George Washington had two soldiers punished for conduct he believed could destroy an army.
Henry Davis received 20 lashes for desertion. Patrick Lyons received 30 for drunkenness and sleeping at his post.
Washington then asked what independence meant if men fighting for it showed less discipline than the soldiers sent to crush it.
“What a shame and reproach will it be if Soldiers fighting to enslave us, for two pence, or three pence a day, should be more regular, watchful and sober, than Men who are contending for every thing that is dear and valuable in life,” his General Orders stated.
The rebuke came as Congress read Washington’s warning that the coast could soon swarm with British warships and as he sent new battalions toward the northern front.
Congress was still debating how the states would unite. Washington was trying to keep the army sober, alert and organized long enough for that union to survive.
The DX Brief
- Washington’s General Orders announced 20 lashes for Henry Davis for desertion and 30 for Patrick Lyons for drunkenness and sleeping at his post.
- Washington said the offenses were destructive to the army and punished by death in other armies.
- He warned that it would bring “shame and reproach” if British soldiers fighting “to enslave us” proved more regular, watchful and sober than Americans fighting for liberty.
- Congress read Washington’s July 23 warning that the coast could swarm with British warships and tenders and referred the letter to the Board of War.
- Washington urged authorities to stop provision exports and remove livestock from exposed islands to deny the British fresh food.
- Washington directed new battalions from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut to march by companies to Skenesborough for the Northern Army.
- He asked Congress for another aide because his expanding command, correspondence and orders had overwhelmed his staff.
- Congress continued debating the Articles of Confederation but did not finish.
Washington measures liberty by discipline
Washington’s July 25 orders first addressed the provost marshal’s guard. He directed officers to make sure the guard had proper supervision after receiving a complaint.
The orders then announced the court-martial punishments for Davis and Lyons.
Washington called desertion, drunkenness and sleeping on post crimes “most destructive to the army.” He said other armies punished such conduct with death.
His comparison with the British sharpened the point. Washington described enemy soldiers as men fighting for a few pence a day to enslave Americans. His own soldiers claimed a higher cause, but that cause did not excuse disorder.
The army could not defend New York if sentries slept, soldiers deserted or guards lacked officers. Washington treated sobriety and watchfulness as part of the fight for liberty, not as separate administrative concerns.
The orders also announced an additional dollar in monthly pay for regimental sergeant majors, quartermaster sergeants, drum majors and fife majors who held no other appointment. Congress hoped the increase would promote “Vigilance and Industry.”
Washington also ordered soldiers assigned to the row galley commanded by Cook to report aboard immediately. He called the assignment “service of the most important kind.”
Washington warns that British ships could swarm the coast
Congress received and read a letter Washington had written July 23 after corresponding with Connecticut Gov. Jonathan Trumbull.
Washington had asked officials to remove livestock from exposed islands because he wanted to “distress the Enemy, as much as possible, in the article of fresh provision.”
He also supported efforts to stop provision vessels. Washington warned that “every part of the Coast, it is probable, will swarm with their Ships of War and Tenders.” Even vessels whose owners intended to trade lawfully could fall into British hands.
His postscript was direct: “It appears absolutely necessary, that the Exportation of Provision should be stopped.” Washington said the army was large and could otherwise face shortages, while local sellers still had a ready market among American forces.
Congress referred Washington’s letter to the Board of War, according to the congressional record. It did not adopt a final response that day.
The food question reached beyond supply. Livestock, vegetables and coastal trade could sustain Washington’s army or feed the British force gathering around New York.
Washington sends battalions toward Skenesborough
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Congress had placed broad discretion over troops at New York, the Flying Camp and Ticonderoga in Washington’s hands.
On July 25, Washington turned part of that authority into marching orders.
He instructed Massachusetts to send its northern battalions “by Companies as they are raised, to Skenesborough,” where they would receive orders from the officer commanding the Northern Army. Washington sent the same direction to New Hampshire and Connecticut.
Skenesborough stood near the southern end of Lake Champlain and had become a shipbuilding and logistical point for the American defense of the northern water route.
Washington also acknowledged a problem in the congressional instruction. “I do not clearly understand what Battalions Congress allude to,” he wrote, asking the states to consult the requisitions Congress had already sent them.
The admission showed how difficult it was to coordinate separate state governments, Continental authorities and distant armies through letters carried over long roads.
Washington says his command is outrunning his staff
Washington also wrote Congress on July 25 to request another aide-de-camp.
He said the growth of his command, correspondence, orders and instructions created more work than his existing staff could complete with the precision and speed he expected.
“What will it be then when we come into a more active Scene, and I am called upon from twenty different places perhaps at the same Instant?” Washington asked.
He insisted that display and parade did not motivate the request. He described another trusted writer as necessary to carry out the responsibility Congress had placed on him.
Congress did not receive that request on July 25. It read the letter July 29 and immediately authorized Washington to appoint another aide.
Congress keeps debating the union
Delegates again resolved themselves into a committee of the whole to consider the Articles of Confederation.
They made further progress but did not reach the end. Congress scheduled another session for July 26.
The unfinished debate sat beside the immediate work of war. Congress was considering the structure of a union while reading warnings about enemy ships, reviewing military memorials and paying claims for guards, prisoners, kettles, ferries and troop movements.
The government remained incomplete, but its obligations were already arriving every day.
Why it mattered
July 25, 1776, showed that independence depended on conduct as much as declarations.
Washington believed American soldiers could not claim to fight for liberty while deserting, getting drunk or sleeping at their posts. The British army brought professional experience, naval power and reinforcements. The Continental Army had to answer with discipline.
The same demand appeared in Washington’s other work that day. He tried to deny the enemy food, move battalions north and expand the staff needed to manage a growing war.
Congress continued defining the union, but the army already had to behave like the force of an independent nation.
The Declaration said what Americans were fighting for. Washington’s order asked whether their conduct matched the cause.
Tomorrow on Road to Independence
July 26, 1776: Congress ordered Washington’s conference with British emissary Lt. Col. James Patterson published, while Washington warned soldiers that abusing farmers at New York markets could drive away the food needed to keep the army healthy.
Follow the full Road to Independence series here.
Provided by Dallas Express
