Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 February 1918 — Washington Fought Against Official Neglect [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Washington Fought Against Official Neglect

yu i — ■ ECAUSE George Washington bem ’ lieved sincerely in the inborn, inB alienable rights of men born on this soil, or transferred to it, spiritually as well as physically, JU j to the fruits of freedom and independence; because he believed //' that this nation was to be held I // /I by them free of all oppression, H 'v^/f n\r whether in the form of unjust taxation or any other infringement of the interests, welfare and principles of the Inhabitants, he receives today the homage of the millions who enjoy the heritage of the free America for which he fought and which he helped establish. In this he was at one with other great men bred in the new. free spirit and atmosphere of the colonies. He did not seek to set himself over them, but to work with them, contributing as his part in the struggle his military genius and experience and his carefully trained executive ability. His ideal was the common good. For That he gave his time and strength unstintedly. Throughout his career the one reward he sought was that he might partake, “in the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart* Washington, although possessing wealth and position, although observant of forms and ceremonies, was in the best sense a democrat, a man who sought the same privileges and opportunities for every one of his fellow citizens which he enjoyed, and who devoted his gifts and energies to that end. That they might have them, he not only expended freely his energies of mind and body, but he constantly exhorted his fellow countrymen to prepare themselves for the high destiny that he foresaw for this country, first, by raising and equipping an adequate artny, a task that frequently hung leaden on his hands, and, secondly, by properly safeguarding their rights after they had been. won. t—.. George Washington received less education — in school —than most lads of poor parenta/j* do today. He left school before he was sixteen years old, and, except In mathematics, In which he had advanced through geometry and trigonometry, his education did not extend beyond that which hoy? usually get in the grammar grades of the public schools. What he studied he knew,However, as his carefully kept notebooks attest. He manifested a special antitude for surveying and for military affairs. This taste led to his having a royal middy’s warrant, obtained for-him when he was fourteen years old, and only because of his imother’s reluctance to have him go to England was* he spared>fo light for the colonies instead of 'becoming an officer In his majesty’s service. He had been out of school only a few months when he got his first join—as a surveyor. It was a good one, too, for Lord Fairfax, having noted the lad’s mental equipment and his intrepidity, gave him a commission t® survey his wild acres In the Shenandoah valley. So well did Washington accomplish the arduous task that he was made a public surveyor. Almost coincident with hts entrance upon' a private career young Washington identified himself with public Interests. Fond of athletics and sports, as well as of military affairs* he joined the local militia, and w’hen nineteen years old was made a major. When he was still In his twenties he won his first colonelcy In his gallant, but disastrous, first campaign against the French. It was there that he first tasted the bitter fruits of unpreparedness. —• When Washington went to Philadelphia, as a member of the Second Continental congress he w’ore his provincial uniform, an instructive expression of his feeling in regard to the crisis that w’as to come —In its way a fulfillment of prophecy —for during the session he was put at the head of the irregular army near Boston. He found Ithat army, not only without discipline and equipment, but without powder. Men who had enlisted only for a few months ran aWa.y v Washington ardently appealed to the continental and provincial congresses to provide tor longer enlist-

ments" and an adequate system of recruitment. Such authority as he had he used with diligence and forethought. Under his orders a few fast vessels were fitted out and armed as privateers at the nearest safe ports. Marblehead volunteers In the army were put aboard them for •crews, and the enemy’s supplies, Including muchneeded powder, were captured upon the seas and brought overland into the American camp. After a long period of waiting, the Americans were on Dorchester Heights and the British evacuated Boston. Washington’s keen sense told him that the die was now cast, that peace was Impossible, that, England would speedily pour reenforcements to “reduce the colony to a proper sense of Its duty.” Conservative and aristocrat as he was classed, Washington now favored the, radicals, who sought to break with the home government and set up their own. “I have never entertained the idea of an accommodation,” he said, “since I heard of the measures which were adopted in consequence of the Bunker Hill fight.” His.stanch attitude was maintained in the midst of disheartening experiences, not only with the enemy in the field, but with trouble-makers in his own camp. “I know the unhappy predicament in which I stand,” he wrote: “I know that much is expected <of me; I know that, without men, without arms, without ammunition, without anything fit for the accommodation of a soldier, little Is to be done; and, what is mortifying, I know that I, cannot stand justified to the world without es* posing my own weakness and injuring the cause by declaring my wants. My situation has been such that I have had to use art to conceal It even from my officers.” ~ Jealousies hampered him so sorely that he sternly proclaimed: “The general most earnestly entreats the officers and soldiers to consider consequences ; that we can no way assist our enemies more than by making divisions among ourselves; that the honor and success of the army and the safety of our bleeding country depend upon harmony and good agreement with each other; that the provinces are all united to oppose the common enemy and all distinctions in the name of America. “To make this name honorable and to preserve tire liberty of our country ought to be our only emulation, and he will be the best soldier and the best patriot who contributes most to this glorious work, whatever his station or from whatever part of the country he may come. Let all distinction of nations, countries thereof be lost In the generous contest who shall, behave with the most courage toward the enemy and the most kindness and good humor to each other. “If any be so lost to virtue and love of country as to continue in. torch practice after this ordeiv they will be severely punished and discharged from the service In disgrace.” After the disastrous battle of Long Island, Washington once more took the liberty of mentioning to congress that no dependence could be put in a militia or other troops than those enlisted and embodied for a longer period than our regulations have heretofore prescribed. *- “Our liberties must of necessity be greatly hazarded, -if not entirely lost, if the|r defense is left to any but a permanent standing army. I mean one to exist during war. Men who have been free and subjected to no control cannot be reduced to order In an instant. . . . “There Is no situation on, earth less enviable or more distressing,” continues Washington, “than that person who is at the head of troops regardless of order and discipline and unprovided with almost every necessity. The difficulties that have surrounded me since I have been.in the service hhve kept my mind constantly upon the stretch;

the wounds which my feelings as an officer have received by a thousand things that have happened contrary to my expectations and Wishes; the effect of my own conduct and present appearance of things so little pleasing to myself as to render It a matter of no surprise to me if I should stand capitally censured by congress . . ■ ind J!? e . a thorough conviction in my mind that it will e impossible, unless there is a thorough change in our military system, for me to conduct matters to give satisfaction to the public, which is all the recompense I aim at or ever wish for. This unhappy state of things-was almost wholly due to the feeling manifested in several sections of the country, persisted in to the hampering o Washington’s campaign and to the detriment of the cause. Congress was finally prevailed upon by Washington’s representations and the tardi y dawning consciousness that war was inevitable and that, being so, unpreparedness meant calamity. , . On December 20, 1776. he wrote to the president of congress ? “Short enlistments and a mistaken dependence upon our militia have been the origin of all our misfortunes and great accumulation oi our debt. ... I beg leave to give it as my humble opinion that 88 battalions are by no means equal to the opposition you are to make, and that not a moment’s time Is to be lost in raising a greater number, not less in my opinion and that of my officers than 110. ... In my judgment this is not a time to stand upon expense; out funds are not the only object of consideration. . It may be thought that I am going a good deal out of my line of duty to advise thus freely. A character to loose, an estate to forfeit, the inestimable blessings of liberty at stake and a life devoted must be my excuse.” Far from holding himself aloof and wanting to keep all power in his own hands, Washington welcomed co-operation. After no had been invested with the dictatorial powers necessitated by the emergency of public affairs, the council of safety of New York apologized for certain measures they had taken in regard to New York troops which were later discovered to have been an /infringement on his authority. Washington replied: “I should be unhappy in the belief that any part of my letter to you could be construed into the slightest hint that you wish to interfere in the military line. Heaven knows that I greatly want the aid of every good man, and that there are not such enviable pleasures attending my situation as to make me too jealous of Its prerogatives. Rather than complain of your late efforts in the military way, you deserve the thanks of us all, and I feel myself happy in this opportunity of returning you mine in the greatest truth and sincerity.” At Valley Forge, where Washington’s troops were almost naked, had few blankets and scanty fnofi h P was mnypfl to resentment against “the gentlemen, without knowing whether the army was raally iroing into winter quarters or not, reprobating the measure as much as if they thought the soldiers were made of stocks and stones and equally , insensible of frost and show, and, moreover, as if they conceived it easily practicable for an inferior army under the disadvantages I have described ours to be to confine a superior one, in all respects well appointed, within the city of Philadelphia and to cover from depredation and waste the states Of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. ... I can assure these gentlemen that It Is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw up remonstrances in a comfortable room by a good fireside than to occupy a cold, bleak hill and sleep under frost and snow without clothes, or blankets. However, although they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel superabundantly for them, and from my soul I pity those miseries, which It Is neither in my power to relieve nor prevent.” " Washington made- persistent efforts tv get a guarantee of half-pay for his officers after the war, himself having no personal Interest in the measure; he had declared from the first that he would never profit by it to the amount of a single penny. He deprecated constantly the jealousy of the millfafy part of the government by the civil department. “If we would pursue a right system of policy,” he wrote to a member of congress, “in my opinion there would be none of these distinctions. We should all, congress and army, be considered as one people, embarked in one cause, in one Interest, acting on the same principle and to the same end.” In 1793 Washington, in Iris second term as president. wrote to congress that, while he sought peace and urged a faithful discharge of every duty toward others, he recommended prompt measures not only for defense but for enforcing just claims. “There is a rank due the United States among other nations which will he withheld, if,not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. If we desire to avoid insult we must b<> able to repel it; if we desire to secure peace; one of the most powerful instruments of our prosperity, it must be known that we are at all times n ,ady for war," he wrote, -

• * * * I can assure these gentlemen (officials held responsible for suffering at Valley Forge) that it is a much easier and less distressing thing to draw up remorv strances in a comfortable room by a good fireside than to occupy a cold, bleak hill and sleep under frost and snow without clothes or blankets. However, though they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel superabundantly for them, and from my soul 1 pity these miseries, which it is neither in my power to relieve nor prevent General Washington