USA > New York > The natural, statistical, and civil history of the state of New-York, v. 3 > Part 33
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The British, having evacuated all their posts to the north- ward of the Santee and Congaree, and to the westward of the Edisto, conceived themselves able to hold all that fertile coun- try which is in a measure enclosed by these rivers. They, therefore, once more resumed their station near the union of the Waterce and Congaree. General Greene now crossed the. Wateree and Congaree, and assembled his whole force on the
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south side of the latter river, in order to act offensively. . On his approach, the British retired about forty miles nearer Charleston, and took post at the Eutaw Springs. General Greene advanced with two thousand men, to, attack them in their encampment at this place. His force was drawn up in two lines. As the Americans advanced, they fell in with two parties of the British, three or four miles a-head of their main army. These, being briskly attacked, soon retired. The Americans continued to pursue and fire, till the action became general. In the hottest of the action, Colonel O. Williams and Lieutenant-colonel Campbell, with a body of continentals, charged with trailed arms. Nothing could surpass the intre- pidity of both officers and men on this occasion. Lieutenant- colonel Campbell, while leading his men on to the charge, re- ceived a mortal wound. The British were compelled to give way and retire with great precipitation. Upwards of five hun- dred were taken prisoners. On their retreat, they took post in a strong brick house and picketted garden. From this ad- vantageous position they renewed the action, and compelled the Americans to retire, with the loss of numbers of their men and four pieces of cannon. In the evening of the next day, Lieutenant-colonel Stuart, who commanded on this occasion, left seventy of his wounded men and a thousand stand of arms, and moved from the .Eutaws towards Charleston. The loss of the British, inclusive of prisoners, was about eleven hundred men, and that of the Americans about five hundred.
Soon after this engagement, the Americans retired to their former position on the high hills of Santec. In the close of the year, General Greene moved down into the lower country, and about the same time, the British abandoned their out posts, and retired with their whole force to the quarter-house, on Charles- ton Neck. The battle of Eutaw may be considered as clos- ing the national war in South Carolina. Thus ended the cam- - paign of 1781, in the latter state.
It has already been mentioned that Lord Cornwallis, soon after the battle of Guilford, marched to Wilmington, in North Carolina. When he had completed that march, various plans
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of operation were presented to his view. Such as returning to South Carolina and of marching to Virginia, and joining the royal forces in that state. After mature deliberation, his lord- ship came to the determination of adopting the latter. He wished to reap new laurels. He flattered himself that Lord Rawdon, whom he had left in South Carolina, would be able to maintain his ground and preserve the conquests already made in that state. On the twenty-fifth of April, his lordship, therefore, proceeded on his march from Wilmington towards Virginia. To favour the passage of the many rivers, with which the country is intersected, two boats were mounted on carriages, and taken along with the army. He proceeded se- veral days without opposition, and almost without intelligence. The Americans, first made an attempt at Swift Creek, and af- terwards at Fishing Creek, to stop his progress, but without effect. The British took the shortest road to Halifax, and on their arrival there, defeated several parties of Americans. The Roanoke, Meherrin, and Nottaway rivers, were successively crossed by the royal army, and with very little opposition. On the twentieth of May, his lordship reached Petersburgh, which had been fixed upon as the place of rendezvous, between him and General Philips. By this combination of the royal forces Lord Cornwallis saw himself at the head of a powerful army. This junction was scarcely completed, when his lordship receiv- ed Lord Rawdon's report of the advantage he had gained over General Greene on the twenty-fifth ult. About the same time, he was informed that three British regiments had sailed from Cork for Charleston.
These two events eased his mind of all anxiety for South Carolina, and inspired him with hopes of a brilliant campaign. By the late junction of the royal forces at Petersburgh, and by the recent arrival of fifteen hundred men from New-York, Vir- ginia became the principal theatre of operations for the remain- der of the year. The formidable force, thus collected, called for the exertions of the friends of independence. The defensive operations, in opposition to it, were principally intrusted to the Marquis de La Fayette. Early in the year he had been de- VOL. IIJ. 17
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tached from the main American army by Washington, on au expedition, the object of which was a co-operation with the French fleet, in capturing Arnold. On the failure of this, the Marquis marched back as far as the head of the Elk. There he received an order to return to Virginia, to oppose the British forces, which had become formidable by the arrival of a consi- derable reinforcement under General Philips. He proceeded without delay to Richmond, and arrived there the day before the British reached Manchester, on the opposite side of James' River. Thus was the capital of Virginia, at that time, filled with almost all the military stores of the state, saved from im- minent danger. So great was the superiority of numbers on the side of the British, that the Marquis was soon obliged to retire with his little army, consisting of one thousand regulars, and about two thousand one hundred militia.
Lord Cornwallis advanced from Petersburgh to James' River, which he crossed at Westown, and thence marching through Hanover county, crossed the South Anna or Pamunky River. The Marquis followed his motions, but at a guarded distance. Two expeditions were, therefore, undertaken by Lord Cornwallis. The one was to Charlotteville, with the view of capturing the governor and assembly of the state ; the other to Point of Fork to destroy the stores. Colonel Tarle- ton, to whom the first was committed, succeeded so far as to disperse the assembly, capture some of its members, and destroy a great quantity of stores at and near Charlotteville. The other expedition, which was intrusted to Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe, was only in part successful, for the Americans had previously removed most of their stores.' In the course of these marches and counter-marches, immense quantities of property were destroyed, and sundry small skirmishes took place .- The Marquis acted so cautiously on the defensive, and made so judicious a choice of posts, and showed so much skill in his movements, as to prevent any advantage being taken of his weakness. He effected a junction at Racoon Ford with General Wayne, who was at the head of eight hundred men. While this junction was forming, the British got between the American
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army, and its stores, which had been removed from Richmond to Albemarle. The possession of these was an object with both armies. La Fayette, by forced marches, got within a few miles of the British army when they were two days' march from Albemarle. The British general considered himself sure of his adversary, for he knew that the stores were his object ; and he conceived it impracticable for the Marquis to get between him and the stores ; but the latter extricated himself from this difficulty by taking a nearer road to Albemarle, and fixed him- self between the British army and the American stores. This skillful movement frustrated Lord Cornwallis' scheme, and in- duced him to fall back to Richmond. About this time, the Marquis de La Fayette was reinforced by the troops under the Baron de Steuben, and by militia from the contiguous parts. He followed Cornwallis, and had the address to impress him with an idea that the American army was much more numerous than it actually was. . His lordship retreated to Williamsburgh. The day after, the main body of his army reached that place, its rear was attacked by an American corps under Colonel But- Ier, and sustained considerable loss.
About the time Lord Cornwallis reached Williamsburgh, he received intelligence from New-York, setting forth the danger to which the royal army in that city was exposed, from a com- bined attack, that was said to be threatened by the French and Americans. Sir Henry Clinton, therefore, required a detach- ment from his Lordship, and recommended to him to take a healthy station, with the residue of his army, till the danger of New-York was dispersed. Lord Cornwallis, having complied with this requisition, and deeming his force inadequate to main- tain his present position at Williamsburgh, determined to retire to Portsmouth. For the execution of this project, it was necessary to cross James' River.
The Marquis de La Fayette, conceiving this to be a favour- able opportunity for acting offensively, advanced on the British. General Wayne, pushed forward with about eight hundred men to harass their rear. But contrary to his expectation, he found the whole British army drawn up to oppose him. In this peri-
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lous situation, he assumed a bold appearance, and engaged them before he attempted to retire. Cornwallis, apprehending an ambuscade, did not pursue him, whereby Wayne was ena- bled to get off with little loss.
After Lord Cornwallis had crossed James River, he marched for Portsmouth. He had taken steps to send a part of his army to New-York. But before they sailed, he received a let- ter from Sir Henry Clinton, expressing his preference of Wil- liamsburgh to Portsmouth, for the residence of the army, and his desire that Old Point Comfort or Hampton Roads should be secured as a station for the ships of war. Sir Henry, at the same time, allowed him to detain the whole of the forces under . his command. On examination, Hampton Roads was not ap- proved of as a station for the navy. Yorktown and Gloucester Points were therefore pitched upon, as preferable and more likely to accord with the views of Sir Henry Clinton. Ports- mouth was thereupon evacuated, and its garrison transferred to Yorktown. Lord Cornwallis retained the whole force under his command, and applied himself with industry to fortify his new posts, so as to render them tenable by his army, amounting to seven thousand men.
At this period, the officers of the British navy expected that their fleet in the West Indies would join them, and that solid operations in Virginia would recommence.
While they where indulging these hopes, Count de Grasse, with a French fleet of twenty-eight sail of the line, from the West Indies, entered the Chesapeake, and about the same time intelligence arrived, that the American and French armies were advancing from the northern states towards Virginia. This was about the thirtieth of August. Count de Grasse blocked up York River, with three large ships and some frigates, and moored the principal part of his fleet in Lynnhaven bay. Three thousand two hundred French troops, under the Marquis de St. Simon, were debarked, and soon after formed a junction with the continentals, under the Marquis de La Fayette, and the whole took post at Williamsburgh. An attack on this force was intended by Lord Cornwallis, but he relinquished it in con-
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sequence of intelligence from New-York, that he would be reinforced.
Admiral Greaves, with twenty sail of the line, made an effort for the relief of Cornwallis, but without effecting his purpose. When he appeared off the Capes of Virginia, Count de Grasse went out to meet him, and an indecisive engagement took place. This action was on the seventh of September. The object of de Grasse, in coming out of the capes, was mainly to cover a French fleet of ships of the line, which were expected from New- port in Rhode Island. In conformity to a pre concerted plan, Count de Barras, the commander, had sailed for the Chesa- peake, about the time de Grasse sailed from the West Indies, for the same place. To avoid the British fleet, he had taken a circuit by Bermuda. For fear that the British night intercept him on his approach to the capes, de Grasse came out to be at hand for his protection. While de Grasse and Greaves were manœuvering near the mouth of the Chesapeake, de Barrass passed the latter in the night and got within the capes. This gave the French fleet a decided superiority. All this time con- formably to the well digested plan of the campaign, the Ameri- can and French armies were marching though the middle states for Yorktown. To understand their proper connexion, the great events shortly to be described, it is necessary to go back, and trace the remote causes which brought on this grand com- bination of fleets and armies, which put a period to the war.
The fall of Charleston, in May, 1780, and the complete rout of the American southern army, in August following, gave a serious alarm to the friends of independence. In this low ebb of their affairs, a statement was made to Louis XVI., king of France, the magnanimous ally of the United States. His most Christian Majesty, deeply affected with the sufferings of the Ame- ricans, and the state of their affairs, generously gave them six millions of livres, and became their surety for ten millions more, borrowed for their use in the Netherlands. He also promised a naval co-operation, and a conjunct expedition against their common foe was projected. "
The American war was now so far involved in the conse-
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quences of naval operations, that a superior French fleet seemed to be the only hinge on which it was likely soon to take a favoura- ble turn. The British army being parcelled in the different sea- port towns of the United States, any division of it, blocked up - by a French fleet, could not long resist the superior combined force which might be brought to operate against it. The Mar- quis de Castries, who directed the marine of France, calculated the naval force which the British could concentre on the coast of the United States, and disposed his own in such a manner as ensured him a preponderance. In conformity to these princi- ples, and in subserviency to the design of the campaign, Count de Grasse sailed in March, 1781, from Brest, with twenty-five sail of the line, several thousand land forces, and a large convoy, amounting to more than two hundred ships, for the West Indies. The British fleet, then in the West Indies, had previously been weakened by the departure of a squadron for the protection of the ships which were employed in carrying to England the booty which had been taken at St. Eustatia. The British Ad- mirals, Hood and Drake, were detached to intercept the out- ward-bound French fleet, commanded by de Grasse, but a junc- tion between his force and eight ships of the line, and one fifty- gun ship which were previously in the West Indies was effected. By this union the French had a superiority. M. de Grasse, having finished his business in the West Indies, sailed in the beginning of August, out with a prodigious convoy. And after seeing this out of danger, he directed his course for the Chesa- peake, and arrived there on the thirteenth of the same month. Five days before his arrival, the French fleet at Newport in Rhode Island, sailed for the same place. These fleets, notwithstand- ing their original distance from the scene of action, and from each other, coincided in their operations in a remarkable man- ner. They all tended to one object, and at one, and the same time, and that object was neither known nor suspected by the British till the season for counter-action had elapsed. This coincidence of circumstances extended to the marches of the American and French land-forces. The plan of operations had been so well digested, and so faithfully executed by the dif-
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ferent commanders, that Washington and Rochambeau had passed the British head-quarters in New-York, and were con- siderably advanced in their way to Yorktown, before Count de ' Grasse had reached the American coast. This was effected in the following manner :- Monsieur de Barras, appointed to the command of the French squadron at Newport, arrived at Bos- ton with dispatches for Count de Rochambeau. An interview soon after took place at Weathersfield in Connecticut, between Washington and the generals Knox and du Portail, on the part of the Americans, and Count de Rochambeau and the Chevalier Chastelleux, on the part of the French. At this interview an eventual plan of the whole campaign was fixed. This was to lay siege to New-York, in concert with a French fleet, which was to arrive on the coast in the month of August. It was agreed that the French troops should march towards the Hud- son. . Washington requested the governors of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New-Jersey, to fill up their battalions, and to have six thousand two hundred militia, being their quotas, within a week of the time they might be called for. Conformable to these outlines of the campaign, the French troops marched from Rhode Island in June, and in July joined the American army. About the time this junction took place, Washington marched his army from its winter emcampment near Peekskill, to the vicinity of Kingsbridge. General Lin- coln descended the Hudson, with a detachment in boats, and took possession of the ground where Fort Independence had formerly stood. An attack was made upon him, but was soon discontinued. The British, about this time concentrated near- ly their whole force on Manhattan Island. Washington hoped to be able to commence operations against the city of New- York, about the middle or latter end of July. Flat bottomed boats, sufficient to transport five thousand men, were built near Albany, and brought down the Hudson to the neighbourhood of the American army before New-York. Ovens were erected in New-Jersey, opposite to Staten Island, for the use of the French troops. Every movement was made which was intro- ductory to the commencement of the siege. It was not a little
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mortifying to Washington to find himself, on the second day of Angust, to be only a few hundred stronger than he was on the day his army moved from their winter-quarters. To have fixed on a plan of operations with a foreign officer, at the head of a respectable force, in confident expectation of reinforcements sufficiently large to commence effective operations against the common enemy, and at the same time, to have engagements in behalf of the states, violated, and in a manner derogatory to his honor, was enough to have excited indignation in any mind. less calm than that of Washington. He bore this trial with his usual magnanimity, and contented himself with repeating his requisitions to the states, and at the same time, urged them to fulfil the engagements entered into on their account with Count de Rochambeau.
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The tardiness of the states, which at other times had brought them near the brink of ruin, was now the accidental cause of real service. Had they sent forward their recruits for the army and their quotas of militia as was expected, the siege of New- York would have commenced the latter end of July, or the early part of August. While the season was wasting away in expectation of these reinforcements, Lord Cornwallis, as has been mentioned, fixed himself near the Capes of Virginia. His situation there, the arrival of a reinforcement of three thousand Germans from Europe to New-York, the superior strength of that garrison, the failure of the states in filling up their batta- lions, and embodying their militia, and especially, recent intel- ligence from Count de Grasse, that his destination was fixed to the Chesapeake, concurred, about the middle of August, to make a total change of the plan of the campaign.
The appearance of an intention to attack New-York, was nevertheless, kept up. While this deception was played off, the American and French armies crossed the Hudson, and pas- sed by the way of Philadelphia, to Yorktown. An attempt to reduce the British forces in Virginia, promised success with more expedition, and to secure an object of nearly equal im- portance as the reduction of New-York. While the attack of New-York was in serious contemplation, a letter from Washing-
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ton, detailing the particulars of the intended operations of the. campaign, intercepted, fell into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton. After the plan was changed, the royal commander was so much under the impression of the intelligence, contained in the inter- cepted letter, that he believed every movement towards Virginia, to be a feint calculated to draw off his attention from the defence of New-York. Under the influence of this opinion, he bent his whole force to strengthen that post, and suffered the Ameri- can and French armies to pass him without molestation.
· On the twenty-fourth of August, the American and French armies commenced their march for Virginia, from the vicinity of New-York. Washington and Rochambeau, on reaching Chester, received news of the arrival of the French fleet under Count de Grasse. The French troops, in their march from Newport in Rhode Island to Yorktown in Virginia, a distance of five hundred miles, behaved with the greatest regularity and propriety. Washington and Rochambeau reached Williams- burgh on the fourteenth of September. They, with the generals Chastelleux, Du Portail and Knox, visited Count de Grasse on board the Ville de Paris, where they agreed on a plan of operations.
The allied forces of the United States and France, proceeded on their way to Yorktown, partly by land and partly down the Chesapeake. The whole, together with a body of Virginia militia, under General Nelson, amounting to twelve thousand men, rendezvoused at Williamsburgh, on the twenty-fifth of September, and on the thirtieth, moved down to lay siege to Yorktown. The French fleet, under Count de Grasse, at the same time, moved to the mouth of York River, and took a posi- tion which prevented Lord Cornwallis, from either retreating or receiving succor. The combined armies of the United States and France, halted in the evening about two miles from Yorktown. About this time, Lord Cornwallis received a letter from Sir Henry Clinton, announcing the arrival of Admiral Digby, with three ships of the line from Europe, and his deter- mination to embark five thousand men in a fleet, which would probably sail on the fifth of October. That this fleet consisted VOL. . III. 48
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of twenty-three sail of the line. On the night of the receipt of this intelligence, Lord Cornwallis quitted his outward position, and retired to one more inward.
The works erected for the security of Yorktown on the right, were redoubts and batteries, with a line of stockades in the rear. A marshy ravine lay in front of the right, over which was placed a large redoubt. The morass extended along the centre, which was defended by a line of stockades and by batteries; on the left of the center was a horn-work with a ditch, a row of fraize, and an abbatis. Two redoubts were advanced before the left. The American and French armies advanced, and took possession of the ground from which the British had retired. About this time, the legionary cavalry and mounted infantry passed over the river to Gloucester ; General De Choisy with his corps invested the British post on that side so fully as to cut off all communi- cation between it and the country. In the mean time the royal army strengthened their works, and kept their artillery con- stantly employed in impeding the operations of the combined ariny. The Americans and French, on the ninth and tenth of October, opened their batteries, and kept up a heavy fire from their cannon, mortars and howitzers. The shells of the be- siegers reached the ships in the harbour, and the Charon, of forty-four guns, and a trausport ship were burned. On the tenth, a messenger arrived with a dispatch from Sir Henry Clinton, dated on the thirtieth ult., which stated various circumstances tending to lessen the probability of relief being obtained from New-York. Lord Cornwallis was at this juncture advised to evacuate Yorktown, and, after passing over to Gloucester, to force his way into the country. On the eleventh of October, the besiegers commenced their second parallel two hundred yards from the works of the besieged. Two redoubts, which were ad- vanced on the left of the British, greatly impeded the progress of the allied armies ; it was therefore proposed to carry them by storm. The reduction of the one was committed to the French, and that of the other to the Americans, and both marched to the assault with unloaded arms. The Americans having passed the abbatis and palisades, attacked on all sides and carried
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