William Gordon to George Washington, 27 June 1781
From William Gordon
Jamaica Plain [Mass.] June 27. 1781
My dear Sir
In the midst of important business the following anecdote will probably give you some pleasure, with a little pain for the disappointment you have met with in missing the Saddle: A gentleman who served his time with one of my people when I was at London, J. Harvey Pierce, a physician, writes me from Nantz last Feby 12. where He is in his way to America from an attachment to our cause1—“I dined with Mr W. Toulmin a few days before I left London. There were his two brothers,2 the attorney’s surgeon Dr. Cogan, the Revd Mr Sowden3 & 2 of his pupils Nephews of the Duke of Portland4—on telling them my determination of soon sailing for America, they expresst much satisfaction & highly applauded my resolution, & the more so as they were all fully convinced that the cause of liberty only could ⟨ind⟩uce me to take such a step. The Drs Price & Walker (of Nottingham) who were made acquainted with my intention justified it;5 particularly Dr Walker who with his three brothers & son in law will certainly leave England as soon as there is peace. One of the Walkers who is a spring sadler sent with me a very elegant spring saddle for his Excellency Genl Washington—but it was unfortunately stopt with my baggage & detained in England.”6 However from what I learn by the person who brought me the letter & was Dr Pierce’s companion to France, I am in hopes that your Excellency has not lost the saddle, but will recover it after a while. You will be pleased at knowing also that the Mr Walker who meant it for you, is the kings Saddler.
I congratulate You upon the successes that have attended on Genl Green, tho’ he has been obliged to fight hard for them. Cornwallis I trust will find that the Marquis, after a while, is as good a match for his Lordship, & that tho’ he may change his ground & his operations it is only for the worse. From the measures that are taken I infer that your Excellency has some grand expression in view. May ⟨mutilated⟩ concerned in seconding & supporting you, be far from disappointing your wishes: & ⟨mutilated⟩ crown your plans with success! Former general courts have conducted so miserably, & the pr⟨esent body m⟩ade up so of old materials that I am not without my fears, that military matters continue ⟨to be in a⟩ very fluctuating state. Had we acted wisely & with spirit our quota of troops might have been recruited early, & at half the expence to the persons concerned. I am tired with observing how miserably public affairs are conducted, & the general good is sacrificed to private interest.7 I have been told, that Genl Lincoln (to whom my particular respects) being asked how the committee, of which he was chairman, came to bring in such a report, smartly answered “We have tried roguery long enough till it has almost ruined us; & it is now time to try what honesty will do.”8 Whatever time-serving cobling statesmen may pretend, I am more & more convinced, that honesty is the best policy.
I was at Newport & Providence the last week; & was much pleased with hearing how the French troops were commended for their strict discipline, inoffensive deportment, & affable behaviour.9 I shall do them the justice of transmitting an account of it to Europe; partly with a view of mortifying the British royalists. I do not expect, that the situation of affairs will soon allow your Excellency time for private indulgences; & therefore it would be unreasonable in me to look for an answer: however the want of it will not hinder my writing when I have any thing to communicate, either interesting or pleasing. Am not without hopes that matters will take such a turn in Europe, as to occasion G. Britains desisting from the present contest, & as to terminate in an honourable peace, before a twelvemonth is ended: not that we should relax in the least, even tho’ there was a very strong probability of it. We have in a negligent presumptuous way left too much to Providence, instead of relying upon Providence after the utmost exertions. We have reason to adore the divine goodness, that we have not been punished more for our neglects. Mrs Gordon joins in respects to Self & Lady. With the most hearty prayers for your safety & success I remain Your Excellency’s sincere friend & most obedient servant
William Gordon
ALS, DLC:GW. Gordon addressed the cover to “His Excellency George Washington Esqr. Generalissimo of the American Forces.”
1. John Harvey Pierce, a surgeon described as having “knowledge & political opinions which will be beneficial to any part of our Country,” had planned to travel from London to Nantes, France, and find passage to the United States (Thomas Digges to Benjamin Franklin, 17 April 1780, in , 32:261–63, quote on 261).
2. William Toulmin (1734–1800), Samuel Toulmin (1740–1809), and Abraham Toulmin (1749–1821) were listed among subscribers to (see vol. 1). Samuel Toulmin, shown as esquire, apparently was an attorney.
3. Benjamin Choyce Sowden (d. 1796), scholar and Episcopal minister, was the son of Benjamin Sowden (d. 1778), who had served with Thomas Cogan (1736–1818), minister and physician, as ministers for a Presbyterian church in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
John Cogan (1698–1784), the father of Thomas, was a prominent British surgeon.
4. British statesman William Henry Cavendish Bentick, third duke of Portland (1738–1809), opposed Lord North’s ministry and the war against the United States from his seat in the House of Lords. His two sisters already had given birth to five sons.
5. Richard Price and George Walker (c.1734–1807), dissenting religious ministers in Great Britain, became known for publications and pronouncements favoring independence for the United States.
Price wrote GW from Newington Green, England, on 11 June 1785: “Dr Price presents his best respects to General Washington, and hopes he does not take an improper liberty by acquainting him that he has known Mr Baynham, the bearer of this for several years; and that he has reason to believe that he is a person of unexceptionable character, friendly to the independence of the united States of America, and an able Anatomist and Surgeon” (AL, PHi: Dreer Collection; the final digit in the dateline is smudged, but GW docketed the letter: “From the Revd Doctr Price 11th Jun. 1785”).
William Baynham (1749–1814), born in Caroline County, Va., gained acclaim as a medical practitioner in England and Scotland before his return to the United States in 1785, when he met GW (see George William Fairfax to GW, 23 June 1785, in 3:75–78, and the entries for 5 and 7 Dec. 1785 in , 4:244–45; see also GW to Baynham, 30 July and 27 Aug. 1799, in 4:217, 271; and , 14–17).
6. The Morning Chronicle (London) for 12 June 1776 printed a notice: “Yesterday a Grant unto John Walker, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Sadler, for his new-invented Spring Saddle and Stirrups, upon a new construction, and which he thinks will be of public utility, passed the Great Seal.” George Walker’s other relatives have not been identified.
7. Gordon later wrote: “The representation made to the Massachusetts general court of the army distresses, put them upon those exertions that were beneficial though insufficient” (, 4:120).
8. Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln had been working to facilitate passage through the Massachusetts legislature of measures to support the Continental army (see Lincoln to GW, 7 Jan., 13 April, and 3 May). Gordon’s specific allusion may be to a ways and means committee that never came into official existence (see Lincoln to GW, 25 Nov. 1780, and n.3 to that document).
9. For similar expressions regarding the French army, see Rochambeau to GW, 23 June 1781, and notes 2 and 4 to that document; see also , 4:128–29.