Image courtesy of Colonial National Historical Park, Yorktown.
Monday, July 20, 2020
Next Meeting: September 16, 2020
The speaker for our next meeting on September 16, 2020 was scheduled to be Al Zambone speaking on Daniel Morgan. Given that we will almost certainly be meeting once again via Zoom, Bruce is working to confirm with Al and to schedule another speaker, if necessary. Stay tuned for more details.
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Meeting Notes: May 20, 2020
ARRT-Richmond 5/20/20 Meeting Notes
Pre-Guest Speaker Notes
ARRT-R’s next meeting is scheduled for 7/15/20. This is a zoom meeting! Sign in details will be provided in the July newsletter. Thanks again to Peggy Watson for allowing us to utilize the Osher network.
ARRT-R’s featured speaker on 7/15/20 will be Bert Dunkerly. Bert’s topic will be “Four Winters at Morristown: Smallpox, Starvation, and Mutiny”. Bert recently spent six months as the Acting Supervisory Ranger at Morristown National Park.
Guest Speaker – Mark Edward Lender – Cabal! The Plot Against General Washington
Mark Edward Lender holds a Ph.D in American History from Rutgers University. He has written extensively on early American social and military history and is a recognized authority on the War for Independence. Lender’s scholarship has won awards from the Society of Military History and the U.S. Army Historical Foundation and a fellowship from Smith National Library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. In 2017 he was a finalist for the prestigious George Washington Literary Prize.
Lender considers that rather than the “classic cabal” of General’s Horatio Gates, Thomas Mifflin, and Thomas Conway in a plot to remove General Washington quickly, the threat to
Washington’s command was a gradual administrative attempt by the Board of War and political allies to take over the war effort.
General Washington’s record in late 1777 was not impressive. He has been whipped at
Brandywine, surprised at Paoli, beaten at Germantown, and had been unable to hold the
Delaware River forts.
The alternative to General Washington was seen as Major General Horatio Gates. While
General Washington was struggling in Pennsylvania Gates was defeating Burgoyne at Saratoga.
Two generals in particular where determined to replace General Washington with Gates. The two generals where Thomas Mifflin and Thomas Conway.
General Conway was angered by his rank and considered General Washington incompetent.
“Heaven has been determined to save your country; or a weak general and bad councellors
would have ruined it.” Conway to Gates (attributed) Late November 1777
General Mifflin has failed as Quartermaster General and was extremely jealous of General
Washington’s relationship with General Nathaniel Greene.
“You have saved out Northern Hemisphere and in spite of our consummate & repeated
blundering you have changed the constitution of the Southern Campaign on the part of the
enemy from offensive to defensive…. In short this army will be totally lost unless you come
down & collect the virtuous band, who wish to fight under your banner & with their aid save the southern hemisphere… Congress must send for you.” Mifflin to Gates, 17 November 1777
The Board of War was created in mid-1776 as a support organization to take care of routine administrative tasks for Congress: military records, routine correspondence, equipment not in use, British POWs. When created the Board was staffed by delegates. The Board was reorganized in October 1777 to fulfill the same functions but was staffed with full time professional instead of delegates. General Gates was appointed President of the Board and became in essence General Washington’s superior.
In December 1777 the Board of War on Mifflin’s advice created the Office of Inspector General. General Washington was not consulted red the creation of the Office. The Inspector General was tasked with devising and implementing training and tactical drill regimen, conducting officer evaluation, and making extensive reports on virtually all army functions, with oversight of the Board of War. On Mifflin’s advice Conway is appointed to the post.
Beginning in January 1778 through March 1778 the Board of War began implementing a “Commissary Plan” independent of Washington and the established army Commissary Department. Three commissary operations – the army department, Board of War “superintendents”, and state agents created competition for the same supplies and mass confusion.
At the same time as the Board of War began implementing a “Commissary Plan” the Board also began issuing direct orders to the army. Orders issued included the movement of arms,
munitions, and units without Washington’s approval.
Most egregiously to Washington and his supporters the Board began planning for another
invasion of Canada. Gates did not consult Washington and determined that the Board of War would run the invasion. The Board began issuing orders directly to Lafayette and other senior officers and not through the C-in-C.
The Gates, Conway, and Mifflin relationship was discovered through correspondence between the parties. Conway was injured in a duel and Gates apologized to Washington. By late spring 1778 the greatest threat to General Washington’s command was over.
--Noah Rogers
Pre-Guest Speaker Notes
ARRT-R’s next meeting is scheduled for 7/15/20. This is a zoom meeting! Sign in details will be provided in the July newsletter. Thanks again to Peggy Watson for allowing us to utilize the Osher network.
ARRT-R’s featured speaker on 7/15/20 will be Bert Dunkerly. Bert’s topic will be “Four Winters at Morristown: Smallpox, Starvation, and Mutiny”. Bert recently spent six months as the Acting Supervisory Ranger at Morristown National Park.
Guest Speaker – Mark Edward Lender – Cabal! The Plot Against General Washington
Mark Edward Lender holds a Ph.D in American History from Rutgers University. He has written extensively on early American social and military history and is a recognized authority on the War for Independence. Lender’s scholarship has won awards from the Society of Military History and the U.S. Army Historical Foundation and a fellowship from Smith National Library at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. In 2017 he was a finalist for the prestigious George Washington Literary Prize.
Lender considers that rather than the “classic cabal” of General’s Horatio Gates, Thomas Mifflin, and Thomas Conway in a plot to remove General Washington quickly, the threat to
Washington’s command was a gradual administrative attempt by the Board of War and political allies to take over the war effort.
General Washington’s record in late 1777 was not impressive. He has been whipped at
Brandywine, surprised at Paoli, beaten at Germantown, and had been unable to hold the
Delaware River forts.
The alternative to General Washington was seen as Major General Horatio Gates. While
General Washington was struggling in Pennsylvania Gates was defeating Burgoyne at Saratoga.
Two generals in particular where determined to replace General Washington with Gates. The two generals where Thomas Mifflin and Thomas Conway.
General Conway was angered by his rank and considered General Washington incompetent.
“Heaven has been determined to save your country; or a weak general and bad councellors
would have ruined it.” Conway to Gates (attributed) Late November 1777
General Mifflin has failed as Quartermaster General and was extremely jealous of General
Washington’s relationship with General Nathaniel Greene.
“You have saved out Northern Hemisphere and in spite of our consummate & repeated
blundering you have changed the constitution of the Southern Campaign on the part of the
enemy from offensive to defensive…. In short this army will be totally lost unless you come
down & collect the virtuous band, who wish to fight under your banner & with their aid save the southern hemisphere… Congress must send for you.” Mifflin to Gates, 17 November 1777
The Board of War was created in mid-1776 as a support organization to take care of routine administrative tasks for Congress: military records, routine correspondence, equipment not in use, British POWs. When created the Board was staffed by delegates. The Board was reorganized in October 1777 to fulfill the same functions but was staffed with full time professional instead of delegates. General Gates was appointed President of the Board and became in essence General Washington’s superior.
In December 1777 the Board of War on Mifflin’s advice created the Office of Inspector General. General Washington was not consulted red the creation of the Office. The Inspector General was tasked with devising and implementing training and tactical drill regimen, conducting officer evaluation, and making extensive reports on virtually all army functions, with oversight of the Board of War. On Mifflin’s advice Conway is appointed to the post.
Beginning in January 1778 through March 1778 the Board of War began implementing a “Commissary Plan” independent of Washington and the established army Commissary Department. Three commissary operations – the army department, Board of War “superintendents”, and state agents created competition for the same supplies and mass confusion.
At the same time as the Board of War began implementing a “Commissary Plan” the Board also began issuing direct orders to the army. Orders issued included the movement of arms,
munitions, and units without Washington’s approval.
Most egregiously to Washington and his supporters the Board began planning for another
invasion of Canada. Gates did not consult Washington and determined that the Board of War would run the invasion. The Board began issuing orders directly to Lafayette and other senior officers and not through the C-in-C.
The Gates, Conway, and Mifflin relationship was discovered through correspondence between the parties. Conway was injured in a duel and Gates apologized to Washington. By late spring 1778 the greatest threat to General Washington’s command was over.
--Noah Rogers
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Next Meeting: July 15, 2020
"Four Winters at Morristown: Smallpox, Starvation, and Mutiny," by Bert Dunkerly
Assuming that the University of Richmond is back in session in September, we should be able to return to our usual "in-person" format then.
"Cabal: The Plot Against George Washington" Presentation
At our May 20, 2020 Zoom meeting, Mark Lender gave a well-received presentation on the plot against George Washington. For those of you who missed the meeting or who just want to refresh the subject, following is a link to Mark's presentation.
It is in Power Point. Simply click on the link below and enjoy!
Saturday, May 9, 2020
ZOOM on May 20th!
This is just a quick update to remind everyone that we will meet via ZOOM for our meeting on May 20. Peggy Watson (thanks, Peggy!) has organized the meeting and will be running it. Mark Lender will be speaking on the Conway Cabal. We will only have the presentation by Mark--no raffle, business portion, etc.
Based on what Peggy knows and predicts, we won't be able to meet on campus in July, either. Peggy is ready to support a July Zoom session, also, assuming that May goes well. We'll deal with that later.
On the preservation partner, I would propose that we suspend the nomination and voting for 2020. I think that it would just be too confusing and difficult to arrange and allow people to learn about any nominees, etc. Plus, with a likely smaller 2020 membership, our gift would probably be smaller.
Background for the May meeting:
https://richmond.box.com/s/lf0pmryfpntiaj8ewiyaizs2oojvhjfa
See everyone on May 20!
Based on what Peggy knows and predicts, we won't be able to meet on campus in July, either. Peggy is ready to support a July Zoom session, also, assuming that May goes well. We'll deal with that later.
On the preservation partner, I would propose that we suspend the nomination and voting for 2020. I think that it would just be too confusing and difficult to arrange and allow people to learn about any nominees, etc. Plus, with a likely smaller 2020 membership, our gift would probably be smaller.
Background for the May meeting:
- The link to the ZOOM conference will be included in Bill's May mailing, probably around May 15.
- The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. It would be good for attendees to log-in up to 20 minutes before to ensure that their equipment is working.
- Attendees will be placed in a waiting room then admitted one by one.
- All will be muted on admittance but will be able to unmute as soon as they're in.
- Everyone will be muted when the lecture begins, but people can be unmuted to ask questions.
- When the lecture is finished and questions have been answered, the meeting will end.
Here is a link to a PDF Factsheet for the use of ZOOM:
https://richmond.box.com/s/lf0pmryfpntiaj8ewiyaizs2oojvhjfa
See everyone on May 20!
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Arnold Marker
Bert Dunkerly reports that the City of Richmond has approved acceptance of the Arnold's Raid on Richmond historical marker. Bert and city officials are now in the design development and approval phase. Bert is also progressing with the needed fund raising from other groups to join our $300 donation. He's optimistic!
--Bill Welsch
--Bill Welsch
Next Meeting: May 20, 2020... via ZOOM!
We hope that all are safe and well. Obviously, the current times have required many cancellations and changes to group meetings such as ours. First, our thanks to both Jim Christ and Ryan Cole, our March and May speakers, for their understanding of this situation. Bruce is working to reschedule both of these gentlemen for either later this year or for 2021.
Our May meeting will take a different format utilizing Zoom, rather than an in-person gathering. Thanks to Peggy Watson, we will be utilizing the Osher network to present our own Mark Lender speaking about the Conway Cabal. This is the subject of Mark's newest book Cabal! The Plot Against General Washington. https://smile.amazon.com/Cabal-Plot-Against-General-Washington/dp/159416326X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1586534372&sr=1-1
I highly recommend Cabal to you. Thanks very much to Mark for filling the breech.
We will provide sign-in details in next month's newsletter, prior to the meeting.
We do realize that all members might not be able to view the program, but also feel that this approach is better than entirely missing another meeting.
Mark's lecture will be Zoomed on WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 BEGINNING AT 6:30. We won't worry about the other parts of the meeting. Hopefully, by July 15, things will be back to normal.
(Thanks to Bill Welsch for the above.)
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