The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)
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In the northern states, where the sea coast was too extensive, and the
ports too numerous to be completely guarded, and where the people were
more inclined to maritime enterprise, supplies both of arms and
clothes were attainable in a more considerable degree than in those
farther south; but the large sums of money expended in that part of
the union for the support of the army, had lessened the value of the
currency there more rapidly than elsewhere, and a consequent high
nominal price was demanded for imported articles. Congress deemed the
terms on which some large contracts had been made by the clothier
general in Massachusetts, so exorbitant, as to forbid their execution;
and at the same time, addressed a letter to the state government,
requesting that the goods should be seized for the use of the army, at
prices to be fixed by the legislature, in pursuance of a resolution of
the 22d of November.
These recommendations from congress, so far as they exhorted the
states to supply the wants of the soldiers, were strongly supported by
the General. In his letters to the several governors, he represented
the very existence of the army, and the continuance of the contest, as
depending on their exertions in this respect.
{1778}
[Sidenote: General Washington's exertions to increase his force, and
to place it on a respectable footing before the ensuing campaign.]
To recruit the army for the ensuing campaign became again an object of
vital importance; and the Commander-in-chief again pressed its
necessity on congress, and on the states. To obtain a respectable
number of men by voluntary enlistment had, obviously, become
impossible. Coercion could be employed only by the state governments;
and it required all the influence of General Washington to induce the
adoption of a measure so odious in itself, but so indispensable to the
acquirement of means to meet the crisis of the war, which, in his
judgment, had not yet passed away. He enclosed to each state a return
of its troops on continental establishment, thereby exhibiting to each
its own deficiency. To those who had not resorted to coercive means,
he stated the success with which they had been used by others; and he
urged all, by every motive which could operate on the human mind, to
employ those means early enough to enable him to anticipate the enemy
in taking the field.
To the causes which had long threatened the destruction of the army,
the depreciation of paper money was now to be added. It had become so
considerable that the pay of an officer would not procure even those
absolute necessaries which might protect his person from the extremes
of heat and cold. The few who possessed small patrimonial estates
found them melting away; and others were unable to appear as
gentlemen. Such circumstances could not fail to excite disgust with
the service, and a disposition to leave it. Among those who offered
their commissions to the Commander-in-chief, were many who, possessing
a larger portion of military pride, and therefore feeling with
peculiar sensibility the degradation connected with poverty and rags,
afforded the fairest hopes of becoming the ornaments of the army. This
general indifference about holding a commission; this general opinion
that an obligation was conferred, not received by continuing in the
service, could not fail to be unfavourable, not only to that spirit of
emulation which stimulates to bolder deeds than are required, but to a
complete execution of orders, and to a rigid observance of duty.
An officer whose pride was in any degree wounded, whose caprice was
not indulged, who apprehended censure for a fault which his
carelessness about remaining in the army had probably seduced him to
commit, was ready to throw up a commission which, instead of being
valuable, was a burden almost too heavy to be borne. With extreme
anxiety the Commander-in-chief watched the progress of a temper which,
though just commencing, would increase, he feared, with the cause that
produced it. He was, therefore, early and earnest in pressing the
consideration of this important subject on the attention of congress.
{January 10.}
[Sidenote: Congress send a committee of their own body to the army.]
The weak and broken condition of the continental regiments, the strong
remonstrances of the General, the numerous complaints received from
every quarter, determined congress to depute a committee to reside in
camp during the winter, for the purpose of investigating the state of
the army, and reporting such reforms as the public good might require.
This committee repaired to head quarters in the month of January. The
Commander-in-chief laid before them a general statement, taking a
comprehensive view of the condition of the army, and detailing the
remedies necessary for the correction of existing abuses, as well as
those regulations which he deemed essential to its future prosperity.
This paper, exhibiting the actual state of the army, discloses defects
of real magnitude in the existing arrangements. In perusing it, the
reader is struck with the numerous difficulties, in addition to those
resulting from inferiority of numbers, with which the American general
was under the necessity of contending. The memorial is too long to be
inserted, but there are parts which ought not to be entirely
overlooked. The neglect of the very serious representation it
contained respecting a future permanent provision for the officers,
threatened, at an after period, to be productive of such pernicious
effects, that their insertion in this place will not, it is presumed,
be unacceptable.
He recommended as the basis of every salutary reform, a comfortable
provision for the officers, which should render their commissions
valuable; to effect which the future, as well as the present, ought to
be contemplated.
"A long and continual sacrifice of individual interest for the general
good, ought not," he said, "to be expected or required. The nature of
man must be changed, before institutions built on the presumptive
truth of such a principle can succeed.
"This position," he added, "is supported by the conduct of the
officers of the American army, as well as by that of all other men. At
the commencement of the dispute, in the first effusions of zeal, when
it was believed the service would be temporary, they entered into it
without regard to pecuniary considerations. But finding its duration
much longer than had been at first expected, and that, instead of
deriving advantage from the hardships and dangers to which they are
exposed, they were, on the contrary, losers by their patriotism, and
fell far short of even a competency for their wants, they have
gradually abated in their ardour; and, with many, an entire
disinclination to the service, under present circumstances, has taken
place. To this, in an eminent degree, must be ascribed the frequent
resignations daily happening, and the more frequent importunities for
permission to resign, from some officers of the greatest merit.
"To this also may be ascribed the apathy, inattention, and neglect of
duty, which pervade all ranks; and which will necessarily continue and
increase, while an officer, instead of gaining any thing, is
impoverished by his commission, and conceives he is conferring, not
receiving a favour, in holding it. There can be no sufficient tie on
men possessing such sentiments. Nor can any method be adopted to
compel those to a punctual discharge of duty, who are indifferent
about their continuance in the service, and are often seeking a
pretext to disengage themselves from it. Punishment, in this case,
would be unavailing. But when an officer's commission is made valuable
to him, and he fears to lose it, you may exact obedience from him.
"It is not indeed consistent with reason or justice that one set of
men should make a sacrifice of property, domestic ease, and happiness;
encounter the rigours of the field, the perils and vicissitudes of
war, without some adequate compensation, to obtain those blessings
which every citizen will enjoy in common with them. It must also be a
comfortless reflection to any man, that, after he may have contributed
to secure the rights of his country, at the risk of his life, and the
ruin of his fortune, there will be no provision made to prevent
himself and his family, from sinking into indigence and wretchedness."
With these and other arguments, General Washington recommended, in
addition to present compensation, a half pay and pensionary
establishment for the army.
"I urge my sentiments," said he, "with the greater freedom, because I
can not, and shall not, receive the smallest benefit from the
establishment; and can have no other inducement for proposing it, than
a full conviction of its utility and propriety."
The wants and distresses of the army, when actually seen by the
committee of congress, made a much deeper impression than could have
been received from any statement whatever. They endeavoured to
communicate to congress the sentiments felt by themselves, and to
correct the errors which had been committed. But a numerous body, if
it deliberate at all, proceeds slowly in the conduct of executive
business; and will seldom afford a prompt corrective to existing
mischiefs, especially to those growing out of its own measures.
{February 5.}
Much of the sufferings of the army was attributed to mismanagement in
the quartermaster's department, which, notwithstanding the repeated
remonstrances of the Commander-in-chief, had long remained without a
head. This subject was taken up early by the committee, and proper
representations made respecting it. But congress still remained under
the influence of those opinions which had already produced such
mischievous effects, and were still disposed to retain the subordinate
officers of the department in a state of immediate dependence on their
own body. In this temper, they proposed a plan which, not being
approved in camp, was never carried into execution.
While congress was deliberating on the reforms proposed, the
distresses of the army approached their acme, and its dissolution was
threatened. Early in February, the commissaries gave notice that the
country, to a great distance, was actually exhausted; and that it
would be impracticable to obtain supplies for the army longer than to
the end of that month. Already the threatened scarcity began to be
felt, and the rations issued were often bad in quality, and
insufficient in quantity. General Washington found it necessary again
to interpose his personal exertions to procure provisions from a
distance.
In the apprehension that the resources of the commissary department
would fail before the distant supplies he had taken measures to obtain
could reach him, and that the enemy designed to make another incursion
into the country around Philadelphia, for the purpose of gleaning what
yet remained in possession of the inhabitants, he detached General
Wayne, with orders to seize every article proper for the use of an
army within fifteen miles of the Delaware, and to destroy the forage
on the islands between Philadelphia and Chester.
To defeat the object of this foraging party, the inhabitants concealed
their provisions and teams, and gave to the country every appearance
of having been entirely pillaged. Before any sufficient aid could be
obtained by these means, the bread, as well as the meat, was
exhausted, and famine prevailed in camp.
In an emergency so pressing, the Commander-in-chief used every effort
to feed his hungry army. Parties were sent out to glean the country;
officers of influence were deputed to Jersey, Delaware and Maryland;
and circular letters were addressed to the governors of states by the
committee of congress in camp and by the Commander-in-chief,
describing the wants of the army, and urging the greatest exertions
for its immediate relief.
Fortunately for America, there were features in the character of
Washington which, notwithstanding the discordant materials of which
his army was composed, attached his officers and soldiers so strongly
to his person, that no distress could weaken their affection, nor
impair the respect and veneration in which they held him. To this
sentiment is to be attributed, in a great measure, the preservation of
a respectable military force, under circumstances but too well
calculated for its dissolution.
Through this severe experiment on their fortitude, the native
Americans persevered steadily in the performance of their duty; but
the conduct of the Europeans, who constituted a large part of the
army, was, to a considerable extent, less laudable; and at no period
of the war was desertion so frequent as during this winter. Aided by
the disaffected, deserters eluded the vigilance of the parties who
watched the roads, and great numbers escaped into Philadelphia with
their arms.
In a few days, the army was rescued from the famine with which it had
been threatened, and considerable supplies of provisions were laid up
in camp. It was perceived that the difficulties which had produced
such melancholy effects, were created more by the want of due exertion
in the commissary department, and by the efforts of the people to save
their stock for a better market, than by any real deficiency of food
in the country.
This severe demonstration seems to have convinced congress that their
favourite system was radically vicious, and the subject was taken up
with the serious intention of remodeling the commissary department on
principles recommended by experience. But such were the delays
inherent in the organization of that body, that the new system was not
adopted until late in April.
At no period of the war had the situation of the American army been
more perilous than at Valley Forge. Even when the troops were not
entirely destitute of food, their stock of provisions was so scanty
that a quantity sufficient for one week was seldom in store.
Consequently, had General Howe moved out in force, the American army
could not have remained in camp; and their want of clothes disabled
them from keeping the field in the winter. The returns of the first of
February exhibit the astonishing number of three thousand nine hundred
and eighty-nine men in camp, unfit for duty for want of clothes.
Scarcely one man of these had a pair of shoes. Even among those
returned capable of doing duty, many were so badly clad, that exposure
to the cold of the season must have destroyed them. Although the total
of the army exceeded seventeen thousand men, the present effective
rank and file amounted to only five thousand and twelve.
While the sufferings of the soldiers filled the hospitals, a dreadful
mortality continued to prevail in those miserable receptacles of the
sick. A violent putrid fever swept off much greater numbers than all
the diseases of the camp.
If then during the deep snow which covered the earth for a great part
of the winter, the British general had taken the field, his own army
would indeed have suffered greatly, but the American loss is not to be
calculated.
[Illustration: Washington's Headquarters at Valley Forge
_Here on December 17, 1777, after the Battles of Brandywine and
Germantown and the occupation of Philadelphia by the British,
Washington established his headquarters for what may be paradoxically
termed the darkest winter of the Revolutionary War. The American
Commander-in-Chief chose this place partly for its defensibility and
partly to protect Congress, then in session at York, Pennsylvania,
from a sudden British attack. It was here that Washington and Baron
Steuben planned the reorganization of the American army, and it was
here, May 1, 1778, that news reached Washington of the consummation of
the French alliance._]
[Sidenote: Attempt to surprise Captain Lee's corps, and the gallant
resistance made by him.]
{March 28.}
Happily, the real condition of Washington was not well understood by
Sir William Howe; and the characteristic attention of that officer to
the lives and comfort of his troops, saved the American army.
Fortunately, he confined his operations to those small excursions that
were calculated to enlarge the comforts of his own soldiers, who,
notwithstanding the favourable dispositions of the neighbouring
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 Captain Lee 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.[99] That of the assailants was said to amount to two hundred.
They lost a sergeant and three men with several horses, killed; and an
officer and three men wounded.
[Footnote 99: Major Jameson was accidentally present, and
engaged in this skirmish.]
The result of this skirmish gave great pleasure to the
Commander-in-chief, 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.
[Sidenote: Congress determine upon a second expedition against
Canada.]
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 Starke, as the second and third in command.
This young nobleman, possessing an excellent heart, and all the
military enthusiasm of his country, had left France early in 1777, in
opposition to the will of his sovereign, to engage in the service of
the United States. His high rank, and supposed influence at the court
of Versailles, secured him the unlimited respect of his countrymen in
America; and, added to his frankness of manners and zeal in their
cause, recommended him strongly to congress. While the claims of
others of the same country to rank were too exorbitant to be
gratified, he demanded no station in the army; would consent to
receive no compensation, and offered to serve as a volunteer. He had
stipulated with Mr. Deane for the rank of major general without
emolument; and, on his arrival in America, that rank was conferred on
him, but without any immediate command. In that capacity, he sought
for danger, and was wounded at the battle of Brandywine. He attached
himself with the ardour of youth to the Commander-in-chief, who
smoothed the way to his receiving a command in the army equal to his
rank.
The first intimation to General Washington that the expedition was
contemplated, was given in a letter from the president of the board of
war of the 24th of January, inclosing one of the same date to the
Marquis, requiring the attendance of that nobleman on congress to
receive his instructions. The Commander-in-chief 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, General Washington
ordered Hazen's regiment to march towards Albany; and the Marquis
proceeded immediately to the seat of congress. 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 the Marquis 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.
[Sidenote: Before its execution, it is abandoned.]
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 General Washington was
authorized to recall both the Marquis de Lafayette, and the Baron de
Kalb.
{February 27.}
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 was said to have served many years in
the armies of the great Frederick; to have been one of the aids de
camp of that consummate commander; and to have held the rank of
lieutenant general. He was, unquestionably, versed in the system of
field exercise which the king of Prussia had introduced, and was well
qualified to teach it to raw troops. He claimed no rank, and offered
to render his services as a volunteer. After holding a conference with
congress, he proceeded to Valley Forge.
[Sidenote: General Conway resigns. Duel between him and General
Cadwallader.]
[Sidenote: The Baron Steuben appointed inspector general.]
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 York, 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 afterwards, returned to
France.[100] 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 General Washington, appointed to that office with
the rank of major general, without exciting the slightest murmur.
[Footnote 100: 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 Cadwallader, 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,
PHS. CONWAY.]
This gentleman was of real 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.
{1777}
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.