st and good will, and
that it could be fulfilled without intrigue or secret practices.
Arnold retired from the interview a mortified and desperate man; and
writing to General Schuyler, who was about to visit the camp as one of
the committee, expressed a wish to rejoin the army, and intimated that
as his wounds made it painful for him to ride or walk, the command of
West Point would best suit his present condition.]

In the meantime, the army with which Washington was to co-operate in
the projected attack upon New York, was so reduced by the departure of
troops whose term had expired and the tardiness in furnishing
recruits, that it did not amount quite to four thousand rank and file,
fit for duty. Among these was a prevalent discontent. Their pay was
five months in arrear; if now paid it would be in Continental
currency, without allowance for depreciation, consequently, almost
worthless for present purposes.

A long interval of scarcity and several days of actual famine, brought
matters to a crisis. On the 25th of May, in the dusk of the evening,
two regiments of the Connecticut line assembled on their parade by
beat of drum, and declared their intention to march home bag and
baggage, "or, at best, to gain subsistence at the point of the
bayonet." Every argument and expostulation was used with the
mutineers. They were reminded of their past good conduct, of the noble
objects for which they were contending, and of the future
indemnifications promised by Congress. Their answer was, that their
sufferings were too great to be allayed by promises, in which they had
little faith; they wanted present relief. It was with difficulty they
could be prevailed upon to return to their huts. Indeed, a few turned
out a second time, with their packs, and were not to be pacified.
These were arrested and confined.

In this alarming state of destitution, Washington looked round
anxiously for bread for his famishing troops. New York, Jersey,
Pennsylvania, and Maryland were what he termed his "flour country."
Virginia was sufficiently tasked to supply the South. New York, by
legislative coercion, had already given all that she could spare from
the subsistence of her inhabitants. Jersey was exhausted by the long
residence of the army. Maryland had made great exertions, and might
still do something more, and Delaware might contribute handsomely, in
proportion to her extent: but Pennsylvania was now the chief
dependence, for that State was