American Aurora

by Richard N. Rosenfeld

  831 JADA, III, 417-418.

  832 BFPL, XXII, 599. See MJTF, 129-131.

  833 GW to Pres. of Cong., Hdqr. at Col. Morris’s House, Sept. 16, 1776, GWPA, VI, 313-314.

  834 BFBR, 6.

  835 JCC, V, 768-778.

  836 See BSDR, 46.

  837 JADA, III, 329.

  838 JAWO, II, 516. Also JADA, III, 337-338.

  839 WDBF, I, 367 (William Temple Franklin’s words).

  840 PG, Mar. 31, 1779, SJPC, 186.

  841 PG, Mar. 26, 1777, SJPC, 215.

  842 Thomas Paine, Constitutional Reform. To the Citizens of Pennsylvania on the Proposal for Calling a Convention, TPW, II, 992-1002.

  843 Benjamin Franklin, Queries and Remarks Respecting Alterations in The Constitution of Pennsylvania, BFSM, X, 54, 56-58.

  844 Benjamin Franklin, Queries and Remarks Respecting Alterations in The Constitution of Pennsylvania, BFSM, X, 54, 58-60.

  845 JA to T. Pickering, E. Chester, Oct. 31, 1797, JAWO, VIII, 559-560.

  846 Benjamin Franklin, Queries and Remarks Respecting Alterations in The Constitution of Pennsylvania, BFSM, X, 54.

  847 Benjamin Franklin, Queries and Remarks Respecting Alterations in The Constitution of Pennsylvania, BFSM, X, 54-55.

  848 DERD, 216.

  849 SJPC, 190. Georgia emulated Pennsylvania in a unicameral legislature but required members to be Protestant and possess £250 in property (or 250 acres of land). For a comparison of the state constitutions, see William. C. Morey, “The First State Constitutions,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. IV (Sept. 1893), 201-232.

  850 JAFW, I, 168-169. See SJPC, 255-259. That John Adams was an American aristocrat, see RARW, 196.

  851 GW to Pres. of Cong., Col. Morris’ on the Heights of Harlem, Sept. 25, 1776, GAPW, VI, 393, 394, 396.

  852 JA to Col. Tudor, Phil., Sept. 26, 1776, JADA, III, 437-439, 438n.

  853 JCC, V, 827. See BFPL, XXII, 624.

  854 See JADA, IV, 70, JAWO, I, 248.

  855 Richard Henry Lee to [TJ], Phil., Sept. 27, 1776, RHLL, I, 218-219.

  856 RDCW, I, 473.

  857 Autobiography, TJWF, I, 80.

  858 JA to Henry Knox, Phil., Sept. 29, 1776, JADA, III, 441-442.

  859 Comm. of Secret Corres. to William Bingham, Phil., Sept. 21st [-Oct. 1] 1776, BFPL, XXII, 615, 618-619.

  860 Comm. of Secret Corres. to Silas Deane, Phil., Oct. 1, 1776, BFPL, XXII, 639-645.

  861 JA to Gen. Parsons, Phil., Oct. 2, 1776, JADA, III, 444-445.

  862 Anthony Wayne to BF, Tyconderoga, Oct. 3, 1776, BFPL, XXII, 652-653.

  863 JA to Abigail Adams, Phil., Oct. 4, 1776, JAFC, II, 137-138.

  864 M. Garnier to Comte de Vergennes, London, Oct. 11, 1776, DNL, I, 615-616.

  865 Instructions to BF, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee, Commissioners appointed by the Cong. of the U.S., Sept. 24-Oct. 22, 1776, BFPL, XXII, 625, 627-628.

  866 Comm. of Secret Corres. to Charles W. F. Dumas, Phil., Oct. 24, 1776, NDR, VI, 1407.

  867 Comm. of Secret Corres. to Captain Lambert Wickes, Phil., Oct. 24, 1776, NDR, VI, 1400-1401.

  868 Comm. of Secret Corres. to Commissioners in Paris, Phil., Oct. 24, 1776, RDCW, II, 178. See LWSR, 88-92.

  869 BFBT, 9, 23, SWHA, 127-128. See LWSR, Chapt. VI.

  870 BFWT, II, 46.

  871 Silas Deane to Comm. of Secret Corres., Paris, Nov. 6, 1776, RDCW, II, 190.

  872 GW to Pres. of Cong., Gen. Greene’s Quarters, Nov. 16, 1776, GWW, VI, 284, 286-287.

  873 Nathanael Greene to Henry Knox, November 17, 1776, quoted in GWKB, 135-136, 136 n. 3.

  874 GW to John Augustine Washington, Hackensack, Nov. 19, 1776, GWW, VI, 243-246.

  875 See GWKB, 130, GWMK, 182-185, GWRH, III, 2.

  876 Col. Joseph Reed to Charles Lee, Hackensack, Nov. 21, 1776, LP, II, 293-294.

  877 GW to Pres. of Cong., Hackensack, Nov. 19 [-21], 1776, GWW, VI, 292, 295. See MJTF, 141-142.

  878 GW to Maj. Gen. Lee, Hackensack, Nov. 21, 1776, GWW, VI, 298.

  879 TPHD, 58.

  880 “A Letter to GW …” TPW, II, 691, 719.

  881 Timothy Pickering to James Robertson, Salem, July 29, 1824, as quoted in John Womack Wright, “Pickering’s Letter on Washington,” TYQ, VII (July, 1925), 16, 25.

  882 Charles Lee to Col. Joseph Reed, Camp, Nov. 24, 1776, LP, II (1872), 305-306.

  883 GW to Maj. Gen. Lee, Newark, Nov. 27, 1776, GWW, VI, 309.

  884 BFWT, II, 46-47.

  885 See SWHA, 146, LWSR, Chap. VI.

  886 Silas Deane to Comm. of Secret Corres., Paris, Dec. 3, 1776, RDCW, II, 210, 211.

  887 BF to Silas Deane, Auray in Brittany, Dec. 4, 1776, RDCW, II, 216-218.

  888 GW to Pres. of Cong., Trenton, Dec. 5, 1776, GWW, VI, 330-332.

  889 See GW to Pres. of Cong., Mr. Berkleys Summer seat, Dec. 8, 1776, GWW, VI, 335.

  890 MJTF, 144.

  891 BF to John Hancock, Nantes, Dec. 8, 1776, BFPL, XXIII, 31-33.

  892 GW to Lund Washington, Falls of Delaware, South Side, Dec. 10, 1776, GWW, VI, 345-346.

  893 LFCA, 79.

  894 Quoted in GWWF, V, 83 n.

  895 MJTF, 144. SWHA, 152.

  896 Silas Deane to Comm. of Secret Corres., Paris, Dec. 12, 1776, RDCW, II, 224.

  897 Charles Lee to Gen. Horatio Gates, Basking Ridge, Dec. 12/13, 1776, LP, II, 348.

  898 Caron de Beaumarchais, “A Faithful Statement of the good Offices of the Court of France Toward the Court of England, against her own Commercial Interests” [1779], SFAC, XXIII, 2008.

  899 GW to Council of Safety of Penn., Hdqr., Bucks County, Falls of Delaware, South Side, Dec. 15, 1776, GWW, VI, 376.

  900 GW to Lund Washington, Falls of Delaware, South Side, Dec. 10 [-17], 1776, GWW, VI, 345, 347.

  901 GW to John Augustine Washington, Camp, Near the Falls of Trenton, Dec. 18, 1776, GWW, VI, 396, 398-399.

  902 Thomas Paine’s first “crisis” essay appeared in the Pennsylvania Journal and four days later as a pamphlet. TPHD, 61.

  903 TPW, I, 50.

  904 GW to Pres. of Cong., Camp, Above Trenton Falls, Dec. 20, 1776, GWW, VI, 400, 402, 404, 406.

  905 Lord Stormont to Murray Keith, Dec. 20, 1776, DNL, II, 103, partially quoted in PJFR, 219.

  906 Robert Morris to Commissioners at Paris, Phil., Dec. 21, 1776, RDCW, II, 231-235.

  907 Benjamin Rush to JA, Feb. 12, 1812, A&R, 206-207.

  908 BFPL, XXIII, 85 n.

  909 BFBR, 7.

  910 See MJTF, 155-158, 238, GWRII, II, 7.

  911 GW to Pres. of Cong., Hdqr., Newton, Dec. 27, 1776, GWW, VI, 441-443.

  912 Comm. of Secret Corres. to American Commissioners, Balt., Dec. 30, 1776, BFPL, XXIII, 96-98.

  913 JA to Edmund Jenings, July 18, 1780, JAPM, Reel 352.

  914 GW to Pres. of Cong., Pluckamin, Jan. 5, 1777, GWW, VI, 467-469. See MJTF, 159-160, GWRH, II, 16-17, 31-42.

  915 Quoted in GWWF, V, 149 n.

  916 Timothy Pickering to James Robertson, Salem, July 29, 1824, as reported in John Womack Wright, “Pickering’s Letter on Washington,” TYQ, VII (July, 1925), 16, 36.

  917 TJ to Samuel Smith, Monticello, Aug. 22, 1798, TJWF, VIII, 443.

  918 WDRP, 553-554.

  919 TPIID, 232-233, TPKJ, 322.

  920 WDRP, WDKP, 48.

  921 WDRP, 545-555.

  922 JAWO, I, 660. See CEFP, 93-94.

  923 BF to Comm. of Secret Corres., Paris, Jan. 4, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 113-114.

  924 Jaeques-Donatien Le Ray de Chaumont to BF, [before Jan. 4, 1777], BFPL, XXIII, 112.

  925 BFPL, XXIII, 112 n.

  926 BF, Lee, and Deane to Vergennes, Paris, Jan. 5, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 122-123.

  927 [The American Commissioners]: Memoir [for Vergennes] [c. Jan. 8, 17771, BFPL, XXIII, 126-127.

  928 BF to Mary Hewson, Paris, Jan. 12, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 155-156.

  929 Quoted in BFP, 49, and, with some variation, in BFFC, 61-62.

  930 BF, Lee, and
Deane to Comm. of Secret Corres., Paris, Jan. 17, 1777, BFPL, XX, III, 194, 196.

  931 GW to Pres. of Cong., Hdqr., Morristown, Jan. 22, 1777, GWW, VII, 48 49.

  932 Jonathan Williams, Jr., to American Commissioners, Nantes, Jan. 23, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 225-226.

  933 BFPL, XXIII, 236 n.

  934 Jonathan Williams, Jr., to BF, Nantes, Jan. 25, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 231-232.

  935 GW to Pres. of Cong., Morristown, Jan. 26, 1777, GWW, VII, 63, 67.

  936 GW to Maj. Gen. Philip Schuyler, Hdqr., Morristown, Jan. 27, 1777, GWW, VII, 68-69.

  937 BF to Joseph Priestley, Paris, Jan. 17, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 237-238. Bracketed words replace the word “make” (which your author construes as camouflage for the French release of arms and ammunition for America).

  938 GW to Pres. of Cong., Hdqr., Morristown, Jan. 31, 1777, GWW, VII, 80-81. See GWRH, II, 73.

  939 Richard Bache to BF, Phil., Feb. 5, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 279-281.

  940 Lambert Wickes to American Commissioners, Port Lewis, Feb. 14, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 330.

  941 Sarah Bache to BF, Goshen, Feb. 23, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 361-362.

  942 La Rochefoucauld to BF, before Feb. 24, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 375 and 375 n.

  943 JAWO, IX, 622-623. See BFPL, XXII, 514.

  944 GW to New York Legislature, Mar. 1, 1777, GWW, VII, 215-216.

  945 GW to Gov. Trumbull, Hdqr., Morristown, Mar. 3, 1777, GWW, VII, 229, 230.

  946 GW to Pres. of Cong. (two letters), Hdqr., Morristown, Mar. 29, 1777, GWW, VII, 328-330.

  947 GW to Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, Hdqr., Morristown, Mar. 29, 1777, GWW, VII, 332, 334.

  948 GW to Gov. Nicholas Cooke, Hdqr., Morristown, Apr. 3, 1777, GWW, VII, 349.

  949 See MJTF, 208, 278-281, 505, SWHA, 137-140, MJSS, 21, BSDR, 37, 93.

  950 JA to Abigail Adams, Phil., Apr. 6, 1777, JAFC, II, 199-200.

  951 BF and Silas Deane to Comm. of Secret Corres., Paris, Mar. 12 [-Apr. 9], 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 466, 471-473.

  952 Comtesse Conway to BF, Apr. 14, 1777, BFPL, XXIII, 582.

  953 MJSS, 23-24.

  954 FBRS, 67.

  955 1777 British pamphlet quoted in SLFR, 75-76.

  956 Abigail Adams to JA, Apr. 20, 1777, JAFC, II, 217-218.

  957 GW to Richard Henry Lee, Morristown, Apr. 24, 1777, GWW, VII, 462-464.

  958 Robert Gordon to John Robinson, Cork, Apr. 25, 1777, DRDK, XIV, 73.

  959 JA to James Warren, Phil., Apr. 27, 1777, JAPA, V, 173-174.

  960 Comm. of Secret Corres. to Commissioners at Paris, Phil., May 9, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 46-47.

  961 BF, News from America [memorandum], Paris, May 12, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 52-53.

  962 BF to Richard Bache, Passy, May 22, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 63-64.

  963 American Commissioners in Paris to Comm. for Foreign Affairs [BF’s handwriting], Paris, May 25, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 73-76. See SWHA, 163-164.

  964 Abigail Adams to JA, May 28, 1777, JAFC, II, 248.

  965 Comm. of Foreign Affairs to Commissioners at Paris, Phil., May 30, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 101.

  966 JA to Abigail Adams, Phil., June 18, 1777, JAFC, II, 267-268.

  967 GW to Chevalier D’Anmours, Hdqr., Camp at Middle Brook, June 19, 1777, GWW, VIII, 265, 266.

  968 TPW, II, 1132.

  969 William Carmichael to William Bingham, Paris, June 25 [-July 6], 1777, RDCW, II, 346-349.

  970 Lambert Wickes to American Commissioners, St. Malo, June 28, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 232-234.

  971 Richard Bache to BF, Phil., July 1, 1777, BFPL, XXIV, 250-251.

  972 Lord Weymouth to Lord Stormont, July 4, 1777, quoted in SWHA, 185.

  973 Gen. Sir William Howe to Lord George Germain (No. 62), N.Y., July 7, 1777, DRDK, XIV, 129-130.

  974 Lord Stormont to Lord Weymouth, Paris, July 16, 1777, SFAC, XVI, 1575.

  975 Vergennes to Commissioners at Paris, Versailles, July 16, 1777, RDCW, II, 364.

  976 Lord Stormont to Lord Weymouth, Paris, July 16, 1777, SFAC, XVI, 1577.

  977 Lambert Wickes to Captain Henry Johnson, St. Malo, July 20, 1777, SFAC, XVI, 1583. See LWSR, 188-189.

  978 GW to Gov. Jonathan Trumbull, Coryell’s Ferry on Delaware, July 31, 1777, GWW, VIII, 506-507.

  979 JCC, VIII, 604.

  980 JADA, III, 387.

  981 GW to John Augustine Washington, Germantown, near Phil., Aug. 5, 1777, GWW, IX, 20, 22.

  982 BFBS, 60.

  983 See JCC, VIII, 357, 357 n.-358 n.

  984 MJTF, 179-182, 190-191.

  985 GW to Pres. of Cong., Phil., Aug. 3, 1777, GWW, IX, 8-9. See GWRH, III, 133, 135-136, BARC, 335.

  986 Lieut. Gen. John Burgoyne to Lord George Germain (Private), Nearly Opposite to Saratoga, Aug. 20, 1777, DRDK, XIV, 165-167.

  987 GW to Pres. of Cong., Camp, at Cross Roads, Aug. 22, 1777, GWW, IX, 118-119.

  988 GW to Maj. Gen. Sullivan, Wilmington, Aug. 27, 1777, GWW, IX, 135.

  989 Quoted in GWRH, III, 139-140.

  990 Silas Deane to Robert Morris, Paris, Aug. 23, 1777. RDCS, I, 105-111.

  991 Paper by Comte de Vergennes, read to King of France, Aug. 23, 1777, SFAC, VII, 706.

  992 GW to Pres. of Cong., Aug. 23, 1777, GWW, IX, 127-128.

  993 See MJTF, 200, MJSS, 26, GLP, 43.

  994 JA to Abigail Adams, Phil., Sept. 2, 1777, JAFC, II, 336.

  995 See MJTF, 202-203, HNYJ, I, 197, GWRH, III, 176, MSOH, 249.

  996 GW to Pres. of Cong., Chester, Penn., Sept. 11, 1777, GWW, IX, 207.

  997 Timothy Pickering to James Robertson, Salem, July 29, 1824, as reported in John Womack Wright, “Pickering’s Letter on Washington,” TYQ, VII (July, 1925), 16, 30.

  998 HNYJ, I, 197.

  999 GW to Pres. of Cong., Camp, Sept. 19, 1777, GWW, IX, 237, 238-239. See MJTF, 202.

  1000 Timothy Pickering to James Robertson, Salem, July 29, 1824, as reported in John Womack Wright, “Pickering’s Letter on Washington,” TYQ, VII (July, 1925), 16, 25, 30-31.

  1001 See MJTF, 204, TPHD, 68-70, GWRH, III, 183.

  1002 Thomas Paine to BF, Yorktown, May 16, 1778, TPW, II, 1143, 1144.

  1003 JADA, II, 264.

  1004 Thomas Paine to BF, Yorktown, May 16, 1778, TPW, II, 1143, 1147.

  1005 “Journal of Thomas Sullivan, H. M. Forty-Ninth Regiment of Foot,” 132, in Hist. Soc. of Penn., as quoted in Henry Pleasants, Jr., “The Battle of Paoli,” PMHB, LXXII (1948), 44, 45.

  1006 JADA, II, 265.

  1007 GW to Pres. of Cong., Camp, Near Potts Grove, Sept. 23, 1777, GWW, IX, 257-259.

  1008 Elias Boudinot to Elisha Boudinot, Sept. 23, 1777, as quoted in GWKB, 195.

  1009 Baron de K[alb] to Comte [de Broglie], Lancaster, Penn., Sept. 24, 1777, SFAC, VIII, 755.

  1010 See Thomas Paine to BF, Yorktown, May 16, 1778, TPW, II, 1143, 1145, AGA, Aug. 29, 1804, TCER, 25-26 (which puts the occupying force at 3,000).

  1011 GW to Pres. of Cong., Camp, Near Pennibacker’s Mill, Oct. 5, 1777, GWW, IX, 308-310. See MJTF, 205-206, GWMK, 170-171, GLP, 44, TCER, 26-27, GWRH, III, 187-208.

  1012 BFBR, 67.

  1013 Minutes of Council of War at Saratoga, Oct. 12-15, 1777, DRDK, XIV, 212-215.

  1014 Henry Laurens to John Laurens, Oct. 16, 1777, as quoted in GWKB, 67.

  1015 MJTF, 208. See MJTF, 195, 212-213, SWHA, 137-140, BSDR, 37, 93.

  1016 Orlando W. Stephenson, “The Supply of Gunpowder in 1776,” AHR, XXX (Jan. 1925), 281.

  1017 Orlando W. Stephenson, “The Supply of Gunpowder in 1776,” AHR, XXX (Jan. 1925), 277-281.

  1018 GW to Richard Henry Lee, Matuchen Hill, Oct. 17, 1777, GWW, IX, 387-389.

  1019 SDBF, 272.

  1020 “A Letter to GW …” TPW, II, 691, 720-721.

  1021 GWRH, III, 228.

  1022 GW to Landon Carter, Phil. Cty, Oct. 27, 1777, GWW, IX, 451, 453.

  1023 Thomas Paine to Richard Henry Lee, Hdqr., fourteen miles from Phil., Oct. 30, 1777, TPW, II, 1138, 1140.

  1024 GWRH, III, 251.

  1025 Jonathan Dickson Sergeant
to James Lovell, Nov. 20, 1777, as quoted in GWKB, 194.

  1026 JCC, IX, 970-971.

  1027 James Lovell to Horatio Gates, Nov. 27, 1777, Gates Papers (N.Y. Hist. Soc.), quoted in NGL, II, 7-8.

  1028 GW to Thomas Conway, Nov. 9, 1777, GWW, X, 29, quotes the letter from Conway to Horatio Gates.

  1029 JCC, IX, 975.

  1030 JADA, IV, 3.

  1031 JCC, IX, 1013-1014.

  1032 Benjamin Rush to JA, Feb. 12, 1812, A&R, 206, 209.

  1033 JCC, IX, 1023, 1026.

  1034 BF, Deane, and Lee to Comm. of Foreign Affairs, Paris, Dec. 18, 1777, BFPL, XXV, 305-306.

  1035 JCC, IX, 1035-1036.

  1036 Penn. Archives: [1st ser.] Samuel Hazard, ed. (Phil.: J. Severns & Co., 1852-1856), VI, 104. The date of the remonstrance is surmised from its placement in the archives and from the action of the Continental Congress the next day.

  1037 GW to Pres. of Cong., Valley Forge, Dec. 23, 1777, GWW, X, 192-194.

  1038 Marquis de Lafayette to GW, Camp, Dec. 30, 1777, LFL, 14-16.

  1039 Monsieur Gérard to [Comte de Vergennes], Jan. 1, 1778, SFAC, XXI, 1817.

  1040 James Craik to GW, Port Tobacco, Maryland, Jan. 6, 1778, GWWS, V, 493-494.

  1041 SWHA, 260-261.

  1042 Louis XVI to Charles III, Jan. 8, 1778, RDCW, II, 467.

  1043 Monsieur Gérard, Narrative of a Conference with the American Commissioners, Versailles, Jan. 9, 1778, SFAC, XXI, 1831.

  1044 Anonymous (Benjamin Rush) to Patrick Henry, Yorktown, Jan. 12, 1778, GWWS, V, 495-496.

  1045 BEJ, 73-76.

  1046 Richard Bache to BF, Manheim 10 Miles wide of Lancaster, Jan. 31, 1778, BFPL, XXV, 551, 553.

  1047 DJDH, 165-169.

  1048 JCC, XI, 421-446.

  1049 WDRP, 555.

  1050 WDRP, 557.

  1051 BFP, 121 ff.

  1052 CMLV, I, 181.

  1053 JADA, IV, 6-7.

  1054 CMLV, I, 184-185. See BFFS, 124. For a different version, see HMP, III, 431. Though no dispositive evidence exists that Voltaire blessed BFB rather than William Temple Franklin, it would seem more reasonable for BF to request (even humorously) Voltaire’s benediction for an eight-year-old child than for an eighteen-year-old man who was then secretary to the American legation. A rendering in La Revue des Lettres et des Arts (1889), reproduced in FNE, II, 78, affirms the image of a child rather than of a young adult.

  1055 Lafayette to GW, Albany, Feb. 27, 1778, LFL, 31, 32.

  1056 JADA, IV, 5-6.

  1057 JCPB, II, 79.

  1058 “To The Citizens of the United States,” Letter VIII, TPW, II, 955-956, AGA, June 7, 1805.