Agreements of General Officers

The jealousies and bickerings, and the manifestations of undesirable personal traits afterward exhibited by these old officers of the Continental army, were highly detrimental to the public service. Armstrong was haughty, fiery, and opinionated. He was a son of an officer in the French and Indian War, and had, himself, been an officer in the Continental Army as aide-de-camp, first to General Mercer and afterward to General Gates. After the war he was active in public life in his native State (Pennsylvania); and having married a sister of Chancellor Livingston, he become a citizen of the State of New York. In 1804 he succeeded his brother-in-law as minister to France, and President Madison unwisely called him to his cabinet as Secretary of War, for he was not well fitted for that office and made serious mistakes. Wilkinson was no better fitted for the office he was called to fill. He, also, was an officer in the Continental Army, and was aid-de-camp to General Gates. His peculiar temperament and personal habits made his selection as commander on the frontier an unfortunate one. As a rule, the younger officers in the army, in the War of 1812-15, were the most efficient and successful.