Divisions in Congress.... Letters of General Washington on
the state of public affairs.... Invasion of Georgia....
General Howe defeated by Colonel Campbell.... Savannah
taken.... Sunbury surrenders.... Georgia reduced.... General
Lincoln takes command of the Southern army.... Major
Gardiner defeated by General Moultrie.... Insurrection of
the Tories in South Carolina.... They are defeated by
Colonel Pickens.... Ash surprised and defeated.... Moultrie
retreats.... Prevost marches to Charleston.... Lincoln
attacks the British at Stono Ferry unsuccessfully....
Invasion of Virginia.
[Sidenote: 1779]
After the relinquishment of that extensive plan of conquest which
had been meditated against Canada, no other object seemed to call
forth the energies of the nation, and a general languor appeared to
diffuse itself through all the civil departments. The alliance with
France was believed to secure independence; and a confidence that
Britain could no longer prosecute the war with any hope of success--a
confidence encouraged by communications from Europe--prevented those
exertions which were practicable, but which it was painful to make.
This temper was seen and deplored by the Commander-in-chief, who
incessantly combated the opinion that Britain was about to relinquish
the contest, and insisted that great and vigorous exertions on the
part of the United States were still necessary to bring the war to a
successful termination.
It being no longer practicable to engage soldiers by voluntary
enlistment, and government not daring to force men into the service
for three years, or during the war, the vacant ranks were scantily
supplied with drafts for nine, twelve, and eighteen months. A great
proportion of the troops were discharged in the course of each year;
and, except that the old officers remained, almost a new army was to
be formed for every campaign.
Although the Commander-in-chief pressed congress and the state
governments continually and urgently, to take timely measures for
supplying the places of those who were leaving the service, the means
adopted were so slow and ineffectual in their operation, that the
season for action never found the preparations completed; and the
necessity of struggling against superior numbers was perpetual.
The pleasing delusion that the war was over, to which the public mind
delighted to surrender itself, made no impression on the judgment of
Washington. Viewing objects through a more correct medium, he
perceived that Great Britain had yet much to hope, and America much to
fear, from a continuance of hostilities. He feared that the impression
which the divisions, and apparent inertness of the United States had
made on the British commissioners, would be communicated to their
government; and this consideration increased his anxiety in favour of
early and vigorous preparations for the next campaign. Yet it was not
until the 23d of January that congress passed the resolution,
authorizing the Commander-in-chief to re-enlist the army, nor, until
the 9th of March, that the requisition was made on the several states
for their quotas. The bounty offered by the first resolution being
found insufficient, the government was again under the necessity of
resorting to the states. Thus, at a season when the men ought to have
been in camp, the measures for raising them were still to be adopted.
About this period, several circumstances conspired to foment those
pernicious divisions and factions in congress, which, in times of
greater apparent danger, patriotism would have suppressed.
[Sidenote: Divisions in congress.]
The ministers of the United States, in Europe, had reciprocally
criminated each other, and some of them had been recalled. Their
friends in congress supported their respective interests with
considerable animation; and, at length, Mr. Deane published a
manifesto, in which he arraigned at the bar of the public, the conduct
not only of those concerned in foreign negotiations, but of the
members of Congress themselves.
The irritation excited by these and other contests was not a little
increased by the appearance, in a New York paper, of an extract from
a letter written by Mr. Laurens, the president of congress, to
Governor Huiston, of Georgia, which, during the invasion of that
state, was found among his papers. In this letter, Mr. Laurens had
unbosomed himself with the unsuspecting confidence of a person
communicating to a friend the inmost operations of his mind. In a
gloomy moment, he had expressed himself with a degree of severity,
which even his own opinion, when not under the immediate influence of
chagrin, would not entirely justify, and had reflected on the
integrity and patriotism of members, without particularizing the
individuals he designed to censure.
These altercations added much to the alarm with which General
Washington viewed that security which had insinuated itself into the
public mind; and his endeavours were unremitting to impress the same
apprehensions on those who were supposed capable of removing the
delusion. In his confidential letters to gentlemen of the most
influence in the several states, he represented in strong terms the
dangers which yet threatened the country, and earnestly exhorted them
to a continuance of those sacrifices and exertions which he still
deemed essential to the happy termination of the war. The dissensions
in congress; the removal of individuals of the highest influence and
character from the councils of the nation to offices in the respective
states; the depreciation of the currency; the destructive spirit of
speculation which the imaginary gain produced by this depreciation had
diffused throughout the Union; a general laxity of principles; and an
unwillingness to encounter personal inconvenience for the attainment
of the great object, in pursuit of which so much blood and treasure
had been expended; were the rocks on which, he apprehended, the state
vessel might yet split, and to which he endeavoured, incessantly, to
point the attention of those whose weight of political character
enable them to guide the helm.
[Sidenote: Letters from General Washington on the state of public
affairs.]
"I am particularly desirous of a free communication of sentiments with
you at this time," says the General in a letter written to a gentleman
of splendid political talents, "because I view things very
differently, I fear, from what people in general do, who seem to think
the contest at an end, and that to make money, and get places, are the
only things now remaining to be done. I have seen without despondency,
even for a moment, the hours which America has styled her gloomy ones;
but I have beheld no day since the commencement of hostilities, when I
have thought her liberties in such imminent danger as at present.
Friends and foes seem now to combine to pull down the goodly fabric we
have hitherto been raising at the expense of so much time, blood, and
treasure."
After censuring with some freedom the prevailing opinions of the day,
he added, "To me it appears no unjust simile to compare the affairs
of this great continent to the mechanism of a clock, each state
representing some one or other of the smaller parts of it, which they
are endeavouring to put in fine order, without considering how useless
and unavailing their labour is, unless the great wheel, or spring,
which is to set the whole in motion, is also well attended to, and
kept in good order. I allude to no particular state, nor do I mean to
cast reflections upon any one of them, nor ought I, it may be said, to
do so on their representatives; but, as it is a fact too notorious to
be concealed, that congress is rent by party; that much business of a
trifling nature and personal concernment, withdraws their attention
from matters of great national moment at this critical period; when it
is also known that idleness and dissipation take place of close
attention and application, no man who wishes well to the liberties of
this country, and desires to see its rights established, can avoid
crying out--where are our men of abilities? Why do they not come forth
to save their country? Let this voice, my dear sir, call upon you,
Jefferson, and others. Do not, from a mistaken opinion that we are to
sit down under our vine and our own fig-tree, let our hitherto noble
struggle end in ignominy. Believe me when I tell you there is danger
of it. I have pretty good reasons for thinking that administration, a
little while ago, had resolved to give the matter up, and negotiate a
peace with us upon almost any terms; but I shall be much mistaken if
they do not now, from the present state of our currency, dissensions,
and other circumstances, push matters to the utmost extremity. Nothing
I am sure will prevent it but the intervention of Spain, and their
disappointed hope from Russia."
The circumstances in the situation and temper of America, which made
so deep an impression on the Commander-in-chief, operated with equal
force on the British commissioners, and induced them to think that, by
continuing the war, more favourable terms than were now demanded might
be obtained. They seem to have taken up the opinion that the mass of
the people, fatigued and worn out by the complicated calamities of the
struggle, sincerely desired an accommodation on the terms proposed by
Great Britain; and that the increasing difficulties resulting from the
failure of public credit, would induce them to desert congress, or
compel that body to accede to those terms. These opinions, when
communicated to the government, most probably contributed to protract
the war.
The narrative of military transactions will now be resumed.
The British arms had heretofore been chiefly directed against the
northern and middle states. The strongest parts of the American
continent were pressed by their whole force; and, with the exception
of the attempt on Sullivan's island in 1776, no serious design had
yet been manifested to make an impression in the south. Entertaining
the most confident hopes of recovering all the colonies, the British
government had not prosecuted the war with a view to partial conquest.
But the loss of the army commanded by Burgoyne, the alliance of
America with France, and the unexpected obstinacy with which the
contest was maintained, had diminished their confidence; and, when the
pacific propositions made in 1778 were rejected, the resolution seems
to have been taken to change, materially, the object of their military
operations; and, maintaining possession of the islands of New York, to
direct their arms against the southern states, on which, it was
believed, a considerable impression might be made.
It was not unreasonable to suppose that the influence of this
impression might extend northward; but, however this might be, the
actual conquest and possession of several states would, when
negotiations for a general peace should take place, give a complexion
to those negotiations, and afford plausible ground for insisting to
retain territory already acquired. The most active and interesting
operations therefore of the succeeding campaigns, were in the southern
states.
Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, who sailed from the Hook about the last
of November, 1778, escorted by a small squadron commanded by
Commodore Hyde Parker, reached the isle of Tybee, near the Savannah,
on the 23d of December; and, in a few days, the fleet and the
transports passed the bar, and anchored in the river.
The command of the southern army, composed of the troops of South
Carolina and Georgia, had been committed to Major General Robert Howe,
who, in the course of the preceding summer, had invaded East
Florida.[16] The diseases incident to the climate made such ravages
among his raw soldiers, that, though he had scarcely seen an enemy, he
found himself compelled to hasten out of the country with considerable
loss. After this disastrous enterprise, his army, consisting of
between six and seven hundred continental troops, aided by a few
hundred militia, had encamped in the neighbourhood of the town of
Savannah, situated on the southern bank of the river bearing that
name. The country about the mouth of the river is one tract of deep
marsh, intersected by creeks and cuts of water, impassable for troops
at any time of the tide, except over causeways extending through the
sunken ground.
[Footnote 16: So early as January, 1776, congress had recommended the
reduction of St. Augustine to the southern colonies.--_Secret Journals
of Congress, page 38._]
[Sidenote: Invasion of Georgia.]
Without much opposition, Lieutenant Colonel Campbell effected a
landing on the 29th, about three miles below the town; upon which Howe
formed his line of battle. His left was secured by the river; and
along the whole extent of his front was a morass which stretched to
his right, and was believed by him to be impassable for such a
distance, as effectually to secure that wing.
After reconnoitring the country, Colonel Campbell advanced on the
great road leading to Savannah; and, about three in the afternoon,
appeared in sight of the American army. While making dispositions to
dislodge it, he accidentally fell in with a negro, who informed him of
a private path leading through the swamp, round the right of the
American lines to their rear. Determining to avail himself of this
path, he detached a column under Sir James Baird, which entered the
morass unperceived by Howe.
[Sidenote: General Howe defeated by the British under Colonel
Campbell, who takes possession of Savannah.]
As soon as Sir James emerged from the swamp, he attacked and dispersed
a body of Georgia militia, which gave the first notice to the American
general of the danger which threatened his rear. At the same instant,
the British troops in his front were put in motion, and their
artillery began to play upon him. A retreat was immediately ordered;
and the continental troops were under the necessity of running across
a plain, in front of the corps which had been led into their rear by
Sir James Baird, who attacked their flanks with great impetuosity, and
considerable effect. The few who escaped, retreated up the Savannah;
and, crossing that river at Zubly's ferry, took refuge in South
Carolina.
The victory was complete, and decisive in its consequences. About one
hundred Americans were either killed in the field, or drowned in
attempting to escape through a deep swamp. Thirty-eight officers, and
four hundred and fifteen privates, were taken. Forty-eight pieces of
cannon, twenty-three mortars, the fort with all its military-stores, a
large quantity of provisions collected for the use of the army, and
the capital of Georgia, fell into the hands of the conqueror. These
advantages were obtained at the expense of only seven killed, and
nineteen wounded.
No military force now remained in Georgia, except the garrison of
Sunbury, whose retreat to South Carolina was cut off. All the lower
part of that state was occupied by the British, who adopted measures
to secure the conquest they had made. The inhabitants were treated
with a lenity as wise as it was humane. Their property was spared, and
their persons protected. To make the best use of victory, and of the
impression produced by the moderation of the victors, a proclamation
was issued, inviting the inhabitants to repair to the British
standard, and offering protection to those who would return to their
allegiance.
The effect of these measures did not disappoint those who adopted
them. The inhabitants flocked in great numbers to the royal standard;
military corps for the protection of the country were formed; and
posts were established for a considerable distance up the river.
[Sidenote: Sunbury surrenders to General Prevost.]
The northern frontier of Georgia being supposed to be settled into a
state of quiet, Colonel Campbell turned his attention towards Sunbury,
and was about to proceed against that place, when he received
intelligence that it had surrendered to General Prevost.
[Sidenote: The State of Georgia reduced.]
Sir Henry Clinton had ordered that officer to co-operate from East
Florida, with Colonel Campbell. On hearing that the troops from the
north were off the coast, he entered the southern frontier of Georgia,
and invested Sunbury, which, after a slight resistance, surrendered at
discretion. Having placed a garrison in the fort, he proceeded to
Savannah, took command of the army, and detached Colonel Campbell with
eight hundred regulars and a few provincials to Augusta, which fell
without resistance, and thus the whole state of Georgia was reduced.
While the expedition conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell was
preparing at New York, congress was meditating the conquest of East
Florida.
[Sidenote: General Lincoln takes the command of the southern army.]
The delegates of South Carolina and Georgia, anxious that a general of
more experience than Howe should command in the southern department,
had earnestly pressed that he should be recalled, and that General
Lincoln, whose military reputation was high, should be appointed to
succeed him. In compliance with their solicitations, Howe was ordered
in September, 1778, to repair to the head quarters of General
Washington, and Lincoln was directed to proceed immediately to
Charleston, in South Carolina, in order to take command in the
southern department. In pursuance of this resolution, General Lincoln
repaired to Charleston, where he found the military affairs of the
country in a state of utter derangement. Congress had established no
continental military chest in the southern department. This omission
produced a dependence on the government of the state for supplies to
move the army on any emergency, and consequent subjection of the
troops in continental service to its control. The militia, though
taken into continental service, considered themselves as subject only
to the military code of the state. These regulations threatened to
embarrass all military operations, and to embroil the general with the
civil government.
While Lincoln was labouring to make arrangements for the ensuing
campaign, he received intelligence of the appearance of the enemy off
the coast. The militia of North Carolina, amounting to two thousand
men, commanded by Generals Ash and Rutherford, had already reached
Charleston; but were unarmed, and congress had been unable to provide
magazines in this part of the Union. These troops were, therefore,
entirely dependent on South Carolina for every military equipment; and
arms were not delivered to them until it was too late to save the
capital of Georgia.
So soon as it was ascertained that the British fleet had entered the
Savannah river, General Lincoln proceeded with the utmost expedition
towards the scene of action. On his march, he received intelligence of
the victory gained over General Howe; and was soon afterwards joined
by the remnant of the defeated army at Purysburg, a small town on the
north side of the Savannah, where he established his head quarters.
The regular force commanded by General Prevost must have amounted to
at least three thousand effective men; and this number was increased
by irregulars who had joined him in Georgia. The American army rather
exceeded three thousand six hundred men, of whom not quite two
thousand five hundred were effective. Something more than one thousand
were continental troops, part of whom were new levies; the rest were
militia.
[Sidenote: Major Gardiner defeated by General Moultrie.]
The theatre of action was so well adapted to defensive war, that,
although General Prevost was decidedly superior to his adversary, it
was difficult to extend his conquests into South Carolina. With the
view of entering that state by the way of the sea coast, he detached
Major Gardiner with about two hundred men, to take possession of the
island of Port Royal. That officer, soon after reaching his place of
destination, was attacked by General Moultrie, and compelled to
retreat with considerable loss. This repulse checked the designs of
Prevost on South Carolina.
[Sidenote: Insurrection of the Tories in South Carolina, who are
defeated by Colonel Pickens.]
From the commencement of the war, a considerable proportion of the
western inhabitants of the three southern states had been attached to
the royal cause. The first successes of the British were soon
communicated to them, and they were invited to assemble and join the
king's standard at Augusta. About seven hundred embodied themselves on
the frontiers of South Carolina, and began their march to that place.
They were overtaken by Colonel Pickens at the head of the neighbouring
militia, near Kittle Creek, and defeated with considerable loss.
Colonel Boyd, their leader, was among the slain; and several of those
who escaped were apprehended, tried, and five of them executed as
traitors. About three hundred reached the British out-posts, and
joined the royal standard. This defeat broke the spirits of the Tories
for a time; and preserved quiet in the west.
As the American army gained strength by reinforcements of militia,
General Lincoln began to contemplate offensive operations. A
detachment had been stationed nearly opposite to Augusta under General
Ash, and he purposed joining that officer so soon as a sufficient
force could be collected, and attempting to recover the upper parts of
Georgia. Before he was able to execute this plan, General Prevost
withdrew his troops from Augusta to Hudson's Ferry. Ash was then
ordered to cross the Savannah, and take post near the confluence of
Briar Creek with that river. This camp was thought unassailable. Its
left was covered by a deep swamp, and by the Savannah. The front was
secured by Briar Creek, which is unfordable several miles, and makes
an acute angle with the river.
[Sidenote: Ash surprised and defeated by Prevost.]
Having determined to dislodge the Americans from this position,
Prevost kept up the attention of General Lincoln by the semblance of a
design to cross the Savannah; and, at the same time amused General Ash
with a feint on his front, while Lieutenant Colonel Prevost made a
circuit of about fifty miles, and, crossing Briar Creek fifteen miles
above the ground occupied by Ash, came down, unperceived and
unsuspected, on his rear. Ash, unused to the stratagems of war, was so
completely engaged by the manoeuvres in his front, that Lieutenant
Colonel Prevost was almost in his camp before any intelligence of his
approach was received. The continental troops under General Elbert
were drawn out to oppose him, and commenced the action with great
gallantry; but most of the militia threw away their arms and fled in
confusion. As they precipitated themselves into the swamp and swam the
river, not many of them were taken. General Elbert and his small band
of continental troops, aided by one regiment of North Carolina
militia, were soon overpowered by numbers, and the survivors were
compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of war. The killed and
taken amounted to between three and four hundred men. General Elbert
and Colonel M'Intosh were among the latter. But the loss sustained by
the American army was much more considerable. The dispersed militia
returned to their homes; and not more than four hundred and fifty of
them could be reassembled.
This victory was supposed to give the British such complete possession
of Georgia, that a proclamation was issued the succeeding day by
General Prevost, establishing civil government, and appointing
executive and judicial officers to administer it.
These disasters, instead of terrifying South Carolina into submission,
animated that state to greater exertions. Mr. John Rutledge, a
gentleman of great talents and decision, was elected governor; and the
legislature passed an act empowering him and the council to do every
thing that appeared to him and them necessary for the public good. All
the energies of the state were drawn forth. The militia were called
out in great numbers, and the laws for their government were rendered
more severe.[17]
[Footnote 17: Ramsay.]
Thus reinforced, General Lincoln resumed his plan for recovering the
upper parts of Georgia; and marched the main body of his army up the
Savannah.
This river was now swelled greatly beyond its usual limits; and the
swamps, marshes, and creeks which intersect the country being full,
seemed to present an almost impassable barrier to an invading army. A
small military force being deemed sufficient to arrest the progress of
an enemy through a route which, if at all practicable, was so
difficult, about eight hundred of the state militia, aided by two
hundred continental troops, were left with General Moultrie for the
defence of the country.
[Sidenote: Prevost compels Moultrie to retreat.]
Aware of the importance of this movement, and hoping to recall Lincoln
by alarming him for the safety of Charleston, General Prevost suddenly
crossed the Savannah with three thousand men; and, advancing rapidly
on General Moultrie, obliged him to retreat with precipitation. The
militia could not be prevailed on to defend the passes with any degree
of firmness; and Moultrie, instead of drawing aid from the surrounding
country, sustained an alarming diminution of numbers by desertion.
On the passage of the river by Prevost, an express had been despatched
to Lincoln with the intelligence. Persuaded that the British general
could meditate no serious attempt on Charleston, and that the real
object was to induce him to abandon the enterprise in which he was
engaged, he detached a reinforcement of three hundred light troops to
aid Moultrie, and crossing the Savannah himself, continued his march
down the south side of that river towards the capital of Georgia.
[Sidenote: Prevost marches to Charleston.]
Though the original purpose of General Prevost had been limited to the
security of Georgia, the opposition he encountered was so much less
than he had expected; the tenour of the country was so apparent; the
assurances of those who flocked to his standard; of the general
disposition of the people to terminate the calamities of war by
submission, were so often and so confidently repeated, that he was
emboldened to extend his views, and to hazard the continuation of his
march to Charleston.
On receiving intelligence of this threatening aspect of affairs in
South Carolina, Lincoln recrossed the Savannah, and hastened to the
relief of that state.
The situation of Charleston was extremely critical. The inhabitants,
entirely unapprehensive of an attack by land, had directed their whole
attention to its protection against an invasion by sea. Had Prevost
continued his march with the rapidity with which it was commenced, the
place must have fallen. But, after having gained more than half the
distance, he halted, and consumed two or three days in deliberating on
his future measures. While his intelligence determined him to proceed,
and assured him of a state of things which rendered success almost
certain, that state of things was rapidly changing. Fortifications on
the land side were commenced and prosecuted with unremitting labour;
the neighbouring militia were drawn into the town; the reinforcements
detached by General Lincoln, and the remnant of the legion of Pulaski
arrived; and the governor also entered the city, at the head of some
troops which had been stationed at Orangeburg.
The next morning Prevost crossed Ashly River, and encamped just
without cannon shot of the works. The town was summoned to surrender,
and the day was spent in sending and receiving flags. The neutrality
of South Carolina during the war, leaving the question whether that
state should finally belong to Great Britain or the United States, to
be settled in the treaty of peace, was proposed by the garrison, and
rejected by Prevost; who required that they should surrender
themselves prisoners of war. This proposition being also rejected, the
garrison prepared to sustain an assault. But an attempt to carry the
works by storm was too hazardous to be made; and Prevost came to the
prudent resolution of decamping that night, and recrossing Ashly
River.
[Sidenote: Lincoln attacks the British at the ferry but without
success.]
The British army passed into the island of St. James, and thence to
that of St. John's, which lies south of Charleston harbour; soon after
which General Lincoln encamped in the neighbourhood, so as to confine
them in a great degree to the island they occupied. This island is
separated from the main land by an inlet, to which the name of Stono
River has been given; and the communication is preserved by a ferry. A
British post was established upon the main land at this ferry, and
works were thrown up in front for its defence. When Prevost commenced
his retreat, and the troops were moving from island to island, the
occasion seemed a fair one for attacking it. Only eight hundred men,
commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Maitland, defended it; but a large
corps still lay on the island. To prevent these troops from supporting
those on the main land, General Moultrie, who commanded in Charleston,
was ordered to pass over a body of militia into James's island, who
should amuse the enemy in St. John's, while a real attack should be
made on the post at the ferry. About seven in the morning, General
Lincoln commenced this attack with about one thousand men; and
continued it with great spirit, until he perceived that strong
reinforcements were crossing over from the island; when he called off
his troops, and retreated, unmolested, to his old ground.
General Moultrie had been unable to execute that part of the plan
which devolved on him. Boats were not in readiness to convey the men
into James's island, and consequently the feint on St. John's was not
made.
The loss of the Americans, in killed and wounded, amounted to
twenty-four officers, and one hundred and twenty-five privates. That
of the British was stated to be rather less.
Three days after this action, the posts at Stono and St. John's were
evacuated. The heat now became too excessive for active service; and
the British army, after establishing a post on the island contiguous
to Port Royal and St. Helena, retired into Georgia and St. Augustine.
The American militia dispersed, leaving General Lincoln at the head of
about eight hundred men; with whom he retired to Sheldon, where his
primary object was to prepare for the next campaign, which it was
supposed would open in October.
The invasion of the southern states wore so serious an aspect, that
Bland's regiment of cavalry, and the remnant of that lately Baylor's,
now commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Washington, with the new levies of
Virginia, were ordered to repair to Charleston, and to place
themselves under the command of General Lincoln. The execution of
these orders was for a time suspended by the invasion of Virginia.
[Sidenote: Invasion of Virginia by General Matthews.]
An expedition against that state had been concerted in the spring
between Sir Henry Clinton and Sir George Collier, the
Commander-in-chief of the British naval force on the American station.
The land troops assigned to this service were commanded by General
Matthews. The transports, on board of which they embarked, were
convoyed by the Admiral in person. On the 9th of May the fleet entered
the Chesapeake, and the next day anchored in Hampton Roads.
Virginia had raised a regiment of artillery for the performance of
garrison duty in the state, which had been distributed along the
eastern frontier; and slight fortifications had been constructed in
the most important situations, which were defensible on the side of
the water, but were not tenable against a military force strong enough
to act on land. Fort Nelson, on the west side of Elizabeth river,
garrisoned by about one hundred and fifty soldiers, commanded by Major
Matthews, was designed to protect the towns of Norfolk and Portsmouth,
which were on each side of the river just above it; and the town of
Gosport, which lies still higher up on a point of land intervening
between two branches of the river. Norfolk and Portsmouth were places
of the most considerable commerce in Virginia. Large supplies for the
army were deposited in them; and the state government had established
at Gosport a marine yard, where ships of war and other vessels were
building, for which naval stores were collected to a very great
amount. The destruction of these vessels and stores, constituted the
principal object of General Matthews.
On the morning of the tenth, the fleet entered Elizabeth river, and
the troops were landed about three miles below the fort, without
opposition. Foreseeing that the works would be attacked the next
morning on the land side, the garrison evacuated the fort in the
night, and took refuge in a deep and extensive swamp, called the
Dismal, which could not be penetrated without difficulty, even by
single persons.
The whole sea-board, on the south side of James' river, being now in
possession of General Matthews, he fixed his head quarters at
Portsmouth, whence small parties were detached to Norfolk, Gosport,
Kemps' landing, and Suffolk, where military and naval stores to a
great amount, and several vessels richly laden, fell into his hands.
This invasion was of short duration. General Matthews, after
destroying the magazines which had been collected in the small towns
near the coast, and the vessels in the rivers, was ordered by Sir
Henry Clinton to return to New York, where he arrived towards the last
of May.
The Admiral and General were both so impressed with the importance of
Portsmouth as a permanent station, that they united in representing to
the Commander-in-chief the advantages to be derived from keeping
possession of it. But, in the opinion of Sir Henry Clinton, the army
did not at that time admit of so many subdivisions; and, with a view
to more interesting objects, Portsmouth was evacuated.