[FN-4] Idem.
[FN-5] "The conduct of the Jerseys has been most infamous. Instead of turning out to defend their country and affording aid to our army, they are making their submissions as fast as they can. If the Jerseys had given us any support, we might have made a stand at Hackensack, and after that at Brunswick; but the few militia that were in arms disbanded themselves, and left the poor remains of an army to make the best we could of it."—Letter of Washington to his brother, John Augustine Washington, Nov. 18, 1776.
In addition to this succession of disasters, Sir Guy Carleton had appeared upon Lake Champlain with a flotilla, superior to that of the Americans under General Arnold, and which seemed to have been called into existence as if by enchantment. Two naval engagements followed, on the 11th and 13th of October, contested with undaunted bravery, [FN-1] but resulting in the defeat of Arnold, the annihilation of his flotilla, and the possession of the Lake and Crown Point by the foe. Early in December Rhode Island also fell into his hands. The forces of the Commander-in-chief at the same time numbered only from two to three thousand men; and scarcely a new recruit supplied the places of those whose terms of service were expiring. And even those recruits that were furnished, were so badly supplied with officers, as almost to extinguish the hope of forming an army from which any efficient services were to be expected. [FN-2]
[FN-1] Gen. Gates wrote to Col. Ten Eyck, from Ticonderoga, on the 13th of October—"The engagement began on the 11th, and continues to this day. The enemy's fleet is much superior to ours, and we maintain a running fight. All our officers behave with the greatest spirit."—MS. letter in the author's possession.
[FN-2] "The different States, without regard to the qualifications of an officer, quarreling about the appointments, and nominating such as are not fit to be shoe-blacks, from the local attachments of this or that member of Assembly."—Letter from Washington to his brother, 19th November, 1776.
Worse than all, a spirit of disaffection was rife in the States of New-York and New Jersey, which not only thwarted the purposes of the Commander-in-chief, but threatened the most lamentable consequences to the cause. Although there were many stanch Whigs in Albany and its vicinity, there were many vigilant loyalists in that region, who continued to keep in correspondence with the enemy during nearly the whole contest. In the Summer of this year. General Schuyler had detected a dangerous plot in the neighborhood of Albany, and apprehended some of the ringleaders. During the operations of the army in the Autumn, in New-York and its neighborhood, it was only with the utmost difficulty that large portions of the fluctuating army could be kept in the line of duty, while other large portions either went off in masses, or proved unfaithful while they remained. The conduct of the militia at Fort Washington, has been noted. General Greene wrote on the 5th of November, that the New-York militia, under Colonel Hawkes Hay, actually refused to do duty. They said General Howe had promised them peace, liberty, and safety; and that was all they wanted. [FN]
[FN] Sparks—Life and Cor. of Washington.
These are but a few of the discouragements under which the Commander-in-chief was laboring. To borrow his own expressive language in the private letter to his brother cited in a preceding note, "You can form no idea of the perplexity of my situation. No man, I believe, ever had a greater choice of difficulties, and less means to extricate himself from them." Nevertheless, the last sun of that year did not sink behind so deep a cloud of gloom as had been anticipated. In the north, General Carleton, who had occupied Crown Point after the defeat of Arnold's flotilla, had returned to Canada without attempting any thing farther; and before the close of the year the Commander-in-chief had the satisfaction to announce, that instead of imitating the bad example of others, the Continental regiments from the Eastern States had agreed to remain six weeks beyond the term of their enlistment. [FN-1] In addition to which were the bold return of Washington upon Trenton, and his brilliant victory over the Hessian forces at that place, on the morning of the 26th of December. "This well-judged and successful enterprise revived the depressed spirits of the Colonists, and produced an immediate and happy effect in recruiting the American army." [FN-2]