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Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

TO HENRY LEE, GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA. [PRIVATE.] - George Washington, The Writings of George Washington, vol. XII (1790-1794) [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. XII (1790-1794).

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

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Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


TO HENRY LEE, GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA.

[PRIVATE.]

Philadelphia, 30 June, 1792.

Dear Sir,

Your favor of the 15th came duly to hand, but at a time when I was much engaged with the Secretary of State in despatching Mr. Pinckney to the court of London, and in considering other business of importance.

I shall repeat in this letter, what I have declared to you on a former occasion, vizt., that, wishing to promote the public weal, and to make justice and impartiality the lines by which to walk to accomplish this, every information that can enable me to tread on such firm ground, or which would enable me to investigate with more accuracy the characters of public men, or the utility of public measures, cannot fail of being acceptable to me, whilst I have any thing to do with either, particularly the latter.1

Having premised these truths, I shall add, on the subject of your letter, that I can no more condemn G. K.1 on the evidence of Colonel D.’s2 letter to you, than I am disposed to go into a full vindication of his conduct against the implications, which are contained in that letter. When assertion stands against assertion, recourse must be had to collateral circumstances to come at the truth, or the preponderating weight; but these are not necessary in the instance before us, for it will not be unfair to declare, that the conduct of Colonel D. is uncandid, and that his letter is equivocal. He acknowledges in it, that, when I asked if he would serve if you should be appointed to the chief command, he gave no answer; but does not in any part of his letter tell you what answer he gave G. K. to the same question, unless you take the following for one, when he was applied to, to know if he would accept of an appointment. “I told him I first wanted to know who would command the army, and said something of you and some others.” But are these equivocal expressions to be placed against the positive declarations of the other? Especially, too, when Colonel D., in relating the conversation which passed between himself and me, has mistaken both the substance and tendency of it. For you may be assured, Sir, I never mentioned your name, or the name of any man living, to him as one who was in the smallest degree fixed on for the command. The Secretary of War himself was unacquainted with the final decision, when Colonel D. left this city. The truth is, I never was more embarrassed in any appointment; and the object of my conversation with the latter was, to learn the public sentiment, as far as it could be obtained from him, with respect to this matter. To questions of this tendency, he said he had heard Morgan, Scott, and yourself mentioned on his journey through and from Kentucky to his own house; and, if I understood the significancy of things not expressed, he complimented himself. I took an occasion then to observe, that I conceived few men were better qualified for such a command than you were, and asked if he thought your junior rank in the late army would be an objection with those, who had been your seniors in it, to serve under you. His reply, (when a little pushed by bringing the case home to himself, for I wanted to draw an explicit declaration from him), was, that he believed it would be an unpleasant or grating thing, or words to that effect; but the manner, more than the expression, throughout the whole of the conversation, which was after dinner, and when we were alone, led me to conclude that it would not be relished by him. What his real intentions might be at that time, when he was speaking to G. K., or lastly to you, no one but himself is master of.

I have no hesitation in declaring to you, that the bias of my inclination was strongly in your favor; but that the result of my inquiries, direct and indirect, of military and indeed of other characters, (who were well disposed to see you in nomination,) was, that, if you were appointed to the command, it would be vain to look for senior officers to act subordinately, or, if they consented, it would be so grudgingly as that more than probably the seeds of sedition would be coeval with the formation of the army, such being the nature of military pride. Admitting this, then, one of two things would inevitably have followed; either an army composed of discontented materials, or of junior characters. The first might be attended with fatal consequences; the other, (however excellent the officers might be,) if any disaster should befall the army, it would instantly be ascribed to the inexperience of the principal officers in stations to which they had never been accustomed, thereby drawing a weight upon my shoulders too heavy to be borne. This was my own view of the subject, and the principle upon which I acted; not, be assured, because G. K. was of this or of that opinion. The fact, I sincerely believe, is, that he was as much puzzled as I was to fix on the first officer, under the circumstances that existed.

How far the appointment of G. W.1 is a popular or an unpopular measure is not for me to decide. It was not the determination of a moment, nor was it the effect of partiality or of influence; for no application (if that in any instance could have warped my judgment) was ever made in his behalf from any one, who could have thrown the weight of a feather into his scale, but because, under a full view of all circumstances, he appeared most eligible. To a person of your observation and intelligence it is unnecessary to remark, that an appointment, which may be unpopular in one place, and with one set of men, may not be so in another place, or with another set of men, and vice versâ; and that to attempt to please every body is the sure way to please nobody; of course, the attempt would be as idle, as the execution would be impracticable. G. W. has many good points as an officer, and it is to be hoped, that time, reflection, good advice, and, above all, a due sense of the importance of the trust, which is committed to him, will correct his foibles, or cast a shade over them. With esteem and regard, I am, &c.

[1 ]As soon as the defeat of St. Clair was known, Henry Lee, then Governor of Virginia, sought to obtain the appointment to the command. In April the general officers were named, and Lee was not among them. He wrote to Washington, June 15th:

“You cannot be a stranger to the extreme disgust, which the late appointment to the command of the army excited among all orders in this State. Whether the same be just or not, is immaterial at present; or whether taking into view all the circumstances of the case a better appointment could have been made, is by no means the object of my inquiry. The event was the subject of general conversation, during which period Colonel Darke visited Richmond, and of course became a party in the opinions and communications given on the occasion. What he said to me was in my judgment necessary to you, and I took the liberty to write to Colonel Darke, requesting him to commit to paper the conversation between us the previous day. This he did, and I enclose it for your perusal.

“I thought it proper to send you the original, although the handwriting is rather obscure, lest a copy might in any degree change the meaning of the communication. If Colonel Darke is right, it follows clearly, that, in a very important matter to yourself and the community, one of your officers exerted himself to increase certain difficulties, which obstructed the execution of your own wishes, instead of endeavoring to remove them; acting in obedience to his own desire, rather than following the decision of his superior. If your ministers dare thus to do, you must be subject to hourly impositions, and the national concerns will be regulated by their and not your judgment. I have not nor shall I lisp a word of this communication to the gentlemen whom it concerns. For yourself only it is intended. It is not in my power to ascertain whether the same be true or not. You can readily distinguish this fact. Colonel Darke is a man of truth and honor, and he speaks positively. You will, I trust, be the event as it may, impute my conduct to the motives which produce it, respect and attachment to yourself. Personally I do not feel on the occasion, only that I cannot dissemble the gratification, which the opinion you were pleased to express of my talents afforded; and indeed I am candid to declare, that I prefer such a testimonial to the office itself, to which I might have been appointed.”

From Colonel Darke’s Letter to Governor Lee: “In answer to your letter, concerning the conversation I had the honor to have with the President, as it was not of a private nature as far as it related to you, I will give as good an account as my memory will allow, as it could not be the President’s desire that I should not. He mentioned you as commander-in-chief of the army, spoke much in favor of your abilities in so respectful a manner, that I thought you would certainly have been appointed. He indeed said something of your rank in the late Continental army, and asked me if I would serve, should you be appointed to the chief command; which question I did not answer, though I confess I think I should. But being so distressed in mind, for reasons that I need not mention to you, I did not give his Excellency an answer, but intended to do it before I left town, which I did not. Knowing he was much engaged in business of importance, I was in doubt he would think I intruded; at the same time was determined, if you had been appointed, to have gone with you and given you what little assistance I was capable of, or indeed any other of my acquaintance, that I thought equal to that great and important trust.

“The Secretary of war said something to me concerning my accepting of some appointment. I told him I first wanted to know who would command the army, and said something of you and some others. He let me understand some time after, that he thought I could not serve with you with propriety, honor, or words to that purpose, but that you would not be appointed. This I confess I thought General Knox might be mistaken in, as, from what I heard from the President, I had a right to expect you would.”—May 12th.

[1 ]General Knox.

[2 ]John Darke.

[1 ]General Wayne, who had been appointed to the command of the western expedition as successor to General St. Clair, who had resigned.