From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library

Farm House to the White House, by William M. Thayer 180
through chagrin, envy, or ambition, are endeavoring to lessen you in the minds of the people, and taking
underhand methods to traduce your character," etc.
Generals Gates, Mifflin, and Conway were engaged in this plot; but their timely and complete exposure
redounded to the honor of Washington.
The duel which General Hamilton fought with General Conway, in which the latter was severely wounded,
grew out of this affair. Hamilton could not endure the presence of an officer who was secretly plotting against
his chief.
In the month of February Mrs. Washington joined her husband at Valley Forge, to share his winter quarters
with him, as she had done at Cambridge and Morristown. She wrote to a friend:
"The general's apartment is very small; he has had a log cabin built to dine in, which has made our quarters
much more tolerable than they were at first.
"The commander-in-chief shared the privations of the camp with his men. His cabin was like theirs."
The presence of Mrs. Washington at Valley Forge was a blessing to the army. She occupied her time fully in
caring for the sick, sewing and mending for the "boys," and making herself generally useful.
Again the commander-in-chief interceded with Congress for more liberal pay for his soldiers. Alluding to the
sufferings of his soldiers, he wrote:
"To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lie on, without shoes (for the want
of which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet), and almost as often without provisions
as with them, marching through the frost and snow, and at Christmas taking up their winter quarters within a
day's march of the enemy, without a house or hut to cover them till it could be built, and submitting without a
murmur, is a proof of patience and obedience which, in my opinion, cannot be paralleled."
It was during this memorable winter at Valley Forge that a man by the name of Potts was strolling through the
woods, when he heard the sound of a human voice. Cautiously approaching the spot whence the voice
proceeded, what was his surprise to discover Washington on his knees engaged in earnest prayer for his
country. On returning home, Potts called to his wife, "Sarah, Sarah, all is well. George Washington will
triumph!"
"What is the matter now, Isaac? Thee seems moved," Mrs. Potts replied. (They were Quakers.)
"I have this day seen what I never expected to see," Mr. Potts continued. "Thee knows that I have always
thought the sword and the gospel utterly inconsistent, and that no man could be a soldier and a Christian at the
same time. But George Washington has this day convinced me of my mistake."
He then described the scene he had witnessed, adding:
"If George Washington be not a man of God, I am greatly deceived; and still more shall I be deceived if God
does not, through him, work out a great salvation for America."
Baron Steuben, a renowned European general, coming to this country at this juncture to proffer his services,
through the influence of Dr. Franklin, Washington induced Congress to commit the reorganization of the army
to him. This proved a fortunate arrangement for the future of the army and country, next to the appointment of
General Green quarter-master-general.