The Life of George Washington

Chapter 18. Governing Without Teeth: Mutiny; Failures of Supply; a French Force Stalls (January to September 1780)

GW_201-250.indd 207 5/2/12 7:45 AM CHAPTER 18 Governing Without Teeth: Mutiny; Failures of Supply; a French Force Stalls (January to September q8o) Distress in camp. -Requisitions on the States. -New scheme of finance. -Resolution to make up depreciation ofpay.-Mutiny in the line ofConnecticut.- GeneralKnyphausen enters jersey.-Sir Henry Clinton returns to New York. -Skirmish at Springfield.Bank established at Philadelphia.- Contributions ofthe ladies. -Arrival ofa French armament in Rhode Island.-Changes in the Quarter-Master's department.-Naval superiority ofthe British. WHILE DISASTERS thus crowded on each other in the South, the com- ,7so mander-in-chiefwas surrounded with difficulties which threatened calamities equallydistressing. His earnest requisitions for men to supply the places of those whose terms ofservice had expired, were not complied with; and the soldiers who remained could scarcely be preserved from perishing with cold and hunger, or dispersing and living on plunder. General Greene and Colonel Wadsworth, who had been placed at the head of the Quarter-Master and Commissary department, possessed distinguished merit. Yet, during the campaign, the rations were frequently reduced; and, on coming into winter quarters, the exhausted magazines furnished neither meat nor flour. The rapid depreciation of the currency, ascribed truly to the quantity in circulation, induced Congress, among other expedients, to withhold from the public agents the money necessary for public purposes, and thus oblige them to purchase on credit. The difference between the value of money at the time of contract and of payment, being soon perceived, had its influence on contracts; and the failure of the government to provide funds 207 GW_201-250.indd 208 5/2/12 7:45 AM ~ COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE REVOLUTION :>&to meet the demands, destroyed the credit of public agents. Towards the close ofthe year 1779, they found it impracticable to obtain supplies for the subsistence ofthe army. Early in January, notice was given by the Commissary that it was absolutely impossible longer to supply the army, as he was without money and had totally exhausted his credit. To relieve the immediate and pressing wants of his soldiers, the commander -in-chiefwas under the necessity of requiring from each county in Jersey, a supply ofprovisions proportioned to its resources, to be forwarded to the camp in six days. Though the country had been much exhausted, the supplies required were instantly furnished. Congress had solemnly resolved to limit the emission of bills on credit of the continent, to two hundred millions of dollars. This emission was completed, and the money expended in November 1779. The requisitions on the states for money not being fully complied with, it became necessary to devise other means for the prosecution of the war. So early as December 1779, Congress had determined to change the mode ofsupplying the army from purchases to requisitions ofspecific articles on the several states. This subject was under deliberation till the 25th of February , when sundry resolutions were passed apportioning on the states their respective quotas. To induce a compliance with these requisitions, a resolution was also passed, declaring "that any state which shall have taken the necessary measures for furnishing its quota, and have given notice thereofto Congress, shall be authorized to prohibit any continental Quarter-Master or Commissary from purchasing within its limits." These resolutions received the anxious attention of the commander-inchief , who communicated to Congress, with sincere regret, the serious defects he perceived in their arrangements. In addition to the radical objection felt by all men of experience to the abandonment of the national and the adoption of the state system for the conduct of the war, and of that to the obvious inadequacy of all the estimates to the demand, the total omission to provide means for supplying occasional deficiencies from the resources of any particular state, and the principle which enabled any state complying with the requisition to prohibit continental agents from purchasing within its territory, appeared to 208 GW_201-250.indd 209 5/2/12 7:45 AM E> In a spirit of revenge, more in the character of Tryon who was with him, than ofthe general who commanded, this settlement was reduced to ashes. From the Farms, Knyphausen proceeded to Springfield. The Jersey brigade , and the militia of the adjacent country, showing a determination to defend that place, he halted in its neighborhood, and remained on his ground till night. General Washington put his army in motion early in...