March CHAP. offers of pardon were approved with a coldness which XIX. rebuked their clemency, and the instruction was 1777. given: "At the expiration of the period limited in 9. your proclamation, it will be incumbent upon you to use the powers with which you are intrusted in such a manner that those persons who shall have shown themselves undeserving of the royal mercy may not escape that punishment which is due to their crimes, and which it will be expedient to inflict for the sake of example to futurity." General Howe was not sanguinary, though, from his neglect, merciless cruelties were inflicted by his subordinates; Lord Howe had accepted office from real good-will to America and England, not as the agent of Germain's vengeful passions; and on the twentyfifth of March, the brothers answered: "Are we required to withhold his majesty's general pardon, even though the withholding of such general pardon should prevent a speedy termination of the war?" 25. Howe had requested a reënforcement of fifteen thousand men, in order to move simultaneously against New England, up the Hudson river, and against Pennsylvania, and thus "finish the war in one year." To that requisition the reply, written in January, 1777, accompanied the letter to the commissioners. For the conquest of a continent the demand was certainly moderate; but Germain, forming his judgment on the letters of spies and talebearers, or, as he called them, "of persons well informed on the spot," professed to think "that such a requisition ought not to be complied with," and he wrote that half that number could not by any chance be supplied. Promising but four thou XIX. 1777. sand Germans, a larger number than was actually CHAP. obtained, he insisted that Howe "would have an army of very nearly thirty-five thousand rank and file, so that it would still be equal to his wishes; in other words, that Howe must none the less complete the conquest of America within a twelvemonth. But with so small a reënforcement the general would by no means have that number of effective men. The disingenuous statement foreshadowed a disposition to cast upon him all blame for any untoward events in the next campaign. Nor could he be ignorant of Germain's desire for his recall; nor was he indifferent to the rising favor of Burgoyne. 2. The general took counsel with his brother, and on April the second of April despatched to the secretary the final revision of his plan: "The offensive army will be too weak for rapid success. The campaign will not commence so soon as your lordship may expect. Restricted as I am by the want of forces, my hopes of terminating the war this year are vanished." Relinquishing a principal part of what he had formerly proposed, he announced his determination to evacuate the Jerseys, and to invade Pennsylvania by sea. He further made known, alike to Carleton and to the secretary, that the army which was to advance from Canada would meet "with little assistance from him." 1 The plan of Howe was not affected by that of Lee. 1. Lee scoffed at Howe's plan, and treated it with derision; but, considering Lee's want of veracity, this proves not much. 2. Howe received his letters from Germain March 9, and his answer, which required consultation with his brother, bears date April 2. Lee's 5. CHAP. Germain built great expectations on the Indian alliances, both in the south and the northwest, 1777. and loved to direct minutely in what manner the savages should be employed. Howe was backward in engaging them, left all details to the Indian agents, and scorned ambiguous messages, hints, and whispers across the Atlantic, to lay waste the country with indiscriminate cruelty. Early in the year a British brigade and several companies of grenadiers and light infantry were recalled from Rhode Island, and sent to Amboy. While they were on board the transport ships, Howe came over to the quarters of Cornwallis, and Washington apprehended that they would, without delay and without much difficulty, march to Philadelphia. But Howe could never take advantage of opportunities. In the middle of March, Washington's "whole number in Jersey fit for duty was under three thousand, and these, nine hundred and eighty-one excepted, were militia, who stood engaged only till the last of the month." The paymaster was without money, of which the supply was habitually tardy and inadequate. Washington had moreover to complain of "the unfitness" of some of his general officers. To gain an army he saw no way so good as the system of drafting adopted by Massachusetts, on an equal and exact apportionment of its quota to each town in the state; in New Jersey, the theatre of war, he advised that every man able to bear arms should turn out, and that no one should be allowed to buy off his service by a payment of money, for, said he, "every injurious distinction be XIX. 1777. tween the rich and the poor ought to be laid aside CHAP. now." Of the militia of New England the British commander-in-chief has left his testimony, that, "when brought to action, they were the most persevering of any in all North America;" and it was on the militia of those states that Washington placed his chief reliance. The anxiety about a supply of arms was relieved by the safe arrival of ships freighted by Beaumarchais from the arsenals of France. Reed, the former adjutant-general, never resumed that post, though, by assertions on his honor as disingenuous as the original ground of offence, he recovered for a time the affection of Washington. His aid as a secretary was more than made good by Alexander Hamilton, who joined the staff of the commander-in-chief in March, and thus obtained the precious opportunity of becoming familiar with the course of national affairs on the largest scale. In the appointment of general officers congress gave little heed to Washington. In his opinion, there was not in the army "a more active, more spirited, and more sensible officer" than Arnold, the oldest brigadier; but in the promotions he was passed over, on the pretext that Connecticut had already two major-generals. The slight rankled in Arnold's breast; to Washington he complained of the wound to his "nice feelings;" to Gates he wrote: "By heavens! I am a villain if I seek not A brave revenge for injured honor." On the first of March six new brigadiers were appointed. Stark stood at the head of the list of New Hampshire, and was the best officer from 1777. CHAP. that state. He had shown himself great at Bunker XIX. Hill, Trenton, and Princeton; but on the idea that he was self-willed, he was passed over. Chafing at the unworthy neglect, he retired to his freehold and his plough, where his patriotism, like the fire of the smithy when sprinkled with water, glowed more fiercely than ever. Congress, without consulting Washington' on the appointment of his chief of staff, "earnestly solicited Gates to reassume the office of adjutant-general with his present rank and pay," "in confidence that he would retrieve the state of the army, and place it on a respectable footing." The thought crossed his mind to secure in the bargain a provision for his own life, with an annuity on that of his wife or son; and as the price of his consent he actually demanded "something more than words." Washington offered to welcome him back as the only means of giving form and regularity to the new recruits; but nothing came of the offer, for the New England members, especially Samuel Adams, were resolved on raising him to the command of the northern department. The neglect of Washington by congress increased in the camp the discontent which naturally rises among officers in the clashing of their desires. Beside the jealousies which grew out of the wish for promotion, subordinate generals importuned him for separate commands, and those who were detached were apt to murmur at his suggestions, or 1 "I never even hinted it." Washington to Gates, 10 March, 1777, in Washington's Writings, iv. 355. 2 MS. draught of a letter of Gates to the President of Congress, in the New York Historical Society's library. Gates to Congress, 28 February, 1777. MS. |