The Plot to
Washington
A young girl faced a tormenting question
which was stronger love for
the man bent on assassinating
the General, or Jove for country?
By WILLIAM MITCHELL
ILLUSTRATION
"No, GonoraJ!" the girl shouted. "Thai's been poisonodl" Hickey tried to flue.
Perhaps you've never heard of it many his
tory books fail to mention the fact but in
the early days of the American Revolution, there
was a plot to kill George Washington! The assas
sination would have succeeded, except for the pa
triotism of a young girl.
The place was New York City; the time, June,
1776. The battles at Lexington, Concord, Bunker
Hill, and Ticonderoga were decided. But still un
decided was the question of what the battles were
really all about: were the colonies fighting to se
cure a more enlightened British rule, or were they
fighting to become a free and independent nation?
Inspecting the defenses of New York, George
Washington was, of course, fully aware of the di
vided sentiments of the time. He knew, for ex
ample, that New York had many citizens who felt
loyal to the Crown even the mayor of the city!
What the General did not realize was that there
were Tory sympathizers among those wearing
Colonial uniforms and serving close to him in posi
tions of high trust. In short, that there were traitors
within the very ranks of his own honor guard!
These soldiers had been hand-picked for their
appearance, ability, and supposed devotion to the
American cause. Yet, somehow, among them was
one Thomas Hickey, a deserter from the British
army and a resident of Wethersfield, Conn.
A handsome specimen in his colorful blue-and-white
guard's uniform, Hickey could no doubt
set a girl's heart fluttering, especially at such an
excitingly romantic time. One of the young women
he captivated was Washington's housekeeper in
New York, Phoebe Fraunces. In fact, Thomas and
Phoebe seem to have been in love. But Hickey
made a fatal mistake in believing that Phoebe's
love for him exceeded her love for her country!
The renegade soldier confided to her that he
planned to destroy, the Revolution by killing the
military commander. While Washington was being
assassinated, other Loyalists planned to spike the
colonists' guns, blow up their ammunition, set New
York afire, and signal British ships to sail into
port and take control.
' But shocked and repelled as young Miss Fraun
ces may have been at her lover's disclosure, she
pretended approval of his plan and became his
coconspirator but with a plan of her own.
The plot to kill Washington reached its dramatic
climax as Miss Fraunces was serving dinner one
evening to Washington and his staff. Entering the
kitchen, the disloyal guardsman produced some
belladonna and sprinkled the drug on a dish of
peas which the housekeeper was about to serve
the General. Phoebe had told Hickey that fresh
peas were one of the Commander's favorite dishes.
With Hickey watching furtively from the kitchen
door, Miss Fraunces entered the dining room and
put down the poisoned vegetable. Washington
smiled his appreciation. But just as he was about
to eat some, Phoebe shouted:
"No, General, you mustn't eat the peas. They've
been poisoned!"
The officers sprang from their seats. As the
housekeeper revealed the plot, some of Washing
ton's aides went after Hickey and seized him. One
of the men scattered the peas to some chickens in
the back yard. "Very quietly, six of them keeled
over, dead," says one account. 1
Justice moved quickly for Thomas Hickey. Court
martialed on the charge of "inciting and joining
in a mutiny," he was found guilty and sentenced on
June 26. At 11 a.m. on the 28th, he was marched to
a gallows erected near Bowery Lane.
A witness reported that the treacherous soldier
appeared "unaffected and obstinate to the last, ex
cept that when the chaplains took him by the hand
under the gallows and bid him adieu, a torrent of
tears flowed over his face."
Details of the disgraceful plot were purposely
kept from the public to avoid hysteria, but the
General wrote in his orderly book:
"The unhappy fate of Thomas Hickey, executed
this day for mutiny, sedition, and treachery, the
General hopes will be a warning to every soldier
in the Army to avoid those crimes and all others
so disgraceful to the character of a soldier and
pernicious to his country, whose pay he receives
and bread he eats."
Describing the traitor's plot, one observer com
mented: "If such a plan had succeeded, the Revo
lution might have been ended in a night."
But thanks to Phoebe Fraunces, the plot to kill
Washington failed. And in a few days, the dele
gates at Philadelphia declared that "these United
Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and
Independent States."
COVER:
That's no ordinary gal that photographer
Arthur Schatz has enquired on our cower;
she's an Ashland, N. C, housewife who has
joined the craze or (carting, a new U.S.
fad. For more about go-fcarts, see p. 17.
Family
Weekly
Ftbruary 19. 1961
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