With the commander-in-chief thus straitened, the sufferings of the men grew to be intolerable, and the spirit of revolt which had been checked through the summer began again to appear.  At last, in January, 1781, it burst all the bounds.  The Pennsylvania line mutinied and threatened Congress.  Attempts on the part of the English to seduce them failed, but they remained in a state of open rebellion.  The officers were powerless, and it looked as if the disaffection would spread, and the whole army go to pieces in the very face of the enemy.  Washington held firm, and intended in his unshaken way to bring them back to their duty without yielding in a dangerous fashion.  But the government of Pennsylvania, at last thoroughly frightened, rushed into the field, and patched up a compromise which contained most perilous concessions.  The natural consequence was a fresh mutiny in the New Jersey line, and this time Washington determined that he would not be forestalled.  He sent forward at once some regiments of loyal troops, suppressed the mutiny suddenly and with a strong hand, and hanged two of the ringleaders.  The difficulty was conquered, and discipline restored.

To take this course required great boldness, for these mutinies were of no ordinary character.  In the first place, it was impossible to tell whether any troops would do their duty against their fellows, and failure would have been fatal.  In the second place, the grievances of the soldiers were very great, and their complaints were entirely righteous.  Washington felt the profoundest sympathy with his men, and it was no easy matter to maintain order with soldiers tried almost beyond endurance, against their comrades whose claims were just.  Two things saved the army.  One was Washington’s great influence with the men and their utter belief in him.  The other was the quality of the men themselves.  Lafayette said they were the most patient and patriotic soldiers the world had seen, and it is easy to believe him.  The wonder is, not that they mutinied when they did, but that the whole army had not mutinied and abandoned the struggle years before.  The misfortunes and mistakes of the Revolution, to whomever due, were in no respect to be charged to the army, and the conduct of the troops through all the dreary months of starvation and cold and poverty is a proof of the intelligent patriotism and patient courage of the American soldier which can never be gainsaid.  To fight successful battles is the test of a good general, but to hold together a suffering army through years of unexampled privations, to meet endless failure of details with unending expedients, and then to fight battles and plan campaigns, shows a leader who was far more than a good general.  Such multiplied trials and difficulties are overcome only by a great soldier who with small means achieves large results, and by a great man who by force of will and character can establish with all who follow him a power which no miseries can conquer, and no suffering diminish.