His Excellency_George Washington

by Joseph J. Ellis

  38. For Washington’s response to the British successes in Virginia, see Washington to Rochambeau, 7 June 1781, WW 22:171.

  39. Washington confided to Lafayette that his greatest fear was an inconclusive campaign in 1781, leading to a negotiated settlement based on the current deployment of both armies. See Washington to Lafayette, 30 July 1781, WW 22:431–32.

  40. Washington to Joseph Jones, 7 June 1781, WW 22:178–79; Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 8 June 1781, ibid., 181–82. Memorandum, 1 May 1781, ibid., 23; Henry Clinton to George Germain, 9 June 1781, in ibid., 132, where Clinton claims to have learned “most perfect knowledge of the designs of the Enemy.” For his later claim about a southern campaign, see Washington to Noah Webster, 31 July 1788, PWCF 6:413–15. See also Diaries 3:375. Washington resumed making entries in his diary in the spring of 1781 after several years of neglect.

  41. See the editorial note in WW 22:208 for Rochambeau’s letter to de Grasse, urging the French admiral to sail for the Chesapeake rather than New York; Diaries 3:403; Washington to Robert Morris, 2 August 1781, WW 22:450–51. See also Washington to Lafayette, 30 July 1781, ibid., 432–33.

  42. Washington to de Grasse, 17 August 1781, WW 23:7–10; Washington to Lafayette, 2 September 1781, ibid., 75. See also Washington to William Greene, 22–24 August 1781, ibid., 46.

  43. Washington to Robert Howe, 24 September 1781, ibid., 132. See also Washington to de Grasse, 6 September 1781, ibid., 92–93.

  44. General Orders, 5 October 1781, ibid., 179–85; Washington to President of Congress, 12 October 1781, ibid., 212–13. See also Lee Kennett, The French Forces in America, 1780–83 (Westport, 1977), 48–141.

  45. Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, 198–99.

  46. Washington to Cornwallis, 18 October 1781, WW 23:237–38; Washington to President of Congress, ibid., 241–44; Diaries 3:429–30; Washington to de Grasse, 20 October 1781, ibid., 248–50.

  47. Diaries 3:432–33, which contains editorial notes on the surrender ceremony; Martin, Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier, 206–8, which is especially good on the released slaves; Washington to David Ross, 24 October 1781, WW 23:262, on the policy toward the slaves; for Jackie’s illness and death, see Diaries 3:437 and Washington to President of Congress, 6 November 1781, WW 23:338.

  48. Washington to James McHenry, 12 September 1782, WW 25:151; Washington to Jonathan Trumbull, 28 November 1781, WW 23:359–60; Circular to the States, 19 December 1781, ibid., 397–99.

  49. Washington to Thomas Paine, 18 September 1782, WW 25:176–77; Washington to Nathanael Greene, 6 August 1782, WW 24:471. For Washington’s insistence on remaining prepared to renew the war, see the correspondence in WW 24:63, 121–25, 243; WW 25:265.

  50. Washington addressed the persistent rumors about his Cromwellian intentions in Washington to William Gordon, 2 August 1779 and 23 October 1782, WW 16:39; 25:287. See also the editorial note, reproducing John Sullivan’s report on a sermon in Boston warning of Washington’s dictatorial power, in WW 17:266–67.

  51. Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 2 May 1780, WW 18:320, asking Hamilton to respond to charges about his provocative remarks.

  52. Washington to Lewis Nicola, 22 May 1782, WW 24:272–73, which also reproduces sections of Nicola’s letter to Washington. For the remark by George III, see Garry Wills, Cincinnatus: George Washington and the Enlightenment (Garden City, 1984), 13.

  53. Washington to Benjamin Harrison, 4 March 1783, WW 26:184–85.

  54. Washington to James Bowdoin, 26 April 1780, WW 18:298, on executive power; Washington to Arthur Lee, 29 March 1783, WW 26:265–66; Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 31 March 1783, ibid., 276–77. And these are but a few of the multiple letters on this theme.

  55. Washington to John Armstrong, 10 January 1783, WW 26:26–27; Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 4 March 1783, ibid., 185–88.

  56. The authoritative work on the Newburgh Conspiracy is Richard H. Kohn, Eagle and Sword: The Beginnings of the Military Establishment in America (New York, 1975), 17–39. See also the scholarly article by Kohn, “The Inside History of the Newburgh Conspiracy: America and the Coup d’Etat,” WMQ 27 (1970), 187–220. Washington himself believed that the conspiracy originated in the Congress and apprised Hamilton, who was probably implicated, that “there is something very mysterious in this business.” See Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 12 March 1783, WW 26:217.

  57. To the Officers of the Army, 15 March 1783, WW 26:224.

  58. The most recent and best assessment of Washington’s understanding of republicanism, which was narrow but deep, is Glenn A. Phelps, “The Republican General,” GWR 165–97.

  59. To the Officers of the Army, 15 March 1783, WW 26:222–23. See Washington to David Rittenhouse, 16 February 1783, ibid., 136, thanking him for the glasses, and ibid., 76, for a description of the New Building. There is some disagreement among the witnesses about the timing of Washington’s gesture with the spectacles. The version here, which places it at the start of the speech, makes most sense to me.

  60. Circular to the States, 8 June 1783, WW 26:483–96.

  61. Washington to Lafayette, 12 October 1783, WW 27:185–90.

  62. Circular to the States, 8 June 1783, WW 26:484–85; the “standing miracle” remark comes from Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States, 2 November 1783, WW 27:223.

  63. Farewell Orders to the Armies of the United States, 2 November 1783, ibid., 224–27. The army was officially disbanded on 15 November 1783.

  64. Address to Congress on Resigning His Commission, 23 December 1783, ibid., 284–86.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  1. Francis Hopkinson, Miscellaneous Essays, 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1792), 1:120.

  2. Washington to Henry Knox, 20 February 1785, PWCF 1:136–39; Washington to Tench Tilghman, 24 April 1783, WW 26:358; Washington to Lucretia Willhemenia van Winter, 30 March 1785, PWCF 2:473.

  3. Washington to Charles Thomson, 22 January 1784, PWCF 1:71–72; Jean Le Mayeur to Washington, 20 January 1784, ibid., 63–64; Washington to William Fitzhugh, 15 May 1786, PWCF 4:52; editorial note on visit to Mount Vernon by Elkanah Watson, 19–20 January 1785, PWCF 2:457. There is some circumstantial evidence that Washington obtained the teeth for his new implants by purchasing them from his slaves. See Wiencek, Imperfect God, 112–13.

  4. Washington to Lafayette, 8 December 1784, PWCF 2:175–76. On the aging theme and physical deterioration, see also the correspondence in PWCF 2:386–90, PWCF 3:50, PWCF 4:126.

  5. Lee’s irreverent request is from his will, quoted in the editorial note, PWCF 1:401. Washington’s response to the deaths of close friends is in PWCF 4:39–40, 154, 183–85, 298–99.

  6. John Adams to Abigail Adams, 14 January 1797, quoted in Ellis, American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson, 119.

  7. Washington to Benjamin Harrison, 18 January 1784, PWCF 1:56–57; on his Ciceronian vision of a rustic retirement, see Washington to Armand, 7 October 1785, PWCF 3:296.

  8. W. W. Abbot, “An Uncommon Awareness of Self: The Papers of George Washington,” GWR, 275–86; for the larger theme of fame as a form of immortality in the revolutionary era, see the seminal essay by Douglass Adair, “Fame and the Founding Fathers,” Trevor Colbourn, ed., Fame and the Founding Fathers: Essays by Douglass Adair (New York, 1974), 3–26.

  9. Washington to Richard Varick, 24 May 1781, WW 22:112; Washington to Richard Varick, 31 December 1781, WW 23:417; Washington to Richard Varick, 1 January 1784, plus the excellent editorial note on the Varick project, PWCF 1:2–4.

  10. Washington to James Craik, 24 March 1784, PWCF 1:234–36.

  11. Washington to William Gordon, 8 March 1784 and 8 May 1784, PWCF 1:177–78, 326–27; Washington to William Gordon, 8 March 1785, PWCF 2:411–13.

  12. Washington to Henry Knox, 5 January 1785, PWCF 2:253–56.

  13. For Lear’s qualifications, see Benjamin Lincoln to Washington, 4 January 1786, PWCF 3:492–93. For Humphreys, see Rosemarie Zagarri, David Humphreys’ “Life of General Washin
gton” with George Washington’s Remarks (Athens, GA, 1991).

  14. Humphreys’s historical sketch, along with Washington’s comments on specific biographical facts, can be found in PWCF 5:514–26.

  15. Washington to Francis Hopkinson, 16 May 1785, PWCF 2:561–62, Pine’s visit to Mount Vernon is described in the editorial note, 508–9; Houdon arrived at Mount Vernon on 20 October 1785; his appointment to do the statue is recorded in Thomas Jefferson to Washington, 10 December 1784, ibid., 176–78; Washington to Lafayette, 28 May 1788, PWCF 6:297–98.

  16. Washington to Richard Henderson, 19 June 1788, PWCF 6:339–42; Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 25 February 1785, PWCF 2:379–82.

  17. The quotations from Potomac Magazine are in Kenneth Bowling, The Creation of Washington, D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital (Fairfax, VA, 1991), 164–66. Washington to Robert Morris, 1 February 1785, PWCF 2:313; Washington to William Grayson, 22 June 1785, PWCF 3:69; Washington to David Humphreys, 25 July 1785, ibid., 150–51. Though the Potomac remained his abiding infatuation, reflected in multiple letters on its prowess and promise, Washington glimpsed the possibility that an alternative route through New York and the Great Lakes might prove more practical. See Washington to William Irvine, 18 February 1788, PWCF 6:117.

  18. Washington to Richard Henry Lee, 15 March 1785, PWCF 2:437–38; Washington to Jacob Read, 3 November 1784, PWCF 2:121; Washington to Benjamin Harrison, 10 October 1784, ibid., 92.

  19. Washington to Henry Lee Jr., 18 June 1786, PWCF 4:117–18.

  20. For Washington’s various parcels of western land, see the editorial note, PWCF 2:338–56.

  21. For the resolution of his moral dilemma about accepting stock in the Potomac River Company and James River Company, see Washington to Patrick Henry, 29 October 1785, PWCF 3:326–27.

  22. The extensive legal haggling concerning his land in western Pennsylvania is nicely summarized in the editorial note, PWP 1:53–54. Representative pieces of correspondence on this protracted court case are in PWCF 1:500; PWCF 2:78–80; PWCF 3:38–39, 246, 438–39. See also Diaries 4:1–71, for his trip to visit his lands in the fall of 1784.

  23. Henry Knox to Washington, 21 February 1784, PWCF 1:142–44; Washington to Henry Knox, 28 March 1784, ibid., 229–30. Franklin’s satiric remarks on the society are in Benjamin Franklin to Sarah Bache, 26 January 1785, Albert H. Smyth, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, 10 vols. (New York, 1905–7), 8:202–3.

  24. General Meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, 4–18 March 1784, PWCF 1:328–69; see especially the editorial note on Washington’s thinking prior to the meeting, ibid., 351–52; Thomas Jefferson to Washington, 16 April 1784, ibid., 287–92; Washington to Jonathan Trumbull, 4 April 1784, ibid., 260–61.

  25. Washington to Philip Schuyler, 15 May 1784, ibid., 364; Thomas Jefferson to Washington, 14 November 1786, PWCF 4:364–65.

  26. David Humphreys to Washington, 24 September 1786, ibid., 264–65.

  27. Washington to William Barton, 7 September 1788, PWCF 6:501–3; see also Nathanael Greene to Washington, 29 August 1784, PWCF 2:59–61, and Washington to Samuel Vaughn, 30 November 1785, PWCF 3:426–27.

  28. Robert Pleasants to Washington, 11 December 1785, ibid., 449–51.

  29. Dorothy Twohig, “ ‘That Species of Property’: Washington’s Role in the Controversy Over Slavery,” GWR, 114–38, which provided the most recent synthesis of scholarship on this crucial subject until the publication of Wiencek, Imperfect God, which appeared in time to influence my revisions of this chapter.

  30. Washington to Henry Laurens, 20 March 1779, WW 14:267; Washington to Henry Laurens, 10 July 1782, WW 24:421.

  31. Washington to Lafayette, 5 April 1783, WW 26:300; see also Lafayette to Washington, 14 July 1785, PWCF 3:121.

  32. Washington to David Ross, 24 October 1781, WW 23:262, for the Yorktown decision; Commissioners of Embarkation at New York to Washington, 18 January 1784, PWCF 1:50–56, for the New York decision.

  33. Washington to Robert Morris, 12 April 1786, PWCF 4:15–16; Washington to Lafayette, 10 May 1786, ibid., 43–44; Washington to John Francis Mercer, 9 September 1786, ibid., 243.

  34. Washington to Lund Washington, 24–26 February 1779, WW 14:147–49.

  35. My own treatment of the economic problems Washington faced at Mount Vernon in the pre-revolutionary years can be found above in chapter two. The best of the recent studies is Bruce A. Ragsdale, “George Washington, the British Tobacco Trade, and Economic Opportunity in Pre-Revolutionary Virginia,” GWR, 67–93. The argument being offered here is that the marginal status of his farms at Mount Vernon before the war declined further after the war, a condition from which they never recovered despite heroic efforts by Washington to diversify his crops and pursue the latest methods of fertilization and cultivation. His assiduous pursuit of overdue rental fees on his western properties in the 1780s reflected his increasing dependence on those revenues for his annual income. By the end of the decade he was forced to borrow money and consider the sale of several western parcels to meet his annual expenses. On the latter score, see Washington to David Stuart, 2 December 1788, PWP 1:149, and Washington to Richard Conway, 8 March 1789, ibid., 361–62.

  36. For the size of the slave population at Mount Vernon, see List of Tithables, April 1788, PWCF 6:304–5, and Farm Reports, 1785–86, PWCF 3:389–410. The latter shows there were 216 slaves on his five Mount Vernon farms in February 1786.

  37. William Gordon to Washington, 30 August 1784, PWCF 2:65–66. On his commitment to keep slave families intact, see Washington to William Fowler, 2 February 1788, PWCF 6:77–78; see also the editorial note, PWCF 4:464, and Washington to Burwell Bassett Jr., 9 March 1788, PWCF 6:149.

  38. Washington to John Francis Mercer, 19 December 1786, PWCF 4:464. He broke his vow never to purchase another slave on several special occasions: once to accept slaves as partial payment on a debt; once to purchase slaves from the Dandridge estate whom Martha had known and who would otherwise have been sold without concern for family connections; and once to obtain skilled artisans for work on Mount Vernon’s final renovation. See John Francis Mercer, 6 November 1786, PWCF 6:386; Washington to Burwell Bassett Jr., 9 March 1788, ibid., 149; Washington to Henry Lee Jr., 6 November 1786, PWCF 5:10–11.

  39. Washington to Lund Washington, 7 May 1787, ibid., 173; Washington to David Stuart, 2 December 1788, PWP 1:149; James Bloxam to William Peacey, 23 July 1786, PWCF 4:194; Washington to John Fairfax, 1 January 1789, PWP 1:223.

  40. Unknown Author to Washington, 15 July 1784, PWCF 1:504–26.

  41. Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 31 March 1783, WW 26:276–77; Washington to James Warren, 7 October 1785, PWCF 3:299; Washington to Jacob Read, 11 August 1784, PWCF 2:29–30; Washington to Henry Knox, 5 December 1784, ibid., 170–72.

  42. The seminal study of republican ideology as a defiant repudiation of consolidated power is Bernard Bailyn, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, 1967); as applied to the 1780s, the authoritative work is Gordon Wood, The Creation of the American Republic (Chapel Hill, 1969). The best collection of recent scholarly opinion on the question of “the critical period” is Richard Beeman, Stephen Botein, Edward Carter, eds., Beyond Confederation: Origins of the Constitution and American National Identity (Chapel Hill, 1987).

  43. Washington to James Madison, 30 November 1785, PWCF 3:420.

  44. Washington to Lafayette, 15 August 1785, PWCF 5:215; see also on the same theme Henry Knox to Washington, 31 January 1785, PWCF 2:302, and Washington to William Grayson, 26 July 1786, PWCF 4:169.

  45. John Jay to Washington, 16 March 1786, PWCF 3:601–2; Washington to John Jay, 18 May 1786, PWCF 4:55–56; John Jay to Washington, 27 June 1786, ibid., 130–32; Washington to John Jay, 15 August 1786, ibid., 212–13.

  46. The lengthy quotation is from Washington to Henry Lee Jr., 31 October 1786, ibid., 318. Multiple reports on Shays’s Rebellion poured into Mount Vernon and can be found in ibid., 240–41, 281–82, 297, 300–1, 417–36, 460�
��62. Two recent scholarly studies of Shays’s Rebellion are Robert A. Feer, Shays’ Rebellion (New York, 1988), and Leonard R. Richards, Shays’ Rebellion: The American Revolution’s Final Battle (Philadelphia, 2002).

  47. Washington to the Society of the Cincinnati, 31 October 1786, PWCF 4:316–17; Washington to James Madison, 18 November 1786, ibid., 382–83; Washington to James Madison, 16 December 1786, ibid., 457–59.

  48. Edmund Randolph to Washington, 6 December 1786, ibid., 445; see also James Madison to Washington, 7 December 1786, ibid., 445.

  49. Washington to Edmund Randolph, 9 April 1787, PWCF, 5:135–36.

  50. Henry Knox to Washington, 14 January 1787, PWCF 4:518–23; David Humphreys to Washington, 20 January 1787, ibid., 526–30; Washington to Henry Knox, 3 February 1787, PWCF 5:7–9; Washington to Henry Knox, 25 February 1787, ibid., 52–53.

  51. Henry Knox to Washington, 19 March 1787, ibid., 95–98; Washington to Henry Knox, 8 March 1787, ibid., 74–75.

  52. James Madison to Washington, 18 March 1787, ibid., 94–95; Washington to Edmund Randolph, 28 March 1787, ibid., 112–14; Washington to James Madison, 31 March 1787, ibid., 114–17.

  53. Notes on the Sentiments on the Government of John Jay, Henry Knox, and James Madison, April 1787, ibid., 163–66.

  54. John Jay to Washington, 7 January 1787, PWCF 4:502–4.

  55. James Madison to Washington, 16 April 1787, PWCF 5:144–50.

  56. Jefferson, 30 May 1787, ibid., 208.

  57. Editorial note on 17 September 1787, ibid., 331–32. Two recent books on the Constitutional Convention effectively synthesize decades of scholarship: Carol Berkin, A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution (New York, 2002); Jack Rakove, Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution (New York, 1997).

  58. On the confidentiality theme, see Washington to David Stuart, 1 July 1787, ibid., 240. For his meticulous recording of temperatures, dinners, purchases, etc., see Diaries 5:152–87. For correspondence about planting instructions, see PWCF 5:241–43. For an account of expenditures in Philadelphia, see Cash Accounts, 27 May to 18 September 1787, ibid., 173–81, and ibid., 239, for three sittings for Charles Willson Peale in early July. For public response to his appearance on Market Street on 4 June 1787, see ibid., 219.