Washington's Immortals

by Patrick K. O'Donnell

  164 “He is a Young . . . public service.” Samuel Smith, “The Papers of General Samuel Smith. The General’s Autobiography,” in The Historical Magazine Vol VII., No. 2 (February 1870): 87.

  165 “sinister black painted.” Fischer, Washington’s Crossing, 134. Details on the navy and guns from the same source.

  165 “A mosquito couldn’t live there under my guns.” Smith, Autobiography, 87.

  165 “A shell would sink any of my galleys.” Ibid.

  165 “Yes, and falling . . . or paid.” Ibid.

  166 “fired two shot . . . of Artillery.” Smith to Washington, letter, October 11, 1777, Maryland Historical Magazine, 1910, 5:214; Washington Papers, Library of Congress; Smith Papers, MHS.

  166 “conveyed it to a Major Stuart.” Samuel Smith Papers, Columbia University Library.

  166 “Yesterday a red . . . more damage.” Smith to Washington, letter, October 20, 1777. NARA.

  166 “The rebels opened . . . our guns.” Downman, The Services of Lieut.-Colonel Francis Downman, 42.

  166 “they fired a . . . so accurately.” Münchhausen, Diary, 43.

  167 “Our men were . . . be broiled.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 49. The wounded included Marylander Neal Peacock.

  167–168 “What are you . . . to lose!” Smith to Washington, letter, October 11, 1777, Maryland Historical Magazine, 1910, Volume 5; Washington Papers, Library of Congress; Smith Papers, MHS.

  168 “[De Fleury] was . . . stroke at.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 50.

  168 “We would watch . . . us out.” Ibid.

  168 “The enemy are . . . next week.” Greene to Washington, letter, November 14, 1777, Maryland Historical Magazine, 1910, 5:214; Washington Papers, Library of Congress; Smith Papers, MHS.

  168 “I wish we . . . cursed fort.” Münchhausen, Diary, 43–44.

  168 “I imprudently went . . . the Chimney.” Smith to Washington, letter, November 12, 1777, Maryland Historical Magazine, 1910 5:214; Washington Papers, Library of Congress; Smith Papers, MHS.

  168 “rolled over and . . . front door.” Smith, Autobiography, 89–90.

  169 “some of our . . . for duty.” De Fleury to Washington, letter, November 12, 1777, NARA.

  169 “The flag was . . . this evening.” Greene to Washington, letter, November 14, 1777, NARA.

  169 “very severe . . . firing range.” Ibid.

  170 “amusing himself in . . . the cellar.” Martin Luther Brown, Baroness von Riedesel and the American Revolution (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1965), 55–59.

  172 “I believe no . . . heartfelt joy.” Washington to Continental Congress, Washington Papers, Library of Congress.

  172 “This morning . . . Main Channel.” Greenman, Diary, 85.

  172 “Mud Island was . . . lay about.” Loos to Junkenn, “In Camp near Philadelphia 30 October 1777,” cited by McGuire, The Philadelphia Campaign: Germantown.

  173 “Up with the . . . was here.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 52.

  173 “We left our . . . the island.” Ibid.

  173 “hid himself in . . . our lines.” Münchhausen, Diary, 43.

  173 “having taken too . . . British uniform.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 54.

  173 “Colonel Osborn took . . . and bloodstains.” Cochenhausen to Jungkenn, letter, November 28, 1777, cited by McGuire, The Philadelphia Campaign: Germantown.

  174 “The house of . . . been there.” Bruce Burgoyne, Enemy Views: The American Revolutionary War as Recorded by the Hessian Participants (Berwyn Heights, MD: Heritage Books, 2009), 236.

  174 “hauled down the . . . English Jack.” McGuire, The Philadelphia Campaign: Germantown.

  174 “trifling snow.” The Montresor Journals, G. D. Scull, ed. (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Library, 1882), 477.

  Chapter 20: Valley Forge and Wilmington

  175 “The only alternative . . . frozen ground.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle, 58.

  175 “not only starved . . . especially blankets.” Ibid.

  176 “Poor food—hard . . . and discouraged.” Diary of Surgeon Albigence Waldo, of the Connecticut Line, Valley Forge, 1777–1778, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

  176 “three or four . . . our destruction.” Washington to Continental Congress, letter, December 23, 1777, Papers of George Washington, LOC.

  177 “Naked and starving . . . the soldiery.” Washington to Governor George Clinton, letter, February 16, 1778. Washington Papers, LOC.

  177 “Our army suffered . . .collect provisions.” Pension application of John Boudy (Bondy, Bodray), NARA.

  177 “a smart widower . . . brave officer.” Sally Wister, Journal (Philadelphia, PA: Ferris & Leach Publishers, 1902).

  177 “I have been . . . my design.” Mordecai Gist Papers, MHS..

  177 “I have the . . . his subjects.” Ibid.

  178 “The enchanting pleasures . . . his Country.” Gist to Steward, June 13, 1777, New York Public Library Collection. The author has complete copies of the Gist letterbook and letters in the Emmett and Meyers Collections at the New York Public Library and has spent hundreds of hours interpreting General Gist’s penmanship.

  178 “1st with wounding . . . and Discipline.” George Washington, General Orders, December 3, 1777, Papers of George Washington.

  178 “however Justifiable the . . . a riot.” Ibid.

  178 “Scandalous and Infamous . . . disorderly manner.” “The Journal of Lieut. William Feltman, 1781–1782,” Collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 319.

  179 “Maryland officers in . . . other corps.” Peale, Autobiography, 5:125.

  179 “fared very . . . Prize of cloathing.” William Beatty, Journal, MHS.

  179 “very unpopular, owing . . . of Motion.” Papers of Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1980), 2:366–67.

  179 “A pretty Condition . . . the morning,” George Luck to Nathanael Greene, letter, Papers of Nathanael Greene, 2:367.

  179 “[Chaplin] and sixteen . . . leave America.” London Morning Post, June 2, 1778.

  179–180 “Lieutenant General in the King of Prussia’s service.” Benjamin Franklin, The Complete Works of Benjamin Franklin (New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1888), 6:105.

  180 “Over here! Swear at him for me!” Austin Washington, The Education of George Washington (Washington, DC: Regnery History, 2014), 244.

  Chapter 21: “A Damned Poltroon”

  184 “to face about . . . the Rebels.” O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America, 221.

  184 “I desire to . . . and confusion.” Lee P. Anderson, Forgotten Patriot: The Life and Times of Major-General Nathanael Greene (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2012), 162.

  184 “a damned poltroon.” Ibid.

  184 “a terrific eloquence of unprintable scorn.” Ibid.

  185 “It was at . . . from heaven.” Ibid.

  185 “General Washington was . . . the troops.” Harlow Giles Unger, Lafayette (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley, 2002), 79.

  185 “If you can . . . my army!” Col. N. Ramsay—A Monograph Published by the MHS, Fund Publication no. 24.

  185 “I will stop them or fall.” Ibid.

  186 “rather noted . . . the line.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 333.

  186 “making it equal . . . whole army.” Ibid.

  186 “Our Great good . . . the Artillery.” Otho Holland Williams to Philip Thomas, letter, June 29, 1778, Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  187 “prisoners” and “endeavoured . . . situation permitted.” Peale, Autobiography, 5:126.

  187 “the very flower . . . the army.” Stryker, Battles of Trenton and Princeton, 212.

  188 “While in the . . . her occupation.” Martin, Private Yankee Doodle. 75.

  188 “The Whole o
f . . . all night.” William Beatty, Journal, MHS.

  188 “The Enemy took . . . had taken.” Ibid., 12.

  189 “Three sergeants, fifty-six rank and file died with fatigue.” Henry Beebee Carrington, Battles of the American Revolution (London, 1904; reprint, Forgotten Books, 2013), 444.

  190 “I have never . . . cross belts.” Charles Albert Moré, Chevalier de Pontgibaud, A French Volunteer of the War of Independence, Robert B. Douglas, ed. and trans. (New York: D. Appleton, 1898), 93.

  190 “It is a maxim . . . its interest.” George Washington to Henry Laurens, letter, Papers of George Washington.

  190 “his hand under . . . of water.” John Adams, The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1853), 8:4.

  Chapter 22: Light Infantry

  191 “[I am] old and would die here!” J. G. Simcoe, Simcoe’s Military Journal (New York: Bartlett and Welford, 1844), 86.

  192 “a Corps of . . . Partizan Officers.” George Washington, General Orders, August 8, 1778, Papers of George Washington.

  192 “alertness, daring, and military efficiency.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 296.

  193 “Our light infantry . . . superior party.” Benjamin Ford to Governor Johnson, September 1778 (Camp White Plains), MSA.

  193 “It won’t be . . . this occasion.” Ibid.

  194 Details of British troops from O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America, 224.

  194 “With the present . . . of arms.” Ibid., 163.

  194 “If fifty thousand . . . far extended.” Ibid.

  Chapter 23: Despots

  199 “charged with disobedience . . . in chief.” Otho Williams to Elie Williams, letter, July 6, 1778, in Calendar of the General Otho Holland Williams Papers in the MHS (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Records Survey Project, 1940), 5.

  199 “most important [trial] that has occurred so far.” Ibid.

  199 “Captain [Edward] Norwood . . . of honour.” Maryland Gazette, January 5, 1779.

  200 “for only saying . . . precarious tenure.” Ibid.

  200 “Your scurrilous observations . . . of camp.” Maryland Officers to William Smallwood, March 1, 1780, in Scharf, Chronicles of Baltimore, 183–85.

  200 “not furnishing the . . . military manner.” George Washington, General Orders, March 22, 1780, Papers of George Washington.

  200 “Was present when . . .were frozen.” Gassaway Watkins, Journal, MHS.

  200 “in general the . . . and unmilitary.” Washington, General Orders, March 22, 1780.

  201 “painful as it . . . of orders.” Ibid.; George Washington to Arthur St. Clair, February 24, 1780, Papers of George Washington.

  201 “It is with . . . Excellency’s orders.” Mordecai Gist to George Washington, February 18, 1779, Gist Letterbook, Meyers Collection, New York Public Library.

  201 “like those from a favorite son.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, November 22, 1779, MHS.

  201 Among them was Lieutenant James Peale, who resumed his life as an artist. Pension application of James Peale, NARA.

  202 Details on substitutes from William Richardson to Governor, June 14, 1778, Maryland State Archives, MSA.

  203 Inflation figures from O’Shaughnessy, The Men Who Lost America, 147.

  203 “a bad supper . . . thousand dollars!” Freidrich Kapp, The Life of John Kalb, Major-General in the Revolutionary Army (Bedford, MA: Applewood Books, 1884), 184.

  204 “We have the . . . exorbitant prices.” Michael S. Adelberg, The American Revolution in Monmouth County: The Theatre of Spoil and Destruction (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2010), 65.

  204 “Col. Gist has . . . at Middletown.” Ibid., 66.

  205 “continued very peaceable . . . was 22.” William Beatty, Journal, MHS, 17.

  Chapter 24: The Gibraltar of America—

  The Midnight Storming of Stony Point

  207 “Should there be . . . to death.” General Anthony Wayne, Order of Battle, July 15, 1779, in Henry Dawson, The Assault on Stony Point (New York: New-York Historical Society, 1863), 38.

  207 “The column was . . . the body.” Hull Manuscript, Magazine of American History 28 (1892):182–83.

  207 “You performed a . . . Be satisfied.” Ibid.

  207 “desperadoes led by officers of distinguished merit.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 305.

  209 “like a parcel of devils.” Woodhull to Malcolm, letter, 7 June 1779, in Henry Phelps Johnston, The Storming of Stony Point on the Hudson (New York: James T. White, 1900), 154.

  209 “Pillars of Hercules . . . of America.” Washington Irving, A History of New York, (Philadelphia: Inskeep & Bradford, 1809).

  210 “The importance of . . . the fortifications.” George Washington to Anthony Wayne, letter, July 1, 1779, in The Life of General Washington, First President of the United States, Charles Wentworth Upham, ed. (London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, 1851), 349.

  211 “I have now . . . of them.” Washington to Major Henry Lee Jr., letter, June 28, 1779, ibid., 348–49.

  212 “What do you . . . Washington out?” McLane Manuscript, New-York Historical Society, NYHS.

  212 “I know nothing . . . attempt impossibilities.” Ibid.

  212 “only obstructed by a slight abatis.” George Washington to Anthony Wayne, letter, July 9, 1779, The Writings of George Washington, Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed. (New York and London: G.P. Putnam’s Sons and Knickerbocker Press, 1890), 486–87.

  212–13 “My ideas for . . . from them.” George Washington to Anthony Wayne, letter, July 10, 1779, ibid.

  213 “Conceal the intended . . . your hopes.” Ibid.

  213 Some information about Steward and Gassaway Watkins comes from the pension application of Michael Ellis, NARA: “He joined the Maryland troops at Wilmington on the Brandywine, then continued with them as a Volunteer till after the battle of Monmouth (not then enlisting) having escaped from on board a British man of War and landed at Chester on the Delaware and he was captured by said man of War (the Daphne a twenty gun sloop commanded by Capt. McKendrick) on a voyage from Charleston to Hispaniola and after the Battle of Monmouth he is listed in the 2nd Maryland Regiment Capt. Longs company, Long resigned shortly after he joined the Company and John Gassaway took the command of s’d company and I continued in said company about three years, that his company was at West Point when Wayne stormed Stony and some of the men of his company volunteered on that expedition. Woolford was the Colonel and John Stewart the Major of the Regiment to which this Company belonged that Stewart went with Wayne to storm Stony Point and was called by the British Lucy Jack as he understood.”

  213 “spoke very clever.” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.

  214 Information about Elias Pollock from pension application of Elias Pollock, NARA.

  214 “fresh shaved and well powdered.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 297.

  214–15 “I must acknowledge . . . other Virtue.” Anthony Wayne to George Washington, letter, July 4, 1779, in Paul David Nelson, Anthony Wayne, Soldier of the Early Republic (Bloomington: Indiana University Press,1985), 3.

  215 “We were to . . . our canteens,” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.

  215 “much of the . . . the distance.” Dawson, Assault on Stony Point, 41–42.

  215 “Off we went . . .every difficulty.” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.

  215 “I am called . . . Other World.” Dawson, Assault on Stony Point, 46–47.

  215 “we had white . . . our hats.” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.

  215 “Guards were placed . . . person passing.” Pension application of Robert Devin, NARA.

  216 “I heard the . . . toward us.” Court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, Public Records Office (PRO), Kew.

  216 “often courted Danger beyond
his tour of Duty.” Pension application of Richard Waters, NARA.

  216 “Lotts were drawn . . . upon me.” John Gibbon to Capt. Allan McLane, letter, November 27, 1871, McLane Papers, New-York Historical Society.

  217 “[We] fired five or six rounds a man.” Court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, PRO.

  217 “A large body . . . to defend.” Ibid.

  217 “passing the abatis . . . know it.” Pension application of Noel Battles, NARA.

  217 “[My commanding officer] . . . his firelock.” Testimony of Lt. John Ross, court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, PRO.

  217–18 “[One of my men] . . . damned Scoundrel!” Ibid.

  218 “The Cannon was . . . this time.” Pension application of Thomas Pope, NARA.

  218 “Seventeen out of . . . the three-pounder.” Testimony of Lt. William Hornden, Royal Artillery, court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, Public Records Office (PRO). The author accessed the originals, located in the Public Records Office in Kew. Most of the original language was retained, although some spelling was modernized and pronouns were occasionally changed from third to first person. Another fine book—Don Loprieno, The Enterprise in Contemplation: The Midnight Assault of Stony Point (Westminster, MD: Heritage Books, 2009)—also contains a copy of Johnson’s court-martial.

  218 “The rebels are . . . [him] insensible.” Court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, PRO.

  218 “Face the damn rascals!” Ibid.

  219 “Damn ye, who are you!” Ibid.

  219 “narrowly escaped from that party.” Ibid.

  219 “muddy to the . . . to rags.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 299.

  219 “John O’Hara received . . . through life.” Pension application of John O’Hara, NARA.

  219 “Father Joseph Coffman . . . Stony Point.” Pension application of Joseph Coffman, NARA.

  219 “[I] escaped receiving . . . literally riddled.” Pension application of Isaac Jackson, Virginia, NARA.

  220 “in the hottest . . . the Slaughter.” Pension application of Peter Francisco, NARA.

  220 “spear in hand,” Dawson, The Assault on Stony Point, 50.