Our June speaker, Judith L. Van Buskirk, professor of history at Suny Courtland, mesmerized Round Tablers with a new interpretation of the Benedict Arnold--John Andre plot. The author of Generous Enemies, Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New York, Ms Van Buskirk began by explaining how officers on both sides operated under the code of the gentleman. They were permitted to travel in opposition territory to see relatives or seek out a prisoner on the other side for whom they could be exchanged. They were expected to honor the code to the last punctilio, reporting nothing about fortifications or troop movements or conversations that was militarily valuable. Enlisted men meanwhile were confined to often vile prisons, but there seemed to be no overt hostility between the two groups. Andre took advantage of this code to travel to West Point to see Arnold and arrange the surrender of the fortress. But he violated the code when he changed to civilian dress for his return trip. Captured, he tried to pressure Washington into releasing him in accordance with the code. Meanwhile, the treason of Arnold had triggered outrage in several American cities, notably Philadelphia, where there was a protest parade. The submerged hostility and envy toward the officer corps erupted in these demonstrations. There were reports of mutterings and murmurings in the enlisted men's tents. People wondered if this was only the tip of a larger conspiracy. Meanwhile Andre was using his charm to inveigle many officers, notably Alexander Hamilton, to his side of the dispute. But Washington convened a board of general officers who decided Andre was a spy and must suffer a spy's fate. Washington agreed and signed the order for his execution, which caused a huge uproar in England and in British-held New York.
The question and answer period was lengthy and intense. Seldom has there been such rapport between a speaker and a RT audience. The applause was suitably thunderous and people rushed to buy copies of Generous Enemies.
Becky Akers reviewed Adam Smith and the Origins of American Enterprise: How the Founding Fathers Turned to a Great Economist and Created the American Economy by Roy C. Smith, St. Martin's Press. Becky began by giving us a sampling of the pithy wisdom of Adam Smith. For example: "There is no art of which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of people." A shy reclusive man, Smith lectured on political history and theory at the University of Glasgow and published books that made him famous, notably An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The book was published, by interesting coincidence, in 1776. Becky faults Roy Smith for scanting Adam Smith's biography and focusing almost exclusively on this one book. He also mostly skims the surface when discussing the Revolution and the early American economy. A Keynesian, the author has no sympathy for Adam Smith's suspicious, even hostile view of government. Becky recommended the introduction to the 1953 edition of The Wealth Of Nations, written by the Austrian economist, Ludwig von Mises, as a far better appreciation of Adam Smith's greatness.
Tom Fleming reviewed George Washington Remembers, Reflections on the French and Indian War, edited by Fred Anderson, Rowman and Littlefield. He got our attention by calling it one of the most extraordinary books he had ever read. The book explores the only autobiographical statement Washington ever made. It was produced at a time of great personal stress -- in 1787, when there was serious concern that the United States of America might collapse into anarchy. Ostensibly, the episodes about which Washington writes has no connection with this post revolutionary crisis. They all took place in the French and Indian War, when he was a Virginia colonel. He wrote them in response to a draft of a biography written by his former aide, David Humphreys. Each narrates a time of striving and stress and danger from which Washington emerged unscathed. Fred Anderson, the author of a classic book on the French and Indian War, Crucible of Empire, explains why these stories meant so much to Washington. He had a deep faith in a sheltering Providence who was protecting him and the United States. Anderson's analysis is utterly convincing, especially when he shows how Washington found strength in the memory of one of these experiences in 1776, as he was about to offer battle to the British army in New York. Ultimately, Tom said, the book is more than fascinating -- it is inspiring.
Jim Monk reported On Measuring America: How the United States Was Shaped by the Greatest Land Sale in History, by Andro Linklater. The book takes us back to the year 1811, when 3 city commissioners decided on a rectilinear street system for New York City. They used a measuring system invented around 1600 by Englishman Edmund Gunter. It subsequently spread across America, giving us inches, feet, yards, instead of the French metric system. Linklater has captured the excitement of mapping an entire continent in a single coherent pattern. He discusses how land was measured in medieval England and in Europe and how it gradually became a measured quantity, creating, among other things, speculation in its worth. He also discusses Jefferson's attempt to swing America to the French metric system. He lost the contest because the U.S. government wanted to sell land to pay its debts and the Gunter system was already in use. All in all, the book is a fascinating read, Jim concluded.
Dr. Joanne Grasso reviewed: The Other Founders: Anti-Federalism & the Dissenting Tradition in America, 1788-1828, by Saul Cornell. Joanne admitted she had to "pry open" her mind to listen to the arguments of the Anti-Feds. She praised Saul Cornell for not taking sides. In fact, he sometimes pokes fun at the Anti-Feds. Cornell tries to provide an in depth look at the writing of the Antis, showing us that some Federalists were not married to the idea of centralization of authority. The book takes the reader through three phases of Anti-Federalism, starting with their opposition to the Constitution, followed by "Anti-Federalism Transformed" and the Anti-Federalist legacy. There are also deft biographical sketches of the Anti-Fed elite, such as Richard Henry Lee and Arthur Lee. Dr. Grasso recommended the book for students of constitutional history as well as for people who just like American history. The opportunity to walk among "the greats" of the Revolutionary generation was worth reading the arguments of the Anti-Federalists, with whom she continues to vehemently disagree.
Ever hear of Harry Washington? Probably not. He was a slave who came from a plantation called Mount Vernon. He took the name Washington when he left without the general's permission in 1775 or 1776. Harry may have been one of the many Virginia blacks who responded to royal governor Lord Dunmore's proclamation offering freedom to slaves who rallied to his standard. Dunmore probably took Harry to New York along with many other blacks after the Virginians expelled him and his relative handful of white and black supporters. Cassandra Pybus, the Australian Research Council chair in history at the University of Tasmania, spotted Harry in "The Book of Negroes," a list of the blacks who left New York with the British and thousands of white loyalists in 1783. Ms Pybus followed him to Nova Scotia, where Harry acquired two town lots and 40 acres of land. In 1791, disgusted with the endemic racism of the white loyalists, he and 1150 other blacks relocated to Sierra Leone. There, in 1800 he and 40 fellow settlers were tried for rebellion. Harry and twenty three others were thrown out of the colony and established a new community, where they elected Harry as their leader. Thereafter, he fades from history. If this isn't an America saga, what is?
Last May twenty eight Americans, most of them from Norwich, Ct., Benedict Arnold's hometown, gathered in St. Mary's Church in Battersea, London, to place a granite tablet on the altar in memory of the man who won fame at Quebec, Valcour Island and Saratoga and infamy for attempting to betray the fortress of West Point to the enemy. The group was led by Bill Stanley, president of the Norwich Historical Society, who has been agitating for such a ceremony since he was suspended from the Norwich Free Academy fifty six years ago for claiming that Benedict Arnold was the most important figure in American history. Bill personally paid $15,000 for the handsome granite plaque, on which is beautifully inscribed the names of the general and his wife, Peggy Shippen Arnold, who lies beside him in church's basement crypt. Since Arnold's death in 1801, the only indication of his grave was a crudely lettered painted sign. Some 75 people attended the ceremony, including 25 Arnold descendants from England and France, members of the Battersea church and Arnold biographer, James Kirby Martin, who spoke briefly on general's decisive role in the victory at Saratoga. Martin noted that the NY Times recently listed Saratoga as the most important military victory in the last 1000 years -- which makes one wonder if the youthful Bill Stanley may have had a point. The Norwich contingent brought along two reenactors, who portrayed Benedict and Peggy in their youthful days. We'll have pictures of them for passarounds at our meeting. Another striking picture shows Hugh Arnold, a direct descendant, and Major Peter Jenkin, the 64th commandant of famed Second Connecticut Foot Guard. Benedict Arnold was the organizer and first commandant.
Bill Stanley told his friend Tom Fleming, that the ceremony was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Bill insists he is not trying to deny Arnold was a traitor. He thinks his heroism in America's cause deserves recognition in spite of that sad fact. Eventually, Bill hopes the general can become a symbol of reconciliation and peace. He foresees American tourists journeying to Battersea, about a half hour from central London, to ponder the meaning of Arnold's tragic life.
Recently Dr. Laurence Simpson, former president of the Sons of the Revolution of New York, gave a mouth-watering lecture at the Round Table's old hangout, Fraunces Tavern. The subject was turtle soup, a favorite delicacy in Revolutionary America. Simpson told how a founder of the SRNY, John Austin Stevens, galvanized the group by giving a grand "turtle feast" in the long room of Fraunces Tavern on December 4, 1883, the 100th anniversary of Washington's farewell to his officers. Stevens commissioned special turtle plates, bowls, napkins and ale mugs, as well as two cobalt blue punch bowls and a huge turtle bowl. At the feast, everyone received a copy of a 100 year old newspaper story about Washington's emotional farewell. They did things right in the good old gilded days!
Andrea Meyer tells us that she is now attending the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia, one of America's finest schools of historic preservation. Jim Davis asks (rhetorically): "What else can you expect from the Round Table's only student member?" Let's hope Andrea finds time to continue her investigation of the Culper spy ring on Long Island and in New York, with special emphasis on that mysterious tragic woman, Agent 13.
For those RT couch potatoes who love history, you can now dial a local number and subscribe for $5.95 to a tour that makes "stops" throughout Lower Manhattan, many with Revolutionary tie-ins. The whole tour takes two hours but the tab allows you to dial in for a week and make each stop twice. The idea is the brainchild of Talking Streets, which has already done tours of Historic Boston and the Lower East Side. The tour is based in part on Will Randall's biography of Alexander Hamilton. Will's voice appears at Stops 4 and 11. The narrator is Gothamite actress Sigourney Weaver. The phone number is 212 586 8687. The website is http://talkingstreets.com/
Your roving treasurer decided to remedy a situation of his own making, traveling the country to visit every Revolutionary and Civil War battlefield while forgetting local areas that he saw forty years ago. So this summer he joined a South Street Seaport tour of sites in the Hudson Highlands. He is happy to report that much work has been done over the years.
My first stop was the Hasbrouck House, better known as Washington's headquarters in Newburgh. Acquired and owned by New York State in 1850, the house is the first publicly owned historic site in the nation. (Mount Vernon has always been in private hands.) The house is beautifully designed to depict George and Martha's stay in 1782-3. Foods of the era, uniforms, weapons and trunks of the general staff, the comfortable bedroom for the Washingtons and the cramped quarters of the aides are all expertly displayed and interpreted. There are also original Badges of Military Merit, the forerunner of the Purple Heart, created by Washington in Newburgh. Over the decades, Hasbrouck House has received many items of interest from around the Highlands. Their current collection totals 9,000 items!
Then it was off to the New Windsor Cantonment, a reconstruction of some of the 672 buildings that housed the troops in the last year of the war. Demonstrations are the order of the day at this site: cannon and rifle firings, a working blacksmith and in the "Temple of Virtue" a central building used as a chapel, court and concert hall, an excellent display of the medical tools and methods of the period (not for the faint of heart) as well as an exhibit of British, French and American artillery and a massive diorama of artillery on the march to Yorktown. Also housed in the center is the National Purple Heart Hall of Honor, covering the brave men and women of all our wars.
Knox's headquarters was our last stop and the most pleasant surprise. It is now a museum that traces the Ellison family's ownership from 1754 to 1888 plus displays recalling the famous Revolutionists who lived there -- Nathanael Greene, Dr. John Cochran, head of the Medical Department, and, of course, the big bellied chief artillerist himself, General Knox. The tour emphasizes the clothing of the period; men wore no underwear; women wore everything imaginable. After childbirth, fire was the leading cause of death among women. Their long sleeved cotton clothes easily caught fire from the sparks of cooking stoves or fireplaces.
All three state owned sites are aided by the Friends of the State Historic Sites of the Hudson Highlands. They badly need a decision on merchandising. Not a postcard, book, lapel pin or t-shirt, cap or quill pen is available for purchase at any of the sites. They say they can't decide who will sell what items! They should make up their minds as quickly as possible. As Poor Richard has pointed out, "Time is money."
Dr. Joanne Grasso won the June contest. George Washington's first choice as secretary of the treasury was Robert Morris. He turned it down and recommended Hamilton.
What is the link between Thomas Jefferson and Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White fame? A free dinner to EVERYONE who has the correct answer. You must phone, email or snail mail your answer. No in person responses will be accepted at the October meeting. Walls have ears!
A reminder: Dues for the coming
year are payable by Dec. 31. If you haven't paid, get ye to a
mailbox!
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