But to recruit and equip the army was no easy task. The great depreciation of paper money rendered the pay of the soldiers inadequate to their support; and, consequently, it was not likely that voluntary enlistment would be successful, especially since the patriotic ardor of many had begun to cool by the continuance of the war, and all knew that great hardships and dangers were to be encountered by joining the army. The pay even of the officers, in the depreciated paper currency, was wholly unequal to the maintenance of their rank. Some of them who had small patrimonial estates found them melting away, while their lives were unprofitably devoted to the service of their country; and they who had no private fortune could not appear in a manner becoming their station. A commission was a burden; and many considered the acceptance of one as conferring rather than receiving a favor: a state of things highly disadvantageous to the service; for the duties of an office scarcely reckoned worth holding will seldom be zealously and actively discharged. There was reason to apprehend that many of the most meritorious officers would resign their commissions; and that they only who were less qualified for service would remain with the army.
Congress, moved by the remonstrances of the commander-in-chief, and by the complaints with which they were assailed from every quarter, deputeda committee of their body to reside in camp during the winter; and, in concert with the general, to examine the state of the army, and report on the measures necessary to be taken for placing it in a more respectable condition. But the reforms in the army were tardily made. Congress were fond of their own speculations, although experience had proved them mischievous; and were slow in rectifying the evils which arose from their own errors. The state legislatures were backward in adopting coercive measures for recruiting the army; and each of them was jealous of bearing more than its share of the war. At length, however, an efficient commissary-general was appointed; the other departments were put on a more desirable footing; and vigorous measures were pursued to prepare for the ensuing campaign.
During the winter there was a good deal of correspondence between the generals respecting prisoners of war. Complaints were mutual; and a partial cartel was agreed to.
In consequence of the treaties concluded with her revolted colonies, Great Britain declared war against France; and the ministry, presuming that assistance would be sent to the Americans, transmitted orders by the commissioners, that Philadelphia should be evacuated, and the royal troops concentrated at New York. The execution of these orders devolved upon Sir Henry Clinton, who had been appointed commander-in-chief on the resignation of general Howe. On the 18th of June the enemy quitted the city, and marched slowly eastward. Washington, leaving his huts in the forest, hung upon the rear of the British army, watching for a favorable opportunity to offer battle. On arriving at Monmouth, in New Jersey, general Lee, who had lately been exchanged, was ordered to take the command of five thousand men, and, early in the morning of the 28th, to commence an attack, being assured that he should be supported by the whole army. Lee made dispositions to attack accordingly, but perceiving the main body of the English returning to meet him, he began to retreat. Washington, advancing to render the promised support, saw him retiring, rode forward,and addressed him in language implying disapprobation of his conduct.[130] He then directed him to form his men on ground which he pointed out, and there oppose the progress of the enemy. A warm engagement ensued, and Washington, arriving with the main body of his army, compelled the British to fall back.
The day had been intensely hot, and the troops were greatly fatigued,[131] yet general Washington resolved to renew the engagement; but there were so many impediments to be overcome, that before the attack could be commenced it was nearly dark. It was therefore thought most advisable to postpone further operations until morning,and the troops lay on their arms in the field of battle.[132] General Washington, who had been exceedinglyactive through the day, and entirely regardless of personal danger, reposed himself at night in his cloak, under a tree, in the midst of his soldiers. His intention of renewing the battle was, however, frustrated; the British troops marched away about midnight in such profound silence, that the most advanced posts knew nothing of their departure until morning. The American general, declining all further pursuit of the royal army, detached some light troops to attend its motions, and drew off his soldiers to the borders of the North river. Sir Henry Clinton, after remaining a few days on the high grounds of Middleton, proceeded to Sandy Hook, whence he passed his army over to New York.
The British having entered New York, Washington conducted his army to White Plains. Congress returned to Philadelphia; and in July received, with inexpressible joy, a letter from the count D’Estaing, announcing his arrival on the coast of Virginia, with twelve sail of the line and six frigates, with about four thousand troops on board. The count had intended to surprise admiral Howe in the Delaware, but adverse winds detained him on the passage, until the British fleet had sailed for New York. He appeared before that harbor, but on sounding, found that his largest ships could not pass the bar. By the advice of Washington, a combined attack upon the British forces at Newport, in Rhode Island, was resolved on. General Sullivan, who had been appointed to command the troops, called upon the militia of New England to aid him in the enterprise. His army soon amounted to ten thousand men, and, as he was supported by the fleet he felt confident of success. On the 9th of August, he took a position on the north end of Rhode Island, and afterwards moved nearer to Newport. Admiral Howe, having received a reinforcement, now appeared before the harbor, and the count instantly put to sea to attack him. A furious storm, however, came on, which damaged and dispersed both fleets. As soon as the weather permitted, each commander sought the port from which he had sailed; but great was the disappointment of the Americans when D’Estaing announced his intention of proceeding to Boston to refit; they earnestly remonstrated, but the count was inflexible. Deserted by the fleet, the army could remain no longer with safety on the island. General Sullivan, therefore, immediately retreated to his first position. He was pursued and attacked by the enemy; but they were gallantly resisted and repulsed with loss. The next day the two armies cannonaded each other, and the succeeding night the American general, deceiving the enemy by a show of resistance to the last, made a skilful retreat to the continent. It was a remarkable escape. The delay of a single day would probably have been fatal to the Americans; for Sir Henry Clinton, who had been impeded by adverse winds, arrived with a reinforcement of four thousand men the very next day, when a retreat, it is presumed, would have been impracticable.
At this period of the war hostilities were carried on with more than usual acrimony. In several instances the British troops, and their allies,the American tories and native Indians, exhibited a barbarity deeply to be lamented, wantonly destroying the property and injuring the persons of peaceful unarmed inhabitants. While asleep in a barn at Tappan, colonel Baylor’s troop of light dragoons were surprised by general Grey, who commanded his soldiers to use the bayonet only, and to give the rebels no quarter. Incapable of defence, they sued for mercy; but the most pathetic supplications were heard without awakening compassion; nearly one-half of the troop were killed. To many, repeated thrusts were barbarously given as long as signs of life remained; while some who had nearly a dozen stabs through the body, and were left for dead, afterwards recovered. A few escaped, and forty were saved by the humanity of a British captain, who dared to disobey the orders of his general. With feelings of revenge yet more barbarous, Wyoming, a happy and flourishing settlement, on the eastern branch of the Susquehannah, in Pennsylvania, was attacked by a band of tories and Indians. The conditions of the capitulation were entirely disregarded by the British and savage forces, and after the fort was delivered up, all kinds of barbarities were committed by them. The village of Wilkesbarre, consisting of twenty-three houses, was burnt; men and their wives were separated from each other and carried into captivity; their property was plundered, and the settlement laid waste. The remainder of the inhabitants were driven from the valley, and compelled to proceed on foot sixty miles through the great swamp, almost without food or clothing. A number perished in the journey, principally women and children; some died of their wounds, others wandered from the path in search of food and were lost; and those who survived called the wilderness through which they passed ‘The Shades of Death,’ an appellation which it has since retained. Many other instances might be adduced;but it is better to suffer the record of them to perish.[133]
In the campaign of 1778 little on either side was accomplished. The alliance with France gave birth to expectations which events did not fulfil;but the presence of her fleets on the coast deranged the plans of the British; induced them to relinquish a part of their conquests; and prevented their making any progress in the accomplishment of their designs.
The close of this year was distinguished by a change of the theatre of war from the northern to the southern section of the confederacy. The country, weak by its scattered population, the multitude of slaves, and the number of tories, presented a prospect of easy victory. In the end of November, lieutenant-colonel Campbell, with two thousand five hundred men, sailed from New York to the coast of Georgia. Having landed his troops, he marched towards Savannah, the capital; and defeating a small body of Americans whom he met on his route, he immediately took possession of the city. After the fall of the capital, Sunbury surrendered at discretion; and these were the only military posts in Georgia.
The campaign of 1779 was opened by general Lincoln, who had been appointed to the command of the American troops in the southern department. In April, leaving South Carolina, he marched into the interior of Georgia; upon which the British army, entering the state he had left, invested Charleston, the capital. Lincoln hastened back to its defence; and on his approach, the British retired to Stono ferry, where an action was fought, and a few days afterwards they continued their retreat to Savannah. The heat of the season suspended farther operations until September; when count D’Estaing, with a fleet carrying six thousand troops, arrived on the coast. The two armies, in concert, laid siege to Savannah. At the expiration of a month, the count, impatient of delay, insisted that the siege should be abandoned, or that a combined assault upon the enemy’s works should immediately be made. General Lincoln determined upon the latter course. Great gallantry was displayed by the French and American troops,but the British repulsed the assailants, killing and wounding nearly a thousand men,[134] while on their part the loss was small. The next day the siege was raised, the French returning home, and the Americans to South Carolina.