The Life of George Washington, Vol. 3 (of 5)
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[Illustration]
THESE VOLUMES of
The Sponsors'
Edition
OF THE AUTHORIZED LIFE OF
George Washington
by John Marshall
ISSUED IN ITS ORIGINAL
FORMAT, BUT WITH THE
TEXT OF THE REVISED
EDITION, HAVE BEEN
SPECIALLY PREPARED
FOR
Henry H. Kimball
[Illustration: George Washington
_From the portrait by Gilbert Stuart_
_This canvas, valued at $60,000, hangs in the Masonic Lodge rooms at
Fredericksburg, Virginia. It is one of the several portraits of
Washington which the artist began executing in 1795 and which are the
most famous of both artist and sitter. Of our First President, this
celebrated painter has also given us his interesting pen-picture of
his subject: "All of his features were indications of the strongest
and most ungovernable passions, and had he been born in the forest, he
would have been the fiercest man among the savage tribes."_]
THE
LIFE
OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON,
COMMANDER IN CHIEF
OF THE
AMERICAN FORCES,
DURING THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY,
AND
FIRST PRESIDENT
OF THE
UNITED STATES.
COMPILED UNDER THE INSPECTION OF
THE HONOURABLE BUSHROD WASHINGTON,
FROM
_ORIGINAL PAPERS_
BEQUEATHED TO HIM BY HIS DECEASED RELATIVE, AND NOW IN POSSESSION OF
THE AUTHOR.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,
AN INTRODUCTION,
CONTAINING A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE COLONIES PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH
ON THE
CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA,
FROM THEIR SETTLEMENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THAT WAR WHICH TERMINATED
IN THEIR
INDEPENDENCE.
BY JOHN MARSHALL.
VOL. III.
THE CITIZENS' GUILD
OF WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD HOME
FREDERICKSBURG, VA.
1926
Printed in the U.S.A.
[Transcriber's Note: In the original book, some proper names are
spelled inconsistently. The inconsistencies have been preserved in
this e-text. For the reader's information, the first of each of the
following pairs of names is the correct spelling: Wemys/Wemyss,
Tarleton/Tarlton; Dundass/Dundas; M'Lane/M'Clane; Viominel/Viominil.]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
Incursion into Jersey.... General Lacy surprised.... Attempt on
Lafayette at Barren hill.... General Howe resigns the command of the
British army.... Is succeeded by Sir H. Clinton.... He evacuates
Philadelphia, and marches through the Jerseys.... A council of war
which decides against attacking the British on their march.... Battle
of Monmouth.... General Lee arrested.... Sentenced to be suspended for
one year.... Thanks of Congress to General Washington and his army.
CHAPTER II.
Count D'Estaing arrives with a French fleet.... Meditates an attack on
the British fleet in New York harbour.... Relinquishes it.... Sails to
Rhode Island.... Lord Howe appears off Rhode Island.... Both fleets
dispersed by a storm.... General Sullivan lays siege to Newport....
D'Estaing returns.... Sails for Boston.... Sullivan expresses his
dissatisfaction in general orders.... Raises the siege of Newport....
Action on Rhode Island.... The Americans retreat to the Continent....
Count D'Estaing expresses his dissatisfaction with Sullivan in a
letter to congress.... General Washington labours successfully to heal
these discontents.... Lord Howe resigns the command of the British
fleet.... Colonel Baylor's regiment surprised.... Captain Donop
defeated by Colonel Butler.... Expedition of the British against Egg
Harbour.... Pulaski surprised.
CHAPTER III.
Arrival of the British commissioners.... Terms of conciliation
proposed.... Answer of congress to their propositions.... Attempts of
Mr. Johnson to bribe some members of congress.... His private letters
ordered to be published.... Manifesto of the commissioners, and
counter-manifesto of congress.... Arrival of Monsieur Girard, minister
plenipotentiary of France.... Hostilities of the Indians.... Irruption
into the Wyoming settlement.... Battle of Wyoming.... Colonel Dennison
capitulates for the inhabitants.... Distress of the settlement....
Colonel Clarke surprises St. Vincent.... Congress determines to invade
Canada.... General Washington opposes the measure.... Induces congress
to abandon it.
CHAPTER IV.
Divisions in Congress.... Letters of General Washington on the state
of public affairs.... Invasion of Georgia.... General Howe defeated by
Colonel Campbell.... Savannah taken.... Sunbury surrenders.... Georgia
reduced.... General Lincoln takes command of the Southern army....
Major Gardener defeated by General Moultrie.... Insurrection of the
Tories in South Carolina.... They are defeated by Colonel Pickens....
Ash surprised and defeated.... Moultrie retreats.... Prevost marches
to Charleston.... Lincoln attacks the British at Stono Ferry
unsuccessfully.... Invasion of Virginia.
CHAPTER V.
Discontents in a part of the American army.... Letter from General
Washington on the subject.... Colonel Van Schaick destroys an Indian
settlement.... Expedition against the Indians meditated.... Fort
Fayette surrendered to the British.... Invasion of Connecticut....
General Wayne storms Stony Point.... Expedition against Penobscot....
Powles Hook surprised by Major Lee.... Arrival of Admiral
Arbuthnot.... Of the Count D'Estaing.... Siege of Savannah....
Unsuccessful attempt to storm that place.... Siege raised.... Victory
of General Sullivan at Newtown.... Spain offers her mediation to the
belligerents.... Declares war against England.... Letter from General
Washington to congress respecting the annual formation of the army....
The army goes into winter quarters.
CHAPTER VI.
South Carolina invaded.... The British fleet passes the bar, and gets
possession of the harbour of Charleston.... Opinion of General
Washington on the propriety of defending that place.... Sir Henry
Clinton invests the town.... Tarleton surprises an American corps at
Monk's Corner.... Fort Moultrie surrendered.... Tarleton defeats
Colonel White.... General Lincoln capitulates.... Buford defeated....
Arrangements for the government of South Carolina and Georgia.... Sir
Henry Clinton embarks for New York.... General Gates takes command of
the Southern army.... Is defeated near Camden.... Death of De Kalb....
Success of General Sumpter.... He is defeated.
CHAPTER VII.
Distress in the American camp.... Expedition against Staten Island....
Requisitions on the states.... New scheme of finance.... Committee of
congress deputed to camp.... Resolution to make up depreciation of
pay.... Mutiny in the line of Connecticut.... General Knyphausen
enters Jersey.... Sir Henry Clinton returns to New York.... Skirmish
at Springfield.... Exertions to strengthen the army.... Bank
established in Philadelphia.... Contributions of the ladies....
Farther proceedings of the states.... Arrival of a French armament in
Rhode Island.... Changes in the quartermaster's department....
Enterprise against New York abandoned.... Naval superiority of the
British.
CHAPTER VIII.
Treason and escape of Arnold.... Trial and execution of Major
Andre.... Precautions for the security of West Point.... Letter of
General Washington on American affairs.... Proceedings of congress
respecting the army.... Major Talmadge destroys the British stores at
Coram.... The army retires into winter quarters.... Irruption of Major
Carleton into New York.... European transactions.
CHAPTER IX.
Transactions in South Carolina and Georgia.... Defeat of Ferguson....
Lord Cornwallis enters North Carolina.... Retreat out of that
state.... Major Wemys defeated by Sumpter.... Tarleton repulsed....
Greene appointed to the command of the Southern army.... Arrives in
camp.... Detaches Morgan over the Catawba.... Battle of the
Cowpens.... Lord Cornwallis drives Greene through North Carolina into
Virginia.... He retires to Hillsborough.... Greene recrosses the
Dan.... Loyalists under Colonel Pyle cut to pieces.... Battle of
Guilford.... Lord Cornwallis retires to Ramsay's mills.... To
Wilmington.... Greene advances to Ramsay's mills.... Determines to
enter South Carolina.... Lord Cornwallis resolves to march to
Virginia.
CHAPTER X.
Virginia invaded by Arnold.... He destroys the stores at Westham and
at Richmond.... Retires to Portsmouth.... Mutiny in the Pennsylvania
line.... Sir H. Clinton attempts to negotiate with the mutineers....
They compromise with the civil government.... Mutiny in the Jersey
line.... Mission of Colonel Laurens to France.... Propositions to
Spain.... Recommendations relative to a duty on imported and prize
goods.... Reform in the Executive departments.... Confederation
adopted.... Military transactions.... Lafayette detached to
Virginia.... Cornwallis arrives.... Presses Lafayette.... Expedition
to Charlottesville, to the Point of Fork.... Lafayette forms a
junction with Wayne.... Cornwallis retires to the lower country....
General Washington's letters are intercepted.... Action near
Jamestown.
CHAPTER XI.
Farther state of affairs in the beginning of the year 1781....
Measures of Mr. Morris, the superintendent of finances.... Designs of
General Washington against New York.... Count Rochambeau marches to
the North River.... Intelligence from the Count de Grasse.... Plan of
operations against Lord Cornwallis.... Naval engagement.... The
combined armies march for the Chesapeake.... Yorktown invested....
Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
THE LIFE
OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON
CHAPTER I.
Incursion into Jersey.... General Lacy surprised.... Attempt
on Lafayette at Barren Hill.... General Howe resigns the
command of the British army.... Is succeeded by Sir H.
Clinton.... He evacuates Philadelphia, and marches through
the Jerseys.... A council of war which decides against
attacking the British on their march.... Battle of
Monmouth.... General Lee arrested.... Sentenced to be
suspended for one year.... Thanks of congress to General
Washington and his army.
[Sidenote: 1778]
The position at Valley Forge had been taken for the purposes of
covering the country, protecting the magazines, and cutting off all
supplies to Philadelphia. Although the intercourse of the inhabitants
with that place could not be entirely prevented; the sufferings of the
British army from the scarcity of fresh provisions and forage were
considerable; and, as the spring opened, several expeditions were
undertaken both to relieve their own wants, and to distress the army
of the United States.
About the middle of March, Colonel Mawhood and Major Simcoe, who were
detached into Jersey at the head of about twelve hundred men, landed
at Salem, nearly opposite Reedy Island, and dispersed the small bodies
of militia who were stationed in that part of the country.
[Sidenote: March 23.]
General Washington had given early intelligence of this expedition to
Governor Livingston; and had requested that he would immediately order
out the militia to join Colonel Shreve, whose regiment was detached
into Jersey; but the legislature had neglected to make provision for
paying them; and the governor could not bring them into the field.
Colonel Shreve, on his arrival at Haddonfield, the place at which they
had been directed to assemble, found less than one hundred men.
Colonel Ellis, their commanding officer, remarked, in a letter to the
governor, that "without some standing force, little was to be expected
from the militia, who, being alone not sufficient to prevent the
incursions of the enemy, each one naturally consults his own safety,
by not being found in arms."
Mawhood, of course, was unrestrained; and the devastation committed by
his party was wantonly distressing. Its course of destruction was
preceded by a summons to Colonel Hand, the commanding officer of the
militia, to lay down his arms, which was accompanied with a threat of
the consequences to result from his refusal. This threat was too
faithfully executed.
After completing his forage, without molestation, Mawhood returned to
Philadelphia. During the continuance of this incursion, which lasted
six or seven days, not more than two hundred men could be collected to
reinforce Colonel Shreve, who was consequently unable to effect any
thing, and did not even march to the lower parts of Jersey, which were
plundered without restraint.[1]
[Footnote 1: See note No. I. at the end of the volume.]
[Sidenote: May 1.]
Not long after this incursion into Jersey, an enterprise was
undertaken against General Lacy, who, with a small number of
Pennsylvania militia, seldom amounting to six hundred, and sometimes
not exceeding fifty, watched the roads leading to Philadelphia on the
north side of the Schuylkill, and was generally posted within twenty
miles of that town.
[Sidenote: General Lacy surprised.]
This expedition was entrusted to Colonel Abercrombie and Major Simcoe,
who avoided all the posts Lacy had established for his security, and
threw a body of troops into his rear before he discovered their
approach. After a short resistance, he escaped with the loss of a few
men killed, and all his baggage. His corps were entirely dispersed,
and he was soon afterwards relieved by General Potter.
To maintain the command of the water as far as was practicable,
congress had ordered impediments to be sunk in many of the rivers of
common use, so as to obstruct the passage up them, and had
constructed frigates, and other smaller vessels, to be employed above
those impediments or elsewhere, as the occasion might require. Several
of them had been commenced above Philadelphia, but were not completed
when the British obtained the command of the river. General Washington
then became apprehensive for their safety, and repeatedly expressed
his desire that they should be sunk in such a manner as to be weighed
with difficulty, should any attempt be made to raise them. The
persons, however, who were entrusted by congress with this business,
supposed it would be equally secure to put plugs in their bottoms,
which might be drawn out on the approach of danger.
Against these vessels, and some stores collected at Bordentown, an
expedition was planned which ended in their total destruction. General
Dickenson was in the neighbourhood, but his force was too small to
interrupt the execution of the design; and General Maxwell, who had
been ordered to his assistance, was retarded in his march by a heavy
rain, which did not obstruct the movement of the British, who passed
up the river in vessels.
[Sidenote: May 18.]
To cover the country more effectually on the north of the Schuylkill,
to form an advance guard for the security of the main army, and to be
in readiness to annoy the rear of the enemy, should he evacuate
Philadelphia, an event believed to be in contemplation, General
Washington detached the Marquis de Lafayette, with more than two
thousand choice troops, to take post near the lines. As this corps
formed a very valuable part of the army, the Commander-in-chief
recommended in his instructions to General Lafayette the utmost
attention to its safety; and, particularly, to avoid any permanent
station, as a long continuance in one position would facilitate the
execution of measures which might be concerted against him.
[Sidenote: Attempt on Lafayette at Barren Hill.]
The Marquis crossed the Schuylkill and took post near Barren Hill
church, eight or ten miles in front of the army. Immediate notice[2]
of his arrival was given to Sir William Howe, who reconnoitred his
position, and formed a plan to surprise and cut him off.
[Footnote 2: General Wilkinson, in his memoirs, says that this notice
was given by a person formerly a lieutenant in Proctor's regiment of
artillery, who, disgusted at being discarded from the American
service, became a spy to Sir William Howe; and, the better to fulfil
his new engagements, kept up his acquaintance with his former
comrades, and frequently visited the camp at Valley Forge. To avoid
the suspicion which would be excited by his going into Philadelphia, a
rendezvous had been established on Frankford Creek, where he met a
messenger from General Howe, to whom his communications were
delivered. This statement is certainly correct.]
[Sidenote: May 20.]
On the night of the 19th of May, General Grant with five thousand
select troops, took the road which leads up the Delaware, and
consequently diverges from Barren Hill. After marching some distance,
he inclined to the left, and passing White Marsh, where several roads
unite, took one leading to Plymouth meeting-house, the position he was
directed to occupy, something more than a mile in the rear of the
Marquis, between him and Valley Forge. He reached his point of
destination rather before sunrise. Here the roads fork; the one
leading to the camp of Lafayette, and the other to Matron's ford over
the Schuylkill.
In the course of the night, General Gray, with a strong detachment,
had advanced up the Schuylkill on its south side, along the ridge
road, and taken post at a ford two or three miles in front of the
right flank of Lafayette, while the residue of the army encamped on
Chestnut hill.
Captain M'Clane, a vigilant partisan of great merit, was posted on the
lines some distance in front of Barren Hill. In the course of the
night, he fell in with two British grenadiers at Three Mile Run, who
informed him of the movement made by Grant, and also that a large body
of Germans was getting ready to march up the Schuylkill. Immediately
conjecturing the object, M'Clane detached Captain Parr, with a company
of riflemen across the country to Wanderers hill, with orders to
harass and retard the column advancing up the Schuylkill, and hastened
in person[3] to the camp of Lafayette. He arrived soon after daybreak,
and communicated the intelligence he had received. It was, not long
afterwards, confirmed by the fire of Parr on the Ridge road, and by an
inhabitant who had escaped from White Marsh as the British column
passed that place.[4]
[Footnote 3: Extracts of letters from the adjutant general and the
officer of the day to Captain M'Clane.
_Camp Valley Forge, May 21st, 1778._
Dear Captain,--I am happy you have with your brave little party
conducted with so much honour to yourself. The Marquis effected, owing
to your vigilance, a glorious retreat as well as a difficult one.
Signed ALEX. SCAMMELL, _Adj. Gen._
_Camp Valley Forge, May 23d, 1778._
Dear Captain,--I am pleased to hear you are still doing something to
distinguish yourself in the eyes of your country. I have the pleasure
to inform you that your conduct with the Marquis has been very
pleasing to his Excellency and the whole army.
I am your obedient servant,
CHARLES SCOTT, _Brig. Gen. and officer of the day._]
[Footnote 4: The danger with which this detachment was threatened, was
perceived from the camp at Valley Forge, soon after it had been
communicated to Lafayette. Alarm-guns were fired to announce it to
him, and the whole army was put under arms, to act as circumstances
might require. It has been erroneously stated that General Washington
was unapprised of this movement of the British army until its object
was defeated. The author was in camp at the time, saw the
Commander-in-chief, accompanied by his aids and some of the general
officers ride, soon after sun-rise, to the summit of the hill on the
side of which the huts were constructed, and look anxiously towards
the scene of action through a glass. He witnessed too the joy with
which they returned after the detachment had crossed the Schuylkill.]
Thus surrounded with danger, Lafayette took with promptitude and
decision the only course which could preserve him. He instantly put
his troops in motion, and passed over at Matron's ford, which was
rather nearer to General Grant, than to himself, without being
intercepted by that officer, or sustaining a greater loss than nine
men.
General Grant, who reached the ground lately occupied by Lafayette
soon after it was abandoned, followed his rear, and appeared at the
ford just after the Americans had crossed it; but, finding them
advantageously posted, did not choose to attack them; and the whole
army returned to Philadelphia, having effected nothing.
He did not escape censure for having allowed the great advantage he
had acquired, to slip through his hands unused. He might with the
utmost certainty have reached Matron's ford before the Marquis, and
have cut off the only retreat which remained for him. But the same
skill and address were not displayed in executing this plan as in
forming it.[5]
[Footnote 5: It has been said that his troops were excessively
fatigued by a march of upwards of twenty miles, and that he waited,
confident that the Marquis could not escape him, for information that
Gray had reached his position.]
In the statement of this affair made by General Lafayette, he
represents himself to have advanced the head of a column towards
Grant, as if to attack him, while the rear filed off rapidly towards
the Schuylkill. This movement gained ground even for the front, which,
while it advanced towards the enemy, also approached the river, and at
the same time induced General Grant to halt, in order to prepare for
battle.
While this manoeuvre was performing in the face of the detachment
under Grant, a small party was thrown into the church yard, on the
road towards General Gray, which also gave the appearance of an
intention to attack in that quarter. By these dispositions, happily
conceived, and executed with regularity, the Marquis extricated
himself from the destruction which had appeared almost inevitable. In
a letter to congress, General Washington termed it "a timely and
handsome retreat," and certainly the compliment was merited.
It might be supposed that this young nobleman had not displayed the
same degree of military talent in guarding against the approach of
danger, as in extricating himself from it. But the imputation which
generally attaches to an officer who permits an enemy to pass
unobserved into his rear, is removed by a circumstance stated by
Lafayette. The Pennsylvania militia were posted on his left flank with
orders to guard the roads about White Marsh. Without his knowledge,
they changed their position, and retired into the rear, leaving that
important pass open to the enemy.
[Sidenote: General Howe resigns his command and returns to England; is
succeeded by Sir Henry Clinton.]
This was the last enterprise attempted by Sir William Howe. He
resigned the command of the army into the hands of Sir Henry Clinton,
and embarked for Great Britain. About the same time, orders were
received for the evacuation of Philadelphia. The part it was now
evident France was about to take in the war, and the naval force which
had been prepared by that power before she declared herself, rendered
that city a dangerous position, and determined the administration to
withdraw the army from the Delaware.
The preparations for this movement could not be made unobserved; but
they indicated equally an embarkation of the whole army, or an
intention to march to New York through Jersey. The last was believed
by the American chief to be most probable; and he made every exertion
to take advantage of the movement. His detachments were called in, and
the state governments were pressed to expedite the march of their
levies.
In the mean time Sir Henry Clinton hastened his preparations for the
evacuation of Philadelphia; and the opinion that he intended to reach
New York through Jersey, gained ground.
General Maxwell, with the Jersey brigade, was ordered over the
Delaware to take post at Mount Holly, and to join Major General
Dickenson, who was assembling the militia of that state for the
purpose of co-operating with the continental troops, in breaking down
the bridges, felling trees in the roads, and otherwise embarrassing
the march of the British General.
[Sidenote: June 17.]
In this state of things intelligence was received that a great part of
the British army had crossed the Delaware, and that the residue would
soon follow.
The opinion of the general officers was required on the course now to
be pursued. General Lee, who had been lately exchanged, and whose
experience gave great weight to his opinions, was vehement against
risking either a general or partial engagement. The British army was
computed at ten thousand effective men, and that of the Americans
amounted to between ten and eleven thousand. General Lee was decidedly
of opinion that, with such an equality of force, it would be
"criminal" to hazard an action. He relied much on the advantageous
ground on which their late foreign connexions had placed the United
States, and contended that defeat alone could now endanger their
independence. To this he said the army ought not to be exposed. It
would be impossible he thought to bring on a partial action, without
risking its being made general, should such be the choice of the
enemy, since the detachment which might engage must be supported, or
be cut to pieces. A general action ought not to be fought unless the
advantage was manifestly with the American army. This at present was
not the case. He attributed so much to the superior discipline of the
enemy as to be of opinion that the issue of the engagement would be,
almost certainly, unfavourable.