Was Graft a Problem in the American Revolution, too?

Recently the New York Times ran a front-page article reporting that graft is rampant in Iraq. Graft is common at all levels of government. Government officials are implicated. There is evidence some graft is being diverted to the insurgents.

If that does not sound familiar, it should. Although the circumstances are markedly different, Americans during the Revolutionary War also proved susceptible to graft (though on a vastly smaller scale). The best known example of an American insurgent--that is, a soldier in George Washington's army--taking graft was Benedict Arnold, the one-time hero of West Point. Arnold was a patriot who turned to the other side and began negotiations with the British Army. He has become synonymous with treason after he ostensibly lost faith in the American cause and used his status as a hero to conceal his treachery. It is entirely possible; however, that the only cause Arnold ever really believed in was himself and that there was no grand disillusionment that caused him to switch sides. A bruised ego and greed were probably his chief motivators, not ideological uncertainty. Prior to switching sides, Arnold had already been implicated in a malfeasance scandal, which gained him enemies within the Army and cost him a promotion soon afterwards. When an alliance with the British held the promise of greater financial rewards and the restoration of his injured pride, Arnold leaped at the opportunity

These events lead naturally to many further questions: Was Arnold the only traitor who sol out his country for lucre? Were there others who abandoned the Revolutionary cause, or never fully believed in it, who committed similar acts of treachery? Were there men who sought to gain from the confusion of a war, and skimmed off the top a little? Were there men who were not sure how the war would ultimately end and chose to hedge their bets by playing both sides?

There is no evidence that anyone else betrayed the Patriot cause in as egregious a manner as Arnold, although there is much evidence of corruption and graft on both sides of the Revolutionary War. The overwhelming majority of the offenses were on a relatively small scale. According to Charles Royster, a popular saying during the war was: ‘Grease well and speed well,’ which speaks to not only the prevalence of graft, but social acceptance of it as well. Royster suggests that “Line officers and staff officers exploited their positions for personal profit, but soldiers probably suffered more form the frauds of contractors or suppliers, though these men were sometimes government officials too. Americans repeatedly sold defective food, clothing, gunpowder and supplies to their own army.”

Thomas Boylston, a merchant in Boston, was driven out of the city by an angry mob after charging high prices for coffee and sugar. With the Continental Congress unable or unwilling to limit price gouging, many citizens formed vigilante groups to handle the situation. In this particular instance, according to Page Smith, a female mob held Boylston and others to account for the high prices. In addition to Boylston, suspected Tory sympathizers and other profiteers who had refused to accept paper money were forced out of the city by a cheering crowd and a band.

Then there's the story of Lt. John Bigham of the 5th Pennsylvania Regiment, who was sent to Mt. Kemble Camp with $14,000 in paper money. The Continental Army put a large effort into raising hard money to secure needed supplies for the army. Some of the money was earmarked to pay the bounty due to all new soldiers, many of whom had been waiting for months to be paid. The money was entrusted to Bigham to deliver to Mt. Kemble, but the money and the man never arrived, according to Page Smith. Bigham was later found without the money and was court-martialed. He claimed that the money was used for to pay for the costs of his trip to Mt. Kemble. Although this seems an unlikely excuse, as Smith points out, given the costs of travel and the rampant inflation, his claim might not be as outlandish as it seems.

Sources

Page Smith, A New Age Now Begins: A People’s History of the American Revolution (New York, NY,: McGraw-Hill, 1976).

Charles Royster, “The Nature of Treason: Revolutionary Virtue and American Reactions to Benedict Arnold,” William and Mary Quarterly (1979), 163-193.