370 



REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 



Wellington's small army moved to Valley Forge for 

 winter quarters. 



Valley Forge las its own terrible history of priva- 

 tions and suffering, many officers leaving the service 

 for want of pay The patient commander held the 

 remnant toftlker in spite of rival malice._ On the 

 whole the patriot cause had gained during 1777. 

 Briti.-h .-cntimcnt was changing; the French acknowl- 

 edged tin new iiovernment. and was sending naval 

 help iinilrr Admiral d'Estaing. Gen. Howe resigned, 

 ana Sir Henry Clinton took the chief command. 



t'ourth Campaign, 1778. 



The British administration for a time seemed to 

 weaken. I 'iiriiiL- the spring and part of the summer 

 ('limii planned merely to hold what he had. Foraging 

 detachments from each army had bloody encounters at 

 Quintin s Bridge, Hancock's Bridge, N. J., and at 

 Crooked Billet. 1'a. Hearing of the movement of the 

 Frvnch fleet, the British ministry feared that Clinton 

 and his licet might be shut in on the Delaware ; so, 

 under in.-li actions, Clinton evacuated Philadelphia and 

 returned tu New York. This movement began June 

 18. Washington marched directly to intercei>t the 

 British rn i-:, ni,'. He came so near to Clinton at Mon- 

 luoiith. N. J. that Clinton was forced to fight. Gen. 

 Charles l.ee. holding the advance and being already 

 Mi-.pi Tt. -.i ol' disaffeotion, ordered a retreat contrary to 

 Washington's instructions. Being on hand. Washing- 

 ton prevented a disaster, but reprimanded Lee severely, 

 who alter that behaved, well during the battle, and sub- 

 sequently demanded redress. It resulted in his court- 

 martial and dismissal. The battle of Momnouth was 

 not decisive : but Clinton marched off before dawn the 

 next day. In this retreat Clinton's total loss was 1500 

 men, and Washington's not to exceed 200. The 

 former, on arrival at Sandy Hook, found Admin] 

 Howe already there, and on July 3 he crossed his 

 command in safety to Stuten Island. Washington, on 

 account of the great heat, halted for some time at 

 Paramus, N. J. He then pa-shed up the Hudson and 

 crossed, encamping again at White Plains: thus at 

 will could he make junction with troops in the 

 Highlands, support a projected eastern movement, 

 or turn southward should Clinton's hostile plans so 

 require. 



The Rhode Island Operation. Admiral d'Estaing 

 at l:i.-t arrived, but- too late for co-operative moves on 

 Philadelphia. Washington planned others against 

 Hen. Pilot's command, then holding the island of 

 Rhode Island and Newport. He was guarding a for- 

 tified depot with eight or nine regiments and a naval 

 squadron. Four or five Continental brigades gathered 

 at Providence were soon reinforced by the brigades of 

 Varnum and Glover. Gen. Sullivan was sent thither 

 to command them. At Washington's solicitation 

 d'Estaing left Sandy Hook and went to Sullivan's aid. 

 He and the general agreed upon a combined assault of 

 an island. Sullivan's militia not "coming to time." 

 he asked of d'Estaing a postponement; after which, 

 hearing that the island was vacated, he pushed over 

 and took possession without consulting the admiral. 

 D'Estaing was greatly offended, and instead of landing 

 men as per agreement he dropped down where he 

 could meet Lord Howe's fleet, reported to becoming 

 from New York. A heavy storm forced both squad- 

 rons to sea and badly disabled them. Instead of re- 

 turning after the storm, d'Estaing put into Boston for 

 repairs. Gen. Sullivan was left to attempt alone what 

 it plainly required a fleet to aid in doing. A battle at 

 Quaker Hill was the result, in which Sullivan had the 

 advantage: but hearing of Sir Henry Clinton's ap- 

 proach by shipping with large reinforcements, he 

 hastened over the mainland ana made good his retreat. 

 The hard feelings that grew out of this affair caused 

 great distress to Washington and Lafayette, and for 

 a time injured the American cause. 



Grey, a British officer, became as notorious as 



did the Tory Gen. Tarleton, for merciless depredations 

 and massacres, like thai at Tappan, N. J. ; but proba- 

 bly those inaMKi i rated by Tories and Indians 

 combined, at Cherry Valley, N. Y..and at Wyoming, 

 Pa,, during July. 177s. exceed all others in enormity. 

 Such fearful outrages overleaped their intent and 

 reacted against the British. 



Ftfth Campaiyn, 1779. 



Savannah. Gen. Clinton planned to subjugate 

 Georgia and the Carolines. Tories in numbers liad 

 assembled in East Florida, Gen. Prevost commanding, 

 and made predatory excursions into Georgia, keeping 

 the country in alarm. To meet this, Gen. Robert 

 Howe, Continental commander, with 500 men, moved 

 over from Charleston to Savannah. lie was soon 

 joined by abundant volunteers and militia. An expe- 

 dition toward Florida was organized and it.s execution 

 was hopefully commenced, when it was broken up by 

 the Governor of Georgia and other officers refusing to 

 recognize Gen. RoU-rt Howe's Continental commis- 

 sion. Hearing of this dissension Clinton dispatched 

 Lieut. -Col. Campbell with 3500 soldiers and a naval 

 accompaniment. Gen. Prevost was at the same time 

 marching against Savannah from the south. Campbell 

 arrived first, and on Dec. 29, 1778, gave battle. Robert 

 Howe, receiving some accessions from Georgia and 

 vicinity, made resistance ; but the battle was of short 

 duration. Howe escaped with a part of his command. 

 The remainder were killed or taken prisoners, or per- 

 ished in the swamps. Sunbury and Augusta were next 

 taken, and soon Gen. Prevost held in subjection the 

 whole of Georgia. He made one effort to make a 

 permanent lodgment in South Carolina, but Gen. Lin- 

 coln, through Col. Monkrie using local militia at the 

 battle of Beaufort, Feb. 3, 177'J, thoroughly defeated 

 him. The patriots under Col. Pickens, but 301) strong, 

 had another success at Kettle Creek on Feb. 14, 

 againi-t Col. Boyd, who, with 700 men, was ravaging 

 tlie neighborhood. Gen. Lincoln, thus encouraged, 

 sent Gen. Ashe to recover Augusta, but I'n-vost sur- 

 prised him at Briar Creek and nearly destroyed his 

 command. Again Lincoln with 800 patriots. June 20. 

 177'.'. tried his fortune at Stono Ferry, where Maitland 

 with a force of 1200 men was threatening Charleston. 

 Lincoln was repulsed with considerable loss. 



Admiral d'Lstaing, returning from the West Indicts 

 with his fleet, joined Lincoln in an attempt to recover 

 Savannah. After the failure of the assault, Oct. 9, 

 177'.'. d'Kstaing left for France. 



In December of 1778 Washington's army was occu- 

 pying winter quarters. Gen. Putnam commanded a 

 portion at Danbury, Conn. ; Gen. McDougal detach- 

 ments and forts in the Highlands, and a small army 

 with head-quarters at Middlebrook, N. J. Early in 

 1779 Sir Henry Clinton undertook but little, i 

 the sending from his own vicinity predatory and forag- 

 ing expeditions : and therefore Washington continued 

 mainly on the defensive. In July, however, he sent 

 Wayne to recapture Stony Point, then garrisoned by 

 600 soldiers under Lieut. -Col. Johnson. Wayne at- 

 tacked at midnight, his followers rushing in two 

 columns from different sides without firing a shot till 

 tt. Wayne secured the entire garrison 

 with a loss of but t'x men. It was denominated "the 

 brilliant assault known." 



On Aug. 1'J Major Harry Lee surprised Paulus 

 Hook, near New York, and captured 150 of the gar- 

 lien. Sullivan, during the same month, had 

 extraordinary success in almost annihilating a force of 

 Tories and Indians who were led by the fierce Gen. 

 Brant in " the battle of Cheniung." 



The incipient patriot navy did something. Paul 

 Jones gained historic renown, commanding^ a few 

 American and French vessels, by boldly attacking two 

 British frigates on the English coast. Both capitu- 

 lated, September 23, at 10 p. M. 



