Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

went to England, and left the command to fi 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 divifion of the army under general Lee was ordered, if poffible, to bring them to an engagement. The order was not obeyed-general Washington arrived, and riding up to general Lee, addreffed him in terms that implied cenfure. General Lee answered with warmth. and disrespectful language. General Washington led the troops in perfon, and a fmart action took place, in which both parties claimed the victory, but the advantage was clearly on the fide of the Americans. The lofs in killed and wounded amounted to three or four hundred, on each fide; but the British left the field of battle in the night and pursued their retreat. This battle happened at Freehold, in Monmouth county, during a period of extreme heat, the mercury being above ninety degrees by Farenheit's fcale. Many of the foldiers died on the fpot by heat, fatigue, or drinking cold water. General Lee was tried by a court martial for disobedience, and his command suspended for one year.

77. Arrival of a French Fleet. A fleet from Toulon, of twelve fhips of the line and four frigates, under the command of the count d'Estaing, arrived at the entrance of the Delaware in July, but it was too late to intercept lord Howe's fleet, which had arrived at Sandyhook. The count failed and lay off the hook fome days, bur confidering it as unfafe to attack the British fhips, in the harbor, he departed for Rhode-Island. A plan was concerted to attack general Pigot with the British troops at Newport, by fea and land; and general Sullivan was detached with a confiderable force to affist in the design. A landing on Rhode-Ifland was effected by general Sulli-van; But lord Howe with the English fleet appearing off Newport, count d'Eftaing, left the fiege and failed to give him battle. A violent tempeft prevented an action, and difabled the fleets, fo that the count was obliged to

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

put into Boston to refit.

In confequence of this difafter, general Sullivan raised the fiege of Newport. A fmart action took place on his retreat, in which two or three hundred men were fain.

78. Of various Expeditions in 1778. The British army, after arriving at New-York from Philadelphia, remained inactive during the fummer, and the Americans encamped at White Plains. But in September, general Clinton 'dispatched general Grey, with a body of troops to destroy the fhipping at New-Bedford, which was a port much frequented by privateers. In this excurfion, a large number of ships, with ftores and a number of houses were burnt; and the sheep and cattle on the neighboring iflands carried away by the enemy. Another party landed on the Jerfey fhore, furprized colonel Baylor's rea giment of cavalry, while asleep, and with unequalled barbarity killed almost every man. A party of Indians and refugee royalifts headed by colonels Butler and Brandt, fell fuddenly on the small settlement at Wyoming, treach erously decoyed the guard out of the fort, under a pretence of a parley, then furrounded and destroyed the party.. Great numbers were killed after they had furrendered.

79. The taking of Savanna. In autumn, general Clinton fent colonel Campbell, with a detachment, to make an impreffion on Georgia. He arrived at Tybee late in December, and prepared to affault the works near Savanna, which were in a decayed condition, and feebly defended. General Prevoft, who commanded the British garrifon at Auguftine, was directed to co-operate in the expedition. The American force under general Howe, did not exceed eight hundred and twenty men. By way of a circuitous path, the British troops attacked the Americans in the rear, as well as front, and vanquished them, with the loss of about one hundred men killed, and nearly five hundred prifoners. The British took poffeffion of Sa-. vanna. At this time an infurrection of royalifts in North Carolina was crushed by the spirited exertions of the mili

tia.

In this year a more regular disciplin was introduced into the army, by baron Steuben, a German officer,

80. Predatory Excurfions of the British army in 1779. Early in 1779, fir George Collier, and General Matthews were detached to Virginia for the purpose of diftreffing the Americans. They landed at Portsmouth, and destroyed the shipping and valuable ftores in that vicinity, with many houses. In June a party under general Vaughan took poffeffion of an eminence on the weft fide of the Hudfon, called Stoney Point, and obliged the fmall garri-fon at a redout, called Fayette, to surrender prisoners of war. In July, a party under general Tryon invaded Connecticut, under pretext of deftroying the privateers. which invested Long-Ifland, and alfo to draw, if poffible, general Washington from his pofition at the highlands. In this expedition, the British forces landed at WestHaven, and by a circuitous march entered New-Haven, after fome oppofition, where they deftroyed a number of ftores, and committed other outrages. The next day,. they embarked, and proceeding weftward, landed and. burnt the towns of Fairfield and Norwalk, then returned to New-York.

81. The taking of Stoney Point. The British troops hav-ing fortified Stoney Point, and garrifoned it with fix hundred men, General Wayne was detached, with a body of troops to take it. Having performed a difficult march,. he commenced the attack in the depth of night, at two different points, with unloaded muíkets, depending on the bayonet alone for fuccefs. General Wayne was wounded,. but the troops under the brave colonel Meigs and other officers, advanced amidst a tremendous fire of grape fhot and musketry, removed the obstacles, and entered the works. The whole garrifon furrendered amounting to more than five hundred men-the lofs on each fide being lefs than a hundred men, killed and wounded. An attempt foon after to furprize the fortified poft at Paulus Hook, mifcarried. A ftill more important expedition, planned by Maffachusetts, in the fame feafon, against the British post at Penobscot, failed, with immenfe lofs. A body of troops landed and laid fiege to the fort, but a British naval force, under fir George Collier, appearing

at the harbor, the attempt was fruftrated. The American armed fhips, being a frigate of thirty two guns, one of twenty, one of eighteen, feveral fmaller fhips, andtwenty four tranfports, were burnt or funk without of fering any resistance to the enemy.

82. Operations in South Carolina and Georgia. Gène-ral Lincoln had been appointed to the command of the fouthern American army, and the British forces had been reinforced. In May, general Afh was defeated by the enemy, under general Prevcft, at Briar Creek, with the lofs of one hundred and fifty men killed, and about the fame number taken. Emboldened by this fuccefs, general Prevoft contemplated to take poffeffion of Charleston ; but the most strenuous efforts of the governor of the state, the militia, and the commander of the regular forces defeated the attempt, and the British troops retired to the iflands. In September, count d'Estaing arrived with his fleet from the West-Indies, and it was determined to at tack general Prevoft at Savanna. At first a regular fiege was begun, but the count, impatient of delay, urged an affault.. On the 9th of October, an attempt was made to storm the works; both Americans and Frenchmen behaved with great gallantry, but were repulfed with the lofs of more than a thousand men, among whom was count Polafki, a Polish officer in the American fervice.

83. Expedition of General Sullivan. To imprefs ter-ror on the favages, and disable them in future from ravag- ing the frontiers, general Sullivan was fent in the fummer of 1779, with a strong force, to destroy their towns. He entered the country of the fix nations, destroyed forty villages with all the corn and their fruit trees, and returned with little lofs. In this fummer, the British troops evacuated Rhode-Island, and the French fleet, after the repulfe at Savanna, returned to the Weft-Indies. The court of Spain acknowledged the independence of the United States, and fent a force which took poffeffion of Florida, by the furrender of a British garrison. The British troops held Savanna, and the Americans, under

[ocr errors]

general Lincoln, retired to Charleston. Thus ended the campaign of 1779.

84. The taking of Charleston. Sir Henry Clinton, find: ing it more easy to make an impreffion on the southern States, which were lefs populous than the northern, and being a level country, rendered the transportation, of artillery lefs difficult, determined to make them the feat of war. Agreeable to this refolution, he failed from NewYork, with a large force, in the fevere winter of 1779–80;; and after a tempestuous paffage, in which he loft some of his transports, arrived at Savanna the latter part of January. From Savanna, the army proceeded to Charleston, and in April laid fiege to that city. The enemy maderegular approaches, and finally being prepared to ftorm the town, general Lincoln was compelled to capitulate.. About two thousand five hundred men, befides the militia: and inhabitants, became prisoners, and all the cannon and military ftores. This happened on the 12th of May 1780, General Clinton left lord Cornwallis to command the troops in the southern army, and returned to New-York. Great numbers of the people in South Carolina, being left defenfeless, returned to their allegiance, and the British commander represented the state as fubdued..

85.

War in the Southern States. No fooner was Char lefton in the hands of the enemy, than difpofitions weremade to fecure obedience in the interior country. For this purpose, a confiderable force was fent to Camden, where the British commander, lord Rawdon, collected his ftores, and took up his quarters. Many fevere skirmishes took place between fmall parties. Colonel Tarleton, an active partizan, commanding a body of British cavalry, defeated colonel Buford, and put most of his men to the fword. Colonel Sumpter, of Carolina, collected a small band of men, and bravely attacked fmall parties of the enemy, thus reviving the drooping spirits of his country. men. General Gates was fent to replace general Lincoln, in the chief command, and troops were collected to oppofe the progrefs of the British forces,

« ZurückWeiter »