There is a touching pathos in the whole sad history, and a calm dignity in the behaviour of all parties, the offender and the offended, which elevate humanity and are deeply affecting to contemplate. Nor as regarded Arnold, the willing Judas of American liberty, was this noble Christian dignity compromised. Washington sent Mrs. Arnold to her husband at New York, who was himself obliged to confess his obligation to the commander-in-chief for the kindness and protection which she had received from him, as well as the many obligations she was under to the gentlemen of his family. The clothes and baggage which he had sent for were likewise forwarded to him, but as regarded all other matters, his letters and himself were passed over without the smallest notice.[[36]] Somewhat later, however, when he had published an address to the inhabitants of America, calling upon them to “surrender to Great Britain, and to be no longer the tools and dupes of congress and France,” his name was publicly placed by the executive power of Pennsylvania at the head of a list of ten traitors, who were summoned to surrender by a given day, or to be subjected to all the pains, penalties and forfeitures of high-treason. Beyond that, Arnold was dead to the country; the magnitude of his offence placed him below her recognition. For himself he received £10,000, and was made a brigadier-general in the British army. He was also authorised to raise a corps of cavalry and infantry among the disaffected, who were to be clothed and fed like the other troops in the British service, and to whom a bounty of three guineas per man was given, besides payment at full value for horses, arms and accoutrements. All these being intended as strong baits in opposition to the distress, want of pay, hunger and nakedness of the republican army.
As regarded the treachery of Arnold, Washington took immediate measures to protect his camp and works from its consequences; but it did not appear that he had any party in the army; no defection followed, and the example tended probably rather as a warning than otherwise.
During these events in the north, the two hostile parties in the south had not been inactive. General Gates, who had not sustained in South Carolina the reputation which he gained by the surrender of Burgoyne, was superseded by General Greene. Both Lee and Steuben were ordered to the south, as well as Kosciusko, who acted as engineer.
In September, Cornwallis detached Colonel Ferguson to the frontiers of North Carolina, for the purpose of encouraging the loyalists to take arms. A large number of the most profligate and abandoned repaired to his standard, and under the conduct of their leader committed atrocious excesses. This roused the country; the militia were out; and a force of mounted backwoodsmen, armed with rifles and their provision at their backs, led by Shelby and Sevier, afterwards first governors of Kentucky and Tennessee, and joined by various partisan corps, marched against Ferguson, who was advancing towards the mountains. On the first tidings of this formidable force Ferguson fled, pursued by 1,000 of the best mounted and surest marksmen out of double that number; and so rapid was the flight and the pursuit, that in thirty-six hours the mountaineer-backwoodsmen dismounted but once. Ferguson, finding escape impossible, chose a strong position at King’s Mountain, on the Catawbee River, the boundary line between North and South Carolina. The attack was furious and the defence exceedingly obstinate; but, at length, Ferguson being slain, and 300 of his followers killed or wounded, the survivors, to the number of 800, threw down their arms and surrendered. Ten of the most obnoxious of these were immediately hanged as traitors, an outrage which was soon richly retaliated. After this the backwoodsmen retired as rapidly to their homes, and their victory, when trumpeted abroad, raised the sinking spirit of the South.[[37]]
Again Marion and Sumter were in the field, and the ubiquitous Tarleton, with his rapid cavalry, was despatched first against one and then the other. Marion was driven back to his swamps; and Sumter, having joined with other partisan corps in an attack on Fort Ninety-Six, defeated and took prisoner Major Wemyss, after which, having received intelligence through a deserter that Tarleton and his troop were out in pursuit, he took up a position on Blackstock Hill. Tarleton, after a severe loss, was obliged to retreat, leaving Sumter severely wounded, and in possession of the field. The close of the year was now approaching, and Sumter being conveyed to a place of safety, his followers dispersed.
On December 2nd, Greene joined the American army at Charlotte and assumed command. He found the troops without pay, and their clothing in tatters. There was scarcely a dollar in the military chest, and subsistence was obtained by impressment; nevertheless he entered at once on active operations; determining, however, rather to harass the British army than, in the present weak condition of his troops, to risk a general action. But it was not the army alone which was on the alert. All the scattered settlements of Whigs and Tories were in hostile array, and pursued each other with almost savage fury. The excitable temperament of the South gave to the struggle a more terrible character than it had in the North. Everywhere were small parties under arms, some on one side some on the other, desperately bent on plunder and blood.
At the close of this year England was satisfied with the progress which her arms had made in America; no ground of any consequence was lost in the North, while in the South, Georgia was entirely subdued and the royal government re-established. The possession of Charleston, Augusta, Ninety-Six and Camden, supported by an army in the field, secured entire control over the populous and wealthy parts of South Carolina. North Carolina was full of Tories, impatient to acknowledge the British crown on the arrival of Cornwallis. The three southern states were incapable of helping themselves, and the North, exhausted and penniless, was in no condition to help them. The colonies seemed almost sinking under the accumulated pressure of this long-protracted struggle. England, in the meantime, assailed by three European nations, and sustaining a war against two hemispheres, America and the East Indies, was putting forth energies and voting supplies on the most immense scale, as if the very demand increased her powers of exertion. The siege of Gibraltar, under its commander Elliot, was going on; great battles were fought on the West Indian and European seas; fleets and armies went to the East and to the West, and the new year commenced with preparations in all these various and remote scenes of action for new enterprise, for new effort.
As regarded America herself, France, in addition to the troops under Rochambeau, sent out a large fleet at the commencement of this year, under the Count de Grasse, which, after having performed certain service in the West Indies, was to co-operate with Rochambeau and Washington on the coast of America.
The state of affairs, however, was most anxious and critical, and calculated to create the most serious alarm. Although the efforts made during the past year, and the late successes in the South, had revived the public spirit, still no sufficient or permanent means had been provided for supplying the increasing wants of the army. The country seemed upon the brink of ruin. Nor can any situation be imagined more painful than that of the American congress at this moment. The enemy had advanced into the heart of the country; they had important militia operations to carry forward, but were wholly without money. Their bills of credit had so completely lost their value, that they had ceased to be a legal tender, and were not received even in payment of taxes. In this emergency their agents, as already had been done, were directed to borrow from France, Spain, and Holland. They resorted to the unpopular measure of taxation, the tax being apportioned among the several state governments, by whose authority it was collected; and in order as much as possible to introduce economy and to prevent disorder, waste, or peculation, they appointed Robert Morris of Philadelphia as their treasurer, a man whose pure morals, ardent patriotism, and great knowledge of financial concerns, eminently fitted him for this important station.
The zeal and genius of Morris soon produced the best results. A national bank was established, wealthy individuals were induced to deposit here their funds, and by borrowing in the name of government from this bank, and pledging in return the taxes not yet collected, he was enabled to anticipate them, and command a supply. He also made use of his own credit, which was good, and bills were in circulation at one time, bearing his signature, to the amount of £100,000. Franklin also obtained a loan of 4,000,000 of livres from the court of France, which likewise gave its guarantee to Holland for a loan of 10,000,000. Spain refused to lend money unless she received a monopoly of the navigation of the Mississippi, which was steadily refused.[[38]]