Washington's Revolution: The Making of America's First Leader (55 page)

21.
Ibid., 187–88, 233–40, for this paragraph and the one following.

22.
Washington to James Warren, May 23, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 9:512, for quotation (“wretched policy”).

23.
Ibid., 9:571. For Howe’s movements of his army, ibid., 10:11–12, 149–50.

24.
Washington to John Augustine Washington, June 29, 1777, ibid., 10:149–50.

25.
Ibid., 10:150.

26.
Anthony Wayne to Washington, Sept. 2, 1777, ibid., 11:131–32.

27.
This account of the battle at Brandywine is based on ibid., 11:187–95. See also Christopher Ward,
War of the Revolution
(New York: Macmillan, 1952, 2 vols.), 1:341–55.

28.
Washington to John Hancock, Sept. 11, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 11:200–1 quotations.

29.
Ibid., 11:248–49n2.

30.
General Orders, Sept. 16, 1777, ibid., 11:243n–44, 253.

31.
For this paragraph and the one preceding it, Washington to John Hancock, Sept. 18, 1777; Council of War, Sept. 23, 1777; ibid., 11:262–63, 294–98, passim.

32.
General Orders, Oct. 3, 1777, ibid., 11:373.

33.
Ibid.

34.
For the Battle of Germantown, ibid., 11:373–402.

35.
Ward,
War of the Revolution
, 1:365.

36.
Ibid., 1:369. For the operations in Pennsylvania, see also Thomas J. McGuire,
The Philadelphia Campaign: Germantown and the Roads to Valley Forge
(Mechanicsburg, Pa.: Stackpolebooks, 2007) and Stephen R. Tauffe,
The Philadelphia Campaign, 1777–1778
(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2003), both fine books.

7 VALLEY FORGE

1.
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 11:592n2. See also Johann Ewald,
Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal
, trans. and ed. Joseph P. Tustin (New Haven, Conn., and London: Yale University Press, 1979), 97–102.

2.
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 11:585n2.

3.
Hazelwood to Washington, Nov. 15, 1777; James Varnum to Washington, Nov. 16, 1777; Washington to New Jersey Militias, Nov. 20, 1777; ibid., 12:268–69,
283–84 (Fort Mifflin); 333–34 (Fort Mercer). See also Christopher Ward,
War of the Revolution
(New York: Macmillan, 1952, 2 vols.), 1:372–77.

4.
Anthony Wayne to Washington, Nov. 25, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 12:380; 403 quotations. See also 12:371–73, 391–403 for the recommendations of other generals.

5.
Washington to Richard Henry Lee, Oct. 28, 1777, ibid., 12:41–42 and note 5. Mifflin’s resignation as quartermaster general was accepted by Congress on Nov. 7, 1777.

6.
Joseph Trumbull to Washington, June 15, July 19, Aug. 12, 1777, ibid., 10:46–47, 342–43, 594–95; Washington to John Hancock, July 2, 1777, 10:169. See also E. Wayne Carp’s
To Starve the Army at Pleasure
(Chapel Hill and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1984), 42–43.

7.
Henry Laurens to Washington, Nov. 13, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 12:244–47.

8.
Henry Laurens to Washington, Dec. 12, 1777, ibid., 12:599–600n1.

9.
Ibid., 12:599n1 quotations.

10.
Ibid., 12:606 quotations.

11.
Ibid.

12.
Ibid., 12:606.

13.
Henry Laurens wrote Washington Dec. 20, 1777, on the remonstrance of the Pennsylvania Council and Assembly about the winter quarters of the army. See ibid., 12:651–52.

14.
Ibid., 12:21; 27 quotation.

15.
Washington to Horatio Gates, Oct. 30, 1777, ibid., 12:59–60.

16.
Alexander Hamilton to Washington, Nov. 6, 1777, ibid., 12:141 quotation; Horatio Gates to Washington, Nov. 7, 1777, 12:155n8 quotation.

17.
Major General Stirling to Washington, Nov. 3, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 12:111n4.

18.
Conway, born in Ireland in 1733. Educated in France, he began serving in the French army when he was fourteen. By 1772 he was a colonel. He crossed the Atlantic in spring 1777, recommended by the American diplomat Silas Deane. Congress took Deane’s recommendation seriously and made Conway a brigadier general.

19.
Thomas Conway to Washington, Dec. 31, 1777, and Jan. 10 and 27, 1778,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 13:78, 195–96, 359–60.

20.
Henry Laurens wrote Washington on April 28, 1778, of Conway’s resignation. See ibid., 14:669.

21.
Ibid., 12:470n3, 588. This committee, consisting of Robert Morris, Elbridge Gerry, and Joseph Jones, visited the army on Dec. 3, 1777; the next day its work was interrupted by Howe’s army, which seemed ready to attack. The committee reported its findings to Washington on Dec. 10, a report primarily for Congress that declared against an attack on Philadelphia by Washington. In January 1778, a second camp committee of Congress began its work on the reorganization of the army; it continued its study in March.

22.
For the background of the decision to move the army to Valley Forge, see Wayne Bodle,
The Valley Forge Winter: Civilians and Soldiers in War
(University Park, Pa.: Penn State University Press, 2002), 15–71. For the “Order of March” to Valley Forge, Dec. 10, 1777, see
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 12:585–87.

23.
Washington to Anthony Wayne, Dec. 27, 1777; General Orders, Jan. 6, 1778;
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 13:26, 158–59.

24.
Ibid., 13:435n1–436, on Martha Washington’s visit to Valley Forge.

25.
Bodle,
Valley Forge
, provides an assessment of life at that winter camp. See also the section given to it in Henry Steele Commager and Richard B. Morris, eds.,
The Spirit of ’Seventy Six: The Story of the American Revolution as Told by Participants
(New York: Harper and Row, 1975), 637–50.

26.
Proclamation on Threshing Grain, Dec. 20, 1777,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 12:655; see 12:655 note.

27.
Washington to Henry Laurens, Dec. 23, 1777, ibid., 12:683–87 and notes.

28.
Circular to the States, ibid., 13:36–39.

29.
Nathanael Greene to Washington (“like Pharoh”), Feb. 15, 1778, ibid., 13:546.

30.
Henry Lee to Washington (“drain”), Feb. 19, 1778; Greene to Washington (“gleaned”), Feb. 20, 1778; ibid., 13:599, 607.

31.
Washington to Laurens, Dec. 23, 1777, ibid., 12:683 quotation.

32.
Washington to Laurens, Mar. 24, 1778, ibid., 14:293 quotation.

33.
Bodle,
Valley Forge
, 57.

34.
For the plan of reorganization, Jan. 29, 1778, see
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 13:376–409. The discussion below is based on this plan.

35.
Washington to Brig. Gen. John Thomas, July 23, 1775,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 1:160 quotation.

36.
Ibid., 1:160 quotation. For the entire letter, 1:159–62.

37.
Washington to Continental Congress Camp Committee, Jan. 29, 1778, ibid., 13:377 quotations.

38.
Ibid., 13:377, an argument about human nature and officers, which he repeated to John Bannister, Apr. 21, 1778, 14:573–79.

39.
For all these matters of policy, see William B. Willcox,
Portrait of a General: Sir Henry Clinton in the War of Independence
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964), 169–231; Piers Mackesy,
The War for America, 1775–1783
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964), 180–86.

40.
For the background of the Battle of Monmouth Court House and its course, see Willcox,
Portrait
, 233–37; or Franklin and Mary Wickwire,
Cornwallis: The American Adventure
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970), 109–13. The best American account is in
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 15:531–601. These pages include the movement of American units before and after the battle. The heart of the fighting is explained best in pages 573–76. General Charles Lee’s performance can be followed in the account of the battle. Lee’s conflict with Washington and his later career are on display in
The Lee Papers
(New York: 1872–1875, 4 vols.).

8 CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

1.
My analysis of Sir Henry Clinton owes much to the brilliant biography by William B. Willcox,
Portrait of a General: Sir Henry Clinton in the War of Independence
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1964). There are shrewd appraisals of Clinton throughout. See especially the final chapter, 492–524.

2.
Ibid., 211–25.

3.
Ibid., especially 213–23. See also Piers Mackesy,
The War for America, 1775–1783
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1964), 225–32.

4.
Willcox,
Portrait
, 225–32;
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 16:38 quotation.

5.
Alexander Hamilton to Washington, July 20, 1778,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 16:109;
Washington to John Sullivan, July 22, 1778, 16:133; Washington to Lafayette, Aug. 19, 1778, 16:329–30; Washington to Nathanael Greene, Aug. 21, 1778, 16:343–44; John Sullivan to Washington, Aug. 23, 1778, 16:358–59 notes; John Sullivan to Washington, Aug. 29, 1778, 16:418–19 notes. These letters contain information about the French inability to cross the bar into New York Harbor, the planning for the Rhode Island expedition and its failure, including the disputes concerning responsibility. See also Christopher Ward,
War of the Revolution
(New York: Macmillan, 1952, 2 vols.), 2:587–95. Greene’s praise of Col. John Laurens appears in Washington to Henry Laurence,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 16:555 (quoting from Green’s letter of Aug. 28–31). For d’Estaing, see Jonathan R. Dull,
The French Navy and American Independence: A Study of Arms and Diplomacy, 1774–1787
(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1975).

6.
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 16:360n2–361 quotation.

7.
To Washington, Sept. 5, 1778, ibid., 16:523.

8.
To d’Estaing, Sept. 11–12, 1778, ibid., 16:570.

9.
Ibid., 16:571–73.

10.
Washington to Nathanael Greene, Sept. 1, 1778, ibid., 16:459 quotation.

11.
Ibid., 16:461 quotations.

12.
To John Sullivan, Sept. 1, 1778, ibid., 16:464–65, all quotations in this paragraph.

13.
Ibid., 16:154 quotation. Washington’s concerns about the flood of foreign officers, recommended and often appointed by Congress, are clear in his letters to Henry Laurens, July 24, 1778, and to Gouverneur Morris, same date, ibid., 16:150–53, 153–55. See Laurens’s reply to Washington, July 31, 1778, ibid., 16:208–12 and notes.

14.
Washington to Gouverneur Morris, July 24, 1778, ibid., 16:154 quotations and the La Neuville case.

15.
To Gouverneur Morris, July 24, 1778, ibid., 16:155 quotation, one of the uncommon instances of rhetorical extravagance from Washington’s pen.

16.
Ibid., 16:151.

17.
PGW: Col. Ser.
, 10:125.

18.
Ibid., 10:155.

19.
Robert K. Wright Jr.,
The Continental Army
(Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, U.S. Army, 1983), 149, 227.

20.
For a sample of recruiting woes, see John Banister to Washington, Apr. 16, 1778,
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 14:531–32. For similar accounts, ibid., 16:445–46, 517–18, 558.

21.
Washington was not primarily concerned with his own personal finances during the Revolution, though his letters to Lund were increasingly sharp. His sympathy for his army—officers and men—who were hit hard by the depreciation of currency was constant. He wrote Gouverneur Morris, Oct. 4, 1778, “what officer can bear the weight of prices, that every necessary article is now got to? A Rat, in the shape of a Horse, is not to be bought at this time for less than £200,—A saddle under Thirty or forty—Boots twenty—and Shoes and other articles in like proportion!” He cautioned John Parke Custis on Oct. 12, 1778, not “to turn Lands etc into Cash” at this time, likening such action to a “Lottery.” Ibid., 17:253, 351–54; quotation 353.

22.
PGW: Rev. War Ser.
, 17:47–48, Washington wrote Admiral d’Estaing on Sept. 19 that the British in New York were taking the linings out of “soldiers coats,” evidence that they would send a body of troops to the West Indies. There was further evidence coming to Washington in October and November, ibid., 17:591–95.
Washington believed by October that the British would remain in New York. For additional accounts, see Willcox,
Portrait
.