sinking fast. and there were those in the congress, among them samuel adams and others, new englanders in particular, who thought that gates might make a better commander than general washington. and there were rumors, maybe not a plot, that's a little much, but certainly there were plans being made to replace gates, take him into washington's position. and washington knew this, of later general gates was given command of the army in the south. and there in the south general gates fought the battle of camden, one of the worst defeats the american army ever suffered. what made it even worse was when the smoke cleared from the battlefield at camden, general gates was not there. he had retreated about 50 miles to reorganize. he was replaced. general green took general gates's place in the south. gates was in disgrace. washington disliked him intensely. but gates was a powerful politician. and he managed to get reinstated

as the commander of the army at newburgh without washington's consent. the congress simply appointed him and sent him to newburgh telling general washington, you may use him as you please. so general gates arrived to be the actual commander of the army. washington, of course, commander in chief. but gates being the general in charge at the encampment. the men in the encampment, of course, bored, not much to do. about 7,000 soldiers. there they began to build their huts at a place called new windsor. the new windsor encampment. they built about 700 wooden huts, neatly laid out for the winter encampment. and there they took up their quarters. what do you do with an army, this kind of situation? you drill and drill and then you drill some more, you build more huts, you build roads, you have to keep them busy but it wasn't working very well. so chaplain evans decided, let us build a temple of virtue. so in the middle of this

encampment the soldiers went to work to build a temple of virtue, a gathering place where the men might come on sundays for religious services and where during the week the administrative operation of the army took place. but clearly all of this make-busy work was not doing much for morale. and washington remained deeply concerned about the murmurings that he heard in the army. in philadelphia, congress decided or certain members of the congress decided to take action. pressed now, fearing that peace was coming, they decided to make their move. governor morris wrote to his good friend, general henry knox. the man from boston. book seller from boston. knox had been with washington since the very first days of the war. he was washington's closest friend in the field.

morris wrote to henry knox. he addressed his letter "my dear friend." he suggested that if knox would agree, that general knox might lead the army to press the states. he went on to say to his friend, knox, the army may now influence the legislatures and if you will permit me a metaphor from your own profession, after you have carried the post, the public creditors will garrison it for you. well, morris was given the assignment to write to general knox. knox at this time the commander at west point. alexander hamilton was given the task to write to general washington. hamilton and washington had a tortured relationship. alexander hamilton arrived in

america just before the revolution. timing is everything. went to college, became a lawyer, then the war broke out. he joined the army, became a captain in the artillery, distinguished him, a very fine soldier. came to the attention of general washington who invited the young man to be his secretary, which he accepted. and he served washington until one day at headquarters, washington was going up the stairs, colonel hamilton coming down the stairs. the commander in chief said to the colonel, colonel, i wish to see you immediately. the colonel responded, i'll be with you in a few minutes, sir. not the right answer to the commander in chief. washington turned on hamilton, berated him in front of his fellow officers. hamilton then resigned as secretary. returned to the army and later distinguished himself at the battle of yorktown which brought

him back to some degree in washington's good graces. hamilton had then left the army and was a congressman from new york. so hamilton then is given the assignment of addressing washington. i doubt that anyone really expected that general washington would join in any plot, but at the same time, they needed to test him out. how did he feel? hamilton warned washington that the army was on the brink of mutiny. he suggested to washington that the general might wish to control, direct the current, was his expression. he also then went on to say something, write something to washington which the general found incredibly insulting, if not hurtful. hamilton told washington that there were rumors in congress, as well as in the army, that his

soldiers were disappointed with him. they accused the commander in chief of not doing enough for them in articulating their demands and their grievances. washington found that particularly hurtful. hamilton then suggested that washington talk with general knox. a very, very dangerous game now was underway. both knox and washington had an inkling of what was going on in philadelphia, and now they were being drawn in. it seems to me entirely likely, probable, that general knox and general washington did, in fact, talk. their headquarters were about 12 miles apart. washington was in newburgh, knox was at west point. i'm sure they did. they probably shared letters. the one from knox -- the one

from morris to knox, the one from hamilton to washington. these two men then replied to the men from philadelphia. knox replied first to governor morris. he told governor morris, i consider the reputation of the american army as one of the most immaculate things on earth. we should even suffer wrongs and injuries to the utmost verge of toleration rather than sully it in the least degree. i hope to god that the army will never be directed then against the enemies of the liberties of america. a few days later, washington replied to hamilton. the fatal tendency to involve the army in political matters would be productive of civil

commotions and end in blood. i stand as citizen and soldier. citizen and soldier. well, the nationalists clearly had been rebuffed by knox and washington. and so they quite naturally turned to a man with whom they knew they could deal. general gates. general gates at his headquarters at a place called ellison house, very near the encampment, was surrounded there by a young staff of majors, lieutenant colonels. now, here's an interesting side light that i'll share with you. in talking about the events here at newburgh it's often been suggested that general gates was unaware of what was going on and that the machinations that i'm about to describe to you were purely the work of his junior officers, that he didn't know. well, i invite you to visit

ellison house, headquarters. it's a lovely house, but small. eight rooms, four up, four down. in ellison house at this particular moment, general gates, three senior staff, several guards, the ellison family was there, too. they didn't want to leave. it's hard to imagine that he wasn't aware. in the study of history, when all else -- when all else fails, when all else fails, when all your analysis and looking at documents fails, i invite you to apply common sense. and when you visit ellison house and look at this place and someone says to you that the general could not have known what was going on, it's ludicrous. of course he did. what are those people over in the corner doing? what are they talking about? what are they writing? he knew well. he knew well. and so now at ellison house there begins the plot. the plot. on saturday, march 8th, 1783,

there arrives a messenger from philadelphia to general gates, colonel walter stuart. he was known as the handsomest man in the american army. colonel stuart held a high rank. he was inspector general in the northern army. washington was very unhappy. he had spent so much time in philadelphia and didn't seem to be attracted to newburgh, new york. but when he finally arrived and when he arrived he went first to the commander in chief to pay his respects and then went to general gates. general gates later wrote to a friend that colonel stuart has arrived with information from some of our friends in philadelphia. those friends could only have been, of course, morris and morris, hamilton and madison and some others. perhaps making overtures to general gates. that was saturday. the next day, sunday, was a very busy time at ellison house, because the staff was busy writing. in particular, colonel john armstrong.

armstrong was writing an address to the army at newburgh. we know armstrong was writing it because the original's in armstrong's handwriting, the original document. the document was copied that night, and on monday morning it was taken to the temple of vir tue. where every morning the adjutants arrived to get their orders on. this morning, among the daily orders was this address. it was anonymous. it began, gentlemen, a fellow soldier whose interests and affections bind him strongly to you, whose past sufferings have been as great and whose future fortunes may be as desperate as yours, would bear leave to address you. will congress address our wrongs or will they trample on our rights? if peace comes, and we put down

our swords, what then? the address went on to rally the officers and then declared at the end, we will meet tomorrow, tuesday, the 11th, at the temple of virtue. as soon as this address arrived at washington's headquarters, he immediately issued a general order canceling the meeting. washington knew that by simply canceling the meeting, he was running a grave risk. so he canceled the meeting called for in this anonymous address but then called his own meeting. there would be a meeting, but he would be in control. there would be a meeting on saturday at noon, the 15th of march, at the temple of virtue. and in this general order summoning this meeting he indicated that i, commander in chief, will not attend. the matter is not of sufficient importance. washington had never in the whole course of the war ever addressed his officers as a

group. never. he had met with his staff, certainly, but he had never called his officers. it would be, again, not protocol. inappropriate for the commander in chief to behave like that. so washington says i leave it to the senior officer in command to preside. the senior officer in command, of course, was general gates. and then they swung into work, having issued this now on monday, they know washington and his staff, that they had best prepare for this meeting on saturday. as soon as washington's general order comes out, another anonymous address comes, saying, look, the general is with us. he, too, has called a meeting. wrong, to be sure, but trying to draw washington in now. washington was cautious. the fact of the matter is, at this particular moment, he could not trust his army.

could not trust his army. but there was one thing that washington did know, that generals may plan, but it is the line officers, the lieutenants, the captains, the majors, the men in actual command who control the troops. and so he in conjunction with his staff, colonel brooks, who later, by the way, becomes governor of our commonwealth. so he, colonel brooks, his secretary, jonathan trumbull, begin to lay out a plan. the plan is that they will call all of these officers together, that is the lieutenants and the captains and the majors, and speak to them directly. they must also prepare an address, a speech. several days now spent in writing what is probably the most important speech ever given in american history. all in secret because, of course, washington has already announced that he's not coming to the meeting.

noon, saturday, 15th of march, about 300 officers crowd into the temple of virtue. the building, by the way, reconstruction of the building is there today on that historic site. general gates entered the room, everyone snapped to attention. he convenes the meeting. the officers take their seats. and then from outside comes the noise of thundering hoofs, the rattle of sabers. it is general washington's bodyguard. in a moment there standing, literally standing in the doorway, 6'2", beautifully attired, is general washington. to the utter shock of everyone. washington entered the room, the officers, of course, stood again. he went to the front of the room and general gates stepped aside. washington then reached into his

pocket and pulled out a sheaf of papers. here i must explain to you why this sheaf of papers is so important. as bob mentioned, for some time i was the director of the massachusetts historical society. and on occasion i would wander through the shelves and the stacks. i had the keys to everything. and just browse in this incredible archive. and in that incredible archive, carefully preserved in a very lovely, red leather binder, is the speech that washington took from his pocket on the 15th of march, 1783. in his own hand. in his own hand. was the speech. that, of course, was the event that prompted me to want to write about this event. and so washington lays out his

papers now and says to the officers, gentlemen, you must excuse me. this meeting is so important that i have committed my thoughts to paper. he then began to address them. it was a short speech, not more than eight to ten minutes. gentlemen, by an anonymous summons, an attempt has been made to convene you together. how inconsistent with the rules of propriety, how unmilitary and how subversive of all order and discipline. let the good sense of the army decide. and then he -- a few more remarks. thus much, gentlemen, i have thought it incumbent on me to observe to you, to show you upon what principles i oppose the irregular and hasty meeting which was proposed to have been held on tuesday last. and not because i wanted a

disposition to give you every opportunity consistent with your own honor and the dignity of the army to make known your grievances. if my conduct heretofore has not evinced to you that i have been a faithful friend to the army, my declaration of it at this time will be equally unavailing and improper. but, as i was among the first to embark in the cause of our common country, as i have never left your side one moment but when called from you on public duty, as i have been the constant companion and witness of your distresses and not among the last to feel and acknowledge your merits, i have ever considered it my own military reputation as inseparably connected with that of the army. as my heart has ever expanded with joy when i've heard its praises and my indignation has

arisen when the mouth of detraction has been opened against it, it can scarily be supposed at this late stage of the war that i am indifferent to its interests. he then concluded. and let me conjure you in the name of our common country, as you value your own sacred honor, as you respect the rights of humanity, as you regard the military and national character of america to express your utmost horror and detestation of the man who wishes under any specious pretenses to overturn the liberties of our country and who wickedly attempts to open the floodgates of civil discord and deluge our rising empire in blood, by thus determining and

thus acting, you will pursue the plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes. you will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies who are compelled to reason from open force to secret artifice. you will give me one more plain and direct road to the attainment of your wishes. you will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies who are compelled to reason from open force to secret artifice. you will give me one more distinguished proof of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the most complicated sufferings. and you will, by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say when speaking of the glorious example you have exhibited to mankind, had this day been wanting, the world has never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining. shakespeare, henry v. washington finished his speech.

there was silence. silence. dead silence. he thought that he had lost them. he thought that he had lost them. for that one terrible moment, he stood there, not with his army, but in opposition to it. fearing this, he reached into his pocket once more and took out a letter. it was a letter from joseph jones, congressman from virginia. and here the document becomes all important. i mentioned that the document at the massachusetts historical society is written in washington's own hand. large letters. the official copy of the speech, the one written by his secretaries in the papers of washington in the library of congress is written in the hand of his secretary, jonathan trumbull. it's a fine hand, but it's a

normal-sized hand. friday night i think washington did an all-nighter. after the speech had been written by him and by his secretaries, i'm sure there was collaboration, he sat down and recopied that speech in large letters in his own hand so he could read it. kind of an early version of a teleprompter. but now as he read joseph jones's letter, he began to stumble over the words. he reached into his pocket and brought out his glasses. the officers were stunned. they had never seen the commander in chief with glasses. two weeks before, two weeks before washington had received these glasses from david rittenhouse in philadelphia. and as soon as he received the glasses, he had written back to rittenhouse something that may

be familiar to some of you. he wrote back to rittenhouse to thank him for the glasses and to tell him that he was having a little trouble adjusting to them. he wasn't quite comfortable with them. but now, for the first time in public, in order to read jones's letter, he took his glasses out. and as he did, he looked out at the officers and he said to them, gentlemen, you must forgive me. my eyes have grown dim and my hair has grown gray in the service of my country. not a dry eye in the house. not a dry eye in the house. he then went on to read mr. jones's letter which was really rather perfunctory. finished the letter, put everything back in including his glasses, and walked out. as soon as he reached the door, general knox leaped from his

chair and offered resolutions in support of the commander in chief and the congress. spontaneous, of course. it had all been so carefully planned. the resolutions were offered and voted on unanimously. oh, i do wonder what must have been going through colonel armstrong's head, general gates's head as they had to vote for these resolutions. but they did not not vote for the resolutions. the resolutions were carried to congress to assure the body that the army, while distressed, was loyal. at almost the same moment that the resolutions arrived from newburgh, news arrived from paris. peace. peace. not the final treaty. that would take a little bit longer. but that stubborn king, george

iii, had finally acceded to the independence of the colonies of the states. the war was essentially over. news was sent back to newburgh, to general washington, and general washington issued an announcement of a cessation of hostilities. not the end of the war, cessation of hostilities. that broadside, that announcement was made at the temple of virtue on april the 19th, 1783. eight years to the day of lexington and concord. as soon as the army heard the news, the cry was universal. discharge, discharge. they hadn't been paid, and they won't be paid for quite a while, but they want to go home. the army peacefully and carefully dismantled and

returned to their homes. washington had one more mission, one more errand to do. december the 23rd, 1783, he journeyed to annapolis, maryland. the continental congress was meet agent the state house of maryland in annapolis. he entered the chamber to return to the congress what they had given him in june of 1775. in june of 1775, they had literally given him his commission as commander in chief of the army. on december the 23rd, 1783, general washington returned and in a very solemn, but brief ceremony, he literally returned to the congress his commission. and then left the chamber no longer general or commander in

chief, but simply as mister. and to finish this hollywood set, he then rode home to mt. vernon and arrives home at mt. vernon christmas eve, 1783. a few days later, from mt. vernon, he writes to a friend how good it is, how good it is to be in retirement and to be a private citizen and to never again have to be called to public duty. on that, he was wrong. i'm not suggesting that in march of 1783 there would be a grand coup. a coup is a strike at government. there wasn't much government to strike at in march of 1783. but imagine for a moment if the army had, indeed, taken up arms or marched or issued some kind of strong protest. that bright line that stands in our republic between civilian and military would have been crossed. and it could never have been redrawn again. revolutions are not uncommon,

but the ones that succeed are very uncommon. and i can't explain why some revolutions work and others don't, but i know why ours did. ours worked because we had george washington. thank you all. [ applause ] should i take easy questions? okay. yes, please. >> okay. i'm a little confused. because i always thought that our revolution was against the british. >> uh-huh.

>> you just indicated it was against the french. >> no, no. no. the french were our allies. >> paris. >> the peace negotiations were going on. the place for peace negotiations, british french and americans and spanish, too, were involved, took place in paris. >> oh, okay. >> yeah. peace negotiations took place in paris. where else? well, thank you all very much. you've been very kind. thank you. >> you're watching american history tv, 48 hours of people and events that helped document the american story. every weekend on c-span3. >> earnest hemingway is considered one of the great american writers and his work still influences readers to day. not many people know of his work as a spy during world war ii. >> there were a couple instance that's he was aware of when german submarines approaching fishing boats and saying we'll take your catch and your fresh