George Washington

Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States

Issued on November 3, 1783; excerpted from George Washington's Writings, 1997

"The unparalleled perseverance of the Armies of the U States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle."

George Washington

After the British surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, the village lay in ruins. Victorious American soldiers looted British stockpiles, seizing food, guns, ammunition, swords, and British and German flags (German soldiers were hired to fight alongside the British). Six thousand British and German soldiers were marched off to prison camps in Virginia and Maryland, but their commanding officers returned to England. There still remained a large number of British soldiers at their headquarters in New York City.

Americans were ecstatic over General George Washington's (1732–1799) spectacular victory at Yorktown. They considered the war over, but Washington was not so sure. All the news from England indicated that King George III (1738–1820) wanted to continue the war. Washington warned Congress that it should be ready for new confrontations in 1782. To be on the safe side, Congress ordered the Continental Army to stay together until a peace treaty was signed. Washington and his men set up camps around New York City to keep an eye on the British soldiers there. Also occupying New York City was a large number of Loyalists—Americans who had remained loyal to King George throughout the Revolutionary War. Now shunned by their former neighbors, they waited anxiously to see what was to become of them.

In August 1782, Washington learned from the British commander in New York that peace negotiations had begun in Paris. Washington feared a British trick. He suspected that the British planned to join in a conspiracy with the French against America. But while British soldiers in New York quietly awaited word of a peace treaty, Loyalists there were quite upset at the news. They started staging violent raids in New York and New Jersey. Washington and his soldiers found themselves involved in a brutal, bloody civil war. Finally, British general Guy Carleton (1724–1808) announced that he was putting an end to Loyalist raids, and they soon ceased.

The peace treaty would not be signed until September 1783. For seventeen months after Yorktown, Washington coped with a bored and restless army that grew increasingly irritable as time went on. The new American government was having problems with finances, because under the Articles of Confederation that served as the constitution, Congress did not have the power to tax. Therefore, it had no money and could not pay the Continental Army. The states were unwilling to tax themselves to pay for the army, because they considered the war over.

Washington tried to keep his men amused. He granted his officers long leaves of absence. But nothing he did was enough to keep the men happy for long. By the spring of 1783, Washington feared that the next outbreak of violence would come from America's own soldiers. Congress's inability to act led to the suggestion that Washington keep his army under control by establishing a military dictatorship with himself as king. Washington was appalled at the suggestion. After fighting so long and so hard for independence from an English king, he was not about to become America's king.

In an emotional meeting with the officers of the Continental Army on March 15, 1783, Washington urged them to have patience; Congress had promised that the army would be paid as soon as possible. During the course of his speech, Washington donned a pair of glasses, which he had never done before in the sight of his men. In explanation, he said: "Gentlemen, I have grown gray in your service, and now I am

going blind." His men were moved to tears. Shortly after that, the officers drew up an address to Congress. They expressed their confidence in the justice of Congress and their country. They stated their conviction that the Continental Army would not be disbanded until the men who had fought so faithfully were justly compensated. Washington also continued to urge Congress to address the issue of army pay. He offered the suggestion that the men be paid in western land.

On April 19, 1783, exactly eight years after the first shots of the Revolution were fired at Lexington, Massachusetts, Washington announced to his men "the cessation of hostilities between the United States of America and the King of Great Britain." After a great deal more negotiating, the Treaty of Paris was signed on September 3, 1783. Washington received the news and, on November 3, 1783, said farewell to his men.

In his speech, Washington said it was miraculous that the army had held out for eight long years against the superior forces of the British. As terrible as it had been, everyone ought to congratulate himself for the role he had played in the glorious cause, Washington said. Washington called down the blessings of heaven on the men who had brought such good to their countrymen. He then announced his retirement from the military forever.

Things to remember while reading an excerpt from George Washington's farewell address:

• As the time drew closer for Washington to deliver his speech, Robert Morris (1734–1806), America's finance director, announced that he had no cash to pay Washington's men. What was more, he had no cash to buy paper to print an IOU (a statement that indicates how much money is owed). Washington's men were angry. To try and help, Washington drew up a letter to all the states. He said it was the last official letter he would ever write because he was retiring forever. In the letter, Washington urged the states to put aside their differences and look to the best interests of the whole country. Such differences were preventing Congress from raising money to pay the army. He urged that the Articles of Confederation (then America's constitution) be expanded so that a strong central government could be created to address America's immediate problems. The letter was called "Washington's Legacy." Washington was actually hoping that a convention would be called to write a federal constitution. That did not happen until 1789.
• Washington's men did not actually gather to hear his speech in person. Congress had already released most of the army, still without having paid them. Washington sent the address from his headquarters at Rocky Hill, New York, to the men who remained at the military camp on the Hudson River near New York City. He also sent a letter urging the soldiers to return to civilian life, confident that their grievances would be addressed sometime.

Excerpt from George Washington's farewell address to the armies of the United States

A contemplation of the compleat attainment …of the object for which we contended against so formidable a power cannot but inspire us with astonishment and gratitude. The disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the war was undertaken, can never be forgotten…. The unparalleled perseverance of the Armiesof the U States, through almost every possible suffering and discouragement for the space of eight long years, was little short of a standing miracle.

Every American Officer and Soldier must now console himself for any unpleasant circumstances which may have occurred by a recollectionof the uncommon scenes in which he has been called to Act no inglorious part, and the astonishing events of which he has been a witness, events which have seldom if ever before taken place on the stage of human action, nor can they probably ever happen again.

…may the choicest of heaven's favours, both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the devine auspices, have secured unnumerable blessings for others; with these wishes, and this benediction, the Commander in Chief is about to retire from Service. The Curtain of seperation will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him will be closed for ever. (Washington, pp. 543, 546)

What happened next …

On November 25, 1783, British soldiers departed America forever, setting sail from New York Harbor. A few hours later, mounted on a fine gray horse, Washington led a few of his officers in a triumphant procession into New York City. Only a few citizens turned out to cheer; during the long occupation of New York by the British and Loyalists, most patriots had fled.

Washington retired from public life and concentrated on being a gentleman farmer at Mount Vernon, his Virginia estate. He experimented with breeding mules, hunted foxes, entertained his plantation friends, and wrote letters to many of the leaders of the new nation.

Before long, it became clear that the new nation would again need Washington's leadership. The Articles of Confederation, the document that held the states together during the Revolutionary War, was failing to hold the country together. In May 1787, Washington became one of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The goal of the meeting was to draft a new document with rules for how the national government was to be run. The delegates unanimously elected Washington president of this convention.

The Constitution was put into effect in 1789. It called for the election of a president. Not surprisingly, Washington was Congress's choice as first president of the United States of America (today, citizens vote in presidential elections). Washington took the oath of office on April 30, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City, then the capital of the United States.

Most states granted back pay to Revolutionary War soldiers who applied. But it was a long time before the issue of soldiers' pensions from the U.S. government was satisfactorily resolved. Finally, on June 7, 1832, Congress passed an act granting pensions.

Did you know …

• While Washington waited in New York for a peace treaty to be signed, he learned that a famous French dentist was in the country visiting nearby. The dentist was invited to visit Washington's headquarters, where a closed-door meeting was held. Historians speculate that the dentist later supplied Washington with false teeth. Contrary to popular belief, Washington's false teeth were not made of wood. They were made of a cow's tooth, Washington's own teeth, hippopotamus ivory, metal, and springs.
• Historians believe that Washington's March 1783 speech to his army officers averted the greatest threat that America has ever known. The officers were threatening a military takeover of the country if Congress did not get them their paychecks for their service in the Revolutionary War.
• When Washington entered New York City in triumph in November 1783, a third of the city lay in ruins, destroyed by a 1776 fire. At that time, the British had just captured the city and blamed Washington and his men for setting it on fire. No one knows how the fire actually started.

Where to Learn More

Bliven, Bruce, and J. Thomas, eds. The American Revolution (Landmark Books). New York: Random House, 1987.

Cook, Don. The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies, 1760–1785. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995.

Marshall, George L., Jr. "The Rise and Fall of the Newburgh Conspiracy: How General Washington and his Spectacles Saved the Republic. [Online] http://earlyamerica.com/review/fall97/wshngton.html (accessed on April 6, 2000).

Meltzer, Milton. George Washington and the Birth of Our Nation. New York: Franklin Watts, 1986.

Mount Vernon Educational Resources. [Online] http://www.mountvernon.org/education/index.html (accessed on April 6, 2000).

"Revolutionary War Pensions Record Index, Cheraw District South Carolina: Declarations and Affidavits from the Pension Applications of Cheraw District Soldiers in the American Revolution." [Online] http://www.konnections.com/clpurvis/Revwar.htm (accessed on April 6, 2000).

Rosenburg, John. First in Peace: George Washington, the Constitution, and the Presidency. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 1998.

Washington, George. Writings. Edited by John Rhodehamel. New York: Library of America, 1997.