Show vie of the cincinnati ar V y 4 A t tr A 4 ft at 4 4 4 K V at ne r ah V gen C W athington 4 ar 4 THE P f A WM MOR ROW by ELMO SCOTT WATSON T WAS just years ago that the curi tain fain was rung down on the last act of 0 BT the mighty drama known as the american can revolution evolution Il and appropriately enough the stage setting for this act was wag along the hudson river which had been tile the scene of so many important events during that struggle more A particularly the locale was the town of ne new burgh N T y it was here that washington and his continental ormy army after the victory over corn wallis at yorktown Tork town had bad settled down on their lat camp ground of the war in the hasbrouck Has bronck mansion a small sloping rooted stone form farm bouse washington had bad established his headquarters and here were living with him martha washington and members of his military family officers who had followed his fortunes faithfully during the war col tench tilghman liman col david Hump humphries bries maj benjamin walker col william stevens smith Ile dijah darbes and jonathan trumbull tr jr son of the famous brother jonathan trumbull governor of connecticut the camp of the soldiers was pitched in a deml carcle extending from four miles southwest of newburgh to the village of new windsor on the west bank of the hudson now a suburb of newburgh on the summit of a high treeless hill overlooking the valley had been erected a big oblong wooden building known as the temple or the new public building which was used for holding religious services for the con on april 19 39 1783 the anniversary of the battle of lexington a courier rode h hastily through the streets of newburgh and drew up before the hasbrouck mansion the burden of his des patches was the proclamation of congress for the cessation of hostilities at noon of the same day the proclamation was read to the officers of the army who were assemble dIn tile the temple for that purpose and in the evening it was read to every regiment in the army alth although ough the signing of the treaty of peace was still r several months in the future it was not signed until september 3 1783 the american re revolution was at an end now began the work of demobilization ton and 99 LI the officers cert prepared to take tak ce leave of each other perhaps forever it occurred to ge gen n henry knox commander at west point to u whom bom had bid been given the delicate task of disbanding off the army that there should be some way of perpetuating the ties that had bound them together during the dark days of their struggle for liberty then too there was the idea of paying tribute to their fellow officers who had lost their lives in the struggle and of flading finding some ome method of support for the widows and orphans of the dead heroes beroe 9 the proposal of knox to found a patriotic and nd memorial society met with the instant approval of the other officers of the army and it also had the acquiescence and hearty approbation of 0 washington A meeting to organize te uch such a society was held at verplanck house t the he headquarters of baron von steuben near fis fishkill it with that doughty german soldier presiding and knox serving as secretary general the name chosen for the organization was the society of the cincinnati and the selection of that name Is easily explained the colonists were mostly agriculturists and many of them had been educated in england where roman history was ever the inspiration of the scholar so the name of society of the cincinnati wits was appropriate for them because they like the cincinnatus of roman legend had left tile plow for their count rys service and like him now that their service was over were returning to the plow again thel the order or medal of the society was also in keeping with this idea it Is a bald headed eagle suspended on a blue ribbon with white borders typifying the union of france and america on the eagles breast Is shown receiving a sword and insignia from the roman senate enate and in the background Is his big home his wife and his plow around this scene are displayed the words omela relin quit rem bubli publican 0 ile aie left all to serve the republic on the reverse of the order ts Is fame crowning cla cinnatus with a wreath inscribed the reward of valor in the background la Is a seaport r city with pin pen gates and ships chips entering the harbor and below this are joined hands SoP supporting porting a heart inscribed esto perpetua be thou faithful the command of the society Boci ety the design for this medal was the work of major VEn lenfant benfant fant destined for future fame as the man who was to plan the new caal capitel capital of the nation washington D oa 0 the membership of the society was composed of officers of the continental army native or foreign who had served three years or been honorably discharged and to their direct male descendants by order ot of birth through females 1 W U q 4 q it de ordet of tt h pe cincinnati T knox in default of miles males and then by collaterals collate rals if judged acceptable by the society individuals distinguished t for their patriotism were to be admitted as honorary members for life and the state brandies branches were always to meet on the fourth of july while tile general society was wag to meet every third year on the anniversary of its founding may 13 it was agreed at the first meeting that in order to secure tile the fund for the desired relief of the widows and orphans that all the 0 officers 6 should hould contribute a full months salary as soon as congress appropriated an equal amount this would make a very considerable pension fund the interest on which alone was to be expended strange its as it may seem the organization of this patriotic and fraternal organization soon became the object of hitter bitter denunciation by rt a large number of citizens of the new nation the first mistake on the part of its founders had been in limiting tile the membership to officers both native and foreign unlike the G A it which followed the civil war and the american legion which followed the world war the society of the cincinnati lid did not include in its membership the common soldier then the memberships were made hereditary to pass down to posterity by the rule of primogeniture ogen ol iture and tn in this provision the patriots patriot 9 detected a move toward tile the perpetuation of a military aristocracy and then to cap tile the elli climax alix there was wag the golden decoration which mert with a membership were not such decorations of tile the very ery essence of the lie old world feudal aristocracy so in spite of tile the fact that the great fabber of our country touched for tile the patriotic spirit of the new society and honored it by becoming its first pre president blent the tribunes of tile lie people raged rg against adust it and deci declaimed almed against it as an insidious influence to such an extent that the time came when it was as much as a mans political life was worth to appear in public with the insignia of the cincinnati pinned to his bosom france just swinging into its bloody revolutionary period took a hand in the fight and even tile the groat great thundered against the cincinnati and warned tile the young bolln republic against its dangerous tendencies the young republic wits was quite willing to believe him it was not only the tavern orators and the political pamphleteers that pitched into lt it not merely tile the rabid republican followers of jefferson who viewed it as a dangerous men menace ace to the republics new institutions some of the most conservative statesmen and publicists of the time raised their voices and employed their pens against it jefferson was as publicly hostile to it it benjamin franklin then representing the republic at the court of france wrote home ridiculing tile pur poses of the society as an attempt to form an order of hereditary knighthood ue he expressed the wonder that any set of american gentlemen should in the face of the provisions of the articles of against ranks ot of no ability set themselves and their posterity apart from their fellow citizens of the republic in an exclusive order invested with all the privileges and insignia of aristocracy probably tile the most influential enemy of tho the new order was samuel adams the father of the rel while his big views were statesmanlike ke they were nere severe no roan man he said was aas more r ready eady to remember gratefully and reward tile the services of the army in the great struggle but it was astounding that any set of men should imagine that a people who had freely spent blood and treasure in support of equal cual rights should tile the moment the struggle was over be recon reconciled cled to the odious hereditary distinction of families lie ile looked upon the society of the cincinnati as a stride toward a hereditary military nobility as rapid ns as ever was made in so short a time and he could not but lament as a grievous misfortune to tile the states that so illustrious a man is as washington washing ton sanctioned it if john adams added his voice to the general clamor against the cincinnati the legislators of massachusetts inspired by resolutions from cambridge the university center denounced the society as dangerous to tile the peace liberty and safety of the union A flood of pamphleteers joined the chorus of condemnation one of these Aeo lanns burke a revolutionary veteran and a judge of tile the supreme court of south carolina wrote a bitter P pamphlet over the signature of cascius Cass liis denouncing the aristocratic to tendencies of the society which put the cac CAD sheaf on the condemnatory movement the pamphlet was reprinted in every state and found its way across the At atlantic Lintle A copy fell into the hands of Ml who tran translated bated it into french and published it in england washington tried to stem the tide of opposition to the child of his sponsorship by advocating the repeal of the provision making the memberships ber bers ships bIPS hereditary r dut ut it was too late public suspicion had bad been aroused and the patriots of the rank and file had placed their taboo on the order one of the most interesting results of the feeling against the cincinnati was the alie founding of tammany hall a counter mosen movement moi ement tent 1 in new york nu in a society organized on the alleged basis of pure democracy 11 so go unpopular popular did the cincinnati become that candidates for public office curried favor by de denouncing noun cing 1 the aristocrats front from the stump and instances are related where men publicly divest divested ed themselves of the eagle and t the he ribbon at the polls VOIN vowing 1119 that they hid had severed their conne connection atlon with the society rhode island went tr tc the length tf dis franchising all members of the hated organization and one by one the state societies in georgia north carol carolina ina virginia delaware connecticut and now new hampshire abandoned their charters and the once propitious society of the cincinnati was in a fair way to oblivion the visit of lafayette in 1824 revived a temporary interest in it but it was many years before popular apprehension had become so appeased that it was safe for a man who a asked 8 ked preferment at the hands of the american public to profess that he was I a member of the honorable society of the cincinnati amerlia Amerl ca avil first association of war veterans 0 WO NOV union |