SCHUYLER’S AFFAIRS IN THE NORTHERN DEPARTMENT—MISUNDERSTANDINGS WITH
CONGRESS—GIVES OFFENCE BY A REPROACHFUL LETTER—OFFICE OF
ADJUTANT-GENERAL OFFERED TO GATES—DECLINED BY HIM—SCHUYLER
REPRIMANDED BY CONGRESS FOR HIS REPROACHFUL LETTER—GATES APPOINTED
TO THE COMMAND AT TICONDEROGA—SCHUYLER CONSIDERS HIMSELF VIRTUALLY
SUSPENDED—TAKES HIS SEAT AS A DELEGATE TO CONGRESS, AND CLAIMS A
COURT OF INQUIRY—HAS COMMAND AT PHILADELPHIA.
We have now to enter upon a tissue of circumstances connected with the
Northern department, which will be found materially to influence the
course of affairs in that quarter throughout the current year, and
ultimately to be fruitful of annoyance to Washington himself. To make
these more clear to the reader, it is necessary to revert to events in
the preceding year.
The question of command between Schuyler and Gates, when settled as we
have shown by Congress, had caused no interruption to the harmony of
intercourse between these generals.
Schuyler directed the affairs of the department with energy and activity
from his head-quarters at Albany, where they had been fixed by Congress,
while Gates, subordinate to him, commanded the post of Ticonderoga.
The disappointment of an independent command, however, still rankled in
the mind of the latter, and was kept alive by the officious suggestions
of meddling friends. In the course of the autumn, his hopes in this
respect revived. Schuyler was again disgusted with the service. In the
discharge of his various and harassing duties, he had been annoyed by
sectional jealousies and ill will. His motives and measures had been
maligned. The failures in Canada had been attributed to him, and he had
repeatedly entreated Congress to order an inquiry into the many charges
made against him, “that he might not any longer be insulted.”
“I assure you,” writes he to Gates, on the 25th of August, “that I am so
sincerely tired of abuse, that I will let my enemies arrive at the
completion of their wishes by retiring, as soon as I shall have been
tried; and attempt to serve my injured country in some other way, where
envy and detraction will have no temptation to follow me.”
On the 14th of September, he actually offered his resignation of his
commission as major-general, and of every other office and appointment;
still claiming a court of inquiry on his conduct, and expressing his
determination to fulfil the duties of a good citizen, and promote the
weal of his native country, but in some other capacity. “I trust,”
writes he, “that my successor, whoever he may be, will find that matters
are as prosperously arranged in this department as the nature of the
service will admit. I shall most readily give him any information and
assistance in my power.”
He immediately wrote to General Gates, apprising him of his having sent
in his resignation. “It is much to be lamented,” writes he, “that
calumny is so much cherished in this unhappy country, and that so few of
the servants of the public escape the malevolence of a set of insidious
miscreants. It has driven me to the necessity of resigning.”
As the command of the department, should his resignation be accepted,
would of course devolve on Gates, he assures him he will render every
assistance in his power to any officer whom Gates might appoint to
command in Albany.
All his letters to Gates, while they were thus in relation in the
department, had been kind and courteous; beginning with, “My dear
General,” and ending with, “adieu” and “every friendly wish.” Schuyler
was a warm-hearted man, and his expressions were probably sincere.
The hopes of Gates, inspired by this proffered resignation, were doomed
to be again overclouded. Schuyler was informed by President Hancock,
“that Congress, during the present state of affairs, could not consent
to accept of his resignation; but requested that he would continue in
the command he held, and be assured that the aspersions thrown out by
his enemies against his character, had no influence upon the minds of
the members of that House; and that more effectually to put calumny to
silence, they would at an early day appoint a committee to inquire fully
into his conduct, which they trusted would establish his reputation in
the opinion of all good men.”
Schuyler received the resolve of Congress with grim acquiescence, but
showed in his reply that he was but half soothed. “At this very critical
juncture,” writes he, October 16, “I shall waive those remarks which, in
justice to myself, I must make at a future day. The calumny of my
enemies has arisen to its height. Their malice is incapable of
heightening the injury. * * * * In the alarming situation of our
affairs, I shall continue to act some time longer, but Congress must
prepare to put the care of this department into other hands. I shall be
able to render my country better services in another line: less exposed
to a repetition of the injuries I have sustained.”
He had remained at his post, therefore, discharging the various duties
of his department with his usual zeal and activity; and Gates, at the
end of the campaign, had repaired, as we have shown, to the vicinity of
Congress, to attend the fluctuation of events.
Circumstances in the course of the winter had put the worthy Schuyler
again on points of punctilio with Congress. Among some letters
intercepted by the enemy and retaken by the Americans, was one from
Colonel Joseph Trumbull, the commissary-general, insinuating that
General Schuyler had secreted or suppressed a commission sent for his
brother, Colonel John Trumbull, as deputy adjutant-general.[14] The
purport of the letter was reported to Schuyler. He spurned at the
insinuation. “If it be true that he has asserted such a thing,” writes
he to the president, “I shall expect from Congress that justice which is
due to me.”
Three weeks later he enclosed to the president a copy of Trumbull’s
letter. “I hope,” writes he, “Congress will not entertain the least idea
that I can tamely submit to such injurious treatment. I expect they will
immediately do what is incumbent on them on the occasion. Until Mr.
Trumbull and I are upon a footing, I cannot do what the laws of honor
and a regard to my own reputation render indispensably necessary.
Congress can put us on a par by dismissing one or the other from the
service.”
Congress failed to comply with the general’s request. They added also to
his chagrin by dismissing from the service an army physician, in whose
appointment he had particularly interested himself.
Schuyler was a proud-spirited man, and, at times, somewhat irascible. In
a letter to Congress on the 8th of February, he observed: “As Dr.
Stringer had my recommendation to the office he has sustained, perhaps
it was a compliment due to me that I should have been advised of the
reason of his dismission.”
And again: “I was in hopes some notice would have been taken of the
odious suspicion contained in Mr. Commissary Trumbull’s intercepted
letter. I really feel myself deeply chagrined on the occasion. I am
incapable of the meanness he suspects me of, and I confidently expected
that Congress would have done me that justice which it was in their
power to give, and which I humbly conceive they ought to have done.”
This letter gave great umbrage to Congress, but no immediate answer was
made to it.
About this time the office of adjutant-general, which had remained
vacant ever since the resignation of Colonel Reed, to the great
detriment of the service, especially now when a new army was to be
formed, was offered to General Gates, who had formerly filled it with
ability; and President Hancock informed him, by letter, of the earnest
desire of Congress that he should resume it, retaining his present rank
and pay.
Gates almost resented the proposal. “Unless the commander-in-chief
earnestly makes the same request with your Excellency,” replies he, “all
my endeavors as adjutant-general would be vain and fruitless. I had,
last year, the honor to command in the second post in America; and had
the good fortune to prevent the enemy from making their so much
wished-for junction with General Howe. After this, to be expected to
dwindle again to the adjutant-general, requires more philosophy on my
part, and something more than words on yours.”[15]
He wrote to Washington to the same effect, but declared that, should it
be his Excellency’s wish, he would resume the office with alacrity.
Washington promptly replied that he had often wished it in secret,
though he had never even hinted at it; supposing Gates might have
scruples on the subject. “You cannot conceive the pleasure I feel,” adds
he, “when you tell me that, if it is my desire that you should resume
your former office, you will with cheerfulness and alacrity proceed to
Morristown.” He thanks him for this mark of attention to his wishes;
assures him that he looks upon his resumption of the office as the only
means of giving form and regularity to the new army; and will be glad to
receive a line from him mentioning the time he would leave Philadelphia.
He received no such line. Gates had a higher object in view. A letter
from Schuyler to Congress, had informed that body that he should set out
for Philadelphia about the 21st of March, and should immediately on his
arrival require the promised inquiry into his conduct. Gates, of course,
was acquainted with this circumstance. He knew Schuyler had given
offence to Congress; he knew that he had been offended on his own part,
and had repeatedly talked of resigning. He had active friends in
Congress ready to push his interests. On the 12th of March his letter to
President Hancock about the proffered adjutancy was read, and ordered to
be taken into consideration on the following day.
On the 13th, a committee of five was appointed to confer with him upon
the general state of affairs.
On the 15th, the letter of General Schuyler of the 3d of February, which
had given such offence, was brought before the House, and it was
resolved that his suggestion concerning the dismission of Dr. Stringer
was highly derogatory to the honor of Congress, and that it was expected
his letters in future would be written in a style suitable to the
dignity of the representative body of these free and independent States,
and to his own character as their officer. His expressions, too,
respecting the intercepted letter, that he had expected Congress would
have done him all the justice in their power, were pronounced, “to say
the least, ill-advised and highly indecent.”[16]
While Schuyler was thus in partial eclipse, the House proceeded to
appoint a general officer for the Northern department, of which he had
stated it to be in need.
On the 25th of March, Gates received the following note from President
Hancock: “I have it in charge to direct that you repair to Ticonderoga
immediately, and take command of the army stationed in that department.”
Gates obeyed with alacrity. Again the vision of an independent command
floated before his mind, and he was on his way to Albany, at the time
that Schuyler, ignorant of this new arrangement, was journeying to
Philadelphia. Gates was accompanied by Brigadier-general Fermois, a
French officer, recently commissioned in the Continental army. A rumor
of his approach preceded him. “What are the terms on which Gates is
coming on?” was asked in Albany. “Has Schuyler been superseded, or is he
to be so, or has he resigned?” For a time all was rumor and conjecture.
A report reached his family that he was to be divested of all titles and
rank other than that of Philip Schuyler, Esquire. They heard it with
joy, knowing the carking cares and annoyances that had beset him in his
command. His military friends deprecated it as a great loss to the
service.[17]
When Gates arrived in Albany, Colonel Varick, Schuyler’s secretary,
waited on him with a message from Mrs. Schuyler, inviting him to take up
his quarters at the general’s house, which was in the vicinity. He
declined, as the despatch of affairs required him to be continually in
town; but took his breakfast with Mrs. Schuyler the next morning. He
remained in Albany, unwilling to depart for Ticonderoga until there
should be sufficient troops there to support him.
Schuyler arrived in Philadelphia in the second week in April, and found
himself superseded in effect by General Gates in the Northern
department. He enclosed to the committee of Albany the recent
resolutions of Congress, passed before his arrival. “By these,” writes
he, “you will readily perceive that I shall not return a general. Under
what influence it has been brought about, I am not at liberty now to
mention. On my return to Albany, I shall give the committee the fullest
information.”[18]
Taking his seat in Congress as a delegate from New York, he demanded the
promised investigation of his conduct during the time he had held a
command in the army. It was his intention, when the scrutiny had taken
place, to resign his commission, and retire from the service. On the
18th, a committee of inquiry was appointed, as at his request, composed
of a member from each State.
In the mean time, as second major-general of the United States (Lee
being the first), he held active command at Philadelphia, forming a camp
on the western side of the Delaware, completing the works on Fort
Island, throwing up works on Red Bank, and accelerating the despatch of
troops and provisions to the commander-in-chief. During his sojourn at
Philadelphia, also, he contributed essentially to reorganize the
commissary department; digesting rules for its regulation, which were
mainly adopted by Congress.