OTHER GENERALS CHOSEN.

II

What to offer Lee was a harder question. Several members urged that he could not accept anything less than the senior major-generalship; but John Adams declared that it was much for Ward to consent to serve under any man, and that he ought not to serve under a stranger.1 Accordingly, the Massachusetts officer was chosen first major-general, and Lee the second. Lee gracefully accepted the position, assuring Congress that he had "the highest sense of the honor conferred upon him"; but in reality he was much mortified at being placed under a man whom he described as "a fat old gentleman, who had been a popular church-warden."2 Indeed, Lee seems to have felt that he had no small claim to the chief command. In a letter to General Thomas he said, "According then to modern etiquette, notions of a soldier's honor and delicacy, I ought to consider at least the preferment given to General Ward over me as the highest indignity." 4

The third major-general was taken from New York; and Schuyler, the nominee of the Congress of that colony, was chosen. The fourth and last was Putnam; he was in high favor with Congress, and his election was unanimous. The brigadiers were Pomeroy of Massachusetts, Montgomery of New York, Wooster of Connecticut, Heath of Massachusetts, Spencer of Connecticut, Thomas of Massachusetts, Sullivan of New Hampshire, and Greene of Rhode Island. The reason for selecting most of the generals from New England was that the army was then mainly composed of New England soldiers.

On June 16, 1775, Richard Henry Lee, Edward Rutledge, and John Adams were appointed a committee to draw up a commission and instructions for Washington. He was directed to enforce discipline and to retain in the service the men now enlisted, and was authorized to increase the army to a number not

1 Adams, Autobiography, in his Works, ii. 418.

2 Journals of Congress, i. 122-123, June 17 and 19, 1775; Lee Papers (New York Historical Society, Collections, 1874), v. 177–178.

8 The italics are the author's.

*July 23, 1775, Coffin, Thomas, 11.

5

↳ Journals of Congress, i. 123, 125, June 19 and 22, 1775.

• Ibid. 120, June 16, 1775.

exceeding twice that of the enemy. The instructions closed with the caution, "making it your special care, in discharge of the great trust committed unto you, that the liberties of America receive no detriment." 1

The preliminaries accomplished, Washington and Lee set out for Cambridge. They were preceded by private letters from Massachusetts delegates, bespeaking for them a cordial welcome. Adams wrote to Gerry:

"I hope the utmost politeness and respect will be shown to these officers on their arrival. The whole army, I think, should be drawn up upon the occasion, and all the pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious war displayed; --no powder burned, however.

"There is something charming to me in the conduct of Washington. A gentleman of one of the first fortunes upon the continent, leaving his delicious retirement, his family and friends, sacrificing his ease, and hazarding all in the cause of his country! His views are noble and disinterested. He declared, when he accepted the mighty trust, that he would lay before us an exact account of his expenses, and not accept a shilling for pay."2

Another Massachusetts member, Thomas Cushing, though he had doubted the wisdom of the appointment of Washington, wrote to Councillor Bowdoin: "I beg leave to recommend him [Washington] to your respectful notice. He is a complete gentleman. He is sensible, amiable, virtuous, modest, and brave. I promise myself that your acquaintance with him will afford you great pleasure, and I doubt not his agreeable behavior and good conduct will give great satisfaction to our people of all denominations. General Lee accompanies him as major-general; I hope his appointment will be agreeable to our people, and that he will be received with all due respect."

Due respect was certainly shown. The Massachusetts Congress appointed a committee to meet Washington and Lee at Springfield, and to pay all bills at the inns; they also furnished

1 Secret Journals of Congress, i. 18, June 20, 1775.

2 June 18, 1775, John Adams, Works, ix. 358–359.

* June 21, 1775, Bowdoin and Temple Papers (Massachusetts Historical Society, Collections, 6th series, ix.), 384-385.

WASHINGTON IN COMMAND.

13

a suitable escort. Quarters were provided at Cambridge, and measures were taken to procure furniture and servants.1 Notice of the expected arrival of the new generals was sent to camp, that they might be received with the honors due to their rank, "without, however, any expense of powder, and without taking the troops off from the necessary attention to their duty at this crisis of our affairs." On the arrival of Washington and Lee at Watertown, where the Congress was sitting, they were presented with cordial and highly laudatory addresses of welcome.2

3

On July 3 Washington formally took command of the army. He found everything in great disorder. The Rhode Islanders alone were provided with tents; the other troops lived in huts made of boards, or sail-cloth, or both, or of stone and turf, brick, or brush. Some were mere shelters; others were furnished with doors and windows, and even ornamented according to the tastes of the builders. This variety of structure was indeed of no special importance; Chaplain Emerson, who has left us a vivid and interesting description of the camp, calls it "rather a beauty than a blemish in the army." It typified more serious differences, however. Thus, the Connecticut and Rhode Island men were enlisted until the first of December; others for a slightly longer term, but none beyond the first of January. Massachusetts had 59 men (including officers and soldiers) to a company, and sometimes ten, sometimes eleven, companies to a regiment; New Hampshire and Rhode Island had 590 men in their regiments, Connecticut 1,000. By Massachusetts law, a general was also a colonel of a regiment; by the law of Connecticut he was captain of a company as well, and so were the field-officers. Rhode Island allowed only the field-officers to hold two commissions, and the second of these gave no claim to pay.4

Discipline was very imperfect. The respect ordinarily paid by soldiers to their officers was unknown. The privates often selected their commanders, and were socially their equals or

1 Washington, Writings (Ford), iii. 1–4.

2 Force, American Archives, 4th series, ii. 1447, 1472-1474.

4

Washington, Writings (Sparks), iii. 492.

* Washington to President of Congress, August 4, 1775, Washington, Writings (Ford), iii. 58-60; Writings (Sparks), iii. 487-488.

superiors. In Massachusetts not only was a man who could raise a company a captain, but one who could get ten companies to serve under him was a colonel. The subalterns were also chosen by election. Naturally, many officers were ready to sink all distinctions of rank; some even threw their pay into a common stock, officers and privates taking an equal share. Others, forgetting not only their dignity but their duty, made profit out of their positions and cheated the government out of money and rations. The day of battle proved that courage was sometimes lacking, as well as dignity and honor. Some officers, though honest and brave, were deficient in mental energy and physically unable to endure the hardships of a campaign. The system of election brought into the armies of the Revolution, as into those of the Civil and Spanish wars, officers who were worthy and patriotic men, but who proved to be very incapable commanders. The privates, like all raw soldiers, neglected the laws of health, and did not take proper care of their persons or of the camp. It was said that at home the influence of their female relatives had kept them neat and clean, but that here this stimulus was lacking. The hospital department was badly managed; there was no head, and the surgeons quarrelled with each other.3

A radical change was clearly necessary. Washington and Lee set vigorously to work, and, in spite of great difficulties, they met with considerable success. "The new generals," wrote Knox to his wife, "are of infinite service to the army. They have to reduce order almost from a perfect chaos. I think they are in a fair way of doing it."4 Washington found that the officers had no distinctive uniform; accordingly, recognition was made possible by the announcement that the commander-in-chief, the generals, the aides, the field-officers, the captains, and the subalterns would wear ribbons, or cockades, of different colors.5 Lessons of respect were enforced upon the men by fines, the

1 Bolton, The Private Soldier under Washington, 127-132; Tomes, Battles of America, i. 221.

2 Tomes, Battles of America, i. 220.

8 Washington to President of Congress, July 21, 1775, Washington, Writ

ings (Ford), iii. 35.

✦ July 11, 1775, Ibid. 9, note 2.

5

Hubley, American Revolution, 405, 439.

THE NEW ENGLAND ARMY.

15

pillory, the wooden horse, thirty to thirty-nine lashes, and drumming out of camp. Proper care was also taken that this respect should be deserved. Washington announced in general orders. that bravery in an officer would meet with notice and reward, cowardice with certain punishment, and that "no connections, interest, or intercessions in his behalf will avail to prevent the strict execution of justice." This was no vain threat. Courtsmartial for all kinds of misdemeanors sat constantly, in one case the Harvard College chapel serving as the hall of justice. Within a few weeks, Washington wrote to Richard Henry Lee, "I have made a pretty good slam among such kind of officers as the Massachusetts government abound in." He had dismissed a colonel and two captains for cowardice, three captains for other offences, and had five more officers under arrest.2

Washington did his best to provide for the health and comfort of the soldiers. His orderly book contains repeated directions for keeping the camp clean. He forbade the sale of liquors to the soldiers without a license, and recommended that the stock of any one disobeying this prohibition should be seized for the benefit of fatigue parties and outguards. Not having authority to regulate the hospital himself, Washington applied to Congress; and they promptly provided for a medical staff under a director-general.1

On October 22, 1775, Washington began to arrange for the reënlistment of the army for the ensuing year," a task the difficulties and disappointments of which almost drove him to despair. He wrote to a friend: "Such a dearth of public spirit, and want of virtue, such stock-jobbing, and fertility in all the low arts to obtain advantages of one kind or another, in this great change of military arrangement, I never saw before, and pray God I may never be witness to again. . . .

Could I have

1 July 5 and 7, 1775, Washington, Writings (Sparks), iii. 489-490.

2

August 29, 1775, Washington, Writings (Ford), iii. 98.

8 Hubley, American Revolution, 540.

* Washington to President of Congress, July 21, 1775, Washington, Writings (Ford), iii. 35; Journals of Congress, i. 178-179, July 27, 1775.

note.

Orderly Book, October 22, 1775, Washington, Writings (Ford), iii. 191,