George Washington was a prolific letter writer, and as such he also tended to receive a great number of letters.
We have to day three missives sent to George Washington on this day in 1776.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
(Pardon my brevity for this episode; as I write this my wife has spent the better part of the day in the hospital for a surgical procedure, and I’m too exhausted to be my usual clever self.)
Samuel Adams made a point of telling his second cousin John Adams that he didn’t have a lot of time to write. Then he cranked out 570 words of worries about the language in the New Hampshire constitution, which had been ratified ten days earlier.
Then the next day he tacked on another 250 words. If he’d typed all 820 words out, it would be about three pages (double-spaced). The script for this episode is 219 words; even when Adams was in a hurry he was verbose.
But Samuel Adams kinda-sorta had a point, in that the New Hampshire constitution hedged its bets a little bit. Clearly he had this in mind when he worked on the original Articles of Confederation (the document that preceded the US Constitution), and when he joined the Constitutional Convention for Massachusetts a couple of years later.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
As George Washington’s aide-de-camp, Joseph Reed was privy to a lot of things on his Commander-in-Chief’s mind. And it shows in the level of prose that Washington uses when writing to Reed, because it’s much less formal.
Compare that to the letter he sent to the Continental Congress the same day. In both cases he was expressing concerns regarding his troops, but in one case it’s a criticism of their readiness (Joseph Reed), and in the other it’s concern for their well-being (John Hancock).
Washington’s troops would remain relatively undisciplined for several months, until the winter encampment at Valley Forge. But I’m getting waaaaay ahead of the story, so stick around. Meanwhile, put this in your ears.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
There are many letters between George Washington and Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull. Presumably something as simple as proximity to another leader was attractive to both of them, especially in an age where letters took several days to go a hundred miles.
We have to presume that the two men had very reliable people transporting these letters, given how much detail is in this one regarding Washington’s guesses about British troop movements and exactly what he was going to do about it. It’s certainly been the case before that correspondence has been intercepted by the British in the past, and the Postal Service hadn’t been up and running for very long by that point.
At any rate, Washington was correct in that the British were taking a hard look at New York City (still mostly just the southern tip of Manhattan, mind you) and the palisades along the Hudson River, which was still called the North River then. Where he was likely incorrect was in the timing of that move, which may have resulted in a little complacency.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
The Battle of Great Bridge may be over, but its effects linger on.
Lord Dunmore, the former Royal Governor of South Carolina, communicated to General Robert Howe that he’d like to effect a prisoner exchange.
It’s not clear whether Howe was playing hard-to-get, or playing dumb, or something else. He and Dunmore exchanged several letters over the next couple of days, and apparently didn’t end in a prisoner exchange. It did, however, end in violence. We’ll be talking about that as we get into the new year.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Colonel Henry Knox was just about ready to begin moving the Noble Train of Artillery (a phrase he coined, incidentally). He’d have everything he needed to move by the 20th or 21st of December, and then just seventeen days later, he’d be marching into Cambridge.
As we all know, he was wrong about how long it would take. But that sort of thing happened frequently.
What we don’t know is why he said he had the animals he needed to transport the materiel when he didn’t. And even though there are numerous images of the Noble Train of Artillery involving oxen, there weren’t any at all: everything was moved using horses.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
On a personal note: today would have been my grandmother’s 103rd birthday. A lot of things have changed since I was born, but a lot more things changed from the time she was born. The mind boggles.
Ben Franklin and Gabriel de Borbón had corresponded with one another previously, so while the letter that is the subject of today’s episode has a very specific (and relevant) ask in it, it was also just another in a chain of correspondence between the two.
For his part, Prince Gabriel was probably receptive to Franklin’s suggestions, but he wasn’t likely to be in a position to act on them in the way that Franklin hoped. As the fourth son of Charles III, the throne was a long way off, though he was considered the heir apparent for some time.
When Spain provided assistance the following year, they did so because Spain and France were allies and France was providing assistance to the Americans; furthermore they had their own bone to pick with the British, so Two Birds and all that. So they sent over lots of assistance, mostly in the form of money so that the Continental Army could purchase cannons, mortars, gun carriages and other ordinance.
It’s possible that Prince Gabriel had some influence on his father, but more likely is that Charles III was simply maintaining existing alliances.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
All of the men who were part of the Second Continental Congress were serious men who had businesses of their own back at home. So spending so much time in Philadelphia had to have been taxing on them, especially since the days were so long. Of course many of them were going to be homesick. Read the letters between John and Abigail Adams as an excellent example.
And remember: to go home to, say, Boston could take about a week in 1775. So they’d be away for two weeks at a minimum, and that’s entirely traveling time. Taking care of whatever they needed to only added to the absence.
We do know that many of them did go home from time to time, but they were obliged to return and continue the business of running a country while simultaneously ducking interference from the British.
Joseph Hewes’ letter to Samuel Johnston has a special poignancy about it.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Sam Adams was a patriot in his own right, oftentimes supporting his second cousin John. The two of them were often able to work together closely. What’s more, they were an efficient team, with Sam Adams being the fiery agitator and organizer, and John Adams acting in the more measured and sophisticated role, playing the political diplomat.
But Sam also had his own ideas about how things should be organized. When he heard that the Massachusetts Assembly was considering putting together military groups, he applauded the idea, but he was also worried that having each colony create an army, then putting them all under the control of a single entity, might be dangerous in the long run. He expressed these fears in a letter to Eldridge Gerry, written on October 29 and delivered to Gerry today.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
The Second Continental Congress was having a busy week, with the worries about the trade embargo going on, and whether ships from other nations could get in/out safely.
And John Adams was worried, too–worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand for gunpowder for the soldiers. One of the components of gunpowder is saltpeter, and while it isn’t hard to make, it’s certainly easier to let someone else make it and then pay them for their efforts. Fortunately, help arrived in the form of a “recipe” for saltpeter published in a local newspaper.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
