Realizing that the soldiers needed something more than the tents in
which they were living at first, he gave orders that huts should be
built for them. The commanding officers of the regiments were
instructed to divide their soldiers into parties of twelve, to see
that each party had the necessary tools, and to superintend the
building of a hut for each group of twelve soldiers, according to
carefully stated dimensions. A reward was offered to the party in each
regiment which should complete its hut in the quickest and best
manner. Since valuable time would be lost in preparing boards for the
roofs, he promised a second sword to the officer or soldier who should
devise a material for this purpose cheaper and more quickly made than
boards.
Some of the first huts were covered with leaves, but it was necessary
to provide a more lasting covering. After a few weeks fairly
acceptable quarters were provided for the men, in spite of the
scarcity of tools. Colonel Pickering, on January 5, wrote to Mrs.
Pickering, "The huts are very warm and comfortable, being very good
log huts, pointed with clay, and the roof made tight with the same."
At first, Washington sought to encourage his soldiers by assuring them
that he would accept no better quarters than could be given them; he
would set the example by passing the winter in a hut. But officers and
men alike urged that it would be unwise to risk his health in this
way, and he consented to seek quarters in a near-by house. However, he
refused to make himself comfortable until the men were provided for.
His headquarters were finally fixed in the two-story stone house of
Isaac Potts. There he met his officers, received visitors, planned for
the welfare of the army, and parried the attacks of those who could
not understand the difficulties of the situation. Once he wrote to
Congress: "Three days successively we have been destitute of bread.
Two days we have been entirely without meat. The men must be supplied,
or they cannot be commanded."
To the objections of those who thought that the army should not be
inactive during the winter weather, he wrote:
"I can assure these gentlemen, that it is a much easier and
less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a comfortable
room by a good fireside, than to occupy a cold, bleak hill,
and sleep under frost and snow, without clothes or blankets.
However, although they seem to have little pity for the naked
and distressed soldiers, I feel superabundantly for them,
and, from my soul, I pity those miseries which it is neither
in my power to relieve or prevent."
The heavy hearts of Washington and his officers rejoiced when, on
February 23, 1778, Baron Steuben and Peter S. Du Ponceau called at
headquarters. Du Ponceau wrote later:
"I cannot describe the impression that the first sight of
that great man made upon me. I could not keep my eyes from
that imposing countenance--grave, yet not severe; affable,
without familiarity.... I have never seen a picture that
represents him to me as I saw him at Valley Forge.... I had
frequent opportunities of seeing him, as it was my duty to
accompany the Baron when he dined with him, which was
sometimes twice or thrice in the same week. We visited him
also in the evening, when Mrs. Washington was at
head-quarters. We were in a manner domesticated in the
family."
An order was sent from headquarters, dated March 28, that Baron
Steuben be respected and obeyed as Inspector General. The need of his
services is revealed by his description of the condition of the army
when he arrived in camp:
"The arms at Valley Forge were in a horrible condition,
covered with rust, half of them without bayonets, many from
which a single shot could not be fired. The pouches were
quite as bad as the arms. A great many of the men had tin
boxes instead of pouches, others had cow-horns; and muskets,
carbines, fowling-pieces, and rifles were to be seen in the
same company.... The men were literally naked.... The
officers who had coats, had them of every color and make. I
saw officers, at a grand parade in Valley Forge, mounting
guard in a sort of dressing-gown, made of an old blanket or
woolen bed-cover...."
Mrs. Washington joined the circle at headquarters on February 10. She
was not favorably impressed. "The General's apartment is very small,"
she wrote. "He has had a log cabin built to dine in, which has made
our quarters much more tolerable than they were at first."
The most joyful day at Valley Forge was May 7, 1778, when a fete was
held to celebrate the conclusion of the treaty of alliance between
France and the United States. After religious service, the army was
reviewed, and Washington dined in public with his officers. "When the
General took his leave, there was a universal clap, with loud huzzas,
which continued till he had proceeded a quarter of a mile."
On June 18 the glad tidings came to headquarters that the British were
evacuating Philadelphia. Next day the camp was left behind.
Washington did not see it again for nine years.
In 1879 the Isaac Potts house was bought by the Continental Memorial
Association of Valley Forge. And in 1893 the Pennsylvania Legislature
created the Valley Forge Park Commission, which has since acquired the
entire encampment, has laid it out as a park, and has arranged for the
erection of many monuments and markers and a number of memorial
structures. But the house in which Washington lived must always be the
central feature of the grounds.
[Illustration: DAWESFIELD, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, PENNA.
_Photo by H. C. Howland, Philadelphia_
See page 178]
XXXIX
THREE HEADQUARTERS OF WASHINGTON
PENNYPACKER'S MILLS, DAWESFIELD, AND EMLEN HOUSE, NEAR PHILADELPHIA
During the closing months of 1777, one of the darkest times of the
Revolution, Washington made famous by his occupancy three houses, all
located within a few miles of Philadelphia. The first of these,
Pennypacker's Mills, is the only building used by the Commander-in-Chief
during the war that is still in the hands of the family that owned it
when he was there.
Pennypacker's Mills is delightfully situated in the angle formed by
the union of the two forks of the Perkiomen, the largest tributary of
the Schuylkill. Hans Joest Heijt, who built the grist mill and house
on the land in 1720, sold the property in 1730 to John Pauling. He was
succeeded in 1757 by Peter Pannebecker. His son Samuel was the
owner of the house by the creek when, on September 26, 1777,
Washington reached the Mills.
The orderly book of the following days and letters written from the
house shed light on the events of the stay here.
On the day he reached the Mills, Washington wrote to William Henry at
Lancaster:
"You are hereby authorized to impress all the Blankets,
Shoes, Stockings, and other Articles of Clothing that can be
spared by the Inhabitants of the County of Lancaster, for the
Use of the Continental Army, paying for the same at
reasonable Rates or giving Certificates."
The entry in the orderly book on September 28 read:
"The Commander-in-Chief has the happiness again to
congratulate the army on the success of the Americans to the
Northward. On the 19th inst. an engagement took place between
General Burgoyne's army and the left wing of ours, under
General Gates. The battle began at 10 o'clock, and lasted
till night--our troops fighting with the greatest bravery,
not giving an inch of ground.... To celebrate this success
the General orders that at 4 o'clock this afternoon all the
troops be paraded and served with a gill of rum per man, and
that at the same time there be discharges of 13 pieces of
artillery from the park."
On the same day there was a council of war. It was found that there
were in camp, fit for duty, 5,472 men. The whole army in all the camps
then contained about eight thousand Continental troops and three
thousand militia.
Next day Washington wrote:
"I shall move the Army four or five miles lower down to-day
from whence we may reconnoitre and fix upon a proper
situation, at such distance from the Enemy, as will entitle
us to make an attack, should we see a proper opening, or
stand upon the defensive till we obtain further
reinforcements...."
Later in the day the army marched to Skippack, within about
twenty-five miles of Philadelphia. The next stage in the advance was
Methacton Hill, and from there the army began to move, on October 3,
at seven o'clock in the evening, to the attack on the British at
Germantown.
After the battle of Germantown Washington wrote to the President of
Congress:
"In the midst of the most promising appearances, when
everything gave the most flattering hopes of victory, the
troops began suddenly to retreat, and entirely left the
field, in spite of every effort that could be made to rally
them."
The Commander's marvellous ability to handle men was shown by the
entry made in his orderly book the next day, when he was back at
Pennypacker's Mills. Instead of reprimanding the soldiers for their
strange retreat, he "returned thanks to the generals and other
officers and men concerned in the attack on the enemy's left wing, for
their spirit and bravery, shown in drawing the enemy from field to
field, and although ... they finally retreated, they nevertheless see
that the enemy is not proof against a vigorous attack, and may be put
to flight when boldly pursued."
The good results of this message were evident from the letter of a
soldier written from the Mills on October 6. He said:
"Our excellent General Washington ... intends soon to try
another bout with them. All our men are in good spirits and I
think grow fonder of fighting the more they have of it."
To the joy of the soldiers the word was given on October 8 to march
toward Philadelphia. In three short stages the army arrived, on
October 21, at Whitpain, where Washington took up his headquarters in
the house of James Morris, Dawesfield. From here messages were sent
that tied his men still closer to him. On October 24 he issued a
proclamation of full pardon to deserters who should return before a
specified date, and next day he congratulated the troops on the
victory at Red Bank.
The chief event of the stay at Dawesfield was the court-martial
convened October 30, to try Brigadier-General Wayne, at his own
request, on the charge that his negligence was responsible for the
defeat at Paoli, September 20. The verdict was that "he did everything
that could be expected from an active, brave, and vigilant officer,
under the orders he then had."
[Illustration: EMLEN HOUSE, NEAR PHILADELPHIA, PENNA.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 178]
Three days after the trial the army moved to Whitemarsh, near the
junction of the Skippack and Bethlehem roads. There Washington lived
at Emlen House, of which Lossing says, "At the time of the Revolution
it was a sort of baronial hall in size and character, where its
wealthy owner dispensed hospitality to all who came under its roof."
The house was modernized in 1854, but it still retains many of the
original features. Among these is the moat at the side of the house.
Washington followed the example of the owner of the house by welcoming
guests, in spite of the handicaps mentioned in the orderly book on
November 7:
"Since ... the middle of September last, he [the General] has
been without his baggage, and on that account is unable to
receive company in the manner he could wish. He nevertheless
desires the Generals, Field Officers and Brigadier-Major of
the day, to dine with him in the future, at three o'clock in
the afternoon."
It was from Emlen House that Washington gave the first intimation that
he knew of the infamous attempts to discredit and displace him which
later became known as the "Conway Cabal." To General Conway himself he
wrote saying that he had heard of Conway's letter to General Gates in
which he had said, "Heaven has been determined to save your country,
or a weak General and bad counsellors would have ruined it."
A few glimpses of the awful condition of privation that were to
prevail that winter at Valley Forge were given on November 22:
"The Commander-in-Chief offers a reward of ten dollars to any
person, who shall, by nine o'clock on Monday morning, produce
the best substitute for shoes, made of raw hide."
The movement to Valley Forge was begun on December 1. The army went by
way of "Sweeds" Ford (Norristown), where, as the quaint diary of
Albigence Waldo says:
"A Bridge of Waggons made across the Schuylkill last night
consisted of 36 waggons, with a bridge of Rails between each.
Sun Set--We are order'd to march over the River. The Army
were 'till Sun Rise crossing the River--some at the Waggon
Bridge, & some at the Raft Bridge below. Cold and
Uncomfortable."
XL
SWEETBRIER-ON-THE-SCHUYLKILL, PHILADELPHIA
THE HOME OF THE FATHER OF THE FREE SCHOOLS OF PENNSYLVANIA
When Samuel Breck was fifty-eight years and six months old--on January
17, 1830--he wrote:
"My residence has been ... for more than thirty years ... on
an estate belonging to me, situated on the right bank of the
Schuylkill, in the township of Blockley, county of
Philadelphia, and two miles from the western part of the
city. The mansion on this estate I built in 1797. It is a
fine stone house, rough cast, fifty-three feet long,
thirty-eight broad, and three stories high, having
out-buildings of every kind suitable for elegance and
comfort. The prospect consists of the river, animated by its
great trade, carried on in boats of about thirty tons, drawn
by horses; of a beautiful sloping lawn, terminating at that
river, now nearly four hundred yards wide opposite the
portico; of side-screen woods; of gardens, green-house, etc.
Sweetbrier is the name of my villa."
Mr. Breck spent his boyhood in Boston, but his parents removed to
Philadelphia in 1792 to escape what they felt was an unjust system of
taxation. During the first years of their residence in the city of
William Penn it had "a large society of elegant and fashionable and
stylish people," Mr. Breck said in his diary. "Congress held its
sessions in Philadelphia until the year 1800, and gave to the city the
style and tone of a capital. All the distinguished emigrants from
France took up their abode there."
Among the associates of the Brecks were some of the leaders of the new
nation. Samuel Breck was frequently at the Robert Morris house, and
later, during the four years' imprisonment of Mr. Morris, he "visited
that great man in the Prune Street debtors' apartment, and saw him in
his ugly whitewashed vault."
The diarist's comment was bitter: "In Rome or Greece a thousand
statesmen would have honored his mighty services. In a monarchy ... he
would have been appropriately pensioned; in America, Republican
America, not a single voice was raised in Congress or elsewhere in aid
of him or his family."
There is not a more striking passage in the diaries than that written
on August 27, 1814, during the second war with England:
"I was in town to-day ... at half past twelve o'clock I went
with an immense crowd to the post-office to hear the news
from the South. The postmaster read it to us from a chamber
window. It imported that the navy-yard had been burnt (valued
at from six to eight millions of dollars) including the new
frigate _Essex_, sloop-of-war _Argus_, some old frigates, a
vast quantity of timber, from five to eight hundred large
guns, and many manufactories of cordage, etc., by our people;
that the President's House, Capitol, and other important
buildings had been destroyed, and all this by a handful of
men, say, six thousand!"
The diary told also of some interesting experiences at the mansion on
the Schuylkill. In 1807 "a newly invented iron grate calculated for
coal" was installed at Sweetbrier. After less than three weeks' trial
Mr. Breck wrote, "By my experiment in coal fuel I find that one
fireplace will burn from three to three and a half bushels per week in
hard weather and about two and a half in moderate weather. This
averages three bushels for twenty-five weeks, the period of burning
fire in parlors." The coal cost forty-five cents a bushel, and Mr.
Breck decided that wood was a cheaper fuel.
Even in those early days city families had their troubles with
servants. "This is a crying evil, which most families feel very
sensibly at present," was Mr. Breck's sorrowful statement. Fifteen
years after this entry was written, a bitter complaint was made:
"In my family, consisting of nine or ten persons, the
greatest abundance is provided; commonly seventy pounds of
fresh butcher's meat, poultry and fish a week, and when I
have company nearly twice as much; the best and kindest
treatment is given to the servants; they are seldom visited
by Mrs. Breck, and then always in a spirit of courtesy; their
wages are the highest going, and uniformly paid to them when
asked for; yet during the last twelve months we have had
seven different cooks and five different waiters.... I pay,
for instance, to my cook one dollar and fifty cents, and
chambermaid one dollar and twenty-five cents per week; to my
gardener eleven dollars per month; to the waiter ten dollars;
to the farm servant ten dollars, etc., etc. Now, if they
remain steady (with meat three times a day) for three or four
years, they can lay by enough to purchase two or three
hundred acres of new land."
On one occasion, learning that the ship _John_ had arrived from
Amsterdam, Mr. Breck visited it in search of men and women. He wrote:
"I saw the remains of a very fine cargo, consisting of
healthy, good-looking men, women and children, and I
purchased one German Swiss for Mrs. Ross and two French Swiss
for myself.... I gave for the woman seventy-six dollars,
which is her passage money, with a promise of twenty dollars
at the end of three years, if she serves me faithfully,
clothing and maintenance of course. The boy had paid
twenty-six guilders towards his passage money, which I have
agreed to give him at the end of three years; in addition to
which I paid fifty-three dollars and sixty cents for his
passage, and for two years he is to have six weeks' schooling
each year."
It was like Mr. Breck to make the provision for schooling. He was an
ardent friend of education in an age when too many were indifferent.
In 1834, when the fortunes of a proposal for free schools in
Pennsylvania were in doubt, he consented to become a member of the
State Senate. There he bent every effort to secure the passage of a
generous provision for common schools. On the first day of the session
he moved successfully for the appointment of a Joint Committee on
Education of the two Houses, "for the purpose of digesting a general
system of education." Of this committee he was made chairman.
After seven weeks of unremitting labor the bill incorporating the
committee's report, a bill drafted by Mr. Breck, was introduced. In
six weeks more it became a law, four votes only having been cast
against it. Wickersham, in his "History of Education in Pennsylvania,"
says that the passage of the bill was "the most important event
connected with education in Pennsylvania--the first great victory for
free schools."
At the close of the session the author of the bill retired to
Sweetbrier, in accordance with his intention to decline any further
public honors. He felt that his work for the State and the Nation was
done.
[Illustration: FATLANDS, NEAR PHOENIXVILLE, PENNA.
_Photo by Ph. B. Wallace_
See page 187]
XLI
MILL GROVE AND FATLANDS, NEAR PHILADELPHIA
THE HOMES OF JOHN J. AUDUBON AND OF HIS BRIDE, MARY BAKEWELL
About two hundred years ago, there lived in France a poor fisherman
named Audubon, who had nineteen daughters and two sons. One of the
sons was sent away to make his fortune when he was twelve years of
age. His entire patrimony was a shirt, a suit of clothes, a cane, and
a blessing. For five years he was a sailor before the mast. Then he
bought a boat. He prospered and bought other vessels. After many years
he had large wealth, and was trading to the distant quarters of the
earth.
When he was an old man he paid a visit to America. In two widely
separated places, attracted by the country, he bought land. One estate
was on Perkiomen Creek, near Philadelphia; the other was in Louisiana.
In Louisiana he spent much of his time; and there, on May 4, 1780,[2]
his son, John James Audubon, was born.
Commodore Audubon wanted his son to be a seaman, and he took him to
France that he might be educated for the navy. But the boy's tastes
were in another direction altogether. One of the teachers provided for
him was an artist, who gave him lessons in drawing that were intended
as a part of his training for the profession the father had chosen for
him. But the boy put it to a use of his own. On his holidays he used
to take a lunch into the country, and would return loaded down with
all kinds of natural history specimens. These he would preserve in a
cabinet of his own devising, and drawings of many of them would be
made and treasured.
Commodore Audubon was not pleased with his son's habits, and he
thought he would give him something to do that would distract his
mind. The estate in Pennsylvania needed a superintendent. So he sent
the would-be naturalist to America, with instructions to look after
the estate.
But the wild woods about Philadelphia offered so many opportunities
for tramping and nature investigation that the estate was neglected.
The house on the estate, Mill Grove, which is still standing, is near
the mouth of the Perkiomen. Along this pleasing stream he could
ramble for hours, with his gun or his fishing rod or his collecting
instruments. Before long the attic room which he occupied was a
treasure house of birds and animals and natural-history specimens. He
was his own taxidermist. He would do his work seated at a window that
looks toward the Valley Forge country, where Washington spent the
winter of 1777-78 with his faithful soldiers. The marks of his work
are still to be seen on the old boards beneath the window. These
boards came from the sawmill on the estate which gave the house its
name.
Here in this attic room the young naturalist dreamed of making
careful, accurate drawings of all the birds of America. He knew that
this would be a difficult matter, but he was not deterred by thought
of hardship and poverty.
While he was dreaming of what he would do for the world, something was
happening in London that was to have an effect on his life. An
official named Bakewell refused to be silent about a matter that the
king felt should be forgotten. Bakewell was a conscientious man, and
he did not feel that silence would be proper. The king rebuked him,
and he resigned his office. At once he made up his mind to leave
England and make a home in America, taking with him his wife and
daughter.
After many investigations, he found an estate near Philadelphia that
pleased him--Fatlands, on the Schuylkill, near the Perkiomen, so named
because every year the latter stream overflows and deposits rich
sediment on the surrounding lands. The mansion house at Fatlands was
built in 1774, and there Washington as well as the British commander
had been entertained by the Quaker owner who felt that he could not
show partiality. Here the English immigrant made his home.
Of course Audubon heard of the coming of the strangers to the house
across the road, not half a mile from his own quarters. But he did not
go to call on them. He was French and they were English; he felt sure
they would be undesirable acquaintances, and that he had better keep
to the woods and follow his own pursuits, without reference to others.
Then came a day when he was having a delightful stroll through the
woods. He was carrying specimens of many kinds. A stranger, also a
hunter, encountered him and made a remark about his burden that
touched a responsive chord. Soon the two were on good terms. "You must
come and see me," the stranger said. The invitation was accepted with
alacrity. Then came the question, "Where do you live?" To his
surprise, Audubon heard that this pleasing man was his new neighbor at
Fatlands.
Deciding that an Englishman was not so bad, after all, he made it
convenient to call very soon. Then when he saw Mary Bakewell, the
daughter of the house, he was sure he liked the English. She showed
great sympathy for his pursuits, and he liked to talk with her about
them. Before long she decided to help him in his great life work, the
American ornithology.