George Washington and the Newburgh Conspiracy
The Newburgh Conspiracy was a failed attempt by leaders of the Continental Army to use force to obtain backpay owed to soldiers at the end of the Revolutionary War. The Army's commander, George Washington, successfully calmed the soldiers and helped secure some of the back pay. The conspiracy may have been instigated by members in the Congress of the Confederation, who circulated an anonymous letter in the army camp at Newburgh, New York, on March 10, 1783. Soldiers were unhappy that they had not been paid for some time and that pensions that had been promised remained unfunded. The letter suggested that they should take unspecified action against Congress to resolve the issue. The letter was said to have been written by Major John Armstrong, aide to General Horatio Gates, although the authorship has not clearly been proven.
Washington stopped any serious talk of rebellion when he made an emotional address to his officers asking them to support the supremacy of Congress. Not long afterward, Congress approved a compromise agreement that it had previously rejected: it funded some of the pay arrears, and granted soldiers five years of full pay instead of a lifetime pension of half pay.
After the British loss at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781, the American Revolutionary War was essentially at an end. Peace talks began between British and American diplomats. The American Continental Army, based at Newburgh, New York, monitored British-occupied New York City. With the end of the war and dissolution of the Continental Army approaching, soldiers who had gone unpaid for a long time feared that the Confederation Congress would not meet previous promises concerning back pay and pensions.
Earlier, in 1780, Congress had promised Continental officers a lifetime pension of half their pay when they were discharged. Financier Robert Morris had stopped army pay in 1782 as a cost-saving measure. He reasoned that when the war finally ended the arrears could be made up. This was a regular subject of debate in Congress and in the army camp at Newburgh, and numerous memos and petitions by individual soldiers had failed to significantly convince Congress take remedial action.
A number of officers organized under the leadership of General Henry Knox and drafted a memorandum to Congress. It was signed by enough general officers so that it could not be easily dismissed as the product of a few malcontents. The memo was delivered to Congress by a delegation consisting of General Alexander McDougall and Colonels John Brooks and Matthias Ogden in late December 1782. It expressed unhappiness over pay that was in arrears for a number of months, and it expressed concern over the possibility that the half pay pension would not be forthcoming. In the memo, they offered to accept a lump sum payment instead of the lifetime half pay pension. It also contained a vague threat that said that "any further experiments on [the soldiers'] patience may have fatal effects." Secretary of War Benjamin Lincoln was quite concerned about this.
Congress was bitterly divided on the subject of finance. Rhode Island used its veto to preventing taking action, but the treasury was empty in any event, and Congress had no power to compel the states to provide the necessary funds for meeting its obligations. An attempt to amend the Articles of Confederation to allow Congress to impose an import tariff was decisively defeated by the states in November 1782. Some states had enacted legislation forbidding their representatives from supporting any sort of lifetime pension. Members of the "nationalist" (later the Federalist) faction in Congress such as Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, supported the payment and they believed that the army funding issues could be used as a lever to gain for Congress the ability to raise its own revenue.
The army delegation first met with Robert Morris and other nationalists. The politicians convinced McDougall that it was imperative for the army to remain calm while they sought funding. Their plan was to tie the army's demands to those of the government's other creditors to force opposing Congressmen to act.
On January 6 Congress established a committee to address the army's memo. Robert Morris told the committee that there were no funds to meet the army's demands. In order to obtain further loans. evidence of a revenue stream would be required. The committee next met with McDougall on January 13, and McDougall explained the high level of discontent at Newburgh. When Congress met on January 22 to debate the committee's report, Robert Morris tendered his resignation, heightening tension. Morris had been a stabilizing influence, in part because he had sacrificed much of his personal wealth to the revolutionary cause.
Debate on the issue of the pension proceeded and the nationalists urged Congress to adopt a commuted pension scheme (one that would end after a fixed time, rather than lifetime). It was rejected twice. After the second rejection on February 4, Colonel Brooks was dispatched back to Newburgh with instructions to gain the army leadership's agreement with the proposed nationalist plan. He left on February 8th. The army leadership was also urged by Gouverneur Morris to use its influence with state legislatures to secure their approval for needed changes.
On February 12, McDougall sent a letter to General Knox suggesting that the army might have to mutiny by refusing to disband until it was paid. He told Knox to not take any direct steps, but that he should "not lose a moment preparing for events." The nationalists were also aware of a significant number of officers who were unhappy with General Washington's leadership. They supported Major General Horatio Gates, a longtime rival of Washington's.
On February 13 Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to General Washington warning him of the possibility of impending unrest among the ranks, and urging him to "take the direction" of the army's anger. Washington responded, stating that he sympathized both with the plight of his officers and men and with those in Congress, but that he would not use the army to threaten the civil government. Washington believed such a course of action would violate the principles for which they had all been fighting. In letters written February 21, Henry Knox made it clear that he would play no part in any mutiny. He wrote that he hoped that the army's force would only be used against "the Enemies of the liberties in America."
The nationalists had had little success in advancing their program through Congress. On March 8 Pennsylvania Colonel Walter Stewart arrived at Newburgh. Stewart was an associate of Robert Morris and he was aware of the poor state of affairs in Philadelphia. He was sent to Newburgh by Washington. It is believed that Stewart met with General Gates not long after his arrival. Rumors soon began to spread around the Newburgh camp that the army would refuse to disband until its demands were met.
On the morning of March 10 an unsigned letter began circulating in the army camp. It was later acknowledged to be written by Major John Armstrong, Jr., aide to General Gates. The letter decried the army's condition and the lack of Congressional support, and called upon the army to send Congress an ultimatum. At the same time was an anonymous notice was sent calling for a meeting of all field officers for 11 a.m. the next day.
General Washington reacted promptly. On the morning of the 11th in his general orders he objected to the "disorderly" and "irregular" nature of the anonymously called meeting. He announced that there would be a meeting of officers on the 15th instead. This meeting, he said, would be presided over by the senior officer present, and Washington requested a report of the meeting. This suggested that he would not attend. On the morning of the 12th a second unsigned letter appeared, claiming that Washington's agreement to a meeting was an endorsement of the conspirators' position.
The March 15 meeting was held in the "New Building" or "Temple", a 40 by 70-foot building at the camp. After General Gates opened the meeting, Washington entered the building, much to everyone's surprise. He asked to speak to the officers, and the surprised General Gates relinquished the floor. Washington read the anger in the room and noticed that the officers did not show the respect or deference towards him that the had shown in the past.
Washington then gave a short but impassioned speech, now known as the Newburgh Address. He called for patience. His message was that they should oppose anyone "who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood." He then produced a letter from a member of Congress to read to the officers. He looked at the letter, unable to read it at first, and he then took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket. He then famously said: "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country."
This appeared to cause the men to realize that Washington had sacrificed a great deal for the Revolutionary cause, just as they had. According to contemporary reports, some of the officers were moved to tears. Washington read the letter. He then left the room. This caused General Knox and others to move resolutions reaffirming their loyalty. Knox and Colonel Brooks were then appointed to a committee to draft a suitable resolution. Approved by virtually the entire assembly, the resolution expressed "unshaken confidence" in Congress, and "disdain" and "abhorrence" for the suggestion that the army would take retribution against Congress. This appeared to put an end to the proposed army revolt.
Washington sent copies of the anonymous addresses to Congress, just as Congress was debating the pension issues. This led to an agreement for a five years' full pay as a pension instead of the lifetime half pay pension scheme originally promised. The soldiers received government bonds which at the time were highly speculative, but were in fact redeemed 100 cents on the dollar by the new government in 1790.
The soldiers continued to grumble, with the unrest spreading to the noncommissioned officers (sergeants and corporals). Riots occurred and mutiny was threatened. Washington rejected suggestions that the army stay in operation until the states found the money for the pay. On April 19, 1783, his General Orders of the day announced the end of hostilities against Great Britain. Congress thereafter ordered him to disband the army. A large army of 10,000 men was no longer needed, and the men were eager to go home. Congress gave each soldier three months pay, but since they had no funds Robert Morris issued $800,000 in personal notes to the soldiers. Many soldiers sold these notes to speculators, some even before they left camp, in order to be able to make their way home. The army was formally disbanded in November 1783, leaving only a small force at West Point and several scattered frontier outposts.
The Newburgh affair reaffirmed the principle of civilian control of the military. It also validated Washington's stature as a leading proponent of civilian control. David Cobb, who served on Washington's staff during the affair, wrote in 1825, "I have ever considered that the United States are indebted for their republican form of government solely to the firm and determined republicanism of George Washington at this time."
Washington stopped any serious talk of rebellion when he made an emotional address to his officers asking them to support the supremacy of Congress. Not long afterward, Congress approved a compromise agreement that it had previously rejected: it funded some of the pay arrears, and granted soldiers five years of full pay instead of a lifetime pension of half pay.
After the British loss at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781, the American Revolutionary War was essentially at an end. Peace talks began between British and American diplomats. The American Continental Army, based at Newburgh, New York, monitored British-occupied New York City. With the end of the war and dissolution of the Continental Army approaching, soldiers who had gone unpaid for a long time feared that the Confederation Congress would not meet previous promises concerning back pay and pensions.
Earlier, in 1780, Congress had promised Continental officers a lifetime pension of half their pay when they were discharged. Financier Robert Morris had stopped army pay in 1782 as a cost-saving measure. He reasoned that when the war finally ended the arrears could be made up. This was a regular subject of debate in Congress and in the army camp at Newburgh, and numerous memos and petitions by individual soldiers had failed to significantly convince Congress take remedial action.
A number of officers organized under the leadership of General Henry Knox and drafted a memorandum to Congress. It was signed by enough general officers so that it could not be easily dismissed as the product of a few malcontents. The memo was delivered to Congress by a delegation consisting of General Alexander McDougall and Colonels John Brooks and Matthias Ogden in late December 1782. It expressed unhappiness over pay that was in arrears for a number of months, and it expressed concern over the possibility that the half pay pension would not be forthcoming. In the memo, they offered to accept a lump sum payment instead of the lifetime half pay pension. It also contained a vague threat that said that "any further experiments on [the soldiers'] patience may have fatal effects." Secretary of War Benjamin Lincoln was quite concerned about this.
Congress was bitterly divided on the subject of finance. Rhode Island used its veto to preventing taking action, but the treasury was empty in any event, and Congress had no power to compel the states to provide the necessary funds for meeting its obligations. An attempt to amend the Articles of Confederation to allow Congress to impose an import tariff was decisively defeated by the states in November 1782. Some states had enacted legislation forbidding their representatives from supporting any sort of lifetime pension. Members of the "nationalist" (later the Federalist) faction in Congress such as Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton, supported the payment and they believed that the army funding issues could be used as a lever to gain for Congress the ability to raise its own revenue.
The army delegation first met with Robert Morris and other nationalists. The politicians convinced McDougall that it was imperative for the army to remain calm while they sought funding. Their plan was to tie the army's demands to those of the government's other creditors to force opposing Congressmen to act.
On January 6 Congress established a committee to address the army's memo. Robert Morris told the committee that there were no funds to meet the army's demands. In order to obtain further loans. evidence of a revenue stream would be required. The committee next met with McDougall on January 13, and McDougall explained the high level of discontent at Newburgh. When Congress met on January 22 to debate the committee's report, Robert Morris tendered his resignation, heightening tension. Morris had been a stabilizing influence, in part because he had sacrificed much of his personal wealth to the revolutionary cause.
Debate on the issue of the pension proceeded and the nationalists urged Congress to adopt a commuted pension scheme (one that would end after a fixed time, rather than lifetime). It was rejected twice. After the second rejection on February 4, Colonel Brooks was dispatched back to Newburgh with instructions to gain the army leadership's agreement with the proposed nationalist plan. He left on February 8th. The army leadership was also urged by Gouverneur Morris to use its influence with state legislatures to secure their approval for needed changes.
On February 12, McDougall sent a letter to General Knox suggesting that the army might have to mutiny by refusing to disband until it was paid. He told Knox to not take any direct steps, but that he should "not lose a moment preparing for events." The nationalists were also aware of a significant number of officers who were unhappy with General Washington's leadership. They supported Major General Horatio Gates, a longtime rival of Washington's.
On February 13 Alexander Hamilton wrote a letter to General Washington warning him of the possibility of impending unrest among the ranks, and urging him to "take the direction" of the army's anger. Washington responded, stating that he sympathized both with the plight of his officers and men and with those in Congress, but that he would not use the army to threaten the civil government. Washington believed such a course of action would violate the principles for which they had all been fighting. In letters written February 21, Henry Knox made it clear that he would play no part in any mutiny. He wrote that he hoped that the army's force would only be used against "the Enemies of the liberties in America."
The nationalists had had little success in advancing their program through Congress. On March 8 Pennsylvania Colonel Walter Stewart arrived at Newburgh. Stewart was an associate of Robert Morris and he was aware of the poor state of affairs in Philadelphia. He was sent to Newburgh by Washington. It is believed that Stewart met with General Gates not long after his arrival. Rumors soon began to spread around the Newburgh camp that the army would refuse to disband until its demands were met.
On the morning of March 10 an unsigned letter began circulating in the army camp. It was later acknowledged to be written by Major John Armstrong, Jr., aide to General Gates. The letter decried the army's condition and the lack of Congressional support, and called upon the army to send Congress an ultimatum. At the same time was an anonymous notice was sent calling for a meeting of all field officers for 11 a.m. the next day.
General Washington reacted promptly. On the morning of the 11th in his general orders he objected to the "disorderly" and "irregular" nature of the anonymously called meeting. He announced that there would be a meeting of officers on the 15th instead. This meeting, he said, would be presided over by the senior officer present, and Washington requested a report of the meeting. This suggested that he would not attend. On the morning of the 12th a second unsigned letter appeared, claiming that Washington's agreement to a meeting was an endorsement of the conspirators' position.
The March 15 meeting was held in the "New Building" or "Temple", a 40 by 70-foot building at the camp. After General Gates opened the meeting, Washington entered the building, much to everyone's surprise. He asked to speak to the officers, and the surprised General Gates relinquished the floor. Washington read the anger in the room and noticed that the officers did not show the respect or deference towards him that the had shown in the past.
Washington then gave a short but impassioned speech, now known as the Newburgh Address. He called for patience. His message was that they should oppose anyone "who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood." He then produced a letter from a member of Congress to read to the officers. He looked at the letter, unable to read it at first, and he then took a pair of reading glasses from his pocket. He then famously said: "Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in the service of my country."
This appeared to cause the men to realize that Washington had sacrificed a great deal for the Revolutionary cause, just as they had. According to contemporary reports, some of the officers were moved to tears. Washington read the letter. He then left the room. This caused General Knox and others to move resolutions reaffirming their loyalty. Knox and Colonel Brooks were then appointed to a committee to draft a suitable resolution. Approved by virtually the entire assembly, the resolution expressed "unshaken confidence" in Congress, and "disdain" and "abhorrence" for the suggestion that the army would take retribution against Congress. This appeared to put an end to the proposed army revolt.
Washington sent copies of the anonymous addresses to Congress, just as Congress was debating the pension issues. This led to an agreement for a five years' full pay as a pension instead of the lifetime half pay pension scheme originally promised. The soldiers received government bonds which at the time were highly speculative, but were in fact redeemed 100 cents on the dollar by the new government in 1790.
The soldiers continued to grumble, with the unrest spreading to the noncommissioned officers (sergeants and corporals). Riots occurred and mutiny was threatened. Washington rejected suggestions that the army stay in operation until the states found the money for the pay. On April 19, 1783, his General Orders of the day announced the end of hostilities against Great Britain. Congress thereafter ordered him to disband the army. A large army of 10,000 men was no longer needed, and the men were eager to go home. Congress gave each soldier three months pay, but since they had no funds Robert Morris issued $800,000 in personal notes to the soldiers. Many soldiers sold these notes to speculators, some even before they left camp, in order to be able to make their way home. The army was formally disbanded in November 1783, leaving only a small force at West Point and several scattered frontier outposts.
The Newburgh affair reaffirmed the principle of civilian control of the military. It also validated Washington's stature as a leading proponent of civilian control. David Cobb, who served on Washington's staff during the affair, wrote in 1825, "I have ever considered that the United States are indebted for their republican form of government solely to the firm and determined republicanism of George Washington at this time."