Nuts for Future Historians to Crack Part 7

Our people have been much alarmed, and I think with good reason. For my own part, I entertain but little uneasiness. I have lived a long life, and though I am far from tired of it, I am ready to go whenever it pleases him who gave it to take it away.

Looking over my paper, I have directed copies to be made up such as seem adapted to your purpose. These, and some original, I will send to your direction, whenever I hear from you again, and you inform me how to send them. I have but few letters from Gen. Was.h.i.+ngton--the _originals_ I cannot consent to part with; but copies are cheerfully at your service. I have had a copy taken of a very remarkable correspondence between General Wayne and General Reed, which awaits your directions. I was on a visit to Wayne shortly after its close; he read it to me, and I was so much struck with it, that I requested leave to take a copy, which he gave me. You will find it a curiosity, and it is another development of the real character of Reed. I think I formerly mentioned I knew but little of Gen. Wayne, with which you are not already acquainted, and I may say much the same as to Putnam, except what I had from conversation with General Was.h.i.+ngton. I have never been able to make up my mind how far Gen. Gates was concerned in the movement for his promotion, at Was.h.i.+ngton's expense. He certainly did not openly encourage it. It is so delicate a matter, I did not like to directly question General Was.h.i.+ngton. Once or twice, in conversation, I thought he was coming to the point, but he broke off without reaching it.

Many of Conway's movements against Was.h.i.+ngton had a tact and address about them, for which Gates generally received the credit. Towards the close, his calumnies of Was.h.i.+ngton were disgustingly obscene--I mean Conway's. General Reed was well known to be deeply engaged in this conspiracy. But he lacked the courage of Conway, and was wholly without the rashness which so frequently marked the latter. Reed was a cautious and cunning plotter--he never looked one in the eye. Lee, who mortally hated him, had a common saying, "that Reed's face was stamped with the devil's favorite brand." I was once present when he made the remark in the presence of Reed, without observing him. Reed stepped forward, and angrily demanded "what was that, sir?" Lee bowed and repeated the observation, amid roars of laughter from all present. General Reed left the spot, remarking, "you shall hear from me shortly;" to which Lee replied, "I doubt that." Nothing further ever came of it.

Conway and Reed were decidedly the two most unpopular men in the army--with this difference, that Conway, though disliked, was respected, until his calumnies of Was.h.i.+ngton were carried to their extent. Of Conway's duel with General Cadwalader I have no particulars which you do not possess. Conway became nearly involved in another duel on Reed's account. He took up a quarrel of Reed's but it was compromised. Reed was publicly insulted, and submitted like a boarding-school miss. My sentiments on some subjects have changed with my advancing years; but I well remember the surprise which I felt, and which the whole army expressed, that a soldier, and one wearing epaulettes, should patiently submit to the epithet of "liar," and a threat of having his nose pulled. It may have been a conscientious scruple; but he did not hesitate to get others into difficulties.

In 1783 or '84, I had business which called me to Alexandria.

To my delight, I met General Was.h.i.+ngton there, and he insisted upon my accompanying him home. The weather was wet and cold, and, for a wonder, as he expressed himself, he was without visiters but me. I remained at Mount Vernon several days and had many and long conversations with the General. While there, one of his newspapers mentioned the return of General Reed from England, in feeble health; and this induced a conversation concerning that person. I reminded the General of the coolness with which I had seen him treat Reed at the final leave-taking of his officers; and of the remark I had afterwards heard him make at Annapolis. The particulars I gave you in my letter from the Senate. General Was.h.i.+ngton rose, stamped his foot somewhat violently; then instantly checking himself, he paced the room slowly, speaking while he walked. I remember every thing he said as plainly as if it had been spoken only yesterday. He stated to me, that he had no doubt that General Reed had long been in treaty with the British before the arrival of their Commissioners in Philadelphia in 1778; and that, after the treaty of peace, in 1783, he received information, which placed it beyond question, that, in the appointment of the Commissioners, the British Ministry had selected Lord Carlisle with express reference to an acquaintance which he had had with Reed, when Reed was in England, seventeen or eighteen years before.

He mentioned that, in 1777, while the army was yet encamped at Valley Forge, Mrs. ----, a lady from Philadelphia, with whom Reed was long known to have had a criminal intercourse, was arrested within the lines, and that her suspicious conduct induced a search, which led to the discovery of a letter upon her person, from Governor Johnstone to General Reed, and enclosing a note from Lord Carlisle, which was in _cypher_.

This letter related to overtures upon which Donop, the Hessian officer, and General Reed, had already exchanged their views; p.r.o.nounced them to be somewhat extravagant; and suggested that Reed had better close the arrangement which had been proposed to Count Donop, and he would have no reason to complain. The ten thousand pounds of which Donop spoke, Johnstone said would be immediately paid, and he did not think there would be any difficulty about the land or its equivalent; but of the _office_ that Donop mentioned, he (Governor Johnstone,) could not speak with confidence; upon that subject, the enclosed note from Lord Carlisle, Governor Johnstone said, would inform General Reed more definitely. This note being in cypher, General Was.h.i.+ngton informed me he never succeeded in having unravelled. Immediately upon receiving these papers, General Was.h.i.+ngton informed me he called a council, and sent for Reed.

He placed the two letters in General Reed's hands, and demanded an explanation. Unfortunately, the officer whom he had sent for Reed had informed him what had happened and he had thus some time and opportunity for preparation. Reed professed himself unable to read the note in cypher, and said he did not know what it meant.

As to the letter from Governor Johnstone, he explained that overtures had been some time before made to him, offering him his own reward, upon condition of his bringing about a peace, but that he had replied, "that he was not worth the purchase, but poor as he was, King George was not rich enough to make it." When General Was.h.i.+ngton demanded why he had not before informed him of this communication, Reed replied, that though _he_ was incorruptible, he was afraid of letting it be known what offers had been made, lest other officers might have been tempted to accept them. Reed was placed under arrest until further inquiries were made, but they were not successful, and he was released. The female upon whom the letters were detected, had been released, after being searched, and though every effort was made to get her again it was fruitless.

General Was.h.i.+ngton added, that through the rest of the war, he watched Reed narrowly, and trusted him with nothing; and though he had no further _proof_ of his guilt, he was satisfied that his treason had existed. But General Was.h.i.+ngton informed me, that _after the peace_, he had received information, the source of which he was not at liberty to divulge, but the truth of which he had satisfied himself of, that nothing but the accidental intercepting of Johnstone's and Carlisle's letters, had prevented Reed's consummation of treason. He had become fully convinced, after the disbanding of the army, that Reed had had numerous personal interviews during the war, with leading British officers; that he had seen Donop at Burlington; that he had been repeatedly within the British lines, and that he _now_ knew that, after the battle of Germantown, he had visited the English General, Howe, at his Head Quarters, in Philadelphia.

I have now given you, accurately, the substance of General Was.h.i.+ngton's conversations upon this subject. It fully accounts for his marked treatment of Reed at New York and Annapolis; and it must convince you what a precious rogue in grain this counterfeit patriot was.

My letter will not reach you for some time after its date. My arm is stiff, and I write slowly; and, although I have but one date, I have written a little each day for four days. G.o.d bless you, my old friend, and make me hear frequently from you.

Yours very truly, SAMUEL SMITH.

I allow Mr. William Bradford Reed till Sat.u.r.day to meditate upon this epistle. On that day, unless _he_ should antic.i.p.ate me, and publish the correspondence with Wayne, to which Colonel Smith refers, _I_ shall have the pleasure of presenting it to the public eye. It is a light that ought not to be hidden under a bushel; but should be placed upon an elevation high as the summit of the Bunker Hill Monument, that it may be seen far and wide.

VALLEY FORGE.

_October 1st, 1842._

_October 5th, 1842._

MR. WHITNEY.--While exposing the demerits of Mr. William Bradford Reed, I have no disposition to disparage whatever of ability or information he may really possess; and concerning the letter, I cheerfully acknowledge that he has made himself very thoroughly acquainted with the true character of the leading men and events of the American Revolution.

But it is _this_ that const.i.tutes his chief shame. In his absurd panegyrics of his "Grandfather," he has not been imposed upon; he is seeking to impose upon others, and in this he has, to a very considerable extent, succeeded; he is sinning against the excess of light and the superfluity of knowledge.

Possessing the most ample proofs of his grandfather's treachery to his country in the darkest hour of his country's peril, Mr. William B. Reed has not hesitated to hold him up to that very country which he sought to betray, and _did_ well nigh betray, and _would_ have betrayed, but for the timely interception of his treasonable correspondence with the British Commissioners, as one of the most glorious and incorruptible of the patriots who fought and suffered for the establishment of American Independence! The guilt of this will cling to Mr. Reed enduringly.

Never can he shake off its contamination. Could he escape from the odium of his more immediate personal delinquencies; his fawning sycophancy of Nicholas Biddle; his dirty work in behalf of that man for money, not for love; could he deluge with Lethean ocean the public memory, his malpractices as attorney-general; his venal career as a member of the Legislature; could he induce the public to overlook the bribes which he pocketed under the pretext of _fees_ received for services never performed--bribes, the amount of which and the dates of whose reception, are well known, and sustainable by doc.u.mentary reference;--could all this be erased, as systematic and persevering labours, from his boyhood upward, to delude a much injured country into reverence for the memory, not of the contemporary, but of the _predecessor_ of Benedict Arnold in "treason" have won for him an infamy from the consequences of which escape is impossible.

I have heretofore referred, in general terms, to Mr. Reed's numerous applications, by writing and in person, to such survivors of the Revolution, or their descendants, as he supposed could furnish the information he desired, for anecdotes of General Reed; a part of my labours, hereafter to be entered upon, will be to narrate not a few of the rebuffs and rebukes this unfortunate Doctor Syntax in search of the biographical Pickenesque has experienced, and the minute fidelity with which my sketches shall be marked, will contribute, let me a.s.sure Mr. Reed, no less to his surprise than mortification, nay, I will establish that much of the information, that many of the doc.u.ments, which _I_ propose to lay before the readers of the Evening Journal, _he_ and his brother, the Professor, possess; that copies of some of the latter have long been in their hands; and that Mr. William B. Reed has solicited the transfer or destruction of the originals. But I will even do more than all this, I will, in at least two instances, _publish his own letter_, praying for the loan if not the gift, of original papers affecting the fame of his grandfather. _Even here_ I do not mean to stop. I shall show that Mr. Reed succeeded in inveigling from the possession of a gentleman of my acquaintance, for a pretended temporary purpose, a letter, the publication of which he supposed; and a part, I may say a prominent part, of Mr. Reed's scheme to perpetuate the delusion of his grandfather's patriotism, has been to write or call upon, every person projecting any work connected with the Revolution; and by tendering information, or otherwise volunteering his a.s.sistance, to deceive or disarm. He has played his game, so far, with very clever success; and, as I formerly mentioned, it is one which he is at present engaged in practising upon Mr. Bancroft--that same Mr. George Bancroft, whom, at a political meeting in this city, held some four or five years since, he so delicately described as a "tin cannister tied to the tail of Martin Van Buren, while Martin Van Buren, was running through the street, like a hot s.l.u.t, with the whole kennel of loco-focoism bawling at her heels!" Adapting this figure to circ.u.mstances, as it might be introduced with great effect, into Mr. Reed's collegiate eulogy upon the services and patriotism of his grandfather.

In Col. Smith's last published letter to Col. ----, he promised to furnish the latter with copies of certain letters, and in another he says.

"I cannot answer your inquiry about Captain Anderson. I knew several officers of that name, but can recal nothing particular concerning any of them. I once received a letter from a person some where in the State of Delaware, calling himself Henry Anderson, inquiring about his uncle Captain Anderson, of the Revolutionary army, but I have not retained, or mislaid the letter, and cannot call to mind his more particular address. But even this defective information may serve to put you on the scent.

"Your son will tell you much for me that I would otherwise write. My rheumatism has prevented my showing him as much of the civilities of our town as I would have liked, but you will excuse me.

"Most truly and sincerely, "your old friend, "SAMUEL SMITH.

From among the accompaniments of this letter transmitted by Col. Smith, I select, for incorporation in the present article, the following correspondence between General Anthony Wayne and General Joseph Reed. The "_Numbers_" with which they are prefixed appear to be of General Wayne's own addition.

No. 1.

GEN. A. WAYNE,

My Dear General--

Only the day before yesterday I heard of your being here, and then but by accident, or I should have addressed you upon the subject of this communication. For several months there has been a rumor industriously circulated in this city, that during the last summer, you stated while in "South Carolina,"

in the presence of General Greene and other officers, that my conduct at the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth had subjected me to the imputation of timidity. It is added that you referred disparagingly to circ.u.mstances which occurred at _Valley Forge_, and revived the exploded calumny, for the truth of which you personally vouched, that I had signified my acceptance of the terms then offered me by the Commissioners, which you know that I spurned with scorn.

Of course you will understand me to be satisfied that you never did use any language of the kind, but, as these remarks have been propogated by persons who, I have every reason to believe, are no less your enemies than mine. I am anxious to afford you an opportunity for their contradiction, and this I have to request you will promptly give me.

I should be sorry that malicious and designing persons should have it in their power to disturb the harmony of the relations which I have so long enjoyed with one upon whose friends.h.i.+p I set so high a value, and for whom I entertain a peculiar esteem.

With great respect and cordiality, I am my Dear General, yours, &c., JOS. REED

Dec'r 26th, 1783.

No. 2.

_Philadelphia, December 27th, 1783._

Sir--The cool effrontery of your note yesterday surprised me.

By what right you presume to refer to any harmony of relations between us, and to speak of the value of my "friends.h.i.+p" I am at a loss to comprehend. That harmony was first disturbed by the pecuniary difficulties in which you so dishonestly involved me, and from which I am only now beginning to extricate myself, apart from which I could entertain no feelings of "friends.h.i.+p" for an officer for whom I have such abundance of reasons for entertaining sentiments of a very different description. I have no doubt that my remarks to General Greene and others have been correctly reported to you, not only in South Carolina and Georgia, but years ago in Pennsylvania, and within the immediate reach of your personal demand. I have never hesitated, on all proper occasions to express myself in similar terms. I never merely intimated that your conduct at the battles of Brandywine and Monmouth had subjected you "to the imputations of timidity," but I have always said that your behaviour at those battles, particularly that of Chad's Ford, should have secured your dismissal from the army.

What you refer to as "the exploded calumny" of your negotiations with the enemy at Valley Forge, I in common with every officer in the army, with whom I have ever conversed upon the subject, including the Commander-in-chief, believe to be strictly well-founded.

I am Sir, yours, ANTHONY WAYNE.

To Joseph Reed.

VALLEY FORGE.

We take the following communication of Mr. Smith, from the North American of this morning.

"In compliance with this arrangement, I came to this city this evening, accompanied by three of my friends conversant with my father's handwriting, viz; Hon. Louis McLane, Robert Gilmore, and Robert Purviance, Esqrs., and was met at the place and hour of appointment by William B. Reed and Henry Reed, Esqrs., and waited there until half-past eight o'clock, without the appearance of the author of "Valley Forge," or any of his friends.

JNO. SPEAR SMITH.

_Was.h.i.+ngton House, Parlor No. 3,