"Every moment made the situation of the British army more critical. Their provisions were lessening, and their Indian and provincial allies deserting; whilst the animation and numbers of the Americans increased. From the uncertainty of receiving farther supplies, Burgoyne curtailed the soldiers' rations. His opponents pressed him on every side. Much hard fighting ensued. The British were again defeated. One of Burgoyne's generals, together with his aid-de-camp, was killed, and he himself narrowly escaped; as a ball passed through his hat, and another through his waistcoat. The American generals, Arnold and Lincoln, were wounded. To avoid being surrounded, Gen. Burgoyne left his hospital to the humanity of Gates, and retreated to Saratoga. He was still followed and harassed; driven on one side and straitened on another. The situation of his army was truly distressing: abandoned by their allies, unsupported by their fellow soldiers in New York, worn down by a series of incessant efforts, and greatly reduced in number; without a possibility of retreat, or of replenishing their exhausted stock of provisions, a continual cannonade pervaded their camp, and grapeshot fell in many parts of their lines.

"The 12th of October arrived; the day until which hope had bidden the afflicted general wait for the promised assistance from New York. But expectation vanished with the departing sun. He took an account of his provisions. There was only a scanty subsistence for three days. A council of war declared that their present situation justified a capitulation on honourable terms; and a negotiation was commenced. After various messages passed between the hostile armies, it was stipulated, that on the 17th, the British were to march out of their camp with the customary honours of war; the arms to be piled by word of command from their own officers; and an undisturbed passage allowed them to Great Britain, on condition of their not serving again in North America during the war.

"By this convention, were surrendered five thousand seven hundred and ninety, of all ranks; which number

added to the killed, wounded, and prisoners, lost by the royal army during the preceding part of the expedition, made altogether, upwards of ten thousand men; an ad vantage rendered still more important to the captors, by the acquisition of thirty-five brass field pieces, and nearly five thousand muskets. The regular troops in General Gates' army were nine thousand; the militia four thousand; but, of the former, two thousand were sick or on furlough; and of the latter, five hundred.

"The celebrated Polish patriot, Kosciusko, was chief engineer in the army of Gen. Gates.

"On learning the fate of Burgoyne, the British on the North river retired to New York. Those who had been left in his rear, destroyed their cannon, and, abandoning Ticonderoga, retreated to Canada; so that this whole country, after experiencing for several months the devastations of war, was now restored to perfect tranquillity?'*

71. Treaty with France.

On the 16th of March, 1778, Lord North intimated to the house of commons, that a paper had been laid before the king, by the French ambassador, intimating the conclusion of an alliance between the court of France and the United States of America. The preliminaries of this treaty had been concluded in the end of the year 1777, and a copy of them sent to congress, in order to counteract any proposals that might be made in the mean time by the British ministry. On the 6th of February, 1778, the articles were formally signed, to the great satisfaction of the French nation. They were in substance as follows:

1. If Great Britain should, in consequence of this treaty, proceed to hostilities against France, the two nations should mutually assist each other.

2. The main end of the treaty was, in an effectual manner, to maintain the independence of America.

* Grimshaw's Hist. United States.

3. Should those places of North America, still subject to Britain, be reduced by the states, they should be confederated with them, or subjected to their jurisdiction.

4. Should any of the West India Islands be reduced by France, they should be deemed its property.

5. No formal treaty with Great Britain should be concluded, either by France or America, without the consent of each other; and it was mutually agreed, that they should not lay down their arms till the independence of the states had been formally acknowledged.

6. The contracting parties mutually agreed to invite those powers who had received injuries from Great Britain, to join in the common cause.

7. The United States guarantied to France all the possessions in the West Indies which she could conquer; and France, in her turn, guarantied the absolute independence of the states, and their supreme authority over every country they possessed, or might acquire during the war.

This treaty was signed on the part of France by M. Gerard; on the part of the United States by Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane, and Arthur Lee. On the 20th of March, the American commissioners were received at the court of France, as the representatives of a sister nation; an event which was considered in Europe, at that time, as the most important which had occurred in the annals of America, since its first discovery by Columbus.

72. Battle of Monmouth, or Freehold.

At the opening of the campaign in 1778, General Howe went to England, and left the command to Sir Henry Clinton. In June, the British army left Philadelphia, and marched towards Staten Island. In their march they were annoyed by the Americans; and on the 28th of June, a division of the army, under General • Williams' History of the Revolution.

Lee, was ordered, if possible, to bring them to an engagement. Soon after the British had left the heights of Freehold, General Lee was on the same ground, and followed them into the plain. Whilst he was advancing to reconnoitre the enemy in person, Sir Henry Clinton marched back his whole rear division to attack the Americans. While Lee made a feint of retreating, in order to draw the British after him, one of his officers, Gen. Scott, who had under him the greater part of General Lee's force, misunderstood his orders, and actually retreated. This obliged Lee to follow, until he could overtake him, the army hanging upon his rear. In this situation he was met by General Washington, who, riding up to General Lee, addressed him in terms that implied censure. Lee answered with warmth and disrespectful language. General Washington led the troops in person, and a smart action took place, in which both parties claimed the victory, but the advantage was clearly on the side of the Americans. The loss in killed and wounded amounted to three or four hundred, on each side; but the British left the field of battle in the night, and pursued their retreat. This battle lasted through the whole of one of the warmest days of summer, the mercury being above ninety degrees by Fahrenheit's scale. Many of the soldiers died on the spot, by heat, fatigue, or drinking cold water. General Lee was tried by a court martial for disobedience, and his command suspended for one year.

73. Taking of Savannah and Charleston.

In 1778, Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, an officer of courage and ability, embarked on the 27th of November from New York for Savannah, with about two thousand men, under the convoy of some ships of war, commanded by Commodore Hyde Parker; and in about three weeks landed near the mouth of Savannah river. From the landing place, a narrow causeway of six

hundred yards in length, with a ditch on each side, led through a swamp. At this causeway a small party was posted, under Captain Smith, to impede the passage of the British; but it was almost instantly dispersed. Gen. Howe, the American officer, to whom the defence of Georgia was committed, had taken his station on the main road, and posted his little army, consisting of about six hundred continentals and a few hundred militia, between the landing place and the town of Savannah, with the river on his left, and a morass in front. While Col. Campbell was making arrangements to dislodge his adversaries, he received intelligence from a negro, of a private path, on the right of the Americans, through which his troops might march unobserved; and Sir James Baird, with his light infantry, was directed to avail himself of this path in order to turn their right wing, and attack their rear. As soon as it was judged that he had cleared his passage, the British in front of the Americans, were directed to advance and engage. General Howe, finding himself attacked both in front and rear, ordered an immediate retreat. The British pursued, and their victory was entire. Upwards of one hundred of the Americans were killed; and thirty-eight officers, four hundred and fifteen privates, the town and fort of Savannah, forty-eight pieces of cannon, twentythree mortars, the fort, with its ammunition and stores, the shipping in the river, and a large quantity of provisions, were in a few hours in possession of the conquerors. The whole loss of the British during the day, amounted to no more than seven killed and nineteen wounded.*

Sir Henry Clinton, finding it more easy to make an impression on the southern states, which were less populous than the northern, and being a level country, rendered the transportation of artillery less difficult, determined to make them the seat of war. Agreeable to this resolution, he sailed from New York with a large force, in the severe winter of 1779-80; and, after a tempestuous passage, in which he lost some of his transports,

Holmes' Annals.