Chapter 8

GEORGE WASHINGTON was born near Pope's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 1732. He lost his father when but ten years of age, and in 1752, in consequence of the death of his elder brother, came into possession of the estate of Mount Vernon, on the Potomac River, and other property. The same year he received a commission as major of militia, and in 1755 became colonel and aid-de-camp to (p. 003) General Braddock. On the death of that officer in the disastrous march against Fort Duquesne, Washington conducted the retreat, and was shortly afterward appointed commander of the Virginia troops. In 1774 he was elected member of the first Continental Congress, held in Philadelphia, and in the following year was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, taking command of the forces at Cambridge, July 3, 1775. On March 17, 1776, he compelled the British forces to evacuate Boston, for which Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal. He was commander-in-chief throughout the War of Independence, and resigned his commission as such, December 23, 1783, when he retired to Mount Vernon. He was delegate from Virginia to the National Convention which met in Philadelphia in May, 1787, to frame the Constitution of the United States, and was chosen its president. He was afterward unanimously elected first President of the United States, and was inaugurated in New York city, April 30, 1789. He was re-elected, and inaugurated a second time, March 4, 1793; refused a third term of office, and issued a farewell address, September 17, 1796. When a war with France was expected, in 1797, he was re-appointed commander-in-chief. General Washington died at Mount Vernon, December 14, 1799.

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ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS.

_Resolution of Congress Voting a Medal to General Washington._

IN CONGRESS.

_Resolved_, That the thanks of this Congress, in their own name, and in the name of the thirteen United Colonies, whom they represent, be presented to His Excellency General Washington, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their wise and spirited conduct in the siege and acquisition of Boston; and that a medal of gold be struck in commemoration of this great event, and presented to His Excellency; and that a committee of three[28] be appointed to prepare a letter of thanks and a proper device for the medal.

Monday, March 25, 1776.

[Footnote 28: The members chosen were Mr. J. Adams, Mr. Jay, and Mr. Hopkins.]

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_General Washington to the President of Congress._ (p. 004)

To John HANCOCK, Esq., HEADQUARTERS, Cambridge, President of Congress. March 19, 1776.

Sir: It is with the greatest pleasure I inform you that, on Sunday last, the seventeenth instant, about nine o'clock in the forenoon, the ministerial army evacuated the town of Boston, and that the forces of the United Colonies are now in actual possession thereof. I beg leave to congratulate you, Sir, and the honourable Congress, on this happy event, and particularly as it was effected without endangering the lives and property of the remaining unhappy inhabitants.

I have great reason to imagine their flight was precipitated by the appearance of a work which I had ordered to be thrown up last Saturday night on an eminence at Dorchester, which lay nearest to Boston Neck, called Nook's Hill.

The town, although it has suffered greatly, is not in so bad a state as I expected to find it; and I have a particular pleasure in being able to inform you, Sir, that your house has received no damage worth mentioning. Your furniture is in tolerable order, and the family pictures are all left entire and untouched. Captain Cazeneau takes charge of the whole until he shall receive further orders from you.

As soon as the ministerial troops had quitted the town, I ordered a thousand men (who had had the small-pox), under command of General Putnam, to take possession of the heights, which I shall endeavour to fortify in such a manner as to prevent their return, should they attempt it. But as they are still in the harbour, I thought it not prudent to march off with the main body of the army until I should be fully satisfied they had quitted the coast. I have, therefore, only detached five regiments, besides the rifle battalion, to New York, and shall keep the remainder here till all suspicion of their return ceases.

The situation in which I found their works evidently discovered that their retreat was made with the greatest precipitation. They have left their barracks, and other works of wood at Bunker Hill, &c., all standing, and have destroyed but a small part of their lines. They have also left a number of fine pieces of cannon which they first spiked up, also a very large iron mortar, and, as I am informed, they have thrown another over the end of your wharf. I have employed proper persons to drill the cannon, and doubt not I shall save the most of them. I am not yet able to procure an exact list of all the stores they have left. As soon as it can be done, I shall take care to transmit it to you. From an estimate of what the quartermaster-general has already discovered, the amount will be twenty-five or thirty thousand pounds.

Part of the powder mentioned in yours of the sixth instant has already arrived. The remainder I have ordered to be stopped on the road, as we shall have no occasion for it here. The letter to General Thomas I immediately sent to him. He desired leave for three or four days to settle some of his private affairs, after which he will set out for his command in Canada. I am happy that my conduct in intercepting Lord Drummond's letter is approved of by Congress.

I have the honour to be, &c., Geo. WASHINGTON.

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_The President of Congress to General Washington._ (p. 005)

To General WASHINGTON. Philadelphia, April 2, 1776.

Sir: It gives me the most sensible pleasure to convey to you, by order of Congress, the only tribute which a free people will ever consent to pay--the tribute of thanks and gratitude to their friends and benefactors. The disinterested and patriotic principles which led you to the field have also led you to glory; and it affords no little consolation to your countrymen to reflect that, as a peculiar greatness of mind induced you to decline any compensation for serving them, except the pleasure of promoting their happiness, they may, without your permission, bestow upon you the largest share of their affections and esteem.

Those pages in the annals of America will record your title to a conspicuous place in the temple of fame which shall inform posterity that, under your direction, an undisciplined band of husbandmen, in the course of a few months, became soldiers; and that the desolation meditated against the country by a brave army of veterans, commanded by the most experienced generals, but employed by bad men in the worst of causes, was, by the fortitude of your troops, and the address of their officers, next to the kind interposition of Providence, confined for near a year within such narrow limits as scarcely to admit more room than was necessary for the encampments and fortifications they lately abandoned. Accept, therefore, Sir, the thanks of the United Colonies, unanimously declared by their delegates to be due to you and the brave officers and troops under your command; and be pleased to communicate to them this distinguished mark of the approbation of their country. The Congress have ordered a golden medal, adapted to the occasion, to be struck, and, when finished, to be presented to you.

I have the honour to be, with every sentiment of esteem, Sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, John HANCOCK, President.

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_John Adams to General Washington._

To General WASHINGTON. Philadelphia, April 2, 1776.

Sir: I congratulate you, as well as all the friends of mankind, in the reduction of Boston, an event which appeared to me of so great and decisive importance, that, the next morning after the arrival of the news, I did myself the honour to move for the thanks of Congress to Your Excellency, and that a medal of gold should be struck in commemoration of it. Congress have been pleased to appoint me, with two other gentlemen, to prepare a device. I should be very happy to have Your Excellency's sentiments concerning a proper one.

I have the honour to be, with great respect, Sir, your most obedient and affectionate servant, John ADAMS.

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_General Washington to John Adams._ (p. 006)

To John ADAMS, Esq., New York, April 15, 1776. In Congress.

Sir: I am impressed with the deepest gratitude for the high honour intended me by Congress. Whatever devices may be determined upon by the respectable committee they have chosen for that purpose will be highly agreeable to me.

I have the honour to be, most respectfully, Sir, your most obedient and affectionate humble servant, Geo. WASHINGTON.

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_Colonel Humphreys to General Washington._

To General WASHINGTON. Paris, May, 1785.

My dear General: Upon leaving America Mr. Morris invested me with the power of procuring the several honourary presents which have been voted by Congress to different officers in their service during the late war. The Royal Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, to whom I addressed a letter on the subject, have furnished me with the following device and inscriptions for the gold medal which is to be executed for Your Excellency:

"On one side, the head of the general. Legend: 'GEORGIO WASHINGTON SUPREMO DUCI EXERCITUUM ADSERTORI LIBERTATIS COMITIA AMERICANA.' On the reverse: Taking possession of Boston. The American army advances in good order toward the town, which is seen at a distance, while the British army flies with precipitation toward the shore, to embark on board the vessels, with which the harbour is covered. In the front of the American army appears the general on horseback, in a group of officers, whom he seems to make observe the flight of the enemy. Legend: 'HOSTIBUS PRIMO FUGATIS.' Exergue: 'BOSTONIUM RECUPERATUM DIE XVII MARTII, MDCCLXXVI.'"

I think it has the character of simplicity and dignity which is to be aimed at in a memorial of this kind, which is designed to transmit the remembrance of a great event to posterity. You really do not know how much your name is venerated on this side of the Atlantic.

I have the honour to be, my dear General, your sincere friend and humble servant, D. HUMPHREYS.

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_Colonel Humphreys to Thomas Jefferson._

To Thomas JEFFERSON, Esq., London, January 30, 1786. Paris.

Dear Sir: Gatteaux, the engraver, lives in the street St. Thomas du Louvre, opposite the Treasury of the Duke de Chartres.

Now that there is no obstacle to commencing the medal for (p. 007) General Washington, since Houdon's return, I could wish, should it not be giving you too much trouble, that you would send for Duvivier, who lives in the old Louvre, and propose to him undertaking it upon exactly the terms he had offered, which, I think, were 2,400 livres, besides the gold and expense of coinage. If he should not choose it, we must let it rest until Dupré shall have finished General Greene's. Gatteaux has a paper on which is the description of General Washington's medal.

I am, Sir, your most obedient and humble servant, D. HUMPHREYS.

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_Thomas Jefferson to Colonel Humphreys._

To Colonel HUMPHREYS, Paris, May 7, 1786. London.

Dear Sir: I have received the books and papers you mention, and will undertake to have finished what you left undone of the medals, or, at least, will proceed in it till the matter shall be put into better hands.

I am, dear Sir, your friend and servant, Th: JEFFERSON.

No. 2. (p. 008) PLATE II.

_October 17, 1777._

Horatio Gates duci strenuo Comitia Americana. [Rx]. Salus regionum septentrional.

MAJOR-GENERAL HORATIO GATES.

[_Surrender of the British Army at Saratoga._]

HORATIO GATES DUCI STRENUO COMITIA AMERICANA. (_The American Congress to Horatio Gates, a valiant general._) Bust of General Gates, in uniform, facing the left. N. GATTEAUX.

SALUS REGIONUM SEPTENTRIONAL. (_Salus regionum septentrionalium: The safety of the northern regions._) Lieutenant-General Burgoyne is surrendering his sword to General Gates. In the background, on the left, the vanquished troops of Great Britain are grounding their arms and standards. On the right is the victorious American army, in order of battle, with colors flying.[29] Exergue: HOSTE AD SARATOGAM IN DEDITION. (_deditionem_) ACCEPTO DIE XVII. OCT. (_Octobris_) MDCCLXXVII. (_The enemy surrendered at Saratoga, on the 17th of October, 1777._) On the platform, GATTEAUX, F. (_fecit_).[30]

[Footnote 29: The "stars and stripes." Congress passed, June 14, 1777, the following resolution:

_Resolved_, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation.

And it was to this new American flag that General Burgoyne surrendered.

Congress changed the flag by the following act, which was approved January 13, 1794:

_Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled_, That from and after the first day of May, anno Domini one thousand seven hundred and ninety-five, the flag of the United States be fifteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be fifteen stars, white on a blue field.

Congress made a second change by an act approved April 14, 1818:

_Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled_, That from and after the fourth day of July next, the flag of the United States be thirteen horizontal stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be twenty stars, white on a blue field.

SECTION 2. _And be it further enacted_, That on the admission of every new State into the Union, one star be added to the union of the flag; and that such addition shall take place on the fourth day of July then next succeeding such admission.]

[Footnote 30: See INTRODUCTION, pages x, xi, xiii, xvi, xvii, xxx, xxxv; and B, xxxvi.]

The legend of the obverse of this medal, originally proposed by (p. 009) the French Academy of Inscriptions and Belles-Lettres, was HORATIO GATES DUCI PROVIDO COMITIA AMERICANA; and that of the reverse, SALUS PROVINCIARUM SEPTENTRIONALIUM.

NICOLAS MARIE GATTEAUX was born in Paris, August 2, 1751, and in the latter part of the reign of Louis XVI. was appointed engraver of medals to the king. During the French Revolution he was intrusted with the execution of various works of art for different branches of the public service. The process followed in the printing of assignats, of bills of exchange, and of lottery tickets, as well as the printing-press which works at the same time with the dry and wet stamp, were his inventions. He designed and engraved a number of medals representing eminent persons, or important events of the period, including three relating to the War of Independence, viz., those of General Gates, General Wayne, and Major John Stewart He died in Paris, June 24, 1832.

HORATIO GATES was born in Malden, England, in 1728. He entered the British army when young, and served under General Lord Cornwallis in Nova Scotia, and afterward under General Braddock in his campaign against Fort Duquesne, but, being severely wounded during the retreat, left the army and settled in Virginia. Having received a commission as adjutant-general, with the rank of brigadier, he accompanied Washington to Cambridge in July, 1775. While commander-in-chief of the northern army, he defeated General John Burgoyne at Stillwater, September 17, 1777, and received his surrender at Saratoga on the 17th of October following, for which most important achievement Congress gave him a vote of thanks and a gold medal.[31] He was appointed commander-in-chief of the southern department in June, 1780, but, being defeated shortly afterward at Camden, on the 16th of August, he was superseded by General Greene. During the remainder of the war he played no prominent part, and, at the conclusion of peace, retired to his estate, in Virginia. In 1790 he removed to New York city, where he died, April 10, 1806.

[Footnote 31: The victory at Saratoga is also commemorated in the Libertas Americana medal, No. 14, page 86, which was struck in Paris in 1783, under the direction of Dr. Franklin.]

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ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS. (p. 010)

_Resolution of Congress Voting a Medal to General Gates._

IN CONGRESS.

_Resolved_, That the thanks of Congress, in their own name, and in behalf of the inhabitants of the thirteen United States, be presented to Major-General Gates, commander-in-chief in the northern department, and to Major-Generals Lincoln and Arnold, and the rest of the officers and troops under his command, for their brave and successful efforts in support of the independence of their country, whereby an army of the enemy, of ten thousand men, has been totally defeated; one large detachment of it, strongly posted and intrenched, having been conquered at Bennington; another repulsed with loss and disgrace from Fort Schuyler; and the main army of six thousand men, under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne, after being beaten in different actions, and driven from a formidable post and strong intrenchments, reduced to the necessity of surrendering themselves upon terms honourable and advantageous to these States, on the 17th day of October last, to Major-General Gates; and that a medal of gold be struck, under the direction of the Board of War, in commemoration of this great event, and in the name of these United States presented by the President to Major-General Gates.

Tuesday, November 4, 1777.

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_General Gates to the President of Congress._

To His Excellency John HANCOCK, Esq., Camp Saratoga, President of Congress. October 18, 1777.

Sir: I have the satisfaction to present Your Excellency with the convention of Saratoga, by which His Excellency Lieutenant-General Burgoyne has surrendered himself and his whole army into my hands, and they are now upon their march for Boston. This signal and important event is the more glorious, as it was effected with so little loss to the army of the United States.

This letter will be presented to Your Excellency by my adjutant-general, Colonel Wilkinson, to whom I must beg leave to refer Your Excellency for the particulars that brought this great business to so happy and fortunate a conclusion.

I desire to be permitted to recommend this gallant officer in the warmest manner to Congress, and entreat that he may be continued in his present office, with the brevet of a brigadier-general.

The honourable Congress will believe me when I assure them that, from the beginning of this war, I have not met with a more promising military genius than Colonel Wilkinson, and whose services have been of the greatest importance to this army.

I am, Sir, Your Excellency's most obedient and humble servant, Horatio GATES.

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_Articles of Convention between Major-General Gates and (p. 011) Lieutenant-General Burgoyne._

I.

The troops under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne to march out of their camp, with the honours of war and the artillery of the intrenchments, to the verge of the river, where the old fort stood, where the arms and artillery are to be left, the arms to be piled by word of command from their own officers.

II.

A free passage to be granted to the army under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne to Great Britain, on condition of not serving again in North America during the present contest; and the port of Boston is assigned for the entry of transports to receive the troops whensoever General Howe shall so order.

III.

Should any cartel take place by which the army under General Burgoyne, or any part of it, may be exchanged, the foregoing article to be void, as far as such exchange be made.

IV.

The army under Lieutenant-General Burgoyne to march to Massachusetts Bay by the easiest, most expeditious and convenient route, and to be quartered in, near, or as convenient as possible to, Boston, that the march of the troops may not be delayed when transports arrive to receive them.

V.

The troops to be supplied, on their march and during their being in quarters, with provisions, by General Gates's orders, at the same rate of rations as the troops of his own army; and, if possible, the officers' horses and cattle are to be supplied with forage at the usual rates.

VI.

All officers to retain their carriages, bathorses, and other cattle, and no baggage to be molested or searched, Lieutenant-General Burgoyne giving his honour that there are no public stores secreted therein. Major-General Gates will, of course, take the necessary measures for the due performance of this article. Should any carriages be wanted, during the march, for the transportation of officers' baggage, they are, if possible, to be supplied by the country at the usual rates.

VII.

Upon the march, and during the time the army shall remain in quarters in Massachusetts Bay, the officers are not, as far as circumstances admit, to be separated from their men. The officers are to be quartered according to rank, and are not to be hindered from assembling their men for roll-call, and other necessary purposes of regularity.

VIII. (p. 012)