Newburgh is where the American Revolution almost ended in military dictatorship. In March 1783, with peace negotiations underway but not concluded, anonymous letters circulated among Continental Army officers at the Newburgh cantonment calling on the army to take matters into its own hands if Congress failed to provide promised back pay and pensions. The letters stopped short of explicit mutiny, but the implication was clear: the army could refuse to disband, could threaten Congress, could use force.
PEOPLE
George Washington
Commander-in-Chief, General, Constitutional Statesman
Jonathan Hasbrouck
Local Patriot, New York Militia Officer, Property Owner
General Alexander McDougall
Continental Army General, Officers' Committee Chairman, Son of Liberty
General Horatio Gates
Continental Army General, Saratoga Victor, Newburgh Conspiracy Figure
KEY EVENTS
Washington Addresses Officers — Newburgh Conspiracy Ends
Mar 1783
Washington Proclaims Cessation of Hostilities
Apr 1783
Anonymous Newburgh Addresses Circulated Among Officers
Mar 1783
Treaty of Paris Ratified — War Formally Ends
Jan 1784
Washington Establishes Badge of Military Merit (Purple Heart Precursor)
Aug 1782
Washington Departs Newburgh Headquarters
Aug 1783
PLACES TO VISIT
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
Gentlemen, You Will Permit Me
Washington had been thinking about what to say since the anonymous letters appeared on March 10. He had five days. He spent them at Hasbrouck House, writing and revising, working through what an argum...
MODERN VOICE
Walking Home Without Pay
The story of the Newburgh Conspiracy usually gets told through Washington's address — the spectacles, the weeping, the dramatic collapse. That story matters. But it obscures something equally importan...