Chapter 11

[Footnote: The British, discouraged by their failure to subdue the eastern and middle States, during the remainder of the war put forth their principal strength at the South.]

CAMPAIGN AT THE NORTH.--Clinton did little except to send out predatory parties. Norwalk, Fairfield, and New Haven, Conn., were either burned or plundered. Tryon, who commanded the Connecticut expedition, boasted of his clemency in leaving a single house standing on the New England coast.

[Footnote: General Putnam was at Horse Neck when Tryon was in the vicinity. Hastily gathering a few militia, he annoyed the British as long as possible, and then, compelled to flee before the enemy's overwhelming force, his men hid themselves in the adjacent swamp, while he, spurring his spirited horse over a precipice, descended a zigzag path, where the British dragoons did not dare to follow.]

THE CAPTURE OF STONY POINT by General Wayne, with only eight hundred men, was one of the most brilliant exploits of the war. The countersign, which, curiously enough, was "The fort is ours," was obtained from a negro who was in the habit of selling strawberries at the fort. He guided them in the darkness to the causeway leading over the flooded marsh around the foot of the hill, on which the fort was situated. The unsuspicious sentinel, having received the countersign, was chatting with the negro, when he was suddenly seized and gagged. Wayne's men passed over the causeway and reached the base of the hill undiscovered. Forming in two divisions, with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, they commenced the ascent of the steep and narrow path which led to the top. They had nearly reached the picket before they were discovered. Fire was at once opened upon them. Wayne was wounded, but commanded his aids to carry him that he might die at the head of the column. The rush of his men was irresistible. An instant more, and a deafening shout told that the fort was won. The British lost in killed, wounded, and prisoners, six hundred men.

GENERAL SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION.--The atrocities of the Indians had kept the inhabitants of the Wyoming and Mohawk valleys in continued terror. In the summer, General Sullivan led an expedition into the Genesee country. Near Elmira, N. Y., he fought a fierce battle with the Indians and their tory allies. The latter being defeated, fled in dismay, while Sullivan marched to and fro through that beautiful region, laying waste their corn-fields, felling their orchards, and burning their houses.

[Footnote: The Indians, in the fertile country of the Cayugas and Senecas, had towns and villages regularly laid out, framed houses, some of them well finished, painted, and having chimneys, and broad and productive fields, with orchards of apple, pear, and peach trees.]

NAVAL EXPLOITS.--No American successes caused more annoyance to the British than those of the navy. In 1775, Washington fitted out several vessels to cruise along the New England coast as privateers. In the same year Congress established a naval department. Swift sailing vessels, manned by bold seamen, infested every avenue of commerce. Within three years they captured five hundred ships. They even cruised among the British isles, and, entering harbors, seized and burned ships lying at English wharves.

Paul Jones is the most famous of these naval heroes. While cruising with a squadron of five vessels off the northeast coast of England, he met the Serapis and the Countess of Scarborough convoying a fleet of merchantmen. At half-past seven in the evening of September 23, he laid his own vessel, the Bon Homme Richard, alongside the Serapis, and a desperate struggle ensued. In the midst of the engagement he lashed the ships together.

[Footnote: Jones had given this name (Goodman Richard) to his ship in honor of Dr. Franklin, whose sayings as "Poor Richard" he warmly admired.]

[Footnote: At this point the contest had been raging an hour, and the ships had twice fallen foul of each other. The first time, the Serapis hailed the Richard, asking if she had "struck her colors." "I have not yet begun to fight," was the reply of Jones.]

The crews then fought hand to hand. The Richard was old and rotten. Water poured into the hold. Three times both vessels were on fire. At ten o'clock the Serapis surrendered. Meanwhile the Pallas, one of his companions, captured the Countess of Scarborough, but the other ships rendered him no aid. Indeed, the Alliance, Captain Landis, repeatedly fired into the Richard, hoping to force Jones to surrender, that Landis might then capture the Serapis and retake the Richard. As Jones's vessel was already in a sinking condition, he transferred his crew to the captured frigate, and sailed for the Texel.

1780.

CAMPAIGN AT THE SOUTH.--Georgia having been subdued, the war was now renewed in South Carolina. Charleston was attacked by land and sea. General Lincoln, after enduring a siege of forty days and a terrible bombardment, was forced to surrender. Marauding expeditions were sent out which soon overran the whole State. Clinton returned to New York, leaving Cornwallis in command.

[Footnote: One of these, under the command of the brutal Tarleton, at _Waxhaw Creek_, over took a body of four hundred Continental troops and a small party of cavalry under Colonel Buford. The British gave no quarter, and after the Americans surrendered, mercilessly maimed and butchered the larger portion of them.]

BATTLE AT CAMDEN (Aug. 16).--General Gates, "the conqueror of Burgoyne," now taking command of the troops at the South, marched to meet the enemy under Cornwallis near Camden. Singularly, both generals had appointed the same time to make a night attack. While marching for this purpose, the advance guards of the two armies unexpectedly encountered each other in the woods. After some sharp skirmishing, the armies waited for day. At dawn Cornwallis ordered a charge. The militia, demoralized by the fighting in the night, fled at the first fire, but De Kalb, with the continental regulars, stood firm. At last he fell, pierced with eleven wounds. His brave comrades for a time fought desperately over his body, but were overwhelmed by numbers. The army was so scattered that it could not be collected. A few of the officers met Gates eighty miles in the rear with no soldiers. All organized resistance to British rule now ceased in the South.

[Footnote: Lee met Gates on his way to join the southern army. His well-worded caution, "Beware your northern laurels do not turn to southern willows," seems almost prophetic of the Camden disaster.]

PARTISAN CORPS.--The Carolinas were full of tories. Many of them joined the British army; others organized companies that mercilessly robbed and murdered their whig neighbors. On the other hand there were patriot bands which rendezvoused (ren-da-vood) in swamps, and sallied out as occasion offered. These partisan corps kept the country in continual terror. Marion, Sumter, Pickens, and Lee, were noted patriot leaders. Their bands were strong enough to cut off British detachments, and even successfully attack small garrisons. The cruel treatment which the whigs received from the British drove many to this partisan warfare. The issue of the contest at the South was mainly decided by these bold citizen soldiers.

[Footnote: A British officer sent to negotiate concerning an exchange of prisoners, dined with Marion. The dinner consisted of roasted potatoes. Surprised at this meagre diet, he made some inquiries, when he found that this was their customary fare, and that the patriot general served without pay. This devotion to the cause of liberty so affected the officer that he resigned his commission, thinking it folly to fight such men.]

[Footnote: At _Hanging Rock_ (Aug. 6) Sumter gained a victory over a strong body of British and tories. He began the action with only two rounds of ammunition, but soon supplied himself from the fleeing tories. Frequently, in these contests, a portion of the bands would go into a battle without guns, arming themselves with the muskets of their comrades as they fell. At _King's Mountain_ (Oct. 7) a large body of independent riflemen, each company under its own leader, attacked Ferguson, who had been sent out to rally the tories of the neighborhood. Ferguson and one hundred and fifty of his men were killed, and the rest taken prisoners.]

[Footnote: An event which occurred in Charleston aroused the bitterest resentment. When that city was captured by the British, Colonel Isaac Hayne, with others, was paroled, but was afterwards ordered into the British ranks. At this time his wife and several of his children lay at the point of death with small-pox. The choice was given him to become a British subject or to be placed in close confinement. Agonized by thoughts of his dying family, he signed a pledge of allegiance to England, with the assurance that he should never be required to fight against his countrymen. Being afterward summoned by Lord Rawdon to join the British army, he considered the pledge annulled, and raised a partisan band. He was captured, and without being allowed a trial, was condemned to death. The citizens of Charleston vainly implored pardon for him. Lord Rawdon allowed him forty-eight hours in which to take leave of his orphan children, at the end of which time he was hanged.]

CONTINENTAL MONEY had now been issued by Congress to the amount of $200,000,000. At this time it was so much depreciated that $40 in bills were worth only $1 in specie. A pair of boots cost $600 in continental currency. A soldier's pay for a month would hardly buy him a dinner. To make the matter worse, the British had flooded the country with counterfeits, which could not be told from the genuine. Many persons refused to take continental money. The sufferings of the soldiers and the difficulty of procuring supplies may be readily imagined.

[Footnote: In this crisis, Robert Morris, of Philadelphia, sent three million rations. Soldiers' relief associations were organized by the women of that city. They made twenty-two hundred shirts, each inscribed with the name of the lady who sewed it.]

The Pennsylvania regiments in camp at Morristown, claiming that their time had expired, demanded their discharge. At last, 1,300 strong, they set out for Princeton to secure redress at the point of the bayonet, but a committee of Congress succeeded in satisfying them.

[Footnote: Clinton's agents went among the troops offering large rewards for desertion. The emissaries mistook their men, for the soldiers gave them up as spies.]

ARNOLD'S TREASON.--The English did little at the North, and the condition of Washington's army prevented his making any movement. Meanwhile the cause of liberty suffered a terrible blow from one who had been its gallant defender. General Arnold, whose bravery at Quebec and Saratoga had awakened universal admiration, was stationed at Philadelphia while his wound was healing. He there married a tory lady and lived in great extravagance. By various acts of oppression, he rendered himself so odious that on one occasion he was publicly mobbed. Charges being preferred against him, he was convicted and sentenced to be reprimanded by the commander-in-chief. Washington performed the duty very gently and considerately; but Arnold, stung by the disgrace, and desperate in fortune, resolved to gratify both his revenge and love of money by betraying his country. He accordingly secured from Washington the command of West Point, at that time the most important post in America. He then proposed to Clinton, with whom he had previously corresponded, to surrender it to the British. The offer was accepted, and Major Andre appointed to confer with him. Andre ascended the Hudson, and, on the night of September 21, went ashore from the English ship Vulture to meet the traitor. Morning dawned before they had completed their plans. In the meantime, fire having been opened on the Vulture, she had dropped down the river. Andre, now left within the American lines, was obliged to make his way back to New York by land. He had reached Tarrytown in safety, when, at a sudden turn in the road, his horse's reins were seized, and three men sprang before him. His manner awakening suspicion, they searched him, and finding papers which seemed to prove him a spy, they carried him to the nearest American post. Arnold was at breakfast, when he received a note announcing Andre's capture. He called aside his wife and told her of his peril. Terrified by his words, she fainted. Kissing his boy, who lay asleep in the cradle, Arnold darted out of the house, mounted a horse, by an unfrequented path reached the river, jumped into his boat, and was rowed to the Vulture. He received, as the reward of his treachery, 6,315 pounds, a colonelcy in the English army, and the contempt of everybody. The very name, "Arnold the Traitor," will always declare his infamy. Andre was tried and hung as a spy. Every effort was made to save him, and his fate awakened universal sympathy.

[Footnote: The names of these men were Paulding, Van Wart, and Williams. Andre offered them his horse, watch, purse, and any sum they might name, if they would release him. The incorruptible patriots declared that they would not let him go for ten thousand guineas. Congress voted to each of them a silver medal and a pension for life.]

[Footnote: Arnold was thoroughly despised by the British officers, and often insulted. Many stories are told illustrative of English sentiment toward him. A member of Parliament, about to address the House of Commons, happening, as he rose, to see Arnold in the gallery, said, pointing to the traitor, "Mr. Speaker, I will not speak while that man is in the House." George the Third introduced Arnold to Earl Barcarras, one of Burgoyne's officers at Bemis's Heights. "Sire," said the proud old Earl as he turned from Arnold, refusing his hand, "I know General Arnold, and abominate traitors." When Talleyrand was about to come to America, he sought letters of introduction from Arnold, but received the reply, "I was born in America; I lived there to the prime of my life; but, alas! I can call no man in America my friend."]

1781.

THE WAR AT THE SOUTH.--General Greene, who was appointed to succeed General Gates, found the army to consist of only two thousand half-clothed, half-starved men. A part of his force, under Morgan, was attacked (January 17) at _Cowpens_ by Tarleton. The militia fleeing, the continentals fell back to secure a better position. The British mistook this for a retreat and were rushing on in confusion, when the continentals suddenly faced about, poured in a deadly fire at only thirty yards distance, and drove them in utter rout. Tarleton fled to Cornwallis, who set out in hot haste, eager to punish the victors and recapture the prisoners. Morgan started for Virginia, and crossed the Catawba just before Cornwallis appeared in sight. Night came on, and with it rain, which raised the river so high as to keep the impatient Cornwallis waiting three days.

[Footnote: Colonel William A. Washington, in a personal combat in this battle, wounded Tarleton. Months afterward, the British officer while conversing with Mrs. Jones, a witty American lady, sneeringly said, "That Colonel Washington is very illiterate. I am told that he cannot write his name." "Ah, Colonel," replied she, "you bear evidence that he can make his mark." Tarleton expressing, at another time, his desire to see Colonel Washington, the lady replied, "Had you looked behind you at Cowpens, you might have had that pleasure."]

GREENE'S RETREAT.--General Greene now joined Morgan, and conducted the retreat. At the Yadkin, just as the Americans had reached the other side, it began to rain. When Cornwallis came up, the river was so swollen that he could not cross. He, however, marched up the stream, effected a passage, and was soon in full pursuit again. Now came a race, on parallel roads, thirty miles per day, for the fords of the Dan. Greene reached them first, and Cornwallis gave up the chase. This signal deliverance of Greene's exhausted army awoke every pious feeling of the American heart, and was a cause for general thanksgiving.

[Footnote: During this retreat, General Greene, after a hard day's ride in the rain, alighted at the door of Mrs. Elizabeth Steele, in Salisbury, N. C., announcing himself as, "fatigued, hungry, cold, and penniless." Quickly providing the honored guest with a warm supper before a cheerful fire, this patriotic woman brought forth two small bags of specie, her earnings for years. "Take these," she said; "you will want them, and I can do without them." "Never," says his biographer, "did relief come at a more needy moment; the hero resumed his dangerous journey that night with a lightened heart." Another story illustrative of the patriotism of the Southern women is told of Mrs. Motte. The British had taken possession of her house, fortified and garrisoned it. On Colonel Lee's advance, she furnished him a bow and arrows, by means of which fire was thrown upon the shingled roof. Her mansion was soon in flames. The occupants, to save their lives, surrendered.]

CAMPAIGN CLOSED.--Having rested his men, Greene again took the field, harassing the enemy by a fierce partisan warfare. At _Guilford Court-House_ (March 15) he hazarded a battle. The militia fled again at the first fire, but the continental regulars fought as in the time of De Kalb. The Americans at last retired, but the British had bought their victory so dearly that Cornwallis also retreated. Greene again pursuing, Cornwallis shut himself up in Wilmington. Thereupon Greene turned his course to South Carolina, and with the aid of Marion, Sumter, Lee, and Pickens, nearly delivered this State and Georgia from the English. In the battle of _Eutaw Springs_ (Sept. 8) the forces of the enemy were so crippled that they retired toward Charleston. Cornwallis, refusing to follow Greene into South Carolina, had already gone north into Virginia, and though a fierce partisan warfare still distracted the country, this engagement closed the long and fiercely fought contest at the South.

[Footnote: Congress voted the highest honors to General Greene, who, by his prudence, wisdom, and valor, had, with such insignificant forces and miserable equipments, achieved so much for the cause of liberty. He never gained a decided victory, yet his defeats bad all the effect of successes, and his very retreats strengthened the confidence of his men and weakened that of the enemy.]

[Footnote: At the battle of Eutaw, Manning, a noted soldier of Lee's legion, was in hot pursuit of the flying British, when he suddenly found himself surrounded by the enemy and not an American within forty rods. He did not hesitate, but seizing an officer by the collar, and wresting his sword from him by main force, kept his body as a shield while he rapidly backed off under a heavy fire from the perilous neighborhood. The frightened British officer when thus summarily captured, began immediately to enumerate his titles: "I am Sir Henry Barry, deputy adjutant-general, captain in 52d regiment," &c., &c. "Enough," interrupted his captor; "you are just the man I was looking for."]

THE WAR AT THE NORTH.--The traitor Arnold, burning with hatred, led an expedition into Virginia. He conducted the war with great brutality, burning private as well as public property. La Fayette was sent to check him, but with his small force could accomplish little. Cornwallis, arriving from the South, now took Arnold's place, and continued this marauding tour through the country. Clinton, however, fearing Washington, who seemed to threaten New York, directed Cornwallis to keep near the sea-coast so as to be ready to help him. Cornwallis, accordingly, after having destroyed ten million dollars worth of property, fortified himself at Yorktown.

[Footnote: Many of La Fayette's men having deserted, he set forth the baseness of such conduct, and then offered to all who desired it, a permit to go home. Not a man accepted, nor was there after this a single case of desertion. One soldier, not being able to walk, hired a cart that he might keep up with his comrades. Shoes, linen, and many other necessaries were provided at La Fayette's expense. The generosity of this general and the devotion of his soldiery seemed to vie with each other.]

SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.--It was arranged to attack Cornwallis at this place by the combined American and French forces. Washington, by a feint on New York, kept Clinton in the dark regarding his plans until he was far on his way south with the continental army.

[Footnote: During the preceding winter Robert Morris sent to the starving army several thousand barrels of flour. He now furnished nearly everything required for this expedition, issuing his own notes to the amount of $1,400,000. It is sad to know that this patriot, so often the resource of Washington, lost his fortune in his old age, and was confined in prison for debt.]

[Footnote: Washington, at this time, visited Mount Vernon which he had not seen since he left it to attend the Continental Congress in 1775. Six years and a half had nearly elapsed, yet he remained only long enough to fulfill a military engagement.]

[Footnote: Clinton sent Arnold on a pillaging tour into Connecticut in order to force Washington to return. He, however, was not to be diverted from his great enterprise, and left New England to take care of herself. New London was pillaged and burned, Arnold watching the fire from a church steeple. At Fort Griswold, the commander and half the garrison were butchered. After this fort had been taken, a British officer entering asked, "Who commands here?" "I did," said Colonel Ledyard, as he advanced to surrender his sword, "but you do now." With fiendish malignity, the officer seized the weapon and thrust it into the bosom of the brave colonel.]

On the 28th of September, the joint forces, twelve thousand strong, took up their position before Yorktown. Batteries were opened upon the city, and the vessels in the harbor fired by red-hot shells. Two redoubts were carried; one by the Americans, the other by the French. The most hearty good-will prevailed. The patriots slept in the open air that their allies might use their tents. Breaches having been made in the walls, Cornwallis saw no hope of escape and capitulated (Oct. 19).

[Footnote: Governor Nelson commanded the battery that fired first upon the British. Cornwallis and his staff were at that time occupying the governor's fine stone mansion. The patriot pointed one of his heaviest guns directly toward his house, and ordered the gunner to fire upon it with vigor. The British could not make even the home of the noble Nelson a shield against his patriotic efforts. The house still bears the scars of the bombardment.]

THE SCENE OF THE SURRENDER was most imposing. The army was drawn up in two lines, extending over a mile--the Americans on one side with General Washington at the head, and the French on the other with Count Rochambeau (ro-shong-bo). The captive army, about seven thousand in number, with slow step, shouldered arms, and cased colors, marched between them. A prodigious crowd, anxious to see Cornwallis, had assembled, but the haughty general, vexed and mortified at his defeat, feigned illness, and sent his sword by General O'Hara.

[Footnote: With a fine delicacy of feeling, Washington directed the sword to be delivered to General Lincoln, who, eighteen months before, had surrendered at Charleston.]