by Mark Puls
Talleyrand condescendingly sent word to the American delegation that he would not meet with them in person but instead sent three emissaries, who were later referred in the commission's dispatches simply as "X," "Y," and "Z." The agents told Marshall, Gerry, and Pinckney that members of the French Directory were irritated by passages in Adams's speech and demanded that they be softened into a more respectful tone. Then the agents flatly told the Americans that as a condition to any treaty negotiations, the U.S. government would have to provide a "loan" to France. In addition, Talleyrand demanded a personal bribe of $240,000. The American delegation was stunned but realized that France had very little incentive to come to an agreement because of American neutrality in the war between France and Britain. One of Talleyrand's agents explained that "all nations should aid them, or be considered and treated as their enemies.“22 News of the affront was not immediately known in America because of the confidential nature of the talks, which were plagued by a series of postponements over the winter.
Knox was forced to wonder about his future as the prospect of war continued. The American effort to reach an accord with France that would protect U.S. commercial shipping interests, similar to the Jay's Treaty with Britain, was proving fruitless. On January 8, 1798, John Marshall formally rejected France's demand that the United States pay a bribe. When Talleyrand's agents warned that a refusal might trigger a war, Pinckney replied defiantly that the United States would pay "millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute . . . no; no; not a sixpence.“23
Knox closely followed the newspaper reports chronicling President Adams's announcement to Congress of unsavory details of the XYZ correspondence on March 19. Around Boston, Knox heard growing anti-French sentiment, and many of his neighbors supported a war.
In response to the ongoing undeclared naval war with France, Congress created a separate U.S. Department of the Navy in May to increase the size of the fleet that Knox began in 1794. After Congress authorized President Adams to raise a 10,000-man volunteer army, Knox realized that he would likely be called for military service. To give the force legitimacy in the public's eyes, President Adams named George Washington as commander in chief.
Adams arranged to send Secretary of War James McHenry to Mount Vernon to notify Washington of his recall to service. When Secretary of State Timothy Pickering learned of this, he quickly drafted a letter to Washington suggesting that he use his influence with President Adams to appoint Hamilton as his top commander.
Hamilton meanwhile met with Pickering in Philadelphia to discuss army appointments. Pickering handed him a copy of his letter to Washington touting Hamilton, who did not voice any disapproval of the clandestine attempt to use Washington's prestige to force President Adams to appoint him virtual commander. Hamilton was troubled, however, that this move would have to come at Knox's expense.
When McHenry traveled to Mount Vernon, he unwittingly played a role in Pickering's conspiracy by delivering his letter among a pile of other dispatches. Pickering's note told Washington that New England leaders and several prominent members of Congress were demanding that Hamilton be appointed second in command.
Washington had already decided to accept command of the army under the conditions that he would not be required to leave Mount Vernon until actual fighting was imminent and only if he could pick his top commanders. His second in command would be the virtual leader of the army. Washington ranked his top choices in order: Hamilton, Charles C. Pinckney, who had served as one of his aide-de-camps during the revolution, and then Knox. Washington also considered the talents of Charles Pinckney, whose reputation was riding high due to his defiant stance with the French during the XYZ affair. Washington believed that if France invaded America, the southern states would be the most vulnerable and tempting target for the enemy. Recruiting officers from that area would be much easier if Pinckney, who hailed from South Carolina, played a major role in the army. Until reading Pickering's letter, Washington had not considered that Hamilton would walk away from his lucrative law practice and an annual salary of £4,000 to return to the army. He wrote Pickering that Hamilton's "services ought to be secured at almost any price.“24
More than anybody, Washington was keenly aware of Alexander Hamilton's extraordinary abilities. He thought that Hamilton was one of the most gifted men of his age, even eclipsing Thomas Jefferson in Washington's estimation. Hamilton had been the dominant member of his cabinet and had married into the influential Schuyler family of New York. During the Revolution, Washington also had the opportunity to judge Hamilton's military judgment and ability. As an aide, Hamilton wrote many of the general's most important letters and often served as his proxy in dealing with officers. He became so adept at anticipating Washington's needs, so quick to grasp issues, plan strategy, and offer remarkably sound judgment and perceptive suggestions, that Washington must have believed that his aide could actually step in and fill his shoes. Washington thought that Hamilton's intuitive judgment was "great."
Regardless of the intrigues behind the appointments, of which an astute man like Washington must have been well aware, he chose Hamilton as the army's inspector general, giving him preeminence over Knox and Pinckney. In a July 14 letter informing Hamilton of his appointment, Washington confessed to some uneasy feelings over the likelihood that his choice would wound the pride of "General Knox, whom I love and esteem.“25 Hamilton was also fond of Knox and seemed to feel indebted to him. He confessed to Pickering in a letter of July 17 that he would be willing to serve under Knox, if necessary, but that he would prefer to be second in command. Hamilton would not serve under Pinckney, however. Pickering never disclosed Hamilton's generous offer to Washington, who was led to believe that Hamilton would absolutely refuse to serve under Knox. Instead, Pickering gave Washington the impression that Hamilton and Knox vied with each other for preeminence, which irritated Washington.
President Adams submitted Washington's list to the Senate, and the appointments to the rank of major general were confirmed on Wednesday, July 18, in the order of Hamilton, Pinckney, and Knox.26
From Mount Vernon, Washington had sent a delicately written letter to Knox announcing the arrangements of the new army on July 16. When the note arrived in Boston on July 29, Knox opened the dispatch feeling "delightful sensations of affection" for Washington. But as his eyes scanned the words, he was astonished to find himself ranked below Hamilton and Pinckney, both of whom had been his juniors during the Revolution. Washington disingenuously implied that he played little role in the arrangement and stated that "[Hamilton] in the public estimation, as declared to me, is designated to be second in command; with some fears, I confess, of the consequences; although I must acknowledge at the same time that I know not where a more competent choice could be made.“27
The words stung Knox. He studied each phrase in an attempt to decipher what he believed were hidden political motives. He wondered if the arrangement was meant to insult him to a degree that he would be forced to resign and therefore be deprived a role in the army. Knox shot back at Washington in the most forceful letter he ever penned to his former leader. "For more than twenty years, I must have been acting under a perfect delusion," he complained. "Conscious myself of entertaining for you a sincere, active, and invariable friendship, I easily believed it was reciprocal. Nay more, I flattered myself with your esteem and respect in a military point of view. But I find that others, greatly my juniors in rank, have been, upon a scale of comparison, preferred before me.“28
To protect his seniority, Knox decided to seize upon an obscure rule passed by the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation that stipulated that an officer's former rank during the Revolution still determined hierarchy in the army. In other words, Knox would outrank Hamilton and Pinckney because he was the superior officer during the war. This appeared to be a dubious claim since the Continental Army, the Continental Congress, and the Articles of Confederation had all passed into history. When Knox's letter protesting Hamilton's pr
omotion over him reached Mount Vernon, Washington "was not a little surprised." He took exception to the accusations, which he found "insinuating and unkind," that his friendship had been less than genuine during their long association. Yet he wrote Knox on August 9 that the wounded tone of his letter had "filled my mind with disquietude, and perplexity in the extreme; but I will say nothing in reply, intentionally, that shall give you a moments pain." He again claimed that he had played very little role in picking the ranking of the major generals and only learned of his own appointment from newspapers, after the issue of rank had been decided. Washington assured Henry that his affection for him was unabated: "I earnestly wished on account of that friendship, as well as on the score of military talents, to have had the assistance of you and Colonel Hamilton in the arduous contest with which we are threatened.“29 Washington sent a private note to McHenry expressing his doubts over whether Knox would serve in the army.
Knox was not without his supporters, however, and not the least of these was the President of the United States. John Adams had gone home to Quincy, Massachusetts, to attend to his ill wife, Abigail, who was rheumatic and struggling for life. Adams more than likely met with Knox, who was then in Boston, and Henry had the opportunity to tell him of his litany of complaints. Adams took a moment away from caring for Abigail on August 14 to express the written opinion that "General Knox is legally entitled to rank next to General Washington; and no other arrangement will give satisfaction." Adams did not agree that New Englanders preferred Hamilton over Knox. In a letter to Secretary of War McHenry, he ordered that Washington's ranking be reversed, which would place Knox above Hamilton. "If it shall be consented that the rank shall be Knox, Pinckney, and Hamilton, you may call the latter, too, into immediate service, when you please. Any other plan will occasion long delay and much confusion. You may depend upon it, the five New England States will not patiently submit to the humiliation that has been meditated for them.“30
John Quincy Adams, the son of the president and a future president himself, later traced the "first decisive symptom" of a schism in the Federalist Party to the rivalry created by the ranking of the major generals. Washington and the president were suddenly at odds. And during the ordeal, the Adams cabinet showed itself to be more loyal to Hamilton than to the president.31
Washington was irritated that he had been second-guessed by President Adams in a military matter, and he resented Knox's attempt to make a direct appeal to Adams. Washington decided to throw his political influence behind Hamilton as his choice as second in command. He sent a confidential note to Pickering on September 9 that warned: "How the matters stands between [Knox] and the President; and what may be the ultimate decision of the latter, I know not; but I know that the President ought to ponder well before he consents to a change of the arrangement.“32
Washington then cleared the air in a forceful letter to Adams on September 25 in which he flatly stated that if he could not have Hamilton as his coadjutor, the president could fight the war without him. He explained that the task of choosing among Knox, Hamilton, and Pinckney had been acutely painful. "With respect to General Knox," Washington told Adams, "I can say with truth, there is no man in the United States with whom I have been in habits of greater intimacy; no one whom I have loved more sincerely, nor any for whom I have had a greater friendship. But, esteem, love, and friendship, can have no influence on my mind when I conceive that the subjugation of our government and independence, are the objects aimed at by the enemies of our peace; and, when, possibly, our all is at stake."
President Adams was besieged on all sides as his own cabinet pressed for Hamilton to take virtual control of the army. Oliver Wolcott, the secretary of the Treasury, wrote him on September 17, saying that Knox had a spurious claim and reminded him that Washington had agreed to serve only if allowed to pick his generals. Adams wrote a heated reply voicing his virulent antipathy for Hamilton but refrained from mailing it: "If I should consent to the appointment of Hamilton as second in rank, I should consider it as the most [ir]responsible action of my whole life, and the most difficult to justify. Hamilton is not a native of the United States, but a foreigner.“33
Henry realized that he could not serve in the new army and decided to resign his commission. He felt that he had lost Washington's confidence, and the trust that fostered an intimate relationship for the past twenty-three years had been broken. Knox also felt that he could not serve under a cloud of suspicion. The accusation that he had caused the breach in their friendship wounded him. In his reply, Knox recalled that Washington was the only person among all his friends who advised him to accept "the appointment of the third major general." Knox felt that his offer to serve as Washington's aide had been more than generous and "arose from the sincere effusion of personal attachment, unmixed with regret or resentment. But the possibility being suggested by you of my harboring any secret 'gnawings' upon the subject of rank, precludes decisively my having the satisfaction proposed, of sharing your fate in the field. I will not detain you one moment longer, than to say in the presence of Almighty God, that there is not a creature upon the face of the globe who was, is and will remain more your friend than H. Knox.“34
TWELVE
ATOMS UPON THIS ATOM
Knox could not afford to accept a position in the army. If friends counseled him not to accept "the appointment of the third general," they also warned that he could not step away from his Maine estate without incurring financial disaster. Many of his ventures were unfinished and had yet to turn a profit. Knox was having one of the most difficult financial years of his life. His household and businesses were costing $7,661.60 annually to operate while his enterprises were generating about $6,500. He employed more than 100 men. According to records for 1798, cattle slaughtered annually just to feed his household and work crew amounted to 15,000 pounds of beef, 900 pounds of tallow, and 2,500 hides. One beeve and twenty sheep were butchered each week, along with a bounty of fish, fowl, and game. Henry Jackson, Henry's wartime comrade who helped manage his estate, told Knox that he could not walk away from his business obligations to accept any role in the army without risking everything.
Plans for the new army became less important as John Adams lost all his enthusiasm for a war with France. Deciding instead to place his hopes in a diplomatic solution, he began to put together another peace mission to send to Paris. Although tensions remained high as French ships continued to capture American commercial vessels, America's new navy was proving itself. On February 9, 1799, U.S. captain Thomas Truxton, commanding the thirty-sixgun Constellation, captured a French thirty-six-gun frigate, L'Insurgente, off the island of Nevis, near the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. L'Insurgente had plagued U.S. trade and had captured a merchant ship as recently as November. Knox could take pride in the victory and that his gamble on large frigates was proving farsighted in the undeclared naval war with France.
With the controversy over the army rankings now a moot issue, Hamilton decided that it was time to restore his relationship with Knox. In a March 14 letter, he confessed: "My judgment tells me I ought to be silent on a certain subject; but my heart advises otherwise, and my heart has always been the master of my judgment." Hamilton said he felt greatly pained by Knox's resignation and explained that he had not played a role in the rivalry that had been created between them. This claim was not without truth. Hamilton did offer to serve under Knox, but Pickering did not pass this information on to Washington.
Hamilton confided that "there has been a serious struggle between my respect and attachment for you and the impression of duty. This sounds, I know, like affection, but it is nevertheless the truth. In saying this much, my only motive is to preserve, if I may, a claim on your friendly disposition towards me, and to give you some evidence that my regard for you is unabated.“1
The words provided Knox with great solace. Despite their differences, Knox had great respect and love for Hamilton. Their careers had become inextricably intertwined, and together the
y had shared some of the most significant moments in American history.
A similar friendly gesture came from Mount Vernon. In an effort to restore ties with Knox, Washington sent a letter on May 22 assuring him of the "sincere and affectionate esteem" that he retained for Henry. Knox immediately replied in kind.
Knox focused his attention on the development of Thomaston in the hopes that the growing settlement would soon increase the value of his land. He became a familiar figure on the town's streets, invariably dressed in black and carrying his gold-handled cane, which he flourished while making points during conversation. His rich baritone voice gave listeners a feeling that he was accustomed to barking orders. He might have seemed imposing if not for his regard for the feelings of other people and his fondness for laughing. He wore a light silk hat, which he would often remove when in the shade. People took notice of the way he would unwind and rewrap the handkerchief over his mutilated hand carefully as if not to expose the injury from his teenage years.
The only drawback to his remote retreat was the absence of friends. He seemed to need constant companionship. Relationships in the eighteenth century often were maintained through cross-country correspondence, and years might pass without friends ever being able to meet in person. Knox kept in touch with many of his former comrades and remained active in the Society of Cincinnati. But he was social by nature and could not long stay away from society. The Knoxes continued to spend their winters in Boston. On December 22, he wrote to George Washington as one longtime friend to another. Making an introduction on behalf of a Boston friend, Knox wrote: "He like myriads of others, cannot die in peace, nor live with satisfaction, until they see you, who has done so much for them and for their Country!"