THE WAR IN VIRGINIA.--DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST NEW YORK.
In a former chapter we left Benedict Arnold fortifying himself at
Portsmouth, after his ravaging incursion. At the solicitation of
Governor Jefferson, backed by Congress, the Chevalier de la Luzerne
had requested the French commander at the eastward to send a
ship-of-the-line and some frigates to Chesapeake Bay to oppose the
traitor. Fortunately, at this juncture a severe snowstorm (Jan. 22d)
scattered Arbuthnot's blockading squadron, wrecking one
ship-of-the-line and dismasting others, and enabled the French fleet
at Newport to look abroad; and Rochambeau wrote to Washington that the
Chevalier Destouches, who commanded the fleet, proposed to send three
or four ships to the Chesapeake.
Washington feared the position of Arnold and his well-known address
might enable him to withstand a mere attack by sea; anxious to ensure
his capture, he advised that Destouches should send his whole fleet,
and that De Rochambeau should embark about a thousand men on board of
it, with artillery and apparatus for a siege; engaging, on his own
part, to send off immediately a detachment of twelve hundred men to
co-operate.
Before the receipt of this letter, the French commanders, acting on
their first impulse, had, about the 9th of February, detached M. de
Tilly, with a sixty-gun ship and two frigates, to make a dash into the
Chesapeake. Washington was apprised of their sailing just as he was
preparing to send off the twelve hundred men spoken of in his letter
to De Rochambeau. He gave the command of this detachment to Lafayette,
instructing him to act in conjunction with the militia and the ships
sent by Destouches against the enemy's corps actually in Virginia. As
the case was urgent, he was to suffer no delay, when on the march, for
want either of provisions, forage, or wagons, but where ordinary means
did not suffice, he was to resort to military impress.
Lafayette set out on his march on the 22d of February, and Washington
was indulging the hope that, scanty as was the naval force sent to the
Chesapeake, the combined enterprise might be successful, when on the
27th he received a letter from the Count de Rochambeau announcing its
failure. De Tilly had made his dash into Chesapeake Bay, but Arnold
had been apprised by the British Admiral Arbuthnot of his approach,
and had drawn his ships high up Elizabeth River. The water was too
shallow for the largest French ships to get within four leagues of
him. One of De Tilly's frigates ran aground, and was got off with
difficulty, and that commander, seeing that Arnold was out of his
reach, and fearing to be himself blockaded should he linger, put to
sea and returned to Newport; having captured during his cruise a
British frigate of forty-four guns, and two privateers with their
prizes.
The French commanders now determined to follow the plan suggested by
Washington, and operate in the Chesapeake with their whole fleet and a
detachment of land troops, being, as they said, disposed to risk
everything to hinder Arnold from establishing himself at Portsmouth.
Washington set out for Newport to concert operations with the French
commanders, where he arrived on the 6th of March, and found the French
fleet ready for sea, the troops eleven hundred strong, commanded by
General the Baron de Viomenil, being already embarked. He went
immediately on board of the admiral's ship, where he had an interview
with the Count de Rochambeau, and arranged the plan of the campaign.
On the 8th of March, at ten o'clock at night, he writes to Lafayette:
"I have the pleasure to inform you that the whole fleet went out with
a fair wind this evening about sunset." The British fleet made sail in
pursuit, on the morning of the 10th; as the French had so much the
start, it was hoped they would reach Chesapeake Bay before them.
In the meantime, Lafayette with his detachment was pressing forward by
forced marches for Virginia. Arriving at the Head of Elk on the 3d of
March, he halted until he should receive tidings respecting the French
fleet. On the 7th he received Washington's letter of the 1st,
apprising him of the approaching departure of the whole fleet with
land forces. Lafayette now conducted his troops by water to Annapolis,
and concluding, from the time the ships were to sail, and the winds
which had since prevailed, the French fleet must be already in the
Chesapeake, he crossed the bay in an open boat to Virginia, and pushed
on to confer with the American and French commanders: get a convoy for
his troops, and concert matters for a vigorous co-operation. Arriving
at York on the 14th, he found the Baron Steuben in the bustle of
military preparations, and confident of having five thousand militia
ready to co-operate. These, with Lafayette's detachment, would be
sufficient for the attack by land; nothing was wanting but a
co-operation by sea; and the French fleet had not yet appeared, though
double the time necessary for the voyage had elapsed.
On the 20th, word was brought that a fleet had come to anchor within
the capes. It was supposed of course to be the French, and now the
capture of the traitor was certain. He himself from certain signs
appeared to be in great confusion; none of his ships ventured down the
bay. An officer of the French navy bore down to visit the fleet, but
returned with the astounding intelligence that it was British!
Admiral Arbuthnot had in fact overtaken Destouches on the 16th of
March, off the capes of Virginia. Their forces were nearly equal;
eight ships-of-the-line, and four frigates on each side, the French
having more men, the English more guns. An engagement took place which
lasted about an hour. The British van at first took the brunt of the
action, and was severely handled; the centre came up to its relief.
The French line was broken and gave way, but rallied, and formed again
at some distance. The crippled state of some of his ships prevented
the British admiral from bringing on a second encounter; nor did the
French seek one, but shaped their course the next day back to Newport.
Both sides claimed a victory. The British certainly effected the main
objects they had in view; the French were cut off from the Chesapeake;
the combined enterprise against Portsmouth was disconcerted, and
Arnold was saved.
A detachment [of two thousand troops] from New York, under General
Phillips, arrived at Portsmouth on the 26th of March. That officer
immediately took command, greatly to the satisfaction of the British
officers, who had been acting under Arnold. The force now collected
there amounted to three thousand five hundred men. The disparity in
force was now so great, that the Baron Steuben had to withdraw his
troops, and remove the military stores into the interior. Many of the
militia, too, their term of three months being expired, stacked their
arms, and set off for their homes, and most of the residue had to be
discharged.
General Phillips had hitherto remained quiet in Portsmouth, completing
the fortifications, but evidently making preparations for an
expedition. On the 16th of April he left one thousand men in garrison,
and embarking the rest in small vessels of light draught, proceeded up
James River, destroying armed vessels, public magazines, and a
ship-yard belonging to the State. Landing at City Point, he advanced
against Petersburg, a place of deposit of military stores and tobacco.
He was met about a mile below the town by about one thousand militia,
under General Muhlenburg, who, after disputing the ground inch by inch
for nearly two hours, with considerable loss on both sides, retreated
across the Appomattox, breaking down the bridge behind them.
Phillips entered the town, set fire to the tobacco warehouses, and
destroyed all the vessels lying in the river. Repairing and crossing
the bridge over the Appomattox, he proceeded to Chesterfield
Court-house, where he destroyed barracks and public stores; while
Arnold, with a detachment, laid waste the magazines of tobacco in the
direction of Warwick. A fire was opened by the latter from a few
field-pieces on the river bank, upon a squadron of small, armed
vessels, which had been intended to co-operate with the French fleet
against Portsmouth. The crews scuttled or set fire to them, and
escaped to the north side of the river.
This destructive course was pursued until they arrived at Manchester,
a small place opposite Richmond, where the tobacco warehouses were
immediately in a blaze. Richmond was a leading object of this
desolating enterprise, for there a great part of the military stores
of the State had been collected. Fortunately, Lafayette, with his
detachment of two thousand men, had arrived there, by forced marches,
the evening before, and being joined by about two thousand militia and
sixty dragoons (the latter, principally young Virginians of family),
had posted himself strongly on the high banks on the north side of the
river. There being no bridge across the river at that time, General
Phillips did not think it prudent to attempt a passage in face of such
a force so posted. Returning down the south bank of the river, to the
place where his vessels awaited him, he re-embarked on the 2d of May,
and dropped slowly down the river below the confluence of the
Chickahomony. He was followed cautiously, and his movements watched by
Lafayette, who posted himself behind the last-named river.
Despatches from Cornwallis now informed Phillips that his lordship was
advancing with all speed from the South to effect a junction with him.
The general immediately made a rapid move to regain possession of
Petersburg, where the junction was to take place. Lafayette attempted
by forced marches to get there before him, but was too late. Falling
back, therefore, he recrossed James River and stationed himself some
miles below Richmond, to be at hand for the protection of the public
stores collected there.
During this main expedition of Phillips, some of his smaller vessels
had carried on the plan of plunder and devastation in other of the
rivers emptying into the Chesapeake Bay; setting fire to the houses
where they met with resistance.
In the meantime the desolating career of General Phillips was brought
to a close. He had been ill for some days previous to his arrival at
Petersburg, and by the time he reached there, was no longer capable of
giving orders. He died four days afterwards; honored and deeply
regretted by his brothers in arms, as a meritorious and well-tried
soldier.
Lord Cornwallis arrived at Petersburg on the 20th of May, after nearly
a month's weary marching from Wilmington. His lordship, on taking
command, found his force augmented by a considerable detachment of
royal artillery, two battalions of light infantry, the 76th and 80th
British regiments, a Hessian regiment, Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe's
corps of Queen's rangers, cavalry and infantry, one hundred yagers,
Arnold's legion of royalists, and the garrison of Portsmouth. His
mind, we are told, was now set at ease with regard to Southern
affairs; his spirits, so long jaded by his harassing tramps about the
Carolinas, were again lifted up by his augmented strength.
While affairs were approaching a crisis in Virginia, troubles were
threatening from the North. There were rumors of invasion from Canada;
of war councils and leagues among the savage tribes; of a revival of
the territorial feuds between New York and Vermont. Such, however, was
the deplorable inefficiency of the military system, that though,
according to the resolves of Congress, there were to have been
thirty-seven thousand men under arms at the beginning of the year,
Washington's whole force on the Hudson in the month of May did not
amount to seven thousand men, of whom little more than four thousand
were effective.
He still had his head-quarters at New Windsor, just above the
Highlands, and within a few miles of West Point. Here he received
intelligence that the enemy were in force on the opposite side of the
Hudson, marauding the country on the north side of Croton River, and
he ordered a hasty advance of Connecticut troops in that direction.
The Croton River flows from east to west across Westchester County,
and formed as it were the barrier of the American lines. The advanced
posts of Washington's army guarded it, and by its aid, protected the
upper country from the incursions of those foraging parties and
marauders which had desolated the neutral ground below it. The
incursions most to be guarded against were those of Colonel Delancey's
loyalists, a horde of tories and refugees which had their stronghold
in Morrisania.
The object of their present incursion was to surprise an outpost of
the American army stationed near a fordable part of the Croton River,
not far from Pine's Bridge. The post was commanded by Colonel
Christopher Greene, of Rhode Island, the same who had successfully
defended Fort Mercer on the Delaware, when assailed by Count Donop. He
was a valuable officer, highly prized by Washington. Colonel Delancey,
who led this foray, was successor to the unfortunate André as
adjutant-general of the British army. He conducted it secretly, and in
the night, at the head of a hundred horse and two hundred foot. The
Croton was forded at daybreak, just as the night-guard had been
withdrawn, and the farm-houses were surprised and assailed in which
the Americans were quartered. That occupied by Colonel Greene and a
brother officer, Major Flagg, was first surrounded. The major started
from his bed, and discharged his pistols from a window, but was shot
through the head, and afterwards despatched by cuts and thrusts of the
sabre.
The door of Greene's room was burst open. He defended himself
vigorously and effectively with his sword, for he had great strength,
but he was overpowered by numbers, cut down, and barbarously mangled.
A massacre was going on in other quarters. Besides these two officers,
there were between thirty and forty killed and wounded, and several
made prisoners. It is said that Colonel Delancey was not present at
the carnage, but remained on the south side of the Croton to secure
the retreat of his party. Before the troops ordered out by Washington
arrived at the post, the marauders had made a precipitate retreat.
They had attempted to carry off Greene a prisoner, but he died within
three-quarters of a mile of the house. The commander-in-chief, we are
told, heard with anguish and indignation the tragical fate of this,
his faithful friend and soldier.
At this juncture Washington's attention was called in another
direction. A frigate had arrived at Boston, bringing the Count de
Barras, to take command of the French naval force. He was a veteran
about sixty years of age, and had commanded D'Estaing's vanguard, when
he forced the entrance of Newport harbor. The count brought the
cheering intelligence, that an armament of twenty ships-of-the-line,
with land forces, was to sail, or had sailed, from France, under the
Count de Grasse for the West Indies, and that twelve of these ships
were to relieve the squadron at Newport, and might be expected on the
coast of the United States in July or August.
The Count de Rochambeau, having received despatches from the court of
France, now requested an interview with Washington. The latter
appointed Weathersfield in Connecticut for the purpose; and met the
count there on the 22d of May, hoping to settle a definite plan of the
campaign. Both as yet were ignorant of the arrival of Cornwallis in
Virginia. The policy of a joint expedition to relieve the Carolinas
was discussed. As the French ships in Newport were still blockaded by
a superior force, such an expedition would have to be made by land. A
march to the Southern States was long and harassing, and always
attended with a great waste of life. On the other hand, an effective
blow might be struck at New York, the garrison having been reduced
one-half by detachments to the South. It was determined, therefore,
that the French troops should march from Newport as soon as possible,
and form a junction with the American army on the Hudson, and that
both should move down to the vicinity of New York to make a combined
attack, in which the Count de Grasse should be invited to co-operate
with his fleet and a body of land troops.
A vessel was despatched by De Rochambeau, to inform the Count de
Grasse of this arrangement; and letters were addressed by Washington
to the executive authorities of New Jersey and the New England States,
urging them to fill up their battalions and furnish their quotas of
provisions. Notwithstanding all his exertions, however, when he
mustered his forces at Peekskill, he was mortified to find not more
than five thousand effective men. Notwithstanding, too, all the
resolutions passed in the legislatures of the various States for
supplying the army, it would, at this critical moment, have been
destitute of provisions, especially bread, had it not been for the
zeal, talents, and activity of Mr. Robert Morris, now a delegate to
Congress, from the State of Pennsylvania, and recently appointed
superintendent of finance. This patriotic and energetic man, when
public means failed, pledged his own credit in transporting military
stores and feeding the army.
The Count de Rochambeau and the Duke de Lauzun being arrived with
their troops in Connecticut, on their way to join the American army,
Washington prepared for spirited operations; quickened by the
intelligence that a part of the garrison of New York had been detached
to forage the Jerseys. Two objects were contemplated by him: one, the
surprisal of the British works at the north end of New York Island;
the other the capture or destruction of Delancey's corps of refugees
in Morrisania. The attack upon the posts was to be conducted by
General Lincoln, with a detachment from the main army, which he was to
bring down by water--that on Delancey's corps by the Duke de Lauzun
with his legion, aided by Sheldon's dragoons, and a body of
Connecticut troops. Both operations were to be carried into effect on
the 3d of July. The duke was to march down from Ridgebury in
Connecticut, for the purpose. Everything was to be conducted with
secrecy and by the way of surprisal. Should anything occur to prevent
Lincoln from attempting the works on New York Island, he was to land
his men above Spyt den Duivel Creek, march to the high grounds in
front of King's Bridge, lie concealed there until the duke's attack on
Delancey's corps should be announced by firing or other means; then to
dispose of his force in such a manner as to make the enemy think it
larger than it really was; thereby deterring troops from coming over
the bridge to turn Lauzun's right, while he prevented the escape over
the bridge of Delancey's refugees when routed from Morrisania.
In pursuance of the plan, Lincoln left the camp near Peekskill on the
1st, with eight hundred men, and artillery, and proceeded to Teller's
Point, where they were embarked in boats with muffled oars, and rowed
silently at night down the Tappan Sea. At daylight they kept concealed
under the land. The Duke de Lauzun was supposed, at the same time, to
be on the way from Connecticut. Washington, at three o'clock on the
morning of the 2d, left his tents standing at Peekskill, and commenced
his march with his main force, to Valentine's Hill, four miles above
King's Bridge. There he posted himself to cover the detached troops,
and improve any advantages that might be gained them.
Lincoln, on the morning of the 2d, had left his flotilla concealed
under the eastern shore, and crossed to Fort Lee to reconnoitre Fort
Washington from the cliffs on the opposite side of the Hudson. To his
surprise and chagrin, he discovered a British force encamped on the
north end of New York Island, and a ship-of-war anchored in the river.
In fact, the troops which had been detached into the Jerseys, had
returned, and the enemy were on the alert; the surprisal of the forts,
therefore, was out of the question. His thoughts now were to aid the
Duke de Lauzun's part of the scheme, as he had been instructed. Before
daylight on the 3d, he landed his troops above Spyt den Duivel Creek,
and took possession of the high ground on the north of Harlem River,
where Fort Independence once stood. Here he was discovered by a
foraging party of the enemy, fifteen hundred strong, who had sallied
out at daybreak to scour the country. An irregular skirmish ensued.
The firing was heard by the Duke de Lauzun, who was just arrived with
his troops at Eastchester, fatigued by a long and forced march in
sultry weather. Finding the country alarmed, and all hope of
surprising Delancey's corps at an end, he hastened to the support of
Lincoln. Washington also advanced with his troops from Valentine's
Hill. The British, perceiving their danger, retreated to their boats
on the east side of Harlem River, and crossed over to New York Island.
A trifling loss in killed and wounded had been sustained on each side,
and Lincoln had made a few prisoners.
Being disappointed in both objects, Washington did not care to fatigue
his troops any more, but suffered them to remain on their arms, and
spent a good part of the day reconnoitring the enemy's works. In the
afternoon he retired to Valentine's Hill, and the next day marched to
Dobbs' Ferry, where he was joined by the Count de Rochambeau on the
6th July. The two armies now encamped--the American in two lines,
resting on the Hudson at Dobbs' Ferry, where it was covered by
batteries, and extending eastward toward the Neperan or Sawmill River;
the French in a single line on the hills further east, reaching to the
Bronx River.
The two armies lay thus encamped for three or four weeks. In the
meantime letters urged Washington's presence in Virginia. Richard
Henry Lee advised that he should come with two or three thousand good
troops, and be clothed with dictatorial powers. "I am fully persuaded,
and upon good military principles," writes Washington in reply, "that
the measures I have adopted will give more effectual and speedy relief
to the State of Virginia than my marching thither, with dictatorial
powers, at the head of every man I could draw from hence, without
leaving the important posts on the North River quite defenceless, and
these States open to devastation and ruin. My present plan of
operation, which I have been preparing with all the zeal and activity
in my power, will, I am morally certain, with proper support produce
one of two things, either the fall of New York, or a withdrawal of the
troops from Virginia, excepting a garrison at Portsmouth, at which
place I have no doubt of the enemy's intention of establishing a
permanent post."
Within two or three days after this letter was written, Washington
crossed the river at Dobbs' Ferry, accompanied by the Count de
Rochambeau, General de Beville, and General Duportail, to reconnoitre
the British posts on the north end of New York Island. They were
escorted by one hundred and fifty of the New Jersey troops, and spent
the day on the Jersey heights ascertaining the exact position of the
enemy on the opposite shore. Their next movement was to reconnoitre
the enemy's posts at King's Bridge and on the east side of New York
Island, and to cut off, if possible, such of Delancey's corps as
should be found without the British lines. Five thousand troops,
French and American, led by the Count de Chastellux and General
Lincoln, were to protect this reconnoissance, and menace the enemy's
posts. Everything was prepared in secrecy. On the 21st of July, at
eight o'clock in the evening, the troops began their march. The
detachment arrived at King's Bridge about daylight, and formed on the
height back of Fort Independence. The enemy's forts on New York Island
did not appear to have the least intelligence of what was going on,
nor to be aware that hostile troops were upon the heights opposite,
until the latter displayed themselves in full array, their arms
flashing in the morning sunshine, and their banners, American and
French, unfolded to the breeze.
While the enemy was thus held in check, Washington and De Rochambeau,
accompanied by engineers and by their staffs, set out under the escort
of a troop of dragoons to reconnoitre the enemy's position and works
from every point of view. It was a wide reconnoissance, extending
across the country outside of the British lines from the Hudson to the
Sound. The whole was done slowly and scientifically, exact notes and
diagrams being made of everything that might be of importance in
future operations. While the enemy's works had been thoroughly
reconnoitred, light troops and lancers had performed their duty in
scouring the neighborhood. The refugee posts which had desolated the
country were broken up. Most of the refugees, Washington says, had
fled and hid themselves in secret places; some got over by stealth to
the adjacent islands and to the enemy's shipping, and a few were
caught.