American Crisis by William M. Fowler Jr

American Crisis by William M. Fowler Jr

Author:William M. Fowler Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Walker Books


Chapter Eleven

Stoked by the disappointing report of the committee to Congress and Colonel Brooks’s “particulars,” the mood of the officers encamped along the Hudson had turned ever more sour. Most were convinced that Congress had turned its back on them and that the politicians in Philadelphia stood ready to heave them over the side at the first whiff of peace. The generals had even more reason for concern. The private letters from Gouverneur Morris and Hamilton, although kept close, worked unhappily on the minds of the two men who mattered most, Washington and Knox. They now knew for certain that there were men in Congress who sought to use the army for political gain. Washington had faith that he could count on the ever loyal Knox to do his best to soothe discontent at West Point. He was not so certain about General Gates.

Gates had read the committee’s report and heard most of Brooks’s “particulars,” but he also had his own informants in Philadelphia, among them Richard Peters. A member of a wealthy Philadelphia family with close ties to Pennsylvania’s Proprietary party, Peters abandoned his Tory friends and went over to the Whigs when the Revolution erupted. Recognizing his political and administrative skills, on June 13, 1776, Congress elected him secretary to the Board of War, a position he held for five years. From this perch he looked in the direction of the army, where he came to know every important officer, at the same time keeping a close gaze on Congress and the Pennsylvania Assembly. He and his fellow Philadelphian Gouverneur Morris were much alike: astute politicians, skilled bureaucrats, and avid nationalists. When he left his post as secretary Peters did not abandon politics. On November 12, 1782, the Pennsylvania Assembly elected him a delegate to Congress.1 Having experienced firsthand the dire consequences of a feeble Congress, Peters drew close to the nationalist faction, sometimes sharing his views over dinner and port in the company of the brace of the Morrises, Hamilton, Madison, and others. Madison in particular gave special weight to Peters’s judgment regarding the mood of the army.2

Shortly after Brooks’s return to camp Gates wrote Peters: “The political pot in Philadelphia Boils so furiously,” he had been informed, “that I suppose as a stranger rides through their town They cry scaldings as they do on Ship board when the tea kettle is lugging fore and aft.” The “Boiling” kettle, thought Gates, might produce a useful brew. “What a Blessed prospect we Republicans have before us.” He closed with a cryptic comment, “The Financier has the prayers of the Army.”3

Gates wrote from his headquarters at Ellison House east of the main cantonment. Although attractive, the building was not large. Gates took over the house late in 1782 with the unusual understanding that the family could remain. Soon he invited his wife, Elizabeth, to join him, telling her he had “a warm Stone House.”4 That would have been its only recommendation, however, as Ellison House was small and cramped. Gates described it as a “kennel.



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