| At 12 o'clock the officers repaired to Fraunces Tavern
in Pearl Street where General Washington had appointed to meet them
and to take his final leave of them. We had been assembled but a few
moments when his excellency entered the room. His emotions were too
strong to be concealed which seemed to be reciprocated by every officer
present. After partaking of a slight refreshment in almost breathless
silence the General filled his glass with wine and turning to the
officers said, 'With a heart full of love and gratitude I now take
leave of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as
prosperous and happy as your former ones have been glorious and honorable.'
After the officers had taken a glass of wine General Washington
said 'I cannot come to each of you but shall feel obliged if each
of you will come and take me by the hand.' General Knox being nearest
to him turned to the Commander-in-chief who, suffused in tears,
was incapable of utterance but grasped his hand when they embraced
each other in silence. In the same affectionate manner every officer
in the room marched up and parted with his general in chief. Such
a scene of sorrow and weeping I had never before witnessed and fondly
hope I may never be called to witness again."
The officers escorted Washington from the tavern to the Whitehall
wharf, where he boarded a barge that took him to Paulus Hook, (now
Jersey City) New Jersey. Washington continued to Annapolis, where
the Continental Congress was meeting, and resigned his commission.
Washington's popularity was great at the end of the Revolution
and he had been urged to seize control of the government and establish
a military regime. Instead, he publicly bid farewell to his troops
at Fraunces Tavern and resigned as commander-in-chief at Annapolis,
thus ensuring that the new United States government would not be
a military dictatorship.
Washington returned to Mount Vernon, believing that December 1783
marked the end of his public life. Little did he realize that he
would return to New York six years later to be sworn in as the nation's
first president.
Fraunces Tavern Museum Chronological
History
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