EXPLOITS AND MOVEMENTS.--HOWE IN THE CHESAPEAKE.
A spirited exploit to the eastward was performed during the prevalence
of adverse news from the North. General Prescott had command of the
British forces in Rhode Island. His harsh treatment of Colonel Ethan
Allen, and his haughty and arrogant conduct on various occasions had
rendered him peculiarly odious to the Americans. Lieutenant-colonel
Barton, who was stationed with a force of Rhode Island militia on the
mainland, received word that Prescott was quartered at a country house
near the western shore of the island, about four miles from Newport,
totally unconscious of danger though in a very exposed situation. He
determined, if possible, to surprise and capture him. Forty resolute
men joined him in the enterprise. Embarking at night in two boats at
Warwick Neck, they pulled quietly across the bay with muffled oars,
undiscovered by the ships of war and guard-boats; landed in silence;
eluded the vigilance of the guard stationed near the house; captured
the sentry at the door, and surprised the general in his bed. His
aide-de-camp leaped from the window, but was likewise taken. Colonel
Barton returned with equal silence and address, and arrived safe at
Warwick with his prisoners. A sword was voted to him by Congress and
he received a colonel's commission in the regular army.
Washington hailed the capture of Prescott as a peculiarly fortunate
circumstance, furnishing him with an equivalent for General Lee. He
accordingly wrote to Sir William Howe, proposing the exchange. No
immediate reply was received to this letter, Sir William Howe being at
sea; in the meantime Prescott remained in durance.
Washington continued his anxious exertions to counteract the
operations of the enemy; forwarding artillery and ammunition to
Schuyler, with all the camp furniture that could be spared from his
own encampment and from Peekskill. A part of Nixon's brigade was all
the reinforcement he could afford in his present situation. Schuyler
had earnestly desired the assistance of an active officer well
acquainted with the country. Washington sent him Arnold. The question
of rank about which Arnold was so tenacious was yet unsettled, and
though, had his promotion been regular, he would have been superior in
command to General St. Clair, he assured Washington that on the
present occasion his claim should create no dispute.
Schuyler in the meantime, aided by Kosciuszko the Pole, who was
engineer in his department, had selected two positions on Moses Creek,
four miles below Fort Edward, where the troops which had retreated
from Ticonderoga, and part of the militia were throwing up works. To
impede the advance of the enemy he had caused trees to be felled into
Wood Creek, so as to render it unnavigable, and the roads between Fort
Edward and Fort Anne to be broken up; the cattle in that direction to
be brought away, and the forage destroyed. He had drawn off the
garrison from Fort George, and left the buildings in flames.
Washington cheered on his faithful coadjutor. His letters to Schuyler
were full of that confident hope, founded on sagacious forecast, with
which he was prone to animate his generals in times of doubt and
difficulty. "Though our affairs for some days past have worn a dark
and gloomy aspect, I yet look forward to a fortunate and happy change.
I trust General Burgoyne's army will meet sooner or later an effectual
check, and, as I suggested before, that the success he has had will
precipitate his ruin." [He pointed out that Burgoyne in acting in
detachment was pursuing the plan most favorable to the American cause.
If some of his detachments could be cut off, it would have, he said, a
most inspiriting effect. He also addressed circulars to the
brigadier-generals of militia in the western portions of the Eastern
States, urging reinforcements for Schuyler. The evacuation of
Ticonderoga, he showed them, had opened the door for the invasion of
their district, and that Burgoyne, if not vigorously opposed, would be
enabled to form a junction with General Howe, and thereby sever the
communication between the Eastern and Northern States.]
Washington now ordered that all the vessels and river craft, not
required at Albany, should be sent down to New Windsor and Fishkill,
and kept in readiness; for he knew not how soon the movements of
General Howe might render it suddenly necessary to transport part of
his forces up the Hudson.
Further letters from Schuyler urged the increasing exigencies of his
situation. It was harvest time. The militia, impatient at being
detained from their rural labors, were leaving him in great numbers.
In a council of general officers it had been thought advisable to give
leave of absence to half, lest the whole should depart. He feared
those who remained would do so but a few days. The enemy were steadily
employed cutting a road toward him from Skenesborough. In this
position of affairs, he urged to be reinforced as speedily as
possible. Washington, in reply, informed him that he had ordered a
further reinforcement of General Glover's brigade, which was all he
could possibly furnish in his own exigencies. He trusted affairs with
Schuyler would soon wear a more smiling aspect, that the Eastern
States, who were so deeply concerned in the matter, would exert
themselves by effectual succors to enable him to check the progress of
the enemy and repel a danger by which they were immediately
threatened. "I have directed General Lincoln to repair to you as
speedily as the state of his health, which is not very perfect, will
permit; this gentleman has always supported the character of a
judicious, brave, active officer, and he is exceedingly popular in the
State of Massachusetts, to which he belongs; he will have a degree of
influence over the militia which cannot fail of being highly
advantageous."
Washington highly approved of a measure suggested by Schuyler, of
stationing a body of troops somewhere about the Hampshire Grants
(Vermont,) so as to be in the rear or on the flank of Burgoyne, should
he advance. It would make the latter, he said, very circumspect in his
advances, if it did not entirely prevent them. It would keep him in
continual anxiety for his rear, and oblige him to leave the posts
behind him much stronger than he would otherwise do. He advised that
General Lincoln should have the command of the corps thus posted, "as
no person could be more proper for it."
But now the attention of the commander-in-chief is called to the
sea-board. On the 23d of July the fleet, so long the object of
watchful solicitude, actually put to sea. Its destination was still a
matter of conjecture. Just after it had sailed a young man presented
himself at one of General Putnam's outposts. He had been a prisoner in
New York, he said, but had received his liberty and a large reward on
undertaking to be the bearer of a letter from General Howe to
Burgoyne. This letter his feelings of patriotism prompted him to
deliver up to General Putnam. The letter was immediately transmitted
by the general to Washington. It was in the handwriting of Howe and
bore his signature. In it he informed Burgoyne that, instead of any
designs up the Hudson, he was bound to the east against Boston.
Washington at once pronounced the letter a feint. "No stronger proof
could be given," said he, "that Howe is not going to the eastward. The
letter was evidently intended to fall into our hands.... I am
persuaded more than ever that Philadelphia is the place of
destination."
He now set out with his army for the Delaware, ordering Sullivan and
Stirling with their divisions to cross the Hudson from Peekskill and
proceed towards Philadelphia. On the 30th he writes from Coryell's
Ferry, about thirty miles from Philadelphia, to General Gates, who was
in that city: "As we are yet uncertain as to the real destination of
the enemy, though the Delaware seems the most probable, I have thought
it prudent to halt the army at this place, Howell's Ferry, and
Trenton, at least till the fleet actually enters the bay and puts the
matter beyond a doubt. From hence we can be on the proper ground to
oppose them before they can possibly make their arrangements and
dispositions for an attack.... As I shall pay no regard to any flying
reports of the appearance of the fleet, I shall expect an account of
it from you the moment you have ascertained it to your satisfaction."
On the 31st he was informed that the enemy's fleet of two hundred and
twenty-eight sail had arrived the day previous at the Capes of
Delaware. He instantly wrote to Putnam to hurry on two brigades which
had crossed the river, and to let Schuyler and the commanders in the
Eastern States know that they had nothing to fear from Howe, and might
bend all their forces, continental and militia, against Burgoyne. In
the meantime he moved his camp to Germantown, about six miles from
Philadelphia, to be at hand for the defence of that city. The very
next day came word by express that the fleet had again sailed out of
the Capes and apparently shaped its course eastward. "This surprising
event gives me the greatest anxiety," writes he to Putnam (Aug. 1).
"The probability of his (Howe) going to the eastward is exceedingly
small, and the ill effects that might attend such a step
inconsiderable in comparison with those that would inevitably attend a
successful stroke on the Highlands."
Under this impression Washington sent orders to Sullivan to hasten
back with his division and the two brigades which had recently left
Peekskill and to recross the Hudson to that post as speedily as
possible, intending to forward the rest of the army with all the
expedition in his power. He wrote also to General George Clinton, to
reinforce Putnam with as many of the New York militia as could be
collected. Clinton, be it observed, had just been installed governor
of the State of New York; the first person elevated to that office
under the Constitution. He still continued in actual command of the
militia of the State. Washington, moreover, requested Putnam to send
an express to Governor Trumbull, urging assistance from the militia of
his State without a moment's loss of time.
We have cited in a preceding page a letter from Washington to Gates at
Philadelphia, requiring his vigilant attention to the movements of the
enemy's fleet; that ambitious officer, however, was engrossed at the
time by matters more important to his individual interests. The
command of the Northern department seemed again within his reach. The
evacuation of Ticonderoga had been imputed by many either to cowardice
or treachery on the part of General St. Clair, and the enemies of
Schuyler had for some time past been endeavoring to involve him in the
disgrace of the transaction. In the eagerness to excite popular
feeling against him, old slanders were revived, and the failure of the
invasion of Canada, and all the subsequent disasters in that quarter,
were again laid to his charge as commanding-general of the Northern
department.
These charges, which for some time existed merely in popular clamor,
had recently been taken up in Congress, and a strong demonstration had
been made against him by some of the New England delegates. "Your
enemies in this quarter," writes his friend, the Hon. William Duer
(July 29th), "are leaving no means unessayed to blast your
character.... Be not surprised if you should be desired to attend
Congress to give an account of the loss of Ticonderoga. With respect
to the result of the inquiry I am under no apprehensions. Like gold
tried in the fire, I trust that you, my dear friend, will be found
more pure and bright than ever."
[Schuyler, in reply, expressed his eagerness to have his conduct
subjected to official investigation, but hoped the scrutiny would be
postponed until after the engagement with the enemy which was now
imminent. Schuyler's enemies were determined, however, that he should
be deprived of this chance of distinguishing himself, and pushed the
business so urgently in Congress that a resolution was passed
summoning both Schuyler and St. Clair to head-quarters to account for
the misfortunes in the north. Schuyler's unpopularity with the Eastern
troops was used as a powerful argument for this step, it being
asserted that the Eastern militia were refusing to serve under him.
The nomination of his successor was left to Washington, who excused
himself from the duty. The appointment, therefore, was made by
Congress, the Eastern influence prevailed, and Gates received the
command.]
About this time took effect a measure of Congress, making a complete
change in the commissariat. This important and complicated department
had hitherto been under the management of one commissary-general,
Colonel Joseph Trumbull of Connecticut. By the new arrangement there
were to be two commissaries-general, one of purchases, the other of
issues; each to be appointed by Congress. They were to have several
deputy commissaries under them, but accountable to Congress, and to be
appointed and removed by that body. These and many subordinate
arrangements had been adopted in opposition to the opinion of
Washington, and, most unfortunately, were brought into operation in
the midst of this perplexed and critical campaign. Their first effect
was to cause the resignation of Colonel Trumbull, who had been
nominated commissary of purchases; and the entrance into office of a
number of inexperienced men. The ultimate effect was to paralyze the
organization of this vital department; to cause delay and confusion in
furnishing and forwarding supplies, and to retard and embarrass the
operations of the different armies throughout the year. Washington had
many dangers and difficulties to harass and perplex him throughout
this complicated campaign, and not among the least may be classed the
"stumblings of Congress."
For several days Washington remained at Germantown in painful
uncertainty about the British fleet; whether gone to the south or to
the east. The intense heat of the weather made him unwilling again to
move his army, already excessively harassed by marchings and
countermarchings. Concluding, at length, that the fleet had actually
gone to the east, he was once more on the way to recross the Delaware,
when an express overtook him on the 10th of August, with tidings that
three days before it had been seen off Sinepuxent Inlet, about sixteen
leagues south of the Capes of Delaware.
Again he came to a halt, and waited for further intelligence. Danger
suggested itself from a different quarter. Might it not be Howe's
plan, by thus appearing with his ships at different places, to lure
the army after him, and thereby leave the country open for Sir Henry
Clinton with the troops at New York to form a junction with Burgoyne?
With this idea Washington wrote forthwith to the veteran Putnam to be
on the alert; collect all the force he could to strengthen his post at
Peekskill, and send down spies to ascertain whether Sir Henry Clinton
was actually at New York, and what troops he had there.
The old general, whose boast it was that he never slept but with one
eye, was already on the alert. A circumstance had given him proof
positive that Sir Henry was in New York, and had roused his military
ire. A spy, sent by that commander, had been detected furtively
collecting information of the force and condition of the post at
Peekskill, and had undergone a military trial. A vessel of war came up
the Hudson in all haste, and landed a flag of truce at Verplanck's
Point, by which a message was transmitted to Putnam from Sir Henry
Clinton, claiming Edmund Palmer as a lieutenant in the British
service. The reply of the old general was brief but emphatic:
"HEAD-QUARTERS, 7th Aug., 1777.
"Edmund Palmer, an officer in the enemy's service, was taken as a spy
lurking within our lines; he has been tried as a spy, condemned as a
spy, and shall be executed as a spy; and the flag is ordered to depart
immediately.
"ISRAEL PUTNAM."
"P. S.--He has, accordingly, been executed."
Governor Clinton, the other guardian of the Highlands, and actually at
his post at Fort Montgomery, was equally on the alert. He had
faithfully followed Washington's directions in ordering out militia
from different counties to reinforce his own garrison and the army
under Schuyler.
One measure more was taken by Washington, during this interval, in aid
of the Northern department. The Indians who accompanied Burgoyne were
objects of great dread to the American troops, especially the militia.
As a counterpoise to them, he now sent up Colonel Morgan with five
hundred riflemen, to fight them in their own way. "They are all chosen
men," said he, "selected from the army at large, and well acquainted
with the use of rifles and with that mode of fighting. I expect the
most eminent services from them, and I shall be mistaken if their
presence does not go far towards producing a general desertion among
the savages."
During his encampment in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, Washington
was repeatedly at that city, making himself acquainted with the
military capabilities of the place and its surrounding country, and
directing the construction of fortifications on the river. In one of
these visits he became acquainted with the young Marquis de Lafayette,
who had recently arrived from France, in company with a number of
French, Polish, and German officers, among whom was the Baron de Kalb.
The marquis was not quite twenty years of age, yet had already been
married nearly three years to a lady of rank and fortune. Full of the
romance of liberty, he had torn himself from his youthful bride,
turned his back upon the gayeties and splendors of a court, and in
defiance of impediments and difficulties multiplied in his path, had
made his way to America to join its hazardous fortunes.
It was at a public dinner, where a number of members of Congress were
present, that Lafayette first saw Washington. He immediately knew him,
he said, from the officers who surrounded him, by his commanding air
and person. When the party was breaking up, Washington took him aside,
complimented him in a gracious manner on his disinterested zeal and
the generosity of his conduct, and invited him to make head-quarters
his home.
Many days had now elapsed without further tidings of the fleet, when
the tormenting uncertainties concerning it were brought to an end by
intelligence that it had actually entered the Chesapeake and anchored
at Swan Point, at least two hundred miles within the capes. "By
General Howe's coming so far up the Chesapeake," writes Washington,
"he must mean to reach Philadelphia by that route, though to be sure
it is a strange one." The mystery of these various appearances and
vanishings which had caused so much wonder and perplexity is easily
explained. Shortly before putting to sea with the ships of war, Howe
had sent a number of transports and a ship cut down as a floating
battery up the Hudson, which had induced Washington to despatch troops
to the Highlands. After putting to sea, the fleet was a week in
reaching the Capes of Delaware. When there, the commanders were
deterred from entering the river by reports of measures taken to
obstruct its navigation. It was then determined to make for Chesapeake
Bay, and approach in that way as near as possible to Philadelphia.
Contrary winds, however, kept them for a long time from getting into
the bay.
Lafayette in his memoirs describes a review of Washington's army which
he witnessed about this time. "Eleven thousand men, but tolerably
armed and still worse clad, presented," he said, "a singular
spectacle; in this parti-colored and often naked state, the best
dresses were hunting shirts of brown linen. Their tactics were equally
irregular. They were arranged without regard to size, excepting that
the smallest men were the front rank: with all this there were
good-looking soldiers conducted by zealous officers." The several
divisions of the army had been summoned to the immediate neighborhood
of Philadelphia, and the militia of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the
northern parts of Virginia were called out. Many of the militia, with
Colonel Proctor's corps of artillery, had been ordered to rendezvous
at Chester on the Delaware, about twelve miles below Philadelphia; and
by Washington's orders General Wayne left his brigade under the next
in command and repaired to Chester to arrange the troops assembling
there.
As there had been much disaffection to the cause evinced in
Philadelphia, Washington, in order to encourage its friends and
dishearten its enemies, marched with the whole army through the city,
down Front and up Chestnut Street. Great pains were taken to make the
display as imposing as possible. All were charged to keep to their
ranks, carry their arms well, and step in time to the music of the
drums and fifes, collected in the centre of each brigade. Washington
rode at the head of the troops attended by his numerous staff, with
the Marquis Lafayette by his side. The long column of the army, broken
into divisions and brigades, the pioneers with their axes, the
squadrons of horse, the extended trains of artillery, the tramp of
steed, the bray of trumpet, and the spirit-stirring sound of drum and
fife, all had an imposing effect on a peaceful city unused to the
sight of marshalled armies. Having marched through Philadelphia, the
army continued on to Wilmington at the confluence of Christiana Creek
and the Brandywine, where Washington set up his head-quarters, his
troops being encamped on the neighboring heights.