USA > Pennsylvania > The history of Pennsylvania from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 18
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1777.
war. On the night of the 16th the garrison was withdrawn, and a detachment from the Bri- tish army took possession. Preparations were now made by General Washington to defend Fort Mercer at Red Bank; but before the rein- forcements detailed for that service could reach the ground, Lord Cornwallis approached with so formidable a force that the Americans evacuated the fort. The flotilla on the river was destroyed, a few of the vessels escaping, the others being destroyed by their crews ; and, after a struggle of about two months from their entrance into Philadelphia, the British forces had at last secure possession by a free communication with their fleet. Every step, from their landing in August to the complete possession of the city on the 17th of November, was obstinately contested ; and in no period of the war were General Wash- ington's services more useful to his country, though in none was he exposed to more carping and censure. The patriots of Pennsylvania de- serve high praise, since they had to work in the face of a large body of the disaffected.
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ATTEMPTED SURPRISE.
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1777.]
CHAPTER XVIII.
Attempted surprise of Washington's camp-Skirmishing and retreat of the British-Manner in which the Americans were warned-Encampment at Valley Forge-Destitution and distress of the army-Embarrassment of the country- Treaties with France-Lord North's proposition to Franklin -His proposed measures of conciliation-Lord North's pro- positions circulated in America-Resolutions of Congress- Foraging operations of the British-Narrow escape of La- fayette-Evacuation of Philadelphia-Battle of Monmouth -Arrival of British commissioners-Refusal of Congress to treat with them-Tampering with individuals-Departure of the commissioners-Wyoming-Unadilla-Cherry Val- ley-British conquest of Georgia and South Carolina- Revolt of the Pennsylvania and Jersey troops-Turn of affairs at the South-The Cowpens-Guilford-Yorktown -Close of the war.
GENERAL WASHINGTON was now (December, 1777) joined by troops from the army which had conquered Burgoyne, and was encamped at Whitemarsh. The British had a chain of posts strongly fortified, from the Delaware to the Schuylkill. On the evening of the 4th of De- cember, the British force marched out of Phila- delphia with the intention of surprising Wash- ington in his camp. But at eleven o'clock the British advance found themselves smartly at- tacked, and were compelled to change their line of march, the attacking party worrying them for several hours, and possessing, apparently, a know-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1777.
ledge of the number and intentions of the British while their own force and movements were not understood. Other skirmishes took place during the night, without any other effect than warning the British commander that his intention of a surprise was discovered. The next day the two armies manœuvred in front of each other, neither willing to relinquish the advantage of position.
. A smart skirmish occurred, but it was on such unfavourable ground that General Washington declined to risk a general engagement. During the evening the intention of the enemy appeared to be to make an attack on the following morn- ing; but on the afternoon of the next day the British force suddenly retreated to Philadelphia, having lost over a hundred men, and suffered the implied defeat of marching out to attack and returning without an engagement. The secret of General Howe's movements is since explained by a fragment of private history. Some of Ge- neral Howe's staff used a room in the house of . William Danack, in Second street below Spruce, for official conference. Lydia, the wife of Wil- liam, overheard the order read for the surprise of Washington on the night of the 6th, and managed, at the peril of her life, to convey the intelligence to an American officer. She ob- tained permission to cross the lines to purchase flour at Frankfort, and meeting an American officer whom she knew, communicated to him the
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VALLEY FORGE.
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secret. Hence came the unexpected prepara- tion which the British army encountered, and - the defeat of the intended surprise.
Some of the more adventurous of Washing- ton's officers strongly advised an attack upon Philadelphia, but such an undertaking was deem- ed by him too formidable, and even if successful, involving too great a loss of life and property. His military talents were disputed, and intrigue . and cabal were resorted to to influence his judgment, or to remove him from the command; but his firmness prevented any yielding on his part, and the affection of his army and the prestige of his high character protected him against faction. He persevered in his wise and cautious policy, and went into winter-quarters at Valley Forge. Here huts were constructed, and all the order of a regular encampment was preserved, except the substitution of log-houses for tents. Here the army throughout the win- ter endured privations and distress which, under any commander save one to whom they were devotedly attached, like Washington, must have resulted in mutiny. Washington made earnest appeals to Congress in behalf of his troops ; and in one of his letters says : "For some days there has been little less than a famine in camp. A , part of the army have been a week without any kind of flesh, and the rest three or four days. Naked and starving as they are, we cannot
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1778.
enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of the soldiery, that they have not ere this been excited to mutiny and dispersion. Strong symptoms of discontent have, however, appeared in particular instances."
A large part of the army were absolutely con- fined to their huts for want of clothing; blankets and straw even were so scarce that men were . often compelled to keep themselves warm by the fire through the night. In this state of destitu- tion, the commander-in-chief still managed to keep up such an appearance of strength as to deceive the enemy, and compel him to forage only under strong escorts. But had the British moved out in force, the American army must have been destroyed. Nominally exceeding seventeen thousand men, the effective force in camp.was only about five thousand. Four thou- sand were reported unfit for duty for want of clothes. The hospitals were full, and a violent putrid fever swept off great numbers. The suf- ferings of the army were somewhat alleviated in February, a committee of Congress having visited the camp, and more energetic measures being , taken. The American commissariat laboured under the disadvantage of having only conti- nental paper to offer, while the British paid in gold; and Washington was compelled to the harsh expedient of commanding the seizure of corn and cattle wherever they could be found, giving the
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1776.] EMBARRASSMENT OF THE COUNTRY. 315
owners certificates for the property taken. He was also active in cutting off the supplies intend- ed for Philadelphia, whenever practicable ; and the vigilance and activity of the American scout- ing parties intercepted a large portion of the provisions destined for the British camp.
It must not be supposed that it was through any indifference of Congress to the state of the service that the condition of the troops became so deplorable. The non-importation agreements which had been entered into, and rigidly enforced before the commencement of hostilities, very much reduced the quantity of manufactured goods in the country, and the war had suspended foreign commerce. The continental currency had depreciated to such a low value that it had almost ceased to be a tender for purchases, and no legislation could give it value while new issues continued and hastened its depreciation. The nominal pay of officers and soldiers bore no proportion to the actual value of the bills; and the finances of the confederation were in a most deplorable condition, while the British officers and agents had abundance of gold and silver at their command. The articles of confederation between the States had not as yet been agreed upon; and we can only wonder that the country was able to keep up any show of union and re- sistance, rather than be surprised at the ineffi- ciency of the means of defence and aggression.
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
[1778.
With the duration of the war, people had become more unanimous in supporting it. Its progress had compromised them beyond the hope of re- covery. The measures taken by Great Britain had imbittered her former subjects into unre- lenting enmity; and even the barbarities of partisan warfare, in which friendships became enmities, and old neighbours and even friends and relatives were imbittered, aided to keep up the spirit of war and resistance. Thus, while the sentiment of patriotism had its value with the better class, and with all classes in their better moments, other and more immediate ex- citing causes were continually in operation.
While the state of affairs was so unfortunate in America, in Europe important events were taking place of a far different and encouraging character. The American commissioners in France had succeeded at last in obtaining a public recognition. In the month of December, 1776, Franklin arrived in Paris, to join Silas Dean and Arthur Lee, who were already there. In February, 1778, a treaty of commerce between France and America was signed in Paris, as also a conditional treaty of alliance, contingent upon the declaration of war against France by Great Britain. Aid had already been obtained inform- ally and indirectly ; and the commissioners had built two frigates, one at Amsterdam and one at Nantes. Money had been advanced and
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TREATIES WITH FRANCE.
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munitions of war shipped to America. The British ministry was of course well aware of all these proceedings, and the negotiations between the commissioners and the French ministry were conducted on the supposition that war must re- sult. Lord North was not inattentive to his old acquaintance, Franklin, and appealed to him by a succession of agents, one after another. These agents offered various propositions, none of which came up to Franklin's knowledge of the require- ments and desires of the American people. The effort was made to prevent or to defeat the alli- ance between France and America. The French court was also appealed to, and all the acts of diplomacy were employed, though without suc- cess, to cause jealousy and suspicion between France and America.
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Simultaneously with these attempts to treat. with the revolted colonies through their commis- sioners, Lord North brought forward in Parlia- ment two bills, one renouncing on the part of Great Britain any intention to tax America, and the other appointing three commissioners, to act with the two British commanders-in-chief in America, in negotiating with the Americans for the re-establishment of the royal authority. This step of Lord North's, and the accounts which had been received in Paris of the capture of Bur- goyne, and the bold and creditable movements of the American army in Jersey and in Pennsyl-
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1778.
vania, determined the French cabinet, and the American commissioners were apprized of the readiness of the French government to form an alliance. The business was speedily accom- plished; and the American commissioners had the high happiness to find their country formally recognised as an independent power.
While the bills of Lord North were still under discussion, draughts of their contents were trans- mitted to America, and the loyalists were active in circulating them. Congress immediately re- ferred the subject to a committee, whose report, ably dissecting the propositions, was forthwith published, together with the bills, in the news- papers. This report concluded with a resolution, unanimously passed, which declared all who should attempt a separate treaty the enemies of their country ; and that no conference should be held with any commissioners till the British armies were withdrawn, or the independence of the United States was acknowledged. Early in May the treaties with France were received, instantly ratified by Congress, and received by the people with transports of joy. Now the cause of independence seemed no longer doubtful. In March the British ambassador was recalled from Paris, which act was equivalent to a declaration of war.
Early in the spring of 1778, the enemy, restive under his state of siege in Philadelphia, began
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PHILADELPHIA EVACUATED.
1778.]
to make foraging excursions. A large part of Jersey was laid waste, and some unfinished ves- sels and military stores were destroyed- at Bor- dentown. Washington was not in force success- fully to arrest these movements, but General Lafayette was detached with two thousand choice troops to take post near the lines, both as an advance guard for the American army, and to annoy the British rear should the enemy at- tempt a retreat from Philadelphia, as was now expected. By a change of position in a body of troops, of which Lafayette was unaware, the young general's rear was left unguarded, and he was almost surprised while encamped at Barren Hill. By most skilful and prompt manœuvres, Lafayette retreated in good order.
Sir William Howe, early in June, resigned his command and embarked for England. He was succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton, and thus es- caped the mortification of the evacuation of Philadelphia, which the British ministry now directed, as it was not a post tenable against the maritime power of France. On the 18th of June the British army marched out of the city and crossed over to Jersey. They were followed so close by Captain McLane, an active partisan officer, that he managed to cut off and capture thirty-three men, including a captain and a pro- vost-marshal, without the loss of a man. Wash- ington having called in his detachments, and made
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
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all preparations for harassing the march of the retreating foe, crossed over into Jersey, post- ing himself with his usual caution, so that he might keep the choice of bringing on or of avoid- ing an action.
The incidents of the retreat through New Jersey belong to the history of that State. Suffice it to say that the march occupied a little over two weeks, and that, including desertions, the British loss was not less than two thousand men. This, however, was better for the royal cause than the loss of the whole army, which would inevitably have taken place if the French fleet had not been delayed by adverse winds to the extraordinary passage of eighty-seven days. The battle of Monmouth, one of the most severely contested during the Revolution, occurred during this march, on an oppressively hot day, the 28th of June. In the early part of the day the ad- vantage was with the British-in the latter part with the Americans. The latter maintained their ground, resting on the field with their arms in their hands ; while during the night the enemy retreated, with such silence and skill, that their disappearance was not known till daylight. The American loss in this engagement was about two hundred men, the British a hundred more.
While the retreat from Philadelphia was going forward, the commissioners appointed under Lord North's bill were endeavouring to effect an
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BRITISH COMMISSIONERS.
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arrangement with Congress. The terms offered were such as would have checked the war in its commencement if then offered, being no less than a total abandonment of the pretensions which had led to resistance and ultimate hostili- ties. And, in addition to this, it was proposed to give the colonies greater commercial privileges than they had ever enjoyed, and a representa- tion in the British Parliament. But the tenders came too late. People were exasperated and distrustful. The colonies were not only pledged to independence to each other, but a separate national existence was the basis of the treaties with France. A passport to visit Congress was refused to the secretary of the commission ; and when the commissioners forwarded to Congress a copy of their instructions, and an address in which they proposed a suspension of hostilities, they were briefly answered that no treaty could be entered upon until the British troops were withdrawn or the independence of the United States was acknowledged. While thus unsuc- cessful with Congress, the commissioners tried their skill and powers of blandishment over indi- viduals. Letters of introduction were brought by one of the members of the commission to Robert Morris, Joseph Reed, and others. To these gentlemen he wrote, urging the expediency of an adjustment of the quarrel, and more than hinting high honours and rewards to those who
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1778.
should be instrumental in effecting it. These 'letters were laid before Congress, as was also a statement by Joseph Reed, that a distinct offer of ten thousand pounds, and his choice of any office in the colonies, had been made to him for his services. Reed replied to these overtures, that "he was not worth purchasing; but, such as he was, the King of England was not rich enough to buy him." Resolutions were passed by Congress based on these facts, and declining to hold any further correspondence with the 'commission, one of whose members at least was guilty of an attempt at bribery. The commis- sioners replied through the press, and addressed a manifesto to the public, in which, after appeal- ing to sectional and religious prejudices, and to the old national hatred of France, they allowed forty days for submission, and threatened, at the close of that period, that the desolation of the country would be a leading object of the war. Congress caused this document to be published in the papers, with replies official and unofficial. The forty days passed without submission, and the foiled commissioners returned to Europe.
The war on the part of the British now as- sumed a cruel and wanton character, in keeping with the desolation threatened. New Bedford, Fairhaven, and Egg Harbour were burned, and quarter was refused in some instances to detach- ments of American troops which were surprised
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MASSACRE OF WYOMING.
1778.]
or overpowered. Indications of Indian warfare at the West betrayed the influence of British emissaries, often American Tories, whose enmity was unappeasable, they having been sufferers and acting under the stimulus of revenge. A party of Indians and Tory refugees fell in July upon the settlement at Wyoming. The settle- ment had been deprived of its able men by the raising of two companies for the continental army, and the rumours of Indian hostilities had caused a third company to be raised as a local
garrison. Before the necessary preparations were complete, Colonel Butler, with a company of Tories and Indians, appeared in the valley. There were two forts, one of which surrendered at once. The company of continental troops marched out to meet the enemy, but were de- feated. Driven back, as many as could took refuge in Fort Wyoming, while those who fell into the hands of the Indians were put to death with terrible cruelty. The fort was summoned to surrender, which it did after opportunity had been given for the continental soldiers to escape, since against them the Indians and Tories had a bloodthirsty enmity. Security was promised by Colonel Butler to life and property ; but his un- manageable Indians, full of long-cherished hatred, would not be controlled. They burned and de- stroyed all the property which was destructible, murdered whoever retreated, and the women and
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1780.
children took refuge from their barbarity in flight. This melancholy event has been made familiar in the verse of one of the most widely- read of modern poets. In retaliation, a Penn- sylvania regiment stationed at Schoharie de- stroyed the settlement of Unadilla, occupied by Tories and Indians, and they in their turn de- stroyed Cherry Valley, though the garrison held out against the attack.
These events were the last serious traces of war in the limits of Pennsylvania. The scene of warfare was now changed to the southern por- tion of the confederacy. Georgia was overrun and conquered; and for the first time since the commencement of the war the British rule was re-established in one of the colonies. An abor- tive attempt to recover Savannah, by the Ame- ricans, cost nearly a thousand men, including the brave Pulaski. The French allies bore the larger portion of this loss. Charleston next fell, after several months resistance; Gates's "North- ern laurels were changed into Southern willows" at the battle of Camden ; the southern army was totally dispersed, and South Carolina was claimed as a conquered state. No sign of resistance now remained except in partisan warfare, in which bands of loyalists and republicans pursued each other in all the fury of fraternal hate. Next came the treachery of Arnold, happily frustrated, but still shaking the public confidence in a man-
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1781.]
ner in which it had never before been so deeply disturbed.
The year 1781 opened with prospects gloomy indeed. The Pennsylvania line, in their winter- quarters at Morristown, New Jersey, broke out into open revolt. They were enlisted for three years and the war, and insisted that the terms were three years or the war; their construction of the terms of enlistment giving them the right to demand their discharge, which they did de- mand. They left the encampment, having killed an officer who attempted to restrain them, and marched toward Princeton. General Wayne, with wise prudence, sent provisions after them to prevent their plundering the people for a sub- sistence, and himself followed and endeavoured to control them. This he was able in some de- gree to do, not by his authority as an officer, which was no longer heeded, but by his great personal popularity. But amid their exaspera- tion they did not forget their loyalty to their country. British emissaries who ventured among them with proposals to desert the American cause were arrested by them and detained. President Reed, of Pennsylvania, met them at Princeton, and acted as mediator between the revolted troops and a committee of Congress. They were offered and accepted an immediate supply of clothing, certificates for their arrears of pay, and a discharge of such as would make
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HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA. [1781.
oath that by the terms of enlistment they were entitled to it. Nearly all were thus discharged, and the luckless British emissaries, being given up by the soldiers, were tried by court-martial and hung as spies. The New Jersey line, follow- ing the evil example, were urged by a committee of the legislature of the state to return to their duty. The greater number refused, and Wash- ington, fearful of the contagion of the revolt, overwhelmed the whole line by a superior force. Three of the ringleaders were tried by court- martial, and sentenced to death. One was re- prieved, and the others were shot on the field, the executioners being drawn from their own companies. In a few months the Pennsylvania line was nearly up to its old standard of num- bers by new recruits.
Affairs in the South began to wear a better aspect. Arnold ravaged Virginia, but Morgan and Greene in the South began to rally the Whigs. The victory over Tarleton at " the Cowpens," gained by Morgan, the rapid evolu- tions of the American army, the hardly-contested field of Guilford Court House, and the bold dash at South Carolina which Greene made, demon- strated that proclamations and appointments of royal officers could not re-establish the British rule. While Greene pushed to the South, Corn- wallis advanced into Virginia. Greene recovered nearly the whole of South Carolina. A melan-
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CLOSE OF THE WAR.
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choly and ferocious aspect was given to the war in the South by the rule adopted by the British of shooting such as had once taken the royal protection, and afterward were found in arms against them. Colonel Hayne, a distinguish- ed citizen of Charleston, was the victim of this cruel and impolitic course, and great excite- ment was created by it. Retaliatory executions took place and the partisan troops were exaspe- rated to new cruelties.
Cornwallis joined the British forces in Vir- ginia under Phillips, and after a variety of marches, watched by Lafayette and Wayne, es- tablished his head-quarters at Yorktown and Gloucester. Here he removed his whole force in July, having destroyed property to the value of ten or twelve millions of dollars; and here, in. September, he capitulated to the combined American and French armies, seven thousand men surrendering themselves as prisoners of war. Wilmington, North Carolina, was next evacuated by the British. In January, 1782, Greene, with reinforcements from Virginia, shut up the enemy in Charleston. In July, Augusta was evacuated, and in December, Charleston. Active operations had been for some time sus- pended between the main armies, as negotiations for peace were understood to be in progress. In April a cessation of hostilities was proclaimed. On the 3d of September the treaty was ratified;
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