Nothing would give me more real satisfaction than to know the
sentiments which are entertained of me by the public, whether they be
favorable or otherwise; and I urged as a reason that the man who
wished to steer clear of shelves and rocks must know where they lie. I
know the integrity of my own heart, but to declare it, unless to a
friend, may be an argument of vanity; I know the unhappy predicament I
stand in: I know that much is expected of me; I know that without men,
without arms, without ammunition, without anything fit for the
accommodation of a soldier, little is to be done; and, what is
mortifying, I know that I can not stand justified to the world without
exposing my own weakness, and injuring the cause by declaring my
wants, which I am determined not to do, further than unavoidable
necessity brings every man acquainted with them.
[Footnote 27: From the letter addrest to Joseph Reed, and dated
February 10, 1776. Washington had assumed command in Cambridge on July
3d of the previous year. Joseph Reed was President of the Pennsylvania
Provincial Congress in 1775, and afterward became Washington's
secretary and aide-de-camp. This letter was in reply to two letters
from Reed containing "early and regular communication of what is
passing in your quarter."]
If, under these disadvantages, I am able to keep above water, in the
esteem of mankind, I shall feel myself happy; but if, from the unknown
peculiarity of my circumstances, I suffer in the opinion of the world,
I shall not think you take the freedom of a friend, if you conceal the
reflections that may be cast upon my conduct. My own situation is so
irksome to me at times that, if I did not consult the public good more
than my own tranquillity, I should long ere this have put everything
on the cast of a die. So far from my having an army of twenty thousand
men well armed, I have been here with less than one-half of that
number, including sick, furloughed, and on command, and those neither
armed nor clothed, as they should be. In short, my situation has been
such, that I have been obliged to use art to conceal it from my own
officers.
The party sent to Bunker Hill had some good and some bad men engaged
in it. One or two courts have been held on the conduct of part of
them. To be plain, these people are not to be depended upon if
exposed; and any man will fight well if he thinks himself in no
danger. I do not apply this only to these people. I suppose it to be
the case with all raw and undisciplined troops. Yon may rely upon it
that transports left Boston six weeks ago with troops; where they are
gone, unless driven to the West Indies, I know not. You may also rely
upon General Clinton's sailing from Boston about three weeks ago, with
about four or five hundred men; his destination I am also a stranger
to. I am sorry to hear of the failures you speak of from France. But
why will not Congress forward part of the powder made in your
province? They seem to look upon this as the season for action, but
will not furnish the means. I will not blame them. I dare say the
demands upon them are greater than they can supply. The cause must be
starved till our resources are greater, or more certain within
ourselves.
With respect to myself, I have never entertained an idea of an
accommodation since I heard of the measures which were adopted in
consequence of the Bunker Hill fight. The King's speech has confirmed
the sentiments I entertained upon the news of that affair; and, if
every man was of my mind, the ministers of Great Britain should know,
in a few words, upon what issue the cause should be put. I would not
be deceived by artful declarations, nor specious pretenses; nor would
I be amused by unmeaning propositions; but in open, undisguised, and
manly terms proclaim our wrongs, and our resolution to be redressed.
I would tell them, that we had borne much, that we had long and
ardently sought for reconciliation upon honorable terms, that it had
been denied us, that all our attempts after peace had proved abortive,
and had been grossly misrepresented, that we had done everything which
could be expected from the best of subjects, that the spirit of
freedom rises too high in us to submit to slavery, and that, if
nothing else would satisfy a tyrant and his diabolical ministry, we
are determined to shake off all connections with a state so unjust and
unnatural. This I would tell them, not under covert, but in words as
clear as the sun in its meridian brightness.