My friend, Major Minnis, from Head Quarters at Valley Forge, has detailed to me the particular circumstances of the distress and privations, which our army suffered, while in winter quarters at that place, the last winter. In the month of December, the troops were employed in erecting log huts for winter quarters, when about one half of the men were destitute of small clothes, shoes, and stockings; some thousands were without blankets, and were obliged to warm themselves over fires all night, after the fatigues of the day, instead of reposing in comfortable lodgings. At one time nearly three thousand men were returned unfit for duty, from the want of clothing, and it was not uncommon to track the march of the men over ice and frozen ground, by the blood from their naked feet. Several times during the winter, they experienced little less than a famine in camp; and more than once our general officers were alarmed by the fear of a total dissolution of the army from the want of provisions. For two or three weeks in succession, the men were on half allowance, and for four or five days without bread, and again as many without beef or pork. It was with great difficulty that men enough could be found in a condition fit to discharge the military camp duties from day to day, and for this purpose those who were naked, borrowed from those who had clothes. It cannot be deemed strange, that sickness and mortality were the consequence of such privations, in the midst of an inclement season. Under these unexampled sufferings, the soldiers exercised a degree of patience and fortitude, which reflects on them the highest honor, and which ought ever to entitle them to the gratitude of their country. The army indeed was not without consolation, for his Excellency the Commander in Chief, whom every soldier venerates and loves, manifested a fatherly concern and fellow feeling for their sufferings, and made every exertion in his power to remedy the evil, and to administer

the much desired relief. Being authorized by Congress, he reluctantly resorted to the unpopular expedient of taking provisions from the inhabitants by force, and thus procured a small supply for immediate necessity. This was the unhappy condition of that army, on whom General Washington had to rely for the defence of every thing held most dear by Americans, and this too, while situated within sixteen miles of a powerful adversary, with a greatly superior army of veterans, watching with a vigilant eye for an opportunity to effect its destruction. But a fact which excites the greatest indignation and astonishment, is, that at the critical period above mentioned, a party in Congress, in concert with General Conway, was endeavoring to remove General Washington from the supreme command. If the American army is to be annihilated, and the cause of our country sacrificed to gratify individual ambition, then is there a faction ripe for the execution of the object. No man, perhaps, ever had a greater combination of vexatious evils, and uncontrollable obstacles to encounter, than this incomparable patriot and warrior; and no one surely ever possessed in a more eminent degree, the peculiar talents and qualities, requisite for the discharge of the important duties assigned him in his elevated station. He has acquired the full confidence of every faithful officer and soldier under his command, and his wisdom and judgment are considered adequate to the most trying exigences. He rises in the midst of distress, and gains strength by misfortunes. The Assembly of

*It was on this occasion that a foreign officer of distinction, said to a friend of mine, that he despaired of our Independence, for while walking with General Washington, along the soldiers' huts, he heard from many voices echoing through the open crevices between the logs, 66 no pay, no clothes, no provisions, no rum," and when a miserable being was seen flitting from one hut to another, his nakedness was only covered by a dirty blanket. It will be difficult to form a just conception of the emotions of grief and sorrow which must have harrowed up the soul of our illustrious patriot and philanthropist. In this darkening hour of adversity, any man who possesses less firmness than Washington, would despair of our Independence.

Pennsylvania, and a certain party in our Congress, entertain an idea that the royal army was permitted to take possession of Philadelphia by the timidity, or by the excessive caution of our Commander in Chief. It is well known, that from necessity he has evinced himself more the disciple of Fabius Maximus, than of Marcellus. He temporizes, and acts on the defensive, when a superior force, and the peculiar circumstances of his army compel him to adopt such conduct. But no one will deny that he has displayed the greatest courage in opposing danger, and the greatest presence of mind in retreating from it. He has perplexed the enemy by his judicious mancuvres, and braved him frequently in his camp; and it is by his superior generalship, and the unfailing resources of his mind, that the enemy was not sooner in possession of Philadelphia, and that our feeble, half starved, naked army, has not been entirely destroyed. The candidates who have been named to supersede his Excellency in the supreme command, are Generals Lee, Mifflin, Gates and Conway. Lee has many advocates in his favor. Mifflin has no claim, and it is believed no desire, to be elevated to this highly responsible station. The splendid achievement of General Gates at Saratoga is auspicious to his preferment, but even the officers and soldiers who served under him in the northern army, would not willingly yield their attachment to their beloved Washington, in whose wisdom and judgment they repose such unbounded confidence. It is most unfortunate that Congress appears to be split into factions at this eventful period, when the salvation of our country depends on the harmony and unanimity in our councils. A strong party exists in this body, who are exerting every nerve to effect their favorite scheme of elevating General Gates to the supreme command. This gentleman is made the object of their applause, and caresses, though he has been deficient in duty and respect in his official station, in

not communicating to the Commander in Chief the important intelligence of the capture of General Burgoyne and his army. General Conway, a French gentleman, has been appointed by Congress, Inspector General, with the rank of Major General, over a number of brigadiers of regular standing, and this, even when it was notorious, that he was inimical to the Commander in Chief, and the author of letters in which his Excellency's character is basely aspersed and calumniated. These unhappy dissensions and jealousies, occasion the greatest solicitude in our army, and consequences of a fatal tendency are seriously apprehended. The brigadiers and a number of colonels have remonstrated in strong terms to Congress respecting the preferment of General Conway. The machinations of this insolent foreigner have at length recoiled on his own head. Having by his vile intrigue, and insufferable effrontery, rendered himself an object of disgust in his station, he has been induced to resign his commission, and has withdrawn himself from the army.* On this serious occasion, the character of Washington was found unassailable and it shines with redoubled lustre. His Excellency displays a noble magnanimity in overlooking of confidence in his skill and judgment in his profession. Envy and malice are ever attendant on exalted station and superior merit.

May 16th.-In various parts of this state the inhabitants are constantly infested with a banditti of tories and other villains, following the practice of robbing and plundering, stealing horses and cattle, and often committing murder on those who oppose them; and even on innocent persons. A number of

General Conway, after his resignation, was challenged by General Cadwallader, for his conduct, and in the combat he received a wound which he supposed to be a mortal one, and conceiving death to be near at hand, he conducted honorably in addressing to General Washington a letter of apology. Further particulars relative to this unpleasant business may be found in the characters of Lee, Gates and Conway, in the Appendix.

these vile wretches have been apprehended and condemned; two of them were executed yesterday. They had been convicted of robbing the house of Mr. Van Ness, whose son, being a captain in our militia, was taken by them and cruelly murdered. The criminals were conducted to the gallows by a guard of soldiers, and were attended by a prodigious number of spectators. They manifested, at the gallows, the most agonizing horrors. One of them held in his hand a bible till the halter deprived him of the power of holding it. Had this sacred volume been his companion in early life, it might have been the means of averting this awful and untimely death.

20th.-I attended the judicial court at the City Hall for the trial of a number of criminals accused of house robbery, horse stealing, and murder, among the defenceless inhabitants on our frontiers. No less than ten of these miscreants were arrainged at the bar. The jury brought in a verdict of guilty against the whole number. Judge John Jay, who officiated on the bench, pronounced the awful sentence of death, and addressed them in a very solemn and affecting manner, calculated to rouse them to a sense of their dreadful condition, and in a moving and pathetic strain, enjoined it on them to prepare to meet their God. This scene was rendered the more melancholy, by observing among the criminals a grey headed man of seventy years, and his son about twenty. The criminality of the son admits of some extenuation from his ignorance and the example of his father. The youth was afterwards pardoned; but the old man, with several others, expiated their crimes by a public execution on the gallows.

In the town of Schoharie, about thirty miles from this city, a company of our troops, under the command of Captain Patrick, has been for some time stationed for the purpose of guarding the inhabitants against the incursions and cruel ravages of the In