Events of 1781.
Mutiny in the Continental Army.
FOR the Americans the year 1781 opened gloomily. The condition of the army was desperate—no food, no pay, no clothing. On the first day of January, the whole Pennsylvania line mutinied and marched on Philadelphia. At Princeton they were met by emissaries from Sir Henry Clinton, and were tempted with offers of money and clothing if they would desert the American standard. The patriots answered by seizing the British agents and delivering them to General Wayne to be hanged. The commissioners of Congress offered the insurgents a large reward, which was refused; and a few liberal concessions on the part of the government quieted the mutiny.
2. About the middle of the month the New Jersey brigade revolted. This movement Washington quelled by force. General Howe marched to the camp with five hundred regulars and compelled the mutineers to execute their own leaders. From that day order was restored. Congress was thoroughly alarmed. An agent was sent to France to obtain a loan of money. Robert Morris was appointed secretary of finance; and the Bank of North America was organized to aid the government.
Traitor Arnold in the British Army.
3. On arriving at New York, Arnold received his commission as brigadier in the British army. In January the traitor began war on his countrymen. His proceedings were marked with much ferocity. In the vicinity of Richmond a vast quantity of property was destroyed. Arnold then took up his headquarters in Portsmouth; and Washington, for the second time, planned his capture. The French fleet was ordered to cooperate with La Fayette in the attempt. But Admiral Arbuthnot drove the French squadron back to Rhode Island. La Fayette abandoned the undertaking, and Arnold again escaped.
MAP SHOWING THE COLONIES at the time of THE REVOLUTION.
General Greene.
4. In April, General Phillips arrived at Portsmouth and assumed command of the army. In May Phillips died, and for seven days Arnold held the supreme command of the British forces in Virginia. On the 20th of the month Lord Cornwallis arrived and ordered him to be gone. Returning to New York he made an expedition against New London, in his native State. Fort Griswold, which was defended by Colonel Ledyard, was carried by storm. When Ledyard surrendered, seventy-three of the garrison were murdered in cold blood.
Battle at Cowpens.
5. General Greene was now in command of the American army at Charlotte, North Carolina. Early in January, General Morgan was sent into South Carolina to repress the tories. Colonel Tarleton followed with his cavalry. The Americans took a position at the Cowpens, where, on the 17th of January, they were attacked by the British. Tarleton made the onset with impetuosity; but Morgan's men bravely held their ground. At last the American cavalry, under Colonel William Washington, made a charge and scattered the British dragoons like chaff. Ten British officers and ninety privates were killed.
6. When Cornwallis heard of the battle he marched up the river to cut off Morgan's retreat. But Greene hastened to the Morgan's camp and took command in person. On the 28th of January, the Americans reached the Catawba and crossed to the northern bank. Within two hours the British arrived at the ford. During the night the rain poured down in torrents; the river was swollen to a flood; and it was many days before the British could cross. Then began a race for the Yadkin.
The Two Armies in North Carolina.
7. The distance was sixty miles. In two days the Americans reached the river. The crossing was nearly effected when the British appeared in sight. That night the Yadkin was made impassable by rains, and Cornwallis was again delayed. On the 9th of February the British succeeded in crossing. The lines of retreat and pursuit were now nearly parallel. A third time the race began, and again the Americans won it. On the 13th Greene, with the main division, crossed the Dan into Virginia, and on the 22d of February returned into North Carolina.
Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
8. Greene's army now numbered more than four thousand men. Determining to avoid battle no longer, he marched to Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis moved forward to the attack. On the 15th of March the two armies met, and a severe but indecisive battle was fought. The Americans were driven back for several miles; but in killed and wounded the British loss was greatest.
9. Early in April, Cornwallis retreated to Wilmington, and then proceeded to Virginia. The British forces in the Carolinas remained under Lord Rawdon. On the 10th of May, Lord Rawdon retired to Eutaw Springs. The British posts at Orangeburg and Augusta fell into the hands of the patriots. General Greene passed the sickly months of summer in the hill country of the Santee.
10. Sumter, Lee, and Marion were constantly abroad, smiting the tories right and left. Lord Rawdon now went to Charleston and became a principal actor in one of the most shameful scenes of the Revolution. Colonel Isaac Hayne, a patriot who had once taken an oath of allegiance to the king, was caught in command of a troop of American cavalry. He was arraigned before Colonel Balfour, the commandant of Charleston, and condemned to death. Rawdon gave his sanction, and Colonel Hayne was hanged.
Battle of Eutaw Springs.
11. On the 22d of August, General Greene marched toward Orangeburg. The British retired to Eutaw Springs. There the Americans overtook them on the 8th of September. One of the fiercest battles of the war ensued, and General Greene was denied a decisive victory only by the bad conduct of some of his troops. After losing five hundred and fifty-five men, he gave up the struggle. The British lost in killed and wounded nearly seven hundred. Stuart retreated to Monk's Corner; Greene followed; and after two months of maneuvering, the British were driven into Charleston. In the whole South only Charleston and Savannah were now held by the king's army; the latter city was evacuated on the 11th of July, and the former on the 14th of December, 1782. Such was the close of the Revolution in the Carolinas and Georgia.
Cornwallis in Virginia.
12. In the beginning of May, 1781, Cornwallis took command of the British army in Virginia. The country was ravaged, and property destroyed to the value of fifteen million dollars. La Fayette, to whom the defence of the State had been intrusted, was unable to meet Cornwallis in the field. While the British were near Richmond, a detachment under Tarleton proceeded to Charlottesville, and captured the town and seven members of the legislature. Governor Jefferson escaped into the mountains. The British marched to Portsmouth; but early in August the army was conveyed to Yorktown, on the southern bank of York River.
Cornwallis Blockaded in Yorktown.
13. La Fayette followed and took post eight miles from the British. During July and August, Washington, from his camp on the Hudson, looked wistfully to the South. Clinton was kept in alarm by false dispatches, indicating that the Americans would immediately besiege New York. When Clinton was informed that Washington was marching toward Virginia, he would not believe it. Washington pressed rapidly forward, and joined La Fayette at Williamsburg. On the 30th of August, a French fleet, with four thousand troops on board, reached the Chesapeake and anchored in the mouth of York River. Cornwallis was blockaded by sea and land.
Surrender of Cornwallis.
14. Count de Barras, who commanded the French flotilla at Newport, also arrived. On the 5th of September, Admiral Graves appeared in the bay, and a naval battle ensued, in which the British ships were roughly handled. On the 28th, the allied armies encamped around Yorktown and began their intrenchments. On the night of the 14th, the enemy's outer works were carried by storm. On the 16th the British made a sortie, but were repulsed. The next day Cornwallis proposed a surrender; on the 18th terms of capitulation were signed; and on the afternoon of the 19th the whole British army, consisting of seven thousand two hundred and forty-seven English and Hessian soldiers, laid down their arms and became prisoners of war. This event virtually terminated the war of the Revolution.
News of the Victory.
15. On the evening of the 23d the news was borne to Congress. On the morning of the 24th, the members went in concourse with the citizens to the Dutch Lutheran church, and turned the afternoon into a thanksgiving. The note of rejoicing sounded throughout the land. In England the king and his ministers heard the tidings with rage; but the English people were secretly pleased. On the 20th of March, 1782, Lord North and his friends resigned their offices. A new ministry was formed, favorable to peace. The command of the British forces in the United States was transferred to Sir Guy Carleton, a man friendly to American interests.
Surrender of Cornwallis.
16. In the summer of 1782, Richard Oswald was sent by Parliament to Paris, to confer with Franklin and Jay in regard to the terms of peace. John Adams and Henry Laurens also entered into the negotiations. On the 30th of November preliminary articles of peace were signed; and in the following April the terms were ratified by Congress. On the 3d of September, 1783, a final treaty was effected between all the nations that had been at war.
Treaty of Peace.
17. The terms of the Treaty of 1783 were these: A complete recognition of the independence of the United States; the cession by Great Britain of Florida to Spain; the surrender of the remaining territory east of the Mississippi to the United States; the free navigation of the Mississippi and the lakes; and the retention by Great Britain of Canada and Nova Scotia.
18. Early in August Sir Guy Carleton received instructions to evacuate New York City. By the 25th of November everything was in readiness; the British army was embarked; the sails were spread; the ships stood out to sea and disappeared. The Briton was gone. After the struggles of an eight years' war the patriots had achieved their independence.
Washington's Farewell to the Army.
19. On the 4th of December Washington assembled his officers to bid them a final adieu. When they were met, he spoke a few affectionate words to his comrades, who came forward, and with tears and sobs bade him farewell. Washington then departed to Annapolis, where Congress was in session. At Philadelphia he made a report of his expenses during the war. The account, in his own handwriting, embraced an expenditure of seventy-four thousand four hundred and eighty-five dollars—all correct to a cent.
20. The route of the chief to Annapolis was a continuous triumph. The people by thousands flocked to the roadsides to see him pass. On the 23d of December, Washington was introduced to Congress, and delivered an address full of wisdom and modesty. With great dignity he surrendered his commission as commander-in-chief of the army. General Mifflin, the president of Congress, responded in an eloquent manner, and then the hero retired to his home at Mount Vernon.