“The modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous and brave…”

On 17 June 1775, John Adams wrote from Philadelphia to his wife, Abigail, with big news:

I can now inform you that the Congress have made Choice of the modest and virtuous, the amiable, generous and brave George Washington Esqr., to be the General of the American Army, and that he is to repair as soon as possible to the Camp before Boston. This Appointment will have a great Effect, in cementing and securing the Union of these Colonies.

The Continent is really in earnest in defending the Country. They have voted Ten Companies of Rifle Men to be sent from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia, to join the Army before Boston. These are an excellent Species of Light Infantry. They use a peculiar Kind of [gun?] [ca]ll’d a Rifle--it has circular or […] Grooves within the Barrell, and carries a Ball, with great Exactness to great Distances. They are the most accurate Marksmen in the World.

I begin to hope We shall not sit all Summer.

(They did.)

Adams then went back to his original topic, the new commander-in-chief:

I hope the People of our Province, will treat the General with all that Confidence and Affection, that Politeness and Respect, which is due to one of the most important Characters in the World. The Liberties of America, depend upon him, in a great Degree.

Adams wrote similar things to some of his political colleagues back in Massachusetts. A number of other New Englanders at the Continental Congress wrote to their contacts in the same fashion.

Indeed, the volume of letters from those delegates praising Washington in just a few days suggests that there was a concerted effort to prepare the army and people around Boston for the new generalissimo’s arrival. Massachusetts’s political leaders were in agreement that turning over command to a Virginian was a good trade-off for the other colonies’ support. But would the fighting men agree?

As it turned out, the quickest whiners in the army around Boston weren’t the enlisted men nor the commander Washington superseded, Artemas Ward, but the other generals. The Congress hadn’t figured out the seniority system those men used among themselves and ranked a couple below where they expected to be, leading to hurt feelings.

TOMORROW: Adams feeling forgotten.