Congress Told Washington To Deploy Troops As He Saw Fit

This entry is part 21 of 32 in the series ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE

It was Tuesday, July 23, 1776.

Congress received two letters from George Washington, including his July 22 warning that Britain’s peace commission was designed to deceive Americans. The letters went to the Board of War.

In a separate action after considering a Board of War report, Congress made an extraordinary declaration of trust in its commander in chief.

“Congress have such an entire confidence in his judgment, that they will give him no particular directions about the disposition of the troops,” the resolution stated.

Instead, Washington could deploy the forces at New York, the Flying Camp and Ticonderoga “as to him shall seem most conducive to the public good.”

The order placed decisions across three critical military zones in Washington’s hands as British ships and soldiers continued arriving near New York.

Washington did not yet know about the vote. From headquarters, he reported that Scottish Highland troops had landed and worked to deny the British fresh provisions. His General Orders confronted a threat inside his own army: soldiers shifting between corps to collect additional enlistment bounties, sometimes with officers’ knowledge.

Congress gave Washington room to move. Washington warned that anyone who turned military service into a cash scheme would face exemplary punishment.

The DX Brief

Congress received Washington’s July 21 and July 22 letters and referred them to the Board of War.
Congress declared “entire confidence” in Washington’s judgment and declined to direct the placement of troops at New York, the Flying Camp and Ticonderoga.
The Flying Camp was a mobile militia force organized to defend New Jersey and reinforce threatened positions.
Ticonderoga guarded the northern Lake Champlain and Lake George route between Canada and the Hudson Valley.
Washington reported that ships seen off New York on July 21 had entered the harbor and that some Highland troops had landed.
Washington sought to remove livestock from nearby islands to deny the British fresh provisions.
His General Orders threatened exemplary punishment for soldiers and officers involved in duplicate enlistments and bounty collection.
Congress continued debating the Articles of Confederation, accelerated troop pay and approved several military appointments.

Congress leaves troop placement to Washington

As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Washington had told Congress that Britain’s peace commission was “illusory” and intended to “deceive and unguard” Americans.

Congress received that July 22 letter, along with Washington’s brief July 21 report that 10 ships had appeared off New York. It referred both letters to the Board of War, according to the congressional record.

Later in the session, Congress considered a Board of War report and said it would give Washington “no particular directions” about where to place troops at New York, the Flying Camp and Ticonderoga.

The language mattered. Congress retained authority over the army, but it declined to micromanage troop placement across widely separated military zones during a rapidly changing campaign.

The resolution did not give Washington unlimited power. It gave him discretion over how to distribute forces where Congress had already assigned national military responsibilities.

Three military zones, three different dangers

New York faced the most immediate threat. British forces occupied Staten Island, warships crowded the surrounding waters and additional transports continued arriving.

The Flying Camp was a mobile force of militiamen from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware organized to defend New Jersey and reinforce threatened positions. Congress had placed it under Continental general officers selected by Washington.

Ticonderoga covered the northern corridor linking Canada to New York through Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson Valley. Control of that route could shape whether British forces moved south from Canada or American forces held the northern frontier.

Congress therefore left Washington to weigh an immediate British concentration around New York against the need for a reserve in New Jersey and protection of the northern approach.

The commander in chief could not make every position equally strong. Congress told him to decide which disposition best served the public good.

Washington reports Highlanders landing

Washington wrote Congress from New York on July 23 that the ships he had seen two days earlier had entered the harbor and appeared to belong to the “Scotch Fleet.” The vessels had landed “some Highlanders” the previous day, his letter stated.

The report added another sign that Britain’s buildup had not ended. Scottish Highland regiments formed part of the force gathering for the New York campaign.

Washington also sent Congress information from New York officials about residents and livestock on Nassau Island, the period name for Long Island, and forwarded a proposal for a cannon furnace.

In a second letter written later that day, Washington discussed efforts to remove livestock from islands near the coast. He wanted to “distress the Enemy, as much as possible, in the article of fresh provision.”

The British needed food as well as soldiers. Washington treated cattle and other livestock as military resources that could either sustain the enemy or be kept beyond its reach.

Washington targets bounty fraud

Washington’s July 23 General Orders addressed a different danger to the army.

He said he had learned “with great astonishment and surprise” that soldiers were enlisting from one corps into another and frequently receiving another bounty.

The problem extended beyond individual soldiers. Washington said some officers had knowingly accepted men who were already enlisted elsewhere.

He called the practice “so glaring a fraud upon the public, and injury to the service” and warned that it would be punished “in the most exemplary manner.”

Washington urged every officer who loved his country to oppose the scheme, identify the offenders and bring them to justice.

Duplicate enlistments could corrupt muster rolls, drain public money and weaken units that believed they still had soldiers who had quietly moved to another corps. The order treated financial dishonesty as a direct injury to military readiness.

Congress continues building a war government

Congress handled more than troop placement on July 23.

It approved Washington’s decision to lend money to the New York convention, empowered Pennsylvania county committees to muster departing troops and draw one month of pay to hasten their march, and added George Clymer to the Board of Treasury.

Congress appointed Monsieur St. Martin as an engineer with the rank of lieutenant colonel and directed him to report to Washington in New York.

It also gave Dr. David Griffith the unusual dual positions of chaplain and surgeon in the Third Virginia Regiment. Congress cited his uncommon merit and the shortage of capable surgeons willing to enter the army in Virginia, while declaring that the appointment should not become a precedent.

Delegates again debated the Articles of Confederation in a committee of the whole. They made further progress but did not finish, and scheduled the debate to continue July 24.

Congress was trying to define the union while simultaneously moving soldiers, appointing officers, paying troops and entrusting operational decisions to Washington.

Why it mattered

July 23, 1776, revealed how the new nation divided responsibility during a military emergency.

Congress retained control over national policy, appointments and resources. But when it came to the immediate disposition of troops across New York, New Jersey and the northern frontier, it placed “entire confidence” in Washington’s judgment.

Washington paired that freedom with an insistence on discipline. An army could not defend three military zones if soldiers and officers manipulated enlistments for repeated bounties.

Independence required more than a declaration. It required leaders who knew when to give orders, when to delegate and when to punish conduct that threatened the public trust.

On July 23, Congress trusted Washington to place the army. Washington demanded an army worthy of that trust.

Tomorrow on Road to Independence

July 24, 1776: Congress expanded seizure rules against British property, approved Henry Knox’s second artillery battalion and authorized another prisoner exchange. In General Orders, Washington promoted hunting shirts as a cheap, practical uniform that carried “no small terror to the enemy.”

Follow the full Road to Independence series here.