XIV. attentive to their own situation; and the inquietude of the CHAPTER army increased with the progress of the negotiation of peace" * 1782. a memorial In the month of December, the officers in camp deter- officers send mined to address Congress on the subject of their griev- to Congress. ances. A memorial was accordingly drawn up, which December. was understood to express the sentiments of the army. It contained a representation of the money actually due to them, a proposal that the half-pay for life should be commuted for a specific sum, and a request that security should be given by the government for fulfilling its engagements. The commutation it was believed would be more generally acceptable to the public than half-pay for life, which had always been opposed by a strong party as favoring the idea of a pension list and a privileged class, and as hostile to republican institutions. Three officers were deputed as a committee to carry this memorial to Congress, and instructed to use their endeavors to obtain for it a successful hearing. of Congress on the memorial of the oflicers. January 25. The dissensions, which had long existed in Congress, Proceedings were brought to bear on this subject. Many of the members were disposed to do ample justice to the army, and to all other public creditors, by assuming their claims as a Continental charge, and providing for the settlement of them by a Continental fund and securities; while others, jealous of state rights and state sovereignty, disapproved this course, and urged the plan of referring unsettled accounts to the respective States. Congress took the memorial into consideration, and passed resolves indefinite in their character, and not such as were likely to answer the expectations or quiet the uneasiness of the army. The claims of public creditors were recognised, but no scheme was suggested for establishing funds, or giving security. On an estimate of the average ages of the officers, it was decided, that half-pay for life was equivalent to five years' whole pay; but the requisite * MARSHALL'S Life of Washington, Vol. IV. p. 580. XIV. 1783. CHAPTER number of nine States could not be obtained in favor of the commutation. Apprehending a defeat, if they pressed the subject, and hoping that the vote would ultimately be carried, the committee thought it prudent to delay further proceedings, and one of them returned to camp with a letter containing a report of what had been done. Newburg March 10. Meeting of the officers appointed. The representations thus communicated were by no means satisfactory to the officers. Disappointed and irritated, many of them were for resorting to measures, which should convince Congress, not only of the justice of their demands, but of their resolution to enforce them. Hence originated the famous Newburg Addresses. At a private consultation of several officers it was agreed, that a meeting of the general and field officers, a commissioned officer from each company, and a delegate from the medical staff, ought to be called for the purpose of passing a series of resolutions, which should be forwarded to their committee at Congress. On the 10th of March a notification to this effect was circulated in camp, fixing the time and stating the object. The same day an anonymous address to the army was sent out, written in a strain of passionate and stirring eloquence, and extremely well suited to excite the feelings and rouse the spirit of those for whom it was intended. Foreseeing the fatal consequences that might result from an assembling of the officers under such circumstances, and at the same time deeply impressed with the justice of their complaints and the reality of their wrongs, Washington had a delicate task to perform; but he executed it with his characteristic decision, firmness, and wisdom. He sought rather to guide and control the proceedings thus begun, than to check or discountenance them by any act of severity. In general orders the next morning, after censuring the anonymous paper and invitation as irregular and disMarch 11. orderly, he appointed a day and hour for the meeting of the officers, when they might "devise what further measures ought to be adopted, as most rational, and best 1783. calculated to attain the object in view." This was fol- CHAPTER lowed by another anonymous address, in a tone more XIV. subdued than the former, but expressing similar sentiments, and representing the orders as favorable to the purpose desired, the time of meeting only being changed. The Commander-in-chief, however, took care to frustrate the design of this interpretation by conversing individually with those officers in whom he had the greatest confidence, setting before them in a strong light the danger that would attend a rash or precipitate act in such a crisis, inculcating moderation, and using his utmost efforts to appease their discontents, and persuade them to deliberate without passion, and under a deep conviction that the vital interests of their country were involved in the measures they should adopt. When the officers were assembled at the time appointed, General Washington addressed them in very impressive terms, reminding them of the cause for which they had taken up arms, the fidelity and constancy with which they had hitherto devoted themselves to that cause, and the sacred trust which was still reposed in them as the defenders of their country's liberty; appealing to the honor and patriotism, by which they had so nobly and generously shown themselves to be actuated in the perils of the field, and amidst the unexampled sufferings of a protracted war; and imploring them not to cast a shade over the glory they had acquired, nor tarnish their well-earned reputation, nor lessen their dignity, by an intemperate or indiscreet act at the moment when the great object of their toils was achieved, and the world was loud in its praise of their valor, fortitude, and success. He acknowledged the equity of their claims, and the reasonableness of their complaints; but he deprecated the idea, that on this account they should distrust the plighted faith of their country, or the intentions of Congress; expressing his firm belief, that, before they should be disbanded, every thing would be adjusted to their satisfaction; and pledging himself, from a sense of gratitude for their past Washingto the offi ton's address cers. March 15. XIV. 1783. CHAPTER services, and from the attachment he felt to an army, which had adhered to him in every vicissitude of fortune, to employ all his abilities and his best exertions to procure for them complete justice, as far as it could be done consistently with the great duty he owed to his country, and to the authority which every citizen was bound to respect. Proceedings of the oil cers. Washing ton's ac transactions. March 19. After speaking these sentiments, and others of a similar tendency, suited to soothe their feelings and inspire confidence, he retired from the assembly. The deliberation of the officers was short, and their decision prompt and unanimous. They passed resolutions, thanking the Commander-in-chief for the course he had pursued, and expressive of their unabated attachment; and also declaring their unshaken reliance on the good faith of Congress and their country, and a determination to bear with patience their grievances till in due time they should be redressed. A full account of the transactions was transmitted to Congress and published in their journals. The incidents are clearly and briefly related by General Washington in a letter to Governor Harrison of Virginia, written immediately after their occurrence. "You have not been unacquainted, I dare say, with count of the the fears, the hopes, the apprehensions, and the expectations of the army, relative to the provision which is to be made for them hereafter. Although a firm reliance. on the integrity of Congress, and a belief that the public would finally do justice to all its servants and give an indisputable security for the payment of the half-pay of the officers, had kept them amidst a variety of sufferings tolerably quiet and contented for two or three years past; yet the total want of pay, the little prospect of receiving any from the unpromising state of the public finances, and the absolute aversion of the States to establish any Continental funds for the payment of the debt due to the army, did at the close of the last campaign excite greater discontents, and threaten more serious and alarming consequences, than it is easy for me to describe or XIV. you to conceive. Happily for us, the officers of highest CHAPTER rank and greatest consideration interposed; and it was determined to address Congress in an humble, pathetic, and explicit manner. "While the sovereign power appeared perfectly well disposed to do justice, it was discovered that the States would enable them to do nothing; and, in this state of affairs, and after some time spent on the business in Philadelphia, a report was made by the delegates of the army, giving a detail of the proceedings. Before this could be fully communicated to the troops, while the minds of all were in a peculiar state of inquietude and irritation, an anonymous writer, though he did not step forth and give his name boldly to the world, sent into circulation an address to the officers of the army, which, in point of composition, in elegance and force of expression, has rarely been equalled in the English language, and in which the dreadful alternative was proposed, of relinquishing the service in a body if the war continued, or retaining their arms in case of peace, until Congress should comply with all their demands. At the same time, and at the moment when their minds were inflamed by the most pathetic representations, a general meeting of the officers was summoned by another anonymous production. "It is impossible to say what would have been the consequences, had the author succeeded in his first plans. But, measures having been taken to postpone the meeting, so as to give time for cool reflection and counteraction, the good sense of the officers has terminated this affair in a manner, which reflects the greatest glory on themselves, and demands the highest expressions of gratitude from their country." Thus, by the prudent measures of the Commanderin-chief, the excitement was allayed, and tranquillity was restored to the army. Nor did he delay to fulfil the pledge he had made, writing to Congress with an earnestness and force of argument, which showed him to be 1783. His opinion of the New burg ad dresses. Tranquillity restored by his pru dence. |