Conway Cabal
1777
In the midst of the American Revolution, a movement began to stir to replace General George Washington as Commander-In-Cheif od the Continental Army.  Washington had recently suffered defeats at Brandtwine and Germantown; while another general, Horatio Gates, had enjoyed great success in the Saratoga campaign.

Many among the officers of the army and those in Congress began to think Gates would be a fitter leader of the colonial armies.  One of Washington's harshest critics, Gen. Thomas Conway, wrote a letter to Gates highly critical of Washington.  James Wilkinson, of Gen. Gates staff, quoted (or perhaps misquoted) a part of the letter to Lord Stirling, who repeated the comment to Washington himself.

Washington forwarded the comment to Gates without comment, and Gates replied vociferously through a letter to the Congress.  However, the highly popular Washington was left in his post by Congress and the plot (such as it was) came to nothing.  Conway, as the namesake of this scandal, was perhaps unfairly treated to this infamy since the supposed quote at the center of the debacle never actually appeared in his letter.


Sources: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 2001
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