In June 1775, the Continental Congress commissioned George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army. He led the Army for the duration of the American Revolution and during two years of uncertainty following the cessation of armed conflict.
Many Americans fought the British for 6½ years, from 1775 to 1781. Some were present at the beginning and fought in militia companies at the battles of Lexington and Concord, both in Massachusetts, in April 1775. Most Americans assumed a decisive victory over the British had been secured at the Battle of Yorktown, Virginia, in October 1781.
The casualties from the American Revolution were staggering: Nearly 7,000 Americans died in combat, according to the American Battlefield Trust. Some 20,000 more died of wounds, infection, disease or in captivity.
The Continental Congress lacked consistent authority to raise taxes and relied upon inconsistent and voluntary payments from the states to fund the war effort. As a result, many officers exhausted their personal savings to buy weapons, uniforms, blankets and food for their soldiers. They personally financed the war effort to help win independence.
In March 1783, the soldiers of the Continental Army were frustrated and anxious to return to their homes and families. Armed conflict had ended 17 months earlier at Yorktown; however, the British Army still occupied New York City and Charleston, South Carolina. There was no peace treaty in place to formally recognize the end of the Revolutionary War or American independence. The Continental Army did not know whether hostilities would resume or when soldiers could go home.
A group of disgruntled Continental Army officers decided to take matters into their own hands. Many felt betrayed and were worried that the Continental Congress would not provide back pay and pensions to them or their soldiers. They agreed to secretly assemble in Newburgh, New York (65 miles north of New York City, where elements of the British Army also were located), on or about March 10, 1783.
These officers discussed two seditious options in response to what they perceived as broken promises by the Continental Congress. The first option was to passively respond to British aggression and allow the enemy to march on Philadelphia and capture or kill members of the Continental Congress.
The other option focused on the Continental Army marching on Philadelphia, executing a military coup and installing a new government that would address their concerns.
Meeting Delayed
Washington had heard rumors of this “Newburgh Conspiracy,” and he ordered his officers to delay the meeting by five days. As the commander in chief, only he could authorize such a meeting. He also told his officers that Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates would moderate the discussion, rescheduled for March 15, 1783.
Gates began the meeting as directed; however, Washington entered late, took over and addressed his officers. He shared the following message: “By an anonymous summons, an attempt has been made to convene you together—how inconsistent with the rules of propriety! How unmilitary! And how subversive of all order and discipline—let the good sense of the Army decide.”
At one point, Washington reached for his eyeglasses and said, “Gentlemen, you must pardon me, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in service to my country.”
The officers of the Continental Army revered Washington, and most did not know he required eyeglasses to read. He was a larger-than-life figure to both the Continental Army and the fledgling nation. This simple act revealed Washington’s vulnerability and commonality with his men.
Washington reminded the assembly that he had sacrificed alongside them from 1775 to 1783. He reassured his officers that he would never forsake them or the Continental Army. He would continue to press the Continental Congress for the back pay and pensions they so richly deserved.
Washington closed his remarks by reminding his officers: “You will defeat the insidious designs of our enemies. … You will give one more distinguished proof of unexampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising superior to the pressure of the most complicated sufferings; And you will, by the dignity of your conduct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when speaking of the glorious example you exhibited to mankind, ‘had this day been wanting, the world had never seen the last stage of perfection to which human nature is capable of attaining.’ ”
Officers Weep
Many of the officers wept in shame, knowing they had disappointed their commander in chief by even considering seditious acts against their government and country.
Washington’s moral leadership and personal example throughout the Revolutionary War and during the Newburgh Conspiracy convinced his officers to remain true to their original cause despite years of sacrifice and uncertainty.
With good order and discipline restored, the Continental Army patiently waited for American diplomats to secure victory through international recognition of American independence.
Six months later, on Sept. 3, 1783, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay and British diplomat David Hartley signed the Treaty of Paris. The American Revolution was finally over. A new nation was born.
Col. Scott Halstead, U.S. Army retired, is director of the Association of the U.S. Army Center for Leadership and is the On Leadership editor of ARMY magazine. He retired from the Army in 2021 after serving as an infantry officer and deploying during operations Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Resolute Support. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, in 1991.