Ending the hostilities did not arrest the dissension within the American military. Before the Treaty of Paris received approval, Washington redeployed the Continentals from Yorktown to New York. From his headquarters in Newburgh along the Hudson, he kept a vigilant eye on enemies inside and outside the lines. Regiments camped in the hills of New Windsor, where grievances festered. The rank and file worried about back pay and land bounties, while officers awaited news about promised pensions. Rumors circulated among the troops about a military coup d'état, which possibly involved members of the high command. A cadre conspired to make Washington a dictator or a king, but he rebuked them.
Washington outlined a “peace establishment” not only to face external threats but also to prevent internal uprisings. “It may be laid down as a primary position and the basis of our system,” he posited, “that every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free government owes not only a proportion of his property but even his personal services to the defense of it.” In addition to establishing regular units, he recommended that all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 50 train for active duty in the militia. Congress disregarded his plan for “standing armies in time of peace,” instead slashing the number of military personnel on the rolls as quickly as possible.
Military personnel grumbled about the scheduling of indefinite furloughs, which insinuated a ploy to deny them overdue compensation. With drums and bayonets, hundreds of citizen soldiers marched outside the Pennsylvania State House on June 21, 1783. Congress appealed directly to the commander-in-chief, who decided to send Continentals under General Robert Howe from West Point to Philadelphia. Until the crisis abated, the delegates met in Princeton and in Annapolis. Several mutineers faced court-martials and death sentences, but Congress eventually pardoned them.
While Congress disbanded the armed forces, veterans retained their muskets, ammunition, and clothing. The delegates turned the officers' pensions into a severance payment equal to five years of full salary. They issued final settlement certificates to service members and later issued land warrant certificates, which became a form of fiat currency. Congress persisted as a national institution, but the Continental Army and Navy ceased to exist.
Congress finalized the Treaty of Paris, which was signed on September 3, 1783. The first article announced British recognition of the “free sovereign and independent states.” Moreover, provisions extended American control of territory westward to the Mississippi River. Although ambiguities about the northern and southern borders remained, Americans gained concessions regarding fishing rights off Newfoundland, on the St. Lawrence River, and along the Atlantic coastline of Canada. However vague and slippery, clauses about pre-war debts and loyalist property assuaged London. The Royal Army and Navy deplored the writ but began their final withdrawal from the United States “with all convenient speed.” Diplomats formally exchanged ratifications the following year, when America's “birth certificate” became official.
On November 2, 1783, Washington issued farewell orders to “the Armies of the United States of America.” Eager to return to Mount Vernon for the winter, he hoped to calm the restless and footloose men in uniform. His words reinforced the notion of civilian authority over the military, even calling the war's outcome “little short of a standing miracle.”
Crossing the Hudson a month later, the commander-in-chief met Congress in Annapolis for the last time. He bowed to the delegates and announced his retirement from “the great theater of action.” His gestures and cadence insinuated a passion for the plays of the European Enlightenment. Surrendering his commission to “this august body,” he chose to exit the stage with honor.
America possessed no chivalric or noble orders, although many ex-Continental officers joined the Society of the Cincinnati after the war ended. While Knox organized the exclusive fraternal organization, the charter made membership hereditary. Their contributions established a charity fund for veterans struggling in civilian life. Considered the embodiment of the revolution, Washington served as their first president general.
Conclusion
Washington won the long war by remaining fixed upon his military objective – American independence. Because the rebellion initially erupted in New England, he organized the Continental Army near Boston in 1775. He experienced several tactical defeats at the hands of opposing officers, who outmaneuvered him in New York and in Pennsylvania. His overall strategy, however, kept the armed forces intact while wearing down the resolve of Great Britain. Conversely, British commanders captured cities along the coast but lost control of the countryside. Furthermore, the Franco-American alliance forced the empire to employ resources and manpower in other theaters. The British shift toward a southern strategy temporarily restored some Royal governments, although the tenacity of the Americans prevented the Crown from making sustainable gains. With the surrender of an army at Yorktown, London decided to negotiate a peaceful settlement. In the end, Washington shocked the world by deferring to Congress and by reinforcing the principle of civilian authority over the military.
Like a number of his fellow Americans, Washington saw more death and deprivation during the revolution than he ever imagined possible. Out of a total population of 3.5 million, more than 200,000 volunteered for active service. The participation ratio in wartime amounted to less than 6 percent, even if countless noncombatants sacrificed as well. Though estimates varied, fatalities among soldiers and sailors reached as high as 25,674. While 7,174 were killed in action, at least 10,000 perished from diseases in camp. Approximately 8,500 died as prisoners of war, while over 1,000 went missing. Another 8,241 received wounds in battle yet survived. Because the Continentals performed most of the combat missions, as many as one-third became casualties. Scores of veterans felt neglected and abandoned in peacetime but nonetheless saluted the republican model of the legendary Cincinnatus.
The republican model shaped the force structure of the American military, which Congress largely dismantled before 1787. Commemorating the service of an armed citizenry, patriotic leaders recalled that standing forces represented a grave danger to liberty. They reviled the Royal Army and Navy as instruments of tyranny, while American warriors defended their homes as both citizens and soldiers. Troops hailed from diverse communities across North America, where they eschewed the kind of social stratification that pervaded the Atlantic world at the time. Their ranks included affluent merchants and planters as well as bedraggled immigrants and slaves. Remarkably, the Continentals operated under a unified command that transformed an inter-colonial militia into an interstate army and navy. Even though European assistance proved indispensable, the United States won independence from Great Britain by managing volunteer forces for a long war.
The War for Independence inspired a Massachusetts militiaman and playwright named Royall Tyler to author The Contrast (1787), the first theatrical production of the United States. The comedy satirized the essential differences between the American and British “constitutions.” On stage, a veteran named Colonel Henry Manly wears his uniform but appears unfashionable to high society. He finds himself at odds with Billy Dimple, an Anglophile fop driven to acquire wealth through dishonesty. The two characters compete to win the affections of a beautiful coquette, Maria Van Rough, who seeks asylum in “the arms of a man of honor.” Once Maria's father intervenes in the quarrel, he discovers the virtues of the modest colonel. In the finale, he agrees to Manly's proposal for marriage to Maria. As the curtain fell, an American Cincinnatus in the audience undoubtedly applauded with glee.
Essential Questions
1 What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Continentals at the start of the war?
2 How did civil society exercise control over the armed forces during the revolution?
3 Why did the Royal Army and Navy fail to defeat the American military at Yorktown?
Suggested Readings
Calloway, Colin G. The American Revolution in Indian Country: Crisis and Diversity in Native American Communit
ies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Carp, E. Wayne. To Starve the Army at Pleasure: Continental Army Administration and American Political Culture, 1775–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1984.
Cox, Caroline. A Proper Sense of Honor: Service and Sacrifice in George Washington's Army. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004.
Ferling, John. Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Fleming, Thomas. Liberty! The American Revolution. New York: Viking Press, 1997.
Fowler, William M. Rebels under Sail: The American Navy during the Revolution. New York: Scribner, 1976.
Frey, Sylvia R. Water from the Rock: Black Resistance in a Revolutionary Age. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
Hibbert, Christopher. Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution through British Eyes. New York: W. W. Norton, 2002.
Higginbotham, Donald. The War of Independence. New York: Macmillan, 1983.
Lengel, Edward G. General George Washington: A Military Life. New York: Random House, 2005.
Martin, James Kirby, ed. Ordinary Courage: The Revolutionary War Adventures of Joseph Plumb Martin. St. James, NY: Brandywine Press, 1993.
Martin, James Kirby, and Mark Edward Lender. A Respectable Army: The Military Origins of the Republic, 1763–1789. 2nd edition. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2006.
Mayer, Holly A. Belonging to the Army: Camp Followers and Community during the American Revolution. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999.
Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789. Revised and expanded edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Morrison, Samuel Eliot. John Paul Jones: A Sailor's Biography. New York: Little, Brown, 1959.
Myers, Minor. Liberty without Anarchy: A History of the Society of the Cincinnati. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983.
Perret, Geoffrey. A Country Made by War: From the Revolution to Vietnam – the Story of America's Rise to Power. New York: Random House, 1989.
Royster, Charles. A Revolutionary People at War: The Continental Army and American Character, 1775–1783. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979.
Shy, John. A People Numerous and Armed: Reflections on the Military Struggle for American Independence. New York: Oxford University Press, 1976.
Ward, Harry M. The American Revolution: Nationhood Achieved, 1763–1788. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1995.
3
Establishing the Military (1787–1812)
Introduction
On February 9, 1799, Commodore Thomas Truxtun steered a naval squadron between Puerto Rico and St. Kitts. His flagship, the U.S.S. Constellation, was a 36-gun frigate built by a shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland. The keel measured 161 feet long and the beam was 40 feet wide. With 340 crewmen and a strong wind, the sail achieved at least 10 knots. Designed to outpace any man-of-war, the American warship searched the Caribbean Sea for possible menaces.
The Constellation was cruising a few leagues east of Nevis at noon, when an unknown vessel appeared westward nearly 15 miles away. After moving closer, Truxtun attempted to make contact but received no response. He ordered all hands to quarters in anticipation of a chase. The prey was the L'Insurgente, a 40-gun French frigate captained by Michel Pierre Barreaut.
Around 2:00 p.m., a tropical storm caught L'Insurgente by surprise. In a violent gust, the topmast snapped and crashed to the deck. The French crew struggled to recover, while Barreaut ordered them to prepare for a fight.
Thanks to quick maneuvering, the Constellation managed to handle the tempest. The “Yankee Racehorse” ranged up on the lee quarter of the French frigate and delivered a full broadside from 100 yards away. Able to see the faces of their opponents through the gun-ports, the American crew aimed for the hull with the 24-pounders. L'Insurgente returned fire, aiming for the mast, rigging, and sails. Barreaut attempted to grapple and to board, but Truxtun avoided entanglement by running circles around L'Insurgente. The cannons of the Constellation delivered more broadsides and raked the bow and the stern for over an hour.
The Constellation achieved a surprise victory while operating in the Caribbean. Truxtun counted only two deaths and four injuries among his crew, while the French reported 29 dead and 41 wounded. He sent Lieutenant John Rodgers and Midshipman David Porter with a boarding party to take possession of the prize. Upon their arrival in St. Kitts, American sailors received applause from British observers.
Figure 3.1 Action between U.S. frigate Constellation and French frigate L'Insurgente. John W. Schmidt. Photo KN-2882, U.S. Navy Historical Center, Department of the Navy
The exploits of the Constellation generated an outpouring of praise across the United States. In the taverns of seaports, citizens toasted Truxtun and his “brave Yankee boys.” While some bragged about their feats of strength, others celebrated their defense of freedom. Unbowed by overseas despots, they waved the banner of liberty along the shores of North America and beyond. A fledgling naval force prevailed against the odds, as a handful of frigates battled against empires and pirates. The hearty crews reveled in their unique contributions to national greatness. Their victories at sea helped Americans to appreciate the inconvenient truth that respect in international affairs depended upon the force of arms.
Throughout the age of sail, Americans appeared vulnerable to foreign threats and to domestic insurgencies. Burdened by massive war debt, the country struggled to address serious challenges to national security. The U.S. population approached 4 million in the wake of the American Revolution, while additional states formed nascent governments in the continental interior. With only a token regiment to garrison the forts, the dominion obtained under the Treaty of Paris remained unstable. Civil society needed to strengthen the armed forces without imperiling republican virtues. Nation-building held great promise as well as great risk, which the ongoing debates about establishing a military underscored.
After winning independence from the British Empire, the nation began a long war for control of the North American continent. Free at last, American leaders relied largely on the state militias to provide military personnel. However, they seemed incapable of addressing interstate quarrels, non-state actors, and trade disputes. Furthermore, the specter of a civil war troubled Congress for years. Native American populations dominated the contested ground from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River, while European powers buffeted the young and fragile republic on the Atlantic seaboard. As the eighteenth century closed, Americans confronted a hostile world beset with lawlessness.
National Forces
Under the Articles of Confederation, Americans formed a weak national government. Congress could not levy taxes, wage war, or regulate commerce. States squabbled over sovereignty claims and refused to furnish military regiments. A number of citizens continued to express antipathy toward the prospect of national forces.
Without national forces, the Confederation lacked the power to administer the western territories. Veterans of the Continental Army received land grants, while speculators formed land companies claiming vast tracts of real estate. However, Indian people resisted new incursions altogether. Settlers demanded protection against Indian militancy, especially near the Ohio River. Congress concluded a series of treaties with several Indian nations, but negotiations by government agents failed to keep pace with the expanding settlements.
Indian nations south of the Ohio River expected the Spanish Empire to forestall American expansion. Given the conniving of Spanish officials in Louisiana, a number of settlers west of the Appalachians flirted with secession. Spain banned American traffic on the Mississippi River and asserted a territorial claim to the Yazoo strip. Their possession of Florida turned the Gulf of Mexico into a “Spanish lake.” Congress appointed John Jay as Secretary of Foreign Affairs to negotiate with Spanish minister Don Diego de Gardoqui. Unable to show force
on land or at sea, Americans gained no diplomatic concessions from Spain.
The British recognized American independence but isolated their former colonies. While trading arms to Indian allies, Royal officials refused to relinquish military posts on American soil. The redcoats remained active across the Great Lakes region. The British mercantile system also prevented American merchantmen from carrying commodities to the West Indies, which devastated the agricultural sector in most states. Outside the British Empire, American ships needed safeguarding while exploring new outlets for commerce across the world.
On the edge of the Atlantic world, American separatists plotted to form breakaway republics. In Massachusetts, armed bands closed local courts to prevent farm foreclosures. Captain Daniel Shays, a destitute veteran of the Continental Army from Pelham, organized 1,200 rebels to seize the arsenal at Springfield. On January 25, 1787, they clashed with 4,400 militiamen in a snowy field. A cannon barrage killed four rebels, while dozens more suffered wounds. After more skirmishes the next month, the rebels scattered across the state's borders. A few fled to Quebec, where they sought arms and ammunition from America's enemies. Although the rebellion in Massachusetts faltered, more insurgent groups appeared ready to take action around the country.
The American Military - A Narrative History Page 10
