CHAP. VIII. to my ideas, formed upon the present view of 1776. things, is certain and inevitable ruin; for if I was called upon to declare upon oath, whether the militia have been most serviceable or hurtful upon the whole, I should subscribe to the latter. I do not mean by this, however, to arraign the conduct of congress in so doing, I should equally condemn my own measures, if not my judgment; but experience, which is the best criterion to work by, so fully, clearly, and decisively, reprobates the practice of trusting to militia, that no man who regards order, regularity, and economy, or who has any regard for his own honour, character, or peace of mind, will risk them upon militia.”

Congress had already determined that the men inlisted in future, should be engaged during the war, and the resolution to that effect was received soon after the dispatch of this letter; but sufficient inducements to secure the execution of their resolutions had not, in the opinion of the general been held forth to either officers or soldiers; and, on this subject, he again thus addressed them.

October 4. "Before I knew of the late resolutions of congress which you did me the honour to enclose in your letter of the 24th, and before I was favoured with the visit of your committee, I took the liberty of giving you my sentiments on several points which seemed to be of importance.

"I have no doubt but that the committee will CHAP. VIII. make such report of the state and condition of 1776. the army, as will induce congress to believe, that nothing but the most vigorous exertions can put matters upon such a footing, as to give this continent a fair prospect of success. Give me leave to say, sir, I say it with due deference and respect, (and my knowledge of the facts, added to the importance of the cause, and the stake I hold in it, must justify the freedom) that your affairs are in a more unpromising way than you seem to apprehend

"Your army, as mentioned in my last, is upon the eve of its political dissolution. True it is, you have voted a larger one in lieu of it; but the season is late, and there is a material difference between voting battalions, and raising men. In the latter there are more difficulties than congress seem aware of, which makes it my duty (as I have been informed of the prevailing sentiments of this army) to inform them that, unless the pay of the officers (especially that of the field officers) is raised, the chief part of those that are worth retaining will leave the service at the expiration of the present term; as the soldiers will also, if some greater encouragement is not offered them, than twenty dollars and one hundred acres of land.

"Nothing less, in my opinion, than a suit of clothes annually given to each non-commissioned officer and soldier, in addition to the pay 3 R

VOL. II.

CHAP. VIII. and bounty, will avail; and I question whether 1776. that will do, as the enemy, from the information

of one John Marsh, who, with six others, was taken by our guards, are giving ten pounds bounty for recruits, and have got a battalion under major Rodgers nearly completed upon Long island.

"Nor will less pay, according to my judg. ment, than I have taken the liberty of mention. ing in the enclosed estimate, retain such officers as we could wish to have continued; the dif ference per month in each battalion would amount to better than one hundred pounds; to this may be added the pay of the staff officers; for it is presumable they will also require an augmentation, but being few in number, the sum will not be greatly increased by them, and consequently is a matter of no great moment; but it is a matter of no small importance to make the several offices desirable. When the pay and establishment of an officer once become objects of interested attention, the sloth, negligence, and even disobedience of orders, which at this time but too generally prevail, will be purged off. But while the service is viewed with indifference; while the officer conceives that he is rather conferring, than receiving an obligation; there will be a total relaxation of all order and discipline, and every thing will move heavily on, to the great detriment of the service, and inexpressible trouble and vexation of the general.

"The critical situation of our affairs at this CHAP. VIII. time will justify my saying that no time is to 1776. be lost in making fruitless experiments. An unavailing trial of a month, to get an army upon the terms proposed, may render it impracticable to do it at all, and prove fatal to our cause, as I am not sure whether any rubs in the way of our inlistments, or unfavourable turn in our affairs, may not prove the means of the enemy's recruiting men faster than we do. To this may be added the inextricable difficulty of forming one corps out of another, and arranging matters with any degree of order, in the face of an enemy who are watching for advantages.

"At Cambridge last year, where the officers (and more than a sufficiency of them) were all upon the spot, we found it a work of such extreme difficulty to know their sentiments (each having some terms to propose) that I despaired, once, of getting the arrangement completed, and do suppose that at least a hundred alterations took place before matters were finally adjusted; what must it be then under the present regulation, where the officer is to negotiate this matter with the state he comes from, distant, perhaps, two or three hundred miles; some of whom, without any license from me, set out to make personal application, the moment the resolution got to their hands?

CHAP. VIII. What kind of officers these are, I leave congress 1776. to judge.

"If an officer of reputation (for none other should be applied to) is asked to stay, what answer can he give? but, in the first place, that he does not know whether it is at his option to do so; no provision being made in the resolution of congress even recommendatory of this measure, consequently that it rests with the state he comes from (surrounded perhaps with a variety of applications, and influenced perhaps with local attachments) to determine whether he can be provided for, or not. In the next place, if he is an officer of merit, and knows that the state he comes from is to furnish more battalions than it at present has in the service, he will scarcely, after two years faithful services, think of continuing in the rank he now bears, when new creations are to be made and men appointed to offices (no ways superior in merit, and ignorant of service perhaps) over his head.

"A committee sent to the army from each state may, upon the spot, fix things with a degree of propriety and certainty, and is the only method I can see, of bringing measures to a decision with respect to the officers of the army; but what can be done in the mean time towards the arrangement in the country, I know not. In the one case, you run the hazard of losing your officers; in the other, of encoun