Proceedings of a General Court Martial of the line, held at Raritan in the
State of New Jersey, for the trial of Major General Arnold, Published by
order of Congress, Philadelphia.
Printed by Francis Bailey in Market Street, 1780.
Extract from the defence of General Arnold.
* * * * *
"On this occasion I think I may be allowed to say, without vanity, that my
conduct, from the earliest period of the war to the present time, has been
steady and uniform. I have ever obeyed the calls of my country, and stepped
forth in her defence, in every hour of danger, when many were deserting her
cause, which appeared desperate. I have often bled in it; the marks that I
bear, are sufficient evidence of my conduct. The impartial public will
judge of my services, and whether the returns that I have met with are not
tinctured with the basest ingratitude. Conscious of my own innocence, and
the unworthy methods taken to injure me, I can with boldness say to my
persecutors in general, _and to the chief of them in particular_, that in
the hour of _danger_ when the affairs of America wore a _gloomy aspect_,
when our illustrious general was retreating through New Jersey, with a
handful of men, I did not propose to my associates basely to quit the
general, and sacrifice the cause of my country to my personal safety, by
going over to the enemy and making my peace.
"I can say I never basked in the sunshine of my general's favour, and
courted him to his face, when I was at the same time treating him with the
greatest disrespect, and villifying[TN] his character when absent. _This is
more than a ruling member of the Council of Pennsylvania can say," as it is
alleged and believed._
The first edition of the Cadwalader Pamphlet was published in the year
1782, within the last twenty years all the copies, or nearly so, have been
spirited away--where or by whom no one knows. They have been stolen from
the public libraries and from the book cases of private individuals. In
1848 a second edition was issued. The publisher of this edition was
threatened with prosecution, and although but six years have passed, it is
now looked upon as a valuable curiosity. To the second edition was prefixed
the following Introduction.
"A few years since a writer, over the signature of "Valley Forge,"
published in an evening paper of Philadelphia, called the "_Evening
Journal_," and put forth certain statements connected with our
revolutionary history, which caused a great excitement, and led to a
challenge of an interview with the author, by the descendants of a person,
whose character was considered as involved in doubt, as to his being a
patriot of 1776. The party challenged failed to attend the proposed
meeting, and this pamphlet will give a clue to the whole writings of
"Valley Forge," and justify completely the course pursued by the editor of
the "_Evening Journal_," who is not now of this world, and of course a
matter immaterial perhaps to his friends and relatives.
NOTES.--"The allusion to the disrespectful treatment of the
General refers in part, (I fancy) to the letter addressed by
General Charles Lee to Reed, which came to head quarters and
was opened by Washington."--See Life of Joseph Reed.
"Joseph Reed at the time of the prosecution of Arnold was
President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania,
and as is well known, took an active and prominent part
against him."--See Spark's Life of Arnold, page 140.
The letter of Major Lennox and P. Dickinson refer to a person whose name is
not mentioned, who was included in the application to Count Donop for a
protection. There certainly must be in the possession of some of the
descendants of revolutionary families, evidence to show who this person
was: and it may yet be produced, to do justice to the memory of the men who
figured in those times.
_Trenton, December 26th, 1846._
The Valley Forge Letters were originally published in the Evening Journal,
edited by Reuben Whitney, Esq., in the year 1842. I have given the printer
the cuttings from that paper, so that the reader will get them in the exact
condition in which they appeared, perhaps not in the same order.