The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)
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[Footnote 95: Life of Chatham.--Belsham.]
[Footnote 96: See note No. X. at the end of the volume.]
The conduct of 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.
CHAPTER XI.
Defects in the Commissary department.... Distress of the
army at Valley Forge.... The army subsisted by
impressments.... Combination in congress against General
Washington.... Correspondence between him and General
Gates.... Distress of the army for clothes.... Washington's
exertions to augment the army.... Congress sends a committee
to camp.... Attempt to surprise Captain Lee.... Congress
determines on a second expedition to Canada.... Abandons
it.... General Conway resigns.... The Baron Steuben
appointed Inspector General.... Congress forbids the
embarkation of Burgoyne's army.... Plan of reconciliation
agreed to in Parliament.... Communicated to congress and
rejected.... Information of treaties between France and the
United States.... Great Britain declares war against
France.... The treaties with France ratified by congress....
Complaints of the treatment of prisoners.... A partial
exchange agreed to.
{1777}
The army under the immediate command of General Washington was engaged
through the winter in endeavouring to stop the intercourse between
Philadelphia and the country. To effect this object General Smallwood
was detached with one division to Wilmington; Colonel Morgan 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 Captain Lee
with his troop, the west side of that river. General Count Pulaski, a
Polish nobleman who commanded the horse, led the residue of the
cavalry to Trenton, where he trained them for the ensuing campaign.
{December 22.}
One of the first operations meditated by General Washington after
crossing the Schuylkill was the destruction of a large quantity of hay
which remained in the islands above the mouth of Derby Creek, within
the power of the British. Early in the morning after his orders for
this purpose had been given, Sir William Howe marched out in full
force, and encamped between Derby and the middle party, 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, General Washington ordered the
country to be scoured, and provisions, for supplying the pressing
wants of the moment, to be seized wherever found. In the mean time,
light parties were detached to harass the enemy about Derby, where Sir
William 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 can not fail
to excite attention.
[Sidenote: Defects in the Commissary Department.]
Early in the war, the office of commissary general had been confirmed
on Colonel Trumbull, of Connecticut, a gentleman fitted by his
talents, activity and zeal, for that important station. Yet, from the
difficulty of arranging so complicated a department in its
commencement, without the advantages of experience, complaints were
repeatedly made of the insufficiency of supplies.
The subject was taken up by congress; but the remedy administered, as
well from the time of its application, as from the ingredients of
which it was composed, served only to increase the disease. The system
was not completed until near midsummer; and then its arrangements were
such that Colonel Trumbull refused to accept the office assigned to
him; and new men were to be called into service at a time when the
strongest necessity required the exertions of those who understood the
plan of supplies for the campaign in all its modifications. In
addition to the commissary of purchases, and a commissary general of
issues, each to be appointed by congress, the new plan contemplated
four deputies in each department, also to be appointed by that body,
who were not accountable to, nor removeable by the head of the
department, but might be suspended, and accused before congress who
should examine the charge, and either remove the accused from his
office, or reinstate him in it.
[Sidenote: Distress of the American army at Valley Forge for
provisions.]
This _imperium in imperio_, erected in direct opposition to the
opinion of the Commander-in-chief, drove Colonel Trumbull from the
army. Congress, however, persisted in the system; and the effects of
deranging so important a department as that which feeds the troops, in
the midst of a campaign, were not long in unfolding themselves. In
every military division of the continent, loud complaints were made of
the deficiency of supplies. The success of Gates appears to have been
more endangered by this cause, than by the movement of Sir Henry
Clinton up the Hudson. The army of General Washington was often
greatly embarrassed, and his movements not unfrequently suspended, by
the want of provisions. The present total failure of all supply was
preceded, for a few days, by the issuing of meat unfit to be eaten.
Representations on this subject were made to the Commander-in-chief,
who, on the morning that Sir William Howe moved out to Derby, and
before intelligence of that movement had been received, communicated
them to congress.
[Sidenote: The army subsisted in a great measure by impressments.]
That body had authorized the Commander-in-chief to seize provisions
for the use of his army within seventy miles of head quarters; and
either to pay for them in money, or in certificates, for the
redemption of which the faith of the United States was pledged. The
odium of this measure was increased by the failure of the 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 good price. The inhabitants of that part of
Pennsylvania were not zealous in support of the war, and the
difference between prompt payment in gold or silver, and a
certificate, the value of which was often diminished by depreciation
before its payment, was too great not to influence their wishes and
their conduct. Such was the dexterity they employed that,
notwithstanding the rigour of the laws, and the vigilance of the
troops stationed on the lines, they often succeeded in concealing
their provisions from those who were authorized to impress for the
army, and in conveying them privately into Philadelphia.
{December 10.}
General Washington exercised the powers confided to him with caution,
but he did exercise them; and by doing so, acquired considerable
supplies. Congress appeared as much dissatisfied with the lenity of
the Commander-in-chief, as the people were with his rigour, in
consequence of which the subject was taken into consideration, his
forbearance disapproved, and instructions given for the rigorous
exertions in future of the powers with which he was invested. In reply
to the letter communicating these resolves, the General stated the
conduct he had observed, insisted that provisions had been taken very
extensively, and repeated his opinion, that such measures would be
much more readily submitted to if executed by the civil authority.
In obedience, however, to the will of congress, he issued a
proclamation, requiring the farmers within seventy miles of head
quarters, to thrash out one half of their grain by the first of
February, and the residue by the first of March, under the penalty of
having the whole seized as straw.
The success of this experiment did not correspond with the wishes of
congress. It was attended with the pernicious consequences which had
been foreseen by the General, to avoid which he had considered this
system as a dernier ressort, of which he was to avail himself only in
extreme cases. In answer to a letter on this subject from the board of
war, he said, "I shall use every exertion that may be expedient and
practicable for subsisting the army, and keeping it together; but I
must observe, that this never can be done by coercive means. Supplies
of provisions and clothing must be had in another way, or it can not
exist. The small seizures that were made of the former some time ago,
in consequence of the most pressing and urgent necessity--when the
alternative was to do that or dissolve--excited the greatest alarm and
uneasiness imaginable, even among some of our best and warmest
friends. Such procedures may relieve for an instant, but eventually
will prove of the most pernicious consequence. Besides spreading
disaffection and jealousy among the people, they never fail, even in
the most veteran armies, to raise in the soldiery a disposition to
licentiousness, plunder, and robbery, which it has ever been found
exceeding difficult to suppress; and which has not only proved ruinous
to the inhabitants, but, in many instances, to the armies themselves."
In a subsequent letter to congress, he added, "I regret the occasion
which compelled us to the measure the other day, and shall consider it
as among the greatest of our misfortunes to be under the necessity of
practising it again. I am now obliged to keep several parties from the
army thrashing grain, that our supplies may not fail; but this will
not do."
[Sidenote: Combination formed in Congress against General Washington.]
About this time, a strong combination was forming against the
Commander-in-chief, into which several members of congress, and a very
few officers of the army are believed to have entered.
[Sidenote: General Gates supposed to be concerned in it.]
[Sidenote: Correspondence on this subject between the two generals.]
The splendour with which the capture of a British army had surrounded
the military reputation of General Gates, acquired some advocates for
the opinion that the arms of America would be more fortunate, should
that gentleman be elevated to the supreme command. He could not be
supposed hostile himself to the prevalence of this opinion; and some
parts of his conduct would seem to warrant a belief that, if it did
not originate with him, he was not among the last to adopt it. After
the victory of the seventh of October had opened to him the prospect
of subduing the arms of Burgoyne, he not only omitted to communicate
his success to General Washington, but carried on a correspondence
with General Conway, in which that officer expressed great contempt
for the Commander-in-chief. When the purport of this correspondence
was disclosed to General Washington, Gates demanded the name of the
informer in a letter far from being conciliatory in its terms, which
was accompanied with the very extraordinary circumstance of being
passed through congress.[97] The state of Pennsylvania too, chagrined
at the loss of its capital, and forgetful of its own backwardness in
strengthening the army, which had twice fought superior numbers in its
defence, furnished many discontented individuals. They imputed it to
General Washington as a fault that, with forces inferior to his enemy
in numbers, and in every equipment, he had not effected the same
result which had been produced in the north, by a continental army, in
itself, much stronger than its adversary, and so reinforced by militia
as to treble his numbers. On the report that General Washington was
moving into winter quarters, the legislature of that state addressed a
remonstrance to congress on the subject, manifesting, in very
intelligible terms, their dissatisfaction with the Commander-in-chief.
About the same time, a new board of war was created, of which General
Gates was appointed the President; and General Mifflin, who was
supposed to be of the party unfriendly to Washington, was one of its
members. General 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 of the 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 saviour of his country.
[Footnote 97: See note No. XI. at the end of the volume.]
These machinations to diminish the well-earned reputation of the
Commander-in-chief, could not escape his notice. They made, however,
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. 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, 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 can not sufficiently express the obligation I feel towards
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 honours 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 defence
I might otherwise make against their insidious attacks. They know I
can not 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 can not 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."[98]
[Footnote 98: See note No. XII. at the end of the volume.]
Fortunately for America, these combinations only excited resentment
against those who were believed to be engaged in them.
{December.}
{December 23.}
Soon after being informed of the unfavourable disposition of some
members of congress towards him, and receiving the memorial of the
legislature of Pennsylvania against his going into winter quarters,
the General also discovered the failure already mentioned in the
commissary department. On this occasion, he addressed congress in
terms of energy and plainness which he had used on no former occasion.
In his letter to that body he said, "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 towards Derby 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 of 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.
[Sidenote: Distress of the American army for clothes.]
"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
provision as would satisfy the present 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 any 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 provisions 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 farther 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 two thousand eight
hundred and ninety-eight men, now in camp, unfit for duty, because
they are bare-foot, 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 eight thousand two hundred in camp fit for duty;
notwithstanding which, and that since the fourth instant, our number
fit for duty, from the hardships and exposures they have undergone,
particularly from the want of blankets, have decreased near two
thousand 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 of 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, &c. 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 to 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."
The representations made in this letter were not exaggerated. The
distresses of the army, however, so far as respected clothing, did not
arise from the inattention of congress. Measures for the importation
of clothes had been adopted early in the war, but had not produced the
effect expected from them. Vigorous but ineffectual means had also
been taken to obtain supplies from the interior. The unfortunate
non-importation agreements which preceded the commencement of
hostilities, had reduced the quantity of goods in the country below
the ordinary amount, and the war had almost annihilated foreign
commerce. The progress of manufactures did not equal the consumption;
and such was the real scarcity, that exactions from individuals
produced great distress, without relieving the wants of the army. A
warm blanket was a luxury in which not many participated, either in
the camp or in the country.