Through some unaccountable negligence in the persons charged with the execution of these orders the battering artillery was not accompanied with suitable ammunition, and the necessary entrenching tools were not brought. These omissions were supplied the next day, but it was then too late to proceed against Verplanck's.
On receiving intelligence of the loss of Stony Point and of the danger to which the garrison of Fort Fayette was exposed, Sir Henry Clinton relinquished his views on Connecticut and made a forced march to Dobb's Ferry. Some troops were immediately embarked to pass up the river and a light corps was pushed forward to the Croton. This movement relieved Fort Fayette.
The failure of the attempt to obtain possession of Verplanck's Point, leaving that road of communication still closed, diminished the advantages which had been expected to result from the enterprise so much that it was deemed unadvisable to maintain Stony Point. On reconnoitering the ground Washington believed that the place could not be rendered secure with a garrison of less than 1,500 men—a number which could not be spared from the army without weakening it too much for further operations. He determined, therefore, to evacuate Stony Point and retire to the Highlands. As soon as this resolution was executed Clinton repossessed himself of that post, repaired the fortifications, and placed a stronger garrison in it, after which he resumed his former situation at Philipsburg.
The two armies watched each other for some time. At length, Clinton, finding himself unable to attack Washington in the strong position he had taken or to draw him from it, and being desirous of transferring the theater of active war to the south, withdrew to New York and was understood to be strengthening the fortifications erected for its defense, as preparatory to the large detachments he intended making to reinforce the southern army.
Although this movement was made principally with a view to southern operations, it was in some degree hastened by the opinion that New York required immediate additional protection during the absence of the fleet, which was about to sail for the relief of Penobscot.
Scarcely had Sir George Collier, who had accompanied Clinton up the Hudson to take possession of Stony Point, returned to New York, when he was informed that a fleet of armed vessels with transports and troops had sailed from Boston to attack a post which General M'Lean was establishing at Penobscot in the eastern part of the province of Massachusetts bay. He immediately got ready for sea that part of the naval force which was at New York, and on the 3d of August sailed to relieve the garrison of Penobscot.
In the month of June (1779) General M'Lean, who commanded the royal troops in Nova Scotia, arrived in the bay of Penobscot with nearly 700 men, in order to establish a post which might at once be a means of checking the incursions of the Americans into Nova Scotia and of supplying the royal yards at Halifax with ship timber, which abounded in that part of the country. This establishment alarmed the government of Massachusetts bay, which resolved to dislodge M'Lean, and, with great promptitude, equipped a fleet and raised troops for that purpose. The fleet, which consisted of fifteen vessels of war, carrying from thirty-two to twelve guns each with transports, was commanded by Commodore Saltonstall; the army, amounting to between three and four thousand militia, was under the orders of General Lovell.
General M'Lean chose for his post a peninsula on the east side of Penobscot bay, which is about seven leagues wide and seventeen deep, terminating at the point where the river Penobscot flows into it. M'Lean's station was nine miles from the bottom of the bay. As that part of the country was then an unbroken forest he cleared away the wood on the peninsula and began to construct a fort in which he was assisted and protected by the crews of three sloops-of-war which had escorted him thither. M'Lean heard of the expedition against him on the 21st of July (1779), when he had made little progress in the erection of his fort. On the 25th the American fleet appeared in the bay, but, owing to the opposition of the British sloops-of-war and to the bold and rugged nature of the shore, the troops did not effect a landing until the 28th. This interval M'Lean improved with such laborious diligence that his fortifications were in a state of considerable forwardness. Lovell erected a battery within 750 yards of the works, and for nearly a fortnight a brisk cannonade was kept up and preparations were made to assault the fort. But, on the 13th of August (1779), Lovell was informed that Sir George Collier with a superior naval force had entered the bay; therefore in the night he silently embarked his troops and cannon, unperceived by the garrison, which was every moment in expectation of being assaulted.
On the approach of the British fleet the Americans, after some show of preparation for resistance, betook themselves to flight. A general pursuit and unresisted destruction ensued. The Warren, a fine new frigate of thirty-two guns, and fourteen other vessels of inferior force, were either blown up or taken. The transports fled in confusion and, after having landed the troops in a wild and uncultivated part of the country, were burnt. The men, destitute of provisions and other necessaries, had to explore their way for more than 100 miles through an uninhabited and pathless wilderness and many of them perished before reaching the settled country. After this successful exploit Sir George Collier returned to New York, where he resigned the command of the fleet to Admiral Arbuthnot, who had arrived from England with some ships of war and with provisions, stores, and reinforcements for the army.
On descending the river, after replacing the garrison of Stony Point, Sir Henry Clinton encamped above Harlem, with his upper posts at Kingsbridge. Washington remained in his strong position in the Highlands, but frequently detached numerous parties on both sides of the river in order to check the British foragers and to restrain the intercourse with the Loyalists. Major Lee ("Light Horse Harry"), who commanded one of those parties, planned a bold and hazardous enterprise against the British post at Paulus Hook on the Jersey bank of the river, opposite New York. That post was strongly fortified and of difficult access, and therefore the garrison thought themselves secure. But Lee determined to make an attempt on the place and chose the morning of the 20th of August (1779) for his enterprise, when part of the garrison was absent on a foraging excursion. Advancing silently at the head of 300 men the sentinel at the gate mistook his party for that which had marched out the preceding day, and allowed them to pass unchallenged, and almost in an instant they seized the blockhouse and two redoubts before the alarm was given. Major Sutherland, commandant of the post, with sixty Hessians, entered a redoubt and began a brisk fire on the assailants. This gave an extensive notice of the attack, and the firing of guns in New York, and by the shipping in the roads, proved that the alarm was widely spread. In order, therefore, not to hazard the loss of his party, Lee retreated with the loss of two men killed and three wounded, carrying along with him about 150 prisoners. Notwithstanding the difficulties and dangers which he had to encounter, he effected his retreat. It was not his design to keep possession of the place, but to carry off the garrison, reflect credit on the American arms, and encourage a spirit of enterprise in the army. {2}