LIBRARY OF CALIFORNIA PAVIS GEORGE WASHINGTON. LIFE AND TIMES OF WASHINGTON SCHROEDER-LOSSING REVISED, ENLARGED, AND ENRICHED: AND WITH A SPECIAL INTRODUCTION BY EDWARD C. TOWNE, B. A. VOLUME I ALBANY .'. /. /. .'. .'. NEW YORK M. M. BELCHER PUBLISHING CO. i 903 COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY M. M. BELCHER PUBLISHING CO. PREFACE. THE plan of the present work, in the revised and enlarged form now offered to the public, is that of an attempt to adequately bring out all the facts bearing upon the origin of the United States of America within the period covered by the active career of Washington; and with this to show, in the clearest light possible, the character, conduct, services, and political ideals of Washington ; his youth and educa tion; his activity and development from sixteen to nine teen years of age; his immediate entrance upon public service and attainment of distinction; his important mili tary position and experience while yet a very young man ; his remarkable eminence and services as a Colonial soldier in Virginia, then the foremost of the American colonies ; his fearless recognition of the issues of liberty under the oppressive attempts of the ministers of the British King ; his leadership in the Virginia demonstrations of protest preparatory to revolution ; his position as the first soldier of the Continent in the earliest Congress of the Colonies ; his unanimous recognition by the Congress as before all others in military and political weight, and his appointment as American Commander-in-Chief ; his conduct of the Rev olution, both in military service of the highest character and in constant sagacious counsel and effective influence, accomplishing more than all others together in the main tenance and direction of an otherwise hopeless cause ; the supreme significance and weight of his thought in the iii iy PREFACE. making of the Constitution and the bringing together under it of Colonies not yet educated to faith in a Union ; and the final service and climax of his unsurpassed career in two Presidencies, based on principles of National out look and union prophetic of the rise of the United States to the highest rank of world power. The " Lives of Washington " thus far available for the interest and instruction of the public have in important respects come a good deal short of telling, sufficiently and correctly, all parts of the great story of Washington, and still more have they failed to apply adequate discrimina tion to the manifestations in Washington of intellectual genius, and noble character, of the very highest type. In the case even of Irving's interesting and valuable " Life," the literary felicity and general spirit with which the work was executed left something to be desired in the method and scope of the narrative; and for the matter which is throughout of highest interest, Washington's complex and unsurpassed character, his greatness intellectually, and as a soldier and statesman, Irving's study in this direction was less full and thorough than so great a theme seems now to require, in view of the course of popular discus sion from 1889 to the present time. The Schroeder- Lossing " Life and Times," of which the present work is an expansion and revision, was of special value because of its large scope, and still more from its constant attention to just appreciation of Washington's very exceptional character, and the greatness everywhere implied in the true story of his career. Several recent works have aimed, more or less openly, to apply a method of detraction to the character of Wash ington, and to reduce his greatness to the common level, upon the theory that we gain a man while we lose a hero. The utterances brought out by the Centennial celebrations PREFACE. V which culminated in that of 1889 at New York were almost universally at the level of exceedingly deficient knowledge and profoundly unfortunate misapprehension, even on the part of men of high representative position and character. An edition of the writings of Washington under the editorship of Mr. W. C. Ford, begun in 1888, was executed on lines deliberately and avowedly intended to bring Washington down from his high historic pedestal ; and in sequel to this Mr. Ford's brother undertook a popular volume, designed to reduce Washington from the heroic, almost godlike level, to that of a common his torical character. To go back to the Schroeder-Lossing narrative is in itself to most effectively expose at once the singular ignorance and the inexplicable wrong of any " True George Washington " story, or study of character, which fails to carry to the greatest monumental height appreciation of the unparalleled man which Wash ington was, and the unapproachable services which he rendered as soldier and statesman, to America and to mankind. The thorough revision under which the work is now given an expanded form, to make a complete text-book of knowledge not less important than intensely interesting, has aimed to strengthen the proof that the worship almost by the fathers of Washington was but simple justice, and that lapse of time but casts new light on the colossal and splendid figure which Washington must ever be in the history truly told. It has been particularly sought to make as perfect as possible from our latest knowledge the panorama of events and of contemporary characters, which make the times and the scenes of the career of Washington forever unique in interest and instruction. There are characters in the great story who had their meed of praise locally vi PREFACE. and for the time, and the tradition of whose fame still commands the popular ear, in disregard to some extent of the issues of the history and the final verdict of truth and justice; while on other characters, and before all on Washington himself, in the various stages of his activity and the various aspects of his character, has not yet fallen the full light of exact knowledge and critical discrimina tion. The current story of Washington's education, his attention to surveying, and his military service in Virginia during several eventful years, has either been wrongly told or has not been told at all. An adequate, as well as accurate, account of Washington as a youth, from his father's death to his earliest military employment, and as a character of distinction and a military commander for the seven years preceding his marriage, is given for the first time in the following pages, in the passages added by the present writer. And not the least important of the aims of the work as now offered to the public, is that of presenting the facts in such a light of equal justice to the contrasted forms of culture and civilization, of society and political order, peculiar on the one hand to New England and the North, and on the other to Virginia and the South, as to promote a clear understanding of all the issues of early American history, through which have been reached the develop ments of the Twentieth Century that "great empire, . . . stupendous fabric of freedom and empire, . . . an asylum for the poor and oppressed of all nations and re ligions" whereof Virginia's incomparable son, and he alone, had clear vision. EDWARD C. TOWNE. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART 1. Washington's Ancestors and Boyhood. 1657-1751. CHAP. PAGE. I. His Birth and Ancestors I II. Early Days of Washington 15 III. Incidents of His Youth 52 IV. His Voyage to Barbadoes 89 PART II. Washington's Military Appointments. 1751-1758. I. Washington a Maj or 97 II. Washington's First Battle 174 III. Washington's Capitulation of Fort Necessity 182 IV. Defense of the Colonies 202 V. Washington at the Battle of the Monongahela 214 VI. Washington the Virginia Commander-in-Chief 250 VII. Campaign of 1758 - Washington's Marriage 391 [vii] viii CONTENTS. PART III. Washington During the Opening Scenes of the Revolution. 1759-1775. CHAP. PAGE. I. Washington in Retirement Campaign of 1759 451 II. Life at Mount Vernon 470 III. Causes of the Revolution 487 IV. The Revolutionary Storm Increasing 521 V.Washington's Plan of Association 541 VI. Discontents Producing Violence and Bloodshed 563 VII. Washington Visits the Western Country 569 VIII. Political Union of the Colonies 584 IX. Washington a Politician 599 X. Washington a Member of the Continental Congress 649 XL Washington a Member of the Virginia Convention.... 678 XII. Partisan Warfare 707 PART IV. Washington Continental Commander-in-Chief. 1775-1783. I. The Continental Congress Appoints Washington Com mander-in-Chief for All the Colonies 718 II. The Battle of Bunker Hill 741 HI. Washington Takes Command of the Continental Army, 772 IV. Washington Sends a Detachment to Canada 809 V. Washington Expels the British from Boston 822 CONTENTS. CHAP. VI. Washington in New York .......................... 875 VII. Washington Crosses the Hudson ................... 932 VIII. Washington's Masterly Retreat through the Jerseys. . 971 IX. The Battles of Trenton and Princeton .............. 987 VOLUME II. X. Lord Howe Outgeneraled by Washington 1017 XL Washington Holds Howe in Check 1069 XII. Burgoyne's Defeat and Surrender 1 105 XIII. Washington at Valley Forge 1149 XIV. The Battle of Monmouth 1191 XV. Washington Directs a Descent on Rhode Island.... 1213 XVI. Washington Prepares to Chastise the Indians 1237 XVII. Washington's Operations in the Northern States 1255 XVIII. Campaign in the North Arnold's Treason 1281 XIX. Operations at the South 1313 XX. Preparations for a New Campaign 1360 XXI. The Campaign at the South 1377 XXII. Continuation of the Campaign at the South 1398 XXIII. Washington Captures Cornwallis 1412 XXIV. Final Events of the Revolution 1442 PART V. Washington a Private Citizen. 1783-1788. I. Washington's Return to Private Life 1509 II. Washington President of the Constitutional Con vention 1527 x CONTENTS. PART VI. Washington as President and in Retirement. 1789-1799. CHAP. PAGE. I. Washington Elected First President of the United States 1579 II. Washington's Inauguration and First Administration Formed 1594 III. Measures for Establishing the Public Credit 1657 IV. Establishment of a National Bank 1698 V. Political Parties Developed 1725 VI. Washington Inaugurates the System of Neutrality... 1775 VII. Washington Sends Jay to England 1822 VIII. Washington Quells the Western Insurrection 1847 IX. Washington Signs Jay's Treaty 1867 X. Washington Maintains the Treaty-Making Power of the Executive 1896 XI. Washington Retires from the Presidency 1922 XII. Washington Appointed Lieutenant-General 1969 XIII. Last Illness, Death, and Character of Washington... 1994 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Vol. I. FAGS. WASHINGTON Frontispiece. WASHINGTON'S INTERVIEW WITH His MOTHER 41 WASHINGTON'S FIRST INTERVIEW WITH MRS. CUSTIS, AFTER WARDS MRS. WASHINGTON 56 MARTHA WASHINGTON 105 WASHINGTON ON His MISSION TO THE OHIO 120 BRADDOCK'S RETREAT 169 PATRICK HENRY 184 BOSTON MASSACRE 233 BATTLE OF LEXINGTON 248 RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM CONCORD 297 SAMUEL ADAMS 312 JOSEPH WARREN 361 WASHINGTON TAKING COMMAND OF THE ARMY 376 RICHARD MONTGOMERY 425 WASHINGTON IN 1775 440 GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM 489 DRAFTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 504 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 553 THE DEATH WARRANT OF MAJOR ANDRE 568 FIRST MEETING OF WASHINGTON AND HAMILTON 617 SURRENDER OF COL. RAHL AT THE BATTLE OF TRENTON 632 WASHINGTON AT THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON 745 MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY KNOX 760 SERGEANT MOLLY AT THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH 809 BARON DE KALB INTRODUCING LAFAYETTE TO SILAS DEANE... 824 LADY ACKLAND'S VISIT TO THE CAMP OF GENERAL GATES 937 BATTLE OF SARATOGA 952 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Vol. II. WASHINGTON AS PRESIDENT Frontispiece. VALLEY FORGE WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE WASHINGTON AT TRENTON MAJOR-GENERAL BARON STEUBEN 1097 PHILIP SCHUYLER ni2 HORATIO GATES 1 161 BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN 1176 TREASON OF ARNOLD 1225 ROBERT MORRIS 1240 LEE'S CAVALRY SKIRMISHING AT THE BATTLE OF GUILFORD 1289 GENERAL FRANCIS MARION 1304 MAJOR-GENERAL NATHANAEL GREENE 1417 ALEXANDER HAMILTON 1432 ROBERT R. LIVINGSTON 1481 WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL TO His OFFICERS 1496 LAFAYETTE 1545 JOHN JAY 1560 INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON 1673 THE FIRST CABINET 1688 JOHN HANCOCK 1737 JOHN ADAMS 1752 WASHINGTON AND FAMILY AT MOUNT VERNON 1865 CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN MARSHALL 1880 THOMAS JEFFERSON 1929 HENRY LAURENS ........... ...... ......... ._. _. 1944 PART I. HIS ANCESTORS AND BOYHOOD. CHAPTER I. HIS BIRTH AND ANCESTORS. I657-I739- THE eventful times of Washington may well arrest the thoughts of every one who is interested in the origin and destiny of our republic. And the com bination of causes which made this illustrious man the master-spirit of his day, and the very impersonation of the great principles which he asserted, is a pleasing indi cation of what may be regarded as not a merely fortuitous, but a divinely ordered, series of events, having for their ultimate object the general welfare of humanity. Among leaders and rulers of nations there is not an other who has illustrated, in so happy a manner, the vir tues and obligations both of private and public life, and who has afforded so suitable an example for imitation in those virtues and obligations, on the part of every citizen, from the most secluded member of society to the most con spicuous man of mark in council or in the field. One of the most eminent living statesmen of England has said, " He was the greatest man of our own or any age ; the only one upon whom an epithet so thoughtlessly lavished by men, to foster the crimes of their worst ene mies, may be innocently and justly bestowed." " It will be the duty of the historian and the sage, in all ages, to let no occasion pass of commemorating this illustrious man ; and, until time shall be no more, will a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and in virtue, be 2 WASHINGTON. 'derived from the veneration paid to the immortal name of Washington."* And one of the chief of our Revolutionary worthies, who enjoyed every opportunity to form a proper estimate of the qualities which he commends, says : " If we look over the catalogue of the first magistrates of nations, whether they have been denominated presidents or consuls, kings or princes, where shall we find one whose commanding talents and virtues, whose overruling good fortune, have so completely united all hearts and voices in his favor, who enjoyed the esteem and admiration of foreign nations and fellow citizens with equal unanimity? Qualities so uncommon are no^ common blessings to the country that possesses them. By these great qualities and their benign effects has Providence marked out the head of this nation, with a hand so distinctly visible as to have been seen by all men and mistaken by none." " His ex ample is complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read."f It was a happy hour for America when, by the divine ordering of human affairs, she gave birth to the future " Father of his Country." He was born on the 22dJ day of February, and citizens of the United States have good reason to celebrate, with lively enthusiasm, every annual recurrence of the memorable day. The period of his birth and boyhood was that during which occurred, as will appear in the sequel, some of the * Lord Brougham's Sketch of Washington, in his " Historical Sketches of Statesmen who flourished in the Time of George III." Second Series, Vol. II, last sketch. t John Adams's speech to the Senate of the United States, April, 1789, and his " Special Message to the Senate, December 23, 1799." $ The day was the eleventh (Old Style), 1732. LIFE AND TIMES. 3 most extraordinary and oppressive of the proceedings of the British Parliament, in relation to the American- colo nies. And it is a reflection which cannot escape the notice of intelligent students of history that often, at the very time when oppression has been pushing its exactions to their climax, deliverance and a deliverer have been revealed. In November of the very year (1732) when Washington was born, the benevolent and brave Oglethorpe, with 120 emigrants, was crossing the Atlantic with his charter to found the colony of Georgia, the future thirteenth State of the original American Confederacy, destined, when the infant energies of Washington should be matured for the exploit, to take part in achieving our national independ ence. It was when he was a child (1733) that England imposed a tax on the importation of sugar into North America. Then too, in the full exercise of the exclusive privilege* to import negro slaves from Africa into the Spanish col onies in America, she sent her Asiento ships to these colonies, until her abuse of her privileges led eventually to a war with Spain. And it was during this war (1739), the first war waged for colonial interests, that Porto Bello, the grand mart of Peruvian and Chilian commerce, was captured by the daring Admiral Vernon, whose name afterward became associated with the rural home of our great champion of civil, social, and religious liberty. The state of civil affairs in England at this period was extraordinary. The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, produced his * The treaty for the exclusive right to import negroes, " El Asiento de los Negros," was made by England with Spain, in 1713, and was to continue thirty years. 4 WASHINGTON. excise scheme (1733), which occasioned an intense feeling of repugnance throughout the realm. Not only was the offensive measure denounced in Parliament, as a " plan of arbitrary power," but the people at large, in the provin cial towns, as well as in the metropolis, bent on protecting their civil rights from what they deemed the grasp of tyranny, indulged in loud protestations against the prin ciple of the scheme, burnt the minister in effigy, wore cockades with the motto, " Liberty, Property, and no Excise," and, by the power of the popular will, drove Walpole to relinquish his measure, with the memorable declaration that " there would^ be an end of the liberty of England if supplies were to be raised by the sword." The European continent also was at this time greatly agitated by the War of the Polish Succession, in which France, Spain, Sardinia, and a majority of the people of Poland, maintained the claims of Stanislaus, Leczinski ; and the Czarina Anne, of Russia, supported by Austria, occupied Poland with foreign troops, placed on the throne Frederick Augustus, in direct opposition to the proclaimed will of the nation, and reasserted what the infant Wash ington was destined, in less than fifty years, to condemn with greater eloquence than that of words, while he vindi cated our natural and inalienable rights in opposition to the humiliating dogma, that popular privilege must yield to royal prerogative and the voice of the people to the will of kings. Stanislaus II, Poniatowski, born but a few weeks before Washington (January 17, 1732), was the last King of Po land. The humiliating measures of the Czarina Catha rine II, caused the kingdom rapidly to degenerate, until at length, during the Presidency of Washington, Stanis laus was dethroned, and his country dismembered and partitioned by Russia, Austria, and Prussia. This bold LIRE AND TIMES. 5 illustration of monarchical tyranny, by which the political existence of an ancient kingdom was annihilated, was ex hibited in the sight of all Europe, while princes and courts that had waged protracted wars to settle punctilios of state etiquette were content to view the solemn spectacle, without indulging one generous impulse in behalf of ill- fated Poland. Not many days after Washington's birth, his parents, devout members of the Church of England, which at that time was almost universal in Virginia, dedicated him to God in baptism, and provided for him two godfathers and a godmother, according to the rubric in the baptismal office. The family Bible contains this record : " George Washington, Son of Augustine and Mary, his Wife, was born the nth day of February, 1731-2, about 10 in the morning; and was baptized the 5th of April following: Mr. Beverly Whiting and Captain Christopher Brooks, Godfathers; and Mrs. Mildred Gregory, Godmother." This scrupulous conformity to sponsoral provisions im plies a decent regard also for the solemn vow, promise, and profession made in the baptismal sacrament. And it may reasonably be inferred that the nature of the solemn service was in due time explained and its obligations set forth by the parents and sponsors to the child thus dedi cated unto God. It may be regarded as of special interest that Washing ton was a son of Virginia, the " Mother of Presidents."* The county of Westmoreland, his birthplace, in the east ern part of the State, and bordering on the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, is celebrated as the birthplace of many other distinguished men. President Monroe was * Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, and Tyler, Presidents of the United States, were citizens or natives of Virginia. 6 WASHINGTON. born there, and also Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Lightfoot Lee, signers of the Declaration of Independ ence; Thomas, Francis, and Arthur Lee, brothers of Rich ard Henry ; Gen. Henry Lee, who was known during the Revolution as " Light Horse Harry," and Judge Bushrod Washington. [The son of Gen. Henry Lee was Robert E. Lee of the Civil war.] The house in which Washington was born, a single- story, low-pitched, frame building, is no longer standing. It was a ruin before the Revolutionary War. Its site however, half a mile from the, junction of Pope's creek with the Potomac, in Washington parish, is indicated by a few remaining fragments and by a clump of decayed fig trees. A few vines and shrubs and a few gentle flowers also seem to delight in decorating, year after year, the hallowed spot and in enlivening its desolation with pleas ing and suggestive sentiments. The majestic river scen ery of the Potomac and the neighboring lawns with their velvet greensward, associated with the infancy of Wash ington, contribute their charm to enliven the patriot pil grim, who mingles with his delight in these beauties of nature a predominant feeling by which that majestic stream is converted into a lively expression of the pre vailing emotion of his mind. The site of the house which was built by Washington's great-grandfather in the year 1657, when he emigrated to America, was for many years marked by only a simple monumental stone,* bearing the inscription: "Here, the nth of February, 1732, George Washington was born." A suitable monument was erected in 1895. Seven years after his birth (1739), the family removed from Westmoreland to a house which was the property * It is a slab of freestone, lying horizontally, and it was placed there by George W. P. Custis, Esq., in June, 1815. LIFE AND TIMES. 7 of his father, on the Rappahannock river, nearly opposite Fredericksburg, in Suffolk county. Of this too nothing now remains except a few scattered pieces of brick, wood, and plaster. But the visitor to the spot is naturally prompted to fancy many interesting pictures of youthful sports in and around the homestead. A tale still current in Washington's old home neighbor hood in Virginia recounts how once as a stripling he sat reading under the shade of an oak tree near his school. Some of his friends had engaged a champion wrestler of the county to test their strength in an impromptu ring. One after another fell a victim to the champion's skill, till, grown bold at last, he strode back and forth like one of the giants of old-time romance, daring the only boy who had not wrestled with him either to put his book down and come into the ring or own himself afraid. This was more than the self-contained Washington could stand. Quietly closing his book, he accepted the chal lenge. Long after, when the student under the oak tree had become the conqueror with whose honored name the whole civilized world resounded, the ex-champion told what followed. After a " fierce, short struggle," he said, " I felt myself grasped and hurled upon the ground with a jar that shook the marrow of my bones." It does not concern American citizens, as it does the subjects of European princes, to trace a line of descent from ancestors who wore crowns or coronets, and were adorned with garters, stars, and other such badges of honorable eminence. It is rather a subject of self-gratu- lation on our part that a remote forefather was one of a band of untitled voluntary exiles, who fled from persecu tion to the rock-bound shore of a new country; or, one of the sturdy adventurers or gallant cavaliers who sought their fortunes among the early colonists of our southern 8 WASHINGTON. country. Yet it is, in all cases, a legitimate object of inquiry with us to ascertain the national origin of a family and the time and circumstances of its emigration. The first of Washington's paternal ancestors who came to America was his great-grandfather, John Washington. He and his brother Lawrence emigrated from England to the colony of Virginia in the year 1657, while the royal ists, republicans, and fifth-monarchy men were- in the melee of their opposition to the scheme of making Crom well king, and while many loyal British subjects, eschew ing the assumptions of the protectorate, were fleeing for refuge to other lands. The brothers, John and Lawrence, both purchased es tates in Westmoreland county. John married, and had several children, one of whom, Lawrence, was the grand father of our Washington. This Lawrence had several children; and his second son, Augustine, was our Wash ington's father, who married twice. His first wife, Jane Butler, was the mother of four children, two of whom were Lawrence and Augustine ; and his second wife, Mary Ball, celebrated for her beauty, was the mother of six children, of whom our Washington was the first-born.* The two brothers who emigrated to America, John and Lawrence, could trace their family, through several gen erations, to William de Hertburn, a powerful and noble knight, who lived a century after the time of William the Conqueror, and who purchased, in the year 1183, the manor and village of Wessyngton, in the diocese of Dur ham. From that period, the de Hertburn family took, as then was usual, the name of the estate, and was called * There were three other sons, Samuel, John Augustine, and Charles; and there were two daughters, Mildred, who died in in fancy, and Betty, who married Fielding Lewis, Esq., afterward a devoted patriot of the Revolutionary times. [Betty was of the same grand figure and countenance as her brother George.] LIFE AND TIMES. 9 de Wessyngton. The orthography of the name, passing through various modifications,* eventually attained its familiar modern form. So little interest did our Washington himself evince in relation to his pedigree that he never gave it his serious attention until he received, after his elevation to the Presi dency, a letter on the subject from Sir Isaac Heard, then Garter King at Arms in London, who was, from his office, naturally led to inquire into the ancestry of the illustrious American, who was at that time the observed of all ob servers. Washington's reply to Sir Isaac's letter is a characteristic effusion. " PHILADELPHIA, 2 May, 1792. " Sir. Your letter of the 7th of December was put into my hands by Mr. Thornton, and I must request that you will accept my acknowledgments, as well for the polite manner in which you express your wishes for my happi ness, as for the trouble you have taken in making genea logical collections relative to the family of Washington. " This is a subject to which, I confess, I have paid very little attention. My time has been so much occupied in the busy and active scenes of life, from an early period of it, that but a small portion could have been devoted to researches of this nature, even if my inclination or par ticular circumstances should have prompted to the inquiry. I am therefore apprehensive, that it will not be in my power, circumstanced as I am at present, to furnish you with materials to fill up the sketch which you have sent me, in so accurate a manner as you could wish. We have no office of record in this country, in which exact genea logical documents are preserved; and very few cases, I believe, occur, where a recurrence to pedigree, for any * Among these modifications are Wessington, Wassington, Weschington, and Wasshington. 10 WASHINGTON. considerable distance back, has been found necessary to establish such points as may frequently arise in older countries. "On comparing the tables, which you sent, with such documents as are in my possession, and which I could readily obtain from another branch of the family with whom I am in the habit of correspondence, I find it to be just. I have often heard others of the family, older than myself, say, that our ancestor who first settled in this country came from some one of the northern counties of England ; but whether from Lancashire, Yorkshire, or one still more northerly, I do not precisely remember. " The arms inclosed in your letter, are the same that are held by the family here ; though I have also seen, and have used, as you may perceive by the seal to this packet, a flying griffin for the crest.* " If you can derive any information from the inclosed lineage, which will enable you to complete your table, I shall be well pleased in having been the means of assist ing you in those researches, which you have had the politeness to undertake ; and shall be glad to be informed of the result, and of the ancient pedigree of the family, some of whom I find intermixed with that of Ferrers. " Lawrence Washington, from whose will you inclosed an abstract, was my grandfather. The other abstracts which you sent do not, I believe, relate to the family of Washington in Virginia; but, of this I cannot speak positively. *The Washington coat of arms, in the families of Buckingham shire, Kent, Warwickshire, and Northamptonshire, and in the Vir ginia families, is argent, two bars gules in chief, three mullets of the second. Crest, a raven with wings indorsed proper, issuing out of a ducal coronet or. In Edmondson's Heraldry, are given other arms for other branches of the family. LIFE AND TIMES. 11 " With due consideration, I am, sir, your most obe dient servant, " GEORGE WASHINGTON." In this letter were inclosed particulars respecting the family. " In the year 1657, or thereabouts, and during the usurpation of Oliver Cromwell, John and Lawrence Washington, brothers, emigrated from the north of Eng land, and settled at Bridge's Creek, on the Potomac river, in the county of Westmoreland. But from whom they descended, the subscriber is possessed of no document to ascertain." * Then follows an account of John, who was Washington's great-grandfather, and of his descend ants ki America. While he heeded not the suggestions by which pride and ambition allure so many to genealogical records, Washington did however obey the promptings of benevo lence, when, on making his will, he desired that a list should be furnished of his blood-relations, both in Europe and America, with a view to his bestowing upon each one of them a gift or souvenir. To such inquirers as may be curious on the subject of the remote English ancestors of our Washington's first American progenitor, John, of Virginia, it may be inter esting to know that he descended lineally from John, of Whitfield, in the county of Lancaster, whose son John, also of Whitfield, was father of John, of Warton, in the same county ; and the eldest son of this John, of Warton, Lawrence, was mayor of Northampton, and had a grant of the manor of Sulgrave, with other valuable lands there, after Henry VIIFs dissolution of the priories. f This * It has been recently found that the immediate English an cestor, father of the emigrants to America, was a Rev. Lawrence Washington, of Essex, in England. t In 30 Henry VIII, 1538-1539- 12 WASHINGTON. Lawrence, of Northampton, was the great-grandfather of the first American Washington; his son Robert, of Sul- grave, being the father of Lawrence, of Sulgrave, of whom John, of Virginia, was the second son.* Among the many reflections awakened by these genea logical memoranda, one of the most interesting is, that they are a key to what is far more worthy of attention than the mere branches, withered or budding, of a family tree. Among the Washingtons are found many persons of note in the learned professions, in council, and in the field of war; men who won the fame of scholars, the honors of knighthood, the rewards of skill and industry, and the praise of virtue, valor, and high resolve. Among the English Washingtons were the noble knight William de Hertburn, a conspicuous chevalier in the train of the princely Count Palatinate, the Bishop of Durham ; William Weshington, a loyal defender of Henry III, in the wars of the barons; Sir Stephen de Wessington, one of the chevaliers of Edward III ; Sir William, of the privy council of Durham; John, the learned f and energetic prior of the Benedictines ; Lieutenant-Colonel James Washington, one of the loyal subjects of Charles I, in whose cause he was slain at the siege of Pontefract ; Joseph, an eminent lawyer, who translated one of Milton's political treatises;^ and Sir Henry, famous for his daring * [The error of this account has been recently demonstrated, showing that the Lawrence of Sulgrave had a son, Lawrence, who was the father of the John and Lawrence who came to America.] t Author of " De Juribus et Possessionibus Ecclesse Dunelm." t The " Defensio pro Populo Anglicano." He wrote also a trans lation of part of " Lucian's Dialogues," " Observations upon the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction of the Kings of England," an " Abridge ment of the Statutes" to 1687, and the first volume of " Modern Reports." LIFE AND TIMES. 13 achievement at the storming of Bristol, and for his de voted loyal constancy at the siege of Worcester. Re ferring to Sir Henry's exploit at Bristol, Lord Clarendon says, " On Prince Rupert's side, it was assaulted with equal courage ; for, though that division led on by the Lord Grandison, colonel-general of the foot, was beaten off, the Lord Grandison himself being hurt, and the other, led by Colonel Bellasis, likewise had no better fortune; yet Colonel Washington, with a less party finding a place in the curtain (between the places assaulted by the other two) weaker than the rest, entered, and quickly made room for the horse to follow."* The military qualities of the European ancestors were perpetuated by their American descendants, from the very first who emigrated to this country John Washington. Tradition says that this American progenitor, before his migration to Virginia, held military rank. After his ar rival in Virginia he certainly wore the name and performed the duties of a military officer ; his will is indorsed " The will of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington," and when the shores of the Potomac were threatened with an incursion of hostile Indians of the Seneca tribe, Col. John Wash ington led the Virginia forces which combined with those of Maryland in repelling the savages. He was also a successful and wealthy planter, a magistrate, and a mem ber of the Virginia House of Burgesses; and the parish in which he resided received, in honor of him, and still retains, his name. Col. William Augustine Washington, son of Baily, of Stafford county, Virginia, was commander of a celebrated regiment of cavalry in the Revolutionary War, and * Lord Clarendon's " History of the Rebellion," Book VII, vol. IV, p. 134. Oxf. 1839. 14 WASHINGTON. achieved such remarkable exploits of valor that Congress awarded to him, after the battle of Cowpens, a silver medal ; and he was familiarly known as " The modern Marcellus," and " The Sword of his Country." From the conquest of Britain in the twelfth century to the independence of its American colonies, seven cen turies after that epoch, a martial spirit, associated with energy, endurance, resolution, constancy, and valor, ap pears to have been the prevailing family characteristic of the Washingtons. CHAPTER II. EARLY DAYS OF WASHINGTON. 1739-1748. IT was while Washington was a boy of about seven years of age (1739), that his father removed from the old homestead. His estate which he now occu pied was in Stafford county, on the Rappahannock, and in a region remarkable for its salubrity. The new house was very pleasantly situated, and it commanded an ex tensive land and water prospect. At this rural home, several years of young Washington's boyhood were spent in study and in sports, from his seventh to his eleventh year. As an infant and as a youth, he possessed unusual bod ily health and vigor. He was ever active, hardy, and adventurous, fond of open-air employments and recrea tions, of athletic exercises, and of the horse, the gun, and the chase. His father, who was a good man, and deeply interested in his children's moral and religious education, employed, among other means, several ingenious methods to engage the feelings of his son George, so as to kindle in his mind generous and liberal sentiments, a love of truth, and an habitual and influential recognition of the existence and the providence of God.* * Anecdotes illustrating this may be found in the second chapter of the Life of Washington, by the Rev. M. L. Weems, formerly rector of Mount Vernon parish. (15) 16 WASHINGTON. When George would commit a fault, and, being de tected, would not meanly shrink from confessing it, but would at once tell the honest truth, his father would warmly and affectionately commend him for his magna nimity and integrity. He would point out to him the riches of God's bounty in the abundant fruits of the earth, and from this copious text inculcate precepts of ungrudging liberality. On a certain occasion he planted seeds in one of his garden beds, so disposed as to exhibit, when they sprung up, the words George Washington. The first discovery of a spectacle so novel, and to him utterly unaccountable and marvelous, naturally awakened in George's mind pro found astonishment. He repaired to his father, told him of the strange sight, and conducted him to the spot where the wonder might be seen. The father now availed him self of the absorbing incident to lead his little son to trace the phenomenon to an intelligent cause. He told the secret of his being himself the agent in producing it. And he then explained, in a striking and impressive man ner, the pervading indications of contrivance and design in the whole visible creation and the wonderful and con vincing proofs of an intelligent and benevolent Great First Cause. This paternal care and discipline was destined however to be of short continuance." The son, when about eleven years of age, was on a visit at Chotanck, where he was enjoying the Easter holidays with Lawrence and Robert Washington, whom he calls, in his will, " the acquaint ances and friends of my juvenile years," when he was hastily summoned from the happy home of these cousins to change the joys of a holiday with them for the sorrows of a last look in the chamber of death, where lay his ex piring father, prostrated by a sudden and fatal attack of LIFE AND TIMES. 1? gout in the stomach. It was also his lot to reach home too late to hear him utter a blessing or a farewell, or to receive any expression of his love, except what affection could fondly associate with a feeble glance of recognition.* Augustine Washington was a Virginia planter of the best class. He brought with him from England the char acteristic qualities of an English gentleman and an intelli gent and devout attachment to the English Church. In person he was remarkably tall and manly. He was also a man of strong mind, with great energy of purpose ; and his thoughts and feelings were habitually under the con trol of practical religion. In common with the Virginia planters of his day, he delighted in field sports. His long, heavy gun, still preserved, suggests the thought of a huntsman of extraordinary size of body and power of arm, and warrants the reports which tradition has handed down to us, respecting the large frame and great muscu lar strength which his distinguished son inherited. One who knew him personally, Mr. Withers, of Staf ford county, has described him as a man of uncommon height, noble appearance, manly proportions, and extraor dinary muscular power. At the Principio Iron Works on the Rappahannock, he once lifted and placed in a wagon, " a mass of iron which two ordinary men could barely raise from the ground/' Yet this gigantic might of muscle never tempted him to take any part in the fre quent combats which occurred in Virginia in his day, except to stay savage violence by separating combatants. And such was his character for magnanimity, justice, and * He died April 12, 1743, at the age of forty-nine years. [At eleven years and nearly two months of age, his oldest son had probably had fully four years of as careful and thorough educa tion as any boy in any age could have had, or can have in our own time.] 2 18 WASHINGTON. moral worth that he commanded, wherever he appeared and in whatever he engaged, universal and unhesitating deference. His disposition was mild, his manners were courteous, and his private character was without reproach. And as he lay on his deathbed, he uttered a declaration that does honor to his memory. " I thank God," said he, "that in all my life I never struck a man in anger; for if I had, I am sure that from my remarkable muscular powers I should have killed my antagonist, and then his blood, at this awful moment, would have lain heavily upon my soul. As it is, I die at peace with all mankind."* The success with which he accumulated property and added field to field, until he could provide plantations for his sons and an independent maintenance for his surviving daughter, illustrates his exemplary diligence and industry, so conspicuous also in the character of his son George. Upon the widowed mother now devolved the care of her five children. The eldest, George, was eleven years of age ; and the youngest, Charles, was five. But she was eminently qualified, by nature and religion, to fulfil all her duties to her family. A lady "of the old school," possessed of a strong mind and sound judgment, she united with great simplicity of manners, energy, honesty, and truthfulness. Her house, the home of hospitality, was also the home of order, neatness, economy, and do mestic industry. She was a strict disciplinarian; and, by her decision and consistency of character, she obtained over her children and dependents an uncompromising, but benign, control. * Letter from George W. P. Custis to Charles Brown, of Boston, April 24, 1851, reprinted in the New England Historical and Genea logical Register, January, 1857. LIFE AND TIMES. 19 Tradition tells that she was deeply interested in form ing the minds and hearts of her children according to the teachings of the Gospel, and that she daily read to them select parts of Sir Matthew Hale's Contemplations,* a work which abounds in golden maxims of sound wisdom and pure piety. The very volume which she used, and which has her name in it, " Mary Washington/' written by herself, is still preserved among the family relics. And the precepts contained in those portions of the work which appear to have been read most frequently, were so admirably, as well as faithfully, exemplified by her son George throughout his life, that one might almost think that they were written at the close of his career, and were designed as a delineation of his character and a record of his principles. Several portions of the work, it is evident, were the familiar lessons of the family; and so happily do these represent Washington's marked moral lineaments that they may be regarded as a striking portrait of him. In the portion entitled "The Great Audit," the good steward is represented as giving his account to God. And he says: "As to all the blessings and talents wherewith thou hast intrusted me, I have looked up to thee with a thankful heart, as the only Author and Giver of them. I have looked upon myself as unworthy of them. I have looked upon them as committed to my trust and stewardship, to manage them for the ends that they were given, the honor of my Lord and Master. I have therefore been watchful and sober in the use and exercise of them, lest I should be unfaithful in them. If I have at any time, * " Contemplations, Moral and Divine," by Sir Matthew Hale, Knight, late Chief Justice of the King's Bench." 20 WASHINGTON. through weakness, or inadvertence, or temptation, mis employed any of them, I have been restless, till I have in some measure rectified my miscarriage, by repentance and amendment. "As touching my Conscience, and the light thou hast given me in it it has been my care to improve that natural light and to furnish, it with the best principles I could. Before I had the knowledge of thy Word, I got as much furniture as I could from the writings of the best moralists and the examples of the best men; after I had the light of thy Word, I furnished it with those pure and unerring principles that I found in it. " I have been very jealous either of wounding, or griev ing, or discouraging, or deadening my Conscience. I have therefore chosen, rather to forbear that which seemed but indifferent, lest there might be somewhat in it that might be unlawful ; and would rather gratify my conscience with being too scrupulous, than displease, dis quiet, or flat it by being too venturous : I have still chosen rather to forbear what might be probably lawful, than to do that which might be possibly unlawful; because, could I not err in the former, I might in the latter. If things were disputable whether they might be done, I rather chose to forbear, because the lawfulness of my forbearance was unquestionable. " Concerning my Speech, I have always been careful that I offend not with my tongue ; my words have been few, unless necessity or thine honor required more speech than ordinary. My words have been true, representing things as they were; and sincere, bearing conformity to my heart and mind." " I have esteemed it the most natural and excellent use of my tongue, to set forth thy glory, goodness, power, wisdom, and truth; to instruct others, as I had oppor- UFE AND TIMES. 21 tunity, in the knowledge of thee, in their duty to thee, to themselves, and others ; to reprove vice and sin, to en courage virtue and good living ; to convince of errors ; to maintain the truth; to call upon thy name, and, by vocal prayers, to sanctify my tongue, and to fix my thoughts to the duty about which I was; to persuade to peace and charity and good works." " Concerning Human Prudence, and understanding in affairs, and dexterity in the managing of them, I have been always careful to mingle justice and honesty with my prudence ; and have always esteemed Prudence, actu ated by injustice and falsity, the arrantest and most devil ish practice in the world; because it prostitutes thy gift to the service of hell, and mingles a beam of thy Divine Excellence with an extract of the devil's furnishing, mak ing a man so much the worse by how much he is wiser than others. " I always thought that wisdom which, in a tradesman and in a politician, was mingled with deceit, falsity, and injustice, and deserved the same name; only, the latter is so much the worse, because it was of the more public and general concernment. Yet, because I have often observed great employments, especially in public affairs, are some times under great temptations of mingling too much craft and prudence, and then miscall it Policy, I have, as much as may be, avoided such temptations, and if I have met with them, I have resolutely rejected them. " I have always observed, that Honesty and Plain-deal ing in transactions, as well public as private, is the best and soundest prudence and policy; and commonly, at the long run, overmatcheth craft and subtlety, Job xii, 16; for, the deceived and deceiver are thine, and thou art privy to the subtlety of the one, and the simplicity of the other; and thou, as the great Moderator and Observer 22 WASHINGTON. of men, dost dispense success and disappointments accordingly. "As Human Prudence is abused, if mingled with falsity and deceit, though the end be ever so good, so it is much more debased, if directed to a bad end; to the dishonor of thy name, the oppression of thy people, the corrupting of thy worship or truth, or to execute any injustice to wards any person. " It hath been my care, as not to err in the manner, so neither in the end, of the exercising of my Prudence. I have ever esteemed my prudence then best employed, when it was exercised in the preservation and support of thy truth, in the upholding of thy faithful ministers, in countermining, discovering, and disappointing the designs of evil and treacherous men, in delivering the oppressed, in righting the injured, in preventing of wars and dis cords, in preserving the public peace and tranquillity of the people where I live, in faithful advising of my prince ; and in all those offices incumbent upon me, by thy Provi dence, under every relation. " When my End was most unquestionably good, I ever then took most heed that the Means were suitable and justifiable, i. Because, the better the end was, the more easily are we cozened into the use of ill means to effect it. We are too apt to dispense with ourselves in the practice of what is amiss, in order to the accomplishing of an end that is good; we are apt, while with great in tention of mind we gaze upon the end, not to take care what course we take so we attain it ; and we are apt to think that God will dispense with, or at least overlook, the miscarriages in our attempts, if the end be good. " 2. Because many times, if not most times, thy name and honor do more suffer by attempting a good end by bad means, than by attempting both a bad end and also LIFE AND TIMES. 23 by bad means; for, bad ends are suitable to bad means; they are alike; and it doth not immediately, as such, concern thy honor. But every thing that is good hath somewhat of thee in it ; thy name and thy nature and thy honor is written upon it; and the blemish that is cast upon it is, in some measure, cast upon thee; and the evil and scandal and infamy and ugliness that is in the means, is cast upon the end, and doth disparage and blemish it; and consequently it dishonors thee. To rob for burnt-offerings and to lie for God, is a greater dis service to thy majesty, than to rob for rapine or to lie for advantage." " Touching my eminence of Place or Power, in this world, this is my account. I never sought or desired it, and that for these reasons : i. Because I easily saw, that it was rather a burden than a privilege. It made my charge and my accounts the greater, my contentment and rest the less. I found enough in it to make me decline it in respect of myself, but not any thing that could invite me to seek or desire it. " 2. The external glory and splendor also that attended it, I esteemed as vain and frivolous in itself, a bait to allure vain and inconsiderate persons to affect and de light, not valuable enough to invite a considerate judg ment to desire or undertake it. I esteemed them as the gilt that covers a bitter pill, and I looked through this dress and outside, and easily saw that it covered a state obnoxious to danger, solicitude, care, trouble, envy, dis content, unquietness, temptation, and vexation. " I esteemed it a condition which, if there were any distempers abroad, they would infallibly be hunting and pushing at it, and if it found any corruptions within, either of pride, vain-glory, insolence, vindictiveness, or the like, it would be sure to draw the-m out and set them to work." 94 WASHINGTON. "And if they prevailed, it made my power and greatness not only my burden but my sin; if they prevailed not, yet it required a most watchful, assiduous, and severely vigilant labor and industry, to suppress them. " When I undertook any place of power or eminence First, I looked to my call thereunto to be such as I might discern to be thy call, not my own ambition. Second, that the place were such as might be answered by suit able abilities in some measure to perform. Third, that my end in it might not be the satisfaction of any pride, ambition, or vanity in myself, but to serve thy Providence and my generation, honestly and faithfully. In all. which, my undertaking was not an act of my choice, but of my duty. " 3. In the holding or exercising of these places, I kept my heart humble; I valued not myself one rush the more for it. First, because I easily found that that base affection of pride, which commonly is the fly that haunts such employments, would render me dishonorable to thy Majesty, or disserviceable in the employment. Second, because I easily saw great places were slippery places, the mark of envy. It was, therefore, always my care so to behave myself in them, as I might be in a capacity to leave them, and so to leave them, that, when I had left them, I might have no scars and blemishes stick upon me. I carried, therefore, the same evenness of temper in holding them, as might become me if I were without them. Third, I found enough, in great employments, to make me sensible of the danger, troubles, and cares of it ; enough to make me humble, but not enough to make me proud and haughty. " 4. I never made use of my power or greatness, to serve my own turns; either to heap up riches, or to op press my neighbor, or to revenge injuries, or to uphold LIFE AND TIMES. 25 or bolster out injustice. For, though others thought me great, I knew myself to be still the same ; and in all things, besides the due execution of my place, my deportment was just the same as if I had been no such man ; for, first, I knew that I was but thy steward and minister, and placed there to serve thee and those ends which thou proposedst in my preferment, and not to serve myself, much less my passions or corruptions. And, further, I very well and practically knew, that place and honor and preferment are things extrinsical, and have no ingredi- ence into the man. His value and estimate, before, and under, and after his greatness, is still the same in itself; as the counter that now stands for a penny, anon for six pence, and then for twelve-pence, is still the same counter, though its place and extrinsical denomination be changed. " 5. I improved the opportunity of my place, eminence, and greatness, to serve thee and my country in it, with all vigilance, diligence, and fidelity. I protected, counte nanced, and encouraged thy worship, name, day, and people. I did faithfully execute justice, according to that station I had. I rescued the oppressed from the cruelty, malice, and insolence of their oppressors. I cleared the innocent from unjust calumnies and reproaches. I was instrumental to place those in offices, places, and employ ments of trust and consequence, that were honest and faithful. I removed those that were dishonest, irreligious, false, or unjust." " Touching my Reputation and Credit, I. I never af fected the reputation of being rich, great, crafty, or politic ; but I esteemed much a deserved reputation of justice, honesty, integrity, virtue, and piety. " 2. I never thought that reputation was the thing pri marily to be looked after in the exercise of virtue; for, that were to affect the substance for the sake of the 26 WASHINGTON. shadow, which had been a kind of levity and impotence of mind; but I looked at virtue, and the worth of it, as that which was the first desirable, and reputation as a handsome and useful accession to it. " 3. The reputation of justice and honesty I was always careful to keep untainted, upon these grounds. First, because a blemish in my reputation would be dishonor able to thee. Second, it would be an abuse of a talent which thou hadst committed to me. Third, it would be a weakening of an instrument which thou hadst put into my hands, upon the strength whereof much good might be done by me. " Though I have loved my reputation, and have been vigilant not to lose or impair it, by my own default or neglect, yet I have looked upon it as a brittle thing, a thing that the devil aims to hit in a special manner, a thing that is much in the power of a false report, a mistake, a misapprehension, to wound and hurt ; and, not withstanding all my care, I am at the mercy of others, without God's wonderful overruling* providence. And as my reputation is the esteem that others have of me; so, that esteem may be blemished without my default. I have, therefore, always taken this care, not to set my heart upon my reputation. " I will use all fidelity and honesty, and take care it shall not be lost by any default of mine; and if, notwith standing all this, my reputation be soiled, by evil or en vious men or angels, I will patiently bear it, and content myself with the serenity of my own conscience. Hie murus aheneus esto. ""When thy honor or the good of my country was concerned, I then thought it was a seasonable time to lay out my reputation for the advantage of either; and to act, it, and by and upon it, to the highest, in the use LIFE AND TIMES. 27 of all lawful means. And upon such an occasion, the counsel of Mordecai to Esther was my encouragement, Esther iv, 14. Who knoweth whether God hath not given thee this reputation and esteem for such a time as this ? " Would American mothers more generally follow the example of the mother of Washington, and, instead of gratifying their children's morbid appetite for popular light literature, cultivate a taste for the teachings of such devout philosophers as Sir Matthew Hale, full many a youthful mind, now sacrificed to sinful folly, might be molded to virtue, piety, and wisdom, and bless our coun try and mankind. [Sir Matthew Hale was from 1637 to 1676 one of the greatest of English lawyers, a judge in the Court of Com mon Pleas from 1653, chief baron of the exchequer (one of the chief courts of the realm), 1660-1671, and lord chief justice till February, 1676. He began to study for the church, with strong Puritanical leanings, but broke away from severe studies to pursue a life of pleasure, and planned to go as a soldier on the Continent, when a visit to London led to his adoption of the law, in which his studies were exceptionally thorough and his attainments brilliant. He was, moreover, an ardent student of mathe matics, physics, and chemistry, and even anatomy and architecture. In intellectual distinction he was at the highest level of English culture and in pure and noble character one of the finest examples of English genius for the conduct of life. The Encyclopaedia Britannica says of his career : " Hale was called to the bar in 1637, and almost at once found himself in full practice. Though neither a fluent speaker nor bold pleader, in a very few years he was at the head of his profession. He entered public life at perhaps the most critical period of English history. Two parties 23 WASHINGTON. were contending in the state, and their obstinacy could not fail to produce a most direful collision. But amidst the confusion Hale steered a middle course, rising in reputa tion, and an object of solicitation from both parties. Tak ing Pomponius Atticus as his political model, he was per suaded that a man, a lawyer, and a judge could best serve his country and benefit his countrymen by holding aloof from partisanship and its violent prejudices, which are so apt to distort and confuse the judgment. But he is best vindicated from the charges of selfishness and cowardice by the thoughts and meditations" contained in his private diaries and papers, where the purity and honor of his motives are clearly seen. Among his numerous religious writings the " Contemplations, Moral and Divine," occupy the first place. Others are " The Primitive Origination of Man," 1677; "Of the Nature of True Religion," etc., 1684; "A Brief Abstract of the Christian Religion," 1688. One of his most popular works is the collection of " Letters of Advice to His Children and Grandchildren." A woman disposed to read his " Contemplations " must have been thoroughly initiated in the best English culture ; a mother who thought it worth while to read Hale's deeply thoughtful pages to a son was at the level (for our time) of John Stuart Mill or Matthew Arnold. Hale's revolt from his study at Oxford of Aristotle and Calvin left him a Humanist on a broad ethical culture platform, but with some survival of Puritan pietism (enough, unhappily, to betray him into securing the condemnation and execu tion of two poor women tried before him in 1664 upon the charge of being witches, liable under Bible law, Exodus 22 : 18, " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.") In Wash ington (as very clearly in his brother Lawrence), the finest humanism was without taint of the Puritan pietism.] Another interesting volume of the Washington family LIFE AND TIMES. 29 library is still preserved,* and may have exerted a whole some influence upon the mind of Washington in childhood. It is entitled " Short Discourses upon the Whole Common Prayer; abridged to inform the Judgment and excite the Devotion of such as daily use the same." Its title page bears the autograph of Augustine Washington ; and upon the cover leaves of the volume this name of -the father is written again and again by his son George in the bold and marked style of his chirography. It was the lot of Washington to receive from his father, as well as from his mother, the advantages of a sound re ligious education; but, in common with many worthies who have adorned our race, he points the world to the chief earthly source of his successes, home influence, directed by a mother. It was a precept of classical mythology, that all who are earth-born are bound to make, on every suitable occasion, an offering to Earth, their good mother, as a tribute of gratitude for her manifold gifts. Beautiful exhibition of filial duty! And it is recorded of Washington that in the spirit of this precept, and actuated by a sacred domestic feeling of love and reverence, he ever remembered his obligations to his " honored " mother, as he habitually en titled her in his letters and in conversation, and that he delighted to associate his regard for her with his life's most eventful epochs, and with its chief honors and successes with the wreath upon his brow and the flowers strewed along his path.f On returning from the battle of the Monongahela, he addressed an affectionate letter to her. Before receiving * In the collection of the Boston Athenaeum, t His letters to Major-General Knox, February 20, 1784, and 'June 17, 1788. 30 WASHINGTON. his commission as Commander-in-Chief of the armies of Virginia, he informed her by letter of his probable eleva tion to that rank. And just before his departure for New York, to be inaugurated President of the United States, he repaired to Fredericksburg to take leave of his " aged mother." It was their last interview. She died a few months after.* [Of John Washington, the immediate English ancestor of George Washington, who came out of England when the Puritan Calvinist rage was on, in Cromwell's time, Lodge says : " He made complaint to the Maryland au thorities, soon after his arrival, against Edward Prescott, merchant, and captain of the ship in which he had come over, for hanging a woman during the voyage for witch craft. We have a letter of his, explaining that he could not appear at the first trial because he was about to bap tize his son, and had bidden the neighbors and gossips to the feast. A little incident this, dug out of the musty records, but it shows us an active, generous man, intolerant of oppression, public-spirited and hospitable, social, and friendly in his new relations. He soon after was called to mourn the death of his English wife and of two children, but he speedily consoled himself by taking a second wife, Anne Pope, by whom he had three children, Lawrence, John, and Anne. According to the Virginian tradition, John Washington the elder was a surveyor, and made a location of lands which was set aside because they had been assigned to the Indians. It is quite apparent that he was a forehanded person who acquired property and impressed himself upon his neighbors. In 1667, when he had been but ten years in the Colony, he was chosen to the House of Burgesses ; and eight years later he was * August, 1789, at the age of eighty-three years. LIFE AND TIMES. 31 made a colonel and sent with a thousand men to join the Marylanders in destroying the ' Susquehannocks/ at the ' Piscataway ' fort, on account of some murdering begun by another tribe. As a feat of arms, the expedition was not a very brilliant affair. The Virginians and Maryland ers killed half a dozen Indian chiefs during a parley, and then invested the fort. After repulsing several sorties, they stupidly allowed the Indians to escape in the night and carry murder and pillage through the outlying settle ments, lighting up first the flames of savage war and then the fiercer fire of domestic insurrection." The note of humanist liberality in the matter of the witch is an important indication of the Washington char acter from the beginning. " In the next year," Lodge continues, " we hear again of John Washington in the House of Burgesses, when Sir William Berkeley assailed his troops for the murder of the Indians killed during a parley. Popular feeling, however, was clearly with the colonel, for nothing was done, and the matter dropped. At that point, too, in 1676, John Washington disappears from sight, and we know only that as his will was proved in 1677, he must have died soon after the scene with Berkeley. He was buried in the family vault at Bridges Creek, and left a good estate to be divided among his children. The colonel was evidently both a prudent and popular man, and quite dis posed to bustle about in the world in which he found himself. He acquired lands, came to the front at once as a leader, although a newcomer in the country, was evidently a fighting man, as is shown by his selection to command the Virginian forces, and was honored by his neighbors, who gave his name to the parish in which he dwelt. Then he died and his son Lawrence reigned in his stead, and 32 WASHINGTON. became by his wife, Mildred Warner, the father of John, Augustine, and Mildred Washington. " This second son, Augustine, farmer and planter like his forefathers, married first Jane Butler, by whom he had three sons and a daughter, and second, Mary Ball, by whom he had four sons and two daughters. The eldest child of these second nuptials was named George, and was born on February n (O. S.), 1732, at Bridges Creek. The house in which this event occurred was a plain, wooden farmhouse of the primitive Virginian pattern, with four rooms on the 'ground floor, an attic story with a long, sloping roof, and a massive brkk chimney. Three years after George Washington's birth it was burned, and the family removed to another estate in Stafford county. The second house was like the first, and stood on rising ground looking across a meadow to the Rappahannock, and beyond the river to the village of Fredericksburg, which was nearly opposite. Here, in 1743, Augustine Washington died somewhat suddenly, at the age of forty- nine, from an attack of gout brought on by exposure in the rain, and was buried with his fathers in the old vault at Bridges Creek. Here, too, the boyhood of Washing ton was passed, and therefore it becomes necessary to look about us and see what we can learn of this important period of his life. " We know nothing about his father, except that he was kindly and affectionate, attached to his wife and children, and apparently absorbed in the care of his estates. On his death the children came wholly under the maternal influence and direction." The sudden fatal illness of Augustine Washington, like that of his illustrious son, from exposure to chill, shows physical refinement and delicacy, along with the robust vigor of body known to have belonged to both. LIFE AND TIMES. 33 " Much has been written about the ' mother of Wash ington,' " Lodge goes on to say, " but as a matter of fact, although she lived to an advanced age, we know scarcely more about her than we do about her husband. She was of gentle birth, and possessed a vigor ous character and a good deal of business capacity. The advantages of education were given in but slight measure to the Virginian ladies of her time, and Mrs. Washington offered no exception to the general rule. Her reading was confined to a small number of volumes, chiefly of a devotional character, her favorite apparently being Hale's ' Moral and Divine Contemplations/ She evidently knew no language but her own, and her spelling was extremely bad even in that age of uncertain orthography. Certain qualities, however, are clear to us even now through all the dimness. We can see that Mary Washington was gifted with strong sense and had the power of conducting business matters providently and exactly. She was an imperious woman, of strong will, ruling her kingdom alone. Above all she was very dignified, very silent, and very sober-minded. That she was affectionate and loving cannot be doubted, for she retained to the last a profound hold upon the reverential devotion of her son, and yet as he rose steadily to the pinnacle of human greatness, she could only say that ' George had been a good boy, and she was sure he would do his duty/ Not a brilliant woman, evidently, not one suited to shine in courts, conduct in trigues, or adorn literature, yet able to transmit moral qualities to her oldest son, which, mingled with those of the Washingtons, were of infinite value in the foundation of a great Republic. She found herself a widow at an early age, with a family of young children to educate and support. Her means were narrow, for although Au gustine Washington was able to leave what was called a 3 34 WASHINGTON. landed estate to each son, it was little more than idle cap ital, and the income in ready money was by no means so evident as the acres." Lodge errs grievously in implying that we know very little about either the father or the mother of George Washington. For the purpose of the latter's biography we know the most essential facts. Not that they can be read off-hand by the uninstructed student, inexpert in noting the significance of what he reads. It is ignorance of history, in examples like Lord Bacon and William Shakespeare, which permits making anything whatever of the bad spelling of a cultivated lady in the first half of the eighteenth century. Besides, the mistake is singularly unfortunate of saying that we know very little, while yet telling much more than a little which is not only of ex treme interest but of decisive importance. The parentage of George Washington, in the light of the " good few " facts which are given, can be read to no small extent through carefully instructed study of the character of the son ; but such instruction turns on knowledge of the physio logical and psychical complex which a human being com monly is. Lodge further says: " Many are the myths, and deplorably few the facts, that have come down to us in regard to Washington's boyhood. For the former we are indebted to the illustrious Weems, and to that personage a few more words must be devoted. Weems has been held up to the present age in various ways, usually, it must be confessed, of an unflattering na ture, and ' mendacious ' is the adjective most commonly applied to him. There has been in reality a good deal of needless confusion about Weems and his book, for he was not a complex character, and neither he nor his writings are difficult to value or understand. By profession a clergyman or preacher, by nature an adventurer, Weems LIFE AND TIMES. 35 loved notoriety, money, and a wandering life. So he wrote books which he correctly believed would be popular, and sold them not only through the regular channels, but by peddling them himself as he traveled through the coun try. In this way he gratified all his propensities, and no doubt derived from life a good deal of simple pleasure. Chance brought him near Washington in the closing days, and his commercial instinct told him that here was the sub ject of all others for his pen and his market. He accord ingly produced the biography which had so much success. Judged solely as literature, the book is beneath contempt. The style is turgid, overloaded, and at times silly. The statements are loose, the mode of narration confused and incoherent, and the moralizing is flat and commonplace to the last degree. Yet there was a certain sincerity of feel ing underneath all the bombast and platitudes, and this saved the book. The biography did not go, and was not intended to go, into the hands of the polite society of the great eastern towns. It was meant for the farmers, the pioneers, and the backwoodsmen of the country. It went into their homes, and passed with them beyond the Alle- ghanies and out to the plains and valleys of the great West. The very defects of the book helped it to success among the simple, hard-working, hard-fighting race en gaged in the conquest of the American continent. To them its heavy and tawdry style, its staring morals, and its real patriotism all seemed eminently befitting the national hero, and thus Weems created the Washington of the popular fancy. The idea grew up with the country, and became so ingrained in the popular thought that finally everybody was affected by it, and even the most stately and solemn of the Washington biographers adopted the unsupported tales of the itinerant parson and book-peddler. 36 WASHINGTON. " In regard to the public life of Washington, Weems took the facts known to every one, and drawn for the most part from the gazettes. He then dressed them up in his own peculiar fashion and gave them to the world. All this, forming of course nine-tenths of his book, has passed, despite its success, into oblivion. The remaining tenth described Washington's boyhood until his fourteenth or fifteenth year, and this, which is the work of the author's imagination, has lived. Weems, having set himself up as absolutely the only authority as to this period, has been implicitly followed, and has thus come to demand serious consideration. Until Weems is weighed and disposed of, we cannot even begin an attempt to get at the real Wash ington." Mr. Lodge could hardly have done worse than in this setting up that we know very little of the facts of Wash ington's boyhood, when in fact we could not well know more; that the "Life" by Weems created the popular Washington, when in fact Washington with Weems was known as no other man in history has ever been known dur ing his own time ; and that we cannot even begin to get at the real Washington until we have critically disposed of the myths of Weems, when in fact, Weems or no Weems, the large and exact knowledge of the real Washington possible to study without taking account of Weems at all, and of Washington in youth as well as maturity, leaves nothing to be desired, except a general casting upon a rubbish heap of the numerous attempts to tell the story of Wash ington without anything like real study.] The planters of Virginia being at that period without colleges and academies were compelled to employ private tutors for their children or to content themselves with the very meager instructions to be obtained at common LIFE AND TIMES. 37 country schools.* The masters of these schools moreover possessing, not unfrequently, the smallest supposable modi- *[The famous declaration of Sir William Berkeley, " I thank God that there are no free schools," has been misunderstood. It was said partly in view of the system of home teaching by private tutors, which was maintained, for lack of tutors, on the plan referred to by Berkeley in saying : " Every man teaches his own children." By " free schools " Berkeley meant what we should call " ragged schools," or " mission schools," and his idea was that no respectable man wanted such for his own children instead of home teaching by private tutors or by the parent himself. In fact he assumed that no respectable father would so much as think of schooling by the side of the young of the neglected class for his own sons, and the point of his reason for not wanting " free schools " at all was his convic tion that "learning" given to the lower class chiefly resulted in making them smarter for evil less submissive to order. The Sunday schools started by Robert Raikes at Gloucester in England towards the close of the i8th century had for their sole object schooling for the lowest class who could get none on week days, and a hundred years later a Sunday school, even if carried on in con nection with the service of worship, and not as a mission apart, was frequently not used for children of good families, who could have instruction at home, but only for the poor; and as under the system as originated teachers were hired on very low pay, and were very inferior in qualifications, young ladies of any social position commonly thought the service beneath them. American adoption of Sunday schools was on very different lines from the first, because of the extent to which children generally could enjoy common schooling during the week, and only needed for Sunday some va riety of religious instruction. In George Washington's youth in struction by his father while he lived was undoubtedly better a great deal than the pretentious, and largely preposterous schooling of which children are the victims at the capital of the state of New York in the first years of the 2Oth century. And after his father's death the Academy schooling which George Washington had was supplemented by tutoring given him by three or four persons hardly less interested than his father to see him well fitted for the position which he would have in his Virginia life.] 38 WASHINGTON. cum of qualifications, had little more capital than self- assurance, a rod and a ferule. And unable to subsist upon the pittance afforded by their school duties, they would add to their literary offices others which sometimes were singularly incongruous. A rural pedagogue of this motley class, Washington's first preceptor, a tenant of his father's when the family was residing in Westmoreland, was Mr. Hobby, a pretentious, jovial wight, who kept what was called " the old field school ; " and who in the comprehensive range of his em ployments was busied both with the minds and the bodies of his neighbors, combining the functions of schoolmaster, parish sexton, and undertaker. It was his joy to see his most honored pupil rise to the greatest height of his renown ; and he would often boast as he recounted anecdotes of the old field school " It was I who laid the foundation of his greatness ! " Soon after his father's death, Washington was sent from the family residence in Suffolk to the old homestead in Westmoreland county, the house in which he was born, and which was then occupied by his half-brother Augus tine. The object had in view was to provide for him a schoolmaster of .a higher grade than he who " laid the foundation of his greatness." He was accordingly placed under the care of Mr. Williams, an excellent teacher of the usual branches of an English education, and, in particular, of geography, bookkeeping, and surveying. Under the guidance of this competent master and worthy man our young pupil vigorously pursued his studies until his fourteenth year (1746), when an incident occurred worthy of especial notice from its important bearing on the future of his history. This was, his purpose to obtain a midshipman's warrant in the British navy. His half-brother Lawrence who was LIFE AND TIMES. 39 at that time a man of consideration in Virginia, being a member of the House of Burgesses and adjutant-general of his district, had served under Admiral Vernon and Gen eral Wentworth in the West Indies. As captain in the American regiment under command of Col. Alexander Spotswood, raised expressly for the West India service, and for co-operating with the British troops in Vernon's expedition, he was with Wentworth when he undertook in the year 1741 the disastrous siege of Carthagena.* A midshipman's warrant, obtained through the influence of this half-brother, was put into the hands of our young naval aspirant, greatly to his delight. He made immediate arrangements to embark on board a man-of-war then rid ing in the Potomac. His baggage was on the ship. All that remained to be done before his departure was to re ceive his mother's approbation and her blessing. But she had doubts of the advantage of the project. She looked at the many evils associated with scenes of naval service ; and she dwelt upon the thought of a separation by which her son, so young in years and in experience, would be taken away forever from the family manse, and from the shrine of its sacred home influences. She refused her consent to his separation from her. And maternal solici tude and filial affection soon blended in deciding that the proposed measure should be relinquished. [The matter was not decided by the mother upon her own feeling alone. She consulted her brother Joseph in London, who very urgently advised her against the navy as a place for her son, and against sacrificing the promise of his inherited position as a future man of estate in Vir ginia.] * Smollett's " History of England," chap. IV, at the beginning; and his " Roderick Random." 40 WASHINGTON. The dutiful son's unmurmuring acquiescence, and his surrender in such circumstances of his heart's joy, are a beautiful comment on his mental and moral discipline. And his filial obedience was in harmony with a divine in tention. The Unseen was present in the sympathies of that domestic incident. He who controls the fates of men and nations had a higher service than that of a midship man in reserve for this noble boy. [The chief agent in getting young Washington a chance to go to sea was a notable neighbor of Lawrence Wash ington, whose estate of Belvoir was on the Potomac five miles below Mt. Vernon. This neighbor of Lawrence was Hon. William Fairfax, cousin to the sixth Lord Fairfax, whose inheritance from his mother embraced about a fourth part of the whole of Virginia. He was the son of Henry Fairfax, whose wife, Anna Harrison, was sister to the wife of Henry Washington, one of the Eng lish Washingtons. Henry Fairfax was the second son of the fourth Lord Fairfax, and in 1691, the year of his son William's birth, he became high sheriff of Yorkshire. The son William was educated at a collegiate school, and went to sea when very young; then served in the British army in Spain ; was stationed at St. Helena for a time ; and subsequently at the Bahamas, where he married, in 1723, Sarah Walker, a daughter of Major Walker, and was appointed chief justice of the island. About the year 1725, on account of the unhealthiness of the climate, he removed to New England, having received the ap pointment of collector of the customs at Salem and Marblehead. Here the death of his wife in 1731 left him with four children, George William, born at the Baha mas ; Thomas, Anne, and Sarah, born in Salem. He sub sequently married Deborah Clarke of Salem, an intimate friend of his first wife, who had expressed, on her death- LIFE AND TIMES. 41 bed, the wish that this might take place for the sake of her children. Thomas, the sixth Lord Fairfax, hearing that the agent in charge of his American estates was not faithful to his interests, invited his cousin William to leave New England and become the superintendent of his es tates. The offer was accepted in 1734, and he at first took up his residence in Westmoreland county, but subsequently removed to Belvoir, a plantation fourteen miles below Alexandria. His daughter Anne, born in Salem, Mass., about 1726 or 1727, became the wife of Lawrence Wash ington, whose brother George, fourteen years younger, thus came under the direct influence of William Fairfax, then about fifty-two years of age. A letter of William Fairfax to Lawrence Washington, dated September 10, 1746, when George was fourteen years and six months of age, says : " George has been with us, and says he will be steady, and thankfully follow your advice as his best friend." It was William Fairfax who " had used his influence to obtain a position for George in the navy, but the mother would not consent to his going to sea, for ' several persons told her it was a bad scheme/ ' Mrs. Washington's chief adviser in the matter was her brother, Joseph Ball, resid ing in London, who wrote as follows : " I understand you are advised, and have some thoughts of putting your son to sea. I think he had better be put apprentice to a trade, for a common sailor before the mast has by no means the common liberty of the subject; for they will press him from a ship where he has fifty shillings a month, and make him take twenty-three, and cut and beat him like a negro, or rather like a dog. And as to any considerable promotion in the navy it is not to be ex pected, as there are always so many gaping for it here who have influence, and he has none " (in Meade). p. 50.] 42 WASHINGTON. He resumed his studies at the school of Mr. Williams. And he continued to pursue them two years longer until he had almost attained to his sixteenth year. This was an early season for his leaving school, but it was the limit of his opportunities. The schoolboy and the college-student of our day, who bask in the broad light afforded by thoroughly furnished educators and the latest and most im proved text-books,, too seldom think how few and fitful were the rays which glimmered on the path of our youthful countrymen in the middle of the last century. Yet a com pensation for the want of modern artificial helps to learn ing was afforded by a prevailing stalwart vigor and power ful grasp of thought. And there was then a freedom from the influence of our literary luxuries, which are so tempt ing to a relaxation of industry in the pursuit of truth. [It is upon less than adequate discrimination that the view is entertained of a short and meagre schooling of young Washington. For what his natural powers and impulses were, and what his father, mother, brother Law rence, Mr. William Fairfax, Lord Fairfax, and the school he attended were, it may be doubted whether one in twenty of the university graduates of the present time, in either England or America, stand upon the threshold of active life as well disciplined for it as George Washington was, if not at sixteen, at least at his first encounter with the demands and responsibilities of a career. Even if four- fifths of what the student in school and college to-day spends much time but scant attention upon were not of absolutely no educational account, yet the instances are exceptional in which a boy of rare character and fine mind gets as good personal training during eight years as George Washington got before he entered upon active life. In proportion as we understand what real educa- LIFE AND TIMES. 43 tion is, and how much self-education counts, we can see that Washington's actual advantages, with his use of them, brought him out upon the stage of his time remarkably well educated and very exceptionally disciplined.] At the early period of his schooldays Washington af forded one of the numerous illustrations of a fact which gives such interest to the history of the childhood of great men. With all due allowance for the propensity of imagi nation to color with bright tints its pictures of early genius it must be admitted that in many cases the mind does, in its first developments, disclose the secret of its leading bent. At the beginning of life's spring, incipient tendrils indicate the nature of a plant formed to climb. Among his playmates our schoolboy was their umpire and their leader. He won their confidence by his native ingenuousness and his strict regard for truth. He was generous and just, he was proverbially a peacemaker, and his word of honor was a bond. His military predilections also now appeared, not only in his delighting when eleven years of age, as boys so generally do, to play " soldiers," but in his being the master-spirit in many a mimic battle between " the English " and " the French." He was conspicuous moreover in their sports on account of his feats of strength and agility. Among his favorite recreations, in which he was almost without a rival, were lifting and throwing heavy weights, jumping with a pole, and wrestling. He was celebrated too for fleetness like the swift-footed hero of the Iliad; and in racing with his schoolfellows he surpassed them all. And so great was the power of his arm in youth that he would often throw a stone across the Rappahannock at the lower ferry of Fredericksburg a feat which few men were able to per form. 44 WASHINGTON. " More than fifty years ago," says Mr. Custis,* " I be came acquainted with two aged and highly estimable gen tlemen, Lawrence and Robin Washington who were dis tantly related to and had been companions of the Chief in his juvenile days. They spoke of the fine, manly youth ; and of his gallant demeanor and daring exploits in horse manship, and the athletic exercises of that remote period." But the manly exercise in which he most excelled was horsemanship. When a boy of but twelve years of age he resolved to ride a spirited, unbroken colt of his mother's her favorite sorrel which had hitherto successfully re sisted all attempts of " horse-tamers." He informed his playmates of his purpose, and accordingly a party of them assembled soon after sunrise on the appointed day to see the sport. With great difficulty they penned the mettle some and fiery animal and after many unsuccessful efforts at length bridled him. The youthful horseman then seized the reins and with a single effort vaulted on the colt's back. Then followed a desperate struggle between horse and rider. The colt could not and would not brook restraint. He had prevailed hitherto and he would prevail again. In all the freedom of his noble nature he had at pleasure ranged the field, snuffed the wind, and thrown off by a bound or leap his waste exuberance. He now reared and sprang. He started violently and suddenly from side to side. He used every instinctive contortion with a view to throw his rider and to regain liberty. It was in vain ; his efforts became frantic when he found his master unmoved from his seat, and with a violent, convulsive, furious plunge he fell down dead. Conscious of the pain which this result would cause his mother Washington frankly told her the story of his con- * Letter to Charles Brown, April 24, 1851. LIFE AND TIMES. 45 duct, and she, in her characteristic manner, said in reply: " I regret the loss of my favorite, but I rejoice in my son who always speaks the truth." As proofs of his diligence and industry at school, manu scripts written by him in boyhood and filling several quires of paper, exhibit records of his studies in geometry, trigonometry, and surveying; and evince the same regard to neatness and method, and the same care and accuracy which were afterward so conspicuous in his letters, his plans of military operations, and his official documents. There are extant also specimens of his ornamental penmanship, and of his fancy pen-sketch creations of heads half-human, and of nondescript birds, and " gorgons dire." In a manuscript book which he wrote at the age of thir teen years are copies of notes of hand, bills of exchange, re ceipts, bonds, indentures, bills of sale, land warrants, leases, deeds, and wills, designed to familiarize him with proper forms for transacting business. He seems however to have devoted himself in boyhood not merely to intellectual acquirements. He collected and copied out in one of his manuscripts, " Rules of Behavior in Company and Conversation." And the general char acter of these rules, by which he sought to regulate his demeanor, affords the best evidence of his desire to culti vate the elegant courtesies and to practice the moral duties which give refined society its peculiar charm. , .,. Among his rules are the following : " i. Read no letters, books, or papers in company; but when there is a necessity for doing it you must ask leave. Come not near the books or writings of any one so as to read them unless desired; nor give your opinion of them unasked. Also look not nigh when another is writing a letter. 46 WASHINGTON. "2. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of an other, though he were your enemy. " 3. When you meet with one of greater quality than yourself, stop and retire, especially if it be at a door or any strait place, to give way for him to pass. " 4. Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive. " 5. In writing or speaking give to every person his due title, according to his degree, and the custom of the place. " 6. Wherein you reprove another, be unblamable your self ; for example is more prevalent than precepts. " 7. Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the dis paragement of any. " 8. In your apparel be modest, and endeavor to accom modate nature rather than to procure admiration. " 9. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company. " 10. Deride no man's misfortune though there seem to be some cause. " ii. Whisper not in the company of others. " 12. Be not apt to relate news if you know not the truth thereof. " 13. Be not curious to know the affairs of others ; neither approach to those that speak in private. " 14. Undertake not what you cannot perform ; but be careful to keep your promise. " 15. Speak not evil of the absent for it is unjust. " 16. Be not angry at table whatever happens ; and if you have reason to be so show it not. Put on a cheerful countenance, especially if there be strangers, for good humor makes one dish of meat a feast. " 17. When you speak of God or his attributes let it be seriously, in reverence. LIFE AND TIMES. 47 " 1 8. Honor and, obey your natural parents though they be poor. " 19. Let your recreations be manful, not sinful. " 20. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called Conscience." These and similar memoranda of the conventionalities of elegant, social intercourse enabled him to control himself by a well-provided formulary instead of trusting to the hazard of mere impromptu impulses. They were the trellis- work that secured an order, regularity, and beauty which imparted a remarkable propriety and decorum to his con duct at all times and in all circumstances. There are also extant certain selections in verse, chiefly of a religious character, made by him at this dawning period of his life. They are of little merit as exhibitions of genius in their author, or of poetic taste in their compiler ; yet they are indicative of what may be regarded as not less desirable in an intelligent and ingenuous lad of thirteen years of age, an interest in devout sentiments. He did not enjoy the advantages of a classical education. And not only was he unable to read either Greek or Latin, but he could neither speak nor write in any modern for eign language. While in daily intercouse with French officers, at one period of the Revolution, he was compelled in interchanging opinions with them to rely in general upon the aid of an interpreter. His decided predilection was for mathematics. The exactness, order, and certainty of its processes always were more congenial to the nature of his mind than any of the charms of belles-lettres. The only occasion of his being beguiled to compose poetic strains was when, about two years before leaving school, and when the down upon his cheek and chin gave its first distinct hints of his adolescence, he felt some 48 WASHINGTON. throbbings of the tender passion. In one. of his early manu scripts are found plaintive breathings of this nature, ut tered for the relief of his " poor restless heart." The object of his attachment it is said was Miss Grimes,* * Or perhaps Mary Bland. [More probably Miss Betsy Fauntle- roy. In a communication to " Harper's Weekly," of May 4, 1889, the writer answered as follows the question who was Washington's " Lowland beauty: " Of late years the opinion has gained that the lady was Sally Gary, who became the wife of George William Fairfax. This has been hitherto my own conviction, based on certain letters found among the papers of Mrs. Fairfax at her death, at Bath, England (1811), at the age of eighty-one. It now appears to me certain that the "Lowland beauty " Washington's first love was Miss Betsy Fauntleroy. Under date of 20th May, 1752, Washington writes to " William Fauntleroy, Sr. : " " SIR. I should have been down long before this, but my busi ness in Frederick detained me somewhat longer than I expected* and immediately upon my return from thence I was taken with a violent pleurise, which has reduced me very low; but purpose, as soon as I recover my strength, to wait on Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence, and see if I can meet with any alteration in my favor. I have enclosed a letter to her, which should be much obliged to you for the delivery of it. I have nothing to add but my best respects to your good lady and family." As William Fauntleroy, Sr., had a granddaughter named Eliza beth, it is a fair inference that she was the Betsy referred to. That she was the " Lowland beauty " may be inferred from the fact that the letter in which this phrase occurs, though undated, bears evidence of having been written about the time which the prob abilities of such explanation suggest. The letter is addressed ' Dear Friend Robin " possibly Robert Washington of Chotauk, affectionately remembered in his will and the material part is as follows: "My place of residence is at present at his lordship's, where I might, was my heart disengaged, pass my time very pleas antly, as there's a very agreeable young lady lives in the same house (Col. George Fairfax's wife's sister). But as that's only adding LIFE AND TIMES. 49 of Westmoreland, whom he calls his " lowland beauty," and who afterward, as Mrs. Lee, was the mother of Gen. Henry Lee, so famous in the Revolutionary War as " Light Horse Harry," and always regarded by Washington with particular favor. But his " young love " was not declared, although it occasioned for more than two years the in quietude and depression of spirits usual in such cases. [With the letter of May 20, 1752, to William Fauntleroy, Sr., in regard to a " purpose to wait on Miss Betsy [Fauntleroy], in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence, and see if I can meet with any alteration in my favor," and with " a letter enclosed to her," it seems un necessary to look in any other direction for the object of young Washington's interest. It can be readily under stood that he was not a lady's man as the average good- looking youth may readily be. He was large, awkward, emotional, and bashful, with nothing to give him self- possession with people beyond the circle of his familiar friends. He was not long in acquiring the poise of self- command and self-carriage, but the earliest falling in love antedated that particular discipline.] Writing to a young companion whom he calls his " dear fuel to fire, it makes me the more uneasy, for by often and un avoidably being in company with her revives my former passion for your Lowland beauty; whereas, was I to live more retired from young women, I might deviate in some measure my sorrows by burying that chaste and troublesome passion in the grave of ob livion or etearnall forgetfulness, for as I am very well assured, that's the only antidote or remedy that I ever shall be relieved by or only recess that can administer any cure or help to me, as I am well convinced, was I ever to attempt anything, I should only get a denial which would be only adding grief to uneasiness." This letter, written after George Fairfax's marriage (i7th Decem ber, 1748), and before the journey to the Barbadoes (September, 1751), was probably written in the earlier part of 1751-] 4 50 WASHINGTON. friend Robin," he remarks that female society tended to keep alive his passion, whereas, says he, by living " more retired from young women, I might, in some measure, alleviate my sorrows, by burying that chaste and trouble some passion in the grave of oblivion." This natural and venial indulgence in youthful romancing although rather precocious in a boy of fourteen years would not perhaps deserve to be mentioned, did it not show that Washington's mind, even at that period of his deepest interest in his studies, was not so absorbed in theorems and computations as to be unconscious of na ture's gentlest sympathies, and insensible to impressions associated with life's purest and most refined delights. His mind was sturdy, but his heart was ever gentle and sus ceptible. In the estimate we form of the illustrious and the great, we are apt to be misled by the supposition, that, in the range of their passions and emotions, they are not as other men. And the dazzling halo of this illusion often imparts to them vague and mysterious associations, by which their example is often greatly diminished in its influence. It is pleasing therefore to record in the his tory of Washington that he was no ideal and unreal crea tion ; that he had, as we have, a heart as well as a head ; that he, as all other children, in their development of man hood, passed through the metamorphoses of child, little man, boy soldier, lad, youth, lover; and that he is to be regarded not as an inimitable paragon, to excite wonder and admiration, but as a beautiful model, for all young persons who would practice filial obedience, truth, and honesty, diligence in study, decorum in behavior, and whatever else is commendable in a lad or young man, at home and at school, in sports among playmates, and in amusements and recreations of the social circle. LIFE AND TIMES. 51 They who would emulate the achievements of his man hood should study and imitate the virtues of his early youth. When, at the close of the Revolutionary War, Lafayette, about to depart for France, paid a farewell visit to the mother of Washington, and mingled with his adieus a glowing encomium on her illustrious son, she replied, in her characteristic manner and in memorable words, " I am not surprised at what George has done, for he was always a good boy." CHAPTER III. INCIDENTS OF HIS YOUTH. 1748-1752. SOON after leaving school (1748), Washington be came for a time an inmate in the family of his eldest half-brother Lawrence, on his large patri monial estate, which then comprised 2,500 acres, and which he called Mount Vernon, in compliment to the admiral under whom he served in the West Indies. This half-brother, whom his father sent to England for his education, had enjoyed what were at that time un common advantages, social and intellectual; and his im provement of them appeared in his mental acquirements, his cultivated manners, and his elegant accomplishments. He was very affectionately attached to his half-brother George; and it was his ambition and delight to aid and counsel him in all his studies, and to contribute in every way to his welfare and advancement, while he now prose cuted his mathematical studies and prepared himself for the duties of a scientific practical surveyor. The daily conversation and the countless little hints and suggestions of such a mentor as his highly-educated brother Law rence were to our ingenuous young student, then in his seventeenth year, heaven's special provision suited to his case, as refreshing, fertilizing dew to the surrounding green pastures. Three years before this time, Lawrence had married 'Anne Fairfax, eldest daughter of William Fairfax, of (52) LIFE AND TIMES. 53 Fairfax county, Virginia, who had served in the British army in Spain, the East Indies, and New Providence. He had been also Governor of New Providence, Chief Justice of the Bahamas, and President of His Majesty's council in Virginia. [From New Providence in the West Indies, after some years of service there, William Fairfax had been trans ferred to Salem, Massachusetts, upon his request for a change from the unfavorable climate of the Bahamas; and there his daughter Anne was born a Massachusetts girl therefore ; there also Anne's mother died, and a Salem lady, who had been her intimate friend, became in due time her father's second wife. After nine years at Salem, in charge of the customs there, William Fairfax was persuaded by Lord Thomas Fairfax, of whom he was a cousin, to settle in Virginia, as agent for the sur vey, sale, and general care of the lands held by Lord Fairfax. The fine estate of Belvoir, five miles down the Potomac from Mount Vernon, was the home of William Fairfax, with his Massachusetts wife, while his Massa chusetts daughter was the mistress of Mount Vernon. In both of these houses George Washington was at home, as he also was with Lord Fairfax at Greenway Court, a house which he occupied.] The alliance of Lawrence Washington with a daughter of such a person opened the way for his brother George's acquaintance with the Fairfax family, and eventually for his intimate friendship with the most prominent member of the family, Thomas, the sixth Lord Fairfax, who was a man of education and of great moral worth. He was a graduate of Oxford University, and the contributor, it is said, of some of the papers in Addison's Spectator. He held a commission also in a regiment of horse. Descended from an ancient baronial family, and in- 54 WASHINGTON. heriting a large fortune, his lordship had moved in the best circles of English society. It was his lot however to be grievously disappointed in an affair of the heart. He sought seclusion from the gay world. On visiting his American estates in Virginia, which he inherited from his mother, he was charmed with the people, the country, and the climate; and he resolved to bid adieu to old associates and to settle in the New World. His mother was Catharine, daughter of Thomas, Lord Culpeper, and the estates in Virginia, which he inherited from her, comprehended, according to the original grant which Lord Culpeper received from Charles II, all the lands between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. These lands, it was estimated, contained 5,700,000 acres.* They included a tract of country comprising about a sev enth part of the present area of Virginia, and are now divided into twenty-one counties, f For several years William Fairfax, as his lordship's agent, superintended these estates. Lord Thomas, as he was called, was a man of remark able appearance. He was tall, muscular, and swarthy, with prominent features, and of an uncommonly large frame. He took up his permanent residence on a domain which he named " Greenway Court," thirteen miles south east of Winchester, capital of Frederick county. There he lived upon his rents, paying little attention to the * Barnaby's " Travels through the Middle Settlements in America in the years 1759 and 1760, with Observations upon the State of the Colonies," p. 159. The whole State comprises thirty-nine millions two hundred and sixty-five thousand acres. t The counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, West moreland, Stafford, King George, Prince William, Fairfax, Loudon, Fauquier, Culpeper, Clarke, Madison, Page, Shenandoah, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Frederick. LIFE AND TIMES. 55 cultivation of his grounds, for he preferred the wildness of primeval forest scenery. He led the life of a bachelor and occupied a single clapboard story-and-a-half house.* From the abundance of his pecuniary means, he dis pensed his hospitalities and benefactions, especially among the middle and lower classes of the community, in so liberal a manner and in so noble a spirit that he won for himself universal admiration and esteem. He became the principal magistrate of Frederick county, and presided at the Winchester provincial courts ; and, in the French and Indian War, he led the troops of his county to the aid of Washington, then Commander-in-Chief of the Colonial Army of Virginia. During the war for independence however he had no sympathy with his gallant young friend, for he continued to the last hour of his long life having attained to the age of ninety-two a loyal subject of Great Britain. His death occurred soon after the capture of Corn- wallis, and, it is said, was hastened by the effect produced upon his mind by that event. He had scarcely heard the tidings, when he said to his body-servant, " Come, Joe, carry me to my bed; for I'm sure 'tis high time for me to die." He gave the land on which was erected, at Winchester, the first Episcopal church built in the Valley of Virginia. Under the chancel of that church his body was deposited in a coffin mounted with massive silver; and when the old church was taken down and replaced by the new one, his remains were removed, and honored with a renewal of the special mark of distinction previously bestowed * [Precisely the style of house in which George Washington was born.] 56 WASHINGTON. on them. A monumental slab was also erected to his memory. When first he met the future chief, he had just come to America, at the age of fifty-seven years, to reside on his domain. He was, at this time, an inmate at Belvoir, the residence of his kinsman and agent, a short distance from Mount Vernon. There, in addition to other sons and daughters in the family, was the highly-educated eld est son of William Fairfax, George William, then about twenty-two years of age, with his bride and her sister, accomplished daughters of Colonel Carey, of Virginia. In the almost daily society of such persons, young Washington enjoyed rare opportunities for intellectual and social culture. His character was appreciated by them. He won their esteem by his sterling integrity, his ingenuousness, and his sound good sense. And Lord Thomas was particularly attached to him. His lordship, fond of hunting, kept his horses and his hounds. And his young American friend, also greatly delighting in the chase, became the companion of the old nobleman in his favorite sport, and shared with him many of his adventures " by field and flood." When his lordship soon after resolved to reclaim large portions of the choicest of his lands from settlers who occupied them without right or title, it was an essential prerequisite that the property should be surveyed and divided into. lots. Washington's exercises, from time to time, in the practical use of his surveyor's instruments, on his brother's grounds, not only were observed with interest by the families at Mount Vernon and Belvoir, but led Lord Fairfax to entertain a very favorable opinion of his young friend's acquirements. To him therefore he confided the proposed important and laborious service. Washington was then just entering his seventeenth LIFE AND TIMES. 57 year (March, 1748). But he was remarkable for his knowledge and skill as a practical surveyor; and not less for other qualifications, personal and moral, just as neces sary for the due performance of his task. It was, on many accounts, an arduous and perilous undertaking. But our youthful adventurer, accompanied by the Hon. William Fairfax's son, George William, set out for the Alleghany mountains and the South Branch of the Potomac on his hazardous expedition, the priva tions and fatigues of which are recorded in a journal written by him at the time. The entries are often very brief and general ; but they afford striking pictures of the scenes through which he passed, and give many interest ing details of his experiences in border life, and in the hardships of the backwoodsman. [The surveys had been going on for some time in charge of a regularly-licensed surveyor, and Washington did no more than to take part in them. He was not at first in possession of a license, which was necessary to make a survey legal. He merely assisted therefore, or, having made a special survey, secured the signature on it of a licensed surveyor. In due time he obtained a license and was able to authenticate with his own name the sur veys which he made. See the more full statement later on.] JOURNAL OF JOURNEY OVER THE MOUNTAINS. "March I3th (1748). Rode to his lordship's quarter. 'About four miles higher up the river Shenandoah, we went through most beautiful groves of sugar-trees, and spent the best part of the day in admiring the trees, and the richness of the land. $8 WASHINGTON. " I4th. We sent our baggage to Captain Kite's, near Fredericktown, and went ourselves down the river about sixteen miles the land exceedingly rich all the way, producing abundance of grain, hemp, and tobacco in order to lay off some land on Gate's Marsh and Long Marsh. " 1 5th. Worked hard till night, and then returned. After supper we were lighted into a room; and I, not being so good a woodsman as the rest, stripped myself very orderly and went into the bed, as they called it, when, to my surprise, I found it to be^ nothing but a little straw matted together, without sheet or any thing else but only one threadbare blanket, with double its weight of vermin. I was glad to get up and put on my clothes and lie as my companions did. Had we not been very tired, I am sure we should not have slept much that night. I made a promise to sleep so no more, choosing rather to sleep in the open air before a fire. " i8th. We traveled to Thomas Berwick's on the Poto mac, where we found the river exceedingly high by reason of the great rains that had fallen among the Alleghanies. They told us it would not be fordable for several days, it being now six feet higher than usual, and rising. We agreed to stay till Monday. We this day called to see the famed Warm Springs.* We camped out in the field this night. " 2oth. Finding the river not much abated we in the evening swam our horses over to the Maryland side. "21 st. We went over in a canoe, and traveled up the Maryland side all day, in a continued rain, to Colonel Cresap's, over against the mouth of the South Branch, about forty miles from our place of starting in the * In Bath county, in the central part of Virginia. LIFE AND TIMES. 59 morning, and over the worst road, I believe, that ever was trod by man or beast. " 23d. Rained till about 2 o'clock, and then cleared up, when we were agreeably surprised at the sight of more than thirty Indians coming from war, with only one scalp. We had some liquor with us, of which we gave them a part. This, elevating their spirits, put them in the humor of dancing. We then had a war dance. After clearing a large space and making a great fire in the middle, the men seated themselves around it, and the speaker made a grand speech, telling them in what manner they were to dance. After he had finished, the best dancer jumped up as one awaked from sleep and ran and jumped about the ring in a most comical manner. He was followed by the rest. Then began their music, which was performed with a pot half full of water and a deerskin stretched tight over it, and a gourd with some shot in it to rattle, and a piece of horse's tail tied to it to make it look fine. One person kept rattling and another drumming all the while they were dancing. " 25th. Left Cresap's and went up to the mouth of Pat terson's creek. There we swam our horses over the Potomac, and went over ourselves in a canoe, and traveled fifteen miles, where we camped. " 26th. Traveled up to Solomon Hedge's, Esquire, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace in the county of Frederick, where we camped. When we came to supper, there was neither a knife on the table nor a fork, to eat with; but, as good luck would have it, we had knives of our own. "28th. Traveled up the South Branch having come to that river yesterday about thirty miles to Mr. J. R/s (horse-jockey), and about seventy miles from the mouth of the river. 60 WASHINGTON. " 29th. This morning went out and surveyed 500 acres of land. Shot two wild turkeys. " 30th. Began our intended business of laying off lots. "April 2d. A blowing, rainy night. Our straw, upon which we were lying, took fire; but I was luckily pre served by one of our men's awaking when it was in a flame. We have run off four lots this day. " 4th. This morning Mr. Fairfax left us with the inten tion to go down to the mouth of the river. We surveyed two lots and were attended with a great company of people men, women, and children who followed us through the woods, showing their antic tricks. They seem to be as ignorant a set of people as the Indians. They would never speak English, but when spoken to they all spoke Dutch. This day our tent was blown down by the violence of the wind. " 6th. The last night was so intolerably smoky that we were obliged to leave our tent to the mercy of the wind and fire. Attended this day by the aforesaid company. " 7th. This day one of our men killed a wild turkey that weighed twenty pounds. We surveyed 1,500 acres of land and returned to Vanmeter's about I o'clock. I took my horse and went up to see Mr. Fairfax. We slept in Cas- sey's house, which was the first night I had slept in a house since we came to the Branch. " 8th. We breakfasted at Cassey's and rode down to Vanmeter's to get our company together, which, when we had accomplished, we rode down below the Trough to lay off lots there. The Trough is a couple of ledges of mountains, impassable, running side by side for seven or eight miles and the river between them. You must ride round the back of the mountains to get below them. We camped in the woods and after we had pitched our tent and made a large fire, we pulled out our knapsack to recruit LIFE AND TIMES. 61 ourselves. Every one was his own cook. Our spits were forked sticks, our plates were large chips. As for dishes we had none. " loth. We took our farewell of the Branch and traveled over hills and mountains to Coddy's, on Great Cacapehon, about forty miles. " I2th. Mr. Fairfax got safe home; and I to my brother's house at Mount Vernon; which concludes my journal." He received, the year after the time of this excursion (1749), the appointment of public surveyor. And he prosecuted the duties of this office with diligence, travers ing wild lands between the Potomac and the Rappahan- nock. The original record of his appointment is still extant in one of the books in the county clerk's office at the town of Fairfax, the county-seat of Culpeper. It is in these words : " 2oth July, 1749 (o. s.) George Washington, Gent., pro duced a commission from the president and master of William and Mary College appointing him to be surveyor 'of this county, which was read, and thereupon he took the usual oaths to his Majesty's person and government and took and subscribed the abjuration oath and test and then took the oath of surveyor according to law." The privations and rough fare of his life in the woods continued for three years. Writing to a friend he says: " Since you received my letter in October last, I have not slept above three or four nights in a bed; but, after walking a good deal all day I have lain down before the fire upon a little hay, straw, fodder, or a bear's-skin, which ever was to be had with man, wife, and children, like dogs and cats, and happy is he who gets the berth nearest the 6 2 WASHINGTON. fire. Nothing would make it pass off tolerably but a good reward. A doubloon is my constant gain every day that the weather will permit my going out, and sometimes six pistoles.* The coldness of the weather will not allow of my making a long stay as the lodging is rather too cold for the time of year. I have never had my clothes off, but have lain and slept in them, except the few nights I have been in Fredericktown."f [There is no indication to what time this letter applies ; but probably the early winter (perhaps of 1749) * n con nection with an expedition " To Survey the Land at the mouth of the Little Cacapehon and the mouth of Fifteen Mile Creek for the Gentlemen of the Ohio," as a " Mem." set down by Washington, later than his record of surveys made in the expedition of March and April, 1748. This "Mem." we shall refer to again presently, in the account given below of the record of travel and surveys made by Washington. There is no ground for assuming that for three years the surveying work was going on all the time, or the most of the time. In the letter to " Dear Friend Robin," without date, but in the "surveying" period, young Washington writes that his " place of residence at present is at his Lordship's " (then at the Belvoir Fairfax house), and he talks of passing his time there, evidently not just then engaged in surveying. The quotations given above do not adequately reflect the real facts, not only from omission of important items, but from failure to note the significance of the whole rec ord. The first entry is: "Friday, March nth. Began my journey in company with Mr. George Fairfax, Esq.: * Equivalent to $20. t Manuscript letter appended to his journal, and addressed to a friend whom he calls "Dear Richard." It is evidently a rough draft of what he sent to his friend. LIFE AND TIMES. 63 we travelled this day 40 miles." The second entry is: " Saturday, March I2th. Mr. James Genn, the surveyor, Came to us: we travelled over the Blue Ridge to Capt. Ashby's on Shenandoah River." Then follows : " Sunday, March 13. Rode to his Lordship's Quarter," etc. Mr. James Genn, it will be seen, was "the surveyor," and the party, having travelled thus far in three days, went on sixteen miles farther, " in order to lay off some Land on Gates Marsh and Long Marsh." On Tuesday, " We set out early with intent to run round the said Land, but being taken in a rain, and it increasing very fast obliged us to return. It clearing about one o'clock, we a second time ventured out and worked hard till night, then re turned to Pennington's (Capt. Isaac Pennington's, where they had put up the day before.) This was a single sur vey, the mere laying off of a large plot of land. On the i6th the party " set out early and finished about one o'clock, and then travelled up to Fredericktown ; took a review of the town, and returned to our Lodgings where we had a good dinner prepared for us: wine and rum punch in plenty ; and a good feather bed with clean sheets." The next day rain detained them, but on clearing they went on twenty-five miles, and that night " had a tolerable good bed to lay on." The following day travelled thirty- five miles to the Potomac, " then about six foot higher than usual by reason of the great rains," and " camped out in the field " that night. The 2Oth was Sunday, with the river not much abated, and in the evening they " swam their horses over and carried them to Charles Polks in Maryland for pasturage till the next morning." Travelled the next day up the Maryland side of the Potomac about forty miles to Colonel Cresaps, " right against the mouth of the South Branch." The continued rain on the next day kept the party at Cresaps. The next day's report 64 WASHINGTON. was of more rain and seeing a party of Indians ; and noth ing more than the Indians again on the following day, the 24th. On the 25th an advance to Paterson's creek, and thence fifteen miles up that stream, and camped out. Fur ther up the stream the next day to Solomon Hedges ; then on Sunday, the day after, travelled from Hedges over to the South Branch, " in order to go about intended work of lots." On Monday went on up the South Branch " about 30 miles to Mr. James Rutlidges ; " and Tuesday, 29th, " This morning went out and surveyed 500 acres of land, and went down to one Michael Stumps on the South Fork of the Branch." On Wednesday, 3Oth: "This morning began our intended business of laying off lots. We began at the boundary line of the northern 10 miles above Stumps, and run off two lots and returned to Stumps." Thursday, 3ist, " run off three lots, and re turned to our camping place at Stumps." Friday, April ist, " run off three lots and returned to camp." Saturday, April 2d, " run off four lots this day which reached below Stumps." On Sunday, the 3d, after a night in which the wind carried quite off their tent, so that they were " obliged to lie the latter part of the night without cover ing," " several persons came to see us," and " one of our men shot a wild turkey." Monday, April 4th : " This morning Mr. Fairfax left us with intent to go down by the mouth of the Branch. We did two lots, and was at tended by a great company of people as we went through the woods. They speak all Dutch. This day our tent was blown down by the violentness of the wind." Tuesday, 5th, " we went out and did four lots, attended by the same company of people." That night "was so intolerably smoky that we were obliged all hands to leave the tent to the mercy of the wind and fire." On Wednesday, 6th, attended by the same company until about twelve o'clock, LIFE AND TIMES. 65 " when we finished," and travelled down the Branch about thirty miles. Caught in a very heavy rain, they " got un der a straw house until the worst of it was over." The next morning " surveyed 1,500 acres of land and returned about one o'clock." About two " heard that Mr. Fairfax was at Peter Cassey's about two miles off; took my horse and went up to see him; slept in Cassey's house which was the first night I had slept in a house since I came up to the Branch." Friday, 8th, " We breakfasted at Cas sey's (Washington and Fairfax) and rode down together to Van Metris's to get all our company together. Rode down below the Trough in order to lay off lots there. Laid off one this day. Camped this night in the woods (instead of at some settler's place). After we had pitched our tent and made a very large fire, we pulled out our knapsack, in order to recruit ourselves. Every one was his own cook. Our spits was forked sticks, our plates a large chip." This exceptional experience is used by Ban croft to show what sort of hard life Washington had to live as a surveyor. The record shows how they com monly camped where a settler's house was available for their meals, if not for beds, and how in one house there were no knives, " but, as good luck would have it, we had knives of our own " (at Solomon Hedges, March 26th). Moreover, the very next day, the record is, " Saturday, 9th: Set the surveyors to work, whilst Mr. Fairfax and myself stayed at the tent." Their rations were exhausted, and they had to go without until, at four or five in the evening, they " could get some from the neighbors," as they had all along done until these two days deep in the woods. The two young gentlemen, Washington and Fair fax, were in charge of a party of surveyors ; and on this day the former says of himself and his companion, after they got something to eat in the evening, " We then took 5 66 WASHINGTON. leaves of the rest of our company, and rode down to John Colins in order to set off the next day homewards." The next day was Sunday, April loth, and the two young men "travelled over hills and mountains to Coddy's, on Great Cacapehon, about forty miles." The next day they trav elled to Fredericktown, and the day after a further long journey to get over the Ridge. A third day brought them home. These records show twelve days of surveying in thirty- four days, and in four special places, without the least at tempt anywhere at a general survey. They do not show Washington acting as a surveyor, but merely taking a hand in the work being done by a party of surveyors. It was a year and four months after this before Washington had a license under which he could himself act as a sur veyor, and even then he did no more than to execute special surveys. In one only of the four situations men tioned above were any considerable number of lots sur veyed, and only seven days were necessary for this; nor was it Washington's work; it was the work of a party of surveyors under Mr. Genn, " the surveyor," in which Washington assisted in only a minor way. The whole story of Lord Fairfax wanting his domain surveyed, and intrusting Washington at sixteen with the work, and the latter going on as a surveyor for three years, until he was nineteen, is unhistorical. For the first half nearly of the three years, until July, 1749, Washington was not a surveyor and could only work at it under some one who was. For the second half, and a little more, of the three years, he did no more than to execute special surveys, laying off an estate here, and a group of lots there. The record of the early work, as given above, has never been fully and correctly given. Even Mr. W. C. Ford's edi- LIFE AND TIMES. 67 tion, with all its pretension to reproduce the original, leaves the whole matter in confusion. There is in the Department of State at Washington an ancient blank-book, originally of very nice quality, which has in it the record which Washington made of the first weeks of his active life, in March and April, 1748, when he was a youth of sixteen. The new edition of "Wash ington's Writings " draws first from this book, and by comparison with the original we soon see how Mr. Ford works. Mr. Ford omits, at the top of page i, volume I, the title to what he calls "the earliest manuscript that I have found, except his studies in surveying and summaries of his reading," and of which he says that it " is printed from the original in the Department of State." The original begins: "A Journal of my Journey over the Mountains, began Fryday the nth of March 1747-8." Mr. Ford omits this, and gives in place of it, "Journal of a Survey, 1748," which is not in the original. Not only so, but Mr. Ford is entirely wrong in putting the title " Journal of a Sur vey " to the document which Washington called " Jour nal of my Journey." The original which Mr. Ford has used is in a small blank-book, on the front cover of which is a remnant of the clasp, showing this to be the front cover, and the in scription written with a pen, Journey over the Moun tains in 1747 Survey Notes Youthful letters Mem s &c. A little scrutiny shows that at one and the same time Washington made a double use of the book. On the first page, in the front of the book, he begins a Journal-Record 68 WASHINGTON. of his Surveys, as follows: " March ye I5th, 1747-8 Sur veyed for George Fairfax, Esq.r. a Tract of Hand lying on Cotes Marsh and Long Marsh beginning at three Red Oaks Fx on a Ridge the No. side a spring Branch being corner to the 623 acre Tract/' etc. The record of this survey fills the first page and two-thirds of the second. The third page has the record of another survey, begin ning: "March 29, 1/48, Surveyed for Mr James Rut- lidge ye following a piece of Land Beginning at 3 W. O. in ye Manner Line by a Path leading to ye Clay Lick," etc. On page 4 begins a record of Surveys of lots, numbered Lot i, Lot 2, etc., to Lot 20, and ending at the top of page 12. This record has the heading " The Courses and Dis tances of ye Several Lots lay'd of on ye So Fork of Wap- pacomo Began March 3oth 1748." Lots i and 2 are placed under March 3Oth, Lots 3 to 8 under March 3ist, Lots 9 to 12 under April 2d, Lots 13 and 14, and the " Courses of ye Fork/' under April 4th, Lots 15 to 18 under April 5th, and Lots 19 and 20 under April 6th. On page 13 of the book follows a memorandum of " The Manner how to Draw up a Return when Surveyed for His Lordship or any of ye Family." It begins : " March 1 5th, 1747-8 Then Surveyed for George Fairfax Esqr. Three Thousand and Twenty Three Acres of Land lying in Frederick County on Long Marsh Joyning Thomas Johnstones Land and bounded as follows." The descrip tion follows, five lines on page 13, to the top of page 15. The memorandum indicates that the return was to be signed as follows : JAMES GENN GEORGE ASHBY RXCHARD TAYLOR ROBERT ASHBY Marker WM. LINDSEY Pilot LIFE AND TIMES. 69 Germ was, as we have seen, an authorized surveyor, which Washington at the time was not, although he be came so later by obtaining a license from William and Mary College, upon an examination duly passed. The three following leaves, pages 16-21, are torn out, with the writing on them. Page 22 has, on the top half, "The Courses of the Town of Alexandria," and "The Measures of the River," with half a dozen lines under the latter head. Then begins a series of letters, or drafts, the first, addressed to " Dear Sir," breaking off at the top of the next page, and directly followed, to the middle of page 25, with a letter addressed, " Dear Friend John." Sub stantially the same letter, addressed, " Dear Friend Robin," follows, from the top of page 26 to the middle of page 28. A letter, addressed " Dear Sally," follows on pages 29 and 30. At the top of page 31 a letter was begun, " Dear Sir It would be the greatest satisfaction," and then broken off, but these few words show a care with the pen distinctly better than the usual hand of the writer, but not another hand. There comes next a " Memorandum to have my Coat made by the following Directions," which extends to the middle of page 32. Thence forward pages 33 to 50 are blank. Pages 52 to 55 had been torn out, apparently blank, and a letter, addressed " Dear Richard," is written on pages 51 and 56. At the top of page 57 is written: " Mem. To Survey the Land at the Mouth of the Little Cacapehon and the Mouth of Fifteen Mile Creek for the gentlemen of the Ohio Com : " Two-thirds of the next page, the 58th, contains a letter beginning: "I heartily con gratulate you on the happy news of my Brother's safe ar rival in health in England, and am joy'd to hear that his stay is likely to be so short." The next thirty-five pages are blank, counting two in one place, and eight in another, torn out. 70 WASHINGTON. Then we come to writing which is the other side up, being thirty-four pages, and two or three blank pages, which begin from the other end of the volume, the back end. On pages I to 24 occurs what Washington entitled, "A Journal of my Journey over the Mountains, began Fryday the nth of March 1747-8." It is very plain that while entering in the front of the book his Surveys, in the form both of records and of a journal, Washington turned the book round and entered his journal of travel. Mr. Ford copies the journal of travel (as we have done above\ omits the title which stands at the head of the first page of the document itself, and puts to it the title properly belonging to the document in the front end of the book, which he does not copy, the journal-record of surveys. Mr. Ford's first page thus begins with an inexcusable omis sion of what Washington wrote, and a substitution of something written by himself, which is inapplicable and untrue. In a note to his false title, Mr. Ford carries error and misstatement still further. He says : " This is the earliest manuscript of Washington's that I have found, except his studies in surveying and his summaries of his reading, and is printed from the original in the Department of State. It possesses little interest apart from its early date. Lord Fairfax claimed under a patent of James II all of what is now the lower end of the Shenandoah valley, and it was by his directions that Washington surveyed it." There are about as many errors as phrases in this note. The claim of Lord Fairfax was simply that of inheritance from his mother, daughter of Lord Thomas Culpeper, who finally held a limited, though still immense, estate, under an agreement on his part which very greatly modified the effect of the original patent. The limit, however, of the estate, as Culpeper's daughter left it to her son, is very LIFE AND TIMES. 71 inadequately described by saying " the lower end of the Shenandoah valley," since it went well into the Alleghany mountains beyond. And, whatever were the limits, it is most incorrect to say that " Washington surveyed it." One of the earliest letters of Washington speaks of " the other Surveyors," in connection with his request for direc tions as to " the Surveying of Cacapehon." Both before Washington began, and while he was engaged, there were " other surveyors," who must have done much more than he did; and in this first instance Washington, even if he had general direction as well as gave assistance, was not himself the surveyor. His journal of the second day says, as we have seen, " Mr. James Genn, the Surveyor, came to us." His memorandum of a proper return of one of the surveys shows that it was to bear the signature of Genn as surveyor, and the names of four others, two chainmen, a marker and a pilot, and not Washington's name at all. The journal of April Qth says : " Set the Surveyors to work, whilst Mr. Fairfax and myself stayed at the tent." The fact was that Washington was not yet a surveyor; and that when, nearly a year and a half later, he took out a license and thus became one, he was by no means the only one, and did not anything like survey the domain at large of Lord Fairfax. No one in fact " sur veyed it," in the sense of a general survey. Here and there estates, farms, or lots were marked off by reference only to arbitrarily chosen points and bounds. Mr. Ford says that the Journal of a Journey is the earli est manuscript, etc.; but this leaves out of view the much greater amount of matter which Washington wrote in the front of the volume, at the back end of which, reversing the book, he wrote the journal of his journey. This mat ter consists of a record of the surveys made, and of the series of letters, some idea of which we have given. With 72 WASHINGTON. very slight exceptions the whole is of extreme interest, and ought to have been printed, with ample notes of ex planation. It is certainly of interest to find from two por tions of what Mr. Ford leaves out, that the first survey made was to mark off for George William Fairfax an estate of 3,023 acres, on Long Marsh. Every word of the letters which follow the record of surveys should be given, as only by seeing all can one judge what they really are, whether they are mere drafts never used, or actual letters, and what autobiographical significance they have. Mr. Ford says that he has printed from the original. His preface tells us of his rule that " wherever possible, the original is used," and he further says, " I have been specially fortunate in my copyist, to whose industry and accuracy I gladly pay some tribute." But as early as the tenth line on the first page there is the palpable blunder of reading " spent the last part of the Day in admiring the Trees and Richness of the Land," when the original most plainly has " best part of the Day." In the thirteenth line of page 2, in " Had we not have been," the " have " is care lessly left out. At the twentieth and twenty-sixth lines on page 3, " men " is read for " they," and " full " is in serted into " Pot half of water." In line 6, page 4, " our " is inserted into " knives of own," and " own " bracketed as not in the text, when it is there most plainly. At line 4, page 5, " by " is carelessly put for " to the mouth of the Branch ; " at line 18 we have " up till about 12 o'clock," for "untill." On page 6, at line 18, "untill about 4" has the " about " left out, while the next line omits the " our " in " We then took our leaves." These half score of perfectly palpable and needless mis takes, within half a dozen pages, bring us to page 7, twenty- five lines of which are occupied with the " Dear Richard " letter, " printed from the original," and, as Mr. Ford's LIFE AND TIMES. 73 preface promises, with " the fulness and accuracy of detail even to an extreme/' every letter, punctuation, or want of it, use of capital letters, bad spelling, etc., etc., to meet " the requirements of the modern historical method/' The " industry and accuracy " of " my copyist," in this letter of twenty-five lines, must have gone on a vacation, as the copy printed by Mr. Ford contains eighty-five variations from the perfectly legible and plain original. It is in fact from some previously printed copy, which a corrector had altered throughout, and not even a glance at the original has been taken, sufficient to detect so large an omission as that of the words " like a Negro," in the close of the letter. The original has, " I have never had my Cloths of but lay and sleep in them like a Negro except the few Nights I have lay'n in Frederick Town." Mr. Ford has it, " I have never had my clothes off, but lay & sleep in them, except the few nights I have lay'n in Frederic Town." An editor and copyist who can't together see a Negro so conspicuously manifest will have to be content with being a mutual admiration society of two. The other chief errors of Mr. Ford's copy of this letter are hardly less excusable. The original says, " Dubbleloon," " Birth nearest the fire," " Parcel of Doggs or Catts," " Little Hay Straw Fodder or bairskin," but Mr. Ford has " doubloon," " berth," " par cel of dogs and cats," and "little hay, straw, fodder, or bearskin," quite as if young Master Washington had not only written more correctly than Lord Bacon and Shakes peare, but as correctly as we do now. Mr. Ford next gives the " Dear Friend Robin " letter ; twenty-six lines of text, which again is not printed from the original, but from a copy altered from that. Pretend ing that it is accurately copied, Mr. Ford yet gives it to us with fifty-one variations from the original. Thus 74 WASHINGTON. " makes me endeavour " is read " I make one endeavor ; " and although most of the other words are as in the orig inal, the spelling, punctuation, and use of capitals are ac cording to a corrected copy. A note to this letter gives "A curious memorandum," that about the making of a coat, and in ten lines there are fifty-one variations from the original. Mr. Ford says of this memorandum that it, "judging from the hand-writing, belongs to this period." He does not tell us whether his accurate copyist concurs in this sapient judgment. The simple fact is that the memorandum occurs as one item among the others in this early little book, like a brick laid into a wall, and there is not the smallest chance to judge about it, it so manifestly goes with the other items. And this is but one slight illustration of the false pretenses made by Mr. Ford as an editor, collector, annotator, etc. He says of the " Jour nal," as we have seen : " This is the earliest manuscript that / have found." These three last words are pure false pretense. The manuscript in question, and the other early manuscripts, were all " found " before Mr. Ford's time and labors. They repose in the library of the Department of State, and Mr. Ford has the leave to see them, which any one can have. Not only has Mr. Ford not looked up any of the material to which he thus refers, but he has not looked at it enough to reproduce it correctly. The manu script book which he pretends to have " found," with its double character (i) a Journal of Surveys, followed by other papers, reading from the front of the book through about sixty pages, and (2) a " Journal of my Journey over the Mountains," reading from the back end of the book through twenty-four pages, Mr. Ford sees in only its sec ond character, and copying this he puts to it, not its own title, but that belonging to the book in its other character. LIFE AND TIMES. 75 These experiences in the wilderness essentially served important purposes which were to be accomplished in the future ordering of events, and in which America and humanity at large were interested. They established his reputation as a young man of energy, diligence, ability, and integrity. He might have lingered, without reproach, among the pleasures of Mount Vernon and of Belvoir ; for his society ever was the delight of his brother Lawrence, and at the hospitable mansion and in the elegant society of the Fairfaxes he would always have received a hearty welcome. But it was his manly choice faithfully to fulfil the duties of his chosen occupation as a land surveyor, although required by them to brave the dan gers and endure the hardships and privations of life in the woods. None that knew him needed any further proofs of his title to their esteem and confidence. Another important result of his forest discipline was the development of his naturally vigorous frame. He was re quired to ride for days together on horseback through wild regions, or to traverse them afoot, continually encounter ing difficulties which put to a severe test his agility and strength, and thus so exercised his physical powers that while he was yet in youth he had the aspect, the port, and the muscle of maturity. The nature of his occupation contributed also to his ability, when casting his eye over an extensive region to form at a glance a correct estimate of distances, which to any one who was inexpert seemed marvelous. And he learned by long practice to discover in the dim disance and identify objects which no common eye could see. In his forest experience he made yet another valuable acquisition. This was his familiar acquaintance with the habits and opinions of backwoodsmen. He met them in their rambles, took part with them in their hunting excur- 76 WASHINGTON. sions, camped with them in the woods, sat with them in their log cabins, partook of their coarse fare, and formed from his own observation a just estimate of their true char acter, so that afterward when they became soldiers of his armies he thoroughly understood the secret of commanding and directing their best energies. And he enjoyed in his surveying expeditions and in his intercourse with borderers and red men, very favorable opportunities for gaining a knowledge of Indian life in its best and its worst phases. He heard from the lips of the backwoodsman, his spirit-stirring tales of the savage cruelties and of the cunning and the treachery which made the word Indian a signal of alarm. He ascertained also by means of his personal intercourse with these wild men, that there were combined with their worst traits some of a far less repugnant nature. A knowledge of their social habits, their opinions, their prejudices, predilections, and superstitions, their artifices in war, and the best modes of conciliating and controlling or of contending with and overpowering them, he acquired in the very regions where they made their haunts. There was moreover an important mental influence de rived from his frequenting primeval forests and moving among the sights and sounds associated with them. Such sights and sounds do not affect only the poetic and im aginative, they find a ready response in every ingenuous and susceptible mind. The very silence of the deep woods is significant, and when night shuts out all that the eye finds in them that is of interest, their solemn gloom broken only by the glare of the camp-fire or by the light of the pale moon and twinkling stars, awakens thoughts and emotions which produce a deep and durable impression on the soul. A familiarity with nature, especially in the wild grandeur of her mountain and forest scenerv ever has LIFE AND TIMES. 77 exerted a powerful influence upon the human mind and heart. While making his surveys Washington was frequently led to visit Greenway Court, and he would sometimes tarry there for a few days. On these occasions he indulged with his lordship in his favorite field sports, availed him self of the rare advantages afforded by his well-selected library, and enjoyed the benefit of his edifying and instruc tive conversation. It appears from the young surveyor's diary and it is a significant record, that instead of light literature, he now devoted his hours for reading chiefly to Addison's Spectator and the History of England. During occasional intermissions of severe duty, he re sorted either to his loved home at his mother's, or to the delightful residence of his brother Lawrence, at Mount Vernon. His attachment to this brother was always ardent and devoted. Lawrence was not only an accom plished gentleman, possessed of those qualities which com mand deference, excite regard, and kindle affection, but he had the practical experience of a soldier's life; and, as an active member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he was familiarly acquainted with political affairs. From intercourse with him, his brother George continued to gather stores of valuable knowledge. His employment as a surveyor kept him busily, use fully, and profitably occupied. And he relied upon this employment for his support, not anticipating by loans the revenues to be derived from his patrimonial inheritance. His father had bequeathed to the eldest son, Lawrence, the estate afterward called Mount Vernon. To Augustine, the second son of his first wife, he had given the old homestead in Westmoreland county. And George, at the age of twenty-one, was to inherit the house and lands in Suffolk county. As yet however he derived no benefit 78 WASHINGTON. from this landed property. But his industry and diligence in his laborious occupation supplied him with abundant pecuniary means. His habits of life were simple and eco nomical; he indulged in no gay and expensive pleasures; in early youth a good boy, he had now become an indus trious young man, and he was maturing his discipline for a step yet higher. When, in due course of time, he received his inheritance, unimpaired and unencumbered, and in addition to it the large estate of Mount Vernon, bequeathed to him by his brother Lawrence, and also of valuable lands in Berkeley county, he was intellectually and morally qualified to enter upon the duties, fulfil the obligations, and dispense the hospitalities and bounties of an opulent planter; intelli gent, honorable, and every way exemplary. [Washington did not receive the full property interest of Mount Vernon until the life interest in it of the widow of Lawrence Washington had expired. He made an ar rangement for possession under which he paid to her and her second husband an annual sum sufficient to materially draw upon his resources. Lodge says of the early developments of character in Washington and of the means by which they were brought about : "While Washington was working his way through the learning purveyed by Mr. Williams, he was also receiving another education, of a much broader and better sort, from the men and women among whom he found himself, and with whom he made friends. Chief among them was his eldest brother, Lawrence, fourteen years his senior, who had been educated in England, had fought with Ver non at Carthagena, and had then returned to Virginia, to be to him a generous father and a loving friencL As the head of the family, Lawrence Washington had received LIFE AND TIMES. 79 the lion's share of the property, including the estate at Hunting Creek, on the Potomac, which he christened Mount Vernon, after his admiral, and where he settled down and built him a goodly house. To this pleasant spot George Washington journeyed often in vacation time, and there he came to live and further pursue his studies, after leaving school in the autumn of 1747. " Lawrence Washington had married the daughter of William Fairfax, the proprietor of Belvoir, a neighboring plantation, and the agent for the vast estates held by his family in Virginia. George Fairfax, Mrs. Washington's brother, had married a Miss Carey, and thus two large and agreeable family connections were thrown open to the young surveyor when he emerged from school. The chief figure, however, in that pleasant winter of 1747-48, so far as an influence upon the character of Washington is con cerned, was the head of the family into which Lawrence Washington had married. Thomas, Lord Fairfax, then sixty years of age, had come to Virginia to live upon and look after the kingdom which he had inherited in the wilder ness. He came of a noble and distinguished race. Grad uating at Oxford with credit, he served in the army, dab bled in literature, had his fling in the London world, and was jilted by a beauty who preferred a duke, and gave her faithful but less titled lover an apparently incurable wound. His life having been thus early twisted and set awry, Lord Fairfax, when well past his prime, had determined finally to come to Virginia, bury himself in the forests, and look after the almost limitless possessions beyond the Blue Ridge, which he had inherited from his maternal grand father, Lord Culpeper, of unsavory Restoration memory. It was a piece of great good fortune which threw in Wash ington's path this accomplished gentleman, familiar with courts and camps, disappointed, but not morose, disillu- 80 WASHINGTON. sioned, but still kindly and generous. From him the boy could gain that knowledge of men and manners which no school can give, and which is as important in its way as any that a teacher can impart. " Lord Fairfax and Washington became fast friends. They hunted the fox together, and hunted him hard. They engaged in all the rough sports and perilous excitements that Virginia winter life could afford, and the boy's bold and skilful riding, his love of sports, and his fine temper, commended him to the warm and affectionate interest of the old nobleman. Other qualities, too, the experienced man of the world saw in his young companion, a high and persistent courage, robust and calm sense, and, above all, unusual force of will and character. Washington im pressed profoundly everybody with whom he was brought into personal contact, a fact which is one of the most marked features of his character and career, and one which deserves study more than almost any other. Lord Fair fax was no exception to the rule. He saw in Washington not simply a promising, brave, open-hearted boy, diligent in practicing his profession, and whom he was anxious to help, but something more ; something which so impressed him that he confided to this lad a task which, according to its performance, would affect both his fortune and his peace. In a word, he trusted Washington, and told him, as the spring of 1748 was opening, to go forth and survey the vast Fairfax estates beyond the Ridge, define their boundaries, and save them from future litigation. With this commission from Lord Fairfax, Washington entered on the first period of his career. He passed it on the fron tier, fighting nature, the Indians, and the French. He went in a schoolboy; he came out the first soldier in the Colonies and one of the leading men of Virginia. Let us pause a moment and look at him as he stands on the LIFE AND TIMES. 81 threshold of this momentous period, rightly called mo mentous because it was the formative period in the life of such a man. " He had just passed his sixteenth birthday. He was tall and muscular, approaching the stature of more than six feet which he afterward attained. He was not yet filled out to manly proportions, but was rather spare, after the fashion of youth. He had a well-shaped, active figure, symmetrical except for the unusual length of the arms, indicating uncommon strength. His light brown hair was drawn back from a broad forehead, and grayish-blue eyes looked happily, and perhaps a trifle soberly, on the pleas ant Virginia world about him. The face was open and manly, with a square, massive jaw, and a general expres sion of calmness and strength. " Fair and florid/' big and strong, he was, take him for all in all, as fine a speci men of his race as could be found in the English Colonies. " Let us look a little closer through the keen eyes of one who studied many faces to good purpose. The great painter of portraits, Gilbert Stuart, tells us of Washing ton that he never saw in any man such large eye-sockets, or such a breadth of nose and forehead between the eyes, and that he read there the evidence of the strongest pas sions possible to human nature. John Bernard, the actor, a good observer, too, saw in Washington's face, in 1797* the signs of an habitual conflict and mastery of passions, witnessed by the compressed mouth and deeply indented brow. The problem had been solved then; but in 1748, passion and will alike slumbered, and no man could tell which would prevail, or whether they would work together to great purpose or go jarring on to nothingness. He rises up to us out of the past in that early springtime a fine, handsome, athletic boy, beloved by those about him, who found him a charming companion and did not guess 6 go WASHINGTON. that he might be a terribly dangerous foe. He rises up instinct with life and strength, a being capable, as we know, of great things, whether for good or evil, with hot blood pulsing in his veins and beating in his heart, with violent passions and relentless will still undeveloped, and no one in all that jolly, generous Virginian society even dimly dreamed what that development would be, or what it would mean to the world. " Lord Fairfax was so much pleased by the report that he moved across the Blue Ridge, built a hunting lodge preparatory to something more splendid which never came to pass, and laid out a noble manor, to which he gave the name of Greenway Court. He also procured for Wash ington an appointment as a public surveyor, which con ferred authority on his surveys and provided him with regular work. Thus started, Washington toiled at fiis profession for three years, living and working as he did on his first expedition. . . . And while he worked and earned he kept an observant eye upon the wilderness, and bought up when he could the best land for himself and his family, laying the foundations of the great landed estate of which he died possessed. " There was also a lighter and pleasanter side to this hard-working existence, which was quite as useful and more attractive than toiling in the woods and mountains. The young surveyor passed much of his time at Green- way Court, hunting the fox and rejoicing in all field sports which held high place in that kingdom, while at the same time he profited much in graver fashion by his friendship with such a man as Lord Fairfax. There, too, he had a chance at a library, and his diaries show that he read care fully the history of England and the essays of the ' Spec tator/ Neither in early days nor at any other time was he a student, for he had few opportunities, and his life from LIFE AND TIMES. 83 the beginning was out of doors and among men. But the idea sometimes put forward that Washington cared noth ing for reading or for books is an idle one. He read at Greenway Court and everywhere else when he had a chance, and he read well and to some purpose, studying men and events in books as he did in the world, and though he never talked of his reading, preserving silence on that as on other things concerning himself, no one ever was able to record an instance in which he showed himself ignorant of history or of literature. He was never a learned man, but so far as his own language could carry him he was an educated one. Thus while he developed the sterner qualities by hard work and a rough life, he did not bring back the coarse habits of the backwoods and the camp-fire, but was able to refine his manners and improve his mind in the excellent society and under the hospitable roof of Lord Fairfax." Lodge's assumption that " another education " than that of his four years' schooling played a part of importance in the preparation of Washington for his career is as just as it is important ; and it is correct to make great account of the brotherly tutorship of Lawrence, the fine quality and large variety of the influences represented by the elder William Fairfax and his family at Belvoir ; and the weight of services rendered by Lord Fairfax; but the statement that the latter, out of special trust, commissioned him, in the spring of 1748, " to go forth and survey the vast Fair fax estates, define their boundaries, and save them from future litigation," is a deplorable example of ignorance and credulity setting the imagination at work upon an utterly baseless tradition. Lord Fairfax had already put his trust in plain " Mr. Genn, the Surveyor," as young Washington's own report calls him, with four other per sons required, with the surveyor, to make a legal survey 84 WASHINGTON. party, and by their five signatures authentic a survey. The part played by Washington was that of going along with the surveying party, and giving such assistance as the circumstances permitted, which cannot have been much more than general oversight and some minor ser vice, because the law required the essential running of lines and making of measurements to be done by the legally qualified surveyor's men. Washington tells how a survey, and all surveys, made for Lord Fairfax, must be reported, and the five names required to be signed do not include his own. We know, moreover, from Washington's own account, that the surveys executed in the spring of 1748 amounted to only a laying off of special lots, only one large one in the first place reached, and only a few in each of two other places, while the most considerable work lasted only seven days and covered the survey of only a comparatively small fragment of the vast Fairfax estate. Not only was there no trust in Washington for the month's job of travel and surveying, but there was no such task contemplated as a general " survey of the vast Fairfax estates ; " and if there had been there could not possibly have been any thought of giving the task to young Washington, a mere young gentleman amateur, whose work, however well done, would have had no legal value; nor could a large corps of surveyors have reported in thirty-two days, as Lodge says that Washington did, in a way to give Lord Fairfax satisfaction over an executed survey of his millions of acres of Virginia valleys and mountain wilderness. Lodge most unfortunately appears to say that Wash ington went into the surveying business a schoolboy and came out the first soldier in the Colonies. This, however, is mere unlucky carelessness. He means to count the surveying years as the threshold of the first period of LIFE AND TIMES. 85 about ten years, but reference to any such first period is misleading. That first period began after the surveying years, which were years of preparation far more than they were of employment, and of preparation with which the surveying work, which was the merest occasional bread and butter work, had very little to do. The statement that Lord Fairfax procured for Washington an appointment as a public surveyor, in consequence of the pleasure given him by the surveys made in March- April, 1748, by Wash ington is wholly an error. " Mr. Genn, the surveyor," had made the surveys, and the whole was too small and commonplace a matter to call for special recognition. It was a year and three months later that Washington got, not an appointment to the office, but a license, such as various persons held, to act as a legally qualified surveyor. As Washington was at the date of getting his license seven teen years and five months old, he did not from that date " toil at his profession for three years." Moreover, there was no " profession " in the case. Lord Fairfax himself held a license, which was no more than a permit to direct the running of lines and measuring of lands, and authenti cate the record by an official signature. What Lodge himself says of how Washington passed his time, shows very plainly that he was not primarily a working surveyor, and that he did not " toil for three years, living and work ing as he did on his first expedition." One other such expedition he probably took part in, in the autumn of 1749, in surveying lands for the Ohio Company, and quite likely he was himself " the surveyor " in this case, and was out a longer time than one the expedition of March- April, 1748. Lodge's attempt to throw light on Washington's char acter at his entrance upon his seventeenth year would have been to the purpose if he had stopped with the very just 86 WASHINGTON. sketch of what Washington as a youth of sixteen appeared to be; but the references to Stuart and to Bernard could not be more wide of the mark. The Bernard incident brings out most delightfully the charm and beauty of Washington's humanism, and the single touch about signs of an habitual conflict and mastery of passions was a de plorably false, as it was a scandalously venturesome, guess. All that Bernard saw, or could see, were indications of ex treme sensibility, and it needed knowledge far beyond Bernard's to tell in what form that depth of feeling would come out in conduct and character. The whole career of Washington gives the lie to no matter whose charge that there were any passions in his nature calculated to lower his character or cause a moment of blameworthy conduct. Extreme outburst of feeling was no more than a rare possibility, and never then of feeling not profoundly just and perfectly natural to a noble nature. As to what Stuart read, it was as ignorant and baseless a reading as could well be made. The student who can quote Stuart to any such purpose as Lodge does loses through his eye for an anecdote Andes and Alps of evidence, attestations filling both America and Europe, to the almost divine perfection of the temper of Washington. The assumption under which Lodge speaks of Wash ington in his youth as " a being capable of great things, whether for good or evil, with hot blood pulsing in his veins and beating in his heart, with violent passions and relentless will still undeveloped," while " no one even dimly dreamed what that development would be," is con trary absolutely to all that the latest science can tell us and all that the most certain history can testify. No fact of knowledge carries greater significance or bears a more sure character than the origin from birth of great genius, of remarkable powers, of all the great things, whether for LIFE AND TIMES. 87 good or evil, of the human being ; and no fact of the story of Washington means more for his history or rests on ampler testimony than the possession by him from his birth of the self-control, the balance of character, the large and genial humanism which were the glory of his meridian. There was no impression from his later life in what Gen eral Braddock saw in Washington on the threshold of his great career, and set down as follows, shortly before that bloody battle in which he fell : "Is Mr. Washington among your acquaintances? If not, I recommend you to embrace the first opportunity to form his friendship. He is about twenty-three years of age; with a countenance both mild and pleasant, prom ising both wit and judgment. He is of comely and digni fied demeanor, at the same time displays much self-reliance and decision. He strikes me as being a young man of extraordinary and exalted character, and is destined to make no inconsiderable figure in our country." The "hot blood," "violent passions," and "relentless will " might have come through inheritance from one parent, but if they had so come they would have persisted through life ; and the evidence is complete that neither the later years nor the earlier knew anything of the kind. Lodge himself says of Washington as Braddock saw him : "He also made warm friends with the English officers, and was treated with consideration by his commander. The universal practice of all Englishmen was to behave contemptuously to the colonists, but there was something about Washington which made this impossible. They all treated him with the utmost courtesy, vaguely conscious that beneath the pleasant, quiet manner there was a strength of character and ability such as is rarely found, and that this was a man whom it was unsafe to affront. There is no stronger instance of Washington's power of 88 WASHINGTON. impressing himself upon others than that he commanded now the respect and affection of his general, who was the last man to be easily or favorably affected by a young pro vincial officer." It is entirely without warrant, and with the worst pos sible discrimination, that Lodge adds to his thoroughly fine indication of the rare gentleman that Washington was seen to be, that he also appeared to be " a man whom it was unsafe to affront." Braddock and his companions could not possibly have thought that any course they chose to take might prove " unsafe," and the evidence shows beyond question that they saw only what Braddock expressed.] CHAPTER IV. HIS VOYAGE TO BARBADOES. 1751-1752. THE health of Lawrence Washington awakened at this time saddening apprehensions. A deeply- seated lung affection, from which he long suffered, had induced him to take a voyage to England. This gave no relief. He then resorted, but in vain, to the Bath Springs of Virginia. And now, at the instance of his medi cal advisers, he proposed to sail for Barbadoes, which was deemed at that time the healthiest island in the West In dian archipelago. He sailed September 28 (1751), accompanied by his brother George, and reached the island on the third day of November. But the experiment of a few weeks' resi dence proved utterly unavailing. It was determined there fore to try the delightful climate of the Bermudas (Feb ruary, 1752.) George was in the mean time to repair to Virginia, and to return with Lawrence's wife, that she might join her husband in the spring. Lawrence accordingly sailed to the Bermudas (March, 1752). Before the lapse of many days after his arrival how ever he wrote discouragingly : " I have now got to my last refuge, where I must receive my final sentence. If I grow worse, I shall hurry Tiome to my grave." Soon con vinced that he should no longer listen to the flattery of 90 WASHINGTON. hope, he did not tarry at the Bermudas for his wife and brother, but he informed them of his intention to return home without delay. This he happily accomplished. But it was only to linger for a little while, and then (July 26, 1752), at the early age of thirty-four years to be removed by death from his wife and his only child, an infant daughter. To this daughter he bequeathed Mount Vernon. But she died at an early age, and the estate, according to provisions of the bequest in that event, descended to the favorite brother, George. Their father, Augustine Wash ington, had expressed a desire in his will, that should Law rence die without issue, George might inherit this estate. Such a parental preference was calculated to throw around it a sacred interest. And it thus became forever associated with the august name of the Father of his Country. It was his happy home, his calm retreat from life's cares and trials, and his place of sepulture. While at Barbadoes with his brother he contracted the small-pox, from which he suffered severely. He bore with him through life, some of the familiar marks usually left by that disease. But his voyage to the island, his short residence there, and his voyage home left far more pleasing reminiscences. In the exercise, both of his habitual intelligent observa tion of men and things and of his characteristic diligence and industry, he kept a journal in which he entered, while at sea, a daily copy of the ship's log-book together with his own remarks; and, while on land, a brief notice of every thing that arrested his attention. At Barbadoes he took notes of the state of civil and military affairs ; of agriculture, commerce, and social life ; LIFE AND TIMES. 91 and many of his observations are indicative of qualities and attainments rarely to be met with in a young man of but nineteen years of age. The following are among his records at the island: " November 4, 1751. This morning received a card from. Major Clarke, welcoming us to Barbadoes with an in vitation to breakfast and dine with him. We went ; myself with some reluctance as the small-pox was in the family. We were received in the most kind and friendly manner by him. Mrs. Clarke was much indisposed, insomuch that we had not the pleasure of her company. But in her place officiated Miss Roberts, her niece, and an agreeable young lady. After drinking tea we were again invited to Mr. Carter's, and were desired to make his house ours till we could provide lodgings agreeable to our wishes; which offer we accepted. " 5th. Early this morning came Dr. Hilary, an eminent physician, recommended by Major Clarke, to pass his opinion on my brother's disorder ; which he did in a favor able light, giving great assurances that it was not so fixed but that a cure might be effectually made. In the cool of evening we rode out accompanied by Mr. Carter, to seek lodgings in the .country as the Doctor advised ; and we were perfectly enraptured with the beautiful prospects which every side presented to our view the fields of cane, corn, fruit-trees, etc., in a delightful green. We returned without accomplishing our intentions. " 7th. Dined with Major Clarke and by him was intro duced to the surveyor-general and the judges, who likewise dined there. In the evening they complaisantly accom panied us in another excursion into the country to choose lodgings. We pitched on the house of Captain Croftan, 92 WASHINGTON. commander of James's Fort. He was desired to come to town next day to propose terms. We returned by the way of Needham's Fort. "8th. Came Captain Croftan with his proposals, which, though extravagantly dear, my brother was obliged to ac cept. Fifteen pounds a month were his terms, exclusive of liquor and washing, which we find. In the evening we removed some of our things up and went ourselves. It is very pleasantly situated near the sea and about a mile from town. The prospect is extensive by land and pleasant by sea, as we command a view of Garlyle Bay and the shipping. " 9th. Received a card from Major Clarke, inviting us to dine with him at Judge Maynard's to-morrow. He had a right to ask, being a member of a club called ' The Beef steak and Tripe/ instituted by himself. if loth. We were genteelly received by Judge Maynard and his lady, and agreeably entertained by the company. They have a meeting every Saturday this being Judge Maynard's day. After dinner there was the greatest collec tion of fruits set on the table that I have yet seen the granadilla, sapadilla, pomegranate, sweet orange, water melon, forbidden fruit, apples, guavas, etc., etc. We re ceived invitations from every gentleman there. Mr. War ren desired Major Clarke to show us the way to his house. Mr. Hacket insisted on our coming Saturday next to his, it being his day to treat with beefsteak and tripe. But above all, the invitation of Mr. Maynard was most kind and friendly. He desired and even insisted, as well as his lady, on our coming to spend some weeks with him, and promised that nothing should be wanting to render our stay agreeable. My brother promised he would accept the invitation as soon as he should be a little dis engaged from the doctors. LIFE AND TIMES. 93 " 1 5th. Was treated with a ticket to see the play of ' George Barnwell ' acted. The characters of Barnwell and several others were said to be well performed. There was music adapted and regularly conducted. " i /th. Was strongly attacked with the smallpox. Sent for Dr. Lanahan, whose attendance was very constant till my recovery and going out which was not till Thursday, the twelfth of December. " December i2th. Went to town and called on Major Clarke's family who had kindly visited me in my illness, and contributed all they could in sending me the neces saries which the disorder required. On Monday last began the Grand Session ; and this day was brought on the trial of Colonel C, a man of opulence and of infamous char acter. He was brought in guiltless and saved by a single evidence, who was generally reckoned to have been suborned. " 22d. Took leave of my brother, Major Clarke, and others, and embarked on board the ' Industry ' for Virginia. Weighed anchor and got out of Carlyle Bay about twelve o'clock. " The Governor of Barbadoes seems to keep a proper state, lives very retired and at little expense, and is a gen tleman of good sense. As he avoids the error of his pre decessor, he gives no handle for complaint ; but, at the same time, by declining much familiarity he is not over-zealously beloved. " There are several singular risings in this island, one above another, so that scarcely any part is deprived of a beautiful prospect, both of sea and land; and what is contrary to observation in other countries, each elevation is better than the next below. 94 WASHINGTON. "There are many delicious fruits, but as they are par ticularly described by Mr. Hughes in his Natural History of the island, I shall say nothing further than that the China orange is good. The avagavo pear is generally much ad mired, though none pleases my taste so well as the pine. " The earth in most parts is extremely rich and as black as our richest marsh-meadows. The common produce of the cane is from forty to seventy polls of sugar, each poll valued at twenty shillings, out of which a third is deducted for expenses. Many acres last year produced in value from one hundred and forty to one hundred and seventy pounds, as I was informed by credible authority ; though that was in ginger, and a very extraordinary year for the sale of that article. " How wonderful that such a people should be in debt, and not be able to indulge themselves in all the luxuries as well as necessaries of life ! Yet so it happens. Estates are often alienated for debts. How persons, coming to estates of two, three, or four hundred acres which are the largest can want, is to me most wonderful. One- third of their land, or nearly that portion, is generally in train for harvest. The rest is in young cane, Guinea-corn which greatly supports their negroes ^- yams, plantains, potatoes, and the like ; and some part is left waste for stock. Provisions are generally very indifferent, but much better than the same quantity of pasturage would afford in Vir ginia. The very grass that grows among their corn is not lost, but carefully gathered for provender for their stock. " Hospitality and a genteel behavior are shown to every gentleman stranger by the gentlemen inhabitants. Taverns they have none, except in the towns, so that travelers are obliged to go to private houses. The people are said to LIFE AND TIMES. 95 live to a great age where they are not intemperate. They are however very unhappy in regard to their officers' fees, which are not paid by any law. They complain particularly of the provost-marshal or sheriff-general of the island, patented at home and rented at eight hundred pounds a year. Every other officer is exorbitant in his demands. " There are few who may be called middling people. They are very rich or very poor ; for by a law of the island, every gentleman is obliged to keep a white person for every ten acres, capable of acting in the militia, and consequently the persons so kept cannot be very poor. They are well disciplined, and appointed to their several stations so that in any alarm, every man may be at his post in less than two hours. They have large intrenchments cast up wherever it is possible to land, and as nature has greatly assisted, the island may not improperly be said to be one entire forti fication." Among the illustrations of character afforded by these minutes may be particularly noted, a lively sense of gen erous and kind hospitalities, a practical interest in agricul tural pursuits, a soldier's observation of military works, and sagacious views of the moral and political state of society. It may be remarked also, that the journalist's usual calm ness of mind is at once changed to a glow of emotion by the charms of natural scenery, so that he could indite, " We were perfectly enraptured with the beautiful prospects which every side presented to our view." And we have here, in striking contrast to this, an instance of his char acteristic slight regard to personal inconvenience and dis comfort, by his mentioning in brief and general terms the fact of his being assailed by a malignant and deforming contagion : " Was strongly attacked with the smallpox. 96 WASHINGTON. Sent for Dr. Lanahan, whose attendance was very con stant till my recovery and going out." In all this there are discoverable in embryo, those very qualities of sound good sense and refined emotion which ever after were prominent in him, as the gentleman, the soldier, and the planter; and especially, a concern for the welfare of others, and a reserve in what related to self, in all his public, social, and domestic occupations, and eventually, in his rural retirement at the close of his career. PART II. HIS MILITARY APPOINTMENTS. CHAPTER I. WASHINGTON A MAJOR. 1751-1754. IT was in the year 1751 that Washington received his first military appointment. This was occasioned by preparations in Virginia to meet an emergency created by French claims to a great part of the British territories in America. At the time when Edward III of England asserted his right to the French throne, at the beginning of the four teenth century, a spirit of implacable alienation was en gendered between the two rival powers; and, fostered by their rancorous altercations and sanguinary wars, it at length reached the climax of their settled national antipathy. Four hundred years had now elapsed. During this period America was discovered and colonies of the two nations settled on its soil. The British occupied the Atlantic coast and the mouths of rivers, and were in pos session of all the harbors of the Continent. The French settlements were on the banks of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. Had it been the policy of both nations simply to pro- 7 (97) 98 WASHINGTON. mote the welfare of their respective colonies, the time would have been far distant when national rancor could devise the pretext for a bloody conflict. But while the policy of Great Britain was to strengthen her settlements along the seaboard, that of France was to make acquisi tions of regions in the interior, and eventually to limit her rival's western progress by the natural cordon of the Alleghanies. So unscrupulous was the ambition of France in the adoption of measures to attain her object, that, finding herself excluded from all the harbors, it was seriously proposed and that too at a time when the rival nations were in comparative amity to make conquest of the city of New York. It was unhesitatingly admitted that this would be a flagrant outrage of the law of nations; but, said De Callieres, who recommended the measure to his countrymen, it has the sanction of necessity.* Thus the contest was in reality between social progress and territorial aggrandizement. On three occasions between the middle of the seven teenth and eighteenth centuries, when the parent coun tries were in arms against each other, their respective colonists in America were tempted to engage in bloody conflict. James II of England, driven from his throne by subjects of strongly Protestant prejudices, and supplanted by William, Prince of Orange, and his Queen, Mary, found a refuge at the court of Louis XIV of France, who not only extended to him cordial sympathy, but espoused his cause in the seven years' contest, known as " King William's War."* During this period the tragic * L^gitime par la necessite. LIFE AND TIMES. 99 deeds perpetrated by the French and Indians in America, were marked with great ferocity and cruelty. And the retaliation which these deeds provoked was, although far less abhorrent, fearfully desolating. Port Royal in Acadie was captured and twice plundered. Vigorous measures were adopted also for the conquest of all the French pos sessions in Canada. At length however the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) stayed for a time the malignant strife in which both parties had associated with themselves hordes of fierce, merciless savages. The death of James II gave occasion for another rup ture between France and England. The claim to the British throne inherited by James's son, James Francis Edward, Prince of Wales, was maintained by Louis XIV, who desired that Queen Anne, who was James's daughter and England's choice, should be supplanted by the Prince, commonly known as the " Pretender." Now began " Queen Anne's War" (1702), which continued for eleven years to embroil the colonists. The sanguinary scenes of the preceding war were re-enacted by the French and Indians. And the English colonists once more engaged in a successful expedition against Port Royal, which had been restored to France. But peace once more was proclaimed after the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); and now, for almost half a century, British col onists were relieved from the visitation of calamities such as once had desolated their happy homes. But a new disagreement arrayed England and France against each other, and their colonies in America partook of the evils of another war. The powers of Europe had formally stipulated, in the terms of the Pragmatic Sanc tion (1744), to secure the Austrian succession to the Archduchess Marie Theresa, Queen of Hungary. George II strictly kept the pledge given by Great Britain. Louis. 10 WASHINGTON. XIV of France disregarded it. And moreover he covertly abetted Spain in a war with England respecting certain rights of commerce; and also encouraged and assisted the young Pretender, Prince Charles Edward, grandson of James II, in asserting his father the elder Pretender's claim to the British scepter. Hence the two great nations were involved once more in war; and their subjects in America were soon again committing hostili ties which constituted what is known among us as " King George's War." The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748) brought this to a close and restored to France Louisburg and the Island of Cape Breton; important acquisitions made by the British-American colonists three years before. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was however as inef fectual as all others made to arrest and quench the heredi tary feuds which set at irreconcilable variance nations whose opinions, predilections, and religious doctrines and worship, as well as their habitual antipathies, conspired to make them natural enemies. As early as the year 1715 Colonel Spottiswoode, then Governor of Virginia, urged, with great earnestness, upon the British government the absolute necessity of making vigorous resistance to the aggressive policy of France. But his representations, deemed extravagant, were then unheeded. In the year 1751 however such was the progress of the adventurous intruders that it was found advisable in Virginia to take precautionary measures of defense. The colony was, with a view to this, divided into districts, in each of which there was an adjutant- general or military inspector with the rank of major, who was to keep the militia in constant readiness for action. One of these military districts was intrusted to Wash ington. He was then but nineteen years of age ; yet his LIFE AND TIMES. 101 early predilections had induced him to study some of the best popular treatises on the art of war. His brother Lawrence, Adjutant Muse of Westmoreland, who was a comrade of Lawrence's in the West Indies, Jacob Van- braam, a skilful fencer, and other soldiers of experience, had already imparted to him a knowledge of tactics, of the manual exercise, and of the use of the sword ; and he was recognized as a well-educated officer. He entered with great zeal upon his duties. When Robert Dinwiddie the next year became Lieutenant- Governor of Virginia, the colony was divided into four military districts. Major Washington's conduct had al ready won for him a good report. He was appointed for the northern division. The counties comprehended in this division he promptly and statedly traversed; and he soon effected the thorough discipline of their militia for warlike operations. It was amid the various and peculiar duties required by this position that his characteristic qualities first had free exercise. His natural dignity commanded a ready tribute of respect; his ability was universally acknowl edged with deference ; and his integrity, industry, and devotion to the duties of his office exerted that magic and authoritative influence, which is accorded to an hon ored leader, whom, it was now manifest, a high destiny awaited. And his present military discipline proved to be the very schooling for the great exploits by which he was to be qualified to act as chief defender of the cause of the united colonies and to protect them from the ter rific bolts of vengeance with which they were to be assailed. By a remarkable synchronism Dr. Franklin this very year made his memorable experiments in elec tricity by which he discovered that, in the ordering of Providence, means are provided to divest the thunder- 102 WASHINGTON. cloud of its destructive power, and to render its frowns and threats harmless.* When Major Washington had for two years been busily occupied in his office the Lieutenant-Governor and his council were informed of new and formidable operations of the French ; of their preparation to establish posts and erect fortifications on the western border ; of their troops having crossed the northern lakes on the way to the Ohio, and having ascended the Mississippi from New Orleans; and of their bold and avowed purpose to adopt all neces sary measures to possess themselves of the whole extent of territory from Louisiana to Canada. The hearts of the people of the Old Dominion throbbed with an intense feeling. The Lieutenant-Governor, who had received orders from the Right Honorable Earl of Holdernesse and instructions from the King, resolved to depute at once a special commissioner to the commandant of the French on the Ohio, for the purpose of learning from him his intentions and ascertaining his authority. It was an expedition of more than 500 miles, chiefly through an inhospitable wilderness, and among savages. The difficulty and the danger to be encountered required great caution in selecting the person to whom the com mission was to be intrusted. The Lieutenant-Governor did not hesitate however to appoint Major Washington, who cheerfully consented to perform, to the best of his ability, the arduous services required. He was now but twenty-one years of age. Yet his discipline as a surveyor of wild lands and his military experience as an adjutant, eminently fitted him for this particular duty. The Gov- * Dr. Franklin's experiments were made in June, 1752. See his Works, vol. V, p. 177. Boston, 1844. LIRE AND TIMES. 103 ernor, who was a Scotchman, facetiously said on the occa sion when he observed the alacrity of the young major: " Ye're a braw lad, and gin you play your cards weel, my boy, ye shall hae nae cause to rue your bargain." His instructions to the major explain the nature of the commission, and comprehensively set forth the existing state of things: " Whereas I have received information of a body of French forces being assembled in a hostile manner on the river Ohio, intending by force of arms to erect certain forts on the said river within this territory and contrary to the dignity and peace of our sovereign, the King of Great Britain: " These are therefore to require and direct you, the said George Washington, forthwith to repair to Logstown on the said river Ohio ; and, having there informed your self where the said French forces have posted themselves, thereupon to proceed to such place ; and being there ar rived, to present your credentials together with my letter to the chief commanding officer, and in the name of his Britannic Majesty to demand an answer thereto. " On your arrival at Logstown you are to address your self to the Half-King, to Manacatoocha, and other the sachems of the Six Nations; acquainting them with your orders to visit and deliver my letter to the French com manding officer, and desiring the said chiefs to appoint you a sufficient number of their warriors to be your safe guard as near the French as you may desire, and to wait your further direction. " You are diligently to inquire into the numbers and force of the French on the Ohio and the adjacent country ; how they are likely to be assisted from Canada ; and what are the difficulties and conveniences of that communica tion, and the time required for it. 10 4 WASHINGTON. " You are to take care to be truly informed what forts the French have erected, and where; how they are gar risoned and appointed, and what is their distance from each other, and from Logstown ; and, from the best intel ligence you can procure, you are to learn what gave occa sion to this expedition of the French ; how they are likely to be supported, and what their pretensions are. " When the French commandant has given you the required and necessary dispatches, you are to desire of him a proper guard to protect you, as far on your return as you judge for your safety, against any straggling In dians or hunters that may be ignorant of your character and molest you. " Wishing you good success in your negotiation, and a safe and speedy return, I am, &c. " ROBERT DINWIDDIE. " WILLIAMSBURG, $oth October. The Governor furnished him at the same time with credentials, in which he speaks of " reposing especial trust and confidence " in his " ability, conduct, and fidelity." And he furnished also a passport, commanding all his Majesty's subjects, and requiring " all in alliance and amity with the crown of Great Britain," " to be aiding and assisting as a safeguard " to his express messenger. Only twenty-four hours for preparation had elapsed when the " braw lad " set out on the last day of October, 1753. His attendants at first were his old fencing-master, Vanbraam, and two servants. Vanbraam, acquainted with the French language, was to be interpreter. They were afterward joined by an interpreter of Indian lan guages, John Davidson; by an experienced backwoods man, Christopher Gist, as guide; and by four other persons hired as " servitors." MARTHA WASHINGTON. LIFE AND TIMES. 105 Major Washington's journal of his tour on this occa sion, brief as it is, is a document of great and general interest. It tells, in terms pleasingly characteristic, his experience and observations in his important mission. The subjoined extracts, while they illustrate the course of our narrative, afford specimens of his unpretending but significant daily records. TOUR OVER THE ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS. " I was commissioned and appointed by the Honorable Robert Dinwiddie, Esq., Governor of Virginia, to visit and deliver a letter to the commandant of the French forces on the Ohio, and set out on the intended journey on the same day. The next I arrived at Fredericksburg and en gaged Mr. Jacob Vanbraam to be my French interpreter, and proceeded with him to Alexandria, where we provided necessaries. From thence we went to Winchester and got baggage, horses, etc.; and from thence we pursued the new road to Wills Creek, where we arrived on the I4th of November. * * * " The excessive rains and vast quantity of snow which had fallen prevented our reaching Mr. Frazier's, an Indian trader, at the mouth of Turtle creek, on the Monongahela river, until Thursday the twenty-second. * * * " The waters were quite impassable without swimming our horses, which obliged us to get the loan of a canoe from Frazier, and to send Barnaby Currin and Henry Steward* down the Monongahela with our baggage, to meet us at the Fork of the Ohio, about ten miles; there to cross the Alleghany. * These persons were two of the four hired " servitors." Barnaby Currin was an Indian trader. 106 WASHINGTON. "As I got down before the canoe, I spent some time in viewing the rivers and the land in the Fork, which I think extremely well situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of both rivers. The land at the point is twenty or twenty-five feet above the common surface of the water, and a considerable bottom of flat, well-timbered land around it, very convenient for building. The rivers are each a quarter of a mile or more across, and run here very nearly at right angles; Alleghany bearing northeast, and Monongahela southeast. The former of these two is a very rapid and swift-running water; the other deep and still, without any perceptible fall. "About two miles from this, on the southeast side of the river, at the place where the Ohio Company intended to erect a fort, lives Shingiss, King of the Delawares. We called upon him to invite him to council at Logstown. "As I had taken a good deal of notice yesterday of the situation at the Fork, my curiosity led me to examine this more particularly, and I think it greatly inferior, either for defense or advantages especially the latter. For a fort at the Fork would be equally well situated on the Ohio and have the entire command of the Monongahela, which runs up our settlement, and is extremely well designed for water carriage as it is of a deep, still nature. Besides, a fort at the Fork* might be built at much less expense than at the other places. * * * " Shingiss attended us to the Logstown, where we ar rived between sunsetting and dark, the twenty-fifth day after I left Williamsburg. * * * "As soon as I came into town, I went to Monacatoocha (as the Half-King was out at his hunting cabin on Little Beaver creek, about fifteen miles off), and informed him * The spot here designated is the site of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. LIFE AND TIMES. 107 by John Davidson, my Indian interpreter, that I was sent a messenger to the French general, and was ordered to call upon the sachems of the Six Nations, to acquaint them with it. I gave him a string of wampum and a twist of tobacco, and desired him to send for the Half- King (which he promised to do, by a runner, in the morn ing), and for other sachems. I invited him and the other great men present to my tent, where they stayed about an hour and returned. * * * " November 25th. Came to town four of ten French men, who had deserted from a company at the Kuskuskas, which lies at the mouth of this river. * * * " I inquired into the situation of the French on the Mississippi, their numbers and what forts they had built. They informed me that there were four small forts be tween New Orleans and the Black Islands, garrisoned with about thirty or forty men and a few small pieces in each* ; that at New Orleans, which is near the mouth of the Mississippi, there are thirty-five companies of forty men each, with a pretty strong fort mounting eight carriage guns; and at the Black Islands there are several com panies and a fort with six guns. " The Black Islands are about 130 leagues above the mouth of the Ohio, which is about 350 above New Orleans. They also acquainted me that there was a small palisadoed fort on the Ohio at the mouth of the Obaish, about sixty leagues from the Mississippi. The Obaish heads near the west end of Lake Erie and affords the communication between the French on the Mississippi and those on the lakes. The deserters came up from the lower Shannoah town with one Brown, an Indian trader, and were going to Philadelphia. "About 3 o'clock this evening the Half-King came to 108 WASHINGTON. town. * * * He told me he was received in a very stern manner by the late [French] commander. "26th. We met in council at the long house about 9 o'clock where I spoke to them as follows : " ' Brothers. I have called you together in council by order of your brother, the Governor of Virginia, to acquaint you that I am sent with all possible dispatch to visit and deliver a letter to the French commandant of very great importance to your brothers, the English, and I dare say to you, their friends and allies. " ' I was desired, brothers, by your brother, the Gov ernor, to call upon you, the sachems of the nations, to inform you of it and to ask your advice and assistance to proceed the nearest and best road to the French. You see, brothers, I have gotten thus far on my journey. " ' His Honor likewise desired mei to apply to you for some of your young men to conduct and provide provi sions for us on our way and be a safeguard against those French Indians who have taken up the hatchet against us. I have spoken thus particularly to you, brothers, because his Honor, our Governor, treats you as good friends and allies, and holds you in great esteem. To confirm what I have said I give you this string of wampum.' " After they had considered for some time on the above discourse the Half-King got up and spoke: ' Now, my brother, in regard to what my brother, the Governor, had desired of me I return you this answer : ' I rely upon you as a brother ought to do, as you say we are brothers and one people. We shall put heart in hand and speak to our fathers, the French, concerning the speech they made to me and you may depend that we will endeavor to be your guard. ' Brother, as you have asked my advice, I hope you LIFE AND TIMES. 109 will be ruled by it and stay until I can provide a company to go with you. The French speech belt is not here; I have to go for it to my hunting cabin. Likewise the people whom I have ordered in are not yet come and can not until the third night from this; until which time, brother, I must beg you to stay. ' ' I intend to send the guard of Mingoes, Shannoahs r and Delawares, that our brothers may see the love and loyalty we bear them.' "As I had orders to make all possible dispatch and waiting here was very contrary to my inclination, I thanked him in the most suitable manner I could, and told him that my business required the greatest expedition, and would not admit of that delay. * * * " 30th. We set out about 9 o'clock with the Half-King, Jeskakatke, White Thunder, and the Hunter, and traveled on the road to Venango, where we arrived on the fourth of December, without anything remarkable happening but a continued series of bad weather. " This is an old Indian town situated at the mouth of French creek, on the Ohio, and lies near north, about sixty miles from the Logstown, but more than seventy the way we were obliged to go. " We found the French colors hoisted at a house from which they had driven Mr. John Frazier, an English subject. I immediately repaired to it to know where the commander resided. There were three officers, one of whom, Captain Joncaire, informed me that he had the command on the Ohio, but that there was a general officer at the near fort, where he advised me to apply for an answer. He invited us to sup with them and treated us with the greatest complaisance. " The wine, as they dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, soon banished the restraint which at first appeared HO WASHINGTON. in their conversation and gave a license to their tongues to reveal their sentiments more freely. " They told me that it was their absolute design to take possession of the Ohio, and by G d they would do it, for, that although they were sensible the English could raise two men for their one, they knew their motions were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertaking of theirs. " They pretend to have an undoubted right to the river from a discovery made by one La Salle sixty years ago ; and the rise of this expedition is to prevent our settling on the river or waters of it, as they heard of some fami lies moving out in order thereto. " From the best intelligence I could get there have been 1,500 men on this side of Ontario lake. But upon the death of the general all were recalled to about 600 or 700, who were left to garrison four forts, 150 or thereabout in drive off the enemy from the flanks and regain the cannon, they would dash for ward singly or in groups. They were invariably shot down; for the Indians aimed from their coverts at every one on horseback, or who appeared to have command. Some were killed by random shot of their own men, who, crowded in masses, fired with affrighted rapidity, but without aim. Soldiers in the front ranks were killed by those in the rear. Between friend and foe, the slaughter of the officers was terrible. All this while the woods re sounded with the unearthly yellings of the savages, and now and then one of them, hideously painted, and ruffling with feathered crest, would rush forth to scalp an officer who had fallen, or seize a horse galloping wildly without a rider. Throughout this disastrous day, Washington distin guished himself by his courage and presence of mind. His brother aides, Orme and Morris, were wounded and dis abled early in the action, and the whole duty of carrying the orders of the general devolved on him. His danger was imminent and incessant. He was in every part of the field, a conspicuous mark for the murderous rifle. Two horses were shot under him. Four bullets passed through his coat. His escape without a wound was almost miracu lous. Dr. Craik, who was on the field attending to the wounded, watched him with anxiety as he rode about in the most exposed manner, and used to say that he ex pected every moment to see him fall. At one time he was sent to the main body to bring the artillery into action. All there was likewise in confusion; for the Indians had LIFE AND TIMES. 243 extended themselves along the ravine so as to flank the reserve and carry slaughter into the ranks. Sir Peter Hal- ket had been shot down at the head of his regiment. The men who should have served the guns were paralyzed. Had they raked the ravines with grape-shot the day might have been saved. In his ardor Washington sprang from his horse, wheeled and pointed a brass field-piece with his own hand, and directed an effective discharge into the woods; but neither his efforts nor example were of avail. The men could not be kept to the guns. Braddock still remained in the center of the field, in the desperate hope of retrieving the fortunes of the day. The Virginia rangers, who had been most efficient in covering his position, were nearly all killed or wounded. His sec retary, Shirley, had fallen by his side. Many of his officers had been slain within his sight, and many of his guard of Virginia light horse. Five horses had been killed under him ; still he kept his ground, vainly endeavoring to check the flight of his men, or at least to effect their retreat in good order. At length a bullet passed through his right arm and lodged itself in his lungs. He fell from his horse, but was caught by Captain Stewart of the Virginia guards, who, with the assistance of another American, and a servant, placed him in a tumbril. It was with much difficulty they got him out of the field in his despair he desired to be left there. The rout now became complete. Baggage, stores, ar tillery, everything was abandoned. The wagoners took each a horse out of his team and fled. The officers were swept off with the men in this headlong flight. It was rendered more precipitate by the shouts and yells of the savages, numbers of whom rushed forth from their cov erts, and pursued the fugitives to the river side, killing several as they dashed across in tumultuous confusion. 244 WASHINGTON. Fortunately for the latter, the victors gave up the pursuit in their eagerness to collect the spoil. The shattered army continued its flight after it had crossed the Monongahela, a wretched wreck of the brilliant little force that had recently gleamed along its banks, confident of victory. Out of eighty-six officers, twenty- six had been killed, and thirty-six wounded. The number of rank and file killed and wounded was upward of seven hundred. The Virginia corps had suffered the most ; one company had been almost annihilated, another, beside those killed and wounded in the ranks, had lost all its officers, even to the corporal. About a hundred men were brought to a halt about a quarter of a mile from the ford of the river. Here was Braddock, with his wounded aides-de-camp and some of his officers, Dr. Craik dressing his wounds, and Washing ton attending him with faithful assiduity. Braddock was still able to give orders, and had a faint hope of being able to keep possession of the ground until reinforced. Most of the men were stationed in a very advantageous spot about two hundred yards from the road; and Lieu tenant-Colonel Burton posted out small parties and sen tinels. Before an hour had elapsed most of the men had stolen off. Being thus deserted, Braddock and his officers continued their retreat ; he would have mounted his horse, but was unable, and had to be carried by soldiers. Orme and Morris were placed on litters borne by horses They were subsequently joined by Colonel Gage with eighty men whom he had rallied. Washington, in the meantime, notwithstanding his weak state, being found most efficient in frontier service, was sent to Colonel Dunbar's camp, forty miles distant, with orders for him to hurry forward provisions, hospital stores, and wagons for the wounded, under the escort of two LIFE AND TIMES. 245 grenadier companies. It was a hard and a melancholy ride throughout the night and the following day. The tidings of the defeat preceded him, borne by the wagoners, who had mounted their horses on Braddock's fall, and fled from the field of battle. They had arrived, haggard, at Dunbar's camp at midday; the Indians yells still ring ing in their ears. "All was lost ! " they cried. " Brad- dock was killed! They had seen wounded officers borne off from the field in bloody sheets! The troops were all cut to pieces ! " A panic fell upon the camp. The drums beat to arms. Many of the soldiers, wagoners, and at tendants, took to flight; but most of them were forced back by the sentinels. Washington arrived at the camp in the evening, and found the agitation still prevailing. The orders which he brought were executed during the night, and he was in the saddle early in the morning accompanying the convoy of supplies. At Gist's plantation, about thirteen miles off, he met Gage and his scanty force escorting Braddock and his wounded officers. Captain Stewart and a sad remnant of the Virginia light horse still accompanied the general as his guard. The captain. had been unremitting in his attentions to him during the retreat. There was a halt of one day at Dunbar's camp for the repose and relief of the wounded. On the I3th they resumed their melancholy march, and that night reached the Great Meadows. The proud spirit of Braddock was broken by his de feat. He remained silent the first evening after the battle, only ejaculating at night, " Who would have thought it! " He was equally silent the following day; yet hope still seemed to linger in his breast, from another ejaculation : ".We shall better know how to deal with them another time!" He was grateful for the attentions paid to him by Cap- 246 WASHINGTON. tain Stewart and Washington, and more than once, it is said, expressed his admiration of the gallantry displayed by the Virginians in the action. It is said, moreover, that in his last moments he apologized to Washington for the petulance with which he had rejected his advice, and be queathed to him his favorite charger, and his faithful ser vant, Bishop, who had helped to convey him from the field. Some of these facts, it is true, rest on tradition, yet we are willing to believe them, as they impart a gleam of just and generous feeling to his closing scene. He died on the night of the I3th, at the Great Meadows, the place of Washington's discomfiture in the previous year. His obsequies were performed before break of day. The chaplain having been wounded, Washington read the fu neral service. All was done in sadness, and without pa rade, so as not to attract the attention of lurking savages, who might discover and outrage his grave."]* Before the occurrence of the disastrous affair at the Monongahela, Braddock received an offer of the services of a hundred friendly Indians. But so self-confident was he, and so contemptuous was his opinion of the savages and their mode of warfare, that, regardless of Washing ton's counsels on the subject, he treated their offer with cold and even offensive indifference. Had he employed them as scouts, they would undoubtedly have discovered the enemy's ambuscade and have enabled him to antici pate their fatal stratagem; and, by means of the grape- shot of a few field pieces, not only to reveal the hiding places of the invisible foe, but to convert their ravines from places of security into vast repositories of the dead. In the confidence of power, he appears to have dis dained the customary prudential measures for discovering the enemy's plans and detecting their machinations. * See Irving, Vol. I, p. 230. LIFE AND TIMES. 247 On the other hand, M. Contrecoeur, commandant of the French fort, resorted to every practicable expedient to ascertain, in detail, whatever he required to know re specting Braddock's army and its movements. He was convinced that the thought of contending with the British army in a pitched battle was preposterous. He was at a loss to decide in what manner he could most judiciously receive it. At this crisis one of his captains, M. Beaujeu, volunteered, with a mixed party of French, Canadians, and Indians, to annoy the British forces while crossing the Monongahela and to retard their progress toward the fort. Arriving too late to effect their purpose at the river, Beaujeu and his party betook themselves to the ravines, and lay in ambush behind trees and in the long grass with which the ravines were skirted. They were in all but about 850 men, including 600 Indians. They thought not for a moment of being able to put to rout the British army. But on this occasion as on many others in the history of war, presumptuous confidence was suddenly converted into dismay; and inferior num bers were awarded the success of a triumph, alike unex pected and wonderful. Amid the prevailing gloom of this melancholy scene, the mind finds a pleasing relief in contemplating the char acter and conduct of Washington. When all the other mounted officers of Braddock's army were, without ex ception, slain or disabled, the Virginian aide-de-camp, mysteriously protected with a view to the fulfillment of a high destiny, was preserved from death and was not even wounded. His friend, Dr. Craik, who was a witness of this remarkable divine interposition, observed : " I ex pected every moment to see him fall. His duty and situa tion exposed him to every danger. Nothing but the 248 WASHINGTON. superintending care of Providence could have saved him from the fate of all around him." He was suffering from the effect of his debilitating fever, and he was then on horseback for the first time after his partial recovery; but he displayed, as if acting under the control of a super human impulse, the most extraordinary presence of mind, accompanied with intrepidity, firmness, discretion, and sound judgment. And his generous and kind sympathies also were in active exercise. He had been assisted by Captain Stew art, of the Virginia Guards, and by a servant, in bearing the wounded general from the field; but, on consigning him to the captain's special care, he had immediately re turned to his post of duty and of danger. With spirit and skill he rallied the panic-stricken troops after their having crossed the Monongahela. It now devolved upon him to hasten to the rear detachment of the army and order wagons for the wounded ; and he accomplished this, to the relief of many a suffering officer and soldier. The particular and important duties which, in the order ing of events, were successively assigned to him, and which he faithfully performed, conspired to commend his character and conduct to universal admiration. The story spread of his being endowed with a charmed life; and his friends and countrymen spontaneously indulged in glowing anticipations of the future of his history. An eloquent preacher of the time, the Rev. Samuel Davies, afterward president of Princeton College, in a sermon preached before one of the volunteer companies, com mented upon the prevailing military spirit, and said: "As a remarkable instance of this, I may point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so LIFE AND TIMES. 249 signal a manner for some important service to his country."* [One author, with surprising misinformation and depend ence on imagination, garnishes a meager sketch of Brad- dock's defeat with these amazingly false references to Washington : " As soon as his fever abated a little, he left Colonel D unbar, and being unable to sit on a horse, was conveyed to the front in a wagon. " Washington at the outset, flung himself headlong into the fight. * * * All through that dreadful carnage he rode fiercely about, raging with the excitement of battle. " Splendidly reckless on the day of battle, * * * he comes before us, above all things the fighting man, hot- blooded and fierce in action." Washington's fever had abated as early as June 23, and it was not until July 3, that he started to overtake Brad- dock. On July 9 he did no flinging of himself headlong into the battle. He was Braddock's aide, strictly confined to carrying Braddock's orders, except as some action came within his reach, as when he was sent to order the artil lery to get at work, and sprang from his horse to wheel and point a brass field-piece. He did no riding fiercely about, raging with the excitement of battle, and the writer had no more reason for putting up stuff of this kind than he would have had for saying that Washington took to the woods in mad fool-fury to get a swordcut at the savages, and yelled so loud that he was heard at Mount Vernon. "Above all things, the fighting man, hot-blooded and fierce in action," is a description of Washington which could not well be more grotesquely and thoroughly false.] * " Religion and Patriotism the Constituents of a Good Soldier," a sermon preached August 17, 1755. CHAPTER VI. WASHINGTON, THE VIRGINIA COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 1755-1757. THE deplorable result of Braddock's formidable ex pedition not only created a general and startling sensation throughout the Colonies, but prompted new and powerful emotions of self-reliance. And the subsequent conduct of Colonel Dunbar in aban doning the Colonies tended greatly to increase this state of feeling. In command of the rear detachment of Brad- dock's army he was forty miles from the scene of action during the battle of the Monongahela. But the retreating troops of the advanced detachment fell back upon his party, and in the consternation of their flight they spread the contagion of their panic. To disappoint the French and Indians should they con tinue in pursuit, the artillery and all the stores that could not be removed were now destroyed, and the colonel hur ried on his march. He was at that time in command of more than 1,000 men. The important obligation devolved upon him to protect the settlements. He received urgent communications from the Governors of Virginia, Mary land, and Pennsylvania, requesting that detachments of his army might be posted on their frontiers, now in a state of great alarm. But regardless of their appeals and adopting no measures of resistance nor of defense in behalf of the Colonies, he rapidly pursued his march to Philadelphia to (250) LIFE AND TIMES. 251 what he called his winter quarters, for the purpose, it would appear, rather of receiving than of affording protection. The complaints created by this proceeding were of course loud and general. In the irritation which it produced the intrepidity of brave Virginia troops was invidiously con trasted with the cowardly conduct of professed veterans. In some terse remarks on the subject Dr. Franklin says: " This whole transaction gave us Americans the first sus picion that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British regu lar troops had not been well founded."* The news of Dunbar's conduct was received while the Virginia Assembly was in session. And it convinced the minds of members of the Assembly that the time had come for a resort to vigorous measures of self-preservation. [General Braddock's expedition had been especially aimed at the operations of the French on the Ohio, but in connection therewith plans had been determined upon at the meeting of the Governors, April 14, 1755, with Brad- dock and Commodore Keppel, for expeditions against the French, both at Niagara and at Crown Point. Governor Shirley, with Sir William Pepperell's regiments and some New York companies, was to attack the force of Indians ami French at Niagara, about the end of June, and Col. Wm. Johnson, the rich Mohawk country potentate, with a large force of the warriors of the Six Nations, was to proceed against Crown Point. But with Braddock's overthrow, and the slaughter of his army which sent terror everywhere thai: the news came, the plans of Shirley against Niagara went to pieces; the men engaged for river transportation of stores evaded serving ; it was near the end of August before the expedi tion was in force at Oswego ; and with delays and troubles * Dr. Franklin's " Autobiography," near the close of chap, x ; Works, vol. I, p. 192. 252 WASHINGTON. there, Shirley did no more than to commence fortifying, and leaving 700 men as a garrison, returned to Albany in October with the main part of his forces. The plans for Johnson's attack upon Crown Point were hardly more successful. The expedition ascended the Hudson to the point from which land carriage crossed to the lower end of the lake, to which Johnson gave the name of Lake George. Here a fort was begun, to which was given later the name of Fort Edward. Leaving General Lyman to complete and defend the fort, Johnson pro ceeded to Lake George with a force of 5,000 to 6,000 troops of New York and New England, and a very large contingent of Mohawk Indians. The French commander recently arrived at Quebec, Baron de Dieskau, with a force of 3,000 men, was aiming at Oswego, and had gone to Montreal, and sent forward 700 of his troops, when the news came of Johnson's formidable expedition on the way to Crown Point, and perhaps to Canada. The Baron took post at Crown Point with regular troops, 800 Ca nadians, and 700 Indians, and he thence set off for Fort Edward, from which Johnson had advanced to Lake George. He hoped to surprise the fort, and make a dash south for the destruction of Albany and Schenectady, and thus cut off all communication with Oswego. Johnson meanwhile, in camp at the south end of Lake George, awaiting the boat service for proceeding north, learned September 7th, of the peril of French attack at Fort Ed ward, and the next morning sent Colonel Williams with 1,000 men and 200 Indians, to intercept the French. Within two hours, heavy firing, which soon indicated that Williams was retreating, caused Johnson's command to take measures for defense, such as were possible with only a breastwork of trees, some heavy cannon on the front, and a field-piece on an eminence on the left flank. The LIFE AND TIMES. 253 fleeing troops of Williams arriving in wild confusion, with the enemy in close pursuit, and soon after the French regulars in battle line, with Canadians and Indians, seemed to portend overwhelming defeat for Johnson's command, and the capture of his camp. In the moment of extremest peril, however, Dieskau's Canadians and Indians flinched from direct assault, took to bush-fighting, and left the baron with 200 grenadiers a compact target for the artil lery and musketry fire of Johnson's garrison, and at a distance short of any serious effect of their platoon firing. The action became more and more one of British success, until the French grenadiers, terribly cut up, gave way, and Johnson's men with the Mohawks issued from their camp in a fierce onset, which became a slaughter of the assailants, an utter rout or capture of the French, with their gallant commander so severely wounded as to result in his death. It appeared that the plan of Dieskau for surprising Fort Edward he was obliged to change because his Canadians and Indians, fearing the fire of cannon, re fused to make the assault; and when he turned back to surprise Johnson's camp the same hesitation of his Cana dian troops and Indian allies caused the disaster with which his expedition ended. Johnson, on his part, hesitating to advance upon Crown Point until he could leave a strong fort on the site of his camp, consumed the season in building a stockaded fort, which he named Fort William Henry.] Washington, still suffering from the effects of his fever, remained at Mount Vernon for at least temporary relief from toil, and for the recruiting of his energies. He felt, with the whole community, that an important crisis had arrived. The military spirit was abroad. The sound of martial music and the signs of warlike preparations were heard and seen at every step. 254 WASHINGTON. [Augustine Washington, the older half-brother of George, was at this time a member of the House of Bur gesses in session at Williamsburg, and to him Washing ton wrote, August 2, 1755: " The pleasure of your company at Mount Vernon al ways did, and always will, afford me infinite satisfaction; but at this time, I am too sensible how needful the country is of all its members, to have a wish to hear that any are absent from the Assembly. I most sincerely wish that unanimity may prevail in all your councils, and that a happy issue may attend your deliberations at this im portant crisis. " I am not able, were I ever so willing, to meet you in town, for I assure you it is with some difficulty, and with much fatigue, that I visit my plantations in the Neck; so much has a sickness of 5 weeks' continuance reduced me. But though it is not in my power to meet you there, I can nevertheless assure you that I am so little dispirited at what has happened, that I am always ready and always willing, to render my country any services that I am capable of, but never upon the terms I have done; having suffered much in my private fortune, be sides impairing one of the best of constitutions. I was employed to go a journey in the winter, when I believe few or none would have undertaken it, and what did I get by it ? my expenses borne ! I was then appointed, with trifling pay, to conduct a handful of men to the Ohio. What did I get by this ? Why, after putting my self to a considerable expense in equipping and providing necessaries for the campaign, I went out, was soundly beaten, and lost all! Came in, and had my commission taken from me, or in other words, my command reduced, under pre tense of an order from home (England). I then went out a volunteer with General Braddock, and lost all my LIFE AND TIMES. 255 horses, and many other things. But this being a volun tary act, I ought not to have mentioned it; nor should I have done it, were it not to show that I have been on the losing order ever since I entered the service, which is now nearly two years. " So that I think I cannot be blamed, should I, if I leave my family again, endeavor to do it upon such terms as to prevent my suffering; to gain by it being the least of my expectation. " I doubt not but you have heard the particulars of our shameful defeat, which really was so scandalous that I hate to mention it. You desire to know what artillery was taken in the late engagement. It is easily told. We lost all that we carried out, excepting two six-pounders, and a few cohorns, that were left with Col. Dunbar; and tHe cohorns have since been destroyed to expedite his flight. You also ask, whether I think the forces can march out again this fall. I answer, I think it impossible, at least, for them to do the French any damage (unless it be by starving them), for want of a proper train of artil lery; yet they may be very serviceable in erecting small fortresses at convenient places to deposit provisions in, by which means the country will be eased of an immense expense in the carriage, and it will also be a means of securing retreat, if we should be put to the rout again. The success of this though will depend greatly upon what Gov. Shirley does at Niagara; for, if he succeeds, their communication with Canada will be entirely cut off. " It is impossible for me to guess at the number of re cruits that may be wanting, as that must depend altogether upon the strength of the French on the Ohio, which, to my great astonishment, we were always strangers to. " I thank you very heartily for your kind offer of a chair, and for your goodness in sending my things; and, 256 WASHINGTON. after begging you to excuse the imperfections of the above, (which are, in part, owing to my having much company that hurries me,) I shall conclude, Dear Sir, your most affectionate brother." It was with this older half-brother that Washington had spent the four years of schooling after his father's death. The terms of cordial pleasure and affection used by Wash ington do not preclude formal respect. The results of Washington's venture with Braddock, to his health, as well as exposure to perils of battle, naturally prompted the young soldier's ^mother to give expression to her anxiety not to have him venture again ; and to her he replied as follows : " Honored Madam : If it is in my power to avoid going to the Ohio again, I shall; but if the command is pressed upon me by the general voice of the country, and offered upon such terms as cannot be objected against, it would reflect dishonor on me to refuse it; and that, I am sure, must, and ought, to give you greater uneasiness than my going in an honorable command. Upon no other terms will I accept it. At present I have no proposals made to me, nor have I any advice of such an intention, except from private hands." At the Virginia capital the question of recognition of Washington's military abilities and services was much agi tated, and while it was known that Gov. Dinwiddie's per sonal favorite was Colonel Innes,* it was understood that * Colonel James Innes was from Scotland, a settler in New Hanover, North Carolina. He had seen service in the British ex pedition of 1740-1741 against Carthagena. In 1754 he marched from North Carolina with 350 men, reaching Winchester June 3Oth, and upon Colonel Fry's death Dinwiddie gave him the com mand of the Ohio expedition, at the same time giving Washington the command of the Virginia troops. The North Carolina troops disbanded before joining Washington's. Dinwiddie wrote to LIFE AND TIMES. 257 the weight of Washington's claims was conceded by his excellency; and Washington's friends wrote urging him to appear on the scene, with a view to its being known that he would not refuse to serve as comcnander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, if the terms insisted on by him were complied with. To Mr. Warner Lewis, one of the friends in correspondence with Washington, he wrote, Au gust i4th, as follows: " After returning you my most sincere and grateful thanks for your kind condolence on my late indisposition, and for the generous (and give me leave farther to say) partial opinion you have entertained of my military abili ties, I must express my concern for not having, it in my power to meet you, and other friends who have signified their desire of seeing me in Williamsburg. " Your letter only came to hand at nine last night, and you inform me that the Assembly will break up the latter end of the week, which allows a time too short in which to perform a journey of a hundred and sixty miles, especially by a person in my weak and feeble condition; for, although I am happily recovered from the disorder, which brought me to so low an ebb, by a sickness of nearly five weeks continuance, yet my strength is not re turned to me. Had I got timely notice, I would have at tempted the ride, by slow and easy journeys, if it had Washington, June 25, 1754, that in view of the fact that some of the troops were organized as independent companies, he had or dered Colonel Innes to command in chief, and Washington to be second in command. About a year later, when Washington had resigned from the army, and was serving as a volunteer aide with Braddock, he said in a letter of June 7, 1755, to William Fairfax: " General Innes has accepted a commission to be Governor of Fort Cumberland, where he is to reside; and will shortly receive another to be hangman, or something of that kind, and for which he is equally qualified." 17 258 WASHINGTON. been only for the satisfaction of seeing my friends, who, I flatter myself, from- what you say, are kind enough to sympathize in my good and evil fortunes. " The chief reason (next to indisposition), that prevented me from coming down to this Assembly, was a determina tion not to offer my services ; and that determination pro ceeded from the following reasons: First, a belief that I could not get a command upon such terms as I should incline to accept; for I must confess to you, that I never will quit my family, injure my fortune, and (above all) impair my health, to run the risk of such changes and vicissitudes as I have met with, but shall expect, if I am employed again, to have something certain. " Again, was I to accept the command, I should insist upon some things which ignorance and inexperience made me overlook before, particularly that of having the offi cers appointed, in some measure, with my advice and with my concurrence; for, I must add, I think a commanding officer's not having this liberty appears to me to be a strange thing, when it is considered how much the con duct and bravery of an officer influence the men, how much a commanding officer is answerable for the behavior of the inferior officers, and how much his good or ill suc cess, in time of action, depends upon the conduct of each particular one, especially too, in this kind of fighting, where, being dispersed, each and every one of them at that time has a greater liberty to misbehave than if he were [in a body of men] regularly and compactly drawn up under the eyes of his superior officer. " On the other hand, how little credit is given to a com mander, who, after a defeat, in relating the cause of it, justly lays the blame on some individual, whose cowardly behavior betrayed the whole to ruin! How little does the world consider the circumstances, and how apt are LIFE AND TIMES. 259 mankind to level their vindictive censures against the un fortunate chief, who perhaps merited least of the blame! " Does it not then appear that the appointing of offi cers is a thing of the utmost consequence; a thing that requires the greatest circumspection ? Ought it to be left to blind chance, or, what is still worse, to. partiality? Should it not be left to a man whose life (and what is still dearer, his honor) depends upon their good behavior? " There are necessary officers yet wanting, for whom no provision has been made. A small military chest is so absolutely necessary, that it is impossible to do without, nor can any man conduct an affair of this kind who has it not. " These things I should expect if the appointment fell upon me. " But, besides all these, I had other reasons, which withheld me from offering my services. I believe our cir cumstances are brought to that unhappy dilemma, that no man can gain any honor by conducting our forces at this time, but will rather lose in his reputation if he at tempts it. For I am confident, the progress of military movements must be slow, for want of conveniences to transport our provisions, ammunition, and stores over the mountain; occasioned, in a great measure, by the late ill- treatment of the wagoners and horsedrivers, who have received little compensation for their labor, and nothing for their lost horses and wagons; which will be an infal lible cause of preventing all from assisting that are not compelled. So that I am fully sensible, whoever under takes this command will meet with such insurmountable obstacles that he will soon be viewed in the light of an idle, indolent body ; have his conduct criticised ; and meet perhaps with opprobrious abuse, when it may be as much 260 WASHINGTON. out of his power to avoid delays as it would to command the raging seas in a storm. " Viewing these things in the light I do has no small influence upon me, as I am very apprehensive I should lose what at present constitutes the chief part of my hap piness, i. c., the esteem and notice which the country has been pleased to honor me with. " It is possible you may infer from what I have said that my intentions are to decline at all events; but my meaning is not so. I am determined not to offer; because to solicit the command, and at the same time to make my proposals, would be a little incongruous and would carry with it the face of self-sufficiency. But if the com mand should be offered, the case is then altered, as I should be at liberty to make such objections as reason and my small experience had pointed out. I hope you will make my compliments to all enquiring friends. " I am, dear Warner, your most affectionate friend, and obedient servant."] The House of Burgesses made a liberal appropriation for the public service. They voted to Colonel Washington and to all the surviving officers and privates with him at the Monongahela, a liberal grant, in consideration of " their gallant behavior and their losses." They increased the regi ment to sixteen companies, and they appointed Colonel Washington to the chief command with unusual evidences of their consideration. His character and talents were appreciated more highly than ever. He was the favorite soldier and the military master-spirit of Virginia. The House of Burgesses au thorized him to name his field officers; they allowed him an aide-de-camp and secretary, and they entitled him in his commission " Commander-in-Chief of all the forces raised, or to be raised, in the Colony of Virginia." LIFE AND TIMES. 261 [The date of the governor's commission and instructions to Washington, upon his appointment as Virginian com- mander-in-chief, was August 14, 1755, when Washington was twenty-three years and six months of age. The gov ernor's action had provided for raising sixteen companies, making the force 1,000 men, to be incorporated into a regiment. To Charles Lewis, at this time, Washington wrote (Au gust 14, 1755) : " I wish, my Dear Charles, it was more in my power than it is, to answer the favorable opinion my friends have conceived of my military abilities. Let them not be deceived; I am unequal to the task, and do assure you that it requires more experience than I am master of, to conduct an affair of the importance that this is now arisen to."] Governor Dinwiddie, in one of his official communica tions to the British Government, spoke of the Virginia colonel as " a man of great merit and resolution ; " and he added : " I am convinced had Braddock survived he would have recommended him to royal favor." But the universal sentiment of the people was far more efficacious in promot ing his influence and in forwarding his ultimate purposes than all that could have been derived from royal favor. It is a memorable fact that Washington, with all his acknowl edged merits, was never favored with even one testimony of approbation from the King or the ministry. [Dinwiddie wrote in the official communication men tioned: " Our officers are greatly dispirited for want of his majesty's commissions, that, when they join the regu lars, they may have some rank; and I am persuaded it would be of infinite service, if his Majesty would graciously please to honor them with his commissions, the same as Gen. Shirley's and Sir William Peppereirs regiments."] It was but a month after his return from the Mononga- 2G2 WASHINGTON. hela that he received his new commission. But he entered upon the duties of his office promptly and energetically. He visited all the outposts, even to Fort Dinwiddie, and acquired a particular knowledge of his field of labor. At this time an incursion of the Indians on the western border of the province created great alarm. Their ravages were bloody and dreadful, and the fears which they created were not less desolating to many a happy home on the frontier. A detachment of the militia was sent against the invaders; a prompt and severe infliction taught them that their depredations and massacres would meet with speedy vengeance, and thus they were effectually restrained for a time from the repetition of atrocities. The militia accomplished an important object. Their ex pedition was attended however with many and painful evi dences of a want of military subordination and control. In the whole militia system there were imperfections and difficulties, numerous and formidable, arising chiefly from the impotence of the existing army regulations. As a measure of supreme importance the revision and remodeling of these regulations now engaged the thoughts of Washington. He made it the constant theme of his com munications to the Governor and the Assembly; he rallied round it the thoughts and feelings of many influential men ; and he had at last the great satisfaction of seeing it re garded with the attention which it deserved, and of finding every desirable provision made for a proper military code. [To John Robinson, speaker erf the House of Burgesses and of very exceptional eminence as a Virginian of wealth, social distinction, and political importance, Washington wrote from Alexandria, September n, 1755: " After a small halt at Fredericksburg, to issue out or ders to the recruiting officers appointed to that rendez vous, I proceeded to this place, in order to collect a return LIFE AND TIMES. 263 of the provisions, clothing, etc., that were lodged here, an exact copy of which I herewith send you. I find, after the soldiers have their short allowances, there will arise great inconveniences, if stores of clothing are not laid in to supply their wants; particularly shoes, stockings, and shirts, for these are the least durable and mostly needed. " The method I would recommend is, for the country to provide these things, and lodge them, or a convenient part thereof, in the hands of the quartermaster, who may be appointed to receive and deliver them to the soldiers, by particular orders from their captains, taking care to produce these orders, and proper vouchers for the deliv ery, each pay-day, when it must be deducted out of the soldier's pay who receives it. And then this, I think, will be a means of keeping them always provided and fit for duty, preventing the officers from supplying the men, which is generally attended with misunderstandings; and will also be a means of discouraging followers of the army from demanding such exorbitant prices, as is usually prac ticed on these occasions. However, I only offer this as the most efficacious method I can at present think of. If any other more eligible can be found, I should be glad to see it executed, as something of the kind must be done, otherwise the soldiers will be barefoot, etc., which al ways pleads for exemption from duty, and, indeed, in the approaching season, will be a very just one. You will be a judge, when you see the returns, what had best be done with the provisions. The quantity is too great for the present consumption, and to wagon it up can never answer the expense. " Major Carlyle thinks the West India market best, as the returns will be in rum, which he can soon turn into flour at the camp. 264 WASHINGTON. " I am afraid I shall not be able to push things with vigor this fall, for want of a commissary who will act with spirit. Mr. Dick seems determined not to enter into any further contracts, unless he is better supported, or till he meets the committee in October, by which time the best season for engaging beef will be almost over. And the Governor, by the advice of Sir John St. Clair, ex pressed, just as I was coming away, his desire of hav ing him continued; so that I am entirely ignorant how to act. The making of contracts is foreign to my duty; neither have I time; and to^ see the service suffer will give me infinite uneasiness, as I would gladly conduct everything, as I am capable, with life and spirit, which never can be done without a fund of money is lodged in camp for defraying the contingent charges. As I believed it difficult to get all the clothing in any one part of the country, I engaged it where I could, and have got shoes, stockings, shirts, and hats enough upon tolerably good terms, as you may see by the enclosed. " Major Carlyle is also willing to engage 100 complete suits, as good as those imported, for 3, or less; which I Have acquainted the Governor of, and I believe it to be as cheap as can be got below, as it is the making chiefly that occasions the difference between the imported and those provided here." On the same date as the above Washington wrote to Governor Dinwiddie, that he was afraid the recruiting would be greatly delayed; that at the general muster in the county an attempt failed ; and that even a draft would answer no end under the existing regulations, which had no effect to keep men from deserting. After despatching the business at Alexandria, Wash ington went on to Winchester, September I4th; from thence proceeded to Fort Cumberland and took com- LIFE AND TIMES. 265 mand of the troops there ; went on from Fort Cumberland to Fort Dinwiddie, on Jackson's river, September 24th; and thence returned to Alexandria, where he arrived Oc tober 2d. Proceeding thence he was at Fredericksburg, October 5th, on his way to Williamsburg, and went for ward on the 7th. He continued on to Colonel Baylor's and was there overtaken by an express messenger with information of a massacre of settlers by Indians. After a letter to the governor, he hurried back to Fredericks- burg, and wrote again to Dinwiddie, as follows, October 8, 1755: " I arrived at this place in less than three hours after I wrote you from Colonel Baylor's; and some small time after, arrived also Colonel Stephen, who gives a worse ac count than he related in his letter ; but as he is the bearer of this, I shall be less prolix, referring to him for particulars. " I shall set out this evening for Winchester, where I expect to be joined by the recruits from Alexandria and this place, as soon as they can possibly march that dis tance ; also, by 100 men from Prince William and Fred erick [counties]. And I have written to Fairfax county, desiring that a troop of horse may hold themselves in readiness to march at an hour's warning. So that I doubt not, but with the assistance of these, I shall be able to repulse the enemy, if they are still committing their out rages upon the inhabitants. We are at a loss for a want of almost every necessary. Tents, kettles, arms, ammu nition, cartridge-paper, etc., etc., we are distressed for. Therefore, I hope, as your Honor did not send to Phila delphia for them, you will, if possible, endeavor to get them below, and send them by the first opportunity to this place, or Alexandria, with orders that they may be for warded immediately to Winchester. 266 WASHINGTON. " I must again take the liberty of mentioning to your Honor the necessity there is of putting the militia, when they are drawn out into actual service, under better regu lation than they are at present, as well as there is of put ting us under a military law. Otherwise we shall only be a burdensome charge to the country, and the others will prove its ruin. That this may not appear an unmeaning expression, I shall refer your Honor to Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen, who can give you some late proofs of their diso bedience and inconsistent behavior. " I find I cannot possibly he in Williamsburg, as these affairs will engage some time, till the 6th, 7th, or 8th of November, when I should be glad to meet a committee, in order to settle with them and your Honor some points that are very necessary for the good of the expedition. " Colonel Stephen has orders to receive some money below (if he can), that we may be enabled to pay the troops, and to keep them in spirits, and to answer such immediate charges as cannot be dispensed with, until I come down. And I should be glad if your Honor would order him to repair therewith (as soon as he has done his business with the committee) to Winchester; and from thence, with a proper guard to Fort Cumberland. I hope the treasury will have a sufficient sum of money prepared against I come down, that I meet with no great delay. " I should be glad your Honor would give Colonel Stephen all the assistance you can in getting the money. There are about 70 recruits at this place, and I left 25 at Alexandria, which I suppose are augmented before this by officers, who, I am sorry to say, have paid slight regard to orders, in not being in at the time appointed (Oct. ist). The most flagrant proof of this is Captain Harrison, whom I have heard nothing of, though he had positive orders to be here at the aforesaid time." LIFE AND TIMES. 2(57 The matter of securing Indians to fight Indians, Indian allies of the English to oppose to the murdering savages set on against the English by the French, very particularly engaged the attention of Washington. He wrote from Winchester, October 10, 1755, to Andrew Montour, a man of note in dealings with the Indians on the Ohio, the fol lowing letter : " Dear Montour " I wrote, some time ago, a letter of invitation from Fort Cumberland, desiring yourself, your family, and friendly Indians, to come and reside among us, but that letter not coming to hand, I am induced to send a second express, with the same invitation, being pleased that I have it in my power to do something for you on a better footing than ever it has been done. I was greatly en raptured when I heard you were at the head of 300 In dians on a march toward Venango, being satisfied that your hearty attachment to our glorious cause, your cour age, of which I have had very great proofs, and your presence among the Indians, would animate their just in dignation to do something noble, something worthy them selves, and honorable to you. I hope you will use your interest (as I know you have much) in bringing our Brothers once more to our service; assure them, as you truly may, that nothing which I can do shall be wanting to make them happy ; assure them, also, that as I have the chief command, I am invested with power to treat them as Brethren and Allies, which, I am sorry to say, they have not been of late. Recommend me kindly to our good friend, Monocatoocha, and others; tell them how happy it would make Conotocaurius to have an op portunity of taking them by the hand at Fort Cumber land, and how glad he would be to treat them as Brothers of our Great King beyond the waters. Flattering myself 268 WASHINGTON. that you will come, I doubt not but you'll bring as many of them with you as possible, as that will afford Me what alone I want ; that is, an opportunity of doing something equal to your wishes. " I am, Dear Montour, your real friend and assured humble servant. " N. B. I doubt not but you have heard of the ravages committed on our frontiers by the French Indians, and, I suppose, the French themselves. I am now on my march against them, and hope to give them cause of re penting of their rashness." To another frontiersman, Gist, Washington gave instruc tions to visit Montour and use his utmost influence with him to induce him to bring in Indians for service against the French Indians. To Gist he wrote : " I will promise if he brings many to do something handsome for him. You had better be silent on this head though, lest where you are measures may be taken by the Pennsylvanians to prevent him from bringing any Indians." On Oct. nth, Washington wrote at length on the state of things with the people on the frontier and in the army which he was trying to get together and to march with to the scene of the disturbances and perils. Thus he said: " Honorable Sir : As I think it my indispensable duty to inform you particularly of my proceedings, and to give the most plain and authentic account, from time to time, of our situation, I must acquaint your Honor that, imme diately after giving the necessary orders at Fredericks- burg, and despatching expresses to hurry the recruits from Alexandria, I rode post to this place, passing by Lord Fairfax's, who was not at home, but here, where I arrived yesterday about noon, and found everything in the great est hurry and confusion, by the back inhabitants flocking LIFE AND TIMES. 269 in, and those of the town removing out, which I have prevented as far as it was in my power. I was desirous of proceeding immediately, at the head of some militia, to put a stop to the ravages of the enemy, believing their numbers to be few; but was told by Colonel Martin, who had attempted to raise the militia for the same purpose that it was impossible to get above 20 or 25 men, they having absolutely refused to stir, choosing, as they say, to die with their wives and families. " Finding this expedient likely to prove abortive, I sent off expresses to hurry the recruits from below, and the militia from Fairfax, Prince William, etc., which Lord Fairfax had ordered out, and I also hired spies to go out and see, to discover the numbers of the enemy, and to en courage the rangers, who, we were told, are blocked up by the Indians in small fortresses. But, if I may offer my opinion, I believe thev are more encompassed by fear than by the enemy. " I have also impressed wagons and sent them to Cono- cocheague, for flour, musket-shots, and flints, powder, and trifling quantity of paper, bought at extravagant prices, for cartridges. I expect from below six or eight smiths who are now at work, repairing the firearms that are here, which are all that we have to depend on. A man was hired, the 24th of last month, to do the whole, but neglected and was just moving off in wagons to Penn sylvania. I impressed his wagons and compelled him by force to assist in this work. In all things I meet with the greatest opposition. No orders are obeyed, but what a party of soldiers, or my own drawn sword, enforces; without this a single horse, for the most urgent occa sion, cannot be had, to such a pitch has the insolence of these people arrived, by having every point hitherto sub mitted to them. However, I have given up none, where 270 WASHINGTON. his Majesty's service requires the contrary, and where my proceedings are justified by my instructions; nor will I do it, unless they execute what they threaten, i. e., 'to blow out my brains.' " I have invited the poor distressed people (driven from their habitations) to lodge their families in some place of security, and to join our parties in scouring the woods where the enemy lie, and believe some will cheerfully as sist. I also have taken and shall continue to take every previous step to forward the march of the recruits, etc., so soon as they arrive here, and your Honor may depend that nothing that is in my power to do shall be wanting for the good of the service. " I would again hint the necessity of putting the militia under a better regulation, had I not mentioned it twice before, and a third time may seem impertinent ; but I must once more beg leave to declare, (for here I am more im mediately concerned,) that, unless the Assembly will enact a law to enforce the military law in all its parts, that I must, with great regret, decline the honor that has been so generously intended me, and for this only reason I do it the foreknowledge I have of failing in every point that might justly be expected from a person invested with full power to exert this authority. I see the growing in solence of the soldiers, the indolence and inactivity of the officers, who are all sensible how confined their punish ments are, in regard to what they ought to be. In fine, I can plainly see, that under our present establishment we shall become a nuisance, an insupportable charge to our country, and never answer any one expectation of the Assembly. " And here I must assume the freedom to express some surprise, that we alone should be so tenacious of our lib erty as not to invest a power where interest and politics LIFE AND TIMES. 271 so unanswerably demand it, and from whence so much good must consequently ensue. Do we not see that every nation under the sun find their account therein, and with out it no order, no regularity can be observed? Why then should it be expected from us, (who are all young and inexperienced,) to govern and keep up a proper spirit of discipline without laws, when the best and most expe rienced can scarcely do it with them ? Then if we consult our interest, I am sure it is loudly called for; for I can confidently assert, that money expended in recruiting, clothing, arming, maintaining, and subsisting soldiers, who have deserted, has cost the country an immense sum, which might have been prevented, were we under restraints that would terrify the soldiers from such practices. " One thing more on this head I will recommend, and then quit the subject; i. e. to have the inhabitants liable to certain heavy fines, or corporal punishments, for en tertaining of deserters, and a reward for taking them up. If this was done it would be next to an impossibility for a soldier to escape; but, on the contrary, as things now stand, they are not only seduced to run away, but are also harbored, and assisted with every necessary means to do it. " Sunday Noon. Last night arrived an express, just spent with fatigue and fear, reporting that a party of In dians were about 12 miles off, at the plantation of one Isaac Julian, and that the inhabitants were flying in the most promiscuous manner from their dwellings. I imme diately ordered the town guards to be strengthened ; Per kins's lieutenant to be in readiness with his companies; some recruits, who had only arrived about half an hour before, to be armed; and sent two men, well acquainted with the roads, to go up that road and lay in wait, to see if they could discover the number and motion of the In- 272 WASHINGTON. dians, that we might have timely notice of their approach. This morning, before we could parade the men, to march upon the last alarm, arrived a second express, ten times more terrified than the former, with information that the Indians had got within four miles of the town, and were killing and destroying all before them, for that he himself had heard constant firing and shrieks of the unhappy mur dered. Upon this I immediately collected what force I could, which consisted of 22 men recruited for the rangers and 19 of the militia, and marched directly to the place where these horrid murders were said to be committed. When we came there, whom should we find occasioning all this disturbance but three drunken soldiers of the light- horse, carousing, firing their pistols, and uttering the most unheard of imprecations ! These we took and marched prisoners to town [Winchester], where we met the men I sent out last night, and learned that the party of Indians, discovered by Isaac Julian, proved to be a mulatto and negro, seen hunting of cattle by his child, who alarmed the father, and the father the neighborhood. These cir cumstances are related only to show what a panic prevails among the people ; how much they are alarmed at the most usual and customary cries ; and yet how impossible it is to get them to act in any respect for their common safety. As an instance of this Colonel Fairfax, who ar rived in town when we were upon a scout, immediately sent to a noble captain, not far off, to repair with his com pany forthwith to Winchester. With coolness and mode ration this great captain answered that his wife, family, and corn were all at stake ; so were his soldiers ; there fore it was impossible for him to come. Such is the ex ample of the officers; such the behavior of the men; and upon such circumstances depends the safety of our country ! " LIFE AND TIMES. 273 The date of the continuance of this communication the next day shows that Washington began it Sunday morn ing, and went on with it Sunday noon. He went on further the next morning as follows: "Monday morning, I2th The men I hired to bring intelligence from the Branch returned last night, with let ters from Captain Ashby, and the other parties there ; by which I learn that the Indians are gone off ; scouts having been dispersed upon those waters for several days, with out discovering tracks or other signs of the enemy. " I am also informed that it is believed their numbers amounted to about 150; that 70 of our men are killed and missing, and that several houses and plantations are de stroyed, but not so great havoc made as was represented at first. The rangers, and a small company of militia, or dered there by Lord Fairfax, I am given to understand, intend to march down on Monday next, who will be imme diately followed by all the inhabitants of those parts, that had gathered together under their protection. I have, therefore, sent peremptory orders to the contrary, but what obedience will be paid to them a little time will re veal. I have ordered those men, that were recruited for the rangers, to join their respective companies. And there is also a party of militia marched with them under the command of Captain Harden. Captain Waggener is this instant arrived with 30 recruits, which he marched from Bellhaven in less than three days a great march indeed ! Major Lewis and his recruits from Fredericksburg I ex pect in tomorrow, when, with these and 22 of Captain Bell's now here, I shall proceed by quick marches to Fort Cumberland, in order to strengthen that garrison. Be sides these, I think it absolutely necessary that there should be two or three companies (exclusively) of rangers, to guard the Potomac waters until such time as our regiment 18 274 WASHINGTON. is completed. And, indeed, these rangers and volunteer companies in Augusta (county) with some of their militia, should be properly disposed of on these frontiers, for fear of an attack from that quarter. This though is sub mitted to your honor's judgment, and waits your orders for execution if thought expedient. " Captain Waggener informs me, that it was with diffi culty he passed the Ridge for the crowds of people who were flying as if every moment was death. He endeavored, but in vain, to stop them ; they firmly believing that Win chester was in flames. I shall send expresses down the several roads in hopes of bringing back the inhabitants, who are really frightened out of their senses. I despatched an express immediately upon my arrival at this place, with a copy of the enclosed to Andrew Montour, who I heard was at a place called Long Island with 300 Indians, to see if he could engage him and them 1 to join us. The letter savors a little of flattery, etc., etc., but this, I hope, is justifiable on such occasions. I also wrote to Gist, ac quainting him with the favor you intended him, and de sired he would repair home in order to raise his com panies of scouts (he having been commissioned Captain of a company of scouts). " I shall defer writing to the Speaker and Committee upon any other head than that of commissary, still hoping to be down by the time mentioned in my last (provided no new disturbances happen,) having some points to set tle that I am uneasy and urgent about. I have been obliged to do duty very foreign to my own; but that I shall never hesitate about, when the good of the service requires it. " In a journey from Fort Cumberland to Fort Dinwiddie, which I made purposely to see the situation of our fron tiers, how the rangers were posted and how troops might LIFE AND TIMES. 275 be disposed of for the defense of the country, I purchased 650 beeves, to be delivered at Fort Cumberland by the ist of November, at 10 shillings per hundred weight, ex cept a few that I was obliged to give eleven shillings for ; and have my own bonds now out for the performance of covenants, this being the commissary's business, who, I am sorry to say, has hitherto been of no use, but of dis service to me, in neglecting my orders, and leaving this place without flour, and Fredericksburg without any pro visions for the recruits, although he had timely notice given. I must beg that, if Mr. Dick will not act, some other person may be appointed that will ; for, if things remain in this uncertain situation, the season will pass without having provision made for the winter, or sum mer's campaign. Whoever acts as commissary should be sent up immediately about salting the provisions, etc. It will be difficult, I believe, to provide a quantity of pork. I enquired as I rode through Hampshire, Augusta, etc., and could not hear of much for sale. " Most of the new appointed officers have been ex tremely deficient in their duties by not repairing to their rendezvous according to appointment. Capt. McKenzie, Lieut. King and Ensigns Miller and Dean, who were or dered to send their recruits to Alexandria by the first of October, were not arrived when Capt. Waggener left that place, nor have we heard anything of Capt. Harrison, whose recruits should have been at Fredericksburg by the same time ; and Capt. Bell only sent his here on Sat urday last. If these practises are allowed of, we may as well quit altogether, for no duty can ever be carried on if there is not the greatest punctuality observed, one thing always depending so immediately upon another. " I have appointed Capt. George Mercer (whose se niority entitled him to it) my aide-de-camp ; and Mr. Kirk- 276 WASHINGTON. patrick of Alexandria, my secretary, a young man bred to business, of good character, well recommended, and a person of whose abilities I had not the least doubt. " I hope your Honor will be kind enough to despatch Colonel Stephen, with orders to repair hither immediately, and excuse the prolixity of this. I was willing to give a circumstantial account of our situation, that you may be the better enabled to judge what orders are necessary to give." "Winchester, Oct. 13, 1755: Major Lewis is just ar rived, and on Thursday I shall begin my march to Fort Cumberland, allowing the recruits one day to refresh themselves." Either the same day or the next Washington issued the following " Advertisement " to warn people not to give way to panic fear so far as to forsake their homes and leave their plantations to go to ruin: " Advertisement. Whereas divers timorous persons run through the country and alarm its inhabitants by false reports of the Indians having attacked and destroyed the country even Winchester itself, and that they are still proceeding : " This is to give notice to all people, that I have great reason to believe that the Indians who committed the late cruelties (though no lower than the South Branch) are re turned home, as I have certain accounts that they have not been seen nor heard of these ten days past. And I do advise all my countrymen not to be alarmed on every false report they may hear, as they must now be satisfied, from the many false ones that have been made ; but to keep to their homes, and take care of their crops, as I can ventured to assure them that in a short time the fron tiers will be so well guarded that no mischief can be done, either to them or their plantations, which must of course LIFE AND TIMES. 277 be destroyed, if they desert them in so shameful a manner." The views of Washington in regard to maintenance of a good hold upon Indians not engaged by the French, he expressed in a letter of October 17, 1755, to Governor Dinwiddie : " Last night by the return of the express, who went to Capt. Montour, I received the enclosed from Mr. Har ris at Susquehanna. I think no means should be neg lected to preserve what few Indians still remain in our interest. For which reason I shall send Mr. Gist, as soon as he arrives (which I expect will be to-day), to Harris's Ferry, in hopes of engaging and bringing with him the Belt of Wampum and other Indians that are at that place. I shall further desire him to send an Indian express to Andrew Montour, to try if he cannot be brought with them. " In however trifling a light the French attempting to alienate the affections of our southern Indians may at first appear, I must look upon it as a thing of the utmost consequence, that requires our greatest and most immedi ate attention. I have often wondered at not hearing this was attempted before, and had it noted among other memo randums to acquaint your Honor with when I should come down. " The French policy in treating with the Indians is so prevalent, that I should not be in the least surprised, were they to engage the Cherokees, Catawbas, etc., unless timely and vigorous measures are taken to prevent it. A pusillanimous behavior now will ill suit the times ; and trust ing to traders and common interpreters, who will sell their integrity to the highest bidder, may prove the destruction of these affairs. I therefore think that if a person of dis tinction, acquainted with their language is to be found, 278 WASHINGTON. his price should be come to at any rate. If no such person can be had, a man of sense and character, to conduct the Indians to any council that may be held, or superintend any other matters will be found extremely necessary. It is impertinent, I own, in me to offer my opinion in these affairs, when better judges may direct ; but my steady and hearty zeal for the cause, and the great impositions I have known practised by the traders, etc., upon these occasions would not suffer me to be quite silent. I have heard from undoubted authority, that some of the Chero- kees, who have been introduced to us as Sachems and Princes by this interpreter, who shares the profits, have been no other than common hunters, and bloodthirsty villains. " We have no accounts yet of the militia from Fairfax, etc. This day I marched with about one hundred men to Fort Cumberland. Yesterday an express informed me of eighty odB recruits at Fredericksburg, which I have ordered to proceed to this place; but, for want of that regularity being observed by which I should know where every officer, etc., is, my orders are only conditional, and always confused. The commissary is much wanted ; there fore I hope your Honor will send him up immediately ; if not, things will greatly suffer here. Whatever necessaries your Honor gets below I should be glad to have sent to Alexandria; from whence they are much more handy than from Fredericksburg. Besides, as provision is lodged there, and none at any other place, it will be better for the men, to be all sent there that can anyways conveniently. For we have met with insufferable difficulties at Fredericksburg, and in our march from thence, through neglect of the commissary, who is greatly wanted up here. Therefore, I hope your Honor will order him." After the journey to Fort Cumberland, and returning LIFE AND TIMES. 279 from Williamsburg to headquarters at Winchester, Wash ington was at Fredericksburg, and there wrote, Novem ber 18, 1755, to Lieuf.-Col. Adam Stephen: " I came to this place on Sunday last, and intended to proceed immediately up; but receiving yours and other letters contradicting the reports lately transmitted, deter mined me to go to Alexandria, where I shall wait a few days, hoping to meet the express from General Shirley, to whom the Governor sent for commissions for the field officers. " I beg that you will be particularly careful in seeing strict order observed among the soldiers, as that is the life of military discipline. We now have it in our power to enforce obedience [through a military law recently passed by the Assembly of the colony] ; and obedience will be expected from us, the men being subject to death as in military law. The Assembly have also offered a reward to all who will apprehend deserters, and a severe punish ment upon those who shall entertain or suffer them to pass ; also upon any constable who refuses to convey them to the company or troop to which they belong, or shall suffer them to escape after such deserters are committed to his custody. "These things, with the articles of war and a proper exhortation, I would have you read immediately to the men, and see that it is frequently done hereafter. I must desire tEat you will use all possible means to facilitate the salting our provisions, and give the commissary such as sistance of men, etc., as he shall reasonably require. The Governor approves of the committee's resolve, in not al lowing either the Maryland or Carolina companies to be supported out of our provisions. This you are to make them acquainted with, and, in case any of the compa nies should be discharged to use your utmost endeavors 280 WASHINGTON. to enlist as many of the men as you can. Lieutenant Mc- Manners has leave to go to Carolina if he desires it. The Assembly would make no alteration in our militia law; nor would the Governor order them to be drafted to com plete our regiment, so that the slow method of recruiting is likely to be our only means to raise the men. I think, could a brisk officer, and two or three sergeants, be sent among the militia stationed on the South Branch, they would have a probable chance of engaging many, as some were inclinable in Winchester to list. Doctor Craik is expected round to Alexandria in a vessel, with medicines and other stores for the regiment. So soon as he arrives, I shall take care to despatch him to you. "The Colonels Byrd and Randolph [members of the Governor's Council and gentlemen of distinction] are ap pointed commissioners [to visit and conciliate the south ern Indians], and will set out very shortly, with a present, etc., to the country of the Cherokees, in order to engage them to our interest." To the same officer Washington wrote again November 28, 1755, from Alexandria: " I received your two letters by Jenkins last night, and was greatly surprised to hear that Commissary Walker was not arrived at camp when he came away. He set out from Williamsburg about the I2th instant, with orders to proceed immediately up; but such disobedience of commands, as I have generally met with, is insufferable, and shall not go unpunished. The account you enclosed of the method of receiving the beef, I suppose is custom ary; but for want of judgment in those affairs, I can neither applaud nor condemn it. I am as much astonished as you were surprised at the quantity of salt said to be wanted for the provision, but certain it is, that if it, or a greater quantity, is necessary, it must be had. I have LIFE AND TIMES. 281 left a discretionary power in Commissary Walker to kill or winter the Carolina beeves as the interest of the ser vice requires. Pray assist him with your advice, and urge him on to make the necessary purchases of flour and pork fn time. " The Governor did not seem inclinable to promote the removal of the fort; however, the Committee have lodged a discretionary power in my hands, and have resolved to pay for all extraordinary labor. I would, therefore, have as little labor lost at Fort Cumberland as possible ; at least until I come up, which will 5e very shortly, my stay here being only for a few days, in order to receive re cruits, and hurry up the stores to Winchester. " I believe those who say Governor Sharpe [of Mary land] is to command, can only wish it. I do not know that Governor Shirley [at Boston, in chief command for the King's regular troops in America] has a power to ap point a chief to our forces, to regulars he may. As to that affair of turning the storehouse into a dwelling-room, I do not know what better answer to give than saying that this is one among the many instances that might be offered of the inconvenience of having a fort in Mary land. As soon as I hear from Gov. Shirley, which is hourly expected, I can give a more determined answer. " There has been such total negligence among the re cruiting officers in general, such disregard of the service they were employed in, and such idle proceedings, that I am determined to send out none until we all meet, when each officer shall have his own men, and have only this alternative, either to complete his number or lose his com mission. There are several officers who have been out six weeks, or two months, without getting a man, spend ing their time in all the gayety of pleasurable mirth, with their relations and friends; not attempting, nor having a 282 WASHINGTON. possible chance of recruiting any but those who, out of their inclination to the service, will proffer themselves. " I should be glad to have ten or twelve wagons sent to this place, for salt enough may be had here to load that number, and it comes upon easier terms than at Fredericksburg, by sixpence or eightpence per bushel. Those stores at Watkins Ferry should be hurried up as fast as the water affords opportunities, if it were only to prevent disputes. " If the paymaster is at Winchester, and not on his way to Fort Dinwiddie, order him tlown here immediately. If he should be going with pay to Captain Hogg [whose unpaid men had mutinied] , he is to proceed with despatch ;' but if he is at Fort Cumberland, order him down to Win chester, to wait there until I arrive." December 5, 1755, Washington wrote to Governor Din widdie from Alexandria : " I have sent the bearer, Captain John Mercer (who has accounts to settle with the Committee), to the Treasurer for the balance of that ^10,000; and to acquaint your Honor, that, meeting with letters at Fredericksburg, in forming me that all was peaceable above, and that noth ing was so immediately wanting as salt, I got what I could at that place, and hastened on here to engage more, to receive the recruits expected in, and to wait the arrival of the vessel with arms, etc., from James River, in order to forward them up with the greater despatch. The vessel is not yet arrived. " I have impatiently expected to hear the result of your Honor's letter to Governor Shirley, and wish that the delays may not prove ominous. In that case, I shall not know how to act ; for I can never submit to the command of Captain Dagworthy, since you have honored me with the command of the Virginia regiment, etc. LIFE AND TIMES. 283 " The country has sustained inconceivable losses, by de laying the commissaries at Williamsburg. Many of the beeves are dead, through absolute poverty, and the chief part of them too poor to slaughter. We are at a loss how to act, for want of the mutiny bill ; and should be obliged to your Honor, if you will have fifty or a hundred printed, and sent by the bearer. There is a clause in that bill, which, if you are not kind enough to obviate it, will pre vent entirely the good intention of it, that is, delaying the execution of sentences, until your Honor shall be made acquainted with the proceedings of the court. This, at times when there is the greatest occasion for examples, will be morally impossible; I mean, when we are on our march, perhaps near the Ohio, when none but strong par ties can pass with safety. At all times it must be attended with great expense, trouble, and inconveniency. This I represented to Col. Corbin, and some other gentlemen of the Council, when I was down, who said that the objec tion would be removed, by your Honor's giving blank warrants, to be filled up as occasion should require. This would effectually remedy all those evils, and put things in their proper channel. " We suffer greatly for want of kettles ; those sent from below, being tin, are of short duration. We shall also, in a little time, suffer as much for the want of clothing ; none can be got in these parts ; those which Major Carlyle and Dalton contracted to furnish we are disappointed of. Shoes and stockings we have, and can get more if wanted, but nothing else. I should be glad your Honor would direct what is to be done in these cases; and that you would be kind enough to desire the treasurer to send some part of the money in gold and silver. Were this done we might often get necessaries for the regiment in Maryland, 284 WASHINGTON. or Pennsylvania, when they cannot be had here. But with our money it is impossible ; our paper not passing there. " The recruiting service goes on extremely slow. Yes terday being a day appointed for rendezvousing at this place, there came in ten officers with twenty men only. If I had any other than paper money, and you approved of it, I would send to Pennsylvania and the borders of Caro lina. I am confident men might be had there. Your Honor never having given any particular directions about the provisions, I should be glad to know, whether you would have more laid in than what will serve for 1200 men, that I may give orders accordingly. "As I cannot now conceive that any great danger can be apprehended at Fort Cumberland this winter, I am sensi ble that my constant attendance there cannot be so ser viceable as riding from place to place, making the proper dispositions, and seeing that all our necessaries are for warded up with despatch. I therefore think it advisable to inform your Honor of it, hoping it will correspond with your own opinion. " I forgot to mention when I was down, that Mr. Living ston, the Fort Major, was appointed adjutant to our regi ment. I know of none else whose long servitude in a military way had better qualified for the office. He was appointed the I7th of September. " Captain Mercer's pay as aid-de-camp seems yet doubt ful. I should be glad if your Honor would fix it ; as so is Captain Stewart's. If Captain Stewart's is increased, I suppose all the officers belonging to the light-horse will expect to have theirs augmented also. Colonel Stephen, in a late letter, discovered an inclination to go to the Creek and Cherokee Indians this winter. I told him where to apply, if he had any such thoughts. I believe, on so useful a business, he might be spared until the spring. If your LIFE AND TIMES. 285 Honor think proper to order the Act of Assembly for apprehending deserters, and against harboring them, to be published every Sunday in each parish church, until the people are made acquainted with the law, it would have a very good effect. The commonalty in general err more through ignorance than design. Few of them are acquainted that such a law exists, and there is no other certain way of bringing it to their knowledge. There are a great many of the men that did once belong to our companies, de serted from the regiments into which they were drafted, that would now gladly return, if they could be sure of indemnity. If your Honor would be kind enough to in timate this to General Shirley, or the colonels of those regiments, it would be of service to us. Without leave, we dare not receive them." December 28, 1755, Washington wrote from Winchester to Lieut.-Col. Adam Stephen : " Captain John Mercer only returned last night from Williamsburg, and brings no satisfactory answers to any thing I questioned the Governor upon. " The express, that was sent to General Shirley, is re turned without seeing him ; however, the Governor writes that he expects answers to his letters by Colonel Hunter, who is now at New York, and waits the arrival of the General at that place. The Governor is very strongly of the opinion, that Captain Dagworthy has no right to con tend for the command ; and in his letter he says, after men tioning the return of the express, and his expectancy of satisfactory letters, ' But I am of opinion you might have obviated the inconsistent dispute with Captain Dag- worthy, by asking him if he did not command a provincial company by virtue of Governor Sharpe's commission; as that he had formerly from his Majesty now ceases, as he is not on the half-pay list ; if so, the method you are to take 286 WASHINGTON. is very obvious, as your commission from me is greater than what he has/ And in Williamsburg, when I was down there, both he and Colonel Fitzhugh told me, that Dagworthy could have no more pretensions to command me, or either of the field-officers of the Virginia regiment, than we have to command General Shirley; and further gave it as their opinion, that as Dagworthy's was only a botched-up commission at best, and as he commanded a provincial company, and by virtue of a governor's commis sion, that he ought to be arrested for his presumption. They say, allowing his commission from the King to be valid, yet, as he is not there by order of his Majesty, he can have no better pretensions than a visiting half-pay offi cer, who transiently passes through the camp, to assume the command. " I wish you would sound him on this head, and hear how he will answer these things, and let me know when you come down, which I desire may be immediately, as I want much to consult you upon several accounts. The paymaster and commissary (if he is not very much en gaged) must accompany you. Desire both to have their accounts settled, and brought with them, as that is neces sary before I can give more money. " I have sent you one of the mutiny bills which I re ceived from below, but I think, indeed I believe it is abso lutely necessary, as we still want the power, to postpone trials until after your return. Also desire all the officers who have received money for recruiting, to make up their accounts immediately; and charge for no more men than have actually been received at the several rendezvous. Allowance will be made for no others. The arrears of pay for these officers and soldiers who have not received for the months of January and February, are immediately to be made out, and sent down by you with the recruiting ac- LIFE AND TIMES. 287 counts. Desire them to charge for no men but what are present, as I can pay for no others now. " Enclosed is a commission for Captain Waggener, which I have neglected giving before ; so long as I have had it. Desire him, as the command upon your leaving the place will devolve upon him, to be very circumspect in his duty, and to see that the troops are duly drawn out and trained to their exercise, and practised to bush-fighting." To Governor R. H. Morris, of Pennsylvania, Washing ton wrote from Winchester, January 5, 1756: " I am sorry it has not been in my power to acknowledge the receipt of yours until now. At the time that your letter came to Winchester, I was at Williamsburg ; before I got back it was conveyed thither; and so from place to place has it been tossing almost till this time. " There is nothing more necessary than good intelli gence to frustrate a designing enemy, and nothing that requires greater pains to obtain. I shall, therefore, cheer fully come into any measures you can propose to settle a correspondence for this salutary end; and you may de pend upon receiving (when the provinces are threatened) the earliest and best intelligence that I can procure. " I sympathized in general concern to see the inactivity of your province in a time of eminent danger; but am pleased to find, that a feeling sense of wrongs has roused the spirit of your martial Assembly to vote a sum which, with your judicious application, will turn to a general good. " We took some pretty vigorous measures to collect a force upon our frontiers upon the first alarm, which has kept us peaceable ever since. How long this may last is uncertain, since that force, which were militia, are dis banded, and the recruiting service almost stagnated. " If you propose to levy troops, and their designation is not a secret, I should be favored were I let into the scheme, 288 WASHINGTON. that we may act conjointly, so far as the nature of things will admit. " Pray direct to me at Alexandria, to which place I de sign to go in about ten days from this." In communicating to the officers of the Virginia regi ment the fact that an officer had been tried by court-martial and suspended, Washington made this address, January 8, 1756: " This timely warning of the effects of misbehavior will, I hope, be instrumental in animating the younger officers to a laudable emulation in the service of their country. Not that I apprehend any of them can be guilty of of fences of this nature; but there are many other misde meanors, that will, without due circumspection, gain upon inactive minds, and produce consequences equally dis graceful. " I would, therefore, earnestly recommend, in every point of duty, willingness to undertake, and intrepid reso lution to execute. Remember that it is the actions, and not the commission, that make the officer, and that there is more expected from him than the title. Do not forget that there ought to be a time appropriated to attain this knowledge, as well as to indulge pleasure. And as we now have no opportunities to improve from example, let us read for this desirable end. There are Eland's and other treatises which will give the wished-for information. " I think it my duty, gentlemen, as I have the honor to preside over you, to give this friendly admonition ; especi ally as I am determined, as far as my small experience in service, my abilities, and interest of the service may dic tate, to observe the strictest discipline through the whole economy of my behavior. On the other hand, you may as certainly depend upon having the strictest justice admin istered to all, and that I shall make it the most agreeable LIFE AND TIMES. 289 part of my duty to study merit, and reward the brave and deserving. I assure you, gentlemen, that partiality shall never bias my conduct, nor shall prejudice injure any; but, throughout the whole tenor of my proceedings, I shall endeavor, as far as I am able, to reward and punish, with out the least diminution." January 14, 1756, Washington wrote to Governor Din- widdie from Alexandria : " Major Lewis, being at Winchester when your letter came to hand, was immediately despatched to Augusta, to take upon him the command of the troops destined against the Shawnese Town; with orders to follow such directions as he should receive from you. This scheme, though, I am apprehensive will prove abortive, as we are told that those Indians are removed up the river, into the neighborhood of Fort Duquesne. " I have given all necessary orders for training the men to a proper use of their arms, and the method of Indian fighting, and hope in a little time to make them expert. And I should be glad to have your Honor's express com mands, either to prepare for taking the field, or for guard ing our frontiers, in the spring, because the steps for these two are very different. I have already built two forts on Patterson's Creek, which have engaged the chief of the inhabitants to return to the plantations; and have now ordered Captain Waggener with 60 men to build and garrison two others, on places I have pointed out high up on the South Branch, which will be a means of securing near a hundred miles of our frontiers, exclusive of the command at Fort Dinwiddie, on Jackson's river. And, indeed, without a much greater number of men than we have a visible prospect of getting, I do not see how it is possible to think of passing the mountains, or acting more than defensively. This seems to be the full determination 19 290 WASHINGTON. of the Pennsylvanians ; so that there can be no hope o! assistance from that quarter. If we only act defensively, I would most earnestly recommend the building of a strong fort at some convenient place in Virginia, as that in Maryland, not to say anything of its situation, which is extremely bad, will ever be an eyesore to this colony, and attended with more inconvenience than it is possible to enumerate. One instance of this I have taken notice of, in a letter that accompanies this, and many more I could recite, were it necessary. " If we take the field there is no time to carry on a work of this kind, but we should immediately set about engag ing wagons, horses, forage, pack-saddles, etc. And here I cannot help remarking, that I believe it will be impossible to get wagons or horses sufficient, without the old score is paid off ; as the people are really ruined for want of their money, and complain justly of their grievances. " I represented in my last the inconveniences of the late act of Assembly, which obliges us first to send to your Honor for a commission to hold general courts- martial, and then to delay execution until a warrant can be had from Williamsburg ; and I hope you will take the thing into consideration. We have several deserters now on hand, whom I have taken by vigorous measures, and who should be made examples to others, as this practice is continued with greater spirit than ever. " Unless clothing is soon provided, the men will be un fit for any kind of service. And I know of no expedient to procure them, but by sending to the northward, as cloth cannot be had here. I left, among other returns, an exact account of the clothing at every place, when I was in Williamsburg. I shan't care to lay in provisions for more than 1000 men, unless I have your Honor's orders. We have put out such of the beeves as were unfit for LIFE AND TIMES. 291 slaughtering. If they survive the winter they may be useful in the summer. " Ensign Poison having received a commission in Col onel Gage's regiment, makes a vacancy here which, with your approbation, will be rilled by Mr. Dennis McCarthy, whom you once appointed a captain. He has continued a volunteer ever since, and has recruited several men into the service, and I hope your Honor will allow me the liberty, as you once promised me, of filling up the vacan cies as they happen, with the volunteers, who serve with that expectation. We have several with us, that seem to be very deserving young gentlemen. I shall observe the strictest justice in promoting them according to their merit, and their time of entering the service I have or dered Capt. Hog to render immediately a fair account to the company of the money sent him. He was ordered to lay in provisions for only 12 months. Capt. Stewart has recruited his complement of men. I should be glad to know whether he is to complete his horse against the spring and provide accoutrements. "I have been obliged to suspend Ensign Dekeyser for misbehavior until your pleasure is known. See the pro ceedings of the enquiring courts. His character in many other respects has been infamous. I have also been obliged to threaten, in your name, the new appointed offi cers with the same fate if they are not more diligent in recruiting the companies, as each received his commission upon those terms. Capt. Mercer comes down for more money and to satisfy how the 10,000 has been applied. " The skipper of the vessels has embezzled some of the stores; but for want of a particular invoice of them, we cannot ascertain the loss. He is kept in confinement until your Honor's pleasure is known." 292 WASHINGTON. Under the same date Washington wrote again to Gov. Dinwiddie from Alexandria: " When I was down the Committee among- other things resolved, that the Maryland and Carolina companies should not be supported with our provisions. This re solve (I think) met with your approbation; upon which I wrote to Colonel Stephen, desiring him to acquaint Cap tain Dagworthy thereof, who paid slight regard to it, saying it was in the King's garrison, and all the troops had an equal right to draw provisions with us, by his order as commanding officer, and that we, after it was put there, had no power to remove it without his leave. I should, therefore, be glad of your Honor's peremptory orders what to do in this case, as I do not care to act without instructions, lest it should appear to proceed from pique and resentment at having the command disputed. This is one among the numberless inconveniences of hav ing the fort in Maryland. Captain Dagworthy, I dare venture to affirm, is encouraged to say this by Governor Sharpe, who we know has wrote to him to keep the com mand. This Captain Dagworthy acquainted Colonel Stephen of himself. As I have not yet heard how Gen eral Shirley has answered your Honor's request, I fear the success, especially as it is next to an impossibility (as Governor Sharpe has been there to plead Captain Dag- worthy's cause) by writing to make the General ac quainted with the nature of the dispute. The officers have drawn up a memorial to be presented to the Gen eral, and, that it may be properly strengthened, they hum bly beg your solicitation to have us (as we have certain advices that it is in his power) put upon the establish ment. This would at once put an end to contention, which is the root of evil, and destructive to the best of LIFE AND TIMES. 293 operations; and turn all our movements into a free, easy channel. " They have urged it in the warmest manner to me, to appear personally before the General for that end, which I would, at this disagreeable season, gladly do, things be ing thus circumstanced, if I had your permission; which I more freely ask, since I am determined to resign a com mission, which you were generously pleased to offer me, (and for which I shall always retain a grateful sense of the favor), rather than submit to the command of a per son, who, I think, has not such superlative merit to bal ance the inequality of rank, however he adheres to what he calls his right, and in which I know he is supported by Governor Sharpe. He says, that he has no commis sion from the province of Maryland, but acts by virtue of that from the King; that this was the condition of his engaging in the Maryland service ; and when he was sent up there the ist of last October, was ordered by Governor Sharpe and Sir John St. Clair not to give up his right. To my certain knowledge his rank was disputed before General Burgoyne, who gave it in his favor; and he ac cordingly took place of every captain upon the expedition, except Capt. James Mercer and Capt. Rutherford, whose commissions were older than his ; so that I should not by any means choose to act, as your Honor hinted in your last, lest I should be called to an account myself. " I have, during my stay above (at Winchester) from the ist of December to this, disposed of all the men and officers (that are not recruiting and can be spared from the fort) in the best manner I can for the defence of the inhabitants, and they will need no further orders till I could return. And the recruiting officers are allowed till the first of March to repair to their rendezvous, which leaves at present nothing to do at the Fort, but to train 294 WASHINGTON. and discipline the men, and prepare and salt the provi sions. For the better perfecting both these, I have left full and clear directions. " Besides, in other respects, I think my going to the northward might be of service, as I should thereby, so far as they thought proper to communicate, be acquainted with the plan of operations, especially the Pennsylvanians ', so as to act, as much as the nature of things would admit, in concert. " If you think proper to comply with my request, I should be glad of any letters, such as you think would enforce the petition to the General, or any of the Gov ernors in my way there." Two weeks later, February I, 1756, Washington wrote from Alexandria to Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen : " Looking upon our affairs at this crtical juncture to be of such importance, and having a personal acquaintance with General Shirley, which I thought might add some weight to the strength of our memorial, I solicited leave, which is obtained, to visit him in person, and accordingly set out in two days for Boston, having procured letters, etc., from the Governor, which was the result of a Council for the purpose called. You may depend upon it, I shall leave no stone unturned for this salutary end ; and, I think, if reason, justice, and every other equitable right can claim attention, we deserve to be heard. "As I have taken the fatigue, etc., of this tedious jour ney upon myself, (which I never thought of until I had left Winchester), I hope you will conduct everything in my absence for the interest and honor of the service. And I must exhort you in the most earnest manner to strict discipline and due exercise of arms. ft You may tell Mr. Livingston from me, that, if the soldiers are not skilled in arms equal to what may reason- LIFE AND TIMES. 295 ably be expected, he most assuredly shall answer it at my return. And I must ingenuously tell you, that I also ex pect to find them expert at bush-fighting. "The Governor seems determined to make the officers comply with the terms of getting their commissions, or forfeit them, and approves of Dekeyser's suspension, and orders that he shall not be admitted into the camp. He seems uneasy at what I own gives me much concern, i. e., that gaming seems to be introduced into the camp. I am ordered to discourage it, and must desire that you will intimate the same. " Things not being rightly settled for punishing de serters according to their crimes, you must go on in the old way of whipping stoutly." To Governor Dinwiddie, Washington wrote from Alex andria, February 2, 1756: " I can but return my hearty thanks for your kind con descension in suffering me to wait upon General Shirley, as I am very well assured it was done with the intention to favor my suit. " There is as yet an unanswerable argument against our taking the field, which I forgot to mention in my last ; that is, the want of a train of artillery, and, what is full as nec essary, engineers to conduct the affair, if we hope to ap proach Fort Duquesne. By the advices, which we have received hitherto from the northward, the Pennsylvanians are determined to act defensively. For that purpose they have posted their new raised levies upon their frontiers at different passes, and have received the additional strength and favor of a detachment or two from the regu lars. I have ordered, besides the forts that are built and are now building, that a road which I had reconnoitred, and which proves nearer and better, to be immediately opened for the more easy transportation of stores, etc., 296 WASHINGTON. from Winchester to Fort Cumberland ; so there is not the ieast fear of the soldiers being corrupted through idleness." After explaining that the commission for calling gen eral courts-martial did not empower the commander to act without first receiving an order from the Governor to do so, Washington further said : " I have always, so far as it was in my power, en deavored to discourage gaming in the camp ; and always shall so long as I have the honor to preside there. " I cannot help observing that your Honor, if you have not seen the clothing lately sent up, has been imposed upon by the contractors, for they are really unfit for use ; at least, will soon be so."] The chronic difficulty of the old contest between royal and provincial officers had not yet been laid. At Fort Cumberland a royally commissioned officer, Captain Dag- worthy, with a small company of Maryland militia, refused obedience to the Virginia provincial commander-in-chief, and according to the King's order in the case of royal and provincial officers, he even claimed precedency in rank. The commander appealed to Governor Dinwiddie but could not induce him to take decisive measures in the case, and the Governor of Maryland actually sustained the claim of Dagworthy. To settle this annoying and embarrassing dis pute Washington, at the request of his officers, with the approval of Governor Dinwiddie and with commendatory letters from him (Feb. 4, 1756), repaired to Boston to General Shirley, who then was Commander-in-Chief of the British troops in America. It was now midwinter, but attended by Captain Mercer, who was his aide, and by Captain Stewart, he performed the journey of 500 miles on horseback. General Shirley's decision on the subject was ready and LIFE AND TIMES. 297 positive. He issued an order requiring Captain Dagworthy to yield obedience to the Virginia commander. Washing ton he received in the kindest manner, and he acquainted him with the details of his plan of the next season's cam paign. The journey to Boston by way of Philadelphia, New York, and Ocher principal cities, little as such results could have been anticipated or could be desired by sticklers for the superiority of royal commissions, essentially con tributed to Washington's celebrity, influence, and knowl edge of affairs. In less than two months' time he was again engrossed with measures for repelling intrusions of the French and for staying depredations and incursions of the savages, which had become frequent and very daring. [Washington left Alexandria for Boston, February 4, 1756. He was in Philadelphia on the 8th, where the old campaigner, Gist, had found reason the autumn before to write to him : " Your name is more talked of in Phila delphia than that of any other person in the army, and everybody seems willing to venture under your com mand." The New York Mercury of February i6th re corded his arrival in New York on the I5th, and on the 26th he had left for Boston on the Friday previous, the 25th. He passed through New London, Newport, and Providence, and was in Boston February 27th-March loth. He was in New York on the return March I4th; was in Philadelphia March I7th; and March 23d was at Alexan dria, to resume his duties as Commander-in-Chief on the frontier. April 7, 1756, he wrote from Winchester to Governor Dinwiddie: " I arrived here yesterday, and think it advisable to despatch an express to inform you of the unhappy situa tion of affairs in this quarter. The enemy have returned in greater numbers, committed several murders not far 298 WASHINGTON. from Winchester, and even are so daring as to attack our forts in open day, as your Honor may see by the enclosed letters and papers. Many of the inhabitants are in a miserable situation by their losses, and so apprehensive of danger that, I believe, unless a stop is put to the depre dations of the Indians, the Blue Ridge will soon become our frontier. " I find it impossible to continue on to Fort Cumber land, until a body of men can be raised, in order to do what I have advised with Lord Fairfax, and other officers of the militia, who have ordered each captain to call a private muster, and to read the exhortation enclosed (for orders are no longer regarded in this county), in hopes that this expedient may meet with the wished-for success. If it should, I shall with such men as are ordered from Fort Cumberland to join these, scour the woods and sus pected places, in all the mountains, valleys, etc., on this part of our frontiers, and doubt not but I shall fall in with the Indians and their more cruel associates! I hope the present emergency of affairs, assisted by such good news as the Assembly may by this time have received from England, and the Commissioners, will determine them to take vigorous measures for their own and country's safety, and no longer depend on an uncertain way of rais ing men for their own protection. However absurd it may appear, it is nevertheless certain, that 500 Indians have it more in their power to annoy the inhabitants than ten times their number of regulars. For besides the ad vantageous way they have of fighting in the woods, their cunning and craft are not to be equalled, neither their activity and indefatigable sufferings. They prowl about like wolves, and, like them, do their mischief by stealth. They depend upon their dexterity in hunting and upon the cattle of the inhabitants for provisions. For which LIFE AND TIMES. 299 reason, I own, I do not think it unworthy the notice of the legislature to compel the inhabitants (if a general war is likely to ensue, and things to continue in this un happy situation for any time), to live in townships, work ing at each others farms by turns, and to drive their cattle into the thickly settled parts of the country. Were this done, they could not be cut off by small parties, and large ones could not subsist without provisions." To Speaker Robinson, Washington also wrote: "If the fears of the people do not magnify numbers, those of the enemy are not inconsiderable. They have made many ineffectual attempts upon several of our forts, destroyed cattle, burned plantations, and this in defiance of our smaller parties, while they dexterously avoid the larger. Our detachments, by what I can learn, have sought them diligently, but the cunning and vigilance of Indians in the woods are no more to be conceived, than they are to be equalled by our people. Indians are only match for Indians ; and without these, we shall ever fight upon unequal terms. I hope the Assembly since they see the difficulty of getting men by enlistment, will no longer depend upon that uncertain way of raising them, but make each of the lower Counties furnish its full pro portion." The work of the recruiting officers for the whole win ter had only secured 600 men. In the letter to Dinwiddie of April 7th, Washington went on to say: " It seemed to be the sentiment of the House of Bur gesses when I was down, that a chain of forts should be erected upon our frontiers, for the defence of the people. This expedient, in my opinion, without an inconceivable number of men, will never answer their expectations." The House had voted in the spring session to erect a chain of forts beginning at Harry Enochs, on Great 300 WASHINGTON. Cape-capon, in the county of Hampshire, and extending to the south fork of Mayo-river in Halifax county, the number and distance from each other to be such as the governor or the commander-in-chief of the colony should think necessary." After a reference to Major Lewis's expedition, intended to reach the Indian Shawanes Town, but prevented by the state of the rivers, swollen by heavy rains and melting snow, Washington goes on to say: " It was an expedition, from which, on account of the length of the march down, I always had little expectation of, and often expressed my uneasy apprehensions on that head. But since they are returned, with the Indians that accompanied them, I think it would be a very happy step to prevail upon the latter to proceed as far as Fort Cum berland. It is in their power to be of infinite use to us ; and without Indians, we shall never be able to cope with those cruel foes to our country. " I would therefore beg leave to recommend in a very earnest manner, that your Honor would send an express to them immediately for this desirable end. I should have Hone it myself, but was uncertain whether it might prove agreeable or not. I also hope your Honor will order Major Lewis to secure his guides, as I understand he attributes all his misfortunes to their misconduct. Such offences as those should meet with adequate punishment, else we may ever be misled by designing villains. " Since writing the above, Mr. Pearis, who commanded a party as per enclosed list, is returned, who relates, that, upon the North River, he fell in with a small body of In dians which he engaged, and, after a dispute of half an hour, put them to flight. M. Douville, commander of the party, was killed and scalped, and his instructions found about him, which I enclose. We had one man killed, and LIFE AND TIMES. 301 two wounded. Mr. Pearls sends the scalp by Jenkins ; and I hope, although it is not an Indian's, they will meet with an adequate reward at least, as the Monsieur's is of much more consequence. The whole party jointly claim the reward, no person pretending solely to assume the merit." The Assembly had offered, in August, 1755, a reward of 10 for every scalp of a male Indian above the age of twelve. This reward was increased to 15 in April, 1757, and a further sum of 30 for each scalp taken within the next two years. Maryland had, in September, 1756, made the reward for an Indian scalp 50. The letter to Dinwiddie continues: " Your Honor may in some measure penetrate into the daring designs of the French by their instructions, where orders are given to burn, if possible, our magazine at Conococheague, a place that is in the midst of a thickly settled country." The orders in question were given by Dumas, who had succeeded Contrecoeur as French commandant at Fort Duquesne. In translation they read as follows : " Fort Duquesne, March 23, 1756. The Sieur Douville, at the head of a detachment of 50 savages, is ordered to go and observe the motions of the enemy in the neighborhood of Fort Cumberland. He will endeavor to harass their convoys, and burn their magazines at Conococheague, should this be practicable. He must use every effort to take prisoners, who may confirm what we already know of the enemies designs. The Sieur Douville will employ all his talent and all his credit to prevent the savages from committing any cruelties on those who may fall into their hands. Honor and humanity ought, in this respect, to serve as our guide." These last words Mr. W. C. Ford says, " at least give a 302 WASHINGTON. favorable indication of the commandant's humanity," the fact having been that the words in no way operated to hold the hand of savage massacre, and most manifestly were neither intended nor expected to have any such result. Washington's letter goes on to say of the threat ened magazine: n I have ordered the party there to be made as strong as time and our present circumstances will afford, for fear they should attempt to execute the orders of Dumas. I have also ordered up an officer and 20 recruits to assist Joseph Edwards, and the people on those waters (the Great Cacapehon). The people of this town are under dreadful apprehensions of an attack, and all the roads between this and Fort Cumberland are much infested. As I apprehend you will be obliged to draft men, I hope care will be taken that none shall be chosen but active, reso lute men, men, who are practised to arms, and are marksmen. " I also hope that a good many more will be taken than what are requisite to complete our numbers to what the Assembly design to establish; as many of those we have got are really in a manner unfit for duty; and were re ceived more through necessity than choice; and will very badly bear a re-examination. Another thing I would beg leave to recommend; and that is, that such men as are drafted, should be only taken for a time, by which means we shall get better men, and which will in all probability stay with us." " I think it not amiss," Washington said in a letter to Speaker Robinson, " that they should serve only 18 or 20 months, and then be discharged. Twenty months will embrace two full campaigns, which will, I apprehend, bring matters to a crisis one way or another." In a letter of April 9, 1756, to Governor Morris, of LIFE AND TIMES. 303 Pennsylvania, Washington related the success of the party which encountered Douville with his detachment of sav ages, and then went on to say : "The accident that has determined the fate of M. Dou ville has, I believe, dispersed his party, for I don't hear of any mischief done in this colony since, though we are not without numbers who are making hourly discoveries. " I have sent you a copy of the instructions that were found about this officer, that you may see how bold and enterprising the enemy have grown, how unconfmed are the ambitious designs of the French, and how much it will be in their power (if the Colonies continue in their fatal lethargy) to give a final stab to liberty and property. " Nothing I more sincerely wish than a Union to the Colonies in this time of eminent danger, and that you may find your Assembly in a temper of mind to act consist ently with their preservation. What Maryland has done or will do, I know not, but this I am certain of, that Virginia will do everything that can be expected to promote the public good. " I went to Williamsburg fully resolved to resign my commission, but was disuaded from it at least for a time. " P. S. A letter this instant arriving from Williamsburg informs that our Assembly have voted 20,000 more, and that their forces should be increased to 2000 men. A laudable example this, and I hope not a singular one." In a letter of April 10, 1756, Governor Sharpe of Mary land said to Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, who was British Commander-in-Chief for America: "The enclosed letter I am desired to forward to your Excellency from Colonel Washington, and to request you to commission and appoint him second in command, in case these colonies shall raise a sufficient number of troops for carrying on an expedition or making a diversion to 304: WASHINGTON. the westward this summer. As Mr. Washington is much esteemed in Virginia, and really seems a gentleman of merit, I should be exceedingly glad to learn that your Excellency is not averse to favoring his application and request." To John Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Washington wrote from Winchester, April 16, 1756: " When I wrote you last, I was in high hopes of being by this time at the head of a large party scouring the Alleghany Hills. But the timidity of the inhabitants of this county is to be equalled by nothing but their perverse- ness. Yesterday was the time appointed for all to meet who were inclined to join for this desirable end, and only 15 came, some of whom refused to go but upon terms such as must have rendered their services burthensome to the country. Therefore, I am again reduced to the necessity of waiting the arrival of a party from Fort Cum berland before I can leave this place. There has been no mischief done since I wrote you last, which I attribute in some measure to the frequent parties I have ordered out in pursuit of the enemy. Yesterday I received an account which made me suspect that the Indians rendez voused upon the back of the Warm Spring Mountain. I have, therefore, sent orders to an officer who is out with a party of 100 men, to proceed thither with the best guides he can procure, and search that mountain well; which, if the intelligence be true, I hope he will render a good account of them. " Nothing, Sir, equals the pleasure I felt at hearing of the generous supplies the Assembly have voted. But to find that the men and money which they have given are properly disposed of, and that the men are formed for the service of the country, and not to make commissions to serve individuals, I have sent the Governor a plan or LIFE AND TIMES. 305 scheme, of which you have a copy ; to form the 2000 men into one regiment, consisting of two battalions, of ten companies each ; with five field officers each having a com pany, and every company to consist of one captain, two lieutenants, one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals, two drummers, and 87 private men: which will save the country the annual expense of 5006 i6s. and 8d., as you may see by the enclosed. And we at the same time be better appointed, and established more after the British custom than we now are, or shall be if formed into two regiments, or one regiment with only 50 men in a com pany. The difference, 5006 i6s. 8d., would go a great length either in clothing, or defraying incident charges of the regiment. Another difference is that of giving the field officers companies, which is practised in all parts of the world but this, and here discontinued evidently to the disadvantage of the country, as the field officers who have no companies are allowed in the same proportion as if they had, and three captains are paid to do this duty. " I have made bold, Sir, to offer my opinion freely, and if it meets with the approbation of your House, I should be glad if you would help it into execution. Otherwise, as I am sensible the Governor may be strongly impor tuned for commissions, he may good-naturedly grant them without considering how manifest an injury it will be to the country and service in general. "As I am convinced that no other method can be used to raise 2000 men, but by drafting, I hope to be excused when I again repeat, how great care should be observed in choosing active marksmen. The manifest inferiority of inactive persons, unused to arms, in this kind of service, although equal in numbers, to lively persons who have practised hunting, is inconceivable. The chance against them is more than two to one. Another thing I hope will 20 306 WASHINGTON. merit the consideration of the Assembly, and that is, that they will put all such men as are raised for the expedition in actual pay, and under the same dicipline that ours are at present ; otherwise, I am very well convinced their good intentions will prove abortive, and all the drafts quit the service as soon, or before, they are brought into it. " I do not conceive it to be a hardship to put even drafts under martial law, if they are only taken for a certain time, which I could wish to be the case, as I thereby hope for better men." To Governor Dinwiddie in this connection Washington wrote : " I have a brother that has long discovered an inclina tion to enter the service, but has till this been dissuaded from it by my mother, who now, I believe, will give consent. I must, therefore, beg that, if your Honor should issue any new commission before I come down, you will think of him and reserve a Lieutenancy. I flatter myself that he will endeavor to deserve it as well as some that have, and others that may get (commissions)." April 1 8, 1756, Washington wrote from Winchester to Dinwiddie : " It gave me infinite concern to find in yours by Gov ernor Innes, that any representations should inflame the Assembly against the Virginia regiment, or give cause to suspect the morality and good behavior of the officers. (Dinwiddie had reported " that the Assembly were greatly inflamed, being told that the greatest immoralities and drunkenness have been much countenanced and proper discipline neglected "). How far any of the individuals may have deserved such invidious reflections, I will not take it upon me to determine, but this I am certain of, and can call my conscience, and what, I suppose, will be a still more demonstrable proof in the eyes of the world, my LIFE AND TIMES. 307 orders, to witness how much I have, both by threats and persuasive means, endeavored to discountenance gaming, drinking, swearing, and irregularities of every other kind; while I have, on the other hand, practised every artifice to inspire a laudable emulation in the officers for the ser vice of their country, and to encourage the soldiers in the unerring exercise of their duty. How far I have failed in this desirable end I cannot pretend to say. But it is nevertheless a point, which does in my opinion merit some scrutiny, before it meets with a final condemnation. Yet I will not undertake to vouch for the conduct of many of the officers, as I know there are some who have the seeds of idleness very strongly engrafted in their natures ; and I also know that the unhappy difference about the command, which has kept me from Fort Cumberland, has consequently prevented me from enforcing the orders which I never failed to send. " However, if I continue in the service, I shall take care to act with a little more vigor than has hitherto been practised, since I find it so necessary. " I wrote your Honor in my last how unsuccessfully we attempted to raise the militia, and that I was reduced to the necessity of waiting here the arrival of an escort from Fort Cumberland. " The garrison at Fort Cumberland is barely manned. The rest are out on parties; yet the Indians continue to hunt the roads, and pick up straggling persons." On the next day Washington further wrote to Din- widdie : " Since writing my letter of yesterday's date, the en closed came to hand, by which your Honor will be in formed of a very unlucky affair (a skirmish with the In dians at Edwards's Fort, in which Captain J. Mercer and several of his party were killed). 308 WASHINGTON. " I immediately consulted Governor Innes, and such officers of my regiment as were at this place, on the neces sary steps to be taken. They unanimously advised that I should remain here with the 50 recruits that are in town, for the defence of the place, until the militia be raised, that we may thereby be enabled to compose a formidable body and march out against the enemy. This engagement happened within 20 miles of Winchester, and the sergeant, who brought the letter, assures me that they have reason to imagine, that their numbers are greater than the letter informs. He says that there were many French amongst them, and that the chief part of the whole were mounted on horseback; so that there is a great probability that they may have a design upon this place. " I have sent an express to Lord Fairfax, with a copy of Stark's letter, and have desired, in the most earnest manner, that he will be expeditious in calling the militia; but, alas! that is an unhappy dependence; yet the only one we have at present." "Washington's old friend, Lord Fairfax/' says Irving, had " found himself no longer safe in his rural abode. Greenway Court was in the midst of a woodland region, affording a covert approach for the stealthy savage. His lordship was considered a great chief, whose scalp would be an inestimable trophy for an Indian warrior. Fears were entertained, therefore, by his friends, that an attempt would be made to surprise him in his greenwood castle. His nephew, Colonel Martin of the militia, who resided with him, suggested the expediency of a removal to the lower settlements, beyond Blue Ridge. The high-spirited old nobleman demurred; his heart cleaved to the home which he had formed for himself in the wilderness. 'I am an old man/ said he, 'and it is of little importance whether I fall by the tomahawk or die of disease and old LIFE AND TIMES. 309 age ; but you are young, and, it is to be hoped, have many years before you, therefore decide for us both; my only fear is, that if we retire, the whole district will break up and take to flight ; and this fine country, which I have been at such cost and trouble to improve, will again become a wilderness.' " Colonel Martin took but a short time to deliberate. He knew the fearless character of his uncle, and perceived what was his inclination. He considered that his lordship had numerous retainers, white and black, with hardy hunts men and foresters to rally round him, and that Greenway Court was at no great distance from Winchester; he de cided, therefore, that they should remain and abide the course of events." To Lord Fairfax, April iQth, Washington wrote : " Unless I can throw some ammunition into Edwards's Fort to-night, the remainder of our party, and the inhab itants that are there, will more than probably fall a sacri fice to the Indians, as the bearer, who came off with the enclosed, assures me that the fort was surrounded, and that an assault was expected to-day."] They had waylaid and massacred scouting parties. They had attacked forts. In a skirmish they had routed a party of Americans and had killed Captain Mercer. They had also slain other military officers, and they had robbed and murdered occupants of villages and plantations but a few miles from large towns, and even within twenty miles of the Commander-in-Chief's headquarters at Winchester. The whole frontier of Virginia for the distance of more than 350 miles was exposed to the encroachments of the savages. And the sufferings of the settlers, throughout that range of border territory, were peculiarly afflictive at this crisis. Their once happy homes were now haunted by continual apprehensions of scenes of blood. While at the 310 WASHINGTON. plough or while gathering the fruits yielded by their orchards or gardens they were liable to be surprised by the demoniac red man, seen coming at a distance, or discov ered lurking behind trunks of trees, or crouching in high grass and among underwood. The cheerful harvest song of the borderer might, at any moment, be interrupted and hushed by the Indian whoop or yell. And the engaging pictures of rural domestic life, afforded by the mother at her spinning-wheel or in her household duties, her children in their gleeful sports, and her infant in the cradle, might suddenly be transformed into tragic scenes of blood, which none but fiends in the human form could have the heart to create or could look upon without remorse. At the signal of Indians coming the borderers would sometimes be able to flee unharmed, but it was to surrender life's comforts and often common necessaries. They might resort for protection, as they frequently did, to stockade forts, but there, surrounded by their pursuers, they were generally reduced to extreme thirst and hunger, and on at tempting to escape for their lives, were hunted down and slain. And to these evils were added those of captivity and torture, for the fierce and bloodthirsty red man of the woods seizes ruthlessly and indiscriminately men, women, children, and even tender babes, and, not content with slaughter, delights at times in protracted merciless cruelty, and exults at shrieks of anguish extorted from his victims. The want of suitable legislative measures providing for this state of things was felt and lamented. Unfurnished with the necessary men and means for defense the com- mander-in-chief appealed to Governor Dinwiddie in touch ing terms. In one of his appeals he uses these glowing words : " Your honor may see to what unhappy straits the distressed inhabitants and myself are reduced. I am too little acquainted, sir, with pathetic language, to attempt a LIFE AND TIMES. 311 description of the people's distresses, though I have a generous soul sensible of wrongs and swelling for redress. But what can I do? If bleeding, dying! would glut their insatiate revenge, I would be a willing offering to savage fury, and die by inches to save a people. I see their situa tion, know their danger, and participate their sufferings, without having it in my power to give them further relief than uncertain promises. In short, I see inevitable de struction in so clear a light that unless vigorous measures are taken by the Assembly and speedy assistance sent from below, the poor inhabitants that are now in forts must unavoidably fall while the remainder are fleeing be fore the barbarous foe. " In fine, the melancholy situation of the people, the little prospect of assistance, the gross and scandalous abuse cast upon the officers in general, which is reflecting upon me in particular, for suffering misconduct of such extraordinary kinds, and the distant prospect, if any, of gaining honor and reputation in the service, cause me to lament the hour that gave me a commission and would induce me, at any other time than this of imminent dan ger, to resign, without one hesitating moment, a command from which I never expect to reap either honor or benefit, but on the contrary, have almost an absolute certainty of incurring displeasure below, while the murder of helpless families may be laid to my account here ! " The supplicating tears of the women, and moving peti tions of the men, melt me into such deadly sorrow that I solemnly declare, if I know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would contribute to the people's ease. [" Lord Fairfax has ordered men from the adjacent counties, but when they will come, or in what numbers, I cannot pretend to determine. If I may judge from the sue- 312 WASHINGTON. cess we have met with here, I have but little hopes, as three days incessant endeavors have produced but 20 men. " I have too often urged my opinion for vigorous meas ures ; therefore I shall only add, that, besides the accounts you will receive in the letters, we are told from all parts that the woods seem to be alive with Indians, who feast upon the fat of the land. As we have not more than a barrel or two of powder at this place (Winchester), the rest being at Fort Cumberland, I could wish your Honor would send some up. I have written to Alexandria and Fredericksburg, desiring that - two barrels may be sent from each place, but whether there is any at either, I know not. I have sent orders to Captain Harrison to be diligent on the waters where he is poste_d, and to use his utmost endeavors to protect the people ; and, if possi ble, to surprise the enemy at their sleeping places Ashby's letter is a very extraordinary one (reporting that 400 In dians had demanded the surrender of his fort, 1500 had gone to Fort Cumberland and 2000 to the Juniata). The design of the Indians was only, in my opinion, to intimi date him into a surrender. For which reason I have writ ten him word, that if they do attack him, he must defend that place to the last extremity, and when he is bereft of hope, then to lay a train to blow up the fort, and retire by night to Fort Cumberland. A small fort, which we have at the mouth of Patterson's Creek, containing an officer and 30 men guarding stores, was attacked smartly by the French and Indians ; they were as warmly received, upon which they retired. Our men at present are dis persed into such small bodies, guarding the people and public stores, that we are not able to make, or even form a body."]* His heartfelt concern for the people's welfare could not * Letter to Governor Dinwiddie, April 22, 1756. SAMUEL ADAMS. LIFE AND TIMES. 313 find utterance in words more glowing. He was willing to surrender his life for their sake. Yet at the very period when thus, in the spirit of the Roman Decii, he was in dulging intense emotions of self-sacrifice, his feelings were subjected to a severe torture. A plot was formed to effect his removal from his post. Numerous reports to the dis credit of the army, the officers, and the commander, were industriously circulated through the columns of a news paper. The keen sensibilities of the commander were of course deeply wounded, especially as the authors of the libelous reports did not meet with prompt rebukes in his behalf. Indulging the noble independence of his mind he thought of at once resigning his commission. This was the secret hope of his calumniators. But it was doomed to bitter disappointment. The faction which sought by means oi his retirement and of their favor with their Scotch country man, Governor Dinwiddie, to gain rank and emolument, was detected and rewarded to the full measure with deserved obloquy, and Colonel Washington gave free utterance to such sentiments as the occasion demanded and caused his merits to shine with increased luster. Robinson, the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, said: "Our hopes, Dear George, are all fixed on you for bringing our affairs to a happy issue. Consider of what fatal consequences to your country your resigning the command at this time may be; more especially as there is no doubt that most of the officers would follow your example. I hope you will allow your ruling passion, the love of your country, to stifle your resentment at least till the arrival of Lord Loudoun, or the meeting of the Assembly, when you may be sure of having justice done. Who those of your pretended friends are who give credit to the ma licious reflections in that scandalous libel I assure you I 314 WASHINGTON. am ignorant; and I do declare that I never heard any man of honor or reputation speak the least disrespectful of you, or censure your conduct, and there is no well-wisher of his country that would not be greatly concerned to hear of your resigning." An affectionate friend wrote to him : " You cannot but know that nothing but want of power in your country has prevented it from adding every honor and reward that per fect merit could have entitled itself to. How are we grieved to hear Col. George Washington hinting to his country that he is willing to retire! Give me leave, as your most intimate friend, to persuade you to forget that anything has been said to your dishonor; and recollect that it could not have come from any man that knew you. And as it may have been the artifice of one in no esteem among your countrymen to raise in you such unjust suspicions as would induce you to desert the cause that his own preferment might meet with no obstacle, I am confident you will endeavor to give us the good effects, not only of duty but of great cheerfulness and satisfaction in such a service. No, sir; rather let Braddock's bed be your aim than any thing that might discolor those laurels which I promise myself are kept in store for you."* Another friend wrote : " From my constant attendance in the House (of Burgesses), I can with great truth say, I never heard your conduct questioned. Whenever you are mentioned, it is with the greatest respect. Your or ders and instructions appear in a light worthy of the most experienced officer. I can assure you that a very great majority of the House prefer you to any other person." Colonel William Fairfax, a member of the Governor's council, thus eloquently appealed to him : " Your endeavors in the service and defense of your country must redound * Letter "from Landon Carter. LIFE AND TIMES. 315 to your honor; therefore do not let any unavoidable inter ruptions sicken your mind in the attempts you may pursue. Your good health and fortune are the toast of every table. Among the Romans, such a general acclamation and pub lic regard, shown to any of their chieftains, were always esteemed a high honor and gratefully accepted."* [Sparks says of this plot against Washington: "The Governor, being a Scotchman, was surrounded by a knot of Caledonian friends, who wished to profit by this alli ance, and obtain for themselves a larger share of consid eration than they could command in the present order of things. The discontented, and such as thought their merits undervalued, naturally fell into this faction. To create dissatisfaction in the army, and cause the officers to resign from disgust, would not only distract the coun sels of the ruling party, but make room for new promo tions. Colonel Innes, the governor's favorite, would ascend to the chief command, and the subordinate places would be reserved for his adherents. Hence false rumors were set afloat, and the pen of detraction was busy to dis seminate them. Stories were circulated to the disparage ment of the army, charging the officers with gross irregu larities and neglect of duty, and indirectly throwing the blame upon the commander. A malicious person filled a gazette with tales of this sort, which seemed for the mo ment to receive public countenance. But the artifice was easily seen through, and its aims were defeated, by the leaders on the patriotic side, who looked to Colonel Wash ington as a pillar of support to their cause."] These powerful appeals addressed to the noble and gen erous mind of Washington could not fail of success. He continued in his office. And he was even cheered to pur sue its duties with increased alacrity. * Letter to Washington. 316 WASHINGTON. At this time (1756) the Assembly resolved to increase the army to 1,500 men and to establish a line of twenty- three forts which, extending from the Potomac to North Carolina, would constitute a frontier defense for about 300 miles. But this, in the opinion of the commander, was an inadequate provision for the existing exigency. He urged the House of Burgesses to increase the army to 2,000 men. He pointed to the great extent of the frontier to be pro tected; he pointed to the forts which required to be gar risoned; and he pointed to the inhabitants of the border country retiring before the enemy until they were about even to cross the Blue Ridge. The powerful eloquence of his appeal was not without effect. There prevailed a general and intense feeling. The Burgesses requested the Governor to summon half the militia of the adjoining counties to co-operate in meeting the fearful emergency. And the Attorney-General, Mr. Peyton Randolph, in the ardor of his military zeal on the occasion, formed a company of 100 gentlemen to act as volunteers in the approaching campaign. His conduct was an expressive indication of the spirit of the times. But the measure which he adopted was evidently far more credit able to his heart than to his head. Judge Marshall, allud ing to the incident, very judiciously observes " Ten well- trained woodsmen or Indians would have rendered more service." The House of Burgesses' scheme to establish a line of forts from the Potomac to North Carolina was disapproved of by the Governor. Washington, also, for reasons which he assigned, preferred a few strong to many feeble gar risons ; yet in obedience to the Assembly's will he planned and constructed the proposed military works. In doing this however he encountered many and perplexing annoy ances, arising chiefly from Governor Dinwiddie's exer- LIFE AND TIMES. 317 else of his prerogative in military matters, and from the Governor of Maryland's deranging the Virginia Assembly's plans. To provide effectually for relief from all existing evils Washington sent a full narrative of the state of things to the Earl of Loudoun, who had succeeded General Shirley as commander-in-chief, and was then at New York. It was the first intention of Lord Loudoun to go to Virginia. This intention however he did not fulfill. But he held at Philadelphia a meeting of the Governors of Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia. Washington, who was present at the meeting, was favorably regarded by the Governors in their consultations. It was his wish that the Virginia troops should be put upon the regular establishment and that he and his officers should hold royal commissions. In this wish however he was disappointed; yet, by an arrangement agreeable to him, he and all the provincial officers not comprehended in the northern army, were to conduct their operations under the general orders of Colonel Stanwix, an accom plished British officer stationed in the interior of Penn sylvania, and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the mid dle and southern provinces. The thoughts of the Governors were directed particu larly toward Canada and the northern lakes, and they re solved to take no offensive measures in the South. Fort Cumberland, being situated in Maryland, they agreed to commit to that province's keeping. The defense of Vir ginia against savages was to be provided for by Colonel Stanwix. It was a welcome communication which Washington re ceived from Governor Dinwiddie, instructing him to look to the British colonel for orders. " Colonel Stanwix," said the Governor, " being appointed commander-in-chief, you 318 WASHINGTON. must submit to his orders without regard to any you may receive from me ; he being near the place can direct affairs better than I can." The intercourse of Washington with this accomplished military officer was always of the most agreeable nature. Colonel Stanwix was a gentlemen of education and refine ment. He was promoted in the year 1758 to the rank of brigadier-general, and, being sent to an important post at the head of boat navigation on the Mohawk, he built a fort there, called, in honor of his name, Fort Stanwix. This military work, afterward called Fort Schuyler, was greatly celebrated during the Revolutionary War. [The extraordinary interest and importance of the pas sage in Washington's life covering his military service on the frontiers to the west and northwest of Virginia, are very inadequately shown by any narrative of the general facts, without large reproduction of his own account of particulars. The interest, in fact, of what he said, in vari ous letters and elaborate communications, far exceeds that of anything that was done, and it is most surprising that no story of the years 1756 and 1757, in his own words, has ever been attempted. That story we add here as of the greatest importance for knowledge of Washington at 24 and 25 years of age. April 24, 1756, Washington wrote from Winchester to Governor Dinwiddie: " Not an hour, nay scarcely a minute passes, that does not produce fresh alarms and melancholy accounts; so that I am distracted what to do. Nor is it possible for me to give the people the necessary assistance for their defense, upon account of the small number we have, or are likely to be here for some time. The inhabitants are removing daily, and in a short time will leave this county as desolate as Hampshire, where scarce a family lives. LIFE AND TIMES. 319 "Three families were murdered the night before last within 12 miles from this place; and every day we have accounts of such cruelties and barbarities as are shocking to human nature. Nor is it possible to conceive the situa tion of this miserable country. Such numbers of French and Indians are all around, no road is safe to travel; and here we know not the hour how soon we may be attacked. " I have written for the militia of Fairfax, Prince Wil liam, and Culpeper (counties), and expect them here in a very few days. But how they are to be supplied with ammunition and provision, I am quite at a loss. The distance of Fort Cumberland from us, where these sup plies are, renders them useless, in a manner, and puts us to the greatest straits; and the inhabitants leaving their farms will make it impossible for the militia to subsist without provisions, which are now very scarce, and will be more so. I should therefore be glad your Honor would send up arms, ammunition, and provisions, and give immediate orders for the Irish beef at Alexandria, which cannot be had without your consent. 11 Your Honor spoke of sending some Indians to our assistance, in which no time should be lost, nor means omitted to engage all the Catawbas and Cherokees that can possibly be gathered together, and immediately dis patched hither. For without Indians to oppose Indians, we may expect but small success. And I should think it no bad scheme, (while the Indians remain here in such numbers,) to have a detachment sent out with some friendly Indians to make an attempt upon their towns, though this should be executed with all imaginable secrecy. " I have been just now informed, that numbers about the neighborhood hold councils and cabals to very dis honorable purposes, and unworthy the thoughts of a Brit- 320 WASHINGTON. ish subject. Despairing of assistance and protection from below (as they foolishly conjecture), they talk of capitu lating and coming upon terms with the French and Indians, rather than lose their lives and fortunes through obstinacy. My force, at present, is very weak, and un able to take the necessary measures with those suspected; but, as soon as the militia arrive, be assured I will do my utmost to detect and secure such pests of society, if my information is not groundless, which I should be pleased to find so." Reporting that a council of war had determined that " Enoch's " fort should be abandoned and that all of the garrison possible to be spared at Fort Edwards should march to Winchester; and also that there had been a fight with the French and Indians at Fort Hopewell, on the South Branch, with the waters so high that assist ance could not be sent, Washington added: " From these and other circumstances, you may form but a faint idea of the wretched and unhappy situation of this country, nor can it be conceived. " My extreme hurry, confusion, and anxiety must plead an excuse for incorrectness, &c." To John Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, an ardent friend, and the recognized political chief of the colony, Washington wrote the same day, from Winchester: " The deplorable situation of this people is no more to be described than my anxiety and uneasiness for their relief. And I see in so clear a light the inevitable de struction of this county without immediate assistance, that I cannot look forward but with the most poignant sorrow. "You may expect, by the time this comes to hand, that, without a considerable reinforcement, Frederick county will not be mistress of fifteen families. They are LIFE AND TIMES. 321 now retreating to the securest parts in droves of fifties. In short, everything has too melancholy an appearance for pen to communicate. I have therefore sent an officer, whose good sense and judicious observations will be a more effectual way of transmitting an account of the peo ple's distresses. " I wish the Assembly had given 2000 men, instead of 1500, and that I had been acquainted with the dispositions they intended to make. Since I am ignorant of this, I hope it will not be thought presuming when I offer my sentiments upon the subject. " We are, Sir, first to consider, that if a chain of forts is to be erected upon our frontiers, it is done with a de sign to protect the people. Therefore, if these forts are more than 15 and 18 miles, or a day's march, asunder, and garrisoned with less than 80 or 100 men each, the intention is lost, and for these reasons, ist, if they are greater dis tances, it is inconvenient for the soldiers to scout, and allows the enemy to pass between without being easily dis covered, and when discovered so soon pursued. And sec ondly, if they are garrisoned with less than 80 or 100 men each, the number will be too few to afford detachments. Then, again, our frontiers are so extensive, that, were the enemy to attack us on the one side, before the troops on the other could get to their assistance, they might overrun and destroy half the country. And it is more than proba ble, if they had a design upon the first, they would make a feint upon the other. Then we are to consider what sums the building of 20 forts would cost, and the remov ing stores and provisions to each; and in the last place, we. are to consider where and when this expense is to end. For, if we do not endeavor to remove the cause, we are as liable to the same incursions seven years hence 21 323 WASHINGTON. as now, if the war continues, and they are allowed to re main on the Ohio. " I shall next give the reasons, which I think make for a defensive plan. If the neighboring Colonies refuse us their assistance, we have neither strength or abilities of ourselves to conduct an expedition; or, if we had, and were the whole to join us, I do not see to what pur pose, since we have neither a train of artillery, artillery men, engineers, &c., to execute any scheme beyond the mountains against a regular fortress. Again, we have not, that I can see either stores or provisions, arms or ammunition, wagons or horses, in any degree propor tioned to the service; and to undertake an affair, where we are sure to fall through, would be productive of the worst consequences, and another defeat would entirely lose us the interest of every Indian. " If, then, we cannot act offensively with a prospect of success, we must be upon the defensive; and that there is no way to protect the people, or save ourselves, but by a chain of forts, is evidently certain. " I would beg leave, in that case, to propose that there should be a strong fort erected at this place (Winches ter) for a general receptacle of all the stores, &c., and a place of residence for the commanding officers, to be garrisoned with one company for the security of the stores, and to serve as escorts for all wagons that are going higher up, because it is the most public and most convenient for intelligence of any in the country, and the most convenient to the part that will ever be attacked by numbers, it lying directly on the road to Fort Duquesne, from whence, and their Indian allies, who are still higher up, we have the greatest reason to apprehend danger. It also lies convenient to the inhabitants for raising the mili tia when occasion requires. LIFE^AND TIMES. 323 " I have found by experience, that being just within the inhabitants is absolutely necessary to give orders for the defense of the people; and that Fort Cumberland is of no more use towards the defence of the country than Fort George at Hampton, and know as little what is doing, For the people so soon as they are alarmed, immediately fly towards, and at this time there is not an inhabitant living between here and Fort Cumberland, except a few settlements upon the Manor about a fort we built there, and a few families at Edwards's, on Cacapehon, with a guard of ours; which makes this very town at present the outmost frontiers, and though a place trifling in itself, is yet of the utmost importance, as it commands the com munication from east to west, as well as from north to south; for at this place do almost all the roads center; and secures the great roads of one half of our frontiers to the markets of the neighboring colonies, as well as to those on Rappahannock and Potomack. At Fort Cum berland I would have one company garrisoned to secure the place, to procure the earliest intelligence, and to cover all detachments that may be sent towards the Ohio, which is all the use that it can ever be of. In the next place, I would propose, that a good fort should be erected between this and Fort Cumberland, which shall be in a line with the chain of forts across the country, and be garrisoned with two companies. This I would advise, because, as I before observed, if we are ever attacked by a large body, it must be here, as they have no other road to our frontiers, either to transport men or neces saries. " These three forts that I have already spoken of will em ploy four companies, which will be a tolerable body, if the companies are large, which they would be according to the plan I sent you. And it would be a trifling expense to 324 WASHINGTON. augment each company to 100 privates, which will make 2000 exclusive of officers, which were included in the scheme last sent. " After this is done, I would post the remaining com panies equidistant, or at proper passes, along our fron tiers, agreeable to the enclosed sketch, and order com munications to be opened between fort and fort, and large detachments scouting to discover the tracks of the enemy. " And now, Sir, one thing to add, which requires the Assembly's attention, and that is, in what vale, or upon what part of our frontiers these forts are to be built? For I am to tell you that the Great Ridge or North Moun tain, so called in Evans's map, to which I refer, is now become our exterior bound, there not being one inhabitant beyond that on all the Potomack waters, except a few families on the South Branch, and at Joseph Edwards's, on Cacapehon, guarded by a party of ours. So that it requires some consideration to determine whether we are to build near this to protect the present inhabitants; or on the South Branch, or Patterson's Creek, in the hopes of drawing back those who have forsaken their dwellings. " If we do not build there, that country will ever want settlers; and if we do, there is so great a blank, with such a series of mountains between, that it will be next to im possible to guard the people effectually. I could again wish that the Assembly had given 2000 men, exclusive of officers, to be formed into two battalions of ten companies each, with four field officers. Indeed, 1500 men are a greater number than ever was in a regiment of only one battalion, and they should be divided into two, with four field officers, who should be posted so as to have the im mediate care of a certain number of forts, with orders to draw from one to another, as occasion should require. " I could add more on this subject, but I am so hurried LIFE' AND TIMES. 325 that I am obliged to refer for further particulars to the bearer, who will tell you that, to carry on all these works, a number of tools, as well as many other necessaries, will be absolutely wanted. " I have given my opinion with candor, and submit to correction with the greatest pleasure. Confusion and hurry must apoligize for the incoherence and incorrect ness hereof." In the same letter to Robinson, Washington said: " I am sorry to hear the reflections upon the conduct of the officers. I could wish that their names had been particularized, that justice might be done to the inno cent and guilty! for it is extremely hard, that the whole corps should suffer the most ungenteel reproaches for the inadvertence and misconduct of a few." The orders of Washington were as strict as language could make them, and as severe in the penalties threat ened as could be ventured. A soldier found drunk was liable to 100 lashes, and one presuming to quarrel or fight to 500 lashes, a figure more meant for terror by threat than for execution. April 27, 1756, in a second letter to Robinson, Wash ington added further observations on the defense of the frontiers by a chain of forts. Thus he said: " If the province of Maryland makes no provision for its frontiers, we shall have a long, unguarded space quite open and defenceless from Wills Creek to the mouth of Shanandoah, where the enemy may have, and have already given proof of, free egress and regress in crossing Poto- mack; plundering, burning, murdering and destroying all before them. It is matter of moment, and worthy the Assembly's notice. For we must secure that weak side, if our neighbors are so indifferent as to disregard their own safety, because of its connexion with ours. In this 326 WASHINGTON. case the number of forts will be increased to two or three more. Another material point to be regarded by the As sembly, and of very great importance to the inhabitants, is the situation of these forts intended along the frontiers. As I mentioned to you before, placing them on the for mer utmost frontiers would be of small service to defend the present frontier settlements, now so remote from the former. -." s " I would again urge the necessity of a large and strong fort at this town. It being the center of all the public roads, it will be the sole refuge for the inhabitants upon any alarm. Had such a place of defence been here, it would have hindered some hundreds of families from mov ing further than this that are now lost to the country. The women and children might have been secure, while the men would have gone in a body against the savages, whereas the number of men now left is so small that no assistance or defence can be made to any purpose. Win chester is now the farthest boundary of this cpunty no inhabitants beyond it; and if measures are not taken to maintain it, we must retire below the Blue Ridge in a very short time. Should this panic and fear continue, not a soul will be left on this side the Ridge; and what now remain are collected in small forts (out of which there is no prevailing on them to stir) and every planta tion deserted. " I have exerted every power for the protection and peace of this distressed, unhappy people, and used my utmost to persuade them to continue, until assistance come, though to little effect. I have repeatedly urged Lord Fairfax to send for the militia of the adjacent coun ties, and have sent myself several expresses to hurry them on." In pursuance of the urgent advice thus given, a fort LIFE AND TIMES. 327 was ordered to be built at Winchester for the defense of Frederick county. Another letter of the same date (April 27, 1756), addressed to Governor Dinwiddie, Washing ton said: " Desolation and murder still increase, and no pros pects of relief. The Blue Ridge is now our frontier, no men being left in this county, except a few that keep close with a number of women and children in forts, which they have erected for that purpose. There are now no militia in this county; when there were they could not be brought to action. If the inhabitants of the adjacent counties pursue the same system of disobedience, the whole must fall an inevitable sacrifice; and there is room to fear they have caught the infection, since I have sent (besides divers letters to Lord Fairfax) express after ex press to hurry them on, and yet have no tidings of their march. We have the greatest reason to believe that the number of the enemy is very considerable, and as they are spread all over this part of the country; and that their success, and the spoils with which they have enriched themselves, dished up with a good deal of French policy, will encourage the Indians of distant nations to fall upon our inhabitants in greater numbers, and, if possible, with greater rapidity. They enjoy the sweets of a profitable war, and will no doubt improve the success which ever must attend their arms, without we have Indians to op pose theirs. I would therefore advise, as I often have done, that there should be neither trouble nor expense omitted to bring the few who are still inclined into our service, and that too with the greatest care and expedition. A small number, just to point out the wiles and tracks of the enemy, is better than none; for which reason I must earnestly recommend that those who accompanied Major Lewis should be immediately sent up, and such of the 328 WASHINGTON. Catawbas as can be engaged in our interest. If such an other torrent as this has been, (or may be ere it is done,) should press upon our settlements, there will not be a living creature left in Frederick county; and how soon Fairfax and Prince William may share its fate is easily conceived, if we only consider a cruel and bloodthirsty enemy, conquerors already possessed of the finest parts of Virginia, plenteously filled with all kinds of provisions, pursuing a people overcome with fear and consternation at the inhuman murders of these barbarous savages. "The inhabitants, who are ^ now in forts, are greatly distressed for the want of ammunition and provision, and are incessantly importuning me for both; neither of which have I at this place to spare. To hear the cries of the hungry, who have fled for refuge to these places, with nothing more than they carry on their backs, is exceed ingly moving. " I have been formerly, and am at present, pretty full in offering my opinion and counsel upon matters which regard the public interest and safety. These have been solely the object of all my thoughts, words, and actions; and, in order to avoid censure in every part of my con duct, I make it a rule to obey the dictates of your Honor, the Assembly, and a good conscience." May 3, 1756, Washington wrote to Governor Din- widdie from Winchester: " We have some reason to believe the Indians are re turned to Fort Duquesne, as some scouts from Fort Cum berland saw their tracks that way; and many corroborat ing accounts affirm that the roads over the Alleghaney mountains are as much beaten as they were last year by General Braddock's army. From these and other cir cumstances we may judge their numbers were considera- LIFE AND TIMES. 329 ble. Whether they are gone for the season, or only to bring in a larger party, I am at a loss to determine. " Though I have often troubled you on this head, I must again beg leave to desire your particular instruc tions, and information of what is to be done, as, being in a state of uncertainty, without knowing the plan of operations, or what scheme to go upon, reduces me to the greatest straits, and leaves me to guess at everything. Orders that are absolutely necessary to be despatched to the officers one day, appear the next as necessary to be contradicted. * * * So much am I kept in the dark that I do not know whether to prepare for the offensive or defensive; and what might be absolutely necessary in the one would be quite useless in the. other. " There are now in town about 150 of the Fairfax mili tia; 300 are expected from Prince William; and with the soldiers and militia now here, I intend to go out and scour the woods hereabouts for three or four days until the others arrive. " I want very much to go to Fort Cumberland to regu late affairs there, but fear I cannot spare time, as my presence will be very necessary here. " Clothes for the men are very much wanted. There are none in store, and some men, who have been en listed these two months, to whom we could give nothing but a blanket, shoes, and shirt, are justly dissatisfied at having two pence per day stopped from them [out of a wage of eight pence per day, the purpose being to pay for clothes]. Provision here is scarce, and the commis sary much wanted to lay in more. I have been, and still am, obliged to do this duty, as well as most others, which I would take upon me, rather than let anything be want ing for the good of the country, which I could do." Colonel William Fairfax, Washington's early friend, 330 WASHINGTON. wrote to him at this time in regard to the trouble he had with the militia assembled at Winchester: " I am sensible that such a medley of undisciplined mili tia must create you various troubles, but, having Caesar's Commentaries, and perhaps Quintus Curtius, you have therein read of greater fatigues, murmurings, mutinies, and defections, than will probably come to your share; though, if any of those casualties should interrupt your quiet, I doubt not you would bear them with a magnanim ity equal to that of any of the heroes of those times. The Council and Burgesses are mostly your friends; so that if you have not always particular instructions from the Governor, which you think necessary and desire, the omis sion, or neglect, may proceed from the confidence enter tained in your ability and discretion to do what is fit and praiseworthy." May 23, 1756, Washington wrote to Governor Dinwid- die from Winchester: " The spirit of desertion was so remarkable in the mili tia, that it had a surprising effect upon the regiment, and encouraged many of the soldiers to desert. " I found it absolutely impossible to go to Fort Cum berland at this time, without letting matters of greater importance suffer in my absence here; such a multiplicity of different kinds of business am I engaged in. " I am heartily glad your Honor has fixed upon the gentlemen Associators to point out the place for erect ing of forts, but am sorry to find their motions so slow. " Your Honor approved the scheme I sent down for forming the regiment into two battalions of twenty com panies, but never gave any directions concerning the ap pointment. Nor do I think there can be any plan judi ciously concerted, until we know what number of forts are to be built upon our frontiers. LIFE AND TIMES. 331 " At this place I have begun the fort according to your orders, and found that the work would not be conducted if I was away, which was one among many reasons that detained me here." The gentlemen Associators referred to in the above were about one hundred leading gentlemen of the colony, headed by Peyton Randolph, the Attorney-General. They organized as volunteers upon the special alarm of great peril on the frontier, and marched towards Winchester, but undertook no further service when the alarm subsided. When Robinson, the Speaker of the Assembly, gave no tice to Washington of the organization of the company of gentlemen volunteers, he said further: " The Council and House of Burgesses have agreed on a representation to his Majesty, in which you and the other officers are recommended to his Majesty's favor. Our hopes, Dear George, are all fixed on you for bring ing our affairs to a happy issue." Governor Dinwiddie wrote, May 28, 1756, to Major-Gen eral Abercrombie: " As we are told the Earl of Loudoun is to raise three regiments on this continent, on the British establishment, I dearn't venture to trouble him immediately on his arri val with any recommendations; but, good Sir, give me leave to pray your interest with his Lordship in favor of Colonel George Washington, who, I will venture to say, is a very deserving gentleman, and has from the begin ning commanded the forces of this dominion. General Braddock had so high an esteem for his merit, that he made him one of his aid-de-camps, and, if he had sur vived, I believe he would have provided handsomely for him in the regulars. He is a person much beloved here, and he has gone through many hardships in the service; and I really think he has great merit, and believe he can 332 WASHINGTON. raise more men here than any one present that I know. If his Lordship will be so kind as to promote him in the British establishment, I think he will answer my recom mendation." June 25, 1/56, Washington wrote to Governor Din- widdie from Winchester: " I intend to take the advice of a council of war about the line on which these forts are to be erected, and shall visit all the ground that I conveniently can, and direct the building. " It is a work that must be conducted tedious, for these reasons: the scarcity of tools, smallness of our numbers, and want of conductors. We can only attempt to build fort after fort, not attempting too many at a time. " Two hundred and forty six drafts are the total number brought in, out of which number several have deserted. " I was in hope that by garrisoning the forts with part of the militia, we should have been able to have mus tered a greater number of soldiers to work upon the forts that are to be built But I am under the greatest appre hensions that all who are now up will desert. They go off in twenties, and all threaten to return [home] if they are not relieved in a very short time or discharged. * * * If they should go, as I suppose they will, we shall again be much exposed, and cannot defend so ex tensive a frontier. " Governor Sharpe is building a fort on Potomac river, which may be of great service towards the protection of our people on that side." In a letter of July 13, 1756, from Fort Cumberland, to Captain Waggener, Washington said: " From the great confidence I repose in your diligence, I have appointed you to a command on which much de pends; and I doubt not you will see the work carried on LIFE AND TIMES. 333 with expedition. And I must particularly recommend it to you to keep up a strict command, both over officers and men, as you will be answerable for any delays or neglect which may happen for want of due discipline; and I would not wish your good nature should occasion you to overlook a fault in an officer, who may be our best friend. " The Governor has ordered the militia to be discharged as soon as harvest is over, since they are so unwilling to continue until December." Captain Waggener was ordered to see whether a fort erected by the people would answer for a public fort, and if so to garrison it; and then go on to the next place in the proposed chain of forts; get all the timbers ready, and by that time a plan of the kind of forts to be built would reach him. To Captain Peter Hog orders were given to attend to the building of forts southward from Fort Dinwiddie towards Mayo river. He was to secure at Augusta Court house expeditions calling out the militia of Augusta county to aid the soldiers in building the forts. These orders were given at Winchester, July 21, 1756; and on the same day, in a letter to Captain Hog, Washington said: " There is a part of your recruiting account which much astonishes me, and I thought you nor no officer who valued his character, would have presumed to have done such a thing, as he must be certain it would appear as a palpable fraud in him." Washington had provided both money and provision for sending to Waggener some enlisted men, and the latter had charged for the subsistence of these men before he received them, when he had been at no cost on their account. July 22, 1756, Washinton wrote to Captain Stewart from 334 WASHINGTON. Winchester, giving directions in regard to the construc tion of forts, and the tools which he had secured, and other tools which he must borrow, hire, or buy from the inhabitants. He further said: " I have too great an opinion of your good sense and discretion to think you need any admonition to induce you to a diligent discharge of your duty. You see our situation, know our danger, and bear witness of the peo ple's sufferings, which are sufficient excitements to a gen erous mind. " This instant I received yours of yesterday's date, and am extremely sorry that the Indians have visited us at this critical juncture of harvesting, especially as it will prevent your proceedings in the operations ordered. " If you can learn from good intelligence that their num bers are great and motions designed for Virginia, endeavor to give the inhabitants notice, that they may lodge their women and children, and assist against the enemy. " If you find they are only flying parties of the Indians, I would advise the settlers by no means to neglect their harvest, as their whole support depends upon it, and your assistance to get it in. " I have sent you two barrels of powder, and four boxes of ball. As to cartridge paper, I neither have nor can get any upon any terms. You must get horns and pouches, if you send over the neighborhood for them." August 4, 1756, Washington wrote to Dinwiddie from Winchester that the necessary orders and directions for the chain of forts to be built on the frontiers had been attended to, and plans and tools despatched with the or ders to all the officers appointed to the work. The Coun cil and himself had not wholly followed the act of the As sembly, some changes being required by the situation of the country, but the scheme adopted would undoubtedly LIFE AND TIMES. 335 give " the best chain that can possibly be erected for the defence of the people." " I make no doubt your Honor has ere this heard of the defeat of Lieutenant Rutherford of the Rangers, escort ing an express to me at Fort Cumberland, and of the das tardly behavior of the militia, who ran off without one half of them having discharged their pieces, although they were apprised of the ambuscade by one of their flanking parties, before the Indians fired upon them; and ran back to Ashby's Fort, contrary to orders, persuasions, threats, &c. They are all ordered in (from detachment duty as guards to the plantations), as soon as the people have se cured their harvest. Through the passive behavior of their officers they have been very refractory. " I think with the number of men we have, there is but a poor prospect of our finishing our forts in time, and a much worse of defending our frontiers properly, and I would be glad if some expedient could be fallen upon to augment it. " There is an act of Parliament to allow all servants to enlist, and the owners to be paid a reasonable allowance for them. If we had this privilege, we could soon com plete the regiment. * * * If we have not this liberty granted us, the servants will all run off to the regular officers who are recruiting about us ; and that would be to weaken our colony much. For my part I see no other expedient. " Your Honor sees plainly how little our strength has been augmented by the drafts, and in three or four months they are to be discharged. " I could wish we were clear of Fort Cumberland. It takes a great part of our small force to garrison it, and I see no service that it is to our colony; for since the In dians have driven the inhabitants so low down, they do 336 WASHINGTON. not hestiate to follow them as far as this place. There have been several families murdered, on the Maryland side, this week ; and P'ort Cumberland is now so much out of the way that they seldom hear of those things within a month after they are done. Our men want many neces saries, until the arrival of their regimentals, which cannot be had without sending to Philadelphia ; and the great loss we shall suffer by sending them our paper money, has prevented my purchasing these things, until the men are almost naked. "We cannot afford to put up with the loss of sending paper money, which I am credibly informed may be bought up in Philadelphia for fifteen per cent their currency. ""We are in great want of drums here, and none can be bought. We now have many young drummers learn ing here. " I could by no means bring the Quakers to any terms. They chose rather to be whipped to death than. bear arms, or lend us any assistance whatever upon the fort, or any thing of self-defence. Some of their friends have been security for their appearance, when they are called for; and I have released them from the guard house until 1 receive further orders from your Honor, which they have agreed to apply for. " I observe your Honor's proposal of carrying on an expedition against the Ohio. I have always thought it the best and only method to put a stop to the incursions of the enemy, as they would then be obliged to stay at home to defend their own possessions. But we are quite unprepared for such an undertaking. If it is fixed upon, now is the time for buying up provisions, and laying them in at the most convenient place. The Pennsylvania butch ers are buying quantities of beef here, which should be put a stop to, if we are to march towards the Ohio. If we LIFE AND TIMES 337 are still to remain on the defensive, and garrison the chain of forts, provisions must be laid in at each of them; and I much fear, if we march from the frontiers, all the inhab itants will quit their plantations." An English letter of May n, 1756, to the Governor of Pennsylvania, stated that the King had appointed the Earl of Loudoun to succeed Governor Shirley as British Commander-in-Chief for America, a bad choice, on ac count of the Earl's incompetency. When Pitt came into power he was recalled. Loudoun was empowered to raise in the Colonies a Royal American regiment, to consist of four battalions and be commanded by officers commis sioned by the King. Permission to enlist servants was given, and the consequent recruiting made trouble with the colonial service. By servants were meant whites " in dented " to service for a term of years, not negro slaves, unless in exceptional cases. The Virginia drafting of men was made a farce almost by permitting a person drafted to escape service upon paying 10, and by making the term of service too short. The Quakers got off easily, through Dinwiddie's orders to " use them with lenity/' merely holding them, " at their own expense," to the end of the term for which they were drafted. August 5, 1756, Washington addressed a very long let ter to his most influential friend, John Robinson, Speaker of the Assembly. In this he said : " Captain Gist has at divers times entreated me, in the most interesting manner, to intercede in his behalf, that he may get the balance of his account, his distresses calling aloud for all the assistance that all these sums can con tribute. I do not know really who to apply to for this purpose, or whose right it is to pay the account, but it is certainly wrong not to pay him at all. If a hearty zeal for the interest of this colony, many losses in serving it 22 338 WASHINGTON. and true distress, can recommend him to any favor, he certainly merits indulgence. The Governor bids him go to the Committee, and the Committee think the Governor should pay it. So that the poor man suffers greatly and would be glad to know his doom at once, as it has been so long depending. " I could heartily wish the Governor and Committee would resolve me, whether Fort Cumberland is to be gar risoned with any of the Virginia forces or not. It lies in a most defenceless posture, and I do not care* to be at expense in erecting new, or repairing old works, until I am satisfied on this point. " The place at present contains all our provisions and valuable stores, and is not capable of an hour's defence, if the enemy were to bring only one single half-pounder against it; which they might do with great ease on horse back. It lies so remote now from this, as well as the neighboring inhabitants, that it requires as much force to keep the communication open to it, as a fort at the Meadows would do, and employs 150 men, who are a dead charge to the country, as they can be of no other use than just to protect and guard the stores, which might as well be lodged at Cox's [on Patterson's Creek, 25 miles nearer to Winchester] ; indeed better. A strong guard there would not only protect the stores, but also the few re maining inhabitants at the Branch [south Branch of Potomac], and at the same time waylay and annoy the enemy, as they pass and repass the mountains; whereas those at Fort Cumberland, lying out in a corner, quite remote from the inhabitants to where the Indians always repair to do their murders, can have no intelligence of anything that is doing, but remain in total ignorance of all transactions. When I was down I applied to the Gov ernor for his particular and positive directions in this af- LIFE AND TIMES. 339 fair. The following is an exact copy of his answer. ' Fort Cumberland is a King's fort, and built chiefly at the charge of the colony, therefore properly under our direction, until a governor is appointed/ Whether I am to understand this ay or no to the question, * Is the fort to be continued ? ' I know not. But in all important matters I am directed in this ambiguous and uncertain way/' In a written expression of his view Dinwiddie appears as saying, " Its a King's fort and a magazine for stores ; its not in my power to order it to be deserted * * * at present it must be properly supported with men/' Robinson said on this matter in reply to Washington, "The Committee were all of opinion with you, that the keeping Fort Cumberland was an unnecessary expense ; but, upon my mentioning their opinion to the Governor, he appeared very warm, and said my Lord Loudoun might do what he pleased, but for his part he would no1 remove the garrison, or order the fort to be demolished, for his right hand." The letter of Washington to Robinson touched upoi> other points : " Great and inconceivable difficulties arise in the execu tion of my commands, as well as infinite loss and disrepute to the service, by my not having power to pay for [the return of] deserters. Many of our deserters are appre hended in Maryland, and some in Pennsylvania, and, for the sake of a reward, are brought hither. But when they [who bring them] are to receive certificates only, that they are entitled to 200 pounds of tobacco, and those certificates are to be given in to a court of claims, there to lie perhaps till they are quite forgot, gives so much dissatisfaction, that many, I believe, rather than appre- 340 WASHINGTON. hend one, would aid fifty to escape, and this too among our own people. " I should be glad to know whether the act of the As sembly prohibits the forces from marching out of the col ony. If we cannot take any of the forces out of the col ony, the disadvantages the country may labor under are not to be described; for the enemy may commit the most unheard of cruelties, and by stepping across the Potomac evade pursuit, and mock our best endeavors to scourge them. " The inconveniences that arise from paying the soldiers in large bills are not to be conceived. We are obliged afterwards to give the pay of two or three soldiers to one man. He, ten to one, drinks, games, or pays it away; by which means the parties are all dissatisfied, and per petually complaining for want of their pay. It also pre vents them from laying out their pay for absolute neces saries, and obliges them many times to drink it out; for they put it into the tavern-keeper's hands, who will give no change, unless they consent to take the greatest part in liquor. In short, for five shillings cash you may at any time purchase a month's pay from the soldiers; in such contempt do they hold the currency. Besides small bills (if the thing is practicable) I should be extremely glad to receive some part of the money in Spanish and Portugal gold and silver. There are many things wanted for the use of the regiment which cannot be had here and may be had at Philadelphia; but their undervaluing of our [paper] money has prevented my sending thither. "At the repeated instances of the soldiers, I must pay so much regard to their representations as to transmit their complaints. They think it extremely hard, as it is indeed, Sir, that they, who perhaps do more duty, and undergo more fatigue and hardship, from the nature of LIFE AND TIMES. 341 the service and situation of the country, than any troops upon the continent, should be allowed the least pay, and the smallest encouragements in other respects. The Carolinians received British pay; the Marylanders, I be lieve, do the same; Pennsylvania is exorbitant in reward ing their soldiers [i8d. a day and subsistence, to 8d. a day in Virginia] ; the Jerseys and New Yorkers I do not re member what it is they give; but the New England gov ernments give more than a shilling per day, our money, besides an allowance of rum, peas, tobacco, ginger, vine gar, etc., etc. " Our soldiers complain that their pay is insufficient even to furnish shoes, shirts, stockings, etc., which their officers, in order to keep them fit for duty, oblige them to provide. This, they say, deprives them of the means of purchasing any of the necessaries of life, and obliges them to drag through a disagreeable service in the most disagreeable manner. That their pay will not afford more than enough (if that) to keep' them in clothes, I should be convinced of for these reasons, if experience had not taught me. The British soldiers are allowed eight pence sterling per day, with many necessaries that ours are not, and can buy what is requisite upon the cheapest terms; and lie one half the year in camp, or garrison, when they cannot consume the fifth part of what ours do in continual marches over mountains, rocks, rivers, etc. Then, Sir, is it possible that our men, who receive a fourth less, have two pence per day stoppages for their regimental clothing, and all other stoppages that British soldiers have, and are obliged, by being in continual action, to lay in triple the quantity of ammunition and clothes, and at double the .price, should be able to clear quarters? It is not to be done, and this is the reason why the men have always been so naked and bare of clothes. 343 WASHINGTON. "And I dare say you will be candid enough to allow, that there are few men who would choose to have their lives exposed, without some view or hope of reward, to the incessant assaults of a merciless enemy. "Another thing there is which gives them great uneasi ness, and that is, seeing no regular provision made for the maimed and wounded. They acknowledge the generosity of the Assembly, and have the highest veneration for that respectable House; they look with gratitude on the care that has been taken of their brother soldiers ; but say this is only an act of will, and another Assembly may be much less liberal. We have no certainty that this generosity may continue, consequently can have nothing in view but the most gloomy prospects, and no encouragement to be bold and active; and the probable effects of which are wounds, which no sooner happen, and they unfit for ser vice, than they are discharged, and turned upon an un charitable world to beg, steal, or starve. In short, they have a true sense of all that can happen, and do not think slightly of the fatigues they encounter in scouring these mountains with their provisions on their backs, lying out and watching for the enemy, with no other covering or conveniency, to shelter them from the inclemency of the weather than trees and rocks! The old soldiers are af fected, and complain of their hardships and little encour agement, in piteous terms ; and they give these as reasons for so much desertion. The money that is given in pay ing for deserters, expresses, horse-hire, losses and abuse of horses, would go a great length toward advancing their pay, which I hope would contribute not a little to remove the cause of this expense. I would not have it here un derstood, though, that I mean to recommend anything extraordinary; no, I would give them British pay, and entitle them to the same privileges during their stay in LIFE AND TIMES. 343 the service, and as a reward or compliment for their toil, rather than a matter of right. Were the country to give them one suit of regimental clothes a year, without receiv ing the two pence stoppage, it would be a full allowance, and give great content and satisfaction. All they want (they say) is to be entitled to the privileges and immuni ties of soldiers, of which they are well informed by some who have been a number of years in the army, then they should think it no hardship to be subject to the punish ments and fatigues. " Were this done, and an order given by the Committee empowering me to provide for them, according to the rules and customs of the army, then I should know what I was about, and I could do it without hesitation or fear, and, am convinced, to the satisfaction and interest of the country. "As the case now stands, we are upon such odd estab lishment, under such uncertain regulations, and subject to so much inconvenience, that I am wandering in a wilder ness of difficulties, and am ignorant of the ways to extri cate myself, and to steer for the satisfaction of the coun try, of the soldiers, or of myself. Having no certain rules for the direction of my conduct, I am afraid to turn to this hand or to that, lest it should be censured. " If such an order, as I before spoke of, was to issue from your Board, I would then immediately provide upon the best terms a quantity of all kinds of ammunition, clothes, etc., for the use of the regiment, and deliver them out to each company as their wants required, taking care to deduct the value of all such things from their pay. By this means the soldiers would be always provided and fit for duty, and do it cheerfully, and the country sustains no other loss than advancing, and lying out of, the money for a few months to lay in those stores, as this money is 344 WASHINGTON. always restored by the soldiers again. I have hitherto been afraid to advance any sums of money for this pur pose, and always bought at extravagant prices, and have been obliged to send to different parts, ere they could be had, which has also contributed to the cause of their nakedness. " The officers are almost as uneasy and dispirited as the men, doing every part of duty with languor and indiffer ence. When they are ordered to provide themselves with suitable necessaries, they complain of an uncertain estab lishment, and the probability of being disbanded, and, so, things rendered useless. So that I really most heartily wish for a change. The surgeon has entreated me to mention his case, which I shall do by enclosing his letters. He has behaved extremely well, and discharged his duty in every capacity since he came into the regiment. He has long discovered an inclination to quit the service, the encouragement being so small; and I believe would have done it, had not the officers, to show their regard and will ingness to detain him, subscribed each one day's pay in every month. This, as they are likely to be so much dis persed, and can receive no benefit from him, they intend to withdraw (he says) and therefore begs me to solicit the gentlemen of the committee on his behalf; otherwise he will be obliged to seek some other method of getting his livelihood. " If it is thought necessary to establish an hospital, I believe there can scarcely be a doubt but that this is the place ; and then I hope he will be appointed director, with advanced pay. Whether or not, I could really wish his pay or perquisites was increased, for the reasons he gives. " I beg, Sir, with very great earnestness, that the gentle men of the Committee will communicate their sentiments fully upon all these several matters, and approve or dis- LIFE AND TIMES. 345 approve of everything therein. I only wait to know their intention, and then act in strict conformity thereto. " If the Committee find my account satisfactory and distinct, as I have no doubt of it, it would be a great obli gation if they would make a final settlement to that date, and "begin a new account. They will find little trouble, or difficulty, in overhauling short accounts, kept in a regular method, plain and perspicuous, which is the very life of, business." It will be seen that on August 4th Washington wrote a long letter to Governor Dinwiddie, and on August 5th another and very long letter to Speaker Robinson, the former making nine printed pages, and the latter thirteen. On August 5th he also wrote letters to Captain Waggener and to Colonel Stephen. To Waggener he said : " I have so many places and people to defend ; so great calls from every quarter for men; and so little prospects for getting any, that I find it impossible to comply with the act of Assembly, and opinion of the Council of War, in building the chain of forts on the frontiers. You must, therefore, notwithstanding all the orders which have here tofore been given, immediately despatch Capt. Bell, with his whole company to Capt. Cox's fort. * * * Your own and the two remaining companies, you are to dis pose of in the most eligible manner for the protection of the inhabitants above the Trough ; and I could most ear nestly wish that you would, if the thing is practicable, erect a fort in that settlement, twenty miles above your upper fort." To Colonel Stephen he said : " The views of the enemy are designed against the lower inhabitants. They have laid Maryland and Pennsylvania waste, as low as Carlisle, the inhabitants of which place we are told are flying with the utmost consternation. 346 WASHINGTON. They have made an attempt on the Virginia side, killed one and captivated another four miles hitherwards, but retreated back, for how long a time, God knows. "Yesterday I wrote you [and*the same to Waggener], and desired that all the captains would be punctual in making me weekly returns, signed by themselves and offi cers, signifying the state and strength of their companies, and shall here repeat these orders, because I am fully resolved to suspend the first Captain (or commander of a company) that fails in this^ point, or that is negligent and incorrect in making them out, tho' they may err but in one man. By my returns of the regiment including drafts, scouts, and rangers, I can only make 926 men; while Mr Boyd, exclusive of Captain Hog's company, has issued pay for 1080." To Governor Dinwiddie Washington wrote from Win chester August 14, 1756: "We have built some and altered other forts, as far south on the Potomac waters as any settlers have been molested; and there only remains one body of inhabitants, at a place called the Upper Tract, which needs a guard upon these waters, and thither I have ordered a party. " There have been two or three men killed and scalped at different places since my last, though every precaution has been taken to prevent it. The fatiguing service, low pay, and great hardships in which our men have been en gaged, cause, notwithstanding the greatest care and vigil ance to the contrary, great and scandalous desertions. Yesterday I received an account from Captain Stewart of sixteen men deserting in a party. Frequently two or three went off before, as they have done from this place. We never fail to pursue, and use all possible means to apprehend them; but seldom with success, as they are generally aided and assisted off by the inhabitants. LIFE AND TIMES. 347 "A report prevailed in town yesterday that a large body of Indians, headed by some French, intended to attack Fort Cumberland this fall. The consequence of a success ful enterprise, and the absolute impossibility (considering the weakness of the place, badness of situation, and divi sion of our force) of preventing its falling, are motives sufficient to apprehend the worst, especially when we con sider that our provision, and, what is still more valuable, all our ammunition and stores, are lodged in that defence less place. "All the militia are returned [home] save 30 from Cul- peper, who stay willingly with Captain Fields." To Lord Thomas Fairfax, August 29, 1756, Washington wrote from Winchester : " It is with infinite concern I see the distresses of the people, and hear their complaints, without being able to afford them relief. I have so often troubled your Honor for aid from the militia, that I am almost ashamed to re peat my demands; nor should mention them again, did I not think it absolutely necessary at this time to save the most valuable and flourishing part of this county from immediate desertion. And how soon the remainder part, as well as the adjacent counties, may share the same fate, is too obvious to reason, and to your Lordship's good sense for me to demonstrate. The whole settlement of Conococheague in Maryland is fled, and there now remain only two families from thence to Fredericktown, which is several miles below the Blue Ridge. By which means we are quite exposed, and have no better security on that side than the Potomac river for many miles below the Shenandoah; and how great security that is to us may .easily be discerned when we consider with what facility the enemy have passed and repassed it already. That the Maryland settlements are all abandoned is certainly fact. 348 WASHINGTON. 1 thought it expedient to inform your Lordship of the reasons for asking succours for these unhappy people, and how absolutely necessary it is to use without delay such vigorous measures as will save that settlement from total desolation. " When Hampshire [county] was invaded, and called on Frederick for assistance, the people of the latter re fused their aid, answering, ' Let them defend themselves, as we shall do if they come to us.' Now the enemy have forced through that county, and begin to infest this, those a little removed from danger are equally infatuated; and will be, I fear, until all in turn fall a sacrifice to an insult ing and merciless enemy. " I am so weak-handed here that I could not, without stagnating the public works, spare a man to these peo ples assistance. Yet I look upon the retaining of them to be so essential to the well-being of the county in gen eral, that I have ordered all the men that can possibly be spared, to march thitherwards ; to remain there until your Lordship can relieve them to return to these works. I hope your Lordship will exert your authority in raising men. This will redress the complaints of the people, be low, who say they cannot leave their families to the mercy of the enemy while they are scouring the woods." To Colonel Stephen, Washington wrote September 6, 1765, from Winchester: " I am in hopes our men for the future will be better satisfied, as the Committee have allowed them eight pence per day and their clothes without any stoppages or deduc tions. " The Governor informs me that he just received an express from Major Lewis, acquainting him that he might expect 150 Cherokees to be at this place in a fortnight; and that the Catawba king had engaged to send 50 war- LIFE AND TIMES. 349 riors to our assistance. This will be a considerable help to us, as we shall be able to carry the war into their own country, and use them in the same manner they have us for 12 months past. He adds that the Catawbas and Cherokees are very firmly attached to our interest, and will still furnish us with more assistance when the fort in that country is completed. It is already in great for wardness. " I have got orders from the Governor to enlist ser vants, the masters to be paid a reasonable price upon the first purchase, deducting for the time they have served. Complaint has been made that the officers and soldiers upon party [a recruiting party] take up the strays they find in the woods. Let these practices be discouraged. Ensign Roy had my promise to be appointed to my com pany, as it is the company he before belonged to, in case my brother did not accept, and he has declined it. " Waters and Burrass behaved extremely ill when they were sent down last. If I could lay my hands on them, I would try the effect of 1000 lashes on the former, and whether a general court martial would not condemn the latter to the life eternal. " Capt. Peachy applied to me for leave to take up strays, etc., and said it was practised by the Marylanders and Pennsylvanians. If the people of those provinces are guilty of unlawful practices, I cannot think it should be any excitement to us to follow their example : for under that pretence of getting strays in the mountains, is car ried on a scene of the greatest iniquity that can be im agined. The horses of our deserted settlements are taken up, sold, and made away with, to the infinite detriment and oppression of the people, who complain of these griev ances in the most sensible manner, and urge that they 350 WASHINGTON. are more oppressed by their own people than by the enemy." To Governor Dinwiddie, Washington wrote September 8, 1756, of this enlisting of servants : " It is the best, most expeditious, nay, only method, I know of now to recruit the forces. It will occasion great murmuring and discontent to the masters, if they are not paid immediately for their servants. " The men are much satisfied with the augmentation of their pay, but nothing will prevent their desertion while they are kindly received and entertained through the Col ony, and even under the eye of the civil magistrate. Those delivered to the constables are always suffered to escape, and no notice taken of it. " The Indians are a very covetous people, and expect to be well rewarded for the least service. " People here in general are very selfish ; every person- expects forces at his own door, and is angry to see them at his neighbors. " The number of tipling houses kept here is a great grievance. "All the efforts which have been made here to raise the militia have been ineffectual. " I am glad the Cherokees have determined to come to our assistance, and to hear of the firm attachment of them and the Catawbas to our interest. They will be of particular service more than twice their number of white men. When they arrive, which I pray may be soon, we may deal with the French in their own way ; and, by visit ing their country, will keep their Indians at home. "We have been happy in being tolerable peaceable of late, and holding our own, while Maryland and Pennsyl vania fly in the utmost consternation. The frontiers of Maryland are abandoned for many miles below the Blue UFR AND TIMES. 351 Ridge, as low as Fredericktown, through which place I am credibly informed no less than 350 waggons, trans porting the affrighted families, passed in the space of three days. The Potomac is deserted on the Maryland side 40 miles below Conococheague, and as much in a parallel below Winchester, and is now more than any the theatre of bloodshed and cruelty. " Those Indians who are now coming should 5e showed all possible respect, and the greatest care taken of them, as upon them much depends. It is a critical time, they are very humorsome, and their assistance very necessary ! One false step might not only lose us that, but even turn them against us. All kinds of necessary goods, etc., should be got for them. " If your Honor does not care to trouble yourself about it, and please to give me orders, and furnish me with money or letters of credit (for our paper money passes to great disadvantage), I will get them immediately from Philadelphia, which is the only place that I know of that we can possibly be supplied from. "As the most of our present corps [of officers] are gentlemen of family, and have now been sometime in the service, I fear we should exchange for the worse, if we aim at a change." In a letter of August 14, 1756, Washington had said to the Governor: "As a general meeting of all the persons concerned in the estate of my deceased brother is appointed to be held at Alexandria, about the middle of September next, for making a final settlement of all his affairs; and as I am deeply interested, not only as an executor and heir to part of his estate, but also in a very important dispute, subsisting between Colonel [George] Lee, who married the widow, and my brothers and self, concerning advice 352 WASHINGTON. in the will, which brings the whole personal estate in question, I say, as this is a matter of very great mo ment to me, I hope your Honor will readily consent to my attending this meeting, provided no disadvantage is likely to arise during my absence; in which case, I shall not offer to quit my command." On this matter Washington wrote to the Governor from Mount Vernon, September 23, 1756: " Under your kind indulgence I came to this place a few days ago, expecting to meet the executors of my deceased brother, in order to make a final settlement of his affairs. I was disappointed though in this design, by the Assem bly having called away the principal persons concerned." On public matters, Washington further said in this letter: " I have often urged the necessity of enforcing the articles of war in all their parts, where it is not incompati ble with the nature of this service. " We are under a kind of regulation at present that ren ders command extremely difficult and precarious, as no crimes are particularly notified but mutiny and desertion. " I beg leave to observe in regard to Fort Cumberland, that if it is continued we must be confined to act defen sively, and keep our forces dispersed as they now are. The place must be fortified with strong works, or else inevi tably fall, garrison and stores, into the enemy's hands. How fatal a stroke ! And what noise this will make, the censure of mankind will speedily declare. " I did, from the beginning, express my sentiments against having small garrisons in a chain of forts along our frontiers. " The most effectual way that I can see, though none can answer while we act defensively, is to have no more than three or four large, strong forts, built at convenient LIFE AND TIMES. 353 distances, upon our frontiers; in which strong garrisons must be maintained. " Unless the Assembly concerts some measures to aug ment their force, the country, I fear, must inevitably fall. The frontiers, since this time a twelve month, are totally deserted for 50 miles and upwards quite from north to south, and all below that greatly thinned by the removal of numbers; occasioned in some measure by Maryland and Pennsylvania giving ground so much faster than we do, which exposes a very fine country of ours on that side, as low as Monocacy, in Maryland, several miles on this side of the Blue Ridge. " I believe I might also add, that no person who re gards his character, will undertake a command without the means of preserving it; since his conduct Is culpable for all misfortunes, and never right but when successful. " I cannot think any number under 2000 men sufficient to cover our extensive frontiers, and with them it is im possible to prevent misfortunes, however easy the world may think it. What means can be used to raise these men, I know not, unless the listing servants is thought expedient; and that alone will prove ineffectual. " I apprehend it will be thought advisable to keep a garrison always at Fort Loudoun [Winchester] ; for which reason I would beg leave to represent the great nuisance the number of tippling-houses in Winchester are to the soldiers, who, by this means, in despite of the utmost care and vigilance, are, so long as their pay holds good, in cessantly drunk, and unfit for service. "The rates of their liquor are immoderately high, and the publicans throughout the country charge one shilling per meal, currency, for soldier's diet ; and the country only allows the recruiting officer eight pence per day for the maintenance of a soldier. 23 3M WASHINGTON. " The want of a chaplain does, I humbly conceive, re flect dishonor upon the regiment, as all other officers are allowed. The gentlemen of the corps are sensible of this, and did propose to support one at their private expense." September 28, 1756, Washington wrote from Winches ter to Governor Dinwiddie: " I arrived here last night, * * * and set out to morrow for Augusta." October 10, 1756, Washington wrote from Halifax, where the southernmost fort was, that he had met within five miles of the Carolina line, the commissioner to secure some hundreds of Indian allies, Major Lewis, and the result of his trip to the Cherokees was seven men and three women, instead of the expected 400. At Augusta Courthouse, hearing of Indian depredations, Washington had applied to Colonel Stewart to raise a party of the militia with which to himself march to Jackson's river, to scour the woods there, and if possible fall in with the enemy; and the best Stewart had been able to do, with Washington waiting five days, was only five men. In this situation Washington had proceeded sixty miles to Luney's Ferry on the James river, in hope of getting men from Colonel Buchanan, and this officer had told him with very great concern that he was finding it utterly impos sible to raise men by -any orders that he could give. The only service Buchanan had been able to render was that of accompanying Washington to Voss's, on the Roanoke, where Captain Hog was building a fort ; and here they had found Captain Hog engaged in building a fort with only eighteen of his company while a militia Captain Hunt with thirty men would not strike a stroke unless upon a guar antee of being paid forty pounds of tobacco per day for each man. The place was " a pass of very great import ance, being a very great inroad of the enemy," where a LIFE AND TIMES. 355 fort would protect an extensive country. Washington had hardly passed from this point, on the way " to visit the range of forts in this country," when " two men were killed along the same road.'! Not one of the inhabitants dared stay with only militia protection. " The militia," said Washington, " are in such bad order and discipline, that they will go and come when and where they please, without regarding time, their officers, or the safety of the inhabitants, but consulting solely their own inclina tions." Where one-third should be out on .duty hardly one-thirteenth obeyed the order, and being to be relieved every month " they are more than that time marching to and from their stations, and will not wait one day longer than the limited time, let the necessity for it be ever so urgent." And in fact, even if their month was not out, an urgent necessity for action would send them away, leav ing Captain Hog and his only eighteen men, for example, to face Indian attack alone. " Perhaps it may be thought that I reflect unjustly," Washington went on to say. " I really do not, Sir; I scorn to make unjust remarks on the behavior of the militia, as much as I despise and contemn the persons who detract from mine and the character of the regiment. Were it not that I consulted the good of the public, and thought these garrisons merited redress, I should not think ii worth my mention. I only want to make the country sensible how ardently I have studied to promote her cause, and wish very sincerely my successor may fill my place more to their satisfaction in every respect than I have been able to do. " I mentioned in my last that I did not think a less number than 2000 men would be sufficient to defend our extensive and much exposed frontiers from the ravages of the enemy. I have not had one reason to alter my 356 WASHINGTON. opinion, but many to strengthen and to confirm it. And I flatter myself the country will, when they know my mo tives, be convinced that I Jiave had no sinister views, no vain motives of commanding a number of men, that urge me to recommend this number to your Honor, but that it proceeds from the knowledge I have acquired of the country, people, &c., to be defended. " I set out this day on my return to the fort at the head of Catawba, where Colonel Buchanan promised to meet me with a party to conduct me along our frontiers, up Jackson's River to Fort Dinwiddie, and higher if needful." The reference above to " my successor " was due to Washington's intention of resigning in consequence of ma lignant charges against his regiment in a communication to the Virginia Gazette. The complaints referred to in Washington's letter of April 18, 1756, to Governor Din widdie, had been renewed, and a broadside of scurrilous abuse launched in the communication mentioned. In a letter of October 23, 1756, to Lieutenant-Colonel Stephen, in command at Fort Cumberland, Washington referred to this officer an order from Governor Dinwiddie to have a council of officers pass upon the question of keeping up or giving up that fortress This council of war, held October 30, 1756, consisted of fifteen officers, and its president, Colonel Stephen; and their decision was to call on Washington for an immediate reinforcement to the garrison; to have some of the most valuable stores removed to Winchester; to go on with the works for strengthening the fort; and to refer to Lord Loudoun the question of a more adequate strengthening of the place and reinforcing of the garrison. Washington's letter to Colonel Stephen had announced his intention to urge upon the Assembly the advantages and necessity of an offensive campaign; an attempt against LIFE AND TIMES. 357 Fort Duquesne, " as you and everybody else must allow that carrying the war into the enemy's country is the sur est method of peace at home and success abroad." " The policy of the French," he continued, " is so subtle that not a friendly Indian will we have on the continent if we do not soon dislodge them from the Ohio. I shall exert every power to make this plan go down with the Assem bly, and press them to vigorous measures for the safety and interest of the Country, preferably to the defensive, and demonstrate fully to them everything I think demands their concern, as to the frontiers. I also would have you collect whatever comes under your own observation in these respects, that we may omit nothing requisite for the Assembly's regard." In view of the decision of the council of war as to Fort Cumberland, Washington expressed this opinion: " The situation of Fort Cumberland is extremely un suitable for defence, and in no ways fit for fortification and a fort somewhere in that neighborhood rather more advanced to the westward, well-fortified and strongly gar risoned would contribute much to the mutual safety and interest of the three colonies. Because it secures the only gap of the Alleghany at present made passable for wheel-carriages and which would forward an Expedition to the Ohio. Now would the three colonies consent to furnish proportionable supplies, I should think it highly expedient to maintain that pass by erecting a Fortress of strength towards the Little Meadows, in advance to the Enemy, which would give us yet more advantages, and Fort Cumberland would still answer its present purpose without attempting its improvement while covered by the other. Or should Virginia herself take the weight of this Enterprise or could it be accomplished by any means whatever I should be extremely fond of the expedient. 358 WASHINGTON. But to view Fort Cumberland in its present defenseless posture, relative to Virginia in particular, and at this gloomy juncture of affairs I can not entertain very fav orable sentiments of supporting it. 11 As to the address of the council to me for reinforce ment, they must have known that it was out of my power to grant it. " Upon the whole, were it at any other time than this knowing the weakness of our strength, doubting the as sistance of our neighbors, and dreading the consequence of leaving the place longer exposed, although great part of the stores is already removed, I should vote for demol ishing it. But the affair being of great importance, I only offer my sentiments; and submit to his Honor the Gov ernor, and the Assembly, for the determination of the case." This fort was " built of stockades about nine feet high above ground and never intended for defence against ar tillery;" also it was "commanded by a rising ground about 150 yards northwest of the stockades, and over looked by several hills within cannon shot ; " also the bar racks were " without the fort, ill-built, and easily set on fire by the enemy; as any number of men can come under the banks of the Potomac and Will's Creek, within pistol shot of the barracks, and the fort itself, without being exposed to a shot from cannon or small arms : " and finally, the roads here made it the only place south of Albany exposed to an attack from carriage guns. November 9, 1756, Washington wrote from Winchester to Governor Dinwiddie: " From Fort Trial on Smith's River, I returned to Fort William on the Catawba, where I met Colonel Buchanan with about 30 men, chiefly officers, to conduct me up Jackson's river, along the range of forts. With this small LIFE AND TIMES. 359 company of irregulars [militia], with whom order, regu larity, circumspection, and vigilance were matters of de rision and contempt, we set out, and, by the protection of Providence, reached Augusta Court-House in seven days, without meeting the enemy; otherwise we must have fallen a sacrifice, through the indiscretion of these whoop ing, hallooing gentlemen soldiers! " The jaunt afforded me an opportunity of seeing the bad regulation of the militia, the disorderly proceedings of the garrisons, and the unhappy circumstances of the inhabitants. " For want of proper laws to govern the militia by (for I cannot ascribe it to any other cause), they are obstinate, self-willed, perverse, of little or no service to the people, and very burthensome to the country. Every mean indi vidual has his own crude notions of things, and must un dertake to direct. If his advice is neglected, he thinks himself slighted, abused, and injured; and, to redress his wrongs will depart for home. " I found the garrisons [militia] very weak for want of men; but more so by indolence and irregularity. None I saw in a posture of defence, and few that might not be surprised with the greatest ease. They keep no guard, but just when the enemy is about. So that the neighbor hood may be ravaged by the enemy, and they not the wiser. Of the ammunition they are as careless as of the provisions, firing it away frequently at targets for wagers. Of the many forts which I passed by, I saw but one or two that had their captains present, they being absent chiefly on their own business. " These men afford no assistance to the unhappy settlers Who are driven from their plantations, either in securing their harvests or gathering in their corn. The wretched inhabitants feel their insecurity from militia preservation, 360 WASHINGTON. who are slow in coming to their assistance, indifferent about their preservation, unwilling to continue, and re gardless of everything but their own ease. In short, they are so affected with approaching ruin, that the whole back country is in motion towards the southern colonies. They petitioned me in the most earnest manner for companies of the regiment. But, alas! it is not in my power to assist them with any, except I leave this dangerous quar ter [about Winchester] more exposed than they are." It will be noted that this account refers to forts wholly in charge of militia, and not under Washington's direc tion. He points out the contrast between service such as his enlisted soldiers could give and that of the militia. To a large extent the Governor managed the militia move ments, and Washington's exposure of the system was none too pleasant for him. He sent orders to Washington, by a letter of November i8th, resenting criticism that seemed to touch him, and requiring Washington " to march im mediately loo men to Fort Cumberland from the forces at Winchester," and to remain there himself in command. Washington wrote in reply from Alexandria, on his way down to Williamsburg, November 24, 1756: " At this place I received your Honor's letter of the i8th, and shall take care to pay the strictest obedience to your orders, and the opinion [that Fort Cumberland should not be given up, but should be reinforced from Winchester], as far as I can. The detachment ordered from Winchester exceeds, I believe the number of enlisted men we have there; and the drafts, which made our strength at that place to consist of about 160 men, will leave us in seven days. I have no hope of enlisting any, nor prolonging their stay, as we have heretofore engaged those who were willing to serve. However, my true endeavors JOSEPH WARREN. LIFE AtiD TIM&S. $61 shall be strictly aiding for this (more than ever) neces sary purpose. " I am very sorry if any expression in my letter should be deemed unmannerly. I have endeavored to demean myself in that proper respect due to superiors; and in the instance mentioned I can truly say, so far from intending a charge or affront of any kind, it was distant from my thoughts. " I seem also to be reprimanded for giving a vague account of my tour to the southward. I was rather fear ful of blame for meddling with matters I had no imme diate concern with the [the militia garrisons in the quarter of which he spoke not being under his immediate com mand; yet Dinwiddie complained that he had not reported the officers by name, the same as if they had been under his command; and he testily declared it "unmannerly" to speak of failure with the Indians, as if incompetent persons had been sent on this mission by himself]. I related the situation of our frontiers as well as I was capa ble, with a design, from which I have never intention ally swerved,' to serve my country; and am sorry to find that this, and my best endeavors of late, meet with unfav orable constructions. What it proceeds from I know not. " So soon as I march from Winchester, which will im mediately happen, as I am setting out thence, I shall write your Honor a more distinct account of the situation at that place, which will be left entirely destitute of all pro tection, notwithstanding it now contains all the public stores of any importance, as they were removed from Fort Cumberland, and in the most dangerous part of our fron tiers. The works, which have been constructed, and conducted on, with infinite pains and labor will be unfin ished and exposed; and the materials for completing the building, which have been collected with unspeakable dif- 362 WASHINGTON. ficulty and expense, left to be pillaged and destroyed by the inhabitants of the town; because, as I before observed, 100 men will exceed the number, I am pretty confident, which we have there, when the drafts go off. So, to com ply with my orders (which I shall literally do, if I can,) not a man will be left there to secure the works, or defend the King's stores." A week later, December 2, 1756, Washington wrote to the Governor from Winchester (Fort Loudoun), that " wagons and provisions in readiness to go up with this escort" the commissary had been unable to supply; and further he said: " The return of our strength, which I called in so soon as I arrived, is herewith sent, signed by the adjutant, amounting, exclusive of the drafts, to 81 effectives, in cluding the sick, and young drummers, who were sent here to learn. 11 Your Honor's late and unexpected order has caused the utmost terror and consternation in the people, and will, I fear, be productive of numberless evils, not only to this place, but to the country in general, who seem to be in the greatest dread for the consequences. The stores of every kind have all been brought from Fort Cumber land, save those indispensably necessary there, at a very great expense, and lie in the court-house and other pub lic buildings, to the no small inconvenience and detri ment of the county. I am convinced, if your Honor were truly informed of the situation of this place, in every degree our utmost and most exposed frontier, there be ing no inhabitants between this and the Branch, and none there but what are forted in, you would not think it prudent to leave such a quantity of valuable stores ex posed to the insults of a few; for a very few indeed might reduce them, and the town too, to ashes. LIFE AND TIMES. 363 " In the next place, the works, which have been begun and continued with labor and hardship, lie open, untena ble, and exposed to the weather, to say no more; and the materials, which have been collected with cost and infinite difficulty, to the mercy of every pillager; our tim ber and scantling, used and burnt by the town's people; our plank, which has been brought from far, stolen and destroyed; and the lime, if not stolen, left to be wasted, &c., &c. And, this is not the worst. A building, which in time might and would have been very strong and de fensible, and an asylum in the greatest danger, in a man ner totally abandoned. As the case now stands, we have no place tenable, no place of safety; all is exposed and open to attacks; and by not having a garrison at this place, no convoys can get up to us, and the communication with the inhabitants entirely cut off, so that soldiers and inhabitants cannot be assisting each other. " My residing at Fort Cumberland, lying more ad vanced, and wide of all other forts, will prevent me from having the immediate direction of any but that; will ren der it impossible to deliver stores regularly; a total stag nation of business must ensue, because no person will or can come to me there [for payment of contingent ex penses] ; and receiving intelligence and distributing orders, so convenient at Winchester, will be impossible. " I declare, upon my honor, that I am not loath to leave this, but had rather be at Fort Cumberland (if I could do my duty fliere) a thousand times over; for I am tired of the place, the inhabitants, the life I lead here; and if, after what I have said, you should think it neces sary that I reside at that place, I shall acquiesce with pleasure and cheerfulness, and be freed from much anxiety, plague, and business. To be at Fort Cumberland some- 364 WASHINGTON. times I think highly expedient, and have hitherto done it. Three weeks ago I came from that place." December 19, 1756, Washington wrote from Fort Lou- doun to Dinwiddie: "Your letter of the loth came to hand the I5th; in consequence of which I despatched orders immediately to all the garrisons on the Branch to evacuate their forts and repair to Pearsall's, where they would meet the flour, &c., from this place and escort it to Fort Cumberland. 1 expect the provisions purchased for the support of these forts, and now lying in bulk, will be wasted and destroyed, notwithstanding I have given directions to the assistant commissary on the Branch, and to Waggener's company, to use their utmost diligence in collecting the whole, and securing them where his company is posted. An escort, with all the flour we have been able to procure, sets out from this on Tuesday next. I expect to depart sooner myself, after leaving directions with Captain Mercer, whom I have appointed to command here, and shall repair as expeditiously as possible to Fort Cumberland. " I am at a loss to understand the meaning of your Honor's orders, and the opinion of the Council, when I am directed to evacuate all the stockade forts, and at the same time to march only 100 men to Fort Cumber land, and to continue the like number here to garrison Fort Loudoun. If the stockade forts are all abandoned, there will be more men than are required for these two purposes, and the communication between them, of near 80 miles, will be left without a settler, unguarded and exposed." In his orders to the several commanders of forts now evacuated Washington wrote: " I heartily commiserate the poor, unhappy inhabitants, left by this means exposed to every excursion of a 'mer- LIFE AND TIMES. 365 ciless enemy, and wish it were in my power to offer them better support than good wishes (merely) will afford. You may assure the settlement that this unexpected, and f if I may be allowed to say, unavoidable step was taken without my concurrence and knowledge; that it is an ex press order from the Governor, and can neither be evaded nor delayed. Therefore, any representations to me of their danger, and the necessity of continuing troops among them, will be fruitless; I have inclination, but no power left, to serve them. It is also the Governor's or der, that the forts be left standing for the inhabitants to possess if they think proper." Washington's letter to Dinwiddie of December iQth continued as follows: " I have read that paragraph in Lord Loudoun's letter, which your Honor was pleased to send me, over and over again, but am unable to comprehend the meaning of it. What scheme it is, I was carrying into execution without waiting advice, I am at a loss to know, unless it was building the chain of forts along our frontiers, which I not only undertook conformably to an act of Assembly, and by your own orders, but, with respect to the places, in pursuance of a council of war. " I see with much regret that his Excellency Lord Lou- doun seems to have prejudged my proceedings, without being thoroughly informed what were the springs and mo tives that have actuated my conduct. How far I have mistaken the means to recommend my services, I know not, but I am certain of this, that no man ever intended better, or studied the interest of his country with more affectionate zeal, than I have done. " I believe we are the only troops upon the continent, that are kept summer and winter to the severest duty, with the least respite or indulgence. The delay of the 366 WASHINGTON. soldiers' clothes occasions unaccountable murmurs and complaints, and I am very much afraid we shall have few men left, if they arrive not in a week or two. Your Honor would be astonished to see the naked condition of the poor wretches; and how they possibly can subsist, much less work, in such severe weather. Had we but blankets to give them, or anything to defend them from the cold, they might perhaps be easy/' Of the same date as this letter to Dinwiddie, December 19, 1756, is one to Speaker Robinson, in which Washing ton said: " All the stockade forts on the Branch are to be evacu ated, and in course all the settlements abandoned, except what lie under the immediate protection of Captain Wag- gener's fort, the only place exempted in their resolve. Surely his Honor and the Council are not fully acquainted with the situation and circumstances of the unhappy fron tiers, thus to expose so valuable a tract as the Branch, in order to support a fortification in itself of very little importance to the inhabitants or the colony. The former order of Council would have endangered not only the loss of Fort Loudoun [being built at Winchester, extra large and strong, under Washington's own direction], the stores, and Winchester, but a general removal of the set tlers of this valley, even to the Blue Ridge. This last hath the same object in view, vizt., Fort Cumberland, and, to maintain it, the best lands in Virginia are laid open to the mercy of a cruel and inhuman enemy. These peo ple have long struggled with the dangers of savage in cursions, daily soliciting defence, and willing to keep their ground. To encourage them, all my little help has been administered, and they seemed satisfied with my inten tions, resolving to continue while any probability of sup port remained. The disposition I had made of our small LIFE AND TIMES. 367 regiment gave general satisfaction to the settlements, and content began to appear everywhere. The necessary measures for provisions and stores were agreeably con certed, and every regulation established for the season. But the late command reverses, confuses, and incom modes everything; to say nothing of the extraordinary expense of carriage, disappointments, losses, and altera tions, which must fall heavy on the country. Whence it arises, or why, I am truly ignorant; but my strongest representations of matters relative to the peace of the frontiers are disregarded as idle and frivolous; my propo sitions and measures as partial and selfish; and all my sincerest endeavors for the service of my country per verted to the worst purposes. My orders are dark, doubt ful, and uncertain; today approved, tomorrow condemned. Left to act and proceed at hazard, accountable for the consequences, and blamed without the benefit of defence, if you can think my situation capable to excite the small est degree of envy, or afford the least satisfaction, the truth is yet hid from you, and you entertain notions very different from the reality of the case. However, I am de termined to bear up under all these embarrassments some time longer, in hope of better regulation on the arrival of Lord Loudoun, to whom I look for the future fate of Virginia. " His Lordship, I think, has received impressions tend ing to prejudice, by false representation of facts, if I may judge from a paragraph of one of his letters to the Gov ernor, and on which is founded the resolve to support Fort Cumberland at all events. The severity of the sea son, and nakedness of the soldiers, are matters of much compassion, and give rise to infinite complaints. Nor is i: possible to obviate them, unless their clothing should come in immediately. You would be surprised how the 368 WASHINGTON. poor creatures live, much more how they can do duty. Had we but blankets, they might be appeased for a little time; and as we have not, I fear many will desert." In reply to this Speaker Robinson wrote to Washington : " I am truly concerned at the uneasiness you are under in your present situation, and the more so as I am sensi ble you have too much reason for it. The resolution of defending Fort Cumberland, and evacuating the other forts, was taken before I knew or mistrusted anything of the matter. I must confess I was not a little surprised at it, and took the liberty to expostulate with many of the Council upon it, who gave me in answer, that Lord Lou- doun had insisted that Fort Cumberland should be pre served, and, as we had so few troops, it could not be done without breaking up the small forts, and taking the men from them. " It was to no purpose to tell them that our frontiers would thereby be entirely exposed to our cruel and savage enemy, and that they could receive no protection from Fort Cumberland, as it was in Maryland, and so remote from any of our inhabitants; and further, that the act of Assembly, which gave the money solely for the de fence and protection of our frontiers, would be violated, and the money applied otherwise than the Assembly in tended. Yet, notwithstanding all I could say, they per sisted in their resolution, without alleging any other rea son than that it was in pursuance of Lord Loudoun's desire. " It cannot be a difficult matter to guess, who was the author and promoter of this advice and resolution, or by whom Lord Loudoun has been persuaded that the place is of such importance. But supposing it were really so, it ought to be defended by the people in whose province it is, or at least at the expense of the three colonies LIFE AND TIMES. 369 jointly, and our own frontiers not left exposed for the de fence of a place from which we cannot receive the least ad vantage or protection. The present unhappy state of our country [Virginia only is meant] must fill the mind of every well-wisher to it with dismal and gloomy apprehensions; and without some speedy alterations in our counsels, which may God send, the fate of it must be soon determined." About this time, December, 1756, Washington ad dressed a formal letter to Robinson, inscribed, " To the Speaker of the House of Burgesses/' in which he renewed his protest of the previous May (the i8th) against what he heard by several letters, " that the Assembly are in censed against the Virginia regiment; and think they have cause to accuse the officers of all inordinate vices; but more especially of drunkenness and profanity ! " As in his letter of May 18, 1756, Washington protested the abundant proofs going "to show on the one hand that my incessant endeavors have been directed to discounte nance gaming, drinking, swearing, and other vices, with which all camps too much abound; while, on the other, I have used every expedient to inspire a laudable emula tion in the officers, and an unerring exercise of Duty in the Soldiers. " I can not help observing, that if the country think they have cause to condemn my conduct, and have a person in view that will act, that he may do. But who will en deavor to act more for her Interests than I have done? It will give me the greatest pleasure to resign a com mand which I solemnly declare I accepted against my will. ."I know, Sir, that inexperience may have led me into innumerable errors. For which reason I should think myself an unworthy member of the community and 24 370 WASHINGTON. greatly deficient in the love I owe my country, which has ever been the first principle of my actions, were I to re quire more than a distant hint of its dissatisfaction to re sign a commission which I confess to you I am no ways fond of keeping. " These sentiments I communicate to you, Sir, not only as to a Gentleman for whom I entertain the highest re spect and greatest friendship; but also as a member of the Assembly, that the contents, if you think proper, may be communicated to the whole. For, be assured, I shall never wish to hold a Commission, when it ceases to be by unanimous consent. " I am far from attempting to vindicate the characters of all the officers. There are some who have the seeds of Idleness too strongly instilled into their constitution, either to be serviceable to themselves, or beneficial to the Country. Yet even those have not missed my best ad vice : nor have my unwearied endeavors ever been want ing to serve my country with the highest integrity. No sordid views have influenced my conduct, nor have the hopes of unlawful gains swerved me in any measure from the strictest dictates of Honor! I have diligently sought the public welfare; and have endeavored to inculcate the same principles on all that are under me." January 12, 1757, Washington wrote to Governor Din- widdie from Fort Cumberland: " We have as many men at work here, preparing timber to strengthen the works, as tools will supply; but I wish I had been ordered to build a new fort rather than at tempt to repair the old one. " No more forts were evacuated than were requisite to reinforce this Garrison with 100 men, and to continue 100 at Fort Loudoun (Winchester), according to order. The others are continued at their former posts." LIFE AND TIMES. 371 In February, 1757, Washington sent to Lord Loudoun a letter, reviewing at considerable length the course of events, and his own experience, since the outbreak of hos tilities between the French and English. The document is a masterly presentation, fit in both matter and style to be compared with the ablest state papers from our pres ent Secretary of War or Secretary of State, whose work is at the highest level of intelligence, judgment, and ability. As Lord Loudoun's secretary acknowledged receiving the letter February 27, 1757, it must have been written just as Washington became twenty-five years of age. The more notable paragraphs of this expert recital of war pro ceedings and experiences are the following: " The sums of money, my Lord, which have been granted by this colony to carry on war, have been very considerable ; and to reflect to what little purpose is mat ter of great concern, and will seem surprising to those who are not acquainted with the causes, and the con fusion with which all our affairs Rave hitherto been con ducted, owing to our having no fixed object or pursuing any regular system, or plan of operation. "As I have studied with attention and care the nature of the service in which we are engaged, have been engaged therein from the beginning of the present broils, and have been an eye-witness to all the movements and various proceedings, I beg leave to offer a concise and candid account of our circumstances to your Lordship; from which many errors may be discovered, that merit redress in a very high degree. " It was not until it was too late, we discovered that the French were on the Ohio ; or rather, that we could be persuaded they came there with a design to invade his Majesty's dominions. Nay, after I was sent out in De cember, 1753, and brought undoubted testimony even 373 WASHINGTON. from themselves of their avowed design, it was yet thought a fiction, and a scheme to promote the interest of a private company, even by some who had a share in the government. These unfavorable surmises caused great delay in raising the first men and money, and gave the active enemy time to take possession of the Fork of Ohio (which they now call Duquesne), before we were in suffi cient strength to advance thither, which has been the chief source of all our past and present misfortunes. For by this means, the French getting between us and our In dian allies, they fixed those In their interests who were wavering, and obliged the others to neutrality, 'till the unhappy defeat of his (late) Excellency General Braddock. "The troops under Colonel Dunbar going into quar ters in July, and the inactivity of the neighboring col onies, and the incapacity of this, conspired to give the French great room to exult, and the Indians little reason to expect a vigorous offensive war on our side. " Virginia, it is true, was not inactive all this time ; on the contrary, voted a handsome supply for raising men to carry on the war, or, more properly, to defend herself. But even in this she signally failed. " The men first levied to repel the enemy marched for Ohio the beginning of April, 1754, without tents, without clothes, in short without any conveniences to shelter them, in that remarkably cold and wet season, from the inclemency of the weather, or to make the service tolerably agreeable. In this state did they, notwithstanding, con tinue, till the battle of the Meadows, in July following, never receiving in all that space any subsistence; and were very often under the greatest straits and difficulties for want of provisions. "These things were productive of great murmurings and discontent, and rendered the service so distasteful to LIFE AND TIMES. 373 the men that, not being paid immediately upon coming in, they thought themselves bubbled, and that no reward for their services was ever intended. This caused great desertion; and the deserters, spreading over the country, recounting their sufferings and want of pay, which rags and poverty sufficiently testified, fixed in the mind of the populace such horrid impressions of the hardships they had encountered, that no arguments could remove these prejudices, or facilitate the recruiting service. " This put the Assembly upon enacting a law to im press vagrants, which added to our difficulties, for, com pelling these abandoned miscreants into the service, they embraced every opportunity to effect their escape, gave a loose rein to their vicious principles, and invented the most unheard of stories to palliate desertion and gain compassion; in which they not only succeeded, but ob tained protection also. So that it was next to impossible, after this, to apprehend deserters, while the civil officers rather connived at their escape than aided in securing them. " Thus were affairs situated, when we were ordered, in September, 1755, to recruit our force to 1200 men. Tis easy therefore to conceive, under these circumstances, why we did not fulfil the order, especially when the offi cers were not sufficiently allowed for this arduous task. We continued, however, using our endeavors until March following, without much success. " The Assembly, meeting about that time, came to a resolution of augmenting our numbers to 1500 men, by drafting the militia, (who were to continue in the service until December only) ; and by a clause in the act, exempt ing all those who should pay ten pounds, our numbers were very little increased, one part of the people paying that sum, and many of the poorer sort absconding. The 374: WASHINGTON. funds arising from these forfeitures were thrown into the treasury; whereas, had they been deposited in proper hands for recruiting, the money might have turned to good account. But a greater grievance than either of these was restraining the forces from marching out of the colony, or acting offensively, and ordering them to build forts, and garrison them, along our frontiers (of more than 300 miles in extent). How equal they, or any like number, are to the task, and how repugnant a de fensive plan is to the true interest and welfare of the col ony, I submit to any judge to determine who will con sider tfie following particulars. " First, that erecting forts at greater distances than 15 or 1 8 miles, or a day's march asunder, and garrisoning them with less than 80 or 100 men, is not answering the intention. " Indian parties are generally intermixed with some Frenchmen, and are so dexterous at skulking, that their spies, lying about these small forts for some days and taking a prisoner, make certain discoveries of the strength of the garrison ; and then, upon observing a scouting party coming out, will first cut it off, and afterwards attempt the fort. Instances of this have lately happened. " Secondly, our frontiers are of such extent, that if the enemy were to make a formidable attack on one side, be fore the troops on the other could get to their assistance, they might overrun the country. " Thirdly, what it must cost the country to build these forts, and to remove stores and provisions into them ; and " Fourthly, and lastly, where and when this expense will end. For we may be assured, if we do not endeavor to remove the cause, we shall be as liable to the same incursions seven years hence as now ; indeed more so. Because, if the French are allowed to possess those lands LIFE AND TIMES. 375 in peace [to the westwards and on the Ohio], they will have the entire command of the Indians, and grow stronger in their alliance ; while we, by our defensive schemes and pusillanimous behavior, will exhaust our treasury, reduce our strength, and become the contempt of these savage nations, who are every day enriching themselves with the plunder and spoils of our people. " It will evidently appear from the whole tenor of my conduct, but more especially from reiterated representa tions, how strongly I have urged the Governor and Assem bly to pursue different measures, and to convince them, by all the reasonings I was capable of offering, of the im possibility of covering so extensive a frontier from Indian incursions, without more force than Virginia can main tain. I have endeavored to demonstrate, that it would require fewer men to remove the cause than to prevent the effects while the cause subsists. This, notwithstand ing, was the measure adopted, and the plan under which we have acted for eight months past, with the disagreeable reflection of doing no essential service to our country, nor gaining honor to ourselves, or reputation to our regi ment. However, under these disadvantageous restraints, the regiment has not been inactive ; on the contrary, it has performed a vast deal of work, and has been very alert in defending the people, which will appear by ob serving that, notwithstanding we are more contiguous to the French and their Indian allies, and more exposed to their frequent incursions than any of the neighboring colonies, we have not lost half the inhabitants which others have done, but considerably more soldiers in their defence. In the course of this campaign, since March, I mean fMarch, 1756, to end of February, 1757, a full twelve month], (as we have had but one constant cam paign, and continued scene of action, since we first en- tered the service), our troops have been engaged in up wards of twenty skirmishes, and we have had near an hundred men killed and wounded from a small regi ment dispersed over the country, and acting upon the defensive, as ours is by order. This, I conceive, will not appear inconsiderable to those who are in the least de gree acquainted with the nature of this service, and the posture of our affairs ; however it may seem to chimney corner politicians, who are thirsting for news, and expect ing by every express to hear in what manner Fort Du- quesne was taken and the garrison led away captive by our small numbers ; although we are restrained from mak ing the attempt, were our hopes of success ever so rational ! " The first men raised, if I rightly remember, were under no law; if any, the militia law, which was next of kin to it. But under this we remained a short time, and, instilling notions into the soldiers, who knew no better, that they were governed by the articles of war [Governor Dinwiddie held this view], we felt little inconvenience; and the next campaign we were joined by the regulars, and made subject to their laws. After the regulars left us the Assembly passed an act in September, as before men tioned, to raise 1200 men, and, in order (I suppose) to improve upon the act of Parliament, prepared a military code of their own, but such a one as no military discipline could be preserved by while it lasted. This being repre sented by the most pressing and repeated remonstrances, induced the Assembly to pass a bill in October following, for one year only, making mutiny and desertion death, but took no cognizance of many other crimes equally punishable by act of Parliament." After mention of other grievances, especially the wretched character of the service rendered by the militia, WASHIXGTON TAKING COMMAXD OF THE ARMY. LIFE AND TIMES. 377 and the effect which all these things had had to make him sick of the service, Washington said in conclusion : " I do not know, my Lord, in what light this short and disinterested relation may be received by your Lordship; but with the utmost candor and submission it is offered. It contains no misrepresentations, nor aggravated rela tion of facts, nor unjust reflections. " Virginia is a country young in war, and, till the break ing out of these disturbances, has remained in the most profound and tranquil peace, never studying war nor war fare. It is not, therefore, to be imagined that she can fall into proper measures at once. All that can be expected at her hands she cheerfully offers, the sinews of war, and those only want your Lordship's ability and experi ence to be properly applied and directed." The secretary who sent an acknowledgment of the re ceipt of this communication wrote : " His Lordship seems very much pleased with the accounts you have given him of the situation of affairs to the southward." Lord Loudoun calle'd a meeting of all the southern gov ernors at Philadelphia, and Washington attended a nine days' conference, March 15-24, 1757. He had established himself in command and fort-building at Fort Cumber land, but at the Philadelphia conference it was decided to have the Virginia troops there withdraw as soon as Mary land could garrison the fort, and this permitted Washing ton to return to Fort Loudoun (Winchester). From that place he wrote to Richard Washington, a merchant of London, England, April 15, 1757: " I have been posted for 20 months past upon our cold ancl barren frontiers, to perform, I think I may say, im possibilities ; that is, to protect from the cruel incursions of a crafty, savage enemy a line of inhabitants of more than 350 miles in extent, with a force inadequate to the task," 378 WASHINGTON. April 29, 1757, Washington sent a letter to Governor Dinwiddie, in which he carefully reviewed the urgent needs of the service, and the situation at Winchester, and inquired in regard to a proposed change in the terms of his service, which had been 30 shillings a day as pay, and 2 per cent, commissions for examining, settling, and pay ing off accounts, out of which were met the expenses of his table. The Governor discontinued the 2 per cent, commission, but allowed in place of it a special sum of 200 for table expenses, etc. To Robinson, Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Washington wrote May 3Oth, and again June 10, 1757, urgently representing the bad system in use for securing and employing Indian allies. The French had an agent, with an ample supply of Indian goods, whose sole busi ness it was to manage the Indians under employment. " Unless some person," said Washington, " is appointed to manage the Indian affairs of this colony, under the direction of the Governor, or the southern agent, a vast expense and but little advantage will accrue from the coming of these Indians among us. And I know of no person so well qualified for an undertaking of this sort as the bearer, Captain Gist. He has had extensive dealings with the Indians, is in great esteem among them, well acquainted with their manners and customs, is indefatiga ble, and patient, most excellent qualities indeed where Indians are concerned. And for his capacity, honesty, and zeal, I dare venture to engage." The " southern agent," a Mr. Atkin, proposed to appoint Gist to the care of In dian affairs in Virginia, but in the letter of June loth, Washington said : "A person of a readier pen, and hav ing more time than myself, might amuse you with the vicissitudes of Indian affairs since Mr. Atkin came up." LIFE AND TIMES. 379 On another matter Washington declared to Robinson in this letter of June 10, 1757: " Unless you will interest yourself in sending money to me to discharge the public debts, I must inevitably suffer very considerably, as the country people all think me pledged to them, let what will happen. They are grown very clamorous, and will be more than ever incensed if there should come an inadequate sum, and that sum be appropriated to the payment of the soldiers. " I am convinced it would give pleasure to the Gov ernor to hear that I was involved in trouble, however undeservedly, such are his dispositions toward me." Washington found himself about this time under a sec ond commander, besides Governor Dinwiddie, a Colonel Stanwix, appointed by Lord Loudoun to the chief com mand of the forces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir ginia. Dinwiddie recognized in a notification to Wash ington that he was to take his orders from Stanwix, and yet he went on giving orders himself all the same. Wash ington wrote to Stanwix June 15, 1757, and after reporting a success against a small French and Indian party, further said: " Our Assembly have granted a further sum of 80,000 for the service of the ensuing year, and have agreed (I believe) to complete their regiment of this colony to 1200 men, besides three companies of rangers of 100 each. Our strength, since the detachment to South Carolina has em barked [200 men, by order of Lord Loudoun], is reduced to 420 rank and file only and these much weakened by the number of posts we hold." June 2Oth Washington wrote to Stanwix : " We work on this Fort [at Winchester], both night and day, intend ing to make it tenable against the worst event." Again June 28th he wrote : " We were reinforced, upon the late 380 WASHINGTON. alarm, by 170 militia from the adjacent counties, one half of them unarmed, and the whole without ammunition or provisions." There had been, June i6th, what a few days proved to be a false report, that a large French and Indian force was on the way from Fort Duquesne with a train of artillery, evidently making for Fort Cumberland, and probably aimed at Fort Loudoun at Winchester. In a letter of July n, 1757, Washington reported to Governor Dinwiddie that no less than twenty-four more of the drafted men, after receiving their money and clothes, had deserted the night before; and of one party of seven, two had been captured. It seemed to Washington that nothing but the most rigorous measures would have any effect, and he asked the Governor to supply him with blank warrants to execute courts-martial sentences. By a letter of July 2Oth to Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, Washington complained that many deserters from Virginia were harbored in Maryland, and that " some in authority, either from an ill-placed compassion, or from that spirit of opposition to the service which is too prevalent through the continent, have not only countenanced those deserters, but made use of your Excellency's name for that purpose." To Colonel Stanwix Washington reported July 15, 1757, that out of 400 drafts that he had received 114 had de serted ; and that for terror of the rascals he had caused to be erected " a Gallows near 40 feet high," and was deter mined to hang two or three on it, if he could be justified in it. To the same Washington reported July 30th that of twenty-two deserters who had been apprehended he had caused two to be hanged, but August 27th he wrote to the Governor: "As your Honor was pleased to leave to my discretion to punish or pardon the criminals, I have resolved on the latter, since I find example of so little weight, and since LIFE AND TIMES. 381 those poor unhappy criminals have undergone no small pain of body and mind, in a dark prison, closely ironed." September 17, 1757, Washington said in a letter to Dinwiddie : " Lenity, so far from producing its desired effects, rather emboldens them in these villainous under takings. One of those who were condemned to be hanged, deserted immediately upon receiving his pardon. In short, they tire my patience, and almost weary me to death." Under date of July 29, 1757, Washington issued " Gen eral Instructions to all the Captains of Companies " a document carefully written, from exact and complete knowledge of military duties, and of the special needs of the Virginia situation, and with full manifestation of the highest ideals. In a letter of July 30, 1757, Washington asked Colonel Stanwix for leave of absence August 1st, to attend a " meeting of the executors of an estate that I am much interested in a dividend of, and have suffered much already by the unsettled state it has remained in." In reply Stanwix wrote that he was to act in any such matter at his own discretion, without asking leave. At" the same time Dinwiddie, applied to in the same way, was disagree able enough to refuse leave. August 27th, in a letter to Dinwiddie, Washington said: " It is with concern I remark that my best endeavors lose their reward, and that my conduct, although I have uniformly studied to make it as unexceptionable as I could, does not appear to you in a favorable point of Tight." In his letter of September 17, 1757, to Dinwiddie, Wash ington said, in regard to an application made directly to the Governor for a commission as lieutenant for William Henry Fairfax: " If you please to bestow it on Mr. Fairfax, I should take it infinitely kind if you would oblige me so far as to 382 WASHINGTON. send the commission immediately from yourself to that gentleman. For although I esteem him greatly on ac count of his father, for whose memory and friendship I shall ever retain a most grateful sense, yet, making him lieutenant over many old ensigns will occasion great con fusion in the corps, and bring censure on me ; for the offi cers will readily conceive that my friendship and partiality for the family were the causes of it. If Mr. Fairfax would accept an ensigncy, the matter might pretty easily be ac commodated." In a second letter of September I7th to Dinwiddie, Washington enclosed a written report of what Mr. Carter said Mr. Robinson told him that he heard Col. Richard Corbin say that Captain Peachy affirmed to him, that the alarm about Indians on the frontier was a baseless scare, in execution of a scheme by which Washington sought to cause the Assembly to levy largely both in men and money. The communication was from Peachy, who pro nounced the report scandalous and its author a scoundrel thus leaving the matter upon Corbin if what Carter said Robinson said, could be trusted. Washington said of it to Dinwiddie: " I should take it infinitely kind if your Honor would please to inform me whether a report of this nature was ever made to you ; and, in that case, who was the author of it? " It is evident, from a variety of circumstances, and especially from the change in your Honor's conduct towards me, that some person, as well inclined to detract, but better skilled in the art of detraction, than the author of the above stupid scandal, has made free with my char acter. For I cannot suppose that malice so absurd, so barefaced, so diametrically opposite to truth, to common policy, and, in short, to everything but villainy, as the LIFE AND TIMES. 383 above report is, could impress you with so ill an opinion of my honor and honesty. " If it be possible that Colonel Corbin (for my belief is staggered, not being conscious of having given the least cause to any one, much less to that gentleman, to reflect so grossly), I say, if it be possible that Colonel Corbin could descend so low as to be the propagator of this story, he must either be vastly ignorant in the state of affairs in this county [Frederick] at that time, or else he must sup pose that the whole body of the inhabitants had combined with me in executing the deceitful fraud. It is uncertain in what light my services may have appeared to your Honor; but this I know, and it is the highest consolation I am capable of feeling, that no man, that ever was employed in a public capacity, has endeavored to discharge the trust reposed in him with greater honesty, and more zeal for the country's interest, than I have done ; and if there is any person living, who can say with justice, that I have offered any intentional wrong to the public, I will cheerfully submit to the most ignominious punishment that an injured people ought to inflict. On the other hand, it is hard to have my character arraigned, and my actions condemned, without a hearing. " I must therefore again beg in more plain, and in very earnest terms, to know if Col. Corbin has taken the liberty of representing my character to your Honor with such ungentlemanly freedom as the letter [of Capt. Peachy] implies." Dinwiddie replied that the report to Washington's dis credit he had never heard of before; that he could not think Colonel Corbin guilty of having started it ; and that he had never known of anything to justify it. " But you know," Dinwiddie added, " I had great reason to suspect you of ingratitude, which I am convinced your own con- 384 WASHINGTON. science and reflection must allow I had reason to be angry ; but this I endeavor to forget. As I have his Majesty's leave to go for England, I propose leaving this in Novem ber, and I wish my successor may show you as much friendship as I have done." To Captain Peachy Washington wrote September 18, 1757: " In answer to that part [of your letter] which relates to Colonel Corbin's gross and infamous reflections on my conduct last spring, it will be needless, I dare say, to ob serve further at this time, than that the liberty which he has been pleased to allow himself in sporting with my character, is little else than a comic entertainment, discov ering at one view his passionate fondness for your friend, his inviolable love of truth, his unfathomable knowledge, and the masterly strokes of his wisdom in displaying it." To Governor Dinwiddie Washington wrote from Fort Loudoun (Winchester) September 24, 1757: " The inhabitants of this valuable and fertile valley are terrified beyond expression [because of " the late depreda tions in this neighborhood"]. Some have abandoned their plantations, and many are packing up their most valuable effects in order to follow them. Another irrup tion into the heart of this settlement will, I am afraid, be of fatal consequence to it. I was always persuaded, and almost every day affords new matter for confirming me in the opinion, that the enemy can, with the utmost fa cility, render abortive every plan which can be concerted, upon our present system of defence; and that the only method of effectually defending such a vast extent of mountains covered with thick woods, as our frontiers, against such an enemy, is by carrying the war into their country. And I think I may, without assuming uncom mon penetration, venture to affirm, that, unless an expe- LIFE AND TIMES. 385 dition is carried on against the Ohio next spring, this country will not be another year in our possession." October 5th Washington further said: " As I have neg lected nothing in my power, it is very evident that nothing but vigorous offensive measures (next campaign) can save the country, at least all west of the Blue Ridge, from inevitable desolation." And of a personal matter he said: " I do not know that I ever gave your Honor cause to suspect me of ingratitude, a crime I detest, and would most carefully avoid. If an open, disinterested behavior carries offence, I may have offended; because I have all along laid it down as a maxim, to represent facts freely and impartially, but no more to others than I have to you, Sir. If instances of my ungrateful behavior had been particularized, I would have answered to them. But I have long been convinced, that my actions and their motives have been maliciously aggravated." To Colonel Stanwix Washington wrote, October 8, 1757, from Fort Loudoun: " I exert every means in my power to protect a much distressed country, but it is a task too arduous. To think of defending a frontier, as ours is, of more than 350 miles extent, with only 700 men, is vain and idle, especially when that frontier lies more contiguous to the enemy than any other. I am, and have for a long time been, fully convinced that, if we continue to pursue a defensive plan, the country must be inevitably lost." October 9, 1757, Washington wrote to Dinwiddie of the lawless thieving practiced by the Tippling-House keep ers, receiving and concealing stores, arms, etc., belonging to the regiment, and of the rascally, illegal conduct of the justices in giving no redress through the courts. Again, October 24th, he wrote to Dinwiddie of the inevitable destruction of the country about Winchester unless a new 25 386 WASHINGTON. policy could be put in execution. To Speaker Robinson he urged the same views in a letter of October 25th. His last letter to Dinwiddie was one of November 5th, in re gard to Indian affairs under the very bad system admin istered by the agent, Atkin. Dinwiddie sailed for Eng land in January, after Washington had gone home to Mount Vernon under a severe indisposition which brought him so low with dysentery and fever that it was more than four months before he was able to resume his com mand. Speaker Robinson wrote to him in reply to his letter of October 25th: " We have not yet heard who is to succeed him. God grant it may be somebody better acquainted with the un happy business we have in hand, and who, by his con duct and counsel, may dispel the cloud now hanging over this distressed country. Till that event, I beg, my dear friend, that you will bear, so far as a man of honor ought, the discouragements and slights you have too often met with, and continue to serve your country, as I am con vinced you have always hitherto done, in the best man ner you can with the small assistance afforded you."] The laborious and unintermitted devotion to his duties proved at the close of the year 1757 so injurious to the health of Washington that he yielded to the entreaties of his physician, withdrew from the army, and retired to Mount Vernon (1757). But it was not his fortune to enjoy, even there, a refreshing repose that might reno vate his strength. Prostrated by a lingering and debili tating fever he was disqualified for duty, and he was unable to return to the army until after the lapse of four months. It was a source of pleasing reflection to him however as he lay on his bed of sickness, or enjoyed the calm delights of his retreat at Mount Vernon, that his efforts in his LIFE AND TIMES. 387 country's cause had not been altogether ineffectual. He had traversed the whole frontier and become familiarly acquainted with its condition and its wants; he had suc ceeded in awakening a general and deep feeling in be half of the suffering borderers; he had vindicated himself from the unfavorable insinuations of secret enemies; he had induced the Assembly to erect at Winchester a large fort called Fort Loudoun, in honor of the British com- mander-in-chief; and he had promptly and vigorously constructed the military works proposed by the Burgesses, visiting these works in person, and amid many perils in the wilderness bringing his labors in great part to a suc cessful issue. He had also, by his earnest recommenda tion, directed the public mind to the importance of cap turing Fort Duquesne and to the necessity of speedy measures for this purpose. In his retirement his mind dwelt continually upon the interesting subjects associated with the defenses of the frontier, and especially upon the capture of Fort Duquesne as a grand climacteric. In the progress of events, during the next year, it was his good fortune and great joy to see that stronghold of his country's cruel enemies reduced, and to take an active and prominent part in measures which re stored peace and prosperity to those regions where a savage and merciless warfare had so long been spreading desolation. [Sparks remarks as follows on the campaign from which Washington retired worn out and dangerously sick: " The campaign, being a defensive one, presented no opportunities for acquiring glory; but the demands on the resources and address of the commander were not the less pressing. The scene varied little from that of the preceding year, except that the difficulties were more nu merous and complicatd. There were the same unceasing incursions of the savages, but more sanguinary and terri- 388 WASHINGTON. fying, the same tardiness in the enlistments, the same troubles with the militia, the same neglect in supplying the wants of the army; and on every side were heard murmurs of discontent from the soldiers, and cries of dis tress from the inhabitants. " And what increased these vexations was, that the gov ernor, tenacious of his authority, intrusted as little power as possible to the head of the army. Totally unskilled in military affairs, and residing two hundred miles from the scene of action, he yet undertook to regulate the prin cipal operations, sending expresses back and forth, and issuing vague and contradictory orders, seldom adapted to circumstances, frequently impracticable. This absurd in terference was borne with becoming patience and forti tude by the Commander-in-Chief; but not without keen remonstrance to the Speaker of the Assembly and other friends, against being made responsible for military events, while the power to control them was withheld, or so heavily clogged as to paralyze its action. The patriotic party in the legislature sympathized with him, and would gladly have procured redress, had not the governor pos sessed prerogatives, which they could not encroach upon, and which he seemed ambitious to exercise; the more so, perhaps, as the leaders of the majority, learning his foible in this respect, had thwarted many of his schemes, and especially had assumed to themselves the appropriation of the public moneys, which by ancient usage had been un der the direction of the Governor and Council." The muddle created by the senseless meddling of Din- widdie, after Colonel Stanwix had come into chief British command, and the contrast between Dinwiddie and Stan wix, are brought out by Sparks in the following: " During the summer of 1757, Colonel Washington was in some sort under the command of Colonel Stanwix, LIFE AND TIMES. 389 but to what extent he did not know, as he had received no instructions on that head, and the Governor continued to issue his orders as formerly. At length the Governor wrote as follows ; ' Colonel Stanwix being appointed Commander-in-Chief [of the middle and southern prov inces], you must submit to his orders, without regard to any you may receive from me; he, being near the place, can direct affairs better than I can.' This was peculiarly agreeable to the Commander of the Virginia regiment; for Colonel Stanwix was a military man, and a gentle man of an elevated and liberal spirit. His letters bear a high testimony to his good sense, as well as to the delicacy of his feelings, the amenity of his temper, and the gener osity of his character. " Notwithstanding the above direction, the Governor did not cease to write, give commands, require returns, and utter complaints as usual, thereby increasing the endless perplexities and bewildering doubts, with which Colonel Washington was harassed in all his plans and operations. " He had requested leave of absence from Governor Din- widdie for a few days to attend to certain private affairs, of a very pressing nature, at Mount Vernon. He afterwards repeated this request, and, as he seemed to be under two commanders, he thought it expedient to consult them both. The Governor answered; 'As to the settlement of your brother's estate, your absence on that account from Fort Loudoun must be suspended, till our affairs give a better prospect.' Colonel Stanwix replied to the same request; 'More than two weeks ago I answered your letter, in which you mentioned its being convenient to your private affairs to attend to them for a fortnight. In that answer I expressed my concern, that you should think such a thing necessary to mention to me, as I am sure you would not choose to be out of call, should the 390 WASHINGTON. service require your immediate attendance; and I hope you will always take that liberty upon yourself, which I hope you will now do." In closing the Dinwiddie chapter of Washington's ca reer Sparks remarks very justly: "As a school of experience it ultimately proved ad vantageous to him. It was his good fortune, likewise, to gain honor and reputation even in so barren a field, by retaining the confidence of his fellow citizens, and ful filling the expectations of his friends in the legislature, who had pressed upon him the command, and urged his holding it. " But the fatigue of body and mind, which he suffered from the severity of his labors, gradually undermined his strength, and his physician insisted on his retiring from the army. He went to Mount Vernon, where his disease settled into a fever, and reduced him so low, that he was confined four months, till the 1st of March, 1758, before he was able to resume his command."] CHAPTER VII. CAHPAIGN OF 1758 -WASHINGTON'S MARRIAGE. 1758. WASHINGTON was at Fredericksburg, January 31, 1758, and wrote to his cordial friend, John Blair, president of the Council and acting Gov ernor, in regard to the inopportune arrival then expected of a considerable party of Indians. Twenty days later he wrote again: " I set out for Williamsburg the day after the date of my letter, but found I was unable to proceed, my fever and pain increasing upon me to a high degree; and the physicians assured me, that I might endanger my life by prosecuting the journey." From Mount Vernon, March 4, 1758, Washington wrote: " I have never been able to return to my command, since I wrote to you last, my disorder at times returning obstinately upon me, in spite of the efforts of all the sons of ^Esculapius, whom I have hitherto consulted. At cer tain periods I have been reduced to great extremity, and have now too much reason to apprehend an approaching decay, being visited with several symptoms of such a disease. " I am now under a strict regimen, and shall set out tomorrow for Williamsburg to receive the advice of the best physicians there. My constitution is certainly greatly impaired, and as nothing can retrieve it but the greatest care and the most circumspect conduct; as I now have (391) 392 WASHINGTON. no prospect left of preferment in the military way; and as I despair of rendering that immediate service which my country may require from the person commanding their troops, I have some thoughts of quitting my com mand, and retiring from all public business, leaving my post to be rilled by some other person more capable of the task, and who may, perhaps, have his endeavors crowned with better success than mine have been/'] The campaign of 1758 was destined to terminate Wash ington's doubts and anxieties. In April of this year he was in command at Fort Loudoun with improved health. His old enemy, the wrong-headed and pragmatical Gov ernor Dinwiddie, had yielded his place to Mr. Francis Fau- quier, until whose arrival from England an old friend of Washington, Mr. John Blair, president of Council, was act ing Governor. A change not less auspicious had taken place in the ad ministration of affairs in the mother country. The activity of the French and the supineness of the English in the recent campaigns in America seemed to threaten the loss of the Colonies. The British nation had become alarmed and indignant and the King had found it necessary to change his councils. At the head of the new ministry he placed the celebrated William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chat ham, pre-eminently a man of action, who from the humble post of ensign in the Guards had raised himself to his pres ent elevated position. Under his administration, public confidence, not only in England, but in the Colonies, at once revived and all were inspired with new life and vigor. He was equally popular in both hemispheres, and so promptly did the Governors of the northern Colonies obey the requi sitions of his circular letter of 1757 that by May, in the fol lowing year Massachusetts had 7,000, Connecticut 5,000, LIFE AND TIMES. 393 and New Hampshire 3,000 troops prepared to take the field.* The authorities of the mother country were not less active. While British fleets were blockading or capturing the French armaments intended for America, Admiral Bos- cawen was dispatched to Halifax with a formidable squad ron of ships and an army of 12,000 men. The imbecile and dilatory Lord Loudoun was recalled and General Aber- crombie placed in the chief command who, early in the spring, was ready to enter upon the campaign with an army of 50,000 men, the largest ever embodied in America. Three points of attack were marked out for this cam paign : The first, Louisburg ; the second, Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and the third, Fort Duquesne. In the last of these expeditions, Washington, to his great joy, was destined to take a part ; but as its success was entirely de pendent, in the sequel, on the operations of the other two, it becomes necessary first to notice them somewhat in detail. The expedition against Louisburg was conducted by Gen eral Amherst, assisted by the remarkable military skill and daring enterprise of General Wolfe, destined, in the next * The arrangements made by Pitt with reference to the relative rank of royal and provincial troops, and the relative expenses of the crown and the colonies, were not less satisfactory than his prompt and energetic measures for carrying on the campaign. " He stipulated that the colonial troops raised for this purpose should be supplied with arms, ammunition, tents, and provisions in the same manner as the regular troops, and at the King's ex pense; so that the only charge to the Colonies would be that of levying, clothing, and paying the men. The Governors were also authorized to issue commissions to provincial officers, from col onels downward, and these officers were to hold rank in the united army according to their commissions. Had this liberal and just system been adopted at the outset, it would have put a very different face upon the military affairs of the Colonies." Sparks's " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 289, note. 394 WASHINGTON. campaign, to become the conqueror of Quebec. Richard Montgomery, whose immortality was afterward won under other auspices before the same city, also served in this ex pedition as a subaltern, and gained promotion from Wolfe for his gallantry. On the 28th of May (1758) the expedition sailed from Halifax, the fleet under command of Admiral Boscawen being composed of twenty ships-of-the-line and eighteen frigates, and the army, under General Amherst, of 14,000 men. They arrived in Cabarus bay on the 2d of June. The garrison of Louisburg, commanded by the Chevalier Drucour, an officer of courage and experience, was com posed of 2,500 regulars, aided by 600 militia and Indians. The harbor being secured by five ships-of-the-line, one fifty- gtm ship, and five frigates, three of which were sunk across the mouth of the basin, it was found necessary to land at some distance from the town. Prevented from landing by a heavy surf until the 8th, the brave Wolfe then led the army in three divisions of boats to nearly the same place where the small army of New England men, under the command of the able and courageous Lieut.-Gen. William Pepperrell, had landed to besiege and capture Louisburg in 1745. The enemy were arrayed along the shore, and, after mak ing some resistance to the impetuous onset of Wolfe, fled to the city. The British lost in killed or drowned forty- three regulars and six provincials, and the French lost two lieutenants killed and seventy prisoners. Two large guns and thirty-two small ones, planted along the shore, were taken, with their ammunition. The French destroyed the fortress to which they had given the name of Royal Bat tery and called in their outposts. The artillery and stores were now brought on shore, and General Wolfe with 1,800 men marched around Green Hill and the northeast harbor LIFE AND TIMES. 395 to the lighthouse, which the enemy deserted, destroying their cannon. Several strong batteries were forthwith added to those erected by the enemy on this spot, which commanded the eastern side of the harbor. Approaches were also made on the opposite side of the town and the siege was steadily though cautiously continued. A French frigate attempting to escape from the harbor was captured. A heavy cannonade being kept up against the town and the vessels in the harbor, a bomb set on fire and blew up one of the largest ships, and the flames were communicated to two others, which shared the same fate (July 21, 1758). The batteries erected at the lighthouse meantime had silenced the battery of the enemy, situated on one of the islands at the entrance of the harbor. On July 25th the admiral sent in 600 men in the night to destroy the two remaining ships-of-the-line, who burnt the Prudent, a seventy-four, and towed off the Bienfaisant, a sixty-four, to the northeast harbor. This gallant exploit putting the English in complete possession of the harbor, and several breaches having been made practicable in the works, the brave Drucour, finding the place no longer tenable, proposed terms of capitulation. The English com manders, who were on the point of sending six ships into the harbor to aid in an assault, required that the garrison should surrender as prisoners of war. Drucour at first re jected these humiliating terms and determined to hold out to the last, but overcome by the importunities of the suf fering inhabitants of the town he at length acceded to the conditions prescribed ; and Louisburg, with all its artillery, provisions, and military stores, together with Island Royal, St. Johns, and their dependencies, were placed in the hands of the English, who at once took possession of the island of Cape Breton. They found 221 pieces of cannon and 396 WASHINGTON. eighteen mortars, with a very large quantity of stores and ammunition in the fortress. The inhabitants of Cape Bre ton were sent to France in English ships, but the garrison, sea officers, sailors, and marines, amounting collectively to 3,291 men, were carried prisoners to England. The news of the brilliant success of the expedition was received with great rejoicing throughout the Colonies, and the event was triumphantly celebrated in London. Soon after the surrender of Louisburg, General Wolfe returned to England, while Gfneral Amherst* sailed with part of his army to Boston and from thence marched to Fort William Henry to take part in the second expedition of the campaign, the leading incidents of which we now proceed to notice. The force destined for the expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point consisted of 16,000 men, attended by a powerful train of artillery, and led by the commander-in- chief, General Abercrombie. Subordinate to him, in com mand of 5,000 of these men, was George Howe, lord vis count, the most popular of all the British officers who ever * Like Wolfe, Amherst was selected by Chatham to aid in the execution of that eminent statesman's great military designs; and his success proved that the minister had formed a just estimate of his courage and ability. The services which he rendered to Great Britain in America fully entitled him to the honors with which he was afterward rewarded. He was described as having been "a thorough good soldier: " cautious but enterprising; temperate and collected in the greatest difficulties; strict in the enforcement of discipline, yet averse to mere military parade, and particularly kind to the men under his command. He erected a column, near his residence at Riverhead, commemorating the escape of himself and his two brothers, Lieutenant-General and Admiral Amherst, from the perils of war; and recording those successes of the British forces in Canada, to which he had materially contributed by his bravery and skill. LIFE AND TIMES. 397 served in the Colonies. Abercrombie was as remarkable for timidity and imbecility as Howe was for courage and enterprise. On the 5th of July (1758) Abercrombie embarked his troops on Lake George on board of 125 whale-boats and 900 batteaux, with rafts for the artillery, and passing down the lake landed on the west side near its outlet. The troops were formed into four columns, the British in the center and the provincials on the flanks. In this order they marched toward the advanced guard of the French which, consisting of one battalion only, posted in a log breast work, set fire to their camp and made a precipitate retreat. While Abercrombie was urging forward his march through the woods toward Ticonderoga, the columns were thrown into confusion and in some degree entangled with each other. At this juncture Lord Howe, at the head of the right center column, fell in with a part of the advanced guard of the enemy, who had lost their way in the woods in retreating from Lake George, and immediately attacked and dispersed it, killing 300 of the enemy and taking 148 prisoners. This success however was dearly purchased by the death of Lord Howe* himself, who fell at the first fire. Abercrombie ordered the troops to fall back to the land^ ing place on Lake George and bivouac for the night. The * George Howe, Lord Viscount, was the eldest son of Sir E. Scrope, second lord viscount in Ireland. He commanded five thousand British troops, which arrived at Halifax in July, 1757. The next year, when Abercrombie marched against Ticonderoga, in an attack on the advanced guard of the French posted in the woods, Lord Howe fell at the first fire, in July, 1758, aged 33. " In him," says Manto, " the soul of the army seemed to expire." By his- military talents and rnany virtues, he had acquired esteem and affection. Massachusetts erected a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey, at an expense of 250. 398 WASHINGTON. master-spirit of the enterprise was no more, and the in capable Abercrombie was left to encounter the able and indefatigable Montcalm. This officer, who was in com mand at Ticonderoga, had caused trees to be felled in front of the breastwork of the fortress at some distance, having some of their branches sharpened to a point, so as to retard assailants and entangle them in the branches. The engineer sent forward by Abercrombie the next morning to reconnoiter the works seems not to have no ticed the character of this abattis as, on his return, he re ported that the works were unfinished and might easily be taken. Abercrombie, posted at some sawmills two miles from the fort, without waiting for his artillery, ordered an immediate assault (July 8, 1758). The contest lasted four hours. The soldiers fought bravely, but were cut down by the merciless fire of the French, securely posted behind their works, and the result was a defeat, with the loss of 2,000 men and 2,500 stand of arms. Abercrombie ordered a retreat to his former camp on the south side of Lake George, whence he immediately recrossed the lake, and en tirely abandoned the project of capturing Ticonderoga.* The only success accomplished by this portion of the army during the campaign is due to the enterprise of one of the heroes of Louisburg. Col. John Bradstreet, who had served as captain in Lieutenant-General Pepperrell's regiment at Louisburg in 1745, and his intimate friend and protege, was in this dis astrous engagement against Ticonderoga with Aber crombie, and immediately afterward earnestly solicited per mission to march against Fort Frontenac, near the head *This defeat induced Pitt to order Abercrombie home, and to give the command to Amherst, who had returned from Louisburg. Amherst marched back, and commanded the army on Lake Cham- plain to the end of the war. LIFE AND TIMES. 399 of Lake Ontario, with a force of 3,000 men, chiefly pro vincial militia,* carrying eight pieces of cannon and two mortars. The troops embarked at Oswego on the evening of the 25th of August (1758), and landed within a mile of Fort Frontenac which, after a spirited assault of two days, surrendered at discretion. The Indians having previously deserted left but no prisoners of war. But the captors found in the fort sixty pieces of cannon, sixteen small mortars, a large number of small arms, a vast quantity of provisions, military stores, and merchandise, and nine armed vessels. Having destroyed the fort, vessels, and stores, Colonel Bradstreet returned to the main army. For this noble achievement,! he was subsequently pro- * The proportions, as given by Dr. Parsons in his " Life of Sir William Pepperrell," are as follows: Regulars 135 New York Provincial Militia 1,112 New Jersey Provincial Militia 412 Boston Provincial Militia 675 Rhode Island Provincial Militia 318 Batteau men 300 2,952 tjohn Bradstreet was born in England. He was Lieutenant- Governor of St. Johns, Newfoundland, in 1746. He was afterward renowned for his military services. In the year 1756, it being deemed of the highest importance to keep open the communica tion with Fort Oswego, on Lake Ontario, General Shirley enlisted forty companies of boatmen, and placed them under the command of Bradstreet, to effect this object. In the spring of this year, a well-stockaded post of twenty-five men had been cut off. The enemy having possession of the passage through the Onondaga river, rendered it necessary to transport the requisite boats across the country. On his return from Oswego in July, 1756, Colonel Bradstreet, who was apprehensive of being surprised, ordered the several divisions to keep as close together as possible. He was at the head of about three hundred boatmen in the first division, when, 400 WASHINGTON. moted to the rank of brigadier-general in the royal army r to the great joy and satisfaction of his old commander and patron, Sir William Pepperrell. The fall of Frontenac cut off the supplies intended for Fort Duquesne and hastened its reduction. We now proceed to notice the operations of the third expedition of the campaign of 1758, that, namely, which was intended for the reduction of Fort Duquesne, in which Washington took a very active part. We left him at Fort Loudoun, writing to the Speaker of the House of Burgesses on the importance of carrying the war into the enemy's country. His wishes in this respect were now to be grati fied, and that on an extensive scale, and yet perhaps there is not a period in the whole career of Washington during which his patience and patriotism were more severely tried than during the progress of this expedition. The army destined to operate against Fort Duquesne was placed un der the command of General Forbes, and the force at his disposal was more than sufficient for the purpose, but the measures adopted by him were as badly conceived as if they had been expressly intended to defeat the expedition.* at the distance of nine miles from the fort, the enemy issued from an ambuscade and attacked him. He instantly landed upon a small island, and, with only six men, maintained his position until he was reinforced. A general engagement ensued, in which Brad- street gallantly attacked a more numerous enemy, and entirely routed them, killing and wounding about two hundred men. His own loss was about thirty. In the year 1758, he planned an expedi tion against Fort Frontenac, and being intrusted with the command of 3,000 men, he invested the fort and compelled the garrison to surrender on the 27th of August. In 1764, he compelled the Dela- wares, Shawnees, and other Indians, to conclude treaties of peace. He was appointed general in 1772, and died in 1774. " The troops actually employed under General Forbes were 1,200 Highlanders, 350 Royal Americans, about 2,700 provincials from Pennsylvania, 1,600 from Virginia, two or three hundred from Mary- LIFE AND TIMES. 401 The Virginia Assembly promptly complied with the requisition of the minister, furnishing two regiments, amounting to 1,800 men as their contingent. One of these was commanded by Colonel Washington, who still retained his rank as commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces. The other was under the command of Colonel Byrd. Washing ton warmly recommended an early campaign for this among other reasons : Seven hundred Indians had in April (1758) assembled at Winchester, whose patience would be ex hausted unless they were promptly employed, and in the event of their desertion he observes : " No words can tell how much they will be missed." He was at length ordered to collect the Virginia troops at Winchester, and hold them in readiness for active service. At this late moment, when the duties of the field demanded all his attention, he was under the necessity of making a journey to Williamsburg, the seat of government, in order to obtain a supply of arms, clothing, and money for his regiment, and to secure for his own veteran soldiers the same pay which the Assembly, in their recent session, had voted for the new regiment raised for the present campaign. While he was training the newly-enlisted soldiers and preparing supplies and the means of transportation the soldiers were becoming im patient, and the Indians, as he had anticipated, grew dis contented, and nearly all of them returned to their homes. While Washington was thus occupied at Winchester, General Forbes was detained by illness at Philadelphia, and land, who had been stationed in garrison at Fort Frederic, under Colonel Dagworthy, and also two companies from North Carolina, making in all, including the wagoners, between six and seven thousand men. This army was more than five months penetrating to the Ohio, where it was found, at last, that they had to oppose only five hundred of the enemy." Sparks's " Writings of Washing ton," vol. II, p. 289, note. 26 402 WASHINGTON. Colonel Bouquet was in command at Raystown, thirty miles from Fort Cumberland. The intermediate place be tween this point and Washington's quarters at Winchester was designated for conferences between him, Colonel Bouquet, and the quartermaster-general, Sir John St. Clair, in order to determine a uniform, plan of action and make the necessary arrangements. [In view of an offensive campaign against the French and Indians on the Ohio, a repetition of the design which Braddock's terrible defeat interrupted, Washington wrote to one of Braddock's officers, Major Halket, April 12, 1758: "Are we to have you once more among us? And shall we revisit together a hapless spot, that proved so fatal to many of our (former) brave companions? Yes; and I rejoice at it, hoping it will now be in our power to tes tify a just abhorrence of the cruel butchery exercised on our friends in the unfortunate day of Braddock's defeat; and, moreover, to show our enemies, that we can practise all that lenity of which they only boast, without affording any adequate proofs at all." In a letter of April 17, 1758, to the President of the Council, Washington said: "The last Assembly, in their Supply Bill, provided for a chaplain to our regiment, for whom I had often very unsuccessfully applied to Governor Dinwiddie. I now flatter myself, that your Honor will be pleased to appoint a sober, serious man for this duty. Common decency, Sir, in a camp calls for the services of a divine, and which ought not to be dispensed with, although the world should be so uncharitable as to think us void of religion, and incapable of good instructions." At Williamsburg, May 28, 1758, Washington wrote a long statement of the needs of his troops, and of the ser- LIFE AND TIMES. 403 vice to be required of them. He began: " I came here at this critical juncture, by the express order of Sir John St. Clair, to represent in the fullest manner the posture of our affairs at Winchester, and to obviate any doubts that might arise from the best written narrative. I shall make use of the following method, as the most effectual I can at present suggest, to lay sundry matters before you, for your information, approbation, and direction." The letter goes on with a statement under twelve heads, for the first of which a letter from Sir John St. Clair is sub mitted. It was an incident of this journey to Williamsburg, and the stay there which the business required, which led to Washington's marriage engagement. Irving tells the story as follows, after an account of the gathering at Win chester of the troops which were to be under Washington's command: " The force thus assembling was in want of arms, tents, field-equipage, and almost every requisite. Washington had made repeated representations, by letter, of the des titute state of the Virginia troops, but without avail; he was now ordered by Sir John St. Clair, the quartermas ter-general of the forces, under General Forbes, to repair to Williamsburg, and lay the state of the case before the council. He set off promptly on horseback attended by Bishop, the well-trained military servant, who had served the late General Braddock. It proved an eventful jour ney, though not in a military point of view. In crossing a ferry of the Pamunkey, a branch of York River, he fell in company with a Mr. Chamberlayne, who lived in the neighborhood, and who, in the spirit of Virginian hospi tality, claimed him as a guest. It was with difficulty Washington could be prevailed on to halt for dinner, so 404 WASHINGTON. impatient was he to arrive at Williamsburg, and accom plish his mission. " Among the guests at Mr. Chamberlayne's was a young and blooming widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, daughter of Mr. John Dandridge, both patrician names in the prov ince. Her husband, John Parke Custis, had been dead about three years, leaving her with two young children, and a large fortune. She is represented as being rather below the middle size, but extremely well shaped, with an agreeable countenance, dark hazel eyes and hair, and those frank, engaging manners,^ so captivating in Southern women. We are not informed whether Washington had met with her before; probably not during her widow hood, as during that time he had been almost continually on the frontier. " It was not until the next morning that he was again in the saddle, spurring for Williamsburg. Happily the White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, was in New Kent County, at no great distance from that city, so that he had opportunities of visiting her in the intervals of business. " Before returning to Winchester, Washington was obliged to hold conferences with Sir John St. Clair and Colonel Bouquet, at an intermediate rendezvous, to give them information respecting the frontiers, and arrange about the marching of his troops." It was on the I3th of June, after about three weeks' stay at Williamsburg, that Washington returned to his command; and on the 24th he marched from Winchester for Fort Cumberland. A month later, July 2Oth, he sent the following letter from Fort Cumberland: " To Martha Custis. " We have begun our march for the Ohio. A courier is starting for Williamsburg, and I embrace the opportun- LIFE AND TIMES. 405 ity to send a few words to one whose life is now insepara ble from mine. Since that happy hour when we made our pledges to each other, my thoughts have been continually going to you as to another self. That an All Powerful Providence may keep us both in safety is the prayer of your ever faithful & Ever affectionate Friend, G. Washington." June 19, 1758, Washington wrote to General Forbes a letter of suggestions in regard to the employment of Indian allies. The march, he said, " of more than 100 miles from our advanced post [at Fort Cumberland], be fore we shall arrive at Fort Duquesne; a great part of which will be over mountains and rocks, and through de files; will enable the enemy, with their superior knowledge of the country, to render extremely arduous, unsafe, and, at best, tedious, our intended expedition, unless we also can be assisted by a body of Indians, the best, if not the only troops fit to cope with Indians in such grounds." In view, therefore, of the extreme importance of Indian aid, Washington proposed that " A person of abilities and address be sent immediately to the Cherokee nation to get a number of the Indians to our assistance," while the plan of army advances was being worked out. The same day Washington sent a letter to Fauquier, the new Governor, calling his attention to the scandalous fashion in which an order calling out 100 militia had been complied with. " 73 only came ; and not one of them pro vided, as the law directs, with arms and ammunition." Upon representation of the matter in the proper quarter, " near 100 arms were sent, out of which number scarce five were serviceable, and not more than 30 could be made to fire." Washington adds: "I immediately set smiths to repairing the arms, and I have, with the assist ance of 35 old muskets, which I caused to be delivered 406 WASHINGTON. out of the store here, got this company at last completed [in outfit not in numbers, as there were but 68, when there ought to have been 100.]. Till this time they have been a dead expense to the public, and of no service to the inhabitants. This, Sir, is a true statement of facts, and really merits reprehension: for, if such behavior is suffered to escape unnoticed, the most destructive conse quences may accrue."] At length Washington received the long-desired order to advance with the Virginia regiments from Winchester to Fort Cumberland, where he arrived early in July (1758).* [Marching from Winchester, June 24th, " with five com panies of the First Virginia regiment, and a company of artificers of the Second," Washington, " much delayed by *The following extract from a letter of Robert Munford to Colonel Bland, dated Fort Cumberland, July 6, 1758, gives us a glimpse of camp life, and of the estimation in which Washington was held, at that time, by the officers serving under his command: "After being delayed at Winchester five or six weeks longer than expected (in which time, I was ordered express to Williams- burg, and allowed but a day after my return to prepare), we pushed off into the wide ocean. I was permitted to walk every step of the way to this humble fort, to eat little, and lay hard, over moun tain, through mud and water, yet as merry and hearty as ever. Our flankers and sentries pretend they saw the enemy daily, but they never approached us. A detachment is this moment ordered off to clear a road thirty miles, and our companies to cover the working party. We are in fine scalping-ground, I assure you; the guns pop about us, and you may see the fellows prick up their ears, like deer, every moment. Our colonel (Washington) is an example of fortitude in either danger or hardships, and by his easy, polite behavior, has gained not only the regard but affection of both officers and soldiers. He has kindly invited me to his table for the campaign, offered me any sum of money I may have occasion for, without charging either principal or interest, and signified his approbation of my conduct hitherto in such a manner as is to me of advantage." Bland Papers, p. 9. LIFE AND TIMES. 407 bad teams and bad roads," arrived at camp near Fort Cumberland, July 2d, in the afternoon. July I9th, Washington said in a letter to Colonel Bou quet, the commander of the expedition: " I am excessively obliged by the very handsome and polite manner, by which you are pleased to give me leave to attend the election at Winchester. Though my being there on that occasion would, at any other time, be very agreeable to me, yet at this juncture I can hardly per suade myself to think of being absent from my more im mediate duty, even for a few days." This refers to Washington's standing for election as one of the two members of the House of Burgesses for Frederick county. The election took place July 24th, and the result of the poll was, Washington, 307; Colonel Mar tin, a nephew of Lord Fairfax, 240; and two others, 199 and 45, respectively. These same two now defeated had been elected on a previous occasion with 271 and 270 votes, while Washington, who was also a candidate, got only 40 votes. At least such an election report was found among his papers, but with no indication of date. It was in a letter of May 25, 1755, that Washington asked his brother, John A. Washington, to ascertain how matters stood, favorable or unfavorable to his standing as a candidate. To one of his supporters in the election, Washington wrote, July 29, 1758: " Permit me to return you my sincerest thanks for your great assistance at the late election, and to assure you that I shall ever retain a lively sense of the favor. . " Our expedition seems overcast with too many ills to give you any satisfaction in a transient relation of them. God knows what's intended; for nothing seems ripe for 408 WASHINGTON. execution; backwardness, and I would if I dare say more, appears in all things all but the approach of winter." To Colonel James Wood, who was known in the " far west " of Virginia as the " founder " of Winchester, and who had personally represented Washington in the elec tion proceedings, Washington wrote: " If thanks from a heart replete with joy and grati tude can in any measure compensate for the fatigue, anxiety, and pain, you had at my election, be assured you have them. " How I shall thank Mrs. Wood for her favorable wishes, and how acknowledge my sense of obligations to the peo ple in general for their choice of me, I am at a loss to resolve on. But why? Can I do it more effectually than by making their interest (as it really is) my own, and doing everything that lies in my little power for the honor and welfare of the country? I think not; and my best endeav ors they may always command. I promise this now, when promises may be regarded; before they might pass as words of course. " I am extremely thankful to you and my other friends for entertaining the freeholders in my name. I hope no exception was taken to any that voted against me, but that all were alike treated and all had enough. My only fear is that you spent with too sparing a hand." One of Washington's friends had said in a letter to him immediately after the election: " The punctual discharge of every trust, your humane and equitable treatment of each individual, and your ardent zeal for the common cause, have gained your point with credit; as your friends could, with the greatest warmth and truth, urge the worth of those noble endowments and principles, as well as your superior interest both here and in the House." " Considering the command," says Sparks, LIFE AND TIMES. 409 " which he had been obliged to exercise in Frederic County for near five years, and the restraints which the exigency of circumstances required him occasionally to put upon the in habitants, this result was deemed a triumphant proof of his abilities, address, and power to win the affections and confidence of the people." " From this time till the beginning of the revolution, a period of fifteen years, Washington was constantly a mem ber of the House of Burgesses, being returned by a large majority of votes at every election. For seven years he represented, jointly with another delegate, the County of Frederic, in which Winchester was, and afterwards the County of Fairfax, in which he resided. There were commonly two sessions in a year, and sometimes three. It appears, from a record left in his handwriting, that he gave his attendance punctually, and from the beginning to the end of almost every session. It was a maxim with him through life, to execute punctually and thoroughly every charge which he undertook. " His influence in public bodies was produced more by the soundness of his judgment, his quick perceptions, and his directness and undeviating sincerity, than by eloquence or art in recommending his opinions. He seldom spoke, never harangued, and it is not known that he ever made a set speech, or entered into a stormy debate. But his attention was at all times awake. He studied profoundly the prominent topics of discussion, and, whenever occasion required, was prepared to deliver his sentiments clearly, and to act with decision and firmness. His practice may be inferred from the counsel he gave to a nephew, who had just taken his seat for the first time in the Assembly. ." ' The only advice I will offer,' said he, ' if you have a mind to command the attention of the House, is to speak seldom but on important subjects, except such as 410 WASHINGTON. 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 con viction, is always accompanied with disgust.' ' Sparks gives an account of Washington's action in a meeting of the parish of Truro, which shows exactly what kind of speaker he was. Sparks says: " In the affairs of Truro Parish, to which Mount Ver- non belonged, he took a lively concern and exercised a salutary control. He was a~ vestryman of that parish. On one occasion he gained a triumph of some moment, which Mr. Massey, the clergyman, who lived to an ad vanced age, used to mention as an instance of his address. The old church was falling to ruin, and it was resolved that another should be built. Several meetings were held, and a warm dispute arose respecting its location, the old one being remote from the center, and inconveniently situated for many of the parishoners. A meeting for set tling the question was finally held. George Mason, who led the party that adhered to the ancient site, made an eloquent harangue, in which he appealed with great effect to the sensibilities of the people, conjuring them not to desert the spot consecrated by the bones of their ances tors and the most hallowed associations. Mr. Massey said every one present seemed moved by this discourse, and for the moment, he thought there would not be a dissenting voice. Washington then rose and drew from his pocket a roll of paper, containing an exact survey of Truro Parish, on which was marked the site of the old church, the proposed site of the new one, and the place where each parishoner resided. He spread this map be fore the audience, explained it in a few words, and then added, that it was for them to determine, whether they LIFE AND TIMES. 411 would be carried away by an impulse of feeling, or act upon the obvious principles of reason and justice. The argument, thus confirmed by ocular demonstration, was conclusive, and the church was erected on the new site." George Mason, of Gunston Hall, was a neighbor and in timate friend of Washington; and intellectually at the head of the citizenship of Virginia, until Washington rose to a height reached by no one who, at any time or anywhere, came into comparison with him. The common impression that he was no speaker, or at least had no habit of speak ing, is entirely erroneous. Both as a writer and as a speaker he was head and shoulders above the most notable of his time, with the difference that in speaking he went right to the point, put the matter unanswerably, and had carried conviction before an orator would have got his eloquence under way.] Through the month the troops were employed in open ing a new road from Fort Cumberland to Raystown, and repairing the old one leading toward the Great Meadows. As they were greatly annoyed in this service by flying par ties of the enemy it was proposed to send a considerable detachment over the mountains to restrain the French and Indians from this annoyance; but Colonel Washington strongly objected to this measure because the detachment would be exposed to the whole force of the enemy on the Ohio and must be defeated. The plan was in consequence given up, and by his advice frequent scouts were substituted. Washington's excellent judgment in this matter was fully illustrated by the subsequent disaster which befel the detachment of Colonel Grant. .While Colonel Washington was posted at Fort Cumber land he adopted a style of dress for the soldiers which is supposed by Mr. Irving to have given rise to the dress 412 WASHINGTON. worn by American riflemen in the subsequent wars. It was the Indian dress. In a letter to Colonel Bouquet dated July 3, 1758, he thus alludes to it : " My men are very bare of regimental clothing, and I have no prospect of a supply. So far from regretting this want during the present campaign, if I were left to pursue my own inclinations, I would not only order the men to adopt the Indian dress but cause the officers to do it also, and be the first to set the example myself. Nothing but the uncertainty of obtaining the general approbation causes me to hesitate a moment to leave my regimentals at this place and proceed as light as any Indian in the woods. It is an unbecoming dress I own for any officer, but con venience, rather than show, I think, should be consulted. The reduction of bat-horses alone would be sufficient to recommend it, for nothing is more certain than that less baggage would be required and the public benefited in pro portion." From a letter addressed by him to Colonel Bouquet dated July Qth we learn that his plan was adopted, and found to answer an excellent purpose. In this letter he thus ex presses himself: " It gives me great pleasure to find that you approve the dress I have put my men into. It is evident that soldiers in that trim are better able to carry their provisions, are fitter for the active service we must engage in, less liable to sink under the fatigues of a march, and we thus get rid of much baggage which would lengthen our line of march. These and not whim or caprice were my reasons for order ing this dress." A practicable military road having been opened for the passage of General Braddock's army to Fort Duquesne, Colonel Washington had taken it for granted that this LIFE AND TIMES. 413 would be the route taken by General Forbes' army in the present campaign. We may imagine therefore his surprise and mortification when late in July (1758) he received a letter from Colonel Bouquet asking an interview with him in order to consult on opening a new road from Raystown, and requesting his opinion on that route. " I shall/' says he, in answer to this letter, " most cheer fully work on any road, pursue any route, or enter upon any service, that the general or yourself may think me use fully employed in, or qualified for, and shall never have a will of my own when a duty is required of me. But since you desire me to speak my sentiments freely, permit me to observe that after having conversed with all the guides, and having been informed by others acquainted with the country, I am convinced that a road, to be compared with General Braddock's, or indeed that will be fit for trans portation even by pack-horses, cannot be made. I own I have no predilection for the route you have in contem plation for me." In the interview with Colonel Bouquet, which took place a few days after his writing this letter, Colonel Washing ton found that officer strongly in favor of opening the new route. After their separation he, with the permission of Colonel Bouquet, addressed to him a letter which was to be laid before General Forbes, setting forth his reasons against making a new road. He was apprehensive that the loss of time occasioned by attempting it would be so great that they would be able to do nothing more than fortify some post on the other side of the Alleghany and prepare for another campaign. He was equally opposed to another scheme which had been proposed of dividing the army and marching by two different routes. In the following letter to Colonel Bouquet, Colonel 414 WASHINGTON. Washington produces unanswerable arguments in support of his own views on both these questions : " CAMP AT FORT CUMBERLAND, " August 2, 1758. " SIR. The matters of which we spoke relative to the roads, have, since our parting, been the subject of my closest reflection, and so far am I from altering my opinion that the more time and attention I bestow the more I am con firmed in it, and the reasons for taking Braddock's road appear in a stronger point of view. To enumerate the whole of these reasons would be tedious, and to you, who are so much master of the subject, unnecessary. I shall therefore briefly mention a few only, which I think so ob vious in themselves, that they must effectually remove ob jections. " Several years ago the Virginians and Pennsylvanians commenced a trade with the Indians settled on the Ohio, and to obviate the many inconveniences of a bad road they,, after reiterated and ineffectual efforts to discover where a good one might be made, employed for the purpose several of the most intelligent Indians who, in the course of many years hunting, had acquired a perfect knowledge of these mountains. The Indians having taken the greatest pains to gain the rewards offered for this discovery declared that the path leading from Wills Creek was infinitely preferable to any that could be made at any other place. Time and experience so clearly demonstrated this truth that the Pennsylvania traders commonly carried out their goods by Wills Creek. Therefore the Ohio Company, in 1753, at a considerable expense, opened the road. In 1754 the troops whom I had the honor to command greatly repaired it as far as Gist's plantation ; and in 1755 it was widened and completed by General Braddock to within six miles LIFE AND TIMES. 415 of Fort Duquesne. A road that has so long been opened, and so well and so often repaired, must be firmer and bet ter than a new one, allowing the ground to be equally good. " But supposing it were practicable to make a road from Raystown quite as good as General Braddock's, I ask have we time to do it? Certainly not. To surmount the diffi culties to be encountered in making it over such moun tains, covered with woods and rocks, would require so much time as to blast our otherwise well-grounded hopes of striking the important stroke this season. " The favorable accounts that some give of the forage on the Raystown road, as being so much better than that on the other, are certainly exaggerated. It is well known that on both routes the rich valleys between the mountains abound with good forage, and that those which are stony and bushy are destitute of it. Colonel Byrd and the engi neer who accompanied him confirm this fact. Surely the meadows on Braddock's road would greatly overbalance the advantage of having grass to the foot of the ridge on the Raystown road, and all agree that a more barren road is nowhere to be found than that from Raystown to the in habitants, which is likewise to be considered. "Another principal objection made to General Brad- dock's road is in regard to the waters. But these seldom swell so much as to obstruct the passage. The Youghiog- heny river, which is the most rapid and soonest filled, I have crossed with a body of troops after more than thirty days' almost continual rain. In fine, any difficulties on this score are so trivial that they really are not worth mention ing. The Monongahela, the largest of all these rivers, may, if necessary, easily be avoided, as Mr. Frazer, the principal guide, informs me, by passing a defile; and even that, he says, may be shunned. "Again, it is said, there are many defiles on this road. I 416 WASHINGTON. grant that there are some, but I know of none that may not be traversed, and I should be glad to be informed where a road can be had over these mountains not subject to the same inconvenience. The shortness of the distance between Raystown and Loyal Hanna is used as an argu ment against this road, which bears in it something unac countable to me; for I must beg leave to ask whether it requires more time or is more difficult and expensive to go 145 miles in a good road already made to our hands than to cut 100 miles anew, and a great part of the way over impassable mountains. " That the old road is many miles nearer Winchester, in Virginia, and Fort Frederick, in Maryland, than the con templated one, is incontestable ; and I will here show the distances from Carlisle by the two routes, fixing the differ ent stages, some of which I have from information only, but others I believe to be exact.* From this computation there appears to be a difference of nineteen miles only. Were all the supplies necessarily to come from Carlisle, it is well known that the goodness of the old road is a suffi cient compensation for the shortness of the other, as the wrecked and broken wagons there clearly demonstrate. " I shall next give you my reasons against dividing the army in the manner you propose. *From Carlisle to Fort Duquesne, by way of Raystown: Miles. From Carlisle to Shippensburg 21 From Shippensburg to Fort Loudoun 24 From Fort Loudoun to Fort Littleton 20 From Fort Littleton to Juniata Crossing 14 From Juniata Crossing to Raystown 14 93 From Raystown to Fort Duquesne 100 193 LIFE AND TIMES. 41? " First, then, by dividing our army we shall divide our strength, and by pursuing quite distinct routes put it en tirely out of the power of each division to succor the other, as the proposed new road has no communication with the old one. " Secondly, to march in this manner will be attended with many inconveniences. If we depart from our ad vanced posts at the same time, and make no deposits by the way, those troops that go from Raystown, as they will be light, with carrying-horses only, will arrive at Fort Duquesne long before the others and must, if the enemy are strong there, be exposed to many insults in their ad vance and in their intrenchments from the cannon of the enemy, which they may draw out upon them at pleasure. If they are not strong enough to do this, we have but little to apprehend from them in whatever way we may go. " Thirdly, if that division which escorts the convoy is permitted to march first we risk our all in a manner, and shall be ruined if any accident happens to the artillery and the stores. " Lastly, if we advance on both roads by deposits, we must double our number of troops over the mountains and distress ourselves by victualing them at these deposits, be- From Carlisle to Fort Duquesne, by way of Forts Frederick and Cumberland: Miles. From Carlisle to Shippensburg 21 From Shippensburg to Chambers's 12 From Chambers's to Pacelin's 12 From Pacelin's to Fort Frederick 12 From Fort Frederick to Fort Cumberland 40 97 From Fort Cumberland to Fort Duquesne 115 212 27 = 418 WASHINGTON. sides losing the proposed advantage, that of stealing a march. For we cannot suppose that the French, who have their scouts constantly out, can be so deficient in point of intelligence as to be unacquainted with our motions while we are advancing by slow degrees toward them. " From what has been said relative to the two roads, it appears to me very clear that the old one is infinitely better than the other can be made, and that there is no room to hesitate in deciding which to take, when we consider the advanced season and the little time left to execute our plan. " I shall therefore in the last place offer, as desired, my sentiments on advancing by deposits. The first deposit I should have proposed to be at the Little Meadows had time permitted ; but as the case now stands I think it should be at the Great Crossing or the Great Meadows. The Great Crossing I esteem the most advantageous post on several accounts, especially on those of water and security of pas sage; but then it does not abound with forage, as the Meadows do, nor with so much level land fit for culture. To this latter place a body of 1500 men may march with 300 wagons (or with carrying-horses, which would be much better), allowing each wagon to carry eight hundred weight of flour and four hundred of salt meat. " Our next deposit will probably be at Salt Lick, about thirty-five miles from the Meadows. To this place I think it necessary to send 2,500 men to construct some post, tak ing six days' provisions only, which is sufficient to serve them till the convoy comes up, by which time an intrenched camp, or some other defensive work may be effected. From hence I conceive it highly expedient to detach three or four thousand of the best troops to invest the fort, and to pre vent, if possible, an engagement in the woods, which of all things ought to be avoided. The artillery and stores may be brought up in four days from Salt Lick. From that time LIFE AND TIMES. 419 I will allow eighteen days more, for the carrying-horses to make a trip to Raystown for provisions, passing along the old path by Loyal Hanna. They may do it in this time, as the horses will go down light. " From this statement and by my calculations, in which large allowance is made for the quantity of provisions, as well as for the time of transporting them, it appears that from the day on which the front division begins its march till the whole army arrives before Fort Duquesne will be thirty-four days. There will be also eighty-seven days' pro vision on hand, allowing for the consumption on the march- Eighteen days added to the above will make fifty-two in all,, the number required for our operations. These ought to be finished, if possible, by the middle of October (1758)."* In a letter addressed to Major Halket, aide of General Forbes, Colonel Washington expressed himself as follows, in relation to the new route : " I am just returned from a conference held with Colonel Bouquet. I find him fixed I think I may say unalterably fixed to lead you a new way to the Ohio through a road every inch of which is to be cut at this advanced season, when we have scarcely time left to tread the beaten track universally confessed to be the best passage through the mountains. " If Colonel Bouquet succeeds in this point with the general all is lost ! all is lost, indeed ! our enterprise is ruined! and we shall be stopped at the Laurel Hill this winter; but not to gather laurels, except of the kind which cover the mountains. The southern Indians will turn against us and these Colonies will be desolated by such an accession to the enemy's strength. These must be the con sequences of a miscarriage, and a miscarriage the almost" necessary consequence of an attempt to march the army by * Sparks's " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 392. 420 WASHINGTON. this new route. I have given my reasons at large to Colonel Bouquet. He desired that I should do so, that he might forward them to the General. Should this hap pen you will be able to judge of their weight. I am unin fluenced by prejudice, having no hopes or fears but for the general good." Colonel Washington's arguments and remonstrances on the subject of dividing the army and advancing on two different routes had their due weight and that scheme was abandoned. But on the question regarding the new route, his powerful influence was unavailing. The Pennsyl- vanians* wanted a new road to the western country made * How this selfish conduct of the Pennsylvanians was regarded "by the Virginians under Washington's command is illustrated by the following extract from a letter of Robert Munford to Colonel Bland, dated camp near Fort Cumberland, May 4, 1758: 41 If 'tis honorable to be in the service of one's country, 'tis a reputation gained by the most cruel hardships you can imagine, occasioned more by a real anxiety for its welfare than by what the poor carcass suffers. Every officer seems discontented in camp, happy on command, so deep is the interest of our country implanted in the minds of all. Sometimes the army wears a gloomy, then a joyous aspect, just as the news either confirms our stay here, or immediate departure. The general (Forbes), with the smallpox in one, the flux in the other division of our forces, and no pro visions ready, are indeed excuses for our being here at present; yet all might have been prevented. A few hearty prayers are every moment offered up for those self-interested Pennsylvanians, who endeavor to prevail on our general to cut a road for their con venience from Raystown to Fort Duquesne. That a trifling good to particulars should retard what would conduce to the general welfare! 'Tis a set of dirty Dutchmen, they say, that keep us here! It would be impertinent to condemn, yet I must think our leaders too deliberate at this important juncture, when all are warm for action, all breathing revenge against an enemy that has even dared to scalp our men before our eyes. The amusement we have in the mean time is only following the brave dogs over the moun tains for some miles, and our sole satisfaction sufficient fatigue to make us sleep sound." Bland Papers, p. 13. LIFE AND TIMES. 421 at the expense of the Crown, and at the risk of defeating the object of the campaign, they carried their point with General Forbes, who, as commander-in-chief had full power to decide the question. How this decision affected Washington may be seen by the following letters: [August 5th Washington wrote to Governor Fauquier from the Fort Cumberland camp : "I am sorry to inform you that we are still encamped here, and have little prospect of de-camping, unless a fatal resolution takes place, of opening a new road from Rays Town to Fort Duquesne. In this event, I have no doubt that the Virginia troops will be honored with a full share of the labor, as they have already been in opening a communication from hence to Rays Town, and doing the principal part of the work at that place. " I am just returned from a conference held with Col. Bouquet. In this conference I urged, in the most forcible terms I was master of, the advanced season as an argu ment against new discoveries. I pressed also the diffi culties attending the cutting a road over these mountains, known to me from experience; the length of time it must require to do it ; the little time left for that service ; the moral certainty of its obstructing our march, beyond what the advanced season will admit and the probable miscarriage of the expedition from that cause ; and lastly I endeavored to represent the distressed condition the col onies would be reduced to consequent thereon. In fine, I said everything which the importance of the subject sug gested to me, to avert a measure that seemed to forebode the manifest rum of the expedition. " This is the light in which it presents itself to my mind. I pray Heaven my fears may not be realized! But the thoughts of opening a road TOO miles, over mountains almost inaccessible, at this advanced season, when there WASHINGTON. is already a good road made, a road universally con fessed to be the best that either is or can be found any where through these mountains, prognosticates something not quite favorable. " I Have now drawn up a representation of real facts to be presented to the General; in which I think the advan tages of going the old road, and moral certainty of failing in the new are so clearly demonstrated that they must strike every unbiassed mind. " The small-pox getting among the troops is another unpromising circumstance. An officer and two men of my regiment are now confined with it at Rays Town. " From this narrative of our affairs your Honor may draw conclusions. You may depend the statement is true ; free from exaggerations and flowing from a mind deeply affected at the prospect before us. I hope, as I once said before, that I see matters in too strong a point of view and that my apprehensions for the consequences of open ing a new road are groundless." " P. S. I was this moment presented with a letter from Col. Bouquet telling me, that the General had directed the other road to be opened. I expect, therefore, to be ordered that way immediately." The next day Washington again wrote to Colonel Bou quet, his immediate commanding officer: " The General's orders, or the order of any superior officer, will, when once given, be a law to me. I shall never hesitate in obeying them; but, till this order came out [from General Forbes, * lying indisposed at Carlyle'], I thought it incumbent on me to say what I could to divert you (the Commanding Officer present) from a reso lution of opening a new road, of which I had the most unfavorable reports, and believe from the height of the hills, the steepness of them, the unevenness of the ground LIFE AND TIMES. 423 in general, and, what above all principally weighed with me, the shortness of the season, that it was impossible tc? open a road in time to answer our purpose. I am still in this opinion, partly from my own observations of the country, and partly from the information of as good judges as any that will be employed. My duty therefore obliged me to declare my sentiments upon the occasion with that candor and freedom of which you are witness. If I am deceived in my opinion, I shall acknowledge my error as becomes a gentleman led astray from judgment, and not by prejudice, in opposing a measure so conducive to the public weal as you seem to have conceived this to be. If I, unfortunately, am right, my conduct will acquit me of having discharged my duty on this important occasion; on the good success of which our all, in a manner, de pends." August 18, 1758, in view of a possible order " to proceed with a body of troops on General Braddock's road," Wash ington remarked in a letter to Bouquet on what this would require, and further said: " The greatest part of my regiment is on the other road ; so that I have but few remaining with me of the First regiment, and 8 companies of the Second only, whose officers and men can be supposed to know little of the service, and less of the country; and near, or I believe, quite a fifth of them sick. "With regard to keeping out a succession of strong parties on this road from our troops here, I must beg leave to observe, that we have not so much as one carry ing horse to take provisions out upon, being under a necessity t'other day of pressing five horses from some countrymen (that came to camp on business) before I could equip Capt. McKenzie's party [four officers and 75 rank and file] for a 14 days march. That we have 424 WASHINGTON. not an ounce of salt provisions of any kind here, and that it is impossible to preserve the fresh, (especially as we have no salt) by any other means than barbacuring it in the Indian manner. "A great many of Col. Byrd's men [the Second regi ment] are, as I before remarked, very sickly; the rest became low spirited and dejected. Of course the greatest share of the service must fall upon the four companies of the First Regiment. This sickness and depression of spirits cannot arise, I conceive, from the situation of our camp, which is undoubtedly the most healthy and best aired in this vicinity, but is caused, I apprehend, by the change in their way of living, (most of them till now having lived in ease and affluence), and by the limestone water. The soldiers of the 1st regiment would be sickly, like those of the 2nd, was it not owing to some such causes as these." To Colonel Bouquet Washington wrote, August 28, 1758: " Your favor by Mr. Hoops has in some measure re vived a hope that was almost extinguished, of doing some thing this campaign. We must doubtless expect to en counter many difficulties in opening a new road through bad grounds in a woody country of which the enemy are possesst, but since you hope our point may be carried I would feign expect the surmounting these obstacles. 1 Tis a melancholy reflection, though, to find there is even a doubt of success, when so much is depending, and when, in all human probability, we might have been in full possession of the Ohio by now, if, rather than running ourselves into difficulties and expense of cutting an entire new road the distance we have, first and last Braddock's had been adopted. " I could wish most sincerely that our route was fixed RICHARD MONTGOMERY. LIFE AND TIMES. 425 that we might be in motion; for we are all ot us most heartily tired and sick of inactivity." "We are still encamped here, very sickly and dispirited at the prospect before us. The appearance of glory which we once had in view that hope that laudable ambition of serving our country and meriting its applause are now no more, all is dwindled into ease, sloth, and fatal inactivity. In a word, all is lost, if the ways of men in power like cer tain ways of Providence are not inscrutable. But we who view the actions of great men at a distance can only form conjectures agreeably to a limited perception, and being ignorant of the comprehensive schemes which may be in contemplation might mistake egregiously in judging from appearances, or by the lump. Yet every fool will have his notions will prattle and talk away, and why may not I? We seem then in my opinion, to act under the guidance of an evil genius. The conduct of our leaders, if not actuated by superior orders, is tempered with something I do not care to give a name to. Nothing now but a miracle can bring this campaign to a happy issue. " In my last I told you that I had employed my small abilities in opposing the measures then concerting. To do this, I not only represented the advanced season, the difficulty of cutting a new road over these mountains, the little time left for that service, the moral certainty of its obstructing our march, and the miscarriage of the expe dition consequent thereupon. But I endeavored to rep resent, also, the great struggle Virginia had made this year in raising a second regiment upon so short a notice, and the great expense of doing it, and her inability for a future exertion in case of need. I spoke my fears con cerning the southern Indians, in the event of a miscar riage; and in fine I spoke all wwavailingly, for the road was immediately begun, and since then from one to two 426 WASHINGTON. thousand men have constantly wrought upon it. By the last accounts I have received, they had cut it to the foot of the Laurel Hill, about thirty-five miles, and I suppose by this time 1,500 men have taken post about ten miles far ther at a place called Loyal Hanna, where our new fort is to be constructed. " We have certain intelligence that the French strength at Fort Duquesne did not exceed 800 men the thirteenth ultimo, including about three or four hundred Indians. See how our time has been misspent, behold how the golden opportunity is lost, perhaps never to be regained! How is it to be accounted for ? Can General Forbes have orders for this ? Impossible ! Will then our injured country pass- by such abuses ? I hope not. Rather let a full represen tation of the matter go to His Majesty, let him know how grossly his interests and the public money have been prostituted. I wish I were sent immediately home, as an aid to some other on this errand. I think, without vanity, I could set the conduct of this expedition in its true colors, having taken some pains, perhaps more than any other man, to dive to the bottom of it. " It hath long been the luckless fate of Virginia to fall a victim to the views of her crafty neighbors, and yield her honest efforts to promote their common interests, at the expense of much blood and treasure ! whilst openness and sincerity have governed her measures. We now can only bewail our prospects, and wish for happier times, but these seem at so remote a distance that they are indeed rather to be wished than expected."] Well might Washington complain. When this letter was written, parties had been sent forward by Colonel Bouquet to work upon the new road, and six weeks had already been wasted in this fruitless labor, forty-five miles only being gained in that time. LIFE AND TIMES. 42T [September 2, 1758, two months after his arrival there, Washington wrote from the Fort Cumberland camp, to Governor Fauquier: " If you are surprised to find us still encamped at this place, I shall only remark that your surprise cannot well exceed my own. " In my last I informed your Honor that a resolution was taken to open a new road from Rays Town to Fort Duquesne. It was instantly begun, and since that time from one to two thousand men have wrought on it con tinually [from August 5]. They had, by the last accounts I received, cut it to the foot of Laurel Hill, about 35 miles, and I suppose by this time have taken posts at Loyal Hanna, 10 miles farther, where I understand another fort is to be built. " What time it will require to build a fort at Loyal Hanna, and, after that is accomplished, what further time is necessary to cut the road through very rugged grounds to Fort Duquesne, I must leave to time to reveal. " The first division of the Artillery has passed the Alle- ghany hill, and I suppose may by now be got up with the advanced working party. The second division I believe may have marched by this; and they talk of putting all the troops in motion immediately. We have not in our stores at Rays Town two months' provisions for the army; and if the best judges are to be credited, the nipping frosts will soon destroy the herbage on the mountains; and then, although the communication be not quite stopped, the subsistence for horses is rendered very diffi cult, till snows and frosts prevent all intercourse with the Ohio, and these set in early in November. The road from Rays Town to Carlyle, whence the provisions and stores chiefly come, is perhaps worse than any other on the continent, infinitely worse than any part of the road 428 WASHINGTON. from hence to Fort Duquesne, along General Braddock's road, and hath already worn out the greatest part of the horses that have been employed in transporting the provisions. " I can give your Honor no satisfactory account of the General. He lay ill at Carlyle a long time; from thence (gathering a little strength) he moved to Shippensburgh, where his disorder returned, and where I am told he now is. By a letter received from him he hopes soon to be at Rays Town, where he desires to see Col. Byrd and myself. But alas, the Expedition must either stand or fall by the present plan. " In the conference which I had with Colonel Bouquet, I did, among other things, to avert the resolve of opening a new road, represent the great expense the colony of Virginia had been at to support the war; the charge of raising a second regiment at so short notice; the time limited for its service; and therefore the cruelty of risk ing the success of an expedition upon such precarious measures, when so much depends on it, and our inability to do more. " But I urged in vain. The Pennsylvanians, whose pres ent as well as future interest it was to conduct the expe dition through their Government, and along that way, be cause it secures their frontiers at present and the trade hereafter a chain of forts being erected had preju diced the General absolutely against this road; made him believe we were the partial people; and determined him at all events to pursue that route. So that their sentiments are already known on this matter and to them, as instiga tors, may be attributed the great misfortune of this mis carriage. "The contractor has orders to lay in, at Loyal Hanna, for 4000 men the winter. Whence it is imagined that LIFE AND TIMES. 429 our expedition for this campaign will end there. Should we serve to make up the troops which garrison that place, our frontiers will thereby not only be exposed, but the soldiers, for want of clothing and proper conveniences must absolutely perish, few of them having a whole coat to their backs, and many none at all. " I have thus given your Honor a full and impartial account of the present posture of affairs here; of which any use may be made you shall think proper. I may pos sibly be blamed for expressing my sentiments so freely, but never can be ashamed of urging the truth; and none but obvious facts are stated here. The General, I dare say from his good character, can account fully, and no doubt satisfactorily, for these delays that surprise all who judge from appearances; but I really cannot." In a private letter of September 12, 1758, a thought, in close line with one of the most striking of Shakespeare's utterances, appears in Washington's avowal of " an opin ion, which I have long entertained, that there is a Destiny which has the control of 'our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature/' The letter is most plainly to one who had been so completely the object of Washington's earlier affection that no other per son could so deeply command his devotion and create his happiness. It is said that Mrs. Custis, when Washington met her, strikingly resembled the person who might have been Mrs. Washington if she had not already provided herself with a husband in Colonel William Fairfax's son, George William Fairfax, who was eight years older than Washington. If Mrs. George William Fairfax was the per son upon whom Washington's earliest sense of perfect womanly charm had rested, there seems no reason to doubt that it was when hardly more than upon the thresh old of manhood, with his home about as much at Belvoir, 430 WASHINGTON. the mansion of the Fairfaxes, as at his brother Law rence's Mount Vernon mansion, that the interchange of interest in each other began, with the amplest security for conventional and actual propriety on both sides, with the occasions of kindness to, and regard for, a young friend appealing most naturally to her, and with the very exceptional rise of feeling in him natural to maturity be yond his years, and to the rarest genius for deep, pure, and powerful emotion; until both the one and the other found interest in each other awakened, far beyond what could be carried into effect, or could be expressed from one to the other, save as correspondence might venture a little way. The letter was as follows: " Yesterday I was honored with your short but very agreeable favor of the first inst. How joyfully I catch at the happy occasion of renewing a correspondence which I feared was disrelished on your part, I leave to time, that never failing expositor of all things, and to a monitor equally faithful in my own breast, to testify. In silence I now express my joy; silence, which, in some cases, I wish the present, speaks more intelligently than the sweetest eloquence. " If you allow that any honor can be derived from my opposition to our present system of management [in the expedition matters], you destroy the merit of it entirely in me by attributing my anxiety [for the better conduct and earlier success of the campaign] to the animating prospect of possessing Mrs. Custis, when I need not tell you, guess yourself [meaning apparently, to say, yet not say, "when, to return to the happiness of Belvoir, of your society, would not less have been an animating prospect."] Should not my own honor and country's wel fare be the excitement? Tis true, I profess myself a votary of Love. I acknowledge that a lady is in the case, and LIFE AND TIMES. 431 further I confess that this lady is known to you. Yes, Madame, as well as she is to one who is too sensible of her charms to deny the power whose influence he feels and must ever submit to. I feel the force of her amiable beauties in the recollection of a thousand tender passages that I could wish to obliterate, till I am bid to revive them. But experience, alas! sadly reminds me how impossible this is, and evinces an opinion which I have long entertained, that there is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature. " You have drawn me, Dear Madame, or rather I have drawn myself, into an honest confession of a simple fact. Misconstrue not my meaning; doubt it not, nor expose it. The world has no business to know the object of my Love, declared in this manner to you, when I want to conceal it. One thing above all things in this world I wish to know, and only one person of your acquaintance can solve me that, or guess my meaning. But adieu to this till happier times, if 1 ever shall see them. The hours at present are melancholy dull. I dare believe you are as happy as you say. I wish I was happy also. Mirth, good humor, ease of mind, and what else? cannot fail to render you so. " I cannot easily forgive the unseasonable haste of my last express [messenger], if he deprived me thereby of a single word you intended to add. The time of the pres ent messenger is, as the last might have been, entirely at your disposal. I can't expect to hear from my friends more than this once [i. e. by the return of his messenger] before the fate of this expedition will some how or other be determined. I therefore beg to know when you set out for Hampton, and when you expect to return to Bel- voir again. And I should be glad also to hear of your speedy departure, as I shall thereby hope for your return 432 WASHINGTON. before I get down. The disappointment of seeing your family [i. e. to be disappointed of seeing], would give me much concern. From anything I can yet see 'tis hardly possible to say when we shall finish. I don't think there is a possibility of it till the middle of November. Your letter to Captain Gist I forwarded by a safe hand the moment it came to me. His answer shall be carefully transmitted. " Col. Mercer, to whom I delivered your message and compliments, joins me very heartily in wishing you and the Ladies of Belvoir the perfect enjoyment of every hap piness the world affords. Be assured that I am, Dear Madame, with the most unfeigned regard, your most obedient and most obliged humble servant." If, as seems undeniable, there is in the expressions used in this letter a bold, yet veiled avowal that the person ad dressed had engaged his feelings to the utmost possible, it seems no less certain that the expressions used imply that there had never been any understanding between the two, through which he could have been sure what her feelings were, and that he wished, " above all things in this world," to be allowed to know it if the interest which he felt was similarly felt by her. It seems impossible not to assume that she had not found an ideal satisfaction in her marriage, yet maintained her position in it all the same, while yet finding in her husband's younger comrade the grounds of such satisfaction, and not wholly conceal ing it from the object of her interest. And strongly as Washington expressed his " wish to know " the one thing of greatest interest to his feelings, as he turned back to his Belvoir experiences, there seems not the slightest reason to suppose that it could have meant to him anything more than a mental satisfaction, or could have given him even a thought of pause in the matter of his engage- LIFE AND TIMES. 433 ment to Mrs. Custis. That Washington was not a little in the dark as to what might be true of the feelings of Mrs. Fairfax, from the avoidance on her part of giving him any indication adequate to satisfy his " wish to know," appears very plainly from his recurring to the matter in a second letter, September 25, but only to the extent of these *ew words: " Do we still misunderstand the meaning of each other's letters? I think it must appear so, though I would feign hope the contrary, as I cannot speak plainer without. But I'll say no more, and leave you to guess the rest." In this letter Washington says : " I am extremely glad to find that Mr. Fairfax has escaped the dangers of the siege at Louisberg." The younger brother of George William Fairfax was in the army with Wolfe, and was killed at the siege of Quebec. If George William Fairfax had fallen at Louisberg, the personal story of Washington might have been different but for the fact that the engage ment already made was as binding to his honor, and as satisfactory to judgment and feeling, as the earlier interest was in some degree deeper after the manner of such first exceptionally deep interest If we recur to the interest of the mere youth in " Miss Betsy," an account of which is given at page 48, it will be seen that the youth of twenty showed very deep feeling under the impression made upon him by Miss Betsy Fauntleroy; that while this feeling was strongest his " place of residence " was with the Fairfaxes, where the family included Mrs. George William Fairfax and her sister, " a very agreeable young lady;" and that he avoided becoming interested in the young lady, partly because of the strength of his feeling for Miss Betsy, and partly because he felt convinced that he would " only get a denial," if he ven tured anything. In this situation Mrs. Fairfax and her 28 434 WASHINGTON. Husband's comrade could hardly fail to unconsciously come into a relation of perhaps unguarded interest on her part, and of unguarded self-disclosure on his part, the almost inevitable result of which, to her, would be to know, as no one else could, the depth, purity, charm, and strength of his nature, not yet revealed to common observation; while to him would come the consciousness of attraction and satisfaction, in a singularly sympathetic and beautiful woman, very much beyond anything through which any "young lady" could appeal to him. Mrs. Fairfax was but two years his senior; she had been married four years in I75 2 ; an d with no more than commonplace gifts and excellence in Mr. Fairfax, a deeply sympathetic knowledge of Washington, in the rarest promise of his genius and character, may well have made an impression as profound, beyond every other known to her experience, as it was necessarily pathetic. There is no evidence that to either the whole 'experience was more than a transaction of silence or of dumb distance signals, with no effect what ever upon the actual life of either. It should be plain, however, that there were three stages in the emotional experience of Washington, in relation with three persons, Betsy Fauntleroy, Mrs. Fairfax, and Mrs. Custis, and that upon the latter fell all the conscience, honor, and fidelity of the mature man.] General Forbes had at length arrived at his headquarters at Raystown (September 15, 1758). The advanced party were constructing a fort at Loyal Hanna, most of the Vir ginia troops were still at Fort Cumberland, whereas, if the old route by Braddock's road had been adopted, General Forbes with his army of 6,000 men might already have reached Fort Duquesne, at that time garrisoned by only 800 men. So much dissatisfied were the Virginia House of Bur- LIFE AND TIMES. 435 gesses with this state of affairs, that they were on the point of recalling the forces of that Colony and placing them on their own frontier, but the apprehension that the failure of the expedition might be ascribed to this proceeding in duced them to extend the period of service for their troops to the end of the year. We have already seen that Washington disapproved of the scheme of sending forward detachments of any con siderable force in advance of the main body of the army. His excellent judgment on this head was fully evinced by the disastrous fate of Major Grant's detachment. This officer was detailed from the advanced post at Loyal Hanna on the 2ist of September (1758), with 800 men, for the purpose of reconnoitering the enemy's position at Fort Duquesne. His proceedings were singularly imprudent. Having arrived, without molestation, at a hill near the fort, in the night, he sent forward a small party to make observa tions, who burnt a log cabin and returned. Next morning Major Grant having ordered Major Lewis, of Washington's Virginia regiment, with a baggage-guard to a point two miles in his rear, sent forward an engineer with a covering party within full view of the garrison to take a plan of the works. As if all these proceedings were not sufficient to give the enemy notice of his presence, he ordered the reveille to be beaten in several places. The intelligent French commander of Fort Duquesne observed and duly appreciated this silly and impudent bravado and took speedy measures to punish it. Having posted Indians in ambuscade on his enemy's flanks he made a sudden sally from the fort, and soon spread dismay and confusion among the ranks of the British soldiers. The Highlanders, who composed a part of the detachment, stood their ground well for some time before they broke and fled. The Virginians from Washington's regiment gave 436 WASHINGTON. evidence of the thorough manner in which they had been trained for border warfare. They bore the brunt of the battle, losing out of eight officers, five killed, one wounded, and one taken prisoner, while of the rank and file, out of 162, sixty-two were killed and two wounded. On hearing the firing, Major Lewis left Captain Bullitt with fifty Virginians to guard the baggage, and hastened to join in the fight. He was speedily engaged with the Indians who had emerged from their ambuscade in the woods. Surrounded and nearly overpowered, he surren dered to a French officer. Major Grant was also taken prisoner. The main body of the detachment was routed, and sought safety in the neighboring forest. Captain Bullitt after sending off a portion of the baggage- wagons made a stand behind a breastwork formed of the remaining ones and drove back the Indians who were rushing forward to secure the plunder. He then effected a rapid retreat with the remnant of the detachment. Scat tered fugitives from the main body who had been dis persed slowly found their way through the woods to Loyal Hanna. The total loss was 270 killed and 42 wounded. Washington received, in the compliments of the general, a satisfactory intimation that the conduct of the portion of his regiment engaged in this action was duly appreciated at headquarters, and Captain Bullitt's promotion to the rank of major was a further testimony to the courage and good behavior of the Virginians. [Washington wrote September 25, 1758, to Governor Fauquier, of this affair: " The i2th instant Major Grant, of the Highland bat talion, with a chosen detachment of 800 men marched from our advanced post, at Loyal Hannan, for Fort Du- quesne; what to do there (unless to meet the fate he did) LIFE AND TIMES. 437 I cannot certainly inform you. However, to get intelli gence and annoy the Enemy, was the ostensible plan. " On the I3th, in the night, they arrived near that place; formed upon the hill in two columns; and sent a party to the fort to make discoveries, which they accomplished accordingly and burned a log-house not far from the walls without interruption. Stimulated by this success the major kept his post and disposition until day; then de tached Major Lewis and part of his command two miles back to their baggage guard and sent an engineer with a covering party in full view of the fort, to take a plan of the works at the same time causing the reveille to beat in several different places. "The Enemy hereupon sallied out, and an obstinate Engagement began, for the particulars of which I beg leave to refer your Honor to the enclosed letters and re turn of the regiment. Major Lewis, it is said, met his fate in bravely advancing to sustain Major Grant. Our officers and men have acquired very great applause for their gallant behavior during the action. I had the honor to be publicly complimented yesterday by the General on the occasion. The havock that was made of them is a demonstrable proof of their obstinate defence, having six officers killed, and a seventh wounded, out of eight. Major Lewis who cheerfully went upon this enterprise (when he found there was no dissuading Colonel Bouquet from the attempt, desired his friends to remember that he had op posed the undertaking to the utmost. " What may be the consequence of this affair, I will not take upon me to decide, but this I may venture to declare, that our affairs in general appear with a greater gloom than ever; and I see no probability of opening the road this campaign. How then can we expect a favorable issue to the expedition. I have used my best endeavors to sup- 438 WASHINGTON. ply my men with the necessaries they want. Seventy blankets I got from the General upon a promise to return them again." In the letter to Mrs. Fairfax of the same date, the few personal words of which have been quoted above, Wash ington said, of Major Grant's further proceedings making observations, etc. : " Egg'd on rather than satisfied by this success, Major Grant must needs insult the Enemy next morning by beating the reveille in different places in view. This caused a great body of men to sally from the Fort, and an obstinate engagement to ensue, which was maintained on our side with the utmost efforts that bravery could yield, till, being overpowered and quite surrounded, they were obliged to retreat with the loss of 22 officers killed and 278 men, besides wounded. " This is a heavy blow to our affairs here, and a sad stroke upon my regiment, that has lost out of 8 officers, and 168 that were in the action, 6 of the former killed and a 7th wounded. Among the slain was our dear Major Lewis. " Thus it is the lives of the brave are often disposed of. But who is there that does not rather envy than regret a death that gives birth to honor and glorious memory? " I am extremely glad to find that Mr. Fairfax has escaped the dangers of the siege of Louisberg. Already have we experienced greater losses than our army sus tained at that place, and have gained not one obvious advantage. So miserably has this expedition been man aged that I expect after a month's further trial, and the loss of many more men by the sword, cold, and famine, we shall give the expedition over as impracticable this season, and retire to the inhabitants [i. e. the settlements LIFE AND TIMES. 439 on the frontier from which they had marched], condemned by the world and derided by our friends." September 28th Washington further wrote that by a flag of truce sent to Fort Duquesne it had been " learned with certainty that Major Grant with two other Highland officers, and Major Lewis," with some other officers and thirty privates, " were made prisoners in the late action, and sent immediately to Montreal." The letter also said: " We find that the frosts have already changed the face of nature among these mountains. We know there is not more than a month left for enterprise; we know also that a number of horses cannot subsist after that time on a road stripped of its herbage and very few there are who ap prehend that our affairs can be brought to favorable issue by that period, nor do I see how it is possible, if everything else answered, that men half naked can live in tents much longer."] At length the main body of the army received orders to advance from Raystown. The general called on the colonels of regiments to submit severally, for his considera tion, a plan for his march. The plan submitted by Wash ington is given by Mr. Sparks,* and evinces sound judg ment and practical acquaintance with frontier warfare. [From camp at Rays Town, October 8, 1758, Washing ton sent to General Forbes plans for a line of march, of which he said: " They express my thoughts on a line of march through a country covered with woods, and how that line of march may be formed in an instant into an order of battle. The plan is calculated for a forced march with field-pieces only, unincumbered with wagons. It represents, first, a line of march; and, secondly, how that line of march may in an instant be thrown into an order of battle in the * Washington's "Writings," vol. II, p. 313. 440 WASHINGTON. woods. This plan supposes 4,000 privates, 1,000 of whom, (picked men), are to march in the front in three divisions, each division having a field-officer to command it, besides the commander of the whole ; and is always to be in readi ness to oppose the enemy, whose attack, if the necessary precautions are observed, must always be in front/' The statement of particulars of the operation of the plan gives clear proof of thorough knowledge of the style of warfare required in service such as that of the expedi tion in hand.] Washington at his own request was put in the advance. He was placed at the head of a division numbering 1,000 men, with the temporary rank of brigadier-general, and ordered to move in front of the main army, clear the road, and take precautions against a surprise by the enemy. The main body did not reach Loyal Hanna till the 5th of No vember (1758). The road was indescribably bad, and frost and snow were already announcing the near approach of winter. The soldiers were dispirited, as well they might be, for they were ill-clad for the season, surrounded by a wilder ness of forests, and still at the distance of fifty miles from Fort Duquesne. A council of war was now held in which, as Washington had foreseen and predicted, it was decided that it was in expedient to proceed further in the campaign. To winter on the ground was nearly impossible. The alternative was to retreat or suffer hardships similar to those which the army under Washington's command subsequently suffered at Valley Forge. Fortunately, we should rather say, providentially, three prisoners were taken from whom information was obtained of the actual condition of Fort Duquesne. The garrison was greatly reduced. The Indians had all deserted them. The usual supplies of provisions and the expected reinforce- WASHINGTON IN 1775- period of his taking command of the Army. LIFE AND TIMES. 441 ments from Canada had failed. A single well-directed blow would accomplish the object of the campaign. This report determined General Forbes to prosecute the expedition. Washington was advanced in front as before, to open a road for the main body of the army and establish deposits. The tents and heavy baggage were left at Loyal Hanna and only a light train of artillery was taken forward with the army. Inspirited with the prospect of final success both officers and men now performed their duty with alacrity. . The road however was long and difficult, and it was not till the 25th of November that the army arrived at Fort Duquesne. Instead of having to prosecute a siege and assault, General Forbes took quiet possession of the fort, which was already abandoned by the enemy. Colonel Bradstreet's capture of Fort Frontenac had cut off the usual supplies and reinforcements intended for this post, and the garrison consisting of only 500 men had on the preceding night evacuated the place, after setting it on fire, and proceeded down the Ohio in boats. [October 30, 1758, Washington wrote to Governor Fau- quier from the camp at Loyal Hanna, explaining how he had made a sudden march" from Rays Town, and further saying: " My march to this post gave me an opportunity of forming a judgment of the road, and I can truly say that it is indescribably bad. Had it not been for an accidental discovery of a new passage over the Laurel Hill, the car riages must inevitably have stopped on the other side. This is a fact nobody here takes it upon him to deny. The general, and great part of the troops, etc., being yet behind, and the weather growing very inclement, must, I apprehend, terminate our expedition for this year at this place. But as our affairs are now drawing to a crisis, and 448 WASHINGTON. a good or bad conclusion of them will shortly ensue, I choose to suspend my judgment, as well as a further ac count of the matter, to a future day." November 5th Washington further wrote to Fauquier: " The General being arrived, with most of the artillery and troops, we expect to move forward in a very few days, encountering every hardship that an advanced season, want of clothes, and a small stock of provisions will ex pose us to. But it is no longer a time for pointing out difficulties, and I hope my next will run in a more agree able strain." The circumstances under which the forward movement was being made are not mentioned in Washington's letters until that of November 28th, reporting arrival at Fort Duquesne on the 25th, after the French had burned down the fort and gone down the Ohio. In the letter referred to, Washington said: " The possession of this fort has been a matter of sur prise to the whole army, and we cannot attribute it to more probable causes than those of weakness, want of pro visions, and desertion of their Indians. Of these circum stances we were luckily informed by three prisoners who providentially fell into our hands at Loyal Hanna, at a time when we despaired of proceeding, and a council of war had determined that it was not advisable to advance further this season; but the information above caused us to march on without tents or baggage, and with a light train of artillery only, with which we have happily suc ceeded." Of the particulars of this success Washington wrote to General Forbes, November 17, from camp near Bushy Run: "After the most constant labor from daybreak till night, LIFE AND TIMES. 443 we were able to open the road to this place, only about six miles from our last camp. " I shall struggle hard to be up with Colonel Armstrong tonight, being but two and a half miles from his last camp." That night he wrote further: " I have opened the road between seven and eight miles today, and am yet three miles short of Colonel Armstrong, who marched at 8 o'clock." The next day he wrote from Armstrong's camp that he had arrived there about 1 1 o'clock, having opened the road before him; that he halted there to slaughter and dress beef for the troops; and that he should go forward with 1,000 men at 3 the next morning. The march thus re newed led directly on to Fort Duquesne, possession of which, or rather of the spot on which it had stood, was had November 25th. In the letter reporting this to Gov ernor Fauquier, Washington said: " I cannot help premising, in this place, the hardships the troops have undergone, and the naked condition they now are in, in order that you may judge if it is not neces sary that they should have some little recess from fatigue, and time to provide themselves with necessaries, for at present they are destitute of every comfort of life. If I do not get your orders to the contrary, I shall march the troops under my command directly to Winchester. " This fortunate, and indeed unexpected success of our arms will be attended with happy effects. The Delawares are suing for peace, and I doubt not that other tribes on the Ohio will follow their example. A trade, free, open, and upon equitable terms, is what they seem much to stickle for, and I do not know so effectual a way of rivet ing them to our interest, as sending out goods immediately to this place for that purpose. It will, at the same time, be a means of supplying the garrison with such necessaries 444 WASHINGTON. as may be wanted; and I think, those Colonies which are as greatly interested as Virginia is, should neglect no means in their power to establish and support a strong garrison here. Our business, wanting this, will be but half finished; while, on the other hand, we obtain a firm and lasting peace, if this end is once accomplished. " General Forbes is very assiduous in getting these matters settled upon a solid basis, and has great merit (which I hope will be rewarded) for the happy issue which he has brought our affairs to, infirm and worn down as he is." The general had followed in the rear of his army in a litter, and a few weeks later he died at Philadelphia.] After taking possession of the fort General Forbes* caused the works to be repaired and gave it the name of Fort Pitt, in honor of the Prime Minister. The flourishing city of Pittsburg now stands near the ruins of " Old Fort Duquesne." Two hundred men from Washington's regiment formed the garrison of Fort Pitt. This measure was adopted against his remonstrances, General Forbes declining to leave a detachment from the regular army in consequence of an opinion he had formed that by such a step he would exceed his authority. Washington marched back with the remainder of his com- *John Forbes was a native of Petincrief, Fifeshire, Scotland, and was educated as a physician. He abandoned his profession, entered the army, and in 1745 was advanced to the rank of lieu tenant-colonel. He acted as quartermaster-general of the army under the Duke of Cumberland, and in 1757 was appointed briga dier-general, and sent to America. He was successful in the expe dition against Fort Duquesne the works being abandoned on his approach. After having concluded treaties with the Indian tribes on the Ohio, he returned to Philadelphia, and died in that city, March 13, 1759, aged 49. LIFE AND TIMES. 445 mand to Winchester. On his way he stopped at Loyal Hanna whence he addressed a circular letter to the frontier inhabitants, requesting them to forward supplies to the Virginians at Fort Pitt, and promising remuneration. Leaving his troops at Winchester, he proceeded to Wil- liamsburg, to take his seat in the Legislature of Virginia, of which he had been elected a member while he was on duty at Fort Cumberland. [December 2, 1758, Washington wrote from Loyal Hanna that he had made the attempt to proceed to Vir ginia at once to represent the situation on the Ohio to Governor Fauquier, and had been prevented by want of horses, those which he had being " entirely knocked up." He further said: " The General has, in his letters, told you what gar rison he proposed to leave at Fort Duquesne, but the want of provisions rendered it impossible to leave more than 200 men in all there. These, without great exertions, must, I fear, abandon the place or perish. To prevent, as far as possible, either of these events happening, I have by this conveyance written a circular letter to the back inhabitants of Virginia, setting forth the great advantages of keeping that place; the improbability of doing it with out their immediate assistance ; that they may travel safely out while we hold that post; and that they will be allowed good prices for such species of provisions as they shall carry. " Unless the most effectual measures are taken early in the spring to reinforce the garrison at Fort Duquesne, the place will inevitably be lost, and then our frontiers will fall into the same distressed condition that they have been in for some time past. For I can very confidently assert, that we never can secure them properly, if we again lose our footing on the Ohio, as we consequently lose the in- 446 WASHINGTON. terest of the Indians. I therefore think that every neces sary preparation should be making, not a moment should be lost in taking the most speedy and efficacious steps in securing the infinite advantages which may be derived from our regaining possession of that important country. " That the preparatory steps should immediately be taken for securing the communication from Virginia, by constructing a post at Redstone Creek, which would greatly facilitate the supplying of our troops on the Ohio, where a formidable garrison should be sent as soon as the season will admit of it. " That a trade with the Indians should be upon such terms, and transacted by men of such principles, as would at the same time turn out to the reciprocal advantage of the colony and the Indians, and which would effectually remove those bad impressions that the Indians received from the conduct of a set of rascally fellows, divested of all faith and honor; and give us such an early opportunity of establishing an interest with them as would be pro ductive of the most beneficial consequences, on getting a large share of the fur trade, not only of the Ohio Indians, but, in time, of the numerous nations possessing the back country westward of it. And to prevent this advantageous commerce from suffering in its infancy, by the sinister views of designing, selfish men of the different provinces, I humbly conceive it absolutely necessary that commissioners from each of the colonies be appointed to regulate the mode of that trade, and to fix it on such a basis that all the attempts of one colony undermining another, and thereby weakening and diminishing the general system,. might be frustrated. "Although none can entertain a higher sense of the great importance of maintaining a post on the Ohio than myself, yet, under the present circumstances of my regiment, I LIFE AND TIMES. 447 would by no means have agreed to leave any part of it there, had not the General given an express order for it. Our men that are left there are in such a miserable situa tion, having hardly rags to cover their nakedness, that un less provision is made by the country for supplying them immediately they must inevitably perish; and if the First Virginia Regiment is to be kept up any longer, or any services are expected therefrom, they should forthwith be clothed as they are. By their present shameful nakedness, the advanced season, and the inconceivable fatigues of an uncommonly long and laborious campaign, they are ren dered totally incapable of any kind of service ; and sickness, death, and desertion must, if their wants are not speedily supplied, greatly reduce its numbers. To replace them with equally good men will, perhaps, be found impos sible."] As the frontier of Virginia was now relieved from the incursions of the French and Indians, Washington's patriotic motives for continuing in the military service had ceased to operate. No royal commission such as had been tendered to Sir William Pepperrell for his single suc cessful campaign at Louisburg was offered for his accept ance and his military career for the present was closed. About the end of the year (1758), he resigned his com mission as colonel of the first Virginia regiment and com- mander-in-chief of all the troops raised in the Colony. " The officers whom he commanded," says Marshall,* " were greatly attached to him. They manifested their esteem and their regret at parting by a very affectionate address, expressive of the high opinion they entertained both of his military and private character. ".This opinion was not confined to the officers of his regiment ; it was common to Virginia and had been adopted *Life of Washington, chapter I. 448 WASHINGTON. by the British officers with whom he served. The duties he performed though not splendid, were arduous, and were executed with zeal and with judgment. The exact disci pline he established in his regiment when the temper of Virginia was extremely hostile to discipline does credit to his military character, and the gallantry the troops dis played whenever called into action, manifests the spirit in fused into them by their commander. " The difficulties of his situation while unable to cover the frontier from the French and Indians who were spread ing death and desolation in>very quarter were incalculably great, and no better evidence of his exertions under these distressing circumstances can be given than the undimin- ished confidence still placed in him by those whom he was unable to protect. " The efforts to which he incessantly stimulated his country for the purpose of obtaining possession of the Ohio ; the system for the conduct of the war which he continually recommended; the vigorous and active measures always urged upon those by whom he was commanded; manifest an ardent and enterprising mind, tempered by judgment, and quickly improved by experience." In a former part of this chapter, we have mentioned a visit of Washington to the seat of government at Williams- burg for the purpose of obtaining supplies and an augmen tation of pay for the soldiers of his regiment. It was during this journey that he became acquainted with the lady with whom he was afterward united in marriage. Her maiden name was Martha Danbridge. She was descended from an ancient family that migrated to the Colony. She was born in the county of New Kent, May, 1732. At the age of seventeen she had been married to Col. Daniel Parke Custis, a planter of the same county, and resided at the "White House," on the banks of Pamunkey river. LIFE AND TIMES. 449 Mrs. Custis was early left a widow with two children* and a large fortune. She was on a visit to the family of a neighbor, Mr. Chamberlayne, when Washington first met her on his journey from Winchester to Williamsburg.t " It was in 1758," says her biographer, J " that an officer attired in a military undress and attended by a body servant tall and militaire as his chief, crossed the ferry called Wil liams', over the Pamunkey, a branch of the York river. On the boat touching the southern or New Kent side, the soldier's progress was arrested by one of those personages who give the beau ideal of the Virginia gentleman of the old regime the very soul of kindness and hospitality. He would hear of no excuse on the officer's part for declining the invitation to stop at his house. In vain the colonel pleaded important business at Williamsburg ; Mr. Chamber layne insisted that his friend must dine with him at the very least. He promised as a tempation to introduce him to a young and charming widow who chanced then to be an inmate of his dwelling. At last the soldier surrendered at discretion, resolving however to pursue his journey the same evening. They proceeded 'to the mansion. Mr. Chamberlayne presented Colonel Washington to his various guests among whom was the beautiful Mrs. Custis. Tradi tion says that the two were favorably impressed with each other at the first interview. The acquaintance thus auspiciously commenced was fol lowed by an engagement soon after, the marriage being deferred till the close of the campaign. It took place at the lady's residence, the " White House," on the 6th of January, 1759- The mansion of Mount Vernon, which became their resi- * Martha, who died at Mount Vernon, 1777, and John, who died in 1781. f Custis, " Memoir of Martha Washington." t Mrs. Ellet, " Women of the Revolution." 20 450 WASHINGTON. dence soon after the marriage, was then a very small build ing compared with its present extent, and the numerous out buildings attached to it. The mansion-house consisted of four rooms on a floor forming the center of the present building, and remained pretty much in that state up to 1774, when Colonel Washington repaired to the first Congress in Philadelphia, and from thence to the command-in-chief of the armies of his country assembled before Cambridge, July, 1775. The commander-in-chief returned no more to reside at Mount Vernon till after the peace of 1783. Mrs. Washington accompanied the general to the lines before Boston and witnessed its siege and evacuation. She then returned to Virginia, the subsequent campaigns being of too momentous a character to allow of her accompanying the army. At the close of each campaign an aide-de-camp repaired to Mount Vernon to escort her to the headquarters. The arrival of Mrs. Washington at camp was an event much anticipated and was always the signal for the ladies of the general officers to repair to the bosoms of their lords. The arrival of the aide-de-camp escorting the plain chariot with the neat postillions in their scarlet and white liveries was deemed an epoch in the army and served to diffuse a cheer ing influence amid the gloom which hung over our destinies at Valley Forge, Morristown, and West Point. Mrs. Wash ington always remained at the headquarters till the opening of the campaign, and often remarked in after life that it had been her fortune to hear the first cannon at the opening and the last at the closing of all the campaigns of the Revolutionary War. During the whole of that mighty period when we struggled for independence, Mrs. Wash ington preserved her equanimity, together with a degree of cheerfulness that inspired all around her with the bright est hopes for our ultimate success.* * Custis, " Memoir of Martha Washington." PART III. OPENING SCENES OF THE REVOLUTION. CHAPTER I. WASHINGTON IN RETIREMENT-CAMPAIGN OF 1759- 1759- THE marriage of Washington to Mrs. Custis brought with it a large accession to his fortune. By it he became entitled to a third part of the estate of the deceased Daniel Parke Custis, and he was invested with the care of the other two-thirds by a decree of the general court which he obtained in order to strenghten the power he pre viously had in consequence of his wife's administration of the whole estate.* The addition thus made to Washington's estate was not less than $100,000. He had also the estate of Mount Ver- non and considerable tracts of land in various parts of Virginia, selected while he was employed in surveying. Mrs. Custis at the time of her second marriage had two children, a son six years old and a daughter four, to each of whom was left a third of the estate of their father. Washington became guardian of these children, an office which he discharged with strict fidelity and paternal af fection. * Letter to Robert Gary. Sparks' "Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 328. (451) 452 WASHINGTON. The newly-married couple remained at the " White House/' the late residence of the Custis family for three months after their marriage, during which time Washing ton appears to have given his attention to the affairs of the estate. They then retired to Washington's favorite resi dence, Mount Vernon. During the first year of their residence in this delightful home occurred the campaign of 1759, which, although Washington took no active part in it, forms too important and influential a portion of the history of his " Times/' to be passed over in silence. We shall therefore notice briefly its more important events. The plan of the campaign was that three powerful armies should enter the French possessions by three different routes and attack all their strongholds at nearly the same time. At the head of one division of the army, Brigadier- General Wolfe, who had so recently signalized himself at the siege of Louisburg, was to ascend the St. Lawrence and lay siege to Quebec, escorted by a strong fleet to co-operate with his troops. The central and main body composed of British and pro vincials was to be conducted against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, by the able, but cautious, General Amherst, the new commander-in-chief, who, after making himself master of these places, was to proceed over Lake Champlain and by the way of Richelieu river to the St. Lawrence, and descending that river form a junction with General Wolfe before the walls of Quebec. This latter service however he was not destined to accomplish in season to render any assistance to Wolfe. The third army to be composed principally of provincials reinforced by a strong body of friendly Indians under the direction of Sir William Johnson was to be commanded by General Prideaux, who was to lead this division first LIFE AND TIMES. 453 against Niagara and after the reduction of that place, to embark on Lake Ontario and proceed down the St. Law rence against Montreal. Early in the winter, General Amherst commenced prepa rations for his part of the enterprise, but it was not till the last of May that his troops, 12,000 in number, were as sembled at Albany, and it was as late as the 22d of July (1759), when after crossing Lake George in boats, batteaux, and rafts, he appeared before Ticonderoga. Montcalm, who had so successfully resisted the attack of Abercrombie in the preceding year, was no longer in command at Ticonderoga being engaged in preparations for the defense of Quebec. The garrison consisting of only 400 men was under the command of Bourlamarque. Per ceiving the utter folly of attempting a defense against such fearful odds, he dismantled the fortifications and abandoned them as well as those at Crown Point, and retreated to Isle aux Noix, a convenient point for concentrating a force for the defense of Montreal and the province. Instead of pursuing him with a view to a speedy junction of his forces with those of General Wolfe, General Amherst committed the grave error of wasting time in repairing the works at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Meantime the enemy were assembling a force of between three and four thousand at Isle aux Noix. The result of General Amherst's extreme caution and delay was that he failed to effect a junction of his forces with those of General Wolfe, and his army at the close of the season went into winter quarters at Crown Point. In the prosecution of the enterprise against Niagara, Gen eral Prideaux had embarked with an army on Lake Ontario, and on the 6th of July (1759), landed without opposition within about three miles from the fort which he invested in form. While directing the operations of the siege he was 454 WASHINGTON. killed by the bursting of a cohorn, and the command de volved on Sir William Johnson.* That general, prosecuting with judgment and vigor the plan of his predecessor, pushed the attack of Niagara with an intrepidity that soon brought the besiegers within 100 yards of the covered way. Meanwhile, the French, alarmed at the danger of losing a post which was a key to their interior empire in America, had collected a large body of regular troops from the neigh boring garrisons of Detroit, Venango, and Presqu' Isle, with which and a party of Indians they resolved if possible to raise the siege. Apprised of their intention to hazard a battle, General Johnson order his light infantry, sup ported by some grenadiers and regular foot, to take post between the cataract of Niagara and the fortress ; placed the * Sir William Johnson was born in Ireland, about the year 1715. Early in life he went to America with his uncle, Sir Peter Warren, and, after hesitating for some time as to what profession he should adopt, at length entered the army, in which he gradually rose to the rank of major-general. In 1755 he was placed at the head of an expedition against Crown Point, which however he did not succeed in capturing, although he obtained a brilliant victory over the French under General Dieskau, whom he took prisoner. Parliament testified its approbation of Johnson's conduct on this occasion by voting him 5,000. In 1759 he commanded the pro vincials of New York, and acted under Prideaux at the siege of Niagara, as related in the text. He now devoted his attention to the establishment of a more permanent and extensive communion than had previously existed between the British and the Indians, and effected several advan tageous treaties with the Senecas and other tribes. In June, 1760, he induced 1,000 of the Iroquois to join General Amherst at Oswego; and, subsequently, encouraged the colonists to intermarry with the aboriginal inhabitants. He was at length chosen colonel of the Six Nations, as well as superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern parts of America; and settling on the banks of the Mohawk river, he soon became well acquainted with the manners and language of the Indians, relative to which he sent an inter- LIFE AND TIMES. 455 auxiliary Indians on his flanks, and together with this preparation for an engagement took effectual measures for securing his lines and bridling the garrison. About nine in the morning of the 24th of July (1759), the enemy appeared and the horrible sound of the warwhoop from the hostile Indians was the signal of battle. The French charged with great impetuosity but were received with firmness, and in less than an hour were completely routed. This battle decided the fate of Niagara. Sir William Johnson the next morning opened negotiations with the French commandant, and in a few hours a capitulation was signed. The garrison consisting of 607 men were to march out with the honors of war to be embarked on the lake and carried to New York, and the women and children were to be carried to Montreal. The reduction of Niagara esting communication to the Royal Society, in November, 1772. He died about two years afterward, leaving a son, who succeeded to the baronetage. Brave, energetic, and enterprising, Johnson was particularly well qualified for the services on which he was employed. He is described as having possessed such a genius for acquiring popu larity among all kinds of men that the regular troops respected, the provincials loved, and the Indians almost adored him. It is added that he was a man of perfect integrity, and employed his talents solely for the benefit of his country. The victory which he obtained over Dieskau, although it did not lead to the result that had been expected, infused confidence into the British, who appear to have been greatly disheartened by the recent defeat, by the French and Indians, of General Braddock's forces near Fort Duquesne. The capture of Niagara effectually broke off, according to the Annual Register of the period, "that communi cation so much talked of, and so much dreaded, between Canada and Louisiana; and by this stroke, one of the capital political designs of the French, which gave occasion to the war, was defeated in its direct and immediate object." 456 WASHINGTON. effectually cut off the communication between Canada and Louisiana. The expedition against the capital of Canada was the most daring and important. Strong by nature and still stronger by art, Quebec had obtained the appellation of the Gibraltar of America, and every attempt against it had failed. It was now commanded by Montcalm, an officer of distinguished reputation, and its capture must have appeared chimerical to any one but Pitt. He judged rightly however that the boldest and most dangerous enterprises are often the most successful, especially when committed to ardent minds glowing with enthusiasm and emulous of glory. Such a mind he had discovered in General Wolfe, whose conduct at Louisburg had attracted his attention. He appointed him to conduct the expedition and gave him for assistants, Brigadier-Generals Monckton, Townshend, and Murray; all, like himself, young and ardent. Early in the season he sailed from Halifax with 8,000 troops, and near the last of June (1759) landed the whole army on the island of Orleans, a few miles below Quebec. From this position he could take a near and distinct view of the obstacles to be overcome. These were so great that even the bold and sanguine Wolfe perceived more to fear than to hope. " When," he says in a letter to Pitt, " that succors of all kinds had been thrown into Quebec, that five batteries of regular troops, some of the troops of the Colony, and every Canadian that was able to bear arms, besides several nations of savages had taken the field in A very advantageous situation, I could not flatter myself that I should be able to reduce the place. I sought however an occasion to at tack their army knowing well that with these troops I was able to fight and that a victory might disperse them." Quebec stands on the north side of the St. Lawrence LIFE AND TIMES. 457 and consists of an upper and lower town. The lower town lies between the river and a bold and lofty eminence which runs parallel to it far to the westward. At the top of this eminence is a plain upon which the upper town is situated. Below or east of the city is the river St. Charles, whose channel is rough and whose banks are steep and broken. At a short distance farther down is the Montmorency, and between these two rivers and reaching from one to the other was encamped the French army, strongly intrenched, and superior in number to that of the English, but they were chiefly Canadians. There was also a large auxiliary force of Indians. General Wolfe took possession of Point Levi on the southern bank of the St. Lawrence, and there erected bat teries against the town. The cannonade which was kept up, though it destroyed many houses, made but little im pression on the works which were too strong and too re mote to be materially affected, their elevation at the same time placing them beyond the reach of the fleet. Convinced of the impossibility of reducing the place unless he could erect batteries on the north side of the St. Lawrence, Wolfe soon decided on more daring measures. The northern shore of the St. Lawrence to a considerable distance above Quebec is so bold and rocky as to render a landing in the face of an enemy impracticable. If an attempt were made below the town, the river Montmorency passed, and the French driven from their intrenchments, the St. Charles would present a new and perhaps insuper able barrier. With every obstacle fully in view, Wolfe heroically ob serving that a " victorious army finds no difficulties," re solved to pass the Montmorency and bring Montcalm to an engagement. In pursuance of this resolution thirteen companies of English grenadiers and part of the second 458 WASHINGTON. battalion of Royal Americans were landed at the mouth of that river, while two divisions under Generals Townshend and Murray prepared to cross it higher up. Wolfe's plan was to attack first a redoubt close to the water's edge, ap parently beyond reach of the fire from the enemy's intrench- ments, in the belief that the French by attempting to support that fortification would put it in his power to bring on a general engagement, or if they should submit to the loss of the redoubt, that he could afterward ex amine their situation with coolness and advantageously regulate his future operations. On the approach of the British troops the redoubt was evacuated, and the general observing some confusion in the French camp changed his original plan and determined not to delay an attack. Orders were immediately dis patched to the Generals Townshend and Murray to keep their divisions in readiness for fording the river, and the grenadiers and Royal Americans were directed to form on the beach until they could be properly sustained. These troops however not waiting for support rushed im petuously toward the enemy's intrenchments, but they were received with so strong and steady a fire from the French musketry that they were instantly thrown into disorder and obliged to seek shelter at the redoubt which the enemy had abandoned. Detained here awhile by a dreadful thun derstorm they were still within reach of a severe fire from the French, and many gallant officers exposing their persons in attempting to form their troops were killed, the whole loss amounting to nearly 500 men. The plan of attack being effectually disconcerted, the English general gave orders for repassing the river and returning to the Isle of Orleans. Compelled to abandon the attack on that side, Wolfe deemed that advantage might result from attempting to destroy the French fleet, and by distracting the attention LIFE AND TIMES. 459 of Montcalm with continual descents upon the northern shore. General Murray with 1,200 men in transports made two vigorous but abortive attempts to land, and though more successful in the third he did nothing more than burn a magazine of warlike stores. The enemy's fleet was effectu ally secured against attacks, either by land or water, and the commander-in-chief was again obliged to submit to the mortification of recalling his troops. At this juncture, intelligence arrived that Ticonderoga and Crown Point had been abandoned, but that General Amherst, instead of pressing forward to their assistance, was preparing to attack the Isle aux Noix. While Wolfe rejoiced at the triumph of his brethren in arms he could not avoid contrasting their success with his own disastrous efforts. His mind, alike lofty and suscep tible, was deeply impressed by the disasters at Mont- morency; and his extreme anxiety, preying upon his deli cate frame, sensibly affected his health. He was observed frequently to sigh, and as if life was only valuable while it added to his glory, he declared to his intimate friends that he would not survive the disgrace which he imagined would attend the failure of his enterprise. In a letter written to Mr. Pitt at this time he says : " The French did not attempt to interrupt us, but some of their savages came down to murder such wounded as could not be brought off, and to scalp the dead, as their custom is." His situation seemed growing desperate and his health be gan to fail him. In his letter to Pitt, which was written from his headquarters at Montmorency on the 2d of Sep tember (1759), more than a month after this failure, he con fessed that he had descended to the dubiousness and de spondency of consulting a council of war. After saying that he had been suffering by a fever, he adds : " I found 460 WASHINGTON. myself so ill and am still so weak that I begged the general officers to consult together for the public utility. * * * To the uncommon strength of this country the enemy have added, for the defense of the river, a great number of float ing batteries and boats. By the vigilance of these and the Indians round our posts, it has been impossible to execute anything by surprise. * * * We have the whole force of Canada to oppose. In the situation there is such a choice of difficulties that I own myse/f at a loss how to determine. The affairs of Great Britain -require the most vigorous measures, but then the courage of a handful of brave men should be exerted only where there is some hope of a favor able event." When this letter reached England it excited consternation and anger. Pitt feared that he had been mis taken in his favorite general, and that the next news would be either that he had been destroyed or had capitulated. But in the conclusion of his melancholy epistle Wolfe had said he would do his best and that best turned out a miracle in war. He declared that he would rather die than be brought to a court-martial for miscarrying. Nothing however could shake the resolution of this valiant commander or induce him to abandon the attempt. In a council of his principal officers, called on this critical occasion, it was resolved that all the future operations should be above the town. The camp at the Isle of Or leans was accordingly abandoned, and the whole army hav ing embarked on board the fleet, a part of it was landed at Point Levi and a part higher up the river. Montcalm, apprehending from this movement that the invaders might make a distant descent and come on the back of the city of Quebec, detached M. de Bougainville, with 1,500 men, to watch their motions and prevent their landing. Baffled and harassed in all his previous assaults General LIFE AND TIMES. 461 Wolfe seems to have determined to finish the enterprise by a single bold and determined effort. The admiral sailed several leagues up the river, making occasional demonstra tions of a design to land troops, and during the night a strong detachment in flat-bottomed boats fell silently down the stream to a point about a mile above the city. The beach was shelving, the bank high and precipitous, and the only path by which it could be scaled was now de fended by a captain's guard and a battery of four guns. Lieutenant-Colonel Howe,* with the van, soon clambered up the rocks, drove away the guard, and seized upon the battery. The army landed about an hour before day and by day break was marshaled on the Heights of Abraham. Montcalm could not at first believe this intelligence, but as soon as assured of its truth, he made all prudent haste to decide a battle which it was no longer possible to avoid. Leaving his camp at Montmorency he crossed the river St. Charles with the intention of attacking the English army. No sooner did Wolfe observe this movement than he be gan to form his order of battle. His troops consisted of six battalions and the Louisburg grenadiers. The right wing was commanded by General Monckton and the left by General Murray. The right flank was covered by the Louisburg grenadiers and the rear and left by Lieutenant- Colonel Howe's light infantry. The form in which the French advanced, indicating an intention to outflank the left of the English army, General Townshend was sent with the battalion of Amherst and the two battalions of Royal Americans to that part of the line, and they were formed en potence, so as to present a double front to the enemy. The body of reserve consisted * Sir William Howe, subsequently distinguished in the Revolu tionary War. WASHINGTON. of one regiment drawn up in eight divisions with large in tervals. The dispositions made by the French general were not less masterly. The right and left wings were composed about equally of European and Colonial troops. The center consisted of a column formed of two battalions of regulars. Fifteen hundred Indians and Canadians, excellent marks men, advancing in front, screened by surrounding thickets, began the battle. Their irregular fire proved fatal to many British officers, but it was soon silenced by the steady fire of the English. About 9 in the morning the main body of the French advanced briskly to the charge and the action soon became general. Montcalm having taken post on the left of the French army and Wolfe on the right of the English, the two generals met each other where the battle was most severe. The English troops reserved their fire until the French had advanced within forty yards of their line, and then by a general discharge made terrible havoc among their ranks. The fire of the English was vigorously main tained and the enemy everywhere yielded. General Wolfe who, exposed in the front of his battalions, had been wounded in the wrist, betraying no symptoms of pain wrapped a handkerchief round his arm and continued to encourage his men. Soon after he received a shot in the groin, but concealing the wound he was pressing on at the head of his grenadiers with fixed bayonets, when a third ball pierced his breast. Perceiving that his wound was mortal his only anxiety appears to have been that the soldiers might not be dis heartened by seeing him fall. Leaning on a lieutenant for support, he said " Let not my brave fellows see me drop." He was conveyed to the rear, where, careless about himself, he discovered in the agonies of death the greatest solicitude LIFE AND TIMES. 463 concerning the result of the battle. Faint and exhausted with the pain of his wounds he rested his head on the arm of an officer. He was aroused by cries of " They fly, they fly ! see them fly ! " " Who fly ? " exclaimed the dying hero. "The French," answered his attendant. Nerving himself to a last effort of duty he gave a hasty order for cutting off the enemy's retreat, and then turning on his side, he said " Now, God be praised, I will die in peace," and ex pired. We cannot forbear quoting in this connection the simple and feeling observations of General Townshend respecting his heroic friend, whose fate threw so affecting a luster on this memorable victory : " I am not ashamed to own to you that my heart does not exult in the midst of this suc cess. I have lost but a friend in General Wolfe; our country has lost a sure support and a perpetual honor. If the world were sensible at how dear a price we have pur chased Quebec in his death, it would damp the public joy. Our best consolation is that Providence seemed not to promise that he should remain long among us. He was himself sensible of the weakness of his constitution and determined to crowd into a few years actions that would have adorned length of life." The army, not disconcerted by the fall of their general, continued the action under Monckton on whom the com mand now devolved, but who, receiving a ball through his body, soon yielded the command to General Townshend. Montcalm, fighting in front of his battalions, received a mortal wound* about the same time, and General Senezer- gus, the second in command, also fell. The British grena diers pressed on with their bayonets. General Murray, * Montcalm was every way worthy to be a competitor of Wolfe. He had the truest military genius of any officer whom the French had ever employed in America. After he had received his mortal 464 WASHINGTON. briskly advancing with the troops under his direction, broke the center of the French army. The Highlanders drawing their broadswords completed the confusion of the enemy, and after having lost their first and second in command the right and center of the French were entirely driven from the field, and the left was follow ing their example when Bougainville appeared in the rear, with the 1,500 men who had been sent to oppose the land ing of the English. Two battalions and two pieces of ar tillery were detached to meet him, but he retired and the British troops were left the undisputed masters of the field. The loss of the French was much greater than that of the English. The corps of French regulars was almost entirely annihilated;- The killed and wounded of the English army did not amount to 600 men. Although Quebec was still strongly defended by its fortifi cations, and might possibly be relieved by Bougainville or from Montreal, yet General Townshend had scarcely finished a road in the bank to get his heavy artillery for a siege, when the inhabitants capitulated, on condition that during the war they might still enjoy their own civil and religious rights. A garrison of 5,000 men was left under General Murray, and the fleet sailed out of the St. Law rence. The fall of Quebec did not immediately produce the sub mission of Canada. The main body of the French army, which, after the battle on the Plains of Abraham, retired to Montreal, and which still consisted of ten battalions of regulars, had been reinforced by 10,000 Canadian militia and a body of Indians. wound he was carried into the city; and when informed that it was mortal his reply was, " I am glad of it." On being told that he could survive but a few hours, " So much the better," he replied, " I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." LIFE AND TIMES. 465 With these forces M. de Levi, who had succeeded the Marquis of Montcalm in the chief command, resolved to attempt the recovery of Quebec. He had hoped to carry the place by a coup de main, during the winter, but on recon- noitering he found the outposts so well secured, and the Governor so vigilant and active, that he postponed the en terprise until spring. In the month of April (1760), when the upper part of the St. Lawrence was so open as to admit of transportation by water, his artillery, military stores, and heavy baggage were embarked at Montreal and fell down the river under convoy of six frigates, and M. de Levi, after a march of ten days arrived with his army at Point au Tremble, within a few miles of Quebec. General Murray, to whom the care of maintaining the English conquest had been intrusted, had taken every pre caution to preserve it, but his troops had suffered so much by the extreme cold of the winter, and by the want of vege tables and fresh provisions that instead of 5,000, the origi nal number of his garrison, there were not at this time above 3,000 men fit for service. With this small but valiant body the English general re solved to meet the enemy in the field, and on the 28th of April marched out to the Plains of Abraham where, near Sillery, he attacked the French under M. de Levi with great impetuosity. He was received with firmness, and after a fierce encounter, finding himself outflanked and in danger of being surrounded by superior numbers, he called off his troops and retired into the city. In this action the loss of the English was near 1,000 men, and that of the French still greater. The French general lost no time in improving his victory. On the very even ing of the battle he opened trenches before the town, but 30 466 WASHINGTON. it was the nth of May before he could mount his batteries and bring his guns to bear on the fortifications. By that time General Murray, who had been indefati gable in his exertions, had completed some outworks and planted so numerous an artillery on his ramparts that his fire was very superior to that of the besiegers, and in a manner silenced their batteries. A British fleet arriving most opportunely a few days after, M. de Levi immediately raised the siege and precipitately retired to Montreal. Here the Marquis of Vaudreuil, Governor-General of Canada, had fixed his headquarters and determined to make his last stand. For this purpose he called in all his detach ments and collected around him the whole force of the Colony. The English, on the other hand, were resolved on the total annihilation of the French power in Canada, and Gen eral Amherst prepared to overwhelm it with an irresistible superiority of numbers. Almost on the same day the armies from Quebec, from Lake Ontario, and from Lake Champlain were concen trated before Montreal, and M. de Vaudreuil found him self obliged on the 8th of September, 1760, to sign a capitulation by which that city and the whole of Canada were transferred to British dominion. He obtained liberal stipulations for the good treatment of the inhabitants, and particularly the free exercise of the Catholic faith, and the preservation of the property belonging to the religious communities. He even demanded that the bishop should continue to be appointed by the French monarch, but this was of course refused. The possession of Canada, as well as of all the adjoining countries, was confirmed to Britain by the peace of Paris, signed on the loth of February, 1763. The population at the time of the conquest was stated by LIFE AND TIMES. 467 Governor Murray to amount to 69,275, consisting mostly of cultivators, a frugal, industrious, and moral race; with a noblesse, also very poor, but much respected, among them. The Indians converted to Catholics were estimated at 7,400. The inhabitants were involved in great calamity by the re fusal of the French Government to pay the bills drawn and the paper currency issued by M. Bigot, the late intendant, who had been guilty of most extensive peculation. The gross sum is stated by Raynal at 80,000,000 livres (3,333,000 sterling), but considering the small number and poverty of the people we cannot help suspecting it to be much exaggerated. It is said that the claims were, on grounds of equity, reduced to 38,000,000; though, accord ing to M'Gregor, no more was received in turn for them than 250,000 in money, and 125,000 in bonds, which never became effective. The terms in favor of the French residents were faith fully and even liberally fulfilled by the British Government. All offices however were conferred on British subjects, who then consisted only of military men, with not quite 500 petty traders, many of whom were ill-fitted for so import ant a situation. They showed a bigoted spirit and an offen sive contempt of the old inhabitants, including even their class of nobles. General Murray, notwithstanding, strenu ously protected the latter, without regard to repeated com plaints made against him to the ministry at home, and by this impartial conduct he gained their confidence in a de gree which became conspicuous on occasion of the great revolt of the united Colonies. During that momentous period, though pressingly in vited to assist the latter, the Canadians never swerved from their allegiance. With a view to conciliate them the " Que bec Act," passed in 1774, changed the English civil law, which had been at first introduced, for the ancient system 468 WASHINGTON. called the Coutume de Paris. The French language was also directed to be employed in the law courts, and other changes made with the view of gratifying that nation. These con cessions did not however give universal satisfaction, es pecially as they were not attended with any grant of a na tional representation. In the prosecution of the war between Great Britain and France, which was terminated by the peace of Paris Feb ruary 10, 1763, after a conflict lasting seven years the ad vantages which Great Britain derived from the Colonies were severely felt by her enemies. Upward of 400 priva teers which were fitted out of the ports of the British Colonies successfully cruised on French property. These not only ravaged the West India islands belonging to his most Catholic Majesty, but made many captures on the coast of France. Besides distressing the French nation by privateering, the Colonies furnished 23,800 men to co-oper ate with the British regular forces in North America. They also sent powerful aids, both in men and provisions, out of their own limits, which facilitated the reduction of Mar tinique and of Havana. The success of their privateers the co-operation of their land forces the convenience of their harbors, and the contiguity to the West India islands, made the Colonies great acquisitions to Britain and for midable adversaries to France. From their growing im portance the latter had much to fear. Their continued union with Great Britain threatened the subversion of the commerce and American possessions of France. After hostilities had raged nearly eight years, a general peace was concluded, on terms by which France ceded Canada to Great Britain. The Spaniards having also taken part in the war were, at the termination of it, induced to re linquish to the same power both East and West Florida. This peace gave Great Britain possession of an extent of LIFE AND TIMES. 469 country equal in dimensions to several of the kingdoms of Europe. The possession of Canada in the north and of the two Floridas in the south, made her almost sole mistress of the North American continent. This laid a foundation for future greatness which ex cited the envy and the fears of Europe. Her navy, her commerce, and her manufactures had greatly increased when she held but a part of the continent, and when she was bounded by the formidable powers of France and Spain. Her probable future greatness, when without a rival, and with a growing vent for her manufactures and increasing employment for her marine, threatened to destroy that bal ance of power which European sovereigns had for a long time endeavored to preserve. CHAPTER II. LIFE AT MOUNT VERNON. 1759-1763. DURING the stirring events which are recorded in the preceding chapter, Washington remained at Mount Vernon, busily engaged in the care of his extensive plantation. He occasionally refers to them however in his letters. Writing to his London agent in September, 1759, he says : " The scale of fortune in America is turned greatly in our favor, and success has become the companion of our fortunate generals. It would be folly in me to at tempt particularizing their actions, since you receive ac counts in a channel so much more direct than from hence." In another letter to the same correspondent (May 10, 1760) he says : " The French are so well drubbed, and seem so much humbled in America that I apprehend our generals will find it no difficult matter to reduce Canada to our obedience this summer. But what may be Montgomery's fate in the Cherokee country I cannot so readily deter mine. It seems he has made a prosperous beginning, hav ing penetrated into the heart of the country, and he is now advancing his troops in high health and spirits to the re lief of Fort Loudoun. But let him be wary. He has a crafty, subtle enemy to deal with that may give him most trouble when he least expects it." No man ever understood the character of the Indians more thoroughly than Washington. His intercourse with them during that portion of the Seven Years' War, in (470) LIFE AND TIMES. 471 which he took an active part, had made him well acquainted with their native disposition and their peculiar tactics in war. How justly his apprehensions for the safety of Mont gomery and his detachment were conceived, will appear from the following account of his expedition, extracted from Dr. Holmes's American Annals. During these decisive operations in the north, the Eng lish colonists in the south sustained no small calamity from the natives. The French were no sooner driven from Fort Duquesne than their baleful influence appeared among the Upper Cherokees. Unhappily, at that time, a quarrel with the Virginians contributed to alienate those Indian tribes from the English, with whom they had long been in alliance. The Cherokees, agreeably to treaty, had sent considerable parties of their warriors to assist the British in their ex peditions against Fort Duquesne. Many of these warriors, on their return home through the back parts of Virginia, losing their horses, laid hold on such as they found run ning wild in the woods, without supposing them to belong to any individuals. The Virginians, resenting this injury, killed twelve or fourteen of the unsuspicious warriors and took several prisoners. The Cherokees, highly provoked at this ungrateful usage from allies whose frontiers they had been helping to defend, determined to take revenge. The French inflamed their vindictive rage by telling them that the English intended to kill every man of them, and to make their wives and children slaves, and at the same time furnished them with arms and ammunition. The frontiers of Carolina soon feeling the horrible effects of their incur sions, Governor Littleton, toward the close of the last year (1759), had marched at the head of 800 militia and 300 regu lars into the country of the Cherokees where, without any bloodshed, a treaty of peace was concluded. Early in the present year, when joyous celebrations of the 472 WASHINGTON. peace were scarcely concluded, the Governor was informed that fresh hostilities had been committed by the Chero- kees, who had killed fourteen men within a mile of Fort Prince George. The war soon becoming general an ex press was sent to General Amherst, the commander-in- chief in America, acquainting him with the distressed state of Carolina and imploring his assistance. A battalion of Highlanders and four companies of the Royal Scots were accordingly sent under the command of Colonel Montgom ery for the relief of that province. Before the end of April (1760) Montgomery landed his troops in Carolina and encamped at Monk's Corner. A few weeks after his arrival he marched to the Congaree, where he was joined by the whole force of the province, and immediately set out for the Cherokee country. After burning all the towns in the lower nation, in which sixty Indians were killed and forty made prisoners, he marched to the relief of Fort Prince George, which was invested by the savages. After reliev ing that fort, finding the Indians not disposed to listen to proposals of accommodation, he marched forward through the dismal wilderness, where he encountered many hard ships and dangers, until he came within five miles of Etchoe, the lowest town in the middle settlements. Here he found a deep valley covered with bushes, in the middle of which was a muddy river, with steep clay banks. Col onel Morrison, who commanded a company of rangers, had orders to advance and scour the thicket, but scarcely had he entered it, when the Indians, springing from their covert, fired upon them and killed the captain and many of his men. The light infantry and grenadiers being now ordered to advance against the invisible enemy, a heavy fire began on both sides. Colonel Montgomery, finding the number of the Indians to be great, and their determina tion to dispute this pass obstinate, ordered the Royal Scots LIFE AND TIMES. 473 to advance between the enemy and a rising ground on the right, while the Highlanders marched toward the left, to sustain the infantry and grenadiers. The Indians at length giving way, and having taken possession of a hill, con tinued still to retreat as the army advanced. Montgomery gave orders to the line to face about and march directly for Etchoe. The enemy, observing this movement, got be hind the hill and ran to alarm their wives and children. Perceiving the difficulty and hazard of a further pursuit the English commander gave orders for a retreat, which was conducted with great regularity to Fort Prince George. During this action, which continued above an hour, Colonel Montgomery had twenty men killed and seventy-six wounded. To revenge this invasion, the Cherokees blockaded Fort Loudoun, situated near the confines of Virginia. This post, consisting of 200 men commanded by Captain Demere, being 150 miles from Charleston, was cut off from all com munication with the English. The garrison, having sub sisted some time on horseflesh, was ultimately reduced to such extremity as to be obliged to surrender the place on capitulation. The troops were to march out with their ammunition and baggage, and to be conducted to Virginia or Fort Prince George, but after marching about fifteen miles from the fort they were at night deserted by their attendants, and the next morning surrounded by the In dians, who poured in a heavy fire upon them, accompanied with the most hideous yells. Captain Demere, with three other officers and about twenty-six privates, fell at the first onset. The rest were made prisoners, and after being kept some time in a miserable state of captivity were redeemed by the province at a great expense. The Cherokees could at this time bring into the field 3,000 warriors. 474: WASHINGTON. We have already noticed the election of Washington as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, while he was engaged in his military duties during the campaign of 1758. Being solicited by some of his friends to obtain leave of absence and join in the electioneering contest, he had declined leaving his post, but the result was not the less triumphant and gratifying on this account. Great mili tary services had already become in America the best pass port to political honors. [In a letter of September 20, 1759, to Richard Wash ington, of London, England, a relative who attended to English business for him, Washington wrote: "My brother is safe arrived; but little benefited in point of health by his trip to England. The longing desire which for many years I have had of visiting the great metropolis of that kingdom, is not in the least abated by his prejudices, because I think the small share of health he enjoyed there must have given a sensible check to any pleasures he might figure to himself, and would render any place irksome but I am now tied by the leg and must set inclination aside. "The scale of fortune in America is turned greatly in our favor, and Success is become the boon companion of our Fortunate Generals. ' Twould be folly in me to attempt particularizing their actions since you receive accounts in a channel so much more direct than from hence. " I am now, I believe, fixed at this seat (Mount Vernon) with an agreeable consort for life; and hope to find more happiness in retirement than I ever experienced amidst a wide and bustling world. I thank you heartily for your affectionate wishes. Why wont you give me an occasion of congratulating you in the same manner? None would do it with more cordiality and true sincerity." LIFE AND TIMES. 475 To Robert Gary & Co., of London, English merchants, Washington stated, in a letter of September 20, 1759: " I am possessed of several plantations on this river (Potomac) and the fine lands of Shenandoah, and should be glad if you would ingenuously tell me what prices I might expect you to render for tobaccos made thereon, of the same seed as that of the estate's, and managed in every respect in the same manner as the best tobaccos on James and York rivers are." In a very large order for goods to be sent from London, the following items appear: Busts of Alexander the Great, of Julius Caesar, of Charles XII. of Sweden, and of the King of Prussia; these not to exceed fifteen inches in height; and two smaller busts, of Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough. In a letter of August 10, 1760, Washington speaks of " Colonel Fairfax's departure for England in a ship for London/' and in the same letter he says to his correspond ent, Richard Washington : "My indulging myself in a trip to England depends upon so many contingencies, which, in all probability, may never occur, that I dare not even think of such a gratification. Nothing, however, is more ardently desired. But Mrs. Washington and myself would both think ourselves very happy in the opportunity of showing you the Virginia hospitality, which is the most agreeable entertainment we can give, or a stranger expect to find, in an infant, woody country like ours." About a year later Washington wrote : " Colonel Fairfax very much surprises his friends in Virginia by not writing to any of them. Just upon his arrival at London he favored a few with a short letter advertising them of that agreeable circumstance, and I have heard of no other letter that has come from him since, although I have seen 476 WASHINGTON. some from the ladies, the superscription of which has been in his handwriting." At this date Washington speaks of " a valuable purchase I have just made of about 2,000 acres of land adjoining this seat," and then adds: " Since writing the foregoing I have added to my landed purchase." He remarks on the possi bility of somewhat overdrawing his account in case of a special " prospect of advantage," and yet says: " My own aversion to running in debt will always secure me against a step of this nature, unless a manifest advantage is likely to be the result of it."] While he was still residing at the "White House," before returning to Mount Vernon, a session of the House of Burgesses took place, which he attended. An incident, re ferred to by all his biographers, took place during this session, which is thus described by Mr. Wirt in his " Life of Patrick Henry : " By a vote of the House, the Speaker, Mr. Robinson, was directed to return their thanks to Colonel Washington, on behalf of the Colony, for the distinguished military services which he had rendered to his country. As soon as Colonel Washington took his seat, Mr. Robinson, in obedience to this order, and following the impulse of his own generous and grateful heart, discharged the duty with great dignity, but with such warmth of coloring and strength of expres sion as entirely confounded the young hero. He rose to express his acknowledgments for the honor, but such was his trepidation and confusion that he could not give dis tinct utterance to a single syllable. He blushed, stam mered, and trembled for a second, when the Speaker re lieved him by a stroke of address that would have done honor to Louis XIV in his proudest and happiest moment : " Sit down, Mr. Washington," said he, with a conciliating LIFE AND TIMES. 477 smile, " your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language that I possess." Washington by repeated elections retained his seat in the House of Burgesses till the commencement of the Revolu tionary War, a period of fifteen years ; discharging his legis lative duties with that scrupulous fidelity which, through life, he observed in fulfilling every engagement upon which he entered. His career as a legislator was precisely such as might have been anticipated from his general character. His decisions were formed upon a thorough and careful investigation of facts, and his course was marked by firm ness and candor. The few words which, on rare occasions, he deemed it worth while to address to the House in de bate, were consequently always listened to with a degree of attention and deference which was the best tribute to his sound judgment and weight of character. In the stormy times which immediately preceded the Revolution, he was ever found taking part with the patriotic members of the House. Washington was extremely fond of agriculture and of rural pleasures and pursuits, and on taking up his residence at Mount Vernon, it was his settled purpose to pass in these the remainder of his life. But Providence had in reserve for him a higher destiny than that of farming, hunting, fishing, and interchanging hospitalities with other country gentlemen. Such however were his pursuits during a con siderable part of his prime of life no less than fifteen years. It must be observed however that while he was engaged in these rural pursuits he devoted his whole attention to them ; it being a maxim with him that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well and thoroughly. He su perintended personally all the agricultural operations on his estate, kept his own accounts, shipped the produce of his 478 WASHINGTON. plantation to London, Bristol, or Liverpool, and received from thence his supplies in his own name. All the details of these operations were attended to by him with the most scrupulous care, nothing being too trivial to escape his attention. The staple article of culture in Virginia at that time was tobacco, and this formed the chief product of Washington's plantation. He exported it to England, putting it on board of vessels which came up the Potomac to Mount Vernon to receive it. In the colonial times it was the policy of the mother country to discourage every species of American manufac tures, and not only agricultural implements and clothing, but almost everything required for the daily use of a family, was imported from Great Britain. These it was Washing ton's practice to order twice a year from his agent in Lon don, and the minuteness and particularity of his orders show his habitual accuracy and somewhat of fondness for detail. In a letter to his London agent dated loth August, 1760, Washington says : " My indulging myself in a trip to Eng land depends upon so many contingencies which in all probability may never occur that I dare not even think of such a gratification." If the visit thus referred to had ever taken place we cannot doubt of the cordiality of his reception. His character and public services were well known in the mother country, but we cannot admit the probability suggested by some writers that any tokens of royal favor which he might have received, would have at tached him to the cause of Great Britain in the approaching contest between her and her American Colonies. Wash ington notwithstanding the conspicuous positions which he occupied at different periods of his life appears to have been by no means ambitious of public tokens of applause, and if he had a strong desire to visit Europe it was un- LIFE AND TIMES. 479 doubtedly with a view to enlarge his knowledge by personal observation of European life. He had, it must be admitted, many strong reasons for declining to travel abroad. Every imaginable external means of happiness appears to have been at his disposal. An independent fortune, a beautiful and amiable wife, in teresting and lovely children to whom, though not his own, he stood in a paternal relation, agreeable and distinguished neighbors, an employment peculiarly suited to his taste, and a residence which has always been admired as one of the most delightful in the world and which was endeared to him by recollections of his early life. Of Mount Vernon he speaks in strong terms of praise in a letter to Arthur Young (1783). " No estate," he says, " in United America is more pleasantly situated than this. It lies in a high, dry, and healthy country 300 miles by water from the sea, and as you will see by the plan on one of the finest rivers in the world. Its margin is washed by more than ten miles of tide-water, from the bed of which and the innumerable coves, inlets, and small marshes with which it abounds an inexhaustible fund of rich mud may be drawn as a manure, either to be used separately or in a compost, according to the judgment of the farmer. It is situated in a latitude between the extremes of heat and cold, and is the same distance by land and water with good roads and the best navigation to and from the Federal city, Alexandria, and Georgetown, distant from the first twelve, from the second nine, and from the last sixteen miles. * * * * * * " This river which encompasses the land the distance above mentioned, is well supplied with various kinds of fish at all seasons of the year, and in the spring, with the greatest profusion of shad, herrings, bass, carp, perch, stur- 480 WASHINGTON. geon, etc. Several valuable fisheries appertain to the es tate ; the whole shore, in short, is one entire fishery/' [In a letter of July 14, 1761, to Richard Washington in London, Washington reported that " a mixture of bad health and indolence together " had kept him from answer ing letters; and August 26th he writes from " The Warm Springs " : " They are situated very badly on the east side of a steep mountain, and inclosed by hills on all sides, so that the afternoon's sun is hid by 4 o'clock and the fogs hang over us till 9 or 10, which occasions great damps, and the morn ings and evenings to be cool. " Lodgings can be had on no terms, but building for them; and I am of opinion that numbers get more hurt, by their manner of lying, than the waters can do them good. Had we not succeeded in getting a tent and marquee from Winchester we should have been in a most miserable situation here. " In regard to myself I must beg leave to say, that I was much overcome with the fatigue of the ride and weather together. Our journey was not of the most agreeable sort, through such weather and such roads as we had to encounter; these last for twenty or twenty-five miles from hence are almost impassable for carriages, not so much from the mountainous country (but this in fact is very rugged) as from) trees that have fallen across the road and rendered the way intolerable. However, I think my fevers are a good deal abated, although my pains grow rather worse, and my sleep equally disturbed. What ef fect the waters may have upon me I can't say at present, but I expect nothing from the air this certainly must be unwholesome. I purpose to stay here a fortnight and longer if benefited. " P. S. If I could be upon any certainty of your coming, LIFE AND TIMES. 481 or could only get four days previous notice of your arrival, I would get a house built, such as are here erected, for your reception. "August 3Oth. Since writing the above I have hired a person, a Fairfax man returning home for his wife to carry some letters to Mrs. Washington, under whose cover this goes. I think myself benefited by the waters, and am now with hopes of their making a cure of me." October 20, 1761, Washington wrote to his London friend, Richard Washington: " Since my last, of the I4th July, I have in appearance been very near my last gasp. The indisposition then spoken of increased upon me, and I fell into a very low and dangerous state. I once thought the grim king would master my utmost efforts, and that I must sink, in spite of a noble struggle; but, thank God, I have now got the better of the disorder, and shall soon be restored, I hope, to perfect health again." In a letter of April, 1763, to Robert Stewart, who had written asking for a loan of 400, Washington alleged the state of his affairs as making it impossible for him to raise more than 300, and that only by using funds which he had intended sending to his London creditors; and to this he added: " This is a genuine account of my affairs in England. Here they are a little better, because I am not much in debt. I doubt not but you will be surprised at the badness of their condition unless you will consider under what terrible management and disadvantages I found my estate when I retired from the public service of this colony; and that, besides some purchases of lands and negroes I was necessitated to make adjoining me (in order to support the expenses of a large family), I had provisions of all kinds to buy for the first two or three years; and my 3i 482 WASHINGTON. plantation to stock in short with everything; buildings to make, and other matters, which swallowed up, before I well knew where I was, all the money I got by marriage, nay more, brought me in debt and I believe I may ap peal to your knowledge of my circumstances before."] At the time when Washington was passing his time in cultivating the fertile lands of Mount Vernon, the neigh boring estates were large and their owners wealthy, and among them the practice of a liberal hospitality was uni versal. Many of the planters were connected with the old cavalier families in England, descendants of the men who in Governor Berkeley's time were the first to proclaim the accession of Charles II to the throne. It is not sur prising that among them it was a common practice to send their sons to England to receive their education. The tone of society was English, and to tell the truth rather aristo cratic. The Episcopal Church was as firmly established in Virginia as that of the Congregational Puritans in New England. The parishes were large, being in proportion to the large plantations of which they were composed. Wash ington held the office of vestrymen in two of them, Truro and Fairfax. The place of worship of Truro parish was at Pohick, seven miles distant from the mansion of Mount Vernon, and the pastor during a part of the time when Washington was a vestryman was the Rev. Mason L. Weems, so well and extensively known through his lively and eccentric biography of his illustrious parishioner. The place of worship for Fairfax county was Alexandria, ten miles from Mount Vernon. Washington took a lively interest in the affairs of the church at Pohick. About 1764 the old church which stood in a different part of the parish had fallen into decay and it was re solved to build a new one. Its location became a matter LIFE AND TIMES 483 of considerable excitement in the parish, some contending for the site on which the old edifice stood and others for one near the center of the parish and more conveniently situ ated. Among the latter was Washington. A meeting for settling the question was finally held. George Mason, who led the party favorable to the old site, made an eloquent harangue, conjuring the people not to desert the sacred spot consecrated by the bones of their ancestors. It had a powerful effect and it was thought that there would not be a dissenting voice. Washington then arose and drew from his pocket an accurate survey which he had made of the whole parish, in which was marked the site of the old church and the proposed location of the new one together with the place of residence of each parishioner. He spread this map before the audience, briefly explained it, expressed his hope that they would not allow their judgments to be guided by their feelings and sat down. This mode of argu ment so perfectly characteristic of Washington decided the question. The new site was adopted by a decisive majority and Pohick church was built in 1765. Among the neighbors and occasional visitors of Wash ington were George Mason, of Gunston Hall, his fellow vestryman mentioned above, Lord Fairfax, his early friend and patron, Capt. Hugh Mercer, already noted for his ad ventures among the Indians,* and Dr. Craik, who had at tended Washington in Braddock's expedition and was his family physician through life. With these and others he exchanged those liberal and rather magnificent hospitalities so prevalent in Virginia in the old colonial times. In their spacious mansions, guests were entertained in the English style for weeks together, and the English nobility were rivaled in the gentlemanly * Afterward General Mercer. He was killed at the battle of Princeton. 484 WASHINGTON. amusements of hunting and horse-racing. Washington himself took delight in hunting and always kept a splendid stud of horses, many of them of high blood and breeding imported from the mother country. He sometimes visited Lord Fairfax at Greenway Court and joined in the hunting expeditions of that eccentric but accomplished and courte ous nobleman. " Lord Fairfax was passionately fond of hunting and often passed weeks together in the pleasures of the chase. When on these expeditions he made it a rul'e that he who got the fox, cut off his tail and held it up, should share in the jollification which was to follow free of expense. Soon as the fox was started the young men of the company dashed after him with great impetuosity, while Fairfax leisurely waited behind with a favorite servant who was familiar with the watercourses and of a quick ear to discover the course of the fox. Following his directions his lordship would start after the game, and in most in stances secure the prize and stick the tail of the fox in his hat in triumph."* Lord Fairfax returned the visits of Washington and often joined the numerous company who were entertained at Mount Vernon, and engaged with them in hunting over the extensive domain of that and the neighboring estates. Washington occasionally amused himself with the sport so distasteful to Franklin. He sometimes engaged in fish ing. The waters about Mount Vernon as we have already seen were stocked with fish in great abundance and variety. Fowling and duck shooting in particular were also favorite amusements with him, and in the late and winter months the waters of the Potomac river abounded with flocks of canvas-back ducks the favorite object of the sportsman in that region. *Lossing, "Field-Book of the Revolution." Howe, Hist. Coll. of Virginia. LIFE AND TIMES 485 [Sparks says of the social position of Washington at this time: " During the periods of his attending the House of Burgesses at Williamsburg, he met on terms of intimacy the eminent men of Virginia, who, in imitation of the gov ernors (sometimes noblemen, and always from the higher ranks of English society), lived in a style of magnificence, which has long since passed away, and given place to the republican simplicity of modern times. He was a frequent visitor at Annapolis, the seat of government in Maryland, renowned as the resort of the polite, wealthy, and fashion able. At Mount Vernon he returned the civilities he had received, and practised, on a large and generous scale, the hospitality for which the southern planters have ever been distinguished. When he was at home, a day seldom passed without the company of friends or strangers at his house. In his diaries the names of these visitors are often mentioned, and we find among them the Governors of Virginia and Maryland, and nearly all the celebrated men of the southern and middle colonies, who were at that time and afterward conspicuous in the history of the country. " One of his nearest neighbors was George Mason, of Gunston Hall, a man possessing remarkable intellectual powers, deeply conversant with political science, and thoroughly versed in the topics of dispute then existing between England and America. Lord Fairfax was also a constant guest at Mount Vernon, who, although eccentric in his habits, possessed a cultivated mind, social quali ties, and a perfect knowledge of the world. To these may be added a large circle of relatives and acquaintances, who sought his society, and to whom his house was always open."] One of Washington's habits shows the same disinter ested character which marked his great public acts. This 486 WASHINGTON. is his invariable willingness to make himself useful to his friends and neighbors by acts of kindness. His corre spondence abounds with evidence of the readiness with which he undertook trusts, acted in arbitrations, executed commissions for persons at a distance, gave information on disputed points, and answered with courtesy the letters of persons who really had no particular claim to his at tention. All such offices of kindness he found time to dis charge notwithstanding the many and various demands upon his time arising from the personal oversight of his estate, the management of hfs shipments abroad, and im ports of his own supplies, and the keeping of his own ac counts to say nothing of his duties as host to the many visitors whom his well-known hospitality attracted to Mount Vernon. Among the tasks which he voluntarily imposed upon himself in this spirit of disinterested kindness was that of taking care that justice was done to the Virginia soldiers who had served under his command in the Seven Years' War, and who had thus become entitled to certain grants of land. His office of commissioner for settling the mili tary accounts of the Colony enabled him to exert himself effectually in this matter. During the early part of the period which followed his marriage and settlement at Mount Vernon, he joined a company who had undertaken to drain the Great Dismal swamp on the borders of Virginia and North Carolina, with a view of using the land for agricultural purposes, and he actually visited and explored this formidable and almost inaccessible tract. The chartering of the Dismal Swamp Company by the Virginia House of Burgesses at its next session led to important results. We shall see in the sequel that this was by no means the only instance of Washington's active promotion of the cause of internal improvement. CHAPTER III. CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 1763-1766. AT the time when Washington was interesting himself in the project for draining the Great Dismal swamp, a new Indian war broke out on the western border. This took place just after the news of the definitive treaty of Fontainebleau between France and England had been signed, and the colonists of North America were flattering themselves with the prospect of a long course of peace and tranquillity. In order to understand the origin of this new Indian war, it is necessary to go back to a review of their affairs for the previous two years. In a conference between several American Governors and the Six Nations soon after the peace of 1761, a warm dispute arose concerning certain lands which the Indians asserted had been seized by some English settlers under a fraudulent conveyance. Population too augmented so rapidly during peace that the colonists overran their pre scribed limits, and as a chain of forts had been constructed around the most important hunting lands of the Indians, they perceived that the English by fate or by design were about to extirpate them and take possession of their terri tory. The Shawanese, Delawares, the tribes along the Ohio, this side of the Mississippi, and about Detroit, concerted a plan in 1763 to attack at one and the same time all the English posts and settlements in their neighborhood. Har vest was the time agreed upon, and so effectually was the 488 WASHINGTON. design concealed that the first notice was in the yells of the Indians. The settlers were surprised at work in the field, their crops devastated and their houses burnt. The Indians made themselves masters of Forts Le Bceuf, Venango, Presqu' He, and Michilimackinack, and attempted to re duce Pitt, Detroit, and Niagara. General Amherst immediately detached strong reinforce ments to the three latter forts. The one destined for Detroit was put under the command of Captain Dalyell, who was so little acquainted with Indians as to imagine that he might take them by surprise and at once relieve the fort from further annoyance. About 2 o'clock in the morning he started from the fort with 270 men, and while he supposed he was advancing entirely unobserved received a fire in his front and before his men had recovered the shock, another in the rear and immediately after one on each flank. He fell and the command devolved upon Cap tain Grant who extricated himself by a resolute charge, and was enabled to make his way back to the fort. The Indians knew that the garrison was now strong and well supplied, and as they could not endure a protracted siege the enter prise was abandoned. The reinforcement for Fort Pitt was intrusted to Colonel Bouquet who started about the end of July with a large quantity of provisions and military stores. Like Captain Dalyell he fancied it possible to elude the observation of the enemy, and the more effectually to secure his purpose he resolved to pass the defile of Turtle creek in the night. On the 5th of August (1763), his men had marched seven teen miles over a rough and mountainous country, and were just preparing to rest and refresh themselves when a sudden yell and fire in front announced the presence of the savages and threw the army again upon their legs. A vigorous charge drove back the Indians but it was only to GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM. LIFE AND TIMES. 489 lead the troops into an ambuscade, and whatever might be the glory of the conquest they were satisfied to regain their former position. Similar charges were made in every direction but the troops seemed only to beat the air or fight an invisible enemy. The Indians gave way in one place merely to fall on in another, and what would have been defeat to others was victory to them. The action was continued from i in the afternoon till evening, and though the troops were successful in every attack they gained nothing in the end. The men slept little during the night, and on the first dawn of the morning the Indians aroused them with the whoop of battle and the roar of their guns. The taste of blood seemed to have given them new ferocity, and even the English themselves, exhausted as they were, recom menced the action with additional vigor some stimulated by the hopes of revenge and others by a spirit of despera tion. The Indians were regularly driven at the point of the bayonet and as regularly turned upon their pursuers as soon as the chase was over. These efforts were repeated till the men became hopeless, they saw their strength thrown away, and their courage exerted in vain, and they stood remembering the fate of Rraddock and perhaps trembling at their own when Colonel Bouquet, availing himself of his dear-bought experience, resolved to fight the Indians in their own way. The army was encamped in a circle. Two companies who had been posted without the circumference were ordered to retire within, the two ends of the broken circle to close up in their rear, and after making a show of resistance to give way and retreat. The two first companies at the same time were joined by one company of grenadiers and another of light infantry. The thin ranks gave ground according to orders, the Indians followed with headlong im- 490 WASHINGTON. petuosity and supposing themselves masters of the field began what they meant for a slaughter rather than an action. Two of the companies already mentioned made a sudden turn upon their flank, while the two remaining attacked them in front. For a moment they were not un deceived and returned the fire with activity and resolution. But a short time served to convince them of their mistake ; they betook themselves to their swiftness of foot and the four companies pursued them so closely that they never looked behind until they got beyond the probability of an noyance. But this conquest was in truth a defeat. The great object of the expedition was to supply Fort Pitt with stores, and so many of the pack-horses were killed in these several engagements that Colonel Bouquet was obliged to destroy the greatest part of the provisions. The army ad vanced about two miles, pitched their tents, and imagined that they might take some rest. Scarcely had they finished their preparations when the Indians again made their ap pearance. They seemed not to be yet certain that they were the weakest, but a few discharges completed their con viction, and for the four remaining days they suffered the troops to march unmolested. Having succeeded so ill against Forts Detroit and Pitt, the Indians now concentrated their forces for an attack upon Niagara. Their object was to isolate the fort and intercept its reinforcements and supplies. On the I4th of September, 1764, they annihilated a convoy which was marching to its relief, and not long after made an unsuccessful attack in canoes upon a schooner which was carrying provisions to Detroit. All the nothern Colonies were called upon to con tribute their quotas of men for the prosecution of the war, and among the rest Connecticut raised a battalion and put it under the command of Col. Israel Putnam. Strengthened by these reinforcements, Colonels Bouquet and Bradstreet LIFE AND TIMES. 491 so harassed the Indians during the spring and summer of 1765, that in September they were willing to bury the hatchet and conclude a peace. Washington holding no military command at the time took no active part in this war, although the Indians who were concerned in it were the same who had been en gaged either as his allies or enemies in the former wars in which he had served, and the theater of their operations was not unfamiliar to him. While this war was still in progress, the course of public affairs was gradually tending toward that far more important contest in which Washington was destined to act so conspicuous a part the War of the Revolution. Mr. Sparks, than whom there can be no more competent authority, assures us that notwithstanding the contrary as sertions of certain British writers who question his patriot ism at the beginning of the dispute, " no man in America took a more early, open, and decided part in asserting and defending the rights of the Colonies and opposing the pre tensions set up by the British Government.''' As a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, he was placed in a position where his political sentiments could not but be publicly known, and the record of the proceed ings shows that he acted with Henry, Randolph, Lee, Wythe, Pendleton, and other patriotic opponents of the oppressive measures of the British Parliament. It is neces sary, for a proper understanding of the origin of these measures, to examine the history and character of the con nection between the Colonies and the mother country for a considerable period. From the first settlement of the English Colonies in America till the close of the year 1755, the conduct of Great Britain toward them was that of a kind parent toward dutiful children. As her main object was commerce, with- 492 WASHINGTON. out charging herself with the care of their internal police or seeking a revenue from them, she contented herself with a monopoly of their trade. They shared in the privileges of native subjects, and felt but slight inconvenience from the regulations imposed by the mother country. Until 1759, ^e only acts of Parliament which were con sidered grievances were such as a prohibition of cutting down pitch and tar trees not within a fence or inclosure, and certain restrictions which acted against colonial manu factures, particularly those ~of iron and woollen. Though these restrictions were a species of affront, by their implying that the colonists had not sense enough to discover their own interest, and though they seemed cal culated to crush their native talents and to keep them in a constant state of inferiority without any hope of arriving at those advantages, to which by the native riches of their country they were prompted to aspire; yet, if no other grievances had been superadded to what existed in 1763, these would have been soon forgotten for their pressure was neither great nor universal. The good resulting to the Colonies from their connection with Great Britain in finitely outweighed the evil. Till the year 1764, the colonial regulations seemed to have no other object but the common good of the whole empire. Exceptions to the contrary were few and had no appearance of system. When the approach of the Colonies to manhood made them more capable of resisting imposi tion, Great Britain changed the ancient system under which her Colonies had long flourished. When policy would rather have dictated a relaxation of authority, she rose in her demands and multiplied her restraints. For some time before and after the termination of the War of 1755, a considerable trade had been carried on be tween the British and Spanish Colonies in the manufactures LIFE AND TIMES. 493 of Great Britain, imported by the former and sold by the latter, by which the British Colonies acquired gold and silver and were enabled to make remittances to the mother country. This trade, though it did not clash with the spirit of the British navigation laws, was forbidden by their letter. On account of the advantage which all parties and par ticularly Great Britain reaped from this trade, it had long been winked at by persons in power, but at the period be fore mentioned some new regulations were adopted by which it was almost destroyed. This was effected by armed cutters whose commanders were enjoined to take the usual custom-house oaths and to act in the capacity of revenue officers. The officers of the customs began to enforce with strict ness all the acts of Parliament regulating the trade of the Colonies, several of which had been suspended or had be come obsolete. Governor Bernard, of Massachusetts, who was always a supporter of the royal prerogative, appears to have entered fully into these views and to have indi cated by his appointment of confidential advisers, that his object would be to extend the power of the Government to any limits which the ministry might require. The first demonstration of the new course intended to be pursued, was the arrival of an order in council to carry into effect the acts of trade, and to apply to the supreme judicature of the province for writs of assistance to be granted to the officers of the customs. According to the ordinary course of law, no searches or seizures could be made without a special warrant issued upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly designating the place to be searched and the goods to be seized. But the writ of assistance was to command all sheriffs and other civil officers to assist the person to whom it was granted, in 494 WASHINGTON. breaking open and searching every place where he might suspect any prohibited or uncustomed goods to be con cealed. It was a sort of commission, during pleasure, to ransack the dwellings of the citizens, for it was never to be returned, nor any account of the proceedings under it ren dered to the court whence it issued. Such a weapon of oppression in the hands of the inferior officers of the cus toms might well alarm even innocence and confound the violators of the law. The mercantile part of the community united in opposing the petition, and was in a state of great anxiety as to the result of the question. The officers of the customs called upon Mr. Otis* for his official assistance as advocate- general to argue their cause, but as he believed these writs to be illegal and tyrannical, he resigned the situation, though very lucrative, and if filled by a compliant spirit leading to * James Otis, a distinguished patriot and statesman, was the son of the Honorable James Otis, of Barnstable, Massachusetts, and was graduated at Harvard College in 1743. After pursuing the study of the law under Mr. Gridley, the first lawyer and ci vilian of his time, at the age of twenty-one he began the practice at Plymouth. In 1761 he distinguished himself by pleading against the writs of assistance, which the officers of the customs had applied for to the judges of the Supreme Court. His antag onist was Mr. Gridley. He was in this or the following year chosen a member of the Legislature of Massachusetts, in which body the powers of his eloquence, the keenness of his wit, the force of his arguments, and the resources of his intellect, gave him a most commanding influence. When the arbitrary claims of Great Britain were advanced he warmly engaged in defense of the Colonies, and was the first champion of American freedom who had the courage to affix his name to a production that stood forth against the pretensions of the parent State. He was a member of the Congress which was held at New York in 1765, in which year his " Rights of the Colonies Vindicated," a pam phlet, occasioned by the Stamp Act, and which was considered as a masterpiece both of good writing and of argument, was pub- LIFE AND TIMES. 495 the highest favors of government. The merchants of Salem and Boston applied to Otis and Thacher, who engaged to make their defense. The trial took place in the council- chamber of the old Town House in Boston (1761). The judges were five in number including Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson, who presided as chief justice, and the room was filled with all the officers of government and the prin cipal citizens, to hear the arguments in a cause that in spired the deepest solicitude. The case was opened by Mr. Gridley, who argued it with much learning, ingenuity, and dignity, urging every point and authority that could be found after the most diligent search, in favor of the custom house petition, making all his reasoning depend on this consideration " if the Parliament of Great Britain is the sovereign legislator of the British empire." He was fol lowed by Mr. Thacher on the opposite side, whose reason ing was ingenious and able, delivered in a tone of great mildness and moderation. " But/' in the language of Presi dent Adams, " Otis was a flame of fire, with a promptitude of classical allusion, a depth of research, a rapid summary of historical events and dates, a profusion of legal authori ties, a prophetic glance into futurity, and a rapid torrent of impetuous eloquence, he hurried away all before him. American independence was then and there born. The seeds of patriots and heroes, to defend the Non sine Diis animosus infans, to defend the vigorous youth, were then and there sown. Every man of an immense crowded lished in London. For the boldness of his opinions he was threatened with arrest; yet he continued to support the rights of his fellow citizens. He resigned the office of judge-advocate in 1767, and renounced all employment under an administration which had encroached upon the liberties of his country. His warm passions sometimes betrayed him into unguarded epithets that gave his enemies an advantage, without benefit to the cause which lay nearest his heart. 496 WASHINGTON. audience appeared to me to go away as I did, ready to take arms against writs of assistance. Then and there was the first scene of the first act of opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. Then and there the child Inde pendence was born. In fifteen years, *'. e. in 1776, he grew up to manhood and declared himself free." The restrictions on the trade of the colonists and the unusual mode of enforcing them, which Otis so eloquently opposed, awakened a spirit of resistance that never was al layed. Nor should this be a matter of surprise. So sudden a stoppage of ~an accustomed and beneficial commerce by an unusually rigid execution of old laws was a serious blow to the northern Colonies. It was their misfortune that though they stood in need of vast quan tities of British manufactures, their country produced very little that afforded a direct remittance to pay for them. They were therefore under a necessity of seeking else where a market for their produce, and by a circuitous route, acquiring the means of supporting their credit with the mother country. This they found by trading with the Spanish and French Colonies in their neighborhood. From them they acquired gold, silver, and valuable commodities, the ultimate profits of which centered in Great Britain. This intercourse gave life to business of every denomina tion, and established a reciprocal circulation of money and merchandise to the benefit of all parties concerned. Why a trade essential to the Colonies, and which so far from being detrimental, was indirectly advantageous to Great Britain should be so narrowly watched and so severely re strained, could not be accounted for by the Americans with out supposing that the rulers of Great Britain were jealous of their adventurous commercial spirit, and of their in creasing number of seamen. Their actual sufferings were great but their apprehen- LIFE AND TIMES. 497 sions were greater. Instead of viewing the parent state as formerly in the light of an affectionate mother, they con ceived her as beginning to be influenced by the narrow views of an illiberal step-dame. After the 2Qth of September, 1764, the trade between the British and the French and Spanish Colonies was in some degree legalized, but under circumstances that brought no relief to the colonists, for it was loaded with such enormous duties as were equivalent to a prohibition. While Great Britain attended to her first system of coloni zation, her American settlements though exposed in un known climates and unexplored wildernesses grew and flourished, and in the same proportion the trade and riches of the mother country increased. Some estimate may be made of this increase from the following statement: the whole export trade of England, including that to the Col onies in the year 1704, amounted to 6,509,000 sterling; but so immensely had the Colonies increased that the ex ports to them alone in the year 1772, amounted to 6,022,132 and they were yearly increasing. In the short space of sixty-eight years the Colonies added nearly as much to the export commerce of Great Britain, as she had grown to by a progressive increase of improve ment in 1700 years. And this increase of colonial trade was not at the expense of the general trade of the kingdom, for that increased at the same time from 6,000,000 to 16,000,000. In this auspicious period, the mother country contented herself with exercising her supremacy in superintending the general concerns of the Colonies, and in harmonizing the commercial interest of the whole empire. To this the most of them bowed down with such filial submission as demon strated that they, though not subjected to parliamentary 498 WASHINGTON. taxes, could be kept in subordination and in perfect sub serviency to the grand views of colonization. Immediately after the peace of Paris, 1763, a new scene was opened. The national debt of Great Britain then amounted to 148,000,000, for which an interest of nearly 5,000,000 was annually paid. While the British minister was digesting plans for diminishing this amazing load of debt, he conceived the idea of raising a substantial revenue in the British Colonies fromi taxes laid by the Parliament of the parent State. On the one hand it was urged that the late war originated on account of the Colonies that it was reasonable, more especially as it had terminated in a manner so favorable to their interest that they should contribute to the defraying of the expenses it had occa sioned. Thus far both parties were agreed, but Great Britain con tended that her Parliament, as the supreme power, was con stitutionally vested with an authority to lay them on every part of the empire. This doctrine, plausible in itself, and conformable to the letter of the British Constitution, when the whole dominions were represented in one assembly, was reprobated in the Colonies as contrary to the spirit of the same government, when the empire became so far ex tended as to have many distinct representative assemblies. The colonists believed that the chief excellence of the British Constitution consisted in the right of the subjects to grant or withhold taxes, and in their having a share in en acting the laws by which they were to be bound. The English Colonies were originally established, not for the sake of revenue, but on the principles of a commer cial monopoly. While England pursued trade and forgot revenue her commerce increased at least fourfold. The Colonies took off the manufactures of Great Britain and paid for them with provisions or raw materials. They LIFE AND TIMES. 499 united their arms in war, their commerce and their councils in peace, without nicely investigating the terms on which the connection of the two countries depended. A perfect calm in the political world is not long to be expected. The reciprocal happiness, both of Great Britain and of the Colonies, was too great to be of long duration. The calamities of the war of 1755 had scarcely ended when the germ of another war was planted, which soon grew up and produced deadly fruit. At that time sundry resolutions passed the British Parlia ment relative to the imposition of a stamp duty in America which gave general alarm. By them the right, the equity, the policy, and even the necessity of taxing the Colonies was formally avowed. These resolutions, being considered as the preface of a system of American revenue, were deemed an introduction to evils of much greater magnitude. They opened a prospect of oppression, boundless in extent and endless in duration. They were nevertheless not im mediately followed by any legislative act. Time and an invitation were given to the Americans to suggest any other mode of taxation that might be equivalent in its produce to the stamp act, but they objected not only to the mode but the principle, and several of their assemblies, though in vain, petitioned against it. An American revenue was in England a very popular measure. The cry in favor of it was so strong as to con found and silence the voice of petitions to the contrary. The equity of compelling the Americans to contribute to the common expenses of the empire satisfied many, who, without inquiring into the policy or justice of taxing their unrepresented fellow subjects, readily assented to the measures adopted by the Parliament for this purpose. The prospect of easing their own burdens at the ex pense of the colonists dazzled the eyes of gentlemen of 500 WASHINGTON. landed interest, so as to keep out of their view the probable consequences of the innovation. The omnipotence of Parliament was so familiar a phrase on both sides of the Atlantic that few in America, and still fewer in Great Britain, were impressed in the first instance with any idea of the illegality of taxing the colonists. The illumination on that subject was gradual. The reso lutions in favor of an American stamp act, which passed in March, 1764, met with no opposition. In the course of the year which intervened between these resolutions and the passing of a law grounded upon them, the subject was better understood, and constitutional objections against the measure were urged by several, both in Great Britain and America. This astonished and chagrined the British min istry, but as the principle of taxing America had been for some time determined upon, they were unwilling to give it up. Impelled by partiality for a long-cherished idea, Mr. Grenville brought into the House of Commons his long- expected bill for imposing a stamp duty on America. By this act, after passing through the usual forms, it was en acted that the instruments of writing which are in daily use among a commercial people should be null and void unless they were executed on stamp paper or parchment, charged with a duty imposed by the British Parliament. During the debate on the bill the supporters of it insisted much on the Colonies being virtually represented in the same manner as Leeds, Halifax, and some other towns were, A recurrence to that plea was a virtual acknowledgment that there ought not to be taxation without representation. It was replied that the connection between the electors and non-electors of Parliament in Great Britain were so inter woven, from both being equally liable to pay the same com mon tax as to give some security of property to the latter, LIFE AND TIMES. 501 but with respect to taxes laid by the British Parliament and paid by the Americans, the situation of the parties was re versed. Instead of both parties bearing a proportionable share of the same common burden, what was laid on the one was exactly so much taken off the other. The bill met with no opposition in the House of Lords, and on the 22d of March (1765), it received the royal assent. The night after it passed, Dr. Franklin wrote to Mr. Charles Thomson : " The sun of liberty is set, you must light up the candles of industry and economy." Mr. Thomson answered : " He was apprehensive that other lights would be, the consequence," and foretold the oppo sition that shortly took place. On its being suggested from authority that the stamp officers would not be sent from Great Britain, but selected from among the Americans, the colonial agents were de sired to point out proper persons for the purpose. They generally nominated their friends, which affords a presump tive proof that they supposed the act would be carried into effect. In this opinion they were far from being singular. That the colonists would be ultimately obliged to submit to the stamp act was at first commonly believed both in England and America. The framers of it in particular flat tered themselves that the confusion which would arise upon the disuse of writings and the insecurity of property, which result from using any other than those required by law, would compel the Colonies, however reluctant, to use the stamp paper and consequently to pay the taxes imposed thereon. They therefore boasted that it was a law that would execute itself. By the terms of the stamp act it was not to take effect till the first day of November (1764), a period of more than seven months after its passing. This gave the colonists an opportunity for leisurely canvassing the new subject and examining it fully on every side. 502 WASHINGTON. In the first part of this interval, struck with astonishment, they lay in silent consternation, and could not determine what course to pursue. By degrees they recovered their self-possession. The first strong and decisive opposition to the stamp act took place in Virginia. On the 2oth of May (1765), the subject was brought forward in the House of Bur gesses by the introduction of the celebrated resolutions of Patrick Henry, claiming for the local government of that Colony the exclusive right of taxing its inhabitants. These resolutions were in fact an expression of the public sentiment throughout all the Colonies, and their publica tion instantly set the country in a flame. [Henry's resolutions were as follows: " i. Resolved, That the first adventurers and settlers of this, his majesty's colony and dominion, brought with them and transmitted to their posterity, and all other his majesty's subjects, since inhabiting in this, his maj esty's said colony, all the privileges, franchises, and immunities that have at any time been held, enjoyed, and possessed, by the people of Great Britain. " 2. Resolved, That by two royal charters, granted by king James the First, the colonists aforesaid are declared entitled to all the privileges, liberties, and immunities of denizens and natural born subjects, to all intents and pur poses, as if they had been abiding and born within the realm of England. " 3. Resolved, That the taxation of the people by them selves or by persons chosen by themselves to represent them, who can only know what taxes the people are able to bear, and the easiest mode of raising them, and are equally affected by such taxes themselves, is the distin guishing characteristic of British freedom, and without which the ancient constitution cannot subsist. LIFE AND TIMES. 503 " 4. Resolved, That his majesty's liege people of this most ancient colony have uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being thus governed by their own assembly in the article of their taxes and internal police, and that the same hath never been forfeited, or any other way given up, but hath been constantly recognized by the kings and people of Great Britain. " 5. Resolved, therefore, That the general assembly of this colony have the only and sole exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony; and that every attempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the gen eral assembly aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to de stroy British as well as American freedom."] As a member of the House of Burgesses it was Wash ington's good fortune to witness the splendid and momentous debate which followed the moving of these resolutions. His position as a wealthy planter would naturally have led him to take part with the aristocratic and loyal party who opposed them. But his habits and character were such as to produce an earnest sympathy with the people. Like Henry himself, he was a born patriot, and like him he was what is called a self-made man. His opinions on the stamp act are expressed without reserve in his correspondence, and though no record of his vote on this occasion is preserved, there can be no doubt that it was cast on the popular side. We may therefore easily imagine what his feelings must have been in witnessing the debate which is thus described by Mr. Wirt :* "By these resolutions," says Mr. Jefferson, "and his manner of supporting them, Mr. Henry took the lead out of the hands of those who had theretofore guided the pro- * Life of Patrick Henry. 504 WASHINGTON. ceedings of the House ; that is to say, of Pendleton, Wythe, Bland, and Randolph." It was indeed the measure which raised him to the zenith of his glory. He had never be fore had a subject which entirely matched his genius, and was capable of drawing out all the powers of his mind. It was remarked of him; throughout his life that his talents never failed to rise with the occasion and in pro portion with the resistance which he had to encounter. The nicety of the vote on his last resolution proves that this was not a time to hold in reserve any part of his forces. It was indeed an Alpine passage under circum stances even more unpropitious than those of Hannibal, for he had not only to fight hand to hand the powerful party who were already in possession of the heights, but at the same instant to cheer and animate the timid band of followers that were trembling, fainting, and drawing back below him. It was an occasion that called forth all his strength, and he did put it forth in such a manner as man never did before. The cords of argument with which his adversaries frequently flattered themselves they had bound him fast, became packthreads in his hands. He burst them with as much ease as the unshorn Samson did the bands of the Philistines. He seized the pillars of the temple, shook them terribly, and seemed to threaten his opponents with ruin. It was an incessant storm of lightning and thunder which struck them aghast. The faint-hearted gathered courage from his countenance, and cowards became heroes while they gazed upon his exploits. It was in the midst of this magnificent debate, while he was descanting on the tyranny of the obnoxious act, that he exclaimed in a voice of thunder and with the look of a god, " Caesar had his Brutus Charles I his Crom welland George III " (" Treason !" cried the DRAFTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. The Committee Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Livingston, and Sherman. LIFE AND TIMES. 505 Speaker " treason ! treason ! " echoed from every part of the House. It was one of those trying moments which is decisive of character. Henry faltered not an instant, but rising to a loftier attitude and fixing on the Speaker an eye of the most determined fire, he finished his sen tence with the firmest emphasis) " may profit by their ex ample! If this be treason, make the most of it." [It is of importance to understand the relation of Pat rick Henry at this time to the situation in Virginia. Many of the gentlemen of the Colony had become involved in a state of indebtedness which later ended in a general crash of their fortunes. The Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. John Robinson, who had long been at the head of the citizenship of Virginia, was also the Colony Treasurer. A man of the highest character, of great estate, wide acquaintance, and liberal disposition, he had been drawn in to lend on his own account great sums of money to planters, especially those who were members of the As sembly. He used freely for this purpose the public money, confiding for its replacement in his own means together with the securities he had taken on these loans. The time had come however when it became manifest to him and to his friends whom he had accommodated, that his deficit had become far too large to be dealt with in the ordinary way, and that a painful disclosure of the use that had been made of public money was inevitable. To meet the situation in a way to escape this, Mr. Robinson with his involved friends proposed to carry through the As sembly a plan for a public loan office from which moneys could be lent on public account and on good landed se curity to individuals. An account of the proposed plan was published on the I7th of May, 1765, and between that date and the 3Oth, the date of Mr. Henry's resolutions on the stamp act, the motion for a loan office was 506 WASHINGTON. brought forward in the House of Burgesses. It was urged in support of the plan that in consequence of un fortunate circumstances in the Colony, men of substantial property had contracted debts, which must ruin them and their families unless time could be given them to suffi ciently recover their fortunes and meet their obligations. Mr. Henry was not of the aristocratic clique, he was in fact from the common people by an election which had just introduced him into the Assembly, and his appear ance is said by Wirt to have been that of " an obscure and unpolished rustic." Nevertheless new as he was to the position, with the impulsive courage and energy charac teristic of his genius, and in fact ignorant of the situation of Robinson and his friends, Henry vigorously attacked the loan office scheme on sufficiently just general grounds, and for a climax of the eloquence which speedily made him famous, electrified his hearers by exclaiming: " What, sir ! Is it proposed then to reclaim the spend thrift from his dissipation and extravagance by filling his pockets with money?" The pith and point of Henry's attack on the loan office proposition, his ex position of the spirit of favoritism on which the proposi tion was founded, and the abuses to which it would lead, so far won the suffrages of the Assembly as to leave the needy aristocracy of the Colony in a hopeless minority. Wirt strongly pictures the mortification and anger of the colonial gentlemen, the envy and terror with which they looked upon him, scornful of his rustic coarseness and yet forced to praise his genius, and in contrast with this aris tocratic disfavor the extraordinary popular favor into which he had sprung upon his first appearance in the Assembly. It was in this wholly accidental state of things that Mr. Henry when the session was within three days of its expected close and there seemed no prospect of any LIFE AND TIMES. 507 step being taken on the aristocratic and conservative side of the House, brought forward his resolutions on the stamp act. On the back of Henry's own paper con taining the resolutions, he himself wrote as follows : " The within resolutions passed the House of Burgesses in May, 1765. They formed the first opposition to the stamp act, and the scheme of taxing America by the British Parliament. All the Colonies, either through fear or want of opportunity to form an opposition, or from influence of some kind or other, had remained silent. I had been for the first time elected a burgess a few days before, was young, inexperienced, unacquainted with the forms of the House and the members that composed it. Finding the men of weight averse to opposition, and the commencement of the tax at hand, and that no person was likely to step forth I determined to venture, and alone, unadvised, and unassisted, on a blank leaf of an old law-book wrote the within. Upon offering them to the House violent debates ensued. Many threats were ut tered and much abuse cast on me by the party for sub mission. After a long and warm contest the resolutions passed by a very small majority, perhaps of one or two only. The alarm spread throughout America with aston ishing quickness and the ministerial party were over whelmed. The great point of resistance to British taxa tion was universally established in the Colonies. This brought on the war which finally separated the two countries and gave independence to ours." Two members only were shown the resolutions before they were offered to the Assembly: John Fleming, a member for Cumberland county, and George Johnston, for Fairfax. Of the five resolutions as given in Henry's own copy, the first four did little more than to reaffirm the principles advanced in the address, memorial, and 508 WASHINGTON. remonstrance of the preceding year, asserting the exclu sive right of the Colony to tax itself, but the stamp act having been meanwhile passed, they necessarily became not a plea against contemplated wrong but bold con demnation of it already accomplished, while the fifth and last resolution, declaring that the action taken by the British Parliament had " a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom," amounted to a direct charge of tyranny and despotism against the gov ernment of King George. Action so broad and bold went beyond what many ardent advocates of colonial right, in view of the feeble and defenseless condition of the Colonies, hardly dared to take, and not only the aristocracy in the Assembly but many who later became leading spirits of the Revolution resisted the adoption of the resolutions. Mr. Jefferson writing of the matter from memory said : " Mr. Henry moved and Mr. Johnston seconded these resolutions successively. They were opposed by Messrs. Randolph, Bland, Pendleton, Wythe, and all the old mem* bers whose influence in the House had till then been un broken. They did it not from any question of our rights, but on the ground that the same sentiments had been at their preceding session expressed in a more conciliatory form to which the answers were not yet received. But torrents of sublime eloquence from Henry, backed by the solid reasoning of Johnston, prevailed. The last, however, and strongest resolution was carried but by a single vote, and I well remember that after the numbers on the divi sion were told and declared from the chair, Peyton Ran dolph, the Attorney-General, came out at the door where I was standing and said as he entered the lobby : * By G d, I would have given 500 guineas for a single vote;' for one vote would have divided the House, and Robinson was in the chair, who, he knew, would have negatived the LIFE AND TIMES. 509 resolution." Jefferson was at this time only an onlooker, a young man 22 years of age, with no such early maturity as Washington's.] The importance of this debate and of the vote by which the resolutions were passed was shown by their effects. They were forthwith " adopted everywhere with progress ive variations." The spirit of resistance became stronger and stronger, and by the ist of November, when the stamp act was, according to its provisions, to have taken effect", its execution had become utterly impracticable. [Two other resolutions went out with Patrick Henry's as the utterance of Virginia. They were offered, but not by Henry, nor were they acted on. Henry's fifth resolu tion was rescinded the next day after he had gone home. The vote had been 20 to 19, and Speaker Robinson against them. In Henry's absence, the next day, a motion to re scind was made but succeeded with only the fifth. All the same the five resolutions went everywhere together, and with them the two which had been offered, but on which no action had been taken. They were as follows : " Resolved, That his majesty's liege people, the inhabi tants of this colony, are not bound to yield obedience to any law or ordinance whatever, designed to impose any taxation whatsoever upon them, other than the laws or ordinances of the general assembly aforesaid. " Resolved, That any person who shall, by speaking or writing, assert or maintain that any person or persons, other than the general assembly of this colony, have any right or power to impose or lay any taxation on the people here, shall be deemed an enemy to his majesty's colony."] Immediately after the passage of Mr. Henry's resolu tions the Lieutenant-Governor (Fauquier) dissolved the Assembly and issued writs for a new election. But this 510 WASHINGTON. was only a fruitless opposition to the popular will which was bearing down all before it. In point of fact, " the minds of the Americans underwent a total transformation. Instead of their late peaceable and steady attachment to the British nation, they were daily advancing to the oppo site extreme." [At the election for Fairfax county, in which Mount Vernon lies, Washington was elected for that county, July 16, 1765, by 201 votes, to 148 for the other Burgess elected. Washington wrote to a friend, August 2, 1765: " I changed the scene from Frederick to this county and had an easy and creditable pool." When Washington was first elected to the House of Burgesses he was at the head of the Virginia troops on the frontier, with headquarters at Win chester in Frederick county, and it was the Winchester people who first took in hand to have him elected a Bur gess, and of course for their own county.] The historian, Dr. Ramsay, who was a student at Princeton College when the stamp act was passed, thus records the manner of its reception by the colonists: A new mode of displaying resentment against the friends of the stamp act began in Massachusetts and was followed by the other Colonies. A few gentlemen hung out early in the morning (August 14, 1765), on the limb of a large tree toward the entrance of Boston, two effigies, one designed for the stamp master, the other for a jack boot with a head and horns peeping out at the top. Great numbers, both from town and country, came to see them. A spirit of enthusiasm was diffused among the spectators. In the evening the whole was cut down and carried in pro cession by the populace, shouting " liberty and property forever, no stamps." They next pulled down a new build ing, lately erected by Mr. Oliver, the stamp master. They then went to his house, before which they beheaded his effigy and at the same time broke his windows. LIFE AND TIMES. 511 Eleven days after, similar violences were repeated. The mob attacked the house of Mr. William Story, deputy register of the court of admiralty, shattered his win dows, broke into his dwelling-house, and destroyed the books and files belonging to the said court, and ruined a great part of his furniture. They next proceeded to the house of Benjamin Hallowel, comptroller of the customs, and repeated similar excesses and drank and destroyed his liquors. They afterward proceeded to the house of Mr. Hutchinson and soon demolished it. They carried off his plate, furniture, and apparel, and scattered or destroyed manuscripts and other curious and useful papers, which for thirty years he had been collecting. About half a dozen of the meanest of the mob were soon after taken up and committed, but they either broke jail or otherwise escaped all punishment. The town of Boston condemned these proceedings, and for some time private gentlemen kept watch at night to prevent further violence. Similar disturbances broke out in the adjacent Colonies nearly about the same time. On the 27th of August (1765), the people of Newport, in Rhode Island, exhibited three effigies intended for Messrs. Howard, Moffatt, and Johnson, in a cart with halters about their necks, and after hanging them on a gallows for some time, cut them down and burnt them amid the acclamations of thousands. On the day following, the people collected at the house of Mr. Martin Howard, a lawyer who had written in defense of the right of Parliament to tax the Americans, and de molished everything that belonged to it. They proceeded to Dr. Moffatt's, who in conversation had supported the same right, and made a similar devastation of his property. In Connecticut they exhibited effigies in various places, and afterward committed them to the flames. 512 WASHINGTON. In New York the stamp master having resigned, the stamp papers were taken into Fort George by Lieutenant- Governor Golden (November I, 1765). The people, dis liking his political sentiments, broke open his stable, took out his coach, and carried it in triumph through the prin cipal streets to the gallows. On one end of this they sus pended the effigy of the Lieutenant-Governor, having in the right hand a stamped bill of lading and in the other a figure of the devil. After some time they carried the apparatus to the gate of the fort and from thence to the bowling green, under the muzzles of the guns, and burned the whole amid the acclamations of many thousands. They went thence to Major James's house, stripped it of every article, and consumed the whole because he was a friend to the stamp act. The next evening the mob reassembled and insisted upon the Lieutenant-Governor delivering the stamped papers into their hands, and threatened, in case of a re fusal, to take them by force. After some negotiation it was agreed that they should be delivered to the Corporation, and they were deposited in the City Hall. Ten boxes of the same, which came by another conveyance, were burned. The stamp act was not less odious to many of the in habitants of the British West India Islands than to those on the continent of North America. The people of St. Kitts obliged the stamp officer and his deputy to resign. Barbadoes, Canada, and Halifax submitted to the act. When the ship which brought the stamp papers to Philadelphia first appeared round Gloucester point, all the vessels in the harbor hoisted their colors half-mast high. The bells were rung muffled till evening, and every coun tenance added to the appearance of sincere mourning. A large number of people assembled and endeavored to procure the resignation of Mr. Hughes, the stamp dis- LIFE AND TIMES. 513 tributor. He held out long, but at length found it neces sary to comply. As opportunities offered, the Assemblies generally passed resolutions asserting their exclusive right to lay taxes on their constituents. The people in their town meetings instructed their representatives to oppose the stamp act. The expediency of calling a continental congress, to be composed of deputies from each of the provinces, had early occurred to the people of Massachusetts. The As sembly of that province (June 6, 1765) passed a resolu tion in favor of that measure, and fixed on New York as the place and the second Tuesday of October as th* time for holding the same. Soon after they sent circuU* letters to the speakers of the several Assemblies request ing their concurrence. This first advance toward con tinental union was seconded in South Carolina before it had been agreed to by any Colony to the southward of New England. The example of this province had con siderable influence in recommending the measure to others who were divided in their opinions on the propriety of it. The Assemblies of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia wrere prevented by their Governors from sending a deputation to this congress. Twenty-eight deputies from Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina met at New York, and after mature deliberation agreed on a declaration of their rights and on a statement of their grievances (October 7, 1765). They asserted in strong terms their exemption from all taxes not imposed by their own representatives. They also con curred in a petition to the King, and memorial to the House of Lords, and a petition to the House of Commons. 33 514 WASHINGTON. The Colonies that were prevented from sending represen tatives to this congress forwarded petitions similar to those which were adopted by the deputies which attended. While a variety of legal and illegal methods were adopted to oppose the stamp act, the 1st of November (1765), on which it was to commence its operation, ap proached. The day in Boston was ushered in by a funeral tolling of bells. Many shops and stores were shut. The effigies of the planners and friends of the stamp act were carried about the streets in public derision and then torn in pieces by the enraged^ populace. It was remarkable that though a large crowd was assembled there was not the least violence or disorder. At Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, the morning (No vember I, 1765) was ushered in with tolling all the bells in town. In the course of the day notice was given to the friends of Liberty to attend her funeral. A coffin neatly ornamented, inscribed with the word Liberty in large letters was carried to the grave. The funeral procession began from the State House attended with two unbraced drums. While the inhabitants who followed the coffin were in motion, minute guns were fired and continued till the corpse arrived at the place of interment. Then an oration in favor of the deceased was pronounced. It was scarcely ended before the corpse was taken up, it having been perceived that some remains of life were left, at which the inscription was immediately altered to " Liberty revived." The bells immediately exchanged their melancholy for a more joyful sound, and satisfaction appeared in every countenance. The whole was conducted with decency and without injury or insult to any man's person or property. In Maryland the effigy of the stamp master, on one side of which was written " Tyranny," on the other " Op- LIFE AND TIMES. 515 pression," was carried through the streets from the place of confinement to the whipping-post and from thence to the pillory. After suffering many indignities, it was first hanged and then burnt. The general aversion to the stamp act was by similar methods in a variety of places demonstrated. It is re markable that the proceedings of the populace on these occasions were carried on with decorum and regularity. They were not ebullitions of a thoughtless mob, but for the most part planned by leading men of character and influence, who were friends to peace and order. These, knowing well that the bulk of mankind are more led by their feelings than by their reason, conducted the public exhibitions on that principle with a view of making the Stamp Act and its friends both ridiculous and odious. Though the Stamp Act was to have operated from the ist of November (1765), yet legal proceedings in the courts were carried on as before. Vessels entered and departed without stamped papers. The printers boldly printed and circulated their newspapers, and found a sufficient number of readers though they used common paper in defiance of the act of Parliament. In most de partments, by common consent, business was carried on as though no Stamp Act had existed. This was accom panied by spirited resolutions to risk all consequences, rather than submit to use the paper required by law. While these matters were in agitation the colonists en tered into associations against importing British manufac tures till the Stamp Act should be repealed. In this man ner British liberty was made to operate against British tyranny. Agreeably to the free Constitution of Great Britain, the subject was at liberty to buy or not to buy as he pleased. By suspending their future purchases on the repeal of 516 WASHINGTON. the Stamp Act, the colonists made it the interest of mer chants and manufacturers to solicit for that repeal. They had usually taken off so great a proportion of British manufactures, that the sudden stoppage of all their orders, amounting annually to several millions sterling, threw some thousands in the mother country out of employ ment, and induced them, from a regard to their town in terest, to advocate the measures wished for by America. The petitions from the Colonies were seconded by peti tions from the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain. What the former prayed for a^ a matter of right and connected with their liberties, the latter also solicited from motives of immediate advantage. In order to remedy the deficiency of British goods, the colonists betook themselves to a variety of necessary domestic manufactures. In a little time large quantities of coarse and common cloths were brought to market, and these, though dearer and of a worse quality, were cheerfully preferred to similar articles imported from Britain. That wool might not be wanting, they entered into resolutions to abstain from eating lamb. Foreign elegancies were generally laid aside. The women were as exemplary as the men in various instances of self-denial. With great readiness they re fused every article of decoration for their persons, and of luxury for their tables. These restrictions which the colonists had voluntarily imposed on themselves were so well observed that multitudes of artificers in England were reduced to great distress, and some of their most flourishing manufactories were in a great measure at a stand. An association was entered into by many of the Sons of Liberty, the name given to those who were op posed to the Stamp Act, by which they agreed " to march with the utmost expedition, at their own proper cost and LIFE AND TIMES. 517 expense, with their whole force, to the relief of those that should be in danger from the Stamp Act or its promoters and abettors, or anything relative to it, on account of any thing that may have been done in opposition to its obtaining." This was subscribed by so many in New York and New England that nothing but a repeal could have prevented the immediate commencement of a civil war. From the decided opposition to the Stamp Act which had been adopted by the Colonies, it became necessary for Great Britain to enforce or to repeal it. Both methods of proceeding had supporters. The opposers of a repeal urged arguments drawn from the dignity of the nation, the danger of giving way to the clamors of the Americans, and the consequences of weakening parliamentary author ity over the Colonies. On the other hand it was evident from the determined opposition of the Colonies, that it could not be enforced without a civil war by which in every event the nation must be a loser. In the course of these discussions, Dr. Franklin was examined at the bar of the House of Com mons, and gave extensive information on the state of American affairs and the impolicy of the Stamp Act, which contributed much to remove prejudices and to produce a disposition that was friendly to a repeal. Some speakers of great weight in both Houses of Parlia ment denied their right of taxing the Colonies. The most distinguished supporters of this opinion were Lord Cam- den, in the House of Peers, and Mr. Pitt, in the House of Commons. The former in strong language said: "My position is this, I repeat it, I will maintain it to my last hour : Taxation and representation are inseparable. This position is founded on the laws of nature. It is more, it is itself an eternal law of nature. For whatever is 518 WASHINGTON. a man's own is absolutely his own. No man has a right to take it from him without his consent. Whoever at tempts to do it attempts an injury, whoever does it com mits a robbery." Mr. Pitt, with an original boldness of expression, justi fied the colonists in opposing the Stamp Act. " You have no right," said he, " to tax America. I rejoice that America has resisted. Three millions of our fellow sub jects, so lost to every sense of virtue as tamely to give up their liberties, would be fit .instruments to make slaves of the rest." He concluded with giving his advice that the Stamp Act be repealed absolutely, totally, and imme diately that the reason for the repeal be assigned, that it was founded on an erroneous principle. "At the same time," said he, " let the sovereign authority of this country over the Colonies be asserted in as strong terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every point of legis lation whatsoever, that we may bind their trade, confine their manufactures, and exercise every power except that of taking their money out of their pockets without their consent." The approbation of this illustrious statesman, whose distinguished abilities had raised Great Britain to the highest pitch of renown, inspired the Americans with ad ditional confidence in the rectitude of their claims of ex emption from parliamentary taxation, and emboldened them to further opposition, when, at a future day, as shall be hereafter related, the project of an American revenue was resumed. After much debating and two protests in the House of Lords, and passing an act " for securing the dependence of America on Great Britain," the repeal of the Stamp Act was finally carried (March 18, 1766). This event gave great joy in London. Ships in the river LIFE AND TIMES. 519 Thames displayed their colors, and houses were illumi nated in every part of the city. It was no sooner known in America than the colonists rescinded their resolutions and recommenced their mercantile intercourse with the mother country. They presented their homespun clothes to the poor and imported more largely than ever. The churches resounded with thanksgivings, and their public and private rejoicings knew no bounds. By letters, ad dresses, and other means, almost all the Colonies showed unequivocal marks of acknowledgment and gratitude. So sudden a calm recovered after so violent a storm is without a parallel in history. By the judicious sacrifice of one law, the Parliament of Great Britain procured an acquiescence in all that remained. There were enlightened patriots fully impressed with an idea that the immoderate joy of the colonists was dis- proportioned to the advantage they had gained. The Stamp Act, though repealed, was not repealed on American principles. The preamble assigned as the reason thereof, " That the collecting the several duties and revenues, as by the said act was directed, would be at tended with many inconveniences and productive of con sequences dangerous to the commercial interests of these kingdoms." Though this reason was a good one in England it was by no means satisfactory in America. At the same time that the Stamp Act was repealed, the absolute, unlimited supremacy of Parliament was, in words, asserted. The opposers of the repeal contended for this as essential ; the friends of that measure acquiesced in it to strengthen their party and make sure of their object. Many of both sides thought that the dignity of Great Britain required something of the kind to counterbalance the loss of au thority that might result from her yielding to the demands 520 WASHINGTON. of the colonists. The act for this purpose was called the Declaratory Act, and was in principle more hostile to American rights than the Stamp Act, for it annulled those resolutions and acts of the provincial assemblies in which they had asserted their right to exemption from all taxes not imposed by their own representatives, and also en acted: "That the Parliament had, and of right ought to have, power to bind the Colonies in all cases whatsoever." The bulk of the Americans, intoxicated with the advan tage they had gained, overlooked this statute which in one comprehensive sentence not only deprived them of liberty and property, but of every right incident to hu manity. They considered it as a salvo for the honor of Parliament, in repealing an act which had so lately received their sanction, and flattered themselves it would remain a dead letter, and that although the right of taxation was in words retained, it would never be exercised. Unwilling to contend about paper claims of ideal supremacy, they returned to their habits of good humor with the parent State. CHAPTER IV. THE REVOLUTIONARY STORM INCREASING. 1766-1768. DURING the period which has just been passed in review, Washington was quietly residing with his family at Mount Vernon, his pursuits as a planter being varied by occasional visits to his friends in the neigh borhood, and to Annapolis, the capital of Maryland, as well as to Williamsburg, where his attendance on the ses sions of the House of Burgesses was constant and as siduous. In his visits to Annapolis during the season of gayety he was accompanied by Mrs. Washington, and both enjoyed in a high degree the cultivated and refined society of that capital. Still Washington was by no means an unobservant or uninterested spectator of what was passing in the political world at this time. That his views were coincident with/ those of the leading patriots of the time is apparent in his correspondence. Writing to Francis Dandridge, London, in September, 1765, when the Stamp Act was the principal topic in all political circles, he says :* " The Stamp Act im posed on the Colonies by the Parliament of Great Britain engrosses the conversation of the speculative part of the colonists, who look upon this unconstitutional method of taxation as a direful attack upon their liberties and loudly exclaim against the violation. What may be the result of * Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 343. (521) 522 WASHINGTON. this and of some other (I think I may add ill-judged) meas ures I will not undertake to determine, but this I may venture to affirm, that the advantage accruing to the mother country will fall greatly short of the expectations of the ministry: for certain it is that our whole substance in a manner flows to Great Britain, and that whatsoever contributes to lessen our importations must be hurtful to her manufacturers. The eyes of the people already begin to be opened, and they will perceive that many luxuries for which we lavish our substance in Great Britain can well be dispensed with, whilst the necessaries of life are mostly to be had within ourselves. This consequently will introduce frugality, and be a necessary incitement to industry. If Great Britain therefore loads her manufac turers with heavy taxes, will it not facilitate such results ? They will not compel us I think to give our money for their exports whether we will or not, and I am certain that none of the traders will part with them without a valuable consideration. Where then is the utility of these restric tions? " As to the Stamp Act regarded in a single view, one and the first bad consequence attending it is, that our courts of judicature must inevitably be shut up, for it is impossi ble or next to impossible, under our present circum stances, that the act of Parliament can be complied with, were we ever so willing to enforce its execution. And not to say (which alone would be sufficient) that we have not money to pay for the stamps, there are many other cogent reasons which prove that it would be ineffectual. If a stop be put to our judicial proceedings, I fancy the mer chants of Great Britain trading to the Colonies will not be among the last to wish for a repeal of the act." The same opinion of the Stamp Act is expressed in a LIFE AND TIMES. 523 letter (July 25, 1767) to a London correspondent after the repeal : " Unseasonable as it may be to take any notice of the repeal of the Stamp Act at this time, yet I cannot help observing that a contrary measure would have intro duced very unhappy consequences. Those therefore who wisely foresaw such an event, and were instrumental in procuring the repeal of the act, are, in my opinion, de servedly entitled to the thanks of the well-wishers of Britain and her Colonies, and must reflect with pleasure that through their means many scenes of confusion and distress may have been prevented. Mine they accordingly have and always shall have for their opposition to any act of oppression, and that act could be looked upon in no other light, by every person who would view it in its proper colors. I could wish it were in my power to con gratulate you on the success of having the commercial system of these Colonies put upon a more enlarged and extensive footing than it is, because I am well satisfied that it would ultimately redound to the advantage of the mother country so long as the Colonies pursue trade and agriculture, and would be an effectual let to manufacturing among them. The money which they raise would center in Great Britain as certainly as the needle will settle to the pole." The last passages of this letter show that Washington was by no means satisfied with the existing state of things. He evinces a foreboding of trouble with respect to the commerce of the Colonies. As usual his presentiment was verified. The clause in the repeal of the Stamp Act, de claring that the King and Parliament had power and au thority to make laws which should bind the Colonies and people of America in all cases whatever, was reduced to practice in 1767. As early as the month of January, George Grenville, the 524 WASHINGTON. foster-father of the Stamp Act, had proposed " saddling America with 400,000 per annum for the support of the troops," etc. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townshend, in answering him, fully agreed as to the prin ciple of the Stamp Act itself, only adding that the heats which had prevailed had made it an improper time to press that tax. He treated the distinction between external and internal taxation as ridiculous in the opinion of everybody except the Americans; and he, in short, pledged himself to the House to find a revenue in the Colonies to meet the expenses. Lord Shelburne, ^like others, was at a loss to conceive what he meant. His lordship however heard from general conversation that Mr. Townshend had a plan for establishing a board of customs in America, and by a new regulation of the tea duty in England and some other alterations, to produce a revenue on imports in America. " This," added Lord Shelburne, " in many views appears a matter that will require the deepest consideration, at this time especially. Besides I believe the speech I have just mentioned is not the way to make anything go down well in North America." In fact, at this moment, the Colonies, having had time to consider the Earl of Chatham's declaratory bill, were still more dissatisfied with its extreme principles and strong expressions. Lord Shelburne had letters from the King's Governors inveighing against the insubordinate spirit of the people, and complaining of the resolutions of the Houses of Assembly not to provide the troops with vinegar and other articles, lest their compliance should be deemed a precedent for some new Tax Act. Chatham, excited by the communication of this intelli gence, replied to Lord Shelburne in a violent passion against the Americans, and without expressing any dis approbation of Townshend's exasperating speech and LIFE AND TIMES. 525 avowed determination of a new taxation scheme. " America," he says, " affords a gloomy prospect ; a spirit of infatuation has taken possession of New York. * * * I foresee confusion will ensue. * * * What demon of discord blows the coals in that devoted province I know not; but they are doing the work of their worst enemies themselves. The torrent of indignation in Parliament will, I apprehend, become irresistible, and they will draw upon their heads national resentment by their ingratitude, and ruin, I fear, upon the whole State by the consequences. But I will not run before the event, as it is possible your lordship may receive an account more favorable." Meanwhile fresh petitions and remonstrances, and bit ter complaints against a new Mutiny Act kept pouring in from the Colonies. Shelburne found himself obliged to speak of the Declaratory Act in a style which could not have been very agreeable to the Earl of Chatham : *' That act," says his lordship, " asserting the right of Parliament, has certainly spread a most unfortunate jealousy and diffidence of government throughout America, and makes them jealous of the least distinction between this country and that, lest the same principle may be extended to taxing them." Replying, from his easy-chair at Bath, Chatham was more irate than before against the Americans; but he seems to have discovered nothing wrong either in the declaratory bill or in the scheme of his colleague and nomi nee Townshend. He threw the whole blame upon George Grenville : " The advices from America," he says, " af ford unpleasing views. New York has drunk the deepest of the baneful cup of infatuation ; but none seem to be quite sober and in full possession of reason. It is a literal truth to say that the Stamp Act, of most unhappy memory, has frightened those irritable and umbrageous people out 526 WASHINGTON. of their senses. I foresee that determined not to listen to their real friends, a little more frenzy and a little more time will put them into the hands of their enemies." His friend Beckford joined in these sentiments, and in the belief, implied by Chatham, that the Americans in mak ing any attempt at resistance would only seal their ruin, Beckford they all seem to have regarded the matter in a frenzy of passion exclaims, " The devil has possessed the minds of the North Americans. George Grenville and his Stamp Act raised the fouljiend; a prudent firmness will lay him, I hope, forever." But there was one public man who took a more correct view of the spirit and power of the American people. He calculated that there were in the provinces at least 200,000 men fit to bear arms, and not only to bear arms, but hav ing arms in their possession, unrestrained by any game laws. : " In the Massachusetts government in particular," writes Gerard Hamilton* to Mr. Calcraft, " there is ex press law, by which every man is obliged to have a musket, a pound of powder, and a pound of bullets always by him, so there is nothing wanting but knapsacks (or old stock ings, which will do as well), to equip an army for march ing, and nothing more than a Sartorius or a Spartacus at their head requisite to beat your troops and your custom house officers out of the country, and set your laws at defiance. There is no saying what their leaders may put them upon; but if they are active, clever people, and love mischief as well as I do peace and quiet, they will furnish matter of consideration to the wisest among you, and per haps dictate their own terms at last, as the Roman peo ple formerly in their famous secession upon the Sacred Mount. For my own part, I think you have no right to tax them, and that every measure built upon this supposed *This is the gentleman known as Single Speech Hamilton. LIFE AND TIMES. right stands upon a rotten foundation, and must conse quently tumble down, perhaps upon the heads of the workmen." But few Englishmen, either in Parliament or out, felt these convictions; and though Lord Shelburne clearly foresaw that if the Americans should be driven into in surrection there was every probability that France and Spain would break a peace, the days of which they had already begun to count, Townshend's bill, imposing duties on glass, paper, pasteboard, white and red lead, painters* colors, and tea, payable upon the importation into the Colonies, and to be applied to the purposes specified in the Stamp Act, was carried through both houses of Par liament with as much ease as if it had been a turnpike bill. And the same facility attended another act by which these duties, and all other customs and duties in the American Colonies, were put under the management of the King's resident commissioners. Moreover a third bill was passed, prohibiting the Governor, Council, and Assembly of New York from passing any legislative act for any purposes whatsoever, till satisfaction should be given as to the treatment of the commissioners and troops, and submission paid to the Mutiny Act. The reader has seen how little the Americans were satis fied with the declaratory bill which accompanied the re- peai of the Stamp Act. " The discontents," says a recent writer, "were increased by the endeavors of government to enforce what was styled the Mutiny Act, but what was more properly an act for quartering and better providing for the troops at the expense of the Colonies." It was an act carried through in a hurry at the fag-end of a session, and yet blindly persevered in. Lord Shelburne thus describes it in 1767: " It was first suggested by the military, and intended to give a power 528 WASHINGTON. of billeting on private houses, as was done in the war. It was altered by the merchants and agents, who substituted empty houses, provincial barracks, and barns in their room, undertaking that the Assembly should supply them with the additional necessaries; and it passed, I believe, without that superintendence or attentive examination on the part of government, which is so wanting in all cases where necessity requires something different from the general principles of the Constitution. I am told that it was carried through by Mr. Ellis without the entire con viction or cordial support of Mr. Grenville, who made it a separate bill, lest it might embarrass the general Mutiny Act." In depriving the Assembly of New York of its legisla tive faculties for opposing this act, ministers threw fresh materials into the black cauldron; and then came Charles Townshend's taxes to make it boil over; and then again, as fuel to keep up the fire beneath it, there arrived at Bos ton the newly-formed American board of commissioners to enforce the payment of the new duties, and to put an end to all smuggling. Had the Americans admitted the propriety of raising a parliamentary revenue from the Colonies, the appoint ment of an American board of commissioners among them for managing it would have been a convenience rather than an injury. But, regarding the tax itself as oppres sive and illegal, they were offended at the new mode of collecting it. As it was coeval with the new duties, they considered it as a certain evidence that the project of an extensive American revenue, notwithstanding the repeal of the Stamp Act, was still in contemplation. A dislike to British taxation naturally produced a dislike to a board which was to be instrumental in that business, and occa sioned many insults to the commissioners. LIFE AND TIMES. 529 These commissioners could not possibly have been sent to a worse place than Boston. New York, for many rea sons, was preferable; but whenever there was a choice to make the Cabinet committed a blunder. The colonists read in the preamble to Charles Townshend's act that the duties were laid for " the better support of government and the administration of the Colonies;" and they de tected a clause in the bill which seemed to enable the King, by sign-manual, to establish a general civil list in every province in North America, with salaries, pensions, etc., etc. They instantly declared that all this was un necessary, unjust, and dangerous to their most important rights; and they insisted that the establishment of any civil list in America, independent of the Assemblies, was altogether illegal. Charles Townshend, who became very conspicuous among the contemporaries of Washington by originating the duties on tea, painters' colors, etc., which caused so much trouble, had been, in June, 1749, appointed a com missioner of trade and plantations; in the following year, a commissioner for executing the office of lord high ad miral; in 1756, a member of the privy council; in March, 1761, secretary at war; in February, 1763, first lord of trade and plantations; in June, 1765, paymaster-general and chancellor of the exchequer; and a lord of the treasury in August, 1766, from which period he remained in office until his decease, which took place on the 4th of Septem ber, 1767. Burke, in his great speech on American taxa tion, said of him: " Perhaps there never arose in this country, nor in any country, a man of more pointed and finished wit, and (where his passions were not concerned) of a more refined, exquisite, and penetrating judgment. If he had not so great a stock, as some have had who flourished formerly, of knowledge long treasured up, he 34 530 WASHINGTON. knew better by far than any man I ever was acquainted with, how to bring together, within a short time, all that was necessary to establish, to illustrate, and to decorate that side of the question he supported. He stated his matter skilfully and powerfully; he particularly excelled in a most luminous explanation and display of his subject. His style of argument was neither trite and vulgar, nor subtle and abstruse. He hit the House just between wind and water, and, not being troubled with too anxious a zeal for any matter in question, he was never more tedious or more earnest than the preconceived opinions and pres ent temper of his hearers required, with whom he was al ways in perfect unison. He conformed exactly to the temper of the House, and he seemed to guide, because he was always sure to follow it. He had voted and, in the year 1765, had been an advocate for the Stamp Act. He therefore attended at the private meeting in which resolutions leading to its repeal were settled ; and he would have spoken for that measure too if illness had not pre vented him. The very next session, as the fashion of this world passeth away, the repeal began to be in as bad odor as the Stamp Act had been before. To conform to the temper which began to prevail, and to prevail mostly among those most in power, he declared that revenue must be had out of America. Instantly he was tied down to his engagements and the whole body of courtiers drove him onward. Here this extraordinary man, then Chan cellor of the Exchequer, found himself in great straits : to please universally was the object of his life; but to tax and to please, no more than to love and be wise, is not given to men. However he attempted it." On the 28th of October, 1767, a few gentlemen met at a private club in Boston, the great center of discontent and pivot of resistance, and arranged plans for making LIFE AND TIMES. 531 real and effectual the nonimportation agreements which had been before suggested. They drew up a bond or subscription paper, whereby the parties signing engaged to encourage the use and consumption of native manu factures only, and to cease importing, buying, or selling anything from Great Britain except a few named indis pensable articles; and they appointed a committee to ob tain subscriptions to this agreement. In this they were successful; but in some instances they found it necessary to employ means for obtaining subscriptions which were decidedly coercive. In the meantime various individuals took up the pen and employed the press to demonstrate the iniquity of the taxing acts and the little that the American people had to expect from a corrupt and subservient British Par liament. The. foremost of these writers was Mr. John Dickinson,* whose " Letters from a Farmer in Pennsyl vania to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies " made a deep and lasting impression. Dickinson however rec- * Dickinson was a Pennsylvania representative of hesitation to follow in the steps of Patrick Henry. In June, 1776, he opposed openly, and upon principle, the Declaration of Independence, when the motion was considered by Congress. His arguments were answered by John Adams, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, and others, who advocated a separation from Great Britain. The part which Mr. Dickinson took in this debate occasioned his recall from Congress, as his constituents did not coincide with him in political views, and he was absent sev eral years. Perceiving, at length, that his countrymen were unal terably fixed in their system of independence, he fell in with it, and was as zealous in supporting it in Congress, about the year 1780, as any of the members. He was President of Pennsylvania from November, 1782, to October, 1785, and was succeeded in this office by Dr. Franklin. Soon after 1785, it is believed, he removed to Delaware, by which State he was appointed a member of the old Congress, and of which State he was President. 532 WASHINGTON. ommended his countrymen still to have recourse to peti tions to the Crown and Parliament, and to strong in structions to their agents in England, which, in his opin ion, would have the same effect now as they had at the time of the Stamp Act. Other writers suggested more violent measures, but not one of them ventured to hint at the disseverance of the Colonies from the mother country. On the 1 5th of February, 1768, the Assembly of Massa chusetts addressed a circular letter to all the other Col onies, inviting them to combine in taking measures to de feat the obnoxious act. The Speaker of the New Hamp shire Assembly immediately replied, by order of his House, that the sentiments contained in the circular letter were highly approved of; but that, as the time of that House's existence was near expiring, they could not engage for their successors. But other Colonies readily adopted the sentiments and the plan contained in the letter, and passed votes of thanks to the authors of it. In the month of April (1768), Lord Hillsborough in structed Bernard, the Governor of Massachusetts, to re quire the House of Representatives, in the King's name, to rescind the resolution which gave birth to the circular letter, and to declare their disapprobation of that rash and hasty proceeding. The House refused compliance, and sent this answer to the Governor : " If the votes of this House are to be controlled by the direction of a minister, we have left us but a vain semblance of liberty. We have now only to inform you that this House has voted not to rescind, and that on a division of the question there were ninety-two nays and seventeen yeas." The very next day, Governor Bernard, in pursuance of Lord Hillsborough's positive instructions, dissolved the Assembly. By this time associations and committees were formed in most of the provinces. LIFE AND TIMES. 533 In the month of June (1768), the sloop Liberty arrived at Boston with a cargo of choice Madeira. The com missioners sent an excise officer on board, but the skipper and his crew confined the man below deck, and smuggled the wine on shore, without entering at the custom-house or any other formula. The officer was then liberated; and the following morning the skipper of the sloop en tered at the custom-house four or five pipes, swearing that that was all his cargo. But the commissioners, aware of the truth, ordered a comptroller to seize the sloop and clap the King's broad arrow upon her. As a crowd assembled on the wharves, the comptroller made signals to the Romney man-of-war, which was lying at anchor off Boston, and the captain manned his boats and sent them to assist the excise. A mob of people attempted to prevent the seizure of the sloop, and pelted the exciseman and the sailors with stones and dirt; but the man-of-war's boats presently cut the sloop from her moorings and carried her under the guns of the Romney. The mob on shore continued their riot, beating and nearly killing several of the revenue officers. The com missioners applied to the Governor for protection ; but the Governor told them he had no troops, no force of any kind, and thereupon they fled on board the Romney. The capture of the sloop Liberty was made on a Friday; Sat urday was a busy day, and Sunday was kept very strictly by the New Englanders ; but on Monday an immense mob gathered in the streets of Boston, and in the afternoon of that day placards were stuck up to call a meeting of " The Sons of Liberty " on Tuesday, at 10 o'clock. At this meeting they appointed a committee to wait upon the Governor, to inquire why the sloop had been seized in so arbitrary a manner, which they declared to be an affront 534 WASHINGTON. to the town of Boston. They declared that she might have been left with perfect safety at the wharf. The leading men of the town expressed disapprobation of a riot, which not a few of them were suspected of hav ing promoted; but they took care to mention, in extenua tion, the extraordinary circumstances of the said seizure, and the violence and unprecedentedness of that procedure. They offered a reward for the discovery of the ringleaders, and a few persons were pointed out, but the grand jury quashed all prosecution. It was this fact which seems to have persuaded the British ministry that offenses in America would not be punished by American juries, and which seems to have recommended to their attention the Statute of Henry VIII, by virtue of which the offenders might be removed to Great Britain and tried there. The commissioners, who had left the Romney man-of- war to take up their quarters in Castle William, now ap plied to General Gage, Colonel Dalrymple, and Commo dore Wood for troops to support them in their office. Previously however to this application, and even a month or six weeks before the news of these Boston riots could have reached London, ministers had resolved to employ force, and Lord Hillsborough, in a secret and confidential letter, had told General Gage that it was His Majesty's pleasure that he should forthwith send from Halifax one regiment or more to Boston, to be quartered in that town, to assist the civil magistrates and the offi cers of revenue. This letter was dated on the 8th of June (1758); and on the nth his lordship informed Governor Bernard that His Majesty had directed one regiment at least to be stationed in Boston, and had ordered a frigate, two sloops, and two armed cutters to repair to and remain in the harbor of Boston, in order to support and assist the officers of the customs. LIFE AND TIMES. 535 Fresh appeals were made by those who had put them selves in the van of the movement, to the hopes, fears, and strongest passions of the American people; and these addresses usually concluded with the significant truism: " United we conquer, divided we fall." They called upon all the Colonies to resist to the utmost the Mutiny Act, which granted power to every officer, upon obtaining a warrant from any justice, to break into any house by day or by night in search of deserters. They represented that, if the colonists would only cordially agree as to the nonimportation, multitudes in Great Britain, who lived and thrived by their trade, would be reduced to want, and would then, in their desperation, force from Parliament the repeal of the acts. In the month of August, the merchants and traders of Boston agreed upon a new subscription paper to this ef fect: " We will not send for, or import from, Great Brit ain, either upon our own account, or upon commission this fall, any other goods than what are already ordered for the fall supply. We will not send for or import any kind of goods or merchandise from Great Britain, etc., from the 1st of January, 1769, to the ist of January, 1770, except salt, coals, fish-hooks and lines, hemp and duck, bar-lead and shot, wool-cards, and card-wire. We will not purchase of any factor or others any kind of goods imported from Great Britain, from January, 1769, to Janu ary, 1770. We will not import on our own account or on commission, or purchase of any who shall import from any other Colony in America, from January, 1769, to Janu ary, 1770, any tea, paper, glass, or other goods, commonly imported from Great Britain. We will not, from and after the ist of January, 1769, import into this province any tea, glass, paper, or painters' colors, until the act impos ing duties on these articles shall be absolutely repealed." 536 WASHINGTON. Although this paper was generally subscribed, several respectable merchants refused their signatures. In the course of the same month the merchants of Connecticut and New York made similar agreements, and in the be ginning of September (1768) the merchants of Salem did the same. It appears that it was not till the beginning of September that the people of Boston became fully aware of the intention of government to send troops. On the I2th of that month a meeting was called, and a com mittee appointed to make inquiries of the Governor, and to pray him at the same time to convene a General As sembly. Governor Bernard said that he had intelligence, of a private nature, that a military force was coming; and that, as to the calling of another Assembly, it was a meas ure not to be complied with till he had received the com mands of His Majesty. It was then resolved, " That the freeholders and other inhabitants of the town of Boston will, at the peril of their lives and fortunes, take all legal and constitutional measures to defend the rights, liberties, privileges, and immunities granted in their royal charter." The inhabitants further agreed that a suitable number of persons should now be chosen to act for them as a committee in convention, and to consult and to advise with such as might be sent to join them from the other towns of the province. They fixed a convention to be held at Faneuil Hall, in Boston, on the 22d of September (1768); and, before breaking up, they voted, "That as there is an apprehension in the minds of many of an ap proaching war with France, those inhabitants who are not provided, be requested to furnish themselves forthwith with arms." This was significant ! The approaching war with France was nothing but an ingenious device. On the 22d of September, the day appointed, the con- LIFE AND TIMES. 537 vention, consisting of deputies from eight districts and ninety-six towns, met at Faneuil Hall; but the day before the men-of-war and transports had arrived in Nantasket Roads, a few miles below Boston. The convention merely conferred and consulted, petitioned the Governor, ex pressed their aversion to standing armies, tumults, and disorders of all kinds, and then adjourned. Governor Bernard then attempted to prevail upon the town council to provide quarters for the troops in Bos ton; but they refused, and stated that the troops, by act of Parliament, were to be quartered in the barracks; that there were barracks enough at Castle William to hold them all, and that it was against law to bring any of them into the town. Colonel Dalrymple, who held the command, had posi tive orders to land at least one regiment at Boston, and he of himself concluded it would be better not to separate his small force. Accordingly, on the last day of Septem ber, he left Nantasket Roads and sailed up to Boston. The ships-of-war, consisting of the Romney of sixty guns, the Luancester of forty, the Mermaid of twenty-eight, the Beaver of fourteen, the Senegal of fourteen, the Boreta of ten, and several armed schooners, came to anchor with springs on their cables, with their guns ready shotted, and their broadsides covering the town. Resistance was expected, but none offered; and on the following day, the ist of October, 1768, Colonel Dalrymple landed the two regiments he had brought with him, the Twenty-seventh and the Fourteenth, who, with train of artillery and all, did not much exceed 700 men. They marched from the landing place up to the Common, on the outside of Boston, with drums beating, fifes playing, and colors flying. In the evening the town council was again required to 538 WASHINGTON. quarter the two regiments in the town, and again they refused, quoting charters and acts of Parliament. One of the regiments, who had brought with them no tents or camp equipage of any kind, were permitted, or, which is more probable, took permission themselves, to occupy Faneuil Hall; the other regiment lay out all night on the cold Common. The following being the Lord's day, no business could be done; and the puritanical Bostonians were seriously annoyed at the desecration of the Sabbath day by drums and fifes sounds hitherto unknown on that day in the provinces of New England. Pressed by Colonel Dalrymple and his officers, the Gov ernor, toward evening, ordered the State House to be opened to the regiment which was encamped on the Com mon. The soldiers instantly came in and took possession of every part of that public building except the great coun cil chamber. Two field pieces were placed in front of the edifice, and the main guard was posted at a few yards' distance. These proceedings excited deep resentment and caused, besides, many inconveniences, for the lower part of the State House had been used by the merchants as an ex change, and the members of the town council could no longer get to their hall to transact their business without passing through files of soldiers. Having thus obtained quarters, the Governor and Colonel Dalrymple required the council to provide barrack provisions, as regulated by the Mutiny Act. The council resolutely replied that they would furnish nothing and do nothing that might be con strued into a submission to that obnoxious law. For the present the Bostonians and their neighbors sup pressed their vindictive feelings, but the tranquillity was every moment exposed to the chances of sudden inter ruption and bloodshed; every one of them looked upon the LIFE AND TIMES. 539 soldiers as forcible intruders, slavish instruments of tyranny, men without faith or morals; and every soldier had been taught to consider the colonists as smugglers, canting hypocrites, and rebels to a most gracious King. At the same time, all possible care was taken by the Bostonians to impart a highly-colored picture of the in juries and insults they endured to every part of British America. Philadelphia, which had hitherto been in clined to moderation and compromises, now spoke in a louder tone; and other towns which had been violent from the beginning now became still more decided in their oppo sition to the acts of Parliament. Meanwhile the storm thickened at Boston. At the end of May the Assembly, being called together, a committee from the House of Representatives remonstrated with the Governor, complaining of an armament investing their metropolis, of the military guard, of cannon pointed at the door of their State House, and requesting his excel lency, as His Majesty's representative, to give effectual orders for the removal of the ships and troops. Governor Bernard, who had certainly become less courteous since the arrival of the armament, replied, dryly: " Gentlemen, I have no authority over His Majesty's ships in this port, or over his troops within this town." A few days after, the House declared that the use of the military power to enforce the execution of the laws was inconsistent with the spirit of a free Constitution, and that they would not do any business, surrounded as they were with an armed force, threatening their privi leges and their personal security. The Governor thought to remove the latter strong objection by adjourning the Assembly to Cambridge, a village situated at a distance of three miles from Boston, in which there were no troops. But they were not likely to be more compliant at Cam- 540 WASHINGTON. bridge than they had been at Boston. They voted, " That the establishment of a standing army in this Colony, in time of peace, is an invasion of natural rights; that a standing army is not known as a part of the British Con stitution; that sending an armed force into the Colony, under a pretence of assisting the civil authority, is highly dangerous to the people, unprecedented, and unconstitu tional." They refused to make any provision for the troops, and they were thereupon prorogued by the Governor, to meet at Boston in the month of January, 1770. The King, to testify his approbation, created Governor Bernard a baronet, and took upon himself the whole ex pense of passing the patent. Sir Francis left the Colony on the ist of August, as poor as when he came there eleven years before, and followed by few regrets. His departure for England was signalized in Boston by public rejoicings, the firing of cannon, bonfires, ringing of bells, and display of flags.* * Mr. Bancroft, in his " History of the United States," gives Governor Bernard a very bad character, charging him with avarice, duplicity, and bad faith toward' his own government as well as the colonists. His bad conduct in the government was ultimately serviceable however by widening the breach between the colonists, and the mother country. CHAPTER V. WASHINGTON'S PLAN OF ASSOCIATION. 1769. IT will have been observed by the reader that the prin cipal means upon which the colonists relied for co ercing the British Government into a repeal of Townshend's oppressive revenue bill was the forming of associations, bound by voluntary engagement, not to im port or use the articles which were loaded with the ob noxious duty. This was more efficient than petitions and remonstrances, or even mobs and riots in resistance to the law. It was carrying the war into the enemy's country by bringing loss and distress on British manufacturers and merchants, and thus rendering the revenue laws un popular in the mother country. This nonimportation system was cordially approved by Washington, as we shall presently see. He and his friend, George Mason, were in favor of going a step farther and establishing what would nearly have amounted to com plete nonintercourse with England, by refusing to export to that country the commodities which they were accus tomed to receive from this country, and especially to bacco, from which the British Government derived an immense revenue. Washington, writing to George Mason under date of April 5, 1769, thus expressed himself: "At a time when our lordly masters in Great Britain (54i) 543 WASHINGTON. will be satisfied with nothing less than the deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly necessary that some thing should be done to avert the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived from our ancestors. But the manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in question. "That no man should scruple or hesitate a moment to use arms in defense of so valuable a blessing is clearly my opinion. Yet arms, I would beg leave to add, should be the last resource, the dernier resort. We have already, it is said, proved the inefncacy of addresses to the throne, and remonstrances to Parliament. How far then their attention to our rights and privileges is to be awakened or alarmed, by starving their trade and manufacturers, remains to be tried. " The northern Colonies, it appears, are endeavoring to adopt this scheme. In my opinion it is a good one, and must be attended with salutary effects, provided it can be carried pretty generally into execution. But to what ex tent it is practicable to do so I will not take upon me to determine. That there will be a difficulty attending the execution of it everywhere, from clashing interests, and selfish, designing men, ever attentive to their own gain, and watchful of every turn that can assist their lucrative views, cannot be denied; and in the tobacco Colonies, where the trade is so diffused, and in a manner wholly conducted by factors for their principals at home (in England), these difficulties are certainly enhanced, but I think not insurmountably increased, if the gentlemen in their several counties will be at some pains to explain matters to the people, and stimulate them to cordial agree- LIFE AND TIMES. 543 ments to purchase none but certain enumerated articles out of any of the stores after a definite period, and neither import nor purchase any themselves. This, if it should not effectually withdraw the factors from their importa tions, would at least make them extremely cautious in doing it, as the prohibited goods could be vended to none but the nonassociators, or those who would pay no regard to their association; both of whom ought to be stigmatized and made the objects of public reproach. " The more I consider a scheme of this sort, the more ardently I wish success to it, because I think there are private as well as public advantages to result from it the former certain, however precarious the other may prove. In respect to the latter, I have always thought that, by virtue of the same power which assumes the right of taxation, the Parliament may attempt, at least, to re strain our manufacturers, especially those of a public na ture, the same equity and justice prevailing in the one case as the other, it being no greater hardship to forbid my manufacturing than it is to order me to buy goods loaded with duties, for the express purpose of raising a revenue. But as a measure of this sort would be an addi tional exertion of arbitrary power, we cannot be placed in a worse condition, I think, by putting it to the test. " On the other hand, that the Colonies are considerably indebted to Great Britain is a truth universally acknowl edged. That many families are reduced almost, if not quite, to penury and want by the low ebb of their for tunes, and that estates are selling for the discharge of debts, the public papers furnish too melancholy proofs. That a scheme of this sort will contribute more effectually than any other that can be devised to extricate the coun try from the distress it at present labors under, I most firmly believe, if it can be generally adopted. And I can 544 WASHINGTON. see but one class of people, the merchants excepted, who will not, or ought not, to wish well to the scheme, namely, they who live genteelly and hospitably on clear estates. Such as these, were they not to consider the valuable ob ject in view and the good of others, might think it hard to be curtailed in their living and enjoyments. As to the penurious man, he would thereby save his money and his credit, having the best plea for doing that which before perhaps he had the most violent struggles to refrain from doing. The extravagant and expensive man has the same good plea to retrench his- expenses. He would be fur nished with a pretext to live within bounds and embrace it. Prudence dictated economy before, but his resolution was too weak to put it in practice; ' For how can I/ says he, ' who have lived in such and such a manner, change my method? I am ashamed to do it, and besides such an alteration in the system of my living will create sus picions of the decay of my fortune, and such a thought the world must not harbor.' He continues his course till at last his estate comes to an end, a sale of it being the consequence of his perseverance in error. This, I am sat isfied, is the way that many who have set out in the wrong track have reasoned till ruin has stared them in the face. And in respect to the needy man, he is only left in the same situation that he is found in better, I may say, because, as he judges from comparison, his condition is amended in proportion as it approaches nearer to those above him. " Upon the whole therefore I think the scheme a good one, and that it ought to be tried here, with such altera tions as our circumstances render absolutely necessary. But in what manner to begin the work is a matter worthy of consideration. Whether it can be attempted with pro priety or efficacy, further than a communication of senti- LIFE AND TIMES. 545 ments to one another before May (1769), when the court and Assembly will meet at Williamsburg, and a uniform plan can be concerted, and sent into the different coun ties to operate at the same time and in the same manner everywhere, is a thing upon which I am somewhat in doubt, and I should be glad to know your opinion."* The following is an extract from Mr. Mason's reply to this letter, dated the same day: " I entirely agree with you that no regular plan of the sort proposed can be entered into here, before the meet ing of the General Court at least, if not of the Assembly. In the meantime, it may be necessary to publish some thing preparatory to it in our gazettes, to warn the peo ple of the impending danger and induce them the more readily and cheerfully to concur in the proper measures to avert it; and something of this sort I had begun, but am unluckily stopped by a disorder which affects my head and eyes. As soon as I am able I shall resume it, and then write you more fully or endeavor to see you. In the meantime, pray commit to writing such hints as may occur. " Our all is at stake, and the little conveniences and com forts of life, when set in competition with our liberty, ought to be rejected, not with reluctance, but with pleas ure. Yet it is plain that in the tobacco Colonies we can not at present confine our importations within such nar row bounds as the northern Colonies. A plan of this kind, to be practicable, must be adapted to our circum stances; for if not steadily executed, it had better have remained unattempted. We may retrench all manner of superfluities, finery of all descriptions, and confine pur- selves to linens, woollens, etc., not exceeding a certain * Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 351. 35 546 WASHINGTON. price. It is amazing how much this practice, if adopted in all the Colonies, would lessen the American imports and distress the various traders and manufacturers in Great Britain. " This would awaken their attention. They would see, they would feel, the oppressions we groan under, and ex ert themselves to procure us redress. This once obtained, we should no longer discontinue our importations, con fining ourselves still not to import any article that should hereafter be taxed by act of Parliament for raising a rev enue in America; for, however singular I may be in my opinion, I am thoroughly convinced that, justice and har mony happily restored, it is not the interest of these Col onies to refuse British manufactures. Our supplying our mother country with gross materials and taking her manu factures in return is the true chain of connection between us. These are the bands, which, if not broken by oppres sion, must long hold us together by maintaining a con stant reciprocation of interest. Proper caution should therefore be used in drawing up the proposed plan of association. It may not be amiss to let the ministry un derstand that, until we obtain a redress of grievances, we will withhold from them our commodities, and particularly refrain from making tobacco, by which the revenue would lose fifty times more than all their oppressions could raise here. " Had the hint which I have given with regard to taxa tion of goods imported into America been thought of by our merchants before the repeal of the Stamp Act, the late American Revenue Acts would probably never have been attempted."* Mason was not a member of the House of Burgesses * Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 354, note. LIFE AND TIMES. 547 at this time, but Washington held a seat in that Assembly, and, soon after expressing these opinions, he was to sup port them there by public acts. The result of this con ference with Mason was a scheme, prepared by him to be offered by Washington at the coming session of the House of Burgesses.* The Governor of Virginia at this time was the liberal and courteous Lord Botetourt.f Governor Fauquier, of * Bancroft, " History of the United States," vol. VI, p. 273. [At an election of Burgesses for Fairfax county, December i, 1768, Washington polled 185 votes, Col. John West, 142, and Capt. John Posey, 87; the two former securing the seats. George Mason, born in Fairfax county in 1725, author of the nonimportation resolutions which Washington presented in the Virginia Assembly, and which were unanimously adopted, was a neighbor and intimate friend of Washington. He later wrote a powerful tract against the claim of the British Parliament to tax the Colonies without their consent. At a Fairfax county meeting, July 18, 1774, he offered twenty-four resolutions reviewing the whole ground of the controversy with Great Britain; recommend ing a general congress ; and urging the nonintercourse policy. In 1775 he was a member of the Virginia Committee of Safety, and in 1776 he drafted the Declaration of Rights! and State Constitu tion of Virginia, unanimous adoption of which attested universal confidence in his statesmanship. In 1777 he was elected to the Continental Congress, and in 1787 he was one of the leaders of the Virginia delegation in the convention which framed the national Constitution. In that body he opposed every measure which im plied the perpetuation of negro slavery. From this point he, to gether with Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, fell off from the party of the Constitution headed by Washington, standing out against the proposed Union, as involving peril to State sover eignty; and on this ground he refused election as a member of the United States Senate. He was older than Washington by seven years, one of the best and strongest of Washington's supporters for twenty years, and one of the great names of the Virginia of Washington's time.] t Botetourt, appointed Governor of Virginia in July, 1768, en- 548 WASHINGTON. whom we have frequently made mention, died early in 1768, and Lord Botetourt was his successor. He was extremely anxious to promote a reconciliation between Great Britain and the Colonies. He had become the most popular of all the royal Governors, from not seeming to make the matter at present in dispute personal to him self, or losing his temper, or acting unwisely or unjustly toward the Colonies. As a servant of the Crown he did his duty; but always courteously and with an honest endeavor to allay excitement and prevent those overt acts which his position would require him to censure. We shall presently see him placed in circumstances which called for the exercise of all his good qualities. Had the tered upon the position in October of the same year and made a popular Governor until his death, October 15, 1770. In a description of Williamsburg in Howe's " Historical Col lections of Virginia," is the following notice of Lord Botetourt's statue in that town: " In a beautiful square fronting the college, stands the statue of Lord Botetourt, one of the Colonial Governors. It is much muti lated, though still presenting a specimen of elegant sculpture. He appears in the court dress of that day, with a short sword at his side. It was erected in 1774, at the expense of the Colony, and re moved in 1797, from the old capitol to its present situation. Its pedestal bears the following inscription: The Right Honorable Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, his majesty's late lieutenant, and governor-general of the colony and dominion of Virginia. [Right side.] Deeply impressed with the warmest sense of gratitude for his Excellency's, the Right Honorable Lord Bote tourt's, prudent and wise administration, and that the remembrance of those many public and social virtues which so eminently adorned his illustrious character might be transmitted to posterity, the General Assembly of Virginia, on the xx. day July, Ann. Dom., M.DCC.LXXI, resolved, with one united voice, to erect this statue to his lordship's memory. Let wisdom and justice preside in any country, the people must and will be happy. [Left side.] America! behold your friend, who, leaving his LIFE AND TIMES. 549 British Parliament adopted his policy toward the col onists, the controversy might have terminated peacefully. But the members of this body seemed bent upon sustain ing their oppressive system by force. In February, 1769, both Houses of Parliament went one step beyond all that had preceded. They then con curred in a joint address to His Majesty, in which they expressed their satisfaction in the measures His Majesty had pursued gave the strongest assurances that they would effectually support him in such further measures as might be found necessary to maintain the civil magis trates in a due execution of the laws in Massachusetts Bay, and besought him " to direct the Governor to take the most effectual methods for procuring the fullest infor mation touching all treasons, or misprisions of treason, committed within the government since the 3Oth day of December, 1767; and to transmit the same, together with the names of the persons who were most active in the commission of such offenses, to one of the Secretaries of State, in order that His Majesty might issue a special com mission for inquiring of, hearing, and determining the said offenses within the realm of Great Britain, pursuant to the provision of the Statute of the 35th of King Henry VIII."* The latter part of this address, which proposed the bringing of delinquents from Massachusetts native country, declined those additional honors which were there in store for him, that he might heal your wounds and restore tranquillity and happiness to this extensive continent. With what zeal and anxiety he pursued these glorious objects, Virginia thus bears her grateful testimony." *The real object of this proposed revival of the Act of 35th of King Henry VIII, was believed to be the arrest of the New England leaders, John Hancock, Samuel Adams, James Otis, Josiah Quincy, Jr., and others, and their transportation to Eng land, thus removing them effectually from the scene of action. 550 WASHINGTON. to be tried at a tribunal in Great Britain for crimes com mitted in America, underwent many severe animadver sions. It was asserted to be totally inconsistent with the spirit of the Constitution; for in England, a man charged with a crime had a right to be tried in the county in which his offense was supposed to have been committed. " Justice is regularly and impartially administered in our courts," said the colonists, " and yet by direction of Parliament, offenders are to be taken by force, together with all such persons as may be pointed out as witnesses, and carried to England, there to be tried in a distant land, by a jury of strangers, and subject to all the disadvantages which result from want of friends, want of witnesses, and want of money." The House of Burgesses of Virginia, met soon after official accounts of the joint address of Lords and Com mons on this subject reached America; and in a few days after their meeting, passed resolutions* expressing " their exclusive right to tax their constituents, and their right to petition their sovereign for redress of grievances, and the lawfulness of procuring the concurrence of the other Colonies in praying for the royal interposition in favor of the violated rights of America; and that all trials for treason, or for any crime whatsoever committed in that Colony, ought to be before His Majesty's courts within the said Colony; and that the seizing any person residing in the said Colony, suspected of any crime whatsoever, committed therein, and sending such person to places beyond the sea to be tried, was highly derogatory of the rights of British subjects." The next day Lord Botetourt sent for the House of Burgesses, and addressed them as * These resolutions were drafted by Thomas Jefferson, who had just been elected to a seat in the House of Burgesses. LIFE AND TIMES. 551 follows : " Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the House of Burgesses, I have heard of your resolves, and augur ill of their effects. You have made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accordingly." Not in the least degree deterred from their purpose by this act of duty on the part of the Governor, on the very next day the Burgesses repaired to the Raleigh tavern, and in a room which bore the name of Apollo, they entered into the articles of agreement already referred to as Wash ington and Mason's scheme, by which they pledged their honor not to import British merchandise so long as the acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in America re mained unrepealed. Among the eighty-eight signatures to this Virginia asso ciation were those of George Washington, Peyton Ran dolph, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jef ferson, and others, who afterward took the lead in the great struggle. On returning to their respective counties, all these Virginia members were re-elected for the next Assembly; and the small minority who had opposed the resolutions were rejected to a man. The gentlemen and merchants of Maryland and South Carolina followed the example of Virginia, and adopted the articles of association. Pennsylvania, through her merchants, expressed her approval. The Assembly of Delaware adopted the Virginia resolves, " and every Colony south of Virginia." says Bancroft, " in due time followed the example." Thus Virginia, under the leading of Washington, had nobly come forward to the aid of the New England Col onies, who had recently borne the brunt of parliamentary indignation. This was done too, in defiance of the recent threat of military coercion, and extradition of offenders against the Revenue Acts for trial in England. 552 WASHINGTON. " The nonimportation agreement," says Ramsay, " was in this manner forwarded by the very measures which were intended to curb the spirit of American freedom, from which it sprung. Meetings of the associators were regularly held in the various provinces. Committees were appointed to examine all vessels arriving from Britain. Censures were freely passed on such as refused to concur in these associations, and their names published in the newspapers as enemies to their country. The regu lar acts of the provincial Assemblies were not so much respected and obeyed as the decrees of these committees; the associations were in general, as well observed as could be expected; but nevertheless there were some collusions. The fear of mobs, of public resentment, and contempt, co-operating with patriotism, preponderated over private interest and convenience." Washington scrupulously observed this agreement; and enjoined upon his London factor to send him none of the interdicted goods, unless the offensive acts of Parliament should in the meantime be repealed. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. CHAPTER VI. THE DISCONTENTS PRODUCE VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED. 1769-1770. WHILE British troops were menacing the Bos- tonians without effect, and Virginia was leading the southern Colonies on to the support of re fractory New England, the British Government, still vacil lating and uncertain, was already beginning to retract her late proceedings. It was on the ist of August, 1769, that Sir Francis Bernard was recalled from the govern ment of Massachusetts. A few days before his departure he received letters from the Secretary of State, which, being circular to the several Governors of the continent, were apparently intended to be made public. One of the last acts of his administration was his directing, or author izing, the publication of the assurance to the people of the Colonies in those letters, " that the administration is well disposed to relieve the Colonies from all ' real ' grievances arising from the late acts of revenue. And through the present ministers have concurred in the opinion of the whole Legislature, that no measure ought to be taken which can derogate from the legislative au thority of Great Britain over the Colonies, yet they have declared that they have at no time entertained a design to propose any further taxes upon America for the pur pose of a revenue ; and it is their intention to propose, in the next session of Parliament, to take off the duties upon (553) 554 WASHINGTON. glass, paper, and colors, upon consideration of such duties being contrary to the true principles of commerce." Government in England expected, by this assurance of intended favor, to incline the people to abate their opposition. But it had a very different effect. It was immediately the common language among the candidates for liberty: " Repealing the act upon principles of com merce is a mere pretence, calculated to establish the grievance we complain of. The true reason why the duty upon tea is to continue is tp save the ' right ' of taxing. Our acquiescing in the repeal of the rest will be construed into an acknowledgment of this ' right.' The fear of trouble, from the discontent of merchants and manufac turers upon our nonimportation agreements, has brought the ministry to consent to this partial repeal. A vigorous enforcement of these agreements will increase the fear, and we shall certainly carry the point we contend for, and obtain a repeal of the whole." A meeting of the trading classes was called in Boston. The repeal of only part of the act was unanimously re solved to be a measure intended merely to quiet the manu facturers in Great Britain, and to prevent the setting up of manufactures in the Colonies, and one that would by no means relieve trade from its difficulties; it was there fore further resolved, to send for no more goods from Great Britain, a few specified articles excepted, unless the Revenue Acts should be repealed. A committee was appointed to procure a written pledge from the inhabitants of the town, not to purchase any goods from persons who have imported them, or who shall import them, contrary to the late agreement; and another committee to inspect the manifests of the cargoes of all vessels arriving from Great Britain, and to publish the names of all importers, unless they immediately delivered LIFE AND TIMES. 555 their goods into the hands of a committee appointed to receive them. The intimations of a relaxation in the British system of oppression was received in a different spirit by the Vir ginians, who at first were effectually deceived by the bland professions of the ministry. On the Qth of May, 1769, the King in his speech to Parliament highly applauded their hearty concurrence, in maintaining the execution of the laws in every part of his dominions. Five days after this speech, Lord Hills- borough, Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote to Lord Botetourt: " I can take upon me to assure you, not withstanding informations to the contrary, from men with factious and seditious views, that His Majesty's present administration have at no time entertained a design to propose to Parliament, to lay any further taxes upon America for the purpose of raising a revenue, and that it is at present their intention to propose to the next ses sion of Parliament, to take off the duties upon glass, paper, and colors, upon consideration of such duties having been laid contrary to the true principles of commerce." The Governor was also informed, that " His Majesty relied upon his prudence and fidelity to make such an explana tion of His Majesty's measures as would tend to remove prejudices, and to re-establish mutual confidence and affection between the mother country and the Colonies." In the exact spirit of his instructions, Lord Botetourt ad dressed the Virginia Assembly as follows : " It may pos sibly be objected, that as His Majesty's present adminis tration are not immortal, their successors may be inclined to attempt to undo what the present ministers shall have attempted to perform, and to that objection I can give but this answer, that it is my firm opinion, that the plan I have stated to you will certainly take place, and that it 556 WASHINGTON. will never be departed from; and so determined am I forever to abide by it, that I will be content to be declared infamous, if I do not to the last hour of my life, at all times, in all places, and upon all occasions, exert every power with which I either am, or ever shall be, legally in vested, in order to obtain and maintain for the continent of America that satisfaction which I have been authorized to promise this day, by the confidential servants of our gracious sovereign, who to my certain knowledge rates his honor so high that he would rather part with his crown than preserve it by deceit." These assurances were received with transports of joy by the Virginians. They viewed them as pledging His Majesty for security, that the late design for raising a rev enue in America was abandoned, and never more to be resumed. The Assembly of Virginia, in answer to Lord Botetourt, expressed themselves thus (July, 1769): "We are sure our most gracious sovereign, under whatever changes may happen in his confidential servants, will re main immutable in the ways of truth and justice, and that he is incapable of deceiving his faithful subjects; and we esteem your lordship's information not only as warranted, but even sanctified by the royal word." How far these promises made by Lord Hillsborough to the Governor of Virginia, and by the Governor to the Assembly, were founded in sincerity and good faith, will be demonstrated by subsequent events. They were prob ably made with a design to detach the Virginians from the earnest support which they had hitherto given to the people of Massachusetts, who were still the most decided opponents of the British ministry. Of Lord Hillsborough, who as Colonial Secretary, had written to Lord Botetourt in the conciliatory vein, Dr. Franklin thus speaks in a letter to Samuel Cooper: " His LIFE AND TIMES. 557 character is conceit, wrong-headedness, obstinacy, and passion. Those who would speak most favorably of him allow all this; they only add, that he is an honest man, and means well. If that be true, as perhaps it may, I wish him a better place, where only honesty and well- meaning are required, and where his other qualities can do no harm. * * * I hope however that our affairs will not much longer be perplexed and embarrassed by his perverse and senseless management." The policy of Lord Hillsborough toward the Colonies, bad as it was, was destined to be supported by Lord North, who came into the office of Prime Minister on the 28th of January, 1770. Having been Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Duke of Grafton's administration, on his grace's resignation, which took place in the end of January, he succeeded him as First Lord of the Treasury, a pre-eminence he held till the close of the American Revolution. His administration will ever be celebrated by the fact, that during its ex istence Great Britain lost more territory and acquired more debt than in any previous period of her history. His first measure was partially, and unhappily, only partially, of a conciliatory character a motion for the repeal of the port duties of 1767, with the exception of the duty on tea, which his lordship expressly declared he desired to keep on as an assertion of the supremacy of the Parlia ment. In vain it was contended that the reservation of this single article would keep up the contention which it was so desirable to allay; that after giving up the prospect of a revenue from the Colonies, it was absurd and im politic to persevere in the assertion of an abstract claim of right, which, if attempted in any mode to be carried into practice, would produce nothing but civil discord and interminable opposition; that in short, if nothing more 558 WASHINGTON. was meant by this omission of the tea in the repeal, then the mere declaration of Parliamentary supremacy, the law already in existence under the title of the Declaratory Act, was abundantly sufficient for this purpose, and that the Americans had hitherto silently acquiesced in that law. To all these arguments Lord North replied: "Has the repeal of the Stamp Act taught the Americans obedience? Has our lenity inspired them with moderation? Can it be proper, while they deny our legal power to tax them, to acquiesce in the argument of illegality, and by the re peal of the whole law, to give up that power? No! the most proper time to exert our right of taxation is when the right is denied. To temporize is to yield; and the authority of the mother country, if it is now unsupported, will, in reality, be relinquished forever. A total repeal cannot be thought of till America is prostrate at our feet." Governor Pownall, who moved as an amendment, to include the duty on tea, acknowledged, that even the total repeal of the duties in question, though it might be ex pected to do much, would not restore satisfaction to America. " If," said he, " it be asked, whether it will re move the apprehensions excited by your resolutions and address of the last year, for bringing to trial in England, persons accused of treason in America? I answer, No. If it be asked, if this commercial concession would quiet the minds of the Americans as to the political doubts and fears which have struck them to the heart, throughout the continent? I answer, No. So long as they are left in doubt whether the Habeas Corpus Act, whether the bill of rights, whether the common law as now existing in Eng land have any operation and effect in America, they cannot be satisfied. At this hour they know not whether the civil Constitutions be not suspended and superseded by the establishment of a military force. The Americans LIFE AND TIMES. 559 think that they have, in return to all their applications, experienced a temper and disposition that is unfriendly, and that the enjoyment and exercise of the common rights of freemen have been refused to them. Never with these views will they solicit the favor of this House ; never more will they wish to bring before Parliament, the grievances under which they conceive themselves to labor. Deeply as they feel, they suffer and endure with a determined and alarming silence; for their liberty, they are under no apprehensions. It was first planted under the auspicious genius of the Constitution; it has grown up into a verdant and flourishing tree; and should any severe strokes be aimed at the branches, and fate reduce it to the bare stock, it would only take deeper root, and spring out again more durable than before. They trust to Providence, and wait with firmness and fortitude the issue." The event proved that Mr. Pownall knew, incompar ably better than Lord North, the character and state of the Colonies. During his residence in America, while successively Governor of two of the provinces, he had acquired that knowledge which the British ministry could not, and some provincial Governors would not, acquire. It might have been supposed, that the very unsatisfac tory result of the previous half-measures of this kind would have deterred any minister from a repetition of them. It displays as little knowledge of the construction of the human mind, as attention to the history of popular agitations, to intermingle professions of kindness with threats, or concessions with expressions of insult. The Colonies however would probably have assumed a less agitated aspect had not other circumstances existed to ferment and perpetuate feelings of hostility. .Among these, the continued presence of troops of the line in Bos ton was one of the most aggravating. The inhabitants 560 WASHINGTON. felt that their remaining stationed in the place was designed to overawe and control the expression of their sentiments, and the military appear to have viewed the matter in the same light. Under the excitement that was thus occa sioned, affrays were frequently occurring between the populace and the soldiers; and it would appear that, as might be expected, neither party conducted themselves with prudence or forbearance. On the one hand, the sol diers are represented as parading the town armed with heavy clubs, insulting and seeking occasion to quarrel with the people;* while on the other, the populace are declared to be the aggressors, and the military to have acted on the defensive.! It was proposed by Samuel Adams, the most resolute and daring of the Boston pa triots, that the General Court should have the soldiers removed to Castle William; but the meeting of that body appointed for the loth of January (1770), was prorogued by Hutchinson to the middle of March. This was said to be done under an arbitrary instruction of Lord Hills- borough. A quarrel took place between the merchants who had signed the nonimportation agreement and Hutchinson, whose sons had signed and broken it, by selling tea, in which the Lieutenant-Governor was obliged to yield. This was thought by the British party to furnish a good occa sion for an attack on the people by the troops; and Colonel Dalrymple prepared his men for the purpose. But al though repeated assemblages took place among the mer chants and the people, Hutchinson was afraid to order an attack on them. Intelligence received from New York of repeated affrays between the people and the soldiers stationed there served * Bradford, " History of Massachusetts," p. 205. t Hutchison, p. 270. LIFE AND TIMES. 561 to increase the ferment in Boston. The soldiers in the latter place were more licentious, and under less restraint from their officers, than they had ever been before; and the boys and idlers exasperated them by calling them rascals, bloody backs, and lobster scoundrels. Matters were rapidly drawing to a crisis. On the 2d of March (1770), a private soldier of the Twentieth regiment, applying for employment at Gray's rope-walk, was refused in an insulting manner, which led to a boxing-match with one of the ropemakers, in which the soldier was beaten and driven away. He returned with other soldiers. A riot ensued, in which clubs and cutlasses were employed, which was terminated by the interference of Mr. Gray and others. This trifling affair undoubtedly had an influence in producing the more serious collision which took place a few days afterward. In the meantime, the people of the surrounding country sympathized deeply with the Bostonians, and were ready to support them against the soldiers. A great part of the people of Massa chusetts had been engaged in military service in the colo nial wars. Early in the evening of the 5th of March, the inhabitants were observed to assemble in different quarters of the town; parties of soldiers were also driving about the streets, as if both the one and the other had something more than ordinary upon their minds. About 8 o'clock, one of the bells of the town was rung in such a manner as if for an alarm of fire. This called the people into the streets. A large number assembled in the market place, not far from King street, armed with bludgeons or clubs. A small affray between some of the inhabitants and the soldiers arose at or near the barracks, at the west part of the town, but it was of little importance and was soon over. A sentinel who was posted at the custom-house, 36 562 WASHINGTON. not far from the main guard, was next insulted, and pelted with ice and other missiles, which caused him to call to the main guard to protect him. Notice was soon given to Captain Preston, whose com pany was then on guard, and a sergeant with six men was sent to protect the sentinel; but the captain, to prevent any precipitate action, followed them himself. There seem to have been but few people collected when the as sault was first made on the sentinel; but the sergeant's guard drew a greater number together, and they were more insulted than the sentinel had been, and received fre quent blows from snowballs and lumps of ice. Captain Preston thereupon ordered them to charge; but this was no discouragement to the assailants, who continued to pelt the guard, daring them to fire. Some of the people who were behind the soldiers, and observed the abuse of them, called on them to do so. At length one received a blow with a club, which brought him to the ground; but rising again he immediately fired, killing a mulatto named Crispus Attucks ; all the rest of the soldiers fired, except one. This seems, from the evidence on the trials, and the observation of persons present, to have been the course of the material facts. Three men were killed, two mortally wounded, who died soon after, and several slightly wounded. The soldiers immediately withdrew to the main guard, which was strengthened by additional companies. Two or three of the persons who had seen the action ran to the Lieutenant-Governor's (Hutchinson's) house,* * Hutchison, as Lieutenant-Governor, had succeeded Sir Fran cis Bernard in the administration of affairs in Massachusetts. He was subsequently appointed Governor. Although an American by birth he was a bitter Tory; and excelled even the Earl of Strafford himself in tyranny and duplicity. His character is well described by Mr. Bancroft in his " History of the United States," vol. VI, pp. 303-306. LIFE AND TIMES. 563 which was about half a mile distant, and begged he would go to King street,* where they feared a general action would come on between the troops and the inhabitants. He went immediately; and to satisfy the people, called for Captain Preston, and inquired why he had fired upon the inhabitants without the direction of a civil magistrate. The noise was so great that his answer could not be under stood; and some persons, who were apprehensive of the Lieutenant-Governor's danger from the general confusion called out: "The town-house! The town-house!" when, with irresistible violence, he was forced up by the crowd into the council chamber. There demand was immediately made of him to order the troops to withdraw from the town-house into their bar racks. He refused; but calling from the balcony to the great body of people who remained in the street, he ex pressed his great concern at the unhappy event; assured them he would do everything in his power to obtain a full and impartial inquiry, that the law might have its course; and advised them) to go peaceably to their homes. Upon this there was a cry, " Home, home! " and a great part separated and went home. He then signified his opinion to Lieutenant-Colonel Carr, that if the companies in arms were ordered to their barracks the streets would be cleared, and the town in quiet for that night. Upon their retiring, the rest of the inhabitants, except those in the council chamber, retired also. Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple, at the desire of the Lieu- tenant-Governor, came to the council chamber, where several justices were examining persons who were present at the transaction of the evening. From the evidence, it was apparent that the justices would commit Captain Preston, if taken. Several hours passed before he could *Now called State street. 564 WASHINGTON. be found, and the people suspected that he would not run the hazard of a trial; but at length he surrendered himself to a warrant for apprehending him, and having been ex amined, was committed to prison. The next morning, the soldiers who were upon guard surrendered also, and were committed. This was not sufficient to satisfy the people, and early in the forenoon they were in motion again. The Lieuten- ant-Governor caused his council to be summoned, and desired the two lieutenant-colonels of the regiments to be present. The selectmen of Boston were waiting for the Lieutenant-Governor's coming to council, and being ad mitted, made their representation, that from the conten tions arising from the troops quartered in Boston, and above all, from the tragedy of the last night, the minds of the inhabitants were exceedingly disturbed; that they would presently be assembled in a town meeting; and that unless the troops should be removed, the most terrible consequences were to be expected. The justices, also of Boston, and several of the neigh boring towns, had assembled and desired to signify their opinion, that it would not be possible to keep the people under restraint if the troops remained in town. The Lieu- tenant-Governor acquainted both the selectmen and the justices, that he had no authority to alter the place of desti nation of the King's troops; but that he had expected the commanding officers of the two regiments, and would let them know the applications which had been made. Pres ently after their coming, a large committee from the town meeting presented an address to the Lieutenant-Governor, declaring it to be the unanimous opinion of the meeting, that nothing could rationally be expected to restore the peace of the town, " and prevent blood and carnage," but the immediate removal of the troops. LIFE AND TIMES. 565 The committee withdrew into another room to wait for an answer. Some of the council urged the necessity of complying with the people's demand; but the Lieutenant- Governor declared that he would, upon no consideration whatever, give orders for their removal. Lieutenant- Colonel Dalrymple then signified, that as the Twenty-ninth regiment had originally been designed to be placed at the castle, and was now peculiarly obnoxious to the town, he was content that it should be removed to the castle until the general's pleasure should be known. The committee was informed of this offer, and the Lieu tenant-Governor rose from council, intending to receive no further application upon this subject; but the council prayed that he would meet them again in the afternoon, and Colonel Dalrymple desiring it also, he complied. Before the council met again, it had been intimated to them, that the " desire " of the Governor and council to the commanding officer to remove the troops would cause him to do it, though he should receive no* authoritative " order." As soon as they met, a committe t e from the town meeting attended with a second message, to acquaint the Lieutenant-Governor that it was the unanimous voice of the people assembled, consisting as they said, of near three thousand persons, that nothing less than a total and im mediate removal of the troops would satisfy them.* Ulti mately the scruples of the Lieutenant-Governor were over come, and he expressed his desire that the troops should be wholly withdrawn from the town to the castle, which was accordingly done. The funeral of the victims was at tended with extraordinary pomp. Most of the shops were closed, all the bells of the town tolled on the occasion, and the corpses were followed to the grave by an immense con course of people, arranged six abreast, the procession * Hutchison, pp. 272-275. 566 WASHINGTON. being closed by a long train of carriages belonging to the principal gentry of the town.* Captain Preston and the party of soldiers were afterward tried. The captain and six of the men were acquitted, and two were brought in guilty of manslaughter; a result which reflected great honor on John Adams and Josiah Quincy, the counsel for prisoners, and on tHe jury.f The General Court met in March (1770), soon after the affair of the Boston massacre. Hutchinson had appointed Cambridge as the place of meeting, and a great part of the session, which lasted till November, was consumed in altercations between him and the members in discussions on the constitutionality of his changing the place where the session was to be held. At length the General Court closed its session by prorogation, after having resolved, among other things, to promote industry and frugality, and to encourage the use of domestic manufactures through out the province; and having appointed a committee of correspondence to communicate with the agents of Great Britain, and with the committees of the Colonies. The first of these resolutions of the Massachusetts Assembly, namely, to discourage the use of foreign articles, had been adopted in consequence of a determination 7 of the mer chants of Boston, made during the present session, by which they agreed to alter their nonimportation agree ment, and to adopt the plan, which had been for some time followed in New York and in Philadelphia, of im porting all the usual articles of trade except tea, which it was unanimously agreed should not be brought into the country unless it could be smuggled. The same month that witnessed the close of this session of the Massachusetts General Court was marked by the * Gordon's " History," vol. I, p. 290. t Quincy's " Life of Josiah Quincy," pp. 31-66. LIFE AND TIMES. 567 decease of the celebrated George Grenville, who had made himself so conspicuous as the originator of the Stamp Act. Lord Botetourt, Governor of Virginia, also died in the autumn of this year (October 15). The close of his admin istration was darkened by events which gave him great uneasiness. The Virginians, who had received with so much gratification the announcement made through him of the good intentions of the ministry toward the Colonists, were deeply disgusted with the partial repeal of the revenue laws, and loudly expressed their discontent. Lord Botf tourt, conceiving himself to have been deceived by the ministry, demanded his discharge; but before its arrival, he fell sick of a bilious fever which soon terminated his life. The statue erected to his memory by order of the House of Burgesses, is still standing at Williamsburg. Note. Francis Bernard, Governor of Massachusetts, frequently mentioned in this chapter, was the Governor of New Jersey after Governor Belcher, in 1758. He succeeded Governor Pownall, of Massachusetts, in 1760. He governed the province for nine years, during one of the most interesting periods of American history. The first part of his administration was very agreeable to the General Court, and much harmony prevailed for two or three years. Two parties had long existed in the province, the advocates of the crown, and the defenders of the rights of the people. Gov ernor Bernard was soon classed with those who were desirous of strengthening the royal authority in America; the Sons of Liberty therefore uniformly opposed him. His indiscretion in appoint ing Mr. Hutchison chief justice, instead of giving that office to Colonel Otis, of Barnstable, to whom it had been promised by Shirley, proved very injurious to him. In consequence of this appointment he lost the influence of Colonel Otis, and by yield ing himself to Mr. Hutchison, drew upon himself the hostility of James Otis, the son, a man of great talents, who soon became the leader on the popular side. The causes which finally brought on the American Revolution 568 WASHINGTON. were then operating. Governor Bernard possessed no talent for conciliation; he endeavored to accomplish ministerial purposes by force; and the spirit of freedom gained strength from the open manner in which he attempted to crush it. He was the principal means of bringing the troops to Boston, that he might overawe the people; and it was owing to him that they were retained in the town. He endeavored to obtain an alteration of the charter, in order to transfer the right of electing the council from the General Court to the crown. This attempt, though it drew upon him the indignation of the province, was so pleasing to the ministry that he was created a baronet in 1769. One of his last public measures was the pro roguing of the General Court, in consequence of their refusing to make provision for the support of the troops. It was found necessary to recall him. He died in England in June, 1779. CHAPTER VII. WASHINGTON VISITS THE WESTERN COUNTRY. 1770. IN the autumn of 1770, Washington made a tour in the western country which lasted nine weeks (October 5, to December). His immediate object was to in spect certain lands which had been designated to be granted to the officers and soldiers of Virginia, who had served in the French War. An order of council of the i8th of February, 1754, followed by a proclamation of Governor Dinwiddie, promising some 200,000 acres of what we now call military bounty lands, had its effect in inducing the enlistment oi soldiers who had subsequently " behaved so much to the satisfaction of the country, as to be honored with the most public acknowledgments of it by the Assembly."* The claims of the officers and soldiers to these lands had long been resisted by the British ministry and the authorities in Virginia; and were now threatened with defeat by a proposed grant of land to a Mr. Walpole (a British banker) and others, which would have comprehended at least four- fifths of this very land, properly belonging to the officers and soldiers, for the purchase and survey of which the government had recently voted 2,500 sterling.! 'Washington's letter to Lord Botetourt, April 15, 1770. See Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 358. t Washington's letter to Lord Botetourt, April 15, 1770. See Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 357. (569) 70 WASHINGTON. Washington had used great exertions, and spent a large sum of money in urging these claims. He had set forth their justice and equity in a correspondence with Lord Botetourt, whose intercession with the ministry he strongly solicited; and at a subsequent period (June 15, 1771), it formed the subject of a letter to Lord Dunmore, in which he requests to be informed respecting the truth of a report that the " Walpole Grant " had actually been made. Washington's exertions in this good cause were crowned with success, and every officer and soldier received his proper share of the land. " Even Vanbraam," says Mr. Sparks,* "who was believed to have deceived him at the Great Meadows, and who went as a hostage to Canada, thence to England, and never returned to America, was not forgotten in the distribution. His share was reserved, and he was informed that it was at his disposal." It was while this affair was in progress, that Washing ton made his tour to the West for the purpose of inspect ing the bounty lands, and selecting for the surveys such tracts as were really valuable. It was one of those disin terested and public spirited actions, which abound through out his whole career. In this tour he was accompanied by his friend and physician, Dr. Craik, who had been with him in Braddock's expedition. They were attended by three negro servants, and the whole party was mounted. They set out on the 5th of October (1770), and in twelve days arrived at Fort Pitt (old Fort Duquesne). The following extract from Washington's journal of the tour informs us how the party were entertained at Fort Pitt, and in its neighborhood during their stay, by the officers of the garrison and Wash- * Life of Washington." LIFE AND TIMES. 571 ington's old acquaintance, George Croghan, now Colonel Croghan, deputy agent to Sir William Johnson :* " October i/th. Dr. Craik and myself, with Captain Crawford and others, arrived at Fort Pitt, distant from the Crossing, forty-three and a half measured miles. In riding this distance we passed over a great deal of exceedingly fine land, chiefly white oak, especially from Sewickly Creek to Turtle Creek; but the whole broken, resembling as I think all the lands in this country do, the Loudoun lands. We lodged in what is called the town, distant about 300 yards from the fort, at one Mr. Semple's, who keeps a very good house of public entertainment. The houses, which are built of logs and ranged in streets, are on the Monon- gahela, and I suppose may be about twenty in number, and inhabited by Indian traders. The fort is built on the point between the rivers Alleghany and Monongahela, but not so near the pitch of it as Fort Duquesne stood. It is five-sided and regular, two of which, near the land, are of brick; the others stockade. A moat encompasses it. The garrison consists of two companies of Royal Irish, com manded by Captain Edmondson. " 1 8th. Dined in the fort with Colonel Croghan and the officers of the garrison; supped there also, meeting with great civility from the gentlemen, and engaged to dine with Colonel Croghan the next day at his seat, about four miles up the Alleghany. " iQth. Received a message from Colonel Croghan, that the White Mingo and other chiefs of the Six Nations had something to say to me, and desiring that I would be at his house about u, where they were to meet. I went up and received a speech, with a string of wampum, from the White Mingo to the following effect: * The " Journal " is given in Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. II, p. 516. 572 WASHINGTON. " ' That as I was a person whom some of them remem ber to have seen when I was sent on an embassy to the French, and most of them had heard of, they were come to bid me welcome to this country, and to desire that the peo ple of Virginia would consider them as friends and broth ers, linked together in one chain ; that I would inform the Governor, that it was their wish to live in peace and har mony with the white people, and that though there had been some unhappy differences between them and the people upon our frontiers, they were all made up, and they hoped forgotten; and concluded with saying, that their brothers of Virginia did not come among them and trade as the inhabitants of the other provinces did, from whence they were afraid that we did not look upon them with so friendly an eye as they could wish/ "To this I answered, after thanking them for their friendly welcome, ' that all the injuries and affronts that had passed on either side were now totally forgotten, and that I was sure nothing was more wished and desired by the people of Virginia, than to live in the strictest friend ship with them; that the Virginians were a people not so much engaged in trade as the Pennsylvanians, which was the reason of their not being so frequently among them ; but that it was possible they might, for the time to come, have stricter connections with them, and that I would ac quaint the government with their desires/ 'After dining at Colonel Croghan's we returned to Pitts- burg, Colonel Croghan with us, who intended to accom pany us part of the way down the river, having engaged an Indian called The Pheasant, and one Joseph Nicholson, an interpreter, to attend us the whole voyage; also a young Indian warrior." The party were now obliged to leave their horses, and descend the Ohio some 265 miles to the Great Kenhawa. LIFE AND TIMES. 573 This part of the journey was through a perfect wilderness. There were no settlers on the Ohio river below Pittsburg. The Indians were sole possessors of the country. A few adventurers in search of lands had been the only visitors to what is now one of the most cultivated, rich, and beauti ful regions in the United States. As they proceeded down the river in a large open canoe, entirely unprotected from the inclemency of the autumn weather, they were under the necessity of landing every night, and encamping in the woods. Occasionally they left the canoe in the daytime, for the purpose of examining the lands or for hunting. This thickly wooded region at that early time abounded in choice game. Deer, buffaloes, wild turkeys, ducks, and geese were found in plenty; and Washington, who delighted in hunting, had ample oppor tunities for enjoying his favorite recreation. The first two days of the voyage down the river are thus noticed in the journal: " October 2Oth (1770). We embarked in a large canoe, with sufficient store of provision and necessaries, and the following persons, besides Dr. Craik and myself, to wit, Captain Crawford, Joseph Nicholson, Robert Bell, Wil liam Harrison, Charles Morgan, and Daniel Rendon, a boy of Captain Crawford's, and the Indians, who were in a canoe by themselves. From Fort Pitt we sent our horses and boys back to Captain Crawford's, with orders to meet us there again on the I4th day of November. Colonel Croghan, Lieutenant Hamilton, and Mr. Magee set out with us. At 2 we dined at Mr. Magee's, and encamped ten miles below, and four above Logstown. We passed several large islands which appeared to be very good, as the bottoms also did on each side of the river alternately; the hills on one side being opposite to the bottoms on 574 WASHINGTON. the other, which seemed generally to be about three or four hundred yards wide, and so vice versa. " 2 1 st. Left our encampment about 6 o'clock and break fasted at Logstown, where we parted with Colonel Cro- ghan and company about 9 o'clock. At n we came to the mouth of the Big Beaver creek, opposite to which is a good situation for a house, and above it on the same side, that is, the west, there appears to be a body of fine land. About five miles lower down, on the east side, comes in Raccoon creek, at the mouth of which and up it appears to be a body of good land also. All the land between this creek and the Monongahela and for fifteen miles back is claimed by Colonel Croghan under a pur chase from the Indians, which sale, he says, is confirmed by His Majesty. On this creek, where the branches thereof interlock with the water of Shurtees creek, there is, according to Colonel Croghan's account, a body of fine, rich, level land. This tract he wants to sell, and offers it at 5 sterling per hundred acres, with an exemption of quit-rents for twenty years; after which, to be subject to the payment of 45. and 2 sterling per hundred acres ; pro vided he can sell it in ten-thousand-acre lots. At present the unsettled state of this country renders any purchase dangerous. From Racoon creek to Little Beaver creek appears to me to be little short of ten miles, and about three miles below this we encamped, after hiding a barrel of biscuit in an island to lighten our canoe." In these extracts from the journal, as well as in those that follow, it will be observed that Washington does not forget the main object of the tour, the selection, namely, of good lands for the soldiers of the Seven Years' War. His usual prudence is apparent in the remark on Cro ghan's offer of an opportunity for speculating in land. Washington was by no means averse however to invest- LIFE AND TIMES. 575 ing his money in wild lands; and he subsequently, as we shall have occasion to remark, bought large tracts and became interested in companies whose object it was to form settlements in the rich and beautiful region which he was now visiting. The next extract from the journal refers to the dan gers, but the writer does not complain, as travelers gen erally do, of the discomforts and hardships of the voyage. It also gives us a glimpse of the Indians and a specimen of the hunting excursions of the voyagers. It also refers to an alarm of Indian, hostility, which happily proved groundless : " October 22d. As it began to snow about midnight and continued pretty steadily, it was about 7:30 before we left our encampment. At the distance of about eight miles we came to the mouth of Yellow creek, opposite to, or rather, below which, appears to be a long bottom of very good land, and the ascent to the hills apparently gradual. There is another pretty large bottom of very good land about two or three miles above this. About eleven or twelve miles from this, and just above what is called the Long Island (which, though so distinguished, is not very remarkable for length, breadth, or goodness), comes in on the east side of the river a small creek or run, the name of which I could not learn; and a mile or two below the island, on the west side, comes in Big Stony creek (not larger in appearance than the other), on neither of which does there seem to be any large bottoms or bodies of good land. About seven miles from the last- mentioned creek, twenty-eight from our last encampment, and about seventy-five from Pittsburg, we came to the Mirigo town, situate on the west side of the river, a little above the Cross creeks. This place contains about twenty cabins and seventy inhabitants of the Six Nations. Had 576 WASHINGTON. we set off early and kept constantly at it we might have reached lower than this place to-day, as the water in many places ran pretty swift, in general more so than yester day. The river from Fort Pitt to Logstown has some ugly rifts and shoals, which we found somewhat difficult to pass, whether from our inexperience of the channel or not I cannot undertake to say. From Logstown to the mouth of Little Beaver creek is much the same kind of water; that is, rapid in some places, gliding gently along in others, and quite still in many. The water from Little Beaver creek to the Mingo town in general is swifter than we found it the preceding day, and without any shal lows; there being some one part or another always deep, which is a natural consequence, as the river in all the dis tance from Fort Pitt to this town has not widened at all, nor do the bottoms appear to be any larger. The hills which come close to the river opposite to each bottom are steep, and on the side in view, in many places rocky and cragged, but said to abound in good land on the tops. These are not a range of hills, but broken and cut in two, as if there were frequent watercourses running through, which however we did not perceive to be the case. The river abounds in wild geese and several kinds of ducks, but in no great quantity. We killed five wild turkeys to day. Upon our arrival at the Mingo town we received the disagreeable news of two traders being killed at a town called the Grape-Vine town, thirty-eight miles below this, which caused us to hesitate whether we should proceed or wait for further intelligence." The sequel of this affair is thus noticed in the record of events on the 24th and 25th of October: " Two or three miles below the Pipe creek is a pretty large creek on the west side, called by Nicholson, Fox- Grape Vine, by others Captema, creek, on which, eight LIFE AND TIMES. 577 miles up, is the town called the Grape- Vine town; and at the mouth of it is the place where it is said the trader was killed. To this place we came about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and finding nobody there we agreed to encamp, that Nicholson and one of the Indians might go up to the town and inquire into the truth of the report concerning the murder. " 25th. About 7 o'clock Nicholson and the Indian re turned ; they found nobody at the town but two old Indian women (the men being a hunting) ; from these they learned that the trader was not murdered, but drowned hi at tempting to cross the Ohio; and that only one boy, be longing to the traders, was in these parts; the trader, his father, being gone for horses to take home their skins. About half an hour after 7 we set out from our encamp ment, around which and up the creek is a body of fine land. In our passage down to this place we saw innu merable quantities of turkeys, and many deer watering and browsing on the shore side, some of which we killed." On the next day, near Long Reach, the party encoun tered traders, from whom they learn more particulars about the false alarm: "At the end of this reach we found Martin and Lindsay, two traders, and from them learnt that the person drowned was one Philips, attempting, in company with Rogers, another Indian trader, to swim the river with their horses at an improper place; Rogers himself narrowly escaping." In the following record of the proceedings on the 28th of October, we find an exquisite picture of Indian life and manners : " 28th. Left our encampment about 7 o'clock. Two miles below, a small run comes in on the east side, through a piece of land that has a very good appearance, the bot tom beginning above our encampment and continuing in 27 578 WASHINGTON. appearance wide for four miles down, where we found Kiashuta and his hunting party encamped. Here we were under the necessity of paying our compliments, as this person was one of the Six Nation chiefs, and the head of those upon this river. In the person of Kiashuta I found an old acquaintance, he being one of the Indians that went with me to the French in 1753. He expressed a satisfaction at seeing me, and treated us with great kindness, giving us a quarter of very fine buffalo. He insisted upon our spending ^that night with him, and, in order to retard us as little as possible, moved his camp down the river just below the mouth of a creek, the name of which I could not learn. At this place we all encamped. After much counseling over night, they all came to my fire the next morning with great formality, when Kia shuta, rehearsing what had passed between me and the sachems at Colonel Croghan's, thanked me for saying that peace and friendship with them were the wish of the people of Virginia, and for recommending it to the traders to deal with them upon a fair and equitable footing; and then again expressed their desire of having a trade opened with Virginia, and that the Governor thereof might not only be made acquainted therewith, but with their friendly disposition toward the white people. This I promised to do. " 29th. The tedious ceremony which the Indians ob serve in their counselings and speeches detained us till 9 o'clock." In the following record of the 3ist of October, and the two following days, we find the travelers at the farthest point they had proposed to visit, the Great Kenhawa river : " 3 1 st. I sent the canoe down about five miles to the junction of the two rivers, that is, the Kenhawa with the LIFE AND TIMES. 579 Ohio, and set out upon a hunting party to view the land. We steered nearly east for about eight or nine miles, then bore southwardly and westwardly till we came to our camp at the confluence of the rivers. The land from the rivers appeared but indifferent and very broken; whether these ridges may not be those that divide the waters of the Ohio from the Kenhawa is not certain, but I believe they are; if so, the lands may yet be good; if not, that which lies beyond the river bottoms is worth little. " November ist (1770). Before 8 o'clock we set off with our canoe up the river, to discover what kind of lands lay upon the Kenhawa. The land on both sides this river, just at the mouth, is very fine, but on the east side, when you get toward the hills, which I judge to be about 600 or 700 yards from the river, it appears to be wet, and better adapted for meadow than tillage. This bottom continues up the east side for about two miles; and by going up the Ohio a good tract might be got of bottom land, including the old Shawnee town, which is about three miles up the Ohio, just above the mouth of a creek. We judged we went up the Kenhawa about ten miles to day. On the east side appear to be some good bottoms, but small, neither long nor wide, and the hills back of them rather steep and poor. " 2d. We proceeded up the river with the canoe about four miles farther, and then encamped and went a hunting; killed five buffaloes and wounded some others, three deer, etc. This country abounds in buffaloes and wild game of all kinds, as also in all kinds of wild fowl, there being in the bottoms a great many small, grassy ponds or lakes, which are full of swans, geese, and ducks of different kinds." The following notice of the first day on tihe return voy- 580 WASHINGTON. age is exceedingly characteristic of Washington's methodi cal and business-like habits: " 3d. We set off down the river on our return home ward and encamped at the mouth. At the beginning of the bottom above the junction of the rivers, and at the mouth of a branch on the east side, I marked two maples, an elm, and hoop-wood tree as a corner of the soldiers' land (if we can get it), intending to take all the bottom from hence to the rapids in the Great Bend into one survey. I also marked at the mouth of another run lower down on the west side, at the lower end of the long bot tom, an ash and hoop-wood for the beginning of another of the soldiers' survey, to extend up so as to include all the bottom in a body on the west side. In coming from our last encampment up the Kenhawa, I endeavored to take the courses and distances of the river by a pocket- compass and by guessing." In the following memorandum Kiashuta again comes upon the stage: " 6th. We left our encampment a little after daylight, and after about five miles we came to Kiashuta's hunting camp, which was now removed to the mouth of that creek, noted October 2Qth for having fallen timber at the mouth of it, in a bottom of good land. By kindness and idle ceremony of the Indians, I was detained at Kiashuta's camp all the remaining part of this day." From Kiashuta, Washington, on this occasion, obtained much valuable information respecting the topography of that part of the neighboring country which he had not seen; and this information is entered in detail on the jour nal evidently for future reference. The portion of the journal from the Qth to the i7th of November was so much injured by an accident that it could not be tran scribed for publication; but the record for the I7th, the LIFE AND TIMES. 581 day of their arrival at Mingo town, contains an extended notice of the rivers and lands the party had visited, as well as of the Indians and their disposition toward land speculators and squatters, who had already commenced operations on the land lying between the Ohio river and the recognized boundary of Virginia. At Mingo town the party brought their boating excur sion to an end. On the i8th of November, Washington agreed with two Delaware Indians to take the canoe up to Fort Pitt, and on the 2Oth, their horses having been brought to them, the party set forward for Fort Pitt, where they arrived the next day. The record of the 22d mentions Dr. Connolly, after ward distinguished in the history of the western country as a large operator in lands and in colonization. The reader will notice that in this and several previous ex tracts Pittsburg is mentioned; this name, it seems, being already given to the little cluster of log cabins just com menced near the site of Fort Pitt (old Fort Duquesne) : " 22d. Stayed at Pittsburg all day. Invited the officers and some other gentlemen to dinner with me at Semple's, among whom was one Dr. Connolly, nephew to Colonel Croghan, a very sensible, intelligent man, who had trav eled over a good deal of this western country both by land and water, and who confirms Nicholson's account of the good land on the Shawnee river, up which he had been near 400 miles. This country (I mean on the Shaw- nee river), according to Dr. Connolly's description, must be exceedingly desirable on many accounts. The climate is fine, the soil remarkably good, the lands well watered with good streams, and level enough for any kind of cul tivation. Besides these advantages from nature, it has others not less important to a new settlement, particu larly game, which is so plentiful as to render the trans- 582 WASHINGTON. portation of provisions thither, bread only excepted, alto gether unnecessary. Dr. Connolly is so much delighted with the lands and climate on that river that he wishes for nothing more than to induce 100 families to go there and live, that he might be among them. A new and most de sirable government might be established there, to be bounded, according to his account, by the Ohio north ward and westward, by the ridge that divides the waters of the Tennessee or Cherokee river southward and west ward, and a line to be run from the Falls of the Ohio, or above, so as to cross the Shawnee river above the fork of it. Dr. Connolly gives much the same account of the land between Fort Chartres, in the Illinois country, and Post St. Vincent that Nicholson does, except in the article of water, which the doctor says is bad and in the summer scarce, there being little else than stagnant water to be met with." On the 23d of November (1770), Washington set out on his return to Mount Vernon, which he reached on the ist of December, after an absence of nine weeks and one day. The journal of his tour, from which we have made such copious extracts, shows the laborious and fatiguing nature of traveling in the wilderness; but it was also at tended with a species of danger still more formidable than any which he actually encountered. This was the hostility of the Indians, who had recently been engaged in war with the British colonists, and who, soon after this tour of Washington, again attacked them, and a bloody war ensued, of which the principal battle took place on the banks of the Great Kenhawa, which had so recently been visited by Washington and his party. Washington intended to make another tour to the West shortly after his return, in company with Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, successor to Lord Botetourt. But LIFE AND TIMES. 583 he was prevented by severe domestic affliction from ful filling his purpose. This was occasioned by the death of Miss Custis, the only daughter of Mrs. Washington. " The long, severe, and fatal illness of Mrs. Washing ton's daughter," says Mrs. Kirkland,* " was the darkest cloud that overspread Mount Vernon for many years of quiet time. The feeble child was the darling of her mother; and her prolonged suffering made large drafts, not only upon the tender mother, but upon the kind stepfather; and when at length she died, Washington, who was just setting out upon a long journey of exploration, prepara tory to the purchase of some tracts of land at the West, gave up the expedition and staid at home to comfort and cheer his wife under her great affliction. Mrs. Lewis, granddaughter of Mrs. Washington, says that on the occa sion of this young lady's death, Washington exhibited a passionate excess of feeling falling on his knees at the bedside and praying aloud and with tears that she might be spared, unconscious that, even as he spoke, life had departed. We find by his diary after this time that he took Mrs. Washington out every day, driving about the neighborhood and calling on intimate friends, endeavoring by exercise in the open air and by the society of those she loved to turn her thoughts from the too constant con templation of her loss. She was a woman of strong af fections, very quiet and retiring in her habits, and de voted to her family; and Washington's sympathy was never wanting when she suffered from loss or separation." *" Memoirs of Washington/' p. 202. CHAPTER VIII. POLITICAL UNION OF THE COLONIES. I77I-I773. IN March, 1771, Hutchinson received his commission as Governor of Massachusetts. It was unfortunate for his character that he accepted it, as it was des tined to bring him nothing but disappointment and dis grace; but his maladministration was ultimately service able to the Colonies, as it undoubtedly served to hasten the period of open hostilities and of consequent independ ence. One of the first incidents which followed his ap pointment was the announcement of a fresh attack on the chartered rights of the Colony by the ministry. He had enjoyed his commission as Governor but a very short time when he acquainted the provincial Assembly that he no longer required a salary from them, as the King had mad-e provision for his support. By this measure the British court expected gradually to introduce into practi cal operation the principle for which it had already con tended, of rendering the emoluments, as well as the com munication and endurance, of executive functions in America wholly dependent on the pleasure of the Crown; and probably it was supposed that the Americans would give little heed to the principle of an innovation of which the first practical effect was to relieve them from a con siderable burden. But the Americans valued liberty more than money, (584) LIFE AND TIMES. 585 and justly accounted it the political basis on which re posed the stability of every temporal advantage. Hutch- inson's communication was deliberately examined and dis cussed, and a month afterward (July 10, 1771), the As sembly, by a message, declared to him that the royal pro vision for his support and his own acceptance of it was an infraction of the rights of the inhabitants recognized by the provincial charter, an insult to the Assembly, and an invasion of the important trust which from the founda tion of their Commonwealth they had ever continued to exercise. Hutchinson, who, like many scholars, entertained senti ments rather kindly than respectful of the mass of man kind, and never justly appreciated the fortitude, resolution, and foresight of his countrymen, appears to have been struck with surprise at their conduct on this occasion. This, at least, is the most intelligible explanation of his behavior, when, some time after, they desired his assent to the usual provision they made for the salaries of the judges. Instead of frankly granting or withholding his sanction, he continued to hesitate and temporize, until a remonstrance from the Assembly elicited from him the avowal, for which they were quite prepared, that he could no longer authorize a provincial provision for the judges, as the King had undertaken to provide for their remu neration also. The Assembly instantly passed a resolution declaring that this measure tended to the subversion of justice and equity; and that, while the tenure of judicial office con tinued to depend on the pleasure of the King, " any of the judges who shall accept of and depend upon the pleas ure of the Crown for his support, independent of the grants of the Assembly, will discover that he is an enemy 586 . WASHINGTON. to the Constitution, and has it in his heart to promote the establishment of arbitrary power in the province." We shall here so far overstep the march of time and order of events as to notice the issue of this particular dispute, which did not occur till the commencement of the year 1774, when four of the judges acquainted the As sembly that they had received the salary voted to them by the representatives of the people, and refused to accept emolument from any other quarter; but Oliver, the Chief Justice, announced that he had received the King's salary, and without His Majesty's permission could not accept any other emolument. The Assembly thereupon tendered an impeachment against Oliver to the Governor and coun cil, and as Hutchinson refused to receive it, they protested that his refusal was occasioned by his own dependence on the Crown. They had never indeed any hope that it would be received, and were incited to these measures by the desire of rendering Hutchinson and Oliver additionr- ally unpopular. In the close of the present year (1772), Samuel Adams suggested to his countrymen the expediency of a meas ure fitted to counteract the representations of Hutchin son and his adherents, who gave out that the popular op position was more formidable in appearance than in reality and was at bottom merely an intrigue of a few factious men; and in conformity with his suggestion, .the inhab itants of Boston (November 22, 1772) elected twenty-one of their fellow-citizens as a committee empowered to cor respond with the rest of the inhabitants of the province, to consider and represent the common grievances, and to publish to the world an account of their transactions. The committee thus elected prepared and dispersed throughout the province a report of all the encroachments that had been attempted or committed upon American LIFE AND TIMES. 58? liberty, together with a circular letter which concluded in these terms: " Let us consider, brethren, that we are struggling for our best birthright and inheritance, of which the infringement renders all other blessings precarious in their enjoyment and consequently trifling in their value. We are not afraid of poverty, but we disdain slavery. Let us disappoint the men who are raising themselves on the ruin of this country. Let us convince every invader of our freedom that we will be as free as the Constitution which our fathers recognized will justify." The powerful influence of this measure was not confined to the province of Massachusetts, nor even to the States of New England. It will be seen in the sequel that it was adopted by all the Colonies. The following extract, from a British writer, evinces how well the importance of Samuel Adams's invention of committees of correspondence was understood in Eng land, where it was attributed to their " favorite aversion," Dr. Franklin: " The Americans declared that the design of the British Government was to impose its own arbitrary instruments upon them, to destroy the very essence of their charters and liberties, by making the judges and governors wholly independent of the people, and wholly dependent upon the Crown. A series of protests, begun at Boston, where the Assembly of Massachusetts had returned to sit, soon ran through all the Colonies ; and a general corresponding committee was established, with branches and ramifica tions reaching to nearly every town and village in the Col onies. This committee of correspondence proved the great lever of revolution. The invention of it has been attributed to Franklin, but the thing itself, the uses to which it might be applied, and its absolute necessity in a country where the population was scattered over such im- 588 WASHINGTON. mense tracts of land, with mighty rivers and forests, moun tains and deserts intervening, were all so obvious that they must have struck the dullest apprehension, and the idea no doubt sprung up spontaneously in thousands of minds at once. The effect was soon seen in a general combina tion of measures, a unanimity of language, and a general avoidance or persecution of all who presumed to side with the British Government. The words and deeds of an in dividual at Boston were made known everywhere, and the Tories, as they were called, could not travel or show their faces anywhere without being reviled and threatened as enemies to their country. Liberty has its arbitrary de vices as well as despotism. Description of persons, like the slgnalemens on a French passport, were scattered far and wide, so that the traveling Tories found themselves recognized even where they least expected to be known." During the month (October, 1770) before Washington commenced his journey to the western country another important change had taken place in the measures adopted by the British ministry for reducing the people of Massa chusetts to obedience. While the General Court were in session for the third time at Cambridge, the Lieutenant- Governor (Hutchinson) had received an order which had been adopted by the King in council,* making the harbor of Boston the rendezvous of all ships stationed in North America, and the fortress (Castle William), which com manded it, was to be delivered up to such officer as Gen eral Gagef should appoint, to be garrisoned by regular troops and put into a respectable state of defense. Gage directed Hutchinson to deliver up Castle William to Col onel Dalrymple. * Bancroft. " History of the United States," vol. VI, p. 369. t Commander-in-Chief of the royal forces in America; at this time he was in England. LIFE AND TIMES. 589 This command of the King, Hutchinson, after one day's hesitation, carried into effect by a sort of stratagem, thus violating the charter of Massachusetts, which confided the military force of the Colony and its forts to the Governor alone. The civil power was thus brought into subjection to the military, and " the act," says Bancroft, " was a com mencement of civil war." No attempt was made by the Bostonians to displace the royal troops. The people understood the menace, but "bided their time." The General Court protested; and then proceeded to institute an inquiry into the state of the province, with a view to the redress of grievances. Hutch inson, in the meantime, was secretly urging Lord Hills- borough the complete subversion of the charter of Massa chusetts and the remodeling of its government on the principles of despotism. In June, 1772, Hutchinson, for the fourth time, ordered the General Court to assemble in Cambridge. He per sisted in this course, so vexatious to the members, merely as an assertion of prerogative, and it was precisely on this ground that the Legislature remonstrated against being exiled from the proper seat of government for the province. Weary of the contest, he now put an end to discussion by adjourning the session to Boston. Soon after, the famous affair of the schooner Gaspee took place. This vessel was commanded by Lieutenant Dudingston, who was loudly complained of by the people of Providence, R. I., for obstructing the commerce of the place without having shown any evidence of his au thority. Chief Justice Hopkins pronounced this conduct a trespass, if not piracy; but he was sustained by the ad miral, who threatened those persons who should rescue a vessel from any of the King's officers with being hung as pirates. Thus supported, Dudingston " insulted the in- 590 WASHINGTON. habitants, plundered the island of sheep and hogs, cut down trees, fired at market boats, detained vessels with out a colorable pretext, and made illegal seizures of goods, of which the recovery cost more than they were worth."* On the 9th of June (1772), the Providence packet was sailing into the harbor of Newport, and Lieutenant Dud- ingston thought proper to require the captain to lower his colors. This the captain of the packet deemed repug nant to his patriotic feelings, and the Gaspee fired at the packet to bring her to; the American however still per sisted in holding on her course, and, by keeping in shoal water, dexterously contrived to run the schooner aground in the chase. As the tide was upon the ebb, the Gaspee was set fast for the night, and afforded a tempting opportunity for retaliation; and a party of men led by John Brown and Joseph Brown, of Providence, and Simeon Potter, of Bris tol, being determined to rid themselves of so uncivil an inspector, in the middle of the night manned several boats and boarded the Gaspee. The lieutenant was wounded in the affray, but, with everything belonging to him, he was carefully conveyed on shore, as were all his crew. The vessel, with her stores, was then burnt, and the party returned unmolested to their homes. When the Governor became acquainted with this event, he offered a reward of 500 for the discovery of the offenders, and the royal pardon to those who would confess their guilt. Com missioners were appointed also to investigate the offense and bring the perpetrators to justice; but, after remain ing some time in session, they reported that they could obtain no evidence, and thus the affair terminated; a cir cumstance which forcibly illustrates the inviolable brother- * Bancroft, " History of the United States," vol. VI, p. 413. LIFE AND TIMES. 591 hood which then united the people against the govern ment. Governor Hutchinson was anxious to have the persons concerned in the destruction of the Gaspee sent to Eng land for trial and hung at Execution Dock, under an act recently passed for the protection of the King's dockyards, ships, and stores; and Lord Sandwich wished to have the charter of Rhode Island revoked. Meantime the General Court were examining the sub ject of the recent attacks on the charter, in the provision for rendering civil officers independent of the people by making them dependent on the Crown for their salaries. The House declared " that the innovation was an important change in the Constitution, and exposed the province to a despotic administration of the government." Lord Hillsborough, who had been greatly influenced in his despotic measures against the Colonies by the letter of Hutchinson, resigned his office of Secretary for the Colonies, and was succeeded by Lord Dartmouth,* an amiable and candid man, sincerely desirous of concilia tion and peace, but like the other members of the British ministry, by no means well informed on the actual condi tion of the Colonies, and the real disposition of the people. A personal animosity between Governor Hutchinson and some distinguished patriots in Massachusetts con tributed to perpetuate a flame of discontent in that province, after it had elsewhere visibly abated. This was worked up in the year 1773, to a high pitch by a singular combination of circumstances. Some letters had been written in the course of the dispute by Governor Hutch inson, Lieutenant-Governor Oliver, and others in Boston, to persons in power and office in England, which contained a very unfavorable representation of the state of public * Bancroft, "History of the United States." 592 WASHINGTON. affairs, and tended to show the necessity of coercive measures, and of changing the chartered system of gov ernment, to secure the obedience of the province. These letters fell into the hands of Dr. Franklin, agent of the province, who transmitted them to Boston. The indig nation and animosity which was excited on the receipt of them knew no bounds. The House of Assembly agreed on a petition and remonstrance to His Majesty, in which they charged their Governor and Lieutenant- Governor with being betrayers of their trusts, and of the people they governed, and of giving private, partial, and false information. They also declared them enemies to the Colonies, and prayed for justice against them, and for their speedy removal from their places. These charges were carried through by a majority of eighty-two to twelve. This petition and remonstrance being transmitted to England, the merits of it were discussed before His Majesty's privy council. After a hearing before that board, in which Dr. Franklin represented the province of Massachusetts, the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor were acquitted. Mr. Wedderburne, who defended the accused royal servants, in the course of his pleadings, inveighed against Dr. Franklin in the severest language, as the fomenter of the disputes between the two countries. It was no protection to this venerable sage, that being the agent of Massachusetts, he conceived it his duty to inform his constituents of letters, written on public affairs, calcu lated to overturn their chartered Constitution. The age, respectability, and high literary character of the subject of Mr. Wedderburne's philippic, turned the attention of the p-ublic on the transaction. The insult offered to one of their public agents, and especially to one who was both the idol and ornament of his native country, sunk LIFE AND TIMES. 593 deep in the minds of the Americans. That a faithful servant, whom they loved and almost adored, should be insulted for discharging his official duty rankled in their hearts. Dr. Franklin was also immediately dismissed from the office of Postmaster-General, which he held under the Crown. It was not only by his transmission of these letters that he had given offense to the British ministry, but by his popular writings in favor of America. Two pieces of his in particular had lately attracted a large share of public attention, and had an extensive influence on both sides of the Atlantic. The one purported to be an edict from the King of Prussia, for taxing the inhabitants of Great Britain, as descendants of emigrants from his dominions; the other was entitled: " Rules for reducing a great empire to a small one," in both of which he had exposed the claims of the mother country, and the pro ceedings of the British ministry, with the severity of poig nant satire. The system of committees of correspondence, invented by Samuel Adams, had hitherto been confined to the towns of Massachusetts. To Virginia, the credit is due of having extended it to all the Colonies. The House of Burgesses, after being repeatedly prorogued by proclamations of the Governor, Lord Dunmore, met on the 4th of March, 1773 . On the I2th of the same month, the Assembly unanimously adopted a series of resolutions, moved by Dabney Carr,* providing for the appointment of a com mittee of the Legislature to correspond with the Legisla tures of the other Colonies, and recommending the same measure to be adopted by them, "thereby establishing channels of intelligence and a bond of union, which proved of the utmost importance to the general cause. Washing- * Alexander H. Everett, Life of Patrick Henry, in Sparks's "American Biography," 2d series, vol. I, p. 280. 38 594 WASHINGTON. ton was present and gave his hearty support to these resolves."* They were also supported with great eloquence by Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee. Among the names of the Virginia committee of correspondence then appointed are those of Bland, Lee, Henry, Carr, and Jef ferson, f This measure, which produced an important effect in animating the resolution and harmonizing the proceedings of the Americans, was so grateful in particular to the citizens of Boston, that in ajetter of instructions which they addressed shortly after to their representatives in the Assembly, they desired them seriously to consider if the salvation of American liberty and the restoration of friend ship between America and Britain did not demand an im mediate concurrence with the wise and salutary proposal of our noble patriotic sister Colony of Virginia. The recommendation of the citizens of Boston was favorably received by the Assembly of Massachusetts, which instantly appointed a committee of correspondence with the other Colonies. In a circular letter published shortly after by this oommittee, the prospect of a quarrel between England and Spain was remarked in these terms: " Should a war take place, which by many is thought to be probable, America will be viewed by the administration as important to Great Britain. Her aid will be deemed necessary; her friendship will be courted. Would it not then be wise in the several American governments to with hold all kind of aid in a general war, till their rights and liberties are permanently restored and secured?" "With regard to the extent of rights," they added, "which the Colonies ought to insist upon, it is a subject which requires the greatest attention and deliberation.. This is a strong reason why it should claim the earliest consideration of * Sparks, "Life of Washington," p. 113. t Bancroft, " History of the United States," vol. VI, p. 453. LIFE AND TIMES. 595 every comrrittee, that we may be prepared, when time and circumstances shall give to our claim the surest prospect of success. And when we consider how one great event has hurried on after another, such a time may come sooner than we suppose." Hutchinson, about this time, with a rash confidence in his own talents and an eager hope of recommending him self to the British court, undertook in his speeches to the Assembly of Massachusetts to support by argument the legislative supremacy of Parliament a doctrine which we have seen that his own original opinions outstripped those of his countrymen in opposing. This misplaced exer tion of zeal was generally disapproved, even in England, where it was remarked with displeasure that principles solemnly established by the Crown and Parliament were at once unhinged and degraded by the presumptuous argu mentative patronage of a provincial Governor. Thomas Hutchinson, who thus arraigned himself on the side of the Crown and Parliament of England, had gradu ated at Harvard College in 1727, and had studied law with a view to the public service. For ten years he was a representative from Boston in the General Court, and was three times chosen speaker. In 1752 he was appointed Judge of Probate; was a member of the council from 1749 to 1766; Lieutenant-Go vernor from 1758 to 1771; and in 1760 was appointed Chief Jus tice. At one time he held the offices of Councillor, Judge of Probate, Chief Justice, and Lieutenant-Governor. By siding with the mother country in her attempts to raise a revenue from the Colonies, he became extremely obnoxious to the people. A brother-in-law of Mr. Hutchinson being appointed Distributor of Stamps, the people, or rather the mob, after compelling him to resign his office, paid a visit to Governor Hutchinson's house, in consequence of a re port that he had written letters in favor of the Act ; but the 596 WASHINGTON. chief damage done on this occasion consisted in breaking his windows. A few evenings subsequently there was a more formidable assault. The merchants being displeased with the officers of the customs and the admiralty, a mob was collected in the evening of August 26, 1765, in King street, and well supplied with strong drink. They first plundered the cellar of the Comptroller of Customs of the wine and spirits, and then proceeded with intoxicated rage to the house of Mr. Hutchinson, where splitting the doors to pieces with broad-axes, they destroyed or cast into the street everything which was in the house, retaining posses sion until daylight. The damage was estimated at 2,500, besides the loss of a great collection of public and private papers. He received a compensation for his losses. The Governor was that night at the castle. The citizens the next day passed a vote of censure on the rioters, but no person was punished; even six or eight persons, who were imprisoned for participation in the disturbance, were re leased by another mob, who by threats obtained the keys of the prison from the prison keeper. In 1768, the arrival of the troops at Boston increased the popular excitement against the Lieutenant-Governor. When Governor Ber nard left the province in 1769, the administration devolved on the Lieutenant-Governor, and in the next year, the Boston massacre, as it was called, occurred, inflaming the public mind. He had a long controversy with the General Court, caused by his prorogation of it to Cambridge by order of the King. At this period, in meditating on the future, he concluded that it would be prudent for him to remain in the office of Chief Justice and pass his days in peace. In the meantime however (March, 1771), his com mission as Governor was received. Unfortunately for him self, he accepted the appointment; for from this time till his departure for England in 1774, he was in constant dis pute with the Assembly and Council. The discovery of his LIFE AND TIMES. 597 confidential letters to the British Government, giving de tails of the position of affairs in the Colony, accompanied by advice as to the measures to be pursued for coercion, caused him not a little trouble and uneasiness. The last public difficulty was the affair of the tea, a part of which had been consigned to two of his sons. At this time the Sons of Liberty, as they were called, had nullified all the powers of government. No officer dared to issue or serve a precept. February 24, 1774, the Governor informed the Legislature by message that he had obtained His Majesty's leave to return to England, and that he would soon avail himself of it; accordingly he sailed for England June ist. After the publication of the letters in 1773, the Council and the House voted an address asking for the removal of the Governor. A hearing was had before the privy-council relative to the subject of their petition, who gave a decision in favor of " the honor, integrity, and conduct of the Gov ernor," which indorsement of his official acts was approved by the King. He was deprived of all his offices in America, but received in lieu therefor a pension from the British Government. He died in 1780, aged 69. He published "A Brief State of the Claim of the Colonies, 1764; " " The History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, from the First Settlement Thereof in 1628, until the year 1750," in 2 vols. 8vo., the first issued in 1760, and the second in 1767; "A Collection of Original Papers Relative to the History of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay," 8vo., 1769. These works are highly esteemed by those who are engaged in investi- Collection of Original Papers Relative to the History of the " History of Massachusetts from 1749 to 1774," was pub lished from his manuscripts by his grandson. London, 8vo., 1828. Thomas Gage, the last Governor of Massachusetts ap pointed by the King, had been Governor of Montreal in 598 WASHINGTON. 1760, and in 1763, at the departure of Amherst from America, commissioned Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in that country. In 1774 he superseded Hutchinson as Governor of Massachusetts, and arrived at Boston, May 1 3th. Several regiments soon followed him, and he began to repair the fortifications on Boston Neck. As precau tionary measures, he caused the powder in the arsenal at Charlestown to be seized, and sent detachments of troops to take possession of the military stores deposited in Salem or its vicinity, and others were directed to proceed to Concord. The detachment sent to Concord encountered the Americans at Lexington early in the morning of April 19, 1775, when hostilities commenced, which were renewed at Concord, and continued till the British troops reached their encampment at Charlestown, toward evening. In May, the Provincial Congress declared Gage to be an in veterate enemy of the country, disqualified to serve the Colony as Governor, and unworthy of obedience. It was his misfortune to enter upon the duties of his office at a time when it became necessary for him, as a faithful servant of his King, to execute laws framed expressly for the in fliction of chastisement upon the people of the Colony over which he was placed. He possessed a naturally amiable disposition, and his benevolence often outweighed his jus tice in the scale of duty. Under other circumstances, his name might have been sweet in the recollection of the Americans; now it is identified with oppression and hatred of freedom. In June, he issued a proclamation, offering pardon to all the rebels, excepting Samuel Adams and John Hancock, and establishing martial law. An answer to this proclamation was prepared by Congress; but before its publication the battle of Bunker Hill put an end to the paper war. In October, 1775, he went to England, where he died in April, 1787. CHAPTER IX. WASHINGTON A POLITICIAN. 1773-1774. WE have now arrived at a period when the spirited resistance of the Bostonians to the introduction of tea into the Colony of Massachusetts gave an entirely new aspect to the American controversy, and rapidly brought affairs to the crisis which they had fore seen, and for which they were prepared. To understand this in its origin, it is necessary to recur to the period when the solitary duty on tea was excepted from the par tial repeal of the Revenue Act of 1767. When the duties which had been laid on glass, paper, and painters' colors were taken off, a respectable minority in Parliament con tended that the duty on tea should also be removed. To this it was replied: ''That as the Americans denied the legality of taxing them, a total repeal would be a virtual acquiescence in their claims; and that in order to preserve the rights of the mother country it was necessary to retain the preamble and at least one of the taxed articles." It was answered that a partial repeal would be a source of endless discontent that the tax on tea would not defray the expenses of collecting it. The motion in favor of a total repeal was thrown out by a great majority. As the Parliament thought fit to retain the tax on tea for an evidence of their right of taxation, the Americans in like manner, to be consistent with themselves in denying (599) 600 WASHINGTON. that right, discontinued the importation of that commo dity. While there was no attempt to introduce tea into the Colonies against this declared sense of the inhabitants, these opposing claims were in no danger of collision. In that case the mother country might have solaced herself with her ideal rights, and the Colonies, with their favorite opinion of a total exemption from Parliamentary taxes, without disturbing the public peace. This mode of com promising the dispute, which seemed at first designed as a salvo for the honor and consistency of both parties, was by the interference of the East India Company, in com bination with the British ministry, completely overset. The expected revenue from tea failed in consequence of the American association to import none on which a duty was charged. This, though partially violated in some of the Colonies, was well observed in others, and particularly in Pennsylvania, where the duty was never paid on more than one chest of that commodity. This proceeded as much from the spirit of gain as of patriotism. The mer chants found means of supplying their countrymen with tea, smuggled from countries to which the power of Britain did not extend. They doubtless conceived them selves to be supporting the rights of their country by refusing to purchase tea from Britain, but they also re flected that if they could bring the same commodity to market free of duty, their profits would be proportion ately greater. The love of gain was not peculiar to the American mer chants. From the diminished exportation to the Colonies, the warehouses of the British East India Company had in them about 17,000,000 pounds of tea, for which a market could not readily be procured. The ministry and the East India Company, unwilling to lose, the one the expected rev enue from the sale of tea in America, the other their usual LIFE AND TIMES. 601 commercial profits, agreed on a measure t>y which they sup posed both would be secured. The East India Company were by law authorized to ex port their tea free of duties to all places whatsoever. By this regulation, tea, though loaded with an exceptionable duty, would come cheaper to the Colonies than before it had been made a source of revenue; for the duty when taken off it, when exported from Great Britain, was greater than what was to be paid on its importation into the Colo nies. Confident of success in finding a market for their tea, thus reduced in its price, and also of collecting a duty on its importation and sale in the Colonies, the East India Company freighted several ships with teas for the different Colonies, and appointed agents for the disposal thereof. This measure united several interests in opposition to its execution. The patriotism of the Americans was corrobo rated by several auxiliary aids, no way connected with the cause of liberty. The merchants in England were alarmed at the losses that must accrue to themselves, from the exportations of the East India Company, and from the sales going through the hands of consignees. Letters were written from that country to colonial patriots, urging that opposition to which they of themselves were prone. The smugglers, who were both numerous and powerful, could not relish a scheme which by underselling them, and taking a profitable branch of business out of their hands, threatened a diminution of their gains. The colonists were too suspicious of the designs of Great Britain to be imposed upon. The cry of endangered liberty once more excited an alarm from New Hampshire to Georgia. The first opposi tion to the execution of the scheme adopted by the East India Company began with the American merchants. 602 WASHINGTON. They saw a profitable branch of their trade 'likely to be lost, and the benefits of it to be transferred to people in Great Britain. They felt for the wound that would be in flicted on their country's claim of exemption from Parlia mentary taxation, but they felt with equal sensibility for the losses they would sustain by the diversion of the streams of commerce into unusual channels. The great body of the people, from principles of the purest patriotism, were brought over to second their wishes. They considered the whole scheme as calculated Jo seduce them into an ac quiescence with the views of Parliament, for raising an American revenue. Much pains were taken to enlighten the colonists on this subject, and to convince them of the imminent hazard to which their liberties were exposed. The provincial patriots insisted largely on the perse vering determination of the parent State to establish her claim of taxation, by compelling the sale of tea in the Colonies against the solemn resolutions and declared sense of the inhabitants, and that at a time when the commer cial intercourse of the two countries was renewed, and their ancient harmony fast returning. The proposed ven ders of the tea were represented as revenue officers, em ployed in the collection of an unconstitutional tax imposed by Great Britain. The colonists reasoned with them selves that as the duty and the price of the commodity were inseparably blended, if the tea was sold, every pur chaser would pay a tax imposed by the British Parliament, as part of the purchase money. To obviate this evil, and to prevent the liberties of a great country from being sac rificed by inconsiderate purchasers, sundry town meetings were held in the capitals of the different provinces, and combinations were formed to obstruct the sales of the tea sent by the East India Company. The resolutions entered into by the inhabitants of Phila- LIFE AND TIMES. 603 delphia, on October 18, 1773, afford a good specimen of the whole. These were as follows: " i. That the disposal of their own property is the in herent right of freemen; that there can be no property in that which another can, of right, take from us without our consent; that the claim of Parliament to tax America is, in other words, a claim of right to levy contributions on us at pleasure. 2. That the duty imposed by Parliament upon tea landed in America is a tax on the Americans, or levying contri butions on them without their consent. 3. That the express purpose for which the tax is levied on the Americans namely, for the support of govern ment, administration of justice, and defense of His Maj esty's dominions in America, has a direct tendency to render Assemblies useless, and to introduce arbitrary gov ernment and slavery. 4. That a virtuous and steady opposition to this minis terial plan of governing America, is absolutely necessary to preserve even the shadow of liberty, and is a duty which every freeman in America owes to his country, to him self, and to his posterity. 5. That the resolution lately entered into by the East India Company to send out their tea to America, subject to the payment of duties on its being landed here, is an open attempt to enforce this ministerial plan, and a violent attack upon the liberties of America. 6. That it is the duty of every American to oppose this attempt. 7. That whoever shall directly or indirectly countenance this attempt, or in any wise aid or abet in unloading, re ceiving, or vending the tea sent, or to be sent out by the East India Company, while it remains subject to the pay ment of a duty here, is an enemy to his country. 604 WASHINGTON. 8. That a committee be immediately chosen to wait on those gentlemen, who, it is reported, are appointed by the East India Company to receive and sell said tea, and re quest them, from a regard to their own character and the peace and good order of the city and province, immedi ately to resign their appointment." As the time approached when the arrival of the tea ships might be soon expected, such measures were adopted as seemed most likely to prevent the landing of their car goes. The tea consignees appointed by the East India Company were, in several places, compelled to relinquish their appointments, and no others could be found hardy- enough to act in their stead. The pilots in the river Delaware were warned not to conduct any of the tea ships into their harbor. In New York, popular vengeance was denounced against all who would contribute, in any measure, to forward the views of the East India Company. The captains of the New York and Philadelphia ships, being apprised of the resolution of the people, and fearing the consequences of landing a commodity, charged with an odious duty, in violation of their declared public senti ments, concluded to return directly to Great Britain, with out making any entry at the custom house. It was otherwise in Massachusetts. The tea ships de signed for the supply of Boston were consigned to the sons, cousins, and particular friends of Governor Hutchinson. When they were called upon to resign, they answered " that it was out of their power." The collector refused to give a clearance, unless the vessels were discharged of dutiable articles. The Governor refused to give a pass for the vessels, unless properly qualified from the custom house. The Governor also requested Admiral Montagu to guard the passages out of the harbor, and gave order.s to suffer no vessels, coasters excepted, to pass the fortress LIFE AND TIMES. 605 from the town without a pass signed by himself. From a combination of these circumstances, the return of the tea vessels from Boston was rendered impossible. The in habitants then had no option but to prevent the landing of the tea or to suffer it to be landed, and depend on the unanimity of the people not to purchase it, or to de stroy the tea, or to suffer a deep-laid scheme against their sacred liberties to take effect. The first would have re quired incessant watching by night as well as by day for a period of time, the duration of which no one could com pute. The second would have been visionary to childish ness, by suspending the liberties of a growing country on the self-denial and discretion of every tea drinker in the province. They viewed the tea as the vehicle of an uncon stitutional tax, and as inseparably associated with it. To avoid the one, they resolved to destroy the other. This decision was not arrived at without considerable delay and preparation on the part of the people. Much time had already been consumed in town meetings, and conferences of the committee of correspondence in Boston with those of the neighboring towns. The first of the tea ships, the Dartmouth, owned by Rotch, a Quaker mer chant, had arrived on the 28th of November. On the ist of December (1773), Captain James Bruce, in the ship Eleanor, arrived with another portion of the tea. On the 3d, he was ordered to attend the next day on a committee of the people in Faneuil Hall, where he was commanded by Samuel Adams and Jonathan Wil liams, assembled with John Rowe, John Hancock, William Phillips, and John Pitts, Esqrs., and a great number of others, not to land any of the said tea, but to proceed to Griffin's wharf and there discharge the rest of his cargo. Captain Coffin arrived in the brig Beaver near the same time, and was ordered to pursue the same course. 606 WASHINGTON. It being perceived that Mr. Rotch rather lingered in his preparations to return the Dartmouth to London, and the twenty days being nearly expired, after which the col lector might seize the ship and cargo, Mr. Rotch was sum moned before the committee when he stated to them that it would prove his entire ruin if he should comply with the resolutions of the 29th and 3Oth of November, and there fore he could not do it. A meeting of the people was assembled at the Old South on Tuesday, December I4th, when Mr. Rotch appeared, and was enjoined forthwith to demand a clearance. It was ascertained that one could not be obtained till the next day, and therefore the meeting was adjourned to Thursday, at the same place. On Thursday, December 16, 1773, the meeting was im mense. In addition to the inhabitants of Boston, 2,000 men at least were present from the country. Samuel Phillips Savage, Esq., of Weston, was appointed moderator. Mr. Rotch reported that the collector would not give him a clearance. He was then ordered upon his peril to get his ship ready for sea this day, enter a protest immediately against the custom house, and proceed directly to the Gov ernor (then at Milton, seven miles distant), and demand a pass for his ship to go by the castle. An adjournment to 3 P. M. then took place. At 3, having met, they waited very patiently till 5 o'clock, when finding that Mr. Rotch did not return, they began to be very uneasy, called for a dissolution of the meeting, and obtained a vote for it. But the more judicious, fearing what would be the consequences, begged for a reconsideration of that vote, for this reason, " that they ought to do everything in their power to send the tea back, according to their resolves." This touched the pride of the assembly, and they agreed to remain together one hour. LIFE AND TIMES. 607 This interval was improved by Josiah Quincy, Jr.,* to apprise his fellow citizens of the importance of the crisis, and direct their attention to the probable results of this controversy. " It is not, Mr. Moderator/' he said, " the * Josiah Quincy, Jr., a distinguished lawyer, orator, and patriot of Boston, Massachusetts, was born in that city February 23, 1744. He was educated at Harvard College, where he was remarkably persevering, and graduated with unblemished reputation in 1763. He early became eminent in the practice of the law; and the cir cumstances of the time turning his thoughts to political topics, he took sides with the most eminent leaders in the cause of free dom against the aggressive policy of Britain. His boldness of speech was remarkable. As early as 1768 he used this language: " Did the blood of the ancient Britons swell our veins, did the spirit of our forefathers inhabit our breasts, should we hesitate a moment in preferring death to a miserable existence in bond age?" Again, in 1770, he declared: " I wish to see my country men break off off forever! all social intercourse with those whose commerce contaminates, whose luxuries poison, whose avarice is insatiable, and whose unnatural oppressions are not to be borne." He was associated with John Adams in the defense of the perpetrators of the " Boston Massacre," and did not by that defense alienate the good opinion of the people. In 1771 he was obliged to go south on account of a pulmonary complaint. At Charleston he formed an acquaintance with Pinckney, Rut- ledge, and other patriots; and, returning by land conferred with other leading Whigs in the several Colonies. Continued ill-health and a desire to make himself acquainted with English statesmen induced him to make a voyage to England in 1774, where he had personal interviews with most of the leading men. Becoming fully acquainted with the feelings and intentions of the King and his ministers, and hopeless of reconciliation Mr. Quincy determined to return and arouse his countrymen to action. He embarked for Boston with declining health in March, and on the 26th of April, 1775, when the vessel was in the harbor of Cape Ann, in sight of land, he died. Mr. Quincy's eminent talents and zealous attach ment to the cause of freedom, as well as his amiable and interest ing manners, made his early death a subject of universal lamentation. 608 WASHINGTON. spirit that vapors within these walls that must stand us in stead. The exertions of this day will call forth events which will make a very different spirit necessary for our salvation. Whoever supposes that shouts and hosannas will terminate the trials of this day entertains a childish fancy. He must be grossly ignorant of the importance and value of the prize for which we contend; we must be equally ignorant of the power of those who have combined against us; we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy, and insatiable revenge which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in our bosoms, to hope that we shall end this controversy without the sharpest conflicts to flatter ourselves that popular resolves, popular haran gues, popular acclamations, and popular vapor will van quish our foes. Let us consider the issue. Let us look to the end. Let us weigh and consider before we advance to those measures which must bring on the most trying and terrible struggle this country ever saw." He succeeded in holding them in attentive silence till Mr. Rotch's return, at three-quarters past 5 o'clock. The answer which he brought from the Governor was, " that for the honor of the laws, and from duty toward the King, he could not grant the permit until the vessel was regularly cleared." A violent commotion immediately ensued. A person who was in the gallery, disguised after the manner of the In dians, shouted at this juncture the cry of war; it was answered by about thirty persons disguised in like man ner, at the door. The meeting was dissolved in the twink ling of an eye. The multitude rushed to Griffin's wharf. The disguised Indians went on board the ships laden with the tea. In less than two hours 240 chests and 100 half chests were staved and emptied into the dock. The affair was concluded without any tumult; no damage was done to the vessels or to any other effects whatever. LIFE AND TIMES. 609 This was executed in the presence of several ships-of- war lying in the harbor, and almost under the guns of the castle, where there was a large body of troops at the com mand of the commissioners. We are left to conjecture for the reasons why no opposition was made to this bold ad venture. The promptness of the Bostonians in destroying the tea as soon as the meeting adjourned was fortunate for the cause of liberty. If they had delayed acting till the next day, the tea would have been placed under the protection of the admiral at the castle. After the work of destruction was completed the town became perfectly quiet, and the men from the country carried the news to their homes; and on the following day the committee of correspondence sent off an express, with their own account of what had been done, to New York and Philadelphia. The news was also speedily conveyed to England, and we now proceed to notice its effects in that country. The British ministry appear to have been highly grati fied that the town of Boston, which they ever regarded as the focus of sedition in America, had rendered itself, by the violent destruction of the property of the East India Company, obnoxious to their severest vengeance. On the 7th of March (1774), Lord North presented a message from the King to both houses of Parliament, in which it was stated, that " in consequence of the unwarrantable practices carried on in North America, and particularly of the violent and outrageous proceedings at the town and port of Boston, with a view of obstructing the commerce of this kingdom, and upon grounds and pretenses imme diately subversive of its Constitution, it was thought fit to lay the whole matter before Parliament, recommending it to their serious consideration, what further regulations or 39 610 WASHINGTON. permanent provisions might be necessary to be estab lished." On presenting the papers, Lord North represented the conduct of Boston in the darkest colors. He said, " that the utmost lenity on the part of the Governor, perhaps too much, had been already shown; and that this town, by its late proceedings, had left the government perfectly at lib erty to adopt any measures they should ithink convenient, not only for redressing the wrong sustained by the East In dia Company, but for inflicting such punishment as their factious and criminal conduct merited; and that the aid of Parliament would be resorted to for this purpose, and for vindicating the honor of the Crown, so daringly and wan tonly attacked and contemned." In reply to the royal message, the House voted " that an address of thanks should be presented to the King, assuring His Majesty that they would not fail to exert every means in their power of effectually providing for the due execution of the laws, and securing the dependence of the Colonies upon the Crown and Parliament of Great Britain." In a few days a bill was introduced " for the immediate removal of the officers concerned in the collection of customs from Boston, and to discontinue the landing and discharging, lading and shipping of goods, wares, and merchandise at Boston, or within the harbor thereof." The bill also levied a fine upon the town, as a compensation to the East India Com pany for the destruction of their teas, and was to continue in force during the pleasure of the King. The opposition to this measure was very slight, and it was finally carried in both houses without a division. This however was only a part of Lord North's scheme of coercion. He proposed two other bills which were in tended to strike terror into the province of Massachusetts, and to deter the other Colonies from following her exam- LIFE AND TIMES. 611 pie. By one of these, the Constitution and charter of the province were completely subverted, all power taken out of the hands of the people and placed in those of the ser vants of the Crown. The third scheme of Lord North was the introduction of " a bill for the impartial administration of justice in Massachusetts." By this act, persons informed against or indicted for any act done in opposition to the laws of the revenue, or for the suppression of riots in Massachusetts, might by the Governor, with the advice of the council, be sent for trial to any other Colony, or to Great Britain; an enactment which, in effect, conferred impunity on the officers of the Crown, however odious might be their violations of the law. Some distinguished statesmen opposed these plans of the administration with great eloquence and zeal. The celebrated Burke declared that " it was only oppressive and unjust laws which the people had opposed; that it was most unreasonable to condemn them without a hearing; and that constitutional principles were not to be settled by the mili tary arm." Pownall observed that " it was no longer a matter of opinion with the citizens of Massachusetts; that things had come to action; that the Americans would re sist all attempts to coerce them, and were prepared to da it; and that if there should be a rebellion in the province, the question would be, who caused it? " The Duke of Richmond, the Marquis of Rockingham, and other peers insisted that the charter was a solemn contract, which neither the King nor Parliament could justly annul or alter without the consent of the subjects in Massachusetts, unless they had forfeited their rights by an infraction of its provisions. Lord Chatham also opposed these plans of the administration, with all his former energy and spirit; although at this time he was in such a debili tated state that he seldom took part in the debates of 612 WASHINGTON. Parliament. He declared himself most decidedly in favor of conciliatory measures; for he was of opinion that the province had been oppressed, and the liberties of the sub ject therein most flagrantly violated. He believed that just measures on the part of ministers would quiet the Colonies and restore harmony between them and the parent state. He denounced the proposed system as unconsti tutional and tyrannical, and predicted that the people of Massachusetts would never submit to such palpable and repeated violations of their political rights. Colonel Barre also addressed the ministry on the last bill in the following bold and energetic language : " You have changed your ground. You are become the aggres sors, and offering the last of human outrages to the people of America, by subjecting them to military execution. Instead of sending them the olive-branch, you have sent the naked sword. By the olive-branch I mean a repeal of all the late laws, fruitless to you and oppressive to them. Ask their aid in a constitutional manner, and they will give it to the utmost of their ability. They never yet refused it when properly required. Your journals bear the recorded acknowledgments of the zeal with which they have contributed to the general necessities of the state. What madness is it that prompts you to attempt obtaining that by force, which you may more certainly procure by requisition? They may be flattered into anything, but they are too much like yourselves to be driven. Have some indulgence for your own likeness; respect their sturdy English virtue; retract your odious exertions of au thority; and remember that the first step toward making them contribute to your wants is to reconcile them to your government." These measures of the British ministers originated partly in mistaken views of the opinions and temper of the people. LIFE AND TIMES. 613 Great misrepresentation had been made for several years to the administration in England respecting the state of the Colonies. It was declared by the officers of the Crown and some other individuals, that it was only a few ambi tious persons who objected to the policy of the parent state, while the friends and agents of the people were not permitted to be heard in their attempts to show the gen eral dissatisfaction. It is also true that Lord North and several other mem bers of the British cabinet at this period possessed high notions of the supremacy of Parliament, and of the sover eign power of the King; the more correct and just prin ciples of civil liberty, recognized in 1689, and still received by many eminent statesmen in England, were not in fashion with the court party. Assuming the doctrine of the supreme and unlimited authority of Parliament over all parts of the empire (which, in a certain sense, restricted and qualified, however, by great constitutional principles, had been generally admitted in the Colonies), ministers insisted that the power of the parent government was entirely without control; and con tended for the legitimacy of measures which the patriots in both countries considered most arbitrary, and wholly destructive of the liberties of the subject. With these views of government, they maintained that any measures were justifiable for supporting the authority of the King and Parliament; and they calculated upon bringing the refractory and disaffected to ready submission by severity and force. It will soon be apparent however, that it was not a faction in Boston by which opposition was kept alive in America; and that throughout this and other provinces but one sentiment prevailed as to the oppressive and arbitrary conduct of the parent government, and one 614 WASHINGTON. determination to oppose and prevent the continuance of such a system of policy. Notwithstanding these successive measures, from which such important results were professedly expected, it is evident that the government entertained serious appre hensions that an appeal to arms was by no means improb able. The English cabinet sought therefore to ingratiate themselves with the newly acquired provinces of Canada, and the proceedings they adopted with this view appear to have been the only measures which were characterized by the slightest indications of wisdom. The Canadian noblesse had enjoyed great authority under the dominion of their native country, and they had recently been complaining of the abridgement of their privileges, while the inhabitants, who were chiefly Catholic, had been viewing with jealousy the superior privileges of the Protestants; Lord North therefore did not suffer the session to close without introducing a bill calculated to insure the affections of the Canadians. It erected a Legis lative council, nominated by the Crown, on whom very ex tensive powers were conferred, which was very gratifying to the Canadian nobility; the Catholic clergy were estab lished in their privileges, and a perfect equality between their religion and that of the Protestants was established; the French laws were confirmed, and trial without jury permitted in all except criminal cases. To afford a wider field for ministerial maneuvers, the limits of the province of Quebec were extended to the river Ohio. To these prudent concessions to the sentiments of the Canadians may be attributed, in a great measure, the sin gular fact of their remaining attached to the British Gov ernment during the Revolutionary contest, when it might not unreasonably have been anticipated that they would LIFE AND TIMES. 615 have been the first to throw off a foreign yoke, and declare their independence. As a measure indicative of a determination to conduct the proceedings against the refractory colonists with the utmost vigor, General Gage was appointed, with powers of the most unlimited extent, to supersede Governor Hutchinson. The offices of governor of the province of Massachusetts and commander of His Majesty's forces in America were united in his person. The intelligence of the passing of the Boston Port Bill had preceded Gen eral Gage a few days. The new Governor, though it appeared that he entertained serious apprehensions of some disorderly or disrespectful conduct on the part of the people, was received by them with every mark of civility. He had soon occasion to perceive however that their politeness to him did not proceed from any fear of his au thority, or from any relaxation in their purposes of re sistance. On the day after his arrival (1774), the General Court having been dissolved by the late Governor, a town meeting was convened and very numerously attended. They declared and resolved, " that the impolicy, injustice, inhumanity, and cruelty of the act exceed all their powers of expression; and therefore," they said, " we leave it to the censure of others, and appeal to God and the world." They also declared it as their opinion, that " if the other Colonies came into a joint resolution to stop all importa tions from, and exportations to, Great Britain and every part of the West Indies, till the act be repealed, the same would prove the salvation of North America, and her liberties." The idea was probably entertained by the British min istry that the other Colonies would be inclined rather to avail themselves of the commercial advantages which the closing of one of the chief seaports would open to them 616 WASHINGTON. than to make common cause with Boston at the hazard of incurring a similar penalty. In this instance, as in most others, the government made a great miscalculation of the American character. The several Colonies lost no time in expressing the deepest sympathy for the suffer ings of the inhabitants of Boston, and in contributing to their pecuniary necessities, as well as in affording them moral countenance. The House of Burgesses in Virginia was in session when the bill for closing the^port of Boston arrived. On May 24, 1774, they passed the following order: "This House, being deeply impressed with apprehension of the great dangers to be derived to British America from the hostile invasion of the city of Boston, in our sister Colony of Massachusetts Bay, whose commerce and harbor are, on the ist day of June next, to be stopped by an armed force, deem it highly necessary that the said ist day of June next be set apart by the members of this House as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, devoutly to im plore the Divine interposition for averting the heavy calamity which threatens destruction to our civil rights, and the evils of civil war; to give us one heart and one mind firmly to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to American rights; and that the minds of His Majesty and his Parliament may be inspired from above with wisdom, moderation, and justice to remove from the loyal people of America all cause of danger from a continued pursuit of measures pregnant with their ruin. Ordered, therefore, that the members of this House do attend in their places, at the hour of 10 in the forenoon, on the said ist day of June next, in order to proceed with Speaker and the mace to the church in this city, for the purposes aforesaid; and that the Rev. Mr. Price be ap- FIRST MEETING OF WASHINGTON AND HAMILTON. LIFE AND TIMES. C17 pointed to read prayers and to preach a sermon suitable to the occasion." The next day (May 25th) the House, for this independ ent conduct, was dissolved by the Governor, Lord Dun- more. Thereupon the members, eighty-nine in number, immediately repaired to the Raleigh Tavern, and, forming themselves into a vigilance committee, adopted a spirited declaration of their views, denouncing the Boston Port Bill as a most dangerous attempt to destroy the constitu tional liberty and rights of all North America; recom mending their countrymen to desist from the use, not merely of tea, but of all kinds of East Indian commodities; pronouncing an attack on one of the Colonies to enforce arbitrary taxes an attack on all; and ordering the com mittee of correspondence to communicate with the other corresponding committees on the expediency of appointing deputies from the several Colonies of British America, to meet annually in General Congress, at such place as might be deemed expedient, to deliberate on such measures as the united interests of the Colonies might require. This was the first recommendation of a General Con gress by any public assembly, though it had been pre viously proposed in town meetings at New York and Boston. A resolution to the same effect was passed in the Assembly of Massachusetts before it was aware of the pro ceedings of the Virginia Legislature. The measure rec ommended met with prompt and general concurrence throughout the Colonies, and the $th day of September next ensuing was fixed upon for the first Congress, which was to be held at Philadelphia. Washington, at his post as a member of the House, took a full share in its patriotic proceedings, and proved himself no idle spectator of this important progress of events. His whole soul was deeply interested in the mo- 618 mentous questions at issue; and, although on intimate terms with Lord Dunmore, he was prepared to join his countrymen with all his energies in resisting the tyran nous course of Parliament.* Before all the members of the House of Burgesses left Williamsburg, news came from Boston of a town meet ing in that place, in which it was resolved to invite the people of all the Colonies to unite in an agreement to hold no further commercial intercourse with Great Brit ain, either by imports or exports. Washington was one of the twenty-five delegates still at the seat of government. As there was some difference of opinion among them as to the proper course to be pursued, they went no farther than to issue a circular letter, recommending a meeting of delegates at Williamsburg on the ist of August, to deliberate on the subject. This circular was printed and distributed throughout Virginia. f The difference of opinion among the delegates was in relation to the withholding of exports to Great Britain. To the nonimportation agreement they were already com mitted, and all were willing to adhere strictly to it. But the withholding of exports would involve the practical repudiation of large debts to merchants in England, which * [Washington had dined with Lord Dunmore May i6th, at Wil liamsburg, then a gay, aristocratic capital, where social pretension was at its best, and none more distinguished than himself. It was for the opening of the House of Burgesses that he had come. On the 24th of May, three days before the date on which a splendid ball was appointed to be given in honor of Lady Dunmore, news of the closing of the port of Boston was received, and energetic action taken, as stated above. Washington dined again at Lord Dunmore's and spent the evening on the 25th ; he rode out with him to his farm and breakfasted there with him on the 26th; and on the 27th he attended the ball in honor of her ladyship. But these courtesies had no effect to give pause to his patriotism.] t Sparks, "Life of Washington," p. 115. LIFE AND TIMES. 619 could only be paid by sending out the productions of the country, particularly the staple of Virginia tobacco. On this head, Washington, in strict consistency with his uniform character for honor and integrity, took a decisive stand. Writing to his friend, Bryan Fairfax, July 4, 1774, he says: ["As to your political sentiments, I would heartily join you in them, so far as relates to a humble and dutiful petition to the throne, provided there was the most distant hope of success. But have we not tried this already? Have we not addressed the Lords, and re monstrated to the Commons? And to what end? Did they deign to look at our petitions? Does it not appear as clear as the sun in its meridian brightness, that there is a regular, systematic plan formed to fix the right and practice of taxation upon us? Does not the uniform con duct of Parliament for some years past confirm this? Do not all the debates, especially those just brought to us, in the House of Commons on the side of the government, expressly declare that America must be taxed in aid of British funds, and that she has no longer resources within herself? Is there anything to be expected from petition ing after this? Is not the attack upon the liberty and property of the people of Boston, before restitution of the loss to the India Company was demanded, a plain and self-evident proof of what they are aiming at? Do not the subsequent bills (now I dare say acts), for depriving the Massachusetts Bay of its charter, and for transport ing offenders into other colonies or to Great Britain for trial, where it is impossible from the nature of the thing that justice can be obtained, convince us that the admin istration is determined to stick at nothing to carry its point? " Ought we not then, to put our virtue and fortitude to the severest test?] "With you I think it folly to attempt more than 620 WASHINGTON. we can execute, as that will not only bring disgrace upon us, but weaken our cause; yet I think we may do more than is generally believed, in respect to the nonimporta tion scheme. As to the withholding of our remittances, that is another point in which I own I have my doubts on several accounts, but principally on that of justice; for I think, whilst we are accusing others of injustice, we should be just ourselves; and how this can be, whilst we owe a considerable debt, and refuse payment of it, to Great Britain, is to me inconceivable. Nothing but the last extremity, I think, can justify it. Whether this is now come is the question." [To this Bryan Fairfax replied by a letter of July 17, 1774. Meanwhile, or before this letter was delivered, the inhabitants of the county had met, first on the 5th of July, and again on the i8th; had appointed a committee, of which Washington was chairman, as well as moderator of the meetings held, to prepare resolutions; and these reso lutions, " revised, altered, and corrected in the committee," were being adopted. The letter of Bryan Fairfax, a long one, particularly objecting to any denial of the authority of Parliament, came to Washington when the resolutions were before the meeting over which he was presiding. Hastily looking it through, he " handed it round to the gentlemen on the bench,* of which there were many," " the first people in the country," and found it so little acceptable as to make it inadvisable to have it read, as Mr. B. Fairfax requested.] In reply to it Washington wrote, July 20, 1774: " That I differ very widely from you," said he, " in re spect to the mode of obtaining a repeal of the acts so much *[The terms used here show how the English custom of a bench of magistrates, at the courthouse, was the usage of Virginia, as it was the usage of New England.] LIFE AND TIMES. 621 and so justly complained of, I shall not hesitate to ac knowledge; and that this difference in opinion probably proceeds from the different constructions we put upon the conduct and intentions of the ministry may also be true; but, as I see nothing, on the one hand, to induce a belief that the Parliament would embrace a favorable opportunity for repealing acts which they go on with great rapidity to pass, in order to enforce their tyrannical system; and, on the other, I observe, or think I observe, that government is pursuing a regular plan, at the ex pense of law and justice, to overthrow our constitutional rights and liberties, how can I expect any redress from a measure which has been ineffectually tried already? For, sir, what is it we are contending against? Is it against paying the duty of three pence per pound on tea because burdensome? No, it is the right only that we have all along disputed; and to this end we have already petitioned His Majesty in as humble and dutiful a man ner as subjects could do. Nay, more, we applied to the House of Lords and House of Commons, in their differ ent legislative capacities, setting forth that, as English men, we could not be deprived of this essential and valu able part of our Constitution. If, then, as the fact really is, it is against the right of taxation that we now do, and, as I before said, all along have contended, why should they suppose an exertion of this power would be less ob noxious now than formerly? And what reason have we to believe that they would make a second attempt, whilst the same sentiments fill the breast of every American, if they did not intend to enforce it if possible? [" The conduct of the Boston people could not justify the rigor of their measures, unless there had been a requisi tion of payment and refusal of it; nor did that measure require an act to deprive the government of Massachu- WASHINGTON. setts Bay of their charter, or to exempt offenders from trial in the place where offences were committed, as there could not be a single instance produced to manifest the necessity of it. Are not all these things self evident proofs of a fixed and uniform plan to tax us? If we want further proofs, do not all the debates in the House of Commons serve to confirm this? And has not General Gage's conduct since his arrival (in stopping the address of his Council, and publishing a proclamation more be coming a Turkish bashaw than an English Governor, de claring it treason to associate in any manner by which the commerce of Great Britain is to be affected,) exhibited an unexampled testimony of the most despotic system of tyranny that ever was practiced in a free government? " In short, what further proofs are wanting to satisfy any one of the designs of the ministry than their own acts, which are uniform and plainly tending to the same point, nay, if I mistake not, avowedly to fix the right of taxation? What hope have we then fiom petitioning, when they tell us that now or never is the time to fix the matter? Shall we, after this, whine and cry for relief, when we have already tried it in vain? Or shall we supinely sit and see one province after another fall a sacrifice to despotism? " If I were in any doubt as to the right which the Par liament of Great Britain had to tax us without our con sent, I should most heartily coincide with you in opinion that to petition, and petition only, is the proper method to apply for relief; because we should then be asking a favor, and not claiming a right, which, by the law of na ture and by our Constitution, we are, in my opinion, in dubitably entitled to. I should even think it criminal to go further than this under such an idea ; but I have none such. I think the Parliament of Great Britain have no more right to put their hands into my pocket without my LIFE AND TIMES. 62J consent than I have to put my hands into yours; and, this being already urged to them in a firm but decent manner, by all the Colonies, what reason is there to expect any thing from their justice?" " As to the resolution for addressing the throne, I own to you, Sir, I think the whole might as well have been expunged. I expect nothing from the measure, nor should my voice have accompanied it, if the non-importation scheme was intended to be retarded by it; for I am con vinced, as much as I am of my existence, that there is no relief for us but in their distress; and I think, at least I hope, that there is public virtue enough left among us to deny ourselves everything but the bare necessaries of life to accomplish this end. This we have a right to do, and no power upon earth can compel us to do otherwise till it has first reduced us to the most abject state of slavery. The stopping of our exports would, no doubt, be a shorter method than the other to effect this purpose; but, if we owe money to Great Britain, nothing but the last neces sity can justify the nonpayment of it; and therefore I have great doubts upon this head, and wish to see the other method first tried, which is legal and will facilitate these payments. " I cannot conclude without expressing some concern that I should differ so widely in sentiment from you, in a matter of such great moment and general import; and should much distrust my own judgment upon the occasion, if my nature did not recoil at the thought of submitting to measures which I think subversive of everything that I ought to hold dear and valuable, and did I not find at the same time, that the voice of mankind is with me." Mr. B. Fairfax replied to the above, and Washington wrote further, August 24, 1774: " I can only in general add that an innate spirit of free- 624 WASHINGTON. dom first told me that the measures which [the King's] administration hath for some time been and now are most violently pursuing, are repugnant to every principle of natural justice; whilst much abler heads than my own have fully convinced me, that it is not only repugnant to natu ral right; but subversive of the laws and constitution of Great Britain itself, in the establishment of which some of the best blood in the kingdom hath been spilt. Satis fied, then, that the acts of a British Parliament are no longer governed by the principles of justice; that it is trampling upon the valuable rights of Americans con firmed to them by charter, and by the constitution they themselves boast of; and convinced beyond the smallest doubt, that these measures are the result of deliberation, and attempted to be carried into execution by the hand of power, is it a time to trifle, or risk our cause upon petitions, which with difficulty obtain access, and after wards are thrown by with the utmost contempt? Or should we, because heretofore unsuspicious of design, and then unwilling to enter into disputes with the mother coun try* g on to bear more, and forbear to enumerate our just causes of complaint? " For my own part, I shall not undertake to say where the line between Great Britain and the Colonies should be drawn, but I am clearly of opinion that one ought to be drawn and our rights clearly ascertained. I could wish, I own, that the dispute had been left for posterity to de termine, but the crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights or submit to every imposition that can be heaped upon us, till custom shall make us as tame and abject slaves as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway. " If you disavow the right of Parliament to tax us, (un represented as we are), we only differ in respect to the mode of opposition, and this difference principally arises LIFE AND TIMES. 625 from your belief that they the Parliament want a de cent opportunity to repeal the acts; whilst I am as fully convinced, as I am of my own existence, that there has been a regular systematic plan formed to enforce them, and that nothing but unanimity in the colonies (a stroke they did not expect) and firmness, can prevent it. It seems from the best advices from Boston, that General Gage is exceedingly disconcerted at the quiet and steady conduct of the people of Massachusetts Bay, and at the measures pursuing by the other governments; as I dare say he ex pected to have forced those oppressed people into compli ance, or irritated them to acts of violence, before this, for a more colorable pretense of ruling that and the other colonies with a high hand. But I am done. " I shall set off on Wednesday next for Philadelphia."] Lord Chatham, in his celebrated speech in the House of Lords, on the 2Oth of January, 1775, on the motion for removing the troops from Boston, uttered the following sentiments, which seem like an echo of those expressed by Washington in the letter above quoted: " This glorious spirit of whiggism animates three mil lions in America, who prefer poverty with liberty to gilded chains and sordid affluence; and who will die in defense of their rights as men, as freemen. What shall oppose this spirit, aided by the congenial flame glowing in the breast of every Whig in England, to the amount, I hope, of double the American numbers? Ireland they have to a man. In that country, joined as it is with the cause of Colonies, and placed at their head, the distinction I con tend for is and must be observed. This country superin tends and controls their trade and navigation; but they tax themselves. And this distinction between external and internal control is sacred and insurmountable; it is involved in the abstract nature of things. Property is 40 626 WASHINGTON. private, individual, absolute. Trade is an extended and complicated consideration; it reaches as far as ships can sail, or winds can blow; it is a great and various machine. To regulate the numberless movements of its several parts and combine them into effect, for the good of the whole, requires the superintending wisdom and energy of the supreme power in the empire. But this supreme power has no effect toward internal taxation; for it does not exist in that relation; there is no such thing, no such idea in this Constitution, as a supreme power operating upon property. Let this distinction then remain forever ascertained; taxation is theirs, commercial regulation is ours. As an American, I would recognize to England her supreme right of regulating commerce and naviga tion; as an Englishman by birth and principle, I recognize to the Americans their supreme inalienable right in their property; a right which they are justified in the defense of to the last extremity. To maintain this principle is the common cause of the Whigs on the other side of the Atlantic and on this. ' Tis liberty to liberty engaged/ that they will defend themselves, their families, and their country. In this great cause they are immovably allied; it is the alliance of God and nature immutable, eternal, fixed as the firmament of heaven. "To such united force, what force shall be opposed? What, my lords! A few regiments in America and 17,000 or 18,000 men at home ! The idea is too ridiculous to take up a moment of your lordships' time. Nor can such a national and principled union be resisted by the tricks of office, or ministerial maneuver. Laying of papers on your table, or counting numbers on a division, will not avert or postpone the hour of danger. It must arrive, my lords, unless these fatal acts are done away; it must arrive in all its horrors, and then these boastful ministers, LIFE AND TIMES. 627 spite of all their confidence and all their maneuvers, shall be forced to hide their heads. They shall be forced to a disgraceful abandonment of their present measures and principles which they avow, but cannot defend; measures which they presume to attempt, but cannot hope to ef fectuate. They cannot, my lords, they cannot stir a step; they have not a move left; they are checkmated. " But it is not repealing this act of Parliament, it is not repealing a piece of parchment, that can restore America to our bosom. You must repeal her fears and her re sentments, and you may then hope for her love and grati tude. But now, insulted with an armed force posted at Boston, irritated with a hostile array before her eyes, her concessions, if you could force them, would be suspicious and insecure; they will be irato animo; they will not be the sound, honorable passions of freemen; they will be the dictates of fear and extortions of force. But it is more than evident that you cannot force them, united as they are, to your unworthy terms of submission; it is impossi ble. And when I hear General Gage censured for inac tivity, I must retort with indignation on those whose intemperate measures and improvident councils have be trayed him into his present situation." Washington was present in the convention at Williams- burg as a member from Fairfax county, which met on the ist of August (1774), and presented the elaborate reso lutions prepared by Mason. His speech in support of them was spoken of at the time as remarkably eloquent. The importance of the crisis no doubt awakened all his powers of oratory. In the height of his enthusiasm he even expressed a willingness to raise 1,000 men and march at their head to the relief of Boston. The resolutions thus presented remained among Wash ington's papers. Their substance was as follows: 628 WASHINGTON. "At a general meeting of the freeholders and inhab itants of the county of Fairfax, on Monday, the i8th day of July, 1774, at the courthouse, George Washington, chairman, and Robert Harrison, clerk, of the said meeting: " 1st. Resolved, That this Colony and Dominion of Vir ginia cannot be considered as a conquered country; and if it was, that the present inhabitants are the descendants, not of the conquered, but of the conquerors. That the same was not settled at the national expense of England, but at the private expense of the^ adventurers, our ancestors. by solemn compact with, and under the auspices and pro tection of, the British Crown; upon which we are, in every respect, as dependent as the people of Great Britain, and in the same manner subject to all His Majesty's just, legalj and constitutional prerogatives. That our ancestors, when they left their native land and settled in America, brought with them (even if the same had not been con fined by charters) the civil Constitution and form of gov ernment of the country they came from; and were, by the laws of nature and nations, entitled to all its privileges, immunities, and advantages, which have descended to us, their posterity, and ought of right to be as fully enjoyed as if we had still continued within the realm of England. " 2d. Resolved, That the most important and valuable part of the British Constitution, upon which its very exist ence depends, is the fundamental principle of the people's being governed by no laws to which they have not given their consent by representatives freely chosen by them selves; who are affected by the laws they enact equally with their constituents; to whom they are accountable, and whose burdens they share. " 3d. Resolved, Therefore, as the inhabitants of the American Colonies are not, and, from their situation, can not be represented in the British Parliament, that the LIFE AND TIMES. 629 legislative power here can of right be exercised only by our own provincial assemblies or parliaments, subject to the assent or negative of the British Crown, to be declared within some proper limited time. But as it was thought just and reasonable that the people of Great Britain should reap advantages from these Colonies adequate to the pro tection they afforded them, the British Parliament have claimed and exercised the power of regulating our trade and commerce, so as to restrain our importing from for eign countries such articles as they could furnish us with of their own growth or manufacture; or exporting to for eign countries such articles and portions of our produce as Great Britain stood in need of for her own consumption or manufactures. Such a power, directed with wisdom and moderation, seems necessary for the general good of that great body politic, of which we are a part; although in some degree repugnant to the principles of the Consti tution. Under this idea our ancestors submitted to it; the experience of more than a century during the government of His Majesty's royal predecessors has proved its utility, and the reciprocal benefits flowing from it produced mu tual uninterrupted harmony and good-will between the in habitants of Great Britain and her Colonies, who, during that long period, always considered themselves as one and the same people. " 4th. Resolved, That it is the duty of these Colonies on all emergencies to contribute, in proportion to their abili ties, situation, and circumstances, to the necessary charge of supporting and defending the British Empire, of which they are a part. " 5th. Resolved, That the claim lately assumed and exer cised by the British Parliament, of making all such laws as they think fit to govern the people of these Colonies, and to extort from us our money without our consent, is 630 WASHINGTON. not only diametrically contrary to the first principles of the Constitution and the original compacts by which we are dependent upon the British Crown and Government, but is totally incompatible with the privileges of a free people and the natural rights of mankind. " 6th. Resolved, That taxation and representation are in their nature inseparable. " 7th. Resolved, That the powers over the people of America, now claimed by the British House of Commons, in whose election we have no share, on whose determina tions we can have no influence, whose information must be always defective and often false, who in many instances may have a separate, and in some an opposite, interest to ours, and who are removed from those impressions of tenderness and compassion arising from personal inter course and connection, which soften the rigors of the most despotic governments, must, if continued, establish the most grievous and intolerable species of tyranny and oppression that ever was inflicted upon mankind. " 8th. Resolved, That it is our greatest wish and inclina tion, as well as interest, to continue our connection with and dependence upon the British Government ; but though we are its subjects, we will use every means which heaven hath given us to prevent our becoming its slaves. " Qth. Resolved, That there is a premeditated design and system formed and pursued by the British ministry to introduce an arbitrary government into His Majesty's American dominions " loth. Resolved, That the several acts of Parliament for raising a revenue upon the people of America without their consent, the creating new and dangerous jurisdic tions here, the taking our trials by jury, the ordering per sons, upon criminal accusations, to be tried in another country than that in which the act is charged to have LIFE AND TIMES. 631 been committed, the act inflicting ministerial vengeance upon the town of Boston, and the two bills lately brought into Parliament for abrogating the charter of the province of Massachusetts Bay, and for the protection and en couragement of murderers in said province, are part of the above-mentioned iniquitous system. " nth. Resolved, That we will cordially join with our friends and brethren of this and the other Colonies in such measures as shall be judged most effectual for procuring redress of our grievances, and that upon obtaining such redress, if the destruction of the tea at Boston be regarded as an invasion of private property, we shall be willing to contribute toward paying the East India Company the value. " 1 2th. Resolved, That nothing will so much contribute to defeat the pernicious designs of the common enemies of Great Britain and her Colonies as a firm union of the latter, who ought to regard every act of violence or op pression inflicted upon any one of them as aimed at all; and to effect this desirable purpose, that a Congress should be appointed, to consist of deputies from all the Colonies, to concert a general and uniform plan for the defense and preservation of our common rights, and continuing the connection and dependence of the said Colonies upon Great Britain, under a just, lenient, permanent, and con stitutional form of government. " 1 3th. Resolved, That our most sincere and cordial thanks be given to the patrons and friends of liberty in Great Britain for their spirited and patriotic conduct in support of our constitutional rights and privileges, and iheir generous efforts to prevent the present distress and calamity of America. " I4th. Resolved, That every little jarring interest and dispute which has ever happened between these Colonies 632 WASHINGTON. should be buried in eternal oblivion; that all manner of luxury and extravagance ought immediately to be laid aside as totally inconsistent with the threatening and gloomy prospect before us; that it is the indispensable duty of all the gentlemen and men of fortune to set exam ples of temperance, frugality, and industry, and give every encouragement in their power, particularly by subscrip tions and premiums, to the improvement of arts and manu factures in America; that great care and attention should be had to the cultivation of flax, cotton, and other ma terials for manufactures; and we recommend it to such of the inhabitants as have large stocks of sheep to sell to their neighbors at a moderate price, as the most certain means of speedily increasing our breed of sheep and quan tity of wool. " 1 5th. Resolved, That until American grievances be re dressed, by restoration of our just rights and privileges, no goods or merchandise whatever ought to be imported into this Colony, which shall be shipped from Great Brit ain or Ireland after the ist day of September next, except linens not exceeding fifteen pence per yard, coarse woollen cloth not exceeding two shillings sterling per yard, nails, wire and wire cards, needles and pins, paper, saltpetre, and medicines, which may be imported until the ist day of September, 1776. " :6th. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that the merchants and vendors of goods and merchandise within this Colony should take an oath not to sell or dis pose of any goods or merchandise whatsoever, which may be shipped from Great Britain after the ist day of Sep tember next, as aforesaid, except the articles before ex- cepted. " 1 7th. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that during our present difficulties and distress no slaves LIFE AND TIMES. 633 ought to be imported into any of the British Colonies on this continent; and we take this opportunity of declaring our most earnest ivishes to see an entire stop forever put to such a wicked, cruel, and unnatural trade. " 1 8th. Resolved, That no kind of lumber should be ex ported from this Colony to the West Indies until America be restored to her constitutional rights and liberties, if the other Colonies will accede to a like resolution. " iQth. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, if American grievances be not redressed before the ist day of November, 1775, that all exports of produce from the several Colonies to Great Britain should cease; and to carry the said resolution more effectually into execu tion, that we will not plant or cultivate any tobacco after the crop now growing. " 2oth. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that a solemn covenant and association should be entered into by the inhabitants of all the Colonies upon oath, that they will not, after the times which shall be respectively agreed on at the General Congress, export any manner of lumber to the West Indies, nor any of their produce to Great Britain, or sell or dispose of the same to any per son who shall not have entered into the said covenant and association; and also, that they will not import or re ceive any goods or merchandise which shall be shipped from Great Britain after the ist day of September next, other than the before-enumerated articles, nor buy or pur chase any goods, except as before excepted, of any person whatsoever, who shall not have taken the oath hereinbe fore recommended to be taken by the merchants and ven ders of goods, nor buy or purchase any slaves hereafter imported into any part of this continent, until a free ex portation and importation be again resolved on by a ma jority of the representatives or deputies of the Colonies. 634 WASHINGTON. And that the respective committees of the counties in each Colony, so soon as the covenant and association becomes general, publish by advertisements in their several coun ties, a list of the names of those (if any such there be) who will not accede thereto; that such traitors to their country may be publicly knozvn and detested. " 2 1 st. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting that this and the other associating Colonies should break off all trade, intercourse, and dealings with that Colony, province, or town which shaH decline or refuse to agree to the plan which shall be adopted by the General Con gress. " 22d. Resolved, That should the town of Boston be forced to submit to the late cruel and oppressive meas ures of government, that we should not hold the same to be binding upon us, but will, notwithstanding, religiously maintain and inviolably adhere to such measures as shall be concerted by the General Congress for the preserva tion of our lives, liberties, and fortunes. " 23d. Resolved, That it be recommended to the depu ties of the General Congress to draw up and transmit an humble and dutiful petition and remonstrance to His Ma jesty, asserting with decent firmness our just and consti tutional rights and privileges; lamenting the fatal neces sity of being compelled to enter into measures disgusting to His Majesty and to his Parliament, or injurious to our fellow-subjects in Great Britain; declaring, in the strong est terms, our duty and affection to His Majesty's person, family, and government, and our desire to continue our dependence upon Great Britain; and most humbly con juring and beseeching His Majesty not to reduce his faith ful subjects of America to a state of desperation, and to reflect that from our sovereign there can be but one appeal. And it is the opinion of this meeting that after such peti- LIFE AND TIMES. 635 tion and remonstrance shall have been presented to His Majesty, the same should be printed in the public papers in all the principal towns in Great Britain. " 24th. Resolved, That George Washington and Charles Broadwater, lately elected our representatives to serve in the General Assembly, be appointed to attend the con vention at Williamsburg, on the ist day of August next, and present these resolves, as the sense of the people of this county, upon the measures proper to be taken in the present alarming and dangerous situation in America." The convention adopted a new association, in which a middle course was taken in the matter of exports, which had been so much discussed in Virginia, certain times being fixed when all intercourse with the mother country, both by imports and exports, should be suspended unless the obnoxious acts of Parliament should be previously repealed. The convention remained in session six days, passed resolutions breathing the same spirit as that of the Fair fax county resolves, and appointed and gave instructions to the following gentlemen as delegates to the General Congress: Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, Edward Pendleton. [The earliest reputation of Jefferson as a writer was made by his "A Summary View of the Rights of British America: Set forth in some Resolutions intended for the inspection of the present Delegates of the People of Vir ginia now in Convention." Jefferson had been elected a member of the convention, and prepared the " Resolu tions " for submission to the delegates in connection with their election of Virginia delegates to the First Continental Congress. An accidental illness rendered him unable to be present at the convention, and he sent copies of his 636 WASHINGTON. document to Patrick Henry and Peyton Randolph. The latter laid the document before the convention, which however preferred adopting a statement less sharply and sternly critical of British treatment of the Colonies. Knowing however that Jefferson's resolutions more ex actly fitted the case than those of the convention, his friends immediately printed the document, with the frank admission that but for motives of policy, on the part of the more moderate and conservative members of the con vention, it would have been accepted, on the ground that " In it the sources of our unhappy differences are traced with such faithful accuracy, and the opinions entertained by every free American expressed with such manly firm ness, that it must be pleasing to the present and may be useful to future ages." Edmund Randolph relates that he distinctly recollected the applause bestowed on the greater number of Jefferson's resolutions by a large com pany to whom they were read at the house of Peyton Randolph, although others were not equally approved. Randolph explains that Dickinson, in the celebrated " Pennsylvania Farmer " letters, had urged some measure of concession to British taxation of the Colonies, and that while the younger men were with Jefferson, the older were with Dickinson. Jefferson's resolutions boldly proposed that the deputies to be sent to a Continental Congress should present to the English King " their joint address, penned in the language of truth, and divested of those ex pressions of civility which would persuade His Majesty that we are asking favors and not rights." After reviewing those less alarming violations of American right which had been repeated at more distant intervals through the reigns which preceded His Majesty's, and having re marked on the " Rapid and Bold Succession of Injuries " of the King's own time, characterizing it as "A Series of LIFE AND TIMES. 637 Oppressions, begun at a distinguished period, and pur sued unalterable through every change of ministers, too plainly proving a deliberate and systematical plan of re ducing us to slavery/' Jefferson's summary of sugges tions for an address went on to say: " Not only the principles of common sense, but the com mon feelings of human nature, must be surrendered up before His Majesty's subjects here can be persuaded to believe that they hold their political existence at the will of a British Parliament." Having indicated, in thus scor ing the King's ministry, that he looked through ministers and ministerial acts to the monarch himself for the au thorship of "A Series of Oppressions," dating from his accession, Jefferson's document next proceeded to con sider the conduct of His Majesty. Speaking of the veto power, and pronouncing without excuse " the wanton ex ercise of this power which we have seen His Majesty prac tice on the laws of the American Legislatures," the com plaint went on to say: "For the most trifling reasons, and sometimes for no conceivable reason at all, His Ma jesty has rejected laws of the most salutary tendency. The abolition of domestic slavery is the great object of desire in those Colonies ivhere it zvas unhappily introduced in their in fant state. But, previous to the enfranchisement of the slaves we have, it is necessary to exclude all further im portations from Africa; yet our repeated attempts to ef fect this by prohibitions, and by imposing duties which might amount to a prohibition, have been hitherto de feated by His Majesty's negative, thus preferring the im mediate advantages of a few African corsairs to the lasting interest of the American States, and to the right of human nature, deeply wounded by this infamous practice." Con cluding his recital of grievances, Jefferson said, in respect to the freedom of language and sentiment used in it : " Let 638 WASHINGTON. those flatter who fear; it is not an American art. To give praise which is not due might be well from the venal, but would ill beseem those who are asserting the rights of human nature. They know, and will therefore say, that Kings are the servants not the proprietors of the people. Open your breast, Sire, to liberal and expanding thought. Let not the name of George III be a blot in the page of history. You are surrounded by British counsellors, but remember that they are partisans. You have no ministers for Ameri can affairs, because you hav none taken from among us, nor amenable to the laws on which they are to give you advice. It behooves you therefore to think and act for yourself and your people. The great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader; to pursue them requires not the aid of many counsellors. The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest. Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail. No longer persevere in sacrificing the rights of one part of the empire to the inordinate desires of another; but deal out to all equal and impartial right. Let no act be passed by any one Legislature which may infringe on the rights and liberties of another. This is the important post in which fortune has placed you, hold ing the balance of a great, if a well-poised, empire. This, Sire, is the advice of your great American council, on the observance of which may perhaps depend you felicity and future fame, and the preservation of that harmony which alone can continue both to Great Britain and America the reciprocal advantages of their connection. It is neither our wish nor our interest to separate from her. We are willing, on our part, to sacrifice everything which reason can ask to the restoration of that tranquillity for which all must wish. On their part, let them be ready to establish union and a generous plan. Let them name LIFE AND TIMES 639 their terms, but let them be just. Accept of every com mercial preference it is in our power to give for such things as we can raise for their use, or they make for ours. But let them not think to exclude us from going to other mar kets to dispose of those commodities which they cannot use, or to supply those wants which they cannot supply. Still less, let it be proposed that our properties within our own territories shall be taxed or regulated by any power on earth but our own. The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot disjoin them. This, Sire, is our last, our de termined resolution."] Virginia was not alone in her sympathy for the inhab itants of Boston, nor in active measures for sustaining the noble cause in which she was engaged. The news of the passage of the Boston Port Bill was received in that town on the loth of May (1774), and its operation was to commence on the first of the next month. We have al ready noticed the resolutions of the Boston town meeting of May I3th and its effect on the House of Burgesses of Virginia. On their reception in South Carolina, a number of the leading citizens of Charleston unanimously agreed to call a meeting of the inhabitants of the whole province. That this might be as general as possible, letters were sent to every parish and district, and the people were in vited to attend, either personally or by their representa tives, at a general meeting. A large number assembled, in which were some from almost every part of the province. The proceedings of Parliament against Massachusetts were distinctly related to this convention. Without one dissenting voice they passed sundry reso lutions expressive of their rights and of their sympathy with the people "of Boston. They also chose five dele- 640 WASHINGTON. gates to represent them in a Continental Congress, and invested them " with full powers and authority, in behalf of them and their constituents, to concert, agree to, and effectually to prosecute such legal measures as in their opinion, and the opinion of the other members, would be most likely to obtain a redress of American grievances." The events of this time, says Ramsay, may be transmit ted to posterity, but the agitation of the public mind can never be fully comprehended, but by those who were wit nesses of it. In the counties and towns of the several provinces, as well as in the cities, the people assembled and passed reso lutions expressive of their rights and of their detestation of the late American acts of Parliament. These had an in stantaneous effect on the minds of thousands. Not only the young and impetuous, but the aged and temperate, joined in pronouncing them to be unconstitutional and oppres sive. They viewed them as deadly weapons aimed at the vitals of that liberty which they adored; as rendering abor tive the generous pains taken by their forefathers to pro cure for them, in a new world, the quiet enjoyment of their rights. They were the subjects of their meditation when alone, and of their conversation when in company. Within little more than a month, after the news of the Boston Port Bill reached America, it was communicated from State to State, and a flame was kindled in almost every breast through the widely-extended provinces. The committees of correspondence were at work in every part of the country. Every political act of one province be came speedily known to every other. In the first three months which followed the shutting up of the port of Boston, the inhabitants of the Colonies, in hundreds of small circles, as well as in their provincial assemblies and congresses, expressed their abhorrence of the late proceedings of the British Parliament against LIFE AND TIMES. 641 Massachusetts their concurrence in the proposed meas ure of appointing deputies for a general congress, and their willingness to do and suffer whatever should be judged conducive to the establishment of their liberties. A patriotic flame, created and diffused by the contagion of sympathy, was communicated to so many breasts and reflected from such a variety of objects as to become too intense to be resisted. While the combination of the other Colonies to sup port Boston was gaining strength, new matter of dissen sion daily took place in Massachusetts. The resolution for shutting the port of Boston was no sooner taken than it was determined to order a military force to that town. General Gage had arrived in Boston on the third day after the inhabitants received the first intelligence of the Bos ton Port Bill. Though the people were irritated by that measure, and though their republican jealousy was hurt by the combination of the civil and military character in one person, yet the General, as we have seen, was received with all the honors which had been usually paid to his predecessors. Soon after his arrival, two regiments of foot, with a detachment of artillery and some cannon, were landed in Boston. These troops were by degrees rein forced with others from Ireland, New York, Halifax, and Quebec. The Governor announced that he had the King's par ticular command for holding the General Court at Salem after the 1st of June. When that eventful day arrived the act for shutting up the port of Boston commenced its operation. It was devoutly kept at Williamsburg as a day of fast ing and humiliation.* In Philadelphia it was solemnized * Washington writes in his diary that he " went to church and fasted all day." Sparks. 41 642 WASHINGTON. with every manifestation of public calamity and grief. The inhabitants shut up their houses. After divine ser vice a stillness reigned over the city, which exhibited an appearance of the deepest distress. In Boston a new scene opened on the inhabitants. Hitherto that town had been the seat of commerce and of plenty. The immense business carried on there af forded a comfortable subsistence to- many thousands. The necessary, the useful, and even some of the elegant arts were cultivated among them. The citizens were polite and hospitable. In this happy state they were sentenced, on the short notice of twenty-one days, to a total depri vation of all means of subsisting. The blow reached every person. The rents of the landholders either ceased or were greatly diminished. The immense property in stores and wharves was rendered comparatively useless. Laborers, artificers, and others employed in the numerous occupations created by an extensive trade partook in the general calamity. They who depended on a regular in come flowing from previous acquisitions of property, as well as they who, with the sweat of their brow, earned their daily subsistence, were equally deprived of the means of support; and the chief difference between them was that the distresses of the former were rendered more in tolerable by the recollection of past enjoyments. All these inconveniences and hardships were borne with a passive but inflexible fortitude. Their determination to persist in the same line of conduct which had been the occasion of their suffering was unabated. The authors and advisers of the resolution for destroy ing the tea were in the town and still retained their popu larity and influence. The execrations of the inhabitants fell not on them, but on the British Parliament. Their countrymen acquitted them of all selfish designs, and be- LIFE AND TIMES. 643 lieved that in their opposition to the measures of Great Britain they were actuated by an honest zeal for consti tutional liberty. The sufferers in Boston had the conso lation of sympathy from the other colonists. Contribu tions were raised in all quarters for their relief. Letters and addresses came to them from corporate bodies, town meetings, and provincial conventions, applauding their conduct and exhorting them to perseverance. The people of Marblehead, who, by their proximity, were likely to reap advantage from the distresses of Bos ton, generously offered the merchants of that place the use of their harbor, wharves, warehouses, and also their personal attendance on the lading or unlading of their goods, free of all expense. The inhabitants of Salem, in an address to Governor Gage, concluded with these remarkable words: " By shut ting up the port of Boston some imagine that the course of trade might be turned hither and to our benefit; but nature, in the formation of our harbor, forbade our be coming rivals in commerce with that convenient mart; and, were it otherwise, we must be dead to every idea of justice, lost to all feelings of humanity, could we indulge one thought to seize on wealth and raise our fortunes on the ruins of our suffering neighbors." The Massachusetts General Court met at Salem, ac cording to adjournment, on the 7th of June, 1774. Sev eral of the popular leaders took, in a private way, the sense of the members on what was proper to be done. Finding they were able to carry such measures as the pub lic exigencies required, they prepared resolves and moved for their adoption. But before they went on the latter business their door was shut. One member nevertheless contrived means of sending information to Governor Gage of what was doing. His 644 WASHINGTON. secretary was sent off to dissolve the General Court, but was refused admission. As he could obtain no entrance, he read the proclamation at the door and immediately after in council, and thus dissolved the General Court. The House, while sitting with their doors shut, appointed five of the most respectable inhabitants as delegates to the General Congress, which was to meet on the ist of Sep tember at Philadelphia, voted them 75 sterling each, and recommended to the several towns and districts to raise the said sum by equitable proportions. By these means the designs of the Governor were disappointed. His situ ation in every respect was truly disagreeable. It was his duty to forward the execution of laws which were uni versally execrated. Zeal for his master's service prompted him to endeavor that they should be carried into full ef fect, but his progress was retarded by obstacles from every quarter. He had to transact his official business with a people who possessed a high sense of liberty and were uncommonly ingenious in evading disagreeable acts of Parliament. It was a part of his duty to prevent the call ing of the town meetings after the ist of August, 1774. These meetings were nevertheless held. On his proposing to exert authority for the dispersion of the people, he was told by the selectmen that they had not offended against the act of Parliament, for that only prohibited the calling of town meetings, and that no such call had been made; a former constitutional meeting before the ist of August having only adjourned themselves from time to time. Other evasions, equally founded on the letter of even the late obnoxious laws, were practiced. As the summer advanced the people of Massachusetts received stronger proofs of support from the neighboring province. They were therefore encouraged to further op position. The inhabitants ^ of the Colonies at this time, LIFE AND TIMES. 645 with regard to political opinions, might be divided into three classes. Of these, one was for rushing precipitately into extremities. They were for immediately stopping all trade, and could not even brook the delay of waiting till the proposed Continental Congress should meet. An other party, equally respectable both as to character, property, and patriotism, was more moderate, but not less firm. These were averse to the adoption of any violent resolutions till all others were ineffectually tried. They wished that a clear statement of their rights, claims, and grievances should precede every other measure. A third class disapproved of what was generally going on a few from principle and a persuasion that they ought to submit to the mother country, some from the love of ease, others from self-interest, but the bulk from fear of the mischievous consequences likely to follow. All these latter classes, for the most part, lay still, while the friends of liberty acted with spirit. If they or any of them ventured to oppose popular measures they were not supported, and therefore declined further efforts. The resentment of the people was so strong against them that they sought for peace by remaining quiet. The same indecision that made them willing to submit to Great Britain made them apparently acquiesce in popular measures which they disapproved. The spirited part of the community being on the side of liberty, the patriots had the appearance of unanimity, though many either kept at a distance from public meet ings or voted against their own opinion, to secure them selves from resentment and promote their present ease and interest. Under the influence of those who were for the imme diate adoption of efficacious measures, an agreement by the name of the solemn league and covenant was adopted by numbers. The subscribers of this bound themselves 64G WASHINGTON. to suspend all commercial intercourse with Great Britain until the late obnoxious laws were repealed and the Col ony of Massachusetts restored to its chartered rights. General Gage published a proclamation in which he styled this solemn league and covenant "An unlawful, hos tile, and traitorous combination." , And all magistrates were charged to apprehend and secure for trial such as should have any agency in publishing or subscribing the same or any similar covenant. This proclamation had no other effect than to exercise the pens of the lawyers in showing that the association did not come within the de scription of legal treason, and that therefore the Gov ernor's proclamation was not warranted by the principles of the Constitution. The late law for regulating the government of the prov ince arrived near the beginning of August, 1774, and was accompanied with a list of thirty-six new councillors ap pointed by the Crown and in a mode variant from that prescribed by the charter. Several of these in the first instance declined an acceptance of the appointment. Those who accepted of it were everywhere declared to be ene mies to their country. The new judges were rendered incapable of proceeding in their official duty. Upon open ing the courts the juries refused to be sworn or to act in any manner, either under them or in conformity to the late regulations. In some places the people assembled and filled the courthouses and avenues to them in such a manner that neither the judges nor their officers could obtain entrance; and upon the sheriff's commanding them to make way for the court, they answered: "That they knew no court independent of the ancient laws of their country, and to none other would they submit." In imitation of his royal master, Governor Gage issued a proclamation " for the encouragement of piety and vir- LIFE AND TIMES. 647 tue, and for the prevention and punishing vice, profane- ness, and immorality." In this proclamation hypocrisy was inserted as one of the immoralities against which the people were warned. This was considered by the inhab itants, who had often been ridiculed for their strict atten tion to the forms of religion, to be a studied insult, and as such was more resented than an actual injury. It greatly added to the inflammation which had already taken place in their minds. The proceedings and apparent dispositions of the peo ple, together with the military preparations which were daily made through the province, induced General Gage to fortify that neck of land which joins the peninsula of Roxbury to Boston. He also seized upon the powder which was lodged in the arsenal at Charlestown. This excited a most violent and universal ferment. Sev eral thousands of the people assembled at Cambridge, and it was with difficulty they were restrained from marching directly to Boston to demand a delivery of the powder, with a resolution, in case of refusal, to attack the troops. The people thus assembled proceeded to Lieutenant- Governor Oliver's house and to the houses of several of the new councillors, and obliged them to resign and to de clare that they would no more act under the laws lately enacted. In the confusion of these transactions a rumor went abroad that the royal fleet and troops were firing upon the town of Boston. This was probably designed by the popular leaders on purpose to ascertain what aid they might expect from the country in case of extremities. The result exceeded their most sanguine expectations. In less than twenty-four hours there were upward of 30,000 men in arms and marching toward the capital. Other risings of the people took place in different parts 648 WASHINGTON. of the Colony, and their violence was such that in a short time the new councillors, the commissioners of the cus toms, and all who had taken an active part in favor of Great Britain were obliged to screen themselves in Bos ton. The new seat of government at Salem was aban doned, and the officers connected with the revenue were obliged to consult their safety by taking up their residence in a place which an act of Parliament had proscribed from all trade. About this time delegates from every town and district in the county of Suffolk, of which Boston is the county town, had a meeting, at which they prefaced a number of spirited resolutions, containing a detail of the particulars of their intended opposition to the late acts of Parliament, with a general declaration, " That no obedience was due from the province to either or any part of the said acts, but that they should be rejected as the attempts of a wicked administration to enslave America." The resolves of this meeting were sent on to Philadelphia for the infor mation and opinion of the Congress, which, as shall be hereafter related, had met there about this time. The people of Massachusetts rightly judged that from the decision of Congress on these resolutions they would be enabled to determine what support they might expect. Notwithstanding present appearances, they feared that the other Colonies, who were no more than remotely con cerned, would not hazard the consequences of making a common cause with them should subsequent events make it necessary to repel force by force. The decision of Con gress exceeded their expectations, as we shall presently see. CHAPTER X. WASHINGTON A MEMBER OP CONGRESS. I774- r I ^ HE time had now arrived when Washington was to take a distinguished part in the proceedings of the celebrated Continental Congress of 1774. He was accompanied on his journey from Mount Vernon by two of his colleagues, Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton. As they pursued their journey, which was performed on horseback, we may imagine them to have communed with each other on the momentous character of the work upon which they were about to enter. Whether aware of it or not, they were in fact destined that very session of Con gress to lay securely the foundations of the American Re public. It was fit and proper that Washington should take a leading part in the deliberations of that remarkable assemblage of illustrious men.* * The instructions given by the Virginia convention of August 1-6 to the delegates to the Congress of 1774 were as follows: " The unhappy disputes between Great Britain and her Ameri can Colonies, which began about the third year of the reign of his present majesty, and since continually increasing, have proceeded to lengths so dangerous and alarming as to excite just apprehen sions in the minds of His Majesty's faithful subjects of the Colony that they are in danger of being deprived of their natural, ancient, constitutional, and chartered rights, have compelled them to take the. same into their most serious consideration; and being de prived of their usual and accustomed mode of making known their grievances, have appointed us their representatives, to consider what is proper to be done in this dangerous crisis of American (649) 650 WASHINGTON. The day appointed for the opening of Congress was the 5th of September, 1774. The place of this meeting was Carpenter's Hall in Carpenter's Court, Chestnut street, Philadelphia. Punctual to the hour, the deputies from eleven provinces presented themselves, and shortly after, by the arrival of the delegates from North Carolina, there was a complete representation of all the thirteen Colonies, affairs. It being our opinion that the united wisdom of North America should be collected in a general congress of all the Col onies, we have appointed the Hon. Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, Esqs., deputies to represent this Colony in the said Congress, to be held at Phila delphia on the first Monday in September next. And that they may be the better informed of our sentiments touching the con duct we wish them to observe on this important occasion, we desire that they will express, in the first place, our faith and true allegiance to His Majesty, King George III, our lawful and right ful sovereign; and that we are determined, with our lives and fortunes, to support him in the legal exercise of all his just rights and prerogatives. And, however misrepresented, we sincerely ap prove of a constitutional connection with Great Britain and wish most ardently a return of affection and commercial connection that formerly united both countries, which can only be effected by a removal of those causes of discontent which have of late unhappily divided us. " It cannot admit of a doubt but that British subjects in America are entitled to the same rights and privileges as their fellow- subjects possess in Britain, and therefore that the power assumed by the British Parliament to bind America by their statutes, in all cases whatsoever, is unconstitutional and the source of these unhappy differences. " The end of government would be defeated by the British Par liament exercising a power over the lives, the property, and the liberty of American subjects who are not, and from their local circumstances cannot, be there represented. Of this nature we consider the several acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in America, for extending the jurisdiction of the courts of admiralty, for seizing American subjects and transporting them to Britain LIFE AND TIMES. 651 Georgia alone excepted. The whole number of delegates was fifty-four. Congress was organized by the choice of Peyton Ran dolph, of Virginia, as president, and Charles Thomson, of Pennsylvania, as secretary. The credentials of the various delegates were then presented. In respect to the number of their delegates, the Colonies were unequally represented: and as their relative import ance was not accurately known, it was arranged that the to be tried for crimes committed in America, and the several late oppressive acts concerning the town of Boston and province of Massachusetts Bay. " The original Constitution of the American Colonies possess ing their Assemblies with the sole right of directing their internal polity, it is absolutely destructive of the end of their institution that their Legislatures should be suspended, or prevented by hasty dissolutions, from exercising their legislative powers. " Wanting the protection of Britain, we have long acquiesced in their acts of navigation, restrictive of our commerce, which we consider as an ample recompense for such protection; but as those acts derive their efficacy from that foundation alone, we have reason to expect they will be restrained so as to produce the reasonable purposes of Britain and not be injurious to us. " To obtain redress of these grievances, without which Ihe people of America can neither be safe, free, nor happy, they are willing to undergo the great inconvenience that will be derived to them from stopping all imports whatsoever from Great Britain, after the 1st day of November next, and also to cease exporting any commodity whatsoever to the same place after the loth day of August, 1775. The earnest desire we have to make as quick and full payment as possible of our debts to Great Britain, and to avoid the heavy injury that would arise to this country from an earlier adoption of the nonexportation plan, after the people have already applied so much of their labor to the perfecting of their present crop, by which means they have been prevented from pursuing other methods of clothing and supporting their families, have rendered it necessary to restrain you in this article of nonexportation; but it is our desire that you cordially co- 652 WASHINGTON. representatives of each province should give one single vote upon every question discussed by the Congress. It was further determined that the meetings of the Congress should be held with closed doors, and that not a syllable of its transactions should be published except by order of a majority of the Colonies. This judicious regulation, among other advantageous results, withheld from public view every symptom of doubt or divided purpose and opin ion among the members of the Congress. What we know operate with our sister Colonies in general Congress in such other just and proper methods as they, or the majority, shall deem necessary for the accomplishment of these valuable ends. "The proclamation issued by General Gage in the government of the province of Massachusetts Bay, declaring it treason for the inhabitants of that province to assemble themselves to consider of their grievances, and form associations for their common con duct on the occasion, and requiring the civil magistrates and officers to apprehend all such persons to be tried for their sup posed offenses, is the most alarming process that ever appeared in a British Government; the said General Gage has thereby as sumed and taken upon himself powers denied by the Constitution to our legal sovereign, he not having condescended to disclose by what authority he exercises such extensive and unheard-of powers, we are at a loss to determine whether he intends to justify himself as the representative of the King, or as the Commander- in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in America. If he considers him self as acting in the character of His Majesty's representative, we would remind him that the statute 25, Edward III, has expressed and defined all treasonable offenses, and that the Legislature of Great Britain hath declared that no offense shall be construed to be treason but such as is pointed out by that statute; and that this was done to take out of the hands of tyrannical kings and of weak and wicked ministers that deadly weapon which constructive treason hath furnished them with, and which had drawn the blood of the best and honestest men in the kingdom; and that the King of Great Britain hath no right by his proclamation to sub ject his people to imprisonment, pains, and penalties. "That if the said General Gage conceives he is empowered to LIFE AND TIMES. 653 of the details of its proceedings is sufficiently meager and scanty. It has been gathered from the testimony of those who were present, communicated long after in conversa tion and in letters. Of the whole number of deputies which formed the Con tinental Congress of 1774, one-half were lawyers. Gentle men of that profession had acquired the confidence of the inhabitants by their exertions in the common cause. The previous measures in the respective provinces had been planned and carried into effect more by lawyers than by any other order of men. Professionally taught the rights of the people, they were among the foremost to descry every attack made on their liberties. Bred in the habits of public speaking, they made a distinguished figure in the meetings of the people, and were particularly able to ex plain to them the tendency of the late acts of Parliament. Exerting their abilities and influence in the cause of their country, they were rewarded with its confidence. The most eminent men of the various Colonies were now for the first time brought together. They were known to each other by fame, but they were personally strangers. The meeting was awfully solemn. The object which had called them together was of incalculable magnitude. The liberties of no less than 3,000,000 people, with that of all their posterity, were staked on the wisdom and energy of their councils. No wonder then at the long and deep silence which is said to have followed upon their organiza- act in this manner, as the Commander-in-Chief of His Majesty's forces in America, this odious and illegal proclamation must be considered as a full and plain declaration that this despotic viceroy will be bound by no law, nor regard the constitutional rights of His Majesty's subjects whenever they interfere with the plan he has formed for oppressing the good people of Massachusetts Bay, and therefore that the executing, or attempting to execute, such proclamation will justify resistance and reprisal." 654 WASHINGTON. tion; at the anxiety with which the members looked around upon each other; and the reluctance which every individual felt to open a business so fearfully momentous. In the midst of this deep and death-like silence and just when it was beginning to become painfully embarrassing, Patrick Henry arose slowly, as if borne down with the weight of the subject. After faltering, according to his habit, through a most impressive exordium, in which he merely echoed back the consciousness of every other heart, in deploring his inability to- do justice to the occasion, he launched gradually into recital of the colonial wrongs. Rising, as he advanced, with the grandeur of his subject, and glowing at length with all the majesty and expecta tion of the occasion, his speech seemed more than that of mortal man. Even those who had heard him in all his glory in the House of Burgesses of Virginia were aston ished at the manner in which his talents seemed to swell and expand themselves to fill the vaster theater in which he was now placed. There was no rant, no rhapsody, no labor of the understanding, no straining of the voice, no confusion of the utterance. His countenance was erect, his eye steady, his action noble, his enunciation clear and firm, his mind poised on its center, his views of his subject comprehensive and great, and his imagination coruscating with a magnificence and a variety which struck even that assembly with amazement and awe. He sat down amidst murmurs of astonishment and applause, and as he had been before proclaimed the greatest orator of Virginia, he was now, on every hand, admitted to be the first orator of America.* * [Henry himself declared, in one of his most notable utterances, that of the members of the Congress, " If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator." The eminent jurist, John Rutledge, who rose to eminence as a !awyer while still a young man, was a member of the Congress; so, LIFE AND TIMES. 655 He was followed by Richard Henry Lee, who charmed the House with a different kind of eloquence, chaste, classi cal, beautiful, his polished periods rolling along without effort, rilling the ear with the most bewitching harmony, and delighting the mind with the most exquisite imagery. The cultivated graces of Lee's rhetoric received and at the same time reflected beauty by their contrast with the wild and grand effusions of Henry, just as those noble monuments of art which lie scattered through the cele brated landscape of Naples at once adorn and are in their turn adorned by the surrounding majesty of nature. Two models of eloquence, each so perfect in its kind and so finely contrasted, could not but fill the House with the highest admiration; and as Henry had before been proclaimed the Demosthenes, it was conceded on every hand that Lee was the Cicero, of America. It is due however to historic truth to record that the superior powers of these great men were manifested only in debate. On the floor of the House and during the first days of the session, while general grievances were the topic, they took the undisputed lead in the assembly and were confessedly primi inter pares. But when called down from the heights of declamation to that severer test of intellectual excellence, the details of business, they found themselves in a body of cool-headed, reflecting, and most able men, by whom they were, in their turn, completely thrown into the shade. A petition to the King, an address to the people of Great Britain, and a memorial to the people of British America were agreed to be drawn. Mr. Lee, Mr. Henry, also, was his son, Edward Rutledge, who had been admitted to practice at the Charleston bar in 1773, and in the Congress (from 1774 to 1777) was eminent as a debater and was one of the signers of the Declaration.] 656 WASHINGTON. and others were appointed for the first; Mr. Lee, Mr. Liv ingston, and Mr. Jay for the two last. The splendor of their debut occasioned Mr. Henry to be designated by his committee to draw the petition to the King with which they were charged, and Mr. Lee was charged with the address to the people of England. The last was first reported. On reading it great disappointment was ex pressed in every countenance and a dead silence en sued for some minutes. At length it was laid on the table for perusal and consideration till the next day, when first one member and then another arose and, paying some faint compliment to the composition, ob served that there were still certain considerations, not expressed, -which should properly find a place in it. The address was therefore committed for amendment; and one presented by Mr. Jay and offered by Governor Livingston was reported and adopted with scarcely an alteration. These facts are stated by a gentleman, to whom they were communicated by Mr. Pendleton and Mr. Harrison, of the Virginia delegation (except that Mr. Harrison erro neously ascribed the draft to Governor Livingston), and to whom they were afterward confirmed by Governor Liv ingston himself. Mr. Henry's draft of a petition to the King was equally unsuccessful, and was recommitted for amendment. Mr. John Dickinson (the author of the " Farmer's Letters ") was added to the committee, and a new draft prepared by him was adopted.* In connecting these proceedings with the opening speeches of Henry and Lee, we have passed over a char- * [History has not adequately noted the fact that Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee, brilliant orators and ardent patriots though they were, came very much short of able statesmanship, both in the Continental Congress and in the great crisis of American development when they bitterly opposed the adoption of the Constitution.] LIFE AND TIMES. 657 acteristic incident which took place on the first day of the session. " When the Congress met/' writer John Adams to his wife, " Mr. Gushing made a motion that it should be opened with prayer. It was opposed by Mr. Jay, of New York, and Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, because we were so divided in religious sentiments some Episco palians, some Quakers, ~some Anabaptists, some Presby terians, and some Congregationalists that we could not join in the same act of worship. Mr. Samuel Adams arose and said, ' that he was no bigot, and could hear a prayer from any gentleman of piety and virtue, who was at the same time a friend to his country. He was a stranger in Philadelphia, but had heard that Mr. Duche deserved that character, and therefore he moved that Mr. Duche, an Episcopal clergyman, might be desired to read prayers before the Congress to-morrow morning.' The motion was seconded and passed in the affirmative. Mr. Ran dolph, our president, waited on Mr. Duche, and received for answer that if his health would permit he certainly would. Accordingly, next morning, he appeared with his clerk and in pontificals, and read several prayers in the established form, and then read the Psalter for the 7th day of September, a part of which was the Thirty-fifth Psalm. You must remember this was the next morning after we heard the rumor of the horrible cannonade of Boston. It seemed as if heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morning. "After this, Mr. Duche, unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess I never heard a better prayer or one so well pronounced. Episco palian as he is, Dr. Cooper himself never prayed with such fervor, such ardor, such correctness, such pathos, and in 42 658 WASHINGTON. language so elegant and sublime, for Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, especially the town of Boston. It had an excellent effect upon everybody here. I must beg you to read that Psalm. If there is any faith in the Sortes Virgillianse, or Sortes Homericae, or especi ally the Sortes Biblicae, it would be thought providential." Bishop White, who was present, says that Washington was the only member who knelt on that occasion.* Congress, soon after their meeting, agreed upon a decla ration of rights, by which it was among other things de clared that the inhabitants of the English Colonies in North America, by the immutable laws of nature, the prin ciples of the English Constitution, and the several charters or compacts were entitled to life, liberty, and property; and that they had never ceded to any sovereign power whatever a right to dispose of either, without their con sent. That their ancestors, who first settled the Colonies, were entitled to all the rights, liberties, and immunities of free and natural-born subjects within the realm of Eng land, and that by their migrating to America they by no means forfeited, surrendered, or lost any of those rights; that the foundation of English liberty and of all free gov ernment was a right in the people to participate in their legislative councils, and that as the English colonists were * Mr. Duche, at the time of the first Congress, was an ardent Whig, but afterward left the patriotic cause. When the British took possession of Philadelphia, Mr. Duche, alarmed, forsook the American cause and wrote an ardent letter to Washington, en deavoring to persuade him to do the same. Washington imme diately transmitted this letter to Congress, and Duche was obliged to leave America. In 1790 he returned to America, and in 1794 died in Philadelphia, when about sixty years of age. His wife was a sister of Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was buried at St. Peter's Church, in Third street, Philadelphia, and a tablet to his memory may still be seen inserted in the wall of the building. LIFE AND TIMES. 659 not and could not be properly represented in the British Parliament, they were entitled to a free and exclusive power of legislation in their several provincial Legisla tures, in all cases of taxation and internal polity, subject only to the negative of their sovereign. They then run the line between the supremacy of Parliament and the in dependency of the colonial Legislatures, by provisos and restrictions expressed in the following words : " But from the necessity of the case, and a regard to the mutual in terests of both countries, we cheerfully consent to the operation of such acts of the British Parliament as are bona fide restrained to the regulation of our external com merce, for the purpose of securing the commercial advan tages of the whole empire to the mother country, and the commercial benefits of its respective members, excluding every idea of taxation, internal and external, for raising a revenue on the subjects in America without their consent." This was the very hinge of the controversy. The abso lute, unlimited supremacy of the British Parliament, both in legislation and taxation, was contended for on one side; while on the other, no further authority was conceded than such a limited legislation, with regard to external com merce, as would combine the interests of the whole em pire. In government as well as in religion there are mys teries, from the close investigation of which little advan tage can be expected. From the unity of the empire it was necessary that some acts should extend over the whole. From the local situation of the Colonies, it was equally reasonable that their Legislatures should at least, in some matters, be independent. Where the supremacy of the first ended and the independency of the last began was to the best informed a puzzling question. Congress also resolved that the colonists were entitled to the common law of England, and more especially to the 660 WASHINGTON. privilege of being tried by their peers of the vicinage; that they were entitled to the benefit of such of the English statutes as existed at the time of their colonization, and which they had found to be applicable to their local cir cumstances, and also to the immunities and privileges granted and confirmed to them by royal charters or se cured by provincial laws; that they had a right peaceably to assemble, consider of their grievances, and petition the King; that the keeping a standing army in the Colonies, without the consent of the Legislature of the Colony where the army was kept, was against law. That it was indis pensably necessary to good government, and rendered essential by the English Constitution, that the constituent branches of the Legislature be independent of each other, and that therefore the exercise of legislative power in several Colonies by a council appointed during pleasure by the Crown was unconstitutional, dangerous, and de structive to the freedom of American legislation. All of these liberties, Congress, in behalf of themselves and their constituents, claimed, demanded, and insisted upon as their indubitable rights, which could not be legally taken from them, altered, or abridged by any power whatever with out their consent. Congress then resolved that sundry acts, which had been passed in the reign of George III, were infringements and violations of the rights of the colonists, and that the repeal of them was essentially nec essary in order to restore harmony between Great Britain and the Colonies. The acts complained of were as fol lows : The several acts which imposed duties for the pur pose of raising a revenue in America; extended the power of the Admiralty Courts beyond their ancient limits; de prived the American subject of trial by jury; authorized the judge's certificate to indemnify the prosecutor from damages that he might otherwise be liable to; requiring LIFE AND TIMES. 661 oppressive security from a claimant of ships and goods seized before he was allowed to defend his property. Also "An act for the better securing His Majesty's dock yards, magazines, ships, ammunition, and stores," which declares a new offense in America, and deprives the Ameri can subject of a constitutional trial by jury of the vicinage, by authorizing the trial of any person charged with the committing any offense described in the said act out of the realm to be indicted and tried for the same in any shire or county within the realm. Also the three acts passed in the last session of Parlia ment for stopping the port and blocking up the harbor of Boston; for altering the charter and government of Massa chusetts Bay; and that which is entitled, "An act for the better administration of justice," etc. Also the act passed in the same session, for establishing the Roman Catholic religion in the province of Quebec, abolishing the equitable system of English laws, and erect ing a tyranny there to the great danger (from so total a dissimilarity of religion, law, and government) of the neigh boring British Colonies, by the assistance of whose blood and treasure the said country had been conquered from France. Also the act passed in the same session, for the better providing suitable quarters for officers and soldiers in His Majesty's service in North America. Also, that the keeping a standing army in several of these Colonies in time of peace, without the consent of the Legislature of that Colony in which such army was kept, was against law. Congress declared that they could not submit to these grievous acts and measures. In hopes that their fellow- subjects in Great Britain would restore the Colonies to that state in which both countries found happiness and 662 WASHINGTON. prosperity, they resolved for the present only to pursue the following peaceable measures: I. To enter into a non importation, nonconsumption, and nonexportation agree ment or association. 2. To prepare an address to the peo ple of Great Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitants of British America. 3. To prepare a loyal address to His Majesty. -By the association they bound themselves and their con stituents, " from and after the ist day of December next (1774), not to import into British America, from Great Britain or Ireland, any goods, wares, or merchandise what soever; not to purchase any slave imported after the said ist day of December; not to purchase or use any tea imported on account of the East India Company, or any on which a duty hath been or shall be paid; and from and after the first day of the next ensuing March, neither to purchase or use any East India tea whatever. That they would not, after the loth day of the next September, if their grievances were not previously redressed, export any commodity whatsoever to Great Britain, Ireland, or the West Indies, except rice to Europe. That the mer chants should, as soon as possible, write to their corre spondents in Great Britain and Ireland, not to ship any goods to them on any pretense whatever; and if any mer chant there should ship any goods for America in order to contravene the nonimportation agreement, they would not afterward have any commercial connection with such merchant; that such as were owners of vessels should give positive orders to their captains and masters not to receive on board their vessels any goods prohibited by the said nonimportation agreement; that they would use their endeavors to improve the breed of sheep and increase their numbers to the greatest extent; that they would encourage frugality, economy, and industry, and promote LIFE AND TIMES. 663 agriculture, arts, and American manufactures; that they would discountenance and discourage every species of ex travagance and dissipation, and that on the death of rela tions or friends, they would wear no other mourning than a small piece of black crape or ribbon; that such as were venders of goods should not take any advantage of the scarcity so as to raise their prices; that if any person should import goods after the ist day of December, and before the ist day of February then next ensuing, the same ought to be immediately reshipped or delivered up to a committee to be stored or sold; in the last case, all the clear profits to be applied toward the relief of the inhabi tants of Boston; and that if any goods should be imported after the ist day of February then next ensuing, they should be sent back without breaking any of the packages ; that committees be chosen in every county, city, and town to observe the conduct of all persons touching the Asso ciation, and to publish in gazettes the names of the violators of it, as foes to the rights of British America; that the committees of correspondence in the respective Colonies frequently inspect the entries of their custom-houses, and inform each other from time to time of the true state thereof; that all manufactures of America should be sold at reasonable prices, and no advantages to be taken of a future scarcity of goods; and lastly, that they would have no dealings or intercourse whatever with any province or Colony of North America, which should not accede to or should violate the aforesaid Associations." These several resolutions they bound themselves and their constituents, by the sacred ties of virtue, honor, and love of their country, to observe till their grievances were redressed. In their address* to the people of Great Britain, they complimented them for having at every hazard maintained *This address was written by John Jay. 664 WASHINGTON. their independence, and transmitted the rights of man and the blessings of liberty to their posterity, and requested them not to be surprised, that they who were descended from the same common ancestors should refuse to sur render their rights, liberties, and Constitution. They pro ceeded to state their rights and grievances, and to vindicate themselves of the charges of being seditious, impatient of government, and desirous of independency. They summed up their wishes in the following words: " Place us in the same situation that we were -at the close of the last war, and our former harmony will be restored." In the memorial* of Congress to the inhabitants of the British Colonies, they recapitulated the proceedings of Great Britain against them since the year 1763, in order to impress them with a belief that a deliberate system was formed for abridging their liberties. They then proceeded to state the measures they had adopted to counteract this system, and gave the reasons which induced them to adopt the same. They encouraged them to submit to the in conveniences of nonimportation and nonexportation, by desiring them " to weigh in the opposite balance the end less miseries they and their descendants must endure from an established arbitrary power." They concluded with informing them, " that the schemes agitated against the Colonies had been so conducted as to render it prudent to extend their views to mournful events, and to be in all respects prepared for every contingency." In the petition of Congress to the King, they begged leave to lay their grievances before the throne. After a particular enumeration of these, they observed that they wholly arose from a destructive system of colonial admin istration, adopted since the conclusion of the last war. They assured His Majesty that they had made such provision *This paper was the composition of Richard Henry Lee. LIFE AND TIMES. 665 for defraying the charges of the administration of justice, and the support of civil government as had been judged just and suitable to their respective circumstances; and that for the defense, protection, and security of the Col onies their militia would be fully sufficient in time of peace, and in case of war they were ready and willing, when con stitutionally required, to exert their most strenuous efforts in granting supplies and raising forces. They said, " We ask but for peace, liberty, and safety. We wish not a diminution of the prerogative, nor do we solicit the grant of any new right in our favor. Your royal authority over us, and our connection with Great Britain, we shall al ways carefully and zealously endeavor to support and main tain." They then solicited for a redress of their grievances, which they had enumerated, and appealing to that Being who searches thoroughly the hearts of his creatures, they solemnly professed " that their councils had been influenced by no other motives that a dread of impending destruction." They concluded with imploring His Majesty, " for the honor of Almighty God, for his own glory, for the interests of his family, for the safety of his kingdom and dominions, that as the loving father of his whole people, connected by the same bonds of law, loyalty, faith, and blood, though dwelling in various countries, he would not suffer the trans cendent relation formed by these ties to be further violated by uncertain expectation of effects, that if attained never could compensate for the calamities through which they must be gained." The Congress also addressed the French inhabitants of Canada. In this they stated the right they had, on becoming English subjects, to the benefit of the English Constitu tion. They explained what these rights were, and pointed out the difference between the Constitution imposed on them by act of Parliament, and that to which as British 666 WASHINGTON. subjects they were entitled. They introduced their country man, Montesquieu, as reprobating their parliamentary con stitution, and exhorting them to join their fellow colonists in support of their common rights. They earnestly in vited them to join with the other Colonies in one social compact, formed on the generous principles of equal lib erty, and to this end recommended that they would choose delegates to represent them in Congress. All these addresses were written with uncommon ability. Coming from the heart, they were calculated to move it. Inspired by a love of liberty, and roused by a sense of com mon danger, the patriots of that day spoke, wrote, and acted with an animation unknown in times of public tran quillity; but it was not so much on the probable effect of these addresses that Congress founded their hopes of ob taining a redress of their grievances, as on the conse quences which they expected from the operation of their nonimportation and nonexportation agreement. The suc cess that had followed the adoption of a measure similai to the former, in two preceding instances, had encouraged the colonists to expect much from a repetition of it. They indulged in extravagant opinions of the importance of their trade to Great Britain. The measure of a nonexporta tion of their commodities was a new expedient, and from that even more was expected than from the nonimporta tion agreement. They supposed that it would produce such extensive distress among the merchants and manufacturers of Great Britain, and especially among the inhabitants of the British West India Islands, as would induce their gen eral co-operation in procuring a redress of American griev ances. Events proved that young nations, like young peo ple, are prone to overrate their own importance. Congress having finished all this important business in fifty-one days dissolved themselves, after giving their LIVE AND TIMES. 667 opinion, " that another Congress should be held on the loth of May next ensuing, at Philadelphia, unless the re dress of their grievances should be previously obtained," and recommending to all the Colonies to choose deputies as soon as possible, to be ready to attend at that time and place, should events make their meeting necessary. In a speech delivered in the House of Lords in the en suing January, the great Earl of Chatham thus spoke of the Continental Congress of 1774, and thus defends the position which it had assumed: " When your lordships look at the papers transmitted us from America; when you consider their decency, firm ness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must declare and avow, that in all my reading and observation and it has been my favorite study I have read Thucydides, and have studied and admired the master states of the world that for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of difficult cir cumstances, no nation, or body of men, can stand in prefer ence to the General Congress at Philadelphia. I trust it is obvious to your lordships, that all attempts to impose servitude on such men, to establish deposition over such a mighty continental nation, must be vain, must be fatal. We shall be forced, ultimately, to retract; let us retract while we can, not when we must. I say we must necessarily undo these violent, oppres sive acts; they must be repealed you will repeal them; I pledge myself for it, that you will in the end repeal them ; I stake my reputation on it I will consent to be taken for an idiot, if they are not finally repealed. Avoid, then, this humiliating, disgraceful necessity. With a dignity be coming your exalted situation, make the first advances to concord, to peace, and happiness; for that is your true 668 WASHINGTON. dignity, to act with prudence and justice. That you should first concede is obvious from sound and rational policy. Concession comes with better grace and more salutary effect from superior power. It reconciles superiority of power with the feelings of men, and establishes solid con fidence on the foundations of affection and gratitude. So thought a wise poet and a wise man in political sagacity, the friend of Maecenas, and the eulogist of Au gustus. To him the adopted son and successor of the first Caesar; to him, the master of the world, he wisely urged this conduct of prudence and dignity: ' Tuque prior, tu parce; projice tela manu.' Every motive therefore of justice and of policy, of dig nity and of prudence, urges you to allay the ferment in America, by a removal of your troops from Boston, by a repeal of your acts of Parliament, and by demonstrations of amicable dispositions toward your Colonies. On the other hand, every danger and every hazard impend to deter you from perseverance in your present ruinous measure. Foreign war hanging over your heads by a slight and brittle thread. France and Spain watching your conduct and waiting for the maturity of your errors, with a vigilant eye to America, and the temper of your Col onies, more than to their own concerns, be they what they may. To conclude, my lords, if the ministers thus persevere in misadvising and misleading the King, I will not say that they can alienate the affections of his subjects from his crown, but I will affirm, that they will make the crown not worth his wearing. I will not say that the King is betrayed ; but I will pronounce that the kingdom is undone." Of the speeches of Washington in the Congress of 1774, we have no reports, in consequence of the sessions being held with closed doors, and an injuction of secrecy being LIFE AND TIMES. 669 laid on the members; but of the active and decided part which he took in its proceedings, the following anecdote from the life of Patrick Henry affords the most decisive evidence. Congress arose in October, 1774, and Mr. Henry re turned to his native county. Here, as was natural, he was surrounded by his neighbors, who were eager to hear not only what had been done, but what kind of men had com posed that illustrious body. He answered their inquiries with all his wonted kindness and candor; and having been asked by one of them " whom he thought the greatest man in Congress? " he replied: " If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina is by far the greatest orator; but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington was unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." " This opinion," says Mr. Sparks, " was verified by every act of his life. His knowledge on the subject to which he gave his attention was most thorough and exact; and all the world has agreed that no other man has given such proofs of the soundness of his judgment." Washington had a personal friend, Capt. Robert Mac kenzie, who had served under him in the French War, and during the session of Congress was holding a com mission in the regular army of Great Britain, and engaged in actual service under General Gage at Boston. From this place he wrote to Washington, expressing very de cided tory sentiments, accusing the people of Massachu setts of aiming at independence, and condemning their proceedings in detail, while he expressed the conviction that Gage would speedily subdue them. The following reply to Mackenzie's letter shows that Washington, at that time, sincerely held the opinions, and 670 WASHINGTON. felt the desire expressed by Congress, for a reconciliation to the mother country on just and honorable terms. " Permit me," he writes, " the freedom of a friend (for you know I always esteemed you) to express my sorrow, that fortune should place you in a service that must fix curses to the latest posterity upon the contrivers, and if success (which by the by, is impossible) accompanies it, execrations upon all those who have been instrumental in the execution. I do not mean by this to insinuate that an officer is not to discharge his duty, even when chance, not choice, has placed him in a disagreeable situation; but I conceive, when you condemn the conduct of the Massachusetts peo ple, you reason from effects, not causes; otherwise you would not wonder at a people who are every day receiving fresh proofs of a systematic assertion of an arbitrary power deeply planned to overturn the law and Constitution of their country, and to violate the most essential and valu able rights of mankind, being irritated, and with difficulty restrained, from acts of the greatest violence and intem perance. For my own part, I confess to you candidly, that I view things in a very different point of light from the one in which you seem to consider them; and though you are led to believe by venal men for such I must take the liberty of calling these new-fangled counselors who fly to and surround you, and all others, who for honors and pecuniary gratifications will lend their aid to over turn the Constitution, and introduce a system of arbitrary government although you are taught, I say, by discours ing with such men, to believe that the people of Massachu setts are rebellious, setting up for independency, and what not, give me leave, my good friend, to tell you that you are abused, grossly abused. This I advance with a degree of confidence and boldness, which may claim your belief, having better opportunities of knowing the real sentiments LIFE AND TIMES. 671 of the people you are among, from the leaders of them, in opposition to the present measures of the administra tion, than you have from those whose business it is not to disclose truths, but to misinterpret facts, in order to jus tify as much as possible to the world their own conduct. Give me leave to add, and I think I can announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish or interest of that government, or any other upon this continent, separately or collectively, to set up for independence; but this you may at the same time rely on, that none of them will ever submit to the loss of those valuable rights and privileges which are essential to the happiness of every free State, and without which, life, liberty, and property are rendered totally in secure. " These, sir, being certain consequences, which must nat urally result from the late acts of Parliament relative to America in general, and the government of Massachusetts Bay in particular, is it to be wondered at, I repeat, that men who wish to avert the impending blow should attempt to oppose it in its progress, or prepare for their defense if it cannot be averted? Surely I may be allowed to answer in the negative; and again give me leave to add as my opinion, that more blood will be spilled on this occasion, if the ministry are determined to push matters to extremity, than history has ever yet furnished instances of in the annals of North America, and such a vital wound will be given to the peace of this great country, as time itself cannot cure or eradi cate the remembrance of. " But I have done. I was involuntarily led into a short discussion of this subject by your remarks on the conduct of the Boston people, and your opinion of their wishes to set up for independency. I am well satisfied that no such thing is desired by any thinking man in all North America; on the contrary, that it is the ardent wish of the warm- 672 WASHINGTON. est advocates for liberty, that peace and tranquillity, upon constitutional grounds, may be restored, and the horrors of civil discord prevented." This letter of Washington to Captain Mackenzie is very significant. It shows that the determination to push mat ters to extremes and bring about a declaration of indepen dence was not his aim or expectation at that time; and it leaves us no room to doubt that the Congress itself was sincere, in its expressions of loyalty, throughout those able State papers so warmly commended by Chatham. It is true that Samuel Adams, John Adams, and others were secretly aiming at national independence even at an earlier period; but it is equally true that they clearly per ceived by the movements of the leaders in Congress that the time had not yet arrived for them to speak out. [A striking indication of the attitude assumed toward England by Washington appears in the frequent reference which he made to English injustice toward America, as representing only the ministry through whom the meas ures of the King's government were put in execution. The general feeling toward England was still that of recogni tion of a mother and of home, and great pains was taken to have it appear that the Colonies did not wish a quarrel with England, and that they considered themselves harshly dealt with by a ministry which, in its very harshness, wholly failed to be really English. In Virginia especially the sending of sons to England for some part of their educa tion; the return also of some member of a large family con nection to residence in England; and visiting for a season or a year or two with English friends, had kept up the tradition of close attachment to the Old Home across the Atlantic. It was therefore with strong sense of the pro priety of distinguishing between England itself and the ministry then in power, that Washington set the example LIFE AND TIMES. 673 of pointedly designating as ministerial all the British operations against America. It was to " ministerial oppression " that Washington referred Colonial troubles, when he took command of the forces gathered at Cambridge; the British forces he desig nated as "ministerial troops;" of Massachusetts he said that allowances must be made in the matter of raising troops, " the yoke of ministerial oppression has been laid so heavily on it;" he gave orders "not to enlist any de serter from the ministerial army;" he reported "the loss of the ministerial troops " in the British attacks on Breed's Hill; in urging General Thomas not to quit the service, it was that he ought not to leave his country " a prey to a cruel and perfidious ministry;" "the ministry," he said, " will never agree to relinquish the dispute unless com pelled to; " writing to Schuyler, July 28, 1775, he says that " happily the ministerial troops have not availed them selves of their advantages; " when the news of the British hard fight for Breed's Hill reached England " the minis try affected to treat it as a fiction; " August 8th he speaks of having " heard that the distresses of the ministerial troops for fresh provisions and many other necessaries at Boston were very great ; " and two days later he writes to Congress, that " we have great reason to suspect a part or the whole of the ministerial troops are about to remove; " August 2Oth, he writes to Schuyler of the chance that " the ministerial agents would engage the Indians in hostilities; " on the same day a letter to Gage declined to raise the question of " British or American mercy," said that " your officers and soldiers have been treated with a tenderness due to fellow citizens and brethren," and referred to " the ministerial views, which precipited the present crisis ; " September 6, 1775, in a letter to the people of Bermuda, touching " the great conflict which agitates this continent," 43 674 WASHINGTON. he said that " the violence and rapacity of a tyrannic min istry have forced the citizens of America, your brother Colonists, into arms;" September loth he writes, that " unless the ministerial troops in Boston are waiting for reinforcements, I cannot devise what they are staying there for, nor why, as they affect to despise the Americans, they do not come forth and put an end to the contest at once; '' the same letter refers to his dispatching Arnold with a small army to Canada, to interfere with " the ministry's plan" there; September I4th he refers in the letter to Arnold, to " this unhappy contest between Great Britain and America; " and in the address to the people of Canada he again says " this unnatura} contest between the English Colonies and Great Britain;" September 26th he refers to " the ministerial officers," as " the voluntary instruments of an avaricious and vindictive ministry;" October 4th he writes to Schuyler, upon news from England, that " there does not seem the least probability of a change of measures or of ministers;" and the next day to Congress, that " there seems to be no prospect of an accommodation, but the ministry determined to push the war to the utmost;" October I3th he writes to his brother, John Augustine, that " a plenty of arms, and unanimity and fortitude among ourselves, must defeat every attempt that a diabolical ministry can invent to en slave this great continent;" and further says, if Arnold does get Quebec, " what a pretty hand the ministry have made of their Canada bill; " October 24th, it is to " minis terial vengeance," that he refers the " desolation and misery " brought upon Falmouth,by "despotic barbarity."] On the publication of the proceedings of Congress, the people obtained that information which they desired. Zealous to do something for their country, they patiently waited for the decision of that body, to whose direction LIFE AND TIMES. 675 they had resigned themselves. Their determinations were no sooner known, than they were cheerfully obeyed. Though their power was only advisory, yet their recom mendations were more generally and more effectually car ried into execution, than the laws of the best regulated States. Every individual felt his liberties endangered, and was impressed with an idea that his safety consisted in union. A common interest in warding off a common dan ger proved a powerful incentive to the most implicit sub mission. Provincial Congresses and subordinate commit tees were everywhere instituted. The resolutions of the Continental Congress were sanctioned with the universal approbation of these new representative bodies, and insti tutions were formed under their direction to carry them into effect. The regular constitutional Assemblies also gave their assent to the measures recommended. The Assembly of Nezv York was the only Legislature which withheld its appro bation. Their metropolis had long been the headquarters of the British army in the Colonies, and many of their best families were connected with people of influence in Great Britain. The unequal distribution of their land fostered an aristocratic spirit. From the operation of these and other causes, the party for royal government was both more numerous and respectable in New York than in any of the other Colonies. The Assembly of Pennsylvania, though composed of a majority of Quakers, or of those who were friendly to their interest, was the first legal body of representatives that ratified unanimously the acts of the General Congress. They not only voted their approbation of what that body had done, but appointed members to represent them in the new Congress, proposed to be held on the loth day of 676 WASHINGTON. May next ensuing (1775), and took sundry steps to put the province in a posture of defense. To relieve the distresses of the people of Boston, liberal collections were made throughout the Colonies, and for warded for the supply of their immediate necessities. Domestic manufactures were encouraged, that the wants of the inhabitants from the nonimportation agreement might be diminished; and the greatest zeal was discovered by a large majority of the people, to comply with the deter minations of these new-made representative bodies. In this manner, while the forms of the old government sub sisted, a new and independent authority was virtually establshed. It was so universally the sense of the people that the public good required a compliance with the recom mendations of Congress, that any man who discovered any anxiety about the continuance of trade and business was considered as a selfish individual, preferring private inter est to the good of his country. Under the influence of these principles, the intemperate zeal of the populace trans ported them frequently so far beyond the limits of modera tion as to apply singular punishments to particular per sons who contravened the general sense of the community. On the termination of the session of Congress, Wash ington returned to Mount Vernon to resume again his agricultural pursuits, and to confer with George Mason and his other patriotic neighbors on the portentous aspect of public affairs. He was still, as was his wont, much occupied with various private trusts and duties which his disinterested kindness of heart had imposed on him. In writing to a neighbor, who had wished to appoint him in his will to the guardianship of his son, he says: "I can solemnly declare to you, that for a year or two past there has been scarce a moment that I could properly call my own. What with my own business, my present ward's, LIFE AND TIMES. 677 my mother's, which is wholly in my hands, Colonel Col- vill's, Mrs. Savage's, Colonel Fairfax's, Colonel Mercer's, and the little assistance I have undertaken to give in the management of my brother Augustine's concerns (for I have absolutely refused to qualify as an executor), together with the share I take in public affairs, I have been kept constantly engaged in writing letters, settling accounts, and negotiating one piece of business or another; by which means I have really been deprived of every kind oi enjoyment, and had almost fully resolved to engage in no fresh matter till I had entirely wound up the old." In addition to the amount of business demanding his attention at this time, there was a demand for his aid in the military affairs of Virginia, to which we shall presently call the reader's attention. CHAPTER XI. WASHINGTON A MEMBER OF CONVENTION. 1775- DURING the session of the Continental Congress the march of events in Massachusetts had frequently commanded the attention of the members. Gen eral Gage, with his positive orders from the ministry to overawe and subdue the people, and the Massachusetts men, with a dogged determination neither to be overawed nor subdued, were engaged in a struggle which was destined speedily to bring the controversy to the arbitra ment of the sword. The leaders, such as Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Joseph Warren, were by no means intimidated by the menacing attitude of Gage; but perse vered steadily in the execution of their purpose. Observing the firm attitude of the people, and their evident determination no longer to submit to the commer cial regulations of Great Britain, the officers of the revenue, who had been acting at Salem since the shutting up of the port of Boston, quitted their posts and repaired to the latter place for safety; so that the whole apparatus of a custom house was transferred to a port, which an act of Parliament had pronounced it unlawful for any vessel to enter. Gage had issued writs for assembling the General Court at Salem, on the 5th of October (1774); but seemingly ap prehensive of a turbulent session, he had countermanded the elections and suspended the meetings of the members (678) LIFE AND TIMES. 679 already returned. The people pronounced the second proclamation illegal, and utterly disregarding it, chose their representatives in obedience to the first. The Assembly, to the number of ninety, met at the time and place appointed. They waited a day for the Governor to open the session; but finding that he did not appear, they, on the third day, resolved themselves into a Provin cial Congress, and adjourned to Concord, a town about twenty miles distant from Boston. They chose John Hancock president, and appointed a committee to wait on the Governor with a remonstrance, in which they ac counted for their meeting by representing the distressed state of the Colony; mentioned the grievous apprehensions of the people; asserted that the rigor of the Boston Port Bill was increased by the manner of its execution; com plained of the late laws, and of the hostile preparations on Boston Neck; and adjured him to desist immediately from the construction of a fortress there. Gage was at a loss how to act. He could not recognize the meeting at Concord as a legal assembly, and was sen sible of the imprudence of increasing the public irritation by declining to take notice of their remonstrance. He was constrained by the pressure of circumstances to re turn an answer; and in that answer, he expressed his in dignation at the suspicion that the lives, liberty, or prop erty of any but avowed enemies were in danger from English troops; and observed that notwithstanding the hostile dispositions manifested toward them, by withhold ing almost every necessary accommodation, they had not discovered that resentment which such unfriendly treat ment was calculated to provoke. He told them that, while they complained of alterations in their charter by act of Parliament, they were themselves, by their present assem bling, subverting that charter, and acting in direct viola- 680 WASHINGTON. tion of their own Constitution; he therefore warned them of their danger, and called on them to desist from such un constitutional proceedings. But the warnings of the Governor made no impression on the Provincial Congress. On the I7th of October, 1774, that Assembly adjourned to Cambridge, about four miles from Boston. They resolved to purchase military stores, and to enlist a number of minute-men, so named from their engaging to take the field in arms on a minute's warning. They also appointed a committee of safety, with authority to call out the militia when thought necessary for the defense of the inhabitants of the province; and a committee of supplies, to purchase ammunition, ordnance, and other military stores. They elected Jedidiah Pribble, Artemas Ward, and Colonel Pomeroy, who had seen some service in the late war, general officers, and appointed them to the chief command of the minute-men and militia, if they be called into actual service. On the 27th of October, the Congress adjourned to the 23d of November. On the approach of winter, the Governor ordered tem porary barracks for the troops to be erected; but he found much difficulty in the execution of his purpose, as, through the influence of the selectmen and committees, the me chanics were unwilling or afraid to engage in the work, and the merchants declined to execute his orders. The mutual suspicions of the Governor and people of Massachusetts were now so strong that every petty inci dent increased the irritation. Each party made loud pro fessions of the best intentions, and each watched the other with a jealous eye. In a proclamation the Governor for bade the people to pay any regard to the requisitions, directions, or resolutions of the Provincial Congress, and denounced that body as an illegal assembly; but the proc- LIFE AND TIMES. 681 lamation was disregarded and the recommendations of Congress were revered and promptly obeyed. Instead of being intimidated by the Governor's procla mation, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, on reassembling after their adjournment, proceeded with greater boldness than ever and gave decisive evidence of their determination to carry matters to extremities rather than submit to the late acts of Parliament. They resolved to have 12,000 men in readiness to act on any emergency, and ordered a fourth of the militia to be enlisted as min ute-men, and empowered them to choose their own officers. They dispatched agents to New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut to concert measures with the leading men in those provinces and to engage them to provide their contingents for an army of 20,000 men. They resolved to bring their force into action and to oppose General Gage whenever he should march his troops out of Boston, with their baggage, ammunition, and artillery; and they ap plied to the ministers of religion throughout the province, desiring their countenance and co-operation. They also added Colonels Thomas and Heath to the number of gen erals whom they had formerly nominated. Toward the end of November the Congress dissolved itself, having ap pointed another to be held in the month of February. Alarmed by the proceedings in the several provinces, the ministry had issued a proclamation prohibiting the ex portation of military stores from Britain. On hearing of this proclamation, the inhabitants of Rhode Island removed above forty pieces of cannon from the batteries about the harbor, for the avowed purpose of preventing them from falling into the hands of the King's troops, and of employ ing them against such persons as might attempt to in fringe their liberties. About the same time the Assembly of the province passed resolutions for purchasing arms 682 WASHINGTON. and military stores at the public expense, and for carefully training the militia in military exercises. The people of New Hampshire, who had hitherto been moderate, were excited to insurrection by the proclama tion and by the example of their neighbors in Rhode Island. They surprised a small fort at Portsmouth and carried off the military stores which it contained. The beginning of the year 1775 presented a gloomy prospect to America; all the Provincial Assemblies, except that of New York, approved of the resolutions of the General Congress, and even the Assembly of New York joined in the complaints of the other provinces, although it was less resolute in its opposition to the obnoxious laws. The passions of the people were everywhere roused and great agitation prevailed. The inhabitants were all in motion, forming county meetings, entering into asso ciations, recommending measures for carrying into execu tion the resolutions of the General Congress, and choos ing committees of inspection and observation to take care that the public resolutions should be universally attended to, and to guard against the practices of those selfish in dividuals, who, for interested purposes, might wish to elude them. In the midst of all this bustle the militia were everywhere carefully trained. Meanwhile the privations and sufferings of the inhab itants of Boston were grievous, and their passions were highly excited ; but their turbulent spirit was kept in check by the presence of the troops. Supplies and provisions were sent them from the other Colonies; these however formed but a partial and precarious resource; but the peo ple were encouraged by the sympathy of their brethren, and by the thought that they were considered martyrs in the common cause. Notwithstanding the portentous aspect of affairs, many LIFE AND TIMES. 683 of the colonists still believed that there would be no appeal to arms. Formerly their nonimportation associations had produced the desired effect, and they flattered themselves that similar measures would again be followed by similar results; that the British ministry would never come to an open rupture with the best customers of their merchants and manufacturers, but would recede from their preten sions when convinced of the determined opposition of the Americans. On the other hand, the British ministry ex pected the colonists would yield; and thus both parties persisted in their claims till neither could easily give way. In the provinces, although there was much apparent unanimity in opposing the late acts of Parliament, yet not a few secretly wished to submit peaceably to British au thority ; some from a conviction that it was right to do so ; more from timidity and selfishness; but both of these classes were overawed by the more active and audacious partisans of American freedom. While matters were in this critical state in America, many of the people of Britain took little interest in the affairs of the Colonies. They did not feel their own in terests immediately affected, and consequently their sensi bility was not awakened. They had long been accus tomed to hear of American quarrels, and satisfied them selves with thinking that the present one would pass away as those before it had done. While the nation was indif ferent, the ministry were irritated but irresolute. In his speech at the opening of Parliament, the King informed the two Houses " that a most daring spirit of resistance and disobedience still prevailed in Massachusetts, and had broken out in fresh violences of a very criminal nature; but that the most proper and effectual measures had been taken to prevent those mischiefs; and that they might de pend on a firm resolution to withstand every attempt to 684 WASHINGTON. weaken or impair the supreme authority of the Legisla ture over all the dominions of the Crown." In the debates on American affairs the partisans of the ministry spoke of the colonists in the most contemptuous manner; affirmed that they were undisciplined and incapa ble of discipline, and that their numbers would only in crease their confusion and facilitate their defeat. Meanwhile the colonists were not idle. On the ist of February, 1775, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts met at Cambridge, and, apprehensive of being too much within the reach of General Gage, toward the middle of the month they again adjourned to Concord. They there took decisive measures for resisting the obnoxious acts of Parliament. They earnestly exhorted the militia in gen eral, and the minute-men in particular, to be indefatigable in improving themselves in military discipline; they recom mended the making of firearms and bayonets; and they dissuaded the people from supplying the troops in Boston with anything necessary for military service. The com mittee of safety resolved to purchase powder, artillery, provisions, and other military stores, and to deposit them partly at Worcester and partly at Concord. In this alarming posture of public affairs, General Gage conceived it to be his duty to seize the warlike stores of the colonists wherever he could find them. With this view he ordered a small detachment, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Leslie, on Sunday, the 26th of Febru ary, to bring off some field pieces which he understood the Provincial Congress had at Salem. The party landed at Marblehead and marched to Salem, but found no cannon there. Believing they had been removed only a short time before, the commanding officer determined on pursuit. He reached a small river, on the way to Danvers, over which was a drawbridge; but on his approach some people on LIFE AND TIMES. 685 the other side drew it up, and alleged that, as both the bridge and road were private property, the soldiers had no right to pass that way. The party were about to use some boats, but the owners instantly scuttled them. The bridge was at length let down; but the day was so far spent that Colonel Leslie, deeming it inexpedient to pro ceed much farther, returned to Boston. This ineffectual attempt showed the designs of the Governor, and gave fresh activity to the vigilance of the people. The Colonies were now all in commotion, and prepara tions were everywhere making for the General Congress, which was to assemble in the month of May. New York was the only place which discovered much backwardness in the matter; and perhaps the timid and selfish policy of that province contributed no less to the war than the boldness of the people of Massachusetts; for the British ministry were encouraged by the irresolution of the people of New York to persist in their plan of coercion, from which they had been almost deterred by the firm attitude and united counsels of the other Colonies. But hoping, by the compliance of New York with their designs, to separate the middle and southern from the northern prov inces, and so easily subjugate them all, they determined to persevere in strong measures. The active exertions however of the adherents of the British ministry were de feated, even in New York, by the resolute conduct of their opponents, and that province sent deputies to the General Congress. It was in the interval between the First and Second Con tinental Congresses that Alexander Hamilton, a youth of uncommonly developed intellectual power, put in his first appearance in the political history of New York. About two months after the adjournment (October 26, 1774) of the First Continental Congress, a clergyman of Royalist 686 WASHINGTON. proclivities by the name of Seabury, who was ten years later made a bishop in Scotland and became from 1784 the first Episcopal bishop of Connecticut, published a couple of pamphlets, entitled " Free Thoughts on the Pro ceedings of the Continental Congress/'* and " Congress Canvassed by a Westchester Farmer."! Within a fort night after the appearance of the second tract appeared "A Full Vindication." A reply to this was published, and then a month later came a still more elaborate pamphlet, entitled " The Farmer Refuted." These two productions in the patriot interest excited much attention, were widely read, and were attributed to Jay. They are not now much more entertaining than other like essays of their period and class, but they take high rank among the writings of a period remarkable for the ability of its political discus sions. They have certain marks of youth about them, but are singularly free from such defects; are little short of wonderful when we remember that they are the work of a boy not 18 years old. The first of Hamilton's pieces rests upon this ground: " I verily believe a nonimportation and a nonexportation will effect all the purposes they are intended for" (p. 20). " Thus have I clearly proved that the plan of opposition concerted by Congress is perfectly consonant with justice and sound policy, and will, in all human probability, se cure our freedom against the assaults of our enemies " (p. 30). "All that we aim at is to convince the ministry that we are not such asses as to let them ride us as they please " (p. 31). " We cannot submit to the principle, a right to tax us in all cases whatsoever " (p. 35). " Your lives, your property, your religion are all at stake " (p. 38). " Give me the steady, uniform, unshaken security of con- * December 15, 1774. t February, 1775. The first was of forty-eight pages and the second of 117 pages. LIFE AND TIMES. 687 s.titutional freedom. Give me the right to be tried by a jury of my own neighbors, and to be taxed by my own representatives only " (p. 47). In his second performance the point is argued that " the representatives of Great Britain have no right to govern us " (p. 71). " If the authority of the House of Commons over America be proved not to exist, the dispute is at an end " (p. 74). " The King is the only sovereign of the empire. * * * Imagine the Legislature of New York independ ent on that of Great Britain. * * * The King will be the great connecting principle. The several parts of the empire, though otherwise independent on each other, will all be dependent on him " (p. 77). " The authority of the British Parliament over America would, in all probability, be a more intolerable and excessive species of despotism than an absolute monarchy " (p. 78). " The several parts of the empire may each enjoy a separate, independent Legislature with regard to each other, under one common head, the King " (p. 81). " The right of colonists to exer cise a legislative power is an inherent right, founded upon the rights of all men to freedom and happiness, [to] civil liberty [which] cannot possibly have any existence where the society for whom laws are made have no share in making them, and where the interest of their legislators is not inseparably interwoven with theirs " (p. 84). " The foundation of the English Constitution rests upon this principle, that no laws have any validity or binding force without the consent and approbation of the people, given in the persons of their representatives, periodically elected by themselves [exception only being made, in the words of Blackstone, of ' such persons as are in so mean a situation that they are esteemed to have no will of their own/ but, ' if they had votes, would be tempted to dispose of them under some undue influence or other '] " (p. 85). " To 688 WASHINGTON. take such a survey of the political history of the Colonies as may be necessary to cast a full light upon their present contest " would show that " the sole right of the territories in America was vested in the Crown " (pp. 88, 89). " In April, 1621, the House of Commons was informed by order of King James, that 'America zvas not annexed to the realm, and that it was not fitting that Parliament should make laws for those countries ' " (p. 96). " Charles I, who granted the Massachusetts and Maryland charters, in like manner re fused the royal assent [to a fishing bill], with the declara tion that ' the Colonies were without the realm and jurisdic tion of Parliament ' " (p. 96). " The American charters are entirely discordant with the sovereignty of Parliament; * * * the Parliament of Great Britain has no sov ereign authority over America; * * * the voice of na ture, the spirit of the British Constitution, and the charters of the Colonies in general demonstrate the absolute non- existence of parliamentary supremacy " (pp. 108, 109). " There is no need however of this plea. THE sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the Divinity itself, and can never be erased or obscured by mortal POWER " (p. 108). " If Great Britain is determined to enslave us, it must be by force of arms; and to attempt this would be nothing less than the grossest infatuation, madness itself. What ever may be said of the disciplined troops of Great Britain, the event of the contest must be extremely doubtful. There is a certain enthusiasm in liberty that makes human na ture rise above itself in acts of bravery and heroism. It cannot be expected that America would yield without a magnanimous, persevering, and bloody struggle. * Great Britain could not spare an army of above 15,000 LIFE AND TIMES. 689 men, * * * to subdue near 600,000. * * * Forty thousand will be a sufficient number to make head at a time. * * * The circumstances of our country put it in our power to evade a pitched battle. It will be better policy to harass and exhaust the soldiery by frequent skir mishes and incursions than to take the open field with them " (pp. 155, 156, 158, 159). "There are many officers who have served in the last war with reputation dispersed through the Colonies. These might have the superior direction of matters; and there are men enough of known sense and courage who would soon make excellent offi cers " (p. 160). " You ask me, What resources have the Colonies to pay, clothe, arm, and feed their troops? * * * France, Spain, and Holland would find means to supply us with whatever we wanted. Let it not be said that this last is a bare possibility. There is the highest degree of probability in the case. A more desirable object to France and Spain than the disunion of these Colonies from Great Britain cannot be imagined. Every dictate of policy and interest would prompt them to forward it by every possi ble means. * * * They would not neglect anything in their power to make the opposition on our part as vigor ous and obstinate as our affairs would admit of " (pp. 161, 162). " I affirm that nothing but the most frantic extrava gance can influence the administration to attempt the re duction of America by force of arms " (p. 164). " I am a warm advocate for limited monarchy, and an unfeigned well-wisher to the present royal family. * * * I verily believe that the best way to secure a permanent and happy union between Great Britain and the Colonies is to permit the latter to be as free as they desire " (pp. 168, 169). [February 2, 1775, the citizens of Fairfax county as sembled with Washington as president, and voted to en roll the county militia, and to pay a tax of three shillings 44 690 WASHINGTON. per poll to meet the cost of equipping them for service. Washington wrote February 25, 1775, to John Connolly: "I confess the state of affairs is sufficiently alarming; which our critical situation with regard to the Indians does not diminish. I have only to express my most ardent wishes that every measure, consistent with reason and sound policy, may be adopted to keep those people at this time in good humor; for another rupture would not only ruin the external but the internal parts of this government. If the journal of your proceedings in the Indian war is to be published, I shall have an opportunity of seeing what I have long coveted. "With us here things wear a disagreeable aspect; and the minds of men are exceedingly disturbed at the measures of the British government. The King's speech and ad dress of both Houses, prognosticate nothing favorable to us; but by some subsequent proceeding thereto, as well as by private letters from London, there is reason to be lieve the ministry would willingly change their ground, from a conviction the forcible measures will be inadequate to the end designed."] Although some of the persons most obnoxious to the British Government had withdrawn from Boston, yet many zealous Americans still remained in the town, observed every motion of General Gage with a vigilant eye, and transmitted to their friends in the country notices of his proceedings and probable intentions. The American stores at Concord had attracted the General's attention, and he determined to seize them. But, although he had been careful to conceal his intention, yet some intimations of it reached the ears of the colonists, who took their measures accordingly. At ii o'clock at night, on the i8th of April, 1775, Gen eral Gage embarked 800 grenadiers and light infantry, LIFE AND TIMES. 691 the flower of his army, under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, on Charles river at Boston Neck. They sailed up the river, landed at Phipps's farm, ana advanced toward Concord. Of this movement some of the friends of the American cause got notice just before the embarkation of the troops, and they instantly dispatched messengers by different routes with the information. The troops soon perceived, by the ringing of bells and firing of musketry, that, notwithstanding the secrecy with which they had quitted Boston, they had been discovered, and that the alarm was fast spreading throughout the country. Between 4 and 5 o'clock, on the morning of the I9th of April, the detachment reached Lexington, thirteen miles from Boston. Here about seventy of the militia were as sembled, and were standing near the road; but their num ber being so small, they had no intention of making any resistance to the military. Major Pitcairn, who had been sent forward with the light infantry, rode toward them, calling out, " Disperse, you rebels! throw down your arms and disperse!" The order was not instantly obeyed. Major Pitcairn advanced a little farther, fired his pistol, and flourished his sword, while his men began to fire, with a shout. Several Americans fell; the rest dispersed, but the firing on them was continued; and, on observing this, some of the retreating colonists returned the fire. Eight Americans remained dead on the field. At the close of this rencounter the rest of the British detachment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, came up; and the party, without further violence, proceeded to Con cord. On arriving at that place they found a body of militia drawn up, who retreated across the bridge before the British light infantry. The main body of the royal troops entered the town, destroyed two pieces of cannon, 692 WASHINGTON. with their carriages, and a number of carriage wheels; threw 500 pounds of balls into the river and wells, and destroyed about sixty barrels of flour. These were all the stores they found. While the main body of the troops was engaged an these operations, the light infantry kept possession of the bridge, the Americans having retired to wait for reinforcements. Reinforcements arrived, and John Butterworth, of Con cord, who commanded the Americans, ordered his men to advance; but, ignorant of what had happened at Lexing ton, enjoined them not to fire unless the troops fired first. The matter did not long remain in suspense. The Ameri cans advanced; the troops fired on them; the Americans returned the fire; a smart skirmish ensued and a number of men fell on each side. The troops, having accomplished the object of their expedition, began to retire. But blood had been shed, and the aggressors were not to be allowed to escape with impunity. The country was alarmed; armed men crowded in from every quarter, and the retreating troops were as sailed with an unceasing but irregular discharge of mus ketry. General Gage had early information that the country was rising in arms, and, about 8 in the morning, he dis patched 900 men, under the command of Earl Percy, to support his first party. According to Gordon, this de tachment left Boston with their music playing " Yankee Doodle," a tune composed in derision of the inhabitants of the northern provinces; an act which had no tendency to subdue, but which was well calculated to irritate, the colonists. Earl Percy met Colonel Smith's retreating party at Lex ington much exhausted; and, being provided with two pieces of artillery, he was able to keep the Americans in LIFE AND TIMES. 693 check. The whole party rested on their arms till they took some refreshment, of which they stood much in need. But there was no time for delay, as the militia and minute- men were hastening in from all quarters to the scene oi action. When the troops resumed their march the at tack was renewed, and Earl Percy continued the retreat under an incessant and galling fire of smallarms. By means of his field pieces and musketry however he was able to keep the assailants at a respectful distance. The colonists were under no authority, but ran across the fields from one place to another, taking their station at the points from which they could fire on the troops with most safety and effect. Numbers of them, becoming weary of the pursuit, retired from the contest; but their place was supplied by newcomers; so that, although not more than 400 or 500 of the provincials were actually engaged at any one time, yet the conflict was continued without intermission till the troops, in a state of great exhaustion, reached Charlestown Neck, with only two or three rounds of cartridges each, although they had thirty-six in the morning. On this momentous day the British had 65 men killed, 180 wounded, and 28 taken prisoners. The provincials had 50 men killed, 34 wounded, and 4 missing. Washington's opinion of the battle of Lexington is thus expressed in a letter of May 31, 1775, to George William Fairfax, then residing in England: " Before this letter will come to hand, you must un doubtedly have received an account of the engagement in the Massachusetts Bay, between the ministerial troops (for we do not, nor can we yet prevail upon ourselves to call them the King's troops) and the provincials of that government. But as you may not have heard how that 594 WASHINGTON. affair began, I inclose the several affidavits, which were taken after the action. " General Gage acknowledges that the detachment un der Lieutenant-Colonel Smith was sent out to destroy pri vate property; or, in other words, to destroy a magazine which self-preservation obliged the inhabitants to estab lish. And he also confesses, in effect at least, that his men made a very precipitate retreat from Concord, not withstanding the reinforcement under Lord Percy; the last of which may serve to convince Lord Sandwich, and others of the same sentiment, that the Americans will fight for their liberties and property, however pusillanimous in his lordship's eye they may appear in other respects. " From the best accounts I have been able to collect of that affair, indeed from every one, I believe the fact, stripped of all coloring, to be plainly this, that if the retreat had not been as precipitate as it was God knows it could not well have been more so the ministerial troops must have surrendered, or been totally cut off; for they had not arrived at Charlestown (under cover of their ships) half an hour before a powerful body of men from Marblehead and Salem was at their heels, and must, if they had hap pened to be up one hour sooner, inevitably have inter cepted their retreat to Charlestown. Unhappy it is, though, to reflect that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once happy and peace ful plains of America are either to be drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can a vir tuous man hesitate in his choice? " On Monday, the 2Oth of March, 1775, the convention of delegates from the several counties and corporations of Virginia met for the second time. This assembly was held in the old church in the town of Richmond. Wash ington and Patrick Henry were members of that body. LIFE AND TIMES. 695 The reader will bear in mind the tone of the instructions given by the convention of the preceding year to their deputies in Congress. He will remember that, while they recite with great feeling the series of grievances under which the Colonies had labored, and insist with firmness on their constitutional rights, they give nev ertheless the most explicit and solemn pledge of their faith and true allegiance to His Majesty, King George III, and avow their determination to support him with their lives and fortunes, in the legal exercise of all his just rights and prerogatives. He will re member that these instructions contain also an expres sion of their sincere approbation of a connection with Great Britain, and their ardent wishes for a return of that friendly intercourse from which this country had derived so much prosperity and happiness. These sentiments still influenced many of the leading members of the convention of 1775. They could not part with the fond hope that those peaceful days would again return, which had shed so much light and warmth over the land; and the report of the King's gracious reception of the petition from Congress tended to cherish and foster that hope, and to render them averse to any means of violence. But Patrick Henry saw things with a steadier eye and a deeper insight. His judgment was too solid to be duped by appearances, and his heart too firm and manly to be amused by false and flattering hopes. He had long since read the true character of the British court, and saw that no alternative remained for his country but abject submission or heroic resistance. It was not for a soul like Henry's to hesitate between these courses. He had offered upon the altar of liberty no divided heart. The gulf of war which yawned before him was indeed fiery and fearful, but he saw that the awful plunge was inevi- 696 WASHINGTON. table. The body of the convention however hesitated. They cast around " a longing, lingering look " on those flowery fields on which peace, and ease, and joy were still sporting, and it required all the energies of a mentor like Henry to prepare their minds for the dread alternative of open hostilities. The convention being formed and organized for busi ness proceeded, in the first place, to express their unquali fied approbation of the measures of Congress, and to de clare that they considered " this whole continent as under the highest obligations to that respectable body, for the wisdom of their counsels, and their unremitted endeavors to maintain and preserve inviolate the just rights and lib erties of His Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects in America." They next resolved, that " the warmest thanks of the convention, and of all the inhabitants of this Colony, were due, and that this just tribute of applause be presented to the worthy delegates, deputed by a former convention to represent this Colony in General Congress, for their cheer ful undertaking and faithful discharge of the very important trust reposed in them." The morning of the 23d of March, 1775, was opened by reading a petition and memorial from the Assembly of Jamaica to the King's most excellent majesty, where upon it was " Resolved, That the unfeigned thanks and most grateful acknowledgments of the convention be presented to that very respectable Assembly, for the exceeding generous and affectionate part they have so nobly taken in the un happy contest between Great Britain and her Colonies, and for their truly patriotic endeavors to fix the just claim of the colonists upon the most permanent constitutional principles; that the Assembly be assured that it is the most LIFE AND TIMES. 697 ardent wish of this Colony (and they were persuaded of the whole continent of North America) to see a speedy return of those halcyon days, when we lived a free and happy people." These proceedings were not adapted to the taste of Pat rick Henry; on the contrary, they were "gall and worm wood " to him. The House required to be wrought up to a bolder tone. He rose therefore and moved the follow ing manly resolutions: " Resolved, That a well-regulated militia, composed of gentlemen and yeomen, is the natural strength and only security of a free government; that such a militia in this Colony would forever render it unnecessary for the mother country to keep among us, for the purpose of our defense, any standing army of mercenary soldiers, always subver sive of the quiet, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, and would obviate the pretext of taxing us for their support. " That the establishment of such militia is, at this time, peculiarly necessary, by the state of our laws, for the pro tection and defense of the country, some of which are al ready expired and others will shortly be so; and that the known remissness of government in calling us together in legislative capacity renders it too insecure, in this time of danger and distress, to rely that opportunity will be given of renewing them in General Assembly, or making any provision to secure our inestimable rights and liber ties from those further violations with which they are threatened. " Resolved, therefore, That this Colony be immediately put into a state of defense, and that be a committee to prepare a plan for embodying, arming, and disciplining such a number of men as may be sufficient for that pur pose." 698 WASHINGTON. The alarm which such a proposition must have given to those who had contemplated no resistance of a charac ter more serious than petition, nonimportation, and passive fortitude, and who still hung with suppliant tenderness on the skirts of Britain, will be readily conceived by the re flecting reader. The shock was painful. It was almost general. The resolutions were opposed as not only rash in policy, but as harsh and wellnigh impious in point of feeling. Some of the warmest patriots of the convention opposed them. Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton, who had so lately drank of the foun tain of patriotism in the Continental Congress, and Robert C. Nicholas, one of the best as well as ablest men and patriots in the State, resisted them with all their influence and abilities. They urged the late gracious reception of the congres sional petition by the throne; they insisted that national comity, and much more, filial respect, demanded the exer cise of a more dignified patience. That the sympathies of the parent country were now on our side. That the friends of American liberty in Parliament were still with us, and had, as yet, had no cause to blush for our indiscretion. That the manufacturing interests of Great Britain, already smarting under the effects of our nonimportation, co operated powerfully toward our relief. That the sovereign himself had relented, and showed that he looked upon our sufferings with an eye of pity. "Was this a moment/' they asked, " to disgust our friends, to extinguish all the conspiring sympathies which were working in our favor, to turn their friendship into hatred, their pity into revenge? And what was there/' they asked, " in the situation of the Colony, to tempt us to this? Were we a great military people? Were we ready for war? Where were our stores, where were our arms, where our soldiers, where our gen- LIFE AND TIMES. 699 erals, where our money, the sinews of war? They were nowhere to be found. In truth, we were poor, we were naked, we were defenseless. And yet we talk of assuming the front of war! of assuming it too against a nation, one of the most formidable in the world! A nation ready and armed at all points! Her navies riding triumphant in every sea; her armies never marching but to certain vic tory ! What was to be the issue of the struggle we were called upon to court? What could be the issue in the com parative circumstances of the two countries, but to yield up this country an easy prey to Great Britain, and to con vert the illegitimate right which the British Parliament now claimed into a firm and indubitable right by conquest? The measure might be brave, but it was the bravery of madmen. It had no pretension to the character of pru dence, and as little to the grace of genuine courage. It would be time enough to resort to measures of despair when every well-founded hope had entirely vanished." To this strong view of the subject, supported as it was by the stubborn fact of the well-known helpless condition of the Colony, the opponents of these resolutions super- added every topic of persuasion which belonged to the cause : " The strength and luster which we have derived from our connection with Great Britain, the domestic comforts which we had drawn from the same source, and whose value we were now able to estimate by their loss; that ray of reconciliation which was dawning upon us from the east, and which promised so fair and happy a day; with this they contrasted the clouds and storms which the meas ure now proposed was so well calculated to raise, and in which we should not have even the poor consolation of being pitied by the world, since we should have so need lessly and rashly drawn them upon ourselves." 700 WASHINGTON. These arguments and topics of persuasion were so well justified by the appearance of things, and were moreover so entirely in unison with that love of ease and quiet which is natural to man, and that disposition to hope for happier times, even under the most forbidding circumstances, that an ordinary man, in Mr. Henry's situation, would have been glad to compound with the displeasure of the House by being permitted to withdraw his resolutions in silence. Not so Mr. Henry. His was a spirit fitted to raise the whirlwind, as well as to ride^in and direct it. His was that comprehensive view, that unerring prescience, that per fect command over the actions of men, which qualified him not merely to guide, but almost to create the destinies of nations. He rose at this time with a majesty unusual to him in an exordium, and with all that self-possession by which he was so invariably distinguished: "No man," he said, " thought more highly than he did of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who had just addressed the House. But different men often saw the same subject in different lights; and therefore he hoped it would not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as he did, opinions of a character very op posite to theirs, he should speak forth his sentiments freely and without reserve. This," he said, " was no time for ceremony. The question before this House was one of awful moment to the country. For his own part, he considered it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery. And in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It was only in this way that they could hope to arrive at truth and fulfil the great responsibility which they held to God and their country. Should he keep back his opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, he should con- LIFE AND TIMES. 701 sider himself as guilty of treason toward his country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of Heaven, which he revered above all earthly kings. " Mr. President," said he, " it is natural to man to in dulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this," he asked, " the part of wise men engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Were we disposed to be of the num ber of those, who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their tem poral salvation? " For his part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, he was willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and to provide for it. " He had," he said, " but one lamp by which his feet were guided, and that was the lamp of experience. He knew no way of judging of the future but by the past. And, judging by the past, he wished to know what there had been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years to justify those hopes with which these gentle men had been pleased to solace themselves and the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with those warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. What means this martial array if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can the gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it? Has Great Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world to 702 WASHINGTON. call for this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer on the sub ject? Nothing. We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreajty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive our selves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have suppli cated, we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament. Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disre garded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon, until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us! " They tell us, sir," continued Mr. Henry, " that we are weak unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. LIFE AND TIMES. 703 But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in a country such as we possess, are invin cible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigi lant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no elec tion. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged. Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable, and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come! " It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry peace, peace; but there is no peace. The war is actually begun. The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!* Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? W r hat would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me," cried. he, with both his arms extended aloft, his brows knit, * This speech was delivered a few days before the battle of Lexington. 704 WASHINGTON. every feature marked with the resolute purpose of his soul, and his voice swelled to its boldest note of exclamation, " give me liberty or give me death ! " He took his seat. No murmur of applause was heard. The effect was too deep. After the trance of a moment, several members started from their seats. The cry " to arms!" seemed to quiver on every lip and gleam from every eye! Richard H. Lee arose and supported Mr. Henry with his usual spirit and elegance. But his melody was lost amid the agitations of that ocean which the master spirit of the storm had raised up on high. That supernat ural voice still sounded in their ears and shivered along their arteries. They heard, in every pause, the cry of lib erty or death. They became impatient of speech; their souls were on fire for action. The resolutions were adopted, and Patrick Henry, Rich ard H. Lee, Robert C. Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, Lemuel Riddick, George Washington, Adam Stevens, Andrew Lewis, William Christian, Edmund Pendleton, Thomas Jefferson, and Isaac Lane, esquires, were ap pointed a committee to prepare the plan called for by the last resolution. The plan for embodying, arming, and disciplining the militia proposed by the committee which has just been mentioned was received and adopted. The convention having adopted a plan for the encour agement of arts and manufactures in the Colony of Vir ginia and reappointed their former deputies to the Con tinental Congress, with the substitution of Mr. Jefferson for Mr. Peyton Randolph, in case of the nonattendance of the latter, and having also provided for a re-election of delegates to the next convention, came to an adjournment. How entirely Washington concurred in the views of Patrick Henry on this momentous occasion is clearly ap- LIFE AND TIMES. 705 parent by the activity with which he at once entered into the spirit of the resolutions for placing the militia on a respectable footing with regard to discipline and efficiency. He was one of the committee for drafting and reporting the plan for putting the resolutions in execution. Before the convention rose he wrote as follows to his brother, John Augustine Washington: " I had like to have forgotten to express my entire ap probation of the laudable pursuit you are engaged in, of training an independent company. I have promised to re view the independent company of Richmond some time this summer, they having made me a tender of the command of it. At the same time I could review yours, and shall very cheerfully accept the honor of commanding it, if oc casion require it to be drawn out, as it is my full intention to devote my life and fortune in the cause we are engaged in, if needful." This last expression of Washington shows that, after considering the whole subject with his usual calm delibera tion, he had come to the same conclusion with Henry, that the war was inevitable, and that he had adopted the firm determination to devote himself with all his energies to its prosecution whenever the time for action should arrive. On his return to Mount Vernon, after the adjournment of the convention, he took an active part in the military preparations which had been enjoined on the people by that body. The system of independent militia companies was no novelty in Virginia. The people of that Colony had long been accustomed to associate in such companies for the purpose of military discipline. They chose their own officers, provided themselves with uniforms, arms, and colors, and were governed by the militia laws. Dun- more, at that time Governor of Virginia, had encouraged this system, having occasion for the service of the inde- 45 706 WASHINGTON. pendent companies in an Indian war which had broken out on the western border. Washington, confessedly the most distinguished mili tary officer in the Colony, forthwith interested himself in the work of disciplining the militia, attending reviews, giving advice and direction, and infusing his own spirit of activity and order into their proceedings. Indeed, he was generally regarded as the person destined to lead the forces of that Colony, in case of hostilities, as he had done in the last war. But he was reserved for a higher destiny. CHAPTER XII. PARTISAN WARFARE. 1775- IT must be confessed that at the period at which we have now arrived, the state of affairs in the Colonies was anything but cheering. A few Colonies, scat tered along the whole Atlantic coast, had provoked the resentment of one of the most powerful nations in the world; and they were now about to experience the full effects of that resentment. But, unpromising as their prospects were, the people determined not to be wanting to themselves, and took their measures with promptitude and vigor. Intelligence of the events of the iQth of April spread rapidly over the country; and the militia, from every quarter, hastened toward Boston. On the 2Oth, the Provincial Congress chose Gen. Artemas Ward Commander-in-Chief of the forces in Massachusetts Bay, and soon afterward named John Thomas Lieutenant-General. Both of those officers had seen some service during the preceding war. The Provincial Congress, having adjourned from Con cord to Watertown, resolved that an army of 30,000 men be immediately raised, and wrote to the Colonies of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, informing them of the events of the iQth, and earnestly requesting them to send forward as many troops as they could spare, with provisions, arms, and military stores. Gen. Israel Putnam, then sixty years of age, left his plough in the (707) 708 WASHINGTON. field, and, with the Connecticut militia, hastened to join his countrymen in arms; and Capt. Benedict Arnold, of New Haven, afterward of so much notoriety, was soon in camp with his company. The provincial headquarters were at Cambridge. A large body of men was soon collected before Boston, but they were in great want of everything necessary for the equipment of an army. They had muskets, many of them old and rusty, but were ill-provided with bayonets. They had a few pieces of artillery and a few mortars, with some balls and shells, but had only forty-one barrels of gunpowder in the public store. The battle of Lexington operated like an electrical shock throughout the provinces. On hearing of that event, even in New York, where the friends of the ministry were more numerous than in any other place, the people laid aside their indecision and espoused the cause of their country men. They shut up the custom house and stopped all ves sels preparing to sail to Quebec, Newfoundland, Georgia,* or Boston. They also addressed a letter to the lord mayor, aldermen, and common council of the city of London, in which they declared that all the horrors of civil war would not compel the Americans to submit to taxation by au thority of the British Parliament; and expressed a confi dent hope that the citizens of London would exert them selves to restore union and peace to the empire. The colonists of New Jersey took possession of the treasury of the province, containing about 20,000, to em ploy it in their own defense. The inhabitants of Philadel phia followed the example of New York, and prevented the sailing of vessels to any port on the continent that acknowledged the authority or was subject to the power of Britain. * Georgia at that time had not yet joined the united colonies t>y sending delegates to the Continental Congress. LIFE AND TIMES. 709 In the space of six days intelligence of the battle of Lex ington reached Baltimore in Maryland. The people in stantly seized the provincial magazine, containing about 1,500 stand of arms, and stopped all exports to the fishing islands, to such of the Colonies as had declined to join the confederacy, and to the British army and navy at Boston. In Virginia, a Provincial Congress had met, as we have seen, in the month of March, which took measures for training the militia, and recommended to each county to raise a volunteer company for the better defense of the country. At Williamsburg, the capital of the Colony, there was a small provincial magazine, containing upward of 1,000 pounds of gunpowder. On the night of the 2oth of April, 1775, Lord Dunmore, the Governor, employed Henry Collins, the captain of an armed vessel, to convey the greater part of that powder on board his ship. Hav ing got notice of the transaction, the citizens took the alarm, and the mayor and corporation addressed his lord ship on the subject. He answered that he had removed the powder to a place of security, and assured them that, if it should be needed in order to suppress an insurrection, he would restore it in half an hour. On this occasion Patrick Henry showed himself as prompt to act as he was earnest in exhorting others to action. He, as well as Washington, had taken part in training the militia, and had accepted the command of a company. When news of Lord Dunmore's aggressive proceeding reached Hanover county, Henry, at the head of more than 150 volunteers, marched toward Williamsburg to demand restitution of the powder, and to protect the public treasury against a similar depredation. When within about fifteen miles of the capital, he was assured that the receiver-gen eral would pay for the powder, and that the citizens would 710 WASHINGTON. guard the public treasury and magazine. The party then dispersed. Lord Dunmore, greatly alarmed by Henry's march, con verted his palace into a garrison, and issued a proclama tion, charging the people with the design of altering the established Constitution. This was a new cause of exas peration; and the people, in their county meetings, not only approved Mr. Henry's proceedings, but retorted upon the Governor, attributing all the disturbances to his mis conduct, and declaring that- they only vindicated their rights, and opposed innovation. While the public mind was in this feverish state, intelligence of the battle of Lex ington arrived in Virginia. It greatly increased the appre hensions and irritations of the people, and made them far more active in arming and training the militia and volun teer companies than they had formerly been. In Virginia, as well as in the other Colonies, many were much alarmed; but the apprehensions of impending danger were over powered by feelings of indignation. In this critical posture of affairs, Lord Dunmore con vened the House of Burgesses.* His intention was to pro cure their approbation of Lord North's conciliatory plan; and in his speech at the opening of the session, he employed all his address to gain his end. But instead of complying with his recommendations, the House immediately ap pointed a committee to inquire into the causes of the late disturbances, and to examine the state of the public maga zine. For the defense of the magazine, Lord Dunmore had ordered spring guns to be placed in it, without giving any public warning of the measure. Some inconsiderate young men, unapprised of their danger, attempted to furnish * Washington, being at this time engaged in his duties at the second session of the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, was not present at this meeting of the House of Burgesses. LIFE AND TIMES. 711 themselves with arms out of it; and one of them was wounded. This circumstance occasioned a violent ferment. A multitude of people assembled, broke into the magazine, and took out many of the arms; but some members of the House of Burgesses, having repaired to the spot, by their remonstrances prevailed on the people to restore them. On the 7th of June, 1775, a report was spread about Williamsburg, that Captain Collins, of His Majesty's ship Magdalen, was coming up the river with about 100 men in several boats, to take possession of the town. A number of armed persons instantly assembled to defend the place and its inhabitants; but on learning that there was no occasion for their services, they quietly dispersed. The circumstance however made such a deep impression on the Governor's mind, that, with his lady and family, he quitted Williamsburg and proceeded to Yorktown, and went on board the Fowey man-of-war. A correspondence, in some instances not a little acri monious, now took place between his Lordship and the Council and Burgesses. He accused: they recriminated. They rejected Lord North's conciliatory plan; but passed the necessary bills, and entreated the Governor's attend ance to give his assent to them, and to close the session. His lordship declined meeting them in the capital, and they did not choose to wait upon him on board a man-of- war. The correspondence terminated about the middle of July, when the Burgesses were obliged to separate, in order to attend to their private affairs ; but they appointed a con vention of delegates to meet and supply their place. We must now advance a little beyond the general marcl; of events, in order to make a final disposition of the admin istration of Lord Dunmore in Virginia. In August, 1775, the convention met, and showed itself animated by the common spirit of the country. About the 712 WASHINGTON. middle of the month, a petition from a number of mer chants and others, chiefly natives of Scotland, praying that they might not be obliged to bear arms against their countrymen, and promising a strict neutrality in case the province should be invaded by British troops, was pre sented to the convention. That assembly recommended to the committees, and to the Colony in general, to treat with lenity and kindness all the inhabitants of the country who did not show themselves enemies of the American cause, and to cherish union and harmony among all ranks of people. But many of those petitioners having, contrary to their plighted faith, manifested a decided preference to the royal cause, the recommendation in their favor was soon revoked. Before dissolving itself, the convention is sued a declaration setting forth the reasons of its meeting, and showing the necessity of immediately putting the country in a posture of defense. Having been joined by a number of loyal colonists and fugitive slaves, Lord Dunmore very imprudently began a system of predatory warfare. By mutual insults and in juries, the minds of both parties became much exasperated. At length the Governor attempted to burn the town of Hampton; but on the morning of the 27th of October, 1775, just as he began a furious cannonade upon it, a body of riflemen from Williamsburg, who had marched all night, entered the place, and being joined by some of their countrymen, took such an advantageous position, that with their smallarms, they compelled his lordship to retreat, with the loss of some of his men and one of his vessels. Infuriated by this repulse, Lord Dunmore had recourse to a measure more expressive of his exasperated feelings than of loyal zeal or patriotic wisdom. He issued a proc lamation declaring the province under martial law; requir ing all persons capable of bearing arms to repair to the LIFE AND TIMES. 713 royal standard, under the penalty of being considered traitors if they disobeyed, and promising freedom to all indented servants, negroes, and others belonging to rebels, on their joining His Majesty's troops. In consequence of this proclamation, his lordship soon found himself at the head of some hundreds of fugitive negroes and others at Norfolk; but the proclamation highly incensed the great body of the Virginians, and alienated the minds of many who had hitherto been friendly to the British claims. Being informed that a number of armed colonists was rapidly advancing against him, Lord Dun- more took possession of the great bridge near Norfolk; a post of much importance for protecting his friends, and frustrating the designs of his enemies. On arriving near the bridge, the Virginians, commanded by Colonel Wood- ford, instead of attempting to force a passage, fortified themselves at a short distance on the other side of Eliza beth River; and in this position the two parties faced each other for several days. The impatient impetuosity of Lord Dunmore's temper could ill brook to be thus braved by the colonists, whom! he despised; and he determined to dislodge them. Accord ingly, early in the morning of the 8th of December, 1775, Captain Fordyce of the Fourteenth Regiment, at the head of a royalist detachment, left Norfolk, and reached the bridge before daybreak. He silently replaced the planks of the bridge which had been removed. The road between the bridge and the American breastwork, which was on the south of the river, was a narrow causeway, through swampy ground; and on the right, within musket-shot of the causeway, was a thicket, where the Americans had posted a small party. At daybreak Captain Fordyce, at the head of his detachment, with fixed bayonets, passed the bridge and proceeded rapidly toward the enemy. But 714 WASHINGTON. the Americans were not unprepared; they however allowed the troops to advance a good way without molestation, and when near the works, poured upon them a destructive discharge of musketry, both from the intrenchment and thicket at the same time. Undismayed by this warm re ception, Captain Fordyce steadily advanced; but on the second fire he fell dead within a few yards of the Ameri can works. His party instantly retreated, sixty-two of their number being killed or wounded, while the Americans had only one man slightly hurt. Next night Lord Dunmore quitted his post and with his adherents sought refuge on board the shipping in the river. The Americans took possession of the town and refused to supply the ships with provisions. Exasperated by this refusal, early in the morning of the ist of January, 1776, Lord Dunmore began a furious cannonade on the town, and sent parties of sailors and marines ashore, who set fire to the houses nearest the water. The flames spread rapidly among the wooden buildings; a great part of the town was consumed; and the Americans themselves after ward destroyed the rest of it, that it might afford no shelter to the royal troops. Thus perished Norfolk, the most flourishing commercial town of Virginia. While these operations were going on, Lord Dunmore entertained hopes of subduing the Colony by the agency of an adventurer named John Connelly, a native of Penn sylvania. This man, having concerted measures with his lordship, and having received encouragement from Gen eral Gage also, communicated with such militia officers as he thought most likely to enter into his views, promising them, in the name of his lordship, ample rewards. He en gaged the Indians on the Ohio to act in concert with him ; and he was to be assisted by the garrisons of Fort Detroit, and Fort Gage in the Illinois. Having collected a force LIFE AND TIMES. 715 on the western frontier, he was to penetrate through Vir ginia, and meet his lordship at Alexandria, on the Potomac, in April, 1776. But about ten days after taking leave of Lord Dunmore, Connelly was apprehended; his papers were seized; the plot was fully discovered, and entirely frustrated. Lord Dunmore, finding all his efforts ineffect ual, and being unable to remain any longer on the coast, sailed with the force under his command to join General Howe. We now return to the seat of active operations in the Northern Colonies. The battle of Lexington had given a powerful impulse to the persecution of hostilities against the British forces wherever they might be found, and the forts, magazines, and arsenals were speedily seized upon by the people in all directions. One of the most important of these enterprises, undertaken by volunteers, was that by which the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point was effected. The idea of seizing upon these fortresses, which were full of munitions of war, and very feebly gar risoned, had been conceived by two remarkable men at about the same time. These were Col. Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold. The former was a native of Connecticut, brought up in the region then called the New Hampshire Grants (the future State of Vermont), where he was a leading man among the " Green Mountain Boys." The latter had already been promoted to the rank of colonel DV the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. On the 2d of May, 1775, a party of volunteers, 270 strong, assembled at Castleton, near Lake Champlain, and chose Ethan Allen for their leader, with James Easton and Seth Warner as second and third in command. After taking measures to secure the boats on the lake, they were joined by Arnold, who as he had a colonel's commission from Massachusetts, claimed the command; but the Ver- 716 WASHINGTON. monters refused flatly, and he was forced to serve as volun teer or not at all. The party arrived at Shoreham, opposite Ticonderoga, on the night of the 9th of May. Never dreaming of such a thing as an attack, the vigilance of the garrison was quite relaxed. Having obtained a boy named Nathan Beman as a guide, Allen and Arnold crossed over during the night with only eighty-three of their men, the rest being unable to follow them for want of a supply of boats. Landed under the walls of the fort, they found their position extremely critical; the dawn was beginning to break, and unless they could succeed in instantly surprising the garrison, they ran themselves the most imminent risk of capture. Ethan Allen did not hesitate a moment, but drawing up his men, briefly explained to them the position of affairs, and then with Arnold by his side, hurried up immediately to the sally port. The sentinel snapped his fusee at them, and rushing into the fort, the Americans followed close at his heels, and entering the open parade, awoke the sleeping garrison with three hearty cheers. The English soldiers started from their beds, and rushing below, were immediately taken prisoners. Meanwhile Allen attended by his guide, hurried up to the chamber of the command ant, Captain Delaplace, who was in bed, and knocking at his door with the hilt of his huge sword, ordered him in a stentorian voice to make his instant appearance, or the entire garrison should immediately be put to death. The commandant appeared at his door half dressed, "the frightened face of his pretty wife peering over his shoulder." Gazing in bewildered astonishment at Allen, he exclaimed: " By whose authority do you act? " " In the name of the Great Jehovah, and the Continental Congress!" replied Allen. There was no alternative, and Delaplace surren- LIFE AND TIMES. 717 dered. Two days afterward Crown Point was surprised and taken. More than two hundred pieces of artillery, and a large and valuable supply of powder, which was greatly needed, fell into the hands of the Americans. Ethan Allen next surprised and captured Skenesborough, now White hall. Arnold now insisted upon taking the command of Fort Ticonderoga, by virtue of his commission from Massachu setts. But he was again resisted by the " Green Mountain Boys;" and a committee of the Connecticut Legislature gave the command to Allen, till the determination of Con gress on the subject could be had; while Arnold sent a pro test to the Massachusetts Legislature. The two com manders however engaged together in the project for capturing St. John's on the Sorel river, the frontier post of Canada. This they had nearly accomplished by means of an armed schooner and some batteaux, in which they crossed the lake; but the arrival of strong reinforce ments from Montreal and Chamblee defeated this project. Nevertheless, by the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, Allen and Arnold, as a British writer admits, " had got into their hands the keys of Canada." PART IV. WASHINGTON COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. CHAPTER I. WASHINGTON AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 1775- IT has already been mentioned that Congress, previous to its dissolution on the 26th of October, 1774, recom mended the Colonies to choose members for another to meet on the loth of May, 1775, unless the redress of their grievances should previously be obtained. A circular letter had been addressed by Lord Dartmouth to the sev eral Colonial Governors, requesting their interference to prevent the meeting of this second Congress; but minis terial requisitions had lost their influence. Delegates were elected, not only for the twelve Colonies that were before represented, but also for the parish of St. John's, in Geor gia, and in July following, for the whole province. The time of the meeting of this second Congress was fixed at so distant a day that an opportunity might be afforded for obtaining information of the plans adopted "by the British Parliament in the winter of 1774-75. Had these been favorable, the delegates would either not have met,. or dispersed after a short session; but as the resolu tion was then fixed to compel the submission of the Col- (7i8) LIFE AND TIMES. 719 onies, and hostilities had already commenced, the meeting of Congress on the loth of May, which was at first eventual, became fixed. On their meeting (May 10, 1775), they chose Peyton Randolph for their president, and Charles Thompson for their secretary. On the next day, Hancock laid before them a variety of depositions, proving that the King's troops were the aggressors in the late battle at Lexington, together with sundry papers relative to the great events which had lately taken place in Massachusetts; whereupon Congress resolved itself into a committee of the whole to take into consideration the state of America. They pro ceeded in the same line of moderation and firmness which marked the acts of their predecessors in the past year. The city and county of New York having applied to Congress for advice, how they should conduct themselves with regard to the troops expected to land there, they were advised " to act on the defensive so long as might be consistent with their safety; to permit the troops to remain in the barracks so long as they behaved peaceably, but not to suffer fortifications to be erected, or any steps to be taken for cutting off the communications between the town and country." Congress also resolved: "That ex portation to all parts of British America, which had not adopted their association, should immediately cease; " and that " no provision of any kind, or other necessaries, be furnished to the British fisheries on the American coasts." And " that no bill of exchange, draft, or order, of any officer in the British army or navy, their agents or con tractors, be received or negotiated, or any money supplied them, by any person in America; that no provisions or necessaries of any kind be furnished or supplied, to or for the use of the British army or navy, in the Colony of Massa chusetts Bay; that no vessel employed in transporting 720 WASHINGTON. British troops to America, or from one part of North America to another, or warlike stores or provisions for said troops, be freighted or furnished with provisions or any necessaries." These resolutions may be considered as the counterpart of the British acts for restraining the commerce, and pro hibiting the fisheries of the Colonies. They were calculated to bring distress on the British islands in the West Indies, whose chief dependence for subsistence was on the im portation of provisions from the American continent. They also occasioned new difficulties in the support of the British army and fisheries. The colonists were so much indebted to Great Britain, that government bills for the most part found among them a ready market. A war in the Colonies was therefore made subservient to commerce, by increasing the sources of remittance. This enabled the mother country, in a great degree, to supply her troops without shipping money out of the kingdom. From the operation of these resolutions, advantages of this nature were not only cut off, but the supply of the British army rendered both precarious and expensive. In consequence of the interdiction of the American fisheries, great profits were expected by British adventurers in that line. Such frequently found it most convenient to obtain supplies in America for carrying on their fisheries; but as Great Britain had deprived the colonists of all benefits from that quarter, they now, in their turn, interdicted all supplies from being furnished to British fishermen. To obviate this unexpected embarrassment, several of the ves sels employed in this business were obliged to return home, to bring out provisions for their associates. These restrict ive resolutions were not so much the effect of resentment as of policy. The colonists conceived that by distressing LIFE AND TIMES. 721 the British commerce they would increase the number of those who would interest themselves in their behalf. The new Congress had convened but a few days when their venerable president, Peyton Randolph, was under a necessity of returning home, to occupy his place as speaker of the Virginia Assembly. On his departure, John Han cock was unanimously chosen his successor. The objects of deliberation presented to this new Congress were, if possible, more important than those of the preceding year. The colonists had now experienced the inefficacy of those measures from which relief had been formerly obtained. They found a new Parliament disposed to run all risks in enforcing their submission. They also understood that administration was united against them, and its members firmly established in their places. Hostilities were com menced. Reinforcements had arrived, and more were daily expected. Added to this, they had information that their adversaries had taken measures to secure the friendship and co-operation of the Indians, and also of the Canadians. The coercion of the Colonies being resolved upon, and their conquest supposed to be inevitable, the British min istry judged that it would be for the interest of both coun tries to proceed in that vigorous course, which bid fairest for the speediest attainment of their object. They hoped by pressing the colonists on all quarters to intimidate opposition, and ultimately to lessen the effusion of human blood. In this awful crisis, Congress had but a choice of diffi culties. The New England States had already organized an army and blockaded General Gage. To desert them would have been contrary to plighted faith and to sound policy. To support them would make the war general, and involve all the provinces in one general, promiscuous state of hostility. 46 722 WASHINGTON. The resolution of the people in favor of the latter was fixed, and only wanted public sanction for its operation. Congress therefore resolved, " that for the express purpose of defending and securing the Colonies, and preserving them in safety, against all attempts to carry the late acts of Parliament into execution, by force of arms, they be immediately put in a state of defense; but as they wished for a restoration of the harmony formerly subsisting be tween the mother country and the Colonies, to the promo tion of this most desirable reconciliation, an humble and dutiful petition be presented to His Majesty." To resist and to petition were coeval resolutions. As freemen they could not tamely submit; but as loyal subjects, wishing for peace as far as was compatible with their rights, they once more, in the character of petitioners, humbly stated their griev ances to the common sovereign of the empire. To dissuade the Canadians from co-operating with the British, they again addressed them, representing the per nicious tendency of the Quebec act, and apologizing for their taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point, as measures which were dictated by the great law of self-preservation. About the same time, Congress took measures for ward ing off the danger that threatened their frontier inhabitants from Indians. Commissioners to treat with them were appointed, and a supply of goods for their use was ordered. A talk, was also prepared by Congress, and transmitted to them, in which the controversy between Great Britain and her Colonies was explained, in a familiar Indian style. They were told that they had no concern in the family quarrel, and were urged by the ties of ancient friendship and a common birthplace, to remain at home, keep their hatchet buried deep, and to join neither side. The novel situation of Massachusetts made it necessary for the ruling powers of that province to ask the advice of Congress on a very interesting subject: "The taking up LIFE AND TIMES. 723 and exercising the powers of civil government." For many months they had been kept together in tolerable peace and order by the force of ancient habits, under the simple style of recommendation and advice from popular bodies, invested with no legislative authority. But as war now raged in their borders, and a numerous army was actually raised, some more efficient form of government became necessary. At this early day it neither comported with the wishes nor the designs of the colonists to erect forms of government independent of Great Britain. Congress therefore recommended only such regulations as were im mediately necessary, and these were conformed as near as possible to the spirit and substance of the charter, and were only to last till a Governor of His Majesty's appoint ment would consent to govern the Colony according to its charter. On the same principles of necessity, another assump tion of new powers became unavoidable. The great inter course that daily took place throughout the Colonies pointed out the propriety of establishing a general post- office. This was accordingly done, and Dr. Franklin, who had by royal authority been dismissed from a similar em ployment about three years before, was appointed by his country the head of the new department. While Congress was making arrangements for their pro posed continental army, it was thought expedient once more to address the inhabitants of Great Britain, and to publish to the world a declaration setting forth their rea sons for taking up arms; to address the speaker and gen tlemen of the Assembly of Jamaica, and the inhabitants of Ireland, and also to prefer a second humble petition to the King. In their address to the inhabitants of Great Britain, they again vindicated themselves from the charge of aiming at independence, professed their willingness to 7M WASHINGTON. submit to the several acts of trade and navigation which were passed before the year 1763, recapitulated their reasons for rejecting Lord North's conciliatory motion, stated the hardships they suffered from the operations of the royal army in Boston, and insinuated the danger the inhabitants of Britain would be in of losing their freedom, in case their American brethren were subdued. In their declaration setting forth the causes and necessity of their taking up arms, they enumerated the injuries they had received, and the methods taken by the British min istry to compel their submission, and then said: " We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional submission to the tyranny of irritated ministers, or resist ance by force. The latter is our choice. We have counted the cost of this contest, and find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery." They asserted " that foreign assistance was undoubtedly attainable." This was not founded on any private information, but was an opinion derived from their knowledge of the principles of policy by which States usually regulate their conduct toward each other. In their address to the speaker and gentlemen of the Assembly of Jamaica, they dilated on the arbitrary systems of the British ministry, and informed them that in order to obtain a redress of their grievances, they had appealed to the justice, humanity, and interest of Great Britain. They stated that to make their schemes of nonimportation and nonexportation produce the desired effects, they were obliged to extend them to the islands. " From that neces sity, and from that alone," they said, " our conduct has proceeded." They concluded with saying, " The peculiar situation of your island forbids your assistance, but we have your good wishes ; from the good wishes of the friends of liberty and mankind we shall always derive consolation." In their address to the people of Ireland they recapitu- LIFE AND TIMES. 725 lated their grievances, stated their humble petitions, and the neglect with which they had been treated. " In defense of our persons and properties under actual violations," said they, " we have taken up arms. When that violence shall be removed, and hostilities cease on the part of the aggressors, they shall cease on our part also." These several addresses were executed in a masterly manner, and were well calculated to make friends to the Colonies. But their petition to the King, which was drawn up at the same time, produced more solid advantages in favor of the American cause than any other of their pro ductions. This was, in a great measure, carried through Congress by John Dickinson. Several members, judging from the violence with which Parliament proceeded against the Colonies, were of opinion that further petitions were nugatory; but this worthy citizen, a friend to both coun tries, and devoted to a reconciliation on constitutional principles, urged the expediency and policy of trying once more the effect of an humble, decent, and firm petition, to the common head of the empire. .The high opinion that was conceived of his patriotism and abilities induced the members to assent to this measure, though they generally conceived it to be labor lost. The petition agreed upon was the work of Dickinson's pen. In this, among other things, it was stated, " that notwithstanding their sufferings, they had retained too high a regard for the kingdom from which they derived their origin, to request such a reconciliation as might in any manner be inconsistent with her dignity and welfare. Attached to His Majesty's person, family, and government, with all the devotion that principle and affection can in spire; connected with Great Britain by the strongest ties that can unite society, and deploring every event that tended in any degree to weaken them, they not only most 726 WASHINGTON. fervently desired the former harmony between her and the Colonies to be restored, but that a concord might be estab lished between them upon so firm a basis as to perpetuate its blessings, uninterrupted by any future dissensions, to succeeding generations, in both countries. " They therefore besought that His Majesty would be pleased to direct some mode by which the united applica tions of his faithful colonists to the throne, in pursuance of their common councils, might be improved into a happy and permanent reconciliation." By this last clause Con gress meant that the mother country should propose a plan for establishing by compact something like Magna Charta for the Colonies. They did not aim at a total ex emption from the control of Parliament, nor were they unwilling to contribute, in their own way, to the expenses of government; but they feared the horrors of war less than submission to unlimited parliamentary supremacy. They wished for an amicable compact, in which doubtful, unde fined points should be ascertained so as to secure that proportion of authority and liberty which would be for the general good of the whole empire. They fancied them selves in the condition of the barons at Runnymede; but with this difference, that in addition to opposing the King they had also to oppose the Parliament. This difference was more nominal than real, for in the latter case the King and Parliament stood precisely in the same relation to the people of America which subsisted in the former be tween the King and people of England. In both, popular leaders were contending with the sovereign for the privi leges of subjects. This well-meant petition was presented on September I, T 775> by Mr. Penn and Mr. Lee, and on the 4th, Lord Dartmouth informed them, " that to it no answer would be given." This slight contributed not a little to the union LIFE AND TIMES. 727 and perseverance of the colonists. When pressed by the calamities of war, a doubt would sometimes arise in the minds of scrupulous persons, that they had been too hasty in their opposition to their protecting parent State. To such it was usual to present the second petition of Con gress to the King, with the remark, that all the blood and all the guilt of the war must be charged on British, and not on American, councils. Meantime the colonists were ac cused in a speech from the throne, on October 26th, as meaning only " to amuse by vague expressions of attach ment to the parent State, and the strongest protestations of loyalty to their King, while they were preparing for a general revolt, and that their rebellious war was manifestly- carried on for the purpose of establishing an independent empire." Yet at that time, and for months after, a redress of grievances was their ultimate aim. Conscious of this in tention, and assenting in the sincerity of their souls to the submissive language of their petition, they illy brooked the contempt with which their joint supplication was treated, and still worse, that they should be charged from the throne with studied duplicity. Nothing contributes more to the success of revolutions than moderation. Intemperate zealots overshoot them selves, and soon spend their force, while the calm and dis passionate persevere to the end. The bulk of the people in civil commotions are influenced to a choice of sides by the general complexion of the measures adopted by the respective parties. When these appear to be dictated by justice and prudence, and to be uninfluenced by passion, ambition, or avarice, they are disposed to favor them. Such was the effect of this second petition, through a long and trying war, in which men of serious reflection were often called upon to examine the rectitude of their con duct. 728 WASHINGTON. The time had now arrived when the several middle and southern provinces were required definitively to resolve, and unequivocally to declare, whether they would make common cause with the New England provinces in actual war, or, abandoning them and the object for which they had all so long jointly contended, submit to the absolute supremacy of the British Parliament. The Congress, as we have just seen, did not hesitate which part of the alterna tive to embrace, but had already (May 26, 1775), unani mously determined, that as hostilities had actually com menced, and large reinforcements of the British army were expected, the several provinces should be immediately put in a state of defense. Accordingly, the necessary committees were appointed to prepare reports on this most important of all subjects. A very significant token that the real character and abili ties of Washington were understood and appreciated by Congress is afforded in the fact that he was named as chairman of all these committees. One of them was to designate the posts to be occupied in New York; another, to recommend methods for raising ammunition and mili tary stores; a third, to estimate the amount of money neces sary to be raised for purposes of defense; and a fourth, to prepare rules and regulations for the government of the army.* Congress thus very properly took the whole system of national defense into its own hands; and thenceforward the forces under its direction were styled the Continental Army, while the British forces under General Gage were called the Ministerial Army. The next subject which received the attention of Con gress was the appointment of a Commander-in-Chief of the American armies. This was a matter of great diffi culty and delicacy, involving not only personal but political * Sparks. LIFE AND TIMES. 729 considerations. The facts that war was actually raging in New England, that a large army was embodied in the neighborhood of Boston, and that General Ward, an officer of experience and ability, was in command of it, as well as the leading part which Massachusetts had taken since the opening of the contest, seemed to establish the propriety of taking a Commander-in-Chief from that part of the country; and that General Ward should be the man. His name was accordingly among the first which were sug gested and canvassed by the members in their private con sultations on the subject. In fact, to supersede him in the command of the army before Boston, where the Com mander-in-Chief would necessarily commence his opera tions, might seem uncourteous, and might even give offense to the army, and to the eastern Colonies. On the other hand, Washington, from the circumstance of his having taken so active a part in the first Congress, was personally well known to most of the members of the second, and his superior administrative talents could not have escaped their notice; while his great abilities as a military commander, his courage, coolness, and presence of mind in great emergencies, were known to all the world. He was known also to be man of large fortune, which would all be staked on the success of the cause of liberty. To these personal qualities in his favor, were added cer tain political considerations of no ordinary weight. Vir ginia was a large, wealthy, and powerful State; she had ever been foremost in sustaining New England up to the present stage of the contest. Her generous devotion to the cause of liberty had ever been conspicuous, and her commanding influence had carried the whole South with her/ The far-sighted New England statesmen saw that to place her favorite at the head of the armies would be a master-stroke of policy; binding her and the other southern Colonies most firmly to the cause. 730 WASHINGTON. John Adams, in his diary, informs us that there was a southern party in Congress opposed to giving the com mand to any New England officer. " Whether this jealously was sincere," writes he, " or whether it was mere pride, and a haughty ambition of fur nishing a southern general to command a northern army, I cannot say; but the intention was very visible to me, that Colonel Washington was their object; and so many of our stanchest men were in the plan, that we could carry noth ing without conceding to- it. There was another embarrass ment which was never publicly known, and which was care fully concealed by those who knew it; the Massachusetts and other New England delegates were divided. Mr, Hancock and Mr. Cushing hung back; Mr. Paine did not come forward, and even Mr. Samuel Adams was irresolute. Mr. Hancock himself had an ambition to be appointed Commander-in-Chief. Whether he thought an election a compliment due to him, and intended to have the honor of declining it, or whether he would have accepted it, I know not. To the compliment, he had some pretensions; for at that time his exertions, sacrifices, and general merits in the cause of his country, had been incomparably greater than those of Colonel Washington. But the delicacy of his health, and his entire want of experience in actual ser vice, though an excellent militia officer, were decisive ob jections to him in my mind." Adams, after ample opportunities of consultation with the other members from the North, in which he demon strated the true policy of choosing Washington, consider ing the matter in a political point of view, and no doubt very fully convinced of the superiority of the Virginian officer's personal claims, at length felt sure of his ground, and ventured to allude to the matter in open debate. Ac cordingly, while discussions were going on in Congress respecting military preparations, he rose in his place, and LIFE AND TIMES. 731 moved that the army then besieging the British troops in Boston should forthwith be adopted by Congress as a continental army, and a general appointed. The time for naming the pers/on, he said, was not come. " Yet," says he, " as I had reason to believe this was a point of some difficulty, I had no hesitation to declare, that I had but one gentleman in my mind for that important command, and that was a gentleman from Virgina, who was among us, and very well known to all of us; a gen tleman whose skill and experience as an officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal character, would command the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial exertions of all the Colonies better than any other person in the Union. Mr. Washington, who happened to sit near the door, as soon as he heard me allude to him, from his usual modesty, darted into the library room. Mr. Hancock, who was our president, which gave me an opportunity to observe his countenance while I was speaking of the state of the Colonies, the army at Cambridge, and the enemy, heard me with visible pleasure; but when I came to describe Washington for the com mander, I never remarked a more sudden and striking change of countenance. Mortification and resentment were expressed as forcibly as his face could exhibit them." When the subject came under debate, several delegates opposed the appointment of Washington; not from per sonal objections, but because the army were all from New England, and had a general of their own, Gen. Artemas Ward, with whom they appeared well satisfied, and under whose command they had proved themselves able to im prison the British army in Boston which was all that was to be expected or desired. On a subsequent day, Washington was nominated by Mr. Thomas Johnson, of Maryland, and he was unani mously chosen by ballot (June 15, 1775). Immediately 732 WASHINGTON. after the result was declared, the House adjourned. As soon as the session was opened on the following day, the president communicated to him officially the notice of his appointment. Washington immediately rose in his place, and made the following reply: " MR. PRESIDENT. Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in this appointment, yet I feel great distress from a consciousness that my abilities and mili tary experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust; however, as- the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service and for support of the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation. " But, lest some unlucky event should happen unfavor able to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with. "As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire." A special commission* was drawn up and presented to * Washington's Commission from the Continental Congress of I 775> a s Commander-in-Chief. The delegates of the United Colonies of New Hampshire, Massa chusetts Bay, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the counties of Newcastle, Kent, and Sussex on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina: To George Washington, Esq.: We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor, conduct, and fidelity, do by these presents constitute and LIFE AND TIMES. 733 him, and at the same time a unanimous resolution was adopted by Congress: "That they would maintain and assist him, and adhere to him with their lives and fortunes, in the cause of American liberty/' Instructions were also given him for his government, by which, after reciting various particulars, he was directed "to destroy or make prisoners of all persons who now are, or who hereafter shall appear, in arms against the good people of the Col onies; " but the whole was summed up in authorizing him " to order and dispose of the army under his command as might be most advantageous for obtaining the end for which it had been raised, making it his special care in the discharge of the great trust committed to him that the liberties of America received no detriment." About the same time, twelve companies of riflemen were ordered to be raised in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. The appoint you to be General and Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Colonies, and of all the forces now raised, or to be raised, by them, and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their service, and join the said army for the defense of American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof; and you are hereby invested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the service. And we do hereby strictly charge and require all officers and soldiers under your command to be obedient to your orders and diligent in the exercise of their several duties. And we also enjoin and require you to be careful in executing the great trust reposed in you, by causing strict discipline to be observed in the army, and that the soldiers be duly exercised and provided with all convenient necessaries. And you are to regulate your conduct in every respect by the rules and discipline of war (as herewith given you), and punctually to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time as .you shall receive from this or a future Congress of these United Colonies, or by committee of Congress. This commission to continue in force until revoked by us, or by a future Congress. 734 WASHINGTON. men to the amount of 1,430 were procured and forwarded with great expedition. They had to march from 400 to 700 miles, and yet the whole business was completed, and they joined the American army at Cambridge, in less than two months from the day on which the first resolution for raising them was agreed to. Coeval with the resolution for raising an army, on June 22, 1775, was another for emitting a sum not exceeding two millions of Spanish milled dollars in bills of credit for the defense of America, and^ the Colonies were pledged for the redemption of them. This sum was increased from time to time by further emissions. The Colonies, having neither money nor revenues at their command, were forced to adopt this expedient, the only one which was in their power for supporting an army. No one delegate opposed the measure. So great had been the credit of the former emissions of paper in the greater part of the Colonies, that very few at that time foresaw or apprehended the conse quences of unfunded paper emissions; but had all the consequences which resulted from this measure in the course of the war been foreseen, it must, notwithstanding, have been adopted, for it was a less evil that there should be a general wreck of property, than that the essential rights and liberties of a growing country be lost. A happy ignorance of future events, combined with the ardor of the times, prevented many reflections on this subject, and gave credit and circulation to these bills of credit. Soon after General Washington was appointed Com- mander-in-Chief of the American army, four major-gen erals, one adjutant-general, with the rank of a brigadier, and eight brigadier-generals were appointed in subordina tion to him, which were as follows : ist, Maj.-Gen. Artemas Ward; 2d, Charles Lee; 3d, LIFE AND TIMES. 735 Philip Schuyler; 4th, Israel Putnam; adjutant-general, Horatio Gates. The eight brigadiers were: 1st, Seth Pomeroy; 2d, Rich ard Montgomery; 3d, David Wooster; 4th, William Heath; 5th, Joseph Spencer; 6th, John Thomas; 7th, John Sullivan; 8th, Nathaniel Greene. We forbear at this time to comment upon these appoint ments, more especially as every name in the list will here after claim the reader's attention in connection with illus trious actions performed during the Revolutionary War. Washington's inmost feelings in regard to the import ant and arduous duties which he was about to undertake as Gommander-in-Chief are expressed in the following letter to Mrs. Washington: " MY DEAREST. I am now set down to write to you on a subject which fills me with inexpressible concern, and this concern is greatly aggravated and increased when I reflect upon the uneasiness I know it will give you. It has been determined in Congress that the whole army raised for the defense of the American cause shall be put under my care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Boston to take upon me the command. " You may believe me, my dear Patsy, when I assure you in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, .and that I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at home than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven times seven years. But as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this ser vice, I shall hope that my undertaking is designed to answer some good purpose. You might, and I suppose 736 WASHINGTON. did, perceive, from the tenor of my letters, that I was ap prehensive I could not avoid this appointment, as I did not pretend to intimate when I should return. That was the case. It was utterly out of my power to refuse this appointment without exposing my character to such cen sures as would have reflected dishonor upon myself and given pain to my friends. This, I am sure, could not and ought not to be pleasing to you, and must have lessened me considerably in my own esteem. I shall rely therefore confidently on that Providence, which has heretofore pre served and been bountiful to me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to you in the fall. I shall feel no pain from the toil or the danger of the campaign ; my unhappi- ness will flow from the uneasiness I know you will feel from being left alone. I therefore beg that you will sum mon your whole fortitude and pass your time as agreeably as possible. Nothing will give me so much sincere satis faction as to hear this, and to hear it from your own pen. My earnest and ardent desire is that you would pursue any plan that is most likely to produce content and a tolerable degree of tranquillity; as it must add greatly to my uneasy feelings to hear that you are dissatisfied or complaining at what I really could not avoid." [To John Parke Custis, his stepson, who had married Miss Nelly Calvert, Washington said in a letter of June " My great concern upon this occasion is the thought of leaving your mother under the uneasiness which this af fair will throw her into. I therefore hope, expect, and in deed have no doubt, of your using every means in your power to keep up her spirits, by doing everything in your power to promote her quiet. I have, I must confess, very uneasy feelings on her account, but as it has been a kind of unavoidable necessity which has led me into this appoint- LIFE AND TIMES. 737 ment, I shall more readily hope that success will attend it and crown our meetings with happiness. "At any time, I hope it is unnecessary for me to say, that I am always pleased with your and Nelly's abidance at Mount Vernon; much less upon this occasion, when I think it absolutely necessary for the peace and satisfac tion of your mother; a consideration which I have no doubt will have due weight with you both, and require no arguments to enforce. " You must now take upon yourself the entire manage ment of your own estate; it will no longer be in my power to assist you, nor is there any occasion for it, as you have never discovered a disposition to put it to a bad use. " Great Britain seems determined to enforce us into war, and there will be at least 15,000 raised as a continental army." To his friend and neighbor, Colonel Bassett, Washing ton wrote: " May God grant that my acceptance may be attended with some good to the common cause, and without injury (from want of knowledge) to my own reputation. I can answer for but three things a firm belief of the justice of our cause, close attention in the prosecution of it, and the strictest integrity. If these cannot supply the place of ability and experience, the cause will suffer, and more than probable my character along with it, as reputation derives its principal support from success; but it will be remem bered, I hope, that no desire or insinuation of mine placed me in this situation. I shall not be deprived, therefore, of a comfort in the worst event, if I retain a consciousness of having acted to the best of my judgment." To the captains of several independent companies in Virginia, Washington wrote, June 20, 1775: 47 738 WASHINGTON. " I am now about to bid adieu to the companies under your respective commands, at least for a while. I have launched into a wide and extensive field, too boundless for my abilities, and far, very far, beyond my experience. I am called, by the unanimous voice of the colonies, to the command of the continental army; an honor I did not aspire to; an honor I was solicitous to avoid, upon a full conviction of my inadequacy to the importance of the service. The partiality of the Congress, however, assisted by a political motive, rendered my reasons unavailing, and I shall tomorrow set out for the camp near Boston." Mr. W. C. Ford very justly says here : " The reply of the Independent Company of Alexandria to this letter is an evidence of the warm attachment of his friends, at the same time that it is remarkable for the sentiments it expresses, even at so late a day, in regard to conciliation with Great Britain: 'Your favor of the 2oth ultimo/ they said, ' notifying us of your intended departure for the camp, we received, and, after transmitting copies to the different officers, to whom it was directed, we laid it before a full meeting of your company this day. At the same time that they deplore the unfortunate occasion that calls you, their patron, friend, and worthy citizen, from them and your more tender connexions, they beg your acceptance of their most hearty congratulations upon your appointment to the supreme military command of the American confederate forces. Firmly convinced, Sir, of your zealous attachment to the rights of your country, and those of mankind, and of your earnest desire that harmony and good will should again take place between us and our parent State, we well know that your every exertion will be invariably employed to preserve the one and effect the other. " * We are to inform you, Sir, by desire of the company, LIFE AND TIMES. 739 that if at any time you shall judge it expedient for them to join the troops at Cambridge, or to inarch elsewhere, they will cheerfully do it. We now recommend you to the favor of Him, by whom kings reign and princes de cree justice, wishing all your counsels and operations to be directed by his gracious providence to a happy and lasting union between us and Great Britain.' The publication of this letter called out the following: 'Go, gallant Washington, And when (all milder means withstood) Ambition, tam'd by loss of blood, Regains her reason ; then on angels' wings, Shall peace descend, and shouting greet, With peals of joy, these happy climes/ Pennsylvania Gazette, 26 July, 1775" To his brother, John A. Washington, the new Com- mander-in-Chief wrote, June 20, 1775: " I am now to bid adieu to you and to every kind of domestic ease for a while. I am embarked on a wide ocean, boundless in its prospect, and in which perhaps no safe harbor is to be found. I have been called upon by the unanimous voice of the Colonies to take the com mand of the Continental Army, an honor I neither sought after nor desired, as I am thoroughly convinced that it requires greater abilities and much more experience than I am master of to conduct a business so extensive in its nature and arduous in the execution. But the partiality of the Congress, joined to a political motive, left me with out a choice; and I am now commissioned a general and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces now raised, or to be raised, for the defense of the united Colonies. That I may discharge the trust to the satisfaction of my employ ers is my first wish; that I shall aim to do it, there remains 740 WASHINGTON. little doubt. How far I may succeed is another point; but this I am sure of, that in the worst event I shall have the consolation of knowing, if I act to the best of my judgment, that the blame ought to lodge upon the appoint- ers, not the appointed, as it was by no means a thing of my own seeking, or proceeding from any hint of my friends. " I am at liberty to inform you that the Congress, in a committee (which will I dare say be agreed to when re ported), have consented to a Continental currency; have ordered two millions of dollars to be struck for the payment of the troops, etc.; and have voted 15,000 men as a Con tinental army, which number will be augmented, as the strength of the British troops will be greater than was ex pected at the time of passing that vote. I expect to set out tomorrow for Boston, and hope to be joined there in a little time by ten companies of riflemen from this prov ince, Maryland, and Virginia. " I shall hope that my friends will visit, and endeavor to keep up the spirits of my wife, as much as they can, as my departure will, I know, be a cutting stroke to her; and on this account alone I have many disagreeable sen sations. I hope you and my sister, although the distance is great, will find as much leisure this summer as to spend a little time at Mount Vernon. " My sincere regards attend you both, and the little ones, and I am your most affectionate brother."] After receiving his commission as Commander-in-Chief, Washington lost no time in joining the army before Bos ton; but before following him to his post it is necessary to notice the important events which had transpired in that quarter during the session of Congress. CHAPTER II. BUNKER HILL. 1775- WHILE Congress was in session the march of pub lic sentiment toward the adoption of more de cisive measures of hostility than had previously been deemed possible was steady and constant. From a variety of circumstances the Americans had good reason to conclude that hostilities would 1 soon be carried on vigorously in Massachusetts, and also to ap prehend that, sooner or later, each province would be the theater of war. " The more speedily therefore," said they, " we are prepared for that event, the better chance we have for defending ourselves." Previous to this period, or rather to the iQth of April, 1775, the dispute had been carried on by the pen, or at most, by associations and legislative acts; but from this time forward it was conducted by the sword. The crisis was arrived when the Colonies had no alternative but either to submit to the mercy or to resist the power of Great Britain. An unconquerable love of liberty could not brook the idea of submission, while reason, more temperate in her decisions, suggested to the people their insufficiency to make effectual opposition. They were fully apprised of the power of Britain; they knew that her fleets covered the ocean, and that her flag had waved in triumph through the four quarters of the globe ; but the animated language (74i) 742 WASHINGTON. of the time was, " It is better to die freemen than to live slaves." Though the justice of their cause and the inspira tion of liberty gave, in the opinion of disinterested judges, a superiority to the writings of Americans, yet, in the art of literary composition, the candid among themselves ac knowledged an inferiority. Their form of government was deficient in that decision, dispatch, and coercion which are necessary to military operations. Europeans, from being generally unacquainted with fire arms, are less easily taught the use of them than Ameri cans, who are, from their youth, familiar with these instru ments of war; yet, on other accounts, they are more susceptible of military habits. The proportion of neces sitous men in the New World is small to that in the Old. To procure subsistence is a powerful motive with a European to enlist, and the prospect of losing it makes him afraid to neglect his duty; but these incitements to the punctual discharge of military services are wanting in America. In old countries, the distinction of ranks and the submission of inferiors to superiors generally takes place, but in the New World an extreme sense of liberty and equality indisposes to that implicit obedience which is the soul of an army. The same causes which nurtured a spirit of independence in the Colonies were hostile to their military arrangements. It was not only from the different state of society in the two countries, but from a variety of local causes, that the Americans were not able to contend in arms on equal terms with their parent State. From the first settlement of the British Colonies agriculture and commerce, but especially the former, had been the favorite pursuits of the inhabitants. War was a business abhorrent from their usual habits of life. They had never engaged in it from their own motion, nor in any other mode than as append- LIFE AND TIMES. 743 ages to British troops and under British establishments. By these means the military spirit of the Colonies had no opportunity of expanding itself. At the commencement of hostilities the British troops possessed a knowledge of the science and discipline of war which could be acquired only by a long course of application and substantial establishments. Their equip ments, their artillery, and every other part of their ap paratus for war approached perfection. To these import ant circumstances was added a high national spirit of pride, which had been greatly augmented by their suc cesses in their last contest with France and Spain. On the other hand, the Americans were undisciplined, without experienced officers, and without the shadow of military establishments. In the wars which had been pre viously carried on, in or near the Colonies, the provincials had been, by their respective Legislatures, frequently added to the British troops; but the pride of the latter would not consider the former, who were without uni formity of dress or the pertness of military airs, to be their equals. The provincial troops were therefore for the most part assigned to services which, though laborious, were not honorable. The ignorance of British generals, commanding in the woods of America, sometimes involved them in difficulties from which they had been more than once relieved by the superior local knowledge of the colonial troops. These services were soon forgotten, and the moment the troops who performed them could be spared they were disbanded. Such obstacles had hitherto depressed military talents in America, but they were now overcome by the ardor of the people. In the year 1775 a martial spirit pervaded all ranks of men in the Colonies. They believed their liberties to be 744 WASHINGTON. in danger and were generally disposed to risk their lives for their establishment. Their ignorance of the military art prevented their weighing the chances of war with that exactness of calculation which, if indulged, might have damped their hopes. They conceived that there was little more to do than fight manfully for their country. They consoled themselves with the idea that though their first attempt might be unsuccessful, their numbers would admit of a repetition of the experiment till the invaders were finally exterminated. Not considering that in modern war the longest purse decides often-er than the longest sword, they feared not the wealth of Britain. They both expected and wished that the whole dispute would be speedily settled in a few decisive engagements. Elevated with the love of liberty and buoyed above the fear of consequences by an ardent military enthusiasm, unabated by calculations about the extent, duration, or probable issue of the war, the people of America seconded the voice of their rulers in an appeal to Heaven for the vindication of their rights. At the time the Colonies adopted these spirited resolutions they possessed not a bingle ship of war nor so much as an armed vessel of arty kind. It had often been suggested that their seaport towns lay at the mercy of the navy of Great Britain; this was both known and believed, but disregarded. The love of property was absorbed in the love of liberty. The animated votaries of the equal rights of human na ture consoled themselves with the idea that though their whole seacoast should be laid in ashes, they could retire to the western wilderness and enjoy the luxury of being free; on this occasion it was observed in Congress by Christopher Gadsden, one of the South Carolina delegates : " Our houses being constructed of brick, stone, and wood, WASHINGTON AT THE BATTLE OF PRINCETON. LIFE AND TIMES., 745 though destroyed, may be rebuilt; but liberty once gone is lost forever." The sober discretion of the present age will more readily censure than admire, but can more easily admire than imitate, the fervid zeal of the patriots of 1775, who in idea sacrificed property in the cause of liberty with the ease that they now sacrifice almost every other consideration for the acquisition of property. The revenues of Britain were immense, and her people were habituated to the payment of large sums in every form which contributions to government have assumed; but the American Colonies possessed neither money nor funds, nor were their people accustomed to taxes equal to the exigencies of war. The contest having begun about taxation, to have raised money by taxes for carrying it on would have been impolitic. The temper of the times pre cluded the necessity of attempting the dangerous expedi ent; for such was the enthusiasm of the day that the col onists gave up both their personal services and their prop erty to the public on the vague promises that they should at a future time be reimbursed. Without inquiring into the solidity of funds or the pre cise period of payment, the resources of the country were commanded on general assurances that all expenses of the war should ultimately be equalized. The parent State abounded with experienced statesmen and officers, but the dependent form of government exercised in the Colonies precluded their citizens from gaining that practical knowl edge which is acquired from being at the head of public departments. There were very few in the Colonies who understood the business of providing for an army, and still fewer who 'had experience and knowledge to direct its operations. The disposition of the finances of the country and the most effectual mode of drawing forth its 746 WASHINGTON. resources were subjects with which scarce any of the in habitants were acquainted. Arms and ammunition were almost wholly deficient, and though the country abounded with the materials of which they are manufactured, yet there was neither time nor artists enough to supply an army with the means of defense. The country was desti tute both of fortifications and engineers. Amidst so many discouragements there were some flat tering circumstances. The war could not be carried on by Great Britain but to a great disadvantage, and at an immense expense. It was easy for ministers at St. James's to plan campaigns, but hard was the fate of the officer from whom the execution of them, in the woods of America, was expected. The country was so extensive and abounded so much with defiles that by evacuating and retreating the Americans, though they could not conquer, yet might save themselves from being conquered. The authors of the acts of Parliament for restraining the trade of the Colonies were most excellent recruiting officers for the Congress. They imposed a necessity on thousands to become soldiers. All other business being suspended, the whole resources of the country were ap plied in supporting an army. Though the colonists were without discipline, they pos sessed native valor. Though they had neither gold nor silver, they possessed a mine in the enthusiasm of their people. Paper, for upward of two years, produced to them more solid advantages than Spain derived from her super- abounding precious metals. Though they had no ships to protect their trade or their towns, they had simplicity enough to live without the former and enthusiasm enough to risk the latter rather than submit to the power of Brit ain. They believed their cause to be just and that Heaven approved their exertions in defense of their rights. Zeal, LIFE AND TIMES. 747 originating from such motives, supplied the place of dis cipline and inspired a confidence and military ardor which overleaped all difficulties. Resistance being resolved upon by the Americans, the pulpit, the press, the bench, and the bar severally labored to unite and encourage them. The clergy of New Eng land were a numerous, learned, and respectable body, who had a great ascendency over the minds of their hear ers. They connected religion and patriotism, and, in their sermons and prayers, represented the cause of America as the cause of Heaven. The synod of New York and Philadelphia also sent forth a pastoral letter, which was publicly read in their churches. This earnestly recom mended such sentiments and conduct as were suitable to their situation. Writers and printers followed in the rear of the preach ers and next to them had the greatest hand in animating their countrymen. Gentlemen of the bench and of the bar denied the charge of rebellion and justified the resist ance of the colonists. A distinction, founded on law, be tween the King and his ministry, was introduced. The former, it was contended, could do no wrong. The crime of treason was charged on the latter for using the royal name to varnish their own unconstitutional measures. The phrase of a ministerial war became common and was used as a medium for reconciling resistance with alle giance. Coeval with the resolutions for organizing an army was one appointing the 2oth day of July, 1775, a day of public humiliation, fasting, and prayer to Almighty God " to bless their rightful sovereign King George, and to inspire him with wisdom to discern and pursue the true interest of his subjects; and that the British Nation might be in fluenced to regard the things that belonged to her peace, 748 WASHINGTON. before they were hid from her eyes; that the Colonies might be ever under the care and protection of a kind Providence, and be prospered in all their interests; that America might soon behold a gracious interposition of Heaven for the redress of her many grievances; the resto ration of her invaded rights, a reconciliation with the parent State on terms constitutional and honorable to both." The forces which had been collected in Massachusetts were stationed in convenient places for guarding the coun try from further excursions of the regulars from Boston. Breastworks were also erected in different places for the same purpose. While both parties were attempting to carry off stock from the several islands with which the bay of Boston is agreeably diversified, sundry skirmishes took place. These were of real service to the Americans. They habituated them to danger, and perhaps much of the courage of old soldiers is derived from an experimental conviction that the chance of escaping unhurt from en gagements is much greater than young recruits suppose. About the latter end of May, 1775, a great part of the reinforcements ordered from Great Britain arrived at Bos- ton. Three British generals, Howe, Burgoyne, and Clin ton, whose behavior in the preceding war had gained them great reputation, also arrived about the same time Gen eral Gage, thus reinforced, prepared for acting with more decision ; but, before he proceeded to extremities, he con ceived it due to ancient forms to issue a proclamation, holding forth to the inhabitants the alternative of peace or war. He therefore offered pardon, in the King's name, to all who should forthwith lay down their arms and return to their respective occupations and peaceable duties, ex cepting only from the benefit of that pardon " Samuel Adams and John Hancock, whose offenses were said to LIFE AND TIMES. 749 be of too flagitious a nature to admit of any other consid eration than that of condign punishment." He also pro claimed that not only the persons above named and ex- cepted, but also all their adherents, associates, and cor respondents should be deemed guilty of treason and re bellion and treated accordingly. By this proclamation it was also declared, " that as the courts of judicature were shut, martial law should take place till a due course of justice should be re-established." From the movements visible among the British troops, and their apparent preparations for some active enter prise, the Americans were led to believe that Gage de signed to issue from Boston and penetrate into the in terior of Massachusetts; whereupon, with a view to an ticipate or derange the supposed project of attack, the Provincial Congress suggested to General Ward, who held the chief command of the army which blockaded Boston that measures should be taken for the defense of Dorches ter Neck, and that a part of the American force should occupy an intrenched position on Bunker's Hill, which ascends from and commands the entrance of the peninsula of Charlestown. Orders were accordingly communicated to Colonel Prescott, with a detachment of 1,000 men, to take pos session of that eminence; but, through some misappre hension, Breed's Hill, instead of Bunker's Hill, was made the site of the projected intrenchment. By his conduct of this perilous enterprise and the heroic valor he dis played in the conflict that ensued, Prescott honorably sig nalized a name which his descendants have further adorned with the highest trophies of forensic and literary renown. About 9 o'clock of the evening (June i6th), the detach ment moved from Cambridge and, silently traversing 750 WASHINGTON. Charlestown Neck, gained the summit of Breed's Hill un observed. This eminence is situated at the extremity ot the peninsula nearest to Boston, and is so elevated as to overlook every part of that town, and so near it as to be within the reach of cannon shot. The American troops, who were provided with intrench ing tools, instantly commenced their work, which they pursued with such diligence that before the morning ar rived they had thrown up a redoubt of considerable dimen sions, and with such deep silence that, although the penin sula was nearly surrounded by British ships of war and transports, their operations were only first disclosed to the astonished army of Britain by the dispersion of the dark ness of night, under whose shade they had been conducted. At break of day (June I7th), the alarm was communi cated at Boston by a cannonade, which the Lively, sloop of war, promptly directed against the intrenchments and embattled array of the Americans. A battery of six guns was soon after opened upon them from Copp's Hill, at the north end of Boston. Under an incessant shower of bullets and bombs, the American firmly and indefatigably persevered in their labor until they completed a small breastwork, extending from the east side of the redoubt to the bottom of the hill, toward the River Mystic. We have remarked the mistake that occasioned a de parture from the original plan of the American enterprise, and led to the assumption of Breed's Hill instead of the other eminence which it was first proposed to occupy. By a corresponding mistake, the memorable engagement which ensued has received the name of The Battle of Bunker Hill. Gage, perceiving the necessity of dislodging the Ameri cans from the position they had so suddenly and daringly assumed, detached, about noon, on this service, the gen- LIFE AND TIMES. 751 erals Howe and Pigot, with ten companies of grenadiers, ten of light infantry and a suitable proportion of field ar tillery. These troops, crossing the narrow bay which lies between Boston and the American position, landed at Moreton's Point and immediately formed in order of bat tle, but perceiving that the Americans, undaunted by this demonstration and with spirit excited to the utmost height firmly waited the attack, they refrained from ad vancing till the arrival of a reinforcement from Boston. Meanwhile the Americans were also reinforced by a body of their countrymen, commanded by the generals Warren,* Pomeroy, Putnam, and Stark; and the troops on the open ground, tearing up some adjoining post and railfence and fixing the stakes in a parallel line with a stone and railfence already standing, filled up the space between with new-mown grass and formed for themselves a cover from the musketry of the enemy. Collecting all their courage and undepressed by the advantage which their adversaries derived from the audacity of assault, they stood prepared for an effort which should yield their countrymen, if not victorious liberty, at least a memorable example of what the brave and the free can do to achieve it. The British troops, strengthened now by the arrival of the second detachment, and formed in two lines, moved forward to the conflict, having the light infantry on the right wing, commanded by General Howe, and the grena diers on the left, conducted by General Pigot; the former to attack the American lines in flank and the latter the redoubt in front. The attack was begun by a heavy discharge of field * Warren was President of the Provincial Congress of Massa chusetts, and had just been appointed major-general. He declined taking any command, and served in the redoubt with his musket as a volunteer. 752 WASHINGTON. pieces and howitzers, the troops advancing slowly and halting at short intervals to allow time for the artillery to produce effect on the works and on the spirits of their defenders. During their advance General Gage, who sur veyed the field of battle from Copp's Hill, caused the bat tery at this place to bombard and set fire to the village of Charlestown, situated beneath the position of the Ameri cans, whom, from the direction of the wind, he expected to annoy by the conflagration. Charlestown, one of the earliest settlements of the Puri tans in New England, a handsome and flourishing village, containing about 400 houses, built chiefly of wood, was quickly enveloped in a blaze of destruction; but a sudden change of the wind occurring at this crisis carried the smoke to a quarter which neither sheltered the approach of the British nor occasioned inconvenience to the Ameri cans. The conflagration added a horrid grandeur to the inter esting scene that was now unfolding to the eyes of a countless multitude of spectators, who, thronging all the heights of Boston and its neighborhood, awaited, with throbbing hearts, the approaching battle. The American troops, having permitted Howe's division to approach unmolested within a very short distance of their works, then poured in upon them such a deadly and confounding fire of smallarms that the British line was broken in an instant and fell precipitately back in head long rout toward the landing place. This disorder was repaired by the vigorous exertions of the officers, who again brought up the repulsed troops to the attack; but the Americans, renewing their fire with a precision of aim derived from their habits of life, and unexampled perhaps in the conduct of any former battle, again spread such LIFE AND TIMES. 753 carnage through the hostile ranks that the British were a second time driven back in complete confusion. At this critical juncture General Clinton, arriving upon the field from Boston, aided the efforts of Howe and the other officers in rallying the disheartened troops, who, with some difficulty, were a third time led on to the charge. The Americans had been but scantily supplied with cart ridges, partly from an overstrained attention to economy in the consumption of an article urgently needed and sparingly possessed by their countrymen, and partly in deference to the counsels of some old provincial officers, whose ideas of battle were derived from their experience in hunting, and in the system (very similar to that em ployment) of Indian warfare, and who insisted that, as every shot ought to kill a man, so to give the troops any more ammunition than was absolutely necessary to inflict on the enemy a loss that would be tantamount to defeat was to tempt them to neglect accuracy of aim and throw their fire away. To the discredit of this counsel the powder of the Ameri cans now began to fail, and consequently their fire to slacken. The British at the same time brought some of their cannons to bear upon the position of the Americans, and raked the inside of the breastwork from end to end; the fire from the ships, batteries, and field artillery was redoubled; and the redoubt, attacked on three sides at once with impetuous valor, was carried at the point of the bayonet. Yet so desperate was the resistance of its de fenders that, even after their officers had commanded a retreat, they continued to fight till the redoubt was half filled with the assailants. During these operations Pigot's division was attempting to force the left point of the breastwork, preparatory to an attack on the flank of the American line; but while his 48 754 WASHINGTON. troops advanced with signal intrepidity, they were re ceived with unyielding firmness and determination. The Americans in this quarter, as well as at the redoubt, re served their fire until the near approach of the enemy, and then poured in their shot with such well-directed aim as to mow down the advancing troops in whole ranks at every volley. But no sooner was the redoubt lost than the breastwork also was necessarily abandoned. And now the Americans, beaten but unsubdued, had to perform their retreat over Charlestown Neck, which was completely raked by the guns of the Glasgow man-of-war and of two floating batteries; but, great as was the ap parent danger, the retreat was accomplished with incon siderable loss. The British troops were too much exhausted and had suffered too severely to improve their dear-bought vic tory by more than a mere show of pursuit. They had brought into action 3,000 men, and their killed and wounded amounted to 1,054. The number of Americans engaged was 1,500, and their killed, wounded, and missing amounted to 453. They lost some gallant officers, of whom the most generally known and lamented was Gen eral Warren, who, having ably and successfully animated his countrymen to resist the power of Britain, now gal lantly fell in the first battle that their resistance produced. And thus ended a day that showed too late to the infatu ated politicians of Britain how greatly they had underrated the arduous difficulties of the contest they provoked, and how egregiously those men had deceived them who con fidently predicted that the Americans would not fight. No other imagainable result of the conflict could have been more unfavorable to the prospects of Britain, whose troops, neither exhilarated by brilliant victory nor exas perated by disgraceful defeat, were depressed by a success LIFE AND TIMES. 755 of which it was evident that a few more such instances would prove their ruin. [The story of this great battle is commonly very inade quately told. The confusion of two distinct names has been tolerated mainly in consequence of ignorance of the history. And yet the confusion of Breed's Hill with Bunker Hill grew naturally out of the facts of the occa sion and of the scene. To the American troops looking in the direction of the British, Bunker Hill was the height on which it was natural to pause for a position from which to fight ; but on reaching it, Breed's Hill, farther on toward the British and somewhat lower down, was a bolder choice for a daring venture, and a natural point to advance to, after reaching the top of Bunker Hill. On the other hand, to the British looking in the direction of the American forces it would be natural to look forward from the lower Breed's Hill to the higher Bunker Hill; and when the Americans, having fought their main battle at Breed's Hill until, under the third British onset, their ammunition gave out and they were compelled to fall back, the des perate finish of the battle was at the base toward Breed's Hill of Bunker Hill; in fact, the works which they had thrown up were in part at the base of Bunker Hill. His tory however is incorrectly written in calling the battle that of Bunker Hill, and the men who fought it are given less than their due by a designation which fails to recog nize the dash and daring with which, under orders to fortify and hold the top of Bunker Hill, they went down the other side of that eminence and fought to a finish one of the greatest battles of the Revolution. The battle was fought on the I7th of June, and both the scene of it and its success are referred to with historical accuracy in an im portant contemporary record. In Dr. James Thacher's Military Journal, the record un- 756 WASHINGTON. der July, 1775, says, with italics, as follows: " I improve the interim to record an authentic narrative of the battle on Breed's Hill, on the I7th of June." * * * " It is said that some of the veteran British officers, who have been in some hard-fought battles in Europe, observed that they had never witnessed any one equal in severity to that on Breed's Hill." " It is stated that from Breed's Hill battle to the 25th instant the British have thrown upward of 2,000 shot and shell." There is no question of where the front of the battle, or that end of the front nearest the British was, and Breed's Hill was undoubtedly the natural and proper designation; at the same time, the works behind which the Americans fought extended to the base of Bunker Hill, and the last severe struggle, and that in which the Americans suffered most, was at this point. None of this was on Bunker Hill however, the top of which is considerably back from its base and not a little higher; and yet a very important feature in the whole position was the highest part of Bunker Hill; this would have been fortified and held by the Americans, if their strength at the moment had been sufficient or if time could have been given to it. It is of interest moreover to note that on the day after the battle the British erected a fort on Bunker Hill to protect them selves from an apprehended renewal of the fight by the Americans. It was, in fact, on the top of Bunker Hill that the last stand of the retiring Americans was attempted to be made, Putnam, if we may trust reports to that effect, having had the work for fortification begun there, and enough done to cause him to try to stop the American retreat there. Frothingham, in his " Siege of Boston," speaks of Bunker Hill as, at the time of the battle, " a well-known place the name ' Bunker Hill ' being found in the town LIFE AND TIMES. 757 records and in deeds from an early period." In a footnote he says Breed's Hill is called " Green's Hill " in a British description of Charlestown in 1775. In alluding to the re mark that has been frequently made, that Breed's Hill has been robbed of the glory that justly belongs to it, he says : " It should be remembered however that the rail- fence was at the base of Bunker Hill, and if not the great post of the day, here a large part of the battle was fought." In speaking of these defenses he says: "The movements of the British, along the margin of Mystic river, indicated an intention of flanking the Americans and of surrounding the redoubt. To prevent this, Colonel Prescott ordered the artillery, with two field pieces, and Captain Knowlton with the Connecticut troops, to leave the intrenchments, march down the hill, and opposite the enemy's right wing. Captain Knowlton took a position near the base of Bunker Hill, 600 feet in the rear of the redoubt, behind a fence, one-half of which was stone, with two rails of wood. He then made, a little distance in front of this, another parallel line of fence, and filled the space between them with the newly-cut grass lying in the fields." Further on he says that while the battle was in progress, " Colonel Gardner arrived on Bunker Hill, when Putnam detained a part of his regiment to labor on the works commenced there, while one company, under Capt. Josiah Harris, took part at the railfence. * * * Colonel Gardner, leading on a part of his regiment, was descending Bunker Hill when he re ceived his death wound." In describing the retreat, Frothingham again alludes to Bunker Hill in these words : " The brow of Bunker Hill was a place of great slaughter. General Putnam here rode to the rear of the retreating troops, and, regardless of the balls flying about him, with his sword drawn and still undaunted in his bearing, urged them to renew the fight in the unfinished works. * Make 758 WASHINGTON. a stand here! ' he exclaimed; ' we can stop them yet! ' ' In God's name form, and give them one shot more ! ' It was here that he stood by an artillery piece until the enemy's bayonets were almost upon him. The veteran Pomeroy too, with his shattered musket in his hand, and his face to the foe, endeavored to rally the men. It was not possible however to check the retreat." That the glory that now attaches to Breed's Hill was intended for Bunker Hill by the committee of safety is a well-authenticated fact. The order given to Colonel Pres- cott by General Ward was to proceed to Bunker Hill, build fortifications to be planned by Col. Richard Gridley, the chief engineer, and defend them until he should be re lieved. When the body of troops, provided with intrench ing tools, reached the summit of Bunker Hill, a consulta tion was held and it was decided that a position nearer Boston Breed's Hill " seemed better adapted to the objects of the expedition, and better suited the daring spirit of the officers. It was contended however that works ought not to be commenced at this place until- Bunker Hill had been fortified, in order to cover, in case of necessity, a retreat. * * * On the pressing impor tunity of one of the generals it was concluded to proceed to Breed's Hill. At the same time it was determined that works should be erected on Bunker Hill." And this, as appears above, was accordingly done. The testimony in support of the claim that the British also fortified Bunker Hill is equally strong and convincing. Drake, in his " Old Landmarks of Middlesex," says that the British erected a very strong fortress " on Bunker Hill." J. Finch, F. B. S., in an article published in Silliman's " Journal," in 1822, " On the Forts Around Boston, Which Were Erected During the War of Independence," in which LIFE AND TIMES. 759 he makes a most earnest plea for the preservation of these historic spots, says of Bunker Hill: "The remains of the British fort are visible; the works must have been very strong and occupied a large extent of ground; they are on the summit and slope of the hill looking toward the peninsula." His description of the appearance of Breed's Hill at that time shows it to have been in no better state of preservation than Bunker Hill. He says: " The re doubt thrown up by the Americans is nearly effaced; scarcely the slightest trace of it remains." All of which tends to show that after nearly half a century the fortifica tions on Bunker Hill [the British however, not the Ameri can, which were never more than incomplete] were as well known as those on Breed's Hill. In confirmation of the statement that the British fortified Bunker Hill is the statement of Frothingham in speaking of the apprehension entertained by the British after battle, that the contest might be renewed. He says : " The British, reinforced by additional troops from Boston, threw up, during the night a line of breastworks on the northern side of Bunker Hill." An old resident of Charlestown, who for many years has made a study of the historic landmarks of that district, says that Bunker Hill has always been known as the old fort, and in an article contributed to the Charlestown " Enterprise," in 1882, advocating the taking the hill for a park, he says : " The little park thus formed would be the proper site for the statue of General Stark, which the New Hampshire men now propose to add to the Bunker Hill collection, being exactly the place where his regiment was posted while defending so stubbornly the left of the line of battle, which all know never gave way until the redoubt at the other end was carried and occupied by the British." Continuing, he says: "After all the mutilation 760 WASHINGTON. that Bunker Hill has suffered there still remains an oppor tunity to make on its summit one of the most charming places of summer resort possessed by any city in the world, * * * where still may be traced one of the bastions of the old fort they called it a castle built by the British to command the Neck, after they obtained possession of the town." The authorities quoted confirm the accuracy of the tra ditions of the people of Charlestown, and the recollection of the old inhabitants not only -in regard to the existence of the fortifications, but as to their exact location. It should be noted here that this great battle was fought by the pick of the militia assembled under tHe nominal command of Gen. Artemas Ward, who was himself at the moment under an appointment requiring him to carry out the orders of what was known as the Committee of Safety, orders given out through another body known as the Council of War. He was really in command of Massa chusetts troops only, together with the New Hampshire regiments; and the considerable number of Connecticut troops at Roxbury, under Spencer, and at Cambridge, un der Putnam, might have acted independently had not the field of operations been that of Massachusetts soil. About the middle of May joint action by the Committee of Safety and the Council of War declared for the establishment of a strong redoubt on Bunker Hill, near the northeastern termination of the peninsula of Charlestown, at a point no feet above the water of Boston harbor. From this summit the hill fell away by a gradual slope for about 700 yards, and then rose to an elevation of about seventy-five feet just north by east of what was then Charlestown. It was this second elevation which bore the name of Breed's Hill. It was learned in the American camp that the British commander in Boston, General Gage, proposed to MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY KNOX. LIFE AND TIMES. 761 carry into execution, on the i8th of June, a plan for taking possession of Bunker Hill. This the Americans antici pated by orders, on June I5th, for occupying and fortifying the same position, and William Prescott, Colonel of a Middlesex regiment, was put in charge of the enterprise, and a brigade of 1,000 men placed under his command a night and a day only in advance of the purpose of Gage. The command was composed of 300 of Prescott's own regiment, detachments from the regiments of Frye and Bridge, and 200 Connecticut men under Knowlton. Rich ard Gridley, an experienced engineer, was with Prescott. Setting out from Cambridge Common as soon as dark ness favored, and after a fervent prayer by President Lang- don, of Harvard College, who was serving as a chaplain, the march led across the causeway built on a low isthmus separating the Mystic and Charles rivers, and communi cating from the mainland to the Charlestown peninsula, with Bunker Hill a short distance beyond the causeway. Whatever the orders really were, Prescott and his men chose to understand them as justifying going over Bunker Hill to Breed's Hill, as a more favorable position for threatening both Boston and the shipping in the harbor. It was not until midnight that pickaxe and spade were set to work to prepare a redoubt about eight rods square, but before daylight the work was completed. With the dawn of day the guns of the British shipping near at hand and a battery of British heavy guns mounted on Copp's Hill, only 1,200 yards away, rained shot and shell upon the freshly thrown-up fortress of earth; and such was the severity of the cannonade as to prevent what Prescott at tempted an extension of his line from the east side of the redoubt northerly to the bottom of the hill. About twenty rods this had been executed, giving a breastwork outside of the redoubt, when the " intolerable fire " of the 762 WASHINGTON. great guns caused its suspension. It was a severe trial to raw soldiers to thus face the fire of artillery. Pres- cott, walking leisurely backward and forward on the top of the earthwork, and one of his captains imitating his example, gave a stimulus to the courage of the Americans, and advertised to the British the fearless character of the venture, which Gage with a telescope watched, while a Tory brother-in-law of Prescott stood at his side. " Will he fight?" said Gage. "To the last drop of his blood," was the reply. By 9 o'clock jn the morning it was evi dent to the British generals that the delay incident to attempting to go round to the rear of the Americans would give them a great advantage, and that the attack must be made immediately on the side that could be soon est reached. It was one of those days of extreme heat which sometimes come in advance of the American sum mer, and Prescott's men were by noon on the verge of exhaustion, save for the indomitable spirit and zeal for action of the commander and the great body of those under him. Messengers repeatedly sent off to report progress and ask for reinforcements and provisions had not at noon brought any relief. The night march and the twelve hours' labor, the larger part of it under the heat of a blazing sun and amid a storm of shot and shells, had been endured with only the refreshment meagerly supplied from their knapsacks, and with not even a cup of cold water to stay their thirst; while hardly less serious was the failure of headquarters to add anything to their very scant supply of powder. The work however in the trenches was done, and the tools piled up in the rear, when Putnam, whom Prescott's second messenger had met hastening from Cambridge to Charleston, rode up to the Breed's Hill redoubt and asked to have the intrenching tools sent back to Bunker Hill for further preparations LIFE AND TIMES. there against the British impending effort to get posses sion of the peninsula. The sending back of the intrench ing tools took away a considerable number of Prescott's men, leaving him about 700 or 800, worn with prolonged toil, weakened by hunger, and yet resolute to meet the expected British attack from the force of about 5,000 ef fective troops which the British commander had in Bos ton, together with the British shipping and floating bat teries, the guns of which raked the isthmus by which Charlestown was reached from the American camp, and over which reinforcements must come. Apparently nothing could exceed the danger of Pres cott's position. Ward gave no sign of sending either food or powder or men; of powder especially his supply was very limited, and he doubted of burning it just then; nor was he disposed to weaken his own strength at Cambridge, fearing that the real battle would be an attack on his posi tion; the most that he would do was to order the New Hampshire regiments of Stark to march from Medford, and with Reed near the Charlestown isthmus, go to Pres cott's support. Stubbornly inactive all day, not even leaving his house, and even refusing to believe it when word was brought that the British were actually landing to give battle against Prescott, the general in command presented an unhappy contrast to Prescott and Putnam and the work to which they had with so much heart and courage put their hands. To meet the landing of the British on a point east by north from the redoubt on Breed's Hill, Prescott ordered his artillery, with two field pieces and the stanch Connec ticut men under Knowlton, to take position in that direc tion. About 200 yards in the rear of his unfinished breast work, east of the redoubt, a low stone wall, over which were two rails of post and fence rail, extended back for 764 WASHINGTON. 300 yards or more, while an opportune ditch helped to make the line convenient for defense. An abundance of freshly-cut grass was at hand also, and with some further extemporizing of a parallel post and railfence and bring ing all the grass into the line between the two, something like a fighting line was extemporized; and here came such individual reinforcements as the ringing bells and drums beating to arms in Cambridge had sent off without much reference to orders from the timid and hesitating head quarters. Here came venerable Seth Pomeroy of North- hampton, riding a borrowed horse to Charlestown Neck, and thence proceeding on foot, his fowling piece on his shoulder, to take, amid loud cheers, his place at the fence and winrow line. Here came also Joseph Warren, three days before elected a provincial major-general, entreated by Elbridge Gerry not to thus put his life in peril; fully aware of the conditions at headquarters and the dangers to be met at Prescott's redoubt; but, more than all, alive to the possibility of significance beyond expression or esti mate in fighting on that day or even dying for one's coun try in the initial battle for liberty then and there to be fought; it was about 2 o'clock as, with a musket in his hand, the task only of a private soldier in view, he crossed over the top of Bunker Hill alone, stopped for a short time at the railfence and winrow defense to talk with Putnam, and passed on thence to Prescott's redoubt; de clining, both with Putnam and Prescott, to take any other position than that of a man with a gun, and choosing in the line a place of danger and importance. Some fragments of Ward's army, or of the troops willing to take his orders, reached the positions of either Pres cott or Putnam before the fight was on; detachments of 125 Essex men; 70 Worcester and Middlesex men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Buckminster; above 50 more from the LIFE AND TIMES. 765 same counties under John Nixon; about 40 Worcester county men, under Willard Moore, and about 50 privates from a Lancaster regiment, with no higher officers than captains. Six light field pieces brought upon the ground were of little use from want of ammunition. These reached Prescott before the battle. After the British had landed, and just before they advanced to the attack, Col. John Stark, with New Hampshire levies next in number to the men of Prescott's own regiment, reached Putnam's position and took a hand in completing the fence and grass breastworks and in fighting with Knowlton's Connecticut men on Prescott's flank while Prescott himself fought at the redoubt. Howe brought into action the chief strength of the British army, after having distributed refreshments to them in great abundance, and with every effort to send them to their task prepared for energetic action and speedy success. About 2,000 men had been started when rein forcements were hurried after them, and probably from 2,500 to 3,000 experienced and disciplined soldiers were launched at the embattled farmers behind Prescott's earth work and the line of stone wall, railfence, and grass, be hind which Stark and Knowlton and Reed mustered their commands. By the time that the news of the concentra tion of the British forces upon the impending battle reached Ward at Cambridge his fear for his own position gave way, and under pressure he ordered reinforcements and supplies, which might, if they had been sent soon enough, have enabled the Americans to drive the British in overwhelming defeat back upon their boats; but Ward's orders came too late. The whole number of Americans in the battle, including all who reached the peninsula in season for the fight at anv part of the American line, did not exceed 1,500 men. 766 WASHINGTON. Lord Howe, the British commander, undertook to make the burning of Charlestown promote the success of his advance upon the American works just outside of the town. Gage had threatened, directly after the expedition to Concord, that Charlestown should be burned if Ameri can occupation of the heights contiguous to it should be attempted. Howe now sent to Clinton and Burgoyne a request to put the threat in execution; and with a prompt discharge of shells from Copp's Hill, and a party of men landing to promote a conflagration, the prompt destruc tion of the town was made sure; and at about half-past 2 the British advance was made in two columns, one against the redoubt, and the other, led by Howe himself, against the flank, where Howe calculated upon easily surmount ing the railfence and grass defense to get upon the rear of Prescott and force him to a surrender. With Charles- town's 500 edifices of wood going down in a tempest of fire; with the battery on Copp's Hill, the two float ing batteries, and the shipping in the harbor maintaining an incessant fire upon the American position, Howe's col umns, with the splendid bravery of perfect discipline, regu lar uniforms, and burnished weapons, struggled gallantly through the tall grass and across the walls and fences of the hillside fields to the near vicinity of the American works. With some pauses to permit the artillery to operate in advance, and firing with their muskets as they went forward, the show they made was far more impressive than any effect of the shooting, which did but little injury because it was too soon and too high. Prescott is said to have told his men, as he went the rounds at the final moment of preparation to receive the British assault: " The Redcoats will never reach the redoubt if you will but withhold your fire till I give the order, and be careful not to shoot over their heads." A participant in the bat- LIFE AND TIMES. 767 tie, who was probably one of Reed's command, behind, the railfence and grass work with the commands of Stark and Knowlton, is known to the present writer to have told the story of Bunker Hill with the statement that their or ders were not to fire until they could see the whites of the eyes of the advancing enemy and then to aim at the waist of their breeches. However given, this particular of the American action undoubtedly contributed to make their fighting phenomenally effective. Prescott waited until, as he was himself disposed to estimate, the enemy were within eight rods of the muskets of his steady marksmen, and upon giving the word " Fire," the discharge of every gun along the whole front of both redoubt and breastwork cut down as with a scythe nearly every man in the front rank of the British advance, and for the minute which followed before precipitate retreat swept the British back to the foot of the hill and even to their boats, the American marksmen, loading their muskets behind their cover and firing at discretion with perfect marksmanship, made the slaughter exceedingly difficult for any force to stand up against. At the other position in the American line, where Howe proposed to himself to brush the American farmers and their grass work out of his way, and pass round to the rear of Prescott, the British advance was confidently and gallantly made, Howe's troops moving into line with the precision of a mere parade when within about eighty or one hundred yards of the American defenses. Here Put nam, in the terms most likely for they sound like him of the report already mentioned, made his men reserve their fire, and without a single instance of disobedience of the order, when the proper moment came, resting their guns on the rails of the fence, the deliberate, accurately aimed, and universally effective discharge cut the British 768 WASHINGTON. down so rapidly, and so soon threw the force into com plete confusion as to leave no choice but of retreat out of reach of the remorseless, deadly fire. There was no question then behind those American de fenses but of victory, if only headquarters had, with an swerable confidence and courage, soon enough sent on supplies of ammunition and reasonably available reinforce ments. In the British ranks confidence and discipline were shattered, and only with difficulty were the officers able to rally their men for a renewal of the attack. Within about a quarter of an hour however the column which had attempted the assault upon Prescott's redoubt were brought up again in the same order as before, and again the American fire was withheld until the enemy were within five or six rods of the redoubt, and then given with a precision which seemed even more fatal than that by which the earlier attack was made of none effect. Even while the British pressed forward with extreme spirit, the British officers especially exposing themselves fearlessly, the continuous stream of fire from the whole American line blazed so relentlessly, and cut down all before it so thoroughly, that hardly were a few moments of brave en durance passed before again the confident assailants gave way in greater disorder than before, leaving their dead and wounded covering the ground almost up to the front of the redoubt. Meanwhile the situation of Howe's column, brought up to a second attack upon the railfence and grass-works line, was still worse. Flimsy as the line was to the eye of a British general, there was nothing flimsy about the line of fire poured out by the steady marksmen behind it. It was but a few moments before the British dead lay spread in front of it as but a day before the grass had lain under the scythe of the mower. It was a line which even LIFE AND TIMES. 769 Upon the second assault could not be penetrated. Sur vivors of the attempt themselves said: " How could we penetrate it? Most of our grenadiers and light infantry, the moment of presenting themselves, lost three-fourths, and many nine-tenths, of their men. Some had only eight or nine men in a company left, some only five, four, or three." Howe himself, for a few seconds, stood alone among the officers and men killed or wounded around him. And to add to the startlingly impressive features of the scene, the flames of burning Charlestown, and the participation in the battle of the artillery, gave a back ground to this scene of unexpected slaughter which caused Burgoyne to write : " The whole was a complica tion of horror and importance beyond anything it ever came to my lot to be witness to. It was a sight for a young soldier that the longest service may not furnish again." Practically however the fight was now over, because the Americans lacked ammunition with which to continue it. Neither Prescott's confidence nor the courage of his men wavered in the least, but during the longer interval that preceded the third attack a council of officers discov ered that there was very little powder left. Prescott had sent in the morning for a supply, but had received none. A few artillery cartridges were discovered and the powder in them distributed for use in the muskets. The alterna tive of the bayonet was out of the question, as there were not fifty bayonets available. The British meanwhile not less stunned than enraged at the sight of such a field of their dead and wounded prepared themselves for a last supreme effort; cannon were brought to bear in such a manner as to rake the inside of the breastworks from one end of it to the other, compelling the American marksmen to crowd within their earthwork, against which Howe now 49 770 WASHINGTON. concentrated his forces, except the light infantry and part of the grenadiers left to repeat the attack on the railfence. For the third advance, knapsacks were laid aside and fixed bayonets brought into use. Clinton, moreover, who had until now watched the battle from Copp's Hill, under took, without orders, to come up with two battalions on the extreme left of the British advance. Prescott's force within the redoubt thus assailed numbered less than 700 men, some of whom had only one round of ammunition left, and none more than four rounds. When therefore, after a single deadly volley from the Americans, which caused the British to waver while yet they sprang forward without returning the fire, the path was clear for their bayonets; the American fire not only slackened, but began to die away, and with neither powder nor bayonets, noth ing more being possible, Prescott, at a little before 4, his redoubt already half filled with British regulars, and he himself on the point of being surrounded, gave the word to retreat. Among the last to leave the fort, his coat and waistcoat rent and pierced by British bayonets, the fatal thrust of which he had parried with his sword, he escaped unhurt. Had the British been less exhausted the close of the battle might have been much more disastrous to the Americans. As it was, the defenders of the redoubt under Prescott would have been cut off had not the Ameri can force at the railfence held in check the third attack there until the main body had left Breed's Hill on their retreat, which was made with a regularity not to be ex pected of troops many of whom had never seen an engage ment. The Connecticut companies under Knowlton and the New Hampshire soldiers under Stark were the last to give way before the British bayonets. At the redoubt; on the brow of Bunker Hill where Putnam exerted him self to have the retreating patriots make a stand; and on LIFE AND TIMES. the isthmus leading from the peninsula out toward the American camp, and a point specially exposed to a raking fire from the British, were the three points where Ameri can blood was spilled. Beyond the isthmus the British were unable to pursue adversaries to whose courage the heavy roll of their own dead or wounded, more than a third of those engaged (1,054), bore witness. The Ameri can killed and missing were 145, and the wounded 304. Had Ward been out of Putnam's way, had he fairly stood by Prescott, it would have been not merely a virtual vic tory, but one of the greatest in history.] CHAPTER III. WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND OF THE ARMY. I775- EVERY necessary arrangement with Congress having been completed, Washington departed from Phila delphia, June 21, 1775, to join the army before Boston. The journey was performed on horseback, and he was escorted as far as Kingsbridge, at the northern extremity of New York island, by a volunteer company of light cavalry, composed of gentlemen, styled the First Troop.* The companions of his journey were General Lee and General Schuyler. General Lee was an original genius, possessing the most brilliant talents, great military powers, and extensive in telligence and knowledge of the world; but he was eccen tric and even cynical in his habits. He had seen consider able active service in Europe; had quarrelled with the British ministry. He took a lively interest in the dispute between this country and Great Britain, being, of course, on the side of the colonists. Coming over to this country in November, 1773, he had traveled rapidly through the Colonies, animating the people, both by conversation and * This company of volunteers, one of the most respectable in Philadelphia, still retains its organization and performs regular duty. It appears to hold the same position there as the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company does in Boston. When forming Washington's escort from Philadelphia to New York, the First Troop was commanded by Captain Markoe. (772). LIFE AND TIMES. 773 his eloquent pen, to a determined and persevering resist ance to British tyranny. His enthusiasm in favor of the rights of the Colonies was such that, after the battle of Lexington, he accepted, as we have seen, a major-general's commission in the American army, though his ambition had been thought to aim at the post of Commander-in-Chief. Previous to this however, he resigned the commission which he had till then retained in the British service, and relinquished his half pay. This he did in a letter to the British secre tary at war, in which he expressed his disapprobation of the oppressive measures of Parliament, declaring them to be so actually subversive of the rights and liberties of every individual subject, so destructive to the whole em pire at large, and ultimately so ruinous to His Majesty's own person, dignity, and family that he thought himself obliged in conscience, as a citizen, an Englishman, and soldier of a free estate, to exert his utmost to defeat them. Lee's devotion to the cause of freedom was apparently sincere, but his rashness and violent temper were destined to darken the close of his career. Washington's other companion on the journey was a more genial and amiable as well as a far more exalted character. General Schuyler was a native of New York, a member of one of the most respectable families in that State, and highly merits the character of an intelligent and meri torious officer. As a private gentleman, he was dignified but courteous, his manners urbane, and his hospitality un bounded. He was justly considered as one of the most distinguished champions of liberty, and his noble mind soared above despair, even at a period when he experi enced injustice from the public, and when darkness and gloom overspread the land. He was able, prompt, and 774 WASHINGTON. decisive, and his conduct, in every branch of duty, marked his active industry and rapid execution. With such companions as these two officers, who, as well as Washington, had both served in the old French War, the journey of Washington must have been enlivened by conversation of the most interesting and agreeable kind. Before they had proceeded many miles from Philadel phia, they were met by a messenger from the army before Boston bearing dispatches to Congress, 'containing the news of the battle of Bunker Hill. To Washington's eager inquiry, how the militia had behaved in the battle, he of course received the most satisfactory answer; he exclaimed on hearing it: "The liberties of the country are safe!" The moral effect of that battle was not confined to his esti mate of its importance. It was felt through the whole country during the war. As the cavalcade passed through the towns of New Jersey, great demonstrations of respect and enthusiastic greetings everywhere met the new Commander-in-Chief. His fine martial figure, and the grave and commanding presence which distinguished him through life, inspired at once a high degree of awe and of confidence; while the splendid appearance of the First Troop, and the attend ance of the famous and popular generals who accompanied him, rendered the spectacle still more attractive and im posing. [Washington's commission was signed on the I9th of June, 1775, and on the following day a demonstration of local patriotism was made under the eye of the new Com mander-in-Chief, by a march out to the commons, and organization in brigade of " the three battalions of Phila delphia and the Liberties, together with the artillery com pany, a troop of light horse, several companies of light LIFE AND TIMES. 775 infantry, rangers, and riflemen, in all about 2,000." This was the first Continental demonstration under the eye of Washington as Continental Commander. The depart ure for New York, then very largely loyal to British views of " the rebellion," was in some sense a venture into the enemy's country, although favorers of the popu lar cause were in sufficient numbers for a demonstration of welcome to the popular chief. Washington set off for his great work on Friday, June 23d, " accompanied a few miles from town by the troop of light horse, and by all the officers of the city militia on horseback," and these, on parting with him, expressed " the most ardent wishes for his success over +he enemies of our liberty and country."* General Schuyler wrote to the New York Provincial or Colony Congress from New Brunswick, on Saturday, June 24, 1775: " General Washington, with his retinue, Is now here, and proposes to be at Newark by 9 tomorrow morn- ing. The situation of the men of war [British] at New York (we are informed) is such as may make it necessary that some precaution should be taken in crossing Hud son's river, and he would take it as a favor if some gen tlemen of your body would meet him tomorrow at Newark, as the advice you may there give him will de termine whether he will continue his proposed route or not." The body thus appealed to had on the 23d taken order to have Colonel Lasher, said to have been a German shoe maker, " send one of his field-officers to meet General Washington, and to know when he will be in this city," and " to make such orders as to have his battalion ready to receive General Washington when he shall arrive." *Rivington's Gazetteer, June 29, 1775, quoted by Ford, Vol. II, p. 494. 776 WASHINGTON. In response to General Schuyler's letter the New York Congress deputed Thomas Smith, John Sloss Hobart, Gouverneur Morris, and Richard Montgomery, " to go immediately to Newark, and recommend to General Washington the place which they shall think most pru dent for him to cross at." Not only were very many of the New York people ardently British in their prejudices and purposes, and the Provincial Congress, representing the popular cause, engaged in considering how to com promise with Great Britain, but for the very day of the coming of the foremost " rebel " leader, the arrival by ship from England of Tryon, the royal governor, was ex pected; he had in fact arrived at the mouth of the harbor and might land at i o'clock. The redoubtable Lasher, with his battalion, was ordered to be as numerous as pos sible with divers companies of militia at divers points and distribute his military manners to either of the emi nent comers as circumstances might require. The event was a reception to Washington early enough to allow of attention to Tryon after the " rebels " had carried out their programme. It was on Sunday, June 25th, and in the first half of the afternoon, when the morning services in the churches were over. One account, given by Gil bert Livingston in a report to Dr. Peter Tappan, was as follows: " Last Sunday about 2 o'clock, the Generals Washing ton, Lee, and Schuyler arrived here. They crossed the North river at Hoboken and landed at Colonel Lispe- nard's. There were eight or ten companies under arms, all in uniforms, who marched out to Lispenard's. The procession began from there thus the companies first, the [New York Provincial] Congress next, two of the Continental Congress, general officers next, and a com pany of horse from Philadelphia, who came with the gen- LIFE AND TIMES. 777 eral, brought up the rear. There were an innumerable company of people, men, women, and children present." Another account said that it was with " a greater number of the principal inhabitants of this city than ever appeared here on any occasion before." A staunch Royalist, Judge Thomas Jones, made this record: "After 12 o'cloclc the same day Washington, Lee, and Schuyler, three of the first rebel generals appointed by Congress to the command of their army, the two first on their way to Boston, the latter for Albany, to com mand the expedition preparing against Canada, arrived from Philadelphia, and were entertained at the house of Leonard Lispenard, Esq., about two miles out of town. Upon this occasion the volunteer companies raised for the express purpose of rebellion, the members of the Provincial Congress, those of the city committee, the parsons of the dissenting meeting-houses, with all the leaders and partisans of faction and rebellion (including Peter R. Livingston, Esq., ajid Thomas Smith, John Smith, and Joshua Hett Smith, the brother-in-law and brothers of William Smith, Esq.,) waited upon the beach to receive them upon their landing from the Jersey shore, and conducted them up to Lispenard's, amidst the re peated shouts and huzzas of the seditious and rebellious multitude, where they dined, and toward evening were escorted to town, attended and conducted in the same tumultuous and ridiculous manner." Washington wrote to the Congress at Philadelphia, after reaching New York: " Gentlemen : The rain on Friday afternoon and Sat urday; the advice of several gentlemen of the Jerseys and this city, by no means to cross Hudson's river at the lower ferry; and some other occurrences too trivial to mention (which happened on the road), prevented my 778 WASHINGTON. arrival at this place until the afternoon of this day. In the morning, after giving General Schuyler such orders, as, from the result of my inquiry into matters here, ap pear necessary, I shall set out on my journey to the camp at Boston and shall proceed with all the dispatch in my power. Powder is so essential an article that I cannot help again repeating the necessity of a supply. The camp at Boston from the best accounts I can get from thence, is but very poorly supplied. At this place they have scarce any. How they are provided in General Wooster's camp I have not been able yet to learn. " Governor Tryon is arrived and General Schuyler di rected to advise you of the line of conduct he moves in. I fear it will not be very favorable to the American cause/' General Wooster's command consisted of Connecticut troops posted on tfre southern border of that Colony to protect its water front on Long Island Sound. Ten days before Washington arrived in New York, the Provincial Congress of New York, in view of a report that the landing of a British regiment from Ireland was immi nent, asked General Wooster to come within five miles of the city for its defense, and to come for that purpose under the direction of the Continental Congress, or that of New York. With the approval of the Connecticut authorities, General Wooster fixed himself in camp near New York, having marched for that purpose June 28th. New York had occasion to acknowledge this action by saying: "We beg leave to testify to you our high sense of the readiness which you show to assist our Colony. That honest zeal, which inspirits our countrymen in Con necticut, commands our admiration and praise." At 5 P. M. of Sunday, June 25th, Washington further wrote to the Continental Congress: " Upon my arrival here this afternoon I was informed LIFE AND TIMES. that an express was in town from the provincial camp in Massachusetts Bay, and having seen among other papers in his possession a letter directed to you as president of Congress I have taken the liberty to open it. " You will find, Sir, by that letter, a great want of pow der in the provincial army; which I sincerely hope the Congress will supply as speedily and as effectually as is in their power. One thousand pounds in weight were sent to the camp at Cambridge three days ago from this city; which has left this place almost destitute of this necessary article; there being at this time from the best information not more than four barrels of powder in the city of New York." On Monday, the 26th of June, the New York Congress approved the draught of an address to General Washing ton, and at 2:30 that afternoon it was presented to him. Its terms were these: "At a tinre when the most loyal of his Majesty's sub jects, from a regard to the laws and constitution by which he sits on the throne, feel themselves reduced to the un happy necessity of taking up arms to defend their dearest rights and privileges, while we deplore the calamities of this divided Empire, we rejoice in the appointment of a gentleman from whose abilities and virtue we are taught to expect both security and peace. " Confiding in you, Sir, and in the worthy generals im mediately under your command, we have the most flatter ing hopes of success in the glorious struggle for American liberty, and the fullest assurances that whenever this im portant contest shall be decided by that fondest wish of every American soul, an accommodation with our mother country, you will cheerfully resign the important deposit 780 WASHINGTON. committed into your hands, and resume the character of our worthiest citizen." In reply Washington said: "At the same time that with you I deplore the unhappy necessity of such an appointment as that with which I am now honored, I cannot but feel sentiments of the highest gratitude for this affecting instance of distinction and regard. " May your warmest wishes be realized in the success of America, at this important "and interesting period ; and be assured that every exertion of my worthy colleagues and myself will be extended to the re-establishment of peace and harmony between the mother country and these Colonies. As to the fatal but necessary opera tions of war, when we assumed the soldier we did not lay aside the citizen, and we shall most sincerely re joice with you in that happy hour, when the re-establish ment of American liberty, on the most firm and solid foundations, shall enable us to return to our private stations, in the bosom of a free, peaceful, and happy country."] Washington had already decided that General Schuyler was to remain in New York, to direct the military opera tions in that quarter. His knowledge of the Colony, his extensive influence among its inhabitants, his high posi tion and well-known character for military skill and ex perience, peculiarly fitted General Schuyler for taking the command at this important post. The presence of Gov ernor Tryon, who arrived at this juncture, and the great number of adherents to the royal cause who were residing in various parts of the Colony, and were watching for an opportunity to embarrass the operations of Congress and of the patriotic party, rendered General Schuyler's task LIFE AND TIMES. 781 one of great difficulty, requiring sound Judgment and policy as well as military skill. [To Major-General Philip Schuyler Washington gave the following directions, June 25, 1775: " You are to take upon you the command of all the troops destined for the New York department, and see that the orders of the Continental Congress are carried into execution, with as much precision and exactness as pos sible. For your better government therein, you are here with furnished with a copy of the instructions given me by that honorable body. Such parts thereof as are within the line of your duty, you will please to pay particular attention to. Delay no time in occupying the several posts recommended by the Provincial Congress of this Colony, and puting them in a fit posture to answer the end de signed; neither delay any time in securing the stores, which are, or ought to have been, removed from this city by order of the Continental Congress. " Keep a watchful eye upon Governor Tryon, and, if you find him attempting, directly or indirectly, any measures inimical to the common cause, use every means in your power to frustrate his designs. It is not in my power, at this time, to point out the mode by which this end is to be accomplished; but if forcible measures are judged necessary, I should have no difficulty in ordering them, if the Continental Congress was not sitting; but as this is the case, and the seizing of governors quite a new thing, and of exceeding great importance, I must refer you to that body for direction if the Governor should make any move toward increasing the strength of the Tory party, or in arming them against the cause we are embarked in. " In like manner watch the movements of the Indian Agent, Colonel Guy Johnson, and prevent, as far as you 782 WASHINGTON. can, the effect of his influence to our prejudice with the In dians. Obtain the best information you can of the temper and disposition of those people, and also of the Canadians, that a proper line may be marked out to conciliate their good opinion, or facilitate any future operation. " The posts on Lake Champlain, &c., you will please to have properly supplied with provisions and ammunition; and this I am persuaded you will aim at doing on the best terms, to prevent our good cause from sinking under a heavy load of expense." The Governor for British control of New York, Tryon, had held the position since August, 1771, and was on the return from a visit of some months to England, when he thus came under scrutiny by Washington and Schuyler, because, with great talent for mischief, he was bitterly hostile to the patriots represented by Washington. Johnson was a nabob of wealth and large influence with the Indians, at his seat in the valley of the Mohawk river on what was then the frontier of New York.] After giving General Schuyler his instructions, Wash ington, still accompanied by General Lee, and escorted by successive companies of volunteers, pursued his journey through Connecticut till he arrived at Springfield, Mass., loo miles from Boston. Here he was met by a committee from the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, who had been directed to provide escorts, and to attend him in person during the remainder of the route. On the 2d of July, 1775, he arrived at Watertown, where the Congress of Massachusetts was then sitting. He was received with great cordiality and respect, and greeted with a congratulatory address, in which occurred this statement: " We would not presume to prescribe to your Excel lency, but supposing you would choose to be informed of LIFE AND TIMES. 783 the general character of the soldiers who compose the army, we beg leave to represent, that the greatest part of them have not before seen service; and although naturally brave and of good understanding, yet, for want of experi ence in military life, have but little knowledge of divers things most essential to the preservation of health and even life. The youth of the army are not possessed of the absolute necessity of cleanliness in their dress and lodging, continual exercise, and strict temperance, to pre serve them from diseases frequently prevailing in camps, especially among those who from childhood, have been used to a laborious life." To this address Washington made the following reply: " Gentlemen, your kind congratulations on my appoint ment and arrival demand my warmest acknowledgments, and will ever be retained in grateful remembrance. In exchanging the enjoyments of domestic life for the duties of my present honorable but arduous station, I only emu late the virtue and public spirit of the whole province of Massachusetts, which, with a firmness and patriotism without example, has sacrificed all the comforts of social and political life, in support of the rights of mankind and the welfare of our common country. My highest ambition is to be the happy instrument of vindicating these rights, and to see this devoted province again restored to peace, liberty, and safety. "The short space of time, which has elapsed since my arrival, does not permit me to decide upon the state of the army. The course of human affairs forbids an ex pectation that troops formed under such circumstances should at once possess the order, regularity, and discipline of veterans. Whatever deficiences there may be will, I doubt not, soon be made up by the activity and zeal of the officers, and the docility and obedience of the men. 784 WASHINGTON. These qualities, united with their native bravery and spirit, will afford a happy presage of success, and put a final period to those distresses which now overwhelm this once happy country. " I most sincerely thank you for your declaration of readiness at all times to assist me in the discharge of the duties of my station. They are so complicated and ex tended that I shall need the assistance of every good man and lover of his country. I therefore repose the utmost confidence in your aid. " In return for your affectionate wishes to myself, per mit me to say that I earnestly implore that Divine Being in whose hands are all human events, to make you and your constituents as distinguished in private and public happiness as you have been by ministerial oppression and private and public distress."] When the ceremony of this public reception was con cluded, Washington, escorted by a company of light horse and an immense cavalcade of citizens, proceeded to the camp .at Cambridge. We may imagine the enthusiasm with which he was received the huzzas of the multitude, the roar of cannon, the feu de foie of musketry, echoed back by the surrounding hills, while all were eagerly en deavoring to gain a view of that noble form, and calm, dignified countenance, which formed the principal attrac tion of that interesting and exciting scene.* * The following description of Washington's appearance is from Thacher's Military Journal, July 20, 1775 : " I have been mucii gratified this day with a view of General Washington. His Excellency was on horseback, in company with several military gentlemen. It was not difficult to distinguish him from all others; his personal appearance is truly noble and ma jestic, being tall and well proportioned. His dress is a blue coat with buff-colored facings; a rich epaulette on each shoulder; buff under-dress, and an elegant small sword; a black cockade in his hat." LIFE AND TIMES. 785 It was on the 2d of July, 1775, that Washington arrived at Cambridge, and occupied the headquarters which had been provided for him at the Craigie Mansion.* It was not till the next day that he formally took command of the army. The Rev. William Emerson has furnished a graphic description of the camp after the arrival of Washington. " There is great overturning in the camp, as to order and regularity. New lords, new laws. The Generals, Washington and Lee, are upon the lines every day. New orders from His Excellency are read to the re spective regiments every morning after prayers. The strictest government is taking place, and great distinc tion is made between the officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his place, and to keep it, or be tied up and receive thirty or forty lashes, according to his crime. Thousands are at work every day from 4 till ii o'clock in the morning. It is surprising how much work has been done. The lines are extended almost from Cambridge to Mystic river, so that very soon it will be morally impossible for the enemy to get between the works, except in one place, which is supposed to be left purposely unfortified, to entice the enemy out of their fortresses. Who would have thought, twelve months past, that all Cambridge and Charlestown would be covered over with American camps, and cut up into forts and intrenchments, and all the lands, fields, orchards laid common horses and cattle feeding in the choicest mow ing-land, whole fields of corn eaten down to the ground, and large parks of well-regulated locusts cut down for firewood and other public uses? * The house is still standing in perfect preservation, and cele brated as having become the residence of the American poet, Longfellow. SO 786 WASHINGTON. " This, I must say, looks a little melancholy. My quarters are at the foot of the famous Prospect Hill, where such great preparations are made for the reception of the enemy. It is very diverting to walk among the camps. They are as different in their form as the owners are in their dress; and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards, and some of sail-cloth. Some partly of one and partly of the other. Again, others are made of stone and turf, brick or brustu Some are thrown up in a hurry; others are cautiously wrought with doors and win dows, done with wreaths and withes, in the manner of a basket. Some are your proper tents and marquees, look ing like the regular camp of the enemy. In these are the Rhode Islanders, who are furnished with tent equipage, and everything in the most exact English style. However, I think this great variety is rather a beauty than a blemish in the army." Early in July (1775), a correspondence between Generals Lee and Burgoyne attracted much attention. General Lee had served with General Burgoyne in Portugal, and an intimate friendship had long existed between them. On the arrival of the latter in Boston, General Lee, then in Philadelphia, wrote to his friend a letter full of invectives against the British ministry, and containing an elaborate statement of his views of the merits of the contest. Though written with a warmth approaching to violence, General Burgoyne replied to it courteously, and proposed an interview with General Lee at Brown's House, on Boston Neck. This was sent out (July 8th) by a trumpeter. The letter and the expediency of the proposed interview were laid before the Provincial Congress. Though Congress, to prevent jealousy, appointed Elbridge Gerry to attend General Lee, they suggested whether it " might not have LIFE AND TIMES. 787 a tendency to lessen the influence which the Congress would wish to extend to the utmost of their power, to facilitate and succeed the operations of the war." In con sequence of this hint, General Lee, in a note to General Burgoyne, declined to meet him. The correspondence be tween the two generals was published, and was commented on in the journals.* Washington's first care on taking the command was to ascertain the actual condition and position of the army, and to obtain a knowledge of the numbers and designs of the enemy. This with his usual activity and perseverance, he had accomplished in a week to such an extent as to make the following report to the President of Congress : CAMP AT CAMBRIDGE, July 10, 1775. " SIR. I arrived safe at this place on the third instant, after a journey attended with a good deal of fatigue, and retarded by necessary attentions to the successive civilities which accompanied me in my whole route. " Upon my arrival, I immediately visited the several posts occupied by our troops; and as soon as the weather permitted, reconnoitered those of the enemy. I found the latter strongly intrenched on Bunker's Hill, about a mile from Charlestown, and advanced about half a mile from the place of the late action, with their sentries ex tended about 150 yards on this side of the narrowest part of the neck leading from this place to Charlestown. Three floating batteries lie in Mystic river near their camp, and one twenty-gun ship below the ferry-place, between Boston and Charlestown. They also have a battery on Copp's Hill, on the Boston side, which much annoyed our troops in the late attack, f Upon the Neck, they have also deeply * Frothingham, " Siege of Boston." tAt Bunker's Hill. 788 WASHINGTON. intrenched and fortified. These advanced guards, till last Saturday morning, occupied Brown's houses, about a mile from Roxbury meeting-house, and twenty rods from their lines; but at that time, a party from General Thomas's camp surprised the guard, drove them in, and burned the houses. The bulk of their army, commanded by Gen eral Howe, lies on Bunker's Hill, and the remainder on Roxbury Neck, except the light horse, and a few men in the town of Boston. " On our side, we have thrown up intrenchments on Winter and Prospect Hills the enemy's camp in full view, at the distance of little more than a mile. Such intermediate points as would admit a landing, I have since my arrival taken care to strengthen down to Sewall's farm, where a strong intrenchment has been thrown up. At Roxbury, General Thomas has thrown up a strong work on the hill, about 200 yards above the meeting-house; which with the brokenness of the ground, and a great number of rocks, has made that pass very secure. The troops raised in New Hampshire, with a regiment from Rhode Island, occupy Winter Hill; a part of those from Connecticut, under General Putnam, are on Prospect Hill. The troops in this town are entirely of the Massa chusetts; the remainder of the Rhode Island men are at Seawall's farm. Two regiments of Connecticut, and nine of the Massachusetts, are at Roxbury. The residue of the army, to the number of about 700, are posted in several small towns along the coast, to prevent the depre dations of the enemy. " Upon the whole, I think myself authorized to say, that considering the great extent of line, and the nature of the ground, we are as well secured as could be expected in so short a time, and under the disadvantages we labor. These consist in a want of engineers to construct proper LIFE AND TIMES. 789 works and direct the men, a want of tools, and a suffi cient number of men to man the works in case of an attack. You will observe by the proceedings of the coun cil of war, which I have the honor to inclose, that it is our unanimous opinion, to hold and defend these works as long as possible. The discouragement it would give the men, and its contrary effects on the ministerial troops, thus to abandon our encampment in their face, formed with so much labor, added to the certain destruction of a considerable and valuable extent of country, and our uncertainty of finding a place in all respects so capable of making a stand, are leading reasons for this determina tion. At the same time, we are very sensible of the diffi culties which attend the defense of lines of so great extent,* and the dangers which may ensue from such a division of the army. " My earnest wish to comply with the instructions of the Congress in making an early and complete return of the state of the army has led into an involuntary delay of addressing you, which has given me much concern. Having given orders for this purpose immediately on my arrival, and unapprised of the imperfect disobedience which had been paid to those of the like nature from General Ward, I was led from day to day to expect they would come in, and therefore detained the messenger. They are not now so complete as I could wish; but much allowance is to be made for inexperience in forms, and a liberty which had been taken (not given) on this subject. These reasons, I flatter myself, will no longer exist; and of consequence, more regularity and exactness will in future exist. This with a necessary attention to the lines, the movements of the ministerial troops, and our im mediate security, must be my apology, which I beg you * Twelve miles. 790 WASHINGTON. to lay before Congress with the utmost duty and re spect. " We labor under great disadvantages for want of tents; for though they have been helped out by a collec tion of now useless sails from the seaport towns, the number is far short of our necessities. The colleges and houses of this town are necessarily occupied by the troops, which affords another reason for keeping our present situation. But I most sincerely wish the whole army was properly provided to take the field, as I am well assured, that (besides greater expedition and activity in case of alarm) it would highly conduce to health and discipline. As materials are not to be had here, I would beg leave to recommend the procuring a further supply from Philadelphia as soon as possible. " I should be extremely deficient in gratitude as well as justice, if I did not take the first opportunity to ac knowledge the readiness and attention which the Provin cial Congress and different committees have shown, to make everything as convenient and agreeable as possible. But there is a vital and inherent principle of delay incom patible with military service, in transacting business through such numerous and different channels. I esteem it therefore my duty to represent the inconvenience which must unavoidably ensue from a dependence on a number of persons for supplies, and submit it to the consideration of Congress, whether the public service will not be best promoted by appointing a commissary-general for these purposes. We have a striking instance of the preference of such a mode in the establishment of Connecticut, as their troops are extremely well provided under the direc tion of Mr. Trumbull, and he has at different times assisted others with various articles. Should my sentiments hap pily coincide with those of your honors on this subject, I beg leave to recommend Mr. Trumbull as a very proper LIFE AND TIMES. 791 person for this department. In the arrangement of troops collected under such circumstances, and upon the spur of immediate necessity, several appointments are omitted, which appear to be indispensably necessary for the good government of the army particularly a quartermaster- general, a commissary of musters, and a commissary of artillery. These I must earnestly recommend to the notice and provision of the Congress. " I find myself already much embarrassed for want of a military chest. The embarrassments will increase every day; I must therefore request that money may be for warded as soon as possible. The want of this most neces sary article will (I fear) produce great inconveniences, if not prevented by an early attention. I find the army in general, and the troops raised in Massachusetts in par ticular, very deficient in necessary clothing. Upon in quiry, there appears no probability of obtaining an> supplies in this quarter; and on the best consideration of this matter I am able to form, I am of opinion that a number of hunting shirts (not less than 10,000), would, in a great degree, remove this difficulty in the cheapest and quickest manner. I know nothing, in a speculative view, more trivial, yet, if put in practice, would have a happier tendency to unite the men, and abolish those pro vincial distinctions which lead to jealously and dissatis faction. " In a former part of this letter I mentioned the want of engineers. I can hardly express the disappointment I have experienced on this subject the skill of those we have being very imperfect, and confined to the mere manual exercise of cannon, whereas the war in which. we are engaged requires a knowledge comprehending the duties of the field and fortification. If any persons thus qualified are to be found in the southern Colonies, it 792 WASHINGTON. would be of great public service to forward them with all expedition. " Upon the article of ammunition I must re-echo the former complaints on this subjects. We are so exceed ingly destitute that our artillery will be of little use with out a supply both large and seasonable. What we have must be reserved for the smallarms, and that managed with the utmost frugality. * * * " The state of the army you will find ascertained with tolerable precision in the returns which accompany this letter. Upon finding the number* of men to fall so far short of the establishment, and below all expectation, I immediately called a council of the general officers, whose opinion (as to the mode of filling up the regiments, and providing for the present exigency) I have the honor of inclosing, together with the best judgment we are able to form of the ministerial troops. From the number of boys, deserters, and negroes, that have been enlisted in the troops of this province, I entertain some doubts whether the number required can be raised here; and all the gen eral officers agree that no dependence can be put on the militia for a continuance in camp, or regularity and dis cipline during the short time they may stay. This un happy and devoted province has been so long in a state of anarchy, and the yoke has been laid so heavily on it, that great allowances are to be made for troops raised under such circumstances. The deficiency of numbers, discipline, and stores, can only lead to the conclusion, that their spirit has exceeded their strength. But at the same time, I would humbly submit to the consideration of Congress the propriety of making some further provision of men from the other Colonies. If these regiments should be completed to their establishment, the dismission * The actual number at this time was 14,500. LIFE AND TIMES. 793 of those unfit for duty on account of their age or character would occasion a considerable reduction; and at all events, they have been enlisted upon such terms that they may be disbanded when the other troops arrive. But should my apprehensions be realized, and the regiments here not filled up, the public cause would suffer by an absolute dependence upon so doubtful an event, unless some pro vision is made against such a disappointment. " It requires no military skill to judge of the difficulty of introducing proper discipline and subordination into an army, while we have the enemy in view, and are in daily expectation of an attack; but it is of so much importance that every effort will be made which time and circum stances will admit. In the meantime I have a sincere pleasure in observing that there are materials for a good army a great number of able-bodied men, active, zeal ous in the cause, and of unquestionable courage. * * * " Generals Gates and Sullivan have both arrived in good health. " My best abilities are at all times devoted to the service of my country; but I feel the weight, importance, and vari ety of my present duties too sensibly, not to wish a more immediate and frequent communication with the Congress. I fear it may often happen in the course of our present operations that I shall need that assistance and direction from them which time and distance will not allow me to receive."* We have copied nearly the whole of this letter, in order not only to give the details of the condition of the army at this time on Washington's own authority, but also to show the style which he then thought proper to adopt in his communications to Congress. At a later period less deference was expressed, from the necessity of the case. * Washington's Official Letters. 794 WASHINGTON. In his letter above quoted, Washing-ton by no means exaggerated the disorderly and destitute condition of the army. Though the rolls showed 17,000 men, including the sick and absent, the number present fit for duty was only 14,500; so that new recruits had to be sought from the governments of the New England Colonies. The irregu larities in dress were soon remedied in part by the adop tion of the hunting shirt as recommended by Washington in his letter. The want of a system for obtaining supplies was severely felt. The troops from Connecticut had a proper commissariat, under Mr. Trumball's direction, as we have seen; but those who came from the other Col onies were not so well furnished. Individuals brought to camp their own provisions on their own horses. In some parts committees of supplies were appointed who pur chased necessaries at the public expense, sent them on to camp, and distributed them to such as were in want, without any regularity or system; the country afforded provisions, and nothing more was wanting to supply the army than proper systems for their collection and dis tribution. Other articles, though equally necessary, were almost wholly deficient, and could not be procured but with difficulty. On the 4th of August (1775), the whole stock of powder in the American camp, and in the public maga zines of the four New England provinces, would make but little more than nine rounds a man. The continental army remained in this destitute con dition for a fortnight or more. This was generally known among themselves, and was also communicated to the British by a deserter; but they, suspecting a plot, would not believe it. A supply of a few tons was sent on to them from the committee of Elizabethtown, but this was done privately, lest the adjacent inhabitants, who were equally destitute, LIFE AND TIMES. 795 should stop it for their own use. The public rulers in Massachusetts issued a recommendation to the inhabi tants not to fire a gun at beast, bird, or mark, in order that they might husband their little stock for the more necessary purpose of shooting men. A supply of several thousand pounds weight of powder was soon after ob tained from Africa, in exchange for New England rum. This was managed with so much address, that every ounce for sale in the British forts on the African coasts, was purchased up and brought off for the use of the Americans. Embarrassments from various quarters occurred in the formation of a continental army. The appointment of general officers made by Congress was not satisfactory. Enterprising leaders had come forward with their fol lowers on the commencement of hostilities, without scrupulous attention to rank. When these were all blended together, it was impossible to assign to every officer the station which his services merited, or his vanity demanded. Materials for a good army were collected. The husbandmen who flew to arms were active, zealous, and of unquestionable courage; but to introduce discipline and subordination among freemen, who were habituated to think for themselves, was an arduous labor. The want of system and of union, under proper hands, pervaded every department. From the circumstance that the persons employed in providing necessaries for the army were unconnected with each other, much waste and unnecessary delays were occasioned. The troops of the different Colonies came into service under variant estab lishments some were enlisted with the express condition of choosing their officers. The rations promised by the local Legislatures varied both as to quantity, quality, and price. To form one uniform mass of these discordant materials, and to subject the licentiousness of independent 796 WASHINGTON. freemen to the control of military discipline, was a delicate and difficult business. Washington however, not discouraged by the arduous nature of the task, at once began to mature his plans for bringing order out of confusion. He arranged the army into six brigades of six regiments each, in such a manner that the troops from the same Colony should be brought together, as far as practicable, and act under a commander from that Colony.* The whole force was thrown into three grand divisions. General Ward commanded the right wing at Roxbury; General Lee, the left at Winter Hill; and the center was commanded by General Putnam. General Washington, from his headquarters at Cambridge, directed the whole. Method and punctuality were intro duced. The officers and privates were taught to know their respective places, and to have the mechanism and movements as well as the name of an army. Gates, who had served with Washington in the unfor tunate expedition of Braddock, and had been appointed by Congress adjutant-general, was now performing excellent service in disciplining the army, and accustoming the soldiers to habits of order and regularity. He was a Briton by birth, and since the French War had resided in Virginia, where he owned an estate. He had been a frequent visitor at Mount Vernon, but had recently adopted habits of distance and reserve toward Wash ington. Among the members of Washington's military family were his first aid, Colonel Mifflin, of Philadelphia, recently appointed; his second aid, John Trumbull, son of the Governor of Connecticut; and Joseph Reed, his secretary, a lawyer of Philadelphia, who had received a part of his education in England, had taken an early part in the * Sparks, " Life of Washington," p. 136. LIFE AND TIMES. 797 revolutionary controversy, and exerted much influence on the patriotic side. On these gentlemen devolved a prin cipal part of the duty of entertaining the numerous vis itors who resorted to the headquarters of the Commander- in-Chief at Craigie House. Washington cared little for the convivialities of the table, and it was his habit, after remaining at it a short time, to leave the company with his aids and secretary, and retire to his private apartment, where the labor of thinking and writing on the immense and complicated business of his station awaited him. He had already planted the " original germ of the Con tinental Army," and was carefully fostering its growth. The officers were commissioned anew by Congress, and the system of uniform organization was gradually acquir ing form and consistency. When the rules and regula tions prescribed by Congress were presented to the sol diers, they objected to them as inconsistent with the terms of their original enlistment. Washington reasoned with them, but wisely abstained from coercion, leaving it optional with the men to subscribe the articles or not; but making the subscription a necessary condition with all new recruits. His intercourse with the Continental Congress was a more difficult affair. This body possessed very limited powers. Unlike the present Congress, it had no direct control over the people, and could only obtain men, money, and supplies, by recourse to the Provincial Legis latures, whose compliance with its requisitions depended on their resources, and their attachment to the cause of liberty. Still it had the supreme disposal of affairs, and its directions were never openly resisted. The members of Congress however were at this time divided in opinion as to the means of obtaining redress for those grievances which were the cause of the war. Some were timid, and 798 WASHINGTON. longed for returning peace on any reasonable terms, but the majority were resolute in opposition to the mother country. Most of the members were distrustful of mili tary power as dangerous to the very liberties for which they were contending. Washington perceived this feeling in Congress, and respected it for its motive. It interfered with the active and comprehensive measures which he desired to pursue, but it caused no relaxation in his efforts for the general welfare; nor was any feeling on this delicate subject ever permitted to appear in his conversation or correspondence. The formation of the whole military system of the country devolved upon him. His correspondence with Congress shows that almost invariably important meas ures originated with him, were suggested by him, and were sanctioned and aided by them. His letters were read to the House when in session, and almost every important resolution respecting the army was the result of his recommendation. Every attentive reader of American his tory is acquainted with this fact. But although conscious of power, Washington was conscientiously scrupulous in its exercise. He referred everything to Congress on which it was proper for them to take action; and was careful to avoid the slightest appearance of usurping powers not belonging properly to his office. It often happened therefore that the service was embarrassed, and the Commander-in-Chief greatly perplexed, by the dis tance of Congress from the scene of action and the slow ness of its movements even in times of great danger and emergency. In addition to his intercourse with Congress, Wash ington corresponded with the local authorities of the sev eral Colonies, in whom was lodged, as we have already seen, the real power of aiding his operations by furnish- LIFE AND TIMES. 799 ing men and supplies. This intercourse with the different Governors, Legislatures, conventions, and committees of safety, however, made him well acquainted with the actual condition of the country in all its details, and enabled him to apply his own admirable administrative talents with precision and effect, as well as to make his real character and noble designs thoroughly known to the people, in whose cause he was laboring with so much zeal, assiduity, and effect. " They saw that he was the very man whom the exigencies of the service and the country demanded; and they felt safe in listening to counsels, and obeying commands, which evidently proceeded from one whose spirit was as just, and enlightened, and candid, as it was noble and majestic, and in which moderation, wisdom, and firmness of the highest order, were harmoniously com bined with the deepest and most glowing enthusiasm of the patriot and the hero/'* One of the earliest instances of Washington's corre spondence with the provincial authorities took place soon after his taking the com'mand at Cambridge, and it was in an affair of the utmost importance to the welfare of the country. The Legislature of Massachusetts and the Governor of Connecticut applied to him for detachments from the army for the protection of such parts of their sea-coast as were exposed to predatory attacks from the British cruisers. This brought up the question as to the whole system on which the war was to be conducted. Should the army be liable to have detachments taken from it and distributed over the country on application from the local authorities, or should it be retained in one compact body, always ready for attack or defense. Washington at once perceived the fatal consequences of establishing so bad a precedent in the outset of the * C. W. Upham, " Life of General Washington." 800 WASHINGTON. contest as that which was desired by Massachusetts and Connecticut; and the following answer which he addressed (July 31, 1775) to the speaker of the General Assembly of Massachusetts evinces that, as usual, he was equal to the occasion : " SIR. I have considered the application made to me yesterday from the General Court, with all the attention due to the situation of the people in whose behalf it is made, and the respect due to such a recommendation. Upon referring to my instructions, and consulting with those members of Congress who are present, as well as the general officers, they all agree that it would not be consistent with my duty to detach any part of the army now here on any particular provincial service. It has been debated in Congress and settled, that the militia, or other internal strength of each province, is to be applied for defense against those small and particular depreda tions, which were to be expected, and to which they were supposed to be competent. This will appear the more proper, when it is considered that every town, and indeed every part of our sea-coast, which is exposed to these depredations, would have an equal claim upon this army. " It is the misfortune of our situation which exposes us to these ravages, and against which, in my judgment, no such temporary relief could possibly secure us. The great advantage the enemy have of transporting troops, by being masters of the sea, will enable them to harass us by diver sions of this kind; and should we be tempted to pursue them upon every alarm, the army must either be so weakened as to expose it to destruction, or a great part of the coast be still left unprotected. Nor, indeed, does it appear to me that such a pursuit would be attended with the least effect. The first notice of such an excursion would be its actual execution; and long before any troops LIFE AND TIMES. 801 could reach the scene of action, the enemy would have an opportunity to accomplish their purpose and retire. It would give me great pleasure to have it in my power to extend protection and safety to every individual; but the wisdom of the General Court will anticipate me in the necessity of conducting our operations on a general and impartial scale, so as to exclude any just cause of com plaint and jealousy. " I beg, sir, you will do me the honor to communicate these sentiments to the General Court, and to apologize for my involuntary delay, as we were alarmed this morning by the enemy, and my time was taken up in giving the necessary directions. " I shall be happy in every opportunity of showing my very great respect and regard for the General Court of Massachusetts Bay, and am, sir, etc/' This letter could not be otherwise than satisfactory to Massachusetts and the whole country. It settled the question, and established the precedent which was fol lowed throughout the war. " It was established as a rule, that attacks of the enemy at isolated points along the coast must be repelled by the militia in the vicinity, ex cept when the continental army was in a condition to make detachments without jeopardizing the common cause."* The necessity of keeping the army unbroken by detach ments was sufficiently apparent at this time, from the really formidable force opposed to it. General Gage's army in Boston number full 11,000 regular troopsf in fine * Sparks, " Life of Washington." t In the last week in July, 1775, the number of inhabitants was stated at 6,753; the number of troops, with their dependents, women, and children, at 13,600. The town became sickly, both among the people and the troops, for neither had been accustomed 802 WASHINGTON. condition, burning for action; and he was assisted by Gen erals Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne, who were justly re garded as among the ablest officers in the service of Great Britain. General Gage had served as a colonel in Braddock's expedition; and there had subsisted between him and Washington a warm friendship, until the recent active part which both had taken on opposite sides in the revolu tionary contest, had thrown them widely apart. An inci dent of the siege estranged them forever. Certain officers and men, taken by the British in the battle of Bunker's Hill, had been thrown into the prison for common felons in Boston, and as report said, very ill- treated. When intelligence of this affair reached Wash ington, August nth, he promptly transmitted the follow ing letter to General Gage: " SIR. I understand that the officers engaged in the cause of liberty and their country, who, by the fortune of war, have fallen into your hands, have been thrown, in discriminately, into a common jail, appropriated for felons ; that no consideration has been had for those of the most respectable rank, when languishing with wounds and sickness; and that some have been amputated in this un worthy situation. " Let your opinion, sir, of the principles which actuate them, be what it may, they suppose that they act from the noblest of all principles, a love of freedom and their country. But political principles, I conceive, are foreign to live on salt provisions. " We are in the strangest state in the world," a lady writes, August loth, " surrounded on all sides. The whole country is in arms, and intrenched. We are deprived of fresh provisions, subject to continual alarms and cannonadings, the Provincials being very audacious, and advancing near to our lines, since the arrival of Generals Washington and Lee to command them." Frothingham, Siege of Boston. LIFE AND TIMES. 803 to this point. The obligations arising from the right of humanity, and claims of rank, are universally binding and extensive, except in case of retaliation. These, I should have hoped, would have dictated a more tender treatment of those individuals, whom chance of war had put in your power. Nor can I forbear suggesting its fatal tendency to widen that unhappy breach, which you, and those ministers under whom you act, have repeatedly declared your wish is to see forever closed. " My duty now makes it necessary to apprise you, that for the future, I shall regulate all my conduct toward those gentlemen who are, or may be, in our possession, exactly by the rule you shall observe toward those of ours, now in your custody. " If severity and hardship mark the line of your conduct, painful as it may be to me, your prisoners will feel its effects. But if kindness and humanity are shown to ours, I shall with pleasure consider those in our hands as only unfortunate, and they shall receive from me that treat ment to which the unfortunate are ever entitled. " I beg to be favored with an answer as soon as possible, and am, sir, your very humble servant." General Gage replied to this carefully worded communi cation in the following insolent and insulting terms: " SIR. To the glory of civilized nations, humanity and war have been compatible, and humanity to the sub dued has become almost a general system. Britons are pre-eminent in mercy, have outgrown common examples, and overlooked the criminal in the captive. Upon these principles your prisoners, whose lives, by the law of the land, are destined to the cord, have hitherto been treated with care and kindness, and more comfortably lodged than the King's troops, in the hospitals; indiscriminately, 804 WASHINGTON. it is true, for I acknowledge no rank that is not derived from the King. " My intelligence from your army would justify some recriminations. I understand there are some of the King's faithful subjects, taken some time since by the rebels, laboring like negro slaves to gain their daily subsistence, or reduced to the wretched alternative to perish by famine, or take arms against their King and country. Those who have made the treatment of the prisoners in my hands, or of your other friends in Boston, a pretense for such measures, found barbarity upon falsehood. " I would willingly hope, sir, that the sentiments of liberality, which I have always believed you possess, will be exerted to correct these misdoings. Be temperate in political disquisition; give free operation to truth, and punish those who deceive and misrepresent; and not only the effects, but the cause, of this unhappy conflict will be removed. Should those, under whose usurped authority you act, control such a disposition, and dare to call severity retaliation, to God, who knows all hearts, be the appeal of the dreadful consequences," etc. Washington's indignation at the receipt of this letter must have been great. His reply however is strictly con sistent with his usual calmness and dignity: " I addressed you," he writes, " on the nth instant, in terms which gave the fairest scope for humanity and politeness, which were supposed to form a part of your character. I remonstrated with you on the unworthy treatment shown to the officers and citizens of America, whom the fortune of war, chance, or a mistaken confidence, had thrown into your hands. Whether British or Ameri can, mercy, fortitude, and patience are most pre-eminent; whether our virtuous citizens, whom the hand of tyranny has forced into arms to defend their wives, their children, LIFE AND TIMES. 805 and their property, or the mercenary instruments of law less domination, avarice, and revenge, best deserve the appellation of rebels, and the punishment of that cord, which your affected clemency has forborne to inflict; whether the authority under which I act is usurped, or founded upon the genuine principles of liberty, were alto gether foreign to the subject. I purposely avoided all political disquisition; nor shall I now avail myself of those advantages, which the sacred cause of my country, of liberty, and of human nature, give me over you; much less shall I stoop to retort and invective; but the intelli gence you say you have received from our army requires a reply. I have taken time, sir, to make a strict inquiry, and find it has not the least foundation in truth. Not only your officers and soldiers have been treated with the ten derness due to fellow-citizens and brethren, but even those execrable parricides, whose counsels and aid have deluged their country with blood, have been protected from the fury of a justly enraged people. Far from compelling or permitting their assistance, I am embarrassed with the numbers who crowd to our camp, animated with the purest principles of virtue and love to their country. " You affect, sir, to despise all rank not derived from the same source with your own. I cannot conceive one more honorable than that which flows from the uncor- rupted choice of a brave and free people, the purest source and original fountain of all power. Far from making it a plea for cruelty, a mind of true magnanimity and enlarged ideas would comprehend and respect it. " What may have been the ministerial views which have precipitated the present crisis, Lexington, Concord, and Charlestown, can best declare. May that God to whom you then appeal judge between America and you. Under his providence, those who influence the councils of America 806 WASHINGTON. and all the other inhabitants of the united Colonies, at the hazard of their lives, are determined to hand down to pos terity those just and invaluable privileges which they re ceived from their ancestors. " I shall now, sir, close my correspondence with you perhaps forever. If your officers, our prisoners, receive a treatment from me different from that which I wished to show them, they and you will remember the occasion of it." General Gage must have felf, on reading this letter, his own utter littleness in comparison with his correspondent. His conduct was as impolitic as it was insolent. By set ting at naught all the rules of honorable warfare, and inti mating that the highest American officers would be treated as criminals, he made retaliation indispensable. Washing ton therefore gave orders that the British prisoners in his hands should receive the same treatment as was known to be practiced on the American prisoners in Boston. They were accordingly marched off to Northampton, to be closely confined in jail. This was in strict compliance with the laws of war. But Washington, unwilling to pun ish the innocent for the crime of the guilty, countermanded the order for their close confinement before they reached Northampton, and directions were sent by Colonel Reed, his secretary, that they should be at liberty to go abroad on their parole, and should have every indulgence con sistent with their security. Soon after this affair the companies of riflemen from Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, raised by order of Congress, arrived at the camp in Cambridge. Dr. Thacher thus describes them in his " Military Journal: " " Several companies of riflemen, amounting, it is said, to more than 1,400 men, have arrived here from Pennsyl- LIFE AND TIMES. 807 vania and Maryland, a distance of from 500 to 700 miles. They are remarkably stout and hardy men, many of them exceeding six feet in height. They are dressed in white frocks, or rifle shirts, and round hats. These men are remarkable for the accuracy of their aim, striking a mark with great certainty at 200 yards distance. At a review, a company of them, while on a quick advance, fired their balls into objects of seven inches in diameter, at the dis tance of 250 yards. They are now stationed on our lines, and their shot have frequently proved fatal to British offi cers and soldiers who expose themselves to view, even at more than double the distance of common musket shot."* * The British officers, about this time, were much annoyed at the success of the American sentinels in dispersing handbills among their rank and file. One was framed, entitled "An Address to the Soldiers;" another contained the following comparison: Prospect Hill. Bunker's Hill. 1. Seven dollars a month. i. Three pence a day. 2. Fresh provisions, and in plenty. 2. Rotten salt pork. 3. Health. 3. The scurvy. 4. Freedom, ease, affluence, and a good farm. 4. Slavery, beggary, and want. " These bills," says a letter, July 24th, " are blown into their camp, and get into the hands of their soldiers, without the officers being able to prevent it. Major Bruce complained, at an inter view the other day, of such usage. We retorted his decoying our sentries from their posts, two rascals having left us a day or two before, by his or some other officer's means. Colonel Reed also sent to General Gage a copy of the declaration of the united Col onies, who pronounced its contents to be ' as replete with deceit and falsehood as most of their (the American's) publications.' " Frothingham, Siege of Boston. 808 WASHINGTON. One of these companies was commanded by Daniel Morgan, who was subsequently so much distinguished as a general. His men were so serviceable in the war that the mention of " Morgan's riflemen " has long been familiar to the readers of the revolutionary history. In addition to this seasonable addition to his force, Washington was now receiving reinforcements of militia from the New England Colonies. CHAPTER IV. WASHINGTON SENDS A DETACHMENT TO CANADA. i775> 1776. WHILE the events which we have just related were passing in the camp before Boston, General Schuyler, who, it will be recollected, had been intrusted with the military command of the province of New York, had been preparing to enter Canada. A reso lution of Congress had authorized him to take possession of St. John's and Montreal as soon as he should find it practicable; and he had written to Washington, from Ticonderoga, on the 3ist of July (1775), informing him of his preparations for crossing the lake. Washington proposed to aid him by sending a detach ment from the army at Cambridge, which should march through Maine to attack Quebec. This plan is described in the following extract from his letter to General Schuyler of the 2oth of August: " The design of this express is to communicate to you a plan of an expedition which has engaged my thoughts for several days. It is to penetrate into Canada by way of Kennebec river, and so to Quebec, by a route ninety miles below Montreal. I can very well spare a detach ment for this purpose of 1,000 or 1,200 men, and the land carriage by the route proposed is too inconsiderable to make an objection. " If you are resolved to proceed, which I gather from your last letter is your intention, it would make a diversion (809) 810 WASHINGTON. that would distract Carleton and facilitate your views. He must either break up and follow this party to Quebec, by which he will leave you a free passage, or he must suffer that important place to fall into our hands an event that would have a decisive effect and influence on the public interests. There may be some danger that such a sudden incursion might alarm the Canadians and detach them from that neutrality which they have hitherto observed, but I should hope that, with suitable precautions and a strict discipline, any apprehensions and jealousies might be removed. The few wliom I have consulted upon it approve it much, but the final determination is deferred until I hear from you. You will therefore, by the return of this messenger, inform me of your ultimate resolution. If you mean to proceed, acquaint me as particularly as you can with the time and force, what late accounts you have had from Canada, and your opinion as to the senti ments of the inhabitants, as well as those of the Indians, upon a penetration into their country; what number of troops are at Quebec, and whether any men-of-war, with all other circumstances which may be material in the con sideration of a step of such importance. Not a moment's time is to be lost in the preparations for this enterprise, if the advices received from you favor it. With the utmost expedition, the season will be considerably advanced, so that you will dismiss the express as soon as possible/'* A month later he writes to Congress an account of the starting of the expedition and its design. *Your Excellency's letter of the 8th inst. I received yesterday. I am happy to learn that the troops under the command of Colonel Arnold were to march so soon. I hope our people will commit no depredations in Canada; all possible care will be taken of it; but yet I have many fears on that score, as they stole thirty-two sheep at Isle aux Noix, contrary to the most pointed orders. Sparks, Correspondence of the Revolution. LIFE AND TIMES. 811 " I am now to inform the honorable Congress," he says, " that, encouraged by the repeated declarations of the Canadians and Indians and urged by their requests, I have detached Colonel Arnold, with 1,000 men, to penetrate into Canada by way of Kennebec river, and, if possible, to make himself master of Quebec. By this maneuver I pro posed either to divert Carleton from St. John's, which would leave a free passage to General Schuyler, or, if this did not take effect, Quebec, in its present defenseless state, must fall into his hands an easy prey. I made all possible inquiry as to the distance, the safety of the route, and the danger of the season being too far advanced; but found nothing in either to deter me from proceeding, more especially as it met with very general approbation from all whom I consulted upon it. But, that nothing might be omitted to enable me to judge of its propriety and probable consequences, I communicated it by express to General Schuyler, who approved of it in such terms that I resolved to put it in immediate execution. They have now left this place seven days, and, if favored with a good wind, I hope soon to hear of their being safe in Kennebec river." In order to understand thoroughly the object and the history of this expedition of Arnold to Quebec, it is nec essary to give a general sketch of the joint operations of the expedition sent from New York about the same time, which was intended to co-operate with him in occupying Canada. Congress had early turned its attention toward Canada and endeavored to gain the co-operation or at least to secure the neutrality of the inhabitants in its dispute with Great Britain. The Congress of the preceding year had circulated an address to the Canadians, evidently intended to render them disaffected to the British administration, 813 WASHINGTON. and to make them enter into the sentiments and measures of the other provinces. Although that address did not make on the minds of the Canadians all that impression which was intended and desired, yet it was not altogether without effect, for the great body of the people wished to remain neutral in the contest. Congress mistook the reluctance of the Canadians to engage in active operations against them for a decided partiality to their cause, and resolved to anticipate the British by striking a decisive blow in that quarter. In this purpose they were encouraged by the easy success of the enterprise against the forts on the lakes, and by the small number of troops then in Canada. They appointed General Schuyler commander of the expedition, with Gen eral Montgomery under him. Early in September (1775), these officers, with about 1,000 men, made an attempt on Fort St. John, situated on the River Sorel, which flows from Lake Champlain and joins the St. Lawrence; but found it expedient to retire to Isle aux Noix, at the entrance of the lake, about twelve miles above the fort, and wait for reinforcements. Meanwhile General Schuyler was taken ill and returned to Albany, leaving the command in the hands of General Montgomery, with instructions to prosecute the enterprise on receiving the expected reinforcements. The reinforce ments arrived; the attack on Fort St. John was renewed; and, after a vigorous defense, it surrendered about the middle of November. In it the Americans found a con siderable number of brass and iron cannon, howitzers, and mortars, a quantity of shot and small shells, about 800 stand of smallarms, and some naval stores; but the powder and provisions were nearly exhausted. During the siege of Fort St. John, Fort Chamblee had been taken, which furnished General Montgomery with a LIFE AND TIMES. 813 plentiful supply of provisions, of which -he stood greatly in need. General Carleton, who was on his way from Mon treal to relieve the garrison, had been defeated, and Col. Ethan Allen, who had made an unauthorized attack on Montreal, was overcome and taken prisoner. On the fall of Fort St. John, General Montgomery ad vanced against Montreal, which was in no condition to resist him. Governor Carleton, sensible of his inability to defend the town, quitted it, and next day General Mont gomery entered the place. A body of provincials under Colonel Easton took post at the mouth of the Sorel, and, by means of an armed vessel and floating batteries, com manded the navigation of the St. Lawrence. The British force, which had retreated down the river from Montreal, consisting only of about 120 soldiers, with several officers, under General Prescott, and accompanied by Governor Carleton, in eleven vessels, seeing it impracticable to force the passage, surrendered by capitulation. The vessels contained a considerable quantity of provisions, arms, and ammunition, which furnished a seasonable supply to the Americans. About midnight of the day before the capitu lation, Governor Carleton escaped down the river in a boat with muffled oars and safely reached Quebec. It was now the iQth of November (1775), and the severe weather which had set in was very unfavorable to military operations. General Montgomery, a young man of su perior talents and high spirit, found himself in extremely unpleasant circumstances. He was at the head of a body of men, many of whom were not deficient in personal courage, but were strangers to military subordination. The term of service for which numbers of them were en gaged was near an end, and, already weary of the hard ships of war, they clamorously demanded a discharge. Hitherto his career had been successful, and he was ambi- 814 WASHINGTON. tious of closing the campaign by some brilliant achieve ment, which might at once elevate the spirits of the Ameri cans and humble the pride of the British ministry. With these views, even at that rigorous season of the year, he hastened toward Quebec, although he found it necessary to weaken his little army, which had never exceeded 2,000 men, by discharging such of his followers as had become weary of the service. About the middle of September (1775), the detachment of 1,100 men, under Colonel Arnold, was sent, as we have seen, from the camp at Cambridge, by Washing ton, with orders to proceed across the country against Quebec, by a route which had not been explored and was little known. The party embarked at Newbury, steered for the Kennebec, and ascended that river. But their progress was impeded by rapids, by an almost impassable wildernessi, by bad weather, and by want of provisions. They separated into several divisions. After encounter ing many difficulties, the last division, under Colonel Enos, was unwilling to proceed, and returned to the camp at Cambridge.* But the other divisions, under Arnold, pressed forward amidst incredible hardships and priva tions, and triumphed over obstacles nearly insuperable. For a month they toiled through a rough, barren, and un inhabited wilderness, without seeing a human habitation or the face of an individual, except those of their own party, and with very scanty provisions. At length, on the Qth of November, Arnold, with his force much diminished, arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec. His appearance was not unexpected, for the Lieutenant- * Enos, on his arrival at the camp, was put under arrest by Wash ington's orders. He was afterward tried for his defection, and acquitted. He then resigned his commission and retired to Ver mont. Sparks, Writings of Washington. LIFE AND TIMES. 815 Governor had been for some time apprised of his march. In the early part of his progress, Arnold had met an In dian, to whom, although a stranger, he had imprudently intrusted a letter to General Schuyler, under cover to a friend in Quebec. The Indian, instead of faithfully deliv ering the letter according to the directions which he had received, carried it to the Lieutenant-Governor, who, in order to prevent the Americans from passing the river, immediately removed all the canoes from Point Levi, and began to put the city in a posture of defense, which before might easily have* -been surprised. On discovering the arrival of Arnold at Point Levi, the British commander stationed two vessels of war in the river to guard the pas sage; and, at that interesting crisis, Colonel McLean, who had retreated before Montgomery, arrived from the Sorel with about 170 newly-raised troops to assist in the defense of the place. Notwithstanding all the vigilance of the British, on the night of the I4th of November Arnold crossed the river with 500 men, in thirty-five canoes, and landed unperceived near the place where the brave and enterprising Wolfe had landed about sixteen years before, thence named Wolfe's Cove. He had provided scaling ladders, but was unable to carry them over the river along with his troops, and consequently was not in a condition to make an immediate attempt on the town. Instead how ever of concealing himself till he could bring forward his scaling ladders, and then make a sudden and unexpected attack by night, he marched part of his troops in military parade in sight of the garrison, and so put the British fully on their guard. He wished to summon them to surrender, but they fired on his flag of truce and refused to hold any intercourse with him. He therefore, on the igth of the month, turned his back on Quebec and marched to Point 816 WASHINGTON. aux Trembles, about twenty miles above the city, where General Montgomery, with the force under his command, joined him on the ist of December. Soon after Arnold's retreat, Governor Carleton arrived in Quebec and made every exertion to put the place in a state of defense. Having brought the scaling ladders across the river, General Montgomery, with the whole of the American force, appeared before Quebec on the 5th of December (1775). The garrison was then more numerous than the army which came to take the place. So greatly was the American force reduced that it scarcely amounted to 1,000 men, while General Carleton had about 1,500 soldiers, militia, seamen, and volunteers under his com mand. General Montgomery sent a flag of truce to summon the garrison to surrender, but it was fired upon, as that of Arnold had been. He therefore, in the depth of a Cana dian winter, and in the most intense cold, erected batteries; but his artillery was too light to make any impression on the fortifications. He now determined to storm the town, and the assault was made on the morning of the 3ist of December (1775). About 4 o'clock in the morning, in the midst of a violent storm of snow, two feints and two real attacks were simul taneously made. The real attacks were conducted by Montgomery and Arnold. Montgomery, advancing at the head of about 200 men, fell by the first discharge of grapeshot from the works. Several of his best officers being killed, his division retreated. Arnold, at the head of about 300 men, in a different quarter, maintained a fierce and obstinate conflict for some time; but was at last wounded and repulsed. The death of Montgomery was the subject of much regret, as he had been universally loved and esteemed. On assembling after the assault, the LIFE AND TIMES. 817 Americans could not muster many more than 400 effective men, who chose Arnold their commander, and, in the hope of receiving reinforcements, resolved to remain in the vicinity of Quebec. Carleton, the Governor, whether from policy or human ity, treated the prisoners with kindness. The Americans were not ignorant of their own great in feriority in point of numbers to the garrison, and were not without apprehension of being attacked; but, although the garrison was three times more numerous than the blockading army, yet it was of such a mixed and precarious nature that Carleton did not deem it prudent to march out against the enemy. A small reinforcement from Massachusetts reached the American camp, and all the troops that could be spared from Montreal marched to join their countrymen before Quebec; but the month of February (1776) was far ad vanced before the army amounted to 960 men. Arnold however resumed the siege, but his artillery was inade quate to the undertaking and made no impression on the works. Although unsuccessful against the town, he de feated a body of Canadians who advanced to relieve it. When the Americans entered the province many of the inhabitants were well disposed toward them, but by their ill-behavior they forfeited the good-will and provoked the hostility of the Canadians. They compelled the people, at the point of the bayonet, to furnish them with articles below the current prices; gave illegal or unsigned certifi cates for goods which they had received, and, in conse quence, many of the certificates were rejected by the quar termaster-general; they made promises and did not per form them; and they insulted and abused the people when they demanded payment of their just debts. By such un worthy conduct they alienated the affections of the Cana- 52 818 - WASHINGTON. dians, who considered Congress as bankrupt, and their army as a band of plunderers. On hearing of such scandalous misconduct, Congress ordered justice to be done to the Canadians, and the strict est military discipline to be observed. But in Canada the tide of popular sentiment and feeling was turned against the Americans, who, by their dishonorable prac tices, had awakened a spirit of indignation and hostility, which all the policy of Governor Carleton had been unable to excite. While the American army lay before Quebec the troops caught the smallpox from a woman who had been a nurse in a hospital of the city, and the loathsome disease spread rapidly among them. In order to mitigate the ravages of this destructive malady, many of the men inoculated them selves, regardless of orders to the contrary. The rein forcements which were daily arriving had recourse to the same practice, and so general was the infection that, on the ist of May (1776), although the army amounted to 2,000 men, not more than 900 were fit for duty. In this diseased state of the troops, medicines and everything necessary for the sick were wanting. The men were also scattered for want of barracks. Major-General Thomas, who had been appointed to the command of the American army in Canada, arrived in camp on the ist of May. He found the troops enfeebled by disease, ill-supplied with provisions, and with only a small quantity of ammunition. The river was opening below, and he was well aware that as soon as ships could force their way through the ice the garrison would be reinforced. On the 5th of May there fore he resolved to retreat toward Montreal, and on the evening of the same day he received certain information that a British fleet was in the river. Next morning, some of the ships, by great exertion and with much danger, LIFE AND TIMES. 819 pressed through the ice into the harbor, and landed some troops. The Americans were preparing to retire. General Carleton marched out to attack them ; but, instead of wait ing his approach, they made a precipitate retreat, leaving behind them their sick, baggage, artillery, and military stores. Many of those who were ill of the smallpox es caped from the hospitals and concealed themselves in the country, where they were kindly entertained by the Cana dians till they recovered and were able to follow their countrymen. General Carleton could not overtake the American army, but he took about 100 sick prisoners, whom he treated with his characteristic humanity. The Americans retreated about forty-five miles and then halted a few days, but afterward proceeded to Sorel in a deplorable condition and encamped there. In this inter val some reinforcements arrived, but General Thomas was seized with the smallpox and died. He was succeeded in the command by General Sullivan. The British had several military posts in Upper Canada, and the Americans established one at the Cedars, a point of land which projects into the St. Lawrence about forty miles above Montreal. Captain Forster, who had marched from Oswegatchie, appeared before this post with a com pany of regulars and a considerable number of Indians, and the American commanding officer surrendered the place after a short resistance. An American party of about 100 men, under Major Sherburne, left Montreal to assist their countrymen at the Cedars, but as they ap proached that place, on the day after the surrender, and ignorant of that event, they were suddenly and unexpect edly attacked by a body of Indians and Canadians. After defending themselves for some time, the Americans were 820 WASHINGTON. overpowered, and many of them fell under the tomahawks of the Indians. The rest were made prisoners. Arnold, who in the month of January had been raised to the rank of brigadier-general, and who then commanded at Montreal, was desirous of recovering the Cedars and of relieving the prisoners there; and for these purposes marched toward that place, at the head of about 800 men. But, on his approach, Captain Forster gave him notice that unless he agreed to a cartel, which had already been signed by Major Sherburne and some other officers, the Indians would put all the prisoners to death. In these circumstances, Arnold reluctantly signed the cartel and retired. Congress long hesitated and delayed to sanction this agreement. Before the end of May the British force in Canada was greatly increased; and, including the German mercenaries, was estimated at 13,000 men. That force was widely dis persed, but Three Rivers, about ninety miles above Quebec and as much below Montreal, was the general point of rendezvous. A considerable detachment, under General Frazer, had already arrived there. That detachment Gen eral Sullivan wished to surprise, and appointed General Thompson to command the troops in the expedition sent out for that purpose. The enterprise failed; Thompson was made prisoner and his detachment dispersed, but with out any great loss. The royal military and naval forces having been col lected at Three Rivers, a long village so named from its contiguity to a river which empties itself into the St. Law rence by three mouths, advanced by land and water toward the Sorel. General Sullivan had retreated up that river, and General Burgoyne, who had left Boston and joined Carleton, was ordered cautiously to pursue him. On the 1 5th of June (1776), General Arnold quitted Montreal, LIFE AND TIMES. 821 crossed the river at Longueille, marched on Chamblee, and conducted the army to Crown Point, with little loss in the retreat. Thus terminated the invasion of Canada, in which the American army endured great hardships and sustained considerable loss, without any apparent advan tage to the cause in which it was engaged. It is certain nevertheless that Washington acted with his usual good judgment in sending out the expedition under Arnold. It came very near capturing Quebec, and only failed under a combination of unfortunate circum stances, against the occurrence of which no human fore sight could provide. CHAPTER V. WASHINGTON EXPELS THE BRITISH FROM BOSTON. 1775-1776. CONSIDERING the strength of the British army in Boston, it might be matter of surprise that Gen eral Gage had made no serious attack upon the besieging army; but his experience of the valor and de termination of the colonists, as well as of the formidable mode of warfare adopted in the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, had taught him to respect them as soldiers. Writing to Lord Dartmouth, he says : " The trials we have had show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them to be, and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged among them for a few years past, joined with an uncommon degree of zeal and enthu siasm, that they are otherwise." Gage was desirous of occupying New York, but would not venture to evacuate Boston without express orders from the government. He therefore determined to winter in Boston, and began to make preparations for occupying the houses in the town as barracks for the soldiery. While this was going forward he received a summons from the government commanding his return to England (September 26, 1775), " in order to give His Majesty exact information of everything that it may be necessary to pre pare, as early as possible, for the operations of the next year, and to suggest to His Majesty such matters in rela- (822) LIFE AND TIMES. 823 tion thereto as his knowledge and experience of the ser vice enabled him to furnish." In replying to Lord Dartmouth, October 1st, General Gage recommended the measure, which the ministry adopted in the ensuing year, of abandoning New England and occupying New York. " I am of opinion," he wrote, " that no offensive operations can be carried on to advan tage from Boston. On the supposition of a certainty of driving the rebels from their intrenchments, no advantage would be gained but reputation; victory could not be im proved, through the want of every necessary to march into the country. The loss of men would probably be great, and the rebels be as numerous in a few days as before their defeat; besides, the country is remarkably strong and adapted to their way of fighting." General Gage now prepared to depart for England, ex pecting to return after the King and the ministry should have obtained the " exact information " which they so much desired, and in which they had, sooth to say, been woefully deficient ever since the controversy began. His departure was attended with the usual formalities, such as a fulsomely flattering address from the council, prais ing him for all the virtues which he did not possess; and another from the loyal inhabitants, a little more " reserved in its indorsement of his proceedings." Gage, in his re plies, charged all the troubles of the people on designing, ambitious leaders, who had " erected a tyranny upon the most free, happy, and lenient government." He embarked on the loth of October (1775) for England, and soon found that his services in America for the future would be dis pensed with.* His successor, General Howe,f was an * Frothingham, " Siege of Boston." t Howe was a brother to Viscount Howe, killed at Ticonderoga in 1758; and also of Lord Howe, the admiral. 824 WASHINGTON. abler officer and a more popular man. His views respect ing the military operations to be pursued coincided how ever with those of his predecessor. Writing to Lord Dartmouth, October Qth, he says, " that the opening of the campaign from this quarter would be attended with great hazard, as well from the strength as from the in trenched position the Americans had taken." He recom mended an evacuation of Boston, and desired reinforce ments to arrive early in the spring. Meantime Washington, having no knowledge of the enemy's design to remain inactive and to go into winter quarters without attempting offensive operations, was im patient for action. He was prevented however from any attempt on the town by his want of powder. Only small quantities could be collected and in no proportion to the demand. Apprehensive that the enemy might discover this deficiency and attack and disperse his army, he re sorted to a variety of expedients to conceal his situation. His own officers even were not aware how little powder was in store. The proposal to surprise the enemy was nevertheless entertained by him, and referred to a council of war, as early as September. It was induced by com plaints among the people of the inactivity of the army. The eyes of all were fixed on Washington, and it was very unreasonably expected that he would, by a bold exertion, free the town of Boston from the British troops. The dangerous situation of public affairs led him to conceal the real scarcity of arms and ammunition, and with that magnanimity which is characteristic of great minds, to suffer his character to be assailed rather than vindicate himself by exposing his many wants. There were not wanting persons who, judging from the superior numbers of men in the American army, boldly asserted that, if the Commander-in-Chief were not desirous of prolonging his BARON DE KALB INTRODUCING LAFAYETTE TO SILAS DEANE. LIFE AND TIMES. 825 importance at the head of an army, he might by a vigorous exertion gain possession of Boston. Such suggestions were reported and believed by many, while they were un- contradicted by the General, who chose to risk his fame rather than expose his army and his country. In the following extract from his letter to the President of Congress, of September 21 (1775), he refers to the pro posed attack as well as to the destitute condition of the army: " The state of inactivity in which this army has lain for some time by no means corresponds with my wishes to relieve my country, by some decisive stroke, from the heavy expense its subsistence must create. After fre quently reconnoitering the situation of the enemy in the town of Boston, collecting all possible intelligence, and digesting the whole, a surprise did not appear to me wholly impracticable, though hazardous. I communi cated it to the general officers some days before I called them to a council, that they might be prepared with their opinions. The result I have the honor of inclosing. I cannot say that I have wholly laid it aside; but new events may occasion new measures. Of this I hope the honor able Congress can need no assurance that there is not a man in America who more earnestly wishes such a ter mination of the campaign as to make the army no longer necessary. " It gives me great pain to be obliged to solicit the at tention of the honorable Congress to the state of this army, in terms which imply the slightest apprehension of being neglected. But my situation is inexpressibly dis tressing; to see the winter fast approaching upon a naked army; the time of their service within a few weeks of ex piring, and no provision yet made for such important events. Added to these, the military chest is totally ex- 826 WASHINGTON. hausted ; the paymaster has not a single dollar in hand ; the commissary-general assures me he has strained his credit for the subsistence of the army to the utmost. The quartermaster-general is precisely in the same situation, and the greater part of the troops are in a state not far from mutiny, upon the deduction from their stated allow ance. I know not to whom I am to impute this failure, but I am of opinion, if the evil is not immediately remedied, and more punctually observed in future, the army must absolutely break up. I hoped I had so fully expressed myself on this subject (both by letter and to those mem bers of the Congress who honored the camp with a visit), that no disappointment could possibly happen; I there fore hourly expected advice from the paymaster that he had received a fresh supply, in addition to the $172,000 delivered him in August; and thought myself warranted to assure the public creditors that in a few days they should be satisfied. But the delay has brought matters to such a crisis as admits of no further uncertain expecta tion. I have therefore sent off this express, with orders to make all possible dispatch. It is my most earnest re quest that he may be returned with all possible expedition, unless the honorable Congress have already forwarded what is so indispensably necessary." In a letter to Mr. Warren, Speaker of the Massachu setts Assembly, we find a still more graphic picture of suffering. In this communication he says: " I promised the gentlemen who did me the honor to call upon me yesterday, by order of your House, that I would inquire of the quartermaster-general, and let them know to-day, what quantity of wood and hay were neces sary to supply this army through the winter. I accord ingly did so, and desired General Gates this morning to inform you that it was his (the quartermaster's) opinion LIFE AND TIMES. 827 it would require 10,000 cords of the first and 200 tons of the latter to answer our demands; but the hurry, in which we have been all day engaged, caused him to forget it, till a fresh complaint brought it again to remembrance. " When the committee were here yesterday I told them I did not believe we had then more than four days* stock of wood beforehand. I little thought that we had scarce four hours*, and that the different regiments were upon the point of cutting each other's throats for a few stand ing locusts near their encampments to dress their victuals with. This however is the fact; and, unless some expedi ent is adopted by your honorable body to draw more teams into the service, or the quartermaster-general is empow ered to impress them, this army (if there comes a spell of rainy and cold weather) must inevitably disperse, the con sequences of which need no animadversions of mine. " It has been a matter of great grief to me to see so many valuable plantations of trees destroyed. I endeav ored (whilst there appeared a possibility of restraining it) to prevent the practice; but it is out of my power to do it. From fences to forest trees, and from forest trees to fruit trees, is a natural advance to houses, which must next follow. This is not all; the distress of the soldiers in the article of wood will, I fear, have an unhappy influence upon their enlisting again. In short, sir, if I did not apprehend every evil that can result from the want of these two cap ital articles, wood especially, I would not be so importu nate. My anxiety on this head must plead my excuse. At the same time I assure you that, with great respect and esteem, I am, sir, your most obedient servant." . Washington's humanity and courtesy are finely illus trated by an incident which took place in October, 1775. Two armed vessels, sent to intercept two brigantines, un derstood to be bound from England to Quebec witb arms 828 WASHINGTON. and ammunition, failed in that object, but attacked St. John's, plundered the inhabitants, and brought off several prisoners. On their being brought to the camp at Cam bridge, Washington severely reprimanded the captors, set the prisoners at liberty, treated them with the utmost kindness, restored the plundered property, and sent them to their homes. The acting Governor of St. John's, who was one of the prisoners, expressed the liveliest gratitude to Washington for the kind treatment received from him. As the year (1775) drew near a close, Washington found himself embarrassed with a new and very serious difficulty. It had become necessary to form a new army. The term of service of the Connecticut and Rhode Island troops would expire on the 1st of December, and that of the re mainder of the army at the end of that month. Congress had had the matter under consideration, and a committee, consisting of Dr. Franklin, Mr. Lynch, and Mr. Harrison, repaired to headquarters at Cambridge (October 18, 1775), and there, in conjunction with Washington, made arrange ments for organizing, regulating, and supporting the con tinental army. It was presumed that the spirit which had hitherto operated on the yeomanry of the country would induce most of the same individuals to engage for another twelvemonth, but on experiment it was found that much of their military ardor had already evaporated. The first impulse of passion, and the novelty of the scene, had brought many to the field who had great objections against continuing in the military line. They found that to be soldiers required sacrifices of which, when they as sumed that character, they had no idea. So unacquainted were the bulk of the people with the mode of carrying on modern war that many of them flew to arms with the de lusive expectation of settling the whole dispute by a few decisive and immediate engagements. Experience soon LIFE AND TIMES. 829 taught them that to risk life in open fighting was but a part of the soldier's duty. The plan of organization proposed by Washington to the committee of Congress was adopted. It was to be twice as large as that of the enemy in Boston, and to con sist of twenty-six regiments of eight companies each, be sides riflemen and artillery, the whole amounting to 20,372 men. The term of service was to be for one year an arrangement which, as will be seen, was a source of em barrassment which interfered with Washington's opera tions very seriously. But such was the jealousy of mili tary power among the members of Congress and the peo ple, that this system of short enlistments was persisted in throughout the war. The committee of Congress remaining some time in Cambridge, Washington embraced the opportunity of con ferring freely with them and learning what reliance could be placed on the efficient support of Congress in his future operations. This was more satisfactory than the written correspondence which he had hitherto maintained with the Congress, and he was enabled by personal intercourse with the committee to express his own views frankly and freely. All the proceedings of the committee were, on their return, approved by Congress. The readiest means of obtaining supplies for the army was the fitting out of armed vessels for intercepting those sent from England for the enemy in Boston. Congress had hitherto made no provision for a navy, and Washing ton took on himself the responsibility of creating one. It was on a small scale indeed, but we should ever remem ber that to the Father of his Country is due the honor of founding the proud and glorious navy of the United States. He had no instructions from Congress on the subject, but the public welfare demanded immediate action, and 830 WASHINGTON. he did not hesitate to take the necessary measures. He caused vessels to be procured in Salem, Beverly, Marble- head, and Plymouth, fitted out and manned by officers and sailors from the army. And he gave to the captains instructions to cruise against such vessels as were found in the service of the enemy, and seize all such as were laden with soldiers, arms, ammunition, or provisions. In a short time six armed schooners were under sail and cruising off the coast of New England. One of these schooners, the Lee, commanded by Cap tain Manly, was particularly successful. On the 2Qth of November (1775) she took the brig Nancy, an ordnance vessel from Woolwich, containing a large brass mortar, several pieces of brass cannon, a large quantity of arms and ammunition, with all manner of tools, utensils, and machines, necessary for camps and artillery. Had Con gress sent an order for supplies they could not have made out a list of articles more suitable to Washington's situ ation than what was thus providentially thrown into his hands. In about nine days after, three ships, with various stores for the British army, and a brig from Antigua with rum, were taken by Captain Manly. Before five days more had elapsed, several other storeships were captured. By these means the distresses of the British troops in Boston were increased and supplies for the continental army were pro cured. Naval captures, being unexpected, were matter of triumph to the Americans and of surprise to the British. The latter scarcely believed that the former would oppose them by land with a regular army, but never suspected that a people so unfurnished as they were with many things necessary for arming vessels would presume to attempt anything on the water. A spirit of enterprise, invigo rated by patriotic zeal, prompted the hardy New England- LIFE AND TIMES. 831 men to undertake the hazardous business, and their suc cess encouraged them to proceed. Before the close of the year (1775), Congress determined to build five vessels of thirty-two guns, five of twenty-eight, and three of twenty-four.* While the Americans were fitting out * Under date of May 8, 1902, Hon. Arthur D. Osborn, of New Haven, Conn., made an address in that city on "Armed Vessels of Connecticut During the Revolutionary War," in which he said: " The more the history of our modest little State is studied, the more those who love Connecticut as the home of their ancestors will find in that history to stimulate their interest and gratify their pride. We. cannot realize in the midst of our abundance with what slender resources our forefathers engaged in the Revolutionary War. In place of the complex machinery which produces for us such astonishing results with lightning speed, they had only the slow handiwork of craftsmen, dependent largely for their tools and materials on the mother country. And yet when the Revolutionary struggle .commenced, the peaceful waters of Long Island Sound even then bore the beginnings of that mighty commerce which now passes through it, exceeding in volume and value all that enters New York harbor from foreign ports. The hardy men who peopled its Connecticut shores had already learned the arts of ship building and navigation, and they fitted out, manned, and equipped a fleet of armed vessels very early in the war. Their number was constantly increased until the Record shows a list of 180 vessels, carrying 1,380 guns and more than 6,000 men. This is the statement in the Revolutionary Record of the Naval Service of Connecticut, com piled from the list prepared by Lieutenant, afterward Rear-Ad miral, George F. Emmons. This list does not include all the vessels which were furnished by Connecticut, but it is surprisingly large. " Before the outbreak of the Revolution, New England had created a considerable commerce with European countries, with the West Indies, and along the coast, and the vessels, with the crews engaged in it, became the privateers and war vessels referred to by Admiral Emmons. Long Island Sound and especially New London afforded them harbors for rendezvous and refuge, and it is very likely that the attacks which they made upon British com merce instigated the expeditions along the coast of the Sound, which effected the burning of Fairfax. Norwalk, New London, and the capture of New Haven. 832 WASHINGTON. armed vessels, and before they had made any captures, an event took place which would have disposed a less deter mined people to desist from provoking the vengeance of the British navy. " There were three classes of these vessels. First, the privateers which have already been referred to. The privateers carried from two to twenty guns and crews numbering from 25 to 100, and in a few cases 150 men. The guns were mostly six and twelve- pounders, with a few twenty-four pounders and some smaller guns. The vessels were from less than 100 to 250 tons. " In the second class were included the vessels built by the State of Connecticut. In July, 1775, the General Assembly ordered two vessels to be bought and fitted for cruising. These were the ' Minerva ' and the ' Spy.' In December, 1775, the General Assembly ordered a war vessel built, which was completed in May, 1776, and named the ' Defence ' and rigged as a brig. She cruised off Boston under the command of Captain Harding, where she captured, after a spirited engagement, two transports with 210 soldiers on board, and the next day another transport with 112 soldiers. She was afterward chased into New London by two frigates. In 1777, she came under the command of Captain Samuel Smedley. " The largest State vessel of Connecticut was the ' Oliver Crom well,' of twenty guns, built at Saybrook in 1776. " In the third class were the vessels built in the State under the orders of the Continental Congress. In 1775 the Continental Con gress ordered a number of war vessels to be built; three to carry twenty-four guns, five twenty-eight guns, and five thirty-two guns. One of these was assigned to Connecticut and was built at Chatham, on the Connecticut river. She was named the ' Trum- bull ' and carried twenty-eight guns. Capt. Dudley Saltonstall was appointed to command her and afterward Capt. James Nicholson. "Another vessel assigned to Connecticut was the thirty-six-gun ship * Confederacy/ which was built on the Thames river, near Norwich. " The havoc which these vessels made with the British merchant marine created consternation among their owners and brought loud remonstrances to the ears of the British ministry. All these vessels, the privateers, the State vessels, and the United States ships, were officered and manned by Connecticut men." LIFE AND TIMES. 833 This was the burning of Falmouth (now Portland, Me.), which was brought about by a previous incident on the coast of Massachusetts. The British naval forces were frequently engaged in de stroying the armed American vessels which Washington had fitted out, as we have just seen, for cruisers. At Gloucester the Falcon sloop-of-war, having chased an American vessel into the harbor, dispatched three boats, with about forty men, to bring her off, when the party were so warmly received by the militia, who had collected on the shore, that the captain thought it necessary to send a reinforcement and to commence cannonading the town. A very smart action ensued, which was kept up for several hours, but resulted in the complete defeat of the assail ants, leaving upward of thirty prisoners in the hands of the Americans. This repulse excited the British to deeds of revenge upon several of the defenseless towns on the coast, and to declare that many of them should be reduced to ashes, unless the inhabitants consented to an unconditional com pliance with all their demands. The burning of Falmouth seems to have been a consequence of this determination. In compliance with a resolution of the Provincial Con gress to prevent Tories from carrying out their effect, the inhabitants of Falmouth had obstructed the loading of a mast ship. The destruction of the town was therefore determined on, as an example of vindictive punishment. Captain Mowat, detached for that purpose with armed vessels* by Admiral Graves, arrived off the place on the *The force consisted of a sixty-four, a twenty-gun ship, two sloops of eighteen guns, two transports, and 600 men. They took two mortars, four howitzers, and other artillery a pretty formid able apparatus for setting fire to a small seaport village. The recent conflict at Gloucester had taught the enemy a lesson. 53 834 WASHINGTON. evening of the I7th of October (1775), and gave notice to the inhabitants that he would allow them two hours " to remove the human species." Upon being solicited to afford some explanation of this extraordinary summons, he replied that he had orders to set on fire all the seaport towns from Boston to Halifax, and that he supposed New York was already in ashes. He could dispense with his orders, he said, on no terms but the compliance of the inhabitants to deliver up their arms and ammunition, and thejr sending on board a sup ply of provisions, and four of the principal persons of the town as hostages that they should engage not to unite with their countrymen in any kind of opposition to Brit ain; and he assured them that, on a refusal of these con ditions, he should lay the town in ashes within three hours. Unprepared for the attack, the inhabitants, by entreaty, obtained the suspension of an answer till the morning, and employed this interval in removing their families and effects. The next day Captain Mowat commenced a furious can nonade and bombardment, and a great number of people standing on the heights, were spectators of the conflagra tion, which reduced many of them to penury and despair. More than 400 houses and stores were burnt. Newport, R. L, being in a very exposed situation and threatened with a similar attack, was compelled to stipulate for a weekly supply to avert it. An event of considerable importance occurred in Octo ber, which occasioned much surprise and speculation. It was the defection of Dr. Benjamin Church, who had long sustained a high reputation as a patriot and son of liberty. He had for some time been a member of the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, and had been appointed surgeon-general and director of the military hospitals at LIFE AND TIMES. 835 Cambridge. This gentleman was detected in a traitorous correspondence with the enemy in Boston. A letter in cipher, written by him, was intrusted to the care of a female, with whom he was Well acquainted, to be con veyed to Boston. On examination the woman absolutely refused to reveal the name of the writer till she was terri fied by threats of severe punishment, when she named Dr. Church. He was greatly agitated and confounded,, manifested marks of guilt, and made no attempt to vindi cate himself. But after the letter was deciphered, and he had taken time to reflect, he used all his powers of per suasion to make it appear that the letter contained no in formation that would injure the American cause; and made a solemn appeal to heaven that it was written for the purpose of procuring some important intelligence from the enemy. He was tried, convicted, and expelled from the House of Representatives, and Congress afterward resolved, " that he be closely confined in some secure jail in Connecticut, without the use of pen, ink, or paper; and that no person be allowed to converse with him, except in the presence and hearing of a magistrate, or the sheriff of the county." He was finally permitted to depart from the country. He embarked for the West Indies; the ves sel foundered at sea and all were lost.* A skirmish occurred at Lechmere's Point on the 9th of November (1775), to which Washington refers in the following extract from a letter to Congress of the nth, in which his situation and that of the army is feelingly described. " The trouble I have in the arrangement of the army is really inconceivable. Many of the officers sent in their names to serve in expectation of promotion; others stood aloof, to see what advantage they could make for them- *Thacher, "Military Journal." 836 WASHINGTON. selves; whilst a number who had declined have again sent in their names to serve. So great has the confusion aris ing from these and many other perplexing circumstances been that I found it absolutely impossible to fix this very interesting business exactly on the plan resolved on in the conference, though I have kept up to the spirit of it as near as the nature and necessity of the case would admit. The difficulty 'with the soldiers is as great, indeed more so, if possible, than with the officers. They will not enlist until they know their colonel, lieutenant-colonel, major, and captain ; so that it was necessary to fix the officers the first thing, which is at last in some manner done, and I have given out enlisting orders. " You, sir, can much easier judge than I can express the anxiety of mind I must labor under on the occasion, especially at this time, when we may expect the enemy will begin to act on the arrival of their reinforcements, part of which is already come and the remainder daily dropping in. " I have other distresses of a very alarming nature. The arms of our soldiery are so exceedingly bad that I assure you, sir, I cannot place a proper confidence in them. Our powder is wasting fast, notwithstanding the strictest care, economy, and attention are paid to it. The long series of wet weather which we have had renders the greater part of what has been served out to the men of no use. Yesterday I had a proof of it, as a part of the enemy, about 400 or 500, taking the advantage of a high tide, landed at Lechmere's Point; we were alarmed, and of course ordered every man to examine his cartouch-box, when the melancholy truth appeared; and we were obliged to furnish the greater part of them with fresh ammunition. "The damage done at the Point was the taking of a .man, who watched a few horses and cows; ten of the latter LIFE AND TIMES. 837 were carried off. Colonel Thompson marched down with his regiment of riflemen and was joined by Colonel Wood- bridge, with a part of his and a part of Patterson's regi ment, who gallantly waded through the water and soon obliged the enemy to embark under cover of a man-of-war, a floating battery, and the fire of a battery on Charlestown Neck. We have two of our men dangerously wounded by grapeshot from the man-of-war, and by a flag sent out this day we are informed the enemy lost two of their men." General Putnam, who was on duty during the whole siege of Boston, and who enjoyed in a high degree the confidence of Washington, was intrusted with the bold undertaking of fortifying Cobble Hill, afterward called Barrell's Farm. It is the beautiful eminence which forms the site of the McLean Hospital. Here Putnam, with a strong detachment of the army, broke ground on the night of the 22d of November (1775), without the least annoy ance from the enemy, whose works at Bunker Hill were very near. Next day General Heath followed with another detach ment to complete the works. The enemy were expected to sally out and attack the intrenching party, and Colonel Bond's regiment and the picket guard on Prospect Hill were ordered to support General Heath. But General Howe adhered to his policy of inaction till the works were completed. It was considered at the time to be the most perfect piece of fortification constructed by the Americans during the siege, and " on the day of its completion was named Putnam's Impregnable Fortress."* Washington, knowing the weakness and destitution of his army in comparison with that of the enemy, consid ered his position at this time as extremely critical. " Our situation," he writes, November 28 (1775), "is truly * Frothingham, " Siege of Boston." 838 WASHINGTON. alarming; and of this General Howe is well apprised, it being the common topic of conversation with the people who left Boston last Friday. No doubt when he is rein forced he will avail himself of the information." Washington thus describes the works in addition to those at Cobble Hill, which were erected in November: " I have caused two half-moon batteries to be thrown up for occasional use, between Lechmere's Point and the mouth of Cambridge river, and another work at the causey going to Lechmere's Point, to command that pass and rake the little rivulet that runs by it to Patterson's Fort. Besides these I have been and marked out three places between Sewall's Point and our lines on Roxbury Neck, for works to be thrown up, and occasionally manned, in case of a sortie when the bay gets froze." In December, 1775, notwithstanding the severe cold and a heavy fall of snow, Washington caused strong forti fications to be erected at Lechmere's Point. The enemy did not fire upon the intrenching party. Washington de clares (December I5th) that he was unable to account for their silence, unless it were to lull him into a fatal security to favor some attempt they might have in view for the last of the month. " If this be their drift," he writes, " they deceive themselves, for, if possible, it has increased my vigilance, and induced me to fortify all the avenues to our camp, to guard against any approaches on the ice." The expectation of an assault from the enemy was now general in the army, but the works at Lechmere's Point nevertheless went on. A causeway over the marsh lead ing to this point was completed on the i6th of December, and on the I7th General Putnam, with a detachment of 300 men, broke ground near the water side, within half a mile of a British man-of-war. A few shots from Cobble Hill drove one of the enemy's ships down the river below LIFE AND TIMES. 839 the ferry. General Heath, with a second detachment, going to complete the works begun by Putnam, was as sailed by a cannonade from the enemy's batteries, which lasted several days. Washington and his staff visited the spot during this time, and the work was persisted in until it was completed, when it was considered as commanding Boston, so that in the event of the bombardment of the town being deemed advisable, it could easily have been effected from this point. " It will be possible," wrote Colonel Moylan, " to bombard Boston from Lechmere's Point. Give us powder and au thority (for that, you know, we want, as well as the other). I say, give us these, and Boston can be set in flames."* On the nth of December, Mrs. Washington arrived at Cambridge, accompanied by her son, John Parke Custis, and his wife. She received a very hospitable welcome from the most distinguished families in Massachusetts. Her presence was, on this as well as on all similar subse quent occasions, hailed with enthusiasm by the army. Her present visit seems to have been induced by an ap prehension of danger from the exposed situation of Mount Vernon, accessible as it was to British ships of war. She had no fears on that head herself, and whatever may have prompted her visit to the camp, the practice was continued through the subsequent campaigns of the war. In the winter time she was thus enabled to enjoy the society of her illustrious husband, and to cheer him in the midst of his labors and cares. Whenever active operations were to commence in the spring, she would return to Mount Vernon. On the present occasion, she remained at head quarters till after the close of the siege. Early in December (1775) the Connecticut troops, availing themselves of the expiration of their term of en- * Frothingham, " Siege of Boston." 840 WASHINGTON. listment, left the army. They had demanded a bounty as a condition of re-enlistment, and when it was refused be came mutinous; "and deaf to the entreaties of their offi cers, and regardless of the contempt with which their own government threatened to treat them on their return, they had resolved to quit the lines on the 6th of December." At a convention, composed of a committee of the General Court of Massachusetts and officers of the army, it was decided to call in 3,000 of the Massachusetts minute-men, and 2,000 from New Hampshire, to man the lines, which would be fearfully -weakened by their defection. They were to arrive on the loth of December. The Connecticut men did not wait for the coming in of the militia, but went off, many of them as early as the ist of December. " Several got away," says Washington, " with their arms and ammunition." Their places however were speedily filled by the rein forcements from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, who promptly and cheerfully complied with the call for their services. By the i8th of December this arrangement was completed. We may vainly attempt to imagine the in tense anxiety Washington must have felt during the time which intervened between the departure of the old soldiers and the arrival of the fresh reinforcements. His lines, at many important points, were literally deserted. In writ ing to the President of Congress however, dm ing this very interval (December n [1775]), he refers to it, among other matters, as a thing of no very great consequence: " The information I received," he writes, " that the enemy intended spreading the smallpox amongst us, I could not suppose them capable of. I now must give some credit. to it, as it has made its appearance on several of those who last came out of Boston. Every necessary precau tion has been taken to prevent its being communicated LIFE AND TIMES. 841 to this army; and the General Court will take care that it does not spread through the country. " I have not heard that any more troops are arrived at Boston, which is a lucky circumstance, as the Connecticut troops, I now find, are for the most part gone off. The houses in Boston are lessening every day; they are pulled down, either for firewood or to prevent the effects of fire, should we attempt a bombardment or an attack upon the town. Cobble Hill is strongly fortified, without any in terruption from the enemy." The reinforcements of Massachusetts and New Hamp shire minute-men was only a temporary resource. The main thing which occupied the attention of Washington at this time was the obtaining of recruits for the Con tinental army. He was always of the opinion that little dependence could be placed upon militia in time of action, and this opinion was confirmed by many incidents of the war. He must therefore have been greatly chagrined and disappointed at the slow progress made in enlisting recruits for the continental service. The causes for this tardiness were sufficiently apparent. The period of patriotic enthusiasm had, in some measure, passed away; numbers of officers consented con ditionally to remain in the army, and many made no communication on the subject. Immediate decision was necessary; and in new orders, the Commander-in-Chief solemnly called upon them for a direct and unconditional answer to his inquiry. " The times," he observed, " and the importance of the great cause we are engaged in, allow no room for hesitation and delay. When life, liberty, and property are at stake; when our country is in danger of being a melancholy sense of bloodshed and desolation; when our towns are laid in ashes; innocent women and children driven from their peaceful habitations, exposed 843 WASHINGTON. to the rigors of an inclement season, to depend, perhaps, on the hand of charity for support; when calamities like these are staring us in the face, and a brutal enemy are threatening us, and everything we hold dear, with destruc tion from foreign troops, it little becomes the character of a soldier to shrink from danger, and condition for new terms. It is the General's intention to indulge both officers and soldiers who compose the new army, with furloughs for a reasonable time, but this must be done in such a manner as not to injure the service, or weaken the army too much at once." The troops were assured that clothes, on reasonable terms, were provided " for those brave soldiers who in tended to continue in the army another year." It was with great difficulty the arrangement of officers had been completed, so that recruiting orders might be issued. Recruiting officers were directed to " be careful not to enlist any persons suspected of being unfriendly to the liberties of America, or any abandoned vagabond, to whom all causes and countries are equal, and alike indifferent. The rights of mankind, and the freedom of America, would have numbers sufficient to support them without resorting to such wretched assistance. Let those who wish to put shackles upon freemen fill their ranks with, and place their confidence in, such miscreants." To aid the cause, popular songs were composed and circulated through the camp, calculated to inspire the soldiers with the love of country, and to induce them to engage anew in the public service. But unfortunately the army at this time was badly supplied with clothing, provisions, and fuel, and the consequent sufferings of the soldiers operating upon their strong desire to visit their homes prevented their enlistment in the expected numbers. On the last day of December (1775), when the first term LIFE AND TIMES. 843 of service expired, only 9,650 men had enlisted for the new army, and many of these were of necessity permitted to be absent on furlough. It was found impossible to retain the old troops a single day after their time expired. Washington, as we have seen, had called upon the govern ments of the neighboring provinces for detachments of militia to man his lines, and he had been highly gratified by the prompt compliance with his demand. In a letter to Congress he wrote: " The militia that are come in, both from this province and New Hampshire, are very fine- looking men, and go through their duty with great alacrity. The dispatch made, both by the people marching, and by the legislative powers in complying with my requisition, has given me infinite satisfaction." In the space of time between that of disbanding the old army and of an effective force from the new recruits, the lines were often in a defenseless state; General Howe must have known the fact, but he still adhered to his fixed policy of inaction till the return of spring should permit the removal of the theater of war to New York. Besides these motives of policy, and probably positive instructions from the ministry, as reasons for remaining quiet, Howe had probably retained a very vivid recollection of Gen eral Prescott's defense of the little redoubt on Bunker's Hill, and did not deem it worth while to assail works erected under the auspices of Prescott, Putnam, and Washington, extending from Charlesto-wn to Roxbury, some twelve miles. " It is not," says General Washington in his communi cations to Congress, " in the pages of history to furnish a case like ours. To maintain a post, within musket-shot of the enemy, for six months together, without ammunition, and at the same time, to disband one army and recruit another, within that distance of twenty odd British regi- 844 WASHINGTON. ments, is more probably than ever was attempted. But if we succeed as well in the last, as we have heretofore in the first, I shall think it the most fortunate event of my whole life." To defend the American lines with an incompetent num ber of troops, with defective arms, and without an adequate supply of ammunition; to disband one army and recruit another, in the face of 11,000 British soldiers, will be viewed as a hazardous measure, and will be sup posed, with the organization and discipline of the men, to have employed every active power of the General ; yet this did not satisfy his mind. He knew that Congress with solicitude contemplated more decisive measures, and that the country looked for events of greater magnitude. The public was ignorant of his actual situation, and conceived his means for offensive operations to be much greater than in reality they were; and from him expected the capture or expulsion of the British army in Boston. He felt the importance of securing the confidence of his countrymen by some brilliant action, and was fully sensi ble that his own reputation was liable to suffer, if he confined himself to measures of defense. To publish to his anxious country, in his vindication, the state of his army would be to acquaint the enemy with his weakness, and to involve his destruction. The firmness and patriotism of Washington were dis played in making the good of his country an object of higher consideration than the applause of those who were incapable of forming a correct opinion of the propriety of his measures. On this and many other occasions during the war, he withstood the voice of the populace, rejected the entreaties of the sanguine, and refused to adopt the plans of the rash, that he might ultimately secure the great object of contention. LIFE AND TIMES. 845 While he resolutely rejected every measure that in his calm and deliberate judgment he did not approve, he daily pondered over the practicability of a successful attack upon Boston. As a preparatory step, he had taken posses sion of Cobble Hill and Lechmere's Point, and upon them erected fortifications. These posts brought him within half a mile of the enemy's works on Bunker's Hill; and by his artillery, he drove the British floating batteries from their stations in Charles river. He erected floating batteries to watch the movements of his enemy, and to aid in any offensive operations that circumstances might warrant. He took the opinion of his general officers a second time respecting the meditated attack; they again unanimously gave their opinion in opposition to the measure, and this opinion was immediately communicated to Congress. Congress appeared still to favor the attempt, and that an apprehension of danger to the town of Boston might not have an undue influence upon the operations of the army had resolved, in December (1775), "That if General Washington and his council of war should be of opinion that a successful attack might be made on the troops in Boston, he should make it in any manner he might think expedient, notwithstanding the town and property therein might thereby be destroyed." The inability of Washington to accomplish the great object of the campaign repeatedly pointed out by Con gress was a source of extreme mortification; but he in dulged in the hope of success in some military operations during the winter that would correspond with the high expectations of his country. In his reply to the president of Congress, on the reception of the resolution author izing an attempt on the fortified posts in Boston, he observed : " The resolution relative to the troops in Boston, I beg the favor of you, sir, to assure Congress, 84:6 WASHINGTON. shall be attempted to be put in execution the first moment I see a probability of success, and in such a way as a council of officers shall think most likely to produce it; but if this should not happen as soon as you may expect, or my wishes prompt to, I request that Congress will be pleased to revert to my situation, and do me the justice to believe, that circumstances, and not want of inclina tion, are the cause of delay." Early in January (1776) he accordingly summoned a council of war, at which Mr. John Adams, then a member of Congress, and Mr. James Warren, president of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, were present; in which it was resolved : " That a vigorous attempt ought to be made on the ministerial troops in Boston before they can be reinforced in the spring, if the means can be pro vided, and a favorable opportunity shall offer." It was also advised: "That thirteen regiments of militia should be asked for from Massachusetts and the neighboring -Colonies, in order to put them in a condition to make the attempt the militia to assemble the ist of February, and to continue, if necessary, until the ist of March." The reinforcements thus obtained amounted to between four and five thousand men; but thus far the winter proved unusually mild, and the waters about Boston were not frozen. The General in his official communication to the National Legislature says: " Congress, in my last, would discover my motives for strengthening these lines with the militia; but whether, as the weather turns out exceedingly .mild, insomuch as to promise nothing favorable from ice, and there is no appearance of powder, I shall be able to attempt anything decisive, time only can determine. No person on earth wishes more earnestly to destroy the nest in Boston than I do; no person would be willing to go greater lengths than I shall to accomplish it, if it shall LIFE AND TIMES. 847 be thought advisable; but if we have neither powder to bombard with, nor ice to pass on, we shall be in no better situation than we have been in all the year. We shall be worse, because their works are stronger." While anxiously waiting to embrace any favorable op portunity that might present to annoy the enemy, Wash ington seriously meditated upon the importance of estab lishing a permanent army. His experience enabled him to anticipate the evils that must ensue at the expiration of the period for which the present troops were engaged, and he bent the whole force of his mind to induce Congress seasonably to adopt measures to prevent them. In a letter to the President of Congress, dated February 9 (1776), he entered thus fully into the subject: " The disadvantages attending the limited enlistment of troops are too apparent to those who are eye-witnesses of them, to render any animadversions necessary; but to gentlemen at a distance, whose attention is engrossed by a thousand important objects, the case may be otherwise. " That this cause precipitated the fate of the brave, and much to be lamented, General Montgomery, and brought on the defeat which followed thereupon, I have not the most distant doubt; for had he not been apprehensive of the troops leaving him at so important a crisis, but con tinued the blockade of Quebec, a capitulation (from the best accounts I have been able to collect) must inevitably have followed. And that we were not at one time obliged to dispute these lines, under disadvantageous circum stances (proceeding from the same cause, to wit, the troops disbanding themselves before the militia could be got in), is to me a matter of wonder and astonishment, and proves that General Howe was either unacquainted with our situation, or restrained by his instructions from 848 WASHINGTON. putting anything to a hazard till his reinforcements should arrive. " The instance of General Montgomery (I mention it because it is a striking one; for a number of others might be adduced) proves, that instead of having men to take advantage of circumstances, you are in a manner com pelled, right or wrong, to make circumstances yield to a secondary consideration. Since the ist of December (1775) I have been devising every means in my power to secure these encampments ;^and though I am sensible that we never have, since that period, been able to act upon the offensive, and at times not in a condition to defend, yet the cost of marching home one set of men, bringing in another, the havoc and waste occasioned by the first, the repairs necessary for the second, with a thousand in cidental charges and inconveniences which have arisen, and which it is scarce possible to recollect or describe, amount to near as much as the keeping up a respectable body of troops the whole time, ready for any emergency, would have done. To this may be added that you never can have a well-disciplined army. " To bring men well acquainted with the duties of a soldier requires time. To bring them under proper disci pline and subordination not only requires time, but is a work of great difficulty; and in this army, where there is so little distinction between the officers and soldiers, re quires an uncommon degree of attention. To expect then the same service from raw and undisciplined recruits as from veteran soldiers is to expect what never did, and perhaps never will, happen. Men who are familiarized to danger meet it without shrinking; whereas those who have never seen service often apprehend danger where no danger is. Three things prompt men to a regular dis charge of their duty in time of action natural bravery, LIFE AND TIMES. 849 hope of reward, and -fear of punishment. The two first are common to the untutored and the disciplined soldier, but the latter most obviously distinguishes the one from the other. A coward, when taught to believe that if he breaks his ranks and abandons his colors he will be pun ished with death by his own party, will take his chance against the enemy; but a man who thinks little of the one, and is fearful of the other, acts from present feelings, re gardless of consequences. "Again, men of a day's standing will not look forward; and from experience, we find that as the time approaches for their discharge, they grow careless of their arms, am munition, camp utensils, etc. Nay, even the barracks themselves lay us under additional expense in providing for every fresh set, when we find it next to impossible to procure such articles as are absolutely necessary in the first instance. To this may be added the seasoning which new recruits must have to a camp and the loss conse quent thereupon. But this is not all; men engage for a short, limited time only, have the officers too much in their power; for to obtain a degree of popularity, in order to induce a second enlistment, a kind of familiarity takes place, which brings on a relaxation of discipline, unlicensed furloughs, and other indulgences, incompatible with order and good government; by which means the latter part of the time for which the soldier was engaged is spent in undoing what you were laboring to inculcate in the first. "To go into an enumeration of all the evils we have experienced in this late great change of the army, and the expenses incidental to it to say nothing of the hazard we have run, and must run, between the discharging of one army and the enlistment of another, unless an enor mous expense of militia be incurred would greatly ex- 54 850 WASHINGTON. ceed the bounds of a letter. What I have already taken the liberty of saying will serve to convey a general idea of the matter; and therefore I shall, with all due reference, take the liberty to give it as my opinion, that if the Con gress have any reason to believe that there will be occasion for troops another year, and consequently of another en listment, they would save money and have infinitely better troops, if they were, even at a bounty of twenty, thirty, or more dollars, to engage the men already enlisted till January next (1777), and such others as may be wanted to complete the establishment, for and during the war. I will not undertake to say that the men can be had upon these terms; but I am satisfied that it will never do to let the matter alone, as it was last year, till the time of service was near expiring. The hazard is too great in the first place; in the next, the trouble and perplexity of dis banding one army, and raising another at the same in stant, and in such a critical situation as the last was, is scarcely in the power of words to describe, and such as no man who has experienced it once will ever undergo again." Unhappily, the reasons which first induced Congress to adopt the plan of short enlistments still had influence on that body, and on many of the general officers of the army; nor were they convinced of their error but by the most distressing experience. The ice now became suffi ciently strong for General Washington to march his forces upon it to Boston; and he was himself inclined to risk a general assault upon the British posts, although he had not power to make any extensive use of his artillery; but his general officers in council voted against the attempt, with whose decision he reluctantly acquiesced. In his communication of their opinion to Congress, he observed : " Perhaps the irksomeness of my situation may have given LIFE AND TIMES. 851 different ideas to me, from those which influence the judgment of the gentlemen whom I consulted, and might have inclined me to put more hazard than was consistent with prudence. If it had this effect I am not sensible of it, as I endeavored to give the subject all the consideration a matter of such importance required. True it is, and I cannot help acknowledging, that I have many disagree able sensations on account of my situation; for to have the eyes of the whole continent fixed on me, with anxious expectation of hearing of some great event, and to be re strained in every military operation for the want of the necessary means to carry it on, is not very pleasing, especially as the means used to conceal my weakness from the enemy conceal it also from my friends, and add to their wonder." Late in February (1776) the stock of powder was con siderably increased, and the regular army amounted to 14,000 men, which was reinforced by 6,000 of the Massa chusetts militia. Colonel Knox had volunteered to trans port the cannon which had been taken by Allen and Arnold at Ticonderoga to Boston, and with incredible difficulty had at last accomplished his object; so that Washington now found himself comparatively well sup plied with heavy ordnance. The part of the harbor of Boston contiguous to Cam bridge and Roxbury was frozen, which greatly facilitated the passage; and for crossing the water that remained up to the walls of Boston, a great number of boats had been provided. In addition to this, two floating batteries were stationed at the mouth of the river of Cambridge. It was known that the garrison suffered severely for the want of provisions, and that it was greatly enfeebled by fatigues and maladies. Washington had, besides, the greatest confidence in the valor and constancy of his sol- 852 WASHINGTON. diers. He accordingly assembled all the generals, and proposed to them his plan of attack. Ward and Gates opposed it, alleging that without incurring so great a risk the enemy might be forced to evacuate Boston by occupying the heights of Dorchester, which command the entire city. Washington did not conceal his dissatisfac tion at this opposition, but he was constrained to acquiesce in the opinion of the majority. It was resolved therefore to take the position of the heights. At the suggestion of Generals Ward, Thomas, and- Spencer, a great quantity of fascines and gabions had been prepared for this expe dition. The Americans, says Botta,* in order to occupy the attention of the enemy in another part, erected strong batteries upon the shore at Cobb's Hill, at Lechmere's Point, at Phipp's Farm, and at Lamb's Dam, near Rox- bury. They opened a terrible fire in the night of the 2d of March (1776); the bombs, at every instant, fell into the city. The garrison was incessantly employed in ex tinguishing the flames of the houses in combustion, and in all the different services that are necessary in such circumstances. During this time, the Americans prepared themselves with ardor, or rather with joy, to take posses sion of the heights. Companies of militia arrived from all parts to reinforce the army. The night of the 4th of March (1776) was selected for the expedition; the chiefs hoped that the recollection of the events of the 5th of March (1770), when the first blood had been shed in Bos ton by the English, would inflame with new ardor, and a thirst of vengeance, those spirits already so resolute in their cause. Accordingly in the evening of the 4th, all the arrange ments being made, the Americans proceeded in profound * Botta, " History of the War of Independence," vol. II, p. 36. LIFE AND TIMES. 853 silence toward the peninsula of Dorchester. The obscurity of the night was propitious, and the wind favorable, since it could not bear to the enemy the little noise which it was impossible to avoid. The frost had rendered the roads easy. The batteries of Phipp's Farm, and those of Rox- bury, incessantly fulminated with a stupendous roar. Eight hundred men composed the van guard; it was followed by carriages filled with utensils of intrenchment, and 1,200 pioneers led by General Thomas. In the rear guard were 300 carts of fascines, of gabions, and bundles of hay, destined to cover the flank of the troops in the passage of the isthmus of Dorchester, which being very low, was exposed to be raked on both sides by the artillery of the English vessels. All succeeded perfectly; the Americans arrived upon the heights, not only without being molested, but even with out being perceived by the enemy. They set themselves to work with an activity so prodi gious, that by 10 o'clock at night, they had already con structed two forts, in condition to shelter them from small- arms and grape-shot; one upon the height nearest to the city, and the other upon that which looks toward Castle Island. The day appeared; but it prevented not the provincials from continuing their works, without any movement being made on the part of the garrison. At length, when the haze of the morning was entirely dissi pated, the English discovered with extreme surprise the new fortifications of the Americans. The English admiral having examined them declared that if the enemy was not dislodged from this position, his vessels could no longer remain in the harbor without the most imminent hazard of total destruction. The city itself was exposed to be demolished to its foundations at the pleasure of the provincials. The communication 854 WASHINGTON. also between the troops that guarded the isthmus of Boston, and those within the town-, became extremely difficult and dangerous. The artillery of the Americans battered the strand, whence the English would have to embark in case of retreat. There was no other choice therefore left them, but either to drive the colonists from this station by dint of force, or to evacuate the city alto gether. General Howe decided for the attack and made his dis positions accordingly. Washington on his part, having perceived the design, prepared himself to repel it. The intrenchments were perfected with diligence; the militia were assembled from the neighboring towns, and signals were concerted to be given upon all the eminences which form a sort of cincture about all the shore of Boston, from Roxbury to Mystic river, in order to transmit intelligence and orders with rapidity from one point to the other. Washington exhorted his soldiers to bear in mind the 5th of March (1770). Nor did he restrict himself to defensive measures; he thought also of the means of falling himself upon the enemy, if during or after the battle any favorable occasion should present itself. If the besieged, as he hoped, should experience a total defeat in the assault of Dorchester, his intention was to embark from Cam bridge 4,000 chosen men, who rapidly crossing the arm of the sea should take advantage of the tumult and con fusion, to attempt the assault of the town. General Sulli van commanded the first division; General Greene, the second. An attack was expected like that of Charlestown, and a battle like that of Breed's Hill. General Howe ordered ladders to be prepared to scale the works of the Americans. He directed Lord Percy to embark at the head of a considerable corps, and to land upon the flats near the point opposite Castle Island. The Americans, excited by the remembrance of the anniversary, and of LIFE AND TIMES. 855 the battle of Breed's Hill, and by the continual exhortations of their chiefs, expected them, not only without fear, but with alacrity; but the tide ebbed, and the wind blew with such violence, that the passage over became impossible. General Howe was compelled to defer the attack to early the following morning. A tempest arose during the night, and when the day dawned, the sea was still excessively agitated. A violent rain came to increase the obstacles; the English general kept himself quiet. But the Americans made profit of this delay; they erected a third redoubt and completed the other works. Colonel Mifflin had prepared a great number of hogsheads, full of stones and sand, in order to roll them upon the enemy, when he should march up to the assault, to break his ranks and throw him into confusion, which might smocth the way to his defeat. Having diligently surveyed all these dispositions, the English persuaded themselves that the contemplated en terprise offered difficulties almost insurmountable. They reflected that a repulse, or even a victory so sanguinary as that of Breed's Hill, would expose to a jeopardy too serious the English interests in America. Even in the case of success, it was to be considered that the garrison was not sufficiently numerous, to be able, without hazard, to keep possession of the peninsula of Dorchester, having already to guard not only the city, but the peninsula of Charlestown. The battle was rather necessary, and vic tory desirable, to save the reputation of the royal arms, than to decide the total event of things upon three shores. The advantages therefore could not compensate the dan gers. Besides, the port of Boston was far from being perfectly accommodated to the future operations of the army that was expected from England; and General Howe himself had, some length of time before, received instruc tions from Lord Dartmouth, one of the Secretaries of 856 WASHINGTON. State, to evacuate the city and to establish himself at New York. The want of a sufficient number of vessels had hitherto prevented him from executing this order. Upon all these considerations the English generals determined to aban don Boston to the power of the provincials. This retreat however presented great difficulties. One hundred and fifty transports, great and small, appeared scarcely adequate to the accommodation of 10,000 men, the number to which the crews and the garrison amounted, without comprehending such of the inhabitants, as having shown themselves favorable to the royal cause, could not with safety remain. The passage was long and difficult; for with these emaciated and enfeebled troops, it could not be attempted to operate any descent upon the coasts. It was even believed to be scarcely possible to effect a landing at New York, although the city was absolutely without defense on the part of the sea. The surest course appeared to be to gain the port of Halifax; but besides the want of provisions, which was excessive, the season was very unfavorable for this voyage, at all times dan gerous. The winds that prevailed then blew violently from the northeast, and might drive the fleet off to the West Indies, and the vessels were by no means stocked with provisions for such a voyage. Besides, the territory of Halifax was a sterile country, from which no resource could be ex pected, and no provision could have been previously made there, since the evacuation of Boston and retreat to Hali fax were events not anticipated. Nor could the soldiers perceive without discouragement that the necessity of things impelled them toward the north, apprised, as they were, that the future operations of the English army were to take place in the provinces of the center, and even in LIFE AND TIMES. 857 those of the south. But their generals had no longer the liberty of choice. The Americans however being able by the fire of their artillery to interpose the greatest obstacles to the embarkation of the British troops, General Howe deliberated upon the means of obviating this inconveni ence. Having assembled the selectmen of Boston, he de clared to them that the city being no longer of any use to the King, he was resolved to abandon it, provided that Washington would not oppose his departure. He pointed to the combustible materials he had caused to be prepared to set fire, in an instant, to the city, if the provincials should molest him in any shape. He invited them to reflect upon all the dangers which might result, for them and their habitations, from a battle fought within the walls; and he assured them that his personal intention was to withdraw peaceably, if the Americans were disposed, on their part, to act in the same manner. He exhorted them therefore to repair to the presence of Washington, and to inform him of what they had now heard. The selectmen waited upon the American general, and made him an affecting representation of the situation of the city. It appears, from what followed, that he con sented to the conditions demanded; but the articles of the truce were not written. It has been pretended that one of them was that the besieged should leave their muni tions of war; this however cannot be affirmed with assur ance. The munitions were indeed left; but it is not known whether it was by convention, or from necessity. The Americans remained quiet spectators of the retreat of the English. But the city presented a melancholy spectacle; notwithstanding the orders of General Howe, all was havoc and confusion. Fifteen hundred loyalists, with their families and their most valuable effects, hastened with, infinite dejection of mind, to abandon a residence which 858 WASHINGTON. had been so dear to them, and where they had so long enjoyed felicity. The fathers carrying burdens, the mothers their children, ran weeping toward the ships; the last salutations, the farewell embraces of those who departed, and of those who remained, the sick, the wounded, the aged infants, would have moved with compassion the witnesses of their distress, if the care of their own safety had not absorbed the attention of all. The carts and beasts of burden were become the occa sion of sharp disputes between the inhabitants who had retained them, and the soldiers who wished to employ them. The disorder was also increased by the animosity that prevailed between the soldiers of the garrison and those of the fleet; they reproached each other mutually, as the authors of their common misfortune. With one accord however they complained of the coldness and in gratitude of their country, which seemed to have aban doned, or rather to have forgotten, them upon these dis tant shores, a prey to so much misery, and to so many dangers. For since the month of October (1775) General Howe had not received from England any order or intelli gence whatever, which testified that the government still existed and had not lost sight of the army in Boston. Meanwhile a desperate band of soldiers and sailors took advantage of the confusion to force doors and pillage the houses and shops. They destroyed what they could not carry away. The entire city was devoted to devastation, and it was feared every moment the flames would break out to consummate its destruction. The 1 5th of March (1776) General Howe issued a proc lamation forbidding every inhabitant to go out of his house before n o'clock in the morning, in order not to disturb the embarkation of the troops, which was to have taken place on this day. But an east wind prevented LIFE AND TIMES. 859 their departure; and to pass the time, they returned to pillaging. In the meanwhile, the Americans had con structed a redoubt upon the point of Nook's Hill, in the peninsula of Dorchester, and having furnished it with artillery, they entirely commanded the isthmus of Boston and all the southern part of the town. It was even to be feared that they would occupy Noddle's Island, and estab lish batteries, which sweeping the surface of the water across the harbor would have entirely interdicted the pas sage to the ships and reduced the garrison to the necessity of yielding at discretion. All delay became dangerous; consequently the British troops and the loyalists began to embark the I7th of March (1776) at I in the morning; at 10, all were on board. The vessels were overladen with men and baggage; provisions were scanty, confusion was everywhere. The rear guard was scarcely out of the city when Washington entered it on the other side, with colors displayed, drums beating, and all the forms of vic tory and triumph. He was received by the inhabitants with every demonstration of gratitude and respect due to a deliverer. Their joy broke forth with the more vivacity, as their sufferings had been long and cruel. For more than sixteen months they had endured hunger, thirst, cold, and the outrages of an insolent soldiery, who deemed them rebels. The most necessary articles of food were risen to exorbitant prices. Horse flesh was not refused by those who could procure it. For want of fuel, the pews and benches of churches were taken for this purpose; the counters and partitions of warehouses were applied to the same use; and even houses not inhabited were demolished for the sake of the wood. The English left a great quantity of artillery and munitions. Two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, of different caliber, were found in Boston, in Castle Island, 860 WASHINGTON. and in the intrenchments of Bunker's Hill, and the Neck. The English had attempted, but with little success in their haste, to destroy, or to spike these last pieces; others had been thrown into the sea, but they were recovered. There were found, besides, four mortars, a considerable quantity of coal, of wheat, and of other grains, and 150 horses. The embarkation of the British was attended with many circumstances of distress and embarrassment. On the departure of the royal army from Boston, a great number of the inhabitants, attached to their sovereign, and afraid of public resentment, chose to abandon their country. From the great multitude to depart, there was no possi bility of procuring purchasers for their furniture, neither was there a sufficiency of vessels for its convenient trans portation. Mutual jealousy subsisted between the army and navy; each charging the other as the cause of some part of their common distress. The army was full of dis content. Reinforcements, though long promised, had not arrived. Both officers and soldiers thought themselves neglected. Five months had elapsed since they had re ceived any advice of their destination. Wants and incon veniences increased their ill-humor. Their intended voy age to Halifax subjected them to great dangers. The coast, at all times hazardous, was eminently so at that tempestuous equinoctial season. They had reason to fear they would be blown off to. the West Indies and without a sufficient stock of provisions. They were also going to a barren country. To add to their difficulties, this dan gerous voyage when completed was directly so much out of their way. Their business lay to the southward and they were going northward. Under all these difficulties, and with all these gloomy prospects, the fleet steered for Halifax. LIFE AND TIMES. 861 Contrary to appearances, the voyage thither was both short and prosperous. They remained there for some time waiting for reinforcements and instructions from England. When the royal fleet and army departed from Boston, several ships were left behind for the protection of vessels coming from England, but the American privateers were so alert that they nevertheless made many prizes. Some of the vessels which they captured were laden with arms and warlike stores. Some transports with troops on board were also taken. These had run into the harbor, not knowing that the place was evacuated. On taking possession of Boston, Washington found the town in a much better condition than he had anticipated. Some of the meaner wooden buildings had been pulled down in order that the materials might be used for fuel. The Old South Church, greatly reverenced by the in habitants and used for public celebrations as well as for worship, had been converted into a stable for cavalry horses. Some other public buildings had suffered damage; but the houses of the rich had been respected, the fur niture and pictures remained in their old places, and scarcely any wanton mischief had been done by the soldiers. The expulsion of the British from Boston was justly regarded as an event of the utmost importance to the cause of freedom. By relieving New England from the immediate presence of the enemy, it enabled the people of that portion of the country to contribute liberally in men and money to the support of the war in the middle and southern Colonies. It gave Washington the opportunity of meeting the British at the point. chosen by them for attack; and it inspirited the patriotic in every part of the country. The promptness with which it had been effected, when the proper time for action arrived, was felt to be 862 WASHINGTON. due to the able generalship of Washington; and all were eager to congratulate and honor him. The Massachusetts Council and House of Representatives complimented him in a joint address, in which they expressed their good wishes in the following words: " May you still go on approved by heaven revered by all good men, and dreaded by those tyrants, who claim their fellow-men as their property." The following is his reply: " GENTLEMEN. I return you my most sincere and hearty thanks for your polite address, and feel myself called upon by every principle of gratitude to acknowledge the honor you have done me in this testimonial of your approbation of my appointment to the exalted station i now fill, and what is more pleasing, of my conduct in dis charging its important duties. " When the councils of the British nation had formed a plan for enslaving America and depriving her sons of the most sacred and invaluable privileges against the clearest remonstrances of the Constitution, of justice, and of truth, and to execute their schemes, had appealed to the sword, I esteemed it my duty to take a part in the con test, and more especially on account of my being called thereto by the unsolicited suffrages of the representatives of a free people, wishing for no other reward than that arising from a conscientious discharge of the important trust, and that my services might contribute to the estab lishment of freedom and peace upon a permanent founda tion, and merit the applause of my countrymen and every virtuous citizen. " Your acknowledgment of my attention to the civil Constitution of this Colony, whilst acting in the line of my department, also demands my grateful thanks. A re- LIFE AND TIMES. 863 gard to every provincial institution, where not incompati ble with the common interest, I hold a principle of duty and of policy, and it shall ever form a part of my conduct. Had I not learned this before, the happy experience of the advantages resulting from a friendly intercourse with your honorable body, their ready and willing concurrence to aid and to counsel, whenever called upon in cases of difficulty and emergency, would have taught me the use ful lesson. " That the metropolis of your Colony is now relieved from the cruel and oppressive invasions of those who were sent to erect the standard of lawless domination and to trample on the rights of humanity, and is again open and free for its rightful possessors, must give pleasure to every virtuous and sympathetic heart; and its being ef fected without blood of our soldiers and fellow-citizens must be ascribed to the interposition of that Providence, which has manifestly appeared in our behalf through the whole of this important struggle, as well as to the measures pursued for bringing about the happy event. " May that Being, who is powerful to save, and in whose hands is the fate of nations, look down with an eye of tender pity and compassion upon the while of the united Colonies; may he continue to smile upon their counsels and arms, and crown them with success, whilst employed in the cause of virtue and mankind. May this distressed Colony and its capital, and every part of this wide-ex tended continent, through his Divine favor, be restored to more than former luster and once happy state, and have peace, liberty, and safety secured upon a solid, permanent, and lasting foundation." Congress unanimously passed a vote of thanks to Wash ington, appointed a special committee to communicate it to him by letter, prepared by them and signed by the 864 WASHINGTON. president, and ordered a gold medal to be struck com memorative of the occasion and in honor of him. The committee of Congress appointed to prepare the letter of thanks, and a device for the medal, were John Adams, John Jay, and Stephen Hopkins. Mr. Adams describes the circumstances that led to the appointment of this committee in a private letter to Washington. " I congratulate you," he writes, " as well as all the friends of mankind, on 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 my self the honor 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 senti ments concerning a proper one. I have the honor to be, with very great respect, sir, your most obedient and affec tionate servant." The official letter from the Congress was in these words : " To General Washington. " PHILADELPHIA, April 2, 1776. " SIR. It gives me the most sensible pleasure to con vey 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 dis interested 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 pe culiar greatness of mind induced you to decline any com pensation for serving them, except the pleasure of pro moting their happiness, they may, without your permis- LIFE AND TIMES. 865 sion, 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 em ployed 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 de clared 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 honor to be, with every sentiment of es teem, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, " JOHN HANCOCK, President." Washington's reply was as follows: " To the President of Congress, " NEW YORK, April 18, 1776. " SIR. Permit me, through you, to convey to the honorable Congress the sentiments of gratitude I feel for the high honor they have done me in the public mark of 55 866 WASHINGTON. approbation contained in your favor of the 2d inst, which came to hand last night. I beg you to assure them that it will ever be my highest ambition to approve myself a faithful servant of the public; and that to be in any degree instrumental in procuring to my American brethren a restitution of their just rights and privileges will con stitute my chief happiness. "Agreeably to your request, I have communicated in general orders, to the officers and soldiers under my com mand, the thanks of Congress for their good behavior in the service; and I am happy in having such an opportunity of doing justice to their merit. They were indeed at first ' a band of undisciplined husbandmen; ' but it is, under God, to their bravery and attention to their duty that I am in debted for that success, which has procured me the only reward I wish to receive, the affection and esteem of my countrymen. The medal intended to be presented to me by your honorable body, I shall carefully preserve as a memorial of their regard. I beg leave to return you, sir, my warmest thanks for the polite manner in which you have been pleased to express their sentiments of my con duct; and am, with sincere esteem and respect, sir, your and their most obedient and most humble servant." It was generally understood when Howe took his de parture from Boston, that his immediate destination was Halifax. But Washington suspected that his real design was to go at once to New York. He therefore called for 2,000 militia from Connecticut, and 1,000 from New Jersey, to aid the force already stationed there in defending the city from the expected attack. On the i8th of March, he sent off an additional force of near 6,000, under General Heath, with the same object; and soon after the whole army followed them, except five regiments left under the command of General Ward for the defense of Boston. LIFE AND TIMES. 867 General Lee who had previously been in command at New York, and had acted with great decision and efficiency in checking Governor Tryon and the tories, and bringing the force stationed there into a state of discipline, had been appointed by Congress to take charge of the southern department, in order to oppose the attempts of General Clinton in that quarter. To supply his place, General Putnam was appointed to the command of the greatly augmented force now concentrated in New York. Washington meantime remained in Boston waiting for the actual departure of the British fleet, which had lingered ten days in Nantasket Road before sailing for Halifax. When satisfied that they had left the coast, he departed for New York, where he arrived on the I3th of April.* * Extracts from Washington's Official Reports of the Expulsion of the British from Boston. The following extracts from the official letters of Washington to John Hancock, president of Congress, serve to explain the motives of many of his movements directed to the expulsion of the British army from Boston, and afford not only the best com mentary on the history narrated in the text, but a lively description of one of the most important and thrilling events of the war. The following extract is from a letter, dated February 26, 1776:* " We are making every necessary preparation for taking posses sion of Dorchester Heights as soon as possible, with a view of drawing the enemy out. How far our expectations may be an swered, time only can determine; but I should think, if anything will induce them to hazard an engagement, it will be our attempt ing to fortify these heights; as, on that event's taking place, we shall be able to command a great part of the town and almost the whole harbor, and to make them rather disagreeable than other wise, provided we can get a sufficient supply of what we greatly want. " Within these three or four days I have received sundry accounts * "Official Letters to the Honorable Congress, written during the war between the united Colonies and Great Britain, by his excellency, George Washington, Com- mander-in-Chief of the Continental forces, now President of the United States. Copied by special permission from the original papers preserved ia the office of the Secretary of State, Philadelphia. London, 1795." 868 WASHINGTON. from Boston of such movements there (such as taking the mortars from Bunker's Hill; the putting them, with several pieces of heavy ordnance, on board of ship, with a quantity of bedding; the ships all taking in water; the baking a large quantity of biscuit, etc.) as to indicate an embarkation of the troops from thence. A Mr. Ides, who came out yesterday, says that the inhabitants of the town generally believe that they are about to remove either to New York or Virginia, and that every vessel in the harbor, on Tuesday last, was taken up for government's service, and two months' pay ad vanced them. Whether they really intend to embark, or whether the whole is a feint, is impossible for me to tell. However I have thought it expedient to send an express to General Lee, to inform him of it (in order that he may not be taken by surprise, if their destination should be against New York), and continued him on to you. If they do embark, I think the possessing themselves of that place and of the North river is the object they have in view, thereby securing the communication with Canada, and rendering the intercourse between the northern and southern united Colonies exceedingly precarious and difficult. To prevent them from effect ing their plan is a matter of the highest importance, and will re quire a large and respectable army and the most vigilant and judicious exertions. " I shall be as attentive to the enemy's motions as I can and obtain all the intelligence in my power; and, if I find them embark, shall, in the most expeditious manner, detach a part of the light troops to New York, and repair thither myself if circumstances shall require it. I shall be better able to judge what to do when the matter happens. At present I can only say that I will do everything that shall appear proper and necessary." In the next letter to Hancock, March 7, 1776, he says: " On the 26th ultimo I had the honor of addressing you and then mentioned that we were making preparations for taking pos session of Dorchester Heights. I now beg leave to inform you that a council of general officers having determined a previous bombardment and cannonade expedient and proper, in order to harass the enemy and divert their attention from that quarter, on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights last, we carried them on from our posts at Cobble Hill, Lechmere's Point, and Lamb's Dam. Whether they did the enemy any considerable, and what, injury, I have not yet heard, but have the pleasure to acquaint you LIFE AND TIMES. 869 that they greatly facilitated our schemes, and would have been at tended with success equal to our most sanguine expectations had it not been for the unlucky bursting of two thirteen and three ten- inch mortars, among which was the brass one taken in the ord nance brig. To what cause to attribute this misfortune I know not; whether to any defect in them, or to the inexperience of the bombardiers. " But to return; on Monday evening, as soon as our firing com menced, a considerable detachment of our men, under the command of Brigadier-General Thomas, crossed the neck and took posses sion of the two hills without the least interruption or annoyance from the enemy; and by their great activity and industry, before the morning, advanced the works so far as to be secure against their shot. They are now going on with such expedition that in a little time I hope they will be complete and enable our troops stationed there to make a vigorous and obstinate stand. During the whole cannonade, which was incessant the two last nights, we were fortunate enough to lose but two men; one, a lieutenant, by a cannon-ball taking off his thigh; the other, a private, by the explosion of a shell, which also slightly wounded four or five more. " Our taking possession of Dorchester Heights is only prepara tory to taking post on Nook's Hill and the points opposite to the south end of Boston. It was absolutely necessary that they should be previously fortified in order to cover and command them. As soon as the works on the former are finished, measures will be immediately adopted for securing the latter and making them as strong and defensible as we can. Their contiguity to the enemy will make them of much importance and of great service to us. As mortars are essential and indispensably necessary for carrying on our operations and for the prosecution of our plans, I have applied to two furnaces to have some thirteen-inch ones cast with all expedition imaginable, and am encouraged to hope, from the accounts I have had, that they will be able to do it. When they are done and a proper supply of powder obtained, I flatter myself, from the posts we have just taken and are about to take, that it will be in our power to force the ministerial troops to an attack, or to dispose of them in some way that will be of advantage to us. I think from these posts they will be so galled and annoyed that they must either give us battle or quit their present possessions. 870 WASHINGTON. I am resolved that nothing on my part shall be wanting to effect the one or the other. " It having been the general opinion that the enemy would at tempt to dislodge our people from the heights and force their works as soon as they were discovered, which probably might have brought on a general engagement, it was thought advisable that the honorable council should be applied to to order in the militia from the neighboring and adjacent towns. I wrote to them on the subject, which they most readily complied with; and, in justice to the militia, I cannot but inform you that they came in at the ap pointed time and manifested the greatest alerness and determined resolution to act like men engaged in the cause of freedom. " When the enemy first discovered our works in the morning, they seemed to be in great confusion and, from their movements, to intend an attack. It is much to be wished that it had been made. The event, I think, must have been fortunate, and nothing less than success and victory on our side, as our officers and men appeared impatient for the appeal and to possess the most ani mated sentiments and determined resolution. On Tuesday evening a considerable number of their troops embarked on board of their transports and fell down to the castle, where part of them landed before dark. One or two of the vessels got aground and were fired at by our people with a field piece, but without any damage. What was the design of this embarkation and landing, I have not been able to learn. It would seem as if they meant an attack; for it is most probable that, if they make one on our works at Dor chester at this time, they will first go to the castle and come from thence. If such was their design, a violent storm that night, which lasted till 8 o'clock the next day, rendered the execution of it im practicable. It carried one or two of their vessels ashore, which they have since got off. " In case the ministerial troops had made an attempt to dislodge our men from Dorchester Heights, and the number detached upon the occasion had been so great as to have afforded a probability of a successful attack being made upon Boston, on a signal given from Roxbury for that purpose, agreeably to a settled and con certed plan, 4,000 chosen men, who were held in readiness, were to have embarked at the mouth of Cambridge river in two divis ions, the first under the command of Brigadier-General Sullivan, the second under Brigadier-General Greene the whole to have LIFE AND TIMES. 871 been commanded by Major-General Putnam. The first division was to land at the powder-house and gain possession of Beacon Hill and Mount Horam; the second, at Barton's Point, or a little south of it, and, after securing that post, to join the other division and force the enemy's gates and works at the Neck, for letting in the Roxbury troops. Three floating batteries were to have pre ceded and gone in front of the other boats and kept up a heavy fire on that part of the town where our men were to land. " How far our views would have succeeded had an opportunity offered for attempting the execution, it is impossible for me to say. Nothing less than an experiment could determine with precision. The plan was thought to be well digested; and, as far as I could judge from the cheerfulness and alacrity which distinguished the officers and men who were to engage in the enterprise, I had reason to hope for a favorable and happy issue." On the next day but one (March pth), Washington's narrative to President Hancock proceeds as follows: " Yesterday evening, a Captain Irvine, who escaped from Boston the night before with six of his crew, came to headquarters and gave the following intelligence: ' That our bombardment and can nonade caused a great deal of surprise and alarm in town; that the cannon shot for the greatest part went through the houses; that early on Tuesday morning, Admiral Shuldham, discovering the works our people were throwing up on Dorchester Heights, imme diately sent an express to General Howe, to inform him that it was necessary they should be attacked and dislodged from thence, or he would be under the necessity of withdrawing the ships from the harbor, which were under his command; and, from 12 to 2 o'clock, about 3,000 men embarked on board the transports, which fell down to the castle, with a design of landing on that part of Dorchester next to it and attacking our works on the Heights at 5 o'clock next morning; that Lord Percy was appointed to com mand; that it was generally believed the attempt would be made had it not been for the violent storm which happened that night/ " He further informs, ' that the army is preparing to leave Bos ton, and that they will do it in a day or two.' "The account given by Captain Irvine as to the embarkation and their being about to leave the town, I believe true. There are other circumstances corroborating, and it seems fully confirmed by a paper signed by four of the selectmen of the town (a copy of WASHINGTON. which I have the honor to inclose to you), which was brought out yesterday evening by a flag, and delivered to Colonel Learned by Major Bassett, of the Tenth Regiment, who desired it might be delivered to me as soon as possible. I advised with such of the general officers upon the occasion as I could immediately assem ble; and we determined it right (as it was not addressed to me, nor to any one else, nor authenticated by the signature of General Howe, or any other act obliging him to a performance of the prom ise mentioned on his part) that I should give it no answer; at the same time that a letter should be returned, as going from Colonel Learned, signifying his having laid it before me, with the reasons assigned for not answering it. A- copy of this is sent. " To-night I shall have a battery thrown up on Nook's Hill, Dorchester Point, with a design of acting as circumstances may require, it being judged advisable to prosecute our plans of forti fication as we intended before this information from the selectmen came. It being agreed on all hands that there is no possibility of stopping them in case they determine to go, I shall order look outs to be kept upon all the headlands to discover their movements and course, and moreover direct Commodore Manly and his little squadron to dog them, as well for the same purpose as for pick ing up any of their vessels that may chance to depart from their convoy. From their loading with such precipitancy, it is presum able they will not be in the best condition for sea. " If the ministerial troops evacuate the town and leave it stand ing, I have thoughts of taking measures for fortifying the entrance into the harbor, if it shall be thought proper, and the situation of affairs will admit of it. Notwithstanding the report from Boston that Halifax is the place of their destination, I have no doubt but that they are going to the southward, and, I apprehend, to New York. Many reasons lead to this opinion. It is in some measure corroborated by their sending an express ship there, which, on Wednesday week, got on shore and bilged at Cape Cod. The dis patches, if written, were destroyed when she was boarded. She had a parcel of coal and about 4,000 cannon shot, six carriage guns, a swivel or two, and three barrels of powder. " I shall hold the riflemen and other parts of our troops in readi ness to march at a moment's warning, and govern my movements by the events that happen, or such orders as I may receive from LIFE AND TIMES. 873 Congress, which I beg may be ample and forwarded with all pos sible expedition/' Ten days after this letter (March 19, 1776), he announces to Hancock the closing of this grand drama of the siege of Boston. His narrative of the intervening events is more clear and vivid than that of any of the historians of the time: " It is with the greatest pleasure," he says, " I inform you that, on Sunday last, the I7th inst., about 9 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 Honorable 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 mention ing.* Your furniture is in tolerable order, and the family pictures are all left entire and untouched. Captain Cazneau 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 smallpox), under command of General Putnam, to take possession of the Heights, which I shall endeavor to fortify in such a manner as to prevent their return, should they attempt it. But as they are still in the harbor, 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 discov ered that their retreat was made with the greatest precipitation. They have left their barracks and other works of wood at Bunker's * Mr. Hancock's house was still standing, one of the finest monuments of the olden time in Bo_ston, until, nearly a hundred years after, it had to give way to a more modern building. 874 WASHINGTON. Hill, etc., 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." CHAPTER VI. WASHINGTON IN NEW YORK. 1776. WHILE Washington was engaged in conducting the siege of Boston, many events had transpired both in America and England, to which it now becomes necessary to advert. Notwithstanding the extent to which hostilities had been carried, a large portion of the colonists had hitherto con tinued to entertain some hope of an amicable termination of the dispute; and it is evident from the transactions we are about to record, that many felt sincerely desirous to frustrate such a result, particularly the leading statesmen of New England and Virginia. The want of more regu lar and stable governments had for some time been felt in those Colonies where royal governments had hitherto existed; and in the autumn of 1775, New Hampshire had applied to Congress for their advice and direction on this subject. In .November, Congress advised the convention of that Colony to call a full and free representation of the people, when the representatives, if they thought it necessary, should establish such a form of government as, in their judgment, would best promote the happiness of the peo ple and most effectually secure peace and good order dur ing the continuance of the dispute between Great Britain and the Colonies. On this question the members of Congress were not (875) 876 WASHINGTON. unanimous. It was viewed by some as a step necessarily leading to independence; and by some of its advocates it was probably intended as such. To render the resolution less exceptionable, the duration of the government was limited to the continuance of the dispute with the parent country. Soon afterward similar directions and advice were given to South Carolina and Virginia. The last hopes of the Colonies for reconciliation rested on the success of their second petition to the King; and the answer of their sovereign to this application was ex pected with extreme solicitude. Information however was soon received from Mr. Penn, who was intrusted with the petition, that no answer would be given. This intelligence was followed by that of great addi tional preparations to subdue the "American rebels." The King, in his speech at the opening of Parliament in Octo- ber (1775), not only accused the colonists of revolt, hos tility, and rebellion, but stated that the rebellion which was carried on by them was for the purpose of establish ing an independent empire. To prevent this, he declared that the most decisive and vigorous measures were neces sary; that he had consequently increased his naval estab lishment, had augmented his land forces, and had also taken measures to procure the aid of foreign troops. He, at the same time, stated his intention of appointing cer tain persons with authority to grant pardons to individuals, and to receive the submission of whole Colonies disposed to return to their allegiance. Large majorities in both Houses assured the King of their firm support in his measure for reducing the col onists to obedience. The addresses however in answer to the speech were opposed with great ability. The pro ject of employing foreign troops to destroy American subjects was reprobated by the minority in the strongest LIFE AND TIMES. 877 terms. The plans of the ministry however were not only approved by Parliament, but by a majority of the nation. The idea of making the colonists share their burdens could not easily be relinquished by the people of Great Britain; and national pride would not permit them to yield the point of supremacy. War was now therefore to be waged against the Colonies, and a force sent out sufficiently pow erful to compel submission, even without a struggle. For these purposes the aid of Parliament was requisite, and about the end of December (1775) an act was passed prohibiting all trade and commerce with the Colonies, and authorizing the capture and condemnation, not only of all American vessels, with their cargoes, but all other ves sels found trading in any port or place in the Colonies, as if the same were the vessels and effects of open enemies; and the vessels and property thus taken were vested in the captors. An additional clause of the act provided that the crews were to be compelled to serve in the King's ships. This was impressment of the worst possible kind. The passing of this act shut the door against the appli cation of the Colonies for a reconciliation. The last peti tion of Congress to the King had indeed been laid before Parliament, but both Houses refused to hear it, or even to treat upon any proposition coming from such an unlaw ful assembly, or from those who were then in arms against their lawful sovereign. In the House of Lords, on the motion of the Duke of Richmond, Mr. Penn was examined on American affairs. He staled, among other things, that the colonists were desirous of reconciliation, and did not aim at independence; that they were disposed to conform to the acts regulating their trade, but not to taxation; and that on this point a spirit of resistance was universal. After this examination the Duke of Richmond moved a 878 WASHINGTON. resolution declaring that the petition of Congress to the King was a ground for a reconciliation of the differences between the two countries. This motion was negatived, after a warm debate, by 86 to 33. These proceedings of the King and Parliament, with the employment of 16,000 foreign mercenaries, convinced the leading men in each Colony that the sword alone must decide the contest, and that the colonists must now declare themselves totally in dependent of Great Britain. Time however was still requisite to convince the great mass of the American people of the necessity of a complete separation from their parent country, and the establish ment of an independent government. The ablest pens were employed throughout America in the winter of 1775-76 on this momentous subject. The propriety and necessity of the measure was enforced in the numerous gazettes and in pamphlets. Among the latter, " Common Sense," from the pen of Thomas Paine, produced a wonderful effect in the different Colonies in favor of independence. Influential individuals in every Colony urged it as a step absolutely necessary to preserve the rights and liberties as well as to secure the happiness and prosperity of the people. When the Prohibitory Act reached America, Congress, justly viewing it as a declaration of war, directed reprisals to be made, both by public and private armed vessels, against the ships and goods of the inhabitants of Great Britain found on the high seas or between hign and low- water mark. They also burst the shackles of commercial monopoly, which had so long kept them in bondage, and opened their ports to all the world, except the dominions of Great Britain. In this state of things it was preposterous for the col onists any longer to consider themselves as holding or LIFE AND TIMES. 879 exercising the powers of government under the authority of Great Britain. Congress therefore, on the loth of May (1776), recommended to the assemblies and conventions of the Colonies, where no sufficient government had been established, "to adopt such government as should, in the opinion of the representatives of the people, best conduce to. the happiness and safety of their constituents in par ticular and America in general." They also declared it necessary that the exercise of every kind of authority under the Crown should be sup pressed, and that all the powers of government should be exercised " under the authority of the people of the Col onies, for the preservation of internal peace, virtue, and good order, as well as for the defense of their lives, liber ties, and properties, against the hostile invasions and cruel depredations of their enemies." This was a preliminary step to a general declaration of independence. Some of the colonial assemblies and conventions about the same time began to express their opinions on this great question. On the 22d of April (1776), the conven tion of North Carolina empowered their delegates in Con gress " to concur with those in the other Colonies in de claring independency." This, it is believed, was the first direct public act of any colonial assembly or convention in favor of the measure. The convention of Virginia soon afterward expressed itself still more decidedly. After full deliberation the following resolutions were passed unani mously: " That the delegates appointed to represent this Colony in General Congress be instructed to propose to that re spectable body to declare the united Colonies free and in dependent States, absolved from all allegiance to or de pendence upon the Crown or Parliament of Great Britain; and that they give the assent of this Colony to such decla- 880 WASHINGTON. ration and to whatever measures may be thought proper and necessary by the Congress for forming foreign alli ances and a confederation of the Colonies, at such time and in the manner as to them shall seem best. Provided, that the power of forming governments for and the regu lations of the internal concerns of each Colony be left to the respective colonial Legislatures. " That a committee be appointed to prepare a declara tion of rights and to form such a plan of government as will be most likely to maintain peace and order in this Col ony and secure substantial and equal liberty to the people." Washington's opinion respecting this resolution is thus expressed in a letter to his brother: " I am very glad to find that the Virginia Convention have passed so noble a vote and with so much unanimity. Things have come to such a pass now as to convince us that we have nothing more to expect from the justice of Great Britain; also that she is capable of the most delusive arts; for I am satisfied that no commissioners were ever designed, except Hes sians and other foreigners, and that the idea was only to deceive and throw us off our guard. The first has been too effectually accomplished, as many members of Con gress, in short, the representation of whole provinces, are still feeding themselves upon the dainty food of reconcilia tion; and, though they will not allow that the expectation of it has any influence upon their judgment with respect to their preparations for defense, it is but too obvious that it has an operation upon every part of their conduct, and is a clog to their proceedings. It is not in the nature of things to be otherwise, for no man that entertains a hope of seeing this dispute speedily and equitably adjusted by commissioners will go to the same expense and run the same hazards to prepare for the worst event as he who believes that he must conquer or submit to unconditional LIFE AND TIMES. 881 terms and the concomitants, such as confiscation, hanging, and the like." The letter was written in May (1776), when Washing ton's visit to Congress, to which we shall presently refer, had enabled him to study the disposition of the members; and when the question of independence was the subject of discussion in all circles of public men. Early in the year (1776) the British Government had prepared a considerable expedition to reduce the southern Colonies to obedience. The command was intrusted to Sir Peter Parker and Earl Cornwallis. On the 3d of May Admiral Parker, with twenty sail, arrived at Cape Fear. They found General Clinton ready to co-operate with them. He had left New York and proceeded to Virginia, where he had an interview with Lord Dunmore; but find ing nothing could be effected in that Colony, he repaired to Cape Fear to await the arrival of the armament from England. Meanwhile the Carolinians had been making great exertions. In Charleston the utmost energy and activity were evinced. The citizens pulled down the valuable store houses on the wharfs, barricaded the streets, and con structed lines of defense along the shore. Abandoning their commercial pursuits, they engaged in incessant labor and prepared for bloody conflicts. The troops, amount ing to between 5,000 and 6,000 men, were stationed in the most advantageous positions. Amidst all this bustle and preparation, lead was so extremely scarce that the win dows of Charleston were stripped of their weights in order to procure a small supply of that necessary article for bul lets. Early in June the armament, consisting of between forty and fifty vessels, appeared off Charleston bay, and thirty- six of the transports passed the bar and anchored about 56 882 WASHINGTON. three miles from Sullivan's Island. Some hundreds of the. troops landed on Long Island, which lies on the west of Sullivan's Island and which is separated from it by a nar row channel often fordable. On the loth of the month the Bristol, a fifty-gun ship, having taken out her guns, got safely over the bar; and on the 25th the Experiment, a ship of equal force, arrived and next day passed in the same way. On the part of the British everything was now ready for action. Sir Henry Clinton had nearly 3,000 mea under his command. The naval force, under Sir Peter Parker, consisted of the Bris tol and Experiment of fifty guns; the Active, Acteon, Sole- bay, and Syren frigates; the Friendship of twenty-two, and the Sphinx of twenty, guns ; the Ranger sloop and Thunder bomb. On the forenoon of the 28th of June this fleet advanced against the fort on Sullivan's Island, which was defended by Colonel Moultrie with about 350 regular troops and some militia. The Thunder bomb began the battle. The Active, Bristol, Experiment, and Solebay followed boldly to the attack and a terrible cannonade ensued. The fort returned the fire of the ships slowly, but with deliberate and deadly aim, and the contest was carried on during the whole day with unabating fury. The Sphinx, Acteon, and Syren were ordered to attack the western extremity of the fort, which was in a very un finished state ; but as they proceeded for that purpose they got entangled with a shoal called the Middle Ground. Two of them ran foul of each other; the Acteon stuck fast; the Sphinx and Syren got off; but fortunately for the Ameri cans that part of the attack completely failed. It was de signed that Sir Henry Clinton, with his corps, should co-operate with the naval operations by passing the nar row channel which separates Long Island from Sullivan's LIFE AND TIMES. 883 Island and assail the fort by land, but this the General found impracticable, for the channel, though commonly fordable, was at that time, by a long prevalence of easterly winds, deeper than usual; and even had the channel been fordable the British troops would have found the passage an arduous enterprise, for Colonel Thomson, with a strong detachment of riflemen, regulars, and militia, was posted on the east end of Sullivan's Island to oppose any attack made in that quarter. The engagement, which began about n o'clock in the forenoon, continued with unabated fury till 7 in the even ing, when the fire slackened, and about 9 entirely ceased on both sides. During the night all the ships except the Acteon, which was aground, removed about two miles from the island. Next morning the fort fired a few shots at the Acteon and she at first returned them, but in a short time her crew set her on fire and abandoned her. She blew up shortly afterward. In this obstinate engagement both parties fought with great gallantry. The loss of the British was very considerable, upward of 60 being killed and 160 being wounded, whilst the garrison lost only 10 men killed and 22 wounded. Although the Americans were raw troops, yet they be haved with the steady intrepidity of veterans. One cir cumstance may serve to illustrate the cool but enthusiastic courage which pervaded their ranks. In the course of the engagement the flagstaff of the fort was shot away, but Sergeant Jasper leaped down upon the beach, snatched up the flag, fastened it to a sponge-staff, and while the ships were incessantly directing their broadsides upon the fort, he mounted the merlon and deliberately replaced the flag. The fate of this expedition contributed greatly to estab lish the popular government it was intended to destroy, 884 WASHINGTON. while the news of it spread rapidly through the continent and exercised an equally unfavorable influence on the royal cause; the advocates of the irresistibility of British fleets and armies were mortified and silenced, and the brave de fense of Fort Moultrie saved the Southern States from the horrors of war for several years. In South Carolina the government took advantage of the hour of success to conciliate their opponents in the province. The adherents of royal power, who, for a con siderable time, had been closely imprisoned, on promising fidelity to their country, were set at liberty and restored to all the privileges of citizens. The repulse of the British was also attended with another advantage, that of leaving the Americans at liberty to turn their undivided force against the Indians, who had attacked the western frontier of the Southern States with all the fury and carnage of savage warfare. In 1775, when the breach between Great Britain and her Colonies was daily becoming wider, one Stuart, the agent employed in conducting the intercourse between the British authorities and the Cherokees and Creeks, used all his influence to attach the Indians to the royal cause, and to inspire them with jealousy and hatred of the Americans. He found little difficulty in persuading them that the Americans, without provocation, had taken up arms against Britain and were the means of preventing them from receiving their yearly supplies of arms, ammunition, and clothing from the British Government. The Americans had endeavored to conciliate the good will of the Indians, but their scanty presents were unsatis factory and the savages resolved to take up the hatchet. Deeming the appearance of the British fleet in Charleston bay a fit opportunity, the Cherokees invaded the western LIFE AND TIMES. 885 frontier of the province, marking their track with murder and devastation. The speedy retreat of the British left the savages ex posed to the vengeance of the Americans, who, in separate divisions, entered their country at different points, from Virginia and Georgia, defeated their warriors, burned their villages, laid waste their cornfields, and incapacitated the Cherokees for a considerable time from giving the settlers further annoyance. Thus, in the south, the Americans triumphed over the British and Indians. We have seen that before leaving Boston Washington ordered General Putnam to take command of the army in New York. He was directed to fortify the city and the passes of the Hudson, according to the plans of General Lee, his predecessor in the command. Putnam, aware ot the number of Tories in the city, established strict regula tions for preserving order, and sternly interdicting the free intercourse which had hitherto prevailed between the in habitants and the British ships in the neighboring water, in one of which the royal ex-governor Tryon was en gaged in carrying a variety of plots and hostile intrigues by means of emissaries to his numerous adherents in the city and Colony. On his arrival at New York, April 13 (1776), Wash ington found that the indefatigable Putnam had exerted his usual energy and ability in completing the fortifica tions, which had been commenced under the direction of General Lee. Those on Brooklyn Heights commanded the city, and, as the possession of them would probably be the first object of General Howe on his arrival, Washing ton placed them under the command of General Greene, of whose superior ability, courage, and prudence he had already become aware. Washington found the whole force in New York and its 88(> WASHINGTON. neighborhood to consist of little more than 10,000 men; and these were distributed in various posts in the city, Long Island, Staten Island, and elsewhere. Many of the soldiers were new recruits without arms, and others were sick or absent on furlough, thus reducing the available force to between 8,000. and 9,000 Of these, considerable detachments upon request from Congress were sent off to Canada, where the ill-fated expedition of which we have already given the history was not yet brought to a close. Ten regiments were taken from the army at New York, in two detachments, for this purpose. The measure was justified to Washington's mind by the consideration that the portion of the army already engaged in Canada could only be reinforced from New York, while those under his immediate command could receive support, if necessary, by calling in the militia from the surrounding country. In May (1776), Washington, at the request of Congress, paid a visit to Philadelphia for the purpose of devising measures for the prosecution of the ensuing compaign. During the fifteen days that his visit lasted General Put nam held the command at New York. Mrs. Washington, who had accompanied him to New York and had since resided there, was with him also during this visit to Phila delphia. They were invited by President Hancock to be his guests during their stay. In a letter from that place to his brother, John Augustine, already quoted, he says: " We expect a very bloody summer at New York and Canada, as it is there, I presume, the grand efforts of the enemy will be aimed; and I am sorry to say that we are not, either in men or arms, prepared for it. However it is to be hoped that, if our cause is just, as I do most re ligiously believe it to be, the same Providence which has in many instances appeared for us will still go on to afford its aid." LIFE AND TIMES. 887 There is every reason to believe that this reliance on Providence was the constant habit of Washington's mind. It would seem that nothing else could have sustained him under the tremendous responsibilitise and emergencies to which he was subject. It is equally clear that relying on Providence under his severe trials never induced him to relax his energy or vigilance. The circumstances in which he was placed at the time when the letter above quoted was written were sufficiently appalling to have deterred any one who had not deliberately placed his whole trust in Providence, for he had already, as the letter shows, divined the real purpose of the British, which was to land an overwhelming force at New York, to take that place, pass up the Hudson river, and meet another powerful army already dispatched to relieve the British forces in Canada, thus dividing the country into two parts, so that it might be easily conquered in detail. There was every human probability of the success of this plan, and Wash ington knew it. Yet he was not moved for an instant from that serene calmness which was his habitual state of mind. Truly he was a man who put his trust in God. In his conferences with Congress Washington expressed the opinion that no acceptable terms would be offered by the British, and that a long war must ensue, which would require more men and better regulations. Congress ac cordingly ordered enlistments for the regular army to be made for three years' service, with a bounty of $10 to each soldier, and made provision for reinforcements of militia and the building of gondolas and five rafts for the defense of New York harbor. They also determined on a plan to reinforce the army, by bringing into the field a new species of troops that would be more permanent than the common militia and yet more easily raised than regulars. With this view they 888 WASHINGTON. instituted a flying camp, to consist of an intermediate corps, between regular soldiers and militia. Ten thou sand men were called for from the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, to be in constant service to the first day of the ensuing December. Congress at the same time called for 13,800 of the common militia from Massa chusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey. The men for forming the flying camp were generally procured, but there were great deficiencies of the militia, and many of those who obeyed their country's call so far as to turn out manifested a reluctance to submit to the necessary discipline of camps. The difficulty of providing the troops with arms while before Boston was exceeded by the superior difficulty of supplying them in their new position. By the returns of the garrison at Fort Montgomery, in the Highlands, in April, it appeared that there were 208 privates and only forty-one guns fit for us. In the garrison at Fort Con stitution there were 136 men and only sixty-eight guns fit for use. Flints were also much wanted. Lead would have been equally deficient had not a supply for the mus ketry been obtained by stripping dwelling-houses.* The measures necessary to remedy these deficiencies formed a subject of consultation between Washington and Congress, as well as the establishment of a permanent board of war and ordnance, composed of John Adams, Colonel Benjamin Harrison, Roger Sherman, Edward Rutledge, and James Wilson, who were henceforth to act instead of the various military committees of Congress, who had hitherto had charge of military affairs. On Washington's return to New York he resumed preparations for receiving the enemy, who were daily ex- * " One house," says Gordon, " supplied them with 1,200 pounds and another with 1,000 pounds." LIFE AND TIMES. 889 pected to arrive with a fleet and a powerful army. He was also under the necessity of attending to the various opera tions of the Tories, who infested the province of New York to a fearful extent. Mr. Sparks gives an account of the plots of these Tories, Governor Tryon being the mainspring of all their move ments. Washington, after a great deal of urgency, got Con gress to appoint a secret committee to take up and examine suspected persons. It is true that this was a dangerous re sponsibility to be placed in the hands of any man, but the necessity of the case demanded some action. The Tories were bound to take one side or the other in the questions at issue; open enmity could be met, but they who wished to be considered neutrals while they covertly aided and gave intelligence to the enemy could not be suffered to remain in a position which gave them every advantage over the patriots and their cause. The power of appre hending the Tories had wisely been put into the hands of the civil authority of each Colony, and the conventions, assemblies, and committees were authorized to employ, when they thought it necessary for the purpose, a militia force from the Continental army. " Many Tories were apprehended in New York and on Long Island; some were imprisoned; others disarmed. A deep plot, originat ing with Governor Tryon, was defeated by a timely and fortunate discovery. His agents were found enlisting men in the American camp and enticing them with rewards. The infection spread to a considerable extent and even reached the General's guard, some of whom enlisted. A soldier of the guard was proved guilty by a court-martial and executed. It was a part of the plot to seize General Washington and convey him to the enemy."* The rumors of these proceedings were spread through * Sparks, " Life of Washington," p. 169. 890 WASHINGTON. the country and occasioned no small degree of indignation and alarm. Indeed the danger to the cause of freedom by the machinations of the Tories was real and imminent. In this crisis of particular danger the people of New York acted with spirit. Though they knew they were to receive the first impression of the British army, yet their convention resolved: " That all persons residing within the State of New York and claiming protection from its laws owed it allegiance, and that any person owing it alle giance and levying war against the State, or being an adherent to the King of Great Britain, should be deemed guilty of treason and suffer death." They also resolved: " That one-fourth of the militia of Westchester, Dutchess, and Orange counties should be forthwith drawn out for the defense of the liberties, property, wives, and children of the good people of the State, to be continued in service till the last day of December," and " that as the inhabitants of King's county had determined not to oppose the enemy, a committee should be appointed to inquire into the au thenticity of these reports, and to disarm and secure the disaffected, to remove or destroy the stock of grain, and if necessary to lay the whole country waste." The fleet and army daily expected to arrive when Wash ington returned from Philadelphia were formidable, even had he been at the head of a numerous and well-appointed army. The command of the force which was designed to operate against New York was given to Admiral Lord Howe, and his brother, Sir William,* officers who, as well from their personal characters as the known bravery of their family, stood high in the confidence of the British * Sir William Howe was the same officer who had held the com mand in Boston after Gage's recall. LIFE AND TIMES. 891 Nation. To this service was allotted a very powerful army, consisting of about 30,000 men. This force was far superior to anything that America had heretofore seen. The troops were amply provided with artillery, military stores, and warlike materials of every kind, and were sup ported by a numerous fleet. The Admiral and General, in addition to their military powers, were appointed com missioners for restoring peace to the Colonies. General Howe, having in vain waited two months at Halifax for his brother and the expected reinforcements from England, impatient of further delays, sailed from that harbor with the force which he had previously commanded in Boston, and directing his course toward New York arrived in the latter end of June (1776) off Sandy Hook. Admiral Lord Howe, with part of the reinforcement from England, arrived at Halifax soon after his brother's de parture. Without dropping anchor he followed, but did not arrive at Staten Island till about the middle of July. The British General, on his approach, found every part of New York island and the most exposed parts of Long Island fortified and well defended by artillery. About fifty British transports anchored near Staten Island, which had not been so much the object of Wash-! ington's attention. The inhabitants of the island, either from fear, policy, or affection expressed great joy on the arrival of the royal forces. General Howe was there met by Tryon and by several of the loyalists, who had taken refuge with him in an armed vessel. He was also joined by about sixty persons from New Jersey, and 200 of the inhabitants of Staten Island were embodied as a royal militia. From these appearances great hopes were in dulged that as soon as the army was in a condition to penetrate into the country and protect the loyalists such WASHINGTON. numbers would flock to their standard as would facilitate the attainment of the objects of the campaign. Washington, knowing that the force already arrived - forty ships, with between 9,000 and io,v.oo troops was only the vanguard of the still greater force expected to arrive under Admiral Lord Howe, took immediate steps to strengthen his army. He called on Congress for a rein forcement from Massachusetts, to consist of five regiments of regular soldiers, whose place should be supplied in Bos ton by calling in militia, and for the formation of a flying camp to be stationed in New Jersey, ready to act on any emergency. On the 2d of July (1776) he issued one of those general orders with which he was accustomed to address the army in lieu of what the French call a " military allocution/' In it he called upon the soldiers to prepare for the coming contest, on which their liberty and safety depended ; prom ised rewards to the brave and patriotic, and threatened punishment to those who should refuse or neglect to do their duty.* The contest was indeed approaching, and at this very moment Congress was preparing to throw down the gaunt let of defiance in good earnest. We have already noticed the spirited action of the Virginia Assembly, with Wash ington's own commentary on it. Since that action Con gress had received from a majority of the Colonies which it represented either urgent entreaties or deliberate con sent and authority to the dissolution of all further political connection with Great Britain. * These general orders are characteristic of Washington's mod esty and aversion to display. Napoleon and Jackson, on similar occasions, had recourse to a speech. Of course it is impossible for a numerous army to hear a speech, so the paper is published and distributed as the General's speech. LIFE AND TIMES. 803 The New Hampshire spirit had found expression before the middle of June, 1776, in the following document: DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE BY NEW HAMPSHIRE IN 1776. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JUNE II, 1776. " Voted, That Samuel Curtis, Timothy Walker, and John Dudley, Esquires, be a committee of this House to join a committee of the Honorable Board, to make a draft of a Declaration of this General Assembly for INDEPENDENCE of the united colonies on Great Britain. "JUNE 15, 1776. " The committee of both houses, appointed to prepare a draft setting forth the sentiments and opinion of the Council and Assembly of this colony relative to the united colonies setting up an independent State, make report as on file which report being read and considered, " Voted unanimously, That the report of said committee be received and accepted, and that the draft by them brought in be sent to our delegates at the Continental Congress forthwith as the sense of the House. " The draft made by the committee of both houses, re lating to independency, and voted as the sense of this House, is as follows, viz.: " Whereas it now appears an undoubted fact, that not withstanding all the dutiful petitions and decent remon strances from the American colonies, and the utmost ex ertions of their best friends in England on their behalf, the British ministry, arbitrary and vindictive, are yet deter mined to reduce by fire and sword our bleeding country to their absolute obedience; and, for this purpose, in addi tion to their own forces, have engaged great numbers of foreign mercenaries, who may now be on their passage 894 WASHINGTON. here, accompanied by a formidable fleet to ravish and plun der the sea-coast; from all which we may reasonably ex pect the most dismal scenes of distress the ensuing year, unless we exert ourselves by every means and precaution possible; and whereas we of this colony of New Hamp shire, have the example of several of the most respectable of our sister colonies before us for entering upon that most important step of disunion from Great Britain, and declaring ourselves free and independent of the crown thereof, being impelled thereto by the most violent and injurious treatment; and it appearing absolutely necessary in this most critical juncture of our public affairs, that the Honorable the Continental Congress, who have this imj- portant object under immediate consideration, should be also informed of our resolutions thereon without loss of time; we do hereby declare, that it is the opinion of this Assembly that our delegates at the Continental Congress should be instructed, and they are hereby instructed, to join with the other colonies in declaring the thirteen united colonies a free and independent state, solemnly pledging our faith and honor, that we will on our parts support the measure with our lives and fortunes, and that in conse quence thereof they, the Continental Congress, on whose wisdom, fidelity, and integrity we rely, may enter into and form such alliances as they may judge most conducive to the present safety and future advantage of these American colonies; provided, the regulation of our internal police be under the direction of our own Assembly. " Entered according to the original. "Attest, NOAH EMERY, Clr. D. Reps." Connecticut, under Governor Jonathan Trumbull, was in the very front of unhesitating, energetic, and effective LIFE AND TIMES. 895 patriotism. As early as 1769 Trumbull had been chosen Governor, and he was the only colonial Governor who espoused the popular cause in the struggle of the Colonies against the Crown. He had, in 1768, refused to take the oath required, of officers of the Crown, and from that mo ment he stood conspicuous as a foremost leader of colonial aspiration for liberty. To Washington, when he came to New England to conduct from Cambridge the operations initiated at Bunker Hill, Trumbull was for counsel and conduct a chief dependence. On one early occasion, at a council of war, amid great uncertainties as to preparation to meet an expected British attack, Washington said: "We must consult Brother Jonathan." It grew to be a com mon expression among the officers, and gave origin to the use of " Brother Jonathan " to signify the personified coun try, the typical America. In the days that tried men's souls, Gov. Jonathan Trumbull was in the van of courage and confidence, so much so that he got out a Declaration of Independence earlier than that issued by the Continental Congress. This instrument, which has not become im mortal, but deserves to be so, was in the form of a procla mation issued by Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, " with the ad vice of the Council and at the desire of the Representatives in General Court assembled," on June 18, 1776, sixteen days before the better-known Declaration of Philadelphia was adopted. Governor Trumbull's paper so nearly cov ered the ground taken by the Philadelphia instrument that when the latter arrived in Hartford, on July I2th, the Gov ernor and Council declined to publish it for the reason that it would be supererogatory; and the Declaration of Inde pendence, for this reason, never was published in Connec ticut. Dr. Charles J. Hoadley, State Librarian of Con necticut, in his fifteenth and last volume of the " Colonial 896 WASHINGTON. Records of Connecticut," recently issued, publishes the paper entire from a contemporary broadside.* It is as follows : " By the Honorable "JONATHAN TRUMBULL Esq " Governor and Commander-in-chief of the English Colony of Connecticut in New England. " A PROCLAMATION " The Race of Mankind was made in a State of Inno cence and Freedom subjected only to the Laws of God the Creator, and through his rich Goodness, designed for virtuous liberty and Happiness, here and for ever; and when moral Evil was introduced into the World, and Man had corrupted his Ways before God, Vice and Iniquity came in like a Flood and Mankind became exposed, and a prey to the Violence, Injustice and Oppression of one another. God in great Mercy inclined his People to form themselves into Society, and to set up and establish civil Government for the Protection and security of their Lives and Properties from the Invasion of wicked men. But through Pride and ambition the Kings and Princes of the World appointed by the People the Guardians of their Lives and Liberties, early and almost universally degene rated into Tyrants, and by Fraud or Force betrayed and wrested out of their hands the very Rights and Properties they were appointed to protect and defend. But a small part of the Human Race maintained and enjoyed any tol erable Degree of Freedom. Among those happy few, the nation of Great Britain was distinguished by a Constitu tion of Government wisely framed and modelled to support * New York " Evening Post," July 4, 1890. LIFE AND TIMES. 897 the Dignity and Power of the Prince, for the protection of the Rights of the People, and under which that Country in long succession enjoyed great Tranquillity and Peace, though not unattended with repeated and powerful efforts, by many of its haughty Kings, to destroy the Constitu tional Rights of the People, and establish arbitrary Power and Dominion. In one of those convulsive struggles our Forefathers, having suffered in that their native Country great and variety of Injustice and Oppression, left their dear Connections and Enjoyments, and fled to this then inhospitable land to secure a lasting retreat from civil and religious Tyranny. " The God of Heaven favored and prospered this Under taking made room for their settlement increased and multiplied them to a very numerous People and inclined succeeding Kings to indulge them and their children for many years the unmolested Enjoyment of the Freedom and Liberty they fled to inherit. But an unnatural King has risen up violated his sacred Obligations and by the Ad vice of Evil Counsellors attempted to wrest from us, their children the Sacred Rights we justly claim and which have been ratified and established by solemn Compact with, and recognized by his Predecessors and Fathers, Kings of Great Britain laid upon us Burdens too heavy and griev ous to be borne and issued many cruel and oppressive Edicts, depriving us of our natural, lawful, and most im portant Rights, and subjecting us to the absolute Power and Controul of himself and the British Legislature ; against which we have sought Relief, by humble, earnest and duti ful Complaints and Petitions: But, instead of obtaining Redress our Petitions have been treated with Scorn and Contempt, and fresh Injuries heaped upon us while hostile armies and ships are sent to lay waste our Country. In this distressing Dilemma, having no Alternative but abso- 57 898 WASHINGTON. lute Slavery or successful Resistance, this, and the United American Colonies have been constrained by the over ruling laws of Self Preservation to take up Arms for the Defence of all that is sacred and dear to Freemen, and make this solemn Appeal to Heaven for the Justice of their Cause, and resist Force by Force. " God Almighty has been pleased of his infinite Mercy to succeed our Attempts, and give us many Instances of signal Success and Deliverance. But the wrath of the King is still increasing, and not content with before em ploying all the Force which can be sent from his own Kingdom to execute his cruel Purposes, has procured, and is sending all the Mercenaries he can obtain from for eign countries to assist in extirpating the Rights of America, and with theirs almost all the liberty remaining among Mankind. " In this most critical and alarming situation, this and all the Colonies are called upon and earnestly pressed by the Honorable Congress of the American Colonies united for mutual defence, to raise a large additional number of their militia and able men to be furnished and equipped with all possible Expedition for defence against the soon expected attack and invasion of those who are our Ene mies without a Cause. In cheerful compliance with which request and urged by Motives the most cogent and im portant that can affect the human Mind, the General As sembly of this Colony have freely and unanimously agreed and resolved, that upwards of Seven Thousand able and effective Men be immediately raised, furnished and equip ped for the great and interesting Purposes aforesaid. And not desirous that any should go to a warfare at their own charges (though equally interested with others) for defence of the great and all-important Cause in which we are en gaged, have granted large and liberal Pay and Encourage- LIFE AND TIMES. 899 ments to all who shall voluntarily undertake for the De fence of themselves and their country as by their acts may appear, I do therefore by and with the advice of the Coun sel, and at the desire of the Representatives in General Court assembled, issue this PROCLAMATION, and make the solemn Appeal to the Virtue and public Spirit of the good People of this Colony. Affairs are hastening fast to a Crisis, and the approaching Campaign will in all Prob ability determine forever the fate of AMERICA. If this should be successful on our side, there is little to fear on account of any other. Be exhorted to rise therefore to superior exertions on this great Occasion, and let all that are able and necessary show themselves ready in Behalf of their injured and oppressed Country, and come forth to the help of the Lord against the Mighty, and convince the unrelenting Tyrant of Britain that they are resolved to be Free. Let them step forth to defend their Wives, their little Ones, their Liberty, and everything they hold sacred and dear, to defend the Cause of their Country, their Re ligion, and their God. Let every one to the utmost of their Power lend a helping Hand, to promote and forward a design on which the salvation of America now evidently depends. Nor need any be dismayed: the Cause is cer tainly a just and a glorious one : God is able to save us in such way manner as he pleases and to humble our proud Oppressors. The Cause is that of Truth and Justice; he has already shown his Power in our Behalf, and for the Destruction of many of our Enemies. Our Fathers trusted in him and were delivered. Let us all repent and thoroughly amend our Ways and turn to him, put all our Trust and Confidence in him in his Name go forth, and in his Name set up our Banners, and he will save us with tem poral and eternal salvation. And while our Armies are abroad jeoparding their lives in the high Places of the 900 WASHINGTON. Field,* let all who remain at Home, cry mightily to God for the Protection of his Providence to shield and defend their lives from Death, and to crown them with victory and success. And in the Name of the said General As sembly I do hereby earnestly recommend it to all, both Ministers and People frequently to meet together for social prayer to Almighty God for the outpouring of his blessed Spirit upon this guilty land That he would awaken his People to Righteousness and Repentance, bless our Coun cils, prosper our Arms and succeed the Measures using for our necessary self defence disappoint the evil and cruel Devices of our Enemies preserve our precious Rights and Liberties, lengthen out our Tranquility, and make us a People of his Praise, and the blessed of the Lord, as long as the Sun and Moon shall endure. "And all the Ministers of the Gospel in this Colony, are directed and desired, to publish this Proclamation in their several churches and congregations, and to enforce the Exhortations thereof, by their own pious Example and public instructions. " Given under my Hand at the Council Chamber in Hart ford, the i&th day of June Anno Domini 1776. "JONATHAN TRUMBULL." One or two of the provincial assemblies yet refrained from giving any explicit directions on this subject to their representatives; the directions from Maryland were lat terly unfavorable to an immediate assertion of independ- *The use of these words is very striking, seeing that in Gov ernor Trumbull's own State the monument now standing, opposite New London, in honor of the victims of the massacre of Groton Heights, bears most appropriately the entire verse (Judges v., 18). " Zebulun and Naphtali were a people that jeoparded their lives into the death in the high places of the field." LIFE AND TIMES. 901 ence, and those from Pennsylvania and Delaware were flatly opposed to it. But the leading partisans of independence perceived that the season had arrived when this great design must be either openly espoused or definitively abandoned; they remarked that, in general, the main objections that were still urged against it applied rather to the time than to the measure itself, and they were convinced that in every one of the States the majority of the people, however cred ulous or desirous of a reconciliation with Britain, would rather repudiate such views than retain them in opposition to the declared and general policy of America. On the 7th of June (1776), accordingly, it was formally proposed in Congress by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia that the American States should be declared free and in dependent. This proposition induced long and animated debates, and afforded scope to the largest display of wis dom, genius, and eloquence in the discussion of a ques tion than which none more interesting to human liberty and happiness was ever before submitted to the decision of a national assembly. The American Congress, in its original composition, exhibiting the citizens of a subordinate commonwealth in the act of assuming into their own hands the reins of gov ernment which a superior state had previously wielded over them, presented a spectacle of deep and stirring in terest to human nature and civilized society. Deliberating now if the grand conception which it had suggested was to be despondingly abandoned or resolutely fulfilled, it addressed the universal sentiments of mankind with ex tended interest and augmented dignity. While European sovereigns were insulting and violating every sanction and safeguard of national right and human liberty by the in famous partition of Poland, a revolutionary principle of 902 WASHINGTON. nobler nature and vindictive destiny was developed to the earnest and wondering eyes of the world in America. A very ordinary degree of knowledge and reflection may enable any person to suggest to himself the princi pal arguments which must have been employed in the. conduct of this solemn and important debate; but no au thentic report of the actual discussion has been transmit ted. John Adams, who supported the project of inde pendence, and Dickinson, who opposed it, were acknowl edged to have pre-eminently distinguished themselves by their rhetoric and ingenuity. Adams, it is said, forcibly maintained that a restoration of union and harmony between Britain and America was impossible; that military conquest alone could restore the British ascendency; and that an open declaration of inde pendence was imperatively required to harmonize the views of the Americans, to elevate and confirm their spirits in an inevitable conflict, and to enable them to obtain ef fectual succor from foreign powers. Prudence and jus tice alike demanded that the brave men who had taken arms in defense of their country's freedom should be en abled to dismiss the apprehension of fighting for a hollow and precarious reconciliation and a return to the yoke of dependence. Dickinson is said to have insisted (and very plausibly, it must be allowed) that an instant dissolution of the American confederacy would be produced by the mere act of Great Britain in withdrawing her fleets and armies at the present juncture; but in maintaining, as he is also reported to have done, that the same breach of federal union, aggravated by an effervescence of popular spirit incompatible with civil order, must ensue from the with- drawment of the British troops at a later period, and after a prolonged contest and the excitation of furious passion LIFE AND TIMES. 903 in every part of America, he disregarded the continued influence of that bond of union whose initial operation he was so strongly impressed with, and undervalued the wis dom and virtue which his countrymen were capable of exerting for the extinction of the flames of revolutionary passions. Some members of the Congress opposed a declaration of independence as unwarrantable or premature; and others, for awhile, were reluctantly deterred from sup porting it by the instructions of their constituents. After the discussion had been protracted for nearly a month, during which interval the hesitation or opposition of a minority of the States was overborne, as had been fore seen, by the general current of national will the meas ure proposed by Lee was approved and embraced by a vote almost unanimous (July 2, 1776); and a document, entitled " Declaration of the Independence of the Thirteen United States of North America," composed by Thomas Jefferson, was subscribed (July 4, 1776) by all the mem bers who were anxious to confront the danger and ac complish the glory of their country. On July ist, with probably fifty members present, the delegates from New York having explained why their for mal concurrence could not be then given, nine Colonies voted for the resolution in committee of the whole, Penn sylvania's vote failing by four negative to three affirmative ; Delaware's by one to one, only two being present, and South Carolina going wholly negative. On the report to the House from the committee of the whole, made by Har rison, action by the House was put off to the next day at the request of South Carolina, presented by Rutledge. July 2d, by the staying away of two who had voted nay for Pennsylvania, and the arrival of a third Delaware mem ber to vote aye, and the conclusion of South Carolina to 904 WASHINGTON. come round, twelve Colonies New York still unable to vote, though not opposed to the result went upon the record for the passage of the resolution, " That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States; that they are absolved from all alle giance to the British Crown, and that all political connec tion between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." On that ist of July, 1776, when Congress went into committee of the whole " to take into consideration the resolution respecting independency," Harrison of Vir ginia, in the chair and John Adams had made " his sudden, impetuous, unpremeditated speech," on " the jus tice, the necessity, the seasonableness, and the advantages of a separation from Great Britain," the reply of Dickinson of Pennsylvania, justly comprehended the effect of the Declaration in saying that: "A Sovereignty composed of several distinct bodies of men, not subject to established Constitutions and not combined together by confirmed articles of union, is such a sovereignty as has ever ap peared."* John Adams wrote at the end of this great day of de cision: "When I look back to 1761, and run through the series of political events, the chain of causes and effects, I am surprised at the suddenness as well as great ness of this revolution. Britain has been filled with folly and America with wisdom. It is the will of heaven that the two countries should be sundered forever; it may be the will of heaven that America shall suffer calamities still more lasting and distresses yet more dreadful. The 2d day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America; to be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival, commemo- * Bancroft, IV, p. 437. LIFE AND TIMES. 905 rated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devo tion to God Almighty, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever more." On July 4th no one signed except Hancock as Presi dent of Congress and Thompson (who was not a delegate) as secretary. Inasmuch as of the States that voted in favor only a bare majority of their delegates were in favor; New York and Maryland were restricted from voting in favor, and Deleware and Pennsylvania were divided, it was thought best to adjourn at once and report to the several Colonies. Upon reassembling July I5th it was found that all present were in favor of the Declaration. The vote to engross on parchment and have all sign passed on the I9th of July. The New York restrictions had been recalled July 9th, giving thirteen New York votes. It was in the resolution of July iQth, declaring " The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America in Congress assembled," that the words " United States of America " were first used. The actual final signing of the engrossed declaration, which had been voted July 2d, and signed for official attestion July 4th, took place August 2d. " The Declaration," says Bancroft,* " was not only the announcement of the birth of a people, but the establish ment of a national government; a most imperfect one, it is true, but still a government, in conformity with the limited constitutional powers which each Colony had con ferred upon its delegates in Congress. * * * The management of the internal police and government was carefully reserved to the separate States, which culd, each for itself, enter upon the career of domestic reforms. But the States were not independent one of another; the United States of America, presenting themselves to man- * IV, p. 452. 906 WASHINGTON. kind as one people, assumed powers over war, peace, foreign alliances, and commerce." And Frothingham's " Rise of the Republic " specially notes how the Declaration assumed what the Constitu tion of 1787 finally secured, a Nation in place of Con federate Colonies. Thus he says:* " The sentiment oi nationality the fresh emotion of country was inspira tion and it was strength. They had a right to resist as distinct communities. But they did not choose this course. They strove so persistently to unite in general measures of resistance, that for ten years union was the key to their politics. It grew to be a conviction that a common country was a necessity; and when they came to act on the large scale of assuming national powers, they declared their independence by a joint act. Hence they became one nation. The Declaration established Union as a fundamental law by the side of the old law of diversity. The Declaration transformed the sentiment of nationality into the fact of nationality. The Declaration announced to the world the fact of The United States of America, a new political sovereignty. The Declaration changed the allegiance of the individual from the monarchy to the United States." No one rejoiced more cordially at the news of the Declaration of Independence than Washington. He had long desired it. He had long been hampered, almost paralyzed, in his military operations by the anomalous con dition in which he was placed as the Commander-in-Chief of an army acting against a sovereign whose allegiance had not been openly renounced. His action would now be more free, his position completely defined. He was henceforth to fight for a free and independent country. On the pth of July, the Declaration by Washington's * Pp. 553-557- LIFE AND TIMES. 907 order was read at the head of each brigade of the army, and was received by the soldiers with joyous acclamations. In the general order of the day he said: "The General hopes that this important event will serve as a fresh in centive to every officer and soldier, to act with fidelity and courage, as knowing that now the peace and safety of his country depend, under God, solely on the success of our arms; and that he is now in the service of a State possessed of sufficient power to reward his merit, and advance him to the highest honors of a free country." On the evening of the same day, a number of the people of New York, in order to complete the celebration by a significant token, pulled down a leaden statue of George III, which had been erected on the Bowling Green in 1770, and broke it to pieces. The lead of which it was composed was subsequently cast into bullets, " to be used in the cause of independence." Three days after these proceedings, the city was thrown into great alarm (July 12, 1776). Two ships from the British fleet, the Phoenix, of forty guns, and the Rose, of twenty, with three tenders, taking advantage of a favor able breeze sailed up the bay, and were proceeding up the Hudson river. They were fired upon by the batteries of the city and those on the opposite Jersey shore at Paulus Hook, and answered with broadsides. They passed the forts with little injury, as the men on deck were protected by ramparts of sandbags; while the cannonade spread terror among the quiet people of the city, who were appre hensive of a general attack. The ships went up the Hudson to the Tappan sea and Haverstraw bay, where the breadth of the river enabled them to anchor without being molested by the firing from the shore. Washington apprehending an attack on Forts Constitu- 908 WASHINGTON. tion and Montgomery, lately erected on the Hudson river, sent off expresses to General Mifflin, who commanded the former, and to the New York convention, then in session at White Plains, apprising them of the danger. Gen. George Clinton was then in command of the militia of Orange and Ulster counties. To him Washington sent off another dispatch, urging him to collect a force for the protection of the Highlands, a request which that active officer had already more than anticipated by sending rein forcements to Fort Montgomery, Fort Constitution, and the Highlands. The ships remained in the river for a period of five weeks, taking soundings, observing the positions on the shores, and communicating secretly with the Tories, not withstanding the vigilance of the garrisons and armed parties on shore, by whom their motions were watched. Their real object was to make observations with a view- to certain future objects of General Howe, which were to cut off communication by water between Washington's army and Canada, and between the city and country, as well as to communicate with the Tories and encourage them in measures of hostility. Before their return to the fleet, one of the tenders was destroyed by a fire-shop, under command of Captain Thomas, which with others, had been sent up the river by Washington.* Meantime (July 12, 1776), Lord Howe arrived at Staten Island and joined his brother with a powerful fleet and army. Immediately after his arrival he sent ashore a flag of truce to Amboy, with a circular letter, together with a declaration to several of the late royal Governors, pre suming them to be still in power, acquainting them with his authority as commissioner from the King, and the terms proposed for reconciliation, and desiring them to * Sparks, " Life of Washington," p. 170. LIFE AND TIMES. 909 publish the same as generally as possible for the informa tion of the people. The declaration and letters were inter cepted and forwarded to Congress by General Washing ton; and ordered by them to be published in the several newspapers, that the inhabitants might be informed of the terms offered by Lord Howe, which were merely offers of pardon and favor to individuals, or whole Colonies, who would return to their allegiance and assist in " re storing tranquillity," that is, desert the cause of their country, and give aid and comfort to its enemies. Con gress was perfectly willing to make known, as widely as possible these terms, with the expectation of which the court of Britain had endeavored to amuse and disarm them; and that the few who were still suspended by a hope founded either in the justice or moderation of the British Government might be convinced that the valor alone of their country was to save its liberties. There is no reason to doubt that Lord Howe was sin cerely anxious for peace. He addressed a note to Dr. Franklin, to whom he was personally well known, earnestly expressing his wishes that the differences between the Americans and the mother country might be amicably settled. Franklin in his reply courteously regretted that he had crossed the Atlantic on an errand so fruitless, as to expect to obtain submission from his countrymen. " It is impossible," he writes, " that we should think of sub mission to a government that has, with the most wanton barbarity and cruelty, burnt our defenseless towns in the midst of winter; excited the savages to massacre our peaceful farmers, and our slaves to murder their masters; and is now bringing foreign mercenaries to deluge our settlements with blood. Long did I endeavor, with un feigned and unwearied zeal, to persevere from breaking that fine and noble china vase, the British empire; for I 910 WASHINGTON. knew that being once broken, the separate parts could not retain even their share of the strength and value that existed in the whole; and that a perfect reunion could scarce ever be hoped for." In conclusion he says, " I know your great motive in coming hither was the hope of being instrumental in a reconciliation; and I believe when you find that to be impossible on any terms given you to propose, you will then relinquish so odious a com mand and return to a more honorable private station." Failing in these efforts, the commissioners next at tempted to open a communication with Washington, whom they addressed as George Washington, Esq.; but as they were not prepared to acknowledge the official position and station of the Commander-in-Chief, a difficulty at once arose. Washington never suffered the slightest deviation from exact propriety in all his public relations. The commissioners, anxious to accomplish something, next had recourse to an expedient by which they hoped to obviate all difficulty; they changed the address of their letter for the superscription following: To George Wash ington, etc., etc. Adjutant-General Patterson was sent with this dispatch. Being introduced to Washington, he gave him in conversation the title of Excellency. The General received him with great politeness, but at the same time with much dignity. The adjutant expressed himself greatly concerned, on behalf of his principals, on account of the difficulties that had arisen about the superscription of the letter, assured him (of their high regard for his personal character, and that they had no intention to undervalue his rank. It was hoped therefore that the et ceteras, being in use between ambassadors, when they were not perfectly agreed upon points of etiquette, would remove all obstructions to their mutual intercourse. Washington answered that a letter written to a person LIFE AND TIMES. 911 invested with a public character should specify it, other wise it could not be distinguished from a private letter; that it was true the et ceteras implied everything; but it was no less true that they implied anything; and that as to himself, he would never consent to receive any letter, relating to public affairs, that should be directed to him, without a designation of his rank and office. Patterson requested that this question might be waived; and turned the conversation upon prisoners of war. He expatiated in magnificent terms upon the goodness and clemency of the King, who had chosen for negotiators Lord and General Howe. He affirmed that their desire to terminate the differences which had arisen between the two peoples was as earnest as their powers were ample; and that he hoped the General would consider this visit as the first step toward it. Washington replied that he was not authorized to negotiate; but that it did not appear that the powers of the commissioners consisted in any more than in granting pardons; that America, not having com mitted any offense, asked for no forgiveness, and was only defending her unquestionable rights. Patterson remarked that this subject would open too vast a field of discussion. He expressed his acknowledgments for the favor done him, in omitting the usual ceremony of blinding his eyes when passing the Americans' works. Washington invited him to partake of a collation, and he was introduced to the general officers. After many compliments and polite ex pressions, and repeating his regrets that a strict observa tion of formalities should interrupt the course of so im portant an affair, he took leave of Washington and with drew. This conference thus remained without result and all thoughts were again turned toward hostilities. Con gress were perfectly aware, on the one hand, of the shame they must incur by departing from the resolution so 912 WASHINGTON. recently taken of asserting independence, and they feared on the other that the propositions of England might contain -some secret poison. They caused an exact relation to be printed of the interview between the Commander-in- Chief and the English Adjutant-General. At this time of imminent danger, Washington had the grief and mortification to learn that dissensions were breaking out among the different portions of the army, which threatened the most serious consequences. The officers, coming from various parts of the country, were jealous of each other, and openly expressed themselves in terms so disrespectful as necessarily to produce a very bad state of feeling toward each other, which spread also among the soldiers to such an extent as to excite an appre hension of actual collision between the different corps. Washington foreseeing all the evils which would inevitably result from such a state of things had recourse to per suasion and reprimand. In a general order he thus ad dressed the army: "The General most earnestly entreats the officers and soldiers to consider the consequences; that they can no way assist our enemies more effectually than by making divisions among ourselves; that the honor and success of the army, and the safety of our bleeding country, depend upon harmony and good agreement with each other; that the provinces are all united to oppose the common enemy, and all distinctions sunk in the name of an American. To make this name honorable and to preserve the liberty of our country ought to be our only emulation; and he will be the best soldier and the best patriot, who contributes most to this glorious work, whatsoever his station, or from whatever part of the continent he may come. Let all distinctions of nations, countries, and provinces be lost in the generous contest, who shall behave with the most LIFE AND TIMES. 913 courage against the enemy, and the most kindness and good humor to each other. If there be any officers or soldiers so lost to virtue and a love of their country as to continue in these practices after this order, the General assures them and is authorized by Congress to declare to the whole army that such persons shall be severely pun ished and dismissed from the service with disgrace." This order produced a marked effect from the habitual reverence ever felt for Washington by the army. But the evil was never wholly eradicated. Throughout the war it was deemed important to keep the troops from each State together, and place them under the command of general officers from their own part of the country. The reinforcements to the British army, of whom about 450 had been captured by the Americans cruisers, were now arriving daily from Europe; and General Howe had also been joined by the troops from Charleston. His strength was now estimated at 24,000 men. To this army, alike formidable for its numbers, its dis cipline, and its equipments, aided in its operations by a numerous fleet, and conducted by commanders of skill and experience, Washington had to oppose a force un stable in its nature, incapable from its structure of receiv ing discipline, and inferior to its enemy in numbers, in arms, and in every military equipment. It consisted, when General Howe landed on Staten Island, of 10,000 men, who were much enfeebled by sickness. The diseases which always afflict new troops were increased by exposure to the rain and night air without tents. In consequence of Washington's earnest representations to Congress, some regiments stationed in the different States were ordered to join him; and in addition to the requisitions of men to serve until December requisitions not yet complied with the neighboring militia were called into service for the 58 914 WASHINGTON. exigency of the moment. Yet in a letter written to Con gress on the 8th of August (1776), he stated that " for the several posts on New York, Long and Governor's Islands, and Paulus Hook, the army consisted of only 17,225 men, of whom 3,668 were sick; and that to repel an immediate attack, he could count certainly on no other addition to his numbers than a battalion from Maryland, under the command of Colonel Smallwood."* The army was rendered the more inadequate to its ob jects by being necessarily divided for the defense of posts, some of which were fifteen miles distant from others, with navigable waters between them. " These things," con tinued the letter, " are melancholy, but they are neverthe less true. I hope for better. Under every disadvantage my utmost exertions shall be employed to bring about the great end we have in view; and so far as I can judge from the professions and apparent dispositions of my troops, I shall have their support. The superiority of the enemy and the expected attack do not seem to have de pressed their spirits. These considerations lead me to think that though the appeal may not terminate so happily as I could wish, yet the enemy will not succeed in their views without considerable loss. Any advantage they may gain I trust will cost them dear." Soon after this letter the army was reinforced by Small- wood's regiment and by two regiments from Pennsylvania, with a body of New England and New York militia, which * Most of the Continental troops were without uniforms. In the Connecticut regiments the officers were distinguished from the men only by wearing cockades in their hats. But the battalion from Maryland under Colonel Smallwood, composed of young men from rich families, wore an elegant uniform of scarlet and bluff, which contrasted strongly with the homespun apparel of many of the Eastern troops. The army had no cavalry, a deficiency which was severely felt in the battle of Long Island. LIFE AND TIMES. 915 increased it to 27,000 men, of whom one-fourth were sick. A part of the army was stationed on Long Island under the command of Major-General Sullivan, who had been ordered to this point in consequence of the illness of Gen eral Greene. The residue occupied different stations on York Island, except two small detachments, one on Gov ernor's Island, and the other at Paulus Hook, and except a part of the New York militia under General Clinton, who were stationed on 'the Sound, toward New Rochelle, and about East and West Chester, in order to oppose any sudden attempt which might be made to land above Kings- bridge and cut off the communication with the country. Expecting daily to be attacked, and believing that the influence of the first battle would be extremely important, Washington employed every expedient which might act upon that enthusiastic love of liberty, that indignation against the invaders of their country, and that native cour age which were believed to animate the bosoms of his soldiers, and which were relied on as substitutes for dis cipline and experience. " The time," say his orders issued soon after the arrival of General Howe (August 2, 1776), " is now at hand which must determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice of a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have therefore to resolve to conquer or to die. Our own, our country's honor, call upon us for a vigorous and manly exertion, and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the whole world. Let 916 WASHINGTON. us then rely on the goodness of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, in whose hands the victory is, to ani mate and encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we shall have their blessings and praises, if happily we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny meditated against them. Let us therefore animate and encourage each other and show the whole world that a freeman contending for .liberty on his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."* To the officers he recommended coolness in time of action, and to the soldiers strict attention and obedience, with a becoming firmness and spirit. He assured them that any officer, soldier, or corps, distinguished by any acts of extraordinary bravery, should most certainly meet with notice and rewards, whilst on the other hand those who should fail in the performance of their duty would as certainly be exposed and punished. Whilst preparations were making for the expected en gagement, intelligence was received of the repulse of the British squadron which had attacked Fort Moultrie. Washington availed himself of the occasion of communi cating this success to his army to add a spirit of emulation to the other motives which should impel them to manly exertions. "This glorious example of our troops," he said, " under the like circumstances with ourselves, the General hopes, will animate every officer and soldier to imitate and even to outdo them, when the enemy shall make the same attempt on us. With such a bright example before us of what can be done by brave men fighting in *This general order of Washington has been greatly admired, and frequently published, as a remarkably fine specimen of military eloquence. It is indeed fraught with the eloquence which is brought forth from a strong mind by a great emergency. LIFE AND TIMES. 917 defense of their country, we shall be loaded with a double share of shame and infamy if we do not acquit ourselves with courage, and manifest a determined resolution to conquer or die." As the crisis approached his anxiety increased. En deavoring to breathe into his army his own spirit, and to give them his own feeling, he thus addressed them: " The enemy's whole reinforcement is now arrived, so that an attack must and will soon be made. The General there fore again repeats his earnest request that every officer and soldier will have his arms and ammunition in good order; keep within his quarters and encampments as far as possi ble; be ready for action at a moment's call, and when called to it, remember that liberty, property, life, and honor, are all at stake; that upon their courage and conduct rest the hopes of their bleeding and insulted country; that their wives, children, and parents, expect safety from them only; and that we have every reason to believe that heaven will crown with success so just a cause. " The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but remember they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few brave Americans; their cause is bad; and if opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with our advantage of works and knowledge of the ground, the victory is most assuredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent and attentive, wait for orders, and reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution; of this the officers are to be particularly careful." He directed explicitly that any soldier who should at tempt to conceal himself, or retreat without orders, should instantly be shot down; and solemnly promised to notice and reward those who should distinguish themselves. Thus did he, by infusing those sentiments, which would stimulate to the greatest individual exertion, into every 918 WASHINGTON. bosom, endeavor to compensate for the want of arms, of discipline, and of numbers. As the defense of Long Island was intimately connected with that of New York, a brigade had been stationed at Brooklyn, a post capable of being maintained for a con siderable time. An extensive camp had been marked out and fortified at the same place. Brooklyn is situated on a small peninsula made by East river, the Bay, and Gowanus bay. The encampment fronted the mainland of the island, and the works stretched quite across the peninsula, from Wallabout bay in the East river on the left, to a deep marsh on a creek emptying into Gowanus bay on the right. The rear was covered and defended against an attack from the ships by strong batteries on Red Hook and on Governor's Island, which in a great measure com manded that part of the bay, and by other batteries on East river, which kept open the communication with York Island. In front of the camp was a range of hills covered with thick woods, which extended from east to west nearly the breadth of the island, and across which were three different roads leading to Brooklyn Ferry. These hills though steep were everywhere passable by infantry. The movements of General Howe indicating an inten tion to make his first attack on Long Island, General Sulli van was strongly reinforced. Early in the morning of the 22d of August (1776), the principal part of the British army, under command of General Clinton, landed under cover of the guns of the fleet, and extended from the ferry at the Narrows, through Utrecht and Gravesend, to Flat- lands. Confident that an engagement must soon take place, Washington made still another effort to inspire his troops with the most determined courage. " The enemy," said he LIFE AND TIMES. 919 in addressing them, " have now landed on Long Island, and the hour is fast approaching on which the honor and suc cess of this army and the safety of our bleeding country depend. Remember, officers and soldiers, that you are freemen, fighting for the blessings of liberty that slavery will be your portion and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves like men." He repeated his instructions respecting their conduct in action, and con cluded with the most animating and encouraging exhorta tions. Major-General Putnam was now directed to take com mand at Brooklyn with a reinforcement of six regiments; and he was charged most earnestly by the Commander- in-Chief to be in constant readiness for an attack, and to guard the woods between the two camps with his best troops. This order was obeyed with great alacrity, as the active and indefatigable veteran was heartily tired of his monotonous life in the city. Washington had passed the day at Brooklyn making arrangements for the approaching action, and at night had returned to New York. The Hessians, under General De Heister, composed the center of the British army at Flatbush; Major-General Grant commanded the left wing which extended to the coast, and the greater part of the British forces under General Clinton, Earl Percy, and Lord Cornwallis, turned short to the right and approached the opposite coast of Flatlands. The two armies were now separated from each other by the range of hills already mentioned. The British center at Flatbush was scarcely four miles distant from the American lines at Brooklyn, and a direct road led across the heights from the one to the other. Another road, rather more circuitous than the first, led from Flatbush 920 WASHINGTON. by the way of Bedford, a small village on the Brooklyn side of the hills. The right and left wing of the British army were nearly equidistant from the American works, and about five or six miles from them. The road leading from the Narrows along the coast and by the way of Gowanus Cove afforded the most direct route to their left; and their right might either return by the way of Flatbush and unite with the center, or take a more cir cuitous course and enter a road leading from Jamaica to Bedford. These several roads united between Bedford and Brooklyn, a small distance in front of the American lines. The direct road from Flatbush to Brooklyn was de fended by a fort which the Americans had constructed in the hills, and the coast and Bedford roads were guarded by detachments posted on the hills within view of the British camp. Light parties of volunteers were directed to patrol on the road leading from Jamaica to Bedford, about two miles from which near Flatbush, Colonel Miles of Pennsylvania was stationed with a regiment of riflemen. The convention of New York had directed a small body of militia to be assembled on the high grounds near the enemy, under the command of General Woodhull, for the purpose of interrupting their communication with their numerous friends in that neighborhood; but he was not placed under the orders of the regular officer commanding on the island. About 9 at night, General Clinton silently drew off the van of the British army across the country, in order to seize a pass in the heights about three miles east of Bed ford, on the Jamaica road.* In the morning (August 26, * The arrangements for guarding against surprise at this point were very incomplete, and the neglect to occupy it with a strong force led to the most disastrous consequences. " Moat unfortu nately, General Greene was seized with a violent fever about the LIFE AND TIMES. 921 1776), about two hours before daybreak, within half a mile of the pass, his patrols fell in with and captured one of the American parties which had been stationed on this road. Learning, to his great surprise, from his prisoners that the pass was unoccupied, General Clinton immediately seized it; and on the appearance of day the whole column passed the heights, and advanced into the level country between them and Brooklyn. Before Clinton had secured the passes on the road from Jamaica, General Grant advanced along the coast at the head of the left wing with ten pieces of cannon. As his first object was to draw the attention of the Americans from their left, he moved slowly, skirmishing as he ad vanced with the light parties stationed on that road. This movement was soon communicated to General Putnam, who reinforced the parties which had been ad vanced in front; and as General Grant continued to gain ground, still stronger detachments were employed in this service. About 3 in the morning, Brigadier-General Lord Stirling was directed to meet the enemy, with the two nearest regiments, on the road leading from the Narrows. Major-General Sullivan, who commanded all the troops without the lines, advanced at the head of a strong detachment on the road leading directly to Flat- middle of August, and the command devolved on General Putnam, whose want of thorough knowledge of the ground led to the Jamaica road being left without sufficient protection, and most un happily afforded the British commander an opportunity of assault ing the Americans in front and rear at the same time. In the confusion and want of discipline which prevailed, the orders to watch and guard the passes were imperfectly obeyed; and, as Wash ington apprehended, the chances of success were greatly in favor of the enemy." Spencer, History of the United States. 923 WASHINGTON. bush, while another detachment occupied the heights be tween that place and Bedford. About the break of day (August 27), Lord Stirling reached the summit of the hills, where he was joined by the troops which had been already engaged, and were retiring slowly before the enemy, who almost immediately appeared in sight. A warm cannonade was commenced on both sides, which continued for several hours; and some sharp, but not very close, skirmishing took place between the infantry. Lord Stirling, being anxious only to defend the pass he guarded, could not descend in force from the heights; and General Grant did not wish to drive him from them until that part of the plan, which had been intrusted to Sir Henry Clinton, should be executed. In the center, General De Heister, soon after daylight, began to cannonade the troops under General Sullivan, but did not move from his ground at Flatbush until the British right had approached the left and rear of the American line. In the meantime, in order the more effectu ally to draw their attention from the point where the grand attack was intended, the fleet was put in motion, and a heavy cannonade was commenced on the battery at Red Hook. About half-past 8, the British right having then reached Bedford, in the rear of Sullivan's left, General De Heister ordered Colonel Donop's corps to advance to the attack of the hill, following himself with the center of the army. The approach of Clinton was now discovered by the American left, which immediately endeavored to regain the camp at Brooklyn. While retiring from the woods by regiments, they encountered the front of the British. About the same time, the Hessians advanced from Flat- bush against that part of the detachment which occupied the direct road to Brooklyn. Here General Sullivan com- LIFE AND TIMES. 923 manded in person, but he found it difficult to keep his troops together long enough to sustain the first attack. The firing heard toward Bedford had disclosed the alarm ing fact that the British had turned their left flank, and were getting completely into their rear. Perceiving at once the full danger of their situation, they sought to escape it by regaining the camp with the utmost possible celerity. The sudden rout of this party enabled De Heister to detach a part of his force against those who were en gaged near Bedford. In that quarter too the Americans were broken and driven back into the woods; and the front of the column led by General Clinton continuing to move forward intercepted and engaged those who were retreating along the direct road from Flatbush. Thus attacked both in front and rear, and alternately driven by the British on the Hessians and by the Hessians back again on the British, a succession of skirmishes took place in the woods, in the course of which some parts of corps forced their way through the enemy and regained the lines of Brooklyn, and several individuals saved themselves under cover of the woods, but a great proportion of the detachment was killed or taken. The fugitives were pur sued up to the American works, and such is represented to have been the ardor of the British soldiers, that it required the authority of their cautious commander to prevent an immediate assault. The fire toward Brooklyn gave the first intimation to the American right that the enemy had gained the rear. Lord Stirling perceived the danger, and that he could only escape it by retreating instantly across the creek. This movement was immediately directed; and to secure it, his lordship determined to attack in person a British corps under Lord Cornwallis, stationed at a house rather above the place at which he intended to cross the creek. 924 WASHINGTON. About 400 men of Smallwood's regiment were drawn out for this purpose, and the attack was made with great spirit. This small corps was brought up several times to the charge, and Lord Stirling stated that he was on the point of dislodging Lord Cornwallis from his post; but the force in his front increasing, and General Grant also advancing on his rear, the brave men he commanded were no longer able to oppose the superior numbers which assailed them on every quarter. Upward of 250 of Small- wood's regiment were killed, and those who survived were, with their general, made prisoners of war. This attempt though unsuccessful gave an opportunity to a large part of the detachment to save themselves by crossing the creek. The loss sustained by the American army in this battle could not be accurately ascertained by either party. Num bers were supposed to have been drowned in the creek, or suffocated in the marsh, whose bodies were never found; and exact accounts from the militia are seldom to be obtained, as the list of the missing is always swelled by those who return to their homes. Washington did not admit it to exceed a thousand men; but in this estimate he must have included only the regular troops. In a letter written by Howe, the amount of prisoners is stated at 1,097, among whom were Major-General Sullivan, and Brigadiers Lord Stirling and Woodhull, by him named Udell. He computes the loss of the Americans at 3,300 men, but his computation is excessive. The actual loss of the Americans was about 2,000, including the killed, wounded, and prisoners. He supposes too that the troops engaged on the heights amounted to 10,000, but they could not have much exceeded half that number. His own loss is stated at 21 officers, and 346 privates killed, wounded, and taken. LIFE AND TIMES. 925 As the action became warm, Washington passed over to the camp at Brooklyn, where he saw with inexpressible anguish the destruction in which his best troops were involved, and from which it was impossible to extricate them. Should he attempt anything in their favor with the men remaining within the lines, it was probable the camp itself would be lost, and the whole division of his army destroyed. Should he bring over the remaining battalions from New York he would still be inferior in point of numbers, and his whole army, perhaps the fate of his country, might be staked on the issue of a single battle thus inauspiciously commenced. Compelled to be hold the carnage of his troops, without being able to assist them, his efforts were directed to the preservation of those which remained. Believing the Americans to be much stronger than they were in reality, and unwilling to commit anything to hazard, General Howe made no immediate attempt to force their lines. He encamped in front of them, and on the 28th, at night, broke ground in form, within 600 yards of a redoubt on the left. In this critical state of things a retreat seemed unavoid able; every moment was precious, since a sudden shift of wind, by bringing the British fleet between Brooklyn and New York, would cut off the possibility of escape. It was known besides, that Clinton was threatening to send part of his army across the Sound, thus menacing New York. Washington called a council of war, at which it was resolved to retreat with the troops at once. The hour of 8 in the evening of the 2Qth of August was fixed upon for the embarkation. Everything had been prepared, and the troops were ready to march down, but the force of the wind and ebb tide delayed them for some hours, and seemed as if it would entirely frustrate the enterprise. 926 WASHINGTON. The enemy, toiling hard at the approaches, were now so near that the blows of their pickaxes and instruments could be distinctly heard, while the noise of these opera tions deadened all sound of the American movements, which were carried on in the deepest silence. About 2 in the morning, a thick fog settling over Long Island pre vented all sight of what was going on, and the wind shift ing round to the southwest, the soldiers entered the boats and were rapidly transferred to the opposite shore. So complete were the arrangements that almost all the artil lery, with the provisions, horses, wagons, and ammunition, safely crossed over to New York. Washington, who for forty-eight hours had hardly been off his horse and never closed his eyes, though repeatedly entreated, refused to enter a boat until all the troops were embarked, and crossed the river in the last boat of all.* Washington, leaving a considerable force in the city of New York, encamped with the main body on Harlem Heights, at the northern end of the island; he was also prepared to retreat into Westchester county, if need be. The British had entire possession of Long Island ; the ships of war anchored within cannon shot of the city; and Howe was gradually making his arrangements to pursue the dispirited and defeated American troops. It was under no ordinary suffering of mind that Wash- *The service of managing the boats was performed by Marble- head fishermen. Otherwise the result might have been widely dif ferent. " Colonel Glover, who belonged to Marblehead, was called upon with the whole of his regiment fit for duty to take the com mand of the vessels and flat-bottomed boats. Most of the men were formerly employed in the fishery, and so peculiarly well quali fied for the service. The colonel went over himself from New York to give directions; and, about 7 o'clock at night, officers and men went to work with a spirit and resolution peculiar to that corps." Gordon's History of the American Revolution. LIFE AND TIMES. 927 ington addressed the President of Congress on the 2d of September (1776): "Our situation is truly distressing. The check our detachment sustained on the 27th ultimo has dispirited too great a proportion of our troops and filled their minds with apprehension and despair. The militia, instead of calling forth their utmost efforts to a brave and manly opposition, in order to repair our losses, are dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return. Great numbers of them have gone off; in some instances almost by whole regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a time. This circumstance of itself, independent of others, when fronted by a well-appointed enemy, superior in num ber to our whole collected force, would be sufficiently dis agreeable; but, when their example has infected another part of the army, when their want of discipline and refusal of almost every kind of restraint and government have produced a like conduct but too common to the whole, and an entire disregard of that order and subordination necessary to the well-doing of an army, and which had been inculcated before as well as the nature of our mili tary establishment would admit of our condition be comes still more alarming; and, with the deepest concern, I am obliged to confess my want of confidence in the gen erality of the troops." This unfortunate state of things induced Washington again to repeat the opinion, which he had so often ex pressed to Congress, that little reliance could be placed on soldiers enlisted for short periods. The only means of preserving the liberties of the country he considered to be the enlistment of troops to serve during the whole war. The British commanders did not seem to be in haste to press the advantage they had gained by the battle of Long Island. On the contrary, they considered the present a favorable time for a fresh attempt at pacification. To ac- 938 WASHINGTON". compHsh this object, General Sullivan, who had been taken pri&oner on Long Island, was immediately sent on parole, with the following verbal message from Lord Howe to Congress: "That though he could not at present treat with them in that character, yet he was very desirous of having a conference with some of the members, whom he would consider as private gentlemen; that he, with his brother, the General, had full powers to compromise the dispute between Great Britain and America, upon terms advantageous to both; that he wished a compact might be settled, at a time when no decisive blow was struck, and neither party could say it was compelled to enter into such agreement; that were they disposed to treat, many things which they had not yet asked might and ought to be granted, and that if upon conference they found any probable ground of accommodation, the authority of Con gress would be afterward acknowledged to render the treaty complete." Three days after this message was received, General Sullivan was requested to inform Lord Howe " that Con gress, being the representatives of the free and independ ent States of America, cannot with propriety send any of their members to confer with his lordship in their pri vate characters; but that, ever desirous of establishing peace on reasonable terms, they will send a committee of their body to know whether he has any authority to treat with persons authorized by Congress for that purpose, on behalf of America, and what that authority is, and to hear such propositions as he shall think fit to make respecting the same." They elected Dr. Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge their committee for this purpose. In a few days they met Lord Howe on Staten Island, and were received with great politeness. On their return they made a re- LIFE AND TIMES. 929 port of their conference, which they summed up by saying: " It did not appear to your committee that his lordship's commission contained any other authority than that ex pressed in the act of Parliament namely, that of grant ing pardons, with such exceptions as the commissioners shall think proper to make, and of declaring America, or any part of it, to be in the King's peace on submission; for as to the power of inquiring into the state of America, which his lordship mentioned to us, and of conferring and consulting with any persons the commissioners might think proper, and representing the result of such conversation to the ministry, who, provided the Colonies would subject themselves, might after all, or might not, at their pleasure, make any alterations in the former instructions to gov ernors, or propose in Parliament any amendment of the acts complained of, we apprehended any expectation from the effect of such a power would have been too uncertain and precarious to be relied on by America, had she still continued in her state of dependence." Lord Howe had ended the conference on his part by expressing his regard for America and the extreme pain he would suffer in being obliged to distress those whom he so much regarded. Dr. Franklin thanked him for his regards, and assured him " that the Americans would show their gratitude by endeavoring to lessen as much as possible all pain he might feel on their account by exert ing their utmost abilities in taking good care of them selves." The committee in every respect maintained the dignity of Congress. Their conduct and sentiments were such as became their character. The friends to independence re joiced that nothing resulted from this interview that might disunite the people. Congress, trusting to the good sense of their countrymen, ordered the whole to be printed for 59 93Q WASHINGTON. their information. All the States would have then re joiced at less beneficial terms than they obtained about seven years after. But Great Britain counted on the cer tainty of their absolute conquest or unconditional sub mission. Her offers therefore comported so little with the feelings of America that they neither caused demur nor disunion among the new-formed States. While Lord Howe's conciliatory propositions to Con gress were under discussion, hostilities advanced slowly; but Tory emissaries were constantly sent into the coun try to detach as many of the people as possible from the cause of freedom by representing the great danger in curred by attempting to resist the powerful fleet and army which were to carry all before them, and by offers of par don and reward to all deserters. As in all political dis putes, many were hesitating which party to join. The system adopted by the enemy was retaliated. While the British, by their manifestoes and declarations, were endeavoring to separate those who preferred a re conciliation with Great Britain from those who were friends of independence, Congress, by a similar policy, was attempting to detach the foreigners who had come with the royal troops from the service of His Brittanic Majesty. Before hostilities had commenced the following resolution was adopted and circulated among those on whom it was intended to operate : " Resolved, that these States will receive all such foreigners who shall leave the armies of His Brittanic Majesty in America, and shall choose to become members of any of these States, and they shall be protected in the free exercise of their respective religions, and be invested with the rights, privileges, and immuni ties of natives, as established by the laws of these States, and moreover that this Congress will provide for every such person fifty acres of unappropriated lands in some of LIFE AND TIMES. 931 these States, to be held by him and his heirs as absolute property." Washington, in a letter to Congress of the 26th of Au gust, refers to these offers. " The papers/' he says, " de signed for the foreign troops have been put into several channels in order that they might be conveyed to them; and from the information I had yesterday I have reason to believe many have fallen into their hands." Franklin was one of the committee for carrying the resolutions into effect, and one of the expedients adopted was worthy his ingenuity. In a letter to General Gates* he says: "The Congress being advised that there was a probability that the Hessians might be induced to quit the British service by offers of land, they came to two resolves for this pur pose, which, being translated into German and printed, are to be sent to Staten Island to be distributed, if prac ticable, among that people. Some of them have tobacco marks on the back, that so tobacco being put in them in small quantities, as the tobacconists use, and suffered to fall into the hands of these people, they might divide the papers as plunder before their officers could come to the knowledge of the contents and prevent their being read by the men. That was the first resolve. A second has since been made for the officers themselves. I am desired to send some of both sorts to you that, if you find it prac ticable, you may convey them among the Germans who may come against you." Our narrative has now brought us near the close of the summer of 1776, a period when the position of Washington was nearly the reverse of what it had been at the same season of the preceding year. Then he was besieging the British in Boston. Now they were endeavoring to entrap him in New York. We shall presently see that his strat egy was far superior to theirs. * Sparks, " Writings of Washington," vol. IV, p. 67. CHAPTER VII. WASHINGTON CROSSES THE HUDSON. 1776. AFTER the disastrous battle of Long Island the situ- "' ation of Washington in New York was one of the most trying in which he had ever been placed. He was not only embarrassed by doubt as to the enemy's in tentions and by the weakness, discontent, and positive misconduct of the army, but by the clamors of that noisy portion of the community called " the public," who were incapable of estimating the difficulties of his position or the motives of his conduct. Before the British landed it was impossible to tell what place would be first attacked. This made it necessary to erect works for the defense of a variety of places as well as of New York. Though everything was abandoned when the crisis came that either the city must be relin quished or the army risked for its defense, yet, from the delays occasioned by the redoubts and other works, which had been erected on the idea of making the defense of the States a war of posts, a whole campaign was lost to the British and saved to the Americans. The year began with hopes that Great Britain would recede from her demands, and therefore every plan of defense was on a temporary system. The Declaration of Independence, which the violence of Great Britain forced the Colonies to adopt in July, though neither foreseen nor intended at the com mencement of the year, pointed out the necessity of or- (932) LIFE AND TIMES. 933 ganizing an army, on new terms, corresponding to the enlarged objects for which they had resolved to contend. Congress accordingly determined some time after (Sep tember 1 6, 1776) to raise eighty-eight battalions, to serve during the war. Under these circumstances, to wear away the campaign with as little misfortune as possible, and thereby to gain time for raising a permanent army against the next year, was to the Americans a matter of the last importance. Though Washington abandoned those works, which had engrossed much time and attention, yet the advantage resulting from the delays they occasioned far overbalanced the expense incurred by their erection. The same short-sighted politicians who had before cen sured Washington for his cautious conduct in not storm ing the British lines at Boston renewed their clamors against him for adopting this evacuating and retreating system. Supported by a consciousness of his own integ rity and by a full conviction that these measures were best calculated for securing the independence of America, he, for the good of his country, voluntarily subjected his fame to be overshadowed by a temporary cloud. We now re turn to the events of the tedious and difficult, though, in its results, successful campaign. The British army, now in full possession of Long Island, was posted from Bedford to Hell Gate, and thus fronted and threatened New York from its extreme southern point to the part opposite the northern boundary of Long Island, a small distance below the Heights of Harlem, comprehending a space of about nine miles. Immediately after the victory at Brooklyn expositions were made by the enemy to attack New York, and a part of the fleet sailed round Long Island and appeared in the Sound. Two frigates passed up the East river without receiving any injury from the batteries, and anchored be- 934 WASHINGTON. hind a small island, which protected them from the Ameri can artillery. At the same time, the main body of the fleet lay at anchor close in with Governor's Island, from which the American troops had been withdrawn, ready to pass up either the North or East rivers, or both, and act against any part of the island. These movements indicated a disposition not to make an attack directly on New York, as had been expected, but to land near Kingsbridge and take a position which would cut off the communication of the American army with the country. Aware of the danger of his situation, General Washing ton began to remove such stores as were not immediately necessary, and called a council of war to decide whether New York should be at once abandoned or longer de fended. Some of the general officers who composed the council were in favor of evacuating the city at once, assigning as reasons the possibility of its being speedily bombarded by the fleet, the distance of the different parts of the army from each other, its extremes being not less than sixteen miles apart, and the advantage to be gained by concen trating the army, preserving the stores and heavy artillery, and depriving the enemy of the advantage of their ships. Putnam and Washington himself held these views. Gen eral Greene, detained from the council by sickness, in a letter to Washington, dated September 5th (1776), went still further and recommended the burning of the city, assigning, among other reasons for this proceeding, that two-thirds of the city and suburbs belonged to Tories. Other members of the council were for holding the city till the army was absolutely driven out. General MifBin, in a letter, assigned as a reason for this opinion that the acquisition of New York would give great eclat to the LIFE AND TIMES. 935 arms of Great Britain, afford the soldiers good quarters, and furnish a safe harbor for the fleet.* In his letter, communicating to Congress the result of this council, which was against an immediate evacuation, Washington manifested a conviction of the necessity of that measure, though he yielded to that necessity with reluctance. Speaking of the enemy, he observed: " It is now extremely obvious from their movements, from our intelligence, and from every other circumstance that, having their whole army upon Long Island, except about 4,000 men who remain on Staten Island, they mean to inclose us in this island by taking post in our rear, while their ships effectually secure the front; and thus, by cutting off our communication with the country, oblige us to fight them on their own terms or surrender at dis cretion; or, if that shall be deemed more advisable, by a brilliant stroke enieavor to cut this army to pieces and secure the possession of arms and stores which they well know our inability to replace. " Having their system unfolded to us, it becomes an important consideration how it could be most successfully opposed. On every side there is a choice of difficulties, and experience teaches us that every measure on our part (however painful the reflection) must be taken with some apprehension that all our troops will not do their duty. " In deliberating upon this great question," he added, " it was impossible to forget that history, our own experi ence, the advice of our ablest friends in Europe, the fears of the enemy, and even the declarations of Congress demonstrate that on our side the war should be defensive * It was at this time that Washington called on Colonel Knowlton to find a suitable person to cross to Long Island to learn something of the enemy's intentions and through him obtained the services of Nathan Hale. WASHINGTON. (it has ever been called a war of posts); that we should on all occasions, 'avoid a general action, nor put anything to the risk unless compelled by necessity, into which we ought never to be drawn." After communicating the decision which had been made by the council of officers, he stated the opinion of those who were in favor of an immediate evacuation with such force as to confirm the belief that it remained his own. The majority, who overruled this opinion, did not ex pect to be able to defend the. city permanently, but to de fer the time of losing it, in the hope of wasting so much of the campaign before General Howe could obtain posses sion of it as to prevent his undertaking anything further until the following year. They therefore advised a middle course between abandoning the town absolutely and con centrating their whole strength for its defense. This was to form the army into three division, one of which should remain in New York, the second be stationed at Kings- bridge, and the third occupy the intermediate space, so as to support either extreme. The sick were to be immediately removed to Orange in New Jersey. A belief that Con gress was inclined to maintain New York at every hazard, and a dread of the unfavorable impression which its evacu ation might make on the people, seem to have had great influence in producing the determination to defend the place a short time longer. This opinion was soon changed. The movements of the British General indicated clearly an intention either to break their line of communication or to inclose the whole army in New York. His dispositions were alike calculated to favor the one or the other of those objects. Washington, who had continued to employ himself assid uously in the removal of the military stores to a place of safety, called a second council to deliberate on the further LIFE AND TIMES. 937 defense of the city, which determined, by a large majority, that it had become not only prudent, but absolutely neces sary, to withdraw the army from New York. In consequence of this determination Brigadier-General Mercer, who commanded the flying camp on the Jersey shore, was directed to move up the North river to Fort Lee, the post opposite Fort Washington, and every effort was used to expedite the removal of the stores. On the morning of the I5th (September, 1776), three ships-of-war proceeded up the North river as high as Bloomingdale, a movement which entirely stopped the further removal of stores by water. About n o'clock on the same day Sir Henry Clinton, with a division of 4,000 men, who had embarked at the head of Newtown bay, where they had lain concealed from the view of the troops posted on York Island, proceeded through that bay into the East river, which he crossed; and, under cover of the fire of five men-of-war, landed at a place called Kipp's bay, about three miles above New York. The works thrown up to oppose a landing at this place were of considerable strength and capable of being de fended for some time, but the troops abandoned them without waiting to be attacked and fled with precipita tion. On the commencement of the cannonade, General Washington ordered the brigades of Parsons and Fellowes to the support of the troops posted in the lines, and rode toward the scene of action. The panic of those who had fled from the works was communicated to the troops or dered to sustain them, and the Commander-in-Chief had the extreme mortification to meet the whole party retreat ing in the utmost disorder, totally regardless of the efforts made by their generals to stop their disgraceful flight. Whilst Washington was exerting himself to rally them a small corps of the enemy appeared, and they again broke 938 WASHINGTON. and fled in confusion. Though the British in sight did not exceed sixty, he could not, either by example, en treaty, or authority, prevail on a superior force to stand their ground and face that inconsiderable number. Such dastardly conduct raised a tempest in the usually tranquil mind of Washington. Having embarked in the cause from the purest principles, he viewed with infinite concern this shameful behavior as threatening ruin to his country; and impressed with these ideas, he hazarded his person for some considerable time in the rear of his own men and in front of the enemy, with his horse's head toward the latter, as if in expectation that by an honorable death he might escape the infamy he dreaded from the dastardly conduct of troops on whom he could place no dependence. His aides and the confidential friends around his person, by indirect violence, compelled him to retire. In conse quence of their address and importunity a life was saved for public service which otherwise, from a sense of honor seemed to be devoted to almost certain destruction. The troops who fled on this occasion amounted in all to eight regiments. They took refuge in the encampment of the main body at Harlem Plains. In consequence of their misconduct in not resisting the landing of the British, General Putnam, who held the com mand in New York, was compelled to make a hasty re treat from the city, losing 15 men killed and 300 taken prisoners. Most of the heavy cannon and a large amount of baggage, stores, and provisions fell into the hands of the enemy. Washington now drew all his forces together within the lines on Harlem Heights, and fixed his headquarters at Colonel Roger Morris's house, near Mount Washington, ten miles from New York. While he was occupying this position Washington paid LIFE AND TIMES. 939 much attention to the fortifying of his line by redoubts and intrenchments. In his rounds for the personal inspection of the works he observed some which were constructed with an unusual degree of science and skill, and on in quiring for the engineer who had planned them he was introduced to Alexander Hamilton, then a captain of artil lery. Washington at once entered into conversation with this talented young officer, invited him to his marquee, and then and there commenced a lifelong friendship, the re sults of which were not less important to the country than to themselves. " When the Americans were withdrawn from the city," says Gordon, " and no prospect of action remained, the British generals repaired to the house of Mr. Robert Mur ray, a gentleman of the Quaker persuasion. The lady of the house being at home entertained them most civilly with what served for, or was, cakes and wine. They were well pleased with the entertainment and tarried there near two hours or more, Governor Tryon seasoning the repast at times by joking Mrs. Murray about her American friends, for she was known to be a steady advocate for the liberties of the country. Meanwhile the Hessians and British, except a strong corps which marched down the road to take possession of the city, remained upon their arms inactive, which gave General Putnam the oppor tunity of escaping. Nothing could have been easier how ever than to have prevented it. A good body of troops, with two field pieces, in about twenty minutes, more or less, could have taken such a position as would neces sarily have cut off Putnam's retreat. Colonel Grayson repeatedly said, speaking humorously, ' Mrs. Murray saved the American army/ " The royal troops, on entering the city, were warmly received by the Tories. The state of feeling existing be- 940 WASHINGTON. tween the two hostile parties was fearfully exemplified by means of an accident that occurred a few nights after the occupation. This was a fire, which broke out in the dead of the night of September 2ist (1776), and owing to the drouth of the season and a strong south wind increased with alarming rapidity. Upward of 1,000 buildings, Trin ity Church among the number, were consumecl, and but for the exertions of the soldiers and sailors the whole city would probably have been destroyed. In the excited state of party feeling it was said that the " Sons of Liberty " were the incendiaries, with a view to drive out the army, and several suspected persons were hurled into the blazing buildings by the British soldiers. Having taken possession of New York, General Howe stationed a few troops in the town, and with the main body of his army encamped near the American lines. His right was at Keren's Hook, on the East river, and his left reached the North river near Bloomingdale, so that his encampment extended quite across the island, which is, in this place, scarcely two miles wide, and both his flanks were covered by his ships. The strongest point of the American lines was at Kings- bridge, both sides of which had been carefully fortified. M'Gowan's Pass and Morris's Heights were also occu pied in considerable force and rendered capable of being defended against superior numbers. A strong detach ment was posted in an intrenched camp on the Heights of Harlem, within about a mile and a half of the British lines. This position of the armies favored the views of Washington. He wished to habituate his soldiers, by a series of successful skirmishes, to meet the enemy in the field. Opportunities to make the experiments he wished were soon afforded. The day after the retreat from New York LIFE AND TIMES. 941 the British appeared in considerable force in the plains between the two camps, and Washington immediately rode to his advanced posts, in order to make in person such arrangements as this movement might require. Soon after his arrival Colonel Knowlton, who, at the head of a corps of rangers, had been skirmishing with this party, came in and stated their numbers on conjecture at about 300 men, the main body being concealed in a wood. Washington ordered Colonel Knowlton with his rang ers and Major Leitch with three companies of the Third Virginia regiment, which had joined the army only the preceding day, to gain their rear, while he amused them with the appearance of making dispositions to attack their front. This plan succeeded. The British ran eagerly down a hill in order to possess themselves of some fences and bushes, which presented an advantageous position against the party expected in front; and a firing commenced, but at too great a distance to do any execution. In the mean time Colonel Knowlton, not being precisely acquainted with their new position, made his attack rather on their flank than rear, and a warm action ensued. In a short time Major Leitch, who had led the detach ment with great intrepidity, was brought off the ground mortally wounded, having received three balls through his body, and soon afterward the gallant Colonel Knowl ton also fell. Not discouraged by the loss of their field officers, the captains maintained their ground and con tinued the action with great animation. The British were reinforced, and Washington ordered some detachments from the adjacent regiments of New England and Mary land to the support of the Americans. Thus reinforced, they made a gallant charge, drove the enemy out of the 943 WASHINGTON. wood into the plain, and were pressing him still further, when Washington, content with the present advantage, called back his troops to their intrenchments. In this sharp conflict (September 16, 1776) the loss of the Americans in killed and wounded did not exceed fifty men. The British lost more than double that num ber. But the real importance of the affair was derived from its operation on the spirits of the whole army. It was the first success they had obtained during this cam paign, and its influence was very discernible. To give it the more effect, Washington, in his orders, publicly thanked the troops who had first advanced on the enemy and the others who had so resolutely supported them. He contrasted their conduct with that which had been exhibited the day before, and the result, he said, evidenced what might be done where officers and soldiers would exert themselves. Once more therefore he called upon them so to act as not to disgrace the noble cause in which they were engaged. He appointed a successor to " the gallant and brave Colonel Knowlton, who would," he said, " have been an honor to any country, and who had fallen gloriously, fighting at his post." In this active part of the campaign, when the utmost stretch of every faculty was required to watch and counter act the plans of a skillful and powerful enemy, the effects of the original errors committed by Congress in its mili tary establishment were beginning to be so seriously felt as to compel the Commander-in-Chief to devote a portion of his time and attention to the complete removal of the causes which produced them. The situation was becoming extremely critical. The almost entire dissolution of the existing army, by the ex piration of the time for which the greater number of the troops had been engaged, was fast approaching. No steps LIFE AND TIMES. 943 had been taken to recruit the new regiments which Con- gress had resolved to raise for the ensuing campaign, and there was much reason to apprehend that in the actual state of things the terms offered would not hold forth sufficient inducements to fill them. With so unpromising a prospect before him, Washing ton found himself pressed by an army permanent in its establishment, supplied with every requisite of war, for midable for its discipline and the experience of its leaders, and superior to him in numbers. These circumstances, and the impressions they created, will be best exhibited by an extract from a letter written at the time to Congress. It is in these words: " From the hours allotted to sleep I will borrow a few moments to convey my thoughts on sundry important matters to Congress. I shall offer them with that sincerity which ought to characterize a man of candor, and with the freedom which may be used in giving useful information, without incurring the imputation of presumption. " We are now, as it were, upon the eve of another disso lution of our army. The remembrance of the difficulties which happened upon that occasion last year, the conse quences which might have followed the change if proper advantages had been taken by the enemy, added to a knowledge of the present temper and disposition of the troops, reflect but a very gloomy prospect upon the ap pearance of things now, and satisfy me, beyond the pos sibility of doubt, that unless some speedy and effectual measures are adopted by Congress our cause will be lost. " It is in vain to expect that any, or more than a trifling part of this army, will engage again in the service, on the encouragement offered by Congress. When men find that their townsmen and companions are receiving twenty, thirty, and more dollars, for a few months' service (which 944: WASHINGTON. is truly the case), this cannot be expected without using compulsion; and to force them into the service would answer no valuable purpose. When men are irritated and their passions inflamed they fly hastily and cheerfully to arms, but after the first emotions are over, to expect among such people as compose the bulk of an army that they are influenced by any other motives than those of interest is to look for what never did, and, I fear, never will, happen; the Congress will deceive themselves there fore if they expect it. "A soldier, reasoned with upon the goodness of the cause he is engaged in, and the inestimable rights he is contending for, hears you with patience and acknowledges the truth of your observations, but adds that it is of no more consequence to him than to others. The officer makes you the same reply, with this further remark, that his pay will not support him, and he cannot ruin himself and family to serve his country, when every member of the community is equally benefited and interested by his labors. The few therefore who act upon principles of dis interestedness are, comparatively speaking, no more than a drop in the ocean. It becomes evidently clear then that as this contest is not likely to become the work of a day; as the war must be carried on systematically; and to do it you must have good officers, there is, in my judgment, no other possible means to obtain them but by establish ing your army upon a permanent footing and giving your officers good pay. This will induce gentlemen and men of character to engage, and, until the bulk of your officers are composed of such persons as are actuated by princi ples of honor and a spirit of enterprise, you have little to expect from them. They ought to have such allow ances as will enable them to live like and support the char acter of gentlemen, and not be driven by a scanty pittance LIFE AND TIMES. 945 to the low and dirty arts which many of them practice, to filch the public of more than the difference of pay would amount to upon an ample allowance. Besides, something is due to the man who puts his life in your hands, hazards his health, and forsakes the sweets of domestic enjoy ments. Why a captain in the Continental service should receive no more than five shilling currency per day for performing the same duties that an officer of the same rank in the British service receives ten shillings sterling for I never could conceive, especially when the latter is provided with every necessary he requires, upon the best terms, and the former can scarcely procure them at any rate. There is nothing that gives a man consequence and renders him fit for command like a support that renders him independent of everybody but the State he serves. " With respect to the men, nothing but a good bounty can obtain them upon a permanent establishment, and for no shorter time than the continuance of the war ought they to be engaged, as facts incontestably prove that the difficulty and cost of enlistments increase with time. When the army was first raised at Cambridge, I am persuaded the men might have been got without a bounty for the war;* after that they began to see that the contest was not likely to end so speedily as was imagined, and to feel their consequence, by remarking that to get their militia, in the course of the last year, many towns were induced to *We have already had occasion to remark that Congress and the people were extremely jealous of military power, and this was the reason for refusing to make long enlistments. They were afraid of a standing army. The example of Cromwell, displacing the Long Parliament, was comparatively recent ; and the members of Congress were well read in British history. Washington asked Congress for a permanent army during the siege of Boston, but could not obtain it. They were at last forced, by dire necessity, into enlistments to last during the war. 60 946 WASHINGTON. give them a bounty. Foreseeing the evils resulting from this, and the destructive consequences which would un avoidably follow short enlistments, I took the liberty, in a long letter (date not now recollected, as my letter-book is not here), to recommend the enlistments for and during the war, assigning such reasons for it as experience has since convinced me were well founded. At that time $20 would, I am persuaded, have engaged the men for this term; but it will not do to look back and if the present opportunity is slipped I am persuaded that twelve months more will increase our difficulties fourfold. I shall there fore take the liberty of giving it as my opinion that a good bounty be immediately offered, aided by the proffer of at least loo or 150 acres of land, and a suit of clothes and a blanket to each noncommissioned officer and soldier, as I have good authority for saying that however high the men's pay may appear, it is barely sufficient, in the present scarcity and dearness of all kinds of goods, to keep them in clothes, much less to afford support to their families. If this encouragement then is given to the men, and such pay allowed to the officers as will induce gentlemen of lib eral character and liberal sentiments to engage, and proper care and caution be used in the nomination (having more regard to the characters of persons than the number of men they can enlist), we should, in a little time, have an army able to cope with any that can be opposed to it, as there are excellent materials to form one out of; but whilst the only merit an officer possesses is -his ability to raise men, whilst those men consider and treat him as an equal, and, in the character of an officer, regard him no more than a broomstick, being mixed together as one common herd, no order nor discipline can prevail, nor will the offi- LIFE AND TIMES. 947 cer ever meet with that respect which is essentially neces sary to due subordination.* " To place any dependence upon militia is assuredly resting upon a broken staff. Men just dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life, unaccustomed to the din of arms, totally unacquainted with every kind of military skill, which, being followed by a want of confidence in themselves, when opposed to troops regularly trained, disciplined, and appointed superior in knowledge and superior in arms makes them timid and ready to fly from their own shadows. Besides, the sudden change in their manner of living, particularly in their lodging, brings on sickness in many, impatience in all, and such an uncon querable desire of returning to their respective homes that it not only produces shameful and scandalous desertions among themselves, but infuses the like spirit into others. Again, men accustomed to unbounded freedom and no control cannot brook the restraint which is indispensably necessary to the good order and government of an army; without which, licentiousness and every kind of disorder triumphantly reign. To bring men to a proper degree of subordination is not the work of a day, a month, or a year; and, unhappily for us and the cause we are engaged in, the little discipline I have been laboring to establish in the army under my immediate command is in a manner done away by having such a mixture of troops as have been called together within these few months. "f * In the recent disgraceful affair, on the landing of the British at Kipp's bay, the officers had set the example of running away. Washington's vivid recollection of this scene must have influenced him in the above remarks. t Remarks similar to these and almost in the same language, with respect to the feelings of the militia, occur in a letter of General Greene's, written about the same time. Both letters sug gest to the reader's mind a host of appalling difficulties surround ing Washington and embarrassing the operations of all the leading officers of the army. 948 WASHINGTON. The frequent remonstrances of Washington, the opin ions of all military men, and the severe but correcting hand of experience had at length produced some effect on the government of the Union; and soon after the defeat on Long Island Congress had directed the committee com posing the board of war to prepare a plan of operations for the next campaign. Their report proposed a perma nent army, to be enlisted for the war, and to be raised by the several States, in proportion to their ability. A bounty of $20 was offered to each recruit, and small portions of land to every officer and soldier. The resolutions adopting this report were received by Washington soon after the transmission of the foregoing letter. Believing the inducements they held forth for the completion of the army to be still insufficient, he, in his letter acknowledging the receipt of them, urged, in the most serious terms, the necessity of raising the pay of the officers and the bounty offered to recruits: " Give me leave to say, sir," he observed, " I say it with due deference and respect (and my knowledge of the facts, added to the importance of the cause and the stake I hold it in must justify the freedom), that your affairs are in a more unpromising way than you seem to apprehend. " Your army, as mentioned in my last, is upon the eve of political dissolution. True it is, you have voted a larger one in lieu of it, but the season is late and there is a ma terial difference between voting battalions and raising men. In the latter there are more difficulties than Con gress seem aware of, which makes it my duty (as I have been informed of the prevailing sentiments of this army) to inform them that unless the pay of the officers (especi ally that of the field officers) is raised, the chief part of those that are worth retaining will leave the service at the expiration of the present term; as the soldiers will also if LIFE AND TIMES. 949 some greater encouragement is not offered them than $20 and 100 acres of land." After urging in strong terms the necessity of a more liberal compensation to the army, and stating that the British were actually raising a regiment with a bounty of 10 sterling for each recruit, he added: " When the pay and establishment of an officer once become objects of interested attention, the sloth, negli gence, and even disobedience of orders, which at this time but too generally prevail, will be purged off; but while the service is viewed with indifference, while the officer conceives that he is rather conferring than receiving an obligation, there will be a total relaxation of all order and discipline, and everything will move heavily on, to the great detriment of the service and inexpressible trouble and vexation of the General. " The critical situation of our affairs at this time will justify my saying that no time is to be lost in making fruit less experiments. An unavailing trial of a month, to get an army upon the terms proposed, may render it impracti cable to do it at all and prove fatal to our cause, as I am not sure whether any rubs in the way of our enlistments, or unfavorable turn in our affairs, may not prove the means of the enemy's recruiting men faster than we do." After stating at large the confusion and delay, insepa rable from the circumstance that the appointments for the new army were to be made by the States, the letter pro ceeds : " Upon the present plan I plainly foresee an interven tion of time between the old and new army, which must be filled with militia, if to be had, with whom no man who has any regard for his own reputation can undertake to be answerable for consequences. I shall also be mistaken in my conjectures if we do not lose the most valuable offi- 950 WASHINGTON. cers in this army under the present mode of appointing them; consequently, if we have an army at all, it will be composed of materials not only entirely raw, but, if un common pains are not taken, entirely unfit ; and I see such a distrust and jealousy of military power that the Com- mander-in-Chief has not an opportunity, even by recom mendation, to give the least assurances of reward for the most essential services. " In a word, such a cloud of perplexing circumstances appears before me, without one flattering hope, that I am thoroughly convinced, unless the most vigorous and de cisive exertions are immediately adopted to remedy these evils, the certain and absolute loss of our liberties will be the inevitable consequence, as one unhappy stroke will throw a powerful weight into the scale against us and enable General Howe to recruit his army as fast as we shall ours; numbers being disposed and many actually doing so already. Some of the most probable remedies, and such as experience has brought to my more intimate knowledge, I have taken the liberty to point out; the rest I beg leave to submit to the consideration of Congress. " I ask pardon for taking up so much of their time with my opinions, but I should betray that trust which they and my country have reposed in me were I to be silent upon matters so extremely interesting." On receiving this very serious letter, Congress passed resolutions conforming to many of its suggestions. The pay of the officers was raised and a suit of clothes allowed annually to each soldier. The Legislatures of the States having troops in the Continental service, either at New York, Ticonderoga, or New Jersey, were requested to depute committees to those places, in order to officer the regiments on the new establishment; and it was recom- LIFE AND TIMES. 951 mended to the committees to consult Washington on the subject of appointments. These measures afforded much gratification to Wash ington. He was also greatly relieved by effecting an ex change of prisoners with General Howe, in which those captured in Canada were included. Among the officers restored to the army by this exchange were Lord Stirling and Capt. Daniel Morgan, who had served at the siege of Quebec with Arnold and Montgomery. Washington recommended Morgan to Congress for the command of a regiment of riflemen about to be raised, an appointment which was made with signal advantage to the service. Washington now learned that the Tories were forming military organizations to aid the enemy. Oliver De Lan- cey, a conspicuous man in New York, was actually ap pointed brigadier-general by Lord Howe, with authority to raise a brigade, and he was offering liberal pay for soldiers, and commissions to those who would bring in a given number of recruits. Robert Rogers, of New Hamp shire, who had served with credit in the French War, and who had since served the enemy as a spy in Canada, been arrested, and afterward liberated on promise of good be havior, was also enlisting a regiment of Tories. He had obtained a colonel's commission, and his regiment was to be called the Queen's Rangers. This man was one of the most infamous traitors in the British service, and the Americans, both officers and men, were especially desirous to capture and punish him. The armies did not long retain their position on York Island. General Howe was sensible of the strength of the American camp and was not disposed to force it. His plan was to compel Washington to abandon it or to give battle in a situation in which a defeat must be attended with the total destruction of his army. With this view, 952 WASHINGTON. after throwing up intrenchments on McGowan's Hill for the protection of New York, he determined to gain the rear of the American camp by the New England road, and also to possess himself of the North river above Kings- bridge. To assure himself of the practicability of acquir ing the command of the river, three frigates, the Phoenix, Roebuck, and Tartar, passed up it under the fire from Fort Washington, and from the opposite post on the Jer sey shore, afterward called Fort Lee, without sustaining any injury from the batteries or being impeded by the chevaux-de-frise which had been sunk in the channel be tween those forts, under the direction of General Putnam. This point being ascertained, he embarked a great part of his army on board flat-bottomed boats and, passing through Hell Gate into the Sound, landed at Frog's Neck, about nine miles from the camp on the Heights of Harlem. In consequence of this movement, Washington strength ened the post at Kingsbridge and detached some regi ments to West Chester for the purpose of skirmishing with the enemy, so soon as" he should march from the ground he occupied. The road from Frog's Point to Kingsbridge leads through a strong country, intersected by numerous stone fences, so as to render it difficult to move artillery, or even infantry, in compact columns, except along the main road, which had been broken up in several places. Washington therefore entertained sanguine hopes of the event should a direct attack be made on his camp. General Howe, if we may believe his own account, con tinued some days waiting for his artillery, military stores, and reinforcements from Staten Island, which were de tained by unfavorable winds. The Americans however at tributed his delay to the destruction of the causeway lead ing from his position to the mainland, and the menacing LIFE AND TIMES. 953 attitude of the American batteries, and the detachments from Washington's army, by whom he was inclosed. In the meantime the propriety of removing the Ameri can army from its present situation was submitted to a council of general officers. After much investigation, it was declared to be impracticable, without a change of position, to keep up their communication with the country and avoid being compelled to fight under great disadvan tages or to surrender themselves prisoners of war. Gen eral Lee, who had just arrived from the south, and whose experience as well as late success gave great weight to his opinions, urged the necessity of this movement with much earnestness.* It was, at the same time, determined to hold Fort Washington and to defend it as long as possible. A resolution of Congress of the nth of October, desiring General Washington, by every art and expense, to ob struct, if possible, the navigation of the river, contributed not inconsiderately to this determination. In pursuance of this opinion of the military council, Washington began moving the army up the North river, so as to extend its front, or left, toward the White Plains, beyond the British right, and thus keep open its com munication with the country. The right, or rear division, remained a few days longer about Kingsbridge, under the command of General Lee, for the security of the heavy baggage and military stores, which, in consequence of the difficulty of obtaining wagons, could be but slowly re moved. General Howe, checked at Frog's Neck, abandoned that *Lee was always overrated till he fell into the enemy's hands. The success of the Americans in repelling the enemy's attack on Charleston was due to Moultrie and the brave fellows who defended the Palmetto fort, and not at all to Lee. who was in favor of abandoning the fort as a means of defense, but was fortunately overruled by the opinions of the other officers. WASHINGTON. post, and atter uniting his forces at Pell's Point, moved forward his whole army, except four brigades destined for the defense of New York, through Pelham Manor toward New Rochelle. Some skirmishes took place on the march with a part of Glover's brigade, in which the conduct of the Americans was mentioned with satisfaction by the Commander-in-Chief; and, as Howe took post at New Rochelle, Washington occupied the heights between that place and the North river. At New Rochelle the British army was joined by the second division of Germans, under the command of Gen eral Knyphausen, and by an incomplete regiment of cav alry from Ireland, some of whom had been captured on their passage. Both armies now marched toward the White Plains, a piece of ground already occupied by a de tachment of militia. The main body of the American troops formed a long line of intrenched camps, extending from twelve to thirteen miles, on the different heights from Valentine's Hill, near Kingsbridge, to the White Plains, fronting the British line of march, and the Bronx, which divided the two armies. The motions of General Howe were anxiously watched, not only for the purposes of security and of avoiding a general action, but in order to seize any occasion which might present itself of engag ing his outposts with advantage. While the British army lay at New Rochelle the posi tion of a corps of American loyalists, commanded by that infamous traitor, Colonel Rogers, was supposed to fur nish such an occasion. He was advanced further east ward, to Mamaroneck, on the Sound, where he was be lieved to be covered by the other troops. An attempt was made to surprise him in the night by a detachment which should pass between him and the main body of the British army, and, by a coup de main, bear off his whole LIFE AND TIMES. 955 corps. Rogers was surprised and about sixty of his regi ment killed and taken, the traitor himself escaping cap ture.* The loss of the Americans was only two killed and eight or ten wounded; among the latter was Major Green, of Virginia, a brave officer, who led the detachment, and who received a ball through his body. Not long afterward a regiment of Pennsylvania riflemen, under Colonel Hand, engaged an equal number of Hes sian chasseurs, with some advantage. The caution of the English General was increased by these evidences of enterprise in his adversary. His object seems to have been to avoid skirmishes and to bring on a general action, if that could be effected under favorable circumstances; if not, he calculated on nearly all the ad vantages of a victory from the approaching dissolution of the American army. He proceeded therefore slowly. His march was in close order, his encampments compact and well guarded with artillery, and the utmost circum spection was used to leave no vulnerable point. As the sick and baggage reached a place of safety, Washington gradually drew in his outposts and took pos session of the heights on the east side of the Bronx, front ing the head of the British columns, at the distance of seven or eight miles from them. Here he was soon joined by Lee, who, after securing the sick and the baggage, had, with considerable address, brought up the rear division of the army, an operation the more difficult as the deficiency of teams was such that a large portion of the labor usually performed by horses or oxen devolved on men. Washington was encamped on high broken ground, with his right flank on the Bronx. This stream meandered so as also to cover the front of his right wing, which ex tended along the road leading toward New Rochelle, as * Rogers, says Irving, skulked off in the dark at the first fire. He was too old a partisan to be easily entrapped. 956 WASHINGTON. far as the brow of the hill where his center was posted. His left, which formed almost a right angle with his center, and was nearly parallel to his right, extending along the hills northward, so as to keep possession of the command ing ground and secure a retreat, should it be necessary, to a still stronger position in his rear.* * Gordon gives the following anecdotes of this period of the war : General Lee while at White Plains lodged in a small house close in with the road, by which General Washington had to pass when out reconnoitering. Returning witrr his officers they called in and took dinner. They were no sooner gone than Lee told his aids, " You must look me out another place for I shall have Washington and all his puppies continually calling on me, and they will eat me up." The next day Lee seeing Washington out upon the like busi ness, and supposing that he should have another visit, ordered his servant to write with chalk upon the door, no victuals dressed here to-day. When the company approached and saw the writing, they pushed off with much good humor for their own table, without resenting the habitual oddity of the man. It happened that a garden of a widow woman, which lay between the two camps, was robbed at night. Her son, a mere boy, and little of his age, asked leave for finding out and securing the pilferer in case he should return; which being granted, he concealed himself with a gun among the weeds. A British grenadier, a strapping High lander, came and filled his large bag ; when he had it on his shoulder, the boy left his covert, came softly behind him, cocked his gun, and called out to the fellow,' " You are my prisoner ; if you attempt to throw your bag down I will shoot you dead; go forward in that road." The boy kept close to him, threatened, and was always pre pared to execute his threatening. Thus the boy drove him into the American camp, where he was secured. When the grenadier was at liberty to throw down his bag and saw who had made him prisoner he was horribly mortified, and exclaimed, "A British grenadier made prisoner by such a d d brat, by such a d d brat ! " The American officers were highly entertained with the adventure, made a collec tion for the boy, and gave him some pounds. He returned fully satisfied with the losses his mother had sustained. The soldier had side arms, but they were of no use, as he could not get rid of his bag. LIFE AND TIMES. 957 On the right of the army and on the west side of the Bronx, about one mile from camp, on a road leading from the North river, was a hill, of which General M'Dougal was ordered to take possession, for the purpose of cover ing the right flank. His detachment consisted of about 1,600 men, principally militia, and his communication with the main army was open, that part of the Bronx being passable without difficulty. Intrenchments were thrown up to strengthen the lines. General Howe, having made arrangements to attack Washington in his camp, advanced early in the morning (October 25, 1776) in two columns, the right commanded by Sir Henry Clinton and the left by General Knyphausen; and, about 10, his van appeared in full view, on which a cannonade commenced without much execution on either side. The British right formed behind a rising ground, about a mile in front of the American camp, and extending from the road leading from Mamaroneck toward the Bronx, stood opposed to the American center. On viewing Washington's situation Howe, who accom panied Knyphausen, determined to carry the hill occupied by M'Dougal, as preliminary to an attack on the center and right of the American camp. He therefore directed Colonel Rahl, with a brigade of Hessians, to cross~the Bronx and make a circuit so as to turn M'Dougal's right flank, while Brigadier-General Leslie, with a strong corps of British and Hessian troops, should attack him in front. When Rahl had gained his position the detachment commanded by Leslie also crossed the Bronx and com menced a vigorous attack. The militia in the front line immediately fled, but the regulars maintained their ground with great gallantry. Colonel Smallwood's regiment of Marvland and Colonel Reitzimer's of New York advanced 958 WASHINGTON. boldly toward the foot of the hill to meet Leslie, but, after a sharp encounter, were overpowered by numbers and compelled to retreat. General Leslie then attacked the remaining part of M'Dougal forces, who were soon driven from the hill, but kept up for some time an irregular fire from the stone walls about the scene of action. General Putnam, with Beal's brigade, was ordered to support them, but not having arrived till the hill was lost, the attempt to regain it was deemed unadvisable, and^the troops retreated to the main army. In this animated engagement, commonly called the bat tle of White Plains, the loss was supposed to be nearly equal. That of the Americans was between 300 and 400 in killed, wounded, and taken. Colonel Smallwood was among the wounded. Washington continued in his lines, expecting an assault. But a considerable part of the day having been exhausted in gaining the hill which had been occupied by M'Dougal, the meditated attempt on his intrenchments was postponed until the next morning, and the British army lay on their arms the following night, in order of battle, on the ground taken during the day. This interval was employed by Washington in strength ening his works, removing his sick and baggage, and pre paring for the expected attack by adapting the arrange ment of his troops to the existing state of things. His left maintained its position, but his right was drawn back to stronger ground. Perceiving this, and being unwilling further offensive operations until Lord Percy should ar rive with four battalions from New York and two from Mamaroneck. This reinforcement was received on the evening of the 3Oth, and preparations were then made to force the American intrenchments the next morning. In LIFE AND TIMES. 959 the night and during the early part of the succeeding day a violent rain still further postponed the assault. Having now removed his provisions and heavy baggage to much stronger ground, and apprehending that the British general, whose left wing extended along the height taken from M'Dougal to his rear, might turn his camp and occupy the strong ground to which he designed to retreat should an attempt on his lines prove successful, Washington changed his position in the night and with drew to the Heights of North Castle, about five miles from the White Plains. Deeming this position too strong to be attempted with prudence, General Howe determined to change his plan of operations and to give a new direction to his efforts. While Forts Washington and Lee were held by the Americans, his movements were checked and New York insecure. With a view to the acquisition of these posts, he directed General Knyphausen to take possession of Kingsbridge, which was defended by a small party of Americans placed in Fort Independence. On his approach this party retreated to Fort Washington, and Knyphausen encamped between that place and Kingsbridge. In the meantime General Howe retired slowly down the North river. His designs were immediately penetrated by Washington, who perceived the necessity of passing a part of his army into Jersey, but was restrained from immediately leaving the strong ground he occupied by the apprehension that his adversary might in that event return suddenly and gain his rear. A council of war was called which determined unanimously that should Gen eral Howe continue his march toward New York all the troops raised on the west side of the Hudson should cross that river, to be afterward followed by those raised 960 WASHINGTON. in the eastern part of the continent, leaving 3,000 men for the defense of the Highlands about the North river. In a letter to Congress, communicating this movement of the British army and this determination of the council, the General said : "I cannot indulge the idea that General Howe, supposing him to be going to New York, means to close the campaign and to sit down without attempting something more. I think it highly probable and almost certain that he will make a descent with part of his troops into the Jerseys, and as soon as I am satisfied that the present manoeuvre is real and not a feint I shall use all the means in my power to forward a part of our force to counteract his designs. I expect the enemy will bend their force against Fort Washington and invest it immediately. From some advices it is an object that will attract their earliest attention." He also addressed a letter to the Governor of New Jersey expressing a decided opinion that General Howe would not content himself with investing Fort Washington, but would invade the Jerseys, and urging him to put the militia in the best possible condition to reinforce the army, and to take the place of the new levies, who could not, he suggested, be depended on to continue in service one day longer than the 1st of December, the time for which they engaged. Immediate intelligence of this movement was likewise given to General Greene, who commanded in the Jerseys, and his attention was particularly pointed to Fort Wash ington. As the British army approached Kingsbridge three ships of war passed up the North river, notwithstanding the fire from Forts Washington and Lee, and notwithstanding the LIFE AND TIMES. 961 additional obstructions which had been placed in the channel. On being informed of this another letter was addressed to General Greene stating that this fact was so plain a proof of the inefficacy of all the obstructions thrown in the river as to justify a change in the dispositions which had been made. " If," continued the letter, " we cannot prevent vessels from passing up, and the enemy are pos sessed of the surrounding country, what valuable purpose can it answer to attempt to hold a post from which the expected benefit cannot be derived? I am therefore in clined to think 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 respecting the evacuation of the place as you may think most advisable, and so far revoke the orders given to Colonel Magaw to defend it to the last." Measures were now taken to cross the North river with the troops which had been raised on its western side, and Washington determined to accompany that division of the army. The eastern regiments remained on the eastern side of the river, under the command of Lee, with orders to join the Commander-in-Chief should the British army cross the Hudson. After visiting the posts about Peekskill, and making all the arrangements in his power for their defense, Wash ington passed the North river in the rear of the troops designed to act in the Jerseys, and proceeded to the quarters of General Greene near Fort Lee. From too great a confidence in the strength of Fort Washington and a conviction of its importance General Greene had not withdrawn its garrison under the dis cretionary orders he had received, but still indulged a hope 61 963 WASHINGTON. that the post might be maintained, or, should its situation become desperate, that means might be found to trans-' port the troops across the river to the Jersey shore, which was defended by Fort Lee. Mount Washington is a high piece of rocky ground near the North river, very difficult of ascent, especially toward the north or Kingsbridge. The fort was capable of con taining about 1,000 men, but the lines and outworks, which were chiefly on the southern side toward New York, were drawn quite across the island. The ground was naturally strong, the approaches difficult, and the fortifications, though not sufficient to resist heavy artillery, were be lieved to be in a condition to resist any attempt to carry them by storm. The garrison consisted of troops, some of whom were among the best in the American army, and the command had been given to Colonel Magaw, a brave and intelligent officer in whom great confidence was placed. General Howe, after retiring from the White Plains, en camped at a small distance from Kingsbridge, on the Heights of Fordham, and having made the necessary prep arations for an assault summoned the garrison to sur render, on pain of being put to the sword. Colonel Magaw replied that he should defend the place to the last extrem ity, and communicated the summons to General Greene at Fort Lee, who transmitted it to the Comander-in-Chief, then at Hackensack. He immediately rode to Fort Lee, and, though it was late in the night, was proceeding to Fort Washington where he expected to find Generals Put nam and Greene, when, in crossing the river, he met those officers returning from a visit to that fort. They reported that the garrison was in high spirits and would make a good defense, on which he returned with them to Fort Lee. Early next morning Colonel Magaw posted his troops LIFE AND TIMES. 963 partly on a commanding hill north of the fort, partly in the outermost of the lines drawn across the island on the south of the fort, and partly between those lines on the woody and rocky heights fronting Harlem river, where the ground being extremely difficult of ascent the works were not closed. Colonel Rawlings, of Maryland, com manded on the hill toward Kingsbridge; Colonel Cadwal- ader, of Pennsylvania, in the lines, and Colonel Magaw himself continued in the fort. The strength of the place had not deterred the British general from resolving to carry it by storm, and on re ceiving the answer of Colonel Magaw arrangements were made for a vigorous attack next day. About 10 the assail ants appeared before the works and moved to the assault in four different quarters. Their first division, consisting of Hessians and Waldeckers, amounting to about 5,000 men, under the command of General Knyphausen, ad vanced on the north side of the fort against the hill oc cupied by Colonel Rawlings, who received them with great gallantry. The second, on the east, consisting of the British light infantry and guards, was led by Brigadier- General Matthews, supported by Lord Cornwallis, at the head of the grenadiers and the Thirty-third regiment. These troops crossed Harlem river in boats, under cover of the artillery planted in the works which had been erected on the opposite side of the river, and landed within the third line of defense which crossed the island. The third division was conducted by Lieutenant-Colonel Stirling, who passed the river higher up; and the fourth by Lord Percy, accompanied by General Howe in person. This division was to attack the lines in front on the south side. The attacks on the north and south by General Knyp hausen and Lord Percy were made about the same instant 9