Part 38

[Sidenote: Battle of Guildford Courthouse. March 15.]

[Sidenote: Hobkirk's Hill. April 25, 1781.]

The first warlike event of the year was an expedition under General Arnold (who had obtained a command from his new masters) directed against Virginia, in the hope that such a diversion might assist Cornwallis in what was intended to be the main effort of the year. It produced however no great effects beyond the destruction of a considerable amount of property, and when Cornwallis set himself in motion, he found himself faced by a more formidable opponent than General Gates. At the instigation of Washington, Nathaniel Greene, a self-made general, who had risen from a blacksmith's forge, had been given command in the South. He proved himself a man of great vigour and tenacity, and though invariably beaten when opposed to any large body of English troops, he contrived to recover so quickly, that the barren name of victory was usually all that was left to the English. The campaign opened by the defeat of Colonel Tarleton, who had rashly attacked the Americans under Morgan at Cow-pens; nor could Cornwallis succeed in getting between the victorious general and Greene's army; their united forces were compelled however to fall back before Cornwallis' advance till they had evacuated the whole of North Carolina. Political necessities checked the English advance, and Cornwallis attempted, without much success, to consolidate the royal influence in the province; but, by the middle of March, Greene found himself again in a position to re-enter Carolina and to give battle to Cornwallis in the neighbourhood of Guildford. He occupied a position at Guildford Courthouse; as usual the English were victorious, as usual they reaped nothing from their victory, for Cornwallis, finding his troops much diminished in numbers and not meeting with the assistance he expected from the inhabitants, was compelled to fall back upon Wilmington. Greene did not long pursue him, for by thus withdrawing to the coast he had laid open the road into South Carolina, where Rawdon had been left with a small detachment. Greene saw his opportunity, and pushing boldly southward, again approached the English post at Camden. Afraid to attack Rawdon without reinforcements, he occupied a strong position upon Hobkirk's Hill, about two miles from Camden. There Rawdon thought it prudent to attack him, and he was driven from his position. The ludicrous insufficiency of the English troops (there were but 900 engaged in the battle) again prevented them from using their victory, and Greene was enabled, without risking another engagement, to compel Rawdon to withdraw his troops to the immediate defence of Charleston.

[Sidenote: Position of the English armies.]

[Sidenote: Battle of Eutaw. Sept. 8.]

Meanwhile two courses had been open to Cornwallis at Wilmington; he might either hurry in pursuit of Greene and assist the hard pressed army of Rawdon, or push northward and effect a junction with the Virginian expedition, which has already been mentioned, under Arnold and Phillips. To pursue the first course was to give up all his previous successes, to relinquish all hope of striking a decisive blow; for independent action his own army, numbering only 1500, was too small: he decided therefore to march northward, and in May formed a junction with the expedition, by which the number of his troops was raised to 7000. He left Wilmington on the day on which the battle of Hobkirk's Hill was fought. Till the heat of summer compelled a cessation of active fighting, Cornwallis was always superior to his enemy; but as the autumn advanced, the Americans, who had been constantly reinforced, were again a match for him. The three English armies were then acting--the main body, 10,000 strong, under Clinton at New York--Cornwallis' army, about 7000 strong, on the coast of Virginia--Rawdon's handful of men, now under the command of Colonel Stewart, a little in advance of Charleston. Before the close of the year the whole of South Carolina and Georgia were lost, with the exception of Charleston and Savannah; for Greene, coming down from his summer position on the Santee Hills, had succeeded, after a very severe struggle at the Eutaw Springs, in obliging Colonel Stewart to retire to Charleston Neck, leaving the whole open country to be overrun by the Americans.

[Sidenote: Cornwallis in Virginia.]

[Sidenote: American armies close round Yorktown.]

[Sidenote: Cornwallis compelled to surrender. Oct. 18, 1781.]

The position of Cornwallis was also becoming critical. Cut off from support on the south, his only hope was to fight his way northwards to join Clinton, or to receive large reinforcements from this general by sea; but it was not likely that Washington would allow his army to be neutralized by the English troops in New York. It was almost certain that he would turn his attention southward, join General Wayne in Virginia, and render a northward movement of the English impossible. The only real hope was from the sea, but the sea was no longer a secure basis of operations. The English fleet, now under the command of Admiral Graves, who had succeeded Arbuthnot, tried its strength against De Grasse in September. The action was indecisive, but it became evident that, when all the fleets were joined, the French could muster thirty-six sail of the line in the Bay of Chesapeake, while the English force was no more than twenty-five. But as yet the English did not acknowledge the naval superiority of their enemies, and Cornwallis, acting as he believed, though apparently erroneously, on instructions from Clinton, took possession of Yorktown, a village on the high southern bank of York river, and there awaited assistance. The defensive position thus taken up by the English army and the want of energy shown is explained by the news which had reached Clinton, that the French were thinking of withdrawing if the war should last beyond the current year. He believed that, could he contrive to weather the difficulties which surrounded him, the opposition of the Americans, unable to stand alone, would on the loss of their allies disappear without further effort on his part. His hope was not unfounded; it was in truth a critical moment for the Americans. At a meeting between the American generals and De Grasse, the Admiral had declared that he had orders not to remain longer than November; the nation was on the verge of bankruptcy; the New England States, with the selfishness which had marked them throughout, were ready to give in. It was thus absolutely necessary for Washington to act quickly and to win some striking success. What Clinton therefore ought to have foreseen happened; Washington turned his attention towards Virginia, and undeterred by an assault on the New England States which Clinton attempted as a diversion, the mass of the American army began steadily to gather round Cornwallis. The position which he occupied was not a happy one, it was in fact untenable without command of the sea, which, as has been mentioned, had already been lost. He occupied the southern bank of the York river, there about a mile wide, and on the northern side the little village of Gloucester. The fortifications were of no great value, and the advanced posts were at once withdrawn upon the receipt of a despatch from Clinton, stating that there was every hope that the fleet, with 5000 men, would attempt to relieve the army, and would leave New York for that purpose in about ten days' time. This was a fatal error, as it gave the enemy positions commanding the works. The besiegers numbered 18,000, their large and powerful artillery being in part supplied by the French ships. The first parallel was completed on the 9th of October; the fire from it was overwhelming: on the 11th the second parallel was opened, nor could the bravery of the besieged prevent the capture of two advanced redoubts on the 14th, which were at once included in it. It now became evident to the besieged that the expected reinforcements had failed them, and after a brilliant sally, during which many of the enemy's guns were spiked, Cornwallis, finding all his guns silenced and his ammunition drawing to a close, felt that he had to choose between surrender and an effort to withdraw his troops from their untenable position. He determined to attempt the latter plan; his scheme was a desperate one; his troops were to be transported in open boats to Gloucester, they were there to break through the enemy's lines, which were not strong in that direction, to seize the horses of the besiegers and of the neighbouring country people, and make their way to New York. The boats with their loads had already crossed once when a storm arose which rendered the further prosecution of the plan impossible, and when morning dawned Cornwallis had no alternative but to make terms. He agreed to surrender all his troops as prisoners of war, and on the 19th of October, 4000 British soldiers who remained fit for work marched out with the honours of war between the long lines of the French and American army and laid down their arms. It is worth mentioning, as a strange little piece of professional arrogance, that when marching between the lines of French on the one side and Americans on the other, the English officers saluted punctiliously all the French officers as belonging to a regular army, but refused any acknowledgment to the Americans. This was virtually the close of the war. The infant Hercules had strangled its second serpent, as was afterwards portrayed on Franklin's medal.

[Sidenote: New session of Parliament. Nov. 27.]

[Sidenote: Tottering condition of the Government.]

[Sidenote: Defeat of the ministry on Conway's motion.]

[Sidenote: Lord North's resignation.]

The close of the war under such circumstances of failure could not but bring with it the fall of the ministry. The news arrived at a striking time, but two days before the opening of the session. With such a weapon in their hand, and with the stored-up rancour of ten years of opposition, the leaders of the Whigs pressed motion after motion against the Government. Fox and Burke vied with each other in their bitter assaults, and the young Pitt, who had come into Parliament as member for Appleby, on the nomination of Sir James Lowther, rapidly assumed a high position on the same side. The Budget was in itself a proof that Lord North was yielding; the estimates were so small, that he had to explain that he intended to give up all notion of a war on a "continental plan by sending armies to march through the provinces from South to North;" he would henceforth content himself with holding some important harbours on the American coast. Outside Parliament, in the metropolitan counties, vigorous opposition meetings were held, and the public anger was raised to its climax by a succession of misfortunes which befell our arms. Admiral Kempenfeldt found himself completely outnumbered in the West Indies, and the whole of the Leeward Islands, except Barbadoes and Antigua, were lost. Minorca, which was regarded as of even more importance than Gibraltar, and the key to the Mediterranean, surrendered after a gallant defence. The Bailli de Suffren thwarted an expedition against the Cape of Good Hope, at the same time at home the Irish difficulties, which will be treated of more at length afterwards, were becoming most threatening. Under these circumstances, a motion by General Conway, that the war on the continent of America should be discontinued was lost by one vote only, and a repetition of the same motion a week later was carried by a majority of 234 against 215. Lord George Germaine, who was pledged to the continuance of the war, withdrew from the Government, and finally a direct vote of no confidence on the 15th of March was only lost by a scanty majority of nine. North saw that further struggle was hopeless, and on the 20th compelled the King to allow him to declare the administration at an end. He went out of office with his usual tact and good humour. A great attack had been arranged for that evening, which was to be led by Lord Surrey; he and North rose at the same moment, and the cries from the rival parties could not be quelled till Fox rose and proposed a formal motion that Lord Surrey be first heard. With admirable presence of mind, North rose and said that he would speak to that motion, and prove its inutility by declaring his government at an end. There is a well-known anecdote of his persistent good humour; expecting a long debate, the Opposition members had sent away their carriages, and as they stood awaiting them shivering in the drizzling rain, Lord North passed through them to get into his. "Gentlemen," he said, "you see the advantage of being in the secret," and drove off.

[Sidenote: Shelburne refuses the Premiership.]

[Sidenote: New Whig Government.]

North's resignation was the complete defeat for the time of the King's plans; but George III. was a man of the most obstinate and determined character, and he by no means intended as yet to give up the fight. The Opposition which had formed the alliance to drive North from office consisted of two sections. First, the old or Revolution Whigs, as they liked to call themselves, who, true to their aristocratic principle, had chosen for their leader the wealthiest but by no means the ablest man among them, Lord Rockingham, an agriculturist, a sporting man, of respectable talents and much honesty, though without any of the gifts of oratory which are necessary for the management of a public body; and secondly, those Whigs who had owned the leadership of Chatham, and who now followed the Earl of Shelburne; a party less tied by aristocratic connections, and representing, as far as could then be represented, the real liberal interests of the country. To avoid the necessity of putting himself into the hands of his particular enemies, the Whig families, it was to this section that the King at once applied. But, as Chatham had always found, it was of itself far too weak a party in Parliament to form a satisfactory ministry. Moreover, the eagerness with which Burke and Dunning had of late years demanded financial reform, and the share they had taken in driving North from office, made it impossible for their claims to be ignored. Shelburne therefore refused the King's request. The King's discomfiture seemed quite complete when Rockingham accepted office. The ministry consisted of equal numbers of the two sections of the Liberals. Rockingham, Keppel, Lord John Cavendish, the Duke of Richmond, and Mr. Fox, of the one party; Lord Shelburne, Camden, General Conway, Lord Ashburton (Dunning), and the Duke of Grafton of the other. Strangely enough, the balance between them was held by the Tory Lord Thurlow, the King's personal friend, who remained in the position of Lord Chancellor. Pitt haughtily refused to accept any subordinate office.

[Sidenote: The three questions which met it.]

Three great questions at once presented themselves to the new administration,--to pacify the clamours of Ireland, to complete the economical reforms to which they were pledged, and by means of which they hoped to regain some of the power of which the successful policy of the King had robbed them, and to bring to conclusion as honourably as possible the American War.

[Sidenote: The agitation in Ireland.]

In Ireland the agitation had been constantly on the increase since the conciliatory measures of Lord North in 1780. Free trade had been granted, but this step towards independence had opened the way to still further demands; if they had followed the Americans thus far, why not follow them a step further and demand legislative independence also? The legislative superiority of England rested mainly upon two Statutes, Poynings' Law, or the Statute of Drogheda of the reign of Henry VII., by which all Bills brought forward in the Irish Parliament, except such as regarded money, were subject to revision or suppression by the English Privy Council, and the Statute 6 George I., which asserted the right of the English Parliament to legislate for Ireland. No sooner had Grattan succeeded in his first agitation, than he proceeded, in spite even of the wishes of his friends Lord Charlemont and Burke, to set to work the same machinery for the purpose of obtaining the reversal of these statutes. As early as April 1780 he had produced, though unsuccessfully, a motion in the Irish Parliament declaratory of Irish independence. Since that time his position had become stronger, disputes in Parliament had excited the national feeling, the volunteers had completed their organization, and appointed Lord Charlemont their commander-in-chief. A great meeting of deputies from the volunteers had been held at Dungannon, which had accepted to the full Grattan's propositions. With this great armed power behind him, and reinforced by the influence of the Roman Catholics, whose interests he had lately espoused, Grattan was enabled on the 16th of April to bring forward a final and successful address declaring the perfect legislative independence of Ireland. It was carried unanimously through both Houses. In face of this pressure, though not blind to the almost inevitable evils of a dual Government, Fox and Shelburne yielded the point, and the Statute of George I. was repealed in express terms.

[Sidenote: Economical reforms.]

The ministry had entered upon office supported by a vast agitation throughout the country, by county meetings, societies and corresponding associations, and these allies outside the walls of Parliament were eager for very sweeping measures of reform in all directions, especially financial reform, limitation of the influence of the Crown, the purity of the House, and reform of the representation. All these measures had a political as well as an economical side. They all formed portions of the avowed politics of the Whigs for breaking the power of the Crown. Both revenue officers and contractors assisted to uphold Government influence; the votes of the revenue officers were said to command no less than seventy boroughs, and contracts, given not because advantageous to the public, but for political purposes, were but so many indirect bribes. But the voice of the statesman is apt to be singularly tempered by his accession to office, and the Government Bills which Burke introduced in June proved but a weak reflection of his former measure. Certain obvious abuses were removed, secret service money was diminished, and a smaller share of it allowed to the Treasury; the Pension List was cut down, and £300 fixed as the outside limit for a single pension; the whole Board of Trade, which had proved useless, was swept away; but the expenses of the Principality of Wales and the Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, together with many useless offices of the Household, and public offices, were untouched, and the whole saving effected was only about £72,000 a year. Burke in thus limiting his propositions was doubtless acting under pressure from his colleagues. His own sincerity was proved by the limitation which he set to the inordinate emolument which as Paymaster he derived from his own office. But the honesty of the ministry as a whole was somewhat compromised when they forestalled the action of their own Bill, and hurriedly granted large pensions, varying from £2600 to £3200, to Lord Grantham, to the Chancellor, and to Colonel Barré. Still further proof that a limitation of the royal power and not real reform was the object in view, was given by the reception accorded to a measure for parliamentary reform introduced by William Pitt. Chatham had always seen and asserted that some measure of parliamentary reform was necessary if influence was to give way to any true national representation. But though constantly inveighing against Government influence when in the hands of their opponents, the Whig oligarchs, to whom parliamentary influence was as necessary as it was to the King himself, had no idea of lessening their own power, and Pitt's measure for transferring it to the counties, at that time the chief homes of independence, though ably supported, was defeated by a majority of twenty, swelled by the open opposition of some of the ministry and the lukewarmness of others. Fox and the Duke of Richmond however supported him. Divisions in the Cabinet upon so important a question, scandals such as the Barré pension and the unsatisfactory carrying out of promises of economical reform, tended to lessen the popularity of the ministry. But it was the management of the great question of all, the completion, namely, of an honourable peace, which displayed chiefly the weakness of the administration.

[Sidenote: Conclusion of the American War.]

As far as America itself was concerned the fall of Yorktown had virtually put an end to hostilities, and the declared policy of England reached no further than the retention of certain posts and harbours. It may be a question whether this was wise, for it is certain that the condition of the Americans was very deplorable. Bankrupt and impoverished, the Congress was in no condition to support the army in a state of efficiency, and from its factions and intrigues had so lost public confidence, that Washington was earnestly intreated to make himself dictator, and take the management of the country into his own hands. But it was impossible for the Whigs, after the language they had used in Parliament, where they had not scrupled to rejoice at American successes, and to speak of the American armies as _our_ armies, to think of anything but peace at once and on any terms. But though the war with America thus died out, that with the allied powers of Europe was by no means ended. Spain and France had joined the Americans with the cry of independence, absurd enough from such monarchies, but with the real object of destroying the power of England, and reversing the humiliating terms forced upon them by the Treaty of 1763. The Dutch had joined the coalition for commercial objects of its own; they were desirous of destroying the English Navigation Act and of restoring the freedom of the sea. The moment seemed to have arrived when all these wishes could be gratified, and negotiations for a general peace were therefore of a twofold character and by no means easy to complete, as America was pledged not to conclude a treaty without her allies. A further complication arose from the peculiar arrangements of the English ministry, by which American affairs fell to the lot of Shelburne as Home Secretary, while Fox, his rival in the ministry, in his capacity of Foreign Minister had the duty of negotiating with the European powers. As Dr. Franklin, the most important American diplomatist, was at this time in Paris, that city became the centre of negotiations, and thither both ministers sent agents. Mr. Oswald, on the part of Lord Shelburne, began to open the business with Franklin, while Mr. Thomas Granville was accredited as plenipotentiary from Fox to arrange matters with M. Vergennes, the French minister. With singular ingratitude, the Americans, though bound not to _conclude_ a treaty without their allies, thought it right to complete all the arrangements except the actual conclusion secretly and separately with the English, although they had not thought it beneath them to let their allies undertake all the more arduous parts of the war. Although there was some difference of opinion as to the exact manner of granting the independence of America, all parties in England were agreed that it should be granted, and as this was the sole point at issue between the countries, there was little to be done but the arrangement of boundaries and some minor details.

[Sidenote: Exorbitant demands of France.]