The Life of John Marshall, Volume 1: Frontiersman, soldier, lawmaker, 1755-1788

311

Thomas Marshall was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel Aug. 13, 1776; and colonel Feb. 21, 1777. (Heitman, 285.)

312

Trevelyan, iv, 230.

313

Marshall, i, footnote to 158.

314

Ib. Colonel Thomas Marshall's cool-headed and heroic conduct at this battle, which brought out in high lights his fine record as an officer, caused the Virginia House of Delegates to elect him colonel of the State Regiment of Artillery raised by that Commonwealth three months later. The vote is significant; for, although there were three candidates, each a man of merit, and although Thomas Marshall himself was not an aspirant for the place, and, indeed, was at Valley Forge when the election occurred, twice as many votes were cast for him as for all the other candidates put together. Four men were balloted for, Thomas Marshall receiving seventy-five votes and the other three candidates all together but thirty-six votes. (Journal, H.B. (Nov. 5, 1777), 27.)

315

Marshall, i, 156; and Trevelyan, iv, 230-31. Washington reported that Wayne and Maxwell's men retreated only "after a severe conflict." (Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 11, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 69.)

316

Trevelyan, iv, 232.

317

Marshall, i, 157-58.

318

Ib.; and see Irving, iii, 200-09.

319

Marshall, i, 158-59.

320

Four years afterward Chastellux found that "most of the trees bear the mark of bullets or cannon shot." (Chastellux, 118.)

321

Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 11, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 70.

322

Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 141, and see Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 81.

323

Marshall, i, 160.

324

Marshall, i, 160. When their enlistments expired, the soldiers took the Government's muskets and bayonets home with them. Thus thousands of muskets and bayonets continually disappeared. (See Kapp, 117.)

325

Marshall, i, 160-61.

326

Ib.

327

Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 81-82.

328

This is an inference, but a fair one. Maxwell was under Wayne; and Marshall was one of Maxwell's light infantry of picked men. (Supra.)

329

Marshall, i, 161. "The British accounts represent the American loss to have been much larger. It probably amounted to at least three hundred men." (Ib., footnote.)

330

Ib., and see Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog., i, 305.

331

Marshall repeatedly expresses this thought in his entire account of the war.

332

Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 80.

333

Marshall, i, 162.

334

Ib.

335

Washington to President of Congress, Sept. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 82.

336

Works: Adams, ii, 437.

337

Ib.

338

Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog., xvi, 197 et seq.

339

American officer's description of the battle. (Ib., xi, 330.)

340

Marshall, i, 168.

341

Ib., 168-69.

342

From an American officer's description, in Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog., xi, 330.

343

Ib., 331-32.

344

Ib.

345

"The rebels carried off a large number of their wounded as we could see by the blood on the roads, on which we followed them so far [nine miles]." (British officer's account of battle; Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog., xvi, 197 et seq.)

346

Marshall, i, 170-71.

347

Ib., 181.

348

Ib., 181-82.

349

Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 287. Marshall omits this sentence in his second edition. But his revised account is severe enough.

350

The Reverend Jacob Duché, to Washington, Oct. 8, 1777; Cor. Rev.: Sparks, i, 448-58.

351

Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 10, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 238-39.

352

Clark's Diary, Proc., N.J. Hist. Soc. (1st Series), vii, 102-03. "It seems that the enemy had waited all this time before our lines to decoy us from the heights we possessed." (Ib.)

353

Marshall, i, 184.

354

Marshall, i, 184.

355

It appears that, throughout the Revolution, Pennsylvania's metropolis was noted for its luxury. An American soldier wrote in 1779: "Philada. may answer very well for a man with his pockets well lined, whose pursuit is idleness and dissipation. But to us who are not in the first predicament, and who are not upon the latter errand, it is intolerable… A morning visit, a dinner at 5 o'clock – Tea at 8 or 9 – supper and up all night is the round die in diem… We have advanced as far in luxury in the third year of our Indepeny. as the old musty Republics of Greece and Rome did in twice as many hundreds." (Tilghman to McHenry, Jan. 25, 1799; Steiner, 25.)

356

Trevelyan, iv, 279.

357

Ib., 280.

358

Ib.

359

The influence of Margaret Shippen in causing Arnold's treason is now questioned by some. (See Avery, vi, 243-49.)

360

Trevelyan, iv, 281-82.

361

Ib., 278-80.

362

Ib., 268-69; also Marshall, i, 215. The German countrymen, however, were loyal to the patriot cause. The Moravians at Bethlehem, though their religion forbade them from bearing arms, in another way served as effectually as Washington's soldiers. (See Trevelyan, iv, 298-99.)

363

Trevelyan, iv, 290.

364

The huts were fourteen by sixteen feet, and twelve soldiers occupied each hut. (Sparks, 245.)

365

"The men were literally naked [Feb. 1] some of them in the fullest extent of the word." (Von Steuben, as quoted in Kapp, 118.)

366

Hist. Mag., v, 170.

367

Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 260.

368

Marshall, i, 213.

369

Ib., 215.

370

Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 258.

371

"The poor soldiers were half naked, and had been half starved, having been compelled, for weeks, to subsist on simple flour alone and this too in a land almost literally flowing with milk and honey." (Watson's description after visiting the camp, Watson, 63.)

372

Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 341.

373

Hist. Mag., v, 131.

374

Ib.

375

Ib., 132.

376

Hist. Mag., v, 132-33.

377

Hist. Mag., v, 131-32.

378

Trevelyan, iv, 297.

379

Ib. For putrid condition of the camp in March and April, 1778, see Weedon, 254-55 and 288-89.

380

Trevelyan, iv, 298.

381

Ib.

382

Personal narrative; Shreve, Mag. Amer. Hist., Sept., 1897, 568.

383

Trevelyan, iv, 298.

384

Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 22, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 253.

385

Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; ib., 257.

386

General Varnum to General Greene, Feb. 12, 1778, Washington MSS., Lib. Cong., no. 21. No wonder the desertions were so great. It was not only starvation and death but the hunger-crazed soldiers "had daily temptations thrown out to them of the most alluring nature," by the British and Loyalists. (Chastellux, translator's note to 51.)

387

Marshall, i, 227.

388

Ib.

389

Hist. Mag., v, 132. This is, probably, an exaggeration. The British were extremely harsh, however, as is proved by the undenied testimony of eye-witnesses and admittedly authentic documentary evidence. For their treatment of American prisoners see Dandridge: American Prisoners of the Revolution, a trustworthy compilation of sources. For other outrages see Clark's Diary, Proc., N.J. Hist. Soc., vii, 96; Moore's Diary, ii, 183. For the Griswold affair see Niles: Principles and Acts of the Revolution, 143-44. For transportation of captured Americans to Africa and Asia see Franklin's letter to Lord Stormont, April 2, 1777; Franklin's Writings: Smyth, vii, 36-38; also Moore's Diary, i, 476. For the murder of Jenny M'Crea see Marshall, i, 200, note 9, Appendix, 25; and Moore's Diary, i, 476; see also Miner: History of Wyoming, 222-36; and British officer's letter to Countess of Ossory, Sept. 1, 1777; Pa. Mag. Hist. and Biog., i, footnote to 289; and Jefferson to Governor of Detroit, July 22, 1779; Cal. Va. St. Prs., i, 321. For general statement see Marshall (1st ed.), iii, 59. These are but a few of the many similar sources that might be cited.

390

Trevelyan, iv, 299.

391

Marshall, i, 227.

392

John Marshall's father was also at Valley Forge during the first weeks of the encampment and was often Field Officer of the Day. (Weedon.) About the middle of January he left for Virginia to take command of the newly raised State Artillery Regiment. (Memorial of Thomas Marshall; supra.) John Marshall's oldest brother, Thomas Marshall, Jr., seventeen years of age, was commissioned captain in a Virginia State Regiment at this time. (Heitman, 285.) Thus all the male members of the Marshall family, old enough to bear arms, were officers in the War of the Revolution. This important fact demonstrates the careful military training given his sons by Thomas Marshall before 1775 – a period when comparatively few believed that war was probable.

393

This was the common lot; Washington told Congress that, of the thousands of his men at Valley Forge, "few men have more than one shirt, many only the moiety of one and some none at all." (Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 260.)

394

Slaughter, 107-08.

395

Howe, 266.

396

Slaughter, 108.

397

Weedon, 134; also, Heitman, 285.

398

Ib.

399

Description of Marshall at Valley Forge by eye-witness, in North American Review (1828), xxvi, 8.

400

Ninth Virginia. (Heitman, 72.)

401

North American Review (1828), xxvi, 8.

402

Weedon, Feb. 8, 1778, 226-27. Washington took the severest measures to keep officers from associating with private soldiers.

403

Ib., 227-28.

404

Ib., Jan. 5, 1778; 180.

405

See Washington's affecting appeal to the soldiers at Valley Forge to keep up their spirits and courage. (Weedon, March 1, 1778, 245-46.)

406

Channing, ii, 559.

407

See Rush's anonymous letter to Henry and the correspondence between Henry and Washington concerning the cabal. (Henry, i, 544-51.)

408

Marshall, i, 217.

409

Trevelyan, iv, 301.

410

Ib., 303-04.

411

"The idea that any one Man Alone can save us is too silly for any Body but such weak Men as Duché to harbor for a Moment." (Adams to Rush, Feb. 8, 1778; Old Family Letters, 11; and see Lodge: Washington, i, 208; also Wallace, chap. ix.)

412

Sparks, 252; and Marshall, i, 218.

413

Washington to President of Congress, Dec. 23, 1777; Writings: Ford, vi, 257-65. And see Washington's comprehensive plans for the reorganization of the entire military service. (Washington to Committee of Congress, Jan. 28, 1778; ib., 300-51.)

414

Hist. Mag., v, 131.

415

On April 10, 1778, Ædanus Burke of South Carolina broke a quorum and defied Congress. (Secret Journals of Congress, April 10, 11, 24, 25, 1778, i, 62; and see Hatch, 21.)

416

Trevelyan, iv, 291-92.

417

Washington to Harrison, Dec. 18, 1778; Writings: Ford, vii, 297-98.

418

Ib.

419

At this period and long after a State was referred to as "the country."

420

Washington to Harrison, Dec. 18, 1778; Writings: Ford, vii, 297-98.

421

Until after Jefferson's Presidency, our statesmen often spoke of our "empire." Jefferson used the term frequently.

422

Washington to Harrison, Dec. 18, 1778; Writings: Ford, vii, 301-02.

423

"My estate is a large one … to wit upwards of ten thousand acres of valuable land on the navigable parts of the James river and two hundred negroes and not a shilling out of it is or ever was under any incumbrance for debt." (Jefferson to Van Staphorst and Hubbard, Feb. 28, 1790; Works: Ford, vi, 33.) At the time of Valley Forge Jefferson's estate was much greater, for he had sold a great deal of land since 1776. (See Jefferson to Lewis, July 29, 1787; ib., v, 311.)

424

Jefferson to Pendleton, July, 1776; ib., ii, 219-20.

425

Jefferson's Autobiography; Works: Ford, i, 57.

426

Tucker, i, 92 et seq.; Randall, i, 199 et seq.; Works: Ford, ii, 310, 323, 324.

427

Bloodshed, however, Jefferson thought necessary. See infra, vol. II, chap. I.

428

See vol. II of this work.

429

Jefferson's Autobiography; Works: Ford, i, 79.

430

Burnaby to Washington, April 9, 1788; Cor. Rev.: Sparks, ii, 100-02. Washington sent no written answer to Burnaby.

431

See infra.

432

Washington to Banister, April 21, 1778; Writings: Ford, vi, 477-87. In thus trying to arouse Congress to a sense of duty, Washington exaggerates the patience of his troops. They complained bitterly; many officers resigned and privates deserted in large numbers. (See supra.)

433

Ib.

434

Thayer, 12. For camp sports, see Waldo's poem, Hist. Mag., vii, 272-74.

435

Lossing, ii, 595, et seq.

436

Marshall, i, 230. And see Hatch's clear account of the training given by this officer (63). To the work of Von Steuben was due the excellent discipline under fire at Monmouth. And see Kapp, already cited; and Bolton, 132. Even Belcher says that our debt to Von Steuben is as great as that to Lafayette. (Belcher, ii, 14.)

437

Washington to President of Congress, April 30, 1778; Writings: Ford, vi, 507, and footnote to 505-06. And see Channing, iii, 292.

438

See Channing, iii, 286, 288; and Marshall, i, 235, 236.

439

Marshall, i, 237.

440

Sparks, 267; and Moore's Diary, i, 48-50.

441

Washington to McDougall, May 5, 1778; Writings: Ford, vii, 6. Washington was advised of the treaty with the French King before it was formally presented to Congress.

442

Description by Major André, who took part in this amazing performance, reprinted in American Historical and Literary Curiosities, following plate 26. And see Moore's Diary, ii, 52-56.

443

Trevelyan, iv, 376.

444

Marshall, i, 252.

445

Marshall speaks of "one thousand select men" under Wayne; Maxwell's division was with Wayne under Lee; Marshall was in the battle, and it seems certain that he was among Wayne's "select men" as on former and later occasions.

446

Marshall, i, 252.

447

Lafayette to Marshall; Marshall, i, footnote to 255.

448

Marshall, i, 254-59.

449

For descriptions of the battle of Monmouth see Washington to President of Congress, July 1, 1778; Writings: Ford, vii, 76-86; and to John Augustine Washington, July 4, 1778; ib., 89-92. Also Marshall, i, 251-56; Trevelyan, iv, 376-80; Irving, iii, 423-34; Sparks, 272-78; Lossing, ii, 354-65.

450

Marshall, i, 251-56.

451

Ib., 257.

452

Ib., 257-58.

453

Girardin follows Marshall in his fair treatment of Lee. (Burk, iv, 290.)

454

He was promoted July 1, 1778. (Heitman, 285.)

455

The whole patriot army everywhere, except in the extreme south and west, now numbered only sixteen thousand men. (Marshall, i, 306-07.)

456

The fullest and most accurate account of the capture of Stony Point, and conditions immediately preceding, is given by Dawson in his Assault on Stony Point.

457

Binney, in Dillon, iii, 315-16. The care in the selection of the various commands of "light infantry," so often used by Washington after the first year of the war, is well illustrated by his orders in this case. "The officers commanding regiments," runs Washington's orders, "will be particularly careful in the choice of the men… The Adjutant General is desired to pass the men … under critical inspection, and return all who on any account shall appear unfit for this kind of service to their regiments, to be replaced by others whom he shall approve." (Washington's Order Book, iii, 110-11; MS., Lib. Cong.)

458

Washington to Wayne (Private and Confidential), July 1, 1779; Dawson, 18-19.

459

Dawson, 20. Wayne's demand for sustenance and clothing, however, is amusing. "The Light Corps under my Command," writes Wayne, "… have had but two days fresh Provision … nor more than three days allowance of Rum in twelve days, which article I borrowed from Genl McDougall with a Promise to Replace it. I owe him Seventy five Gallons – must therefore desire you to forward three Hodds [hogsheads] of Rum to this place with all possible Dispatch together with a few fat sheep & ten Head of good Cattle." (Wayne to Issuing Commissary, July 9, 1779; ib., 20-21.)

Wayne wrote to Washington concerning clothing: "I have an [word illegible] Prejudice in favor of an Elegant Uniform & Soldierly Appearance – … I would much rathar risque my life and Reputation at the Head of the same men in an Attack Clothed & Appointed as I could wish – with a Single Charge of Ammunition – than to take them as they appear in Common with Sixty Rounds of Cartridges." (Dawson, 20-21.)

Washington wrote in reply: "I agree perfectly with you." (Ib., 21.)

460

Marshall, i, 310.

461

Wayne's order of battle was as picturesque as it was specific. Officer and private were directed "to fix a Piece of White paper in the most Conspicuous part of his Hat or Cap … their Arms unloaded placing their whole Dependence on the Bayt… If any Soldier presumes to take his Musket from his Shoulder or Attempt to fire or begin the battle until Ordered by his proper Officer he shall be Instantly put to death by the Officer next him… Should any Soldier … attempt to Retreat one Single foot or Sculk in the face of danger, the Officer next to him is Immediately to put him to death." (Ib., 35-38.)

462

Wayne to Delaney, July 15, 1779; Dawson, 46-47.

463

The generous and even kindly treatment which the Americans accorded the vanquished British is in striking contrast with the latter's treatment of Americans under similar circumstances. When the fort was taken, the British cried, "Mercy, mercy, dear, dear Americans," and not a man was injured by the victors after he ceased to resist. (Dawson, 53; and Marshall, i, 311.)

464

The fort was captured so quickly that the detachment to which Marshall was assigned had no opportunity to advance.

465

Marshall, i, 314.

466

Ib., 314-16.

467

The rolls show Marshall in active service as captain until December 9, 1779. (Records, War Dept.) He retired from the service February 12, 1781. (Heitman, 285.)

468

Binney, in Dillon, iii, 290. There often were more officers of a State line than there were men to be officered; this was caused by expiring enlistments of regiments.

469

Tucker, i, 136.

470

Marshall, i, 418.

471

Ib., 139.

472

Marshall, i, 419; Binney, in Dillon, iii, 290.

473

Even the frightened Virginia women were ashamed. "Such terror and confusion you have no idea of. Governor, Council, everybody scampering… How dreadful the idea of an enemy passing through such a country as ours committing enormities that fill the mind with horror and returning exultantly without meeting one impediment to discourage them." (Eliza Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1781 MS. Also Atlantic Monthly, lxxxiv, 538-39.) Miss Ambler was amused, too, it seems. She humorously describes a boastful man's precipitate flight and adds: "But this is not more laughable than the accounts we have of our illustrious G-[overno] – r [Jefferson] who, they say, took neither rest nor food for man or horse till he reached C-[arte] – r's mountain." (Ib.) This letter, as it appears in the Atlantic Monthly, differs slightly from the manuscript, which has been followed in this note.

These letters were written while the laughing young Tarleton was riding after the flying Virginia Government, of which Eliza Ambler's father was a part. They throw peculiar light on the opinions of Marshall, who at that time was in love with this lady's sister, whom he married two years later. (See infra, chap. v.)

474

An inquiry into Jefferson's conduct was formally moved in the Virginia Legislature. But the matter was not pressed and the next year the Legislature passed a resolution of thanks for Jefferson's "impartial, upright, and attentive Administration." (See Eckenrode's thorough treatment of the subject in his Revolution in Virginia, chap. vii. And see Tucker, i, 149-56, for able defense of Jefferson; and Dodd, 63-64; also Ambler, 37.)