The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)
J >> John Marshall >> The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5)Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31
On no former occasion had the two armies met, uncovered by works, with
superior numbers on the side of the Americans. The effective force of
the British was then stated at twelve thousand men. It has been since
declared by an author[76] who then belonged to it, but who, though a
candid writer, appears to have imbibed prejudices against Sir William
Howe, to have amounted to fourteen thousand. The American army
consisted of precisely twelve thousand one hundred and sixty-one
continental troops, and three thousand two hundred and forty-one
militia. This equality in point of numbers, rendered it a prudent
precaution to maintain a superiority of position. As the two armies
occupied heights fronting each other, neither could attack without
giving to its adversary some advantage in the ground; and this was an
advantage which neither seemed willing to relinquish.
[Footnote 76: Stedman.]
The return of Sir William Howe to Philadelphia without bringing on an
action, after marching out with the avowed intention of fighting, is
the best testimony of the respect which he felt for the talents of his
adversary, and the courage of the troops he was to encounter.
The cold was now becoming so intense that it was impossible for an
army neither well clothed, nor sufficiently supplied with blankets,
longer to keep the field in tents. It had become necessary to place
the troops in winter quarters; but in the existing state of things the
choice of winter quarters was a subject for serious reflection. It was
impossible to place them in villages without uncovering the country,
or exposing them to the hazard of being beaten in detachment.
To avoid these calamities, it was determined to take a strong position
in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, equally distant from the
Delaware above and below that city; and there to construct huts, in
the form of a regular encampment, which might cover the army during
the winter. A strong piece of ground at Valley Forge, on the west side
of the Schuylkill, between twenty and thirty miles from Philadelphia,
was selected for that purpose; and some time before day on the morning
of the 11th of December, the army marched to take possession of it. By
an accidental concurrence of circumstances, Lord Cornwallis had been
detached the same morning at the head of a strong corps, on a foraging
party on the west side of the Schuylkill. He had fallen in with a
brigade of Pennsylvania militia commanded by General Potter, which he
soon dispersed; and, pursuing the fugitives, had gained the heights
opposite Matron's ford, over which the Americans had thrown a bridge
for the purpose of crossing the river, and had posted troops to
command the defile called the Gulph, just as the front division of the
American army reached the bank of the river. This movement had been
made without any knowledge of the intention of General Washington to
change his position, or any design of contesting the passage of the
Schuylkill; but the troops had been posted in the manner already
mentioned for the sole purpose of covering the foraging party.
Washington apprehended, from his first intelligence, that General Howe
had taken the field in full force. He therefore recalled the troops
already on the west side, and moved rather higher up the river, for
the purpose of understanding the real situation, force, and designs of
the enemy. The next day Lord Cornwallis returned to Philadelphia; and,
in the course of the night, the American army crossed the river.
[Sidenote: General Washington goes into winter quarters.]
Here the Commander-in-chief communicated to his army, in general
orders, the manner in which he intended to dispose of them during the
winter. He expressed, in strong terms, his approbation of their
conduct, presented them with an encouraging state of the future
prospects of their country, exhorted them to bear with continuing
fortitude the hardships inseparable from the position they were about
to take, and endeavoured to convince their judgments that those
hardships were not imposed on them by unfeeling caprice, but were
necessary for the good of their country.
The winter had set in with great severity, and the sufferings of the
army were extreme. In a few days, however, these sufferings were
considerably diminished by the erection of logged huts, filled up with
mortar, which, after being dried, formed comfortable habitations, and
gave content to men long unused to the conveniences of life. The order
of a regular encampment was observed; and the only appearance of
winter quarters, was the substitution of huts for tents.
CHAPTER X.
Inquiry into the conduct of General Schuyler.... Burgoyne
appears before Ticonderoga.... Evacuation of that place,...
of Skeensborough.... Colonel Warner defeated.... Evacuation
of fort Anne.... Proclamation of Burgoyne....
Counter-proclamation of Schuyler.... Burgoyne approaches
fort Edward.... Schuyler retires to Saratoga,... to
Stillwater.... St. Leger invests fort Schuyler.... Herkimer
defeated.... Colonel Baum detached to Bennington.... is
defeated.... Breckman defeated.... St. Leger abandons the
siege of fort Schuyler.... Murder of Miss M'Crea.... General
Gates takes command.... Burgoyne encamps on the heights of
Saratoga.... Battle of Stillwater.... Burgoyne retreats to
Saratoga.... Capitulates.... The British take forts
Montgomery and Clinton.... The forts Independence and
Constitution evacuated by the Americans.... Ticonderoga
evacuated by the British.
{1777}
While, with inferior numbers, General Washington maintained a stubborn
contest in the middle states, events of great variety and importance
were passing in the north.
After Sir Guy Carleton had distributed his army, for winter quarters,
in the several villages from the Isle Aux Noix and Montreal to Quebec,
General Burgoyne, who had served under him, embarked for England, in
order to communicate a full statement of affairs in the northern
department; and to assist in making arrangements for the ensuing
campaign. The American army, having been formed for only one year,
dissolved of itself at the expiration of that term, and could scarcely
furnish even the appearance of garrisons in their forts.
The defence of this frontier was assigned to the regiments directed to
be raised in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and the northwestern parts
of New York; but the recruiting service advanced so slowly, and so
much difficulty was found in clothing and arming those who were
enlisted, that it became indispensable to call in the aid of the
militia; and the plan of the campaign on the part of the British was
involved in so much obscurity that General Washington deemed it
adviseable to direct eight of the regiments of Massachusetts to
rendezvous at Peekskill.
[Sidenote: An inquiry into the conduct of General Schuyler, which
terminates to his honour.]
{May 22.}
The service of General Schuyler in the northern department had been
more solid than brilliant. Dissatisfied with his situation, and
disgusted with the injustice[77] he supposed himself to experience, he
had for some time meditated a resignation, and had been retained in
the service only by the deep interest he felt in the struggle of his
country for independence. So soon as his fears for Ticonderoga were
removed by the partial opening of Lake Champlain, he waited in person
on congress for the purpose of adjusting his accounts, obtaining an
inquiry into his conduct, and supporting those necessary measures of
defence in the north, which were suggested by his perfect knowledge of
the country. At his request, a committee, consisting of a member from
each state, was appointed to inquire into his conduct during the time
he had held a command in the army. The arduous services performed by
this meritorious officer, when investigated, were found so far to
exceed any estimate which had been made of them, that congress deemed
it essential to the public interest to prevail on him to retain his
commission. The resolution which fixed his head quarters at Albany was
repealed, and he was directed to proceed forthwith to the northern
department, and to take the command of it.
[Footnote 77: When the command of the operating army was
given to General Thomas in March 1776, the head quarters of
General Schuyler had been fixed by congress at Albany, and
that resolution remained in force. General Gates was now
directed to repair to Ticonderoga and take command of the
army; and Major General St. Clair was ordered to the same
place to serve under him.]
On his arrival, he found the army of the north not only too weak for
the objects entrusted to it, but badly supplied with arms, clothes,
and provisions. From a spy who had been seized near Onion River, he
obtained information that General Burgoyne was at Quebec, and was to
command the British forces in that department so soon as they should
march out of Canada. That while Ticonderoga should be attacked by the
main army, Sir John Johnson, with a strong body of British, Canadians,
and Indians, was to penetrate to the Mohawk by Oswego, and place
himself between fort Stanwix and fort Edward.
[Sidenote: Burgoyne appears before Ticonderoga.]
General Schuyler was sensible of the danger which threatened him, and
made every exertion to meet it. After completing his arrangements at
Ticonderoga for sustaining a siege, he had proceeded to Albany, for
the purpose of attending to his supplies, and of expediting the march
of reinforcements, when he received intelligence from General St.
Clair, who was entrusted with the defence of Ticonderoga, that
Burgoyne had appeared before that place.
In the course of the preceding winter, a plan for penetrating to the
Hudson, from Canada, by the way of the lakes, had been digested in the
cabinet of London. General Burgoyne, who assisted in forming it, was
entrusted with its execution, and was to lead a formidable army
against Ticonderoga as soon as the season would permit. At the same
time a smaller party under Colonel St. Leger, composed of Canadians,
newly raised Americans, and a few Europeans, aided by a powerful body
of Indians, was to march from Oswego, to enter the country by the way
of the Mohawk, and to join the grand army on the Hudson.
{January 22.}
Burgoyne reached Quebec as soon as it was practicable to sail up the
St. Lawrence, and appeared in full force on the river Bouquet, on the
western banks of lake Champlain, much earlier than the American
general had supposed to be possible. At this place he met the Indians
in a grand council, after which he gave them a war feast. Much of the
cruelty afterwards perpetrated by the savages has been attributed to
this unfortunate officer; but justice requires the admission that his
speech was calculated rather to diminish than increase their habitual
ferocity. He endeavoured to impress on them the distinction between
enemies in the field, and the unarmed inhabitants, many of whom were
friends; and, addressing himself to their avarice, promised rewards
for prisoners, but none for scalps. It was perhaps fortunate for
America, that, in some instances, peculiarly calculated to excite and
interest the human feelings, these feeble restraints were disregarded.
After publishing a manifesto at Putnam River, designed to act on the
hopes and fears of the people of the country through which he was to
pass, he halted a few days at Crown Point, to make the necessary
dispositions for investing Ticonderoga.
{June 30.}
{July 1.}
From Crown Point, the royal army advanced on both sides the lake,
keeping up a communication between its divisions, by means of the
fleet; and on the 1st of July encamped within four miles of the
American works. A strong party was pushed forward to Three Mile Point;
and the fleet anchored just beyond the range of the guns of the fort.
The next day they took possession, without opposition, of the
important post at Mount Hope, which commanded, in part, the lines on
the northern side, and entirely cut off the communication with lake
George.
The weakness of his garrison induced General St. Clair to give up this
post without a struggle. Believing it to be impracticable to support
it without hazarding a general action, he determined to concentrate
his force about Ticonderoga and Mount Independence.
After taking possession of Mount Hope, the British lines were extended
on the western side of Champlain, from the mountain quite to the lake,
so as completely to inclose the garrison on that side. The German
division under Major General Reidisel, which occupied the eastern
shore of the lake, was encamped at Three Mile Point, and had pushed
forward a detachment near the rivulet, which runs east of Mount
Independence.
{July.}
The besiegers laboured assiduously to bring up their artillery and
complete their works. Sugar Hill, a rugged mountain standing at the
confluence of the waters that unite at Ticonderoga, which overlooks
the fortress and had been thought inaccessible, was examined; and the
report being that the ascent, though extremely difficult, was
practicable, the work was immediately commenced, and was pressed with
so much vigour that the batteries might have opened next day. The
garrison was not in a condition to check these operations.
The situation of St. Clair was now at its crisis. Only the ground
between the Eastern run and the South River remained open; and this he
was informed would be occupied the next day, so that the investment
would be complete. The place must be immediately evacuated, or
maintained at the hazard of losing the garrison when it should be no
longer tenable.
Between these cruel alternations, General St. Clair did not hesitate
to choose the first; but deeming it prudent to take the advice of a
council of war, he convened the general officers, who unanimously
advised the immediate evacuation of the fort.
[Sidenote: Evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence.]
{July 5.}
Preparations for the retreat were instantly commenced. The invalids,
the hospital, and such stores as could be moved in the course of the
night, were put on board the batteaux, which proceeded under the guard
of Colonel Long, up the South River to Skeensborough; and, before day
on the morning of the 6th of July, the main body of the army directed
its march to the same place.
In the hope of making considerable progress before his retreat should
be discovered, General St. Clair had ordered the troops to observe the
most profound silence, and, particularly, to set nothing on fire.
These judicious orders were disobeyed; and, before the rear guard was
in motion, the house which had been occupied by General De Fermoy was
in flames. This served as a signal to the besiegers, who immediately
entered the works. The main body of the retreating army was rapidly
pursued by Generals Frazer and Reidisel, while General Burgoyne, in
person, followed the detachment under Colonel Long.
{July 6.}
The bridge, the boom, and those other works, the construction of which
had employed the labour of ten months, were cut through by nine in the
morning, so as to afford a passage for the Royal George and Inflexible
frigates, as well as for the gun boats, which engaged the American
galleys, about three in the afternoon, near the falls of
Skeensborough.
[Sidenote: The American army evacuate Skeensborough and retire to fort
Anne.]
In the mean time, three regiments had disembarked at some distance
from the fort, with the intention of attacking it by land, and cutting
off the retreat of the garrison, as well as that of the detachment in
the boats and galleys. This manoeuvre being discovered, the works and
batteaux were set on fire, and the troops retired to fort Anne. On
this occasion, the baggage of the army, and a great quantity of
military stores, were either destroyed by the Americans, or taken by
the British.
Knowing that he could save his army only by the rapidity of his march,
General St. Clair reached Castletown, thirty miles from Ticonderoga,
on the night succeeding the evacuation of the fort. The rear guard
under Colonel Warner halted six miles short of that place. Having been
augmented by those who from excessive fatigue had fallen out of the
line of march, it amounted to rather more than one thousand men.
{July 7.}
[Sidenote: Colonel Warner attacked by General Frazer and obliged to
retreat.]
The next morning at five, they were overtaken and attacked by General
Frazer with eight hundred and fifty men. The action was warm and well
contested. In its commencement, two regiments of militia, which lay
within two miles of Colonel Warner, were ordered to his assistance.
Instead of obeying these orders, they consulted their own safety, and
hastened to Castletown. Had these orders been executed, the corps
which attacked Warner would probably have been cut to pieces. While
the action was maintained with equal spirit on both sides, General
Reidisel arrived with his division of Germans, and the Americans were
routed.
In this action, Colonel Francis, several other officers, and upwards
of two hundred men were left dead on the field; and one colonel, seven
captains, ten subalterns, and two hundred and ten privates were made
prisoners. Near six hundred are supposed to have been wounded, many of
whom must have perished in attempting to escape through the woods
towards the inhabited country. The British state their own loss at
thirty-five killed, among whom was one field officer, and one hundred
and forty-four wounded, including two majors, and five inferior
officers. It is scarcely credible, notwithstanding the difference in
arms, that in a well contested action, the disparity in the killed
could have been so considerable. It is the less probable, as the
pursuit was not of long continuance.
To avoid that division of the British army which had proceeded up the
North River, St. Clair changed his route; and directed his march to
Rutland, to which place he ordered Warner also to retire. At Rutland
he fell in with several soldiers who had been separated from their
corps, and, two days afterwards, at Manchester, was joined by Warner
with about ninety men. From this place he proceeded to fort Edward,
where he met General Schuyler.
After taking possession of Skeensborough, Burgoyne had found it
necessary to suspend the pursuit, and to give his army refreshment.
The troops were in some disorder; distinct corps were intermingled,
and his detachments were far apart from each other. He determined
therefore to halt a few days at that place, in order to reassemble and
arrange his army.
{July 7.}
[Sidenote: Colonel Long evacuates Fort Anne and retires to Fort
Edward.]
Colonel Long having been directed to defend fort Anne, the ninth
regiment of British, under Lieutenant Colonel Hill, had been detached
against that place. It being understood that the Americans were in
some force, two other regiments, under Brigadier Powell, were ordered
to support the first party. Before the arrival of this reinforcement,
Colonel Long attacked the ninth regiment, and a sharp skirmish ensued,
in which the British kept their ground, and the advantage was claimed
by both parties. Hearing that a reinforcement was approaching, Long
set fire to the works at fort Anne, and retired to fort Edward.
{July 7.}
At Stillwater, on his way to Ticonderoga, General Schuyler was
informed of the evacuation of that place; and, on the same day, at
Saratoga, of the loss of the stores at Skeensborough. He had heard
nothing from General St. Clair; and was seriously apprehensive for
that officer and his army, which, after the junction of Colonel Long,
consisted of about fifteen hundred continental troops, and the same
number of militia. They were dispirited by defeat, without tents,
badly armed, and had lost great part of their stores and baggage. The
country was generally much alarmed; and even the well affected
discovered more inclination to take care of themselves than to join
the army. In this gloomy state of things, no officer could have
exerted more diligence and skill than were displayed by Schuyler.
Having fixed his head quarters at fort Edward, he employed to the
utmost advantage the short respite from action which Burgoyne
unavoidably gave. The country between Skeensborough and fort Edward
was almost entirely unsettled, was covered with thick woods, and of a
surface extremely rough, and much intersected with creeks and
morasses. Wood creek was navigable with batteaux as far as fort Anne;
and military stores of every description might be transported up it.
He obstructed its navigation by sinking numerous impediments in its
course, broke up the bridges, and rendered the roads impassable. He
was also indefatigable in driving the live stock out of the way, and
in bringing from fort George to fort Edward, the ammunition and other
military stores which had been deposited at that place. Still farther
to delay the movements of the British, he posted Colonel Warner on
their left flank, with instructions to raise the militia in that
quarter. The hope was entertained, that the appearance of a
respectable force, threatening the flank and rear of the invading
army, would not only retard its advance, but would induce General
Burgoyne to weaken it, in order to strengthen the garrison of
Ticonderoga.
While thus endeavoring to obstruct the march of the enemy, Schuyler
was not less attentive to the best means of strengthening his own
army. Reinforcements of regular troops were earnestly solicited; the
militia of New England and New York were required to take the field,
and all his influence in the surrounding country was exerted to
reanimate the people, and to prevent their defection from the American
cause.
[Sidenote: Proclamation of Burgoyne and counter-proclamation of
Schuyler.]
While at Skeensborough General Burgoyne issued a second
proclamation[78] summoning the people of the adjacent country to send
ten deputies from each township to meet Colonel Skeene at Castletown,
in order to deliberate on such measures as might still be adopted to
save those who had not yet conformed to his first, and submitted to
the royal authority. General Schuyler apprehending some effect from
this paper, issued a counter proclamation, stating the insidious
designs of the enemy. Warning the inhabitants, by the example of
Jersey, of the danger to which their yielding to this seductive
proposition would expose them, and giving them the most solemn
assurances that all who should send deputies to this meeting, or in
any manner aid the enemy, would be considered traitors, and should
suffer the utmost rigour of the law.
[Footnote 78: Remem.]
The evacuation of Ticonderoga was a shock for which no part of the
United States was prepared. Neither the strength of the invading army,
nor of the garrison had been understood. When therefore intelligence
was received that a place, on the fortifications of which much money
and labour had been expended, which was considered as the key to the
whole northwestern country, and supposed to contain a garrison nearly
equal to the invading army, had been abandoned without a siege; that
an immense train of artillery, and all the military stores, had either
fallen into the hands of the enemy, or been destroyed; that the army,
on its retreat, had been attacked, defeated, and dispersed;
astonishment pervaded all ranks of men; and the conduct of the
officers was universally condemned. Congress recalled all the generals
of the department, and directed an inquiry into their conduct.
Throughout New England especially, the most bitter aspersions were
cast on them and General Schuyler, who, from some unknown cause, had
never been viewed with favour in that part of the continent, was
involved in the common charge of treachery, to which this accumulation
of unlooked-for calamity was generally attributed by the mass of the
people.
On the representations of General Washington, the recall of the
officers was suspended, until he should be of opinion that the service
would not suffer by the measure; and, on a full inquiry afterwards
made into their conduct, they were acquitted of all blame.
In a letter of St. Clair to the Commander-in-chief, stating his
motives for evacuating Ticonderoga, he represented the strength of his
garrison, including nine hundred militia, who would consent to stay
but a few days, at only three thousand effective rank and file, many
of whom were without bayonets. The lines required ten thousand to man
them properly. He also affirmed, that his supply of provisions was
sufficient for only twenty days, and that the works on the Ticonderoga
side were incomplete, with their flanks undefended. He justified his
having failed to call in a larger reinforcement of militia, by the
scarcity of provisions, the supply on hand not having been procured
until General Schuyler had resumed the command in the department; and
attributed his not having evacuated the place in time to preserve his
army and stores, to the prevalent opinion that there was not a
sufficient force in Canada to attempt so hardy an enterprise, and to
his not being at liberty to adopt that measure but in the last
necessity.