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Subject Area: War and Peace
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO TENCH TILGHMAN. - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. X (1782-1785) [1891]

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. X (1782-1785).

Part of: The Writings of George Washington, 14 vols.

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TO TENCH TILGHMAN.

Head-Quarters,Newburg,
18 March, 1783.

Sir,

Newburg, 10 January, 1783.

My dear Sir,

The result of the proceedings of the grand Convention of Officers, which I have the honor of enclosing to your Excellency for the inspection of Congress, will, I flatter myself, be considered as the last glorious Proof of Patriotism, which could have been given by men, who aspired to the distinction of a patriot army, and will not only confirm their claim to the justice, but will increase their title to the gratitude, of their country.1

I have been favored with your letters of the 22d & 24th of last month from Philadelphia; and thank you for the trouble you have had with my small commissions.—I have sent Mr. Rittenhouse the glass of such spectacles as suit my eyes, that he may know how to grind his Christals.

Having seen the proceedings on the part of the army terminate with perfect unanimity, and in a manner entirely consonant to my wishes; being impressed with the liveliest sentiments of affection for those, who have so long, so patiently, and so chearfully suffered and fought under my immediate direction; having from motives of justice, duty, and gratitude, spontaneously offered myself as an advocate for their rights; and having been requested to write to your Excellency, earnestly entreating the most speedy decision of Congress upon the subjects of the late address from the army to that Honble. Body; it now only remains for me to perform the task I have assumed, and to intercede in their behalf, as I now do, that the Sovereign Power will be pleased to verify the predictions I have pronounced of, and the confidence the army have reposed in the justice of their country.

Neither Duportail nor Gouvion are arrived at this place.—To the latter, I am refered by the Marqs. la Fayette for some matters which he did not chuse to commit to writing.1 —The sentim’nt however which he has delivered (with respect to the negociations for Peace) accord precisely with the ideas I have entertained of this business ever since the secession of Mr. Fox, viz—that no peace would be concluded before the meeting of the British parliament.—And that, if it did not take place within a month afterwards, we might lay our acc’t for one more Campaign—at least.

And here I humbly conceive it is altogether unnecessary, (while I am pleading the cause of an army, which has done and suffered more than any other army ever did in the defence of the rights and liberties of human nature,) to expatiate on their claims to the most ample compensation for their meritorious Services; because they are perfectly known to whole World, and because, altho’ the topics are inexhaustible, enough has already been said on the subject.

The obstinacy of the King, and his unwillingness to acknowledge the Independence of the Country, I have ever considered as the greatest obstacles in the way of a Peace. Lord Shelburne, who is not only at the head of the Administration, but has been introducing others of similar sentiments to his own, has declared, that nothing but dire necessity should ever force the measure. Of this necessity, men will entertain different opinions. Mr. Fox, it seems, thought the period had arrived some time ago; and yet the Peace is not made—nor will it, I conceive, if the influence of the Crown can draw forth fresh supplies from the Nation, for the purpose of carrying on the War. By the meeting of Parliament, Lord Shelburne would have been able to ascertain two things—first, the best terms on which G. Britain could obtain Peace.—Secondly, the ground on which he himself stood.—If he found it slippery, and that the voice of the people was for pacific measures; he would then, have informed the Parliament that, after many months spent in negociation,—such were the best terms he could obtain;—and that the alternative of accepting them,—or preparing vigorously for the prosecution of the War, was submitted to their consideration (being an extraordinary case) and decision. A little time therefore, if I have formed a just opinion of the matter, will disclose the result of it. Consequently, we shall either soon have Peace, or not the most agreeable prospect of War, before us—as it appears evident to me, that the States generally, are sunk into the most profound lethargy, while some of them are running quite retrograde.

To prove these assertions, to evince that my sentiments have ever been uniform, and to show what my ideas of the rewards in question have always been, I appeal to the Archives of Congress, and call on those sacred deposits to witness for me; and, in order that my observations and arguments in favor of a future adequate provision for the officers of the army may be brought to remembrance again, and considered in a single point of view, without giving Congress the trouble of having recourse to their files, I will beg leave to transmit herewith an Extract from a representation made by me to a committee of Congress, so long ago as the 29th of January, 1778, and also the transcript of a letter to the President of Congress, dated near Passaic Falls, October 11th, 1780.1 That, in the critical and perilous moment when the last mentioned communication was made, there was the utmost danger a dissolution of the army would take place, unless measures similar to these recommended had been adopted, will not admit a doubt. That the adoption of the resolution, granting half-pay for life, has been attended with all the happy consequences I had foretold, so far as respected the good of the service, let the astonishing contrast between the state of the army at this instant, and at the former period, determine; and that the establishment of funds and security, of the payment of all the just demands of the army, will be the most certain means of preserving the national faith, and the future tranquillity of this extensive continent, is my decided opinion.

The King of G. B. by his letters Patent, (which I have seen) has authorized Mr. Oswald to treat with any Commissioner or Com’rs from the United States of America, who shall appear with proper powers. This, certainly, is a capital point gained. It is at least breaking ground on their part, and I dare say proved a bitter pill to Royalty; that, it was indispensably necessary to answer one of the points above mentioned, as the American Commissioners would enter in no business with Mr. Oswald till his Powers were made to suit their purposes. Upon the whole, I am fixed in an opinion that Peace, or a pretty long continuance of the War, will have been determined before the adjournment for the Hollidays; and as it will be the middle or last of February before we shall know the result, time will pass heavily on in this dreary mansion—where we are, at present fast locked in frost and snow.—1

By the preceding remarks it will readily be imagined, that, instead of retracting and reprehending, from farther experience and reflection, the mode of compensation so strenuously urged in the Enclosures, I am more and more confirmed in the Sentiment; and, if in the wrong, suffer me to please myself with the grateful delusion. For if, besides the simple payment of their Wages, a farther compensation is not due to the sufferings and sacrifices of the officers, then have I been mistaken indeed. If the whole army have not merited whatever a grateful people can bestow, then have I been beguiled by prejudice, and built opinion on the basis of error. If this country should not in the event perform every thing, which has been requested in the late Memorial to Congress, then will my belief become vain, and the hope, that has been excited, void of foundation. And “if” (as has been suggested, for the purpose of inflaming their passions,) “the officers of the army are to be the only sufferers by this resolution; if, retiring from the field, they are to grow old in poverty, wretchedness, and contempt; if they are to wade thro’ the vile mire of dependency, and owe the miserable remnant of that life to charity, which has hitherto been spent in honor;” then shall I have learned what ingratitude is, then shall I have realized a tale, which will embitter every moment of my future life. But I am under no such apprehensions. A country, rescued by their arms from impending ruin, will never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude.

Nothing new has happened in this quarter since you left it, except the abuse of me in a New York Paper for having given false information to the Count de Vergennes, which (says the writer) was the occasion of the insinuation in his Letter to me of a want of British Justice. I have not seen the Paper but am told the author of the piece is quite in a passion at my want of ingenuity, and ascribes the release of Captn. Asgill to a peremptory order from the Court of France (in whose service he places me,) notwithstanding the soft and complaisant language of the French Minister’s Letter.

Should any intemperate or improper warmth have mingled itself amongst the foregoing observations, I must entreat your Excellency and Congress, it may be attributed to the effusion of an honest zeal in the best of causes, and that my peculiar situation may be my apology; and I hope I need not, on this momentous occasion, make any new protestations of personal disinterestedness, having ever renounced for myself the idea of pecuniary reward. The consciousness of having attempted faithfully to discharge my duty, and the approbation of my Country, will be a sufficient recompense for my services. I have the honor to be, with perfect respect, &c.1

Mrs. Washington has received the Shoes you ordered for her, and thanks you for your attention to her request—I receive with great sensibility and pleasure your assurances of affection and regard. It would be but a renewal of what I have often repeated to you, that there are few men in the world to whom I am more attached by inclination than I am to you. With the Cause, I hope—most devoutly hope—there will soon be an end to my Military Services, when, as our places of residence will not be far apart, I shall never be more happy than in your Company at Mt. Vernon. I shall always be glad to hear from, and keep up a corrispondence with you.—

[1 ]“Yesterday there was a meeting of the officers. The Commander in Chief came among us, and made a most excellent address; he appeared sensibly agitated; as the writer advises to ‘suspect the man who should advise to more moderation and longer forbearance,’ this expression, together with a second anonymous letter, which I have not seen, gave reason to suppose that it was a plan laid against his Excellency, as every one who knows him must be sensible that he would recommend moderation. The general having finished his address, retired. Gen’l Gates took the chair; the business of the day was conducted with order, moderation, and decency.”—Major J. A. Wright to Major John Webb, West Point, 16 March, 1783.

[1 ]The two letters here alluded to were published, and are contained in the Remembrancer, vol. xvi., pp. 200, 202. See also a series of documents in the Journals of Congress, under the date of April 24th.

[1 ]Read in Congress, March 22d. Referred to Osgood, Bland, Hamilton, Wolcott, and Peters. “It was observable that the part which the General had found it necessary, and thought it his duty, to take, would give birth to events much more serious, if they should not be obviated by the establishment of such funds as the General, as well as the army, had declared to be necessary.”—Madison Papers, i., 404.

[1 ]“Yesterday there was a meeting of the officers. The Commander in Chief came among us, and made a most excellent address; he appeared sensibly agitated; as the writer advises to ‘suspect the man who should advise to more moderation and longer forbearance,’ this expression, together with a second anonymous letter, which I have not seen, gave reason to suppose that it was a plan laid against his Excellency, as every one who knows him must be sensible that he would recommend moderation. The general having finished his address, retired. Gen’l Gates took the chair; the business of the day was conducted with order, moderation, and decency.”—Major J. A. Wright to Major John Webb, West Point, 16 March, 1783.

[1 ]The two letters here alluded to were published, and are contained in the Remembrancer, vol. xvi., pp. 200, 202. See also a series of documents in the Journals of Congress, under the date of April 24th.

[1 ]Read in Congress, March 22d. Referred to Osgood, Bland, Hamilton, Wolcott, and Peters. “It was observable that the part which the General had found it necessary, and thought it his duty, to take, would give birth to events much more serious, if they should not be obviated by the establishment of such funds as the General, as well as the army, had declared to be necessary.”—Madison Papers, i., 404.