acquainted in the Braddock campaign, and with whom there was friendly
intercourse from that time until the Revolution. In 1775, at Washington's
express solicitation, Gates was appointed adjutant- and brigadier-general,
and in a letter thanking Washington for the favor he professed to have
"the greatest respect for your character and the sincerest attachment to
your person." Nevertheless, he very early in the war suggested that a
committee of Congress be sent to camp to keep watch on Washington, and as
soon as he was in a separate command he began to curry favor with Congress
and scheme against his commander. This was not unknown to Washington, who
afterwards wrote, "I discovered very early in the war symptoms of coldness
& constraint in General Gates' behavior to me. These increased as he rose
into greater consequence."

When Burgoyne capitulated to Gates, he sent the news to Congress and not
to Washington, and though he had no further need for troops the
commander-in-chief had sent him, he endeavored to prevent their return at a
moment when every man was needed in the main army. His attitude towards
Washington was so notorious that his friends curried favor with him by
letters criticising the commander, and when, by chance, the General
learned of the contents of one of these letters, and news to that effect
reached the ears of Gates, he practically charged Washington with having
obtained his knowledge by dishonorable means; but Washington more than
repaid the insult, in telling Gates how he had learned of the affair, by
adding that he had "considered the information as coming from yourself,
and given with a friendly view to forewarn and consequently forearm me,
against a secret enemy ... but in this, as in other matters of late, I
have found myself mistaken." Driven to the wall, Gates wrote to Washington
a denial that the letter contained the passage in question, which was an
absolute lie, and this untruth typifies his character. Without expressing
either belief or disbelief in this denial, Washington replied,--

"I am as averse to controversy as any man, and had I not been forced into
it, you never would have had occasion to impute to me, even the shadow of
disposition towards it. Your repeatedly and solemnly disclaiming any
offensive views in those matters, which have been the subject of our past
correspondence makes me willing to close with the desire, you express, of
burying them hereafter in silence, and, as far