Society of the Cincinnati
The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers who served in the Continental Army.
The Society has thirteen constituent societies in the United States and one in France. It was founded to perpetuate "the remembrance of this vast event", "to preserve inviolate those exalted rights and liberties of human nature," and "to render permanent the cordial affection subsisting among the officers" of the Continental Army who served in the Revolutionary War.
Now in its third century, the Society promotes public interest in the Revolution through its library and museum collections, publications, and other activities. It is the oldest patriotic, hereditary society in the United States.
History
The Society is named after Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who left his farm to accept a term as Roman Consul and served as Dictator. He was given lawful dictatorial control of Rome to meet a war emergency. When the battle was won, he relinquished his powers and went back to plowing his fields. The Society's motto reflects that ethic of selfless service: Omnia reliquit servare rempublicam. The Society has had three goals: "To preserve the rights so dearly won; to promote the continuing union of the states; and to assist members in need, their widows, and their orphans."The concept of the Society of the Cincinnati was that of Major General Henry Knox. The first meeting of the Society was held in May 1783 at a dinner at the Verplanck House, Fishkill, New York, before the British evacuation from New York City. The meeting was presided over by Major General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Hamilton serving as the orator. The participants agreed to stay in contact with each other after the war. Mount Gulian, von Steuben's headquarters, is considered the birthplace of the Society of the Cincinnati, where the Institution was formally adopted on May 13, 1783.
Membership was generally limited to officers who had served at least three years in the Continental Army or Navy, or had served until the end of the War; it included officers of the French Army and Navy above certain ranks. Officers in the Continental Line who died during the War were also entitled to be recorded as members, and membership would devolve to their eldest male heir. Members of the considerably larger fighting forces comprising the Colonial Militias and Minutemen were not entitled to join the Society. Within 12 months of the founding, a constituent Society had been organized in each of the 13 states and in France. Of about 5,500 men originally eligible for membership, 2,150 had joined within a year. King Louis XVI ordained the French Society of the Cincinnati, which was organized on July 4, 1784. Up to that time, the King of France had not allowed his officers to wear any foreign decorations, but he made an exception in favor of the badge of the Cincinnati.
File:Mount gulian fishkill closeup 2006.jpg|thumb|The Verplanck House, Fishkill,, Steuben's headquarters, where the Society was instituted May 13, 1783.
The Society's rules adopted a system of primogeniture, wherein membership was passed down to the eldest son after the death of the original member. Present-day hereditary members generally must be descended from an original member, an officer who died in service, or an officer who qualified for membership at the Society's founding but did not join. Each officer may be represented by only one descendant at any given time, following the rules of primogeniture. The requirement for primogeniture made the society controversial in its early years, as the new states quickly did away with laws supporting primogeniture as remnants of the English feudal system.
George Washington was elected the first President General of the Society, serving from December 1783 until he died in 1799. The second President General was Alexander Hamilton, and after he died from wounds suffered in a duel in 1804, he was succeeded by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.
The society's members have included notable military and political leaders, including 23 of the 39 signers of the United States Constitution.
Insignia
On June 19, 1783, the General Society of the Cincinnati adopted the bald eagle, one of America's first post-revolution symbols and an important piece of American iconography, as its insignia. It is the second official American emblem to use the bald eagle, following the Great Seal of the United States. The insignia may have been derived from the same discourse that produced the seal.The suggestion of the bald eagle as the Cincinnati insignia was made by Major Pierre L'Enfant, a French officer who joined the American Army in 1777, served in the Corps of Engineers, and became one of the first members of the Society. He observed that "he Bald Eagle, which is unique to this continent, and is distinguished from those of other climates by its white head and tail, appears to me to deserve attention." In 1783, L'Enfant was commissioned to travel to France to have the first eagle badges made, based on his design).
The medallions at the center of the Cincinnati Eagle depict, on the obverse, Cincinnatus receiving his sword from Roman senators and, on the reverse, Cincinnatus at his plow being crowned by the figure of Pheme. The Society's light blue and white colors symbolize the fraternal bond between the United States and France. While all Cincinnati Eagles conform to this general design, no single specific design is official. Over 50 variations of the eagle have been produced over the years.
A unique diamond-encrusted "eagle", referred to as the "Diamond Eagle", was given to George Washington by Admiral Comte d'Estaing on behalf of the officers of the French Navy. Washington received it on May 11, 1784, at the meeting of the General Society in Philadelphia. Upon Washington's death in 1799, it was given by his heirs to Alexander Hamilton, who succeeded Washington as President of the Society. Upon Hamilton's death, it was given to Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who succeeded Hamilton as the Society's president. It has since served as the official insignia of the Society's president and is transferred when a new president takes office. In the late 20th century, a copy of the Diamond Eagle was made and worn by the president on occasions other than the Triennial Meeting.
A specially commissioned "eagle" worn by President General George Washington was presented to Marquis de Lafayette in 1824 during his grand tour of the United States. This badge remained in possession of the Lafayette family until sold at auction on December 11, 2007, for 5.3 million USD by Lafayette's great-great-granddaughter. Together with what is believed to be the original ribbon and red leather box, the badge was purchased by the Josée and René de Chambrun Foundation for display in Lafayette's bedroom at Chateau La Grange, his former home, thirty miles east of Paris; it may also be displayed at Mount Vernon, Washington's former home in Virginia. This was one of three eagles known to have been owned by Washington, who most often wore the "diamond eagle", a diamond-encrusted badge given him by the French matelots. That diamond eagle continues to be passed down to each President General of the Society of the Cincinnati as part of his induction into office.
The Cincinnati Eagle is displayed in various places of public importance, including Sawyer Point in Cincinnati, Ohio. A popular public square was built here to house a 15' bronze statue of Cincinnatus flanked by four masts flying the American, state, city, and Society flags. The flag of the Society displays blue and white stripes and a dark blue canton in the upper corner next to the hoist. Refer to the [|section below] for the city's historical connection to the Society.
By Federal law, Society members may wear their eagles on their American military uniforms on ceremonial occasions. In practice, however, this has been rarely done since the early 20th century.
Criticism
When news of the foundation of the society spread, judge Aedanus Burke published several pamphlets under the pseudonym Cassius where he criticized the society as an attempt at reestablishing a hereditary nobility in the new republic. The pamphlets, entitled An Address to the Freemen of South Carolina and Considerations on the Society or Order of Cincinnati, sparked a general outcry that included prominent names, including Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. The criticism voiced concern about the apparent creation of a hereditary elite; membership eligibility is inherited through primogeniture and generally excluded enlisted men and militia officers unless they were placed under "State Line" or "Continental Line" forces for a substantial period, and their descendants.Benjamin Franklin was among the Society's earliest critics. He was concerned about the creation of a quasi-noble order and of the Society's use of the eagle in its emblem, as evoking the traditions of heraldry and the English aristocracy. In a letter to his daughter Sarah Bache written on January 26, 1784, Franklin commented on the ramifications of the Cincinnati:
I only wonder that, when the united Wisdom of our Nation had, in the Articles of Confederation, manifested their Dislike of establishing Ranks of Nobility, by Authority either of the Congress or of any particular State, a Number of private persons should think proper to distinguish themselves and their Posterity, from their fellow Citizens, and form an Order of hereditary Knights, in direct Opposition to the solemnly declared Sense of their Country.
The influence of the Cincinnati members, former officers, was another concern. When delegates to the Constitutional Convention were debating the method of choosing a president, James Madison reported the following speech of Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts:
A popular election in this case is radically vicious. The ignorance of the people would put it in the power of some one set of men dispersed through the Union & acting in Concert to delude them into any appointment. He observed that such a Society of men existed in the Order of the Cincinnati. They are respectable, United, and influential. They will in fact elect the chief Magistrate in every instance, if the election be referred to the people. respect for the characters composing this Society could not blind him to the danger & impropriety of throwing such a power into their hands.
The debate spread to France because of the eligibility of French veterans from the Revolutionary War. In 1785 Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau was approached by Franklin, who was at the time stationed in Paris, and suggested to him to write something about the society directed at the French public. Mirabeau was provided with Burke's pamphlets and Franklin's letter to his daughter, and from this, with the help of Nicolas Chamfort, created an enlarged version entitled Considérations sur l'Ordre de Cincinnatus which was published in London in November that year. An English translation by Samuel Romilly followed, of which an American edition was published in 1786.
Following this public debate and criticism, George Washington, who had been unaware of the particulars of the charter when he agreed to become president of the society, began to doubt the benefit of the society. At its first general meeting on May 4, 1784, he had considered abolishing the society. However, in the meantime, Major L'Enfant had arrived, bringing his designs of the diplomas and medals, as well as news of the success of the society in France, which made abolition of the society impossible. Washington instead delivered at the meeting an ultimatum that if the clauses about heredity were not abandoned, he would resign from his post as president of the society. This was accepted, and an informal agreement was made not to wear the eagles in public so as not to resemble European chivalrous orders. A new charter, the so-called Institution, was printed, which omitted, among others, the disputed clauses about heredity. This was sent to the local chapters for approval, which was approved in all of them except for the chapters in New York, New Hampshire, and Delaware. However, when the public furor about the society had died down, the new Institution was rescinded, and the original was reintroduced, including the clauses about heredity. The French chapter, which had obtained official permission to form from the king Louis XVI, also abolished heredity but never reintroduced it. Thus the last members were approved on February 3, 1792, shortly before the French monarchy was disbanded.