gage attempts to seize american arms—skirmish at lexington—blockade of boston—the second congress at philadelphia—washington chosen commander-in-chief—fall of ticonderoga and crown point—washington at boston—battle of bunker's hill—the olive branch petition—condition of the american army—expedition against canada—capture of montreal—arnold's expedition—his junction with montgomery—failure of the attack on quebec—the employment of german mercenaries—washington seizes dorchester heights—evacuation of boston—howe retires to halifax—the war in canada—thomas's retreat—sullivan evacuates canada—the war in the south—attack on charleston—paine's pamphlet, "common sense"—new york and virginia decide for independence—debate in congress—report of the committee—arbitrary proceedings—the declaration—overtures to france—arrival of lord howe—position of washington—howe's overtures—battle of brooklyn—washington's retreat—his desperate position—howe receives a deputation from congress—washington retires step by step—cornwallis's pursuit—close of the campaign—the articles of confederation published by congress—fresh overtures to france—parliament votes large sums of money—john the painter—chatham demands a cessation of hostilities—washington's change of tactics—surprise of trenton—washington outman?uvres cornwallis—he recovers new jersey—difficulties of congress—howe advances against washington—alteration of howe's plans—battle of the brandywine—howe crosses the schuylkill—cornwallis enters philadelphia—battle of germantown—washington at valley forge—burgoyne's plan of campaign—his advance—st. clair's defeat—burgoyne on the hudson—the beginning of his misfortunes—battle of bemus's heights—burgoyne's message to clinton—he is surrounded—he attempts to cut his way through—the surrender of saratoga—clinton's failure to relieve burgoyne—close of the campaign.

during the winter the americans had been preparing for war, fabricating and repairing arms, drilling militia, and calling on one another, by proclamations, to be ready. on the 26th of february, 1775, gage sent a detachment to take possession of some brass cannon and field-pieces collected at salem. a hundred and fifty regulars landed at salem for this purpose, but, finding no cannon there, they proceeded to the adjoining town of danvers. they were stopped at a bridge by a party of militia, under colonel pickering, who claimed the bridge as private property, and refused a passage. there was likely to be bloodshed on the bridge, but it was sunday, and some ministers of salem pleaded the sacredness of the day, and prevailed on colonel pickering to let the soldiers pass. they found nothing, and soon returned.

again, on the night between the 18th and 19th of april, general gage sent a detachment of about eight hundred grenadiers and light infantry to destroy a dep?t of stores and arms at concord. they were commanded by lieutenant-colonel smith and major pitcairn, of the marines. the alarm was given, fires were kindled, bells rung, guns discharged, and the country was up. the british troops reached lexington at five o'clock in the morning, and pushed on their light infantry to secure the bridges. they encountered a body of militia under cover of a gun near the road, whom they ordered to retire, and they withdrew in haste.

here the americans assert that when the minute-men did not retire on the first order, the english fired on them and killed eight of them. the english, on the other hand, declare that the americans, in retiring, no sooner reached the shelter of a wall than they fired on the british; that the firing came also from some adjoining houses, and shot one man, and wounded major pitcairn's horse in two places; that then the english were ordered to fire, that they killed several, wounded others, and put the body, about a hundred in number, to flight. by this time the alarm had spread, the minute-men came running from all places, and as the english, having executed their commission, began to retire, the americans shouted, "the lobsters run!" the minute-men now rushed over the bridge after them, and firing from behind trees and walls, killed a considerable number of them. the americans—excellent shots with their rifles—could only be seen by the smoke of these rifles, and the english, tired with their long night march, instead of halting to hunt them out, kept on their way towards lexington. the whole march was of this description: the english, unable to get a good shot at their enemies, the minute-men pressing on their rear, still sheltered by trees and walls. the result would have been more disastrous had not general gage sent on to lexington another detachment of foot and marines, consisting of about sixteen companies, under command of lord percy. in this first bloodshed between the colonists and the mother country, the british found they had lost sixty killed, forty-nine missing, and one hundred and thirty-six wounded.[218] the americans admitted that they had a loss of sixty, of whom two-thirds were killed.

the news spread on every side; the retreat of the english from concord, which always was intended, as soon as the object was accomplished, was represented as an ignominious flight before the conquering americans, and the effect was marvellous. men flocked from all quarters. there were some twenty thousand men assembled round boston, forming a line nearly twenty miles in extent, with their left leaning on the river mystic, and their right on the town of boston. putnam and ward became the souls of the american army. gage, who was awaiting fresh reinforcements, lay quiet, contented to hold his post, when he might, according to military authorities, have attacked the american lines, at first loose, and without any proper order and consistency, with great advantage. the inhabitants of boston, not relishing the idea of a blockade, applied to gage for permission to retire. he replied that they were at liberty to do so with their families and effects, on surrendering their arms. the bostonians at once interpreted this to mean the whole of their merchandise, and gage, in consequence, countermanded his permission.

on the 10th of may the second congress met at philadelphia. the delegates had everywhere been easily elected, and franklin, having arrived on the 5th of may in philadelphia, was in time to be added to the number already chosen there. the battle of lexington had heated the blood of the delegates, and they assembled in no very pacific mood. they assumed the name of the congress of the united colonies, and rejected with contempt the poor conciliatory bill of lord north, as it had already been deservedly treated by the provincial assemblies. they immediately issued a proclamation prohibiting the export of provisions to any british colony or fishery still continuing in obedience to great britain; or any supply to the british army in massachusetts bay, or the negotiation of any bill drawn by a british officer. congress ordered the military force of the colonies to be placed on an efficient footing. they called into existence a body of men, besides the provincial militia, to be maintained by the united colonies, and to be called continental troops, which distinction must be kept in mind during the whole war. they then made a most admirable choice of a commander-in-chief in the person of colonel george washington.

the spirits of the americans had been raised by the success of attempts against the forts of ticonderoga and crown point, on lake champlain. early in the spring, some of the leading men of connecticut, and chief amongst them wooster and silas deane, projected this expedition, as securing the passes into canada. the volunteers who offered for this enterprise were to march across the frontiers of new york, and come suddenly on these forts. the wretched condition of carelessness existing in these important outposts, notwithstanding the alarming state of the colonies, may be known by the result. phelps, disguised as a countryman, entered the fort on pretence of seeking a barber; and, whilst roaming about in feigned search of him, noted well the ruinous condition of the fort, and the utter negligence of the guard. the next day, ethan allen went alone to the fortress, ostensibly on a visit to his friend the commander, leaving his troops concealed in the wood. he represented that he wanted to conduct some goods across the lake, and borrowed twenty of his soldiers to help him. these men he made dead-drunk; and then, rushing suddenly to the fort, where there were only twenty-two soldiers more, he compelled them in their surprise to lay down their arms, set a guard over them, and entered his friend's bed-room and pronounced him a prisoner. he then advanced against the fort of crown point, where he found only a garrison of twelve men, and immediately afterwards secured skenesborough, the fortified house of major skene, and took his son and his negroes.

when washington arrived at boston, on the 15th of june, he found the english army augmented to ten thousand by fresh forces, under generals burgoyne, william howe, the brother of lord howe, and henry clinton. the american troops consisted of twenty thousand militia and volunteers, still in a most confused condition, extended over a line of twenty miles in length, that only required an attack of five thousand men, led by a general of courage and ability, to be thoroughly beaten. they were, moreover, greatly deficient in powder and other necessaries. but the english generals lay as if there were no urgent need of action. had a sudden movement on the neck been made from boston, five hundred men could have broken and dispersed the americans nearest to that position before the other ill-trained troops, some of them at great distances, could have come up; and they might have been easily defeated in detail by the simultaneous efforts of four spirited generals and ten thousand efficient soldiers. but lethargy seemed to have seized on gage, and to have also infected his coadjutors.

[219]

to the north of boston peninsula, separated from it only by an arm of the sea, called the charles river, about as broad as the thames at london bridge, stands charlestown, built also on a peninsula, surrounded everywhere by navigable water, except a neck somewhat wider than boston neck. on the peninsula of charlestown were two eminences: the lower one, nearest to boston, being called breed's hill, the higher and more remote, bunker's hill. these hills, which commanded boston, would have immediately attracted the eye of any general of the least talent. but gage had utterly neglected this most vital point; and, on awaking on the morning of the 17th of june, he suddenly saw the height of breed's hill covered with soldiers and military works, as by magic, and the americans shouting and beginning to fire upon the town and shipping in the harbour.

the americans had marched on the evening of the 16th with orders to make themselves masters of bunker's hill. by some mistake, they had planted themselves on breed's hill, and instantly began to throw up a formidable redoubt and entrenchments, and to place their guns in battery. gage then ordered a detachment of troops, under the command of general howe and brigadier pigott, to drive the americans, at all costs, from that position. it was noon before howe crossed the river and landed on the charlestown peninsula; but then howe perceived the strength of the americans to be greater than had been supposed, and, halting, he sent for reinforcements. they advanced up the hill, formed in two lines, the right headed by general howe, the left by brigadier pigott. the left was immediately severely galled by the riflemen posted in the houses and on the roofs of charlestown, and howe instantly halted and ordered the left wing to advance and set fire to the town. this was soon executed, and the wooden buildings of charlestown were speedily in a blaze, and the whole place burnt to the ground. the americans reserved their fire till the english were nearly at the entrenchments, when they opened with such a deadly discharge of cannon and musketry as astonished and perplexed the british. most of the men and the staff standing around general howe were killed, and he stood for a moment almost alone. some of the newer troops never stopped till they reached the bottom of the hill. the officers, however, speedily rallied the broken lines, and led them a second time against the murderous batteries. a second time they gave way. but general clinton, seeing the unequal strife, without waiting for orders, and attended by a number of resolute officers, hastened across the water in boats, and, rallying the fugitives, led them a third time up the hill. by this time the fire of the americans began to slacken, for their powder was failing, and the english, wearied as they were, rushed up the hill, and carried the entrenchments at the point of the bayonet. had gage had a proper reserve ready to rush upon the flying rout on the neck, few of them would have remained to join their fellows. the battle was called the battle of bunker's hill, though really fought on the lower, or breed's hill.

notwithstanding the real outbreak of the war, congress yet professed to entertain hopes of ultimate reconciliation. when the reinforcements had arrived from england, and it was supposed that part of them were destined for new york, it issued orders that, so long as the forces remained quiet in their barracks, they should not be molested; but if they attempted to raise fortifications, or to cut off the town from the country, they should be stoutly opposed. when the news of the surprise of the forts on the lake champlain arrived, congress endeavoured to excuse so direct a breach of the peace by feigning a belief in a design of an invasion of the colonies from canada, of which there was notoriously no intention, and they gave orders that an exact inventory of the cannon and military stores there captured should be made, in order to their restoration, "when the former harmony between great britain and her colonies, so ardently wished for by the latter, should render it consistent with the overruling law of self-preservation." after the battle of bunker's hill, congress still maintained this tone. on the 8th of july they signed a petition to the king, drawn up by john dickinson, in the mildest terms, who, when to his own surprise the petition was adopted by the congress, rose, and said that there was not a word in the whole petition that he did not approve of, except the word "congress." this, however, was far from the feeling of many members; and benjamin harrison immediately rose and declared that there was but one word in the whole petition that he did approve of, and that was the word "congress." the petition to the king expressed an earnest desire for a speedy and permanent reconciliation, declaring that, notwithstanding their sufferings, they retained in their hearts "too tender a regard for the kingdom from which they derived their origin to request such a reconciliation as might be inconsistent with her dignity or welfare." at the[220] same time, they resolved that this appeal, which they called "the olive branch," should, if unsuccessful, be their last. they could hardly have expected it to be successful.

when washington arrived at the camp at cambridge, instead of twenty thousand men, which he expected on his side, he found only sixteen thousand, and of these only fourteen thousand fit for duty. he describes them as "a mixed multitude of people under very little order or government." they had no uniforms; and washington recommended congress to send them out ten thousand hunting-shirts, as giving them something of a uniform appearance. there was not a single dollar in the military chest; the supply of provisions was extremely deficient and uncertain. there was a great want of engineering tools; and he soon discovered that the battle of bunker's hill, which, at a distance, was boasted of as a victory, had been a decided defeat. he immediately set about to reduce this discouraging chaos into new order. assisted by general lee, he commenced by having prayers read at the head of the respective regiments every morning. he broke up the freedom which confounded officers and men; he compelled subordination by the free use of the lash, where commands would not serve. he kept them daily at active drill. he laboured incessantly to complete the lines, so that very soon it would be impossible for the enemy to get between the ranks. but the great and—if the english generals had been only properly awake—the fatal want was that of powder. washington found that they had but nine rounds of powder to a musket, and next to none for the artillery. "the world," said franklin, "wondered that we so seldom fired a cannon; why, we could not afford it!" and all this was disclosed to general gage by a deserter, and he still lay in a profound slumber! the ministry at home, scarcely more awake to the real danger, were yet astonished at his lethargy; and they recalled him under the plea of consulting him on the affairs of the colony. he sailed from boston in october, leaving the chief command to general howe.

meanwhile an expedition against canada had been projected by colonel arnold and ethan allen at the taking of the forts of ticonderoga and crown point. the recommendations of allen were taken up, and on the 27th of june, although they had on the first of that month declared their determination not to invade or molest canada, the congress passed other resolutions, instructing philip schuyler, one of their newly-made generals, to proceed to ticonderoga, and thence, if he saw it practicable, to go on and secure st. john's and montreal, and adopt any other measures against canada which might have a tendency to promote the security of the colonies. it was autumn, however, before the american force destined for this expedition, amounting to two thousand men, assembled on lake champlain; and schuyler being taken ill, the command then devolved on general montgomery. general carleton, the governor of canada, to whom the americans, when it suited their purpose, were always attributing designs of invasion of the colonies, had not, in fact, forces sufficient to defend himself properly.

general montgomery reached the st. lawrence, and detached six hundred men to invest fort chambly, situated on the river sorel, about five miles above fort st. john. the menaced condition of quebec compelled general carleton to abandon montreal to its fate, and to hasten to the capital, and montgomery immediately took possession of it. so far all succeeded with the american expedition. carleton, to reach quebec, had to pass through the american forces on the st. lawrence. he went in disguise, and dropped down the river by night, with muffled oars, threading the american craft on the river, and so reached quebec alone, but in safety. montgomery was determined to fall down the st. lawrence too, to support arnold; but his position was anything but enviable. he had been obliged to garrison forts chambly and st. john's, and he was now compelled to leave another garrison at montreal. this done, he had only four hundred and fifty men left, and they were in the most discontented and insubordinate condition. as he proceeded, therefore, he found them fast melting away by desertion; and, had he not soon fallen in with arnold and his band at point aux trembles, he would have found himself alone.

arnold had meanwhile arranged everything with washington, at cambridge, for his expedition. he marched away from cambridge with twelve hundred men, and on reaching the kennebec river, one hundred and thirty miles north of boston, embarked upon it, carrying with him one thousand pounds in money, and a whole cargo of manifestoes for distribution among the canadians. thence he had to traverse a terrible wilderness of woods, swamps, streams, and rugged heights, where the men had to carry their boats and provisions on their shoulders, and where, for two-and-thirty days, they saw no house, wigwam, or sign[221] of human life. so extreme were their distresses, that for the last several days they had to live on their own dogs. it was the 3rd of november before they reached the first canadian settlement on the river chaudière, which flows into the st. lawrence opposite to quebec. they emerged on the river st. lawrence, at point levi, immediately over against quebec. could arnold have crossed immediately, such was the suddenness of the surprise, he probably would have taken the city. but a rough gale was blowing at the time, and for five days he was detained on the right bank of the river by that circumstance and the want of boats. arnold, nevertheless, managed to cross the river in the night, about a mile and a half above the place where wolfe had crossed. finding the cliffs there too high to scale, he followed the shore down to wolfe's cove, and ascended the heights just where wolfe had done so. like wolfe, arnold formed his band on the heights of abraham, and, trusting to the belief that the canadians were in favour of the americans, proposed to make a dash up to the gates of the city before day broke; but his followers protested against this design. when day dawned, arnold saw so many men on the walls and batteries that he knew the assault was hopeless, and retired to point aux trembles, where he was joined by montgomery, who took the chief command.

montgomery's assault on the lower town, quebec. (see p. 222.)

[see larger version]

arnold had not been able to bring any artillery with him; montgomery had a little. they had about twelve hundred men altogether; and with this force they now marched upon quebec. on the 20th of december they commenced firing on the town from a six-gun battery; but their cannon were too light to make much impression—they had no guns heavier than twelve-pounders, and these were soon dismounted by colonel maclean and his sailors. the americans withdrew their guns to a safer distance; and their troops were desirous to abandon the enterprise as impracticable, but the commanders engaged them to continue by holding out a prospect of their plundering the lower town, where all the wealth lay. on the last day of the year, soon after four in the morning, the attack was commenced. two divisions, under majors livingstone and brown, were left to make feigned[222] attacks on the upper town, whilst the rest, in two lines, under montgomery and arnold, set out amid a blinding snow-storm to make two real attacks on the lower town. montgomery, descending to the bed of the st. lawrence, wound along the beach to cape diamond, where he was stopped by a blockhouse and picket. haying passed these, he again, at a place called pot ash, encountered a battery, which was soon abandoned. montgomery then led his troops across huge piles of ice driven on shore; and no sooner had they surmounted these than they were received by a severe fire from a battery manned by sailors and highlanders. montgomery fell dead along with several other officers and many men; and the rest, seeing the fate of their commander, turned and fled back up the cliffs. arnold, at the same time, was pushing his way through the suburbs of the lower town, followed by captain lamb with his artillerymen, and one field piece mounted on a sledge. after these went morgan with his riflemen; and as they advanced in the dark, and muffled in the falling snow, they came upon a two-gun battery. as arnold was cheering on his men to attack this outpost, the bone of his leg was shattered by a musket-ball. he was carried from the field; but morgan rushed on and made himself master of the battery and the guard. just as day dawned, he found himself in front of a second battery, and, whilst attacking that, was assailed in the rear and compelled to surrender, with a loss of four hundred men, three hundred of whom were taken prisoners. arnold retreated to a distance of three or four miles from quebec, and covered his camp behind the heights of abraham with ramparts of frozen snow, and remained there for the winter, cutting off the supplies of the garrison, and doing his best to alienate the canadians from the english.

the english opposition now began to comment with great vigour on the conduct of affairs. the spirit of that body rose higher, as the imminence of war became greater. charles james fox made a motion for a committee to inquire into the causes of the inefficiency of his majesty's arms in north america, and of the defection of the people in the province of quebec. he took a searching review of the whole proceedings since 1774, and contended that there was a great lack of ability and management somewhere, either in the government which planned, or the generals who had to execute the ministerial orders. his motion, however, was useless, for it was rejected by two hundred and forty to one hundred and four votes.

but on the 29th of february, 1776, the treaties lately entered into by the british government with a number of german princes to furnish troops to fight in america, were laid on the table of the commons; and intense indignation was raised against this most odious and impolitic measure. there had been negotiations with russia for the purpose of procuring her savages to put down our kinsmen in america; but this barbarous attempt had failed. it was more successful with the petty princes of germany. the duke of brunswick, the landgrave of hesse-cassel, and other little despots, now greedily seized on the necessity of england, to drive the most extravagant terms with her. under the name of levy-money, they were to receive seven pounds ten shillings for every man; and besides maintaining them, we were to pay to the duke of brunswick, who supplied four thousand and eighty-four men, a subsidy of fifteen thousand five hundred and nineteen pounds; the landgrave of hesse-cassel, who furnished twelve thousand men, did not get such good terms as brunswick—he had ten thousand pounds; the hereditary prince of hesse received six thousand pounds a-year, for only six hundred and eighty-eight men. besides this, the men were to begin to receive pay before they began to march. brunswick was also to get double his sum, or thirty-one thousand and thirty-eight pounds a-year, for two years after they had ceased to serve; and the landgrave of hesse was to receive twelve months' notice of the discontinuance of the payment after his troops had returned to his dominions. the payment for 1776 was to be four hundred and fifty thousand crowns, or nearly one hundred thousand pounds. the prince of waldeck soon after engaged to furnish six hundred and seventy men on equally good terms. beyond all these conditions, england was bound to defend the dominions of those princes in the absence of their troops. the independent members of both houses nobly discharged their duty in condemnation of this engagement of german mercenaries, but without effect, and the king prorogued parliament, under the pleasing delusion that his foreign troops would soon bring his rebellious subjects to reason; and the ministers apparently as firmly shared in this fallacious idea.

in america, during this time, various encounters had taken place between the english and american forces. washington, in spite of the severity of the winter weather, was pressing the blockade of boston. but the difficulties with[223] which he had to contend were so enormous, that, had general howe had any real notion of them, as he ought to have had, he might have beaten off the american troops over and over again. his troops, it is true, only amounted to about seven thousand, and washington's to about fifteen thousand; but besides the deficiency of powder in washington's camp, the terms on which his troops served were such as kept him in constant uncertainty. this was the condition of things when, early in march, washington commenced acting on the offensive. he threw up entrenchments on dorchester heights, overlooking and commanding both boston town and harbour. taking advantage of a dark night, on the 4th of march he sent a strong detachment to the heights, who, before mining, threw up a redoubt, which made it necessary for general howe to dislodge them, or evacuate the place. it seems amazing, after the affair of bunker's hill, that howe had not seen the necessity of occupying the post himself. he now, however, prepared to attack the redoubt, and the soldiers were eager for the enterprise. the vanguard fell down to castle william, at which place the ascent was to be made; and on the morrow, the 5th of march, the anniversary of what was termed the massacre of boston, the fight was to take place. a violent storm, however, arose, rendering the crossing of the water impracticable. by the time that it ceased, the americans had so strengthened their works, that it was deemed a useless waste of life to attempt to carry them. the only alternative was the evacuation of boston. howe had long been persuaded that it would be much better to make the british headquarters at new york, where there were few american troops, and where the king's friends were numerous; and this certainly was true, unless he had mustered resolution and sought to disperse his enemies when they were in a state of disorder and deficiency of ammunition that insured his certain success. as it was, he was now most ignominiously cooped up, and in hourly jeopardy of being shelled out of the place. he had obtained the permission of his government for this movement, and he now set about it in earnest. when, however, he came to embark, another example was given of that shameful neglect which pervaded the whole of the british civil department of the military service. when the transports were examined, they were found totally destitute of provisions and forage. no direct compact was made between howe and washington regarding the evacuation; but an indirect communication and understanding on the subject was entered into—through the "select men" of boston—that no injury should be done to the town during it, provided the troops were unmolested in embarking. before departing, however, the english totally dismantled and partly demolished castle william. on the 17th, the last of the british troops were on board; and that afternoon boston was entered in triumph by general putnam, at the head of the vanguard.

howe, who, with seven thousand soldiers and more than one thousand sailors, did not feel himself safe at new york till the new reinforcements should arrive, sailed away to halifax—a circumstance which gave the appearance of a retreat to his change of locality, and had thus a bad effect in more ways than one. washington, who was informed of his final destination, immediately marched with the greater part of his army to new york, and thence went himself to philadelphia to concert future measures with the congress. this body, in commemoration of the surrender of boston, ordered a medal to be struck in honour of it, and that it should bear the effigy of washington, with the title of the asserter of the liberties of his country. the medal was cast in france.

in canada the management of the war was more successful. to maintain the war in that quarter, congress had ordered nine regiments to be raised. one of these was to be raised in canada itself, and for this purpose a commission was given to moses hazen, who had formerly been a captain of rangers, under wolfe. he was not, however, very successful. the canadians were not to any extent disaffected to the british government, and by no means well affected to the new englanders, who were bitterly bigoted against catholics, which the canadians chiefly were. when hazen and arnold saw that the canadians would neither enlist nor bring provisions to their camps, without cash payment, they commenced plundering for all that they wanted, and thus confirmed that people in their hatred of the americans. they, moreover, insulted the canadians by ridiculing their rites of worship.

miserably as arnold had passed the winter in his camp, as spring approached he again planted his batteries above quebec, but produced so little effect that carleton lay still in expectation of his reinforcements on the breaking up of the river. on the 1st of april general wooster arrived, and took the command, much to the disgust of arnold, who was sent to command a detachment at[224] montreal. on the 1st of may, general thomas, who was to be supreme in command, arrived, and found the forces amounting to about two thousand men. the river was now opening; and on the 6th of may three english ships had made their way up to quebec, full of troops. two companies of the 29th regiment and one hundred marines were immediately landed amid the rejoicings of the inhabitants; and general carleton gave instant orders to issue forth and attack the american lines. but general thomas, conscious that, so far from being able to take quebec, he should be himself taken, unless he decamped with all haste, was already on the move. general carleton pursued him vigorously, and the retreat of the americans became a regular rout. they threw themselves into boats at the three rivers, leaving behind them all their artillery and stores, as well as the sick, who were numerous, the smallpox having broken out amongst them. thomas managed to reach fort chambly and st. john's on the sorel; but there he died, having taken the smallpox.

carleton being, by the beginning of june, reinforced by still more troops from england, determined to follow the americans. they had reached the three rivers, about midway between quebec and montreal, and about thirty miles from the american headquarters on the sorel, when general sullivan, who had succeeded thomas, sent two thousand men under general thompson. they got across the river and hoped to surprise the english; but it was daylight before they drew near the three rivers. landing with confusion, they sought a place where they could form and defend themselves; but they found themselves entangled in a labyrinth of streams and morasses. then they were attacked, front and rear, by generals fraser and nesbit. in the suddenness of the surprise, no precaution had been taken to secure or destroy their boats; the remainder of the americans, therefore, getting into them, pulled away and crossed. sullivan, who had hastened to support them, now, accompanied by st. clair, made the best of his way back to fort chambly. carleton pursued, but coming to the sorel, instead of sailing up it, by which he might have reached chambly nearly a day earlier than sullivan, with a strange neglect he continued lying at the mouth of the river for a couple of days. had he not done this, arnold would have been intercepted at montreal, and ticonderoga, now defenceless, would have fallen into his hands. by this false step much damage to the king's cause ensued. carleton, however, determined to seek out arnold himself, and sent on general burgoyne in pursuit of sullivan. burgoyne made quick pursuit; but the americans were too nimble for both himself and carleton. arnold hastily evacuated montreal, and, crossing the river, joined sullivan at st. john's, on the sorel. there sullivan proposed to make a stand, but his troops would not support him, for the whole army was in a state of insubordination. burgoyne marched rapidly after them; but, on reaching the head of the sorel, he found they had escaped him by embarking on the lake. sullivan and arnold had encamped on the isle aux noix, a swampy place, where their men perished, many of them, of fever, and burgoyne was obliged to satisfy himself with the thought that they were driven out of canada.

in the south, affairs had been as ill conducted by the english commanders as in the north they had been carried on well. governor martin had made an effort to recover north carolina. he had collected a number of highlanders, recently emigrated to america, and a number of back-woodsmen, called regulators, and sent them, under the command of colonels macdonald and macleod, to compel the inhabitants to submission. they were to be supported by regular troops to be landed at wilmington, and general clinton was daily expected with the reinforcements from england. but clinton did not appear, and the impatient highlanders and regulators, in marching from cross creek to wilmington, were decoyed into a swamp, and there attacked and beaten. macleod and most of the highlanders were taken prisoners, and the regulators, such as escaped, made again for the woods.

on the 3rd of may lord cornwallis arrived on the coast with a squadron of transports, convoyed by sir peter parker, with several ships of war. general clinton arrived soon after, and took the command of the troops; and, in concert with parker, he determined to attack charleston, the capital of south carolina. on the 4th of june they appeared off charleston, and landed on long island. they found the mouth of the harbour strongly defended by fortifications on sullivan's island, and by others on hadrell's point on its north. on the point lay encamped the american general lee. clinton threw up two batteries on long island to command those on sullivan island, whilst parker, from the ships, was to assist in covering the landing of the troops on that island. clinton was informed that he could easily cross from one island to the other by a ford; and consequently, on the morning of the 28th of june,[225] sir peter parker drew up his men-of-war—three vessels of fifty guns each, and six frigates of twenty-eight guns each, besides another of twenty-four guns and the thunder bomb. but he had been deceived; what was called a ford, he found impassable. he was compelled to reimbark his troops, and meanwhile parker's vessels, also unacquainted with their ground, ran upon a shoal, where one of them struck. in these unfortunate circumstances, the americans, from the island and from hadrell's point, poured a tremendous fire into the ships, doing dreadful execution. clinton sailed away, after this ignominious attempt to join general howe, but some of the vessels were compelled to remain some time at long island to refit.

signatures to the declaration of independence.

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but whilst these conflicts were taking place, the revolution was marching on at full speed, and had reached its height—the declaration of independence. the continental congress, on the 15th of may, passed a resolution that it was necessary for such of the states as had not framed for themselves such constitutions as were required by the altered circumstances of the country, to forthwith frame such as should be conducive to their safety and welfare. this was published in all the newspapers, accompanied by a statement that, as the king of england, in concurrence with his parliament, had excluded the people of those colonies from his protection, it became indispensable to abolish the constitution established by that power, and frame one for themselves. here was a plain declaration; there was no longer any mistake.

there was no man in the colonies, nevertheless, who contributed so much to bring the open declaration of independence to a crisis as thomas paine, the celebrated author of "the rights of man" and of "the age of reason." paine was originally a quaker and staymaker at thetford, in norfolk. he renounced his quakerism and his staymaking, became an exciseman, and then an usher in a school, reverting again to the gauging of ale firkins. in 1772 he wrote a pamphlet on the mischiefs arising from the inadequate payment of the excise officers, laying them open to bribes, etc. this pamphlet having been sent to franklin, induced him to recommend the poor author to emigrate to america. paine adopted the advice, and settled at philadelphia in 1774. he there devoted himself to political literature, wrote for the papers and journals, finally edited the philadelphia magazine, and, imbibing all the ardour of revolution, wrote, in january of the year 1776, a pamphlet called "common sense." this pamphlet was the spark that was needed to fire the train of independence. it at once seized on the imagination of the public, cast other writers into the shade, and flew, in thousands and tens of thousands of copies, throughout the colonies. it ridiculed the idea of a small island, three thousand miles off, ruling that immense continent, and threatening, by its insolent assumption, the expanding energies of three millions of men, more vigorous, virtuous, and free, than those who sought to enslave them.

amongst the provinces employing themselves to carry out the recommendation of the congress, by framing new constitutions, that of new york was emboldened by the presence of washington and his army to disregard the royalists, and to frame a perfectly independent system. gouverneur morris took the lead in the ultra party, and declared that the time was now come for asserting entire independence. on the 27th of may a resolution to that effect was passed. the delegates of the assembly were instructed to support these principles in congress.

the assembly of virginia, meeting in convention at williamsburg on the 6th of may, drew up a declaration of rights, a document which afterwards became the model for the celebrated "rights of man" with the french revolutionists. in this declaration it was asserted that the rights of the people cannot exist with hereditary monarchy; and in the fourth article it was affirmed, that the idea of "a man being born a magistrate, a legislator, or a judge, is unnatural and absurd." accordingly, richard henry lee, as one of their delegates, on the 7th of june, moved in general congress, that "these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the british crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of great britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; that measures should immediately be taken for procuring the assistance of foreign powers, and a confederation be formed to bind the colonies more closely together."

this all-important question was adjourned to the next day, the 8th of june, when it was debated in a committee of the whole house. as the discussion, however, took place with closed doors, as all great debates of congress did, to hide the real state of opinion, and to give to the ultimate decision an air of unanimity, the reports of it are meagre and unsatisfactory. we know, however, that lee, the original mover, was supported by his colleague wythe, and most energetically by john adams; that it was as vigorously opposed by john dickinson and his colleagues, wilson, of pennsylvania, robert livingstone, of new york, and john rutledge, of south carolina. moreover, a considerable number of members from different states opposed the motion, on the ground, not of its being improper in itself, but, as yet, premature. six colonies declared for it, including virginia. pennsylvania, new jersey, and maryland were at present against it. new york, delaware, and south carolina, were not decided to move yet; and it was proposed to give them time to make up their minds. dr. zubly, of georgia, protested against it, and quitted the congress. to give time for greater unanimity, the subject was postponed till the 1st of july; but, meanwhile, a committee was appointed to draw up a declaration of independence. the members of this committee were only five, namely, thomas jefferson, of virginia; john adams, of massachusetts; roger sherman, of connecticut; richard r. livingstone, of new york; and benjamin franklin, of pennsylvania.

the declaration of independence of the united states of america, july 4th, 1776.

from the painting by j. trumbull.

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on the 1st of july the report of the committee was read, together with the form of declaration as drawn up by jefferson, but afterwards remodelled by franklin and the committee. nine states now voted for independence. pennsylvania and south carolina voted against it. delaware and south carolina requested an adjournment to the next day, in order to make up their minds, when they voted for it, a new delegate having arrived from delaware with firmer instructions. new york held out against independence, general howe having now arrived at sandy hook, and the provincial congress having retired from new york to white plains. jay and gouverneur morris, from that state, were, however, vehement for independence, asserting that the congress of new york ought to be dissolved, and delegates sent up to a new and more popular congress.

the revolutionary party in new york determined to carry them, and the revolutionary party in pennsylvania the same, right or wrong. in pennsylvania delegates insisted that those of their colleagues who were averse from the declaration should absent themselves, and those favourable to it should attend and vote. from delaware, one single delegate, c?sar rodney, voted and decided the question in that province. the new york assembly only nominally reconstructed its provincial congress. instead of calling the electors together, as recommended by the report of the 28th of may, some of the freeholders and voters declared such of the old members as were willing to vote for the declaration re-elected; and this irregular and clearly unconstitutional body attended and voted for the declaration. finally the moderate party, headed by john dickinson, withdrew, and the declaration was carried by one vote.

by these violent and arbitrary means was passed on the 4th july, 1776, the famous declaration of independence. the original motion for such a declaration, on the 8th of june, had been supported by a bare majority of seven states to six; and now the whole thirteen states were said to have assented, though it is perfectly well known that several signatures were not supplied till months afterwards by newly chosen delegates. the declaration contained the following assertions of freedom:—1. that all men are born equally free, possessing certain natural rights, of which they cannot, by any compact, deprive their posterity; 2. that all power is vested in the people, from whom it is derived [but it was voted in congress that the blacks made no part of the people]; 3. that they have an inalienable, indefeasible right to reform, alter, or abolish their form of government at pleasure; 4. that the idea of an hereditary first magistrate is unnatural and absurd.

the americans did not make their declaration of independence till they had communicated with france. the british government, as lord north publicly declared in parliament, had long heard of american emissaries at paris seeking aid there. a secret committee, which had thomas paine for its secretary, was appointed to correspond with the friends of america in great britain, ireland, and other parts of the world. encouraged by the assurances of france, the secret committee was soon converted into a public one, and agents were sent off to almost every court of europe to invite aid of one kind or another against the mother country, not omitting even spain, naples, holland and russia. silas deane was dispatched to paris in march of this year, to announce the growing certainty of a total separation of the colonies from great britain, and to solicit the promised co-operation.

lord howe arrived from england, and cast anchor off sandy hook, a few hours after the declaration of independence had been read to the army by washington. he had been expected by his brother, general howe, who had arrived at the same point on the 29th of june, supposing he should find the admiral there. general howe found washington already in new york, and actively engaged in throwing up entrenchments, both there and on long island, to close the hudson against the british fleet. washington's headquarters were at new york; those of general sullivan, at the western extremity of long island, opposite to new york; and governor's island, paulus hook, new rochelle, and other points, were strongly defended to protect the rear of the city. at the time of admiral howe's arrival, the army of washington did not amount to more than seventeen thousand men, of whom three[228] thousand were sick, and but about ten thousand men fit for duty. from his letters to congress, it is clear that he entertained very little hope of maintaining his ground in case of attack, for the fresh forces brought by howe from england, being joined by the shattered remains of sir peter parker's squadron, amounted to twenty thousand men. a few days afterwards, however, he was joined by two regiments from philadelphia, and by large bodies of new york and new england militia, raising his army to twenty-seven thousand men, but of these a large number were sick. he now posted strong reinforcements in brooklyn. on this general howe quitted sandy hook, and advanced to staten island, where he could watch the operations of the enemy. the americans abandoned staten island, on his approach, without firing a gun.

things being in this position on the arrival of admiral lord howe, he determined still, notwithstanding the proclamation of independence, to make every effort to procure a last chance of peace. he deeply regretted the delays which had attended his fleet, and lost no time in sending on shore an intimation that he brought conciliatory overtures. his first act was to dispatch a letter to franklin, who, in england, had expressed so earnest a desire for accommodation of all differences, informing him of his commission to seek reconciliation, and of his powers for the purpose. but the declaration being now made, franklin had no longer a motive to conceal his real sentiments, and he replied in terms which greatly astonished howe, filling his letters only with complaints of "atrocious injuries," and of what america had endured from "your proud and uninformed nation." howe next turned to washington, to whom he dispatched a flag of truce, bearing a letter to the commander-in-chief. but as washington could only be regarded as an insurgent leader, lord howe thought he could not officially recognise a title conferred only by the american congress, and therefore did not address him as "general," but simply as "george washington, esquire." washington refused to treat in any other character than that of commander-in-chief of the american forces. he instantly returned howe's letter, and forwarded the other papers to congress. one of these was a circular declaration to the late royal governors, enclosing a copy of lord howe's commission, and stating that all who should submit would be pardoned; that any town or province which declared its adhesion to the crown should at once be exempt from the provisions of all the late acts of parliament, especially as regarded their trade; and that, moreover, all such persons as were active in promoting the settlement of their districts should be duly rewarded. the moment congress received this document they ordered it to be published in the newspapers, that "the people might see how the insidious court of great britain had endeavoured to disarm and amuse them," and that "the few whom hopes of moderation and justice on the part of the british government had still kept in suspense, might now at length be convinced that the valour alone of their country is to save its liberties." lord howe, undeterred by this spirited proceeding of congress, on the 20th of july sent the adjutant-general once more to washington, with another letter, still addressed to "george washington, esquire," but adding a number of etceteras. washington was not to be caught by so shallow an artifice. the proposed interview, like the last, therefore, came to nothing, except that congress took advantage of these repeated efforts to insinuate that the british were afraid of fighting.

lord howe now prepared to attack new york, where washington had about thirty thousand men. but the latter's troops were ill-equipped, and deficient in discipline. washington expected that howe would attack new york by the way of long island, and so he had posted nine thousand men at brooklyn, nearly opposite to it, behind entrenchments thrown up by general greene. greene had been attacked by fever; and general putnam, who had taken his post, was but indifferently acquainted with the position of the forces and the nature of the ground they would have to defend with a rabble of most insubordinate troops. in these circumstances general howe, on the morning of the 22nd of august, threw over from staten island into long island four thousand men, under the command of general clinton. they landed in gravesend bay, under cover of the artillery of three frigates and two bombs. the rest of the army followed with the artillery. washington hastened over from new york to strengthen general sullivan, who was in command on the island. he posted no less than fifteen thousand men along a peninsula at that end of the island facing new york.

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washington crossing the delaware. (see p. 235.)

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two british columns advancing by night—one by the shore road and the other over the hills—managed to capture the patrols and approach the outposts of the americans. washington having been all day engaged in strengthening his lines, had returned to new york. putnam was posted on the left; and general stirling was posted on the right on the seashore, near the part called the narrows. on the hills sullivan occupied one of the passes towards the left. the column on the british right, consisting of hessians, under general von heister, seized on the village of flat bush, nearly opposite to sullivan. at the same time, sir henry clinton and sir william erskine reconnoitred sullivan's position and the rest of the line of hills, and sent word to general howe that it would not be difficult to turn sullivan's position where the hills were low, near the village of bedford. howe immediately ordered lord percy to support clinton with his brigades, in the direction of bedford, and general grant to endeavour to turn the position of general stirling, whilst the hessians were ready to attack sullivan in front. at a signal, howe himself marched along with one of the divisions. in order to draw the enemy's attention from the movements of general clinton, grant made a direct attack upon stirling's position, which brought to his aid a great part of sullivan's forces, thus deserting their own ground. grant maintained his attack till daylight, by which time clinton had, by a slight skirmish, crossed the line on his side. the attention from his march was diverted by von heister attacking putnam's position on the direct way to brooklyn, and lord howe, from his ships, opening a cannonade on governor's island and red hook, in the rear of that town. about eight o'clock came a fire from clinton's column, which had now forced its way into the rear of putnam and between the americans and brooklyn. on this discovery they endeavoured to make a way to their lines before that town, but were driven back by clinton only to find themselves assailed in the rear by von heister. thus hemmed in, they fled in confusion. this action in their rear alarmed both sullivan and stirling, yet they maintained their ground against grant till they learned the total rout of their comrades opposed to clinton and heister, when they laid down their arms and ran for it. knowing the ground better than the british, many of them managed to escape to brooklyn; but one thousand and ninety-seven prisoners were taken, and from one thousand two hundred to one thousand five hundred americans were killed or wounded. the english lost only about four hundred killed and wounded.

washington, who had witnessed the battle, saw, to his infinite mortification, the british pursuing his flying troops almost up to their entrenchments. the ardour of the english soldiers was such that they would speedily have stormed and carried the lines, and not a man of the american army on long island would have escaped being taken or killed. but general howe, with that marvellous stupidity which marked all our generals in this war, ordered them back, saying that the lines could be taken with less loss of life by regular approach. the next morning they began throwing up trenches near one of the american redoubts, from which to cannonade it; but washington was much more aware of the untenable nature of his position than howe, and, under favour of darkness, and of a thick fog in the morning, he had been for hours busily transporting his forces over the east river to new york. all that day, and in the night of the 29th, he continued, with all possible silence, conveying over his troops, artillery, and stores, expecting every moment that general howe would burst through his lines at brooklyn, and attack him in the rear, whilst lord howe, with his ships, would advance, and blow all his fragile transports into the water. soon, however, washington saw there was no maintaining his position there. he found the british fast enclosing him on all sides, too; and on the 12th of september he began to evacuate the place in such haste as to leave behind him a great quantity of his artillery and stores. the english landed on york island without the loss of a man. three thousand men had placed themselves ready to attack the british as they landed, and before they could form; but the sight of two companies of grenadiers, already in position, had such an effect on them, that they fled, leaving their blankets and jackets, which they had thrown off in certainty of beating the english.

washington saw almost with despair the condition of the american army; any other man would have despaired of it altogether. he wrote to congress that nothing could make soldiers trustworthy but longer terms of service; that, in fact, they ought to be engaged for the whole war, and subjected to a rigid and constant discipline. he complained that the soldiers were much bolder in plundering than fighting; and one of his officers observed that the pennsylvanian and new england troops would as soon fight each other as the enemy. his adjutant-general, reed, declared that discipline was almost impossible amid such a levelling spirit as prevailed. these startling facts made congress begin in earnest to look out for foreign aid. in the meantime, it voted that the army should be reorganised with eighty-eight[231] battalions, to be enlisted as soon as possible, and to serve during the war; each state to furnish its respective quota, and to name the officers as high as colonels. but washington had soon to complain that they only voted, and did not carry the plan strenuously into action; that there was a mighty difference between voting battalions and raising men.

the condition of washington was inconceivably depressing. the time for the serving of the greater part of the troops was fast expiring; and numbers of them, despite the circumstances of the country, went off. whilst washington was, therefore, exerting himself to prevail on them to continue, he was compelled to weaken his persuasions by enforcing the strictest restraint on both soldiers and officers, who would plunder the inhabitants around them on the plea that they were tories. sickness was in his camp; and his suffering men, for want of hospitals, were obliged to lie about in barns, stables, sheds, and even under the fences and bushes. he wrote again to congress in a condition of despair. he called on them to place their army on a permanent footing; to give the officers such pay as should enable them to live as gentlemen, and not as mean plunderers. he recommended that not only a good bounty should be given to every non-commissioned officer and soldier, but also the reward of a hundred or a hundred and fifty acres of land, a suit of clothes, and a blanket. though congress was loth to comply with these terms, it soon found that it must do so, or soldiers would go over to the royal army.

before lord howe advanced farther, he received a deputation from congress. he had sent the captured american general, sullivan, on his parole to philadelphia to endeavour to induce congress to come to terms, and save the further effusion of blood. he assured them that he was not at liberty to treat with them as a congress, but he would willingly meet some of them as private gentlemen, having full powers, with his brother, general howe, to settle the dispute between them and great britain, on advantageous terms; that, on finding them disposed to agree to honourable conditions, he would seek for the acknowledgment of their authority to treat with him, so as to make the compact valid. the delegates appointed were sufficiently indicative of the little good that was to be hoped from the interview. they were dr. franklin, john adams, and edward rutledge. franklin had returned a most insulting answer to a private letter sent to him by lord howe. it was in vain that lord howe assured the deputies that england was disposed to forget all, to pardon all, and to repeal all the obnoxious taxes, and that inexpressible calamities would be avoided by the colonies simply returning to their allegiance. the deputies replied, that the only terms on which america could make peace was as independent states. this put the matter beyond accommodation.

on the 12th of october general howe, who would have been better employed in driving the enemy before him than in waiting for his brother's useless negotiations, sent a considerable part of his forces, with flat-bottomed boats, through hell gate into the sound, and landed them at frog's neck, about nine miles in the rear of washington's position, thus cutting off all his supplies from the country. the ships ascended higher up the north river, cutting off the retreat into the jerseys. had howe, instead of landing at frog's neck, done so at pell's point, he would have rendered washington's retreat nearly impossible. but this was neglected till the 18th of october, by which time washington, finding that he was getting gradually hemmed in, and lee, who had now joined him from sullivan's island and the carolinas, insisting that nothing but instant retreat could save them, they therefore made a rapid retreat into the open country called the white plains. they had much difficulty in carrying away their artillery; and the whole of it must have been taken, had howe shown any ordinary activity. between this date and the 21st there was considerable skirmishing, which compelled washington to retire farther into the white plains, and from thence towards the delaware.

on the 18th of november lord cornwallis crossed the north river with six thousand men, and, landing on the jersey side, began to attack fort lee, standing nearly opposite fort washington. the garrison fled, leaving behind all its tents standing, all its provisions and artillery. washington was compelled by this to fall back from his position on the croton, thence to brunswick, princeton, trenton, and finally to the pennsylvanian side of the delaware. lord cornwallis followed at his heels. cornwallis penetrated to the remotest parts of east and west jersey, and everywhere the inhabitants received him as a friend and deliverer. on the 24th of november lord cornwallis was approaching brunswick, when he received orders to halt. by this means, washington was allowed to escape across the delaware. it was not till the evening of the 16th of december that cornwallis received[232] orders to proceed, and, though he made all haste, he was too late. the rear of the american army quitted princeton as the van of the english army entered it. washington, in headlong haste, fled to trenton, and began ferrying his troops over the delaware. when cornwallis reached trenton, at nine o'clock the next morning, he beheld the last boats of washington crossing the river. once over the water, the remains of the american troops lost all appearance of an army. they were a mere dirty, worn-out, ragged, and dispirited mob. washington had taken the advantage of the halt of cornwallis to collect all the boats from delaware for the distance of seventy miles, so that the english could not cross after them. cornwallis, being thus brought to a stand, put his army into winter quarters between the delaware and the hackensack.

whilst cornwallis was pursuing washington through the jerseys, clinton swept rhode island of the american troops, and drove commodore hopkins with some ships up providence river, where he remained. rhode island, however, required a strong body of english soldiers constantly to defend it. meanwhile sir guy carleton, having destroyed the american flotilla on lake champlain, was daily expected to march from crown point and invest ticonderoga, which was only fifteen miles distant, and where schuyler lay prepared to abandon it on the approach of the english. but carleton, who had displayed so much activity and energy, now, like the rest of our generals, seemed at once to abandon them at the decisive point. he descended the champlain to isle-aux-noix, put his forces into winter quarters there, and proceeded himself to quebec, to prepare for the next campaign. thus ended the campaign of 1776.

at the very time that washington was flying before the british army, congress, putting a firm face on the matter, went on legislating as boldly as ever. it established articles of confederation and perpetual union between the several states. these articles were a supplement to and extension of the declaration of independence, and were sixteen in number:—1st. that the thirteen states thus confederating should take the title of the united states. 2nd. that each and all were engaged in a reciprocal treaty of alliance and friendship for their common defence, and for their general advantage; obliging themselves to assist each other against all violence that might threaten all or any of them on account of religion, sovereignty, commerce, or under any other pretext whatever. 3rd. that each state reserved to itself alone the exclusive right of regulating its internal government. 4th. that no state in particular should either send or receive embassies, begin any negotiations, contract any engagements, form any alliances, or conclude any treaties with any king, prince, or power whatsoever, without the consent of the united states assembled in congress; that no person invested with any post in the united states should be allowed to accept any presents, emoluments, office, or title, from any king, prince, or foreign power; and that neither the general congress, nor any state in particular, should ever confer any title of nobility. 5th. that none of the said states should have power to form alliances, or confederations, even amongst themselves, without the consent of the general congress. 6th. that no state should lay on any imposts, or establish any duties, which might affect treaties to be hereafter concluded by congress with foreign powers. 7th. that no state in particular should keep up ships of war, or land troops beyond the amount regulated by congress. 8th. that when any of the states raised troops for the common defence, the officers of the rank of colonel and under should be appointed by the legislature of the state, and the superior officers by congress. 9th. that all the expenses of the war, etc., should be paid out of a common treasury. other clauses defined the functions and powers of congress, and the 14th offered to canada admission to all the privileges of the other states, should she desire it; but no other colony was to be admitted without the formal consent of nine of the states composing the union.

after thus settling the form and powers of the constitution, congress voted eight million dollars to be raised as a loan, and ordered a fresh issue of paper money. but, above all, it laboured to acquire aid from abroad, without which it was clear they must yield to the superior military force of the mother country, and return to their obedience on humiliating terms. for this purpose, in addition to silas deane, who was already in paris, franklin and arthur lee were dispatched to that capital to obtain aid with all possible speed. these gentlemen set sail in the beginning of november, though in much apprehension of being intercepted by the british cruisers; but managed to reach quibéron bay in safety, and paris before the end of the year. so successful was franklin in paris, that he obtained a gift of two millions of livres from the french king in aid of america, and the assurance that[233] this should be annually augmented, as her finances allowed. the only stipulation for the present was profound secrecy. franklin had also found the cause of america so popular, that many officers were anxious to engage in her service; and the enthusiastic young marquis lafayette, notwithstanding the ill news from the united states, engaged to embark his life and fortune with washington and his compatriots.

american bill of credit (1775).

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in england parliament met on the 31st of october, and lord north now moved, in a committee of supply, for forty-five thousand seamen for the service of the following year; and in a warm debate, in which mr. luttrell made a severe charge of maladministration at the admiralty, and of the most shameful corruptions and peculations in that department and in the commissariat, he called for the production of the necessary papers to enable him to substantiate these charges.

yet the whole demand for sailors was carried, and the demand of inquiry as absolutely rejected. parliament went on and voted three million two hundred and five thousand five hundred and five pounds for the expenses of the navy; four thousand pounds for greenwich hospital; five hundred thousand pounds for the discharge of the debts of the navy. for the army, including some new contracts with the german princes for men to serve in america, three million pounds. what was still more disgraceful was that, amid all these charges on the public purse, the king came again with a fresh demand for six hundred thousand pounds for debts on the civil list. it was pretended that extraordinary calls had been made on the royal purse by the suffering royalists in america; but it was notorious that the royal household continued in the same condition of reckless waste and extravagance as it was when the former half million was voted for the same purpose. yet the commons granted this sum; and, by way of preventing the king from falling into fresh difficulties, added one hundred thousand pounds a year to the civil list. the matter, however, did not pass without a plain reminder to his majesty. the rough-spoken sir fletcher norton, the speaker of the commons, when presenting this bill for the increase of the civil list to the king, said:—"sir,—in a time of public distress, full of difficulty and danger, under burdens almost too heavy to be borne, your faithful commons postponed all other business, and granted your majesty not only a large present supply, but a very great additional revenue—great beyond example—great beyond your majesty's highest wants!" having passed these votes, parliament was prorogued on the 13th of december till the 21st of the following january.

but whilst england had been thus preparing for the augmentation of the navy, america had been aiming a blow at the efficiency of that navy, which must for years, if successful, have prostrated our whole maritime forces, and exposed our shores to the easiest invasion. this intended blow was nothing less than the destruction of our great naval dockyards and arsenals, and military storehouses, at portsmouth and plymouth. the chief agent in this infamous design, if the evidence of a miscreant can be believed, was silas deane. on the 7th of december the rope-house of the royal dockyard at portsmouth was found to be on fire. by active exertions it was got under, after it had destroyed that building, and was imagined to be an accident. but on the 15th of january, 1777, one of the officers of the dockyard found a machine and combustibles concealed in the hemp in the hemp-house of the same dockyard. suspicion now fell on a moody, silent artisan, who, on the day of the fire, had been looking about the dockyard, and who, by some chance, had got locked up in the rope-house the night before. his name was not known, but the[234] fact only that he was a painter, and had been called john the painter. government immediately offered a reward of fifty pounds for his apprehension; the same sum, with a strange simplicity, being offered to him if he would surrender himself for examination. nothing, however, could be learned of him in portsmouth or the country round; but fresh fires were now breaking out at plymouth dockyard and on the quays of bristol. at plymouth the fire was instantly checked, and the perpetrator was nearly seized. at bristol the fire was laid near a narrow, deep creek, crowded with shipping, which was nearly dry at low water, so that it was impossible to get the shipping out. six or seven warehouses were destroyed, but the shipping escaped. in another house at bristol combustibles were discovered, and the alarm became general that the american incendiaries, having failed to burn new york, were come to england to burn our dockyards and maritime houses. fortunately, in the beginning of february, a man was apprehended for the perpetration of a burglary at odiham, in hampshire; and, by the activity of sir john fielding, the london magistrate, he was identified as john the painter. when brought before sir john and other magistrates in town, the man conducted himself with tact and address. though closely examined and cross-questioned by some of the members of the privy council, by lords of the admiralty, and other officers of the board, he maintained the scrutiny without betraying any embarrassment, or letting anything escape him that could in any degree incriminate him. a confession was, however, wormed out of him by another painter, named baldwin. silas deane, john the painter declared, according to baldwin's evidence, had encouraged him to set fire to the dockyards of plymouth and portsmouth, woolwich and chatham, as the most effectual means of disabling great britain; that he gave him bills to the amount of three hundred pounds on a merchant in london, and promised to reward him according to the amount of service he should do to the american cause. before his execution he freely admitted the truth of the charges against him. he confessed to having twice attempted to fire the dockyard at plymouth, and to burning the warehouses at bristol, having in vain endeavoured to deposit his combustibles on board the ships. he, moreover, stated that he had a recommendation from silas deane to dr. bancroft, in london, to whom he had declared that he would do all the harm he could to england; that the doctor did not approve of his conduct, but had, at his request, promised not to betray him.

on the 8th of may, 1777, ministers moved for more money for the insatiable landgrave of hesse, whose troops were at this very time exhibiting the most scandalous state of defiance of discipline, of consequent inefficiency, and of plunder of the inhabitants of america. this grant, though violently opposed, was carried, but only by a majority of eight. all parties now began to denounce the shameless rapacity of these german princes. nor did chatham, ill as he was, allow the session to pass without making one more energetic protest against the continuance of the war with america. on the 30th of may he moved an address to his majesty for the immediate cessation of hostilities. notwithstanding all that had been said on our successes over the americans, chatham contended as positively as ever that we could never conquer them. "you have," he said, "ransacked every corner of lower saxony, but forty thousand german boors never can conquer ten times the number of british freemen. you may ravage, you cannot conquer—it is impossible—you cannot conquer america. you talk of your numerous funds to annihilate the congress, and your powerful forces to disperse their army; i might as well talk of driving them before me with my crutch! but what would you conquer? the map of america? i am ready to meet any general officer on the subject" (looking at lord amherst)—"what will you do out of the protection of your fleet? in the winter, if together, they are starved; and if dispersed, they are taken off in detail. i am experienced in spring hopes and vernal promises. i know what ministers throw out; but at last will come your equinoctial disappointment. you have got nothing in america but stations. you have been three years teaching them the art of war. they are apt scholars; and i will venture to tell your lordships that the american gentry will make officers enough fit to command the troops of all the european powers." chatham's motion was rejected by ninety-nine votes against twenty-eight. parliament was prorogued by the king on the 6th of june, in a speech in which he indulged the fallacious hope that the american insurrection would be terminated in the present campaign. but chatham's prophecies were at the very time realising themselves. had the howes had the necessary qualities of commanders in such an important cause—had they pursued and dispersed[235] the american army, as they ought to have done on defeating it, and as they might readily have done; and had the british government instantly, whilst in this favourable position, repealed all the obnoxious statutes, they would have thrown congress and washington so completely into the wrong, that it would have been impossible for them to have made head again. but neither the generals nor the government of that day had the capacity for such strategic and statesmanlike policy. the generals went comfortably into winter quarters, leaving the embers of war to rekindle and spread; and government, deaf to the warnings of chatham, still stolidly refused justice whilst rigorously enforcing their injustice. and, indeed, when chatham gave his last cassandra-like remonstrance, it was already too late. we had indeed taught the americans the art of war. washington was no longer contented to stand on the defensive, happy if he could preserve his soldiers from running off without fighting at all. his circumstances were desperate, and the energy which springs from despair now urged him to measures of daring and wakefulness just as the english generals, like northern bears, were entering on their winter's sleep. benedict arnold had paid him a visit in his wretched camp beyond the delaware, and probably from their united counsels sprang a new style of movement, which confounded his unsuspecting enemies.

the army of lord cornwallis, which had so triumphantly pursued washington through the jerseys, supposing the americans now put beyond all possibility of action, if not wholly dispersed, lay carelessly in their cantonments on the left bank of the delaware. the two main outposts, trenton and bordentown, were entrusted to bodies of hessians. at trenton lay colonel rahl, and at bordentown count donop. as the christmas of 1776 was approaching, they had abandoned all discipline. the british officers, too, had mostly quitted their regiments, and had gone to enjoy the christmas at new york, where general howe was keeping up great hospitality, imagining the war to be fast drawing to a close. but if the english paid no attention to washington, he was paying every attention to them. his plans arranged, he set out on the evening of christmas day, 1776, and crossed the river at mackonkey's ferry, nine miles above trenton, to attack that fort. the river was so encumbered with ice that he found it a most arduous undertaking, but he accomplished it with the division immediately under his command—two thousand four hundred in number. he continued his march through the night on trenton, and reached it at about eight o'clock in the morning. a trusted spy had informed him over night, that he had seen the soldiers, both british and hessians, asleep, steeped in drink. when he arrived, the soldiers still lay sunk in their christmas debauch; and it was only by the first crash of the cannon that they were roused. when they ran to arms washington had already invested the town. the brave colonel rahl, in his endeavour to form his drunken troops, and lead them on, was mortally wounded by an american rifle, almost at the first discharge. the light horse and a portion of the infantry, who fled on the first alarm, escaped to bordentown. the main body attempted to retreat by the princeton road, but found it already occupied by colonel hand and his regiment of pennsylvanian riflemen. thus cut off, ignorant of the force opposed to them, and without enthusiasm for the cause, they threw down their arms and surrendered. about a thousand prisoners and six cannon were taken. the americans had two killed, two frozen to death, and a few wounded. as soon as washington had refreshed his men, he re-crossed the delaware, carrying with him his prisoners, the stores he had taken, and the six field-pieces that he brought with him.

this spirited and brilliant action had a wonderful effect on the american mind. it revived the courage of the troops, which had sunk very low after so many defeats. it inspired them and the public at large with confidence in the talents and daring of their commander-in-chief, who was now eulogised as another fabius. such was the confidence inspired, even in himself, by this success, that, being immediately joined by three thousand six hundred pennsylvanian militia, he determined to cross the delaware, as it was now strongly frozen over. but general grant had already joined general leslie at princeton, with a strong body of british and hessian troops; and general howe, on hearing of the fresh spirit of the american army, had detained lord cornwallis, who was about to leave for england. he hastened to princeton, and took the command of the whole force, concentrating all the troops on the delaware shore. on the 2nd of january, 1777, he marched from princeton for trenton, drove in the enemy's outposts, and reached trenton by five o'clock the same afternoon. washington retired as he approached. the british, on arriving at the fort and bridge of the assumpinck, found both guarded by artillery, and washington posted on[236] some high ground beyond. cornwallis cannonaded the bridge and forts, and his fire was briskly returned. he then encamped for the night there, intending to force the creek the next morning; but washington did not wait for him. with his raw militia only a few days in camp, he had no chance of resisting cornwallis's army, and yet—a thaw having taken place—it was impossible to cross the delaware. he called a council of war, and it was concluded that, from the great force of cornwallis in front, the rear could not be very strong. it was therefore determined to make an attempt to gain the rear, beat up the enemy's quarters at princeton, now, as they supposed, nearly deserted, and, if they could succeed, fall on the british stores and baggage at new brunswick. their own baggage was, accordingly, sent quickly down the river to burlington, the camp-fires were replenished, and small parties being left to deceive the enemy by throwing up entrenchments, washington, about midnight, silently decamped by a circuitous route towards princeton. at dawn they encountered two out of three english regiments, which had been at princeton, on the march. these were the 17th and 55th, hastening to join cornwallis at trenton. they imagined the americans, owing to a thick fog, to be a body of hessians; but, on discovering the mistake, a sharp fight took place, and for some time the two british regiments withstood washington's whole force. colonel mawhood, the english commander, posted his force advantageously on a rising ground between the americans and princeton, sent back his baggage waggons, and dispatched messengers to bring up the 40th regiment, still in princeton, with all speed. the 40th not arriving, washington managed to force his way between the two british regiments. the 17th continued its march for trenton; the 55th fell back upon princeton, where the 40th, which had defended itself in the college, after losing a considerable number of prisoners, joined the 55th, and retreated upon new brunswick.

washington found no rest at princeton. cornwallis no sooner heard the cannonading near princeton than he immediately comprehended washington's ruse, and, alarmed for his magazines at new brunswick, he hastened in that direction. washington, aware of his approach, found it necessary to give up the attempt on new brunswick. he therefore hastened across millstone river, broke down the bridge behind him to stop pursuit, and posted himself on the high ground at morristown, where there were very strong positions. here he received additional troops, and entrenched himself. cornwallis, not aware of the real weakness of washington's army despite all its additions, again sat down quietly for the winter at new brunswick. for six months the british army now lay still. washington, however, lost no time in scouring all quarters of the jerseys. he made himself master of the coast opposite staten island, and seized on newark, elizabeth town, and woodbridge. the inhabitants had been plundered by the hessians and english, and now they were plundered again by their own countrymen for having received the english well. washington exerted himself to suppress this rancorous conduct of the new england and virginian troops, and issued a proclamation absolving the people of their oaths to the english, and promising them protection on their taking a new oath to congress. the people of the jerseys gladly accepted this offer.

meanwhile, the american emissaries were both busy and successful at the court of france. though the government still professed most amicable relations towards great britain, it winked at the constant sale of the prizes taken by american privateers, or those who passed for such, in their ports. the government had, as we have seen, supplied the insurgents with money and arms. it was now arranged between silas deane and the french minister, vergennes, that the supplies of arms and ammunition should be sent by way of the west indies, and that congress should remit payment in tobacco and other produce. the french government supplied the american agents with money for their purchases of arms and necessary articles for the troops, also to be repaid in tobacco. two of the ships sent off with such supplies were captured by the british men-of-war; but a third, loaded with arms, arrived safely. to procure the money which they could not draw from europe, congress made fresh issues of paper money, though what was already out was fearfully depreciated. they voted a loan also of five millions of dollars, at four per cent. interest. they authorised a lottery to raise a like sum, the prizes to be payable in loan-office certificates. these measures only precipitated the depreciation of the government paper; people refused to take it; and washington, to prevent the absolute starvation of the army, was endowed with the extraordinary power of compelling the acceptance of it, and of arresting and imprisoning all maligners of the credit of congress. congress went further, and passed a resolution that their bills ought to pass[237] current in all payments, trade, and dealings, and be deemed equal in value to the same sum in spanish dollars; and that all persons refusing to take them should be considered enemies to the united states; and the local authorities were called upon to inflict forfeitures and other penalties on all such persons. still further: the new york convention having laid before congress their scheme for regulating the price of labour, produce, manufactured articles, and imported goods, it was adopted. but these arbitrary and unscientific measures the traders set at defiance, and the attempts to enforce them only aggravated the public distress. loans came in slowly, the treasury ran low, the loan offices were overdrawn, and the issue of bills of credit was reluctantly recommenced; ten additional millions were speedily authorised, and as the issue increased, the depreciation naturally kept pace with it. the commissioners in france were instructed to borrow money there, but the instructions were more easily given than executed.

washington and his men at valley forge. (see p. 239.)

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such were the difficulties under which congress and washington had been struggling through this winter to raise and keep together any considerable force; whilst general, now sir william howe, had been completely dozing at new york. the first movements of howe were to execute several detached evolutions, and a vast quantity of stores were destroyed. as a retaliation, the americans sent colonel meigs over to long island, to a place called sag harbour, where the english had a great quantity of provision stores, which they learned were very remissly guarded. meigs, who had been trained under arnold, conducted the enterprise very adroitly. he passed the sound in whale-boats in the night, landed without much difficulty before the break of day, and began to fire the magazines. he met with a brave resistance from the crews of the merchants' vessels; but, having two hundred men, and there being no soldiers to oppose him, he destroyed twelve of the trading vessels, took ninety prisoners, and returned triumphantly without the loss of a single man. in the meantime, washington had quitted his encampment at morristown, and taken up a strong position at middlebrook, about twelve miles from princeton. on the 13th of june[238] howe at last marched out of new brunswick to attack him. on this, washington called to his assistance a great part of the troops in the highlands, the whole force of the jersey militia, whilst arnold, who had the command at philadelphia, was actively engaged with mifflin in preparing defences for the delaware. the object of howe was to draw washington from his entrenchments, certain that, on fair ground, it would require little exertion to totally dissipate his army; therefore, after marching up almost to the american lines, he commenced a retreat, evacuated even new brunswick, and fell back to amboy. washington fell into the snare; he sent a strong force in pursuit of howe, who, keeping up the ruse, threw a bridge over the narrow strait which divides staten island from the mainland, and sent over part of his baggage and a number of troops. satisfied then that howe was bent on resuming his old quarters at new york, washington quitted his camp, which had cost him so much labour to create, and descended with his main body to quibbletown. on seeing this, howe advanced again, and dispatched several bodies of soldiers by different routes, to get, if possible, between washington and his old post on the hills, so as to bring him to an engagement on the plain. washington instantly became aware of his design, and retreated with all speed. lord cornwallis, who led the british van, notwithstanding, managed to come up with him, and fell upon a division of three thousand strong, advantageously posted, and defended with cannon. cornwallis's charge, however, threw him into confusion, the rout became general, and the british pursued them as far as westfield, when, coming to a woody country, and the heat of the day being intense, they halted for the night. this halt was the salvation of washington: it enabled him to regain his old fortified post in the hills, leaving behind him part of his cannon, and about two hundred men killed.

instead of waiting to watch washington, or leaving any force for that purpose, howe now suddenly altered his plans, marched back in reality to staten island, and left the enemy in full command of the jerseys. embarking his army on the 5th of july, he left general clinton at new york with seventeen battalions, a body of loyal american militia, and a regiment of light horse. he set sail on the 23rd of july, and stood out to sea. washington, now supposing that he meant to make an attempt on boston, moved slowly towards the hudson; but he had soon information that caused him to retreat again towards the delaware; and, news coming that howe had been seen off cape may, he advanced to germantown. instead of entering the delaware, however, the british fleet was presently seen steering eastward, and all calculations were baffled. washington, now believing that he was intending to return to new york, proceeded to philadelphia, and had an interview with congress.

howe's real intention had been to enter the delaware, and proceed up it direct to philadelphia; but, understanding that the americans had placed enormous impediments in the river, he stood away for the mouth of the elk, in chesapeake bay. he was tediously detained by the contrary winds that always prevail on that course in that season, and it was the 28th of august before he entered the elk, and reached the elk head, where he landed his troops. on the 2nd of september (1777) he began his march for philadelphia. he soon came upon a body of washington's army at iron hill, which he charged and drove from the hill. on the 11th he came in sight of washington's main army, strongly posted and fortified on the forks of the brandywine river. here howe's dispositions were excellent. he sent forward, under general knyphausen, the second division, which advanced to a ford called chad's ford, and drove a detachment of americans across it. howe then advanced, and, planting his cannon along the bank of the river, he engaged the americans in a brisk cannonade across the stream. meanwhile, lord cornwallis was silently marching in the rear of howe's troops, round to another ford at the forks of the brandywine, which he crossed, and took washington's army in the rear. on firing his signal gun, the americans were thrown into consternation, and at the same moment knyphausen dashed across chad's ford, and drove the surprised americans from their batteries and entrenchments at the point of the bayonet. the batteries were instantly turned against them, and cornwallis, who had been checked by a division under sullivan, coming up, there was a general rout. the americans fled in utter confusion, having lost three hundred killed, six hundred wounded, and four hundred taken prisoners. the english had one hundred killed and four hundred wounded.

but, scarcely had howe posted himself at wilmington, when washington re-crossed the schuylkill and marched on the british left, hoping to imitate the movement of cornwallis at the brandywine which had been so effectual. howe, aware of the strategy, however, reversed[239] his front, and the americans were taken by surprise. in this case, howe himself ought to have fallen on the americans, but a storm is said to have prevented it, and washington immediately fell back to warwick furnace, on the south bank of french creek. from that point he dispatched general wayne to cross a rough country and occupy a wood on the british left. here, having fifteen hundred men himself, he was to form a junction with two thousand maryland militia, and with this force harass the british rear. but information of this movement was given to howe, who, on the 20th of september, sent major-general greig to expel wayne from his concealment. greig gave orders that not a gun should be fired, but that the bayonet alone should be used, and then, stealing unperceived on wayne, his men made a terrible rush with fixed bayonets, threw the whole body into consternation, and made a dreadful slaughter. three hundred americans were killed and wounded, about a hundred were taken prisoners, and the rest fled, leaving their baggage behind them. the british only lost seven men.

whilst washington man?uvred to prevent howe from crossing the schuylkill above him, the english general crossed below on the 22nd of september, and thus placed himself between philadelphia and the american army. it was now necessary for washington to fight, or give up that city; but the condition of his troops, deficient in clothes and shoes, owing to the poverty of the commissariat department, with wretched arms, and fatigued by their recent exertions, forbade all hope of maintaining even the defensive. he therefore fell back, and cornwallis, on the 27th, advancing from germantown, entered philadelphia amid the welcome of the loyal inhabitants. cornwallis occupied the city with four regiments, but the body of the british army encamped at germantown, ten miles distant. but, though the americans had evacuated the city, they still held the command of the delaware below it, and thus cut off the supplies of the british army by sea, and all communication between the army and the fleet, except by the circuitous course of chester, liable to capture by the enemy.

within a few days of taking philadelphia, lord howe raised three batteries on the side of the river. on the 3rd of october washington issued from his camp on the schuylkill, about fourteen miles from germantown, having heard that two british detachments had been withdrawn thence to attack the forts on the delaware. he had been reinforced by militia from maryland and new jersey, and determined to surprise the british camp at germantown. two columns of continental troops, led by greene and sullivan, were to gain the front of the british, and attack it; whilst two other columns of militia were to attack the rear. this force marched all night, and entered germantown about sunrise, and all seemed likely to favour their enterprise. a fog prevented the discovery of their approach. but, at the first surprise, colonel musgrove threw himself into a storehouse, and kept up such a fire from the windows as checked the assault of the americans, and gave time for the rest of the british force to get under arms. the village of germantown consisted of one long street. across this street the british army had encamped, and stoutly resisted the advance of the americans. musgrove was summoned to surrender; but he continued his fire from the house without taking any notice, and, before artillery could be brought up to batter the house, general greig and brigadier agnew came up to his assistance. the continental troops in front, led on by washington himself, made a brisk attack, but were repulsed at all points, and were badly co-operated with by the militia in the rear. washington was compelled to fall back to his camp at skippack creek, leaving behind him about eight hundred killed and wounded, and four hundred prisoners. so far, however, was sir william howe from availing himself of this opportunity to follow up the attack on washington, and disperse his army, that he, as usual, thought only of getting into snug winter quarters.

thus was another glorious chance for the utter dispersion of the american army thrown away by this most incompetent commander; and, as washington saw that he had nothing to fear during the winter, except from the elements, he determined to encamp himself, so as to keep the british in constant anxiety about him. he selected a strong piece of ground at a place called valley forge, covered with wood. he set his soldiers to fell trees and make log-huts, the interstices of which they stopped with moss, and daubed up with clay. as they had plenty of fuel, they could thus pass the winter in some degree of comfort. a great number of his men were on the verge of the expiration of their term, and were impatient to return home; but he persuaded many to remain, and he employed them in throwing up entrenchments on the right of his camp, which was open towards the plain. his left was defended by the schuylkill, and his rear by a steep precipice[240] descending to the valley creek. he began two redoubts, but he soon saw that there was no fear of howe moving so long as the winter lasted, and he left them unfinished. and thus the winter went over, howe lying snugly at philadelphia, enjoying his wine and his cards, and apparently forgetful that there was any such place as valley forge within five-and-twenty miles of him.

whilst these movements had been progressing, very different ones had been in development in the north. the british government, with the fatality which distinguished nearly all its counsels in this war, had thought proper to take the command of the army destined to operate by way of canada on the northern colonies, from sir guy carleton, and to confer it on general burgoyne. the campaign had been planned—not by experienced military men on the spot, capable of estimating the difficulties of the enterprise, but in the cabinet at home, directed by defective maps, and still more defective information.

this scheme was to take ticonderoga, and then to advance upon albany. whilst the army was marching to this point, the fleet, carrying another strong force, was to ascend the hudson, and there meet burgoyne, by which means the british could then command the hudson through its whole extent; and new england, the head of the rebellion, would be entirely cut off from the middle and southern countries. the plan was excellent in itself, but demanded for its successful accomplishment not only commanders familiar with the country, but the most ardent spirit in them, and the most careful co-operation.

being conveyed to st. john's, burgoyne there disembarked, and on the 16th of june he commenced his march for crown point, the shipping following him by the lake. on the 1st of july he appeared before ticonderoga. the place required ten thousand troops effectually to defend it; but st. clair who commanded them had only three thousand, very indifferently armed and equipped. st. clair saw at once that he must retire, as the americans had already done, at crown point; but he sought to do it unobserved. accordingly, in the night of the 5th of july the flight took place; but st. clair's orders were immediately disobeyed; the soldiers fired the house which had been occupied by general de fermoy, and the british were at once apprised of the retreat. the sailors soon broke up the obstructions at the mouth of the river, and a fleet of gunboats was in instant pursuit. they overtook the americans near the falls of skenesborough, and quickly mastered the protecting galleys, and destroyed the vessels. general burgoyne followed with other gunboats containing troops, and at the same time dispatched generals fraser and reisedel by land after st. clair.

st. clair had marched with such celerity that he reached, before the next night, castleton, thirty miles from ticonderoga. but the rear division under colonel warner halted at hubberton, six miles short of castleton. early next morning, general fraser found them on a hill. no sooner did they descry him, than one of the regiments turned and fled, leaving most of their officers to be taken prisoners. but the other two regiments, commanded by warner and francis, stood their ground stoutly. fraser had with him only about eight hundred men, and the americans were from one thousand two hundred to one thousand five hundred strong. but fraser advanced up the hill and attacked them briskly. the americans were protected by a sort of breastwork formed of logs and trees, and they gave fraser a smart reception. but, calculating on the approach of reisedel and the germans, he fought on; and reisedel soon after marching up with a full band of music, the americans imagined that the whole body of the germans was there, and fled on to castleton as fast as they could.

general schuyler was hastening to support ticonderoga, when, on reaching saratoga, he was met by the news of this succession of defeats. he had, when joined by st. clair and long, who had been left to defend st. john's in vain, about five thousand men, the whole now of the northern army; but many of these were militia hastily called together—many of them without arms—more, destitute of ammunition, and still more, of discipline. but schuyler depended much more on the nature of the country which the british would have to traverse from this point than on his men. the whole region between skenesborough and the hudson was an almost unbroken wilderness. wood creek was navigable as far as fort anne; from fort anne to the hudson, over an exceedingly rough country, covered with thick woods, and intersected by numerous streams and morasses, extended a single military road. whilst burgoyne halted a few days at skenesborough to bring up the necessary supplies, schuyler seized the opportunity to destroy the navigation of wood creek, by sinking impediments in its channel, and breaking up the bridges and causeways, of which there were fifty or more on the road from fort anne to fort edward. had[241] burgoyne been well informed, he would have fallen back on ticonderoga, have embarked on lake george, and proceeded to fort george, whence there was a waggon-road to fort edward, the place he was aiming at. instead of this, he determined on separating himself from his baggage and artillery, sending these, under general philips, to fort george, and proceeding with the main portion of the army across the rugged country that lay between himself and fort edward. on this route they had not only to contend with swamps swarming with mosquitoes, deep gullies, ravines, and rivulets, but to make temporary bridges to supply the place of those destroyed by schuyler, and remove the trees felled by him. the weather, to add to their stupendous labour, was intensely hot; yet, surmounting everything, on the 30th of july burgoyne and his army hailed with enthusiasm the sight of the hudson, which they had thus reached through a series of brilliant successes.

george washington. (after the portrait by smart.)

[see larger version]

there only needed now one thing to render the expedition triumphant, and place the hudson from albany to new york in the absolute power of the british army—that general howe should have been prepared to keep the appointment[242] there with a proper fleet and armed force. but howe was engaged in the campaign of philadelphia, and seems to have been utterly incapable of conducting two such operations as watching washington and supporting burgoyne. as soon as burgoyne discovered this fatal want of co-operation on the part of howe, he ought to have retreated to the lakes, but he still determined to advance; and before doing so, he only awaited the coming up of the artillery and baggage under general philips, and of colonel st. leger, who had been dispatched by the course of the oswego, the oneida lake, and wood creek, and thence by the mohawk river, which falls into the hudson between saratoga and albany. st. leger had two hundred regulars—sir john johnson's royal queen's and canadian rangers—with him, and a body of indians under brandt. st. leger, on his way, had laid siege to fort schuyler, late fort stanwix, near the head of the mohawk. general herkimer raised the militia of tryon county, and advanced to the relief of the place.

on hearing this, burgoyne dispatched colonel baum with two pieces of artillery and eight hundred men—dismounted german dragoons and british marksmen. they were to surprise bennington, a place about twenty miles to the east of the hudson, where the americans had collected their stores from new england, and, having secured these, to return and carry them to st. leger. baum, however, found himself surrounded by generals starke and warner at st. corick's mill, on walloon creek, six miles from bennington, before help came up. for two hours a fierce attack was kept up on baum's entrenchments on all sides by the americans with muskets and rifles. baum made a most gallant defence, and three times drove them from some high ground which they occupied above his camp. at last he was picked off by a rifleman and fell mortally wounded. his german troops retreated into the woods, in the direction of fort edward, and were there met by breyman, who was slowly advancing with reinforcements. he reorganised the fugitives, and commenced his retreat, hotly pursued by starke and warner; he made his way back to burgoyne, but not until he had fired nearly his last cartridge.

during this time st. leger had been investing fort schuyler. the whole of his miscellaneous force did not exceed six hundred, exclusive of indians; and on the 5th of august he learned that general herkimer was advancing to the relief. he instantly dispatched sir john johnson with a party of regulars and a number of indians to waylay him. herkimer fell into the ambush, and was himself mortally wounded. st. leger, finding that his light artillery made no impression on the walls of fort schuyler, and hearing a false rumour that burgoyne was defeated, raised the siege, leaving behind him his artillery, tents, and stores. his precipitation was occasioned by the more certain news of the approach of arnold with ten pieces of artillery and two thousand men, who indeed, reached fort schuyler two days after his retreat.

burgoyne was now in a condition which demanded all the talents of a great general. his forces were heavily reduced, those of the enemy much increased, and he was amongst bogs and wildernesses, which barrington and barré had from the first declared would be fatal to any army. he had sent express after express to howe to urge a movement in co-operation, but no news of it arrived, and every day he was becoming more and more cut off from advance or retreat. whilst these circumstances were operating against him, burgoyne collected his artillery and provisions for about a month, and, forming a bridge of boats, passed his army, on the 13th and 14th of september, over the hudson, and encamped on the heights and plains of saratoga. just at this juncture schuyler had been superseded by his successor gates, yet he himself remained to give his assistance in the campaign. the day after gates assumed the command, morgan had marched in with his rifle corps, five hundred strong, and major dearborn with two hundred and fifty other picked men. arnold, too, had returned from pursuit of st. leger, with two thousand men. the americans numbered, with militia continually flocking in, nearly eight thousand, whilst burgoyne's force did not exceed half that number. to approach the americans it was necessary to cross the low ground, seamed with watercourses and rugged with scrub and stones, and to lay down bridges and causeways. this being completed, on the 19th the british army took position at bemus's heights in front of the american left. gates, stimulated by the presence of arnold, began the attack by sending out a detachment to turn burgoyne's right flank, but they soon perceived the covering division of fraser, and retreated. gates then put arnold at the head of a still stronger detachment to fall directly on burgoyne's position, and a severe fight commenced about three o'clock in the afternoon, which lasted until sunset. arnold made the most impetuous[243] assaults on the british line to break it, but everywhere in vain, although the whole weight of the attack fell on three or four of our regiments, the rest being posted on some hills, and the germans on the left at a greater distance. whenever they advanced into the open field, the fire of the american marksmen from their concealment drove them back in disorder; but whenever the americans ventured out, the british rushed forward and committed havoc amongst them; so the contest continued till night. the british remained in the field and claimed the victory; but it was a victory severely won, and far from decisive. the losses on both sides had been from five hundred to six hundred killed and wounded.

the english lay all night on their arms, and, as day dawned, began to entrench their position. if ever a general needed to push on his advantage it was now. every day was consuming burgoyne's stores; every day was augmenting the forces of the enemy. the country was closed to burgoyne; it was open with all its resources to the americans. yet he lay there, as if paralysed, from the 20th of september to the 7th of october. the reason of this fatal delay is said to have been that burgoyne had received a letter from general sir henry clinton at new york, informing him that he must expect no co-operation from general howe, but that he himself would take the responsibility of making a diversion in his favour by attacking the forts montgomery and clinton, on the lower part of the hudson. burgoyne, on receiving this intelligence, sent clinton word that he would remain where he was till the 12th of october—a fatal resolve, as a calculation of his stores should have shown him, which the acts of the americans were certain to render calamitous. elated at being able to stand their ground in some degree, this novel and almost sole success in the war had raised the spirits of the colonials as by a miracle. they poured in on all sides, and arnold, ever ready in resource, suggested to gates an enterprise to be effected while burgoyne was lying still and consuming his own victuals.

this was to send a part of lincoln's militia, under colonel brown, to endeavour to surprise fort ticonderoga, mount independence, and fort george, to capture or destroy all the stores there, to hold them in strong force, and thus completely to cut off burgoyne's retreat by the lakes to canada. brown, being joined by another body of militia under colonel johnson, invested ticonderoga. being repulsed there, he sailed through lake george in the vessels he had taken; made a fresh attempt upon diamond island, and, being also repulsed there, he set fire to the captured vessels, and returned to the american camp in the rear of burgoyne. partial as his success had been, he had, however, opened the route, and whilst he and the rest of the militia were watching burgoyne, other bodies of americans were mustering in his track, and the retreat of burgoyne became an impossibility. he could stay where he was no longer. his provisions were exhausted; his horses were dying for lack of forage, and his situation was most deplorable.

in this situation the english general determined to attempt—what he should have attempted at first—to force the american lines. accordingly, on the 7th of october, he drew out one thousand five hundred picked men, and formed them less than a mile from the american camp. no sooner were they descried, than they were attacked furiously by poor's new hampshire brigade. the attack extended rapidly to the right, where morgan and his rifle corps stole round through some woods, and opened fire on the flank of the column. other troops rushed out of the american entrenchments, and endeavoured to force their way between the british and their camp; but major ackland and his riflemen withstood them bravely; yet burgoyne and his one thousand five hundred men were forced to fall back, leaving their cannon behind them. morgan and his riflemen were now arriving, under cover of the woods, near the flank of the right wing; and fraser, perceiving them, advanced to dislodge them. in this he succeeded, but was picked off by the american marksmen, as usual safe behind their trees, and fell mortally wounded. meanwhile colonel brooks, at the head of jackson's regiment of massachusetts, was more successful. he turned the entrenchments of the german brigade, maintained his ground within the lines, and, to the wonderful relief of the americans, seized the baggage of the germans, and an ample supply of ammunition.

retreat was now inevitable, and burgoyne determined to attempt to reach fort george, at the southern end of lake george. he had but three days' provisions left, and his force was now reduced to three thousand five hundred men, and these had to make their way through a wilderness swarming with active and elate enemies. gates, aware of the movement which burgoyne was intending to make, sent troops up the river to occupy the banks of the hudson, and to guard all[244] passages of escape. the distance to saratoga was only six miles, but the rain fell in torrents, the roads were almost impassable, the bridges over the fishkill were all broken down by the americans. burgoyne sent forward detachments of soldiers to repair the bridges and re-open the roads; but they found the woods swarming with riflemen, and that it was impossible to execute the task assigned them. on the 10th, when he arrived at the fords of the fishkill, he found them obstructed by strong forces of americans. he soon dispersed them with cannon, but they only retired to the hudson, where still stronger bodies of troops were posted to oppose his crossing. he might, perhaps, have dispersed these too, but other bodies were seen already in line on the left bank, and to cross there appeared hopeless.

driven to desperation, burgoyne now contemplated crossing the river in the very face of the enemy, and fighting his way through, and for this purpose he sent a party up the river to reconnoitre a suitable spot. once over, he had little doubt of making his way to fort edward, and thence to the canadian lakes. at this moment gates was informed that burgoyne had effected his passage, and that he had left only the rear-guard in the camp. he was in full march upon the camp, in the belief that he could seize it with ease, and part of his forces had actually crossed the fords of fishkill, near which burgoyne was strongly posted, when a spy or a deserter informed him of his mistake. had it not been for this circumstance he must have suffered a surprise and a certain defeat, and the fortunes of burgoyne would probably have been different. he was now on the alert to receive the americans, and when, to his mortification, he saw them at a signal again retreating, he poured a murderous fire into them, and pursued them in confusion across the creek. this was his last chance. no news reached him from clinton; but he ascertained that the americans had already, in strong force, blocked up his way to fort edward. this was decisive. on the 13th he called together a council of war, at which every captain was invited to attend, and the unanimous result of the deliberations was that they must capitulate. accordingly, an officer was sent with a note to the american headquarters that evening, to propose an interview between general burgoyne and general gates. the american general agreed to the meeting at ten o'clock the next morning. there burgoyne stated that he was aware of the superiority of gates's numbers, and, to spare the useless effusion of blood, he proposed a cessation of arms, to give time for a treaty to that effect.

gates replied that he was well aware that general burgoyne's army was reduced to the last extremity; that it had lost the greater part of its men by repeated defeats, sickness, etc., together with their artillery, horses, and ammunition; that their retreat was cut off, and, therefore, he could listen to nothing but an absolute surrender. burgoyne said he would never admit that his retreat was cut off whilst he had arms in his hands; and gates, who knew that clinton was on his march, and might soon alter the whole face of things, was only too anxious to have burgoyne's army out of the way. after some preliminaries, therefore, to save appearances, on the 16th it was agreed that the british should march out of their camp with all the honours of war; should deposit their cannon on the banks of the hudson, and there pile their arms at the command of their own officers; that the troops, of whatever nation they might be composed, should retire in all security and honour to boston, where they should be provided with all necessary comforts until they embarked for england, under condition of not serving against the united states again during that war; that the canadians should be allowed to return in all honour to their own country; and that in no case should officers be separated from their own men. these were not such terms as are usually granted to conquered armies; and the reason was, that clinton was every day drawing nearer. scarcely were these terms agreed on, when this fact became known to burgoyne. for a moment he hesitated whether he should sign the contract; but, on consultation with his officers, he felt himself bound in honour to ratify it, and accordingly, the next morning, the 17th of october, the deed was signed, and the troops, marching out, grounded their arms.

whilst burgoyne had been looking in vain for aid from new york, sir henry clinton, at length daring the responsibility of a necessary deed, had set out with three thousand men, in vessels of different kinds, up the hudson. on the 6th of october—eleven days before burgoyne signed the capitulation—clinton set out. leaving one thousand men at verplank's point, he crossed to the other bank with his remaining two thousand, and landed them at stony point, only twelve miles from fort montgomery. he advanced with one-half of his force to storm fort clinton, and dispatched lieutenant-colonel campbell to attack fort montgomery. both forts were to be[245] attacked, if possible, at the same instant, to prevent the one from aiding the other. the simultaneous assaults took place about sunset. lieutenant-colonel campbell was killed leading his column against fort montgomery, but his brave troops entered and drove the garrison of eight hundred men from the place. clinton found the approach to the fort of his own name much more arduous. but on went our brave fellows till they reached the foot of the works, where, having no ladders, they hoisted one another on their shoulders to the embrasures, through which they pushed past the cannon, and drove the americans from their guns, and across the rampart, at the points of their bayonets. it was dark by the time the forts were taken, but the americans soon threw light enough on the scene by setting fire to several vessels which were moored close under the guns of the forts. had the english been disposed to risk the attempt to save them, they were prevented by several strong booms and chains thrown across the river. these they afterwards broke through, and, on the 13th of october, at the very moment that burgoyne was making his first overtures for surrender, the english troops under general vaughan ascended, in small frigates, as far as esopus creek, only thirty miles overland to saratoga. but burgoyne having now surrendered, and gates being at liberty to send down strong reinforcements to co-operate with putnam, the english vessels and troops were recalled, and returned to new york. such was the campaign of 1777; equally remarkable for the valour of the british troops, and for their misfortunes; for the imbecility of their government, and the incapacity or rashness of their commanders.