Newburgh Conspiracy

The Newburgh Conspiracy is what appears to be a planned military coup by the Continental Army in March 1783, when the American Revolutionary War is at its end.

Possibly instigated by political actors in the Congress of the Confederation, an anonymous letter is circulated in the army camp at Newburgh, New York, on March 10, 1783.

The letter suggests that the army, whose soldiers are discontented over pay that is in arrears and a lack of funding for promised pensions, should take unspecified action against Congress to resolve the issue.

The letter is written by Major John Armstrong, aide to General Horatio Gates, although the authorship of its text and underlying ideas is a subject of historical debate.

Commander-in-Chief George Washington stops any serious talk by appealing successfully to his officers to support the supremacy of Congress in an emotional address on March 15.

Not long afterward, Congress approves a compromise agreement it had previously rejected: some of the pay arrears are funded, and soldiers are granted five years of full pay instead of a lifetime pension of half pay.

The motivations of numerous actors in these events are the subject of debate.

Some historians allege that serious consideration was given within the army to some sort of coup d'état, while others dispute the notion.

The exact motivations of congressmen involved in communications with army officers implicated in the events are similarly debated.

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