The Life of George Washington, Vol. 3 (of 5)
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While Lincoln was labouring to make arrangements for the ensuing
campaign, he received intelligence of the appearance of the enemy off
the coast. The militia of North Carolina, amounting to two thousand
men, commanded by Generals Ash and Rutherford, had already reached
Charleston; but were unarmed, and congress had been unable to provide
magazines in this part of the Union. These troops were, therefore,
entirely dependent on South Carolina for every military equipment; and
arms were not delivered to them until it was too late to save the
capital of Georgia.
So soon as it was ascertained that the British fleet had entered the
Savannah river, General Lincoln proceeded with the utmost expedition
towards the scene of action. On his march, he received intelligence of
the victory gained over General Howe; and was soon afterwards joined
by the remnant of the defeated army at Purysburg, a small town on the
north side of the Savannah, where he established his head quarters.
The regular force commanded by General Prevost must have amounted to
at least three thousand effective men; and this number was increased
by irregulars who had joined him in Georgia. The American army rather
exceeded three thousand six hundred men, of whom not quite two
thousand five hundred were effective. Something more than one thousand
were continental troops, part of whom were new levies; the rest were
militia.
[Sidenote: Major Gardiner defeated by General Moultrie.]
The theatre of action was so well adapted to defensive war, that,
although General Prevost was decidedly superior to his adversary, it
was difficult to extend his conquests into South Carolina. With the
view of entering that state by the way of the sea coast, he detached
Major Gardiner with about two hundred men, to take possession of the
island of Port Royal. That officer, soon after reaching his place of
destination, was attacked by General Moultrie, and compelled to
retreat with considerable loss. This repulse checked the designs of
Prevost on South Carolina.
[Sidenote: Insurrection of the Tories in South Carolina, who are
defeated by Colonel Pickens.]
From the commencement of the war, a considerable proportion of the
western inhabitants of the three southern states had been attached to
the royal cause. The first successes of the British were soon
communicated to them, and they were invited to assemble and join the
king's standard at Augusta. About seven hundred embodied themselves on
the frontiers of South Carolina, and began their march to that place.
They were overtaken by Colonel Pickens at the head of the neighbouring
militia, near Kittle Creek, and defeated with considerable loss.
Colonel Boyd, their leader, was among the slain; and several of those
who escaped were apprehended, tried, and five of them executed as
traitors. About three hundred reached the British out-posts, and
joined the royal standard. This defeat broke the spirits of the Tories
for a time; and preserved quiet in the west.
As the American army gained strength by reinforcements of militia,
General Lincoln began to contemplate offensive operations. A
detachment had been stationed nearly opposite to Augusta under General
Ash, and he purposed joining that officer so soon as a sufficient
force could be collected, and attempting to recover the upper parts of
Georgia. Before he was able to execute this plan, General Prevost
withdrew his troops from Augusta to Hudson's Ferry. Ash was then
ordered to cross the Savannah, and take post near the confluence of
Briar Creek with that river. This camp was thought unassailable. Its
left was covered by a deep swamp, and by the Savannah. The front was
secured by Briar Creek, which is unfordable several miles, and makes
an acute angle with the river.
[Sidenote: Ash surprised and defeated by Prevost.]
Having determined to dislodge the Americans from this position,
Prevost kept up the attention of General Lincoln by the semblance of a
design to cross the Savannah; and, at the same time amused General Ash
with a feint on his front, while Lieutenant Colonel Prevost made a
circuit of about fifty miles, and, crossing Briar Creek fifteen miles
above the ground occupied by Ash, came down, unperceived and
unsuspected, on his rear. Ash, unused to the stratagems of war, was so
completely engaged by the manoeuvres in his front, that Lieutenant
Colonel Prevost was almost in his camp before any intelligence of his
approach was received. The continental troops under General Elbert
were drawn out to oppose him, and commenced the action with great
gallantry; but most of the militia threw away their arms and fled in
confusion. As they precipitated themselves into the swamp and swam the
river, not many of them were taken. General Elbert and his small band
of continental troops, aided by one regiment of North Carolina
militia, were soon overpowered by numbers, and the survivors were
compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war. The killed and
taken amounted to between three and four hundred men. General Elbert
and Colonel M'Intosh were among the latter. But the loss sustained by
the American army was much more considerable. The dispersed militia
returned to their homes; and not more than four hundred and fifty of
them could be reassembled.
This victory was supposed to give the British such complete possession
of Georgia, that a proclamation was issued the succeeding day by
General Prevost, establishing civil government, and appointing
executive and judicial officers to administer it.
These disasters, instead of terrifying South Carolina into submission,
animated that state to greater exertions. Mr. John Rutledge, a
gentleman of great talents and decision, was elected governor; and the
legislature passed an act empowering him and the council to do every
thing that appeared to him and them necessary for the public good. All
the energies of the state were drawn forth. The militia were called
out in great numbers, and the laws for their government were rendered
more severe.[17]
[Footnote 17: Ramsay.]
Thus reinforced, General Lincoln resumed his plan for recovering the
upper parts of Georgia; and marched the main body of his army up the
Savannah.
This river was now swelled greatly beyond its usual limits; and the
swamps, marshes, and creeks which intersect the country being full,
seemed to present an almost impassable barrier to an invading army. A
small military force being deemed sufficient to arrest the progress of
an enemy through a route which, if at all practicable, was so
difficult, about eight hundred of the state militia, aided by two
hundred continental troops, were left with General Moultrie for the
defence of the country.
[Sidenote: Prevost compels Moultrie to retreat.]
Aware of the importance of this movement, and hoping to recall Lincoln
by alarming him for the safety of Charleston, General Prevost suddenly
crossed the Savannah with three thousand men; and, advancing rapidly
on General Moultrie, obliged him to retreat with precipitation. The
militia could not be prevailed on to defend the passes with any degree
of firmness; and Moultrie, instead of drawing aid from the surrounding
country, sustained an alarming diminution of numbers by desertion.
On the passage of the river by Prevost, an express had been despatched
to Lincoln with the intelligence. Persuaded that the British general
could meditate no serious attempt on Charleston, and that the real
object was to induce him to abandon the enterprise in which he was
engaged, he detached a reinforcement of three hundred light troops to
aid Moultrie, and crossing the Savannah himself, continued his march
down the south side of that river towards the capital of Georgia.
[Sidenote: Prevost marches to Charleston.]
Though the original purpose of General Prevost had been limited to the
security of Georgia, the opposition he encountered was so much less
than he had expected; the tenour of the country was so apparent; the
assurances of those who flocked to his standard; of the general
disposition of the people to terminate the calamities of war by
submission, were so often and so confidently repeated, that he was
emboldened to extend his views, and to hazard the continuation of his
march to Charleston.
On receiving intelligence of this threatening aspect of affairs in
South Carolina, Lincoln recrossed the Savannah, and hastened to the
relief of that state.
The situation of Charleston was extremely critical. The inhabitants,
entirely unapprehensive of an attack by land, had directed their whole
attention to its protection against an invasion by sea. Had Prevost
continued his march with the rapidity with which it was commenced, the
place must have fallen. But, after having gained more than half the
distance, he halted, and consumed two or three days in deliberating on
his future measures. While his intelligence determined him to proceed,
and assured him of a state of things which rendered success almost
certain, that state of things was rapidly changing. Fortifications on
the land side were commenced and prosecuted with unremitting labour;
the neighbouring militia were drawn into the town; the reinforcements
detached by General Lincoln, and the remnant of the legion of Pulaski
arrived; and the governor also entered the city, at the head of some
troops which had been stationed at Orangeburg.
The next morning Prevost crossed Ashly River, and encamped just
without cannon shot of the works. The town was summoned to surrender,
and the day was spent in sending and receiving flags. The neutrality
of South Carolina during the war, leaving the question whether that
state should finally belong to Great Britain or the United States, to
be settled in the treaty of peace, was proposed by the garrison, and
rejected by Prevost; who required that they should surrender
themselves prisoners of war. This proposition being also rejected, the
garrison prepared to sustain an assault. But an attempt to carry the
works by storm was too hazardous to be made; and Prevost came to the
prudent resolution of decamping that night, and recrossing Ashly
River.
[Sidenote: Lincoln attacks the British at the ferry but without
success.]
The British army passed into the island of St. James, and thence to
that of St. John's, which lies south of Charleston harbour; soon after
which General Lincoln encamped in the neighbourhood, so as to confine
them in a great degree to the island they occupied. This island is
separated from the main land by an inlet, to which the name of Stono
River has been given; and the communication is preserved by a ferry. A
British post was established upon the main land at this ferry, and
works were thrown up in front for its defence. When Prevost commenced
his retreat, and the troops were moving from island to island, the
occasion seemed a fair one for attacking it. Only eight hundred men,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Maitland, defended it; but a large
corps still lay on the island. To prevent these troops from supporting
those on the main land, General Moultrie, who commanded in Charleston,
was ordered to pass over a body of militia into James's island, who
should amuse the enemy in St. John's, while a real attack should be
made on the post at the ferry. About seven in the morning, General
Lincoln commenced this attack with about one thousand men; and
continued it with great spirit, until he perceived that strong
reinforcements were crossing over from the island; when he called off
his troops, and retreated, unmolested, to his old ground.
General Moultrie had been unable to execute that part of the plan
which devolved on him. Boats were not in readiness to convey the men
into James's island, and consequently the feint on St. John's was not
made.
The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, amounted to
twenty-four officers, and one hundred and twenty-five privates. That
of the British was stated to be rather less.
Three days after this action, the posts at Stono and St. John's were
evacuated. The heat now became too excessive for active service; and
the British army, after establishing a post on the island contiguous
to Port Royal and St. Helena, retired into Georgia and St. Augustine.
The American militia dispersed, leaving General Lincoln at the head of
about eight hundred men; with whom he retired to Sheldon, where his
primary object was to prepare for the next campaign, which it was
supposed would open in October.
The invasion of the southern states wore so serious an aspect, that
Bland's regiment of cavalry, and the remnant of that lately Baylor's,
now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Washington, with the new levies of
Virginia, were ordered to repair to Charleston, and to place
themselves under the command of General Lincoln. The execution of
these orders was for a time suspended by the invasion of Virginia.
[Sidenote: Invasion of Virginia by General Matthews.]
An expedition against that state had been concerted in the spring
between Sir Henry Clinton and Sir George Collier, the
Commander-in-chief of the British naval force on the American station.
The land troops assigned to this service were commanded by General
Matthews. The transports, on board of which they embarked, were
convoyed by the Admiral in person. On the 9th of May the fleet entered
the Chesapeake, and the next day anchored in Hampton Roads.
Virginia had raised a regiment of artillery for the performance of
garrison duty in the state, which had been distributed along the
eastern frontier; and slight fortifications had been constructed in
the most important situations, which were defensible on the side of
the water, but were not tenable against a military force strong enough
to act on land. Fort Nelson, on the west side of Elizabeth river,
garrisoned by about one hundred and fifty soldiers, commanded by Major
Matthews, was designed to protect the towns of Norfolk and Portsmouth,
which were on each side of the river just above it; and the town of
Gosport, which lies still higher up on a point of land intervening
between two branches of the river. Norfolk and Portsmouth were places
of the most considerable commerce in Virginia. Large supplies for the
army were deposited in them; and the state government had established
at Gosport a marine yard, where ships of war and other vessels were
building, for which naval stores were collected to a very great
amount. The destruction of these vessels and stores, constituted the
principal object of General Matthews.
On the morning of the tenth, the fleet entered Elizabeth river, and
the troops were landed about three miles below the fort, without
opposition. Foreseeing that the works would be attacked the next
morning on the land side, the garrison evacuated the fort in the
night, and took refuge in a deep and extensive swamp, called the
Dismal, which could not be penetrated without difficulty, even by
single persons.
The whole sea-board, on the south side of James' river, being now in
possession of General Matthews, he fixed his head quarters at
Portsmouth, whence small parties were detached to Norfolk, Gosport,
Kemps' landing, and Suffolk, where military and naval stores to a
great amount, and several vessels richly laden, fell into his hands.
This invasion was of short duration. General Matthews, after
destroying the magazines which had been collected in the small towns
near the coast, and the vessels in the rivers, was ordered by Sir
Henry Clinton to return to New York, where he arrived towards the last
of May.
The Admiral and General were both so impressed with the importance of
Portsmouth as a permanent station, that they united in representing to
the Commander-in-chief the advantages to be derived from keeping
possession of it. But, in the opinion of Sir Henry Clinton, the army
did not at that time admit of so many subdivisions; and, with a view
to more interesting objects, Portsmouth was evacuated.
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.
[Sidenote: 1779]
The barbarities committed by the Indians, in the course of the
preceding year, on the inhabitants of the western frontiers, had added
motives of mingled resentment and humanity to those of national
interest, for employing a larger force in the protection of that part
of the Union than had heretofore been devoted to it.
General Washington had always believed that it was impossible to
defend the immense western frontier by any chain of posts which could
be established; and that the country would be protected much more
certainly by offensive than by defensive war. His plan was to
penetrate into the heart of the Indian settlements with a force
competent to the destruction of their towns; and also to reduce the
British post at Niagara, which gave its possessors an almost
irresistible influence over the six nations. This plan constituted one
of the various subjects of conference with the committee of congress
in Philadelphia, and received the entire approbation of that body.
The state governments also took a strong interest in the protection of
their western settlements. Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania,
applied, severally, to congress, urging the adoption of such vigorous
measures as would secure the frontiers against a repetition of the
horrors which had been already perpetrated. These papers were referred
to the committee which had been appointed to confer with General
Washington, in conformity with whose report it was resolved, "that the
Commander-in-chief be directed to take efficient measures for the
protection of the inhabitants, and chastisement of the savages."
The Six Nations had made some advances towards acquiring the comforts
of civilized life. Several comfortable houses were to be seen in their
populous villages; and their fertile fields and orchards yielded an
abundant supply of corn and fruit. Some few of their towns were
attached to the United States; but, in general, they were under the
influence of the British. Many of the loyalists had taken refuge among
them, and had added to their strength without diminishing their
ferocity. It was determined to lead a force into these villages,
sufficient to overpower any numbers they could possibly bring into the
field, and to destroy the settlements they had made. To guard against
reinforcements from Canada, means were used to inspire that colony
with fears for itself.
[Sidenote: Discontents in a part of the American army.]
As the army destined for this expedition was about to move, alarming
symptoms of discontent appeared in a part of it. The Jersey brigade,
which had been stationed during the winter at Elizabethtown, was
ordered early in May, to march by regiments. This order was answered
by a letter from General Maxwell, stating that the officers of the
first regiment had delivered a remonstrance to their Colonel,
addressed to the legislature of the state, declaring that, unless
their complaints on the subjects of pay and support should obtain the
immediate attention of that body, they were, at the expiration of
three days, to be considered as having resigned; and requesting the
legislature, in that event, to appoint other officers to succeed them.
They declared, however, their readiness to make every preparation for
obeying the orders which had been given, and to continue their
attention to the regiment until a reasonable time should elapse for
the appointment of their successors. "This," added the letter of
General Maxwell, "is a step they are extremely unwilling to take, but
it is such as I make no doubt they will all take; nothing but
necessity--their not being able to support themselves in time to come,
and being loaded with debts contracted in time past, could have
induced them to resign at so critical a juncture."
The intelligence conveyed in this letter made a serious impression on
the Commander-in-chief. He was strongly attached to the army and to
its interests; had witnessed its virtue and its sufferings; and
lamented sincerely its present distresses. The justice of the
complaints made by the officers could no more be denied, than the
measure they had adopted could be approved. Relying on their
patriotism and on his own influence, he immediately wrote a letter to
General Maxwell, to be laid before them, in which, mingling the
sensibility of a friend with the authority of a general, he addressed
to their understanding and to their love of country, observations
calculated to invite their whole attention to the consequences which
must result from the step they were about to take.
[Sidenote: Letter from General Washington on this subject.]
"The patience and perseverance of the army," proceeds the letter,
"have been, under every disadvantage, such as to do them the highest
honour both at home and abroad, and have inspired me with an unlimited
confidence of their virtue, which has consoled me amidst every
perplexity and reverse of fortune, to which our affairs, in a struggle
of this nature, were necessarily exposed. Now that we have made so
great a progress to the attainment of the end we have in view, so
that we can not fail without a most shameful desertion of our own
interests, any thing like a change of conduct would imply a very
unhappy change of principles, and a forgetfulness, as well of what we
owe to ourselves, as to our country. Did I suppose it possible this
could be the case, even in a single regiment of the army, I should be
mortified and chagrined beyond expression. I should feel it as a wound
given to my own honour, which I consider as embarked with that of the
army at large. But this I believe to be impossible. Any corps that was
about to set an example of the kind, would weigh well the
consequences; and no officer of common discernment and sensibility
would hazard them. If they should stand alone in it, independent of
other consequences, what would be their feelings on reflecting that
they had held themselves out to the world in a point of light inferior
to the rest of the army. Or if their example should be followed, and
become general, how could they console themselves for having been the
foremost in bringing ruin and disgrace upon their country. They would
remember that the army would share a double portion of the general
infamy and distress, and that the character of an American officer
would become as infamous as it is now glorious.
"I confess the appearances in the present instance are disagreeable,
but I am convinced they seem to mean more than they really do. The
Jersey officers have not been outdone by any others in the qualities
either of citizens or soldiers; and I am confident, no part of them
would seriously intend any thing that would be a stain on their former
reputation. The gentlemen can not be in earnest; they have only
reasoned wrong about the means of obtaining a good end, and, on
consideration, I hope and flatter myself they will renounce what must
appear to be improper. At the opening of a campaign, when under
marching orders for an important service, their own honour, duty to
the public and to themselves, and a regard to military propriety, will
not suffer them to persist in a measure which would be a violation of
them all. It will even wound their delicacy, coolly to reflect that
they have hazarded a step, which has an air of dictating terms to
their country, by taking advantage of the necessity of the moment.
"The declaration they have made to the state, at so critical a time,
that unless they obtain relief in the short period of three days, they
must be considered out of the service, has very much that aspect; and
the seeming relaxation of continuing until the state can have a
reasonable time to provide other officers, will be thought only a
superficial veil. I am now to request that you will convey my
sentiments to the gentlemen concerned, and endeavour to make them
sensible that they are in an error. The service for which the
regiment was intended will not admit of delay. It must at all events
march on Monday morning, in the first place to camp, and farther
directions will be given when it arrives. I am sure I shall not be
mistaken in expecting a prompt and cheerful obedience."
The representations of this letter did not completely produce the
desired effect. The officers did not recede from their claims. In an
address to the Commander-in-chief, they expressed their unhappiness
that any act of theirs should give him pain, but proceeded to justify
the step they had taken. Repeated memorials had been presented to
their legislature, which had been received with promises of attention,
but had been regularly neglected. "At length," said they, "we have
lost all confidence in our legislature. Reason and experience forbid
that we should have any. Few of us have private fortunes; many have
families who already are suffering every thing that can be received
from an ungrateful country. Are we then to suffer all the
inconveniences, fatigues, and dangers of a military life, while our
wives and our children are perishing for want of common necessaries at
home;--and that without the most distant prospect of reward, for our
pay is now only nominal? We are sensible that your excellency can not
wish nor desire this from us.