George Washington Papers
Documents filtered by: Author="Humphreys, David" AND Period="Revolutionary War"
sorted by: editorial placement
Permanent link for this document:
https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-26-02-0098

To George Washington from Major David Humphreys, 23 May 1780

From Major David Humphreys

Hartford May 23d 1780

Sir

I have taken the liberty to present Your Excellency, with the Copy of an Address to the Armies under your command, which was begun for my own amusement, compleated with the Design suggested in the introduction, and suffered to be published, on the representation of my friends, that it might in some measure answer so valuable and important a purpose.1

Should it be so fortunate as to have any effect in that way, or afford a moment’s amusement, and relaxation to your Excellency from the incessant and momentuous cares which are incident to your elevated station; it will give the most ample satisfaction, and pleasure to Your Excellency’s Most Obedient And most Humble Servant

David Humphrys.

ALS, DLC:GW.

1The enclosed copy of Humphreys’s A POEM, Addressed to the ARMIES of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA may have been the octavo edition of the poem, published in 1780 in New Haven by T. and S. Greene, which was in GW’s library at the time of his death (Griffin, Catalogue of the Washington Collection description begins Appleton P. C. Griffin, comp. A Catalogue of the Washington Collection in the Boston Athenæum. Cambridge, Mass., 1897. description ends , 105). On this date, Humphreys informed Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene that he had sent the poem, unsolicited, to GW (see Greene Papers description begins Richard K. Showman et al., eds. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. 13 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1976–2005. description ends , 5:576–78).

The T. and S. Greene edition of Humphreys’s poem attributed authorship to “A Gentleman of the Army.” Humphreys dedicated the poem to “All the Brave Men, Whether Officers or Soldiers, Who compose The Armies of the United States.

The introduction to the poem reads: “Perhaps the following little Poem may be considered with the more indulgence by the Public, after it is known, that it was actually written, at a period when the Army was in the field, and the Author so far engaged in the duties of his profession, as to have but little leisure for subjects of literature or amusement. And it will not be necessary to demonstrate to those who have the least knowledge of a military life, how unfavourable such a state is to poetical contemplation. This, it is presumed, may pertinently be urged in excuse for the slighter errors, and inaccuracies of the performance; and the Design must in some measure atone, for any of a different complexion.

“To inspire our Countrymen now in arms, or who may hereafter be called into the field, with perseverance and fortitude, thro’ every species of difficulty and danger, to continue their exertions for the defence of their country, and the preservation of its Liberties, is the object of this Address.

“For this purpose, it was imagined, no considerations could be more effectual, than the recollection of the past, and the anticipation of the future. For where is the man to be found, who, after all that has been done and suffered; after such a profusion of blood, and treasure has been expended; and such important advantages have been obtained; would basely relinquish, and leave unfinished the illustrious task of rearing an Empire, which from its situation, and circumstances, must surpass all that ever have existed, in magnitude, felicity and duration?

“Altho’ the Author entertains the most sanguine expectations of the gratitude and liberality, with which the Continent will reward those who have literally borne the heat and burden of the day of war; he has not insisted on those pecuniary or slighter considerations: but has attempted, to turn the attention, to the future grandeur, happiness, and glory of the Country, for which we are now contending.—The lands already granted to the Army, first suggested the idea of a military settlement on the Ohio, or in some of those Western regions; whose beauties can never be sufficiently displayed, much less exaggerated by description. The mild temperature and serenity of the air, the salubrity of the climate, the fertility of the soil, the luxuriance of its products, the extent of territory, and the amazing inland navigation, which those boundless lakes, and immeasurable rivers will open; cannot fail one day, to equal that garden of the world to the representation given of it, in the conclusion of the Poem. The possession of such a Country, (rescued from the hand of invasion) in a perfect state of freedom and security, will be a glorious compensation for all our toils and sufferings, and a monument of the most unparalell’d bravery and patriotism to the remotest posterity.—Stimulated with the love of glory, allured by these delightful prospects, and animated with the pleasing hope of the speedy fruition of those rapturous scenes; there are thousands who have drawn the sword, with a resolution never to sheath it, until a happy period is put to the contest.—For himself, the Writer declares, that having already devoted, whatever talents and abilities nature has conferred upon him, to the service of his Country; no efforts that can be made with his voice, his pen, or his sword, shall ever be wanting to confirm its Liberties and Independence.”

A tribute to GW and the Continental army, Humphreys’s poem also is an inspirational and patriotic appeal to duty and courage. It celebrates GW (“Oh first of hero’s! fav’rite of the skies! / To these dread toils, thy country bade thee rise”) and praises the army’s past victories, valor, and perseverance, including the crossing of the Delaware River in December 1776 (“Where the great Chief, o’er Del’ware’s icy wave, / Led the small band, in danger doubly brave”) and the January 1777 victory “on fair Princeton’s plain.” The poem ends with a call to arms to ensure future peace and prosperity for the nation: “So rise our sons, like our great sires of old, / In freedom’s cause, unconquerably bold; / With spotless faith, and morals pure, their name / Spread thro’ the world, and gain immortal fame” (Humphreys, Poem description begins [David Humphreys.] A Poem, Addressed to the Armies of the United States of America. By a Gentleman of the Army. New Haven, 1780. description ends , 9–11, 16; the “/” indicates a line break in the poem).

Despite his claim to have composed the poem while on active field service, Humphreys, an aide-de-camp to Maj. Gen. Israel Putnam, wrote it during a period of relative inactivity while the latter recovered from a stroke. In a letter to Greene of 10 April, Humphreys noted that having been “instigated by the Devil and a certain Jere Wadsworth,” he had “some time since written and consented to publish a Peice in verse, Address[ed] to the Army, on the Subject of the present war” (Greene Papers description begins Richard K. Showman et al., eds. The Papers of General Nathanael Greene. 13 vols. Chapel Hill, N.C., 1976–2005. description ends , 5:514–17).

Humphreys published a second, revised version of this poem in 1782, with editions of this version appearing in London and Paris in 1784 and 1785. On 17 July 1785 he sent GW a copy of that version (presumably the London edition), which prompted a reply from GW to Humphreys on 30 Oct.: “I am very much obliged to you for the Poem you sent me, I have read it with pleasure, and it is much admired by all those to whom I have shewed it” (Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 3:328–29; see also Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 3:131–33). Former French major general Chastellux, who had served in the French expeditionary army, translated the revised poem and published a Paris edition in 1786, entitled Discours en vers, adressé aux Officiers et aux Soldats des differentes Armées Américaines, with the English original and the translation on facing pages. For its reception in Paris, see GW to Theodorick Bland, 15 Aug. 1786, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 4:210–11. Chastellux sent GW a copy in August 1786, and GW held an octavo edition of the French translation at the time of his death (see GW to Chastellux, 18 Aug. 1786, in Papers, Confederation Series description begins W. W. Abbot et al., eds. The Papers of George Washington, Confederation Series. 6 vols. Charlottesville, Va., 1992–97. description ends 4:218–20; see also Rice, ed., Travels in North America, 1:338–39, and Griffin, Catalogue of the Washington Collection description begins Appleton P. C. Griffin, comp. A Catalogue of the Washington Collection in the Boston Athenæum. Cambridge, Mass., 1897. description ends , 105–6).

Index Entries