Victory at Yorktown (43 page)

Colonel Otho Williams
(1749–1794). An outstanding commander under Nathanael Greene, Williams fought at Fort Washington and Camden, where he performed ably. He covered Greene's race to the Dan and then led the army into North Carolina, where he distinguished himself at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs.

SOURCE NOTES

The notes that follow indicate the chief sources of quotations or assertions for readers interested in pursuing a subject further or knowing what publications I found most useful. Wherever possible I have based the text on contemporary evidence as recorded by eyewitnesses, and I have indicated where such material may be found.

Citations of documents in the Gilder Lehrman collection include the abbreviation GLC or MA followed by the appropriate item number.

Prologue

The quotations from and about Washington and Congress are from Flexner 2:9, 13–14.

Jefferson's comment is quoted in Van Doren
Benjamin Franklin
529, and Abigail Adams's remark is from the same source, 541.

The footnote about Napoleon's statement is taken from Flexner 2:543fn.

Descriptions of Washington's face by Houdon and Stuart appear in Flexner's
Gilbert Stuart
127.

Prince de Broglie's observation is in Ferrière 468.

1. So Much Is at Stake

A splendid account of the battles of Lexington and Concord may be found in David Hackett Fischer's
Paul Revere's Ride.

Estimates of the Continental Army's strength are in Scheer and Rankin 376.

Thacher 185 describes the horrendous winter at Morristown.

Flexner 2:354–55 and Martin have more details on the soldiers' suffering, and the former quotes Webb's angry outburst on p. 355.

Stokes 5:161–62 has William Smith's opinion of France.

Freeman 5:161–67 is the source of information on the orders to French troops and Lafayette's reaction to the Continental Army's distress.

Freeman 5:177–78 has the General's warning of how the French might react to his soldiers' condition. The number of new recruits coming into camp appears in the same source.

Washington's appeal to the states is from Freeman 5:178.

Ebenezer Huntington's outburst appears in Freeman 5:174–75.

Washington's comment on the history of war as one of false hopes and temporary expedients is from his letter to James Duane of Oct. 4, 1780, Hamilton Papers 2:454. The footnote about Samuel Tate is from GLC 1422, dated May 1780.

The description of the states as a potential many-headed monster comes from Flexner 2:355–56, as does the concern about “seditious combinations.”

Washington's fear that the army might vanish may be found in Flexner 2:357. From the same source, p. 359, comes the General's cynical jibe about his borrowed horse and the figure on expiring enlistments.

Whitridge records Vergennes's perceptive comment on the loss of Canada.

Bemis 18 has Vergennes's remark concerning the Turks. Einstein's first two chapters are entertaining and illuminating on the topic of British spies and their efforts to uncover what the American commissioners were up to at Versailles.

Whitridge 65fn6 contains Vergennes's statement about England's importance to the balance of power in Europe.

France's arrangements for getting money and arms to America are described in Bemis 19–21 and Van Doren
Benjamin Franklin
568.

Franklin in Paris is ably described in Van Doren
Benjamin Franklin
570–75.

Van Doren
Benjamin Franklin
572 and 579 has information on Lafayette and Steuben.

How the news of Saratoga was delivered to Franklin is in Van Doren
Benjamin Franklin
587–88 and Ketchum
Saratoga
441–45.

Bemis 28–30 contains details of the treaty with France.

Commager and Morris 743–45 is the source of information on the double agent Bancroft.

Einstein 16–25
passim
discusses Silas Deane; Van Doren's chapter 20
Benjamin Franklin
is informative on spies. The footnote concerning the Carlisle commission is drawn from Boatner 844–45.

Bemis 30–31 deals with congressional ratification of the treaties.

Heath 225 and Scheer and Rankin 377 describe the French arrival in Newport.

Information on the French chevalier appears in Chastellux 2–13
passim.

Closen 107 continues his description of the Atlantic passage and discusses himself, xxii–xxvi.

Chadwick 13 and Freeman 5:179–80 treat British naval superiority and its effect on Washington's plans.

Rice and Brown 1:18fn9 includes Clinton's belief that British failure to deal with the French in Rhode Island was a turning point of the war. This book is an invaluable source.

2. France Will Turn the Tide

Washington's despair that the army must disband is in Freeman 5:181–82fn.

The same volume also has Arnold's early attempt to beg off active command (182–83) and Washington's reluctant decision to scavenge the countryside (184–85).

Flexner 2:365 is the source of Washington's decision to use Lafayette as a conduit to the French, and 414fn gives the reason French officers did not care to serve with Lafayette's command.

Boatner 939 has a good summary of Rochambeau's career.

Rochambeau's comments on Washington's plans are in Flexner 2:366–67, and Freeman 5:187fn has his plea to the General to deal directly with him.

Gottschalk 2–3 is the source for Lafayette's decision to come to America.

Boatner 591–92 and Flexner 2:213–15 have useful information on Lafayette and his relationship with Washington.

Flexner 2:367 quotes Washington's reluctance to leave his army.

Arbuthnot's failure to act against Newport is in Whitridge 90.

Willcox 328 contains Clinton's acid comment about the admiral.

The story of Clinton's efforts to get Arbuthnot to act, Rodney's arrival and attitude are detailed in Willcox 324–44
passim
.

Washington informed Congress in a letter to the Committee of Congress for Co-operation, dated Aug. 17, 1780, which is in GLC 6488.

Freeman 5:188 cites Washington's letter to his brother Samuel.

Alexander Hamilton to James Duane, Sept. 6, 1780, is from GLC 6671.

Hamilton Papers 2:422 contains his letter to Elizabeth Schuyler.

American proposals to the French are in Freeman 5:193 and fn.

The draft proposal for the Hartford meeting is in Hamilton Papers 2:3391–96.

A discussion of Joshua Hett Smith is in Boatner 1015 and Smith
Historical Memoirs
1–7.

Freeman 5:192 and Flexner 2:371–72 describe conversations between Washington and Arnold and the General's ride to Hartford.

Mackesy's
The War for America
is very informative on naval matters.

Flexner 2:366 and 371–73; also Rice and Brown 1:241 (Berthier journal); Johnston; Chinard 62–65 are good sources of French comments.

Hamilton Papers 2:391–93 contains an excellent account of the Hartford meeting and the American proposals. More may be found in Flexner 2:371–72.

Whitridge is an excellent study of Rochambeau. See especially chapter 6 of that volume for details on the selection of the count and the staff that accompanied him to America.

3. So Hellish a Plot

The story—perhaps apocryphal—about Wayne and Washington appears in
New York,
WPA Guide series, 605.

Boatner 1066 has the story of Wayne at Stony Point.

Flexner 2:382 relates the meeting between Washington and Arnold.

Shreve 133 quotes the diary of Tobias Lear, Washington's private secretary, to whom he dictated the story while on his deathbed of giving Arnold the command at West Point.

Washington's instructions to Arnold appear in Flexner 2:383.

Van Doren
Secret History
294–95 and 345–47 is very informative on the Arnold story.

Brandt 205 also has a fine account of what occurred.

I turned to Flexner 2:385; Chastellux 1:89–90; and Thacher 216 for a description of West Point at this time.

An article in
Life,
Feb. 23, 1968, contains the report from Jameson.

Commager and Morris 760–61 and Freeman 5:200 have André's story. The footnote explaining Colonel Sheldon's absence is based on Freeman 5:208fn.

Lafayette to La Luzerne described Arnold's flight, in Commager and Morris 754–55. The same source, 751–52 and 758, describes Arnold's escape.

Flexner 2:383 mentions the delay of Arnold's letter.

Van Doren
Secret History
289 notes Smith's invitation to Mrs. Arnold.

Hamilton to Laurens, in Commager and Morris 759–60, describes the plotters' meeting.

Scheer and Rankin 380–81 has the account of Smith and André trying to elude capture.

Jones 1:732 states that the captors of André were not militiamen but “farmer's boys” who were on a mission to steal cattle. Two of them could neither read nor write, he said; the third, John Paulding, stated at the trial of Joshua Hett Smith that he had held on to André “because he said he was a British officer. Had he pulled out General Arnold's pass first, I would have let him go.”

Scheer and Rankin 375–88 has the full account of Arnold's treason and André's fate.

Freeman 5:208 is good on the capture of André.

Commager and Morris 758–59 and Boatner 475 describe André and his execution.

Hamilton's letter to his fiancée is in his Papers 2:441–42.

Lamb's letter to a fellow officer is in Leake 250–52.

Van Doren
Secret History
165–66, 185–86 describes Arnold's activities in Philadelphia. The same source, 187–88, has the fullest account of Arnold's treachery, based on the then recently acquired British headquarters papers.

John André to Joseph Chew, June 18, 1780, is in GLC 05533.

Brandt 154–95
passim
is an excellent source on Arnold's treason.

Scheer and Rankin reprints Greene's general orders (384) as well as Scammell's condemnation of Arnold (388).

Van Doren
Secret History
352–53 describes the march of Wayne's Pennsylvanians, and this is supplemented in Commager and Morris 753–54.

Scheer and Rankin 385–86 contains Tallmadge's account of André's death.

Flexner 2:392–94 notes the attempt to persuade Clinton to surrender Arnold to the Americans.

Commager and Morris 762–63 reports Arnold's threat to Washington.

Maguire 237–40, 243fn, and 244fn provides a graphic picture of André's final moments.

Scheer and Rankin 387 prints the artificer's description of the hanging.

Freeman 5:221fn, Thacher 226–31, and Commager and Morris have anecdotes from the scene of André's execution.

Brandt 155 and elsewhere discusses Arnold's motivations.

Washington's comment on Arnold is in Freeman 5:223.

Brandt discusses the public outrage against Arnold.

Lloyds's Evening Post
(London), Dec. 11–13, 1780, quoted in Scheer and Rankin 388, has the observation regarding Arnold's unpopularity with British officers.

Brandt 230–31, 233–37 describes Arnold's activities after his treason was discovered, including efforts to recruit volunteers.

Thayer 280 has Greene's letter to his wife.

The fullest account of John Champe's remarkable story is the article in
American Heritage
by George Scheer. Additional material is in Boatner 193–94.

4. Beware the Back Water Men

The hurricane is described in Rice and Brown 1:20 and fn13.

Loughrey 33 quotes Fersen on Rochambeau.

Numerous accounts of the French stay in Rhode Island exist, notably those in Rice and Brown (see especially Berthier journal). In addition to the journals of French officers, Stevens's “The French in Rhode Island” is useful. Simpson has an amusing account on whether the French paid for their lodging.

Rice and Brown 1:21 (Clermont-Crèvecoeur journal) describes American table manners.

Blanchard 78–79 contains his comments on the American diet.

Closen's observations are on pp. 49–51.

Bundling is discussed in detail by Clermont-Crèvecoeur in Rice and Brown 1:39.

The Verger journal in Rice and Brown describes the Indian visit (123); and Clermont-Crèvecoeur's journal in the same source has commentary on the Quakers (21–22).

News of Leslie's assignment is in Closen 45–46, and his mission is noted in Clinton 467 (Clinton to Leslie, Oct. 12, 1780).

Flexner 2:405 has details on the correspondence captured from American gen-erals.

Clinton 461–62 has a copy of the purloined Hamilton letter.

Clinton 466 discusses the capture of Henry Laurens.

Closen 43–47 and 47fn describes the death of Ternay, the Christmas storm, and the aborted mission to capture Clinton.

Accounts of the mutiny of the Pennsylvania line appear in Freeman 5:235, 236–41.

Clinton 240–41 discusses his efforts to capitalize on the mutiny. The footnote explaining why veterans got a discharge and reenlisted is from Flexner 2:406.

Freeman 5:510, appendix 3, contains material on Clinton's moves.

Several sources offer valuable material on the mutiny of the Pennsylvania line: Freeman 5:236–48, Flexner 2:407–8, and Clinton 240–41.

Freeman 5:243 prints the letter from Sullivan to Washington.

Flexner 2:406–7 describes the General's doubts about the army's continued existence.

Robert Howe's settlement of the New Jersey mutiny is described in Freeman 5:247–49.

Lumpkin 1–4 has a good account of initial plans for war in the South.

Clinton notes being out of fashion in Clinton xxxii.

Flood 110; Boatner 285–89; and Clinton xxxviii–xl all shed light on Sir Henry's personality.