +origin, a great part of it, even in form, and the whole, in fact, was +equitably due from the continent. The States individually possessing all +the resources of the nation, became responsible to certain descriptions +of the public creditors. But they were the agents of the continent in +contracting the debt, and its distribution among them for payment +arose from the division of political power which existed under the old +confederation. A new arrangement of the system had taken place, and +a power over the resources of the nation was conferred on the general +government. With the funds the debt also ought to be assumed. This +investigation of its origin demonstrated that the assumption was not the +creation of a new debt, but the reacknowledgment of liability for an old +one, the payment of which had devolved on those members of the system +who, at the time, were alone capable of paying it. And thence was +inferred not only the justice of the measure, but a complete refutation +of the arguments drawn from the constitution. If, in point of fact, +the debt was in its origin continental and had been transferred to the +States for greater facility of payment, there could be no constitutional +objection to restoring its original and real character. + +The great powers of war, of taxation, and of borrowing money, which were +vested in Congress to pay the debts and provide for the common defense +and general welfare of the United States, comprised that in question. +There could be no more doubt of their right to charge themselves with +the payment of a debt contracted in the past war, than to borrow money +for the prosecution of a future war. The impolicy of leaving the public +creditors to receive payment from different sources was also strongly +pressed, and the jealousy which would exist between the creditors of the +Union and of the States was considered as a powerful argument in favor +of giving them one common interest. This jealousy, it was feared, might +be carried so far as even to create an opposition to the laws of the +Union. + +If the State should provide for their creditors, the same sum of money +must be collected from the people as would be required if the debt +should be assumed, and it would probably be collected in a manner more +burdensome than if one uniform system should be established. If all +should not make such provision, it would be unjust to leave the soldier +of one State unpaid, while the services of the man who fought by his +side were amply compensated, and, after having assumed the funds, it +would dishonor the general government to permit a creditor, for services +rendered or property advanced for the continent, to remain unsatisfied, +because his claim had been transferred to the State at a time when the +State alone possessed the means of payment. By the injured and +neglected creditor such an arrangement might justly be considered as a +disreputable artifice. + +Instead of delaying, it was believed to be a measure which would +facilitate the settlement of accounts between the States. Its advocates +declared that they did not entertain and never had entertained any wish +to procrastinate a settlement. On the contrary it was greatly desired by +them. They had themselves brought forward propositions for that purpose, +and they invited their adversaries to assist in improving the plan which +had been introduced. + +The settlement between the States, it was said, either would or would +not be made. Should it ever take place, it would remedy any inequalities +which might grow out of the assumption. Should it never take place, the +justice of the measure became the more apparent. That the burdens +in support of a common war, which from various causes had devolved +unequally on the States, ought to be apportioned among them, was a truth +too clear to be controverted, and this, if the settlement should never +be accomplished, could be effected only by the measure now proposed. +Indeed, in any event, it would be the only certain, as well as only +eligible plan. For how were the debtor States to be compelled to pay the +balances which should be found against them? + +If the measure was recommended by considerations which rendered its +ultimate adoption inevitable, the present was clearly preferable to +any future time. It was desirable immediately to quiet the minds of +the public creditors by assuring them that justice would be done, to +simplify the forms of public debt, and to put an end to that speculation +which had been so much reprobated and which could be terminated only by +giving the debt a real and permanent value. + +That the assumption would impair the just influence of the States +was controverted with great strength of argument. The diffusive +representation in the State Legislatures, the intimate connection +between the representative and his constituents, the influence of +the State Legislatures over the members of one branch of the national +Legislature, the nature of the powers exercise by the State governments, +which perpetually presented them to the people in a point of view +calculated to lay hold of the public affections, were guarantees that +the States would retain their due weight in the political system and +that a debt was not necessary to the solidity or duration of their +power. + +But the argument, it was said, proved too much. If a debt was now +essential to the preservation of State authority it would always be +so. It must therefore never be extinguished, but must be perpetuated +in order to secure the existence of the State governments. If, for this +purpose, it was indispensable that the expenses of the Revolutionary War +should be borne by the States, it would not be less indispensable that +the expenses of future wars should be borne in the same manner. Either +the argument was unfounded or the constitution was wrong, and the powers +of the sword and the purse ought not to have been conferred on the +government of the Union. Whatever speculative opinions might be +entertained on this point, they were to administer the government +according to the principles of the constitution as it was framed. But, +it was added, if so much power followed the assumption as the objection +implies, is it not time to ask--is it safe to forbear assuming? If the +power is so dangerous it will be so when exercised by the States. If +assuming tends to consolidation, is the reverse, tending to disunion, a +less weighty objection? If it is answered that the non-assumption will +not necessarily tend to disunion, neither, it may be replied, does the +assumption necessarily tend to consolidation. + +It was not admitted that the assumption would tend to perpetuate the +debt. It could not be presumed that the general government would be +less willing than the local governments to discharge it; nor could it +be presumed that the means were less attainable by the former than the +latter. + +It was not contended that a public debt was a public blessing. Whether +a debt was to be preferred to no debt was not the question. The debt +was already contracted, and the question so far as policy might be +consulted, was, whether it was more for the public advantage to give +it such a form as would render it applicable to the purposes of a +circulating medium, or to leave it a mere subject of speculation, +incapable of being employed to any useful purpose. The debt was admitted +to be an evil, but it was an evil from which, if wisely modified, some +benefit might be extracted, and which, in its present state, could have +only a mischievous operation. + +If the debt should be placed on adequate funds, its operation on public +credit could not be pernicious; in its present precarious condition, +there was much more to be apprehended in that respect. + +To the objection that it would accumulate in large cities, it was +answered it would be a moneyed capital, and would be held by those who +chose to place money at interest, but by funding the debt the present +possessors would be enabled to part with it at its nominal value, +instead of selling it at its present current rate. If it should center +in the hands of foreigners, the sooner it was appreciated to its proper +standard, the greater quantity of specie would its transfer bring into +the United States. + +To the injustice of charging those States which had made great exertions +for the payment of their debts with the burden properly belonging to +those which had not made such exertions, it was answered that every +State must be considered as having exerted itself to the utmost of its +resources, and that if it could not or would not make provision for +creditors to whom the Union was equitably bound, the argument in favor +of an assumption was the stronger. + +The arguments drawn from local interests were repelled and retorted, and +a great degree of irritation was excited on both sides. + +After a very animated discussion of several days, the question was +taken, and the resolution was carried by a small majority. Soon after +this decision, while the subject was pending before the House, the +delegates from North Carolina took their seats, and changed the strength +of parties. By a majority of two voices, the resolution was recommitted, +and, after a long and ardent debate, was negatived by the same majority. + +This proposition continued to be supported with a degree of earnestness +which its opponents termed pertinacious, but not a single opinion was +changed. It was brought forward in the new and less exceptionable form +of assuming specific sums from each State. Under this modification of +the principle, the extraordinary contributions of particular States +during the war, and their exertions since the peace, might be regarded, +and the objections to the measure, drawn from the uncertainty of the +sum to be assumed, would be removed. But these alterations produced +no change of sentiment, and the bill was sent up to the Senate with a +provision for those creditors only whose certificates of debt purported +to be payable by the Union. + +In this state of things the measure is understood to have derived aid +from another, which was of a nature strongly to interest particular +parts of the Union. + +From the month of June, 1783, when Congress was driven from Philadelphia +by the mutiny of a part of the Pennsylvania line, the necessity of +selecting some place for a permanent residence, in which the government +of the Union might exercise sufficient authority to protect itself +from violence and insult, had been generally acknowledged. Scarcely any +subject had occupied more time, or had more agitated the members of the +former Congress than this. + +In December, 1784, an ordinance was passed for appointing commissioners +to purchase land on the Delaware, in the neighborhood of its falls, and +to erect thereon the necessary public buildings for the reception of +Congress and the officers of government; but the southern interest had +been sufficiently strong to arrest the execution of this ordinance by +preventing an appropriation of funds, which required the assent of nine +States. Under the existing government, this subject had received the +early attention of Congress, and many different situations, from the +Delaware to the Potomac inclusive, had been earnestly supported, but +a majority of both houses had not concurred in favor of any one place. +With as little success, attempts had been made to change the temporary +residence of Congress. Although New York was obviously too far to the +east, so many conflicting interests were brought into operation whenever +the subject was touched, that no motion designating a more central +place could succeed. At length, a compact respecting the temporary and +permanent seat of government was entered into between the friends of +Philadelphia and the Potomac, stipulating that Congress should adjourn +to and hold its sessions in Philadelphia for ten years, during which +time buildings for the accommodation of the government should be erected +at some place on the Potomac, to which the government should remove +at the expiration of the term. This compact having united the +representatives of Pennsylvania and Delaware with the friends of the +Potomac, in favor both of the temporary and permanent residence which +had been agreed on between them, a majority was produced in favor of +the two situations, and a bill which was brought into the Senate in +conformity with this previous arrangement, passed both houses by small +majorities. This act was immediately followed by an amendment to the +bill then depending before the Senate for funding the debt of the +Union. The amendment was similar in principle to that which had +been unsuccessfully proposed in the House of Representatives. By its +provisions, $21,500,000 of the State debts were assumed in specified +proportions, and it was particularly enacted that no certificate should +be received from a State creditor which could be "ascertained to have +been issued for any purpose other than compensations and expenditures +for services or supplies toward the prosecution of the late war and the +defense of the United States, or of some part thereof, during the same." + +When the question was taken in the House of Representatives on this +amendment two members, representing districts on the Potomac, who, +in all the previous stages of the business, had voted against the +assumption, declared themselves in its favor, and thus the majority was +changed. [2] + +Thus was a measure carried which was supported and opposed with a +degree of zeal and earnestness not often manifested, and which furnished +presages, not to be mistaken, that the spirit with which the opposite +opinions had been maintained, would not yield, contentedly, to the +decision of a bare majority. This measure has constituted one of the +great grounds of accusation against the first administration of the +general government, and it is fair to acknowledge that though, in its +progress, it derived no aid from the President, whose opinion remained +in his own bosom, it received the full approbation of his judgment. + +A bill at length passed both houses, funding the debt upon principles +which lessened considerably the weight of the public burdens and was +entirely satisfactory to the public creditors. The proceeds of the sales +of the lands lying in the western territory and, by a subsequent act of +the same session, the surplus product of the revenue, after satisfying +the appropriations which were charged upon it with the addition of +$2,000,000, which the President was authorized to borrow at 5 per cent., +constituted a sinking fund to be applied to the reduction of the debt. + +The effect of this measure was great and rapid. The public paper +suddenly rose and was for a short time above par. The immense wealth +which individuals acquired by this unexpected appreciation could not +be viewed with indifference. Those who participated in its advantages +regarded the author of a system to which they were so greatly indebted, +with an enthusiasm of attachment to which scarcely any limits were +assigned. To many others this adventitious collection of wealth in +particular hands was a subject rather of chagrin than of pleasure, and +the reputation which the success of his plans gave to the Secretary of +the Treasury was not contemplated with unconcern. As if the debt had +been created by the existing government, not by a war which gave liberty +and independence to the United States, its being funded was ascribed by +many, not to a sense of justice and to a liberal and enlightened policy, +but to the desire of bestowing on the government an artificial strength, +by the creation of a moneyed interest which would be subservient to +its will. The effects produced by giving the debt a permanent value +justified the predictions of those whose anticipations had been most +favorable. The sudden increase of moneyed capital derived from it +invigorated commerce and gave a new stimulus to agriculture. + +About this time there was a great and visible improvement in the +circumstances of the people. Although the funding system was certainly +not inoperative in producing this improvement it cannot be justly +ascribed to any single cause. Progressive industry had gradually +repaired the losses sustained by the war, and the influence of the +constitution on habits of thinking and acting, though silent, was +considerable. In depriving the States of the power to impair the +obligation of contracts or to make anything but gold and silver a tender +in payment of debts, the conviction was impressed on that portion of +society which had looked to the government for relief from embarrassment +that personal exertions alone could free them from difficulties, and an +increased degree of industry and economy was the natural consequence of +this opinion. [3] + +Various other matters besides those already noticed, occupied the +attention of Congress during this laborious session. The question of +the slave trade was brought up by a petition from the Quakers in +Pennsylvania, Delaware, and other States, and the venerable Dr. +Franklin, as president of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the +Abolition of Slavery, sent in a memorial, early in February, asking the +serious attention of Congress to the importance and duty of extending to +the negroes the blessings of freedom. The subject was discussed at great +length and with much warmth on both sides, and toward the close of March +it was resolved, "That Congress have no authority to interfere in the +emancipation of slaves, or in the treatment of them within any of +the States." Laws for the naturalization of aliens, after two years' +residence, for the patenting of useful inventions, and for securing +to authors the copyright of their works; and others, regulating the +mercantile marine of the Union, in respect to the seamen engaged in it; +and forming a groundwork for a criminal code; for the ordering of what +was called "the military establishment," only 1,216 rank and file; and +for arranging the means of intercourse with the Indians in respect to +trade and the acquisition of their hunting-grounds, and with European +governments for the larger commerce which required the superintendence +of resident ministers--these were duly considered and framed. Much other +business was done, such as voting for the public service, under the +heads of the civil list, pensions for revolutionary services, the +military establishment, lighthouses, embassies, and outstanding debts, +the moderate sum of about $725,000. + +Both houses, having returned thanks to the corporation of the city of +New York, "for the elegant and convenient accommodations furnished the +Congress of the United States," adjourned on the 12th of August (1790), +to meet again in December, in the city of Philadelphia. + +Washington's old and valued friend, Dr. Franklin, after painful and +protracted sufferings, closed a life of four-score and four years on +the 17th of April, 1790. He was buried in the cemetery of Christ Church, +Philadelphia, and his funeral was attended by more than 20,000 of +his fellow-citizens. Congress resolved to wear the customary badge of +mourning for one month, "as a mark of veneration due to the memory of +a citizen, whose native genius was not more an ornament to human nature +than his various exertions of it have been precious to science, to +freedom, and to his country." In the National Assembly of France, +Mirabeau eloquently dilated in praise of the illustrious deceased, and +Lafayette seconded the motion for a decree, ordering the members to wear +the usual badge of mourning for three days, and there was not a land +blessed with the light of civilization which did not lament his death +and pour forth expressions of sorrow for the loss which not only +America, but the world had sustained. + +An act was passed by Congress to accept the cession of the claims of the +State of North Carolina, to a certain district of western territory, +and on the 20th of May, provision was made for its government, under the +title of "The Territory of the United States south of the river Ohio." + +On the 29th of May, 1790, Rhode Island, having become somewhat more +alive to her true interests and to the ill results which must certainly +follow her exclusion from the Union, adopted the constitution and cast +in her lot with the sister States for the great future which was opening +before them all. + +A treaty of peace was concluded in August of this year with the Creek +Indians which restored tranquility to the people of Georgia. The pacific +overtures made to the Indians of the Wabash and the Miamis had not been +equally successful. The western frontiers were still exposed to their +incursions, and there was much reason to apprehend that the people of +Kentucky and of the western counties of the middle States could only +be relieved from the horrors of savage warfare by an exertion of the +military strength of the Union. In the opinion of the President, the +emergency required the immediate employment of a force competent to the +object and which should carry terror and destruction into the heart of +the hostile settlements. The people of the West, however, declared +their opinion in favor of desultory military expeditions, and Congress +indulged their wishes. The desire of the executive for a military +establishment equal to the exigency was not regarded and the distresses +of the frontier inhabitants therefore still continued. + +The conduct of Spain in relation to the disputed boundary, and its +pretensions to the navigation of the Mississippi, was such as to give +ground to fear that its dispositions toward the United States were +unfriendly. Between the United States and England the nonexecution +of several articles of the treaty of peace still furnished matter for +reciprocal crimination which there was the more difficulty in removing +because there was no diplomatic intercourse maintained between them. +Under the old government, Mr. Adams' mission had been treated with +neglect, and the new administration was not disposed to subject itself +to a similar mark of disrespect. Mr. Gouverneur Morris was instructed, +as an informal agent to the British government, to sound its views +respecting amicable and permanent arrangements of the matters in +dispute. But Mr. Morris remarked, "that there never was, perhaps, +a moment in which this country (Britain) felt herself greater, and, +consequently, it is the most unfavorable moment to obtain advantageous +terms from her in any bargain." He conducted his mission with ability +and address, but was unable to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. +The communications laid before the American government at the same time +by Major Beckwith, an English gentlemen, who had come in an informal +manner to learn the dispositions of the American government towards +England and Spain, between which a rupture was expected, gave Washington +an insight of the object of the delays which had been practiced with Mr. +Morris. He was persuaded that a disposition existed in the cabinet of +London to retain things in their actual situation until the intentions +of the American government should be ascertained with respect to the war +supposed to be approaching. If America would make a common cause with +Great Britain against Spain, the way would be smoothed to the attainment +of all their objects, but if America should incline toward Spain, no +adjustment of the points of difference between the two nations would +be made. He therefore determined to hold himself free to pursue without +reproach, in the expected war, such a course as the interest and honor +of the United States might dictate. The want of official authenticity +in the communications of Mr. Beckwith was, therefore, signified to that +gentleman as a reason for reserve on the part of the government and the +powers given to Mr. Morris were withdrawn. It was determined that things +should remain in their actual situation until a change of circumstances +should require a change of conduct. Scarcely had this resolution been +adopted when the dispute between Britain and Spain was adjusted, and +thus both the fear of inconveniences, and the hope of advantages +which might result to America from war between the two powers, were +terminated. + +By his incessant application to public business and the consequent +change of active for sedentary habits, the constitution of the President +seemed much impaired and during the second session of Congress he had, +for the second time since entering upon the duties of his office, been +attacked by a severe disease, which reduced him to the brink of the +grave. Exercise, and a temporary relief from the cares of office, being +essential to the restoration of his health, he determined for the short +interval afforded by the recess of the Legislature to retire from +the fatigues of public life to the tranquil shades of Mount Vernon. +Previously, however, he made a visit to Rhode Island, which, not having +been a member of the Union at the time of his late tour through New +England, had not been visited by him at that time. + +His final departure from New York was not less affecting than his +arrival had been, when he came to assume the reins of government. "It +was always his habit," says Custis in his "Recollections," "to endeavor +to avoid the manifestations of affection and gratitude that met him +everywhere. He strove in vain--he was closely watched and the people +would have their way. He wished to slip off unobserved from New York and +thus steal a march upon his old companions in arms. But there were too +many of the dear glorious old veterans of the Revolution at that time of +day in and near New York to render such an escape possible. + +"The baggage had all been packed up; the horses, carriages, and servants +ordered to be over the ferry to Paulus Hook by daybreak and nothing was +wanting for departure but the dawn. The lights were yet burning, when +the President came into the room where his family were assembled, +evidently much pleased in the belief that all was right, when, +immediately under the windows, the band of the artillery struck up +Washington's March. 'There,' he exclaimed, 'it's all over, we are found +out. Well, well, they must have their own way.' New York soon after +appeared as if taken by storm--troops and persons of all descriptions +hurrying down Broadway toward the place of embarkation, all anxious to +take a last look on him whom so many could never expect to see again. + +"The embarkation was delayed until all the complimentary arrangements +were completed. The President, after taking leave of many dear and +cherished friends, and many an old companion in arms, stepped into the +barge that was to convey him from New York forever. The coxswain gave +the word 'let fall;' the spray from the oars sparkled in the morning +sunbeams; the bowman shoved off from the pier, and, as the barge swung +round to the tide, Washington rose, uncovered, in the stern, to bid +adieu to the masses assembled on the shore; he waved his hat, and, in a +voice tremulous from emotion, pronounced--Farewell. It may be supposed +that Major Bauman, who commanded the artillery on this interesting +occasion, who was first captain of Lamb's regiment, and a favorite +officer of the war of the Revolution, would, when about to pay his last +respects to his beloved commander, load his pieces with something more +than mere blank cartridges. But ah! the thunders of the cannon were +completely hushed when the mighty shout of the people arose that +responded to the farewell of Washington. Pure from the heart it came, +right up to Heaven it went, to call down a blessing upon the Father of +his Country. + +"The barge had scarcely gained the middle of the Hudson when the +trumpets were heard at Paulus Hook, where the Governor and the chivalry +of Jersey were in waiting to welcome the chief to those well-remembered +shores. Escorts of cavalry relieved each other throughout the whole +route up to the Pennsylvania line; every village, and even hamlet, +turned out its population to greet with cordial welcome the man upon +whom all eyes were fixed and in whom all hearts rejoiced. + +"What must have been the recollections that crowded on the mind +of Washington during this triumphant progress? Newark, Brunswick, +Princeton, Trenton! What a contrast between the glorious burst of +sunshine that now illumined and made glad everything around these +memorable spots, with the gloomy and desolate remembrances of '76! Then +his country's champion, with the wreck of a shattered host, was flying +before a victorious and well-appointed foe, while all around him was +shrouded in the darkness of despair; now, in his glorious progress +over the self-same route, his firm footstep presses upon the soil of +an infant empire, reposing in the joys of peace, independence, and +happiness. + +"Among the many who swelled his triumph, the most endeared to the heart +of the chief were the old associates of his toils, his fortunes, and his +fame. Many of the Revolutionary veterans were living in 1790, and, +by their presence, gave a dignified tone and character to all public +assemblages; and when you saw a peculiarly fine-looking soldier in those +old days, and would ask: 'To what corps of the American army did you +belong?' drawing himself up to his full height, with a martial air, and +back of the hand thrown up to his forehead, the veteran would reply: +'Life Guard, your honor.' + +"And proud and happy were these veterans in again beholding their own +good Lady Washington. Greatly was she beloved in the army. Her many +intercessions with the chief for the pardon of offenders--her kindness +to the sick and wounded--all caused her annual arrival in camp to be +hailed as an event that would serve to dissipate the gloom of the winter +quarters. + +"Arrived at the line, the Jersey escort was relieved by the cavalry of +Pennsylvania, and, when near to Philadelphia, the President was met by +Governor Mifflin and a brilliant cortege of officers, and escorted by a +squadron of horse to the city. Conspicuous among the Governors suite, as +well for his martial bearing as for the manly beauty of his person, was +General Walter Stewart, a son of Erin, and a gallant and distinguished +officer of the Pennsylvania line. To Stewart, as to Cadwallader, +Washington was most warmly attached; indeed, those officers were among +the very choicest of the contributions of Pennsylvania to the army and +cause of independence. Mifflin, small in stature, was active, alert, +'every inch a soldier.' He was a patriot of great influence in +Pennsylvania in the 'times that tried men's souls,' and nobly did he +exert that influence in raising troops, with which to reinforce the +wreck of the grand army at the close of the campaign of '76. + +"Arrived within the city, the crowd became intense, the President left +his carriage and mounted the white charger, and, with the Governor on +his right, proceeded to the city tavern in Third street, where quarters +were prepared for him, the light infantry, after some time, having +opened a passage for the carriages. At the city tavern the President +was received by the authorities of Philadelphia, who welcomed the +chief magistrate to their city as to his home for the remainder of his +Presidential term. A group of old and long-tried friends were also +in waiting. Foremost among these, and first to grasp the hand of +Washington, was one who was always nearest to his heart, a patriot and +public benefactor, Robert Morris. + +"After remaining a short time in Philadelphia, the President speeded +on his journey to that home where he ever found rest from his weighty +labors, and enjoyed the sweets of rural and domestic happiness amid his +farms and at his fireside of Mount Vernon." + +Whenever Washington was residing at Mount Vernon, he was accustomed to +receive visits from his old and intimate friends, and to relieve his +mind from the cares of state by lively and familiar conversation, and +social and convivial intercourse. On one occasion, some years before the +period of which we are now writing, Mr. Drayton and Mr. Izard, of South +Carolina, were on a visit to Mount Vernon. [4] + +After dinner, while the party were still sitting at table, the +conversation turned on Arnold's treason. Mr. Lear, Washington's private +secretary, was present, and after retiring he wrote down in his diary +Washington's own account of that remarkable incident in our history +in his own words. The extract from Mr. Lear's diary has recently been +published for the first time in Mr. Rush's "Washington in Domestic +Life." It is as follows: + +"After dinner, Washington was, in the course of conversation, led to +speak of Arnold's treachery, when he gave the following account of +it, which I shall put in his own words, thus: 'I confess I had a good +opinion of Arnold before his treachery was brought to light; had that +not been the case I should have had some reason to suspect him sooner, +for when he commanded in Philadelphia, the Marquis Lafayette brought +accounts from France of the armament which was to be sent to cooperate +with us in the ensuing campaign. Soon after this was known, Arnold +pretended to have some private business to transact in Connecticut, +and on his way there he called at my quarters, and in the course of +conversation expressed a desire of quitting Philadelphia and joining +the army the ensuing campaign. I told him that it was probable we should +have a very active one, and that if his wound and state of health would +permit, I should be extremely glad of his services with the army. He +replied that he did not think his wound would permit him to take a very +active part, but still he persisted in his desire of being with the +army. He went on to Connecticut and on his return called again upon me. +He renewed his request of being with me next campaign, and I made him +the same answer I had done before. He again repeated that he did not +think his wound would permit him to do active duty, and intimated a +desire to have the command at West Point. I told him I did not think +that would suit him, as I should leave none in the garrison but +invalids, because it would be entirely covered by the main army. The +subject was dropped at that time, and he returned to Philadelphia. +It then appeared somewhat strange to me that a man of Arnold's known +activity and enterprise should be desirous of taking so inactive a part. +I however thought no more of the matter. When the French troops arrived +at Rhode Island, I had intelligence from New York that General Clinton +intended to make an attack upon them before they could get themselves +settled and fortified. In consequence of that I was determined to +attack New York, which would be left much exposed by his drawing off the +British troops, and accordingly formed my line of battle and moved down +with the whole army to King's ferry, which we passed. Arnold came to +camp that time, and, having no command, and consequently no quarters +(all the houses thereabouts being occupied by the army), he was obliged +to seek lodgings at some distance from the camp. While the army was +crossing at King's ferry I was going to see the last detachment over, +and met Arnold, who asked me if I had thought of anything for him. I +told him that he was to have the command of the light troops, which was +a post of honor, and which his rank indeed entitled him to. Upon this +information his countenance changed, and he appeared to be quite +fallen; and, instead of thanking me, or expressing any pleasure at +the appointment, never opened his mouth. I desired him to go on to my +quarters and get something to refresh himself, and I would meet him +there soon. He did so. Upon his arrival there he found Colonel Tilghman, +whom he took aside, and, mentioning what I had told him, seemed to +express great uneasiness at it--as his leg, he said, would not permit +him to be long on horseback, and intimated a great desire to have the +command at West Point. When I returned to my quarters Colonel Tilghman +informed me of what had passed. I made no reply to it, but his behavior +struck me as strange and unaccountable. In the course of that night, +however, I received information from New York that General Clinton had +altered his plan and was debarking his troops. This information obliged +me likewise to alter my disposition and return to my former station, +where I could better cover the country. I then determined to comply with +Arnold's desire, and accordingly gave him the command of the garrison at +West Point. Things remained in this situation about a fortnight, when I +wrote to the Count Rochambeau, desiring to meet him at some intermediate +place (as we could neither of us be long enough from our respective +commands to visit the other), in order to lay the plan for the siege of +Yorktown, and proposed Hartford, where I accordingly went and met the +count. On my return I met the Chevalier Luzerne toward evening within +about fifteen miles of West Point (on his way to join the count at Rhode +Island), which I intended to reach that night, but he insisted upon +turning back with me to the next public house, where, in politeness to +him, I could not but stay all night, determining, however, to get to +West Point to breakfast very early. I sent off my baggage, and desired +Colonel Hamilton to go forward and inform General Arnold that I would +breakfast with him. Soon after he arrived at Arnold's quarters a letter +was delivered to Arnold which threw him into the greatest confusion. He +told Colonel Hamilton that something required his immediate attendance +at the garrison, which was on the opposite side of the river to his +quarters, and immediately ordered a horse to take him to the river, +and the barge, which he kept to cross, to be ready, and desired Major +Franks, his aide, to inform me when I should arrive that he was gone +over the river and would return immediately. When I got to his quarters +and did not find him there I desired Major Franks to order me some +breakfast, and, as I intended to visit the fortifications, I would see +General Arnold there. After I had breakfasted I went over the river, +and, inquiring for Arnold, the commanding officer told me that he had +not been there. I likewise inquired at the several redoubts, but no +one could give me any information where he was. The impropriety of his +conduct, when he knew I was to be there, struck me very forcibly, and my +mind misgave me, but I had not the least idea of the real cause. When +I returned to Arnold's quarters about two hours after, and told Colonel +Hamilton that I had not seen him, he gave me a packet which had just +arrived for me from Colonel Jemmison, which immediately brought the +matter to light. I ordered Colonel Hamilton to mount his horse and +proceed with the greatest dispatch to a post on the river about eight +miles below, in order to stop the barge if she had not passed, but it +was too late. It seems that the letter which Arnold received which threw +him into such confusion was from Colonel Jemmison, informing him +that André was taken, and that the papers found upon him were in his +possession. Colonel Jemmison, when André was taken with these papers, +could not believe that Arnold was a traitor, but rather thought it +was an imposition of the British in order to destroy our confidence in +Arnold. He, however, immediately on their being taken, dispatched an +express after me, ordering him to ride night and day till he came up +with me. The express went the lower road, which was the road by which +I had gone to Connecticut, expecting that I would return by the same +route, and that he would meet me, but before he had proceeded far he was +informed that I was returning by the upper road. He then cut across +the country and followed in my track till I arrived at West Point. He +arrived about two hours after and brought the above packet. When Arnold +got down to the barge, he ordered his men, who were very clever fellows +and some of the better sort of soldiery, to proceed immediately on board +the Vulture, sloop-of-war, as a flag, which was lying down the river, +saying that they must be very expeditious, as he must return in a short +time to meet me, and promised them two gallons of rum if they would +exert themselves. They did, accordingly, but when they got on board the +Vulture, instead of their two gallons of rum, he ordered the coxswain to +be called down into the cabin, and informed him that he and the men must +consider themselves as prisoners. The coxswain was very much astonished, +and told him that they came on board under the sanction of a flag. He +answered that that was nothing to the purpose; they were prisoners. +But the captain of the Vulture had more generosity than this pitiful +scoundrel, and told the coxswain that he would take his parole for going +on shore to get clothes, and whatever else was wanted for himself and +his companions. He accordingly came, got his clothes, and returned on +board. When they got to New York, General Clinton, ashamed of so low and +mean an action, set them all at liberty.'" + +This narrative, from the lips of Washington himself, throws much +additional light on Arnold's treason. It is also interesting to the +general reader, as affording a specimen of Washington's style in +conversation, when the events of the Revolution formed the topic of +discourse. + + +1. Footnote: On account of the great importance of this debate, we give +Marshall's synopsis of the arguments used on both sides. It brought up +the question of State rights as opposed to centralization for the first +time; and on many other accounts is particularly interesting for the +political reader, as well as for all who are curious respecting our +early colonial history. + +2. Footnote: It has ever been understood that these members were, on +principle, in favor of the assumption as modified in the amendment made +by the Senate; but they withheld their assent from it when originally +proposed in the House of Representatives in the opinion that the +increase of the national debt added to the necessity of giving to the +departments of the national government a more central residence. It +is understood that a greater number would have changed had it been +necessary. + +3. Footnote: Marshall. + +4. Footnote: October 23, 1786, was the date of Messrs. Drayton and +Izard's visit. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +THE NATIONAL BANK ESTABLISHED. 1790. + + +On his way from New York to Mount Vernon Washington stopped for a short +time, as we have seen, in Philadelphia. While there he addressed a +letter to his private secretary, Mr. Lear, which is interesting not only +for the information it contains respecting his residence, but from its +illustrating that remarkable attention to the details of business, which +we have already had occasion to notice. + +"After a pleasant journey," he writes, "we arrived in this city on +Thursday last (September 2, 1790), and tomorrow we proceed--if Mrs. +Washington's health will permit, for she has been much indisposed since +we came here--toward Mount Vernon. The house of Mr. Robert Morris had, +previous to my arrival, been taken by the corporation for my residence. +[1] + +"It is the best they could get. It is, I believe, the best single house +in the city. Yet without additions it is inadequate to the commodious +accommodation of my family. These additions, I believe, will be made. +The first floor contains only two public rooms (except one for the upper +servants). The second floor will have two public (drawing) rooms, and +with the aid of one room with a partition in it, in the back building, +will be sufficient for the use of Mrs. Washington and the children, and +their maids, besides affording her a small place for a private study +and dressing-room. The third story will furnish you and Mrs. Lear with a +good lodging-room, a public office (for there is no room below for one), +and two rooms for the gentlemen of the family. The garret has four good +rooms, which must serve Mr. and Mrs. Hyde [2]--unless they should prefer +the room over the workhouse--William, and such servants as it may not be +better to place in the proposed additions to the back building. There is +a room over the stable which may serve the coachman and postillions, and +there is a smokehouse, which may possibly be more valuable for the use +of servants than for the smoking of meats. The intention of the addition +to the back building is to provide a servant's hall and one or two +lodging-rooms for the servants. There are good stables, but for twelve +horses only, and a coach-house, which will hold all my carriages. +Speaking of carriages, I have left my coach to receive a thorough +repair, by the time I return, which I expect will be before the 1st of +December." + +The Legislature, meantime, had appropriated for his residence an elegant +house in South Ninth street, which was taken down a few years since, +having been occupied by the University, and other buildings were erected +on the same lot for the same purpose. But Washington refused to occupy +the house offered by the State authorities, because he would not live +in a house which was not hired and paid for by himself. He was desirous, +however, to have the rent fixed before he entered the house, and he +wrote repeatedly to Mr. Lear from Mount Vernon to ascertain what the +rent would be. On the 14th of November, 1790, he wrote to Mr. Lear as +follows: + +"I am, I must confess, exceedingly unwilling to go into any house +without first knowing on what terms I do it, and wish that this +sentiment could be again hinted in delicate terms to the parties +concerned with me. I cannot, if there are no latent motives which govern +in this case, see any difficulty in the business. Mr. Morris has most +assuredly formed an idea of what ought in equity to be the rent of the +tenement in the condition he left it, and with this aid the committee +ought, I conceive, to be as little at a loss in determining what it +should rent for, with the additions and alterations which are about +to be made, and which ought to be done in a plain and neat, not by any +means in an extravagant style, because the latter is not only +contrary to my wish but would really be detrimental to my interest and +convenience, principally because it would be the means of keeping me out +of the use and comforts of the house to a late period, and because the +furniture and everything else would require to be accordant therewith, +besides making me pay an extravagant price, perhaps to accommodate +the alterations to the taste of another or to the exorbitant rates of +workmen. + +"I do not know, nor do I believe, that anything unfair is intended by +either Mr. Morris or the committee, but let us for a moment suppose that +the rooms (the new ones I mean) were to be hung with tapestry or a very +rich and costly paper, neither of which would suit my present furniture; +that costly ornaments for the bow windows, extravagant chimney-pieces, +and the like were to be provided; that workmen, from extravagance of +the times for every twenty shillings' worth of work would charge forty +shillings, and that advantage should be taken of the occasion to +new paint every part of the house and buildings, would there be any +propriety in adding ten or twelve and a half per cent. for all this to +the rent of the house in its original state for the two years that I +am to hold it? If the solution of these questions is in the negative, +wherein lies the difficulty of determining that the houses and lots, +when finished according to the proposed plan, ought to rent for so +much? When all is done that can be done, the residence will not be so +commodious as the house I left in New York, for there (and the want of +it will be found a real inconvenience at Mr. Morris') my office was in +a front room below, where persons on business were at once admitted, +whereas now they will have to ascend two pair of stairs and to pass +by the public rooms to go to it. Notwithstanding which I am willing to +allow as much as was paid to Mr. Macomb, and shall say nothing if more +is demanded, unless there is apparent extortion or the policy of delay +is to see to what height rents will rise before mine is fixed. In either +of these cases I should not be pleased, and to occupy the premises at +the expense of any public body I will not. + +"I had rather have heard that my repaired coach was plain and elegant +than rich and elegant." + +The rent of Mr. Morris' house was finally settled at $3,000 a year, and +at this rate it was occupied by Washington till the expiration of his +second term as President and his final retirement to Mount Vernon. + +Our readers will excuse us for dwelling a little longer on the domestic +arrangements of Washington, as disclosed in his letters to Mr. Lear. +These details are not only curious and entertaining, as showing the +style of living half a century ago, but as exhibiting the modest and +economical style in which Washington chose to live; and they refute the +calumnies of his political enemies, who, a little later, charged him +with anti-republican state and splendor in his style of living. One +of his letters to Mr. Lear relates to the servants. "The pressure of +business," he writes, "under which I labored for several days before I +left New York, allowed me no time to inquire who of the female servants +it was proposed or thought advisable to remove here, besides the wives +of the footmen, James and Fidas. With respect to Mr. Hyde and his +wife, if it is not stated on some paper handed in by Mr. Hyde, it is +nevertheless strong on my recollection that his wife's services were put +down at $100 and his own at $200 per annum. I have no wish to part with +Mr. or Mrs. Hyde; first, because I do not like to be changing, and, +second, because I do not know where or with whom to supply their +places. On the score of accounts I can say nothing, having never taken a +comparative view of his and Fraunces', but I am exceedingly mistaken if +the expenses of the second table, at which Mr. Hyde presides, have not +greatly exceeded those of the tables kept by Fraunces, for I strongly +suspect (but in this I may be mistaken) that nothing is brought to +my table of liquors, fruits, or other luxuries that is not used as +profusely at his. If my suspicions are unfounded I shall be sorry to +have entertained them, and if they are not, it is at least questionable +whether under his successor the same things might not be done; in which +case (if Hyde is honest and careful, of which you are better able to +judge than I am), a change without benefit might take place, which is +not desirable if they are to be retained on proper terms. I say they, +for if Mrs. Hyde is necessary for the purposes enumerated in your +letter, and the cook is not competent to prepare the dessert, make cake, +etc., I do not see of what use Hyde will be, more than William, without +her. Fraunces, besides being an excellent cook, knowing how to provide +genteel dinners, and giving aid in dressing them, prepared the dessert, +made the cake, and did everything that is done by Hyde and his wife +together; consequently the services of Hyde alone are not to be compared +with those of Fraunces; and if his accounts exceed those of Fraunces, in +the same seasons--£4 or £5 a week--and at the same time appear fair, I +shall have no scruple to acknowledge that I have entertained much harder +thoughts of him than I ought to have done, although it is unaccountable +to me how other families, on $2,500 or $3,000 a year, should be enabled +to entertain more company or at least entertain more frequently than I +could do for $25,000." + +Respecting the furniture, Washington writes: "Mr. and Mrs. Morris have +insisted upon leaving the two large looking-glasses which are in their +best rooms, because they have no place, they say, proper to remove them +to, and because they are unwilling to hazard the taking of them down. +You will, therefore, let them have, instead, the choice of mine; the +large ones I purchased of the French minister they do not incline to +take, but will be glad of some of the others. They will also leave a +large glass lamp in the entry or hall, and will take one or more of +my glass lamps in lieu of it. Mrs. Morris has a mangle (I think it is +called) for ironing clothes, which, as it is fixed in the place where it +is commonly used, she proposes to leave and take mine. To this I have no +objection, provided mine is equally good and convenient; but if I should +obtain any advantages, besides that of its being up and ready for use, I +am not inclined to receive it. + +"I have no particular direction to give respecting the appropriation of +the furniture. By means of the bow-windows the back rooms will become +the largest, and, of course, will receive the furniture of the largest +dining and drawing-rooms; and in that case, though there are no closets +in them, there are some in the steward's room, directly opposite, which +are not inconvenient. There is a small room adjoining the kitchen that +might, if it is not essential for other purposes, be appropriated for +the Sevres china and other things of that sort, which are not in common +use. + +"Mrs. Morris, who is a notable lady in family arrangements, can give you +much information on all the conveniences about the house and buildings, +and I dare say would rather consider it as a compliment to be consulted +in these matters, as she is so near, than a trouble to give her opinion +of them. + +"I approve, at least till inconvenience or danger shall appear, of the +large table ornaments remaining on the sideboard, and of the pagodas +standing in the smallest drawing-room. Had I delivered my sentiment from +here, respecting this fixture, that is the apartment I should have named +for it. Whether the green, which you have, or a new yellow curtain, +should be appropriated to the staircase above the hall may depend on +your getting an exact match in color and so forth of the latter. For the +sake of appearances one would not, in instances of this kind, regard a +small additional expense." + +In these letters, written to Mr. Lear during Washington's residence +at Mount Vernon, in the autumn of 1790, he frequently refers to the +children under Mrs. Washington's care, who composed a part of the +family. In a letter, dated October 3d, he requests Mr. Lear to make +inquiries respecting the schools in Philadelphia, with a view to placing +Washington Custis, Mrs. Washington's grandson, at the best. If the +college is under good regulations, he inquires if it would not be better +to put him there at once. Again, in a letter dated October 10th, after +speaking of the proper care and instruction of his niece, Miss Harriet +Washington, when he should be established in Philadelphia, he refers +again to Washington Custis' education, whom he had adopted as a son, +and in whom he appears to have taken great interest. [3] He also wishes +inquiry to be made as to the higher branches taught at the college, with +a view to placing his nephews, George and Lawrence Washington, at that +institution in Philadelphia. Having studied the languages, they +are engaged, he adds, under Mr. Harrow, in Alexandria, in learning +mathematics and French. In a letter dated November 7, 1790, Washington +expresses renewed anxiety respecting the education of his adopted son, +Washington Custis, who appears to have been about eight years old at +this time, and discusses the question of placing him at the college, if +his age will admit of it. + +On the 17th of November (1790), Washington, writing from Mount Vernon +to Mr. Lear at Philadelphia, mentions that he is just setting out for +Alexandria to a public dinner given to him by the citizens of that +place. In his letter of November 23d, he dates from a tavern on the +road, about twelve miles from Baltimore. He was then on his journey from +Mount Vernon to Philadelphia in his own traveling carriage with +Mrs. Washington, the children, and the servants in attendance on +the children, accompanying them in a stage-coach hired for their +accommodation. + +The party arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday, the 28th of November +(1790), and immediately took possession of the house which had been +hired for the accommodation of the President and his family. The members +of Congress and other public functionaries were mostly at their posts, +and a crowd of strangers were resorting to the city, in expectation +of the gay and brilliant pleasures and society which are usual in the +metropolis in the winter season. + +In the President's family, "the rules for receiving visitors and +entertaining company," says Dr. Griswold, [4] "continued to be very +nearly the same as in New York. Respectable citizens and strangers, +properly introduced, were seen by the President every other Tuesday, +between the hours of 3 and 4 in the afternoon. The receptions were in +the dining-room, on the first floor, in the back part of the house. At +3 o'clock, all the chairs having been removed, the door was opened, and +the President, usually surrounded by members of his cabinet, or other +distinguished men, was seen by the approaching visitor standing before +the fireplace, his hair powdered and gathered behind in a silk bag, coat +and breeches of plain black velvet, white or pearl-colored vest, yellow +gloves, a cocked hat in his hand, silver knee and shoe-buckles, and a +long sword, with a finely-wrought and glittering steel hilt, the coat +worn over it, and its scabbard of polished white leather. On these +occasions he never shook hands, even with his most intimate friends. The +name of everyone was distinctly announced, and he rarely forgot that of +a person who had been once introduced to him. The visitor was received +with a dignified bow and passed on to another part of the room. At a +quarter past 3 the door was closed, the gentlemen present moved into a +circle, and he proceeded, beginning at his right hand, to exchange a +few words with each. When the circuit was completed he resumed his +first position and the visitors approached him in succession, bowed, and +retired. + +"At the levees of Mrs. Washington he did not consider any visits made +to himself, and he appeared as a private gentleman, with neither hat nor +sword, conversing without restraint, generally with women, who rarely +had other opportunities of meeting him." + +Congress assembled for its third session on the 6th of December, 1790, +the day which had been appointed by adjournment. But the members had not +yet learned to be punctual in their attendance, and it was not till +the 8th that a sufficient number took their seats to authorize their +entering upon the business of the session. Among the members we +recognize some celebrated names. From Massachusetts were Elbridge Gerry, +afterward Vice-President of the United States, and Fisher Ames, one of +the most illustrious of American orators; from Connecticut, the veteran +statesman, Roger Sherman; from New Jersey, the philanthropist, Elias +Boudinot; from Pennsylvania, Peter and Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg and +George Clymer; from Virginia, James Madison; from North Carolina, Hugh +Williamson, and from Georgia, Gen. James Jackson. This is but a portion +of the strong array of historical names which adorned the First Congress +of the United States under the constitution. + +In his speech delivered to Congress at the commencement of their +third session, Washington expressed much satisfaction at the favorable +prospect of public affairs, and particularly noticed the progress of +public credit and the productiveness of the revenue. + +Adverting to foreign nations, he said: "The disturbed situation of +Europe, and particularly the critical posture of the great maritime +powers, whilst it ought to make us more thankful for the general peace +and security enjoyed by the United States, reminds us at the same +time of the circumspection with which it becomes us to preserve these +blessings. It requires, also, that we should not overlook the tendency +of a war, and even of preparations for war, among the nations most +concerned in active commerce with this country, to abridge the means +and thereby, at least, to enhance the price of transporting its valuable +productions to their proper market." To the serious reflection of +Congress was recommended the prevention of embarrassments from these +contingencies, by such encouragement to American navigation as would +render the commerce and agriculture of the United States less dependent +on foreign bottoms. + +After expressing to the House of Representatives his confidence arising +from the sufficiency of the revenues already established, for the +objects to which they were appropriated, he added: "Allow me moreover to +hope that it will be a favorite policy with you not merely to secure a +payment of the interest of the debt funded, but, as far and as fast as +the growing resources of the country will permit, to exonerate it of +the principal itself." Many subjects relative to the interior government +were succinctly and briefly mentioned, and the speech concluded with the +following impressive and admonitory sentiment: "In pursuing the various +and weighty business of the present session, I indulge the fullest +persuasion that your consultations will be marked with wisdom and +animated by the love of country. In whatever belongs to my duty you +shall have all the cooperation which an undiminished zeal for its +welfare can inspire. It will be happy for us both, and our best reward, +if, by a successful administration of our respective trusts, we can make +the established government more and more instrumental in promoting +the good of our fellow-citizens, and more and more the object of their +attachment and confidence." + +The addresses of the two Houses, in answer to the speech, proved that +the harmony between the executive and legislative departments, with +which the government had gone into operation, had sustained no essential +interruption. But in the short debate which took place on the occasion +in the House of Representatives a direct disapprobation of one of the +measures of the executive government was, for the first time, openly +expressed. + +In the treaty lately concluded with the Creek Indians, an extensive +territory claimed by Georgia, under treaties, the validity of which +was contested by the chiefs, had been entirely, or in great part, +relinquished. This relinquishment excited serious discontents in that +State and was censured by General Jackson, with considerable warmth, as +an unjustifiable abandonment of the rights and interests of Georgia. +No specific motion, however, was made, and the subject was permitted to +pass away for the present. + +Scarcely were the debates on the address concluded when several +interesting reports were received from Hamilton, the Secretary of the +Treasury, suggesting such further measures as were deemed necessary for +the establishment of public credit. + +It will be recollected that, in his original report on this subject, +the secretary had recommended the assumption of the State debts and had +proposed to enable the treasury to meet the increased demand upon it, +which this measure would occasion, by an augmentation of the duties +on imported wines, spirits, tea, and coffee and by imposing duties on +spirits distilled within the country. The assumption not having been +adopted until late in the session, the discussion on the revenue which +would be required for this portion of the public debt did not commence +until the House had become impatient for an adjournment. As much +contrariety of opinion was disclosed, and the subject was not of +immediate importance, it was deferred to the ensuing session, and an +order was made requiring the Secretary of the Treasury to prepare and +report such further provision as might, in his opinion, be necessary +for establishing the public credit. In obedience to this order, +several reports had been prepared, the first of which repeated the +recommendation of an additional impost on foreign distilled spirits and +of a duty on spirits distilled within the United States. The estimated +revenue from these sources was $877,500, affording a small excess over +the sum which would be required to pay the interest on the assumed debt. +The policy of the measure was discussed in a well-digested and able +argument, detailing many motives, in addition to those assigned in +his original report, for preferring the system now recommended to +accumulated burdens on commerce or to a direct tax on lands. + +A new tax is the certain rallying point for all those who are unfriendly +to the administration or to the minister by whom it is proposed. +But that recommended by the secretary contained intrinsic causes of +objection which would necessarily add to the number of its enemies. All +that powerful party in the United States which attached itself to +the local rather than to the general government, would inevitably +contemplate any system of internal revenue with jealous disapprobation. +They considered the imposition of a tax by Congress on any domestic +manufacture as the intrusion of a foreign power into their particular +concerns, which excited serious apprehensions for State importance and +for liberty. In the real or supposed interests of many individuals +was also found a distinct motive for hostility to the measure. A large +portion of the American population, especially that which had spread +itself over the extensive regions of the West, consuming imported +articles to a very inconsiderable amount, was not much affected by the +impost on foreign merchandise. But the duty on spirits distilled within +the United States reached them, and consequently rendered them hostile +to the tax. + +A bill which was introduced in pursuance of the report (1791) was +opposed with great vehemence by a majority of the southern and western +members. By some of them it was insisted that no sufficient testimony +had yet been exhibited that the taxes already imposed would not be +equal to the exigencies of the public. But, admitting the propriety of +additional burdens on the people, it was contended that other sources +of revenue less exceptionable and less odious than this might be pointed +out. The duty was branded with the hateful epithet of an excise, a +species of taxation, it was said, so peculiarly oppressive as to be +abhorred even in England, and which was totally incompatible with the +spirit of liberty. The facility with which it might be extended to other +objects was urged against its admission into the American system, and +declarations made against it by the Congress of 1775 were quoted in +confirmation of the justice with which inherent vices were ascribed to +this mode of collecting taxes. So great was the hostility manifested +against it in some of the States that the revenue officers might be +endangered from the fury of the people, and in all it would increase a +ferment which had been already extensively manifested. + +When required to produce a system in lieu of that which they objected +to, the opponents of the bill alternately mentioned an increased duty +on imported articles generally, a particular duty on molasses, a direct +tax, a tax on salaries, pensions, and lawyers, a duty on newspapers, +and a stamp act. The friends of the bill contended that the reasons +for believing the existing revenue would be insufficient to meet the +engagements of the United States were as satisfactory as the nature +of the case would admit or as ought to be required. The estimates were +founded on the best data which were attainable, and the funds already +provided had been calculated by the proper officer to pay the interest +on that part of the debt only for which they were pledged. Those +estimates were referred to as documents from which it would be unsafe to +depart. They were also in possession of official statements showing the +productiveness of the taxes from the time the revenue bill had been in +operation, and arguments were drawn from these demonstrating the danger +to which the infant credit of the United States would be exposed by +relying on the existing funds for the interest on the assumed debt. +It was not probable that the proposed duties would yield a sum much +exceeding that which would be necessary, but should they fortunately +do so, the surplus revenue might be advantageously employed in +extinguishing a part of the principal. They were not, they said, of +opinion that a public debt was a public blessing, or that it ought to be +perpetuated. An augmentation of the revenue being indispensable to the +solidity of the public credit, a more eligible system than that proposed +in the bill could not, it was believed, be devised. Still further to +burden commerce would be a hazardous experiment, which might afford no +real supplies to the treasury. Until some lights should be derived from +experience, it behooved the Legislature to be cautious not to lay +such impositions upon trade as might probably introduce a spirit +of smuggling, which, with a nominal increase, would occasion a real +diminution of revenue. In the opinion of the best judges, the impost on +the mass of foreign merchandise could not safely be carried further for +the present. The extent of the mercantile capital of the United States +would not justify the attempt. Forcible arguments were also drawn from +the policy and the justice of multiplying the subjects of taxation and +diversifying them by a union of internal with external objects. + +Neither would a direct tax be advisable. The experience of the world had +proved that a tax on consumption was less oppressive and more productive +than a tax on either property or income. Without discussing the +principles on which the fact was founded, the fact itself was +incontestable that, by insensible means, much larger sums might be drawn +from any class of men than could be extracted from them by open and +direct taxes. + +Against the substitution of a duty on internal negotiations, it was said +that revenue to any considerable extent could be collected from them +only by means of a stamp act, which was not less obnoxious to popular +resentment than an excise, would be less certainly productive than the +proposed duties, and was, in every respect, less eligible. + +The honor, the justice, and the faith of the United States were pledged, +it was said, to that class of creditors for whose claims the bill under +consideration was intended to provide. No means of making the provision +had been suggested, which, on examination, would be found equally +eligible with a duty on ardent spirits. Much of the public prejudice +which appeared in certain parts of the United States against the measure +was to be ascribed to their hostility to the term "excise," a term which +had been inaccurately applied to the duty in question. When the law +should be carried into operation, it would be found not to possess +those odious qualities which had excited resentment against a system +of excise. In those States where the collection of a duty on spirits +distilled within the country had become familiar to the people, the same +prejudices did not exist. On the good sense and virtue of the nation +they could confidently rely for acquiescence in a measure which the +public exigencies rendered necessary, which tended to equalize the +public burdens and which, in its execution, would not be oppressive. + +A motion made by General Jackson to strike out that section which +imposed a duty on domestic distilled spirits was negatived by 36 to 16, +and the bill was carried by 35 to 21. Some days after the passage of +this bill another question was brought forward which was understood to +involve principles of deep interest to the government. + +Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, had been the uniform advocate +of a national bank. Believing that such an institution would be "of +primary importance to the prosperous administration of the finances and +of the greatest utility in the operations connected with the support of +public credit," he had earnestly recommended its adoption in the first +general system which he presented to the view of Congress, and, at the +present session, had repeated that recommendation in a special report, +containing a copious and perspicuous argument on the policy of the +measure. A bill conforming to the plan he suggested was sent down from +the Senate and was permitted to proceed, unmolested, in the House of +Representatives, to the third reading. On the final question a great, +and, it would seem, an unexpected opposition was made to its passage. +Mr. Madison, Mr. Giles, General Jackson, and Mr. Stone spoke against +it. The general utility of banking systems was not admitted, and the +particular bill before the House was censured on its merits; but the +great strength of the argument was directed against the constitutional +authority of Congress to pass an act for incorporating a national bank. + +The government of the United States, it was said, was limited, and +the powers which it might legitimately exercise were enumerated in the +constitution itself. In this enumeration the power now contended for was +not to be found. Not being expressly given it must be implied from +those which were given or it could not be vested in the government. +The clauses under which it could be claimed were then reviewed and +critically examined, and it was contended that, on fair construction, no +one of these could be understood to imply so important a power as that +of creating a corporation. + +The clause which enables Congress to pass all laws necessary and proper +to execute the specified powers must, according to the natural and +obvious force of the terms and the context, be limited to means +necessary to the end and incident to the nature of the specified powers. +The clause, it was said, was in fact merely declaratory of what would +have resulted by unavoidable implication, as the appropriate, and as it +were technical, means of executing those powers. Some members observed +that "the true exposition of a necessary mean to produce a given end was +that mean without which the end could not be produced." + +The bill was supported by Mr. Ames, Mr. Sedgwick, Mr. Smith, of South +Carolina, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Gerry, and Mr. Vining. + +The utility of banking institutions was said to be demonstrated by their +effects. In all commercial countries they had been resorted to as an +instrument of great efficacy in mercantile transactions; and even in +the United States their public and private advantages had been felt and +acknowledged. + +Respecting the policy of the measure no well-founded doubt could be +entertained, but the objections to the constitutional authority of +Congress deserved to be seriously considered. + +That the government was limited by the terms of its creation was not +controverted; and that it could exercise only those powers which were +conferred on it by the constitution was admitted. If, on examination, +that instrument should be found to forbid the passage of the bill, it +must be rejected, though it would be with deep regret that its friends +would suffer such an opportunity of serving their country to escape for +the want of a constitutional power to improve it. + +In asserting the authority of the Legislature to pass the bill it was +contended that incidental as well as express powers must necessarily +belong to every government, and that, when a power is delegated to +effect particular objects, all the known and usual means of effecting +them must pass as incidental to it. To remove all doubts on this +subject, the constitution of the United States had recognized the +principle by enabling Congress to make all laws which may be necessary +and proper for carrying into execution the powers vested in the +government. They maintained the sound construction of this grant to be +a recognition of an authority in the national Legislature to employ +all the known and usual means for executing the powers vested in the +government. They then took a comprehensive view of those powers and +contended that a bank was a known and usual instrument by which several +of them were exercised. + +After a debate of great length, which was supported on both sides +with ability and with that ardor which was naturally excited by the +importance attached by each party to the principle in contest, the +question was put and the bill was carried in the affirmative by a +majority of nineteen votes. + +The point which had been agitated with so much zeal in the House of +Representatives was examined with equal deliberation by the executive. +The cabinet was divided upon it. Jefferson, the Secretary of State, +and Randolph, the Attorney-General, conceived that Congress had clearly +transcended their constitutional powers, while Hamilton, the Secretary +of the Treasury, with equal clearness, maintained the opposite opinion. +The advice of each minister, with his reasoning in support of it, +was required in writing, and their arguments were considered by the +President with all that attention which the magnitude of the question +and the interest taken in it by the opposing parties so eminently +required. This deliberate investigation of the subject terminated in +a conviction that the constitution of the United States authorized the +measure, and the sanction of the Executive was given to the act. [5] + +In February, 1791, Vermont, having, in convention, adopted the +constitution of the United States, was admitted to the Union. The result +of the census of the United States, which had been ordered in 1790, was +a total of 3,929,827 souls, of whom 697,897 were slaves. + +Besides the establishment of the Bank of the United States and the +passage of the excise law, Congress resolved upon having a mint for the +national coinage; it authorized an increase of the army and the raising +a military force to resist the Indians, and provided for the maintenance +of these additional troops; it also appropriated above $1,200,000 to +various branches of the public service, making the expenses of the year +$4,000,000, part of which had to be met by loans, since the surplus of +the former year had been applied to the paying off part of the national +debt, as a former act of Congress had directed. We may mention, in this +connection, that the exports of the year were computed to amount to some +$19,000,000 and the imports to about $20,000,000. + +Among the last acts of the present Congress, as already mentioned, was +an act to augment the military establishment of the United States. + +The earnest endeavors of Washington to give security to the northwestern +frontiers, by pacific arrangements, having been entirely unavailing, it +became his duty to employ such other means as were placed in his hands +for the protection of the country. Confirmed by all his experience in +the opinion that vigorous offensive operations alone could bring an +Indian war to a happy conclusion, he had planned an expedition against +the hostile tribes northwest of the Ohio as soon as the impracticability +of effecting a treaty with them had been ascertained. + +General Harmar, a veteran of the Revolution, who had received his +appointment under the former government, was placed at the head of the +Federal troops. On the 30th of September (1790) he marched from Fort +Washington with 320 regulars. The whole army, when joined by the militia +of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, amounted to 1,453 men. About the middle of +October Colonel Harden, who commanded the Kentucky militia, and who had +been also a continental officer of considerable merit, was detached at +the head of 600 men, chiefly militia, to reconnoiter the ground and to +ascertain the intentions of the enemy. On his approach the Indians set +fire to their principal village and fled with precipitation to the wood. +As the object of the expedition would be only half accomplished unless +the savages could be brought to action and defeated, Colonel Harden was +again detached at the head of 210 men, 30 of whom were regulars. About +ten miles west of Chilicothe, where the main body of the army lay, he +was attacked by a party of Indians. The Pennsylvanians, who composed +his left column, had previously fallen in the rear, and the Kentuckians, +disregarding the exertions of their colonel and of a few other officers, +fled on the first appearance of the enemy. The small corps of regulars, +commanded by Lieutenant Armstrong, made a brave resistance. After +twenty-three of them had fallen in the field the surviving seven made +their escape and rejoined the army. + +Notwithstanding this check the remaining towns on the Scioto were +reduced to ashes, and the provisions laid up for the winter were +entirely destroyed. This service being accomplished the army commenced +its march toward Fort Washington. Being desirous of wiping off the +disgrace which his arms had sustained, General Harmar halted about eight +miles from Chilicothe and once more detached Colonel Harden with orders +to find the enemy and bring on an engagement. His command consisted of +360 men, of whom 60 were regulars, commanded by Major Wyllys. Early the +next morning this detachment reached the confluence of the St. Joseph +and St. Mary, where it was divided into three columns. The left +division, commanded by Colonel Harden in person, crossed the St. Joseph +and proceeded up its western bank. The center, consisting of the Federal +troops, was led by Major Wyllys up the eastern side of that river, and +the right, under the command of Major M'Millan, marched along a range +of heights which commanded the right flank of the center division. +The columns had proceeded but a short distance when each was met by +a considerable body of Indians, and a severe engagement ensued. The +militia retrieved their reputation, and several of their bravest +officers fell. The heights on the right having been, from some cause not +mentioned, unoccupied by the American troops, the savages seized them +early in the action, and attacked the right flank of the center with +great fury. Although Major Wyllys was among the first who fell the +battle was maintained by the regulars with spirit, and considerable +execution was done on both sides. At length the scanty remnant of this +small band, quite overpowered by numbers, was driven off the ground, +leaving fifty of their comrades, exclusive of Major Wyllys and +Lieutenant Farthingham, dead upon the field. The loss sustained by the +militia was also considerable. It amounted to upwards of 100 men, among +whom were nine officers. After an engagement of extreme severity the +detachment joined the main army, which continued its march to Fort +Washington. + +General Harmar, with what propriety it is not easy to discern, claimed +the victory. He conceived, not entirely without reason, that the loss of +a considerable number of men would be fatal to the Indians, although +a still greater loss should be sustained by the Americans, because the +savages did not possess a population from which they could replace +the warriors who had fallen. The event, however, did not justify this +opinion. + +The information respecting this expedition was quickly followed by +intelligence stating the deplorable condition of the frontiers. An +address from the representatives of all the counties of Virginia, and +those of Virginia bordering on the Ohio, was presented to the President, +praying that the defense of the country might be committed to militia +unmixed with regulars, and that they might immediately be drawn out +to oppose "the exulting foe." To this address the President gave a +conciliatory answer, but he understood too well the nature of +the service to yield to the request it contained. Such were his +communications to the Legislature that a regiment was added to the +permanent military establishment, and he was authorized to raise a +body of 2,000 men for six months, and to appoint a major-general, and +a brigadier-general, to continue in command so long as he should think +their services necessary. + +With the 3d of March, 1791, terminated the first Congress elected under +the constitution of the United States. "The party denominated Federal," +says Marshall, "having prevailed at the elections, a majority of the +members were steadfast friends of the Constitution, and were sincerely +desirous of supporting a system they had themselves introduced, and +on the preservation of which, in full health and vigor, they firmly +believed the happiness of their fellow-citizens, and the respectability +of the nation, greatly to depend. To organize a government, to retrieve +the national character, to establish a system of revenue, and to create +public credit, were among the arduous duties which were imposed upon +them by the political situation of their country. With persevering +labor, guided by no inconsiderable portion of virtue and intelligence, +these objects were, in a great degree, accomplished. Out of the measures +proposed for their attainment, questions alike intricate and interesting +unavoidably arose. It is not in the nature of man to discuss such +questions without strongly agitating the passions, and exciting +irritations which do not readily subside. + +"Had it ever been the happy and singular lot of America to see its +national Legislature assemble uninfluenced by those prejudices which +grew out of the previous divisions of the country, the many delicate +points which they were under the necessity of deciding, could not have +failed to disturb this enviable state of harmony, and to mingle some +share of party spirit with their deliberations. But when the actual +state of the public mind was contemplated, and due weight was given to +the important consideration that at no very distant day a successor to +the present chief magistrate must be elected, it was still less to be +hoped that the first Congress could pass away without producing strong +and permanent dispositions in parties, to impute to each other designs +unfriendly to the public happiness. As yet, however, these imputations +did not extend to the President. His character was held sacred, and +the purity of his motives was admitted by all. Some divisions were +understood to have found their way into the cabinet. It was insinuated +that between the Secretaries of State and of the Treasury very serious +differences had arisen, but these high personages were believed to +be equally attached to the President, who was not suspected of undue +partiality to either. If his assent to the bill for incorporating the +national bank produced discontent, the opponents of that measure seemed +disposed to ascribe his conduct, in that instance, to his judgment, +rather than to any prepossession in favor of the party by whom it was +carried. The opposition, therefore, in Congress, to the measures of the +government, seemed to be levelled at the Secretary of the Treasury, and +at the northern members by whom those measures were generally supported, +not at the President by whom they were approved. By taking this +direction it made its way into the public mind, without being +encountered by that devoted affection which a great majority of the +people felt for the chief magistrate of the Union. In the meantime, the +national prosperity was in a state of rapid progress; and the government +was gaining, though slowly, in the public opinion. But in several of the +State assemblies, especially in the southern division of the continent, +serious evidences of dissatisfaction were exhibited, which demonstrated +the jealousy with which the local sovereignties contemplated the powers +exercised by the Federal Legislature." + +A recent writer, speaking of the discussions in the cabinet respecting +the bill establishing a national bank, says: + +"Jefferson and Randolph were of opinion that Congress, in passing +the bill, transcended the powers vested in them by the constitution. +Hamilton, on the other hand, maintained it to be purely constitutional. + +"It was not an easy task to unite two men of such opposite natures +as Hamilton and Jefferson, and make them act in concert in the same +cabinet. The critical state of affairs at the first adoption of the +constitution, and the impartial preponderance of Washington alone could +accomplish it. He applied himself to it with consummate perseverance +and wisdom. At heart he felt a decided preference for Hamilton and +his views. 'By some,' said he, 'he is considered an ambitious man and +therefore a dangerous one. That he is ambitious I readily grant, but +his ambition is of that laudable kind which prompts a man to excel in +whatever he takes in hand. He is enterprising, quick in his perceptions, +and in his judgment intuitively great.' + +"But it was only in 1798, in the freedom of retirement, that Washington +spoke so explicitly. While in office, and between his two secretaries, +he maintained toward them a strict reserve, and testified the same +confidence in both. He believed both of them to be sincere and able; +both of them necessary to the country and to himself. Jefferson was to +him, not only a connecting tie, a means of influence with the popular +party which rarely became the opposition; but he made use of him in +the internal administration of his government as a counterpoise to the +tendencies, and especially to the language, sometimes extravagant +and inconsiderate, of Hamilton and his friends. He had interviews and +consultations with each of them separately, upon the subjects which they +were to discuss together, in order to remove or lessen beforehand their +differences of opinion. He knew how to turn the merit and popularity of +each, with his own party, to the general good of the government, even +to their own mutual advantage. He skilfully availed himself of every +opportunity to employ them in a common responsibility. And when a +disagreement too wide, and passions too impetuous, seemed to threaten an +immediate rupture, he interposed, used exhortation and entreaty, and by +his personal influence, by a frank and touching appeal to the patriotism +and right-mindedness of the two rivals, he postponed the breaking forth +of the evil which it was not possible to eradicate. On the bank question +he required from each his arguments in writing, and after maturely +weighing them both, he gave the sanction of his signature to the +act passed by Congress for its incorporation. From the moment of the +incorporation of the Bank of the United States parties assumed the +almost perfect forms of organization and principles by which they are +marked in our own day. The arguments and imputations of the Republican +party, however, were not so much intended to apply to Washington and his +measures as to Hamilton, who was considered and acknowledged by all as +the head of the Federal party. This fact was sufficiently proved when +Washington, at the close of the session of Congress, made an excursion +into the southern States. His reception by men of all parties was ample +testimony of the fact that he united all hearts, and that, however +the measures or the constitution of government might be censured and +disapproved, none would refuse to pour the grateful homage of free +hearts into the bosom of their veteran chief." Of this excursion we +shall give an account in the next chapter. + + +1. Footnote: This house was in Market street, on the south side, near +Sixth street. The market-house buildings then reached only to Fourth +street; the town in this street extended westward scarcely so far as +Ninth street; good private dwellings were seen above Fifth street; +Mr. Morris' was perhaps the best; the garden was well enclosed by a +wall.--(Richard Rush, "Washington in Domestic Life," from Original +Letters and Manuscripts. Philadelphia, 1857.) + +2. Footnote: Mr. Hyde was butler. + +3. Footnote: Mr. Curtis was the writer of the "Reminiscences" we have +so frequently quoted. He died on the 10th of October, 1857, aged +seventy-six years. + +4. Footnote: Republican Court. + +5. Footnote: Marshall. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +POLITICAL PARTIES DEVELOPED. 1791-1792. + + +Washington, having received from Congress more ample means for the +protection of the frontiers against the Indians, now directed his +attention (March, 1791) to an expedition which should carry the war into +their own country; this, as we have already seen, being his favorite +method of dealing with Indian hostilities. He accordingly appointed +Maj.-Gen. Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory northwest of the +Ohio, commander-in-chief of the forces to be employed in the meditated +expedition. This officer had served through the war of the Revolution +with reputation, though it had never been his fortune to distinguish +himself. The evacuation of Ticonderoga had indeed, at one time, +subjected him to much public censure, but it was found, upon inquiry, +to be unmerited. Other motives, in addition to the persuasion of his +fitness for the service, induced Washington to appoint him. With the +sword, the olive branch was still to be tendered, and it was thought +advisable to place them in the same hands. The governor, having +been made officially the negotiator with the tribes inhabiting the +territories over which he presided, being a military man acquainted +with the country into which the war was to be carried, possessing +considerable influence with the inhabitants of the frontiers, and +being so placed as to superintend the preparations for the expedition +advantageously, seemed to have claims to the station which were not to +be overlooked. It was also a consideration of some importance that +the high rank he had held in the American army would obviate those +difficulties in filling the inferior grades with men of experience, +which might certainly be expected should a person who had acted in a +less elevated station be selected for the chief command. + +After making the necessary arrangements for recruiting the army +Washington prepared to make his long contemplated tour through the +southern States. + +On the 19th of March (1791), in writing to Lafayette, he says: "The +tender concern which you express on my late illness awakens emotions +which words will not explain, and to which your own sensibility can best +do justice. My health is now quite restored, and I flatter myself with a +hope of a long exemption from sickness. On Monday next I shall enter on +the practice of your friendly prescription of exercise, intending, at +that time, to begin a journey to the southward, during which I propose +visiting all the southern States." + +This tour he performed in his own carriage, drawn by six horses, which +were not changed during the journey, which occupied nearly three months. +He was accompanied by one of his private secretaries, Major Jackson. +Leaving his residence in Market street, Philadelphia, he set off in the +latter part of March, and was escorted into Delaware by Mr. Jefferson +and General Knox. On the 25th of March he arrived at Annapolis, where +he was met by the people in a body, entertained at public dinners and a +ball, and, after staying two days, was accompanied on his journey by the +governor of Maryland, as far as Georgetown. From this place, on the 29th +of March, he writes to Gov. Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina: "I had +the pleasure of receiving your Excellency's obliging letter of the 8th +instant last evening. I am thus far on my tour through the southern +States, but as I travel with only one set of horses, and must make +occasional halts, the progress of my journey is exposed to such +uncertainty as admits not of fixing a day for my arrival at Charleston. +While I express the grateful sense which I entertain of your +Excellency's polite offer to accommodate me at your house during my +stay in Charleston, your goodness will permit me to deny myself that +pleasure. Having, with a view to avoid giving inconvenience to +private families, early prescribed to myself the rule of declining all +invitations to quarters on my journeys, I have been repeatedly under +a similar necessity to the present, of refusing those offers of +hospitality which would, otherwise, have been both pleasing and +acceptable." + +From Georgetown he proceeded to Mount Vernon, where the necessary +attention to his private affairs, and some important correspondence on +public business, detained him a week. Leaving Mount Vernon, and passing +through Fredericksburg, where he dined with some of his old personal +friends, he arrived at Richmond on the 11nth of April (1791). His +reception there was enthusiastic. He entered the city amidst the roar +of cannon and the acclamations of the crowds of people who lined the +streets through which he passed. In the evening there was a grand +illumination; and during the two days which he remained there, the city +was given up to festivities in honor of the favorite hero of Virginia. +Similar tokens of welcome were exhibited at Petersburg, Halifax, +Newburn, and Wilmington. On leaving the last-mentioned place he was +rowed across Cape Fear river in a splendid barge, by six masters of +vessels; and on his arrival at Charleston (May 2d) a similar token +of honor was accorded to him on a larger scale. From Hadrill's Point, +attended by a cortege of distinguished Carolinians, he was conveyed +to the city in a twelve-oared barge, manned by thirteen captains of +American ships, while other barges and floats, with bands of music and +decorations, formed an imposing nautical procession. On landing he was +received by Governor Pinckney, the civic authorities, the Cincinnati, +and a brilliant military escort, who attended him in procession, amidst +the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, and the acclamations of +the people, first to the Exchange, where he was welcomed in a formal +address, and then to the house prepared for his reception. [1] + +During the week he remained in Charleston, he received the most lively +and touching tokens of welcome and affection from the warm-hearted +Carolinians, who strove to render him every species of honor. A +corporation ball on a grand scale, a large dinner party at Governor +Pinckney's mansion, another at Maj. Pierce Butler's, a concert, and a +splendid public entertainment given by the merchants of the city, formed +a portion only of the testimonials of homage and welcome given on this +occasion to their illustrious guest. + +He left Charleston on the 9th of May (1791), escorted to Ashley ferry by +the governor and a large cavalcade. "At Perrysburg," says Dr. Griswold, +"he was met the next day by a committee from Savannah, and, with General +Wayne, Major Butler, Mr. Baillie, and Major Jackson, was conducted on +board a richly decorated boat, in which the party were rowed down the +river by nine sea captains, dressed in light-blue silk jackets, black +satin breeches, white silk stockings, and round hats with black ribbons, +inscribed with 'Long live the President,' in golden letters. Ten miles +from the city they were met by other barges, from one of which a company +of gentlemen sung the popular song, 'He comes, the hero comes!' As they +drew near the harbor, every vessel and all the shore were discovered to +be thronged with people. When the President stepped on the landing he +was received by Gen. James Jackson, who introduced him to the mayor and +aldermen; and he was soon after conducted, in the midst of a +procession, through crowds of spectators, to the house prepared for his +accommodation in St. James' square. The same evening he dined with +the city authorities and a large number of other gentlemen, at Brown's +Coffee House. Cannons were fired during the day, and at night the +streets and the shipping were brilliantly illuminated. On Friday he +dined with the Cincinnati of the State of Georgia, and attended a ball. +On Saturday, accompanied by General McIntosh, who had been second +in command under General Lincoln in storming them, he examined the +remaining traces of the lines constructed by the British for the defense +of Savannah in 1779, and dined with 200 citizens and strangers under +a beautiful arbor, supported by numerous columns and ornamented with +laurel and bay leaves, erected on an elevation which commanded a view of +the town and the harbor. + +"It has been frequently said of Washington, that 'no man in the army had +a better eye for a horse,' and many of his letters show that he was +by no means indifferent as to the qualities or treatment of his stud, +during the war and afterward. A tour of 1,900 miles, with the same +animals, was a severe test of their capacities, and before reaching +Charleston he wrote to Mr. Lear, that though, all things considered, +they had got on very well, yet his horses were decidedly worsted, and if +brought back would 'not cut capers, as they did on setting out.' On the +13th of May, he says in a letter to the same correspondent: + +"'I shall leave this place to-morrow; my horses, especially the two I +bought just before I left Philadelphia, and my old white horse, are much +worn down, and I have yet 150 or 200 miles of heavy sand to pass before +I get fairly into the upper and firmer road.' + +"On the way to Augusta he stopped to dine with the widow of his old +friend and companion in arms, General Greene, at her seat called +Mulberry Grove. On Wednesday, the 18th (May, 1791), Governor Telfair and +the principal officers of the State left the capital, with a numerous +train of citizens, and proceeded five miles toward Savannah to meet him, +and he was conducted to his lodgings accompanied by thousands of people, +who filled the air with joyous acclamations. That day he dined with +a large party at the Grove, the governor's private residence, near +Augusta, where Mrs. Telfair assembled the ladies of the town to meet +him at a ball in the evening; on Thursday he received and answered an +address from the people, attended a public dinner, and was present at +another ball; on Friday he visited the academy and dined again with the +governor; and on Saturday he started again on his return, Augusta being +the further point of his journey. + +"Coming again into South Carolina, he was conducted to Columbia by +General Winne, Col. Wade Hampton, and a large number of other citizens, +and the next day dined with more than 200 of the principal men and +women of the town and neighboring country at the State house, and in the +evening attended a ball. + +"On Wednesday, the 25th (May, 1791), he dined at Camden, and on the +following morning visited this grave of the Baron de Kalb, the places +where the British redoubts had been erected, Hobkirk Hill, where General +Greene was attacked by Lord Rawdon, and the plains where General Gates +was engaged by Lord Cornwallis in 1780. Passing through Charlotte, +Salisbury, Salem, Guilford, and other towns, in all of which the love +and reverence of the people were exhibited in every variety of manner +which taste and ingenuity could suggest, he arrived at Mount Vernon on +the 12th of June. + +"He remained at his seat between three and four weeks, during which +he was occupied with his private affairs, and, with Major L'Enfant and +others, with the location of the new seat of government, on the banks +of the Potomac. On Thursday, the last day of June (1791), he started for +Philadelphia by way of Frederick, York, and Lancaster, and arrived at +the presidential residence about noon on the 6th of July, having been +absent nearly three months, and during that period performed a journey +of 1,887 miles." [2] + +Washington was highly pleased with the result of his observations during +this tour. In a letter to Hamilton (June 13th), from Mount Vernon on +his return, we have occasion to notice the benefit he derived from +his habits of method and forethought in any undertaking which he +contemplated. "My return to this place," he writes, "is sooner than I +expected, owing to the uninterruptedness of my journey by sickness, +from bad weather, or accidents of any kind whatsoever. Having obtained, +before I left Philadelphia, the most accurate accounts I could get there +of the places and roads through and by which I was to perform my +tour, and the distances between the former, I formed my line of march +accordingly, fixing each day's journey and the day to halt; from neither +of which have I departed in a single instance, except staying, from a +particular circumstance, two days in Columbia, and none at Charlotte, +instead of one at each, and crossing James river at Carter's ferry, in +place of Taylor's, as was my original intention. But the improbability +of performing a tour of 1,700 miles (I have already rode more) with +the same set of horses, without encountering any accident, by which +a deviation would be rendered unavoidable, appeared so great, that I +allowed eight days for casualties, and six to refresh at this place, +when I should have returned to it. None of the former having happened, +accounts for the fourteen days I shall remain here before the meeting of +the commissioners." [3] + +In relation to this tour in the southern States Marshall says: "In +passing through them he was received universally with the same marks +of affectionate attachment which he had experienced in the northern +and central parts of the Union. To the sensibilities which these +demonstrations of the regard and esteem of good men could not fail to +inspire, was added the high gratification produced by observing +the rapid improvements of the country, and the advances made by the +government in acquiring the confidence of the people." The numerous +letters written by him after his return to Philadelphia, attest the +agreeable impressions made by these causes. "In my late tour through +the southern States," said he, in a letter of the 28th of July, to Mr. +Gouverneur Morris, "I experienced great satisfaction in seeing the good +effects of the general government in that part of the Union. The people +at large have felt the security which it gives, and the equal justice +which it administers to them. The farmer, the merchant, and the mechanic +have seen their several interests attended to, and from thence they +unite in placing a confidence in their representatives, as well as in +those in whose hands the execution of the laws is placed. Industry has +there taken place of idleness, and economy of dissipation. Two or three +years of good crops, and a ready market for the produce of their lands, +have put everyone in good humor, and, in some instances, they even +impute to the government what is due only to the goodness of Providence. + +"The establishment of public credit is an immense point gained in our +national concerns. This, I believe, exceeds the expectation of the most +sanguine among us; and a late instance, unparalleled in this country, +has been given of the confidence reposed in our measures, by the +rapidity with which the subscriptions to the Bank of the United +States were filled. In two hours after the books were opened by the +commissioners the whole number of shares was taken up, and 4,000 more +applied for than were allowed by the institution. This circumstance was +not only pleasing, as it related to the confidence in government, +but also as it exhibited an unexpected proof of the resources of our +citizens." + +This visit had undoubtedly some tendency to produce the good disposition +which Washington observed with so much pleasure. The affections are, +perhaps, more intimately connected with the judgment than we are +disposed to admit; and the appearance of the chief magistrate of the +Union, who was the object of general love and reverence, could not +be without its influence in conciliating the minds of many to the +government he administered, and to its measures. But this progress +toward conciliation was, perhaps, less considerable than was indicated +by appearances. The hostility to the government, which was coeval with +its existence, though diminished, was far from being subdued; and under +this smooth exterior was concealed a mass of discontent, which, though +it did not obtrude itself on the view of the man who united almost all +hearts, was active in its exertions to effect its objects. + +The difficulties which must impede the recruiting service in a country +where coercion is not employed, and where the common wages of labor +greatly exceed the pay of a soldier, protracted the completion of the +regiments to a late season of the year, but the summer was not permitted +to waste in total inaction. + +The act passed at the last session for the defense of the frontiers, +in addition to its other provisions, had given to the President an +unlimited power to call mounted militia into the field. Under this +authority two expeditions had been conducted against the villages on the +Wabash, in which a few of the Indian warriors were killed, some of their +old men, women, and children were made prisoners, and several of their +towns and fields of corn were destroyed. The first was led by General +Scott, in May, and the second by General Wilkinson, in September. These +desultory incursions had not much influence on the war. + +It was believed in the United States that the hostility of the Indians +was kept up by the traders living in their villages. These persons had, +generally, resided in the United States, and, having been compelled to +leave the country, in consequence of the part they had taken during +the war of the Revolution, felt the resentments which banishment and +confiscation seldom fail to inspire. Their enmities were ascribed by +many, perhaps unjustly, to the temper of the government in Canada; but +some countenance seemed to be given to this opinion by intelligence +that, about the commencement of the preceding campaign, large supplies +of ammunition had been delivered from the British posts on the lakes to +the Indians at war with the United States. While Washington was on his +southern tour, he addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, to be +communicated to Colonel Beckwith, who still remained in Philadelphia +as the informal representative of his nation, in which he expressed his +surprise and disappointment at this interference, by the servants or +subjects of a foreign State, in a war prosecuted by the United States +for the sole purpose of procuring peace and safety for the inhabitants +of their frontiers. + +On receiving this communication Colonel Beckwith expressed his disbelief +that the supplies mentioned had been delivered; but, on being assured +of the fact, he avowed the opinion that the transaction was without the +knowledge of Lord Dorchester, to whom he said he should communicate, +without delay, the ideas of the American government on the subject. + +On the 24th of October (1791) the second Congress assembled in +Philadelphia. In his speech, at the opening of the session, the +President expressed his great satisfaction at the prosperous situation +of the country, and particularly mentioned the rapidity with which the +shares in the Bank of the United States were subscribed, as "among the +striking and pleasing evidences which presented themselves, not only of +confidence in the government, but of resources in the community." + +Adverting to the measures which had been taken in execution of the laws +and resolutions of the last session, "the most important of which," he +observed, "respected the defense and security of the western frontiers," +he had, he said "negotiated provisional treaties and used other proper +means to attach the wavering, and to confirm in their friendship the +well-disposed tribes of Indians. The means which he had adopted for +a pacification with those of a hostile description having proved +unsuccessful, offensive operations had been directed, some of which had +proved completely successful, and others were still depending. Overtures +of peace were still continued to the deluded tribes, and it was +sincerely to be desired that all need of coercion might cease, and +that an intimate intercourse might succeed, calculated to advance +the happiness of the Indians, and to attach them firmly to the United +States." + +In marking the line of conduct which ought to be maintained for the +promotion of this object, he strongly recommended "justice to the +savages, and such rational experiments for imparting to them the +blessings of civilization, as might from time to time suit their +condition;" and then concluded this subject with saying: "A system +corresponding with the mild principles of religion and philanthropy, +toward an unenlightened race of men whose happiness materially depends +on the conduct of the United States, would be as honorable to the +national character, as conformable to the dictates of sound policy." + +After stating that measures had been taken for carrying into execution +the act laying duties on distilled spirits, he added: "The impressions +with which this law has been received by the community have been, upon +the whole, such as were to have been expected among enlightened and +well-disposed citizens, from the propriety and necessity of the measure. +The novelty, however, of the tax, in a considerable part of the United +States, and a misconception of some of its provisions, have given +occasion, in particular places, to some degree of discontent. But it +is satisfactory to know that this disposition yields to proper +explanations, and more just apprehensions of the true nature of the +law. And I entertain a full confidence that it will, in all, give way to +motives which arise out of a just sense of duty, and a virtuous regard +to the public welfare. + +"If there are any circumstances in the law, which, consistently with +its main design, may be so varied as to remove any well-intentioned +objections that may happen to exist, it will comport with a wise +moderation to make the proper variations. It is desirable, on all +occasions, to unite with a steady and firm adherence to constitutional +and necessary acts of government, the fullest evidence of a disposition, +as far as may be practicable, to consult the wishes of every part of the +community, and to lay the foundations of the public administration in +the affections of the people." + +The answers of the two houses noticed, briefly and generally, the +various topics of the speech; and, though perhaps less warm than those +of the preceding Congress, manifested great respect for the executive +magistrate, and an undiminished confidence in his patriotic exertions to +promote the public interests. + +Soon after Congress was organized for business a warm debate sprung up +in relation to the new apportionment of representatives, in accordance +with the census, which had been taken in the preceding year, and the +results of which were now ready for the consideration of Congress. The +contest was not put to rest till the following April (1792); and not +till the third bill was constructed did the two houses agree. The first +proposal made by the representatives was to adopt the lowest ratio +allowed by the constitution--30,000, which would have raised their +numbers to 113, but there would have been large fractions of population +in the northern States left unrepresented. The Senate, to lessen those +disfranchised remnants, raised the ration to 33,000; but it was alleged +that then there were fractions, though not so large, remaining in the +southern States. The house would not accept the change, and reiterated +its former proposal in a new bill, which also arranged the taking +of another census before the expiration of ten years; but the Senate +refused its assent to this, and, instead, increased the numbers to +120 by assigning representatives to the largest fractions. This, which +violated the letter of the constitution, excited greater heat than ever, +and the old threat of breaking up the Union was resorted to. A committee +of conference was demanded at length, and in the end the scheme of +the Senate was carried by a majority of two out of sixty votes. This +decision has been remarked upon as having a curious bearing upon the +old political controversies, the representatives of the southern States +being found rejecting the amendment of the Senate, which embodied their +own State sovereignty principle; and those of the North accepting it, +although they were most in favor of the opposite principle of polity. + +Washington very justly considered this mode of apportionment as contrary +to the constitution, and on the 5th of April returned the bill to +Congress, with his objections. The first was, that the constitution had +prescribed that representatives should be apportioned among the several +States according to their respective numbers, and that there was no one +proportion or division which, applied to the respective States, would +yield the number and allotment of representatives proposed by the bill; +the second, that by the constitution, the number of representatives +should not exceed one for every 30,000, which restriction, by the +fair and obvious construction, was to be applied to the separate and +respective States, and that the bill had allotted to eight States more +than one for every 30,000. This was the _first_ instance in which the +President had exercised his _veto_ upon any act of Congress. [4] + +The bill, not being repassed by two-thirds of both houses, was rejected. +A bill afterward passed, April 9, 1792, by a vote of thirty-four to +thirty, apportioning the representatives agreeable to a ratio of one +for every 33,000 in each State, which received the sanction of the +President, and thus, this interesting part of the constitution was +finally settled. + +During this session of Congress an act passed for establishing a uniform +militia. + +Washington had manifested, from the commencement of his administration, +a peculiar degree of solicitude on this subject, and had repeatedly +urged it on Congress. + +In his speech at the opening of the present session, he again called +the attention of the Legislature to it, and at length a law was enacted, +though it was less efficacious than the plan reported by General Knox, +the Secretary of War. + +In December (1791) intelligence was received by the President, and +immediately communicated to Congress, that the American army had been +totally defeated on the 4th of the preceding month. + +Although the most prompt and judicious measures had been taken to +raise the troops and to march them to the frontiers, they could not +be assembled in the neighborhood of Fort Washington until the month of +September, nor was the establishment even then completed. + +The immediate objects of the expedition were to destroy the Indian +villages on the Miami, to expel the savages from that country, and to +connect it with the Ohio by a chain of posts which would prevent their +return during the war. + +On the 7th of September (1791) the regulars moved from their camp in +the vicinity of Fort Washington, and marching directly north, toward the +object of their destination, established two intermediate posts, Forts +Hamilton and Jefferson, at the distance of rather more than forty miles +from each other, as places of deposit and of security either for convoys +of provisions which might follow the army, or for the army itself should +any disaster befall it. The last of these works, Fort Jefferson, was not +completed until the 24th of October, before which time reinforcements +were received of about 360 militia. After placing garrisons in the forts +the effective number of the army, including militia, amounted to rather +less than 2,000 men. With this force the general continued his march, +which was rendered both slow and laborious by the necessity of opening a +road. Small parties of Indians were frequently seen hovering about them +and some unimportant skirmishes took place. As the army approached the +country in which they might expect to meet an enemy about sixty of the +militia deserted in a body. This diminution of force was not in itself +an object of much concern. But there was reason to fear that the +example, should those who set it be permitted to escape with impunity, +would be extensively followed, and it was reported to be the intention +of the deserters to plunder convoys of provisions which were advancing +at some distance in the rear. To prevent mischiefs of so serious a +nature the general detached Major Hamtranck with the first regiment +in pursuit of the deserters, and directed him to secure the provisions +under a strong guard. + +The army, consisting of about 1,400 effective rank and file, continued +its march, and, on the 3d of November, encamped about fifteen miles +south of the Miami villages. The right wing, under the command of +General Butler, formed the first line and lay with a creek, about +twelve yards wide, immediately in its front. The left wing, commanded by +Lieutenant-Colonel Darke, formed the second, and between the two lines +was an interval of about seventy yards. The right flank was supposed to +be secured by the creek, by a steep bank, and by a small body of troops; +the left was covered by a party of cavalry and by piquets. The militia +crossed the creek and advanced about a quarter of a mile in front, where +they also encamped in two lines. On their approach a few Indians who +had shown themselves on the opposite side of the creek fled with +precipitation. + +At this place the general intended to throw up a slight work for the +security of the baggage, and, after being joined by Major Hamtranck, to +march, as unencumbered and as expeditiously as possible, to the villages +he purposed to destroy. + +In both of these designs he was anticipated. About half an hour before +sunrise on the day following, just after the troops had been dismissed +from the parade, an unexpected attack was made upon the militia, who +fled in the utmost confusion, and rushing into camp through the first +line of Continental troops, which had been formed the instant the first +gun was discharged, threw them too into disorder. The exertions of the +officers to restore order were not entirely successful. The Indians +pressed close upon the heels of the flying militia and engaged General +Butler with great intrepidity. The action instantly became extremely +warm, and the fire of the assailants, passing round both flanks of the +first line, was, in a few minutes, poured with equal fury on the rear +division. Its greatest weight was directed against the center of each +wing, where the artillery was posted, and the artillerists were mowed +down in great numbers. Firing from the ground and from the shelter which +the woods afforded, the assailants were scarcely seen but when springing +from one cover to another, in which manner they advanced close up to the +American lines and to the very mouths of the field pieces. They fought +with the daring courage of men whose trade is war and who are stimulated +by all those passions which can impel the savage mind to vigorous +exertions. + +While some of the American soldiers performed their duty with the utmost +resolution, others seemed dismayed and terrified. Of this conduct the +officers were, as usual, the victims. With a fearlessness which the +occasion required, they exposed themselves to the most imminent dangers, +and, in their efforts to change the face of affairs, fell in great +numbers. + +For several days the Commander-in-Chief had been afflicted with a severe +disease, under which he still labored, and which must have greatly +affected him, but, though unable to display that activity which would +have been useful in this severe conflict, neither the feebleness of his +body nor the peril of his situation could prevent his delivering his +orders with judgment and with self-possession. + +It was soon perceived that the American fire could produce, on a +concealed enemy, no considerable effect, and that the only hope of +victory was placed in the bayonet. At the head of the second regiment, +which formed the left of the left wing, Lieutenant-Colonel Darke made an +impetuous charge upon the enemy, forced them from their ground with some +loss and drove them about 400 yards. He was followed by that whole wing, +but the want of a sufficient number of riflemen to press this advantage +deprived him of the benefit which ought to have been derived from this +effort, and, as soon as he gave over the pursuit, the Indians renewed +their attack. In the meantime General Butler was mortally wounded, the +left of the right wing was broken, the artillerists almost to a man +killed, the guns seized, and the camp penetrated by the enemy. With +his own regiment and with the battalions commanded by Majors Butler and +Clarke, Darke was ordered again to charge with the bayonet. These orders +were executed with intrepidity and momentary success. The Indians were +driven out of the camp, and the artillery recovered. But while they were +pressed in one point by the bravest of the American troops, their fire +was kept up from every other with fatal effect. Several times particular +corps charged them, always with partial success, but no universal +effort could be made, and in every charge a great loss of officers was +sustained, the consequences of which were severely felt. Instead of +keeping their ranks, and executing the orders which were given, a great +proportion of the soldiers flocked together in crowds and were shot +down without resistance. To save the remnant of his army was all that +remained to be done, and about half past 9 in the morning General St. +Clair ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Darke, with the Second regiment, to +charge a body of Indians who had intercepted their retreat and to gain +the road. Major Clarke, with his battalion, was directed to cover the +rear. These orders were executed and a disorderly flight commenced. +The pursuit was kept up about four miles, when, fortunately for the +surviving Americans, that avidity for plunder which is a ruling passion +among savages, called back the victorious Indians to the camp, where the +spoils of their vanquished foes were to be divided. The routed troops +continued their flight to Fort Jefferson, a distance of about thirty +miles, throwing away their arms on the road. At this place they met +Major Hamtranck with the First regiment, and a council of war was called +to deliberate on the course to be pursued. As this regiment was far from +restoring the strength of the morning, it was determined not to attempt +to retrieve the fortune of the day, and, leaving the wounded at Fort +Jefferson, the army continued its retreat to Fort Washington. + +In this disastrous battle the loss on the part of the Americans was very +great when compared with the numbers engaged. Thirty-eight commissioned +officers were killed upon the field, and 593 noncommissioned officers +and privates were slain and missing. Twenty-one commissioned officers, +several of whom afterward died of their wounds, and 242 noncommissioned +officers and privates were wounded. Among the dead was the brave and +much-lamented General Butler. This gallant officer had served through +the war of the Revolution, and had, on more than one occasion, +distinguished himself in a remarkable manner. In the list of those who +shared his fate were the names of many other excellent officers who had +participated in all the toils, the dangers, and the glory of that long +conflict which terminated in the independence of their country. At the +head of the list of wounded were Lieutenant-Colonels Gibson and Darke, +Major Butler, and Adjutant-General Sargent, all of whom were veteran +officers of great merit, who displayed their accustomed bravery on this +unfortunate day. General St. Clair, in his official letter, observed: +"The loss the public has sustained by the fall of so many officers, +particularly of General Butler and Major Ferguson, cannot be too much +regretted, but it is a circumstance that will alleviate the misfortune +in some measure, that all of them fell most gallantly doing their duty." + +From the weight of the fire and the circumstance of his being attacked +nearly at the same time in front and rear, General St. Clair was of +opinion that he was overpowered by numbers. The intelligence afterward +collected would make the Indian force to consist of from 1,000 to 1,500 +warriors. Of their loss no estimate could be made; the probability is +that it bore no proportion to that sustained by the American army. + +Nothing could be more unexpected than this severe disaster. The public +had confidently anticipated a successful campaign and could not believe +that the general who had been unfortunate had not been culpable. + +General St. Clair requested with earnestness that a court-martial should +sit on his conduct, but this request could not be granted, because the +army did not furnish a sufficient number of officers of a grade to form +a court for his trial on military principles. Late in the session a +committee of the House of Representatives was appointed to inquire into +the cause of the failure of the expedition, whose report, in explicit +terms, exculpated St. Clair. This inquiry, however, was instituted +rather for the purpose of investigating the conduct of civil than +of military officers, and was not conducted by military men. More +satisfactory testimony in favor of St. Clair is furnished by the +circumstance that he still retained the undiminished esteem and good +opinion of the President. [5] + +The confidence of Washington in St. Clair, however, had been very +severely shaken on his first receiving intelligence of his defeat. This +fact is known by the recent publication of an anecdote communicated +by Mr. Lear to the Hon. Richard Rush, and by him inserted in his +"Washington in Domestic Life," as follows: + +"An anecdote I derived from Colonel Lear shortly before his death in +1816," says Mr. Rush, "may here be related, showing the height to which +his (Washington's) passion would rise yet be controlled. It belongs to +his domestic life which I am dealing with, having occurred under his own +roof, whilst it marks public feeling the most intense and points to the +moral of his life. I give it in Colonel Lear's words as nearly as I can, +having made a note of them at the time. + +"Toward the close of a winter's day in 1791, an officer in uniform +was seen to dismount in front of the President's in Philadelphia, and, +giving the bridle to his servant, knocked at the door of his mansion. +Learning from the porter that the President was at dinner, he said he +was on public business and had dispatches for the President. A servant +was sent into the dining-room to give the information to Mr. Lear, who +left the table and went into the hall, where the officer repeated what +he had said. Mr. Lear replied that, as the President's secretary, he +would take charge of the dispatches and deliver them at the proper time. +The officer made answer that he had just arrived from the western army, +and his orders were to deliver them with all promptitude, and to the +President in person, but that he would wait his directions. Mr. Lear +returned and in a whisper imparted to the President what had passed. +General Washington rose from the table and went to the officer. He was +back in a short time, made a word of apology for his absence, but no +allusion to the cause of it. He had company that day. Everything went on +as usual. Dinner over, the gentlemen passed to the drawing-room of Mrs. +Washington, which was open in the evening. The general spoke courteously +to every lady in the room, as was his custom. His hours were early, and +by 10 o'clock all the company had gone. Mrs. Washington and Mr. Lear +remained. Soon Mrs. Washington left the room. + +"The general now walked backward and forward slowly for some minutes +without speaking. Then he sat down on a sofa by the fire, telling Mr. +Lear to sit down. To this moment there had been no change in his manner +since his interruption at table. Mr. Lear now perceived emotion. This +rising in him, he broke out suddenly: 'It's all over! St. Clair's +defeated--routed--the officers nearly all killed--the men by +wholesale--the rout complete--too shocking to think of--and a surprise +into the bargain!' + +"He uttered all this with great vehemence. Then he paused, got up from +the sofa, and walked about the room several times, agitated but saying +nothing. Near the door he stopped short and stood still a few seconds, +when his wrath became terrible. + +"'Yes,' he burst forth, 'here on this very spot I took leave of him; I +wished him success and honor. You have your instructions, I said, from +the Secretary of War; I had a strict eye to them, and will add but one +word--beware of a surprise! I repeat it--beware of a surprise! You +know how the Indians fight us. He went off with that as my last solemn +warning thrown into his ears. And yet! to suffer that army to be cut to +pieces--hacked, butchered, tomahawked--by a surprise--the very thing I +guarded him against! O God, O God, he's worse than a murderer! How can +he answer it to his country! The blood of the slain is upon him--the +curse of widows and orphans--the curse of Heaven!' + +"This torrent came out in tones appalling. His very frame shook. It was +awful said Mr. Lear. More than once he threw his hands up as he hurled +imprecations upon St. Clair. Mr. Lear remained speechless--awed into +breathless silence. + +"The roused chief sat down on the sofa once more. He seemed conscious +of his passion and uncomfortable. He was silent. His warmth beginning to +subside, he at length said in an altered voice: 'This must not go beyond +this room.' Another pause followed--a longer one--when he said in a +tone quite low: 'General St. Clair shall have justice. I looked +hastily through the dispatches, saw the whole disaster, but not all the +particulars. I will receive him without displeasure; I will hear him +without prejudice. He shall have full justice.' + +"He was now, said Mr. Lear, perfectly calm. Half an hour had gone by. +The storm was over, and no sign of it was afterward seen in his conduct +or heard in his conversation. The result is known. The whole case was +investigated by Congress. St. Clair was exculpated and regained the +confidence Washington had in him when appointing him to that command. +He had put himself into the thickest of the fight, and escaped unhurt, +though so ill as to be carried on a litter, and unable to mount his +horse without help." + +This anecdote might, at first, seem discreditable to Washington, as +exhibiting the mighty strength of his passions when aroused. But upon +mature consideration it does him great honor, affording equal evidence +of his power of self-control, his public spirit, his disinterestedness, +and his candor. + +The Indian war now assumed a still more serious aspect. There was +reason to fear that the hostile tribes would derive a great accession of +strength from the impression which their success would make upon their +neighbors; and the reputation of the government was deeply concerned +in retrieving the fortune of its arms, and affording protection to +its citizens. The President, therefore, lost no time in causing the +estimates for a competent force to be prepared and laid before Congress. +In conformity with a report made by the Secretary of War, a bill was +brought into the House of Representatives, directing three additional +regiments of infantry and a squadron of cavalry to be raised, to +serve for three years, if not sooner discharged. The whole military +establishment, if completed, would amount to about 5,000 men. The +additional regiments, however, were to be disbanded as soon as peace +should be concluded with the Indians; and the President was authorized +to discharge, or to forbear to raise any part of them, "in case events +should, in his judgment, render his so doing consistent with the public +safety." + +This bill met with great opposition. A motion was made to strike out the +section which authorized an augmentation of force. This led to a very +animated debate, in which the opposition exhibited a determination to +embarrass the administration by defeating even the most necessary and +useful measures it might propose. The public spirit and good sense +of the majority, however, prevailed. The motion for striking out the +section was lost, and the bill was carried for the augmentation of force +required by the executive. + +The treasury was not in a condition to meet the demands upon it, which +the increased expenses of the war would unavoidably occasion, and +sources of additional revenue were to be explored. A select committee, +to whom this subject was referred, brought in a resolution directing Mr. +Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, to report his opinion to the +House, on the best mode of raising those additional supplies which the +public service might require for the current year. + +This proposition gave rise to a very animated debate. + +It will be recollected that when the act for establishing the Treasury +Department was under consideration, the clause which rendered it the +duty of the secretary to digest and report plans for the improvement +and management of the revenue, and for the support of public credit, +was earnestly opposed. A large majority, however, was in favor of the +principle, and, after being so modified as only to admit a report if +required by the House, it was retained in the bill. + +In complying with the various resolutions of Congress, calling for +reports on subjects connected with his department, Hamilton had +submitted plans which, having been profoundly considered, were well +digested, and accompanied by arguments, the force of which it was +difficult to resist. His measures were generally supported by a majority +of Congress; and, while the high credit of the United States was +believed to attest their wisdom, the masterly manner in which his +reports were drawn, contributed to raise still higher that reputation +for great talents which he had long possessed. To the further admission +of these reports, it was determined, on this occasion, to make a +vigorous resistance. + +But the opposition was not successful. On taking the question the +resolution was carried, thirty-one members voting in its favor, and +twenty-seven against it. + +The report made by Hamilton, in pursuance of this resolution, +recommended certain augmentations of the duties on imports, and was +immediately referred to the consideration of a committee of the whole +House. Resolutions were then passed which were to form the basis of +a bill; and which adopted, not only the principles, but, with the +exception of a few unimportant alterations, the minute details of the +report. + +Before the question was taken on the bill a motion was made to limit +its duration, the vote upon which marked the progress of opinion in the +House respecting those systems of finance which were believed to have +established the credit of the United States. + +Hamilton had deemed it indispensable to the creation of public credit +that the appropriations of funds for the payment of the interest, and +the gradual redemption of the principal of the national debt, should be +not only sufficient, but permanent also. A party was found in the first +Congress who opposed this principle, and were in favor of retaining a +full power over the subject in each branch of the Legislature, by making +annual appropriations. The arguments which had failed in Congress appear +to have been more successfully employed with the people. Among the +multiplied vices which were ascribed to the funding system, it was +charged with introducing a permanent and extensive mortgage of funds, +which was alleged to strengthen unduly the hands of the executive +magistrate, and to be one of the many evidences which existed of +monarchical propensities in those who administered the government. + +The report lately made by Hamilton, and the bill founded on that report, +contemplated a permanent increase of the duties on certain specified +articles, and a permanent appropriation of the revenue arising from them +to the purposes of the national debt. Thirty-one members were in favor +of the motion for limiting the duration of the bill, and only thirty +against it. By the rules of the House, the speaker has a right first to +vote as a member, and, if the numbers should then be equally divided, to +decide as speaker. Being opposed to the limitation, the motion was lost +by his voice, and Hamilton's measure was carried through in its original +form. + +On the 8th of May (1792), after an active and interesting session, +Congress adjourned to the first Monday in November. + +Among the bills passed at this session of Congress the most important +were that for the apportionment of the representatives, and that for the +augmentation of the military force, inasmuch as the discussion of these +measures served to develop the political parties which had begun to +divide Congress and the people. In apportioning the representatives many +members of Congress endeavored to obtain the largest possible number, +in order to preserve the rights of the States and check the power of the +executive. On the same principles the army bill was opposed, as having +a tendency to increase executive power and patronage, and thus endanger +the liberties of the country. + +Throughout the United States the party opposed to the constitution had +charged its supporters with a desire to establish a monarchy on the +ruins of Republican government; and the constitution itself was alleged +to contain principles which would prove the truth of this charge. The +leaders of that party had, therefore, been ready, from the instant the +government came into operation, to discover, in all its measures, those +monarchical tendencies which they had perceived in the instrument they +opposed. + +The salaries allowed to public officers, though so low as not to afford +a decent maintenance to those who resided at the seat of government, +were declared to be so enormously high, as clearly to manifest a total +disregard of that simplicity and economy which were the characteristics +of republics. [6] + +The levees of the President, and the evening parties of Mrs. Washington, +were said to be imitations of regal institutions, designed to accustom +the American people to the pomp and manners of European courts. The +Vice-President, too, was said to keep up the state and dignity of a +monarch, and to illustrate, by his conduct, the principles which were +inculcated in his political works. + +The Indian war, they alleged, was misconducted, and unnecessarily +prolonged, for the purposes of expending the public money, and of +affording a pretext for augmenting the military establishment, and +increasing the revenue. + +All this prodigal waste of the money of the people was designed to keep +up the national debt, and the influence it gave the government; which, +united with standing armies and immense revenues, would enable their +rulers to rivet the chains which they were secretly forging. Every +prediction which had been uttered respecting the anti-Republican +principles of the government, was said to be rapidly verifying, and +that which was disbelieved as prophecy, was daily becoming history. If +a remedy for these ills was not found in the increased representation of +the people which would take place at the ensuing elections, they would +become too monstrous to be borne; and when it was recollected that the +division of opinion was marked by a geographical line, there was reason +to fear that the Union would be broken into one or more confederacies. + +These irritable symptoms had assumed appearances of increased malignity +during the session of Congress which had just terminated; and, to +Washington, who firmly believed that the Union and the liberty of the +States depended on the preservation of the government, they were the +more unpleasant and the more alarming because they were displayed in +full force in his cabinet. + +The feud between Jefferson and Hamilton, to which we have already +referred, still continued in full force, and they were regarded, as +in fact they were, respectively, the heads of the two parties. They +disagreed not only on the internal affairs but on the foreign policy of +the government: Jefferson having a leaning towards the Revolutionists +of France, and Hamilton favoring a conciliatory policy toward Great +Britain. + +In all popular governments the press is the most ready channel by which +the opinions and the passions of the few are communicated to the many; +and of the press, the two great parties forming in the United States +sought to avail themselves. The "Gazette of the United States" supported +the systems of Hamilton, while other papers enlisted themselves under +the banners of the opposition. Conspicuous among these was the "National +Gazette," a paper edited by Philip Freneau, the poet, a clerk in the +Department of State. The avowed purpose for which Jefferson patronized +this paper was to present to the eye of the American people European +intelligence derived from the "Leyden Gazette," instead of English +papers; but it soon became the vehicle of calumny against the funding +and banking systems; against the duty on home-made spirits, which +was denominated an excuse, and against the men who had proposed and +supported those measures. With, perhaps, equal asperity, the papers +attached to the party which had defended these systems, assailed the +motives of the leaders of the opposition. + +This schism in his cabinet was a subject of extreme mortification to +Washington. Entertaining a high respect for the talents, and a real +esteem for the characters of both gentlemen, he was unwilling to part +with either, and exerted all the influence he possessed to effect a +reconciliation between them. In a letter of the 23d of August (1792), +addressed to Jefferson, after reviewing the critical situation of the +United States with respect to its external relations, he thus expressed +himself on this delicate subject: "How unfortunate, and how much is it +to be regretted then, that while we are encompassed on all sides with +avowed enemies and insidious friends, internal dissensions should be +harassing and tearing our vitals. The last, to me, is the most serious, +the most alarming, and the most afflicting of the two, and, without more +charity for the opinions of one another in governmental matters, or some +more infallible criterion by which the truth of speculative opinions, +before they have undergone the test of experience, are to be forejudged, +than has yet fallen to the lot of fallibility, I believe it will be +difficult, if not impracticable, to manage the reins of government, +or to keep the parts of it together; for if, instead of laying our +shoulders to the machine, after measures are decided on, one pulls this +way, and another that, before the utility of the thing is fairly tried, +it must inevitably be torn asunder; and, in my opinion, the fairest +prospect of happiness and prosperity that ever was presented to man will +be lost, perhaps forever. + +"My earnest wish and my fondest hope, therefore, is, that instead +of wounding suspicions and irritating charges, there may be liberal +allowances, mutual forbearances, and temporizing yielding on all sides. +Under the exercise of these, matters will go on smoothly; and, if +possible, more prosperously. Without them everything must rub; the +wheels of government will clog; our enemies will triumph, and, by +throwing their weight into the disaffected scale, may accomplish the +ruin of the goodly fabric we have been erecting. + +"I do not mean to apply this advice, or these observations, to any +particular person or character. I have given them in the same general +terms to other officers of the government, because the disagreements +which have arisen from difference of opinions and the attacks which have +been made upon almost all the measures of government, and most of its +executive officers, have for a long time past filled me with painful +sensations, and cannot fail, I think, of producing unhappy consequences +at home and abroad." + +In a subsequent letter to Jefferson, in answer to one which enclosed +some documents designed to prove that, though desirous of amending the +constitution, he had favored its adoption, the President said: "I did +not require the evidence of the extracts which you enclosed me, to +convince me of your attachment to the constitution of the United States, +or of your disposition to promote the general welfare of this country, +but I regret, deeply regret, the difference of opinion which has arisen +and divided you and another principal officer of the government, +and wish devoutly there could be an accommodation of them by mutual +yieldings. + +"A measure of this sort would produce harmony and consequent good in our +public councils, and the contrary will inevitably produce confusion and +serious mischiefs--and for what? because mankind cannot think alike, but +would adopt different means to attain the same end. For I will frankly +and solemnly declare that I believe the views of both to be pure and +well meant, and that experience only will decide with respect to the +salubrity of the measures which are the subjects of this dispute. + +"Why, then, when some of the best citizens of the United States, men of +discernment, uniform and tried patriots, who have no sinister views to +promote, but are chaste in their ways of thinking and acting, are to be +found, some on one side and some on the other, of the questions which +have caused these agitations--why should either of you be so tenacious +of your opinions as to make no allowance for those of the other? + +"I could and, indeed, was about to add more on this interesting subject, +but will forbear, at least for the present, after expressing a wish that +the cup which has been presented to us may not be snatched from our lips +by a discordance of action, when I am persuaded there is no discordance +in your views. I have a great, a sincere esteem and regard for you both, +and ardently wish that some line could be marked out by which both of +you could walk." + +On the same subject Washington addressed a letter to Hamilton, from +which the following is an extract: + +"Differences in political opinions are as unavoidable as, to a certain +point, they may be necessary; but it is exceedingly to be regretted that +subjects cannot be discussed with temper, on the one hand, or decisions +submitted to on the other, without improperly implicating the motives +which led to them; and this regret borders on chagrin when we find that +men of abilities, zealous patriots, having the same general objects +in view, and the same upright intentions to prosecute them, will not +exercise more charity in deciding on the opinions and actions of each +other. When matters get to such lengths, the natural inference is that +both sides have strained the cords beyond their bearing, that a middle +course would be found the best, until experience shall have decided on +the right way; or, which is not to be expected, because it is denied to +mortals, until there shall be some infallible rule by which to forejudge +events. + +"Having premised these things, I would fain hope that liberal allowances +will be made for the political opinions of each other, and instead of +those wounding suspicions and irritating charges, with which some of +our gazettes are so strongly impregnated, and which cannot fail, if +persevered in, of pushing matters to extremity, and thereby tearing the +machine asunder, that there might be mutual forbearance and temporizing +yieldings on all sides. Without these, I do not see how the reins of +government are to be managed or how the union of the States can be much +longer preserved. + +"How unfortunate would it be if a fabric so goodly, erected under so +many providential circumstances, after acquiring in its first stages so +much respectability, should, from diversity of sentiment, or internal +obstructions to some of the acts of government (for I cannot prevail +on myself to believe that these measures are as yet the acts of a +determined party), be brought to the verge of dissolution! Melancholy +thought! But while it shows the consequences of diversified opinions, +where pushed with too much tenacity, it exhibits evidence also of +the necessity of accommodation, and of the propriety of adopting such +healing measures as may restore harmony to the discordant members of the +Union, and the governing powers of it. + +"I do not mean to apply this advice to any measures which are passed or +to any particular character. I have given it, in the same general terms, +to other officers of the government. My earnest wish is that balm may be +poured into all the wounds which have been given, to prevent them from +gangrening, and to avoid those fatal consequences which the community +may sustain if it is withheld. The friends of the Union must wish this; +those who are not, but who wish to see it rended, will be disappointed; +and all things, I hope, will go well." + +These earnest endeavors to soothe the angry passions and to conciliate +the jarring discords of the cabinet were unsuccessful. The hostility +which was so much and so sincerely lamented sustained no diminution, and +its consequences became every day more diffusive. + +Among the immediate effects of these internal dissensions was the +encouragement they afforded to a daring and criminal resistance which +was made to the execution of the laws imposing a duty on spirits +distilled within the United States. + +To the inhabitants of that part of Pennsylvania which lies west of the +Alleghany mountains this duty was, from local considerations, peculiarly +odious; nor was their hostility to the measure diminished by any +affection for the source in which it originated. The constitution itself +had encountered the most decided opposition from that part of the State, +and that early enmity to the government, which exerted every faculty +to prevent its adoption, had sustained no abatement. Its measures +generally, and the whole system of finance particularly, had been +reprobated with peculiar bitterness by many of the most popular men of +that district. With these dispositions a tax law, the operation of which +was extended to them, could not be favorably received, however generally +it might be supported in other parts of the Union. But when, to this +pre-existing temper, were superadded the motives which arose from +perceiving that the measure was censured on the floor of Congress as +unnecessary and tyrannical; that resistance to its execution was treated +as probable; that a powerful and active party, pervading the Union, +arraigned with extreme acrimony the whole system of finance as being +antagonistic to liberty, and, with all the passionate vehemence +of conviction, charged its advocates with designing to subvert the +republican institutions of America, we ought not to be surprised that +the awful impressions, which usually restrain combinations to resist the +laws, were lessened, and that the malcontents were emboldened to hope +that those combinations might be successful. + +The opposition to the duty on distilled spirits had been carried so +far, and so daring had become the resistance to the law, as to require +a proclamation from the President, warning all persons against unlawful +combinations and proceedings tending to obstruct the operations of the +laws. But such was the state of feeling that the proclamation produced +no salutary effect. + +Anxious to avoid extremities, the government resolved upon another +course. Prosecutions were instituted against delinquents. The spirits +distilled in the noncomplying counties were intercepted in their way to +market and seized by the officers of the revenue, and the agents for the +army were directed to purchase only those spirits on which the duty had +been paid. Could the distillers have obeyed their wishes, these measures +would have produced the desired effect. But, impelled by a furious +multitude, they found it much more dangerous to obey the laws than to +resist them. + +Diplomatic intercourse had at length been opened with Great Britain, +who had sent, on her own motion, Mr. George Hammond as minister +Plenipotentiary to the United States. Mr. Hammond arrived at +Philadelphia in the autumn of 1791, and soon after entered upon a long +correspondence with the Secretary of State respecting the nonexecution +of the treaty of peace. The British minister having entrusted to him +only powers to negotiate, not to conclude, to make, not to adjust, +complaints, the course of the discussion, and the principles avowed by +the respective parties, speedily demonstrated the slight probability +which existed of their being able to agree upon a commercial treaty. + +The Indians in the Northwest still maintaining their attitude of +hostility preparations for prosecuting the war with vigor were earnestly +pressed. General Wayne was appointed to succeed St. Clair in the +command, but the inducements to enter the service were so small that the +ranks filled up very slowly and the meditated expedition could not be +undertaken prudently during the present year. Meanwhile, the clamor +against the war continued to be loud and violent. From respect for +opinions extensively professed it was thought advisable to make still +another effort to procure peace by a direct communication of the views +of the executive. The fate of those who were employed in these efforts +was still more to be lamented than their failure. Colonel Harden and +Major Truman, two brave officers and estimable men, were severally +dispatched with propositions of peace, and each was murdered by the +savages. + +During the session of Congress Thomas Pinckney was nominated minister +plenipotentiary to England, and Gouverneur Morris as minister +plenipotentiary to France. Both these nominations were confirmed by the +Senate. William Short was appointed minister resident at the Hague and +was commissioned, with Mr. Carmichael, to effect a treaty with Spain. +Paul Jones, during the summer, was appointed a commissioner for treating +with the Dey of Algiers on the subject of peace and the ransoming of +American captives. The letter informing of his appointment did not, +however, reach him, for Jones died at Paris on the 18th of July, 1792, +in abject poverty and destitution. + +In May (1792), Washington wrote to the Earl of Buchan, transmitting +his portrait, painted by Mr. Robertson, which had been solicited by the +earl. In the same letter he thanked the earl for a box made of the oak +that sheltered William Wallace after the battle of Falkirk. In making +this present the earl had requested Washington, in the event of his +decease, to leave it to the man in his own country who should appear, +in his judgment, to merit it best. Washington wisely decided otherwise, +and, in his will, directed it to be returned to the Earl of Buchan. + +On the 9th of May (1792), the day after the rising of Congress, +Washington set out from Philadelphia for Mount Vernon, but returned +early in June. In July he went again to Mount Vernon, accompanied by +Mrs. Washington and her two little grandchildren, intending to remain +there till near the meeting of Congress, which was to take place in +November. During this short residence at his beloved home Washington had +much to distract his attention from his favorite rural pursuits. He was +in constant correspondence with the members of the cabinet and public +affairs. To Hamilton he was writing about the resistance to the tax on +spirituous liquors, on the dissension between him and Jefferson, and +on politics; to General Knox, Secretary of War, on the preparations for +Wayne's campaign against the Indians; to Jefferson, Secretary of State, +on foreign affairs, on the troubles with the Spaniards in Florida, +and on the Indian war, as well as on his quarrel with Hamilton, and +to Randolph, Attorney-General, on the state of parties and the +licentiousness of the press. + +On the subject of newspaper abuse Washington appears to have felt a +degree of sensitiveness which, at the present, is rare among public men. +Hitherto he appears to have been personally free from this annoyance, +but he was unwilling to see his administration calumniated by political +demagogues. + +Writing to Gouverneur Morris, the American minister in France (October +20, 1792), he says. "From the complexion of some of our newspapers +foreigners would be led to believe that inveterate political dissensions +exist among us, and that we are on the very verge of disunion, but the +fact is otherwise. The great body of the people now feel the advantages +of the general government, and would not, I am persuaded, do anything +that should destroy it, but this kind of representations is an evil +which must be placed in opposition to the infinite benefits resulting +from a free press, and I am sure you need not be told that in this +country a personal difference in political sentiments is often made to +take the garb of general dissensions." + +Besides the public business which pressed heavily on Washington during +his present residence at Mount Vernon he found a new source of anxiety +in the alarming illness of his nephew, George Augustine Washington, +to whom the care of the estate had been entrusted since 1789, when the +duties of the Presidency had called the chief to the seat of government. +This gentleman had served in the Revolutionary War as aid to Lafayette, +with the rank of major. Writing to Lafayette (June 10, 1792), Washington +says: "I am afraid my nephew George, your old aid, will never have his +health perfectly re-established. He has lately been attacked with +the alarming symptom of spitting large quantities of blood, and the +physicians give no hope of a restoration, unless it can be effected by +a change of air and a total dereliction of business, to which he is too +anxiously attentive. He will, if he should be taken from his family +and friends, leave three fine children, two sons and a daughter. To the +eldest of the boys he has given the name of Fayette, and a fine-looking +child he is." + +George Augustine Washington sunk rapidly after this and died at the +residence of Colonel Bassett, where he had gone for a change of air, on +the 5th of February, 1793. Washington, on hearing of his decease, wrote +immediately from Philadelphia, to his widow, [7] condoling with her on +the heavy loss, and inviting her to reside, with her children, at Mount +Vernon. + +In the latter part of October Washington returned to Philadelphia, in +anticipation of the meeting of Congress. + +On the 5th of November (1792), Congress again convened. In Washington's +speech, delivered at the commencement of the session, Indian affairs +were treated at considerable length, and the continuance of the war was +mentioned as a subject of much regret. "The reiterated endeavors," it +was said, "which had been made to effect a pacification had hitherto +issued in new and outrageous proofs of persevering hostility on the part +of the tribes with whom the United States were in contest. + +"A detail of the measures that had been pursued and of their +consequences, which would be laid before Congress, while it would +confirm the want of success thus far, would evince that means, as proper +and as efficacious as could have been devised, had been employed. The +issue of some of them was still depending, but a favorable one, though +not to be despaired of, was not promised by anything that had yet +happened." + +That a sanction, commonly respected even among savages, had been found +insufficient to protect from massacre the emissaries of peace, was +particularly noticed, and the families of those valuable citizens +who had thus fallen victims to their zeal for the public service were +recommended to the attention of the Legislature. + +That unprovoked aggression had been made by the southern Indians, and +that there was just cause for apprehension that the war would extend to +them also, was mentioned as a subject of additional concern. + +"Every practicable exertion had been made to be prepared for the +alternative of prosecuting the war in the event of a failure of pacific +overtures. A large proportion of the troops authorized to be raised had +been recruited, though the numbers were yet incomplete, and pains +had been taken to discipline them and put them in a condition for the +particular kind of service to be performed. But a delay of operations, +besides being dictated by the measures that were pursuing toward a +pacific termination of the war, had been in itself deemed preferable to +immature efforts." + +The humane system which has since been pursued with partial success, +of gradually civilizing the savages by improving their condition, of +diverting them in some degree from hunting to domestic and agricultural +occupations, by imparting to them some of the most simple and useful +acquisitions of society, and of conciliating them to the United States +by a beneficial and well-regulated commerce, had ever been a favorite +object with the President, and the detailed view which was not taken of +Indian affairs was concluded with a repetition of his recommendations of +these measures. + +The subject next adverted to in the speech was the impediments which, +in some places, continued to embarrass the collection of the duties on +spirits distilled within the United States. After observing that these +impediments were lessening in local extent, but that symptoms of such +increased opposition had lately manifested themselves in certain places +as, in his judgment, to render his special interposition advisable, +the President added: "Congress may be assured that nothing within +constitutional and legal limits, which may depend on me, shall be +wanting to assert and maintain the just authority of the laws. In +fulfilling this trust I shall count entirely on the full cooperation of +the other departments of government and upon the zealous support of all +good citizens." + +After noticing various objects which would require the attention of the +Legislature, the President addressed himself particularly to the House +of Representatives, and said: "I entertain a strong hope that the state +of the national finances is now sufficiently matured to enable you +to enter upon a systematic and effectual arrangement for the regular +redemption and discharge of the public debt, according to the right +which has been reserved to the government. No measure can be more +desirable, whether viewed with an eye to its intrinsic importance, or to +the general sentiments and wish of the nation." + +The addresses of the two Houses in answer to the speech were, as usual, +respectful and affectionate. The several subjects recommended to the +attention of Congress, were noticed either in general terms, or in a +manner to indicate a coincidence of sentiment between the legislative +and executive departments. The turbulent spirit which had manifested +itself in certain parts of the Union, was mentioned by both houses with +a just degree of censure and the measures adopted by the President, as +well as the resolution he expressed to compel obedience to the laws, +were approved, and the House of Representatives, in the most unqualified +terms, declared opinions in favor of systematic and effectual +arrangements for discharging the public debt. But the subsequent +proceedings of the Legislature did not fulfill the expectations excited +by this auspicious commencement of the session. + +At an early day in a committee of the whole House on the President's +speech, Mr. Fitzsimmons moved "that measures for the reduction of so +much of the public debt as the United States have a right to redeem, +ought to be adopted, and that the Secretary of the Treasury be directed +to report a plan for that purpose." + +This motion was objected to by Mr. Madison as being premature. The +state of the finances, he thought, was not sufficiently understood +to authorize the adoption of the measure it contemplated. The debate, +however, soon took a different direction. + +On a motion made, directing the Secretaries of the Treasury and of War +to attend the House and to give information, severe denunciations +were poured forth against the unconstitutionality of subjecting +the representatives to the control of the heads of the executive +departments. The motions for requiring a report from Hamilton on a plan +for redeeming the public debt, and for paying a debt owing to the bank, +which were brought in by Mr. Fitzsimmons, renewed the contest, but, +although Madison and others opposed the reference to the Secretary of +the Treasury, the resolution was carried. + +Hamilton's report proposed a plan for the redemption of the debt. But +the expenses of the Indian war rendering it unsafe, in his opinion, to +rest absolutely on the existing revenue, he also proposed to extend the +internal taxes to pleasure horses, or pleasure carriages, as might be +deemed most advisable. For the reimbursement of the bank, he recommended +that power be conferred to negotiate a loan for two million dollars--the +dividends on the shares held by the government to be pledged for the +interest, and, as the government paid six per cent, to the bank, he +relied on the saving that would be effected by borrowing at a lower rate +of interest. The consideration of this report was deferred on various +grounds, and a motion was made to reduce the military establishment. The +debate was long and earnestly contested, but the motion was rejected on +the 5th of January, 1793. + +A few weeks later another subject was introduced into the House which +absorbed the attention of the members and put an end, for the present +session, to every measure connected with the finances. + +Mr. Giles, on the 23d of January (1793), moved several resolutions, +requiring information, among other things, on various points growing out +of the loans authorized by Congress in August, 1790. The object was to +inculpate the Secretary of the Treasury respecting the management and +application of these loans, and of the revenue generally. Mr. Giles +indulged himself in remarks which clearly showed the animus of his +proceedings, and it was his determination to prove to the House that +there was a large balance in the funds unaccounted for. The resolutions +were agreed to without debate, as was only due to Mr. Hamilton, and soon +after, three successive and able reports were sent in, containing the +information required. + +In these reports a full exposition was given of the views and motives +of the secretary, in the conduct of the treasury department. It is also +evident that Hamilton felt aggrieved at this attack upon his reputation, +and he did not hesitate to use language of great plainness and severity, +observing in conclusion: "Thus have I not only furnished a just and +affirmative view of the real situation of the public accounts, but have +likewise shown, I trust, in a conspicuous manner, fallacies enough in +the statements, from which the inference of an unaccounted-for balance +is drawn, to evince that it is one tissue of error." + +But the matter did not end here. Mr. Giles, on the 28th of February +(1793), submitted to the House a series of nine resolutions, containing +charges against the secretary. The substance of them was, that he had +failed to give Congress information, in due time, of moneys drawn from +Europe; that he had violated the law of the 4th of August, 1790, by an +unauthorized application of money borrowed under it; that he had drawn +part of the money into the United States, without any instructions from +the President; that he had exceeded his authority in making loans, under +the acts; that, without instructions from the President, he had drawn +more of the money borrowed in Holland than he was authorized by those +acts, and that he had been guilty of an indecorum to the House, in +undertaking to judge its motives in calling for information. The debate +was continued until the night of March 1st (1793), and was characterized +by unusual bitterness. It terminated in a rejection of the resolutions +and consequently in an entire exculpation of Hamilton from all +just censure. The highest number voting in favor of any one of the +resolutions was sixteen. + +"The whole of the session was spent," says Mr. Gibbs, "in sifting the +conduct of the secretary. [8] The investigation served one purpose of +the opposition--it prevented any question being taken on the report. +It seems somewhat anomalous, that a party which had charged the +administration with a wish to perpetuate the debt, should thus have +thwarted its measures to discharge it; and an explanation of the fact +can only be found in a fixed determination to break down the secretary." + +The other business of the session may be briefly stated. The claim for +compensation for loss on the certificates in which they had been paid, +advanced by the officers of the old Continental army, was rejected. An +act respecting "fugitives from justice, and persons escaping from the +service of their masters," was passed, early in February, by a vote of +forty-eight to seven. The trade with the Indians was regulated, and an +attempt was made to initiate an amendment to the constitution, because +the State of Georgia, sued in the Federal courts for a debt due to a +citizen of another State, had suffered judgment by default. And nearly +two millions of dollars were appropriated to the public service, in +addition to the almost three millions more for interest on the debt. On +Saturday, the 3d of March (1793), a constitutional period was put to the +existence of the present Congress. The members separated with obvious +symptoms of extreme irritation. "Various causes," says Marshall, "the +most prominent of which have already been noticed, had combined to +organize _two distinct parties_ in the United States, which were rapidly +taking the form of a ministerial and an opposition party. By that in +opposition, the President was not yet openly denounced. His personal +influence was too great to be encountered by a direct avowal that he was +at the head of their adversaries, and his public conduct did not admit +of a suspicion that he could allow himself to rank as the chief of +a party. Nor could public opinion he seduced to implicate him in the +ambitious plans and dark schemes for the subversion of liberty, which +were ascribed to a part of the administration, and to the leading +members who had supported the measures of finance adopted by the +Legislature." + +Yet it was becoming apparent that things were taking a course which must +inevitably involve him in the political conflicts which were about to +take place. It was apparent that the charges against the Secretary of +the Treasury would not be relinquished, and that they were of a nature +to affect the chief magistrate materially, should his countenance not be +withdrawn from that officer. It was equally apparent that the fervor of +democracy, which was perpetually manifesting itself in the papers, in +invectives against levees, against the trappings of royalty, and against +the marks of peculiar respect which were paid to the President, must +soon include him more pointedly in its strictures. + +These divisions, which are inherent in the nature of popular +governments, by which the chief magistrate, however unexceptionable his +conduct, and however exalted his character, must, sooner or later, be +more or less affected, were beginning to be essentially influenced by +the great events of Europe. + +That revolution which has been the admiration, the wonder, and the +terror of the civilized world, had, from its commencement, been viewed +in America with the deepest interest. In its first stage, but one +sentiment respecting it prevailed, and that was a belief, accompanied +with an ardent wish, that it would improve the condition of France, +extend the blessings of liberty, and promote the happiness of the human +race. When the labors of the convention had terminated in a written +constitution, this unanimity of opinion was in some degree impaired. By +a few who had thought deeply on the science of government, and who, if +not more intelligent, certainly judge more dispassionately than their +fellow-citizens, that instrument was believed to contain the principles +of self-destruction. It was feared that a system so ill balanced could +not be permanent. A deep impression was made on the same persons by the +influence of the galleries over the Legislature, and of mobs over +the executive; by the tumultuous assemblages of the people, and their +licentious excesses during the short and sickly existence of the +regal authority. These did not appear to be the symptoms of a healthy +constitution or of genuine freedom. Persuaded that the present state of +things could not last, they doubted and they feared for the future. + +In total opposition to this sentiment was that of the public generally. +There seems to be something infectious in the example of a powerful and +enlightened nation verging toward democracy, which impose on the human +mind, and leads human reason in fetters. Novelties, introduced by such +a nation, are stripped of the objections which had been preconceived +against them, and long-settled opinions yield to the overwhelming weight +of such dazzling authority. It wears the semblance of being the sense +of mankind, breaking loose from the shackles which had been imposed by +artifice, and asserting the freedom and the dignity of his nature. + +The constitution of France, therefore, was generally received with +unqualified plaudits. The establishment of a legislature consisting of +a single body was defended not only as being adapted to the particular +situation of that country, but as being right in itself. Certain +anonymous writers, who supported the theory of a balanced government, +were branded as the advocates of royalty and of aristocracy. To question +the duration of the present order of things was thought to evidence an +attachment to unlimited monarchy, or a blind prejudice in favor of the +institutions of Great Britain, and the partiality of America in favor of +a senate was visibly declining. + +In this stage of the revolution, however, the division of sentiment was +not marked with sufficient distinctness, nor the passions of the +people agitated with sufficient violence, for any powerful effect to +be produced on the two parties in America. But when the monarchy was +completely overthrown and a republic decreed, [9] the people of the +United States seemed electrified by the measure, and its influence was +felt by the whole society. The war in which the several potentates of +Europe were engaged against France, although in almost every instance +declared by that power, was pronounced to be a war for the extirpation +of human liberty and for the banishment of free government from the face +of the earth. The preservation of the constitution of the United States +was supposed to depend on its issue, and the coalition against France +was treated as a coalition against America also. + +A cordial wish for the success of the French arms, or rather that the +war might terminate without any diminution of French power, and in such +a manner as to leave the people of that country free to choose their own +form of government, was perhaps universal, but, respecting the probable +issue of their internal conflicts, perfect unanimity of opinion did not +prevail. By some few individuals, the practicability of governing by +a system formed on the republican model, an immense, populous, and +military nation, whose institutions, habits, and morals were adapted +to monarchy, and which was surrounded by armed neighbors, was deemed a +problem which time alone could solve. The circumstances under which the +abolition of royalty was declared, the massacres which preceded it, the +scenes of turbulence and violence which were acted in every part of +the nation, appeared to them to present an awful and doubtful state of +things, respecting which no certain calculations could be made, and the +idea that a republic was to be introduced and supported by force, was, +to them, a paradox in politics. Under the influence of these appearances +the apprehension was entertained that, if the ancient monarchy should +not be restored a military despotism would be established. By the many, +these unpopular doubts were deemed unpardonable heresies, and the few to +whom they were imputed, were pronounced hostile to liberty. A suspicion +that the unsettled state of things in France had contributed to suspend +the payment of the debt to that nation had added to the asperity with +which the resolutions on that subject were supported, and the French +revolution will be found to have had great influence on the strength +of parties and on the subsequent political transactions of the United +States. + +1. Footnote: Griswold, "Republican Court." + +2. Footnote: "Republican Court." + +3. Footnote: For designating the site of the new seat of government. +Washington remained with the commissioners several days engaged in this +business. + +4. Footnote: The following is the message which he delivered on this +occasion: + +GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: + +I have maturely considered the act passed by the two Houses, entitled +"An act for the apportionment of representatives among the several +States according to the first enumeration," and I return it to your +House, wherein it originated, with the following objections. + +First. The constitution has prescribed that representatives shall be +apportioned among the several States according to their respective +numbers, and there is no proportion or divisor which, applied to the +respective numbers of the States, will yield the number and allotment of +representatives proposed by the bill. + +Secondly. The constitution has also provided that the number of +representatives shall not exceed one for thirty thousand--which +restriction is by the context, and by fair and obvious construction, to +be applied to the separate and respective numbers of the States--and +the bill has allotted to eight of the States more than one for thirty +thousand. + +5. Footnote: Marshall. + +6. Footnote: The salary of the Secretary of State, which was the +highest, was $3,500; that of the Secretary of the Treasury was $2,000. +Hamilton was finally obliged to resign, to gain a living. + +7. Footnote: Mrs. Washington's maiden name was Frances Bassett. She was +the daughter of Colonel Bassett, an intimate friend of Washington. + +8. Footnote: "Administrations of Washington and Adams." + +9. Footnote: This event was announced to the President by the minister +plenipotentiary of France, at Philadelphia, in February, 1793. Through +the Secretary of State an answer was returned, of which the following is +an extract: + +"The President receives with great satisfaction this attention of the +executive council, and the desire they have manifested of making known +to us the resolution entered into by the National Convention, even +before a definitive regulation of their new establishment could take +place. Be assured, sir, that the government and the citizens of the +United States view with the most sincere pleasure every advance of your +nation towards its happiness, an object essentially connected with its +liberty; and they consider the union of principles and pursuits between +our two countries as a link which binds still closer their interests and +affections. + +"We earnestly wish, on our part, that these our mutual dispositions may +be improved to mutual good, by establishing our commercial intercourse +on principles as friendly to natural right and freedom as are those of +our governments." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +WASHINGTON INAUGURATES THE SYSTEM OF NEUTRALITY. 1793. + + +As the time approached for the expiration of Washington's first term of +office as President of the United States, a great deal of anxiety was +felt lest he should determine on a final retirement from public life. It +was well known that he had originally accepted the office with extreme +reluctance, that his attention to its duties had impaired his health, +and that he was very desirous to pass the remainder of his life in +retirement and repose. But at the same time it was felt that a crisis in +public affairs was impending which imperatively demanded the whole force +of his character and the whole influence of his popularity to sustain +the government. Even at the period when the Federal government was first +inaugurated, the call of his country to give it strength and permanence +was not more urgent than that which now summoned him to save it from the +rage of party spirit. Troubles and difficulties were also threatening +the country from abroad as well as internal factions at home, and the +true friends of the country felt that none but Washington was equal +to the emergency. He received many letters urging his continuance in +office. Three of these were from members of the cabinet--Jefferson, +Hamilton, and Randolph. + +Jefferson expressed himself as follows: + +"When you first mentioned to me your purpose of retiring from the +government, though I felt all the magnitude of the event, I was in +a considerable degree silent. I knew that to such a mind as yours +persuasion was idle and impertinent; that, before forming your decision, +you had weighed all the reasons for and against the measure, had made up +your mind on full view of them, and that there could be little hope of +changing the result. Pursuing my reflections, too, I knew we were some +day to try to walk alone, and if the essay should be made while you +should be alive and looking on, we should derive confidence from that +circumstance and resource if it failed. The public mind, too, was then +calm and confident, and therefore in a favorable state for making the +experiment. Had no change of circumstances supervened, I should not, +with any hope of success, have now ventured to propose to you a change +of purpose. But the public mind is no longer so confident and serene, +and that from causes in which you are no ways personally mixed. + +"The confidence of the whole Union is centered in you. Your being at the +helm will be more than an answer to every argument which can be used +to alarm and lead the people in any quarter into violence or secession. +North and South will hang together, if they have you to hang on; and +if the first corrective of a numerous representation should fail in its +effect, your presence will give time for trying others not inconsistent +with the union and peace of the States. + +"I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which your present office +lays your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for retirement to +domestic life. But there is sometimes an eminence of character on which +society have such peculiar claims, as to control the predilection of the +individual for a particular walk of happiness and restrain him to that +alone arising from the present and future benedictions of mankind. This +seems to be your condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence +in forming your character and fashioning the events on which it was to +operate, and it is to motives like these and not to personal anxieties +of mine or others, who have no right to call on you for sacrifices, that +I appeal from your former determination, and urge a revisal of it, on +the ground of change in the aspect of things. Should an honest majority +result from the new and enlarged representation, should those acquiesce, +whose principles or interests they may control, your wishes for +retirement would be gratified with less danger, as soon as that shall be +manifest, without awaiting the completion of the second period of four +years. One or two sessions will determine the crisis, and I cannot but +hope that you can resolve to add one or two more to the many years you +have already sacrificed to the good of mankind. + +"The fear of suspicion that any selfish motive of continuance in office +may enter into this solicitation on my part obliges me to declare that +no such motive exists. It is a thing of mere indifference to the public +whether I retain or relinquish my purpose of closing my tour with the +first periodical renovation of the government. I know my own measure +too well to suppose that my services contribute anything to the public +confidence or the public utility. Multitudes can fill the office in +which you have been pleased to place me, as much to their advantage +and satisfaction. I, therefore, have no motive to consult but my own +inclination, which is bent irresistibly on the tranquil enjoyment of my +family, my farm, and my books. I should repose among them, it is true, +in far greater security, if I were to know that you remained at the +watch, and I hope it will be so. To the inducements urged from a view of +our domestic affairs I will add a bare mention of what indeed need only +be mentioned, that weighty motives for your continuance are to be found +in our foreign affairs. I think it probable that both the Spanish and +English negotiations, if not completed before your purpose is known, +will be suspended from the moment it is known, and that the latter +nation will then use double diligence in fomenting the Indian war. + +"With my wishes for the future I shall, at the same time, express my +gratitude of the past, at least my portion of it, and beg permission to +follow you, whether in public or private life, with those sentiments of +sincere attachment and respect with which I am unalterably, dear sir, +your affectionate friend and humble servant." + +Extract from Hamilton's letter: + +"I received the most sincere pleasure at finding, in our last +conversation, that there was some relaxation in the disposition you had +before discovered to decline a re-election. Since your departure I have +lost no opportunity of sounding the opinions of persons whose opinions +were worth knowing on these two points: First, the effect of your +declining upon the public affairs, and upon your own reputation; +secondly, the effect of your continuing in reference to the declarations +you have made of your disinclination to public life. And I can truly say +that I have not found the least difference of sentiment on either point. +The impression is uniform, that your declining would be to be deplored +as the greatest evil that could befall the country at the present +juncture, and as critically hazardous to your own reputation; that your +continuance will be justified in the mind of every friend to his country +by the evident necessity for it. + +"It is clear, says everyone with whom I have conversed, that the affairs +of the national government are not yet firmly established; that its +enemies, generally speaking, are as inveterate as ever; that their +enmity has been sharpened by its success, and by all the resentments +which flow from disappointed predictions and mortified vanity; that +a general and strenuous effort is making in every State to place the +administration of it in the hands of its enemies, as if they were its +safest guardians; that the period of the next House of Representatives +is likely to prove the crisis of its permanent character; that, if you +continue in office, nothing materially mischievous is to be apprehended, +if you quit much is to be dreaded; that the same motives which induced +you to accept originally ought to decide you to continue till matters +have assumed a more determinate aspect; that indeed it would have been +better, as it regards your own character, that you had never consented +to come forward than now to leave the business unfinished and in danger +of being undone; that, in the event of storms arising, there would be +an imputation either of want of foresight or want of firmness, and, in +fine, that on public and personal accounts, on patriotic and prudential +considerations, the clear path to be pursued by you will be again to +obey the voice of your country, which it is not doubted will be as +earnest and as unanimous as ever. + +"I trust, sir, and I pray God, that you will determine to make a further +sacrifice of your tranquility and happiness to the public good. I trust +that it need not continue above a year or two more. And I think that it +will be more eligible to retire from office before the expiration of the +term of election than to decline a re-election. + +"The sentiments I have delivered upon this occasion I can truly say +proceed exclusively from an anxious concern for the public welfare and +an affectionate personal attachment. These dispositions must continue to +govern, in every vicissitude, one who has the honor to be very truly and +respectfully, sir, yours, etc." + +Randolph wrote as follows: + +"I have persuaded myself that this letter, though unconnected with any +official relation, and upon a subject to the decision of which you alone +are competent, will be received in the spirit with which it is +written. The Union, for the sake of which I have encountered various +embarrassments, not wholly unknown to you, and sacrificed some opinions, +which, but for its jeopardy, I should never have surrendered, seems to +me to be, now, at the eve of a crisis. It is feared by those who take +a serious interest in the affairs of the United States that you will +refuse the chair of government at the approaching election. If such an +event must happen indulge me, at least, in the liberty of opening to you +a course of thought, which a calm attention to the Federal government +has suggested, and no bias of party has influenced. + +"It cannot have escaped you that divisions are formed in our politics as +systematic as those which prevail in Great Britain. Such as opposed the +constitution, from a hatred to the Union, can never be conciliated +by any overture or atonement. By others it is meditated to push the +construction of Federal powers to every tenable extreme. A third class, +republican in principle, and, thus far, in my judgment, happy in their +discernment of our welfare, have, notwithstanding, mingled with their +doctrines a fatal error--that the State assemblies are to be resorted to +as the engines of correction to the Federal administration. The honors +belonging to the chief magistracy are objects of no common solicitude to +a few, who compose a fourth denomination. + +"The fuel which has been already gathered for combustion wants no +addition. But how awfully might it be increased were the violence, which +is now suspended by a universal submission to your pretensions, let +loose by your resignation! Permit me, then, in the fervor of a dutiful +and affectionate attachment to you, to beseech you to penetrate the +consequences of a dereliction of the reins. The constitution would never +have been adopted, but from a knowledge that you had once sanctioned +it, and an expectation that you would execute it. It is in a state of +probation. The most inauspicious struggles are past, but the public +deliberations need stability. You alone can give them stability. You +suffered yourself to yield when the voice of your country summoned you +to the administration. Should a civil war arise you cannot stay at +home. And now much easier will it be to disperse the factions which are +rushing to this catastrophe than to subdue them after they shall appear +in arms? It is the fixed opinion of the world that you surrender nothing +incomplete. + +"I am not unapprised of many disagreeable sensations which have labored +in your breast. But, let them spring from any cause whatsoever, of one +thing I think I am sure (and I speak this from a satisfactory inquiry +lately made), that, if a second opportunity shall be given to the +people of showing their gratitude, they will not be less unanimous than +before." + +Washington's own views we learn from the following letter in answer to +Randolph: + +"The purpose of this letter is merely to acknowledge the receipt of your +favors of the 5th and 13th instant, and to thank you for the information +contained in both, without entering into the details of either. + +"With respect, however, to the interesting subject treated in that of +the 5th, I can express but one sentiment at this time, and that is a +wish, a devout one, that, whatever my ultimate determination shall be, +it may be for the best. The subject never recurs to my mind but with +additional poignancy, and, from the declining state of the health of +my nephew, to whom my concerns of a domestic and private nature are +entrusted, it comes with aggravated force. But as the all-wise Disposer +of events has hitherto watched over my steps, I trust that, in the +important one I may soon be called upon to take, He will mark the course +so plainly as that I cannot mistake the way. In full hope of this I will +take no measures for the present that will not leave me at liberty +to decide from circumstances and the best lights I can obtain on the +subject. + +"I shall be happy, in the meantime, to see a cessation of the abuses +of public officers and of almost every measure of government with which +some of the gazettes are so strongly impregnated, and which cannot +fail, if persevered in with the malignancy with which they now teem, +of rendering the Union asunder. The seeds of discontent, distrust, and +irritation which are so plentifully sown, can scarcely fail to produce +this effect, and to mar that prospect of happiness which, perhaps, never +beamed with more effulgence upon any people under the sun, and this too +at a time when all Europe is gazing with admiration at the brightness of +our prospects. And for what is all this? Among other things, to afford +nuts for our transatlantic--(what shall I call them?)--foes. + +"In a word, if government and the officers of it are to be the constant +theme for newspaper abuse, and this too without condescending to +investigate the motives or the facts, it will be impossible, I conceive, +for any man living to manage the helm or to keep the machine together. +But I am running from my text, and therefore will only add assurances of +the affectionate esteem and regard with which I am, etc." + +To the remonstrances of his immediate advisers in the Cabinet were added +many more of the same tenor from other friends and correspondents. +He had, in fact, already determined to retire at this time, and had +accordingly prepared a farewell address to the people for the occasion. +But he had never publicly declared this intention, and, urged thus +strongly by leading men of all parties, he finally consented to remain +in office. + +"Respecting the person who should fill the office of Vice-President," +says Marshall, "the public was divided. The profound statesman who had +been called to the duties of that station had drawn upon himself a great +degree of obloquy by some political tracts, in which he had labored to +maintain the proposition that a balance in government was essential to +the preservation of liberty. In these disquisitions he was supposed by +his opponents to have discovered sentiments in favor of distinct orders +in society, and, although he had spoken highly of the constitution of +the United States, it was imagined that his balance could be maintained +only by hereditary classes. He was also understood to be friendly to the +system of finance which had been adopted, and was believed to be among +the few who questioned the durability of the French republic. His great +services and acknowledged virtues were therefore disregarded, and a +competitor was sought for among those who had distinguished themselves +in the opposition. The choice was directed from Mr. Jefferson by a +constitutional restriction on the power of the electors, which would +necessarily deprive him of the vote to be given by Virginia. It being +necessary to designate some other opponent to Mr. Adams, George Clinton, +the Governor of New York, was selected for this purpose. + +"Throughout the war of the Revolution, this gentleman had filled the +office of chief magistrate of his native State, and, under circumstances +of real difficulty, had discharged its duties with a courage and an +energy which secured the esteem of the Commander-in-Chief and gave him +a fair claim to the favor of his country. Embracing afterward with +ardor the system of State supremacy, he had contributed greatly to the +rejection of the resolutions for investing Congress with the power of +collecting an impost on imported goods, and had been conspicuous for +his determined hostility to the constitution of the United States. +His sentiments respecting the measures of the government were known to +concur with those of the minority in Congress." + +Both parties seemed confident in their strength, and both made the +utmost exertions to insure success. On opening the ballots in the Senate +chamber (Feb. 13, 1793), it appeared that the unanimous suffrage of his +country had been once more conferred on General Washington, and that Mr. +Adams had received a plurality of the votes. [1] + +The ceremonial to be observed at the inauguration was the subject of +a difference of opinion, and a Cabinet council was called to take the +matter into consideration. Jefferson and Hamilton thought that the oath +ought to be administered in private, and that one of the judges of the +Supreme Court should attend to this duty at the President's own house. +Knox and Randolph were of a different opinion and decided that the +ceremony should take place in public. Washington coincided with them in +their views, and it was finally decided at a subsequent Cabinet meeting, +on the 1st of March, that the inauguration should take place in the +Senate chamber. + +Among the senators who were present on this occasion were John Langdon +of New Hampshire, one of the purest and most disinterested of the +Revolutionary veterans; Oliver Ellsworth, from Connecticut, afterward +chief justice of the United States; Roger Sherman, also from +Connecticut, one of the committee for preparing the Declaration of +Independence; Rufus King, the eloquent statesman from New York; Robert +Morris, the great financier, from Pennsylvania, and James Monroe, +afterward President of the United States, from Virginia. + +The proceedings, as recorded in Mr. Benton's "Abridgment of the Debates +of Congress," were as follows: + +"Agreeably to notice given by the President of the United States on the +second instant, he came to the Senate chamber and took his seat in the +chair usually assigned to the president of the Senate, who, on this +occasion was seated at the right, and in advance of the President of the +United States; a seat on the left, and also in advance, being provided +for Judge Cushing, appointed to administer the oath. The doors of +the Senate chamber being open, the heads of the departments, foreign +ministers, the late speaker, and such members of the late House of +Representatives as were in town, together with as many other spectators +as could be accommodated, were present. + +"After a short pause the president of the Senate arose and addressed the +President of the United States as follows: + +"'Sir:--One of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States +is now present and ready to administer to you the oath required by the +constitution to be taken by the President of the United States.' + +"On which the President of the United States, rising from his seat, was +pleased to address the audience as follows: + +"'FELLOW-CITIZENS:--I am again called upon, by the voice of my country, +to execute the functions of its chief magistrate. When the occasion +proper for it shall arrive, I shall endeavor to express the high sense +I entertain of this distinguished honor, and of the confidence which has +been reposed in me by the people of United America. + +"'Previous to the execution of any official act of the President, the +constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about +to take, and in your presence; that, if it shall be found during my +administration of the government, I have, in any instance, violated, +willingly, or knowingly, the injunction thereof, I may (besides +incurring constitutional punishment) be subject to the upbraidings of +all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.' + +"Judge Cushing then administered the oath of office required by the +constitution, after which the President of the United States retired, +and the spectators dispersed." + +The record of the proceedings thus given by Mr. Benton gives but a very +imperfect idea of the actual scene. Fortunately, an eye-witness, Arthur +J. Stansbury, for twenty-five years a reporter of Congress, has given us +a very lively and graphic description of the scene in his "Recollections +and Anecdotes of the Presidents of the United States." [2] + +We copy his description in full: + +"But I once had," says Mr. Stansbury, "an opportunity far more favorable +of beholding this greatest of men, under circumstances the best possible +for exhibiting him to the fullest advantage. It was a privilege which +could happen but once to any man, and I esteem the hour when I enjoyed +it as one of the brightest moments I was ever permitted to know. Its +remembrance yet glows vividly on my mind; years have not dimmed it; +the whole scene is yet before me; and I need not say with what force +repeated public occasions of a like kind have since recalled it to +remembrance. Yes, it was my favored lot to see and hear President +Washington address the Congress of the United States, when elected for +the last time. Of men now living, how few can say the same! + +"I was but a schoolboy at the time, and had followed one of the many +groups of people who, from all quarters, were making their way to the +hall in Chestnut street, at the corner of Fifth, where the two Houses +of Congress then held their sittings, and where they were that day to be +addressed by the President, on the opening of his second term of office. +Boys can often manage to work their way through a crowd better than +men can; at all events, it so happened that I succeeded in reaching the +steps of the hall, from which elevation, looking in every direction, I +could see nothing but human heads--a vast fluctuating sea, swaying +to and fro, and filling every accessible place which commanded even a +distant view of the building. They had congregated, not with the hope of +getting into the hall, for that was physically impossible, but that they +might see Washington. Many an anxious look was cast in the direction +from which he was expected to come, till at length, true to the +appointed hour (he was the most punctual of men), an agitation was +observable on the outskirts of the crowd, which gradually opened and +gave space for the approach of an elegant white coach, drawn by six +superb white horses, having on its four sides beautiful designs of the +four seasons, painted by Cipriani. It slowly made its way till it drew +up immediately in front of the hall. The rush was now tremendous. But +as the coach door opened, there issued from it two gentlemen, with long +white wands, who, with some difficulty, parted the people, so as to +open a passage from the carriage to the steps, on which the fortunate +schoolboy had achieved a footing, and whence the whole proceeding could +be distinctly seen. As the person of the President emerged from the +carriage, a universal shout rent the air, and continued, as he very +deliberately mounted the steps. On reaching the platform, he paused, +looking back on the carriage, thus affording to the anxiety of the +people the indulgence they desired, of feasting their eyes upon his +person. Never did a more majestic personage present himself to the +public gaze. He was within two feet of me; I could have touched his +clothes; but I should as soon have thought of touching an electric +battery. Boy as I was, I felt as in the presence of a Divinity. As he +turned to enter the hall, the gentlemen with the white wands preceded +him, and, with still greater difficulty than before, repressed the +people, and cleared a way to the great staircase. As he ascended, I +ascended with him, step by step, creeping close to the wall, and almost +hidden by the skirts of his coat. Nobody looked at me; everybody was +looking at him; and thus I was permitted, unnoticed, to glide along, +and, happily, to make my way (where so many were vainly longing and +struggling to enter) into the lobby of the chamber of the House of +Representatives. Once in, I was safe; for had I even been seen by the +officers in attendance, it would have been impossible to get me out +again. I saw near me a large pyramidal stove, which, fortunately, had +but little fire in it, and on which I forthwith clambered, until I had +attained a secure perch, from which every part of the hall could be +deliberately and distinctly surveyed. Depend upon it, I made use of my +eyes. + +"On either side of the broad aisle that was left vacant in the center +were assembled the two houses of Congress. As the President entered, all +rose, and remained standing till he had ascended the steps at the upper +end of the chamber and taken his seat in the speaker's chair. It was an +impressive moment. Notwithstanding that the spacious apartment, floor, +lobby, galleries, and all approaches were crowded to their utmost +capacity, not a sound was heard; the silence of expectation was unbroken +and profound; every breath seemed suspended. He was dressed in a full +suit of the richest black velvet; his lower limbs in short clothes with +diamond knee buckles and black silk stockings. His shoes, which were +brightly japanned, were surmounted with large square silver buckles. His +hair, carefully displayed in the manner of the day, was richly powdered, +and gathered behind into a black silk bag, on which was a bow of black +ribbon. In his hand he carried a plain cocked hat, decorated with the +American cockade. He wore by his side a light, slender dress-sword, in +a green shagreen scabbard, with a richly ornamented hilt. His gait was +deliberate, his manner solemn but self-possessed, and he presented, +altogether, the most august human figure I had then or have since +beheld. + +"At the head of the Senate stood Thomas Jefferson, in a blue coat, +single breasted, with large bright basket-buttons, his vest and +small-clothes of crimson. I remember being struck with his animated +countenance, of a brick-red hue, his bright eye and foxy hair, as well +as by his tall, gaunt, ungainly form and square shoulders. A perfect +contrast was presented by the pale reflective face and delicate figure +of James Madison, and above all, by the short, burly, bustling form of +General Knox, with ruddy cheek, prominent eye, and still more prominent +proportions of another kind. In the semicircle which was formed behind +the chair, and on either hand of the President, my boyish gaze was +attracted by the splendid attire of the Chevalier d'Yrujo, the Spanish +ambassador, then the only foreign minister near our infant government. +His glittering star, his silk chapeau bras, edged with ostrich feathers, +his foreign air and courtly bearing, contrasted strongly with those +nobility of nature's forming who stood around him. It was a very fair +representation of the old world and the new. How often has the same +reflection occurred to me since, on witnessing the glittering and now +numerous company of foreign dignitaries collected round our President +by an inauguration day, or the recurrence of our national anniversary! +True, the individuals who form that brilliant coterie are, for the most +part, men eminent for general intelligence, as well as the virtues of +private life--men who meet, and well deserve, a cordial welcome on our +shores and often carry from it the sincerest regret. But how do the +personal sentiments and characters of the men themselves put out the +blaze of the gold and diamonds with which their governments had covered +them! And if, even in the unadorned presence of his successors, these +decorations seem puerile in Republican eyes, how would they have faded +away and been lost in the chilling grandeur of the public presence of +Washington! + +"Having retained his seat for a few moments, while the members resumed +their seats, the President rose, and, taking from his breast a roll +of manuscript, proceeded to read his address. His voice was full and +sonorous, deep and rich in its tones, free from that trumpet ring which +it could assume amid the tumult of battle (and which is said to have +been distinctly heard above all its roar), but sufficiently loud and +clear to fill the chamber, and be heard, with perfect ease, in its most +remote recesses. The address was of considerable length; its topics, +of course, I forget, for I was too young to understand them; I only +remember, in its latter part, some reference to the Wabash river (then a +new name to my ear), and to claims or disputes on the part of the Indian +tribes. He read, as he did everything else, with a singular serenity and +composure, with manly ease and dignity, but without the smallest attempt +at display. + +"Having concluded, he laid the manuscript upon the table before him and +resumed his seat, when, after a slight pause, he rose and withdrew, the +members rising and remaining on their feet until he left the chamber. + +"The paper was then taken up by Mr. Beckley, the clerk of the House, and +again read from beginning to end. Beckley's enunciation, by the by, was +admirably clear, giving every syllable of every word, and I may say, he +was almost the only officer, whose official duty it is to read, whom I +ever heard read well. + +"This form having been gone through, the members of the Senate retired +and I took advantage of the bustle to descend from my unwonted and +presumptuous elevation, and mingle with the dissolving crowd." + +These recollections of Mr. Stansbury present a much livelier view of +the transactions of that memorable day; than that which any reader's +imagination can supply by the aid of the official record. + +Washington was now once more plunged into the troubled ocean of public +affairs. Before following him into new scenes of self-sacrifice and +disinterestedness in the service of his country, we pause to notice a +pleasing act of private friendship, which, with his usual delicacy, he +calls an act of simple justice. In consequence of the active part +which he had taken in the French revolution, Washington's bosom friend, +Lafayette, had become a prisoner to the King of Prussia, and was +detained in captivity. The Marchioness Lafayette, after being a prisoner +in Paris, had been suffered to retire to her husband's estate, and +reside there under the safeguard of the municipality, without permission +to correspond with her friends. Ignorant of her actual residence, +but supposing that she might be suffering for want of ready money, +Washington sent her a considerable sum, and wrote as follows: + +"MADAM:--If I had words that could convey to you an adequate idea of +my feelings on the present situation of the Marquis de Lafayette, this +letter would appear to you in a different garb. The sole object in +writing to you now is, to inform you that I have deposited in the hands +of Mr. Nicholas Van Staphorst, of Amsterdam, two thousand three hundred +and ten guilders, Holland currency, equal to two hundred guineas, +subject to your orders. + +"This sum is, I am certain, the least I am indebted for services +rendered to me by the Marquis de Lafayette, of which I never yet have +received the account. I could add much, but it is best, perhaps, that +I should say little on this subject. Your goodness will supply any +deficiency. + +"The uncertainty of your situation, after all the inquiries I have made, +has occasioned a delay in this address and remittance, and even now, the +measure adopted is more the effect of a desire to find where you are, +than from any knowledge I have obtained of your residence. + +"At all times, and under all circumstances, you and yours will possess +the affectionate regards of him who has the honor to be, etc." + +Shortly after writing this letter Washington received one from the +marchioness, and still later another, both written before the above +letter reached her. She requested Washington's interference with the +Prussian government on behalf of Lafayette, and was desirous, if he +could be released, that he and his family should reside in the United +States. Everything was done that could be done, by Washington and the +American ministers in Europe, to obtain Lafayette's release, but it was +not effected till several years after, and then through other means. + +During the recess of Congress, Washington twice visited Mount Vernon, +once for a few days in April (1793), and again, for two or three weeks +in June and July. On the 4th of July he was present at the celebration +of the national anniversary by the citizens of Alexandria. He was +prevented from spending more time at Mount Vernon by the pressure +of public business, which was now assuming a new and very unpleasant +aspect. + +During Washington's short visit to Mount Vernon in April, he received +a letter from Jefferson, dated April 7th, (1793), informing him +that France had declared war against England and Holland. Instantly +perceiving the danger of the United States becoming involved in the +hostilities of these nations, Washington, on the 12th of April, wrote +in reply to Jefferson: "War having actually commenced between France and +Great Britain, it behooves the government of this country to use every +means in its power to prevent the citizens thereof from embroiling +us with either of those powers, by endeavoring to maintain a strict +neutrality. I therefore require that you will give the subject mature +consideration, that such measures as shall be deemed most likely to +effect this desirable purpose may be adopted without delay, for I have +understood that vessels are already designated as privateers, and are +preparing accordingly. Such other measures as may be necessary for us +to pursue against events, which it may not be in our power to avoid or +control, you will also think of, and lay them before me on my arrival in +Philadelphia; for which place I shall set out tomorrow, but will leave +it to the advices which I may receive tonight by the post, to determine +whether it is to be by the direct route or by the one I proposed to +come, that is, by Reading." + +The tenor of this letter shows that Washington was fully aware of the +importance of the emergency in our foreign relations which had now +arisen, and the result showed that, as usual, he was fully equal to the +occasion. The difficulty of the position arose from the fact already +adverted to--that of the two great political parties then existing, +one was in favor of direct aid to the French revolutionists, while the +other, desirous to remain neutral while the European contest was going +on, was charged by its opponents with partiality to England. It remained +for Washington, by that decision of character and inflexible firmness +for which he was so remarkable, to inaugurate that system of neutrality +and noninterference in the affairs of Europe, which has ever since +constituted the foreign policy of this country. + +On his return to Philadelphia, Washington summoned a meeting of the +Cabinet, at the same time sending to each member a series of questions +to be considered as preparatory to the meeting. These questions, +thirteen in number, all referred to the measures to be taken by the +President in consequence of the revolution which had overthrown the +French monarchy; of the new organization of a republic in that country; +of the appointment of a minister from that republic to the United +States, and of the war declared by the National Convention of France +against Great Britain. The first of these questions, says Mr. Adams, [3] +was, whether a proclamation should issue to prevent interferences of our +citizens in the war, and whether the proclamation should or should not +contain a declaration of neutrality. The second was, whether a minister +from the Republic of France should be received. Upon these two questions +the opinion of the Cabinet was unanimous in the affirmative--that a +proclamation of neutrality should issue, and that the minister from the +French Republic should be received. But upon all the other questions, +the opinions of the four heads of the departments were equally divided. +They were indeed questions of difficulty and delicacy equal to +their importance. No less than whether, after a revolution in France +annihilating the government with which the treaties of alliance and +of commerce had been contracted, the treaties themselves were to be +considered binding as between the nations, and particularly whether +the stipulation of guarantee to France of her possessions in the West +Indies, was binding upon the United States to the extent of imposing +upon them the obligation of taking side with France in the war. As the +members of the Cabinet disagreed in their opinions upon these questions, +and as there was no immediate necessity for deciding them, the further +consideration of them was postponed, and they were never afterwards +resumed. While these discussions of the Cabinet of Washington were held, +the minister plenipotentiary from the French republic arrived in this +country. He had been appointed by the National Convention of France, +which had dethroned, tried, sentenced to death, and executed Louis the +Sixteenth, abolished the monarchy, and proclaimed a republic one and +indivisible, under the auspices of liberty, equality, and fraternity, +as thenceforth the government of France. By all the rest of Europe they +were then considered as revolted subjects in rebellion against their +sovereign, and were not recognized as constituting an independent +government. + +Hamilton and Knox were of opinion that the minister from France should +be conditionally received, with the reservation of the question whether +the United States were still bound to fulfill the stipulations of the +treaties. They inclined to the opinion that treaties themselves were +annulled by the revolution of the government in France--an opinion to +which the example of the revolutionary government had given plausibility +by declaring some of the treaties made by the abolished monarchy no +longer binding upon the nation. Mr. Hamilton thought, also, that France +had no just claim to the fulfillment of the stipulation of guarantee, +because that stipulation, and the whole treaty of alliance in which +it was contained, were professedly, and on the face of them, only +defensive, while the war which the French convention had declared +against Great Britain, was on the part of France offensive, the first +declaration having been issued by her--that the United States were +at all events absolved from the obligation of the guarantee by their +inability to perform it, and that under the constitution of the United +States the interpretation of treaties, and the obligations resulting +from them, were within the competency of the executive department, at +least concurrently with the Legislature. It does not appear that these +opinions were debated or contested in the Cabinet. By their unanimous +advice the proclamation was issued, and it was decided to receive a +minister plenipotentiary of the French republic. Thus the executive +administration did assume and exercise the power of recognizing a +revolutionary foreign government as a legitimate sovereign, with whom +the ordinary diplomatic relations were to be entertained. But the +proclamation contained no allusion whatever to the United States and +France, nor of course to the article of guarantee or its obligations. + +Whatever doubts may have been entertained by a large portion of people +of the right of the executive to acknowledge a new and revolutionary +government, not recognized by any other sovereign State, or of the sound +policy of receiving, without waiting for the sanction of Congress, a +minister from a republic which had commenced her career by putting to +death the King whom she had dethroned, and which had rushed into war +with almost all the rest of Europe, no manifestation of such doubts +was publicly made. A current of popular favor sustained the French +revolution, at that stage of its progress, which nothing could resist, +and far from indulging any question of the right of the President to +recognize a new revolutionary government, by receiving from it the +credentials which none but sovereigns can grant, the American people +would, at that moment, have scarcely endured an instant of hesitation +on the part of the President, which should have delayed for an hour +the reception of the minister from the republic of France. But the +proclamation enjoining neutrality upon the people of the United States, +indirectly counteracted the torrent of partiality in favor of France, +and was immediately assailed with intemperate violence in many of the +public journals. The right of the executive to issue any proclamation +of neutrality was fiercely and pertinaciously denied as a usurpation of +legislative authority, and in that particular case it was charged with +forestalling and prematurely deciding the question whether the United +States were bound, by the guarantee to France of her West India +possessions in the treaty of alliance, to take side in the war with her +against Great Britain--and with deciding it against France. + +The proclamation of neutrality was signed on the 22d of April, 1793, +and was immediately published. "This measure," says Mr. Sparks, "both +in regard to its character and its consequences, was one of the most +important of Washington's administration. It was the basis of a system +by which the intercourse with foreign nations was regulated, and which +was rigidly adhered to. In fact, it was the only step that could have +saved the United States from being drawn into the vortex of European +wars, which raged with so much violence for a long time afterward. Its +wisdom and its good effects are now so obvious, on a calm review of past +events, that one is astonished at the opposition it met with, and the +strifes it enkindled, even after making due allowance for the passions +and prejudices which had hitherto been at work in producing discord and +divisions." + +The proclamation of neutrality furnished the first occasion which was +thought a fit one for openly assaulting a character, around which the +affections of the people had thrown an armor theretofore deemed sacred, +and for directly criminating the conduct of the President himself. It +was only by opposing passions to passions, by bringing the feeling +in favor of France into conflict with those in favor of the chief +magistrate, that the enemies of his administration could hope to obtain +the victory. + +For a short time the opponents of this measure treated it with some +degree of delicacy. The opposition prints occasionally glanced at the +executive, considered all governments, including that of the United +States, as naturally hostile to the liberty of the people, and ascribed +to this disposition the combination of European governments against +France, and the apathy with which this combination was contemplated +by the executive. At the same time the most vehement declamations were +published for the purpose of inflaming the resentments of the people +against Britain; of enhancing the obligations of America to France; +of confirming the opinions that the coalition of European monarchs was +directed not less against the United States than against Great Britain, +and that those who did not avow this sentiment were the friends of that +coalition, and equally the enemies of America and France. + +These publications, in the first instance sufficiently bitter, quickly +assumed a highly increased degree of acrimony. + +As soon as the commotions which succeeded the deposition of Louis XVI +had, in some degree, subsided, the attention of the French government +was directed to the United States, and the resolution was taken to +recall the minister who had been appointed by the King, and to replace +him with one who might be expected to enter with more enthusiasm into +the views of the republic. + +Edmund Charles Genet, a man of considerable talents, and of an ardent +temper, was selected for this purpose. The letters he brought to +the executive of the United States and his instructions, which he +occasionally communicated, were in a high degree flattering to the +nation, and decently respectful to its government. But Mr. Genet was +also furnished with private instructions, which the course of subsequent +events tempted him to publish. These indicated that if the American +executive should not be found sufficiently compliant with the views of +France, the resolution had been taken to appeal to the people of the +United States against their own government, and thus to effect an object +which legitimate negotiations might fail to accomplish. + +Mr. Genet possessed many qualities which were peculiarly adapted to +the objects of his mission, but he seems to have been betrayed by the +flattering reception which was given him and by the universal fervor +expressed for his republic, into a too speedy disclosure of his +intentions. + +On the 8th of April (1793) he arrived, not at Philadelphia, but at +Charleston in South Carolina, a port whose contiguity to the West Indies +would give it peculiar convenience as a resort for privateers. He was +received by the governor of that State, and by its citizens, with an +enthusiasm well calculated to dissipate every doubt he might previously +have entertained concerning the dispositions on which he was to operate. +At this place he continued for several days, receiving extravagant marks +of public attachment, during which time he undertook to authorize the +fitting and arming of vessels in that port, enlisting men, and giving +commissions to cruise and commit hostilities on nations with whom the +United States were at peace. + +The captures made by these cruisers were brought into port and the +consuls of France were assuming, under the authority of Mr. Genet, to +hold courts of admiralty on them, to try, condemn, and authorize their +sale. + +From Charleston Mr. Genet proceeded by land to Philadelphia, receiving +on his journey at the different towns through which he passed such +marks of enthusiastic attachment as had never before been lavished on a +foreign minister. On the 16th of May (1793) he arrived at Philadelphia, +preceded by the intelligence of his transactions in South Carolina. +This information did not diminish the extravagant transports of joy with +which he was welcomed by the great body of the inhabitants. Means had +been taken to render his entry pompous and triumphal, and the opposition +papers exultingly stated that he was met at Gray's ferry by "crowds who +flocked from every avenue of the city to meet the republican ambassador +of an allied nation." + +The day succeeding his arrival he received addresses of congratulation +from particular societies, and from the citizens of Philadelphia, who +waited on him in a body, in which they expressed their fervent gratitude +for the "zealous and disinterested aids" which the French people had +furnished to America, unbounded exultation at the success with which +their arms had been crowned, and a positive conviction that the safety +of the United States depended on the establishment of the republic. The +answers to these addresses were well calculated to preserve the idea of +a complete fraternity between the two nations, and that their interests +were identified. + +The day after being thus accredited by the citizens of Philadelphia he +was presented to the President, by whom he was received with frankness +and with expressions of a sincere and cordial regard for his nation. In +the conversation which took place on this occasion Mr. Genet gave the +most explicit assurances that, in consequence of the distance of the +United States from the theater of action, and of other circumstances, +France did not wish to engage them in war, but would willingly leave +them to pursue their happiness and prosperity in peace. The more ready +faith was given to these declarations, because it was believed that +France might derive advantages from the neutrality of America, which +would be a full equivalent for any services which she could render as a +belligerent. + +Before Genet had reached Philadelphia, however, a long catalogue of +complaints, partly founded on his proceedings in Charleston, had been +made by the British minister to the American executive. + +This catalogue was composed of the assumptions of sovereignty already +mentioned--assumptions calculated to render America an instrument of +hostility to be wielded by France against those powers with which she +might be at war. + +These were still further aggravated by the commission of actual +hostilities within the territories of the United States. The ship +Grange, a British vessel which had been cleared out from Philadelphia, +was captured by the French frigate L'Ambuscade within the capes of the +Delaware, while on her way to the ocean. + +The prizes thus unwarrantably made, being brought within the power of +the American government, Mr. Hammond, among other things, demanded a +restitution of them. + +On many of the points suggested by the conduct of Mr. Genet, and by the +memorials of the British minister, it would seem impossible that any +difference of opinion could exist among intelligent men not under +the dominion of a blind infatuation. Accordingly it was agreed in the +Cabinet, without a dissenting voice, that the jurisdiction of every +independent nation, within the limits of its own territory, being of +a nature to exclude the exercise of any authority therein by a foreign +power, the proceedings complained of, not being warranted by any treaty, +were usurpations of national sovereignty and violations of neutral +rights, a repetition of which it was the duty of the government to +prevent. + +It was also agreed that the efficacy of the laws should be tried against +those citizens of the United States who had joined in perpetrating the +offense. + +The question of restitution, except as to the "Grange," was more +dubious. The cabinet agreed, however, that the original owners might +claim indemnification, and that if the property was not restored by +the captors, the value of it ought to be paid by the government of the +United States. + +Genet was much dissatisfied with these decisions of the American +government. He denounced them as contrary to natural right, and +subversive of the treaties by which the two nations were connected. In +his exposition of these treaties, he claimed, for his own country, all +that the two nations were restricted from conceding to others, thereby +converting negative limitations into an affirmative grant of privileges +to France. + +Without noticing a want of decorum in some of the expressions which +Genet had employed, he was informed that the subjects on which his +letter treated had, from respect to him, been reconsidered by the +executive; but that no cause was perceived for changing the system which +had been adopted. He was further informed that, in the opinion of the +President, the United States owed it to themselves and to the nations +in their friendship, to expect, as a reparation for the offense of +infringing their sovereignty, that the vessels thus illegally equipped +would depart from their ports. + +Genet was not disposed to acquiesce in these decisions. Adhering to his +own construction of the existing treaty, he affected to consider the +measures of the American government as infractions of it, which no power +in the nation had a right to make, unless the United States in Congress +assembled should determine that their solemn engagements should no +longer be performed. Intoxicated with the sentiments expressed by a +great portion of the people, and unacquainted with the firm character of +Washington, he seems to have expected that the popularity of his nation +would enable him to overthrow the administration, or to render it +subservient to his views. It is difficult otherwise to account for his +persisting to disregard its decisions, and for passages with which his +letters abound, such as the following: + +"Every obstruction by the government of the United States to the arming +of French vessels must be an attempt on the rights of man, upon which +repose the independence and laws of the United States; a violation +of the ties which unite the people of France and America; and even a +manifest contradiction of the system of neutrality of the President; +for, in fact, if our merchant vessels, as others, are not allowed to arm +themselves, when the French alone are resisting the league of all the +tyrants against the liberty of the people, they will be exposed to +inevitable ruin in going out of the ports of the United States, which +is certainly not the intention of the people of America. Their fraternal +voice has resounded from every quarter around me, and their accents are +not equivocal. They are pure as the hearts of those by whom they are +expressed, and the more they have touched my sensibility, the more they +must interest in the happiness of America the nation I represent;--the +more I wish, sir, that the Federal government should observe, as far as +in their power, the public engagements contracted by both nations; and +that, by this generous and prudent conduct, they will give at least to +the world the example of a true neutrality, which does not consist in +the cowardly abandonment of their friends in the moment when danger +menaces them, but in adhering strictly, if they can do no better, to the +obligations they have contracted with them. It is by such proceedings +that they will render themselves respectable to all the powers; that +they will preserve their friends and deserve to augment their numbers." + +A few days previous to the reception of the letter from which the above +is an extract, two citizens of the United States, who had been engaged +by Genet in Charleston to cruise in the service of France, were arrested +by the civil magistrate, in pursuance of the determination formed by the +executive for the prosecution of persons having thus offended against +the laws. Genet demanded their release in the following extraordinary +terms: + +"I have this moment been informed that two officers in the service of +the republic of France, citizen Gideon Henfield and John Singletary, +have been arrested on board the privateer of the French republic, +the Citizen Genet, and conducted to prison. The crime laid to their +charge--the crime which my mind cannot conceive, and which my pen almost +refuses to state--is the serving of France, and defending with her +children the common glorious cause of liberty. + +"Being ignorant of any positive law or treaty which deprives Americans +of this privilege, and authorizes officers of police arbitrarily to take +mariners in the service of France from on board their vessels, I call +upon your intervention, sir, and that of the President of the +United States, in order to obtain the immediate releasement of the +above-mentioned officers, who have acquired, by the sentiments animating +them and by the act of their engagement, anterior to every act to +the contrary, the right of French citizens, if they have lost that of +American citizens." + +Such an insolent style of address as this could not be otherwise than +deeply offensive to Washington. He must have regarded this, and most of +the other effusions of Genet, as studied insults, net only to himself, +but to the country of which he was the chief magistrate. Yet, in no +single instance did the administration in its communications with Genet, +permit itself to be betrayed into the use of one intemperate expression. +The firmness with which his extravagant pretensions were resisted, +proceeding entirely from a sense of duty and conviction of right, was +unaccompanied with any marks of that resentment which his language and +his conduct were alike calculated to inspire. + +Genet's intemperate language and insolent conduct arose from a belief +that the people were ready to support his pretensions, in opposition to +their own government. This belief was strengthened by the proceedings +and publications of the party opposed to the administration. Civic +festivals and other public assemblages of people, at which the ensigns +of France were displayed in union with those of America--at which the +red cap, as a symbol of French liberty and fraternity, triumphantly +passed from head to head--at which toasts were given expressive of a +desire to identify the people of America with those of France, +and, under the imposing guise of adhering to principles not to men, +containing allusions to the influence of the President which could not +be mistaken--appeared to Genet to indicate a temper extremely favorable +to his hopes, and very different from that which would be required for +the preservation of an honest neutrality. + +Through the medium of the press, these sentiments were communicated to +the public, and were represented as flowing from the hearts of the great +body of the people. + +Soon after the arrival of Genet, a democratic society was formed in +Philadelphia on the model of the Jacobin clubs in Paris. An anxious +solicitude for the preservation of freedom, the very existence of +which was menaced by a "European confederacy transcendent in power and +unparalleled in iniquity," which was endangered also by "the pride of +wealth and arrogance of power" displayed within the United States, was +the motive assigned for the association. "A constant circulation +of useful information, and a liberal communication of republican +sentiments, were thought to be the best antidotes to any political +poison with which the vital principle of civil liberty might be +attacked;" and to give the more extensive operation to their labors, +a corresponding committee was appointed, through whom they would +communicate with other societies which might be established on similar +principles throughout the United States. + +Faithful to their founder, and true to the real objects of their +association, these societies continued during the term of their +existence to be the resolute champions of all the encroachments +attempted by the agents of the French republic on the government of the +United States, and the steady defamers of the views and measures of the +American executive. + +Thus strongly supported, Genet persisted in his construction of the +treaties between the two nations, and, in defiance of the positive +determination of the government, continued to act according to that +construction. + +At this period Washington was called to Mount Vernon by urgent business, +which detained him less than three weeks; and, in his absence, the heads +of departments superintended the execution of those rules which had been +previously established. + +In this short interval a circumstance occurred, strongly marking the +rashness of Genet, and his disrespect to the executive of the United +States. + +The Little Sarah, an English merchantman, had been captured by a +French frigate and brought into the port of Philadelphia, where she +was completely equipped as a privateer, and was just about to sail on a +cruise, under the name of le Petit Democrat, when Hamilton communicated +her situation to Jefferson and Knox, the Secretaries of State and of +War; in consequence of which, Governor Mifflin was desired to cause +an examination of the fact. The warden of the port was directed to +institute the proper inquiries, and, late in the evening of the 6th of +July, he reported her situation, and that she was to sail the next day. + +In pursuance of the instructions which had been given by the President, +the governor immediately sent Secretary Dallas for the purpose of +prevailing on Genet to relieve him from the employment of force, by +detaining the vessel in port until the arrival of Washington, who was +then on his way from Mount Vernon. Mr. Dallas communicated this message +to the French minister in terms as conciliatory as its nature would +permit. On receiving it, he gave aloose to the most extravagant passion. +After exclaiming with vehemence against the measure, he complained, in +strong terms, and with many angry epithets, of the ill treatment which +he had received from some of the officers of the general government, +which he contrasted with the cordial attachment that was expressed by +the people at large for his nation. He ascribed the conduct of those +officers to principles inimical to the cause of France and of liberty. +He insinuated that, by their influence, Washington had been misled, and +observed, with considerable emphasis, that the President was not the +sovereign of this country. The powers of peace and war being vested in +Congress, it belonged to that body to decide those questions growing +out of treaties which might involve peace or war, and the President, +therefore, ought to have assembled the national Legislature before he +ventured to issue his proclamation of neutrality, or to prohibit, by +his instructions to the State governors, the enjoyment of the particular +rights which France claimed under the express stipulations of the treaty +of commerce. The executive construction of that treaty was neither just +nor obligatory, and he would make no engagement which might be +construed into a relinquishment of rights which his constituents deemed +indispensable. In the course of this vehement and angry declamation, he +spoke of publishing his correspondence with the officers of government, +together with a narrative of his proceedings, and said that, although +the existing causes would warrant an abrupt departure, his regard +for the people of America would induce him to remain here, amidst the +insults and disgusts that he daily suffered in his official character +from the public officers, until the meeting of Congress, and if that +body should agree in the opinions and support the measures of the +President, he would certainly withdraw, and leave the dispute to be +adjusted between the two nations themselves. His attention being again +called by Mr. Dallas to the particular subject, he peremptorily refused +to enter into any arrangements for suspending the departure of the +privateer, and cautioned him against any attempt to seize her, as she +belonged to the republic, and, in defense of the honor of her flag, +would unquestionably repel force by force. + +On receiving the report of Mr. Dallas, Governor Mifflin ordered out +120 militia, for the purpose of taking possession of the privateer, and +communicated the case, with all its circumstances, to the officers of +the executive government. On the succeeding day, Jefferson waited on +Genet, in the hope of prevailing on him to pledge his word that the +privateer should not leave the port until the arrival of the President. +The minister was not less intemperate with Jefferson than he had been +with Dallas. He indulged himself in a repetition of nearly the same +passionate language, and again spoke, with extreme harshness of +the conduct of the executive. He persisted in refusing to make any +engagements for the detention of the vessel, and, after his rage had in +some degree spent itself, he entreated that no attempt might be made +to take possession of her, as her crew was on board, and force would be +repelled by force. + +He then also said that she was not ready to sail immediately. She would +change her position and fall down the river a small distance on that +day, but was not yet ready to sail. + +In communicating this conversation to Governor Mifflin, Jefferson stated +his conviction that the privateer would remain in the river until +the President should decide on her case, in consequence of which, the +governor dismissed the militia, and requested the advice of the heads +of departments on the course which it would be proper for him to +pursue. Both the governor and Jefferson stated, that in reporting the +conversation between Genet and himself, Dallas had said that Genet +threatened, in express terms, "to appeal from the President to the +people." + +Thus braved and insulted in the very heart of the country, Hamilton and +Knox were of opinion that it was expedient to take immediate measures +for establishing a battery on Mud Island, under cover of a party of +militia, with directions, that if the vessel should attempt to depart +before the pleasure of the President should be known concerning her, +military coercion should be employed to arrest her progress. + +The Secretary of State dissenting from this opinion, the measure was +not adopted. The vessel fell down to Chester before the arrival of +Washington and sailed on her cruise before the power of the government +could be interposed. + +On the 11th of July (1793), Washington reached Philadelphia, and +requested that the Cabinet ministers would convene at his house the next +day at 9 in the morning. + +Among the important papers placed in his hands, which required immediate +attention were those which related to the Little Democrat. On reading +them, a messenger was immediately dispatched for Jefferson, but he had +retired, indisposed, to his seat in the country. Upon hearing this, the +President instantly addressed a letter to him, of which the following is +an extract: + +"What is to be done in the case of the Little Sarah, now at Chester? Is +the minister of the French republic to set the acts of this government +at defiance with impunity and then threaten the executive with an appeal +to the people? What must the world think of such conduct, and of the +government of the United States in submitting to it? + +"These are serious questions. Circumstances press for decision, and as +you have had time to consider them (upon me they come unexpectedly), +I wish to know your opinion upon them even before to-morrow, for the +vessel may then be gone." + +In answer to this letter, Jefferson stated the assurances which had +on that day been given to him by Genet, that the vessel Would not +sail before the President's decision respecting her should be made. +In consequence of this information, immediate coercive measures were +suspended, and in the council of the succeeding day it was determined +to retain in port all privateers which had been equipped by any of the +belligerent powers within the United States. Genet was informed of this +determination, but in contempt of it, the Little Democrat proceeded on +her cruise. This proceeding furnished a subject of exultation to the +opponents of the government, as did also the acquittal by a Charleston +jury of Gideon Henfield, who had been arrested for shipping on board a +French privateer, he being an American citizen. + +While the correspondence between Genet and Jefferson concerning this +affair was still going on, the former obtained cause of complaint on +his part, and urged that the British were in the habit of taking French +property out of American vessels, in contravention of the principles +of neutrality avowed by the rest of Europe. His letters to Jefferson +on this subject were still more insulting than those which had preceded +them. On the 9th of July (1793), he wrote to Jefferson, demanding an +instant answer to the question--What measures the President had taken, +or would take, to cause the American flag to be respected? Receiving no +answer, toward the end of July he again addressed the Secretary of State +on the subject. In this extraordinary letter, after complaining of +the insults offered to the American flag by seizing the property of +Frenchmen confided to its protection, he added: "Your political rights +are counted for nothing. In vain do the principles of neutrality +establish that friendly vessels make friendly goods; in vain, sir, does +the President of the United States endeavor, by his proclamation, +to reclaim the observation of this maxim; in vain does the desire of +preserving peace lead to sacrifice the interests of France to that of +the moment; in vain does the thirst of riches preponderate over honor +in the political balance of America--all this management, all this +condescension, all this humility, end in nothing; our enemies laugh at +it; and the French, too confident, are punished for having believed that +the American nation had a flag, that they had some respect for their +laws, some conviction of their strength, and entertained some sentiment +of their dignity. It is not possible for me, sir, to paint to you all +my sensibility at this scandal, which tends to the diminution of +your commerce, to the oppression of ours, and to the debasement and +vilification of republics. It is for the Americans to make known their +generous indignation at this outrage, and I must confine myself to +demand of you, a second time, to inform me of the measures which you +have taken in order to obtain restitution of the property plundered from +my fellow-citizens under the protection of your flag. It is from our +government they have learned that the Americans were our allies, that +the American nation was sovereign, and that they knew how to make +themselves respected. It is then under the very same sanction of the +French nation that they have confided their property and persons to +the safeguard of the American flag, and on her they submit the care of +causing those rights to be respected. But if our fellow-citizens have +been deceived, if you are not in a condition to maintain the sovereignty +of your people, speak; we have guaranteed it when slaves, we shall be +able to render it formidable, having become freemen." + +On the day preceding the date of this offensive letter, Jefferson had +answered that of the 9th of July, and, without noticing the unbecoming +style in which the decision of the executive was demanded, had avowed +and defended the opinion that, "by the general law of nations, the goods +of an enemy found in the vessels of a friend, are lawful prize." This +fresh insult might therefore be passed over in silence. + +While a hope remained that the temperate forbearance of the President, +and the unceasing manifestations of his friendly dispositions toward the +French republic might induce the minister of that nation to respect the +rights of the United States, and to abstain from violations of their +sovereignty, an anxious solicitude not to impair the harmony which he +wished to maintain between the two republics had restrained him from +adopting those measures respecting Genet which his conduct required. He +had seen a foreign minister usurp, within the territories of the United +States, some of the most important rights of sovereignty, and persist, +after the prohibition of the government in the exercise of those rights. +In asserting this extravagant claim, so incompatible with national +independence, the spirit in which it originated had been pursued, and +the haughty style of a superior had been substituted for the respectful +language of diplomacy. He had seen the same minister undertake to direct +the civil government, and to pronounce, in opposition to the decisions +of the executive, in what departments the constitution of the United +States had placed certain great national powers. To render this state +of things more peculiarly critical and embarrassing, the person most +instrumental in producing it had, from his arrival, thrown himself into +the arms of the people, stretched out to receive him, and was emboldened +by their favor to indulge the hope of succeeding in his endeavors, +either to overthrow their government, or to bend it to his will. But +the' full experiment had now been made, and the result was a conviction +not to be resisted, that moderation would only invite additional +injuries, and that the present insufferable state of things could be +terminated only by procuring the removal of the French minister, or by +submitting to become, in his hands, the servile instrument of hostility +against the enemies of his nation. Information was continually received +from every quarter of fresh aggressions on the principles established by +the government, and, while the executive was thus openly disregarded and +contemned, the members of the administration were reproached, in all +the papers of an active and restless opposition, as the violators of the +national faith, the partisans of monarchy, and the enemies of liberty +and of France. + +The unwearied efforts to preserve that station in which the various +treaties in existence had placed the nation were incessantly calumniated +as infractions of those treaties, and ungrateful attempts to force the +United States into a war against France. + +The judgment of Washington was never hastily formed, but, once made +up, it was seldom to be shaken. Before the last letter of Genet was +communicated to him he had decided to terminate future intercourse with +him. + +In a Cabinet council the whole matter was carefully reviewed, and it +was unanimously agreed that Gouverneur Morris, the American minister +at Paris, should present the whole case to the French government and +request Genet's recall. The faction by whom he had been originally sent +out having passed out of power, this was easily effected. + +At the same time the Cabinet, under Washington's direction, drew up a +system of rules to be observed by the belligerents in the ports of the +United States. These rules evidence the settled purpose of the executive +faithfully to observe all the national engagements and honestly to +perform the duties of that neutrality in which the war found them and in +which those engagements left them free to remain. + +Neutrality between belligerents is a difficult and delicate part +to sustain. It was not France alone that advanced extraordinary +pretensions. The British government issued orders for stopping all +neutral ships, laden with provisions, bound for the ports of France, +thus declaring that country in a state of blockade. The National +Convention of France had, indeed, set the example of this by an act +of the same tendency, doubly rash, because impotent. But this, however +strong a plea for retaliating upon France, was none for making America +suffer. Corn, indeed, formed the chief export of the United States, +and to prohibit them from shipping it at all--for the new regulation +amounted in fact to this--was a grievance which the most pacific neutral +could scarcely submit to. Another continually recurring source of +complaint on the part of the United States against England was the +pressing of their seamen, which the difficulty of distinguishing between +natives of the two countries rendered of frequent occurrence and tardy +rectification. These causes came to swell the tide of faction in +America as the enemies of England and of authoritative institutions took +advantage of them to raise their cry, whilst the anti-gallican, on the +other hand, were as indignant against the arrogance of the French and of +their envoy. + +Genet was in New York receiving all sorts of demonstrations of +approbation and attachment from his political friends when he received +notice of his recall (September, 1793). His rage was indescribable. +He wrote to Jefferson a letter full of the most atrocious abuse of +Washington and the administration generally, in which Jefferson himself +was not spared. But as his powers of mischief were now at an end very +slight notice was taken of his splenetic effusions. It appeared in the +sequel, however, that he had not confined his attempts to employ +the force of America against the enemies of his country to maritime +enterprises. On his first arrival he is understood to have planned an +expedition against the Floridas, to be carried on from Georgia, and +another against Louisiana, to be carried on from the western parts of +the United States. Intelligence was received that the principal officers +were engaged, and the temper of the people inhabiting the western +country was such as to furnish some ground for the apprehension that the +restraints which the executive was capable of imposing, would be found +too feeble to prevent the execution of this plan. The remonstrances of +the Spanish commissioners on this subject, however, were answered with +explicit assurances that the government would effectually interpose to +defeat any expedition from the territories of the United States against +those of Spain, and the governor of Kentucky was requested to cooperate +in frustrating this improper application of the military resources of +his State. + +While Genet was in New York a schooner, brought as a prize into the port +of Boston by a French privateer, was claimed by the British owner, who +instituted proceedings at law against her for the purpose of obtaining +a decision on the validity of her capture. She was rescued from the +possession of the marshal by an armed force, acting under the authority +of Mr. Duplaine, the French consul, which was detached from a frigate +then lying in port. Until the frigate sailed she was guarded by a part +of the crew, and, notwithstanding the determination of the American +government that the consular courts should not exercise a prize +jurisdiction within the territories of the United States, Mr. Duplaine +declared his purpose to take cognizance of the case. + +To this act of open defiance it was impossible for Washington to submit. +The facts being well attested, the exequatur which had been granted to +Mr. Duplaine was revoked and he was forbidden further to exercise the +consular functions. It will excite surprise that even this necessary +measure could not escape censure. The self-proclaimed champions of +liberty discovered in it a violation of the constitution and a new +indignity to France. + +Meantime events were transpiring in Europe which added not a little to +the excitement in the public mind against Great Britain. For many years +war had existed between Portugal and Algiers. In consequence of this +Algerian cruisers had been confined to the Mediterranean by a Portuguese +fleet, and the commerce of the United States, as well as that of +Portugal herself, had been protected in the Atlantic from piratical +depredations. In September, 1793, an unexpected truce for a year was +concluded between Portugal and Algiers. The Dey's cruisers, therefore, +immediately, and without previous notice, passed into the Atlantic, +and American vessels, while on their way to Portugal and other parts of +Europe, and without the smallest suspicion of danger, became a prey +to these lawless freebooters, and many American seamen were doomed to +slavery. There was no reasonable doubt that England had a great deal to +do with this matter and that, besides her determination to carry on war +against France, she was not very unwilling that the United States +should also suffer the evils incident to their commerce being entirely +unprotected by any naval force. + +The causes of discontent which were furnished by Spain, as Marshall +states, though less the theme of public declamation, continued to be +considerable. That which related to the Mississippi was peculiarly +embarrassing. The opinion had been industriously circulated that an +opposition of interests existed between the eastern and the western +people, and that the endeavors of the executive to open this great river +were feeble and insincere. At a meeting of the Democratic Society in +Lexington, Kentucky, this sentiment was unanimously avowed in terms of +extreme disrespect to the government, and a committee was appointed to +open a correspondence with the inhabitants of the entire west for the +purpose of uniting them on this subject and of preparing a remonstrance +to the President and Congress of the United States, to be expressed "in +the bold, decent, and determined language proper to be used by injured +freemen when they address the servants of the people." They claimed +much merit for having thus long abstained from using the means they +possessed, for the assertion of "a natural and unalienable right," +and indicated their opinion that this forbearance could not be long +continued. The probability that the public expression of these dangerous +dispositions would perpetuate the evil could not moderate them. This +restless temper gave additional importance to the expedition of Genet +projected against Louisiana. + +Private communications strengthened the apprehensions entertained by +the President that hostilities with Spain were not far distant. The +government had received intelligence from their ministers in Europe that +propositions had been made by the Cabinet of Madrid to that of London, +the object of which was the United States. The precise nature of these +propositions was not ascertained, but it was understood generally that +their tendency was hostile, and Washington, writing to the Secretary of +War, in June, urged the importance of ascertaining the Spanish force in +the Floridas and such other matters as might be necessary in view of the +possible outbreak of a contest with Spain. + +We must now return to Washington, who, the reader will have perceived, +surrounded by the urgent nature of his official duties and the disturbed +state of public affairs, had been detained at Philadelphia during a +great portion of the recess of Congress. He left that place for Mount +Vernon toward the end of September, after the ravages of the terrible +yellow fever of 1793 had already commenced in the city. He remained at +Mount Vernon till near the end of October. [4] + +During this time he was in constant correspondence with the members of +the Cabinet, of whom Jefferson appears to have retired to Virginia and +the other heads of departments to other places to avoid the contagion of +the fever. + +The principal topic discussed in this correspondence was the +constitutional power of the President to change the place in which +Congress were to reassemble in December--Philadelphia being considered +unsafe. Germantown, Wilmington, Trenton, Annapolis, Reading, and +Lancaster were suggested each in turn as suitable places, but the power +of the President to change the place was doubted on all hands. As the +fever subsided, however, the meeting actually took place in Philadelphia +on the day appointed by adjournment. + +Among those whom Washington consulted on the subject of the +constitutional power to change the place for the meeting of Congress was +Mr. Madison. Washington's letter to him, dated Mount Vernon, October +14, 1793, evinces his anxiety to avoid a violation of the constitution, +while it presents a lively picture of the state of disorder in the +departments, occasioned by the pestilence at the seat of government. +"The calamitous situation of Philadelphia," he writes, "and the little +prospect, from the present appearance, of its eligibility to receive +Congress by the first Monday in December, involve a serious difficulty. +It has been intimated by some that the President ought, by proclamation, +to convene Congress a few days before the above-mentioned period, at +some other place, and by others that, although in extraordinary cases +he has the power to convene, he has none to change the place. Mr. +Jefferson, when here on his way home, was of the latter opinion, but the +laws were not fully examined, nor was the case at that time so serious +as it now is. From the Attorney-General (Randolph), to whom I have since +written on this subject, requesting an official opinion, I have received +no answer, nor is it likely I shall soon, as I believe he has no +communication with Philadelphia. Time presses and the malady at the +usual place of meeting is becoming more and more alarming. What then do +you think is the most advisable course for me to pursue in the present +exigency--summon Congress to meet at a certain time and place in their +legislative capacity? Simply state facts and say that I will meet the +members at the time and place just mentioned for ulterior arrangements? +Or leave matters as they are if there is no power in the executive to +alter the place legally? In the first and second cases, especially the +first, the delicacy of my naming a place will readily occur to you. My +wish would be that Congress could be assembled at Germantown to show +that I meant no partiality, leaving it to themselves, if there should be +no prospect of getting into Philadelphia soon, to decide what should +be done thereafter. But accounts say that some people have died in +Germantown also of the malignant fever. Every death, now, however, is +ascribed to that cause, be the disorder what it may. Wilmington and +Trenton are almost equidistant from Philadelphia in opposite directions, +but both are on the great thoroughfare and equally exposed to danger +from the multitude of travelers, and neither may have a chamber +sufficient for the House of Representatives. Annapolis and Lancaster +are more secure and both have good accommodations. But to name either +of them, especially the first, would be thought to favor the southern +convenience, and, perhaps, might be attributed to local views, +especially as New York is talked of for this purpose. Reading, if there +are proper conveniences there, would favor neither the southern nor +northern interest most, but would be alike to both. + +"I have written to Mr. Jefferson on this subject. Notwithstanding +which, I would thank you for your opinion and that fully, as you see my +embarrassment. I even ask more. I would thank you, not being acquainted +with forms, to sketch some instrument for publication, adapted to the +course you may think it would be most expedient for me to pursue in the +present state of things, if the members are called together as before +mentioned. + +"The difficulty of keeping clerks in the public offices had in a manner +put a stop to business before I left Philadelphia, and the heads of +departments having matters of their own, which called them away, has +prevented my return thither longer than I had intended. I have now +desired the different secretaries to meet me there, or in the vicinity, +the 1st of next month, for which I shall set out the 27th or the 28th of +the present. + +"The accounts from the city are really affecting. Two gentlemen now here +from New York, Colonels Platt and Sergeant, say that they were told at +the Swede's ford of Schuylkill, by a person who had it from Governor +Mifflin, that, by an official report from the mayor of the city, upward +of 3,500 had died, and that the disorder was raging more violently than +ever. If cool weather, accompanied by rain, does not put a stop to the +malady, distressing indeed must be the case of that city, now almost +depopulated by removals and deaths." [5] + + +1. Footnote: The precise return was: For President George Washington, +132. For Vice-President--John Adams, 77; George Clinton, 50; Thomas +Jefferson, 4; Aaron Burr, 1. + +2. Footnote: Published in Arthur's "Home Gazette." + +3. Footnote: John Quincy Adams on Washington's Proclamation of +Neutrality. + +4. Footnote: On the 8th of October John Hancock died at Boston. + +5. Footnote: The whole number that died during the prevalence of the +yellow fever in Philadelphia was over 4,000. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +WASHINGTON SENDS JAY TO ENGLAND. 1793-1794. + + +The time appointed for the reassembling of Congress was the first Monday +in December. Washington had arrived at Philadelphia, and the heads of +departments were at their posts before the end of November. + +Although the fear of contagion was not entirely dispelled when the time +for the meeting of Congress arrived, yet, such was the active zeal of +parties, and such the universal expectation that important executive +communications would be made, and that legislative measures not less +important would be founded on them, that both Houses were full on the +first day, and a joint committee waited on the President with the usual +information that they were ready to receive his communications. + +On the 4th of December (1793), at 12, the President met both Houses +in the Senate chamber. His speech was moderate, firm, dignified, and +interesting. It commenced with his own re-election, his feelings at +which were thus expressed: + +"Since the commencement of the term for which I have been again +called into office, no fit occasion has arisen for expressing to my +fellow-citizens at large, the deep and respectful sense which I feel of +the renewed testimony of public approbation. While, on the one hand, it +awakened my gratitude for all those instances of affectionate partiality +with which I have been honored by my country, on the other, it could +not prevent an earnest wish for that retirement, from which no private +consideration could ever have torn me. But, influenced by the belief +that my conduct would be estimated according to its real motives, and +that the people, and the authorities derived from them, would support +exertions having nothing personal for their object, I have obeyed the +suffrage which commanded me to resume the executive power, and I humbly +implore that Being on whose will the fate of nations depends, to crown +with success our mutual endeavors for the general happiness." Passing +to those measures which had been adopted by the executive for the +regulation of its conduct toward the belligerent nations, he observed: +"As soon as the war in Europe had embraced those powers with whom the +United States have the most extensive relations, there was reason to +apprehend that our intercourse with them might be interrupted, and +our disposition for peace drawn into question by suspicions too often +entertained by belligerent nations. It seemed therefore to be my duty to +admonish our citizens of the consequence of a contraband trade, and of +hostile acts to any of the parties, and to obtain, by a declaration of +the existing state of things, an easier admission of our rights to +the immunities belonging to our situation. Under these impressions the +proclamation which will be laid before you was issued. + +"In this posture of affairs, both new and delicate, I resolved to adopt +general rules which should conform to the treaties, and assert the +privileges of the United States. These were reduced into a system which +shall be communicated to you." + +After suggesting those legislative provisions on this subject, the +necessity of which had been pointed out by experience, he proceeded to +say: + +"I cannot recommend to your notice measures for the fulfillment of our +duties to the rest of the world, without again pressing upon you the +necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of complete defense, and +of exacting from them the fulfillment of their duties toward us. The +United States ought not to indulge a persuasion that, contrary to +the order of human events, they will forever keep at a distance those +painful appeals to arms with which the history of every nation abounds. +There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be +withheld, if not absolutely lost by the reputation of weakness. If we +desire to avoid insult, we must be able to repel it: if we desire to +secure peace--one of the most powerful instruments of our prosperity--it +must be known that we are at all times ready for war." + +These observations were followed by a recommendation to augment the +supply of arms and ammunition in the magazines, and to improve the +militia establishment. + +After referring to a communication to be subsequently made for +occurrences relative to the connection of the United States with Europe, +which had, he said, become extremely interesting, and, after reviewing +Indian affairs, he particularly addressed the House of Representatives. +Having presented to them in detail some subjects of which it was proper +they should be informed, he added: + +"No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption +and discharge of the public debt; on none can delay be more injurious, +or an economy of time more valuable. + +"The productiveness of the public revenues hitherto has continued to +be equal to the anticipations which were formed of it; but it is not +expected to prove commensurate with all the objects which have been +suggested. Some auxiliary provisions will therefore, it is presumed, be +requisite; and it is hoped that these may be made consistently with a +due regard to the convenience of our citizens who cannot but be sensible +of the true wisdom of encountering a small present addition to their +contributions, to obviate a future accumulation of burdens." + +The speech was concluded with the following impressive exhortation: + +"The several subjects to which I have now referred, open a wide range +to your deliberations and involve some of the choicest interests of our +common country. Permit me to bring to your remembrance the magnitude +of your task. Without an unprejudiced coolness, the welfare of the +government may be hazarded; without harmony, as far as consists with +freedom of sentiment, its dignity may be lost. But as the legislative +proceedings of the United States will never, I trust, be reproached +for the want of temper or of candor, so shall not the public happiness +languish from the want of my strenuous and warmest cooperation." + +The day succeeding that on which this speech was delivered, a special +message was sent to both houses containing some of the promised +communications relative to the connection of the United States with +foreign powers. + +After suggesting, as a motive for this communication, that it not only +disclosed "matter of interesting inquiry to the Legislature," but "might +indeed give rise to deliberations to which they alone were competent," +the President added: + +"The representative and executive bodies of France have manifested +generally a friendly attachment to this country; have given advantages +to our commerce and navigation; and have made overtures for placing +these advantages on permanent ground. A decree, however, of the National +Assembly, subjecting vessels laden with provisions to be carried into +their ports, and making enemy goods lawful prize in the vessel of a +friend, contrary to our treaty, though revoked at one time as to the +United States, has been since extended to their vessels also, as has +been recently stated to us. Representations on the subject will be +immediately given in charge to our minister there, and the result shall +be communicated to the Legislature. + +"It is with extreme concern I have to inform you that the person whom +they have unfortunately appointed their minister plenipotentiary here, +has breathed nothing of the friendly spirit of the nation which sent +him. Their tendency, on the contrary, has been to involve us in a war +abroad and discord and anarchy at home. So far as his acts, or those +of his agents, have threatened an immediate commitment in the war, or +flagrant insult to the authority of the laws, their effect has been +counteracted by the ordinary cognizance of the laws and by an exertion +of the powers confided to me. Where their danger was not imminent, they +have been borne with, from sentiments of regard of his nation, from a +sense of their friendship toward us, from a conviction that they would +not suffer us to remain long exposed to the actions of a person who has +so little respected our mutual dispositions, and, I will add, from a +reliance on the firmness of my fellow-citizens in their principles +of peace and order. In the meantime I have respected and pursued the +stipulations of our treaties, according to what I judged their true +sense, and have withheld no act of friendship which their affairs have +called for from us, and which justice to others left us free to perform. +I have gone further. Rather than employ force for the restitution of +certain vessels which I deemed the United States bound to restore, I +thought it more advisable to satisfy the parties by avowing it to be my +opinion that, if restitution were not made, it would be incumbent on the +United States to make compensation." + +The message next proceeded to state that inquiries had been instituted +respecting the vexations and spoliations committed on the commerce +of the United States, the result of which, when received, would be +communicated. + +The order issued by the British government on the 8th of June (1793), +and the measures taken by the executive of the United States in +consequence thereof, were briefly noticed, and the discussions which had +taken place in relation to the nonexecution of the treaty of peace, were +also mentioned. The message was then concluded with a reference to the +negotiations with Spain. "The public good," it was said, "requiring that +the present state of these should be made known to the Legislature in +confidence only, they would be the subject of a separate and subsequent +communication." + +This message was accompanied with copies of the correspondence between +the Secretary of State and the French minister, on the points of +difference which subsisted between the two governments, together with +several documents necessary for the establishment of particular facts, +and with the letter written by Mr. Jefferson to Mr. Morris, which +justified the conduct of the United States by arguments too clear to be +misunderstood, and too strong ever to be controverted. + +The extensive discussions which had taken place relative to the +nonexecution of the treaty of peace, and the correspondence produced +by the objectionable measures which had been adopted by the British +government during the existing war, were also laid before the +Legislature. + +In a popular government the representatives of the people may generally +be considered as a mirror, reflecting truly the passions and feelings +which govern their constituents. In the late elections, the strength of +parties had been tried, and the opposition had derived so much aid from +associating the cause of France with its own principles, as to furnish +much reason to suspect that, in one branch of the Legislature at +least, it had become the majority. The first act of the House of +Representatives served to strengthen this suspicion. By each party a +candidate for the chair was brought forward, and Mr. Muhlenberg, who +was supported by the opposition, was elected by a majority of ten votes, +against Mr. Sedgewick, whom the Federalists supported. + +The answer, however, to Washington's speech, bore no tinge of that +malignant and furious spirit which had infused itself into the +publications of the day. Breathing the same affectionate attachment to +his person and character which had been professed in other times, +and being approved by every part of the House, it indicated that the +leaders, at least, still venerated their chief magistrate, and that no +general intention as yet existed to involve him in the obloquy directed +against his measures. + +Noticing that unanimous suffrage by which he had been again called to +his present station, "it was," they said, "with equal sincerity and +promptitude they embraced the occasion for expressing to him their +congratulations on so distinguished a testimony of public approbation, +and their entire confidence in the purity and patriotism of the motives +which had produced this obedience to the voice of his country. It +is," proceeded the address, "to virtues which have commanded long and +universal reverence, and services from which have flowed great and +lasting benefits, that the tribute of praise may be paid without the +reproach of flattery; and it is from the same sources that the fairest +anticipations may be derived in favor of the public happiness." + +The proclamation of neutrality was approved in guarded terms, and +the topics of the speech were noticed in a manner which indicated +dispositions cordially to cooperate with the executive. + +On the part of the Senate, also, the answer to the speech was +unfeignedly affectionate. In warm terms they expressed the pleasure +which the re-election of Washington gave them. "In the unanimity," they +added, "which a second time marks this important national act, we trace +with particular satisfaction, besides the distinguished tribute paid +to the virtues and abilities which it recognizes, another proof of that +discernment, and constancy of sentiments and views, which have hitherto +characterized the citizens of the United States." Speaking of the +proclamation, they declared it to be "a measure well timed and wise, +manifesting a watchful solicitude for the welfare of the nation, and +calculated to promote it." + +In a few days a confidential message from Washington was delivered, +communicating the critical situation of affairs with Spain. The +negotiations attempted with that power in regard to the interesting +objects of boundary, navigation, and commerce, had been exposed to much +delay and embarrassment, in consequence of the changes which the French +revolution had effected in the political state of Europe. Meanwhile, the +neighborhood of the Spanish colonies to the United States had given rise +to various other subjects of discussion, one of which had assumed a very +serious aspect. + +Having the best reason to suppose that the hostility of the southern +Indians was excited by the agents of Spain, Washington had directed the +American commissioners at Madrid to make the proper representations on +the subject and to propose that each nation should, with good faith, +promote the peace of the other with their savage neighbors. + +About the same time the Spanish government entertained, or affected to +entertain, corresponding suspicions of like hostile excitements by +the agents of the United States, to disturb their peace with the +same nations. The representations which were induced by these real or +affected suspicions were accompanied with pretensions and made in a +style to which the American executive could not be inattentive. The +King of Spain asserted these claims as a patron and protector of those +Indians. He assumed a right to mediate between them and the United +States, and to interfere in the establishment of their boundaries. At +length, in the very moment when those savages were committing daily +inroads on the American frontier, at the instigation of Spain, as +was believed, the representatives of that power, complaining of the +aggressions of American citizens on the Indians, declared "that the +continuation of the peace, good harmony, and perfect friendship of the +two nations was very problematical for the future, unless the United +States should take more convenient measures, and of greater energy than +those adopted for a long time past." + +Notwithstanding the zeal and enthusiasm with which the pretensions of +the French republic, as asserted by their minister Genet, continued to +be supported out of doors, they found no open advocate in either branch +of the Legislature. This circumstance is, in a great measure, to +be ascribed to the temperate conduct of the executive, and to the +convincing arguments with which its decisions were supported. + +But when it is recollected that the odium which these decisions excited +sustained no diminution; that the accusation of hostility to France +and to liberty, which originated in them, was not retracted; that, when +afterwards many of the controverted claims were renewed by France, her +former advocates still adhered to her; it is not unreasonable to suppose +that other considerations mingled themselves with the conviction +which the correspondence laid before the Legislature was calculated to +produce. + +An attack on the administration could be placed on no ground more +disadvantageous than on its controversy with Mr. Genet. The conduct +and language of that minister were offensive to reflecting men of all +parties. The President had himself taken so decisive a part in favor of +the measures which had been adopted that they must be ascribed to +him, not to his Cabinet, and, of consequence, the whole weight of his +personal character must be directly encountered in an attempt to censure +those measures. From this censure it would have been difficult to +extricate the person who was contemplated by the party in opposition +as its chief; for the Secretary of State had urged the arguments of the +administration with a degree of ability and earnestness, which ought to +have silenced the suspicion that he might not feel their force. [1] + +The expression of a legislative opinion, in favor of the points insisted +on by the French minister, would probably have involved the nation in a +calamitous war, the whole responsibility for which would rest on +them. To these considerations was added another, which could not +be disregarded. The party in France, to which Mr. Genet owed his +appointment, had lost its power, and his fall was the inevitable +consequence of the fall of his patrons. That he would probably be +recalled was known in America, and that his conduct had been disapproved +by his government, was generally believed. The future system of +the French republic, with regard to the United States, could not be +foreseen, and it would be committing something to hazard not to wait its +development. + +These objections did not exist to an indulgence of the partialities +and prejudices of the nation towards the belligerent powers in measures +suggested by its resentment against Great Britain. But, independent of +these considerations, it is scarcely possible to doubt that Congress +really approved the conduct of the executive with regard to France, and +was also convinced that a course of hostility had been pursued by Great +Britain which the national interest and national honor required them to +repel. In the irritable state of the public mind, it was not difficult +to produce this opinion. + +Early in the session a report was made by Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of +State, in pursuance of a resolution of the House of Representatives, +passed on the 23d of February, 1791, requiring him "to report to +Congress the nature and extent of the privileges and restrictions of the +commercial intercourse of the United States with foreign nations, +and the measures which he should think proper to be adopted for the +improvement of the commerce and navigation of the same." + +This report stated the exports of the United States in articles of +their own produce and manufacture, at $19,587,055, and the imports at +$19,823,060. + +Of the exports, nearly one-half was carried to the kingdom of Great +Britain and its dominions; of the imports, about four-fifths were +brought from the same countries. The American shipping amounted to +277,519 tons, of which not quite one-sixth was employed in the trade +with Great Britain and its dominions. + +In all the nations of Europe, most of the articles produced in the +United States were subject to heavy duties, and some of them were +prohibited. In England, the trade of the United States was in general on +as good a footing as the trade of other countries, and several articles +were more favored than the same articles, the growth of other countries. + +The statements and arguments of this report tended to enforce the policy +of making discriminations which might favor the commerce of the United +States with France and discourage that with England, and which might +promote the increase of American navigation as a branch of industry and +a resource of defense. + +This was the last official act of the Secretary of State. Early in the +preceding summer he had signified to the President his intention +to retire in September from the public service, and had, with some +reluctance, consented to postpone the execution of this intention to the +close of the year. Retaining his purpose, he resigned his office on the +last day of December. He was succeeded by Edmund Randolph, whose place +as Attorney-General was supplied by William Bradford, of Pennsylvania. + +On the 4th of January (1794), the House resolved itself into a committee +of the whole, on the report of the Secretary of State, relative to the +restrictions of the commerce of the United States, when Mr. Madison, +after some prefatory observations, laid on the table a series of +resolutions for the consideration of the members. + +These memorable resolutions embraced almost completely the idea of the +report. They imposed an additional duty on the manufactures, and on +the tonnage of vessels of nations having no commercial treaty with the +United States; while they reduced the duties already imposed by law +on the tonnage of vessels belonging to nations having such commercial +treaty, and they reciprocated the restrictions which were imposed on +American navigation. + +The resolutions were taken up on the 13th of January (1794), and the +consideration of them led to protracted and very animated debates. The +friends of the administration regarded Mr. Madison's scheme as directly +hostile to England and subservient to the views of France, in a degree +utterly inconsistent with the policy of neutrality. On the other hand, +the opposition insisted that the proposed measures were absolutely +necessary to protect the commerce of the country from aggression and +plunder. + +Mr. Madison, in advocating the views which he held, looked especially +to measures correspondent to the British navigation act, which had given +England the command of the sea. He contended that America would thrive +more from exclusion and contest, than from conciliating and stooping to +a power that slighted her; and that now was the moment, if ever, when +England was engaged in mortal strife with France, to bring her to +reason. [2] Mr. Madison's plan was debated at different periods of the +session, and underwent considerable modification in its progress +through the House, where a resolution was finally adopted retaining the +principle of commercial restrictions. It was rejected in the Senate by +the casting vote of Mr. Adams, the Vice-President. + +Early in January, a resolution was agreed to in the House, declaring +"that a naval force, adequate to the protection of the commerce of the +United States against the Algerine corsairs, ought to be provided." The +force proposed was to consist of six frigates. + +This measure was founded on the communications of the President +respecting the improbability of being able to negotiate a peace with +the Dey of Algiers; and on undoubted information that these pirates +had, during their first short cruise in the Atlantic, captured eleven +American merchantmen, and made upwards of 100 prisoners, and were +preparing to renew their attack on the unprotected vessels of the United +States. This bill was strongly opposed, but finally passed both houses, +and was approved by the President. + +While these debates were going on, the news of the British order in +council of the 6th of November (which had not become known to the +American minister in England until the close of December, 1793), +relative to the French West India trade, arrived in the United +States, and roused afresh the hostility against England. Such was the +threatening aspect of affairs, that early in the session a committee +of the House was instructed to prepare and report an estimate of the +expense requisite to place the principal seaports of the country in a +state of defense. + +That some steps should be taken to resist aggressions on the part of +England, was very evident; but the members of Congress differed as to +what measures ought to be adopted. The opponents of the administration +urged the adoption of commercial restrictions, while its supporters, +with the President himself, were in favor of a different course. Various +plans were submitted to the House by members, in accordance with their +different views of the subject. + +On the 12th of March (1794) Mr. Sedgwick moved several resolutions, the +objects of which were to raise a military force, and to authorize the +President to lay an embargo. The armament was to consist of 15,000 +men, who should be brought into actual service in case of war with any +European power, but not until war should break out. In the meantime they +were to receive pay while assembled for the purpose of discipline, which +was not to exceed twenty-four days in each year. + +After stating the motives which led to the introduction of these +resolutions they were laid on the table for the consideration of the +members. + +On the 21st of March Mr. Sedgwick's motion, authorizing the President to +lay an embargo, was negatived by a majority of two votes, but in a few +days the consideration of that subject was resumed, and a resolution +passed prohibiting all trade from the United States to any foreign port +or place for thirty days, and empowering the President to carry the +resolution into effect. + +On the 27th of March Mr. Dayton moved a resolution for sequestering +all debts due to British subjects, and for taking means to secure their +payment into the treasury, as a fund out of which to indemnify the +citizens of the United States for depredations committed on their +commerce by British cruisers, in violation of the laws of nations. + +The debate on this resolution was such as was to be expected from the +irritable state of the public mind. The invectives against the British +nation were uttered with peculiar vehemence, and were mingled with +allusions to the exertions of the government for the preservation of +neutrality, censuring strongly the system which had been pursued. + +Before any question was taken on the proposition for sequestering +British debts, and without a decision on those proposed by Mr. Madison, +Mr. Clarke moved a resolution which in some degree suspended the +commercial regulations that had been so earnestly debated. This was to +prohibit all intercourse with Great Britain until her government should +make full compensation for all injuries done to the citizens of the +United States by armed vessels, or by any person or persons acting under +the authority of the British King, and until the western posts should be +delivered up. + +On the 4th of April (1794) before any decision was made on the several +propositions which have been stated, the President laid before Congress +a letter just received from Thomas Pinckney, the minister of the +United States at London, communicating additional instructions to the +commanders of British armed ships, which were dated the 8th of January. +These instructions revoked those of the 6th of November (1793), and, +instead of bringing in for adjudication all neutral vessels trading with +the French islands, British cruisers were directed to bring in those +only which were laden with cargoes the produce of the French islands, +and were on a direct voyage from those islands to Europe. + +The letter detailed a conversation with Lord Grenville on this subject, +in which his lordship explained the motives which had originally +occasioned the order of the 6th of November, and gave to it a +less extensive signification than it had received in the courts of +vice-admiralty. + +It was intended, he said, to be temporary and was calculated to answer +two purposes. One was to prevent the abuses which might take place in +consequence of the whole of the St. Domingo fleet having gone to the +United States; the other was on account of the attack designed upon the +French West India islands by the armament under Sir John Jervis and +Sir Charles Grey; but it was now no longer necessary to continue the +regulations for those purposes. His lordship added that the order of the +6th of November did not direct the confiscation of all vessels trading +with the French islands, but only that they should be brought in for +legal adjudication, and he conceived that no vessel would be condemned +under it which would not have been previously liable to the same +sentence. + +The influence of this communication on the party in the Legislature +which was denominated Federal was very considerable. Believing that +the existing differences between the two nations still admitted of +explanation and adjustment, they strenuously opposed all measures which +were irritating in their tendency or which might be construed into a +dereliction of the neutral character they were desirous of maintaining, +but they gave all their weight to those which, by putting the nation in +a posture of defense, prepared it for war should negotiation fail. + +On the opposite party no change of sentiment or of views appears to have +been produced. Their system seems to have been matured, and not to have +originated in the feelings of the moment. They adhered to it, therefore, +with inflexible perseverance, but seemed not anxious to press an +immediate determination of the propositions which had been made. These +propositions were discussed with great animation, but, notwithstanding +an ascertained majority in their favor, were permitted to remain +undecided, as if their fate depended on some extrinsic circumstance. + +Meanwhile, great exertions were made to increase the public agitation +and to stimulate the resentments which were felt against Great Britain. +The artillery of the press was played with unceasing fury on the +minority of the House of Representatives and the democratic societies +brought their whole force into operation. Language will scarcely afford +terms of greater outrage than were employed against those who sought +to stem the torrent of public opinion and to moderate the rage of the +moment. They were denounced as a British faction, seeking to impose +chains on their countrymen. Even the majority was declared to be but +half roused and to show little of that energy and decision which the +crisis required. + +The proceedings of Congress continued to manifest a fixed purpose to +pursue the system which had been commenced, and the public sentiment +seemed to accord with that system. That the nation was advancing rapidly +to a state of war was firmly believed by many intelligent men, who +doubted the necessity and denied the policy of abandoning the neutral +position which had been thus long maintained. In addition to the +extensive calamities which must, in any state of things, result to the +United States from a rupture with a nation which was the mistress of the +ocean, and which furnished the best market for the sale of their produce +and the purchase of manufactures of indispensable necessity, there +were considerations belonging exclusively to the moment, which, though +operating only in a narrow circle, were certainly entitled to great +respect. [3] + +That war with Britain, during the continuance of the passionate and +almost idolatrous devotion of a great majority of the people to the +French republic, would throw America so completely into the arms of +France as to leave her no longer mistress of her own conduct, was not +the only fear which the temper of the day suggested. That the spirit +which triumphed in that nation and deluged it with the blood of its +revolutionary champions might cross the Atlantic, and desolate the +hitherto safe and peaceful dwellings of the American people, was +an apprehension not so entirely unsupported by appearances as to be +pronounced chimerical. With a blind infatuation, which treated reason as +a criminal, immense numbers applauded a furious despotism, trampling on +every right, and sporting with life as the essence of liberty; and +the few who conceived freedom to be a plant which did not flourish +the better for being nourished with human blood, and who ventured to +disapprove the ravages of the guillotine, were execrated as the tools +of the coalesced despots, and as persons who, to weaken the affection +of America for France, became the calumniators of that republic. Already +had an imitative spirit, captivated with the splendor, but copying the +errors, of a great nation, reared up in every part of the continent +self-created corresponding societies, who, claiming to be the people, +assumed a control over the government and were loosening its bands. +Already were the Mountain, [4] and a revolutionary tribunal, favorite +toasts, and already were principles familiarly proclaimed, which, in +France, had been the precursors of that tremendous and savage despotism, +which, in the name of the people and by the instrumentality of +affiliated societies, had spread its terrific sway over that fine +country and had threatened to extirpate all that was wise and virtuous. +That a great majority of those statesmen who conducted the opposition +would deprecate such a result furnished no security against it. When +the physical force of a nation usurps the place of its wisdom, those who +have produced such a state of things no longer control it. + +These apprehensions, whether well or ill founded, produced in those who +felt them an increased solicitude for the preservation of peace. Their +aid was not requisite to confirm the judgment of Washington on this +interesting subject. Fixed in his purpose of maintaining the neutrality +of the United States until the aggressions of a foreign power should +clearly render neutrality incompatible with honor, and conceiving from +the last advices received from England that the differences between the +two nations had not yet attained that point, he determined to make one +decisive effort, which should either remove the ostensible causes of +quarrel or demonstrate the indisposition of Great Britain to remove +them. This determination was executed by the nomination of an envoy +extraordinary to his Britannic majesty, which was announced to the +Senate on the 16th of April (1794), in the following terms: + +"The communications which I have made to you during your present +session, from the dispatches of our minister in London, contain a +serious aspect of our affairs with Great Britain. But as peace ought to +be pursued with unremitted zeal, before the last resource--which has so +often been the scourge of nations and cannot fail to check the advanced +prosperity of the United States--is contemplated, I have thought proper +to nominate and do hereby nominate John Jay as envoy extraordinary of +the United States to his Britannic majesty. [5] + +"My confidence in our minister plenipotentiary in London continues +undiminished. But a mission like this, while it corresponds with the +solemnity of the occasion, will announce to the world a solicitude for +the friendly adjustment of our complaints and a reluctance to hostility. +Going immediately from the United States, such an envoy will carry +with him a full knowledge of the existing temper and sensibility of our +country, and will thus be taught to vindicate our rights with firmness +and to cultivate peace with sincerity." + +To those who believed the interests of the nation to require a rupture +with England and a still closer connection with France nothing could be +more unlooked for or more unwelcome than this decisive measure. That it +would influence the proceedings of Congress could not be doubted, and +that it would materially affect the public mind was probable. Evincing +the opinion of the executive that negotiation, not legislative +hostility, was still the proper medium for accommodating differences +with Great Britain, it threw on the Legislature a great responsibility, +if they should persist in a system calculated to defeat that +negotiation. By showing to the people that their President did not yet +believe war to be necessary, it turned the attention of many to peace, +and, by suggesting the probability, rekindled the almost extinguished +desire of preserving that blessing. + +Scarcely has any public act of the President drawn upon his +administration a greater degree of censure than this. That such would be +its effect could not be doubted by a person who had observed the ardor +with which opinions that it thwarted were embraced, or the extremity to +which the passions and contests of the moment had carried all orders of +men. But it is the province of real patriotism to consult the utility +more than the popularity of a measure, and to pursue the path of duty, +although it may be rugged. + +In the Senate the nomination was approved by a majority of ten votes, +and, in the House of Representatives, it was urged as an argument +against persevering in the system which had been commenced. On the 18th +of April a motion for taking up the report of the committee of the whole +house on the resolution for cutting off all commercial intercourse with +Great Britain was opposed chiefly on the ground that, as an envoy had +been nominated to the court of that country, no obstacle ought to be +thrown in his way. The adoption of the resolution would be a bar to +negotiation, because it used the language of menace and manifested +a partiality to one of the belligerents which was incompatible +with neutrality. It was also an objection to the resolution that it +prescribed the terms on which alone a treaty should be made, and +was, consequently, an infringement of the right of the executive to +negotiate, and an indelicacy to that department. + +The resolution having undergone some modifications, a bill in conformity +with it was brought in and carried by a considerable majority. In the +Senate it was lost by the casting vote of Mr. Adams, the Vice-President. +The system which had been taken up in the House of Representatives was +pressed no further. + +A bill for punishing infringements of the neutrality laws and +prohibiting the condemnation and sale of prizes in the ports of the +United States, brought in by the belligerent powers, was suggested by +Washington and reported in the Senate, where it met a violent opposition +and was finally passed by the casting vote of the Vice-President. In the +House of Representatives it was passed after striking out the provision +relative to the sale of prizes. In maintaining his system of strict +neutrality Washington had to fight every inch of the ground. The +opposition omitted no means of bringing the administration into +discredit. Attacks in Congress on the executive officers of the +government was resorted to. + +In both houses inquiries were set on foot respecting the treasury +department, which obviously originated in the hope of finding some +foundation for censuring Mr. Hamilton, the secretary, but which failed +entirely. In a similar hope, as respected Gouverneur Morris, the +minister of the United States at Paris, the Senate passed a vote +requesting the President to lay before that body his correspondence with +the French republic, and also with the Department of State. + +As a war with Great Britain seemed inevitable should the mission of Mr. +Jay prove unsuccessful, Congress did not adjourn without passing the +absolutely necessary laws for putting the country in a state of defense. +Provision was made for fortifying the principal harbors, and 80,000 +militia were ordered to be in readiness for active service. Arms and +munitions of war were allowed to be imported free of duty, and the +President was authorized to purchase galleys and lay an embargo if he +should deem that the public interest required it. To meet the expenses +thus incurred duties were levied on a number of additional articles of +importation. + +On the 9th of June (1794) this active and stormy session was closed by +an adjournment to the first Monday in the succeeding November. + +"The public," says Marshall, "was not less agitated than the Legislature +had been by those interesting questions which had occasioned some of the +most animated and eloquent discussions that had ever taken place on +the floor of the House of Representatives. Mr. Madison's resolutions +especially continued to be the theme of general conversation, and, for +a long time, divided parties throughout the United States. The struggle +for public opinion was ardent, and each party supported its pretensions, +not only with those arguments which each deemed conclusive, but also by +those reciprocal criminations which, perhaps, each in part believed. + +"The opposition declared that the friends of the administration were +an aristocratic and corrupt faction, who, from a desire to introduce +monarchy, were hostile to France, and under the influence of Britain; +that they sought every occasion to increase expense, to augment debt, +to multiply the public burdens, to create armies and navies, and, by the +instrumentality of all this machinery, to govern and enslave the people; +that they were a paper nobility, whose extreme sensibility at every +measure which threatened the funds, induced a tame submission to +injuries and insults, which the interest and the honor of the nation +required them to resist. + +"The friends of the administration retorted that the opposition was +prepared to sacrifice the best interests of their country on the altar +of the French revolution; that they were willing to go to war for +French, not for American objects; that while they urged war they +withheld the means of supporting it in order the more effectually to +humble and disgrace the government; that they were so blinded by their +passion for France as to confound crimes with meritorious deeds, and +to abolish the natural distinction between virtue and vice; that +the principles which they propagated and with which they sought to +intoxicate the people were, in practice, incompatible with the existence +of government; that they were the apostles of anarchy, not of freedom, +and were, consequently, not the friends of real and rational liberty." + +Immediately after the adjournment of Congress, Washington paid a short +visit to Mount Vernon. On the 19th of June he writes from Baltimore to +Randolph, Secretary of State, respecting the commission and letters of +credence of John Quincy Adams, whom he had recently appointed minister +resident to the United Netherlands. From the same place, on the same +day, he writes to Gouverneur Morris, who had recently been recalled from +France at the request of the revolutionary authorities, he having pretty +openly expressed his disapprobation of the excesses of the party in +power. Washington had appointed as his successor James Monroe, who, as +senator, had uniformly opposed the measures of the administration. Such +an act of magnanimity in these times would excite considerable surprise. + +On the 25th of June (1794), after his arrival at Mount Vernon, +Washington again writes to Gouverneur Morris, who still retained his +warm friendship and confidence. Speaking of his political course, he +says: "My primary objects, to which I have steadily adhered, have been +to preserve the country in peace if I can, and to be prepared for war +if I cannot; to effect the first upon terms consistent with the respect +which is due to ourselves and with honor, justice, and good faith to all +the world." + +On the same day he writes to Edmund Randolph, Secretary of State: +"I shall endeavor to be back by the time I allotted before I left +Philadelphia, if I am able, but an exertion to save myself and horse +from falling among the rocks at the lower falls of the Potomac, whither +I went on Sunday morning to see the canal and locks, has wrenched my +back in such a manner as to prevent my riding, and hitherto has defeated +the purposes for which I came home. My stay here will only be until I +can ride with ease and safety, whether I accomplish my own business or +not." + +In July (1794) Washington returned to Philadelphia, where very weighty +matters were demanding his attention. + + +1. Footnote: Marshall. + +2. Footnote: Madison, on this and other occasions, appears to have been +earnestly desirous to build up an extensive mercantile marine, with a +view to the formation of an efficient navy. It is pleasant to recollect +that, under his administration as President, the proudest triumphs of +our navy were achieved. + +3. Footnote: Marshall. + +4. Footnote: A well-known term designating the most violent party in +France. + +5. Footnote: Mr. Jay's secretary on this mission was Col. John Trumbull. +Colonel Trumbull may be considered one of the most interesting among +the many remarkable characters called into action and developed by our +Revolutionary War. All that we know of him tends to raise him in our +estimation as a soldier, a gentleman, and an artist. When accidentally, +as he thought, but providentially, as the event proved, he was excluded +from the army, he deemed it a great misfortune, but it forced upon him +the cultivation of his art, and made him the painter of the Revolution. +His noble historical paintings are the most precious relics of that +heroic age which the nation possesses. They are justly prized above all +price; and the latest posterity will rejoice that Trumbull laid down the +sword to take up the pallet and pencil. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +WASHINGTON QUELLS THE WESTERN INSURRECTION. 1794. + + +While Congress was in session several important matters had claimed +the consideration of Washington, to which we will now call the reader's +attention. It will be recollected that a request of the executive for +the recall of Mr. Genet had been transmitted to the French government. +During the time which elapsed before an answer could be returned Genet's +proceedings had been such as to call for all the prudence, foresight, +and moderation of Washington. + +In that spirit of conciliation which adopts the least irritating means +for effecting its objects, Washington had resolved to bear with the +insults, the resistance, and the open defiance of Genet until his appeal +to the friendship and the policy of the French republic should be fairly +tried. Early in January (1794) this resolution was shaken by fresh +proofs of the perseverance of that minister in a line of conduct not to +be tolerated by a nation which has not surrendered all pretensions +to self-government. Genet had meditated and deliberately planned two +expeditions, to be carried on from the territories of the United States +against the dominions of Spain, and had, as minister of the French +republic, granted commissions to citizens of the United States, who +were privately recruiting troops for the proposed service. The first was +destined against Florida and the second against Louisiana. The detail +of the plans had been settled. The pay, rations, clothing, plunder, and +division of the conquered lands to be allotted to the military and the +proportion of the acquisitions to be reserved to the republic of France +were arranged. The troops destined to act against Florida were to be +raised in the three southern States, were to rendezvous in Georgia, were +to be aided by a body of Indians, and were to cooperate with the French +fleet, should one arrive on the coast. This scheme had been the subject +of a correspondence between the executive and Genet, but was in full +progress in the preceding December, when, by the vigilance of the +Legislature of South Carolina, it was more particularly developed, and +some of the principal agents were arrested. + +About the same time, intelligence less authentic, but wearing every +circumstance of probability, was received, stating that the expedition +against Louisiana, which was to be carried on down the Ohio from +Kentucky, was in equal maturity. + +This intelligence seemed to render a further forbearance incompatible +with the dignity of the United States. The question of superseding +the diplomatic functions of Genet and depriving him of the privileges +attached to that character was brought before the Cabinet, and a message +to Congress was prepared, communicating these transactions and avowing +a determination to adopt that measure, unless one or the other House +should signify the opinion that it was not advisable so to do, when the +business was arrested by receiving a letter from Mr. Morris announcing +officially the recall of this rash minister. Mr. Fauchet, the successor +of Genet, arrived in February (1794), and brought with him strong +assurances that his government totally disapproved the conduct of +his predecessor. He avowed a determination to avoid whatever might be +offensive to those to whom he was deputed, and a wish to carry into full +effect the friendly dispositions of his nation toward the United States. +For some time his actions were in the spirit of these professions. + +Not long after the arrival of Mr. Fauchet, the executive government +of France requested the recall of Gouverneur Morris. With this request +Washington, as we have already seen, immediately complied, and James +Monroe was appointed to succeed him. + +The discontents which had been long fomented in the western country +had assumed a serious and alarming appearance. A remonstrance to the +President and Congress of the United States from the inhabitants of +Kentucky, respecting the navigation of the Mississippi, was laid before +the executive and each branch of the Legislature. The style of this +paper accorded well with the instructions under which it had been +prepared. It demanded the free navigation of the Mississippi as a right, +and arraigned the government for not having secured its enjoyment. The +paper was submitted to both Houses of Congress. + +In the Senate the subject was referred to a committee who reported "that +in the negotiation now carrying on at Madrid between the United States +and Spain, the right of the former to the free navigation of the +Mississippi is well asserted and demonstrated, and their claim to its +enjoyment is pursued with all the assiduity and firmness which the +magnitude of the subject demands, and will doubtless continue to be +so pursued until the object shall be obtained or adverse circumstances +shall render the further progress of the negotiation impracticable. That +in the present state of the business it would improper for Congress to +interfere, but, in order to satisfy the citizens of the United States +more immediately interested in the event of this negotiation, that the +United States, have uniformly asserted their right to the free use of +the navigation of the river Mississippi, and have employed and will +continue to pursue such measures as are best adapted to obtain the +enjoyment of this important territorial right, the committee recommend +that it be resolved by the Senate: + +"That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is requested +to cause to be communicated to the executive of the State of Kentucky, +such part of the existing negotiation between the United States and +Spain relative to this subject, as he may deem advisable and consistent +with the course of the negotiation." + +In the House of Representatives also a resolution was passed, expressing +the conviction of the House, that the executive was urging the claim +of the United States to the navigation of the Mississippi in the manner +most likely to prove successful. + +This answer was not satisfactory to the Kentuckians. Later developments +showed that they had a different object from that of obtaining the free +navigation of the Mississippi by negotiation. + +In October, 1793, it was alleged by the Spanish commissioners that four +Frenchmen had left Philadelphia, empowered by the minister of the French +republic to prepare an expedition, in Kentucky, against New Orleans. +This fact was immediately communicated by Mr. Jefferson to the +governor of that State, with a request that he would use those means +of prevention which the law enabled him to employ. This letter was +accompanied by one from the Secretary of War, conveying the request of +the President, that, if preventive means should fail, effectual military +force should then be employed to arrest the expedition, and General +Wayne was ordered to hold a body of troops at the disposal of the +governor should he find the militia insufficient for his purpose. + +The governor had already received information that a citizen of Kentucky +was in possession of a commission appointing him Commander-in-Chief of +the proposed expedition; and that the Frenchmen alluded to in the letter +of Mr. Jefferson had arrived, and, far from affecting concealment, +declared that they only waited for money, which they expected soon to +receive, in order to commence their operations. + +The governor, however, in a letter, containing very singular views +of his duty in the affair, declined to interfere with the proposed +expedition. + +Upon the receipt of this extraordinary letter, Washington directed +General Wayne to establish a military post at Fort Massac, on the Ohio, +for the purpose of stopping by force, if peaceful means should fail, any +body of armed men who should be proceeding down that river. + +This precaution appears to have been necessary. The preparations for the +expedition were, for some time, carried on with considerable activity; +and there is reason to believe that it was not absolutely relinquished +until the war ceased between France and Spain. + +It will be recollected that, in the preceding year, the attempt to treat +with the hostile Indians had suspended the operations of General Wayne +until the season for action had nearly passed away. After the total +failure of negotiation, the campaign was opened with as much vigor as a +prudent attention to circumstances would permit. + +The Indians had expected an attempt upon their villages, and had +collected in full force, with the apparent determination of risking a +battle in their defense. A battle was desired by the American general, +but the consequences of another defeat were too serious to warrant +him in putting more to hazard by precipitate movements than the +circumstances of the war required. The negotiations with the Indians +were not terminated till September, and it was then too late to complete +the preparations which would enable General Wayne to accomplish his +object. He, therefore, contented himself with collecting his army and +penetrating about six miles in advance of Fort Jefferson, where he +established himself for the winter in a camp called Greensville. After +fortifying his camp, he took possession of the ground on which the +Americans had been defeated in 1791, where he erected Fort Recovery. +These positions afforded considerable protection to the frontiers, and +facilitated the opening of the ensuing campaign. + +Seeing only the dark side of every measure adopted by the government, +and not disinclined to militia expeditions made at the expense of the +United States, the people of Kentucky loudly charged the President with +a total disregard of their safety, pronounced the Continental troops +entirely useless, declared that the Indians should be kept in awe alone +by the militia, and insisted that the power should be deposited with +some person in their State to call them out at his discretion, at the +charge of the United States. + +Meanwhile, some steps were taken by the Governor of Upper Canada, which +were well calculated to increase suspicions respecting the dispositions +of Great Britain. + +It was believed by Washington, not without cause, that the cabinet of +London was disposed to avail itself of the nonexecution of that article +of the treaty of peace which stipulates for the payment of debts, to +justify a permanent detention of the posts on the southern side of the +lakes, and to establish a new boundary line, whereby those lakes +should be entirely comprehended in Upper Canada. Early in the spring +a detachment from the garrison of Detroit repossessed and fortified a +position nearly fifty miles south of that station, on the Miami, a river +which empties into Lake Erie at its westernmost point. + +This movement, and other facts which strengthened the belief that the +hostile Indians were at least countenanced by the English, were the +subjects of a correspondence between the Secretary of State and Mr. +Hammond, in which crimination was answered by recrimination, in which +a considerable degree of mutual irritation was displayed, and in which +each supported his charges against the nation of the other, much better +than he defended his own. It did not, however, in any manner, affect the +operations of the army. + +The delays inseparable from the transportation of necessary supplies +through an uninhabited country, infested by an active enemy peculiarly +skilled in partisan war, unavoidably protracted the opening of the +campaign until near midsummer. Meanwhile several sharp skirmishes took +place, in one of which a few white men were stated to be mingled with +the Indians. + +On the 8th of August (1794) General Wayne reached the confluence of the +Au Glaize, where he threw up some works of defense and protection for +magazines. The richest and most extensive settlements of the western +Indians lay about this place. + +The mouth of the Au Glaize is distant about thirty miles from the post +occupied by the British, in the vicinity of which the whole strength of +the enemy, amounting, according to intelligence on which General Wayne +relied, to rather less than 2,000 men, was collected. The Continental +legion was not much inferior in number to the Indians, and a +reinforcement of about 1,100 mounted militia from Kentucky, commanded +by General Scott, gave a decided superiority of strength to the army +of Wayne. That the Indians had determined to give him battle was well +understood, and the discipline of his legion, the ardor of all his +troops, and the superiority of his numbers, authorized him confidently +to expect a favorable issue. Yet, in pursuance of that policy by which +the United States had been uniformly actuated, he determined to make one +more effort for the attainment of peace without bloodshed. Messengers +were dispatched to the several hostile tribes who were assembled in his +front, inviting them to appoint deputies to meet him on his march, in +order to negotiate a lasting peace. + +On the 15th of August (1794) the American army advanced down the Miami, +with its right covered by that river, and on the 18th arrived at the +rapids. Here they halted on the 19th, in order to erect a temporary work +for the protection of the baggage and to reconnoiter the situation of +the enemy. + +The Indians were advantageously posted behind a thick wood, and behind +the British fort. + +At 8 in the morning of the 20th the American army advanced in columns, +the legion with its right flank covered by the Miami. One brigade of +mounted volunteers, commanded by General Todd, was on the left; and +the other, under General Barbee, was in the rear. A select battalion, +commanded by Major Price, moved in front of the legion, sufficiently in +advance to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action. + +After marching about five miles Major Price received a heavy fire from a +concealed enemy, and was compelled to retreat. + +The Indians had chosen their ground with judgment. They had advanced +into the thick wood in front of the British works, which extends several +miles west from the Miami, and had taken a position rendered almost +inaccessible to horse by a quantity of fallen timber which appeared to +have been blown up in a tornado. They were formed in three lines, within +supporting distance of each other; and, as is their custom, with a very +extended front. Their line stretched to the west, at right angles with +the river, about two miles, and their immediate effort was to turn the +left flank of the American army. + +On the discharge of the first rifle, the legion was formed in two lines, +and the front was ordered to advance with trailed arms and rouse the +enemy from his covert at the point of the bayonet; then, and not until +then, to deliver a fire, and to press the fugitives too closely to allow +them time to load after discharging their pieces. Soon perceiving the +strength of the enemy in front, and that he was endeavoring to turn the +American left, the general ordered the second line to support the first. +The legion cavalry, led by Captain Campbell, was directed to penetrate +between the Indians and the river, where the wood was less thick and +entangled, in order to charge their left flank; and General Scott, at +the head of the mounted volunteers, was directed to make a considerable +circuit, and to turn their right flank. + +These orders were executed with spirit and promptitude, but such was +the impetuosity of the charge made by the first line of infantry, so +entirely was the enemy broken by it, and so rapid was the pursuit that +only a small part of the second line and of the mounted volunteers could +get into action. In the course of one hour the Indians were driven more +than two miles through thick woods, when the pursuit terminated within +gunshot of the British fort. + +General Wayne remained three days on the banks of the Miami, in front of +the field of battle, during which time the houses and cornfields above +and below the fort, some of them within pistol-shot of it, were reduced +to ashes. In the course of these operations a correspondence took place +between General Wayne and Major Campbell, the commandant of the +fort, which is stated by the former in such a manner as to show that +hostilities between them were avoided only by the prudent acquiescence +of the latter in this devastation of property within the range of his +guns. + +On the 28th (August, 1794), the army returned to Au Glaize by easy +marches, destroying on its route all the villages and corn within fifty +miles of the river. + +In this decisive battle the loss of the Americans in killed and wounded, +amounted to 107, including officers. Among the dead were Captain +Campbell, who commanded the cavalry, and Lieutenant Towles of the +infantry, both of whom fell in the first charge. General Wayne bestowed +great and well-merited praise on the courage and alacrity displayed by +every part of the army. + +The hostility of the Indians still continuing, their whole country was +laid waste, and forts were erected in the heart of their settlements to +prevent their return. + +This seasonable victory rescued the United States from a general +war with all the Indians northwest of the Ohio. The Six Nations had +discovered a restless, uneasy temper, and the interposition of the +President to prevent a settlement which Pennsylvania was about to make +at Presque Isle seemed rather to suspend the commencement of hostilities +than to establish permanent pacific dispositions among those tribes. The +battle of the 20th of August, however, had an immediate effect, and +the clouds which had been long gathering in that quarter were instantly +dissipated. + +In the South, too, its influence was felt. In that quarter the +inhabitants of Georgia and the Indians seemed equally disposed to +war. Scarcely was the feeble authority of the government competent +to restrain the aggressions of the former, or the dread of its force +sufficient to repress those of the latter. In this doubtful state of +things, the effect of a victory could not be inconsiderable. + +About this time the seditions and violent resistance to the execution +of the law imposing duties on spirits distilled within the United States +had advanced to a point in the counties of Pennsylvania lying west of +the Allegheny mountains, which required the decisive interposition of +government. + +The laws being openly set at defiance, Washington determined to +test their efficiency. Bills of indictment were found against the +perpetrators of certain outrages, and process was issued against them +and placed in the hands of the United States marshal for execution. + +The marshal repaired in person to the country which was the scene of +disorder for the purpose of serving the processes. On the 15th of July +(1794), while in the execution of his duty, he was beset on the road +by a body of armed men, who fired on him, but fortunately did him no +personal injury. At daybreak the ensuing morning a party attacked +the house of General Nevil, the inspector, but he defended himself +resolutely and obliged the assailants to retreat. + +Knowing well that this attack had been preconcerted, and apprehending +that it would be repeated, he applied to the militia officers and +magistrates of the county for protection. The answer was that, "owing to +the too general combination of the people to oppose the revenue system, +the laws could not be executed so as to afford him protection; that +should the _posse comitatus_ be ordered out to support the civil +authority they would favor the party of the rioters." + +On the succeeding day the insurgents reassembled to the number of about +500 to renew their attack on the house of the inspector. That officer, +finding that no protection could be afforded by the civil authority, +had applied to the commanding officer at Fort Pitt, and had obtained a +detachment of eleven men from that garrison, who were joined by Major +Kirkpatrick. Successful resistance to so great a force being obviously +impracticable, a parley took place, at which the assailants, after +requiring that the inspector and all his papers should be delivered up, +demanded that the party in the house should march out and ground +their arms. This being refused, the parley terminated and the assault +commenced. The action lasted until the assailants set fire to several +adjacent buildings, the heat from which was so intense that the house +could no longer be occupied. From this cause, and from the apprehension +that the fire would soon be communicated to the main building, Major +Kirkpatrick and his party surrendered themselves. + +The marshal and Col. Pressly Nevil were seized on their way to General +Nevil's house and detained until 2 the next morning. The marshal +especially was treated with extreme severity. His life was frequently +threatened, and was probably saved by the interposition of some leading +individuals, who possessed more humanity or more prudence than those +with whom they were associated. He could obtain his liberty only by +entering into a solemn engagement, which was guaranteed by Colonel +Nevil, to serve no more processes on the western side of the Allegheny +mountains. + +The marshal and inspector having both retired to Pittsburgh, the +insurgents deputed two of their body, one of whom was a justice of the +peace, to demand that the former should surrender all his authority, +and that the latter should resign his office, threatening, in case of +refusal, to attack the place and seize their persons. These demands were +not acceded to, but Pittsburghh affording no security, these officers +escaped from the danger which threatened them by descending the Ohio; +after which they found their way, by a circuitous route, to the seat of +government. + +The rioters next proceeded to intercept the mail and take out letters +from certain parties in Pittsburghh, containing expressions of +disapproval of their proceedings. The writers of these letters they +caused to be banished. They next held meetings on Braddock's Field and +at Parkinson's Ferry, at which the determination to resist the laws by +force of arms was openly avowed. + +Affidavits attesting this serious state of things were laid before +Washington. Affairs had now reached a point which seemed to forbid the +continuance of a temporizing system. The efforts at conciliation, which, +for more than three years, the government had persisted to make, and +the alterations repeatedly introduced into the act for the purpose of +rendering it less exceptionable, instead of diminishing the arrogance of +those who opposed their will to the sense of the nation, had drawn +forth sentiments indicative of designs much deeper than the evasion of +a single act. The execution of the laws had at length been resisted +by open force, and a determination to persevere in these measures was +unequivocally avowed. The alternative of subduing this resistance or of +submitting to it was presented to the government. + +The act of Congress which provided for calling forth the militia +"to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel +invasions" required, as a prerequisite to the exercise of this power, +"that an associate justice, or the judge of the district, should certify +that the laws of the United States were opposed, or their execution +obstructed, by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the +ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the +marshals." In the same act it was provided, "that if the militia of +the State where such combinations may happen shall refuse, or be +insufficient, to suppress the same, the President may employ the militia +of other States." + +The evidence which had been transmitted to Washington was laid before +one of the associate justices, who gave the certificate, which enabled +the chief magistrate to employ the militia in aid of the civil power. + +Washington now called a cabinet to consider the subject, and the +Governor of Pennsylvania was also consulted respecting it. Randolph, +the Secretary of State, and the Governor of Pennsylvania urged reasons +against coercion by force of arms; Hamilton, Knox, and Bradford were +in favor of employing military force. These members of the Cabinet were +also of opinion that policy and humanity equally dictated the employment +of a force which would render resistance desperate. The insurgent +country contained 16,000 men able to bear arms, and the computation +was that they could bring 7,000 into the field. If the army of the +government should amount to 12,000 men, it would present an imposing +force which the insurgents would not venture to meet. + +It was impossible that Washington could hesitate to embrace the latter +of these opinions. That a government entrusted to him should be trampled +under foot by a lawless section of the Union, which set at defiance +the will of the nation, as expressed by its representatives, was an +abasement to which neither his judgment nor his feelings could submit. +He resolved, therefore, to issue the proclamation which, by law, was to +precede the employment of force. + +On the same day a requisition was made on the Governors of New Jersey, +Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia for their several quotas of militia +to compose an army of 12,000 men, who were to be immediately organized +and prepared to march at a minute's warning. The force was ultimately +increased to 15,000. While steps were taking to bring this force into +the field, a last essay was made to render its employment unnecessary. +Three distinguished and popular citizens of Pennsylvania were deputed by +the government to be the bearers of a general amnesty for past offenses, +on the sole condition of future obedience to the laws. + +It having been deemed advisable that the executive of the State should +act in concert with that of the United States, Governor Mifflin also +issued a proclamation and appointed commissioners to act with those of +the general government. + +These commissioners were met by a committee from the convention at +Parkinson's Ferry, and the conference resulted in a reference of +the offer of amnesty to the people. This reference only served to +demonstrate that, while a few persons were disposed to submit to the +laws, the masses in the disturbed districts were determined to obstruct +the re-establishment of civil authority. + +On the 25th of September (1794), Washington issued a proclamation +describing in terms of great energy the obstinate and perverse spirit +with which the lenient propositions of the government had been received, +and declaring his fixed determination, in obedience to the high and +irresistible duty consigned to him by the constitution, "to take care +that the laws be faithfully executed," to reduce the refractory to +obedience. + +The troops of New Jersey and Pennsylvania were directed to rendezvous +at Bedford, and those of Maryland and Virginia at Cumberland, on the +Potomac. The command of the expedition had been conferred on Governor +Lee, of Virginia, and the Governors of New Jersey and Pennsylvania +commanded the militia of their respective States under him. + +Washington in person visited each division of the army, but, being +confident that the force employed must look down all resistance, he left +Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, to accompany it, and returned +himself to Philadelphia, where the approaching session of Congress +required his presence. [1] + +From Cumberland and Bedford the army marched in two divisions into the +country of the insurgents. The greatness of the force prevented the +effusion of blood. The disaffected did not venture to assemble in arms. +Several of the leaders, who had refused to give assurances of future +submission to the laws, were seized, and some of them detained for legal +prosecution. + +But although no direct and open opposition was made, the spirit of +insurrection was not subdued. A sour and malignant temper displayed +itself, which indicated but too plainly that the disposition to resist +had only sunk under the pressure of the great military force brought +into the country, but would rise again should that force be withdrawn. +It was, therefore, thought advisable to station for the winter a +detachment, to be commanded by Major-General Morgan, in the center of +the disaffected country. + +"Thus," says Marshall, "without shedding blood, did the prudent vigor of +the executive terminate an insurrection which, at one time, threatened +to shake the government of the United States to its foundation. That so +perverse a spirit should have been excited in the bosom of prosperity, +without the pressure of a single grievance, is among those political +phenomena which occur not infrequently in the course of human affairs, +and which the statesman can never safely disregard. When real ills are +felt there is something positive and perceptible to which the judgment +may be directed, the actual extent of which may be ascertained and +the cause of which may be discerned. But when the mind, inflamed by +suppositious dangers, gives full play to the imagination, and fastens +upon some object with which to disturb itself, the belief that the +danger exists seems to become a matter of faith, with which reason +combats in vain." + +Washington's own view of the insurrection and its causes is contained +in a letter to John Jay, then on his mission to England. "As you +have been," he writes, "and will continue to be fully informed by the +Secretary of State of all transactions of a public nature which relate +to, or may have an influence on, the points of your mission, it would be +unnecessary for me to touch upon any of them in this letter were it not +for the presumption that the insurrection in the western counties +of this State has excited much speculation and a variety of opinions +abroad, and will be represented differently, according to the wishes of +some and the prejudices of others, who may exhibit, as an evidence of +what has been predicted, 'that we are unable to govern ourselves.' Under +this view of the subject, I am happy in giving it to you as the +general opinion that this event having happened at the time it did was +fortunate, although it will be attended with considerable expense. + +"That the self-created societies which have spread themselves over this +country have been laboring incessantly to sow the seeds of distrust, +jealousy, and, of course, discontent, thereby hoping to effect some +revolution in the government, is not unknown to you. That they have been +the fomenters of the western disturbances admits of no doubt in the +mind of anyone who will examine their conduct, but, fortunately, they +precipitated a crisis for which they were not prepared, and thereby have +unfolded views which will, I trust, effectuate their annihilation sooner +than it might otherwise have happened, at the same time that it has +afforded an occasion for the people of this country to show their +abhorrence of the result and their attachment to the constitution and +the laws; for I believe that five times the number of militia that was +required would have come forward, if it had been necessary, to support +them. + +"The spirit which blazed out on this occasion, as soon as the object was +fully understood, and the lenient measures of the government were made +known to the people, deserves to be communicated. There are instances +of general officers going at the head of a single troop and of light +companies; of field officers, when they came to the place of rendezvous +and found no command for them in that grade, turning into the ranks +and proceeding as private soldiers, under their own captains; and of +numbers, possessing the first fortunes in the country, standing in the +ranks as private men, and marching day by day with their knapsacks and +haversacks at their backs, sleeping on straw, with a single blanket, in +a soldier's tent, during the frosty nights which we have had, by way of +example to others. Nay, more; many young Quakers of the first families, +character, and property, not discouraged by the elders, have turned into +the ranks and are marching with the troops. + +"These things have terrified the insurgents, who had no conception +that such a spirit prevailed, but, while the thunder only rumbled at +a distance, were boasting of their strength and wishing for and +threatening the militia by turns, intimating that the arms they should +take from them would soon become a magazine in their hands. Their +language is much changed, indeed, but their principles want correction. + +"I shall be more prolix in my speech to Congress on the commencement and +progress of this insurrection than is usual in such an instrument, or +than I should have been on any other occasion, but as numbers at home +and abroad will hear of the insurrection, and will read the speech, that +may know nothing of the documents to which it might refer, I conceived +it would be better to encounter the charge of prolixity by giving a +cursory detail of facts, that would show the prominent features of +the thing, than to let it go naked into the world, to be dressed up +according to the fancy or inclination of the readers or the policy of +our enemies." + +Sentiments similar to these were expressed in a letter to Washington's +old and intimate friend, Edmund Pendleton. "The successes of our army +to the westward," he writes, "have already been productive of good +consequences. They have dispelled a cloud which lowered very heavily in +the northern hemisphere (the Six Nations), and, though we have received +no direct advices from General Wayne since November, there is reason +to believe that the Indians with whom we are or were at war in that +quarter, together with their abettors, [2] begin to see things in a +different point of view." + +One of the most important effects of the suppression of the western +rebellion was the fatal blow it gave to the democratic societies founded +by Genet. + +Washington's opinion of these societies is thus expressed in a letter to +one of his friends: "The real people, occasionally assembled in order +to express their sentiments on political subjects, ought never to be +confounded with permanent self-appointed societies, usurping the right +to control the constituted authorities and to dictate to public opinion. +While the former is entitled to respect, the latter is incompatible with +all government and must either sink into general disesteem or finally +overturn the established order of things." + + +1. Footnote: General Knox, the Secretary of War, accompanied the army to +the expected scene of action. The command in chief was confided to Gen. +Henry Lee, Washington's old friend and companion in the Revolutionary +War. He was at this time Governor of Virginia. + +2. Footnote: The British on the border. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +WASHINGTON SIGNS JAY'S TREATY. 1794-1795. + + +Congress had adjourned to meet on the 4th of November (1794), but +a quorum of the Senate was not present until the 10th. Washington +addressed both Houses of Congress in a longer speech than usual, giving, +according to the intention he had expressed in his letter to Mr. Jay, +already quoted, a particular view of the insurrection in Pennsylvania, +and the measures which he had taken in order to suppress it. + +As Commander-in-Chief of the militia when called into actual service, he +had, he said, visited the places of general rendezvous, to obtain more +correct information and to direct a plan for ulterior movements. +Had there been reason for supposing that the laws were secure from +obstruction, he should have caught with avidity at the opportunity +of restoring the militia to their families and homes. But succeeding +intelligence had tended to manifest the necessity of what had been done, +it being now confessed by those who were not inclined to exaggerate the +ill conduct of the insurgents, that their malevolence was not pointed +merely to a particular law, but that a spirit inimical to all order had +actuated many of the offenders. + +After bestowing a high encomium on the alacrity and promptitude with +which persons in every station had come forward to assert the dignity +of the laws, thereby furnishing an additional proof that they understood +the true principles of government and liberty, and felt the value of +their inseparable union, he added: + +"To every description indeed of citizens let praise be given. But +let them persevere in their affectionate vigilance over that precious +depository of American happiness--the constitution of the United States. +And when, in the calm moments of reflection, they shall have retraced +the origin and progress of the insurrection, let them determine whether +it has not been fomented by combinations of men, who--careless of +consequences and disregarding the unerring truth that those who rouse +cannot always appease a civil convulsion--have disseminated, from +an ignorance or perversion of facts, suspicions, jealousies, and +accusations of the whole government." + +Washington could not omit this fair occasion once more to press +on Congress a subject which had always been near his heart. After +mentioning the defectiveness of the existing system, he said: + +"The devising and establishing a well-regulated militia would be a +general source of legislative honor and a perfect title to public +gratitude. I therefore entertain a hope that the present session will +not pass without carrying to its full energy the power of organizing, +arming, and disciplining the militia, and thus providing, in the +language of the constitution, for calling them forth to execute the laws +of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions." + +After mentioning the intelligence from the army under the command of +General Wayne and the state of Indian affairs, he again called the +attention of the House of Representatives to a subject scarcely less +interesting than a system of defense against external and internal +violence. + +"The time," he said, "which has elapsed since the commencement of our +fiscal measures has developed our pecuniary resources so as to open the +way for a definitive plan for the redemption of the public debt. It is +believed that the result is such as to encourage Congress to consummate +this work without delay. Nothing can more promote the permanent welfare +of the Union, and nothing would be more grateful to our constituents. +Indeed, whatever is unfinished of our system of public credit cannot +be benefited by procrastination, and, as far as may be practicable, we +ought to place that credit on grounds which cannot be disturbed, and +to prevent that progressive accumulation of debt which must ultimately +endanger all governments." + +In alluding to the intercourse of the United States with foreign +nations, he said: "It may not be unseasonable to announce that my policy +in our foreign transactions has been to cultivate peace with all the +world; to observe treaties with pure and inviolate faith; to check every +deviation from the line of impartiality; to explain what may have been +misapprehended, and correct what may have been injurious to any nation, +and having thus acquired the right, to lose no time in acquiring the +ability to insist upon justice being done to ourselves." + +In the Senate an answer was reported which contained the following +clause: "Our anxiety, arising from the licentious and open resistance to +the laws in the western counties of Pennsylvania, has been increased by +the proceedings of certain self-created societies relative to the laws +and administration of the government, proceedings in our apprehension, +founded in political error, calculated, if not intended, to disorganize +our government, and which, by inspiring delusive hopes of support, have +been instrumental in misleading our fellow-citizens in the scene of +insurrection." + +The address proceeded to express the most decided approbation of the +conduct of Washington in relation to the insurgents, and, after noticing +the different parts of the speech, concluded with saying: + +"At a period so momentous in the affairs of nations the temperate, just, +and firm policy that you have pursued in respect to foreign powers, has +been eminently calculated to promote the great and essential interest of +our country, and has created the fairest title to the public gratitude +and thanks." + +To this unequivocal approbation of the policy adopted by the executive +with regard to foreign nations, no objections were made. The clause +respecting democratic societies was seriously opposed, but the party +in favor of the administration had been strengthened in the Senate by +recent events, and the address reported by the committee was agreed to +without alteration. + +In the House, Mr. Madison, Mr. Sedgwick, and Mr. Scott were the +committee to report an answer to the speech of the President. It was +silent, not only with respect to the self-created societies, but also as +to the success of General Wayne, and the foreign policy of Washington. +His interference with a favorite system of commercial restrictions was +not forgotten, and the mission of John Jay still rankled in the memory +of the republicans. No direct censure of the societies or approbation +of the foreign policy of the President could be carried, and after an +animated debate the opposition party triumphed in the House. + +This triumph over the administration revived for a moment the drooping +energies of these turbulent societies, but it was only for a moment. The +agency ascribed to them by the opinion of the public as well as of the +President, in producing an insurrection which was generally execrated, +had essentially affected them, and while languishing under this wound +they received a deadly blow from a quarter whence hostility was least +expected. The remnant of the French convention, rendered desperate by +the ferocious despotism of the Jacobins, and of the sanguinary +tyrant who had become their chief, had at length sought for safety by +confronting danger, and, succeeding in a desperate attempt to bring +Robespierre to the guillotine, had terminated the reign of terror. The +colossal powers of the clubs fell with that of their favorite member, +and they sunk into long-merited disgrace. Not more certain is it that +the boldest streams must disappear, if the fountain that fed them +be emptied, than was the dissolution of the democratic societies in +America, when the Jacobin clubs were denounced in France. As if their +destinies depended on the same thread the political death of the former +was the unerring signal for that of the latter. [1] + +Notwithstanding the disagreement between the executive and one branch +of the Legislature concerning self-created societies, and the policy +observed toward foreign nations, the speech of the President was treated +with marked respect, and the several subjects which it recommended +engaged the immediate attention of Congress. A bill was passed +authorizing the President to station a detachment of militia in the four +western counties of Pennsylvania; provision was made to compensate those +whose property had been destroyed by the insurgents, should those who +had committed the injury be unable to repair it, and an appropriation +exceeding $1,100,000 was made to defray the expenses occasioned by the +insurrection. + +Many of the difficulties which had occurred in drawing out the militia +were removed, and a bill was introduced to give greater energy to the +militia system generally, but this subject possessed so many intrinsic +difficulties that the session passed away without effecting anything +respecting it. + +A bill for the gradual redemption of the national debt was more +successful. The President had repeatedly and earnestly recommended +to the Legislature the adoption of measures which might effect this +favorite object, but, although that party, which had been reproached +with a desire to accumulate debt as a means of subverting the +republican system, had uniformly manifested a disposition to carry this +recommendation into effect, their desire had hitherto been opposed by +obstacles they were unable to surmount. The party in opposition to the +government, while professing always a desire to reduce the debt took +good care to oppose in detail every proposition having this object in +view. While the subject was under discussion Colonel Hamilton, Secretary +of the Treasury, addressed a letter to the House of Representatives, +through their speaker, informing them that he had digested and prepared +a plan on the basis of the actual revenues, for the further support of +public credit, which he was ready to communicate. This comprehensive and +valuable report was the last official act of Hamilton. + +The penurious provision made for those who filled the high executive +departments in the American government, excluded from a long continuance +in office all those whose fortunes were moderate and whose professional +talents placed a decent independence within their reach. While slandered +as the accumulator of thousands by illicit means, Hamilton had wasted in +the public service great part of the property acquired by his previous +labors, and had found himself compelled to decide on retiring from +his political station. The accusations brought against him in the last +session of the second Congress had postponed the execution of +this design until opportunity should be afforded for a more full +investigation of his official conduct, but he informed Washington that, +on the close of the session to meet in December, 1793, he should resign +his situation in the administration. The events which accumulated about +that time, and which were, he said, in a letter to Washington, of a +nature to render the continuance of peace in a considerable degree +precarious, deferred his meditated retreat. "I do not perceive," he +added, "that I could voluntarily quit my post at such a juncture, +consistently with considerations either of duty or character, and, +therefore, I find myself reluctantly obliged to defer the offer of my +resignation." + +"But if any circumstances should have taken place in consequence of the +intimation of an intention to resign, or should otherwise exist, which +serve to render my continuance in office in any degree inconvenient or +ineligible, I beg to leave to assure you, sir, that I should yield to +them with all the readiness naturally inspired by an impatient desire to +relinquish a situation in which even a momentary stay is opposed by the +strongest personal and family reasons, and could only be produced by a +sense of duty or reputation." + +Assurances being given by Washington of the pleasure with which the +intelligence that he would continue at his post through the crisis was +received; he remained in office until the commencement of the ensuing +year. Immediately on his return from the western country, the dangers +of domestic insurrection or foreign war having subsided, he gave +notice that he should on the last day of January (1795) give in his +resignation. + +In the esteem and good opinion of Washington, to whom he was best known, +Hamilton at all times maintained a high place. While deciding on the +mission to England and searching for a person to whom the interesting +negotiation with that government should be confided, the mind of the +chief magistrate was directed, among others, to him. He carried with him +out of office the same cordial esteem for his character and respect for +his talents which had induced his appointment. + +The vacant office of Secretary of the Treasury was filled by Oliver +Wolcott, of Connecticut, a gentleman of sound judgment, who was well +versed in its duties. He had served as Comptroller for a considerable +time, and in that situation had been eminently useful to the head of the +department. + +The bill for the gradual reduction of the public debt, on the basis of +Hamilton's plan, was resisted in detail through nearly the whole session +of Congress, but by the persevering exertions of the Federal party +was finally carried, and the system inaugurated by Hamilton became a +permanent portion of the financial policy of the country. + +On the 3d of March (1795) this important session was ended. Although the +party hostile to the administration had obtained a small majority in one +branch of the Legislature several circumstances had concurred to give +great weight to the recommendations of Washington. Among these may be +reckoned the victory obtained by General Wayne and the suppression of +the western insurrection. In some points, however, which he had pressed +with earnestness, his sentiments did not prevail. One of these was a +bill introduced into the Senate for preserving peace with the Indians, +by protecting them from the intrusions and incursions of the whites. + +General Knox, Secretary of War, like Hamilton, was driven from the +service of his country by the scantiness of the compensation allowed +him. He resigned at the close of the year 1794. Colonel Pickering, a +gentleman who had filled many important offices through the war of the +Revolution, who had discharged several trusts of considerable +confidence under the present government, and who at the time was +Postmaster-General, was appointed to succeed him. + +After the rising of Congress, Washington made a short visit to Mount +Vernon. He returned to Philadelphia about the 1st of May. Meantime, on +the 7th of March (1795) the treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation +between the United States and Great Britain, which had been signed by +the ministers of the two nations on the 19th of the preceding November, +was received. + +From his arrival in London, on the 15th of June, 1794, Mr. Jay had been +assiduously and unremittingly employed on the arduous duties of his +mission. By a deportment respectful, yet firm, mingling a decent +deference for the government to which he was deputed with a proper +regard, for the dignity of his own, this minister avoided those little +asperities which frequently embarrass measures of great concern, and +smoothed the way to the adoption of those which were suggested by the +real interests of both nations. Many and intricate were the points to be +discussed. On some of them an agreement was found to be impracticable, +but at length a treaty was concluded, which Mr. Jay declared to be the +best that was attainable, and which he believed it for the interests +of the United States to accept. Indeed it was scarcely possible to +contemplate the evidences of extreme exasperation which were given in +America, and the nature of the differences which subsisted between the +two countries, without feeling a conviction that war was inevitable, +should this attempt to adjust those differences prove unsuccessful. + +The constitution had provided that all treaties should be ratified by +the Senate, and Washington summoned that body to meet on Monday, the +8th of June, in order to take it into consideration. In the meantime +Washington devoted himself to the task of examining its provisions with +the utmost care. It was not, in all respects, what he had wished and +expected. Many points were omitted which he had desired to be introduced +and settled, others were arranged so as to leave room for future +misunderstandings between the two nations. But he felt satisfied that +Mr. Jay had obtained the best terms in his power, and that this +treaty was the best that could have been made under all circumstances. +Important privileges were secured, no great national advantages had been +sacrificed, nothing detrimental to the national honor had been admitted, +and peace was maintained. That the rejection of the treaty would be +followed by a calamitous war did not admit of a doubt. In the existing +state of Europe a war with Great Britain would have involved the United +States in the long-continued agitations of Europe and deprive them of +all the advantages of neutrality and undisturbed commerce. Fully aware +of all these considerations, Washington determined that if the Senate +should ratify the treaty he would give it the sanction of his signature. + +On Monday, the 8th of June (1795), the Senate, in conformity with +the summons of the President, convened in the Senate chamber, and the +treaty, with the documents connected with it, were submitted to their +consideration. + +On the 24th of June, after a minute and laborious investigation, the +Senate, by precisely a constitutional majority, advised and consented to +its conditional ratification. + +An insuperable objection existed to an article regulating the +intercourse with the British West Indies, founded on a fact which +is understood to have been unknown to Mr. Jay. The intention of the +contracting parties was to admit the direct intercourse between the +United States and those islands, but not to permit the productions of +the latter to be carried to Europe in the vessels of the former. To give +effect to the intention, the exportation from the United States of those +articles which were the principal productions of the islands was to be +relinquished. Among these was cotton. This article, which a few +years before was scarcely raised in sufficient quantity for domestic +consumption, was becoming one of the richest staples of the southern +States. The Senate, being informed of this act, advised and consented +that the treaty should be ratified on condition that an article be added +thereto, suspending that part of the twelfth article which related to +the intercourse with the West Indies. + +This resolution of the Senate presented difficulties which required +consideration. Whether they could advise and consent to an article which +had not been laid before them, and whether their resolution was to be +considered as the final exercise of their power, were questions not +entirely free from difficulty. Nor was it absolutely clear that the +executive could ratify the treaty, under the advice of the Senate, until +the suspending article should be introduced into it. A few days were +employed in the removal of these doubts, at the expiration of which, +intelligence was received from Europe which suspended the resolution the +President had formed. + +The English newspapers reported that the British government had renewed +the order in council for seizing provisions in neutral vessels bound to +French ports. Washington directed the Secretary of State to prepare +a strong memorial to the British government against this order, and +postponed the signing of the treaty until it should be ready. In the +meantime his private affairs required that he should visit Mount Vernon, +for which place he set off about the middle of July (1795). + +Meanwhile, one of the Virginia senators, S. T. Mason, in violation of +the obligation of secrecy and the evident demands of propriety, sent +a copy of the treaty to the "Aurora," a violent partisan paper in +Philadelphia. On the 2nd of July it was published and spread before the +community without the authority of the executive, and without any of the +official documents and correspondence necessary to a fair appreciation +and understanding of its various provisions. + +If, in the existing state of parties and the embittered feelings which +widely prevailed, the mission of Jay was censured, and the result of his +labors condemned in advance, before it was known at all what the treaty +contained, the reader can imagine what an effect must have been produced +by the publication of the treaty in this clandestine manner. Great +Britain was hated and reviled, and France was almost adored by a large +and powerful party in the United States, and there were numbers ready, +in their blind political fury and excitement, to sacrifice everything +rather than be on any terms of concord with the mother country, and +rather than moderate in any degree their passionate devotion to France. + +In the populous cities meetings of the people were immediately summoned, +in order to take into consideration and to express their opinions +respecting the treaty. It may well be supposed that persons feeling some +distrust of their capacity to form a correct judgment on a subject +so complex, would be unwilling to make so hasty a decision, and +consequently be disinclined to attend such meetings. Many intelligent +men stood aloof, while the most intemperate assumed, as usual, the name +of the people--pronounced a definitive and unqualified condemnation of +every article in the treaty, and, with the utmost confidence, assigned +reasons for their opinions which, in many instances, had only an +imaginary existence, and in some were obviously founded on the strong +prejudices which were entertained with respect to foreign powers. It is +difficult to review the various resolutions and addresses to which the +occasion gave birth without feeling some degree of astonishment, mingled +with humiliation, at perceiving such proofs of the fallibility of human +reason. + +The first meeting was held in Boston. The example of that city was soon +followed by New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston, and, +as if their addresses were designed at least as much for their +fellow-citizens as for their President, while one copy was transmitted +to him another was committed to the press. The precedent set by these +large cities was followed with wonderful rapidity throughout the Union, +and the spirit in which this system of opposition originated sustained +no diminution of violence in its progress. The party which supported +the administration, however, were not idle; they held meetings and sent +addresses to Washington, approving his principles of neutrality and +peace. On the 18th of July (1795), at Baltimore, on his way to Mount +Vernon, the President received the resolutions passed by the meeting +at Boston, which were enclosed to him in a letter from the selectmen of +that town. The answer to this letter and to these resolutions, given in +a subsequent page, evinced the firmness with which he had resolved to +meet the effort that was obviously making to control the exercise of +his constitutional functions, by giving a promptness and vigor to the +expression of the sentiments of a party which might impose it upon the +world as the deliberate judgment of the public. + +Addresses to Washington, and resolutions of town and country meetings +were not the only means which were employed to enlist the American +people against the measure which had been advised by the Senate. In an +immense number of essays, the treaty was critically examined and every +argument which might operate on the judgment or prejudice of the public +was urged in the warm and glowing language of passion. To meet these +efforts by counter efforts was deemed indispensably necessary by the +friends of that instrument, and the gazettes of the day are replete with +appeals to the passions and to the reason of those who are the ultimate +arbiters of every political question. That the treaty affected the +interests of France not less than those of the United States, was, in +this memorable controversy, asserted by the one party with as much zeal +as it was denied by the other. These agitations furnished matter to +Washington for deep reflection and for serious regret, but they appear +not to have shaken the decision he had formed or to have affected +his conduct otherwise than to induce a still greater degree of +circumspection in the mode of transacting the delicate business before +him. On their first appearance, therefore, he resolved to hasten his +return to Philadelphia, for the purpose of considering at that place, +rather than at Mount Vernon, the memorial against the provision order +and the conditional ratification of the treaty. + +The following confidential letters are extremely interesting, as +evincing the precise state of Washington's mind at this momentous and +exciting period: + +"_To Edmund Randolph, Secretary of State_. + +"Private. + +"MOUNT VERNON, July 29, 1795. + +"My Dear Sir.--Your private letters of the 24th and 25th instant have +been received, and you will learn by the official letter of this date my +determination of returning to Philadelphia after Monday, if nothing in +the interim casts up to render it unnecessary. + +"I am excited to this resolution by the violent and extraordinary +proceedings which have and are about taking place in the northern parts +of the Union, and may be expected in the southern; because I think that +the Memorial, the Ratification, and the Instructions, which are framing, +are of such vast magnitude as not only to require great individual +consideration, but a solemn conjunct revision. The latter could not +take place if you were to come here, nor would there be that source of +information which is to be found at, and is continually flowing to, the +seat of government; and, besides, in the course of deliberation on these +great objects, the examination of official papers may more than probably +be found essential, which could be resorted to at no other place than +Philadelphia. + +"To leave home so soon will be inconvenient. A month hence it would have +been otherwise; and it was, as I hinted to you before I left the city, +in contemplation by me for the purpose of Mrs. Washington's remaining +here till November, when I intended to come back for her. But whilst I +am in office I shall never suffer private convenience to interfere with +what I conceive to be my official duty. + +"I view the opposition which the treaty is receiving from the meetings +in different parts of the Union in a very serious light, not because +there is more weight in any of the objections which are made to it +than was foreseen at first, for there is none in some of them and gross +misrepresentations in others, nor as it respects myself personally, for +this shall have no influence on my conduct--plainly perceiving, and I am +accordingly preparing my mind for it, the obloquy which disappointment +and malice are collecting to heap upon me. But I am alarmed at the +effect it may have on and the advantage the French government may be +disposed to take of the spirit which is at work to cherish a belief +in them, that the treaty is calculated to favor Great Britain at their +expense. Whether they believe or disbelieve these tales, the effect it +will have upon the nation will be nearly the same; for, whilst they +are at war with that power, or so long as the animosity between the two +nations exists, it will, no matter at whose expense, be their policy, +and it is to be feared will be their conduct, to prevent us from being +on good terms with Great Britain, or her from deriving any advantages +from our trade, which they can hinder, however much we may be benefited +thereby ourselves. To what length this policy and interest may carry +them is problematical, but, when they see the people of this country +divided, and such a violent opposition given to the measures of +their own government, pretendedly in their favor, it may be extremely +embarrassing, to say no more of it." + +"To sum the whole up in a few words, I have never, since I have been in +the administration of the government, seen a crisis which in my judgment +has been so pregnant with interesting events, nor one from which more +is to be apprehended, whether viewed on one side or the other. From New +York there is, and I am told will further be, a counter current, but how +formidable it may appear, I know not. If the same does not take place at +Boston and other towns, it will afford but too strong evidence that the +opposition is in a manner universal, and would make the ratification +a very serious business indeed. But, as it respects the French, even +counter resolutions would, for the reasons I have already mentioned, do +little more than weaken, in a small degree, the effect the other side +would have." + +"I have written, and do now enclose the letter, the draught of which was +approved by the heads of departments, to the selectmen of the town of +Boston; but if new lights have been had upon the subject, since it was +agreed to, or if upon reconsideration any alteration should be deemed +necessary, I request you to detain it until I see you. Let me also +request that the same attention may be given to the draught of a letter +to Portsmouth and the Chamber of Commerce at New York as was recommended +on that occasion. I am, etc." + +"_To Edmund Randolph, Secretary of State._" + +"Private." + +"Mount Vernon, _July 31, 1795._ + +"My Dear Sir.--On Wednesday evening I sent the packet, now under cover +with this, to the post-office in Alexandria, to be forwarded next +morning at the usual hour, 4 o'clock, by the Baltimore mail. But, +behold! when my letter-bag was brought back from the office and emptied, +I not only got those which were addressed to me, among which yours +of the 27th was one, but those also which I had sent up the evening +before." + +"I have to regret this blunder of the postmaster on account of the +enclosures, some of which I wished to have got to your hands without +delay, that they might have undergone the consideration and acting upon +which were suggested in the letter accompanying them. On another account +I am not sorry for the return of the packet, as I resolved thereupon and +on reading some letters which I received at the same time, to wait your +acknowledgment of the receipt of my letter of the 24th instant before I +would set out, as I should thereby be placed on a certainty whether your +journey hither or mine to Philadelphia would, under all circumstances, +be deemed most eligible, or whether the business could not be equally +well done without either; repeating now what I did in my letter of the +24th, that I do not require more than a day's notice to repair to the +seat of government, and that if you and the confidential officers with +you are not clear in the measures which are best to be pursued in the +several matters mentioned in my last, my own opinion is, and for the +reasons there given, that difficult and intricate or delicate questions +had better be settled there, where the streams of information are +continually flowing in, and that I would set out accordingly. To be wise +and temperate, as well as firm, the present crisis most eminently calls +for. There is too much reason to believe, from the pains which have +been taken before, at, and since the advice of the Senate respecting +the treaty, that the prejudices against it are more extensive than is +generally imagined. This I have lately understood to be the case in this +quarter, from men who are of no party, but well disposed to the present +administration. How should it be otherwise, when no stone has been left +unturned that could impress on the minds of the people the most arrant +misrepresentation of facts: that their rights have not only been +neglected, but absolutely sold; that there are no reciprocal advantages +in the treaty; that the benefits are all on the side of Great Britain; +and, what seems to have had more weight with them than all the rest, and +to have been most pressed, that the treaty is made with the design to +oppress the French, in open violation of our treaty with that nation, +and contrary, too, to every principle of gratitude and sound policy? In +time, when passion shall have yielded to sober reason, the current may +possibly turn; but, in the meanwhile, this government, in relation +to France and England, may be compared to a ship between the rocks of +Scylla and Charybdis. If the treaty is ratified, the partisans of the +French, or rather of war and confusion, will excite them to hostile +measures, or at least to unfriendly sentiments; if it is not, there is +no foreseeing all the consequences which may follow as it respects Great +Britain." + +"It is not to be inferred from hence that I am disposed to quit the +ground I have taken, unless circumstances more imperious than have yet +come to my knowledge should compel it, for there is but one straight +course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily. But these +things are mentioned to show that a close investigation of the subject +is more than ever necessary, and that they are strong evidences of the +necessity of the most circumspect conduct in carrying the determination +of government into effect, with prudence as it respects our own people, +and with every exertion to produce a change for the better from Great +Britain." + +"The memorial seems well designed to answer the end proposed, and by +the time it is revised and new dressed you will probably (either in +the resolutions, which are or will be handed to me, or in the newspaper +publications, which you promised to be attentive to) have seen all the +objections against the treaty which have any real force in them, and +which may be fit subjects for representation in the memorial, or in +the instructions, or both. But how much longer the presentation of the +memorial can be delayed without exciting unpleasant sensations here, +or involving serious evils elsewhere, you, who are at the scene of +information and action can decide better than I. In a matter, however, +so interesting and pregnant with consequences as this treaty, there +ought to be no precipitation, but, on the contrary, every step should be +explored before it is taken and every word weighed before it is uttered +or delivered in writing." + +"The form of the ratification requires more diplomatic experience and +legal knowledge than I possess or have the means of acquiring at this +place, and, therefore, I shall say nothing about it. I am, etc." + +The answer to the selectmen of Boston, already referred to, is too +characteristic to be omitted. It is as follows: + +"_To the Selectmen of the Town of Boston._" + +"United States, _July 28, 1795._ + +"Gentlemen.--In every act of my administration I have sought the +happiness of my fellow-citizens. My system for the attainment of this +object has uniformly been to overlook all personal, local, and partial +considerations; to contemplate the United States as one great whole; to +consider that sudden impressions, when erroneous, would yield to candid +reflection, and to consult only the substantial and permanent interests +of our country. Nor have I departed from this line of conduct on the +occasion which has produced the resolutions contained in your letter of +the 13th instant." + +"Without a predilection for my own judgment, I have weighed with +attention every argument which has at any time been brought into view. +But the constitution is the guide which I can never abandon. It has +assigned to the President the power of making treaties, with the advice +and consent of the Senate. It was doubtless supposed that these two +branches of government would combine, without passion and with the best +means of information, those facts and principles upon which the success +of our foreign relations will always depend; that they ought not to +substitute for their own conviction the opinions of others, or to seek +truth through any channel but that of a temperate and well-informed +investigation." "Under this persuasion, I have resolved on the manner of +executing the duty before me. To the high responsibility attached to +it, I freely submit; and you, gentlemen, are at liberty to make these +sentiments known, as the ground of my procedure. While I feel the most +lively gratitude for the many instances of approbation from my country, +I can no otherwise deserve it than by obeying the dictates of my +conscience." + +"With due respect, I am, gentlemen, your obedient + +"George Washington." + + +In nearly the same terms Washington replied to other committees and +public bodies who thought proper to remonstrate against his exercising +the constitutional right of signing the treaty. + +In the afternoon of the 11th of August (1795), Washington arrived +in Philadelphia, and, on the next day, the question respecting the +immediate ratification of the treaty was brought before the Cabinet. +Randolph, Secretary of State, maintained, singly, the opinion that, +during the existence of the provision order, and during the war between +Britain and France, this step ought not to be taken. This opinion, +however, did not prevail. The resolution was adopted to ratify the +treaty immediately and to accompany the ratification with a strong +memorial against the provision order, which should convey, in explicit +terms, the sense of the American government on that subject. By this +course the views of the executive were happily accomplished. The order +was revoked and the ratifications of the treaty were exchanged. + +Washington was most probably determined to adopt this course by the +extreme intemperance with which the treaty was opposed and the rapid +progress which this violence was apparently making. It was obvious that, +unless this temper could be checked, it would soon become so extensive +and would arrive at such a point of fury as to threaten dangerous +consequences. It was obviously necessary either to attempt a diminution +of its action, by rendering its exertions hopeless and by giving to +the treaty the weight of his character and influence, or to determine +ultimately to yield to it. A species of necessity, therefore, seems to +have been created for abandoning the idea, if it was ever taken up, of +making the ratification of the treaty dependent on the revocation of the +provision order. The soundness of the policy which urged this decisive +measure was proved by the event. The confidence which was felt in the +judgment and virtue of Washington induced many who, swept away by the +popular current, had yielded to the common prejudices, to re-examine +and discard opinions which had been too hastily embraced; and many +were called forth by a desire to support the administration in measures +actually adopted, to take a more active part in the general contest +than they would otherwise have pursued. The consequence was that more +moderate opinions respecting the treaty began to prevail. + +In a letter from Mount Vernon of the 20th of September (1795), addressed +to General Knox, who had communicated to him the change of opinion which +was appearing in the eastern States, Washington expressed in warm terms +the pleasure derived from that circumstance, and added: + +"Next to a conscientious discharge of my public duties, to carry +along with me the approbation of my constituents would be the highest +gratification of which my mind is susceptible. But the latter being +secondary, I cannot make the former yield to it, unless some criterion +more infallible than partial (if they are not party) meetings can be +discovered as the touchstone of public sentiment. If any person on +earth could, or the great Power above would, erect the standard of +infallibility in political opinions, no being that inhabits this +terrestrial globe would resort to it with more eagerness than myself, so +long as I remain a servant of the public. But as I have hitherto found +no better guide than upright intentions and close investigations, I +shall adhere to them while I keep watch, leaving it to those who will +come after me to explore new ways, if they like, or think them better." + +If the ratification of the treaty increased the number of its open +advocates, it seemed also to give increased acrimony to the opposition. +Such hold had Washington taken of the affections of the people that even +his enemies had deemed it generally necessary to preserve, with regard +to him, external marks of decency and respect. Previous to the mission +of Mr. Jay, charges against Washington, though frequently insinuated, +had seldom been directly made; and the cover under which the attacks +upon his character were conducted evidenced the caution with which +it was deemed necessary to proceed. That mission visibly affected the +decorum which had been usually observed toward him, and the ratification +of the treaty brought sensations into open view which had long been ill +concealed. His military and political character was attacked with equal +violence, and it was averred that he was totally destitute of merit, +either as a soldier or a statesman. The calumnies with which he was +assailed were not confined to his public conduct; even his qualities +as a man were the subjects of detraction. That he had violated the +constitution in negotiating a treaty without the previous advice of +the Senate, and in embracing within that treaty subjects belonging +exclusively to the Legislature, was openly maintained, for which an +impeachment was publicly suggested; and that he had drawn from the +treasury for his private use more than the salary annexed to his office +was asserted without a blush. This last allegation was said to be +supported from extracts from the treasury accounts which had been laid +before the Legislature, and was maintained with the most persevering +effrontery. + +Though Wolcott, the Secretary of the Treasury, denied that the +appropriations made by the Legislature had ever been exceeded, the +atrocious charge was still confidently repeated, and the few who could +triumph in any spot which might tarnish the luster of Washington's fame +felicitated themselves on the prospect of obtaining a victory over the +reputation of a patriot, to whose single influence they ascribed the +failure of their political plans. With the real public, the confidence +felt in the integrity of Washington remained unshaken, but so imposing +was the appearance of the documents adduced as to excite an apprehension +that the transaction might be placed in a light to show that some +indiscretion, in which he had not participated, had been inadvertently +committed. + +This state of anxious suspense was of short duration. Hamilton, late +Secretary of the Treasury, during whose administration of the finances +this peculation was said to have taken place, came forward with a full +explanation of the fact. It appeared that Washington himself had never +touched any part of the compensation annexed to his office, but that the +whole was received and disbursed by the gentleman who superintended the +expenses of his household. That it was the practice of the treasury, +when a sum had been appropriated for the current year, to pay it to that +gentleman occasionally, as the situation of the family might require. +The expenses at some periods of the year exceeded and at others fell +short of the allowance for the quarter, so that at some times money was +paid in advance on account of the ensuing quarter, and at others, that +which was due at the end of the quarter was not completely drawn out. +The secretary entered into an examination of the constitution and +laws to show that this practice was justifiable, and illustrated his +arguments by many examples in which an advance on account of money +appropriated to a particular object, before the service was completed, +would be absolutely necessary. However this might be, it was a +transaction in which Washington, personally, was unconcerned. + +When possessed of the entire facts, the public viewed with just +indignation this attempt to defame a character which was the nation's +pride. Americans felt themselves involved in this atrocious calumny on +their most illustrious citizen, and its propagators were frowned into +silence. + +Meantime several changes were taking place in Washington's Cabinet. +Edmund Randolph, the Secretary of State, resigned his office on the 19th +of August, 1795, immediately after the ratification of Jay's treaty, +which he had opposed. The circumstances which led to his resignation +were by no means creditable to him, but as they brought out in bold +relief one of Washington's noblest traits--his perfect openness and +candor--we are induced to notice them in detail. + +A letter addressed to his government in October, 1794, by Fauchet, the +minister of the French republic, was intercepted by the captain of a +British frigate and forwarded to Mr. Hammond, by whom it was delivered, +about the last of July, to Mr. Wolcott, the Secretary of the Treasury, +who, on the arrival of Washington in Philadelphia, placed it in his +hands. This letter alluded to communications from Randolph, which, +in the opinion of Washington, were excessively improper. The +_éclaircissements_ which the occasion required were followed by +the resignation of the secretary. For the purpose, he alleged, of +vindicating his conduct, he demanded a sight of a confidential letter +which had been addressed to him by Washington, and which was left in the +office. His avowed design was to give this, as well as some others of +the same description, to the public, in order to support the allegation +that, in consequence of his attachment to France and to liberty, he had +fallen a victim to the intrigues of a British and an aristocratic party. +The answer given to this demand was a license which few politicians, in +turbulent times, could allow to a man who had possessed the unlimited +confidence of the person giving it. "I have directed," said Washington, +"that you should have the inspection of my letter of the 22nd of July, +agreeable to your request; and you are at full liberty to publish, +without reserve, any and every private and confidential letter I ever +wrote you; nay, more--every word I ever uttered to or in your presence +from whence you can derive any advantage in your vindication." + +Notwithstanding that Randolph was under the strongest personal +obligations to Washington, he did not hesitate, in his lame attempt to +vindicate himself, to resort to violent abuse of his late friend and +patron. Washington is said to have lost his temper on reading Randolph's +calumnies, [2] as well he might, for it is difficult to conceive of +blacker ingratitude than he suffered on this occasion. Late in life +Randolph seems to have been sensible of the enormity of his conduct. On +the 2nd of July, 1810, he used the following language in a letter to the +Hon. Bushrod Washington: "I do not retain the smallest degree of that +feeling which roused me fifteen years ago against some individuals. For +the world contains no treasure, deception, or charm which can seduce +me from the consolation of being in a state of good will toward all +mankind, and I should not be mortified to ask pardon of any man with +whom I have been at variance for any injury which I may have done him. +If I could now present myself before your venerated uncle it would be +my pride to confess my contrition that I suffered my irritation, let the +cause be what it might, to use some of those expressions respecting him +which, at this moment of my indifference to the ideas of the world, I +wish to recall, as being inconsistent with my subsequent conviction. +My life will, I hope, be sufficiently extended for the recording of my +sincere opinion of his virtues and merit, in a style which is not the +result of a mind merely debilitated by misfortune, but of that Christian +philosophy on which alone I depend for inward tranquility." + +Washington offered the vacant post to Patrick Henry, who was prevented +by private considerations from undertaking its duties. Rufus King, Gen. +Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and two or three others were asked to enter +the Cabinet as Secretary of State, but they declined. Finally Colonel +Pickering, who had temporary charge of the post, was formally appointed +in December of the present year. James McHenry succeeded Colonel +Pickering as Secretary of War. Mr. Bradford's death, in August, caused +a vacancy in the attorney-generalship, which was also filled in December +by the appointment of Charles Lee, of Virginia. This office had been +previously offered to General Pinckney, Colonel Carrington, of Virginia, +and Governor Howard, of Maryland. + +In August of this year (1795), General Wayne concluded a treaty of +peace, at Greenville, with the chiefs of the Wyandots, Delawares, +Chippeways, and other Indian tribes. By this treaty the Indians ceded +the post of Detroit and a considerable tract of adjacent land to the +United States. A tract of land was ceded on the main, to the north of +the island on which the post of Michilimackinac stood, measuring six +miles on lakes Huron and Michigan, and extending three miles back from +the water of the lake or strait. De Bois Blanc, or White Wood Island, +was also ceded--the voluntary gift of the Chippeways. + +The foreign affairs of the United States had now begun to assume a +more favorable aspect. A treaty was concluded with Spain on the 27th of +October (1795). It was confined principally to the two great subjects in +dispute, and was styled a treaty of friendship, limits, and navigation. +By this the line between the United States and east and west Florida was +settled, and the western boundary of the United States, which separated +them from the Colony of Louisiana, was fixed in the middle of the +channel of the Mississippi river to the thirty-first degree of north +latitude; and it was also agreed that the navigation of that river, +from its source to the ocean, should be free only to the subjects and +citizens of the two countries. + +It was further stipulated that both parties should use all the means in +their power to maintain peace and harmony among the Indian nations on +their borders, and both parties bound themselves to restrain, even by +force, the Indians within their limits from acts of hostilities against +the other, and it was also agreed that neither party would thereafter +make any treaties with those who did not live within their respective +limits. Provision was also made that free ships should make free goods, +and that no citizen or subject of either party should take a commission +or letters of marque for arming any vessel, to act as a privateer, from +their respective enemies, under the penalty of being considered and +punished as a pirate. + +Thus, after a tedious and unpleasant negotiation of about fifteen years, +the boundaries between the countries belonging to the United States and +Spain, in America, were settled, and the right of navigating every part +of the Mississippi, a right so essential to the interests of our vast +western territory, was secured to the United States. + +In November (1795) Washington had the gratification to bring to a +close the long negotiations with the Dey of Algiers, by which peace was +established with those piratical marauders and the release of American +captives obtained. This was accomplished through the agency of Colonel +Humphreys, Joel Barlow, and Mr. Donaldson, and about 120 prisoners were +released from cruel bondage, some of whom had been in this ignominious +condition more than ten years. + +During the recess of Congress Washington paid a visit to Mount Vernon, +which lasted from the middle of September (1795) till near the end of +October. During this time his attention was divided between the concerns +of his estate and the public affairs of that exciting period. + + +1. Footnote: Marshall + +2. Footnote: See Dr. Griswold's "Republican Court." Also, Sparks +"Writings of Washington," vol. XI, pp. 54, 479. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +WASHINGTON MAINTAINS THE TREATY-MAKING POWER OF THE EXECUTIVE. +1795-1796. + + +The first session of the Fourth Congress commenced on the 7th of +December, 1795. Although the ratification of the treaties with Spain and +Algiers had not been officially announced at the meeting of Congress +the state of the negotiations with both powers was sufficiently +well understood to enable Washington with confidence to assure the +Legislature, in his speech at the opening of the session, that those +negotiations were in a train which promised a happy issue. + +After expressing his gratification at the prosperous state of American +affairs the various favorable events which have been already enumerated +were detailed in a succinct statement, at the close of which he +mentioned the British treaty, which, though publicly known, had not +before been communicated officially to the House of Representatives. + +"This interesting summary of our affairs," continued the speech, "with +regard to the powers between whom and the United States controversies +have subsisted, and with regard also to our Indian neighbors with whom +we have been in a state of enmity or misunderstanding, opens a wide +field for consoling and gratifying reflections. If by prudence and +moderation on every side, the extinguishment of all the causes of +external discord which have heretofore menaced our tranquility, on +terms compatible with our national faith and honor, shall be the happy +results, how firm and how precious a foundation will have been laid for +accelerating, maturing, and establishing the prosperity of our country!" + +After presenting an animated picture of the situation of the United +States, and recommending several objects to the attention of the +Legislature, Washington concluded with observing: "Temperate discussion +of the important subjects that may arise in the course of the session, +and mutual forbearance where there is a difference in opinion, are +too obvious and necessary for the peace, happiness, and welfare of our +country to need any recommendation of mine." + +In the Senate an address was reported which echoed back the sentiments +of the speech. + +In this House of Representatives, as in the last, the party in +opposition to the administration had obtained a majority. This party +was unanimously hostile to the treaty with Great Britain, and it was +expected that their answer to the speech of the President would indicate +their sentiments on a subject which continued to agitate the whole +American people. The answer reported by the committee contained a +declaration that the confidence of his fellow-citizens in the chief +magistrate remained undiminished. + +On a motion to strike out the words importing this sentiment is was +averred that the clause asserted an untruth; that it was not true that +the confidence of the people in the President was undiminished; that +by a recent transaction it had been considerably impaired, and some +gentlemen declared that their own confidence in him was lessened. + +By the friends of the administration this motion was opposed with great +zeal, and the opinion that the confidence of the people in their chief +magistrate remained unshaken, was maintained with ardor. But they were +outnumbered. + +To avoid a direct vote on the proposition it was moved that the address +should be recommitted. This motion succeeded and, two members being +added to the committee, an answer was reported, in which the clause +objected to was so modified as to be free from exception. + +That part of the speech which mentioned the treaty with Great Britain +was alluded to in terms which, though not directly expressive of +disapprobation, were sufficiently indicative of the prevailing +sentiment. + +Early in the month of January (1796) Washington transmitted to both +houses of Congress a message, accompanying certain communications from +the French government which were well calculated to cherish those ardent +feelings that prevailed in the Legislature. + +It was the fortune of Mr. Monroe to reach Paris soon after the death +of Robespierre and the fall of the Jacobins. On his reception as the +minister of the United States, which was public, and in the convention, +he gave free scope to the genuine feelings of his heart, and, at +the same time, delivered to the president of that body, with his +credentials, two letters addressed by the Secretary of State to the +committee of public safety. These letters were answers to one written +by the committee of safety to the Congress of the United States. +The executive department being the organ through which all foreign +intercourse was to be conducted, each branch of the Legislature had +passed a resolution directing this letter to be transmitted to the +President with a request that he would cause it to be answered in terms +expressive of their friendly dispositions toward the French republic. + +So fervent were the sentiments expressed on this occasion that the +convention decreed that the flag of the American and French republics +should be united together and suspended in its own hall in testimony +of eternal union and friendship between the two people. To evince the +impression made on his mind by this act, and the grateful sense of his +constituents, Mr. Monroe presented to the convention the flag of +the United States, which he prayed them to accept as a proof of the +sensibility with which his country received every act of friendship from +its ally, and of the pleasure with which it cherished every incident +which tended to cement and consolidate the union between the two +nations. + +The committee of safety again addressed Congress in terms adapted to +that department of government which superintends its foreign intercourse +and expressive, among other sentiments, of the sensibility with which +the French nation had perceived those sympathetic emotions with which +the American people had viewed the vicissitudes of her fortune. Mr. +Adet, who was to succeed Mr. Fauchet at Philadelphia, and who was the +bearer of this letter, also brought with him the colors of France, +which he was directed to present to the United States. He arrived in the +summer, but, probably in the idea that these communications were to be +made by him directly to Congress, did not announce them to the executive +until late in December (1795). + +The first day of the new year (1796) was named for their reception, when +the colors were delivered to Washington, and the letter to Congress also +was placed in his hands. + +In executing this duty Mr. Adet addressed a speech to the President, +which, in the glowing language of his country, represented France as +struggling not only for her own liberty, but for that of the human race. +"Assimilated to, or rather identified with, free people by the form of +her government, she saw in them," he said, "only friends and brothers. +Long accustomed to regard the American people as her most faithful +allies she sought to draw closer the ties already formed in the fields +of America, under the auspices of victory, over the ruins of tyranny." + +To answer this speech was a task of some delicacy. It was necessary to +express feelings adapted to the occasion without implying sentiments +with respect to the belligerent powers which might be improper to be +used by the chief magistrate of a neutral country. With a view to both +these objects Washington made the following reply: + +"Born, sir, in a land of liberty; having early learned its value; having +engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it; having, in a word, devoted +the best years of my life to secure its permanent establishment in my +own country, my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and my +best wishes are irresistibly attracted, when-so-ever, in any country, I +see an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom. But, above all, +the events of the French revolution have produced the deepest solicitude +as well as the highest admiration. To call your nation brave were to +pronounce but common praise. Wonderful people! ages to come will read +with astonishment the history of your brilliant exploits, I rejoice that +the period of your toils and of your immense sacrifices is approaching. +I rejoice that the interesting revolutionary movements of so many +years have issued in the formation of a constitution designed to give +permanency to the great object for which you have contended. I rejoice +that liberty, which you have so long embraced with enthusiasm--liberty, +of which you have been the invincible defenders, now finds an asylum in +the bosom of a regularly organized government--a government which, being +formed to secure the happiness of the French people, corresponds with +the ardent wishes of my heart, while it gratifies the pride of every +citizen of the United States by its resemblance to their own. On these +glorious events accept, sir, my sincere congratulations." + +"In delivering to you these sentiments I express not my own feelings +only, but those of my fellow-citizens in relation to the commencement, +the progress, and the issue of the French revolution, and they will +certainly join with me in purest wishes to the Supreme Being that the +citizens of our sister republic, our magnanimous allies, may soon enjoy +in peace that liberty which they have purchased at so great a price, and +all the happiness that liberty can bestow." + +"I receive, sir, with lively sensibility the symbol of the triumphs and +of the enfranchisement of your nation, the colors of France, which +you have now presented to the United States. The transaction will be +announced to Congress and the colors will be deposited with the archives +of the United States, which are at once the evidence and the memorials +of their freedom and independence. May these be perpetual! and may the +friendship of the two republics be commensurate with their existence!" + +The address of Mr. Adet, the answer of the President, and the colors of +France, were transmitted to Congress with the letter from the committee +of safety. + +In the House of Representatives a resolution was moved, requesting the +President to make known to the representatives of the French republic +the sincere and lively sensations which were excited by this honorable +testimony of the existing sympathy and affections of the two republics; +that the House rejoiced in an opportunity of congratulating the French +republic on the brilliant and glorious achievements accomplished during +the present afflictive war, and hoped that those achievements would +be attended with a perfect attainment of their object--the permanent +establishment of the liberty and happiness of that great and magnanimous +people. + +In February (1796) the treaty with Great Britain was returned, in the +form advised by the Senate, ratified by his Britannic majesty. The +constitution declaring a treaty, when made, the supreme law of the land, +the President announced it officially to the people in a proclamation, +requiring from all persons its observance and execution, a copy of which +was transmitted to each House on the 1st of March. + +The opposition having openly denied the right of the President to +negotiate a treaty of commerce was not a little dissatisfied at his +venturing to issue this proclamation before the sense of the House of +Representatives had been declared on the obligation of the instrument. + +This dissatisfaction was not concealed. On the 2d of March Mr. +Livingston laid upon the table a resolution requesting the President "to +lay before the House a copy of the instructions to the minister of the +United States, who negotiated the treaty with the King of Great Britain, +communicated by his message of the 1st of March, together with the +correspondence and other documents relative to the said treaty." + +On the 7th of March he amended this resolution by adding the words, +"excepting such of the said papers as any existing negotiation may +render improper to be disclosed." + +The friends of the administration maintained that a treaty was a +contract between two nations, which, under the constitution, the +President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, had a right +to make, and that it was made when, by and with such advice and consent, +it had received his final act. Its obligations then became complete on +the United States, and to refuse to comply with its stipulations was to +break the treaty and to violate the faith of the nation. + +The opposition contended that the power to make treaties, if applicable +to every object, conflicted with powers which were vested exclusively +in Congress; that either the treaty-making power must be limited in its +operation, so as not to touch objects committed by the constitution to +Congress, or the assent and cooperation of the House of Representatives +must be required to give validity to any compact, so far as it might +comprehend those objects. A treaty, therefore, which required an +appropriation of money, or any act of Congress to carry it into effect, +had not acquired its obligatory force until the House of Representatives +had exercised its powers in the case. They were at full liberty to make, +or to withhold, such appropriation or other law, without incurring the +imputation of violating any existing obligation or of breaking the faith +of the nation. + +The debate on this question was animated, vehement, and argumentative, +all the party passions were enlisted in it, and it was protracted +until the 24th of March (1796), when the resolution was carried in +the affirmative by sixty-two to thirty-seven votes. The next day, the +committee appointed to present it to the chief magistrate reported +his answer which was, "that he would take the resolution into +consideration." + +The situation in which this vote placed the President was peculiarly +delicate. In an elective government, the difficulty of resisting +the popular branch of the Legislature is at all times great, but is +particularly so when the passions of the public have been strongly and +generally excited. The popularity of a demand for information, the large +majority by which that demand was supported, the additional force which +a refusal to comply with it would give to suspicions already +insinuated, that circumstances had occurred in the negotiation which the +administration dared not expose, and that the President was separating +himself from the representatives of the people, furnished motives of +no ordinary force for complying with the request of the House of +Representatives. + +But Washington viewed every question which came before him with a single +eye to the performance of his duty to the country. Hitherto, on +more than one occasion, he had proved himself the defender of the +constitution, but he had never been called upon to defend it against so +formidable an attack as that which was now made. + +That the future diplomatic transactions of the government might be +seriously and permanently affected by establishing the principle that +the House of Representatives could demand, as a right, the instructions +given to a foreign minister, and all the papers connected with a +negotiation, was too apparent to be unobserved. Nor was it less obvious +that a compliance with the request now made would go far in establishing +this principle. The form of the request, and the motives which induced +it, equally led to this conclusion. It left nothing to the discretion of +the President with regard to the public interests, and the information +was asked for the avowed purpose of determining whether the House of +Representatives would give effect to a public treaty. + +It was also a subject for serious reflection that, in a debate +unusually elaborate, the House of Representatives had claimed a right of +interference in the formation of treaties, which, in the judgment of +the President, the constitution had denied them. Duties the most sacred +requiring that he should resist this encroachment on the department +which was particularly confided to him, he could not hesitate respecting +the course it became him to take, and on the 30th of March he returned +to the House the following answer to their resolution: + +"With the utmost attention I have considered your resolution of the +24th instant, requesting me to lay before your House a copy of the +instructions to the minister of the United States, who negotiated the +treaty with the King of Great Britain, together with the correspondence +and other documents relative to that treaty, excepting such of the said +papers as any existing negotiation may render improper to be disclosed. + +"In deliberating upon this subject it was impossible for me to lose +sight of the principle which some have avowed in its discussion, or to +avoid extending my views to the consequences which must flow from the +admission of that principle. + +"I trust that no part of my conduct has ever indicated a disposition to +withhold any information which the constitution has enjoined it upon the +President as a duty to give or which could be required of him by either +House of Congress as a right, and with truth I affirm, that it has been, +as it will continue to be, while I have the honor to preside in the +government, my constant endeavor to harmonize with the other branches +thereof, so far as the trust delegated to me by the people of the United +States, and my sense of the obligation it imposes to preserve, protect +and defend the constitution will permit. + +"The nature of foreign negotiations requires caution, and their success +must often depend on secrecy, and even when brought to a conclusion, a +full disclosure of all the measures, demands, or eventual concessions +which may have been proposed or contemplated, would be extremely +impolitic, for this might have a pernicious influence on future +negotiations or produce immediate inconveniences, perhaps danger and +mischief to other persons. The necessity of such caution and secrecy +was one cogent reason for vesting the power of making treaties in the +President with the advice and consent of the Senate, the principle on +which that body was formed confining it to a small number of members. + +"To admit, then, a right in the House of Representatives to demand and +to have as a matter of course, all the papers respecting a negotiation +with a foreign power, would be to establish a dangerous precedent. + +"It does not occur that the inspection of the papers asked for can +be relative to any purpose under the cognizance of the House of +Representatives, except that of an impeachment, which the resolution +has not expressed. I repeat, that I have no disposition to withhold any +information which the duty of my station will permit or the public good +shall require to be disclosed, and, in fact, all the papers affecting +the negotiation with Great Britain were laid before the Senate, when the +treaty itself was communicated for their consideration and advice. + +"The course which the debate has taken on the resolution of the House, +leads to some observations on the mode of making treaties under the +constitution of the United States. + +"Having been a member of the general convention and knowing the +principles on which the constitution was formed, I have ever entertained +but one opinion upon this subject, and from the first establishment +of the government to this moment my conduct has exemplified that +opinion--that the power of making treaties is exclusively vested in the +President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided +two-thirds of the senators present concur, and that every treaty so made +and promulgated, thenceforward becomes the law of the land. It is thus +that the treaty-making power has been understood by foreign nations, +and in all the treaties made with them, we have declared, and they +have believed, that when ratified by the President with the advice and +consent of the Senate, they became obligatory. In this construction +of the constitution every House of Representatives has heretofore +acquiesced, and, until the present time, not a doubt or suspicion has +appeared, to my knowledge, that this construction was not a true +one. Nay, they have more than acquiesced, for until now, without +controverting the obligation of such treaties, they have made all the +requisite provisions for carrying them into effect. + +"There is also reason to believe that this construction agrees with +the opinions entertained by the State conventions when they were +deliberating on the constitution, especially by those who objected to it +because there was not required, in commercial treaties, the consent of +two-thirds of the whole number of the members of the Senate, instead of +two-thirds of the senators present, and because, in treaties respecting +territorial and certain other rights and claims, the concurrence +of three-fourths of the whole number of the members of both Houses +respectively was not made necessary. + +"It is a fact declared by the general convention and universally +understood, that the constitution of the United States was the result of +a spirit of amity and mutual concession. And it is well known that +under this influence the smaller States were admitted to an equal +representation in the Senate with the larger States, and that this +branch of the government was invested with great powers, for on the +equal participation of those powers the sovereignty and political safety +of the smaller States were deemed essentially to depend. + +"If other proofs than these, and the plain letter of the constitution +itself, be necessary to ascertain the points under consideration, they +may be found in the journals of the general convention, which I have +deposited in the office of the Department of State. In these journals +it will appear that a proposition was made 'that no treaty should be +binding on the United States which was not ratified by a law,' and that +the proposition was explicitly rejected. + +"As, therefore, it is perfectly clear to my understanding that the +assent of the House of Representatives is not necessary to the validity +of a treaty, as the treaty with Great Britain exhibits in itself all the +objects requiring legislative provision--and on these the papers called +for can throw no light, and as it is essential to the due administration +of the government that the boundaries fixed by the constitution between +the different departments should be preserved, a just regard to the +constitution and to the duty of my office, under all the circumstances +of this case, forbids a compliance with your request." + +The terms in which this decided, and, it would seem, unexpected negative +to the call for papers was conveyed, appeared to break the last cord of +that attachment which had theretofore bound some of the active +leaders of the opposition to Washington. Amidst all the agitations and +irritations of party a sincere respect and real affection for him, the +remnant of former friendship, had still lingered in the bosoms of some +who had engaged with ardor in the political contests of the day. But, +if the last spark of this affection was not now extinguished, it was at +least concealed under the more active passions of the moment. + +Washington's message was referred to a committee of the whole house. +It was severely criticized and resolutions were adopted, by a vote of +fifty-seven to thirty-five, declaring the sense of the House on this +matter, and claiming the right to deliberate on the expediency of +carrying into effect stipulations made by treaty on subjects committed +by the constitution to Congress. + +In March the subject came up incidentally. The treaties with the King +of Spain and with the Dey of Algiers were ratified by the President and +laid before Congress. On the 13th of April (1796), Mr. Sedgwick moved, +"that provision ought to be made by law for carrying into effect with +good faith the treaties lately concluded with the Dey and Regency of +Algiers, the King of Great Britain, the King of Spain, and certain +Indian tribes northwest of the Ohio." After much altercation on the +subject of thus joining all these treaties together, a division was +made, and the question taken on each. The resolution was amended by a +majority of eighteen so as to read, "that it is expedient to pass the +laws necessary for carrying into effect," &c. + +The subject of the British treaty was again taken up on the 15th of +April. Its friends urged an immediate decision of the question, alleging +that every member had made up his mind already, and that dispatch was +necessary, in case the treaty was to be carried into effect. The posts +were to be delivered up on the 1st of June, and this required previous +arrangements on the part of the American government. They appear to have +entertained the opinion that the majority would not dare to encounter +the immense responsibility of breaking the treaty without previously +ascertaining that the great body of the people were willing to meet +the consequences of the measure. But its opponents, though confident of +their power to reject the resolution, called for its discussion. + +The minority soon desisted from urging an immediate decision of the +question, and the spacious field which was opened by the propositions +before the House was entered into with equal avidity and zeal by both +parties. Gallatin, Madison, Giles, Nicholas, Preston, and other eminent +members of the republican party, in animated terms opposed the execution +of the treaty and entered fully into the discussion of its merits and +demerits. Fisher Ames, Dwight, Foster, Harper, Lyman, Dayton, and other +men of note among the Federalists, urged every possible argument in its +favor. + +The debate on this occasion is one of the most celebrated which has ever +taken place in Congress. Fisher Ames' speech is acknowledged to have +been the most remarkable and effective which he ever made. So completely +was the House carried away by his eloquence that an adjournment was +carried for the avowed reason that it was not possible to decide calmly +on the question until the members should have taken time for reflection. +Reflection convinced not only the members of Congress, but the people, +that the opposition to the execution of the treaty was ill advised and +unreasonable. The length of time consumed in the debates was favorable +to a just view of the subject, and finally a majority of the members who +had been opposed to the treaty yielded to the exigency of the case and +united in passing the laws which were necessary for its fulfillment. + +On the 29th of April (1796) the question was taken in committee of the +whole and was determined by the casting vote of the chairman in its +favor. The resolution was finally carried in the House by a vote of +fifty-one to forty-eight. + +Besides the acts which arose out of the treaties, Congress passed +others, regulating the dealings of the inhabitants of the western +frontier with the Indians; authorizing the survey of certain public +lands, with a view to the sale of them; ordaining measures for the +protection and relief of American seamen, and equalizing the pay of +members of both Houses of Congress. There were some $6,000,000, which +was not quite the full amount of the income, appropriated to the public +service and the interest of the debt. But there were so many other +demands upon the treasury that, after vainly endeavoring to obtain +another loan, part of the bank stock was sold, a procedure which was +reprobated by Hamilton as a violation of system. The opposition party +would not agree to raise further revenue by indirect internal taxation, +and only that augmenting the duty on pleasure carriages was passed into +a law. Equally strenuous was their opposition to a naval force. Even +under the pressure of the Algerine piracies, the bill providing a decent +naval force in the Mediterranean could not be carried through the House +without inserting a section which should suspend all proceedings under +the act in case the contest with Algiers was brought to an end. That +event having occurred, not a single frigate could be completed without +further authority from the Legislature. Although no peace had been +concluded with Tunis or Tripoli it was with the utmost difficulty that +a bill for the completion of three, instead of six, frigates could be +carried. On the 1st of June (1796) this long and important session of +Congress was brought to its close. + +Before Congress rose Washington had written (May 22, 1796) to Thomas +Pinckney, the American minister in England, who had desired his recall. +In this letter he refers to the recent debate in Congress on passing +the laws necessary to give effect to the treaty: "A long and animated +discussion," he writes, "in the House of Representatives respecting the +treaty of amity, commerce, and navigation with Great Britain took place +and continued in one shape or another till the last of April, suspending +in a manner all other business, and agitating the public mind in a +higher degree than it has been at any period since the Revolution. And +nothing, I believe, but the torrent of petitions and remonstrances, +which were pouring in from all the eastern and middle States and were +beginning to come pretty strongly from that of Virginia, requiring the +necessary provisions for carrying the treaty into effect, would +have produced a division (fifty-one to forty-eight) in favor of the +appropriation. + +"But as the debates, which I presume will be sent to you from the +Department of State, will give you a view of this business more in +detail than I am able to do, I shall refer you to them. The enclosed +speech, however, made by Mr. Ames at the close of the discussion, I send +to you, because, in the opinion of most who heard it delivered or have +read it since, his reasoning is unanswerable. + +"The doubtful issue of the dispute and the real difficulty in finding a +character to supply your place at the court of London, has occasioned a +longer delay than may have been convenient or agreeable to you. But as +Mr. King of the Senate, who, it seems, had resolved to quit his seat +at that board, has accepted the appointment, and will embark as soon as +matters can be arranged, you will soon be relieved. + +"In my letter of the 20th of February I expressed in pretty strong terms +my sensibility on account of the situation of the Marquis de Lafayette. +This is increased by the visible distress of his son, who is now with +me, and grieving for the unhappy fate of his parents. This circumstance, +giving a poignancy to my own feelings, has induced me to go a step +further than I did in the letter above mentioned, as you will perceive +by the enclosed address (a copy of which is also transmitted for your +information) to the Emperor of Germany, to be forwarded by you in such +a manner, and under such auspices, as in your judgment shall be deemed +best, or to be withheld, if from the evidence before you, derived from +former attempts, it shall appear clear that it would be of no avail to +send it. [1] + +"Before I close this letter permit me to request the favor of you to +embrace some favorable occasion to thank Lord Grenville, in my behalf, +for his politeness in causing a special permit to be sent to Liverpool +for the shipment of two sacks of field peas and the like quantity of +winter vetches, which I had requested our consul at that place to send +me for seed, but which it seems could not be done without an order from +government, a circumstance which did not occur to me or I certainly +should not have given the trouble of issuing one for such a trifle." + +Rufus King, senator from New York, above referred to, had been nominated +to the Senate as minister to London on the 19th of May, three days +before the date of Washington's letter to Mr. Pinckney. Hamilton, +writing to Washington respecting him, thus describes his character: "Mr. +King is a remarkably well-informed man, a very judicious one, a man +of address, a man of fortune and economy, whose situation affords just +ground of confidence; a man of unimpeached probity where he is known, +a firm friend to the government, a supporter of the measures of the +President; a man who cannot but feel that he has strong pretensions to +confidence and trust." + +In June (1796) the President went to Mount Vernon where he continued +for more than two months. He kept up a constant correspondence with his +secretaries, and held himself ever in readiness to return to the seat of +government, if his presence should be needed. + +During this visit to Mount Vernon the following letter was written to +Thomas Jefferson. It brought the correspondence, which, from time to +time, had taken place between them, to a final close. + + +"MOUNT VERNON, _July_ 6, 1796. + +"DEAR SIR:--When I inform you that your letter of the 19th ultimo went +to Philadelphia and returned to this place before it was received by +me, it will be admitted, I am persuaded, as an apology for my not having +acknowledged the receipt of it sooner. + +"If I had entertained any suspicions before that the queries which have +been published in Bache's paper proceeded from you the assurances you +have given of the contrary would have removed them, but the truth is, +I harbored none. I am at no loss to conjecture from what source they +flowed, through what channel they were conveyed, and for what purpose +they and similar publications appear. They were known to be in the hands +of Mr. Parker in the early part of the last session of Congress. They +were shown about by Mr. Giles during the session and they made their +public exhibition about the close of it. + +"Perceiving, and probably hearing, that no abuse in the gazettes would +induce me to take notice of anonymous publications against me, those +who were disposed to do me such friendly offices have embraced, without +restraint, every opportunity to weaken the confidence of the people, +and, by having the whole game in their hands, they have scrupled not +to publish things that do not, as well as those which do exist, and to +mutilate the latter, so as to make them subserve the purposes which they +have in view. + +"As you have mentioned the subject yourself, it would not be frank, +candid, or friendly to conceal that your conduct has been represented as +derogating from that opinion I had conceived you entertained of me, that +to your particular friends and connections you have described, and they +have denounced, me as a person under a dangerous influence, and that if +I would listen more to some other opinions all would be well. My answer +invariably has been that I had never discovered anything in the conduct +of Mr. Jefferson to raise suspicions in my mind of his insincerity; +that, if he would retrace my public conduct while he was in the +administration, abundant proofs would occur to him that truth and right +decisions were the sole objects of my pursuit; that there were as many +instances within his own knowledge of my having decided against as in +favor of the opinions of the person evidently alluded to, and, moreover, +that I was no believer in the infallibility of the politics or measures +of any man living. In short, that I was no party man myself, and the +first wish of my heart was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them. + +"To this I may add, and very truly, that, until within the last year or +two I had no conception that parties would, or even could, go the length +I have been witness to, nor did I believe until lately that it was +within the bounds of probability, hardly within those of possibility, +that, while I was using my utmost exertions to establish a national +character of our own, independent, as far as our obligations and justice +would permit, of every nation of the earth, and wished, by steering a +steady course, to preserve this country from the horrors of a desolating +war, I should be accused of being the enemy of one nation and subject +to the influence of another, and, to prove it, that every act of my +administration would be tortured and the grossest and most insidious +misrepresentations of them be made, by giving one side only of a +subject, and that too in such exaggerated and indecent terms as could +scarcely be applied to a Nero, a notorious defaulter, or even to a +common pickpocket. But enough of this. I have already gone further in +the expression of my feelings than I intended." + +The queries referred to in the above letter were those which had been +addressed to the Cabinet by Washington previous to the arrival of +Mr. Genet. As they were strictly confidential and could not have been +obtained for publication without treachery somewhere, Jefferson had +written to Washington to exculpate himself. It will be seen that +Washington, with his usual magnanimity, accepts the explanation of +Jefferson; but, as the party of which the latter was the acknowledged +leader were constantly carrying on the war of politics by abusing and +misrepresenting the former's motives and purposes, it is not surprising +that their correspondence should have terminated at this time. + +Of the numerous misrepresentations and fabrications which, with +unwearied industry, were passed upon the public in order to withdraw the +confidence of the nation from its chief, no one marked more strongly the +depravity of that principle which justifies the means by the end, than +the republication of certain forged letters, purporting to have been +written by General Washington in the year 1776. + +These letters had been originally published in the year 1777, and in +them were interspersed, with domestic occurrences which might give +them the semblance of verity, certain political sentiments favorable to +Britain in the then existing contest. + +But the original fabricator of these papers missed his aim. It was +necessary to assign the manner in which the possession of them was +acquired, and, in executing this part of his task, circumstances +were stated so notoriously untrue, that, at the time, the meditated +imposition deceived no person. + +In the indefatigable research for testimony which might countenance +the charge that the executive was unfriendly to France and under the +influence of Britain, these letters were drawn from the oblivion into +which they had sunk, it had been supposed forever, and were republished +as genuine. The silence with which Washington treated this as well as +every other calumny, was construed into an acknowledgment of its truth, +and the malignant commentators on this spurious text would not admit the +possibility of its being apocryphal. + +Those who labored incessantly to establish the favorite position that +the executive was under other than French influence, reviewed every +act of the administration connected with its foreign relations, and +continued to censure every part of the system with extreme bitterness. +Not only the treaty with Great Britain, but all those measures which +had been enjoined by the duties of neutrality, were reprobated as justly +offensive to France, and no opinion which had been advanced by Mr. +Genet, in his construction of the treaties between the two nations, +was too extravagant to be approved. The most ardent patriot could not +maintain the choicest rights of his country with more zeal than was +manifested in supporting all the claims of the French republic upon the +United States. This conduct of the opposition increased the disposition +of the French government to urge charges against that of this country, +and the French minister regulated his proceedings accordingly. + +In the anxiety which was felt by Washington to come to a full and +immediate explanation with the French Directory on the treaty with +Great Britain, Colonel Monroe, the American minister at Paris, had +been furnished, even before its ratification, and still more fully +afterwards, with ample materials for the justification of his +government. But, misconceiving the views of the administration, he +reserved these representations until complaints should be made, and +omitted to urge them while the Directory was deliberating on the course +it should pursue. Meanwhile, his letters kept up the alarm with regard +to the dispositions of France, and intelligence from the West Indies +served to confirm it. Washington received information that the special +agents of the Directory in the islands were about to issue orders for +the capture of all American vessels laden in whole or in part with +provisions and bound for any port within the dominions of the British +Crown. + +Knowing well that the intentions of the executive had been at all times +friendly to the French republic, Washington had relied with confidence +on early and candid communications for the removal of any prejudices +or misconceptions. That the Directory would be disappointed at the +adjustment of those differences which threatened to embroil the United +States with Great Britain, could not be doubted, but, as neither this +adjustment, nor the arrangements connected with it had furnished any +real cause of complaint, he had cherished the hope that it would produce +no serious consequences if the proper means of prevention should be +applied in time. He was therefore dissatisfied with delays which he had +not expected, and seems to have believed that they originated in a want +of zeal to justify a measure which neither the minister himself, nor his +political friends, had ever approved. To insure an earnest and active +representation of the true sentiments of the executive, Washington was +inclined to depute an envoy extraordinary for the particular purpose, +who should be united with the actual minister, but an objection, drawn +from the constitution, was suggested to the measure. It was doubted +whether the President could, in the recess of the Senate, appoint a +minister when no vacancy existed. From respect to this construction of +the constitution, the resolution was taken to appoint a successor to +Colonel Monroe. The choice of a person calculated for this mission +was not without its difficulty. While a disposition friendly to the +administration was indispensable, it was desirable that the person +employed should have given no umbrage to the French government. + +After some deliberation, Washington selected Gen. Charles Cotesworth +Pinckney, of South Carolina, for this critical and important service. In +the early part of the French revolution, he had felt and expressed all +the enthusiasm of his countrymen for the establishment of the republic, +but, after the commencement of its contests with the United States, he +stood aloof from both those political parties which divided America. + +He was recommended to the President by an intimate knowledge of his +worth, by a confidence in the sincerity of his personal attachment to +the chief magistrate, by a conviction that his exertions to effect the +objects of his mission would be ardent and sincere, and that, whatever +might be his partialities for France, he possessed a high and delicate +sense of national as well as individual honor, was jealous for the +reputation of his country, and tenacious of its rights. [2] + +In July, immediately after the appointment of General Pinckney, letters +were received from Colonel Monroe communicating the official complaints +which had been made against the American government in March, by M. de +la Croix, the minister of exterior relations, with his answer to those +complaints. He had effectually refuted the criminations of M. de +la Croix, and the executive was satisfied with his answer. But the +Directory had decided on their system, and it was not by reasoning that +their decision was to be changed. + +Washington's correspondence with the members of the Cabinet during his +summer residence at Mount Vernon was incessant. In his letters to James +McHenry, Secretary of War, we find evidence of his attention to minute +details of business, and his care of the public funds. In his letters +of the 8th of August, we find, besides a reference to the fact of +the delivery of the posts on the frontier by Great Britain, under the +treaty, some curious details respecting the army: + +"Your letter of the 3d instant," he writes, "with the information of +our possession of Fort Ontario, lately occupied by the troops of Great +Britain, and the correspondence between Captain Bruff of the United +States troops, and Captain Clarke of the British, was brought to me +by the last post. Several matters are submitted by the former for +consideration--among them, the mode of supplying the garrison with +firewood, and furnishing it with a seine. With respect to the first of +these, providing it with a horse or pair of horses and a batteau, as the +fuel is to be transported so far, seems to be a matter of necessity, but +the practice of the American army should be consulted for precedents, +before the British allowance is made to the soldiers for cutting and +transporting it to the fort, when the means by which it is done are +furnished by the public. If no allowance of this sort has been made +heretofore in towns, where wood was to be bought, which, if I remember +rightly, was the case invariably while I commanded the army, it would be +a dangerous innovation to begin it now, for it would instantly pervade +all the garrisons and the whole army, be their situation what it may. In +time of peace, where no danger is to be apprehended, and where the duty +is light, I see no hardship in the soldiers providing fuel for their own +use and comfort. With regard to a seine, as the expense would be small +if it is taken care of, and the convenience great, I think the garrison +should be indulged with one." He had always an eye to the comfort of the +soldier as well as to economy in the expenditure of the public money. +The garrison might have horses for draught, a batteau, and a seine to +catch fish in the lake, but in time of peace they were not to have extra +pay for cutting wood to keep themselves warm. + + +1. Footnote: This letter, dated May 15, 1796, contained an affecting +statement of Lafayette's case, and a request that he might be permitted +to come to the United States. The letter was transmitted to Mr. +Pinckney, to be conveyed to the Emperor through his minister at London. +How far it operated in mitigating immediately the rigor of Lafayette's +confinement, or in obtaining his liberation, remains unascertained. + +2. Footnote: Before offering the appointment of minister to France +to General Pinckney, Washington had offered it to Gen. John Marshall, +afterward chief justice; but the situation of his private affairs would +not permit its acceptance. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +WASHINGTON RETIRES FROM THE PRESIDENCY. 1796-1797. + + +Washington's fixed determination to retire from office at the end of +his second term had long been known to his confidential friends. Many of +them had opposed it from an apprehension of a political crisis arising +from the hostile demonstrations of France and the strong support given +to French pretensions by the opposition party in this country. When, in +July (1796), Washington proposed to declare publicly his determination, +Hamilton wrote to him, "If a storm gathers, how can you retreat? This is +a most serious question." Washington, yielding to the wishes of Hamilton +and other intimate friends, delayed the announcement of his purpose. +As the time for a new election approached the people, uncertain of his +intentions, became extremely anxious. The strong hold, says Marshall, +which Washington had taken of the affections of his countrymen was, on +this occasion, fully evinced. In districts where the opposition to +his administration was most powerful, where all his measures were most +loudly condemned, where those who approved his system possessed least +influence, the men who appeared to control public opinion on every +other subject found themselves unable to move it on this. Even the +most popular among the leaders of the opposition were reduced to the +necessity of surrendering their pretensions to a place in the electoral +body or of pledging themselves to bestow their suffrage on the +actual President. The determination of his fellow-citizens had been +unequivocally manifested, and it was believed to be apparent that the +election would again be unanimous when he announced his fixed resolution +to withdraw from the honors and the toils of office. + +Having long contemplated this event and having wished to terminate his +political course with an act which might be at the same time suitable to +his own character and permanently useful to his country, he had prepared +for the occasion a valedictory address in which, with the solicitude +of a person who, in bidding a final adieu to his friends, leaves his +affections and his anxieties for their welfare behind him, he made a +last effort to impress upon his countrymen those great political truths +which had been the guides of his own administration and could alone, +in his opinion, form a sure and solid basis for the happiness, the +independence, and the liberty of the United States. + +This interesting paper was published on the 17th of September, at a +time when hopes were entertained that the discontents of France might +be appeased by proper representations. It contains precepts to which the +American statesman cannot too frequently recur. + +WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS. + +TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. + +FRIENDS AND FELLOW CITIZENS:--The period for a new election of a citizen +to administer the executive government of the United States being not +far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must +be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that +important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce +to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should not +apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered +among the number of those out of whom the choice is to be made. + +I beg you at the same time to do me the justice to be assured that +this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all +the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful +citizen to his country, and that in withdrawing the tender of service, +which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no +diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful +respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction +that the step is compatible with both. + +The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which +your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of +inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared +to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much +earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at +liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been +reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous +to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address +to declare it to you, but mature reflection on the then perplexed and +critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous +advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the +idea. + +I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, +no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the +sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality +may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of +our country, you will not disapprove of my determination to retire. + +The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were +explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust I +will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed toward the +organization and administration of the government the best exertions +of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the +outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own +eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the +motives to diffidence of myself, and every day the increasing weight +of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is +as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any +circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were +temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that while choice and +prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not +forbid it. + +In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the career of +my political life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep +acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved +country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for +the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me, and for +the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable +attachment by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness +unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from +these services, let it always be remembered to your praise and as an +instructive example in our annals, that, under circumstances in +which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to +mislead--amidst appearances sometimes dubious--vicissitudes of fortune +often discouraging--in situations in which not unfrequently want of +success has countenanced the spirit of criticism--the constancy of your +support was the essential prop of the efforts and a guarantee of the +plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this +idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to +unceasing wishes, that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens +of its beneficence--that your union and brotherly affection may be +perpetual--that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, +may be sacredly maintained--that its administration in every department +may be stamped with wisdom and virtue--that, in fine, the happiness of +the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made +complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this +blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the +applause, the affection, and the adoption of every nation which is yet a +stranger to it. + +Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare which +cannot end but with my life and the apprehension of danger natural to +that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to +your solemn contemplation and to recommend to your frequent review, some +sentiments, which are the result of much reflection of no inconsiderable +observation and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of +your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more +freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a +parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his +counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent +reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. + +Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your +hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the +attachment. + +The unity of government, which constitutes you one people, is also now +dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of +your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your +peace abroad, of your safety, of your prosperity, of that very liberty +which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from +different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, +many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this +truth, as this is the point in your political fortress against which the +batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and +actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of +infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of +your national union to your collective and individual happiness, that +you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it, +accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of +your political safety and prosperity, watching for its preservation with +jealous anxiety, discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion +that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the +first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country +from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together +the various parts. + +For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens +by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to +concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to +you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride +of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local +discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same +religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a +common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty +you possess are the work of joint councils and joint efforts of common +dangers, sufferings, and successes. + +But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves +to your sensibility, are greatly out-weighed by those which apply more +immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds +the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the +union of the whole. + +The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by +the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of +the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial +enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, +in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its +agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own +channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation +invigorated--and while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and +increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward +to the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally +adapted. The East, in like intercourse with the West, already finds and +in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and +water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which +it brings from abroad or manufactures at home. The West derives from the +East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps +of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure +enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions, to the +weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side +of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as +one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential +advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength or from +an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be +intrinsically precarious. + +While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and +particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to +find in the united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, greater +resource, proportionally greater security from external danger, a less +frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations, and, what is of +inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from +those broils and wars between themselves which so frequently afflict +neighboring countries, not tied together by the same government, which +their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which +opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate +and embitter. Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity of those +overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, +are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as +particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that +your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty and +that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the +other. + +These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting +and virtuous mind and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary +object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government +can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to +mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope +that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of +governments for the respective subdivisions will afford a happy issue to +the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With +such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all parts of +our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its +impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism +of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its bands. + +In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it occurs as +matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished +for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations--northern +and southern--Atlantic and western, whence designing men may endeavor to +excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests +and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within +particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other +districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies +and heart burnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend +to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by +fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately +had a useful lesson on this head. They have seen, in the negotiation +by the executive and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate of +the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that even +throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the +suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the general government +and in the Atlantic States, unfriendly to their interests in regard +to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two +treaties, that with Great Britain and that with Spain, which secure to +them everything they could desire in respect to our foreign relations +toward confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely +for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were +procured? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such +there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them +with aliens? + +To the efficacy and permanency of your Union a government for the whole +is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be +an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions +and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. + +Sensible of this momentous truth you have improved upon your first essay +by the adoption of a constitution of government, better calculated than +your former, for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management +of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own +choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation +and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the +distribution of its powers uniting security with energy, and containing +within itself a provision for its own amendments, has a just claim to +your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance +with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the +fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems +is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of +government. But the constitution which at any time exists, until changed +by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly +obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of +the people to establish a government, presupposes the duty of every +individual to obey the established government. + +All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and +associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design +to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberations +and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this +fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize +faction; to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the +place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often +a small, but artful and enterprising minority of the community, and, +according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the +public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous +projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome +plans, digested by common councils and modified by mutual interests. + +However combinations or associations of the above description may now +and then answer popular ends they are likely, in the course of time +and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and +unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and +to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterward +the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. + +Toward the preservation of your government and the permanency of +your present happy state, it is requisite not only that you steadily +discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, +but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its +principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be +to effect in the forms of the constitution alterations which will impair +the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly +overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited remember that +time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true characters +of governments as of other human institutions--that experience is the +surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing +constitution of a country--that facility in changes upon the credit +of mere hypothesis, and opinion exposes to perpetual change from the +endless variety of hypothesis and opinion--and remember, especially, +that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country +so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent +with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself +will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and +adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, +where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of +faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits +prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil +enjoyment of the rights of person and property. + +I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, +with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical +discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view and warn you +in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of +party generally. + +This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having +its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under +different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, +or repressed but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest +rankness and is truly their worst enemy. + +The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the +spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages +and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself +a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and +permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually +incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute +power of an individual, and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing +faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this +disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public +liberty. + +Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless +ought not to be entirely out of sight) the common and continual +mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest +and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. + +It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public +administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies +and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another; +foments occasional riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign +influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the +government itself, through the channel of party passions. Thus the +policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will +of another. + +There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks +upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the +spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably true, and in +governments of a monarchical cast patriotism may look with indulgence, +if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular +character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be +encouraged. From their natural tendency it is certain there will always +be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose, and, there being +constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public +opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it +demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, +instead of warming, it should consume. + +It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country +should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration to +confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, +avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach +upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers +of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of +government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, +and proneness to abuse it, which predominate in the human heart, is +sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity +of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and +distributing it into different depositories and constituting each the +guardian of the public weal against invasions of the others, has been +evinced by experiments ancient and modern, some of them in our country +and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to +institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or +modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, +let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the constitution +designates. But let there be no change by usurpation, for though this, +in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary +weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must +always greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial or transient +benefit which the use can at any time yield. + +Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, +religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man +claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great +pillars of human happiness--these firmest props of the duties of men +and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought +to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their +connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked, +where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the +sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments +of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge +the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. +Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds +of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect +that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principles. +It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring +of popular government. This rule indeed extends with more or less force +to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it +can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the +fabric? + +Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for +the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of +a government gives force to public opinion it is essential that public +opinion should be enlightened. + +As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public +credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as +possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but +remembering also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, +frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding +likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of +expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the +debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously +throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. +The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it +is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To facilitate to +them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should +practically bear in mind, that toward the payment of debts there must be +revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be +devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that +the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the +proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be +a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the +government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the +measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any +time dictate. + +Observe good faith and justice toward all nations, cultivate peace and +harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct, and can it +be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a +free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to +mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided +by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the +course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay +any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to +it? Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity +of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended +by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered +impossible by its vices? + +In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that +permanent inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and +passionate attachments for others, should be excluded, and that, +in place of them, just and amicable feelings toward all should be +cultivated. The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred, +or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its +animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it +astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against +another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay +hold of slight causes of umbrage and to be haughty and intractable when +accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. + +Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed and bloody contests. +The nation, prompted by ill will and resentment, sometimes impels to +war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The +government sometimes participates in the national propensity and adopts +through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the +animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated +by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace +often, sometimes perhaps the liberty of nations has been the victim. + +So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces +a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the +illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common +interest exists and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays +the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the +latter, without adequate inducements or justification. It leads also to +concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others, +which are apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions by +unnecessary parting with what ought to have been retained, and by +exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the +parties from whom equal privileges are withheld, and it gives to +ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the +favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their +own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity, gilding +with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation to a commendable +deference for public opinion or a laudable zeal for public good, the +base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. + +As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments +are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent +patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic +factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, +to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small +or weak, toward a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the +satellite of the latter. + +Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to +believe me, fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free people ought to +be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign +influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. +But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial, else it becomes the +instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense +against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive +dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on +one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the +other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are +liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp +the applause and confidence of the people to surrender their interests. + +The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, +in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little +political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed +engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us +stop. + +Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none, or a very +remote, relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, +the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, +therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial +ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the ordinary +combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. + +Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue +a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient +government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury +from external annoyance, when we may take such an attitude as will +cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously +respected, when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making +acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation, +when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, +shall counsel. + +Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own +to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that +of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of +European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? + +It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any +portion of the foreign world, so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty +to do it, for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing +infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable +to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best +policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in +their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be +unwise to extend them. + +Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on +a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary +alliances for extraordinary emergencies. + +Harmony and a liberal intercourse with all nations are recommended by +policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should +hold an equal and impartial hand, neither seeking nor granting exclusive +favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; +diffusing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, +but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed--in order to +give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, +and to enable the government to support them--conventional rules of +intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will +permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned +or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate, constantly +keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested +favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence +for whatever it may accept under that character; that by such acceptance +it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for +nominal favors and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not +giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate +upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which +experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard. + +In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and +affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and +lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual +current of the passions or prevent our nation from running the course +which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But if I may even +flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some +occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury +of party spirit; to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue; to +guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism, this hope will be +a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have +been dictated. + +How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by +the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other +evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself +the assurance of my own conscience is that I have at least believed +myself to be guided by them. + +In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe my proclamation of +the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your +approving voice and by that of your representatives in both Houses +of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, +uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. + +After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I +could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the +circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty +and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it I determined, +as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, +perseverance, and firmness. + +The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct it is +not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, +according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from +being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually +admitted by all. + +The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything +more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every +nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the +relations of peace and amity toward other nations. + +The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be +referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a predominant +motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle +and mature its yet recent institutions and to progress, without +interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is +necessary to give it, humanely speaking, the command of its own +fortunes. + +Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration I am unconscious +of intentional error, I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects +not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever +they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the +evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that +my country will never cease to view them with indulgence, and, after +forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service, with an upright +zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, +as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. + +Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that +fervent love toward it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the +native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I +anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise +myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in +the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under +a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart and the happy +reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. + +UNITED STATES, _September_ 17, 1796. + +The sentiments of veneration with which this farewell address was +generally received were manifested in almost every part of the Union. +Some of the State Legislatures directed it to be inserted at large in +their journals, and nearly all of them passed resolutions expressing +their respect for the person of the President, their high sense of his +exalted services, and the emotions with which they contemplated his +retirement from office. Although the leaders of party might rejoice at +this event it produced solemn and anxious reflections in the great body, +even of those who belonged to the opposition. + +The person in whom alone the voice of the people could be united having +declined a re-election, the two great parties in America brought forward +their respective chiefs, and every possible effort was made by each to +obtain the victory. Mr. John Adams and Mr. Thomas Pinckney, the late +minister at London, were supported as President and Vice-President by +the Federalists; the whole force of the opposite party was exerted in +favor of Mr. Jefferson. + +Motives of vast influence were added on this occasion to those which +usually impel men in a struggle to retain or acquire power. The +continuance or the change, not only of those principles on which the +internal affairs of the United States had been administered, but of the +conduct which had been observed toward foreign nations, was believed to +depend on the choice of a chief magistrate. By one party the system of +neutrality pursued by the existing administration with regard to the +belligerent European powers, had been uniformly approved; by the other +it had been as uniformly condemned. In the contests, therefore, which +preceded the choice of electors, the justice of the complaints which +were made on the part of the French republic were minutely discussed, +and the consequences which were to be apprehended from her resentment +or from yielding to her pretensions were reciprocally urged as +considerations entitled to great weight in the ensuing election. + +In such a struggle it was not to be expected that foreign powers could +feel absolutely unconcerned. In November, while the parties were so +balanced that neither scale could be perceived to preponderate, Mr. +Adet addressed a letter to Colonel Pickering, the Secretary of State, in +which he recapitulated the numerous complaints which had been urged +by himself and his predecessors against the government of the United +States, and reproached that government in terms of great asperity +with violating those treaties which had secured its independence, with +ingratitude to France, and with partiality to England. These wrongs, +which commenced with the "insidious" proclamation of neutrality, were +said to be so aggravated by the treaty concluded with Great Britain +that Mr. Adet announced the orders of the Directory to suspend his +ministerial functions with the Federal government. "But the cause," +he added, "which has so long restrained the just resentment of the +Executive Directory from bursting forth, now tempered its effects. The +name of America, notwithstanding the wrongs of its government, still +excited sweet sensations in the hearts of Frenchmen, and the Executive +Directory wished not to break with a people whom they loved to salute +with the appellation of friend." This suspension of his functions, +therefore, was not to be regarded "as a rupture between France and the +United States, but as a mark of just discontent, which was to last +until the government of the United States returned to sentiments and to +measures more conformable to the interests of the alliance, and to the +sworn friendship between the two nations." "Let your government return +to itself," concluded Mr. Adet, "and you will still find in Frenchmen +faithful friends and generous allies." + +As if to remove any possible doubt respecting the purpose for which this +extraordinary letter was written, a copy was transmitted, on the day of +its date, to a printer for publication. + +This open and direct appeal of a foreign minister to the American +people, in the critical moment of their election of a chief magistrate, +did not effect its object. Reflecting men, even among those who had +condemned the course of the administration, could not approve this +interference in the internal affairs of the United States, and the +opposite party resented it as an attempt to control the operations +of the American people in the exercise of one of the highest acts +of sovereignty, and to poison the fountain of their liberty and +independence by mingling foreign intrigue with their elections. The +reader of history, however, is familiar with the fact that the course of +Adet in this affair was in strict accordance with the uniform practice +of the new rulers of France at that time. Their agents endeavored to +prejudice the people of every country in Europe against their respective +governments, and never hesitated to interfere directly between +the people and the government, wherever there was any prospect of +introducing French ascendency by such proceedings. The people of +the United States, on the present occasion, resented the officious +interference of Adet in the pending election as a gross insult, and it +undoubtedly aided the party which it was intended to defeat. Congress +met on the 5th of December (1796). There was not a sufficient number +of senators present on that day to form a quorum. In the House of +Representatives, among the new members who presented themselves was +Andrew Jackson, from Tennessee, the future President of the United +States. + +On the 7th of December Washington, for the last time, met the national +Legislature in the hall of the House of Representatives. His address was +comprehensive, temperate, and dignified. No personal consideration could +restrain him from recommending those great national measures which he +believed would be useful to his country, although open and extensive +hostility had been avowed to them. + +After presenting a full view of the situation of the United States and +the late transactions of the executive, he added: "To an active external +commerce the protection of a naval force is indispensable--this is +manifest with regard to wars in which a State is itself a party; +but, besides this, it is in our own experience that the most sincere +neutrality is not a sufficient guard against the depredations of nations +at war. To secure respect to a neutral flag requires a naval force, +organized and ready to vindicate it from insult or aggression; this may +even prevent the necessity of going to war by discouraging belligerent +powers from committing such violations of the rights of the neutral +party as may, first or last, leave no other option. From the best +information I have been able to obtain, it would seem as if our trade to +the Mediterranean, without a protecting force, will always be insecure, +and our citizens exposed to the calamities from which numbers of them +have but just been relieved." + +The speech next proceeded earnestly to recommend the establishment of +national works for manufacturing such articles as were necessary for the +defense of the country, and also for an institution which should grow up +under the patronage of the public and be devoted to the improvement +of agriculture. The advantages of a military academy and of a national +university were also urged, and the necessity of augmenting the +compensation to the officers of the United States in various instances +was explicitly stated. + +The President, in adverting to the dissatisfaction which had been +expressed by one of the great powers of Europe, said: "It is with much +pain and deep regret I mention that circumstances of a very unwelcome +nature have lately occurred. Our trade has suffered, and is suffering, +extensive injuries in the West Indies from the cruisers and agents of +the French republic, and communications have been received from, its +minister here which indicate the danger of a further disturbance of our +commerce by its authority." + +After stating his constant and earnest endeavors to maintain cordial +harmony and a perfectly friendly understanding with that republic, and +that his wish to maintain them remained unabated, he added: "In pursuing +this course, however, I cannot forget what is due to the character of +our government and nation, or to a full and entire confidence in the +good sense, patriotism, self-respect, and fortitude of my countrymen." + +After some other communications, the speech was concluded in the +following terms: + +"The situation in which I now stand, for the last time, in the midst +of the representatives of the people of the United States, naturally +recalls the period when the administration of the present form of +government commenced; and I cannot omit the occasion to congratulate +you and my country on the success of the experiment, nor to repeat my +fervent supplications to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe and Sovereign +Arbiter of Nations that His providential care may still be extended to +the United States; that the virtue and happiness of the people may be +preserved, and that the government which they have instituted for their +protection may be perpetual." + +The answer of the Senate embraced the various topics of the speech and +approved all the sentiments it contained. + +It expressed the ardent attachment of that body to their chief +magistrate, and its conviction that much of the public prosperity was to +be ascribed to the virtue, firmness, and talents of his administration. +After expressing the deep and sincere regret with which the official +ratification of his intention to retire from the public employments +of his country was received, the address proceeded to say: "The most +effectual consolation that can offer for the loss we are about to +sustain arises from the animating reflection that the influence of +your example will extend to your successors, and the United States thus +continue to enjoy an able, upright, and energetic administration." + +In the House of Representatives a committee of five had been appointed +to prepare a respectful answer to the speech, three of whom were friends +to the administration. + +Hoping that the disposition would be general to avow in strong terms +their attachment to the person and character of the President, the +committee united in reporting an answer which promised, in general +terms, due attention to the various subjects recommended to their +consideration, but was full and explicit in the expression of attachment +to himself and of approbation of his administration. + +The unanimity which prevailed in the committee did not extend to the +House. + +After amplifying and strengthening the expressions of the report, which +stated regret that any interruption should have taken place in the +harmony which had subsisted between the United States and France, and +modifying those which declared their hope for the restoration of that +harmony, so as to avoid any implication that its rupture was exclusively +ascribable to France, a motion was made by Mr. Giles to expunge all +those paragraphs which expressed attachment to the person and character +of the President, approbation of his administration, or regret at his +retiring from office. + +After a very animated debate the motion to strike out was lost and the +answer was carried by a great majority. + +Early in the session Washington communicated to Congress the copy of +a letter addressed by the Secretary of State to General Pinckney, +containing a minute and comprehensive detail of all the points of +controversy which had arisen between the United States and France, +and defending the measures which had been adopted by America with a +clearness and a strength of argument believed to be irresistible. +The letter was intended to enable General Pinckney to remove from the +government of France all impressions unfavorable to the fairness of +intention which had influenced the conduct of the United States, and +to efface from the bosoms of the great body of the American people all +those unjust and injurious suspicions which had been entertained +against their own administration. Should its immediate operation on the +executive of France disappoint his hopes, Washington persuaded himself +that he could not mistake its influence in America; and he felt the +most entire conviction that the accusations made by the French Directory +against the United States would cease, with the evidence that these +accusations were supported by a great portion of the American people. + +The letter and its accompanying documents were communicated to the +public, but, unfortunately, their effect at home was not such as had +been expected, and they were, consequently, inoperative abroad. + +The measures recommended by Washington, in his speech at the opening of +the session, were not adopted, and neither the debates in Congress nor +the party publications with which the nation continued to be agitated, +furnished reasonable ground for hope that the political intemperance +which had prevailed from the establishment of the republican form of +government in France, was about to be succeeded by a more conciliatory +spirit. It was impossible for Washington to be absolutely insensible to +the bitter invectives and malignant calumnies of which he had long been +the object. Yet in one instance only did he depart from the rule he had +prescribed for his conduct regarding them. Apprehending permanent injury +from the republication of certain spurious letters, which have been +already noticed, he, on the day which terminated his official character, +addressed a letter to the Secretary of State, declaring them to be +forgeries and stating the circumstances under which they were published. + +On the 8th of February (1797) the votes for the President and +Vice-President were opened and counted in the presence of both Houses, +and John Adams announced the fact from the chair of the Vice-President +that he himself had received 71 votes, Thomas Jefferson 68, Thomas +Pinckney 59, Aaron Burr 30, and that the balance of the votes were given +in varying small numbers to Samuel Adams, Oliver Ellsworth, John Jay, +etc. The total number of electors was 138. Thus John Adams became the +second President of the United States, and by some mismanagement on the +part of the Federalists Pinckney missed the Vice-Presidency, and the man +of all others most dreaded by the Federal party was placed in the very +front rank of the Republicans, and with the clear presage of success in +the future. + +Washington's feelings on the immediate prospect of retirement from +office are expressed in the following extract from a letter to +General Knox, dated March 2, 1797: "To the wearied traveler who sees +a resting-place and is bending his body to lean thereon, I now compare +myself, but to be suffered to do this in peace is too much to be endured +by some. To misrepresent my motives, to reprobate my politics, and to +weaken the confidence which has been reposed in my administration are +objects which cannot be relinquished by those who will be satisfied +with nothing short of a change in our political system. The consolation, +however, which results from conscious rectitude and the approving voice +of my country, unequivocally expressed by its representatives, deprive +their sting of its poison and place in the same point of view both the +weakness and malignity of their efforts. + +"Although the prospect of retirement is most grateful to my soul, and +I have not a wish to mix again in the great world or to partake in its +politics, yet I am not without my regrets at parting with (perhaps never +more to meet) the few intimates whom I love. Among these, be assured, +you are one." + +Bishop White has given the following anecdote, illustrating the +strong feelings of regret awakened among Washington's friends by his +approaching retirement from public life: + +"On the day before President Washington retired from office a large +company dined with him. Among them were the foreign ministers and their +ladies, Mr. and Mrs. Adams, Mr. Jefferson, and other conspicuous persons +of both sexes. During the dinner much hilarity prevailed, but on the +removal of the cloth it was put an end to by the President, certainly +without design. Having filled his glass, he addressed the company, +with a smile, as nearly as can be recollected, in the following words: +'Ladies and gentlemen, this is the last time I shall drink your health +as a public man. I do it with sincerity, wishing you all possible +happiness.' There was an end of all pleasantry. He who gives this +relation accidentally directed his eye to the lady of the British +minister, Mrs. Liston, and tears were running down her cheeks." + +Mr. Gibbs, in his "Administrations of Washington and Adams," refers to +the parting levee in the following terms: + +"Just before his final retirement, Washington held his last formal +levee. An occasion more respectable in simplicity, more imposing +in dignity, more affecting in the sensations which it awakened, the +ceremonials of rulers never exhibited. There were the great chiefs +of the republic of all parties and opinions; veterans of the War of +Independence, weather-stained and scarred; white-haired statesmen, who, +in retirement, were enjoying the fruits of former toil; there were +his executive counselors and private friends; ministers of foreign +governments, whose veneration approached that of his countrymen; +citizens who came to offer the tribute of a respect, sincere and +disinterested. Little was there of the pageantry of courts, little of +the glitter which attends the receptions of royalty, yet in the grave +assemblage that stood in that unadorned chamber there was a majesty +which these knew not. The dignitaries of a nation had come together to +bid farewell to one who, at their own free call, by their own +willing trust--not as an honor to be coveted, but as a duty to be +discharged--had, in turn, led their armies and executed their laws; one +who now, his last task worthily fulfilled, was to take his place again +among them, readier to relinquish than he had been to undertake power; a +soldier without stain upon his arms; a ruler without personal ambition; +a wise and upright statesman; a citizen of self-sacrificing patriotism; +a man pure, unblemished, and true in every relation he had filled; one +to whom all ages should point as the testimony that virtue and greatness +had been and could be united. + +"And he who was the object of this gathering--what thoughts crowded upon +his mind; what recollections filled the vista of the sixty odd years +which had passed over him; what changes of men, opinions, society, had +he seen! Great changes, indeed, in the world and its old notions; +the growing dissatisfaction of certain English emigrants at customary +tyrannies and new intended ones had taken form and shape, embodied +itself into principles, and vindicated them; blazed up an alarming +beacon in the world's eyes as the Sacred Right of Rebellion; fought +battles; asserted independence and maintained it at much cost of +bloodshed; made governments after its own new-fangled fashion; +impressed a most unwilling idea on history--the doctrine of popular +sovereignty--one which had proved contagious and had been adopted +elsewhere, running riot indeed in its novelty. And out of all this +confusion there had arisen the nation which he had presided over, +already become great, and factious in its greatness, with a noble +birthright, noble virtues, energies, and intellect; with great faults +and passions that, unchecked, would, as in lusty individual manhood, +lead to its ruin. + +"What was to be the future of that nation? Dark clouds hung over it, +dangers threatened it, enemies frowned upon it--the worst enemy was +within. License might blast, in a few hours, the growth of years; +faction destroy the careful work of the founders. On this he had left +his great solemn charge, like the last warning of a father to his +children." + +The relation in which the secretaries had stood with the President had +been one of respectful but affectionate intimacy. The most cordial and +unreserved friendship was extended to all whom he trusted and esteemed. +The Secretaries of State and War (Pickering and McHenry) had been his +fellow-soldiers; the Secretary of the Treasury (Wolcott) had, as it +were, grown up under his eye. The simplicity and military frankness +of Pickering, the kindly nature and refinement of McHenry, the +warm-heartedness and _bonhommie_ of Wolcott, all won upon his regard. On +their part there was a no less sincere love for their chief. There are +those devotion to whom is no degradation. Washington was such a one, and +to him it was rendered in the spirit of men who respected themselves. +Among all connected with him, either in military or civil life, this +sentiment was retained. His death hallowed his memory in their hearts to +a degree and with a sanctity which none can know who have not heard from +their own lips--none can feel Who were not of them. And in likewise the +wife and family of Washington were cherished. They had been universally +beloved on their own account, and the hand of fate, in depriving them of +a husband and father, as it were, bequeathed them to the tender care of +a nation. There was something beautiful in these sentiments, in a land +where the ties that bind men depend so little upon association. + +Wolcott, among others, had enjoyed much of the domestic society of the +President's house. His gentle and graceful wife had been regarded +with maternal tenderness by Mrs. Washington and was the friend and +correspondent of her eldest daughter. His child had been used to climb, +confident of welcome, the knees of the chief, and though so many years +his junior, while Wolcott's character and judgment had been held in +respect by the President, his personal and social qualities had drawn +toward him a warm degree of interest. + +On leaving the seat of government, Washington presented, it is believed, +to all his chief officers some token of regard. To Wolcott he gave a +piece of plate. Mrs. Washington gave to his wife, when visiting her for +the last time, a relic still more interesting. Asking her if she did +not wish for a memorial of the general, Mrs. Wolcott replied, "Yes," +she "should like a lock of his hair." Mrs. Washington, smiling, took Her +scissors and cut off for her a lock of her husband's and one of her own. +These, with the originals of Washington's letters, Wolcott preserved +with careful veneration and divided between his surviving children. + +"On the retirement of General Washington," says Wolcott, "being desirous +that my personal interests should not embarrass his successor, and +supposing that some other person might be preferred to myself, I +tendered my resignation to Mr. Adams before his inauguration. The tender +was declined and I retained office under my former commission." + +On the 1st of March (1797) Washington had addressed a note to the +Senate, desiring them to attend in their chamber on Saturday, the 4th, +at 10 o'clock, "to receive any communication which the President of +the United States might lay before them touching their interests." +In conformity with this summons the Senate assembled on that day and +commenced their thirteenth session. The oath of office was administered +by Mr. Bingham to Mr. Jefferson, who thereupon took the chair. The +new Senators were then sworn and the Vice-President delivered a brief +address. The Senate then repaired to the chamber of the House of +Representatives to attend the administration of the oath of office +to the new President. Mr. Adams entered, accompanied by the heads of +departments, [1] the marshal of the district and his officers, and took +his seat in the speaker's chair. The Vice-President and secretary of +the Senate were seated in advance on his right, and the late speaker +and clerk on the left; the justices of the Supreme Court sat before the +President, the foreign ministers and members of the House in their usual +seats. Washington, once more a private citizen, sat in front of the +judges. Mr. Adams then rose and delivered his inaugural speech. This +address was brief and well suited to the occasion. After adverting to +the circumstances which led to the formation of the new constitution, he +expressed the unqualified approbation with which, in a foreign land and +apart from the scene of controversy, he had first perused it, and the +undiminished confidence which, after eight years of experience, he +entertained of its fitness. He remarked briefly on the abuses to which +it was subject, and against which it became the duty of the people to +guard, and having disclosed his opinions of general policy, pledged +himself anew to the support of the government. The oath of office +was then administered by Chief Justice Ellsworth, the other justices +attending, after which he retired. [2] + +The citizens of Philadelphia celebrated the day of Adams' inauguration +by a testimony of their respect and affection for Washington. They +prepared a magnificent entertainment, designed for him as the principal +guest, to which were invited the foreign ministers, the members of the +Cabinet, officers of the army and navy, and other distinguished persons. + +In the rotunda in which it was given, an elegant compliment was prepared +for the principal guest, which is thus described in the papers of the +day: + +"Upon entering the area, the general was conducted to his seat. On +a signal given music played Washington's march, and a scene which +represented simple objects in the rear of the principal seat was drawn +up and discovered emblematical painting. + +"The principal was a female figure, large as life, representing America, +seated on an elevation composed of sixteen marble steps. At her left +side stood the Federal shield and eagle, and at her feet lay the +cornucopias, in her right hand she held the Indian calumet of peace +supporting the cap of liberty; in the perspective appeared the temple of +fame, and on her left hand an altar dedicated to public gratitude, upon +which incense was burning. In her left hand she held a scroll inscribed +Valedictory, and at the foot of the altar lay a plumed helmet and sword, +from which a figure of General Washington, large as life, appeared, +retiring down the steps, pointing with his right hand to the emblems of +power which he had resigned, and with his left to a beautiful landscape +representing Mount Vernon, in front of which oxen were seen harnessed +to the plough. Over the general appeared a Genius, placing a wreath of +laurels on his head." + +After Washington had paid to his successor those respectful compliments +which he believed to be equally due to the man and to the office, he +hastened to that real felicity which awaited him at Mount Vernon, the +enjoyment of which he had long impatiently anticipated. + +The same marks of respect and affection for his person which had on all +great occasions been manifested by his fellow-citizens, still attended +him. His endeavors to render his journey private were unavailing, +and the gentlemen of the country through which he passed, were still +ambitious of testifying their sentiments for the man who had, from the +birth of the Republic been deemed the first of American citizens. Long +after his retirement he continued to receive addresses from legislative +bodies and various classes of citizens, expressive of the high sense +entertained of his services. + +"Notwithstanding the extraordinary popularity of the first President of +the United States," says Marshall, "scarcely has any important act of +his administration escaped the most bitter invective. + +"On the real wisdom of the system which he pursued, every reader will +decide for himself. Time will, in some measure, dissipate the prejudices +and passions of the moment, and enable us to view objects through a +medium which represents them truly. + +"Without taking a full review of measures which were reprobated by one +party and applauded by the other, the reader may be requested to glance +his eye at the situation of the United States in 1797, and to contrast +it with their condition in 1788. + +"At home a sound credit had been created; an immense floating debt had +been funded in a manner perfectly satisfactory to the creditors; an +ample revenue had been provided; those difficulties which a system of +internal taxation, on its first introduction, is doomed to encounter, +were completely removed, and the authority of the government was +firmly established. Funds for the gradual payment of the debt had been +provided; a considerable part of it had been actually discharged, +and that system which is now operating its entire extinction had been +matured and adopted. The agricultural and commercial wealth of the +nation had increased beyond all former example. The numerous tribes of +warlike Indians, inhabiting those immense tracts which lie between the +then cultivated country of the Mississippi, had been taught, by arms and +by justice, to respect the United States and to continue in peace. +This desirable object having been accomplished, that humane system was +established for civilizing and furnishing them with the conveniences of +life, which improves their condition, while it secures their attachment. + +"Abroad, the differences with Spain had been accommodated, and the free +navigation of the Mississippi had been acquired, with the use of New +Orleans as a place of deposit for three years, and afterward, until +some other equivalent place should be designated. Those causes of mutual +exasperation which had threatened to involve the United States in a war +with the greatest maritime and commercial power in the world, had been +removed, and the military posts which had been occupied within their +territory, from their existence as a nation, had been evacuated. +Treaties had been formed with Algiers and with Tripoli, and no captures +appear to have been made by Tunis, so that the Mediterranean was opened +to American vessels. + +"This bright prospect was indeed, in part, shaded by the discontents of +France. Those who have attended to the particular points of difference +between the two nations will assign the causes to which these +discontents are to be ascribed, and will judge whether it was in the +power of the President to have avoided them without surrendering +the real independence of the nation and the most invaluable of all +rights--the right of self-government." + +Such was the situation of the United States at the close of Washington's +administration. Their circumstances at its commencement will be +recollected, and the contrast is too striking not to be observed. That +this beneficial change in the affairs of America is to be ascribed +exclusively to the wisdom which guided the national councils will not be +pretended. That many of the causes which produced it originated with the +government, and that their successful operation was facilitated, if not +secured, by the system which was adopted, will scarcely be denied. To +estimate that system correctly, their real influence must be allowed +to those strong prejudices and turbulent passions with which it was +assailed. + +Accustomed, in the early part of his life, to agricultural pursuits, +and possessing a real taste for them, Washington was particularly well +qualified to enjoy, in retirement, that tranquil felicity which he +had anticipated. Resuming former habits, and returning to ancient and +well-known employments, he was familiar with his new situation, and +therefore exempt from the danger of that disappointment which is the +common lot of those who, in old age, retire from the toils of business, +or the cares of office, to the untried pleasures of the country. A large +estate, which exhibited many proofs of having been long deprived of the +attentions of its proprietor in the management and improvement of which +he engaged with ardor, an extensive correspondence, and the society of +men and books, gave employment to every hour which was equally innocent +and interesting, and furnished ground for the hope that the evening of a +life which had been devoted to the public service, would be as serene as +its midday had been brilliant. + +In his journey from Philadelphia to Mount Vernon Washington was +accompanied by Mrs. Washington, Miss Custis, George Washington +Lafayette, eldest son of the general, and M. Frestel, young Lafayette's +tutor. + +Writing to Mr. McHenry, Secretary of War, from Mount Vernon, April 3, +1797, he thus describes His return home and his situation there: + +"We got home without accident and found the roads dryer and better than +I ever found them at that season of the year. The attentions we met +with on our journey were very flattering, and, to some, whose minds are +differently formed from mine, would have been highly relished; but I +avoided, in every instance, where I had any previous knowledge of the +intention, and could by earnest entreaties prevail, all parade and +escorts. Mrs. Washington took a violent cold in Philadelphia, which +hangs upon her still, but it is not as bad as it has been. [3] + +"I find myself in the situation nearly of a new beginner, for, although +I have not houses to build (except one, which I must erect for the +accommodation and security of my military, civil, and private papers, +which are voluminous, and may be interesting), yet I have scarcely +anything else about me that does not require considerable repairs. In +a word, I am already surrounded by joiners, masons, and painters, and, +such is my anxiety to get out of their hands, that I have scarcely +a room to put a friend into or to sit in myself without the music of +hammers or the odoriferous scent of paint." + +To Mr. Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, he writes: + +"For myself, having turned aside from the broad walks of political into +the narrow paths of private life, I shall leave it with those whose +duty it is to consider subjects of this sort, and, as every good citizen +ought to do, conform to whatsoever the ruling powers shall decide. To +make and sell a little flour annually, to repair houses (going fast to +ruin), to build one for the security of my papers of a public nature, +and to amuse myself in agricultural and rural pursuits, will constitute +employment for the few years I have to remain on this terrestrial globe. +If, also, I could now and then meet the friends I esteem, it would fill +the measure and add zest to my enjoyments; but, if ever this happens, +it must be under my own vine and fig-tree, as I do not think it probable +that I shall go beyond twenty miles from them." + +To another correspondent he repeats the same interesting sentiments, in +reference to his retirement and the happiness he found in it: + +"Retired from noise myself, and the responsibility attached to public +employment, my hours will glide smoothly on. My best wishes, however, +for the prosperity of our country will always have the first place in +my thoughts; while to repair buildings and to cultivate my farms, which +require close attention, will occupy the few years, perhaps days, I +may be a sojourner here, as I am now in the sixty-sixth year of my +peregrination through life." + +In a letter to Mr. McHenry, May 29th, he says: "I begin my diurnal +course with the sun; if my hirelings are not in their places at that +time, I send them messages of sorrow for their indisposition; having put +these wheels in motion, I examine the state of things further. The more +they are probed the deeper I find the wounds which my buildings have +sustained by an absence and neglect of eight years; by the time I have +accomplished these matters, breakfast (a little after 7 o'clock) is +ready; this being over, I mount my horse and ride round my farms, which +employs me until it is time to dress for dinner, at which I rarely miss +seeing strange faces--come, as they say, out of respect for me. Pray, +would not the word curiosity answer as well? And how different this +from having a few social friends at a cheerful board! The usual time +of setting at table, a walk, and tea bring me within the dawn of +candle-light, previous to which, if not prevented by company, I resolve +that, as soon as the glimmering taper supplies the place of the great +luminary, I will retire to my writing table and acknowledge the letters +I have received; but, when the lights are brought, I feel tired and +disinclined to engage in this work, conceiving that the next night +will do as well. The next night comes, and with it, the same causes for +postponement, and so on. + +"This will account for your letter remaining so long unacknowledged; +and, having given you the history of a day, it will serve for a year, +and I am persuaded you will not require a second edition of it. But it +may strike you, that in this detail no mention is made of any portion +of time allotted for reading. The remark would be just, for I have not +looked into a book since I came home; nor shall I be able to do it +until I have discharged my workmen, probably not before the nights grow +longer, when, possibly, I may be looking in Doomsday Book. At present I +shall only add, that I am always and affectionately yours." + +The celebrated Mr. (afterward Lord) Erskine, having sent Washington a +copy of his "View of the Causes and Consequences of the Present War with +France," he acknowledged it in a letter, of which the following is a +part: + +"To have so conducted my steps in the intricate walks of public life, +and through a long course, as to meet the approbation of my country and +the esteem of good men, is, next to the consciousness of having acted in +all things from my best judgment, the highest gratification of which my +mind is susceptible, and will, during the remainder of a life which is +hastening to an end, and in moments of retirement better adapted to +calm reflection than I have hitherto experienced, alleviate the pain and +soften any cares, which are yet to be encountered, though hid from me at +the present. + +"For me to express my sentiments with respect to the administration +of the concerns of another government might incur a charge of stepping +beyond the line of prudence; but the principles of humanity will justify +an avowal of my regret, and I do regret exceedingly, that any causes +whatever should have produced and continued until this time, a war, more +bloody, more expensive, more calamitous, and more pregnant with events +than modern, or perhaps any other times can furnish an example of. And +I most sincerely and devoutly wish that your exertions, and those of +others having the same object in view, may effect what human nature +cries aloud for, a general peace." [4] + +His correspondence with the Earl of Radnor shows the estimation in which +he was held abroad, and also illustrates his situation and feelings at +the time. + +"_To General Washington._ + +"SIR.--Though of necessity a stranger to you, I cannot deny myself the +satisfaction, among the many who will, probably, even from this country, +intrude upon your retirement, of offering to you my congratulations +on your withdrawing yourself from the scene of public affairs, with +a character which appears to be perfectly unrivalled in history. The +voluntary resignation of authority, wielded, as it was, while you +thought fit to yield it, for the advantage of your country, in the +universal opinion of mankind, confirms the judgment I had presumed to +form of your moderation, and completes the glory of your life. + +"Permit me, sir, who, enlisted in no political party, have, as a public +man, looked up to you with veneration; who have seen the beginning of +your career against England with approbation, because I felt England +was unjust; who have seen you discontinue your hostility toward England, +when, in good faith, she was no longer acting as an enemy to America, +by honest counsels endeavoring to be as closely connected with amity, +as she is by natural and mutual interests; who have seen you the +instrument, in the hand of Providence, of wresting from the British +Parliament an influence destructive of the just rights of both countries +and of establishing the independence of America, which, I am persuaded, +will continually, if your principles and your wisdom shall actuate your +successors, be the means of securing them respectively to us both; who +have seen you, in adversity and prosperity alike, the good, the firm, +the moderate, the disinterested patriot; permit me, I say, as an +Englishman and as a man, to rejoice at the completion of such a +character, and to offer my unfeigned wishes for a peaceful evening +of your life and the realization (as is my sincere belief) of your +posthumous fame and your eternal happiness. + +"I have the honor to subscribe myself, etc., + +"RADNOR. + +"LONGFORD CASTLE, _January_ 19, 1797." + + +The following is Washington's reply: + +"MY LORD.--The sentiments which your lordship has been pleased to +express, in your favor of the 19th of January last, relative to my +public conduct, do me great honor, and I pray you to accept my grateful +acknowledgment of the unequivocal evidence, conveyed in your letter, of +the favorable opinion you entertain of the principles by which it was +actuated. + +"For having performed duties which I conceive every country has a right +to require of its citizens, I claim no merit; but no man can feel more +sensibly the reward of approbation for such services than I do. Next to +the consciousness of having acted faithfully in discharging the several +trusts to which I have been called, the thanks of one's country and the +esteem of good men are the highest gratification my mind is susceptible +of. + +"At the age of sixty-five, I am now recommencing my agricultural and +rural pursuits, which were always more congenial to my temper +and disposition than the noise and bustle of public employments, +notwithstanding so small a portion of my life has been engaged in the +former. + +"I reciprocate, with great cordiality, the good wishes you have been +pleased to bestow on me, and pray devoutly that we may both witness, +and that shortly, the return of peace; for a more bloody, expensive, +and eventful war is not recorded in modern, if to be found in ancient +history." + +Before leaving the subject of Washington's European reputation it is +proper to quote the remarks made by the celebrated orator and statesman, +Charles James Fox, in the British Parliament, January 31, 1794. It was +in reference to Washington's communications to Congress at the opening +of the session, December 3, 1793: + +"And here, sir, I cannot help alluding to the President of the United +States, General Washington, a character whose conduct has been so +different from that which has been pursued by the ministers of this +country. How infinitely wiser must appear the spirit and principles +manifested in his late address to Congress than the policy of modern +European courts! Illustrious man, deriving honor less from the splendor +of his situation than from the dignity of his mind; before whom all +borrowed greatness sinks into insignificance, and all the potentates of +Europe (excepting the members of our own royal family) become little and +contemptible. He has had no occasion to have recourse to any tricks of +policy or arts of alarm; his authority has been sufficiently supported +by the same means by which it was acquired, and his conduct has +uniformly been characterized by wisdom, moderation, and firmness. +Feeling gratitude to France for the assistance received from her in +that great contest which secured the independence of America, he did not +choose to give up the system of neutrality. Having once laid down that +line of conduct which both gratitude and policy pointed out as most +proper to be pursued, not all the insults and provocation of the French +minister, Genet, could turn him from his purpose. Entrusted with the +welfare of a great people, he did not allow the misconduct of another, +with respect to himself, for one moment to withdraw his attention from +their interest. He had no fear of the Jacobins; he felt no alarm from +their principles, and considered no precaution necessary in order to +stop their progress. + +"The people over whom he presided he knew to be acquainted with their +rights and their duties. He trusted to their own good sense to defeat +the effect of those arts which might be employed to inflame or mislead +their minds, and was sensible that a government could be in no +danger while it retained the attachment and confidence of its +subjects--attachment, in this instance, not blindly adopted; confidence +not implicitly given, but arising from the conviction of its excellence +and the experience of its blessings. I cannot, indeed, help admiring the +wisdom and fortune of this great man. By the phrase 'fortune,' I +mean not in the smallest degree to derogate from his merit. But +notwithstanding his extraordinary talents and exalted integrity, it must +be considered as singularly fortunate that he should have experienced +a lot which so seldom falls to the portion of humanity, and have passed +through such a variety of scenes without stain and without reproach. +It must, indeed, create astonishment, that, placed in circumstances so +critical, and filling for a series of years, a station so conspicuous, +his character should never once have been called in question; that he +should in no one instance have been accused either of improper insolence +or mean submission in his transactions with foreign nations. For him +it has been reserved to run the race of glory, without experiencing the +smallest interruption to the brilliancy of his career." + + +1. Footnote: All the Cabinet officers of Washington were retained by +Mr. Adams, viz.: Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State; James McHenry, +Secretary of War; Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury, and Charles +Lee, Attorney-General. The navy department was not organized till 1798. +2. Footnote: Gibbs, "Administrations of Washington and John Adams." + +3. Footnote: The following extract is from a Baltimore paper, dated +March 13th: "Last evening arrived in this city, on his way to Mount +Vernon, the illustrious object of veneration and gratitude, George +Washington. His Excellency was accompanied by his lady and Miss Custis, +and by the son of the unfortunate Lafayette and his preceptor. At a +distance from the city, he was met by a crowd of citizens, on horse +and foot, who thronged the road to greet him, and by a detachment from +Captain Hollingsworth's troop, who escorted him in through as great a +concourse of people as Baltimore ever witnessed. On alighting at the +Fountain Inn, the general was saluted with reiterated and thundering +huzzas from the spectators. His Excellency, with the companions of his +journey, leaves town, we understand, this morning." + +4. Footnote: Erskine's opinion of Washington is thus expressed in his +letter, dated London, March 15, 1795: "I have taken the liberty," he +writes, "to introduce your august and immortal name in a short sentence, +which will be found in the book I send you. I have a large acquaintance +among the most valuable and exalted classes of men; but you are the only +human being for whom I ever felt an awful reverence. I sincerely pray +God to grant a long and serene evening to a life so gloriously devoted +to the universal happiness of the world. + +"T. ERSKINE." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +WASHINGTON APPOINTED LIEUTENANT-GENERAL. 1797-1798. + + +We have mentioned, incidentally, that George Washington Motier +de Lafayette, the son of the general, with his tutor, M. Frestel, +accompanied Washington on his journey from Philadelphia to Mount Vernon. +When the wife and daughters of Lafayette left France to join him in the +prison of Olmutz his son came to the United States. He arrived at Boston +in the summer of 1795, with his tutor, and had immediately written to +Washington to apprise him of his arrival. The letter was received just +as he was leaving Philadelphia for Mount Vernon. Washington would have +been delighted to receive him immediately into his family, but this +was forbidden by political considerations of great weight. He therefore +wrote to George Cabot, of Boston, desiring him to assure the young man +of his friendship and protection, and recommending that he should be +entered as a student at Harvard University, Cambridge, and offering to +defray the expenses of his education there. This was declined, however, +on account of the different course of study which he was pursuing under +the tuition of M. Frestel, and George went to take up his residence with +M. Lacolombe, [1] in a country-house near New York. In November, 1795, +Washington wrote to young Lafayette and his tutor, assuring the former +of his paternal regard and support, and desiring him to repair to +Colonel Hamilton in New York. On the 18th of March, 1796, the following +resolution, and order were passed by the House of Representatives in +Congress: + +"Information having been given to this House that a son of General +Lafayette is now within the United States; + +"_Resolved_, That a committee be appointed to inquire into the truth of +the said information and report thereon, and what measures it would +be proper to take, if the same be true, to evince the grateful sense +entertained by this country for the services of his father. + +"_Ordered_, That Mr. Livingston, Mr. Sherburne, and Mr. Murray be +appointed a committee pursuant to the said resolution." + +As chairman of this committee, Mr. Livingston wrote to young Lafayette +as follows: + +"SIR.--Actuated by motives of gratitude to your father, and eager +to seize every opportunity of showing their sense of his important +services, the House of Representatives have passed the resolution which +I have the pleasure to communicate. The committee being directed to +inquire into the fact of your arrival within the United States, +permit me to advise your immediate appearance at this place, that the +Legislature of America may no longer be in doubt whether the son of +Lafayette is under their protection and within the reach of their +gratitude. + +"I presume to give this advice as an individual personally attached to +your father, and very solicitous to be useful to any person in whose +happiness he is interested. If I should have that good fortune on this +occasion, it will afford me the greatest satisfaction. + +"I am, &c., + +"EDWARD LIVINGSTON." + +On receiving this letter, young Lafayette wrote to Washington, enclosing +the resolution and the letter of Mr. Livingston, and asking his +advice relative to the course which he should pursue. The following is +Washington's answer: + +"Your letter of the 28th instant was received yesterday. The enclosures +which accompanied it evidence much discretion, and your conduct therein +meets my entire approbation. + +"In the early part of this month I put a letter into the hands of +Colonel Hamilton, inviting you to this place, and expected, until your +letter of the above date was received, to have embraced you under my own +roof tomorrow or next day. + +"As the period for this seems to be more distant, from the purport of +your inquiries, I again repeat my former request, and wish that, without +delay, you and M. Frestel would proceed immediately to this city and to +my house, where a room is prepared for you and him. + +"Under expectation of your doing this, it is as unnecessary as it might +be improper to go more into detail until I have the pleasure of seeing +you and of rendering every service in my power to the son of my friend, +for whom I have always entertained the purest affection, which is too +strong not to extend itself to you. Therefore believe me to be, as I +really am, sincerely and affectionately yours, &c." + +From this time (March, 1796) to April, 1797, when he journeyed with +Washington to Mount Vernon, young Lafayette resided with him in +Philadelphia. Writing to General Dumas (June 24, 1797) from Mount +Vernon, Washington, after expressing an ardent wish for the restoration +of General Lafayette to liberty, says: "His son and M. Frestel, who +appears to have been his mentor, are, and have been, residents in my +family since their arrival in this country, except in the first moments +of it; and a modest, sensible, well-disposed youth he is." + +In October, 1797, intelligence of the liberation of General Lafayette +from his Austrian prison having been received, his son hastened to meet +him in France. He sailed with M. Frestel from New York, on the 26th of +October, bearing the following letter from Washington to his father: [2] + +"This letter, I hope and expect, will be presented to you by your son, +who is highly deserving of such parents as you and your amiable lady. + +"He can relate much better than I can describe my participation in +your sufferings, my solicitude for your relief, the measures I adopted, +though ineffectual, to facilitate your liberation from an unjust +and cruel imprisonment, and the joy I experienced at the news of its +accomplishment. I shall hasten, therefore, to congratulate you, and be +assured that no one can do it with more cordiality, with more sincerity, +or with greater affection, on the restoration of that liberty which +every act of your life entitles you to the enjoyment of; and I hope +I may add, to the uninterrupted possession of your estates and the +confidence of your country. The repossession of these things, though +they cannot compensate for the hardships you have endured, may +nevertheless soften the painful remembrance of them. + +"From the delicate and responsible situation in which I stood as a +public officer, but more especially from a misconception of the manner +in which your son had left France, till explained to me in a personal +interview with himself, he did not come immediately into my family on +his arrival in America, though he was assured in the first moments of it +of my protection and support. His conduct, since he first set his feet +on American ground, has been exemplary in every point of view, such as +has gained him the esteem, affection, and confidence of all who have had +the pleasure of his acquaintance. His filial affection and duty and his +ardent desire to embrace his parents and sisters, in the first moments +of their release, would not allow him to wait the authentic account +of this much-desired event; but, at the same time that I suggested the +propriety of this, I could not withhold my assent to the gratification +of his wishes to fly to the arms of those whom he holds most dear, +persuaded as he is, from the information he has received, that he shall +find you all in Paris. + +"M. Frestel has been a true mentor to George. No parent could have been +more attentive to a favorite son, and he richly merits all that can be +said of his virtues, of his good sense, and of his prudence. Both your +son and he carry with them the vows and regrets of this family and all +who know them. And you may be assured that yourself never stood higher +in the affections of the people of this country than at the present +moment. + +"Having bid a final adieu to the walks of public life, and meaning +to withdraw myself from politics, I shall refer you to M. Frestel +and George, who, at the same time that they have, from prudential +considerations, avoided all interference in the politics of the country, +cannot have been inattentive observers of what was passing among us, to +give you a general view of our situation, and of the party which, in +my opinion, has disturbed the peace and tranquility of it. And with +sentiments of the highest regard for you, your lady, and daughters, and +with assurances that, if inclination or events should induce you or any +of them to visit America, no person in it would receive you with more +cordiality and affection than Mrs. Washington and myself, both of us +being most sincerely and affectionately attached to you, and admirers of +them." + +Devoted as Washington, in his retirement, was to his favorite pursuit +of agriculture, he nevertheless took a lively interest in the political +affairs of the country. In the events which were now passing he found +cause for considerable anxiety. The conduct of the French Directory +still indicated a persistence in their favorite policy of detaching +the people of the United States from the support of the executive, and +effecting a revolution in the government. Their treatment of General +Pinckney, the minister sent to France by Washington, fully disclosed +their views and intentions. After inspecting General Pinckney's letter +of credence, the Directory announced to him their determination "not to +receive another minister plenipotentiary from the United States until +after the redress of grievances demanded of the American government, +which the French republic had a right to expect from it." This message +was succeeded, first by indecorous verbal communications, calculated to +force the American minister out of France, and afterward, by a written +mandate to quit the territories of the republic. + +This act of hostility was accompanied with another, which would explain +the motives for this conduct, if previous measures had not rendered all +further explanation unnecessary. + +On giving to the recalled minister his audience of leave, the President +of the Directory addressed a speech to him, in which terms of outrage to +the government were mingled with expressions of affection for the people +of the United States, and the expectation of ruling the former, by +their influence over the latter, was too clearly manifested not to be +understood. To complete this system of hostility, American vessels +were captured wherever found, and, under the pretext of their wanting +a document, with which the treaty of commerce had been uniformly +understood to dispense, they were condemned as prize. + +This serious state of things demanded a solemn consideration. On +receiving from General Pinckney the dispatches which communicated it, +President Adams issued his proclamation requiring Congress to meet on +the 15th day of May. The speech delivered by him at the commencement of +the session showed that the insults of the French Directory were deeply +resented. He said: "The speech of the President discloses sentiments +more alarming than the refusal of a minister, because more dangerous +to our independence and union, and, at the same time, studiously marked +with indignities toward the government of the United States. It evinces +a disposition to separate the people from their government; to persuade +them that they have different affections, principles, and interests +from those of their fellow-citizens whom they themselves have chosen to +manage their common concerns; and thus to produce divisions fatal to our +peace. Such attempts ought to be repelled with a decision which shall +convince France, and the world, that we are not a degraded people, +humiliated under a colonial spirit of fear and sense of inferiority, +fitted to be the miserable instruments of foreign influence, and +regardless of national honor, character, and interest. Retaining +still the desire which had uniformly been manifested by the American +government to preserve peace and friendship with all nations, and +believing that neither the honor nor the interest of the United States +absolutely forbade the repetition of advances for securing these +desirable objects with France, he should," he said, "institute a fresh +attempt at negotiation, and should not fail to promote and accelerate +an accommodation on terms compatible with the rights, duties, interests, +and honor of the nation." But while he should be making these endeavors +to adjust all differences with the French republic by amicable +negotiation, he earnestly recommended it to Congress to provide +effectual measures of defense. + +The drawing up an answer to this speech of President Adams occasioned a +full fortnight's debate in the House of Representatives, but at length +a reply, correspondent to the President's tone and views, was carried by +51 or 52 voices against 48. This showed the balance of parties, proved +that Adams still kept the ascendency, however small, that Washington +had done, and that the dread of democratic violence prevailed over the +suspicions endeavored to be awakened of monarchism and an arbitrary +executive. This feeling was, no doubt, strengthened greatly by refugees +from St. Domingo, who related the dire effects which democratic acts +had produced in that island. France, however, was never more formidable. +Tidings of her victories poured in, whilst those of England told of bank +payments suspended, a mutiny in the fleet, and the abandonment of her +best continental ally. + +To carry into effect the pacific dispositions avowed by President +Adams in his speech, he appointed three envoys to the French Directory. +General Pinckney, who was still residing in Europe, was placed at the +head of the mission. Gen. John Marshall, afterward chief justice, a +sturdy Federalist, and Elbridge Gerry, an anti-Federalist, but a strong +personal friend and favorite of the President, were joined with Pinckney +in the mission. They were instructed to endeavor to procure peace and +reconciliation by all means compatible with the honor and faith of +the United States, but no national engagements were to be impaired, +no innovation to be permitted upon those internal regulations for +the preservation of peace which had been deliberately and uprightly +established, nor were the rights of the government to be surrendered. On +their arrival in France the envoys saw M. Talleyrand, the Minister for +Foreign Affairs, but were informed that they could not be received by +the Directory. They had permission to remain in Paris, however, and the +agents of M. de Talleyrand--a female amongst others were employed to +negotiate with them. The true difficulty in the way of accommodation, +in addition to the impertinent arrogance of the Directory, seemed to be +that Merlin and others received a great part of the gains accruing from +American prizes made by the French. In order to counteract this gold in +one hand by gold in the other, Talleyrand demanded a douceur of £50,000 +for himself and chiefs, besides a loan to be afterward made from America +to France. To extract these conditions, every argument that meanness +could suggest was employed by Talleyrand; he demanded to be fed as a +lawyer or bribed as a friend. But the Americans were inexorable, and two +of their number, Pinckney and Marshall, returned to announce to their +countrymen the terms on which peace was offered. The cupidity of the +French government completely turned against it the tide of popular +feeling in America. "Millions for defense, not a cent for tribute," was +instantly the general cry. The President felt his hands strengthened by +the demands of the French. Certainly, never did minister show himself +less sagacious than M. de Talleyrand in this affair, or more ignorant of +the spirit and manners of a nation amongst whom he had resided. + +In Congress (May, 1798), vigorous measures were adopted for placing the +country in a state of defense against impending hostilities from one of +the most powerful nations of the world. Among these was a regular army. +A regiment of artillerists and engineers was added to the permanent +establishment, and the President was authorized to raise twelve +additional regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry to serve +during the continuance of the existing differences with the French +republic, if not sooner discharged. He was also authorized to appoint +officers for a provisional army and to receive and organize volunteer +corps who should be exempt from ordinary militia duty, but neither the +volunteers nor the officers of the provisional army were to receive pay +unless called into actual service. + +Addresses to the executive from every part of the United States attested +the high spirit of the nation, and the answers of President Adams were +well calculated to give it solidity and duration. + +No sooner had a war become probable, to the perils of which no man could +be insensible, than the eyes of all were directed to Washington, as the +person who should command the American army. He alone could be seen at +the head of a great military force without exciting jealousy; he alone +could draw into public service and arrange properly the best military +talents of the nation, and he, more than any other, could induce the +utmost exertion of its physical strength. Indignant at the unprovoked +injuries which had been heaped upon his country, and convinced that the +conflict, should a war be really prosecuted by France with a view to +conquest, would be extremely severe and could be supported, on the part +of America, only by a persevering exertion of all her force, he could +not determine, should such a crisis arrive, to withhold those aids which +it might be in his power to afford, should public opinion really attach +to his services that importance which would render them essential. His +own reflections appear to have resulted in a determination not to refuse +once more to take the field, provided he could be permitted to secure +efficient aid by naming the chief officers of the army, and to remain +at home until his service in the field should be required by actual +invasion. [3] + +A confidential and interesting letter from Colonel Hamilton of the 19th +of May, on political subjects, concludes with saying: "You ought also to +be aware, my dear sir, that in the event of an open rupture with France +the public voice will again call you to command the armies of your +country, and though all who are attached to you will, from attachment as +well as public consideration, deplore an occasion which should once more +tear you from that repose to which you have so good a right, yet it is +the opinion of all those with whom I converse that you will be compelled +to make the sacrifice. All your past labors may demand, to give them +efficacy, this further, this very great sacrifice." + +"You may be assured," said Washington in reply, "that my mind is deeply +impressed with the present situation of public affairs and not a little +agitated by the outrageous conduct of France toward the United States, +and at the inimitable conduct of those partisans who aid and abet her +measures. You may believe further, from assurances equally sincere, that +if there was anything in my power to be done consistently to avert or +lessen the danger of the crisis, it should be rendered with hand and +heart." + +"But, my dear sir, dark as matters appear at present, and expedient as +it is to be prepared for the worst that can happen (and no man is more +disposed to this measure than I am), I cannot make up my mind yet +for the expectation of open war; or, in other words, for a formidable +invasion by France. I cannot believe, although I think her capable of +anything, that she will attempt to do more than she has done. When she +perceives the spirit and policy of this country rising into resistance, +and that she has falsely calculated upon support from a large part of +the people to promote her views and influence in it, she will desist +ever from those practices, unless unexpected events in Europe or the +acquisition of Louisiana and the Floridas should induce her to continue +them. And I believe further, that, although the leaders of their party +in this country will not change their sentiments, they will be obliged +to change their plan or the mode of carrying it on. The effervescence +which is appearing in all quarters, and the desertion of their +followers, will frown them into silence--at least for a while. + +"If I did not view things in this light my mind would be infinitely more +disquieted than it is, for, if a crisis should arrive when a sense of +duty or a call from my country should become so imperious as to leave +me no choice, I should prepare for relinquishment and go with as much +reluctance from my present peaceful abode as I should go to the tombs of +my ancestors." + +The opinion that prudence required preparations for open war and that +Washington must once more be placed at the head of the American armies +strengthened every day, and on the 22d of June President Adams addressed +him a letter in which that subject was thus alluded to. + +"In forming an army, whenever I must come to that extremity I am at an +immense loss whether to call out the old generals or to appoint a young +set. If the French come here we must learn to march with a quick step +and to attack, for in that way only they are said to be vulnerable. I +must tax you sometimes for advice. We must have your name, if you will +in any case permit us to use it. There will be more efficacy in it than +in many an army." + +A letter from McHenry, the Secretary of War, written four days +afterward, concludes with asking: "May we flatter ourselves that, in +a crisis so awful and important you will accept the command of all our +armies? I hope you will, because you alone can unite all hearts and all +hands, if it is possible that they can be united." + +These letters reached Washington on the same day. The following +extract from his reply to the President will exhibit the course of his +reflections relative to his appearance once more at the head of the +American armies: + +"At the epoch of my retirement an invasion of these States by an +European power, or even the probability of such an event in my days, +was so far from being contemplated by me that I had no conception either +that or any other occurrence would arise in so short a period which +could turn my eyes from the shades of Mount Vernon. But this seems to +be the age of wonders. And it is reserved for intoxicated and lawless +France (for purposes of Providence far beyond the reach of human ken) +to slaughter her own citizens and to disturb the repose of all the world +besides. From a view of the past--from the prospect of the present--and +of that which seems to be expected, it is not easy for me to decide +satisfactorily on the part it might best become me to act. In case of +actual invasion by a formidable force I certainly should not entrench +myself under the cover of age and retirement, if my services should be +required by my country to assist in repelling it. And if there be good +cause to expect such an event, which certainly must be better known to +the government than to private citizens, delay in preparing for it +may be dangerous, improper, and not to be justified by prudence. +The uncertainty, however, of the latter, in my mind, creates my +embarrassment, for I cannot bring it to believe, regardless as the +French are of treaties and of the laws of nation, and capable as I +conceive them to be of any species of despotism and injustice, that they +will attempt to invade this country after such a uniform and unequivocal +expression of the determination of the people in all parts to oppose +them with their lives and fortunes. That they have been led to believe +by their agents and partisans among us that we are a divided people, +that the latter are opposed to their own government, and that the show +of a small force would occasion a revolt, I have no doubt; and how far +these men (grown desperate) will further attempt to deceive, and may +succeed in keeping up the deception, is problematical. Without that, +the folly of the Directory in such an attempt would, I conceive, be more +conspicuous, if possible, than their wickedness." + +"Having with candor made this disclosure of the state of my mind, it +remains only for me to add that to those who know me best it is best +known that, should imperious circumstances induce me to exchange once +more the smooth paths of retirement for the thorny ways of public life, +at a period too when repose is more congenial to nature, it would +be productive of sensations which can be more easily conceived than +expressed." + +His letter to the Secretary of War was more detailed and more explicit. +"It cannot," he said, "be necessary for me to premise to you or +to others who know my sentiments; that to quit the tranquility of +retirement, and enter the boundless field of responsibility, would be +productive of sensations which a better pen than I possess would find it +difficult to describe. Nevertheless, the principle by which my conduct +has been actuated through life would not suffer me, in any great +emergency, to withhold any services I could render when required by my +country--especially in a case where its dearest rights are assailed by +lawless ambition and intoxicated power, in contempt of every principle +of justice, and in violation of a solemn compact and of laws which +govern all civilized nations--and this too with the obvious intent +to sow thick the seeds of disunion for the purpose of subjugating our +government and destroying our independence and happiness. + +"Under circumstances like these, accompanied by an actual invasion of +our territory, it would be difficult for me, at any time, to remain an +idle spectator, under the plea of age or retirement. With sorrow, it is +true, I should quit the shades of my peaceful abode, and the ease and +happiness I now enjoy, to encounter anew the turmoils of war, to which, +possibly, my strength and powers might be found incompetent. These, +however, should not be stumbling-blocks in my own way. But there are +other things highly important for me to ascertain and settle before I +could give a definitive answer to your question: + +"1st. The propriety in the opinion of the public, so far as that opinion +has been expressed in conversation, of my appearing again on the public +theater after declaring the sentiments I did in my valedictory address +of September, 1796. + +"2dly. A conviction in my own breast, from the best information that can +be obtained, that it is the wish of my country that its military force +should be committed to my charge; and, + +"3dly. That the army now to be formed should be so appointed as to +afford a well-grounded hope of its doing honor to the country and credit +to him who commands it in the field. + +"On each of these heads you must allow me to make observations." +Washington then proceeded to detail his sentiments on those points on +which his consent to take command of the army must depend. + +Some casual circumstances delayed the reception of the letters of the +President and Secretary of War for several days, in consequence of +which, before the answer of Washington reached the seat of government, +the President had nominated him to the chief command of all the +armies raised or to be raised in the United States, with the rank of +lieutenant-general; and the Senate had unanimously advised and consented +to his appointment. + +By the Secretary of War, who was directed to wait upon him with his +commission, the President addressed to him the following letter: + +"Mr. McHenry, the Secretary of War, will have the honor to wait on you +in my behalf, to impart to you a step I have ventured to take, which +I should have been happy to have communicated in person, had such a +journey at this time been in my power." + +"My reasons for this measure will be too well known to need any +explanation to the public. Every friend and every enemy of America will +comprehend them at first blush. To you, sir, I owe all the apology I can +make. The urgent necessity I am in of your advice and assistance, indeed +of your conduct and direction of the war, is all I can urge; and that is +a sufficient justification to myself and to the world. I hope it will +be so considered by yourself. Mr. McHenry will have the honor to consult +you upon the organization of the army, and upon everything relating to +it." + +Open instructions, signed by the President, were on the same day +delivered to the Secretary of War, of which the following is a copy: + +"It is my desire that you embrace the first opportunity to set out on +your journey to Mount Vernon and wait on General Washington with the +commission of lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of the armies of +the United States, which, by the advice and consent of the Senate, has +been signed by me. + +"The reasons and motives which prevailed on me to venture on such a +step as the nomination of this great and illustrious character, whose +voluntary resignation alone occasioned my introduction to the office I +now hold, were too numerous to be detailed in this letter, and are too +obvious and important to escape the observation of any part of America +or Europe. But as it is a movement of great delicacy it will require +all your address to communicate the subject in a manner that shall be +inoffensive to his feelings and consistent with all the respect that is +due from me to him. + +"If the general should decline the appointment all the world will be +silent and respectfully acquiesce. If he should accept it all the world, +except the enemies of his country, will rejoice. If he should come to no +decisive determination, but take the subject into consideration, I shall +not appoint any other lieutenant-general until his conclusion is known. + +"His advice in the formation of a list of officers would be extremely +desirable to me. The names of Lincoln, Morgan, Knox, Hamilton, Gates, +Pinckney, Lee, Carrington, Hand, Muhlenberg, Dayton, Burr, Brooks, Cobb, +Smith, as well as the present commander-in-chief, may be mentioned to +him, and any others that occur to you. Particularly, I wish to have +his opinion on the men most suitable for inspector-general, +adjutant-general, and quartermaster-general. + +"His opinion on all subjects would have great weight, and I wish you +to obtain from him as much of his reflections upon the times and the +service as you can." + +The communications between Washington and the Secretary of War appear to +have been full and unreserved. The impressions of the former respecting +the critical and perilous situation of his country had previously +determined him to yield to the general desire and accept the commission +offered him, provided he could be permitted to select for the high +departments of the army, and especially for the military staff, those +in whom he could place the greatest confidence. Being assured that there +was every reason to believe his wishes in this respect would not be +thwarted, he gave to the secretary the arrangement which he would +recommend for the principal stations in the army, and on the 13th of +July addressed the following letter to the President: + +"I had the honor, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from +the hands of the Secretary at War your favor of the 7th, announcing +that you had, with the advice and consent of the Senate, appointed me +lieutenant-general and commander-in-chief of the armies raised or to be +raised for the service of the United States." + +"I cannot express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of public +confidence, and at the highly flattering manner in which you have been +pleased to make the communication. At the same time I must not conceal +from you my earnest wish that the choice had fallen upon a man +less declined in years and better qualified to encounter the usual +vicissitudes of war." + +"You know, sir, what calculations I had made relative to the probable +course of events on my retiring from office and the determination with +which I had consoled myself of closing the remnant of my days in my +present peaceful abode. You will, therefore, be at no loss to conceive +and appreciate the sensations I must have experienced to bring my mind +to any conclusion that would pledge me at so late a period of life +to leave scenes I sincerely love to enter upon the boundless field of +public action, incessant trouble, and high responsibility. + +"It was not possible for me to remain ignorant of or indifferent to +recent transactions. The conduct of the Directory of France toward our +country; their insidious hostility to its government; their various +practices to withdraw the affections of the people from it; the evident +tendency of their arts, and those of their agents to countenance and +invigorate opposition; their disregard of solemn treaties and the laws +of nations; their war upon our defenseless commerce; their treatment of +our ministers of peace, and their demands, amounting to tribute, +could not fail to excite in me sentiments corresponding with those my +countrymen have so generally expressed in their affectionate addresses +to you. + +"Believe me, sir, no man can more cordially approve the wise and +prudent measures of your administration. They ought to inspire universal +confidence, and will no doubt, combined with the state of things, call +from Congress such laws and means as will enable you to meet the full +force and extent of the crisis. Satisfied, therefore, that you have +sincerely wished and endeavored to avert war, and exhausted to the last +drop the cup of reconciliation, we can, with pure hearts, appeal to +Heaven for the justice of our cause, and may confidently trust the final +result to that kind Providence who has heretofore and then so often +signally favored the people of the United States. + +"Thinking in this manner and feeling how incumbent it is upon every +person of every description to contribute at all times to his country's +welfare, and especially in a moment like the present, when everything +we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened, I have finally +determined to accept the commission of commander-in-chief of the armies +of the United States, with the reserve only that I shall not be called +into the field until the army is in a situation to require my presence +or it becomes indispensable by the urgency of circumstances. + +"In making this reservation, I beg it to be understood that I do not +mean to withhold any assistance to arrange and organize the army, which +you may think I can afford. I take the liberty also to mention that I +must decline having my acceptance considered as drawing after it any +immediate charge upon the public, or that I can receive any emoluments +annexed to the appointment before I am in a situation to incur expense." + +From this period Washington intermingled the cares and attentions of +office with his agricultural pursuits. His solicitude respecting the +organization of an army which he might possibly be required to lead +against an enemy the most formidable in the world, was too strong to +admit of his being inattentive to its arrangements. + +Having stipulated, in accepting office, that he should have a concurrent +voice in the appointment of the general officers and general staff of +the army, he named Alexander Hamilton as inspector-general and second +in command, with Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Henry Knox as +major-generals. Adams, who particularly disliked Hamilton, and was very +suspicious of his designs and purposes, especially if placed in any +position of power and influence, was not at all pleased with +this arrangement; but he unwillingly acquiesced. General Knox was +dissatisfied with the rank assigned him, and refused to serve; General +Pinckney, on the other hand, accepted the post offered him. + +During the months of November and December (1798), Washington was at +Philadelphia, where he was busily occupied, with Hamilton and Pinckney, +in concerting arrangements for raising and organizing the army. From +this time to the end of his life a great part of his time was bestowed +upon military affairs. + +"His correspondence with the Secretary of War, the major-generals, and +other officers," as Mr. Sparks states, "was unremitted and very full, +entering into details and communicating instructions which derived +value from his long experience and perfect knowledge of the subject. His +letters during this period, if not the most interesting to many readers, +will be regarded as models of their kind, and as affording evidence that +the vigor and fertility of his mind had not decreased with declining +years. + +"He never seriously believed that the French would go to the extremity +of invading the United States. But it had always been a maxim with +him, that a timely preparation for war afforded the surest means for +preserving peace, and on this occasion he acted with as much promptitude +and energy as if the invaders had been actually on the coast. His +opinion proved to be correct, and his prediction was verified." For the +French government, when it was found that the people would support the +executive in resisting aggressions, soon manifested a disposition to +draw back from their war-like attitude, since war with the United States +was the last thing which was really desired. + +While Washington was engaged in organizing the army actual hostilities +between the United States and France were going on at sea. A _navy_ +department was formed by act of Congress in April (1798), and on May +21st Benjamin Stoddert, of Maryland, became the first Secretary of +the Navy. The frigates United States, 44, and Constellation, 38, were +launched and fitted for sea in the summer and autumn succeeding; and the +whole force authorized by a law passed on the 16th of July, consisted of +twelve frigates, twelve ships of a force between twenty and twenty-four +guns inclusive, and six sloops, besides galleys and revenue cutters, +making a total of thirty active cruisers. Numerous privateers were also +fitted out. The chief theater of naval operations was the archipelago +of the West Indies, where the aggressions on our commerce by French +cruisers and privateers had originally commenced. Of the numerous +encounters which took place, two remarkable ones afforded a promise of +the future glories of the American navy. One of these was a very severe +action (February, 1799) between the American frigate Constellation, +of thirty-eight guns, commanded by Commodore Truxton, and the French +frigate l'Insurgente, of forty guns, which terminated in the capture +of the latter. Truxton, in a subsequent engagement, compelled another +French frigate, the Vengeance, mounting no less than fifty-two guns, to +strike her colors, but she afterward made her escape in the night. + +The determined attitude of the United States soon convinced the French +Directory that the people were united in support of the administration +in its hostile operations, and Talleyrand sent certain intimations to +our government, through William Vans Murray, American minister at the +Hague, as well as by more private channels, that the Directory were +willing and desirous to treat for peace. President Adams determined to +avail himself of these friendly dispositions, and, without consulting +his Cabinet or the leading members of Congress, on the 18th of February +(1799) nominated to the Senate Mr. Murray as minister plenipotentiary +to the French republic. Patrick Henry and Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth +were subsequently appointed joint ambassadors, but the latter declining +on account of ill health, Gen. William Richardson Davie, Governor of +North Carolina, was appointed in his place. Ellsworth and Davie did not +leave the country, however, till November. The peace which terminated +the quasi war with France was negotiated by these envoys, but it did not +take place till the 3d of September, 1800, when Napoleon was at the +head of affairs in France, as First Consul, and after the death of +Washington. + +We have seen that when Washington retired from the office of President, +he had promised himself a season of leisure and repose before closing +his useful and honorable life. But this the course of events did not +permit. His last days were destined to be fully occupied with public +affairs. + +During the years 1798 and 1799 he was engaged in a most voluminous +correspondence with the President, the heads of departments, and the +officers of the provisional army, in relation to military affairs, and +in addition to this his published letters show that he had to keep up a +correspondence with many public men, both in Europe and America, as well +as with his own connections and dependants. + +This correspondence and the arrangement of his papers added to the +writing occasioned by his accounts and the army affairs, made it +necessary for him to have assistance, and he accordingly wrote to his +old secretary, Mr. Tobias Lear, with a view to engaging him in the same +office again (August 2, 1798). An extract from his letter to Mr. Lear +shows how his writing labors had increased. + +"The little leisure I had," he writes, "before my late appointment +(from visits, my necessary rides, and other occurrences), to overhaul, +arrange, and separate papers of real from those of little or no value, +is now, by that event, so much encroached upon by personal and +written applications for offices, and other matters incidental to the +commander-in-chief, that, without assistance, I must abandon all idea of +accomplishing this necessary work before I embark in new scenes, which +will render them more voluminous, and, of course, more difficult; a +measure which would be extremely irksome to me to submit to, especially +as it respects my accounts, which are yet in confusion; my earnest wish +and desire being, when I quit the stage of human action, to leave all +matters in such a situation as to give as little trouble as possible to +those who will have the management of them hereafter. + +"Under this view of my situation, which is far from being an agreeable +one, and at times fills me with deep concern when I see so little +prospect of complete extrication, I have written to the Secretary of War +to be informed whether--as my taking the field is contingent, and no +pay or emolument will accrue to myself until then--I am at liberty +to appoint my secretary immediately, who shall be allowed his pay and +forage from the moment he joins me. If he answers in the affirmative, +can you do this on these terms?" + +Mr. Lear accepted the appointment of secretary, proceeded immediately to +Mount Vernon, and remained with Washington till his decease. + +With the aid of Mr. Lear, who was thoroughly conversant with his papers +and accustomed to his methods of transacting business, he was enabled to +keep up his old habit of riding over the estate, and superintending its +culture, during the early hours of the day. "When he returned from his +morning ride," which, he remarks in a letter to Mr. McHenry, "usually +occupied him till it was time to dress for dinner," he generally found +some newly arrived guests, perfect strangers to him, come, as they said, +out of respect to him. They were always received courteously, but their +number and their constant succession must have made serious inroads on +the domestic quiet in which he so much delighted. "How different this," +he says in the same letter, "from having a few social friends at a +cheerful board." + +During the last two years of his life his domestic circle was small. +Mrs. Washington, Miss Custis, and some others of his adopted children, +and his old friend, Mr. Lear, were at Mount Vernon; and some of his +visitors were such as he himself would have chosen. But the greater part +of them were comparative strangers. + +Distinguished persons sometimes came from Europe to visit him, and these +were received with his usual hospitality. When they sought to draw him +into conversation about his own actions, he changed the subject and +made inquiries about Europe and its affairs. In his own house, although +maintaining toward strangers great courtesy and amenity, he always +avoided discussing on matters in which he himself had played the most +conspicuous part. At home he was the plain, modest country gentleman he +had been before the destinies of an army and an empire had been placed +in his hands. + + +1. Footnote: M. de Lacolombe had been adjutant-general under Lafayette, +when the latter commanded the National Guard. + +2. Footnote: Sparks, "Writings of Washington." + +3. Footnote: Marshall. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +LAST ILLNESS, DEATH, AND CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON. 1799. + + +On Thursday, December 12, 1799, Washington rode out to superintend as +usual the affairs of his estate. He left the house at 10 o'clock in the +morning and did not return till 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Soon after +he went out the weather became very inclement, rain, hail, and snow +falling alternately, with a cold wind. When he came in his secretary +and superintendent, Mr. Lear, handed him some letters to frank, but he +declined sending them to the post-office that evening, remarking that +the weather was too bad to send a servant with them. On Mr. Lear's +observing that he was afraid he had got wet, he said, No, his great coat +had kept him dry. Still his neck was wet and snow was hanging on his +hair. But he made light of it, and sat down to dinner without changing +his dress. In the evening he appeared as well as usual. [1] + +A heavy snowstorm on Friday prevented his riding out on the estate as +usual. He had taken cold the day before by his long exposure, and he +complained of a sore throat. This, however, did not prevent his going +out in the afternoon to mark some trees not far from the house, which +were to be cut down. He had now a hoarseness, which increased toward +the close of the day. He spent the evening in the parlor with Mrs. +Washington and Mr. Lear, perusing the newspapers, occasionally reading +an interesting article aloud as well as his hoarseness would permit, +and cheerful as usual. On his retiring, Mr. Lear proposed that he should +take some remedy for his cold, but he answered "No, you know I never +take anything for a cold. Let it go as it came." + +Between 2 and 3 o'clock on Saturday morning he had an ague fit, but +would not permit the family to be disturbed in their rest till daylight. +He breathed with great difficulty and was hardly able to utter a word +intelligibly. At his desire he was bled by Mr. Rawlins, one of the +overseers. An attempt to take a simple remedy for a cold showed that he +could not swallow a drop, but seemed convulsed and almost suffocated in +his efforts. Dr. Craik, the family physician, was sent for and arrived +about 9 o'clock, who put a blister on his throat, took some more blood +from him and ordered a gargle of vinegar and sage tea, and inhalation of +the fumes of vinegar and hot water. Two consulting physicians, Dr. Brown +and Dr. Dick, were called in, who arrived about 3 o'clock, and after a +consultation he was bled a third time. The patient could now swallow +a little, and calomel and tartar emetic were administered without any +effect. + +About half past 4 o'clock he desired Mr. Lear to call Mrs. Washington to +his bedside; when he requested her to bring from his desk two wills, +and on receiving them, he gave her one, which he observed was useless +as being superseded by the other, and desired her to burn it, which she +did, and put the other into her closet. + +"After this was done," says Mr. Lear, in concluding his touching +narrative, "I returned to his bedside and took his hand. He said to +me: 'I find I am going. My breath cannot last long. I believed from the +first that the disorder would prove fatal. Do you arrange and record all +my late military letters and papers. Arrange my accounts and settle my +books, as you know more about them than anyone else, and let Mr. Rawlins +finish recording my other letters, which he has begun.' I told him this +should be done. He then asked if I recollected anything which it was +essential for him to do, as he had but a very short time to continue +with us. I told him that I could recollect nothing which it was +essential for him to do, but that I hoped he was not so near his end. He +observed, smiling, that he certainly was, and that, as it was the debt +we must all pay, he looked to the event with perfect resignation. + +"In the course of the afternoon he appeared to be in great pain and +distress, from the difficulty of breathing, and frequently changed his +posture in the bed. On these occasions I lay upon the bed and endeavored +to raise him and turn him with as much ease as possible. He appeared +penetrated with gratitude for my attentions, and often said, 'I am +afraid I shall fatigue you too much,' and upon assuring him that I could +feel nothing but a wish to give him ease, he replied, 'Well, it is a +debt we must pay to each other, and I hope when you want aid of this +kind you will find it.' + +"About 5 o'clock Dr. Craik came again into the room, and, upon going to +the bedside, the general said to him, 'Doctor, I die hard, but I am +not afraid to go. I believed, from my first attack, that I should not +survive it. My breath cannot last long.' The doctor pressed his hand, +but could not utter a word. He retired from the bedside and sat by the +fire, absorbed in grief. + +"Between 5 and 6 o'clock Dr. Craik, Dr. Dick, and Dr. Brown came again +into the room, and with Dr. Craik went to the bed, when Dr. Craik asked +him if he could sit up in the bed. He held out his hand and I raised him +up. He then said to the physicians, 'I feel myself going; I thank you +for your attentions, but I pray you to take no more trouble about me. +Let me go off quietly. I cannot last long.' They found that all which +had been done was without effect. He lay down again, and all retired +except Dr. Craik. He continued in the same situation, uneasy and +restless, but without complaining, frequently asking what hour it was. +When I helped him to move at this time he did not speak, but looked at +me with strong expressions of gratitude. + +"About 8 o'clock the physicians came again into the room and applied +blisters and cataplasms of wheat bran to his legs and feet, after which +they went out, except Dr. Craik, without a ray of hope. I went out about +this time and wrote a line to Mr. Law and Mr. Peter, requesting them +to come with their wives (Mrs. Washington's granddaughters) as soon as +possible to Mount Vernon. + +"About 10 o'clock he made several attempts to speak to me before he +could effect it. At length he said, 'I am just going. Have me decently +buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three +days after I am dead.' I bowed assent, for I could not speak. He then +looked at me again and said, 'Do you understand me?' I replied, 'Yes.' +'Tis well,' said he. + +"About ten minutes before he expired (which was between 10 and 11 +o'clock) his breathing became easier. He lay quietly; he withdrew his +hand from mine and felt his own pulse. I saw his countenance change. +I spoke to Dr. Craik, who sat by the fire. He came to the bedside. The +general's hand fell from his wrist. I took it in mine and pressed it to +my bosom. Dr. Craik put his hands over his eyes, and he expired without +a struggle or a sigh (December 14, 1799). + +"While we were fixed in silent grief, Mrs. Washington, who was sitting +at the foot of the bed, asked, with a firm and collected voice, 'Is he +gone?' I could not speak, but held up my hand as a signal that he was no +more. 'Tis well,' said she, in the same voice, 'all is over now. I shall +soon follow him. I have no more trials to pass through.' + +"During his whole illness," adds Mr. Lear, "he spoke but seldom, and +with great difficulty and distress, and in so low and broken a voice +as at times hardly to be understood. His patience, fortitude, and +resignation never forsook him for a moment. In all his distress he +uttered not a sigh nor a complaint, always endeavoring, from a sense of +duty, as it appeared, to take what was offered him and to do as he was +desired by the physicians." + +By this simple and touching record of the last moments of Washington, it +will be perceived that his conduct, in the last trying scene, was in +all respects consistent with his whole life and character. His habitual +serenity and self-command, and the ever-present sense of duty, are +apparent through the whole. He died as he had lived, a hero in the +highest sense of the word and a true Christian. + +The deep and wide-spreading grief occasioned by this melancholy event +assembled a great concourse of people for the purpose of paying the last +tribute of respect to the first of Americans, and on Wednesday, the 18th +of December, his body, attended by military honors, and with religious +and Masonic ceremonies, was deposited in the family vault on his estate. + +In December, 1837, the remains of the great father of our nation, after +a slumber of thirty-eight years, were again exposed by the circumstance +of placing his body once and forever within the marble sarcophagus made +by Mr. Struthers, of Philadelphia. The body, as Mr. Struthers related, +was still in a wonderful state of preservation, the high pale brow wore +a calm and serene expression, and the lips, pressed together, had a +grave and solemn smile. + +When intelligence reached Congress of the death of Washington, they +instantly adjourned until the next day, when John Marshall, then a +member of the House of Representatives and afterward chief justice of +the United States and biographer of Washington, addressed the speaker in +the following words: + +"The melancholy event which was yesterday announced with doubt has +been rendered but too certain. Our Washington is no more. The hero, the +patriot, and the sage of America; the man on whom, in times of danger, +every eye was turned, and all hopes were placed, lives now only in his +own great actions and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted +people. + +"If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to testify respect for +the memory of those whom Heaven has selected as its instruments for +dispensing good to man, yet such has been the uncommon worth and such +the extraordinary incidents which have marked the life of him whose loss +we all deplore, that the whole American nation, impelled by the same +feelings, would call with one voice for a public manifestation of that +sorrow, which is so deep and so universal. + +"More than any other individual, and as much as to any one individual +was possible, has he contributed to found this, our wide-spreading +empire, and to give to the western world independence and freedom. + +"Having effected the great object for which he was placed at the head of +our armies, we have seen him convert the sword into the ploughshare and +sink the soldier into the citizen. + +"When the debility of our Federal system had become manifest, and the +bonds which connected this vast continent were dissolving, we have seen +him the chief of those patriots who formed for us a constitution, which, +by preserving the Union, will, I trust, substantiate and perpetuate +those blessings which our Revolution had promised to bestow. + +"In obedience to the general voice of his country, calling him to +preside over a great people, we have seen him once more quit the +retirement he loved, and, in a season more stormy and tempestuous than +war itself, with calm and wise determination, pursue the true interests +of the nation and contribute more than any other could contribute to the +establishment of that system of policy which will, I trust, yet +preserve our peace, our honor, and our independence. Having been twice +unanimously chosen the chief magistrate of a free people, we have seen +him, at a time when his re-election with universal suffrage could not +be doubted, afford to the world a rare instance of moderation, by +withdrawing from his high station to the peaceful walks of private life. +However the public confidence may change, and the public affections +fluctuate with respect to others, with respect to him they have, in war +and in peace, in public and in private life, been as steady as his own +firm mind and as constant as his own exalted virtues. Let us then, Mr. +Speaker, pay the last tribute of respect and affection to our departed +friend. Let the grand council of the nation display those sentiments +which the nation feels. For this purpose I hold in my hand some +resolutions which I take the liberty of offering to the House. + +"_Resolved_, That this House will wait on the President in condolence of +this mournful event. + +"_Resolved_, That the speaker's chair be shrouded with black, and that +the members and officers of the House wear black during the session. + +"_Resolved_, That a committee, in conjunction with one from the Senate, +be appointed to consider on the most suitable manner of paying honor +to the memory of the man first in war, first in peace, and first in the +hearts of his fellow-citizens." + +The Senate, on this melancholy occasion, addressed to the President the +following letter: + +"The Senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to +express to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains in +the death of Gen. George Washington. + +"This event, so distressing to all our fellow-citizens, must be +peculiarly heavy to you, who have long been associated with him in deeds +of patriotism. Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears with yours. On this +occasion it is manly to weep. To lose such a man at such a crisis is no +common calamity to the world. Our country mourns a father. The Almighty +Disposer of human events has taken from us our greatest benefactor and +ornament. It becomes us to submit with reverence to Him 'who maketh +darkness His pavilion.' + +"With patriotic pride we review the life of our Washington and compare +its events with those of other countries who have been preeminent in +fame. Ancient and modern times are diminished before him. Greatness +and guilt have too often been allied, but his fame is whiter than it is +brilliant. The destroyers of nations stood abashed at the majesty of his +virtues. It reproved the intemperance of their ambition and darkened the +splendor of victory. The scene is closed, and we are no longer anxious +lest misfortune should sully his glory; he has traveled on to the end of +his journey and carried with him an increasing weight of honor; he has +deposited it safely where misfortune cannot tarnish it, where malice +cannot blast it. Favored of Heaven, he departed without exhibiting the +weakness of humanity. Magnanimous in death, the darkness of the grave +could not obscure his brightness. + +"Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks to God, his glory is +consummated. Washington yet lives on earth in his spotless example; his +spirit is in Heaven. Let his countrymen consecrate the memory of the +heroic general, the patriotic statesman, and the virtuous sage. Let them +teach their children never to forget that the fruits of his labors and +his example are their inheritance." + +To this address the President returned the following answer: + +"I receive with the most respectful and affectionate sentiments, in this +impressive address, the obliging expressions of your regret for the loss +our country has sustained in the death of her most esteemed, beloved, +and admired citizen. + +"In the multitude of my thoughts and recollections on this melancholy +event, you will permit me to say that I have seen him in the days of +adversity, in some of the scenes of his deepest distress and most trying +perplexities. I have also attended him in the highest elevation and most +prosperous felicity, with uniform admiration of his wisdom, moderation, +and constancy. + +"Among all our original associates in that memorable league of this +continent in 1774, which first expressed the sovereign will of a +free nation in America, he was the only one remaining in the general +government. Although with a constitution more enfeebled than his, at +an age when he thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I +feel myself alone bereaved of my last brother; yet I derive a strong +consolation from the unanimous disposition which appears in all ages and +classes to mingle their sorrows with mine on this common calamity to the +world. + +"The life of our Washington cannot suffer by a comparison with those of +other countries, who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame. The +attributes and decorations of royalty could only have served to eclipse +the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a modest +citizen, a more resplendent luminary. Misfortune, had he lived, could +hereafter have sullied his glory only with those superficial minds, who, +believing that character and actions are marked by success alone, rarely +deserve to enjoy it. Malice could never blast his honor, and envy made +him a singular exception to her universal rule. For himself, he had +lived long enough to life and to glory; for his fellow-citizens, if +their prayers could have been answered, he would have been immortal; for +me, his departure is at a most unfortunate moment. Trusting, however, in +the wise and righteous dominion of Providence over the passions of men +and the results of their actions, as well as over their lives, nothing +remains for me but humble resignation. + +"His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to +magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in +future generations, as long as our history shall be read." + +The committee of both Houses appointed to devise the mode by which the +nation should express its grief reported the following resolutions, +which were unanimously adopted: + +"That a marble monument be erected by the United States at the capitol +of the city of Washington, and that the family of General Washington +be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it, and that +the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his +military and political life. + +"That there be a funeral from Congress Hall to the German Lutheran +Church, in memory of Gen. George Washington, on Thursday, the 26th +instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of Congress, to +be delivered before both Houses that day; and that the president of the +Senate and speaker of the House of Representatives be desired to request +one of the members of Congress to prepare and deliver the same. + +"That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy +of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring +her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and +character, of their condolence on the late affecting dispensation of +Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of +General Washington in the manner expressed in the first resolution. + +"That the President be requested to issue his proclamation, notifying +the people throughout the United States the recommendation contained in +the third resolution." + +These resolutions passed both Houses unanimously, and those which would +admit of immediate execution were carried into effect. The whole nation +appeared in mourning. The funeral procession was grand and solemn, and +the eloquent oration, which was delivered on the occasion by General +Lee, was heard with profound attention and with deep interest. + +Throughout the United States similar marks of affliction were exhibited. +In every part of the continent funeral orations were delivered, and the +best talents of the nation were devoted to an expression of the nation's +grief. + +To the letter of the President which transmitted to Mrs. Washington the +resolutions of Congress, and of which his secretary was the bearer, that +lady answered: + +"Taught by the great example which I have so long had before me, never +to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the +request made by Congress which you have had the goodness to transmit +to me; and in doing this I need not, I cannot, say what a sacrifice of +individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty." + +On receiving intelligence of the death of Washington, Napoleon, then +First Consul of France, issued the following order of the day to the +army: + +"Washington is dead. This great man fought against tyranny; he +established the liberty of his country. His memory will always be dear +to the French people, as it will be to all freemen of the two worlds; +and especially to French soldiers, who, like him and the American +soldiers, have combated for liberty and equality." + +Napoleon ordered that during ten days black crape should be suspended +from all the standards and flags throughout the republic. On the 9th of +February, 1800, a splendid funeral solemnity took place in the Champ de +Mars; and a funeral oration in honor of Washington was pronounced by M. +de la Fontaines, in the Hotel des Invalides, at which the First Consul +and the civil and military authorities were present. [2] + +The British admiral in command of the fleet lying at Torbay, on +receiving the news of Washington's death, honored his memory by lowering +his flag to half-mast; and his example was followed by the whole fleet. +[3] + +Judge Marshall, who had enjoyed the advantage of an intimate personal +acquaintance with Washington, who was one of his most steadfast +political supporters, and whose able biography shows a thorough +appreciation of his extraordinary abilities and virtues, gives the +following summary view of his character: + +"General Washington was rather above the common size, his frame was +robust, and his constitution vigorous--capable of enduring great fatigue +and requiring a considerable degree of exercise for the preservation of +his health. His exterior created in the beholder the idea of strength, +united with manly gracefulness. + +"His manners were rather reserved than free, though they partook nothing +of that dryness and sternness which accompany reserve when carried to an +extreme, and on all proper occasions he could relax sufficiently to +show how highly he was gratified by the charms of conversation and +the pleasures of society. His person and whole deportment exhibited an +unaffected and indescribable dignity, unmingled with haughtiness, of +which all who approached him were sensible; and the attachment of those +who possessed his friendship and enjoyed his intimacy was ardent, but +always respectful. + +"His temper was humane, benevolent, and conciliatory, but there was +a quickness in his sensibility to anything apparently offensive which +experience had taught him to watch, and to correct. + +"In the management of his private affairs he exhibited an exact yet +liberal economy. His funds were not prodigally wasted on capricious +and ill-examined schemes, nor refused to beneficial though costly +improvements. They remained, therefore, competent to that expensive +establishment which his reputation, added to a hospitable temper, had, +in some measure, imposed upon him, and to those donations which real +distress has a right to claim from opulence. + +"He made no pretensions to that vivacity which fascinates, or to that +wit which dazzles and frequently imposes on the understanding. More +solid than brilliant, judgment rather than genius, constituted the most +prominent feature of his character. + +"Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere +believer in the Christian faith and a truly devout man. + +"As a military man, he was brave, enterprising, and cautious. That +malignity which has sought to strip him of all the higher qualities of +a general, has conceded to him personal courage and a firmness of +resolution which neither dangers nor difficulties could shake. But +candor will allow him other great and valuable endowments. If his +military course does not abound with splendid achievements, it exhibits +a series of judicious measures adopted to circumstances, which probably +saved his country. + +"Placed, without having studied the theory or been taught in the school +of experience the practice of war, at the head of an undisciplined, +ill-organized multitude, which was impatient of the restraints and +unacquainted with the ordinary duties of a camp, without the aid of +officers possessing those lights which the Commander-in-Chief was yet +to acquire, it would have been a miracle indeed had his conduct been +absolutely faultless. But, possessing an energetic and distinguishing +mind, on which the lessons of experience were never lost, his errors, +if he committed any, were quickly repaired, and those measures which the +state of things rendered most advisable were seldom, if ever, neglected. +Inferior to his adversary in the numbers, in the equipment, and in the +discipline of his troops, it is evidence of real merit that no great +and decisive advantages were ever obtained over him, and that the +opportunity to strike an important blow never passed away unused. He has +been termed the American Fabius, but those who compare his actions with +his means will perceive at least as much of Marcellus as of Fabius +in his character. He could not have been more enterprising without +endangering the cause he defended, nor have put more to hazard without +incurring justly the imputation of rashness. Not relying upon those +chances which sometimes give a favorable issue to attempts apparently +desperate, his conduct was regulated by calculations made upon the +capacities of his army and the real situation of his country. When +called a second time to command the armies of the United States a change +of circumstances had taken place, and he meditated a corresponding +change of conduct. In modeling the army of 1798 he sought for men +distinguished for their boldness of execution, not less than for their +prudence in council, and contemplated a system of continued attack. +'The enemy,' said the general in his private letters, 'must never be +permitted to gain foothold on our shores.' + +"In his civil administration, as in his military career, ample and +repeated proofs were exhibited of that practical good sense, of that +sound judgment, which is perhaps the most rare and is certainly the most +valuable quality of the human mind. Devoting himself to the duties of +his station, and pursuing no object distinct from the public good, he +was accustomed to contemplate at a distance those critical situations in +which the United States might probably be placed, and to digest, before +the occasion required action, the line of conduct which it would be +proper to observe. + +"Taught to distrust first impressions, he sought to acquire all the +information which was attainable, and to hear, without prejudice, all +the reasons which could be urged for or against a particular measure. +His own judgment was suspended until it became necessary to determine, +and his decisions, thus maturely made, were seldom if ever to be shaken. +His conduct, therefore, was systematic, and the great objects of his +administration were steadily pursued. + +"Respecting, as the first magistrate in a free government must ever do, +the real and deliberate sentiments of the people, their gusts of passion +passed over, without ruffling the smooth surface of his mind. Trusting +to the reflecting good sense of the nation for approbation and support, +he had the magnanimity to pursue its real interests, in opposition +to its temporary prejudices; and, though far from being regardless of +popular favor, he could never stoop to retain, by deserving to lose it. +In more instances than one we find him committing his whole popularity +to hazard, and pursuing steadily, in opposition to a torrent which would +have overwhelmed a man of ordinary firmness, that course which had been +dictated by a sense of duty. + +"In speculation he was a real republican, devoted to the constitution of +his country and to that system of equal political rights on which it is +founded. But between a balanced republic and a democracy the difference +is like that between order and chaos. Real liberty, he thought, was +to be preserved only by preserving the authority of the laws and +maintaining the energy of government. Scarcely did society present +two characters which, in his opinion, less resembled each other than a +patriot and a demagogue. + +"No man has ever appeared upon the theater of public action whose +integrity was more incorruptible, or whose principles were more +perfectly free from the contamination of those selfish and unworthy +passions which find their nourishment in the conflicts of party. Having +no views which required concealment, his real and avowed motives were +the same; and his whole correspondence does not furnish a single case +from which even an enemy would infer that he was capable, under any +circumstances, of stooping to the employment of duplicity. No truth can +be uttered with more confidence than that his ends were always upright +and his means always pure. He exhibits the rare example of a politician +to whom wiles were absolutely unknown, and whose professions to foreign +governments and to his own countrymen were always sincere. In him was +fully exemplified the real distinction which forever exists between +wisdom and cunning, and the importance as well as truth of the maxim, +that 'honesty is the best policy.' + +"If Washington possessed ambition that passion was, in his bosom, so +regulated by principles or controlled by circumstances that it was +neither vicious nor turbulent. Intrigue was never employed as the means +of its gratification, nor was personal aggrandizement its object. The +various high and important stations to which he was called by the public +voice were unsought by himself; and, in consenting to fill them, he +seems rather to have yielded to a general conviction that the interests +of his country would be thereby promoted, than to an avidity for power. + +"Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American people, the +extravagant praises which were bestowed upon him, nor the inveterate +opposition and malignant calumnies which he encountered, had any visible +influence upon his conduct. The cause is to be looked for in the texture +of his mind. + +"In him, that innate and unassuming modesty which adulation would have +offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could not betray +into indiscretion, and which never obtruded upon others his claims to +superior consideration, was happily blended with a high and correct +sense of personal dignity, and with a just consciousness of that respect +which is due to station. Without exertion he could maintain the happy +medium between that arrogance which wounds and that facility which +allows the office to be degraded in the person who fills it. + +"It is impossible to contemplate the great events which have occurred +in the United States under the auspices of Washington without ascribing +them, in some measure, to him. If we ask the causes of the prosperous +issue of a war, against the successful termination of which there were +so many probabilities; of the good which was produced, and the ill +which was avoided, during an administration fated to contend with the +strongest prejudices that a combination of circumstances and of +passions could produce; of the constant favor of the great mass of his +fellow-citizens, and of the confidence which, to the last moment of his +life, they reposed in him, the answer, so far as these causes may +be found in his character, will furnish a lesson well meriting the +attention of those who are candidates for political fame. + +"Endowed by nature with a sound judgment, and an accurate discriminating +mind, he feared not that laborious attention which made him perfectly +master of those subjects, in all their relations, on which he was to +decide; and this essential quality was guided by an unvarying sense of +moral right, which would tolerate the employment only of those means +that would bear the most rigid examination, by a fairness of intention +which neither sought nor required disguise, and by a purity of +virtue which was not only untainted but unsuspected." The eulogies of +Washington, at the time of his death, were almost as numerous as the +towns and cities of the republic; for everywhere funeral honors were +paid to his memory. The following, by the celebrated orator, Fisher +Ames, pronounced before the Legislature of Massachusetts, is as +remarkable for its conciseness as for its just and comprehensive +estimate of Washington's character. + +"It is not impossible," he said, "that some will affect to consider +the honors paid to this great patriot by the nation as excessive, +idolatrous, and degrading to freemen who are all equal. I answer, that +refusing to virtue its legitimate honors would not prevent their being +lavished in future on any worthless and ambitious favorite. If this +day's example should have its natural effect, it will be salutary. +Let such honors be so conferred only when, in future, they shall be so +merited; then the public sentiment will not be misled nor the principles +of a just equality corrupted. The best evidence of reputation is a man's +whole life. We have now, alas, all of Washington's before us. There +has scarcely appeared a really great man whose character has been more +admired in his lifetime or less correctly understood by his admirers. +When it is comprehended it is no easy task to delineate its excellencies +in such a manner as to give the portrait both interest and resemblance, +for it requires thought and study to understand the true ground of the +superiority of his character over many others, whom he resembled in the +principles of action and even in the manner of acting. But, perhaps, +he excels all the great men that ever lived, in the steadiness of his +adherence to his maxims of life and in the uniformity of all his conduct +to those maxims. Those maxims, though wise, were yet not so remarkable +for their wisdom as for their authority over his life, for if there were +any errors in his judgment--and he displayed as few as any man--we know +of no blemishes in his virtue. He was the patriot without reproach; he +loved his country well enough to hold success in serving it an ample +recompense. Thus far, self-love and love of country coincided, but when +his country needed sacrifices that no other man could, or perhaps would +be willing to make, he did not even hesitate. This was virtue in its +most exalted character. More than once he put his fame at hazard, when +he had reason to think it would be sacrificed, at least in this age. Two +instances cannot be denied: when the army was disbanded, and again +when he stood, like Leonidas at the pass of Thermopylae, to defend our +independence against France. + +"It is indeed almost as difficult to draw his character as to draw +the portrait of virtue. The reasons are similar; our ideas of moral +excellence are obscure, because they are complex, and we are obliged to +resort to illustrations. Washington's example is the happiest to show +what virtue is, and to delineate his character, we naturally expatiate +on the beauty of virtue; much must be felt and much imagined. His +pre-eminence is not so much to be seen in the display of any one +virtue, as in the possession of them all and in the practice of the most +difficult. Hereafter, therefore, his character must be studied before +it will be striking, and then it will be admitted as a model--a precious +one to a free republic. + +"It is no less difficult to speak of his talents. They were adapted to +lead, without dazzling mankind, and to draw forth and employ the +talents of others without being misled by them. In this he was certainly +superior, that he neither mistook nor misapplied his own. His great +modesty and reserve would have concealed them if great occasions had not +called them forth, and then, as he never spoke from the affectation to +shine nor acted from any sinister motives, it is from their effects only +that we are to judge of their greatness and extent. In public trusts, +where men, acting conspicuously, are cautious, and in those private +concerns where few conceal or resist their weakness, Washington was +uniformly great, pursuing right conduct from right maxims. His talents +were such as to assist a sound judgment and ripen with it. His prudence +was consummate and seemed to take the direction of his powers and +passions; for, as a soldier, he was more solicitous to avoid mistakes +that might be fatal than to perform exploits that are brilliant; and, as +a statesman, to adhere to just principles, however old, than to pursue +novelties; and, therefore, in both characters, his qualities were +singularly adapted to the interest and were tried in the greatest perils +of the country. His habits of inquiry were so far remarkable that he was +never satisfied with investigating, nor desisted from it, so long as +he had less than all the light that he could obtain upon a subject, and +then he made his decision without bias. + +"This command over the partialities that so generally stop men short or +turn them aside in their pursuit of truth, is one of the chief causes of +his unvaried course of right conduct in so many difficult scenes, where +every human action must be presumed to err. If he had strong passions +he had learned to subdue them, and to be moderate and mild. If he had +weaknesses, he concealed them, which is rare, and excluded them from the +government of his temper and conduct, which is still more rare. If +he loved fame, he never made improper compliances for what is called +popularity. The fame he enjoyed is of the kind that will last forever, +yet it was rather the effect than the motive of his conduct. Some future +Plutarch will search for a parallel to his character. Epaminondas is, +perhaps, the brightest name of all antiquity. Our Washington resembled +him in the purity and ardor of his patriotism, and, like him, he first +exalted the glory of his country. There, it is to be hoped, the parallel +ends, for Thebes fell with Epamanondas. But such comparisons cannot be +pursued far without departing from the similitude. For we shall find it +as difficult to compare great men as great rivers; some we admire for +the length and rapidity of their currents and the grandeur of their +cataracts; others for the majestic silence and fullness of their +streams; we cannot bring them together, to measure the difference of +their waters. The unambitious life of Washington, declining fame yet +courted by it, seemed, like the Ohio, to choose its long way through +solitudes, diffusing fertility, or like his own Potomac, widening and +deepening its channel as it approaches the sea, and displaying most the +usefulness and serenity of its greatness toward the end of its course. +Such a citizen would do honor to any country. The constant veneration +and affection of his country will show that it was worthy of such a +citizen. + +"However his military fame may excite the wonder of mankind, it is +chiefly by his civil magistracy that his example will instruct them. +Great generals have arisen in all ages of the world, and perhaps most of +them in despotism and darkness. In times of violence and convulsion +they rise, by the force of the whirlwind, high enough to ride in it and +direct the storm. Like meteors, they glare on the black clouds with a +splendor that, while it dazzles and terrifies, makes nothing visible but +the darkness. The fame of heroes is indeed growing vulgar; they multiply +in every long war; they stand in history and thicken in their ranks +almost as undistinguished as their own soldiers. + +"But such a chief magistrate as Washington appears like the pole-star in +a clear sky to direct the skilful statesman. His presidency will form an +epoch and be distinguished as the age of Washington. Already it assumes +its high place in the political region. Like the milky-way, it whitens +along its allotted portion of the hemisphere. The latest generations of +men will survey, through the telescope of history, the space where so +many virtues blend their rays, and delight to separate them into groups +and distinct virtues. As the best illustration of them, the living +monument, to which the first of patriots would have chosen to consign +his fame, it is my earnest prayer to Heaven that our country may subsist +even to that late day in the plenitude of its liberty and happiness, and +mingle its mild glory with Washington's." + + +1. Footnote: Our authority for the details of Washington's last illness +and death is a statement carefully prepared by Mr. Lear at the time, and +published from the original in Sparks' "Life of Washington." It is the +most exact and reliable authority extant. + +2. Footnote: Sparks, "Life of Washington." + +3. Footnote: Sparks, "Life of Washington." + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Life And Times Of Washington, Volume 2, by +John Frederick Schroeder and Benson John Lossing + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIFE AND TIMES OF WASHINGTON *** + +***** This file should be named 8145-8.txt or 8145-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/8/1/4/8145/ + +Produced by Charles Aldarondo, Tiffany Vergon, Marvin A. +Hodges, Charles Franks, and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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