 Chapter 3 of the Life of Washington, Volume 3 by John Marshall. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 3, 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, manifest of the commissioners, encounter, manifest of Congress, arrival of Mr. Girard, minister, plenty, potentiary of France, hostilities of the Indians, eruption into the Wyoming settlement, battle of Wyoming, Colonel Denison capitulates for the inhabitants, distress of the settlement, Colonel Clark surprises St. Vincent, Congress determines to invade Canada, General Washington opposes the measure, induces Congress to abandon it. 1778, about the time that Commodore Parker sailed for the southern states, the commissioners appointed to give the effect to the late conciliatory acts of parliament, embarked for Europe. They had exerted their utmost powers to effect the object of their mission, but without success, Great Britain required that the force of the two nations should be united under one common sovereign, and America was no longer disposed or even at liberty to accede to this condition. All those affections which parts of the same empire should feel for each other had been eradicated by a distressing war. The great body of the people were determined at every sacrifice to maintain their independence and the treaty with France had pledged the honor and the faith of the nation, never to consent to our reunion with the British Empire, a rival of the British commissioners. The commissioners arrived in Philadelphia while that place was yet in possession of their army and are understood to have brought positive orders for its evacuation. Their arrival was immediately announced to General Washington by Sir Henry Clinton who was joined with them in the commission and a passport was requested for their secretary, Dr. Ferguson, as the bearer of their first dispatches to Congress. The commander-in-chief declined granting this passport until he should receive the instructions of his government, terms of conciliation proposed on which a letter addressed to the president and other members of Congress was forwarded in the usual manner, copies of their commission and of the acts of parliament on which it was founded together with propositions conforming to those acts drawn in the most conciliatory language were transmitted with this letter. Some observations having been introduced into it reflecting on the conduct of France, the reading was interrupted and a motion made to proceed no farther in consequence of this offensive language to his most Christian majesty. This motion producing some debate and adjournment was moved and carried. When Congress really assembled, the warmth of the preceding day had not entirely subsided but after several ineffectual motions to prevent it, the letter was read and committed. Answer of Congress to these propositions, the answer which was reported by the committee and transmitted to the commissioners declared that nothing but an earnest desire to spare the farther effusion of human blood could have induced them to read a paper containing expressions so disrespectful to his most Christian majesty, the good and great ally of these states or to consider propositions so derogatory to the honor of an independent nation. That the acts of the British Parliament, the commission from their sovereign and their letter, suppose the people of the United States to be subjects of the crown of Great Britain and were founded on the idea of dependence which is totally inadmissible, that Congress was inclined to peace, not withstanding the unjust claims from which this was originated and the savage manner in which it was conducted, they would therefore be ready to enter upon the consideration of a treaty of peace and commerce, not inconsistent with treaties already subsisting when the King of Great Britain should demonstrate a sincere disposition for that purpose. The only solid proof of this disposition will be an explicit acknowledgement of the independence of these states or the withdrawing his fleets and armies. July 13th, on the 13th of July, after arriving at New York, the commissioners addressed a second letter to Congress expressing their regrets that any difficulties were raised which must prolong the calamities of war and reviewing the letter of Congress in terms well calculated to make an impression on those who have become weary of the contest and to revive ancient prejudices in favor of England and against France. This letter being read, Congress resolved, that as neither the independence of the United States was explicitly acknowledged, nor the fleets and armies have drawn, no answer should be given to it. It would seem that the first letter of Congress must have convinced the British commissioners that no hope could be indulged of restoring peace on any other terms than the independence of the United States. Congress must have been equally certain that the commissioners were not empowered to acknowledge that independence or to direct the fleets and armies of Great Britain to be withdrawn. The intercourse between them, therefore, after the first communications were exchanged and all subsequent measures became a game of skill in which the parties played for the affections and passions of the people and was no longer a diplomatic correspondence discussing the interests of two great nations with the hope of accommodation. Attempts of Mr. Johnson to bribe influential members of Congress. The first packet addressed by the commissioners to Congress contained several private letters written by Governor Johnson to members of that body in which he blended with fluttering expressions of respect for their characters and their conduct, assurances of the honors and the monuments to which those would be entitled, who should contribute to restore peace and harmony to the two countries and to terminate the present war. A few days before the receipt of the letter of the 13th of July, Congress passed a resolution requiring that all letters of a public nature received by any member from any subject of the British crown should be laid before them. In compliance with this resolution, the letters of Governor Johnson were produced and sometimes afterwards Mr. Reed stated in his place a direct offer which had been made him by a third person of a considerable sum of money and of any office in the gift of the crown as an inducement to use his influence for the restoration of harmony between the two countries. Congress orders the publication of the private letters from Johnson to the members of that body. Congress determined to communicate these circumstances to the American people and made a solemn declaration in which after reciting the offensive paragraphs of the private letters and the conversation stated by Mr. Reed, they expressed their opinion that these were direct attempts to corrupt and bribe the Congress of the United States and that it was incompatible with their honor to hold any manner of correspondence or intercourse with the said George Johnson Esquire, especially to negotiate with him upon affairs in which the cause of liberty is interested. After an unsuccessful attempt to involve the other commissioners in the same exclusion, this declaration was transmitted to them while they were expecting an answer to a remonstrance on the detention of the Army of General Burgoyne. On receiving it, Mr. Johnson withdrew from the commission, declaring that he should be happy to find Congress inclined to retract their former declaration and to negotiate with others on terms equally conducive to the happiness of both countries. This declaration was accompanied by one signed by the other commissioners in which without admitting the construction put by Congress on his letters or the authority of the person who held the conversation with Mr. Reed, they denied all knowledge of those letters for that conversation. They at the same time detailed the advantages to be derived by America from the propositions they had made, advantages they added, decidedly superior to any which could be expected from an unnatural alliance with France only entered into by that nation for the purpose of prolonging the war after the full knowledge on their part of the liberal terms intended to be offered by Great Britain. With this declaration was transmitted a copy of the former remonstrance against the detention of the convention troops without the signature of Governor Johnson and an extract from the instructions given by the Secretary of State to Sir Henry Clinton authorizing him to demand in express terms a performance of the convention made with General Burgoyne and if required to renew and ratify all its conditions in the name of the King. All the publications of the British commissioners indicate an opinion that they could be more successful with the people than with Congress and not unfrequently betray the desire that the constituents of that body might be enabled to decide on their measures taken by their representatives. On the part of Congress, it was decreed of the utmost importance to keep the public mind correct and to defeat all attempts to make unfavorable impressions on it. Several members of that body entered the lists as disputants and employed their pens with ability and success as well in serious argument as in rousing the various passions which influenced the conduct of men. The attempt to accomplish the object of the mission by corruption was wielded with great effect and it was urged with equal force that should the United States now break their faith with France and treat on the footing of dependence. They would sacrifice all credit with foreign nations, would be considered by all as faithless and infamous and would forfeit all pretensions to future aid from abroad, after which the terms now offered might be retracted and the war be recommenced. To these representations were added the certainty of independence and the great advantages which must result from its establishment. The letters of the commissioners were treated as attempts to sow divisions among the people of which they might afterwards avail themselves and thus effect by intrigue would have been found unattainable by arms. These essays were read with avidity and seemed to have produced all the effect which was expected from them among the friends of the revolution. October 8th, the commissioners appeared still to have cherished the hope that a complete knowledge of the terms they had offered, operating on the disappointment of the extravagant hopes which had been founded on the arrival of a French fleet would make a great impression on a large portion of the American people. This opinion induced them before their departure to publish a manifesto addressed not only to Congress but to all the provincial assemblies and all the inhabitants of the colonies of whatever denomination, briefly recapitulating the several steps they had taken to accomplish the object of their mission and the refusal of Congress even to open a conference with them. Manifesto of the commissioners and counter-manifestos by Congress, they declare their readiness still to proceed in the execution of the powers contained in their commission and to treat either with deputies from all the colonies conjointly or with any provincial assembly or convention individually at any time within the space of 40 days from the date of their manifesto. They also proclaimed a general pardon for all treasons and rebellious practices committed at any time previous to the date of their manifesto to such as should within the term of 40 days withdraw from their opposition to the British government and conduct themselves as faithful and loyal subjects to enable all persons to avail themselves of this proffered pardon. Thirteen copies of the manifesto were executed, one of which was transmitted by a flag of truce to each state. A vast number of copies were printed and great exertions were made by flags and other means to disperse them among the people. On being informed of these proceedings, Congress, without hesitation, adopted the course which the government of an independent nation is bound to pursue when attempts are made by a foreign power to open negotiations with unauthorized individuals. They declared the measure to be contrary to the law of nations and utterly subversive of that confidence which could alone maintain those means which had been invented to alleviate the horrors of war and therefore that the persons employed to distribute such papers were not entitled to the protection of a flag. They recommended it to the executive departments in the respective states to secure in close custody every person who under the sanction of a flag or otherwise was found employed in circulating those manifestos. At the same time to show that these measures were not taken for the purpose of concealment, they directed the publication of the manifesto in the American papers. Care, however, was taken to accompany it with comments made by individuals calculated to counteract its effect. A vessel containing a cargo of these papers being wrecked on the coast, the officers and crew were made prisoners and the requisition of Admiral Gambier for their release in consequence of the privilege afforded by his flag was answered by a declaration that they had forfeited that privilege by being charged with seditious papers. October 30, not long after the publication of this paper, a counter-manifesto was issued by Congress in which after touching on subjects which might influence the public mind, they solemnly declare and proclaim that if their enemies presume to execute their threats or persist in their present course of barbarity, they will take such exemplary vengeance as shall deter others from unlike conduct. Thus ended this fruitless attempt to restore connection which had been wantonly broken, the reinstatement of which had become impracticable. With the war and with independence, a course of opinion had prevailed in America which not only opposed great obstacles to our reunion of the two countries under one common sovereign but by substituting discordant materials in the place of the cement which formally bound them together rendered such an event undesirable even to the British themselves. The time was arrived when the true interest of that nation required the relinquishment of an expensive war, the object of which was unattainable and which if attained could not be long preserved and the establishment of those amicable relations which reciprocal interests produced between independent states capable of being serviceable to each other by a fair and equal interchange of good offices. This opinion however was not yet embraced by the cabinet of London and great exertions were still to be made for the re-annexation of the American states to the British Empire. Even the opposition was not united against the continuance of the war for the object now proposed and the Earl of Chattanoogh had endeavored first to prevent the conflict and afterwards to produce conciliation closed to splendid life in unavailing efforts to prevent that dismemberment which had become inevitable. July 14th arrival of Gerard minister plenty pretentiary from the King of France. In the midst of these transactions with the commissioners of Great Britain the Sir Gerard arrived at Philadelphia in the character of minister plenty pretentiary of his most Christian majesty. The joy produced by this event was unbounded and he was received by Congress with great pomp. While these diplomatic concerns employed the American cabinet and while the war seemed to languish on the Atlantic it raged to the West in its most savage form. The difficulties which the inability of the American government to furnish the neighboring Indians with those European articles which they were accustomed to use opposed to all the efforts of Congress to preserve their friendship have already been noticed. Early in 1778 there were many indications about general disposition among those savages to make war on the United States and the frontiers from the Mohawk to the Ohio were threatened with the Tomahawk and the scalping knife. Every representation from that country supported the opinion that a war with the Indians should never be defensive and that to obtain peace it must be carried into their own country. Detroit, whose government was believed to have been particularly active in exciting hostilities was understood to be in a defenseless condition and Congress resolved on an expedition against that place. June 11 this enterprise was entrusted to General McIntosh who commanded at Pittsburgh and was to be carried on with 3,000 men, chiefly militia to be drawn from Virginia. To facilitate its success the resolution was also taken to enter the country of the Seneca's at the same time by the way of the Mohawk. The officer commanding on the east of Hudson was desired to take measures for carrying this resolution into execution and the commissioners for Indian affairs at Albany were directed to cooperate with him. Unfortunately, the acts of the government did not correspond with the vigor of its resolutions. The necessary preparations were not made and the inhabitants of the frontiers remained without sufficient protection until the plans against them were matured and the storm which had been long gathering burst upon them with a fury which spread desolation wherever it reached. Colonel John Butler with a party of Indians breaks into the Wyoming settlement. About 300 white men commanded by Colonel John Butler and about 500 Indians led by the Indian Chief Grant who had assembled in the north marched late in June against the settlement of Wyoming. These troops embarked on the Chamang or Tayoga and descending the Susquehanna landed at a place called the Three Islands. Wents they marched about 20 miles and crossing a wilderness and passing through a gap in the mountain entered the valley of Wyoming near its northern boundary. At this place a small fort called Winter Moots had been erected which fell into their hands without resistance and was burnt. The inhabitants who were capable of bearing arms assembled on the first alarm at 44th on the west side of the Susquehanna four miles below the camp of the invading army. The regular troops amounting to about 60 were commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, the militia by Colonel Dennison. Colonel Butler was desirous of awaiting the arrival of a small reinforcement under Captain Spalding who had been ordered by General Washington to his aid on the first intelligence of the danger which threatened the settlement. But the militia generally believing themselves sufficiently strong to repel the invading force urged an immediate battle so earnestly that Colonel Butler yielded to their remonstrances and on the 3rd of July marched from 44th at the head of near 400 men to attack the enemy. The British and Indians were prepared to receive him. Their line was formed a small distance in front of their camp in a plain thinly covered with pine shrub oaks and undergrowth and extended from the river about a mile to a marsh at the foot of the mountain. The Americans advanced in a single column without interruption until they approached the enemy when they received a fire which did not much mischief. The line of battle was instantly formed and the action commenced with spirit. The Americans rather gain ground on the right where Colonel Butler commanded until a large body of Indians passing through the skirt of the marsh turned their left flank which was composed of militia and poured a heavy and most destructive fire on their rear. The word retreat was pronounced by some person and the efforts of the officers to check it were unavailing. The fate of the day was decided and a flight commenced on the left which was soon followed by the right. As soon as the line was broken the Indians throwing down their rifles and rushing upon them with the Tomahawk completed the confusion. The attempt of Colonel Butler and of the officers to restore order were unavailing and the whole line broke and fled in confusion. The massacre was general and the cries for mercy were answered by the Tomahawk rather less than 60 men escaped some to 44, some by swimming the river and some to the mountain. A very few prisoners were made only three of whom were preserved alive who were carried to Niagara. Colonel Denison capitulates for the inhabitants. Further resistance was impracticable. Colonel Denison proposed terms of capitulation which were granted to the inhabitants it being understood that no quarter would be allowed to the continental troops. Colonel Butler with his few surviving soldiers fled from the valley. Distress of the settlement, the inhabitants generally abandoned the country and in great distress wandered into the settlements on the Lehigh and the Delaware. The Indians as is the practice of savages destroyed the houses and improvements by fire and plundered the country. After laying waste the whole settlement they withdrew from it before the arrival of the continental troops who were detached to meet them. To cover every part of the United States would have required a much greater number of men than could be raised. Different districts were therefore unavoidably exposed to the calamities ever to be experienced by those into the bosom of whose country war is carried. The militia in every part of the union fatigued and worn out by repeated tours of duty required to be relieved by continental troops. Their applications were necessarily resisted but the danger which threatened the Western frontier had become so imminent. The appeal made by its sufferings to national feeling was so affecting that it was determined to spare a more considerable portion of the army for its defense than had been allotted to that part of the union since the capture of Burgoyne. On the first intelligence of the destruction of Wyoming the regiments of Hartley and Butler with the remnant of Morgan's Corps commanded by Major Posey were detached to the protection of that distressed country. July 15 they were engaged in several sharp skirmishes made separate incursions into the Indian settlements broke up their nearest villages to destroy their corn and by compelling them to retire to a greater distance gave some relief to the inhabitants. While the frontiers of New York and Pennsylvania were thus suffering the calamities incident to savage warfare, a fate equally severe was preparing for Virginia. The Western militia of that state had made some successful incursions into the country northwest of the Ohio and had taken some British posts on the Mississippi. These were erected in the county of Illinois and a regiment of infantry with a troop of cavalry were raised for its protection. The command of these troops was given to Colonel George Rogers Clark, a gentleman whose courage, hardyhood, and capacity for Indian warfare had given repeated success to his enterprises against the savages. This corps was divided into several detachments the strongest of which remained with Colonel Clark at Cascastia, Colonel Hamilton, the governor of Detroit, was at Vincennes with about 600 men principally Indians preparing an expedition first against Cascastia and then up the Ohio to Pittsburgh after which he proposed to desolate the frontiers of Virginia. Clark anticipated and defeated his design by one of those bold and decisive measures which whether formed on a great or a small scale marked the military and enterprising genius of the man who plans and executes them. He was too far removed from the inhabited country to hope for support and was too weak to maintain Cascastia and the Illinois against the combined force of regulars and Indians by which he was to be attacked so soon as the season for action should arrive. While employed in preparing for his defense he received unquestionable information that Hamilton had detached his Indians on an expedition against the frontiers reserving at the post he occupied only about 80 regulars with three pieces of cannon and some swivels. 1779 February Clark instantly resolved to seize this favorable moment. After detaching a small galley up the wall bash with orders to take her station a few miles below Vincennes and to permit nothing to pass he marched in the depth of winter with 130 men the whole force he could collect across the country from Cascastia to Vincennes. This march through the woods and over high waters required 16 days five of which were employed in crossing the drowned lands of the wall bash. The troops were under the necessity of waiting five miles in water frequently up to their breasts. After subduing these difficulties Colonel Clark surprises St. Vincent's and takes possession of it. This small party appeared before the town which was completely surprised and readily consented to change its master. Hamilton after defending the fort a short time surrendered himself and his garrison prisoners of war with a few of his immediate agents and counselors who had been instrumental in the savage barbarities he had encouraged he was by order of the executive of Virginia put in irons and confined in a jail. This expedition was important in its consequences. It disconcerted a plan which threatened destruction to the whole country west of the Allegheny Mountains detached from the British interests many of those numerous tribes of Indians south of the waters immediately communicating with the Great Lakes and had most probably considerable influence in fixing the western boundary of the United States. We have already seen that Congress actuated by their wishes rather than governed by a temperate calculation of the means in their possession had in the preceding winter planned a second invasion of Canada to be conducted by the Marquis de Lafayette and that as the generals only were got in readiness for this expedition it was necessarily laid aside. The design however seems to have been suspended not abandoned. The alliance with France revived the latent wish to annex that extensive territory to the United States that favored subject was resumed. Congress determined to attack Canada and the other British possessions in North America and towards autumn a plan was completely digested for a combined attack to be made by the allies on all the British dominions on the continent and on the adjacent islands of Cape Breton and Newfoundland. This plan was matured about the time the Marquis de Lafayette obtained leave to return to his own country and was ordered to be transmitted by that nobleman to Dr. Franklin the minister of the United States at the court of Versailles with instructions to induce if possible the French cabinet to accede to it. Some communications respecting this subject were also made to the Marquis on whose influence in securing its adoption by his own government much reliance was placed. In an October 1778 it was for the first time transmitted to General Washington with a request that he would enclose it by the Marquis with his observations on it to Dr. Franklin. This very extensive plan of military operations for the ensuing campaign prepared entirely in the cabinet without consulting so far as is known a single military man consisted of many parts. Two detachments amounting each to 1600 men were to march from Pittsburgh and Wyoming against Detroit and Niagara. A third body of troops which was to be stationed on the Mohawk during the winter and to be powerfully reinforced in the spring was to seize Oswego and to secure the navigation of Lake Ontario with vessels to be constructed of materials to be procured in the winter. A fourth corps was to penetrate into Canada by the St. Francis and to reduce Montreal and the posts on Lake Champlain while a fifth should guard against troops from Quebec. Thus far America could proceed unaided by her ally but Upper Canada being reduced another campaign would still be necessary for the reduction of Quebec. This circumstance would require that the army should pass the winter in Canada and in the meantime the garrison of Quebec might be largely reinforced. It was therefore essential to the complete success of the enterprise that France should be induced to take a part in it. The conquest of Quebec and of Halifax was supposed to be an object of so much importance to France as well as to the United States that her aide might be confidently expected. It was proposed to request his most Christian majesty to furnish four or 5,000 troops to sail from Brest the beginning of May under convoy of four ships of the line and four frigates. The troops to be clad as if for service in the West Indies and thick clothes to be sent after them in August. A large American detachment was to act with this French army and it was supposed that Quebec and Halifax might be reduced by the beginning or middle of October. The army might then either proceed immediately against Newfoundland or remain in garrison until the spring when the conquest of that place might be accomplished. It had been supposed probably that England would abandon the further prosecution of the war on the continent of North America in which case the government would have a respectable force at its disposal. The advantageous employment of which had engaged in part the attention of the commander-in-chief. He had contemplated an expedition against the British posts in Upper Canada as a measure which might be eventually eligible and which might employ the arms of the United States to advantage if their troops might safely be withdrawn from the seaboard. He had, however, considered every object of this sort as contingent, having estimated the difficulties to be encountered in such an enterprise. He had found them so considerable as to hesitate on the extent which might safely be given to the expedition, admitting the United States to be evacuated by the British armies. In this state of mind, he received the magnificent plan already prepared by Congress. He was forcibly struck with the impracticability of executing that part of it, which was to be undertaken by the United States should the British armies continue in their country and with the serious mischief which would result to the common cause as well from diverting so considerable a part of French force from other objects to one which was, in his opinion, so unpromising as from the ill impression which would be made on the court and nation by the total failure of the American government to execute its part of a plan originating with itself, a failure which would most probably sacrifice the troops and ships employed by France. On comparing the naval force of England with that of France in the different parts of the world, the former appeared to him to maintain a decided superiority and consequently to possess the power of shutting up the ships of the latter which might be trusted into the St. Lawrence. Do you suppose that the British government would not avail itself of this superiority on such an occasion would be to impute to it a blind infatuation or ignorance of the plans of its adversary which could not be safely assumed in calculations of such serious import? General Washington urges reasons against the plan. A plan, too, consisting of so many parts to be prosecuted both from Europe and America by land and by water, which to be successful required such a harmonious cooperation of the whole, such a perfect coincidence of events, appeared to him to be exposed to too many accidents, to risk upon it interests of such high value. George Washington from the portrait of John Trumbull, Colonel Trumbull, whose portraits of Washington, Hamilton, J. Adams, George Clinton, and other revolutionary contemporaries form a notable gallery was General Washington's aid to camp at the outbreak of the war for independence and during its progress became a pupil of Benjamin West in London. The news of Andre's execution fastened upon him the suspicion of being a spy and he spent eight months in an English prison. Returning to America, he painted this and other portraits of Washington as well as a number of historical pictures including the resignation of Washington at Annapolis which hangs in the capital at Washington. In a long and serious letter to Congress, he apologized for not obeying their orders to deliver the plan with his observations upon it to the Marquis and entering into a full investigation of all its parts demonstrated the mischiefs and the dangers with which it was replete. This letter was referred to a committee whose report admits the force of the reasons encouraged by the Commander-in-Chief against the expedition and their own conviction that nothing important could be attempted unless the British armies should be withdrawn from the United States and that even in that event the present plan was far too complex. Men, however, received slowly and reluctantly from favored and flattering projects on which they have long meditated and the committee in their report proceeded to state the opinion that the posts held by the British in the United States would probably be evacuated before the active part of the ensuing campaign and that therefore eventual measures for the expedition ought to be taken. This report concludes with recommending that the general should be directed to write to the Marquis de Lafayette on that subject and also to write to the minister of these states at the Court of Air of Sy very fully to the end that eventual measures may be taken in case an armament should be sent from France to Quebec for cooperating therewith to the utmost degree which the finances and resources of the states will admit. This report also was approved by Congress and transmitted to the Commander-in-Chief who felt himself greatly embarrassed by it while his objections to the project retained all their force he found himself required to open a correspondence for the purposes of soliciting the concurrence of France in an expedition he disapproved and of promising a cooperation he believed to be impracticable in reply to this communication. He said, the earnest desire I have strictly to comply in every instance with the views and instructions of Congress cannot but make me feel the greatest uneasiness when I find myself in circumstances of hesitation or doubt with respect to their directions but the perfect confidence I have in the justice and candor of that unimboldened body emboldens me to communicate without reserve the difficulties which occur in the execution of their present order and the indulgence I have experienced on every former occasion induces me to imagine that the liberty I now take will not meet with disapprobation. After reviewing the report of the committee and stating his objections to the plan and the difficulties he felt in performing the duty assigned to him, he added, but if Congress still think it necessary for me to proceed in the business, I must request their more definitive and explicit instructions and that they will permit me previous to transmitting the intended dispatches to submit them to their determination. I could wish to lay before Congress more minutely the state of the army, the condition of our supplies and the requisites necessary for carrying into execution and undertaking that may involve the most serious events. If Congress think this can be done more satisfactorily in a personal conference, I hope to have the army in such a situation before I can receive their answer as to afford me an opportunity of giving my attendance. Induce his Congress to abandon it. Congress acceded to his request of a personal interview and on his arrival in Philadelphia, a committee was appointed to confer with him as well on this particular subject as on the general state of the army and of the country. The result of these conferences was that the expedition against Canada was entirely though reluctantly given up and every arrangement recommended by the commander in chief received the attention to which his judgment and experience gave all his opinions the fairest claim. End of chapter three. Chapter four of the life of Washington, volume three by John Marshall, this LibriVox recording is in the public domain, chapter four. 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 Gardner defeated by General Moultrie, insurrection of the Tories in South Carolina, they are defeated by Colonel Pickens, Ash surprised and defeated, Moultrie retreats, pre-vosed, marches to Charleston. Lincoln attacks the British at Stono Ferry unsuccessfully, invasion of Virginia, 1779. After the relinquishment of that extensive plan of conquest which had been meditated against Canada, no other object seemed to call forth the energies of the nation and a general Langer appeared to diffuse itself through all the civil departments. The alliance with France was believed to secure independence and a confidence that Britain would no longer prosecute the war with any hope of success. A confidence encouraged by communications from Europe prevented those exertions which were practicable but which it was painful to make. This temper was seen and deployed by the commander-in-chief who incessantly combatted the opinion that Britain was about to relinquish the contest and insisted that great and vigorous exertions on the part of the United States were still necessary to bring the war to a successful termination. It being no longer practicable to engage soldiers by voluntary enlistment and government not daring to force men into the service for three years or during the war, the vacant ranks were scantily supplied with graphs for nine, 12 and 18 months. A great proportion of the troops were discharged in the course of each year and except that the old officers remained almost a new army was to be formed for every campaign. Although the commander-in-chief pressed Congress and the state governments continually and urgently to take timely measures for supplying the places of those who were leaving the service, the means adopted were so slow and ineffectual in their operation that the season for action never found the preparations completed and the necessity of struggling against superior numbers was perpetual. The pleasing delusion that the war was over to which the public mind delighted to surrender itself made no impression on the judgment of Washington viewing objects through a more correct medium. He perceived that Great Britain had yet much to hope and America much to fear from a continuance of hostilities. He feared that the impression which the divisions and apparent inertness of the United States had made on the British commissioners would be communicated to their government and this consideration increased his anxiety in favor of early and vigorous preparations for the next campaign. Yet it was not until the 23rd of January that Congress passed the resolution authorizing the commander-in-chief to re-enlist the army nor until the 9th of March that the requisition was made on the several estates for their quotas. The bounty offered by the first resolution being found insufficient, the government was again under the necessity of resorting to the estates. Thus at a season when the men ought to have been in camp the measures for raising them were still to be adopted. About this period several circumstances conspired to foment those pernicious divisions and factions in Congress which in times of greater apparent danger patriotism would have suppressed. The ministers of the United States in Europe had reciprocally cremated each other and some of them have been recalled. Divisions in Congress, their friends in Congress supported their respective interests with considerable animation and it linked Mr. Dean published a manifesto in which he arraigned at the bar of the public the conduct not only of those concerned in foreign negotiations but of the members of Congress themselves. The irritation excited by these and other contests was not a little increased by the appearance in a New York paper of an extract from a letter written by Mr. Lawrence the president of the Congress to Governor Houston of Georgia which during the invasion of that state was found among his papers. In this letter Mr. Lawrence had unbuzzened himself with the unsuspecting confidence of a person communicating to a friend the inmost operations of his mind. In a gloomy moment he had expressed himself with a degree of severity which even his own opinion would not under the immediate influence of chagrin would not entirely justify and have reflected on the integrity and patriotism of members without particularizing the individuals he designed to censure. These altercations added much to the alarm with which General Washington viewed that security which had insinuated itself into the public mind and his endeavors were unremitting to impress the same apprehensions on those who were supposed capable of removing the delusion. In his confidential letters to gentlemen of the most influence in the several states he represented in strong terms the dangers which yet threatened the country and earnestly exhorted them to a continuance of those sacrifices and exertions which he still deemed essential to the happy termination of the war. The dissensions in Congress, the removal of individuals of the highest influence and character from the councils of the nation to offices in the respective states, the depreciation of the currency, the destructive spirit of speculation which the imaginary gain produced by this depreciation had diffused throughout the union, a general laxity of principles and an unwillingness to encounter personal inconvenience for the attainment of the great object in pursuit of which so much blood and treasure had been expended were the rocks on which he apprehended the state vessel might yet split and to which he endeavored incessantly to point the attention of those whose weight of political character enabled them to guide the helm. Letters from General Washington on the state of public affairs, I am particularly desirous of a free communication of sentiments with you at this time, says the general in a letter written to a gentleman of splendid political talents because I view things very differently. I fear from what people in general do who seem to think the contest at an end and that to make money and get places of the only things now remaining to be done. I have seen without despondency even for a moment the hours which America has styled her gloomy ones but I have beheld no day since the commencement of hostilities when I thought her liberties in such imminent danger as at present. Friends and foes seem now to combine to pull down the goodly fabric we have hitherto been raising at the expense of so much time, blood and treasure. After centering with some freedom the prevailing opinions of the day, he added, to me it appears no unjust simile to compare the affairs of this great continent to the mechanism of a clock, each state representing some one or other of the smaller parts of it, which they are endeavoring to put in fine order without considering how useless and unavailing their labor is unless the great wheel or spring which is to set the whole in motion is also well attended to and kept in good order. I allude to no particular state nor do I mean to cast reflections upon any one of them nor ought I, it may be said to do so on their representatives. But as it is a fact to notorious to be concealed that Congress is rent by party that much business of a trifling nature and personal concernment withdraws their attention from matters of great national moment at this critical period when it is also known that idleness and dissipation take place of close attention and application, no man who wishes well to the liberties of this country and desires to see its rights established can avoid crying out, where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth to save their country? Let this voice, my dear sir, call upon you, Jefferson and others, do not from a mistaken opinion that we are to sit down under our vine in our own fig tree, let our hitherto noble struggle end in ignominy. Believe me, when I tell you there is danger of it, I have pretty good reasons for thinking about administration. A little while ago had resolved to give the matter up and negotiate a peace with us upon almost any terms, but I shall be much mistaken if they do not now from the present state of our currency, dissensions and other circumstances, which pushed matters to the utmost extremity. Nothing, I am sure, will prevent it, but the intervention of Spain and their disappointed hope from Russia. The circumstances and the situation and temp of America, which made so deep an impression on the commander-in-chief, operated with equal force on the British commissioners and induced them to think that by continuing the war more favorable terms than were now demanded might be obtained. They seem to have taken up the opinion that the mass of the people fatigued and worn out by the complicated calamities of the struggle sincerely desired an accommodation on the terms proposed by Great Britain and that the increasing difficulties resulting from the failure of public credit would induce them to desert Congress or compel that body to exceed to those terms. These opinions, when communicated to the government, most probably contributed to protract the war. The narrative of military transactions will now be resumed. The British arms had here before been chiefly directed against the northern and middle states. The strongest parts of the American continent were pressed by their whole force. And with the exception of the attempt on Sullivan's Island in 1776, no serious design had yet been manifested to make an impression in the South. Entertaining the most confident hopes of recovering all the colonies, the British government had not prosecuted the war with a view to partial conquest, but the loss of the army commanded by Burgoyne, the alliance of America with France and the unexpected obstinacy with which the contest was maintained had diminished their confidence. And when the Pacific propositions made in 1778 were rejected, the resolution seems to have been taken to change materially the object of their military operations and maintaining possession of the islands of New York to direct their arms against the southern states on which it was believed a considerable impression might be made. It was not unreasonable to suppose that the influence of this impression might extend northward, but however this might be the actual conquest and possession of several states would, when negotiations for a general peace should take place, give a complexion to those negotiations and afford plausible ground for insisting to retain territory already acquired. The most active and interesting operations, therefore, of the succeeding campaigns were in the southern states. Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, who sailed from the hook about the last of November 1778, escorted by a small squadron commanded by Commodore Hyde Parker, reached the isle of Tybee near the savannah on the 23rd of December, and in a few days the fleet and the transports passed the bar and anchored in the river. The command of the southern army, composed of the troops of South Carolina and Georgia, had been committed to Major General Robert Howe, who, in the course of their preceding summer, had invaded East Florida. The disease's incident to the climate made such ravages among his raw soldiers that though he had scarcely seen an enemy, he found himself compelled to hasten out of the country with considerable loss. After this disastrous enterprise, his army consisting of between six and seven hundred continental troops, aided by a few hundred militia, had encamped in the neighborhood of the town of Savannah, situated on the southern bank of the river, bearing that name. The country about the mouth of the river is one tract of deep marsh, intersected by creeks and cuts of water, impassable for troops at any time of the tide, except over causeways, extending through the sunken ground. Invasion of Georgia, without much opposition, Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, affected a landing on the 29th, about three miles below the town, upon which Howe formed his line of battle. His left was secured by the river and along the whole extent of his front was a morass, which stretched to his right and was believed by him to be impassable for such a distance as effectually to secure that wing. After reconordering the country, Colonel Campbell advanced on the great road leading to Savannah and about three in the afternoon appeared in sight of the American army. While making dispositions to dislodge it, he accidentally fell in with a negro who informed him of a private path leading through the swamp round the right of the American lines to their rear, determining to avail himself of this path, he detached a column under Sir James Baird, which entered the morass unperceived by Howe. General Howe, defeated by the British under Colonel Campbell, who takes possession of Savannah. As soon as Sir James emerged from the swamp, he attacked and dispersed a body of Georgia militia, which gave the first notice to the American general of the danger which threatened his rear. At the same instant, the British troops in his front were put in motion and their artillery began to play upon him. A retreat was immediately ordered and the continental troops were under the necessity of running across a plane in front of the core, which had been led into their rear by Sir James Baird, who attacked their flanks with great impetuosity and considerable effect. The few who escaped retreated up to Savannah and crossing that river at Zubley's Ferry took refuge in South Carolina. The victory was complete and decisive in its consequences. About 100 Americans were either killed in the field or drowned in attempting to escape through a deep swamp. 38 officers and 415 privates were taken, 48 pieces of cannon, 23 mortars, the fort with all its military stores, a large quantity of provisions collected for the use of the army and the capital of Georgia fell into the hands of the conqueror. These advantages were obtained at the expense of only seven killed and 19 wounded. No military force now remained in Georgia except the garrison of Sunbury, whose retreat to South Carolina was cut off. All the lower part of that state was occupied by the British, who adopted measures to secure the conquest they had made. The inhabitants were treated without lenity, as wise as it was humane. Their property was spared and their persons protected to make the best use of victory and of the impression produced by the moderation of the victors. A proclamation was issued, inviting the inhabitants to repair to their British standard and offering protection to those who would return to their allegiance. The effect of these measures did not disappoint those who adopted them. The inhabitants flocked in great numbers to the royal standard military corps for the protection of the country were formed and posts were established for a considerable distance up the river. Sunbury surrenders to general pre-vost. The northern frontier Georgia being supposed to be settled into a state of quiet, Colonel Campbell turned his attention towards Sunbury and was about to proceed against that place when he received intelligence that it had surrendered to general pre-vost. Sir Henry Clinton had ordered that officer to cooperate from East Florida with Colonel Campbell on hearing that the troops from the north were off the coast. He entered the southern frontier of Georgia and invested Sunbury, which after a slight resistance surrendered at discretion. The state of Georgia reduced. Having placed a garrison in the fort, he proceeded to Savannah, took command of the army and detached Colonel Campbell with 800 regulars and a few provincials to Augusta, which fell without resistance and thus the whole state of Georgia was reduced. While the expedition conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell was preparing at New York, Congress was meditating the conquest of East Florida. The delegates of South Carolina and Georgia, anxious that a general of more experience than Howe should command in the southern department, had earnestly pressed that he should be recalled and that General Lincoln, whose military reputation was high, should be appointed to succeed him. In compliance with their solicitations, Howe was ordered in September of 1778 to repair to the headquarters of General Washington and Lincoln was directed to proceed immediately to Charleston in South Carolina in order to take command in the southern department. General Lincoln takes the command of the southern army. In pursuance of this resolution, General Lincoln repaired to Charleston where he found the military affairs of the country in a state of utter derangement. Congress had established no continental military chest in the southern department. This omission produced a dependence on the government of the state for supplies to move the army on any emergency and consequent subjection of the troops and continental service to its control. The militia, though taken into continental service, considered themselves as subject only to the military code of the state. These regulations threatened to embarrass all military operations and to embroil the general with the civil government. While Lincoln was laboring 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 2,000 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 Perrysburg, a small town on the north side of the Savannah where he established his headquarters. The regular force commanded by General Prevost must have amounted to at least 3,000 effective men and this number was increased by irregulars who had joined him in Georgia. The American army rather exceeded 3,600 men of whom not quite 2,500 were affected. Something more than 1,000 were continental troops part of whom were new levies. The rest were militia. The theater of action was so well adapted to defensive war that although General Prevost decidedly superior to his adversary, it was difficult to extend his conquests into South Carolina. Major Gardner defeated by General Moultrie. With the view of entering that state by the way of the sea coast, he detached Major Gardner with about 200 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. 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. Insurrection of the Tories in South Carolina who are defeated by Colonel Pickens. About 700 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 neighboring 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 300 reached the British outposts and joined the Royal standard. This defeat broke the spirits of the Tories for a time and preserved quiet in the West. As an 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 proposed 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 his plan, General Prievos 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 affordable several miles and makes an acute angle with the river. Having determined to dislodge the Americans from this position, Prievos 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 faint on his front while Lieutenant Colonel Prievos made a circuit of about 50 miles and crossing Briar Creek 15 miles above the ground occupied by Ash came down unperceived and unsuspected on his rear. Ash surprised and defeated by Prievos. Ash, unused to the strategy of war, was so completely engaged by the maneuvers in his front that Lieutenant Colonel Prievos was almost in his camp before any intelligence of his approach was received. The continental troops under General Albert 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 Albert 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 400 men, General Albert and Colonel McIntosh were among the latter but the law sustained by the American Army was much more considerable. The dispersed militia returned to their homes and not more than 450 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 Prievos 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 everything 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. 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 800 of the state militia aided by 200 continental troops were left with General Moultrie for the defense of the country. Aware of the importance of this movement and hoping to recall Lincoln by alarming him for the safety of Charleston Prevost compels Moultrie to retreat. General Prevost suddenly crossed the savannah with 3,000 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 dispatched 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 300 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. 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 tenor 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 Prevost marches to Charleston that he was emboldened to extend his views and to hazard the continuation of his march to Charleston. Unreceiving intelligence of this threatening aspect of affairs in South Carolina Lincoln recross the savannah and hasten 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. At 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 labor. The neighboring 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 Ashley River and in camp 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 Ashley River. The British army passed into the island of St. James and then stood out of St. John's which lies south of Charleston Harbor soon after which General Lincoln and Captain in the neighborhood 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 Stona 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 defense when Prevost commenced his retreat and the troops were moving from island to island the occasion seemed a fair one for attacking it. Only 800 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. Lincoln attacks the British at the ferry but without success. About seven in the morning General Lincoln commenced this attack with about 1,000 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 faint on St. John's was not made. The loss of the Americans and killed and wounded amounted to 24 officers and 125 privates that of the British was stated to be rather less. Three days after this action the post 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 800 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 blinds regimen 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. 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. Invasion of Virginia by General Matthews. 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 have been constructed in the most important situations which were defensible on the side of the water but were not tenable against the military for strong enough to act on land. Fort Nelson on the west side of Elizabeth River garrisoned by about 150 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 that 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 10th 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 seaboard on the south side of James River being now in possession of General Matthews he fixed his headquarters at Portsmouth when small parties were detached to Norfolk, Gosport, Kemp's 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 have 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. End of chapter four