North Carolina Office of Archives and History

The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series. Volume 2: September-December,1775 by Philander D. ChaseReview by: E. Wayne CarpThe North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 64, No. 4 (OCTOBER 1987), pp. 462-463Published by: North Carolina Office of Archives and HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23520662 .

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462 Book Reviews

While these two essays indicate a sophisticated grasp of the constitutional issues posed before the Revolution, Abercromby's perspective reveals no influence from his American experience. His concerns reflect the conven

tional, rigid assumptions of a colonial administrator with little comprehen sion of the potential impact of his proposals.

The editors have done a fine job in preparing this edition. The two texts exist in multiple copies, and the editors denote major variations with a series of textual symbols while citing minor variations in the notes. The volume's introduction offers useful background on Abercromby's career and writings. An appendix contains a variant introduction to the "Examination" as well as three letters from Abercromby. In making Abercromby's writings more

accessible, the editors have assisted scholars in understanding the minds of colonial administrators on the eve of the Revolution.

State Historical Society of Wisconsin Michael E. Stevens

The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series. Volume 2: September December, 1775. Edited by Philander D. Chase. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1987. Editorial apparatus, illustrations, index. Pp. xxvii, 671. $47.50.)

Much of the correspondence in this superbly edited volume documents

George Washington's determined efforts to hold together the ill-disciplined Continental Army as his shrinking forces besieged the British outside Boston. It is thus fitting that the volume begins with the announcement in General Orders of the court-martial and conviction of two Continental

Army soldiers, one for loyalism, the other for defrauding his regimental compatriots of provisions. Such problems of enlistment and military discipline—compounded by price gouging and shortages of clothing, food, ammunition, and pay—not only characterized the Continental Army's earliest days but would continue to plague it throughout the war. Serving as

counterpoint to the Continental Army's woes are General Philip Schuyler's encouraging reports of the progress of the Canadian campaign, as forts St. Johns and Chambly and Montreal fell to the Americans. By the end of

December, 1775, Washington believed simultaneously that the Continental Army verged on dissolution and that the British would soon surrender Canada. Both convictions would prove wrong.

Two themes stand out in this volume. The first, strikingly illustrated by how unprepared colonial Americans were for war, is that armies are created not born. At Washington's October 8,1775, council of war, for example, the most basic military issues were debated: What size was a regiment or a

company? How many men were necessary for a winter campaign? How long should the men be enlisted for? Should any blacks be reenlisted? Second, the volume illustrates repeatedly Washington's diplomatic skill and respect for civilian authority in his relations with Continental, state, and local officials. Whether deferring to congressional committees, refusing guber natorial requests to detach Continental troops to defend beleaguered colonies, or advising local authorities on the treatment of loyalists, Washing

THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL REVIEW

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Book Reviews 463

ton was a paragon of republican virtue. Only when denouncing the Connecticut's troops refusal to reenlist or British treatment of American

prisoners of war did Washington reveal his passionate nature.

Although the volume lacks an introduction, the editors are to be com mended for their meticulous annotation, speed in publication, and skill in

discovering at least ten (at the reviewer's unofficial count) Washington letters that John C. Fitzpatrick overlooked. One anticipates volume three with confidence and pleasure.

Pacific Lutheran University

E. Wayne Carp

The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Volume 22: August, 1791, to December, 1791. Edited by Charles T. Cullen. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1986. Acknowledgments, foreword, guide to editorial apparatus, illustrations, index. Pp. xxxix, 513. $50.00.)

Volume 22 of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson is the first published since

the death of the project's distinguished first editor, Julian Boyd. Boyd was

the founding father of modern historical editing, and all editors owe a

profound debt to the high standards and the elegance of the first twenty volumes of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. There has been considerable

interest as to whether under new editorship the Jefferson Papers would

continue to follow the precedents of the highly personal editorial style

developed by Boyd. Among the changes that have been initiated in this

volume is the omission of the long editorial notes that had become a

trademark of the Jefferson Papers. It is evident that Charles T. Cullen's

efforts to make the series more easily usable will provide compensation for

the loss of the often brilliant essays of the earlier volumes. There will be a

shorter but more consistent level of annotation for every document,

including identifications of persons and explanatory notes for matters

mentioned in the text. Considerably more material, such as the relatively routine consular and diplomatic reports—often a rich source for the

diplomacy of the period—will be included. Instead of letters grouped

together by subject and published out of chronological sequence, documents

are now printed under their date. The first twenty volumes of the series were

poorly served by several inadequate temporary index volumes. The superb

comprehensive index volume (issued in 1983 as Volume 21 of The Papers of Thomas Jefferson and also edited by Charles Cullen) opened new vistas for

the use of the project's earlier volumes. Volume 22 continues this service by

providing a comprehensive index of outstanding quality. The current volume covers the months August to December, 1791, aperiod

when Jefferson was involved in no particularly dramatic events in his

public or private life. But there is still much of interest: Jefferson's continued

involvement with the problems arising from the construction of the new

Federal City; his attempts to free American seamen held in captivity in

Algiers; the extensive discussion with British minister George Hammond

on the case of Thomas Pagan and Stephen Hooper; a long and illuminating

VOLUME LXIV, NUMBER 4, OCTOBER, 1987

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