CHAPTER XIII.

```"The men of seventy-six in their good arm--

````Sustain'd by Heaven--reposed a manly trust;

```O'er all the land was sounded war's alarm,

````And vict'ry crown'd the valor of the just.

```The fire of liberty fell down from heaven,

```Till from our shores the enemy, was driven;

````And Freedom, with the land's redemption shod,

```Her benison flung o'er every hill and plain.

```Few of that band of noble men remain;

````Their spirits have obey'd the call of God,

````And where they rest is deem'd a hallow'd sod.

```Their perils fearful--measureless their gain!

````While love of home the freeman's breast shall fill,

```Their fame shall cause the freeman's breast to thrill."

`````Thomas MacKellar.=

[Illustration: 9341]

ALLEY FORGE! How dear to the true worshiper at the shrine of Freedom

is the name of Valley Forge! There, in the midst of frost and snows,

disease and destitution, Liberty erected her altar; and in all the

world's history we have no record of purer devotion, holier sincerity,

or more pious self-sacrifice, than was there exhibited in the camp of

Washington. The courage that nerves the arm on the battle-field, and

dazzles by its brilliant but evanescent flashes, pales before the

steadier and more intense flame of patient endurance, the sum of the

sublime heroism displayed at Valley Forge. And if there is a spot on

the face of our broad land whereon Patriotism should delight to pile its

highest and most venerated monument, it should be in the bosom of that

little vale on the bank of the Schuylkill. Toward its "templed hills,"

consecrated by the presence and sufferings of those who achieved our

independence, we journeyed, filled with the pleasant emotions of a

pilgrim approaching the place he most adores.

We crossed the Schuylkill at Norristown, a little after sunrise, and

took the road leading to Valley Forge by the way of "The King of Prussia

Tavern," a half-way locality, famous for its good cheer long before

the Revolution. There hung its sign, emblazoned with a figure of a

noble-looking warrior on horseback, ancient enough in its appearance to

warrant the belief that it creaked in the breeze when the officers of

Howe refreshed themselves there with flip from the hands of old Harman

de Vriest. * The country through which we rode is broken but fertile,

every where abounding with iron. Here, also, large heaps of quarried ore

flanked the road in various places, and for many furlongs the highway

had a ferruginous pavement. Descending a long and steep hill, sloping

northward, we came suddenly upon the little village of Valley Forge

before we were aware of its proximity. It is

* In the Pennsylvania Journal, 1761, there is a notification that Jacob

Colman intended to run a stage, with an awning, three times a week,

"from the King of Prussia Inn, to the George Inn, southwest corner of

Second and Arch Streets, Philadelphia." Ritter's tavern, in Germantown,

was called "The King of Prussia Inn," according to Watson, the annalist,

from the following circumstance: Toward the close of the last century,

Gilbert Stuart, the eminent portrait painter, resided in Germantown. In

one of his eccentric moods, he executed a fine painting of the King

of Prussia, on horseback, and presented it to Ritter for a sign,

stipulating that the name of the painter should not be divulged. It hung

there for several years, the admiration of all, until the letters "The

King of Prussia Inn" were painted over it. The sign afterward came into

the possession of Mr. Watson, who cherished it as a valuable memento of

the genius and character of the great painter.

[[[Washington's Head-quarters.--The old Flour-mill and its

Associations--Hamilton and Lee.]]]

{332}situated in Chester county, on the west side of the Schuylkill,

between six and seven miles above Norristown, in a deep, short hollow,

scooped out from a low, rugged mountain, and opening upon the great

valley which stretches away toward Phoenixville. A small creek runs

through the little valley, turning, in its course, the water-wheel of

a cotton factory, which stands upon the site of the old forge of Isaac

Potts. *

[Illustration: 9342]

Upon the mountainous flanks of this little valley, Washington

established his winter quarters in 1777--78. His own residence was at

the house of Mr. Isaac Potts, a Quaker preacher. It is a substantial

stone dwelling, situated near the mouth of the creek. It was occupied,

when I visited it, by James Jones, [[November, 1848]]a member of the

Society of Friends, who was then eighty-three years old. He was quite

feeble; but his wife, a cheerful old lady of nearly the same age, was

the reverse, and, with vigorous step, proceeded to show us the interior

of the building. Washington's room was small indeed. In the deep east

window, whence he could look out upon a large portion of his camp

upon the neighboring slopes, are still preserved the cavity and little

trapdoor, arranged by the commander-in-chief as a private depository for

his papers. It answered the purpose admirably; for even now the visitor

would not suspect that the old blue sill upon which he was leaning to

gaze upon the hallowed hills, might be lifted and disclose a capacious

chest. Mr. Jones and his wife were not residents at Valley Forge when

the Americans were encamped there, and hence they had no interesting

traditions of their own experience.

Near the head-quarters of Washington were the ruins of an old

flour-mill, whose clack was heard before the Revolution, nor ceased

until within a few years. Immediately after the battle of Brandywine,

and previous to the encampment here, the Americans had made a

considerable deposit of stores at this mill. Howe sent a detachment of

British troops to seize them; but Washington, anticipating this attempt,

had sent Lieutenant-colonel (afterward General) Hamilton, and Captain

(afterward General) Henry Lee, with a small troop of horse for the

purpose of destroying these stores. Hamilton, with proper precaution,

stationed two videttes upon the southern hill overlooking the valley,

and also secured a flat-bottomed boat on which to cross the Schuylkill,

in the event of the sudden appearance of the enemy. The troops

had crossed the mill-race, and were about to commence the work of

demolition, when the alarm-guns of the videttes were heard, and they

were seen sweeping down the hill, closely pursued by some British

dragoons. Four of the American horsemen, with Hamilton, took to the

boat; while Lee, with the other four, and the videttes, crossed the

bridge and escaped, amid a shower of bullets from the enemy. Hamilton

and his party were also fired upon, but were unharmed. Lee was fearful

that his comrades, with Hamilton, were killed or made prisoners, for he

heard volley after volley fired from the carbines of the enemy, while

there was only an occasional response from his friends. Lee dispatched

a dragoon to the commander-in-chief, describing what had occurred, and

expressing his anx-

* The Potts family, located in this vicinity, were extensive

manufacturers of iron. Isaac Potts established a forge upon the creek

which here enters into the Schuylkill, and from that circumstance the

place obtained the name of Valley Forge.

** This view is from the Reading rail-road, looking east, and includes

a portion of the range of hills in the rear whereon the Americans

were encamped. The main building was erected in 1770; the wing is more

modern, and occupies the place of the log addition mentioned by Mrs.

Washington, in a letter to Mercy Warren, written in March, 1778: "The

general's apartment," she wrote, "is very small; he has had a log cabin

built to dine in, which has made our quarters much more tolerable than

they were at first."

[[[View from Rogers's Observatory.--Camp at Valley Forge.--Religious

Services.--Preparation of Huts.]]]

{333}ious fears for the safety of Hamilton and his men. While Washington

was reading Lee's letter, Hamilton rode up, and with quite as much

distress depicted in his _face_ as the former had exhibited in his

_note_, expressed his fears that his friend Lee was cut off. Washington

quieted his apprehensions by handing him Lee's letter.

[Illustration: 8343]

From the village we rode to the summit of the hill on the south, whereon

the main portion of the American army was quartered. Upon the brow of

the hill, on the spot where Washington's marquee was planted on the

day of his arrival there, * Mr. Charles H. Rogers, who owns the cotton

factory, and much of the landed property in the vicinity, has erected an

observatory, about forty feet in height. It is a very neat structure

of wood, of an octagon form, with a spiral stair-case in the center,

by which an ascent is made to the open gallery on the top. From

that elevation is obtained a fine view of a large portion of the

camping-ground. Here let us turn to the historic page and seek its

instructions.

When it was decided that Whitemarsh was not a proper place for the

winter encampment of the American army, Washington, as usual, requested

his general officers to communicate to him in writing their sentiments

respecting the most eligible site for the purpose. A council of war

was held on the 30th of November, at which a wide difference of opinion

prevailed as to the locality and the manner of cantoning the troops.

Some proposed occupying Wilmington for the purpose; others suggested

hutting them in the valley of Tredyffrin, a few miles west of the

Schuylkill; and others advocated the expediency of stationing them in

a line from Reading to Lancaster. So various and contradictory were the

opinions and counsels, that unanimity could not be hoped for, and it was

necessary for Washington to act according to his own judgment and upon

his own responsibility. He decided to form an encampment at Valley

Forge, where he might be near enough to the British army in Philadelphia

to watch its movements, keep its foraging parties in check, and protect

the country from the depredations of the enemy.

The patriot army, which left Whitemarsh on the 11th of December, reached

Valley Forge on the 19th. In general orders, issued two days previously,

Washington directed the preparation of huts for the comfort of the

soldiers, assuring them, at the same time, "that he himself would share

in the hardships and partake of every inconvenience." On the 18th the

whole army engaged in religious services, according to a recommendation

of Congress that it should be observed as a day of public thanksgiving

and praise; and on the morning of the 19th they spread over the hills

at Valley Forge, and began the work of hutting. All was activity among

those who were sufficiently clad to allow them to work in the open

air. Some cut down trees, others fashioned them, and in a few days the

barracks, erected upon the plan of a regular city, was completed. ***

Until his soldiers were thus

* See map on page 334.

** This view is from the field, looking north. On the left is seen the

winding Schuylkill, and the rolling country beyond; and on the right,

the distant hills of Montgomery county.

*** Washington gave explicit directions for constructing the huts. He

ordered the colonels or commanding officers of regiments to cause their

men to be divided into parties of twelve, and to see that each party had

its proportion of tools, and commence a hut for that number; and as an

encouragement to industry and art, the general promised to reward the

party, in each regiment, which finished its hut in the quickest and most

workman-like manner, with a present of twelve dollars. He also offered

a reward of one hundred dollars to the officer or soldier who should

substitute a covering for the huts, cheaper, and more quickly made,

than boards. The following were the dimensions and style of the huts, as

given in Washington's Orderly Book, quoted by Sparks, v., 525: "Fourteen

feet by sixteen each; the sides, ends, and roofs made with logs; the

roofs made tight with split slabs, or some other way; the sides made

tight with clay; a fireplace made of wood, and secured with clay on the

inside, eighteen inches thick; this fire-place to be in the rear of the

hut; the door to be in the end next the street; the doors to be made of

split oak slabs, unless boards can be procured; the side walls to be six

feet and a half high. The officers' huts are to form a line in the rear

of the troops, one hut to be allowed to each general officer; one to the

staff of each brigade; one to the field officer of each regiment; one

to the staff of each regiment; one to the commissioned officers of

two companies; and one to every twelve non-commissioned officers and

soldiers."

[[[Disposition of the American Army at Valley Forge.--The Huts and their

Occupants.]]]

{334}comfortably lodged, Washington occupied his cheerless marquee;

after which he made his quarters at the house of Mr. Potts.

[Illustration: 8344]

Near Washington's quarters, on a gentle elevation by the river, were

stationed his Body, or Life Guard, * under the command of Charles Gibbs,

of Rhode Island.

A little to the right of the guard was the brigade of General M'Intosh;

and further up the hills were the brigades of Huntington, Conway, and

Maxwell. Between these and M'Intosh's brigade were a redoubt, and slight

intrench-ments; and directly in front of them was a line of _abatis_.

Nearer the Schuylkill, and on the top of the hill, was the brigade of

General Varnum, near a star redoubt. At a distance of about a mile, and

forming a line from the Schuylkill to Valley Creek, was the main portion

of the army, under Brigadiers Muhlenberg, Weed-on, Paterson, Learned,

Glover, Poor, Wayne, Scott, and Woodford, with a line of intrenchments

in front. The artificers of the army were on the north side of the

creek, opposite the general's quarters; and near the cotton factory was

the army bake-house.

There was also an irregular line of intrenchments along the brow of

the hill, on the south side of the creek. Not far southward of Rogers's

observatory was a redoubt, and near it was Knox's artillery. The remains

of this redoubt are yet very prominent in

* See page 120.

[[[Condition of the Army.--Great Sufferings.--Number of Soldiers in

Camp.--Toryism displayed]]]

Redoubt A {335}the woods on the right side of the road leading from

Valley Forge to Paoli; also, the redoubt on the left wing of the

encampment (now near the Reading rail-road) is well preserved, the

forest protecting it from demolition.

[Illustration: 8345]

Here, after an arduous campaign of four months, during which neither

party had obtained a decided advantage, other than good winter quarters

at Philadelphia on the part of the enemy, the shattered remains of

the American army * vainly sought repose. They had marched and

countermarched, day and night, in endeavoring to baffle the designs of a

powerful enemy to their country and its liberties; now they were called

upon, in the midst of comparative inaction, to war with enemies more

insidious, implacable, and personal. Hunger and nakedness assailed that

dreary winter camp with all their progeny of disease and woe. Thither,

as we have seen, the soldiers came with naked and bleeding feet, and

there they sat down where destitution held court, and ruled with an

icy scepter. The prevalence of Toryism in the vicinity, the avaricious

peculations of some unprincipled commissioners, the tardy movements of

Congress in supplying provisions, and the close proximity of a powerful

enemy, combined to make the procurement of provisions absolutely

impracticable without a resort to force. *** But few horses were in the

camp; and such was the deficiency, in this respect, for the ordinary,

as well as extraordinary occasions of the army, that the men, in

many instances, cheerfully yoked themselves to vehicles of their own

construction, for carrying wood and provisions when procured; while

others performed the duty of pack-horses, and carried heavy burdens of

fuel upon their backs. **** As the winter advanced, their sufferings

increased On the 16th of February, Washington wrote to Governor Clinton,

"For some days past there has been little less than a famine in the

camp. A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and

the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we can not

enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery,

that they have not been, ere this, excited by their sufferings to a

general mutiny and desertion.

"The situation of the camp is such," wrote General Varnum to General

Greene, on the 12th of February, "that in all human probability the army

must dissolve. Many of the troops are destitute of meat, and are several

days in arrears. The horses are dying for want of forage. The country

in the vicinity of the camp is exhausted. There can not be a moral

certainty of bettering our condition while we remain here. What

consequences have we rationally to expect?"

"It was with great difficulty," says Dr. Thacher

* The whole number of men in the field was eleven thousand and

ninety-eight, when the, encampment commenced. Of this number, two

thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight were unfit for duty. The British

army numbered thirty-three thousand seven hundred and fifty-six, of

which nineteen thousand five hundred and thirty, composed of Britons,

Germans, and provincials, were in Philadelphia.

** This shows the present appearance of the embankments. They are quite

overgrown with chestnut trees of considerable size, and shrubbery. The

redoubt was nearly an oblong square, with a division in the center. Its

location is on the Paoli road, about half a mile from its junction with

the highway leading from Norristown to Valley Forge.

*** Washington reluctantly used the power given him by a resolution of

Congress, adopted a few weeks previously. Necessity compelled him to.

He issued a proclamation, in which he required all the farmers within

seventy miles of Valley Forge to thresh out one half of their grain by

the 1st of February, and the remainder by the 1st of March, under the

penalty of having the whole seized as straw. Many farmers refused to

comply. They defended their grain and cattle with fire-arms, and, in

some instances, burned what they could not defend. It must be remembered

that nearly all the farmers in the vicinity of Valley Forge were

disaffected toward the American cause. From these the resolution of

Congress * empowered Washington to demand supplies. It must also be

remembered that a fair price was to be paid for all supplies brought

in, and therefore the non-compliance of those who resisted was from

opposition to the cause.

**** Mrs. Warren's History of the Revolution, i., 389.

* November 14, 1777. Journals, iii., 395.

[[[Hopefulness of Washington.--Conspiracy to deprive him of the chief

Command.--Persons named as Malcontents.]]]

"that{336} men enough could be found in a condition fit to

discharge the military camp duties from day to day; and for this

purpose, those who were naked borrowed of those who had clothes."

Unprovided with materials to raise their beds from the ground, the

dampness occasioned sickness and death. "The army, indeed, was

not without consolation," says Thacher, "for his excellency the

commander-in-chief, whom every soldier venerates and loves, manifested a

fatherly concern and fellow-feeling for their sufferings, and made

every exertion in his power to remedy the evil, and to administer

the much-desired relief." Yet, amid all this suffering day after day,

surrounded by frost and snow (for it was a winter of great severity),

patriotism was still warm and hopeful in the hearts of the soldiers,

and the love of self was merged into the one holy sentiment, _love of

country_. Although a few feeble notes of discontent were heard, * and

symptoms of intentions to abandon the cause were visible, yet the great

body of that suffering phalanx were content to wait for the budding

spring, and be ready to enter anew upon the fields of strife in the

cause of freedom. It was one of the most trying scenes in the life of

Washington, but a cloud of doubt seldom darkened the serene atmosphere

of his hopes. He knew that the cause was just and holy; and his faith

and confidence in God as a defender and helper of right were as steady

in their ministrations of vigor to his soul, as were the pulsations of

his heart to his active limbs. ** In perfect reliance upon Divine aid,

he moved in the midst of crushed hopes, and planned brilliant schemes

for the future.

While pressed with complicated cares incident to his exalted position

and the condition of the army under his command, Washington was "wounded

in the house of his friends." Jealous and ambitious men were conspiring

to tarnish the fair fame of the commander-inchief, to weaken the

affections of the people for him, and to place the supreme military

command in other hands. Among those designated at the time as the most

conspicuous actors in this scheme were General Conway, a foreign officer

of great pretensions, Generals Gates and Mifflin, Samuel Adams, with two

or three others of the New England delegation in Congress, and one

of the Virginia deputies. Whether the movement originated in personal

ambition, or a sincere conviction of the necessity of making a change on

account of the alleged "Fabian slowness" of Washington in his military

movements, is a question of difficult solution. The measures adopted by

the opponents of the chief were certainly the reverse of open, manly,

generous, pure and disinterested patriotism, and deserve, as they

received at the time, the unqualified reprobation of honest men. ***

* Thacher relates that a foreign officer of distinction said "that, at

one time, he was walking with General Washington among the huts, when

he heard many voices echoing through the open crevices between the logs,

'No pay, no clothes, no provisions, no rum!' And when a miserable

wretch was seen flitting from one hut to another, his nakedness was only

covered by a dirty blanket." Then that officer despaired of independence

for America.

** Isaac Potts, at whose house Washington was quartered, relates that

one day, while the Americans were encamped at Valley Forge, he strolled

up the creek, when, not far from his dam, he heard a solemn voice. He

walked quietly in the direction of it, and saw Washington's horse tied

to a sapling. In a thicket near by was the beloved chief upon his knees

in prayer, his cheeks suffused with tears. Like Moses at the Bush, Isaac

felt that he was upon holy ground, and withdrew unobserved. He was much

agitated, and, on entering the room where his wife was, he burst into

tears. On her inquiring the cause, he informed her of what he had seen,

and added, "If there is any one on this earth whom the Lord will listen

to, it is George Washington; and I feel a presentiment that under such

a commander there can be no doubt of our eventually establishing our

independence, and that God in his providence has willed it so."

"Oh! who shall know the might

"But wouldst thou know his name,

Of the words he utter'd there?

Who wandered there alone?

The fate of nations there was turn'd

Go, read enroll'd in Heaven's archives,

By the fervor of his prayer."

"The prayer of Washington!"--J. L. Chester.

*** The enemies of Washington and of the country attempted to injure

both, at this time, by publishing a pamphlet in London, entitled

"Letters from General Washington to several of his Friends in the year

1776, &c." These letters, which contained sentiments totally at

variance with the conduct of the chief, it was reported were found in a

portmanteau belonging to the general, in the possession of his servant

Billy, who was left behind sick at Fort Lee when the Americans evacuated

it. They purported to be draughts of letters to Mrs. Washington, Mr.

Lund Washington, and to Mr. Custis. They were reprinted in New York, in

handbills and pamphlet form, and widely circulated. The author of these

spurious letters was never publicly known. They were evidently written

by a person acquainted with the affairs of Washington. Conway, who was

known to have written several anonymous letters in disparagement of

Washington, some of which were signed De Lisle, was suspected of the

authorship when his nefarious conduct became known. These letters were

reproduced, many years afterward, for the vile purposes of political

chicanery. Then, for the first time, Washington publicly pronounced them

a forgery.

[[[Forged Letters.--Thomas Conway.--Character of the Congress of

1778.--Pretensions of Gates and Lee.]]]

{337}It is believed that Conway was the most active man among the

secret enemies of Washington. He was possessed of considerable literary

abilities and military genius, and had the advantage of thirty years'

experience in the art of war.

[Illustration: 8347]

He was an Irishman by birth, but received his military education in the

French service, where he was employed from his youth. He went, with many

others, to the American commissioners in France to offer his services

to Congress, and, encouraged by the injudicious promises of the ardent

Silas Deane, he came to America with the full expectation of receiving

the commission and pay of a major general. He was disappointed at the

outset, for Congress gave him only the commission of a brigadier.

Hoping for promotion, he joined the army under Washington at Morristown.

Boastful, intriguing, presumptuous, and [[May, 1777]] selfish, looking

only to his personal advantage, and unprincipled in regard to the

means by which his desires might be gratified, he greatly disgusted

Washington, not only at the first interview, but throughout the whole

campaign. When it was rumored that Conway was to be promoted by Congress

to major general, Washington wrote a letter to a member of that body,

remonstrating against it. This fact, coming to the ears of Conway,

filled him with indignation and malice, and made him a fit instrument to

be employed against the chief.

In November, Conway, perceiving no chance for promotion, offered his

resignation, and asked permission to leave the army. Congress would not

accept it, although aware of Washington's opinion of him, and the enmity

that existed, but appointed him inspector general of the army, with

the rank of major general. This act is evidence that there was then

an influence at work in the supreme Legislature unfriendly to the

commander-in-chief. It can not be denied that faction was rife in the

Continental Congress, and that the purity of purpose which controlled

the acts of the first great assembly was alloyed, in an alarming degree,

with personal and sectional interests. * Instead of strengthening the

hands of the commander-in-chief when they most needed extraneous

aid, men of influence were found in the army, in Congress, and among

citizens, base enough, or blind enough, to attempt to weaken his power

and accomplish his removal, either by a forced resignation of his

command, or by actual supercedure by competent authority. Already

Gates and Lee, Englishmen born, and officers in other wars, had shown

themselves impatient at holding subordinate stations in the army, each

deeming himself superior to Washington, and each thirsting for supreme

command. The victory of Gates over Burgoyne at Saratoga, and the defeats

of Washington in the Jerseys and Pennsylvania, were contrasted.

That contrast tended to strengthen the pretensions of the former.

Inconsiderate and ardent men in Congress lent their influence in favor

of investing him with the supreme command. ** The disappointed,

* General Hamilton, in a letter to Governor Clinton, written on the 13th

of February, 1778, said, "America once had a representation that would

do honor to any age or nation. The present falling off is very alarming

and dangerous. What is the cause? and how is it to be remedied? are

questions that the welfare of these states requires should be well

attended to. The great men who composed our first council--are they

dead, have they deserted the cause, or what has become of them? Very few

are dead, and still fewer have deserted the cause; they are all, except

the few who still remain in Congress, either in the field, or in the

civil offices of their respective states; far the greater part are

engaged in the latter. The only remedy, then, is to take them out of

these employments, and return them to the place where their presence is

infinitely more important."

** Mrs. Mercy Warren, who was the warm personal friend of Samuel Adams,

apologizes for his being found in bad company in this affair by saying

that, "Zealous and ardent in his defense of his injured country, he was

startled at every thing that seemed to retard the operations of the

war, or impede the success of the Revolution; a revolution for which

posterity is as much indebted to the talent and exertions of Mr. Adams

as to those of any one in the United States." History of the Revolution,

i., 39. Mrs. Warren further says that "Adams never harbored a feeling

of disaffection toward the person of Washington; on the contrary, he

esteemed and respected his character, and loved him as a man."

[[[Anonymous Letters.--Conway's Letter to Gates.--Quarrel between Gates

and Wilkinson.]]]

{338}irritated, and talented Conway was ready to foster discontent in

the public mind; and he was doubtless the willing cat's-paw of Gates or

his friends in making covert attacks upon the military character of the

commander-in-chief, calculated to injure his reputation as a general

and patriot. So prominently does Conway appear in the whole transaction,

that it is known in history as _Conway's cabal_.

The first important movement in this conspiracy was the sending of

anonymous letters to the president of Congress, and to Patrick Henry,

then governor of Virginia. These letters were filled with complaints,

insinuations, and exaggerated statements, ascribing the misfortunes

of the army to the incapacity or ill-timed policy of the

commander-in-chief. Similar letters were sent to different members of

Congress, and, it is believed, to the presiding officers of some of

the state Legislatures. Washington was early apprised of these secret

machinations, but a patriotic jealousy of the public good made him

suffer in silence. "My enemies," he said, in a letter to the president

of Congress, when the matter became the subject of correspondence, "take

an ungenerous advantage of me. They know the delicacy of my situation,

and that motives of policy deprive me of the defense I might otherwise

make against their insidious attacks. They know I can not combat their

insinuations, however injurious, without disclosing secrets which it is

of the utmost moment to conceal."

[[1777]] Early in November, the affair was presented to Washington in a

definite shape.

When Colonel Wilkinson was on his way to Congress (then in session

at York, in Pennsylvania) from Saratoga, with Gates's dispatches,

announcing the surrender of Burgoyne, he stopped at the quarters of Lord

Stirling, at Reading, and in the course of conversation while there,

he repeated to Major M'Williams, Stirling's aid-de-camp, a part of the

contents of a letter which Gates had received from Conway, containing

strictures on the management of the army under Washington, accompanied

by reflections disparaging to the chief. * Lord Stirling, prompted by

a sense of duty, communicated to Washington the extracts from Conway's

letter, as repeated by Wilkinson. A correspondence between Washington,

Gates, and Conway followed. Gates affected to be greatly distressed,

and conjured Washington to aid him in discovering the villain who had

betrayed his confidence in repeating the substance of private letters.

Afterward he denied the genuineness of the extract, and called it "a

wicked and malicious forgery;" This assertion compromised the veracity

of Wilkinson, who wrote to General Washington, indignantly repelling the

ungenerous accusation of Gates, and affirming that he had truly given to

Lord Stirling's aid the substance of Conway's letter. ** Notwithstanding

Gates denied the truth of the extract, he never fortified his assertion

by producing the original. This fact, and other things of like tenor,

which proved the duplicity of Gates, were severely commented upon by

Washington, in reply to an explanatory letter from the former. Conway's

offensive letter was afterward seen by Mr. Laurens, president of

Congress, and one or two others. The words were not

* One of Conway's expressions was, "Heaven has been determined to save

your country, or a weak general and bad counselors would have ruined

it."

** Gates, in a letter to Washington, charged Wilkinson with deceit

and-prevarication, and of meanly attempting to fix suspicions on

Lieutenant-colonel Troup, one of Gates's aids-de-camp. This charge drew

from Wilkinson a letter to Washington, in which he thanked the general

for exposing to him Gates's letters, "which," he said, "unmask his

artifices and efforts to ruin me." Wilkinson said, in his letter,

"Although General Gates has pledged his word, it is a wicked and

malicious forgery. I will stake my reputation, if the genuine letter is

produced, that words to the same effect will appear." A quarrel between

Gates and Wilkinson grew out of this matter, which resulted in the

latter challenging the former to fight a duel. They met, when, it

is said, Gates burst into tears, declaring he would as soon think of

shooting his own son. Opinions are various concerning the quality of

Gates's heart which controlled his actions on that occasion. No doubt

Wilkinson was acquainted with the secrets of the conspiracy against

Washington, and that his object in making known the contents of Conway's

letter was to sound Lord Stirling, through his aid, respecting his

opinion of the ability of Washington to perform the duties of his

station. Wilkinson's want of prudence was the match that fired the

train of the cabal and produced premature explosion. Gates and Wilkinson

doubtless told the truth of each other.

[[[Board of War.--Expedition against Canada proposed.--Lafayette

appointed to the Command.--Grossly Deceived.]]]

{339}precisely the same as quoted by Wilkinson, yet the tenor and spirit

of the whole document were accurately represented by that officer.

Among other machinery early put in motion by the enemies of Washington,

through the instrumentality of a faction in Congress, was the

appointment of a new Board of [[October 17, 1777]] War, of which Gates

and Mifflin were members, the former being placed at its head. This

board was invested with large powers, and, by delegated authority,

assumed the control of affairs which properly belonged to the

commander-in-chief, * or which, at least, ought to have his sanction.

One of its first acts was to recommend to Congress an invasion of

Canada. This expedition was planned by Gates, approved by Congress,

and La Fayette was appointed to the command, without Washington being

consulted. The first intimation which the commander-in-chief had of

the project was in a letter from the Board of War, inclosing one to

La Fayette, informing him of his appointment. No doubt [[January,

1778]]this was a stroke of policy to win the marquis to the interest of

the faction. They little understood the character of that young devotee

of freedom. He deeply felt the disrespect manifested toward his beloved

general, and immediately carried the letter to Washington. ** He told

the chief that he saw the whole scope of the artifice, and asked his

advice. The commander-in-chief advised him to accept the appointment,

for it was an honorable position, although he could not see how the

expedition was to be accomplished. Thus encouraged, La Fayette hastened

to York, *** where Congress was in session, to receive his instructions.

He was greatly flattered by Gates's friends, and the Board of War

promised him every thing necessary for the success of the expedition.

The marquis soon perceived the artfully-concealed hostility to

Washington; **** and when he found that General Conway was appointed his

second in command, he was convinced that the enterprise had been planned

for the purpose of separating him from the general, to whom he was

ardently attached. He succeeded in having the Baron De Kalb, Conway's

senior in rank, appointed to the expedition, and, of course, the baron

was second, and Conway the third in command.

La Fayette hastened to Albany, where he was promised men and stores for

an immediate march into Canada; but, after waiting three months, and

having his patience completely exhausted by the inefficiency of the

Board of War, he returned to the camp [[April 4, 1778]] at Valley Forge,

(v) under instructions from Congress "to suspend the irruption into

* See Journals of Congress, iii., 351. The new Board of War consisted,

at first, of three persons, namely, General Mifflin, Colonel Timothy

Pickering, and Colonel Robert H. Harrison. On the 17th of November, Mr.

Dana and J. B. Smith were made additional members. On the 27th of the

same month, General Gates, Joseph Trumbull, and Richard Peters were

elected commissioners for the Board of War. General Gates was chosen

president of the Board. On the appointment of Gates to this important

office, Congress instructed its presiding officer to inform him of their

action, and express their high sense, of his abilities and peculiar

fitness to discharge the duties of that important office, upon the

right execution of which the success of the American cause "eminently

depended."--Journals, iii., 423.

** This was not the first time that Congress had allowed Washington

to be treated with disrespect. It will be remembered that, in October

previous, Gates sent his dispatches from Saratoga direct to Congress,

instead of transmitting them to the commander-in-chief, and that

Congress never uttered a word of disapproval of the act. See page 84,

vol. i.

*** York is situated on the Codorus Creek, eleven miles from the

Susquehanna. It is a thriving village, surrounded by a fertile and

well-cultivated lime-stone region. Congress was in session here

from September, 1777, until July, 1778. Its sittings were in the old

court-house, which stood in the center of the public square, and was

demolished in 1841. In the cemetery of the German Reformed Church is

the grave of Philip Livingston, one of the signers of the Declaration

of Independence, who died at York, on the 11th of June, 1778, while

Congress was in session there. A handsome white marble pyramid,

surmounted with an urn, is placed over his grave.

**** Sparks relates that, when La Fayette arrived at York, he found

Gates at table, surrounded by his friends. The marquis was greeted with

great cordiality, and accepted an invitation to join them at table. The

wine passed round, and several toasts were drank. Determined to let his

sentiments be known at the outset, he called to the company as they were

about to rise, and observed that one toast had been omitted, which

he would propose. The glasses were filled, and he gave, "The

Commander-in-chief of the American Armies." The coolness with which it

was received confirmed La Fayette in his suspicions.

* (v) La Fayette was grossly deceived by those connected with the

faction and those controlling public affairs. He was promised 3000 men.

He wrote to Washington from Albany, and said, "I don't believe I can

find, in all, 1200 men fit for duty, and the greatest part of these are

naked, even for a summer campaign. I was to find General Stark, with a

large body; and, indeed, General Gates told me, 'General Stark will have

burned the fleet before your arrival.' Well, the first letter I receive

in Albany is from General Stark, who wishes to know what number of men,

from where, what time, and for what rendezvous I desire him to raise?"

Again he wrote, "I fancy the actual scheme is to have me out of this

part of the continent, and General Conway as chief, under the immediate

direction of Gates."

[[[Disclaimers of Gates and Mifflin.--Opinion of Dr. Gordon.--Conway's

Resignation.--Duel, and Repentant Letter to Washington.]]]

{340}Canada." Thus ended an injudicious and foolish scheme, if honestly

planned; a wicked and treasonable scheme, if concerted by a faction

to achieve its selfish purposes. It was also the termination of the

conspiracy to elevate Gates to the chief command, by seducing the

affections and confidence of the people from Washington. That great

man stood firm in his integrity, and viewed with calmness the storm of

opposition which at one time beat against him with menaces of danger.

How extensive was the disaffection toward him among the officers of the

army, and in Congress, it is difficult to determine, and it is equally

difficult to fix a direct charge upon any individual of actual attempts

to supersede Washington. The injudicious tattling of Wilkinson too

soon unmasked a portion of the proceedings, and, as in the case of

the Newburgh affair, many who were disposed to join in the cabal

were alarmed and kept quiet, while the leaders were disconcerted, and

affected innocence. It appears clear, however, that Gates, Mifflin, and

Conway were, for a long time, engaged in endeavors to effect the removal

of Washington from the chief command, and for this posterity will always

utter its voice of censure. Gates and Mifflin, however, each made

his disclaimer of other than a patriotic design to advance the true

interests of his country, and denied the charge of a desire to displace

Washington. When rumors of the affair went abroad among the people and

the army, the public censure was so unequivocally expressed, that each

man engaged in the matter was anxious to wipe the stain from his own

escutcheon. *

The true character of Conway, so early discovered by Washington, became

at length well understood by Congress. He had perceived the increasing

manifestation of dislike among the officers of the army, and their

open deprecation of his conduct in relation to Washington, and in an

impertinent and complaining letter to the president of Congress, he

intimated a wish to resign. A motion to accept his resignation was

immediately carried. Conway was astonished, and proceeded to York to

ask to be restored. He said it was not his intention to resign, and

attempted explanations, but the current of opinion was turned strongly

against him, and his request was denied. He went to Philadelphia,

and was there when the British evacuated it. His abusive language

and offensive manners, heightened by irritation, involved him in

difficulties with the American officers, and on the 4th of July he

fought a duel with General Cadwallader. He received a wound which it was

believed would prove fatal. After lying in an uncertain state for more

than a fortnight, and believing his end near, Conway wrote an apologetic

letter to Washington, as a reparation for the personal injuries he had

inflicted. ** But he recovered from his wound and lived

* Dr. Gordon says (ii., 308), "When General Gates's letters were

examined by me at his seat in Virginia, the latter end of 1781, there

was not a single paragraph to be met with that contained any intimation

of his being concerned in any such plan" [the removal of Washington]. Of

course, a judicious man would not preserve any such tangible evidence of

his guilt for more than three years after the matter had been exposed.

General Gates, in a letter to a friend, dated at York, April 4th, 1778,

said, "For my part, I solemnly declare I never was engaged in any plan

or plot for the removal of General Washington, nor do I believe any

such plot ever existed." Mifflin also wrote, about that time, "I never

desired to have any person whomsoever take the command of the American

army from him [Washington], nor have I said or done any thing of or

respecting him which the public service did not require," &c. Botta,

after weighing the evidence against the designated leaders of the

intrigue, draws therefrom the inevitable conclusion of their guilt, and

says, "The leaders of this combination, very little concerned for the

public good, were immoderately so for their own, and that the aim of all

their efforts was to advance themselves and their friends at the expense

of others."--Otis's Botta, ii., 64. It may be well to remember that

Gordon and Gates were intimate friends. I find among Gates's papers, in

the New York Historical Society, several letters from Dr. Gordon to

the general, some of which are commenced with the familiar terms, "Dear

Horatio." I do not discredit the assertion of Dr. Gordon, but mention

the fact of his intimacy with Gates as a reason why he was unwilling to

believe his friend guilty of such dishonorable conduct.

*** The following is a copy of Conway's letter:

*** "Philadelphia, 23d July, 1776. "Sir--I find myself just able to hold

the pen during a few minutes, and take this opportunity of expressing my

sincere grief for having done, written, or said any thing disagreeable

to your excellency. My career will soon be over; therefore, justice and

truth prompt me to declare my last sentiments. You are, in my eyes, the

great and good man. May you long enjoy the love, veneration, and esteem

of these States, whose liberties you have asserted by your virtues. I

am, with the greatest respect, &c., "Thomas Conway."

[[[Baron De Steuben.--His Arrival in America, and Appointment as

Inspector General.]]]

{341}many years. Deserted by his former friends, deprived of employment,

and every where despised by the people, he left the country before the

close of the war, and returned to France. *

General Conway was succeeded in the office of inspector general by the

Baron [[May 5, 1778]]

Steuben, a veteran commander and disciplinarian from the army of

Frederic the Great.

[Illustration: 8351]

He had served with distinction in the Prussian armies, and had retired

from public life, when, in the summer of 1777, while on his way to

England to visit some acquaintances, he saw, at Paris, his old friend

the Count De St. Germaine, who persuaded him to go to America and enter

the service of the Continental army The French and Spanish ministers

also urged him to espouse our cause, for they knew how much we needed

the advantages of thorough military discipline. He consented, but, on

ascertaining from Dr. Franklin that the American commissioners had no

authority to enter into explicit stipulations respecting rank and pay,

he abandoned the project and returned to Germany. A few days after his

arrival at Rastadt, the Baron received a letter from Beaumarchais, the

financial agent seilles, in which he could have a passage to America.

The Count De St. Germaine assured him that satisfactory arrangements

could be made. Steuben returned to Paris, and, it being represented to

him that letters from Dr. Franklin to the president of Congress and to

Washington would be sufficient to insure him all he might require,

he consented. Ample funds for his immediate purpose was supplied by

Beaumarchais, and on the 26th of Sept, the baron embarked for America.

He landed at Portsmouth, [[May 5,1778.]]pressing anew the proposal of

the ministers, and informing him that a vessel was about to depart from

Mar-Hampshire, on the 1st of December, whence he journeyed to York,

where Congress was in session. When his papers were read, Congress

adopted a complimentary resolution, accepted his services, and, at the

urgent solicitation of Washington, appointed him inspector general of

the army, with the rank and pay of major general. ** He had already

joined the Americans at Valley Forge as a volunteer, and, under his

rigid system of discipline, a great and salutary change was soon visible

in the army. His appointment was, therefore, not more complimentary to

himself than useful to the Continentals. Before the breaking up of the

encampment at Valley Forge and the pursuit of the enemy across West

Jersey, where the battle of Monmouth occurred, the ill-disciplined army

of patriots had acquired much of the skill in maneuvers and dignity

of carriage and manner of the veteran soldiers of Europe. As a

disciplinarian, a brave soldier, and a generous and warm-hearted friend

to America, none ranked higher than the Baron Steuben; his services

* See Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, Appendix, vol. v.

** Journals of Congress, iv., 187.

[[[Biographical Sketch of Steuben.--His Aids and his

Monuments.--Washington's Efforts in behalf of his Soldiers.]]]

{342}were invaluable. * Our regulars were never beaten in a fair fight

after their discipline at Valley Forge.

It was at Valley Forge, while surrounded by his suffering soldiers,

that Washington, in connection with his officers, devised a plan for

reforming present abuses in the army, and to secure the future welfare

of the soldiers. He made strong appeals to Congress on the subject, and

on the 10th of January that body appointed a committee, consisting of

Messrs. Dana, Reed, Folsom, Carroll, and Gouverneur Morris, to proceed

to Valley Forge.

[Illustration: 8352]

The commander-in-chief laid before the committee a memoir extending to

fifty folio pages, containing the sentiments of himself and officers.

This formed the basis of a report which they made to Congress, after

remaining nearly three months in camp. Their report was, in the main,

adopted. There was one point, however, upon which there was a difference

of opinion. Washington urged the necessity, as well as equity, of

insuring to the officers of the army half-pay for life.

[Illustration: 9352]

He wrote many letters to members of Congress on this point, disclaiming

all personal interest (for he had repeatedly declared that he would

receive no compensation for his own services), but pleading earnestly

for his companions in

* Frederic William Augustus, Baron de Steuben, after leaving the

Prussian army, where he was aid-decamp of Frederic the Great, entered

the serviee of Prince Charles of Baden, under whom he held the rank

of lieutenant general, and was also a canon of the Church. He was made

grand marshal of the court of the Prinee of Hohenzollern-Heekingen, and

by the Prinee Margrave, of Baden, was appointed knight of the order

of Fidelity. The King of Sardinia made him brilliant offers, and the

Emperor of Austria sought to secure his services. His income was nearly

three thousand dollars a year. He left these offices, emoluments,

and honors, and came to Ameriea to fight as a volunteer in the armies

battling for freedom. He joined the Continental army at Valley Forge

as a volunteer, and in that capacity (though holding the office of

inspector general) was in the action on the field of Monmouth. He was

engaged in various important services, wherein we shall hereafter meet

him, and finally commanded in the trenches at Yorktown, where the last

great battle of the Revolution was fought. At the close of the war, the

State of New Jersey gave him a small farm, and the Legislature of New

York presented him with 16,000 acres of wild land in Oneida eounty. The

general government also granted him a pension of $2500. He built himself

a log house at Steubenville, New York, gave a tenth part of his land to

his aids (North, Popham, and Walker) and his servants, and parceled

out the rest to twenty or thirty tenants. He resided in the country

in summer, and in New York city in winter. He died of apoplexy

or paralysis, at Steubenville, on the 28th of November, 1798, aged

sixty-four years. Neither of his aids comforted his last moments. His

neighbors buried him in his garden. Afterward, agreeably to his desire,

he was wrapped in his cloak, placed in a plain coffin, and buried in a

lonely spot in the woods, about a quarter of a mile above his log hut.

His aid, Colonel Walker, inclosed the spot; and when a road was made

to pass over his resting-plaee, his remains were removed, and buried in

another grave, in the town of Steuben, about seven miles northwest

of Trenton Falls. In 1826, a monument was erected over him by private

subscription, with this brief inscription upon it: Major-general

Frederic William Augustus, Baron de Steuben. General North, ** another

of his aids, who greatly loved the baron, caused a neat mural monument

to be erected to his memory, upon the walls of the Reformed German

Church, then situated in Nassau Street, between John Street and Maiden

Lane, in New York city. When a Baptist society, under the charge of the

Rev. Mr. Somers, subsequently commenced worshiping in that church, they

courteously allowed the monument to be taken down and carried to the new

church of the Germans in Forsyth Street. There I found it in separate

pieces, lying among rubbish, in a small lumber-room of the church,

disfigured and mutilated. I sketched its parts, and in the annexed

figure give a representation of it as it originally appeared. The slab,

of obelisk form, and the square frame, are of bluish, clouded marble;

the square slab with the inscription, and the two urns, are of white

marble. The lower urn has upon it a representation of the order of

Fidelity (seen on the breast of the portrait on page 341), which

Frederic the Great presented to the baron. The following is the

inscription, from the pen of General North: "Sacred to the memory of

Frederic William Augustus, Baron de Steuben, a German; Knight of the

Order of Fidelity; Aid-de-camp of Frederic the Great, King of Prussia;

Major General and Inspector General in the Revolutionary War; esteemed,

respected, and supported by Washington. He gave military skill and

discipline to the citizen soldiers who, fulfilling the decrees

of Heaven, achieved the independence of the United States. The

highly-polished manners of the baron were graced by the most noble

feelings of the heart. His hand, open as day for melting charity, closed

only in the strong grasp of death. This memorial is inscribed by an

American, who had the honor to be his aid-de-camp, the happiness to be

his friend. Ob. 1795."

* Thacher and others have left on record many examples of the excellent

character of the Baron Steuben, among the attributes of which, kindness

and generosity were the most conspicuous. He was always cheerful, and

possessed ready wit. At Yorktown, a shell fell near him. To avoid its

effects, he leaped into a trench, followed by General Wayne, who fell

upon him. The baron, on perceiving that it was his brigadier, said,

"I always knew you was a brave general, but I did not know you were so

perfect in every point of duty; you cover your general's retreat in

the best manner possible." At the house of the mother of Chancellor

Livingston, the baron was introduced to a Miss Sheaf. "I am very happy,"

he said, "in the honor of being presented to you, mademoiselle, though

I see it is at an infinite risk; I have from my youth been cautioned to

guard myself against mischief.\ but I had no idea that her attractions

were so powerful."

* This sketch is from a drawing made by the Rev. John Taylor, a

missionary in the Mohawk and Black River countries in 1802, and

published in the third volume of O'Callaghan's Documentary History

of New York. Of Steuben and his grave Mr. Taylor wrote: "He lies in a

swamp, under a hemlock, with a bier standing over the grave, and a few

rough boards nailed to some trees to keep the cattle off. Alas! what is

man, that the great Baron Steuben should be suffered to lie in such a

place, and without a decent monument!"

** Very little remains on record of the military life of General North

during the Revolution, except the fact that he was Steuben's aid. When,

in 1798, John Sloss Hobart resigned his seat in the Senate of The United

States, Governor Jay appointed General North to succeed him. He was then

a resident of Duanesburgh, New York, was a conspicuous Federalist, and

had been twice speaker of the New York Assembly. General North passed

the latter years of his life in New London, Connecticut, but died in the

city of New York on the 4th of January, 1837.

[[[Hostile Parties sent out from Philadelphia.--The Queen's

Rangers.--Advertisement for Recruits.]]]

{343}arms. His representations were so judicious and forcible, that,

after much discussion and delay, Congress adopted a plan of half-pay for

life, by a small majority. The vote was afterward reconsidered, and a

compromise resolution was proposed.

[Illustration: 8353]

By the final decision, the officers were to receive half-pay for the

term of seven years, and a gratuity of eighty dollars was to be given

to each non-commissioned officer and private who should continue in the

service until the end of the war. It was only by such manifestations of

a desire on the part of Congress to deal justly by the army that it was

prevented from dissolution in the spring of 1778.

During the encampment of the Americans at Valley Forge and of the

British in Philadelphia, the latter sent out parties, at various times,

to plunder the people, and break up the feeble posts of the Republicans.

Among the most active troops in these enterprises were the Queen's

Rangers, * commanded by Major (afterward Lieutenant-colonel) Simcoe.

One of these expeditions, in which Simcoe was engaged, was sent out from

Philadelphia in February. It consisted of a detachment of about five

hundred troops, under the command of Colonel Abercrombie, of the

fifty-second regiment. They went to Salem, in [[1778]] New Jersey, by

water, where they remained a few days reconnoitering, with a view of as-

* The Queen's Rangers were a corps of native American Loyalists, raised

chiefly in Connecticut and in the vicinity of New York, by Colonel

Rogers. At one time they mustered about 400 men, and, as their name

implies, were intended for very active service. They were quite reduced

in numbers when, in the autumn of 1777, they were placed under the

command of Major Simcoe, a young and active officer of the British

army. His zeal and military skill soon made his corps a model of order,

discipline, and bravery. * He received the commission of lieutenant

colonel. We shall meet him several times hereafter.

* The following advertisement appeared in Rivington's Royal Gazette,

printed in New York:

"ALL ASPIRING HEROES

have now an opportunity of distinguishing themselves by

joining THE QUEEN'S RANGER HUSSARS,

commanded by Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe.

Any spirited young man will receive every encouragement, be

immediately mounted on an elegant horse, and furnished with

clothing, accouterments, &c., to the amount of forty

guineas, by applying to Cornet Spencer, at his quarters, No.

133 Water Street, or his rendezvous, Hewett's Tavern, near

the Coffee-house, and the Defeat of Brandy wine, on Golden

Hill.

Whoever brings a recruit shall instantly receive two

guineas.

VIVANT REX ET REGINA."

[[[Expedition against Militia Posts in New Jersey.--Skirmish at

Quintan's Bridge, on Alloway's Creek.]]]

{344}certaining the position of Wayne, who was then actively employed

in that state in procuring horses and provisions for the American army.

Wayne was compelled to exercise great vigilance and dexterity to prevent

being surprised by the enemy on these occasions.

On the 17th of March another British force, mustering between twelve and

fifteen hundred men, composed chiefly of Scotchmen, under the command

of Colonel Charles Mawhood and his majors, Simcoe and Sims, marched into

Salem, where they were joined by a large number of Tories. * From these

Colonel Mawhood learned that about three hundred American militia, under

Colonel Benjamin Holmes, were posted on the south side of Alloway's

Creek, at Quintan's Bridge, about three miles from Salem. Mawhood

determined to beat up their quarters, and, as he publicly declared,

"chastise the rebels."

[Illustration: 8354]

He sent out detachments to procure horses, on which he mounted his

best men. Holmes, in the mean while, was on the alert. Anticipating an

attack, he placed videttes at various points to watch the movements

of the enemy, while he prepared to dispute their progress at Quintan's

Bridge. [[March, 1778]] Before daylight on the morning of the 18th,

Major Simcoe and his Rangers were sent out, and hidden in ambush within

half a mile of the bridge. They took possession of a two story brick

house occupied by a Whig, named Wetherby, and drove his family into

the cellar. In that house, and in a deep ravine and tangled swamp near,

Simcoe and his men were secreted. The Americans had thrown up a strong

breast-work on each side of the road near Quintan's Bridge; and when

they discovered a portion of the enemy in the morning, on the opposite

side of the stream, they were anxious to cross over and attack them.

The prudent officers opposed the proposition as rash. Captain Smith, the

senior officer present, was less cautious, and determined to push on.

He led the way, and, in a confused march, they crossed the creek,

neglecting the proper duties of vigilant men in examining destructive

fire from all points.

A portion of the enemy made a feigned retreat on the approach of the

patriots, who were thus decoyed, unsuspicious of danger, far from the

bridge. When they had advanced some yards beyond Wetherby's house,

the concealed enemy arose from their ambush, and, with shouts and the

beating of drums, poured upon the Americans.

They were thrown into great confusion, and fled toward the bridge,

fighting gallantly all the way in small squads. Although furiously

attacked in flank and rear, they made good their retreat across the

bridge, with a loss of between thirty and forty of their companions,

most of whom were drowned in the creek. ****

At the moment when the Americans commenced their flight, Colonel Hand,

of the Cumberland militia, who had been informed of the presence of the

enemy, arrived with two pieces of cannon, and posted his men. In

the trenches which the Americans had left a short time before. By a

well-directed fire, he checked the pursuing British, and prevented the

Americans being cut to pieces. The draw of the bridge was cut away, and

the pursuers

* In order to distinguish the Tories from the British regulars, they

were dressed in a uniform of green; the coats were faced with white,

and they wore cocked hats, with broad white binding around them.--See

Johnson's History of Salem.

** The enemy, who were stationed in Wetherby's house, suspecting the

Americans might be vigilant, were prepared to seize the first man who

should attempt to enter the building, and Lieutenant M'Kay stood behind

the door with a bayonet ready to perform that duty.

*** A A, the American redoubts; B, a small detachment of the enemy

masking the bridge; C, Simcoe's Rangers in Wetherby's house; D, another

detachment under Captain Saunders, in ambuscade; E, a portion of the

Rangers secreted in a wood; F, a detachment of the enemy making a

feigned retreat; G, the Americans after crossing the bridge; H H, sally

of the British light infantry, and pursuit of the Rangers; I, flight of

the Americans; 0 0, Alloway's Creek. The straight double lines passing

perpendicularly across the map indicate the main road to Salem.

**** Captain Smith had his cue shot away during the skirmish, and was

grazed by a bullet in his loins. His horse received two bullets, but

carried his rider safe over the bridge, when he fell dead under him.

[[[Expedition to Hancock's Bridge.--Perils of the March.--Massacre at

Hancock's House.--Death of the Owner.]]]

{345}were foiled. * Colonel Mawhood, chagrined at the failure of Simcoe

to dislodge the Americans at Quintan's Bridge, determined to attack

another post at Hancock's Bridge with his whole force. The Americans, on

the night of their retreat, entered into a solemn compact, agreeing that

"no British soldier should set his foot or eat bread on that side of

Alloway's

Creek while there was a man left to defend the soil."

[Illustration: 8355]

They properly apprehended a great augmentation of the British force, and

made preparations to meet it. Mawhood intrusted the expedition against

the patriots at Hancock's Bridge to the direction of Major Simcoe. That

officer, in secretly reconnoitering, ascended a tree, and from it made

a sketch of a two story brick house near the bridge, owned by Judge

Hancock, a Quaker and Loyalist, and formed therefrom a plan of attack.

On the night [[March, 1778]] of the 20th, the British marched to Salem,

and, in flat-boats, proceeded to the Delaware, and thence to Alloway's

Creek, up which they pushed until within a convenient distance from

Hancock's Bridge, when they debarked. It was a very dark night; not a

star was to be seen, and heavy scuds, freighted with rain, came up from

the sea. Simcoe sent the boats back to prevent the retreat of his

men, and artfully concealed from them a knowledge of the dangers which

awaited them. Every thing depended upon a surprise. Through marshes,

sometimes up to their knees in water, they marched two miles before they

reached the solid earth. In a wood, upon dry land, Simcoe formed his men

for an attack, and then commenced his march in silence. The main body

passed along the public road toward Hancock's house, while Captain

Saunders, with a small detachment, ambuscaded the dike that led to

Quintan's Bridge. Captain Dunlop was detached to the rear of Hancock's

house, in which it was supposed the American officers were quartered,

with directions to force, occupy, and barricade it, as it commanded the

bridge.

[Illustration: 9355]

There were several stone houses and cottages near, and detachments were

arranged to attack and take possession of them. The inmates of Hancock's

house were unsuspicious of danger. Fortunately for the patriots, a large

proportion of them had quitted the place the evening before, leaving

only about twenty men as a garrison. The surprise was complete. While

all were sleeping, the invaders approached, and simultaneously the front

and back doors of the house were forced. All within perished; not even

the Tory owner escaped. *** A patrol of seven men, who had been sent

down the creek, were surprised, and all but one killed. The British,

after committing some depredations in the neighborhood, returned to the

mouth of Alloway's

* A militia-man named Andrew Bacon cut away the draw of the bridge with

an ax while the British were firing volleys at him. He succeeded in his

task, but received a wound which made him a cripple for life.

** This is a view of an old brick dwelling in the little village of

Hancock's Bridge, upon Alloway's Creek. It stands a few yards from the

bridge over the creek, and is known as Baker's tavern. The picture here

given is copied from one in the Historical Collections of New Jersey.

*** Simcoe supposed Judge Hancock was absent. He says (Journal, page

52), "Some very unfortunate circumstances happened here. Among the

killed was a friend to government, then a prisoner with the rebels, old

Hancock, the owner of this house, and his brother. Major Simcoe had made

particular inquiry, and was informed that he did not live at home since

the rebels had occupied the bridge. The information was partly true. He

was not there in the daytime, but unfortunately returned home at night.

Events like these are the real miseries of war."

**** This and the preceding map are reduced copies of those published

in Simcoe's Journal of the Operations of the Queen's Rangers. A, is

Hancock's house; B, the bridge which the Americans had broken down; C

C C, march of the Rangers through the village; D, the enemy's advanced

guard; E, Captain Dunlop detached to the rear of the house; F,

Captain Saunders, to ambuscade the dike and take up its bridge; G,

Lieutenant-colonel Mitchell and the 27th Regiment; H H, Alloway's Creek.

[[[Return of the Marauders to Philadelphia.--Light from

Europe.--Alliance with France.--Rejoicings at Valley Forge.]]]

Creek and sailed for Philadelphia. * The affair at Hancock's Bridge was

unmitigated murder. Some who were massacred were not fighting men;

no resistance was made, and yet those who begged for quarters were

inhumanly slain. The chief perpetrators were unprincipled Tories--the

blood-hounds of the Revolution.

A ray of light from France beamed upon the American army while it was

encamped at Valley Forge. It was preceded by a faint gleam from England,

and a glimmer upon our own shores. That ray was the intelligence that

France had acknowledged the independence of the colonies, and entered

into a treaty of amity with them; ** that gleam was the arrival of

Lord North's conciliatory bills; that glimmer was the advent and first

procedures of commissioners bearing the olive branch of reconciliation.

The first event has been already noticed; *** the two latter have also

been referred to, and have an intimate relation to each other. The

position assumed by France toward the revolted colonies greatly

embarrassed the British ministry, and the sagacious Lord North was

obliged to stoop from his haughty stilts and talk of concessions,

contending, at the same time, that these concessions "ought not to be

considered as the tardy result of defeat or weakness." He produced a

conciliatory plan[[1778]] on the 17th of February, eleven days after

the treaty between France and the United States had been signed. It

was contained in two bills, one "for declaring the intentions of the

Parliament of Great Britain concerning the exercise of the right of

imposing taxes within his majesty's colonies in North America the other,

"to enable his majesty to appoint commissioners, with sufficient powers

to treat, consult, and agree upon the means of quieting the disorders

now subsisting in certain of the colonies, plantations, and provinces of

North America." By the first bill he designed to quiet the minds of the

Americans in regard to taxation; by the second, he intended to grant the

royal commissioners more ample powers than those formerly intrusted to

Lord Howe and his brother. **** He proposed to

* Johnson's History of Salem; Simcoe's Journal.

** Intelligence of this event reached the camp on the 1st of Why, and

on the 7th Washington issued the following general order: "It having

pleased the Almighty Ruler of the universe to defend the cause of the

United American States, and finally to raise us up a powerful

friend among the princes of the earth, to establish our liberty and

independence upon a lasting foundation, it becomes us to set apart a day

for gratefully acknowledging the divine goodness, and celebrating the

important event, which we owe to his divine interposition. The several

brigades are to be assembled for this purpose at nine o'clock to-morrow

morning, when their chaplains will communicate the intelligence

contained in the postscript of the Pennsylvania Gazette of the 2d

instant, and offer up a thanksgiving, and deliver a discourse suitable

to the occasion. At half past ten o'clock a cannon will be fired, which

is to be a signal for the men to be under arms; the brigade inspectors

will then inspect their dress and arms, and form the battalions

according to the instructions given them, and announce to the commanding

officers of the brigade that the battalions are formed. "The commanders

of brigades will then appoint the field officer to the battalions, after

which each battalion will be ordered to load and ground their arms.

At half past eleven a second cannon will be fired as a signal for

the march; upon which the several brigades will begin their march by

wheeling to the right by platoons, and proceed by the nearest way to the

left of their ground by the new position. This will be pointed out by

the brigade inspectors. A third signal will then be given, on which

there will be a discharge of thirteen cannon; after which a running

fire of the infantry will begin on the right of Woodford's, and continue

throughout the front line; it will then be taken up on the left of the

second line, and continue to the right. Upon a signal given, the whole

army will huzza, Long live the King of France! The artillery then begins

again, and fires thirteen rounds; this will be succeeded by a second

general discharge of the musketry in a running fire, and huzza, Long

live the friendly European Powers! The last discharge of thirteen pieces

of artillery will be given, followed by a general running fire, and

huzza, The American States!"

** Washington, with his lady, and suite, Lord Stirling and his lady,

with other general officers and ladies, attended the religious services

of the Jersey brigade, when the Rev. Mr. Hunter delivered a discourse.

Afterward all the officers of the army assembled, and partook of a

collation provided by the commander-in-chief. When he took his leave,

there was universal huzzaing, Long live General Washington! The huzzas

continued until the general had proceeded a quarter of a mile, and a

thousand hats were tossed in the air. Washington, with his retinue,

turned round and huzzaed several times.

*** See p. 86, vol. i.

**** In 1776, Lord Howe and his brother were authorized to treat with

the rebellious colonies for reconciliation, but upon a basis not to be

thought of for a moment with favor by the Americans. It was absolute

submission to the crown, as a condition of royal pardon! This commission

will be noticed hereafter.

[[[Lord North's Conciliatory Bills.--Appointment of

Commissioners.--Chatham's Opposition to American Independence.]]]

{347}allow them to treat with Congress as if it were a legal body, and

competent to bind all the states by its acts and negotiations; to treat

with the conventions or provincial Congresses; with individuals in their

actual civil and military capacities, without any cavil in addressing

them according to the rank held under Congress to suspend hostilities;

intermit the operation of laws; grant pardons, immunities, and rewards;

restore charters and constitutions, and nominate governors, judges,

magistrates, &c., until the king's pleasure should be known. It was also

proposed that a renunciation of the independence of the colonies

should not be insisted upon, nor debated, until a definitive treaty

had received final ratification by the king and Parliament. The

commissioners were to be instructed to negotiate for a reasonable and

moderate contribution toward the common defense of the empire, when

reunited; but this was not to be insisted upon as a _sine qua non_.

Such is an outline of North's conciliatory plan, which, if it had been

presented two years before, would probably have been accepted by the

Americans.

These bills met with great opposition in Parliament, and excited a

long and stormy debate. The question assumed the distinct form of a

proposition to dismember the British empire, by allowing the American

colonies to withdraw as independent states. This proposition was

affirmatively supported as the only sure means of detaching the colonies

from France, the ancient enemy of England. The Earl of Chatham (William

Pitt) vehemently opposed it. Though a warm friend of the Americans, he

could not bear the thought of their separation from the mother

country, and, with all the strength of his eloquence, he denounced the

proposition. On the 7th of April, the debates on the question ran high,

[[1778]] and Chatham became greatly excited. Sickness and age had broken

his physical strength, but the fire of his intellect burned as clear as

ever. He came into the House of Lords, that day, wrapped in flannel, and

leaning upon two friends; and when he arose to speak, at the conclusion

of a speech by Lord Weymouth, he leaned upon crutches. "I thank God,"

he said, with a trembling voice, "that I have been enabled to come here

this day to perform my duty, and to speak on a subject which has so

deeply impressed my mind. I am old and infirm; I have one foot, more

than one foot, in the grave; I am risen from my bed to stand up in the

cause of my country; perhaps never again to speak in this House." A

deep and solemn silence pervaded the assembly as he uttered these words;

gradually his voice assumed its wonted strength and harmony, and with

all the power and beauty of the oratory of his best days, he addressed

the House. "My lords," he continued, "I rejoice that the grave has not

closed upon me; that I am still alive to lift up my voice against the

dismemberment of this ancient and most noble monarchy. Pressed down as

I am by the hand of infirmity, I am little able to assist my country

in this most perilous juncture; but, my lords, while I have sense and

memory, I will never consent to deprive the royal offspring of the

house of Brunswick, the heirs of the Princess Sophia, of their fairest

inheritance. Where is the man that will dare to advise such a measure?

My lords, his majesty succeeded to an empire as great in extent as its

reputation was unsullied, Shall we tarnish the luster of this nation by

an ignominious surrender of its rights and fairest possessions? Shall

this great kingdom, that has survived, whole and entire, the Danish

depredations, the Scottish inroads, and the Norman conquest--that has

stood the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada--now fall prostrate

before the house of Bourbon? Surely, my lords, this nation is no longer

what it was! Shall a people that, fifteen years ago, were the terror of

the world, now stoop so low as to tell their ancient, inveterate enemy,

'Take all we have, only give us peace?' It is impossible! I wage war

with no man or set of men. I wish for none of their employments; nor

would I co-operate with men who still persist in unretracted error; who,

instead of acting on a firm, decisive line of conduct, halt between

two opinions, where there is no middle path. In God's name, if it is

absolutely necessary to declare either for peace or war, and the former

can not be preserved with honor,

* The former commissioners addressed the commander-in-chief "Mr.

Washington," and refused to treat with Franklin, Adams, and Rutledge, as

members of Congress, for the legality of that body was denied.

[[[Conclusion of Pitt's Speech.--His sudden Illness and Death.--Copley's

Picture of the Scene.]]]

{348}why is not the latter commenced without hesitation? I am not, I

confess, well informed of the resources of this kingdom; but I trust

it has still sufficient to maintain its just rights, though I know them

not. But, my lords, any state is better than despair. Let us, at least,

make one effort; and if we must fall, let us fall like men!"

[Illustration: 9358]

As Chatham sat down, his brother-in-law, Lord Temple, said to him, "You

forgot to mention what we talked of; shall I get up?"

"No, no," replied Chatham, "I will do it by-and-by." The Duke of

Richmond then arose, and replied to Chatham. When he sat down, the great

orator attempted to rise, but the violence of his indignation overcame

him, and he swooned. He was caught in friendly arms, and the whole

House, in great agitation, crowded around him with anxious solicitude.

* He was conveyed to the house of a friend in Downing Street, and the

following day he was carried home to his country seat at Hayes. That

speech was, indeed, his last, for, in a little more than a month

afterward, he expired. [[May 11, 1778]] Parliament voted him a public

funeral and a monument; and, after settling upon his family an annuity

of twenty thousand dollars a year, a grant was made of one hundred

thousand dollars to pay off his lordship's debts. The last words of the

great orator were agreeable to the royal ears,

* John Singleton Copley, the eminent American artist, painted a

representation of this scene for the House of Lords. In a note on page

496 of the first volume of this work, I have placed Copley among the

early refugee Loyalists. History and fair inference have assigned him

that position, partly on account of his marriage relation with a

family of Loyalists, and partly because he was one of the addressers

of Hutchinson, left the country with him, and was intimate with him

in London. Sabine places him among the Loyalists, and his biographers

generally have given him that character. Since the publication of that

volume, I have been Informed that the late John Quincy Adams, who knew

Copley and his sentiments intimately, denied that he was a Loyalist;

on the contrary, he averred that he was a Whig in sentiment during the

whole controversy, and adduced, among other evidence, the fact, that

when commissioned to make two paintings, one for the House of Lords

and the other for the House of Commons, he chose as a subject for the

former, The Death of Chatham, and for the latter, Charles the First

in Parliament. The scene of the last picture is at the moment when the

speaker uttered to the king the republican sentiment, "I have no eyes

to see, no ears to hear, no mouth to speak, but as Parliament directs

implying entire subserviency to the popular will. Mr. Adams said Copley

went to England, not as a fugitive, but entirely on account of his

profession, which disturbances in Boston had almost destroyed.

** William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham, was born on the 5th of

November, 1708. He was educated at Eton, and entered Trinity College,

Oxford, in 1726. He left that institution for a military profession,

which he entered with the rank of cornet. He was elected a member of

Parliament for Old Sarum in 1735, and soon became distinguished for

his eloquence and extensive information. He was in the ranks of the

opposition against Walpole, and, for his good service against that

minister, Walpole's inveterate enemy, the Duchess of Marlborough, left

Pitt, in her will, fifty thousand dollars. From 1746 until 1755, he was

treasurer of Ireland, paymaster of the army, and privy counselor. He was

made secretary of state in 1756, and had the direction of the war

bureau during a late portion of the progress of the Seven Years' war.

He retired from office on the accession of George III., but continued in

Parliament. In 1766 he was created Earl Chatham, and occupied the privy

seal in the administration. This office he resigned in 1768; and from

that period until his death, an hereditary gout kept him much at home

and undermined his constitution. He was struck down with apoplexy upon

the floor of the House of Lords on the 7th of April, 1778, and died on

the 11th of May following, at the age of 70. * "His disposition," says

Brougham, "was exceedingly affectionate. The pride, bordering upon

insolence, in which he showed himself incased to the world, fell

naturally from him, and without any effort to put it off, as he crossed

the threshold of his own door. To all his family he was civil, kindly,

and gentle. His pursuits were of a nature that showed how much he loved

to unbend himself. He delighted in poetry and other light reading; was

fond of music; loved the country; took peculiar pleasure in gardening;

and had even an extremely happy taste in laying out grounds."

[[[Pitt's Funeral and Monument.--North's conciliatory Propositions

rejected.---Arrival of Commissioners.--Governor Tryon.]]]

{349}and the king was pleased to bestow his bounty when "the trumpet of

sedition" * was silenced.

The conciliatory bills arrived in America about the middle of April.

Governor Tryon, of New York, caused them to be printed and extensively

circulated. As they did not positively propose the independence of the

colonies as a basis of negotiation, they were regarded by the patriots

with suspicion, and were denominated the "deceptionary bills."

"Nothing short of independence, it appears to me, will do," Washington

wrote. "A peace on other terms would, if I may be allowed the

expression, be a peace of war." Congress entertained the same

sentiments. As soon as draughts of the bills were received by that body,

they were referred to a committee. When they reported, some discussion

arose, but it [[April 22, 1778]] was unanimously resolved that the terms

offered were totally inadequate, and that no advances on the part of the

British government for a peace would be met, unless, as a preliminary

step, they either withdrew their armies and fleets, or acknowledged,

unequivocally, the independence of the United States. ** This report,

and other resolutions adopted on the following day, were printed with

the "deceptionary bills," and circulated throughout the country. ***

[Illustration: 9359]

The king's ship of war Trident arrived in the Delaware on the 4th

of June, having on board three commissioners, appointed under the

provisions of North's conciliatory bills. These commissioners were the

Earl of Carlisle, George Johnstone, formerly governor of West Florida,

**** and William Eden, a brother of Sir Robert Eden, the governor of

Maryland from 1769 until the Revolution. They were accompanied by

the celebrated Adam Ferguson, professor of Moral Philosophy in the

University of Edinburgh, as secretary. General Howe was directed to join

commissioners, but, as he had returned home, Sir Henry Clinton took his

place.

That officer wrote to Washington, requesting a passport for Dr. Ferguson

to proceed to Congress at York, with dispatches. The request was

* The King was applied to by Lord North, before Chatham's death, to make

some provision for his family. In a sharp letter his majesty said, "When

decrepitude or death puts an end to him as a trumpet of sedition, I

shall make no difficulty in placing the second son's name instead of the

father's, and making up the pension L. 3000.--Brougham's Statesmen of

the Tunes of George III.

** Journals of Congress, iv., 164.

*** Governor Tryon inclosed copies of these hills to General Washington,

with a request that he would aid in circulating them! Washington sent

them to Congress, and after that body had passed its resolves on the

subject, the chief forwarded printed copies to Tryon, and politely

requested him to have them circulated among those persons for whom they

were intended. One of the resolutions recommended the Legislatures of

the several states, or any executive authority possessing the power,

to issue proclamations offering pardon to those who had taken up arms

against the continental government, and who should surrender themselves,

and return to the state to which they belonged, before the 10th of June.

This resolution was adopted on the 23d of April.--Journals, iv., 168.

This was an excellent retort upon Governor Tryon. It is difficult, as

Washington remarked in a letter to Governor Livingston, in viewing

the conduct of Tryon on this occasion, "which to admire most, his

impertinence or his folly."

**** According to M'Gregor, James M'Pherson, the translator of Ossian's

Poems, went to Florida with Governor Johnston in 1770, as surveyor

general, and took the original Gaelic manuscripts with him. Many of them

were lost there, and were never recovered.