Congress watched with a jealous eye every movement of the convention army, and soon gave public indications of that jealousy. Early in November, they ordered general Heath, who commanded in Boston, ‘to take the name, rank, former place of abode, and description of every person comprehended in the convention of Saratoga, in order that, if afterwards found in arms against the United States, they might be punished according to the law of nations.’ General Burgoyne showed some reluctance to the execution of this order; and his reluctance was imputed to no honorable motives.
The British army in Philadelphia spent the winter in gayety and revelry, injuring at once their own respectability and the cause which they were employed to support. They disgusted the sober inhabitants by their irregularities, and provoked them by their insolence; so that many who had hailed their arrival with cordial gratulations, felt a lively satisfaction when the hour of their departure came.
General Washington quitted White Marsh, crossed the Schuylkill at Sweed’s ford, and, on the 19th of December, took a strong position at Valley Forge, about twenty-six miles from Philadelphia. Had he retired during the winter to the shelter of a large town, he must have gone to a great distance from the British army, and left an extensive tract of country open to their foraging parties; or had he cantoned his men in the adjacent villages, his army might have been beaten in detail and gradually destroyed. But at Valley Forge he was sufficiently near Philadelphia to check the foraging parties of the enemy, and his army was so much concentrated as to secure it from any sudden and desultory attack.
At Valley Forge the American commander-in-chief lodged his army in huts formed of logs, with the interstices filled with mud, which constituted very acceptable habitations to men long unaccustomed to the conveniences of life. But, though sheltered from the storm by their rude dwellings, the sufferings of the army from want of provisions and clothing were incredible. The winter was severe, and many of the men were without stockings or shoes, and almost naked. The non-importation associations renderedcloth scarce at the commencement of hostilities; the war rendered importation difficult; and the consumption exceeded the produce of the home manufacture. Hence the army was left in a destitute and deplorable condition; and the line of march, from White Marsh to Valley Forge, over rough and frozen roads, might have been traced by the blood from the bare and mangled feet of the soldiers. Under the shelter of the huts their sufferings were at first considerably alleviated; but in a short time the miseries of want, amounting almost to famine, were added to those of nakedness. In these trying circumstances numbers of the troops, especially they who had been born in Europe, eluded the vigilance of the guards, and deserted to the enemy in Philadelphia, carrying their arms along with them. Many loyalists also joined general Howe; so that the strength of his army was sensibly increased.
Encampment at Valley Forge.
Many representations on the wants and hardships of the army had been submitted to congress, which had authorized the commander-in-chief to seize provisions for his army wherever he could find them, within seventy miles of head-quarters, paying for them with money, or giving certificates, for the redemption of which the faith of the United States was pledged. This odious power general Washington was extremely backward to exercise; but at Valley Forge his necessities were so pressing that he was constrained to have recourse to it; and, notwithstanding all his precautions, the manner in which his orders were executed did not always soften the rigor of this harsh measure. Men with arms in their hands, and supported by authority, are seldom delicate in supplying their urgent wants.
The American commander-in-chief was ill-provided with money, and could make his payments only in paper of very uncertain value; but the supplies carried into Philadelphia were readily paid for by the British troops in gold and silver; and the patriotism of the people was not sufficiently ardent to prevent them from carrying their goods to the best market. It was, however, no easy matter for the country people to carry provisions into Philadelphia without detection and punishment; for the American detachments and patrols, though at a respectful distance, almost encircled the city.
While the army lay at Valley Forge, a plot was formed to remove general Washington from the chief command; and in that plot several members of congress, and a very few military officers, were concerned. Insinuations against the military talents of general Washington were industriously circulated; and the public attention was directed towards general Gates, whose success at Saratoga had thrown a brilliant lustre round his name. General Thomas Conway was an active agent in the plot; and many of the inhabitants of Pennsylvania, chagrined by the loss of their capital, and willing to devolve on the general who had twice, with inferior forces, fought the enemy in their defence, the blame of those misfortunes which had arisen from their own pusillanimity and carelessness in not reinforcing the army, readily joined in the clamor. The conduct of general Gates was equivocal, but he solemnly disclaimed all connection with the faction. The officers of general Washington’s army, strongly attached to him, felt the liveliest indignation against those intriguers who wished to remove their favorite leader from his command.
By the uniform tenor of his conduct, general Washington had won the affection and esteem of almost all his troops, both officers and privates; and, fortunately for America, there was enough of discernment in congress to resist the dark machinations of the faction, and to continue their brave and upright commander-in-chief at the head of the army. His situation, however, was by no means enviable. His army was much attached to him; but, weakened by disease, and irritated by nakedness and hunger, it was almost on the point of dissolution. In the midst of the difficulties and dangers with which he was surrounded, general Washington displayed a singular degree of steady perseverance, unshaken fortitude, and unwearied activity. Instead of manifesting irritable impatience under the malignant attacks made on his character, he behaved with magnanimity, and earnestly applied to congress, and to the legislative bodies of the several states, for reinforcements to his army, in order that he might be prepared to act with vigor in the ensuing campaign.