266 1775 FOREIGN MERCENARIES. Without Ch. zo. acknowledged that he had sanctioned the somewhat questionable measure of admitting Irish Catholics into the ranks of the army. the aid of foreign mercenaries, then, it would have been hardly possible to provide for the necessary demands of the war; so well informed were the foreign dealers upon this point, that they raised their demands to an exorbitant pitch; and the Government was forced to submit to the hard terms which they imposed. A bounty of nearly seven pounds ten shillings per man, two months" pay in advance, and an annual subsidy of 64,500 crowns, equivalent to £15,519 sterling, while the troops were in service and in the pay of England, with double that amount for two years after their engagement should expire, were the terms exacted by the Duke of Brunswick. Bargains somewhat less rigorous were concluded with the other princes. Such treaties were disgraceful only to one of the high contracting parties; and affected the honour of the other no more than those engagements with spies and traitors, which are sometimes contracted for the ends of public justice and the common weal. Congress issue Marque The Government having once determined to suppress the American insurrection, there could be no doubt that the time had arrived for the employment of all measures which were justifiable by the supreme necessity of war. The German * Parliamentary History, vol. xviii. p. 871. LETTERS OF MARQUE ISSUED. treaties were not concluded until February, 1776. Three months before that date, the Congress had cast aside the flimsy pretence of confining their resistance to the Ministerial army, as they affected to style the King's troops, and had issued letters of marque, and made provision for the erection of prize-courts acts, which by the law of nations necessarily implied the assertion of sovereign power. The long controversy between the Colonies and Great Britain had at length arrived at an intelligible issue; and that issue was to be decided by the sword. The history of the American Revolution is not included in the scope and design of this work. That history, whether forming a complete narrative in itself, or as part of the history of the United States, is related in every variety of detail by native as well as English writers. It will be sufficient for me, therefore, to trace a general outline of events, upon which no English writer can dwell with pride or satisfaction. 267 Ch.20. 1775 paign. The first campaign had redounded as much to The first camthe credit of the Americans as to that of the British army, but had closed under circumstances more favourable, in a military sense, to the latter. Washington's force, as we have seen, was reduced to ten thousand men; recruiting was as difficulty in America as in England; and the Congress had not the foreign resources of which the British 3 Remembrancer, 25th November, 1775. 268 Ch.20. 1776 Boston me naced. POSSESSION OF DORCHESTER HEIGHTS. Government had availed itself. The men, when obtained, enlisted only as militia, and accordingly quitted their standards at the time when, by training and discipline, they were becoming fit to keep the field before regular soldiers. The supply of ammunition was scanty and precarious. No military advantage had been gained; the expedition to Canada had failed; and though the lines of Massachusetts had not been attacked, Boston was still in possession of the British General, whose communications were open to the sea, and who was in a position at any moment to assume the offensive. Finding that the English army remained inactive, Washington by a daring manœuvre took possession of the heights of Dorchester, which enabled him to menace the port, as well as the town of Boston. This achievement precipitated the execution of a design which had been long meditated by the British General, with the approbation of the Home Government. After an ineffectual attempt to dislodge the Americans from the formidable position which they had taken up, Howe determined to evacuate Boston, and fix his head-quarters at New York, a place which from the facility of communication with England which it afforded, and the less hostile disposition of the inhabitants, presented a more favourable base of operations than any other spot which could be selected. The embarkation was effected without any molestation from the enemy, and on the 17th EVACUATION OF BOSTON. of March, the last British soldier quitted the shores of New England. The abandonment of Boston by the British was claimed by the Americans, and not without reason, as an important triumph of their arms; for however true that the measure had been contemplated immediately after the affair of Bunker's Hill, and was recommended by sound military policy, still the circumstances under which it was effected, gave the movement the character of a retreat. Had General Gage broken up from Boston in the preceding summer, and established his head-quarters at New York, the presence of his army might have caused an important diversion of opinion in a province already wavering in its adhesion to the policy of Congress. The letter of General Washington, announcing the evacuation of Boston, was received by Congress with great exultation. Their Address of Thanks was so framed, as to imply that the besieged town had been a conquest effected by their arms; and they ordered a gold medal to be struck in commemoration of this great event,' and presented to the victorious General.a Howe, with the whole of his army, and about a thousand inhabitants of Boston who desired to accompany him, set sail for Halifax, where he intended to wait the arrival of his reinforcements, before he attempted to take possession of New a Remembrancer, March 25, 1776. 269 Ch.20. 1776 270 Ch. 20. 1776 War in THE INSURGENTS EXPELLED FROM CANADA. York. Besides this main enterprize, he proposed to detach a portion of his army to the support of Carleton, in Canada, and to send an expedition against the southern provinces, Virginia and the Carolinas. There was no part of their military operations to which Congress attached more importance than the prosecution of the war in Canada. The British Government, on the other hand, had taken prompt measures for the relief of Quebec; the transports were despatched as early in the spring as they could enter the St. Lawrence; and no sooner had they made their appearance, than Arnold prepared to raise the siege. This able officer had remained before the city all the winter, ready to avail himself of every opportunity, and making several attempts, which were all baffled by the skill and vigilance of Carleton. With his small force, reduced by privation and disease, to less than a thousand strong, Arnold was wholly unable to maintain its position, and he hastily retreated, leaving behind him all his artillery, stores and baggage. In their retreat, they attempted to force the British post at Three Rivers, between Quebec and Montreal, but they were repulsed with great loss, and their General Thomson was taken prisoner. The British were equally successful in some smaller affairs, and the invaders, defeated at all points, were finally expelled from Canada, after a campaign of five weeks. |