GW writes Dinwiddie: "being Americans..."
We continue our trek thru 1757 in this year of 2021.
So what else is the subject
of George Washington's time in Philly
while waiting to see Lord Loudoun?
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It's the same subject
he addresses in this letter to his Lt Gov Dinwiddie.
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It's the same subject
he wants to bring to Lord Loudoun's attention.
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It's the subject
of his officers
deserving British commissions
and his men
should be joined into the official British Army:
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Colonel George Washington
writes on 10 March 1757
to Lt Gov Dinwiddie
while they are both waiting to see Lord Loudoun:
"We cant conceive, that being Americans
shoud deprive us of the benefits of British Subjects."
A little tidbit about that drawing above?
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Tony Elar Jr ,who as Captain of our reenactment group, drew that picture one evening at the Virginia Beer Museum on the fly.
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Blog compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 3/10/2021, 3/16/2021
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Colonel George Washington is waiting for a meet with Lord Loudoun to ask for his men and himself to be established as part of the British Army or at least something better than what their status is now. GW is called in to meet Lord Loudoun 20 March 1757, but only to answer some questions on the forts and their garrisoning. The matters of pay and recognizing the Virginia Regiment as part of the official British Army did not arise in this meeting. GW followed up after that meeting with a letter to Lord Loudoun 23 March 1757 repeating almost verbatim what he wrote as a first rough draft for vetting to Lt Gov Dinwiddie on 10 March 1757. Lt Gov Dinwiddie, who along with the other Mid-Atlantic to Southern governors in Philly are currently having daily conferences with Lord Loudoun from 15 March on. The letter GW writes to Dinwiddie? He mentions the phrase, "being Americans." so, Grab a cup of coffee, because Tea is for, well you know, for dumping. Grab a cup of coffee and read a letter by GW in Philly 3/10/1757 .
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Here is that letter where George Washington argues for his officers and men a better establishment, one that might merit being officially part of the British Army.
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From George Washington
to Robert Dinwiddie,
10 March 1757
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To Robert Dinwiddie .
Philadelphia March 10th 17571 .
Honble Sir .
We may I think with great Propriety and Justice represent.
That—The Virginia Regiment was the first in arms
of any Troops upon the Continent, in the prest War.
That—The three Years which they have Servd
has been one continued Scene of Action.
That—whilst other Troops have an agreeable recess
in Winter Quarters, the Nature of the Service in which we are engagd, and the smallness of Our Numbers so unequal to the Task, keep us constantly in Motion—
That nevertheless, all these Services
have hitherto been performd with great Spirit and cheerfulness but
That continuing in a Service
precarious and uncertain:
hazarding Life Fortune & health to the chances of War,
for the present, and a bare Subsistance,
is matter for serious,
and melancholy reflection:
It tends to promote langour
and Indifference:
It sickens that laudable
and generous Emulation
so necessary among Troops:
It is nipping in the bud our rising hopes.
Hopes that we have been led to cherish:
It is discouraging to Merit,
and, I can’t help repeating,
that it is in the highest degree
dispiriting to the Officers,
more especially those,
who, having thrown themselves
out of other employments
are now to look forward and see,
that they are wasting the Prime of their Lives and Constitutions
in a Service the most uncertain,
and Precarious:
In which they can expect to be continued no longer
than hard blows,
and continual Dangers require their Aid.
and when those Causes Cease,
are then dismissd,
perhaps in a State of disability
and Indigence from wounds, &ca.
These are reflections
that must have due weight
in every Breast,
but the Idiots and Madman’s,
and have made Our Officers
anxiously Solicituous
to know their Fate—at once—
and the full extent of their Dependances,
that they may regulate
their conduct accordingly.
We cant conceive,
that being Americans
shoud deprive us
of the benefits of British Subjects;2
nor lessen our claim to preferment: and we are very certain, that no Body of regular Troops ever before Servd 3 Bloody Campaigns without attracting Royal Notice.
As to those Idle Arguments which are often times us’d—namely, You are Defending your own properties;3
I look upon to be whimsical & absurd;
We are Defending the Kings Dominions,
and althô the Inhabitants
of Gt Britain are removd from (this) Danger, t
hey are yet, equally with Us,
concernd and Interested in the Fate of the Country,4
and there can be no Sufficient reason given why we, who spend our blood and Treasure in Defence of the Country are not entitled to equal prefermt.5
Some boast of long Service as a claim to Promotion—meaning I suppose, the length of time they have pocketed a Commission—I apprehend it is the service done, not the Service engag’d in, that merits reward; and that their is, as equitable a right to expect something for three years hard & bloody Service, as for 10 spent at St James’s &ca where real Service, or a field of Battle never was seen.6
If it shou’d be said, the Troops of Virginia are Irregulars, and cannot expect more notice than other Provincials, I must beg leave to differ, and observe in turn, that we want nothing but Commissions from His Majesty to make us as regular a Corps as any upon the Continent—
Because, we were regularly Enlisted attested and bound, during the King’s or Colony’s Pleasure—We have been regularly Regimented and trained, and have done as regular Duty for upwards of 3 Years as any regiment in His Majesty’s Service—We are regularly and uniformly Cloathd; Officers & Soldiers—We have been at all the expence that regulars are in providing equipage for the Camp—and in few words I may say, we labour under every disadvantage, and enjoy not one benefit which regulars do.
How different from Us, the Establishment of all other Provincials is, may easily be discernd by considering,7
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that they are raizd for a Season—
assembl⟨ed⟩ in the spring
and are dismissd in the Fall.
consequently are totally ignorant of regular Service—
They know their Dependance,
and had nothing to expect;
therefore coud not be dissappointed.
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They are never cloathd, and are at little expence, as they act as Irregulars8
and paid exorbitantly.
There remains one reason more, which of itself, is fully sufficient to obviate scrupples: & that is—we have been in constant Pay, & on constant Duty since the commencement of these Broils, which none others have.9
And we flatter ourselves, it will evidently appear, that the Advantages gaind by the Enemy, and the Ravages committed on our Frontiers are not owing to the Inactivity of the V. Regt In proof of which, we appeal to the many bloody Skirmishes with the Enemy last Campagn to our Beha[viou]r at Monogahela, & Services in the Campaign of 1754; To the number of Officers & Men killd in Battle, &ca &ca.
Recountg these Services is highly disagreeable to us—
as it is repugnant to the Modesty becoming the Brave,
but we are compelld thereto by the little Notice taken of Us—
It being the General Opinion, that our Services are slighted,
or have not been properly represented to His Majesty:
otherwise the best of Kings woud have graciously taken Notice of Us in turn,
while there are now Six Battalions raizd in America,
and not an Officer of the Virginia Regiment Provided for.
notwithstanding many of them had distinguishd themselves in the Service before Orders were Issued for raizing one of the Battalions above mentiond.
Whereas, the disregarding the faithful services of any Body of His Majesty’s Subjects, tends to discourage Merit and lessen that generous Emulation, spirit, and laudable ambition so necessary to prevail in an Army and which Contributes so much to the Success of Enterprize.
I, in behalf of the Officers
of the Virginia Regt beg,
that your Honour will be pleas’d
to take their Case
into particular Consideration,
and as they think themselves
particularly entitled
to your Honours Patronage,
give them Reason
by your earnest endeavours
with His Lordship,
to hope for a Soldiers reward,
and redress their Grievances
in whatever manner
shall seem to your Honour
most conducive to their Interest,
and His Majesty’s Service—
We are all Sensible, that nothing but earnest application can obtain promotion, while there are so many dependants; & we now hope, as justice and equity are clear on our side, and as this seems to be the Crisis of our Fate that no stone will be unturnd to bring this abt. I am Honble Sir Yr most Obedt Hble Servt
Go: Washington
ALS (facsimile), NHi: George and Martha Washington Papers; LB, DLC:GW. GW seems to have revised his original letter-book copy rather extensively before the clerk made the copy in the surviving letter book. The original letter book is missing. The more important differences between the autograph letter and the surviving letter-book copy have been noted.
GW prepared a shorter version of this letter as a memorial from the officers of the Virginia Regiment. It is dated 23 Mar. 1757.
1. GW arrived in Philadelphia for the meeting of the governors of the southern colonies with Lord Loudoun shortly after 21 Feb. 1757. Loudoun did not get to Philadelphia until 14 March.
2. The letter-book copy makes the point more directly: “We can not conceive that because we are Americans, we shou’d therefore be deprived of the Benefits common to British Subjects.”
3. The letter-book copy substitutes “Country & property” for “own properties.”
4. Instead of “the Country” the letter-book copy has “the War.”
5. In his letter book GW made the latter part of this paragraph a separate and more forceful sentence: “Therefore, if we shed our blood and waste our Substance in defence of the country, we do service to them, and have an adequate right to preferment.”
6. The last part of this sentence reads in the letter book, “and that there may be as just a claim to promotion from 3 years hard and bloody Service, as from ten, where neither real danger or Field of Battle was ever seen.”
7. The meaning of the letter-book version of this passage is clearer: “How different the establishment from all others this is may easily be seen, when we consider. . . .”
8. The word in the letter book is “Regulars.”
9. What follows does not appear in the corrected letter book.
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Source:
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The actual letter itself
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The letter to Lord Loudoun sent 23 March 1757 repeating mostly what was sent to Lt Gov Dinwiddie on 10 March 1757
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Another blogger's view of the letter to Lt Gov Diwniddie:
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Blog compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 3/10/2021, updated 3/11/2021
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See more of other events GW experienced while in Philly:
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Playing Cards, Dancing, Drinking in Philly
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Colonel George Washington
is still in Philadelphia. He arrived there 21 Feb 1757.
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What has he been doing in Philly since then?
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From
Young George Washington,
Pages 235,
published 1948,
Charles Scribner's Sons:
... Washington had to make the most
of such accommodations as a Philadelphia inn could offer in midwinter
He found the shops as well-stocked as formerly with finery for gentle-
men, 19
but he did not patronize them as he had in 1756 His indulgences were less expensive He saw much of Governor Sharpe and probably had the company of that gentleman several times when he dined and then sat over a bottle of wine, the cost of which was divided accurately among the drinkers 20
Cards, too, were a diversion, with the companions of Colonel Washington somewhat on the winning side 21
Once, at least, he attended the assembly at the invitation of some resident member, but he carefully paid the cost of his ticket, five-and-nine, Virginia money 22
It was customary at these affairs to arrange sets of
ten couples, formed in order of arrival, and to devote the evening to
dancing and to card-playing Rum punch was supplied freely to sustain
the enthusiasm of the members and guests for six hours of festivity 28
Footnotes:
18
At the Shippen house, used in 1699 by William Penn See Watson, Annals of Philadelphia (1st ed ), 315
18
See, for example, John Ord’s advertisement in the Penn Gazette of February 10
28
There are eight, perhaps nine, “club” entries of this type in Washington's Philadelphia
expenses ( Ledger A, folios 33-34)
21 Ibid , folio 33, shows losses of ^4, 1 6 s, Pennsylvania currency
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Presumably the price still was 7/6, as set in 1748/49 See Balch, Philadelphia As'
sembhes, 39
2Z
Ibtd The names of the ladies of the assembly of 1757 are published ibid , 58, but those who formed Washington's “set” are not identified
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In addition to playing cards, dancing, drinking, there are 2 surprises.
One surprise
was seeing his long gone Journal of 1754 resurface -- in the news. It was one the French took from him when he surrendered at Fort Necessity. The British found it on a captured French Ship recently in 1757 and now it is the subject of the newspapers. It is being used by the French as one of the many reasons to prove Britain was the culprit in starting this war. Their provincial Colonel had signed a surrender document admitting he was an assassin of a French officer.
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The other surprise?
Colonel George Washington doesn't ever find out about it. But he has been accused of being a traitor, leaking information to the French. This seems odd while a French publication found on that captured French ship is simultaneously accusing GW of being one of the causes of this war, along with other British incitements. Colonel GW ultimately never finds out about this accusation of him being a traitor. Lord Loudoun stops further inquiring of it once he meets Washington and discover the descriptions of the traitor do not match Washington's appearance.
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Reviewing GW's
and Lord Loudoun's
whereabouts:
"Washington departed promptly (leaving Fort Loudoun some time after 2 Feb 1757), stopped at home (Mt Vernon) on his way to the city (Philadelphia), left on the 13th (Feb 1757) with Capt Robert Stewart and Thomas Bishop, and reached the place of the conference (Philadelphia) about the 21st (Feb 1757) -- only to be told that the new Commander-in Chief (Lord Loudoun) had not made his appearance. " -- writes Douglas Southall Freeman in Young George Washington, Volume 2, Pages 236-237, published 1948, Charles Scribner's Sons: .
GW's Journal in the News
While waiting for Lord Loudoun, GW sees the newspaper advertisement on 3 March 1757, of a future publication date for GW's lost journal.
Ben Franklin
This is the same day, 3 March 1757, Ben Franklin writes Lord Loudoun. Ben Franklin has delayed his trip to England upon Lord Loudoun's request to see Ben Franklin in Philadelphia. Also Bank Franklin's apprentice is James Chattin the one who advertised in the newspaper a future coming publication of GW's Journal among other items in which the English govt sought to counter the French accusation that England started this war.
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Lord Loudoun Arrives His Lord, Lord Loudoun was originally scheduled to arrive in 17 Feb 1757 but reschedules it and shows up on March 14, 1757 in Philly.
Liberty Bell
Lord Loudoun is greeted with great fanfare. The noise of ship's guns and the city's bells heralded his arrival. We wonder if the Liberty Bell (it wasn't called that name of Liberty Bell until 1835) rang for him that day?
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Conferences
Lord Loudoun holds conferences with the southern Governors the very next day on 15 March 1757 thru 21 March 1757.
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Independence Hall
A big dinner to honor Lord Loudoun was held on 18 March 1757 by the corporation of Philadelphia at the State House (the future Independence Hall).
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Finally GW meets Lord Loudoun
Colonel George Washington finally has an audience with Lord Loudoun 20 March 1757.
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Lord Loudoun leaves
Lord Loudoun anticipates leaving Philly for NYC, 25 March 1757.
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