The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5)
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These letters reached General 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 any
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 intrench 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 can not bring it
to believe, regardless as the French are of treaties, and of the laws
of nations, 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 candour made this disclosure of the state of my mind, it
remains only for me to add, that to those who knew 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 can not," he said, "be necessary for me to promise to
you or to others who know my sentiments, that to quit the tranquillity
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 surfer 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 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 definite 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 theatre, 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 honour 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."
General Washington then proceeded to detail his sentiments on those
points on which his consent to take command of the army must depend.
[Sidenote: General Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the
American Army.]
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 General 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. M'Henry, the secretary of war, will have the honour 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. M'Henry will
have the honour to consult you upon the organization of the army, and
upon every thing 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 quarter master 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 General 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[57] which he would recommend for the principal stations in
the army; and, on the 13th of July, addressed the following letter to
the President.
[Footnote 57: _The following is the list of generals, and of
the military staff._
Alexander Hamilton, _Inspector_.
Charles C. Pinckney, }
Henry Knox, or, if either refuses } Major Generals.
Henry Lee. }
Henry Lee (if not Major General) }
John Brooks, }
William S. Smith, or } Brigadiers.
John E. Howard. }
Edward Hand, or }
Jonathan Dayton, or } Adjutant General.
William S. Smith. }
Edward Carrington, Quarter Master General.
James Craik, Director of the Hospital.]
"I had the honour, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from
the hands of the secretary at war, your favour of the seventh,
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 can not 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 towards
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 defenceless
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 endeavoured
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 so often, signally
favoured 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
every thing 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, General 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.
Yet he never did believe that an invasion of the United States would
actually take place. His conviction that it was not the interest of
France to wage an unprovoked war with America, and that the hostile
measures which the executive Directory had adopted originated in the
opinion that those measures would overthrow the administration, and
place power in the hands of those who had uniformly supported all the
pretensions of the French republic, remained unshaken. As a necessary
consequence of this conviction, he was persuaded that the indignation
which this system had excited, would effect its change. The only
circumstance that weakened this hope, arose from the persevering
opposition which was still maintained in congress, and from the
evidence which was daily afforded that those party animosities, to
which he ascribed the present dangerous crisis, were far from being
healed. Those who had embraced the cause of France in the controversy
between that nation and the United States, had been overwhelmed by a
flood of testimony which silenced them for a time, but which weakened
them more in appearance than in reality. They were visibly recovering
both strength and confidence. It is not therefore wonderful that
General Washington should have expressed himself more freely than had
been his custom, respecting American parties, and that he should have
exerted an influence which he had not been in the habit of employing,
to induce men whose talents he respected, but who had declined
political life, to enter into the national and state legislatures.
Events soon demonstrated that he had not calculated unreasonably on
the effects of the spirit manifested by his country. Although America,
supplicating for peace, had been spurned with contempt; although the
executive Directory had rejected with insult her repeated and sincere
prayers to be permitted to make explanations, and had haughtily
demanded a concession of their arrogant and unfounded claims or the
advance of pecuniary aids, as a preliminary to negotiation;--America,
in arms, was treated with some respect. Indirect pacific overtures
were made, and a willingness on the part of France, to accommodate the
existing differences on reasonable terms, was communicated.
{1799}
The President, truly solicitous to restore that harmony and good
understanding which the United States had laboured so incessantly and
so sincerely to preserve with their ancient ally, caught at the
overtures which were indirectly made, and again appointed three envoys
extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the French republic.
These gentlemen found the government in the hands of a person who had
taken no part in those transactions which had embroiled the two
countries, and who entered into negotiations with them which
terminated in the amicable adjustment of differences.
General Washington did not live to witness the restoration of peace.
[Sidenote: His death.]
On Friday the 13th of December, while attending to some improvements
upon his estate, he was exposed to a light rain, by which his neck and
hair became wet. Not apprehending danger from this circumstance, he
passed the afternoon in his usual manner; but, in the night, was
seized with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe. The disease
commenced with a violent ague, accompanied with some pain in the upper
and fore part of the throat, a sense of stricture in the same part, a
cough, and a difficult rather than a painful deglutition, which were
soon succeeded by fever, and a quick and laborious respiration.
Believing bloodletting to be necessary, he procured a bleeder who took
from his arm twelve or fourteen ounces of blood, but he would not
permit a messenger to be despatched for his family physician until the
appearance of day. About eleven in the morning Doctor Craik arrived;
and perceiving the extreme danger of the case, requested that two
consulting physicians should be immediately sent for. The utmost
exertions of medical skill were applied in vain. The powers of life
were manifestly yielding to the force of the disorder; speaking, which
was painful from the beginning, became almost impracticable:
respiration became more and more contracted and imperfect, until half
past eleven on Saturday night; when, retaining the full possession of
his intellect, he expired without a struggle.
Believing at the commencement of his complaint, as well as through
every succeeding stage of it, that its conclusion would be mortal, he
submitted to the exertions made for his recovery, rather as a duty,
than from any expectation of their efficacy. Some hours before his
death, after repeated efforts to be understood, he succeeded in
expressing a desire that he might be permitted to die without
interruption. After it became impossible to get any thing down his
throat, he undressed himself and went to bed, there to die. To his
friend and physician, Doctor Craik, who sat on his bed, and took his
head in his lap, he said with difficulty, "Doctor, I am dying, and
have been dying for a long time, but I am not afraid to die."
During the short period of his illness he economized his time, in
arranging with the utmost serenity those few concerns which required
his attention; and anticipated his approaching dissolution with every
demonstration of that equanimity, for which his life was so uniformly,
and singularly, conspicuous.
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. His body, attended
by military honours and the ceremonies of religion, was deposited in
the family vault at Mount Vernon, on Wednesday, the 18th of December.
So short was his illness that, at the seat of government, the
intelligence of his death preceded that of his indisposition. It was
first communicated by a passenger in the stage to an acquaintance whom
he met in the street, and the report quickly reached the house of
representatives which was then in session. The utmost dismay and
affliction was displayed for a few minutes; after which a member
stated in his place, the melancholy information which had been
received. This information he said was not certain, but there was too
much reason to believe it true.
"After receiving intelligence," he added, "of a national calamity so
heavy and afflicting, the house of representatives can be but ill
fitted for public business." He therefore moved an adjournment. Both
houses adjourned until the next day.
On the succeeding day, as soon as the orders were read, the same
member addressed the chair in the following terms:
"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 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 honour, 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."
The resolutions,[58] after a preamble stating the death of General
Washington, were in the following terms.
[Footnote 58: These resolutions were prepared by General
Lee, who happening not to be in his place when the
melancholy intelligence was received and first mentioned in
the house, placed them in the hands of the member who moved
them.]
"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 honour
to the memory of the MAN, first in war, first in peace, and first in
the hearts of his fellow citizens."
Immediately after the passage of these resolutions, a written message
was received from the President, accompanying a letter from Mr. Lear,
which he said, "will inform you that it had pleased Divine Providence
to remove from this life our excellent fellow citizen, GEORGE
WASHINGTON, by the purity of his life, and a long series of services
to his country, rendered illustrious through the world. It remains for
an affectionate and grateful people, in whose hearts he can never die,
to pay suitable honour to his memory."