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powers. This resolution, so fraught with danger to the future liberties of the States, reads as follows:

This Congress, having maturely considered the present crisis, and having perfect reliance on the wisdom, vigor, and uprightness of General Washington, do hereby Resolve, That General Washington shall be, and he is hereby, vested with full, ample, and complete powers to raise and collect together, in the most speedy and effectual manner, from any or all of these United States, sixteen battalions of infantry, in addition to those already voted by Congress; to appoint officers for the said battalions of infantry; to raise, officer, and equip three thousand light-horse, three regiments of artillery, and a corps of engineers, and to establish their pay; to apply to any of the States for such aid of the militia as he shall judge necessary; to form such magazines of provisions, and in such places, as he shall think proper; to displace and appoint all officers under the rank of brigadier-general, and to fill up all vacancies in every other department in the American Army; to take, wherever he may be, whatever he may want for the use of the Army, if the inhabitants will not sell it, allowing a reasonable price for the same; to arrest and confine persons who refuse to take the Continental currency, or are otherwise disaffected to the American cause; and to return to the States, of which they are citizens, their names, and the nature of their offences, together with the witnesses to prove them. That the foregoing powers be vested in General Washington, for and during the term of six months from the date hereof, unless sooner determined by Congress.

Could Congress have foreseen the consequences of creating and dissolving armies, it is more than probable that it would never have been constrained to resign its powers, even for a moment, into the hands of a military commander, however eminent for his patriotism and virtue.

CHAPTER III.

CAMPAIGN OF 1777.

TROOPS REQUIRED AND FURNISHED.

After the victory at Princeton on the 3d of January, Washington's army went into winter quarters at Morristown. His command, on the 19th of January, consisted of "800 Eastern Continental troops, remaining of twelve or fourteen hundred" who "first agreed to stay," part engaged to the "last of this month," and part to the middle of "next; five Virginia regiments reduced to a "handful of men," a three other battalions in the same reduced state, and 700 Massachusetts militia whose terms of service were to expire in less than two months.

On the 14th of March, he reported to the President of Congress that from the most accurate estimate he could form, "the whole of our numbers in Jersey, fit for duty at this time, is under 3,000. These, 981 excepted, are militia and stand engaged only till the last of this month."

Thus at the very beginning of the year our lack of military wisdom had reduced Washington's regular soldiers to less than a thousand, while the enemy had more than 20,000 veterans in and about New York. It is needless to point out how much the fortunes of our cause at that junction were furthered by the inaction of the English commander.

By the 24th of May the arrival of reinforcements, raised under the act creating the 88 battalions, increased Washington's command to 45 regiments, which were organized into 10 brigades and 5 divisionsnumbering in all about 7,500 men.

The military operations in New Jersey from March until the end of June, when the British evacuated the State, mainly consisted in a series of marches and countermarches, Washington not feeling able to give or receive battle.

From New York the British transferred their forces by sea to the head of Chesapeake Bay, fought and defeated Washington at the battle of the Brandywine on the 11th of September, and on the 25th entered Philadelphia.

It will be remembered that in the previous December the capital was only saved by the $10 bounty which Washington gave the Continental troops whose enlistments had expired, this largess having induced them to remain with the Army until after the battles of Trenton and Princeton.

a Sparks's Writings of Washington, vol. 4, p. 283.

In the present emergency Congress turned to raw troops. On the 28th of July it recommended to the executive council of Pennsylvania "to call out 4,000 militia in addition to those already called forth." August 24, but three weeks before the battle of the Brandywine, it "urgently recommended to the State of Maryland to immediately call out not less than 2,000 select militia to repel the invasion of the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware." To this end Congress also requested Pennsylvania to strengthen the Army with 4,000 and Delaware with 1,000 militia, while eight counties, near Chesapeake Bay in Virginia, were asked to contribute one-third of their strength. Notwithstanding these urgent calls, when the critical moment arrived only one small brigade of militia was present with the Army, and this body, from its position on the left, took no part in the action. On the 4th of October, the battle fought at Germantown, with indecisive results, ended active operations for the year so far as the troops under Washington were concerned.

A council of war, called by him on the 29th of October, estimated the entire British army in Philadelphia at 10,000 men, the American force consisting of 8,313 Continentals and 2,717 militia.

In the north the campaign was made memorable by the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga on the 17th of October with 5,791 men, all that remained of an invading army of nearly 10,000.

The number of troops, Continental and militia, which took part in the investment and capture of Burgoyne's army, was a little over 17,000, the total force present for duty being 13,200, of which 9,090 were Continentals and the rest militia.

Instead of the usual dispersion, could this force have been transferred to Pennsylvania might not an investment of Howe in Philadelphia have spared us five more weary years of war?

The value of a trained officer in command of raw troops was illustrated during this campaign by the victory of the militia at Bennington, under the command of the veteran, General Stark.

The remaining operations during 1777, mainly consisted in British descents on the New England coast and in the taking of Forts Clinton and Montgomery in the Highlands. These posts, however, were immediately abandoned by the enemy.

The following table," compiled by the Secretary of War from the actual returns of the Army, shows the quotas required by Congress from the different States to fill up the 88 battalions voted in September, 1776, and the additional battalions created on the 27th of December, 1776, as well as the number of troops furnished by the different States during the year.

a American State Papers, vol. XII, p. 15.

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d By resolution of July 15, 1776, Georgia was authorized to raise, in Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, two regiments of infantry and two companies of artillery, their terms of service ending in 1777.

e Part State troops.

The conjectural estimate of militia employed in addition to the above troops in 1777 was:

New Hampshire and Vermont, for two months.

Massachusetts, for two months

Connecticut, for two months

New York, for six months..

New Jersey, for two months
Pennsylvania, for three months
Delaware, for two months...
Maryland, for two months.
Virginia, for two months.

South Carolina, for eight months
Georgia..

Rhode Island, for six months...

Total

2,200

2,000

2,000

2,500

1,500

2,000

1,000

4,000

4,000

350

750

1,500

23, 800

Grand total, 1777..

68, 720

The table shows that the number of men raised for the Continental Army was less than one-half of the quota, while the total number of troops fell short of the number furnished in 1776 by 20,931. This decline in military strength must be attributed to the system of enlistments rather than to any want of determination to carry on the war. To stimulate recruiting, Congress on the 14th of April recommended that each State legislature enact laws exempting from actual service any two of the militia who should, within the time limited by such laws, furnish one able-bodied recruit to serve in any battalion of the Continental Army for three years or during the war; said exemption to continue during the term of enlistment, the recruit to have the Continental bounty and other allowances."

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It is also recommended "that State legislatures enact laws compelling all such persons as are by laws exempted from bearing arms

or performing military duties, other than such as are specified in the foregoing resolution, to furnish such number of able-bodied soldiers as said legislatures shall deem a proper equivalent for such exemption; such soldiers to be entitled to the Continental bounty and other allowances over and above such gratuities as they may receive from those who procure them to enlist."

While the Government was not yet prepared to recommend a draft, the above resolution was a step toward it, inasmuch as it proposed that certain individuals (not States) should be compelled to furnish a certain number of soldiers, the expense of additional bounty falling upon the individuals.

TERRITORIAL RECRUITMENT.

Another step in recruiting was taken on the 31st of July, when Congress recommended "the executive authorities of the United States to divide their respective States into districts and to appoint a proper person in each district to fill up the regiments; the recruiting officer to give bonds and to be allowed in full for all trouble and expense eight dollars for each able-bodied recruit who shall enlist for three years or during the war, and also to be allowed in full for all expense five dollars for the arrest of every deserter." a

It also recommended that the legislative authorities should designate in their respective States convenient places of rendezvous for recruits and deserters, such places being reported to Washington so that he could send officers to receive the men.

This division of States into districts and establishment of rendezvous or depots, had some analogy to the territorial distribution and recruit. ment of troops now adopted by every European nation.

BOUNTY.

The evil of bounties increased during the campaign of 1777. Early in the year delegates from the New England States, which met for consultation in regard to their joint interests at Providence, recommended that the States represented should add a bounty of thirtythree and one-third dollars to the Continental bounty of $20, already authorized for the 88 battalions created in 1776. Massachusetts and New Hampshire doubled this extra bounty making a total of eightysix and two-thirds dollars for each recruit. Thus within a year the bounty had become more than twentyfold greater.

This increase at once put a stop to re-enlistments in the old regiments, as the men naturally went home to secure the State bounty, and would not take the smaller sum offered by Congress. Further than this, the large State bounties shook the allegiance of the soldier to his colors. Desertions became so numerous that Washington on the 6th of April issued a proclamation, in which he said:

* *

Whereas many soldiers, lately enlisted in the Continental Army, not content with the generous bounties and encouragements granted to them by Congress, but influenced by a base regard to their interests, have reenlisted with, and received bounties from, other officers and then deserted, * I have thought proper to issue this my proclamation offering a free pardon to all who shall voluntarily surrender themselves to any officer of the Continental Army or join their respective corps before the 15th day of May next.

*
*

a Journal of Congress, vol. II, p. 211.

*

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