CHAPTER XII.

_Concluding Scenes._

Embarrassments of the Confederacy--Assaults upon Washington-- Philadelphia evacuated--Lee’s Retreat--England enlists Savages--Lord Chatham--British Ravages--Capture of Stony Point--Efforts of Sir Henry Clinton--Treason of Arnold--Major Andrè--British at Mount Vernon--Cornwallis at Yorktown--Excitement in Philadelphia--News of the Treaty of Peace--Washington’s Farewell--Resigns his Commission--Chosen President--Views of Slavery--Sickness and Death.

The dreary winter passed slowly away, while Washington was making vigorous preparations for opening the campaign in the spring. Immense embarrassments arose from the fact that Congress did not represent a _nation_, but merely a _confederacy_ of independent states. Each state decided the pay it would offer the troops, and claimed the right to retain them at home or to send them abroad at its pleasure. These difficulties subsequently led the United States to organize themselves into a _nation_.

No man can be in power without being denounced. Washington was assailed most cruelly. He wrote to the President of Congress:

“My enemies know I cannot combat their insinuations however injurious, without disclosing secrets it is of the utmost moment to conceal. But why should I expect to be exempt from censure, the unfailing lot of an elevated station? Merit and talent which I cannot pretend to rival, have ever been subject to it.”

In these dark hours France generously came to the aid of the patriots, struggling for freedom in America against such desperate odds. The tidings of the French Alliance awoke new emotions of joy in the weary hearts at Valley Forge. The British army in Philadelphia amounted to not less than thirty thousand men. They were greatly alarmed. The danger was imminent that a French fleet might appear in the Delaware and cut off their retreat by water, while the American farmers, thus encouraged, would rise _en masse_ and prevent their escape by land. This doubtless would have been their doom but for a succession of storms which delayed the French fleet.

With precipitation, the British evacuated Philadelphia. Their heavy material of war was shipped to New York. The troops marched very cautiously through New Jersey. Washington followed closely in their rear. The 28th of June was a day of intense heat. The British were at Monmouth. The march of another day would unite them with the troops in New York. They would then be safe from attack. Washington was extremely anxious that they should not escape without receiving at least one heavy blow.

Lee was in the advance with five thousand men. Washington ordered him to make an impetuous assault, promising to hasten to his support. Instead of obeying orders this strange man, of undoubted abilities but of inexplicable eccentricity, commenced a retreat. Intense, beyond the power of utterance, was the chagrin of Washington as he met Lee, at the head of his troops, in this retrograde movement. In tones of anguish he exclaimed: “What means this ill-timed prudence?” Lee instantly replied:

“I know of no man blessed with a larger portion of that rascally virtue than your Excellency.”

There was no time for altercation. Lee’s men felt humiliated. As soon as they caught sight of Washington they greeted him with cheers. Promptly they wheeled around at his command, and rushed upon the foe. A bloody battle ensued with all its ordinary complications of uproar, tumult, woe and death.

The British were routed and driven from the field. The Americans, exhilarated by their success, slept upon the field with their arms by their side, and impatiently awaited the morning, eager to renew the battle. Signal as had been their success, it would have been far more decisive had General Lee obeyed orders. General Washington wrapped himself in his cloak, and slept in the midst of his soldiers.

In the night the vanquished British silently stole away. In the morning no foe was to be seen. There were left three hundred of the mutilated bodies of their dead unburied upon the plain. Sixty prisoners were taken, and six hundred deserted the ranks, and scattered through the country. They were disgusted with the infamous service into which they had been driven by kings and courts, and were kindly received by the American farmers. At Middletown the remains of the fugitive army, protected by the guns of the fleet, embarked and were conveyed to New York.

Thus another summer passed away of marches, countermarches and skirmishes, many of them bloody and woeful, but without any decisive results. The inhuman court of England, disheartened by the wholesale desertion of troops, both English and German, and disappointed in their inability to enlist Tories for the war, redoubled their efforts to summon the demoniac savages to their aid. Loud were the remonstrances against this atrocious conduct by many of the noblest men of England, both in the Commons and in the House of Lords. But the King and the Court declared, that in order to subdue America they had a right to use whatever instruments God and nature had placed in their hands. The British sent agents to the cruel savages of the Mohawk to rouse the fierce warriors of the Six Nations against the feeble villages of the frontier. It was a demoniac deed. Scenes of horror were witnessed too awful for recital. The annals of our globe contain scarcely any tragedies more awful than the massacres of Cherry Valley and Wyoming. The narrative of these deeds sent a thrill of horror not only throughout France and America, but into multitudes of humane hearts in England. Some Englishmen pleaded earnestly for us, like Lord Chatham, in the House of Lords. We shall never forget his words as he exclaimed, in view of these outrages:

“Were I an American as I am an Englishman, I would never lay down my arms, never--_never_--NEVER.”

Washington sent four thousand men to defend, as far as possible, the poor, helpless pioneers from the torch and the scalping-knife. Hundreds of lowly homes were laid in ashes. Hundreds of families, parents and children, were butchered, before the savages were driven from their murderous work. They fled at length to Niagara, where the British received their allies into their fortresses.

The American army, feeble in numbers, and suffering from cold and hunger, were led by Washington into winter quarters, mainly on the Hudson, near West Point. The British remained within their lines in the city of New York. Their fleet gave them command of the ocean, and they reveled in abundance. It would seem that both officers and men were a godless set, dead to humanity, and still more dead to religion. None but the worst of men would engage in so foul an enterprise. They spent the winter in dancing, gambling, drinking, and every species of dissolute carousal.

Alarmed by the tidings that France was coming to the aid of America, British pride and rage were roused to intensity. The spring campaign opened with renewed devastation and plunder. Lord George Germain had the effrontery to say in Parliament, in view of these scenes of massacre and brutal treatment of prisoners:

“A war of this sort will probably induce the rebellious provinces to return to their allegiance.”

The sky was reddened with the wanton burning of villages. Women and children were driven, houseless and without food, to perish in the fields. Fairfield and Norwalk, Connecticut, and many other towns were laid in ashes.

While the British were thus ravaging defenseless regions, Washington had no power to face their concentrated armies, yet he was eagerly watching for every opportunity to strike a blow, where there was good prospect of success. To subject his troops to almost certain defeat, would not only be cruel, in the slaughter which would ensue, but disheartening and ruinous to the cause.

The British had an important fortress at Stony Point on the Hudson. General Washington sent General Wayne to take it. With great gallantry he conducted the enterprise. Sixty-three of the British were killed, five hundred and forty-three were taken prisoners, and all the military stores of the fortress were captured. Many similar enterprises were conducted. With skill, which now seems supernatural, this wonderful man, thoughtful, prayerful, and confident of final success, held the fleets and armies of the empire of Great Britain at bay, thwarted all the efforts of their ablest generals, and closed the campaign unvanquished. We know not where to look for a record of greater military genius, of more self-denying patriotism, of higher nobility of soul, than is here displayed.

Again, as the wintry winds of 1779 swept the field, both armies retired to winter quarters, preparing to renew the conflict. With the early spring, the British troops were sent abroad in detachments to carry on their work of conflagration, blood, and misery. Sir Henry Clinton, then in command of the British forces, was anxious to crush the Americans before the fleet and army which France was so generously organizing should reach these shores.

In July, twelve French vessels of war with a supply of arms and ammunition, and an army of five thousand soldiers arrived. But England had by this time concentrated a far more formidable fleet in our waters, and had greatly increased her armies. Thus many felt that even the aid of France could be of no avail. Years of war and woe had filled some of even the stoutest hearts with despair. Many of the truest patriots urged that it was madness longer to continue the conflict; that it was in vain for these feeble colonies in their utter impoverishment, any longer to contend against the richest and most powerful monarchy on the globe.

General Arnold was in command at West Point. He was one of the bravest of soldiers, but a ruined gambler. Napoleon I. declared that he would never appoint any gambler to any post of responsibility. Arnold was overwhelmed with these so-called debts of honor. He saw no hope for his country. He could turn traitor, and barter West Point for almost boundless quantities of British gold. The gambler became a traitor. The treason was detected. The traitor escaped, but young Andrè, who allowed himself to act the part of a spy in this foul deed, perished upon the scaffold. He was very young. He was surrounded by influences which perverted his judgment and deadened his conscience. Consequently, great sympathy was felt for him, and many tears were shed over his untimely end.

Britain proudly proclaimed that with her invincible fleet she ruled supreme over the wild waste of waters. The whole ocean she regarded as her undisputed domain. Lord Cornwallis was sent with a powerful army to overrun North and South Carolina. He had a numerous fleet to co-operate with him. The vigilant eye of Washington was fixed everywhere upon the foe, striving to ward off blows, and to harass the enemy in his movements.

Thus the dreary summer of 1780 lingered away, over our war-scathed, woe-stricken land. There were many bloody conflicts, but no decisive battles. Still Washington was victorious; for he thwarted all the herculean endeavors of the British to enslave our land.

In the opening spring of the year 1781, the British turned their main energies of devastation and ruin against the South. Richmond, in Virginia, was laid in ashes. With their armed vessels they ravaged the shores of the Chesapeake and the Potomac. They landed at Mount Vernon, and would have applied the torch to every building, and trampled down all the harvests, had not the manager of the estate ransomed the property by bringing in a large quantity of supplies. When Washington heard of this he was much displeased. He wrote to his agent:

“It would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have heard that in consequence of your non-compliance with their request, they had burned my house and laid the plantation in ruins. You ought to have considered yourself as my representative, and should have reflected on the bad example of communicating with the enemy, and of making a voluntary offer of refreshments to them with a view to prevent the conflagration.”

Still the prospects of the country were dark. The army dwindled away to three thousand men. There was no money in the treasury. The paper money issued by Congress had become quite valueless. The British, exasperated by defeats, and humiliated in seeing their fleets and armies held at bay so long by a foe so feeble, were summoning their mightiest energies to close the war as with a clap of thunder.

Cornwallis was now with a well-equipped army at Yorktown, in Virginia. There was no foe to oppose him. Washington made a secret movement, in conjunction with our generous allies, for his capture. He deceived the British by making them believe that he was preparing for the siege of New York. One bright and sunny morning in September, Cornwallis was surprised, and quite astounded in seeing the heights around him glistening with the bayonets and frowning with the batteries of the Americans. And at the same time a French fleet was ascending the bay, and casting anchor before the harbor. The British general was caught in a trap. A few days of hopeless despairing conflict ensued, when famine and the carnage of incessant bombardment compelled him to surrender. It was the 19th of October, 1781.

Awful was the humiliation of Cornwallis. Seven thousand British regulars threw down their arms. One hundred and sixty pieces of cannon graced this memorable triumph. The noble Washington, as the British troops were marching from their ramparts to become captives of war, said to the Americans:

“My brave fellows, let no sensation of satisfaction for the triumphs you have gained induce you to insult your fallen enemy. Let no shouting, no clamorous huzzaing increase their mortification. Posterity will huzza for us.”

The next day he issued the following characteristic order to the army:

“Divine service is to be performed to-morrow, in the several brigades and divisions. The commander-in-chief earnestly recommends that the troops not on duty should universally attend, with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.”

It was midnight when the rapturous tidings reached Philadelphia. A watchman traversed the streets shouting at intervals, “Past twelve o’clock, and a pleasant morning. Cornwallis is taken.”

These words startled the slumbering citizens, almost like the “trump which wakes the dead.” Candles were lighted, windows thrown up, figures in night robes and caps bent eagerly out to catch the thrilling sound. Citizens rushed into the streets half clad; they wept, they laughed, they shouted, they embraced each other; the bells were rung, the booming of cannon and the rattle of musketry were heard in all directions, as men and boys, in the joyful salute, endeavored to give expression to their inexpressible joy.

The news flew upon the wings of the wind, over the mountains and through the valleys, no one could tell how. The shout of an enfranchised people rose like a roar of thunder from our whole land. The enthusiasm of the Americans was roused to the highest pitch. It was now clear, that, aided by the French fleet and the French army, and with such supplies of money, arms, and ammunition as France was generously affording, the British government could not enslave our land. The British were disheartened. Though they continued their menaces of hostility, it was evident that they considered the question as settled. Both parties retired to winter quarters. During the winter no movements were made by either party calling for record. Another summer came and went. There were marchings and counter-marchings, while neither the English nor the Americans seemed disposed to crimson the soil with the blood of a general conflict.

On the night of the 19th of April, 1783, the joyful tidings were communicated to the American army that a treaty of peace had been signed in Paris. It was just eight years from the day when the awful conflict commenced on the plain at Lexington. No one but God can know the amount of misery caused by those long years of battle. Thousands had perished amidst the agonies of the various fields of conflict; thousands had been beggared; millions of property had been destroyed; mothers and maidens whose numbers cannot be estimated had been dragged into captivity, a thousand-fold worse than death; and widows and orphans had been consigned to life-long poverty and grief.

Such was the vengeance which the powerful government of Great Britain wreaked upon these feeble colonies for their refusal to submit to intolerable despotism. The writer would not wish to perpetuate the remembrance of these wrongs, still it is not the duty of the historian to attempt to conceal or palliate atrocious outrages against the rights of human nature. It is difficult to find in all the records of the past, deeds more inexcusable, more wicked, more infamous, than this effort of Great Britain, to enslave these infant colonies.

Late in November, the British embarked in their fleet in New York, and sailed for their distant island. At the same time Washington, marching with his troops from West Point, entered the city. America was free and independent, and Washington was the universally recognized saviour of his country. There was no longer any foe. The army was disbanded on the 4th of December. Washington took leave of his companions in arms. His voice trembled with emotion as he said:

“With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy as your former have been glorious and honorable. I cannot come to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged if each of you will come and take me by the hand.”

Tears blinded his eyes, and he could say no more. One after another, these heroic men grasped his hand in parting. Not a word was spoken. Slowly he journeyed towards Mount Vernon. At every city and village he was greeted with the highest tokens of love and veneration. On the 23d of December he met the Continental Congress at Annapolis. Resigning his commission, he said:

“Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theater of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to thy august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.”

Soon a convention was held in Philadelphia to organize the Confederacy of States into a nation. Essentially the present Constitution was formed. By the unanimous voice of the electors, Washington was chosen first President of the United States. He was inaugurated on the 30th of April, 1789. Holding the office two terms of four years each, he retired again in 1796, to the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon. In his farewell address he bequeathed to his countrymen a graceful legacy of patriotic counsel which ever has and ever will excite their profound admiration.

Washington, having inherited a large landed estate in Virginia, was, as a matter of course, a slaveholder. The whole number which he held at the time of his death was one hundred and twenty-four. The system met his strong disapproval. In 1786, he wrote to Robert Morris, saying: “There is no man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the abolition of slavery.”

Lafayette, that true friend of popular rights, was extremely anxious to free our country from the reproach which slavery brought upon it. Washington wrote to him in 1788: “The scheme, my dear marquis, which you propose as a precedent to encourage the emancipation of the black people of this country from the state of bondage in which they are held, is a striking evidence of the state of your heart. I shall be happy to join you in so laudable a work.”

In his last will and testament, he inscribed these noble words: “Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and desire that all the slaves which I hold in my own right shall receive their freedom. To emancipate them during her life would, though earnestly wished by me, be attended with such insuperable difficulties, on account of their mixture by marriage with the dower negroes, as to excite the most painful sensation, if not disagreeable consequences, from the latter, while both descriptions are in the occupancy of the same proprietor; it not being in my power, under the tenure by which the dower negroes are held, to manumit them.”

Long before this he had recorded his resolve. “I never mean, unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it, to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law.”

Mrs. Washington, immediately after her husband’s death, learning from his will that the only obstacle to the immediate emancipation of the slaves was her right of dower, immediately relinquished that right, and the slaves were at once emancipated.

The 12th of December, 1799, was chill and damp. Washington, however, took his usual round on horseback to his farms, and returned late in the afternoon, wet with sleet, and shivering with cold. Though the snow was clinging to his hair behind when he came in, he sat down to dinner without changing his dress. The next day, three inches of snow whitened the ground, and the sky was clouded. Washington, feeling that he had taken cold, remained by the fireside during the morning. As it cleared up in the afternoon, he went out to superintend some work upon the lawn. He was then hoarse, and the hoarseness increased as night came on. He, however, took no remedy for it; saying, “I never take anything to carry off a cold. Let it go as it came.”

He passed the evening as usual, reading the papers, answering letters, and conversing with his family. About two o’clock the next morning, Saturday, the 14th, he awoke in an acute chill, and was seriously unwell. At sunrise, his physician, Dr. Craig, who resided at Alexandria, was sent for. In the meantime, he was bled by one of his overseers, but with no relief, as he rapidly grew worse. Dr. Craig reached Mount Vernon at eleven o’clock, and immediately bled his patient again, but without effect. Two consulting physicians arrived during the day: and, as the difficulty in breathing and swallowing rapidly increased, venesection was again attempted. It is evident that Washington then considered his case doubtful. He examined his will, and destroyed some papers which he did not wish to have preserved.

His sufferings from inflammation of the throat, and struggling for breath, as the afternoon wore away, became quite severe. Still he retained his mental faculties unimpaired, and spoke briefly of his approaching death and burial. About four o’clock in the afternoon, he said to Dr. Craig: “I die hard; but I am not afraid to go. I believed, from my first attack, that I should not survive it: my breath cannot last long.” About six o’clock, his physician asked him if he would sit up in his bed. He held out his hands, and was raised upon his pillow, when he said: “I feel that I am going. I thank you for your attentions. You had better not take any more trouble about me, but let me go off quietly. I cannot last long.”

He then sank back upon his pillow, and made several unavailing attempts to speak intelligibly. About ten o’clock, he said: “I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault until three days after I am dead. Do you understand me?” To the reply, “Yes, sir,” he remarked, “It is well.” These were the last words he uttered. Soon after this he gently expired, in the sixty-eighth year of his age.

At the moment of his death, Mrs. Washington sat in silent grief at the foot of his bed. “Is he gone?” she asked in a firm and collected voice. The physician, unable to speak, gave a silent signal of assent. “’Tis well,” she added, in the same untremulous utterance. “All is now over. I shall soon follow him. I have no more trials to pass through.”

On the 18th, his remains were deposited in the tomb at Mount Vernon, where they now repose, enshrined in a nation’s love; and his fame will forever, as now, fill the world.[166]

FOOTNOTES

[1] “There is no doubt that the politics of the family determined the two brothers, John and Lawrence, to emigrate to Virginia; that colony being the favorite resort of the Cavaliers, during the government of Cromwell, as New England was the retreat of the Puritans, in the period which preceded the Commonwealth.”--_Life of Washington_, by Edward Everett, p. 24.

[2] The pleasing story may easily be perverted. A little boy, having read it, deliberately took his hatchet, went into the garden, and utterly destroyed a valuable young pear tree. Then entering the house, he said, while his face was beaming with satisfaction, “Grandpapa, it was I who spoiled your pear tree.” Inexpressible was the astonishment and chagrin of my dear little grandson, on receiving a severe reprimand, and a prohibition from again going into the garden for a week. He could not understand why he should be censured, for that for which George Washington was so abundantly praised.

[3] “During the last summer that he was at school, we find him surveying the fields around the school house, and in the adjoining plantations, of which the boundaries, angles, and measurements, the plots and calculations, are entered with formality and precision in his books. He used logarithms, and proved the accuracy of his work by different methods.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 6.

[4] There were fifty-four of these rules. All were important. We give a few as specimens.

Read no letters, books, or papers, in company. But when there is a necessity for doing it you must ask leave.

Show yourself not glad at the misfortune of another, though he were your enemy.

Strive not with your superiors, in argument, but always submit your judgment to others with modesty.

Use no reproachful language against any one.

Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.

Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth, nor at the table. Speak not of melancholy things, as death and wounds, and if others mention them, change, if you can, the discourse.

When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb not the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not, nor prompt him without being desired. Interrupt him not, nor answer him till his speech be ended.

Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

[5] “At the age of fifteen, Washington received the appointment of midshipman, in the British navy, but surrendered it, at the earnest desire of his mother.”--_National Portrait Gallery_, vol. i. p. 3.

[6] “Lord Fairfax was a man of cultivated mind, educated at Oxford, the associate of the wits in London, the author of one or two papers in the “Spectator,” and a _habitué_ of the polite circles of the metropolis. A disappointment in love is said to have cast a shadow over his after life, and to have led him to pass his time in voluntary exile on his Virginia estates.”--Everett’s _Life of Washington_, p. 41.

[7] Sebastian Cabot, in the year 1498, sailed from Bristol, England, with two ships, in the month of May. He first made land on the coast of Labrador. He was seeking a passage to India. Cruising along the shores of Nova Scotia, and the whole length of the coast of Maine, he rounded Cape Cod, and continued his voyage to the latitude of Cape Hatteras. Thence he entered upon his homeward voyage.--Galvano’s _Discoveries of the World_, p. 88. London, 1601.

[8] “The French insisted on the right of discovery and occupancy. Father Marquette, La Salle, and others, they said, had descended the Mississippi, and settlements had been made south of Lake Michigan and on the Illinois river, years before any Englishman had set his foot westward of the great mountains; and European treaties had repeatedly recognized the title of France to all her actual possessions in America. So far the ground was tenable.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 20.

But he immediately adds, in apparent contradiction to these statements: “It is clear that neither of the contending parties had any just claims to the land about which they were beginning to kindle the flames of war. They were both intruders upon the soil of the native occupants.”

This is hardly fair to either party. Neither France nor England claimed the territory, to the exclusion of the rights of the original inhabitants. Their only claim extended to the right of purchasing the territory from the Indians, of trading with them, and of establishing colonies. And this right all the maritime nations of Europe recognized.

[9] Galvano’s “Discoveries of the World,” p. 88, London; Biddle’s “Memoir of Sebastian Cabot,” p. 221, London.

[10] “A Description of the English Province of Carolina,” by Daniel Coxe, Esq., p. 113.

[11] M’Culloch’s Geographical Dictionary.

[12] “New France,” vol. iii. p. 380; “Annals of the West,” p. 57.

[13] “Plain Facts,” p. 55; Pownal’s “Memoir on Service in North America.”

[14] “He (Washington) was furthermore to inquire, diligently and by cautious means, into the number of the French troops that had crossed the lakes, the reinforcements expected from Canada, how many forts they had erected, and at what places, how they were garrisoned and appointed, and their distances from each other; and, in short, to procure all the intelligence possible respecting the condition and object of the intruders.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 22.

[15] “French Creek, New York and Pennsylvania, rises in Chautauque county, New York, passes into Pennsylvania, flowing by Meadville, and enters Alleghany river, at Franklin, Venango county. It is about 100 miles long.”--M’Culloch’s _Geographical Dictionary_.

[16] Washington’s Journal of 1753.

[17] Gist’s Journal of the Expedition may be found in the Massachusetts Historical Collections, 3d series, vol. v. pages 101–108.

[18] “The truth was, these Indians were in a very awkward position. They could not resist the Europeans, and knew not which to side with; so that a non-committal policy was much the safest; and they were wise not to return, by Washington, as he desired they should do, the wampum they received from the French, as that would be equivalent to breaking with them.”--_Annals of the West_, p. 83.

[19] “M. de St. Pierre, the commandant, was an elderly person, a knight of the military order of St. Louis, and courteous in his manners. At the first interview, he promised immediate attention to the letter from Governor Dinwiddie; and everything was provided for the convenience and comfort of Major Washington and his party while they remained at the fort.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 26.

[20] “Major Washington took an opportunity to look around and examine the fort. His attendants were instructed to do the same. He was thus enabled to bring away an accurate description of its form, size, construction, cannon, and barracks. His men counted the canoes in the river, and such as were partly finished.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 27.

[21] Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 27.

[22] Such is the story as generally received, and as narrated, essentially, by Mr. Gist. But it would appear that Washington had some doubt whether the Indian were treacherously disposed. According to his narrative the savage made no attempt to escape, but commenced reloading his gun. He said that his wigwam was so near, that he fired the gun to let the family know that he was coming. He had previously begged them to go with him to his cabin, and to pass the night. A careful examination of probabilities will lead many to believe that Washington was correct in his supposition. Mr. Sparks writes, “Whether it was the intention to kill either of them can only be conjectured. If it were, he showed a degree of stupidity very different from the ordinary cunning of the savage. They could only converse by signs and might easily have entirely misunderstood each other.”

[23] “As soon as Washington returned with the letter of St. Pierre, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to the Board of Trade, stating that the French were building another fort at Venango, and that, in March, twelve or fifteen hundred men would be ready to descend the Alleghany river with their Indian allies, for which purpose three hundred canoes had been collected; and that Logstown was then to be made head-quarters, while forts were built in various other positions, and the whole country occupied.”--_Annals of the West_, p, 84.

[24] “The Assembly was convened; and many of the most judicious members expressed doubts whether the king of England had an unquestionable claim to the valley, which France had discovered and occupied. ‘You may well conceive,’ the governor wrote, ‘how I fired at this; that an English legislature should presume to doubt the right of his majesty to the interior parts of this continent, the back of his dominions.’”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 35.

[25] It is said that there was a small party, of about forty men, in the employ of the Ohio Company, who had commenced throwing up entrenchments at the Fork. “On the 17th of April, Ensign Ward, then in command, saw, upon the Alleghany, a sight that made his heart sink; sixty bateaux and three hundred canoes, filled with men and deeply laden with cannon and stores. The fort was called on to surrender. Ward tried to evade the act; but it would not do. Contrecœur, with a thousand men about him, said ‘Evacuate,’ and the ensign dared not refuse. That evening he supped with his captor, and the next day was bowed off by the Frenchman, and, with his men and tools, marched up the Monongahela.”--_Annals of the West_, p. 87.

[26] It would seem that Washington had daily public prayers in the camp, reading the service himself. Mr. Irving writes, “It certainly was not one of the least striking pictures presented in this wild campaign--the youthful commander presiding with calm seriousness over a motley assemblage of half-equipped soldiery, leathern-clad hunters and woodsmen, and painted savages with their wives and children, and assisting them all in solemn devotion by his own example and demeanor.”--_Life of Washington_, in two volumes, vol. i. p. 42.

[27] It is said, on the other hand, that the French commenced the war by driving off the party under Ensign Ward, who was throwing up intrenchments on the site of Fort Duquesne.

[28] The British admitted that so small a party, conducting a peace commissioner with a summons, could not have intended a hostile attack; but they affirmed that the French were spies. It is undoubtedly true that they were to gain what information they could; as was the case with Washington and his party when they visited the forts on French Creek. This was the main object of Washington’s excursion. The summons was a mere pretext.

[29] No transaction in the life of Washington has elicited more passionate attack and defence than this. The French court published a very full account of the occurrence in a duodecimo which was sent to all the governments of Europe. It was entitled, “Mémoire contenant le Précis des Faits, avec leurs Pièces justificatives, pour servir de Réponse aux Observations envoyées, par les Ministres d’Angleterre, dans les cours de l’Europe.” A Paris, de l’Imprimerie Royale, 1756.

[30] “The site of this fort is three or four hundred yards south of what is now called National Road, four miles from the foot of Laurel Hill, and fifty miles from Cumberland at Wills’ Creek.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 51.

[31] M. De Villiers, in his despatches to the French Government, wrote, “We made the English consent to sign, that they had assassinated my brother in his camp.”

[32] Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 51.

[33] “A gentleman, who had heard that Colonel Washington had said that he knew of no music so pleasing as the whistling of bullets, being alone in conversation with him, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, asked him whether it was as he had related. The general answered, ‘If I said so, it was when I was young.’”--_Gordon’s History_, vol. ii. p. 203.

[34] “As late as 1754 all the French colonies, from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, did not contain more than a hundred thousand white inhabitants, while the inhabitants of the English colonies were then estimated at twelve hundred thousand white and two hundred and fifty thousand blacks.”--_History of the United States of America_, by Harvey Prindle Peet, LL.D., p. 156.

[35] “It is evident that the sense of the people was but little wakened to the necessity or importance of those enterprises against the French; and that they looked upon them rather as the results of political objects in Great Britain, than as immediately concerning themselves.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 51.

[36] _Autobiography of Franklin_, Sparks’ edition, p. 90.

[37] “Braddock’s own secretary, William Shirley, wrote confidentially to Governor Morris, ‘We have a general most judiciously chosen for being disqualified for the service he is employed in, in almost every respect.’”--_Colonial Records_, p. 405.

[38] Walpole wittily wrote, “The Duke of Brunswick is much dissatisfied at the slowness of General Braddock, _who does not march as if he was at all impatient to be scalped_.” This was unjust. Want of courage was not one of the faults of General Braddock.

[39] Mr. Irving, writing of the assailants says, “They were not the main force of the French, but a mere detachment of 72 Regulars, 146 Canadians, and 637 Indians, 855 in all, led by Captain de Beaujeu. Such was the scanty force which the imagination of the panic-stricken army had magnified into a great host, and from which they had fled, in breathless terror, abandoning the whole frontier.”--_Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 206.

[40] There can be no possible excuse for the French officers, in permitting this barbarity. The Indians were their allies, instigated to the war by their influence, marching under their banners, led by their officers, and paid by their money. They were therefore responsible for the conduct of these their allies. To permit them, under the very walls of Fort Duquesne, to put the captives to death by torture, was an atrocious crime meriting the execration of humanity.

[41] The plan of the British campaign of 1755, in which Braddock met his disaster, was four-fold: first to capture Nova Scotia; second, to drive the French from their posts on Lake Champlain; third, to seize the important French fort at Niagara, between Lake Ontario and Lake George, and fourth, to expel all French settlers from the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and take entire possession of the Ohio valley.--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 152.

[42] Mr. Sparks gives the name, Miss Mary Phillips; Mr. Everett spells it Phillipse; and Mr. Irving gives it as Philipse.

[43] “He had before felt the influence of the tender passion. At the age of seventeen he was smitten by the graces of a fair one, whom he called a ‘Lowland beauty,’ and whose praises he recorded in glowing strains, while wandering with his surveyor’s compass among the Alleghany Mountains. On that occasion he wrote desponding letters to a friend, and indited plaintive verses, but never ventured to reveal his emotions to the lady who was unconsciously the cause of his pains.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 73.

[44] _Life of George Washington_, by Edward Everett, p. 87.

[45] “One is tempted to smile at this tirade about the ‘insolence of the people,’ and this zeal for ‘his majesty’s service,’ on the part of Washington; but he was yet a young man and a young officer. What he thus terms insolence was the dawning spirit of independence, which he was afterward the foremost to cherish and promote.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 215.

[46] Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 81.

[47] Hazard’s “Register of Pennsylvania,” vol. v. p. 252.

[48] Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 230.

[49] Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 94.

[50] Washington, commenting upon this movement of Major Grant, writes: “From all accounts I can collect, it appears very clear that this was a very ill-concerted, or a very ill-executed plan. Perhaps both. But it seems to be very generally acknowledged that Major Grant exceeded his orders.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 286.

[51] An old negro servant of the household of Mrs. Custis gave the following account of the impression Washington produced upon the family:

“Never seed the like, sir--never the like of him, though I have seen many in my day--so tall, so straight! And then, sir, he sat on a horse and rode with such an air! Ah, sir, he was like no one else! Many of the grandest gentlemen, in the gold lace, were at the wedding; but none looked like the man himself.”--_Soldier and Patriot_, p. 58.

[52] William Wirt, in his Life of Patrick Henry, has assigned to this date, the enthusiastic reception of Washington by the Assembly. Others, as we think more correctly, have given it the date to which we have assigned it in this volume.

[53] To a nephew, who was entering the Assembly for the first time, he wrote, “The only advice I will offer, if you have a mind to command the attention of the House, is to speak seldom, but on important subjects, except such as particularly relate to your constituents; and, in the former case make yourself perfectly master of the subject. Never exceed a decent warmth, and submit your sentiments with diffidence. A dictatorial style, though it may carry conviction, is always accompanied with disgust.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 101.

[54] “Vestryman--Episcopal church; one belonging to a select number of persons, in each parish, who manage its temporal concerns.”--_Webster._

[55] “His stable was well filled, and admirably regulated. His stud was thorough-bred and in excellent order. His household books contained registers of the names, ages, and marks of his favorite horses; such as Ajax, Blueskin, Valiant, Magnolia (an Arab), etc. Also his dogs, chiefly fox-hounds, Vulcan, Singer, Ringwood, Sweet-lips, Forester, Music, Rockwood, and Truelove.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 314.

[56] Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 315.

[57] Speech at laying the corner stone of the Washington Monument, by Robert C. Winthrop.

[58] “My manner of life,” Washington wrote to a friend, “is plain; and I do not mean to be put out of it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready, and such as will be content to partake of them, are always welcome. Those who expect more will be disappointed.”--_Soldier and Patriot_, p. 62.

[59] “Washington was fond of hunting, and sport of all kinds. He kept a beautiful barge on the Potomac, rowed by six negroes in uniform dress.”--_Soldier and Patriot_, p. 61.

[60] Though the first burst of opposition to the Stamp Act came from Virginia, the New Englanders were the first to take the field against the whole project of Parliamentary taxation.--See Irving’s _Washington_, Mount Vernon edition, vol i. p. 110.

[61] “Parliamentary Register,” 1776.

[62] “Writings of Washington,” Jared Sparks, vol. ii. p. 345, note.

[63] “He had some few intimates in his neighborhood, who accorded with him in sentiment. One of the ablest and most efficient of these was Mr. George Mason, with whom he had occasional conversations on the state of affairs.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 341.

[64] Junius, in his celebrated letters, describes Botetourt as “a cringing, bowing, fawning, sword-bearing courtier.” The witty Horace Walpole wrote of him, “If his graces do not captivate them (the Virginians), he will enrage them to fury; for I take all his _douceur_ to be enamelled on iron.”--_Grenville Papers_, vol. iv. p. 330, note.

[65] The wits of London quite amused themselves in lampoons upon this extraordinary splendor of outfit, of “a minister plenipotentiary to the savage Cherokees.”

[66] Peyton Randolph was one of the most distinguished of the Virginia patriots. He was attorney-general of the Province, and was subsequently elected President of the Second Colonial Congress.

[67] Holmes’ _American Annals_, vol. ii. p. 173.

[68] These nations, or tribes, consisted of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Senecas, the Cayugas, and the Tuscaroras.--See Drake’s _Book of the Indians_, B. v. p. 2.

[69] Dr. James Craik was a Scotchman by birth, and a very noble man. He accompanied Washington in the unfortunate expedition rendered memorable by the disaster of Jumonville. Washington cherished, for him, a life-long friendship.

[70] “At that time (1770) there were no inhabitants on the Ohio, below Pittsburg, except the natives of the forest. A few traders had wandered into those regions, and land speculators had sent out emissaries to explore the country; but no permanent settlements had been formed.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 111.

[71] The Muskingum is one of the largest rivers that runs wholly in the State of Ohio. It flows down, from its sources far away in the north, with a gentle current, over a pebbly bottom, and is navigable for large boats, for a distance of about one hundred miles. The beautiful city of Marietta now stands at its mouth, where the wigwam of the Indian only was seen at the time of Washington’s visit.--M’Culloch’s _Geographical Dictionary_.

[72] The Great Kanawha, after flowing through a garden-like region four hundred miles in extent, enters the Ohio about two hundred and fifty miles below Pittsburg.--M’Culloch’s _Geographical Dictionary_.

[73] “_To Dissolve_; to bring to an end by separating the parts or dispersing the members of; to terminate; to destroy; to cause to disappear; as, to _dissolve_ parliament.

“_To Prorogue_; to continue from one session to another; to adjourn for an indefinite time; applied to the English Parliament.”--_Webster._

[74] Washington’s diary testifies that he fasted rigidly, and attended divine worship in the Episcopal Church. He still retained friendly intercourse with the Dunmore family.

[75] See information given to the elder Adams, by Mr. Lynch of South Carolina.--_Adams’ Diary._

[76] “Washington’s Writings,” by Jared Sparks, vol. ii. p. 329.

[77] “It is such an Assembly as never before came together, on a sudden, in any part of the world. Here are fortunes, abilities, learning, eloquence, acuteness, equal to any I ever met with in my life. Here is a diversity of religions, education, manners, interests, such as it would seem impossible to unite in one plan of conduct.”--_Diary of John Adams._

[78] The illustrious William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, whose espousal, in the House of Lords, of the cause of the colonists has won for him the eternal gratitude of every American, said to the Lords, in Parliament:

“When your lordships look at the papers transmitted to us from America; when you consider their decency, firmness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself I must declare and avow that, in the master states of the world I know not the people or senate who, in such a complication of difficult circumstances, can stand in preference to the delegates of America assembled in General Congress at Philadelphia.”

[79] “Washington’s Writings,” by Jared Sparks, vol. ii. p. 405.

[80] It has generally been understood, as is stated here, that Major Pitcairn gave these orders. But Mr. Elias Phinney, in his very carefully prepared History of the Battle at Lexington, writes:

“The British troops came up shouting, and almost upon the run, till within about ten rods of our line. Their commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, advanced a few yards and exclaimed, ‘Lay down your arms and disperse, you damned rebels!--Rush on, my boys. Fire!’ The order not being instantly obeyed, he again called out brandishing his sword with great fury, ‘Fire! God damn you, fire.’ The first platoon then fired over the heads of our men. Colonel Smith repeating his order to fire, a general discharge, from the front ranks, was made directly into the American ranks. On receiving the fire of the first platoon, the Provincials imagined the regulars had fired nothing but powder, and did not offer to return it. But on the second discharge, seeing some of their numbers fall and others wounded, they no longer hesitated as to their right to resist, and some of them immediately returned the fire.”--_History of the Battle of Lexington_, by Elias Phinney, p. 20.

[81] It is difficult to find any two narratives of these events which will agree in the minute details. It was a scene of awful confusion, and honest men would differ in the accounts they gave. But there can be no question whatever, that the all-important general facts are as here recorded.--See _History of the Battle of Lexington_, by Elias Phinney, and an admirable account of the expedition by Frederick Hudson in _Harper’s Magazine_, vol. 50.

[82] An eye-witness writes: “When the distressed troops reached the hollow square, formed by the fresh troops for their reception, they were obliged to lie down upon the ground, their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of the dogs after the chase.”

[83] See minute and admirable account by Mr. Frederick Hudson, in _Harper’s Magazine_, No. 300.

[84] John Adams wrote to a friend: “There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington; a gentleman of the first fortunes on the continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country. His views are noble and disinterested. He declared, when he accepted the mighty trust, that he would lay before us an exact account of his expenses, and not accept a shilling pay.”

[85] “Soldier and Patriots,” by F. W. Owen, p. 93; Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 478.

[86] The reader, who is interested in obtaining a more minute detail of the incidents of this momentous battle, will find them quite fully presented, in Mr. Irving’s excellent _Life of Washington_.

[87] General Schuyler was a native-born American, descended from one of the most illustrious families. He had a large estate, near Saratoga, and was highly educated, particularly in all branches relating to military science. He was a tried patriot. In Congress and elsewhere he had proved himself the able and eloquent advocate of American rights. See Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. (Mount Vernon Edition) p. 158.

[88] The house stood on the Watertown road, about half a mile from the college. It subsequently was long known as the Cragie House. “The Cragie House is associated with American literature, through some of its subsequent occupants. Mr. Edward Everett resided in it the first year or two after his marriage. Later, Mr. Jared Sparks, during part of the time that he was preparing his collection of Washington’s writings, editing a volume or two in the very room from which they were written. Next came Mr. Worcester, author of the pugnacious dictionary, and of many excellent books. And lastly, Longfellow, the poet, who purchased the house of the heirs of Mr. Cragie, and refitted it.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, Mount Vernon Edition, vol. i. p. 167.

[89] Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 136.

[90] “General Green was a son of Rhode Island, of Quaker parentage. He was a man of fine personal appearance, of excellent character, and of superior natural abilities. His thirst for knowledge led him to avail himself of every opportunity for mental improvement. He thus became an intelligent gentleman. His troops were pronounced to be the best disciplined and the best appointed in the army. He stepped at once into confidence of the Commander-in-Chief, which he never forfeited, but became one of his most attached, faithful, and efficient coadjutors.”--_Soldiers and Patriots_, p. 96.

[91] Irving’s _Life of Washington_, Mount Vernon Edition, vol. i. p. 166.

[92] “Horatio Gates was an Englishman who adopted the cause of America. He had distinguished himself in the West Indies. But England did not recognize his claims, as much as he thought she ought to have done. He therefore went out to America and bought land in Virginia. When the war began, he seemed to see in it a more secure means to self-advancement than he had found before, and therefore he joined in it.”--_Soldier and Patriot_, p. 95.

[93] “Lee, we are told, scoffed with his usual profaneness. Heaven, he said, was ever found favorable to strong battalions. Lee was an Englishman by birth. The Indians called him, from his impetuosity, _Boiling Water_.”--_Graydon’s Memoirs_, p. 138.

[94] Thatcher’s “Military Journal,” p. 37.

[95] “These principles set at naught all the rules of honorable warfare; and indicated that the highest officers in the American army, if captured, would be treated as culprits.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 142.

[96] See this correspondence, more fully given in Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. Mount Vernon edition, p. 172, 173.

[97] “The order was countermanded while the prisoners were on the road to Northampton. ‘The General further requests,’ wrote his secretary Colonel Reed, ‘that every other indulgence, consistent with their security, may be shown to them. The general does not doubt that your conduct toward them will be such as to compel their grateful acknowledgments that Americans are as merciful as they are brave.’”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 142.

[98] “In fact they (the British) never meditated an attack, unless reinforcements should arrive. General Gage wrote to Lord Dartmouth, that such an attempt, if successful, would be fruitless, as there were neither horses nor carriages for transportation, and no other end could be answered than to drive the Americans from one stronghold to another.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 146.

[99] “The enterprise,” Washington wrote, “was thought too dangerous. Perhaps it was. Perhaps the irksomeness of my situation led me to undertake more than could be warranted by prudence. I did not think so. And I am sure yet that the enterprise, if it had been undertaken with resolution, must have succeeded. Without it, any would fail.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 160.

[100] As Canada was originally settled by the French, the Roman Catholic religion almost universally prevailed there.

[101] General Schuyler wrote to Washington, “I wish I had no occasion to send my dear general this melancholy account. My amiable friend, the gallant Montgomery, is no more. The brave Arnold is wounded; and we have met with a severe check in our attack upon Quebec. May Heaven be graciously pleased that this misfortune terminate here. I tremble for our people in Canada.”

[102] “The British ministry have, in latter days, been exculpated from the charge of issuing such a desolating order as that said to have been reported by Lieutenant Mount. The orders, under which that officer acted, we are told, emanated from General Gage and Admiral Graves.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 188.

[103] _Holmes’ Annals_, vol. ii. p. 220.

[104] “American Archives,” vol. iii. p. 1145.

[105] “Poor Gage is to be the scapegoat, for what was a reason against employing him--incapacity.”--_Horace Walpole._

[106] William Howe was a man of fine presence and of winning manners. He was brother of Lord Howe, who fell on the banks of Lake George, in the French war. He was one of the most attractive of young men, and had secured, to a wonderful degree, the affection of the American people. A sorrowful feeling pervaded the country when it found that General William Howe was fighting against the Americans at the battle of Bunker’s Hill. In an address from Congress to the people of Ireland it was said, “America is amazed to find the name of Howe on the catalogue of her enemies. She loved his brother.”

[107] “American Archives,” 4th series, vol. iv. p. 1178.

[108] From the heights of Dorchester the admiral’s fleet, riding at anchor in the harbor, could be bombarded, and destroyed. Then the British army might be captured. But this would probably be at the expense of laying the whole town in ashes. Lord Admiral Howe was brother of Sir William.

[109] Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 155.

[110] Memoranda by Hon. Israel Trask.

[111] Letter of Charles Lee to Richard Henry Lee.--_Am. Archives_, 4th series, vol. iv. p. 248.

[112] “Knox was one of those providential characters which spring up in emergencies, as if they were formed by and for the occasion. A thriving bookseller in Boston, he had thrown up business, to take up arms for the liberties of his country. He was one of the patriots who fought on Bunker Hill; since when, he had aided in planning the defences of the camp before Boston.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 190.

[113] “American Archives,” 4th series, iii. 1281.

[114] General Henry Clinton was grandson of the Earl of Lincoln, and son of George Clinton, who had been the crown-appointed governor of New York, for ten years from 1743.--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 163.

[115] “General Lee was despatched, with instructions from the Commander-in-Chief, to raise volunteers in Connecticut, hasten forward to New York, call to his aid other troops from New Jersey, put the city in the best posture of defence which his means would permit, disarm the tories, and other persons inimical to the rights and liberties of America, and guard the fortifications on Hudson river.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 157.

[116] “American Archives,” 5th series, iv. 941.

[117] To while away weary hours the spirit of gambling was prevailing ruinously in the camp. Clouds of gloom were settling down over the public mind. Washington, who felt most deeply the need of Divine favor, by an order of the day, issued on the 26th of February, forbade these demoralizing practices. He wrote:

“At this time of public distress, men may find enough to do in the service of God and their country, without abandoning themselves to vice and immorality.”

Six days after the issue of this order, Washington’s batteries were planted triumphantly on Dorchester Heights.--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 220.

[118] “Washington consulted with such of the general officers as he could immediately assemble. The paper was not addressed to him, nor to any one else. It was not authenticated by the signature of General Howe. Nor was there any other act obliging that commander to fulfil the promise asserted to have been made by him.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. Mount Vernon edition, p. 223.

[119] Letter to John A. Washington.--_Am. Archives_, v. 560.

[120] A British officer wrote, in reference to this scene, so joyful, yet so sad. “The confusion, unavoidable to such a disaster, will make you conceive how much must be forgot, where every man had a private concern. The necessary care and distress of the women, children, sick and wounded, required every assistance that could be given. It was not like breaking up a camp, where every man knows his duty. It was like departing from your country, with your wives, your servants, your household furniture and all your incumbrances. The officers, who felt the disgrace of their retreat, did their utmost to keep up appearances.”--_Remembrancer_, vol. iii. p. 108.

[121] Lee’s Memoirs, p. 162.

[122] Thatcher’s “Military Journal,” p. 50.

[123] General Charles Lee was in Virginia, when he heard of the evacuation. The following characteristic letter was from his pen. “My dear General: I most sincerely congratulate you. I congratulate the public on the great and glorious event. It will be a most bright page in the annals of America; and a most abominable one in those of the beldam Britain. Go on, my dear general. Crown yourself with glory; and establish the liberties and lustre of your country on a foundation more permanent than the Capitol rock.”

[124] “A deep plot, originating with Governor Tryon, was defeated by timely and fortunate discovery. His agents were found enlisting men in the American camp, and enticing them with rewards. It was a part of the plot to seize General Washington, and carry him to the enemy.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 169.

[125] While a lad, in a counting house at Santa Cruz, he wrote, “I contemn the grovelling condition of a clerk, to which my fortune condemns me. I would willingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my station. I mean to prepare the way for futurity. I am no philosopher, and may justly be said to build castles in the air. I wish there was a war.”

[126] Orderly Book, July 9; Sparks iii. 456.

[127] “Washington received the applause of Congress and of the public, for sustaining the dignity of his station. His conduct, in this particular, was recommended as a model to all American officers in corresponding with the enemy. And Lord Howe informed his government that thenceforth, it would be polite to change the superscription of his letters.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. 248.

[128] “History of the Civil War in America,” Dublin, 1779; “Annual Register.”

[129] Orderly Book, Aug. 3, 1776. _Writings of Washington_, vol. xiv. p. 28.

[130] History cannot record, neither can imagination conceive the woes of these households. Husbands and fathers were slain. They were without employment, in abject poverty, and driven houseless, foodless, clothesless, from their homes. In view of these awful tragedies of this sad world, which have continued through dreary centuries, one is led to exclaim, in anguish, “O Lord! how long! how long!”

[131] Anticipating this movement Washington had stationed a body of troops there and thrown up breastworks. General Greene was placed in command. Falling sick of a fever he was succeeded by General Sullivan, who was succeeded by General Putnam.

[132] “American Archives,” 5th series ii. 108.

[133] “This retreat, in its plan, execution and success, has been regarded as one of the most remarkable military events in history, and as reflecting the highest credit on the talents and skill of the commander. So intense was the anxiety of Washington, so unceasing his exertions that, for forty-eight hours, he did not close his eyes, and rarely dismounted from his horse.”--Sparks’ _Life of Washington_, p. 179.

[134] Washington wrote to Congress, “If we should be obliged to abandon the town, ought it to stand as winter quarters for the enemy. They would derive great convenience from it, on the one hand, and much property would be destroyed on the other. At the present, I dare say the enemy mean to preserve it if they can.”

[135] In a somewhat similar strain of sympathy General Greene wrote: “People coming from home, with all the tender feelings of domestic life, are not sufficiently fortified with natural courage, to stand the shocking scenes of war. To march over dead men, to hear without concern the groans of the wounded--I say few men can stand such scenes, unless steeled by habit or fortified by military pride.”

[136] On the 30th of July, 1776, Colonel Palfrey went on board Lord Howe’s ship to negotiate an exchange of prisoners. The noble Admiral was careful to speak of the American Commander-in-Chief as _General_ Washington; he declared that he held his person and character in the highest esteem, and that his heart was deeply touched by the affectionate allusion of Washington and of Congress, to his elder brother Lord George, who fell at Ticonderoga. With a moistened eye he alluded to the fact that the province of Massachusetts had erected a monument to his brother in Westminster Abbey. In closing the interview he sent his kind regards to Washington, and added, “I hope that America will one day or other be convinced that, in our affection for that country, we are also Howes.”

[137] It would seem that God must have stricken the British leaders with gross incapacity, else with such a powerful fleet and with such a numerous highly-disciplined, and thoroughly equipped army, the feebleness of half-starved, half-clothed, and not half-equipped American farmers would have been entirely crushed out in a week. No one familiar with military affairs can examine these operations without _amazement_ that the Americans could have maintained so unequal a conflict. There is nothing to be compared to it in all the annals of warfare. For be it remembered that neither the British officers nor soldiers were cowards. Men more reckless of danger never stormed a battery.

[138] It requires a heart hardened by the horrors of war to see, unmoved, an overpowering band of soldiers, maddened by the conflict, plunging their bayonets into the faces, bosoms, and bowels of farmers, boys, crying for mercy, and who have but just come from their peaceful firesides.

[139] Washington wrote to General Greene, on the 8th of November: “I am inclined to think that it will not be prudent to hazard the men and stores at Mount Washington. But, as you are on the spot I leave it to you to give such orders, as to evacuating Mount Washington, as you may judge best; and so far revoking the orders given to Colonel Magaw, to defend it to the last.”

[140] “The people of New Jersey beheld the commander in chief retreating through their country, with a handful of men, weary, way-worn, dispirited, without tents, without clothing, many of them barefooted, exposed to wintry weather, and driven from port to port, by a well clad, triumphant force tricked out in all the glittering bravery, of war.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, p. 304.

[141] American Archives, 5th series, iii. 1037.

[142] American Archives, 5th series, iii. 1265. Letter of Joseph Trumbull to Governor Trumbull.

[143] From the tavern at Baskinridge Lee wrote to General Gates: “The ingenious manœuvre at Fort Washington has completely unhinged the goodly fabric we had been building. There never was so damned a stroke. _Entre nous_ (between us) a certain great man is damnably deficient.”

[144] In 1676, the present territory of New Jersey was set off in two great divisions called East and West Jersey. Each belonged to different proprietors. In the year 1702, the two provinces were united. But still, in all the early annals, the province was spoken of as “the Jerseys.”

[145] Washington, ever magnanimous, comments as follows on the capture of Lee, who he knew was trying to supplant him. He wrote to his brother Augustine, “This is an additional misfortune and the more vexatious as it was by his own folly and imprudence, and without a view to effect any good, that he was taken. As he went to lodge three miles out of his camp, a rascally tory rode in the night, to the enemy, who sent a party of light horse, that seized him and carried him off with every mark of indignity and triumph.”

[146] The Committee of Congress who communicated to Washington the vote conferring upon him these powers, added: “Happy is it for our country that the general of their forces can safely be intrusted with the most unlimited power, and neither personal security, liberty nor property, be in the least degree endangered thereby.”--_American Archives_, 5th series, iii. 1510.

[147] It is not strange that the soldiers should have been disposed to revile the Hessian captives for having hired themselves to aid the British to rob the Americans of their liberties. One of the Hessian soldiers wrote in his journal:

“General Washington had written notices put up in town and country, that we were innocent of this war, and had joined in it not of our free will but through compulsion. We should therefore not be treated as enemies but as friends. From this time things went better with us. Every day many came out of the towns, old and young, rich and poor, and treated us with kindness and humanity.” _Tagebuch des corporals Johannes Reuber._

[148] When General Howe, in New York, heard of the affair at Trenton, he raised his hands in amazement, exclaiming: “Is it possible that three veteran regiments of the British army, who make war their profession, can have laid down their arms to a ragged and undisciplined militia, with scarcely any loss on either side.”

[149] The Italian historian _Botta_, in his admirable story of the American War writes, “Achievements so astonishing, gained for the American commander a very great reputation, and were regarded with wonder by all nations, as well as by the Americans. All declared him to be the saviour of his country; and proclaimed him equal to the most renowned commanders of antiquity.”--_Storia della Guerra dell’ Independenza degli Stati Uniti d’America_, Tom. ii. lib. 7.

[150] The officers and soldiers were confined in the hulks of old ships which were anchored in the harbor, and which were, not inappropriately, called _floating-hells_. They were destitute of every comfort. A dreadful malady broke out among them, and they perished by hundreds.

[151] Kosciusko brought a letter from Franklin to Washington. “What do you seek here;” inquired the commander-in-chief. “To fight for American independence,” was the reply. “What can you do?” said Washington. “Try me,” was the simple response. There was something in the bearing of the man which won the confidence of Washington. He received him as an aide-de-camp. In the hour of trial, he was never found wanting.

[152] “Lafayette from the first attached himself to Washington with an affectionate reverence which could not be mistaken; and soon won his way into a heart which, with all its apparent coldness, was naturally confiding and required sympathy and friendship.”--Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 375.

[153] Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 396.

[154] General Burgoyne was a natural son of Lord Bingley. He was of active mind, and ready wit, and as a man of fashion, in all convivial scenes, stood preëminent. Gambling was then the common vice of the British aristocracy. But Junius accuses Burgoyne of cheating at cards. Both Washington and Napoleon endeavored to drive the foul practice of gambling from their armies. But for this vice, the brave and able General Arnold would probably now be enrolled among the most prominent of American patriots.

[155] “Lieutenant Jones is said to have been completely broken in spirit by the shock of her death. Procuring her scalp, with its long silken tresses, he brooded over it in anguish, and preserved it as a sad, but precious relic. Disgusted with the service, he threw up his commission and retired to Canada; never marrying, but living to be an old man, taciturn and melancholy and haunted by painful recollections.” Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i., p. 378.

[156] “Old neighbors met in deadly feud; former intimacy gave bitterness to present hate; the bodies of combatants were afterward found, on the field of battle, grappled in death, with the hand still grasping the knife plunged in a neighbor’s heart.

“The very savages seemed inspired with unusual ferocity, by the confusion and deadly struggle around them, and the sight of their prime warriors and favorite chiefs shot down. In their blind fury they attacked the white men indiscriminately, friend or foe. So that in this chance medley fight many of Sir John’s greens were slain by his own Indian allies.” Irving’s _Life of Washington_, vol. i. p. 380.

[157] The British officers did not very highly esteem their German allies. “The very hat and sword of one of them,” it was said, “weighed nearly as much as the whole equipment of a British soldier. The worst British regiment in the service would march two miles to their one.”

[158] Washington has been censured, by foreign writers, for fighting this battle under such disadvantages. But Congress and the country were clamorous for a battle. Had he surrendered Philadelphia to the English without firing a gun, it would have been the ruin of his reputation. The defeat was certainly less injurious upon the public mind than a continued retreat would have been.

[159] In reference to this conflict, Washington wrote to the President of Congress, “But though we fought under many disadvantages, and were, from the causes above mentioned, obliged to retire, our loss of men is not, I am persuaded, very considerable. I believe much less than that of the enemy. We have lost seven or eight pieces of cannon, according to the best information I am able, at present, to obtain. The baggage having been previously moved off, is all secure, saving the men’s blankets, which, being at their backs, many of them are doubtless lost. Divers officers were wounded, and some slain; but the number of either cannot now be ascertained.”

[160] Burgoyne wrote: “From the 20th of September to the 7th of October, the armies were so near that not a night passed without firing, and sometimes concerted attacks on our pickets. I do not believe that either officer or soldier ever slept, in that interval, without his clothes; or that any general officer or commander of a regiment passed a single night without being constantly upon his legs, occasionally at different hours, and constantly an hour before day light.”--_Burgoyne’s Expedition_, p. 166.

[161] The surrender of Burgoyne, though mainly the result of Washington’s far-seeing plans, had suddenly trumped up Gates into a _quasi_ rival.--_Irving’s Life of Washington_, Vol. II., Mount Vernon edition, p. 429.

[162] _Letters to the President of Congress.--Sparks’ Correspondence, Vol. V._, p. 71.

[163] In Washington’s account of the battle he wrote: “Had it not been for a thick fog, which rendered it so dark at times, that we were not able to distinguish friend from foe at the distance of thirty yards, we should, I believe, have made a decisive and glorious day of it. Providence designed it otherwise. For after we had driven the enemy a mile or two, after they were in the utmost confusion, and flying before us in most places, after we were upon the point, as it appeared to everybody, of grasping a complete victory, our own troops took fright, and fled with precipitation and disorder.”

[164] A British officer wrote: “In this action the Americans, though repulsed, showed themselves a formidable adversary, capable of charging with resolution and retreating in good order. The hope, therefore, of any action with them as decisive, and likely to put a speedy termination to the war, was exceedingly abated.”--_Civil War in America, Vol. I., p. 269._

[165] _Life of Talbot_, by Henry T. Tuckerman, p. 31.

[166] _Abbot’s Lives of the Presidents._

Transcriber’s Notes

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