Round Tablers opened the 2004-5 season with a lesson in how serious the U.S. Navy is about keeping scrupulous records of its long and distinguished history. Our guide was Dr. Michael J. Crawford, head of the Early History Branch of the Naval Historical Center in Washington D.C. where a documentary history of the war on the high seas -- and on creeks, rivers and bays -- is being compiled. Dr. Crawford began by giving us a dizzying glimpse of just how complicated the naval history of the Revolution is. He took us through a typical day on contested waters, Feb. 18, 1778. The data ranged from a prayer that Captain Samuel Tucker wrote in the log of the Continental Navy frigate Boston to orders issued by the Virginia Navy Board in response to British orders in council to attack U.S. ships wherever they were encountered (now that the France was about to enter the war) to the problems of French sailors aboard an American privateer in Bilbao, Spain. Nothing is too small to attract the editors' attention, from a court martial of John Barry, which someone found in a picture frame to the provenance of a speaking trumpet, supposedly from an American row galley on the Hudson River. So far, the Center has completed 11 volumes, totaling a mindboggling 15,600 pages and they are only up to March 1778. Dr. Crawford told us in fascinating detail how much care and attention is taken to verify each item in the books. They hope to finish the job in 2032 with volume 18. He also dealt with such questions as: Did American privateers win the war. No, but they helped disrupt the British blockade, which was doing terrible damage to the American economy. They also hit British merchants in their pocketbooks, eroding their support for the war.
Guy Higgins told us about Merchants And Empire< by Cathy Matson, professor of history at the University of Delaware. Guy said he recommended the book even though he didn't enjoy it. As a southerner, he never understood New York's place in the economic scheme of things in colonial America. This book filled in that blank for him. It shows
how colonial merchants in New York exercised a sort of swing vote in the coming of the Revolution. Slowly, almost in spite of themselves, the middle class of merchants became independence men and New York was never the same. Ms Matson takes the reader beyond black and white history and shows how many shades of gray there were in the struggle.
Marian Roberts gave us a spirited account of Richard Ketchum's latest book, Victory at Yorktown. She found it lively, fascinating -- "a wonderful book." Marian closed with a marvelous dramatization of Ketchum's telling of Peggy Shippen Arnold's performance, after she learned that Benedict had decamped to the British. Peggy wept, tore her garments, begged Washington not to murder her infant child and managed to confuse everyone about her central role in the plot to betray West Point.
Tom Fleming told us about An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves and the Creation of America by Henry Wiencek. Tom said it was a book that admirers of George Washington will find difficult to read. But they should all read it. An Imperfect God is the most unsparing, deeply researched study of Washington's relationship to slavery yet written. Not only does Mr. Wiencek tell us the often unlovely details of Washington's dealings with Mount Vernon's slaves, he takes us through his role in other situations, such as the attempt by his aide John Laurens to raise a 3000 man black battalion in South Carolina in 1778. Officially Washington stayed aloof, though he privately encouraged the idea, as did Laurens father, the president of the Continental Congress, who had made a fortune in the slave trade. At the end of the war, Washington met with Guy Carleton, the British commander, to demand the return of escaped blacks, some of them his own slaves, in accordance with a clause inserted in the final treaty by, of all people, Henry Laurens. Carleton refused, saying British honor required them to keep the promise of freedom they had made to the blacks. This is not easy reading. But Wiencek takes the book beyond polemics by showing again and again how profoundly slavery troubled Washington, even before the war. He does a beautiful job of showing Lafayette's role in enlarging this gnawing conscience, leading to Washington's decision to free all his slaves at his death. Slavery was one of Washington's -- and the other founding fathers' -- moral failures. Their inability to deal with it was rooted in a very realistic fear -- the breakup of the Union. This book reveals in scarifying detail how often the moral dimension of the failure troubled their consciences.
Our chairman, Dave Jacobs, reported on Thomas Jefferson's Life and Liberty, Reflections on the Pursuit of Happiness edited by Eric S. Peterson. Dave noted it was another collection of Jefferson's writings. This is not surprising. TJ is a very quotable man. Also there is an ongoing fascination with Jefferson's mind. An example of this facet was a pre-publication review of the book by Mikhail Gorbachev, who said he had "a deep reverence" for Jefferson. Dave wondered if Jefferson was taught in Russian schools these days. The book is divided into 34 chapter under topics such as "Faith" "Cheerfulness" "Patriotism" and "Forgiveness". The quotes are all complete paragraphs, so you get a feeling for Jefferson's approach to the subject. Also the editor notes the sources for each quote. Dave found the book a very welcome addition to the Jefferson literature.
Board of Governors member Mark Domowne now took the floor and urged all the members to give him some help in raising money for the Round Table. If you know anyone whom you think is a prospect, let Mark know and he will follow up with a letter and/or phone call. Mark has raised thousands of dollars for the Round Table thanks to his contacts with a veteran's group who was liquidating their treasury by giving to charity. He is eager to continue to be our "Mr. Moneybags." Here's his address: Mark Domowne PMB #200 3280 Sunrise Highway, Wantagh LI NY 11793-4064. Phone 516 358 4868 fax 516 783 6887
No, we're not into identity theft. We'd like to have in our files everyone's email in case some crisis occurred, such as a blizzard or a fire in the Williams Club's kitchen, which would force us to cancel our meeting. We would also like to know if you would prefer to receive the newsletter online. It would save us a bundle in mailing costs. Mail your response to Fleming315@aol.com
On Sunday morning, March 17, 1776, Samuel Huntington was in Philadelphia as a Connecticut delegate to the Continental Congress. A few days later, he told his friend James Cogswell what he saw and heard that morning: "My attention from my chamber window was suddenly called to behold a mighty cavalcade of plebians marching thro' the street with drums beating and at every small distance they halted & gave three huzzas. I was apprehensive some outrage was about to be committed, but soon perceived [I was] mistaken. It was a religious exercise of the Sons of St. Patrick, it being the anniversary of that Saint, and the morning exercise was ushered in with this ceremony."
The New York chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati has published a book full of depth research on hundreds of New York's Revolutionary War officers. The volume is as thick as a bible and crammed with interesting sidelights and insights into New York's role in the struggle for independence. There are 476 biographies, including 30 newly discovered men. More than 100 copies have been mailed gratis to historical societies and libraries around the empire state. An amusing note -- the historian who undertook the job, Frank Sypher, discovered he was eligible to be a member and promptly joined. Among the more startling discoveries are ten American Indian officers, 8 Oneidas and two members of the Tuscarora tribe. They became officers when Washington urged Congress to pass a resolution to grant them commissions, after having served as scouts and fighters at Oriskany, Saratoga and in the border warfare in northern New York. They were led by Lt. Colonel Lewis Atayataghronghta. If you wonder how Washington or any other white man could pronounce his name, he usually called himself Louis Cook. The book captures the lives of New York's leaders of the Revolution, most of whose biographies have never been written. Matthew Clarkson, for instance, was aide de camp to two generals, Benedict Arnold and Benjamin Lincoln. He was wounded in the Saratoga campaign but recovered in time to participate in Burgoyne's surrender, then became a key player in Arnold's dispute with the Continental Congress in 1779. He went on to watch Lincoln surrender Charlestown and was exchanged (with Lincoln) in time to participate in Yorktown. Imagine the stories he could tell?
To prove we're not New York egomaniacs, we'll mention another interesting book sponsored by the Rhode Island chapter of the Cincinnati to celebrate Newport's triennal. Newport, the French Navy and American Independence by John B. Hartendorf includes a fascinating description of Washington's visit to Newport in March of 1781 to confer with the French commander, General Comte de Rochambeau, about the projected French expedition to Virginia to try to ambush the small British army operating there under the command of Benedict Arnold. Cannon boomed from the harbor forts as Washington entered the town. The French army lined the streets in dress uniforms. They gave the American commander the honors due a marshal of France. The Newport town council ordered all the houses in the little seaport to be illuminated, as they had been to honor Rochambeau's arrival in 1780. When the townsfolk noticed a loyalist's house where candles were conspicuously absent, they smashed the windows with rocks. After receiving Washington's advice, the ten ship squadron, with 1,120 French troops aboard, sailed on March 8. Alas, the French never landed in Virginia. A British squadron met them off the capes of the Chesapeake and they fought an indecisive battle which undid the French admiral, Chevalier Destouches, and he retreated to Newport. The author points out that the expedition was not an entire waste of time. It gave Washington and Rochambeau the idea that if France could achieve naval superiority off the Virginia coast, much might be accomplished. Within six months they accomplished much -- and a lot more -- at Yorktown.
Cassandra Pybus, the Australian historian who contributed the fascinating story about the travels of Harry Washington, George's escaped slave, in our previous issue, reports that her book on blacks in the Revolution will be published by Beacon Press in the fall of 2005. The title: Jubilee Is Come!
The Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences has elected Willard Sterne Randall, one of our favorite historians (and speakers) as a fellow of the national organization, The American Academy of Arts of Sciences. Will is hard at work on a book about Ethan Allen.
"Gilbert Stuart, the painter of American Kings," is the subject of an excellent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While his famous collection of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison & Monroe are the actual "Kings," many others grace the galleries: among the 100 pictures are Henry Knox, Joseph Brant, Abigail Adams, Dolley Madison and John Jay as well as Stuart's friends & teachers: West, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Trumbull, Allison, & Copley.
The exhibition follows Stuart from his birth in Rhode Island through his travels to London, Dublin, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. Each gallery tells his story in one of these cities: how studying the "Scottish" style in London made his first paintings similar to those of Copley; how he began his journey of working with the rich and ending up poor in Dublin: his sponsor died soon upon his arrival, and he left many unfinished works, and unfilled commissions when he escaped civil unrest. (It turns out that unfinished works would be a major problem for Stuart: he did not deal well with subjects who could not sit "properly"). In New York City, he painted high society. You will not know any of the subjects, but just viewing the finery of the times is fascinating. Holding a letter of introduction from John Jay, Stuart set out to Philadelphia, and between the City of Brotherly Love and Washington City, he created his collection of the leaders
of the new Republic. The highlight of the exhibition is a large collection of Start's Washington portraits: many examples of his most famous shoulder length work (one from
the Clark Art Institute at Williams), as well as full-length likenesses. Bring a dollar bill for comparison, for the original portrait is included (although the image is reversed on the bill). The last galleries contain Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, and a very interesting
painting of Elizabeth Parke Custis Law, GW's step daughter. The wealth of material in this exhibit has even seemed to overwhelm the speakers on the video tour. It is mentioned, matter of factly, that a commissioned pair of portraits of James and Dolley Madison are rarely seen together because they are in the possession of different owners, without telling the listener their names: the Williamsburg Foundation and the White House!
See this exhibition: you will not be sorry!!
Also save time to head over to the American Wing for a smaller presentation. "George Washington: Man, Myth and Monument" gives a view of art works in various media (both American and foreign) portraying the world's view of GW up to the present. Most interesting are artifacts of Washington sold at the 1876 Philadelphia Exhibition, beautiful busts, jewelry, and two Gilbert Stuarts which didn't make the major show. The Gilbert Stuart show closes Jan. 16th; the American Wing show closes on Feb. 27th.
Becky Akers, Cathy Corley, Guy Higgins, Lynne Saginaw & Lee Wittenberg all won a free dinner at the October meeting! Their winning answer was that Thomas Jefferson and Stanford White are linked by the University of Virginia's Rotunda, which Jefferson designed. White, following a 1895 fire, created an original interior, which was replaced by a restoration of Jefferson's design during the Bicentennial.
My great grandson commanded the 6th Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg, and my great-great grandson was a Vice President of the USA: Who am I? (hint: think horses). A free dinner to all winners!! You must phone, e-mail or snail mail your answer: no in-person answers at the meeting.