Washington The Soldier - free ebook by Henry B. Carrington

Washington the Soldier

WASHINGTON From the St Memin Crayon in possession of J. Carson Brevoort Esq....

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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Since the first appearance of this volume, during the winter of 1898–9, the author has considerately regarded all letters and literary comments received by him, as well as other recent works upon the life and times of Washington. His original purpose to treat his subject judicially, regardless of unverified tradition, has been confirmed. Washington’s sublime conception of America, noticed in Chapter XXXVI., foreshadowed “a stupendous fabric of freedom and empire, on the broad basis of Independen

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PREFACE.

The text of this volume, completed in the spring of 1898 and not since modified, requires a different Preface from that first prepared. The events of another war introduce applications of military principles which have special interest. This is the more significant because modern appliances have been developed with startling rapidity, while general legislation and the organization of troops, both regular and volunteer, have been very similar to those of the times of Washington, and of later Amer

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CHAPTER I. EARLY APTITUDES FOR SUCCESS.

The boyhood and youth of George Washington were singularly in harmony with those aptitudes and tastes that shaped his entire life. He was not quite eight years of age when his elder brother, Lawrence, fourteen years his senior, returned from England where he had been carefully educated, and where he had developed military tastes that were hereditary in the family. Lawrence secured a captain’s commission in a freshly organized regiment, and engaged in service in the West Indies, with distinguishe

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CHAPTER II. THE FERMENT OF AMERICAN LIBERTY.

In 1755, four military expeditions were planned by the Colonies: one against the French in Nova Scotia; one against Crown Point; one against Fort Niagara, and the fourth, that of Braddock, against the French posts along the Ohio river. In 1758, additional expeditions were undertaken, the first against Louisburg, the second against Ticonderoga, and the third against Fort Du Quesne. Washington led the advance in the third, a successful attack, Nov. 25, 1758, thereby securing peace with the Indians

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CHAPTER III. THE OUTBREAK OF REPRESSED LIBERTY.

British authority, which ought to have gladly welcomed and honored the prodigious elasticity, energy, and growth of its American dependencies, as the future glory and invincible ally of her advancing empire, was deliberately arming to convert a natural filial relation into one of slavery. The legacies of British law and the liberties of English subjects, which the Crown did not dare to infringe at home, had been lodged in the hearts of her American sons and daughters, until resistance to a royal

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Major-Generals.

Some of these have been already noticed. Artemas Ward. Charles Lee , a retired officer of the British Army, a military adventurer under many flags, a resident of Virginia, an acquaintance of Washington, and ambitious to be first in command. Philip Schuyler , then a member of Congress; a man of rare excellence of character, who had served in the French and Indian War, and took part in Abercrombie’s Ticonderoga campaign. Israel Putnam....

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Brigadier-Generals.

Seth Pomeroy. Richard Montgomery , who served gallantly under Wolfe before Quebec, in 1759, and in the West Indies, in 1762. David Wooster. William Heath , who, previous to the war, was a vigorous writer upon the necessity of military discipline and a thoroughly organized militia. Joseph Spencer , of Connecticut, also a soldier of the French and Indian War, both as Major and Lieutenant-Colonel. John Thomas , also a soldier of the French and Indian War, and in command of a regiment at Cambridge,

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CHAPTER V. WASHINGTON IN COMMAND.

On the twenty-first day of June, 1775, Washington left Philadelphia for Boston, and on the third day of July assumed command of the Continental Army of America, with headquarters at Cambridge. At this point one is instinctively prompted to peer into the closed tent of the Commander-in-Chief and observe his modest, but wholly self-reliant attitude toward the grave questions that are to be settled, in determining whether the future destiny of America is to be that of liberty, or abject submission

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CHAPTER VI. BRITISH CANADA ENTERS THE FIELD OF ACTION.

The Continental Army about Boston was largely composed of New England troops. This was inevitable until the action of Congress could be realized by reënforcements from other Colonies. The experience of nearly all veteran soldiers in the Cambridge camps had been gained by service in Canada or upon its borders. British garrisons at Halifax, Quebec, and Montreal, as well as at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. John’s, offered an opportunity for British aggression from the north. The seizure of the

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CHAPTER VII. HOWE SUCCEEDS GAGE.—CLOSING SCENES OF 1775.

As the siege of Boston advanced without decisive result, orders from England suddenly relieved Gage from command, and assigned General Sir William Howe as his successor. That officer promulgated a characteristic order “assuming command over all the Atlantic Colonies from Nova Scotia to the West Indies.” He made his advent thus public, and equally notorious. Offensive proclamations, bad in policy, fruitless for good, and involving the immediate crushing out of all sympathy from those who were sti

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CHAPTER VIII. AMERICA AGAINST BRITAIN.—BOSTON TAKEN.

On the thirty-first day of December, 1775, Admiral Shuldham reached Boston with reënforcements for its garrison, and relieved Admiral Graves in command of all British naval forces. The troops within the lines were held under the most rigid discipline, although amusements were provided to while away the idle hours of a passive defence. The winter was memorable for its mildness, so that the American troops, encamped about the city in tents, did not suffer; but the in-gathering of recruits, to repl

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CHAPTER IX. SYSTEMATIC WAR WITH BRITAIN BEGUN.

Within twenty-four hours after General Howe embarked his army, the American Commander-in-Chief developed his matured plan to anticipate any design of General Clinton to occupy New York City. The great number of fugitive royalists who accompanied Howe’s fleet and encumbered even the decks of battleships with their personal effects, and the necessity of consulting the wishes of very influential families among their number, were substantial reasons for the selection of Halifax as the destination of

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CHAPTER X. BRITAIN AGAINST AMERICA.—HOWE INVADES NEW YORK.

In order rightly to measure the American War for Independence by fixed standards, it is both interesting and instructive to notice the systematic method adopted by Great Britain to suppress revolution and restore her supremacy over the revolting Colonies. The recovery of Boston was no longer to be seriously considered; but New England, as a strong and populous centre of disaffection, must still be so restricted through her coast exposure as to prevent her proportionate contribution to the Contin

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CHAPTER XI. BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND.

Only a summary analysis of the Battle of Long Island is required for explanation of the general operations indicated upon the map. Almost every hour had its incidents of eventful interest, and few historic battles, from its first conception to the ultimate result, more strikingly illustrate the influence of one regardful judgment which could convert unpromising features into conditions of final benefit. The value of military discipline, of presence of mind, and the subordination of every will to

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CHAPTER XII. WASHINGTON IN NEW YORK.

Washington’s labors were neither lessened nor interrupted when he assembled his army on the thirtieth day of August, 1776. He had been in the saddle or on foot, without sleep, for more than forty-eight hours; and it would require a large volume even to outline the mass of minute details which had to receive his attention. His own account, as contained in private letters, can be summed up in suggestive groups—such as, “tools carelessly strewn about”; “cartridges exposed to the rain”; and, “the so

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CHAPTER XIII. WASHINGTON TENDERS, AND HOWE DECLINES, BATTLE.—HARLEM HEIGHTS AND WHITE PLAINS.

The steady hold of Harlem Heights against Howe’s advance on the sixteenth day of September, sometimes called the Battle of Harlem Heights, was another “object lesson” for General Howe’s improvement, and he observed its conditions. His adversary invited and he declined the invitation to attack the American position. His next plan was self-suggestive, to cut the American army from its Connecticut supplies, since his fleet controlled the Hudson River, and by a flank and rear movement to pen it up f

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CHAPTER XIV. THE FIRST NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN.—TRENTON.

Historical accuracy must recognize the First Campaign of Washington in New Jersey, as a masterly conduct of operations toward American Independence. The loss of Fort Washington has been a frequent topic of discussion, as if its retention or loss had determining value. As already indicated by Washington’s letters, there was no substantial benefit to be realized by the detachment of troops to retain it, so long as British ships controlled its water-front. Behind it was New England, which could fur

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CHAPTER XV. THE FIRST NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN DEVELOPED.—PRINCETON.

Washington’s surprise of the garrison of Trenton, equally surprised General Howe at New York; and he made immediate requisition for twenty thousand additional troops. His last previous requisition for foreign auxiliaries met with little favor on the Continent, and only thirty-six hundred men were secured for service, both in Canada and other American Colonies. In the meantime, Clinton made no demonstration from Newport; and Massachusetts had recovered from the temporary effect of his occupation

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CHAPTER XVI. THE AMERICAN BASE OF OPERATIONS ESTABLISHED.—THE SECOND NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN.

The narrative of Washington’s career as a Soldier, up to the time when he foiled the best efforts of Howe and Cornwallis to capture his weary band of Continentals and militia, has been a continuous story of love of country and devotion to her brave defenders. The most assiduous care for their discipline, their health, their moral deportment, and their loyalty to duty, has been the burden of his soul. Pleading, remonstrance, and even reprimand, however earnest and pungent, have never worn a selfi

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CHAPTER XVII. BRITISH INVASION FROM CANADA.—OPERATIONS ALONG THE HUDSON.

On the twentieth of June, Washington learned that Burgoyne was approaching St. John’s; and that a detachment of British and Canadian troops, accompanied by Indians, had been organized for the occupation of the Mohawk Valley, west of Albany, under Colonel St. Leger. This would enable them to court the alliance of the “Six Nations,” and to suppress the enlistment into the American army of the scattered white population of that region. On the same day, he ordered General Putnam to hold in readiness

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CHAPTER XVIII. PENNSYLVANIA INVADED.—BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE.

The British Commander-in-Chief entertained no doubts of the success of Burgoyne’s invasion from Canada. His reiterated appeals to Britain for reënforcements were not heeded, and he certainly knew that troops could not be furnished up to his demand. But he still hoped that the invasion from the north would so drain New England and New York of their able-bodied militia, as to render it impossible for either section to forward its respective full quota to the Continental army of Washington. Two cam

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CHAPTER XIX. WASHINGTON RESUMES THE OFFENSIVE.—BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN.

Washington marched directly to Philadelphia to refit his army and secure ammunition and provisions, and thence marched to Germantown, “for one day of rest.” His confidence was not abated. The brave soldiers who had left Philadelphia with such jubilant anticipations of victory, were conscious of having fought well against a superior force, and were never more willing to honor the confidence of their Commander-in-Chief. And Washington himself was not hurried, but systematic and constantly in motio

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CHAPTER XX. JEALOUSY AND GREED DEFEATED.—VALLEY FORGE.

The struggle for American independence and the career of the American Commander-in-Chief very minutely foreshadowed the experience of most successful soldiers with the political manipulations of partisans in Congress ever since. The “On to Richmond,” and the “On to Washington” cries of 1861, and the fluctuations of the popular pulse with the incidents of successive campaigns in the civil war, were used by demagogues for selfish ends. But the same spirit had shown itself in a degree quite as repu

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CHAPTER XXI. PHILADELPHIA AND VALLEY FORGE IN WINTER, 1778.

Mr. Charles Stedman, who served on the staffs of Generals Howe, Clinton and Cornwallis, during the Revolutionary War, in an interesting historical narrative states that “the British army enlivened the dull times of their winter residence in Philadelphia, with the dance-house, the theatre, and the game of faro.” But it is equally true that this large license which relieved the monotony of garrison life, gradually aroused disgust and positive hatred on the part of the citizens of that city. No div

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CHAPTER XXII. FROM VALLEY FORGE TO WHITE PLAINS AGAIN.—BATTLE OF MONMOUTH.

The abandonment of Philadelphia by the British army, as anticipated by Washington, had become a military necessity. The city was too remote from the coast, unless its army of occupation could be so reënforced as to be independent of support from the British base at New York. The reënforcements of troops called for by General Howe had not been and could not have been furnished. The recommendation of General Amherst, military adviser of George III., “that forty thousand men be sent to America imme

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CHAPTER XXIII. THE ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE TAKES EFFECT.—SIEGE OF NEWPORT.

Upon the return of General Clinton to New York as the successor to General Howe in command of “all the Atlantic Colonies from Nova Scotia to West Indies, inclusive,” his outlook over the territories which fell under his guardianship must have been that of faith rather than of sight. With the exception of Staten Island and the British supply depot, practically a part of New York, only one other post in the Northern Department, that of Newport, R.I., retained a British garrison. It is very certain

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CHAPTER XXIV. MINOR EVENTS AND GRAVE CONDITIONS, 1779.

The Headquarters of the American Army remained at White Plains until the latter part of September. Upon reaching that post, immediately following the Battle of Monmouth, after two years of absence, the American Commander-in-Chief, profoundly appreciating the mutations of personal and campaign experience through which himself and army had kept company in the service of “God and Country,” thus expressed himself: “The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous, that he must be worse than an infidel

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CHAPTER XXV. MINOR OPERATIONS OF 1779 CONTINUED.—STONY POINT TAKEN.—NEW ENGLAND RELIEVED.

In Fennimore Cooper’s interesting romance, “The Spy,” he furnishes graphic delineations of the true character of those minor operations about New York which were parts of General Clinton’s military recreation, while he had too small a force to meet Washington’s compact army in actual battle. Night forays and short excursions, under the cover of small vessels-of-war and assured of safe retreat, were of frequent occurrence. Mounted bands, officially known as the Queen’s Rangers, had very large dis

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CHAPTER XXVI. SHIFTING SCENES.—TEMPER OF THE PEOPLE.—SAVANNAH.

If the mind weary of the recital of events which by night and by day burdened the soul and tasked the energies of the American Commander-in-Chief to their utmost strain, it cannot but be refreshed by evidence of his abiding confidence and patience in the cause of American Independence, as the theatre of war enlarged and gradually placed every colony under the weight of British pressure. The issue of two hundred millions of paper money had indeed been authorized, and a loan was invited abroad; bu

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CHAPTER XXVII. THE EVENTFUL YEAR 1780.—NEW JERSEY ONCE MORE INVADED.

The first act of General Washington upon reaching Morristown was to invoice his resources and balance his accounts. He “called the roll” of his army, made record of all supplies, and framed estimates for forthcoming necessities. It was a depressing exhibit. Excluding South Carolina and Georgia troops, which were assigned to their own home department, the entire Muster, including all independent organizations as well as drummers, fifers, teamsters, and all attachés of every kind, and upon the imp

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CHAPTER XXVIII. BATTLE OF SPRINGFIELD.—ROCHAMBEAU.—ARNOLD.—GATES.

Sir Henry Clinton returned from Charleston to New York on the seventeenth day of June, 1780. He must have contrasted his report made to the British War Office, of the “conquest of South Carolina,” with that made by General Knyphausen to himself, of the recent experience of British operations in New Jersey. But Clinton was ever a man of action, prompt and energetic. He felt deeply the long protracted embarrassment of his position, while holding such a vast and responsible command without sufficie

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CHAPTER XXIX. A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE THEATRE OF WAR.

As a bird’s overlook of its wide field of vision cannot comprehend all objects within range, except in turn, so must the patient reader come back again to stand behind Washington and look over his shoulder as he points the glass of observation to the activities which he in turn surveys; to catch with him their import, and so far as possible strain the eye of faith with him, while with slowly sweeping supervision he comprehends all that the war for American Independence has intrusted to his care.

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CHAPTER XXX. THE SOLDIER TRIED.—AMERICAN MUTINY.—FOREIGN Judgment.—ARNOLD’S DEPREDATIONS.

Nothing new or unfamiliar to the American student can be said as to the military operations of the British, French and American armies during the closing year of the war for American Independence; but they may be so grouped in their relations to Washington as a Soldier, that he may stand forth more distinctly as both nominal and real Commander-in-Chief. His original commission, it will be remembered, was accompanied by the declaration of Congress that “they would maintain and assist him, and adh

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CHAPTER XXXI. THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGN, 1781, OUTLINED.—COWPENS.—GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE.—EUTAW SPRINGS.

Before developing Washington’s plan for the capture of Benedict Arnold, it is advisable to glance at the military condition of the Southern Department in which Arnold was then serving in command of British troops. Lafayette had been intrusted with execution of the plan. He knew perfectly well that Arnold would not venture far from his fortified position at Portsmouth, and thus incur risk of capture and an inevitable death upon the gibbet. The assignment of General Greene to the command of that d

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CHAPTER XXXII. LAFAYETTE IN PURSUIT OF ARNOLD.—THE END IN SIGHT.—ARNOLD IN THE BRITISH ARMY.

The diversion of thought from Washington’s immediate surroundings will find its compensation in the development of his plan for the capture of Benedict Arnold. Its execution had been intrusted to General Lafayette, who was already assembling his command at Peekskill, on the Hudson. The superiority of the British fleet before Newport having been reduced by the storm of January 22nd, Monsieur Destouches, successor to Admiral de Ternay, deceased, consented to send one ship-of-the-line and two friga

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CHAPTER XXXIII. NEW YORK AND YORKTOWN THREATENED.—CORNWALLIS INCLOSED BY LAFAYETTE.

On the twenty-first day of May, 1781, which proved to have been that of the arrival of Cornwallis at Yorktown, Washington held a conference with Count de Rochambeau and General Chastellux at Wethersfield, Conn., as to the details of the approaching summer campaign. As one result of this interview, Count de Rochambeau requested Count de Grasse, then in the West Indies, to coöperate for a while with Count de Barras, and close the port of New York. The French fleet could not be very well spared fro

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CHAPTER XXXIV. BRITISH CAPTAINS OUTGENERALED.—WASHINGTON JOINS LAFAYETTE.

Washington was in his tent, where only the quiet of a few hours at a time interposed their opportunity for other than field duty. At one of those intervals he was compelled to make assignments of the American army for associated operations with his French allies. He had just been advised that three thousand Hessian auxiliaries had reënforced the British garrison of New York. Appeals to the various State authorities had failed to realize appreciable additions to his fighting It was an hour of opp

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CHAPTER XXXV. THE ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE VINDICATED.—WASHINGTON’S MAGNANIMITY.—HIS BENEDICTION.

The story of the siege of Yorktown and the surrender of Earl Cornwallis, Lieutenant-General in command, has been so fully detailed by many writers that only a few features of the general conduct of that campaign, and some special incidents not so frequently noticed, are within the province of this narrative. While the control of Chesapeake Bay and of Virginia was essential to British success, Sir Henry Clinton deliberately proposed to couple with that general design another invasion of Pennsylva

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CHAPTER XXXVI. WASHINGTON’S PREDICTION REALIZED.—THE ATTITUDE OF AMERICA PRONOUNCED.

The blending of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries comes at a moment of such marked transition in all that directs human activity and relationship, that the promise of Washington’s benediction, with which he proclaimed peace, seems about to be verified with a fuller, grander, and more universal scope of responsibility and example than even his sublime faith encompassed. “A stupendous fabric of freedom and empire on the broad basis of independency,” has already been established. The present g

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APPENDIX A. AMERICAN ARMY, BY STATES.

The American Army, after 1776, never equalled thirty-eight thousand Regulars, at any one time. Small, temporary, and unorganized detachments of minute men were often employed to meet sudden forays; but the aggregate of those who afterwards claimed Revolutionary service was far beyond the actual numbers subject to Washington’s orders, or under control by Congress. In stating these aggregates as credited to their respective States, under their designated quota, it is to be taken into account, that

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APPENDIX B. AMERICAN NAVY AND ITS CAREER.

The original organization of the American Navy is noticed on pages 59 –60 of the text. On the thirteenth of December, 1775, several frigates, were authorized, the annexed figures indicating their rate , by guns : 8 . Never went to sea. Note. —John Paul, who took the name of John Paul Jones through gratitude to a citizen of North Carolina who assisted him in securing a naval commission (noticed on page 60 of the text), distinguished himself upon the British coast, and in his capture of the Britis

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APPENDIX C. COMPARISONS WITH LATER WARS.

The analogies between the Revolutionary War and later American wars are noticed in the Preface. Some special points should be noted for further comparisons. The field casualties, including killed and wounded, in twenty-six of the principal engagements of the Revolution, do not greatly exceed 9,000; but other causes kept the army upon a very unsatisfactory basis in respect of numbers as well as efficiency. Operations in Canada, early in the war, irrespective of the expeditions of Montgomery and A

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2. British Army at the Battle of Long Island.

ADVANCE CORPS. Four Battalions of Light Infantry and the Light Dragoons. RESERVE CORPS. Four Battalions of Grenadiers, 33d and 42d Regiments. BRITISH COLUMN. Colonel Donop’s command consisted of the Hessian Grenadiers and the Chausseurs. General De Heister’s command consisted of two Hessian brigades. TOTAL OF COMBINED ARMIES, INCLUDING FORCE ON STATEN ISLAND. General Clinton in his report gives Howe’s “effectives fit for duty” as 26,980—officers not included; but, including all officers, commiss

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3. British effective force in America, June 3, 1777.

On this date, 2,631 men had been sent to Rhode Island, and the total force of foreign troops which had arrived—including those of Hesse, Anspach, and Waldeck—amounted to 14,777....

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5. Aug. 15, 1778.

In New York and vicinity, 19,586; in Long Island, 8,117; in Rhode Island, 5,189; Lord Howe’s fleet, 512; making an aggregate of 33,404. A later return of November 1, on account of troops sent to Halifax and to the West Indies, reduced the aggregate to 22,494 for duty....

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8. British effective force in America, May 1, 1780.

Aggregate, including East Florida, Providence Island and Bermuda, 38,002....

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11. Sept. 1, 1781.

Note. —Stedman has the following estimate:...

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APPENDIX E. ORGANIZATION OF BURGOYNE’S ARMY.

To remain in Canada, part of 8th regiment, 460 men; part of 34th, 348 men; parts of 29th and 31st regiments, 896 men; eleven additional companies expected from Great Britain, 616 men; brigade detachments, 300 men; detachments from German troops, 650 men, and Royal Highland emigrants, 500 men; making a total of 3,770 men. The army of invasion (see page 171 ) numbered as follows: To this force were to be associated “as many Canadians and Indians as might be thought necessary for the service.”...

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APPENDIX F. ORGANIZATION OF CORNWALLIS’S ARMY.

This force, when fully concentrated on Virginia, Aug. 1, 1781, consisted of the following troops: British, 5,541; German, 2,148; Provincials, 1,137; on detachments, 607; making a total of 9,433 men. The general Return of officers and privates surrendered at Yorktown, as taken from the original Muster Rolls, is stated by the Commissary of prisoners to have been as follows—General and staff, 79; Artillery, 23; Guards, 527; Light Infantry, 671; 17th Reg’t, 245; 23d Reg’t, 233; 33d Reg’t, 260; 43d R

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FIRST LETTER.

Sir : From the knowledge I have of your Excellency’s character, I must conclude that nothing but misinformation of some very stupid, or misrepresentation of some very wicked, person, could have occasioned your having made use of so very singular expressions as you did on my coming up to the ground where you had taken post; they implied that I was guilty either of disobedience of orders, of want of conduct, or want of courage; your Excellency will therefore infinitely oblige me by letting me know

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SECOND LETTER.

Sir : I beg your Excellency’s pardon for the inaccuracy in mis-dating my letter. You cannot afford me greater pleasure than in giving me the opportunity of showing to America the sufficiency of her respective servants. I trust that the temporary power of office, and the tinsel dignity attending it, will not be able, by all the mists they can raise, to obfuscate the bright rays of truth; in the meantime, your Excellency can have no objection to my retiring from the army....

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WASHINGTON’S LETTER IN REPLY.

Sir : I received your letter (dated through mistake, the 1st of July), expressed, as I conceive, in terms highly improper. I am not conscious of having made use of any very singular expressions at the time of my meeting you, as you intimate. What I recollect to have said was dictated by duty and warranted by the occasion. As soon as circumstances will permit, you shall have an opportunity either of justifying yourself to the army, to Congress, to America, and to the world in general, or of convi

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GLOSSARY OF MILITARY TERMS.

Abatis. —Felled trees, with sharpened branches, pointing outward toward an approaching enemy. Bastion. —A work of two faces and two flanks, with salient angles. Batteau. —An old-style flatboat of large capacity, in form of the modern scow. Billet. —An old term for a brief letter; or, an assignment of troops to certain quarters. Boom. —A chain cable or line of spars bound together to prevent the passage of vessels at a harbor entrance, or across a river. Cabal. —A plot, or secret intrigue. Canton

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