Show ca 0 JL P j 1 d e I 1 e oklet 11 Mi lie ip of r the am P I 1 a af afi T A i cinn 11 U II 11 ac in Z 4 k va headquarter s T at N deburgh ebur gh POPE gien W ashington 4 NN rhe cavior odthe S wras v by ELMO SCOTT WATSON T WAS just years ago that the curtain was rung down on the last act of BT the mighty drama known as the american am er revolution and appropriately enough the stage setting for this act ap was along the hudson river which had been the scene of so many important events during that struggle more particularly the locale was the town of newburgh N Y it was here that washington and his continental army after the victory over corn walls at yorktown had settled down on their last camp ground odthe of the war in the hasbrouck mansion a small sloping roofed stone farmhouse washington had established his headquarters and here were living with him martha washington and members of his military family officers who had followed his fortunes faithfully aly during the war col tench tilghman col david humphries maj benjamin walker col william stevens smith He dijah bailles and jonathan trumbull jr son of the famous brother jonathan trumbull governor of connecticut the camp of the soldiers was pitched in a semicircle semi circle extending from four miles southwest of newburgh Mew burgh to the village of new windsor on the west bank of the hudson now a suburb of newburgh on tile the summit of a high treeless hill bill 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 1783 tile the anniversary of the battle of lexington it a courier rode 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 leers off of the army who alio were assembled in the temple for that purpose and in the evening it was read to every regiment in the army although the signing of the treaty of peace was still several months in the future it was not signed u until september 1 I 3 1783 the american revolution was at an end now began the work of demobilization and as the officers prepared to take leave of each other perhaps forever it occurred to gen henry knox commander at west point to whom had been given the delicate task tak of disbanding the army that there should be some way of perpetuating the ties that had bound th them em together during the dark days of their struggle for liberty then too there was the idea of paying tribute to their fellow off officers leers who had lost their lives in tile the struggle and of finding some method of support for the widows and orphans of the dead heroes the proposal of knox to tn found a patriotic and memorial society tV met with the instant approval of the other officers of the army and it also had the acquiescence and hearty bearty approbation of washington A meeting to organize such a society was held at verplanck house the headquarters of baron von steuben near fishkill with that doughty german soldier presiding and knox serving sen ing as 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 tile the scholar so the name of society of the cincinnati was appropriate for them because they like the of roman legend had left the plow for their count rys service and like him now that their service was over were returning to the plow again the order or medal of the society was also in keeping with this idea it Is a bild beaded eagle suspended on a blue ribbon with white borders typifying the union of france and america on the eagles breast Is shown cincinnatus receiving a sword and insignia from the roman senate and in the background Is his home his wife and his plow around this scene are displayed the words omela relin quit rem publican he left nil all to serve the republic on the reverse of the order Is fame crowning aln cini cinnatus fatus with a wreath inscribed Vir the reward of valor in the background Is a seaport city with open gates and aad ships entering the harbor and below this are joined hands supporting a heart inscribed esto perpetual perpetua be thou faithful the command of the society the design for this medal was the work of major LI lenfant Enfant destined for future fame as the man who was to plan the new capital of the nation washington D 0 the member membership shili of the society was composed compoi ed 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 of birth through females V ja 1 e M vill X V t an order P he cincinnati I 1 r henry knox I 1 in default of males and then by collaterals collate rals if judged acceptable by the society individuals distinguished for their patriotism were to be admitted as honorary members for life and the state branches were always to meet on the fourth of july while the general society was to meet every third year on the anniversary of its founding may 13 1783 it was agreed at the first meeting that in order to secure the fund for the desired relief of the widows and orphans that all the officers should 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 as it may seem the organization of this patriotic patristic and fraternal organization soon became the object of bitter denunciation by a large number of citizens of the athe new nation the first mistake on the part of its founders had been in limiting the membership to officers both native and foreign unlike the G A R which followed tile civil war and the american L legion which followed the world war the society of the cincinnati 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 iture and in this provision the patriots detected a move toward the perpetuation of a military aristocracy and then to cap the climax there was the golden decoration wb which ich went with a membership were not such decorations of the very essence of the old world feudal aristocracy so in spite of the fact that the great fabber of our country couched vouched vou clied for the patriotic spirit of the new society and honored it by becoming its first president the tribunes of the people raged it and declaimed against it as an insidious influence to such fich an extent that the time came when it was as much as a man mans s 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 the great Ml Il thundered against the cincinnati and warned the young republic against its dangerous tendencies the young republic was quite willing belleve to him it was not only the tavern orators and the political pamphleteers that pitched into it not merely the rabid republican followers of jefferson who bleir viewed ed it as a danger dangerous oui menace to the republics Republic 3 new institutions some of the most conservative statesmen and publicists of the time their voices and employed their pens against it jefferson was publicly hostile to it it benjamin franklin then representing the republic at the court of france wrote homo home ridiculing the purposes of the society as an attempt to form an order of hereditary knighthood ile he expressed the wonder that any set of american gentlemen should to in the face of the provisions of the articles of confederation against ranks 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 the most influential enemy of the new order was samuel adams the father of the revolution while his views were sates statesmanlike they were severe no man he said aid was more ready to remember gratefully and reward 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 rights should the moment the struggle was over be reconciled to the odious hereditary distinction of families ho he looked upon the society of the aln cincinnati as a stride toward a hereditary military nobi nobility ty as rapid as ever was made in so short a time and he could not but lament as a grievous misfortune to the states that so illustrious a man as washington sanctioned it 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 the pence peace liberty and safety of the union A flood of pamphleteers joined the chorus of condemnation one ode of these burke a revolutionary veteran and a judge of the supreme court of south carolina wrote a bitter pamphlet over the signature of cassius Cass lus denouncing the aristocratic to tendencies of the society which put the on the condemnatory movement ther the pamphlet was reprinted in every state and found its way across the atlantic A copy fell into the hands of Ml who translated it into fren french c h 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 but it was too late public suspicion had been aroused and ahe 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 founding of tammany hall a counter movement in new york nu in a society organized on the alleged basis of pure democracy so unpopular did the cincinnati become that candidates ford for public office curried favor by denouncing the aristocrats from the stump and instances are related where men publicly divested themselves of the eagle and the ribbon at the polls vowing that they had severed their connection n with the society rhode island went tr the length if f franchising disfranchising dis all members of the hated or aud and one by one the state societies in georgia north carolina virginia delaware connecticut and new hampshire abandoned 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 it was safe for a man who asted asked preferment at the hands of the american public tt to profess that lie he was a member of the honorable society of the cincinnati americas first of war veterans 0 V f western newspaper newt paper union |