THE EXCHANGE OF LETTERS WITH THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR, PAGE 152-53
The General and the French ambassador shared some common beliefs: the war was approaching its end but was not yet over and could go on another year, and the war should be pursued until both the Americans and the French had achieved the maximum tactical military advantage prior to the final peace treaty. The General knew that the Americans and Congress were weary of war, but he also knew that peace would depend on where the forces stood on the battlefield. The General wanted to make sure that the final peace treaty gave the Americans New York City as well as Charleston, both then occupied by the British. Thus the General wanted the French to join him in an assault on New York. The French ambassador also knew that the Americans and the Congress were weary of war but wanted to make sure the French maintained their advantage in the West Indies. Thus, the ambassador wanted the Americans to join the French in pressuring the British along the coast to keep them from pushing the French out of the West Indies.
THE TEMPLE, PAGES 155-56
For those interested in seeing the Temple where the dramatic events of March 15, 1783, unfolded, you can visit the New Windsor Cantonment State Historic Site, which has been a New York State historical site since the nineteenth century.
The Temple has been reconstructed and mainly appears like the original Temple (only a cupola and a flagpole have been added), which was constructed in three months. It is a 30-by-110-foot building with large sash windows, a small raised platform with four side offices, two of them for court-martials and administration, and other offices for supplies and the quartermaster. The French greatly admired the American troops’ craftsmanship with wood.
“Divine services” were held every Sunday during the months after Chaplain Israel Evans’s project came to fruition in December 1782. The wooden barracks, each housing eight soldiers, have yet to be reconstructed. The Temple, like Washington’s headquarters a few miles away, is open to the public.
WHERE DO WASHINGTON’S SPEECH AND THE RESOLUTIONS AND THE LETTERS QUOTED IN CHAPTER SIX COME FROM? PAGES 156 ET SEQ.
They do not come from the author’s imagination. Every quotation is real. Washington’s speech was transcribed by many in attendance, including the famous reference to his spectacles. (See The Writings of George Washington, 496.) Major Shaw’s description of the speech to Josiah is a verbatim quotation from a letter written by Shaw. The resolutions drafted by General Knox’s committee are quotes from the actual resolutions. (See the Washington Papers at the University of Virginia.) The letters to the president of the Congress and to Congressmen Jones and Hamilton and the thanks conveyed to the army were all written by Washington exactly as they are quoted. The toast by Washington to his officers at Fraunces Tavern and his speech to Congress in Annapolis resigning his commission are also exact quotations. (All these documents can be found in full in the Washington Papers at the University of Virginia. Most can be found in full in John Marshall’s The Life of George Washington, vol. 4, pages 75–97. And a few, such as Washington’s speech to his officers at the Temple, can be found in The Writings of George Washington, page 496. Portions or brief excerpts of these letters and speeches can be found in almost every biography of Washington. Even though the full power of these communications could only be experienced by those in attendance, the written versions are still, as the reader has already realized, quite compelling.)
THE GENERAL’S SPECTACLES, PAGES 161-62
Washington, a great, handsome, six-foot-three, 209-pound specimen at the beginning of the war (see earlier note on page 278 about the new lifelike sculpture of Washington at Mount Vernon), developed many physical infirmities during the war, among them a carbuncle on his leg, a paunch around the middle, graying hair, decaying teeth, and declining eyesight. His heavy correspondence led to increasingly blurry vision, which hampered the General’s reading ability. We know from a February 16, 1783, letter to a Philadelphia optometrist and leading American astronomer, David Rittenhouse, that the latter had prepared and delivered spectacles that month enabling the General to read smaller handwriting. (See Ron Chernow, Washington, 432.)
MAJOR SAMUEL SHAW’S JOURNAL, PAGE 163