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The army encamps at Valley Forge - Sufferings of the soldiers - Scarcity of food and clothing - Washington remonstrates to Congress and the States Trouble in the Commissary Department-Washington urges half pay system Opposition of delegates in Congress — Attempt of Conway, Gates and Mifflin to ruin Washington's reputation - Anonymous letters circulated — Washington's reply - Projected expedition to Canada-Lafayette refuses to join the Cabal - Conway's confession.

It will be remembered that Washington had been clothed with large powers by Congress so that, if it became necessary, he could use forcible means to obtain supplies for the army, but these powers he was loath to use.f Instead of acting in an arbitrary manner, he always first attempted to gain his ends by peaceable means, and while he never failed to display firmness and decision, yet every act was characterized by great prudence

On the manner in which Washington was warned of Howe's attempt to surprise him, see Lossing, Book of the Revolution, vol. ii., pp. 9596; Mrs. Ellett, Women of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 170 et seq.

See his letter of December 15 to the President of Congress, quoted in Sparks, Life of Washington, p. 243.

and discretion.‡ After Howe had occupied Philadelphia and had failed

*

pp.

397

Carrington, Battles of the Revolution, 398; Ford's ed. of Washington's Writings, vol. vi., pp. 238-240; Irving, Life of Washington, vol. iii., pp. 348-351; Stedman, American War, vol. i., pp. 305-306; Reed, Life of Joseph Reed, vol. i., pp. 350-351; Greene, Life of Nathanael Greene, p. 534; Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. ii., pp. 115-116; Kapp, Life of Kalb, pp. 133-134.

† Gordon, American Revolution, vol. iii., pp. 10– 12 (ed. 1788); Ford's ed. of Washington's Writings, vol. vi., pp. 243–245; Tower, Marquis de LaFayette, vol. i., p. 255.

It was in December, 1777, that Mr. Bushnell, the inventor of the American torpedo and other submarine machinery, set afloat in the Delaware a contrivance which frightened the British not a little. This was a squadron of kegs, charged with powder, to explode on coming in contact with any thing. The ice prevented the success of this contrivance, but as a boat was blown up, and some of the kegs exploded, the British at Philadelphia, not knowing what dreadful affairs might be in

70

CONDITION OF AMERICAN ARMY.

to draw Washington into a general battle, winter came on and practically put a stop to any further operations for the season. Washington therefore called a council of his officers to determine upon the most suitable place as winter quarters for the army. Many different opinions were expressed, but finally Washington was compelled to decide for himself, selecting Valley Forge. This was a deep and rugged valley situated about twenty miles from Philadelphia. On one side it was bounded by the Schuylkill, and on the other by ridges of hills. Shortly after the army arrived at Valley Forge, General Greene, much against his will, was appointed Quartermaster-General.* The army was lacking in almost everything-food, clothing, tents, supplies, etc. As the clothing of the soldiers was so miserably deficient, it were inhuman to consign them to exposure to the inclement weather merely under tents, and it was therefore determined that a sufficient number of huts should be built of logs filled in with mortar. The dimen

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sions of the huts were 16 x 14 feet, and 12 privates were assigned to each or a smaller number of officers according to rank. A general officer was the sole tenant of a hut.* ward the middle of December, the army began its march toward Valley Forge, and such was the condition of the troops that numbers were seen to drop dead with the cold, while those who remained alive, being without shoes, had their feet cut by the ice, and left their tracks in blood. length, after the most painful experience, the troops reached Valley Forge and immediately set about constructing their habitations according to the plan. In a short time the

*

*

At

drew from him some pretty plain words on this point: "We find gentlemen, without knowing whether the army was really going into winterquarters or not, reprobating the measure as much as if they thought that the soldiers were made of stocks or stones, and equally insensible of frost and snow; and moreover, as if they conceived it easily practicable for an inferior army, under the disadvantages I have described ours to be, which are by no means exaggerated, to confine a superior one, in all respects well appointed, and provided for a winter's campaign, within the city of Philadelphia, and to cover from depredation and waste, the States of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 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 feeling 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." Sparks, Life of Washington, pp. 256-257. The whole letter is in Irving, Life of Washington, vol. iii., pp. 355-358. See also Trevelyan, American Revolution, vol. iv., p. 303; Johnson, General Washington, pp. 180-182.

*Sparks, Life of Washington, p. 245.

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72

MISMANAGEMENT AND CORRUPTION.

so contrary to the common opinion of people distant from the Army, would scarcely be thought credible. I fear I shall wound your feelings by telling you that by a Field Return of the 23d Instant, we had in camp no less than 2898 men unfit for duty by reason of their being barefoot and otherwise naked. Besides these there are many others detained at the Hospitals and Farmers houses for the same causes."'* Even the miserable huts erected for the soldiers were without straw, and the soldiers, overwhelmed with lassitude, benumbed with cold, and enfeebled by hunger, were compelled to sleep on the humid ground. † In conjunction with other causes, this condition propagated disease, and the hospitals were replenished as soon as death evacuated them. The administration of the hospitals was no less defective in its organization. than that of the camp. Hospital

fever soon broke out because of the unsuitableness of the building in which the patients had been lodged, and the crowding of the sick, with the natural result that large numbers of those who otherwise would probably have survived, succumbed.||

Fiske says that while these sufferings have drawn forth unlimited pity, we should not lose sight of the fact that this misery was caused

Henry, Life of Patrick Henry, vol. iii., p. 137. See also his letter of February 19, 1778, p. 148. See Trevelyan, American Revolution, vol. iv., p. 295 et seq.

See Kapp, Life of Kalb, p. 137 et seq. || Trevelyan, p. 298 et seq.

chiefly by gross mismanagement
rather than by the poverty of the
country.* Sumner also points out
that there was plenty all about and
that the people were not paying any
war taxes. Distress and poverty were
not general and, except at the very
seat of military operations for the
time being, the war did not press on
the people in any way. The whole
trouble lay in the lack of organization
and system. The commissariat was
in wretched working condition
throughout the entire war, and while
we probably have heard more of the
sufferings at Valley Forge than those
of any other period during the war,
still the sufferings during the next
two or three winters were no less
severe. Greene often complained of
the nakedness and distress of the
Southern army during the campaigns
of 1780-81.† However, the suffer-
ings of the soldiers were not in the
least alleviated by saying that the
commissariat was at fault, for no
matter where the fault lay, the facts
still remained that the soldiers suf-
fered and that under the present
management there was no possible.
way to remedy the sad condition.
There was no clean linen to be se-
cured; even the coarsest diet was
scarcely obtainable; while the little
medicine the army had was so adul-
terated through the shameless cupid-
ity of contractors as to be almost
worthless. This corruption among

American Revolution, vol. ii., pp. 28-29.
Life of Alexander Hamilton, pp. 87-88.

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