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You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online +at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you +are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the +country where you are located before using this eBook. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Washington and his Comrades in Arms<br /> + A Chronicle of the War of Independence</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Wrong</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July, 2001 [eBook #2704]<br /> +[Most recently updated: April 2, 2023]</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: Dianne Bean, Alev Akman, David Widger and Robert J. Homa</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON AND HIS COMRADES ***</div> + + <div class="titlepage"> + <h1>Washington and His Comrades in Arms</h1> + <h2>By George M. Wrong</h2> + <h3>A Chronicle of the War of Independence</h3> + <p> + Volume 12 of the<br /> + Chronicles of America Series <br /> + ∴<br /> + Allen Johnson, Editor<br /> + Assistant Editors<br /> + Gerhard R. Lomer <br /> + Charles W. Jefferys + </p> + <hr class="tiny" /> + <p> + <i>Abraham Lincoln Edition</i><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> + <p> New Haven: Yale University Press<br /> + Toronto: Glasgow, Brook & Co.<br /> + London: Humphrey Milford<br /> + Oxford University Press<br /> + 1921 + </p> +</div> +<p class="center" style="font-size:smaller">Copyright, 1921<br /> + by Yale University Press +</p> + + + + + <hr class="main" /> + <p> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">vii</a></span> + <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2><a href="#Contents">Prefatory Note</a> + </h2> + <p class="letter1"> + The author is aware of a certain audacity in undertaking, himself a + Briton, to appear in a company of American writers on American history and + above all to write on the subject of Washington. If excuse is needed it is + to be found in the special interest of the career of Washington to a + citizen of the British Commonwealth of Nations at the present time and in + the urgency with which the editor and publishers declared that such an + interpretation would not be unwelcome to Americans and pressed upon the + author a task for which he doubted his own qualifications. To the editor + he owes thanks for wise criticism. He is also indebted to Mr. Worthington + Chauncey Ford, of the Massachusetts Historical Society, a great authority + on Washington, who has kindly read the proofs and given helpful comments. + Needless to say the author alone is responsible for opinions in the book. + </p> + <div class="letterdate"> + <span class="smcap">University of Toronto,<br /></span> + <span style="margin-left:3em;">June 15, 1920.</span> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + +<div class="contents"><a id="Contents" name="Contents"></a> + <h2>Contents</h2> + <p class="center"><span class="smcap">Washington and his Comrades in Arms</span> + </p> +</div> +<table summary="Toc" style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;"> +<tbody> + <tr style="font-size:small;"> + <th style="text-align:left">Chapter</th> + <th class="center">Chapter Title</th> + <th>Page</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right"></td> + <td class="chaptername">Prefatory Note</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2H_4_0001">vii</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">I.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Commander-In-Chief</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0001">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">II.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Boston and Quebec</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0002">27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">III.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Independence</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0003">54</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">IV.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Loss of New York</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0004">81</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">V.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Loss of Philadelphia</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0005">108</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">VI.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The First Great British Disaster</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0006">123</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">VII.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Washington and his Comrades at Valley Forge</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0007">148</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">VIII.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The Alliance with France and its Results</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0008">182</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">IX.</td> + <td class="chaptername">The War in the South</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0009">211</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">X.</td> + <td class="chaptername">France to the Rescue</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0010">230</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="right">XI.</td> + <td class="chaptername">Yorktown</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#link2HCH0011">247</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">Bibliographical Note</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td class="chaptername">Index</td> + <td class="right"><a href="#Page_283">283</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td style="height:2em"></td> + </tr> + +</tbody> +</table> + + + + <hr class="main"/> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0002" id="link2H_4_0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + WASHINGTON AND HIS COMRADES IN ARMS + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">1</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + <a href="#Contents">CHAPTER I</a> + </h2> + <h3>The Commander-In-Chief</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Moving</span> among the members of the second Continental Congress, which met at + Philadelphia in May, 1775, was one, and but one, military figure. George + Washington alone attended the sittings in uniform. This colonel from + Virginia, now in his forty-fourth year, was a great landholder, an owner + of slaves, an Anglican churchman, an aristocrat, everything that stands in + contrast with the type of a revolutionary radical. Yet from the first he + had been an outspoken and uncompromising champion of the colonial cause. + When the tax was imposed on tea he had abolished the use of tea in his own + household and when war was imminent he had talked of recruiting a thousand + men at his own + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> + expense and marching to Boston. His steady wearing of the + uniform seemed, indeed, to show that he regarded the issue as hardly less + military than political. + </p> + <p> + The clash at Lexington, on the 19th of April, had made vivid the reality + of war. Passions ran high. For years there had been tension, long disputes + about buying British stamps to put on American legal papers, about duties + on glass and paint and paper and, above all, tea. Boston had shown + turbulent defiance, and to hold Boston down British soldiers had been + quartered on the inhabitants in the proportion of one soldier for five of + the populace, a great and annoying burden. And now British soldiers had + killed Americans who stood barring their way on Lexington Green. Even calm + Benjamin Franklin spoke later of the hands of British ministers as <q>red, + wet, and dropping with blood.</q> Americans never forgot the fresh graves + made on that day. There were, it is true, more British than American + graves, but the British were regarded as the aggressors. If the rest of + the colonies were to join in the struggle, they must have a common leader. + Who should he be? + </p> + <p> + In June, while the Continental Congress faced this question at + Philadelphia, events at Boston + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> + made the need of a leader more urgent. + Boston was besieged by American volunteers under the command of General + Artemas Ward. The siege had lasted for two months, each side watching the + other at long range. General Gage, the British Commander, had the sea open + to him and a finely tempered army upon which he could rely. The opposite + was true of his opponents. They were a motley host rather than an army. + They had few guns and almost no powder. Idle waiting since the fight at + Lexington made untrained troops restless and anxious to go home. Nothing + holds an army together like real war, and shrewd officers knew that they + must give the men some hard task to keep up their fighting spirit. It was + rumored that Gage was preparing an aggressive movement from Boston, which + might mean pillage and massacre in the surrounding country, and it was + decided to draw in closer to Boston to give Gage a diversion and prove the + mettle of the patriot army. So, on the evening of June 16, 1775, there was + a stir of preparation in the American camp at Cambridge, and late at night + the men fell in near Harvard College. + </p> + <p> + Across the Charles River north from Boston, on a peninsula, lay the + village of Charlestown, and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> + rising behind it was Breed's Hill, about + seventy-four feet high, extending northeastward to the higher elevation of + Bunker Hill. The peninsula could be reached from Cambridge only by a + narrow neck of land easily swept by British floating batteries lying off + the shore. In the dark the American force of twelve hundred men under + Colonel Prescott marched to this neck of land and then advanced half a + mile southward to Breed's Hill. Prescott was an old campaigner of the + Seven Years' War; he had six cannon, and his troops were commanded by + experienced officers. Israel Putnam was skillful in irregular frontier + fighting, and Nathanael Greene, destined to prove himself the best man in + the American army next to Washington himself, could furnish sage military + counsel derived from much thought and reading. + </p> + <p> + Thus it happened that on the morning of the 17th of June General Gage in + Boston awoke to a surprise. He had refused to believe that he was shut up + in Boston. It suited his convenience to stay there until a plan of + campaign should be evolved by his superiors in London, but he was certain + that when he liked he could, with his disciplined battalions, brush away + the besieging army. Now he saw the American force on Breed's Hill + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> + throwing + up a defiant and menacing redoubt and entrenchments. Gage did not + hesitate. The bold aggressors must be driven away at once. He detailed for + the enterprise William Howe, the officer destined soon to be his successor + in the command at Boston. Howe was a brave and experienced soldier. He had + been a friend of Wolfe and had led the party of twenty-four men who had + first climbed the cliff at Quebec on the great day when Wolfe fell + victorious. He was the younger brother of that beloved Lord Howe who had + fallen at Ticonderoga and to whose memory Massachusetts had reared a + monument in Westminster Abbey. Gage gave him in all some twenty-five + hundred men, and, at about two in the afternoon, this force was landed at + Charlestown. + </p> + <p> + The little town was soon aflame and the smoke helped to conceal Howe's + movements. The day was boiling hot and the soldiers carried heavy packs + with food for three days, for they intended to camp on Bunker Hill. + Straight up Breed's Hill they marched wading through long grass sometimes + to their knees and throwing down the fences on the hillside. The British + knew that raw troops were likely to scatter their fire on a foe still out + of range and they counted on a rapid bayonet charge + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> + against men helpless + with empty rifles. This expectation was disappointed. The Americans had in + front of them a barricade and Israel Putnam was there, threatening dire + things to any one who should fire before he could see the whites of the + eyes of the advancing soldiery. As the British came on there was a + terrific discharge of musketry at twenty yards, repeated again and again + as they either halted or drew back. + </p> + <p> + The slaughter was terrible. British officers hardened in war declared long + afterward that they had never seen carnage like that of this fight. The + American riflemen had been told to aim especially at the British officers, + easily known by their uniforms, and one rifleman is said to have shot + twenty officers before he was himself killed. Lord Rawdon, who played a + considerable part in the war and was later, as Marquis of Hastings, + Viceroy of India, used to tell of his terror as he fought in the British + line. Suddenly a soldier was shot dead by his side, and, when he saw the + man quiet at his feet, he said, <q>Is Death nothing but this?</q> and + henceforth had no fear. When the first attack by the British was checked + they retired; but, with dogged resolve, they re-formed and again charged + up the hill, only a second time to be repulsed. The third time they + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> + were + more cautious. They began to work round to the weaker defenses of the + American left, where were no redoubts and entrenchments like those on the + right. By this time British ships were throwing shells among the + Americans. Charlestown was burning. The great column of black smoke, the + incessant roar of cannon, and the dreadful scenes of carnage had affected + the defenders. They wavered; and on the third British charge, having + exhausted their ammunition, they fled from the hill in confusion back to + the narrow neck of land half a mile away, swept now by a British floating + battery. General Burgoyne wrote that, in the third attack, the discipline + and courage of the British private soldiers also broke down and that when + the redoubt was carried the officers of some corps were almost alone. The + British stood victorious at Bunker Hill. It was, however, a costly + victory. More than a thousand men, nearly half of the attacking force, had + fallen, with an undue proportion of officers. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Philadelphia, far away, did not know what was happening when, two days + before the battle of Bunker Hill, the Continental Congress settled the + question of a leader for a national army. On the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> + 15th of June John Adams + of Massachusetts rose and moved that the Congress should adopt as its own + the army before Boston and that it should name Washington as + Commander-in-Chief. Adams had deeply pondered the problem. He was certain + that New England would remain united and decided in the struggle, but he + was not so sure of the other colonies. To have a leader from beyond New + England would make for continental unity. Virginia, next to Massachusetts, + had stood in the forefront of the movement, and Virginia was fortunate in + having in the Congress one whose fame as a soldier ran through all the + colonies. There was something to be said for choosing a commander from the + colony which began the struggle and Adams knew that his colleague from + Massachusetts, John Hancock, a man of wealth and importance, desired the + post. He was conspicuous enough to be President of the Congress. Adams + says that when he made his motion, naming a Virginian, he saw in Hancock's + face <q>mortification and resentment.</q> He saw, too, that Washington + hurriedly left the room when his name was mentioned. + </p> + <p> + There could be no doubt as to what the Congress would do. Unquestionably + Washington was the fittest man for the post. Twenty years earlier he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> + had + seen important service in the war with France. His position and character + commanded universal aspect. The Congress adopted unanimously the motion of + Adams and it only remained to be seen whether Washington would accept. On + the next day he came to the sitting with his mind made up. The members, he + said, would bear witness to his declaration that he thought himself unfit + for the task. Since, however, they called him, he would try to do his + duty. He would take the command but he would accept no pay beyond his + expenses. Thus it was that Washington became a great national figure. The + man who had long worn the King's uniform was now his deadliest enemy; and + it is probably true that after this step nothing could have restored the + old relations and reunited the British Empire. The broken vessel could not + be made whole. + </p> + <p> + Washington spent only a few days in getting ready to take over his new + command. On the 21st of June, four days after Bunker Hill, he set out from + Philadelphia. The colonies were in truth very remote from each other. The + journey to Boston was tedious. In the previous year John Adams had + traveled in the other direction to the Congress at Philadelphia and, in + his journal, he notes, as if he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> + were traveling in foreign lands, the + strange manners and customs of the other colonies. The journey, so + momentous to Adams, was not new to Washington. Some twenty years earlier + the young Virginian officer had traveled as far as Boston in the service + of King George II. Now he was leader in the war against King George III. + In New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut he was received impressively. In + the warm summer weather the roads were good enough but many of the rivers + were not bridged and could be crossed only by ferries or at fords. It took + nearly a fortnight to reach Boston. + </p> + <p> + Washington had ridden only twenty miles on his long journey when the news + reached him of the fight at Bunker Hill. The question which he asked + anxiously shows what was in his mind: <q>Did the militia fight?</q> When the + answer was <q>Yes,</q> he said with relief, <q>The liberties of the country are + safe.</q> He reached Cambridge on the 2d of July and on the following day was + the chief figure in a striking ceremony. In the presence of a vast crowd + and of the motley army of volunteers, which was now to be called the + American army, Washington assumed the command. He sat on horseback under + an elm tree and an observer noted that his + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> + appearance was <q>truly noble and + majestic.</q> This was milder praise than that given a little later by a + London paper which said: <q>There is not a king in Europe but would look + like a <i>valet de chambre</i> by his side.</q> New England having seen him was + henceforth wholly on his side. His traditions were not those of the + Puritans, of the Ephraims and the Abijahs of the volunteer army, men whose + Old Testament names tell something of the rigor of the Puritan view of + life. Washington, a sharer in the free and often careless hospitality of + his native Virginia, had a different outlook. In his personal discipline, + however, he was not less Puritan than the strictest of New Englanders. The + coming years were to show that a great leader had taken his fitting place. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Washington, born in 1732, had been trained in self-reliance, for he had + been fatherless from childhood. At the age of sixteen he was working at + the profession, largely self-taught, of a surveyor of land. At the age of + twenty-seven he married Martha Custis, a rich widow with children, though + her marriage with Washington was childless. His estate on the Potomac + River, three hundred miles from the open sea, recently named Mount Vernon, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> + had been in the family for nearly a hundred years. There were twenty-five + hundred acres at Mount Vernon with ten miles of frontage on the tidal + river. The Virginia planters were a landowning gentry; when Washington + died he had more than sixty thousand acres. The growing of tobacco, the + one vital industry of the Virginia of the time, with its half million + people, was connected with the ownership of land. On their great estates + the planters lived remote, with a mail perhaps every fortnight. There were + no large towns, no great factories. Nearly half of the population + consisted of negro slaves. It is one of the ironies of history that the + chief leader in a war marked by a passion for liberty was a member of a + society in which, as another of its members, Jefferson, the author of the + Declaration of Independence, said, there was on the one hand the most + insulting despotism and on the other the most degrading submission. The + Virginian landowners were more absolute masters than the proudest lords of + medieval England. These feudal lords had serfs on their land. The serfs + were attached to the soil and were sold to a new master with the soil. + They were not, however, property, without human rights. On the other hand, + the slaves of the Virginian master were property like + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> + his horses. They + could not even call wife and children their own, for these might be sold + at will. It arouses a strange emotion now when we find Washington offering + to exchange a negro for hogsheads of molasses and rum and writing that the + man would bring a good price, <q>if kept clean and trim'd up a little when + offered for sale.</q> + </p> + <p> + In early life Washington had had very little of formal education. He knew + no language but English. When he became world famous and his friend La + Fayette urged him to visit France he refused because he would seem uncouth + if unable to speak the French tongue. Like another great soldier, the Duke + of Wellington, he was always careful about his dress. There was in him a + silent pride which would brook nothing derogatory to his dignity. No one + could be more methodical. He kept his accounts rigorously, entering even + the cost of repairing a hairpin for a ward. He was a keen farmer, and it + is amusing to find him recording in his careful journal that there are + 844,800 seeds of <q>New River Grass</q> to the pound Troy and so determining + how many should be sown to the acre. Not many youths would write out as + did Washington, apparently from French sources, and read and reread + elaborate <q>Rules of Civility and Decent + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> + Behaviour in Company and + Conversation.</q> In the fashion of the age of Chesterfield they portray the + perfect gentleman. He is always to remember the presence of others and not + to move, read, or speak without considering what may be due to them. In + the true spirit of the time he is to learn to defer to persons of superior + quality. Tactless laughter at his own wit, jests that have a sting of idle + gossip, are to be avoided. Reproof is to be given not in anger but in a + sweet and mild temper. The rules descend even to manners at table and are + a revelation of care in self-discipline. We might imagine Oliver Cromwell + drawing up such rules, but not Napoleon or Wellington. + </p> + <p> + The class to which Washington belonged prided itself on good birth and + good breeding. We picture him as austere, but, like Oliver Cromwell, whom + in some respects he resembles, he was very human in his personal + relations. He liked a glass of wine. He was fond of dancing and he went to + the theater, even on Sunday. He was, too, something of a lady's man; <q>He + can be downright impudent sometimes,</q> wrote a Southern lady, <q>such + impudence, Fanny, as you and I like.</q> In old age he loved to have the + young and gay about him. He could break into furious oaths and no one was + a better + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> + master of what we may call honorable guile in dealing with wily + savages, in circulating falsehoods that would deceive the enemy in time of + war, or in pursuing a business advantage. He played cards for money and + carefully entered loss and gain in his accounts. He loved horseracing and + horses, and nothing pleased him more than to talk of that noble animal. He + kept hounds and until his burden of cares became too great was an eager + devotee of hunting. His shooting was of a type more heroic than that of an + English squire spending a day on a moor with guests and gamekeepers and + returning to comfort in the evening. Washington went off on expeditions + into the forest lasting many days and shared the life in the woods of + rough men, sleeping often in the open air. <q>Happy,</q> he wrote, <q>is he who + gets the berth nearest the fire.</q> He could spend a happy day in admiring + the trees and the richness of the land on a neighbor's estate. Always his + thoughts were turning to the soil. There was poetry in him. It was said of + Napoleon that the one approach to poetry in all his writings is the + phrase: <q>The spring is at last appearing and the leaves are beginning to + sprout.</q> Washington, on the other hand, brooded over the mysteries of + life. He pictured to himself the serenity of a calm + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> + old age and always + dared to look death squarely in the face. He was sensitive to human + passion and he felt the wonder of nature in all her ways, her bounteous + response in growth to the skill of man, the delight of improving the earth + in contrast with the vain glory gained by ravaging it in war. His most + striking characteristics were energy and decision united often with strong + likes and dislikes. His clever secretary, Alexander Hamilton, found, as he + said, that his chief was not remarkable for good temper and resigned his + post because of an impatient rebuke. When a young man serving in the army + of Virginia, Washington had many a tussle with the obstinate Scottish + Governor, Dinwiddie, who thought his vehemence unmannerly and ungrateful. + Gilbert Stuart, who painted several of his portraits, said that his + features showed strong passions and that, had he not learned + self-restraint, his temper would have been savage. This discipline he + acquired. The task was not easy, but in time he was able to say with + truth, <q>I have no resentments,</q> and his self-control became so perfect as + to be almost uncanny. + </p> + <p> + The assumption that Washington fought against an England grown decadent is + not justified. To admit this would be to make his task seem lighter + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> + than + it really was. No doubt many of the rich aristocracy spent idle days of + pleasure-seeking with the comfortable conviction that they could discharge + their duties to society by merely existing, since their luxury made work + and the more they indulged themselves the more happy and profitable + employment would their many dependents enjoy. The eighteenth century was, + however, a wonderful epoch in England. Agriculture became a new thing + under the leadership of great landowners like Lord Townshend and Coke of + Norfolk. Already was abroad in society a divine discontent at existing + abuses. It brought Warren Hastings to trial on the charge of plundering + India. It attacked slavery, the cruelty of the criminal law, which sent + children to execution for the theft of a few pennies, the brutality of the + prisons, the torpid indifference of the church to the needs of the masses. + New inventions were beginning the age of machinery. The reform of + Parliament, votes for the toiling masses, and a thousand other + improvements were being urged. It was a vigorous, rich, and arrogant + England which Washington confronted. + </p> + <p> + It is sometimes said of Washington that he was an English country + gentleman. A gentleman he was, but with an experience and training quite + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> + unlike that of a gentleman in England. The young heir to an English estate + might or might not go to a university. He could, like the young Charles + James Fox, become a scholar, but like Fox, who knew some of the virtues + and all the supposed gentlemanly vices, he might dissipate his energies in + hunting, gambling, and cockfighting. He would almost certainly make the + grand tour of Europe, and, if he had little Latin and less Greek, he was + pretty certain to have some familiarity with Paris and a smattering of + French. The eighteenth century was a period of magnificent living in + England. The great landowner, then, as now, the magnate of his + neighborhood, was likely to rear, if he did not inherit, one of those vast + palaces which are today burdens so costly to the heirs of their builders. + At the beginning of the century the nation to honor Marlborough for his + victories could think of nothing better than to give him half a million + pounds to build a palace. Even with the colossal wealth produced by modern + industry we should be staggered at a residence costing millions of + dollars. Yet the Duke of Devonshire rivaled at Chatsworth, and Lord + Leicester at Holkham, Marlborough's building at Blenheim, and many other + costly palaces were erected during the following + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> + half century. Their + owners sometimes built in order to surpass a neighbor in grandeur, and to + this day great estates are encumbered by the debts thus incurred in vain + show. The heir to such a property was reared in a pomp and luxury + undreamed of by the frugal young planter of Virginia. Of working for a + livelihood, in the sense in which Washington knew it, the young Englishman + of great estate would never dream. + </p> + <p> + The Atlantic is a broad sea and even in our own day, when instant messages + flash across it and man himself can fly from shore to shore in less than a + score of hours, it is not easy for those on one strand to understand the + thought of those on the other. Every community evolves its own spirit not + easily to be apprehended by the onlooker. The state of society in America + was vitally different from that in England. The plain living of Virginia + was in sharp contrast with the magnificence and ease of England. It is + true that we hear of plate and elaborate furniture, of servants in livery, + and much drinking of Port and Madeira, among the Virginians. They had good + horses. Driving, as often they did, with six in a carriage, they seemed to + keep up regal style. Spaces were wide in a country where one great + landowner, Lord Fairfax, held + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> + no less than five million acres. Houses lay + isolated and remote and a gentleman dining out would sometimes drive his + elaborate equipage from twenty to fifty miles. There was a tradition of + lavish hospitality, of gallant men and fair women, and sometimes of hard + and riotous living. Many of the houses were, however, in a state of decay, + with leaking roofs, battered doors and windows and shabby furniture. To + own land in Virginia did not mean to live in luxurious ease. Land brought + in truth no very large income. It was easier to break new land than to + fertilize that long in use. An acre yielded only eight or ten bushels of + wheat. In England the land was more fruitful. One who was only a tenant on + the estate of Coke of Norfolk died worth £150,000, and Coke himself + had the income of a prince. When Washington died he was reputed one of the + richest men in America and yet his estate was hardly equal to that of + Coke's tenant. + </p> + <p> + Washington was a good farmer, inventive and enterprising, but he had + difficulties which ruined many of his neighbors. Today much of his + infertile estate of Mount Vernon would hardly grow enough to pay the + taxes. When Washington desired a gardener, or a bricklayer, or a + carpenter, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> + he usually had to buy him in the form of a convict, or of a + negro slave, or of a white man indentured for a term of years. Such labor + required eternal vigilance. The negro, himself property, had no respect + for it in others. He stole when he could and worked only when the eyes of + a master were upon him. If left in charge of plants or of stock he was + likely to let them perish for lack of water. Washington's losses of + cattle, horses, and sheep from this cause were enormous. The neglected + cattle gave so little milk that at one time Washington, with a hundred + cows, had to buy his butter. Negroes feigned sickness for weeks at a time. + A visitor noted that Washington spoke to his slaves with a stern + harshness. No doubt it was necessary. The management of this intractable + material brought training in command. If Washington could make negroes + efficient and farming pay in Virginia, he need hardly be afraid to meet + any other type of difficulty. + </p> + <p> + From the first he was satisfied that the colonies had before them a + difficult struggle. Many still refused to believe that there was really a + state of war. Lexington and Bunker Hill might be regarded as unfortunate + accidents to be explained away in an era of good feeling when each side + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> + should acknowledge the merits of the other and apologize for its own + faults. Washington had few illusions of this kind. He took the issue in a + serious and even bitter spirit. He knew nothing of the Englishman at home + for he had never set foot outside of the colonies except to visit Barbados + with an invalid half-brother. Even then he noted that the <q>gentleman + inhabitants</q> whose <q>hospitality and genteel behaviour</q> he admired were + discontented with the tone of the officials sent out from England. From + early life Washington had seen much of British officers in America. Some + of them had been men of high birth and station who treated the young + colonial officer with due courtesy. When, however, he had served on the + staff of the unfortunate General Braddock in the calamitous campaign of + 1755, he had been offended by the tone of that leader. Probably it was in + these days that Washington first brooded over the contrasts between the + Englishman and the Virginian. With obstinate complacency Braddock had + disregarded Washington's counsels of prudence. He showed arrogant + confidence in his veteran troops and contempt for the amateur soldiers of + whom Washington was one. In a wild country where rapid movement was the + condition of success Braddock would + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> + halt, as Washington said, <q>to level + every mole hill and to erect bridges over every brook.</q> His transport was + poor and Washington, a lover of horses, chafed at what he called <q>vile + management</q> of the horses by the British soldier. When anything went wrong + Braddock blamed, not the ineffective work of his own men, but the + supineness of Virginia. <q>He looks upon the country,</q> Washington wrote in + wrath, <q>I believe, as void of honour and honesty.</q> The hour of trial came + in the fight of July, 1755, when Braddock was defeated and killed on the + march to the Ohio. Washington told his mother that in the fight the + Virginian troops stood their ground and were nearly all killed but the + boasted regulars <q>were struck with such a panic that they behaved with + more cowardice than it is possible to conceive.</q> In the anger and + resentment of this comment is found the spirit which made Washington a + champion of the colonial cause from the first hour of disagreement. + </p> + <p> + That was a fatal day in March, 1765, when the British Parliament voted + that it was just and necessary that a revenue be raised in America. + Washington was uncompromising. After the tax on tea he derided <q>our lordly + masters in Great Britain.</q> No man, he said, should scruple for a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> + moment to + take up arms against the threatened tyranny. He and his neighbors of + Fairfax County, Virginia, took the trouble to tell the world by formal + resolution on July 18, 1774, that they were descended not from a conquered + but from a conquering people, that they claimed full equality with the + people of Great Britain, and like them would make their own laws and + impose their own taxes. They were not democrats; they had no theories of + equality; but as <q>gentlemen and men of fortune</q> they would show to others + the right path in the crisis which had arisen. In this resolution spoke + the proud spirit of Washington; and, as he brooded over what was + happening, anger fortified his pride. Of the Tories in Boston, some of + them highly educated men, who with sorrow were walking in what was to them + the hard path of duty, Washington could say later that <q>there never + existed a more miserable set of beings than these wretched creatures.</q> + </p> + <p> + The age of Washington was one of bitter vehemence in political thought. In + England the good Whig was taught that to deny Whig doctrine was blasphemy, + that there was no truth or honesty on the other side, and that no one + should trust a Tory; and usually the good Whig was true to the teaching + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> + he had received. In America there had hitherto been no national politics. + Issues had been local and passions thus confined exploded all the more + fiercely. Franklin spoke of George III as drinking long draughts of + American blood and of the British people as so depraved and barbarous as + to be the wickedest nation upon earth, inspired by bloody and insatiable + malice and wickedness. To Washington George III was a tyrant, his + ministers were scoundrels, and the British people were lost to every sense + of virtue. The evil of it is that, for a posterity which listened to no + other comment on the issues of the Revolution, such utterances, instead of + being understood as passing expressions of party bitterness, were taken as + the calm judgments of men held in reverence and awe. Posterity has agreed + that there is nothing to be said for the coercing of the colonies so + resolutely pressed by George III and his ministers. Posterity can also, + however, understand that the struggle was not between undiluted virtue on + the one side and undiluted vice on the other. Some eighty years after the + American Revolution the Republic created by the Revolution endured the + horrors of civil war rather than accept its own disruption. In 1776 even + the most liberal Englishmen felt a similar passion for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> + the continued unity of the British Empire. Time has reconciled all schools + of thought to the unity lost in the case of the Empire and to the unity + preserved in the case of the Republic, but on the losing side in each case + good men fought with deep conviction. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER II</a></h2> + <h3>Boston and Quebec</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Washington</span> was not a professional soldier, though he had seen the + realities of war and had moved in military society. Perhaps it was an + advantage that he had not received the rigid training of a regular, for he + faced conditions which required an elastic mind. The force besieging + Boston consisted at first chiefly of New England militia, with companies + of minute-men, so called because of their supposed readiness to fight at a + minute's notice. Washington had been told that he should find 20,000 men + under his command; he found, in fact, a nominal army of 17,000, with + probably not more than 14,000 effective, and the number tended to decline + as the men went away to their homes after the first vivid interest gave + way to the humdrum of military life. + </p> + <p> + The extensive camp before Boston, as Washington now saw it, expressed the + varied character + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> + of his strange command. Cambridge, the seat of Harvard + College, was still only a village with a few large houses and park-like + grounds set among fields of grain, now trodden down by the soldiers. Here + was placed in haphazard style the motley housing of a military camp. The + occupants had followed their own taste in building. One could see + structures covered with turf, looking like lumps of mother earth, tents + made of sail cloth, huts of bare boards, huts of brick and stone, some + having doors and windows of wattled basketwork. There were not enough huts + to house the army nor camp-kettles for cooking. Blankets were so few that + many of the men were without covering at night. In the warm summer weather + this did not much matter but bleak autumn and harsh winter would bring + bitter privation. The sick in particular suffered severely, for the + hospitals were badly equipped. + </p> + <p> + A deep conviction inspired many of the volunteers. They regarded as brutal + tyranny the tax on tea, considered in England as a mild expedient for + raising needed revenue for defense in the colonies. The men of Suffolk + County, Massachusetts, meeting in September, 1774, had declared in + high-flown terms that the proposed tax came from a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> + parricide who held a + dagger at their bosoms and that those who resisted him would earn praises + to eternity. From nearly every colony came similar utterances, and flaming + resentment at injustice filled the volunteer army. Many a soldier would + not touch a cup of tea because tea had been the ruin of his country. Some + wore pinned to their hats or coats the words <q>Liberty or Death</q> and talked + of resisting tyranny until <q>time shall be no more.</q> It was a dark day for + the motherland when so many of her sons believed that she was the enemy of + liberty. The iron of this conviction entered into the soul of the American + nation; at Gettysburg, nearly a century later, Abraham Lincoln, in a noble + utterance which touched the heart of humanity, could appeal to the days of + the Revolution, when <q>our fathers brought forth on this continent a new + nation, conceived in liberty.</q> The colonists believed that they were + fighting for something of import to all mankind, and the nation which they + created believes it still. + </p> + <p> + An age of war furnishes, however, occasion for the exercise of baser + impulses. The New Englander was a trader by instinct. An army had come + suddenly together and there was golden promise of contracts for supplies + at fat profits. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> + The leader from Virginia, untutored in such things, was + astounded at the greedy scramble. Before the year 1775 ended Washington + wrote to his friend Lee that he prayed God he might never again have to + witness such lack of public spirit, such jobbing and self-seeking, such + <q>fertility in all the low arts,</q> as now he found at Cambridge. He declared + that if he could have foreseen all this nothing would have induced him to + take the command. Later, the young La Fayette, who had left behind him in + France wealth and luxury in order to fight a hard fight in America, was + shocked at the slackness and indifference among the supposed patriots for + whose cause he was making sacrifices so heavy. In the backward parts of + the colonies the population was densely ignorant and had little grasp of + the deeper meaning of the patriot cause. + </p> + <p> + The army was, as Washington himself said, <q>a mixed multitude.</q> There was + every variety of dress. Old uniforms, treasured from the days of the last + French wars, had been dug out. A military coat or a cocked hat was the + only semblance of uniform possessed by some of the officers. Rank was + often indicated by ribbons of different colors tied on the arm. Lads from + the farms had come in their usual dress; a good many of these were + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> + hunters + from the frontier wearing the buckskin of the deer they had slain. + Sometimes there was clothing of grimmer material. Later in the war in + American officer recorded that his men had skinned two dead Indians <q>from + their hips down, for bootlegs, one pair for the Major, the other for + myself.</q> The volunteers varied greatly in age. There were bearded veterans + of sixty and a sprinkling of lads of sixteen. An observer laughed at the + boys and the <q>great great grandfathers</q> who marched side by side in the + army before Boston. Occasionally a black face was seen in the ranks. One + of Washington's tasks was to reduce the disparity of years and especially + to secure men who could shoot. In the first enthusiasm of 1775 so many men + volunteered in Virginia that a selection was made on the basis of accuracy + in shooting. The men fired at a range of one hundred and fifty yards at an + outline of a man's nose in chalk on a board. Each man had a single shot + and the first men shot the nose entirely away. + </p> + <p> + Undoubtedly there was the finest material among the men lounging about + their quarters at Cambridge in fashion so unmilitary. In physique they + were larger than the British soldier, a result due to abundant food and + free life in the open air + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> + from childhood. Most of the men supplied their + own uniform and rifles and much barter went on in the hours after drill. + The men made and sold shoes, clothes, and even arms. They were accustomed + to farm life and good at digging and throwing up entrenchments. The + colonial mode of waging war was, however, not that of Europe. To the + regular soldier of the time even earth entrenchments seemed a sign of + cowardice. The brave man would come out on the open to face his foe. Earl + Percy, who rescued the harassed British on the day of Lexington, had the + poorest possible opinion of those on what he called the rebel side. To him + they were intriguing rascals, hypocrites, cowards, with sinister designs + to ruin the Empire. But he was forced to admit that they fought well and + faced death willingly. + </p> + <p> + In time Washington gathered about him a fine body of officers, brave, + steady, and efficient. On the great issue they, like himself, had + unchanging conviction, and they and he saved the revolution. But a good + many of his difficulties were due to bad officers. He had himself the + reverence for gentility, the belief in an ordered grading of society, + characteristic of his class in that age. In Virginia the relation of + master and servant was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> + well understood and the tone of authority was + readily accepted. In New England conceptions of equality were more + advanced. The extent to which the people would brook the despotism of + military command was uncertain. From the first some of the volunteers had + elected their officers. The result was that intriguing demagogues were + sometimes chosen. The Massachusetts troops, wrote a Connecticut captain, + not free, perhaps, from local jealousy, were <q>commanded by a most + despicable set of officers.</q> At Bunker Hill officers of this type shirked + the fight and their men, left without leaders, joined in the panicky + retreat of that day. Other officers sent away soldiers to work on their + farms while at the same time they drew for them public pay. At a later + time Washington wrote to a friend wise counsel about the choice of + officers. <q>Take none but gentlemen; let no local attachment influence you; + do not suffer your good nature to say Yes when you ought to say No. + Remember that it is a public, not a private cause.</q> What he desired was + the gentleman's chivalry of refinement, sense of honor, dignity of + character, and freedom from mere self-seeking. The prime qualities of a + good officer, as he often said, were authority and decision. It is + probably true of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> + democracies that they prefer and will follow the man who + will take with them a strong tone. Little men, however, cannot see this + and think to gain support by shifty changes of opinion to please the + multitude. What authority and decision could be expected from an officer + of the peasant type, elected by his own men? How could he dominate men + whose short term of service was expiring and who had to be coaxed to renew + it? Some elected officers had to promise to pool their pay with that of + their men. In one company an officer fulfilled the double position of + captain and barber. In time, however, the authority of military rank came + to be respected throughout the whole army. An amusing contrast with + earlier conditions is found in 1779 when a captain was tried by a brigade + court-martial and dismissed from the service for intimate association with + the wagon-maker of the brigade. + </p> + <p> + The first thing to do at Cambridge was to get rid of the inefficient and + the corrupt. Washington had never any belief in a militia army. From his + earliest days as a soldier he had favored conscription, even in free + Virginia. He had then found quite ineffective the <q>whooping, holloing + gentlemen soldiers</q> of the volunteer force of the colony + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> + among whom <q>every individual has his own crude notion of things and must + undertake to direct. If his advice is neglected he thinks himself + slighted, abused, and injured and, to redress his wrongs, will depart for + his home.</q> Washington found at Cambridge too many officers. Then as + later in the American army there were swarms of colonels. The officers + from Massachusetts, conscious that they had seen the first fighting in + the great cause, expected special consideration from a stranger serving + on their own soil. Soon they had a rude awakening. Washington broke a + Massachusetts colonel and two captains because they had proved cowards at + Bunker Hill, two more captains for fraud in drawing pay and provisions + for men who did not exist, and still another for absence from his post + when he was needed. He put in jail a colonel, a major, and three or four + other officers. <q>New lords, new laws,</q> wrote in his diary Mr. + Emerson, the chaplain: <q>the Generals Washington and Lee are upon the + lines every day… great distinction is made between + officers and soldiers.</q> + </p> + <p> + The term of all the volunteers in Washington's army expired by the end of + 1775, so that he had to create a new army during the siege of Boston. He + spoke scornfully of an enemy so little enterprising + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> + as to remain supine + during the process. But probably the British were wise to avoid a venture + inland and to remain in touch with their fleet. Washington made them + uneasy when he drove away the cattle from the neighborhood. Soon beef was + selling in Boston for as much as eighteen pence a pound. Food might reach + Boston in ships but supplies even by sea were insecure, for the Americans + soon had privateers manned by seamen familiar with New England waters and + happy in expected gains from prize money. The British were anxious about + the elementary problem of food. They might have made Washington more + uncomfortable by forays and alarms. Only reluctantly, however, did Howe, + who took over the command on October 10, 1775, admit to himself that this + was a real war. He still hoped for settlement without further bloodshed. + Washington was glad to learn that the British were laying in supplies of + coal for the winter. It meant that they intended to stay in Boston, where, + more than in any other place, he could make trouble for them. + </p> + <p> + Washington had more on his mind than the creation of an army and the siege + of Boston. He had also to decide the strategy of the war. On the long + American sea front Boston alone remained in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> + British hands. New York, + Philadelphia, Charleston and other ports farther south were all, for the + time, on the side of the Revolution. Boston was not a good naval base for + the British, since it commanded no great waterway leading inland. The + sprawling colonies, from the rock-bound coast of New England to the swamps + and forests of Georgia, were strong in their incoherent vastness. There + were a thousand miles of seacoast. Only rarely were considerable + settlements to be found more than a hundred miles distant from salt water. + An army marching to the interior would have increasing difficulties from + transport and supplies. Wherever water routes could be used the naval + power of the British gave them an advantage. One such route was the + Hudson, less a river than a navigable arm of the sea, leading to the heart + of the colony of New York, its upper waters almost touching Lake George + and Lake Champlain, which in turn led to the St. Lawrence in Canada and + thence to the sea. Canada was held by the British; and it was clear that, + if they should take the city of New York, they might command the whole + line from the mouth of the Hudson to the St. Lawrence, and so cut off New + England from the other colonies and overcome a divided enemy. To foil this + policy + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> + Washington planned to hold New York and to capture Canada. With + Canada in line the union of the colonies would be indeed continental, and, + if the British were driven from Boston, they would have no secure foothold + in North America. + </p> + <p> + The danger from Canada had always been a source of anxiety to the English + colonies. The French had made Canada a base for attempts to drive the + English from North America. During many decades war had raged along the + Canadian frontier. With the cession of Canada to Britain in 1763 this + danger had vanished. The old habit endured, however, of fear of Canada. + When, in 1774, the British Parliament passed the bill for the government + of Canada known as the Quebec Act, there was violent clamor. The measure + was assumed to be a calculated threat against colonial liberty. The Quebec + Act continued in Canada the French civil law and the ancient privileges of + the Roman Catholic Church. It guaranteed order in the wild western region + north of the Ohio, taken recently from France, by placing it under the + authority long exercised there of the Governor of Quebec. Only a vivid + imagination would conceive that to allow to the French in Canada their old + loved customs and laws involved designs against the freedom under + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> + English + law in the other colonies, or that to let the Canadians retain in respect + to religion what they had always possessed meant a sinister plot against + the Protestantism of the English colonies. Yet Alexander Hamilton, perhaps + the greatest mind in the American Revolution, had frantic suspicions. + French laws in Canada involved, he said, the extension of French despotism + in the English colonies. The privileges continued to the Roman Catholic + Church in Canada would be followed in due course by the Inquisition, the + burning of heretics at the stake in Boston and New York, and the bringing + from Europe of Roman Catholic settlers who would prove tools for the + destruction of religious liberty. Military rule at Quebec meant, sooner or + later, despotism everywhere in America. We may smile now at the youthful + Hamilton's picture of <q>dark designs</q> and <q>deceitful wiles</q> on + the part of that fierce Protestant George III to establish Roman Catholic + despotism, but the colonies regarded the danger as serious. The quick + remedy would be simply to take Canada, as Washington now planned. + </p> + <p> + To this end something had been done before Washington assumed the command. + The British Fort Ticonderoga, on the neck of land separating + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> + Lake Champlain from Lake George, commanded the route from New York to Canada. + The fight at Lexington in April had been quickly followed by aggressive + action against this British stronghold. No news of Lexington had reached + the fort when early in May Colonel Ethan Allen, with Benedict Arnold + serving as a volunteer in his force of eighty-three men, arrived in + friendly guise. The fort was held by only forty-eight British; with the + menace from France at last ended they felt secure; discipline was slack, + for there was nothing to do. The incompetent commander testified that he + lent Allen twenty men for some rough work on the lake. By evening Allen + had them all drunk and then it was easy, without firing a shot, to capture + the fort with a rush. The door to Canada was open. Great stores of + ammunition and a hundred and twenty guns, which in due course were used + against the British at Boston, fell into American hands. + </p> + <p> + About Canada Washington was ill-informed. He thought of the Canadians as + if they were Virginians or New Yorkers. They had been recently conquered + by Britain; their new king was a tyrant; they would desire liberty and + would welcome an American army. So reasoned Washington, but without + knowledge. The Canadians were a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> + conquered people, but they had found the + British king no tyrant and they had experienced the paradox of being freer + under the conqueror than they had been under their own sovereign. The last + days of French rule in Canada were disgraced by corruption and tyranny + almost unbelievable. The Canadian peasant had been cruelly robbed and he + had conceived for his French rulers a dislike which appears still in his + attitude towards the motherland of France. For his new British master he + had assuredly no love, but he was no longer dragged off to war and his + property was not plundered. He was free, too, to speak his mind. During + the first twenty years after the British conquest of Canada the Canadian + French matured indeed an assertive liberty not even dreamed of during the + previous century and a half of French rule. + </p> + <p> + The British tyranny which Washington pictured in Canada was thus not very + real. He underestimated, too, the antagonism between the Roman Catholics + of Canada and the Protestants of the English colonies. The Congress at + Philadelphia in denouncing the Quebec Act had accused the Catholic Church + of bigotry, persecution, murder, and rebellion. This was no very tactful + appeal for sympathy to the sons of that France which was still + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> + the eldest + daughter of the Church and it was hardly helped by a maladroit turn + suggesting that <q>low-minded infirmities</q> should not permit such + differences to block union in the sacred cause of liberty. Washington + believed that two battalions of Canadians might be recruited to fight the + British, and that the French Acadians of Nova Scotia, a people so remote + that most of them hardly knew what the war was about, were tingling with + sympathy for the American cause. In truth the Canadian was not prepared to + fight on either side. What the priest and the landowner could do to make + him fight for Britain was done, but, for all that, Sir Guy Carleton, the + Governor of Canada, found recruiting impossible. + </p> + <p> + Washington believed that the war would be won by the side which held + Canada. He saw that from Canada would be determined the attitude of the + savages dwelling in the wild spaces of the interior; he saw, too, that + Quebec as a military base in British hands would be a source of grave + danger. The easy capture of Fort Ticonderoga led him to underrate + difficulties. If Ticonderoga why not Quebec? Nova Scotia might be occupied + later, the Acadians helping. Thus it happened that, soon after taking over + the command, Washington was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> + busy with a plan for the conquest of Canada. Two forces were to advance + into that country; one by way of Lake Champlain under General Schuyler + and the other through the forests of Maine under Benedict Arnold. + </p> + <p> + Schuyler was obliged through illness to give up his command, and it was an + odd fortune of war that put General Richard Montgomery at the head of the + expedition going by way of Lake Champlain. Montgomery had served with + Wolfe at the taking of Louisbourg and had been an officer in the proud + British army which had received the surrender of Canada in 1760. Not + without searching of heart had Montgomery turned against his former + sovereign. He was living in America when war broke out; he had married + into an American family of position; and he had come to the view that + vital liberty was challenged by the King. Now he did his work well, in + spite of very bad material in his army. His New Englanders were, he said, + <q>every man a general and not one of them a soldier.</q> They feigned + sickness, though, as far as he had learned, there was <q>not a man dead of + any distemper.</q> No better were the men from New York, <q>the sweepings + of the streets</q> with morals <q>infamous.</q> Of the officers, too, + Montgomery had a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> + poor opinion. Like Washington he declared that it was necessary to get + gentlemen, men of education and integrity, as officers, or disaster would + follow. Nevertheless St. Johns, a British post on the Richelieu, about + thirty miles across country from Montreal, fell to Montgomery on the 3d of + November, after a siege of six weeks; and British regulars under Major + Preston, a brave and competent officer, yielded to a crude volunteer army + with whole regiments lacking uniforms. Montreal could make no defense. On + the 12th of November Montgomery entered Montreal and was in control of the + St. Lawrence almost to the cliffs of Quebec. Canada seemed indeed an easy + conquest. + </p> + <p> + The adventurous Benedict Arnold went on an expedition more hazardous. He + had persuaded Washington of the impossible, that he could advance through + the wilderness from the seacoast of Maine and take Quebec by surprise. + News travels even by forest pathways. Arnold made a wonderful effort. + Chill autumn was upon him when, on the 25th of September, with about a + thousand picked men, he began to advance up the Kennebec River and over + the height of land to the upper waters of the Chaudière, which + discharges into the St. Lawrence opposite Quebec. There were heavy + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> + rains. Sometimes + the men had to wade breast high in dragging heavy and leaking boats over + the difficult places. A good many men died of starvation. Others deserted + and turned back. The indomitable Arnold pressed on, however, and on the + 9th of November, a few days before Montgomery occupied Montreal, he stood + with some six hundred worn and shivering men on the strand of the St. + Lawrence opposite Quebec. He had not surprised the city and it looked grim + and inaccessible as he surveyed it across the great river. In the autumn + gales it was not easy to carry over his little army in small boats. But + this he accomplished and then waited for Montgomery to join him. + </p> + <p> + By the 3d of December Montgomery was with Arnold before Quebec. They had + hardly more than a thousand effective troops, together with a few hundred + Canadians, upon whom no reliance could be placed. Carleton, commanding at + Quebec, sat tight and would hold no communication with despised <q>rebels.</q> + <q>They all pretend to be gentlemen,</q> said an astonished British officer in + Quebec, when he heard that among the American officers now captured by the + British there were a former blacksmith, a butcher, a shoemaker, and an + innkeeper. Montgomery was stung to violent + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> + threats by Carleton's contempt, + but never could he draw from Carleton a reply. At last Montgomery tried, + in the dark of early morning of New Year's Day, 1776, to carry Quebec by + storm. He was to lead an attack on the Lower Town from the west side, + while Arnold was to enter from the opposite side. When they met in the + center they were to storm the citadel on the heights above. They counted + on the help of the French inhabitants, from whom Carleton said bitterly + enough that he had nothing to fear in prosperity and nothing to hope for + in adversity. Arnold pressed his part of the attack with vigor and + penetrated to the streets of the Lower Town where he fell wounded. Captain + Daniel Morgan, who took over the command, was made prisoner. + </p> + <p> + Montgomery's fate was more tragic. In spite of protests from his officers, + he led in person the attack from the west side of the fortress. The + advance was along a narrow road under the towering cliffs of a great + precipice. The attack was expected by the British and the guard at the + barrier was ordered to hold its fire until the enemy was near. Suddenly + there was a roar of cannon and the assailants not swept down fled in + panic. With the morning light the dead head of Montgomery was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> + found protruding from the snow. He was mourned by Washington and with + reason. He had talents and character which might have made him one of the + chief leaders of the revolutionary army. Elsewhere, too, was he mourned. + His father, an Irish landowner, had been a member of the British + Parliament, and he himself was a Whig, known to Fox and Burke. When news + of his death reached England eulogies upon him came from the Whig benches + in Parliament which could not have been stronger had he died fighting for + the King. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + While the outlook in Canada grew steadily darker, the American cause + prospered before Boston. There Howe was not at ease. If it was really to + be war, which he still doubted, it would be well to seek some other base. + Washington helped Howe to take action. Dorchester Heights commanded Boston + as critically from the south as did Bunker Hill from the north. By the end + of February Washington had British cannon, brought with heavy labor from + Ticonderoga, and then he lost no time. On the morning of March 5, 1776, + Howe awoke to find that, under cover of a heavy bombardment, American + troops had occupied Dorchester Heights and that if he would dislodge + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> + them + he must make another attack similar to that at Bunker Hill. The + alternative of stiff fighting was the evacuation of Boston. Howe, though + dilatory, was a good fighting soldier. His defects as a general in America + sprang in part from his belief that the war was unjust and that delay + might bring counsels making for peace and save bloodshed. His first + decision was to attack, but a furious gale thwarted his purpose, and he + then prepared for the inevitable step. + </p> + <p> + Washington divined Howe's purpose and there was a tacit agreement that the + retiring army should not be molested. Howe destroyed munitions of war + which he could not take away but he left intact the powerful defenses of + Boston, defenses reared at the cost of Britain. Many of the better class + of the inhabitants, British in their sympathies, were now face to face + with bitter sorrow and sacrifice. Passions were so aroused that a hard + fate awaited them should they remain in Boston and they decided to leave + with the British army. Travel by land was blocked; they could go only by + sea. When the time came to depart, laden carriages, trucks, and + wheelbarrows crowded to the quays through the narrow streets and a sad + procession of exiles went out from their homes. A profane critic + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> + said that + they moved <q>as if the very devil was after them.</q> No doubt many of them + would have been arrogant and merciless to <q>rebels</q> had theirs been the + triumph. But the day was above all a day of sorrow. Edward Winslow, a + strong leader among them, tells of his tears <q>at leaving our once happy + town of Boston.</q> The ships, a forest of masts, set sail and, crowded with + soldiers and refugees, headed straight out to sea for Halifax. Abigail, + wife of John Adams, a clever woman, watched the departure of the fleet + with gladness in her heart. She thought that never before had been seen in + America so many ships bearing so many people. Washington's army marched + joyously into Boston. Joyous it might well be since, for the moment, + powerful Britain was not secure in a single foot of territory in the + former colonies. If Quebec should fall the continent would be almost + conquered. + </p> + <p> + Quebec did not fall. All through the winter the Americans held on before + the place. They shivered from cold. They suffered from the dread disease + of smallpox. They had difficulty in getting food. The Canadians were + insistent on having good money for what they offered and since good money + was not always in the treasury the invading army + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> + sometimes used violence. + Then the Canadians became more reserved and chilling than ever. In hope of + mending matters Congress sent a commission to Montreal in the spring of + 1776. Its chairman was Benjamin Franklin and, with him, were two leading + Roman Catholics, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, a great landowner of + Maryland, and his brother John, a priest, afterwards Archbishop of + Baltimore. It was not easy to represent as the liberator of the Catholic + Canadians the Congress which had denounced in scathing terms the + concessions in the Quebec Act to the Catholic Church. Franklin was a + master of conciliation, but before he achieved anything a dramatic event + happened. On the 6th of May, British ships arrived at Quebec. The + inhabitants rushed to the ramparts. Cries of joy passed from street to + street and they reached the little American army, now under General + Thomas, encamped on the Plains of Abraham. Panic seized the small force + which had held on so long. On the ships were ten thousand fresh British + troops. The one thing for the Americans to do was to get away; and they + fled, leaving behind guns, supplies, even clothing and private papers. + Five days later Franklin, at Montreal, was dismayed by the distressing + news of disaster. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> + Congress sent six regiments to reinforce the army which had fled from + Quebec. It was a desperate venture. Washington's orders were that the + Americans should fight the new British army as near Quebec as possible. + The decisive struggle took place on the 8th of June. An American force + under the command of General Thompson attacked Three Rivers, a town on the + St. Lawrence, half way between Quebec and Montreal. They were repulsed and + the general was taken prisoner. The wonder is indeed that the army was not + annihilated. Then followed a disastrous retreat. Short of supplies, + ravaged by smallpox, and in bad weather, the invaders tried to make their + way back to Lake Champlain. They evacuated Montreal. It is hard enough in + the day of success to hold together an untrained army. In the day of + defeat such a force is apt to become a mere rabble. Some of the American + regiments preserved discipline. Others fell into complete disorder as, + weak and discouraged, they retired to Lake Champlain. Many soldiers + perished of disease. <q>I did not look into a hut or a tent,</q> says an + observer, <q>in which I did not find a dead or dying man.</q> Those who had + huts were fortunate. The fate of some was to die without medical care and + without cover. By + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> + the end of June what was left of the force had reached Crown Point on + Lake Champlain. + </p> + <p> + Benedict Arnold, who had been wounded at Quebec, was now at Crown Point. + Competent critics of the war have held that what Arnold now did saved the + Revolution. In another scene, before the summer ended, the British had + taken New York and made themselves masters of the lower Hudson. Had they + reached in the same season the upper Hudson by way of Lake Champlain they + would have struck blows doubly staggering. This Arnold saw, and his object + was to delay, if he could not defeat, the British advance. There was no + road through the dense forest by the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake + George to the upper Hudson. The British must go down the lake in boats. + This General Carleton had foreseen and he had urged that with the fleet + sent to Quebec should be sent from England, in sections, boats which could + be quickly carried past the rapids of the Richelieu River and launched on + Lake Champlain. They had not come and the only thing for Carleton to do + was to build a flotilla which could carry an army up the lake and attack + Crown Point. The thing was done but skilled workmen were few and not until + the 5th of October were the little ships afloat + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> + on Lake Champlain. Arnold, too, spent the summer in building boats to meet + the attack and it was a strange turn in warfare which now made him + commander in a naval fight. There was a brisk struggle on Lake Champlain. + Carleton had a score or so of vessels; Arnold not so many. But he delayed + Carleton. When he was beaten on the water he burned the ships not + captured and took to the land. When he could no longer hold Crown Point + he burned that place and retreated to Ticonderoga. + </p> + <p> + By this time it was late autumn. The British were far from their base and + the Americans were retreating into a friendly country. There is little + doubt that Carleton could have taken Fort Ticonderoga. It fell quite + easily less than a year later. Some of his officers urged him to press on + and do it. But the leaves had already fallen, the bleak winter was near, + and Carleton pictured to himself an army buried deeply in an enemy country + and separated from its base by many scores of miles of lake and forest. He + withdrew to Canada and left Lake Champlain to the Americans. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER III</a></h2> + <h3>Independence</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Well-meaning</span> people in England found it + difficult to understand the intensity of feeling in America. Britain had + piled up a huge debt in driving France from America. Landowners were + paying in taxes no less than twenty per cent of their incomes from land. + The people who had chiefly benefited by the humiliation of France were the + colonists, now freed from hostile menace and secure for extension over a + whole continent. Why should not they pay some share of the cost of their + own security? Certain facts tended to make Englishmen indignant with the + Americans. Every effort had failed to get them to pay willingly for their + defense. Before the Stamp Act had become law in 1765 the colonies were + given a whole year to devise the raising of money in any way which they + liked better. The burden of what was asked would be light. Why should not + they agree to bear it? Why this talk, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> + repeated by the Whigs in the British Parliament, of brutal + tyranny, oppression, hired minions imposing slavery, and so on. Where were + the oppressed? Could any one point to a single person who before war broke + out had known British tyranny? What suffering could any one point to as + the result of the tax on tea? The people of England paid a tax on tea four + times heavier than that paid in America. Was not the British Parliament + supreme over the whole Empire? Did not the colonies themselves admit that + it had the right to control their trade overseas? And if men shirk their + duty should they not come under some law of compulsion? + </p> + <p> + It was thus that many a plain man reasoned in England. The plain man in + America had his own opposing point of view. Debts and taxes in England + were not his concern. He remembered the recent war as vividly as did the + Englishman, and, if the English paid its cost in gold, he had paid his + share in blood and tears. Who made up the armies led by the British + generals in America? More than half the total number who served in America + came from the colonies, the colonies which had barely a third of the + population of Great Britain. True, Britain paid the bill in money but why + not? She + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> + was rich with a vast accumulated capital. The war, partly in + America, had given her the key to the wealth of India. Look at the + magnificence, the pomp of servants, plate and pictures, the parks and + gardens, of hundreds of English country houses, and compare this opulence + with the simple mode of life, simplicity imposed by necessity, of a + country gentleman like George Washington of Virginia, reputed to be the + richest man in America. Thousands of tenants in England, owning no acre of + land, were making a larger income than was possible in America to any + owner of broad acres. It was true that America had gained from the late + war. The foreign enemy had been struck down. But had he not been struck + down too for England? Had there not been far more dread in England of + invasion by France and had not the colonies by helping to ruin France + freed England as much as England had freed them? If now the colonies were + asked to pay a share of the bill for the British army that was a matter + for discussion. They had never before done it and they must not be told + that they had to meet the demand within a year or be compelled to pay. Was + it not to impose tyranny and slavery to tell a people that their property + would be taken by force if they did not choose to give it? + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> + What free man + would not rather die than yield on such a point? + </p> + <p> + The familiar workings of modern democracy have taught us that a great + political issue must be discussed in broad terms of high praise or severe + blame. The contestants will exaggerate both the virtue of the side they + espouse and the malignity of the opposing side; nice discrimination is not + possible. It was inevitable that the dispute with the colonies should + arouse angry vehemence on both sides. The passionate speech of Patrick + Henry in Virginia, in 1763, which made him famous, and was the forerunner + of his later appeal, <q>Give me Liberty or give me Death,</q> related to so + prosaic a question as the right of disallowance by England of an act + passed by a colonial legislature, a right exercised long and often before + that time and to this day a part of the constitutional machinery of the + British Empire. Few men have lived more serenely poised than Washington, + yet, as we have seen, he hated the British with an implacable hatred. He + was a humane man. In earlier years, Indian raids on the farmers of + Virginia had stirred him to <q>deadly sorrow,</q> and later, during his retreat + from New York, he was moved by the cries of the weak and infirm. Yet the + same man felt no + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> + touch of pity for the Loyalists of the Revolution. To him + they were detestable parricides, vile traitors, with no right to live. + When we find this note in Washington, in America, we hardly wonder that + the high Tory, Samuel Johnson, in England, should write that the proposed + taxation was no tyranny, that it had not been imposed earlier because <q>we + do not put a calf into the plough; we wait till he is an ox,</q> and that the + Americans were <q>a race of convicts, and ought to be thankful for anything + which we allow them short of hanging.</q> Tyranny and treason are both ugly + things. Washington believed that he was fighting the one, Johnson that he + was fighting the other, and neither side would admit the charge against + itself. + </p> + <p> + Such are the passions aroused by civil strife. We need not now, when they + are, or ought to be, dead, spend any time in deploring them. It suffices + to explain them and the events to which they led. There was one and really + only one final issue. Were the American colonies free to govern themselves + as they liked or might their government in the last analysis be regulated + by Great Britain? The truth is that the colonies had reached a condition + in which they regarded themselves as British states with their own + parliaments, exercising + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> + complete jurisdiction in their own affairs. They + intended to use their own judgment and they were as restless under + attempted control from England as England would have been under control + from America. We can indeed always understand the point of view of + Washington if we reverse the position and imagine what an Englishman would + have thought of a claim by America to tax him. + </p> + <p> + An ancient and proud society is reluctant to change. After a long and + successful war England was prosperous. To her now came riches from India + and the ends of the earth. In society there was such lavish expenditure + that Horace Walpole declared an income of twenty thousand pounds a year + was barely enough. England had an aristocracy the proudest in the world, + for it had not only rank but wealth. The English people were certain of + the invincible superiority of their nation. Every Englishman was taught, + as Disraeli said of a later period, to believe that he occupied a position + better than any one else of his own degree in any other country in the + world. The merchant in England was believed to surpass all others in + wealth and integrity, the manufacturer to have no rivals in skill, the + British sailor to stand in a class by himself, the British officer to + express the last word in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> + chivalry. It followed, of course, that the + motherland was superior to her children overseas. The colonies had no + aristocracy, no great landowners living in stately palaces. They had + almost no manufactures. They had no imposing state system with places and + pensions from which the fortunate might reap a harvest of ten or even + twenty thousand pounds a year. They had no ancient universities thronged + by gilded youth who, if noble, might secure degrees without the trying + ceremony of an examination. They had no Established Church with the + ancient glories of its cathedrals. In all America there was not even a + bishop. In spite of these contrasts the English Whigs insisted upon the + political equality with themselves of the American colonists. The Tory + squire, however, shared Samuel Johnson's view that colonists were either + traders or farmers and that colonial shopkeeping society was vulgar and + contemptible. + </p> + <p> + George III was ill-fitted by nature to deal with the crisis. The King was + not wholly without natural parts, for his own firm will had achieved what + earlier kings had tried and failed to do; he had mastered Parliament, made + it his obedient tool and himself for a time a despot. He had some + admirable virtues. He was a family man, the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> + father of fifteen children. He + liked quiet amusements and had wholesome tastes. If industry and belief in + his own aims could of themselves make a man great we might reverence + George. He wrote once to Lord North: <q>I have no object but to be of use: + if that is ensured I am completely happy.</q> The King was always busy. + Ceaseless industry does not, however, include every virtue, or the author + of all evil would rank high in goodness. Wisdom must be the pilot of good + intentions. George was not wise. He was ill-educated. He had never + traveled. He had no power to see the point of view of others. + </p> + <p> + As if nature had not sufficiently handicapped George for a high part, fate + placed him on the throne at the immature age of twenty-two. Henceforth the + boy was master, not pupil. Great nobles and obsequious prelates did him + reverence. Ignorant and obstinate, the young King was determined not only + to reign but to rule, in spite of the new doctrine that Parliament, not + the King, carried on the affairs of government through the leader of the + majority in the House of Commons, already known as the Prime Minister. + George could not really change what was the last expression of political + forces in England. The rule of Parliament + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> + had come to stay. Through it and + it alone could the realm be governed. This power, however, though it could + not be destroyed, might be controlled. Parliament, while retaining all its + privileges, might yet carry out the wishes of the sovereign. The King + might be his own Prime Minister. The thing could be done if the King's + friends held a majority of the seats and would do what their master + directed. It was a dark day for England when a king found that he could + play off one faction against another, buy a majority in Parliament, and + retain it either by paying with guineas or with posts and dignities which + the bought Parliament left in his gift. This corruption it was which + ruined the first British Empire. + </p> + <p> + We need not doubt that George thought it his right and also his duty to + coerce America, or rather, as he said, the clamorous minority which was + trying to force rebellion. He showed no lack of sincerity. On October 26, + 1775, while Washington was besieging Boston, he opened Parliament with a + speech which at any rate made the issue clear enough. Britain would not + give up colonies which she had founded with severe toil and nursed with + great kindness. Her army and her navy, both now increased in size, would + make her power respected. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> + She would not, however, deal harshly with her + erring children. Royal mercy would be shown to those who admitted their + error and they need not come to England to secure it. Persons in America + would be authorized to grant pardons and furnish the guarantees which + would proceed from the royal clemency. + </p> + <p> + Such was the magnanimity of George III. Washington's rage at the tone of + the speech is almost amusing in its vehemence. He, with a mind conscious + of rectitude and sacrifice in a great cause, to ask pardon for his course! + He to bend the knee to this tyrant overseas! Washington himself was not + highly gifted with imagination. He never realized the strength of the + forces in England arrayed on his own side and attributed to the English, + as a whole, sinister and malignant designs always condemned by the great + mass of the English people. They, no less than the Americans, were the + victims of a turn in politics which, for a brief period, and for only a + brief period, left power in the hands of a corrupt Parliament and a + corrupting king. + </p> + <p> + Ministers were not all corrupt or place-hunters. One of them, the Earl of + Dartmouth, was a saint in spirit. Lord North, the king's chief minister, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> + was not corrupt. He disliked his office and wished to leave it. In truth + no sweeping simplicity of condemnation will include all the ministers of + George III except on this one point that they allowed to dictate their + policy a narrow-minded and ignorant king. It was their right to furnish a + policy and to exercise the powers of government, appoint to office, spend + the public revenues. Instead they let the King say that the opinions of + his ministers had no avail with him. If we ask why, the answer is that + there was a mixture of motives. North stayed in office because the King + appealed to his loyalty, a plea hard to resist under an ancient monarchy. + Others stayed from love of power or for what they could get. In that + golden age of patronage it was possible for a man to hold a plurality of + offices which would bring to himself many thousands of pounds a year, and + also to secure the reversion of offices and pensions to his children. + Horace Walpole spent a long life in luxurious ease because of offices with + high pay and few duties secured in the distant days of his father's + political power. Contracts to supply the army and the navy went to friends + of the government, sometimes with disastrous results, since the contractor + often knew nothing of the business he undertook. When, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> + in 1777, the + Admiralty boasted that thirty-five ships of war were ready to put to sea + it was found that there were in fact only six. The system nearly ruined + the navy. It actually happened that planks of a man-of-war fell out + through rot and that she sank. Often ropes and spars could not be had when + most needed. When a public loan was floated the King's friends and they + alone were given the shares at a price which enabled them to make large + profits on the stock market. + </p> + <p> + The system could endure only as long as the King's friends had a majority + in the House of Commons. Elections must be looked after. The King must + have those on whom he could always depend. He controlled offices and + pensions. With these things he bought members and he had to keep them + bought by repeating the benefits. If the holder of a public office was + thought to be dying the King was already naming to his Prime Minister the + person to whom the office must go when death should occur. He insisted + that many posts previously granted for life should now be given during his + pleasure so that he might dismiss the holders at will. He watched the + words and the votes in Parliament of public men and woe to those in his + power if they displeased him. When he knew that + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> + Fox, his great antagonist, + would be absent from Parliament he pressed through measures which Fox + would have opposed. It was not until George III was King that the buying + and selling of boroughs became common. The King bought votes in the + boroughs by paying high prices for trifles. He even went over the lists of + voters and had names of servants of the government inserted if this seemed + needed to make a majority secure. One of the most unedifying scenes in + English history is that of George making a purchase in a shop at Windsor + and because of this patronage asking for the shopkeeper's support in a + local election. The King was saving and penurious in his habits that he + might have the more money to buy votes. When he had no money left he would + go to Parliament and ask for a special grant for his needs and the bought + members could not refuse the money for their buying. + </p> + <p> + The people of England knew that Parliament was corrupt. But how to end the + system? The press was not free. Some of it the government bought and the + rest it tried to intimidate though often happily in vain. Only fragments + of the debates in Parliament were published. Not until 1779 did the House + of Commons admit the public + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> + to its galleries. No great political meetings + were allowed until just before the American war and in any case the masses + had no votes. The great landowners had in their control a majority of the + constituencies. There were scores of pocket boroughs in which their + nominees were as certain of election as peers were of their seats in the + House of Lords. The disease of England was deep-seated. A wise king could + do much, but while George III survived—and his reign lasted sixty + years—there was no hope of a wise king. A strong minister could + impose his will on the King. But only time and circumstance could evolve a + strong minister. Time and circumstance at length produced the younger + Pitt. But it needed the tragedy of two long wars—those against the + colonies and revolutionary France—before the nation finally threw + off the system which permitted the personal rule of George III and caused + the disruption of the Empire. It may thus be said with some truth that + George Washington was instrumental in the salvation of England. + </p> + <p> + The ministers of George III loved the sports, the rivalries, the ease, the + remoteness of their rural magnificence. Perverse fashion kept them in + London even in April and May for <q>the season,</q> just + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> + when in the country + nature was most alluring. Otherwise they were off to their estates + whenever they could get away from town. The American Revolution was not + remotely affected by this habit. With ministers long absent in the country + important questions were postponed or forgotten. The crisis which in the + end brought France into the war was partly due to the carelessness of a + minister hurrying away to the country. Lord George Germain, who directed + military operations in America, dictated a letter which would have caused + General Howe to move northward from New York to meet General Burgoyne + advancing from Canada. Germain went off to the country without waiting to + sign the letter; it was mislaid among other papers; Howe was without + needed instructions; and the disaster followed of Burgoyne's surrender. + Fox pointed out, that, at a time when there was a danger that a foreign + army might land in England, not one of the King's ministers was less than + fifty miles from London. They were in their parks and gardens, or hunting + or fishing. Nor did they stay away for a few days only. The absence was + for weeks or even months. + </p> + <p> + It is to the credit of Whig leaders in England, landowners and aristocrats + as they were, that they + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> + supported with passion the American cause. In + America, where the forces of the Revolution were in control, the Loyalist + who dared to be bold for his opinions was likely to be tarred and + feathered and to lose his property. There was an embittered intolerance. + In England, however, it was an open question in society whether to be for + or against the American cause. The Duke of Richmond, a great grandson of + Charles II, said in the House of Lords that under no code should the + fighting Americans be considered traitors. What they did was <q>perfectly + justifiable in every possible political and moral sense.</q> All the world + knows that Chatham and Burke and Fox urged the conciliation of America and + hundreds took the same stand. Burke said of General Conway, a man of + position, that when he secured a majority in the House of Commons against + the Stamp Act his face shone as the face of an angel. Since the bishops + almost to a man voted with the King, Conway attacked them as in this + untrue to their high office. Sir George Savile, whose benevolence, + supported by great wealth, made him widely respected and loved, said that + the Americans were right in appealing to arms. Coke of Norfolk was a + landed magnate who lived in regal style. His seat of Holkham was one of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> + those great new palaces which the age reared at such elaborate cost. It + was full of beautiful things—the art of Michelangelo, Raphael, + Titian, and Van Dyke, rare manuscripts, books, and tapestries. So + magnificent was Coke that a legend long ran that his horses were shod with + gold and that the wheels of his chariots were of solid silver. In the + country he drove six horses. In town only the King did this. Coke despised + George III, chiefly on account of his American policy, and to avoid the + reproach of rivaling the King's estate, he took joy in driving past the + palace in London with a donkey as his sixth animal and in flicking his + whip at the King. When he was offered a peerage by the King he denounced + with fiery wrath the minister through whom it was offered as attempting to + bribe him. Coke declared that if one of the King's ministers held up a hat + in the House of Commons and said that it was a green bag the majority of + the members would solemnly vote that it was a green bag. The bribery which + brought this blind obedience of Toryism filled Coke with fury. In youth he + had been taught never to trust a Tory and he could say <q>I never have and, + by God, I never will.</q> One of his children asked their mother whether + Tories were born wicked or after birth became wicked. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> + The uncompromising + answer was: <q>They are born wicked and they grow up worse.</q> + </p> + <p> + There is, of course, in much of this something of the malignance of party. + In an age when one reverend theologian, Toplady, called another + theologian, John Wesley, <q>a low and puny tadpole in Divinity</q> we must + expect harsh epithets. But behind this bitterness lay a deep conviction of + the righteousness of the American cause. At a great banquet at Holkham, + Coke omitted the toast of the King; but every night during the American + war he drank the health of Washington as the greatest man on earth. The + war, he said, was the King's war, ministers were his tools, the press was + bought. He denounced later the King's reception of the traitor Arnold. + When the King's degenerate son, who became George IV, after some special + misconduct, wrote to propose his annual visit to Holkham, Coke replied, + <q>Holkham is open to <em>strangers</em> on Tuesdays.</q> It was an + independent and irate England which spoke in Coke. Those who paid taxes, + he said, should control those who governed. America was not getting fair + play. Both Coke and Fox, and no doubt many others, wore waistcoats of blue + and buff because these were the colors of the uniforms of Washington's + army. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> + Washington and Coke exchanged messages and they would have been congenial + companions; for Coke, like Washington, was above all a farmer and tried to + improve agriculture. Never for a moment, he said, had time hung heavy on + his hands in the country. He began on his estate the culture of the + potato, and for some time the best he could hear of it from his stolid + tenantry was that it would not poison the pigs. Coke would have fought the + levy of a penny of unjust taxation and he understood Washington. The + American gentleman and the English gentleman had a common outlook. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Now had come, however, the hour for political separation. By reluctant but + inevitable steps America made up its mind to declare for independence. At + first continued loyalty to the King was urged on the plea that he was in + the hands of evil-minded ministers, inspired by diabolical rage, or in + those of an <q>infernal villain</q> such as the soldier, General Gage, a second + Pharaoh; though it must be admitted that even then the King was <q>the + tyrant of Great Britain.</q> After Bunker Hill spasmodic declarations of + independence were made here and there by local bodies. When Congress + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> + organized an army, invaded Canada, and besieged Boston, it was hard to + protest loyalty to a King whose forces were those of an enemy. Moreover + independence would, in the eyes at least of foreign governments, give the + colonies the rights of belligerents and enable them to claim for their + fighting forces the treatment due to a regular army and the exchange of + prisoners with the British. They could, too, make alliances with other + nations. Some clamored for independence for a reason more sinister—that + they might punish those who held to the King and seize their property. + There were thirteen colonies in arms and each of them had to form some + kind of government which would work without a king as part of its + mechanism. One by one such governments were formed. King George, as we + have seen, helped the colonies to make up their minds. They were in no + mood to be called erring children who must implore undeserved mercy and + not force a loving parent to take unwilling vengeance. <q>Our plantations</q> + and <q>our subjects in the colonies</q> would simply not learn obedience. If + George III would not reply to their petitions until they laid down their + arms, they could manage to get on without a king. If England, as Horace + Walpole admitted, would not take them + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> + seriously and speakers in Parliament + called them obscure ruffians and cowards, so much the worse for England. + </p> + <p> + It was an Englishman, Thomas Paine, who fanned the fire into unquenchable + flames. He had recently been dismissed from a post in the excise in + England and was at this time earning in Philadelphia a precarious living + by his pen. Paine said it was the interest of America to break the tie + with Europe. Was a whole continent in America to be governed by an island + a thousand leagues away? Of what advantage was it to remain connected with + Great Britain? It was said that a united British Empire could defy the + world, but why should America defy the world? <q>Everything that is right or + natural pleads for separation.</q> Interested men, weak men, prejudiced men, + moderate men who do not really know Europe, may urge reconciliation, but + nature is against it. Paine broke loose in that denunciation of kings with + which ever since the world has been familiar. The wretched Briton, said + Paine, is under a king and where there was a king there was no security + for liberty. Kings were crowned ruffians and George III in particular was + a sceptered savage, a royal brute, and other evil things. He had inflicted + on America injuries not + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> + to be forgiven. The blood of the slain, not less + than the true interests of posterity, demanded separation. Paine called + his pamphlet <i>Common Sense</i>. It was published on January 9, 1776. More + than a hundred thousand copies were quickly sold and it brought decision + to many wavering minds. + </p> + <p> + In the first days of 1776 independence had become a burning question. New + England had made up its mind. Virginia was keen for separation, keener + even than New England. New York and Pennsylvania long hesitated and + Maryland and North Carolina were very lukewarm. Early in 1776 Washington + was advocating independence and Greene and other army leaders were of the + same mind. Conservative forces delayed the settlement, and at last + Virginia, in this as in so many other things taking the lead, instructed + its delegates to urge a declaration by Congress of independence. Richard + Henry Lee, a member of that honored family which later produced the ablest + soldier of the Civil War, moved in Congress on June 7, 1776, that <q>these + United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent + States.</q> The preparation of a formal declaration was referred to a + committee of which John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were members. It is + interesting + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> + to note that each of them became President of the United + States and that both died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the + Declaration of Independence. Adams related long after that he and + Jefferson formed the sub-committee to draft the Declaration and that he + urged Jefferson to undertake the task since <q>you can write ten times + better than I can.</q> Jefferson accordingly wrote the paper. Adams was + delighted <q>with its high tone and the flights of Oratory</q> but he did not + approve of the flaming attack on the King, as a tyrant. <q>I never + believed,</q> he said, <q>George to be a tyrant in disposition and in nature.</q> + There was, he thought, too much passion for a grave and solemn document. + He was, however, the principal speaker in its support. + </p> + <p> + There is passion in the Declaration from beginning to end, and not the + restrained and chastened passion which we find in the great utterances of + an American statesman of a later day, Abraham Lincoln. Compared with + Lincoln, Jefferson is indeed a mere amateur in the use of words. Lincoln + would not have scattered in his utterances overwrought phrases about + <q>death, desolation and tyranny</q> or talked about pledging <q>our lives, our + fortunes and our sacred honour.</q> He indulged in no <q>Flights + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> + of Oratory.</q> + The passion in the Declaration is concentrated against the King. We do not + know what were the emotions of George when he read it. We know that many + Englishmen thought that it spoke truth. Exaggerations there are which make + the Declaration less than a completely candid document. The King is + accused of abolishing English laws in Canada with the intention of + <q>introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies.</q> What had been + done in Canada was to let the conquered French retain their own laws—which + was not tyranny but magnanimity. Another clause of the Declaration, as + Jefferson first wrote it, made George responsible for the slave trade in + America with all its horrors and crimes. We may doubt whether that not too + enlightened monarch had even more than vaguely heard of the slave trade. + This phase of the attack upon him was too much for the slave owners of the + South and the slave traders of New England, and the clause was struck out. + </p> + <p> + Nearly fourscore and ten years later, Abraham Lincoln, at a supreme crisis + in the nation's life, told in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, what the + Declaration of Independence meant to him. <q>I have never,</q> he said, <q>had a + feeling politically + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> + which did not spring from the sentiments in the + Declaration of Independence</q>; and then he spoke of the sacrifices which + the founders of the Republic had made for these principles. He asked, too, + what was the idea which had held together the nation thus founded. It was + not the breaking away from Great Britain. It was the assertion of human + right. We should speak in terms of reverence of a document which became a + classic utterance of political right and which inspired Lincoln in his + fight to end slavery and to make <q>Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness</q> + realities for all men. In England the colonists were often taunted with + being <q>rebels.</q> The answer was not wanting that ancestors of those who now + cried <q>rebel</q> had themselves been rebels a hundred years earlier when + their own liberty was at stake. + </p> + <p> + There were in Congress men who ventured to say that the Declaration was a + libel on the government of England; men like John Dickinson of + Pennsylvania and John Jay of New York, who feared that the radical + elements were moving too fast. Radicalism, however, was in the saddle, and + on the 2d of July the <q>resolution respecting independency</q> was adopted. On + July 4, 1776, Congress debated and finally adopted the formal + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> + Declaration + of Independence. The members did not vote individually. The delegates from + each colony cast the vote of the colony. Twelve colonies voted for the + Declaration. New York alone was silent because its delegates had not been + instructed as to their vote, but New York, too, soon fell into line. It + was a momentous occasion and was understood to be such. The vote seems to + have been reached in the late afternoon. Anxious citizens were waiting in + the streets. There was a bell in the State House, and an old ringer waited + there for the signal. When there was long delay he is said to have + muttered: <q>They will never do it! they will never do it!</q> Then came the + word, <q>Ring! Ring!</q> It is an odd fact that the inscription on the bell, + placed there long before the days of the trouble, was from Leviticus: + <q><i>Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants + thereof.</i></q> The bells of Philadelphia rang and cannon boomed. As the news + spread there were bonfires and illuminations in all the colonies. On the + day after the Declaration the Virginia Convention struck out <q>O Lord, save + the King</q> from the church service. On the 10th of July Washington, who by + this time had moved to New York, paraded the army and had the Declaration + read at the head of each brigade. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> + That evening the statue of King George + in New York was laid in the dust. It is a comment on the changes in human + fortune that within little more than a year the British had taken + Philadelphia, that the clamorous bell had been hid away for safety, and + that colonial wiseacres were urging the rescinding of the ill-timed + Declaration and the reunion of the British Empire. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER IV</a></h2> + <h3>The Loss of New York</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Washington's</span> success at Boston had one good + effect. It destroyed Tory influence in that Puritan stronghold. New + England was henceforth of a temper wholly revolutionary; and New England + tradition holds that what its people think today other Americans think + tomorrow. But, in the summer of this year 1776, though no serious foe was + visible at any point in the revolted colonies, a menace haunted every one + of them. The British had gone away by sea; by sea they would return. On + land armies move slowly and visibly; but on the sea a great force may pass + out of sight and then suddenly reappear at an unexpected point. This is + the haunting terror of sea power. Already the British had destroyed + Falmouth, now Portland, Maine, and Norfolk, the principal town in + Virginia. Washington had no illusions of security. He was anxious above + all for the safety of New + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> + York, commanding the vital artery of the Hudson, which must at all costs + be defended. Accordingly, in April, he took his army to New York and + established there his own headquarters. + </p> + <p> + Even before Washington moved to New York, three great British expeditions + were nearing America. One of these we have already seen at Quebec. Another + was bound for Charleston, to land there an army and to make the place a + rallying center for the numerous but harassed Loyalists of the South. The + third and largest of these expeditions was to strike at New York and, by a + show of strength, bring the colonists to reason and reconciliation. If + mildness failed the British intended to capture New York, sail up the + Hudson and cut off New England from the other colonies. + </p> + <p> + The squadron destined for Charleston carried an army in command of a fine + soldier, Lord Cornwallis, destined later to be the defeated leader in the + last dramatic scene of the war. In May this fleet reached Wilmington, + North Carolina, and took on board two thousand men under General Sir Henry + Clinton, who had been sent by Howe from Boston in vain to win the + Carolinas and who now assumed military command of the combined forces. + Admiral Sir Peter Parker commanded the fleet, and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> + on the 4th of June he + was off Charleston Harbor. Parker found that in order to cross the bar he + would have to lighten his larger ships. This was done by the laborious + process of removing the guns, which, of course, he had to replace when the + bar was crossed. On the 28th of June, Parker drew up his ships before Fort + Moultrie in the harbor. He had expected simultaneous aid by land from + three thousand soldiers put ashore from the fleet on a sandbar, but these + troops could give him no help against the fort from which they were cut + off by a channel of deep water. A battle soon proved the British ships + unable to withstand the American fire from Fort Moultrie. Late in the + evening Parker drew off, with two hundred and twenty-five casualties + against an American loss of thirty-seven. The check was greater than that + of Bunker Hill, for there the British took the ground which they attacked. + The British sailors bore witness to the gallantry of the defense: <q>We + never had such a drubbing in our lives,</q> one of them testified. Only one + of Parker's ten ships was seaworthy after the fight. It took him three + weeks to refit, and not until the 4th of August did his defeated ships + reach New York. + </p> + <p> + A mighty armada of seven hundred ships had + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> + meanwhile sailed into the Bay + of New York. This fleet was commanded by Admiral Lord Howe and it carried + an army of thirty thousand men led by his younger brother, Sir William + Howe, who had commanded at Bunker Hill. The General was an able and + well-informed soldier. He had a brilliant record of service in the Seven + Years' War, with Wolfe in Canada, then in France itself, and in the West + Indies. In appearance he was tall, dark, and coarse. His face showed him + to be a free user of wine. This may explain some of his faults as a + general. He trusted too much to subordinates; he was leisurely and rather + indolent, yet capable of brilliant and rapid action. In America his heart + was never in his task. He was member of Parliament for Nottingham and had + publicly condemned the quarrel with America and told his electors that in + it he would take no command. He had not kept his word, but his convictions + remained. It would be to accuse Howe of treason to say that he did not do + his best in America. Lack of conviction, however, affects action. Howe had + no belief that his country was in the right in the war and this + handicapped him as against the passionate conviction of Washington that + all was at stake which made life worth living. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> + The General's elder brother, Lord Howe, was another Whig who had no belief + that the war was just. He sat in the House of Lords while his brother sat + in the House of Commons. We rather wonder that the King should have been + content to leave in Whig hands his fortunes in America both by land and + sea. At any rate, here were the Howes more eager to make peace than to + make war and commanded to offer terms of reconciliation. Lord Howe had an + unpleasant face, so dark that he was called <q>Black Dick</q>; he was a silent, + awkward man, shy and harsh in manner. In reality, however, he was kind, + liberal in opinion, sober, and beloved by those who knew him best. His + pacific temper towards America was not due to a dislike of war. He was a + fighting sailor. Nearly twenty years later, on June 1, 1794, when he was + in command of a fleet in touch with the French enemy, the sailors watched + him to find any indication that the expected action would take place. Then + the word went round: <q>We shall have the fight today; Black Dick has been + smiling.</q> They had it, and Howe won a victory which makes his name famous + in the annals of the sea. + </p> + <p> + By the middle of July the two brothers were at New York. The soldier, + having waited at Halifax + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> + since the evacuation of Boston, had arrived, and + landed his army on Staten Island, on the day before Congress made the + Declaration of Independence, which, as now we can see, ended finally any + chance of reconciliation. The sailor arrived nine days later. Lord Howe + was wont to regret that he had not arrived a little earlier, since the + concessions which he had to offer might have averted the Declaration of + Independence. In truth, however, he had little to offer. Humor and + imagination are useful gifts in carrying on human affairs, but George III + had neither. He saw no lack of humor in now once more offering full and + free pardon to a repentant Washington and his comrades, though John Adams + was excepted by name¹; in repudiating the right to exist of the + Congress at Philadelphia, and in refusing to recognize the military rank + of the rebel general whom it had named: he was to be addressed in civilian + style as <q>George Washington Esq.</q> The King and his ministers had no + imagination to call up the picture of high-hearted men fighting for + rights which they held dear. + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_86-1" name="footer_86-1"></a> + ¹Trevelyan, <i>American Revolution</i>, Part II, vol. I (New + Ed., vol. II), 261. + </div> + <p> + Lord Howe went so far as to address a letter to <q>George Washington Esq. + &c. &c.,</q> and Washington agreed to an interview with the officer + who + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> + bore it. In imposing uniform and with the stateliest manner, + Washington, who had an instinct for effect, received the envoy. The awed + messenger explained that the symbols <q>&c. &c.</q> meant everything, + including, of course, military titles; but Washington only said smilingly + that they might mean anything, including, of course, an insult, and + refused to take the letter. He referred to Congress, a body which Howe + could not recognize, the grave question of the address on an envelope and + Congress agreed that the recognition of his rank was necessary. There was + nothing to do but to go on with the fight. + </p> + <p> + Washington's army held the city of New York, at the southerly point of + Manhattan Island. The Hudson River, separating the island from the + mainland of New Jersey on the west, is at its mouth two miles wide. The + northern and eastern sides of the island are washed by the Harlem River, + flowing out of the Hudson about a dozen miles north of the city, and + broadening into the East River, about a mile wide where it separates New + York from Brooklyn Heights, on Long Island. Encamped on Staten Island, on + the south, General Howe could, with the aid of the fleet, land at any of + half a dozen vulnerable points. Howe had the further + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> + advantage of a much + larger force. Washington had in all some twenty thousand men, numbers of + them serving for short terms and therefore for the most part badly + drilled. Howe had twenty-five thousand well-trained soldiers, and he + could, in addition, draw men from the fleet, which would give him in all + double the force of Washington. + </p> + <p> + In such a situation even the best skill of Washington was likely only to + qualify defeat. He was advised to destroy New York and retire to positions + more tenable. But even if he had so desired, Congress, his master, would + not permit him to burn the city, and he had to make plans to defend it. + Brooklyn Heights so commanded New York that enemy cannon planted there + would make the city untenable. Accordingly Washington placed half his + force on Long Island to defend Brooklyn Heights and in doing so made the + fundamental error of cutting his army in two and dividing it by an arm of + the sea in presence of overwhelming hostile naval power. + </p> + <p> + On the 22d of August Howe ferried fifteen thousand men across the Narrows + to Long Island, in order to attack the position on Brooklyn Heights from + the rear. Before him lay wooded hills across which led three roads + converging at Brooklyn + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> + Heights beyond the hills. On the east a fourth road + led round the hills. In the dark of the night of the 26th of August Howe + set his army in motion on all these roads, in order by daybreak to come to + close quarters with the Americans and drive them back to the Heights. The + movement succeeded perfectly. The British made terrible use of the + bayonet. By the evening of the twenty-seventh the Americans, who fought + well against overwhelming odds, had lost nearly two thousand men in + casualties and prisoners, six field pieces, and twenty-six heavy guns. The + two chief commanders, Sullivan and Stirling, were among the prisoners, and + what was left of the army had been driven back to Brooklyn Heights. Howe's + critics said that had he pressed the attack further he could have made + certain the capture of the whole American force on Long Island. + </p> + <p> + Criticism of what might have been is easy and usually futile. It might be + said of Washington, too, that he should not have kept an army so far in + front of his lines behind Brooklyn Heights facing a superior enemy, and + with, for a part of it, retreat possible only by a single causeway across + a marsh three miles long. When he realized, on the 28th of August, what + Howe had achieved, he increased the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> + defenders of Brooklyn Heights to ten + thousand men, more than half his army. This was another cardinal error. + British ships were near and but for unfavorable winds might have sailed up + to Brooklyn. Washington hoped and prayed that Howe would try to carry + Brooklyn Heights by assault. Then there would have been at least slaughter + on the scale of Bunker Hill. But Howe had learned caution. He made no + reckless attack, and soon Washington found that he must move away or face + the danger of losing every man on Long Island. + </p> + <p> + On the night of the 29th of August there was clear moonlight, with fog + towards daybreak. A British army of twenty-five thousand men was only some + six hundred yards from the American lines. A few miles from the shore lay + at anchor a great British fleet with, it is to be presumed, its patrols on + the alert. Yet, during that night, ten thousand American troops were + marched down to boats on the strand at Brooklyn and, with all their + stores, were carried across a mile of water to New York. There must have + been the splash of oars and the grating of keels, orders given in tones + above a whisper, the complex sounds of moving bodies of men. It was all + done under the eye of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> + Washington. We can picture that tall figure moving + about on the strand at Brooklyn, which he was the last to leave. Not a + sound disturbed the slumbers of the British. An army in retreat does not + easily defend itself. Boats from the British fleet might have brought + panic to the Americans in the darkness and the British army should at + least have known that they were gone. By seven in the morning the ten + thousand American soldiers were for the time safe in New York, and we may + suppose that the two Howes were asking eager questions and wondering how + it had all happened. + </p> + <p> + Washington had shown that he knew when and how to retire. Long Island was + his first battle and he had lost. Now retreat was his first great tactical + achievement. He could not stay in New York and so sent at once the chief + part of the army, withdrawn from Brooklyn, to the line of the Harlem River + at the north end of the island. He realized that his shore batteries could + not keep the British fleet from sailing up both the East and the Hudson + Rivers and from landing a force on Manhattan Island almost where it liked. + Then the city of New York would be surrounded by a hostile fleet and a + hostile army. The Howes could have performed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> + this maneuver as soon as they + had a favorable wind. There was, we know, great confusion in New York, and + Washington tells us how his heart was torn by the distress of the + inhabitants. The British gave him plenty of time to make plans, and for a + reason. We have seen that Lord Howe was not only an admiral to make war + but also an envoy to make peace. The British victory on Long Island might, + he thought, make Congress more willing to negotiate. So now he sent to + Philadelphia the captured American General Sullivan, with the request that + some members of Congress might confer privately on the prospects for + peace. + </p> + <p> + Howe probably did not realize that the Americans had the British quality + of becoming more resolute by temporary reverses. By this time, too, + suspicion of every movement on the part of Great Britain had become a + mania. Every one in Congress seems to have thought that Howe was planning + treachery. John Adams, excepted by name from British offers of pardon, + called Sullivan a <q>decoy duck</q> and, as he confessed, laughed, scolded, and + grieved at any negotiation. The wish to talk privately with members of + Congress was called an insulting way of avoiding recognition of that body. + In spite of this, even the stalwart + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> + Adams and the suave Franklin were + willing to be members of a committee which went to meet Lord Howe. With + great sorrow Howe now realized that he had no power to grant what Congress + insisted upon, the recognition of independence, as a preliminary to + negotiation. There was nothing for it but war. + </p> + <p> + On the 15th of September the British struck the blow too long delayed had + war been their only interest. New York had to sit nearly helpless while + great men-of-war passed up both the Hudson and the East River with guns + sweeping the shores of Manhattan Island. At the same time General Howe + sent over in boats from Long Island to the landing at Kip's Bay, near the + line of the present Thirty-fourth Street, an army to cut off the city from + the northern part of the island. Washington marched in person with two New + England regiments to dispute the landing and give him time for evacuation. + To his rage panic seized his men and they turned and fled, leaving him + almost alone not a hundred yards from the enemy. A stray shot at that + moment might have influenced greatly modern history, for, as events were + soon to show, Washington was the mainstay of the American cause. He too + had to get away and Howe's force landed easily enough. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> + Meanwhile, on the + west shore of the island, there was an animated scene. The roads were + crowded with refugees fleeing northward from New York. These civilians + Howe had no reason to stop, but there marched, too, out of New York four + thousand men, under Israel Putnam, who got safely away northward. Only + leisurely did Howe extend his line across the island so as to cut off the + city. The story, not more trustworthy than many other legends of war, is + that Mrs. Murray, living in a country house near what now is Murray Hill, + invited the General to luncheon, and that to enjoy this pleasure he + ordered a halt for his whole force. Generals sometimes do foolish things + but it is not easy to call up a picture of Howe, in the midst of a busy + movement of troops, receiving the lady's invitation, accepting it, and + ordering the whole army to halt while he lingered over the luncheon table. + There is no doubt that his mind was still divided between making war and + making peace. Probably Putnam had already got away his men, and there was + no purpose in stopping the refugees in that flight from New York which so + aroused the pity of Washington. As it was Howe took sixty-seven guns. By + accident, or, it is said, by design of the Americans themselves, New York + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> + soon took fire and one-third of the little city was burned. + </p> + <p> + After the fall of New York there followed a complex campaign. The + resourceful Washington was now, during his first days of active warfare, + pitting himself against one of the most experienced of British generals. + Fleet and army were acting together. The aim of Howe was to get control of + the Hudson and to meet half way the advance from Canada by way of Lake + Champlain which Carleton was leading. On the 12th of October, when autumn + winds were already making the nights cold, Howe moved. He did not attack + Washington who lay in strength at the Harlem. That would have been to play + Washington's game. Instead he put the part of his army still on Long + Island in ships which then sailed through the dangerous currents of Hell + Gate and landed at Throg's Neck, a peninsula on the sound across from Long + Island. Washington parried this movement by so guarding the narrow neck of + the peninsula leading to the mainland that the cautious Howe shrank from a + frontal attack across a marsh. After a delay of six days, he again + embarked his army, landed a few miles above Throg's Neck in the hope of + cutting off Washington from retreat northward, only to find + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> + Washington + still north of him at White Plains. A sharp skirmish followed in which + Howe lost over two hundred men and Washington only one hundred and forty. + Washington, masterly in retreat, then withdrew still farther north among + hills difficult of attack. + </p> + <p> + Howe had a plan which made a direct attack on Washington unnecessary. He + turned southward and occupied the east shore of the Hudson River. On the + 16th of November took place the worst disaster which had yet befallen + American arms. Fort Washington, lying just south of the Harlem, was the + only point still held on Manhattan Island by the Americans. In modern war + it has become clear that fortresses supposedly strong may be only traps + for their defenders. Fort Washington stood on the east bank of the Hudson + opposite Fort Lee, on the west bank. These forts could not fulfil the + purpose for which they were intended, of stopping British ships. + Washington saw that the two forts should be abandoned. But the civilians + in Congress, who, it must be remembered, named the generals and had final + authority in directing the war, were reluctant to accept the loss involved + in abandoning the forts and gave orders that every effort should be made + to hold them. Greene, on + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> + the whole Washington's best general, was in + command of the two positions and was left to use his own judgment. On the + 15th of November, by a sudden and rapid march across the island, Howe + appeared before Fort Washington and summoned it to surrender on pain of + the rigors of war, which meant putting the garrison to the sword should he + have to take the place by storm. The answer was a defiance; and on the + next day Howe attacked in overwhelming force. There was severe fighting. + The casualties of the British were nearly five hundred, but they took the + huge fort with its three thousand defenders and a great quantity of + munitions of war. Howe's threat was not carried out. There was no + massacre. + </p> + <p> + Across the river at Fort Lee the helpless Washington watched this great + disaster. He had need still to look out, for Fort Lee was itself doomed. + On the nineteenth Lord Cornwallis with five thousand men crossed the river + five miles above Fort Lee. General Greene barely escaped with the two + thousand men in the fort, leaving behind one hundred and forty cannon, + stores, tools, and even the men's blankets. On the twentieth the British + flag was floating over Fort Lee and Washington's whole force was in rapid + flight across New Jersey, hardly + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> + pausing until it had been ferried over + the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. + </p> + <p> + Treachery, now linked to military disaster, made Washington's position + terrible. Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, and Richard Montgomery were three + important officers of the regular British army who fought on the American + side. Montgomery had been killed at Quebec; the defects of Gates were not + yet conspicuous; and Lee was next to Washington the most trusted American + general. The names Washington and Lee of the twin forts on opposite sides + of the Hudson show how the two generals stood in the public mind. While + disaster was overtaking Washington, Lee had seven thousand men at North + Castle on the east bank of the Hudson, a few miles above Fort Washington, + blocking Howe's advance farther up the river. On the day after the fall of + Fort Washington, Lee received positive orders to cross the Hudson at once. + Three days later Fort Lee fell, and Washington repeated the order. Lee did + not budge. He was safe where he was and could cross the river and get away + into New Jersey when he liked. He seems deliberately to have left + Washington to face complete disaster and thus prove his incompetence; + then, as the undefeated general, he could take the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> + chief command. There is + no evidence that he had intrigued with Howe, but he thought that he could + be the peacemaker between Great Britain and America, with untold + possibilities of ambition in that rôle. He wrote of Washington at + this time, to his friend Gates, as weak and <q>most damnably deficient.</q> + Nemesis, however, overtook him. In the end he had to retreat across the + Hudson to northern New Jersey. Here many of the people were Tories. Lee + fell into a trap, was captured in bed at a tavern by a hard-riding party + of British cavalry, and carried off a prisoner, obliged to bestride a + horse in night gown and slippers. Not always does fate appear so just in + her strokes. + </p> + <p> + In December, though the position of Washington was very bad, all was not + lost. The chief aim of Howe was to secure the line of the Hudson and this + he had not achieved. At Stony Point, which lies up the Hudson about fifty + miles from New York, the river narrows and passes through what is almost a + mountain gorge, easily defended. Here Washington had erected + fortifications which made it at least difficult for a British force to + pass up the river. Moreover in the highlands of northern New Jersey, with + headquarters at Morristown, General Sullivan, recently exchanged, and + General Gates + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> + now had Lee's army and also the remnants of the force driven + from Canada. But in retreating across New Jersey Washington had been + forsaken by thousands of men, beguiled in part by the Tory population, + discouraged by defeat, and in many cases with the right to go home, since + their term of service had expired. All that remained of Washington's army + after the forces of Sullivan and Gates joined him across the Delaware in + Pennsylvania, was about four thousand men. + </p> + <p> + Howe was determined to have Philadelphia as well as New York and could + place some reliance on Tory help in Pennsylvania. He had pursued + Washington to the Delaware and would have pushed on across that river had + not his alert foe taken care that all the boats should be on the wrong + shore. As it was, Howe occupied the left bank of the Delaware with his + chief post at Trenton. If he made sure of New Jersey he could go on to + Philadelphia when the river was frozen over or indeed when he liked. Even + the Congress had fled to Baltimore. There were British successes in other + quarters. Early in December Lord Howe took the fleet to Newport. Soon he + controlled the whole of Rhode Island and checked the American privateers + who had made it their base. The brothers issued + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> + proclamations offering + protection to all who should within sixty days return to their British + allegiance and many people of high standing in New York and New Jersey + accepted the offer. Howe wrote home to England the glad news of victory. + Philadelphia would probably fall before spring and it looked as if the war + was really over. + </p> + <p> + In this darkest hour Washington struck a blow which changed the whole + situation. We associate with him the thought of calm deliberation. Now, + however, was he to show his strongest quality as a general to be audacity. + At the Battle of the Marne, in 1914, the French General Foch sent the + despatch: <q>My center is giving way; my right is retreating; the situation + is excellent: I am attacking.</q> Washington's position seemed as nearly + hopeless and he, too, had need of some striking action. A campaign marked + by his own blundering and by the treachery of a trusted general had ended + in seeming ruin. Pennsylvania at his back and New Jersey before him across + the Delaware were less than half loyal to the American cause and probably + willing to accept peace on almost any terms. Never was a general in a + position where greater risks must be taken for salvation. As Washington + pondered what was going on among the British + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> + across the Delaware, a bold + plan outlined itself in his mind. Howe, he knew, had gone to New York to + celebrate a triumphant Christmas. His absence from the front was certain + to involve slackness. It was Germans who held the line of the Delaware, + some thirteen hundred of them under Colonel Rahl at Trenton, two thousand + under Von Donop farther down the river at Bordentown; and with Germans + perhaps more than any other people Christmas is a season of elaborate + festivity. On this their first Christmas away from home many of the + Germans would be likely to be off their guard either through homesickness + or dissipation. They cared nothing for either side. There had been much + plundering in New Jersey and discipline was relaxed. + </p> + <p> + Howe had been guilty of the folly of making strong the posts farthest from + the enemy and weak those nearest to him. He had, indeed, ordered Rahl to + throw up redoubts for the defense of Trenton, but this, as Washington well + knew, had not been done for Rahl despised his enemy and spoke of the + American army as already lost. Washington's bold plan was to recross the + Delaware and attack Trenton. There were to be three crossings. One was to + be against Von Donop at Bordentown + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> + below Trenton, the second at Trenton + itself. These two attacks were designed to prevent aid to Trenton. The + third force with which Washington himself went was to cross the river some + nine miles above the town. + </p> + <p> + Christmas Day, 1776, was dismally cold. There was a driving storm of sleet + and the broad swollen stream of the Delaware, dotted with dark masses of + floating ice, offered a chill prospect. To take an army with its guns + across that threatening flood was indeed perilous. Gates and other + generals declared that the scheme was too difficult to be carried out. + Only one of the three forces crossed the river. Washington, with iron + will, was not to be turned from his purpose. He had skilled boatmen from + New England. The crossing took no less than ten hours and a great part of + it was done in wintry darkness. When the army landed on the New Jersey + shore it had a march of nine miles in sleet and rain in order to reach + Trenton by daybreak. It is said that some of the men marched barefoot + leaving tracks of blood in the snow. The arms of some were lost and those + of others were wet and useless but Washington told them that they must + depend the more on the bayonet. He attacked Trenton in broad daylight. + There was a sharp fight. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> + Rahl, the commander, and some seventy men, were + killed and a thousand men surrendered. + </p> + <p> + Even now Washington's position was dangerous. Von Donop, with two thousand + men, lay only a few miles down the river. Had he marched at once on + Trenton, as he should have done, the worn out little force of Washington + might have met with disaster. What Von Donop did when the alarm reached + him was to retreat as fast as he could to Princeton, a dozen miles to the + rear towards New York, leaving behind his sick and all his heavy + equipment. Meanwhile Washington, knowing his danger, had turned back + across the Delaware with a prisoner for every two of his men. When, + however, he saw what Von Donop had done he returned on the twenty-ninth to + Trenton, sent out scouting parties, and roused the country so that in + every bit of forest along the road to Princeton there were men, dead + shots, to make difficult a British advance to retake Trenton. + </p> + <p> + The reverse had brought consternation at New York. Lord Cornwallis was + about to embark for England, the bearer of news of overwhelming victory. + Now, instead, he was sent to drive back Washington. It was no easy task + for Cornwallis to reach Trenton, for Washington's scouting + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> + parties and a + force of six hundred men under Greene were on the road to harass him. On + the evening of the 2d of January, however, he reoccupied Trenton. This + time Washington had not recrossed the Delaware but had retreated southward + and was now entrenched on the southern bank of the little river Assanpink, + which flows into the Delaware. Reinforcements were following Cornwallis. + That night he sharply cannonaded Washington's position and was as sharply + answered. He intended to attack in force in the morning. To the skill and + resource of Washington he paid the compliment of saying that at last he + had run down the <q>Old Fox.</q> + </p> + <p> + Then followed a maneuver which, years after, Cornwallis, a generous foe, + told Washington was one of the most surprising and brilliant in the + history of war. There was another <q>old fox</q> in Europe, Frederick the + Great, of Prussia, who knew war if ever man knew it, and he, too, from + this movement ranked Washington among the great generals. The maneuver was + simple enough. Instead of taking the obvious course of again retreating + across the Delaware Washington decided to advance, to get in behind + Cornwallis, to try to cut his communications, to threaten the British base + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> + of supply and then, if a superior force came up, to retreat into the + highlands of New Jersey. There he could keep an unbroken line as far east + as the Hudson, menace the British in New Jersey, and probably force them + to withdraw to the safety of New York. + </p> + <p> + All through the night of January 2, 1777, Washington's camp fires burned + brightly and the British outposts could hear the sound of voices and of + the spade and pickaxe busy in throwing up entrenchments. The fires died + down towards morning and the British awoke to find the enemy camp + deserted. Washington had carried his whole army by a roundabout route to + the Princeton road and now stood between Cornwallis and his base. There + was some sharp fighting that day near Princeton. Washington had to defeat + and get past the reinforcements coming to Cornwallis. He reached Princeton + and then slipped away northward and made his headquarters at Morristown. + He had achieved his purpose. The British with Washington entrenched on + their flank were not safe in New Jersey. The only thing to do was to + withdraw to New York. By his brilliant advance Washington recovered the + whole of New Jersey with the exception of some minor positions near the + sea. He had + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> + changed the face of the war. In London there was momentary + rejoicing over Howe's recent victories, but it was soon followed by + distressing news of defeat. Through all the colonies ran inspiring + tidings. There had been doubts whether, after all, Washington was the + heaven-sent leader. Now both America and Europe learned to recognize his + skill. He had won a reputation, though not yet had he saved a cause. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER V</a></h2> + <h3>The Loss of Philadelphia</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Though</span> the outlook for Washington was + brightened by his success in New Jersey, it was still depressing enough. + The British had taken New York, they could probably take Philadelphia + when they liked, and no place near the seacoast was safe. According to + the votes in Parliament, by the spring of 1777 Britain was to have an + army of eighty-nine thousand men, of whom fifty-seven thousand were + intended for colonial garrisons and for the prosecution of the war in + America. These numbers were in fact never reached, but the army of forty + thousand in America was formidable compared with Washington's forces. + The British were not hampered by the practice of enlisting men for only + a few months, which marred so much of Washington's effort. Above all + they had money and adequate resources. In a word they had the things + which Washington lacked during almost the whole of the war. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> + Washington called his success in the attack at Trenton a lucky stroke. It + was luck which had far-reaching consequences. Howe had the fixed idea that + to follow the capture of New York by that of Philadelphia, the most + populous city in America, and the seat of Congress, would mean great glory + for himself and a crushing blow to the American cause. If to this could be + added, as he intended, the occupation of the whole valley of the Hudson, + the year 1777 might well see the end of the war. An acute sense of the + value of time is vital in war. Promptness, the quick surprise of the + enemy, was perhaps the chief military virtue of Washington; dilatoriness + was the destructive vice of Howe. He had so little contempt for his foe + that he practised a blighting caution. On April 12, 1777, Washington, in + view of his own depleted force, in a state of half famine, wrote: <q>If + Howe does not take advantage of our weak state he is very unfit for his + trust.</q> Howe remained inactive and time, thus despised, worked its due + revenge. Later Howe did move, and with skill, but he missed the rapid + combination in action which was the first condition of final success. He + could have captured Philadelphia in May. He took the city, but not until + September, when to hold it had become a liability and not + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> + an asset. To go there at + all was perhaps unwise; to go in September was for him a tragic mistake. + </p> + <p> + From New York to Philadelphia the distance by land is about a hundred + miles. The route lay across New Jersey, that <q>garden of America</q> which + English travelers spoke of as resembling their own highly cultivated land. + Washington had his headquarters at Morristown, in northern New Jersey. His + resources were at a low ebb. He had always the faith that a cause founded + on justice could not fail; but his letters at this time are full of + depressing anxiety. Each State regarded itself as in danger and made care + of its own interests its chief concern. By this time Congress had lost + most of the able men who had given it dignity and authority. Like Howe it + had slight sense of the value of time and imagined that tomorrow was as + good as today. Wellington once complained that, though in supreme command, + he had not authority to appoint even a corporal. Washington was hampered + both by Congress and by the State Governments in choosing leaders. He had + some officers, such as Greene, Knox, and Benedict Arnold, whom he trusted. + Others, like Gates and Conway, were ceaseless intriguers. To General + Sullivan, who fancied himself constantly + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> + slighted and ill-treated, + Washington wrote sharply to abolish his poisonous suspicions. + </p> + <p> + Howe had offered easy terms to those in New Jersey who should declare + their loyalty and to meet this Washington advised the stern policy of + outlawing every one who would not take the oath of allegiance to the + United States. There was much fluttering of heart on the New Jersey farms, + much anxious trimming in order, in any event, to be safe. Howe's Hessians + had plundered ruthlessly causing deep resentment against the British. Now + Washington found his own people doing the same thing. Militia officers, + themselves, <q>generally</q> as he said, <q>of the lowest class of the + people,</q> not only stole but incited their men to steal. It was easy to + plunder under the plea that the owner of the property was a Tory, whether + open or concealed, and Washington wrote that the waste and theft were + <q>beyond all conception.</q> There were shirkers claiming exemption from + military service on the ground that they were doing necessary service as + civilians. Washington needed maps to plan his intricate movements and + could not get them. Smallpox was devastating his army and causing losses + heavier than those from the enemy. When pay day came there was usually no + money. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> + It is little wonder that in this spring of 1777 he feared that his army + might suddenly dissolve and leave him without a command. In that case he + would not have yielded. Rather, so stern and bitter was he against + England, would he have plunged into the western wilderness to be lost in + its vast spaces. + </p> + <p> + Howe had his own perplexities. He knew that a great expedition under + Burgoyne was to advance from Canada southward to the Hudson. Was he to + remain with his whole force at New York until the time should come to push + up the river to meet Burgoyne? He had a copy of the instructions given in + England to Burgoyne by Lord George Germain, but he was himself without + orders. Afterwards the reason became known. Lord George Germain had + dictated the order to coöperate with Burgoyne, but had hurried off to + the country before it was ready for his signature and it had been mislaid. + Howe seemed free to make his own plans and he longed to be master of the + enemy's capital. In the end he decided to take Philadelphia—a task + easy enough, as the event proved. At Howe's elbow was the traitorous + American general, Charles Lee, whom he had recently captured, and Lee, as + we know, told him + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> + that Maryland and Pennsylvania were at heart loyal to + the King and panting to be free from the tyranny of the demagogue. Once + firmly in the capital Howe believed that he would have secure control of + Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He could achieve this and be back + at New York in time to meet Burgoyne, perhaps at Albany. Then he would + hold the colony of New York from Staten Island to the Canadian frontier. + Howe found that he could send ships up the Hudson, and the American army + had to stand on the banks almost helpless against the mobility of sea + power. Washington's left wing rested on the Hudson and he held both banks + but neither at Peekskill nor, as yet, farther up at West Point, could his + forts prevent the passage of ships. It was a different matter for the + British to advance on land. But the ships went up and down in the spring + of 1777. It would be easy enough to help Burgoyne when the time should + come. + </p> + <p> + It was summer before Howe was ready to move, and by that time he had + received instructions that his first aim must be to coöperate with + Burgoyne. First, however, he was resolved to have Philadelphia. Washington + watched Howe in perplexity. A great fleet and a great army lay at New + York. Why + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> + did they not move? Washington knew perfectly well what he + himself would have done in Howe's place. He would have attacked rapidly in + April the weak American army and, after destroying or dispersing it, would + have turned to meet Burgoyne coming southward from Canada. Howe did send a + strong force into New Jersey. But he did not know how weak Washington + really was, for that master of craft in war disseminated with great skill + false information as to his own supposed overwhelming strength. Howe had + been bitten once by advancing too far into New Jersey and was not going to + take risks. He tried to entice Washington from the hills to attack in open + country. He marched here and there in New Jersey and kept Washington + alarmed and exhausted by counter marches, and always puzzled as to what + the next move should be. Howe purposely let one of his secret messengers + be taken bearing a despatch saying that the fleet was about to sail for + Boston. All these things took time and the summer was slipping away. In + the end Washington realized that Howe intended to make his move not by + land but by sea. Could it be possible that he was not going to make aid to + Burgoyne his chief purpose? Could it be that he would attack Boston? + Washington + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> + hoped so for he knew the reception certain at Boston. Or was + his goal Charleston? On the 23d of July, when the summer was more than + half gone, Washington began to see more clearly. On that day Howe had + embarked eighteen thousand men and the fleet put to sea from Staten + Island. + </p> + <p> + Howe was doing what able officers with him, such as Cornwallis, Grey, and + the German Knyphausen, appear to have been unanimous in thinking he should + not do. He was misled not only by the desire to strike at the very center + of the rebellion, but also by the assurance of the traitorous Lee that to + take Philadelphia would be the effective signal to all the American + Loyalists, the overwhelming majority of the people, as was believed, that + sedition had failed. A tender parent, the King, was ready to have the + colonies back in their former relation and to give them secure guarantees + of future liberty. Any one who saw the fleet put out from New York Harbor + must have been impressed with the might of Britain. No less than two + hundred and twenty-nine ships set their sails and covered the sea for + miles. When they had disappeared out of sight of the New Jersey shore + their goal was still unknown. At sea they might turn in any direction. + Washington's uncertainty + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> + was partly relieved on the 30th of July when the + fleet appeared at the entrance of Delaware Bay, with Philadelphia some + hundred miles away across the bay and up the Delaware River. After + hovering about the Cape for a day the fleet again put to sea, and + Washington, who had marched his army so as to be near Philadelphia, + thought the whole movement a feint and knew not where the fleet would next + appear. He was preparing to march to New York to menace General Clinton, + who had there seven thousand men able to help Burgoyne when he heard good + news. On the 22d of August he knew that Howe had really gone southward and + was in Chesapeake Bay. Boston was now certainly safe. On the 25th of + August, after three stormy weeks at sea, Howe arrived at Elkton, at the + head of Chesapeake Bay, and there landed his army. It was Philadelphia + fifty miles away that he intended to have. Washington wrote gleefully: + <q>Now let all New England turn out and crush Burgoyne.</q> Before the + end of September he was writing that he was certain of complete disaster + to Burgoyne. + </p> + <p> + Howe had, in truth, made a ruinous mistake. Had the date been May instead + of August he might still have saved Burgoyne. But at the end of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> + August, + when the net was closing on Burgoyne, Howe was three hundred miles away. + His disregard of time and distance had been magnificent. In July he had + sailed to the mouth of the Delaware, with Philadelphia near, but he had + then sailed away again, and why? Because the passage of his ships up the + river to the city was blocked by obstructions commanded by bristling + forts. The naval officers said truly that the fleet could not get up the + river. But Howe might have landed his army at the head of Delaware Bay. It + is a dozen miles across the narrow peninsula from the head of Delaware Bay + to that of Chesapeake Bay. Since Howe had decided to attack from the head + of Chesapeake Bay there was little to prevent him from landing his army on + the Delaware side of the peninsula and marching across it. By sea it is a + voyage of three hundred miles round a peninsula one hundred and fifty + miles long to get from one of these points to the other, by land only a + dozen miles away. Howe made the sea voyage and spent on it three weeks + when a march of a day would have saved this time and kept his fleet three + hundred miles by sea nearer to New York and aid for Burgoyne. + </p> + <p> + Howe's mistakes only have their place in the procession to inevitable + disaster. Once in the thick + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> + of fighting he showed himself formidable. When + he had landed at Elkton he was fifty miles southwest of Philadelphia and + between him and that place was Washington with his army. Washington was + determined to delay Howe in every possible way. To get to Philadelphia + Howe had to cross the Brandywine River. Time was nothing to him. He landed + at Elkton on the 25th of August. Not until the 10th of September was he + prepared to attack Washington barring his way at Chadd's Ford. Washington + was in a strong position on a front of two miles on the river. At his + left, below Chadd's Ford, the Brandywine is a torrent flowing between high + cliffs. There the British would find no passage. On his right was a + forest. Washington had chosen his position with his usual skill. + Entrenchments protected his front and batteries would sweep down an + advancing enemy. He had probably not more than eleven thousand men in the + fight and it is doubtful whether Howe brought up a greater number so that + the armies were not unevenly matched. At daybreak on the eleventh the + British army broke camp at the village of <ins title="Transcriber's Note: Corrected Kenneth Square to Kennett Square."> + Kennett Square,</ins> four miles from Chadd's Ford, and, under General + Knyphausen, marched straight to make a frontal attack on Washington's + position. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> + In the battle which followed Washington was beaten by the superior tactics + of his enemy. Not all of the British army was there in the attack at + Chadd's Ford. A column under Cornwallis had filed off by a road to the + left and was making a long and rapid march. The plan was to cross the + Brandywine some ten miles above where Washington was posted and to attack + him in the rear. By two o'clock in the afternoon Cornwallis had forced the + two branches of the upper Brandywine and was marching on Dilworth at the + right rear of the American army. Only then did Washington become aware of + his danger. His first impulse was to advance across Chadd's Ford to try to + overwhelm Knyphausen and thus to get between Howe and the fleet at Elkton. + This might, however, have brought disaster and he soon decided to retire. + His movement was ably carried out. Both sides suffered in the woodland + fighting but that night the British army encamped in Washington's position + at Chadd's Ford, and Howe had fought skillfully and won an important + battle. + </p> + <p> + Washington had retired in good order and was still formidable. He now + realized clearly enough that Philadelphia would fall. Delay, however, + would be nearly as good as victory. He saw what + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> + Howe could not see, that + menacing cloud in the north, much bigger than a man's hand, which, with + Howe far away, should break in a final storm terrible for the British + cause. Meanwhile Washington meant to keep Howe occupied. Rain alone + prevented another battle before the British reached the Schuylkill River. + On that river Washington guarded every ford. But, in the end, by skillful + maneuvering, Howe was able to cross and on the 26th of September he + occupied Philadelphia without resistance. The people were ordered to + remain quietly in their houses. Officers were billeted on the wealthier + inhabitants. The fall resounded far of what Lord Adam Gordon called a + <q>great and noble city,</q> <q>the first Town in America,</q> <q>one of + the Wonders of the World.</q> Its luxury had been so conspicuous that the + austere John Adams condemned the <q>sinful feasts</q> in which he + shared. About it were fine country seats surrounded by parklike grounds, + with noble trees, clipped hedges, and beautiful gardens. The British + believed that Pennsylvania was really on their side. Many of the people + were friendly and hundreds now renewed their oath of allegiance to the + King. Washington complained that the people gave Howe information denied + to him. They certainly fed + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> + Howe's army willingly and received good British gold while Washington had + only paper money with which to pay. Over the proud capital floated once + more the British flag and people who did not see very far said that, with + both New York and Philadelphia taken, the rebellion had at last collapsed. + </p> + <p> + Once in possession of Philadelphia Howe made his camp at Germantown, a + straggling suburban village, about seven miles northwest of the city. + Washington's army lay at the foot of some hills a dozen miles farther + away. Howe had need to be wary, for Washington was the same <q>old fox</q> + who had played so cunning a game at Trenton. The efforts of the British + army were now centered on clearing the river Delaware so that supplies + might be brought up rapidly by water instead of being carried fifty miles + overland from Chesapeake Bay. Howe detached some thousands of men for + this work and there was sharp fighting before the troops and the fleet + combined had cleared the river. At Germantown Howe kept about nine + thousand men. Though he knew that Washington was likely to attack him he + did not entrench his army as he desired the attack to be made. It might + well have succeeded. Washington with eleven thousand men aimed at a + surprise. On the evening of the 3d of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> + October he set out from his camp. Four roads led into Germantown + and all these the Americans used. At sunrise on the fourth, just as the + attack began, a fog arose to embarrass both sides. Lying a little north of + the village was the solid stone house of Chief Justice Chew, and it + remains famous as the central point in the bitter fight of that day. What + brought final failure to the American attack was an accident of + maneuvering. Sullivan's brigade was in front attacking the British when + Greene's came up for the same purpose. His line overlapped Sullivan's and + he mistook in the fog Sullivan's men for the enemy and fired on them from + the rear. A panic naturally resulted among the men who were attacked also + at the same time by the British on their front. The disorder spread. + British reinforcements arrived, and Washington drew off his army in + surprising order considering the panic. He had six hundred and + seventy-three casualties and lost besides four hundred prisoners. The + British loss was five hundred and thirty-seven casualties and fourteen + prisoners. The attack had failed, but news soon came which made the + reverse unimportant. Burgoyne and his whole army had surrendered at + Saratoga. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VI</a></h2> + <h3>The First Great British Disaster</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">John Burgoyne</span>, in a measure a soldier of + fortune, was the younger son of an impoverished baronet, but he had + married the daughter of the powerful Earl of Derby and was well known in + London society as a man of fashion and also as a man of letters, whose + plays had a certain vogue. His will, in which he describes himself as a + humble Christian, who, in spite of many faults, had never forgotten God, + shows that he was serious minded. He sat in the House of Commons for + Preston and, though he used the language of a courtier and spoke of + himself as lying at the King's feet to await his commands, he was a Whig, + the friend of Fox and others whom the King regarded as his enemies. One + of his plays describes the difficulties of getting the English to join the + army of George III. We have the smartly dressed recruit as a decoy to + suggest an easy life in the army. Victory and glory are so + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> + certain that a tailor stands with his feet on the neck of + the King of France. The decks of captured ships swim with punch and are + clotted with gold dust, and happy soldiers play with diamonds as if they + were marbles. The senators of England, says Burgoyne, care chiefly to make + sure of good game laws for their own pleasure. The worthless son of one of + them, who sets out on the long drive to his father's seat in the country, + spends an hour in <q>yawning, picking his teeth and damning his + journey</q> and when once on the way drives with such fury that the + route is marked by <q>yelping dogs, broken-backed pigs and dismembered + geese.</q> + </p> + <p> + It was under this playwright and satirist, who had some skill as a + soldier, that the British cause now received a blow from which it never + recovered. Burgoyne had taken part in driving the Americans from Canada in + 1776 and had spent the following winter in England using his influence to + secure an independent command. To his later undoing he succeeded. It was + he, and not, as had been expected, General Carleton, who was appointed to + lead the expedition of 1777 from Canada to the Hudson. Burgoyne was given + instructions so rigid as to be an insult to his intelligence. He was to do + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> + one thing and only one thing, to press forward to the Hudson and meet + Howe. At the same time Lord George Germain, the minister responsible, + failed to instruct Howe to advance up the Hudson to meet Burgoyne. + Burgoyne had a genuine belief in the wisdom of this strategy but he had no + power to vary it, to meet changing circumstances, and this was one chief + factor in his failure. + </p> + <p> + Behold Burgoyne then, on the 17th of June, embarking on Lake Champlain the + army which, ever since his arrival in Canada on the 6th of May, he had + been preparing for this advance. He had rather more than seven thousand + men, of whom nearly one-half were Germans under the competent General + Riedesel. In the force of Burgoyne we find the ominous presence of some + hundreds of Indian allies. They had been attached to one side or the other + in every war fought in those regions during the previous one hundred and + fifty years. In the war which ended in 1763 Montcalm had used them and so + had his opponent Amherst. The regiments from the New England and other + colonies had fought in alliance with the painted and befeathered savages + and had made no protest. Now either times had changed, or there was + something in a civil war which made the use of savages + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> + seem hideous. One + thing is certain. Amherst had held his savages in stern restraint and + could say proudly that they had not committed a single outrage. Burgoyne + was not so happy. + </p> + <p> + In nearly every war the professional soldier shows distrust, if not + contempt, for civilian levies. Burgoyne had been in America before the day + of Bunker Hill and knew a great deal about the country. He thought the + <q>insurgents</q> good enough fighters when protected by trees and stones + and swampy ground. But he thought, too, that they had no real knowledge of + the science of war and could not fight a pitched battle. He himself had + not shown the prevision required by sound military knowledge. If the + British were going to abandon the advantage of sea power and fight where + they could not fall back on their fleet, they needed to pay special + attention to land transport. This Burgoyne had not done. It was only a + little more than a week before he reached Lake Champlain that he asked + Carleton to provide the four hundred horses and five hundred carts which + he still needed and which were not easily secured in a sparsely settled + country. Burgoyne lingered for three days at Crown Point, half way down + the lake. Then, on the 2d of July, he laid siege to Fort Ticonderoga. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> + Once past this + fort, guarding the route to Lake George, he could easily reach the Hudson. + </p> + <p> + In command at Fort Ticonderoga was General St. Clair, with about + thirty-five hundred men. He had long notice of the siege, for the + expedition of Burgoyne had been the open talk of Montreal and the + surrounding country during many months. He had built Fort Independence, on + the east shore of Lake Champlain, and with a great expenditure of labor + had sunk twenty-two piers across the lake and stretched in front of them a + boom to protect the two forts. But he had neglected to defend Sugar Hill + in front of Fort Ticonderoga, and commanding the American works. It took + only three or four days for the British to drag cannon to the top, erect a + battery and prepare to open fire. On the 5th of July, St. Clair had to + face a bitter necessity. He abandoned the untenable forts and retired + southward to Fort Edward by way of the difficult Green Mountains. The + British took one hundred and twenty-eight guns. + </p> + <p> + These successes led the British to think that within a few days they would + be in Albany. We have an amusing picture of the effect on George III of + the fall of Fort Ticonderoga. The place had been much discussed. It had + been the first British + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> + fort to fall to the Americans when the Revolution + began, and Carleton's failure to take it in the autumn of 1776 had been + the cause of acute heartburning in London. Now, when the news of its fall + reached England, George III burst into the Queen's room with the glad cry, + <q>I have beat them, I have beat the Americans.</q> Washington's + depression was not as great as the King's elation; he had a better sense + of values; but he had intended that the fort should hold Burgoyne, and + its fall was a disastrous blow. The Americans showed skill and good + soldierly quality in the retreat from Ticonderoga, and Burgoyne in + following and harassing them was led into hard fighting in the woods. + The easier route by way of Lake George was open but Burgoyne hoped to + destroy his enemy by direct pursuit through the forest. It took him + twenty days to hew his way twenty miles, to the upper waters of the + Hudson near Fort Edward. When there on the 30th of July he had + communications open from the Hudson to the St. Lawrence. + </p> + <p> + Fortune seemed to smile on Burgoyne. He had taken many guns and he had + proved the fighting quality of his men. But his cheerful elation had, in + truth, no sound basis. Never during the two + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> + and a half months of bitter + struggle which followed was he able to advance more than twenty-five miles + from Fort Edward. The moment he needed transport by land he found himself + almost helpless. Sometimes his men were without food and equipment because + he had not the horses and carts to bring supplies from the head of water + at Fort Anne or Fort George, a score of miles away. Sometimes he had no + food to transport. He was dependent on his communications for every form + of supplies. Even hay had to be brought from Canada, since, in the forest + country, there was little food for his horses. The perennial problem for + the British in all operations was this one of food. The inland regions + were too sparsely populated to make it possible for more than a few + soldiers to live on local supplies. The wheat for the bread of the British + soldier, his beef and his pork, even the oats for his horse, came, for the + most part, from England, at vast expense for transport, which made + fortunes for contractors. It is said that the cost of a pound of salted + meat delivered to Burgoyne on the Hudson was thirty shillings. Burgoyne + had been told that the inhabitants needed only protection to make them + openly loyal and had counted on them for supplies. He found instead + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> + the + great mass of the people hostile and he doubted the sincerity even of + those who professed their loyalty. + </p> + <p> + After Burgoyne had been a month at Fort Edward he was face to face with + starvation. If he advanced he lengthened his line to flank attack. As it + was he had difficulty in holding it against New Englanders, the most + resolute of all his foes, eager to assert by hard fighting, if need be, + their right to hold the invaded territory which was claimed also by New + York. Burgoyne's instructions forbade him to turn aside and strike them a + heavy blow. He must go on to meet Howe who was not there to be met. A + being who could see the movements of men as we watch a game of chess, + might think that madness had seized the British leaders; Burgoyne on the + upper Hudson plunging forward resolutely to meet Howe; Howe at sea sailing + away, as it might well seem, to get as far from Burgoyne as he could; + Clinton in command at New York without instructions, puzzled what to do + and not hearing from his leader, Howe, for six weeks at a time; and across + the sea a complacent minister, Germain, who believed that he knew what to + do in a scene three thousand miles away, and had drawn up exact + instructions as to the way + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> + of doing it, and who was now eagerly awaiting + news of the final triumph. + </p> + <p> + Burgoyne did his best. Early in August he had to make a venturesome stroke + to get sorely needed food. Some twenty-five miles east of the Hudson at + Bennington, in difficult country, New England militia had gathered food + and munitions, and horses for transport. The pressure of need clouded + Burgoyne's judgment. To make a dash for Bennington meant a long and + dangerous march. He was assured, however, that a surprise was possible and + that in any case the country was full of friends only awaiting a little + encouragement to come out openly on his side. They were Germans who lay on + Burgoyne's left and Burgoyne sent Colonel Baum, an efficient officer, with + five or six hundred men to attack the New Englanders and bring in the + supplies. It was a stupid blunder to send Germans among a people specially + incensed against the use of these mercenaries. There was no surprise. Many + professing loyalists, seemingly eager to take the oath of allegiance, met + and delayed Baum. When near Bennington he found in front of him a force + barring the way and had to make a carefully guarded camp for the night. + Then five hundred men, some of them the cheerful takers of the oath + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> + of + allegiance, slipped round to his rear and in the morning he was attacked + from front and rear. + </p> + <p> + A hot fight followed which resulted in the complete defeat of the British. + Baum was mortally wounded. Some of his men escaped into the woods; the + rest were killed or captured. Nor was this all. Burgoyne, scenting danger, + had ordered five hundred more Germans to reinforce Baum. They, too, were + attacked and overwhelmed. In all Burgoyne lost some eight hundred men and + four guns. The American loss was seventy. It shows the spirit of the time + that, for the sport of the soldiers, British prisoners were tied together + in pairs and driven by negroes at the tail of horses. An American soldier + described long after, with regret for his own cruelty, how he had taken a + British prisoner who had had his left eye shot out and mounted him on a + horse also without the left eye, in derision at the captive's misfortune. + The British complained that quarter was refused in the fight. For days + tired stragglers, after long wandering in the woods, drifted into + Burgoyne's camp. This was now near Saratoga, a name destined to be ominous + in the history of the British army. + </p> + <p> + Further misfortune now crowded upon Burgoyne. The general of that day had + two favorite + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> + forms of attack. One was to hold the enemy's front and throw + out a column to march round the flank and attack his rear, the method of + Howe at the Brandywine; the other method was to advance on the enemy by + lines converging at a common center. This form of attack had proved most + successful eighteen years earlier when the British had finally secured + Canada by bringing together, at Montreal, three armies, one from the east, + one from the west, and one from the south. Now there was a similar plan of + bringing together three British forces at or near Albany, on the Hudson. + Of Clinton, at New York, and Burgoyne we know. The third force was under + General St. Leger. With some seventeen hundred men, fully half of whom + were Indians, he had gone up the St. Lawrence from Montreal and was + advancing from Oswego on Lake Ontario to attack Fort Stanwix at the end of + the road from the Great Lakes to the Mohawk River. After taking that + stronghold he intended to go down the river valley to meet Burgoyne near + Albany. + </p> + <p> + On the 3d of August St. Leger was before Fort Stanwix garrisoned by some + seven hundred Americans. With him were two men deemed potent in that + scene. One of these was Sir John Johnson + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> + who had recently inherited the + vast estate in the neighborhood of his father, the great Indian + Superintendent, Sir William Johnson, and was now in command of a regiment + recruited from Loyalists, many of them fierce and embittered because of + the seizure of their property. The other leader was a famous chief of the + Mohawks, Thayendanegea, or, to give him his English name, Joseph Brant, + half savage still, but also half civilized and half educated, because he + had had a careful schooling and for a brief day had been courted by London + fashion. He exerted a formidable influence with his own people. The + Indians were not, however, all on one side. Half of the six tribes of the + Iroquois were either neutral or in sympathy with the Americans. Among the + savages, as among the civilized, the war was a family quarrel, in which + brother fought brother. Most of the Indians on the American side + preserved, indeed, an outward neutrality. There was no hostile population + for them to plunder and the Indian usually had no stomach for any other + kind of warfare. The allies of the British, on the other hand, had plenty + of openings to their taste and they brought on the British cause an + enduring discredit. + </p> + <p> + When St. Leger was before Fort Stanwix he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> + heard that a force of eight + hundred men, led by a German settler named Herkimer, was coming up against + him. When it was at Oriskany, about six miles away, St. Leger laid a trap. + He sent Brant with some hundreds of Indians and a few soldiers to be + concealed in a marshy ravine which Herkimer must cross. When the American + force was hemmed in by trees and marsh on the narrow causeway of logs + running across the ravine the Indians attacked with wild yells and + murderous fire. Then followed a bloody hand to hand fight. Tradition has + been busy with its horrors. Men struggled in slime and blood and shouted + curses and defiance. Improbable stories are told of pairs of skeletons + found afterwards in the bog each with a bony hand which had driven a knife + to the heart of the other. In the end the British, met by resolution so + fierce, drew back. Meanwhile a sortie from the American fort on their rear + had a menacing success. Sir John Johnson's camp was taken and sacked. The + two sides were at last glad to separate, after the most bloody struggle in + the whole war. St. Leger's Indians had had more than enough. About a + hundred had been killed and the rest were in a state of mutiny. Soon it + was known that Benedict Arnold, with a considerable force, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> + was pushing up + the Mohawk Valley to relieve the American fort. Arnold knew how to deal + with savages. He took care that his friendly Indians should come into + contact with those of Brant and tell lurid tales of utter disaster to + Burgoyne and of a great avenging army on the march to attack St. Leger. + The result was that St. Leger's Indians broke out in riot and maddened + themselves with stolen rum. Disorder affected even the soldiers. The only + thing for St. Leger to do was to get away. He abandoned his guns and + stores and, harassed now by his former Indian allies, made his way to + Oswego and in the end reached Montreal with a remnant of his force. + </p> + <p> + News of these things came to Burgoyne just after the disaster at + Bennington. Since Fort Stanwix was in a country counted upon as Loyalist + at heart it was especially discouraging again to find that in the main the + population was against the British. During the war almost without + exception Loyalist opinion proved weak against the fierce determination of + the American side. It was partly a matter of organization. The vigilance + committees in each State made life well-nigh intolerable to suspected + Tories. Above all, however, the British had to bear the odium which + attaches always to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> + the invader. We do not know what an American army would + have done if, with Iroquois savages as allies, it had made war in an + English county. We know what loathing a parallel situation aroused against + the British army in America. The Indians, it should be noted, were not + soldiers under British discipline but allies; the chiefs regarded + themselves as equals who must be consulted and not as enlisted to take + orders from a British general. + </p> + <p> + In war, as in politics, nice balancing of merit or defect in an enemy + would destroy the main purpose which is to defeat him. Each side + exaggerates any weak point in the other in order to stimulate the fighting + passions. Judgment is distorted. The Baroness Riedesel, the wife of one of + Burgoyne's generals, who was in Boston in 1777, says that the people were + all dressed alike in a peasant costume with a leather strap round the + waist, that they were of very low and insignificant stature, and that only + one in ten of them could read or write. She pictures New Englanders as + tarring and feathering cultivated English ladies. When educated people + believed every evil of the enemy the ignorant had no restraint to their + credulity. New England had long regarded the native savages as a pest. In + 1776 New Hampshire offered seventy pounds for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> + each scalp of a hostile male + Indian and thirty-seven pounds and ten shillings for each scalp of a woman + or of a child under twelve years of age. Now it was reported that the + British were offering bounties for American scalps. Benjamin Franklin + satirized British ignorance when he described whales leaping Niagara Falls + and he did not expect to be taken seriously when, at a later date, he + pictured George III as gloating over the scalps of his subjects in + America. The Seneca Indians alone, wrote Franklin, sent to the King many + bales of scalps. Some bales were captured by the Americans and they found + the scalps of 43 soldiers, 297 farmers, some of them burned alive, and 67 + old people, 88 women, 193 boys, 211 girls, 29 infants, and others + unclassified. Exact figures bring conviction. Franklin was not wanting in + exactness nor did he fail, albeit it was unwittingly, to intensify burning + resentment of which we have echoes still. Burgoyne had to bear the odium + of the outrages by Indians. It is amusing to us, though it was hardly so + to this kindly man, to find these words put into his mouth by a colonial + poet: + </p> + <p class="poem1"> + <span style="margin-left:-1em">I will let loose the dogs of Hell,</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left:-1em">Ten thousand Indians who shall yell,</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left:-1em">And foam, and tear, and grin, and roar</span><br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> + <span style="margin-left:-1em">And drench their moccasins in gore:…</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left:-1em">I swear, by St. George and St. Paul,</span><br /> + <span style="margin-left:-1em">I will exterminate you all.</span> + </p> + <p> + Such seed, falling on soil prepared by the hate of war, brought forth its + deadly fruit. The Americans believed that there was no brutality from + which British officers would shrink. Burgoyne had told his Indian allies + that they must not kill except in actual fighting and that there must be + no slaughter of non-combatants and no scalping of any but the dead. The + warning delivered him into the hands of his enemies for it showed that he + half expected outrage. Members of the British House of Commons were no + whit behind the Americans in attacking him. Burke amused the House by his + satire on Burgoyne's words: <q>My gentle lions, my humane bears, my + tender-hearted hyenas, go forth! But I exhort you, as you are Christians + and members of civilized society, to take care not to hurt any man, woman, + or child.</q> Burke's great speech lasted for three and a half hours and + Sir George Savile called it <q>the greatest triumph of eloquence within + memory.</q> British officers disliked their dirty, greasy, noisy allies + and Burgoyne found his use of savages, with the futile order to be + merciful, a potent factor in his defeat. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> + A horrifying incident had occurred while he was fighting his way to the + Hudson. As the Americans were preparing to leave Fort Edward some + marauding Indians saw a chance of plunder and outrage. They burst into a + house and carried off two ladies, both of them British in + sympathy—Mrs. McNeil, a cousin of one of Burgoyne's chief officers, + General Fraser, and Miss Jeannie McCrae, whose betrothed, a Mr. Jones, and + whose brother were serving with Burgoyne. In a short time Mrs. McNeil was + handed over unhurt to Burgoyne's advancing army. Miss McCrae was never + again seen alive by her friends. Her body was found and a Wyandot chief, + known as the Panther, showed her scalp as a trophy. Burgoyne would have + been a poor creature had he not shown anger at such a crime, even if + committed against the enemy. This crime, however, was committed against + his own friends. He pressed the charge against the chief and was prepared + to hang him and only relaxed when it was urged that the execution would + cause all his Indians to leave him and to commit further outrages. The + incident was appealing in its tragedy and stirred the deep anger of the + population of the surrounding country among whose descendants to this day + the tradition of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> + abandoned brutality of the British keeps alive the old hatred. + </p> + <p> + At Fort Edward Burgoyne now found that he could hardly move. He was + encumbered by an enormous baggage train. His own effects filled, it is + said, thirty wagons and this we can believe when we find that champagne + was served at his table up almost to the day of final disaster. The + population was thoroughly aroused against him. His own instinct was to + remain near the water route to Canada and make sure of his communications. + On the other hand, honor called him to go forward and not fail Howe, + supposed to be advancing to meet him. For a long time he waited and + hesitated. Meanwhile he was having increasing difficulty in feeding his + army and through sickness and desertion his numbers were declining. By the + 13th of September he had taken a decisive step. He made a bridge of boats + and moved his whole force across the river to Saratoga, now Schuylerville. + This crossing of the river would result inevitably in cutting off his + communications with Lake George and Ticonderoga. After such a step he + could not go back and he was moving forward into a dark unknown. The + American camp was at Stillwater, twelve miles farther down the river. + Burgoyne + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> + sent messenger after messenger to get past the American lines and + bring back news of Howe. Not one of these unfortunate spies returned. Most + of them were caught and ignominiously hanged. One thing, however, Burgoyne + could do. He could hazard a fight and on this he decided as the autumn was + closing in. + </p> + <p> + Burgoyne had no time to lose, once his force was on the west bank of the + Hudson. General Lincoln cut off his communications with Canada and was + soon laying siege to Ticonderoga. The American army facing Burgoyne was + now commanded by General Gates. This Englishman, the godson of Horace + Walpole, had gained by successful intrigue powerful support in Congress. + That body was always paying too much heed to local claims and jealousies + and on the 2d of August it removed Schuyler of New York because he was + disliked by the soldiers from New England and gave the command to Gates. + Washington was far away maneuvering to meet Howe and he was never able to + watch closely the campaign in the north. Gates, indeed, considered himself + independent of Washington and reported not to the Commander-in-Chief but + direct to Congress. On the 19th of September Burgoyne attacked Gates in a + strong + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> + entrenched position on Bemis Heights, at Stillwater. There was a + long and bitter fight, but by evening Burgoyne had not carried the main + position and had lost more than five hundred men whom he could ill spare + from his scanty numbers. + </p> + <p> + Burgoyne's condition was now growing desperate. American forces barred + retreat to Canada. He must go back and meet both frontal and flank + attacks, or go forward, or surrender. To go forward now had most promise, + for at last Howe had instructed Clinton, left in command at New York, to + move, and Clinton was making rapid progress up the Hudson. On the 7th of + October Burgoyne attacked again at Stillwater. This time he was decisively + defeated, a result due to the amazing energy in attack of Benedict Arnold, + who had been stripped of his command by an intrigue. Gates would not even + speak to him and his lingering in the American camp was unwelcome. Yet as + a volunteer Arnold charged the British line madly and broke it. Burgoyne's + best general, Fraser, was killed in the fight. Burgoyne retired to + Saratoga and there at last faced the prospects of getting back to Fort + Edward and to Canada. It may be that he could have cut his way through, + but this is doubtful. Without risk of destruction he could + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> + not move in any + direction. His enemies now outnumbered him nearly four to one. His camp + was swept by the American guns and his men were under arms night and day. + American sharpshooters stationed themselves at daybreak in trees about the + British camp and any one who appeared in the open risked his life. If a + cap was held up in view instantly two or three balls would pass through + it. His horses were killed by rifle shots. Burgoyne had little food for + his men and none for his horses. His Indians had long since gone off in + dudgeon. Many of his Canadian French slipped off homeward and so did the + Loyalists. The German troops were naturally dispirited. A British officer + tells of the deadly homesickness of these poor men. They would gather in + groups of two dozen or so and mourn that they would never again see their + native land. They died, a score at a time, of no other disease than + sickness for their homes. They could have no pride in trying to save a + lost cause. Burgoyne was surrounded and, on the 17th of October, he was + obliged to surrender. + </p> + <p> + Gates proposed to Burgoyne hard terms—surrender with no honors of + war. The British were to lay down their arms in their encampments and to + march out without weapons of any kind. Burgoyne + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> + declared that, rather than + accept such terms, he would fight still and take no quarter. A shadow was + falling on the path of Gates. The term of service of some of his men had + expired. The New Englanders were determined to stay and see the end of + Burgoyne but a good many of the New York troops went off. Sickness, too, + was increasing. Above all General Clinton was advancing up the Hudson. + British ships could come up freely as far as Albany and in a few days + Clinton might make a formidable advance. Gates, a timid man, was in a + hurry. He therefore agreed that the British should march from their camp + with the honors of war, that the troops should be taken to New England, + and from there to England. They must not serve again in North America + during the war but there was nothing in the terms to prevent their serving + in Europe and relieving British regiments for service in America. Gates + had the courtesy to keep his army where it could not see the laying down + of arms by Burgoyne's force. About five thousand men, of whom sixteen + hundred were Germans and only three thousand five hundred fit for duty, + surrendered to sixteen thousand Americans. Burgoyne gave offense to German + officers by saying in his report that he might have held out longer + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> + had + all his troops been British. This is probably true but the British met + with only a just Nemesis for using soldiers who had no call of duty to + serve. + </p> + <p> + The army set out on its long march of two hundred miles to Boston. The + late autumn weather was cold, the army was badly clothed and fed, and the + discomfort of the weary route was increased by the bitter antagonism of + the inhabitants. They respected the regular British soldier but at the + Germans they shouted insults and the Loyalists they despised as traitors. + The camp at the journey's end was on the ground at Cambridge where two + years earlier Washington had trained his first army. Every day Burgoyne + expected to embark. There was delay and, at last, he knew the reason. + Congress repudiated the terms granted by Gates. A tangled dispute + followed. Washington probably had no sympathy with the quibbling of + Congress. But he had no desire to see this army return to Europe and + release there an army to serve in America. Burgoyne's force was never sent + to England. For nearly a year it lay at Boston. Then it was marched to + Virginia. The men suffered great hardships and the numbers fell by + desertion and escape. When peace came in 1783 there was no army to take + back to England; Burgoyne's soldiers + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> + had been merged into the American + people. It may well be, indeed, that descendants of his beaten men have + played an important part in building up the United States. The irony of + history is unconquerable. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VII</a></h2> + <h3>Washington and His Comrades at Valley Forge</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Washington</span> had met defeat in every considerable + battle at which he was personally present. His first appearance in + military history, in the Ohio campaign against the French, twenty-two + years before the Revolution, was marked by a defeat, the surrender of Fort + Necessity. Again in the next year, when he fought to relieve the disaster + to Braddock's army, defeat was his portion. Defeat had pursued him in the + battles of the Revolution—before New York, at the Brandywine, at + Germantown. The campaign against Canada, which he himself planned, had + failed. He had lost New York and Philadelphia. But, like William III of + England, who in his long struggle with France hardly won a battle and yet + forced Louis XIV to accept his terms of peace, Washington, by suddenness + in reprisal, by skill in resource when his plans + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> + seemed to have been shattered, grew on the hard rock of defeat the flower + of victory. + </p> + <p> + There was never a time when Washington was not trusted by men of real + military insight or by the masses of the people. But a general who does + not win victories in the field is open to attack. By the winter of 1777 + when Washington, with his army reduced and needy, was at Valley Forge + keeping watch on Howe in Philadelphia, John Adams and others were talking + of the sin of idolatry in the worship of Washington, of its flavor of the + accursed spirit of monarchy, and of the punishment which <q>the God of + Heaven and Earth</q> must inflict for such perversity. Adams was all + against a Fabian policy and wanted to settle issues forever by a short and + strenuous war. The idol, it was being whispered, proved after all to have + feet of clay. One general, and only one, had to his credit a really great + victory—Gates, to whom Burgoyne had surrendered at Saratoga, and + there was a movement to replace Washington by this laureled victor. + </p> + <p> + General Conway, an Irish soldier of fortune, was one of the most + troublesome in this plot. He had served in the campaign about Philadelphia + but had been blocked in his extravagant demands for promotion; so he + turned for redress to Gates, the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> + star in the north. A malignant campaign + followed in detraction of Washington. He had, it was said, worn out his + men by useless marches; with an army three times as numerous as that of + Howe, he had gained no victory; there was high fighting quality in the + American army if properly led, but Washington despised the militia; a + Gates or a Lee or a Conway would save the cause as Washington could not; + and so on. <q>Heaven has determined to save your country or a weak general + and bad counsellors would have ruined it</q>; so wrote Conway to Gates and + Gates allowed the letter to be seen. The words were reported to + Washington, who at once, in high dudgeon, called Conway to account. An + explosion followed. Gates both denied that he had received a letter with + the passage in question, and, at the same time, charged that there had + been tampering with his private correspondence. He could not have it both + ways. Conway was merely impudent in reply to Washington, but Gates laid + the whole matter before Congress. Washington wrote to Gates, in reply to + his denials, ironical references to <q>rich treasures of knowledge and + experience</q> <q>guarded with penurious reserve</q> by Conway from his + leaders but revealed to Gates. There was no irony in Washington's + reference to malignant + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> + detraction and mean intrigue. At the same time he said to Gates: + <q>My temper leads me to peace and harmony with all men,</q> and he + deplored the internal strife which injured the great cause. Conway soon + left America. Gates lived to command another American army and to end his + career by a crowning disaster. + </p> + <p> + Washington had now been for more than two years in the chief command and + knew his problems. It was a British tradition that standing armies were a + menace to liberty, and the tradition had gained strength in crossing the + sea. Washington would have wished a national army recruited by Congress + alone and bound to serve for the duration of the war. There was much talk + at the time of a <q>new model army</q> similar in type to the wonderful + creation of Oliver Cromwell. The Thirteen Colonies became, however, + thirteen nations. Each reserved the right to raise its own levies in its + own way. To induce men to enlist Congress was twice handicapped. First, it + had no power of taxation and could only ask the States to provide what it + needed. The second handicap was even greater. When Congress offered + bounties to those who enlisted in the Continental army, some of the States + offered higher bounties for their own levies + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> + of militia, and one authority + was bidding against the other. This encouraged short-term enlistments. If + a man could re-enlist and again secure a bounty, he would gain more than + if he enlisted at once for the duration of the war. + </p> + <p> + An army is an intricate mechanism needing the same variety of agencies + that is required for the well-being of a community. The chief aim is, of + course, to defeat the enemy, and to do this an army must be prepared to + move rapidly. Means of transport, so necessary in peace, are even more + urgently needed in war. Thus Washington always needed military engineers + to construct roads and bridges. Before the Revolution the greater part of + such services had been provided in America by the regular British army, + now the enemy. British officers declared that the American army was + without engineers who knew the science of war, and certainly the forts on + which they spent their skill in the North, those on the lower Hudson, and + at Ticonderoga, at the head of Lake George, fell easily before the + assailant. Good maps were needed, and in this Washington was badly served, + though the defect was often corrected by his intimate knowledge of the + country. Another service ill-equipped was what we should now call the Red + Cross. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> + Epidemics, and especially smallpox, wrought havoc in the army. + Then, as now, shattered nerves were sometimes the result of the strain of + military life. <q>The wind of a ball,</q> what we should now call + shell-shock, sometimes killed men whose bodies appeared to be uninjured. + To our more advanced knowledge the medical science of the time seems + crude. The physicians of New England, today perhaps the most expert body + of medical men in the world, were even then highly skillful. But the + surgeons and nurses were too few. This was true of both sides in the + conflict. Prisoners in hospitals often suffered terribly and each side + brought charges of ill-treatment against the other. The prison-ships in + the harbor of New York, where American prisoners were confined, became a + scandal, and much bitter invective against British brutality is found in + the literature of the period. The British leaders, no less than Washington + himself, were humane men, and ignorance and inadequate equipment will + explain most of the hardships, though an occasional officer on either side + was undoubtedly callous in respect to the sufferings of the enemy. + </p> + <p> + Food and clothing, the first vital necessities of an army, were often + deplorably scarce. In a land + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> + of farmers there was food enough. Its lack in + the army was chiefly due to bad transport. Clothing was another matter. + One of the things insisted upon in a well-trained army is a decent regard + for appearance, and in the eyes of the French and the British officers the + American army usually seemed rather unkempt. The formalities of dress, the + uniformity of pipe-clay and powdered hair, of polished steel and brass, + can of course be overdone. The British army had too much of it, but to + Washington's force the danger was of having too little. It was not easy to + induce farmers and frontiersmen who at home began the day without the use + of water, razor, or brush, to appear on parade clean, with hair powdered, + faces shaved, and clothes neat. In the long summer days the men were told + to shave before going to bed that they might prepare the more quickly for + parade in the morning, and to fill their canteens over night if an early + march was imminent. Some of the regiments had uniforms which gave them a + sufficiently smart appearance. The cocked hat, the loose hunting shirt + with its fringed border, the breeches of brown leather or duck, the brown + gaiters or leggings, the powdered hair, were familiar marks of the soldier + of the Revolution. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> + During a great part of the war, however, in spite of supplies brought from + both France and the West Indies, Washington found it difficult to secure + for his men even decent clothing of any kind, whether of military cut or + not. More than a year after he took command, in the fighting about New + York, a great part of his army had no more semblance of uniform than + hunting shirts on a common pattern. In the following December, he wrote of + many men as either shivering in garments fit only for summer wear or as + entirely naked. There was a time in the later campaign in the South when + hundreds of American soldiers marched stark naked, except for breech + cloths. One of the most pathetic hardships of the soldier's life was due + to the lack of boots. More than one of Washington's armies could be + tracked by the bloody footprints of his barefooted men. Near the end of + the war Benedict Arnold, who knew whereof he spoke, described the American + army as <q>illy clad, badly fed, and worse paid,</q> pay being then two or + three years overdue. On the other hand, there is evidence that life in the + army was not without its compensations. Enforced dwelling in the open air + saved men from diseases such as consumption and the movement from camp to + camp gave a broader outlook to the farmer's + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> + sons. The army could usually + make a brave parade. On ceremonial occasions the long hair of the men + would be tied back and made white with powder, even though their uniforms + were little more than rags. + </p> + <p> + The men carried weapons some of which, in, at any rate, the early days of + the war, were made by hand at the village smithy. A man might take to the + war a weapon forged by himself. The American soldier had this advantage + over the British soldier, that he used, if not generally, at least in some + cases, not the smooth-bore musket but the grooved rifle by which the ball + was made to rotate in its flight. The fire from this rifle was extremely + accurate. At first weapons were few and ammunition was scanty, but in time + there were importations from France and also supplies from American gun + factories. The standard length of the barrel was three and a half feet, a + portentous size compared with that of the modern weapon. The loading was + from the muzzle, a process so slow that one of the favorite tactics of the + time was to await the fire of the enemy and then charge quickly and + bayonet him before he could reload. The old method of firing off the + musket by means of slow matches kept alight during action was now + obsolete; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> + the latest device was the flintlock. But there was always a + measure of doubt whether the weapon would go off. Partly on this account + Benjamin Franklin, the wisest man of his time, declared for the use of the + pike of an earlier age rather than the bayonet and for bows and arrows + instead of firearms. A soldier, he said, could shoot four arrows to one + bullet. An arrow wound was more disabling than a bullet wound; and arrows + did not becloud the vision with smoke. The bullet remained, however, the + chief means of destruction, and the fire of Washington's soldiers usually + excelled that of the British. These, in their turn, were superior in the + use of the bayonet. + </p> + <p> + Powder and lead were hard to get. The inventive spirit of America was busy + with plans to procure saltpeter and other ingredients for making powder, + but it remained scarce. Since there was no standard firearm, each soldier + required bullets specially suited to his weapon. The men melted lead and + cast it in their own bullet-molds. It is an instance of the minor ironies + of war that the great equestrian statue of George III, which had been + erected in New York in days more peaceful, was melted into bullets for + killing that monarch's soldiers. Another necessity was paper for + cartridges + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> + and wads. The cartridge of that day was a paper envelope + containing the charge of ball and powder. This served also as a wad, after + being emptied of its contents, and was pushed home with a ramrod. A store + of German Bibles in Pennsylvania fell into the hands of the soldiers at a + moment when paper was a crying need, and the pages of these Bibles were + used for wads. + </p> + <p> + The artillery of the time seems feeble compared with the monster weapons + of death which we know in our own age. Yet it was an important factor in + the war. It is probable that before the war not a single cannon had been + made in the colonies. From the outset Washington was hampered for lack of + artillery. Neutrals, especially the Dutch in the West Indies, sold guns to + the Americans, and France was a chief source of supply during long periods + when the British lost the command of the sea. There was always difficulty + about equipping cavalry, especially in the North. The Virginian was at + home on horseback, and in the farther South bands of cavalry did service + during the later years of the war, but many of the fighting riders of + today might tomorrow be guiding their horses peacefully behind the plough. + </p> + <p> + The pay of the soldiers remained to Washington + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> + a baffling problem. When + the war ended their pay was still heavily in arrears. The States were + timid about imposing taxation and few if any paid promptly the levies made + upon them. Congress bridged the chasm in finance by issuing paper money + which so declined in value that, as Washington said grimly, it required a + wagon-load of money to pay for a wagon-load of supplies. The soldier + received his pay in this money at its face value, and there is little + wonder that the <q>continental dollar</q> is still in the United States a + symbol of worthlessness. At times the lack of pay caused mutiny which + would have been dangerous but for Washington's firm and tactful management + in the time of crisis. There was in him both the kindly feeling of the + humane man and the rigor of the army leader. He sent men to death without + flinching, but he was at one with his men in their sufferings, and no + problem gave him greater anxiety than that of pay, affecting, as it did, + the health and spirits of men who, while unpaid, had no means of softening + the daily tale of hardship. + </p> + <p> + Desertion was always hard to combat. With the homesickness which led + sometimes to desertion Washington must have had a secret sympathy, for his + letters show that he always longed for that + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> + pleasant home in Virginia + which he did not allow himself to revisit until nearly the end of the war. + The land of a farmer on service often remained untilled, and there are + pathetic cases of families in bitter need because the breadwinner was in + the army. In frontier settlements his absence sometimes meant the massacre + of his family by the savages. There is little wonder that desertion was + common, so common that after a reverse the men went away by hundreds. As + they usually carried with them their rifles and other equipment, desertion + involved a double loss. On one occasion some soldiers undertook for + themselves the punishment of deserters. Men of the First Pennsylvania + Regiment who had recaptured three deserters, beheaded one of them and + returned to their camp with the head carried on a pole. More than once it + happened that condemned men were paraded before the troops for execution + with the graves dug and the coffins lying ready. The death sentence would + be read, and then, as the firing party took aim, a reprieve would be + announced. The reprieve in such circumstances was omitted often enough to + make the condemned endure the real agony of death. + </p> + <p> + Religion offered its consolations in the army and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> + Washington gave much + thought to the service of the chaplains. He told his army that fine as it + was to be a patriot it was finer still to be a Christian. It is an odd + fact that, though he attended the Anglican Communion service before and + after the war, he did not partake of the Communion during the war. What + was in his mind we do not know. He was disposed, as he said himself, to + let men find <q>that road to Heaven which to them shall seem the most + direct,</q> and he was without Puritan fervor, but he had deep religious + feeling. During the troubled days at Valley Forge a neighbor came upon him + alone in the bush on his knees praying aloud, and stole away unobserved. + He would not allow in the army a favorite Puritan custom of burning the + Pope in effigy, and the prohibition was not easily enforced among men, + thousands of whom bore scriptural names from ancestors who thought the + Pope anti-Christ. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Washington's winter quarters at Valley Forge were only twenty miles from + Philadelphia, among hills easily defended. It is matter for wonder that + Howe, with an army well equipped, did not make some attempt to destroy the + army of Washington which passed the winter so near and in acute + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> + distress. + The Pennsylvania Loyalists, with dark days soon to come, were bitter at + Howe's inactivity, full of tragic meaning for themselves. He said that he + could achieve nothing permanent by attack. It may be so; but it is a sound + principle in warfare to destroy the enemy when this is possible. There was + a time when in Washington's whole force not more than two thousand men + were in a condition to fight. Congress was responsible for the needs of + the army but was now, in sordid inefficiency, cooped up in the little town + of York, eighty miles west of Valley Forge, to which it had fled. There + was as yet no real federal union. The seat of authority was in the State + Governments, and we need not wonder that, with the passing of the first + burst of devotion which united the colonies in a common cause, Congress + declined rapidly in public esteem. <q>What a lot of damned scoundrels we + had in that second Congress</q> said, at a later date, Gouverneur Morris + of Philadelphia to John Jay of New York, and Jay answered gravely, <q>Yes, + we had.</q> The body, so despised in the retrospect, had no real executive + government, no organized departments. Already before Independence was + proclaimed there had been talk of a permanent union, but the members of + Congress had shown no + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> + sense of urgency, and it was not until November 15, + 1777, when the British were in Philadelphia and Congress was in exile at + York, that Articles of Confederation were adopted. By the following + midsummer many of the States had ratified these articles, but Maryland, + the last to assent, did not accept the new union until 1781, so that + Congress continued to act for the States without constitutional sanction + during the greater part of the war. + </p> + <p> + The ineptitude of Congress is explained when we recall that it was a + revolutionary body which indeed controlled foreign affairs and the issues + of war and peace, coined money, and put forth paper money but had no + general powers. Each State had but one vote, and thus a small and sparsely + settled State counted for as much as populous Massachusetts or Virginia. + The Congress must deal with each State only as a unit; it could not coerce + a State; and it had no authority to tax or to coerce individuals. The + utmost it could do was to appeal to good feeling, and when a State felt + that it had a grievance such an appeal was likely to meet with a flaming + retort. + </p> + <p> + Washington maintained towards Congress an attitude of deference and + courtesy which it did not always deserve. The ablest men in the individual + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> + States held aloof from Congress. They felt that they had more dignity and + power if they sat in their own legislatures. The assembly which in the + first days had as members men of the type of Washington and Franklin sank + into a gathering of second-rate men who were divided into fierce factions. + They debated interminably and did little. Each member usually felt that he + must champion the interests of his own State against the hostility of + others. It was not easy to create a sense of national life. The union was + only a league of friendship. States which for a century or more had barely + acknowledged their dependence upon Great Britain, were chary about coming + under the control of a new centralizing authority at Philadelphia. The new + States were sovereign and some of them went so far as to send envoys of + their own to negotiate with foreign powers in Europe. When it was urged + that Congress should have the power to raise taxes in the States, there + were patriots who asked sternly what the war was about if it was not to + vindicate the principle that the people of a State alone should have power + of taxation over themselves. Of New England all the other States were + jealous and they particularly disliked that proud and censorious city + which already was accused of + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> + believing that God had made Boston for + Himself and all the rest of the world for Boston. The religion of New + England did not suit the Anglicans of Virginia or the Roman Catholics of + Maryland, and there was resentful suspicion of Puritan intolerance. John + Adams said quite openly that there were no religious teachers in + Philadelphia to compare with those of Boston and naturally other colonies + drew away from the severe and rather acrid righteousness of which he was a + type. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Inefficiency meanwhile brought terrible suffering at Valley Forge, and the + horrors of that winter remain still vivid in the memory of the American + people. The army marched to Valley Forge on December 17, 1777, and in + midwinter everything from houses to entrenchments had still to be created. + At once there was busy activity in cutting down trees for the log huts. + They were built nearly square, sixteen feet by fourteen, in rows, with the + door opening on improvised streets. Since boards were scarce, and it was + difficult to make roofs rainproof, Washington tried to stimulate ingenuity + by offering a reward of one hundred dollars for an improved method of + roofing. The fireplaces of wood were protected with thick clay. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> + Firewood + was abundant, but, with little food for oxen and horses, men had to turn + themselves into draught animals to bring in supplies. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes the army was for a week without meat. Many horses died for lack + of forage or of proper care, a waste which especially disturbed + Washington, a lover of horses. When quantities of clothing were ready for + use, they were not delivered at Valley Forge owing to lack of transport. + Washington expressed his contempt for officers who resigned their + commissions in face of these distresses. No one, he said, ever heard him + say a word about resignation. There were many desertions but, on the + whole, he marveled at the patience of his men and that they did not + mutiny. With a certain grim humor they chanted phrases about <q>no pay, no + clothes, no provisions, no rum,</q> and sang an ode glorifying war and + Washington. Hundreds of them marched barefoot, their blood staining the + snow or the frozen ground while, at the same time, stores of shoes and + clothing were lying unused somewhere on the roads to the camp. + </p> + <p> + Sickness raged in the army. Few men at Valley Forge, wrote Washington, had + more than a sheet, many only part of a sheet, and some nothing at all. + Hospital stores were lacking. For want of straw + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> + and blankets the sick lay + perishing on the frozen ground. When Washington had been at Valley Forge + for less than a week, he had to report nearly three thousand men unfit for + duty because of their nakedness in the bitter winter. Then, as always, + what we now call the <q>profiteer</q> was holding up supplies for higher + prices. To the British at Philadelphia, because they paid in gold, things + were furnished which were denied to Washington at Valley Forge, and he + announced that he would hang any one who took provisions to Philadelphia. + To keep his men alive Washington had sometimes to take food by force from + the inhabitants and then there was an outcry that this was robbery. With + many sick, his horses so disabled that he could not move his artillery, + and his defenses very slight, he could have made only a weak fight had + Howe attacked him. Yet the legislature of Pennsylvania told him that, + instead of lying quiet in winter quarters, he ought to be carrying on an + active campaign. In most wars irresponsible men sitting by comfortable + firesides are sure they knew best how the thing should be done. + </p> + <p> + The bleak hillside at Valley Forge was something more than a prison. + Washington's staff was known as his family and his relations with them + were cordial + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> + and even affectionate. The young officers faced their + hardships cheerily and gave meager dinners to which no one might go if he + was so well off as to have trousers without holes. They talked and sang + and jested about their privations. By this time many of the bad officers, + of whom Washington complained earlier, had been weeded out and he was + served by a body of devoted men. There was much good comradeship. + Partnership in suffering tends to draw men together. In the company which + gathered about Washington, two men, mere youths at the time, have a + world-wide fame. The young Alexander Hamilton, barely twenty-one years of + age, and widely known already for his political writings, had the rank of + lieutenant colonel gained for his services in the fighting about New York. + He was now Washington's confidential secretary, a position in which he + soon grew restless. His ambition was to be one of the great military + leaders of the Revolution. Before the end of the war he had gone back to + fighting and he distinguished himself in the last battle of the war at + Yorktown. The other youthful figure was the Marquis de La Fayette. It is + not without significance that a noble square bears his name in the capital + named after Washington. The two men loved each other. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> + The young French + aristocrat, with both a great name and great possessions, was fired in + 1776, when only nineteen, with zeal for the American cause. <q>With the + welfare of America,</q> he wrote to his wife, <q>is closely linked the + welfare of mankind.</q> Idealists in France believed that America was + leading in the remaking of the world. When it was known that La Fayette + intended to go to fight in America, the King of France forbade it, since + France had as yet no quarrel with England. The youth, however, chartered + a ship, landed in South Carolina, hurried to Philadelphia, and was a + major general in the American army when he was twenty years of age. + </p> + <p> + La Fayette rendered no serious military service to the American cause. He + arrived in time to fight in the battle of the Brandywine. Washington + praised him for his bravery and military ardor and wrote to Congress that + he was sensible, discreet, and able to speak English freely. It was with + an eye to the influence in France of the name of the young noble that + Congress advanced him so rapidly. La Fayette was sincere and generous in + spirit. He had, however, little military capacity. Later when he might + have directed the course of the French Revolution he was found wanting in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> + force of character. The great Mirabeau tried to work with him for the good + of France, but was repelled by La Fayette's jealous vanity, a vanity so + greedy of praise that Jefferson called it a <q>canine appetite for + popularity and fame.</q> La Fayette once said that he had never had a + thought with which he could reproach himself, and he boasted that he has + mastered three kings—the King of England in the American Revolution, + the King of France, and King Mob of Paris during the upheaval in France. + He was useful as a diplomatist rather than as a soldier. Later, in an hour + of deep need, Washington sent La Fayette to France to ask for aid. He was + influential at the French court and came back with abundant promises, + which were in part fulfilled. + </p> + <p> + Washington himself and Oliver Cromwell are perhaps the only two civilian + generals in history who stand in the first rank as military leaders. It is + doubtful indeed whether it is not rather character than military skill + which gives Washington his place. Only one other general of the Revolution + attained to first rank even in secondary fame. Nathanael Greene was of + Quaker stock from Rhode Island. He was a natural student and when trouble + with the mother country was impending + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> + in 1774 he spent the leisure which + he could spare from his forges in the study of military history and in + organizing the local militia. Because of his zeal for military service he + was expelled from the Society of Friends. In 1775 when war broke out he + was promptly on hand with a contingent from Rhode Island. In little more + than a year and after a very slender military experience he was in command + of the army on Long Island. On the Hudson defeat not victory was his lot. + He had, however, as much stern resolve as Washington. He shared + Washington's success in the attack on Trenton, and his defeats at the + Brandywine and at Germantown. Now he was at Valley Forge, and when, on + March 2, 1778, he became quartermaster general, the outlook for food and + supplies steadily improved. Later, in the South, he rendered brilliant + service which made possible the final American victory at Yorktown. + </p> + <p> + Henry Knox, a Boston bookseller, had, like Greene, only slight training + for military command. It shows the dearth of officers to fight the highly + disciplined British army that Knox, at the age of twenty-five, and fresh + from commercial life, was placed in charge of the meager artillery which + Washington had before Boston. It was Knox, who, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> + with heart-breaking labor, + took to the American front the guns captured at Ticonderoga. Throughout + the war he did excellent service with the artillery, and Washington placed + a high value upon his services. He valued too those of Daniel Morgan, an + old fighter in the Indian wars, who left his farm in Virginia when war + broke out, and marched his company of riflemen to join the army before + Boston. He served with Arnold at the siege of Quebec, and was there taken + prisoner. He was exchanged and had his due revenge when he took part in + the capture of Burgoyne's army. He was now at Valley Forge. Later he had a + command under Greene in the South and there, as we shall see, he won the + great success of the Battle of Cowpens in January, 1781. + </p> + <p> + It was the peculiar misfortune of Washington that the three men, Arnold, + Lee, and Gates, who ought to have rendered him the greatest service, + proved unfaithful. Benedict Arnold, next to Washington himself, was + probably the most brilliant and resourceful soldier of the Revolution. + Washington so trusted him that, when the dark days at Valley Forge were + over, he placed him in command of the recaptured federal capital. Today + the name of Arnold would rank high in the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> + memory of a grateful country had + he not fallen into the bottomless pit of treason. The same is in some + measure true of Charles Lee, who was freed by the British in an exchange + of prisoners and joined Washington at Valley Forge late in the spring of + 1778. Lee was so clever with his pen as to be one of the reputed authors + of the Letters of Junius. He had served as a British officer in the + conquest of Canada, and later as major general in the army of Poland. He + had a jealous and venomous temper and could never conceal the contempt of + the professional soldier for civilian generals. He, too, fell into the + abyss of treason. Horatio Gates, also a regular soldier, had served under + Braddock and was thus at that early period a comrade of Washington. + Intriguer he was, but not a traitor. It was incompetence and perhaps + cowardice which brought his final ruin. + </p> + <p> + Europe had thousands of unemployed officers some of whom had had + experience in the Seven Years' War and many turned eagerly to America for + employment. There were some good soldiers among these fighting + adventurers. Kosciuszko, later famous as a Polish patriot, rose by his + merits to the rank of brigadier general in the American army; De Kalb, son + of a German peasant, though + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> + not a baron, as he called himself, proved + worthy of the rank of a major general. There was, however, a flood of + volunteers of another type. French officers fleeing from their creditors + and sometimes under false names and titles, made their way to America as + best they could and came to Washington with pretentious claims. Germans + and Poles there were, too, and also exiles from that unhappy island which + remains still the most vexing problem of British politics. Some of them + wrote their own testimonials; some, too, were spies. On the first day, + Washington wrote, they talked only of serving freely a noble cause, but + within a week were demanding promotion and advance of money. Sometimes + they took a high tone with members of Congress who had not courage to snub + what Washington called impudence and vain boasting. <q>I am haunted and + teased to death by the importunity of some and dissatisfaction of others</q> + wrote Washington of these people. + </p> + <p> + One foreign officer rendered incalculable service to the American cause. + It was not only on the British side that Germans served in the American + Revolution. The Baron von Steuben was, like La Fayette, a man of rank in + his own country, and his personal service to the Revolution was much + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> + greater than that of La Fayette. Steuben had served on the staff of + Frederick the Great and was distinguished for his wit and his polished + manners. There was in him nothing of the needy adventurer. The sale of + Hessian and other troops to the British by greedy German princes was met + in some circles in Germany by a keen desire to aid the cause of the young + republic. Steuben, who held a lucrative post, became convinced, while on a + visit to Paris, that he could render service in training the Americans. + With quick sympathy and showing no reserve in his generous spirit he + abandoned his country, as it proved forever, took ship for the United + States, and arrived in November, 1777. Washington welcomed him at Valley + Forge in the following March. He was made Inspector General and at once + took in hand the organization of the army. He prepared <q>Regulations for + the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States</q> later, in + 1779, issued as a book. Under this German influence British methods were + discarded. The word of command became short and sharp. The British + practice of leaving recruits to be trained by sergeants, often ignorant, + coarse, and brutal, was discarded, and officers themselves did this work. + The last letter which Washington wrote before he + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> + resigned his command at + the end of the war was to thank Steuben for his invaluable aid. Charles + Lee did not believe that American recruits could be quickly trained so as + to be able to face the disciplined British battalions. Steuben was to + prove that Lee was wrong to Lee's own entire undoing at Monmouth when + fighting began in 1778. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + The British army in America furnished sharp contrasts to that of + Washington. If the British jeered at the fighting quality of citizens, + these retorted that the British soldier was a mere slave. There were two + great stains upon the British system, the press-gang and flogging. + Press-gangs might seize men abroad in the streets of a town and, unless + they could prove that they were gentlemen in rank, they could be sent in + the fleet to serve in the remotest corners of the earth. In both navy and + army flogging outraged the dignity of manhood. The liability to this + brutal and degrading punishment kept all but the dregs of the populace + from enlisting in the British army. It helped to fix the deep gulf between + officers and men. Forty years later Napoleon Bonaparte, despot though he + might be, was struck by this separation. He himself went freely among his + men, warmed himself at + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> + their fire, and talked to them familiarly about + their work, and he thought that the British officer was too aloof in his + demeanor. In the British army serving in America there were many officers + of aristocratic birth and long training in military science. When they + found that American officers were frequently drawn from a class of society + which in England would never aspire to a commission, and were largely + self-taught, not unnaturally they jeered at an army so constituted. + Another fact excited British disdain. The Americans were technically + rebels against their lawful ruler, and rebels in arms have no rights as + belligerents. When the war ended more than a thousand American prisoners + were still held in England on the capital charge of treason. Nothing + stirred Washington's anger more deeply than the remark sometimes made by + British officers that the prisoners they took were receiving undeserved + mercy when they were not hanged. + </p> + <p> + There was much debate at Valley Forge as to the prospect for the future. + When we look at available numbers during the war we appreciate the view of + a British officer that in spite of Washington's failures and of British + victories the war was serious, <q>an ugly job, a damned affair indeed.</q> + The + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> + population of the colonies—some 2,500,000—was about one-third + that of the United Kingdom; and for the British the war was remote from + the base of supply. In those days, considering the means of transport, + America was as far from England as at the present day is Australia. + Sometimes the voyage across the sea occupied two and even three months, + and, with the relatively small ships of the time, it required a vast array + of transports to carry an army of twenty or thirty thousand men. In the + spring of 1776 Great Britain had found it impossible to raise at home an + army of even twenty thousand men for service in America, and she was + forced to rely in large part upon mercenary soldiers. This was nothing + new. Her island people did not like service abroad and this unwillingness + was intensified in regard to war in remote America. Moreover Whig leaders + in England discouraged enlistment. They were bitterly hostile to the war + which they regarded as an attack not less on their own liberties than on + those of America. It would be too much to ascribe to the ignorant British + common soldier of the time any deep conviction as to the merits or + demerits of the cause for which he fought. There is no evidence that, once + in the army, he was less + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> + ready to attack the Americans than any other foe. + Certainly the Americans did not think he was half-hearted. + </p> + <p> + The British soldier fought indeed with more resolute determination than + did the hired auxiliary at his side. These German troops played a notable + part in the war. The despotic princes of the lesser German states were + accustomed to sell the services of their troops. Despotic Russia, too, was + a likely field for such enterprise. When, however, it was proposed to the + Empress Catherine II that she should furnish twenty thousand men for + service in America she retorted with the sage advice that it was England's + true interest to settle the quarrel in America without war. Germany was + left as the recruiting field. British efforts to enlist Germans as + volunteers in her own army were promptly checked by the German rulers and + it was necessary literally to buy the troops from their princes. + One-fourth of the able-bodied men of Hesse-Cassel were shipped to America. + They received four times the rate of pay at home and their ruler received + in addition some half million dollars a year. The men suffered terribly + and some died of sickness for the homes to which thousands of them never + returned. German generals, such as Knyphausen and Riedesel, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> + gave the + British sincere and effective service. The Hessians were, however, of + doubtful benefit to the British. It angered the Americans that hired + troops should be used against them, an anger not lessened by the contempt + which the Hessians showed for the colonial officers as plebeians. + </p> + <p> + The two sides were much alike in their qualities and were skillful in + propaganda. In Britain lurid tales were told of the colonists scalping the + wounded at Lexington and using poisoned bullets at Bunker Hill. In America + every prisoner in British hands was said to be treated brutally and every + man slain in the fighting to have been murdered. The use of foreign troops + was a fruitful theme. The report ran through the colonies that the + Hessians were huge ogre-like monsters, with double rows of teeth round + each jaw, who had come at the call of the British tyrant to slay women and + children. In truth many of the Hessians became good Americans. In spite of + the loyalty of their officers they were readily induced to desert. The wit + of Benjamin Franklin was enlisted to compose telling appeals, translated + into simple German, which promised grants of land to those who should + abandon an unrighteous cause. The Hessian trooper who opened a packet of + tobacco might find in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> + the wrapper appeals both to his virtue and to his + cupidity. It was easy for him to resist them when the British were winning + victories and he was dreaming of a return to the Fatherland with a + comfortable accumulation of pay, but it was different when reverses + overtook British arms. Then many hundreds slipped away; and today their + blood flows in the veins of thousands of prosperous American farmers. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER VIII</a></h2> + <h3>The Alliance with France and Its Results</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">Washington</span> badly needed aid from Europe, but + there every important government was monarchical and it was not easy for + a young republic, the child of revolution, to secure an ally. France + tingled with joy at American victories and sorrowed at American reverses, + but motives were mingled and perhaps hatred of England was stronger than + love for liberty in America. The young La Fayette had a pure zeal, but he + would not have fought for the liberty of colonists in Mexico as he did + for those in Virginia; and the difference was that service in Mexico + would not hurt the enemy of France so recently triumphant. He hated + England and said so quite openly. The thought of humiliating and + destroying that <q>insolent nation</q> was always to him an inspiration. + Vergennes, the French Foreign Minister, though he lacked genius, was a + man of boundless zeal and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> + energy. He was at + work at four o'clock in the morning and he spent his long days in toil for + his country. He believed that England was the tyrant of the seas, <q>the + monster against whom we should be always prepared,</q> a greedy, + perfidious neighbor, the natural enemy of France. + </p> + <p> + From the first days of the trouble in regard to the Stamp Act Vergennes + had rejoiced that England's own children were turning against her. He had + French military officers in England spying on her defenses. When war broke + out he showed no nice regard for the rules of neutrality and helped the + colonies in every way possible. It was a French writer who led in these + activities. Beaumarchais is known to the world chiefly as the creator of + the character of Figaro, which has become the type of the bold, clever, + witty, and intriguing rascal, but he played a real part in the American + Revolution. We need not inquire too closely into his motives. There was + hatred of the English, that <q>audacious, unbridled, shameless people,</q> + and there was, too, the zeal for liberal ideas which made Queen Marie + Antoinette herself take a pretty interest in the <q>dear republicans</q> + overseas who were at the same time fighting the national enemy. + Beaumarchais secured from the government money + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> + with which he purchased + supplies to be sent to America. He had a great warehouse in Paris, and, + under the rather fantastic Spanish name of Roderigue Hortalez & Co., + he sent vast quantities of munitions and clothing to America. Cannon, not + from private firms but from the government arsenals, were sent across the + sea. When Vergennes showed scruples about this violation of neutrality, + the answer of Beaumarchais was that governments were not bound by rules of + morality applicable to private persons. Vergennes learned well the lesson + and, while protesting to the British ambassador in Paris that France was + blameless, he permitted outrageous breaches of the laws of neutrality. + </p> + <p> + Secret help was one thing, open alliance another. Early in 1776 Silas + Deane, a member from Connecticut of the Continental Congress, was named as + envoy to France to secure French aid. The day was to come when Deane + should believe the struggle against Britain hopeless and counsel + submission, but now he showed a furious zeal. He knew hardly a word of + French, but this did not keep him from making his elaborate programme well + understood. Himself a trader, he promised France vast profits from the + monopoly of the trade of America when independence should be secure. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> + He + gave other promises not more easy of fulfillment. To Frenchmen zealous for + the ideals of liberty and seeking military careers in America he promised + freely commissions as colonels and even generals and was the chief cause + of that deluge of European officers which proved to Washington so + annoying. It was through Deane's activities that La Fayette became a + volunteer. Through him came too the proposal to send to America the Comte + de Broglie who should be greater than colonel or general—a + generalissimo, a dictator. He was to brush aside Washington, to take + command of the American armies, and by his prestige and skill to secure + France as an ally and win victory in the field. For such services Broglie + asked only despotic power while he served and for life a great pension + which would, he declared, not be one-hundredth part of his real value. + That Deane should have considered a scheme so fantastic reveals the + measure of his capacity, and by the end of 1776 Benjamin Franklin was sent + to Paris to bring his tried skill to bear upon the problem of the + alliance. With Deane and Franklin as a third member of the commission was + associated Arthur Lee who had vainly sought aid at the courts of Spain and + Prussia. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> + France was, however, coy. The end of 1776 saw the colonial cause + at a very low ebb, with Washington driven from New York and about to be + driven from Philadelphia. Defeat is not a good argument for an alliance. + France was willing to send arms to America and willing to let American + privateers use freely her ports. The ship which carried Franklin to France + soon busied herself as a privateer and reaped for her crew a great harvest + of prize money. In a single week of June, 1777, this ship captured a score + of British merchantmen, of which more than two thousand were taken by + Americans during the war. France allowed the American privateers to come + and go as they liked, and gave England smooth words, but no redress. There + is little wonder that England threatened to hang captured American sailors + as pirates. + </p> + <p> + It was the capture of Burgoyne at Saratoga which brought decision to + France. That was the victory which Vergennes had demanded before he would + take open action. One British army had surrendered. Another was in an + untenable position in Philadelphia. It was known that the British fleet + had declined. With the best of it in America, France was the more likely + to win successes in Europe. The Bourbon king of France + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> + could, too, draw + into the war the Bourbon king of Spain, and Spain had good ships. The + defects of France and Spain on the sea were not in ships but in men. The + invasion of England was not improbable and then less than a score of years + might give France both avenging justice for her recent humiliation and + safety for her future. Britain should lose America, she should lose India, + she should pay in a hundred ways for her past triumphs, for the arrogance + of Pitt, who had declared that he would so reduce France that she should + never again rise. The future should belong not to Britain but to France. + Thus it was that fervent patriotism argued after the defeat of Burgoyne. + Frederick the Great told his ambassador at Paris to urge upon France that + she had now a chance to strike England which might never again come. + France need not, he said, fear his enmity, for he was as likely to help + England as the devil to help a Christian. Whatever doubts Vergennes may + have entertained about an open alliance with America were now swept away. + The treaty of friendship with America was signed on February 6, 1778. On + the 13th of March the French ambassador in London told the British + Government, with studied insolence of tone, that the United + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> + States were by + their own declaration independent. Only a few weeks earlier the British + ministry had said that there was no prospect of any foreign intervention + to help the Americans and now in the most galling manner France told + George III the one thing to which he would not listen, that a great part + of his sovereignty was gone. Each country withdrew its ambassador and war + quickly followed. + </p> + <p> + France had not tried to make a hard bargain with the Americans. She + demanded nothing for herself and agreed not even to ask for the + restoration of Canada. She required only that America should never restore + the King's sovereignty in order to secure peace. Certain sections of + opinion in America were suspicious of France. Was she not the old enemy + who had so long harassed the frontiers of New England and New York? If + George III was a despot what of Louis XVI, who had not even an elected + Parliament to restrain him? Washington himself was distrustful of France + and months after the alliance had been concluded he uttered the warning + that hatred of England must not lead to over-confidence in France. <q>No + nation,</q> he said, <q>is to be trusted farther than it is bound by its + interests.</q> France, he thought, must desire to recover Canada, so + recently lost. He did + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> + not wish to see a great military power on the northern + frontier of the United States. This would be to confirm the jeer of the + Loyalists that the alliance was a case of the wooden horse in Troy; the + old enemy would come back in the guise of a friend and would then prove to + be master and bring the colonies under a servitude compared with which the + British supremacy would seem indeed mild. + </p> + <p> + The intervention of France brought a cruel embarrassment to the Whig + patriot in England. He could rejoice and mourn with American patriots + because he believed that their cause was his own. It was as much the + interest of Norfolk as of Massachusetts that the new despotism of a king, + who ruled through a corrupt Parliament, should be destroyed. It was, + however, another matter when France took a share in the fight. France + fought less for freedom than for revenge, and the Englishman who, like + Coke of Norfolk, could daily toast Washington as the greatest of men could + not link that name with Louis XVI or with his minister Vergennes. The + currents of the past are too swift and intricate to be measured exactly by + the observer who stands on the shore of the present, but it is arguable + that the Whigs might soon have brought about peace in England had it not + been for + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> + the intervention of France. No serious person any longer thought + that taxation could be enforced upon America or that the colonies should + be anything but free in regulating their own affairs. George III himself + said that he who declared the taxing of America to be worth what it cost + was <q>more fit for Bedlam than a seat in the Senate.</q> The one + concession Britain was not yet prepared to make was Independence. But + Burke and many other Whigs were ready now for this, though Chatham still + believed it would be the ruin of the British Empire. + </p> + <p> + Chatham, however, was all for conciliation, and it is not hard to imagine + a group of wise men chosen from both sides, men British in blood and + outlook, sitting round a table and reaching an agreement to result in a + real independence for America and a real unity with Great Britain. A + century and a quarter later a bitter war with an alien race in South + Africa was followed by a result even more astounding. The surrender of + Burgoyne had made the Prime Minister, Lord North, weary of his position. + He had never been in sympathy with the King's policy and since the bad + news had come in December he had pondered some radical step which should + end the war. On February 17, 1778, before the treaty + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> + of friendship between + the United States and France had been made public, North startled the + House of Commons by introducing a bill repealing the tax on tea, + renouncing forever the right to tax America, and nullifying those changes + in the constitution of Massachusetts which had so rankled in the minds of + its people. A commission with full powers to negotiate peace would proceed + at once to America and it might suspend at its discretion, and thus really + repeal, any act touching America passed since 1763. + </p> + <p> + North had taken a sharp turn. The Whig clothes had been stolen by a Tory + Prime Minister and if he wished to stay in office the Whigs had not the + votes to turn him out. His supporters would accept almost anything in + order to dish the Whigs. They swallowed now the bill, and it became law, + but at the same time came, too, the war with France. It united the Tories; + it divided the Whigs. All England was deeply stirred. Nearly every + important town offered to raise volunteer forces at its own expense. The + Government soon had fifteen thousand men recruited at private cost. Help + was offered so freely that the Whig, John Wilkes, actually introduced into + Parliament a bill to prohibit gifts of money to the Crown since this + voluntary + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> + taxation gave the Crown money without the consent of Parliament. + The British patriot, gentle as he might be towards America, fumed against + France. This was no longer only a domestic struggle between parties, but a + war with an age-long foreign enemy. The populace resented what they called + the insolence and the treachery of France and the French ambassador was + pelted at Canterbury as he drove to the seacoast on his recall. In a large + sense the French alliance was not an unmixed blessing for America, since + it confused the counsels of her best friends in England. + </p> + <p> + In spite of this it is probably true that from this time the mass of the + English people were against further attempts to coerce America. A change + of ministry was urgently demanded. There was one leader to whom the nation + looked in this grave crisis. The genius of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, + had won the last war against France and he had promoted the repeal of the + Stamp Act. In America his name was held in reverence so high that New York + and Charleston had erected statues in his honor. When the defeat of + Burgoyne so shook the ministry that North was anxious to retire, Chatham, + but for two obstacles, could probably have formed a ministry. One obstacle + was + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> + his age; as the event proved, he was near his end. It was, however, + not this which kept him from office, but the resolve of George III. The + King simply said that he would not have Chatham. In office Chatham would + certainly rule and the King intended himself to rule. If Chatham would + come in a subordinate position, well; but Chatham should not lead. The + King declared that as long as even ten men stood by him he would hold out + and he would lose his crown rather than call to office that clamorous + Opposition which had attacked his American policy. <q>I will never + consent,</q> he said firmly, <q>to removing the members of the present + Cabinet from my service.</q> He asked North: <q>Are you resolved at the + hour of danger to desert me?</q> North remained in office. Chatham soon + died and, during four years still, George III was master of England. + Throughout the long history of that nation there is no crisis in which + one man took a heavier and more disastrous responsibility. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + News came to Valley Forge of the alliance with France and there were great + rejoicings. We are told that, to celebrate the occasion, Washington dined + in public. We are not given the bill of fare + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> + in that scene of famine; but + by the springtime tension in regard to supplies had been relieved and we + may hope that Valley Forge really feasted in honor of the great event. The + same news brought gloom to the British in Philadelphia, for it had the + stern meaning that the effort and loss involved in the capture of that + city were in vain. Washington held most of the surrounding country so that + supplies must come chiefly by sea. With a French fleet and a French army + on the way to America, the British realized that they must concentrate + their defenses. Thus the cheers at Valley Forge were really the sign that + the British must go. + </p> + <p> + Sir William Howe, having taken Philadelphia, was determined not to be the + one who should give it up. Feeling was bitter in England over the ghastly + failure of Burgoyne, and he had gone home on parole to defend himself from + his seat in the House of Commons. There Howe had a seat and he, too, had + need to be on hand. Lord George Germain had censured him for his course + and, to shield himself; was clearly resolved to make scapegoats of others. + So, on May 18, 1778, at Philadelphia there was a farewell to Howe, which + took the form of a Mischianza, something approaching the medieval + tournament. Knights broke lances in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> + honor of fair ladies, there were + arches and flowers and fancy costumes, and high-flown Latin and French, + all in praise of the departing Howe. Obviously the garrison of + Philadelphia had much time on its hands and could count upon, at least, + some cheers from a friendly population. It is remembered still, with + moralizings on the turns in human fortune, that Major André and + Miss Margaret Shippen were the leaders in that gay scene, the one, in the + days to come, to be hanged by Washington as a spy, because entrapped in + the treason of Benedict Arnold, who became the husband of the other. + </p> + <p> + On May 24, 1778, Sir Henry Clinton took over from Howe the command of the + British army in America and confronted a difficult problem. If d'Estaing, + the French admiral, should sail straight for the Delaware he might destroy + the fleet of little more than half his strength which lay there, and might + quickly starve Philadelphia into surrender. The British must unite their + forces to meet the peril from France, and New York, as an island, was the + best point for a defense, chiefly naval. A move to New York was therefore + urgent. It was by sea that the British had come to Philadelphia, but it + was not easy to go away by sea. There was not room in the transports for + the army and its + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> + encumbrances. Moreover, to embark the whole force, a + march of forty miles to New Castle, on the lower Delaware, would be + necessary and the retreating army was sure to be harassed on its way by + Washington. It would besides hardly be safe to take the army by sea for + the French fleet might be strong enough to capture the flotilla. + </p> + <p> + There was nothing for it but, at whatever risk, to abandon Philadelphia + and march the army across New Jersey. It would be possible to take by sea + the stores and the three thousand Loyalists from Philadelphia, some of + whom would probably be hanged if they should be taken. Lord Howe, the + naval commander, did his part in a masterly manner. On the 18th of June + the British army marched out of Philadelphia and before the day was over + it was across the Delaware on the New Jersey side. That same day + Washington's army, free from its long exile at Valley Forge, occupied the + capital. Clinton set out on his long march by land and Howe worked his + laden ships down the difficult river to its mouth and, after delay by + winds, put to sea on the 28th of June. By a stroke of good fortune he + sailed the two hundred miles to New York in two days and missed the great + fleet of d'Estaing, carrying an army of four thousand + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> + men. On the 8th of + July d'Estaing anchored at the mouth of the Delaware. Had not his passage + been unusually delayed and Howe's unusually quick, as Washington noted, + the British fleet and the transports in the Delaware would probably have + been taken and Clinton and his army would have shared the fate of + Burgoyne. + </p> + <p> + As it was, though Howe's fleet was clear away, Clinton's army had a bad + time in the march across New Jersey. Its baggage train was no less than + twelve miles long and, winding along roads leading sometimes through + forests, was peculiarly vulnerable to flank attack. In this type of + warfare Washington excelled. He had fought over this country and he knew + it well. The tragedy of Valley Forge was past. His army was now well + trained and well supplied. He had about the same number of men as the + British—perhaps sixteen thousand—and he was not encumbered by + a long baggage train. Thus it happened that Washington was across the + Delaware almost as soon as the British. He marched parallel with them on a + line some five miles to the north and was able to forge towards the head + of their column. He could attack their flank almost when he liked. Clinton + marched with great difficulty. He found bridges down. Not + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> + only was + Washington behind him and on his flank but General Gates was in front + marching from the north to attack him when he should try to cross the + Raritan River. The long British column turned southeastward toward Sandy + Hook, so as to lessen the menace from Gates. Between the half of the army + in the van and the other half in the rear was the baggage train. + </p> + <p> + The crisis came on Sunday the 28th of June, a day of sweltering heat. By + this time General Charles Lee, Washington's second in command, was in a + good position to attack the British rear guard from the north, while + Washington, marching three miles behind Lee, was to come up in the hope of + overwhelming it from the rear. Clinton's position was difficult but he was + saved by Lee's ineptitude. He had positive instructions to attack with his + five thousand men and hold the British engaged until Washington should + come up in overwhelming force. The young La Fayette was with Lee. He knew + what Washington had ordered, but Lee said to him: <q>You don't know the + British soldiers; we cannot stand against them.</q> Lee's conduct looks + like deliberate treachery. Instead of attacking the British he allowed + them to attack him. La Fayette managed to send a message to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> + Washington in the rear; Washington dashed to the front and, as he came up, + met soldiers flying from before the British. He rode straight to Lee, + called him in flaming anger a <q>damned poltroon,</q> and himself at once + took command. There was a sharp fight near Monmouth Court House. The + British were driven back and only the coming of night ended the struggle. + Washington was preparing to renew it in the morning, but Clinton had + marched away in the darkness. He reached the coast on the 30th of June, + having lost on the way fifty-nine men from sunstroke, over three hundred + in battle, and a great many more by desertion. The deserters were chiefly + Germans, enticed by skillful offers of land. Washington called for a + reckoning from Lee. He was placed under arrest, tried by court-martial, + found guilty, and suspended from rank for twelve months. Ultimately he + was dismissed from the American army, less it appears for his conduct at + Monmouth than for his impudent demeanor toward Congress afterwards. + </p> + <p> + These events on land were quickly followed by stirring events on the sea. + The delays of the British Admiralty of this time seem almost incredible. + Two hundred ships waited at Spithead for three months for convoy to the + West Indies, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> + while all the time the people of the West Indies, cut off + from their usual sources of supply in America, were in distress for food. + Seven weeks passed after d'Estaing had sailed for America before the + Admiralty knew that he was really gone and sent Admiral Byron, with + fourteen ships, to the aid of Lord Howe. When d'Estaing was already before + New York Byron was still battling with storms in mid-Atlantic, storms so + severe that his fleet was entirely dispersed and his flagship was alone + when it reached Long Island on the 18th of August. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the French had a great chance. On the 11th of July their fleet, + much stronger than the British, arrived from the Delaware, and anchored + off Sandy Hook. Admiral Howe knew his danger. He asked for volunteers from + the merchant ships and the sailors offered themselves almost to a man. If + d'Estaing could beat Howe's inferior fleet, the transports at New York + would be at his mercy and the British army, with no other source of + supply, must surrender. Washington was near, to give help on land. The end + of the war seemed not far away. But it did not come. The French admirals + were often taken from an army command, and d'Estaing was not a sailor but + a soldier. He feared + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> + the skill of Howe, a really great sailor, whose seven + available ships were drawn up in line at Sandy Hook so that their guns + bore on ships coming in across the bar. D'Estaing hovered outside. Pilots + from New York told him that at high tide there were only twenty-two feet + of water on the bar and this was not enough for his great ships, one of + which carried ninety-one guns. On the 22d of July there was the highest of + tides with, in reality, thirty feet of water on the bar, and a wind from + the northeast which would have brought d'Estaing's ships easily through + the channel into the harbor. The British expected the hottest naval fight + in their history. At three in the afternoon d'Estaing moved but it was to + sail away out of sight. + </p> + <p> + Opportunity, though once spurned, seemed yet to knock again. The one other + point held by the British was Newport, Rhode Island. Here General Pigot + had five thousand men and only perilous communications by sea with New + York. Washington, keenly desirous to capture this army, sent General + Greene to aid General Sullivan in command at Providence, and d'Estaing + arrived off Newport to give aid. Greene had fifteen hundred fine soldiers, + Sullivan had nine thousand New England militia, and d'Estaing four + thousand + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> + French regulars. A force of fourteen thousand five hundred men + threatened five thousand British. But on the 9th of August Howe suddenly + appeared near Newport with his smaller fleet. D'Estaing put to sea to + fight him, and a great naval battle was imminent, when a terrific storm + blew up and separated and almost shattered both fleets. D'Estaing then, in + spite of American protests, insisted on taking the French ships to Boston + to refit and with them the French soldiers. Sullivan publicly denounced + the French admiral as having basely deserted him and his own disgusted + yeomanry left in hundreds for their farms to gather in the harvest. In + September, with d'Estaing safely away, Clinton sailed into Newport with + five thousand men. Washington's campaign against Rhode Island had failed + completely. + </p> + <p> + The summer of 1778 thus turned out badly for Washington. Help from France + which had aroused such joyous hopes in America had achieved little and the + allies were hurling reproaches at each other. French and American soldiers + had riotous fights in Boston and a French officer was killed. The British, + meanwhile, were landing at small ports on the coast, which had been the + haunts of privateers, and were not only burning shipping + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> + and stores but + were devastating the country with Loyalist regiments recruited in America. + The French told the Americans that they were expecting too much from the + alliance, and the cautious Washington expressed fear that help from + outside would relax effort at home. Both were right. By the autumn the + British had been reinforced and the French fleet had gone to the West + Indies. Truly the mountain in labor of the French alliance seemed to have + brought forth only a ridiculous mouse. None the less was it to prove, in + the end, the decisive factor in the struggle. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + The alliance with France altered the whole character of the war, which + ceased now to be merely a war in North America. France soon gained an ally + in Europe. Bourbon Spain had no thought of helping the colonies in + rebellion against their king, and she viewed their ambitions to extend + westward with jealous concern, since she desired for herself both sides of + the Mississippi. Spain, however, had a grievance against Britain, for + Britain would not yield Gibraltar, that rocky fragment of Spain commanding + the entrance to the Mediterranean which Britain had wrested from her as + she had wrested also Minorca and Florida. + </p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> + So, in April, 1779, Spain joined + France in war on Great Britain. France agreed not only to furnish an army + for the invasion of England but never to make peace until Britain had + handed back Gibraltar. The allies planned to seize and hold the Isle of + Wight. England has often been threatened and yet has been so long free + from the tramp of hostile armies that we are tempted to dismiss lightly + such dangers. But in the summer of 1779 the danger was real. Of warships + carrying fifty guns or more France and Spain together had one hundred and + twenty-one, while Britain had seventy. The British Channel fleet for the + defense of home coasts numbered forty ships of the line while France and + Spain together had sixty-six. Nor had Britain resources in any other + quarter upon which she could readily draw. In the West Indies she had + twenty-one ships of the line while France had twenty-five. The British + could not find comfort in any supposed superiority in the structure of + their ships. Then and later, as Nelson admitted when he was fighting + Spain, the Spanish ships were better built than the British. + </p> + <p> + Lurking in the background to haunt British thought was the growing + American navy. John Paul was a Scots sailor, who had been a slave trader + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> + and subsequently master of a West India merchantman, and on going to + America had assumed the name of Jones. He was a man of boundless ambition, + vanity, and vigor, and when he commanded American privateers he became a + terror to the maritime people from whom he sprang. In the summer of 1779 + when Jones, with a squadron of four ships, was haunting the British + coasts, every harbor was nervous. At Plymouth a boom blocked the entrance, + but other places had not even this defense. Sir Walter Scott has described + how, on September 17, 1779, a squadron, under John Paul Jones, came within + gunshot of Leith, the port of Edinburgh. The whole surrounding country was + alarmed, since for two days the squadron had been in sight beating up the + Firth of Forth. A sudden squall, which drove Jones back, probably saved + Edinburgh from being plundered. A few days later Jones was burning ships + in the Humber and, on the 23d of September, he met off Flamborough Head + and, after a desperate fight, captured two British armed ships: the + <i>Serapis</i>, a 40-gun vessel newly commissioned, and the <i>Countess of + Scarborough</i>, carrying 20 guns, both of which were convoying a fleet. The + fame of his exploit rang through Europe. Jones was a regularly + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> + commissioned officer in the navy of the United States, but neutral powers, + such as Holland, had not yet recognized the republic and to them there was + no American navy. The British regarded him as a traitor and pirate and + might possibly have hanged him had he fallen into their hands. + </p> + <p> + Terrible days indeed were these for distracted England. In India, France, + baulked twenty years earlier, was working for her entire overthrow, and in + North Africa, Spain was using the Moors to the same end. As time passed + the storm grew more violent. Before the year 1780 ended Holland had joined + England's enemies. Moreover, the northern states of Europe, angry at + British interference on the sea with their trade, and especially at her + seizure of ships trying to enter blockaded ports, took strong measures. On + March 8, 1780, Russia issued a proclamation declaring that neutral ships + must be allowed to come and go on the sea as they liked. They might be + searched by a nation at war for arms and ammunition but for nothing else. + It would moreover be illegal to declare a blockade of a port and punish + neutrals for violating it, unless their ships were actually caught in an + attempt to enter the port. Denmark and Sweden joined Russia in what was + known as the Armed Neutrality and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> + promised that they would retaliate upon + any nation which did not respect the conditions laid down. + </p> + <p> + In domestic affairs Great Britain was divided. The Whigs and Tories were + carrying on a warfare shameless beyond even the bitter partisan strife of + later days. In Parliament the Whigs cheered at military defeats which + might serve to discredit the Tory Government. The navy was torn by + faction. When, in 1778, the Whig Admiral Keppel fought an indecisive naval + battle off Ushant and was afterwards accused by one of his officers, Sir + Hugh Palliser, of not pressing the enemy hard enough, party passion was + invoked. The Whigs were for Keppel, the Tories for Palliser, and the + London mob was Whig. When Keppel was acquitted there were riotous + demonstrations; the house of Palliser was wrecked, and he himself barely + escaped with his life. Whig naval officers declared that they had no + chance of fair treatment at the hands of a Tory Admiralty, and Lord Howe, + among others, now refused to serve. For a time British supremacy on the + sea disappeared and it was only regained in April, 1782, when the Tory + Admiral Rodney won a great victory in the West Indies against the French. + </p> + <p> + A spirit of violence was abroad in England. The + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">208</a></span> + disabilities of the Roman + Catholics were a gross scandal. They might not vote or hold public office. + Yet when, in 1780, Parliament passed a bill removing some of their burdens + dreadful riots broke out in London. A fanatic, Lord George Gordon, led a + mob to Westminster and, as Dr. Johnson expressed it, <q>insulted</q> both + Houses of Parliament. The cowed ministry did nothing to check the + disturbance. The mob burned Newgate jail, released the prisoners from this + and other prisons, and made a deliberate attempt to destroy London by + fire. Order was restored under the personal direction of the King, who, + with all his faults, was no coward. At the same time the Irish Parliament, + under Protestant lead, was making a Declaration of Independence which, in + 1782, England was obliged to admit by formal act of Parliament. For the + time being, though the two monarchies had the same king, Ireland, in name + at least, was free of England. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Washington's enemy thus had embarrassments enough. Yet these very years, + 1779 and 1780, were the years in which he came nearest to despair. The + strain of a great movement is not in the early days of enthusiasm, but in + the slow years when idealism is tempered by the strife of opinion and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">209</a></span> + self-interest which brings delay and disillusion. As the war went on + recruiting became steadily more difficult. The alliance with France + actually worked to discourage it since it was felt that the cause was safe + in the hands of this powerful ally. Whatever Great Britain's difficulties + about finance they were light compared with Washington's. In time the + <q>continental dollar</q> was worth only two cents. Yet soldiers long had to + take this money at its face value for their pay, with the result that the + pay for three months would scarcely buy a pair of boots. There is little + wonder that more than once Washington had to face formidable mutiny among + his troops. The only ones on whom he could rely were the regulars enlisted + by Congress and carefully trained. The worth of the militia, he said, + <q>depends entirely on the prospects of the day; if favorable, they throng + to you; if not, they will not move.</q> They played a chief part in the + prosperous campaign of 1777, when Burgoyne was beaten. In the next year, + before Newport, they wholly failed General Sullivan and deserted + shamelessly to their homes. + </p> + <p> + By 1779 the fighting had shifted to the South. Washington personally + remained in the North to guard the Hudson and to watch the British in + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">210</a></span> + New + York. He sent La Fayette to France in January, 1779, there to urge not + merely naval but military aid on a great scale. La Fayette came back after + an absence of a little over a year and in the end France promised eight + thousand men who should be under Washington's control as completely as if + they were American soldiers. The older nation accepted the principle that + the officers in the younger nation which she was helping should rank in + their grade before her own. It was a magnanimity reciprocated nearly a + century and a half later when a great American army in Europe was placed + under the supreme command of a Marshal of France. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">211</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER IX</a></h2> + <h3>The War in the South</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">After</span> 1778 there was no more decisive fighting in the North. The British + plan was to hold New York and keep there a threatening force, but to make + the South henceforth the central arena of the war. Accordingly, in 1779, + they evacuated Rhode Island and left the magnificent harbor of Newport to + be the chief base for the French fleet and army in America. They also drew + in their posts on the Hudson and left Washington free to strengthen West + Point and other defenses by which he was blocking the river. Meanwhile + they were striking staggering blows in the South. On December 29, 1778, a + British force landed two miles below Savannah, in Georgia, lying near the + mouth of the important Savannah River, and by nightfall, after some sharp + fighting, took the place with its stores and shipping. Augusta, the + capital of Georgia, lay about a hundred and twenty-five miles up the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">212</a></span> + river. By the end of February, 1779, the British not only held Augusta but + had established so strong a line of posts in the interior that Georgia + seemed to be entirely under their control. + </p> + <p> + Then followed a singular chain of events. Ever since hostilities had + begun, in 1775, the revolutionary party had been dominant in the South. + Yet now again in 1779 the British flag floated over the capital of + Georgia. Some rejoiced and some mourned. Men do not change lightly their + political allegiance. Probably Boston was the most completely + revolutionary of American towns. Yet even in Boston there had been a sad + procession of exiles who would not turn against the King. The South had + been more evenly divided. Now the Loyalists took heart and began to assert + themselves. + </p> + <p> + When the British seemed secure in Georgia bands of Loyalists marched into + the British camp in furious joy that now their day was come, and gave no + gentle advice as to the crushing of rebellion. Many a patriot farmhouse + was now destroyed and the hapless owner either killed or driven to the + mountains to live as best he could by hunting. Sometimes even the children + were shot down. It so happened that a company of militia captured a large + band of Loyalists marching to Augusta to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">213</a></span> + support the British cause. Here + was the occasion for the republican patriots to assert their principles. + To them these Loyalists were guilty of treason. Accordingly seventy of the + prisoners were tried before a civil court and five of them were hanged. + For this hanging of prisoners the Loyalists, of course, retaliated in + kind. Both the British and American regular officers tried to restrain + these fierce passions but the spirit of the war in the South was ruthless. + To this day many a tale of horror is repeated and, since Loyalist opinion + was finally destroyed, no one survived to apportion blame to their + enemies. It is probable that each side matched the other in barbarity. + </p> + <p> + The British hoped to sweep rapidly through the South, to master it up to + the borders of Virginia, and then to conquer that breeding ground of + revolution. In the spring of 1779 General Prevost marched from Georgia + into South Carolina. On the 12th of May he was before Charleston demanding + surrender. We are astonished now to read that, in response to Prevost's + demand, a proposal was made that South Carolina should be allowed to + remain neutral and that at the end of the war it should join the + victorious side. This certainly indicates a large body of opinion which + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">214</a></span> + was not irreconcilable with Great Britain and seems to justify the hope of + the British that the beginnings of military success might rally the mass + of the people to their side. For the moment, however, Charleston did not + surrender. The resistance was so stiff that Prevost had to raise the siege + and go back to Savannah. + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, early in September, 1779, the French fleet under d'Estaing + appeared before Savannah. It had come from the West Indies, partly to + avoid the dreaded hurricane season of the autumn in those waters. The + British, practically without any naval defense, were confronted at once by + twenty-two French ships of the line, eleven frigates, and many transports + carrying an army. The great flotilla easily got rid of the few British + ships lying at Savannah. An American army, under General Lincoln, marched + to join d'Estaing. The French landed some three thousand men, and the + combined army numbered about six thousand. A siege began which, it seemed, + could end in only one way. Prevost, however, with three thousand seven + hundred men, nearly half of them sick, was defiant, and on the 9th of + October the combined French and American armies made a great assault. They + met with disaster. D'Estaing was severely wounded. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">215</a></span> + With losses of some + nine hundred killed and wounded in the bitter fighting the assailants drew + off and soon raised the siege. The British losses were only fifty-four. In + the previous year French and Americans fighting together had utterly + failed. Now they had failed again and there was bitter recrimination + between the defeated allies. D'Estaing sailed away and soon lost some of + his ships in a violent storm. Ill-fortune pursued him to the end. He + served no more in the war and in the Reign of Terror in Paris, in 1794, he + perished on the scaffold. + </p> + <p> + At Charleston the American General Lincoln was in command with about six + thousand men. The place, named after King Charles II, had been a center of + British influence before the war. That critical traveler, Lord Adam + Gordon, thought its people clever in business, courteous, and hospitable. + Most of them, he says, made a visit to England at some time during life + and it was the fashion to send there the children to be educated. + Obviously Charleston was fitted to be a British rallying center in the + South; yet it had remained in American hands since the opening of the war. + In 1776 Sir Henry Clinton, the British Commander, had woefully failed in + his assault on Charleston. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">216</a></span> + Now in December, 1779, he sailed from New York + to make a renewed effort. With him were three of his best officer—Cornwallis, + Simcoe, and Tarleton, the last two skillful leaders of irregulars, + recruited in America and used chiefly for raids. The wintry voyage was + rough; one of the vessels laden with cannon foundered and sank, and all + the horses died. But Clinton reached Charleston and was able to surround + it on the landward side with an army at least ten thousand strong. + Tarleton's irregulars rode through the country. It is on record that he + marched sixty-four miles in twenty-three hours and a hundred and five + miles in fifty-four hours. Such mobility was irresistible. On the 12th of + April, after a ride of thirty miles, Tarleton surprised, in the night, + three regiments of American cavalry regulars at a place called Biggin's + Bridge, routed them completely and, according to his own account, with the + loss of three men wounded, carried off a hundred prisoners, four hundred + horses, and also stores and ammunition. There is no doubt that Tarleton's + dragoons behaved with great brutality and it would perhaps have taught a + needed lesson if, as was indeed threatened by a British officer, Major + Ferguson, a few of them had been shot on the spot for these + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">217</a></span> + outrages. + Tarleton's dashing attacks isolated Charleston and there was nothing for + Lincoln to do but to surrender. This he did on the 12th of May. Burgoyne + seemed to have been avenged. The most important city in the South had + fallen. <q>We look on America as at our feet,</q> wrote Horace Walpole. The + British advanced boldly into the interior. On the 29th of May Tarleton + attacked an American force under Colonel Buford, killed over a hundred + men, carried off two hundred prisoners, and had only twenty-one + casualties. It is such scenes that reveal the true character of the war in + the South. Above all it was a war of hard riding, often in the night, of + sudden attack, and terrible bloodshed. + </p> + <p> + After the fall of Charleston only a few American irregulars were to be + found in South Carolina. It and Georgia seemed safe in British control. + With British successes came the problem of governing the South. On the + royalist theory, the recovered land had been in a state of rebellion and + was now restored to its true allegiance. Every one who had taken up arms + against the King was guilty of treason with death as the penalty. Clinton + had no intention of applying this hard theory, but he was returning to New + York and he had to establish a + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">218</a></span> + government on some legal basis. During the + first years of the war, Loyalists who would not accept the new order had + been punished with great severity. Their day had now come. Clinton said + that <q>every good man</q> must be ready to join in arms the King's troops in + order <q>to reestablish peace and good government.</q> <q>Wicked and desperate + men</q> who still opposed the King should be punished with rigor and have + their property confiscated. He offered pardon for past offenses, except to + those who had taken part in killing Loyalists <q>under the mock forms of + justice.</q> No one was henceforth to be exempted from the active duty of + supporting the King's authority. + </p> + <p> + Clinton's proclamation was very disturbing to the large element in South + Carolina which did not desire to fight on either side. Every one must now + be for or against the King, and many were in their secret hearts resolved + to be against him. There followed an orgy of bloodshed which discredits + human nature. The patriots fled to the mountains rather than yield and, in + their turn, waylaid and murdered straggling Loyalists. Under pressure some + republicans would give outward compliance to royal government, but they + could not be coerced into a real loyalty. It required only a reverse to + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">219</a></span> + the King's forces to make them again actively hostile. To meet the + difficult situation Congress now made a disastrous blunder. On June 13, + 1780, General Gates, the belauded victor at Saratoga, was given the + command in the South. + </p> + <p> + Camden, on the Wateree River, lies inland from Charleston about a hundred + and twenty-five miles as the crow flies. The British had occupied it soon + after the fall of Charleston, and it was now held by a small force under + Lord Rawdon, one of the ablest of the British commanders. Gates had + superior numbers and could probably have taken Camden by a rapid movement; + but the man had no real stomach for fighting. He delayed until, on the + 14th of August, Cornwallis arrived at Camden with reinforcements and with + the fixed resolve to attack Gates before Gates attacked him. On the early + morning of the 16th of August, Cornwallis with two thousand men marching + northward between swamps on both flanks, met Gates with three thousand + marching southward, each of them intending to surprise the other. A fierce + struggle followed. Gates was completely routed with a thousand casualties, + a thousand prisoners, and the loss of nearly the whole of his guns and + transport. The fleeing army was pursued for twenty miles by + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">220</a></span> + the relentless + Tarleton. General Kalb, who had done much to organize the American army, + was killed. The enemies of Gates jeered at his riding away with the + fugitives and hardly drawing rein until after four days he was at + Hillsborough, two hundred miles away. His defense was that he <q>proceeded + with all possible despatch,</q> which he certainly did, to the nearest point + where he could reorganize his forces. His career was, however, ended. He + was deprived of his command, and Washington appointed to succeed him + General Nathanael Greene. + </p> + <p> + In spite of the headlong flight of Gates the disaster at Camden had only a + transient effect. The war developed a number of irregular leaders on the + American side who were never beaten beyond recovery, no matter what might + be the reverses of the day. The two most famous are Francis Marion and + Thomas Sumter. Marion, descended from a family of Huguenot exiles, was + slight in frame and courteous in manner; Sumter, tall, powerful, and + rough, was the vigorous frontiersman in type. Threatened men live long: + Sumter died in 1832, at the age of ninety-six, the last surviving general + of the Revolution. Both men had had prolonged experience in frontier + fighting against the Indians. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">221</a></span> + Tarleton called Marion the <q>old swamp fox</q> + because he often escaped through using by-paths across the great swamps of + the country. British communications were always in danger. A small British + force might find itself in the midst of a host which had suddenly come + together as an army, only to dissolve next day into its elements of hardy + farmers, woodsmen, and mountaineers. + </p> + <p> + After the victory at Camden Cornwallis advanced into North Carolina, and + sent Major Ferguson, one of his most trusted officers, with a force of + about a thousand men, into the mountainous country lying westward, chiefly + to secure Loyalist recruits. If attacked in force Ferguson was to retreat + and rejoin his leader. The Battle of King's Mountain is hardly famous in + the annals of the world, and yet, in some ways, it was a decisive event. + Suddenly Ferguson found himself beset by hostile bands, coming from the + north, the south, the east, and the west. When, in obedience to his + orders, he tried to retreat he found the way blocked, and his messages + were intercepted, so that Cornwallis was not aware of the peril. Ferguson, + harassed, outnumbered, at last took refuge on King's Mountain, a stony + ridge on the western border between the two Carolinas. The north side + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">222</a></span> + of + the mountain was a sheer impassable cliff and, since the ridge was only + half a mile long, Ferguson thought that his force could hold it securely. + He was, however, fighting an enemy deadly with the rifle and accustomed to + fire from cover. The sides and top of King's Mountain were wooded and + strewn with boulders. The motley assailants crept up to the crest while + pouring a deadly fire on any of the defenders who exposed themselves. + Ferguson was killed and in the end his force surrendered, on October 7, + 1780, with four hundred casualties and the loss of more than seven hundred + prisoners. The American casualties were eighty-eight. In reprisal for + earlier acts on the other side, the victors insulted the dead body of + Ferguson and hanged nine of their prisoners on the limb of a great tulip + tree. Then the improvised army scattered.¹ + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_272-1" name="footer_272-1"></a> + ¹See Chapter IX, <i>Pioneers of the Old Southwest</i>, by Constance + Lindsay Skinner in <i>The Chronicles of America.</i> + </div> + <p> + While the conflict for supremacy in the South was still uncertain, in the + Northwest the Americans made a stroke destined to have astounding results. + Virginia had long coveted lands in the valleys of the Ohio and the + Mississippi. It was in this region that Washington had first seen active + service, helping to wrest that land from France. The + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">223</a></span> + country was wild. + There was almost no settlement; but over a few forts on the upper + Mississippi and in the regions lying eastward to the Detroit River there + was that flicker of a red flag which meant that the Northwest was under + British rule. George Rogers Clark, like Washington a Virginian land + surveyor, was a strong, reckless, brave frontiersman. Early in 1778 + Virginia gave him a small sum of money, made him a lieutenant colonel, and + authorized him to raise troops for a western adventure. He had less than + two hundred men when he appeared a little later at Kaskaskia near the + Mississippi in what is now Illinois and captured the small British + garrison, with the friendly consent of the French settlers about the fort. + He did the same thing at Cahokia, farther up the river. The French + scattered through the western country naturally sided with the Americans, + fighting now in alliance with France. The British sent out a force from + Detroit to try to check the efforts of Clark, but in February, 1779, the + indomitable frontiersman surprised and captured this force at Vincennes on + the Wabash. Thus did Clark's two hundred famished and ragged men take + possession of the Northwest, and, when peace was made, this vast domain, + an empire in extent, fell to the United + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">224</a></span> + States. Clark's exploit is one of + the pregnant romances of history.¹ + </p> + <div class="footer"> + <a id="footer_224-1" name="footer_224-1"></a> + ¹See Chapters III and IV in <i>The Old Northwest</i> by Frederic + Austin Ogg in <i>The Chronicles of America</i>. + </div> + <p> + Perhaps the most sorrowful phase of the Revolution was the internal + conflict waged between its friends and its enemies in America, where + neighbor fought against neighbor. During this pitiless struggle the + strength of the Loyalists tended steadily to decline; and they came at + last to be regarded everywhere by triumphant revolution as a vile people + who should bear the penalties of outcasts. In this attitude towards them + Boston had given a lead which the rest of the country eagerly followed. To + coerce Loyalists local committees sprang up everywhere. It must be said + that the Loyalists gave abundant provocation. They sneered at rebel + officers of humble origin as convicts and shoeblacks. There should be some + fine hanging, they promised, on the return of the King's men to Boston. + Early in the Revolution British colonial governors, like Lord Dunmore of + Virginia, adopted the policy of reducing the rebels by harrying their + coasts. Sailors would land at night from ships and commit their ravages in + the light of burning houses. Soldiers would dart out beyond the British + lines, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">225</a></span> + burn a village, carry off some Whig farmers, and escape before + opposing forces could rally. Governor Tryon of New York was specially + active in these enterprises and to this day a special odium attaches to + his name. + </p> + <p> + For these ravages, and often with justice, the Loyalists were held + responsible. The result was a bitterness which fired even the calm spirit + of Benjamin Franklin and led him when the day came for peace to declare + that the plundering and murdering adherents of King George were the ones + who should pay for damage and not the States which had confiscated + Loyalist property. Lists of Loyalist names were sometimes posted and then + the persons concerned were likely to be the victims of any one disposed to + mischief. Sometimes a suspected Loyalist would find an effigy hung on a + tree before his own door with a hint that next time the figure might be + himself. A musket ball might come whizzing through his window. Many a + Loyalist was stripped, plunged in a barrel of tar, and then rolled in + feathers, taken sometimes from his own bed. + </p> + <p> + Punishment for loyalism was not, however, left merely to chance. Even + before the Declaration of Independence, Congress, sitting itself in a city + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">226</a></span> + where loyalism was strong, urged the States to act sternly in repressing + Loyalist opinion. They did not obey every urging of Congress as eagerly as + they responded to this one. In practically every State Test Acts were + passed and no one was safe who did not carry a certificate that he was + free of any suspicion of loyalty to King George. Magistrates were paid a + fee for these certificates and thus had a golden reason for insisting that + Loyalists should possess them. To secure a certificate the holder must + forswear allegiance to the King and promise support to the State at war + with him. An unguarded word even about the value in gold of the + continental dollar might lead to the adding of the speaker's name to the + list of the proscribed. Legislatures passed bills denouncing Loyalists. + The names in Massachusetts read like a list of the leading families of New + England. The <q>Black List</q> of Pennsylvania contained four hundred and + ninety names of Loyalists charged with treason, and Philadelphia had the + grim experience of seeing two Loyalists led to the scaffold with ropes + around their necks and hanged. Most of the persecuted Loyalists lost all + their property and remained exiles from their former homes. The + self-appointed committees took in hand the task of disciplining + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">227</a></span> + those who + did not fly, and the rabble often pushed matters to brutal extremes. When + we remember that Washington himself regarded Tories as the vilest of + mankind and unfit to live, we can imagine the spirit of mobs, which had + sometimes the further incentive of greed for Loyalist property. Loyalists + had the experience of what we now call boycotting when they could not buy + or sell in the shops and were forced to see their own shops plundered. + Mills would not grind their corn. Their cattle were maimed and poisoned. + They could not secure payment of debts due to them or, if payment was + made, they received it in the debased continental currency at its face + value. They might not sue in a court of law, nor sell their property, nor + make a will. It was a felony for them to keep arms. No Loyalist might hold + office, or practice law or medicine, or keep a school. + </p> + <p> + Some Loyalists were deported to the wilderness in the back country. Many + took refuge within the British lines, especially at New York. Many + Loyalists created homes elsewhere. Some went to England only to find + melancholy disillusion of hope that a grateful motherland would understand + and reward their sacrifices. Large numbers found their way to Nova Scotia + and to Canada, north of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">228</a></span> + Great Lakes, and there played a part in laying + the foundation of the Dominion of today. The city of Toronto with a + population of half a million is rooted in the Loyalist traditions of its + Tory founders. Simcoe, the first Governor of Upper Canada, who made + Toronto his capital, was one of the most enterprising of the officers who + served with Cornwallis in the South and surrendered with him at Yorktown. + </p> + <p> + The State of New York acquired from the forfeited lands of Loyalists a sum + approaching four million dollars, a great amount in those days. Other + States profited in a similar way. Every Loyalist whose property was seized + had a direct and personal grievance. He could join the British army and + fight against his oppressors, and this he did: New York furnished about + fifteen thousand men to fight on the British side. Plundered himself, he + could plunder his enemies, and this too he did both by land and sea. In + the autumn of 1778 ships manned chiefly by Loyalist refugees were + terrorizing the coast from Massachusetts to New Jersey. They plundered + Martha's Vineyard, burned some lesser towns, such as New Bedford, and + showed no quarter to small parties of American troops whom they managed to + intercept. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">229</a></span> + What happened on the coast happened also in the interior. At Wyoming in + the northeastern part of Pennsylvania, in July, 1778, during a raid of + Loyalists, aided by Indians, there was a brutal massacre, the horrors of + which long served to inspire hate for the British. A little later in the + same year similar events took place at Cherry Valley, in central New York. + Burning houses, the dead bodies not only of men but of women and children + scalped by the savage allies of the Loyalists, desolation and ruin in + scenes once peaceful and happy—such horrors American patriotism + learned to associate with the Loyalists. These in their turn remembered + the slow martyrdom of their lives as social outcasts, the threats and + plunder which in the end forced them to fly, the hardships, starvation, + and death to their loved ones which were wont to follow. The conflict is + perhaps the most tragic and irreconcilable in the whole story of the + Revolution. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">230</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER X</a></h2> + <h3>France to the Rescue</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">During</span> 1778 and 1779 French effort had failed. + Now France resolved to do + something decisive. She never sent across the sea the eight thousand men + promised to La Fayette but by the spring of 1780 about this number were + gathered at Brest to find that transport was inadequate. The leader was a + French noble, the Comte de Rochambeau, an old campaigner, now in his + fifty-fifth year, who had fought against England before in the Seven + Years' War and had then been opposed by Clinton, Cornwallis, and Lord + George Germain. He was a sound and prudent soldier who shares with La + Fayette the chief glory of the French service in America. Rochambeau had + fought at the second battle of Minden, where the father of La Fayette had + fallen, and he had for the ardent young Frenchman the amiable regard of a + father and sometimes rebuked his impulsiveness in that spirit. He studied + the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">231</a></span> + problem in America with the insight of a trained leader. Before he + left France he made the pregnant comment on the outlook: <q>Nothing + without naval supremacy.</q> About the same time Washington was writing + to La Fayette that a decisive naval supremacy was a fundamental need. + </p> + <p> + A gallant company it was which gathered at Brest. Probably no other land + than France could have sent forth on a crusade for democratic liberty a + band of aristocrats who had little thought of applying to their own land + the principles for which they were ready to fight in America. Over some of + them hung the shadow of the guillotine; others were to ride the storm of + the French Revolution and to attain fame which should surpass their + sanguine dreams. Rochambeau himself, though he narrowly escaped during the + Reign of Terror, lived to extreme old age and died a Marshal of France. + Berthier, one of his officers, became one of Napoleon's marshals and died + just when Napoleon, whom he had deserted, returned from Elba. Dumas became + another of Napoleon's generals. He nearly perished in the retreat from + Moscow but lived, like Rochambeau, to extreme old age. One of the gayest + of the company was the Duc de Lauzun, a noted libertine in France but, as + far as + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">232</a></span> + the record goes, a man of blameless propriety in America. He died + on the scaffold during the French Revolution. So, too, did his companion, + the Prince de Broglie, in spite of the protest of his last words that he + was faithful to the principles of the Revolution, some of which he had + learned in America. Another companion was the Swedish Count Fersen, later + the devoted friend of the unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette, the driver + of the carriage in which the royal family made the famous flight to + Varennes in 1791, and himself destined to be trampled to death by a + Swedish mob in 1810. Other old and famous names there were: + Laval-Montmorency, Mirabeau, Talleyrand, Saint-Simon. It has been said + that the names of the French officers in America read like a list of + medieval heroes in the Chronicles of Froissart. + </p> + <p> + Only half of the expected ships were ready at Brest and only five thousand + five hundred men could embark. The vessels were, of course, very crowded. + Rochambeau cut down the space allowed for personal effects. He took no + horse for himself and would allow none to go, but he permitted a few dogs. + Forty-five ships set sail, <q>a truly imposing sight,</q> said one of + those on board. We have reports of their <i>ennui</i> on the long voyage + of seventy + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">233</a></span> + days, + of their amusements and their devotions, for twice daily were prayers read + on deck. They sailed into Newport on the 11th of July and the inhabitants + of that still primitive spot illuminated their houses as best they could. + Then the army settled down at Newport and there it remained for many weary + months. Reinforcements never came, partly through mismanagement in France, + partly through the vigilance of the British fleet, which was on guard + before Brest. The French had been for generations the deadly enemies of + the English Colonies and some of the French officers noted the reserve + with which they were received. The ice was, however, soon broken. They + brought with them gold, and the New England merchants liked this relief + from the debased continental currency. Some of the New England ladies were + beautiful, and the experienced Lauzun expresses glowing admiration for a + prim Quakeress whose simple dress he thought more attractive than the + elaborate modes of Paris. + </p> + <p> + The French dazzled the ragged American army by their display of waving + plumes and of uniforms in striking colors. They wondered at the quantities + of tea drunk by their friends and so do we when we remember the political + hatred for tea. They + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">234</a></span> + made the blunder common in Europe of thinking that + there were no social distinctions in America. Washington could have told + him a different story. Intercourse was at first difficult, for few of the + Americans spoke French and fewer still of the French spoke English. + Sometimes the talk was in Latin, pronounced by an American scholar as not + too bad. A French officer writing in Latin to an American friend announces + his intention to learn English: <q><i>Inglicam linguam noscere + conabor.</i></q> He made the effort and he and his fellow officers + learned a quaint English speech. When Rochambeau and Washington first + met they conversed through La Fayette, as interpreter, but in time the + older man did very well in the language of his American comrade in arms. + </p> + <p> + For a long time the French army effected nothing. Washington longed to + attack New York and urged the effort, but the wise and experienced + Rochambeau applied his principle, <q>nothing without naval supremacy,</q> + and insisted that in such an attack a powerful fleet should act with a + powerful army, and, for the moment, the French had no powerful fleet + available. The British were blockading in Narragansett Bay the French + fleet which lay there. Had the French army moved away + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">235</a></span> + from Newport their + fleet would almost certainly have become a prey to the British. For the + moment there was nothing to do but to wait. The French preserved an + admirable discipline. Against their army there are no records of outrage + and plunder such as we have against the German allies of the British. We + must remember, however, that the French were serving in the country of + their friends, with every restraint of good feeling which this involved. + Rochambeau told his men that they must not be the theft of a bit of wood, + or of any vegetables, or of even a sheaf of straw. He threatened the vice + which he called <q>sonorous drunkenness,</q> and even lack of cleanliness, + with sharp punishment. The result was that a month after landing he could + say that not a cabbage had been stolen. Our credulity is strained when we + are told that apple trees with their fruit overhung the tents of his + soldiers and remained untouched. Thousands flocked to see the French camp. + The bands played and Puritan maidens of all grades of society danced with + the young French officers and we are told, whether we believe it or not, + that there was the simple innocence of the Garden of Eden. The zeal of the + French officers and the friendly disposition of the men never failed. + There had + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">236</a></span> + been bitter quarrels in 1778 and 1779 and now the French were + careful to be on their good behavior in America. Rochambeau had been + instructed to place himself under the command of Washington, to whom were + given the honors of a Marshal of France. The French admiral, had, however, + been given no such instructions and Washington had no authority over the + fleet. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Meanwhile events were happening which might have brought a British + triumph. On September 14, 1780, there arrived and anchored at Sandy Hook, + New York, fourteen British ships of the line under Rodney, the doughtiest + of the British admirals afloat. Washington, with his army headquarters at + West Point, on guard to keep the British from advancing up the Hudson, was + looking for the arrival, not of a British fleet, but of a French fleet, + from the West Indies. For him these were very dark days. The recent defeat + at Camden was a crushing blow. Congress was inept and had in it men, as + the patient General Greene said, <q>without principles, honor or + modesty.</q> The coming of the British fleet was a new and overwhelming + discouragement, and, on the 18th of September, Washington left West Point + for a long + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">237</a></span> + ride + to Hartford in Connecticut, half way between the two headquarters, there + to take counsel with the French general. Rochambeau, it was said, had been + purposely created to understand Washington, but as yet the two leaders had + not met. It is the simple truth that Washington had to go to the French as + a beggar. Rochambeau said later that Washington was afraid to reveal the + extent of his distress. He had to ask for men and for ships, but he had + also to ask for what a proud man dislikes to ask, for money from the + stranger who had come to help him. + </p> + <p> + The Hudson had long been the chief object of Washington's anxiety and now + it looked as if the British intended some new movement up the river, as + indeed they did. Clinton had not expected Rodney's squadron, but it + arrived opportunely and, when it sailed up to New York from Sandy Hook, on + the 16th of September, he began at once to embark his army, taking pains + at the same time to send out reports that he was going to the Chesapeake. + Washington concluded that the opposite was true and that he was likely to + be going northward. At West Point, where the Hudson flows through a + mountainous gap, Washington had strong defenses on both shores of the + river. His + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">238</a></span> + batteries commanded its whole width, but shore batteries were + ineffective against moving ships. The embarking of Clinton's army meant + that he planned operations on land. He might be going to Rhode Island or + to Boston but he might also dash up the Hudson. It was an anxious leader + who, with La Fayette and Alexander Hamilton, rode away from headquarters + to Hartford. + </p> + <p> + The officer in command at West Point was Benedict Arnold. No general on + the American side had a more brilliant record or could show more scars of + battle. We have seen him leading an army through the wilderness to Quebec, + and incurring hardships almost incredible. Later he is found on Lake + Champlain, fighting on both land and water. When in the next year the + Americans succeeded at Saratoga it was Arnold who bore the brunt of the + fighting. At Quebec and again at Saratoga he was severely wounded. In the + summer of 1778 he was given the command at Philadelphia, after the British + evacuation. It was a troubled time. Arnold was concerned with + confiscations of property for treason and with disputes about ownership. + Impulsive, ambitious, and with a certain element of coarseness in his + nature, he made enemies. He was involved in bitter strife with both + Congress + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">239</a></span> + and the State government of Pennsylvania. After a period of + tension and privation in war, one of slackness and luxury is almost + certain to follow. Philadelphia, which had recently suffered for want of + bare necessities, now relapsed into gay indulgence. Arnold lived + extravagantly. He played a conspicuous part in society and, a widower of + thirty-five, was successful in paying court to Miss Shippen, a young lady + of twenty, with whom, as Washington said, all the American officers were + in love. + </p> + <p> + Malignancy was rampant and Arnold was pursued with great bitterness. + Joseph Reed, the President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania, not + only brought charge against him of abusing his position for his own + advantage, but also laid the charges before each State government. In the + end Arnold was tried by court-martial and after long and inexcusable + delay, on January 26, 1780, he was acquitted of everything but the + imprudence of using, in an emergency, public wagons to remove private + property, and of granting irregularly a pass to a ship to enter the port + of Philadelphia. Yet the court ordered that for these trifles Arnold + should receive a public reprimand from the Commander-in-Chief. Washington + gave + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">240</a></span> + the reprimand in terms as gentle as possible, and when, in July, + 1780, Arnold asked for the important command at West Point, Washington + readily complied probably with relief that so important a position should + be in such good hands. + </p> + <p> + The treason of Arnold now came rapidly to a head. The man was embittered. + He had rendered great services and yet had been persecuted with spiteful + persistence. The truth seems to be, too, that Arnold thought America ripe + for reconciliation with Great Britain. He dreamed that he might be the + saviour of his country. Monk had reconciled the English republic to the + restored Stuart King Charles II; Arnold might reconcile the American + republic to George III for the good of both. That reconciliation he + believed was widely desired in America. He tried to persuade himself that + to change sides in this civil strife was no more culpable then to turn + from one party to another in political life. He forgot, however, that it + is never honorable to betray a trust. + </p> + <p> + It is almost certain that Arnold received a large sum in money for his + treachery. However this may be, there was treason in his heart when he + asked for and received the command at West Point, and he intended to use + his authority to surrender + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">241</a></span> + that vital post to the British. And now on the + 18th of September Washington was riding northeastward into Connecticut, + British troops were on board ships in New York and all was ready. On the + 20th of September the <i>Vulture</i>, sloop of war, sailed up the Hudson + from New York and anchored at Stony Point, a few miles below West Point. + On board the <i>Vulture</i> was the British officer who was treating with + Arnold and who now came to arrange terms with him, Major John + André, Clinton's young adjutant general, a man of attractive + personality. Under cover of night Arnold sent off a boat to bring + André ashore to a remote thicket of fir trees, outside the American + lines. There the final plans were made. The British fleet, carrying an + army, was to sail up the river. A heavy chain had been placed across the + river at West Point to bar the way of hostile ships. Under pretense of + repairs a link was to be taken out and replaced by a rope which would + break easily. The defenses of West Point were to be so arranged that + they could not meet a sudden attack and Arnold was to surrender with his + force of three thousand men. Such a blow following the disasters at + Charleston and Camden might end the strife. Britain was + prepared to yield everything but + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">242</a></span> + separation; and America, Arnold said, could now make an honorable peace. + </p> + <p> + A chapter of accidents prevented the testing. Had André been rowed + ashore by British tars they could have taken him back to the ship at his + command before daylight. As it was the American boatmen, suspicious + perhaps of the meaning of this talk at midnight between an American + officer and a British officer, both of them in uniform, refused to row + André back to the ship because their own return would be dangerous + in daylight. Contrary to his instructions and wishes André + accompanied Arnold to a house within the American lines to wait until he + could be taken off under cover of night. Meanwhile, however, an American + battery on shore, angry at the <i>Vulture</i>, lying defiantly within + range, opened fire upon her and she dropped down stream some miles. This + was alarming. Arnold, however, arranged with a man to row André + down the river and about midday went back to West Point. + </p> + <p> + It was uncertain how far the <i>Vulture</i> had gone. The vigilance of + those guarding the river was aroused and André's guide insisted + that he should go to the British lines by land. He was carrying + compromising papers and wearing civilian dress + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">243</a></span> + when seized by an American party and held under close arrest. Arnold + meanwhile, ignorant of this delay, was waiting for the expected advance + up the river of the British fleet. He learned of the arrest of + André while at breakfast on the morning of the twenty-fifth, + waiting to be joined by Washington, who had just ridden in from Hartford. + Arnold received the startling news with extraordinary composure, finished + the subject under discussion, and then left the table under pretext of a + summons from across the river. Within a few minutes his barge was moving + swiftly to the <i>Vulture</i> eighteen miles away. Thus Arnold escaped. + The unhappy André was hanged as a spy on the 2d of October. He met + his fate bravely. Washington, it is said, shed tears at its stern + necessity under military law. Forty years later the bones of André + were reburied in Westminster Abbey, a tribute of pity for a fine officer. + </p> + <p> + The treason of Arnold is not in itself important, yet Washington wrote + with deep conviction that Providence had directly intervened to save the + American cause. Arnold might be only one of many. Washington said, indeed, + that it was a wonder there were not more. In a civil war every one of + importance is likely to have ties with both + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">244</a></span> + sides, regrets for the friends + he has lost, misgivings in respect to the course he has adopted. In April, + 1779, Arnold had begun his treason by expressing discontent at the + alliance with France then working so disastrously. His future lay before + him; he was still under forty; he had just married into a family of + position; he expected that both he and his descendants would spend their + lives in America and he must have known that contempt would follow them + for the conduct which he planned if it was regarded by public opinion as + base. Voices in Congress, too, had denounced the alliance with France as + alliance with tyranny, political and religious. Members praised the + liberties of England and had declared that the Declaration of Independence + must be revoked and that now it could be done with honor since the + Americans had proved their metal. There was room for the fear that the + morale of the Americans was giving way. + </p> + <p> + The defection of Arnold might also have military results. He had bargained + to be made a general in the British army and he had intimate knowledge of + the weak points in Washington's position. He advised the British that if + they would do two things, offer generous terms to soldiers serving in the + American army, and concentrate their effort, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">245</a></span> + they could win the war. With + a cynical knowledge of the weaker side of human nature, he declared that + it was too expensive a business to bring men from England to serve in + America. They could be secured more cheaply in America; it would be + necessary only to pay them better than Washington could pay his army. As + matters stood the Continental troops were to have half pay for seven years + after the close of the war and grants of land ranging from one hundred + acres for a private to eleven hundred acres for a general. Make better + offers than this, urged Arnold; <q>Money will go farther than arms in + America.</q> If the British would concentrate on the Hudson where the + defenses were weak they could drive a wedge between North and South. If on + the other hand they preferred to concentrate in the South, leaving only a + garrison in New York, they could overrun Virginia and Maryland and then + the States farther south would give up a fight in which they were already + beaten. Energy and enterprise, said Arnold, will quickly win the war. + </p> + <p> + In the autumn of 1780 the British cause did, indeed, seem near triumph. An + election in England in October gave the ministry an increased majority and + with this renewed determination. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">246</a></span> + When Holland, long a secret enemy, became + an open one in December, 1780, Admiral Rodney descended on the Dutch + island of St. Eustatius, in the West Indies, where the Americans were in + the habit of buying great quantities of stores and on the 3d of February, + 1781, captured the place with two hundred merchant ships, half a dozen + men-of-war, and stores to the value of three million pounds. The capture + cut off one chief source of supply to the United States. By January, 1781, + a crisis in respect to money came to a head. Fierce mutinies broke out + because there was no money to provide food, clothing, or pay for the army + and the men were in a destitute condition. <q>These people are at the end + of their resources,</q> wrote Rochambeau in March. Arnold's treason, the + halting voices in Congress, the disasters in the South, the British + success in cutting off supplies of stores from St. Eustatius, the sordid + problem of money—all these were well fitted to depress the worn + leader so anxiously watching on the Hudson. It was the dark hour before + the dawn. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">247</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">CHAPTER XI</a></h2> + <h3>Yorktown</h3> + <p> + <span class="smcap">The</span> critical stroke of the war was near. In the + South, after General Greene superseded Gates in the command, the tide of + war began to turn. Cornwallis now had to fight a better general than + Gates. Greene arrived at Charlotte, North Carolina, in December. He found + an army badly equipped, wretchedly clothed, and confronted by a greatly + superior force. He had, however, some excellent officers, and he did not + scorn, as Gates, with the stiff military traditions of a regular soldier, + had scorned, the aid of guerrilla leaders like Marion and Sumter. Serving + with Greene was General Daniel Morgan, the enterprising and resourceful + Virginia rifleman, who had fought valorously at Quebec, at Saratoga, and + later in Virginia. Steuben was busy in Virginia holding the British in + check and keeping open the line of communication with the North. The + mobility and diversity of the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">248</a></span> + American forces puzzled Cornwallis. When he marched from Camden into North + Carolina he hoped to draw Greene into a battle and to crush him as he had + crushed Gates. He sent Tarleton with a smaller force to strike a deadly + blow at Morgan who was threatening the British garrisons at the points in + the interior farther south. There was no more capable leader than + Tarleton; he had won many victories; but now came his day of defeat. On + January 17, 1781, he met Morgan at the Cowpens, about thirty miles west + from King's Mountain. Morgan, not quite sure of the discipline of his men, + stood with his back to a broad river so that retreat was impossible. + Tarleton had marched nearly all night over bad roads; but, confident in + the superiority of his weary and hungry veterans, he advanced to the + attack at daybreak. The result was a complete disaster. Tarleton himself + barely got away with two hundred and seventy men and left behind nearly + nine hundred casualties and prisoners. + </p> + <p> + Cornwallis had lost one-third of his effective army. There was nothing for + him to do but to take his loss and still to press on northward in the hope + that the more southerly inland posts could take care of themselves. In the + early spring of 1781, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">249</a></span> + when heavy rains were making the roads difficult and + the rivers almost impassable, Greene was luring Cornwallis northward and + Cornwallis was chasing Greene. At Hillsborough, in the northwest corner of + North Carolina, Cornwallis issued a proclamation saying that the colony + was once more under the authority of the King and inviting the Loyalists, + bullied and oppressed during nearly six years, to come out openly on the + royal side. On the 15th of March Greene took a stand and offered battle at + Guilford Court House. In the early afternoon, after a march of twelve + miles without food, Cornwallis, with less than two thousand men, attacked + Greene's force of about four thousand. By evening the British held the + field and had captured Greene's guns. But they had lost heavily and they + were two hundred miles from their base. Their friends were timid, and in + fact few, and their numerous enemies were filled with passionate + resolution. + </p> + <p> + Cornwallis now wrote to urge Clinton to come to his aid. Abandon New York, + he said; bring the whole British force into Virginia and end the war by + one smashing stroke; that would be better than sticking to salt pork in + New York and sending only enough men to Virginia to steal tobacco. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">250</a></span> + Cornwallis could not remain where he was, far from the sea. Go back to + Camden he would not after a victory, and thus seem to admit a defeat. So + he decided to risk all and go forward. By hard marching he led his army + down the Cape Fear River to Wilmington on the sea, and there he arrived on + the 9th of April. Greene, however, simply would not do what Cornwallis + wished—stay in the north to be beaten by a second smashing blow. He + did what Cornwallis would not do; he marched back into the South and + disturbed the British dream that now the country was held securely. It + mattered little that, after this, the British won minor victories. Lord + Rawdon, still holding Camden, defeated Greene on the 25th of April at + Hobkirk's Hill. None the less did Rawdon find his position untenable and + he, too, was forced to march to the sea, which he reached at a point near + Charleston. Augusta, the capital of Georgia, fell to the Americans on the + 5th of June and the operations of the summer went decisively in their + favor. The last battle in the field of the farther South was fought on the + 8th of September at Eutaw Springs, about fifty miles northwest of + Charleston. The British held their position and thus could claim a + victory. But it was fruitless. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">251</a></span> + They had been forced steadily to withdraw. + All the boasted fabric of royal government in the South had come down with + a crash and the Tories who had supported it were having evil days. + </p> + <p> + While these events were happening farther south, Cornwallis himself, + without waiting for word from Clinton in New York, had adopted his own + policy and marched from Wilmington northward into Virginia. Benedict + Arnold was now in Virginia doing what mischief he could to his former + friends. In January he burned the little town of Richmond, destined in the + years to come to be a great center in another civil war. Some twenty miles + south from Richmond lay in a strong position Petersburg, later also to be + drenched with blood shed in civil strife. Arnold was already at Petersburg + when Cornwallis arrived on the 20th of May. He was now in high spirits. He + did not yet realize the extent of the failure farther south. Virginia he + believed to be half loyalist at heart. The negroes would, he thought, turn + against their masters when they knew that the British were strong enough + to defend them. Above all he had a finely disciplined army of five + thousand men. Cornwallis was the more confident when he knew by whom he + was opposed. In April Washington had placed La + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">252</a></span> + Fayette in charge of the + defense of Virginia, and not only was La Fayette young and untried in such + a command but he had at first only three thousand badly-trained men to + confront the formidable British general. Cornwallis said cheerily that + <q>the boy</q> was certainly now his prey and began the task of catching + him. + </p> + <p> + An exciting chase followed. La Fayette did some good work. It was + impossible, with his inferior force, to fight Cornwallis, but he could + tire him out by drawing him into long marches. When Cornwallis advanced to + attack La Fayette at Richmond, La Fayette was not there but had slipped + away and was able to use rivers and mountains for his defense. Cornwallis + had more than one string to his bow. The legislature of Virginia was + sitting at Charlottesville, lying in the interior nearly a hundred miles + northwest from Richmond, and Cornwallis conceived the daring plan of + raiding Charlottesville, capturing the Governor of Virginia, Thomas + Jefferson, and, at one stroke, shattering the civil administration. + Tarleton was the man for such an enterprise of hard riding and bold + fighting and he nearly succeeded. Jefferson indeed escaped by rapid flight + but Tarleton took the town, burned the public records, and captured + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">253</a></span> + ammunition and arms. But he really effected little. La Fayette was still + unconquered. His army was growing and the British were finding that + Virginia, like New England, was definitely against them. + </p> + <p> + At New York, meanwhile, Clinton was in a dilemma. He was dismayed at the + news of the march of Cornwallis to Virginia. Cornwallis had been so long + practically independent in the South that he assumed not only the right to + shape his own policy but adopted a certain tartness in his despatches to + Clinton, his superior. When now, in this tone, he urged Clinton to abandon + New York and join him Clinton's answer on the 26th of June was a definite + order to occupy some port in Virginia easily reached from the sea, to make + it secure, and to send to New York reinforcements. The French army at + Newport was beginning to move towards New York and Clinton had intercepted + letters from Washington to La Fayette revealing a serious design to make + an attack with the aid of the French fleet. Such was the game which + fortune was playing with the British generals. Each desired the other to + abandon his own plans and to come to his aid. They were agreed, however, + that some strong point must be held in Virginia as a naval base, and on + the 2d of August + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">254</a></span> + Cornwallis established this base at Yorktown, at the + mouth of the York River, a mile wide where it flows into Chesapeake Bay. + His cannon could command the whole width of the river and keep in safety + ships anchored above the town. Yorktown lay about half way between New + York and Charleston and from here a fleet could readily carry a military + force to any needed point on the sea. La Fayette with a growing army + closed in on Yorktown, and Cornwallis, almost before he knew it, was + besieged with no hope of rescue except by a fleet. + </p> + <p> + Then it was that from the sea, the restless and mysterious sea, came the + final decision. Man seems so much the sport of circumstance that apparent + trifles, remote from his consciousness, appear at times to determine his + fate; it is a commonplace of romance that a pretty face or a stray bullet + has altered the destiny not merely of families but of nations. And now, in + the American Revolution, it was not forts on the Hudson, nor maneuvers in + the South, that were to decide the issue, but the presence of a few more + French warships than the British could muster at a given spot and time. + Washington had urged in January that France should plan to have at least + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">255</a></span> + temporary naval superiority in American waters, in accordance with + Rochambeau's principle, <q>Nothing without naval supremacy.</q> Washington + wished to concentrate against New York, but the French were of a different + mind, believing that the great effort should be made in Chesapeake Bay. + There the British could have no defenses like those at New York, and the + French fleet, which was stationed in the West Indies, could reach more + readily than New York a point in the South. + </p> + <p> + Early in May Rochambeau knew that a French fleet was coming to his aid but + not yet did he know where the stroke should be made. It was clear, + however, that there was nothing for the French to do at Newport, and, by + the beginning of June, Rochambeau prepared to set his army in motion. The + first step was to join Washington on the Hudson and at any rate alarm + Clinton as to an imminent attack on New York and hold him to that spot. + After nearly a year of idleness the French soldiers were delighted that + now at last there was to be an active movement. The long march from + Newport to New York began. In glowing June, amid the beauties of nature, + now overcome by intense heat and obliged to march at two o'clock in the + morning, now drenched by heavy rains, the French plodded + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">256</a></span> + on, and joined + their American comrades along the Hudson early in July. + </p> + <p> + By the 14th of August Washington knew two things—that a great French + fleet under the Comte de Grasse had sailed for the Chesapeake and that the + British army had reached Yorktown. Soon the two allied armies, both lying + on the east side of the Hudson, moved southward. On the 20th of August the + Americans began to cross the river at King's Ferry, eight miles below + Peekskill. Washington had to leave the greater part of his army before New + York, and his meager force of some two thousand was soon over the river in + spite of torrential rains. By the 24th of August the French, too, had + crossed with some four thousand men and with their heavy equipment. The + British made no move. Clinton was, however, watching these operations + nervously. The united armies marched down the right bank of the Hudson so + rapidly that they had to leave useful effects behind and some grumbled at + the privation. Clinton thought his enemy might still attack New York from + the New Jersey shore. He knew that near Staten Island the Americans were + building great bakeries as if to feed an army besieging New York. Suddenly + on the 29th of August the armies turned away + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">257</a></span> + from New York southwestward + across New Jersey, and still only the two leaders knew whither they were + bound. + </p> + <p> + American patriotism has liked to dwell on this last great march of + Washington. To him this was familiar country; it was here that he had + harassed Clinton on the march from Philadelphia to New York three long + years before. The French marched on the right at the rate of about fifteen + miles a day. The country was beautiful and the roads were good. Autumn had + come and the air was bracing. The peaches hung ripe on the trees. The + Dutch farmers who, four years earlier, had been plaintive about the + pillage by the Hessians, now seemed prosperous enough and brought + abundance of provisions to the army. They had just gathered their harvest. + The armies passed through Princeton, with its fine college, numbering as + many as fifty students; then on to Trenton, and across the Delaware to + Philadelphia, which the vanguard reached on the 3d of September. + </p> + <p> + There were gala scenes in Philadelphia. Twenty thousand people witnessed a + review of the French army. To one of the French officers the city seemed + <q>immense</q> with its seventy-two streets all <q>in a straight line.</q> + The shops appeared to be + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">258</a></span> + equal to those of Paris and there were pretty women well + dressed in the French fashion. The Quaker city forgot its old suspicion of + the French and their Catholic religion. Luzerne, the French Minister, gave + a great banquet on the evening of the 5th of September. Eighty guests took + their places at table and as they sat down good news arrived. As yet few + knew the destination of the army but now Luzerne read momentous tidings + and the secret was out: twenty-eight French ships of the line had arrived + in Chesapeake Bay; an army of three thousand men had already disembarked + and was in touch with the army of La Fayette; Washington and Rochambeau + were bound for Yorktown to attack Cornwallis. Great was the joy; in the + streets the soldiers and the people shouted and sang and humorists, + mounted on chairs, delivered in advance mock funeral orations on + Cornwallis. + </p> + <p> + It was planned that the army should march the fifty miles to Elkton, at + the head of Chesapeake Bay, and there take boat to Yorktown, two hundred + miles to the south at the other end of the Bay. But there were not ships + enough. Washington had asked the people of influence in the neighborhood + to help him to gather transports but few of them + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">259</a></span> + responded. A deadly + apathy in regard to the war seems to have fallen upon many parts of the + country. The Bay now in control of the French fleet was quite safe for + unarmed ships. Half the Americans and some of the French embarked and the + rest continued on foot. There was need of haste, and the troops marched on + to Baltimore and beyond at the rate of twenty miles a day, over roads + often bad and across rivers sometimes unbridged. At Baltimore some further + regiments were taken on board transports and most of them made the final + stages of the journey by water. Some there were, however, and among them + the Vicomte de Noailles, brother-in-law of La Fayette, who tramped on foot + the whole seven hundred and fifty-six miles from Newport to Yorktown. + Washington himself left the army at Elkton and rode on with Rochambeau, + making about sixty miles a day. Mount Vernon lay on the way and here + Washington paused for two or three days. It was the first time he had seen + it since he set out on May 4, 1775, to attend the Continental Congress at + Philadelphia, little dreaming then of himself as chief leader in a long + war. Now he pressed on to join La Fayette. By the end of the month an army + of sixteen thousand men, of whom about one-half + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">260</a></span> + were French, was besieging + Cornwallis with seven thousand men in Yorktown. + </p> + <p> + Heart-stirring events had happened while the armies were marching to the + South. The Comte de Grasse, with his great fleet, arrived at the entrance + to the Chesapeake on the 30th of August while the British fleet under + Admiral Graves still lay at New York. Grasse, now the pivot upon which + everything turned, was the French admiral in the West Indies. Taking + advantage of a lull in operations he had slipped away with his whole + fleet, to make his stroke and be back again before his absence had caused + great loss. It was a risky enterprise, but a wise leader takes risks. He + intended to be back in the West Indies before the end of October. + </p> + <p> + It was not easy for the British to realize that they could be outmatched + on the sea. Rodney had sent word from the West Indies that ten ships were + the limit of Grasse's numbers and that even fourteen British ships would + be adequate to meet him. A British fleet, numbering nineteen ships of the + line, commanded by Admiral Graves, left New York on the 31st of August and + five days later stood off the entrance to Chesapeake Bay. On the mainland + across the Bay lay Yorktown, the + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">261</a></span> + one point now held by the British on that + great stretch of coast. When Graves arrived he had an unpleasant surprise. + The strength of the French had been well concealed. There to confront him + lay twenty-four enemy ships. The situation was even worse, for the French + fleet from Newport was on its way to join Grasse. + </p> + <p> + On the afternoon of the 5th of September, the day of the great rejoicing + in Philadelphia, there was a spectacle of surpassing interest off Cape + Henry, at the mouth of the Bay. The two great fleets joined battle, under + sail, and poured their fire into each other. When night came the British + had about three hundred and fifty casualties and the French about two + hundred. There was no brilliant leadership on either side. One of Graves's + largest ships, the <i>Terrible</i>, was so crippled that he burnt her, and + several others were badly damaged. Admiral Hood, one of Graves's officers, + says that if his leader had turned suddenly and anchored his ships across + the mouth of the Bay, the French Admiral with his fleet outside would + probably have sailed away and left the British fleet in possession. As it + was the two fleets lay at sea in sight of each other for four days. On the + morning of the tenth the squadron from Newport under Barras arrived + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">262</a></span> + and + increased Grasse's ships to thirty-six. Against such odds Graves could do + nothing. He lingered near the mouth of the Chesapeake for a few days still + and then sailed away to New York to refit. At the most critical hour of + the whole war a British fleet, crippled and spiritless, was hurrying to a + protecting port and the fleurs-de-lis waved unchallenged on the American + coast. The action of Graves spelled the doom of Cornwallis. The most + potent fleet ever gathered in those waters cut him off from rescue by sea. + </p> + <p> + Yorktown fronted on the York River with a deep ravine and swamps at the + back of the town. From the land it could on the west side be approached by + a road leading over marshes and easily defended, and on the east side by + solid ground about half a mile wide now protected by redoubts and + entrenchments with an outer and an inner parallel. Could Cornwallis hold + out? At New York, no longer in any danger, there was still a keen desire + to rescue him. By the end of September he received word from Clinton that + reinforcements had arrived from England and that, with a fleet of + twenty-six ships of the line carrying five thousand troops, he hoped to + sail on the 5th of October to the rescue of Yorktown. There was delay. + Later Clinton wrote that + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">263</a></span> + on the basis of assurances from Admiral Graves he + hoped to get away on the twelfth. A British officer in New York describes + the hopes with which the populace watched these preparations. The fleet, + however, did not sail until the 19th of October. A speaker in Congress at + the time said that the British Admiral should certainly hang for this + delay. + </p> + <p> + On the 5th of October, for some reason unexplained, Cornwallis abandoned + the outer parallel and withdrew behind the inner one. This left him in + Yorktown a space so narrow that nearly every part of it could be swept by + enemy artillery. By the 11th of October shells were dropping incessantly + from a distance of only three hundred yards, and before this powerful fire + the earthworks crumbled. On the fourteenth the French and Americans + carried by storm two redoubts on the second parallel. The redoubtable + Tarleton was in Yorktown, and he says that day and night there was acute + danger to any one showing himself and that every gun was dismounted as + soon as seen. He was for evacuating the place and marching away, whither + he hardly knew. Cornwallis still held Gloucester, on the opposite side of + the York River, and he now planned to cross to that place with his best + troops, leaving behind his sick and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">264</a></span> + wounded. He would try to reach + Philadelphia by the route over which Washington had just ridden. The feat + was not impossible. Washington would have had a stern chase in following + Cornwallis, who might have been able to live off the country. Clinton + could help by attacking Philadelphia, which was almost defenseless. + </p> + <p> + As it was, a storm prevented the crossing to Gloucester. The defenses of + Yorktown were weakening and in face of this new discouragement the British + leader made up his mind that the end was near. Tarleton and other officers + condemned Cornwallis sharply for not persisting in the effort to get away. + Cornwallis was a considerate man. <q>I thought it would have been wanton + and inhuman,</q> he reported later, <q>to sacrifice the lives of this + small body of gallant soldiers.</q> He had already written to Clinton to + say that there would be great risk in trying to send a fleet and army to + rescue him. On the 19th of October came the climax. Cornwallis surrendered + with some hundreds of sailors and about seven thousand soldiers, of whom + two thousand were in hospital. The terms were similar to those which the + British had granted at Charleston to General Lincoln, who was now charged + with carrying out the surrender. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">265</a></span> + Such is the play of human fortune. At two + o'clock in the afternoon the British marched out between two lines, the + French on the one side, the Americans on the other, the French in full + dress uniform, the Americans in some cases half naked and barefoot. No + civilian sightseers were admitted, and there was a respectful silence in + the presence of this great humiliation to a proud army. The town itself + was a dreadful spectacle with, as a French observer noted, <q>big holes + made by bombs, cannon balls, splinters, barely covered graves, arms and + legs of blacks and whites scattered here and there, most of the houses + riddled with shot and devoid of window-panes.</q> + </p> + <p> + On the very day of surrender Clinton sailed from New York with a rescuing + army. Nine days later forty-four British ships were counted off the + entrance to Chesapeake Bay. The next day there were none. The great fleet + had heard of the surrender and had turned back to New York. Washington + urged Grasse to attack New York or Charleston but the French Admiral was + anxious to take his fleet back to meet the British menace farther south + and he sailed away with all his great array. The waters of the Chesapeake, + the scene of one of the decisive events in human history, + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">266</a></span> + were deserted by + ships of war. Grasse had sailed, however, to meet a stern fate. He was a + fine fighting sailor. His men said of him that he was on ordinary days six + feet in height but on battle days six feet and six inches. None the less + did a few months bring the British a quick revenge on the sea. On April + 12, 1782, Rodney met Grasse in a terrible naval battle in the West Indies. + Some five thousand in both fleets perished. When night came Grasse was + Rodney's prisoner and Britain had recovered her supremacy on the sea. On + returning to France Grasse was tried by court-martial and, though + acquitted, he remained in disgrace until he died in 1788, <q>weary,</q> as + he said, <q>of the burden of life.</q> The defeated Cornwallis was not + blamed in England. His character commanded wide respect and he lived to + play a great part in public life. He became Governor General of India, and + was Viceroy of Ireland when its restless union with England was brought + about in 1800. + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <p> + Yorktown settled the issue of the war but did not end it. For more than a + year still hostilities continued and, in parts of the South, embittered + faction led to more bloodshed. In England + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">267</a></span> + the news of Yorktown caused a + commotion. When Lord George Germain received the first despatch he drove + with one or two colleagues to the Prime Minister's house in Downing + Street. A friend asked Lord George how Lord North had taken the news. <q>As + he would have taken a ball in the breast,</q> he replied; <q>for he opened his + arms, exclaiming wildly, as he paced up and down the apartment during a + few minutes, 'Oh God! it is all over,' words which he repeated many times, + under emotions of the deepest agitation and distress.</q> Lord North might + well be agitated for the news meant the collapse of a system. The King was + at Kew and word was sent to him. That Sunday evening Lord George Germain + had a small dinner party and the King's letter in reply was brought to the + table. The guests were curious to know how the King took the news. <q>The + King writes just as he always does,</q> said Lord George, <q>except that I + observe he has omitted to mark the hour and the minute of his writing with + his usual precision.</q> It needed a heavy shock to disturb the routine of + George III. The King hoped no one would think that the bad news <q>makes the + smallest alteration in those principles of my conduct which have directed + me in past time.</q> Lesser men might + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">268</a></span> + change in the face of evils; George III + was resolved to be changeless and never, never, to yield to the coercion + of facts. + </p> + <p> + Yield, however, he did. The months which followed were months of political + commotion in England. For a time the ministry held its majority against + the fierce attacks of Burke and Fox. The House of Commons voted that the + war must go on. But the heart had gone out of British effort. Everywhere + the people were growing restless. Even the ministry acknowledged that the + war in America must henceforth be defensive only. In February, 1782, a + motion in the House of Commons for peace was lost by only one vote; and in + March, in spite of the frantic expostulations of the King, Lord North + resigned. The King insisted that at any rate some members of the new + ministry must be named by himself and not, as is the British + constitutional custom, by the Prime Minister. On this, too, he had to + yield; and a Whig ministry, under the Marquis of Rockingham, took office + in March, 1782. Rockingham died on the 1st of July, and it was Lord + Shelburne, later the Marquis of Lansdowne, under whom the war came to an + end. The King meanwhile declared that he would return to Hanover rather + than yield the independence + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">269</a></span> + of the colonies. Over and over again he had + said that no one should hold office in his government who would not pledge + himself to keep the Empire entire. But even his obstinacy was broken. On + December 5, 1782, he opened Parliament with a speech in which the right of + the colonies to independence was acknowledged. <q>Did I lower my voice when + I came to that part of my speech?</q> George asked afterwards. He might + well speak in a subdued tone for he had brought the British Empire to the + lowest level in its history. + </p> + <p> + In America, meanwhile, the glow of victory had given way to weariness and + lassitude. Rochambeau with his army remained in Virginia. Washington took + his forces back to the lines before New York, sparing what men he could to + help Greene in the South. Again came a long period of watching and + waiting. Washington, knowing the obstinate determination of the British + character, urged Congress to keep up the numbers of the army so as to be + prepared for any emergency. Sir Guy Carleton now commanded the British at + New York and Washington feared that this capable Irishman might soothe the + Americans into a false security. He had to speak sharply, for the people + seemed indifferent to further effort and Congress was slack + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">270</a></span> + and impotent. + The outlook for Washington's allies in the war darkened, when in April, + 1782, Rodney won his crushing victory and carried De Grasse a prisoner to + England. France's ally Spain had been besieging Gibraltar for three years, + but in September, 1782, when the great battering-ships specially built for + the purpose began a furious bombardment, which was expected to end the + siege, the British defenders destroyed every ship, and after that + Gibraltar was safe. These events naturally stiffened the backs of the + British in negotiating peace. Spain declared that she would never make + peace without the surrender of Gibraltar, and she was ready to leave the + question of American independence undecided or decided against the + colonies if she could only get for herself the terms which she desired. + There was a period when France seemed ready to make peace on the basis of + dividing the Thirteen States, leaving some of them independent while + others should remain under the British King. + </p> + <p> + Congress was not willing to leave its affairs at Paris in the capable + hands of Franklin alone. In 1780 it sent John Adams to Paris, and John Jay + and Henry Laurens were also members of the American Commission. The + austere Adams disliked + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">271</a></span> + and was jealous of Franklin, gay in spite of his + years, seemingly indolent and easygoing, always bland and reluctant to say + No to any request from his friends, but ever astute in the interests of + his country. Adams told Vergennes, the French foreign minister, that the + Americans owed nothing to France, that France had entered the war in her + own interests, and that her alliance with America had greatly strengthened + her position in Europe. France, he added, was really hostile to the + colonies, since she was jealously trying to keep them from becoming rich + and powerful. Adams dropped hints that America might be compelled to make + a separate peace with Britain. When it was proposed that the depreciated + continental paper money, largely held in France for purchases there, + should be redeemed at the rate of one good dollar for every forty in paper + money, Adams declared to the horrified French creditors of the United + States that the proposal was fair and just. At the same time Congress was + drawing on Franklin in Paris for money to meet its requirements and + Franklin was expected to persuade the French treasury to furnish him with + what he needed and to an amazing degree succeeded in doing so. The self + interest which Washington believed to be the dominant + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">272</a></span> + motive in politics + was, it is clear, actively at work. In the end the American Commissioners + negotiated directly with Great Britain, without asking for the consent of + their French allies. On November 30, 1782, articles of peace between Great + Britain and the United States were signed. They were, however, not to go + into effect until Great Britain and France had agreed upon terms of peace; + and it was not until September 3, 1783, that the definite treaty was + signed. So far as the United States was concerned Spain was left quite + properly to shift for herself. + </p> + <p> + Thus it was that the war ended. Great Britain had urged especially the + case of the Loyalists, the return to them of their property and + compensation for their losses. She could not achieve anything. Franklin + indeed asked that Americans who had been ruined by the destruction of + their property should be compensated by Britain, that Canada should be + added to the United States, and that Britain should acknowledge her fault + in distressing the colonies. In the end the American Commissioners agreed + to ask the individual States to meet the desires of the British + negotiators, but both sides understood that the States would do nothing, + that the confiscated property would never be + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">273</a></span> + returned, that most of the + exiled Loyalists would remain exiles, and that Britain herself must + compensate them for their losses. This in time she did on a scale + inadequate indeed but expressive of a generous intention. The United + States retained the great Northwest and the Mississippi became the western + frontier, with destiny already whispering that weak and grasping Spain + must soon let go of the farther West stretching to the Pacific Ocean. When + Great Britain signed peace with France and Spain in January, 1783, + Gibraltar was not returned; Spain had to be content with the return of + Minorca, and Florida which she had been forced to yield to Britain in + 1763. Each side restored its conquests in the West Indies. France, the + chief mainstay of the war during its later years, gained from it really + nothing beyond the weakening of her ancient enemy. The magnanimity of + France, especially towards her exacting American ally, is one of the fine + things in the great combat. The huge sum of nearly eight hundred million + dollars spent by France in the war was one of the chief factors in the + financial crisis which, six years after the signing of the peace, brought + on the French Revolution and with it the overthrow of the Bourbon + monarchy. Politics bring strange + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">274</a></span> + bedfellows and they have rarely brought + stranger ones than the democracy of young America and the political + despotism, linked with idealism, of the ancient monarchy of France. + </p> + <p> + The British did not evacuate New York until Carleton had gathered there + the Loyalists who claimed his protection. These unhappy people made their + way to the seaports, often after long and distressing journeys overland. + Charleston was the chief rallying place in the South and from there many + sad-hearted people sailed away, never to see again their former homes. The + British had captured New York in September, 1776, and it was more than + seven years later, on November 25, 1783, that the last of the British + fleet put to sea. Britain and America had broken forever their political + tie and for many years to come embittered memories kept up the alienation. + </p> + <p> + It was fitting that Washington should bid farewell to his army at New + York, the center of his hopes and anxieties during the greater part of the + long struggle. On December 4, 1783, his officers met at a tavern to bid + him farewell. The tears ran down his cheeks as he parted with these brave + and tried men. He shook their hands in silence and, in a fashion still + preserved in France, kissed each + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">275</a></span> + of them. Then they watched him as he was + rowed away in his barge to the New Jersey shore. Congress was now sitting + at Annapolis in Maryland and there on December 23, 1783, Washington + appeared and gave up finally his command. We are told that the members sat + covered to show the sovereignty of the Union, a quaint touch of the + thought of the time. The little town made a brave show and <q>the gallery + was filled with a beautiful group of elegant ladies.</q> With solemn + sincerity Washington commended the country to the protection of Almighty + God and the army to the special care of Congress. Passion had already + subsided for the President of Congress in his reply praised the + <q>magnanimous king and nation</q> of Great Britain. By the end of the year + Washington was at Mount Vernon, hoping now to be able, as he said simply, + to make and sell a little flour annually and to repair houses fast going + to ruin. He did not foresee the troubled years and the vexing problems + which still lay before him. Nor could he, in his modest estimate of + himself, know that for a distant posterity his character and his words + would have compelling authority. What Washington's countryman, Motley, + said of William of Orange is true of Washington himself: <q>As long as he + lived he was the guiding + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">276</a></span> + star of a brave nation and when he died the little children cried in the + streets.</q> But this is not all. To this day in the domestic and foreign + affairs of the United States the words of Washington, the policies which + he favored, have a living and almost binding force. This attitude of mind + is not without its dangers, for nations require to make new adjustments + of policy, and the past is only in part the master of the present; but + it is the tribute of a grateful nation to the noble character of its + chief founder. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0014" id="link2H_4_0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">277</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">Bibliographical Note</a></h2> + + <p> + In Winsor, <i>Narrative and Critical History of America</i>, vol. VI + (1889), and in Larned (editor), <i>Literature of American History</i>, + pp. 111-152 (1902), the authorities are critically estimated. There are + excellent classified lists in Van Tyne, <i>The American Revolution</i> + (1905), vol. V of Hart (editor), <i>The American Nation</i>, and in Avery, + <i>History of the United States</i>, vol. V, pp. 422-432, and vol. VI, + pp. 445-471 (1908-09). The notes in Channing, <i>A History of the United + States</i>, vol. III (1913), are useful. Detailed information in regard + to places will be found in Lossing, <i>The Pictorial Field Book of the + Revolution</i>, 2 vols. (1850). + </p> + <p> + In recent years American writers on the period have chiefly occupied + themselves with special studies, and the general histories have been few. + Tyler's <i>The Literary History of the American Revolution</i>, 2 vols. (1897), + is a penetrating study of opinion. Fiske's <i>The American Revolution</i>, 2 + vols. (1891), and Sydney George Fisher's <i>The Struggle for American + Independence</i>, 2 vols. (1908), are popular works. The short volume of Van + Tyne is based upon extensive research. The attention of English writers + has been drawn in an increasing degree to the Revolution. Lecky, <i>A + History of England in the Eighteenth Century</i>, chaps. XIII, XIV, and XV + (1903), is impartial. The most elaborate and + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">278</a></span> + readable history is + Trevelyan, <i>The American Revolution</i>, and his <i>George the Third</i> and + <i>Charles Fox</i> (six volumes in all, completed in 1914). If Trevelyan leans + too much to the American side the opposite is true of Fortescue, <i>A + History of the British Army</i>, vol. III (1902), a scientific account of + military events with many maps and plans. Captain Mahan, U. S. N., wrote + the British naval history of the period in Clowes (editor), <i>The Royal + Navy, a History</i>, vol. III, pp. 353-564 (1898). Of great value also is + Mahan's <i>Influence of Sea Power on History</i> (1890) and <i>Major Operations + of the Navies in the War of Independence</i> (1913). He may be supplemented + by C. O. Paullin's <i>Navy of the American Revolution</i> (1906) and G. W. + Allen's <i>A Naval History of the American Revolution</i>, 2 vols. (1913). + </p> + <hr class="break" /> + <h2> + CHAPTERS I AND II. + </h2> + <p> + Washington's own writings are necessary to an understanding of his + character. Sparks, <i>The Life and Writings of George Washington</i>, 2 vols. + (completed 1855), has been superseded by Ford, <i>The Writings of George + Washington</i>, 14 vols. (completed 1898). The general reader will probably + put aside the older biographies of Washington by Marshall, Irving, and + Sparks for more recent Lives such as those by Woodrow Wilson, Henry + Cabot Lodge, and Paul Leicester Ford. Haworth, <i>George Washington, Farmer</i> + (1915) deals with a special side of Washington's character. The problems + of the army are described in Bolton, <i>The Private Soldier under + Washington</i> (1902), and in Hatch, <i>The Administration of the American + Revolutionary Army</i> (1904). For military operations Frothingham, <i>The + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">279</a></span> + Siege of Boston</i>; Justin H. Smith, <i>Our Struggle for the Fourteenth + Colony</i>, 2 vols. (1907); Codman, <i>Arnold's Expedition to Quebec</i> (1901); + and Lucas, <i>History of Canada, 1763-1812</i>(1909). + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. + </h2> + <p> + For the state of opinion in England, the contemporary <i>Annual Register</i>, + and the writings and speeches of men of the time like Burke, Fox, Horace + Walpole, and Dr. Samuel Johnson. The King's attitude is found in Donne, + <i>Correspondence of George III with Lord North, 1768-83</i>, 2 vols. (1867). + Stirling, <i>Coke of Norfolk and his Friends</i>, 2 vols. (1908), gives the + outlook of a Whig magnate; Fitzmaurice, <i>Life of William, Earl of + Shelburne</i>, 2 vols. (1912), the Whig policy. Curwen's <i>Journals and + Letters, 1775-84</i> (1842), show us a Loyalist exile in England. Hazelton's + <i>The Declaration of Independence, its History</i> (1906), is an elaborate + study. + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTERS IV, V, AND VI. + </h2> + <p> + The three campaigns—New York, Philadelphia, and the Hudson—are + covered by C. F. Adams, <i>Studies Military and Diplomatic</i> (1911), which + makes severe strictures on Washington's strategy; H. P. Johnston's + <q>Campaign of 1776 around New York and Brooklyn,</q> in the Long Island + Historical Society's <i>Memoirs</i>, and <i>Battle of Harlem Heights</i> (1897); + Carrington, <i>Battles of the American Revolution</i> (1904); Stryker, <i>The + Battles of Trenton and Princeton</i> (1898); Lucas, <i>History of Canada</i> + (1909). Fonblanque's <i>John Burgoyne</i> (1876) is a defense of that leader; + while Riedesel's + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">280</a></span> + <i>Letters and Journals Relating to the War of the American + Revolution</i> (trans. W. L. Stone, 1867) and Anburey's <i>Travels through the + Interior Parts of America</i> (1789) are accounts by eye-witnesses. Mereness' + (editor) <i>Travels in the American Colonies, 1690-1783</i> (1916) gives the + impressions of Lord Adam Gordon and others. + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTERS VII AND VIII. + </h2> + <p> + On Washington at Valley Forge, Oliver, <i>Life of Alexander Hamilton</i> + (1906); Charlemagne Tower, <i>The Marquis de La Fayette in the American + Revolution</i>, 2 vols. (1895); Greene, <i>Life of Nathanael Greene</i> + (1893); Brooks, <i>Henry Knox</i> (1900); Graham, <i>Life of General + Daniel Morgan</i> (1856); Kapp, <i>Life of Steuben</i> (1859); Arnold, + <i>Life of Benedict Arnold</i> (1880). On the army Bolton and Hatch as + cited; Mahan gives a lucid account of naval effort. Barrow, <i>Richard, + Earl Howe</i> (1838) is a dull account of a remarkable man. On the French + alliance, Perkins, <i>France in the American Revolution</i> (1911), + Corwin, <i>French Policy and the American Alliance of 1778</i> (1916), + and Van Tyne on <q>Influences which Determined the French Government to + Make the Treaty with America, 1778,</q> in <i>The American Historical + Review</i>, April, 1916. + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. + </h2> + <p> + Fortescue, as cited, gives excellent plans. Other useful books are + McCrady, <i>History of South Carolina in the Revolution</i> (1901); + Draper, <i>King's Mountain and its Heroes</i> (1881); Simms, <i>Life of + Marion</i> (1844). Ross + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">281</a></span> + (editor), <i>The Cornwallis Correspondence</i>, 3 vols. (1859), and + Tarleton, <i>History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern + Provinces of North America</i> (1787), give the point of view of British + leaders. On the West, Thwaites, <i>How George Rogers Clark won the + Northwest</i> (1903); and on the Loyalists Van Tyne, <i>The Loyalists in + the American Revolution</i> (1902), Flick, <i>Loyalism in New York</i> + (1901), and Stark, <i>The Loyalists of Massachusetts</i> (1910). + </p> + <h2> + CHAPTERS X AND XI. + </h2> + <p> + For the exploits of John Paul Jones and of the American navy, Mrs. De + Koven's <i>The Life and Letters of John Paul Jones</i>, 2 vols. (1913), + Don C. Seitz's <i>Paul Jones</i>, and G. W. Allen's <i>A Naval History + of the American Revolution</i>, 2 vols. (1913), should be consulted. + Jusserand's <i>With Americans of Past and Present Days</i> (1917) + contains a chapter on <q>Rochambeau and the French in America</q>; + Johnston's <i>The Yorktown Campaign</i> (1881) is a full account; Wraxall, + <i>Historical Memoirs of my own Time</i> (1815, reprinted 1904), tells + of the reception of the news of Yorktown in England. + </p> + <p> + The <i>Encyclopœdia Britannica</i> has useful references to + authorities for persons prominent in the Revolution and <i>The Dictionary + of National Biography</i> for leaders on the British side. + </p> + <hr class="main" /> + + + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">283</a></span> + <br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">Index</a></h2> + <h3>A</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Abraham, Plains of (QC), American army on, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + Adams, Abigail, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.<br /> + Adams, John, in Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + journey from Boston to Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + on committee to draft Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_76">76</a>; + excepted from British offer of pardon, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; + opinion of Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>; + criticism of Washington, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>; + sent to Paris on American Commission, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>-<a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Albany (NY), plan to concentrate British forces at, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>.<br /> + Allen, Colonel Ethan, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>.<br /> + André, Major John, at Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + treats with Arnold, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>-<a href="#Page_242">242</a>; + capture, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>-<a href="#Page_243">243</a>; + hanged as spy, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> + Annapolis (MD), Congress at, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> + Anne, Fort (NY), <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.<br /> + Armed neutrality, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + Army, American, camp at Cambridge, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>; + Washington reorganizes, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a>; + food and clothing, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a> + <a href="#Page_153">153</a>-<a href="#Page_156">156</a>, + <a href="#Page_206">166</a>; + composition, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>-<a href="#Page_32">32</a>, + <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + officers, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a>, + <a href="#Page_43">43</a>-<a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + after Canadian campaign, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + desertions, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, + <a href="#Page_159">159</a>-<a href="#Page_160">160</a>; + plundering by, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + pay, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, + <a href="#Page_158">158</a>-<a href="#Page_159">159</a>, + <a href="#Page_209">209</a>; + in 1777, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>; + condition under Gates, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + Washington wishes national, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>; + needs of engineers, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>; + hospital service, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>-<a href="#Page_153">153</a>, + <a href="#Page_166">166</a>-<a href="#Page_167">167</a>; + weapons and artillery, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>-<a href="#Page_158">158</a>; + religion in, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>-<a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + supplies from France, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>; + after Valley Forge, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>; + mutinous, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> + Army, British, food for, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>; + press-gangs, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>; flogging, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>; + relations between officers and men, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>-<a href="#Page_177">177</a>; + difficulties of raising, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; <i>see also</i> Germans.<br /> + Army, French, in America, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>-<a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> + Arnold, Benedict, at Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>; + through Maine to Canada, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, + <a href="#Page_44">44</a>-<a href="#Page_45">45</a>; + at Quebec, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + at Crown Point, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + Coke denounces King's reception of, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + Washington's trust in, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, + <a href="#Page_172">172</a>-<a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + at Stillwater, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + describes American Army, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>; + treason, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, + <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a href="#Page_243">243</a>; + at West Point, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + life at Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>; + tried by court-martial, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>; + reprimanded by Washington, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>-<a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + in Virginia, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + Articles of Confederation, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Assanpink River (NJ), Washington on, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>.<br /> + Atrocities, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, + <a href="#Page_212">212</a>; + <i>see also</i> Indians, Prisons.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">284</a></span> + Augusta (GA), British take, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_212">212</a>; + falls to Americans, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>. + </div> + <h3>B</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Baltimore (MD), Congress flees to, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>.<br /> + Barbados, Washington visits, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>.<br /> + Barras, French naval commander, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Baum, Colonel, at Bennington, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>.<br /> + Beaumarchais sends munitions to America, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>-<a href="#Page_184">184</a>.<br /> + Bemis Heights (NY), battle, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>. <br /> + Bennington (VT), battle of <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a>.<br /> + Berthier, French officer, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> + Biggins Bridge (SC), Tarleton's victory at, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>.<br /> + Bordentown (NJ), Germans at, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.<br /> + Boston (MA), defiance of British in, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + seige, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, + <a href="#Page_35">35</a>-<a href="#Page_36">36</a>; + Washington's journey to, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + American camp, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>; + evacuated by British, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>-<a href="#Page_49">49</a>; + effect of Washington's success at, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>; + Howe feigns setting out for, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; safe, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; + Burgoyne's force at, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + Loyalists in, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>.<br /> + Braddock, General Edward, Washington with, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>.<br /> + Brandywine (PA) battle of, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>-<a href="#Page_120">120</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>; + La Fayette at, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>; Greene at, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> + Brant, Joseph (Thayendanegea), <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Breed's Hill (MA) <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>; <i>see also</i> Bunker Hill.<br /> + Broglie, Comte de, suggested as commander of American army, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> + Borglie, Prince de, with French armies in America, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Brooklyn Heights (NY), Washington on, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + Buford, Colonel Tarleton attacks, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Bunker Hill (MA), battle of, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_7">7</a>, + <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; Washington learns of, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>; + significance, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + officers at, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + Burgoyne, General John, on British behavior at Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>; + ordered to meet Howe, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, + <a href="#Page_124">124</a>-<a href="#Page_125">125</a>; + Howe deserts, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>; + life and character, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>-<a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + at Lake Champlain, <a href="#Page_125">125</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + Indian Allies, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>-<a href="#Page_126">126</a>, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a>, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; + takes Fort Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + lack of supplies, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>-<a href="#Page_130">130</a>; + at Fort Edward, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>; + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + and Bennington, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a>; + at Saratoga, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + learns of failure of St. Leger, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>; + crosses Hudson, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + at Stillwater (Freeman's Farm), <a href="#Page_142">142</a>-<a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + surrender at Saratoga, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_147">147</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>; + effect on France of surrender of, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>; + effect of surrender in England, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> + Burke, Edmund, and conciliation, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>; + and Independence, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>.<br /> + Byron, Admiral, sent to aid Howe, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>. <br /> + </div> + <h3>C</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Cahokia (IL), Clark at, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> + Cambridge (MA), American camp, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, + <a href="#Page_27">27</a>-<a href="#Page_28">28</a>; + Washington at, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, + <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_31">31</a>, + <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>.<br /> + Camden (SC), battle of, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_220">220</a>, + <a href="#Page_236">236</a>.<br /> + Canada, campaign against, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, + <a href="#Page_38">38</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>; + Washington's idea of, <a href="#Page_40">40</a> + France and, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>; + Loyalists take refuge in, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>-<a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + Carleton, Sir Guy, Governor of Canada, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; + commands at Quebec, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + operations on Lake Champlain, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + Howe and, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + superseded by <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">285</a></span> + Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>; + commands at New York, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>; + and Loyalists, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /> + Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, on commission to Montreal, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + Carroll, John, on commission to Montreal, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + Catherine II advises England against war, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>.<br /> + Catholics, Quebec Act, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>-<a href="#Page_39">39</a>, + <a href="#Page_41">41</a>; + disabilities in England, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + Chadd's Ford (PA), Washington at, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Champlain, Lake (NY), plan for conquest of Canada by way of, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + operations on, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>, + <a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + Burgoyne at, <a href="#Page_125">125</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + Arnold at, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>.<br /> + Charleston (SC), on side of Revolution, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + British expedition to, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>; + Prevost demands surrender, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a>; + Lincoln at, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>-<a href="#Page_217">217</a>; + surrenders, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Charlestown (MA), location, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>; + burned, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>.<br /> + Charlotte (NC), Greene at, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Charlottesville (VA), Cornwallis plans raid of, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> + Chatham, William Pitt, Earl of, and conciliation with America, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>; + political status, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>.<br /> + Cherry Valley, massacre, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.<br /> + Chesapeake Bay, Howe on, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_117">117</a>; <i>see also</i> Yorktown.<br /> + Chew, Benjamin, house as central point in battle at Germantown, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>. <br /> + Clark, G.R., expedition, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> + Clinton, General Sir Henry, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; + at Charleston, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, + <a href="#Page_215">215</a>; + at New York, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; + up the Hudson, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + succeeds Howe in command, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + march from Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + retreats at Monmouth Court House, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + reaches Newport, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + sails for Charleston, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>-<a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + proclamation, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + Rodney relieves, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>; + and Cornwallis, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + delay in reinforcing Cornwallis, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>-<a href="#Page_263">263</a>, + <a href="#Page_265">265</a>.<br /> + Coke, of Norfolk, wealth, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, + <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>; + and Toryism, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>-<a href="#Page_71">71</a>; + on American question, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>-<a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, 189. <br /> + Colonies, attitude toward England, <a href="#Page_55">55</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + state of society in, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>; + population, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>-<a href="#Page_178">178</a>; <i>see also</i> names of colonies.<br /> + Continental Congress, Washington at, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>; + selects leader for army, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + Howe's conciliation, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a>; + flees to Baltimore, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + loses able men, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + hampers Washington, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + Gates and, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + repudiates Gates terms to Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + Gates lays quarrel with Washington before, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>; + and enlistment, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>; + at York, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>; + ineptitude, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-<a href="#Page_164">164</a>, + <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>-<a href="#Page_270">270</a>, + gives Southern command to Gates, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + Test Acts, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + and French alliance, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>; + borrows money from France, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>; at Annapolis, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>. + Conway, General, and Stamp Act, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Conway, General Thomas, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + <q>Conway Cabal</q> against Washington, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>; + leaves America, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>.<br /> + Cornwallis, Lord, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>; + at Charleston, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, + crosses Hudson, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + goes to Trenton, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>-<a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + at Princeton, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; + and <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">286</a></span> + Howe, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; + at the Brandywine, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>; + goes to Charleston, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + at Camden, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + in North Carolina, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_248">248</a>; + proclamation, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>; + Guilford Court House, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>; + advance down Cape Fear River, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>; + in Virginia, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_252">252</a>; + and Clinton, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + Yorktown, <a href="#Page_254">254</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + surrender, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>-<a href="#Page_266">266</a>.<br /> + <i>Countess of Scarborough</i> (ship), Jones captures, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.<br /> + Cowpens (SC), battle of, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> + Cromwell, Oliver, as military leader, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>.<br /> + Crown Point (NY), capture of, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>-<a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + Burgoyne at, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>D</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Dartmouth, Earl of, Minister of England, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>.<br /> + Deane, Silas, envoy to France, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>-<a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> + Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_80">80</a>.<br /> + Delaware Bay, British fleet in, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>.<br /> + Delaware River, Washington crosses, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>.<br /> + Denmark and armed neutrality, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>-<a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> + Detroit (MI), force to check Clark from, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> + Devonshire, Duke of, costly residence, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<br /> + Dickinson, John, of Pennsylvania, on Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + Dilworth, Cornwallis marches on, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>.<br /> + Dinwiddie, Governor, Washington and, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + Donop, Count von, at Trenton, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /> + Dorchester Heights (MA), American troops on, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /> + Dumas, French officer with Rochambeau, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> + Dunmore, Lord, Governor of Virginia, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>E</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + East River (NY), location, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; British on, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>.<br /> + Edward, Fort, St. Clair retires to, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + Burgoyne at, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + Indian raids at, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>; + Burgoyne seeks to return to, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.<br /> + Elkton (MD), Howe at, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>; + American army at, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.<br /> + Emerson, chaplain, diary quoted, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>.<br /> + England, in eighteenth century, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>-<a href="#Page_19">19</a>; + state of society, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + Parliament votes tax on colonies, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>; + politics, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>-<a href="#Page_25">25</a>, + <a href="#Page_64">64</a> <i>et seq.</i>, + <a href="#Page_268">268</a>; + attitude toward the colonies, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>-<a href="#Page_55">55</a>, + <a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + prosperity, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + difficulties in raising army, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>; + France and, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, + <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + Whig attitude after French intervention, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>-<a href="#Page_190">190</a>; + and Spain, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>; + navy in 1779, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>; + domestic affairs, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>; + treaty of peace, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>; <i>see also</i> Army, British. <br /> + Estaing, Count d', French admiral, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + at the Delaware, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_197">197</a>; + at Sandy Hook, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + at Newport, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + at Savannah, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>-<a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + Eutaw Springs (SC), battle of, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>F</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Falmouth (Portland, ME), destroyed, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.<br /> + Ferguson, Major Patrick, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">287</a></span> + killed, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Fersen, Count, with French army, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Finance, value of continental money, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>; + Franklin procures money in France, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Florida returned to Spain, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Foch, general, quoted, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>.<br /> + Fox, C.J., and carelessness of ministers, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>; + urges conciliation, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + France, French in Canada, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + alliance with, <a href="#Page_182">182</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + and England, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>-<a href="#Page_183">183</a>, + <a href="#Page_187">187</a>-<a href="#Page_188">188</a>, + <a href="#Page_191">191</a>-<a href="#Page_192">192</a>, + <a href="#Page_195">195</a>-<a href="#Page_196">196</a>, + <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + treaty of friendship with America (1778), <a href="#Page_187">187</a>; + and Canada, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>; + and Spain, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>; + promises soldiers to Washington, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>; + help in 1780, <a href="#Page_230">230</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + bibliography of alliance, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>.<br /> + Franklin, Benjamin, on Lexington, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>; + on George III, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; + member of commission to Montreal, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; + on committee to meet Howe, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>; + satirizes British ignorance, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>; + in Congress, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>; + induces Hessians to desert, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>; + sent to Paris, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; + and Loyalists, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, + <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Fraser, General, killed, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>.<br /> + Frederick the Great, of Prussia, estimate of Washington, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + urges France against England, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>G</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Gage, General Thomas, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>; + at Boston, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>-<a href="#Page_5">5</a>.<br /> + Gates, General Horatio, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, + <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + in command of Lee's army, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>-<a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + joins Washington, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + discourages Washington, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>; + against Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>-<a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + intrigue, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>-<a href="#Page_151">151</a>; + menaces Clinton in New Jersey, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + command in the South, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + Camden, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>; + Greene supersedes, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + George III, American opinions of, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>; + Hamilton on, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>; + character, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>-<a href="#Page_62">62</a>; + speech in Parliament, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>-<a href="#Page_63">63</a>; + Washington and, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + statue destroyed in New York, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>; + ready to give guarantees of liberty, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; + effect of news of Ticonderoga on, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>-<a href="#Page_128">128</a>; + on taxing of America, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>; + and Chatham, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + news of Yorktown, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>-<a href="#Page_268">268</a>. <br /> + George, Fort (NY), Burgoyne's supplies from, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>.<br /> + Georgia, British in, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>-<a href="#Page_212">212</a>, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Germain, Lord George, failure to send orders to Howe, + <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>; + instructions to Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>; + plans campaign from England, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>-<a href="#Page_131">131</a>; + censures Howe, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>; + in Seven Years' War, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>; + news of Yorktown, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>.<br /> + Germans, hold line of the Delaware, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; + plundering, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + at Bennington, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>-<a href="#Page_132">132</a>; + with Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + Steuben's part in Revolutionary War, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_176">176</a>; + benefit to British, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a>; + desertions, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>-<a href="#Page_181">181</a>, + <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> + Germantown (PA), Howe's camp at, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>; + battle of, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>; + Greene at, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> + Gibraltar, Spain besieges, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + not returned to Spain, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Gloucester, Cornwallis holds, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>.<br /> + Gordon, Lord Adam, on Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>; + opinion of Charleston, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>.<br /> + Gordon, Lord George, leads London riot, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + Grasse, Comte de, commands French fleet, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>; + at <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">288</a></span> + Chesapeake Bay, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, + <a href="#Page_261">261</a>-<a href="#Page_262">262</a>; + sails south, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>; + Rodney captures, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> + Great Britain, see England.<br /> + Greene, General Nathanael, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + at Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>; + advocates independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + commands Fort Washington, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + harasses Cornwallis, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>; + at Germantown, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + at Valley Forge, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>-<a href="#Page_171">171</a>; + in Rhode Island, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + on Congress, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; + supersedes Gates in South, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>; + Guilford Court House, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>; + at Hobkirk's Hill, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>. <br /> + Grey, Sir Charles, Howe and, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> + Guilford Court House (NC), <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>H</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Hamilton, Alexander, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>; + on Quebec Act, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>.<br /> + Hancock, John, desires post as Commander-in-Chief, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>.<br /> + Harlem River (NY), location, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>.<br /> + Hastings, Marquis of, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; <i>see also</i> Rawdon, Lord.<br /> + Henry, Patrick, speech, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>.<br /> + Henry, Cape (VA), naval battle off, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Herkimer, General Nicholas, battle of Oriskany, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Hessians, <i>see</i> Germans.<br /> + Hillsborough (NC), Cornwallis issues proclamation at, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>.<br /> + Hobkirk's Hill (SC), Rawdon defeats Greene at, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Holkham, Lord Leicester's residence at, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>; + Coke's residence at, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>-<a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>.<br /> + Holland joins England's enemies <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> + Hood, Sir Samuel, British admiral, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Howe, Richard, Lord, commands fleet reaching New York, + <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + Whig sympathy, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>; + letter to Washington, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>-<a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + seeks peace, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>-<a href="#Page_93">93</a>; + takes fleet to Newport, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + proclamation, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>; + and evacuation of Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>-<a href="#Page_197">197</a>; + expects naval flight off Sandy Hook, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>-<a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + at Newport, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + refuses to serve Tory Admiralty, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> + Howe, General Sir William, at Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>; + succeeds Gage in command, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>; + evacuates Boston, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>-<a href="#Page_48">48</a>; + and Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_116">116</a>-<a href="#Page_117">117</a>, + <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>; + attitude toward Revolution, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>; + lands army on Staten Island, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>; + battle of Long Island, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>; + in New York, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + plans to meet Carleton, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + battle of White Plains, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; + Fort Washington, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + takes Fort Lee, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>; + and Lee, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, + <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + at Trenton, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + proclamation, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + goes to New York for Christmas, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; + dilatoriness, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + takes Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>; + plan for 1777, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + sails for Chesapeake Bay, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>-<a href="#Page_116">116</a>; + at the Brandywine, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_119">119</a>, + <a href="#Page_133">133</a>; + and Pennsylvanians, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>-<a href="#Page_121">121</a>; + at Germantown, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + leaves Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>; + Clinton succeeds, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>.<br /> + Hudson River (NY), advantages of plan to sail up, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>; + location of mouth, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + British on, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_98">98</a>; + Washington guards, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_210">210</a>, + <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, + <i>see also</i> West Point.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">289</a></span> + </div> + <h3>I</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Independence, <a href="#Page_54">54</a> <i>et seq.</i>; <i>see also</i> Declaration of Independence.<br /> + Independence, Fort <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /> + India, France against British in, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + Indians, allies of Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, + <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>-<a href="#Page_140">140</a>, + <a href="#Page_144">144</a>; with St. Leger, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>-<a href="#Page_136">136</a>; + aid loyalists in Wyoming massacre, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.<br /> + Ireland, Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>J</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Jay, John, on Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>; + opinion of Congress, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>; + on American Commission, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> + Jefferson, Thomas, and Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>-<a href="#Page_77">77</a>; + on Lafayette, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>; British plan to capture, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> + Johnson, Sir John, with St. Leger, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_134">134</a>, + <a href="#Page_135">135</a>.<br /> + Johnson, Samuel, quoted, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>.<br /> + Johnson, Sir William, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Jones, John Paul, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>-<a href="#Page_206">206</a>; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>K</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Kalb, Baron de, part in Revolutionary War, + <a href="#Page_173">173</a>-<a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + killed, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>.<br /> + Kaskaskia (IL), Clark at <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> + <ins title="Transcriber's Note: Corrected Kenneth Square to Kennett Square."> + Kennett Square (PA),</ins> British camp at, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>.<br /> + Keppel, Admiral, and London riots, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>.<br /> + King's Mountain (SC), battle of, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>-<a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Knox, Henry,Washington values service of, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, + <a href="#Page_171">171</a>-<a href="#Page_172">172</a>.<br /> + Knyphausen, General, and Howe, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>; + at the Brandywine, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>; + effective service, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a>.<br /> + Kosciuszko, in American army, <a href="#Page_173">173</a><br /> + </div> + <h3>L</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Lafayette, Marquis de, <a href="#Page_182">182</a>, + <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, + <a href="#Page_169">169</a>; + and independence of America, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>-<a href="#Page_170">170</a>; + volunteers through Deane's influence, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>; + with Lee at Monmouth Court House, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + sent to France (1779), <a href="#Page_210">210</a>; + as interpreter for Washington and Rochambeau, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>; + in Virginia, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>-<a href="#Page_252">252</a>.<br /> + Lansdowne, Marquis of, <i>see</i> Shelburne, Lord.<br /> + Laurens, Henry, on American Commission, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> + Lauzun, Duc de, with French army in America, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>-<a href="#Page_232">232</a>, + <a href="#Page_233">233</a>.<br /> + Laval-Montmorency, French officer in America, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Lee, Arthur, on commission to Paris, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>.<br /> + Lee, General Charles, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>; + Washington writes to, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>; + at Fort Washington, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>; + disobeys Washington, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + letter to Gates, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; captured, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + and Howe, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>-<a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + freed by exchange of prisoners, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>; + and training of recruits, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>; + at Monmouth Court House, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + court-martialed, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + suspended, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + dismissed from army, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>.<br /> + Lee. R.H., and Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">290</a></span> + Lee, Fort (NJ) <a href="#Page_96">96</a>; Washington at, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + falls to British, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>.<br /> + Leicester, Lord , costly residence at Holkham, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<br /> + Lexington (MA), Battle of, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /> + Lincoln, Abraham, quoted, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; + and Declaration of Independence, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, + <a href="#Page_77">77</a>-<a href="#Page_78">78</a>.<br /> + Lincoln, General Benjamin, at Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + southern campaign, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>, + <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>. <br /> + Long Island (NY),battle of, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>-<a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>.<br /> + Loyalists, Howe and Pennsylvania, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>; + plundering, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>; + in South, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>-<a href="#Page_213">213</a>; + Clinton's proclamation to, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>; + decline in strength, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>; + punishments, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>-<a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + Test Acts, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + question of compensation of, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>; + gather in New York to claim British protection, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>.<br /> + Luzerne, French minister, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>M</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + McCrae, Jennie, carried off by Indians, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> + McNeil, Mrs., carried off by Indians, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> + Maine, Arnold's expedition, + <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + Marie Antoinette, Queen, zeal for liberal ideas, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>; + Fersen friend of, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>. <br /> + Marion, Francis, guerrilla leader, + <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Marlborough, Duke of, costly residence, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>.<br /> + Martha's Vineyard (MA), Loyalist refugees plunder, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + Maryland, and independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + Howe plans to secure control of, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>.<br /> + Massachusetts, Suffolk County defies England, + <a href="#Page_28">28</a>-<a href="#Page_29">29</a>; + North and constitution of, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>; + list of Loyalists, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.<br /> + Minorca returned to Spain, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Mirabeau, French officer in America, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Mississippi River becomes western frontier of United States, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Monmouth Court House (NJ), battle of, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>-<a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + Lee at, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>.<br /> + Montgomery, General Richard, expedition to Canada, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + at Quebec, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + death, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>-<a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>.<br /> + Montreal, Montgomery enters, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>; + Commission sent to, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>; + evacuated, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>; + St. Leger reaches, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br /> + Morgan, Captain Daniel, at Quebec, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>; + with Greene, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>; + at Cowpens, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>.<br /> + Morris, Gouveneur, opinion of Congress, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>.<br /> + Morristown (NJ), American headquarters at, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, + <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>.<br /> + Moultrie, Fort (SC), battle at, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> + Mount Vernon (VA), Washington's estate, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>.<br /> + Murray, Mrs., saves Putnam's army, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>N</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Narragansett Bay (RI), British blockade French fleet in, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>.<br /> + Navy, American, Jones and, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>-<a href="#Page_206">206</a>; + need for supremacy, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>.<br /> + Necessity, Fort (PA), surrender of, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>.<br /> + New Bedford (MA), Loyalists burn, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + New England, question of leader from, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + character of people, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>; + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">291</a></span> + equality in, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>; on independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + revolutionary, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>; + and Indians, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>; + and Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>; + States jealous of, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>-<a href="#Page_165">165</a>. <br /> + New Hampshire offers bounty for Indian scalps, + <a href="#Page_137">137</a>-<a href="#Page_138">138</a>.<br /> + New Jersey, Washington's flight across, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, + <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + Lee retreats to, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; loyalty, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + Howe's proclamation, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + Washington recovers, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>; + Howe moves across, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>; + Clinton crosses, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>.<br /> + New York, on independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + Howe's proclamation, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>; + Howe's plan to hold, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + acquires Loyalist lands, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + New York City (NY), on side of Revolution, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + Washington plans to hold, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>-<a href="#Page_38">38</a>; + loss of, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a> <i>et seq.</i>, + <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>; + statue of King destroyed, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>; + burned, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>-<a href="#Page_95">95</a>; + Washington plans march to, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; + for naval defence, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + Loyalists take refuge in, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>; + French army moves toward, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + Washington returns to, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>; + Washington bids farewell to army at, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>.<br /> + Newgate jail burned, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + Newport (RI), Lord Howe's fleet at, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + British hold, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>; + French fleet sails into, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>; + French army leaves, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>.<br /> + Noailles, Vicomte de, on foot from Newport to Yorktown, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>.<br /> + Norfolk (VA), destroyed, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>.<br /> + North, Lord, Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>-<a href="#Page_64">64</a>, + <a href="#Page_190">190</a>-<a href="#Page_191">191</a>; + George III writes to, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>; + seeks to retire, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + and news of Yorktown, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>; + resigns, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + North Carolina, and independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + campaign in, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>-<a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + Northwest, United States retains, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + Nova Scotia, Washington's belief of sympathy in, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; + Loyalists go to, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>O</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Ogg, F.A. <i>The Old Northwest</i>, cited, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>.<br /> + Oriskany (NY), battle of, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>. <br /> + </div> + <h3>P</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Paine, Thomas, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + <i>Common Sense</i>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>.<br /> + Palliser, Sir Hugh, and British naval quarrel, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>,<br /> + Panther, Wyandot chief, shows scalp of Miss McCrae, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>.<br /> + Parker, Admiral Sir Peter, before Fort Moultrie, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>-<a href="#Page_83">83</a>.<br /> + Pennsylvania, and independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; loyalty, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>; + Howe plans to secure control of, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>; + <q>Black Lists</q> of Loyalists, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.<br /> + Percy, Earl, opinion of rebels in America, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>.<br /> + Petersburg (VA), Arnold at, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + Philadelphia (PA), second Continental Congress at, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, + <a href="#Page_7">7</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + Washington sets out from, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + on side of Revolution, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>; + Paine in, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + Howe plans to secure, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>; + loss of, <a href="#Page_108">108</a> <i>et seq.</i>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>; + Howe leaves, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>; + Mischianza in, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>-<a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + British abandon, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>; + Loyalists hanged in, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>; + Arnold in command at, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + French army reviewed in, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>-<a href="#Page_258">258</a>.<br /> + Pigot, General, at Newport, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Pitt, William, <i>see</i> Chatham, Earl of.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">292</a></span> + Politics, <i>see</i> England.<br /> + Prescott, Colonel, at Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>;<br /> + Preston, Major, British officer at St. Johns, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + Prevost, General Augustine, at Charleston, + <a href="#Page_213">213</a>-<a href="#Page_214">214</a>.<br /> + Prices, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>.<br /> + Princeton (NJ), Cornwallis at, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>.<br /> + Prisons, British prison-ships, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>; + London riots, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>.<br /> + Privateers, checked at Newport, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + France and, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>.<br /> + Providence (RI), Greene and Sullivan at, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Putnam, Israel, at Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>,<a href="#Page_6">6</a>; + leaves New York, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>Q</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Quebec (QC), Arnold and Montgomery before, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>-<a href="#Page_46">46</a>, + <a href="#Page_49">49</a>-<a href="#Page_50">50</a>, + <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, + <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + Morgan at, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Quebec Act, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>-<a href="#Page_39">39</a>, + <a href="#Page_41">41</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>R</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Rahl, Colonel, at Trenton, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>; killed, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.<br /> + Rawdon, Lord Francis, at Bunker Hill, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>; + at Camden, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Reed, Joseph, charge against Arnold, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Revolutionary War, bibliography, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>-<a href="#Page_278">278</a>.<br /> + Rhode Island, British control, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + Washington's campaign against, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>-<a href="#Page_202">202</a>; + British evacuate, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + Richmond, Duke of, opinion of Revolution, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Richmond (VA), Arnold burns, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + Riedesel, General, at Lake Champlain, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>; + effective service to British, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>-<a href="#Page_180">180</a>.<br /> + Riedesel, Baroness, reports conditions in New England, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>.<br /> + Rochambeau, Comte de, leader of French army in America, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>-<a href="#Page_231">231</a>; + idea of naval supremacy, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>; + on American situation (1781), <a href="#Page_246">246</a>; + goes to Yorktown, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>; + in Virginia, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>.<br /> + Rockingham, Marquis of, Prime Minister, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + Rodney, Admiral, arrives in America, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>; + captures St. Eustatius, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>; + captures Grasse, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>.<br /> + Russia, British endeavor to get troops in, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>; + Armed Neutrality, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>S</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + St. Clair, General Arthur, at Fort Ticonderoga, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>.<br /> + St. Eustacius, captured by Rodney, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>.<br /> + St. Johns, Montgomery captures, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.<br /> + St. Leger, General Barry, at Fort Stanwix, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_134">134</a>; + at Oriskany, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>-<a href="#Page_136">136</a>.<br /> + Saint-Simon, French officer in America, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Sandy Hook (NY), French fleet at, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Saratoga (NY), Burgoyne at, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + Burgoyne's surrender, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, + <a href="#Page_122">122</a>, + <a href="#Page_143">143</a>-<a href="#Page_147">147</a>, + <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>; + Arnold at, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + Morgan at, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Savannah (GA), British land at, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>.<br /> + Savile, Sir George, opinion of the Revolution, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>.<br /> + Schuyler, General Philip, goes to Canada by way of Lake Champlain, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + Gates supersedes, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> + <i>Serapis</i> (ship), Jones captures, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>.<br /> + Shelburne, Lord, Prime minister, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>.<br /> + Shippen, Margaret, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>; + marries Arnold, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>.<br /> + Simcoe, General J.G., with Clinton at Charleston, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>; + Governor of Upper Canada, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + Skinner, C. L., <i>Pioneers of the Old Southwest</i>, cited <a href="#Page_222">222</a>.<br /> + Slavery, Washington as a slave-owner, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>.<br /> + Slave-trade, Declaration of Independence makes King responsible for, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>.<br /> + South, war in the, <a href="#Page_211">211</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> + South Carolina, neutrality proposed, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>; + British control, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Spain, against England, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>, + <a href="#Page_203">203</a>-<a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>; + navy, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>; and Gibraltar, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>; + and peace treaty, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>.<br /> + Stamp Act, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, + <a href="#Page_192">192</a>.<br /> + Stanwix (NY), Fort, St. Leger before, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>-<a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Staten Island (NY), Howe on, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, + <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>.<br /> + States, Congress and, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Steuben, Baron von, service in Revolution, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>-<a href="#Page_175">175</a>; + in Virginia, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Stillwater (NY), American camp at, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>; + Burgoyne attacks Gates at, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>-<a href="#Page_143">143</a>; + Burgoyne's defeat, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>. <br /> + Stirling, Lord, prisoner, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>.<br /> + Stony Point (NY), <a href="#Page_99">99</a>.<br /> + Stuart, Gilbert, and Washington, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>.<br /> + Sullivan, General John, takes prisoner at battle of Long Island, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>; + sent by Howe to interview Congress, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>; + exchanged, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; at Morristown, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>; + and Washington, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>-<a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + at Germantown, <a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + at Providence, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>.<br /> + Sumter, Thomas, guerrilla leader, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>.<br /> + Sweden, Armed Neutrality, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>T</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Talleyrand, French officer in America, <a href="#Page_232">232</a>.<br /> + Tarleton, Colonel Banastre, raids, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>; + at Camden, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>-<a href="#Page_220">220</a>; + and Marion, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>; + King's Mountain, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>; + takes Charlottesville (VA), <a href="#Page_252">252</a>-<a href="#Page_253">253</a>; + in Yorktown, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>; and Cornwallis, <a href="#Page_264">264</a>.<br /> + <i>Terrible</i> (ship), <a href="#Page_261">261</a>.<br /> + Test Acts, <a href="#Page_226">226</a>.<br /> + Thayendanegea (Joseph Brant), <a href="#Page_134">134</a>.<br /> + Thomas, General, on Plains of Abraham, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>.<br /> + Thompson, General, attacks Three River, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /> + Three Rivers (QC), attack on, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>.<br /> + Throg's Neck (NY), Howe at, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>.<br /> + Ticonderoga (NY), Fort, captured by Allen, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>-<a href="#Page_40">40</a>, + <a href="#Page_42">42</a>; + Arnold retreats to, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>; + Burgoyne lays siege to, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>-<a href="#Page_127">127</a>; + Lincoln besieges, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>.<br /> + Tories, plundering of, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; <i>see also</i> Loyalists.<br /> + Toronto (ON), Loyalists in, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>.<br /> + Transportation, need of military engineers for, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>.<br /> + Trenton (NJ), Howe at, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + attack on, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + Greene at, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.<br /> + Tryon, Governor of New York, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>V</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Valley Forge (PA) Washington at, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + Washington leaves, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">294</a></span> + Vergennes, French Foreign Minister, 182-183, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, + <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>.<br /> + Vincennes, Clark at, <a href="#Page_223">223</a>.<br /> + Virginia, choice of a commander from, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>; + state of society, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>, + <a href="#Page_32">32</a>-<a href="#Page_33">33</a>; + on independence, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>; + Convention changes church service, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>; + Burgoyne's force in, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>; + covets lands in Northwest, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>; + Steuben in, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>; + Cornwallis in, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>.<br /> + <i>Vulture</i> (sloop of war), <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, + <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>W</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + Walpole, Horace <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, + <a href="#Page_73">73</a>-<a href="#Page_74">74</a>; + Gates godson of, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; quoted, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>.<br /> + Ward, General Artemus, and siege of Boston, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>.<br /> + Washington, George, at second Continental Congress, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, + <a href="#Page_259">259</a>; + champion of colonial cause, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>-<a href="#Page_2">2</a>, + <a href="#Page_23">23</a>-<a href="#Page_24">24</a>, + <a href="#Page_59">59</a>; + chosen Commander-in-Chief, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>-<a href="#Page_9">9</a>; + journey to Boston, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>-<a href="#Page_11">11</a>; + personal characteristics, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, + <a href="#Page_13">13</a>-<a href="#Page_16">16</a>, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + life, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>; as a landowner, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>; + education, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>; + contrasted with English country gentlemen, + <a href="#Page_17">17</a>-<a href="#Page_20">20</a>; + wealth; <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>; + as a farmer, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>-<a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + a slave-owner, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>; + with Braddock, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>-<a href="#Page_23">23</a>; + opinion of George III, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>; + not a professional soldier, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>; + reorganizes army, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>-<a href="#Page_35">35</a>; + favors conscription, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>; + at Boston, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>; plans against Canada, + <a href="#Page_40">40</a>-<a href="#Page_43">43</a>; + mourns Montgomery, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>; + hated of British, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>-<a href="#Page_58">58</a>; + Coke and, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>; + advocates independence, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>; + headquarters in New York, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + Howe's letter to, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>-<a href="#Page_87">87</a>; + at Brooklyn Heights, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>-<a href="#Page_91">91</a>; + exposed to enemy in New York, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>; + and Congress, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, + <a href="#Page_163">163</a>-<a href="#Page_164">164</a>; + Lee and, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>-<a href="#Page_21">99</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + retreats across New Jersey, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>; + attack upon Trenton, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>-<a href="#Page_107">107</a>, + <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + on Howe's dilatoriness, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>; + in New Jersey, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>; + and Sullivan, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + policy toward Loyalists, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + on plundering, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; need of maps, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>; + and Howe, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>-<a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, + <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>; + and Burgoyne, <a href="#Page_116">116</a>; at the Brandywine, + <a href="#Page_118">118</a>-<a href="#Page_119">119</a>; + Germantown, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>-<a href="#Page_122">122</a>; + at Valley Forge, <a href="#Page_148">148</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + religion, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>; + relations with staff, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>-<a href="#Page_161">168</a>; + as military leader, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>; volunteers come to, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>; + distrustful of France, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>-<a href="#Page_189">189</a>; + celebrates French alliance, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>; + army occupies Philadelphia, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>; + follows Clinton across New Jersey, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>-<a href="#Page_198">198</a>; + Monmouth Court House, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>; + despair of, 1779-1780, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>-<a href="#Page_209">209</a>; + guards Hudson, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>-<a href="#Page_210">210</a>; + French under, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>; + opinion of Tories, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>; + and Rochambeau, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>; + reprimands Arnold, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>-<a href="#Page_240">240</a>; + and Andre, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>; + plan differs from French, <a href="#Page_255">255</a>; + march to Yorktown, <a href="#Page_255">255</a> <i>et seq.</i>; + and Carleton, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>; + believes self-interest dominant in politics, + <a href="#Page_271">271</a>-<a href="#Page_272">272</a>; + bids farewell to army, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>; + gives up command, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>; + at Mount Vernon, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>; + influences upon future, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>-<a href="#Page_276">276</a>; + bibliography, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>.<br /> + Washington, Fort (NY), held by Americans, + <a href="#Page_96">96</a>-<a href="#Page_97">97</a>; + British take, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>.<br /> + West Indies, conquests restored, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>.<br /> + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">295</a></span> + West Point (NY), fortification, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, + <a href="#Page_237">237</a>-<a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + Arnold in command, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>; + plot to surrender, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>-<a href="#Page_244">244</a>.<br /> + White Plains (NY), battle of, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>.<br /> + Wight, Isle of, plan to seize, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>.<br /> + Wilkes, John, introduces bill into Parliament, <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.<br /> + Wilmington (NC), British fleet reaches, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>; + Cornwallis in, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>.<br /> + Winslow, Edward, quoted, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>.<br /> + Wyoming (PA) massacre, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>.<br /> + </div> + <h3>Y</h3> + <div class="letterdate"> + York (PA), Congress at, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>.<br /> + Yorktown, Cornwallis surrenders at, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, + <a href="#Page_247">247</a> <i>et seq.</i><br /> + </div> + <hr class="main" /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">The Chronicles of America Series</a></h2> + <ol style="list-style-type:decimal; font-size:small; margin-left:8%;"> + <li>The Red Man's Continent<br /> by Ellsworth Huntington</li> + <li>The Spanish Conquerors<br /> by Irving Berdine Richman</li> + <li>Elizabethan Sea-Dogs<br /> by William Charles Henry Wood</li> + <li>The Crusaders of New France<br /> by William Bennett Munro</li> + <li>Pioneers of the Old South<br /> by Mary Johnson</li> + <li>The Fathers of New England<br /> by Charles McLean Andrews</li> + <li>Dutch and English on the Hudson<br /> by Maud Wilder Goodwin</li> + <li>The Quaker Colonies<br /> by Sydney George Fisher</li> + <li>Colonial Folkways<br /> by Charles McLean Andrews</li> + <li>The Conquest of New France<br /> by George McKinnon Wrong</li> + <li>The Eve of the Revolution<br /> by Carl Lotus Becker</li> + <li>Washington and His Comrades in Arms<br /> by George McKinnon Wrong</li> + <li>The Fathers of the Constitution<br /> by Max Farrand</li> + <li>Washington and His Colleagues<br /> by Henry Jones Ford</li> + <li>Jefferson and his Colleagues<br /> by Allen Johnson</li> + <li>John Marshall and the Constitution<br /> by Edward Samuel Corwin</li> + <li>The Fight for a Free Sea<br /> by Ralph Delahaye Paine</li> + <li>Pioneers of the Old Southwest<br /> by Constance Lindsay Skinner</li> + <li>The Old Northwest<br /> by Frederic Austin Ogg</li> + <li>The Reign of Andrew Jackson<br /> by Frederic Austin Ogg</li> + <li>The Paths of Inland Commerce<br /> by Archer Butler Hulbert</li> + <li>Adventurers of Oregon<br /> by Constance Lindsay Skinner</li> + <li>The Spanish Borderlands<br /> by Herbert E. Bolton</li> + <li>Texas and the Mexican War<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson</li> + <li>The Forty-Niners<br /> by Stewart Edward White</li> + <li>The Passing of the Frontier<br /> by Emerson Hough</li> + <li>The Cotton Kingdom<br /> by William E. Dodd</li> + <li>The Anti-Slavery Crusade<br /> by Jesse Macy</li> + <li>Abraham Lincoln and the Union<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson</li> + <li>The Day of the Confederacy<br /> by Nathaniel Wright Stephenson</li> + <li>Captains of the Civil War<br /> by William Charles Henry Wood</li> + <li>The Sequel of Appomattox<br /> by Walter Lynwood Fleming</li> + <li>The American Spirit in Education<br /> by Edwin E. Slosson</li> + <li>The American Spirit in Literature<br /> by Bliss Perry</li> + <li>Our Foreigners<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth</li> + <li>The Old Merchant Marine<br /> by Ralph Delahaye Paine</li> + <li>The Age of Invention<br /> by Holland Thompson</li> + <li>The Railroad Builders<br /> by John Moody</li> + <li>The Age of Big Business<br /> by Burton Jesse Hendrick</li> + <li>The Armies of Labor<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth</li> + <li>The Masters of Capital<br /> by John Moody</li> + <li>The New South<br /> by Holland Thompson</li> + <li>The Boss and the Machine<br /> by Samuel Peter Orth</li> + <li>The Cleveland Era<br /> by Henry Jones Ford</li> + <li>The Agrarian Crusade<br /> by Solon Justus Buck</li> + <li>The Path of Empire<br /> by Carl Russell Fish</li> + <li>Theodore Roosevelt and His Times<br /> by Harold Howland</li> + <li>Woodrow Wilson and the World War<br /> by Charles Seymour</li> + <li>The Canadian Dominion<br /> by Oscar D. Skelton</li> + <li>The Hispanic Nations of the New World<br /> by William R. Shepherd</li> + </ol> + <hr class="main" /> + <div class="chapterhead"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2><a href="#Contents">Transcriber Notes</a></h2> + + <p class="letter1">This document was transcribed from the <i>Abraham + Lincoln Edition</i> of Volume 12 of the Chronicles of America series, but + more closely matches the <i>Textbook Edition</i>. The <i>Abraham Lincoln</i> + edition has eight pages of photos and two maps depicting the northern and + southern campaigns of The Revolutionary War. The <i>Textbook Edition</i> + of <i>The Chronicles of America</i> series omits the illustrations available + in the <i>Abraham Lincoln Edition</i>. The illustrations have not been + scanned in, so consider this book the equivalent of the <i>Textbook + Edition</i>. We have also transcribed the index and added hyperlinks to + the pages for ease of use. You will not see the page numbers in epub + or Kindle books, but the anchors should still remain.<br /> + <br /> + <a href="#Page_289">P289</a> - The author misspelled Kennett Square, PA. + The mushroom capital of the world was the home of Hall of Fame baseball + pitcher Herb Pennock, who was in the starting rotation for the Boston Red + Sox when this book was written, but not yet a star. Pennock earned his + Hall of Fame stripes starting for the Murderer's Row Yankees. The + left-handed pitcher was nick-named <i>The Knight of Kennett Square</i> + because his descendants migrated with William Penn. 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