The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)
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[Sidenote: American army inoculated.]
Inoculation having been rarely practised in the western world, the
American youth remained liable to the small pox. Notwithstanding the
efforts to guard against this disease, it had found its way into both
the northern and middle army, and had impaired the strength of both to
an alarming degree. To avoid the return of the same evil, the General
determined to inoculate all the soldiers in the American service. With
the utmost secrecy, preparations were made to give the infection in
camp; and the hospital physicians in Philadelphia were ordered to
carry all the southern troops, as they should arrive, through the
disease. Similar orders were also given to the physicians at other
places; and thus an army exempt from the fear of a calamity which had,
at all times, endangered the most important operations, was prepared
for the ensuing campaign. This example was followed through the
country; and this alarming disease was no longer the terror of
America.
As the main body of the British army was cantoned in Jersey, and a
strong detachment occupied Rhode Island, General Washington believed
that New York could not be perfectly secure. His intelligence
strengthened this opinion; and, as an army, respectable in point of
numbers, had been assembled about Peekskill, he ordered General Heath
to approach New York for the purpose of foraging, and, should
appearances favour the attempt, of attacking the forts which guarded
the entrance into the island. The hope was entertained that General
Howe, alarmed for New York, might either withdraw his troops from
Jersey, or so weaken his posts in that state as to endanger them.
Should this hope be disappointed, it was believed that something
handsome might be done, either on York or Long Island.
[Sidenote: General Heath moves down to Kingsbridge, but returns to
Peekskill without effecting anything.]
In pursuance of this plan, General Heath marched down to West Chester,
and summoned fort Independence to surrender; but, the garrison
determining to hold the place, a council of war deemed it unadviseable
to risk an assault. An embarkation of troops which took place, about
that time, at Rhode Island, alarmed General Heath for his rear, and
induced him to resume his ground in the Highlands.
Though this attempt entirely failed, the Commander-in-chief still
meditated important operations during the winter. All the intelligence
from Europe demonstrated the necessity of these operations, and the
fallacy of the hope, still extensively cherished, that the war would
be abandoned by Great Britain. The administration was still supported
by great majorities in parliament; and the nation seemed well disposed
to employ all its means to reannex to the empire, what were still
denominated, revolted colonies. It was not to be doubted that large
reinforcements would arrive in the spring; and the safety of the
nation would be in hazard should General Howe remain in full force
till they should be received. The utmost efforts were made by the
Commander-in-chief to collect a sufficient number of troops to enable
him to give a decisive blow to some one of the positions of his enemy.
The state sovereignties, where the real energies of government
resided, were incessantly urged to fill their regiments, and to bring
their quotas into the field; and congress, at his instance, passed
resolutions authorizing him to draw the troops from Peekskill, and to
call out the militia of the neighbouring states. "It being," these
resolutions proceed to say, "the earnest desire of congress, to make
the army under the immediate command of General Washington
sufficiently strong, not only to curb and confine the enemy within
their present quarters, and prevent their drawing support of any kind
from the country, but, by the divine blessing, totally to subdue them
before they can be reinforced."
These resolves were communicated to the general, in a letter,
manifesting the confident expectation of congress that the desire
expressed in them would soon be realized. But the energy displayed in
their passage could not be maintained in their execution.
Many causes concurred to prevent the collection of a force competent
to those vigorous operations which the enterprising genius of the
Commander-in-chief had provisionally planned, and the sanguine temper
of congress had anticipated. Some of the state assemblies did not even
complete the appointment of officers till the spring; and then, bitter
contests concerning rank remained to be adjusted when the troops
should join the army. After these arrangements were made, the
difficulty of enlisting men was unexpectedly great. The immense
hardships to which the naked soldiers had been exposed, during a
winter campaign, in the face of a superior enemy; the mortality
resulting from those hardships, and probably from an injudicious
arrangement of the hospital department which was found to be the tomb
of the sick; had excited a general disgust to the service; and a
consequent unwillingness to engage in it.
From these causes the army continued so feeble that the general,
instead of being able to execute the great designs he had meditated,
entertained serious fears that Sir William Howe would take the field
during the winter, force his positions, cross the Delaware on the ice,
and proceed to Philadelphia. In the apprehension of this attempt, and
to avoid that confusion which would result from the removal of stores
in the crisis of military operations, he had taken the precaution, as
soon as the armies were in winter quarters, to convey those which were
most valuable, to a distance from the route which it was supposed the
British army would pursue.
{March 4.}
The real condition of the army is exhibited in a letter from the
Commander-in-chief to congress, in answer to that which enclosed the
resolutions already mentioned, and which expressed the brilliant
schemes of victory formed by the government. "Could I," said the
general, "accomplish the important objects so eagerly wished by
congress; confining the enemy within their present quarters,
preventing their getting supplies from the country, and totally
subduing them before they are reinforced, I should be happy indeed.
But what prospect or hope can there be of my effecting so desirable a
work at this time? The enclosed return,[56] to which I solicit the
most serious attention of congress, comprehends the whole force I have
in Jersey. It is but a handful, and bears no proportion on the scale
of numbers to that of the enemy. Added to this, the major part is made
up of militia. The most sanguine in speculation can not deem it more
than adequate to the least valuable purposes of war."
[Footnote 56: See note No. VIII. at the end of the volume.]
[Sidenote: Skirmishes.]
Though unable to act with the vigour he wished, the American general
kept up a war of skirmishes through the winter. In the course of it,
the British loss was believed to be considerable; and hopes were
entertained that, from the scarcity of forage, neither their cavalry
nor draft horses would be in a condition to take the field when the
campaign should open. Their foraging parties were often attacked to
advantage. Frequent small successes, the details of which filled the
papers throughout the United States, not only increased the confidence
of the American soldiers, but served greatly to animate the people.
[Sidenote: State of the army.]
The hope of collecting a sufficient force during the winter to make
any valuable impression on the British army being disappointed, the
views of the General were directed to the next campaign.
As the new army was to be raised by the authority of the state
governments, he urged on them the necessity of bringing a respectable
force into the field early in the spring, with all the earnestness
which was suggested by his situation, and zeal for the service.
In Connecticut and Massachusetts, the country was laid off into
districts, each of which was required, by a given day, to furnish a
soldier enlisted for three years, or during the war; in default of
which, one person, from those capable of bearing arms, was to be
drafted to serve until the first of the ensuing January. The
Commander-in-chief, though still deprecating the introduction of men
into the army whose terms of service would be of short duration, felt
the necessity of submitting to this expedient, as the most eligible
which could now be adopted.
In Virginia, where the same difficulty attended enlistments, it was
proposed by the executive to fill the regiments with volunteers, who
should engage to serve for six months. This plan was submitted to
General Washington by Governor Henry, and his opinion asked upon it.
"I am under the necessity of observing," said the General in reply,
"that the volunteer plan which you mention will never answer any
valuable purpose, and that I can not but disapprove the measure. To
the short engagements of our troops may be fairly and justly ascribed
almost every misfortune that we have experienced."
In a subsequent letter to the same gentleman, enforcing earnestly the
necessity of bringing a sufficient army into the field, though
coercive measures should be adopted, some alternatives were suggested,
which, in a later period of the war, constituted the basis of various
experiments to furnish the quota of troops required from that state.
As the season for active operations approached, fresh difficulties,
growing out of the organization of the American system, unfolded
themselves. As every state was exposed to invasion, and the command of
the ocean enabled the British general to transfer the war, at
pleasure, to any part of the Union, the attention of each was directed
exclusively to its particular situation. Each state in the
neighbourhood of the great theatre of action, contemplating its own
danger, claimed the protection which is due from the whole to its
parts. Although the object of the confederation was the same with that
pursued by each of its members, the spirit incident to every league
could not be controlled in an empire where, notwithstanding the
existence of a head, the essentials of government resided in the
members. It was displayed in repeated efforts to give to the energies
of the army such various directions, as would leave it unable to
effect any great object, or to obstruct any one plan the enemy might
form. The patriotism of the day, however, and the unexampled
confidence placed by all the state governments in the
Commander-in-chief, prevented the mischiefs this spirit is so well
calculated to generate. His representations made their proper
impression; and the intention of retaining continental troops for
local defence was abandoned, though with some reluctance. The burden,
however, of calling militia from their domestic avocations, at every
threat of invasion, to watch every military post in each state, became
so intolerable, that the people cast about for other expedients to
relieve themselves from its weight. The plan of raising regular corps,
to be exclusively under state authority, and thus be a perpetual
substitute for the yeomanry of the country, presented itself as the
most effectual and convenient mode of protecting the coasts from
insult.
During the winter, General Howe kept his troops in their quarters,
attending to their comfort. As the season for more active operations
approached, his first attention was directed to the destruction of the
scanty supplies prepared by the Americans for the ensuing campaign. A
small place on the Hudson called Peekskill, about fifty miles above
New York, was generally the residence of the officer commanding in the
Highlands, and was used for the reception of stores, to be distributed
into the neighbouring posts as occasion might require. Its strength,
like that of all others depending for defence on militia, was subject
to great fluctuation. As soon as the ice was out of the river, General
Howe took advantage of its occasional weakness, to carry on an
expedition against it, for the purpose of destroying the stores there
deposited, or of bringing them away.
{March 23.}
[Sidenote: Destruction of stores at Peekskill.]
Colonel Bird was detached up the river on this service, with about
five hundred men, under convoy of a frigate and some armed vessels.
General M'Dougal, whose numbers did not at that time exceed two
hundred and fifty men, received timely notice of his approach, and
exerted himself for the removal of the stores into the strong country
in his rear. Before this could be effected, Colonel Bird appeared; and
M'Dougal, after setting fire to the remaining stores and barracks,
retired into the strong grounds in the rear of Peekskill. The British
detachment completed the conflagration, and returned to New York.
During their short stay, a piquet guard was attacked by Colonel
Willet, and driven in with the loss of a few men; a circumstance,
believed by General M'Dougal, to have hastened the re-embarkation of
the detachment.
[Sidenote: At Danbury.]
{April.}
Military stores to a considerable amount had likewise been deposited
at Danbury, on the western frontier of Connecticut. Although this
place is not more than twenty miles from the Sound, yet the roughness
of the intervening country, the frequent passage of troops from the
eastward through the town, and the well known zeal of the neighbouring
militia, were believed sufficient to secure the magazines collected at
it. Against Danbury an expedition was projected; and two thousand men
under the command of Governor Tryon, major general of the provincials
in the British service, assisted by Brigadiers Agnew and Sir William
Erskine, were employed in it.
{April 28.}
On the 25th of April the fleet appeared off the coast of Connecticut;
and in the evening the troops were landed without opposition between
Fairfield and Norwalk. General Silliman, then casually in that part of
the country, immediately despatched expresses to assemble the militia.
In the mean time Tryon proceeded to Danbury, which he reached about
two the next day. On his approach, Colonel Huntingdon, who had
occupied the town with about one hundred and fifty men, retired to a
neighbouring height, and Danbury, with the magazines it contained, was
consumed by fire. General Arnold, who was also in the state
superintending the recruiting service, joined General Silliman at
Reading, where that officer had collected about five hundred militia.
General Wooster, who had resigned his commission in the continental
service, and been appointed major general of the militia, fell in with
them at the same place, and they proceeded in the night through a
heavy rain to Bethel, about eight miles from Danbury. Having heard
next morning that Tryon, after destroying the town and magazines, was
returning, they divided their troops; and General Wooster, with about
three hundred men, fell in his rear, while Arnold, with about five
hundred, crossing the country, took post in his front at Ridgefield.
Wooster came up with his rear about eleven in the morning, attacked it
with great gallantry, and a sharp skirmish ensued, in which he was
mortally wounded,[57] and his troops were repulsed. Tryon then
proceeded to Ridgefield, where he found Arnold already intrenched on a
strong piece of ground, and prepared to dispute his passage. A warm
skirmish ensued, which continued nearly an hour. Arnold was at length
driven from the field; after which he retreated to Paugatuck, about
three miles east of Norwalk. At break of day next morning, after
setting Ridgefield on fire, the British resumed their march. About
eleven in the forenoon, they were again met by Arnold, whose numbers
increased during the day to rather more than one thousand men; among
whom were some continental troops. A continued skirmishing was kept up
until five in the afternoon, when the British formed on a hill near
their ships. The Americans attacked them with intrepidity, but were
repulsed and broken. Tryon, availing himself of this respite,
re-embarked his troops, and returned to New York.
[Footnote 57: Congress voted a monument to his memory.]
The loss of the British amounted to about one hundred and seventy men.
That of the Americans, was represented by Tryon, as being much more
considerable. By themselves, it was not admitted to exceed one
hundred. In this number, however, were comprehended General Wooster,
Lieutenant Colonel Gould, and another field officer, killed; and
Colonel Lamb wounded. Several other officers and volunteers were
killed. Military and hospital stores to a considerable amount, which
were greatly needed by the army, were destroyed in the magazines at
Danbury; but the loss most severely felt was rather more than one
thousand tents, which had been provided for the campaign about to
open.
Not long afterwards this enterprise was successfully retaliated. A
British detachment had been for some time employed in collecting
forage and provisions on the eastern end of Long Island. Howe supposed
this part of the country to be so completely secured by the armed
vessels which incessantly traversed the Sound, that he confided the
protection of the stores, deposited at a small port called Sagg
Harbour, to a schooner with twelve guns, and a company of infantry.
[Sidenote: Expedition of Colonel Meigs to Sagg Harbour.]
{May.}
{May 24.}
General Parsons, who commanded a few recruits at New Haven, thinking
it practicable to elude the cruisers in the bay, formed the design of
surprising this party, and other adjacent posts, the execution of
which was entrusted to Lieutenant Colonel Meigs, a gallant officer,
who had accompanied Arnold in his memorable march to Quebec. He
embarked with about two hundred and thirty men, on board thirteen
whale boats, and proceeded along the coast to Guilford, where he was
to cross the Sound. With about one hundred and seventy of his
detachment, under convoy of two armed sloops, he proceeded across the
Sound to the north division of the island near South Hold, in the
neighbourhood of which a small foraging party, against which the
expedition was in part directed, was supposed to lie; but they had
marched two days before to New York. The boats were conveyed across
the land, a distance of about fifteen miles, into a bay which deeply
intersects the eastern end of Long Island, where the troops
re-embarked. Crossing the bay, they landed at two in the morning,
about four miles from Sagg Harbour, which place they completely
surprised, and carried with charged bayonets. At the same time, a
division of the detachment secured the armed schooner, and the vessels
laden with forage, which were set on fire, and entirely consumed. Six
of the enemy were killed, and ninety taken prisoners. A very few
escaped under cover of the night.
The object of his expedition being effected without the loss of a man,
Colonel Meigs returned to Guilford with his prisoners. "Having," as
was stated in the letter to General Parsons, "moved with such uncommon
celerity, as to have transported his men, by land and water, ninety
miles in twenty-five hours." Congress directed a sword to be presented
to him, and passed a resolution expressing the high sense entertained
of his merit, and of the prudence, activity, and valour, displayed by
himself and his party.
The exertions made by the Commander-in-chief through the winter to
raise a powerful army for the ensuing campaign, had not been
successful. The hopes respecting its strength which the flattering
reports made from every quarter had authorized him to form, were
cruelly disappointed; and he found himself not only unable to carry
into effect the offensive operations he had meditated, but unequal
even to defensive war. That steady and persevering courage, however,
which had supported himself and the American cause through the gloomy
scenes of the preceding year, did not forsake him; and that sound
judgment which applies to the best advantage those means which are
attainable, however inadequate they may be, still remained. His plan
of operations was adapted to that which he believed his enemy had
formed. He was persuaded either that General Burgoyne would endeavour
to take Ticonderoga, and to penetrate to the Hudson, in which event
General Howe would co-operate with him by moving up that river, and
attempting to possess himself of the forts and high grounds commanding
its passage; or that Burgoyne would join the grand army at New York by
sea; after which the combined armies would proceed against
Philadelphia.
To counteract the designs of the enemy, whatever they might be, to
defend the three great points, Ticonderoga, the Highlands of New York,
and Philadelphia, against two powerful armies so much superior to him,
in arms, in numbers, and in discipline, it was necessary to make such
an arrangement of his troops as would enable the parts reciprocally to
aid each other, without neglecting objects of great, and almost equal
magnitude which were alike threatened, and were far asunder. To effect
these purposes, the troops of New England and New York were divided
between Ticonderoga and Peekskill, while those from Jersey to North
Carolina inclusive, were directed to assemble at the camp to be formed
in Jersey. The more southern troops remained in that weak quarter of
the union for its protection.
[Sidenote: Camp formed at Middlebrook.]
These arrangements being made, and the recruits collected, the camp at
Morristown was broken up, the detachments called in, and the army
assembled at Middlebrook, just behind a connected ridge of strong and
commanding heights, north of the road leading to Philadelphia, and
about ten miles from Brunswick.
This camp, the approaches to which were naturally difficult, was
rendered still more defensible by intrenchments. The heights in front
commanded a prospect of the course of the Raritan, the road to
Philadelphia, the hills about Brunswick, and a considerable part of
the country between that place and Amboy; so as to afford a full view
of the most interesting movements of the enemy.
The force brought into the field by America required all the aid which
could be derived from strong positions, and unremitting vigilance. On
the 20th of May, the total of the army in Jersey, excluding cavalry
and artillery, amounted to only eight thousand three hundred and
seventy-eight men, of whom upwards of two thousand were sick. The
effective rank and file were only five thousand seven hundred and
thirty-eight.
Had this army been composed of the best disciplined troops, its
inferiority, in point of numbers, must have limited its operations to
defensive war; and have rendered it incompetent to the protection of
any place, whose defence would require a battle in the open field. But
more than half the troops[58] were unacquainted with the first
rudiments of military duty, and had never looked an enemy in the face.
As an additional cause of apprehension, a large proportion of the
soldiers, especially from the middle states, were foreigners, many of
them servants, in whose attachment to the American cause full
confidence could not be placed.
[Footnote 58: The extreme severity of the service, aided
perhaps by the state of the hospitals, had carried to the
grave more than two-thirds of the soldiers who had served
the preceding campaign, and been engaged for more than one
year.]
General Washington, anticipating a movement by land towards
Philadelphia, had taken the precaution to give orders for assembling
on the western bank of the Delaware, an army of militia, strengthened
by a few continental troops, the command of which was given to General
Arnold, who was then in Philadelphia, employed in the settlement of
his accounts.
The first and real object of the campaign, on the part of General
Howe, was the acquisition of Philadelphia. He intended to march
through Jersey; and, after securing the submission of that state, to
cross the Delaware on a portable bridge constructed in the winter for
the purpose, and proceed by land to that city. If, in the execution of
this plan, the Americans could be brought to a general action on equal
ground, the advantages of the royal army must insure a victory. But
should Washington decline an engagement, and be again pressed over the
Delaware, the object would be as certainly obtained.
Had Sir William Howe taken the field before the continental troops
were assembled, this plan might probably have been executed without
any serious obstruction; but the tents and camp equipage expected from
Europe did not arrive until General Washington had collected his
forces, and taken possession of the strong post on the heights of
Middlebrook. It would be dangerous to attack him on such advantageous
ground; for, although his camp might be forced, victory would probably
be attended with such loss, as to disable the victor from reaping its
fruits.
If it was deemed too hazardous to attack the strong camp at
Middlebrook, an attempt to cross the Delaware, in the face of an army
collected on its western bank, while that under General Washington
remained unbroken in his rear, was an experiment of equal danger. It
comported with the cautious temper of Sir William Howe to devise some
other plan of operation to which he might resort, should he be unable
to seduce the American general from his advantageous position.