THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR.
When, in February, 1775, the provincial congress met again at Cambridge,
the committee of supplies took the most active measures for the raising
and drilling of the militia, and for the procuring of ammunition and
military stores of all kinds. A day of fasting and prayer, according to
puritan custom on solemn and important occasions, was also appointed;
New England was preparing temporally and spiritually for the great time
of trial.
The British forces under the command of General Gage, at Boston,
amounted to about 3,000. Gage, aware of what was going forward around
him, resolved to disable the insurgent colonists by gaining possession
of the stores and ammunition which had been collected by them, and
stored at Salem and Concord. At Salem the search was unsuccessful, the
troops being driven back from a bridge, the passage of which was
disputed on the Sunday. The attempt at Concord was of a much more
serious character, military stores being collected there to a great
extent. Eight hundred men were sent out on this expedition, with orders
of despatch and secrecy, under the command of Colonel Smith and Major
Pitcairn, on the night of April 18th, and arrived at Lexington, within
five miles of Concord, just before sunrise. But the alarm had been
already given, and it being supposed that the intention was to seize
John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were then there, the minute-men of
the place were drawn up to resist them. Pitcairn, at the head of his
regulars, advanced within musket-shot, and exclaimed, “Disperse, rebels!
Throw down your arms, and disperse!” No notice being taken of these
words, a volley was then fired, which killed eight of the minute-men and
wounded several others. The British, however, declared that the
minute-men fired first; but be that as it may, they then fled, and the
firing was continued, the regulars marching on to Concord, where they
destroyed and took possession of the stores, while the minute-men being
reinforced by different bodies which had hurried there at the sound of
the firing, a skirmish ensued. A considerable number of the regulars
were killed, and the rest forced to retreat, the colonial militia
pursuing them hotly all the way back to Lexington, where, fortunately
for themselves, they found Lord Percy with a reinforcement of 900 men.
But for this timely aid, it is doubtful if any of their number would
have reached Boston; the Americans, having the advantage of the
knowledge of the ground, and availing themselves of the Indian mode of
warfare, took fatal aim from behind bushes, stone walls, barns, or
whatever offered a means of concealment. At sunset the exhausted
regulars reached Bunker’s Hill, near Boston, having lost in killed and
wounded about 300 men, while the loss of the provincials amounted to
eighty-five.
The news of this battle, of this first shedding of blood, flew like
wild-fire through the colonies. Couriers were despatched at full speed
from place to place, bearing tidings which called all to arms. “The war
has begun!” was shouted in the market-place; at the ferry on the river;
in the crowded meeting-house on the Sabbath; and all rushed to arms. It
was twenty days, however, with their utmost speed, before the news
reached Charleston in South Carolina; yet, long before that time,
volunteers had marched from all parts of the New England colonies.
From Rhode Island, a body of volunteers hastened to Boston, under the
command of a young Quaker, Nathaniel Greene, who was disowned by his
brethren for this violation of their principles. Nor could the
admonitions and threats of discipline of the elder Friends of
Philadelphia keep the martial spirit of their young men under control.
Mifflin’s example and influence was stronger than all the advice they
could give, and Quaker-Philadelphia sent out a company of brave
volunteers. Delaware, Maryland, and North Carolina, all were moved by
the same spirit; while Patrick Henry, the young patriot lawyer of
Virginia, marched with a troop of volunteer riflemen to Williamsburgh,
the capital of the Old Dominion, and compelled the royal treasurer to
refund the value of ammunition which Lord Dunmore, the governor, had
lately seized. Dunmore, incensed, issued a proclamation declaring them
rebels, and fortified his residence. Soon after, letters of his,
addressed to the English government, and which were considered false to
the colony, being intercepted, the public indignation waxed hot against
him; whereupon, fearing for his life, he fled to a man-of-war lying at
Yorktown, and abandoned his government. Governor Martin, of North
Carolina, about the same time, fled also in terror on board a ship of
war, at the mouth of Cape Fear River; and in South Carolina, Lord
William Campbell, the governor, being suspected of secret negotiations
with the Cherokees, was likewise obliged to retire. Georgia, the
hitherto “defective link in the American chain,” soon became soldered by
the kindling flame of liberty. In vain Sir James Wright, the governor,
did his utmost to maintain the loyalty and allegiance of the province.
The powder was removed from the magazine at Savannah; and the cargo of a
powder-ship, which lay at the mouth of the river, forwarded to the camp
at Boston.
Georgia sent five delegates to the provincial congress about to assemble
at Philadelphia; and henceforth the style of the “Thirteen United
Colonies” was assumed.
The battle of Lexington was soon followed by other events. The
Massachusetts committee of safety had already contemplated gaining
possession of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on which depended the control
of Lakes George and Champlain, when, without waiting for higher commands
than those of patriotism, the bold Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, at the
head of their “Green Mountain Boys,” set out on the enterprise. Without
being aware of this movement, Benedict Arnold, a New Haven trader, then
in camp before Boston with a company of volunteers, received a
commission from the committee of safety, to raise a body of troops in
Vermont and proceed on this enterprise. Arnold was well pleased, for it
was a favourite scheme of his own, but presently found, to his surprise,
that others were before him. Taking command, therefore, under Allen,
they marched together to Ticonderoga, which they reached on the 9th of
May, and on the 10th, by break of day, entered the fort unperceived,
with eighty men, and surprising De la Place, the commandant, in his bed,
ordered him to surrender, “in the name of the Great Jehovah and the
Continental Congress.” No resistance was attempted; and Crown Point was
taken with equal ease. The garrison of both forts did not amount to more
than sixty men, but above 200 pieces of artillery and a valuable
quantity of powder, of which there was great want in the provincial
camp, fell into the hands of the captors. After this, Arnold manned a
small schooner, and proceeding down the lake, surprised the Fort of St.
John and seized a sloop-of-war laden with stores; the pass of
Skeensborough, now Whitehall, was likewise secured. Three important
posts which commanded the lakes, together with much needed cannon and
munitions of war, being thus secured in rapid succession and without
bloodshed, raised the hopes of the Americans and inspired them with
confidence.
While these events were going forward, Lord North’s conciliatory
proposition was laid before the various colonial assemblies and
rejected. On May 10th the colonial congress met at Philadelphia. Its
meeting was momentous. Thomas Jefferson was chosen president, and Thomas
Hancock secretary. Bills of credit were issued for defraying the
expenses of the war. It was resolved, that hostilities had been
commenced by Great Britain; allegiance was still avowed, and an anxious
desire expressed for peace; nevertheless it was voted that the colonies
ought to put themselves in a posture of defence against the
parliamentary schemes of compulsory taxation. After much opposition,
another petition to the king was agreed upon. The New England states
entertained and freely acknowledged the desire for independence; the
middle and the southern states still hesitated, though all had sent
delegates to the congress. Addresses were also prepared to the people of
Great Britain and Ireland, as well as an appeal made to the “oppressed
inhabitants of Canada,” as through Canada it was expected that England
would make an attack on the colonies.
In order to prevent General Gage from penetrating into the country,
which was his intention, congress recommended to the council of war
completely to blockade him in Boston; for which purpose, Colonel
Prescott, with a detachment of 1,000 men, including a company of
artillery and two field-pieces, was ordered to march at nightfall of
June 16th, and take possession of Bunker’s-hill, an elevation just
within the peninsula of Charlestown, and commanding the northern
approach to Boston, which city it overlooked. By some mistake, however,
they proceeded to Breed’s Hill, a lower height and still nearer to
Boston. With the utmost silence and despatch they laboured all night,
and before morning had thrown up a considerable redoubt, capable of
defending themselves from the fire of the enemy. Great was the
astonishment of the British the next morning, and a fire was immediately
opened upon them from the ships in the river. The work, however, went on
uninterruptedly, when, about noon, 3,000 picked men, under command of
Generals Howe and Pigot, embarked in boats and landed at the foot of
Breed’s Hill, and advanced slowly in two columns; the artillery in the
meantime being directed against the works. At this critical moment no
system prevailed in the American army; the same troops who had been at
work all night were still in the intrenchments; neither General Warren
nor Israel Putnam, though on the ground, had troops under their command;
forces which had been ordered thither had not arrived and the stock of
ammunition was very small.
It was a splendid summer’s afternoon, when the British advanced up the
hill. Clinton and Burgoyne were stationed on a height in Boston to watch
the action; and all the surrounding eminences, spires of churches, and
roofs of houses, were crowded with spectators, awaiting anxiously,
though with opposing interests, the result of the approaching conflict.
Slowly and uninterruptedly advanced the British, until within about ten
rods of the redoubt, when such a deadly fire assailed them that their
ranks were mown down, the whole line broken, and they fell back in
disorder. Again they were rallied and brought back to the charge by
their officers, but again were repulsed with loss. Infuriated by defeat,
and in consequence also, it is said, of shots being fired from a house
on the left, Gage ordered Charlestown to be set on fire; the wooden
buildings burned rapidly and the tall spire of the meeting-house was
wrapt in flame; 2,000 people at least being thus rendered houseless.
Amid the terrors of the burning village, the British regulars made a
second and yet a third attack, and this time with better success. The
ammunition of the provincials began to fail, and the British artillery,
now brought up to the breast-work, swept it from end to end, while three
simultaneous attacks carried it at the point of the bayonet. Courage now
could avail nothing, and the provincials under Colonel Prescott made
good their retreat across Charlestown Neck, exposed to an incessant fire
from the shipping, and entrenched themselves on another height still
commanding the entrance to Boston. The British took possession of
Bunker’s Hill. This defeat the Americans esteemed as a victory; in
England the victory was considered little less than a defeat, and
General Gage was in consequence superseded by Sir William Howe, brother
of Lord Howe, who perished before Ticonderoga. Of 3,000 British engaged
in this conflict above 1,000 fell. The loss of the Americans was in
about the same proportion; out of 1,500, 450 were killed and wounded,
but among the former was General Warren, whose loss caused the deepest
regret to his country.
This second encounter, in which undisciplined troops had so bravely
withstood the flower of the British army, raised still higher the hopes
and confidence of the Americans. The English discovered also that they
had no insignificant enemy to deal with.
The day before the battle of Bunker’s Hill, the Provincial congress at
Philadelphia, having voted to raise an army of 20,000 men, proceeded to
elect George Washington, then present as delegate from Virginia, to the
rank of commander-in-chief. The northern colonies had resolved, in order
to secure the adherence of the South, to choose a southern commander,
and the superior wisdom of Providence guided them in the selection. God
provides the man for the work, and Washington was the appointed agent of
a great people’s emancipation. Divine wisdom, and not that of man,
guided the choice. Washington, with great modesty and dignity, accepted
the appointment, declining all compensation for his services beyond the
defrayment of expenses. At the same time that Washington received the
command in chief, Artemas Ward, of Massachusetts, Colonel Lee, formerly
a British officer, Philip Schuyler, of New York, and Israel Putnam, of
Connecticut, then with the camp before Boston, were appointed
major-generals, and Horatio Gates adjutant-general.
Washington, accompanied by a number of ardent young men from the South,
soon appeared in the camp and assumed command. He found excellent
_materiel_ for an army, but great want of arms and ammunition as well as
deficiency of discipline. The troops, now amounting to 14,000 men, were
arranged in three divisions; the right wing under General Ward, at
Roxbury; the left, under Lee, on Prospect Hill; and the centre at
Cambridge, where were Washington’s head-quarters. The post of
quarter-master-general was given by Washington to Mifflin, the young
Quaker of Philadelphia, who had accompanied him as aide-de-camp; and
Robert Harrison, a lawyer of Maryland, was chosen by him for the
important office of his secretary, the duties of which he faithfully
performed for several years. Among the new companies which now joined
the camp was one from Virginia, led by that same village wrestler,
Daniel Morgan, who was hired by Benjamin Franklin to aid in the removal
of stores for Braddock’s army, and in whose defeat he was wounded. The
British, thus hemmed in at Boston, suffered greatly from want of
provisions.
While Washington was occupied in organising his army and endeavouring to
introduce order and discipline among troops unaccustomed to
subordination, congress was employed in providing the necessary means
for the support of the war. A declaration of war was also issued, in
which the causes and necessity for taking up arms were set forth. This
document, which was ordered to be read from every pulpit in the
colonies, asserted that their cause was just, their union perfect. “Our
internal resources are great,” said the declaration, “and if necessary,
foreign aid is undoubtedly attainable.” “Nevertheless,” it went on to
say, “we have not raised armies with the ambitious design of separating
from Great Britain. We have taken up arms in defence of the freedom
which is our birthright. We shall lay them down when hostilities shall
cease on the part of the aggressors, and all danger of their renewal
shall be removed.”
The importance of keeping on good terms with the Indians at this
critical juncture was not overlooked; and three boards were established
for the management of Indian affairs. An armed body of Stockbridge
Indians, the last remains of the New England tribes, was already with
the camp at Boston; and overtures were made to the Six Nations. Louis,
the chief of the French Mohawks, a half-blood Indian, received a
commission as colonel, and at the head of an Indian troop faithfully
served the American cause.
The first complete line of postal communication was established at this
time by congress, amid its multifarious concerns, and Benjamin Franklin
was appointed post-master-general, with power to appoint deputies for
the conveyance of the mail from Falmouth in Maine to Savannah in
Georgia.
While the British army was blockaded at Boston, and the highway to
Canada opened for the Americans by their possession of Ticonderoga and
Crown Point, it was resolved by congress to invade and possess
themselves of that province, and thus counteract the movements of Sir
Guy Carleton, the governor, who was evidently under orders from England
to attack the colonies from the north-west. Two expeditions were
therefore sent out—the one under Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, by
way of Lake Champlain; the other by the Kennebec, under General Benedict
Arnold; the whole of these forces amounting to about 3,000 men.
On the 10th of September, Schuyler and Montgomery appeared before St.
John’s, the most southern British fort in Canada, but finding it too
strong for attack, retired to the Isle aux Noix, 115 miles from
Ticonderoga, which they fortified, and where Schuyler issued circulars
to the Canadians, inviting them to join the Americans and assert their
liberty. But soon after hastening to Ticonderoga for reinforcements, he
fell sick, and the whole command devolved upon Montgomery.
Having received reinforcements, though in want of artillery and
ammunition, and having engaged the Indians in a treaty of neutrality,
Montgomery returned to St. John’s, which he besieged with but little
success, though he took Fort Chambly, at a few miles distance, where he
was fortunate enough to obtain several pieces of cannon and a
considerable quantity of powder. Colonel Ethan Allen, the hero of
Ticonderoga, being sent out, during the siege of St. John’s, with a
detachment of about eighty men, to secure a party of hostile Indians,
met on his return with another officer as rash and daring as himself,
and they, without orders, madly determined to attempt the surprise of
Montreal. Montreal did not yield so easily as Ticonderago fort had done;
Allen was taken prisoner, treated with great severity, and sent to
England in irons. Montgomery, however, having renewed the siege of St.
John’s, that fort surrendered on the 3rd of November, after which he
advanced rapidly to Montreal, which Carleton had abandoned, making his
escape down the river to Quebec. The following day, Montgomery, having
engaged to leave the inhabitants undisturbed in the free exercise of
their laws and religion, took possession of the town, where his troops
found a very welcome supply of woollen goods, with which they were
enabled to clothe themselves—a necessary circumstance at the
commencement of a rigorous Canadian winter. Although the kindness of
Montgomery’s disposition and conduct induced many Canadians to enlist
under his arms, he suffered greatly from the insubordination and
desertions of his own troops; while others, the time of their service
being expired, returned to their own homes. Nevertheless, with the
remnant of his army, amounting merely to about 300 men, he proceeded
rapidly towards Quebec, expecting to meet there General Arnold, with his
detachment of 1,000 men, who was to advance thither by the Kennebec.
The hardships which Arnold and his men had in the meantime endured, in
the trackless and desolate forests of Maine, at the commencement of
winter, were almost incredible; nevertheless, on the 9th of November, he
arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec. Could he have immediately
crossed the St. Lawrence, the city, which was indifferently defended and
which was alarmed at his approach, might easily have been taken; but,
for want of boats, it was not until the 13th that he was able to cross,
and by that time Carleton, who had escaped from Montreal, had gained the
city and put it in a state of defence. On the night of the 13th,
therefore, Arnold crossed with his army, now reduced to 700 men, and
ascending the cliffs to the Heights of Abraham, as Wolfe had done
before, hoped to take the city by surprise. Finding, however, the
garrison prepared for his reception, and not being strong enough to
hazard an assault, he retired twenty miles down the river, there to
await the arrival of Montgomery.
Montgomery joined Arnold on the 1st of December, all his Connecticut men
having by this time returned home, so that the united forces of the two
generals did not amount to 1,000. On the 5th, a message to surrender
being sent to Carleton, the messenger was fired upon. It was then
resolved to batter the town, but their artillery was found insufficient
for the purpose, and after a siege of three weeks, during which the
assailants suffered incredibly from the severity of the season, an
assault was resolved upon as the only chance in their desperate
circumstances. On the last night of the year, therefore, in the midst of
a violent snow-storm, and with the ground several feet deep in snow, the
American troops set forth in four divisions, commanded by Montgomery,
Arnold, Brown and Livingston; and whilst the two latter were to make a
feigned attack on the Upper Town, the two former, each at the head of
their respective forces, were to assault the Lower Town at two opposite
quarters. Montgomery had already passed the first barrier, the enemy
flying before him, when the discharge of a piece of artillery deprived
this brave man and two other officers of life. Disheartened by the death
of their leader, the next in command ordered a retreat. Arnold, in the
meantime, was boldly pushing his way forward into the town, when a ball,
while cheering his men onward, shattered his leg. He was unwillingly
borne from the combat, while Daniel Morgan, at the head of his Virginian
riflemen, pushed forward and made himself master of the second battery.
For several hours he and the fragments of the companies who now met,
sustained their ground, but at length, overcome by superior numbers,
they were obliged to surrender as prisoners of war. Not less than 400
men perished in this unfortunate attempt, and 300 more were made
prisoners. Wounded as he was, Arnold retired with the small remains of
his army to a distance of three miles, where, covering his camp with
ramparts of frozen snow, he kept Quebec in a state of blockade through
the winter.
Carleton treated his prisoners with great kindness; they were well fed
and clothed, and afterwards allowed a safe return home. This humane
policy greatly strengthened the British interests in Canada.
Reinforcements arrived early in the spring for Arnold, but small-pox had
already broken out among the troops, of which frightful disease General
Thomas, who was sent out to supersede Arnold, died. The Americans
retreated; and one by one, before midsummer, nearly all the posts which
had been taken by them fell into the hands of the British.
In the midst of the anxieties and disturbances of the preceding year,
the new province, which is now Kentucky, received still further
accession of settlers through the means of Richard Henderson, a North
Carolina lawyer, a man of great enterprise and energy, who had purchased
a large tract of country from the Cherokees for a few wagon-loads of
goods. Henderson, now associated with Boone, the bold hunter and settler
of the wilderness, who had already established himself at Boonesburgh,
and with other early settlers, especially an adventurous backwoodsman
named Harrod, the founder of Harrodsburg, proceeded to organise
themselves as the province of Transylvania. Courts and a militia were
established, and laws enacted; and soon after a delegate sent thence to
the continental congress at Philadelphia. Unfortunately for the new
colony, Virginia laid claim to the territory as lying within her
charter, and the Transylvanian delegate could not be recognised. About
the same time that this early settlement of Kentucky was going forward,
400 families from Connecticut left their old homes to seek new ones
under General Lyman, in the province of West Florida.
While the Americans were wasting their strength in unsuccessful attempts
in Canada, the seaports of New England were kept in continual alarm by
British cruisers, who not only landed to obtain supplies of which the
royal forces were in great need, but also sailed under orders to lay
waste and destroy in case of resistance. Hence Falmouth, now Portland, a
rising town of 500 houses, was burned by Lieutenant Mowatt, which caused
an increase of exasperation in the minds of the colonists, and led them
also to attempt maritime warfare. Congress authorised the fitting out of
thirteen war-frigates, and the raising of two battalions of marines.
Privateering was established, and courts of admiralty formed for the
adjudication of prizes. All ships of war employed in harassing the
colonies, and all vessels bringing supplies to the British forces, were
declared lawful prizes.
Great anxiety existed in the mind of the commander-in-chief, owing to
the extreme scarcity of ammunition and military stores in his army. The
utmost efforts were used to discover lead mines in the country, and to
establish the manufacture of saltpetre; a secret committee was also
formed for the importation of powder and lead from the West Indies.
Another cause of anxiety, and still the greater, existed in the
insubordination of the army itself. At the close of 1775, the term of
enlistment having in many cases expired, thousands had marched away to
their homes, disgusted with the hardships and discomforts of military
life. The enthusiasm of patriotism had died out in many breasts; whilst
jealousies among the officers, selfishness and faithlessness, gave
reason for an anxious looking forward to the future.
In the meantime, the petition of congress to the king, or “the Olive
Branch,” as it was called, and which had been intrusted to the care of
Richard Penn, grandson of the proprietary, and long time resident in
America, had been presented. This was the last hope of the colonists for
reconciliation, and the tidings regarding it were anxiously waited for.
The news came. His majesty deigned no reply; and in his opening speech
to parliament accused the Americans of hostility and rebellion, and
declared the object of their taking up arms to be the establishment of
their own independence. In vain did the friends of America in the House
of Commons earnestly advocate their cause; in vain did the merchants of
London again remonstrate against coercive measures; a bill was passed
declaring them rebels, prohibiting all trade with the thirteen colonies,
and making their ships and goods and all persons trafficing with them,
lawful prize. The same act authorised the impressment of the crews of
all captured vessels for service in the royal navy. Commissioners of the
crown were, however, empowered to pardon and remit from penalty all such
colonies or individuals as by ready submission merited such favour.
Furthermore, treaties were entered into by the British government with
the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel and other German princes, for 17,000 men
to be employed against the Americans. Twenty-five thousand additional
English troops and a large fleet, abundantly supplied with provisions
and military stores, were ordered to America.
These tidings convinced America that she had no longer anything to hope
from the mother-country; sorrow, indignation and anxiety filled all
hearts. These measures gave, however, by no means unqualified
satisfaction, even in England. It is worth recording, as an instance of
noble sacrifice to principle, that Lord Effingham, and the eldest son of
the Earl of Chatham, threw up their commissions rather than act in this
American war, which they considered so unjust. The office of
commander-in-chief having been offered likewise to General Oglethorpe,
the founder of Georgia, was declined by him naturally enough, and that
rank was now held by General Howe.
Howe and his army spent their winter in Boston as best they could,
suffering greatly from want of supplies. Fuel was obtained by pulling
down houses, and the poorer class of inhabitants were sent out of the
city, in order to decrease the consumption of food. Three companies,
however, of “Loyal American Associators” were formed; and, spite of
puritanism, balls and a theatre were got up by the British officers, and
the largest of their meeting-houses was turned into a riding-school.
The growth of the British interests in the colonies was not, however,
confined by any means to Boston. New York had long been suspected of a
growing partisanship; and the government newspaper, “Rivington’s
Gazette,” now became so offensive to the “Sons of Liberty,” that some
members of this distinguished body, to the number of seventy-five, rode
at noonday to the suspected Tory newspaper-office, broke the presses,
and carried off the type; a proceeding which was very satisfactory to
the Whig portion of the public, both there and elsewhere. At Albany,
too, on the Hudson, at the extreme frontier of New York, the party of
loyalists was becoming very formidable, under Sir John and Guy Johnson;
the one the head of a colony of Scotch Highlanders, the other the Indian
agent there. General Schuyler had already compelled these men to give
their word of honour not to take up arms against America; nevertheless,
Guy Johnson had withdrawn into Canada with a large body of Mohawks,
under the celebrated chief Brandt, who had long served on the British
side. Sir John Johnson also fled to Canada, where he too became a
powerful adversary, at the head of his “Royal Greens”—two battalions
raised from his tenants and dependants.
Nor was Lord Dunmore inactive in the South. Having carried off in his
turn a printing-press, he printed and dispersed a proclamation declaring
martial law, calling upon all who could bear arms to join him in the
king’s name, and offering freedom to all slaves and indented servants of
rebels who would join his standard. By this means he gained a great
number of adherents, amongst whom were many fugitive slaves, after which
he took up his position near the town of Norfolk, where he was defeated
by the colonial militia, and again driven to his ships, accompanied by
great numbers of royalists. Norfolk was bombarded by him and finally
burnt, which was a cause of great indignation in Virginia, this being
one of the richest and largest of her towns. Great was the damage which
for the next several months Dunmore effected on the coast, burning towns
and houses, plundering plantations and carrying off slaves. Finally
pursued, harassed, and suffering from want of provisions, he and his
adherents were compelled to retire to St. Augustine in the West Indies.