Washington the Soldier

by Henry B. Carrington

On the twentieth, Washington issued an order of congratulation to the allied army, in the following words:

“Divine service is to be performed to-morrow in the several brigades and divisions. The Commander-in-Chief earnestly recommends that the troops not on duty should universally attend, with that seriousness of deportment and gratitude of heart which the recognition of such reiterated and astonishing interpositions of Providence demand of us.”

The American army which paraded on that Thanksgiving Day was not the same army that began the war. The one central figure, Washington, the Commander-in-Chief, is present. Some, crowned with well-deserved honors, are serving in the Halls of Congress. Some, worn out in service, have retired from active duty. All who had inordinate ambition, and cared more for self than country, have dropped from the Army Roster.

After the surrender of Cornwallis, American and French officers vied in extending courtesies to the British officers, as Lafayette describes their visits, “with every sort of politeness, especially toward Lord Cornwallis, one of the men of the highest character in England, who was considered to be their foremost general.” In a parting interview, Cornwallis replied to Lafayette: “I am aware of your humanity toward prisoners of war, and I commend to you my unfortunate army.” Lafayette, calling attention to the earlier surrender of Burgoyne’s army, answered: “Your lordship knows that the Americans have always been humane towards captured armies.” In recalling the incident in his “Mémoires Historiques,” Lafayette says: “In truth, the English army was treated with every possible consideration.”

Washington designated Lafayette as commander of an expedition to Wilmington and Charleston, with the brigades of Wayne and Gist. In his journal he says: “It was to be entrusted to the Marq’s de la Fayette, in case he could engage the Admiral to convey it & secure the debarkation. I left him on board the Ville de Paris, to try the force of his influence to obtain these.” Although fixed for November 1st, it was dropped, and the French feet sailed for the West Indies.

Lafayette obtained leave of absence, and sailed from Boston on the frigate Alliance, December 23rd, having affectionately parted with Washington; and after a passage of twenty-three days, landed at L’Orient, where he was cordially welcomed home by his family and the entire French people.

Washington’s faithful friend, Rochambeau, remained with him, under his command, when the troops of the Marquis de St. Simon and the fleet of the Count de Grasse sailed for the West Indies. Rochambeau wintered at Williamsburg; in the summer of 1782, returned through Philadelphia, to the Hudson; thence to New England in the autumn, and sailed for the West Indies during December, 1782. The American Congress did not fail to appreciate the services of this distinguished French officer. A “stand of colors” (ever since appreciated by his family), and a piece of ordnance, were gifts; and it was decreed that a marble monument should be erected at Yorktown, “to commemorate the alliance between France and the United States, and the victory achieved by their associated arms.”

Even before the departure of Rochambeau from America, the crowning event of the fraternal alliance between France and the United States had been realized, and Independence was no longer a matter of doubt. On the seventh day of May, 1782, Sir Henry Clinton was relieved of all further responsibility in command of New York, by Sir Guy Carleton; who assumed command, and immediately announced to the American Commander-in-Chief that he had been appointed as a Commissioner to consider the terms of a permanent peace between Great Britain and the United States of America. If the reader will recall the antecedents of this officer and the spirit with which he paroled the American troops, after the disastrous assault upon Quebec in the winter of 1775, he will appreciate the fitness of his taking part in the final negotiations for fraternity and peace.

The negotiations between these officers brought into striking relief certain qualities of Washington as a soldier which have had too slight recognition. The terms “tory” and “royalist” have been used in this narrative as they were specially in vogue at the different times and places where they occur. It has been too often assumed by youth who study Revolutionary history, that Hessian soldiers were always brutal, that Tarleton and Simcoe, and especially the Queen’s Rangers, were irresponsible marauders, and that the tories generally were cruel, and deserving no quarter.

As a fact, the Revolutionary War had, at its start, many of those painful antagonisms among neighborhoods and families which always attach to civil conflicts under the best possible conditions. Among the thousands who adhered to the British cause, and especially among the royalist “Provincial Corps,” there were eminent divines, physicians, lawyers, and scholars. All they had in the world was involved in the struggle. Many of these sympathized with the best British statesmen, and longed for some adjustment of differences which would not require abandonment of their homes in America. By a grave oversight on the part of Great Britain, no adequate provision was made by her ministry for this class of Americans who had fought to the last for the Crown. The action of Washington in coöperation with Sir Guy Carleton, respecting these men, disbanded as soldiers, but cast upon the world with no provision for their relief, was so marked by generosity, active aid, and wise relief, that until this day their descendants in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick pay glad tribute to his memory. Through the joint efforts of these two officers, five thousand were sent to St. John, New Brunswick. The seventeenth day of May, 1783, when the first large detachment of the Queen’s Rangers landed, is honored as the Natal Day of that Province. Simcoe, their old commander, became the first Governor of Upper Canada. In 1792, he organized a miniature Parliament of two Houses. He founded the City of Toronto; and in 1796, governed the Island of San Domingo.