ARNOLD'S MARCH.
Strength of Charleston.
Fort Moultrie.
Attack on Fort Moultrie, 1776.
Success of the defense
140. British Attack on Charleston, 1776.--In June 1776 a British fleet and army made an attack on Charleston, South Carolina. This town has never been taken by attack from the sea. Sand bars guard the entrance of the harbor and the channels through these shoals lead directly to the end of Sullivan's Island. At that point the Americans built a fort of palmetto logs and sand. General Moultrie commanded at the fort and it was named in his honor, Fort Moultrie. The British fleet sailed boldly in, but the balls from the ships' guns were stopped by the soft palmetto logs. At one time the flag was shot away and fell down outside the fort. But Sergeant Jasper rushed out, seized the broken staff, and again set it up on the rampart. Meantime, General Clinton had landed on an island and was trying to cross with his soldiers to the further end of Sullivan's Island. But the water was at first too shoal for the boats. The soldiers jumped overboard to wade. Suddenly the water deepened, and they had to jump aboard to save themselves from drowning. All this time Americans were firing at them from the beach. General Clinton ordered a retreat. The fleet also sailed out--all that could get away--and the whole expedition was abandoned.
[Illustration: GENERAL MOULTRIE.]
Defense of New York, 1776.
Battle of Long Island, 1776.
Escape of the Americans.
141. Long Island and Brooklyn Heights, 1776.--The very day that the British left Boston, Washington ordered five regiments to New York. For he well knew that city would be the next point of attack. But he need not have been in such a hurry. General Howe, the new British commander-in-chief, sailed first to Halifax and did not begin the campaign in New York until the end of August. He then landed his soldiers on Long Island and prepared to drive the Americans away. Marching in a round-about way, he cut the American army in two and captured one part of it. This brought him to the foot of Brooklyn Heights. On the top was a fort. Probably Howe could easily have captured it. But he had led in the field at Bunker Hill and had had enough of attacking forts defended by Americans. So he stopped his soldiers--with some difficulty. That night the wind blew a gale, and the next day was foggy. The British fleet could not sail into the East River. Skillful fishermen safely ferried the rest of the American army across to New York. When at length the British marched to the attack, there was no one left in the fort on Brooklyn Heights.
Retreat from New York.
Washington crosses the Delaware.
142. From the Hudson to the Delaware, 1776.--Even now with his splendid fleet and great army Howe could have captured the Americans. But he delayed so long that Washington got away in safety. Washington's army was now fast breaking up. Soldiers deserted by the hundreds. A severe action at White Plains only delayed the British advance. The fall of Fort Washington on the end of Manhattan Island destroyed all hope of holding anything near New York. Washington sent one part of his army to secure the Highlands of the Hudson. With the other part he retired across New Jersey to the southern side of the Delaware River. The end of the war seemed to be in sight. In December, 1776, Congress gave the sole direction of the war to Washington and then left Philadelphia for a place of greater safety.
Battle of Trenton, 1776. Higginson, 203; Hero Tales, 45-55
143. Trenton, December 26, 1776.--Washington did not give up. On Christmas night, 1776, he crossed the Delaware with a division of his army. A violent snowstorm was raging, the river was full of ice. But Washington was there in person, and the soldiers crossed. Then the storm changed to sleet and rain. But on the soldiers marched. When the Hessian garrison at Trenton looked about them next morning they saw that Washington and Greene held the roads leading inland from the town. Stark and a few soldiers--among them James Monroe--held the bridge leading over the Assanpink to the next British post. A few horsemen escaped before Stark could prevent them. But all the foot soldiers were killed or captured. A few days later nearly one thousand prisoners marched through Philadelphia. They were Germans, who had been sold by their rulers to Britain's king to fight his battles. They were called Hessians by the Americans because most of them came from the little German state of Hesse Cassel.