With the commencement of the year all parties in the South prepared for war. On the 1st of January, Lord Cornwallis left his camp at Winnsborough, intending to advance into North Carolina and interpose between Greene and Morgan, who were now actively on the alert, and against the latter of whom Tarleton had been despatched, with orders to “push him to the utmost.” Greene, at the head of 1,000 men, was encamped at the confluence of Hick’s Creek with the Peedee, while Morgan, with the same number, had been sent westward by him to guard the passes of the Pacolet river. On Tarleton’s approach Morgan retreated; Tarleton crossed the river, and the pursuit began. The situation of Morgan was perilous, the enemy was behind him, the Broad River before him, to cross which was impossible. But Morgan, the stout quondam wrestler and teamsman, was not easily daunted; on his right lay a hilly district which might afford him protection; choosing, therefore, his ground hastily, he drew up his men in order of battle, at a place called the Cowpens, about three miles south of the boundary of South Carolina. The forces were about equal. Tarleton was confident of victory; Morgan also intended that the day should be his; about half of his troops, however, were South Carolina militia, under General Pickens, new to war, and therefore little to be relied upon. These he placed in the van, while the continentals, on whom he could depend, were posted in an open wood, and the cavalry on a slope in the rear. As he expected, the militia gave way immediately before the impetuous attack of Tarleton; the British troops shouted for victory, and rushed forward in pursuit, but then the real struggle of the fight commenced. The continentals, too, had retrograded for a moment before the rapid advance of the British, who, mistaking this for retreat, rushed forward in some confusion, and the next moment a deadly fire from the Americans, who had suddenly faced about, turned the British pursuit into flight; and while these rapid movements had been taking place, the American cavalry coming up decided the fortune of the day. The ground was in an instant, as it were, covered with killed and wounded. Tarleton’s whole force was completely routed. The British lost 400 in killed and wounded, while 500 prisoners, with a large quantity of baggage, and 100 dragoon horses, fell into the hands of the Americans, whose loss was less than eighty men.

Immediately on the news of this unexpected disaster, Lord Cornwallis, then on the left bank of the Broad River, despatched a part of his army, disencumbered of baggage, in the hope of intercepting Morgan before he could pass that river, and recovering, at least, the prisoners; but Morgan, ever active, and aware of his probable danger, pushed on without loss of time for the fords of the river, which he was fortunately able to cross two hours before the van of the enemy appeared on the opposite bank, and by that time a sudden rise of the river had rendered it impassable.

Disappointed, therefore, in this design, and knowing that the loss of the light troops could only be remedied by the general activity of the whole army, Lord Cornwallis spent two days in burning all superfluous baggage and stores, himself setting the example by destroying every unnecessary article or luxury which belonged to himself. Upon this principle all the wagons, excepting those loaded with hospital stores, salt, or ammunition, and four empty ones reserved for the sick or wounded, were destroyed; all casks of spirituous liquors or wine were staved, and the only supply of flour they could depend upon was the pittance they might obtain and carry along with them.

The heavy rains which had been so serviceable to Morgan in preventing the further progress of the enemy continued for two days, and all the fords for forty miles were not only impassible from the accession of the waters, but vigilantly guarded by American detachments; and Greene himself, on receiving intelligence of the battle of the Cowpens, hastened forward from the Peedee, and assumed in person the command of Morgan’s division, being now desirous of keeping the enemy on the other side of the river until the whole force arrived.

On the first falling of the water, Lord Cornwallis, who had in the meantime come up, detached a party of the army to attack a private ford which was held by 300 Americans, and of which they succeeded in forcing a passage. Again the American army retreated, and again the British were in pursuit, and a second time came very close upon their rear as they were about to cross the Yadkin, as the Peedee is called in its upper course. Again the American army crossed safely, and only a small portion of their baggage remained on the other side, when the British came in sight, and a smart skirmish took place between the advance and rear guards. But again the river rose, and the pursuers were unable to cross. The hand of Providence seemed extended as of old to open for his people a path through the waters, which he closed again to their enemies. So it appeared to the Americans safe on the other side, and so it was regarded throughout the country.

From the Yadkin, Greene proceeded to Guildford Court-house, having effected a junction with his main army, which, under General Huger, had advanced up the left bank of the river, and continued his flight, still vigorously pursued by Cornwallis, who was anxious to prevent his entering Virginia, whence alone supplies and recruits could be expected. It was now for the third time a trial of speed between the two armies, and for the third time also the British reached the banks of the river Dan, an upper branch of the Roanoke, just as the American rear were safely across. Here Cornwallis, mortified at such repeated disappointments after the extraordinary efforts which he had made, gave up the pursuit and turned slowly towards the South. It was well that he did so, for the American army needed repose; the march of the last day had been forty miles; the shoes were worn from the soldiers’ feet, many were quite barefoot, and this long and hasty flight was tracked with their blood.^[40]

The American army thus driven out of North Carolina, Lord Cornwallis, after giving his troops a day’s rest, led them slowly back to Hillsborough, the seat of the state government, where he erected the royal standard, and issued a proclamation inviting all loyal subjects to repair to him and aid in restoring the constitutional government to the colony. We have mentioned the sufferings of the American army—those of the British were not much less. “The wants and distresses of the English troops,” says the British chronicler of these events, “were only equalled by their toils and fatigues. They traversed a country which was alternately a wild and inhospitable forest, or inhabited by a people who were, at least, highly adverse, however they might venture or not to be hostile. When to these are added all the possible incommodities incident to bad roads, heavy rains, want of cover, and the continual wading through numberless deep creeks and rivers in the depth of winter, some idea may be formed of their sufferings.”

While these events were going forward, and the state authorities having fled from Hillsborough to Newbern, a British detachment from Wilmington marched to that place, entered it without impediment, burned the shipping, and having destroyed all the salt, sugar, rum, and stores of every kind, returned to Wilmington.

In response to the proclamation of Lord Cornwallis, the Tories of North Carolina began to embody themselves, and on February 21st, Tarleton was despatched into the district between the Haw and Deep rivers to assist in their organisation. In the meantime, General Greene, reinforced by a body of Virginians, re-entered North Carolina, and hearing of this movement among the Tories, sent Colonel Lee, with a body of militia, to prevent it. On his way Lee encountered the newly-embodied loyalist troops, with whom Tarleton had not yet come up, and they mistaking these troops for those of their friends, eagerly made known their loyalty by shouts of “Long live the King!” when being at once surrounded by the Americans, the greater number were cut to pieces, and the remainder made prisoners.

Greene, though still receiving reinforcements, did not consider himself as yet strong enough to encounter an engagement; and in order to avoid surprise, took up a new position every night, never informing any person the day before where his next encampment would be. Indeed, the strict reserve which this commander maintained regarding his plans caused the utmost embarrassment to the British throughout the whole southern campaign. The prisoners taken on any occasion from the American army would give no account of the numbers and disposition of the troops, nor yet of the ground where they lay. Lord Cornwallis complains repeatedly, that “either from stupidity or design the country people would give him no information, or if they did, it was unintelligible or contradictory; the little reliance to be placed on any information which was obtained being among the distinguishing features of the war in this province.”

Lord Cornwallis moved from point to point, anxious to cover the country and afford the loyalists encouragement and opportunity to join his army, and at the same time to keep open the communication of Cape Fear River, which the “grievous distresses” of his army rendered necessary. At length, towards the middle of March, Greene’s forces, now amounting to about 4,500 men, and being at a great distance from his supplies, and in the midst of a country where his friends were few and wavering, he, too, sought a battle in his turn. For many days Cornwallis had been harassed by uncertain rumours as to the course of his enemy, when, on the 15th, he received the authentic intelligence that Greene had reached Guilford, twelve miles only from the British camp, and that a battle might be expected.

The country in which the two armies were to meet was a wilderness covered with tall wood, and a thick undergrowth of shrubs, with here and there a clearing. Greene, having left his baggage seventeen miles in the rear, posted his men on advantageous ground on a wooded hill with an open field in front, about two miles from Guilford Court-house. The North Carolina militia, many of them compelled to serve as a punishment for their suspected loyalty, were posted in the front. At the first charge these militia fled, throwing away their arms and knapsacks; the Virginian militia, however, stood firm and fought resolutely for a considerable time, when, being driven back, the action became general; but owing to the nature of the ground the order of battle was completely broken, and consisted rather of a series of irregular, hard-fought and bloody skirmishes. At length the Americans were driven back, and their artillery captured, when Greene ordered a retreat, which was made without confusion, and the same night he reached the Iron Works of Troublesome Creek, at eighteen miles’ distance.

The loss on both sides was said to be between 400 and 500; and as the fighting had extended over a great space of ground, the wounded were scattered as widely. “There were neither houses nor tents to receive them,” says Hildreth. “The night that followed the battle was dark and tempestuous; horrid shrieks resounded through the woods; many expired before the morning.”

The Americans were routed, but the British were in no condition to follow them; the troops in the first instance were worn down by the excessive fatigues of a long march; their wounded, which lay so wide and so ill provided for, required attention; and besides, such was the desolate state of the country, that during the two days they remained here they had no bread, nor was forage to be obtained nearer than nine miles; and though the victory was gained in a part of the country which boasted of its loyalty, very little assistance was given, nor did any great number join the royal cause. Leaving, therefore, seventy of the worst wounded behind him, in a Quakers’ meeting-house converted into a hospital, Lord Cornwallis retired by easy marches to Cross Creek, now Fayetteville, again issuing a proclamation, and using all means in his power to encourage and call forth the loyalists of the district, but with little effect. He was disappointed also in the store of provisions which he expected to have found here; the absolute scarcity compelled him still to advance; and after a toilsome circuitous march of 200 miles, the victors, who according to their own phrase, “had gained so much glory at Guilford,” reached Wilmington worn out and famished, and thankful to find at length shelter and rest.

Though Greene did not fare much better as regarded the subsistence of his army, no sooner had Cornwallis retired towards Wilmington, than he determined to march into South Carolina, now held in subjection by Lord Rawdon and a small force. Early in April, therefore, Greene was advancing through that barren region in which Gates and his troops had suffered so much eleven months before, towards Camden, where Lord Rawdon lay with about 900 loyalists. Despatching Colonel Lee with his cavalry to join Marion and other partisan corps immediately on his entering South Carolina, Greene took up his position at Hobkirk’s Mill, about two miles from Camden, and on April 25th a battle took place, the victory at first strongly inclining to the Americans. A Maryland regiment, however, falling into confusion, a rout ensued, but the loss was about equal on both sides; and in consequence of the American artillery having been run down a steep hill among some brushwood, it was overlooked by the British troops in their pursuit, and the American cavalry carried it safely away before their return. Greene retired the same night to Rugeley’s Mills, about twelve miles off, where he encamped.

The news of Greene’s bold advance into South Carolina reached Lord Cornwallis at Wilmington, too late for him to march to the succour of Lord Rawdon; he, therefore, imitating the American general’s policy, marched at once into Virginia, to join the British force under Arnold and Philips, which was committing great ravages there.

Although the British had defeated the Americans in the last engagement, this victory no more than the former produced any favourable results to the British cause. Already before this battle was fought, Fort Watson, on the Santee River, and one of the lines of communication between Camden and Charleston, had surrendered to Lee and Marion; the whole country was in arms, and Colonel Watson on his way to reinforce Lord Rawdon, was in consequence obliged to pass and repass the Santee, going down almost to the very mouth of the river for the first, and up to the confluence of that river with the Congaree for the second, before he was able to reach Camden, where he had long been anxiously expected. But with his arrival came the intelligence that Fort Motte, situated at the junction of the Congaree and Santee, was invested by Lee and Marion. This being the case, Lord Rawdon, now reinforced, withdrew to Nelson’s Ferry, sixty miles from Camden, having first made a vain attempt to draw General Greene into another engagement. On the 9th of May he abandoned Camden, having destroyed all the works, and leaving behind him such sick and wounded as were unable to bear the removal, and on the 13th arrived at Nelson’s Ferry, the unwelcome news having reached him by the way of the surrender of Fort Motte. This was a heavy loss, for at this place were deposited all the provisions that were intended for the supply of Camden. More bad news followed: Sumter took another strong post at Orangeburg, and Fort Granby surrendered to Lee, who was then sent against Augusta. Scarcely had these tidings been received than Colonel Balfour, the commandant of Charleston, made his appearance, full of apprehensions regarding the state of affairs there, and the alarming turn which they had taken in so short a time. So little, indeed, had this been expected, that the whole fortifications of the town had been removed, and the new were not yet completed; and so strong was his belief in the general disaffection of the people, that if any misfortune happened to Lord Rawdon’s forces, the loss of the province and capital might be anticipated. As a proof of the disaffection of the country, it is related by the English that for five days after Lord Rawdon had crossed the Santee, not a single person of any sort whatever came near his camp, nor could the spies and emissaries which he sent out in all directions procure for him any true intelligence as to the situation of the enemy. The enemy, however, was busy all this time, and as we have said, one strong post after another was taken. Alarmed at these ominous proceedings, Lord Rawdon, accompanied by a great number of Tory families, retreated from Nelson’s Ferry to Monk’s Corner, still nearer to Charleston, that he might protect the town and the fertile country which intervened.

The next tidings were that General Greene was investing Ninety-Six, the principal British stronghold in the upper country, which the garrison of American loyalists was very bravely defending. On this, being fortunately just then reinforced by three regiments from Ireland, Lord Rawdon hastened to its relief. It was then the middle of summer, and marching with as much speed as the excessive heat would allow, he had the mortification of learning by the way, that Augusta had surrendered, and that the forces employed in its reduction had now joined Greene.

The Americans were attempting an unsuccessful assault on Ninety-Six, when the unwelcome tidings reached them, that Lord Rawdon, strongly reinforced, was advancing to the relief of that fort. The utmost bravery had been displayed in the attack, the ditch was full of killed and wounded, when Greene determined to abandon the attempt, and not even to face the new foe. He had already, it appeared, anticipated such an event, by sending off all the heavy baggage across the Saluda, whither he now also followed. The British pursued for forty miles, as far as the fords of Ennoree, but finding then that the Americans had crossed safely two hours before, and the troops being spent with fatigue and the excessive heat, Lord Rawdon slowly returned to Ninety-Six, which was then abandoned, and the British army, again accompanied by great numbers of terrified loyalists, retired to Orangeburg, where leaving the greater part of his forces to aid the loyalists in embodying themselves, he marched with the remainder to Congaree, closely pursued by Greene, who hoped to be able to surround him while he waited for promised reinforcements. It happened, however, that Lord Rawdon arrived at Congaree two days sooner than was expected, and finding the enemy so near, and suspecting their intentions, he made a rapid move again towards Orangeburg, and Greene, now joined by Marion, having altered his intentions, retired as suddenly to the hills of the Santee, to refresh his troops and wait for reinforcements.

The summer in the South closed the campaign. The sufferings of the British in this climate were excessive. During renewed forced marches, under the rage of a burning sun, they were frequently, when sinking under the extremest fatigue, not only destitute of every comfort, but almost of every necessary. They were for the greater part destitute of bread, and the country afforded no vegetables as a substitute—salt too failed them, at length, and their only resource was water and the wild cattle found in the woods. About fifty men in this last expedition sunk under the rigour of their exertions and died of sheer fatigue. Nor did the Americans suffer less. Twice they had been defeated in two pitched battles; yet upon the whole the campaign terminated in their favour. The greater part of Georgia was recovered, as were also the two Carolinas; the British being now limited to the district between the Santee and the Lower Savannah.

Although operations between the main armies were suspended during the hot and unhealthy season, the partisan corps on both sides were actively employed. This it was which added such additional horrors to the war in the South. Houses were plundered and burned and their inhabitants murdered, women and children seldom being spared. One great object of plunder was slaves. Sumter paid his men in this manner. The number of slaves carried off during the war is estimated at 30,000. Lord Dunmore, at the commencement of the struggle, armed the slaves against their masters; and had the British persevered in this plan, and, treating the slaves as men and king’s subjects, converted them into soldiers, the conquest of the Southern States would have been almost inevitable.^[41]

Lord Rawdon soon after returned to England, in consequence of ill health, and the command devolved upon Colonel Stuart. Before his departure from Charleston, however, a tragical circumstance occurred there which greatly irritated the Carolinians and threw great odium upon the British. This was the execution of Colonel Isaac Hayne, a firm patriot, who, at the commencement of the war, had entered with ardour into the republican struggle and assisted in person at the defence of Charleston. On the surrender of the city, having been offered British protection or rigorous confinement, he was weak enough to choose the former, it being urged in his excuse, that his wife and children were ill of the small-pox, and this was his only alternative to avoid being separated from them. When the British were driven from his neighbourhood, he took up arms against them, and in this condition was taken prisoner and brought before Colonel Balfour, the commandant of the place, who condemned him to death. Every effort was used to save his life; General Greene avowed his determination to retaliate; the loyalists, with the governor at their head, and the most distinguished women of Charleston, begged for his life, as did his little children, dressed in deep mourning. But in vain; Lord Rawdon reluctantly gave his consent to the execution, which accordingly took place, causing a universal execration.

While these events had been occurring in the Carolinas, General Phillips and the traitor Arnold were carrying everything before them in Virginia, and successively defeated such bodies of militia as could be suddenly brought into the field, while their best troops were fighting the battles of others in the Carolinas^[42]. After having fortified Portsmouth at the mouth of the James River, and thus secured a place of retreat, Phillips advanced up that river, which, with its numerous dependent branches and creeks, laid the whole central country on either hand open to him. On the Appomatox, a confluent of James River, he took Petersburg, where he destroyed 4,000 hogsheads of tobacco, collected there for shipment to France. Besides this, shipping and vessels of all kinds, on the stocks and in the river, public buildings and warehouses, with their contents of timber, provisions and all other stores, were destroyed; after which, Arnold advancing up the river where a considerable fleet of vessels had taken refuge, the greater number were burned or scuttled to prevent their falling into his hands. From Petersburg the enemy proceeded to Manchester, just opposite Richmond, where they destroyed nearly 2,000 hogsheads of tobacco; La Fayette, who had just arrived there with a detachment of New England troops, and to whose presence Richmond owed its temporary safety, having the mortification of witnessing the conflagration from the opposite shore. Havoc and devastation marked the career of these ruthless invaders, who, after collecting an immense booty in tobacco and slaves, and having destroyed ships, warehouses and mills, everything, in short, which came in their way and was of value to the inhabitants, returned to their shipping and fell down the river towards its mouth.

As regarded the force collected for the defence of Virginia, it was totally inadequate to the necessities of the province. The entire force of the Virginia line now under arms did not exceed 1,000 men, and were at this time absent serving under Greene; about 500 recruits, unarmed and unclothed, whom Steuben was vainly endeavouring to equip, were at Richmond. The only effective force were drafts of the New England regiments, under La Fayette, who, little inclined to serve in this unhealthy climate, were only kept together by his threats to shoot deserters, and by winning their fidelity through their gratitude, inasmuch as, on his own credit, he supplied them with hats, shoes and blankets, of which they were in grievous need.

We have already said that Lord Cornwallis, informed of the unfortunate turn which the British affairs had taken in South Carolina, resolved, although his own force was reduced, to hardly more than 1,000 effective men, to march to Virginia and effect a junction with General Phillips. Again the British commander complained bitterly of the sufferings and destitute condition of his troops. Neither cavalry nor infantry, he said, were fit to move, yet they must commence on the morrow a march of several hundred miles, through a country chiefly hostile, frequently desert, which did not afford one active or useful friend, where no intelligence was to be obtained, and where no communication could be established.^[43]

The march, however, was made through all these difficulties and impediments; and on the 25th of April, about a month after he had set out, he reached Petersburg, where he found the troops of General Phillips, who himself had died only a few days previously, and shortly after was reinforced also by four regiments sent from New York. On the approach of Cornwallis, La Fayette, having removed the most valuable stores from Richmond, abandoned that town and retired towards the north-west, to form a junction with General Wayne, who was now on his march with 1,000 of the Pennsylvanian levies to join the southern army. The assembly of Virginia, on the abandonment of Richmond, adjourned to Charlottesville, and increased powers, suitable to the emergency, were conferred upon Governor Jefferson. The prisoners under Burgoyne’s capitulation, who had been living for the last two years in this neighbourhood in great comfort, in their huts amid their gardens, were now also suddenly removed across the mountains to Winchester.

In this central province all the scattered operations of active hostility converged, as it were, to a point. Cornwallis pursued La Fayette for thirty miles, in hopes of preventing his union with General Wayne, but being disappointed in this object, overran the country for sixty miles on the borders of the James River, and destroyed a vast amount of both public and private property; among the former the Virginian laboratory and armoury, in which a large quantity of arms, ammunition, and other stores, greatly needed by the Virginian army, were consumed. Whilst this devastation was going on in one direction, Tarleton was sent to make a dash at the Virginian assembly at Charlottesville and to carry off Jefferson. On his way he met twelve wagons laden with clothing and stores for Greene’s army, all of which he destroyed; he succeeded also in capturing seven members of assembly, but Jefferson, who had been warned of his danger, escaped.^[44]

Lord Cornwallis, on the return of the detachments, having received orders from Sir Henry Clinton, who was apprehensive that Washington was about to attack New York with the aid of the French fleet, removed his army, towards the end of June, from Richmond to Williamsburg, considerably nearer the sea, and about midway between the great rivers James and York, destroying, as was customary, whatever property lay in his way. La Fayette having now joined Wayne, and being still further strengthened by Baron Steuben’s troops, as well as by such militia as Virginia herself was able to raise, was in so powerful a condition as to render any movements of the British a matter of great caution; nevertheless Cornwallis was active, and his cavalry, mounted on the very horses which the planters had refused to Greene, and which the British had now seized, scoured the country, carrying terror into all quarters.

From Williamsburg, Cornwallis proceeded to Portsmouth, which it was strongly recommended, both in England and by Sir Henry Clinton, should be occupied as a permanent position convenient for naval operations, and for such warfare as, while it was defensive on their part, would be extremely distressing to Virginia. On his way thither, and when just about to cross James River, Cornwallis was attacked, in the afternoon of July 6th, by La Fayette, who erroneously supposed that a portion of the army had crossed the river. General Wayne, who led the advance, seeing on the contrary the whole British army drawn out against him, made an impetuous attack and then suddenly retreated, leaving his cannon behind. The darkness of evening coming on, and Cornwallis suspecting an ambuscade, no pursuit followed, and the British crossed the river in the night.

Arrived at Portsmouth, Cornwallis, on personal examination, not deeming it suitable for the intended purpose, and conceiving that nothing less than offensive war would be effectual in Virginia, selected, in preference, the two posts of York Town, on the river of that name, and Gloucester Point on the opposite side, which he immediately commenced fortifying, his force amounting in the whole to about 7,000.

“The Southern States were very anxious for the personal presence of Washington, but he believed that the South might be most effectually served by striking some decisive blow at New York. The means, however, for such a blow were not so obvious. The superiority of the British naval force still kept the French army idle in Rhode Island. The Southern States, invaded and overrun, were hardly able to defend themselves; while the Eastern States, hitherto so sturdy, seemed now almost exhausted. Recruits for the army came in very slowly. The New York regiments had been detached to defend that state from Tory and Indian invasion. The Pennsylvanian line, and even some drafts from the eastern regiments, had been sent to Virginia. Late in the spring the entire force under Washington’s immediate command fell short of 7,000 men, not equal to the number of loyalists employed at that time in the British service. It was with the utmost difficulty that even this small force was fed. To obtain a supply of provisions, Washington was obliged to send Heath to the Eastern States with a circular-letter and pressing representations.”^[45]

Washington’s letter obtained some supplies from New England, and Pennsylvania consented to furnish more, on the credit of taxes just imposed; but impressment, after all, continued to be the principal means for feeding the army, and the only money which could be obtained was by selling bills on Benjamin Franklin, which it was hoped the French court would enable him to meet.

About the same time that Cornwallis entered Virginia, Washington received the welcome intelligence from the French admiral, the Count de Grasse, in the West Indies, that he was about to proceed with a powerful fleet to the American coast, on which the French army, which, had lain idle for eleven months in Rhode Island, marched to join Washington; who, breaking up his camp in July, passed the North River to meet them. Their junction took place at the White Plains, on the New England side of the Hudson, and the combined armies encamped at Philipsburg, within twelve miles of King’s Bridge, sufficiently near New York to excite great alarm. The apparent intention of these great movements was an attack on New York, which became confirmed by an intercepted letter from Washington to the French commander, Rochambeau, in which such an attack was spoken of in undisguised terms. But the intentions of Washington, whatever they might have been in the commencement, soon became very different; nevertheless, the object now was to confirm Sir Henry Clinton’s suspicion, that time might be given to carry out the still more formidable plan, of which no idea appeared to exist in the mind of the British commander. It was under the apprehension of this combined attack that Sir Henry Clinton recalled a considerable part of the troops under Lord Cornwallis, from Virginia, immediately afterwards countermanding his recall, being himself reinforced by the arrival of 3,000 Hessians; the same apprehension also rendered it desirable to occupy some strong position in Virginia.

Now, therefore, in the month of July, New York was kept in a state of perpetual alarm. A body of 5,000 French and American troops, on one occasion, took up a position near King’s Bridge, in the night, which they occupied for forty-eight hours, with every appearance of an intended attack. The two commanders, Washington and Rochambeau, attended by their principal officers and engineers, reconnoitered the island of New York; the report of the expected daily arrival of the Count de Grasse was sedulously propagated, and when the precise time of that admiral’s arrival at the Chesapeake was ascertained, the French troops advanced to Sandy Hook and the coasts opposite Staten Island, as if with a view of seconding the operations of the fleet. So far, indeed, was this deception carried, that ovens were erected near the mouth of the Raritan, on Sandy Hook, as if for the supply of the army.

The intention was very different. The object was to strike a blow at Cornwallis in Virginia. Orders, therefore, were sent to La Fayette to take up such a position as would cut off the retreat of the British army into North Carolina, and on August 19th, Washington crossed the river and marched directly into the Jerseys, to Trenton upon the Delaware, this very movement being considered in the first instance merely to conceal his ultimate intentions. So carefully, indeed, had Washington concealed the object he had in view, that the New England troops were ignorant of their destination, and on arriving at Philadelphia and discovering that they had a long southern march before them, showed such signs of dissatisfaction that it appeared necessary to pacify them by a small payment in specie, which could only be done by borrowing from the French military chest. Fortunately, too, at that moment Laurens had arrived from France with a supply of clothing, arms, and ammunition; so that the troops proceeded in good humour, and better clad than usual.

While Washington was preparing for his operations in the South, Greene, whose ardour was ever unabated, having profited by his temporary retirement, during the unhealthy season, among the hills of the Santee, appeared at the beginning of September once more in the field. His former successes had revived the hopes of the North Carolina Whigs, and it was now determined to make one great effort for his support. Measures were accordingly taken for keeping 2,000 militia in the field; he received a number of horses for the use of his cavalry, together with a fresh supply of arms. Three hundred horses, imported by Jefferson to prevent their falling into the hands of the British, were also sent to him from Virginia.

Thus recruited and reinforced, Greene, being joined also by the partisan corps of Marion, at the commencement of the cool season, marched up the Wateree to Camden, in South Carolina, crossed first that river, then the Congaree, and thus approached the British army, commanded by Colonel Stuart, who had succeeded Lord Rawdon, which retired before him down the Santee to Eutaw Springs, whither Greene pursued them. It was the 8th of September when the two armies, about equal in force, engaged. The British were at first driven back in great confusion, victory strongly inclining to the American side, but rallying again in a favourable post, the British repulsed their assailants with heavy loss. The battle of Eutaw Springs is memorable as being one of the bloodiest and the most valiantly-contested fields of the war, and also for being the last of any consequence at the South. The loss of the British was about 500, with 250 prisoners, that of the Americans about the same.

Both sides, Hildreth tells us, claimed the victory, but all the advantage accrued to the Americans. The British immediately retired to Monk’s Corner, and were thus restricted to the narrow tract between the rivers Ashley and Cooper. Congress, in acknowledgment of Greene’s service in this battle, voted him their thanks and presented him with a conquered standard and a medal struck for the occasion. He, however, was too much exhausted to continue active operations. His troops were barefoot and half naked; he had no hospital stores, hardly even salt, and his ammunition was very low. He retired again to the hills of the Santee.