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A Soldier First and Last
On November 5, 1790, Josiah Harmar, senior officer in the Army of the United States, penned an emotional letter to Henry Knox, Secretary of War. Harmar was deeply wounded by Knox’s communication, which indicated that President Washington expressed doubts regarding Harmar’s fitness for command, as “the bottle incapacitates me.” Harmar wrote “you shall never find me a courtier, but upon all occasions self-possessed and a Soldier…I have a certain Sort of something about me called honor, which will never suffer me to commit a mean action.” This letter, from the Knox papers of the Maine Historical Society, means little out of context, but is striking for its simple and eloquent defense of himself as “a Soldier” rather than as senior officer. It is also interesting that the letter was found among Knox’s personal papers at his Maine home, Montpelier.
The collections of the Papers of the War Department allow us to trace the thread of correspondence leading up to this missive. We discover that it is an impassioned reaction to a letter Harmar received from Knox on September 3, 1790, just as he was marching upon the Maumee (Miami) towns, in a disastrous action that ruined his military career. Knox had ordered Harmar, stationed in the Northwest Territory, to dispatch with a troublesome group of Indians who had been worrying towns and settlements in the frontier area. Poorly equipped with a ragtag group of militia, Knox was delivered a resounding defeat at the hands of Little Turtle. Following this stunning upset, Harmar was relieved of command, and replaced by Arthur St. Clair. Although the text is difficult to read, it is clear that Knox, in the context of friendship and admiration, is expressing concerns based on reports that Harmar drinks too much and that it might be affecting his command. We can only assume that such a letter, delivered on the day that Harmar marched against the Maumee, did little to help matters. You can read Harmar’s account of the action against the Maumee in the Papers of the War Department.
Harmar, as was not uncommon at the time, requested a court martial, feeling that he would fare better in a court of his fellow soldiers. Harmar was vindicated of wrongdoing, but rumors of his alcohol abuse dogged him for the rest of his life, and he struggled to maintain himself and his home outside of the military. By March 1792, he was already petitioning the treasury for his back salary of 577 dollars.