With the exception of Morgan, all the officers here noticed are New
England men, as is natural, since the seat of war is in Massachusetts,
and an army really continental in complexion is still to be formed. The
Southern colonies have as yet contributed only Morgan and the
commander-in-chief. New York is represented in the Continental army by
two of the noblest of American heroes,--Major-General Philip Schuyler
and Brigadier-General Richard Montgomery; but these able men are now
watching over Ticonderoga and the Indian frontier of New York. But among
the group which in 1775 met for consultation on Cambridge Common, or in
the noble Tory mansion now hallowed alike by memories of Washington and
of Longfellow, there were yet two other generals, closely associated
with each other for a time in ephemeral reputation won by false
pretences, and afterwards in lasting ignominy. It is with pleasure that
one recalls the fact that these men were not Americans, though both
possessed estates in Virginia; it is with regret that one is forced to
own them as Englishmen. Of Horatio Gates and his career of imbecility
and intrigue, we shall by and by see more than enough. At this time he
was present in Cambridge as adjutant-general of the army. But his
friend, Charles Lee, was for the moment a far more conspicuous
personage; and this eccentric creature, whose career was for a long time
one of the difficult problems in American history, needs something more
than a passing word of introduction.
[Illustration: WASHINGTON'S HEADQUARTERS]
[Portrait: Charles Lee]
[Signature: Benja Church Junr.]
[Sidenote: Lee's personal peculiarities]
[Sidenote: Benjamin Church]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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