the danger in which the country stood. The main body
of continental troops made up of militiamen and short-term
volunteers--always prone to mutinous conduct--was collected at Newburg
on the Hudson, watching the British in New York. Word might come at any
day that the treaty had been signed, and the army did not wish to be
disbanded until certain matters had been settled primarily the question
of their pay. The officers had been promised half-pay for life, but
nothing definite had been done toward carrying out the promise. The
soldiers had no such hope to encourage them, and their pay was sadly in
arrears. In December, 1782, the officers at Newburg drew up an address
in behalf of themselves and their men and sent it to Congress. Therein
they made the threat, thinly veiled, of taking matters into their own
hands unless their grievances were redressed.

There is reason to suppose that back of this movement--or at least in
sympathy with it--were some of the strongest men in civil as in military
life, who, while not fomenting insurrection, were willing to bring
pressure to bear on Congress and the States. Congress was unable
or unwilling to act, and in March, 1783, a second paper, this time
anonymous, was circulated urging the men not to disband until the
question of pay had been settled and recommending a meeting of officers
on the following day. If Washington's influence was not counted upon,
it was at least hoped that he would not interfere; but as soon as he
learned of what had been done he issued general orders calling for
a meeting of officers on a later day, thus superseding the
irregular meeting that had been suggested. On the day appointed the
Commander-in-Chief appeared and spoke with so much warmth and feeling
that his "little address... drew tears from many of the officers." He
inveighed against the unsigned paper and against the methods that were
talked of, for they would mean the disgrace of the army, and he appealed
to the patriotism of the officers, promising his best efforts in
their behalf. The effect was so strong that, when Washington withdrew,
resolutions were adopted unanimously expressing their loyalty and their
faith in the justice of Congress and denouncing the anonymous circular.

The general apprehension was not diminished by another incident in June.
Some eighty troops of the Pennsylvania line in camp at Lancaster marched
to Philadelphia and drew up before the State House, where Congress was
sit