The Copyrighted picture is omitted
because it is not essential to
understanding this publication.
WASHINGTON IN THE SERVICE OF HIS COUNTRY
Following the victory at Yorktown in 1781, the Continental Army moved into
quarters a Newburgh, New York, to wait for peace with Great Britain. After
months of waiting, many officers became disaffected. They were angry
because the weak government under the Articles of Confederation proved
unwilling to supply the Army properly or even to pay the men.
Some officers began to suggest that the Army should compel Congress to
meet its demands. In May 1782, one discontented colonel even suggested
that Washington should restore order by making himself King George I.
Washington rebuked him: “Be assured, Sir, no occurrence in the course of
the war has given me more painful sensations than your information of... such
ideas existing in the Army... I am much at a loss to conceive what part of my
conduct could have given encouragement to an address which to me seems
big with the greatest mischiefs that can befall my country.”
This was Washington’s greatest moment. Had he succumbed to the
temptation to seize power, he would have destroyed all for which the
Revolutionary War had been fought. In acting as he did, he established firmly
the subordination of the country’s armed forces to those precepts of
democracy which would later be enunciated in the Constitution. His action and
words likewise demonstrated the model of selfless-service which is so
essential to the credibility of a professional military force. Had he done nothing
else, this single act would have been sufficient to establish Washington as the
Father of his country.
