BRITAIN. 



riuin. was menaced by the advance of the British from 



Prinretowr, ; but in the dead of the night, (January 

 ad, 1777,) he silently withdrew his Hoops, leaving 

 in his camp, to deceive the enemy, and 

 in ; Piincetown by a t i:\-uitous route, surprised 

 a brigade of British infantry, ( 17th, U)th, and .'will re- 

 giments,) whom he repulsed with considerable loss. 

 Lord Cornwallis retreated precipitately to Brunswick, 

 and the fortune of the war seeming to turn, the 

 militia throughout the Jerseys, encouraged, by re- 

 cent success, and enraged at the oppression of the 

 soldiery, rose by general consent, and regained pos- 

 session of the most important quarters. The early 

 part of the campaign of 1777 was marked by no 

 events of more importance than the mutual destruc- 

 tion of stores and magazines. At Courtland Manor, 

 and at Danbury, the British detachments were suc- 

 cessful in these objects ; and at Saggs harbour in 

 Long Island, the enemy made severe retaliation. Af- 

 ter a long delay, General Howe entered the Jerseys 

 in full force, in the month of June, and endeavoured, 

 by every feint that he could practise, to bring Wash- 

 ington to action. But he found it impossible to en- 

 tangle the American Fabius. Washington, indeed, 

 once advanced as Howe retreated; and, leaving his 

 strong camp at Middlcbrooke, came forward to 

 Quibbletown, to be near his enemies for the sake of 

 observation : but when the British returned to the 

 charge, he fell back immediately to the former strong 

 position; and Lord Cornwallis, who had come round 

 by the right, in hopes of surprising him, found the 

 passes of the mountains fortified, and was obliged to 

 retire. Howe, in despair, once more abandoned the 

 Jerseys, making his retreat with havock and ruin, 

 and fully acquitting himself of any suspicion of par- 

 tiality to the enemy. Another project was yet to 

 be tried. On the 23d of July, the whole army was 

 embarked, leaving only a small force behind at New 

 York, and was brought round, after a tedious voy- 

 age, to the head of Chesapeak Bay. Washington, 

 contrary to his usual policy, chose to hazard a battle, 

 and to dispute the passage of the river Brandywine, 

 which lay in the intended route of the British to- 

 wards Philadelphia. The action was favourable to 

 the British; but the approach of night prevented 

 them from pursuing its advantage. Thirteen hun- 

 dred of the Americans were killed, wounded, or ta- 

 ken ; among the wounded was the young Marquis 

 de la Fayette, who had recently entered as a volun- 

 teer in the service of the commonwealth. In conse- 

 quence of this victory, General Howe entered Phila- 

 delphia, and passed the Schuylkil without opposi- 

 tion. The American general, at the distance of six- 

 teen miles, held a strong position on the same river, 

 and keeping a watchful eye on the enemy, thought 

 he could surprise them by a nightly march to Ger- 

 mantown. At this place he risked another battle on 

 the 3d of October ; he failed in the attack, but the 

 British sustained a loss of 500 men. Philadelphia 

 was now in our hands ; but the possession of it was 

 rather dangerous than advantageous, without the 

 command of the river Delaware ; and the navigation, 

 of that river was impeded, both by machines which 

 the Americans had sunk, and by a fort at the junc- 

 tion of the Schuylkii and Delaware, called Red- 





i., 



bank, which a body of Hessians, in endeavouring to Britain 

 storm, were repulsed with great daughter. A a Lord ; 

 IIouo, however, had come round with the fleet, in ' 

 order to act in conjunction with the army, the ship- 

 ping were employed, though after many disast' 

 with more effectual force, the enemy evacuated their 

 works, and the river was at last cleared. But it was 

 by this time the middle of November, and the season 

 for action had elapsed. 



But these events in the south were prosperity Campaign 

 itself, compared with the issue of the northern in Canadi. 

 campaign. After the evacuation cf Canada by the 

 Americans, in the summer of 1776, the incredible 

 exertions of the British enabled them to drive the 

 enemy from Lake Champlain. In an engagement 

 between the two fleets, memorable for being con- 

 ducted on both sides by land cfficers, General Ar- 

 nold was completely defeated, and the Americans, 

 after abandoning Crown Point, concentrated them- 

 selves at Ticonderago. General Carleton, after his 

 victory over Arnold, had led his troops into win- 

 ter quarters, and from his former conduct, sangume 

 expectations were formed of his success in the en- 

 suing campaign, when, much to the public astonish- 

 ment, General Burgoyne arrived in the spring to su- 

 persede him. His object was to form a line of com- 

 munication between New York and Canada. The 

 first success of his career formed but too brilliant a 

 contrast with its conclusion. The Americans, unable 

 to resist him, abandoned Ticonderago, and left be- 

 hinc them an abundance of stores. Their naval force 

 at Skenesborough was destroyed, and Burgoyne, af- 

 ter a march of incredible labour and perseverance, 

 fixed his head quarters at Fort Edward. In convey- 

 ing his army with all its heavy artillery thus far, he 

 had tr-averscd morasses of prodigious extent ; and 

 during the latter part of his march, had been obliged 

 to construct forty bridges in the space of only twenty 

 miles. After abundance of labour, his army at last 

 came in sight of the North River, which promised 

 many facilities of conveyace to Albany; but an Ame- 

 rican army was also before him, and collecting on all 

 sides. His provisions were reduced, and a corps 

 which he detached to seize some magazines of the 

 enemy at Benington and Fort Stanwix, were cut to 

 pieces. In this perilous state, whilst he was in vain AU". I.". 

 dispatching requests for General Clinton to come to 

 his aid, he was attacked on the 19th of September 

 by the army of General Gates, and, in a battle, whicli 

 lasted from noon till sunset, the British had the bare 

 advantage of keeping the field. General Clinton 

 having learnt the state of the northern army, made 

 an effort to push up the North River, and relieve it. 

 He found it impossible, and Burgoyne, with a hostile 

 force forming on his rear, was left to his fate. On 

 the 7th of October, an action more fatal to the Bri- 

 tish than the former, and in which the British camp 

 was nearly taken sword in hand by the provincials, 

 obliged this forlorn body to return to the heights be- 

 hind their former encampment, and from thence to ' 

 Saratoga. Here Burgoyne found the passes and thr 

 navigation of the river entirely possessed by the ene- 

 my. A nightly retreat to l ? ort Edward only re- 

 mained; but while the measure was in agitation, in- 

 telligence was brought that the fords and high 



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