UNSUCCESSFUL ATTACK BY THE AMERICANS AND FRENCH ON RHODE ISLAND.
Six days after General Clinton arrived at New York, the French fleet, under Count d’Estaign, who had lost many days by putting into the Delaware, appeared before that city. His force consisted of twelve sail of the line, and three or four heavy frigates. He had, indeed, collectively, eight hundred and fifty-four guns to oppose to Howe’s 614, and the weight of his metal and the size of his ships were still greater in proportion even than the number of his guns. It was expected that the count would immediately attack Lord Howe’s squadron, but he lay inactive outside the Hook for eleven days. All this time, the British admiral was preparing for a contest, and the sailors universally burned with impatience to engage the enemy. As a defeat would have been fatal to the troops on shore, Howe wisely forbore to respond to their wishes of attacking the enemy, and at length, on the 22nd of July d’Estaign weighed anchor, and instead of entering Sandy Hook, stood out to sea, and then shaped his course northward to attempt the reduction of Rhode Island. In his passage to America, the French admiral had been pursued by Vice-Admiral Byron whose fleet unfortunately had been dispersed and shattered by storms. The wreck of two or three of these ships joined Lord Howe a few days after d’Estaing had left his anchorage, and when these had been put in sailing and fighting trim, Lord Howe sailed in quest of the French admiral. General Sullivan had been ordered to pass over from the continent with 10,000 men to attack the British lines at Newport, in which 6000 troops were intrenched, while d’Estaing with the French fleet assailed them on the other side. When near the coast, also, the French admiral was joined by Lafayette with 2000 American troops, and he entered the Sound and prepared to land near Newport. Four English frigates were lying at anchor there, and as the defence of these frigates was impracticable, the crews set fire to them and joined the troops on the island. The French admiral was on the point of landing when Howe hove in sight, he having been hitherto deterged from so doing by a quarrel with General Sullivan as to which of them should hold the supreme command. The appearance of Howe altered the operations of d’Estaing. Being superior in force he resolved to sail out of the harbour and meet the English. Both commanders prepared for battle; but while they were each exerting all their skill to gain the advantages of a position a furious storm arose, which dispersed the hostile fleets over the face of the ocean. Both fleets were greatly damaged, but Howe’s fleet suffered least. Subsequently one of his ships fell in with the Languedoc, d’Estaign’s flag-ship, and another with the Tonnant, both of superior size, and would have captured them had they not been rescued by other portions of the scattered fleet, Another isolated battle afterwards occurred between two ships, in which the French lost seventy killed and wounded, while the English lost only one man killed and had fifteen wounded. No captures, however, were made on either side, and while Howe returned to New York for the purpose of refitting his ships, d’Estaing came to anchor near Rhode Island. By this time, Sullivan, contrary to the wishes of Lafayette, had landed on the island with his 10,000 men, and had commenced the siege of Newport. He also had suffered by the storm, for it had blown down all his tents, damaged his ammunition, and caused the death of several of his soldiers. When it abated, Sullivan renewed the siege; but though the garrison of Newport amounted only to about 1200 men, he only ventured to proceed by regular approaches. Sullivan was not much encouraged by the re-appearance of the French Admiral, and when d’Estaing announced his intention of retiring to Boston to refit, the besiegers lost all hope, and numbers of them deserted and crossed over to Connecticut. It was in vain that Sullivan remonstrated with the French admiral: he had received orders from his government to be very careful of his fleet, and having reasons to believe that Howe had received reinforcements, he adhered to his resolution of getting to a place of safety. Sullivan then implored him to leave the French forces he had on board, and the bearer of his letter was also charged with a protest, written in angry terms, and complaining of the desertion of the French. This protest was signed by all the general officers in Rhode Island, except Lafayette; but the French admiral considered it as insulting, and sailed away for Boston in an angry mood. Sullivan then abandoned the siege of Newport, and retired to the north of the island. He was pursued by Sir Robert Pigott, commander of the garrison of Newport, who brought him to battle on the 29th of August. The loss was about equal, but Sullivan found himself compelled to evacuate the island in haste. He retired just in time, for on the following day a reinforcement, commanded by Sir Henry Clinton, arrived at Rhode Island. The attempt on the island, therefore, signally failed, and Sullivan laid the blame of the failure on the French admiral. He even published some letters reflecting very severely on the conduct of d’Estaing, and asserted that the Americans had been basely abandoned by their new allies. The public feeling was so strong against him, that when he arrived at Boston he met with a rude reception. The French were everywhere hooted by the Bostonians, and in a scuffle between them a French officer was killed. The French were also denounced by some of the hottest members in congress, and even the alliance with the French court was reprobated and reviled in bitter terms. About the same time, also, riots happened at Charlestown, in South Carolina, between American and French seamen, in which several lives were lost on both sides. But, at the same time that the Americans exhibited this feeling toward the French, they could not deny that the French alliance was still useful to them; and hence they had no thought of coming to an open rupture with their government.
OPERATIONS OF THE BRITISH ARMY.
After relieving Rhode Island, General Clinton returned to New York. On his voyage thither he detached Major-General Grey to Buzzard Bay, in Massachusets, a famous rendezvous of American privateers; and that officer destroyed seventy sail of ships there, with many storehouses and wharfs, and a fort mounting eleven pieces of heavy cannon. Grey then proceeded to an island called Martha’s Vineyard, where he took or destroyed several more vessels, destroyed a salt-work, and obliged the inhabitants to deliver up their arms, and furnish him with 10,000 sheep and 3000 oxen. With these supplies he returned to New York, and shortly after he made an incursion into New Jersey, where he surrounded an American detachment in the dead of the night, killed most of them, and took the rest, with Colonel Bajdor, their commander, prisoners. About the same time a small squadron, under the direction, of Captain Collins, with some troops, under the command of Captain Ferguson, destroyed a nest of privateers at Egg Harbour, and cut to pieces a part of the legion of the Polish Count Pulawski. On the return of this squadron to New York, the British army was placed in winter-quarters, and Washington moved his troops to Middlebrook, in New Jersey, where they hutted, as in Valley Forge.
ATTACK OF THE SAVAGES ON THE SETTLEMENT OF WYOMING, ETC.
The beautiful district of Wyoming was at this time dotted with eight new townships, each containing a territory of about five miles on both sides of the river Susquehanna. Poets and travellers have fondly fancied that it was inhabited by a peaceful population, in unison with the lovely scenery of the district. Such conceptions, however, are the very reverse of the fact. Greece was as the garden of Eden, and yet fierce warriors inhabited its soil. And so it was with Wyoming. By its geographical position the district seemed properly to belong to Pennsylvania, but the colony of Connecticut claimed it in virtue of an old grant; and it was first settled by the population of that colony. The Pennsylvanians, however, set up a counter claim, and, after many long and angry debates the two colonies went to war about the disputed district. These hostilities lasted till after the breaking out of the war with England; but a near approach of danger caused the belligerents to forego their quarrel. Several Pennsylvanian families by this time had obtained a settlement in Wyoming, and these were all royalists. So also were some of the Connecticut settlers, but there, as elsewhere, the revolutionary party gained the ascendency. They used their power tyrannically, and faction and feuds raged through all the townships. “Fair Wyoming,” by the bad passions of its inhabitants, was converted into a very hell. In every house there was division of sentiment, and the sources of domestic happiness were all poisoned by the bitter waters of strife. At length the revolutionary party completely got the upper hand. Oppressed and persecuted indeed, the royalists for the most part left their homes and became fugitives in the back-settlements. After this the revolutionists sent a large reinforcement to serve in the army of congress. By so doing, however, they laid themselves open to attack from the savages and their fugitive brethren. Warnings of their danger were repeatedly given them; but although they built some little forts in order to protect the district, they had but indifferent garrisons to put into them, and it was easy to foresee that sooner or later they would reap the fruit of their conduct towards their brethren. They appear to have conceived that they were in no danger, and especially as some Indian tribes had promised them protection; but their dream of security was suddenly disturbed by the appearance of eight hundred men on the bank of the Susquehanna. These were in part savages and in part Anglo-Americans, disguised as Indian warriors. Some of them were in fact the outcasts of Wyoming, who burned to revenge their wrongs. They were led by Colonel Butler, the same who had offered General Carleton the service of the Indians in Canada four years before, On the appearance of this force there were only sixty American regulars in the district, and these were commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, said to be of the same family as the officer that was leading on the savages and exiles. There were, however, about three hundred militiamen under Colonel Dennison, and these with the regulars prepared to oppose the invaders. The Indians and their allies entered the valley near its northern boundary; and they quickly took one of the forts called Wintermoots, which they burned. The militiamen and regulars assembled at Forty-fort, a stronger place on the west side of the Susquehanna, and four miles below the camp of the invaders. Had Colonel Zebulon Butler remained in this fort he might have stemmed the onward progress of the invaders till assistance could have been obtained from Washington. Zebulon Butler, however, resolved to leave the fort and encounter the enemy. He found them posted in a plain, partially covered with pine trees, dwarf oaks, and underwood. He moved towards them in single column, but as he was passing along he was saluted by the fire of Indians, who lay concealed behind bushes and trees. Notwithstanding, Zebulon Butler formed into line and prepared for battle. His left flank, which was composed of militiamen, was quickly turned by a body of Indians, who poured a destructive fire on his rear, and he was compelled to command a retreat. All fled precipitately, but the enemy was in their front, while on one side was a marsh and a mountain, and the other a deep river. A dreadful scene ensued. Throwing away their rifles and muskets, the Indians and their enraged allies fell upon the fugitives with their tomahawks, and heeded not the loud cry which was raised for quarter and mercy. About sixty men, with Colonels Zebulon Butler and Dennison, escaped by swimming across the river, hiding in the marsh, or climbing the mountain; but the rest, amounting to nearly four hundred men, were butchered on the spot. Zebulon Butler fled from Wyoming with his few surviving men, and Dennison proposed terms of capitulation, which the enemy granted to the inhabitants. These unfortunate people, however, dreading the vengeance of their white brethren, generally, abandoned their homes, and in their turn became outcasts and wanderers. The invaders then collected all the property of the district worth carriage; burned all the houses and levelled the forts; and then returned to the wilderness from whence they came. The troops of congress shortly after made some retaliation. Washington was at the very time of the invasion sending some troops to the defence of Wyoming, and these being reinforced by a great many riflemen of Morgan’s corps, they rushed upon the Indian settlements, burned their villages, exterminated all they could discover, and compelled the rest to retire further from the frontiers of the colonies. Those who escaped, however, awaited another opportunity for revenge.