washington, interestingly enough, did not respond to general varnum. but all of this weighed heavily on his mind. and so he wrote to the secretary at war, benjamin lincoln, a massachusetts man. he told secretary at war lincoln, if these men who have spent the flower of their days in establishing the freedom and independence of their country are sent home without one farthing of money, great discontent will arise, the long sufferings of this army are almost exhausted. he then went on to tell secretary at war lincoln that he was particularly concerned because the army was about to go into winter quarters, once again, 1782, 1783, and he knew that the despair of winter quarters. they had come through torturous times, in each of the winter encampments they had a prom is of a military campaign in the spring to secure american independence. there would be no campaign in the coming spring. how to keep these men together, how to prevent mutiny. in the midst of this, the officers of the army gathered. the regimental leaders, the staff of the army gathered. and w