Valley Forge
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Perhaps more chillingly: Ibid., p. 314, citing “James Varnum to Mrs. William Greene, 7 March 1778,” John Reed Collection.
The hostile interactions between Continental troops: Ibid.
The Hessians in particular: Ibid., p. 156, citing “John Brooks, 5 January 1778,” Miscellaneous Collection, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.
Two days after the battle of Germantown: http://www.gwyneddmeeting.org/history/minutes1776.html.
Not the least of these events was a 1775 decree: Siebert, “The Loyalists of Pennsylvania.”
In defiance of the legislation: Ibid.
While most Quakers fled: Crane, The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker. (See also http://www.gwyneddmeeting.org/history/minutes1776.html.)
This practice eventually led: Mowday, September 11, 1777, p. 57.
Yet whatever his private feelings: “From George Washington to the Society of Free Quakers, c. 8 April 1790,” in The Papers of George Washington, Presidential Series, Vol. 5, ed. Twohig, Mastromarino, and Warren, pp. 296–99.
That the thoughts: http://mentalfloss.com/article/51899/7-john-adams-greatest-insults.
In his 1910 biography of his paternal grandfather: Hamilton, The Intimate Life of Alexander Hamilton, p. 245.
Laurens, with his odes: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 23 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, pp. 111–12.
If the men who had journeyed: Flexner, George Washington: The Indispensable Man, p. 251.
He and his staff had spent: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 202.
Composed in the baroque vernacular: “From George Washington to a Continental Congress Camp Committee, 29 January 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 376–409.
Fashioned in the form of a legal indictment: Ibid., “To George Washington from Henry Laurens, 27 January 1778,” pp. 364–66.
In an attached note he suggested: Ibid.
But it wasn’t burned: Ibid., “From George Washington to Henry Laurens, 31 January 1778,” pp. 420–21.
In his report to the delegates: Ibid., “From George Washington to a Continental Congress Camp Committee, 29 January 1778,” pp. 376–409.
He singled out the Maryland militia’s . . . In his conclusion Washington drove home: Ibid.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY: “Howe’s Players”
At Valley Forge, what one historian: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 255.
Washington’s daily General Orders reveal: Jackson, Valley Forge: Pinnacle of Courage, p. 178.
Although daily lashings: 2 Corinthians, 11:24.
This in turn would lead: “To George Washington from Major General Horatio Gates, 24 January 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 329–32.
“Should your Excellency think”: Ibid.
“It is feared that the ambition”: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 28 January 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 113.
Mounted units of Redcoats: Ibid., “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 17 February 1778,” p. 128.
And if by hard chance: Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, p. 40.
the youngest Shippen child: Willard Sterne Randall and Nancy Nahra, Forgotten Americans: Footnote Figures Who Changed American History. New York: Da Capo, 1999, p. 83.
It was said that André’s eyes possessed: Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, p. 37.
Shortly after occupying Philadelphia: Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, p. 320.
“I renewed my solicitation”: Clinton, American Rebellion, p. 84.
“We may rest assured”: “Circular to the States, 29 December 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 36–39.
“Be that as it may”: Ibid.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Franklin’s Miracle
“Honourable Sir,” he began: “Franklin and Silas Deane to the President of Congress, 8 February 1778,” in Willcox, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 25, October 1, 1777, through February 28, 1778, pp. 634–35.
Franklin, weighing the seizing or sinking: Sparks, The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. I, p. 361.
Yet in the spring of 1776: http://www.stratfordhall.org/meet-the-lee-family/arthur-lee/.
He feared that Deane’s words: Connecticut Historical Society Museum, Document 18.
Despite Lee’s enthusiasm for breaking: Vowell, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States, p. 205.
He noted Lee’s long and deep connection: Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, p. 98.
Madame Brillon, 38 years Franklin’s junior: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-05-06/features/9002070773_1_commandments-18th-century-love-papa.
Franklin did his best to ignore: “From Benjamin Franklin to Arthur Lee, 3 April 1778,” in Willcox, The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 26, p. 223.
Franklin did, however, find it prudent: Ibid.
Before Austin could dismount: Isaacson, Benjamin Franklin: An American Life, p. 343.
“But, sir,” he said: Ibid.
Franklin clapped, and replied: Ibid.
One witness likened the two: https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/foreigners/miscellany/voltaire-and-benjamin-franklin-share-sweet-embrace.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: “Those Dear Raggedy Continentals”
Washington was forced to deny: “From George Washington to Major General John Sullivan, 14 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 541–42.
It is likely that John Laurens: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 17 February 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, pp. 126–27.
He described an army: Ibid.
During the Christmas food shortage: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 252, citing “Anonymous memorandum specifying criteria for honoring civilian claims for payment for goods seized by the army near Valley Forge, January 1778,” George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
“We are situated in a place”: J. M. Varnum to Major General Alexander McDougall, Feb. 7,” Alexander McDougall Papers, New-York Historical Society.
It was Congress: “Alexander Hamilton to George Clinton, 13 February 1778,” in Syrett, Papers of Alexander Hamilton, p. 425.
When Greene pressed him: “From George Washington to James Warren, 31 March 1779,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 19, ed. Chase and Ferraro, pp. 673–75.
If Greene should catch any: Ibid.
He himself, upon being named commander in chief: Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, Vol. IX, p. 443.
This restraint, he wrote: Ibid.
As he told Greene: “From George Washington to Major General Nathanael Greene, 16 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 556–57.
“I determine to forage”: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 287, citing “Nathanael Greene to Washington, 15 February 1778,” George Washington Papers, Library of Congress.
But as he observed: Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, p. 85.
“The real condition of Washington”: Smith, John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, p. 63.
He had not counted on: Ibid.
These measures of “temporary relief”: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 17 February 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778,” pp. 126–27.
Yet British records indicate: “From George Washington to William Buchanan, 7 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 465–66.
While penned up in the Potts House: Ibid.
And it was not only enlisted: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 265.
“The love of freedom”: Commager and Morris, The Spirit of ’Seventy-Six: The Story of the
American Revolution as Told by Participants, pp. 650–51.
It was only his enormous self-control: “From George Washington to William Gordon, 15 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 545–46.
Their revolutionary credentials: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 9 March 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 134.
And if, as Laurens predicted: Ibid.
It took an anonymous French officer: Gilbert Chinard, George Washington: As the French Knew Him, p. 13.
For that was the month: Wick, George Washington: An American Icon, p. 9.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: The Political Maestro
It took the Camp Committee less: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 208, citing “Committee of Conference, ‘Minutes,’ 29 January 1778,” in Burnett, Letters, Vol. III, p. 62.
“Pray Use your Influence”: “Brig. Gen. John Patterson to Thomas Marshall, 23 February,” Ely Collection, MG 14, New Jersey Historical Society.
Others were like Connecticut’s acerbic: “Jedediah Huntington to Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, 20 February, 1778,” Trumbull Papers, Vol. 6, No. 4, Connecticut State Library, Hartford.
Similar mutterings and Washington’s dramatically: “From George Washington to George Clinton, 16 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 552–54.
Each and every regiment: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 249, citing “Francis Dana, 16 February 1778,” Dreer Collection, Members of the Old Congress, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
As an aside in the National Park: Ibid., p. 210.
Morris warned Clinton: Ibid., p. 215, citing “Gouverneur Morris to George Clinton, 17 February 1778,” Emmet Collection, No. 4190, New York State Library, Albany.
Hamilton in particular: Chernow, Alexander Hamilton, p. 108.
He dreaded the idea: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 315, citing “Nathanael Greene to Alexander McDougall, 28 March 1778,” Alexander McDougall Papers, New-York Historical Society.
Those who still survived: “Brig. Gen. John Patterson (of Massachusetts) to Thomas Marshall, Feb. 23,” Ely Collection, MG 14, New Jersey Historical Society.
“tryals and Sufferings”: “Thomas Jones to Charles Stewart, Feb. 18, 1778,” Charles Stewart Collection, New York State Historical Association.
The members of the Camp Committee laid: “Jedediah Huntington to Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, Feb. 20,” Trumbull Papers, Vol. 6, No. 4, Connecticut State Library.
Without mentioning Gen. Greene: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 202, citing “Committee of Conference to Henry Laurens, 20 February 1778,” Papers of the Continental Congress, NARA, Washington, DC, RG 93, M-247, Roll 40, NA.
All the while Washington continued: “Alexander Hamilton to Gov. George Clinton,” in Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. I, p. 428.
The five delegates contended: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 241, citing “Committee of Conference to Henry Laurens, 25 February 1778,” PCC, RG 93, M-247, Roll 40, NA.
Under Gates’s new operation: Ibid.
Eschewing his usual dictation: “From George Washington to Lieutenant Colonel John Fitzgerald, 28 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 694–95.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Martha
In private, Washington considered: “From George Washington to Brigadier General Thomas Nelson, Jr., 8 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 480–82.
Proclaiming himself “flattered”: Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. I (18 February 1778), p. 288.
In addition, he demanded: Ibid.
“I know that Conway”: Ibid. (26 January 1778), p. 253.
They did, Lafayette later: Ibid. (27 January 1778), p. 255.
Pining for the crisp New England: “James Mitchell Varnum to Mrs. William Greene, March 7, 1778,” John Reed Collection, Valley Forge National Historical Park.
Gates’s old opponent Benedict Arnold: Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, p. 193.
Discouraged and frustrated: Idzerda, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution, Vol. I (19 February 1778), pp. 295–96.
Whether this had resulted: Ibid.
He was embarrassed: Ibid., p. 300.
Instead, in an attempt to assuage: “From George Washington to Major General Lafayette, 10 March 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14, ed. Hoth, pp. 132–33.
As for the news: Ibid.
Finally, regarding the prospect: Ibid.
Instead, he wrote to Gates: “From George Washington to Major General Horatio Gates, 24 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 654–55.
He was praying aloud: http://ushistory.org/valleyforge/washington/prayer.html.
Washington was known to instruct: “General Orders, 18 October 1777,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 11, ed. Chase and Lengel, pp. 541–42.
And though his public: Ibid., “From George Washington to John Augustine Washington, 18 October 1777,” pp. 551–53.
As the historian and Revolutionary War: Fleming, Washington’s Secret War, p. 191.
On the other hand, the most: Chernow, Washington: A Life, p. 326.
This variant had the Marquis: http://ushistory.org/valleyforge/washington/prayer.html.
“In none of these”: http://www.ushistory.org/valleyforge/washington/prayer.html.
Having already issued: “Proclamation on Cattle, 18 February 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 13, ed. Lengel, pp. 577–78.
The orders stressed that: Ibid., “General Orders, 22 February 1778,” pp. 637–39.
♦ PART III Epigraph
“I rejoice most sincerely”: “From George Washington to Robert Morris, 25 May 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 15, ed. Lengel, pp. 221–22.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Prussian Spring
However, one teenage: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/baron-von-steuben-180963048/.
The king’s summer palace: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/10/frederick-the-great-king-of-prussia-is-a-great-read/.
Moreover, Franklin wrote that it was: Lockhart, The Drillmaster of Valley Forge, p. 45.
The object of his “greatest ambition”: Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, p. 320.
Laurens was so impressed: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 28 February 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of Colonel John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 131.
“Our men [remain]”: Ibid., p. 112, letter of 23 February 1778.
He also noted that Steuben: Ibid.
“With a little more discipline”: Ibid.
His first report detailed: Buchanan, The Road to Valley Forge, pp. 303–4.
“We want some kind”: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 28 February 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 132.
As he wrote to an old friend: Lockhart, The Drillmaster of Valley Forge, p. 1.
♦ CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: The Rains Never Cease
“Now is the time to press”: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 336, citing “Sir Henry Clinton to the Duke of Newcastle, 22 March 1778,” Newcastle MSS, Nottingham University Library.
They thus commanded: Plaque at Museum of the American Revolution, Philadelphia, PA.
His men and horses: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 337, citing “William Howe to Lord George Germain (extract), 19 April 1778,” Germain Papers, William L. Clements Library.
“America never entertained”: Parliamentary Register, 10:13, 30–33.
The British stock market: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 333, citing “Lord George Germain
to Sir Henry Clinton, 8 March 1778,” Secret Dispatch Book, Germain Papers, William L. Clements Library.
Specifically, if upon taking command: Ibid.
It was a sound blueprint: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 334, citing “George III, ‘Secret Instructions for Our Trusty and Wellbeloved Sir Henry Clinton, K.B. and General & Commander in Chief of Our Forces in North America or the Commander in Chief of Our Forces for the time being,’ 21 March 1778,” Clinton Papers, William L. Clements Library.
To erase any doubt: Bodle, Valley Forge Report, Vol. 1, p. 335, citing “Admiralty Board to Lord Richard Howe, 22 March 1778,” quoted in Mackesy, The War for America, p. 186.
The new orders included a coda: Ibid., p. 334, citing “George III, ‘Secret Instructions,’ 21 March 1778,” Clinton Papers, William L. Clements Library.
Washington even tweaked: “From George Washington to Major General Horatio Gates, 6 March 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14, ed. Hoth, pp. 77–79.
Nonetheless, Washington’s deputy commissary: Ibid., “General Orders, 1 March 1778,” pp. 1–4.
In one of his first official acts: “James Thompson to Clement Biddle, March 2, 1778,” Washington Papers, Roll 47, Library of Congress.
Washington, stalling for time: “General Orders, 1 March 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14, ed. Hoth, pp. 1–4.
Notably, in that same General: Ibid.
John Laurens, ever the melancholy: “John Laurens Letter to Henry Laurens, 9 March 1778,” in Simms, The Army Correspondence of John Laurens 1777–1778, p. 135.
While Laurens agonized over: “Alexander Hamilton to Gov. George Clinton, March 12, 1778,” in Syrett, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Vol. I, p. 441.
Offended by the Continentals’ lack: “From George Washington to Brigadier General Casimir Pulaski, 3 March 1778,” in The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, Vol. 14, ed. Hoth, pp. 49–50.