The Life of John Marshall
Chapter 18 : [443] Trevelyan, iv, 376.[444] Marshall, i, 252.[445] Marshall speaks of "one thou

[443] Trevelyan, iv, 376.

[444] Marshall, i, 252.

[445] Marshall speaks of "one thousand select men" under Wayne; Maxwell's division was with Wayne under Lee; Marshall was in the battle, and it seems certain that he was among Wayne's "select men" as on former and later occasions.

[446] Marshall, i, 252.

[447] Lafayette to Marshall; Marshall, i, footnote to 255.

[448] Marshall, i, 254-59.

[449] For descriptions of the battle of Monmouth see Was.h.i.+ngton to President of Congress, July 1, 1778; _Writings_: Ford, vii, 76-86; and to John Augustine Was.h.i.+ngton, July 4, 1778; _ib._, 89-92. Also Marshall, i, 251-56; Trevelyan, iv, 376-80; Irving, iii, 423-34; Sparks, 272-78; Lossing, ii, 354-65.

[450] Marshall, i, 251-56.

[451] _Ib._, 257.

[452] _Ib._, 257-58.

[453] Girardin follows Marshall in his fair treatment of Lee. (Burk, iv, 290.)

[454] He was promoted July 1, 1778. (Heitman, 285.)

[455] The whole patriot army everywhere, except in the extreme south and west, now numbered only sixteen thousand men. (Marshall, i, 306-07.)

[456] The fullest and most accurate account of the capture of Stony Point, and conditions immediately preceding, is given by Dawson in his _a.s.sault on Stony Point_.

[457] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 315-16. The care in the selection of the various commands of "light infantry," so often used by Was.h.i.+ngton after the first year of the war, is well ill.u.s.trated by his orders in this case. "The officers commanding regiments," runs Was.h.i.+ngton's orders, "will be particularly careful in the choice of the men.... The Adjutant General is desired to pa.s.s the men ... under critical inspection, and return all who on any account shall appear unfit for this kind of service to their regiments, to be replaced by others whom he shall approve." (Was.h.i.+ngton's Order Book, iii, 110-11; MS., Lib. Cong.)

[458] Was.h.i.+ngton to Wayne (Private and Confidential), July 1, 1779; Dawson, 18-19.

[459] Dawson, 20. Wayne's demand for sustenance and clothing, however, is amusing. "The Light Corps under my Command," writes Wayne, "... have had but two days fresh Provision ... nor more than three days allowance of Rum _in twelve days_, which article I borrowed from Gen^l McDougall with a Promise to Replace it. I owe him Seventy five Gallons--must therefore desire you to forward three Hod^{ds} [hogsheads] of Rum to this place with all possible Dispatch together with a few fat sheep & ten Head of good Cattle." (Wayne to Issuing Commissary, July 9, 1779; _ib._, 20-21.)

Wayne wrote to Was.h.i.+ngton concerning clothing: "I have an [word illegible] Prejudice in favor of an Elegant Uniform & Soldierly Appearance--... I would much rathar risque my life and Reputation at the Head of the same men in an Attack Clothed & Appointed as I could wish--with a Single Charge of Ammunition--than to take them as they appear in Common with Sixty Rounds of Cartridges." (Dawson, 20-21.)

Was.h.i.+ngton wrote in reply: "I agree perfectly with you." (_Ib._, 21.)

[460] Marshall, i, 310.

[461] Wayne's order of battle was as picturesque as it was specific.

Officer and private were directed "to fix a Piece of White paper in the most Conspicuous part of his Hat or Cap ... their Arms unloaded placing their whole Dependence on the Bay^t.... If any Soldier presumes to take his Musket from his Shoulder or Attempt to fire or begin the battle until Ordered by his proper Officer he shall be Instantly put to death by the Officer next him.... Should any Soldier ... attempt to Retreat one Single foot or Sculk in the face of danger, the Officer next to him is Immediately to put him to death." (_Ib._, 35-38.)

[462] Wayne to Delaney, July 15, 1779; Dawson, 46-47.

[463] The generous and even kindly treatment which the Americans accorded the vanquished British is in striking contrast with the latter's treatment of Americans under similar circ.u.mstances. When the fort was taken, the British cried, "_Mercy, mercy, dear, dear Americans_," and not a man was injured by the victors after he ceased to resist. (Dawson, 53; and Marshall, i, 311.)

[464] The fort was captured so quickly that the detachment to which Marshall was a.s.signed had no opportunity to advance.

[465] Marshall, i, 314.

[466] _Ib._, 314-16.

[467] The rolls show Marshall in active service as captain until December 9, 1779. (Records, War Dept.) He retired from the service February 12, 1781. (Heitman, 285.)

[468] Binney, in Dillon, iii, 290. There often were more officers of a State line than there were men to be officered; this was caused by expiring enlistments of regiments.

[469] Tucker, i, 136.

[470] Marshall, i, 418.

[471] _Ib._, 139.

[472] Marshall, i, 419; Binney, in Dillon, iii, 290.

[473] Even the frightened Virginia women were ashamed. "Such terror and confusion you have no idea of. Governor, Council, everybody scampering.... How dreadful the idea of an enemy pa.s.sing through such a country as ours committing enormities that fill the mind with horror and returning exultantly without meeting one impediment to discourage them."

(Eliza Ambler to Mildred Smith, 1781 MS. Also _Atlantic Monthly_, lx.x.xiv, 538-39.) Miss Ambler was amused, too, it seems. She humorously describes a boastful man's precipitate flight and adds: "But this is not more laughable than the accounts we have of our ill.u.s.trious G-[overno]-r [Jefferson] who, they say, took neither rest nor food for man or horse till he reached C-[arte]-r's mountain." (_Ib._) This letter, as it appears in the _Atlantic Monthly_, differs slightly from the ma.n.u.script, which has been followed in this note.

These letters were written while the laughing young Tarleton was riding after the flying Virginia Government, of which Eliza Ambler's father was a part. They throw peculiar light on the opinions of Marshall, who at that time was in love with this lady's sister, whom he married two years later. (See _infra_, chap. v.)

[474] An inquiry into Jefferson's conduct was formally moved in the Virginia Legislature. But the matter was not pressed and the next year the Legislature pa.s.sed a resolution of thanks for Jefferson's "impartial, upright, and attentive Administration." (See Eckenrode's thorough treatment of the subject in his _Revolution in Virginia_, chap.

vii. And see Tucker, i, 149-56, for able defense of Jefferson; and Dodd, 63-64; also Ambler, 37.)

[475] Monroe, Bland, and Grayson are the only conspicuous exceptions.

[476] Story, in Dillon, iii, 338.

[477] This prevalent idea is well stated in one of Mrs. Carrington's unpublished letters. "What sacrifice would not an American, or Virginian (even) at the earliest age have made for so desireable an end--young as I was [twelve years old when the war began] the Word Liberty so _continually_ sounding in my ears seemed to convey an idea of everything that was desirable on earth--true that in attaining it, I was to see every present comfort abandoned; a charming home where peace and prosperous fortune afforded all the elegancies of life, where nature and art united to render our residence delightful, where my ancestors had acquired wealth, and where my parents looked forward to days of ease and comfort, all this was to be given up; but in infancy the love of change is so predominant that we lose sight of consequences and are willing to relinquish present good for the sake of novelty, this was particularly the case with me." (Mrs. Carrington to her sister Nancy, March, 1809; MS.; and see _infra_, chap. VIII.)

[478] Marshall, i, 355-65.

[479] _Ib._, 422-24.

[480] _Ib._, 425.

[481] Marshall, i, 425.

CHAPTER V

MARRIAGE AND LAW BEGINNINGS

He was always and under all circ.u.mstances an enthusiast in love.

(Mrs. Carrington, of Marshall's devotion to his wife.)

It was upon a night of gentle gayety in the late winter or early spring of 1779-80 that Captain John Marshall first met Mary Ambler. When he went back to Virginia to take charge of troops yet to be raised, he visited his father, then commanding at the village of Yorktown.[482]

More than a year had gone by since Colonel Marshall had left his son at Valley Forge. On this visit befell the most important circ.u.mstance of John Marshall's private life. While he was waiting for his new command, an event came to pa.s.s which relieved his impatience to prolong still further his four years of active warfare and inspired him to improve this period of enforced absence from the front, by preparing himself for his chosen profession.