July 10th
share on:
“You affect, sir, to despise all rank, not derived from the same source with your own, I cannot conceive one more honourable, than that, which flows from the uncorrupted choice of a brave and free people, the purest source, and original fountain of all power.”
To Lieutenant General Thomas Gage*
Head Quarters, Cambridge, 19 August 1775**
Sir,
I addressed you on the 11th. Instant in Terms, which gave the fairest Scope for the Exercise of that Humanity, and Politeness, which were supposed to form a Part of your Character. I remonstrated with you on the unworthy Treatment, shewn to the officers and Citizens of America, whom the Fortune of War, Chance, or a mistaken Confidence, had thrown into your Hands.
Thomas Gage, 1768
Artist: John Copley. Yale Center for British Art
Whether British or American Mercy, Fortitude, and Patience are most preeminent, whether our virtuous Citizens, whom the Hand of Tyranny has forced into Arms to defend their Wives, their Children, and their Property, or the mercenary Instruments of lawless Domination, avarice and Revenge, best deserve the Appellation of Rebels, and the Punishment of that Cord, which your affected Clemency has forborne to inflict: whether the Authority, under which Fact, is usurped, or founded upon the genuine Principles of Liberty, were altogether foreign to the Subject. I purposely avoided all political Disquisition; nor shall I now avail myself of those Advantages, which the sacred Cause of my Country of Liberty, and human Nature, give me over you: Much less shall I stoop to Retort and Invective. But the Intelligence you say you have received from our Army requires a Reply. I have taken Time, Sir, to make strict Inquiry, and find it has not the least Foundation in Truth. Not only your Officers and Soldiers have been treated with a Tenderness, due to Fellow-Citizens, and Brethren, but even those execrable Parricides, whose Counsels and Aid have deluged their Country with Blood, have been protected from the Fury of a justly-enraged People. Far from compelling or permitting their Assistance, I am embarrassed with the Numbers, who crowd to our Camp, animated with the purest Principles of Virtue, and Love of their Country. You advise me to give free operation to Truth, to punish misrepresentation and Falsehood. If Experience stamps Value upon Counsel, yours must have a Weight, which few can claim. You best can tell, how far the Convulsion, which has brought Such Ruin on both Countries and shaken the mighty Empire of Britain to its Foundation, may be traced to these malignant Causes.
General George Washington, 1776
Library of Congress
You affect, Sir, to despise all Rank, not derived from the same Source with your own, I cannot conceive one more honourable, than that, which flows from the uncorrupted Choice of a brave and free People, the purest Source, and original Fountain of all Power. Far from making it a Plea for Cruelty, a mind of true Magnanimity, and enlarged Ideas would comprehend, and respect it.
What may have been the ministerial Views, which have precipitated the present Crisis, Lexington, Concord, and Charles Town can best declare. May that God, to whom you then appealed, judge between America, and you. Under his Providence, those who influence the Councils of America, and all the other Inhabitants of the united Colonies at the Hazard of their Lives are determined to hand down to Posterity those just and invaluable Privileges, which they received from their Ancestors.
I shall now, Sir, close my Correspondence with you, perhaps forever. If your Officers, our Prisoners, receive a Treatment from me, different from what I wish to shew them, they and you will remember the Occasion of it. I am Sir, Your very Hbble Servant
G:o Washington
* Gage was commander of British forces in the colonies. Washington and Gage had previously exchanged letters concerning prisoner of war treatment. In Gage’s correspondence, he stated that he would “acknowledge no rank that is not derived from the King.” —Quote Source: FO9
** Date Source: DS5
GEORGE WASHINGTON:
THE INTERVIEW POWERED BY A.I.
In the hallowed halls of history, a voice echoes once more as “George Washington: The Interview” unfurls a never-before-seen side of America’s first President. This electrifying book transcends the boundaries of time, employing state-of-the-art technology and primary source material to bring you face-to-face with the man who laid the cornerstone of the nation we know today. Journey through the intimate details of Washington’s life as he reveals the victories and defeats, the triumphs and tragedies of his storied past.
Are you ready to step into the past and meet the man behind the myth?