Description
Book Synopsis The Revolutionary War was nearing its end in early 1783. In his Hudson Highlands stronghold, General Washington kept a wary eye on the British force in New York City, 60 miles away. His army, owed months of back pay, and his officers frustrated by the negotiations over their promised pension, chafed under martial authority.
A nationalist faction in Congress seized upon this discontent to instigate the Newburgh Conspiracy, a plot by Continental Army officers to menace civil officials who opposed the Impost, a 5% tax on imports to be collected by the central government, to satisfy the nation''s debts. The army--by this time a formidable force of seasoned veterans--was provoked into threatening the very liberties it had fought to defend. This book examines this last major crisis of the Revolution, when Washington stood between his men and the American people.
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Preface
- Chapter 1. "The camp behind Snake Hill": Introduction
- Chapter 2. "The Timber was heavy and the work very fatiguing": Constructing the Log City—Lieutenant Ebenezer Elmer, 2nd New Jersey Regiment
- Chapter 3. "Our God and Soldier we like adore": The Diverse Residents of the Camp
- Chapter 4. "The service is much impeded, desertion vastly encreased, and the disposition of the Troops extremely soured, by the frequent want of Provisions": The Failure of the Country to Provide for the Army and the Effect on Soldier Health
- Chapter 5. "A tolerably decent appearance": Clothing, Gear, Flags, and Identity
- Chapter 6. "So usefull a Scheme": The Temple of Virtue
- Chapter 7. "Had this day been wanting, the world has never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining": The Newburgh Conspiracy
- Chapter 8. "Awakening again the spirit of Emulation and love of Military Parade": Manning the Force and Training for Battle
- Chapter 9. "No Military neglects or excesses shall go unpunished": A Decline in Discipline and Increased Challenges to Authority
- Chapter 10. "Retiring from the field of Glory with Joy in their countenances, but poverty in their pockets": The Shameful Disbandment of the Continental Army
- Chapter 11. Denouement: The Conclusion
- Appendix 1. Organization of the Continental Army in New York and Northern New Jersey in 1782–83
- Appendix 2. Paying the Continental Army
- Appendix 3. Duty for the Lines
- Appendix 4. Deaths at the New Windsor Cantonment
- Appendix 5. The Two Anonymous Letters to the Officers of the Army and General Washington's Response
- Appendix 6. The Mountainville Hut
- Chapter Notes
- Bibliography
- Index
