Not Your Father's Founders (9 page)

Marblehead, Massachusetts
July 17, 1744−November 23, 1814
Father of Gerrymandering

If Elbridge Gerry had not signed the Declaration of Independence, his epitaph might have been short: “He was born in Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard, served his state well, and died in office.” But the people of Massachusetts saw him as an effective legislator who deserved to take his place on the national stage. He did, without making much of a splash—except in a negative way.

Very little is known about Gerry's early life. He graduated from Harvard in 1762, became a wealthy merchant, and stumbled into politics.

In 1773, Gerry took a seat with the Massachusetts General Court to represent Marblehead. The following year Samuel Adams successfully introduced a motion asking that the province appoint a Committee of Correspondence and Inquiry. Gerry was named to the committee and participated enthusiastically, although he was not always happy with the way his fellow patriots acted in the name of liberty.

After the Boston Tea Party occurred—of which he strongly disapproved—Gerry took a break from politics. The British brought him out of his temporary hiatus when they closed the Boston port in 1774. Samuel Adams convinced Gerry that he had to do something about it.

It was all or nothing for Gerry. He became a member of the Committee of Safety, helped lead the colonists' armed response to the British, collected supplies, and recruited troops using his own money.

It was a second thought on the part of the citizens of Massachusetts, but they elected Gerry to the Second Continental Congress. Originally, Thomas Cushing was one of the colony's representatives to the Congress. But he refused to support independence. The citizens of Massachusetts did not see any sense in sending a delegate who would be counterproductive, so they elected Elbridge Gerry to replace Cushing. He rewarded their faith in him.

Gerry listened to arguments on both sides, and finally voted for independence, buoyed by his friends' pleas.

But he was absent on August 2, 1776, when the delegates signed the Declaration of Independence. He signed it on November 19, 1776, after he returned to Philadelphia.

Gerry stayed in Congress for several years after the war began. He served on a multitude of committees, and was active on the army's behalf.

Among other things, he helped design a general hospital for the army to replace regimental hospitals, which he considered impractical since they were difficult to move when a regiment relocated. Gerry also developed plans for instilling stricter discipline into the army and regulating the commissary's departments. He often visited army facilities to assess their financial statuses and make sure the military was paying its bills. After the war, he served another two-year term with the Continental Congress, then eased off on his activities until duty called once more.

Gerry was selected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, even though he had reservations about the document. Faithful to his principles, he refused to sign it. He explained simply to his constituents that it had too many flaws. That didn't stop them from electing him to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1789, where he served two terms upholding the same document he had refused to sign.

After those two terms, Gerry declined to run for reelection. He tried to retire, but in 1797 President John Adams asked him to serve as an envoy with John Marshall and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to France to try to resolve differences between the two countries regarding commerce. France sent Marshall and Pinckney home. Gerry stayed and helped reduce the tensions between the countries—temporarily, at least. After returning from France in October 1798, Gerry settled once again into retirement, which was as short-lived as his previous attempts.

Gerry ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts in 1800, 1801, 1802, and 1803. He finally won the office in 1810. He served two terms as governor of Massachusetts. In 1812 the Massachusetts legislature redrew the boundaries of state legislative districts to favor Gerry's party. The word “gerrymandering” was coined to describe the process. It is used today in the same context. The process cost Gerry his reelection bid in 1812. That year, he began a partial term as vice president of the United States. He replaced George Clinton, who died in office on April 20, 1812. Strangely enough, Gerry did the same thing two-and-a-half years later.

He is not remembered for many of his other accomplishments, but he will always be known for “gerrymandering.” That is his legacy.

Warwick, Rhode Island
August 7, 1742−June 19, 1786
You Don't Need to Win a Battle to Win a War

Greene was one of four Rhode Islanders to rush to Boston to offer his services after the battles at Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Shortly thereafter, the Rhode Island General Assembly authorized a force of 1,600 troops to travel to Massachusetts and appointed Greene to lead them. The Assembly was taking a chance. Greene's military experience to that point amounted to what he had learned from books in his large personal library and a bit of training with the Kentish Guards. That proved to be enough.

When Washington arrived in Boston to take command of the American troops, he and Greene bonded immediately. Their friendship and close working relationship contributed significantly to the Americans' ultimate military victory.

Washington and Greene took their war on the road and fought wherever they were needed following the successful conclusion to the siege of Boston. Where Washington went, Greene was sure to follow.

In 1776, Greene led troops during the battles at Long Island, New York City, and Princeton, New Jersey. On July 1, 1776, his troops were under great pressure on Long Island where British army units were massing to drive them away. Washington dispatched 500 men to reinforce him. Unfortunately, Greene became ill and missed the rest of the battle. He recovered in time to suffer severe anguish over the loss of Fort Washington in the Battle of New York.

There were better days ahead for him, but not always on the battlefield. Before his next major assignment after the defeat at New York, and a largely unsuccessful year on the battlefields in 1777, Greene had to help save Washington's job. A cabal of politicians and jealous officers formed a plot in late 1777 aimed at replacing Washington as commander in chief and ousting Greene because of his loyalty to the general. The loosely organized plot never came to fruition, due in part to Greene's refusal to support any attempts to denigrate Washington.

When the Continental Army went into winter quarters at Valley Forge in 1777−78, it was woefully short of supplies. To remedy the shortage, effective March 24, 1778, Washington named Greene as the army's quartermaster, whose job it was to make sure the troops were supplied with food, clothing, quarters, and equipment. Greene accepted the position reluctantly. Nevertheless, he performed the job admirably after extracting a promise from Washington that he would be in command of troops when needed.

True to his word, Washington assigned Greene to command troops at the June 28, 1778, battle at Monmouth, New Jersey. He also named Greene commanding officer at West Point, a post Benedict Arnold had vacated.

Greene arrived at West Point shortly after John André's and Benedict Arnold's plot to turn the site over to the British was revealed. He stayed at West Point long enough to strengthen its defenses and chair the commission to try André. Then he was reassigned to a new theater.

As 1780 neared, the Americans needed a talented, aggressive army commander in the Deep South, where the British had won a series of significant victories in 1779. General Horatio Gates was not up to the task. Washington sent Greene to replace him.

Greene arrived at Charlotte, North Carolina, on December 2, 1780. Due to his perennial shortage of men and supplies, he played cat-and-mouse with the British army for several months. He finally lured them into a battle at Guilford Court House on March 14, 1781. The Americans did not win the battle, but they damaged the British considerably. The British sustained 532 casualties, considerably more than the American total of 365.

Greene then began a systematic withdrawal across South Carolina that further weakened the British, who were getting farther and farther away from their supply sources as they followed him.

The British commander, General Cornwallis, fell into Greene's trap. The two sides met again in battle at Hobkirk's Hill, Ninety Six, Eutaw Springs—always places of Greene's choosing. Finally, after the battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781, Cornwallis realized the futility of his chase. Greene had won the war without winning a battle. Greene left South Carolina in August 1783, secure in the knowledge that he had been instrumental in securing independence for the United States.

Once the war ended, Greene returned to Rhode Island, which no longer held the fascination it once had for him. He had some valuable land in Georgia, so he moved the family there in late 1785. Life was idyllic for them.

Sadly, the beauty was not to last. While visiting a fellow planter in early June 1786, Greene stayed out in the sun too long. He became feverish and died a few days later. The country went into mourning for the man who had stayed so loyal to George Washington and his country throughout the war—and can truly be credited with helping to save both.