Washington's Revolution: The Making of America's First Leader (56 page)

23.
John Sullivan to Washington, Sept. 4, 1778,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 16:520–21. See ibid., 17:254–55, note 4, for the memo sent to Congress.

24.
To Gouverneur Morris, Oct. 4, 1778, ibid., 17:253–55, and passim.

25.
Mackesy,
War for America
, 159–61, 186–89; Willcox,
Portrait
, 220–23, 229–30, 241–42, 255.

26.
Willcox,
Portrait
, 253.

27.
Circular to Seven General Officers, Feb. 14, 1778; Council of War, Oct. 16, 1778;
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 17:373, 399–402.

28.
Ibid., 17:626–27, for an example of Washington’s response to Nathanael Greene’s advice.

29.
Willcox,
Portrait
, 216–18.

30.
To John Sullivan (“mysterious”), Sept. 12, 1778,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 16:592 quotation.

31.
Willcox,
Portrait
, 271–75.

32.
Ibid., 277–78.

33.
Ibid., 278–79; Ward,
War of the Revolution
, 2:596–603;
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 19:692–693n3.

34.
Ward,
War of the Revolution
, 2:604–10.

35.
On Charles Lee, see
The Lee Papers
(New York: 1872–1875, 4 vols.). The account most favorable to Lee is John Shy’s essay in George Anthan Billias, ed.,
George Washington’s Generals and Opponents: Their Exploits and Leadership
(New York: De Capo Press, 1994, 2 vols.), 1:22–53.

36.
Don Higginbotham,
The War of American Independence: Military Attitudes, Policies, and Practice, 1763–1789
(Bloomington, Ind., and London: Macmillan, 1971), 328–29. See also Washington to John Sullivan, May 4, 8, 11, 13, 19, 24, and 31, 1779,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 20:325–26, 399–400, 444, 476, 543–44, 589–91, 606–7, 716–23.

37.
Ward,
War of the Revolution
, 2:638–45.

9 WEARY BUT RESOLUTE

1.
To Benjamin Harrison, Oct. 25, 1779; to Jack Custis, Nov. 10, 1779; to Edmund Pendleton, Nov. 1, 1779; John C. Fitzpatrick, ed.,
The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources
(Charlottsville: University of Virginia Press, 1931–1944, 39 vols.), 17:20, 91, 52.

2.
Order of Troop Cantonment, ibid., 17:210–11.

3.
Ibid., 17:423 quotation. There is an excellent account of the difficulties of living with Mrs. Ford in Flexner, 2:358.

4.
Not much is known about Captain Gibbs, who joined the headquarters officers group in 1777. He was a New Englander.

5.
For concern about recruitment and specific problems in states, see Washington to President of Congress, Mar. 18, 1780; Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 17:169–71.

6.
To William Heath, Feb. 1, 1780, ibid., 17:474 quotation and substance of the three paragraphs above.

7.
To William Irvine, Jan. 9, 1780, ibid., 17:368–69 quotation.

8.
To President of Congress, Jan. 27, 1780, ibid., 17:449 quotation and substance.

9.
To Robert Howe, Mar. 11, 1780, ibid., 18:105. For the number of British troops, see William B. Willcox,
Portrait of a General: Sir Henry Clinton in the War of Independence
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), 301.

10.
For the study of British secret and spying operations, the starting point is Carl Van Doren,
Secret History of the American Revolution
(New York: Viking Press, 1951). Washington’s efforts are revealed in letters scattered throughout
PGW: Rev. War Ser
.

11.
Washington reviewed the British campaign in a letter to Benjamin Harrison, Oct. 25, 1779, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 17:21. He drew information from a broad array of sources, including the
Pennsylvania Gazette
, travelers’ accounts, and the reports of a variety of observers. His conclusion about frequent British movements up and down the Hudson River: “There is something unaccountable in all this that cannot be reconciled with ‘any principle of common sense.’ ” The reports of spies dealt with smaller matters—the size of enemy units, their health, ship movements, and enemy plans for action.

12.
Willcox,
Portrait
, 260–78.

13.
Ibid., 311.

14.
To President of Congress, June 18, 1780, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 19:26.

15.
Ibid., 19:27.

16.
To Joseph Reed, June 19, 1780, ibid., 19:32–33. (Washington wrote the Committee on Cooperation the same day.)

17.
To Gov. William Livingston, June 18, 1780, ibid., 19:28.

18.
To Fielding Lewis, May 5 [–July 6], 1780, ibid., 19:130–33.

19.
Quoted in Flexner, 2:365.

20.
Washington expressed his dismay at Ternay’s refusal to enter New York Harbor in a letter to Lafayette, July 22, 1780, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 19:236.

21.
To de Guichen, Sept. 20, 1780, ibid., 20:39–41.

22.
Quoted in Flexner, 2:371.

23.
Conference at Hartford, Sept. 22, 1780, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 20:76.

24.
Ibid.

25.
The minutes of the meeting are short; Washington’s hopes are clear in these brief records, ibid., 20:76–80.

26.
For the Arnold-André conspiracy and its details, see ibid., 20, as the facts of the case are scattered. There are two excellent books on the entire affair: Van Doren,
Secret History
, 140–422, with an appendix that includes at least a part of the correspondence of Arnold and André, 439–81, and a narrative by General Clinton that also contains letters by Washington, André, Arnold, and others. A more recent book, James Thomas Flexner,
The Traitor and the Spy
(Boston: Little, Brown, 1953) is based on an even larger number of documents. Hamilton’s comment that the episode was of the “blackest treason” is in Harold C. Syrett, ed.,
Papers of Alexander Hamilton
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–1979, 26 vols.), 2:440.

27.
The fullest account of the scene in which Washington and other officers visited Peggy Arnold in her bedroom is in Van Doren,
Secret History
, 346–49. Hamilton’s letter of the same day to Elizabeth Schuyler is also valuable; Syrett, ed.,
Papers of Alexander Hamilton
, 2:441–42.

28.
Hamilton to Greene, Sept. 25, 1780, Syrett, ed.,
Papers of Alexander Hamilton
, 2:440–41.

29.
No full record of André’s trial was kept, but for what is known of the trial and his final days, see Van Doren,
Secret History
, 355–71.

30.
The basis of this paragraph and indeed of my account of André’s action is Van Doren’s
Secret History;
quotations 342; quotation in the paragraph following, ibid., 360.

31.
To John Cadwalader, Oct. 5, 1780, Fitzpartrick, ed.,
Writings
, 20:122.

32.
Washington to Fielding Lewis, May 5 [–July 6], 1780, ibid., 19:132.

33.
Ibid.

34.
To John Cadwalader, Oct. 5, 1780, ibid., 20:122 quotations; full letter, 20:121–23.

35.
Ibid., 20:122. (Washington found the expectations of some that the British would give up the American war “delusionary.”) He made this point to others; for example, in a letter to Fielding Lewis on July 6, 1780, 19:133; and in a letter to the President of Congress, 19:403–9; quotations 19:406–7. Washington also made most of these comments around this time to a committee of Congress.

36.
Writing to Henry Laurens on Aug. 20, 1780, Washington commented on Ireland. Quotation in preceding paragraph, ibid., 19:406–7; entire letter, 19:403–9. His account of European politics, with comments on monarchy, appears in several letters at this time. For the analysis of the kings of European countries, see Washington to President of Congress, Aug. 20, 1780, 20:407 and notes.

37.
Washington to Fielding Lewis, ibid., 19:132. He expressed the same ideas elsewhere, e.g., to John Augustine Lewis, 19:134–37.

10 MUTINY AND RALLYING THE FRENCH

1.
The story of the January mutiny can be reconstructed in part from Washington’s correspondence,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 21:55–68. But the best account, based on multiple sources, is Carl Van Doren,
Mutiny in January
(New York: Viking Press, 1943).

2.
Clinton’s problems with the navy and Germain over the Charleston campaign are discussed with much insight by William B. Willcox,
Portrait of a General: Sir Henry Clinton in the War of Independence
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), 293–320. For the British logistical problems, see R. Arthur Bowler,
Logistics and the Failure of the British Army in America, 1775–1783
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1975), especially chapters 3 and 4.

3.
The French officers Washington dealt with most often in the war—the Comte d’Estaing, who held the ranks of both lieutenant general and vice admiral; the Comte de Rochambeau, a lieutenant general; and the Comte de Grasse—all cited their superiors in Paris as placing restrictions on them, always preventing them from operations favored by the Americans.

4.
Howard C. Rice Jr., ed.,
Travels in North America in the Years 1780, 1781, and 1782 by the Marquis de Chastellux
(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1963, 2 vols.), 1:105, 111, 113.

5.
To Chastellux, July 19, 1781, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 22:395.

6.
For Rochambeau, see Arnold Whitridge,
Rochambeau
(New York: Macmillan, 1965).

7.
Around Mar. 1, 1781, Washington received letters from Rochambeau and Admiral Destouches, who had replaced de Ternay, saying that they intended to send eleven hundred men to the Chesapeake, accompanied by the entire French fleet
at Newport. See George Washington to Lafayette, Mar. 1, 1781, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 21:322.

8.
There is an excellent account of the entertainment that vexed Washington in Flexner, 2:415–16.

9.
Washington to Schuyler, Mar. 21, 1778; to Henry Laurens, Mar. 11, 1781; to Joseph Jones, Mar. 24, 1781; to William Fitzhugh, Mar. 25, 1781; to Lauzun and Rochambeau, Mar. 31, 1781; Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 21:361, 333, 373, 376, 396, 397.

10.
Hamilton’s earlier dealings with Horatio Gates can be followed in Washington to Hamilton, Oct. 30, 1777, and Hamilton to Washington, Nov. 10, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 12:60–62, 191–94, and Harold C. Syrett, ed.,
Papers of Alexander Hamilton
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–1979, 26 vols.), vol. 1.

11.
Syrett, ed.,
Papers of Alexander Hamilton
, 2:563–68, for the encounter and quotations. Ron Chernow,
Alexander Hamilton
(New York: Penguin, 2004), 151–53, provides a thoughtful account of this clash, and emphasizes Hamilton’s willingness for a break.

12.
Chernow’s
Hamilton
is generally excellent on Washington’s relations with his staff.

13.
Washington to John Parke Custis, Feb. 28, 1781, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 21:318 quotation.

14.
Ibid., 21:320.

15.
George Washington to Benjamin Harrison, Mar. 21, 1781, ibid., 21:341–42.

16.
George Weedon to George Washington, Mar. 30, 1778,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 14:362 quotation.

17.
To John Laurens, Apr. 19, 1781, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 21:439 quotation.

18.
George Washington to Henry Laurens, May 1, 1781, ibid., 22:21. See also Washington to Major General Heath, Apr. 30, 1781, ibid., 22:58–59.

19.
George Washington to Lauzun, May 23, 1781, ibid., 22:104–5.

20.
Ibid., 22:103 quotation (“our object is New York”).

21.
Donald Jackson, ed.,
The Diaries of George Washington
(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1976–1979, 6 vols.), 3:369–70.

22.
Conference with the Comte de Rochambeau, Weathersfield, May 23, 1781, Fitzpatrick, ed.,
Writings
, 22:105.

23.
John Laurens to Washington, May 26, 1781, ibid., 22:116n76.

24.
Conference with Rochambeau at Dobbs Ferry, July 19, 1781, ibid., 22:395. See also Jackson, ed.,
Diaries
, 3:396–97, and his earlier letter to Rochambeau, June 13, ibid., 22:208.