1842.
From the Evening Journal.
MR. WHITNEY--At this distant day from the American Revolution, a new dawn
seems to be breaking upon the darkness of that period, and much that has
heretofore been shrouded in seemingly inscrutable mystery, is beginning to
be made plain even to the naked vision. The "seventeen trunks" of
revolutionary papers, a selection from which Colonel Beekman, the grandson
and heir of Gen. George Clinton, has just published, in one of the New York
papers, must necessarily contain much of exceeding value: and I should not
be surprised if the Colonel were to receive a visit, at his place on Long
Island, from Mr. William Bradford Reed, to request to be permitted to
_rummage_ their contents, and abstract or destroy any "document" that might
likely prove prejudicial to the fame of his grandfather, the late General
Joseph Reed. The Colonel must keep a sharp look out for Mr. Reed, and turn
a deaf ear to his blandishments, when he arrives.
Doctor Johnson, in one of his Lives of the Poets, makes an observation
strictly applicable to the claim of patriotism, which, originally set up
for himself by General Reed, has been perpetuated for him by his
descendants. Speaking of the boast a certain poet was accustomed to make,
of the sternness with which he had driven back an ass laden with gold, that
had sought to invade the citadel of his integrity, the Doctor remarked,
"but the tale has too little evidence to deserve a disquisition; _large
offers and sturdy rejections are among the most common topics of
falsehood_." That portion of the quotation which I have italicised, fits
the case of General Reed to a hair; but "the tale" of his patriotism,
however "little evidence" there may to support it, _does_ "deserve a
disquisition," if only on account of the pertinacity with which it is
endeavoured to engraft it upon the public mind.
I have already given the _truth_ concerning General Reed's famous reply to
the British commissioners, and I propose to follow it up with the
publication of a few letters, interesting on account of the light which
they shed upon our revolutionary history.
Many of the citizens of Philadelphia must remember Mrs. Sarah Kemp, who
died in Race street, in 1820, at the advanced age of eighty-four years.
Andrew Kemp, the only son of this respectable matron, entered the American
army, almost at the very commencement of the struggle, and before, as his
mother has often informed me, he had reached his majority. As he shall be
my first witness against General Reed, it is proper to make the reader well
acquainted with him. His gallantry, and a personal service which he had the
good fortune to render to one of General Washingston's[TN] immediate staff,
soon promoted him from the ranks, and he fought with great bravery, at the
battles of White Plains, Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown and
Monmouth. Sergeant Kemp was one of the garrison of Fort Mercer, under the
command of Colonel Greene, when that fortress was assailed in the autumn of
1777, by the Hessian troops, commanded by Colonel Donop. In this affair,
which, though not one of the most remarkable, was one of the most brilliant
of the Revolution, Sergeant Kemp particularly distinguished himself, and
was wounded slightly in the arm, and severely in the left thigh by a musket
ball: at the subsequent capture of Fort Mercer by Cornwallis, Kemp was one
of the few who fell into the hands of the enemy--the remainder of the
garrison succeeding in safely evacuating the fort. In a few weeks, he
managed to effect his escape from Howe's winter quarters at Philadelphia,
and immediately joined the American army at Valley Forge. The privations of
that encampment, dreadfully aggravated the sufferings of poor Kemp; but,
after languishing during the season in one of the military hospitals, he
resumed active service in the spring, and served in May under Lafayette at
the affair of Barren Hill. At the battle of Monmouth, he fought with his
usual intrepidity, but the fatigues of the engagement renewed the affection
of his imperfectly healed leg; and, about three weeks after, he was obliged
to submit to its amputation. Upon leaving the army, he received from
General Washington himself a certificate of conduct and character, which I
copy from the original before me.
_Head Quarters, June 23, 1778._
Sergeant Andrew Kemp is personally known to me as a brave and
faithful soldier, who has served in several engagements, and
who desires his discharge only in consequence of the loss of a
limb, which unfits him for further service. His dutiful
conduct is reported to me to be equal to his bravery; and he
retires from the army with my good opinion and that of all
whom I have heard speak of him.
(Signed,) G. WASHINGTON.
From among other testimonials to Mr. Kemp's worth and conduct, which formed
to her dying day, the pride and solace of his aged mother, I select the
following, given by Col. Samuel Smith, the late Mayor of Baltimore, and
the gallant defender of Fort Mifflin against the six days' attacks of the
British.
"Andrew Kemp has served with me three times; the last nearly
four months. He was discharged from the army last month, in
consequence of the loss of his leg and other bodily
infirmities. I have always found his conduct exemplary. He
came to me with high recommendations from officers whom he had
previously served with, and fully realized what they had
prepared me to expect from him.
(Signed,) SAMUEL SMITH.
_September 3, 1778."_
This brave fellow fell a victim to his benevolent daring, during the
prevalence of the yellow fever in this city, in 1798. Upon the death of his
mother, the certificates of character which I have transcribed, and a
number of his letters, of various dates, written while he was in the army,
passed into the hands of the veteran, to whom in my former article, I
referred, but whose name I am not _yet_ at liberty to mention. From among
them, I make two selections--the first a letter to his mother, who then
resided in Chester County.
_Camp, June 13th; 1788._
My Dear Mother,--You must be very uneasy not hearing from me
so long, and the only wonder is that I am alive to give any
account of myself. After my escape from Philadelphia, last
November, I wrote to you, but whether you received my letter
or not I cannot tell, for I have never heard a word of you
since. We have had a dreadful time of it through the winter at
Valley Forge. Sometimes for a week at a time with nothing but
frozen potatoes, and even worse off still for clothing;
sometimes the men obliged to sleep by turns for want of
blankets to cover the whole, and the rest keeping watch by the
fires. There is hardly a man whose feet have not been frost
bitten. I have been laid by nearly the whole time on account
of my leg, from which I suffered very much; and Doctor Le
Brean insisted upon taking it off, but I would not suffer him;
for which I have great reason to be joyful, for it is now
nearly as well as ever, except a little stiffness,
particularly after marching. But our distress from want of
food and comfortable raiment, was nothing compared to the
grumbling of some of the men, and I am sorry to say, of some
of the officers. I really thought we should have a meeting
once or twice; but we weathered through without it. Some hard
things are said since about some of the officers, but the
whole talk of the army is now about General Reed. There have
been a good many attempts to conceal it from the men, but it
has pretty much leaked out. This spring, it seems, King George
sent over some Commissioners, as they call them, to endeavour
to make a peace with us; and it turns out that General Reed
has been in secret correspondence with them all the time, and
was offered large amounts to play into their hands; but the
bargain was broken off by his wanting more than they were
willing to give. I know this much for certain; that one of
their letters was taken to General Washington, and that the
men were all called up at the dead of night, by beat of drum,
and most of the officers called to Head Quarters. In the
morning, General Reed was placed under guard, but released in
about two hours. The letter was from one of the British
Commissioners, in answer to one of his--he gave some
explation[TN], but it did not satisfy the General, but he was
obliged to accept it, as the contrary could not be proved. I
heard Captain Anderson tell Dr. Le Brean, that General
Washington was fully satisfied that Reed had been on the very
point of betraying us all to the British, but that it could
not be fully proved; and at such a time, it was better to keep
a strict eye upon him, without getting the army into disgrace
by exposure.
"Near the last of May, we had a smart little affair with the
British at Barren Hill; it was the first time I was under
marching orders since I left the hospital. The British army
came very near surprising us after night--two of the sentinels
of the picket guard having fallen asleep on their posts. But
we managed to get across the river again with very little
loss, only eight men killed and wounded, and three prisoners.
I made a narrow escape, for I heard a bullet whistling by my
ear as close as it could, without hitting. All well at home, I
hope. Tell Sally not to forget to knit me a supply of woollen
stockings, and a couple pair of mittens for next winter, for I
dread the idea of another Valley Forge; and give her and Ann
my kind love.
"From your affectionate son,
"ANDREW KEMP."
My object in giving this _introductory_ letter is to show Mr. William B.
Reed that the treachery of his grandfather was understood by the army at
large, and that the knowledge of it was not confined to a few leading
officers. _Documents of a more precise, specific, and important character_,
are in my possession, or within my means of access; and shall seasonably
appear; but, unlike "_McDonough_," I do not choose to put my best foot
foremost, and limp ever aftewards[TN]. I subjoin another letter from
Sergeant Kemp, for the edification of Mr. Reed.
_"Monmouth Court House, N. J., July 2d, 1778."_
"Dear Mother,--I am laid up again, but after the fatigues of a
great battle, and a great victory, which we fought on the 28th
of June,--James Maris, who had his hand shattered by a
bullet, has leave of absence for four weeks; and I drop a few
lines by the opportunity which his going gives me. God be
thanked, we have had a glorious victory! The British troops,
commanded by Sir Henry Clinton, and ours by General
Washington, were nearly matched--say ten thousand each. We
fought from the forenoon till nigh dark; and our whole loss,
killed and missing, is short of seventy, while the British
lost about three hundred, and among them one Colonel Monks or
Monkston. I have no great time for particulars. The men
behaved very nobly; and the morning after, when we found that
the British had decamped over night, the General [Washington,]
thanked us all, from horseback. But one thing there is which
has occasioned much disturbance among us. I mean the conduct
of General Lee, who attempted to retreat, and who has since
been put under order, to be court martialed.
"Then there's that General Reed has been behaving very
strangely again. Not a man nor officer in the army that does
not hate the sight of him; we all believe that he came very
near betraying us, only that the General [Washington] found
him out in time. We all remember Valley Forge last winter.
Before the battle began, I myself heard Gen. Washington
whisper to General Greene and Wayne, to keep a sharp eye upon
Reed's movements, and if he made any suspicious attempt, to
order him under arrest, and shoot him if he resisted. During
the whole battle, I never saw him; but after the last gun was
fired, and when it was almost dark, General Reed suddenly made
his appearance from the rear, and gave out that he had just
had a horse shot in two under him, and asked for two men to go
and remove his saddle and holsters. I was one of them; we
examined the horse very carefully, and found him to be without
hurt or scratch; and he had plain enough died from mere heat,
which killed several horses and a number of men during the
day. The story has got wind--some laugh, but others shake
their heads about it. Jim Maris heard General Washington say
to General Wayne in the evening, that he abhorred the very
sight of Reed, and could never again put the least faith in
him. This is not the first time that General Reed has showed
the white feather. He pretended to have a horse killed under
him, in the same way at the Battle of Brandywine, and had two
men put in irons for talking about it. I am afraid my leg is
going to give me a good deal of trouble again It is very much
swollen, and discharges continually. They have me on the sick
list. My best love to Sarah and Ann.
"Your dutitful[TN] son,
(Signed) "ANDREW KEMP."
Having given the testimony of Sergeant Kemp, I will now have the pleasure
of introducing to the notice of Mr. William B. Reed a letter from Col.
Samuel Smith, to his old friend in arms, Colonel ----, by whom I have been
so kindly supplied with much of the reminiscences which I have given to the
readers of the Journal, and who had addressed to Col. Smith a letter, the
nature and object of which will best be explained by the following reply:
_"Senate Chamber, Washington, Feb. 15th, 1832._
"MY DEAR FRIEND,--Yours of the 9th was received yesterday,
having been forwarded to me by my family from Baltimore, to
which place you had addressed it, forgetting my still being in
public life at Washington. I suppose you think that so old a
man, and one who has led so busy and active a life, should
take the evening of his days to his comfort and quiet
reflection, and I am not sure but that you are right. Public
life ought to have but little charms for either you or me; we
have both seen enough of active service, and should devote the
remnant of time which is left us, to settling our accounts
with this world, and preparing for a better.
"I am gratified to hear of the task in which you tell me you
are engaged. I do not know that it is in my power to afford
you much of the assistance which you seem to think I can give;
but such information as I can communicate is very cheerfully
at your service. Upon my return to Baltimore, I will examine
my papers; and whatever letters I can spare, which I may think
likely to aid you in your labors, or illustrate the times of
which you propose to write, shall be forwarded to your
direction.
"I agree with you that many of the men, and not few of the
events, of the Revolution, are very imperfectly understood.
Take General Washington himself, for example: he is
represented as having been cold and repulsive in his manner,
when the very reverse was the fact. True, he was dignified and
reserved, but always courteous, and, what I admired above all,
always sincere. I never knew a man capable of stronger
attachments; he had none of the vices of humanity, and fewer
of its weaknesses than any man I ever knew. I do not believe
Mr. Jefferson _meant_ to be unjust; but the character drawn of
Washington, which appears in his recently published papers and
correspondence, falls, in all respects, very far short of
doing him justice. Mr. Jefferson had not the sort of mind
which was entirely capable of appreciating, or even exactly
understanding, a character like that of Washington's. I saw
much of the old General in his latter days; visited him
several times at Mount Vernon, and frequently at Washington.
Doctor Craih, (my near connexion by marriage,) was long his
physician and intimate friend, and was in attendance upon his
death-bed. He has given me anecdotes innumerable of
Washington's generosity and kindness of heart, which, though,
not known to the world, ought to be. Of these, I will write to
you more fully from home.
"I can communicate but little concerning Gen. Wayne, which you
do not know already. His son, who lives somewhere in your
state, I should take to be a proper person to whom to apply. I
wish it were in my power to answer more fully than I can, your
inquiries concerning General Reed. My personal acquaintance
with him was limited. I shared in the deep dislike with which
he was regarded, and his negotiations with the British
commissioners, in the spring of 1778, made him obnoxious to
the whole army, from the commander-in-chief to the lowest
subaltern. You and I talked this matter over nearly fifty
years since, and I have found nothing to change, but much to
confirm, my opinions. It is a little too bad that this man
should be reverenced by posterity as one of the purest of the
men of the revolution, when you and I, and all who were really
active in those times, know that nothing but accident
prevented his taking the start of Benedict Arnold. Though not
communicative, General Washington was always candid, and upon
the subject of Reed's premeditated betrayal of the country to
England, he has frequently conversed with me very freely. None
of the correspondence between Reed and the British
commissioners, fell into his hands except the letter from
Governor Johnston, and an enclosed note in cypher from Lord
Carlisle, but these contained sufficient to assure Washington
that a long correspondence had passed--that proposals had been
made and debated, and that Reed had finally submitted a
proposition which the commissioners were endeavouring to
reduce. With the explanation Reed gave you are familiar. No
one believed it, but it passed muster, for the only proofs
which _at the time_ could be had, were the intercepted papers.
But ever after, Washington regarded Reed with great dislike,
and treated him with a manner strictly marked by the display
of his feelings. I was present when General Washington took
his final leave of his officers at New York, after the close
of the revolution, in the winter of 1783. The general's eyes
streamed with tears, he grasped each officer by the hand, but
when Reed approached him with extended hand, he started as if
bitten by a serpent, made a cold bow, and passed on.
Afterwards, at Annapolis, where Congress was then sitting, I
was present when General Reed was repeating to some half a
dozen of delegates, the old story of his refusal of the
commissioner's offer. Washington, who was within three yards
of him, turned away, and remarked to General Knox, "I know the
fellow well; he wanted but a price, and an opportunity, to
play us false as Arnold," and passed out of the room. There
was a general titter, and upon Reed's enquiring of General
Knox what it was that General W. had remarked, Knox replied,
"If you did not hear it, I advise you to follow the general,
and request him to repeat his observation." Reed was not a
fighting man. I do not say that he was a coward, but he was
always very careful of his person. His visit to England in
1784, I could never understand. His circumstances, just
before, were very much embarrassed, he had borrowed of all who
were willing to lend, and he paid nobody. Immediately upon his
return, he paid off all his debts, including one of three
thousand dollars to General Wayne, and commenced speculating
in real estate largly[TN], when he was taken ill and died.
I have given you very near all I have concerning this person.
I have anecdotes from others, of which I will inform you
hereafter; as also, the particulars of several conversations
which I had with Washington respecting him. I have always,
from principle, been opposed to making mischief; but I have
always, at the same time, been opposed to trickery and
unfounded pretensions. Why the survivors of the Revolution
have so long permitted General Reed's treachery and baseness
to be glossed over, and himself converted into a patriot, is
to me a mystery; but the veil must be raised at last, and I
know of no one more capable of performing the task than
yourself.
"Let me hear often from you--and always be assured that I am
sincerely your friend,