"Being now to conclude these his last public orders, to take his ultimate leave, in a short time, of the military character, and to bid adieu to the armies he has so long had the honor to command, he can only again offer in their behalf his recommendations to their grateful country, and his prayers to the God of armies. May ample justice be done them here, and may the choicest of Heaven's favors, both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the Divine auspices, have secured innumerable blessings for others! With these wishes, and this benediction, the commander-in-chief is about to retire from service. The curtain of separation will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him will be for ever closed."
What more tender!—what more touching! While to Washington himself, and to his army, it must have been most grateful that years of toil, privation, and suffering were ended, and the glorious object for which that toil, privation, and suffering had been endured, was achieved, the hour of separation must have been most painful. They were to part to meet no more. Well did his soldiers know that their brave and beloved chief would bear them in his heart. But there were circumstances which, at this final interview, bore heavily upon them. They were poor; and, in rags and destitution, they were returning to their homes. Washington's sympathies were enlisted for them; and while he could not justify the course they had pursued—for they had passed resolutions in their encampment reflecting on the justice of their country, and especially upon congress, and had used terms of harshness and threatening—yet Washington expressed his pity, and his ardent hope that ample justice would be done them by a grateful country for the services they had rendered, and for the toils and trials they had sustained.
Washington taking leave of the Army—The Troops defiling before him.
The parting moment now arrived. Column after column marched by him, receiving as they passed his tender and affectionate salutation—the several bands of music playing the mournful, yet, on this parting occasion, appropriate dirge of "Roslin Castle."
11. DEPARTURE OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
The 25th of November had been fixed for the final retirement from the American shores of the British officers and troops. The place of departure was New York; and on that day they went on board the British fleet—the American troops, under General Knox, at the same time entering and taking possession of the city.
Guards being posted for the security of the citizens, General Washington, accompanied by Governor Clinton, and attended by many civil and military officers, and a large number of respectable inhabitants on horseback, made his public entry into the city. What a triumph! What a glorious issue of the toils, anxieties, and hardships, growing out of an eight years' contest! It was an occasion of joy, such as the sun had not beamed upon since the day he was lighted up in the firmament. Public dinners followed, and magnificent fireworks attested the general joy.