Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume X.djvu/305

 CHARLES LEE 299 the freedom with which he discussed ministe- rial plans respecting America, and in general his severe strictures upon persons in authority. He was by nature impulsive, restless, opinion- ated, and overbearing, and his unhappy temper interfered on many occasions with the ad- vancement to which his talents in reality en- titled him. The Mohawks, into whose tribe he was adopted during his residence in Amer- ica, aptly named him Ounewaterika, " Boiling Water." Wearied with the inactive life of a half-pay officer, he visited the continent with recommendations from his former commander, was well received by Frederick the Great, and at Warsaw was appointed by King Stanislas Augustus one of his aides-de-camp, an office of honor, however, rather than employment. In the latter part of 1766 he returned to England, bearing a letter of recommendation from Stan- islas Augustus to George III., and made urgent attempts to obtain promotion, or at least a military command. His meddling disposition again interfered with his advancement ; and in consequence of some sarcasms directed against the military character of Gen. Townshend and Lord George Sackville, he found the door of promotion shut against him. The disappoint- ment attending the ill success of this attempt rankled in his breast and affected his whole subsequent career. Returning to Poland in 1769, he was made a major general in the Po- lish service, subsequently served for a short time in the Russian army in a campaign against the Turks on the Pruth, and for a year or two pursued a restless, wandering life through southern Europe. In Italy he fought a duel with a foreign officer, in which the latter was killed ; and in the course of his life he became involved in many similar affairs, from which his courage and address generally enabled him to escape unharmed. In 1773 he was again in England with a temper soured by ten years' unavailing struggle for preferment, venting his spleen against the ministry in squibs and news- paper articles full of irony and sarcasm, and systematically opposing every project emana- ting from government. He had some reputa- tion as a political writer, and, according to Thomas Rodney of Delaware, confessed to that gentleman in 1773 that he was the author of the letters of Junius. Upon this statement and other circumstances an attempt was subse- quently made by Dr. Thomas Girdlestone to prove that Lee and Junius were identical. It has been supposed by some that his vanity in- duced him to claim the letters as his own. The threatening aspect of affairs in America mean- while suggested to him a sphere of action in which his hatred of ministerial oppression might find a wider sympathy than at home ; and in the summer of 1773 he left England for ever, arriving in New York in October. His reputation as a caustic writer on the liberal side in politics, and to a certain degree as a general of European experience and renown, caused his arrival in the country to be hailed as an acquisition to the patriotic cause. Du- ring 1773-'4 he travelled extensively through the colonies, cultivating the acquaintance of prominent whigs, vigorously upholding with pen and tongue the claims of the people, and expressing both in his correspondence and con- versation great enthusiasm for freedom. Wri- ting to Gates, an old fellow campaigner in America, under date of May 6, 1774, he says : " For my own part, I am determined (at least I think I am) not to be slack in whatever mode my service is required." In the same year he wrote his " Strictures on a Pamphlet entitled cans,' " in reply to Dr. Myles Cooper, a tory clergyman of New York ; this was one of the ablest of his literary performances, and was widely circulated, and read with avidity by all classes. The freedom with which he avowed his sentiments did not fail to arouse the suspi- cions of the British ministry ; and his presence in Boston during the summer of 1774, where he associated with the leading patriots, induced Lord Dartmouth to warn Gen. Gage to " have an attention to his conduct, and to take every legal method to prevent his effecting any of those dangerous purposes he is said to have in view." He was present at Philadelphia during the session of the first continental congress, animating its members by his own zeal; and about the same time, as if to identify himself completely with the colonists in their impend- ing struggle with the mother country, he pur- chased an estate of 2,400 acres in Berkeley co., Va., in the neighborhood of his friend Gates. Congress having determined after the combats at Lexington and Concord to organize a con- tinental army, Lee was, on June 17, 1775, ap- pointed the second major general, ranking after Gen. Artemas Ward, then first in command of the New England troops encamped around Bos- ton. Though disappointed in not receiving a higher command, to which in the opinion of many his efforts in behalf of the colonies as well as his military talents and experience entitled him, he accepted the appointment, first, how- ever, in a letter to the British secretary at war, resigning his commission in his majesty's ser- vice, and declaring his readiness to serve the king whenever called upon "to act against the enemies of his country or in defence of his just rights and dignity." Although he was accustomed to refer to this act of his life as one Avhich involved the confiscation of his property in England, it is proper to remark that after a conference with a committee appointed at his own request, in which he unfolded his pecuniary circumstances, congress undertook to indemnify him for any loss he might sustain by entering into their service, and subsequently advanced him $30,000 for that purpose. Early in July, in company with Washington, he arrived at the camp at Cam- bridge, and formally entered the service, "a soldier of fortune," says Irving, " indifferent to the ties of home and country, drawing his
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