BOOK SEVENTH.

1776. HAVING sketched the first two periods of this obstinate contest, in the first of which we have seen the British ministers provoking the Americans, by oppressive laws, to resistance and revolt; and in the second, conducting the war which ensued with feeble counsels and insufficient means; the order of history requires that we should now proceed to the recital of the events which signalized the third, wherein, at length, displaying all their force, they proposed to suppress the rebellion entirely, and to reduce the colonists to subjection.

General Howe, having arrived from Halifax, landed the twentyfifth of June at Sandy Hook, a point of land situated at the entrance of the Gulf, comprehended between the main land of New Jersey, the mouth of the Rariton, Staten Island, and the opening of the bay of New York, on the one side, and Long Island on the other. On the second of July, he took possession of Staten Island. The resolution of independence may, therefore, be praised for its boldness, or blamed for its temerity; which was taken, as is seen, at the very instant when England was preparing to attack, with formidable forces, the most vulnerable parts of America. The general would have preferred waiting at Halifax till the arrival of the re-inforcements expected from Europe, with the fleet of his brother, the admiral, in order to repair, in concert with him, to the waters of New York, and to terminate the war by a sudden and decisive blow. But the English fleet delayed to appear, and the quarters of Halifax were as inconvenient, as provisions were scarce there; a part of the troops had been compelled to remain on board the ships. The season for operations also advancing, general Howe determined to go and wait for his re-inforcements in the vicinity of New York; the squadron of convoy was commanded by admiral Shuldam.

He was joined in the passage by some regiments that, having been separated from the fleet by contrary winds, were steering alone for Halifax. Other corps fell into the power of the American cruisers. The inhabitants of Staten Island received the English general with great demonstrations of joy; the soldiers, being quartered about in the villages, found, in abundance, the refreshments of which they were in the greatest need. Here general Howe was visited by governor Tryon, who gave him precise information with respect to the state of the province, as also with regard to the forces and preparations of the enemy. Many inhabitants of New Jersey came to

offer themselves to be enrolled for the royal service; even those of Staten Island were forward to enlist under the English standard; every thing announced that the army had only to show itself in the provinces to be assured of a prompt victory. Admiral Howe, after touching at Halifax, where he found dispatches from his brother, who urged him to come and join him at New York, made sail again immediately, and landed, without accident, at Staten Island, the twelfth of July. General Clinton arrived there about the same time, with the troops he re-conducted from the unfortunate expedition of Charleston. Commodore Hotham also appeared there with the reinforcements under his escort; so that in a short time the army amounted to about twenty-four thousand men, between English, Hessians, and Waldeckers. Several regiments of Hessian infantry were expected to arrive shortly, when the army would be carried to the number of thirty-five thousand combatants, of the best troops of Europe. America had never seen such a display of forces.

It began now to appear that the ministers had at length adopted vigorous measures, hoping to terminate the war at a blow, and to repair the evils produced by their long hesitation and delays.

General and admiral Howe, both officers of high distinction, were to combine their efforts against the province of New York; which, feeble by itself, broken by a great number of islands and large rivers, and offering a great extent of coasts, was more exposed than any other to the attacks of an enemy that was master at sea.

The English army was abundantly provided with arms and munitions, and the soldiers manifested an extreme ardor for the service of the king. The English, besides their particular hatred against the insurgents, were also stimulated by their national jealousy towards the Germans; they considered the confidence placed by the government in these strangers as indicating a want of it in them. They were eager to prove to the world that, without their assistance, they were capable of subduing America. The Germans, on their part, who justly thought themselves not inferior to the English, would by no means appear to yield to them, and this reciprocal emulation warranted the expectation of extreme efforts on the one part and on the other. When the submission of the province of New York should have given the English a firm footing in America, small garrisons, supported by a formidable maritime force, would be sufficient to defend it against the insults of the enemy, and the army might safely proceed to the conquest of the adjacent provinces.

New York forming the center of the American colonies, the English army would be able to turn at will, either upon the right, in order to carry the war into Connecticut and all New England, or upon

the left, to scour New Jersey and menace Philadelphia itself. It was besides very easy, by means of frigates and other smaller vessels, to maintain the communication between the two parts of the army upon the right and left banks of the Hudson, and even to pass it upon occasion, and promptly transport troops from one side to the other. Finally, this position of New York, as well by its nature as by reason of the numerous marine of the English, was for them a place of arms, whence they could infest the neighboring places, attack their enemies at their own time, combat them with success, and retreat without danger.

They resolved, accordingly, to make it the center of their operations; the loyalists were also very numerous there, and in no city of America was the party of the congress more feeble.

There occurred, also, another consideration of the highest importance. If general Carleton, after having passed, as was hoped, the lakes of Canada, could penetrate to the banks of the Hudson, and descend this river at the same time that general Howe should ascend it, their conjunction would have the immediate effect of interrupting all communication between the provinces of New England, situated upon the left bank, and those of the middle and south, which are found upon the right; and such had always been the favorite plan of the ministry.

Finally, it was considered that Long Island, separated from the island of New York only by the East river, and being abundant in grains and in cattle, offered the means of subsistence for the ost numerous army. Its inhabitants, besides, were believed to be well inclined towards the royal cause.

While general Howe was seconded in his invasion of New York by the twelve or thirteen thousand men coming from Canada under governor Carleton, general Clinton was to operate in the provinces of the south, and to attack Charleston. The American troops being thus divided, and their generals surprised and pressed on so many sides at once, it was not doubted but that the British arms would soon obtain a complete triumph. But there happened in this occurrence what is often seen in the execution of human designs, when their success depends upon the concurrence of a great number of parts; one proceeds towards the object, another recedes from it, and all equally miss it.

A prosperous event in this business appeared the less probable, since independently of the obstacles raised by men, it was necessary also to combat the winds and the seasons. Would it not have been calculating upon a scarcely possible contingency, to have expected the arrival of three distinct corps of the army at their places of des

tination at the hour prefixed, so as to operate in perfect concert? Was it even certain that all the three would prove victorious? This, however, was necessary to secure the execution of the plan of the campaign.

It happened, therefore, on the one part, that admiral Howe, having been retarded by contrary winds, did not land his re-inforcements till after the expedition of Charleston had totally miscarried, as we have related. And on the other, the army of Canada encountered so many obstacles to the passage of the lakes, that it was not able to make its way this year to the banks of the Hudson. Whence it resulted not only that Washington was not compelled to weaken the already feeble army which he had upon the coasts, in order to send succors into South Carolina, or towards Canada, but that the same soldiers who had so valiantly defended Charleston, went to re-inforce those who guarded the passage of the lakes, or joined the principal army. But notwithstanding these failures, it was still confidently hoped that general Howe would be able alone to make a decisive campaign. This hope was not perhaps devoid of all foundation. It is plain, therefore, how many probabilities the British ministers and generals would have united in their favor, if, instead of having scattered their forces upon several points, they had concentrated them in a single mass, leaving only sufficient garrisons in the places necessary to their operations.

The Americans, on their part, had neglected no preparative in order to resist the storm with which they were menaced. The congress had ordained the construction of rafts, of gun boats, of galleys, and of floating batteries, for the defense of the port of New York and the mouths of the Hudson. But it could not be hoped that such feeble preparations were competent to oppose, with any chance of success, the formidable marine of England.

The congress had also decreed that thirteen thousand of the provincial militia should go and join the army of Washington, who, being seasonably apprised of the danger of New York, had made a movement into that quarter; they also directed the organization of a corps of ten thousand men, destined to serve as a reserve in the provinces of the center. All the weakest posts had been carefully intrenched, and furnished with artillery. A strong detachment occupied Long Island, to prevent the English from landing there, or to repulse them if they should effect a debarkation. But the army of the congress was very far from having all the necessary means to support the burthen of so terrible a war. It wanted arms, and it was wasted by diseases. The reiterated instances of the commander-in-chief had drawn into his camp the militia of the neighboring provinces, and some regular

regiments from Maryland, from Pennsylvania, and from New Eng. land, which had carried his army to the number of twenty-seven thousand men; but a fourth part of these troops was composed of invalids, and scarcely was another fourth furnished with arms. The greatest part, without order, as without discipline, could inspire little confidence.

These inconveniences, so seriously alarming for the success of the American cause, proceeded partly from the want of money, which prevented the congress from paying regular troops and providing for their equipment, and partly from an impolitic parsimony contracted during peace, which withheld them from incurring, with promptitude, the expenses rendered necessary by a state of war. Their rooted jealousy of standing armies contributed also to the same effect; it had even inspired them with the idle hope of being able to organize every year an army sufficient to resist the forces of the enemy.

Perhaps, finally, many of the colonists were reluctant to take arms, because they still flattered themselves that the commissioners of the king, being at the same time chiefs of the troops, and negotiators of peace, might succeed in effecting a general reconciliation.

The American army, such as it was, occupied the positions most suitable to cover the menaced points. The corps which had been stationed on Long Island was commanded by major-general Greene, who, on account of sickness, was afterwards succeeded by general Sullivan. The main body of the army encamped on the island of New York, which, it appeared, was destined to receive the first blows of the English.

Two feeble detachments guarded Governor's Island, and the point of Paulus' Hook, situated in front of New York, upon the right bank of the Hudson. The militia of the province, commanded by the American general, Clinton, were posted upon the banks of the Sound, where they occupied the two Chesters, East and West, and New Rochelle. For it was to be feared that the enemy, landing in force upon the north shore of the Sound, might penetrate to Kingsbridge, and thus entirely lock up all the American troops on the island of New York.

All being prepared on the one side for attack, on the other for defense, and the two parties appearing equally decided to refer the destiny of America to the chance of battles, the English commissioners, before coming to this appeal, wished to make trial of the pacific powers with which they were invested. Already, in the month of June, lord Howe, being upon the coasts of Massachusetts in the Eagle ship of the line, had, in the name of the king, addressed