foundation of a support which would have been completely adequate to his purpose, had the quality of the troops corresponded with their number. Having finished his preparatory measures, he hastened to Charlotte, pleased with the hope of rescuing the State from the impending calamities. On the 2d of December he reached the army, and was received by General Gates with the most cordial respect. The translation of the command was announced in general orders on the ensuing day. After devoting a short time to to those communications which were essential to the information of his successor, Gates took leave of the army, and proceeded to meet the inquiry into his conduct which had been ordered by Congress. His progress was slow, his manners were grave, his demeanor was condescending, his conversation reserved. On his lone road, no countenance shed the balm of condolence; all were gloomy, all scowling. The fatal loss of the 16th of August was acutely remembered; but the important victory of Saratoga was forgotten. The unfortunate general at length reached Richmond, where the General Assembly of Virginia was in session. Great and good men then governed the State. Instructed by history, guided by the dictates of virtue, and grateful for eminent services, they saw a wide difference between misfortune and criminality, and weighed the exploits in the North against the disasters in the South. These fathers of the commonwealth appointed a committee of their body to wait on the vanquished general, and "to assure him of their high regard and esteem; that their remembrance of his former glorious services was never to be obliterated by any reverse of fortune; but, ever mindful of his great merit, they would omit no opportunity of testifying to the world the gratitude which Virginia, as a member of the American Union, owed to him in his military character.” * *Extract from the minutes of the House of Delegates. Thursday, 28th December, 1780. "Resolved, That a committee of four be appointed to wait on Major-General Gates, and to assure him of the high regard and esteem of this house; that the remembrance of his former glorious services cannot be obliterated by any reverse of fortune, but that this House, ever mindful of his great merit, will omit no opportunity of testifying to the world the gratitude which, as a member of the American Union, this country owes him in his military character." And the said resolution being read a second time, was, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House, nemine contradicente. Ordered, That Mr. Henry, Mr. R. H. Lee, Mr. Yane, and General Nelson, be appointed of the said committee. General Gates had supported his fall from splendid elevation to obscurity with apparent fortitude and complacency. He was sensibly affected and comforted by this kind reception, and retired to his farm in the county of Berkeley, where the keen regrets of disappointment and misfortune were softened by the soothing occupations of agriculture, and the condolence of the State in which he resided. The dignified and wise policy of the Virginia legislature was highly honorable to that body, and furnishes an instructive lesson to sovereigns. Amiable and enlightened as is such conduct, it is, nevertheless, uncommon; and our revolutionary records furnish no similar instance. Washington, indeed, uniformly experienced the gratitude of Congress, and of the State Assemblies; and their resolves of approbation sometimes followed his defeats. But the judgment and circumspection displayed by the commander-inchief, even in his most severe disasters, manifested the propriety of his conduct, and the necessity of the risk he incurred. Never did this general precipitately seek action; but when it became unavoidable, he prepared himself, in the best practicable manner, for the conflict. Limiting, by his foresight, the extent of his loss; guarding, by his disposition, security of retreat; and repairing with celerity the injury sustained,* his relative condition was often me Friday, 29th December, 1780. Mr. Henry reported from the committee appointed to communicate the resolution of the house of yesterday to Major-General Gates, that the committee had, according to orders, communicated the same to that gentleman, and that he had been pleased to return the following answer. RICHMOND, 28th December, 1780. I shall remember, with the utmost gratitude, the honor this day done me by the honorable House of Delegates of Virginia. When I engaged in the cause of freedom, and of the United States, I devoted myself entirely to the service of obtaining the great end of this Union. The having been once unfortunate is my great mortification; but let the event of my future services be what it may, they will, as they always have been, be directed by the most faithful integrity, and animated by the purest zeal for the honor and interest of the United States. HORATIO GATES. This conduct comes nearest to that of the Roman Senate, who thanked Varro, the author of the defeat at Cannæ, for returning to Rome, and for not having despaired of the commonwealth. A magnanimity unequalled in the history of nations. This fact was eminently illustrated by the battle of Germantown. Sir William Howe gained the day, but the advantages which resulted from the action were evidently on the side of Washington. The British general gave up the small district of the country he held, and submitted to the inconveniences of a position around Philadelphia. Exchanging an open country for the suburbs liorated, although victory adorned the brow of his adversary. Very different had been the conduct of General Gates in Carolina, and very different was the result on the 16th of August. Washington rivalled the magnanimity which the General Assembly of Virginia had displayed. Although he remembered the dilatory advance of a portion of the Northern army to his succor, when that succor was indispensable and expected; although he remembered that its commander had dared to trifle with his mandate; and was not insensible that this conduct had proceeded from a settled design to supplant him in his high station; yet he repressed the feelings which such recollections would naturally have excited in most breasts, and with all the delicacy of superior virtue, extended his condolence, to assuage the asperity which clings to misfortune. With a hope that the speedy termination of the war might preclude the necessity of an investigation, so mortifying to a soldier still proud of his former fame, though fallen in public estimation, General Washington compassionately deferred the assembling of the court. The war soon afterward closed, and the prosecution of the inquiry necessarily ceased.* of the city, salubrity for insalubrity, and drawing upon his troops the additional labor of field-works, to put himself safe, while pursuing his measures for the restoration of the river navigation. * Mr. Marshall, in his "Life of Washington," has treated this interesting transaction with peculiar attention. The correspondence between the two generals, with which this writer has favored the public, is so characteristic, that I cannot refrain from transcribing it. ALBANY, December 18th, 1777. SIR-I shall not attempt to describe, what, as a private gentleman, I cannot help feeling, on representing to my mind the disagreeable situation which confidential letters, when exposed to public inspection, may place an unsuspecting correspondent in; but as a public officer, I conjure your Excellency to give me all the assistance you can, in tracing out the author of the infidelity which put extracts from General Conway's letters to me into your hands. These letters have been stealingly copied; but which of them, when, or by whom, is to me, as yet, an unfathomable secret. There is not one officer in my suite, or among those who have free access to me, upon whom I could, with the least justification to myself, fix the suspicion; and yet my uneasiness may deprive me of the usefulness of the worthiest men. It is, I believe, in your Excellency's power to do me and the United States a very important service, in detecting a wretch who may betray me, and capitally injure the very operations under your immediate direction. For this reason, sir, I beg your Excellency will favor me with the proofs you can procure to that effect. But the crime being eventually so important, that the least loss of time may be attended with the worst consequences, and it being unknown to me, whether the letter came to you from a member of Congress, or from an officer, I shall have the honor of transmitting a copy of this to the President, that Congress may, in concert with your Excellency, obtain, as soon as possible, a discovery CHAPTER XXII. State of the army when Greene took command.-Greene moves down the Pedce.Tarleton detached against Morgan.-Col. Lee joins the army and is sent to support Marion. Their expedition against Georgetown. GENERAL GREENE directed his whole attention to the high duties of his command. On reviewing his army, he found its total not which deeply affects the safety of these States. Crimes of that magnitude ought not to remain unpunished, I have the honor to be, sir, with the greatest respect, His Excellency General WASHINGTON. HORATIO GATES. VALLEY FORGE, January 14th, 1778. SIR:-Your letter of the 18th ultimo came to my hands a few days ago, and to my great surprise informed me, that a copy of it had been sent to Congress; for what reason I find myself unable to account; but as some end doubtless was intended to be answered by it, I am laid under the disagreeable necessity of returning my answer through the same channel, lest any member of that body should harbor some unfavorable suspicion of my having practised some indirect means to come at the contents of the confidential letters between you and General Conway. I am to inform you then, that * * * * on his way to Congress, in the month of October last, fell in with Lord Stirling at Reading; and not in confidence that I ever understood, informed his aid-de-camp, Major McWilliams, that General Conway had written thus to you: "Heaven has been determined to save your country; or a weak general and bad counsellors would have ruined it." Lord Stirling, from motives of friendship, transmitted the account, with this remark: "The inclosed was communicated by * to Major McWilliams; such wicked duplicity of conduct I shall always think it my duty to detect.' * * * In consequence of this information, and without having any thing more in view, than merely to show that gentleman that I was not unapprised of his intriguing disposition, I wrote him a letter in these words: "Sir, a letter which I received last night contained the following paragraph: In a letter from General Conway to General Gates, he says, Heaven has determined to save your country; or a weak general and bad counsellors would have ruined it.' I am, sir, &c." Neither the letter nor the information which occasioned it was ever, directly or indirectly, communicated by me to a single officer in the army (out of my own family), excepting the Marquis de la Fayette, who, having been spoken to on the subject by General Conway applied for and saw, under injunctions of secrecy, the letter which contained this. So desirous was I of concealing every matter that could, in its consequences, give the smallest interruption to the tranquillity of this army, or afford a gleam of hope to the enemy by dissensions therein. I trust, sir, with that openness and candor which I hope will ever characterize and mark my conduct, I have complied with your request. The only concern I feel upon the occasion, finding how matters stand, is, that in doing this I have been necessarily obligated to name a gentleman, who, I am persuaded (although I never exchanged a word with him upon the subject) thought he was rather doing an act of justice than committing an act of infidelity; and sure I more than two thousand, of which the major part was militia. Notwithstanding the exertions of his predecessor to establish magazines, he found three days' provision only on hand, and the country around him exhausted. His supply of ammunition was very scanty, and Virginia was the nearest point from which a replenishment could be obtained. Such means and resources badly comported with the grand design of arresting the progress of the conqueror, and restoring the two lost States to the Union. Capable of doing much with little, Greene was not discouraged by this unfavorable prospect. His vivid plastic genius soon operated on the latent elements of martial capacity in his army, invigorated its weakness, turned its confusion into order, and its despondency into ardor. A wide sphere of intellectual · resource enabled him to inspire confidence, to rekindle courage, to am, that until Lord Stirling's letter came to my hands, I never knew that General Conway (whom I viewed in the light of a stranger to you) was a correspondent of yours; much less did I suspect that I was the subject of your confidential letters. Pardon me then for adding, that so far from conceiving that the safety of these States can be affected, or in the smallest degree injured, by a discovery of this kind, or that I should be called upon in such solemn terms to point out the author, that I considered the information as coming from yourself, and given with a friendly view to forewarn, and consequently to forearm, me against a secret enemy; or, in other words, a dangerous incendiary: in which character, sooner or later, this country will know General Conway. But in this, as well as other matters of late, I have found myself mistaken. To Major-General GATES. I am, sir, Your most obedient servant, Whatever part General Conway may have taken in this flagitious attempt, whether principal or secondary, is not ascertained; but he had gone far enough to warrant the commander-in-chief in denouncing him a "dangerous incendiary." Nevertheless, justice requires that I should add, that this officer was among the most respectable and the most experienced of the many French gentlemen who joined the American army; and that he afterward made, to his much injured commander, the best amends in his power, as is manifested by the following letter, written after resignation of his commission, and when he expected to die in consequence of a wound received in a duel with General Cadwallader, produced by his animadversion on the commander-in-chief. PHILADELPHIA, February 23d, 1778. SIB, I find myself just able to hold my pen during a few minutes, and take this opportunity of expressing my sincere grief for having done, written, or said, any thing disagreeable to your Excellency. My career will soon be over; therefore, justice and truth prompt me to declare my last sentiments. You are in my eyes, the great and good man. May you long enjoy the love, esteem, and veneration of these States, whose liberties you have asserted by your virtues. I am, with the greatest respect, Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant, |