ravaging the frontiers, General Sullivan was sent in the summer of 1779, with a strong force, to destroy their towns. He entered the country of the Six Nations, destroyed forty villages, with all the corn and their fruit trees, and returned with little loss. In this summer the British troops evacuated Rhode Island, and the French fleet, after the repulse at Savannah, returned to the West Indies. The court of Spain acknowledged the independence of the United States, and sent a force which took possession of Florida, by the surrender of a British garrison. The British troops held Savannah, and the Americans under General Lincoln, retired to Charleston. Thus ended the campaign of 1779. 506. Taking of Charleston. 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, readered 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, arrived at Savannah the latter part of January. From Savannah the army proceeded to Charleston, and in April laid siege to that city. The enemy made regular approaches, and finally being prepared to storm the town, General Lincoln was compelled to capitulate. About two thousand five hundred men, besides the militia and inhabitants, became prisoners, and all the cannon and military stores. 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 defenseless, returned to their allegiance, and the British commander represented the state as subdued. 507. War in the Southern States. No sooner was Charleston in the hands of the enemy, than dispositions were made to secure obedience in the interior country. For this purpose, a considerable force was sent to Camden, where the British commander, Lord Rawdon, col lected his stores, and took up his quarters. Many severe skirmishes took place between small parties. Colonel Tarleton, an active partisan, commanding a body of British cavalry, defeated Colonel Buford, and put most of his men to the sword. Colonel Sumpter, of Carolina, collected a small band of men, and bravely attacked small parties of the enemy, thus reviving the drooping spirits of his countrymen. General Gates was sent to replace General Lincoln in the chief command, and troops were collected to oppose the progress of the British forces. 508. Battle at Camden. Lord Cornwallis, hearing that General Gates was approaching Camden, repaired to that place to re-enforce Lord Rawdon. The two armies met on the 16th of August, and a severe action ensued. The American militia fled at the first fire, and could not be rallied; the regular American troops fought with great bravery, but were at last overcome, and retreated, leaving their artillery, wagons, and two thousand stands of arms. The loss of the Americans was seven or eight hundred men, among whom was the Baron de Kalb, a Prussian, and the second officer in command. The British loss was three or four hundred The next day Col. Tarleton was detached to attack General Sumpter, who lay at Fishing Creek, with a considerable body of troops. Such was the cele rity of Tarleton's movements, that he surprised General Sumpter, cut off his men from their arms, routed, killed, and dispersed the whole party. General Gates, with the feeble remains of his army, retreated to Hillsborough, in North Carolina. men. 509. Condition of the Carolinas, and the excursion to Springfield. During the war in the southern states, the inhabitants were in a condition of extreme distress. The patriots were proscribed, and their estates sequestered by the British commander. The country was overrun, and exhausted of provisions: and inveterate hostilities were carried on between neighbors and former friends who had espoused different sides of the dispute. A large party of royalists, headed by Major Ferguson and encamped on the confines of North Caro 234 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES lina, were attacked, and most of them slain or taken prisoners by a band of patriotic volunteers. Lord Cornwallis, by the sickness of his troops, and the severe loss of men at Camden, was obliged to remain inactive. Gen. Sumpter collected a body of volunteers, and continued to harass the enemy and intercept their convoys. During these operations in Carolina, a body of five thousand troops, under a Hessian general, passed into NewJersey, burnt a number of houses at Connecticut Farms, and the Presbyterian church. In this excursion, the wife of Mr. Caldwell, a respectable clergyman, was shot as she sat with a child in her arms, in her own house. The enemy advanced to Springfield, a considerable part of which they burnt, but they met with such severe resistance from a small force under General Green, that they returned to New York. 510. Finances of the United States. There being no constitutional government when the war began, and. no power to tax the confederated colonies, the Congress adopted the expedient of defraying the expenses of the war, by means of bills of credit. One emission after another was ushered into circulation, and none of it recalled by taxes, till such a quantity was emitted that its value depreciated to one fortieth part, and ultimately to one hundredth part of its nominal value; that is, it required one hundred dollars in paper, to purchase one dollar in specie. With this paper was the army paid. The soldiers had long been discontented, thus to lose their wages while serving their country; and in 1780, their murmurs ripened into opened mutiny. But the punishment of the ringleaders, and the expostulations of the officers, prevailed to bring them back to their duty. 511. Arrival of a French squadron. In July, 1780, arrived at Newport, a French fleet under Monsieur de Ternay, consisting of seven ships of the line, with frigates, and six thousand land forces commanded by General Rochambeau. The troops were landed, and the fortifications made strong. American councils and arms; the army was re-enforced, This gave new life to the and dispositions made to strike an effectual blow. But suddenly the French fleet left the harbor and returned to France, without giving the least notice to General Washington; so that all hope of naval assistance vanished. The land forces remained and co-operated in the final reduction of the British forces in America; but General Washington was extremely angry and disappointed at the conduct of the French commander. 512. Arnold's Treachery. During these affairs, a plot of immense danger was happily discovered. General Arnold, after his wounds had in a manner disabled him, was appointed to a command in Philadelphia; where his oppressive and overbearing measures had provoked a severe inquiry into his conduct. A committee appointed by Congress to examine his accounts, had rejected many of them as unjust; and his severe invectives, on the occasion, and the charges against him, had subjected him to a trial by court martial, by which he was sentenced to be reprimanded. By these proceedings, Arnold was greatly exasperated, and he determined on revenge. General Washington still valued him for his bravery and his former military services, and intrusted him with the chief command at the important post at West Point. He took that opportunity to carry on a negotiation with the British commander in New York, for the surrender of the post into the hands of the enemy. 513. Detection of the Plot. For the purpose of concerting measures, Major Andre, aid-de-camp of Gen. Clinton, had an interview with Arnold at a Mr. Smith's, below West Point, and, contrary to his intention, was conducted within an American Post. Not being able to return by water, he changed his dress, received a pass from Arnold under the name of Anderson, and attempted to return to New-York by land. He had passed all the outposts of the American army, when riding along the road in Tarrytown, he was stopped by three militiamen, who were on a scouting party. Major Andre, alarmed for his safety, offered his watch and a purse of gold, for permission to proceed, but the men refused the bribe, and seized him. The papers found in his boot evidenced his guilt, and he was condemned and executed. Every effort was made by the British commander in New-York to obtain his re .ease; but in vain. His life was forfeited by the laws of war. His fortitude and amiable deportment, however, endeared him to the officers of the American army, who regretted the necessity of his fate. 514. General Arnold's escape. The news of the seizure of Andre, soon reached the ears of General Arnold, who, leaving his family and effects, immediately fled and went on board the Vulture, a sloop of war, which the British commander had stationed near the American lines, for the purpose of carrying on the negotiation. General Washington arrived in camp from Connecticut, just after Arnold had made his escape; and found the affairs of the garrison in disorder. He received a letter from Arnold, requesting that his wife might be treated with respect, and suffered to join him, or return to Philadelphia, and also that his baggage might be sent to him; which requests were granted. Arnold received the reward of his treason, and the commission of brigadier-general in the British army. He then issued a paper explaining the motives of his conduct, and had the impudence to publish an address to the American army inviting officers and soldiers |