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Home : Quarterly Archives : Volume 2 |
Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society |
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Source: July 1939 Volume 2 Number 3, Page 55–58 New light on the encampment of the Continental Army at Valley Forge: Part IV. The Amities and Diversions of Camp Life Profanity was a cardinal sin of the times and although its practice may have relieved overwrought tempers, Washington had occasion to admonish the army against its prevalence, lest the blessing of Heaven upon their cause be withdrawn. Wayne, upon occasion, could swear with the greatest vigor and fluency. Nicknames usually begin at home; his originated with his own men. The circumstances have been variously related but differ only in minor points. A subordinate in a state of intoxication, reported to Wayne and received a blistering reprimand. "He was a mad Anthony," said the sobered and chastened man on his return to his quarters, to the delight of his cronies who were acquainted with the caustic temper of their General, and as soldiers have to laugh, the remark quickly spread through the Pennsylvania ranks and soon the whole army. "Mad" in the local vernacular means "angry" but it assumed an entirely different meaning with the troops of other Colonies, of which "rash" is the mildest and "crazy" the harshest definition. It is well known that the subaltern had to be prompt and handy with his fists to find favor with and to control the bullies of his company, especially in Wayne's corps, and that the officers not infrequently settled their differences with sword or pistol on the dueling ground in the wood south of Huntington's quarters, even though the survivor was dismissed from the army. Although the Revolutionary Army was united in its opposition to the British Ministerial party, within itself it was a composite of many apparently discordant elements. Now England's social, religious, and commercial life was very unlike and distasteful to the several Colonies in the South. The latter differed, though less radically, from the Middle Colonies. Obviously there had to be a bond of good fellowship and fraternal love to unite and consolidate the leadership and to win the confidence, devotion, and success of the Army. It is not, perhaps, quite generally known that not only the Commander-in- Chief but also many of his American-born generals (sans Arnold), and some of the foreign generals, including Lafayette, were members of the Ancient Order of Free and Accepted Masons, and that there had been a pre-Revolutionary split in that order. In this split the Whigs had secured recognition to the exclusion of the Moderns who were Tory aristocrats, or so we are led to believe by Dr. Sachse (Cf. Historical Register, 1896). Under a charter granted June 24, 1766, by the Provincial Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, Past Master Patrick Anderson as Worshipful Master, Myrick Davis as Senior Warden and Joseph Richards as Junior Warden, organized Lodge No. 8 somewhere in the lower part of the Great Valley or along the Schuylkill. This lodge, like that upon Long Island before the battle, became a military lodge with a traveling warrant wherever Wayne's brigade was stationed. Its membership included Lieutenant Colonel Caleb Parry, Captains Persifor Frazer, Cromwell Pearce, and other military gentlemen. Later the worshipful masters included Colonel John Bull and Captain John Davis. This lodge is thought to have met in a room in the Beaver house while Wayne's Division was at Valley Forge. According to the historian Stille, the bone and sinew of Wayne's Division were the so-called Scotch-Irish. These were really the transplanted Scotch Presbyterian stock who were the descendants of the immigrants of 1717-1720 and later, the dispossessed and impoverished refugees from Northern Ireland, themselves the children of the persecuted Scotch Covenanters of Charles the Second's time. They were the men who nursed an intense hatred and an ancient grudge against England for having passed laws inimical to their prosperity in the old country. Fully two-thirds of Wayne's Division were these independent, stubborn, hard drinking and fierce fighting sons of Ulster and they wore officered by men of the same breed. If we are to believe John McClintock, Grand Secretary of the Order, they were almost to a man, members of a secret society known as the Orangemen. He states that the first lodge of this order to be instituted in America was at Valley Forge and that thereafter field meetings were held in the military camps. The camp had its sports and practical jokes, crude though they seem today. We have all heard of Captain Forest of Proctor's artillery. How he narrowly escaped court martial after he, in a spirit of fun, chalked the false announcement of "small pox" on some hut doors near the quarters of new recruits, greatly to their alarm. Although death had stalked so boldly through the winter camp, by spring the threats of the Grim Reaper rested lightly upon the survivors. They passed their leisure moments on the sunny slopes where they could practice feats of strength, dexterity, and devilment, ready for a cantico in the camp or a rumpus in the field. One day a coterie headed by a big noncommissioned officer strolled down the hill below the camp of some fresh levies from Maryland who were celebrating St. Patrick's Day. No doubt the seasoned veterans thought that the new recruits needed taking down a peg. At any rate, the Pennsylvanians whittled a "figure four" and set it under one side of an old spike-toothed harrow, baiting it with a handful of potatoes. There probably does not exist a human with more idle curiosity than a soldier. Soon there was an interested circle of Maryland youths watchful for the next move, but the Pennsylvanians remained motionless on their haunches, their eyes focused upon the deadfall, until a luckless Maryland lad ventured the query, "What is it for?" Quick as a flash the response came, "A trap to catch the Irish." The insult was quickly resented and a fight began. Reinforcements of idle men poured down from the cantonments, knives and bayonets were drawn in what promised to become a bloody brawl. Washington, who happened to be engaged in the inspection of the inner line of entrenchments, put spurs to his steed and with a marvelous exhibition of horsemanship, galloped down the steep side of Mt. Joy and ordered them to disperse. The company officers also called their angry men to the company streets and the mob melted under the touch of discipline, though the incident became the topic of much banter for a time. This incident has been handed down from father to son in the Burn family, though it has never been published. Perhaps it is the original version of the improbable Dutch Paddy story so often related.
View of present Blackhorse Tavern, City Line and Old Lancaster (54th St.) Road from a sketch by Victor J. Wagner
Whitemarsh Main American Camp Nov. 2-Dec. 11, 1777 |
