On the 7th, a summons to surrender, signed jointly by Sir Henry Clinton and Commodore Hotham, was sent to Fort Constitution; [FN-1] but the flag was fired upon, and returned. To avenge the insult, an attack was immediately determined upon, but on arriving at the fort on the following day, there was no enemy to assault—an evacuation having taken place, so precipitate as to leave considerable booty to the conqueror. [FN-2] Sir Henry Clinton proceeded no farther, but a strong detachment of his army, under General Vaughan, pursued the enterprise, with Commodore Hotham, as far north as Æsopus, [FN-3] destroying several vessels by the way. At Æsopus Creek there were two small batteries and an armed galley, mounting, however, in all, but six or seven guns. These were easily silenced. General Vaughan then effected a landing, marched to the town, and laid it in ashes. Large quantities of stores had been accumulated at this place, which were of course destroyed. Disappointed, however, by the disastrous termination of the campaign of Burgoyne, Sir Henry Clinton made an expeditious return to the city.
[FN-1] Situated at West Point.
[FN-2] Letter of Commodore Hotham to Sir William Howe. "The whole number of cannon taken in the three forts amount to sixty-seven, with a large quantity of provisions, ammunition, and stores of all kinds."
[FN-3] The ancient Dutch name of Kingston, the present shire town of the County of Ulster, N. Y. It was a large and wealthy inland town, built almost entirely of stone, upon a rich and beautiful plain about three miles from the river. The naked walls of many of the houses destroyed by General Vaughan, were standing, unrepaired, until within five or six years.
But the war was this year fruitful in military events in other parts of the confederation, some of the principal of which may appropriately be passed in review at this stage of the present chapter. In the month of March, after the return of the British troops from their bootless expedition through the Jerseys, to New-York, Colonel Bird was detached against Peekskill, with five hundred men, for the purpose of destroying the American stores deposited at that place. General McDougall, commanding a small guard at the depôt, on the approach of a force which he had not the power to resist, set fire to the stores and retreated. A similar expedition, for the same object, was directed against Danbury toward the close of April, consisting of two thousand men under the conduct of Major General Tryon. Landing at Compo Creek, between Norwalk and Fairfield, the march of Governor Tryon to the point of his destination was almost unopposed. A large quantity of provisions—beef, pork, and flour—had been collected by the Americans at that place, which were guarded only by about one hundred militia and Continental troops. Not being able to oppose the enemy, Colonel Huntington retired to a neighboring height, and awaited reinforcements. The town of Danbury and the stores were burnt on the 26th of April. [FN] During the afternoon and the following night Generals Wooster, Arnold, and Silliman collected such militia forces as they could, for the purpose of harassing the retreat of the enemy the next morning. With three hundred men, Wooster gallantly attacked his rear at 11 o'clock on the 27th, while Arnold, with five hundred more, awaited his arrival at Ridgeway. Wooster fell, mortally wounded, and his troops were obliged to give way. At Ridgeway, Arnold skirmished with the enemy for about an hour, but could not make a stand, or prevent them from remaining at that place over night. On the 28th, the march of the enemy was resumed, as also was the skirmishing by General Arnold, which was continued until 5 o'clock in the afternoon; when, as they approached their ships, the Americans charged with intrepidity, but were repulsed and broken. Embarking immediately, Governor Tryon returned to New-York, with a loss of one hundred and seventy men. The loss of the Americans was one hundred. These predatory excursions were retaliated by the Americans under Colonel Meigs, who made a brilliant expedition against Sag Harbor, where the enemy had collected a quantity of stores. The guard was talfen by surprise—the place carried by the bayonet—the stores destroyed, including twelve transport vessels—and Colonel Meigs re-crossed the Sound to Guilford without the loss of a man.
[FN] The property destroyed consisted of eighteen houses; eight hundred barrels of pork and beef; eight hundred barrels of flour; two thousand bushels of grain, and seventeen hundred tents.
After the return of the British forces from New Jersey, Sir William Howe suffered them to remain upon Staten Island until near midsummer, when, as the reader has seen in a previous chapter, he embarked with sixteen thousand men, and sailed for the Chesapeake Bay. On the 24th of August he landed at Elkton, whence, after being joined by Generals Grant and Knyphausen, he directed his march upon Philadelphia. Anticipating the design of the British commander, Washington threw himself, with his whole disposable force, between Sir William and Philadelphia, for the purpose of intercepting and bringing him to a general engagement. The disastrous battle of Brandywine was fought on the 11th of September. The loss of the Americans was three hundred killed and six hundred wounded and taken prisoners. That of the enemy was about one hundred killed and four hundred wounded. While General Washington with the main army retreated across the Schuylkill, General Wayne was left at the Paoli with fifteen hundred men, for the purpose of gaining and harassing the enemy's rear. But, notwithstanding the wonted vigilance of this officer, he was surprised in the course of the night, and routed, by General Gray, who had been detached for that purpose with two regiments of the enemy's line and a body of light troops. General Wayne had attempted to conceal himself upon an elevated piece of woodland, having an opening of a few acres upon which his troops bivouacked for the night, in perfect security, as was supposed. The approach of the enemy was so cautious as to take the Americans completely by surprise. Guided by the light of their fires, the enemy succeeded in cutting off their outposts and pickets without noise, and then rushed upon the sleeping camp without firing a gun, and depending alone upon the bayonet. Three hundred were slain, many of whom were transfixed with bayonets as they lay sleeping in their tents. But, though surprised. General Wayne was cool and self-possessed; and, as the enemy himself acknowledged, "by his prudent dispositions" in the moment of alarm, succeeded in bringing off the remainder of his troops. [FN]