it to be the prerogative of a governor to order the force belonging to a State as he may think necessary for the protection of its inhabitants. But those that are ordered out upon the Continental establishment are only subject to the orders of their officers. Without this just and necessary distribution there would be endless confusion and ruinous disappointments. I only mention these things to avoid a misunderstanding in future. I have no wish for command further than the interest and happiness of the people are concerned, and I hope everybody is convinced of this, from my zeal to promote the common safety of the good people of these Southern States. I feel for the sufferings of Virginia, and if I had been supported here in time I should have been there before this with a great part of our cavalry.a The wretched condition of the Army during the later years of the war was another baleful effect of the quasi independence of the States under the new system. Though in many parts of the country supplies were abundant, in spite of the ravages of war, yet from the north to the south hunger and nakedness everywhere prevailed in the Continental garrisons and camps. General Heath on the 6th of May, 1781, wrote to Washington reporting the distress of the garrison at West Point: I hoped I should not have been compelled again to represent our situation on account of provisions, but supplies of meat have not arrived. All the Irish beef in the store has been gone for some days; we are at last forced in upon the reserves. That in Fort Clinton has all been taken out this day. The pork which was ordered to be reserved is all issued, except about 16 barrels. The boats are now up from below for provisions, with representations that they are out; the reserves will be gone in a few days if relief does not arrive, and hunger must inevitably disperse the troops. If the authority will not order on supplies, I will struggle to the last moment to maintain the post; but regard to my own character compels me to be thus explicit-that if any ill consequences happen to this post, or its dependencies, through want of provisions, I shall not hold myself accountable for them. With no general government to which appeal for relief could be made, Washington replied on the 8th: Distressed beyond expression at the present situation and future prospects of the Army with regard to provisions, and convinced with you that, unless an immediate and regular supply can be obtained, the most dangerous consequences are to be apprehended, I have determined to make one great effort more on the subject, and must request that you will second and enforce my representations to, and requisitions upon, the New England States by your personal application to the several executives, and even assemblies, if sitting, as I suppose they will be in the course of this month. From your intimate knowledge of our embarrassed and distressed circumstances, and great personal influence with the Eastern States, I am induced to commit the execution of this interesting and important business to you, and wish you to set out on this mission as early as may be convenient. * * * The next day Washington sent General Heath the following instructions: You will be pleased to proceed immediately to the several eastern States with the dispatches addressed to the governors of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts Bay, and the president of New Hampshire, on the subject of supplies for the Army. * * * The great objects of your attention and mission are, first, an immediate supply of beef cattle; second, the transportation of all the salted provisions in the western part of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and, third, the establishment of a regular systematic, effectual plan for feeding the Army through the campaign. Unless the two former are effected, the garrison of Fort Schuyler must inevitably, that of West Point may probably, fall, and the whole Army be disbanded; without the latter, @Greene's Life of General N. Greene, vol. 3, pp. 555, 556. the same perplexing wants, irregularities, and distress, which we have so often experienced, will incessantly occur, with eventual far greater evils, if not final ruin. With regard to the particular mode of obtaining and transporting supplies I will not presume to dictate; but something must now be attempted on the spur of the occasion. I would suggest whether it would not be expedient for a committee from the several States, consisting of a few active, sensible men, to meet at some convenient place, in order to make out, upon a uniform and great scale, all the arrangements respecting supplies and transportation for the campaign. In the meantime, to avoid the impending dissolution of the Army, the States must individually comply precisely with the requisitions of the quartermaster and commissary upon them. ** Previous to your departure you will obtain from the quartermaster-general and commissary with the Army, the proper estimates of supplies and transportation to be required of the several States, together with all the light and information concerning their department, which may be requisite to transact the business committed to you. After having delivered the dispatches with which you are charged, and made such further representations as you may judge necessasy, you will not cease your applications and importunities until you are informed officially whether effectual measures are or will be taken to prevent the Army from starving and disbanding. * * * * These instructions incidentally set forth the difficulties of making war through the combined action of thirteen distinct governments. The only method by which Washington could prevent the dispersion of an important garrison was to order its commander to quit his post, go as a suppliant before the New England assemblies, and beg them for food. To their honor be it said that they afforded relief, and through the joint action of committees from each State, as suggested in Washington's letter, devised measures by which the Army was thenceforth regularly supplied. CONDUCT OF THE ARMY. An attentive consideration of the behavior of the regular, or Continental, troops during the Revolution ought to convince every American citizen that a standing army is among the least of the perils to which our freedom is exposed. From the very beginning of the war the depreciation of the currency practically compelled the officers and men to serve without pay. Weary, naked, foot sore, and hungry, they made long marches, endured the hardships of winter quarters, and fought their country's battles without the hope of reward. During this long period the want of food, pay, and clothing-usual causes of mutiny-were at all times pressingly felt; and yet, with the exception of a few regiments and the troops of one or two States, the Continental Army was ever true to its trust. Even the mutiny of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Line served to illustrate the difference between raw and regular troops. To the former, desertion was the simple and obvious remedy for discontent and ill treatment. Among the latter, a redress of grievances was coupled with loyalty to the cause. They did not mean to desert. Overpowered by a sense of their hardships and wrongs, they momentarily forgot their duty and sought to lay their sufferings before the highest tribunal of the country that it might give them relief. They did not seek to subvert the authority of Congress, but appealed to it as the fountain of justice and law. The army could point with pride to its subordination to civil authority and to its devotion to liberty. More than this, it could @Heath's Memoirs, pp. 284, 286. justly claim that the dictatorial powers conferred upon its commander-arbitrary arrests, summary executions without trial, forced impressment of provisions, and other dangerous preceden's of the Revolution-were the legitimate fruits of the defective military legislation of our inexperienced statesmen. Great as was the devotion of the private soldier, the patriotic record of the officer was even more brilliant. Once only did the officers of a Continental regiment combine for relief, and in this case they were under orders to march not against the British but against the Indians. In 1779, the officers of the First Regiment of the New Jersey Brigade demanded their pay from the legislature and threatened to consider themselves as out of the service if their application was not granted within three days. This summary demand was necessarily regarded as an invasion of the privileges of the assembly, but through the good offices of Washington it was withdrawn, when the legislature made haste to pay both the officers and men. The position taken by the officers was explained to Washington as follows: We are sorry that you should imagine we meant to disobey orders. It was and is still our determination to march with our regiment, and to do the duty of officers until the legislature shall have a reasonable time to appoint others, but no longer. We beg leave to assure Your Excellency that we have the highest sense of your ability and virtues; that executing your orders has ever given us pleasure; that we love the service, and love our country; but when that country gets so lost to virtue and justice as to forget to support its servants, it then becomes their duty to retire from its service.a * * * From this time forward until the end of the war the whole body of officers joined hands in repressing the spirit of discontent among the soldiers, and during the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Line some of them laid down their lives in attempting to quell the insubordination of the men. Toward the close of the war, in December, 1782, the officers of the Army addressed Congress in reference to arrears of their pay, and as to the security for their half pay for life. The inability of Congress to meet any of its obligations and the knowledge that several of the States had opposed the half pay for life induced the officers to propose a commutation instead. When information reached the camp at Newburg that their proposals had not been accepted, an anonymous writer, presuming upon the discontent of the officers, circulated an address, setting forth the wrongs of the Army. With a view to induce the officers to carry their appeals "from the justice to the fears of the Government," he requested the general and field officers-one officer from each company and a delegate from the medical staff-to meet on the 11th of March, 1783, and consider "what measures (if any) should be adopted to obtain that redress of grievances which they seem to have solicited in vain." To neutralize the effect of this address Washington, on the 11th of March, requested the general and field officers of the army-an officer from each company and representatives of the staff to assemble on the 15th "to hear the report of the committee of the Army to Congress. He also directed the officers to "devise what further measures ought to be adopted as most rational and best calculated to attain the just and important object in view." That nothing might de done without @Irving's Life of Washington, vol. 3, pp. 454, 455. his sanction he ordered the senior officer present to preside and report the result of the deliberations to the Commander in Chief. The day after the publication of this order appeared a second anonymous address by the same author (afterwards General Armstrong), urging energy of action at the meeting sanctioned by the commander in chief. At the time appointed, the officers convened, and were addressed by Washington, who received the unanimous thanks of the assembly. The address from the Army to Congress in December, the report of the committee from the Army, and the resolutions of Congress of January 25, referring to the pay of the officers, were then read, when a committee was appointed consisting of a general, a field officer, and a captain, with instructions to report in half an hour "resolutions expressive of the business" before the meeting. The patriotism of the officers, their fortitude in distress, their confidence in the justice of Congress, their devotion to discipline--the only bond that can hold an army together in the hour of disaster-were all expressed in the following resolutions, prepared by the committee consisting of General Knox, Colonel Brooks, and Captain Howard. The report of the committee having been brought in and fully considered: Resolved unanimously, That at the commencement of the present war the officers of the American Army engaged in the service of their country from the purest love and attachment to the rights and liberties of human nature, which motives still exist in the highest degree, and that no circumstance of distress or danger shall induce a conduct that may tend to sully the reputation of glory which they have acquired at the price of their blood and eight years' faithful services. Resolved unanimously, That the Army continue to have an unshaken confidence in the justice of Congress and their country; and are fully convinced that the representatives of America will not disband or disperse the Army until their accounts are liquidated, the balance accurately ascertained, and adequate funds established for payment. And, in this arrangement, the officers expect that the half pay, or commutation of it, should be efficaciously comprehended. Resolved unanimously, That His Excellency the Commander in Chief be requested to write to His Excellency the President of Congress, earnestly entreating the more speedy decision of that honorable body upon the subjects of our late address, which was forwarded by a committee of the Army, some of whom are waiting upon Congress for the result. In the alternative of peace or war this event would be highly satisfactory, and would produce immediate tranquillity in the minds of the Army, and prevent any further machinations of designing men to sow discord between the civil and military forces of the United States. Resolved, unanimously, That the officers of the American Army view with abhorrence, and reject with disdain, the infamous propositions contained in a late anonymous address to the officers of the Army, and resent with indignation the secret attempts of some unknown persons to collect the officers together in a manner totally subversive of all discipline and good order. Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of the officers of the Army be given to the committee, who presented to Congress the late address of the Army, for the wisdom and prudence with which they have conducted that business, and that a copy of the proceedings of this day be transmitted by the President to Major-General McDougall, and that he be requested to continue his solicitations at Congress until the objects of his mission are accomplished. a * * * These proceedings were signed by General Yates, and were forwarded by Washington to Congress, which, in lieu of half-pay for life, gave to the officers full pay for five years, and to the soldiers full pay for four months. On the 18th of April, 1783, Washington proclaimed the cessation of hostilities, and tendered his congratulations to a patient army. a Sparks's Writings of Washington, vol. 8, pp. 564, 565. MUTINY OF RECRUITS. Although the war was over, the members of the Continental Congress were destined to personally experience some of the dangers connected with the employment of raw troops. In June, some 80 recruits mutinied at Lancaster, and fancying themselves aggrieved, marched to Philadelphia, where they were joined by about 200 comrades from the barracks. Proceeding with music and fixed bayonets to the statehouse, where Congress and the executive council of Pennsylvania were in session, they placed sentinels at every door to prevent egress, and then served upon both bodies a written demand for the redress of their grievances, threatening military violence in case their wrongs were not righted in the brief space of twenty minutes. For several hours Congress and the executive council found themselves at the mercy of an armed and undisciplined soldiery. In this extremity, fearing that the State of Pennsylvania could not furnish adequate protection, Congress called for regular troops, and, abandoning the capital, adjourned to meet at Princeton. On the receipt of a despatch from the President of Congress, Washington sent General Howe with 1,500 Continentals to the scene of disturbance, but before the troops could arrive the mutiny was happily quelled without bloodshed. Several of the mutineers were tried by court-martial, four received corporal punishment, and two were even sentenced to death, though pardoned later. The views which Washington entertained of this mutiny and his reflections on the character of raw and of veteran troops are given in his reply of June 24 to the President of Congress: While I suffer the most poignant distress, in observing that a handful of men, contemptible in numbers, and equally so in point of service (if the veteran troops from the southward have not been reduced by their example), and who are not worthy to be called soldiers, should disgrace themselves and their country as the Pennsylvania mutineers have done, by insulting the sovereign authority of the United States and that of their own, I feel an inexpressible satisfaction that even this behavior cannot stain the name of the American soldiery. It can not be imputable to or reflect dishonor upon the army at large; but on the contrary, it will, by the striking contrast it exhibits, hold up to public view the other troops in the most advantageous point of light. Upon taking all the circumstances into consideration, I can not sufficiently express my surprise and indignation at the arrogance, the folly, and the wickedness of the mutineers; nor can I sufficiently admire the fidelity, the bravery, and the patriotism which must forever signalize the unsullied character of the other corps of our army. For, when we consider that these Pennsylvania levies, who have now mutinied, are recruits and soldiers of a day, who have not borne the heat and burden of the war, and who can have in reality very few hardships to complain of; and when we at the same time recollect that those soldiers who have lately been furloughed from this army are the veterans who have patiently endured hunger, nakedness, and cold; who have suffered and bled without a murmur, and who with perfect good order have retired to their homes without a settlement of their accounts, or a farthing of money in their pockets, we shall be as much astonished at the virtues of the latter as we are struck with horror and detestation at the proceedings of the former; and every candid mind, without indulging ill-grounded prejudices, will undoubtedly make the proper discrimination. DISBANDMENT OF THE ARMY. On the 2d of November, at Princeton, Washington issued his farewell address, and on the following day the army was disbanded, with a Sparks's Writings of Washington, vol. 8, pp. 455, 456. |