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THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION


by John Fiske


IN TWO VOLUMES

Vol. II.


BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY

The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1891



CONTENTS


CHAPTER VIII.

THE FRENCH ALLIANCE.


        Page
The four periods of the Revolutionary war 1 - 4
Consequences of Saratoga; consternation in England 4, 5
Views of the different parties 6
Lord North's political somersault 7
Strange scene in the House of Commons 8
Treaty between France and the United States (February 6, 1778) 9, 10
Great Britain declares war against France (March 13) 11
Demand for Lord Chatham for prime minister 12, 13
The king's rage 13, 14
What Chatham would have tried to do 15
Death of Chatham 16, 17
His prodigious greatness 17, 22
Lord North remains in power 22
His commissioners in America fail to accomplish anything 23
Germaine's new plan for conducting the war 24

CHAPTER IX.

VALLEY FORGE.

Distress in America 25
Lack of organization 26, 27
Vexatious meddling of Congress with the army 28
Sufferings at Valley Forge 29
Promoting officers for non-military reasons 30
Absurd talk of John Adams 31
Gates is puffed up with success 32
And shows symptoms of insubordination 33
The Conway cabal 34-36
Attempts to injure Washington 36-37
Conway's letter to Gates 38
Gate's letter to Washington 39
Washington's reply 40
Gates tries, unsuccessfully to save himself by lying 41
But is successful, as usual, in keeping from under fire 42
The forged letters 43
Scheme for invading Canada 43
The dinner at York, and Lafayette's toast 44
Absurdity of the scheme 45
Downfall of the cabal 46
Decline of the Continental Congress 47
Increasing influence of Washington 48

CHAPTER X.

MONMOUTH AND NEWPORT

Baron Friedrich von Steuben 50, 51
He arrives in America and visits Congress at York 52
His work in training the army at Valley Forge 53, 54
His manual of tactics 55
Sir William Howe resigns his command 56
The Mischianza 57
The British evacuate Philadelphia (June 18, 1778) 58
Arnold takes command here 58
Charles Lee is exchanged and returns to his command in the American
     army
59
Washington pursues the British 60
His plan of attack 61
Battle of Monmouth (June 28) 62-65
Lee's shameful retreat 62, 63
Washington retrieves the situation 64
It was a drawn battle 65
Washington's letter to Lee 66
Trial and sentence of Lee 67, 68
Lee's character and schemes 69, 70
Lee's expulsion from the army; his death 71
The situation at New York 72
The French fleet unable to enter the harbour 73
General Prescott at Newport 74
Attempt to capture the British garrison at Newport 75
Sullivan seizes Butt's Hill 76
Naval battle prevented by storm 76, 77
Estaing goes to Boston to refit his ships 77
Yeomanry go home in disgust 78
Battle of Butt's Hill (August 29) 79
The enterprise abandoned 79
Unpopularity of the French alliance 80
Stagnation of the war in the northern states 81

CHAPTER XI.

WAR ON THE FRONTIER.

Joseph Brant, or Thayendanegea, missionary and war-chief 82-85
The Tories of western New York 85, 86
The valley of Wyoming and its settlers from Connecticut 87
Massacre at Wyoming (July 3, 1778) 88, 89
Massacre at Cherry Valley (November 10) 90
Sullivan's expedition against the Iroquois 90-91
Battle of Newtown (August 29, 1779) 91
Devastation of the Iroquois country 92
Reign of terror in the Mohawk valley 93
The wilderness beyond the Alleghanies 94, 95
Rivalry between Pennsylvania and Virginia for the possession of Fort Pitt 96
Lord Dunmore's war (1774) 97
Logan and Cresap 98-100
Battle of Point Pleasant (Octobe 10, 1774) and its consequences 100
Settlement of Kentucky 101
And of eastern Tennessee 102
Defeat of the Cherokees on the Watauga and its consequences 103
George Rogers Clark 103-104
His conquest of the northwestern territory (1778) 105
Capture of Vincennes (February 23, 1779) 106
Settlement of middle Tennessee 107
Importance of Clark's conquest 108-109
Tryon's raids upon the coast of Connecticut 110
Sir Henry Clinton captures the fortress at Stony Point (May 31, 1779) 111
Wayne recaptures Stony Point by storm (July 16) 112
Evacuation of Stony Point 113
Henry Lee's exploit at Paulus Hook (August 18) 114-115

CHAPTER XII

WAR ON THE OCEAN

Importance of the control of the water 116
Feeble action of Congress 117, 118
American and British cruisers 119
Lambert Wickes and Gustavus Conyngham 120
John Paul Jones 120
Franklin's supervision of maritime affairs 121
Jones's squadron 122, 123
His cruise on the British coast 123, 124
He meets a British fleet off Flamborough Head 124
Terrific fight between the Serapis and the Bon Homme Richard (September 23, 1779) 125-128
Effect of Jones's victory 129
Why Denmark and Russia were interested in it 130
Relations of Spain and France to England 131, 132
Intrigues of Spain 132, 133
Treaty between Spain and France (April, 1779) 134
French and Spanish fleets attempt an invasion of England
     (August, 1779)
135, 136
Sir George Rodney 137
Rights of neutrals upon the sea 138
The Consolato del Mare 139
England's conduct in the eighteenth century 140
Prussian doctrine that free ships make free goods 141
Influence of the French philosophers 142
Great Britain wishes to secure an alliance with Russia 143
Importance of Minorca 144
France adopts the Prussian doctrine 145, 146
The affair of Fielding and Bylandt 147
Spanish cruisers capture Russian vessels 148
Catherine's proclamation (March 8, 1780) 149
The Armed Neutrality 149-150
Vast importance of the principles laid down by Catherine 151-154
Holland joins the Armed Neutrality 155
Great Britain declares war against Holland (Dec. 20, 1780) 156-158
Capture of St. Eustatius (February 3, 1781) 159
Shameful proceedings 160
Ignominious results of the politics of George III. 161-162

CHAPTER XIII.

A YEAR OF DISASTERS.

State of affairs in Georgia and South Carolina 164-165
Georgia overrun by the British 166
Arrival of General Lincoln (December, 1778) 167
Partisan warefare; barbarous reprisals 168
The Americans routed at Briar Creek (March 3, 1779) 169
Vandalism of General Prevost 170
Plan for arming negroes 170
Indignation in South Carolina 171
Action of the council 172
End of the campaign 173
Attempt to recapture Savannah 174
Clinton and Cornwallis go to Georgia 175-176
The British advance upon Charleston 177
Surrender of Charleston (May 12, 1780) 178
South Carolina overrun by the British 179
Clinton returns to New York 180
An injudicious proclomation 180
Disorders in South Carolina 181
The strategic points 182
Partisan commanders 182
Francis Marion 183
Thomas Sumter 184
First appearance of Andrew Jackson in history 185
Advance of Kalb 185
Gates appointed to the chief command in the South 186
Choice of roads to Camden 187
Gates chooses a wrong road 188
He loses the moment for striking 189
And weakens his army on the eve of battle 190
And is surprised by Cornwallis 191
Battle of Camden (Aug. 16, 1780); total & ignominious defeat of Gates 191-193
His campaign was a series of blunders 194
Partisan operations 195
Weariness and depression of the people 196
Evils wrought by the paper currency 197
"Not worth a Continental" 198
Taxes paid in the form of specific supplies 199
Difficulty of keeping the army together 200
The French alliance 201
Lafayette's visit to France (February, 1779) 202
Arrival of part of the French auxilliary force under Count
     Rochambeau, (July, 1780)
203
The remainder is detained in France by a British fleet 204
General despondency 205

CHAPTER XIV.

BENEDICT ARNOLD

Arnold put in command of Philadelphia (June, 1778) 206
He gets into difficulties with the government of Pennyslvania 207
Miss Margaret Shippen 208
Views of the moderate Tories 208, 209
Arnold's drift toward Toryism 209
He makes up his mind to leave the army 210
Charges are brought against him (January, 1779) 211
He is acquitted by a committee of Congress (March) 211
The case is referred to a court-martial (April) 212
First correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton 213
The court-martial acquits Arnold of all serious charges but directs
     Washington to remprimand him for two very trivial ones. (Jan. 26,
     1780)
214
Arnold thirsts for revenge upon Congress. 215
Significance of West Point 216
Secret interview between Arnold and Andre' (September 22) 217, 218
The plot for surrendering West Point 219
Andre' takes compromising documents 220
And is persuaded to return to New York by land 221
The roads infested by robbers 221
Arrest of Andre' (September 23) 222
Colonel Jameson's perplexity 223
Washington returns from Hartford sooner than expected 224
Flight of Arnold (September 25) 225, 226
Discovery of the treasonable plot 227
Andre' taken to Tappan (September 28) 228
Andre's trial and sentence (September 29) 229
Clinton's arguments and protests 230
Captain Ogden's message 231
Execution of Andre' (October 2) 231
Lord Stanhope's unconscious impudence 232
There is no reason in the world why Andre's life should have been
     spared
233
Captain Battersby's story 234
Arnold's terrible downfall 235
Anecdotes 236
Arnold's family 237
His remorse and death (June 14, 1801) 238
Reflections 238, 239
Fate of Clinton's emissaries 242
Further mutiny suppressed 242, 243

CHAPTER XV.

YORKTOWN

Cornwallis invades North Carolina (September, 1780) 244
Ferguson's expedition 245
Rising of the backwoodsmen 246
Battle of King's Mountain (October 7, 1780) 247
Effect of the blow 248
Reinforcements from the North; arrival of Daniel Morgan 249
Greene appointed to chief command at the South 250, 251
Greene's daring strategy; he threatens Cornwallis on both flanks 252
Cornwallis retorts by sending Tarleton against Morgan 253
Morgan's position at the Cowpens 254
Battle of the Cowpens (January 17, 1781); nearly the whole British
     force captured in the field
254, 255
Brilliant movements of Morgan and Greene; they lead Cornwallis a
     chase across North Carolina
256, 257
Further manoeuvres 258
Battle of Guilford (March 15) 258, 259
Retreat of Cornwallis 260
He abandons the Carolinas and marches into Virginia 261
Greene's master-stroke; he returns to South Carolina (April 6-18) 262
And, by taking Fort Watson, cuts Lord Rawdon's communications (April
     23)
263
Rawdon defeats Greene at Hobkirk's Hill (April 25) but is none the less
     obliged to give up Camden in order to save his army (May 10)
264
All the inland posts taken from the British (May-June) 265
Rawdon goes to England leaving Stuart in command 265
Greene marches against Stuart (August 22) 266
Battle of Eutaw Springs (September 8) 267
Greene's superb generalship 267, 268
Lord Cornwallis arrives at Petersburg (May 20) 269
His campaign against Lafayette 270, 271
Cornwallis retreats to the coast, and occupies Yorktown 272
Elements of the final catastrophe; arrival of the French fleet 273, 274
News from Grasse and Lafayette 275
Subtle and audacious scheme of Washington 276
He transfers his army to Virginia (August 29-September 18) 277, 278
Movements of the fleets 279
Cornwallis surrounded at Yorktown 280
Clinton's attempt at a counter-stroke; Arnold's proceedings at New
     London (September 6)
281, 282
Surrender of Cornwallis 283
Importance of the aid rendered by the French fleet and army 284
Effect of the news in England 285, 286
Difficult position of Great Britain 287
Rodney's victory over Grasse (April 12, 1782) 288
Resignation of Lord North (March 20, 1782) 289
Defeat of the political schemes of George III. 290


Index at the back of the book 291

MAPS

Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778, from the first edition of Irving's
     Life of Washington
62
Battle of Camden, August 16, 1780, from a sketch by the author 192
Battle of Cowpens, January 17, 1781, ditto 254
Greene and Cornwallis in the Carolinas, January-April, 1781, ditto 258
Cornwallis and Lafayette in Virginia, May-August, 1781, ditto 272
Washington's march upon Yorktown, August 19-September 26, 1781,
     ditto
278


INDEX AT THE BACK OF THE BOOK (for both volumes in Vol. II) 291

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TYPED AND REFORMATED BY JANICE FARNSWORTH

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