The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-03-24
An Original Letter from Gen. Wash
in&ton.

An Original Letter from Gen. Wash
ington.
In Pollard's Southern History of
the First Year of the War;" an origi-
nal letter from Gen. Washington to
one of the immortal signers land still
preserved in the family,) is for the
first time allowed to meet the public
eye: It was written from Washing
tons headquarters, near Boston, in
the midst of the struggle for Ameri-
can independence. The picture it
draws of the Massachusetts people is
strangely different from what they
have sought with such pertinacity to
impose on the public as true repre-
sentation of their character. If
Washington was not mistaken in his
Judgment of e'these people," many
of them in It's were much the same
as the present generation showed
themselves in seeking to fill their
quota with negroes obtained from
distant States, and by seizing freshly
land emigrants and forcing them into
the army, and who now, under the
lead of their Summers and Wilson's,
seem determined to keep up war of
strife and bitterness. and to prevent
reconstruction of the Union. The
letter to which we refer will doubtless
prove interesting to our readers, and
is given below as it is printed on
pages 341-2 of the volume referred
to:
ssCAsrP AT CAMBRIDGE,
Aug. %, 1775.
ssDEAR SIR: AS we
have now nearly completed our lines
OF defence, we have nothing more, in
my opinion, to fear from the enemy,
provided we can keep our men to
their duty, and make them watchful
and vigilant; but it is among the most
difficult tasks ever undertook in my
life to induce these people to believe
that there Is or can be danger till the
bayonet is pushed at their breasts:
not that it proceeds from any uncom-
mon prowess, but rather from an un-
accountable kind of stupidity in the
lower class of these people, which,
believe me, prevails too generally
among the officers of the Massachu-
sets part of the army, who are
nearly all ofSthe same kidney with the
privates, and adds not a little to my
difficulties, as there is no such thing
as getting officers of this stamp to
exert themselves in carrying orders
into execution. To curry favor with
the men (by whom they were chosen,
and whose smiles possibly they may
think they may again rely seems to
be one of the principal objects of
their attention. I submit it, there
fore, to your consideration, whether
there is, or is not, propriety in that
resolution Of the Congress which
leaves the ultimate appointment of
all officers below the rank of Gene
raj to the Governments where the
regiments originated, now the army
is become Continental? To me, it
appears improper in two points of
view. First, it is giving that power
and weight to an individual Colony,
which ought of right to belong to the
whole. Then it damps the spirit and
ardor of volunteers from all but the
four New England Governments, as
none but their people have the least
chance of getting into Office. Would
it not be better, therefore, to have
the warrants, which the Commander
in-Chief is authorized to give. pro
tempore, approved, or disapproved by
the Continental Congress, or a com
mittee Of their body, which I should
suppose in any long recess must
always sit? In this case every gentle
man will stand an equal chance of
being promoted, according to his
merit; in the other all Offices will be
confined to the inhabitants of the
four New England Governments,
which in my opinion is impolitic to
degree. 1 have made pretty good
show among such kind Of officers
as the Massachusetts Government
abounds in, since came to this camp,
having broken one Colonel and two
Captains for cowardly behavior in the
action on Bunker's Hill; two Captains
for drawing more provisions and pay
than they had men in their company,
and one for being absent from his
post when the enemy appeared there
and burnt the house just by it. Be-
sides these, I have at this time one
Colonel, one Major, one Captain and
two subalterns under arrest for trial.
In short, I spare none, and yet I fear
it will not all do, as these people seem
to be too inattentive to everything
but their 5nte,.est Y X X X