On the twenty-fifth of March, General Gates relieved General Schuyler from command of the Northern Department; but the latter was promptly restored, after presenting his case before Congress. General Schuyler promptly tendered to General Gates the command of Ticonderoga; but it was sneeringly and disrespectfully declined. To a requisition upon Washington for tents, made by Gates, Washington replied: “As the northern troops are hutted, the tents must be used for southern troops until a supply can be obtained.” The reply of Gates is an illustration of his ambition and jealousy, and points the trend of his subsequent career. It reads as follows: “Refusing this army what you have not in your power, is one thing; but saying that this army has not the same necessities as the southern army, is another. I can assure your excellency, the services of the northern army require tents as much as any service I ever saw.” To Mr. Lovell, of the New England delegation in Congress, Gates wrote: “Either I am exceedingly dull, or unreasonably jealous, if I do not discover by the style and tenor of the letters from Morristown, how little I have to expect from thence. Generals are like parsons, they are all for christening their own child, first; but let an impartial, moderating power decide between us, and do not suffer southern prejudice to weigh heavier in the balance than the northern.” Washington, of course, used the term “southern” simply in its geographical sense; but this subtle appeal to Congressmen by Gates was exactly the counterpart of that of his most intimate friend General Charles Lee; and both alike, ultimately, paid the penalty of their unsoldierly conduct. On the ninth of June, Gates took a “leave of absence” and left the department.