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Although four miles distant, we could see the smoke of its furnaces ascending above the intervening hill-tops, and marring the placid beauty of the western sky, where a thin purple haze fringed the horizon, and half hid the crescent moon and its more sprightly neighbor on the occasion, the belted
* Conshohocken is a thriving manufacturing village on the east bank of the Schuylkill, in Montgomery county, about twelve miles from Philadelphia. It has recently grown up in connection with the waterpower of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. There is also a great deal of lime burned there for the Philadelphia market.
* The Baron De Woedtke had been for many years an officer in the army of the King of Prussia, and risen to the rank of major. He brought strong letters of recommendation from Dr. Franklin, and on the 16th of March, 1776, he was appointed by Congress a brigadier general, and ordered to Canada. He died at Lake George at the close of July, 1776, and was buried with the honors due to his rank.
Iron Ore near the Schuylkill.—Conshohocken and its Industry.—Norristown.—Swedes' Ford.
Jupiter. That whole region abounds in iron; and all the way from Barren Hill to the Schuylkill, large heaps of ore, dug from near the surface, were piled. In many places the road was literally paved with iron ore lying in small fragments upon the surface. It was quite dark when we arrived at the village, and it was with some difficulty that we made our way along a steep road to the "hotel," a tavern near the river bank, kept by a good-natured Dutchman. He was so well patronized by the coal-heavers and workmen in the furnaces, that not a single bed was in reserve for strangers; so we were obliged to ride on to Norristown, four miles further up the stream, for supper and lodgings. As we thridded our way among the "fiery furnaces," belching huge volumes of ruddy flame, and observed the rushing rail-way train sweeping along the river brink, while the din of hammers, and bellows, and voices of busy men was rife on every side, I contrasted the past and present, and, in a degree, realized the wonderful strides of progress in our country. Here, where a numerous population are plying the tireless fingers of industry in the creation of substantial wealth, and spreading pleasant dwellings along the banks of the rapid Schuylkill, there was only the solitary hut of a hunter, deserted more than half the year, when La Fayette made his admirable retreat across the river toward Valley Forge. And far more suggestive of true greatness and glory were the noises of these work-shops than the trumpet-notes and clangor of battle.
"The camp has had its day of song;
The sword, the bayonet, the plume
Have crowded out of rhyme too long
The plow, the anvil, and the loom.
Oh, not upon our tented fields
Are Freedom's heroes bred alone;
The training of the work-shop yields
More heroes true than war has known.
"Who drives the bolt, who shapes the steel,
May, with a heart as valiant, smite,
As he who sees a foeman reel
In blood before his blow of might!
The skill that conquers space and time,
That graces life, that lightens toil,
May spring from courage more sublime
Than that which makes a realm its spoil."
Epes Sargent.
After losing our way in the gloom, and making quite a circuitous journey, we found the "pike," a fine Macadamized road leading from Philadelphia to Norristown, and reached the latter place at about eight o'clock. * I was informed that traces of the breast-works thrown up here by Duportail, by order of Washington, to prevent the passage of the British across the Swedes' Ford, were yet quite prominent about half a mile below the village; and also that the Swedes' Ford tavern, ** directly opposite these intrenchments, was still in existence, though changed in appearance by additions. Being anxious to visit Valley Forge and Paoli the next day, we departed from Norristown too early in the morning to allow a view of these vestiges of the Revolution.
* Norristown is a thriving manufacturing village, and the capital of Montgomery county. It has entirely grown up since the Revolution. Its name is derived from Isaac Norris, who, with William Trent, the founder of Trenton, purchased the land from William Penn. Swedes' Ford was here. The site of Norristown was owned by a farmer named John Bull. He was a stanch Whig, and for this crime the John Bulls under General Howe, when the British marched toward Philadelphia in 1777, burned his barn. The first house erected at Norristown was framed at Valley Forge, and floated down the Schuylkill.
** The name of Swedes' Ford was given to this passage of the Schuylkill from the fact that the first settlers there were Swedes. The principal characters were Matts Holstein and Mauritz Rambo. The latter was a famous hunter, and his exploits are yet the theme of many an old man's story. It is related that at one time Rambo seized a wounded deer, when the animal made off with the hunter on his back. Rambo finally checked the buck by cutting his throat.
Approach to Valley Forge.—"King of Prussia Tavern."—Village of Valley Forge.
"The men of seventy-six in their good arm—
Sustain'd by Heaven—reposed a manly trust;
O'er all the land was sounded war's alarm,
And vict'ry crown'd the valor of the just.
The fire of liberty fell down from heaven,
Till from our shores the enemy, was driven;
And Freedom, with the land's redemption shod,
Her benison flung o'er every hill and plain.
Few of that band of noble men remain;
Their spirits have obey'd the call of God,
And where they rest is deem'd a hallow'd sod.
Their perils fearful—measureless their gain!
While love of home the freeman's breast shall fill,
Their fame shall cause the freeman's breast to thrill."
Thomas MacKellar.
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ALLEY FORGE! How dear to the true worshiper at the shrine of Freedom is the name of Valley Forge! There, in the midst of frost and snows, disease and destitution, Liberty erected her altar; and in all the world's history we have no record of purer devotion, holier sincerity, or more pious self-sacrifice, than was there exhibited in the camp of Washington. The courage that nerves the arm on the battle-field, and dazzles by its brilliant but evanescent flashes, pales before the steadier and more intense flame of patient endurance, the sum of the sublime heroism displayed at Valley Forge. And if there is a spot on the face of our broad land whereon Patriotism should delight to pile its highest and most venerated monument, it should be in the bosom of that little vale on the bank of the Schuylkill. Toward its "templed hills," consecrated by the presence and sufferings of those who achieved our independence, we journeyed, filled with the pleasant emotions of a pilgrim approaching the place he most adores.
We crossed the Schuylkill at Norristown, a little after sunrise, and took the road leading to Valley Forge by the way of "The King of Prussia Tavern," a half-way locality, famous for its good cheer long before the Revolution. There hung its sign, emblazoned with a figure of a noble-looking warrior on horseback, ancient enough in its appearance to warrant the belief that it creaked in the breeze when the officers of Howe refreshed themselves there with flip from the hands of old Harman de Vriest. * The country through which we rode is broken but fertile, every where abounding with iron. Here, also, large heaps of quarried ore flanked the road in various places, and for many furlongs the highway had a ferruginous pavement. Descending a long and steep hill, sloping northward, we came suddenly upon the little village of Valley Forge before we were aware of its proximity. It is
* In the Pennsylvania Journal, 1761, there is a notification that Jacob Colman intended to run a stage, with an awning, three times a week, "from the King of Prussia Inn, to the George Inn, southwest corner of Second and Arch Streets, Philadelphia." Ritter's tavern, in Germantown, was called "The King of Prussia Inn," according to Watson, the annalist, from the following circumstance: Toward the close of the last century, Gilbert Stuart, the eminent portrait painter, resided in Germantown. In one of his eccentric moods, he executed a fine painting of the King of Prussia, on horseback, and presented it to Ritter for a sign, stipulating that the name of the painter should not be divulged. It hung there for several years, the admiration of all, until the letters "The King of Prussia Inn" were painted over it. The sign afterward came into the possession of Mr. Watson, who cherished it as a valuable memento of the genius and character of the great painter.
Washington's Head-quarters.—The old Flour-mill and its Associations—Hamilton and Lee.
situated in Chester county, on the west side of the Schuylkill, between six and seven miles above Norristown, in a deep, short hollow, scooped out from a low, rugged mountain, and opening upon the great valley which stretches away toward Phoenixville. A small creek runs through the little valley, turning, in its course, the water-wheel of a cotton factory, which stands upon the site of the old forge of Isaac Potts. *
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Upon the mountainous flanks of this little valley, Washington established his winter quarters in 1777—78. His own residence was at the house of Mr. Isaac Potts, a Quaker preacher. It is a substantial stone dwelling, situated near the mouth of the creek. It was occupied, when I visited it, by James Jones,November, 1848a member of the Society of Friends, who was then eighty-three years old. He was quite feeble; but his wife, a cheerful old lady of nearly the same age, was the reverse, and, with vigorous step, proceeded to show us the interior of the building. Washington's room was small indeed. In the deep east window, whence he could look out upon a large portion of his camp upon the neighboring slopes, are still preserved the cavity and little trapdoor, arranged by the commander-in-chief as a private depository for his papers. It answered the purpose admirably; for even now the visitor would not suspect that the old blue sill upon which he was leaning to gaze upon the hallowed hills, might be lifted and disclose a capacious chest. Mr. Jones and his wife were not residents at Valley Forge when the Americans were encamped there, and hence they had no interesting traditions of their own experience.
Near the head-quarters of Washington were the ruins of an old flour-mill, whose clack was heard before the Revolution, nor ceased until within a few years. Immediately after the battle of Brandywine, and previous to the encampment here, the Americans had made a considerable deposit of stores at this mill. Howe sent a detachment of British troops to seize them; but Washington, anticipating this attempt, had sent Lieutenant-colonel (afterward General) Hamilton, and Captain (afterward General) Henry Lee, with a small troop of horse for the purpose of destroying these stores. Hamilton, with proper precaution, stationed two videttes upon the southern hill overlooking the valley, and also secured a flat-bottomed boat on which to cross the Schuylkill, in the event of the sudden appearance of the enemy. The troops had crossed the mill-race, and were about to commence the work of demolition, when the alarm-guns of the videttes were heard, and they were seen sweeping down the hill, closely pursued by some British dragoons. Four of the American horsemen, with Hamilton, took to the boat; while Lee, with the other four, and the videttes, crossed the bridge and escaped, amid a shower of bullets from the enemy. Hamilton and his party were also fired upon, but were unharmed. Lee was fearful that his comrades, with Hamilton, were killed or made prisoners, for he heard volley after volley fired from the carbines of the enemy, while there was only an occasional response from his friends. Lee dispatched a dragoon to the commander-in-chief, describing what had occurred, and expressing his anx-
* The Potts family, located in this vicinity, were extensive manufacturers of iron. Isaac Potts established a forge upon the creek which here enters into the Schuylkill, and from that circumstance the place obtained the name of Valley Forge.
** This view is from the Reading rail-road, looking east, and includes a portion of the range of hills in the rear whereon the Americans were encamped. The main building was erected in 1770; the wing is more modern, and occupies the place of the log addition mentioned by Mrs. Washington, in a letter to Mercy Warren, written in March, 1778: "The general's apartment," she wrote, "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."
View from Rogers's Observatory.—Camp at Valley Forge.—Religious Services.—Preparation of Huts.
ious fears for the safety of Hamilton and his men. While Washington was reading Lee's letter, Hamilton rode up, and with quite as much distress depicted in hisfaceas the former had exhibited in hisnote, expressed his fears that his friend Lee was cut off. Washington quieted his apprehensions by handing him Lee's letter.
0343m
From the village we rode to the summit of the hill on the south, whereon the main portion of the American army was quartered. Upon the brow of the hill, on the spot where Washington's marquee was planted on the day of his arrival there, * Mr. Charles H. Rogers, who owns the cotton factory, and much of the landed property in the vicinity, has erected an observatory, about forty feet in height. It is a very neat structure of wood, of an octagon form, with a spiral stair-case in the center, by which an ascent is made to the open gallery on the top. From that elevation is obtained a fine view of a large portion of the camping-ground. Here let us turn to the historic page and seek its instructions.
When it was decided that Whitemarsh was not a proper place for the winter encampment of the American army, Washington, as usual, requested his general officers to communicate to him in writing their sentiments respecting the most eligible site for the purpose. A council of war was held on the 30th of November, at which a wide difference of opinion prevailed as to the locality and the manner of cantoning the troops. Some proposed occupying Wilmington for the purpose; others suggested hutting them in the valley of Tredyffrin, a few miles west of the Schuylkill; and others advocated the expediency of stationing them in a line from Reading to Lancaster. So various and contradictory were the opinions and counsels, that unanimity could not be hoped for, and it was necessary for Washington to act according to his own judgment and upon his own responsibility. He decided to form an encampment at Valley Forge, where he might be near enough to the British army in Philadelphia to watch its movements, keep its foraging parties in check, and protect the country from the depredations of the enemy.
The patriot army, which left Whitemarsh on the 11th of December, reached Valley Forge on the 19th. In general orders, issued two days previously, Washington directed the preparation of huts for the comfort of the soldiers, assuring them, at the same time, "that he himself would share in the hardships and partake of every inconvenience." On the 18th the whole army engaged in religious services, according to a recommendation of Congress that it should be observed as a day of public thanksgiving and praise; and on the morning of the 19th they spread over the hills at Valley Forge, and began the work of hutting. All was activity among those who were sufficiently clad to allow them to work in the open air. Some cut down trees, others fashioned them, and in a few days the barracks, erected upon the plan of a regular city, was completed. *** Until his soldiers were thus
* See map on page 334.
** This view is from the field, looking north. On the left is seen the winding Schuylkill, and the rolling country beyond; and on the right, the distant hills of Montgomery county.
*** Washington gave explicit directions for constructing the huts. He ordered the colonels or commanding officers of regiments to cause their men to be divided into parties of twelve, and to see that each party had its proportion of tools, and commence a hut for that number; and as an encouragement to industry and art, the general promised to reward the party, in each regiment, which finished its hut in the quickest and most workman-like manner, with a present of twelve dollars. He also offered a reward of one hundred dollars to the officer or soldier who should substitute a covering for the huts, cheaper, and more quickly made, than boards. The following were the dimensions and style of the huts, as given in Washington's Orderly Book, quoted by Sparks, v., 525: "Fourteen feet by sixteen each; the sides, ends, and roofs made with logs; the roofs made tight with split slabs, or some other way; the sides made tight with clay; a fireplace made of wood, and secured with clay on the inside, eighteen inches thick; this fire-place to be in the rear of the hut; the door to be in the end next the street; the doors to be made of split oak slabs, unless boards can be procured; the side walls to be six feet and a half high. The officers' huts are to form a line in the rear of the troops, one hut to be allowed to each general officer; one to the staff of each brigade; one to the field officer of each regiment; one to the staff of each regiment; one to the commissioned officers of two companies; and one to every twelve non-commissioned officers and soldiers."
Disposition of the American Army at Valley Forge.—The Huts and their Occupants.
comfortably lodged, Washington occupied his cheerless marquee; after which he made his quarters at the house of Mr. Potts.
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Near Washington's quarters, on a gentle elevation by the river, were stationed his Body, or Life Guard, * under the command of Charles Gibbs, of Rhode Island.
A little to the right of the guard was the brigade of General M'Intosh; and further up the hills were the brigades of Huntington, Conway, and Maxwell. Between these and M'Intosh's brigade were a redoubt, and slight intrench-ments; and directly in front of them was a line ofabatis. Nearer the Schuylkill, and on the top of the hill, was the brigade of General Varnum, near a star redoubt. At a distance of about a mile, and forming a line from the Schuylkill to Valley Creek, was the main portion of the army, under Brigadiers Muhlenberg, Weed-on, Paterson, Learned, Glover, Poor, Wayne, Scott, and Woodford, with a line of intrenchments in front. The artificers of the army were on the north side of the creek, opposite the general's quarters; and near the cotton factory was the army bake-house.
There was also an irregular line of intrenchments along the brow of the hill, on the south side of the creek. Not far southward of Rogers's observatory was a redoubt, and near it was Knox's artillery. The remains of this redoubt are yet very prominent in
* See page 120.
Condition of the Army.—Great Sufferings.—Number of Soldiers in Camp.—Toryism displayed
Redoubt Athe woods on the right side of the road leading from Valley Forge to Paoli; also, the redoubt on the left wing of the encampment (now near the Reading rail-road) is well preserved, the forest protecting it from demolition.
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Here, after an arduous campaign of four months, during which neither party had obtained a decided advantage, other than good winter quarters at Philadelphia on the part of the enemy, the shattered remains of the American army * vainly sought repose. They had marched and countermarched, day and night, in endeavoring to baffle the designs of a powerful enemy to their country and its liberties; now they were called upon, in the midst of comparative inaction, to war with enemies more insidious, implacable, and personal. Hunger and nakedness assailed that dreary winter camp with all their progeny of disease and woe. Thither, as we have seen, the soldiers came with naked and bleeding feet, and there they sat down where destitution held court, and ruled with an icy scepter. The prevalence of Toryism in the vicinity, the avaricious peculations of some unprincipled commissioners, the tardy movements of Congress in supplying provisions, and the close proximity of a powerful enemy, combined to make the procurement of provisions absolutely impracticable without a resort to force. *** But few horses were in the camp; and such was the deficiency, in this respect, for the ordinary, as well as extraordinary occasions of the army, that the men, in many instances, cheerfully yoked themselves to vehicles of their own construction, for carrying wood and provisions when procured; while others performed the duty of pack-horses, and carried heavy burdens of fuel upon their backs. **** As the winter advanced, their sufferings increased On the 16th of February, Washington wrote to Governor Clinton, "For some days past there has been little less than a famine in the camp. A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we can not enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been, ere this, excited by their sufferings to a general mutiny and desertion.
"The situation of the camp is such," wrote General Varnum to General Greene, on the 12th of February, "that in all human probability the army must dissolve. Many of the troops are destitute of meat, and are several days in arrears. The horses are dying for want of forage. The country in the vicinity of the camp is exhausted. There can not be a moral certainty of bettering our condition while we remain here. What consequences have we rationally to expect?"
"It was with great difficulty," says Dr. Thacher
* The whole number of men in the field was eleven thousand and ninety-eight, when the, encampment commenced. Of this number, two thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight were unfit for duty. The British army numbered thirty-three thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, of which nineteen thousand five hundred and thirty, composed of Britons, Germans, and provincials, were in Philadelphia.
** This shows the present appearance of the embankments. They are quite overgrown with chestnut trees of considerable size, and shrubbery. The redoubt was nearly an oblong square, with a division in the center. Its location is on the Paoli road, about half a mile from its junction with the highway leading from Norristown to Valley Forge.
*** Washington reluctantly used the power given him by a resolution of Congress, adopted a few weeks previously. Necessity compelled him to. He issued a proclamation, in which he required all the farmers within seventy miles of Valley Forge to thresh out one half of their grain by the 1st of February, and the remainder by the 1st of March, under the penalty of having the whole seized as straw. Many farmers refused to comply. They defended their grain and cattle with fire-arms, and, in some instances, burned what they could not defend. It must be remembered that nearly all the farmers in the vicinity of Valley Forge were disaffected toward the American cause. From these the resolution of Congress * empowered Washington to demand supplies. It must also be remembered that a fair price was to be paid for all supplies brought in, and therefore the non-compliance of those who resisted was from opposition to the cause.
**** Mrs. Warren's History of the Revolution, i., 389.
* November 14, 1777. Journals, iii., 395.
Hopefulness of Washington.—Conspiracy to deprive him of the chief Command.—Persons named as Malcontents.
"thatmen enough could be found in a condition fit to discharge the military camp duties from day to day; and for this purpose, those who were naked borrowed of those who had clothes." Unprovided with materials to raise their beds from the ground, the dampness occasioned sickness and death. "The army, indeed, was not without consolation," says Thacher, "for his excellency the commander-in-chief, whom every soldier venerates and loves, manifested a fatherly concern and fellow-feeling for their sufferings, and made every exertion in his power to remedy the evil, and to administer the much-desired relief." Yet, amid all this suffering day after day, surrounded by frost and snow (for it was a winter of great severity), patriotism was still warm and hopeful in the hearts of the soldiers, and the love of self was merged into the one holy sentiment,love of country. Although a few feeble notes of discontent were heard, * and symptoms of intentions to abandon the cause were visible, yet the great body of that suffering phalanx were content to wait for the budding spring, and be ready to enter anew upon the fields of strife in the cause of freedom. It was one of the most trying scenes in the life of Washington, but a cloud of doubt seldom darkened the serene atmosphere of his hopes. He knew that the cause was just and holy; and his faith and confidence in God as a defender and helper of right were as steady in their ministrations of vigor to his soul, as were the pulsations of his heart to his active limbs. ** In perfect reliance upon Divine aid, he moved in the midst of crushed hopes, and planned brilliant schemes for the future.
While pressed with complicated cares incident to his exalted position and the condition of the army under his command, Washington was "wounded in the house of his friends." Jealous and ambitious men were conspiring to tarnish the fair fame of the commander-inchief, to weaken the affections of the people for him, and to place the supreme military command in other hands. Among those designated at the time as the most conspicuous actors in this scheme were General Conway, a foreign officer of great pretensions, Generals Gates and Mifflin, Samuel Adams, with two or three others of the New England delegation in Congress, and one of the Virginia deputies. Whether the movement originated in personal ambition, or a sincere conviction of the necessity of making a change on account of the alleged "Fabian slowness" of Washington in his military movements, is a question of difficult solution. The measures adopted by the opponents of the chief were certainly the reverse of open, manly, generous, pure and disinterested patriotism, and deserve, as they received at the time, the unqualified reprobation of honest men. ***
* Thacher relates that a foreign officer of distinction said "that, at one time, he was walking with General Washington among the huts, when he heard many voices echoing through the open crevices between the logs, 'No pay, no clothes, no provisions, no rum!' And when a miserable wretch was seen flitting from one hut to another, his nakedness was only covered by a dirty blanket." Then that officer despaired of independence for America.
** Isaac Potts, at whose house Washington was quartered, relates that one day, while the Americans were encamped at Valley Forge, he strolled up the creek, when, not far from his dam, he heard a solemn voice. He walked quietly in the direction of it, and saw Washington's horse tied to a sapling. In a thicket near by was the beloved chief upon his knees in prayer, his cheeks suffused with tears. Like Moses at the Bush, Isaac felt that he was upon holy ground, and withdrew unobserved. He was much agitated, and, on entering the room where his wife was, he burst into tears. On her inquiring the cause, he informed her of what he had seen, and added, "If there is any one on this earth whom the Lord will listen to, it is George Washington; and I feel a presentiment that under such a commander there can be no doubt of our eventually establishing our independence, and that God in his providence has willed it so."
"Oh! who shall know the might"But wouldst thou know his name,Of the words he utter'd there?Who wandered there alone?The fate of nations there was turn'dGo, read enroll'd in Heaven's archives,By the fervor of his prayer.""The prayer of Washington!"—J. L. Chester.
*** The enemies of Washington and of the country attempted to injure both, at this time, by publishing a pamphlet in London, entitled "Letters from General Washington to several of his Friends in the year 1776, &c." These letters, which contained sentiments totally at variance with the conduct of the chief, it was reported were found in a portmanteau belonging to the general, in the possession of his servant Billy, who was left behind sick at Fort Lee when the Americans evacuated it. They purported to be draughts of letters to Mrs. Washington, Mr. Lund Washington, and to Mr. Custis. They were reprinted in New York, in handbills and pamphlet form, and widely circulated. The author of these spurious letters was never publicly known. They were evidently written by a person acquainted with the affairs of Washington. Conway, who was known to have written several anonymous letters in disparagement of Washington, some of which were signed De Lisle, was suspected of the authorship when his nefarious conduct became known. These letters were reproduced, many years afterward, for the vile purposes of political chicanery. Then, for the first time, Washington publicly pronounced them a forgery.
Forged Letters.—Thomas Conway.—Character of the Congress of 1778.—Pretensions of Gates and Lee.
It is believed that Conway was the most active man among the secret enemies of Washington. He was possessed of considerable literary abilities and military genius, and had the advantage of thirty years' experience in the art of war.
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He was an Irishman by birth, but received his military education in the French service, where he was employed from his youth. He went, with many others, to the American commissioners in France to offer his services to Congress, and, encouraged by the injudicious promises of the ardent Silas Deane, he came to America with the full expectation of receiving the commission and pay of a major general. He was disappointed at the outset, for Congress gave him only the commission of a brigadier. Hoping for promotion, he joined the army under Washington at Morristown. Boastful, intriguing, presumptuous, andMay, 1777selfish, looking only to his personal advantage, and unprincipled in regard to the means by which his desires might be gratified, he greatly disgusted Washington, not only at the first interview, but throughout the whole campaign. When it was rumored that Conway was to be promoted by Congress to major general, Washington wrote a letter to a member of that body, remonstrating against it. This fact, coming to the ears of Conway, filled him with indignation and malice, and made him a fit instrument to be employed against the chief.
In November, Conway, perceiving no chance for promotion, offered his resignation, and asked permission to leave the army. Congress would not accept it, although aware of Washington's opinion of him, and the enmity that existed, but appointed him inspector general of the army, with the rank of major general. This act is evidence that there was then an influence at work in the supreme Legislature unfriendly to the commander-in-chief. It can not be denied that faction was rife in the Continental Congress, and that the purity of purpose which controlled the acts of the first great assembly was alloyed, in an alarming degree, with personal and sectional interests. * Instead of strengthening the hands of the commander-in-chief when they most needed extraneous aid, men of influence were found in the army, in Congress, and among citizens, base enough, or blind enough, to attempt to weaken his power and accomplish his removal, either by a forced resignation of his command, or by actual supercedure by competent authority. Already Gates and Lee, Englishmen born, and officers in other wars, had shown themselves impatient at holding subordinate stations in the army, each deeming himself superior to Washington, and each thirsting for supreme command. The victory of Gates over Burgoyne at Saratoga, and the defeats of Washington in the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, were contrasted. That contrast tended to strengthen the pretensions of the former. Inconsiderate and ardent men in Congress lent their influence in favor of investing him with the supreme command. ** The disappointed,
* General Hamilton, in a letter to Governor Clinton, written on the 13th of February, 1778, said, "America once had a representation that would do honor to any age or nation. The present falling off is very alarming and dangerous. What is the cause? and how is it to be remedied? are questions that the welfare of these states requires should be well attended to. The great men who composed our first council—are they dead, have they deserted the cause, or what has become of them? Very few are dead, and still fewer have deserted the cause; they are all, except the few who still remain in Congress, either in the field, or in the civil offices of their respective states; far the greater part are engaged in the latter. The only remedy, then, is to take them out of these employments, and return them to the place where their presence is infinitely more important."
** Mrs. Mercy Warren, who was the warm personal friend of Samuel Adams, apologizes for his being found in bad company in this affair by saying that, "Zealous and ardent in his defense of his injured country, he was startled at every thing that seemed to retard the operations of the war, or impede the success of the Revolution; a revolution for which posterity is as much indebted to the talent and exertions of Mr. Adams as to those of any one in the United States." History of the Revolution, i., 39. Mrs. Warren further says that "Adams never harbored a feeling of disaffection toward the person of Washington; on the contrary, he esteemed and respected his character, and loved him as a man."
Anonymous Letters.—Conway's Letter to Gates.—Quarrel between Gates and Wilkinson.
irritated, and talented Conway was ready to foster discontent in the public mind; and he was doubtless the willing cat's-paw of Gates or his friends in making covert attacks upon the military character of the commander-in-chief, calculated to injure his reputation as a general and patriot. So prominently does Conway appear in the whole transaction, that it is known in history asConway's cabal.
The first important movement in this conspiracy was the sending of anonymous letters to the president of Congress, and to Patrick Henry, then governor of Virginia. These letters were filled with complaints, insinuations, and exaggerated statements, ascribing the misfortunes of the army to the incapacity or ill-timed policy of the commander-in-chief. Similar letters were sent to different members of Congress, and, it is believed, to the presiding officers of some of the state Legislatures. Washington was early apprised of these secret machinations, but a patriotic jealousy of the public good made him suffer in silence. "My enemies," he said, in a letter to the president of Congress, when the matter became the subject of correspondence, "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 can not combat their insinuations, however injurious, without disclosing secrets which it is of the utmost moment to conceal."
1777Early in November, the affair was presented to Washington in a definite shape.
When Colonel Wilkinson was on his way to Congress (then in session at York, in Pennsylvania) from Saratoga, with Gates's dispatches, announcing the surrender of Burgoyne, he stopped at the quarters of Lord Stirling, at Reading, and in the course of conversation while there, he repeated to Major M'Williams, Stirling's aid-de-camp, a part of the contents of a letter which Gates had received from Conway, containing strictures on the management of the army under Washington, accompanied by reflections disparaging to the chief. * Lord Stirling, prompted by a sense of duty, communicated to Washington the extracts from Conway's letter, as repeated by Wilkinson. A correspondence between Washington, Gates, and Conway followed. Gates affected to be greatly distressed, and conjured Washington to aid him in discovering the villain who had betrayed his confidence in repeating the substance of private letters. Afterward he denied the genuineness of the extract, and called it "a wicked and malicious forgery;" This assertion compromised the veracity of Wilkinson, who wrote to General Washington, indignantly repelling the ungenerous accusation of Gates, and affirming that he had truly given to Lord Stirling's aid the substance of Conway's letter. ** Notwithstanding Gates denied the truth of the extract, he never fortified his assertion by producing the original. This fact, and other things of like tenor, which proved the duplicity of Gates, were severely commented upon by Washington, in reply to an explanatory letter from the former. Conway's offensive letter was afterward seen by Mr. Laurens, president of Congress, and one or two others. The words were not
* One of Conway's expressions was, "Heaven has been determined to save your country, or a weak general and bad counselors would have ruined it."
** Gates, in a letter to Washington, charged Wilkinson with deceit and-prevarication, and of meanly attempting to fix suspicions on Lieutenant-colonel Troup, one of Gates's aids-de-camp. This charge drew from Wilkinson a letter to Washington, in which he thanked the general for exposing to him Gates's letters, "which," he said, "unmask his artifices and efforts to ruin me." Wilkinson said, in his letter, "Although General Gates has pledged his word, it is a wicked and malicious forgery. I will stake my reputation, if the genuine letter is produced, that words to the same effect will appear." A quarrel between Gates and Wilkinson grew out of this matter, which resulted in the latter challenging the former to fight a duel. They met, when, it is said, Gates burst into tears, declaring he would as soon think of shooting his own son. Opinions are various concerning the quality of Gates's heart which controlled his actions on that occasion. No doubt Wilkinson was acquainted with the secrets of the conspiracy against Washington, and that his object in making known the contents of Conway's letter was to sound Lord Stirling, through his aid, respecting his opinion of the ability of Washington to perform the duties of his station. Wilkinson's want of prudence was the match that fired the train of the cabal and produced premature explosion. Gates and Wilkinson doubtless told the truth of each other.
Board of War.—Expedition against Canada proposed.—Lafayette appointed to the Command.—Grossly Deceived.
precisely the same as quoted by Wilkinson, yet the tenor and spirit of the whole document were accurately represented by that officer.
Among other machinery early put in motion by the enemies of Washington, through the instrumentality of a faction in Congress, was the appointment of a new Board ofOctober 17, 1777War, of which Gates and Mifflin were members, the former being placed at its head. This board was invested with large powers, and, by delegated authority, assumed the control of affairs which properly belonged to the commander-in-chief, * or which, at least, ought to have his sanction. One of its first acts was to recommend to Congress an invasion of Canada. This expedition was planned by Gates, approved by Congress, and La Fayette was appointed to the command, without Washington being consulted. The first intimation which the commander-in-chief had of the project was in a letter from the Board of War, inclosing one to La Fayette, informing him of his appointment. No doubtJanuary, 1778this was a stroke of policy to win the marquis to the interest of the faction. They little understood the character of that young devotee of freedom. He deeply felt the disrespect manifested toward his beloved general, and immediately carried the letter to Washington. ** He told the chief that he saw the whole scope of the artifice, and asked his advice. The commander-in-chief advised him to accept the appointment, for it was an honorable position, although he could not see how the expedition was to be accomplished. Thus encouraged, La Fayette hastened to York, *** where Congress was in session, to receive his instructions. He was greatly flattered by Gates's friends, and the Board of War promised him every thing necessary for the success of the expedition. The marquis soon perceived the artfully-concealed hostility to Washington; **** and when he found that General Conway was appointed his second in command, he was convinced that the enterprise had been planned for the purpose of separating him from the general, to whom he was ardently attached. He succeeded in having the Baron De Kalb, Conway's senior in rank, appointed to the expedition, and, of course, the baron was second, and Conway the third in command.
La Fayette hastened to Albany, where he was promised men and stores for an immediate march into Canada; but, after waiting three months, and having his patience completely exhausted by the inefficiency of the Board of War, he returned to the campApril 4, 1778at Valley Forge, (v) under instructions from Congress "to suspend the irruption into
* See Journals of Congress, iii., 351. The new Board of War consisted, at first, of three persons, namely, General Mifflin, Colonel Timothy Pickering, and Colonel Robert H. Harrison. On the 17th of November, Mr. Dana and J. B. Smith were made additional members. On the 27th of the same month, General Gates, Joseph Trumbull, and Richard Peters were elected commissioners for the Board of War. General Gates was chosen president of the Board. On the appointment of Gates to this important office, Congress instructed its presiding officer to inform him of their action, and express their high sense, of his abilities and peculiar fitness to discharge the duties of that important office, upon the right execution of which the success of the American cause "eminently depended."—Journals, iii., 423.
** This was not the first time that Congress had allowed Washington to be treated with disrespect. It will be remembered that, in October previous, Gates sent his dispatches from Saratoga direct to Congress, instead of transmitting them to the commander-in-chief, and that Congress never uttered a word of disapproval of the act. See page 84, vol. i.
*** York is situated on the Codorus Creek, eleven miles from the Susquehanna. It is a thriving village, surrounded by a fertile and well-cultivated lime-stone region. Congress was in session here from September, 1777, until July, 1778. Its sittings were in the old court-house, which stood in the center of the public square, and was demolished in 1841. In the cemetery of the German Reformed Church is the grave of Philip Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who died at York, on the 11th of June, 1778, while Congress was in session there. A handsome white marble pyramid, surmounted with an urn, is placed over his grave.
**** Sparks relates that, when La Fayette arrived at York, he found Gates at table, surrounded by his friends. The marquis was greeted with great cordiality, and accepted an invitation to join them at table. The wine passed round, and several toasts were drank. Determined to let his sentiments be known at the outset, he called to the company as they were about to rise, and observed that one toast had been omitted, which he would propose. The glasses were filled, and he gave, "The Commander-in-chief of the American Armies." The coolness with which it was received confirmed La Fayette in his suspicions.
* (v) La Fayette was grossly deceived by those connected with the faction and those controlling public affairs. He was promised 3000 men. He wrote to Washington from Albany, and said, "I don't believe I can find, in all, 1200 men fit for duty, and the greatest part of these are naked, even for a summer campaign. I was to find General Stark, with a large body; and, indeed, General Gates told me, 'General Stark will have burned the fleet before your arrival.' Well, the first letter I receive in Albany is from General Stark, who wishes to know what number of men, from where, what time, and for what rendezvous I desire him to raise?" Again he wrote, "I fancy the actual scheme is to have me out of this part of the continent, and General Conway as chief, under the immediate direction of Gates."
Disclaimers of Gates and Mifflin.—Opinion of Dr. Gordon.—Conway's Resignation.—Duel, and Repentant Letter to Washington.
Canada." Thus ended an injudicious and foolish scheme, if honestly planned; a wicked and treasonable scheme, if concerted by a faction to achieve its selfish purposes. It was also the termination of the conspiracy to elevate Gates to the chief command, by seducing the affections and confidence of the people from Washington. That great man stood firm in his integrity, and viewed with calmness the storm of opposition which at one time beat against him with menaces of danger. How extensive was the disaffection toward him among the officers of the army, and in Congress, it is difficult to determine, and it is equally difficult to fix a direct charge upon any individual of actual attempts to supersede Washington. The injudicious tattling of Wilkinson too soon unmasked a portion of the proceedings, and, as in the case of the Newburgh affair, many who were disposed to join in the cabal were alarmed and kept quiet, while the leaders were disconcerted, and affected innocence. It appears clear, however, that Gates, Mifflin, and Conway were, for a long time, engaged in endeavors to effect the removal of Washington from the chief command, and for this posterity will always utter its voice of censure. Gates and Mifflin, however, each made his disclaimer of other than a patriotic design to advance the true interests of his country, and denied the charge of a desire to displace Washington. When rumors of the affair went abroad among the people and the army, the public censure was so unequivocally expressed, that each man engaged in the matter was anxious to wipe the stain from his own escutcheon. *
The true character of Conway, so early discovered by Washington, became at length well understood by Congress. He had perceived the increasing manifestation of dislike among the officers of the army, and their open deprecation of his conduct in relation to Washington, and in an impertinent and complaining letter to the president of Congress, he intimated a wish to resign. A motion to accept his resignation was immediately carried. Conway was astonished, and proceeded to York to ask to be restored. He said it was not his intention to resign, and attempted explanations, but the current of opinion was turned strongly against him, and his request was denied. He went to Philadelphia, and was there when the British evacuated it. His abusive language and offensive manners, heightened by irritation, involved him in difficulties with the American officers, and on the 4th of July he fought a duel with General Cadwallader. He received a wound which it was believed would prove fatal. After lying in an uncertain state for more than a fortnight, and believing his end near, Conway wrote an apologetic letter to Washington, as a reparation for the personal injuries he had inflicted. ** But he recovered from his wound and lived
* Dr. Gordon says (ii., 308), "When General Gates's letters were examined by me at his seat in Virginia, the latter end of 1781, there was not a single paragraph to be met with that contained any intimation of his being concerned in any such plan" [the removal of Washington]. Of course, a judicious man would not preserve any such tangible evidence of his guilt for more than three years after the matter had been exposed. General Gates, in a letter to a friend, dated at York, April 4th, 1778, said, "For my part, I solemnly declare I never was engaged in any plan or plot for the removal of General Washington, nor do I believe any such plot ever existed." Mifflin also wrote, about that time, "I never desired to have any person whomsoever take the command of the American army from him [Washington], nor have I said or done any thing of or respecting him which the public service did not require," &c. Botta, after weighing the evidence against the designated leaders of the intrigue, draws therefrom the inevitable conclusion of their guilt, and says, "The leaders of this combination, very little concerned for the public good, were immoderately so for their own, and that the aim of all their efforts was to advance themselves and their friends at the expense of others."—Otis's Botta, ii., 64. It may be well to remember that Gordon and Gates were intimate friends. I find among Gates's papers, in the New York Historical Society, several letters from Dr. Gordon to the general, some of which are commenced with the familiar terms, "Dear Horatio." I do not discredit the assertion of Dr. Gordon, but mention the fact of his intimacy with Gates as a reason why he was unwilling to believe his friend guilty of such dishonorable conduct.
*** The following is a copy of Conway's letter:
*** "Philadelphia, 23d July, 1776. "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, &c., "Thomas Conway."
Baron De Steuben.—His Arrival in America, and Appointment as Inspector General.
many years. Deserted by his former friends, deprived of employment, and every where despised by the people, he left the country before the close of the war, and returned to France. *
General Conway was succeeded in the office of inspector general by the BaronMay 5, 1778
Steuben, a veteran commander and disciplinarian from the army of Frederic the Great.