|
|
Front Page  Titles (by Subject) TO GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON. - The Writings of George Washington, vol. VI (1777-1778)
TO GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. VI (1777-1778) [1890]Edition used:The Writings of George Washington, collected and edited by Worthington Chauncey Ford (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1890). Vol. VI (1777-1778).
About Liberty Fund:Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals. Copyright information:The text is in the public domain.
Fair use statement:
This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit.
- The Writings of George Washington.
- 1777.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Governor Henry.
- To the Council of Safety of New York.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Lieutenants Bird, Dorsey, Craig, Moore, and Gray. 1
- To Governor Clinton.
- To Benjamin Franklin, In Paris.
- To Benjamin Harrison, In Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To General Cadwalader.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Hamilton.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Lord Stirling.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Sir William Howe. 1
- To the President of Congress.
- To Colonel Christopher Greene. Instructions.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Brigadier-general Potter. 1
- To Lieutenant-colonel Samuel Smith.
- To Governor George Clinton.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Thomas Wharton, President of Pennsylvania.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Baron D’arendt. Instructions.
- To John Augustine Washington.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To John Hancock. 1
- To Major-general Sullivan.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Forman.
- Circular to Pulaski and Colonels of Horse.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- Call For a Council of Officers.
- To Francis Hopkinson and John Wharton, of the Navy Board. 1
- To Landon Carter.
- To Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Hamilton.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Varnum.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Jeremiah Powell, President of the Council of Massachusetts.
- To General Thomas Nelson.
- To Col. Theodorick Bland.
- To Brigadier-general Conway.
- To Henry Laurens, President of Congress. 2
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Varnum.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To Governor Henry.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Alexander Hamilton.
- To Brigadier-general Conway.
- To Major-general St. Clair, Major-general Baron De Kalb, and Brigadier-general Knox. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Richard Henry Lee, In Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To the Officers and Soldiers of the Militia In the Counties of Hunterdon, Burlington, Gloucester, Salem, and Cumberland.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Greene.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Joseph Reed.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To George Read, President of Delaware.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the Executives of the Eastern States.
- To Major-general Conway. 1
- To Governor Livingston.
- 1778.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major General Gates.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Wharton.
- To Major-general Arnold. 1
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To Major-general Putnam.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Major-general Charles Lee.
- To a Committee of Congress. 1
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Henry Laurens.
- To John Parke Custis.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Peter Colt. 2
- To Thomas Nelson, Jr.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Brigadier-general Wayne. Instructions.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To Major-general Gates.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Richard Henry Lee.
- To Governor George Clinton.
- An Address to the Inhabitants of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. 1
- To William Duer.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Bryan Fairfax. 2
- To Thomas Wharton, President of Pennsylvania.
- To Colonel George Baylor. Instructions.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Brigadier-general Parsons, At West Point.
- Copy of the Letter Referred to Above.
- To the Marquis De Lafayette.
- To Lieutenant-general Burgoyne.
- To George William Fairfax, In England.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Robert R. Livingston.
- To Philip Schuyler, James Duane, and Volkert P. Douw, Commissioners of Indian Affairs.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To the President of Congress.
- To James Bowdoin, President of the Council of Massachusetts.
- To Brigadier-general John Cadwalader.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Sir William Howe.
- To the President of Congress.
- To John Ternant. 1
- To Major-general Armstrong.
- To Patrick Henry.
- To Patrick Henry.
- To Governor Trumbull.
- To Thomas Mckean. 1
- To Colonel Josias C. Hall.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Colonel Mathias Ogden.
- To the President of Congress.
- To the General Officers In Camp.
- To John Banister, Delegate In Congress.
- To Major-general Mcdougall.
- To Major-general Charles Lee.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Gouverneur Morris, In Congress.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Governor Livingston.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Major-general Heath.
- To the President of Congress.
- To Henry Laurens.
TO GOVERNOR GEORGE CLINTON.
Head-QuartersValley Forge, 16 February, 1778. Dear Sir,
It is with great reluctance I trouble you on a subject, which does not properly fall within your province; but it is a subject that occasions me more distress, than I have felt since the commencement of the war; and which loudly demands the most zealous exertions of every person of weight and authority, who is interested in the success of our affairs; I mean the present dreadful situation of the army for want of provisions, and the miserable prospects before us with respect to futurity. It is more alarming, than you will probably conceive; for, to form a just idea, it were necessary to be on the spot. For some days past, there has been little less than a famine in camp. A part of the army has been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not been ere this excited by their suffering to a general mutiny and dispersion. Strong symptoms, however, of discontent have appeared in particular instances; and nothing but the most active efforts everywhere can long avert so shocking a catastrophe.
Our present sufferings are not all. There is no foundation laid for any adequate relief hereafter. All the magazines provided in the States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland, and all the immediate additional supplies they seem capable of affording, will not be sufficient to support the army more than a month longer, if so long. Very little has been done to the eastward, and as little to the southward; and whatever we have a right to expect from those quarters must necessarily be very remote, and is, indeed, more precarious than could be wished. When the fore-mentioned supplies are exhausted, what a terrible crisis must ensue, unless all the energy of the continent shall be exerted to provide a timely remedy!
Impressed with this idea, I am, on my part, putting every engine at work, that I can possibly think of, to prevent the fatal consequences, we have so great reason to apprehend. I am calling upon all those, whose stations and influence enable them to contribute their aid upon so important an occasion; and, from your well known zeal, I expect every thing within the compass of your power, and that the abilities and resources of the State over which you preside will admit. I am sensible of the disadvantages it labors under, from having been so long the scene of war, and that it must be exceedingly drained by the great demands to which it has been subject. But, though you may not be able to contribute materially to our relief, you can perhaps do something towards it; and any assistance, however trifling in itself, will be of great moment at so critical a juncture, and will conduce to the keeping of the army together, till the commissary’s department can be put upon a better footing, and effectual measures concerted to secure a permanent and competent supply. What methods you can take, you will be the best judge of; but, if you can devise any means to procure a quantity of cattle, or other kind of flesh, for the use of this army, to be at camp in the course of a month, you will render a most essential service to the common cause. I have the honor to be, &c.
The following extract from a letter written in camp by General Varnum, as brigadier of the day, to General Greene, not only presents a vivid picture of the distresses of the army, but shows the difficulties with which the Commander-in-chief had to contend, as well in witnessing the scenes of suffering among the soldiers, as in controlling the discontent and opposing opinions of his officers.
“The situation of the camp is such,” says General Varnum, “that in all human probability the army must soon dissolve. Many of the troops are destitute of meat, and are several days in arrear. The horses are dying for want of forage. The country in the vicinity of the camp is exhausted. There cannot be a moral certainty of bettering our circumstances, while we continue here. What consequences have we rationally to expect? Our desertions are astonishingly great; the love of freedom, which once animated the breasts of those born in the country, is controlled by hunger, the keenest of necessities. If we consider the relation in which we stand to the troops, we cannot reconcile their sufferings to the sentiments of honest men. No political consideration can justify the measure. There is no local object of so much moment, as to conceal the obligations which bind us to them. Should a blind attachment to a preconcerted plan fatally disaffect, and in the end force the army to mutiny, then will the same country, which now applauds our hermitage [Valley Forge], curse our insensibility.
“I have from the beginning viewed this situation with horror! It is unparalleled in the history of mankind to establish winter-quarters in a country wasted and without a single magazine. We now only feel some of the effects, which reason from the beginning taught us to expect as inevitable. My freedom upon this occasion may be offensive; if so, I should be unhappy, but duty obliges me to speak without reserve. My own conscience will approve the deed, when some may perhaps look back with regret to the time, when the evil in extreme might have been prevented. There is no alternative, but immediately to remove the army to places where they can be supplied, unless effectual remedies can be applied on the spot, which I believe every gentleman of the army thinks impracticable.”—MS. Letter, February 12th.
“I have more than once mentioned to you that we have been obliged to renounce the most important enterprises, delay the most critical marches, by the delinquency of commissaries. Here of late it has reduced us almost to the point of disbanding. The head of the department is a stationary attendant on Congress; what he might do, if he had views sufficiently extensive, by a proper employment of agents, I know not; but as the case is at present, he seems to be almost useless. I have heard it asserted by more than one sensible, disinterested man, that the removal of Mr. Trumbull from that office has been the source of all our misfortunes. . . . Certain it is that the want of providence, or want of ability in the present managers, has brought us to the brink of ruin. By extraordinary exertions, by scraping from distant scanty magazines and collecting with parties, we have obtained a temporary relief; and have hopes that the representation of our late distress to several persons of influence and authority in different states, will procure us such farther supplies as will save us from the disagreeable necessity of dividing the army into cantonments.”—John Laurens to his father, 17 February, 1778.
|
