_The Conflict Commenced._
Death of Martha Custis--Parental Solicitude--Anti-Tea
Combination--The Boston Tea Party--The Port Bill--Policy
of Lord Dunmore--Fashion at Williamsburg--The Virginia
Aristocracy--Rank and Influence of Washington--The
Assembly Dissolved--The First Congress--Political Views
of the Fairfaxes--Interesting Correspondence--Scenes in
Boston--Harmony in Congress--The Chaplain--Grief at Mount
Vernon--The Battle of Lexington--The Second Congress--The Army
formed--Washington Commander-in-Chief.
“Sorrow is for the sons of men
And weeping for earth’s daughters.”
Washington, on his return to Mount Vernon, found his beloved
step-daughter, Martha Custis, in the very last stages of pulmonary
consumption. She was a beautiful girl of but seventeen summers, whom
Washington loved as his own child. While in anguish he was praying at
her bedside, her spirit took its flight. She died on the 19th of June,
1773.
John Park Custis, a petted boy of about sixteen, and the heir of a
large fortune, remained the idol of his indulgent mother. It is pretty
evident that he had his own way in all things, and that the sound
judgment of the father often reluctantly yielded to the injudicious
fondness of the mother. His education had been irregular and imperfect.
The impetuous youth fell in love with a young daughter of a wealthy
neighbor, Benedict Calvert, Esq. There was no objection to the
marriage, excepting the youth of the children. It is pretty evident
that Washington had considerable difficulty in inducing the impulsive
lad to consent to the postponement of the marriage for a year or two,
that he might prosecute his studies; for his education was exceedingly
defective.
He accordingly took John to New York, and placed him under the care
of Rev. Dr. Cooper, who was president of King’s College, now called
Columbia. The lad went reluctantly, and the fond mother was so pliant
to his wishes, that but a few months passed away when she consented
to his return, and to his premature marriage. The disapproval of
Washington is expressed in the following letter to President Cooper:
“It has been against my wishes that he should quit college in order
that he may soon enter into a new scene of life, which I think he
would be much fitter for some years hence than now. But having his own
inclination, the desires of his mother, and the acquiescence of almost
all his relatives to encounter, I did not care, as he is the last of
the family, to push my opposition too far. I have therefore submitted
to a kind of necessity.”
The bridegroom had not attained his twenty first year when the marriage
was celebrated, on the 3d of February, 1774. When Washington first
learned of the attachment, and the engagement, he wrote a letter to the
father of the young lady, from which we make the following extracts:
“I write to you on a subject of importance, and of no small
embarrassment to me. My son-in-law and ward, Mr. Custis, has, as I have
been informed, paid his addresses to your second daughter; and, having
make some progress in her affection, has solicited her in marriage. How
far a union of this sort may be agreeable to you, you best can tell.
But I should think myself wanting in candor, were I not to confess that
Miss Nellie’s amiable qualities are acknowledged on all hands, and that
an alliance with your family will be pleasing to his.
“This acknowledgment being made, you must permit me to add, sir, that
at this, or in any short time, his youth, inexperience, and unripened
education are, and will be, insuperable obstacles, in my opinion, to
the completion of the marriage. As his guardian, I conceive it my
indispensable duty to endeavor to carry him through a regular course
of education, many branches of which, I am sorry to say, he is to day
deficient in, and to guide his youth to a more advanced age, before an
event, on which his own peace, and the happiness of another, are to
depend, takes place.
“If the affection, which they have avowed for each other, is fixed on
a solid basis, it will receive no diminution in the course of two or
three years, in which time he may prosecute his studies and thereby
render himself more deserving of the lady, and useful to society. If,
unfortunately, as they are both young, there should be an abatement of
affection on either side, or both, it had better precede than follow
marriage.
“Delivering my sentiments thus freely, will not, I hope, lead you into
a belief that I am desirous of breaking off the match. To postpone it
is all I have in view; for I shall recommend to the young gentleman,
with all the warmth that becomes a man of honor, to consider himself as
much engaged to your daughter as if the indissoluble knot were tied;
and, as the surest means of effecting this, to apply himself closely
to his studies, by which he will, in a great measure, avoid those
little flirtations with other young ladies, that may, by dividing the
attention, contribute not a little to divide the affection.”
There was throughout the colonies a general combination against using
tea, upon which Lord North had affixed a tax. The British merchants
sent, to many of the American ports, ships laden with tea. At New York
and Philadelphia, the people would not allow the tea to be landed; and
the ships returned to London with their cargoes. At Charleston they
landed the cargo and stored it in cellars, where it perished, as no
purchasers could be found.
At Boston, a number of the inhabitants, disguised as Indians, boarded
at night the tea ships which were, anchored in the harbor, and dashing
the chests, emptied all the tea into the water. This event was
popularly called The Boston Tea Party. The British Government was now
thoroughly enraged. Its wrath was mainly directed against Boston. A
bill was enacted by Parliament, known as the Boston Port Bill, closing
the port against all commerce whatever, and transferring the Custom
House to Salem. It was supposed that Boston would thus be punished by
utter ruin.
As another vindictive measure, as exasperating as it was insulting, it
was decreed that the people of Massachusetts should no longer have any
voice in the choice of their rulers; but that all counsellors, judges,
and magistrates should be appointed by the king of Great Britain, and
should hold office during his royal pleasure.
Lord Dunmore, who had held the Government of New York, upon being
appointed Governor of Virginia, repaired, after a little delay, to
Williamsburg. A singular conflict appears to have taken place between
the Governor and the powerful and patriotic aristocracy of Virginia. He
did all in his power to win them over to the side of the crown, against
the American people. His wife was an English lady of culture and high
accomplishments. He had a numerous family of sons and daughters.
Quite a brilliant court was established at Williamsburg. Magnificent
balls and dinner parties were given. Very marked attention was paid
to the opulent planters and their families, who constituted a sort of
American nobility. On their vast estates, cultivated by hundreds of
negro slaves, they occupied the position of the feudal barons of the
European world. Regulations were drawn up, by order of the governor,
and officially published, determining the etiquette to be observed at
these grand receptions; and establishing the rank and precedence of
all military and civil officers and their wives. Unwonted splendor
embellished the streets of the capital. Gilded chariots and four, drawn
by the most magnificent steeds richly caparisoned, almost crowded the
streets of Williamsburg. It was indeed a glittering bribe which the
governor pressed upon the aristocracy of the Ancient Dominion.
But these noble men wavered not in their advocacy of human rights. They
stood as firm as their own Alleghanies. The advances of the governor
were cordially met. They accepted the proffered hand of friendship.
The parties of the governor were attended, and entertainments of equal
splendor were given in return. But not one particle of principle was
surrendered. Indeed, these nobles of the New World hoped that the Earl
of Dunmore, like Lord Botetourt, might be led to appreciate the true
posture of affairs, and to lend his influence to the cause of liberty,
rather than to that of oppression.
Washington arrived at Williamsburg on the 15th of April, 1773. He
immediately called upon the governor, to pay him his respects. The
military and civil offices of Washington caused him to have a high
position assigned him, in the court regulations. The House of Burgesses
was opened with great pomp. The lady of the governor, having recently
arrived, the Assembly voted to welcome her with a splendid ball, to be
given on the 27th of the month.
Just then intelligence reached Williamsburg, of the vindictive acts of
Parliament in closing the port of Boston, and in depriving the people
of the choice of their own rulers. One general burst of indignation
followed this announcement. A resolution of protest was promptly
passed, and a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer was appointed,
that God would save the colonies from civil war; that He would
interpose to protect their rights from destruction and that He would
unite the hearts of all Americans, to oppose whatever encroachment
might be attempted upon their liberties:
The anger of Lord Dunmore was aroused. The very next morning he
summoned the Assembly to his council chamber, and, in laconic but
excited speech, said.
“Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses: I have in my hand
a paper, published by order of your House, conceived in such terms as
reflect highly upon his majesty and the parliament of Great Britain,
which makes it necessary for me to dissolve you; and you are dissolved
accordingly.”[73]
Thus the House of Burgesses was entirely broken up. It had no longer
any legal existence. The members were sent to their homes. A new House
of Burgesses must be formed, by another election.
This hostile act, on the part of the governor, excited, of course,
great indignation. There was, in the vicinity, a public house which
had long been known as the Old Raleigh Tavern. To a large hall in this
house the members adjourned. They were now merely private citizens,
with no official power. As a convention, however, they passed
resolutions strongly denouncing the acts of parliament, recommending to
all the colonies to desist from the use of tea, and all other European
commodities, and recommending the assembly of a General Congress, to be
composed of deputies from the several colonies.
This all-important measure met with prompt concurrence, the 5th of
September was appointed for the meeting of the first Congress in
Philadelphia.
Still the gentlemen of Virginia remained on courteous terms with Lord
Dunmore. The ball was attended with great spirit. It is said that the
Earl was very marked in his attentions to Washington. He appreciated
his lofty character, and the influence he was capable of exerting. On
the very day when the governor dissolved the Assembly, Washington dined
with him, and spent the evening in his company. The governor also soon
accompanied Washington to Mount Vernon, breakfasted with him, and, by
his side, rode over the splendid estate.
Two days after the ball, letters reached Williamsburg, from Boston,
recommending a general league of the colonies and the suspension of all
trade with Great Britain. Most of the members of the dissolved Assembly
had returned to their homes. But twenty-five remained. They held a
convention at which Peyton Randolph presided. It was voted to call a
meeting of all the members of the late House of Burgesses, to take
steps for the formation of such a league.
On the 1st of June the Boston Port Bill was to be enforced. The day
was observed in Williamsburg and elsewhere as a season of fasting and
prayer.[74] All business ceased. Flags were draped in crape, and hung
at half-mast. Funeral bells were tolled. Less than three million of
people were rising in opposition to the despotism of one of the most
powerful empires on the globe. Every thoughtful man must have been
pale with apprehension. The odds against the colonies were fearful.
The king and his courtiers felt that they had but to close the hand
that grasped the throat of the colonies, and inevitable strangulation
would ensue. The awful cloud was growing blacker every day. There was
no alternative for the Americans, but to bow their necks to the yoke of
the cruel taskmaster, and surrender all their liberties, or to engage
in a conflict where it would seem that the chances were hundreds to one
against them. Issues awful beyond conception were at stake. Solemnity
sat on all countenances.
The king of England appointed General Thomas Gage to command the
military forces in Massachusetts. The general had said to the king:
“The Americans will be lions only so long as the English are lambs.
Give me five regiments and I will keep Boston quiet.”
Gage issued a proclamation denouncing the contemplated league as
_traitorous_, and as consequently justly consigning all who should join
it, to the scaffold. He ostentatiously encamped a force of artillery
and infantry on the Common; and prohibited all public meetings, except
the annual town meetings in March and May.
Washington returned to Mount Vernon the latter part of June. He
presided at a convention of the inhabitants of Fairfax county, and was
appointed chairman of a committee to express the sentiments of the
meeting in view of the despotic acts of Parliament. The Fairfaxes, with
their large wealth and their intimate associations with the British
aristocracy, were exceedingly reluctant to break with the mother
country. Bryan Fairfax, a very amiable man, with all of the gentle,
and none of the stern attributes of humanity, occupied a beautiful
mansion called Tarlston Hall, on an estate near Mount Vernon. He wrote
to Washington, disapproving of the strong public measures which were
adopted, and urging a petition to the throne. Washington replied:
“I would heartily join you in your political sentiments, as far as
relates to a humble and dutiful petition to the throne, provided
there was the most distant hope of success. But have we not tried
this already? Have we not addressed the Lords and remonstrated to the
Commons? And to what end? Does it not appear clear as the sun in its
meridian brightness, that there is a regular, systematical plan to fix
the right and practice of taxation upon us?”
Washington, as chairman of the committee, drew up some admirable
resolutions in entire accordance with the spirit of liberty which the
Americans had thus far advocated. They were very forcibly expressed,
and to them the king and Parliament could only reply with bayonets and
bullets. The resolutions were promptly adopted, and Washington was
chosen a delegate to represent the county at a general convention of
the province of Virginia, to be held at Williamsburg, on the 1st of
August, 1773.
Washington had strong hopes that the Non-Importation scheme would lead
Parliament to a sense of justice, without an appeal to arms.
“I am convinced,” he said, “that there is no relief for us but in
their distress. And I think, at least I hope, that there is public
virtue enough left among us, to deny ourselves everything but the bare
necessaries of life to accomplish this.”
Some suggested that the Americans should refuse to pay the debts
which they owed the English merchants. To this proposition Washington
indignantly replied:
“While we are thus accusing others of injustice we should be just
ourselves. And how this can be, while we owe a considerable debt,
and refuse payment of it, to Great Britain is, to me, inconceivable.
Nothing but the last extremity can justify it.”
On the 1st of August the convention, composed of delegates from all
parts of Virginia, met at Williamsburg. Washington presented the
resolution he had been appointed to draft, in behalf of the citizens
of Fairfax county. His feelings were so thoroughly aroused that
he advocated them with a speech of remarkable eloquence. All were
astonished; for Washington was not an eloquent man, but a man of calm
judgment and deliberate speech. In the ardor of the moment, and fully
prepared to fulfill his promise to the letter, he said:
“I am ready to raise one thousand men, subsist them at my own expense,
and march, at their head, to the relief of Boston.”[75]
The convention continued in session six days. George Washington, and
six others, of the most illustrious sons of Virginia, were chosen to
represent the province in the first colonial Congress. Soon after his
return to Mount Vernon he received a letter from Bryan Fairfax, which
throws much light upon the character of both of these estimable men.
Mr. Fairfax wrote, in reference to the letter which he had previously
sent to Washington, and which had not met with approval:
“I am uneasy to find that any one should look upon the letter as
repugnant to the principles we are contending for. And therefore,
when you have leisure I shall take it as a favor, if you will let me
know wherein it was thought so. I beg leave to look upon you as a
friend; and it is a great relief to unbosom one’s thoughts to a friend.
Besides, the information, and the correction of my errors, which I
may obtain from a correspondence are great inducements to it. For I
am convinced that no man in the colony wishes its prosperity more,
would go greater lengths to serve it, or is, at the same time a better
subject to the crown. Pray excuse these compliments. They may be
tolerable from a friend.”[76]
Washington was crowded with public and private affairs. He had no time
to enter into a lengthy discussion. But in his brief reply he wrote:
“I can only, in general, add that an innate spirit of freedom first
told me that the measures which the administration have for some time
been, and now are violently pursuing, are opposed to every principle
of natural justice; while much abler heads than my own have fully
convinced me that they are not only repugnant to natural right, but
subversive of the laws and constitution of Great Britain itself.”
The spirit of despotism held Boston in its own clutch. The port bill
was enforced. No ships entered the harbor; the warehouses were closed;
the streets were deserted; the rich were impoverished, and the poor
were without employment and without food. A park of artillery was
stationed upon the Common. Four large field pieces were planted, to
sweep Boston Neck, the only approach to the town by land; a regiment of
British regulars was encamped on Fort Hill. Boston bore the aspect of
a city in military possession of the enemy. All hearts were moved with
indignation, and yet there was a wonderful display of circumspection
and sound judgment governing the indomitable courage of the
inhabitants.
On the 5th of September, 1774, Congress assembled in a large
building called Carpenter’s Hall, in Philadelphia. Washington had
made the journey there on horseback, from Mount Vernon, in the noble
companionship of Patrick Henry and Edmund Pendleton. It was a solemn
meeting of as majestic men as ever dwelt on this globe.[77]
All sectional and religious differences were merged in the one great
object which absorbed their thoughts and energies. Patrick Henry
expressed the common sentiment as, in a speech of eloquence such as has
rarely been uttered from human lips, he exclaimed:
“All America is thrown into one mass. Where are your landmarks, your
boundaries of colonies? They are all thrown down. The distinctions
between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders are
no more. I _am not a Virginian_, but an American.”
Most of these men were imbued with deep religious feeling. Every man,
of true grandeur of mind, must be awed by the tremendous mystery of
this our earthly being--emerging from the sublime eternity of the past,
to this brief, meteoric, tempestuous life, but again to plunge into the
profundity of the eternity before us.
These patriots, moving amid solemnities of infinite moment, and
threatened with the ruin of their own country and personal martyrdom,
felt the need of the guidance and the aid of God. There were
different religious denominations represented. Samuel Adams, one of
Massachusetts’ noble patriots, a strong Congregationalist, rose and
said:
“I can willingly join with any gentleman, of whatever denomination, who
is a friend of his country. Rev. Mr. Duché, of this city, is such a
man. I therefore move that he be invited to officiate as chaplain.”
Mr. Duché was an eminent Episcopal clergyman. He appeared in his
Episcopal robes, and read the impressive morning service, the clerk
making the responses. On the 6th of September, a rumor, which
afterward proved to be incorrect, reached Congress that the British
were cannonading Boston. It so chanced that the Psalter for that day
included the following verses from the 35th Psalm:
“Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me. Fight against
them that fight against me. Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand
up for my help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way of them that
persecute me. Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.”
John Adams gave a very vivid description of the scene, in a letter to
his wife. He wrote: “You must remember this was the morning after we
heard the horrible rumor of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a
greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if heaven had ordained
that psalm to be read, on that morning.
“After, this Mr. Duché unexpectedly struck out into an extempore
prayer, which filled the bosom of every man present. Episcopalian as he
is, Dr. Cooper himself never prayed with such fervor, such ardor, such
earnestness and pathos, and in language so eloquent and sublime for
America, for the Congress, for the province of Massachusetts Bay, and
especially for the town of Boston.”
Most of the members of Congress stood during this prayer. But it was
observed that Washington threw himself upon his knees; and undoubtedly
his devout spirit joined fervently in each petition. As the result of
this session of Congress, it was resolved to recommend to decline all
commercial relations with Great Britain. An address was prepared, to
the people of Canada, urging the inhabitants there to make common
cause with their brethren of the more southern colonies. A respectful
but firm remonstrance was addressed to King George III. and a statement
of facts was presented to the people of Great Britain.[78]
The Congress remained in session fifty-one days. Patrick Henry, on his
return home, was asked whom he considered the greatest man in Congress.
He replied:
“If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutlidge, of South Carolina, is by far
the greatest orator. But if you speak of solid information, and sound
judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that
floor.”
Washington returned to Mount Vernon. Clouds of sorrow darkened his
dwelling, Mrs. Washington was lonely and grief-stricken. Her beautiful,
amiable, only daughter, was in the grave. Her only son was absent.
Her noble husband had embarked in a cause which menaced him with the
scaffold. Their much loved neighbor, George William Fairfax, whose
friendship and intimacy had been one of their chief social joys, had
left his estate at Belvoir, under the care of an overseer, and had
returned to England, to enter upon the possession of large estates
which had devolved upon him there. Washington, overwhelmed with immense
national solicitudes, found his home enveloped in an atmosphere of
loneliness and sadness. Such is human life. Such it has been from the
days of the patriarchs:
“A path it is of joys and griefs, of many hopes and fears,
Gladdened at times by sunny smiles, but oftener dimmed by tears.”
In March, 1774, Washington attended another Virginia Convention, at
Richmond. Not one word of conciliation came from the British cabinet;
but only insults and defiance, accompanied by acts of increasing
outrage.
“It is useless,” exclaimed Patrick Henry, “to address further petitions
to the British government; or to await the effect of those already
addressed to the throne. We must fight. I repeat it, we must fight. An
appeal to arms, and to the God of Hosts, is all that is left to us.”
Washington expressed full sympathy in these sentiments. He wrote to his
brother Augustine, offering to take command of a company he was raising
and disciplining. He added, “It is my full intention to devote my life
and fortune to the cause.”[79]
There were four thousand British troops in Boston. The province had a
supply of military stores at Concord, distant about eighteen miles. On
the night of the 18th of April, 1775, General Gage sent a detachment
of about nine hundred men to capture and destroy the stores. The
expedition was organized with the utmost secrecy. Boats, from the
men-of-war anchored in the harbor, took the troops, from the foot of
the Common, about ten o’clock at night, and carried them across the
bay to Lechmere Point in Cambridge. Officers were stationed at all
important points to prevent any intelligence of the expedition from
being communicated to the people.
But eagle eyes were watching the movement, and couriers, on fleet
horses were soon rushing, through the gloom of night, from farm-house
to farm-house, with the alarming tidings. The bells in the village
steeples sent forth their cry. And, through the night air, the booming
of cannon was heard, proclaiming to the startled people that the
detested foe was on the war-path.
Colonel Smith, who led the British soldiers, was alarmed. He sent back
to General Gage for reinforcements. At the same time he pushed Major
Pitcairn forward with the advance, to seize the bridges at Concord,
lest the Americans might attempt there to oppose his progress. Pitcairn
captured every man he met or overtook. When he reached Lexington,
about seventy or eighty of the people were huddled together on the
green, near the church. They had sprung from their beds, half-dressed;
some had guns in their hands, and some were unarmed, mere lookers-on,
bewildered by a movement which signified they knew not what.
Pitcairn, splendidly mounted, and at the head of his strong array of
British regulars, was approaching on the double-quick. As soon as he
caught sight of the feeble band of citizens, he drew his sword, and
shouted, with oaths which we need not record:
“Disperse, you villains. Lay down your arms and disperse.” Then turning
to his men he added, with still other oaths, “Fire!”[80]
The soldiers were more humane than their commander. It seemed to them
like murder, to be shooting these helpless citizens, who could offer no
resistance to their march. The soldiers of the first platoon discharged
their muskets; but took care to throw the bullets over the heads of
those whom they were assailing. One or two muskets were discharged
by the Americans as, in consternation, they turned and fled.[81] The
British now opened a deadly fire. Eight of the Americans were killed,
and ten wounded. The victorious British held the field. It was between
four and five o’clock, of a September morning, and, in its dim light,
objects at a distance could be but feebly discerned.
Two only of the British were wounded, one in the leg and one on the
hand. In token of their victory the whole body fired a triumphant
salute, and gave three cheers. They then marched, unopposed, six miles
farther toward Concord. About seven o’clock they entered the town, in
two divisions, by different roads. In the meantime many of the stores
had been removed, so that the work of destruction, which was promptly
commenced, proved not very successful.
By ten o’clock about four hundred armed Americans had assembled,
in the vicinity, and the British commenced a retreat. The whole
country was now alarmed. The farmers, with their rusty guns and rude
accoutrements, were rushing, from all directions, to meet the foe. The
highly disciplined regulars, in imposing battle array, but beginning
to tremble, pressed along the road on their homeward route. The rustic
marksmen, from behind rocks and trees and stumps and sheltering
buildings, opened a straggling fire, which every moment seemed to
increase in severity and deadliness.
Some of the British soldiers were shot dead; some were severely
wounded, and had to be carried along by their comrades; and some
dropped down, in utter exhaustion, by the way. While thus retreating,
every hour added to their dismay, and the most ignorant soldier could
see that they were in imminent danger of being entirely cut off by
their rapidly increasing foes. Their fears had now swollen to a panic.
About nine o’clock in the morning, General Gage had heard of the
peril to which his troops were exposed, and he immediately despatched
reinforcements, under Lord Percy, to their aid. The British Lord, as
he commenced his march ordered his band, in derision of the Americans,
to play “Yankee Doodle.” His troops consisted of a brigade of a
thousand men, with two field-pieces. This force he deemed invincible
by any power Massachusetts could bring against it. Hilariously he led
his veterans over the Neck and through Roxbury, as if on a pleasure
excursion.
About noon, to his surprise, he met the British regulars, in
utter rout, flying as fast as terror could drive them, before the
Massachusetts farmers. He opened his brigade to the right and left
to receive the fugitives, and, planting his field-pieces on an
eminence, held the Americans at bay.[82] A few moments were allowed for
refreshment and repose, when the whole force resumed its humiliating
flight. The enraged British soldiers behaved like savages. They set
fire to the houses and shops by the way. Women and children were
maltreated. The sick and helpless were driven from their flaming
dwellings into the fields.
The Americans hotly pursued. They kept up a constant fire, from every
available point. The British occasionally made a stand, and sharp
skirmishes ensued. Every hour the march of the fugitives became more
and more impeded by the number of their wounded. A bullet pierced the
leg of Colonel Smith, and he sat upon his horse pallid and bleeding.
A musket ball struck a button from the waistcoat of Lord Percy.
One of his officers was so severely wounded that he had to be left
behind, at West Cambridge. The ammunition of the British was failing
them. Companies of the American militia were hurrying to the scene of
battle, from Roxbury, Dorchester, and Milton. Colonel Pickering was
approaching, with seven hundred of the Essex militia.
About sunset the wretched fugitives reached Charlestown Common, where
they found rest under the protection of the guns of the British
men-of-war. Gage was astounded at the disaster. The idea had not
entered his mind that the unorganized farmers of Massachusetts
would dare to meet, in hostile array, soldiers inured to war on the
battle-fields of Europe. One of his officers had recently written to
London, that the idea of the Americans taking up arms was ridiculous.
He said:
“Whenever it comes to blows the American that can run the fastest will
think himself well off, believe me. Any two regiments here ought to be
decimated if they did not beat, in the field, the whole force of the
Massachusetts province.”
Washington wrote: “If the retreat had not been as precipitate as it
was--and God knows it could not well have been more so--the ministerial
troops must have surrendered or been totally cut off.”
In this memorable conflict, which ushered in the awful war of the
Revolution, with its appalling catalogue of woes, the British lost, in
killed, wounded, and missing, two hundred and seventy-one. Eighteen of
their slain were officers. The loss of the Americans was forty-nine
killed, thirty-nine wounded, and five missing.[83]
History records many atrocious crimes against the British court and
cabinet. But perhaps there is none more unnatural, cruel, and criminal,
than for that proud and powerful empire thus to attempt to rivet
the chains of despotism upon her own sons and daughters, who were
struggling, with the hardships of the wilderness, that they might
enjoy civil and religious liberty.
This outrage roused all America. The tidings reached Virginia at a
critical moment. Lord Dunmore, in obedience to a ministerial order
which the king had sent to all the provincial governors, was then
seizing upon the military munitions of the province. It was clear that
the entire subjugation of the colonies was to be attempted. Every
county in Virginia was crying “To Arms.” Nearly all Virginians were
looking to Washington to take command of the Virginia troops.
Washington was at Mount Vernon, preparing to leave for Philadelphia,
as a delegate to the second Congress. Mr. Bryan Fairfax and Major
Horatio Gage chanced to be his guests at that time. Washington wrote to
his friend, George William Fairfax, then in England, in the following
terms, alike characteristic of his humanity and his firmness:
“Unhappy it is to reflect that a brother’s sword has been sheathed in
a brother’s breast; and that the once happy and peaceful fields of
America are either to be drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves.
Sad alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice.”
It was now war. In all directions troops were mustering. A large camp
of Americans held the British besieged in Boston. A heroic band,
mainly of New Hampshire and Vermont men, under Ethan Allen, surprised
and captured, without bloodshed, the old forts of Ticonderoga and Crown
Point, where a large supply of military and naval stores was obtained.
The second Congress met, on the 10th of May, 1775. Peyton Randolph,
of Virginia, was chosen president. Being obliged soon to return to
Virginia, as speaker of the Virginia Assembly, John Hancock, one of the
most illustrious sons of Massachusetts, succeeded him in the chair.
There was still a lingering attachment for the mother country, which
was ever affectionately called _Home_. All wished for reconciliation.
Though a “humble and dutiful” petition to the king was moved and
carried, many of the members regarded it as entirely futile, and
somewhat humiliating. John Adams, of Massachusetts, vigorously opposed
it as an imbecile measure.
A federal union was formed, which leagued the colonies together in a
military confederacy. Each colony regulated its own internal affairs.
The congress of their delegates was vested with the power of making
peace or war, and of legislating on all matters which involved the
common security. The enlistment of troops was authorized, forts were
ordered to be reared and garrisoned, and notes, to the amount of three
million dollars, were voted to be issued, on the pledged faith of the
Confederacy, and bearing the inscription of “The United Colonies.”
Washington was appointed chairman of the committee on military affairs.
The infinitely important question agitated all hearts, Who should fill
the responsible post of commander-in-chief of the united colonial
armies?
General Charles Lee, an Englishman by birth, and a rough soldier,
trained amid the rudeness of camps, was a prominent candidate. He was
a veteran fighter, and had obtained great renown, for his reckless
courage on some of the most bloody fields of European warfare. It
does not seem, however, that Lee thought of seeking the office. When
informed that his name had been proposed as a candidate, he wrote to
Edmund Burke:
“To think myself qualified for the most important charge that was
ever committed to mortal man is the last stage of presumption. Nor
do I think that the Americans would, or ought to confide in a man,
let his qualifications be ever so great, who has no property among
them. It is true I most devoutly wish them success, in the glorious
struggle; that I have expressed my wishes both in writing and _viva
voce_. But my errand to Boston was only to see a people in so singular
circumstances.”
It would seem, from John Adams’ diary, that he was the first to propose
Washington. There was an army of about ten thousand men encamped
around Boston. They were nearly all New Englanders. It seemed a little
discourteous to go to Virginia to find a commander. But Mr. Adams rose
in his place and, in a few forcible words, proposed that Congress
should adopt the army at Cambridge, and appoint George Washington, of
Virginia, General-in-Chief.
“The gentleman,” he said, “is among us, and is very well known to
us all; a gentleman whose skill and experience as an officer, whose
independent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal character
would command the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial
exertions of all the colonies better than any other person in the
Union.”
On the 15th of May the “Continental Army” was adopted by Congress.
The pay of the commander-in-chief was fixed at five hundred dollars a
month; and Washington received the unanimous vote, by ballot, for the
all-important office. When the vote was formally announced, Washington
rose, and in a brief speech, expressive of his high sense of the honor
conferred upon him, said:
“I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that
I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, that I do not think
myself equal to the command I am honored with. As to pay, I beg leave
to assure the Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration could have
tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my
domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit of it.
I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they
will discharge; and that is all I desire.”[84]