mand of the light infantry. Rules for the promotion of majorgenerals were also suggested.1 The letter was promptly referred to a committee, which, however, did not report for nearly four months. Congress followed Washington's advice, except in what related to the generals. The country was divided into seven districts, and in these divisions the senior colonels were to rise to brigadiers; thus, for example, a Delaware colonel was not obliged to wait until he ranked all the other colonels in the army. The major-generals were to be drawn according to seniority from the whole army.2 Washington himself would have recommended such an arrangement had he not feared that it would unduly offend the States, and Congress probably acted wisely in making it. Congress firmly maintained the right of special promotion, against the excessive regard of the officers for succession by seniority. It is a pity that they could not have been equally resolute when confronted with the claims of the States. Duane struck the true note when he said, "I would rather take the opinion of General Washington than of any convention;" but local feeling was too strong to permit any such plan to be adopted. 1 Washington to President of Congress, December 20, 1780, Washington, Writings (Ford), ix. 68-72. 2 Journals of Congress, vii. 106-107, May 25, 1781. CHAPTER IV. FOREIGN OFFICERS. THE difficulty of officering the army was much increased by numerous and importunate applications of foreigners, first for employment and then for promotion. Silas Deane, our first minister to France, declared that he was "well-nigh harassed to death with applications of officers to go out to America." 1 Franklin wrote to a gentleman who had given him much assistance, but who had also troubled him with many recommendations: "You can have no conception how I am harassed. All my friends are sought out and teased to tease me. Great officers of all ranks, in all departments; ladies, great and small, besides professed solicitors, worry me from morning to night. The noise of every coach now that enters my court terrifies me. I am afraid to accept an invitation to dine abroad, being almost sure of meeting with some officer or officer's friend, who, as soon as I am put in good humor by a glass or two of champagne, begins his attack upon me. Luckily I do not often in my sleep dream of these vexatious situations, or I should be afraid of what are now my only hours of comfort. If, therefore, you have the least remaining kindness for me, if you would not help to drive me out of France, for God's sake, my dear friend, let this, your twenty-third application, be your last." 2 In America, the president of Congress complained that French officers beset his door like bailiffs watching a debtor.3 Wash1 Deane to Committee of Secret Correspondence, November 28, 1776, Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence, ii. 198. 2 Franklin to Dr. Dubourg, 1777, Parton, Franklin, ii. 233. ington wrote bitterly of them as men "who have nothing more than a little plausibility, unbounded pride and ambition, and a perseverance in application not to be resisted but by uncommon firmness, to support their pretensions; men who, in the first instance, tell you they wish for nothing more than the honor of serving so glorious a cause as volunteers, the next day solicit rank without pay, the day following want money advanced to them, and in the course of a week want further promotion, and are not satisfied with anything you can do for them." 1 There was, however, nothing contrary to European customs in requests for employment in a foreign army; the officer of the eighteenth century was "a citizen of the world." 2 Two of the ablest generals of their day, Prince Eugene and Marshal Saxe, served foreign princes. Keith, a Scotchman of high character, an exile for his fidelity to the Stuarts and a man of the strictest integrity, was at different periods an officer of Austria, of Spain, and of Prussia. Frederick the Great had regular agents whose business it was to meet foreign officers passing through his territories, and invite them to enter the service of Prussia. The majority of foreigners applying for commissions in the American army were Frenchmen. For this there were several reasons. France had been brought into closer relations with America than had any other power except England. Frenchmen consoled themselves for the loss of Canada by the hope that the older English colonies, no longer needing the protection of the mother country, would declare their independence; and in 1764 and 1768 the French prime minister sent secret agents to America to discover whether the people were willing and able to resist England, and whether they would accept the assistance of France, whom they had hitherto regarded as a powerful and deadly enemy. But reports were unfavorable; France was busy with other plans; and when some years afterward the ris Washington to Gouverneur Morris, July 24, 1778, Washington, Writings (Ford), vii. 117. 2 Greene, Historical View of the American Revolution, 288. 3 One of these agents was "Baron" de Kalb, afterward a major-general in the American army. INTEREST OF THE FRENCH. 49 ing actually took place, the ministry of that day, though glad to see England embarrassed, were restrained from open war, partly by the conscientious scruples and the monarchical prejudices of Louis XVI., partly by the disorder of the finances. Many young nobles, however, were eager to assist America. They were weary of the idleness of peace; war would give them excitement and glory, and a chance to take revenge for recent defeats and to restore France to her old place among the nations. Attempts made by the ministry to repress their enthusiasm served only to increase it; the government had lost its moral authority; revolution was in the air. The writings of Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Rousseau attained immense influence; equality was the fashion; the privileged classes, themselves, had much to say in behalf of the rights of man; and their zeal was increased by a belief that their own rights were violated. The nobles were disgusted with a system which condemned them to political insignificance; they recalled the days of the League and of the Fronde, and longed for a position like that of English peers and gentlemen. Men who began by championing the cause of America from personal, or at best from patriotic, motives came to have an earnest, though somewhat vague, love of it for its own sake. The envoys sent by the new republic were admirably fitted to win the sympathies of these enthusiasts. Their simplicity of manner and of dress formed a pleasing contrast to the artificiality and magnificence of the court. The seeming frankness with which they acknowledged American disasters astonished men accustomed to the evasions of European diplomacy. Here were true successors of Fabricius and of Cato! 1 Several motives of a less idealistic kind speedily led many French officers to enter the army of the United States. Some, who were burdened with debt or disgrace, sought to recover in America the fortunes or the honor they had lost at home.2 Their desire for a change of service may have been further stimulated by the strict discipline which was then being introduced by a new minister of war. Many came from the love 1 Segur, Memoirs. 2 Wharton, Diplomatic Correspondence, i. 397. Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution, 92. E of adventure and glory, and the hope of increased rank and pay; surely, they thought, inexperienced colonists will purchase at a high rate the services of an officer trained in the military schools of Europe.1 For a time the strangers were well received, and they were frequently treated so generously that they boasted that they could obtain whatever they desired merely by assuming a high tone and persevering in their demands.2 Congress was anxious to secure aid and recognition from France, and was therefore unwilling to disoblige men who had friends and patrons at court, especially when, as was often the case, applicants had received encouragement from American agents abroad. Those who came from the French West Indies obtained positions the more easily because of the desire of the Americans to keep on good terms with the governor of Martinique, with which island a very important trade was carried on. Others brought recommendations from French officers of rank, or from the American envoy at Paris.3 Such testimonials were, however, untrustworthy; those given by French officers had no claim to impartiality, and even those from Deane must have been based largely on the information of interested persons. It is not surprising that many unfit appointments of foreigners were made. The first comers, those who received commissions before 1777, proved the least valuable; usually ability was lacking, and often character as well. Two officers who were given high rank because of their supposed skill as engineers were found to be of little use.* Baron de Woedtke, who had strong recommendations and was appointed brigadier-general, proved a drunken fellow and rendered little service.5 The danger of the 1 Hale, Franklin in France, i. 78. 2 Hamilton to Clinton, February 13, 1778, Hamilton, Works (Lodge), vii. 537. 3 Richard Henry Lee to Washington, May 22, 1777, Lee, Richard Henry Lee, ii. 17; Washington to President of Congress, June 5, 1777, Washington, Writings (Ford), v. 412. 4 Washington to Deane, August 13, 1777, Sparks MSS. lxv. (pt. 1), 174– 176; to Richard Henry Lee, May 17, 1777, Washington, Writings (Ford), v. 371. 5 C. F. Adams, Familiar Letters of John Adams and his Wife, 144, note. |