To John Jay from Robert Troup, 22 July 1777
From Robert Troup
Philadelphia. July 22d. 1777—
My dear Sir,
I have written to you repeatedly, since I have been here, but not having received an Answer to either of my Letters, I conclude they have not reached you.1 To the Disgrace of Human Nature, it has become a common Practice to betray the Confidence we repose in each other either by opening Letters, or not sending them to the Persons to whom they are directed. I have seen so many Instances of such Behaviour that I am determined to use more Caution hereafter. This Letter therefore, is directed to the Care of Col. Hamilton, who will send it by the first Express—
Yours of the 5 Ulto.2 I received at Esopus on my Way to this City. I am greatly obliged to you for the Friend-ship it contains. You always was my Benefactor, & I hope will continue so, as long as I walk in the Line of Prudence, and prove myself a Lover of American Liberty—
I have the Satisfaction of informing you that the Suspicions I mentioned to you some Time ago, are intirely removed. Gen. Gates will not leave the Service—he is indulged with the Allowance given to a Commander of a separate Department, and will join the Army when the Enemy make a Movement.3
I cannot help reminding you of the Joy I feel on this Occasion. I confess I was much shagrined at the thoughts of leaving the Army, at a Period when a rich Harvest of Laurels was to be reaped. Whether I shall ever be one of the fortunate is uncertain. I promise myself no Great Reputation as a Soldier, and shall be content if I am not an Object for Scorn, and Derision to point their Fingers at.
I congratulate you, most sincerely, on the Success, which has lately attended our Arms in Jersey.4 The precipitate Retreats of the Enemy are convincing Proofs, with me, that they fear a general Action on equal Terms. The Idea they entertained of the Cowardice, & Irregularity of our Troops has now vanished, and they hope to effect by fine spun Generalship what they cannot do with all their boasted British Valor.— This & this only, I believe, is the Ground on which they build their Expectations of Conquest. Gloomy Prospect indeed! If we may judge of Futurity by the past, they have not those supernatural Talents so constantly celebrated by the Tories.—
But let us for a Moment, shift the Scene from the Southward to the Northward. How striking the Contrast! We have lost Ticonderoga, together with the Cannons, & military Stores of every Kind.— This is doubtless an unfortunate Blow, but I do not conceive it will be so severely felt as is generally imagined. By taking Post at Fort Edward5 we can stop the Progress of the Goths, Huns & Vandals, and confine their Ravages within very narrow Bounds. What vexes me most, is the Disgrace, which the Evacuation of such a Strong Post will fix upon our Arms, in Europe.—
I wish I could see Burgoyne’s Letter to Ld. Germaine6 on this Subject.— His Proclamation shews more Profound Depth, in the Knowledge of Composition, than I ever discovered in the Works of the celebrated Martinus Scriblerus.7
Inclosed I send you the news Paper of this Day. I have Nothing more of Importance to communicate—
Be so kind as to give my Regards to Mrs. Jay, your Brother, & all my Friends you are acquainted with. I am affectionately Yours.—
Rob. Troup
ALS, NNC (EJ: 7174). Enclosure not located.
1. No letters from Troup to JJ have been located for the period between 2 June and 22 July.
2. Not located.
3. Troup, an aide to Gates, had written JJ on 2 June (above) that Gates was going to resign his commission in protest against Schuyler’s elevation to the command of the Northern Department. Evidently Gates had a change of heart, as Congress on 8 July ordered him to report to Washington’s headquarters. , 8: 540.
4. During June the American and British forces, commanded respectively by Washington and Howe, met each other in various brief engagements in New Jersey. At the end of the month, Howe withdrew entirely from that state.
5. Decrepit and indefensible, Fort Edward was situated on the Hudson River south of Lake Champlain, on Burgoyne’s line of march southward. Schuyler abandoned it at the end of July.
6. George Sackville, Lord Germain (1716–85), secretary of state for the American colonies, 1775–82.
7. On 23 June 1777 Burgoyne issued a “pompous,” widely ridiculed proclamation offering security and protection to those who remained “quietly in their houses,” but warning civilians against assisting the enemy and threatening resisters with “the vengeance of the state.” For the text, see , no. 43257, and reprints in various newspapers, including New York Gazette, and Weekly Mercury, 18 Aug.; Pennsylvania Evening Post, 21 Aug.; and Continental Journal (Boston), 11 Sept. 1777. For examples of satirical treatment of the proclamation by William Livingston, see “A New-Jersey Man,” first published in the Pennsylvania Packet on 26 Aug., reprinted in the New York Journal, 8 Sept. 1777, and subsequently in other newspapers; and “Hortensius,” printed in the New Jersey Gazette on 17 Dec. 1777. , 2: 41–47, 137–40.
“Martinus Scriblerus” was a pseudonym used in early eighteenth-century satirical writings by the Scriblerus Club, which lampooned pedantry and bad literature. Contributing authors to the Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus included Tory wits Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, John Gay, Thomas Parnell, and John Arbuthnot.