His account current of Expenses. Washington's Departure for, and Journey to Annapolis. Lady Washington. he walked in silence to Whitehall, followed by a vast procession, and at two o'clock entered a barge to proceed to Pau lus's Hook on his way to lay his commission at the feet of Congress, at Annapolis.' When he entered his barge, he turned to the people, took off his hat, and waved a silent adieu to the tearful multitude. Washington remained a few days in Philadelphia, where he delivered. in his accounts to the proper officers,' and then hastened, with his wife, to Annapolis, where he arrived on the evening of the nine GWashing For with ladies, among whom was Mrs. Washington." 402) a great con course was assem bled. The little gallery of the SenNate Chamber (see page 842) was filled The members of Congress were seated ing. That honored man is Major Robert Burnet, whose portrait may be found on page 118. Major Burnet commanded the rear-guard on the entrance of the American army into the city. Congress had adjourned to meet at Annapolis, in Maryland, on the twenty-sixth of November. A quorum was not present until Saturday, the thirteenth of December, when only nine states were represented. 2 The account current of his expenditures for the public service during the war, rendered by Washington, was in his own handwriting. The total amount was about seventy-four thousand four hundred and eightyfive dollars.* The disbursements were for reconnoitering and traveling, secret intelligence service, and miscellaneous expenses. It will be remembered that Wash ington refused to receive any compensation for his own services. 3 Martha Dandridge was born in New Kent county, Virginia, in May, 1732. In 1749 she was married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of New Kent, and settled with her husband on the bank of the Pamunky River, where she bore four children. Her husband died when she had arrived at the age of about twenty-five, leaving her in the possession of a large fortune. In 1758 she became acquainted with Colonel Washington, whose greatness was just budding, and whose fame had spread beyond Virginia. He became her suitor, and they were married. The exact period of their marriage has not been found on record; it is supposed to be in 1759. They removed to Mount Vernon soon after that event, and there was their home during the remainder of their lives. During the war for independence, she occasionally visited her husband in camp. Almost at the very hour of his great victory at Yorktown, a cloud came over her, for then her only surviving child expired. While Washington was President of the United States, Mrs. Washington presided with dignity in the mansion of the chief magistrate. The quiet of private life had more charms for her than the brilliancy of public greetings, and she joyfully sought the banks of the Potomac when her husband's second presidential term was ended. A little more than two years afterward, she was called to mourn his death.† *The pecuniary cost of the war, exclusive of the vast losses by the ravages of plantations, burning of houses and towns, plunder by Indians and the British soldiery, &c., &c., was not less than one hundred and seventy millions of dollars. Of this sum, Congress disbursed about two thirds; the remainder was spent by the individual states. It had been raised "by taxes under the disguise of a depreciating currency; by taxes directly imposed; by borrowing; and by running in debt."-See Hil dreth's History of the United States, iii., 445. We have already noted (see page 425) the principal events in the public life of General Washington, until his appointment Addresses to Washington. Resignation of his Commission. and covered; the spectators were all uncovered. Thomas Mifflin. Washington entered, and was led to a chair by the venerable Secretary Thomson, when General Mifflin,' the president of Congress, arose and informed him that "the United States, in Congress assembled, were prepared to receive his communications." The chief arose, and with great dignity and much feeling delivered a brief speech, and then handed his commission to the president. Mifflin received it, and made an eloquent reply. When the whole business was closed, Washington and his lady set out for Mount Vernon, accompanied by the governor of Maryland and his suite, as far as South River. All the way from New York to Annapolis, and from thence to Mount Vernon, his progress was a triumphal march. He was escorted from place to place by mounted citizens and volunteer military corps, and was every where greeted with the most emphatic demonstrations of love and respect.' For more than eight years he had served his country faithfully and efficiently. Now The Milele In a little more than two years after the death of the illustrious chief, Mrs. Washington was stricken down by bilious fever, and was laid beside him in the family tomb at Mount Vernon. In marble sarcophagi their remains now lie together at that Mecca of many patriot pilgrims. Thomas Mifflin was born in Philadelphia in 1744. His ancestors were Quakers, and he was trained in all the strictness of the sect. He was educated for a merchant, and made a voyage to Europe while yet a lad. He entered public life in 1772, as representative of Philadelphia in the Colonial Assembly. He was a member of the first Continental Congress. He entered the military service; was with Washington at Cambridge, and in the spring of 1776 was commissioned a brigadier in the Continental army. He was made major general in February, 1777, and he continued in service during the war. In 1783 he was a representative in Congress, and in the autumn of that year was appointed its president. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1785, and in 1787 was in the convention which framed the Federal. Constitution. He was elected the first governor of Pennsylvania under the provisions of that instrument, which office he filled nine years consecutively. By his personal exertions, he greatly assisted in quelling the "Whisky Insurrection" in 1794. Governor Mifflin retired from office in December, 1799, and on the twentieth of the following month he expired at Lancaster, at the age of fifty-six years. Washington spoke as follows: "MR. PRESIDENT,-The great events on which my resignation depended, having at length taken place, I now have the honor of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. Happy in the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the appointment I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a task, which however was superseded by a confidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of Heaven. The successful termination. 3 Addresses were presented to him by the Legislatures of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland; the American Philosophical Society, and the University of Pennsylvania; the citizens of towns in their corporate capacity, religious societies, and various incorporated associations.-Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, viii., 502. to the chief command of the Continental army. Throughout the preceding pages his public career during the war has been exhibited, and we will now only glance at his noble course subsequent to his resignation of office at Annapolis, and his retirement to Mount Vernon. Although a private citizen, he watched the progress of public affairs, during the critical period immediately succeeding the war, with great anxiety; and he was among the first to make efforts toward the organization of our government upon its present basis. He was elected the first chief magistrate under the Federal Constitution, and performed: the duties of that office for eight consecutive years. He retired from the presidency in 1797. On the fourteenth of December. 1799. he expired at Mount Vernon, at the age of almost sixty-eight years. Washington was not a brilliant man. In the distinctive fields of oratory, military command, or civil government, he has had many superiors. His surpassing greatness consisted in the harmonious combination and solidity of all the powers of mind and body which constitute a MAN in highest per fection. It was this combination and solidity which made his career a brilliant one-it is the contemplation of his character from this point of view which makes the world bow with reverence before the amazing dignity of his name and deeds. II. Нин 842 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Addresses of Washington and Mifflin. Conclusion. that it was acknowledged free and independent, he crowned the glory of his patriotic devotion by resigning into the hands of his country's representatives the instrument of his power, and as a plain untitled citizen he sat down in peace in the midst of his family, on the banks of the Potomac. Here, reader-companion, at the earthly dwelling-place of the PATER PATRIA, we will part company for a season. We have had a long, and, I trust, a pleasant and instructive journey, to the consecrated places of our Revolutionary History. Should time deal gently with us, we may again go out with staff and scrip together upon the great highway of our country's progress, to note the march of events there. Until then, adieu! of the war has verified the most sanguine expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous ices and distinguished merits of the gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of confidential offi cers to compose my family should have been more fortunate. Per mit me, sir, to recommend in particular those who have continued in the service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patronage of Congress. I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them to his holy keeping. Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theater of action, and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life." President Mifflin replied: "SIR,-The United States, in Congress assembled, receive with emotions too affecting for utterance, the solemn resignation of the authorities under which you have led their troops with success through a perilous and a doubtful war. Called upon by your country to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the sacred charge, before it had formed alliances, and while it was without funds or a government to support you. You have conducted the great military contest with wisdom and fortitude, invariably regarding the rights of the civil power, through all disasters and changes. You have, by the love and confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them to display their martial genius, and transmit their fame to posterity. You have persevered, until these United States, aided by a magnanimous king and nation, have been enabled, under a just Providence, to close the war in freedom, safety, and independence; in which happy event we sincerely join you in congratulations. Having defended the standard of liberty in this new world; having taught a lesson useful to those who inflict and to those who feel oppression, you retire from the great theatre of action with the blessings of your fellow-citizens. But the glory of your virtues will not terminate with your military command; it will continue to animate remotest ages. We feel with you our obligations to the army in general, and will particularly charge ourselves with the interests of those confidential officers who have attended your person to this affecting moment. We join you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching him to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity afforded them of becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for you, we address to him our earnest prayers that a life so beloved may be fostered with all his care; that your days may be as happy as they have been illustrious; and that he will finally give you that reward which this world can not give." SUPPLEMENT. I. NAVAL OPERATIONS. WITH an exposed coast many hundred miles in extent, and not a single armed vessel upon the waters, the American colonists boldly defied Great Britain, whose navy was then, as now, the right arm of its puissance. Although a few sons of wealthy planters and merchants had been schooled in the royal navy, and many American seamen had become somewhat expert in naval warfare, while opposing the French during twenty years antecedent to the Revolution, yet when the storm burst forth, and the wise men of the continent gathered together in council, they saw no efficient material for organizing a marine force, and so they directed all their earliest efforts toward the establishment and support of an army. The battle at Lexington was the signal for British depreda tions along the New England coasts, and soon private vessels, manned with patriot volunteers, and armed as circumstances would allow, were seen in opposition. When intelligence of the affair at Lexington reached Machias, in Maine, where a British armed schooner (the Margaretta) was engaged with two sloops in procuring lumber, a party of young men attempted her capture, while the officers were at church, on shore. They seized one of the sloops, chased the schooner out of the harbor, a May 11, and after a severe conflict, a compelled her to surren 1775. der. About twenty on each side were lost in this first naval engagement of the Revolution. The commander of the sloop was Jeremiah O'Brien.* He soon afterward captured two small English cruisers, made the crews prisoners, and took them to Watertown, where the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts was in session. That body now turned attention to a coast marine, to intercept English transports bring ing supplies for the British troops, and gave O'Brien a captain's commission, and employment in that service. In retaliation for his exploits, and others of a similar character, Admiral Graves sent an expedition to burn Falmouth (now Portland), in Maine. This event led to the establishment of a Board of Admiralty by the government of Massachusetts, on the tenth of November, 1775. Early in the autumn of 1775, the attention of the Continental Congress was directed to the subject of a navy. Before any definite action had been taken, Washington fitted out five or six armed vessels at Boston, and these were cruising on the New England coast as privateers. On the thirteenth of October, Congress resolved that "a swift-sailing vessel, to carry ten carriage guns, and a proportionate number of swivels, with The honor of this enterprise belongs to Joseph Wheaton, a native of New York, then residing at Machias. He was an energetic young man of twenty years. He proposed the expedition, but modestly named O'Brien for com. mander. He was active in the whole affair, and in person seized the colors of the Margaretta. † See page 569, volume i Washington established the following rule for the division of prizes: A captain commander, six shares; first lieutenant, five; second lieutenant, four; surgeon, four; master, three; steward, two; mate, one and a half; gunner, one and a half; boatswain, one and a half; gunner's mate, one and a half; sergeant, one and a half; privates, one. This method of distribution was con firmed by Congress on the twenty-fifth of November, 1775. On the ninth of December, Congress, by resolution, fixed the pay of naval officers as follows: midehipman, twelve dollars a month; armorer, fifteen dollars; sail-maker, twelve dollars; yeoman, nine dollars; quarter-master, nine dollars; quarter. gunner, eight dollars; cook, twelve dollars; coxswain, nine dollars. On the fifteenth of November, 1776, Congress fixed the pay of the officers of the navy as follows: of ships of ten to twenty guns, captain, forty-eight dollars a month; lieutenant, twenty four dollars; master, twenty four dollars; surgeon, twenty one dollars sixty-six cents; midshipman, twelve dollars; gun. ner, thirteen dollars; seamen, eight dollars. Of ships of twenty guns and upward: captain, sixty dollars a month; lieutenant, thirty dollars; master, thirty-dollars; surgeon, twenty-five dollars; midshipman, twelve dollars; gunner, fifteen dollars; chaplain, twenty dollars; seamen, eight dollars. Commanders were allowed four and five dollars a week for subsistence; and lientenants, surgeons, captains of marines, and chaplains, four dollars a week for subsistence when ashore. b 1775 eighty men," should be fitted out for a cruise of three months eastward, for the purpose of intercepting British transports. Another with fourteen guns, and a proportionate number of swivels and men, was ordered, and Silas Deane, John Langdon, and Christopher Gadsden, were appointed a committee to direct naval affairs. On the thirtieth of the same month, it was resolved to fit out two more vessels, one of twenty, and the other of thirty-six guns, and Stephen Hopkins, Joseph Hewes, Richard Henry Lee, and John Adams, were added to the naval committee. On the thirteenth of Decemberb Congress ordered the construction of thirteen additional vessels of war,* and the "Marine Committee," as it was termed, was increased so as to consist of one member from each colony, to be appointed by ballot. This committee possessed very little executive power. Naval subjects were generally referred to it, when the committee examined them and reported thereon to Congress, where the administrative power was held. The committee appointed all officers below the rank of third lieutenant, and had the general control, under the immediate sanction of Congress, of all the naval operations. Want of professional skill made their duties very vexatious, and often inefficient. Congress finally resolved to select three per e Nov. 6, sons well skilled in maritime affairs to execute the business of the navy, under the direction of the "Marine Committee," and these composed the "Continental Navy Board, or Board of Assistants to the Marine Committee," which remained in active operation until October, 1779, when a "Board of Admiralty" was established.d This board consisted of "three commissioners not members of Congress, and two members of Congress; any three to form a board for the dispatch of business, to be subject, in all cases, to the control of Congress." The board was allowed a secre tary, and was delegated with powers sufficient for all practical purposes. Its head-quarters was at Philadelphia, the seat of the Federal government. An "Eastern Board" was also es 1776. d Oct. 28. These were ordered to be built as follows: In Pennsylvania, the Wash ington, thirty-two guns; Randolph, thirty-two; Effingham, twenty-eight; Delaware, twenty-four, built at Philadelphia. In New Hampshire, Raleigh, thirty-two, built at Portsmouth. In Massachusetts, Hancock, thirty-two; Boston twenty-four, built at Boston. In Rhode Island, Warren, thirty-two; Providence, twenty eight, built at Providence. In Maryland, Virginia, twen ty-eight, built at Annapolis. In Connecticut, Trumbull, twenty-eight, built at New London. In New York, Congress, twenty-eight; Montgomery, twenty four, built at Poughkeepsie, on the Hudson. During the war, Congress authorized the purchase, or the building and fitting out of between thirty and forty vessels, three of them of seventy four guns. The following gentlemen composed this first general naval committee. Messrs. Bartlett, Hancock, Hopkins, Deane, Lewis, Crane, R. Morris, Read, Chase, R. H. Lee, Hewes, Gadsden, and Houstoun-Journals, i., 273. John Nixon, John Wharton, and Francis Hopkinson were appointed, and each allowed a salary of fifteen hundred dollars a year. & Journals of Congress, v., 277. The three commissioners were each allowed a yearly salary of fourteen thousand dollars, Continental money, equiv alent, at that tinie, to about seven hundred dollars hard money. The nom inal amount of this salary was to be varied according to the state of the pa per currency. Their secretary was John Brown, whose name appears at Ichn Brown tached to all commissions issued during the active existence of the board. On the fourth of May, 1780, the board reported a device for an adiniralty seal (see next page) as follows: thirteen bars, mutually supporting each other, altern. ate red and white, in a blue field, and surmounting an anchor proper. The crest, a ship under sail. The motto, Sustentane et sustentatus" Sustaining and Sustained." The legend, U. S. A. Sigil. Naval. Twenty months earlier than this a committee was appointed to "prepare a seal for the Treasury and Navy." I have never seen an impression of the former, if it was ever made. The sketch of the admiralty seal given on the next page I made from an impression attached to a commission issued in 1781, and now in posses sion of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington City. tablished, with an organization similar to the other, which was styled "The Board of the Middle District." Another change in the administration of naval affairs appears to have occurred in 1781, when General James Reed was invested by Congress with full power to conduct the business of the "Middle Department;" and General Alexander M'Dougal was elected "Secretary of Marine." In August following, a general "Agent of Marine" was appointed, to act under the immediate direction of Congress, and in this capacity the name of Robert Morris is often found. Indeed, that distinguished financier appears to have had a general supervision of naval affairs, either directly or indirectly, during the whole war. Many privateers were fitted out by him on his own account, and his interest as well as his patriotism made him an efficient " Agent of Marine." In November, 1776, Congress determined the relative rank of naval and military officers, as follows: admiral, as a general; vice-admiral, as lieutenant general; rear-admiral, as major gen. eral; commodore, as brigadier general; captain of a ship of forty guns and upward, as a colonel; captain of a ship of ten to twenty guns, as major; lieutenant, as captain.* Congress also decided that the relative rank of naval commanders with each other should not be determined by the date of nomination or appointment previous to October, 1776, when such relative rank was fixed by that body for twenty-six officers then in the service. After that date the rank was determined by the date of the commission. The avowed object of Congress in fitting out armed vessels was to intercept British transports having supplies for the royal army in America. In this service they were very effi cient, and a larger portion of ammunition, good arms, and mil. Itary stores were thus obtained by the patriots during the first three years of the war. The chief theater of operations in 1776 was in the waters of the New England coast, yet some important movements were made southward by the vessels of *The following is a list of the naval commanders appointed by Congress during the war, with the date of their respective commissions, according to the Journals of Congress: 1775, December 22. Esek Hopkins, Dudley Salstonstall, Abraham Whip ple, Nicholas Biddle, John B. Hopkins. - 1776, April 17. William Manly, Isaac Cozneau. June 6. Thomas Thompson, Samuel Tompkins, Christopher Miller, John Barry, Thomas Read, Charles Alexander, James Nicholson. June 15. Hector M'Neil, Thomas Grennall.-August 13. Elishan Hinman.-August 22. John Hodge, John Manley.-October 10. Lambert Wickes, William Hallock, Hoysted Hacker, Isaiah Robinson, John Paul Jones, James Josiah, Joseph Olney, James Robinson, John Young, Elisha Warner, Lieutenant commandant J. Baldwin, Lieutenant-commandant Thomas Albertson. - 1777, February 5. Henry Johnson.- March 15. Daniel Waters, Samuel Tucker.-1778, May 1. William Burke.-June 18. Peter Landais,September 25. Seth Harding-1779, September 17. Silas Talbot, Samuel Nich olson, John Nicholson, Henry Skinner, Benjamin Dunn, Samuel Chew. The following lieutenants were commissioned: 1775, December 22. John Paul Jones, Rhodes Arnold, Stansbury, Hoysted Hacker, Jonathan Pitcher, Benjamin Seabury, Joseph Olney, Elisha Warren, Thomas Weaver, M'Dougal, John Fanning, Ezekiel Burroughs, Daniel Vaughan.-1776, June 6. Israel Turner, Joseph Doble, Mark Dennet.-July 22. Peter Shores, John Wheelwright, Josiah Shackford. - August 17. William Barnes, Thomas Vaughan.-August 23. Jonathan Maltby, David Phipps, Wilson, John Nicholson.-1777, February 5. Elijah Bowen - August 6. John Rodeg. Aug un 12. William Molleston.-1781, July 20. Richard Dale, Alexander Muray, Plunkett, Joshua Barney, Isaac Buck, John Stevens, Aquilla Johns. 'See Goldsborough's Naval Chronicle, i., 8. Esek Hopkins squadron,* left the Delaware to operate against the fleet of Lord On leaving the Bahamas,c Hopkins sailed for the The squadron consisted of the Alfred, twenty eight guns, Commodore Hopkins; the Columbur, twenty-eight guns, Captain Abraham Whipple, the commander of the expedition to destroy the Gaspee in 1772 (see page 61); Andrea Doria, fourteen guns, Captain Nicholas Biddle; Sebastian Cabot, sixteen guns, Captain John B. Hopkins; Providence, twelve guns, Captain Hazard; and the Falcon, Scorpion, and Cruiser, which were to join the at Cape Fear. Commodore Hopkins held the rank of commander-in-chief in the navy, a relative position to that of Washington in the army. His pay was one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month, and he was frequently ad dressed as admital. The first ensign ever shown by a regular American man-of-war was rais ed on board the Alfred, in the Delaware, in December, 1775, by the hands of John Paul Jones, then Hopkins's first lieu tenant. This flag, according to a portrait of Hopkins's publish ed in London in 1776, was a plain ground, with a pine-tree in the center. At the top were the words Liberty Tree, and at the bottom, Appeal to God. The Union flag with thirteen stripes, adopted by the army on the first of January, 1776, was also displayed. This had a representation of a rattle-snake, with the words Don't tread on me. FIRST NAVAL FLAGS. On the seventeenth of April, Barry captured the Edoard, an armed tender of the British ship Liverpool, after a severe engagement. In October fol lowing, the Lexington was commanded by Captain Hallock, and when re turning from the West Indies, she was captured by the Pearl, and a prize crew placed on board of her. The Americans arose upon and overpowered this crew, and took the Lexington into Baltimore. Governor Brown was afterward exchanged for Lord Stirling. |