Posted on by steveba2103
One might think the following is about George Washington but it is about General John Cadwalader (1742-1786), a leader of Pennsylvania troops in the American Revolution, who helped Washington defeat the Hessians in the famous crossing of the Delaware and other subsequent battles in New Jersey in 1777. Patrick Henry said of him when he died:
“His early and inflexible patriotism will endear his memory to all true friends of the American Revolution. It may with strictest justice be said of him, that he possessed a heart incapable of deceiving. His manners were formed on the nicest sense of honor and the whole tenor of his life was governed by this principle.”
Where is this type of American man now? Where is this type of American woman now?
Northwest of Philadelphia is Valley Forge National Historical Park, where, on December 19, 1777, George Washington and about 12,000 troops plus some women and children encamped for the winter. It is breathtakingly beautiful but what was beautiful about it to George Washington is that it could be defended, so his troops might live to fight the next spring and summer.
Some Americans take George Washington for granted but we are lucky he lived and served among us. He had just been beaten badly on September 11, 1777, at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. The British had moved into the Continental capital, Philadelphia, and Americans living there could not get out fast enough. Congress fled to York, Pennsylvania. It appeared only a matter of time before American forces would be overrun by the British.
So here Washington was, twenty miles from Philadelphia preparing for an imminent attack. Many of his men had no shoes, no warm clothes, no supplies, no housing – just cold mud to slog through. Enlistments were up December 31 for much of the force. Who would stay here for the winter in these conditions when they could go home to their farms and families?
In addition to untrained troops and critical shortages, Washington was virtually abandoned by Congress. They couldn’t get supplies to the troops. They couldn’t get money to the troops. They micromanaged every aspect of the war they were increasingly unwilling to fight. Former supporters of the Revolution then turned on General Washington: Samuel Adams, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Mifflin, James Wilkinson, and several of the French who had come to enjoy the Revolution – in particular an Irish/Frenchman named Thomas Conway.
General Conway wanted a promotion Washington did not think he deserved so he began a campaign in Congress to have Washington retired to Mt. Vernon and replaced by General Horatio Gates. Secret letters were exchanged. Washington was called a “rank amateur” by previous patriots. Conway wrote to Gates: “Heaven has determined to save your country; or a weak General and bad councellors would have ruined it.”
Over Washington’s vigorous objection, Congress promoted Conway to the rank he wanted and made him Inspector General at Valley Forge. They formed a Board of War to oversee Washington’s conduct of the war consisting of persons critical of his leadership. George Washington handled this matter in the exact same way he handled most impossible situations – he froze Conway out. There is no American who has ever lived that has the capacity of George Washington to destroy with one glance, one slight move of his body, one glare that if coming in your direction will make you wish you had never been born. No one ever dared to touch his person. The matter was finally dropped, General Horatio Gates apologized for his involvement, and Congress belatedly began to support the war effort.
Thomas Conway ended up resigning a year later but did not quit badmouthing his former commander. Having enough, the man thought by Patrick Henry to have “the nicest sense of honor”, John Cadwalader, challenged Conway to a dual and shot him in the mouth.
Such is the devotion that George Washington inspired. His men did not go home. They built 1200 small huts with fireplaces to stay warm. They built outer line and inner line defenses all the way to the top of Mount Joy. The Schuylkill River protected their northern flank. Serving General Washington attracted some of the finest foreign soldiers. Baron von Steuben showed up from Prussia and created a unified army with real military skills. The British did not attack.
The next spring, 1778, an alliance with France was secured. The British left Philadelphia to return to their stronghold in New York. Washington left Valley Forge in pursuit. Martha Washington, having made the long and dangerous journey to Valley Forge to be of comfort to her husband, returned to Mt. Vernon. Washington himself went back to Valley Forge nine years later in hopes the land had recovered from the damage done because of the massive encampment.
Valley Forge has been preserved for all Americans to see and feel. The place reminds us that we each can make an individual decision to stay the course “in defense of our injured country”; we can each have “the nicest sense of honor” in preserving the Constitutional Republic Washington fought for; or we can abandon our country to international predators ready to impose the tyranny of Global Government by “intellectual elites and world bankers.”
If George Washington caught your eye he would want to know what your decision is. You would know instantly if he approved.
