REVOLT IN WASHINGTON’S CAMP.
The earliest events of this year were unfavourable to the American cause. For some months all discipline had been relaxed in Washington’s camp; the officers and men alike being dissatisfied with the treatment which they received from congress. They were on the point of starvation; and though they had long endured their hardships, on the night of the 1st of January, the Pennsylvania line, which was hutted at Morris Town in the Jerseys, turned out to the number of 1300 men, and declared that they would march to the seat of congress, and either obtain redress or return to their homes. After committing some excesses on those officers who opposed their movement, the men marched to Princeton. They were followed on the next day by General Wayne and his staff, with many officers who were supposed to possess their confidence, in the hope that they would be able either to bring them back to their duty, or to sow dissensions among them. Wayne came up with them near Middle Brook; but the demands of the revolted troops were such as he could not grant; and he therefore referred them to congress. The men continued their march to Princeton for that purpose; and while there, emissaries arrived from Sir Henry Clinton, with tempting offers to them, and with the suggestion that they should take up a position behind the South River, when he would soon cover them with detachments from the royal army in New York. The mutineers, however, showed themselves true to the cause of liberty, for they not only rejected Clinton’s tempting offers, but communicated them to General Wayne, with assurances that, though they had left the American camp, they would never go over to the British. At the same time they seized Clinton’s emissaries, and kept them in their own hands; they refused to leave Princeton; resolved that none of their former officers should enter their camp; and ordered Lafayette and others, who had presented themselves as mediators, to return immediately. Soon after, a committee of congress, the governor of Pennsylvania, and a part of his council came into the neighbourhood of Princeton to negociate with the revolters. A conference took place between the sergeants of the revolted troops and the committee; when the latter offered these propositions:—That congress would discharge all those who had enlisted for three years; and that they would give immediate certificates for the depreciation on their pay, settle their arrears as soon as they were able, and furnish the men with such clothing as they required forthwith, The sergeants agreed to distribute these propositions among the troops for consideration; and after due deliberation the mutineers agreed to march to Trenton, to meet their officers and commanders. At Trenton, the terms offered by congress were accepted; and then the mutineers gave up Sir Henry Clinton’s emissaries, who were all hanged as spies. But mutiny did not end here. Encouraged by the success of the Pennsylvania line, a part of the Jersey brigade, stationed at Pompton, flew to arms, and marched to Chatham to join another part of the same brigade; and these all demanded the same terms which had been granted to the Pennsylvanian mutineers. In the former instance, Washington, probably wishing that congress should be made to feel that the grievances of the troops must be redressed, and that the army must be treated with greater respect, had not taken any measures for bringing back the mutineers to their duty. On this occasion, however, foreseeing that continued revolts would tend to the disorganization of his army, he sent General How to Chatham with a considerable force, and with orders to make no terms with the revolted brigade while in a state of resistance. He even instructed How, after the brigade should surrender, to seize a few of the ringleaders and put them to death on the spot. How’s task was not a very arduous one, for the mutineers at Chatham scarcely amounted to more than two hundred men; and he surrounded them in their quarters, seized a few of the ringleaders, and executed them according to Washington’s orders, and reduced the rest to submission. These revolts alarmed congress; and they contrived to raise three months’ pay in specie, and to obtain a quantity of clothes, which they forwarded to the camp, in order to prevent further defection. But this was only a temporary remedy for the evil; and as the inhabitants were distressed in order to satisfy the soldiers, congress resolved to seek a loan from France. Lieutenant-colonel Laurens, son of the prisoner in the Tower, was sent on this commission to the court of Versailles; and at the same time, Mr. Jay, the young lawyer, who was now installed as minister plenipotentiary to the court of Madrid, was instructed to press the court of Spain for co-operation and direct assistance. It is evident, indeed, that congress and the general officers of the army, all thought that the affairs of the Americans were in a desperate condition; and that if they did not speedily obtain assistance in money and troops from the Bourbons, the sun of liberty would be set for ever. Lafayette exerted his influence with M. de Vergennes, the French minister on this occasion. He furnished Laurens with a letter to him, in which he stated, that with a naval inferiority it was impossible to continue the war; that the resources of the country, great as they were, would be ineffectual unless money were sent; that the last campaign had been conducted without a single dollar; and that all that credit, persuasion, and force could do in the way of obtaining supplies had been done. In conclusion, he demanded clothes, arms, and ammunition, and represented that a great fleet, and a new division of 10,000 troops ought to be sent from France to New York, in order to destroy the power of the British on the continent.
ARNOLD’S EXPEDITION TO VIRGINIA, ETC.
On the very day that the Pennsylvanian line revolted, General Arnold appeared in Hampton Road on the Chesapeak, to carry devastation into Virginia. Arnold had with him about 1200 men, part of whom were American royalists; and with this force he proceeded up James’s River, and landed at Westover, about twenty-five miles distance from Richmond, the capital of Virginia. There were 50,000 enrolled militiamen in that province; but Jefferson, its governor, could only collect a few hundred, and therefore he was obliged to relinquish all hopes of defending the city Knowing the rapidity of Arnold’s movements, he caused some of the public property to be removed to the country above, and then fled with his council, secretaries, and officers, with the greatest precipitation. Arnold entered Richmond the morning after his flight, the troops evacuating the town at his approach. On his arrival he sent some of the citizens of Richmond to Jefferson, offering to spare the town if British vessels were permitted to come to it, and take off the tobacco there deposited, unmolested. This offer was rejected; and Arnold then detached Colonel Simcoe, with nearly half of his force, to Westham, to burn and destroy all the buildings there which contained arms, ammunition, and military stores; and when Simcoe had completed this work of destruction, and had returned, Arnold set fire to all the public buildings and tobacco-stores at Richmond. He then quitted the capital of Virginia, and encamped at Four-mile Creek, whence he returned to his shipping at Westover. From Westover he detached a party of horse to Charles City Court-house, where one hundred and fifty militiamen were surprised and routed; after which Arnold re-embarked his army, and began to descend James’s River. He returned to Portsmouth, where he was joined by more men, who raised his force to nearly 2000 men, and where he established a permanent station, in order to co-operate with Lord Cornwallis. While at Portsmouth, it was suggested by the American leaders, that a few individuals should make a sudden incursion into his camp, and carry him off, in order to bring him to the gallows. The capture of Arnold was, indeed, a cherished object with the Americans, ever since his defection from their cause; but he was aware that he was in danger, and was therefore vigilant, so that if any attempt had been made, it would doubtless have failed. It would appear, in fact, that though 5000 guineas were offered in the event of success, none could be found hardy enough to make such a daring attempt. Washington, however, was resolved to capture the arch-traitor if possible; and with this view he sent Lafayette to blockade him on the land side, while a French squadron blockaded him by sea. Washington wished Destouches to employ nearly the whole of his fleet in this service; but the French admiral was apprehensive that Admiral Arbuthnot might have collected and repaired his scattered ships; and he therefore refused to risk more than one sixty-four-gun ship and two frigates. These were put under the command of Commodore de Tilley; and they sailed for the Chesapeak on the 9th of February. De Tilley, however, found Arnold so well posted as to defy attack, and he returned to Rhode Island. As he was returning, near the Capes of Virginia he fell in with and captured the Romulus, a fifty-gun ship, which was sailing from Charlestown to the Chesapeak. Washington now held a conference at Newport, Rhode Island, with Rochambeau, Destouches, and other officers, in which it was resolved to embark part of the French army, under the command of Count de Viominil, and to risk the whole of the French fleet to escort it, in order to capture Arnold. Destouches, the French admiral, set sail on the 8th of March; but he was followed by Admiral Arbuthnot, and brought to action off Cape Henry. After fighting for about an hour, the French bore up and ran to leeward; and Destouches then resolved to return to Rhode Island. In a few days General Phillips arrived at Portsmouth to take the command over Arnold; and the defence of Virginia was entrusted to Lafayette, who collected his forces on the Elk River, and then marched into that province. In the meantime Generals Phillips and Arnold were engaged in the work of destruction. Williamsburg, York Town, Petersburg, and Chesterfield Court-house were all captured, and public property, with a quantity of vessels found in the different harbours, etc., were destroyed by them. After the capture of Chesterfield Court-house, Arnold marched through Osbornes—where he destroyed the tobacco—to Warwick; just above which place, and between it and Richmond, an American flotilla had been collected. On his approach the crews set fire to these vessels or scuttled them; and escaping to the opposite shore, there joined a body of militia and fled with them. Generals Phillips and Arnold now again united their forces and marched to Manchester, a town on the southern bank of James’s River, where they burned all the tobacco and stores. They contemplated crossing the river to Richmond; but Lafayette had reached that place in the course of the preceding evening, and they therefore retraced their steps by the way of Warwick, and retired to Bermuda Hundred. Soon afterwards they re-embarked their troops, and fell down the river to Hog Island, where they remained till they received notice from Lord Cornwallis that he was about marching into Virginia from the Carolinas, and expected their co-operation.
LORD CORNWALLIS’S EXPEDITION TO VIRGINIA.
This was the last year in which any grand efforts were made for the recovery of the colonies, and the plan of the campaign was thus arranged. Lord Cornwallis was directed to penetrate through the intervening provinces into Virginia, there to attack Lafayette, while Sir Henry Clinton himself engaged to keep Washington and Rochambeau in check. Cornwallis took the field early in this year, and having left a considerable force under Lord Rawdon for the defence of South Carolina, advanced towards the frontiers, and took a position at Winnsborough; General Leslie proceeding towards Camden. About the same time the American general, Greene, marched with the main body of his forces to the Cheraw-hills, on the Pedee, having detached General Morgan to act on the left of Lord Cornwallis. This movement alarmed the British commander from some of his posts, and he despatched Colonel Tarleton, with a force of about 1100 men, to counteract the designs of Morgan. This time Tarleton was unsuccessful. Meeting with the enemy at a place called the Cow-pens, although their force was greatly superior, he immediately engaged them, and was defeated with considerable less. Soon after this affair General Greene took the field in person, and Lord Cornwallis, being joined by General Leslie, resolved to cross the Catawba and give him battle. Cornwallis forced a passage over that river on the 1st of February, and his troops scattered the North Carolina militia that were stationed on the opposite bank to defend the ford, and killed many of them, with General Davidson, their commander. Greene retreated to the Yadkin, closely followed by Cornwallis, and both armies crossed that river. Cornwallis took up a position between Greene and the frontiers of Virginia, and a variety of manouvres and rapid marches ensued. In the end, however, Greene succeeded in placing the river Dan between him and the enemy, and getting on a line of march which would lead him into Virginia, without being compelled to risk a battle. Desisting from the pursuit, Cornwallis proceeded to Hillsborough, the capital of North Carolina, where he raised the royal standard, and issued proclamations to the people. All North Carolina appeared to be at his feet, for there was no army to resist him, and the royalists soon began to form themselves into independent companies, to serve with Tarleton’s legion. Greene, however, who had been recruited on the Virginian frontier, soon returned, resolving to keep the field, though he wished to avoid a general engagement. Soon after his return he sent Lieutenant-colonel Lee, with a detachment, against a body of nearly three hundred loyalists, who had been collected by Colonel Pyle, and were marching to join the British army. These unfortunate men mistook Lee’s troops for their British allies, and being suddenly surrounded by them, were butchered on the spot, in the act of imploring mercy. The disaster was rendered still more dreadful by a mistake made by Colonel Tarleton. Happening to be within a mile of this scene of slaughter, and hearing the alarm, he recrossed the Haw, and meeting in his retreat with another body of loyalists, he conceived that they were militiamen, and put them to the sword. All these circumstances combined wholly disconcerted the schemes of Lord Cornwallis in North Carolina, and he crossed the river Haw, and encamped on Allamance Creek, in order to afford protection to the great body of the royalists who resided between the Haw and the Deep Rivers. Greene now advanced a little, and having crossed the Haw near its source, took post between Troublesome Creek and Reedy Fork. Discovering this movement, Cornwallis carried his army across Allamance Creek and marched towards Reedy Fork, hoping to beat up the quarters of Greene’s light troops, and to tempt Greene into a general engagement. Cornwallis attacked Reedy Fork, and some light troops made a slight stand upon the creek, but they were defeated with considerable slaughter; and then Cornwallis found that Greene was retreating as fast as he could across the Haw. Soon after, however, Greene received considerable reinforcements, and considering himself strong enough to face Cornwallis, he recrossed the Haw, and moved forward to Guildford Court-house. Cornwallis instantly prepared to meet him, and a battle was fought at that place on the 15th of March. The engagement, which was maintained with determined valour on both sides, terminated honourably to the British arms. Greene was compelled to retreat, and to leave the field of battle, with his artillery, consisting of four pieces, in the hands of Lord Cornwallis. The victory, however, was dearly purchased, as about one hundred were killed and above four hundred wounded, which amounted to nearly one-third of all the British troops engaged. The loss was rendered more severe on the following night, when many of the wounded expired from want of covering to shelter them from the rain, which poured down in torrents on the field of battle. On discovering the extent of his loss, Cornwallis felt that he was not in a condition to follow up his victory, and as he could obtain no provisions where he was, he was under the necessity of retreating. He left about seventy of his wounded, who could not be removed, under a flag of truce, at a Friends’ meetinghouse, and on the third day after the battle, directed his march towards Wilmington, near the mouth of Cape Fear River, a post already occupied by the British troops, under the command of Major Craig, and where he arrived on the 7th of April. In the meantime General Greene, who had slowly moved in the rear of Cornwallis till he descended towards the sea-coast, carried the war into South Carolina. Aware of his movements, Cornwallis sent an express to Lord Rawdon, whom he had left in that state, warning him of his danger. Rawdon occupied cantonments, with the town of Camden for his centre, and against this position the efforts of Greene were directed. The American general reached Camden before the express, but Rawdon was apprised of his approach in sufficient time to call in all his detachments, and to prepare for the struggle. Rawdon had about 900 men under his command, and Greene about 1500 regular troops, and some corps of militia. Yet, although his force was greatly superior, the American general did not venture to storm or to invest Camden, but took up a position on Hobkirk’s-hill, about two miles off, designing to remain there till he should be joined by Lee and the independent partisan, Marion, each with a considerable force. Lord Rawdon seems to have been aware of his expectations, and he resolved to attack him on Hobkirk’s-hill before they could be realised. Rawdon was successful. He charged the enemy with such impetuosity that they were utterly routed, leaving behind them between two hundred to three hundred killed or wounded, and about one hundred prisoners. Greene retreated to a creek about twelve miles off, where he encamped to wait for reinforcements, to attend to his sick and wounded, and to levy supplies for his half-famished men. Lord Rawdou’s loss amounted, in killed, wounded, and missing, to two hundred and fifty-eight, and as this number could be ill spared out of so weak, a force, and some reinforcements which he expected had not yet joined, he was obliged to retire from the scene of his victory, and to act on the defensive. A portion of the troops he expected arrived soon after at Charlestown, and Rawdon marched thither to effect a junction. In his absence, Greene captured Orangeburg, Fort Motte, Granby, and several other places, after which he invested the strong post of Ninety-six, which was considered as commanding the whole of the back country. Before this post could be reduced, however, Lord Rawdon was enabled to bring up his forces, and he retired into North Carolina, with his enemy in full pursuit. The British general soon perceived that it was in vain to pursue the American force, and he returned to Ninety-six, and from thence to Charlestown, taking with him all the loyalists in that district. Greene now returned to South Carolina, and being joined by detachments, under Lee, Sumpter, and Marion, he encamped on the hills of Santee. Lord Rawdon retired soon after to Orangeburg, from whence, on account of ill-health, he was compelled to return to England. His troops were left under the command of Colonel Stewart, who was attacked by the enemy at Eutaw Springs, having previously suffered a loss of above three hundred men, who were surprised in foraging. A desperate battle took place, during which the artillery on both sides was several times taken and retakers Vast numbers fell on both sides, and each claimed the victory; but it would appear that it rather belonged to the British; for Greene retreated, and they remained upon the ground the night after the action and all the following day without molestation. Notwithstanding the result was favourable to the Americans; for the British were compelled to retire, and thenceforward confined their operations to the vicinity of Charlestown. Hence it was that congress proclaimed the affair as a great and glorious victory; and they likewise passed a resolution, for presenting to Greene a golden medal and a British standard.
In the meantime Lord Cornwallis had been engaged in operations in the heart of Virginia. He advanced from Wilmington right through North Carolina, the whole of which he traversed without encountering opposition, and on the 20th of May he reached Petersburg, where the British forces were waiting for him. Before his arrival, General Phillips had died of sickness, so that the chief command of the troops had again devolved upon Arnold. Cornwallis found that Arnold had driven Jefferson and the assembly of Virginia from Richmond to the village of Charlottesville, and had compelled Lafayette to take up a post a few miles below Richmond. Allowing himself but three days’ rest, Lord Cornwallis marched from Petersburg in search of Lafayette. He crossed James’s River at Westover, about thirty miles below the enemy’s encampment; but on his approach, Lafayette retired towards the back country, in order to effect a junction with eight hundred of the Pennsylvanian line, under General Wayne. No pursuit was attempted by Lord Cornwallis, who now directed his attention to various expeditions. As the Virginian planters possessed excellent horses, he was enabled, by seizures, not only to remount his cavalry in a superior manner, but also to have horses for mounting his infantry destined for rapid movements. With such a force Tarleton was detached to beat up Jefferson and the assembly at Charlottesville, where they were busy in voting taxes, making paper-money, draughting the militia, and recruiting for the Virginian line. Tarleton came upon the assembly so suddenly that seven members were taken prisoners, and he captured and destroyed large Quantities of military stores and tobacco. Jefferson and the rest of the assembly made their escape by getting upon fresher horses. Lieutenant Simcoe had been detached, with five hundred infantry, to destroy the military stores deposited at the Point of Fork, fifty miles below Richmond; and Tarleton now proceeded to join him in this enterprise. Simcoe found that these stores had been removed by Baron Steuben to the other side of the river Fluvanna, and that Steuben’s whole force had followed in the same direction. Simcoe followed the baron, and by some ingenious stratagems, made him believe that the whole army of Lord Cornwallis was advancing against him. Acting upon this impression, Steuben fled in disorder, and abandoned his stores, which were destroyed by the British. Steuben joined Lafayette; and soon after, the Pennsylvanian line, under General Wayne, joined his forces likewise. At this time Lord Cornwallis was advancing with his main body upon Albemarle Old Court-house, where there was a great deposit of military stores. Lafayette resolved to protect these, and by a rapid movement he was enabled to take up a strong position in front, of Albemarle Old Court-house some hours before Cornwallis arrived. Cornwallis had just received orders from Sir Henry Clinton to send part of his troops back to New York, in order to defend that city from a contemplated attack by the joint forces of the French and Americans. Avoiding a battle, therefore, Cornwallis slowly retired to Richmond, followed in his rear by Lafayette, who had, however, no intention of risking an action. From Richmond, the British general proceeded to Williamsburg, which he captured without opposition. From Williamsburg, he marched to a ford across James’s River, and sent part of his army, with his baggage and stores, to the opposite bank, in the direction of Portsmouth. Lafayette, who was still timidly following, conceived that nothing was left on his side of the river but the rear-guard of the British, and he then quickened his pace to strike a blow. A battle ensued, in which Lafayette was routed, and his cannon taken, while he lost about three hundred in killed and wounded. Lafayette retired up the river to repose his harassed forces, and Lord Cornwallis then crossed the river, and marched to Portsmouth. While here, he embarked the troops that were required at New York; but before they sailed, he received fresh orders from Clinton to retain them, as he had no longer any fear of Washington and Rochambeau. Under these circumstances, as Portsmouth was not proper for the reception and defence of ships of the line, and as it was not such a post as was desired by Sir Henry Clinton, he resolved to proceed to, and to fortify York Town, on York River. Part of his army was therefore sent up the Chesapeak to take possession of this town, and by the 22nd of August his whole force was concentrated there and at Gloucester Point.